PILLS! PILLS! PILLS!

Did it hurt when the fireworks burned you?

April Fool's publicity stunt.

If we're talking gang warfare, my money is on the siafu.

I totally agree. And I'm glad that this segment didn't turn into an angle.

I don't think that it's very good booking. There's no reason for Punk to get beaten clean the night after the biggest win of his career.

They've been doing indies the last few months. While I already know the answer as to why he is still in the business now, he did post a blog about four weeks ago or so saying that he is considering life away from wrestling. It is kind of ironic that they were released after their behavior during a match with Cade/Murdoch.

I thought that Shad was leaving the business.

That's some scary shit right there.

Can't wait for the puro fanboys to bitch about this one.

I got really fucking high last night and watched (or tried to watch) the shoot with Honky/Sheik/New Jack last night. I could barely handle it. Honky was constantly antagonizing Sheik, urging him to share his opinion on Brian Blair, Ultimate Warrior and others. Blair's portion of the roast will be priceless, mostly because Sheik will likely not understand the situation and some shit will go down.

Worse than HHH-Orton from '04? Or, if we're talking strictly WrestleMania, it can't be worse than HHH-Booker, right?

The short answer is that Page lost everything (the girl, the money, the precious Television Championship) including a Loser Leaves Town match to the Booty Man (remember that embarrassing shit?). He was brought back, with the aid of an anonymous benefactor and... then the storyline was dropped.

Has WWE handled his impending retirement properly? Given the state of the WWE creative team it has been better than I would have expected. What do you expect out of this Sunday's match and what will be Flair's role in the future? Great match. Easily the most emotional part of the card. I'm really looking forward to it. Has this WWE run hurt his overall legacy or improved it? Absolutely improved his legacy, much more than WCW ever did. Can he really stay retired or this just another Terry Funk retirement? He'll be back. Most wrestlers have to be physically unable to work in order to completely retire. What's your favorite Flair match? Damn this is difficult. I just might have to go with his match against Vader from Starrcade 93. Is he overrated/underrated relative to his 80s and 90s peers? Flair managed to remain one of the top guys while always making his opponents look good. That is what makes someone a great wrestler. Do the 21 (16?) world title wins mean anything to you? Promoters love Ric Flair. He brought a sense of legitimacy to every championship that he ever held. Did he hang on too long? Not in my opinion. He could stick around even longer as far as I'm concerned.

Is the "disappearing Flair" situation a reference to his no-showing Thunder in April 98 or something else?

I am visiting with friends and family this weekend. I chose this weekend, specifically, because of WrestleMania. I moved several hours away last summer, but I'll be damned if I am going to miss out on tradition. I make a bigger deal out of WrestleMania than I do with my own birthday.

It feels a lifetime has passed since then. Damn I miss the Monday Night Wars. Being a fan used to be so much more fun.

Would it not be funny if the weather behaved itself throughout the entire evening, and then, right before the Triple Threat Main Event entrances, all hell broke loose?

Shook Ones Pt. II by Mobb Deep. I've been on a mid-nineties East Coast kick.

I think he and Undertaker had a short WWF World Tag Title reign in the Summer of 1999. He was talking about the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, though I don't see how it would really be necessary to win both. And if we are going to consider the US Championship, in lieu of the European Championship, then that would make Ric Flair a sort of Grand Slam Champion.

My favorite bar only has specials when the guy I know is serving. They do have good/inexpensive black bean burgers, though.

Warrior with his old look (meaning the facepaint/tassels, not the gray hair) with his current rhetoric would be funny as hell. Just the idea of him going through the old entrance spiel with the rope-shaking and what not, then offending damn near everyone in sight. They could even have him put together a stable of followers...the Church of Warrior or some stuff liked that. That'd be great. I would love to see that... If only Warrior took himself as seriously as everybody takes him...

Was that really necessary? I mean, couldn't they have just paid him to stay at home just like everyone else? Oh, I mean R.I.P. brother.

I caught a show with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at the Vogue on Saturday night, and I am getting acquainted with their new album. So far I like it more than Face the Truth, but not as much as the first two albums. It's still early, though.

Scout's honor that I did not happen upon this (now two-week old) until today, but I just happened to had popped in this tape last week. I am a sucker for the first half. Everything after Flair/Savage is not very good, but the finale with the Ultimate Warrior totally hits the spot the same way that it did back when I was a kid, experiencing my first live PPV WrestleMania with all of my friends. - Santana and McEntyre greeting each other, after Heenan going on for weeks about how she was his sister (Arriba McEntyre) was funny as fuck. Man, has anybody ever seen the ending of that opening match anywhere else? After all these years I find it to be very... odd. - LOD interview. When was the last time that they just brought somebody out in front of the crowd to do an interview at the big show? I can't remember either. - Man, remember when a wrestler turning face or heel was intriguing? That Undertaker/Roberts affair was a strange thing to warm up to when you were just a young mark like I was. - Piper/Hart. I love this shit. - I was dumbfounded when Luger made a guest appearance on a WWF PPV promoting his upcoming NON-WRESTLING role with McMahon's other company. I thought that it was going to be a storyline or something that would eventually lead to a match and his eventual debut or... Now that I think about it, if they actually cross-promoted to the point that WBF guys were wrestling and defeating WWF heels it would... suck lots of dick. - Ah. Good ol' Ray Combs. I wish that more WrestleMania matches featured Repo Man. - So, whatever happened to the Fabergé egg that was Elizabeth's marquee layout (complete with olive in belly-button) that Mr. Perfect was supposed to be waving at ringside? Aw fuck it, there was no need. Savage totally came off as a guy who hated Ric Flair's fucking guys, and Flair played a piece of shit scumbag to a tee here, with the aide of his sneaky little Executive Consultant. I love this match, the pandemonium, the bloody champ and the commentary of Bobby Heenan, panicked over his "investment" being in jeopardy of losing the top championship in the company. - Having the first-ever box set that was released in 1997, there is a brief moment where they remind us that there used to be a five-minute intermission at these three hour shows. Boy, there's something that we will (gladly) never see again. Unless you count matches like Big Show/Akebono. - Rick Martel cutting a promo about having "no reservations" for Tatanka. Yes, I am a Model. I'm stealing that giant pin. Also, they have match against each other on this card too. - Wow, that Natural Disasters/Money Inc. was spared out of consensual dumbfoundedness. Fuck workrate. I'm still puzzled why the Natural Disasters, who (mainly Earthquake) were scum of the Earth for the longest time up until last month, are big babyfaces. I guess that it would be better to deal with a tsunami than the Internal Revenue Service. You tax cheat. - Owen Hart vs. Skinner. It happened. Barely. - God I'm a mark for Doctor Harvey Wippleman. Hogan/Sid was the right choice for the main event, based solely on the extracurricular activities that happened after the match. - Overall, still one of my favorite Manias. Like, top three. It makes me sad to think that the Hoosier Dome is going to be demolished at the end of the year.