— The Miami Herald has an interview with injured SmackDown star Mr. Kennedy, who’s promoting the on-sale release date for Wrestlemania 25 tickets. Kennedy talks about shoulder injury and mentions his projected return date, although he hopes to be back sooner. “Dr. [James] Andrews did my surgery and said it was going to be a long, slow road to recovery, about six months. Right now my projected return date is February 28, but I could end up coming back early, or it could take a little bit longer than that, but I’m hoping for an early return,” Kennedy said. “I feel pretty good. I’ve been rehabbing on my own, and I’ve been working out everyday in the gym. Obviously, I’m chomping at the bit. I hate being off for this long. It’s nice to have a little bit of a break, but to be off this much is a bummer.” Kennedy also says he hopes to return to SmackDown instead of Raw. “SmackDown, I always felt was my home. I started out on SmackDown. I had developed some good relationships with guys in the SmackDown locker room. I think we had a really good, family. We were kind of a fraternity, and we looked out for each other. We helped each other succeed. We wanted everybody on the card to have a great match,” Kennedy said. “Raw’s a little more competitive, and there’s a lot more depth on Raw as far as a lot of the top stars are over there, and it is the flagship show for WWE. For an up-n-comer, it was a little bit different experience, and I was glad that I had that experience. I’m also very, very glad to be back over on SmackDown, working with Michael Hayes who is the lead writer for SmackDown and head of creative.” Kennedy also notes his career going off track on more than one occasion. “I’m really looking forward to my return. Unfortunately, I had another bump in the road. It seems like every time Mr. Kennedy gets his wheels underneath him, the carpet gets swept out. That’s just the breaks in this business. What we do isn’t ballet,” Kennedy said. “The human body is bound to get injured every once-in-a-while, and unfortunately, I’ve had a couple of setbacks, but I definitely don’t let that cast a gloomy cloud over me. I try to always make something positive out of it.” {Mr. Kennedy hypes WrestleMania, more}
— Following his pinfall loss to The Great Khali in a squash match on last night’s edition of SmackDown, Montel Vontavious Porter has lost thirteen consecutive television matches in a row, including thirteen clean pinfall losses. He’s also lost on eleven consecutive editions of Friday Night SmackDown. Prior to his encounter with Khali, SmackDown General Vickie Guerrero informed MVP that he had until Survivor Series to earn his multi-million dollar signing bonus from his original contract, or else pay it back. Here is the updated “MVP Loss-A-Meter”:
08-29 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Jeff Hardy.
09-05 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Shelton Benjamin.
09-07 Unforgiven – Pinned twice; by Jeff Hardy, and by Triple H at the conclusion of the match.
09-12 SmackDown – Lost Fatal Four Way Match to Jeff Hardy when Kendrick was pinned.
09-19 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Triple H.
09-26 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Triple H in tag match vs. Triple H & Jeff Hardy.
10-03 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Jeff Hardy in All Star Eight-Man Tag Team Match.
10-10 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Jeff Hardy.
10-17 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to R-Truth.
10-24 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Kung Fu Naki in tag match vs. R-Truth & Kung Fu Naki.
10-31 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to Jeff Hardy in six-man tag match vs. The Hardys & Rey Mysterio.
11-03 Raw – Pinfall loss to Matt Hardy in tag match vs. The Hardys.
11-07 SmackDown – Pinfall loss to The Great Khali.
— The second episode of the Essential Starrcade series is now airing on WWE 24/7, which features a countdown of the Greatest 25 Starrcade matches in the event’s history. This week’s matches are as follows:
20) Steve Austin vs. WCW United States champion Dustin Rhodes 2 out of 3 falls – WCW Starrcade 1993
19) NWA World Tag Team champions Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard vs. The Road Warriors – NWA Starrcade 1987
18) Jushin Liger vs Rey Mysterio Jr. – WCW Starrcade 1996
17) Night of the Skywalkers II – Midnight Express vs. The Rock N’ Roll Express – NWA Starrcade 1987
16) NWA World champion Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger – NWA Starrcade 1988
See *NEW* photo of Edge with Trish Stratus (>>)