Joe's 411: B/R Pro Wrestling News (July 8, '09)

Welcome to an all-new Joe's 411: B/R Pro-Wrestling News. When you want wrestling news, and you don't know where to go for it, no worries! The real Numero Uno has the scoop! Sorry Ben, I had to say it.

Edge Update

As we all saw on WWE.com yesterday, Edge went through successful surgery in my hometown of Birmingham, AL. World-renowned Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery and said it was very productive, and that Edge should be back to his old self when everything heals up.

Edge had suffered a torn Achilles' tendon in a house-show match with Jeff Hardy. He was, apparently, running towards Hardy and somehow tore it. People at the show said his foot was in a very awkward position, and Edge looked to be in serious pain.

Edge even took the time to say he was sorry to the crowd in attendance, which was nice to see.

Now, Dr. Andrews feels Edge won't miss as much time as people are thinking he will. While he will be out until at least January 2010, his injury was not as serious as it could have been. Therefore, it meant that Edge won't be out for a year, but six to eight months at the most.

Of course, the WWE could always keep him out longer, but that does not mean that Edge won't be cleared. It would mean that the WWE has to find a storyline to place him in.

Edge is a big star for the WWE, and a key member of the SmackDown roster, so I am sure the WWE has already been thinking of ways to bring him back.

The WWE was initially going to say that Edge hurt his Achilles in a match with Great Khali, considering he faced him on TV. However, because they couldn't find a place where Edge could possibly be injured, they had to go with the truth. Darn!

There is no way that Edge would still be able to hold on to his Unified Tag Title as we all know, so it seems obvious that he and Chris Jericho will lose the titles or have to give them up in some way.

It is unclear what they will do with the titles right now. However, we should hear more about it soon.

Matt Hardy News and Notes

Edge is not the only one who went through surgery recently. Matt Hardy also did. Hardy's surgery was not on his Achilles' tendon, but his abdominal muscles.

Hardy had not been clean with anyone, other than friends and family, on the subject. As the 411 reported, Hardy was indeed injured. However, Hardy sent mysterious tweets and posted weird Myspace blogs saying otherwise. I didn't see a reason for it myself, but oh well.

Hardy recently came clean saying that he knew he was hurt in about the first half of the match with MVP and Kofi Kingston on Superstars.

Here is a quote from what he had to say regarding it:

"When Kofi gave me a cross-body from the top rope, my intestines basically exploded out of my abdominal wall. And not just in one spot, but in two spots. It was so excruciatingly painful it's almost hard to describe. It felt like someone took a hot knife and sliced it deeply into my lower abdomen."

"I did my best to try and get through the remainder of the match, but I knew I was hurt badly. I had to have it fixed, or face major health problems. Problems that could have possibly killed me. So I had do what was good for me, my career, my friends, and my loved ones. And that was get it corrected and fixed."

I feel his pain, as I have had something similar happen to me; and believe me, it isn't comfortable by any means. I have to give Hardy credit for gutting it through the match despite abdominal issues.

We need to remember, Hardy also had his appendix taken out because of problems with it. He got sick fast and had to have emergency surgery to remove it, if my memory serves me correct.

So with that said, Hardy does have a history of issues in the gastric area and this did not help the cause any.

Let's hope he heals up fast, so we can see him back soon. The original plan was to see him back at or near Cyber Sunday as he is supposed to be out eight to 10 weeks.

WWE Marijuana CrackDown

From what reports are saying, the WWE is not cracking down as hard on Superstars who test positive for marijuana. While the WWE will always fine the Superstars who test positive for it $1,000 dollars, they have not been stopping many pushes as of late.

Before, the WWE would stop pushing stars that tested positive. They would even take titles away from them, and sometimes suspend them.

As a matter of fact, Rob Van Dam quit the WWE because of the fact that he was not happy being scaled back there because of his usage of the drug. As we all know, RVD has been for and will always be for the usage of marijuana. He did leave for his wife too, but he said that he could have stayed and had a lighter schedule to be with his wife and still wrestle.

RVD claims that marijuana is not bad for you, that smoking cigarettes or using cocaine kills more people than marijuana does. While that is true, he did say kills more, not that it didn't kill people because it has been proven to do so.

It also doesn't help out a person's life at all. It is addictive, no matter who says it isn't. You want to use it more and more of course which leads you to ONLY wanting to do that and forgetting everything else. Also, it kills your lungs the same way cigarettes do, just not as fast, depending on how often is it used.

The drug is also illegal, so if a WWE Superstar gets caught with it, they will be arrested. If caught on more than one occasion, there is a possibility of a few years in prison, so the WWE is risking their company's well-being by keeping people on the roster who use the drug.

Also, if a champion gets caught, they can really hurt the image of the WWE. The WWE, of course, does not want that, which is why people who are in the middle of pushes or are doing well on shows are basically sent to jobbing instead of main-eventing.

Take a guy like Brian Kendrick for example. He is a guy who will never live up to his potential because he'd rather be high. He is not, and will never be good because of it. This is why the WWE has tried to push him, but never really went through with it. He is killing his career by using the drug, and this is why the WWE will never make him a champion again, especially a singles champion.

Now, some stars who saw this figured out that if people are going to lose their spot because of using the drug, then we need to stop too—and many who were using did.

However, some people have gone back to using marijuana and their push has not gone anywhere yet. We do need to realize that this does not mean that it won't stop so wrestlers don't need to get fixated on the idea that we can use it because "name your user here" didn't get in trouble.

They probably will get in trouble, and you will too if caught, especially if you're a young up-and-comer in the company.

Tony Atlas's Contract Expires

It has been reported that WWE Hall-of-Famer Tony Atlas' one-year WWE contract has expired. The WWE is said to not be re-signing Atlas, and this seemed obvious when Mark Henry got drafted to RAW without him.

ECW Writers have no idea how to use him, and they feel he won't be able to do any management role. He also won't be able to wrestle, considering his age and physical ability.

We will have to see if he, indeed, is not resigned, but that is the story for now.

Jerry Lawler...Mayor???

For some reason, WWE RAW announcer Jerry "The King" Lawler wants to get back into politics. He left the WWE for a little while because of his run for mayor of Nashville back in 1999-2000, but came back in 2001 after the Invasion storyline. He received 12 percent of the votes that year.

Now, he wants to get back into the fold. Will he win? I'm not too sure. I don't live in Tennessee, but Alabama, so I am not too sure who his opponents are. He isn't going to be running the city I live in, so I could care less.

Now, if he does the same as he did around 2000, then Lawler will be leaving for a little while.

I don't see him winning, but if he does how will that affect the RAW announcing team? You can't run a city while being on the road, so the WWE needs to be looking for someone to take his spot if you ask me. This is where you come in, B/R Writer and Editor Jeff Gorman!

Dolph Ziggler News

While we all know my love for Dolph Ziggler, I am not the only one. Recently, I was able to talk with an insider within the WWE that said he will be getting into the Intercontinental Title hunt very soon.

As the 411 reported, the WWE really loves what John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler are doing right now. Both are making the most of their pushes, and because of that, the WWE wants to push them even more.

While Edge and Matt Hardy are out, on top of having Undertaker out too. We have to think that the WWE will be pushing both soon just to fill spots anyway.

The insider I spoke with told me that the WWE is impressed with Ziggler and were surprised how well he did with such a small push. He looks to be a main event guy in a mid-card feud according to many, speaking of his storyline with Great Khali.

This means they feel he would work in a few main events, and he really would be a guy people saw as a true villain if he went over on a guy like Rey Mysterio. The WWE is also in contract issues with Mysterio, which means he may have to drop the title to someone soon anyway.

That someone looks to be Ziggler, so unless plans change, Ziggler will probably be the next Intercontinental Champion.

I, personally, would love to see this. Some have not been sold on Ziggler just yet, but I have been since day one. I saw what he could do, and I know what else he is capable of.

I went on a limb before saying he was the next biggest star in the WWE. I am going on another saying that he will be a World Champion within two to three years. He has all the talent in the world, and if he stays healthy, the WWE has no choice but to give him a World Title.

That is all for the 411 today. Make sure to come back for the next 411 Friday!

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