-- Regarding Takeshi Morishima's dark matches for WWE last week, the reviews weren't too positive. Or rather, the problem seems to be with his physical appearance.
Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Live last night that a number of officials were put off by Morishima's appearance, as he's quite rotund. Some of them even thought Morishima disrespected his tryout by showing up in lackluster shape. Morishima is a big guy as he's billed at 320 pounds.
Meltzer also heard pretty much what Jim Ross wrote on his blog on Saturday regarding Morishima as he said he needs to hit the gym and work on his athletic conditioning. On Morishima, Ross wrote: "I haven’t heard a word about how well his matches went. I watched his match in Moline and it was o.k. Not bad, not great. It looks like Morishima might want to focus on his athletic conditioning and hit the gym more frequently. I am not being negative here only realistic. Morishima has "something" that seems like it might be worth exploring. I like his timing and there is no doubt potential with this young man."
In addition to this, if WWE were to bring him in, they would have to deal with a number of stringent political issues with NOAH officials because his side wants him to get some exposure in North America while still being their guy, then bring him back to Japan to carry the company after hopefully attaining stardom with the biggest wrestling company in the world. Basically, WWE can't book him like a joke or make him look bad.
Right now, it's definitely not looking good for Morishima joining WWE.
-- WWE's latest Circle of Champions of feature is on Jeff Hardy meeting Make-A-Wish's Brad Wendt, of South Elgin, Illinois before last week's SmackDown/ECW taping. You can read the article on the meeting at this link.
-- The operations manager at the BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi said dealing with WWE was the worst. "The wrestlers, themselves, had somehow decided to have a food fight in the dressing room," said Craig Russell. "We had mashed potatoes on the light fixtures." {Article link}
See pics of Morishima's SmackDown dark match & backstage with WWE stars! (>>)
