Thursday Headlines: Chris Nowinski Talks Benoit and Concussions
By Thomas and Aaron Briggs
Chris Nowinski, famous for his role on Tough Enough and his eventual sports concussion research firm Sports Legacy Institute, spoke with radio show Busted Open earlier this week about his relationship with Chris Benoit, and the role head injuries may have played in the Benoit tragedy. Nowinski claimed that Benoit took interest in his research, which indicated that he knew something was wrong with him.
Chris Hero, Nazi? WHO KNOWS.
Alright, I know what you’re thinking…
“Daaaaaaaamn AJ, you don’t know who Chris Hero is? How wack is your game, son? You don’t know about The Mack Daddy of the Cravate? The (self–proclaimed) Savior of CZW? That Young Knockout Kid? Honkey, you be trippin on some mad free base dog! Yo, check it, while I got you here, listen to this sweet new beat by Kid N’ Play while I do some spins on this unfolded cardboard box.”
To answer both of your questions:
1) No, I have no idea who this guy is.
2) Yes, my internal monologue is an 1990′s inner-city black kid carrying a boom box. His name is Tyrone, and he’s got big dreams. He’s gonna get off this block and go to college. You’ll see!
WWE Royal Rumble 2012 Preview
By John Canton, Andrew Johnson & Christian Michael
John Canton: I’ve always loved the Royal Rumble pay per view. I showed that love last year when I recapped every Royal Rumble match. The concept of the match is wonderful. Even if you think you know what might happen, there’s always a very good chance that something crazy will happen. I didn’t think Cena would win in 2008 or Edge in 2010 because they both made surprise returns. Could there be a surprise winner this year? You never know. The sad thing about the Rumble is that the winner doesn’t really get to “main event” WrestleMania anymore (especially this year), but it’s still one of my favorite matches and I know I’m going to enjoy it like I do every year. Right now there are only four announced matches. I’d expect some kind of midcard match to be added as a buffer to some of the big ones on the card, but I’m not going to guess what they will be.
I covered Survivor Series live. This is not a full play by play of the event, but I covered all the major happenings and have plenty of analysis to go along with it. Enjoy.
WWE Survivor Series
November 20, 2011
New York, New York
By John Canton (Twitter @johnreport)
The video package showcases the history of the Survivor Series since it’s the 25th anniversary of the event. The main hype was about Rock & Cena “Never Before Never Again” as you might expect. I’m not sure if I like the theme song.
alberto del rio, cm punk, john cena, r-truth, raw, smackdown, survivor series, the miz, the rock, wweNote: No Canton’s Corner column this weekend. Will return next weekend.
John Canton: Welcome to the WWE Survivor Series PPV preview written by the staff of TheJohnReport.net. As always, there will be 14 of us guiding you through Sunday’s PPV. It’s a big one because The Rock is back in the ring for the first time since WrestleMania 20 in 2004 and he’s teaming with his rival John Cena in New York City of all times. Personally, I’m very excited about it. I expect a really hot crowd, some babyfaces getting booed and a show where a lot of talent steps up to deliver the goods.
The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal for 11/14/11 (Raw Gets Rocked)
By John Canton
Follow me on Twitter at @johnreport
It’s a three hour Raw. Long show. Live from Boston, Massachusetts this is the Raw Deal…
It looked like a pack house. Jerry Lawler welcomed us to the show. Why? Because Michael Cole was in the ring setting up the Michael Cole Challenge, which had me groaning right away.
alberto del rio, cm punk, john cena, r-truth, raw, survivor series, the miz, the rock, wwe
The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal for 11/07/11
By John Canton
Follow me on Twitter at @johnreport
Live (or tape delayed by a few hours) from Liverpool, England this is the Raw Deal…
We start with a John Cena promo. Mostly cheers, but some boos too. He mentioned the record ticket sales for WrestleMania 28. Interesting how they say “one day ticket sales” yet the pre-sale code was out two days earlier so those should count. Still, to sell $6.3 million worth of tickets in a couple of days is very impressive. It’s proof that it was a good move to announce Rock vs. Cena so early. The previous high was WM25 and it was over $2 million less than that. He talked about how Rock wasn’t there tonight, but he will team with Cena at Survivor Series. Then he said the “never before never again” line that is getting annoying fast. He also mentioned that people weren’t talking about this Raw because they were talking about next week’s show when Rock will be live in Boston for a three hour edition of Raw. He sucked up to Liverpool and then said Miz & Truth would team up against Cena and a future Hall of Famer.
alberto del rio, cm punk, england, john cena, r-truth, raw, the miz, wwe
I know, I know, I didn’t post anything yesterday. I could make up some excuse where I tell you that there wasn’t enough going on to warrant a full posting of professional wrestling news, but to be perfectly honest with you guys I just flat out forgot to do it. Contrary to popular belief, this blog is not my entire life. I also have Arkham City, and some of these Riddler trophies are hard to get. AAARGH SO MANY GREEN QUESTION MARKS.
But, if there’s anything that’s going to make me take a break from dive-bombing on chumps in Two-Face masks, it’s Mick Foley’s return from a long stay in pro-wrestling purgatory. That’s right fellow nerds, Mick Foley has officially made his return to the WWE.
Goldust, ICP, insane clown posse, juggalos, maryse, mick foley, r-truth, the miz, u.s. title, Zack Ryder
The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal for 10/31/11 (The Muppets)
By John Canton
Follow me on Twitter at @johnreport
Happy Halloween. Live from Atlanta, Georgia this is the Raw Deal…
To start the show we got a promo from The Rock…via satellite. He was in an undisclosed location although I believe it was New Orleans because that’s where he has been filming his GI Joe movie that is close to being wrapped. He cut a promo saying that he won’t be John Cena’s partner due to Cena asking. He doesn’t like Cena. He doesn’t want to team with him. However, the people hate The Miz & R-Truth so much that he will say yes because THE PEOPLE (trademarked and copyrighted when Rock speaks) demanded it. They asked for it. Just to make it clear, he is accepting the match because the people wanted it, not Cena. By the way, did you notice the grey in the goatee of The Rock? He needs Just for Men beard coloring.
big show, cm punk, john cena, Mark Henry, r-truth, raw, the miz, the rock, wwe
Smacked Up!
Written by Christian Michael
Houston, Texas are you ready for the Smack?
After we relive The Big Show and Mark Henry destroying the ring at Vengeance we head to the arena where SmackDown General Manager, Teddy Long is in the ring. Someone should tell Teddy that the word extraordinary isn’t said like it is two separate words “extra” “ordinary”. That always bugs me. Anyway, Teddy says that both Show and Henry are here tonight and he will discuss the future of the World Heavyweight Championship later in the evening. Christian decides this is a good time to make an appearance so he heads to the ring. Christian comes out to politic for a Championship Match. Christian says he deserves the match because he’s been dominating SmackDown for five months. Teddy brings up that he lost to Sheamus at the PPV. Christian always loses. It’s stupid. Christian challenges Teddy to find a more deserving challenger. “Cult of Personality” blasts from the speakers in the arena and we are treated to a SmackDown appearance from CM Punk. Teddy tells us he’s arranged for some RAW Superstars to be here tonight so he can treat the fans to a SUPER SmackDown. The two trade jabs at their respective General Managers and then Punk says he’s actually a fan of Christian’s wrestling ability but he’s not a fan of his bitching and bitching and bitching and bitching and bitching and bitching. I think you get the point. Punk must have dropped 15 unbleeped bitchings, which drew a huge pop from the crowd. Christian tells him to go back to RAW because no one wants him here. The crowd does and Punk says they probably want to see him face Christian. Teddy makes the match and it’s on. (more…)
alberto del rio, christian, cm punk, daniel bryan, Mark Henry, r-truth, sheamus, The Big Show, the miz, wwe smackdown
The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal for 10/24/11
By John Canton
Follow me on Twitter at @johnreport
Live from Austin, Texas this is the Raw Deal…
Instead of starting the show with the usual wrestler music and promo, they went to the announcers right away. They talked about all the events at Vengeance, putting it over as a hectic night. There were some big things that happened, which I covered live on Sunday, but it wasn’t as big as they made it out to be. It is a nice idea to make it seem important even though it was more of a transitional PPV more than anything.
john cena, r-truth, raw, smackdown, survivor series, the miz, the rock, wweFixing World Wrestling Entertainment
By Cody Dodson
I want to thank everyone for all the feedback I received from last week’s column regarding the debacle that was Monday Night Raw. It generated some good discussion about a variety of things, but there was one question I received that I thought would make a nice follow-up. It was simply, “What would you do to fix the current product?” That’s what I’d like to address today. Last week, I got all my frustrations out. This week, I’d like to look at how it can be remedied in the future.
cm punk, john cena, r-truth, randy orton, raw, smackdown, the miz, triple h, wwe