zappafrank

I dunno, they had wrestlers' high school pix in WWE magazine once, and even in that picture, in his cap and gown, London was making a goofy face. Between that, the death angle smile, and even the whole attitude of the Hooligans (Londrick), he just seems kinda aloof, while Kendrick seems to be more grounded. I'm not surprised he's getting the push, and I think he's doing a damn fine job with it. He also seems more well-rounded as a wrestler than London, kinda like Matt Hardy was to Jeff years and years ago (although I think Jeff has vastly improved and I'm actually a fan now). Does anyone remember when they tried to do an "I've been screwed!" angle a la Jericho '98 with London after he lost the CW belt? It occurred for a few weeks on Velocity, and I remember him giving an in-ring promo trying to get the audience on his side, and they had no reaction whatsoever. I remember thinking, "Wow, this is bad." I'll always remember London for getting decapitated on the ring apron in the '05 Rumble (by Snitsky, I think).

So we get the same PYBO two Decembers in a row? It hasn't shown up yet on my end; does it still have the Barry Windham intro/outro?

Every time I see him in the SD promos, he strikes me as the bastard child of Jericho in 98 and Lenny Lane.

When do the "Attitude" promos start? Or have they already started and for some reason they're being cut from 24/7?

Val Venis. I've always found him to be incredibly stiff (no pun intended), and not in the Japanese strong style way.

So is what's being shown on 24/7 just an advance airing of the DVD that's coming out in January?

AWA WrestleRock Rumble and The Road Warriors Anthem...wow. Just...wow.

What good does it do him to get the majority of the offense in if he never wins in the end? You might as well ring the bell, KICK WHAM PEDIGREE and then ring the bell again; the end result is the same. It's the same thing with the LMS standing match, only in that case the discrepancy isn't as subtle and is actually quite blatant. NOTHING Big Show did mattered in the end. Taker had to take the 9 count multiple times and yet had the wherewithall and strength the lock on the choke (on the massive Big Show, no less) for the win. It's like facing Mike Tyson in Punch Out: kudos for whatever offense you can get in, but it really doesn't matter b/c once he hits you, you're out. And he *will* hit you.

I'm normally not one to complain about booking, but they completely made Big Show look like a punk with the ending of the LMS match. On mulitple occasions, Taker had to take a 9 count, had the crap beat out of him in all ways by Big Show, and then from out of nowhere he hulks up and locks on the choke. It's no different than that match where JBL beat on Cena for 5 or 10 min and then Cena hit one move (without having gotten in any real offense beforehand) and won the match. I'm not anti-Taker like a lot of people are b/c of the way he's protected, but this was pure bullshit. Even the fact they then teased Taker falling down as Big Show was out was insulting. Someone else mentioned that Jeff looked good in his loss to HHH, but I really don't think he did. I used to *hate* Jeff, and his run since returning made me a believer. But this evening, after losing for a 3rd straight time, I lost some of my enhusiasm for him. He looked like HHH's bitch, plain and simple. I noticed that JR kept saying a World title was in Jeff's future, but it doesn't really matter. I think the damage has been done.

After reading John Petrie's recaps, I have to say it sure would be nice if 24/7 had left the lucha reports in. Did they use AAA footage or something that they only had b/c of the association with Konnan, etc?

In the shorty with Cactus/Mikey vs. Public Enemy (N2R 94), who's that annoying guy underneath the eagle's nest who keeps saying, "How can you let this happen? Do something about this!" It looks like he tries getting involved, too, only to be restrained by security. He's quite audible.

Didn't Bagwell purposely show up late to Fall Brawl 99, where he was supposed to job to Berlyn? Duggan came out and had a wretched match with Berlyn where he did the job. Then I think they worked in Bagwell being late leading to some altercation with Duggan or something, but that was it. Berlyn's push was abruptly ended (due to this but also partly, I think, b/c his look resembled the Columbine guys), and The Wall actually ended up getting a monster push soon after.

Well, like I said, the info came from a friend of mine who is extremely knowledgeable about the figure aspect of wrestling, and he said that Jakks can't cut a deal with JJ. It's not that they just haven't gotten around to it, legally they're not allowed to if they want the WWE license. And he acknowledged that it makes no sense given Dillon's recent involvement with Flair-related activities.

Why wouldn't he be marketable? They have all the Horsemen, and there are die-hard collectors who will buy anything. Hell, Lillian Garcia has a figure! I know what you mean, but with someone like Windham they can make multiple figures. I'd imagine they would only put out one as a single, maybe a second as a manager in a two pack. That said, I would still want one. Maybe Dillon just won't sign off on it? I was going to use Jimmy Hart as an example of a manager, but he can have different figs, can't he? One for Hulkamania Jimmy and one for Dungeon of Doom Jimmy. Are there any single manager figs? Harvey Whippleman, maybe? Heenan? Slick? The reason I've noticed is b/c my friend has a really nice display of the '87/88 Horsemen (Flair in a suit, Windham, Arn, Tully), and it seems weird without Dillon.

Why wouldn't he be marketable? They have all the Horsemen, and there are die-hard collectors who will buy anything. Hell, Lillian Garcia has a figure!

Does anyone know what (if any) Vince's beef with JJ Dillon is? I know that Dillon was present for Flair's send-off, and he was featured prominently in the Horsemen DVD, but according to a friend of mine, JJ is one of only a few people with whom Jakks (or whoever is doing the figures) is strictly forbidden doing business. You can sign either a Legends deal with WWE and get a figure (good money but certain appearance are required, I think), or you can work out your own deal with Jakks outside of WWE (this is why someone like Bruno has a figure, even though he has nothing to do with WWE). However, there are a few select people - like Dillon, Savage, and I think Warrior - that are forbidden by WWE's contract with Jakks from doing business with Jakks. I've heard the rumors about the booking of Summer 96 having to be changed since Dillon jumped to WCW after working in the offices at WWF, and people like Foley don't have kind words for Dillon, but I've never heard anything bad about him, really. Does anyone know?

So it appears that in order to vote for Cyber Sunday, you have to text your choices. You can't vote online anymore. That's *really* lame. I was all prepared to vote for the epic showdown b/w Santino and The Honky Tonky Man.

Watching the PPV last night, I realized that I'm starting to dig Orton's "you're not as a big deal as you think you are" attitude towards the younger guys. There's no way he could have pulled it off convincingly a few years ago, but his last title reign was tremendous, and made a believer out of me. I also like that while the crowd is cheering for him, he acts like he always acts, and the writers aren't catering to anyone but the character itself. Good stuff.

See, I don't know. I read the same recap as you did, so I have no idea what the segment was.

Also, I don't know if it's been mentioned, but on the 9/29/07 ep of RAW, 24/7 took out a feature on Ron Simmons. I noticed the show was shorter than normal, and reading an old review explains why. Also, after that show, HBK kissed HHH on the lips. I know I've seen that footage somewhere. Do they show it some other time?

So Kane showed up at Badd Blood, and then made his RAW debut the following night. Prior to that weekend, when was the last time the whole "Taker killed his family but wait no, Kane is still alive" angle actually had been mentioned on TV? Early, maybe mid-summer? I ask b/c I wonder how many people were wondering who the hell Kane was, and then when his name/relation were mentioned, were like "Oh, yeah...I had forgotten about that." It seems like there was such a lag since the whole angle got a push that I wouldn't be surprised if fans didn't immediately recognize Kane's debut as such.

I never did get the last batch of Flair promos. I called Comcast and the guy checked a TV in the office to confirm the problem, and since none of the new promos was there, he said he'd have to send a report on it, but I guess nothing ever came of it. I also noticed I'm missing about 1/2 of the individual ONS 08 matches. At 1st, I didn't get everything with the latest update this past week, but I checked today and everything was there, so whee.

Where's Elijah Burke been?! He should be having awesome matches with Evan Bourne and Matt Hardy.

OK, I personally haven't seen anything about this, but I was talking with a friend last night and he said that he came across some news (both on a message board and some fringe site) that reported that Jeff was sent home from the airport, which means this is his 3rd strike. My friend isn't the kind to make stuff up, but since it was a board and fringe site (can't recall the name) on which he said he found it (and he was clear to present it as a rumor), I'm taking it with a grain of salt. I haven't seen anything on any of the major sites, but nevertheless, has anyone heard anything about this?

I don't have this last batch of Flair promos, although an old one from '87 is still there, b/c for some reason it's marked to expire in Oct.