2009 Dirty Awards: Least Shocking Moment of the Year

Nominations and Winner:

- Christian returning, 10th February

- Donald Trump ‘selling’ RAW back to Vince McMahon, 22nd June (Winner)

- Santina Marella winning the Diva Battle Royale at Wrestlemania 25, 5th April

- Jeff Hardy Quitting, 28th August

- Montreal Screwjob 4, 13th September

Trump selling RAW backing to Vince was funny because of the impact it had on the stock market. But it was no shock because RAW was Vince’s baby and was never going to let RAW go. Christian return was not a shock because everyone knew he was returning at the Royal Rumble and everyone was expecting him them but after that when he did return it was nothing special. Santina winning the Battle Royale at Wrestlemania 25 was not a shock nor was the fact Santina was Santino despite King, Cole and JR’s best attempt to disguise the fact. Jeff Hardy quitting is similar to Christian arriving everyone knew it was happening just not when. Motreal Screwjob 4, the fact it is the forth Screwjob in Montreal should tell you all why this was no great shock.

NEXT UP: The Don't Come Back Award

2009 Dirty Awards: Commentator of the Year

Nominations and Winner:
- Matt Striker (Winner)
- Jim Ross
- Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler
- Todd Grisham
- Vince McMahon
Matt Striker has to win this award. Why? Because, he is one of the most knowledgeable commentators in WWE with the exception of J.R. But his performance at TLC alone means he should get the award, whilst Cole and King let their bias get in the way, Matt Striker objectively called Sheamus winning the WWE title and pointing out the crushed Cena and crushed children (much to the delight of O’Dea and myself.) Also he comments are a new breath of fresh air in WWE. Vince McMahon’s return to the mic was good but short and therefore he cannot win the Dirty, likewise Todd Grisham although he is a good commentator he does not have the certain something to get him to the standard of Dirty award winning. J.R. of course deserves a special mention and his consistency almost won him this Dirty, however due to illness he has been of our screens and therefore unable to win. (For news on J.R. go to his website http://www.jrsbarbq.com/) The King does not deserve the Dirty award because although a good commentator his need for a cheat sheet as he does not watch ECW or Smackdown left a bad taste in my mouth and stopped him from winning the award.

O'Dea Note: To be honest, there is nothing I need to add to this, Matt seems to get better and better every week and is now again showing off his very nice heel commentary, which at the PPVs, with the 3 man announce team works extremely well with the way he plays off Jerry Lawler. And here is Matt checking over his Slammy from last year:

NEXT UP: Worst PPV

Vince Not Happy With the Product, As Always

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (f4wonline.com) One of the most prominent things heard at WWE creative meetings from Vince McMahon is his overall frustration with the product as of late and complaining about the company's inability to create new stars. Probably the biggest criticism the company is getting now is pushing their TV harder than PPV events in the last year or so. One WWE source added, "Vince and his current crop of generals are so inside a bubble that they cannot even define what is logical anymore. Vince has put considerable distance between his brilliance as a promoter and matchmaker and his current path, which I can best describe as disjointed booking and promoting that even he second guesses. That's never good. The difference between Vince and others is that he's falling for the trap of buying into the sh*t that a lot of the wrong generals are shoveling his way. Guys like Brian Gewirtz are horrendously bad for business. Hayes is solid and consistent but he's paranoid as sh*t nowadays and also is long gone in terms of having an understanding of cultural shifts." It should also be noted that during a creative meeting two weeks ago, McMahon actually said, "GOD DAMIT! WHY CAN'T WE CREATE NEW STARS?"

Video.dot.Blog - DX Impersonate The McMahons

DX's McMahon impersonates The McMahons
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Video.dot.Blog - Commercial Free Monday Night Raw

Donald Trump "Buys" Monday Night Raw

So... where are they going with this?

Tonight on the WWE 3-FOR-ALL

Tonight at 8/7 CT (1am BST), The 3-for-all, with 4 massive title matches from all 3 brands. From ECW, The New ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer goes up against former champ Christian, the "gold" on the line. From Smackdown, a Triple Threat for the World Heavyweight Championship, the new champ CM Punk defends against Jeff Hardy and Edge. The vacant WWE Championship will be put on the line in a Fatal-Four Way between the Big Show, John Cena, Randy Orton and the returning Triple H. Also, Chris Jericho will put his newly won Intercontinental Championship on the line against Rey Mysterio. With Former Raw GM Vickie Guerrero quitting last week Vince McMahon is back to announce Raw's new GM! And So make sure you tune in for 3 hours of WWE at its very best!

Wrestling Quote #16: As Exiciting as a Coma and last longer than a Recession

Jim Cornette has a feature on his official website, www.JimCornette.com, where fans can ask him his take on any subject. He admits to being "politically incorrect." Anyway, when asked who he feels is the most overrated wrestler of the past and today, he feels overrated is not the correct term, instead opting for "overpushed." Cornette wrote:

"The whole idea of promoting wrestling is to make the fans think a wrestler is better than he is, so to me, overrated is not the term. OverPUSHED is a different story. Who has been pushed on a major league basis way more than their talent or attitude should have dictated? One has to look no further than the mass hypnosis Vince McMahon worked in getting the Ultimate Warrior over. A body with no substance, Warrior was stunningly bad when he entered the business, and never got much better. His work sucked, he was dangerous, never tried to get better, he couldn't cut a coherent promo, he had a superstar attitude, he was a prick to many of his fellow talents, and he was pushed solely because of Vince's fascination with steroided-up male bodies. He had a 3 or 4 year run before both his bad attitude and the public seeing through him coincided, and a 6 week nostalgia run 4 or 5 years later. The only legacy he left was that he made a lot of money undeservedly and had really bad matches with some really good workers.

On the female side, look to the female version of Warrior, Sable, and pretty much repeat the above paragraph. Couldn't talk, no emotion, couldn't work and wouldn't try to learn, star attitude (she did hide it well toward those in power--for awhile), and was pushed only because of her ability to pick a good plastic surgeon and Vince's apparent sexual frustrations. I've seen hotter ice sculptures. Killed her husband's career by powerbombing him on TV and no guys would sell for him (or in Steve Austin's case, even WORK with him) after that.

For the present, let's go with Hunter Hearst Helmsley-McMahon. Actually, he's a very good worker and studies the business. His promos are usually as exciting as a coma and last longer than this recession, but he has good matches. Problem is, as hard as he's been crammed down people's throats for the past 10 years, he should have surpassed Hogan, Austin, and Rock, but HHH is what is called in the business "the guy that works with the guy that draws money." He should be in there to have a good match and put the star over. Actually, he should have been fired in 1996 when he s**t on the entire sport with the infamous "curtain call" at MSG, but Vince, the guy with "balls of steel", let HHH piss in his face and not only didn't do anything about it, but let him marry his daughter! And a sledgehammer? Jesus Christ, I wish he'd hit me in the head with it before he starts talking on TV. HHH will be the top guy in the WWE until he looks like Dick the Bruiser in his final days working an Indiana county fair show, and if THAT'S not overrated, I don't know what is."

Joey Styles vs Barack Obama

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter As is to be expected by those aware of the predominant political ideology within WWE, Vince McMahon reportedly enjoyed Joey Styles' string of Twitter comments on Barack Obama. Political discussions are reportedly frequent on McMahon's plane trips and in company meetings, and sources say McMahon has historically given favorable treatment to those who offer staunch conservative rhetoric. Nonetheless, while the anti-Obama rants have reportedly turned Styles into a Vince McMahon "favourite," those close to Styles say he has been offering his true beliefs. WWE officials recently put pressure on Styles to scale back the comments, as noted by the recent Tweet about Styles' views not representing those of WWE. Higher-ups felt that the partisan rhetoric could hurt the company on a number of levels, including in its relations with advertisers, in its non-partisan "SmackDown! Your Vote" campaign and in executive Linda McMahon's standing as a School Board official.

Randy Orton the Reason Chris Masters is Back at WWE

Credit: F4WOnline.com According to Dave Meltzer, Chris Masters had a meeting with Vince McMahon in Los Angeles at the tapings and was recommended by Randy Orton to be brought back. Masters was fired in late 2007 on his second strike instead of his third strike, when at first he was being suspended for 60 days based on first, the Signature Pharmacy case, and shortly after his return, failing a drug test. Several months earlier he had a stint in rehab for an issue with prescription painkillers, but that does not count as a strike in the Wellness program because there was no test failure associated with him being sent to rehab.

Wrestling Quote #15: Enos Envy

Mr McMahon talking to 'E.Stanley Kroenke!' on yesterday Night's edition of Monday Night Raw "You got Enos envy!"

Note from O'Dea: Yep, and that's the closest they're going to get with a PG Rating.

Massive Raw Main Event from The STAPLES Center and Vince ready to file Lawsuit?

The following is from WWE.com: Live on Raw from Los Angeles' STAPLES Center, WWE presents its answer to the Lakers vs. the Denver Nuggets. WWE Champion Randy Orton, Legacy, The Miz & Big Show face U.S. Champion MVP, Batista, John Cena, Jerry Lawler & a fifth "player."

WWE issued the following statement on their website announcing the Raw in Los Angeles for this Monday: STAMFORD, Conn. – World Wrestling Entertainment has made arrangements, given innumerable logistical challenges and obstacles, to move its internationally televised broadcast, WWE Monday Night Raw to Los Angeles' STAPLES Center. The live televised event, which was scheduled to take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver this Monday, May 25th, will take place live at the STAPLES Center at 5:30 p.m. PT. Tickets for Monday Night Raw in Los Angeles will become available tonight at 8 p.m. ET. WWE was forced to seek alternative arrangements due to the Pepsi Center's double-booking of May 25 for both WWE Monday Night Raw and Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. The event will now take place live from the home of the Denver Nuggets' opponents, the Los Angeles Lakers. Denver fans wishing to receive a refund for their tickets to the originally scheduled Pepsi Center event must return tickets to the original point of purchase. Vince McMahon spoke to 9News and once again seems to be considering legal action against Denver Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke. McMahon said: "It's really unfortunate because if he were just a regular business man and picked up the phone and said, 'Vince, you know, we're throwing you out but I want to make it right, what can we do?' I never heard from Kroenke, I don't know if anyone else has either, by the way, he's somewhat of a Howard Hughes guy I understand. I think our company has been damaged severely from a financial standpoint and from a psychological standpoint as well. You don't treat people the way Kroenke's management treated us. I'm not a litigious kind of guy, but quite frankly when we have a contract and we have over 10,000 tickets sold and you just say: we're out, and we're not going to do anything for you, you know we're not going to make any restitution. We may pay for your additional expenses, that's it. There could very well be a lawsuit down the road." In related news, TMZ.com has picked up the news that Raw is moving to Los Angeles and writes, "Vince isn't moving out of the kindness of his heart, he and the Nuggets struck a settlement -- but the terms of that deal haven't been made public yet."

Even More WWE vs NBA Media Coverage

This morning on ESPN's First Take, during the 1st and 10 segment, Skip Bayless, Doug Stewart and Ryan Stewart debated the hot topic of the WWE vs. the NBA. They played clips of Vince McMahon discussing Stan Kroenke as a bad businessman, and then started discussion. Skip Bayless said that the Nuggets, specifically Stan Kroenke could have changed this back in April before the contract was signed and says the players should be offended by their owner because of his lack of faith in the team. Doug Stewart agreed with this and agrees with Vince that Stan Kroenke is a bad businessman. Ryan Stewart said that it is an accidental double booking and that no one could have seen this coming, and that it was an accident that is getting too much attention. Doug Stewart and Skip Bayless disagree, and point out that multi-million dollar organizations do not make "accidental" booking mistakes, or that they shouldn't. Ryan Stewart tried to defend Stan Kroenke, while Skip Bayless and Doug Stewart said that this never should have happened. Sportscentre on TSN in Canada this morning covered the "WWE vs. NBA" situation. It was a short piece, where the sports journalists didn't mock wrestling, and basically was there to get non-wrestling fans up to speed on the situation.

More Media Coverage on WWE vs NBA

ESPN's Mike and Mike on ESPN 2, and they discussed the WWE vs. the NBA deal this morning on their show. They played sound bites of Vince McMahon's interview on ESPN news from last night, and joked that Vince is taking full advantage of the publicity and that he is a sound bite machine. Mike and Mike both agreed that WWE was in the right in this situation, as they booked the venue in August and were given the go by Stan Kroenke to begin selling tickets in April. The guys then put over the success of the WWE and discussed their favorite wrestlers, mostly guys from the 1980s, played "Real American" and read tons of favorite wrestling names that the fans mailed in. They were both having a really good time. They also played an audio clip, proposing that they play the basketball game and Raw at the same time, which ended with HHH taking out Kobe Bryant, distracting the referee and the Undertaker pinning Kobe. Overall this was a very positive piece for WWE, as both guys supported their position and spoke positively about WWE and wrestling as a whole.

The Associated Press has a story up on the WWE/Denver Nuggets conflict. According to the story, the NBA has left it up to WWE and the Pepsi Center to settle the issue. The article also features Vince McMahon criticizing Denver Nuggets owner Kroenke Sports. Vince also promises to send WWE's trucks to Denver on Monday and assuming RAW will happen at the Pepsi Center, even if the Nuggets keep their game scheduled for the same time. He says he will hold the show in the parking lot if he has to. MGH-TV in Denver interviewed Vince McMahon over the issue with the Denver Nuggets and the Pepsi Center. During the interview, McMahon held up Lakers gear and said that's what he thinks of Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke. McMahon said that Denver is a great city but that WWE is being thrown out. "Even though the Denver Nuggets had a strong team this year and were projected to make the playoffs, obviously Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke did not have enough faith in his own team to hold the May 25th date for a potential playoff game," McMahon said.

Denver Nuggets vs Monday Night Raw

From ESPN.com Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to be at the Pepsi Center in Denver next Monday night. Problem is, so are John Cena and a bunch of wrestlers -- and they called it first. World Wrestling Entertainment said it is booked at the arena for an episode of Monday Night Raw, the same night the Nuggets are slated to host the Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. WWE chairman Vince McMahon told The Associated Press he doesn't believe there was "any malice, just ineptness," on the part of Kroenke Sports, which owns the team and the building, but can't tolerate the company "just simply throwing us out on our ear." Without a quick resolution, McMahon plans to send his trucks to Denver. "That's what we intend to do," he said. "We're going to show up." Pepsi Center officials told the ABC television affiliate in Denver that the Nuggets game will be played as scheduled and that they are working with the WWE to reschedule or move its event. Paul Andrews, executive vice president of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, issued a statement Monday night concerning the scheduling conflict, saying: "We are working with the WWE to resolve the situation amicably." WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman said the organization secured the Pepsi Center last Aug. 15 and has already sold more than 10,000 tickets for the event. He says the organization expects a sellout, with tickets ranging from $20 to $70. McMahon blamed Kroenke for not believing his team was good enough to still be playing in mid-May. "The fans in Denver had a lot more faith in making the playoffs than the owner," he said in a phone interview from Louisville, where Raw was taking place later Monday night. Denver is usually done with basketball by now. The Nuggets had lost in the first round five straight years, but as the No. 2 seed in the West are in the conference finals for the first time since 1985. The league, which handles scheduling during the playoffs, is leaving it up to the team and the WWE to figure things out. "The Nuggets and the WWE understand that the date of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals cannot be changed," NBA senior vice president Mike Bass said. "We are confident that the Pepsi Center and the WWE will resolve their scheduling conflict." Zimmerman said the Pepsi Center confirmed in March with the WWE that the organization wanted to keep the May 25 date, and sent a contract on April 15 -- the final night of the regular season -- which WWE signed and returned. Tickets went on sale April 11. The conflict didn't arise until Sunday, when the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. Had the Rockets won, Denver would have had home-court advantage in the next round, hosting Games 1 and 2 and putting the May 25 game in Houston. As of Monday afternoon, the schedule on the Pepsi Center's Web site listed WWE for 6:30 p.m. local time and Western Conference finals Game 4 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the wrestling event could still be purchased online. McMahon said he couldn't guess how much he would make from the show, but that canceling wasn't easy because of how much is involved in moving his equipment, plus filling its obligated time slot on USA Network. Litigation is likely -- but he plans to be putting on a card. "When you do have a date, you plan everything around it," he said, adding, "we may be holding an event in a parking lot somewhere."

Highlights from 2009 WWE Annual Shareholders Meeting

The 2009 WWE Annual Shareholders Meeting was held on Friday morning (May 1st). Here are some of the newsworthy items from the meeting: Kevin Dunn missed the meeting due to an illness & may have been hospitalized. Vince McMahon said that he is not interested in running an MMA promotion. Vince McMahon said that WWE is looking into creating a Wednesday night TV program. He feels that it would not be overexposure due to the huge number of TV stations available & that being on TV every weeknight would make it easier for the fans to follow along with the storylines or catch up if they miss any of the TV shows. A shareholder requested the creation of a WWE affinity program. Vince McMahon agreed to look into possibly doing that. Donna Goldsmith said that WWE has major marketing plans for Summerslam 2009, including a huge party leading into the event. Vince McMahon predicted that Summerslam 2009 will sell out. Donna Goldsmith said that WWE has upcoming meetings with the USA Network & CNN regarding marketing. Vince McMahon said that Playboy wanted to work with WWE again this year, but Vince turned down the offer because of WWE's new "PG environment". Vince McMahon announced that WWE has signed a deal with Pepsi. Vince McMahon said that WWE was planning a tour of China, but ran into some problems. He feels that China will be a big part of WWE's future. Vince McMahon said that WWE is considering canceling it's tour of Mexico in late May due to the swine flu outbreak. He also announced a Mexican tour for October of 2009. Vince McMahon partially blamed the decline of pay-per-view buys on more fans choosing to watch pay-per-views with each other rather than individually ordering the pay-per-views. A shareholder asked if "Mr. McMahon" could be the person who ends the Undertaker's WrestleMania undefeated streak. Vince McMahon said that him ending the streak would probably anger a lot of people, so it's unlikely to happen. Vince McMahon said that both him & his wife will be participating in all of the upcoming earnings conference calls. Vince said that him appearing in a movie would be a bad idea due to his lack of patience & time. Vince McMahon said that holding WrestleMania overseas would be difficult because it would have to air live in North America. He mentioned that Summerslam 1992 from London, England aired in North America on a tape delay & it ended up being a bad business decision. The entire meeting can be viewed online, here.

Start of the Rivalry: Punt to the Chairman (HQ)

Wrestling Quote #4: Classic Vince

In an interview done by the Sun's Simon Rothstein with TNA's Jeff Jarrett, after this past Sunday's Lockdown PPV:

Simon:"What did you think of Vince McMahon’s comments calling some aspects of TNA’s television “reprehensible”?"

Jeff: "In one word – laughable. Honestly he calls us reprehensible? PLEASE! It’s Vince being classic Vince. He knows more than anybody what reprehensible is."

Running Dry?

With nine days to go until this year's Backlash PPV, I and (I guess) WWE Officials are worried about how many matches will be on the PPV. After tonight's episode of Smackdown there will be 4 matches on the card, and to be honest, I don't see that many opportunities for matches. Unless you slap on a diva tag team match or maybe, after completely splitting them, have Miz vs Morrison, or something :S.

You see what the problem is. Thanks, in part, to the draft, were was 3 hours of TV time that used 10 minutes at the end to build some momentum for a feud. But even after WrestleMania (without the draft), the outlook wasn't good. Firstly, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels can't do more from their match at WM25. Big Show has been dumped on the heap after his interlude with the World Heavyweight Championship.

But, the Hardys have gone one bit further, you'll just have to watch Smackdown tonight to hear more. Chris Jericho can't follow up from his Legends match. Rey Mysterio obviously can't go further with JBL, and now he's back on Smackdown, it's too late to make a real match for the PPV (oh, sounds like the way they put his match together at WM25), the same is true with MVP, unless they have a useless #1 Contenders Battle Royal or something.

The Divas are... well... there really is no point of trying to make a half decent match for divas on TV, without the title, let alone on a PPV and after the Miss WrestleMania Load of Shit Battle Royal and the draft, we will not see anything of the divas. And thanks to Miz and Morrison splitting, the Unified Tag Team Champions will not have any trouble come next Sunday.

The matches on the card now (maybe except the ECW Championship Match) are all the storylines that WWE have at the moment and with the long Summer run coming, I'm sure Vince is dreading having the draft before any PPV matches were clear. At least last year, it was the Monday before Night of Championship, which you knew what Matches would be on the card.

WWE Running Dry? I think so, they better act fast.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Talks to BBC; He's still close to Vince

In an 20 minute interview with Colin Murray on BBC Radio 5Live in the United Kingdom, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson talked a lot on his cross over from Wrestling to Acting. Below are highlights: * He said he was proud of Mickey Rourke doing the Wrestling at WrestleMania 25. He talked about how his father trained him, and loved both the movie and Rourke's commitment. * In his transition to acting he said that he didn't worry about what name he went by, be it "The Rock, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or just Dwayne Johnson and that he just wants to be a good actor. * He said he loved doing his own physical stuff in his new movie and says that he wants to use some wrestling moves in his films. * He said he was still very close to Vince, the writers and lots of the Wrestlers. * He added that he isn't coming back to wrestling for a long time now, yet could make a one night return when he does. And that Vince says that the WWE is his playground and that he can come back and have some fun for a night anytime he wants. * He said that because he was in the UK and had press to do in the morning, he didn't watch WrestleMania 25, yet knows what wrestlers are going through on a big night like that.