The WEI is a weekly look at the events that have made an impact, both positive and negative, on the world of oiled up, hairless men that pretend to hit each other that we all so love to watch. The range goes from 0-100 with 0 being a world in which every PPV is like Heroes of Wrestling while a perfect score of 100 would be wrestling nirvana.

Orlando Jordan released Talk about a weird story. First there was the news that Orlando Jordan was released. Then came the updates and the rumors. Soon it became apparent that Jordan was canned because of a person that was on the road with him. This situation allegedly made Vince McMahon livid. Further news comes out revealing this person was in fact a "male friend" of Jordan's along with not possibly being "of age." It was also stated that Jordan has joined the rare group of wrestlers, like Randy Savage, that will probably never be welcomed back into the WWE fold. I don't know what's true and what's not true, but one of my WEI spys was able to take a recent picture of Orlando Jordan and a friend of his at a recent screening of Roman Polanski's film premiere of Oliver Twist. WEI Rating: - 1

Dragon's Gate matches from March/April's Ring of Honor shows getting major love: Some of you probably remember the short ROH reviews that world famous wrestling historian Keith Lipinski and I did during my road trip to Chicago a couple months ago. Those shows are now on DVD and getting a TON of critical acclaim. Why? For many reasons, but mostly because of matches feature talent from the Dragon's Gate promotion in Japan. Represented by Blood Generation's CIMA, Naruki Doi, & Masato Yoshino and Do Fixer's Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito, and Genki Horiguchi, the Dragon's Gate guys tore down the house Thursday at Dragon's Gate Challenge, Friday at Supercard of Honor, and especially Saturday at Better than Our Best. Dave Meltzer himself says you need to go out of your way to see these matches and other high profile wrestling journalists are calling them the best matches they have ever seen. Hell, on Thursday's Bryan & Vinny show over on F4Wonline.com they told their listeners to immediately stop what they were doing and get a hold of this DVD.

What's my take? The WEI faithful need to get a hold of ROH's Milestone Series by any means necessary. I'll be doing an article in due time, but the seven events that make up the Milestone Series (from the 4th Anniversary show to ROH's 100th show) contain everything that will make you remember why you are a wrestling fan. You will see the tear-down-the-roof Dragon's Gate matches. You will see an invasion storyline DONE THE RIGHT FUCKING WAY. You will see the emotional return to the ring of Lance Storm. You will see Austin Aries & Roderick Strong showing why they are probably the most under-rated tag team around. You will see the magic that is Jack Evans, the money promos of Jim Cornette, the must-see ring entrance of Jimmy Jacobs, and about a thousand other things that will make you go nuts while watching from your own living room. Go to www.ROHwrestling.com, they are always having some sort of sale so you have NO EXCUSES. WEI Rating: -+ 2

ECW One Night Stand 2006 DVD to be TWO DISCS~!: You won't believe this one, the ECW ONS 2 DVD, for an event which hasn't even happened yet will already be out on DVD July 11th. That's less than one month away. How long before you can pick up the DVD at the arena when leaving the show? This will be a two disc affair, which means it will probably have the ECW vs. Raw special from this past week or a bunch of old ECW matches. Either way, I'm all over that. For more info, Click Here! WEI Rating: + 2

***Speaking of DVDs I want to get my hands on, a Shoot Interview with the Dudley Boys Team 3-D that covers ECW, WWE, and TNA? Sign me up!

Harry Smith makes most unspectacular debut EVER on Monday Night Raw: Let's say you work for WWE and you just signed a hot new rookie. Twenty years old, highly talented and, get this, comes from the HART FAMILY (son of Diana Hart and late, great Davey Boy Smith). How would you debut this kid? Would you air a series of vignettes over the course of weeks or months, whetting the fans appetite? You know, like the one that aired for the Bushwhackers 2K6 the Highlanders? Would you hot shot his debut with a huge win over a WWE superstar to instantly give him credibility? Or would you have him run to the ring as a complete nobody with a group of WWE midcarders to chase off Balls Mahoney and have the announcers make absolutely no notice of him? Well, if you chose the last option they are looking for talented people like you in Stamford, CT. Send your resume in now! WEI Rating: - 1

Fantastic new article on the history of the World Bodybuilding Federation: If you're like me, you like reading in-depth articles about the history of wrestling. I've recently becoming addicted to the incredible PWChronicle website. This week's story concentrates on one of Vince McMahon's legendary flops, the WBF. Everything you could possibly want to know about the start-up of the WBF (including McMahon's backstabbing of the Weiders at a Mr. Olympia event) through it's disastrous PPV events (in Orange County, CA, where McMahon expected a ton of PPV buys he got a grand total of thirty. Not thirty-thousand, thirty) to the unceremonious dropping of the company and McMahon's groveling back to the bodybuilding community so that he could still advertise his ICO-PRO supplements in Weider's magazines. Exhaustively researched and superbly written, this article is one hell of a read. In fact, after reading the entire article I have become obsessed with watching some of the WBF, so if you have any of the PPVs or TV shows you wouldn't mind trading/parting with, please hook a brutha up by using my email below.

I also highly recommend the book Long Bomb: How the XFL became TV's biggest disaster which gives a detailed history of another McMahon flop of gargantuan proportions. WEI Rating: + 5

***Who wants to see Spider-Man 3 pictures?!!

Axl Rotten loses mind and no-shows Monday Night Raw: World is going around that Axl Rotten was booked to be a part of the ECW team that storm the ring on Raw along with guys like the Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, and Balls Mahoney. For some reason Axl decided to no show the event and I'm sure we can all guess the reason why. This is very odd too, as Axl had been posting religiously on his MySpace account until very recently. Oh well, I'll always have my Meet the Rottens DVD. WEI Rating: - 1

Here's two DVDs I'll be picking up later this year:

Just when you think you've heard it all concerning Jake "the Snake" Roberts: You can imagine my shock when reading an Observer update this week and seeing the following: A three-man team that featured Jake Roberts, his brother-in-law, and his son, reeled in a 47-pound 9-ounce Kingfish on Friday to win the FLOW Kingfish Tour Event in a field of 86 teams. Capital City Kyle over on the Figure 4 Weekly forums said it best when he put out the theory that this was going to be one of those stories where you find out the winner bought the fish ahead of time. "It's Jake Roberts and you know there has got to be a con." You can read more about the real story here and who knows, maybe Jake is finally turning it around. Although after watching the surreal On the Road with Jake Roberts DVD, that would have had to have been one hell of a quick turnaround. WEI Rating: + 1

Fuji TV Cancels Pride, Hustle on death watch, Keith Lipinski on suicide watch: Zach Arnold's head has probably ballooned to an even bigger size than normal since he helped break the big story on Pride story in Japan. Meltzer has been covering all the details in the Observer, but let's face it, things don't look good. Having their huge Fuji TV contract cancelled is going to make paying the top fighters a bit of a problem, being tied in with the Japanese Mafia (the Yakuza) is another huge ordeal to overcome. The future of Hustle, also promoted by Pride's parent company Dream Stage Entertainment, is very much in question. The bigger picture is that MMA in Japan could follow the pattern of wrestling in America, with K-1 being the WWE in terms of the only big name in town. You can see how much that has helped wrestling over here and what a disadvantage it puts the wrestlers/fighters at. WEI Rating: - 4

ECW merchandise not exactly extreme: This can't be legit. It just can't be! A rubber ECW bracelet modeled after those LiveStrong dealies that were popular a couple years ago? No way, this has to be a rib. Click Here for more details on this mind boggling item, and who knows, maybe you can buy some plastic barbed wire while you're there. WEI Rating: - 6

***Did you see this video of Pink getting her nipple pierced?

Johnny Ace releases brother: This was actually reported first on WWE's mobile service and God help any of you who feel the need to get wrestling news sent to your cell pone. Anyway, earlier this week head of talent relations John Laurinaitis had to let go of his brother, Joe Laurinaitis, who wrestles as Road Warrior Animal. It actually reminds me of a situation at my own work this week when a friend of mine was told his job was eliminated, and the good news is that he would be able to stay on first shift. The bad news is that he would have to "bump" (ie: take the job of) his wife.

I don't think it should surprise anyone that Animal was released as, outside of the Road Warriors DVD, there was no reason for him to have been brought back into the company in the first place. When you are a wrestler whose fame solely comes from your amazing physique, and then that physique is gone, what do you really have left? Animal's teaming with Heidenreich sucked and his heel turn was even worse than that. I can't imagine what he has left to offer the wrestling business, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised to read he's become a WWE agent in a couple months, probably in ECW because, well, that's how wrestling goes. WEI Rating: - 2

WWE releases new Legends t-shirts: Talk about going old school. WWE shopzone recently put out a bunch of retro t-shirts with a WWE legends theme. Look at some at some of those classic shirts! Here's the list of wrestlers involved: The Wild Samoans Afa and Sika, Sgt. Slaughter, Junkyard Dog, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Ravishing Rick Rude, the Bushwhackers, the British Bulldog, a generic WWE legends shirt and an awesome mock-up for a WWE Supercard. Now I know I'm the only one who could possibly want one, but I'm writing my email now to Shopzone to demand my Cpl. Kirshner and Nailz shirts!

If you'd like to pick one of these babies up, Click Here! WEI Rating: + 2

***Here's another hilarious video, Jamie Kennedy's "Rollin' with Bob Saget. Tremendous~!

Joe Babinsack scoops me on reviewing Gary Michael Cappetta's Bodyslams book: I've given Gary Michael Cappetta a lot of crap over the years in my ROH DVD reviews. Its not that I dislike Cappetta personally, as he seems like a genuinely nice guy, I just don't think his character – who was a part of a horrible era of WCW (not that it was his fault) – fits into the world of Ring of Honor. To me, ROH is everything that today's wrestling isn't, while Cappetta is a constant reminder of what it was. Although, if I can accept Dusty Rhodes and Jim Cornette – who were also part of WCW - I guess I should just accept Capetta. Anyway, the point of this is that I've been working on my review of Capetta's book Bodyslams! Memoirs of a wrestling pitchman and this was almost going to be a love letter to Capetta. Seriously, you would never think it, but this is one hell of a wrestling book with so many wonderful quotes like, "Believe me, there is little to be learned in the wrestler's locker room. Half of what is said is exaggerated bravado and the rest is relatively uninteresting." There is just a ton of great road stories and all of a sudden I click on the Observer website and see that reviewer extraordinaire Joe Babinsack beat me to the punch by already putting up a review! Oh well, foiled again. Check out Joe's review and I'll post my Johnny-come-lately review in the next week or two to give them space. I swear to God, if someone on the Observer site is planning on reviewing the Best of Japan 2005 volume 2 DVD this week I'm gonna SCREAM! WEI Rating: Even

WWE to introduce Nacho Libre on SmackDown?: Who knows what is going on with this yet, but over at WWE.com there is a page set up on SmackDown for Jack Black's character in Nacho Libre. Will Black be making an appearance on the show? Is this just some sort of weird marketing plan devised to attract the most miniscule audience possible? We'll find out soon as the Nacho Libre opens soon which means Jack Black would probably be at next week's tapings. WEI Rating: + 1

A little bird told me that if this cross-company marketing campaign pays off, WWE has plans to introduce some more characters from Hollywood into its universe including:

Pirates of the Caribbean's Capt. Jack Sparrow on SmackDown. (Why else do you think Burchill's pirate was killed off? You can't have two pirates just like you can't have two "Steve" or "Lance" characters.

The Omen's Damien, most likely to feud with Kane.

Clerks II's Jay & Silent Bob, just because they will fit in so well with the ECW locker room.

F4Wonline.com holds Best Journalist poll: Over at the F4Wonline.com message boards (which truly is one of wrestling's great forums) there was a poll started concerning the Best Wrestling Journalist. All the big names (Meltzer, Alvarez, & Keller) were possible selections. Keith Lipinski was there, along with Dragon Press' Karl Stern, WrestleCrap's RD Reynolds, Scott Keith, and, get this, yours truly~!

Let's look at the results:

One vote. One measly vote. The voter even identified himself on the boards and explained that it was, and I quote, a "pity vote." After looking at the results and that information there's really only one thing you can say…

IN YOUR FACE KARL STERN~!

The readers have spoken and clearly the world famous Wrestling Enjoyment Index reigns supreme compared to the lowly historical-basedDragon Press newsletter! I OWN YOUR ASS! Stern may be good at writing about history, but I'm good at making history! In terms Stern may understand, he is the George Hackenschmidt to my Frank A Gotch! Who knows, a couple more years of this and I may beat out "other." WHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO! Although, I do have to admit something, and this may get me major heat, but everyone that I shoot from the hip. I placed my vote for Wade Keller, but when I saw the results, my vote was placed for Dave Meltzer. Welcome to WCW! For all I know all the votes for me went to Keith Lipinski!WEI Rating +3

UPDATE!

Well, lookee here. Seems my meteoric rise in popularity is taking the IWC by storm! Tied for fifth place and on a bullet to the top spot! The autographs, the 'sheet rats, the big money endorsements… all will be mine shortly. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

***Don't forget the new ECW TV show this Tuesday on Sci-Fi network!

John "Earthquake" Tenta passes: I remember the first time I totally marked out for the Earthquake gimmick, and it was stumbling onto the WrestleFest arcade game at a laundry mat when I was a kid. Earthquake stood out so much because he just looked so outrageous on the screen. It wasn't until years later that I found out what a great man John Tenta was. Head on over to read RD Reynold's reflections of John Tenta the man, and learn how you can Paypal a donation to his family. Sometimes, especially after watching Hogan Knows Best, it's hard to remember that not all wrestlers are bringing home seven figures a year and living in mansions. Most, like Tenta, are just like you and me, guys working to pay the bills.

Your Internet Audio update for this week:

Wrestling Mayhem - The Mayhem Show returned to the studio with the aftermath of the crew hitting up RAW live in Pittsburgh Monday. Hear the stories of the live show and their impressions. Also, the boys have a real live girl in the studio!
Mike and Adam Audio Nightmare - The guys cover the shocking DSE story in-depth this week
James Guttman's Radio Free Insanity - Special guest: Tracy Smothers. Check out this quote from the show: "Meltzer’s probably the toughest one of them all. Dave Meltzer is the toughest S.O.B. on the planet. He could whip Bradshaw and Kurt Angle at the same time. Print that, man! Put that on your radio show, OK?"
Between the Ropes - Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito were back in action after a two-week NBA hiatus for two big hours of Between The Ropes. It was a busy night as the guys cover all of the latest from WWE, TNA, UFC, Pride, and the returning ECW. MMA legend Bas Rutten also joined the guys live to discuss his return to the cage with the WFA next month in Los Angeles against Kimo. Plus, live thoughts on the WWE vs. ECW special as it aired and audience phone calls.
Figure Four Daily with Lance Storm - Even if you are not a fan of wrestling audio, and I certainly was among that group, you need to check out Bryan Alvarez's Figure 4 Daily. Yeah, Yeah, you can say I'm just saying that because I have to, but the truth is, I don't. I can't recommend enough the visits by Dave Meltzer and Lance Storm as they are just an incredible listen. This week Storm stopped by and talked about ECW, ROH, steroids, working hurt and just a ton of other stuff in an almost hour long interview that just flew by.

Last week's Wrestling Enjoyment Index: 65
This week's net change: + 9
Current enjoyment level: 74

Special thanks to the man who caught Barry Bond's 715th home run ball - Keith Lipinski -, the son Angelina Jolie doesn't want you to know about - Billy Rouse -, the Wrestling Fan's Sean Carless, and the one and only This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for their help in making this week's WEI a reality.

Billionaire philanthropist Derek Burgan, who fights crime when not writing DVD reviews, has been watching wrestling since he was ten years old. If you have any questions, corrections, feedback, or goofy ideas, Derek Burgan can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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