Vince Mcmahon Thoughts, Sherri Martel's Death and the WWE Draft

From the week of June 11^th, 2007 all the way to June 18^th, 2007, perhaps the most controversial angle has ever been put on TV. Monday Night Raw was dubbed Mr. Mcmahon appreciation night and was also the night of the WWE Draft. Many notable WWE Wrestlers commented on Vince Mcmahon himself mostly in a negative light, such as Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Bret "Hitman" Hart, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and probably the biggest one in the negative light "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Only Dusty Rhodes however actually the most positive about him saying how people may not have to like him, but they got to respect him. Now I realize it is just a storyline but it was actually pretty entertaining listening to them on there take on him. The show concludes with Vince Mcmahon walking out to a chorous of boos and then says "Thank You" to everyone and then drops his microphone and walks away. At 1^st he is going the wrong way, then gets redirected by Coach to go the right way. Vince goes walking he's in a trance and has gone through it looks like a state of depression or just going mentally insane. He goes to the limo realizing something bad may happen. He closes the door after slight hesistation and then the limo explodes. If that wasn't big enough, WWE.com was stating that Mr. Mcmahon was presumed dead. Apparently this was a play off of the Sopranos. Take note that I have never seen the show nor have I ever desired to watch so I can't comment on that since I've never seen the ending myself. Granted there have been controversial angles done like the Mcmahonism angle or the exploiting death of the late Eddie Guerrero as examples, but I believe this one probably surpasses all of them given the fact that WWE.com is trying to play it up as if it was a real life incident. To make matters worse or to make it seem rather strange, on the 2 shows ECW and Smackdown, there were 10 bell salutes given to Mr. Mcmahon.

That part I quite honestly don't understand one bit. Usually it is reserved for those who actually legitimately die, not for characters and certainly not to be used for faking a death. I must have missed the memo where death is apparently something that should be made fun of. I realize that it is a show and all but I don't believe death should ever be used for storyline purposes whatsoever. To make it seem over the top with Smackdown, there were some of the wrestlers giving their take on Vince Mcmahon himself. It was rather confusing on one minute, they as in JBL and Michael Cole talked about how they are thankful for getting a job and then the next minute, most notably during when Matt Hardy, how Vince basically cost the Hardys the World Tag Team Titles. I call that quite confusing but outside the ridiculousness that is the Vince Mcmahon is dead angle, Smackdown was a pretty decent show.

The next order of business regards to Sherri Martel. For those wondering, this one however is a legit death. It was reported on wwe.com, pwinsider.com, and wrestlingobserver.com that Sherri Martel had passed away. She was 49 years old and was seen on TV with WWE last time on the night of Wrestlemania 22 standing on the stage being honored with other members of the WWE Hall of Fame. Most fans that have seen her in the late 80s and early 90s have seen her as a manager. She was the manager of future Hall of Famers like "Macho King" Randy Savage, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, and "HBK" Shawn Michaels in the WWE, then known as the World Wrestling Federation. She was also involved in WCW managing most notably the Harlem Heat and also was a manager to "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Early on in her career she was a successful Woman's Wrestler being one of the few women in history to have held and I dare say maybe the 1^st to have been the AWA and WWE Woman's Champion. Her actual last TV appearance was on an episode of TNA Impact where Bobby Roode was looking for a manager as he was touted as "the hottest free agent" in wrestling. She did appear on ECW, when it was a promotion, managing "The Franchise" Shane Douglas.

Her death was sudden and as of June 18^th, 2007, there are no results as to what actually caused the death. It could be anything at this point in time but I will not speculate on what it is. It's a terrible thing to happen and I am wondering how will fans react to the death? Will it be seen as an actual legit death or will it be seen as just another angle given the way the Mr. Mcmahon angle is going. Hopefully, this angle will not keep going on for a long period of time and nothing bad comes out of it.

The WWE draft has just concluded. The real winner was actually Monday Night Raw. For Raw, they had received King Booker, Bobby Lashley, Mr. Kennedy, Snitsky, London & Kendrick, Sandman, Daviari, William Regal, and Jillian Hall. The surprise moves to Raw I would personally give it to Sandman, Mr. Kennedy, and the team of London & Kendrick. I would say Raw might have just hit the jack pot and fills some holes like who else could be in the Main Event scene to challenge for the WWE Title. The show that would receive 2^nd place would have to be ECW. They received The Boogeyman, Chris Benoit, Viscera, The Miz, and Johnny Nitro. The main surprise pick of the entire ECW brand would be Chris Benoit. I actually thought he would go to Raw but I guess for him to go to ECW could be good considering he could have some good matches with some of the people there like CM Punk and Elijah Burke to name a few. Smackdown ended up getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the draft though it had some interesting picks. In the end, they got The Great Khali, Ric Flair, Torrie Wilson, Victoria, The Major Brothers, Hardcore Holly, Kenny Dystrka, Eugene, and Chris Masters. While Smackdown might not have gotten all the big stars, it could still turn out ok for them in the end. Smackdown is more or less seen like the black sheep of the WWE.

What an interesting turn of events for the WWE for that particular week. What will happen next? Will this angle continue going on until they find the culprit or will it be something like he faked the whole ordeal making people appreciate him more kayfabe wise? I guess just stay tuned.