On the Mat, w/ Matt Henry (Defending Scott Hall)

Hello everyone, Welcome to another installment of "On The Mat", with Matt Henry. Today I would like to talk about the recent events involving Scott Hall and "comedian" Jimmy Graham at the comic roast of The Iron Sheik. It was initially reported that the joke was directed towards Bill Apter and that Graham had said "Bill Apter's career was deader than Owen Hart." The actual joke was made towards The Sheik himself, and was slightly different, but just as disrespectful. His statement was as follows; "After The Sheik and Hacksaw Jim Duggan were caught snorting cocaine in the parking lot, The Sheik's career fell faster than Owen Hart."

As soon as the words left his mouth Scott Hall rushed the stage, flipped over the podium and grabbed Graham around his throat and then pinned him to the wall. Hall was pulled off before he could strike Graham. Granted Scott Hall was intoxicated at the time of the incident, but I fully support Scott in his actions. A roast is a roast and all jokes are in bad taste to some people. Roasts are designed to be dirty, crude, nasty, and mean. I have absolutely no problem with this. I myself have a twisted sense of humor and enjoy watching celebrity roasts, but there is a fine line between tasteless and out right disrespect!

Owen Hart was a good man, a wonderful husband and father, and an amazing wrestler. His death was a tragedy for his family and for wrestling fans across the world. Jimmy Graham is a guy I never even heard of, and wish I never did! No one has the right to cheapen and make light of another mans death. Owen was kind to everyone he encountered and it's a shame that anyone would disrespect such a great man so many years after his passing.

Jimmy Graham issued a statement recounting what happened at the roast, and went on to say that he loved Owen "Heart" as a man, and as a wrestler. If you really knew and loved Owen, don't you think you might be able to spell his last name correctly? Graham deserved what he got! Not only that, but he deserved to get a mouthful of Scott Hall's fist. I only wish Hall hadn't been restrained so quickly. As a lifelong wrestling fan I appreciated everything Owen did for the wrestling business and it's fans. It sickens me to see him being turned into a punch line.

You can say what you like about the man Scott Hall. He will not deny that he has made poor choices and has never been an angel. What Scott Hall is, is a man with passion for the business and a genuine love and respect for the men and women he has worked with over the years. Hall may have his inner demons as all of us do, but he has a good heart and it killed him to hear his dear friend being blasphemed. I can only imagine how that joke would have gone over in Calgary, or in the presence of Bret Hart or any of the other Hart brothers. My guess is Mr. Graham would not have made it out of the building with his tongue still intact and in his mouth. Scott did what any friend would do. He jumped to the defense of his friends memory and my respect for Scott has increased 10 fold. Even as simply a fan, I would have done the same thing if I had been in that room on that night.

Alright enough time has been spent talking about a useless blip on societies radar in Jimmy Graham. Let's move onto a man who has probably just become one of those blips himself... Kimbo Slice. Last Saturday Slice was set to meet MMA legend Ken Shamrock in the main event for EliteXC on CBS. Shamrock was pulled from the fight for a cut suffered early afternoon while doing some last minute prep work for his fight. Shamrock was replaced at the last second by former UFC Ultimate Fighter competitor Seth Petruzelli.

Slice and his handlers went back and forth on whether or not to take this last second replacement fight. The fight was agreed to by both parties, just before EliteXC went on the air live. This was a huge risk for Kimbo and for the future success of the EliteXC franchise. Petruzelli was a guy who couldn't land a UFC contract and didn't fair to well during his season of the Ultimate Fighter on SpikeTV. However, this young man made a huge name for himself in 14 second.

In less time than in takes to unzip your fly, Seth Petruzelli disposed of the supposedly unstoppable Kimbo Slice. Slice was not just stopped by Petruzelli, he was dominated and destroyed! Every weakness in Slice was exposed in a short 14 seconds. EliteXC had built their company around this untested street fighter. What a massive lapse of reason?!? A bar fight or a street fight are completely different than an MMA fight. I am 6'7" 250lbs and would win just about any bar fight you put me in, but I would get my ass handed to be against even the weakest and smallest MMA fighter.

These men and women are highly tuned, highly trained, athletic machines. They train everyday of their lives at the highest possible level. Chuck Liddel and Randy Couture don't warm up for their fights by walking into a strip club and picking a fight with a drunk slob. Why in the hell would Elite think they can build an MMA company around a man who made his fame by doing internet bum fights? Please don't think I'm crapping all over Kimbo here, it was not his doing. Kimbo did what any man would do and went for the big dollar signs they flashed at him. He is a tough son of a bitch and would beat the tar out of just about any man on the planet in a street fight, but this was no street fight!

Had Kimbo Slice signed with Dana White and the UFC, I have no doubt that his professional MMA career would have ended after his first professional fight. In Elite, Slice was booked against men the promoters knew he could defeat. He was going to be fed Ken Shamrock because Elite sees him as washed up. It was their opinion that Kimbo Slice would walk all over a UFC veteran and legend and it would detract from the value of the UFC and increase Elite's worth in the MMA world. Had the fight with Ken taken place I firmly believe Shamrock would have picked Slice part, and if he didn't KO him in the first round he would have tapped him out by the end of the second.

The day after the fight Seth Petruzelli went on record saying that Elite payed him off to stay standing with Kimbo. The thought process being that Kimbo could beat Seth in a blow by blow fist fight, but if Seth took Kimbo to the ground, Slice's weaknesses would be exposed and Kimbo would lose the fight. So... Seth takes the pay off and stay on his feet. 14 seconds later Seth never left his feet, but Kimbo Slice sure as hell did! Not only was paying Petruzelli to stand illegal, but it was beyond unethical!

EliteXC has already lost millions of dollars this year and with their top draw being made to look like nothing more than a Friday night bar brawler the days of EliteXC on CBS are severely numbered. I would not be surprised if CBS chooses not to air anymore of Elite's fight cards. The rating were poor before this disaster and will most likely only continue to shrivel. In my humble opinion Elite should have focused more on their women's division, because that is something UFC can't compete with.

Speaking of the UFC I had the chance to watch Brock Lesnar going up against Heath Herring last night on SpikeTV. One word comes to mind regarding the massive Lesnar... WOW!!! Who in the hell is going to beat this monster?!? He improved 200% from his first UFC fight against Frank Mir, and even then he didn't look bad! He simply got too excited and let Mir take his arm. Lesnar had that fight and could have easily beaten Mir up, had he not slipped in that arm bar. Lesnar looked absolutely unstoppable against Herring. He took him down with ease and at will, and his punches are heavy and furious. Lesnar has more than just knock out power in his hands... He has knock your head clean off power! When Brock is on the ground he smothers his opponent and keeps his massive weight on him at all times. Forcing him to struggle to even breath. Brock is so quick for a man of that size it's almost unreal. He is truly the next big thing in MMA is he isn't already. I thought a fight against Randy Couture was a bit premature, but after studying his battle with Heath Herring I take that all back. Lesnar is more than ready for any challenge placed before him. He get's better and smarter each time the cage closes. Mark my words Brock Lesnar WILL be UFC heavyweight champion sooner rather than later, and for as long as he chooses.

Well friends, that's all I've got for today. I hope you all enjoyed your little glimpse inside my head and that you come back next time, and go "On The Mat" with me again in a couple weeks. As I always say, take care of yourselves and be good to each other. Have a great week folks!


nodq.com