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

Welcome to an all new Joe's 411: B/R Pro-Wrestling News, I have some news here that you need to know, so why don't we get started?

Trump Storyline

As we saw on Monday Night RAW, Donald Trump sold RAW back to Vince McMahon for double the price he paid for it. The issue was that we all thought it was going to be longer than a week.

The real reason why it didn't last was because the WWE got in trouble with the law. It was said to have broken the financial securities law when it announced in a press release from USA Network that Trump actually bought RAW.

The idiots on Wall Street thought it was fact, and sold some of their stock, about 12 percent worth from what reports say.

The WWE felt it had to let them know by ending the Trump storyline on RAW this past week. However, it was good to see that the commercial-free RAW actually helped RAW's ratings. It averaged a 4.6, and it was as high as 4.81 from what reports say.

So USA Network didn't lose by doing this naturally. If it wants to do it again, it at least knows it will work now. I could see the network doing it once a month, or every other month, if it wanted.

I personally liked RAW this past week, up until the time Trump sold RAW back to Vince. Trump talked about a lot of cool things he was going to do on RAW, then we saw Vince come out and buy back RAW. It was so good up until then; what a shame to end things.

Maybe its not over. Vince and Trump could still be involved in something together storyline-wise. We will have to wait until RAW to see for sure, but it seems like something could happen by what Vince said to Trump on RAW.

Mr. Kennedy...Kennedy in more Movies?

Ken Anderson, known as Mr. Kennedy, who was recently released by the WWE, has apparently been saying he's up for some movie roles.

He posted on Twitter: "secondpower: Reading through 2 (two) different scripts and working on a new website!"

Kennedy actually showed a good performance in Behind Enemy Lines 3. It didn't make too much in sales, as it went straight to DVD. Movies that go straight to DVD usually don't make tons of money.

People who did see Kennedy in BEL 3 know he did well in it. The issue was that it was his only movie; however, he did well in the WWE acting-wise, too. So people know his work from WWE.

People who criticize Kennedy usually talk about his wrestling skills, and of course, his "injury prone" past. But I haven't seen anyone criticize Kennedy for mic skills. They all know he is good on the mic and can act.

So hopefully he can get a good role, at least one that ends up in theaters this time.

WWE Releases

As I reported in the last 411, some wrestlers have been quietly putting people on a watch list. This watch list is one that has some WWE wrestlers on it, and no one really wants it to get out.

However, because this is the 411 and I try to get some of the latest news to you guys, I have gotten to know some insiders. These people know what goes on inside the company, and are letting me in on a few things. Their names cannot be released, however they have given me the names on this "watch list".

Now, here is the list

Vladimir Kozlov

Mike Knox

Kung Fu Naki

Drew McIntyre

Curt Hawkins

Jesse

Jimmy Wang Yang

The Brian Kendrick

Jamie Noble

Many of these people are no-brainers when it comes to releasing them. Jesse and Festus broke up because of the draft, and they pretty much ended Jesse's career. He has done some house shows, but nothing on TV since the draft.

Festus has done a few things on RAW; however, he's done nothing really exciting. Festus wasn't added to the list, apparently because the WWE feels they can still work with him.

The Brain Kendrick has been fined every single time he has been testing in the WWE Wellness Policy. He has tested positive for marijuana, and he claims he won't stop.

The WWE wanted to push him when he was drafted to RAW. They even went as far as to have him in the Unified Tag Title hunt. There was a short-lived storyline with him using a new partner every week to find the perfect one for him to team with to take on the Tag Champs, The Colons.

However, they nixed the idea when Kendrick tested positive again. There is even word that he was suspended. The WWE is said to be fed up with Kendrick, as he would rather be high than take his career seriously.

So he is one person I could see being released very soon.

Jamie Noble, Curt Hawkins, and Jimmy Wang Yang are three people who have done nothing for some time now.

Ever since the cruiserweight title was killed off by the WWE, Noble has been out of a job seemingly. People of his stature needed that title to stay afloat in the WWE, and without it, he won't do so well.

He is more of a singles guy, so using him in tag action won't really work as much. Yang's problem is just the same—the WWE cannot use him very much.

Hawkins has basically disappeared from the WWE; there aren't even reports on him doing house shows. Also, unlike his former partner Zack Ryder, he doesn't want to change his image as much. However, one would think he would, considering how well it is turning out for Ryder.

Granted, Ryder is by no means the next ECW Champion, but he has improved, and that is always good to see.

McInyre is a guy that the WWE has liked in the past, which is why he was brought up again. Only now he's doing dark matches, and has yet to make it to a main roster. He's pretty good in the ring, but nothing that would make you say, "this guy is the future of the WWE".

One of his matches actually got booed the whole time. Sad to see.

Kung Fu Naki—does there need to be much said here? He hasn't been the Funaki of the past, and like Noble and Yang, because of the WWE getting rid of the cruiserweight title, Funaki has drifted off.

He also can't wrestle as often, as he is getting older. I could see him being sent off, only because of that fact. The WWE has kept him around for longer than anyone expected, but because the WWE is paying him for really no reason at all, they probably will let him go soon.

Knox and Kozlov are two people that fans would be surprised to see let go. The issue isn't that they shouldn't be released, but they've had such a prominent role in the WWE over the last year up until the draft that it would surprise many to see them gone.

Knox was drafted to SmackDown, and he did make a few appearances there; however, he hasn't been involved in any storyline on the brand yet. The problem isn't with Knox as a wrestler, but that the WWE has no idea how to use him.

Executives feel the man with woodland creatures living in his beard will not work in certain storylines, and they feel the other younger heels on the show are doing better.

Knox was said to be hurt, but that was nixed when he appeared at house shows for SmackDown. The WWE even tried putting him in a tag team with Charlie Haas to see how that would work, and it didn't. The WWE just doesn't know how to use him. He isn't bad enough wrestling or image-wise to go back down to FCW.

So, if they don't figure out how to use him, he may be gone very soon.

Kozlov is a guy that not many fans are into. As I mentioned in the last 411, Kozlov has been talked about internally with WWE management, and they aren't happy with him. They see him as a good heel because of him being Russian and the way his image is all together.

The problem the WWE is seeing with Kozlov is that they can't use him because his mic work is bad. He may have skill in the ring—boring or not, he does have some talent. This isn't the 80s, though, where mic work was not needed as much.

In today's pro-wrestling, it's more important than ever because of the storylines we see now. If Kozlov can't work on the mic, then he won't work in storylines. We can only see him be used the same way so many times before it starts to get old.

The reason he wasn't released in the past was because Vince liked him a lot. Since he controls how things work, he would never let a guy go that he liked. He has since fallen out of love with him, and that is why he was put on ECW.

ECW is the place where wrestlers go at the start of their WWE career, unless they are good enough to go on SmackDown or RAW. The last person we saw come on another show than ECW and be successful was Ted DiBiase Jr.

He can work in storylines because he is both good in the ring and on the mic. Kozlov is not, and that's something that doesn't work out for the WWE.

ECW was supposed to be where Kozlov would shine. He was originally set to be rivaling Dreamer, and then Christian. He was also supposed to get into the ECW Championship hunt.

Then, because Jack Swagger did so well with Christian, and because Dreamer got in the hunt for the ECW Title with the two, Kozlov was left out in the cold.

He has been facing jobbers recently, mainly to keep him in the spotlight until the writers finds a way to use him. Like Knox, if they can't use him, then they will have to let him go.

We'll have to wait and see if any of these people are let go. But there is an official watch list now, and it makes sense to think that more people will be added to this list as time goes on.

Matt Hardy gets injured...again

It looks as if Matt Hardy got injured again. He was in a match with MVP and Kofi Kingston for the United States Championship, and was hurt during the match. He is supposed to be out for a few months because of it, too.

As we know, he hurt his hand in the match with his brother Jeff originally at Wrestlemania. It wasn't as bad, but then at Backlash, he hurt it again in the same area, making things bad enough to wear a cast. Instead of staying out of action, he wrestled with the injury.

The injury he sustained at the Superstars taping seemed to be too much to handle in terms of continuing to wrestle.

There's word that surgery may be involved. If that is the case, four months of action will be missed.

Hardy is one of the better heels on RAW right now. He is a former U.S. Champion and ECW Champion, so we all know he's good enough to be a World Champion on RAW. It probably won't happen any time soon, but he's definitely talented enough.

This means that his absence will not be good for RAW, but it won't be as bad as many think. Because RAW is so stacked, it won't miss him too much. However, there is really no one to take his place as the 3rd best heel on RAW as of now.

Luckily, he wasn't involved in a storyline with anyone. It looked as if the WWE was going to start something up with Kingston, MVP, and Hardy. That is obviously over, because Hardy will be out.

There isn't a set time for his return, but many are thinking that Survivor Series or Cyber Sunday would make sense. There is word that Survivor Series will be in Washington, D.C.

Whose hometown is that? That's right—Batista's. He'll be okay to return to the ring then, and it looks as if the WWE will have him come back then.

Weird how things work out, huh?

Last year, John Cena came back from injury at Survivor Series and won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Jericho. The PPV was in his hometown.

Batista would come back in his hometown, too, and it would be weird (but possible) to see him come back and be in the World Title match at Survivor Series. I don't know if the WWE will do it, but you never know.

I think Hardy would be better off coming back at Cyber Sunday, so that his return won't be overshadowed by Batista's. However, according to a few reports, Hardy is not really injured, and it could be something used as a cover up for him to take time off.

CM Punk hurt

Apparently, CM Punk has been working injured the past few weeks now. In his match with Jeff Hardy and Edge on RAW for the World Heavyweight Championship, he tweaked his leg after falling very hard on the steel steps.

The pain he was in looked to be storylined, and it was. However, Punk was noticeably limping backstage, and he was said to not be feeling great going into his SmackDown match.

His leg turned out to be OK. Thankfully, he was wearing a knee pad when he fell on the steps, so his leg didn't get hurt as bad as it could have.

He then hurt his shoulder, and that has been the worst thing he has had to deal with. He probably won't be selling anything by taping it up or anything, but he may not be wrestling as much as others will.

He will probably do TV spots, just not house shows for a few weeks. At least until he is feeling better.

Rey Mysterio contract dispute

Rey Mysterio is a very unhappy individual. He was in a dispute with the WWE last year when he re-signed. It took the two sides a while to come up with a deal that both agreed on.

Mysterio ended up signing a deal with them, but he was making less money that what he originally made. The issue was that Mysterio was coming back from injury, the WWE didn't want to make a huge investment in him without knowing how long he would be able to go.

They ended up signing him to a four-year deal, but because it was less money, they were happy with the idea of giving him a long term deal without paying him as much.

It was a good business move, of course, but no one saw the market going down as much as it did in the last year. Mysterio signed before that, which was good timing by the WWE, but bad timing for Mysterio.

Mysterio is a big draw for the WWE in their Hispanic viewership, and if he's gone, then who do they turn to?

He has proven to the WWE that he can stay healthy, and all he wants is more money. Is that so much to ask?

A lot of wrestlers, including Mysterio, get a percentage of the revenue for their merchandise sales. However, because sales are down, so is money for the talent.

Mysterio has threatened to quit if the WWE does not come up with a deal that works for him. I can't say I blame Mysterio here, but will the WWE do it? Lets hope, because he is needed in the WWE and they need him more than he needs them.

He could go to any other promotion at any time, especially in Mexico, so if the WWE wants to keep him, they need to come up with something good for him.

Credit: ewrestlingnews.com, prowrestling.com, prowrestling.net, pwrestlingnews.com, pwtorch.com, pwmania.com, wrestlingtruth.com, wrestlenewz.com, lordsofpain.com, UK Sun