Wrestling Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

10 years ago: What the dirtsheets were talking about

Jump to Latest
21 - 40 of 71 Posts
#23 ·
D.M.N. said:
For those unfamiliar, Edge was injured throughout most of 2003 and was scheduled to come back just before WrestleMania XX. The idea of Triple H vs Edge being suggested on the biggest stage at this point is surprising though, as Edge was largely untested as a draw, so having him going straight in on the biggest stage as #1 contender might not have been a good idea, and also might have ended the same way as Triple H vs Booker T did the previous year!

As we all know, Edge's return was pushed back to April 2004, Edge won Money in the Bank in 2005, and the rest is history. If there was ever a person to model a push from, it was Edge. Slow, but very, very effective.
Click to expand...
They were forced to change their plans, though. He returned as a face and they tried hard to get him over but fans just didn't like him. He teamed with Benoit and won the tag titles, then he ended Orton's historic IC reign and fans still cheered Orton over him in their match. Then he got booed in his hometown at SummerSlam and they came to the conclusion of turning him heel because nobody wanted face Edge.

The Lita/Matt Hardy thing couldn't come at a better time for him, as that happened and he started getting nuclear heat.
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
Happy 2004, all! ;) Here's what those who 'knew it all' were, err, writing: http://web.archive.org/web/20040414...eb/20040414000523/http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2004/news-archive-1-2004.html

January 5th, 2004 - Update on Goldberg's future status in the WWE
It appears that once Wrestlemania 20 has come and gone, we won't see former World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg in the WWE anymore. Right now, it growing more and more unlikely that the WWE will offer Goldberg a contract that is anywhere near the one he's currently under. If he doesn't get the contract that he expects, the general feeling is that Goldberg has no problems saying goodbye to the WWE and focusing on working in Japan.

However, Goldberg's drawing power in Japan is starting to falter and he is more physically injured than most people realize. Goldberg has told WWE officials that he wants to finish and fulfill his current contractual obligations and hopes that by Wrestlemania, he has helped change some of the negative perceptions that people have towards him in general.

So, at this point, we'll have to wait and see if the WWE will resign Goldberg, or if they will decide to forge ahead without Goldberg after Wrestlemania.

Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Click to expand...
This follows on from the December headlines about Goldberg and Triple H, although it was quite obvious early on it appears that Goldberg was not staying around.

Someone mentioned Lesnar leaving did not being to rumour until WrestleMania week, but I wonder if him leaving was noted a possibility internally with his contract coming to an end, hence putting him against Goldberg.

January 5th, 2004 - WWE officials list top stars for both Raw & Smackdown
WWE officials recently updated their internal marking profiles and have listed the top ten superstars for each brand:

Raw:
Goldberg
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
Triple H
"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels
Booker T
"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair
Randy Orton
The Rock
Trish Stratus
Lita

Smackdown:
Kurt Angle
Brock Lesnar
"Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero
John Cena
Torrie Wilson
Sable
The Undertaker
The Big Show
Bradshaw
Rey Mysterio
Click to expand...
This isn't really a rumour, but more an out of interest list. Ten years later, three of them are current wrestlers, three are on-air personalities, six are part timers, seven are no longer around and one is sadly deceased.
 
#25 ·
Lesnar's contract wasn't expiring after WM 20. He begged Vince to break his contract and Vince agreed on that but with the condition that Lesnar doesn't show up in any other promotion and he showed in Japan in a match with Kurt Angle and then WWE sued him.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#26 ·
D.M.N. said:
Someone mentioned Lesnar leaving did not being to rumour until WrestleMania week, but I wonder if him leaving was noted a possibility internally with his contract coming to an end, hence putting him against Goldberg.
Click to expand...
Brock talks about this in his book in detail. Nothing to do with contracts. He was supposed to squash Goldberg in 30 seconds and move on after that into a program with Deadman Undertaker. In the 2003 summer he had signed a large contract. But there were things that pissed him off and it reached a breaking point weeks before Wrestlemania when they traveled to South Africa only for him to be pulled out of the main event and wrestle Hardcore Holly. Once he decided that he was officially leaving after WM20, they changed the end result for the match because there was more of a chance that Goldberg would resign than Brock staying at that point.

It's funny, because weeks later Brock was in a motorcycle accident that killed his chance of succeeding in NFL so months later he called back and WWE turned him down for a return.
 
#28 ·
Clint Eastwood said:
Yeah, thanks Vince :cuss:

Excellent thread btw.
Click to expand...
I usually criticize WWE but on this instance, Brock brought it on himself. Here we got a guy who was given everything within one year and offered a luxurious contract that would see him be a top star getting paid top money and out of nowhere, he decides to piss it all away because he hated traveling. So he tries gridiron but fucks that up during his free time and when that didn't work, he decides to try WWE again as a last resort as if they're a piece of trash. No wonder Vince turned him down when he was starting to move on from a guy he doesn't know if he can trust should he come to agreements with again.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Think about this Goldberg was in the WWE for a total of about 8 months, he was the WWE champion and he didn't like how they were using his character? Talk about a prima donna. It's like the rich kid who gets everything and appreciates nothing compared to all the wrestlers who work in the business for years decades and never get to be champion. The only difference between him and Warrior was he at least finished his contract and didn't no show any events.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrosOfDestruction
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#31 ·
Irrelevant said:
Yeah, I remember there being reports about Lesnar taking a long break after WrestleMania XX, then comes WrestleMania week and the reports come out that he was leaving the WWE after WrestleMania XX. It took everyone by surprise.
Click to expand...
I remember reading all this stuff at the time. Wild shit. Then being in the Garden it became obvious that the news had spread cause "Lesnar Sucks" chants were kicking up before the show.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrosOfDestruction
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#32 ·
So they were already planning an eventual Rock vs. Cena match back then, huh? I wonder how different things would have been today if they had fought at WMXX.

Not surprised about Trips killing Goldberg's push. Trips had a very tight political grip on Raw back in 2002-2004.
 
#35 ·
PGSucks said:
This was LOP's fantasy WMXX card :lol



Oh, and :rock still feared :cena3 ten years ago.
Click to expand...
14 matches? That would have been god awful, there's no way it would be done well. Each match would have to be an average of 17 minutes long including match promos, entrances, and celebrations, not to mention needing to make time for some backstage segments and intermission segments in the rimg.
 
Discussion starter · #36 · (Edited)
Meanwhile, in a parallel, non Network universe, dirtsheets know their stuff.

January 9th, 2004 - Chris Benoit to wrestle Triple H for World Title at WrestleMania XX?
It seems that the latest rumour doing the rounds of the wrestling world is that Chris Benoit could be set to wrestle Triple H for the World Heavyweight Title, at WrestleMania XX.

It's been known that Chris Benoit is finally due for some kind of push towards the top tier in 2004, and it may start almost immediately with Benoit going over 29 other superstars in the Royal Rumble match on January 25th. It seems whether it's Benoit or somebody else, that the winner of the Royal Rumble, is due to be a Smackdown wrestler.

Now whether Benoit would then go onto face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Title in an "inter-brand" match, is questionable at this time, but a transfer to the RAW roster should also not be ruled out.

But what is more interesting is that on an recent edition of "Byte This!", Lance Storm said that the RAW crew will be coming to Edmonton for the Backlash PPV, which is Benoit's home town. Will he be a RAW wrestler by the time Backlash rolls around?
Click to expand...
This came true, except of course it was famously a triple threat match as the Triple H vs Shawn Michaels Last Man Standing Match at the Royal Rumble ended in a draw. I assume they at the time didn't think that Triple H vs Chris Benoit was a worthy WrestleMania XX main event on its own (I agree) so added in Michaels. We shall find out...

January 10th, 2004 - Heel turn in the works for Kurt Angle?
As many of you have noticed, Kurt Angle has been getting involved with Los Guerrero's problems for the past two weeks since he returned to Smackdown. This could be a leadup to a heel turn by Angle, as WWE management are considering a program between Angle & Eddie Guerrero in the near future.

If the WWE does go with an Eddie/Angle feud, where does that leave Chavo Guerrero? Well, since there is no specific time frame on when Angle could be turning, we may still see a mini-program between Eddie & Chavo, leading up to a match at No Way Out (the next SD-Brand only PPV) in February between the two. However, once the Eddie/Angle feud begins, Chavo will most likely be moved into a feud with Rey Mysterio over the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
Click to expand...
In January and the words 'WWE Championship' and 'Eddie Guerrero' have not been mentioned in one article. Which suggests that it was a pretty late call to put the title on Guerrero. In the end it clearly paid off, and led to the push for JBL in 2004.

Eddie vs Chavo was brought forward to the Royal Rumble.
 
#37 ·
So Cena's desire to have a match with Rock for all those years is given a new context, meaning and backstory, lol. Very interesting, I never knew that until very, very recently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrosOfDestruction
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#39 ·
D.M.N. said:
Meanwhile, in a parallel, non Network universe, dirtsheets know their stuff.

January 9th, 2004 - Chris Benoit to wrestle Triple H for World Title at WrestleMania XX?


This came true, except of course it was famously a triple threat match as the Triple H vs Shawn Michaels Last Man Standing Match at the Royal Rumble ended in a draw. I assume they at the time didn't think that Triple H vs Chris Benoit was a worthy WrestleMania XX main event on its own (I agree) so added in Michaels. We shall find out...
Click to expand...
That was made obvious in the weeks leading up to Royal Rumble. Even forums from back then were all ready to talk about Benoit facing HHH at WM with Lesnar vs Goldberg also being hinted at and talked about.

January 10th, 2004 - Heel turn in the works for Kurt Angle?


In January and the words 'WWE Championship' and 'Eddie Guerrero' have not been mentioned in one article. Which suggests that it was a pretty late call to put the title on Guerrero. In the end it clearly paid off, and led to the push for JBL in 2004.

Eddie vs Chavo was brought forward to the Royal Rumble.
Click to expand...
Brock confirms it in his book. They decided to put the title on Eddie shortly before No Way Out because Vince told Brock that the Goldberg match is big enough without the title. It also made him paranoid that they had found out about him considering leaving by WM time.
 
#40 ·
Dirtsheets also called Edge returning to Raw back then too:

WWE News: Edge heading to Raw upon his return to the WWE?

As many of you know, Edge is set to make his return at or a few days after Wrestlemania 20. However, Edge might not be returning to the Smackdown-Brand as originally thought.

There is currently an internal battle going on behind the scenes as to which brand will get Edge when he makes his return to the WWE. The Raw creative team has been fighting hard to get Edge on their show, and it could happen. However, Edge would be better served to stay on Smackdown, where there is a semi-shortage of top babyfaces, especially if the WWE goes through with the plan to turn Kurt Angle heel in the upcoming weeks.
Click to expand...
 
21 - 40 of 71 Posts
About this Discussion
70 Replies
46 Participants
Last post:
Choke2Death
Wrestling Forum
posts
24M
members
272K
Since
2002
A forum community dedicated to all Wrestling enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about WWE, AEW, Ring of Honor, Impact and all forms of professional and amateur wrestling.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General WWE RAW Future & Past WWE PPV TNA Wrestling General AEW