Papacita

Also, I have to ask, what's up with the Bulldog-Austin storyline then were building in late 96 early 97? That got killed off fast. I always kinda saw this as bleeding into the Hart Foundation angle, just furthering the rift between Owen and Bulldog to lead to the eventual match. I remember a particular moment when Owen and Austin were trying to Pillmanize Bret, but Davey came out to attack Austin, pissing Owen off. The biggest question mark, was his return from that brutal back injury. They had that interview to hype his return, comes back and turns heel, which I did not like. I didn't mind it, since I thought it would get him closer to a title reign, which I always wanted to see. With that being said, here are a few things to discuss: What was your favorite period during Bulldog's run? Honestly, the heel run from 95-97. His turn on Diesel was the fucking truth, even though a lot of folks don't seem to like it for some reason. Also, when I was little I *ALWAYS* wanted to see a title change in person, and nothing ever seemed to happen when they'd come to Philly. That all changed when he and Owen won the titles at Mind Games, which was a big ass moment for me. Was he under-appreciated? Should he have gotten a world title run? One reason I marked so hard for the heel turn because I always wanted to see him as champion. Did you like how they booked him in 1999? Yeah, he seemed to be a real bad ass for a while, especially with the whole angle where he KO'd Steph. Unfortunately, he just couldn't go at that level anymore.

Really dug Punk's counter to Joe's sleeper in Joe/Punk III. Even knowing how the match ended, I absolutely bit on that one. Not really a near fall, but Jericho countering Chyna's rana into the Walls at Survivor Series 99 damn near gave me a heart attack.

Why? Because it would elevate a new star, and as stated before, Cena's the one guy on Raw (Batista is maybe another, but they just ran that program) who could put Punk over and not lose anything as a result. He is, IMO, the absolute best case scenario for Punk's opponent, not only due to Cena's status as the face of the company, but when you take into account the way the fans react to both guys--especially with the underdog/internet love that Punk gets--you'd probably get some insane crowd heat for the match as well. Would WWE go that route at this point in time? Probably not, but I think it'd be a win for everybody if they did.

I really don't see how it's wise to put Jericho in a 1 on 1 title program at this point given the feud with Michaels. Unless your plan is to put Jericho over, you're either gonna risk messing up his momentum by having him lose to an opponent who many perceive as being inferior, or they could go the predictable route of having HBK run-in to help Jericho save face, which has already been done and would hurt Punk again by failing to give him that definitive win. Still, JBL is probably the worst option of all the Raw main eventers, since a win over him won't mean that much for Punk. Kane seemed like he would've been a better choice, but I probably don't wanna job him given the bag thing they've got going with him. They REALLY should've pulled the trigger on Punk vs Cena, IMO. One, it saves the Batista/Cena match for something bigger, and two, a clean win over Cena would be almost the ultimate validation of Punk's title reign. The mixed reaction Cena tends to get means that the fans would be more accepting of a Punk win, while at the same time Cena's over enough that a loss there wouldn't hurt his standing at all.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x69zae_raw-100697-14_sport The closing moments of the Bret/HHH match from Raw in October 97. I've always been a big mark for both HBK AND Chyna, so the finish is one of my favorite moments.

I liked Hassan when he was around. His mic work was more than passable for WWE, and the gimmick, while mishandled, wasn't actually that bad. I even liked how he was pushed for the most part, since I thought he was one of the few newcomers around at the time to be booked somewhat strong without making it seem like they were forcing him to the top. The biggest failing with the character was that they had the opportunity to do some complex stuff with him, but decided to go the cheap heat route, which ultimately ended up ruining him. Of course you could argue that given the audience WWE caters to, it was a mistake to even try to come up with such a character, but really outside of the terrorist thing, I had no problems with Hassan.

I was just watching this last week actually. It's on a tape of Raws and ECWs I recorded from that month (I LOVE this tape, BTW, and this month. There was at least one classic moment every week), and it shows where I turned from Ken Shamrock/King Mabel match on Raw that night in order to watch this. I was never much of a WCW fan, and my interest in it at this time was probably at an all-time low, but even with that, it was always a pretty big moment whenever I got to see Hogan get beat (I hated Hogan) and the fact that it was done so cleanly had me and my friends going crazy. The fact that we didn't even have to pay to see it made it better. It also amuses me, looking back, that the whole Karl Malone thing from this period managed to factor into this. One question though: how was this built on TV? I was barely watching at the time, but it just seems like they announced they'd be fighting at the Georgia Dome months in advance (they were talking about it on the net for a while) and that was it.

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/speciale...brian.html#more From the blog of a former WWE creative member circa 2002 regarding Brian Gewirtz. I found this quote to be the most interesting: BTW, this is pretty old, so sorry if this has been commented on.

I liked what I've seen of GAB. I was really looking forward to HBK/Jericho, and they didn't disappoint. LOVE the booking of that finish. The Divas match pissed me off...not because of the action, but Nattie and the red hair. WTF, she was mad cute before! McCool's not that bad a worker, and she seems over enough, so I don't see the problem with having her win. Punk and Batista had me marking my ass off, especially when Punk dropped him with the big kick. Would've preferred to have Punk go over clean, but a part of me actually likes the thing they've got going with him where he's working to prove he's not a fluke champion. Wouldn't have minded the post-match stuff as much if Punk had shown some ANGER~ (is that still popular around here?) over being denied his chance to prove himself. Skimmed through the HHH match and just watched the ending, which seemed cool enough.

Honestly, I would've been ok with the multiple camera angles if they didn't go for the Cena POV shot with the car headed towards him. It's not even a matter of being nitpicky, but that sort of thing is jarring when you're trying to maintain the belief that you're watching a live sporting event.

Re: Honky and Savage, Diamonddust pretty much captures what I didn't get about it with his last post. You'd figure that if Vince was banking on Savage and Dibiase as I-C and World Champs respectively, he'd have gone through with it regardless. Also, this could be because Honky was a little before my time, but I couldn't see Vince just conceding to him like that. I know he was a fairly big draw but that's a little mind boggling...the explanation above clears some of that up, though.

I don't think I've heard anyone other than Shane portray HBK's concussion forfeit as a refusal to put him over. Wouldn't surprise me if it was true, but like with the Vader rumors, I think it's one of those stories that gets blown out of proportion because of his rep. Hogan over HBK at SummerSlam 05 was another example. There was also some shit about Honky Tonk Man refusing to drop the title to Randy Savage in the 80s, which resulting in them rebooking WMIV to give Savage the World Title...I never understood how that worked though.

I'm watching a bit of Raw on Dailymotion...as bad as the ending was, I fucking love the way the opening was handled, especially with the sudden cuts to the Michaels/Jericho brawl. Really drove home the sense of chaos without McMahon.

I didn't see the whole show and just caught the end, but yeah the multiple camera angles are probably my biggest issue with stuff like that. Like I'm really supposed to feel for Cena when there's a shot of the car headed straight for the camera. I love the fact that they pull this stuff at THE EXACT MOMENT I tune into Raw for the first time in damn near a year. They must have seen me coming.

I have no idea if this has been discussed, but if WWE ever released a CM Punk DVD, does anyone think they'll try and get in touch with ROH, IWA-MS and others to get some of his more famous indy matches? Would be interesting if they did.

I always liked KANE.

Loveable monster KANE or "nut shocking, flaming dumpster" KANE?

I fully intended to watch Raw tonight and fucking forgot it was on. Anything good happen?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp0xV59PrN0 Same match on Youtube since the other didnt work for me.

Oh, you tease. http://www.dailymotion.com/videos/relevanc...Bof%2BWrestling If that even comes up, the first page should have a couple of the 24/7 roundtable discussions on Bad Asses and on the Worst Characters.

So Matt was drafted to ECW...I'm a little confused. Aren't ECW and Smackdown sharing talent, or is that all done now? If not, why does this matter? Edit: Nevermind. I see what's going on.

http://www.dailymotion.com/tsteck160/video...owen-hart_sport Jerry Lawler vs. Owen Hart from 1993. Not really a comedy match, but I got a couple of good laughs from this...what was the point of using the tights here?

That was actually pretty cool, in a silly sort of way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYOno0d6cmU...feature=related Austin/Tazz confrontation This still pisses me off. The whole segment was so well done to the point where they actually had me feeling sorry for Cole, and nothing ever comes from it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ml1-G6xSW8...feature=related UWF 1990: Dr. Death Steve Williams vs Davey Meltzer This is sad.