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

Welcome to an all new Joe's 411: B/R Pro-Wrestling News. As usual, there is a lot to get to, so let's get started.

Vladimir Kozlov Update

There is a lot of internal talk regarding Vladimir Kozlov's WWE future. He is not fitting into storylines on ECW, and the WWE does not know how to use him on any of the other shows.

He was brought to ECW because the WWE felt it could have him rival Christian or another top face on the show, but that ended up changing when Jack Swagger started doing well with Christian, and Tommy Dreamer joined the ECW Championship hunt.

Currently, the WWE is having Kozlov show off by doing handicap matches, but that is about it.

There were reports a few weeks ago that said Kozlov was doing well in house shows "working" wise. Prior to that, officials had been criticizing him about how bad he sold moves. Regardless of whether he has gotten better, he is still not where the WWE wants him to be.

Vince McMahon liked Kozlov while he was on SmackDown, but supposedly he has since lost his love for him and wants to see if they can work him into his first storyline on ECW.

The WWE is not certain how to use him because his mic work, with his strong Russian accent, is so bad, and that will hurt him in any storyline the WWE finds for him.

Some say that he does not need to do extremely well on the mic to be successful, because people such as the Iron Sheik were not good on the mic, either.

However, the way we see wrestling now is different than it was in the '70s and '80s. There is more done mic-wise than ever before in wrestling, and the fact that Kozlov is a good wrestler will not help him like it would have in the past when mic work wasn't as important.

To me, Kozlov has never been that exciting to watch. He would not be missed if he was gone, especially now because he is not involved in anything with the WWE storyline-wise.

Do not be surprised if we suddenly see Kozlov let go from World Wrestling Entertainment, because it is highly likely.

Jeff Hardy Contract Update

It looks like Jeff Hardy wants to re-sign, which contradicts former reports that said Hardy did not want to re-sign but take a few years off to pursue other endeavors.

Hardy tweeted out about his contract saying it is "week2week," meaning he is trying to get something together.

What is hard for the WWE is deciding what to do storyline-wise. They have him feuding with World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk right now, and it is something that could go on longer than the Bash PPV.

However, Hardy's contract expires this month, so by the time The Bash PPV comes around, it will be about time to have him re-sign. They could have him stick around and pay him like they would pay an independent wrestler, by the match.

But I doubt they would do that.

They really want him signed before the month is out, and they know he wants to stay. Both parties just have to agree on a deal now.

If he does sign with the WWE, as soon as his storyline is up with Punk he is set to take a much needed break for a few months. This would hurt the WWE, though, considering Edge is set to take time off soon.

Having arguably the two biggest stars on SmackDown take time off at the same time would not be good. They could push Morrison to feud with Punk if he is a heel, or they could have Chris Jericho feud with Punk if he is a face.

Of course, the WWE is going to see how the WWE Universe reacts to Punk during his feud with Hardy up to The Bash. If he is received well, like he has been before he cashed MITB on Hardy, then they will keep him face.

If he is still received with the same reaction fans have been giving him lately, which have been both mixed and filled with boos, then they will turn him heel.

The SmackDown after The Bash will be when we find out if the turn to heel will come or if he will stay face.

His contract is the issue here, and like Brett Favre did to the Packers, Hardy may be holding the WWE hostage.

It all depends on if he will "retire." They have tons of ideas set up for him. However, none of those can come to pass if he is not going to re-sign.

It is the WWE's fault in a way, though. They could have taken him off TV until there was a deal reached. But they didn't, so there is some blame needed toward the WWE if Hardy suddenly leaves, and they have no idea where to go without him storyline-wise.

I don't think Hardy will leave, especially if he wants to wrestle again someday. But they should at least think of the possibility of it happening. Hardy should re-sign, but there is always a chance that he won't.

Kurt Angle's Wrestling Future

It looks as if Kurt Angle opened his mouth only to spit up more crap. I really wish he would let things blow over before talking, but he apparently doesn't think so.

In the last 411, you saw that Angle did a recent interview talking about how his TNA contract was expiring soon and that he would not rule out working with Vince McMahon again considering they have made up since his WWE departure.

However, the day after the 411, Angle went out to a Grand Rapids show for TNA and said he would never work for Vince McMahon again and wanted to extend his deal with TNA. It was a big claim, which is good to see...if it was said on TV.

Anyone can say they talked about something at an untelevised show and then go against it later. Right now, Angle could leave TNA and say what he said was something to excite the crowd that night.

He could do the same if it was on TV, but I doubt he would do that considering he does not want his "image" to take a hit. Since it would be on TV, people would go back to it and see how much of a liar he is, how you can't trust him, and things like that.

We will have to see if he does indeed sign a new deal before we trust him further. Until then, I just can't see him not thinking about going to the WWE.

What is so weird is that he has just now expressed interest in signing, yet he could have signed before when TNA first came to him about signing a new deal over a year ago.

In my opinion, we shouldn't trust Angle until he actually puts pen to paper and signs with TNA.

John Morrison News

The WWE is really impressed with John Morrison, which is why he has been getting a push since he arrived on SmackDown. If you saw SmackDown, he and Edge had a great match.

You couldn't tell who would win like you usually can before matches in the WWE. Both could win, and even though Edge did end up winning the match, Morrison showed he can hang in the main event spotlight.

According to reports, that match was a test for Morrison. They wanted to see how well he could do in a main even-caliber match, and to me he passed.

There is a chance we will see him take on Chris Jericho and possibly win his Intercontental Championship in a rivalry with him.

Of course, because Jericho is in a feud with Rey Mysterio right now, Morrison will have to wait.

There is a chance that we can see a mini-feud with Edge and Morrison, but no one is certain that will happen. As I mentioned earlier, Edge is set to take time off soon. So because of that, Edge/Morrison looks doubtful right now, but it could happen down the road at some point.

I think that the WWE will mainly focus on getting Morrison the IC Title, because it looks doubtful he will be thrown right into the main event picture with Hardy, Punk, Edge, and others.

To me, he is good enough to be there. If Hardy and Edge both were to leave around the same time, then I could see him moving right up into that main event slot. We will have to watch and see. Since I am a betting man, I think if I am going to double down on anyone, it would be Morrison.

He has all the tools to be in the main event picture, and giving him the IC Title would start to push him a little more into the main event picture he belongs in.

If they have him start to win against some of the best on the show, like Jericho and Edge, I think he would easily put himself into the spotlight more. But again, we will have to see where the WWE goes with Morrison.

As of now, they look to be wanting to push him into the main event slowely but surely. So while we will have to wait, I am sure the WWE won't be changing their minds any time soon.

The WWE Possibly Broke the Law

The long arm of the law caught up with the WWE...again. Recently, WWE and USA possibly broke the financial securities law by sending out a fake press release about the sale of Monday Night Raw to Donald Trump.

They have since announced that it was just a storyline angle, but the mainstream media (stupidly) reported it as fact and WWE’s stock actually fell as some shareholders were fooled by it.

To me, if the shareholders actually know anything about business, they would keep an eye on their product. They should have watched RAW, and they should actually know what a "storyline" is.

Have they never seen an episode of RAW or any other show the WWE puts on EVERY FREAKIN' WEEK??

They should know that the billionare Vince McMahon would never sell RAW to Trump, in fact he couldn't see only one show.

While the WWE tries to separate all the shows into brands making it look as if 3 different businesses are going on, they are all one of course.

So Vince could never sell just RAW to Trump. He would have to sell most, if not all of the stock, to Trump. Trump would thus own all of the WWE, not just RAW. Vince would never allow such a thing as we all know.

You would think that all that schooling the people had who work on Wall Street would help them in this situation...I'm just saying.

Project 73

Onto B/R News, Jason Le Blanc's Project 73 is set to come out today at some point. It has been a secretive project for some time now, and he has yet to inform us on what is in it.

However, knowing Le Blanc, expect satire involved. He will most likely talk about some of the things he does not like on B/R, mostly the wrestling section.

It has been hyped for a while. Let's hope it is actually good, and we didn't hear about this for weeks all for not.

Small 411:

As of now DJ Gabriel, Ricky Ortiz, and Ezekiel Jackson are all back down in FCW developmental. Gabriel is set to go to a different image, Ortiz is set to work on his wrestling ability, and Jackson is also working on wrestling ability and mic skills.

Jackson was mainly brought up because he fit the mold of a bodyguard, which is what the WWE needed at the time.

Ortiz has not been interesting since going to SmackDown, and the WWE has even tried to turn him heel in a way. Needless to say, it didn't work out. But, because his wrestling ability has been low, we probably won't see him for a few months.

Gabriel has all the wrestling tools in my opinion, but his image needs work. The WWE realized this and are set to take his dancing gimmick away and make him into a serious threat, most likely turning him heel.

Roddy Piper may be back in the WWE soon, according to an interview he did in Boston. He claimed during the interview that "the WWE called again." We may see him on RAW because of Trump, but nothing is concrete just yet.

Piper has no issues on coming back and doing a few spots here and there, but he is done wrestling, so don't expect a return to the ring. However, it is certain that he will come back for a few spots according to insiders.

That is all for the 411 today, but make sure to look for all of the 411s.

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