Is Mr. McMahon Dead?
Well, that’s what WWE.com would have us think. Apparently the climax to the months and months of idiotic feuds with Shawn Michaels, Donald Trump, and Bobby Lashley was Vince McMahon going nuts over the past week-and-a-half talking to himself and others like he was trying out for Mercedes McCambridge’s part in The Exorcist. Top that off with McMahon getting into an uncustomary white limousine (he generally rides in black) and people lining up to watch him ride off into the sunset, you could tell that something bad was about to happen. I mean, does he think he’s Albert Finney at the end of Big Fish or something?
There’s a bit of insensitivity to this whole “car bombing” angle. For one thing, there are men and women overseas right now fighting a war on Islamic terrorist fascists that want to destroy anything and anyone that’s not them. A car bombing happens over there once a day, including a bomb over the weekend that killed three servicemen in a bridge collapse. Not only that, but for a car bombing to occur on American soil is unheard of, despite what you might see in some Mafia movies. Vince McMahon claims he’s such a patriot, yet how crass is it to compare his on-screen death with the real-life deaths of innocent Iraqis and Americans? I just find that a little bit too much.
The only explanation I can give for it is the relatively lackluster draft that was conducted last night. In years past, you had Batista and John Cena traded between brands, Triple H traded to Smackdown and back to Raw again for three guys, among other interesting trades. Last night’s draft seemed to be an afterthought as far as making any major moves:
#1) The Great Khali from Raw to Smackdown. I actually like this pick as it gives Batista another adversary besides Mark Henry so that Edge can get on with some better opponents himself. But as a #1 pick to build drama for the draft, this was a bit lame.
#2) The Boogeyman from Smackdown to ECW. Makes sense to put him on Sci-Fi, and it gets him off of my TV on Friday nights. Good riddance. Go re-enact How to Eat Fried Worms somewhere else.
#3) King Booker from Smackdown to Raw. Sad to see him go, but I imagine he will heel to Kennedy or Cena and continue to do good things on Raw.
#4) Chris Benoit from Smackdown to ECW. I think collective fan contingent probably yelled “WTF?” at the TV screen after that decision to banish Benoit to the nether regions, but it does make sense. Lashley was traded away later in the show, so Benoit brings that ready-made credibility to the table. He also is more compatible in the ring with the guys in ECW than Lashley. On the plus side for him, I guess that also means he gets to keep the same travel schedule since he’ll be going along with ECW. He’s a guy they can put at the top of this brand that management can trust.
#5) Torrie Wilson from Raw to Smackdown. Eh, I guess they had to drop a diva in here somewhere.
#6) Chris Masters from Raw to Smackdown. Hopefully they’ll do something with him there. His push got moved to the back burner after he came back from his trip to the Wellness Policy DL.
#7) Bobby Lashley from ECW to Raw. How I can tell they came up with this list within the past week–why have Lashley chase Vince McMahon for the belt for a month, then draft him to Raw, and then he just surrenders the belt over like, “Man, am I glad I got the hell out of there!” That’s like wanting a new Corvette, and when you finally save up all that money to get the thing, you immediately drive over to the nearest pond, put it in neutral, and push it in.
#8) Ric Flair from Raw to Smackdown. I can get with Flair on Smackdown, although I imagine Triple H isn’t happy that his little buddy is leaving. I would put him in a feud with Edge for the belt to introduce him to an audience that hasn’t seen him on this show regularly in about 5 years, since he was “co-owner” of WWE with Vince McMahon.
#9) Snitsky from ECW to Raw. I guess I thought Snitsky was on Raw, so imagine my surprise that they drafted him back. I guess dude shaved off his eyebrows. Whatever gets you over, I suppose.
#10) Ken Kennedy from Smackdown to Raw. This was the one sure pick of the night, and the odds are that he will turn babyface on the show with Shawn Michaels on the shelf with his knee injury concussion. Of course, they could have played this pick with more drama to really get him over, but with the limo blowing up, that didn’t happen.
Although this draft didn’t have as much “sizzle” as past drafts have, they made the right decisions, and it will be interesting in the next month or so to see how guys do in their new homes.
June 12th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Well at least Vinnie Mac will be off the telly for a while which is great. Although it looks like they are going to do a “whodunit” story which may prove tedious.
As for the drafts, I have to disagree and say that there were more wrong decisions than right ones. I think Smackdown! got done big time. Losing Benoit was a big blow as there was potential for an feud with him and Edge after their match last week which I thought was great. Booker is another big loss but Ken Kennedy moving is a shock and a bad decision I feel as they already had a storyline in hand with him going after Edge for revenge. In return they got in my opinion, two guys with stale gimmicks who probably won’t amount to much (Khali & Masters), a guy well past his best in Flair and a slut who is only there to get her baps out. SD! needed a big name and they are really short in the upper-mid card faces.
I kind of feel for Benoit as he deserves better than ECW but he will probably win the gold within three months. And I guess Sci-Fi could always use another freak character even if he is crap.
Raw came off best which isn’t a surprise. Booker adds a much needed top heel to the roster. Lashley’s home has been Raw for the past few months anyway and there is great potential with Kennedy. Nobody gives two tosses about Snitsky though. That said, the way things are at the minute, they will all probably job to Cena.
Hopefully something more exciting and unexpected will come from the extra draft later in the week. Rey Mysterio’s fate still needs to be decided but I reckon he’ll end up on ECW.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:01 am
Smackdown did get the shaft, as it usually does, but I think that the purpose of the draft is to shift people around to get fresh matchups, and not always to promote the most deserving fellows.
I think with Boogeyman gone, they will finally be able to capitalize on the face heat Finlay has been getting because of the midget. Benoit is a huge loss, but maybe he will legitimize ECW the way Reef Van Dam was supposed to do.
Masters certainly is the second coming of Lex Luger, but he has room to grow on Smackdown. It is worth noting that no one from Smackdown has broken the Masterlock. Cena did it, and I think when Lashley did it, he was representing ECW.
Flair is old, but I imagine that having him take one more look at his original 15 pounds of gold and diamonds might draw for a while as a nostalgia trip or as a transitional champion. He could also do for Smackdown what Chris Benoit did for MVP, train up the kids and show them the ropes.
I think Mysterio will end up on Raw or they will find away around his Loser Leaves Smackdown stip and put him back there. He draws a minority demographic in the ratings that probably makes more sense to keep him on SD anyway.
And baps? Wasn’t that that one Halle Berry movie?
®
June 13th, 2007 at 9:37 am
It’s like the comic book industry and the wrestling industry are beginning to REALLY start falling to shit all in the same week.
Skrulls and McMahons.
I’m going to get myself a gun, friends. (metaphorically speaking)
eks
June 13th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
“And baps? Wasn’t that that one Halle Berry movie?”
Not sure, but she has got them out in a few of her movies. Much to the delight of straight males everywhere.
“Skrulls and McMahons.”
Skrulls!!! Tell me you did not just spoil New Avengers…tell me you did not just say that! I don’t get my books until tomorrow, but if that’s the big revelation then what a letdown after the hype is was given.
June 14th, 2007 at 6:44 am
What happened to the supplemental draft?
I just knew Randy Orton and Carlito were gonna get moved to either ECW or Smackdown; esp. with Kennedy and Booker T being moved over. I mean unless somebody is turning face real soon, where do all of these guys fit? And we all know Trips is waiting in the wings..so I wonder what’s gonna happen?
And the whole Bobby Lashley deal…puh-lease!! I just can’t figure out, why the powers-that-be are sooo high on this guy. Don’t get me wrong, he belongs in wrestling..but, I am just questioning the spot he’s put into. He’s just not ready!!
IMO - Charlie Haas and The Hardy’s should have gotten moved over to ECW….put Shelton Benjamin, the Highlanders and Melina on Smackdown. Sound good?
June 14th, 2007 at 7:06 am
vince mcmahon wos really happy about the his dead
show.. hi wos in smackdown arena at the same night so i dont think his dead!!!
June 14th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I think the main reason Benoit was moved to ECW was to school some of the younger, greener members of the roster. C.M. Punk definitely has some room for improvement, and working with Benoit for a while could help him finally reach his potential. His offense looks light as hell, so a few stiff knife edges from the Crippler might put some stank on Punk’s strikes, much like working with Finlay helped Lashley work a little stiffer.
I really like the idea of Masters on Smackdown. He’s not nearly as bad as people seem to think he is, and given that SD tends to focus more on actual wrestling, I think he’ll get the chance to prove it.
As far as the supplemental draft is concerned, I would love to see Val Venis move to Smackdown. He’s too damn good a wrestler to be stuck jobbing on Raw once a month.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
well this is bull, MacMahon isnt Dead. If he was, like Eddie, he’d be all on the news. I have a clip out if eddie in the DMS, and i herd it on the news too, so if anyone wants to argue, well can suck it
June 16th, 2007 at 6:50 am
“What happened to the supplemental draft?”
It’s on Sunday out of “respect” to the McMahon family for their “loss”.
“well this is bull, MacMahon isnt Dead.”
Yes, we all know that. There was plenty of coverage this week about all the dummies in the media calling the local fire departments and the FBI and Homeland Security asking about what happened and they explained to them it was a TV stunt.
Next thing you’re going to tell me is that wrestling is fake. Tell us something we don’t know.
®
June 19th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
He is dead i know it and carlito or bobby lashley did it boy i hate carlito he the one i bet or someone in his family did you see his dauther she really misses him i bet he is dead love him or hate him you’ll always miss him…….
mr.mcmahon if you can here me we’ll always miss you no matter what hey the russ shut up it will be on the news as soon as they find out who did it and you’ll all see just wait i bet you a 1,000 dollars it will……….
well g2g fun talkin got to get back to work byes
torrie wilson
June 19th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
ok it is me again just wanted to say i think i know who it mite be tune in on sunday and you’ll see and opps john and candice are in here candice has something to say…. hey boyz just want to say watch me fight on sunday bye
from candice michelle
Now john wants to say something yo yo yo,wazzup my dogs hows everything goin i know who it is that mite have killed him but i can’t let out the secret bye dogz…….
from JOHN CENA
ok im back how is it talkin to real wwe superstars it fun isn’t well like john and candice said tune in on sunday to see and i’ll be tomorrow and ecw what do you mean well g2g bye…….
June 20th, 2007 at 5:46 am
Baps=black african princesses, not a word for boobs. Even thoug any word could be used for boobs in the right circumstances.
I’ve hoped that they would take Shelton Benjamin, give him Ted DiBiase as his manager and call him Mr. Benjamin for the longest time. Tell me this couldn’t work. Everybody has a price.
Smackdown has had the habit of taking a group that looks like crap and promoting them to big time. Look at London and Kendrick recently. Or Lashley a bit before that. Or Kennedy. Or John Cena.
Stuck in Afghanistan for the next few months so I have to read about the rasslin’. Keep up the great work, guys!
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:44 pm
i think that mr. mcmahon is dead. i don’t care what any body else says if you liked him or not he will always be missed. i am very sorry to the mcmahon family. i will always miss him. i think that he is dead i watched the videos i saw his car blow up. that was real not fake, real go to hell if you think he is not dead. he was in that car when it blew up screw everybody who thinks it was fake.
In Memory of Vincent Kennedy Mcmahon
1945-2007
June 25th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
I wanted to know is Chris Benoit and his family really dead I know that some people think that telling lies like that is funny but that hurt people like me who is a very big fans of the show never miss it ecw wwe wwf smackdown tnt I watch all the show and even through people tell me it fate I still am a true fan so please don’t play with me like Vince Mcnahon did he had me crying over him and monday night he’s on tv love the show and all the player thank you Dorothy Bryant Fort Belvior Va.22060
June 25th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Venice is not dead. He was just shown on tv today announcing Chris Benoit’s death. So it was fake. If you don’t believe me. Watch Raw. RIGHT NOW.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
and it blew up on the OUTSIDE of the car.
If Vince was dead, when the explosion happened, the show would cancel RIGHT THEN AND THERE like Owen Hart when he fell to his death.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
First I didnt See raw when Mr McMahon’s Limo exploded. I came Home and went on wwe.com and i read the article and was shocked!!! My Mom told Me to go to cnn.com,she said if he was really dead it would be on the news. H ewasn’t on the news and my mom told me he wasn’t dead and i knew he wasn’t!!! When I got home agin one day I didnt see raw so i recorded it and when i turned it on and Chris Benoit and it said (IN MEMORY OF CHRIS BENOIT) I thought at first it was another lie but again i went on cnn.com and it was on there then i found out he was on steroids witch EVERY WWE WRESTLER IS SON STEROIDS!!!!! They can not have those big muscels!11! I AM ANDREQW TURNER OF CLEVELAND OHIO GO JERICHO!!!