Wrestlemania 27 Host City

It is official that Atlanta will be host of next year's Wrestlemania 27. The event will be held at the Georgia Dome. Also in the running had been Toronto and Miami. While I'm disappointed at the postponement of Toronto's third 'Mania, I congratulate Atlanta on the event - it's always an attractive show which brings in some tourists and dollars, as well as other wrestling attractions looking to capitalize on the weekend festivities.

Greg Helms/Chris Jericho arrest update

Ashley Storer, the woman involved in the Wednesday night/Friday morning altercation that left WWE Superstars Chris Jericho and Greg Helms arrested for public drunkenness, says that the violence in the altercation - which saw Helms punch Jericho, her and one other occupant of their cab - was overstated; that he and Jericho had been play-tussling and she caught an elbow by accident. Being drunk and tired, she reacted badly, leaving the cabbie to think the injury was worse than it was. He pulled over and called 911. She also claims that Matt Hardy, also present, was completely sober.

Meanwhile, TMZ cameras also caught up with Randy Orton and asked him for an opinion on the arrest, to which he responded "Arrested? No no no no no, not Chris." When asked if he thought wrestlers were the new rock'n'rollers due to the amount of trouble they got into, he replied "We don't get in trouble. We represent the WWE in a very positive manner. Getting in trouble isn't positive now, is it?"

Thank you, Randy Orton, for the insightful comment of the day!

ITVR, bare bones but on time

Click the post heading to listen in. :)

RAW thoughts ...

So last night's Raw wasn't bad, although it also didn't stand out as other recent ones have. I've been concerned about the sudden depush of MVP after going toe-to-toe so well with the Miz two weeks ago; perhaps he wasn't supposed to be such a good foil? I don't know. But I enjoyed the Miz, and I enjoyed the increasing tension between DX and between the Legacy - this was a go-home Raw before the Royal Rumble and I think they did an acceptable job of a final push towards the big show. They even had a surprisingly decent host (Dule Hill - Mike Roday was hospitalized due to an appendectomy over the weekend), an my favourite moment with him was surprising Maryse with setting pyro off 'accidentally'.

John Cena also did a fantastic job standing up to Vince McMahon in defense of Bret Hart; this might go a-ways to quieting some of the boo-birds concerned with Cena's unquestioning, naive workhorse persona, and he absolutely shone in the role of Vince's conscience. And Jack Swagger-Santino Marella was forwarded as well ... although I feel bad for Swagger having to work with the 'comic relief'.

Bottom line though, again - some bright, bright moments, and some less memorable ones. Worth checking out if you have the time and interest. :) We'll talk more in depth about this Thursday night on our podcast, so be sure and join us then ... In This Very Ring.

ITVR

Up and ready to go, better late than never - click the post heading. Have a goodnight all.

Tech difs. and Haiti Relief

Hi guys - first quick and (comparatively) unimportant note - we recorded an entire 80 minute podcast tonight only to realize the mic had been on mute the whole time ... BOO on us! Embarrassing! But we'll re-record tomorrow, promise, and include Smackdown results (and can probably make the show more succinct then anyway) so be sure and tune in.

Meanwhile, our first message is one we aren't willing to let go by without sharing tonight, after having watched two very important and moving telethons - be sure and donate to Haiti relief. I know money is tight for all of us right now, but none of us know suffering, poverty and need like this nation does right now. We now have, and we encourage anyone who is able to do the same.

In Canada - www.canadaforhaiti.com or 1-877-51-HAITI
In the US - www.hopeforhaitinow.org or 1-877-99-HAITI

From a wrestling bent, the WWE works with Americares for Haiti relief; you can check out the details on this at http://corporate.wwe.com - check out the 'WWE In Your Corner' link.

Peace.

Quick Hits: Raw & Pro Wrestling Illustrated

So Monday was a pretty solid Raw all around, lots of props to John Heder and Don Johnson as decent guest hosts; Psych stars Dule Hill and the other guy will guest host next week - this will make the USA Network happy as it's one of their newer shows they're trying to pimp. A solid effort by all on Monday with good progress in terms of hyping the Royal Rumble, and only a few disappointments more by omission than comission that we will discuss more in-depth tomorrow on ITVR ...

Where we'll also discuss the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Year-End Achievement Awards, as published in the bright shiney new Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine I just got in my mailbox yesterday! Again, I'll save some of it for the show but a couple quick highlights:

1. Shawn Michaels won his 6th consecutive Match of the Year for his Wrestlemania effort against the Undertaker. This is unprecedented, being only so much as approached by ... Shawn Michaels! Who previously strung together 4 straight MOTY wins from 1993-1996, making for ten total - more than Ric Flair, Steve Austin and the Rock ... COMBINED.
2. Randy Orton and John Cena went head to head one last time in the most contested duel for Wrestler of the Year in the history of the Achievement Awards. Orton eventually edged John Cena out ... by 0.0025%! Both men were listed as having earned 23% of the vote.
3. Randy Orton also has the distinction of tying Triple H for the greatest number of 'Most Hated Wrestler of the Year' wins. Being as he is about a decade younger than Trips, I'm going to make the same guess as the PWI gurus that he will ultimately be the record holder for this dubious distinction.

Again - an interesting week for wrestling then. Be sure and tune in to hear about these highlights and more tomorrow night when we post up this week's podcast of ... In This Very Ring.

TNA Genesis Tonight

So we won't be watching it - Golden Globes, I think, instead - but tonight for TNA fans, it's their Genesis PPV. With reports of their returning to the four-sided ring tonight, and the arrival of a major new acquisition, it should be a good show. We will try to record the replay and catch it sometime in the next day or two. But if you're looking for an alternative to awards shows, this is a viable one. :) Enjoy. XO.

Podcast

Click the entry heading and enjoy. Happy weekend.

ITVR programming note

To be able to comment on TNA developments tonight, and The Rock's appearance on Jay Leno, ITVR will be broadcasting tomorrow. We will also discuss

• Monday Night Raw's followup to the head-to-head show from last week.
• Vince Russo's Q&A on Facebook.
• Randy Orton's bad week.

And more. Be sure and tune in then. :)

Raw Thoughts

So when Raw did good last night, they did very very good. And what didn't work wasn't awful, although there were definitely some missed opportunities and some things which could have been better. So I give Raw a B in terms of following up on last week's spectacular edition. In no particular order, stream of consciousness style ...

Let's start with the mixed bag that was Mike Tyson. He didn't do an awful job as guest host, but I've seen better as well. He was almost TOO enthusiastic - although I did enjoy the bait-switch at the end (he'd been siding along with Chris Jericho to get a spot back on Raw, and was going to team with him against DX at the end of the night - eventually revealing himself wearing a DX shirt and Kayoh-ing Jericho ... not exactly new but entertaining).

Vince McMahon got crowd heat, though I'm afraid not the right kind, with his promo against Bret Hart; I understand Bret not being there last night as Wrestlemania is still 3 months and a bit away, and you don't want to rush too much of a good thing, but I think Vince could have worked with what he had a bit more.

Speaking of heat - the crowd last night was TOUGH! I enjoyed the banter between Randy Orton, John Cena, Kofi Kingston and Sheamus, but as soon as John Cena started getting chummy with Kofi the crowd became firmly ... pro-Randy Orton?! Huh? That to me was the big story of last night. Loved the Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! references by Cena, and the Triple Threat Match, though predictable as a way of determining a #1 World Title contender, wasn't a bad one. It'll be interesting to see how they play heel-heel with Randy Orton challenging Sheamus; this often doesn't work, but if anyone can pull it off it's Orton. I was only disappointed in Kofi Kingston's reasoning as to why he should get a title shot - because he hasn't before. OK - but neither has Santino Marella, and that doesn't mean he deserves a shot. More? The better angle for Kingston to get into this match would have been to point out he has also BEATEN Randy Orton, so they stand at a pretty near-even feud.

Speaking of Santino Marella though, he was a part of a lost opportunity last night which kind of disappointed me - Jack Swagger promised to not be sent over the top rope before the Royal Rumble, or obviously even AT the Rumble, thus propelling himself to the #1 contender slot the Rumble winner is guaranteed. And yet, when Santino Marella came out to take Swagger up on this challenge, over the rope Swagger went. See, this won't help Santino significantly - not enough to make it a start towards him winning the Rumble anyway, while Swagger could have used that kind of a hook to get people talking about him as a potential dark horse contender. Unfortunate.

On the other hand, though, NOT wasting opportunities were MVP and the Miz, who both delivered absolutely GOLD promos about both of their histories. Talk about opposite sides of the tracks these two - on FIRE! Can't even describe how well they built their characters up - be sure and Youtube, or check out on WWE.com, their promo. It was fantastic. Meanwhile the tease continues for the friction within the Legacy, even extending on down to Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase, who bickered between themselves over who would win the Royal Rumble ...

In short then, Raw was MILES better than the don't-care variety hour it had been in the month leading into Christmas; someone woke up and realized the Rumble's up and the Road to Wrestlemania is on. At the same time, there's still plenty of room to improve and on the optimistic side I expect it to get nothing but better as the Granddaddy of 'em All, 2010 edition, gets closer. WWE always brings their A-game for that and are already teasing some awesome fights in terms of Bret-Vince, and Shawn Michaels-Undertaker which they teased again (Michaels was MVP of the night in terms of the main-eventers by the way; Miz and MVP stole the show but Michaels wanting to complete his tour of contrition and suck up to Mike Tyson, Triple H's uncertainty about it, Tyson's rejection of those overtures and ultimate joining of DX, was a great storyline that threaded the evening together). Solid B show, with much potential to churn out A shows as the month(s) progress(es).

On a sadder note ...

Just caught up on some wrestling news from the weekend and learned that the former early/mid-1990s WWE wrestler Ludvig Borga (Tony Halme), most recently a member of Finland's parliament as a member of the nationalist, anti-immigration True Finn party, was found dead in his home. Finnish tabloids are reporting it as a suicide. A sad end to an athlete and politician who'd found success in wrestling, MMA and politics.

The Tooth Fairy

Don't worry, don't worry, Raw reax will be up later tonight or tomorrow (more likely) ... but in the meantime had to share ...



The Rock's new movie, THE TOOTH FAIRY ... co-starring JULIE ANDREWS! (yes ... Mary Poppins, Maria Von Trapp, the Queen in the Princess Diaries) ... also featured are Abigail Breslin, Ashley Judd and Billy Crystal.

Vince Russo

So not much going on this weekend but I wanted to suggest everyone follow Vince Russo's fan page on Facebook of late - he's taking fan questions and attempting to answer as many of them as he can. It's incredibly cool and he's got some very interesting answers to questions some of us have been asking for months if not years. I'm not Russo's biggest fan, personally, as a wrestling writer, and I don't always agree with his answers to these questions, but it's an opportunity to question a relatively important mover-and-shaker from the WWE/WCW wars era. So head on over to FB, and plug him on into the search for fan pages.

Meanwhile be sure and keep on following here, particularly Monday night as we react to the fallout from the Bret Hart-Vince McMahon onscreen bustup, as well as Mike Tyson's stint as RAW guest host. :) We hope you'll keep on checking in right here, in this very ring. Night folksies.

ITVR

Up and on time and ready to go - click the entry heading to take a listen to our feedback on this week's Monday Night War.

By the way I said on air I wasn't sure when TNA's Genesis Pay Per View was, but I thought it might be this week. Incorrect. It is a week from Sunday, January 17.

Have a good night pplz!

About Last Night

Well, it wasn't perfect, and we still have a ways to go before getting that well-oiled machine back up to the par of the late-1990s (especially as last night's head-to-head TNA and WWE shows featured many of the same acts as they did back then), but I have to say TNA and WWE pulled off a fantastic, old-school night of wrestling. Objectively, there were some mess-ups (I was not a fan of the no-finish call on the first match, and I always have issues with TNA's policy of putting ALL the X-division guys into one cluster- of a match, for example), but the *feel* of both shows, minus some eye-rolling moments, was great.

TNA

• A big enough night for this company when major starts Jeff Hardy and Ric Flair's 'jumps' from the competition were almost small-scale news; I wish that hadn't been so, given Flair's a legend and Hardy was the most popular guy on the WWE roster 4-5 months ago.
• They addressed the elephant in the room by playing up whether Hogan was in business for himself and his cronies - the former NWO guys Scott Hal, Sean Waltman and Kevin Nash, as well as the Nasty Boys - without actually answering that question. While he seemed unimpressed with his paycheck-and-spotlight grabbing buds, he didn't entirely rebuke them, and he DID go off on face Jeff Jarrett. On the other hand, he gave high praise to TNA World Champ AJ Styles and Kurt Angle ... two of the most popular guys in the company.
• Speaking of the Nasty Boys, above, I'm not a huge fan; they're 20 years past anything resembling a prime and one could argue they weren't that great then. But the Nastys vs. the Dudleys has more potential due to their similar styles than pretending they can hang with Beer Money or the Motor City Machine Guns.
• With new arrivals almost every segment, some expected (the NWO, Bischoff, the Nasty Boys) and some less-so (Hardy, Flair), this show had a big-time feel to it, but also an old-time feel to it (see the names listed above); it got me intrigued for one night, using Hogan and Bischoff's old WCW formula; let's see if they've learned from the past and can add some longevity to the mix now. Hopefully Jeff Jarrett and some of the others (AJ Styles, Daniels, Samoa Joe) who've been in the mix awhile can help with that.

WWE

• I'm not going to pretend to be anything less than a fangirl on this one; Bret Hart is my all-time favourite wrestler, at most tied with ... you guessed it ... Shawn Michaels. Their history and unfinished business has intrigued me as much as many others over the years, perhaps moreso due to my divided loyalties. To have Bret come out, and call Michaels out as well, almost immediately, addressed the elephant in the room and allowed the show to go on. I half-expected a truce might be called here (there's only one other option right?), but I didn't expect the 'hug heard around the world'. A cool, admittedly squeal-worthy moment that threw me back to being fifteen years old all over again. I wonder if this was a way of addressin the Bret-Shawn issue and bowing Shawn out of the mix, or if there might be more to it - a double cross perhaps, or some dissension about the make-up in DX (especially due to Shawn's partner Triple H's McLoyalties?). My gut is telling me this was a way of addressing the issue and moving Shawn along, but if these two were willing to continue working together I see potential there.
• There were plenty of other opportunities over the night for Bret Hart to manifest his bitterness - he could have screwed DX out of their tag titles by helping former Calgary croney Chris Jericho out in his title match, but he didn't - yet they addressed the history there, which was rewarding to us oldschool fans (though it occurs to me as the Hart family dynasty is aging and the Hart House has been sold, that there might be some fans today with no idea what the Dungeon is ...). He also had his face-to-face with Vince McMahon, but shook his hand, even accepting his father's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame this year before Wrestlemania 26 ... before Vince low-blowed him. So THAT'S how they keep him around. We'll have to see how this plays out.
• Yet I'm not going to complain WWE focused too hard on the older generation this show. Certainly to an extent, with Bret guest-hosting, but they also had Sheamus shine by winning a non-title match (which champions have too much of a tendency to lose) against Evan Bourne. I was sad to see Bourne lose on the one hand, but on the other hand, just getting the shot and somewhat holding his own was a good rub. And the four-way for a shot at the Miz's US title - won by MVP against Mark Henry, Jack Swagger and Carlito - was stellar as well. A very good balance, WWE at it's best, or at least certainly better than the drek of the last few weeks, with a limited dose of decent comedy thrown in - the obligatory DX/Hornswoggle shill spot, for example.

Both shows brought their A-game, although I'd say WWE gets the slight edge tonight for also showing some of their younger and newer attractions in something better than an 8-man mess, and of course for reputation going forward. Here's hoping both shows, however, bring out the best in each other, and that this truly is going to challenge both TNA and WWE to best themselves ... and each other. THAT can only be good news for wrestling fans in 2010. Let the war begin!

Monday Night Wars Redux

So *shameface* of course we go and get deathly ill pretty much the day after we get home from the holidays. Our apologies. But we seem to be feeling better now and will be watching along with the rest of the wrestling world as the two top wrestling organizations in North America - WWE and TNA - go head to head in Monday Night prime time. With Hulk Hogan making his Impact Zone debut and surprises ahead promised on TNA, and Bret Hart appearing live on WWE TV for the first time in twelve years, it should make for an awesome night.

Be sure and tune in later this evening or tomorrow for our thoughts on how this hopefully-spectacular night went down.