Dirt Sheet History: January 2006

Take a trip back to a memorable timeline in sports entertainment with the most important stories reported as fact in the journalistic world of pro wrestling dirt sheets.

Following the timeline of the last Dirt Sheet History looking back at the end of 2005, we get a glimpse into the top scoops from January 2006. Going forward, Dirt Sheet History will be a weekly feature covering each month in the timeline as opposed to three months at a time as there’s a jump in relevant stories. 1/2/2006

* Vince McMahon nixed the idea of WWE wrestlers appearing at the December 16 Eddie Guerrero tribute show in Tijuana, implying the company would do something instead.

1/8/2006

* Vince McMahon is interested in having Bret Hart make an appearance at WrestleMania 22. Hart’s role would be to serve as the special referee for the Vince McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels match. Those close to Bret Hart, however, are confident the wrestler will not take part. Hart and McMahon still have problems with one another, as each has taken shots at one another in their recently released DVD and book.

1/9/2006

* Sunday night at a SmackDown live event, World Heavyweight Champion Batista injured his triceps in a match against Mark Henry. The extent of the injury is undetermined at this point. WWE.com will have more information on Batista’s injury later today.

1/10/2006

* Word has it that Batista may not be back in time for WrestleMania. While doctors have not given the final word, writers are already discussing ways to get the title off of Dave. Ideas thrown around so far are a tournament, where superstars compete for the title in a King of the Ring type competition. One other idea is to simply have Batista drop the strap tonight at the SmackDown tapings, so long as it’s quick and safe. There are also talks of striping the belt from Batista and have the Royal Rumble become a WWE World Title match, where the winner would become champion and a SmackDown superstar. However, as of this report, none of the above is etched in stone. * The live, hot sex edition of RAW last night scored a 4.3. The overrun, which of course was the “live sex” segment, did a 5.2, which is a great number.

1/11/2006

* Edge and Lita both felt uncomfortable in their sex segment on RAW. Since the breakup between the two, Edge has reconciled with his wife. Edge has a reputation for doing what he is asked by management. However, he did have a limit as to how far he would go with the segment. Lita is a very private individual and has reservation about playing a “slut” character in response to her affair with Edge going public. The sex only further enhanced that character and fused real-life with storyline.

1/16/2006

* The Undertaker has been telling people backstage that he wants to have a good quality match at WrestleMania 22. Kurt Angle‘s name has been brought up for a possibly opponent for the Undertaker. Taker has been saying that this could likely be his last WrestleMania, and with Kurt Angle’s bad neck, this could be his last WrestleMania match too.

1/19/2006

* Word has it that WWE plans on introducing a new bisexual storyline involving a male, newly signed and former TNA star Trinity and Orlando Jordan. The idea is to have Jordan, his friend outside the business “Erik” and Trinity caught up in love triangle. The “Erik” character will not be portrayed by a pro wrestler.

1/27/2006

* At last night’s NBA game between the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns, WWE shot an angle that featured included superstar NBA player Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal has been shown in the audience on WWE television before but has not been ringside for any big events in recent years. After the basketball game, Carlito started taunting Heat player Jason Williams for losing to the Phoenix Suns. Carlito’s behavior to Williams’ teammate O’Neal coming up from behind and attacking the former intercontinental champion with a steel chair.

1/28/2006

* The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels himself has confirmed that his request for a match with The Rock at WrestleMania was denied. In an interview with IGN, Michaels said: “I had mentioned me and Rock because wrestling fans haven’t seen it, but he’s not interested in doing that.” As has been reported, Rock’s rationale for not wrestling HBK is two-fold. First, The Rock still holds a great deal of resentment towards Michaels for the way he feels Michaels treated him when the two were together in WWE almost a decade ago. Shawn was notorious for being difficult behind the scenes. He is said to have been very rude to The Rock – enough so that Rock still dislikes Shawn a great deal. Secondly, The Rock has gone on record to say that he does not believe HBK was a big enough star to sell the match as a “dream showdown”. Ouch.

1/29/2006

* There are some industry sources joking that Ashley Massaro has became WWE’s “Million Dollar Diva” as the bidding for her bra and panties has now went over the one million dollar mark on the official WWE auction website. Although there is a possibility that the bid could be a phony in this day and age you never know.

1/30/2006

* The current plan is for Triple H to face John Cena at WrestleMania 22, as one of the two main events. The other main event will be Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton. Rey Mysterio is not expected to appear in one of the main events, so expect an angle to be done where he loses his title shot. * Triple H blames John Cena’s crowd support for Kurt Angle not being able to play his heel role properly.

1/31/2006

* Last night during the SmackDown taping in Orlando, Florida, Randy Orton came out to challenge Rey Mysterio for his number one contender-ship for the World Heavyweight Title that he earned by winning the Royal Rumble this past Sunday. Orton’s promo was extremely controversial as he ripped into Eddie Guerrero, saying that he didn’t go to heaven and that he went to hell. This caused the two to start brawling. The initial reaction backstage was one of extreme anger and unhappiness. Some backstage said that WWE management hit an all-time low. The angle is of course being done to bring a massive amount of heat on Orton going into his match against Rey Mysterio at No Way Out. – Tune back in next week for the Dirt Sheet History edition of February 2006. Stories are credited from Rajah, PWTorch, PWInsider and The Wrestling Observer. Month name photo art is by Phillip Martin. Past editions of Dirt Sheet History are found here. Some include Wrestlemania 20, the Best of 2004, the Road to Wrestlemania 21 and Wrestlemania 21.