Joe's 411: B/R Pro-Wrestling News (July 17, 2009)

Welcome to an all new Joe's 411: B/R Pro-Wrestling News. A huge TNA signing, on top of an Elijah Burke tweet to think about (trust me, it is very interesting). Today is July 17, 2009 and here is the 411!

TNA finally signs Bobby Lashley

After months of anticipation, TNA Wrestling has finally reached a deal with former WWE Superstar and current MMA fighter Bobby Lashley.

This came as a surprise to many, because according to reports, Lashley told friends in Las Vegas that he most likely would not sign with TNA. Apparently, he had a change of heart. He is set to make an appearance at TNA's upcoming PPV, Victory Road.

Bobby Lashley is not the only Pro-Wrestler who made their way to MMA. As most of us know there is a man who is currently UFC Champion who was a former three-time WWE Champion in Brock Lesnar.

Lashley was asked about Lesnar in an interview with ESPN Radio. He was asked if he could beat Lesnar if they ever fought, here is what he had to say:

"I'm not going to say anything bad on Brock because Brock is the champion. My sights are set on Brock and I'm not saying that I want to fight him because he is the wrestling guy," Lashley told ESPN Radio 1050. "I am saying that because I am a heavyweight fighter and he's the heavyweight champ. Eventually, I do want to fight Brock for that title."

Lashley then went on to say he has a game plan on how to beat Lesnar, when asked about it, he said he wouldn't reveal it now. I guess we will have to see them fight to find out.

For those of you who don't know, Lashley is not in UFC currently. So as of right now, Lesnar vs. Lashley will not happen any time soon.

Dana White (UFC President) invited Lashley to The Ultimate Fighter, but Lashley had to decline because he already had a fight with Bob Sapp during the taping of the show.

Usually people on the show get a chance to fight in UFC after the show is concluded.

So in theory, if Lashley did get on TUF, then he would be in UFC easily. Especially if he were to win the show.

I see him getting on the show next year myself. Lashley's TNA contract is short-term, meaning it is probably only a year or so. That would mean that he would be free to be on if White were to invite him.

As of right now, Lashley is still resuming his MMA career. So while he is in TNA, we will also see him keep up with his MMA career regularly. He will probably fight every three or four months, so TNA can work storylines around his MMA schedule.

I don't know what TNA has planned for Lashley this Sunday, but I hope he does more than point like he did at LockDown. I really hope he makes an "Impact" Sunday because of all the hype regarding him. Now that he has signed with them, he can wrestle of course.

RAW's Guest Host Controversy

On RAW last week, we saw Cody Rhodes come in to the locker room and tell Ted DiBiase and Randy Orton that he heard a rumor his father (Dusty Rhodes) would be the RAW host next week.

I thought it was pretty stupid for it to be written in because later that night we found out that ZZ Top would be the guest hosts for the show.

So the whole thing was dumb if you ask me, I mean why get everyone's hopes up to see Dusty, then announce later that ZZ Top would be the hosts. I thought it was not handled well, and whoever thought it was a good idea is a complete idiot.

However, it should be mentioned that the WWE did reach out to Dusty for the host position this past week, but they went with Seth Green instead.

They could have gone with Green next week and they still could have gotten the Robot Chicken plug in because the show's premiere wasn't until next week.

Now, I wouldn't think having Rhodes on the show this past week would be good anyway. The last host on the show was Ted DiBiase, Sr. They played up the whole Legacy storyline then.

Dusty would obviously be involved like DiBiase Sr. was, and it wouldn't be good to have all of this happen in consecutive weeks.

I feel it needs to be spread out, which is possibly the reason Dusty was not on this past week. Now, he is set to be on as a guest host in the future. I would think next week after the PPV would be good because it would be a nice set up after the WWE Title match.

A lot of people internally with the WWE were upset that ZZ Top was hosting. Even though the band is documented as big WWE fans, they are considered to not be relevant in today's music.

Their last hit was in 1985, four years before I was even born. So that is over 20 years, and the WWE is trying to reach the family, more so the kids. ZZ Top would not be a big hit with them because most have probably never heard a song of theirs.

IT should be noted that ZZ Top has stayed relevant in pop culture and just did a song with American Idol Star David Cook at an award show recently. So people do know who they are.

The WWE is mainly doing this for its older fans, the 30-and-up crowd. A lot of WWE's fans are in that age range.

So because the WWE panders to the kids more than them, it was mainly something for that crowd that gets left out more so than not, the 30 and ups.

UFC Taking Pro-Wrestling's viewers?

The UK Financial Times ran a front page story yesterday on UFC, saying that their first quarter revenue was up 41 percent and UFC expects to hit the $300 million mark in revenue this year.

The story has a quote from cable analyst Dana Myers, who said that UFC has shifted fans from pro wrestling.

I have an issue with this. It is more so with the word "Shifting" than anything else. Sure, the wrestling crowd likes wrestling, this much is obvious. But, that does not mean they only watch wrestling.

I for one, am a big wrestling fan. However, I like football, basketball, baseball, and MMA. Does that mean all of these sports shifted me? No. I am a fan of all of these while being a fan of wrestling.

UFC has been getting some interest from wrestling fans because naturally Brock Lesnar in there and he was a former WWE Superstar.

Fans want to know how he will do in UFC so they watch because of Lesnar, and possibly like what they are seeing and stick around.

I was a fan before Lesnar arrived, but then my excitement went up when he did make his way there.

MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world, and UFC has to be the WWE of MMA. They are the biggest name and the most popular. When a person mentions wrestling their mind immediately goes to the WWE.

Same with UFC. When people think MMA, their mind goes to UFC. Because it is growing so fast, numbers they had last year are not going to be anywhere near what they will get in the future.

So that means the quarter growth will go up. Also, UFC 100 was in that quarter and it was a huge hit. So of course it will move up because of that.

People need to realize, especially Dana Myers, that there is no shifting involved here. It is only growing interest of wrestling fans, it is not as if they are going to now watch MMA fights only. They will still watch RAW, ECW, Superstars, or SmackDown like they normally would.

Elijah Burke Says Kofi Kingston's Accent is Fake?

In a twitter feed from former WWE Superstar Elijah Burke, he ribbed current WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston. Here is what he had to say:

“Well Kofi, at least Seth Green did his homework; His c-list acting was more believable than your "Jafacian Accent" on commentary! ~ PHS”

Now, I am not an accent expert. So forgive me if I don't know that Kingston's Jamaican accent is not real. Kingston is not his real surname, in fact it was only given to him because the WWE wanted it to sound Jamaican.

His real name is Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah, and he is from Ghana, not Jamaica. It is a gimmick, nothing more.

He doesn't have an accent, as he moved with his family to the US in 1982 when he was 1.

Ghana is a country is West Africa, Jamaica is south of North America and north of South America. Jamaican accents sort of resemble that of an African accent, which is why Kofi was good enough to do it. Both are different of course, but they do sound a bit alike.

He is not a real Jamaican despite being billed from there of course. He talks like any normal American, but the WWE gave him a Jamaican gimmick. He slips into the old American accent from time to time; I say let it go, Burke.

I think Burke is unhappy that Kofi has been miles ahead of him as far as success goes in the WWE. Kofi has won three titles since coming to the WWE last year in the Intercontinental, Tag Team (with CM Punk), and now he is the current United States Champion.

Burke didn't win even one title in the WWE, and he is probably bitter that a guy who spent around the same amount of time that he did in the WWE has been more successful. Get over it, Burke!

News on Eric Young

There have been a few questions raised concerning Eric Young's role in TNA. Young is quite close with Jeff Jarrett and was moved into a program with him a few weeks ago.

Shortly after, people started asking about Young and the feeling is that the short-term program was booked to justify his position with the company.

No one really knows why they had him go after Jarrett and then we didn't see much come from it. Many felt that they should have a match at Victory Road, but that was nixed by TNA officials.

Young has gone heel of course, but writers have yet to get him involved in any other storyline. Many think that the program with Jarrett would work best because Jarrett and Young work well together, also he is the only person in main event status that Young could go after right now.

One idea was to get him back in the X-Division Title race, but now that Homicide is Champion, we will probably see a storyline involved former champion Suicide and new champ Homicide.

So even though Young has been technically a two time X-Division Champion(which were both taken away for storyline reasons), then he does deserve to be in the hunt. Homicide and Suicide are both faces, so it doesn't matter who comes out on top.

Young can rival any one of them because he is a heel, so I see him getting in the race sooner or later. But as of now, he is just another guy on the roster. The heel turn was supposed to change all of that; guess it didn't.

Shelton Benjamin Update

In the Big 15 Superstar trade that Donald Trump instituted, Shelton Benjamin was moved to ECW from SmackDown. For a long time, he has had all the tools in the ring, but has been boring in the mic and in storylines.

He has held titles only because his in ring ability was liked so much, and he was deserving of them. WWE officals are not wanting to release him, and the move to ECW was not a demotion or lack of faith in Benjamin. 

WWE has long recognized his athletic ability, but they are waiting for him to show that he can make a true impact from a star quality perspective.

They hope that he will come across as a "big fish in a small pond" on the ECW roster and be ready for a committed push on one of the other brands.

Right now, that looks unlikely. I mean you have him lose his first match on ECW to a new superstar. I know they wanted to put the young man over, but if they wanted this to be a huge move for Benjamin, then why have him lose?

It was a dumb idea, but, from what I have seen in previous weeks the WWE has realized their blunder.

Benjamin beat the new superstar Yoshi, the following week after he beat him. Then this past week he beat the No. 1 Contender for the ECW Title in Christian. So, I think that at Night of Champions, he could be added to the match.

We also saw Vladimir Kozlov beat Tommy Dreamer then make a statement on Christian. So he may be added too, which means we could see a Fatal Four Way for the ECW Title at Night of Champions.

We have seen Christian vs Dreamer way too much, so I would think this is possible. Benjamin could end up winning the title, considering the WWE does not want to keep the strap on Dreamer long.

I don't see Kozlov winning it considering he is not ready to be the face of a brand. That would mean that Benjamin or Christian would be the new champion or they could have Dreamer lose it next month at Summerslam.

I see Dreamer losing it at Summerslam myself, but you never know with the WWE. It is possible that Benjamin could win the title then.

Of course, this all hinges on the idea that Benjamin will be added to ECW Title match.

Mr. Anderson Update

If you don't know already, former WWE Superstar Mr. Kennedy is now calling himself Mr. Anderson. This is mainly because his real name in Ken Anderson and he obviously wants to keep his old gimmick, which he came up with, alive.

If you are following Anderson, you know he is making funny videos about what he is doing with his time during his 90 day no compete clause.

He recently did an interview with Paul Heyman on the Heyman Hustle. This is what he had to say:

“This is not a bitching session, where I complain about how WWE held me down on purpose, took away my dreams, shoved my career up my ass, or singled me out and screwed me over.

This is an explanation about the purpose of these videos, which is to show everyone what I have to offer. I’m a home run hitter being told to be satisfied with landing on first base.

I love being part of a team, and if we need runners on first base, I’ll lead off. But when you have a lack of entertainment in the industry of sports entertainment, and you can hit the ball out of the park, it’s the worst feeling in the world being told to draw a walk.”

Anderson does have a point. The WWE for the most part held him back, but he was injured a lot. So you have to think of things fairly. If Kennedy was not injured as much, then could be a World Champion by now?

We will never know, but he was liked by the crowd and was tremendous on the mic. He is a good actor, which helped him out a lot. But now, we see Mr. Anderson because Mr. Kennedy was not the superstar the WWE wanted.

I feel that Anderson was not done right in the end. The WWE made up a rumor about him being hurt and that being the final straw, which was the reason for the abrupt release.

But then we found out that it was something internally. Randy Orton was said to have complained, and Vince McMahon was in a bad mood because of the Denver Debacle. So everything hit at the wrong time.

Kennedy just got back, then was released just as fast. It was sad to see, but hopefully if he can stay healthy, Mr. Anderson will have a great career and people will forget about Mr. Kennedy.

To see his funny new video you can go here http://wrestlingtruth.com/news/video-mr-kennedy-goes-back-to-school/

411 Article to Read

I feel that we have a lot of great writers on B/R, especially in the wrestling section. Yet, no one knows it because they don't see the articles enough. I recently saw an article on TNA that I liked by Scott Beeby.

It seems to be getting some comments, but the reads are not great. Check it out, comment, and rate when you can.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/219286-why-is-it-so-hard-to-cross-the-line

Small 411:

WWE Summerslam will be sponsored by the convenience store chain, 7-11, WWE Diva Kelly Kelly recently did a commercial shoot for them, so many saw it coming. Slim Jim is also sponsoring the event. Either way, it is a big get for the WWE. 7-11 will have special SummerSlam cups for their beverages and Slurpees.

TNA Knockout Christy Hemme wrote a brief blog on her MySpace page indicating she will be returning to the ring soon. Hemme wrote:"Hehe he... A little birdie told me that a certain firey redhead is coming back to kick some ASS! I will give you one guess as to who that might be :-)"

Hemme has been out with a neck injury since January. No word on if she will wrestle considering neck injuries are serious. But, I could see her doing managing work or even interview segments behind the scenes.

Stacy Carter, formerly "The Kat" in WWE announced on her twitter that she will be doing a reality show: "I just got confirmation that I will start filming my own reality TV show in a couple of months. Check out my facebook for more details!!!"

TNA Knockout Lauren Brooke can be seen in a late night television ad spot promoting a "Free Sexy Phone Chat" line called Quest.

To clarify, it's actually not one of those seedy sexed-up late night ads as she was simply promoting a service for people to meet local singles according to ewrestlingnews.com. If you want to know more about it, go to Quest.com.

SmackDown wrestler R-Truth's "Pretty Ricky" persona was apparently inspired by a character actor Martin Lawrence played in the 1999 action comedy film Blue Streak.

Many think it was pretty dumb, as do I. Hopefully the whole thing will go away, it is pretty stupid, and no one I have talked to has liked it.

As the 411 mentioned in the past, Dolph Ziggler was set to be in a storyline with Rey Mysterio regarding the IC Title. Now, that is going to happen. And the Ziggler vs. Mystero match will officially happen for the title at Night of Champions.

That is all for the 411, make sure to check out all the upcoming 411s!

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