Sandman has far more name value than Necro, anyway.

I wouldn't call him a poor man's Sandman, I'd call him a less-marketable Sandman, maybe. They're just different, to be honest.

i think i'd rather watch Sandman

Ring of Honor announced today that Lance Storm will be coming out of retirement this summer to work two ROH shows in Toronto on July 25 & 26. Here is ROH's presser: It's been nearly ten months since Lance Storm stood in front of the ROH faithful at "Northern Navigation" on July 25, 2008 where he was disrespected by Sweet & Sour Incorporated, and left Shane Hagadorn laying with a superkick. And it's been even longer, April 1, 2006 at "Better Than Our Best", since Storm entered into ROH competition. That night it was an epic, nearly thirty minute classic against Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Title. Storm came up short in his bid to become the champ but without question won over the fans of Ring of Honor On July 24th and 25th, one year since he last appeared for ROH, Lance Storm will not only come back to ROH, he will return to active competition! At the Ted Reeve Arena in downtown Toronto, Storm will make his ROH in-ring return with matches on both nights! His opponents have yet to be determined but stay tuned to upcoming Newswires for more details on whom Storm will face when he returns to the ring. When you add Storm's name to a weekend that already includes appearances by Bret Hart on July 24th and Ric Flair on the 25th, ROH's return to Canada is shaping up to be an historic one. Tickets are on sale now for both events here at www.rohwrestling.com, and you can save up to 40% off until Tuesday at noon. You don't want to miss out on this historic weekend! Get your tickets now!
Starting this Friday at 10:00 p.m. on Bravo, TNA Wrestling launches a brand new television show called Epics, which will be a collection of the greatest matches and moments in the seven-year history of the promotion. The show will go head-to-head with WWE most weeks as Friday Night SmackDown usually airs at 10:00 p.m. on Sky Sports. A video preview of the show, featuring clips of the likes of Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Sabu, Christian and CM Punk in TNA is available at TNAWrestling.com.

WWE is pushing John Morrison as a face on the SmackDown brand. Everyone in WWE realizes these days that with so many of their top Superstars getting older and stale, that it's very important that they start creating new stars.

There has been lots of talk about the future of announcing in WWE. Many feel that fans see Jim Ross (57) and Jerry "The King" Lawler (who turns 60 soon) as "stars" as opposed to other announcers like Michael Cole, Todd Grisham, Josh Mathews and Matt Striker. According to sources, Vince McMahon reportedly wants all announcers to be colorless in the idea that they aren't the stars of the show and that the wrestlers are. This is hard to put over now in his eyes since Ross and Lawler will always be looked at as stars and were recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Many are interested to see the transition the company will take with the announcers once Ross and Lawler finish up with the company, although that doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon. Lets hope J.R sticks around for quite some time as that's obviously a major loss.

The next few months in WWE have been described as a rebuilding period where the company will try to make new stars. The expectation in the company is that as this takes place they are expecting ratings to drop a little. There are said to be plans in place to bring in more developmental wrestlers from FCW and start them with a purpose as opposed to just putting them on TV and hoping it works out.

There has also been discussion about setting a rule where respective creative writers are to only worry about a limited amount of wrestlers on the brand they work for so that it will allow them to do more things with newer talent. Whether or not that will take place remains to be seen.

One big expectation is that with four TV shows a week (Raw, ECW, Superstars and Smackdown) and the possibility of a fifth being added is that more of the shows will become very wrestling-heavy.

well, to add to your news post, here's some comments made by Bret Hart in a recent interview:

(WWE) Bret Hart Speaks On Owen Possibly Being In WWE Hall Of Fame:

Bret Hart recently spoke to the Miami Herald about his most recent book, as well as the 10th anniversary DVD release of Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows which a second documentary titled The Life & Death Of Owen Hart is included with. Here are some highlights:

On other wrestlers’ books: A lot of wrestlers have written their books, and most of them don't know what they wrote or could barely read it themselves. I think the only one who has done a real top notch job was Mick Foley. I did enjoy Jericho's book to a certain degree, but there is a lot of sanitizing to sort of make the company look good and protect themselves. I think the company sort of handcuffs whether they can say this or say that. I didn't have that kind of restraint.

His final thoughts on the Montreal screwjob: There is that old saying that it takes 20 years to build a reputation, but 30 seconds to tear it down. I think it was very applicable to that whole circumstance. The fact that I stood up for myself and did what I did, I don't know that any other wrestler would have done that or could have done that.

On Owen Hart in the WWE Hall of Fame: ''Vince McMahon said to me once after Owen died that it was the worst thing to happen to the nicest guy in this business. That statement in itself, I don't know how you can have a Hall of Fame and not credit or at least honor Owen and even my father. From the last conversation I had with Vince McMahon, he had every intention of putting my father and Owen into the Hall of Fame. I'm sure that will come with time.

On remembering Owen: I don't like to stop and remember the day he died. So much as I'd like to remember other things like his birthday [May 7]. I'm maybe different than a lot of members of the family. In Calgary, when you see the green grass coming up, with some patches of snow, you find yourself thinking of funerals. I was just thinking about his funeral yesterday and all the people that were there. Even now, I think about all the wrestlers that were at Owen's funeral who are dead today. There are a lot of things that connect to Owen's death and beyond.

Overarching superiority complex + newfound fascination mysticism...

Next logical step is a God complex. On the reelz yo. I predict after he suffers his next stroke from the exertion of peeling an Orange that he starts claiming he is the second coming of Jeebus, and he'll proclaim that if we don't turn to the North to pray to the Maple Leafs five times a day he's going to call his heavenly father to kick our leg out of our leg because that's why we'll be sitting there with a broken leg.

I'm glad to hear he's becoming slightly less of a deluded idiot in the meantime though.

....not a fan I take it.

To be frank, Bret Hart has forever disgraced himself as a whiny little jerkoff. Not with any of his recent comments necessarily, just in general.

so true. but to his credit, he does seem to be trying to mellow out. after the stroke, it seems to have made him more aware of his own mortality. i ain't trying to deffend him, i've in fact been one of the most vocal, "Bret Hart's a whiny douche-bag" people, but he does seem to be trying to get over himself. but the blaim can't always fall on him. some of it does fall on the assholes who interview him, and keep bringing the same shit up time and time again. it would start to wear thin after awhile

I respect the hell out of Bret Hart. The wrestling biz screwed him over, and took his brother's life. He's an amazing wrestler, so I can't stand how people call him whiny. It's not like interviewers don't bring it up every time anyways.

I strongly disagree. Like someone already said, every interviewer has always brought up the stuff Bret is "whiny" about. He just answers what he's asked.

And I'm not sure a lot of people truly realize just what the screwjob meant. I don't think you should have to read his book or watch the documentary to understand that it was more than losing a scripted pro wrestling match, far more than that.
I don't think I would've whined any less than Bret if it had happened to me. It really is fucked up.

What about his hall of fame induction? He basically forced Michaels to not even show up so his little feelings wouldn't be hurt. Didn't he basically say he'd walk off the stage if he even saw Shawn? Shawn is a legitimately good person and Bret still fails to forgive him after all this time. Forgiving would be nice, but not acting like a drama queen would be a good start too.

Seriously, that's something a 10 year old does. It's not just interviews I'm talking about.

Well I don't know anything about asking HBK not to show up. I also don't know if HBK is a legit nice person. I'm surprised you know both of those things.

it's all just speculation on Crow's part, he's only mentioning what we've all read online in the past.

and Crow, to be fair to Bret, he's stated in recent times that he'd like to sit down and talk with Shawn and forgive him, but he's not sure when or even how it might happen.

It isn't speculation. HBK did leave before Bret's induction began, and that's a fact.

Took the words right out of my mouth

Is it fact that Bret asked for HBK to leave or he would walk out himself? I'm not saying it's not, I'm just asking for proof because if you don't have proof you're being awfully judgmental.

Like I said before, until you've been in his shoes, you have no idea what Bret went through. I've heard people joke about it, saying ''Bret's still whining for losing a match". That's not what it was, AT ALL. As a Pro wrestler, regardless of how far my career is from Bret's, I can't imagine something that fucked up happening to me. I know my promoters well, I work hard for them and we're friends. If they told me something was going to happen, then I walked out there to do my match and they switched things around behind my back... I'd be fucking pissed off, it's just something that goes completely against what the business is supposed to be. It's the ultimate wrong thing to do in the pro wrestling industry.
It didn't help that Bret then went to WCW where his career was fucked up beyond belief and then he got injured out of it.

I'm not a Bret mark at all, but he's been through the absolute worst possible of the business. Getting held back by the big boys, drugs, being screwed by the promoter (something so wrong that I've never heard of it happening before or ever happening again), having career booked into shit, family deaths, and career ending injury. I'd be pretty "whiny" and resentful myself.

On that same point, I don't think anyone really understands it was equally as hard to be in Michaels's shoes either. Your promoter asks you to do something and you're the top star; you're expected to do it. What do you do? Defy him? I mean all of us have been asked to do things we may not really want to do, but we still have to do them. I've always been under the impression Bret felt that as a wrestler Michaels should have understood the severity of the matter and not gone along with it.

Point being, this is always been a "he said she said" sort of event. Hart will tell you his side of the story, and Michaels will tell you his. Both of them do so in their autobiographies. Bret just needs to give this up and let bygones be bygones. He'll always be remembered as a legend, he doesn't have to defend his honor or career so I don't understand why he won't let this torch burn out. If he's asked about it in interviews, he has the option of saying "no comment" or something to that nature. We've heard everything we need to hear about it.

I'm not trying to defend Vince or Shawn or anything like that, but this was so long ago now. It just needs to stay buried... especially if Bret can somehow find it in his heart to forgive Vince yet he still won't give Shawn that same satisfaction and he still has to go on about this whenever he's interviewed.

actually, he's said in the most recent interviews, he's willing to give Shawn the benefit of the doubt and possibly sit down and meet with him. he says he just doesn't know when or how it would happen, almost making it sound like he wants Shawn to make the first move.

and yeah he does go on about this whenever he's interviewed, but think about it, only cause the same assholes who interview him, bring it up all the time. as Bret Hart, i would think it would get old after awhile talking about it all the fucking time, and he's even said that. he says he'd like to put the whole thing behind him, cause he's at the point where he realizes it's not worth holding a grudge for so long. who knows how it will all play out in the end. Shawn says he'd like to see Bret induct him into the HOF when it's his time, Bret says he doesn't see that happening, but he says he does see a time when him and Shawn will get together and talk and make peace.

Wait... BRET has to say ''no comment'' in interviews, OTHERWISE he's an asshole? No, I'm sorry, that doesn't make any sense. He has every right to talk about it, especially if he's interviewed. AND people must not forget what happened, or how severe it was.
I see you didn't comment on your insight. I'm assuming you didn't really know what you were talking about.

Has it crossed your mind that maybe Vince has gone all out and apologized and Shawn Michaels hasn't? Bret was pretty pissed off at Vince yet they shook hands. And if you watch an Off the Record with Michael Landsberg from a few years ago with Shawn Michaels, you'll see the man doesn't even admit to being an asshole earlier in his career. Please. Everybody and their mothers know Shawn was a dickhead in the old days.

Was it hard for Shawn to do the screwjob? It probably was, in the sense that it was unprofessional and like I mentioned, a once in a lifetime mistake. But I'll remind you that it was pretty much because of Shawn in the first place that the screwjob had to happen. Even though they didn't get along, Bret always said that he'd drop the belt to HBK no problem. And HBK flat out said he wouldn't return the favor, which in itself is one fucked up thing to say. How could Bret give up the belt easily after Michaels said something like that?
And actually Bret did agree to drop the title to Shawn, just not at the PPV.

Hey, Shawn Michaels hated the shit out of Bret and he refused to drop the title to him. Was it hard to see him get his ass kicked out of the company while winning the belt? Technically, I bet it was, considering the consequences- Bret getting pissed off, other wrestlers getting pissed off... It must have been a nerve racking situation. But I bet (speculation here) it gave Shawn some satisfaction.
Oh, and the man told Bret he swore to God he wasn't in on the whole thing. Right. The God of bullshit, maybe.


Regardless, I'm not saying it wasn't hard for Vince or Shawn. I'm saying it was hard for Bret, and after being put through the very worst side of the business, how could he not be whiny? You're telling me you wouldn't act like he does (which isn't even whiny, IMO)? I know I probably would.

wwe is coming out with a greatest tag team dvd which looks to be good but doesn't come out for a couple of months. to take a look at the dvd cover check out best buy.com and click on wwe. there are some other interesting wwe dvds coming out. just wanted to let the wrestling fans know about new and upcoming releases because i am a fan just like you.

Apparently Taker may not be out as long as originally thought. Word is he'll be back in July to work a major program into Summerslam. So I guess Backlash to Summerslam will be his "rest period" now. Makes sence I suppose.

~sigh~

Undertaker always has big returns after his high profile matches. I'm not even hyped.

Taker is just stale right now to me. I've always been a huge fan, but what he's been doing lately just isn't that interesting. He was made look way too weak against Big Show. I know they want to put Show over any way they can but it really was poorly done I thought.

He needs to go back to Ministry before he retires. Enough of this face/tweener Taker. Full blown evil satanic Taker is needed badly.

sounds good. i wish there was a site that had a listing of future DVD releases. it's a bitch to know exactly when something is coming out

Undertaker has just become so popular I can't see him as en effective heel anymore.
It would be interesting to see one last heel turn, with him becoming tired of the rest of the roster and feeling the need to cleanse the WWE by destroying every superstar so new ones will come. He'd viciously annihilate even the biggest babyfaces.
But you know what. I still don't think he'd get booed, people would just cheer him and everyone else would be turning heel, instead.