WWE and Shawn Michaels dodge a bullet, Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture buzz, new Dot Net contest

Wednesday, September 3

-It's great to hear that Shawn Michaels suffered only a minor triceps tear on Sunday night and will not need surgery. I mentioned in my Member Exclusive audio update yesterday that WWE could have turned a negative into a positive by moving the red hot Jericho into a new program with C.M. Punk or one of the other babyfaces, and WWE could have saved the big Jericho vs. Michaels match for WrestleMania 25.

Of course, I'll take the alternative. As great as Jericho has been this year, HBK still has my vote for MVP of the pro wrestling industry. He's delivered in one high profile match after another, and got one great last match out of Ric Flair at WrestleMania back in April. My biggest concern was that Michaels would opt to call it a career rather than go through all the rehab work and risk suffering another in-ring injury if surgery was required.

Sunday's match should be spectacular, assuming Michaels is able to work at his usual pace. I assume he'll be selling the arm injury quite a bit, and I'd be shocked if any other match stole the show. It remains to be seen whether Michaels will need to take a little time off to rest his injured arm, but all indications are that he won't miss much, if any, time.

-I'm already fired up for the mega-match between Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture in November. However, it's kind of a no-win situation for both fighters from a respect standpoint. If Couture wins the fight, skeptics will claim that he beat a novice fighter. If Brock wins the fight, skeptics will say Couture is either past his prime and/or coming off a long layoff from fighting.

Of course, UFC and both fighters should win big financially. Dana White predicted during the conference call yesterday that their research indicates that the fight could score between one million and 1.5 million buys. In other words, this fight could be a bigger draw for UFC than WrestleMania was for WWE.

From a marketing standpoint, it's a thing of beauty. Couture is the aging and respectful veteran who just keeps defying the odds and adding to his legend. Meanwhile, Brock is the cocky newcomer from the pro wrestling world who mocked his last opponent in the final seconds of the fight and again after the final horn was blown. It's UFC's ultimate babyface against it's biggest heel. I'll wait until we get closer to fight time to make my prediction.

-I am holding an NFL pick'em contest in the Dot Net Members' forum throughout the regular season. There's no point spread involved, so it's just a matter of picking the winners each week. The winner will receive a free three-month subscription to the Dot Net Members' site, the second-place finisher will earn a free two-month subscription, and the third place finisher will get one month free. Yes, you do have to be a Dot Net member to participate in the contest. Rich Twilling and I will also be taking part, and I encourage members and fellow NFL fans to join in on the fun by visiting the Dot Net Forum.