Very Pissed

The whole thing is now ruined

Massive disappointment

Disgusted

Here is the first related quote I read concerning the changes in WWE relating to the wrestlers as they pertain to the company

PWInsider.com is reporting that talent, more specifically announcers, have been told to begin referring to workers as "entertainers" as opposed to superstars or wrestlers. The idea behind the request is that WWE is working hard to have the company billed as an entertainment touring organization as opposed to a sporting event. This would allow them to bypass the Athletic Commissions in most states and avoid paying certain taxes as well as abide by rules established by the commissions.

Now here is the second reference I read

I've seen various reports including on this site of WWE deciding to call their wrestlers, entertainers in the hope of avoiding state regulation and taxing.

At least one report noted that States like Georgia who are about to vote greater wrestling regulations likely on November 19, 2007, as we've reported earlier are the reason for this change. Currently, however WWE is exempt from Georgia Wrestling Regulation under the law so Georgia is not a great example, and in Georgia the commission that Regulates is the Georgia Entertainment & Athletic Commission, so being defined as Entertainment in Georgia would not help much.

Whether it will help in other states will depend on how current law is written. Much of the current law lumps wrestling in with Boxing and now MMA regulation, real sports. Many of the "commissions" are still "boxing commissions".

Likely WWE hopes that this change will encourage States to pass new law that would exempt wrestling, but that will be an uphill fight as in doing so many states will give up taxes on gates (usually 5%), and it is unlikely states will do this without a fight.

WWE will argue that by bringing PPVs, RAW, ECW & Smackdown tapings into States it ends up spending millions each year in numerous states, making WWE an attractive business to have visit your state. Those states with less or no regulation and no gate taxes logically will benefit more than regulated states as WWE will be more inclined to frequently visit "friendlier" states, and those states will benefit more financially as a result.

We will see if new laws are proposed to change current State laws as a result of this change. Only time will tell.

Here now is the third related article about this topic

As we reported earlier punches are now legal in WWE, which was a good change.

But it is getting tougher to be a heel in WWE given some other rule changes that are automatic DQs if seen by the ref.

There has already been at least one DQ finish for a heel using a handful of tights and being caught by the ref.

Choking with the hands or using the ropes to choke will be a DQ instead of a 5 count, if seen by the ref, and just added to the growing list are eye poke or rakes and throwing someone into the ringposts outside the ring. Both now will lead to a DQ too.

So WWE heels will need to get very sneaky now, or refs need to be easily distracted or both.

and finally here is the last one at least for the moment I assume

source: the wrestling observer

It is now being reported that in addition to the wrestlers in WWE now being referred to as "entertainers," Vince McMahon has issued a mandate stating that the phrase "sports entertainment" will no longer be used and from now on the product will be referred to as simply "entertainment."

So as i read this I now have to believe that all "wrestlers" are now just glorified actors and with the hiring of Freddie Prinze to write scripts and give the "Talent" acting lessons, they all should be up for nomination next year in your TV Awards show and maybe even an Oscar or two for some, don't you think, "I'm just sayin" to quote someone we all know, and I'm also getting to the point where I can sort of justify us not having to pay for PPVs if this is indeed the case and the way WWE is headed. What do you all think? I think you all need to get REALLY creative with your signs when you go to the shows and tapings, give Vince something to read while he's yelling into the headsets of the commentators. And if they are noAw only an entertainment business there should be no longer any need for the commentators because the guys should be learning their scripts and delivering their moves without the aid of commentary from a second party, via the input of the third party through the headset. True? And to take this even further, they might have to stop doing PPVs altogether or at least they would need to change the name fitting of an Entertainment company only don't you think?

Well, I'll be going now, until next time, Unlock Your Destiny Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy will be the New WWE Champ and Undertaker at WM 25 = 17-0.

Firstly, Me thinks its somewhat fixed(actually I believe it to be fully rigged) but that's not my issue. Second, I have no real inclination to go into great detail here so this will be quite short.

I believe Taker and Matt and Jeff and Batista and CM Punk/Kofi and Michelle will win their respective matches (no offense to Jericho fans out there) and I believe Santino will lose the title to Honky Tonk man because that is how it was going to end all along. I believe Kane and Reys match won't have an actual clear cut winner and if Beth is in a match that I've forgotten then she'll retain her belt too. The Diva Halloween Costume will be won by either Maria if she's in it and loses her match to Michelle or by Kelly Kelly but I'm not really much into this, it doesn't matter to me who wins this.

As far as the picks go I say Austin to ref Jericho match, Honky Tonk to defend his record against Santino which Santino loses, Pick the tag match goes to CM Punk/Kofi vs Simply Useless which Punk and Kofi will win, Matt will wrestle Evan if everyone who has a brain votes, Triple H match will be a triple threat match which Jeff will win, and Reys match will be a falls count anywhere because that would be the fairest for both of them given the size difference and style difference and Undertakers Match will be Last Man Standing match which he will win given he's lost so many already, but that's okay with me to know he'll win this one, at least I'm confident about this match result.

Okay, thats it from me, peace to everyone and continue to unlock your destiny Matt, i'm just sayin...  next stop Undertaker 17-0 WM 25 and Jeff for WWE Champ.

My thoughts post No Mercy are now almost 24hours old and I've had time to settle my mood a little. I won't deny that I was very disappointed that Jeff didn't win, even though I KNEW he really had no CHANCE IN HELL, I still in my heart was hoping for the outcome ALL his TRUE fans wanted. It helped a little when the only consolation I could offer my daughter was the fact that he has stated publicly he does what he does NOT for the titles/belts, they hold very little interest for him, but of course he is aware of what the fans want so if he does win a belt it's more for us than him. So that being said the fact that Koslov looks to be the next contender for the belt against Triple H is not a shock to anyone however I do believe it will end up at Cyber Sunday being a triple threat, I don't think they will just drop Jeff out of the picture altogether after all Koslov continually attacked both Jeff and Triple H prior to No Mercy so there is some validation for having Jeff in a title match again.

I've read today that some comedy skits were removed at the last minute from No Mercy so I still believe my prediction that Charlie Haas would appear would have been correct and I've also read that the fan reaction from the event itself was not what WWE was hoping for with the Undertaker/Big Show ending. I can see why initially because I myself had the same thoughts, WTF was that, but having had 24 hours to think I believe it was an obvious way to end it given that Undertaker never loses by submission/tapping out, and has only lost cleanly a handful of times in his very long career so given this was a normal wrestling match, no weapons involved, no distractions or interuptions and against Big Show, and both have Boxing Skills, what better way to have him lose than a Knock Out, and he can still recover and slowly build to the climax (whenever that is going to be) with his mind games and such and it keeps the feud going and doesn't make either one look bad. Well at least I don't think either one looks back, keeps Big Show alive as a rotten so and so heel, and Taker (given his age and current health status) would naturally like almost anyone else have succumbed in the same way by being punched that hard from someone who is 7ft and over 400pounds, how wouldn't that make sense. And it's something new to Undertakers storyline given that he is supposed to be able to withstand almost anything and come straight back from it and the only times he doesn't is when he wasn't expecting it and hadn't thought ahead and planned for the probability, (all of this Kayfabe Character analysis) so I suppose if he follows his past he should stay in the background for a while and plot some huge revenge and maybe a re-invention of some sort but I doubt that bit really, I don't think they go into it too much these days like they did before.

I had a lot of trouble watching the HBK/Chris Jericho match and at one point I found myself feeling on the verge of crying. I strongly dislike ladder matches, not quite sure why, I never worried and felt the same way with TLC matches, just the ladder matches and this one was awful for me. I kept thinking it looked like something was going to go horribly wrong. I love HBK and Chris Jericho together and never have a problem in a normal match but as with their last match that I felt was too over the top with the use of the belt, this one was also too much for me. Thankfully Batista won the No1 contender match and now he and Chris can focus on each other. I need the break.

I still think Santino and Beth will part ways sooner rather than later and I'd also love to see the culmination of the storyline between her and Batista but I expect that will just be ignored in the hopes that no-one remembered it was being built now that he's won the No1 contender spot and I guess they'll just focus on that storyline. I'm happy Beth kept the belt though, and I'd like to see Mickie back in the running for it.

I don't know anyone who didn't know Matt would retain his title and I'm happy he did. He did a reasonably good job against Mark and I'll give Mark huge ticks for helping out, I noticed a few times he sold some moves by Matt well, those that would have been possible against someone his size, which I think was quite admirable of him given he went in knowing he would come away the loser. It must be hard to go into a match for anyone knowing you have to make it look authentic when you know you aren't the winner. He may have been no-ones pick or favourite as the ECW champ in the first place and not unlike Punk, a token gesture, but he is in real life still a human being and a very nice one at that. Yah for Matt though, my favourite after Undertaker.

The match between Rey and Kane was okay as far as the difference in size between them goes but I'm still unsure about all this. Kane really is a big oaf in the ring and slow, Rey looks like he is always having to be extra careful and of course he has to be and he has also slowed up considerably since his return, I like the storyline, or at least the idea behind it but I think it just doesn't work too well because of the size difference and style difference. How difficult must it be (for all of his career) to have to wrestle in boots that have a lift in them to make him look the 7foot they claim he is, no wonder he's slow and is limited with what he can do. If Rey was only selling his injury last night I hope they finish this storyline up a quickly as they possibly can without making it look like a total waste of time.

I liked the other stuff they threw in with Randy, The Simple People, MVP, Punk and Kofi. It was funny enough to break the show of wrestling matches and I guess we'll be finding out later at the Raw Taping that Punk has chosen Kofi to be his tag partner to go after the tag titles. Cool, I expected he would and I like Kofi. It also makes sense given they were both ripped off with their individual title runs. I expect they will win the belts leaving Randy and the Simple People to do their thing with this stable if it is actually going to eventuate.

That'll do for now. I was pretty much wrong with my predictions on who would win and who would or wouldn't have interference in their matches and who would show up but didn't, the only ones I got right were Matt and Batista and Triple H but that was only because I was sure of interference but in my heart I really wanted Jeff to win so I won't take it as a clean victory on that prediction. Until next time.

This is really just for my own record.

Here's what I think might happen at No Mercy

Santino will interfere (cause a distraction) Candice wins and the problems increase between Santino and Beth leading to a split sometime before next PPV which will also result in Santino losing the IC title, either before or at the next PPV. I see a feud/storyline evolving with Beth and Batista over the coming weeks.

Koslov will interfere in the Jeff vs Triple H match so that the result will be a double DQ or Triple H will retain without either he or Jeff actually officially losing the match saving face for both.

Undertaker vs Big Show if shown before Triple H match will actually be the pointer to who "Wins" that match. If Big Show pulls off a win by Vickie making her appearance and distracting Undertaker allowing Big to get a sneak win, then Triple H will keep the belt, If Undertaker wins then in all likelihood Jeff will actually be given the win and the belt. Here's hoping for both scenarios.

Matt will retain the belt in a pretty clean match. As it should be.

If Matts match is first, then Takers after that before Trips we might get a good indication of how Jeff will fair. It would be really nice to have them both hold a title, they just might go with that, here's hoping.

Batista vs JBL is really only a formality, they can't exactly just hand Batista the opportunity without making it look like he has worked for it so of course Batista wins this and goes on to challenge the winner of the HBK/Chris Jericho match............coming to that in a moment.

Kane vs Rey Rey is most likely, well 99% guaranteed also, Rey to win causing Kane to be even further pissed off and go completely mental because of it resulting in a continuing feud because lets face it, what else is there for Kane to be doing, better this than jobbing. They have quite a few potential scenarios for this feud to be kept interesting enough and take it to another PPV without becoming boring because one might be that a stipulation for the next is that if Kane loses he has to put his mask back on........

Now with Batista having won his match, HBK vs Chris can have two outcomes, one being that will Batista having obvious history with Shawn there is an already made storyline ready to be picked up on and it would make sense, sort of, to re-ignite that. So HBK would win and it becomes HBK vs Batista at Cyber Sunday. The other outcome would be for Chris to win resulting in the same scenario but with less intensity and history than a Bastista/HBK match which only works as both are faces because there is history and both can be faces but quite aggressive and nasty at the same time. If it turns out that Chris wins and becomes a Chris vs Batista feud (Heel vs Face) then I fully believe Batista will get the belt at Cyber Sunday. I have always believed Chris is only a sort of caretaker for the time being until they could work it into Batista getting his title shot. I think if this happens they will eventually give Shawn the belt closer to WM 25 to allow him time to be sufficiently fit to have his Final match at WM 25 which I believe will be the case. (Undertaker's not going anywhere folks, well not permanently, maybe another hiatus to re-invent)

I really can't tell for sure about HBK and Chris' match, the end result achieves the same effect which is that Batista gets his hands on the belt either way at Cyber Sunday. Randy won't get a title shot for at least a couple to three months after he actually returns to the ring so there is no need at the moment to put him into this equation.

That's all I think. I'll see how I've done after sunday night. Most likely totally wrong on all fronts, or at least if not totally wrong then the majority will be and probably for the wrong reasons, I'm that good at picking the real reasons, mostly because I over-think, I think.