2010: A Year In WWE (Part 1): By Matthew Evans (14/12/2010)

Here is part 1 of a round up of all the relevant goings-on in WWE in 2010:
January:

The year began with WWE.Com reporting that one of their Divas; Mickie James would be releasing her first Country music single in February 2010, followed by an album in March.

Speaking to CMT blog, Mickie said:

“As in any entertainment industry, you have to see the sheep in wolf's clothing and you have to be able to differentiate who's being real and who's just hopping on board for all the wrong reasons."

It was confirmed that Mickie had signed a deal with Nashville producer Kent Wells, who had previously worked on albums with Dolly Parton and Neal McCoy.

Wrestling Epicenter.Com reported that WWE had offered the January 11, 2010 Raw “Guest Host” gig to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, but he turned them down. WWE then offered the role to “Iron” Mike Tyson.

Following Melina’s vacating of the WWE Divas Championship, it was reported that the former “MNM” member would not be due back following her ACL surgery until July 2010 at the earliest.

Bret “Hitman” Hart made his official WWE return on the January 4 edition of Raw and in an unbelievable and gripping pro wrestling moment, made peace with Shawn Michaels after over a decade of bad blood following the “Montreal Double-Cross.”

However, the night ended on a sour note for Hart (at least in story line parlance). After shaking his hand and hailing him as the “Excellence Of Execution”, Vince McMahon callously kicked Bret in the groin, putting the wheels in motion for their inevitable showdown at WrestleMania 26.

Unfortunately, Bret’s comeback did not give Raw the “4.0” rating WWE was expecting, although it did beat rival company TNA, who’s flagship programme “IMPACT!” was going out live and head-to-head with WWE in what had been dubbed the “return of the Monday Night War.” (The final rating for Raw was 3.6 (5.6 million viewers). Although TNA didn’t better this, their rating did go up to its highest point in their history on Spike TV, while WWE’s rating remained the same as usual).

Following Jeff Hardy’s return to TNA on the January 4 live edition of “IMPACT!”, WWE removed Jeff from the opening “history” video that preceded the 05/01 edition of ECW On Syfy (previously, WWE had removed Hulk Hogan and Mick Foley, however it should be pointed out that Ric Flair could still be seen in the piece, despite his appearance on the January 4 show).

Also this month, PWInsider.Com reported that SD! Superstar Drew McIntyre and ECW General Manager Tiffany had got engaged and were planning on tying the knot sometime in May.

Former WWE Diva Stacy Keibler made headlines as well. Speaking to Sports Illustrated.Com, Stacy said she would “love” to guest host Raw sometime in the future (apparently, Stacy had wanted to do it when WWE was in her hometown of Baltimore, but her request was ignored. When her publicist called them a few months later, they said they would “love to have her”, but in the end the dates didn’t work around Stacy’s schedule).

It was reported that former WWE Superstar Ludvig Borga (Tony Halme) had passed away, aged just 47. Borga had a brief run as an “anti-American” heel in the WWF between 1993 and 1994 and following the end of his wrestling career, had a short stint as an MMA fighter. He also had a political run in Finnish parliament from 2003-2007.

SD! Superstar Eric Escobar was released from his contract on January 17. Escobar had made his debut in October 2009 as the “boyfriend” of the returning former SD! General Manager Vickie Guerrero. However, after this story line relationship came to an end, Escobar was jobbed out without mercy every week.

Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday, WWE Diva Kelly Kelly noted the loss and heart-ache she still felt following the death of her former boyfriend (and former WWE and TNA Superstar) Andrew “Test” Martin, who passed away aged just 33 in March 2009. Kelly called him “the love of my life” and added, “Not a day goes by when I don't think about Andrew.”

The Sun’s wrestling writer Mike Aldren reported that Chris Jericho and Shane “Hurricane” Helms had been arrested in the early hours of the morning of Wednesday, January 27.
Apparently, police had found them “extremely intoxicated" in a public place.

The Royal Rumble PPV took place on January 31. The under card (highlighted by a much-better-than expected WWE World Title scrap between The Undertaker and Rey Mysterio (‘Taker won, although Rey accidentally busted the champion’s nose during the bout)) saw one title change, with Mickie James finally getting her revenge on the “mean girls” LayCool by beating Michelle McCool for the WWE Women'’ Championship in quick fashion to officially end the uncomfortable “Piggie James” angle.

The Rumble match itself was okay, largely thanks to some creative touches such as Beth Phoenix becoming the 2nd woman to enter a Royal Rumble (the 1st being Chyna) and eliminating The Great Khali.

CM Punk (who eliminated Phoenix after hitting her with the “GTS”) was also a riot as he took a breather from eliminating participants to berate the crowd about not being “straight edge.”

The Rumble was won by Edge, who returned (early) from injury at #30 and got revenge on his former tag-team partner Chris Jericho (who’d apparently just received a “slap on the wrist” (if even that) from WWE following the aforementioned arrest prior to the PPV) by eliminating him from the match.

February:

Following her entry into the 2010 Royal Rumble, “The Glamazon” Beth Phoenix took a shot at the “9th Wonder Of The World” Chyna in an interview with WWE.Com:

“Chyna would have had a slight size advantage in her prime, but I’ll tell you what Chyna was missing and that was heart."

"Chyna got comfortable, she got soft in her position. I’m quite the opposite. I get better and better."

WWE.Com reported on February 1 that WWE Hall Of Fame inductee Jack Brisco (one half of the famous Brisco Brothers tag-team) had passed away at the age of 68. Jack and his brother Gerry (who could been seen serving as one of Vince McMahon’s “henchmen” at the height of the Austin/ McMahon rivalry in 1998) were both inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2008 and in the prime, were considered to be the best technical wrestling tag-teams in the business.

Following Vince McMahon’s announcement on February 2 that the ECW brand would cease broadcasting at the end of the month, former WWE and ECW star Rob Van Dam joked to The Sun (UK) that he thought the group had died years ago.

TNA announcer Taz (who also worked for the original and revived version of ECW) also weighed in with his thoughts on his official Facebook page, criticising McMahon and WWE for not giving the company a “proper send off”:

[Credit: Facebook/ The Sun Online]:

“If you are going to thank cameramen and directors, then acknowledge the past history because it's well deserved."

"If you utilised the letters ECW to make a lot of money over the past several years I would assume that you respect the history of ECW?”

It was reported that former WWE Diva and 7-time WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus had landed her first film role after signing up to be the lead female in the Canadian movie “Bail Enforcers.” Trish was quoted as saying, “I'm thrilled to be a part of a production that is 100% Canadian and I look forward to delivering some Stratusfaction!”

Prior to his appearance at the Historic Purks International Championship Wrestling show, former WWE/WCW/ECW Superstar Ron “Farooq” Simmons announced that his match at the event would be his last as he was officially confirming his retirement.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that the company was axing the annual “Survivor Series” PPV as “it's outlasted its usage.” (McMahon would later change his mind and keep the event after all, although with less emphasis on the team elimination matches).

The final “ECW On Syfy” show on February 16 featured “Show-Miz” (The Big Show & The Miz) retaining their Unified Tag-Team Titles against the “odd couple” tandem of Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust. In other action, Ezekiel Jackson became the last man to hold the ECW Championship when he beat defending champion Christian in an “Extreme Rules” Match.

WWE’ s updated PPV schedule confirmed that Backlash, Judgment Day and The Bash had all been given the boot. The idea was to now promote “theme” events such as Hell In A Cell and Money In The Bank.

The “Elimination Chamber” PPV took place on February 21 and saw three World Title changes in one night. After John Cena outlasted defending champion Sheamus, Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase, Kofi Kingston and HHH in the Raw “Elimination Chamber” Match, “The Animal” Batista showed up (by order of Mr McMahon) and beat Cena in an unscheduled additional match to become the new WWE Champion.

Elsewhere, Chris Jericho became the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion when he pinned The Undertaker in the SD! “Elimination Chamber” Match (after Shawn Michaels emerged from the chamber “floor” and super-kicked ‘Taker, setting up their “Career VS Streak” match at WrestleMania). Also competing in the match were CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison and R-Truth.

However, the biggest talking point of the PPV was what happened before the SD! “Chamber” match had even began. During his trademark ring entrance, Undertaker was briefly engulfed by a fireball that shot up from the flames that make up his “fiery” entrance. Undertaker suffered some nasty burns and could be seen dousing himself in cold water as he waited to emerge from his pod for the “Elimination Chamber” Match (which he carried on competing in as planned).

It was reported that former UK Gladiator and independent wrestler Jemma “Inferno” Palmer had signed a developmental deal with WWE and would be relocating to Tampa to work for Florida Championship Wrestling.

WWE went wild with the talent cuts on February 26, releasing WWE Diva Maria Kanellis, and former ECW Superstars Paul Burchill and Shane “Hurricane” Helms. Of all the releases, Maria’s was the most surprising (she was scheduled to appear on a Celebrity Apprentice special in the U.S., which could have got WWE some big mainstream exposure had they kept her until at the least after the show had aired). Burchill’s and Helms’ departures were no great shock, considering how they’d just been “making up the numbers” on the ECW roster prior to its demise (plus Helm’s aforementioned arrest in January didn’t help his plight).

WWE Referee Scott Armstrong was added to the list of cuts that very same day. Armstrong was a former pro wrestler (and part of the legendary Armstrong family) who’d been “wearing the stripes” for WWE since 2006.

Charlie Haas (who was in the middle of his 2nd run with the company) was sent packing on February 28. Considering the way he “flip-flopped” between brands and barely got utilised, Haas’ release was far from surprising.

March:

Mickie James noted on her Twitter page that she’d recently undergone surgery due to a staph infection in her leg (at this point, it looked like Mickie would surely be missing WM).

After serving as “Guest Host” on Raw, Stone Cold Steve Austin appeared on the Hardcore Sports Radio and said that he liked the fact that TNA was going head-to-head with WWE, as it created competition for the betterment of the business.

Former WWE Superstar Colt Cabana criticised the company’s handling of his career in an interview with The Sun’s Rob McNichol in the “One Sided Ring Podcast.” Cabana said WWE hindered his progression and stopped him and his character from developing.

Former WWE and WCW Superstar Bill Goldberg confirmed via Twitter that he had been approached by TNA but was considering an offer from WWE. (This was surprising considering WWE’s handling of him between 2003 and 2004).

WrestleMania XXVI (held on March 28) did not live up to the hype. Held in Phoenix, Arizona, the company’s biggest event of the year was headlined by an entertaining and sometimes gripping “Streak VS Career” Match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels (won by ‘Taker, which forced Shawn to retire from WWE).

The rest of the show however, was disappointing on the whole. The Unified Tag-Team Title match between The Miz & Big Show and John Morrison & R-Truth was way too short (“Show-Miz” retained), Randy Orton’s triple threat victory over Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase destroyed the progress of the former “Legacy” members and was far too predictable, the “Money In The Bank” Match was the usual mix of crazy ladder stunts and painful, career-shortening spots that didn’t really work as an-all round “proper” match (plus the winner, Jack Swagger took bloody ages to unfasten the briefcase), HHH VS Sheamus was okay, but Sheamus should have won and the bout itself was far from a classic, Rey Mysterio’s bout with CM Punk was exciting while it lasted (which wasn’t nowhere near long enough and once again, the wrong man won), Bret Hart’s “No Holds Barred” Match against Mr McMahon (which featured members of The Hart Family all giving poor Vince a pummelling) was utterly dreadful (even with the knowledge that Bret couldn’t take bumps), Jericho’s WWE World Title defence against Edge had it’s moments but was not PPV-worthy overall, the 10-Diva tag-match (which featured Vickie Guerrero paying homage to her late husband Eddie Guerrero with the match-winning Frog Splash [seeing Vickie pay tribute to Eddie was the only good part of the match, and even that was ruined by Michael Cole calling it a “Hog Splash”) was the usual abomination, John Cena VS Batista (where Cena regained the WWE Championship via submission) was entertaining on a crowd reaction level, but like Edge/ Jericho didn’t convince as a PPV headline match and even the aforementioned ‘Taker/ Michaels rematch wasn’t a patch on their effort at WM 25 the previous year.

The following night on Raw, Shawn Michaels proved to be a man of his word and bowed out gracefully in an emotional “farewell” that lacked the “pomp and circumstance” of Ric Flair’s “retirement” in 2008 but nonetheless, worked very nicely (Undertaker even appeared to literally tip his hat to Shawn and long-time buddy HHH embraced his friend and left two green glow-sticks on the ramp to symbolise “DX).

April:

Former WCW & WWE Superstar Chris Kanyon (Christopher Klucsaritis) was found dead in his New York apartment on April 2. He chose to take his own life after battling depression for several years. He was just 40 years old. WWE acknowledged his death on their official web site but did not pay tribute to him on-screen.

It was reported that Jim “JR” Ross had acknowledged that his announcing career was “likely history”, with options being “weighed up” for him for another role in the company in the coming months. Ross had been absent from the announce desk since suffering a serious Bell’s Palsy attack in October 2009, prior to the “Bragging Rights” PPV. He was in attendance at WrestleMania 26 and according to him “would have loved” to have called the Undertaker/ Shawn Michaels main event.

The “Syfy” network in the U.S. announced on April 13 that they had signed a multi-year agreement to broadcast “Friday Night SmackDown!” beginning October 10, 2010. However, to make way for the WWE’s 2nd biggest show of the week, Syfy decided to axe the doomed “NXT” programme (which had been getting some truly dreadful ratings).

WWE wielded the axe on April 22 and released 7 wrestlers (5 WWE Superstars & 2 WWE Divas). The unfortunate recipients of the dreaded “pink slip” were former WWE Women’s & WWE Divas Champion Mickie James, former FWA star Katie Lea-Burchill, Raw Superstar Shelton Benjamin, SD! Superstar Funaki, SD! Superstar Slam Master J (Ray Gordy), SD! Superstar Jimmy Wang Yang and former ECW Superstar Mike Knox. The most surprising release of the lot was Mickie James (many fans were upset with WWE for giving her the boot).
Speaking of released talent, former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis spoke to The Sun’s Rob McNichol on The One Sided Ring Podcast (Credit: The Sun Online] and said that WWE didn’t give her the freedom to pursue other things (like her fashion and music careers) but did say that she “had such a great relationship” with them overall. She admitted that the release “came as a shock.”

WWE Extreme Rules took place on April 25. Overall it wasn’t all that “extreme” (or very entertaining, to be honest). Notable results included new WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger (who had recently “cashed in” his “Money In The Bank” opportunity and beaten Chris Jericho on an edition of “Friday Night SmackDown!”) retaining his title in an “Extreme Rules” Match against Randy Orton, Beth Phoenix beating Michelle McCool in an “Extreme Makeover” Match (which featured some creative use of an ironing board) to become the new WWE Women’s Champion and John Cena retaining the WWE Championship in a “Last Man Standing” Match against Batista (the finish was silly: Cena simply used duct-tape to tie Batista to the ring-post so he “couldn’t stand”).

The annual “WWE Draft” the following night on Raw saw Kelly Kelly, Big Show, Kofi Kingston and Christian move to SD!, while John Morrison, R-Truth, Edge and Chris Jericho moved to Raw.

In the “Supplemental Draft”, Raw got The Hart Dynasty (DH Smith, Tyson Kidd & Natalya Neidhart), Goldust, Ezekiel Jackson, The Great Khali & Ranjin Singh, while SD! acquired MVP, Rosa Mendes, Hornswoggle, Chris Masters, Cody Rhodes and Chavo Guerrero.

May:

Speaking to WWE.Com about her latest injury (a torn left ACL ligament), “The Glamazon” Beth Phoenix said “Rehab will be the hardest thing for me”, adding that “I'm not used to being told, ‘Take it easy.’ It's usually ‘Push the limits!’ More than anything, this comeback will be a test of patience for me.” Following her victory over Michelle McCool at “Extreme Rules”, Beth was forced to drop the WWE Women’s Championship to Layla following the aforementioned injury.

The Sun reported that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had expressed his disappointment with the buy-rate for WrestleMania 26 (it was down 12% from WM XXVI the previous year). McMahon put the decrease down to factors such as 2010’s WM not having a “theme” (the 2009 PPV was branded around the “25th Anniversary” of the event) and fans ordering the show together, as opposed to individually. Vince also dismissed the notion that WM 26 may have suffered from UFC having a big PPV event 24-hours prior to the “Granddaddy Of Them All.”

Carlito got released on May 21. According to the statement on WWE.Com, “Carlito’s termination was due to his first violation of the WWE Wellness Program and his subsequent refusal to attend a rehabilitation facility." Carlito’s career had been on the wane for quit some time (when he made his debut in 2004, big things were expected of him).

In notable results from the “Over The Limit” PPV, held on May 23: Kofi Kingston beat Drew McIntyre to become the new WWE IC Champion, Rey Mysterio beat CM Punk in an “SES Pledge VS Hair” Match (as a result, Punk had to have his head shaved bald), Big Show beat WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger via DQ (this was yet another example of WWE having no faith whatsoever in portraying Swagger as a credible world champion), Eve Torres retained the WWE Divas Championship against Maryse, and John Cena retained the WWE Championship in an “I Quit” Match against Batista (this one had a ridiculous finish: Cena hoisted Batista up on a platform on the stage and threatened to give him an “Attitude Adjustment” to a prop car below. Batista feared for his life and yelled, “I Quit!”. Cena then did the move anyway and an “injured” Batista appeared on Raw the following night and actually “quit” WWE live on air (he was legitimately leaving the company, for reasons that have never officially been confirmed [it’s rumoured he was miffed with losing out on a movie role to HHH and also wanted a change of scenery]).

June:

To explain Undertaker’s absence from Television, WWE concocted a story line in which his “brother” Kane had apparently found him in a “vegetative state.” In reality ‘Taker was recovering from a broken orbital bone (some fans in the UK and some reporters in India thought the story was legit). With him off-screen, WWE developed a “Who Done It?” saga that would be drawn out until he returned.

Daniel Bryan got released on June 11. Bryan had competed on the first series of “NXT” and had recently formed the “Nexus” group with the season 1 winner Wade Barrett and most of the other contenders on the show. It’s believed that WWE fired Bryan for breaching their strict “PG” guidelines (Bryan was apparently given the boot for simulating a choke on ring announcer Justin Roberts [using his tie] and spitting in John Cena’s face at the conclusion of the wild “Nexus” invasion at the close of an edition of Monday Night Raw).

WWE “Fatal Four-Way” (a new PPV that bombed at the box office) took place on June 20. The event saw Kofi Kingston retain the IC Title against Drew McIntyre, Alicia Fox win the WWE Divas Championship in a Four-Way Match against Eve Torres, Gail Kim and Maryse, Rey Mysterio become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion when he beat Jack Swagger, Big Show and CM Punk in another Four-Way Match, The Miz retain the U.S. Title against R-Truth, and Sheamus win the WWE Championship by beating John Cena, Randy Orton and Edge in Raw’s 4-Way main event.

*Check back soon for Part 2 (July- December 2010).

Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:

http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/