Smackdown, Michael Cole, Kurt Angle

It's been a lazy weekend. Nothing big went on around here. Now that my Sunday chores are done, here are some small things:

-This Friday was the last Smackdown before Wrestlemania. The show itself wasn't terrible, but for the last show before Wrestlemania, I thought it was a little weak. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this show should have left the viewer wanting to see Wrestlemania as soon as possible. I didn't get that feeling from this show.

I was glad to see WWE put the Intercontinental Title on Wade Barrett, who beat Kofi Kingston for the belt. He's one of the top heels in the company, and a future big star. Having a belt on him makes total sense and adds credibility to The Corre, his heel faction. On the other side of this, something must be up with Kingston. He's been used very sparingly, which is a shock since he was the IC Champ until Friday's broadcast. Having him drop the belt on TV rather than at 'Mania indicates he's either injured (which didn't look that way from the match) or he's in someone's doghouse backstage if they wouldn't even give him the courtesy of a Wrestlemania appearance/payout to drop the belt.

-Speaking of doghouses, I'm curious what will become of Michael Cole. Over the weekend, Cole took to his twitter account and, while in character, called fellow Smackdown announcer Josh Matthews a gay slur. Cole has since apologized. This story has been picked up by TMZ.com and other mainstream media outlets, and is bringing a lot of negative attention to WWE. Earlier this year, GLAAD was upset about a promo that John Cena cut that they felt was insensitive. WWE apologized for the incident and promised it would not happen again. Michael Cole, who is involved in a major storyline right now, is scheduled to wrestle Jerry "The King" Lawler at Wrestlemania. I'm curious to see if this match still happens.


-Kurt Angle was arrested on Friday in Grand Forks, North Dakota for being in control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated. He wasn't actually driving the car, so it wasn't a full-blown DWI. He was taken into custody after failing a field sobriety test. He was in town for a TNA house show.

On twitter, Angle claimed "I was not drunk. I was in ice storm and my car slid into 3 ft of snow median. I called police 4 help. They had other plans. I was stuck and wanted to go to my hotel. I was not passed out drunk."

This hasn't been a good few weeks for TNA talent and their chemical habits. First, Jeff Hardy shows up to the Victory Road Pay-Per-View messed up. Now this? Since wrestlers are independent contractors, TNA isn't going to fire him over this, but it's bad press. Something tells me if there are more incidents like this, someone will walk the plank.

'Less than a week until Wrestlemania.