Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

For those of you looking for answers to the Nash/Punk/HHH/Steph/etc. storyline, you clearly didn’t get them on last night’s edition of RAW. Close sources are saying that it was very chaotic backstage at RAW last night and decisions weren’t made until last minute.

One source said that the CM Punk/Kevin Nash promo was very unscripted. “Those two were working without a net out there,” the source said, “and the jabs they took at each other were not planned beforehand.”

The lack of resolve in the “Who texted Kevin Nash?” story is because WWE still hasn’t solidified the direction they’re going to take yet. “They have five ways they can go with this thing,” said a WWE writer, “and it’s still unclear which one they’re going to choose.” WWE never intended on Del Rio to be the one who “hired” Kevin Nash. The obvious options now are Triple H, Stephanie, Johnny Ace and Vince, but WWE has proven that they don’t always go with the clear choice with things like this, so no one will ever know for sure until it’s finally in the books.

There’s still no word on Kevin Nash’s contract situation and whether he’s agreed to (or even been offered) a new deal now that he’s back on television. Kevin Nash is currently signed to a “Legends” contract. I would imagine something new will be worked out very soon as last night’s RAW was a very good indication that he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I’ve received a few emails about Nash being booked on some future independent shows and while he may or may not pull out of those, there have not been reports of him doing so yet.

Seem this is part of what's wrong with the WWE. They have NO direction with their storylines. They don't know what they're going to do from one week to the next. I remember back during the Attitude Era that the wrestlers were saying how organized Vince and the WWF was and how much of a better working environment it was compared to WCW. That Vince had storylines and plots planned and laid out months in advance. Well, it's clear that's no more, and they're flying by the seat of their pants, and it shows in the booking. It's why their ratings have and buyrates have been shit for the past couple of years. Hell, it's been said they didn't know what how Summerslam was going to end until the afternoon of! How in the fuck does THAT happen!?!??

Go back even further...Vince had the main event of WMV (Apr 89) planned before Hogan even dropped the belt to Andre (Feb 88).

That's how he got on top. He had a plan and stuck to it thru thick and thin. He's damned lucky he has no serious competition right now.

StonedImmaculate said:

Go back even further...Vince had the main event of WMV (Apr 89) planned before Hogan even dropped the belt to Andre (Feb 88).

That's how he got on top. He had a plan and stuck to it thru thick and thin. He's damned lucky he has no serious competition right now.

Exactly!!

SMACKDOWN TAPING SPOILERS (to be aired 8/19):

Dark match
Local jobber beat Joey Ryan

NXT
Tyson Kidd beat JTG

***Matt Stryker cuts promo on Darren Young challenging him to a match.***

Darren Young beat Matt Stryker

Derrick Bateman beat Titus O'neal

Superstars

Wade Barrett beat Trent Baretta

Brodus Clay beat Jose Marquez

Smackdown

***Teddy Long introduces the new World Champion Randy Orton. Teddy long announced a 20 man battle royale for number 1 contender***

IC TITLE MATCH
Cody Rhodes beat Ezekiel Jackson

***Ryder-Long promo...Ryder vows to win the battle royale***

Justin Gabriel beat Tyson Kidd

***Alberto Del Rio cut a promo about destiny and how he debuted in Bakersfield issues an open challenge Daniel Bryan comes out and accepts.***

Alberto Del beat Daniel Bryan (non title)
Del Rio attacks Daniel Bryan after the match and the REAL Sin Cara comes out and makes the save.

***HHH comes out and announces Del Rio and Christian vs Sheamus and Orton then pedigreed Ricardo. ( don't know if this is a dark match)

Kelly Kelly and AJ beat Natalya and Alicia Foxx

Mark Henry wins Battle Royale eliminating Sin Cara at the end. Orton was out for commentary. Ryder was the first one eliminated. Final four were: Henry, Cara, Barrett, and Sheamus.

Dark match
Orton and Sheamus beat Christian and Del Rio.

Notes
Christian will not appear on SD

Daniel Bryan Del Rio match went about 20 minutes with some best in the world chants, and even some ROH chants from the crowd.

This is complete and utter BULLSHIT!!! They've done Christian completely dirty in this whole title program! He has worked his ass off for the 4-5 months, just to be treated like shit by "creative". His ass ain't even on this week's show, according to these spoilers! And again, it's all about Randy Boreton! It's no wonder at all that the SD ratings are so low that they're no longer in the toilet, but they're in the fuckin' sewers.

alexnvrmnd777 said:

SMACKDOWN TAPING SPOILERS (to be aired 8/19):

Dark match
Local jobber beat Joey Ryan

NXT
Tyson Kidd beat JTG

***Matt Stryker cuts promo on Darren Young challenging him to a match.***

Darren Young beat Matt Stryker

Derrick Bateman beat Titus O'neal

Superstars

Wade Barrett beat Trent Baretta

Brodus Clay beat Jose Marquez

Smackdown

***Teddy Long introduces the new World Champion Randy Orton. Teddy long announced a 20 man battle royale for number 1 contender***

IC TITLE MATCH
Cody Rhodes beat Ezekiel Jackson

***Ryder-Long promo...Ryder vows to win the battle royale***

Justin Gabriel beat Tyson Kidd

***Alberto Del Rio cut a promo about destiny and how he debuted in Bakersfield issues an open challenge Daniel Bryan comes out and accepts.***

Alberto Del beat Daniel Bryan (non title)
Del Rio attacks Daniel Bryan after the match and the REAL Sin Cara comes out and makes the save.

***HHH comes out and announces Del Rio and Christian vs Sheamus and Orton then pedigreed Ricardo. ( don't know if this is a dark match)

Kelly Kelly and AJ beat Natalya and Alicia Foxx

Mark Henry wins Battle Royale eliminating Sin Cara at the end. Orton was out for commentary. Ryder was the first one eliminated. Final four were: Henry, Cara, Barrett, and Sheamus.

Dark match
Orton and Sheamus beat Christian and Del Rio.

Notes
Christian will not appear on SD

Daniel Bryan Del Rio match went about 20 minutes with some best in the world chants, and even some ROH chants from the crowd.

This is complete and utter BULLSHIT!!! They've done Christian completely dirty in this whole title program! He has worked his ass off for the 4-5 months, just to be treated like shit by "creative". His ass ain't even on this week's show, according to these spoilers! And again, it's all about Randy Boreton! It's no wonder at all that the SD ratings are so low that they're no longer in the toilet, but they're in the fuckin' sewers.

and why are they making Daniel Bryan look weak with all his matches? He won money in the bank and he's lost on Smackdown last week, at Summerslam, and now this week's Smackdown? he's losing credibility

alexnvrmnd777 said:

SMACKDOWN TAPING SPOILERS (to be aired 8/19):

Dark match
Local jobber beat Joey Ryan

NXT
Tyson Kidd beat JTG

***Matt Stryker cuts promo on Darren Young challenging him to a match.***

Darren Young beat Matt Stryker

Derrick Bateman beat Titus O'neal

Superstars

Wade Barrett beat Trent Baretta

Brodus Clay beat Jose Marquez

Smackdown

***Teddy Long introduces the new World Champion Randy Orton. Teddy long announced a 20 man battle royale for number 1 contender***

IC TITLE MATCH
Cody Rhodes beat Ezekiel Jackson

***Ryder-Long promo...Ryder vows to win the battle royale***

Justin Gabriel beat Tyson Kidd

***Alberto Del Rio cut a promo about destiny and how he debuted in Bakersfield issues an open challenge Daniel Bryan comes out and accepts.***

Alberto Del beat Daniel Bryan (non title)
Del Rio attacks Daniel Bryan after the match and the REAL Sin Cara comes out and makes the save.

***HHH comes out and announces Del Rio and Christian vs Sheamus and Orton then pedigreed Ricardo. ( don't know if this is a dark match)

Kelly Kelly and AJ beat Natalya and Alicia Foxx

Mark Henry wins Battle Royale eliminating Sin Cara at the end. Orton was out for commentary. Ryder was the first one eliminated. Final four were: Henry, Cara, Barrett, and Sheamus.

Dark match
Orton and Sheamus beat Christian and Del Rio.

Notes
Christian will not appear on SD

Daniel Bryan Del Rio match went about 20 minutes with some best in the world chants, and even some ROH chants from the crowd.

This is complete and utter BULLSHIT!!! They've done Christian completely dirty in this whole title program! He has worked his ass off for the 4-5 months, just to be treated like shit by "creative". His ass ain't even on this week's show, according to these spoilers! And again, it's all about Randy Boreton! It's no wonder at all that the SD ratings are so low that they're no longer in the toilet, but they're in the fuckin' sewers.

I like to see Christian in more important matches as much as all other smart wrestling fans. But how many times do I have to tell all of you that Christian looks too much like a "transitional world champion" and THAT is exactly why both of his world title reigns were short.

Christian's run as the NWA World Heavyweight champion at TNA was a lot longer than this crap.

bboy87 said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

SMACKDOWN TAPING SPOILERS (to be aired 8/19):

This is complete and utter BULLSHIT!!! They've done Christian completely dirty in this whole title program! He has worked his ass off for the 4-5 months, just to be treated like shit by "creative". His ass ain't even on this week's show, according to these spoilers! And again, it's all about Randy Boreton! It's no wonder at all that the SD ratings are so low that they're no longer in the toilet, but they're in the fuckin' sewers.

and why are they making Daniel Bryan look weak with all his matches? He won money in the bank and he's lost on Smackdown last week, at Summerslam, and now this week's Smackdown? he's losing credibility

Exactly! What I think they should do with Bryan is to have Barrett challenge him for his MITB briefcase at Night of Champions, since he'll think he can beat him after he just beat him at SS. Then, this is when they should have Bryan go over and look super strong against him. Let him get his heat back!!

at least i'll have something othe 2 watch friday night than this mess

let's predict shall we? mark henry fights randy then during when the ref is knocked out during the match, either big show or kane returns and jacks henry up giving randy the win

we can't have a big brown man winning the championship and having the little jimmy's cry now can we?

L4OATheOriginal said:

at least i'll have something othe 2 watch friday night than this mess

let's predict shall we? mark henry fights randy then during when the ref is knocked out during the match, either big show or kane returns and jacks henry up giving randy the win

we can't have a big brown man winning the championship and having the little jimmy's cry now can we?

I don't even think I want Henry to get the title. I've never been a huge fan of his, for some reason. Maybe it's his look. But, I'd almost mark for ANYBODY to get the title away from Boreton, so maybe I do want him to win, now that I think about it. If they ever do let him win it, they'll take it away the next month, like they just did Christian.

But, you're right. We can't have a black being personified as the best and be the face of the company, now can we Vince? I remember I had to get in someone's ass because they said there's no way the WWE's racist because they let The Rock be the champ. Um, The Rock basically passes the "paper bag test", and he's not your typical looking black man. Mainly because he's mixed with Samoan. I'm talking about Booker T black (they only gave him the old WCW title, which they didn't have high regards for). R-Truth black. MVP black. Ron Simmons black. Cryme Tyme guys black. They'll NEVER have those type of guys making the talk show circuit and media rounds as THE man/champ of WWE. No matter how fucking gifted and talented they are.

Speaking of the World Heavyweight Championship...

Is it just me or shouldnt the World Heavyweight Championship be the number one title in the company? I understand why their are two belts and the "WWE Championship" is treated as the top title, but it still doesnt make sense. In boxing, mma, or whatever, you dont have a UFC Champion and a World Champion...you dont have the WBA Champion and the World Champion...you have the UFC or WBA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

Even back in the 80s after Vince pulled out of the NWA...the WWF has never referred to their top champion as the "WWF World Champion", just the World Wrestling Federation Champion. It made even less sense back then because it fed into the NWA's claim of being the true, original, one and only World Championship.

And now, I take it as a slap in the face. Vince knows what that NWA/WCW belt stood for. Bischoff and company spat all over it from 1994 on, but that belt is Jim Crockett Promotions. And even though they never wore that specific strap, that belt is Lou Thesz...Harley Race...Dory Funk Jr...Jack Brisco...Giant Baba...Gene Kiniski...etc etc. It deserves the respect of being the most prestigious championship in wrestling history. Of course Vince wont allow that, but he could at least have the class and decency (you won the war, Vince...we all know!) to create a new belt so as not to remind all of us that the NWA/WCW was "secondary" (BULLSHIT!) to the WWF.

Just another of the many things I despise about Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

As for Christian, Orton, and Henry...doesnt matter. I was never a fan of the roster split to begin with but I guess it made sense at the time because they were overflowing with talent after the ECW/WCW fall. But now it's painfully obvious...they do not have enough stars to run a two roster program. It's time to unify the titles and have everyone working both shows. This would lead to them putting more emphasis on the IC and US titles (which are absolutely useless now) while allowiing them to use excess talent to make a legit tag division.

Then again, I'm ranting as if WWE is a professional wrestling promotion. "Sports Entertainment" is NOT professional wrestling.

StonedImmaculate said:

Speaking of the World Heavyweight Championship...

Is it just me or shouldnt the World Heavyweight Championship be the number one title in the company? I understand why their are two belts and the "WWE Championship" is treated as the top title, but it still doesnt make sense. In boxing, mma, or whatever, you dont have a UFC Champion and a World Champion...you dont have the WBA Champion and the World Champion...you have the UFC or WBA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

Even back in the 80s after Vince pulled out of the NWA...the WWF has never referred to their top champion as the "WWF World Champion", just the World Wrestling Federation Champion. It made even less sense back then because it fed into the NWA's claim of being the true, original, one and only World Championship.

And now, I take it as a slap in the face. Vince knows what that NWA/WCW belt stood for. Bischoff and company spat all over it from 1994 on, but that belt is Jim Crockett Promotions. And even though they never wore that specific strap, that belt is Lou Thesz...Harley Race...Dory Funk Jr...Jack Brisco...Giant Baba...Gene Kiniski...etc etc. It deserves the respect of being the most prestigious championship in wrestling history. Of course Vince wont allow that, but he could at least have the class and decency (you won the war, Vince...we all know!) to create a new belt so as not to remind all of us that the NWA/WCW was "secondary" (BULLSHIT!) to the WWF.

Just another of the many things I despise about Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

As for Christian, Orton, and Henry...doesnt matter. I was never a fan of the roster split to begin with but I guess it made sense at the time because they were overflowing with talent after the ECW/WCW fall. But now it's painfully obvious...they do not have enough stars to run a two roster program. It's time to unify the titles and have everyone working both shows. This would lead to them putting more emphasis on the IC and US titles (which are absolutely useless now) while allowiing them to use excess talent to make a legit tag division.

Then again, I'm ranting as if WWE is a professional wrestling promotion. "Sports Entertainment" is NOT professional wrestling.

The Big Gold Belt (despite the tacky WWE logo that was added on in recent years) has aged well. I've always taken that belt more seriously than any other major title belts of other wrestling promotions, past or present.

TonyVanDam said:

StonedImmaculate said:

Speaking of the World Heavyweight Championship...

Is it just me or shouldnt the World Heavyweight Championship be the number one title in the company? I understand why their are two belts and the "WWE Championship" is treated as the top title, but it still doesnt make sense. In boxing, mma, or whatever, you dont have a UFC Champion and a World Champion...you dont have the WBA Champion and the World Champion...you have the UFC or WBA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

Even back in the 80s after Vince pulled out of the NWA...the WWF has never referred to their top champion as the "WWF World Champion", just the World Wrestling Federation Champion. It made even less sense back then because it fed into the NWA's claim of being the true, original, one and only World Championship.

And now, I take it as a slap in the face. Vince knows what that NWA/WCW belt stood for. Bischoff and company spat all over it from 1994 on, but that belt is Jim Crockett Promotions. And even though they never wore that specific strap, that belt is Lou Thesz...Harley Race...Dory Funk Jr...Jack Brisco...Giant Baba...Gene Kiniski...etc etc. It deserves the respect of being the most prestigious championship in wrestling history. Of course Vince wont allow that, but he could at least have the class and decency (you won the war, Vince...we all know!) to create a new belt so as not to remind all of us that the NWA/WCW was "secondary" (BULLSHIT!) to the WWF.

Just another of the many things I despise about Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

As for Christian, Orton, and Henry...doesnt matter. I was never a fan of the roster split to begin with but I guess it made sense at the time because they were overflowing with talent after the ECW/WCW fall. But now it's painfully obvious...they do not have enough stars to run a two roster program. It's time to unify the titles and have everyone working both shows. This would lead to them putting more emphasis on the IC and US titles (which are absolutely useless now) while allowiing them to use excess talent to make a legit tag division.

Then again, I'm ranting as if WWE is a professional wrestling promotion. "Sports Entertainment" is NOT professional wrestling.

The Big Gold Belt (despite the tacky WWE logo that was added on in recent years) has aged well. I've always taken that belt more seriously than any other major title belts of other wrestling promotions, past or present.

Yeah, the WHC belt looks 1,000 times better than the WWE's belt and looks like a "real" sports championship belt. And let's not even talk about the prestige it carries because of the people who've actually held it, as Stoned mentioned.

The WWE belt looks like a fuckin' children's plastic toy!! Yet, Vince keeps insisting it's THE belt to have to strive for. The opening match at this year's Wrestlemania? The WHC. Hell, the Cole/Lawler match was higher in the card than the championship match. The best match at SS on Sunday? The WHC match (it's just the wrong person won). One could argue it's like that because it's simply Smackdown's belt and which ever one's on Raw will always get the priority because it's the company's flagship show. But, you just know Vince, deep down, will always think his belt is the ultimate prize.

StonedImmaculate said:

As for Christian, Orton, and Henry...doesnt matter. I was never a fan of the roster split to begin with but I guess it made sense at the time because they were overflowing with talent after the ECW/WCW fall. But now it's painfully obvious...they do not have enough stars to run a two roster program. It's time to unify the titles and have everyone working both shows. This would lead to them putting more emphasis on the IC and US titles (which are absolutely useless now) while allowiing them to use excess talent to make a legit tag division.

Then again, I'm ranting as if WWE is a professional wrestling promotion. "Sports Entertainment" is NOT professional wrestling.

Yes, it's been painfully obvious for the past couple of years that it's time to end this brand extension idea. They've essentially ended it somewhat unofficially anyway because they appear on each other's show at random, with no rhyme or reason. They just haven't gone super crazy with it because they still want to have two championships.

If anything, just keep both belts, one for each show, but have the wrestlers compete wherever, whenever and compete for whichever title they choose. That would at least make viewers feel like they HAVE to watch SD to keep current on things. The ratings for that show are atrocious because all of the focus and energy is being put into Raw. When wrestlers make surprising debuts or huge news is made, where is it always done? Raw. Nobody wants to go to SD for that shit! Lol!

StonedImmaculate said:

Speaking of the World Heavyweight Championship...

Is it just me or shouldnt the World Heavyweight Championship be the number one title in the company? I understand why their are two belts and the "WWE Championship" is treated as the top title, but it still doesnt make sense. In boxing, mma, or whatever, you dont have a UFC Champion and a World Champion...you dont have the WBA Champion and the World Champion...you have the UFC or WBA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

Even back in the 80s after Vince pulled out of the NWA...the WWF has never referred to their top champion as the "WWF World Champion", just the World Wrestling Federation Champion. It made even less sense back then because it fed into the NWA's claim of being the true, original, one and only World Championship.

And now, I take it as a slap in the face. Vince knows what that NWA/WCW belt stood for. Bischoff and company spat all over it from 1994 on, but that belt is Jim Crockett Promotions. And even though they never wore that specific strap, that belt is Lou Thesz...Harley Race...Dory Funk Jr...Jack Brisco...Giant Baba...Gene Kiniski...etc etc. It deserves the respect of being the most prestigious championship in wrestling history. Of course Vince wont allow that, but he could at least have the class and decency (you won the war, Vince...we all know!) to create a new belt so as not to remind all of us that the NWA/WCW was "secondary" (BULLSHIT!) to the WWF.

Just another of the many things I despise about Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

As for Christian, Orton, and Henry...doesnt matter. I was never a fan of the roster split to begin with but I guess it made sense at the time because they were overflowing with talent after the ECW/WCW fall. But now it's painfully obvious...they do not have enough stars to run a two roster program. It's time to unify the titles and have everyone working both shows. This would lead to them putting more emphasis on the IC and US titles (which are absolutely useless now) while allowiing them to use excess talent to make a legit tag division.

Then again, I'm ranting as if WWE is a professional wrestling promotion. "Sports Entertainment" is NOT professional wrestling.

couldn't have said it better myself. back then if u missed raw or smackdown u felt bad cause u missed what happend on the prior or previous show. now i could give a rats ass if i missed smackdown cause it doesn't flow from the events of raw and vice versa. they know RAW is more prevelant and if they did stop this bullshit brand extension, it would allow both rosters 2 criss cross between shows and have decent storylines and again create legitimate tag divisions

alexnvrmnd777 said:

TonyVanDam said:

The Big Gold Belt (despite the tacky WWE logo that was added on in recent years) has aged well. I've always taken that belt more seriously than any other major title belts of other wrestling promotions, past or present.

Yeah, the WHC belt looks 1,000 times better than the WWE's belt and looks like a "real" sports championship belt. And let's not even talk about the prestige it carries because of the people who've actually held it, as Stoned mentioned.

The WWE belt looks like a fuckin' children's plastic toy!! Yet, Vince keeps insisting it's THE belt to have to strive for. The opening match at this year's Wrestlemania? The WHC. Hell, the Cole/Lawler match was higher in the card than the championship match. The best match at SS on Sunday? The WHC match (it's just the wrong person won). One could argue it's like that because it's simply Smackdown's belt and which ever one's on Raw will always get the priority because it's the company's flagship show. But, you just know Vince, deep down, will always think his belt is the ultimate prize.

There is also plenty of symbolism involve for those that kept a specific belt design for a good amount of time within one or more title reigns. Keep in mind that "transitional champions" (READ: Christian) does't count due to the very short amount of time of their title reign.

WWE Championship = The company's corporate champion (aka Vince's boy at the moment)

EXAMPLES: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, John Cena, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesner, JBL, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Championship = The champion of the people of the world (aka someone who's NOT Vince's boy?!?)

EXAMPLES: Sting, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Rick Rude, Barry Windam, Booker T, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, Dallas Page, Goldberg, The Undertaker, Randy Orton

It's hard to figure out Edge, since each of his title reigns with both titles were all short ones!

http://www.charlottemagaz...es-It-Big/

WWE Wrestler R-Truth Makes It Big

Charlotte's Ron Killings, known as R-Truth in the ring, is professional wrestling’s newest star

Courtesy

Ron Killings has been an entertainer most of his life. Growing up on Charlotte’s west side, he would dress as James Brown and dance for his classmates. He’s a professional wrestler now, but as his character R-Truth, he still manages to dance and act and crack jokes. And after fourteen years of bouncing around the various circuits, Killings, thirty-nine, is finally a star.

As R-Truth, Killings is quick tongued and wickedly funny. The WWE baby-face-turned-heel appears on the industry’s biggest show, Monday Night Raw, where he plays against wrestling’s biggest star, John Cena. R-Truth tells it like it is—complaining about overexposed opponents and saying exactly what many fans are thinking. He even insults Cena’s fans, calling them “little Jimmys.” It’s making him an enormously popular villain.

As an aspiring young rapper, Killings thought he was destined for the entertainment industry, but he took a detour in his late teens and early twenties. “I thought I could make a living selling drugs,” he says. While incarcerated he was discovered by Jack Crockett, son of the late Jim Crockett, who brought wrestling to Charlotte in the 1940s. Jack Crockett offered to pay for his training. Each night after he wrestled, Killings would break down the rings. The next day, he would help put them back up. Killings, who had already been in and out of jail numerous times when he started working with Crockett, says his benefactor helped put him on a better path.

“I felt like I’d been in three or four car wrecks back to back,” says Killings of those first few times in the ring. But he didn’t give up. “I was tired of the way I was living. I credit wrestling with getting my life together.”

He’d planned to pursue a career in music, but his wrestling career took off. While competing on the independent circuit, his peers encouraged him to send an audition tape to WWE. “I got a call within two weeks. The next thing you know old Jed’s a millionaire,” Killings says with the trademark wit that he brings to arenas four nights a week. He debuted on television in November 2000. His first run with WWE only lasted two years, after which he wrestled in Mexico and worked for other wrestling leagues under various ring names. He finally returned to WWE in 2008, the same year he appeared in the Oscar-nominated film The Wrestler. He’s since made a steady climb, increasing his screen time and growing more popular with fans. Killings will headline WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view August 14 and is slated to star in WWE’s Night of Champions in September.

“He’s always been a solid wrestler,” says fan Daylon Brumfield, co-owner of Plaza Midwood’s Snug Harbor. “Since the heel turn I think he’s much more entertaining.” Echoes Adrian Rohr, another longtime wrestling fan: “I love, love, love the heel turn. It has breathed new life into his character. He is a true heel and he’s unique in wrestling, where everybody looks and talks the same.”

Killings, who wears his hair in tiny braids, doesn’t wrestle in the spandex tights of old, but in loose-fitting, graffitied jeans and unbuttoned shirts and vests, which you might see him wearing while walking through Ballantyne Village, near his house. He’s enjoying his current storyline as much as the fans. “I’m having a ball with this. I get to be myself and have fun,” he says. And he’s not worried about offending any Jimmys out there. “If it does cross the line, there’s always someone out there to enjoy that.”

“Jimmy” was the suggestion of WWE CEO Vince McMahon. For Truth, it was like a light bulb coming on. “It stuck in my head. They are Jimmys, aren’t they?” Killings recounts with a slightly hoarse delivery that isn’t far from that of the character he unleashes on Raw, where he ad-libs 90 percent of his monologues. (“You have to go live on the spot. You have to be able to come up with stuff off the top of your head.”) Those fast-talking speeches are reminiscent of his other love, rap. He’s working on a mixtape and says his musical tastes run from Lil Wayne to Kings of Leon.

Killings’s wrestling career keeps him on the road and away from his wife and four kids (ages four, ten, sixteen, and nineteen). In mid-July he took a fourteen-hour flight home from Australia, was almost instantly back on the road for a Raw taping in Boston, then headed to Nashville for his daughter’s AAU basketball tournament. When he’s home he spends most of his time visiting family and working on music. He doesn’t watch sports. (“Imagine that. An Afro American who’s not into sports,” he jokes.) He hasn’t forgotten where his life was headed when he met Crockett, though. He’s been known to share his experience with schoolchildren.

“Kids look at us as bigger than life. I like to give them my input on how I got to be where I’m at. It starts in school,” Killings says. “If you can influence a kid to go the right way, that’s better than anything else.”

L4OATheOriginal said:

StonedImmaculate said:

Speaking of the World Heavyweight Championship...

Is it just me or shouldnt the World Heavyweight Championship be the number one title in the company? I understand why their are two belts and the "WWE Championship" is treated as the top title, but it still doesnt make sense. In boxing, mma, or whatever, you dont have a UFC Champion and a World Champion...you dont have the WBA Champion and the World Champion...you have the UFC or WBA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

Even back in the 80s after Vince pulled out of the NWA...the WWF has never referred to their top champion as the "WWF World Champion", just the World Wrestling Federation Champion. It made even less sense back then because it fed into the NWA's claim of being the true, original, one and only World Championship.

And now, I take it as a slap in the face. Vince knows what that NWA/WCW belt stood for. Bischoff and company spat all over it from 1994 on, but that belt is Jim Crockett Promotions. And even though they never wore that specific strap, that belt is Lou Thesz...Harley Race...Dory Funk Jr...Jack Brisco...Giant Baba...Gene Kiniski...etc etc. It deserves the respect of being the most prestigious championship in wrestling history. Of course Vince wont allow that, but he could at least have the class and decency (you won the war, Vince...we all know!) to create a new belt so as not to remind all of us that the NWA/WCW was "secondary" (BULLSHIT!) to the WWF.

Just another of the many things I despise about Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

As for Christian, Orton, and Henry...doesnt matter. I was never a fan of the roster split to begin with but I guess it made sense at the time because they were overflowing with talent after the ECW/WCW fall. But now it's painfully obvious...they do not have enough stars to run a two roster program. It's time to unify the titles and have everyone working both shows. This would lead to them putting more emphasis on the IC and US titles (which are absolutely useless now) while allowiing them to use excess talent to make a legit tag division.

Then again, I'm ranting as if WWE is a professional wrestling promotion. "Sports Entertainment" is NOT professional wrestling.

couldn't have said it better myself. back then if u missed raw or smackdown u felt bad cause u missed what happend on the prior or previous show. now i could give a rats ass if i missed smackdown cause it doesn't flow from the events of raw and vice versa. they know RAW is more prevelant and if they did stop this bullshit brand extension, it would allow both rosters 2 criss cross between shows and have decent storylines and again create legitimate tag divisions

The brand extension is what really killed the tag team division. When they started it and then did the "draft" it broke up a several prominent tag teams like The Dudley Boyz and The Hardys. And it never recovered after all of that, mainly because they never bothered to address it. I think things would be so much different if Jim Ross was still the VP of Talent Relations and still had a strong voice in the offices of the WWE. If you noticed, things really started to slip and fall when he gave up that position and John Laryngitis stepped in.

This STILL makes me tear up every time I watch. Such a very sad night-before and day.

The Raw is War Owen Hart Tribute show:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

TonyVanDam said:

The Big Gold Belt (despite the tacky WWE logo that was added on in recent years) has aged well. I've always taken that belt more seriously than any other major title belts of other wrestling promotions, past or present.

Yeah, the WHC belt looks 1,000 times better than the WWE's belt and looks like a "real" sports championship belt. And let's not even talk about the prestige it carries because of the people who've actually held it, as Stoned mentioned.

The WWE belt looks like a fuckin' children's plastic toy!! Yet, Vince keeps insisting it's THE belt to have to strive for. The opening match at this year's Wrestlemania? The WHC. Hell, the Cole/Lawler match was higher in the card than the championship match. The best match at SS on Sunday? The WHC match (it's just the wrong person won). One could argue it's like that because it's simply Smackdown's belt and which ever one's on Raw will always get the priority because it's the company's flagship show. But, you just know Vince, deep down, will always think his belt is the ultimate prize.

I swear ya'll force me to come back from my planned hiatus from this place because the discussion in this thread is great

anyway, if I read correctly, Vince ended the WHC timeline with The Rock back in 2002. The only thing that's the same is the belt

It's my favorite belt. The old WWE championship belt from the early 90s was great too along with Undisputed belt, but the other belts have been wack. TNA's belt even looks better than the WWE belt

You guys remember when WCW broke away from the NWA for the second time in 1993 and renamed the NWA championship as the WCW International World Championship? There was that belt (big gold) and the WCW championship (which was alot smaller) and they merged them right before Hogan vs Flair '94

Here is an old-school clip from a time when unification matches were a great deal:

bboy87 said:

You guys remember when WCW broke away from the NWA for the second time in 1993 and renamed the NWA championship as the WCW International World Championship? There was that belt (big gold) and the WCW championship (which was alot smaller) and they merged them right before Hogan vs Flair '94

Seeing Hogan wear that belt, after pinning Flair clean in like 20 minutes, in his first match in WCW...that shit broke my fucking heart.

I still remember my wife laughing at me. I was depressed for weeks.

StonedImmaculate said:

bboy87 said:

Seeing Hogan wear that belt, after pinning Flair clean in like 20 minutes, in his first match in WCW...that shit broke my fucking heart.

I still remember my wife laughing at me. I was depressed for weeks.

I was really young when Bash At The Beach '94 happened (about 7 years old) and I VIVIDLY remember watching it wondering "Where's Sting?" I didn't give a damn about Hogan even then

Looking back at WCW '94-95, it was a definite drop in quality in favor for old WWE faces being pushed.

They went from The Hollywood Blondes, Rick Rude, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Arn Anderson and others to Hogan's bullshit. There was an episode of Nitro where Kevin Sullivan calls out his "Kill Hulkamania" troop and it was a bunch of cartoonish looking guys including The Zodiac/Bootyman/Brutus Beefcake/The Disciple, who I STILL don't understand got the push he did. He was a terrible wrestler and had the WORST finisher. Maybe he was sucking Hogan off like Linda alluded to recently

StonedImmaculate said:

bboy87 said:

Seeing Hogan wear that belt, after pinning Flair clean in like 20 minutes, in his first match in WCW...that shit broke my fucking heart.

I still remember my wife laughing at me. I was depressed for weeks.

Yeah, that was some straight up bullshit there!! I remember that!! On top of that, they could NEVER get those two big time guys together for a big time feud, for some reason. *cough*ego*cough* Though, Flair time and time again did more for the business than Hulk ever did!

bboy87 said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Yeah, the WHC belt looks 1,000 times better than the WWE's belt and looks like a "real" sports championship belt. And let's not even talk about the prestige it carries because of the people who've actually held it, as Stoned mentioned.

The WWE belt looks like a fuckin' children's plastic toy!! Yet, Vince keeps insisting it's THE belt to have to strive for. The opening match at this year's Wrestlemania? The WHC. Hell, the Cole/Lawler match was higher in the card than the championship match. The best match at SS on Sunday? The WHC match (it's just the wrong person won). One could argue it's like that because it's simply Smackdown's belt and which ever one's on Raw will always get the priority because it's the company's flagship show. But, you just know Vince, deep down, will always think his belt is the ultimate prize.

I swear ya'll force me to come back from my planned hiatus from this place because the discussion in this thread is great

anyway, if I read correctly, Vince ended the WHC timeline with The Rock back in 2002. The only thing that's the same is the belt

It's my favorite belt. The old WWE championship belt from the early 90s was great too along with Undisputed belt, but the other belts have been wack. TNA's belt even looks better than the WWE belt

You guys remember when WCW broke away from the NWA for the second time in 1993 and renamed the NWA championship as the WCW International World Championship? There was that belt (big gold) and the WCW championship (which was alot smaller) and they merged them right before Hogan vs Flair '94

I don't think I ever read that. I'm glad he ended it way earlier since he's been shitting on the legacy of that title ever since. I definitely do remember the old NWA belt, but the old WCW one doesn't ring a bell, off hand. I'll have to Google it to remember. But I do know that NWA big gold belt was just class all the damn way! Yeah, the WWF belt was cool back then too, and it even remained cool up until they got rid of the one with the wings spread out on top (the early 2000s). And, I was never a fan of Stone Cold's custom smoking skull belt. It reminded me of a non-official, done-by-some-dude-in-a-corner-store costume belt.

bboy87 said:

StonedImmaculate said:

Seeing Hogan wear that belt, after pinning Flair clean in like 20 minutes, in his first match in WCW...that shit broke my fucking heart.

I still remember my wife laughing at me. I was depressed for weeks.

I was really young when Bash At The Beach '94 happened (about 7 years old) and I VIVIDLY remember watching it wondering "Where's Sting?" I didn't give a damn about Hogan even then

Looking back at WCW '94-95, it was a definite drop in quality in favor for old WWE faces being pushed.

They went from The Hollywood Blondes, Rick Rude, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Arn Anderson and others to Hogan's bullshit. There was an episode of Nitro where Kevin Sullivan calls out his "Kill Hulkamania" troop and it was a bunch of cartoonish looking guys including The Zodiac/Bootyman/Brutus Beefcake/The Disciple, who I STILL don't understand got the push he did. He was a terrible wrestler and had the WORST finisher. Maybe he was sucking Hogan off like Linda alluded to recently

God, I remember him. How in the fuck did he even get a job? Greg Valentine carried his ass those years in the Hart Foundation/Family. Oh yeah, now I remember. I was surprised I didn't see him in TNA when Hogan and Bischoff arrived. The Nasty Boys were there, so I thought ol' Leslie wasn't far behind.

Quick question. Which organization do you associate Ricky Steamboat with the most? WWF? NWA? WCW?

alexnvrmnd777 said:

bboy87 said:

I was really young when Bash At The Beach '94 happened (about 7 years old) and I VIVIDLY remember watching it wondering "Where's Sting?" I didn't give a damn about Hogan even then

Looking back at WCW '94-95, it was a definite drop in quality in favor for old WWE faces being pushed.

They went from The Hollywood Blondes, Rick Rude, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Arn Anderson and others to Hogan's bullshit. There was an episode of Nitro where Kevin Sullivan calls out his "Kill Hulkamania" troop and it was a bunch of cartoonish looking guys including The Zodiac/Bootyman/Brutus Beefcake/The Disciple, who I STILL don't understand got the push he did. He was a terrible wrestler and had the WORST finisher. Maybe he was sucking Hogan off like Linda alluded to recently

God, I remember him. How in the fuck did he even get a job? Greg Valentine carried his ass those years in the Hart Foundation/Family. Oh yeah, now I remember. I was surprised I didn't see him in TNA when Hogan and Bischoff arrived. The Nasty Boys were there, so I thought ol' Leslie wasn't far behind.

Quick question. Which organization do you associate Ricky Steamboat with the most? WWF? NWA? WCW?

I associate him with NWA and WCW. Like how I associate Lex Luger with WCW and Bret Hart with WWE

And I can't stand Ed Lesl. Check out October-November 95 and he was in the main fucking event! and he was so corny and untalented. I've said this several times, but I think it was fucked up how they pushed Sting to the midcard during 1994-96. He was making big money at the time ($750,000 during early 1996) but the fact that he had the world belt in the beginning of '94 and by the early '95, he was feuding with Earthquake and Big Bubba Rogers and being Hogan's other sidekick

They did the same thing to Vader. Dude was kicking ass from '90 to '94 and Hogan comes and the "power of Hulkamania" runs wild on him

bboy87 said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

God, I remember him. How in the fuck did he even get a job? Greg Valentine carried his ass those years in the Hart Foundation/Family. Oh yeah, now I remember. I was surprised I didn't see him in TNA when Hogan and Bischoff arrived. The Nasty Boys were there, so I thought ol' Leslie wasn't far behind.

Quick question. Which organization do you associate Ricky Steamboat with the most? WWF? NWA? WCW?

I associate him with NWA and WCW. Like how I associate Lex Luger with WCW and Bret Hart with WWE

And I can't stand Ed Lesl. Check out October-November 95 and he was in the main fucking event! and he was so corny and untalented. I've said this several times, but I think it was fucked up how they pushed Sting to the midcard during 1994-96. He was making big money at the time ($750,000 during early 1996) but the fact that he had the world belt in the beginning of '94 and by the early '95, he was feuding with Earthquake and Big Bubba Rogers and being Hogan's other sidekick

They did the same thing to Vader. Dude was kicking ass from '90 to '94 and Hogan comes and the "power of Hulkamania" runs wild on him

Even though Steamboat didn't really get on my radar until I saw him in the WWF, I also associate him with NWA and WCW the most. That's where the majority of his legendary status came from, especially his matches with Flair. Fuckin' LEGENDARY!

Kevin Nash is expected at Raw this Monday and will be a regular character going forward on WWE TV. Nash will be doing a program with CM Punk and for those wondering, yes, the plan is for the two to meet in the ring. The idea behind the program was to give Punk a major name to work with that would put him over.

The backstage reaction to the Punk-Nash back and forth Monday was that Punk got the better of Nash and that Nash’s comebacks came off too inside and antiquated in comparison. Nash did not receive a big reaction coming out on Raw and the feeling after the taping was that the company needed to do a stronger job of explaining to the current generation of fans who he was. Initially, that was not a concern due to the big pop he received at the Royal Rumble.

source: pwinsider.com

Lawd, I was hoping this wouldn't end with a Punk/Nash match, but it seems that's where they're headed. *facepalm* Why, why, why??! They should just keep Nash as an enforcer and/or on-air character and MAYBE part of one 6-man tag match (though he wouldn't get tagged in ). That's it!! I can only see this match being a fuckin' dud! and why can't Nash feud with Cena and jacknife powerbomb HIS ass to hell and let Punk feud with ADR for the title?!! Why does Cena ALWAYS friggin' get title shots??!?! He's over enough where he obviously doesn't NEED the damn thing.

And also, isn't Punk insanely over already? Why or how would bringing Nash in help Punk in doing that when them damn little Jimmys didn't even know or care who he was last Monday on Raw?! God, these kids/Cena fans are ruining everything good about pro wrestling (in the WWE).

bboy87 said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Yeah, the WHC belt looks 1,000 times better than the WWE's belt and looks like a "real" sports championship belt. And let's not even talk about the prestige it carries because of the people who've actually held it, as Stoned mentioned.

The WWE belt looks like a fuckin' children's plastic toy!! Yet, Vince keeps insisting it's THE belt to have to strive for. The opening match at this year's Wrestlemania? The WHC. Hell, the Cole/Lawler match was higher in the card than the championship match. The best match at SS on Sunday? The WHC match (it's just the wrong person won). One could argue it's like that because it's simply Smackdown's belt and which ever one's on Raw will always get the priority because it's the company's flagship show. But, you just know Vince, deep down, will always think his belt is the ultimate prize.

I swear ya'll force me to come back from my planned hiatus from this place because the discussion in this thread is great

anyway, if I read correctly, Vince ended the WHC timeline with The Rock back in 2002. The only thing that's the same is the belt

It's my favorite belt. The old WWE championship belt from the early 90s was great too along with Undisputed belt, but the other belts have been wack. TNA's belt even looks better than the WWE belt

You guys remember when WCW broke away from the NWA for the second time in 1993 and renamed the NWA championship as the WCW International World Championship? There was that belt (big gold) and the WCW championship (which was alot smaller) and they merged them right before Hogan vs Flair '94

The "WCW International" monkier was a parody of the NWA itself. Some fans didn't get the joke at the time.

bboy87 said:

StonedImmaculate said:

Seeing Hogan wear that belt, after pinning Flair clean in like 20 minutes, in his first match in WCW...that shit broke my fucking heart.

I still remember my wife laughing at me. I was depressed for weeks.

I was really young when Bash At The Beach '94 happened (about 7 years old) and I VIVIDLY remember watching it wondering "Where's Sting?" I didn't give a damn about Hogan even then

Looking back at WCW '94-95, it was a definite drop in quality in favor for old WWE faces being pushed.

They went from The Hollywood Blondes, Rick Rude, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Arn Anderson and others to Hogan's bullshit. There was an episode of Nitro where Kevin Sullivan calls out his "Kill Hulkamania" troop and it was a bunch of cartoonish looking guys including The Zodiac/Bootyman/Brutus Beefcake/The Disciple, who I STILL don't understand got the push he did. He was a terrible wrestler and had the WORST finisher. Maybe he was sucking Hogan off like Linda alluded to recently

1. Knowing what we know now about the downfall of WCW, I think Ric Flair should have went on a full-time retirement after his dream match with Hulk Hogan in 1994. I say that becasue since 1994, Ric was slowly becoming more of a self-parody of himself. This professional & personal problem would only get worse during Ric's second career run in the WWE, especially when he was spenting too much time in the shadows of Triple H & Shawn Michaels.

2. Rick Rude wanted a WCW World title shot from Hogan, but was denied the same way he was denied a WWE title shot from Hogan a couple of years earlier.

3. We all know that one of WCW's (specifically Eric Bishoff's) biggest f*** ups was firing "Stunning" Steve Austin due to his injury that kept him sideline for months. THIS is the same man that would one day become "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and have a WWE hall of fame career.