WWE’s decision to go with Jonathan Coachman as JBL’s replacement as a SmackDown! announcer came as a surprise to many. WWE kept the news very quiet up until last weekend’s tapings. A lot of people in the Smackdown lockerroom expected Tazz to be JBL’s replacement. Tazz and Michael Cole had great chemistry on SmackDown before Tazz was shifted over to ECW at the end of 2006. Virtually all of SmackDown’s top stars wanted Tazz to replace JBL. Jonathan Coachman got mixed feedback on his first broadcast and management understands it’s a work in progress.
If you are excited about WWE RAW airing in High Definition, it looks like you are going to have to wait longer than this coming Monday. According to sources the original plan was for RAW to launch in HD alongside the USA Network, however, it has since been pushed back several weeks. It is likely that WWE RAW will debut in HD the day after the Royal Rumble pay-per-view which is set to be the first WWE pay-per-view broadcast in High Definition.
Steve Austin is scheduled to be at the Extreme Monster Truck Nationals on January 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Local FOX affiliate Channel 5 is holding a competition for the fans that attend the show to bring an item with them for Austin to destroy.
