Joe's 411: B/R Pro-Wrestling News

As you all know Joe's 411: B/R Pro-Wrestling News has made B/R the place for wrestling news, and you guys help to make it good for many other reasons, too.

Glad we can see many of our articles syndicated on big name wrestling sites like pwtorch.com and others. Look some up, if you don't believe me.

Enough about that, now it is time for the best news on the net, the 411.

RAW now a Variety show?

Vince McMahon loves to surprise us all the time; this is something everyone knows. But his recent comments are starting to get weird instead of shocking.

Vince controls 80 percent of RAW himself, of course he does control all of the WWE, but he focuses on RAW most of all and leaves the rest for everyone else. All he does is approve it. He is the main creative voice on RAW.

Which is why we are seeing more variety show things than ever. Take the Mrs. Wrestlemania storyline for one. The dumbest thing I have ever seen mid you.

So Vince decided to let the cat out of the bag, he now wants RAW to be known as a variety show.

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, once the flagship and pride of the WWE now turns into the fourth best show they have. And that is saying a lot too, considering what we have seen in the past and all.

While RAW will be the variety show, SmackDown will be the traditional wrestling show. Of course ECW will be for the new superstars to hone their skills and start to get known by the WWE Universe.

And the duhh moment of the week, WWE Superstars will be for extra matches the WWE wants to do that are unable to be on the RAW, SmackDown, or ECW card. Also it will be for brand wars.

WWE overseas expansion

The WWE is an ever growing company, at least for now. So they are trying to increase marketability where ever they go in the world. They know there are many terrific wrestlers in the world today, so why not get them in the company?

Which is what they are doing.

The WWE has scheduled a Japanese tryout in the Summer. Which is a wonderful idea if you ask me. The reason why is because Japanese wrestling is some of the best wrestling you will ever see.

Many of the best wrestlers of all time trained there. You have Bret and Owen Hart to name a few. Of course they also got a little help in Canada, too, from some little training area called the Hart Dungeon.

However, they claimed they went there to perfect their craft. And this was after the Dungeon. So, if they respected the training their that much, why not us?

Some of the best wrestlers of today trained there, too. Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, and CM Punk to name just a few. Punk actually pays tribute with his finisher the GTS, which is a move done a lot in Japan.

There are many more I left out, but you get what I mean.

Japan is one of the best places for wrestling today, so the WWE will be lucky if they can get a few to come with them. This will also open up a big market if they get someone out of there who can be a big star for them.

Even more former WWE Stars to TNA

This is starting to look good for TNA if you ask me. They just signed Raven, Shane Douglas, and Victoria to TNA deals. Now they are getting Elijah Burke in, and a good young star in Gavin Spears, who I really like.

As we know Burke has been hinting about coming to TNA for a while now, and it looks like he indeed is coming to TNA.

Spears was in WWE developmental area FCW for some time, then made his way to ECW. He had a good showing and in a way reminded me of Randy Orton in the ring.

He had a lot of technical skill and was considered the best person on the ECW roster among the new stars when he was there.

In FCW he was THE best as voted by the wrestlers there. I was shocked to hear he had been let go, because I knew he could have been big for them if they would have let him do more.

He had a few matches, and said he was the crown jewel of the new superstar intuitive. And he was not to far off either, because he was the best to me. He really caught my eye, and he WILL be big for TNA, mark my words.

Both Burke and Spears were dressed for competition for the TNA iMPACT tapings, but they are not going to be on iMPACT this week, as they did separate dark matches from what people are saying. No word on what was thought on their matches however.

If they did well, I see them getting signed. If not, then of course it is a big NO.

From seeing them in the past, I think they will definitely be signed.

Brock Lesnar on the WWE

UFC champion Brock Lesnar explained his time with WWE to Maxim magazine:

“You get so brainwashed. You’re on the road 300 days a year, and that’s why guys get so messed up. This life just becomes a part of them. It’s not real, but some guys who are still in the business think it is.

You look at Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler - he just couldn’t let it go. You live a double life. I was tired of trying to be who I was in the ring and then coming home for two days to be normal. They didn’t allow you to be. The guys who get out are the smart ones, really and truly.”

You can't really blame Lesnar for saying this; he was just being honest. The fact is that he actually worked more than stars do today. He claimed in past interviews he worked five days on and two days off.

It is now four days on and three days off. So at least they get an extra day. He also claimed his life was filled with pain killers and vodka then, which is not to far off for people who are not used to life in the business.

Lesnar actually came in quicker than most and was put in the spotlight way too fast. He spent a small amount of time in developmental as he already had a lot of mat wrestling ability.

He picked up other moves fast and learned all of the ways to do certain moves, so he was sent up to the main rosters.

All the sudden he popped up with Paul Heyman in a hardcore match destroying all competitors in it.

And that was the start for Lesnar. He then became a World Champion very quickly and was pushed harder and faster than anyone I can remember in the history of the WWE.

So he had a tough road compared to a person like Kung Fu Naki.

I agree that sometimes it is better to get out than to stay in. However wrestling was not for a person like Lesnar. He was skeptical about even going to the WWE to begin with.

He won a few amateur wrestling titles before being contacted by Vince McMahon. He needed money, and Vince had it. So he went to the WWE for that reason alone. Not because he wanted to wrestle, he kind of felt he had to in a way.

He left because he had enough money to leave, and it was easy because it was something he never really wanted to do to begin with.

However, when people ask him about wrestling, he holds nothing back. And he says how hard it is and how hard he knows it still is for people still wrestling. And he does tell them all the time about how real it is.

He is not like others who would rather bash wrestling and say how fake it is.  He at least shows the real life of it.

More TNA news

Former WCW star Buff Bagwell was been telling people close to him he is headed for TNA. He is 39 years old, and has not wrestling in an organization like this in some time. He made a small appearance in TNA in 2006, but that was it.

He had a chance to go to the WWE when the Invasion took place. However like Goldberg before him he opted not to. We all know Goldberg ended up going to the WWE later on, but Bagwell didn't.

He was never a massive star for WCW, but was very well known.

I would think he would want to come to TNA because of the economy. He knows he would get a nice push in the company too, so why not? I mean TNA is where older wrestlers tend to go now a days.

Thirty-nine is not to old compared to some of the others wrestlers they have there. I believe all of the Main Event Mafia is older.

I have not seen him in the ring, so he may be just as bad as he was in WCW still. But who knows?

Also Ken Shamrock is being contacted by TNA about coming in since his MMA career is winding down. He was the first NWA-TNA Champion, so he knows them well. He of course had a brief stint with them in 2004.

There is currently no word on what Shamrock said to them, but he may do something with them because he may need the money.

He worked with the WWE in the past and is one of the toughest men I have ever seen. I think he could work the light schedule TNA would give him, so I would expect him to sign.

Undertaker has surgery

The Undertaker has been in some serious pain for some time now with both his knees and hips. So, he finally had surgery on his hip to try and correct the pain as much as possible.

He may be holding off on having knee surgery until he retires, considering the possibility of them finding something else in there that would keep him out for a long period of time.

He has been dealing with this pain for some time and has worked through it, so many think they would find a lot of other things wrong when they open him up.

He has been rumored to be coming back around Summerslam, but I doubt the WWE would push him to doing that. I would hope to see him in the fall sometime, but it is uncertain on an official time.

Mr. Kennedy's in-ring status

In a comical turn of events, Mr. Kennedy actually hurt himself again. I didn't put this in the last 411 for this reason confirmed by the WWE.

He did sprain his wrist, but like Matt Hardy before him he will fight through the pain. The WWE expects him not to miss time, maybe a few house shows or two, but not much else.

Michelle McCool injury

It seems Kennedy's injury bug is spreading as Michelle McCool broke her nose at the latest SmackDown taping. I am sure we will see how she did it Friday, but for now you'll have to take my word for it.

She is not expected to miss to much time if any at all. It is rumored if she or the WWE wants her to wrestle she will wear a mask similar to what Trish Stratus has done in the past.

If McCool wants to be the next Trish Stratus, this may be a step in that direction as we see how well she can do during this injury.

I feel she will do well, and since she is the top heel diva on the show, I am sure the WWE will want her back. With Maryse going to RAW, there isn't anyone else to replace her as the top heel diva.

Sure, Alicia Fox is there. But come on, is she really top heel diva material? I think not.

Layla is there, but she is in a rivalry with Eve. So you obviously can't take her out of that. So the obvious thing for the WWE would be to keep her on the show.

That is all for the 411 today. If you have  any questiond for the B/R Mailbag let me know by commenting her, on my profile, or e-mail me at: [e-mail]

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