The Stunt Granny

NXT

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Tue, 25 May 2010 20:50:00 +0000

My god - this show is so awesome/not-awesome. I guess there's some sort of time issue as WWE's contract with SyFy is expiring or something, so this show is progressing at a much greater clip than it started at.

Two weeks ago, we were supposed to have one rookie voted off, but instead we got three guys dismissed, two of which because they answered the previous weeks' question, "Who do you think should be eliminated?" with, "I should go home." According to the storyline, the WWE brass didn't like that answer, claiming that it lacked confidence, so Daniel Bryan and Michael Tarver got the boot. Then, so did Skip Sheffield via the Pro's Poll.

WTF.

Seems pretty obvious that Wade Barrett is gonna' win this thing. Overall - it's nice just seeing some younger guys in the spotlight, a statement that extends to seeing Swagger as the champ on Smackdown and guys like Sheamus taking it to Cena on Raw. Pretty cool!

AAW

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Sun, 16 May 2010 09:01:00 +0000

Gotta show some love for our sweet local indie, AAW. The crowd reaction to the women's match made me feel ashamed to be a guy, but otherwise it was a solid show, as always. Colt Cabana was at his best, and is always a sentimental favorite of mine since I've seen him wrestle at a bunch of local shows over the years.

My sister Maggy and our friend Lauren came along to the show. Neither of them has ever had any interest in watching wrestling, but they enjoy cheap beer and realized that along with that they could watch muscular men in tights and enjoy some fantastic and at times horrifying people watching. AAW should hire Maggy and Lauren to do the commentary on their DVDs. Hearing the perspective of two outsiders to wrestling who appreciate it in completely different ways in an ongoing sarcastic commentary is really fun.

Silas Young is a phenomenal heel. So is Mason Beck, who, mark my words, is going to be a huge star. He seems to totally understand how to be an effective big man. I swear he's been studying Undertaker tapes or something similar. That's a good thing in my book.

RIP Kanyon

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 20:39:00 +0000

I never really saw this guy much, but it's sad that another wrestler has gone to the stone garden. Rest In Peace!

In other news, Jack Swagger did the capitalize-on-the-beaten-down-champ thing and is our new world champ on Smackdown. His mic skills aren't the best because he's not very forceful, vocally, but reading directly from his notes and making people backstage look at his new belt were both pretty dick-like (that's good). Also, when he beat Jericho and was announced the winner: no smiles. Finally, his brief interaction with Shelton backstage was interesting: "Maybe they should start calling ME the Gold Standard!"

I like that WWE is starting to mix shit up with putting the belt on younger guys, even though I may not necessarily agree with their choices. At least they seem to be trying. With Michaels out of the picture and Undertaker doing satan-knows-what, there's some room at the top for fresh faces.

Meanwhile, Cena is champ again over on Raw. Who cares?! They should have let Batista retain and have someone new challenge him for the belt, as Sheamus is preoccupied with beating down HHH every chance he gets. Whatever.

NXT continues to make it up as they go along: we got our first taste of the rankings this past week (Bryan on top, Darren Young at number eight), and it's been revealed that after the next vote, whoever is number eight is getting let go. So . . . when's the next vote? Is there a non-elimination vote in between every elimination one? We've been trained to not think about what's going on for so long, and now there's a show that NEEDS some sort of structure (even if it's pre-determined) to make sense.

We also had a battle royale to determine next week's guest-host of Raw. It's David Otunga. This dude was ranked number five, which is pleasantly surprising. He's got a lot of big connections in real life, but he hasn't impressed me one bit in the ring or on the mic. He looks good, but . . . I guess we'll see how he does as a main character on Raw this week.

NXT - Week Three

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:19:00 +0000

This show is now the one I look forward to every week. Then, Smackdown. Haven't even watched the 3/8 Raw because I've been busy doing constructive things, like working and playing drums and listening to music and getting high on illegal drugs.

First segment had Daniel Bryan & the Miz losing a tag-team match against R-Truth & David Otunga. Of course, after the Miz told Bryan not to fuck up and cost them the match, Miz fucked up and cost them the match. Bryan has lost three weeks in a row (the first three weeks of the show), but already had the crowd chanting his name (albeit quietly) and has wrestled the current World Champion, Chris Jericho. Best part was post-match when Bryan made like he was going to slap Miz but pulled back, making the Miz flinch. Crowd loved to see him get punked.

Speaking of, CM Punk and his crew have been putting the slow burn on Darren Young. Dissing him the first week, Punk hooking the foot of Otunga to give Young the win the second week and this week Punk talking about him right in front of him, but facing opposite direction. This dude has a hairstyle begging to be shaved. His "party-guy" gimmick pales in comparison to Zach Ryder's, so ditching the hair, weird tan and big smile could be a good move, but would it make Punk's stable too big? We've already got the enforcer (Luke Gallows) and the vixen (Serena), so what role would Young play?

Carlito jobbed to Heath Slater after spitting apple in his face at the very end of NXT Week Two. Amazing. Who did Carlito piss off? Slater, by the way, needs to do something about his hair, and his happy-go-lucky, "rock band without the instruments" gimmick has no depth whatsoever. Harsh, I know, but it takes more than just being positive to stand out in the world of wrestling.

Main Event featured Matt Hardy's rookie, Justin Gabriel versus Chris Jericho's "protege" Wade Barrett in a good match. Jericho proudly strode around ringside exclaiming the virtues of his influence over Barrett, including a great moment that saw Jericho yelling in Josh Matthews' face about how great Barrett is, Matthews' suggesting that Jericho join them on guest commentary, and Jericho responding, "Maybe I should!"

Gabriel won with his crowd-pleasing 450 splash, but Jericho hit a post-match Codebreaker and stretched him out in the Walls Of Jericho. Like last week against Bryan, Barrett has targeted his opponents' back preceding a Walls Of Jericho from, um, Jericho after the match. Speaking of, this week saw a cool, brutal spot where Barrett lifted Gabriel like in an Atomic Drop, but bounced Gabriel's legs off the top rope and dropped him into a back-breaker. Springboard Back-Breaker? Modified Atomic Drop?

Once again it was interesting to note the difference in Jericho's, um, Walls Of Jericho between NXT and Superstars. He's used the Walls twice, now, in NXT, and both times really bent backwards the Rookie and put his knee to the back of their heads. Just brutal-looking. Meanwhile, over on Superstars, Jericho just put Goldust in a Boston Crab and Cole announced it as the Walls.

Overall, Week Three was another fun show, a good balance of storyline and matches. It's already becoming clear who the standouts are, but a few rookies (Michael Tarver, Skip Sheffield) have yet to get a chance to shine.

No news on the voting process that was mentioned during Week Two. Here's what we know: at some point, the Pros will vote on the Rookies, the only rule being that the Pros cannot vote for their own Rookie. Also, some of the Rookies have alluded to the fact that only one of them will win this competition. What we don't know: if it's elimination-style or just one vote at the end, and when the competition ends. Basically, the two most important pieces to the puzzle.

Without this information, it's hard to root for any of the Rookies. One has to imagine that the voting will occur once the season ends, as not every Rookie gets to wrestle every week. Still, without a definitive end date, the audience can't get nervous for their favorite. If I knew that the show was only six weeks long, for example, I'd be worried that Bryan wouldn't make it because he's already lost all of his matches on 50% of the shows.

NXT could have been a great reality-competition knock-off from the start if they'd established the ground rules immediately, retaining an iota of kayfabe. Slowly leaking out information over the course of a month just reminds the crowd that this is just another predetermined WWE show.

The irony, of course, is that while the WWE probably has a good idea of who they want to bring up from FCW, every week really is competition between the Rookies to show what they've got in front of millions on TV.

Now listening:

NXT

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:20:00 +0000

What is happening? There's voting of some sort, Daniel Bryan is main-eventing against Jericho, Carlito is spitting apples in people's faces that press their hair straight, Jennifer Hudson's husband is botching his shitty finisher, the Miz is a fabulous prick, holy fuck!

Vince is brilliant and has been on a tear with this less-than-awesome Bret Hart storyline. Where is the Hart Dynasty? So much opportunity wasted. BUT, Vince has been on fire as Mr. Antagonist-Scumbag. The camera shot on Raw where you could see McMahon's reflection in Hart's aviators was amazing. Vince just chewing him out, so funny.

Superstars was amazing this week - Regal stretching out Bourne (and then losing) was great.

Regal to crowd, while pointing at a downed Bourne: "He's pathetic. Just like all of you people!"

Regal while re-applying a brutal arm-bar thing after Bourne tried to muscle out of it: "Oh, no . . . he's not going anywhere!"

Then, an excellent main event between Jericho and . . .GOLDUST? I love the fact that we actually have a fighting champion in Jericho. Although the belt wasn't on the line in either of the aforementioned matches, they were both solid, gave his opponent plenty of offense, and reminded us why we love Jericho. It was interesting to see the Walls of Jericho applied to Bryan properly (with the knee to the back of the head and everything) and then to Goldust (Boston-Crab style) and have the announcers call it by the same name. Whatever.

Although the Batista/Cena feud is pretty entertaining (because of Leather-Daddy Heel Batista), it sucks never seeing the champ wrestle. At least Orton would have matches all the time (and some damn good ones with Kofi, to boot). Same with Undertaker. He was the Smackdown champ for months and would only pop up on the TitanTron or to cut an evil promo. Hail Jericho!!!

Now listening:

No more ECW!

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:28:00 +0000

So it's being reported that in three weeks, ECW will be no more, replaced by a new WWE show that will "change" TV, etc.

Interesting.

My esteemed colleague Bobek and I had - in real life - discussed the possibility of me lying to my cable provider in an attempt to gain access to OVW via some sort of special feature available to RV's traveling around the country. After growing out of its initial, bizarre phase (Kevin Thorn, Mike Knox & Kelly Kelly), it sort-of evolved into a place where we could see the newest WWE signings . . . that were ready for TV. Now - why not air a show that runs in smaller venues and features the even newer talent showing what they've got?

If the 'E can learn anything from indie feds and especially Ring Of Honor, it's that you can run in limited venues and people will still come because they like to watch wrestling. Keep the feuds basic and the match-ups fresh, that's all we ask! If WWE had aired their weekly OVW program in the Midwest along with their PPV-style events, I would have watched that more than Raw.

Chances are, though, that the new Tuesday-night show will just be all Elimination Chambers every week or something.

Now listening:

Bret Hart

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:59:00 +0000

I forgot to address Bret Hart's appearance on Raw. I'm a big Bret Hart fan, so it was a big deal to me. All of the other things in my update were just on my mind more recently.

Like Hoffa, I think Bret was underused a bit, but also agree that since he'll be around until Wrestlemania it's not a big deal. The Hart/Michaels confrontation was a huge markout moment for anyone who's been a fan for more than ten years or so. And man was that hug awkward! But, it was a good segment, though it couldn't help but be given the occasion.

The Vince/Bret confrontation was a bit underwhelming. Hoffa and I actually had a conversation about how I thought the ballshot was okay, since they needed to do something that would keep Bret down, without being anything so big that bigger moments down the road don't matter less by comparison. So, in that sense it worked. Not a great segment, but again, there'll be plenty of time for Bret/Vince fun between now and Mania. From the sounds of it, the feud'll be picking back up this coming Monday... let's hope they don't screw this one up!

Last week or so of wrestling

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:48:00 +0000

- Lot of ground to cover since last Monday night, so hopefully I don't ramble on too long...

- Trying to figure out what WWE is thinking from a business perspective can be taxing. Not only do you have Mike Tyson, a name that's still a draw, hosting Raw, he's also doing a match. Mike Tyson who hasn't boxed in years. Mike Tyson who is a character straight out of pro wrestling. You can advertise "MIKE TYSON RETURNS TO THE RING ON MONDAY NIGHT RAW!" the entire week leading up to the show, probably get coverage on ESPN, and draw a lot of eyeballs. Instead they announce the match about 30-40 minutes into the show in the middle of a backstage promo. Seriously, how can a wrestling promoter miss the fact that Mike Tyson having a wrestling match is a big deal and could make money or at least get some of the mainstream media attention Vince so desperately craves, if it were actually advertised in advance? This seems like the easiest booking decision ever, and they still messed it up.

- Of course, one of the other advantages of promoting the MIKE TYSON MATCH in advance would have been an opportunity to showcase some of your up and coming talent to new fans. Like, say, the new WWE Champion? Sheamus really isn't established with the fans yet, but since he's champion, the company should be focusing all of its energy on pushing him and getting him over; as an inexperienced guy, he needs all the help he can get. Any champion needs the full backing of the company. Sure, Sheamus was in the opening promo with Tyson and did a decent job, but that was it. He may have popped his head in after the number one contender's match for a staredown or something, but that's all. Even last week, where he cut a decent promo and squashed Evan Bourne, it was his only segment on the show. I don't understand why a company would put the belt on a guy and not push him. I try to avoid the glass ceiling/conspiracy stuff, but with WWE making decisions that make absolutely zero business sense, sometimes you can't help but wonder what other motivations are at play.

- Speaking of bad decisions, the Monday night Impact and return of Hogan were enough to get me to give TNA another chance. I don't think I've ever so much as mentioned TNA on the Stunt Granny; I rarely watch it. I generally find it to be a poorly presented product. Still, the return of Hogan/Bischoff is at least potentially interesting, and I'm curious to see what they do with the company.

- And right off the bat, they blew the Jeff Hardy debut. I think a pretty strong argument can be made that Hardy's been the top star in WWE the last year or so, and even if not, he'd certainly be in the conversation. That was the one really huge surprise TNA had, but they debuted him at the end of a nothing cage match. Then again, Hardy wasn't even mentioned on Impact this week (although I did do some fast forwarding), so maybe it was a one-shot deal. Even if so, you're telling me you couldn't come up with something bigger for one of your rival's biggest stars to do than randomly walk in on a dying match, then hang out in the back with a jobber PAINTING. I know I'm using a lot of CAPS but this shit is maddening.

- And let's not forget TNA's brilliant use of Ric Flair so far. Not like he has any name value or anything. TNA has Ric Flair show up on the Monday night Impact, walk into AJ Styles's locker room, come out to watch Styles's match for five minutes, then randomly head to the back, with the match still going on. Huh? But, sure, there was a lot happening on last week's show, so maybe save Flair's debut promo for this week, hype it up a bunch beforehand? No, he came out and sat in on commentary for the Styles/Tomko match, where he said he wasn't really familiar with Styles and Tomko's backstory (I'm not either, but way to put over the product), and said he had never met AJ before. Strange they didn't cross paths when Styles was in WCW for over a month near the end (and it's not like that was circa-1999 WCW with about 250 guys under contract). From the end of this week's show, it does look like Flair's leading Styles towards a heel turn, so I can see building up this angle a little bit. Still, TNA is just trying to seize some momentum off the relative success of the Monday night show... wouldn't you think one of the two biggest names in the last 25 years would maybe be somebody you could use in a prominent manner to garner some attention for your growing company?

I'll conclude this portion with a line you used to see on signs at wrestling shows: "Who booked this shit?"

- Meanwhile, some less rant-y positives:

- Miz really delivered with his promo on Raw. He really put some feeling into the portions about being hazed and taunted by JBL (his intensity describing it all sure had the ring of truth). Also good to see that a talented guy like Miz delivering something true to his own life is far more compelling than the same old scripted crap he and the rest of the roster have to spout every week. MVP's promo, while weaker overall, also peaked with some real-life stuff that was intense and sincere and also came off great. Both guys looked like superstars and showed more intensity than I've ever seen from either of them on the mic. I felt like that segment really elevated the US title, as well as both Miz and MVP.

- I've been really enjoying the Kane/Ziggler series on Smackdown, against all odds. The storyline has really elevated Ziggler, although I didn't like him taking the loss tonight. Hopefully this loss doesn't cut the legs off his push like the IC title push from a few months ago that just fizzled out. I haven't really been sold on him until now, but I think Ziggler has serious potential. He does all the little things right, and I'm really liking this college boy/thinking man's wrestler direction for his gimmick. I always enjoy the heel who doesn't necessarily cheat to win matches, but is just smarter and craftier, and maybe in some ways better, which makes you hate the dickhead even more. It's been a pretty successful style for Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho in the past. Hope it keeps up and he keeps improving, although remembering back to Nick Nemeth (a.k.a. Ziggler) back in OVW, I can't help but wonder if Ken Doane or Johnny Jeter, who showed a lot more potential back then, will ever get another shot.

- Nice to see Elijah Burke and Nigel McGuinness on TNA, though I was surprised Elijah beat McGuinness so quickly. It seems like Wolfe/Nigel's been booked like a legit badass, while Elijah/Pope is, while extremely entertaining, still pretty much a midcard gimmick, at least until he's more established. That's the only reason I don't get putting him over Wolfe in a short match, it hurts Wolfe more than it helps Pope. Oh well, good to see them both on TV. I never did understand why WWE gave up on Elijah.

- I've been on a big wrestling kick lately, so I've actually busted out some of my old tapes for the first time in a while. I'm in the middle of a fun Pro Wrestling NOAH show from 2002 right now, but what I'm most excited about is discovering that I can get LUCHA on cable at home! Really wish I'd thought of checking sooner (I did a few years ago but didn't get any then), but I'm looking forward to getting my first episodes on the DVR this weekend.

Jeff Hardy TNA theme

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:09:00 +0000

Modest to the top
Modest at the top
straight to the top and then keep headin up
stars shine for why we shouln'd give a fuck
about what is real
and how real is still the only way to feel the pain it sometimes deals
in a way that survives the struggles we face
in this life there's alot of time can't erase
showcase the skills you were givin at birth
live your life here for what it's worth
show off the style you perfect in life
show all the way to make it right
make it to the top of mt. profession
rule it until you feel theres nothin more for you to do
or say none of you better get in my way
comin down if u do you'll be back on level ground
modest to the top
modest at the top
still modest past top

Bret Hart on Raw

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

An event so big that even the Stunt Granny didn't fast forward through it!

I thought Bret was underused, although since he'll be around through 'Mania, I'm not worried about it. Vince's kick to Bret's nutsack was pretty weak, though. I guess it gets across what a tool Vince's character is supposed to be, but it rivaled the 619 in terms of lack-of-impact.

Wish the Hart Dynasty would have been around, but they'll come into the picture soon as Bret's cronies, I bet.

I recorded TNA Impact for the first time since I realized they have a six-sided ring, and although I haven't read any detailed spoilers, it certainly seems like the show should be called OFW: Old Fart Wrestling. Impact.

Considering it's not a sweeps week, I find it odd that this huge comeback correlates with a giant All My Children reunion thing with Kelly Ripa, her husband and some other people I've never heard of. Ask my girlfriend for more details.

In other news - scored a copy of the AWA DVD from work for a few bucks. Add another onto the pile for when I retire/am buried with my possessions to enjoy in the afterlife.

Next up? Kane!

Linda McMahon in the Senate?!

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:25:00 +0000

So says the New York Times!

Sad news from the world of Mexican, midget wrestling

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:26:00 +0000

Thanks to my co-worker for the heads-up on this one:

Very sad!

7/22 ECW Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:28:00 +0000

- Yoshi/Regal was awesome. They worked the crowd really effectively, staying in holds as the heat built, knowing when to go for the hope spot and when to fall back. This match should be on every show, every week.

- Ezekiel Jackson has no presence at all. He's the ultimate proof of how good Mark Henry is -- compare the way Henry carries himself as a giant to Jackson's completely unmenacing demeanor. He walks and stands and carries himself nothing like a guy of his stature should. The Henry babyface turn has been great. I can see where Hoffa and others who've dug Henry were coming from now.

- Tyler Reks? I guess they got tired of bringing Chuck Palumbo back.

- Stryker had a few gems tonight, including a Dynamic Dudes reference. The Dudes were a cheesy skateboarding tag team in the late 80's made up of a not-yet-Franchised Shane Douglas and Johnny Ace, now better known as John Lauranitis (sp?), VP of Talent Relations and one of the top executives in WWE.

- The Abraham Washington Show continues to be a trainwreck, but setting up on the stage and having somebody who can talk in Christian seemed to lift it a little above the first couple Washington Shows. Even for intentionally bad, it's really bad. The first few "episodes" (I hate how, with all of the WWE wrestler-hosted segments, they always talk about them as if they're actual talk shows. It's freaking weird) were serious contenders for Worst Segment I've Ever Seen On WWE Television. Which is really saying something since I remember all of the Billy Gunn pushes.

Official (the) Bash Predictions!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Well - tonight is the Bash, and I'm actually going to be watching it over at a friend's place, so here are some predictions that I'll most likely be wrong about!

Triple H vs. Randy Orton (Three Stages of Hell Match, WWE Championship)

I forget what the first two stages are, but does that really matter? It's going to go to three (the third being a stretcher match, which we saw recently between Jeff and Matt Hardy). Here's to hoping that Orton retains, because Triple H is just so unlikeable as a Face.

Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk (World Championship)

This is the match I'm most looking forward to. Like Bobek said in an earlier post, the slow burn the WWE is doing with what appears to be a Punk Heel turn has been highly enjoyable. On the Smackdown leading into this PPV, they even had Punk tell the crowd to "give it up" for the number-one contender to his belt, after Hardy had lost the match. JR and Cole both mentioned how they detected sarcasm in his voice, which was cool. We'll see how things play out at this PPV, but it's looking like Punk will officially turn via some dastardly deed. Let's hope it's not just bashing Jeff with the title or something.

So, Punk retains and they draw this out, hopefully. Whatever happened to the Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy feud?

Colons vs. Legacy (Undisputed Tag Team Championship)

How does this work? If the Colons win, they still "get" to defend their belts on all three shows, but if Legacy wins, the titles stay on Raw? I'm going to pick Legacy here, so Orton and his crew can all have gold.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger vs. Christian vs. Mark Henry vs. Finlay (Scramble match for the ECW Championship)

What's cool about this match is that everyone but Mark Henry has a good chance of winning this. I'll go with Swagger winning it back because I like him.

Melina vs. Michelle McCool (WWE Women's Championship)

I have no idea what's going on with this feud, so I'll say that Michelle McCool will win this.

Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio (Intercontinental Championship vs. Mask match)

Mysterio will probably win the belt, because WWE must make a mint off Mysterio merch.

John Cena vs. the Miz

Wouldn't mind seeing the Miz pull out a win, here, but Cena will most likely crush him. But why not push Miz? What do they have to lose? Cena isn't doing shit, anyway.

Dolph Zigler vs. the Great Khali

I'm gonna' say Dolph. I haven't followed this feud whatsoever because the Great Khali just makes me mad.

Lots of belts on the line, which is always good for a PPV, I just wish, once again, that these matches had more than a few weeks build. That being said, I think it could be a very strong PPV based solely on the wrestlers involved. Check back for PPV thoughts!

Nancy Benoit & Hustler

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:34:00 +0000

From the excellent wrestling blog over at Under the Ring:

The Associated Press

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hustler Magazine didn’t have the right to publish decades-old nude photographs of the wife of wrestler Chris Benoit, who killed the woman and his young son before committing suicide two years ago.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling found that a notorious death doesn’t give publishers a blank check to publish any images they wish — including those not linked to a newsworthy event. Such a policy, the court warned, would mean that the entire life of any victim of a notorious slaying would instantly be open to public scrutiny.

Nancy Benoit’s family filed a federal lawsuit against the Larry Flynt Publishing Group last year after the magazine published the photos of Benoit’s wife. The lawsuit claims that the woman, a model and former professional wrestler herself, had asked the photographer to destroy the images immediately after they were shot about 20 years ago.

The magazine countered by arguing that the photos were part of a greater story on the life and tragic death on Nancy Benoit and that they helped tell the story of “the modest beginnings of Ms. Benoit’s career.”

A federal judge ruled in the magazine’s favor in October 2008, dismissing the lawsuit and concluding that the magazine had the right to publish the photos in part because her death was a “legitimate matter of public interest and concern.”

In reversing the decision Thursday, the three-judge panel ruled that while Benoit’s death may be newsworthy, her nude photographs were not. It noted the article, which advertised “long-lost images of wrestler Chris Benoit’s doomed wife,” was brief and made only scant mention of her desire to become a model.

“These private, nude photographs were not incident to a newsworthy article; rather, the brief biography was incident to the photographs,” Judge Charles Wilson wrote in the opinion.

The family’s plight gained international attention after the wrestler, his wife and their son were found dead in their suburban Atlanta home. Police said Benoit, then a wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment, strangled his wife and son and then hanged himself.

Maureen Toffoloni, Nancy Benoit’s mother, and Hustler attorney Paul Cambria could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

The decision sends the lawsuit back to the lower court for consideration.

Toffoloni has also recently filed a lawsuit against Dr. Phil Astin, the physician who prescribed Benoit steroids and other drugs. The complaint blames the drugs prescribed by the physician for the deaths.

Past Week of WWE Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:28:00 +0000

- Another bad Raw tonight. I couldn't bring myself to care at all about the Triple H/Orton match we've seen a billion times before, and anyone could've seen that finish coming a mile away. Terrible. Then again, if we've seen Triple H/Orton a billion times, we've seen Big Show/Cena three billion times. I was paying so little attention to it that I totally missed Miz's interference, so I don't know if it was anything notable. Miz has gotten over since the draft by being a fresh act, but that dull Cena promo went a long way towards turning this into just another angle with just another guy that won't matter in the long run. I'm guessing with Miz's run-in we didn't get to see Cena give Big Show an FU for the 500,000th time and the announcers act like it's never happened before, just like the previous 499,999 times?

- The McMahon/Trump stuff was lame (gee, you think those fans are really getting a refund?), and the commercial-free format meant way too much filler. One more shot of the outside of the arena and the first four notes and "Whoa-oh..." of the opening music and I would've lost it.

- Gotta give a lot of credit to Christian for carrying David Hart Smith to a really good match on ECW last week. Smith (do they realize how awkward "Hart Smith" sounds?) is one of the worst wrestlers I've ever seen. Anyone else catch him totally failing to protect Christian on that Rock Bottom that was supposed to be on the apron, then awkwardly stumbling over Christian on his way back into the ring? Smith has absolutely no ring presence.

- After seeing that match, I really like the idea of a Finlay/Christian feud. In general, seeing Finlay get to be a mad asskicker again should be fun. Bring back the old entrance music, though. That happy leprechaun shit ain't working for a guy who's supposed to be a badass.

- Smackdown was all kinds of fun. Loved the Morrison/Edge match, and both Mysterio/Punk and Hardy/Jericho were fun up to the finishes. Morrison undoubtedly has "it," and I don't think it was any hyperbole on JR's part to call that match a career-changing one for Morrison.

- Punk has been brilliant with this slow-burn turn. I'm admittedly a big Punk mark, but I don't think I'm going too far in saying he's my favorite performer in the company to watch right now. He does an incredible job of using every bit of TV time he gets to help get himself over. Notice how much attention he pays to his entrance -- this week he came out with his usual babyface demeanor, pumped up, raising the belt in the air and shouting, "Come on! I'm the World Champion!" Met with mostly boos, he looked around, slowly pulled the belt down, and started to approach the ring, saying, "Alright. That's cool." The crowd is WAY into this storyline, and it's clearly the hottest thing going in WWE right now. Great little interaction between Punk and Hardy on Raw tonight too. WWE has got a real main event player on their hands in Punk.

- ECW and Smackdown are so much better than Raw right now. It's a real wonder what focusing on wrestling instead of skits will do. Nonetheless, I still think the freshness of the top of the card on ECW and Smackdown is the real reason the shows are coming off so much better. There's still some good wrestling on Raw, but I'd much rather watch a show centered around Punk, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Jericho, and Mysterio than the same old combinations of Triple H, Orton, Cena, Batista, and Big Show, all of whom have worked together innumerable times (as previously suggested here by some wise blogger, MVP hasn't gotten over at all on Raw and it looks like his push is on hold). ECW's got a decent core building up with Swagger, Christian, Finlay, Dreamer, Bourne, and Henry, and Smackdown's supporting cast is far more compelling than Raw's. Hell, even the Ziggler/Khali storyline is pretty decent. I'm beginning to think that instead of making Raw my appointment show every week and watching ECW and Smackdown on the DVR whenever I get around to it, I should just hold off watching ECW and Smackdown until the following Monday and just fast forward through Raw later in the week when I get a chance...

R.I.P. Misawa

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Mitsuharu Misawa is one of the true legends of professional wrestling. His death this past weekend is shocking and saddening, even in a wrestling world that has seen far too much tragedy.

If you appreciate the in-ring aspect of professional wrestling, you owe it to yourself to seek out some Misawa matches. His 1990 matches against Jumbo Tsuruta, his series of matches with Toshiaki Kawada (particularly their 6/3/1994 match, often ranked as one the greatest professional wrestling matches of all-time) and Kenta Kobashi, and any of a number of fantastic tag team bouts involving Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, Akira Taue, and Jun Akiyama, are, in my opinion, the finest examples of the in-ring art of professional wrestling. There is no need to understand the commentary or know the storylines leading up to the match -- the entire story is told by what the wrestlers do in the ring and how they do it. The magic of professional wrestling is the ability to tell a story almost purely through a performer's physical actions. Misawa was a true master.

Besides his incredible in-ring talents, Misawa was an important figure in the Japanese wrestling business. One of the top draws for All Japan Pro Wrestling throughout the 1990's, Misawa served as the company's president for about a year and a half after founder Shohei (Giant) Baba's death. Amid disputes with Baba's widow, Misawa left All Japan, taking the bulk of its roster with him, and formed a new promotion called Pro Wrestling NOAH. While NOAH could generally be classified as a success, the wrestling business in Japan is faring extremely poorly right now (MMA has long since overtaken pro wrestling in popularity in Japan), and NOAH lost their TV contract shortly before Misawa's death. Nevertheless, Misawa remained one of the top draws in Japanese wrestling. To try to imagine the impact of his death on the Japanese wrestling business, the closest comparisions I could come up with would be if the same happened to Triple H or Vince McMahon. You could imagine the reverberations that would have -- the death of someone of Misawa's stature is comparatively impactful to the Japanese wrestling business.

At the end of the day, what truly makes a wrestler great is their ability to emotionally connect with the audience. Watch one of Misawa's matches to see the resonance of his connection with the fanbase: the thundersous "MISAWA! MISAWA! MISAWA!" chants, the crowd and announcer going absolutely apeshit after Misawa defeated legend Jumbo Tsuruta (announcer, his voice absolutely shredded: "NEW HERO!!! NEW HERO!!!"), or your own cheering for Misawa to keep fighting while watching one of his legendary matches. He will be sadly missed by fans in his home country and around the world.

Thank you, Misawa.

RIP Mitsuharu Misawa

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:46:00 +0000

Died in the ring after receiving a belly-to-back suplex from Akitoshi Saito. Sad times. Let's let our resident Japanese wrestling expert elaborate. Bobek?

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Umaga update

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:44:00 +0000

Over on WWE.com, they're saying he was let go because of a second wellness-policy offense and his refusal to enter rehab.

Quick thought

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:14:00 +0000

With a new WWE Champion to be crowned next Monday, that'll make 6 different holders of the WWE and World Titles in 8 days. And don't forget the ECW and Intercontinental Title changes in that time span too. Or the U.S. Title change only a week before.

Why would anyone pay to see a meaningless title defended?

gem from ECW

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:42:00 +0000

IS TO

AS

IS TO

Umaga released!

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Us here at the Stunt Granny saw Umaga's debut live in Chicago and couldn't believe he even existed. It just seemed so campy and outdated to have an insane Samoan on the roster, but that's exactly what made Umaga work for quite a while. He didn't speak, he just attacked people for whatever reason.

Now - he recently started speaking, which was the only thing WWE could do to propel him forward, and now he's gone. I'm sure we'll find out why in the coming days. Don't know if you caught it, but the camera caught John Morrison shit-talking to Umaga, "Oh that's right, you can talk now!" during the start of a match. Very funny stuff.

May you Samoan Spike elsewhere soon, Umaga!

Quick Post-Raw Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (bobek) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:10:00 +0000

I'll have the fuller continuation to my first column below up in the next few days, but meanwhile, here are some things that occurred to me watching Raw tonight:

- The current title feuds are being completely wasted in this part of the WWE schedule. That promo for the Hardy/Edge ladder match that ran before Cole and King ran down the PPV card did one of the best jobs I've seen in a while in selling a match and actually (gasp!) using two wrestlers' past history in the build to a climactic match. Think how much more could have been done with this storyline with more time and more focus -- there are enough highlights of Hardy and Edge in ladder/TLC/hardcore/MITB matches to run a "Hardy/Edge Moment of the Week" type of thing on every show for a month or two leading up to the match. Hard to believe, but "you'd better see the show these guys are gonna put on, since they might not live through it" might actually sell some tickets and generate some PPV buys. Seeing as they came up together, most fans know the whole background, you could easily work Matt Hardy into the storyline... I don't want to go into any fantasy booking or anything, but how this couldn't get on one of the Big Four PPVs with some real time and build put into it is completely beyond me.

Meanwhile, I've been pleasantly surprised with the Batista/Orton storyline. I'm not the biggest Batista fan, but the guy is ridiculously over with kids and a decent chunk of the rest of the audience, certainly enough so to stop most encroaching cheers for Orton. The addition of Flair has worked out pretty well and adds some intrigue, although it's painful to see Flair involved in any kind of physicality. I want to believe in Ric Flair (hey, maybe that promo was directed at me), but the guy can barely move at this point, and just lays there rather than selling. More than the lacking performance, I'm concerned for the man and his physical well-being. It's hard to see someone like Ric Flair look like he's genuinely getting hurt out there and struggling through every movement. Still, the punt was very effective at giving Batista extra motivation -- which brings me back to the point, why is this being wasted on Extreme Rules? Batista/Orton is one of the few top feuds that hasn't been done to death, and there's plenty of backstory between the characters to work with.

Thinking ahead to Summerslam, are there really matches/angles that look to be in the offing with more to offer than these as drawing cards? I'm drawing a blank.

- Miz totally held his own in the tag match. I liked his intensity, and judging from the heat for Cena's comeback, the crowd's dying to see him get his. Of course, instead of delaying it and building it, they'll have him lose to Cena with no build on a random Raw... Hard to believe it, but I'm pretty impressed with Miz, and it's nice to see a fresh face in the main event mix.

- It's too bad Big Show's camel clutch exists solely for the purpose of the Submission Match with Cena. The lack of long-term planning again boggles the mind -- even though it's hard for fans to take Show seriously as a threat, book him to destroy everyone in sight with it for a few months and THEN put Cena in the Submission Match with him and actually draw some money. Or just waste a killer-looking finisher on a three week build for a mid-summer PPV.

- The inconsistency of the product is maddening. One week everything seems headed in the right direction, the next you wonder how WWE has ever drawn a dime. Most abstractly blame a lack of "long-term planning," but I wonder if that isn't necessitated by running so many PPVs? Hard to have a four month build to a match when you need fresh PPV matchups every three or so weeks... they need to try some kind of rotation or something to let storylines grow and let characters get over before elevating them out of nowhere. As much success as MVP has had, turning him babyface rather suddenly and without much motivation and then immediately moving him to Raw and trying to elevate him to a top babyface level is just not going to work. The fans aren't invested in the guy yet. I think the tepid reactions he's gotten on Raw the past few weeks show that. Sure, "Ballin'" is over, but that's about it. Then again, with all the company's struggles getting a top babyface over, that might be enough encouragement for them to go all the way with it.

- And does anyone have ANY earthly idea why Kofi won the title? Think he's got some talent, but that came out of nowhere...

Ring of Honor on HDNet Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:27:00 +0000

So, the lady and I upgraded to a flat-screen and an HD receiver through DirecTV, which enables us to view the hour-long Ring of Honor TV show! Very exciting stuff. After two 15-plus hour days of death metal, I came home and we checked out the show.

Opening match was a three-way dance between Jay Briscoe, Kenny Omega and Kenny King. Decent 8-minute match or so that saw Briscoe get busted open hardway over his left eye and Kenny Omega with a bloody nose and the win.

Next match was a tag match between Irish Airborne and Dark City Fight Club. Quick match that saw the Dark City guys with a victory.

Third match was Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston (no relation to Kofi, I don't think). Decent singles match that was more of a brawl than anything.

Main event was Necro Butcher and Delerious vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Brodie Lee. Necro took a wicked double suplex out of the ring that allowed Jacobs and Lee to focus on Delerious for a while. Good, 12-14 minute match.

Now - there weren't any commercials to speak of, just previews for the next two weeks of ROH programming, spotlights on wrestlers (one was . . . someone, the other was on Bryan Danielson), and some promos.

It was just a breath of fresh air. Sure, the crowd in Philly where they tape the shows is pretty small, but the camera work is fine, the promos are hilarious old-school style promos that you don't really get anymore in the WWE, and the pace of the matches is much faster, hard-hitting, and inventive.

Commentary between Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak is just okay, but even hearing the NAMES OF MOVES BEING DONE IN THE RING is enough to make me happy at this point. Elbow strike? Senton? What are these things you speak of?!

Tag matches were good to see, and although I appreciate tag matches actually being relevant, the ROH style of chaotic tag-team wrestling is a little disorienting at times. The ref just stands around and looks helpless, which doesn't really make his three count all that important. Like, why does he get the officially finish the match when he can't enfore any other rules (most of the time)?

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Judgement Day Results!

noreply@blogger.com (Hoffa) — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:08:00 +0000

OK! Here we go!

Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison (0/1)

Oops! Guessed wrong on this one. These two have been having a cool, back-and-forth feud, so it could have gone either way. I really like Morrison, so this is good news, despite my bad prediction.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (IC Championship) (1/2)

Got this one right! This works, because Mysterio has barely defended this belt to begin with.

CM Punk vs. Umaga (2/3)

This just makes sense. Sucks that this PPV had to happen in Punk's hometown, but this is just where we are in this storyline. Cool tease on Smackdown of Punk cashing in his Money in the Bank contract, but it being the Friday before a PPV, you knew it wasn't going to happen. Makes sense in the scheme of things.

Big Show vs. John Cena (2/4)

Good lord. On Monday, Cena was a wreck, tonight he manages to hoist up Show and finish him off. Fucking retarded. No wonder Show gained a bunch of wait and doesn't seem to give a shit anymore. I just keep thinking back to when Show was ECW champ and he was so awesome, throwing Flair into tacks and generally causing problems for other people. Now he's just some blog that fucked Vickie Guerrero. Fuck me.

Edge vs. Jeff Hardy (World Heavyweight Championship) (3/5)

Called this one. Matt Hardy interference with The Cast causes Jeff the belt. It's like Matt has just been treading water until he could cost Jeff the belt again. Why hasn't he been interacting with Jeff on TV? Just so we can get this screwy finish? Whatever. I know I predicted that this would re-ignite the feud, but what has it stagnated to begin with?

Christian vs. Jack Swagger (ECW Championship) (4/6)

Wait, Swagger tried to pin Christian while holding his tights, the ref noticed and called him out, but then Christian won via holding Swagger's tights? I'm not into the fact that WWE is teaching kids that it's okay to be a dick if someone does it to you first. Lame.

Randy Orton vs. Batista (WWE Championship) (5/7)

Orton hits the ref to get himself DQ'd (and we're not talking about Hot Eats and Cool Treats, Stunt Granny fans), Legacy beats the shit out of Batista until Flair makes the save, an old-ass man fighting off three youngsters. Maybe Jericho is on to something here . . . but I'n still glad HHH hasn't shown his mug in a month.

71.4% correct . . . about as well as I did in math in school.

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