Guest Author - Patty Therre

Oh, what a week it has been in the pro wrestling world.

Obviously the major story of the week was the untimely death of WWE’s Eddie Guerrero. He died of what is believed to be heart failure on Sunday, November 13. Needless to say that started the week out on a somber, very sad note.


Thanks to Shimmerx4@yahoo.com for making this graphic for use on this page

On that same night, the man we all knew as Christian in WWE (Jay Reso), debuted on TNA’s Genesis pay per view. He is using the name Christian Cage, the name he used on the independent circuit before joining WWE some eight years ago. He made his TNA Impact! debut Saturday (TNA airs on Spike TV on Saturday nights at 11 p.m. and replays on Monday nights at midnight.). He was very well received by the fans and could make a major “impact” on TNA and on how other WWE wrestlers who are coming close to the end of their contracts react. Before Christian left WWE, many others went to TNA but all were released or mutually parted ways with WWE. In the case of Reso, he was given a substantial contract extension figure but turned it down, citing his love of wrestling and his lack of passion in WWE. This may open the doors for other wrestlers to “jump” to TNA when their contracts expire. I am sure all of WWE is watching how Reso does and if TNA’s ratings go up now that he is there.

More TNA Notes: Jackie Gayda, former WWE Tough Enough winner also debuted in TNA this week and P. J. Polaco, who went by the name Justin Credible for years, resurfaced in TNA as well. Shannon Moore, former WWE cruiserweight, wrestled a non-televised match for the promotion and should be wrestling on Impact very soon. More familiar faces will be showing up on Impact! and the pay per views as time goes on.

Former WWE Raw announcer Jim Ross returned to WWE.com to pen a touching remembrance of Eddie Guerrero. Ross was slated to be replaced as announcer of Raw for several months. Although he was scheduled to have colon surgery, that is not why he is off WWE television. The angle where all the McMahons (bar Shane) fired and humiliated him was one to get him off TV once and for all. Vince McMahon, it is said, wants younger, fresher faces announcing. Jim Ross had surgery and is recovering at home. There was no cancer found as was feared, thankfully. At this time there are no plans to bring JR back to his old announcing position. In fact, the whole “fired” storyline was what caused “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to return to WWE and then walk out of WWE.

Austin is very close to Jim Ross in real life. He agreed to a Taboo Tuesday pay per view match against Jonathon Coachman with the stipulation that, if he beat Coach, Jim Ross would get his announcing job back. When Austin found out the plan was not just for him to lose to Coach, but for Jim Ross NOT to return to announcing, he nixed the match and Coach ended up fighting Batista and the entire Jim Ross storyline was dropped.

Ross only resurfaced this week to pay his respects to a man who was so beloved that he couldn’t bear to let his passing go without at least writing about him if not being able to give a live tribute. Ross will eventually do some work with WWE’s website and will have other backstage duties but, right now, there are no plans to bring him back as an announcer on Raw.

Many fans are upset about this. I like JR and I think his announcing was fine. I miss his insight and his style a lot. In his place, at least temporarily, is Joey Styles. Styles was the “voice of ECW” – Extreme Championship Wrestling’s main announcer. He had previously said he would never work for WWE and was very against the company, often criticizing the angles, characters, and even Vince McMahon on the site he co owns, www.1wrestling.com, but obviously has had a change of heart. It is not yet certain as to whether Styles will sign on permanently as he has a stable job in advertising and announcing for WWE would cut into his work schedule.

At any rate, don’t expect to see Jim Ross back at the announce booth in the near future unless the McMahons change their minds and bring him back. Personally I hope they do see what an asset Jim Ross was and at least allow him to call main pay per views. Time will tell…

When the Raw crew was in Manchester, England this past week, Eugene (real name: Nick Dinsmore) was rushed to the hospital then sent home and suspended indefinitely. Although WWE did post that information on their website, they gave no details. This is the statement that WWE posted on November 18: Nick 'Eugene' Dinsmore was rushed to the hospital last night in Manchester. He has since been released from the hospital, sent home and suspended indefinitely. WWE.com will have more details as they become available.

For a wrestler to be hospitalized, sent home, and suspended indefinitely, one has to conclude that he was involved with alcohol or drugs. One source close to the situation has told me that WWE is going to pay for Dinsmore to enter a rehab facility to fight whatever addictions he has. At this writing I have no hard and fast facts to give except that Dinsmore was hospitalized and released and is now suspended indefinitely from WWE. I have no idea when he will return or if he will. Often, if wrestlers don’t cooperate or if they don’t do what is asked of them to get them back in ring shape (whether it be an addiction, an attitude problem, or even a weight problem in some cases) after being suspended, they are released.

It’s a rather disturbing turn of events considering Eddie Guerrero’s death and how much it shook up the entire roster. I always think after every death that the wrestlers who are relying on painkillers and alcohol or who are taking steroids to help bulk them up and make them look more muscular will wake up and realize that they need to live a healthy lifestyle to stay alive in the business. If Eddie’s death did anything, I really hope it was to wake up just one wrestler who is abusing painkillers so he can perform in the ring rather than lose his spot and go home to recover. Or to make just one wrestler realize that hard living now may take its toll on you at any time and the only way to stay healthy in such a fast paced, painful business is to take care of yourself and avoid the pitfalls that so many have fallen prey to in the past. I’ll keep up updated on Eugene’s situation as soon as I can verify what actually happened and when and if he will return to the ring.

Moving along, Batista, Smackdown’s Champion, is working with a severe back injury. He has not wrestled since it happened but he has to decide whether to try to rehab the injury or to have surgery on the muscle that tore. If he opts for surgery, he will be out of wrestling a minimum of three months. If he chooses physical therapy, he will not be 100% for a long time, if ever. And may still need surgery later. This puts the title in a precarious position. I believe Eddie Guerrero was to have won that belt on the very day he died. Now, it looks as though Batista may either have to drop the belt to JBL or Randy Orton. We’ll know more after the Smackdown tapings.

Speaking of Randy Orton, he has officially been announced as replacing Eddie Guerrero on the Smackdown Survivor Series Team as expected. He has some mighty big shoes to fill.

On the injured list as well is Edge (real name: Adam Copeland). He has a torn muscle in his chest and will probably need surgery to repair it. He has not wrestled since the injury and was put into a street fight with Batista to supposedly set up an injury angle so he could leave to get his injury repaired. However, he didn’t end up “injured” last week so I have no idea how WWE is going to explain his absence especially leading up to the Survivor Series pay per view. It’s seems like a jinxed show!

Bret Hart was on a WWE produced show for the first time since leaving WWE in 1997 promoting his new DVD set “Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart: The Best There is…The Best There was…The Best There Ever Will Be” which is selling very well. He appeared on WWE.com’s webcast, Byte This last week talking about the DVD and his favorite matches. WWE is touting the edition of Byte This as the most watched one in the history of the show. That is not unexpected. Bret Hart remains a fan favorite years after retiring from the ring and eight years after the famous “Montreal Screwjob” which lead to him losing the WWE World Title in a carefully constructed plot to keep him from possibly taking the belt to WCW the next day. He had signed with WCW when Vince McMahon told him that he could not afford to pay Bret’s agreed upon contract amount. Bret has never truly forgiven Vince McMahon for the way he was treated on the way out. To make relations even more strained between Hart and McMahon, Bret’s brother Owen died tragically after the harness he was wearing malfunctioned and he fell from a platform well above the crowd while waiting to make a superhero like entrance as “The Blue Blazer” character during the WWE Over the Edge pay per view in 1999.

Bret agreed to work with WWE on DVD because he wanted to be represented fairly and to have his say in what matches were presented and how. He does much commentary on the DVDs and has said he is very pleased with the outcome. People who have seen the three DVD set are raving about it. I plan to watch and review it very soon.

On the bottom of the page there is a graphic for the new DVD set. You can click it and see what it is all about and purchase it if you desire.

Being on WWE’s Byte This didn’t stop Bret from talking to TNA officials as I mentioned last week. TNA is hoping that Bret will make an appearance or more for them early next year. I have no idea how far talks between the two have gone but Bret clearly feels no loyalty to WWE and will do whatever he wants – and should.

Along with Bret’s DVD set, there are a few other graphics that you may click on and check out if you’re interested. I put these here so you know what is out there and I only put legitimate and quality items up for you to see. I will never lead you to anyone who I feel is unscrupulous or who overcharges, etc. I carefully check out who is selling what and whether or not the items are licensed before coming to you with them. Having worked for WCW, I am well aware of the copycats who sell items that they produce themselves without permission from the promotions. I don’t support that and never will have any links to that type of seller here no matter what wonderful things they may be trying to sell.

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the forum. I am touched by your sentiments on the Eddie Guerrero tribute thread and will be sending the link to the Guerreros next week. Please, if you haven’t visited the forum, take a moment to do so now and post your memories, thoughts, farewells, or even tell the family how you feel about the passing of Eddie Guerrero. They’re a wonderful close-knit family and they truly appreciate what the fans have to say.

I could go on and on but will stop here for this wrap up. I will certainly be back within a day or two with some opinions pieces and more news as well as a look at a rather unorthodox type of women’s wrestling…Naked Women’s Wrestling. Yes it is for real and Carmen Electra is behind it all. I have seen some short clips and stills from it and am awaiting a DVD to see what this is all about. Naked Women’s Wrestling? Well, if they can work in the ring and it isn’t just a soft porn excuse to oil women up and send them into a wrestling ring nude, I will certainly link you up to where you can get the DVDs. Strange concept indeed. Funny, I have yet to come across a Naked Men’s Wrestling DVD. Then again, I am not quiet so sure I would want to!

Keep the feedback coming and think about whether you would like to have a chat at some point. I’d like to meet you and I am open to questions and comments as well as suggestions. I MAY be writing a course for wrestling fans on everything from the inside jargon the workers use to facts every fan should know to be “smart marks” to some discussion on what’s real vs. what’s not and how the lines of reality and storylines are blurred. If you think you would be interested in taking such a course, let me know.

It would be a lighthearted, fun course but would definitely give you insight into wrestling and maybe teach you a few things along the way. The price would be very reasonable (Maybe $5.00 for a short seven-lesson course or $7.00 for a longer more in-depth one or perhaps it would be two parts – 101 and 102. It’s very much in the planning stages). If this sounds like fun, let me know! I will begin working on it very soon if there is interest.

Be sure to visit my personal website, Wrestling on the Fringe for columns, late breaking news, opinions, debates, and much more. It's a perfect compliment to this site.

For now, I am off.

I'm glad you stopped by and please, check back throughout the week for more!

Thanks for reading!

Patty

Please note that all columns I write are copyright and can only be reproduced elsewhere with my expressed written consent. Anything else is illegal and unethical.

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Photo of the Week

Jackie Gayda, known as Miss Jackie, in WWE (now in TNA):






Miss Jackie - #78

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