Chris Benoit to Raw? ECW Tag Team Titles to debut? JIM ROSS TO POSE FOR PLAYGIRL??? [Archive]

KingofOldSchool

03-04-2007, 03:57 PM

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- The current plan is to move Chris Benoit to the RAW brand after this year’s WrestleMania.

-- Dusty Rhodes has pushed WWE to add tag team titles to the ECW brand. The new belts are currently on order and should be in by the end of this month. We could possibly see the champions crowned at WrestleMania.

-- Speaking of Rhodes he is also pushing for Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch to move to the ECW brand after WrestleMania. Rhodes is said to really be impressed with both of these superstars.

<b><a href=http://www.wrestlingnews.com>First Site To Reveal: Jim Ross Playboy Pics (HOOTTTT)!! VIEW RISQUE PICS>></a></b>

M-A-G

03-04-2007, 03:59 PM

1. If they're not going to bother to do anything with him, there's no point.

2. They can't even manage 1 tag division much less three.

3. Then push them on Raw.

Xero

03-04-2007, 04:03 PM

If anything ECW should get a mid-card Championship (TV I suppose), not a tag team championship.

Granted, I don't follow ECW very well, but are there any other teams besides La Resistance?

M-A-G

03-04-2007, 04:04 PM

RVD and Sabu?

KingofOldSchool

03-04-2007, 04:04 PM

There's Burkey and Turkay...oh wait they fired Turkay.

There's the F.B.I....oh wiat they fired Mamaluke.

There's RVD and Sabu...both of them will probably be leaving soon.

Ummmmm....Kevin Thorn and Ariel?

Xero

03-04-2007, 04:05 PM

Wow, that's TWO teams. That constitutes a division I suppose.

Corkscrewed

03-04-2007, 04:08 PM

Haven't you been watching RAW and SD? Of course two teams is a division. Two of ANYTHING is a division in WWE-speak (*cough* Women's *cough*).

M-A-G

03-04-2007, 04:10 PM

I am so stoked for that World Tag Team Title match at Wr...wait....

Xero

03-04-2007, 04:13 PM

In WWE, division wrestles in YOU!

Rocky B

03-04-2007, 05:34 PM

Addressing all subjects in this thread:

1. Good move for Benoit if he can get a main event push though it's bad for SmackDown! to lose another big name.
2. Tag team wrestling on the other WWE brands is almost non existant and they want to add belts to ECW where there is no tag division at all. I agree with whoever said they should have a midcard belt like the TV Title though.
3. They won't be of any use. ECW is an hour long show and they have enough trouble cramming all of their stars in there. Also, like I said, there is no other tag teams.
4. LOL. I can picture JR posing nude in his cowboy hat.

6to1

03-04-2007, 06:01 PM

they need to move the raw tag belts to ecw and move the highlanders and crymetime to ecw then it would work.

Juan

03-04-2007, 08:14 PM

Well now that there are no true brand specific PPV's, I'm sure all three tag divisions will get little boost.

Jeritron

03-04-2007, 09:14 PM

nice thought. We have 2 tag divisions, and they're both worn thin and floundering...so lets add a 3rd set of tag belts to our company.
But what about CM Punk and all the other uppermidcarders in ECW? How about a TV title that could be defended every week so the ECW world title didn't have to be defended in the same matchup every week?
Nah we don't need that.

fuckin morons

Jeritron

03-04-2007, 09:17 PM

ECWs only hope in this universe is to send Benoit and Rey there(and 1 or 2 midcarders), go to 1.5 or 2 hours, bring in the TV and Tag titles, and put Paul Heyman back on the head of their creative.

none of that is gonna happen.

Mr. Nerfect

03-04-2007, 10:05 PM

Apparently Vito is going to be called up to team with Little Guido Maritato as The Full Blooded Italians. Trinity will remain on as their manager.

The WWE has quite a few tag teams in development which could be called up. The Frat Pack should really get a call, as they can market them as former World Tag Team Champions. They always seemed like a RAW or SmackDown! team to me, but this is the new ECW.

Justin "The Ox" LaRoche and Charles "The Hammer" Evans are down in OVW. I'm not sure how talented they are, but is the situation becomes so bad, they can be brought up for a stint.

There's also the team of Johnny Jeter & Idol Stevens. I like both guys, as they can both wrestle, and neither is awful on the stick. I wanted to see them on SmackDown!, but if they did go over there, they could replace a team like William Regal & Dave Taylor, or Deuce N' Domino.

KC James might also get the call back up with Tony "Amish Roadkill" Braddock, soon. I can see them being used as a face team in ECW.

A Television Division would have been the smartest way to go, though. The WWE has guys like Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Rob Van Dam (even if he should be main event, he did fuck up) and Kevin Thorn fighting over nothing. An ECW TV Title might make the ECW World Title look like something somewhat kinda possibly (in another dimension) meaningful.

Mr. Nerfect

03-04-2007, 10:08 PM

As far as Chris Benoit heading over to RAW goes? Good, he's not really doing anything on SmackDown!. He could do some amazing things on SmackDown!, but they're not going to let him, so they may as well move him to RAW.

Chris Benoit vs. Umaga, Chris Benoit vs. John Cena, Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit vs. Edge, Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton, Chris Benoit vs. Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit vs. Charlie Haas, Chris Benoit vs. Johnny Nitro, Chris Benoit vs. Val fucking Venis, Chris Benoit vs. Paul Burchill?

Times could be good.

The One

03-04-2007, 10:11 PM

Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels WWE Title Fued could get me to watch RAW again...

Jeritron

03-04-2007, 10:18 PM

Chris Benoit vs Edge title fued could get me to watch any brand.

Jura

03-04-2007, 10:26 PM

Chris Benoit vs Chris Benoit would be incredible.

Mr. Nerfect

03-04-2007, 10:27 PM

Benoit would probably get another main event push on RAW. I mean, the guy would probably replace The Great Khali as the guy with the most smark attention (wow, that's sad to type out), and the marks are bound to cheer him. Marks + Smarks + Talent + Credibility = Push. At least, I hope that's how it works.

I think Benoit could use a heel turn, but there are so many heels he can work with. I liked the Benoit we saw on SmackDown!, he just German suplexed Finlay on the floor and made JBL cream himself a little. A technically babyface, but ass-kicking machine Chris Benoit would do wonders for RAW.

Mr. Nerfect

03-04-2007, 10:29 PM

Chris Benoit vs Chris Benoit would be incredible.

Theoretically, yes, but the WWE already cut Brent Albright, who would have made one Hell of an opponent for Benoit. Shit, the thought of two tweener technicians going at it in a Battle of the Badasses is just too much. I cummed. :(

Jeritron

03-04-2007, 10:52 PM

Jura

03-04-2007, 10:56 PM

Yeah, I agree.

Theoretically, yes, but the WWE already cut Brent Albright, who would have made one Hell of an opponent for Benoit. Shit, the thought of two tweener technicians going at it in a Battle of the Badasses is just too much. I cummed. :(

Actually I would watch Benoit wrestle an invisible opponent. As a matter of fact, I would like to see The Rock wrestle an invisible wrestler. Invisible wrestler + Rock's selling skills = Good times.

Mr. Nerfect

03-05-2007, 02:26 AM

Actually I would watch Benoit wrestle an invisible opponent. As a matter of fact, I would like to see The Rock wrestle an invisible wrestler. Invisible wrestler + Rock's selling skills = Good times.

Haha, The Rock vs. Stevie Richards as the WrestleMania 24 main event?

Mr. Nerfect

03-05-2007, 02:29 AM

Benoit as a heel would be just like Angle in in later years. He's not really a heel or a face, he just is what he is and plays up the intesity.

Before he left, Angle was such a tweener. He was just neutral, the fans marked for him but he wasn't really a face or heel, just a machine. You had face Rey and heel Orton, and then Angle was just Angle.

:y:

Benoit would be even better than Kurt at it, in my opinion. Nothing against Angle, but he just had too much personality to really make me fall in love with "Extreme Wrestling Machine" Kurt. Chris Benoit's charisma, on the other hand, comes from being an Extreme Wrestling Machine. If they pushed him as such, I would cum myself everytime his music hit, or when I caught a glimpse of him, knowing someone was about to squeal.

Theo Dious

03-05-2007, 09:11 AM

I opened this thread to see nudie pictures of JR. I demand compensation. :shifty:

St. Jimmy

03-05-2007, 05:02 PM

Beniot comes back to Raw, Fueds with Cena (or HOPEFULLY Michaels) for the WWE title, Beniot is the man who finally beats Cena clean. (Crossface) say around July. Cena (finally away from the title) is screwed out of rematch after rematch by Coach. Come Summerslam there is no number one contender. Last RAW before Summerslam Coach says he has Beniots opponent. John Cena comes out assuming it's him, Cena is then forced into a Number One contenders match at Summerslam vs. Shawn Michaels and Edge in a Triple Threat.

Benoits opponent is.....
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50PBYg8eqI0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50PBYg8eqI0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

SummerSlam > WM.

Rocky B

03-05-2007, 05:06 PM

That's pretty good booking actually. I'd love to see Benoit win the title again.

Mr. Nerfect

03-05-2007, 07:20 PM

I remember a match back in the day (I think it was No Mercy 2000), where Triple H faced Chris Benoit. It was a Hell of a match, too. Triple H actually out-wrestled Benoit for a bit, but then Benoit turned on the ass-kicking and brawled with The Game. It was like they were besting each other at their own game. It was sweet shit.

Thanks for the memories, St. Jimmy. :y:

I'd love to see Heel Cena vs. Machine Benoit, though.

KingofOldSchool

03-05-2007, 07:33 PM

I'd love to see Heel Cena vs. Anyone.

Übermensch

03-06-2007, 08:07 AM

ECW currently has sixteen male wrestlers listed on their roster. I don't see how they can properly support a tag team division, when that requires ten wrestlers.

We'll get to see back and forth matches between the Rednecks and the Italians.

NeanderCarl

03-06-2007, 08:38 AM

Chris Benoit faced Triple H in his first ever singles match in WWE. Naturally, Trips won.

TerranRich

03-06-2007, 11:25 AM

Jeritron

03-06-2007, 12:00 PM

Chris Benoit faced Triple H in his first ever singles match in WWE. Naturally, Trips won.

Wasn't that The Rock?

Theo Dious

03-06-2007, 12:07 PM

WHAT THE FUCK?

I come in here, expecting Jim Ross Playgirl pics, and all I get is actual wrestling news? WHERE is Matt Boone when you need him?

TerranRich is PISSED! Throws HISSY-FIT BACKSTAGE at RAW!! PICS INSIDE!!! [>>>] (#)

JR NAKED! *clap clap clapclapclap* JR NAKED! *clap clap clapclapclap* JR NAKED! *clap clap clapclapclap* JR NAKED! *clap clap clapclapclap*

NeanderCarl

03-06-2007, 12:25 PM

Wasn't that The Rock?

No. Cactus Jack brought the Radicalz in during his feud with Triple H. On their first night in action, they had a series of matches to determine whether the Radz would earn a WWE contract. I think Malenko faced X-Pac, Guerrero and Saturn faced the Outlaws and Benoit faced Triple H. If I remember correctly, the Radicalz didn't win a single match.

NeanderCarl

03-06-2007, 12:26 PM

Jeritron

03-06-2007, 12:45 PM

Oh, and a week later, the Radicalz turned heel. Just to emphasize that they cannot beat Triple H, so they figured they'd join him as his lackeys instead. Is it any wonder the Radicalz were damaged goods for so long? It took years for Benoit and Guerrero to turn their careers around, and Saturn and Malenko never even got to that stage.

Enough of the history lesson, I knew they turned heel on Cactus and shit.

As for the Triple H thing, Not really in the case of Guerrero and Benoit, they were off and running about a month later. Especially Benoit.
Benoit didn't lose cleanly, and they put him over the Rock the next week.

I was under the impression that they faced off against DX in a tag match, or that Benoit was in a tag match and The Rock was his first one on one signles debut, which resulted in a Benoit victory and a Big Show run in.

Jeritron

03-06-2007, 01:07 PM

And of course, in Trips defense there, he was WWF champion at the time, and Benoit had just came in. Plus its hard to have newcomers who are they exciting get solid heel heat unless they do something like betraying foley and siding with the McMahon Helmsley faction.

I don't see the way they were introduced as too damaging. They were booked to look good, if I remember, they really sold the HHH vs Benoit match since Benoit was WCW champ a few days earlier. If I remember correctly, he lost dirty or at the very least it was close. Why would you have the rival companies most recent champion show up and beat your WWF champion? Or have their midcarders beat yours for that matter?
They sort of paid their dues in that first month. Malenko and Saturn didn't have very bright futures, they could have been better, but they were midcarders in WWEs eyes, who showed up at a time where WWE had a wealth of main event stars and a stacked midcard filled with upward potential.
They didn't amount to much, but oh well.

Approximately 2 months after their first appearance on WWE tv, Eddie Guerrero and Benoit were European and IC champion respectively. And their fueds were with Jericho and Chyna, two TOP stars. By summerslam, Eddie was IC champion and Benoit was #1 contender for the WWF title with a PPV main event under his belt and a second coming up.

They both went on to be uppermidcard success in the IC title picture for the rest of the year, until Eddie was released for his own problems. Benoit went on to work his way into the main event in the Summer of 2001 before being injured, when he returned in 2002 he did a lot of good things before getting a steady push to a world title. Same deal with Eddie with his return in 02.

So it doesn't really hold water to say they were sabotaged by that act alone off the bat, if anything their WWE careeers moved at a fair pace.

addy2hotty

03-06-2007, 01:10 PM

Wasn't Benoit supposed to go over Trips during those 3 matches? Eddie got injured and that meant that the Outlaws won when they weren't supposed to.

I'm sure I remember it being said a few days later that Benoit was slated to beat Trips that night as it was non-title etc.

Jeritron

03-06-2007, 01:12 PM

That's probably the case too. Carl just saw it as an oppurtunity to blame HHH for a problem that doesn't even exist.

NeanderCarl

03-06-2007, 07:42 PM

Nah, the Benoit/Triple H match was supposed to be the rubber match I think. I can't remember now. I seem to recall it being a clean win for Trips though.

As for Guerrero and Benoit being "off and running" a few weeks later, it took Guerrero nearly four years to truly get over to the extent that he could be considered a main eventer. Maybe his problems slowed him down, granted. And nobody really took Benoit seriously as a potential champion for several years. They had a ton of heat and momentum coming in, and it was snatched away from them. Three of the four had become midcard comedy acts within a year. "Latino Heat", "Ladies' Man" and "I Love Moppy".

This isn't part of the "Triple H Conspiracy", WWE were right not to just drop their ongoing storylines in favour of the noobies. But they could have handled it a bit better.

NeanderCarl

03-06-2007, 07:49 PM

That's probably the case too. Carl just saw it as an oppurtunity to blame HHH for a problem that doesn't even exist.

Quote to me the part where I said Triple H had any involvement in holding back the Radicalz?

He just happened to be the guy Benoit lost to. He was rightfully favoured by the writers to look strong as the recently-crowned WWF Champion. He didn't have near as much political clout back then as he does now. This was before he was even screwing Stephanie. The "Triple H's lackeys" comment was more an indictment of the writers than Triple H. I don't hold Triple H responsible in any way.

For the record, WWE in the year 2000 was one of the best written periods in the history of the company (and Triple H had his best year ever as a performer and in-ring wrestler... he was tremendous in 2000). The writers back then were on top form. You can't get EVERYTHING right though, and The Radicalz did suffer from the way they were portrayed in their first few months in the company.

Jeritron

03-07-2007, 02:10 AM

I just don't see how you can fault anyone in the debut the radicals got off on. Just because they lost, doesn't mean they didnt make a strong entrance and get off on the right foot. Having them lose the way they did was probably twice as effective as debuting them individually and winning, or having them enter right into the midcard and win.

I agree Malenko and Saturn never recovered, but I don't know how much of a future they had in the 2000 wwf as it was. Eddie and Benoit weren't handicapped by it at all. Eddie's arm injury was more of a problem than anything.

Jeritron

03-07-2007, 02:24 AM

Jeritron

03-07-2007, 02:32 AM

NeanderCarl

03-07-2007, 10:31 AM

Also, my bad if I sounded like a dick, I just assumed you were blaming HHH as most often do for things like this, and even though I dislike his politics circa 03, I get rubbed the wrong way by over-blame place on him. But I realize that wasn't exactly what you were getting at.

2000 was an amazing year. I was reading up some more about the radicals and originally Konnan, Rey, Kidman were going to be in the debuting stable as well. That would have been great if they were with them too and they made the stable stay together longer.

Shane Douglas and Raven was also part of the walkout/uprising of late '99/early '00 in WCW, but I think WWF had no interest in using Douglas, and Raven was only given a limited release by Bischoff just a month or two before The Radicalz had their full release from Bill Busch.

Also, I didn't simply mean the Radicaz were damaged by losing on their first night. I mean, the whole period of their arrival. Combinations of them were jobbing to Too Cool within weeks of arriving.