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There are a few interesting articles re: Christian returning to ECW I wanted to post; I'll do so separately. The main reason I'm bringing them up is b/c I was curious as to whether anyone here actually was "spoiled" about Christian returning as the mystery man attacking Jeff. I never ever heard anything about that being the plan. At the most, it seemed to be a case of "Wouldn't it be really cool if Christian made his return by attacking Jeff? He's obviously done with TNA, and there hasn't been any hype for a possible return, so maybe WWE is saving him as a surprise." I wasn't surprised that Matt turned, either, but all this talk about "Matt was turned at the last moment b/c Vince was furious the Christian angle was leaked" makes no sense b/c as far as I can tell, there was never a definitive angle to be leaked, and even if there was, there was no leaking going on, just a bunch of people sitting around saying "what if?" I read somewhere that Meltzer was reporting that the Christian angle was set in stone, but can anyone confirm?

If it was for a house show, then I hope people got some kind of refund if they kept the tix, else they paid TV taping prices... It was a RAW. They told the fans that the reason was b/c of Benoit, so I think everyone understood. No, that's what I mean. I know it was RAW that got canceled. So if they replaced that RAW with a later house show, then those people who kept their tickets to use at the house show essentially paid TV prices for a house show.

I don't know how Facebook works, but part of me really wants to e-mail these people and see if they know how wrestling works. We're all saying they're old-school "it's real" marks, but I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if someone actually checked. There have been so many times at live shows when I want to turn to people near me and say, "OK, you *do* understand what's really going on, right?" As someone in one of the articles says, you'd think the only adults who don't know what's going on are ones who have some sort of mental condition. It's one thing to get *really* into the show, but quite another to get involved in the show.

Maybe the Jericho posts should get their own thread...?

That's what we're calling Jack Swagger. I'm sure someone else has already made the comparison, but with Swagger, I can't help but be reminded of Brock, from the amateur background, to the freakishly long arms, to the hunched shoulders, to the voice that on 1st hearing it surprises you b/c it's much more soft and less bass-y than you'd expect from the guy.

I can't quite find the words for it, but there seems to be this trend I've always noticed in wrestling reports where the person always has to make sure the readers know he has a girlfriend. You never see "my friends and I." The only time a person mentions that he's accompanied by someone is when it's his girlfriend. It's like these guys needs the recognition or something. You can't just say you were at the show?

If it was for a house show, then I hope people got some kind of refund if they kept the tix, else they paid TV taping prices...

While reading the discussion about events with a negative impact on wrestling (Benoit and OtE 99 continuing after Owen in particular), I was wondering how exactly WWE cleared out the arena the day the Benoit story broke. I don't think I've ever read anything about what the fans were told, how soon before showtime it was canceled, etc. Does anyone know?

Nitro's are gonna start sucking royally when the Benoit/Raven feud kicks in.

Yep, exactly the point I made in my original post.

You know what's weird? I could have sworn that Dibiase had tattoos (esp. a back tattoo) like Orton at one point. Last night I was commenting to one of my friends how it's easy to mix them up at quick glance due in large part to the tattoos (I think it's b/c one of the announcers kept referring to one of them as the other), but then I noticed he didn't have anything on his back. I could have sworn he did at one point, b/c I remember thinking, "Oh, look, he has the modern version of the tough guy, completely unoriginal, tribal symbol upper arm tattoo." Like I said, weird.

I saw the movie this evening and enjoyed it. I will back up what others have said: it's an OK movie in and of itself, but the acting definitely outshines the movie. But I'm a wrestling fan, so there's that "soft spot" connection we all most likely have. I also want to echo the experience that there were times when people in the theater laughed at moments that when you think about it, really weren't meant to be funny (like when Randy's working...not the parts that are obviously intended to lighten the mood, but just the "going through the motions" aspect of his work). I think the women in Randy's life treat him like shit, ESPECIALLY Cassidy/Pam. When Randy turns the tables on her at the end (the whole "customer/not customer" deal, when he storms out of the bar), I thought she totally had it coming. And she doesn't redeem herself, either, in my opinion. I'm more mixed on Stephanie. We're only seeing Randy's side of the pain, so it's hard to judge her as absolutely as Cassidy/Pam can be judged, IMO. One thing that stuck in my mind was how exactly did Randy fall from grace? On the one hand, does it matter? All we need to know is that he did. But on the other hand, if he was the Hulk Hogan of his time, how seriously did he have to screw up to reach the point he did? I find it interesting that the promoters were all painted as good guys watching out for Randy (as were all the guys in the locker room). Obviously there are pieces of crap out there...or was Aronofsky trying to convey the idea of Piper's "fraternity"? Real quick aside: I don't follow RoH, so who's Green Lantern guy? My friend commented on him being in the movie with "Oh, look, it's that asshole Green Lantern fan."

Hah, I know Josh; he's one of my best friends!

So does the match portion of the Starrcade DVD match what was on 24/7? I'm asking b/c it seems like some of the bumpers for 24/7 with Mean Gene, Tully, etc. where made especially for 24/7.

For the Heenan/Alfred Hayes shorty, I think they spliced together an AWA match with an NWA interview (specifically, one from FL since Barbara Clearly is the interviewer). The match is clearly AWA, and the crowd is behind Alfred (even though he cheats at the end) and Heenan is up to his old tricks. But in the interview, Alfred is clearly a heel (talking trash on America), and he mentions world champions like Race, Brisco, and Dusty.

I raised this a while ago, but now that we're post-Montreal, shouldn't the "WWF Attitude" commercials be airing already, if 24/7 was going to keep them in? I did a search on John Petrie's old reviews and he mentions one for Shamrock some time in Dec '97, but I think that's it. I could swear that one of the Fall '97 PPV home videos has an Attitude ad in it, which makes me think that 24/7 must be cutting them out.

I was at RAW this evening, so here are some observations: Tomko (dark match) was really well-received. He got a huge pop when the audience recognized who it was, and there were legit "Tomko" chants. You could definitely hear boo's for Cena, but on the whole he was cheered, especially during the more dramatic moments of the main event. Batista's pop was there, but nowhere near what it was in '05 when it was pretty deafening, and he eclipsed Hogan's pop for the dark main. Orton got a good reaction, but it settled into solid heel heat by the end of the night. People really didn't boo Kane. They popped for all of his appearances, and booed when Kelly^2 rolled out of the ring. The tag title match was really good live. Punk's got one of the top pops of the night (along with the aforementioned people, plus Rey). The dark main (street fight b/w Jericho and Cena) was pretty short, less than 10 min. But it was decent, and the crowd was pretty into it. Jericho came out while the trainers were still helping Batista to the back, so that was good timing in terms of making sure the audience didn't filter out. He got a lot of good heel heat during the match. The crowd popped when Sim Snuka mentioned who his dad is (and a lot of it seemed to be of the "Really? I didn't know that!" variety). "Santa Claas" was well-received by the crowd, and there was even a solid "SANTA! SANTA!" chant. Of course, this is the same crowd that started chanting "MIS-TER RO-GERS, clap-clap- clap clap clap" when Kurt Angle took a cheap shot at his death a few years back (Mr. Rogers and his show were from Pittsburgh, and Angle said "I'm the best thing that's ever come from this city. Who else is there? Mr. Rogers? He's dead!"). I've been to pretty much every TV broadast, taping, and PPV here since 2002, and this was one of the better shows (nothing can top the SD where Edge cashed in his MitB early last year, though, or the HHH/Benoit Iron Man match from RAW in '04). A lot of times, Pgh crowds tend to be dead (for the SD taping earlier this yr, tons of the upper seats were blocked off), but the crowd tonight was solid. They weren't "in your face," but they were definitely there. It wasn't a sell-out, but everything was pretty filled up to the 1st set of balconies. Every time WWE comes through we wonder if the Pgh crowds are going to kill the city for WWE, but tonight was a good showing. And at least there were "Let's go, Pens!" chants to balance out the ever-present and oft-out of place "Here we go, Steelers, here we go!" chants. I wouldn't have hated myself had I missed the show, but I'm not sorry I went, either.

HE'S HARDCORE!!! HE'S HARDCORE!!! It's amazing how so many wrestlers are in a state of suspended adolescence.

I was watching some stuff one day on a visit home from grad school (I only started watching at the end of college, so it was never present when I was growing up), and my dad walked by and shook his head and sighed. When I asked him what the problem was, he said very tersely, "That's something a 14 year old redneck would watch." My mom's indifferent.

Everything showed up as scheduled this week, but I still don't have last week's new content. I've got a few more weeks to try and get SurSer 91 and the latest MNW shows, but Starrcade Pt 4 is expiring next week, and I've just been taping the installments as they go. I don't think it's inconceivable that I can get last week's stuff that's still active, but it sure is a hassle. EDIT: And I never did get the Starrcade 92 PYBO. It's OK, since I have it from last year, but still...

All the stuff that was supposed to disappear did so, and all the stuff that was supposed to stay is there, but I haven't gotten any of the new updates yet. I'll give it another day or so before I make a call.

Whoever said that Impact is getting better b/c of the MEM/Kids angle, I agree. Sting in particular is giving the performances (mic and in-ring, but esp. mic) of his career here. Adding 3-D to the mix wouldn't be a bad idea, either, since they've obviously got the World Tag champ cred. Nash and Steiner or Booker and Steiner are natural tag teams, as well, and they'd be good foils for LAX, Abyss/Morgan, or MCM. Plus, there's built in history with MCM and Nash. But they really need to build up the young guys to make this work. AJ and Joe are there, and there are others who are believeable (Lethal, Matt Morgan, Abyss). But if they have people like Shark Boy, (goofy) Eric Young, and (pissant) MCM's join in, the "Kids" side isn't going to be taken seriously. One way to build someone could be to have Steiner and Petey feud. It's almost a no-brainer, esp. since Petey more than paid his dues, according to the storyline he had with Steiner. And now would be the perfect time to bring back Christopher Daniels. Have Curry Man go back to Japan or something, and then have Foley re-hire Daniels in order to show the value of the TNA originals.

I'll repeat what I said in my original post about this: As someone else mentioned, hopefully the website bits will be extras on the DVD. Given that I've been recording the 24/7, I'm not going to be in a hurry to pick this up, esp. since it's coming out AFTER Christmas. Boy, did WWE mess up or what, with having it come out after the holidays AND giving it away on 24/7?!

It turns out that it really is what's currently airing on 24/7. As someone else mentioned, hopefully the website bits will be extras on the DVD. Given that I've been recording the 24/7, I'm not going to be in a hurry to pick this up, esp. since it's coming out AFTER Christmas. Boy, did WWE mess up or what, with having it come out after the holidays AND giving it away on 24/7?! From 411wrestling: Match Listing for WWE Starrcade DVD Posted by Ashish on 11.11.2008 The lineup for the DVD... Here's the match listing for WWE's upcoming 3-disc Starrcade DVD. [highspots.com] Disc 1 Starrcade December 29, 1996 - The Match of the Decade "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan Starrcade December 13, 1989 - Iron Man Singles Tournament Sting vs. The Great Muta Starrcade December 28, 1992 - Unified World Tag Team Championship Barry Windham / Brian Pillman vs. Ricky Steamboat / Shane Douglas Starrcade December 27, 1998 - WCW World Heavyweight Championship Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash Starrcade December 29, 1991 BattleBowl Starrcade December 27, 1993 - 2 out of 3 Falls for the WCW United States Championship Dustin Rhodes vs. Stunning Steve Austin Disc 2 Starrcade November 26, 1987 - NWA World Tag Team Championship Road Warriors vs. Arn Anderson / Tully Blanchard Alternate Commentary: Todd Grisham / Road Warrior Animal Starrcade December 29, 1996 Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Jushin Thunder Liger Starrcade November 26, 1987 - Scaffold Match Rock ‘n Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express Starrcade December 26, 1988 - NWA World Heavyweight Championship Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger Starrcade December 27, 1995 Eddie Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Ootani Starrcade December 26, 1988 - NWA World Tag Team Championship Dusty Rhodes / Sting vs. Road Warriors Starrcade December 28, 1992 - King of Cable Tournament Final Sting vs. Big Van Vader Starrcade November 24, 1983 - NWA World Tag Team Championship Brisco Brothers vs. Jay Youngblood / Ricky Steamboat Starrcade November 28, 1985 - NWA World Heavyweight Championship Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair Starrcade December 28, 1997 - WCW Cruiserweight Championship Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko Disc 3 Starrcade December 13, 1989 - Iron Man Tag Team Tournament Road Warriors vs. The Steiner Brothers Starrcade December 17, 2000 - Ladder Match for a Contract for the World Cruiserweight Championship 3 Count vs. Jamie Knoble & Evan Karagias vs. Jung Dragons Starrcade December 13, 1989 - Iron Man Singles Tournament Sting vs. Ric Flair Starrcade November 24, 1983 - Dog Collar Match Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper Starrcade November 27, 1986 - Scaffold Match Road Warriors vs. The Midnight Express Alternate Commentary: Todd Grisham / Road Warrior Animal Starrcade December 28, 1997 - WCW World Heavyweight Championship Sting vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan Starrcade November 24, 1983 - Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship Ric Flair vs. Harley Race Starrcade November 28, 1985 - Steel Cage "I Quit Match" for the NWA United States Championship Magnum T.A. vs. Tully Blanchard Starrcade December 27, 1993 - WCW World Heavyweight Championship - Ric Flair's Career Is On the Line Ric Flair vs. Vader

I wasn't sure if this should go in the TNA folder or WWE folder, but I figured since there is more traffic in the WWE folder, I'd put it here. From 411 wrestling: Major TNA Star Likely Leaving For WWE Posted by Ashish on 11.10.2008 Full details inside... The word backstage at the PPV last night is that Christian Cage will be heading back to WWE once his current TNA deal expires next month. TNA is apparently still trying to work out a deal with him, but most backstage feel he won't be staying. Credit: PWInsider.com