RedJed

Please don't give an example that doesn't exist - he wasn't in a position to draw. Until said time where he is given top billing at a pay-per-view, we can only make assumptions as to what kind of a draw he is. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> So you're telling me that match wasnt used as top billing on the ppv? Give me a break, WWE was pushing out pre-taped calls over the phone from Hogan saying something to the effect of watch me kick Hussein's ass at Backlash, etc. That WAS the match that was being pushed as the top match at Backlash, dont make any mistakes about it. There was very predictable and fortelling segments on Raw between Mania and Backlash as well with Hassan that should have drawn in theory, where he was baiting Hogan for the return, and then the Hogan return at MSG. Those all should have drawn significant ratings if Hussein was/is a draw, or should I say if he was worthwhile enough to draw some interest against Hogan, who was gone for so long that many in the company expected some firepower from a return. All I'm saying is he HAS had chances, and nothing amounted from them.

Fantastc on the mic - not my my standards. Playing off against the war is cheap heat in it's most mediocre form, Davari could do as good of a job if not better than him. I dont see at all where anyone thinks he can cut great fantastic promos. They all come off boring, tedious, and predictable to me. Not one has actually made me want to see Hassan work a program with ANYONE. How can you make a feud with a hot off the HOF returning Hogan and a very over Michaels boring as fuck? Immesurable upside? Huh? And where are people getting it that he's fucking over?!!! Is he drawing huge quarter hour ratings? No. Did he draw against one of the easiest and most successful babyface draws EVER in Hogan? No. Did people care when he went back and forth with Austin (meaning did the quarter hours soar through the roof)? No. The reality of the situation is now WWE, I think, realizes playing off the controversy wont work, nothing has worked to get this guy over as a draw, and they finally gave up. I would too if I was them. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> While I will agree to disagree in regards to Hassan's entertainment factor, it is really unfair to blame him for not being a draw. NO ONE IN THE WWE today is a draw. The brand draws and that's it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You just said he was a draw though (or should I say "over" which is the same to me as a "draw", now you're saying he's not and just the brand is? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Over does not equal draw in my book. A character that is over receives a strong reaction from the fans, be it positive or negative. Hassan receives a reaction by playing an interesting character. The crowd pops when he comes out and boos when talks. That's over. A draw denotes someone who makes money for the company, of which there are none on the current roster. WWE shows and PPVs make money because of the brand name, and not any single character. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ok I'll give you that, so over to you is not a draw, sorry for misunderstanding. With that said though, I'm still not seeing a "strong reaction" from the crowd for him, and you are saying its because it's an interesting character? I'm seeing the same reaction, say, La Resistance would get. Seriously. I think some people in the company are draws in certain situations still at this point but that is a whole other subject in itself. If it was just the brand that was drawing, I really dont think Mania would have drawn as well as it did this year. Why did Mania XIX not pull a similar buyrate then if its just the "brand" along that has been holding ground? Sure, Mania 20 drew because of the brand and in general, just the name WrestleMania, but I think it's a little ridiculous to say NOBODY is drawing. When you go to a live event and see Cena, Rey Jr, and Austin merchandise, as an example, on just about every other person depending on the show you go to, how is that not really drawing? The numbers arent down enough to fully say nobody is drawing at this point if you ask me.

Fantastc on the mic - not my my standards. Playing off against the war is cheap heat in it's most mediocre form, Davari could do as good of a job if not better than him. I dont see at all where anyone thinks he can cut great fantastic promos. They all come off boring, tedious, and predictable to me. Not one has actually made me want to see Hassan work a program with ANYONE. How can you make a feud with a hot off the HOF returning Hogan and a very over Michaels boring as fuck? Immesurable upside? Huh? And where are people getting it that he's fucking over?!!! Is he drawing huge quarter hour ratings? No. Did he draw against one of the easiest and most successful babyface draws EVER in Hogan? No. Did people care when he went back and forth with Austin (meaning did the quarter hours soar through the roof)? No. The reality of the situation is now WWE, I think, realizes playing off the controversy wont work, nothing has worked to get this guy over as a draw, and they finally gave up. I would too if I was them. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> While I will agree to disagree in regards to Hassan's entertainment factor, it is really unfair to blame him for not being a draw. NO ONE IN THE WWE today is a draw. The brand draws and that's it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You just said he was a draw though (or should I say "over" which is the same to me as a "draw", now you're saying he's not and just the brand is?

I actually hope Jarrett will be out of the company by October but I guess I wont count on it. But that would be a large step ahead if he isn't pasted all over the program. I suppose it's possible though, isnt that first class fuck from NWA Ohio supposed to start a "national promotion" around Sept??

Fantastc on the mic - not my my standards. Playing off against the war is cheap heat in it's most mediocre form, Davari could do as good of a job if not better than him. I dont see at all where anyone thinks he can cut great fantastic promos. They all come off boring, tedious, and predictable to me. Not one has actually made me want to see Hassan work a program with ANYONE. How can you make a feud with a hot off the HOF returning Hogan and a very over Michaels boring as fuck? Immesurable upside? Huh? And where are people getting it that he's fucking over?!!! Is he drawing huge quarter hour ratings? No. Did he draw against one of the easiest and most successful babyface draws EVER in Hogan? No. Did people care when he went back and forth with Austin (meaning did the quarter hours soar through the roof)? No. The reality of the situation is now WWE, I think, realizes playing off the controversy wont work, nothing has worked to get this guy over as a draw, and they finally gave up. I would too if I was them.

I think it depends how they use Impact from October on. If its like it used to be when they are on FSN in general (usually not very noteworthy week to week and mediocre build to the ppvs) then I agree its smart to make less ppvs per year. But if they will make a consious effort to make each show "must see" then I think they could make this work. I hope they also at the same time decide to turn their (limited at this time) syndicated network into a more substantial one and have another hour show with different content avaliable each week. Even if they are paying, this is much more worth a shot to spend money on versus the FSN thing. This is a very legitimate timeslot and network to get the company as a whole "over" on. If they take the Velocity timeslot, and if Spike promotes TNA in the weeks before WWE leaves Spike during commercial breaks, etc, then I think they will get a strong intial rating from it. Also add to the fact that the network is rightfully so banking on nice ratings from UFC, and this will follow that, its a very positive step forward. The rumor is that they will be in between UFC and Howard Stern. Not bad!

Considering I'm one who said "fuck UPN", um, no? I could care less if they pay them and have the right to do it. Doesn't change the fact that it's a bitch move on their part. They allowed it to happen, and now when there's a backlash they BAN the character from TV altogether? Nah. Fuck them. Nothing to do with being on Vince's dick or being retarded. It's a bitch move on their part to save face. I STILL can't see why this situation has turned into this big fucking deal, and UPN must've felt the same way to some extent or they wouldn't have allowed this "tasteless, terrorist display" to air on national TV. But they did, and now they want to play this bullshit blame game? Fuck them. And for people that are so ridiculously overjoyed that this "awful" storyline might be over, what exactly entertains you all? All of you can't possibly be the "I want to see Benoit/Regal/Angle/Benjamin in 3903902490823 minute match with amazing mat work and technology and thousands of moves because that's what it's all about, fuck 'sports entertainment' even though I still continue to watch WWE programming" type? What is so HORRID about Hassan's character/gimmick/storyline/whatever? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If you cant see that using a storyline based off a very sensitive subject (fuck, even most TV/movie companies havent gotten to the point of using terrorists into their programs with the only exception being maybe 24 off the top of my head) and also the fact of the timing of the London bombings doesn't make airing that "a big fucking deal" then you really are out of touch with society as a whole, sorry to say. Drawing off terrorism does not entertain me. Period. And a character trying to draw heat off terrorism and the Iraq war, again, does not entertain me. And I would be inclined to think neither does it for the majority of this country and others.

From the Torch....think something posted thoughts on this already but thought I would officially post it word for word -UPN has told WWE it doesn't want Muhammad Hassan to be part of the program from this point forward. WWE creative is working on the situation, and the plan right now is to have Undertaker kill him off on Sunday. The backlash by sponsors or local affiliates must have been quite strong after the ill-timed terrorist-themed angle on the July 7 Smackdown.

Yes... yes it is. Neglecting it when it's actually needed and using it excessively later on is even more fun! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No. Censorship is ALWAYS wrong. Always. Let ME choose what I watch and don't watch. Period. I already have a mother and father, I'd rather not have UPN as a third parent thanks. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Soooo by your reasoning, every broadcast and cable channel should be allowed to air XXX porn, live explicit killings, people pissing on each other, uncensored language of any kind, etc, etc. Censorship in general is wrong, I agree - but when you are talking about viable media open for ANYONE to watch/read/etc, there needs to be restrictions. I dont see whats so hard to figure out when it comes to that. For every person who feels they should have the right to watch what they want, there is another who feel the network(s) have a duty for using moral judgment on things of a sensitive nature. It's not a radical concept.

Exactly - I love how some here think that UPN is the antichrist for actually doing business right and adhering to the complaints and general bad publicity and doing something about it to save a little face in the situation. The company as a whole is (I may be wrong) the lowest rated network in the country. They dont need bad publicity as that will just drop them out even further. For all of you who think UPN has no right censoring, try being a broadcast network executive for once. You got to look outside the box in a situation like this - they didnt do so intially and now are having the pay the price for it so they had to do what they had to do. Plus there are ALOT worse things to bitch about than not having the Hassan character on the show. He always has been a hard sell as a mid to upper card heel anyway (people who think the guy is actually over are FUCKING NUTS) and ever since the Iraq wars have been in the spotlight (this is even since 91) WWE has never learned to stop touching that unspoken button of trying to generate heat from the situation(s) of war and/or terrorism. Now its finally bit them in the ass, as they are going to basically have to kill off their character on Smackdown or else really be in hot water. Moving Hassan back to Raw wont help either since he's just going to be another fish in the pond - he didnt get over before, you think having this bad publicity bringing him back is going to change that?? Its insane to think it will have an affect. To me, this is blessing in disguise. I hope they turn Davairi face from all of this and make him into a Sonjay Dutt like character, and I hope Hassan gets released. I dont see where his excellent mic skills are, he has zero charisma, and he sure as fuck isnt a good worker.

So there's still hope that Matt Hardy and Edge will have a one-on-one match at Summerslam instead of a pointless tag match with Kane and Snitsky added to them, or is Matt Hardy and Kane vs. Edge and Snitsky considered one of the "top" matches? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In this weeks Observer, there was absolutely no discussion of making the Hardy-Edge deal into a tag match like that. So I think that is more than likely not planned to happen after all. And might I add, thank god!

THREAD KILLER~~~!!! From wrestlingobserver.com --To the people on the Death Valley Driver board talking about a SummerSlam card attributed to me, while some of the matches on top were the ones talked about in this week's issue, most of the matches listed have never been talked about or speculated by me and it's a bogus story someone made up. So there ya go.....

These spoilers sound kind of repetitive, and quite frankly, boring. How many times did a tag team run in during another tag team match for a brawl? The booking here on paper appeared to be a paint by numbers formula which is always boring, but I suppose they are assuming not to turn things up a few notches until they get back on TV. Its just unfortunate to see them not work to the ability I think that booking team could right now. Where the hell is anything about Waltman or Lynn? AMW is completely stale right now and I dont see why they dont just turn them now instead of continuing to wait/slow build. I also agree about the sentiments about Brown - he should be out of that whole storyline with NAOs-3Lk stuff, and I really thought they would have him be Raven's partner in that tag match. Guess not although Sabu returning isnt so bad, I suppose. I hope the wrestling is at least good here, especially with the X Cup matches.

I've been on a big kick on all of the Live 8 audio performances that are being aired continuously on aolmusic.com. Anyway curious if anyone knows of a program that I could essentially record some of the songs when they air and then have them in MP3 format so I could burn them onto disc. HELP!!! For anyone that might be able to help, I could hook ya up with a few discs of the performances too.

This "feud" has been going on longer than just a few weeks in reality, thus I dont see the problem with setting it up as at least an initial match, be it even a match that ends up a huge mess of a double DQ at the end, to lead to future matches. If they hold off until freaking Survivor Series, I can almost guarantee by that time WWE will drop the ball and the interest will be all but lost. This feud has little legs as I think we will find out once the intial luster of the Matt Hardy run-ins from the crowd dies down. In any regard, I think a hot brawl even leading to a DQ at SummerSlam will actually keep the feud hot, and then they could probably keep it going until Survivor Series.

He's sort of out of his element in TNA and can't go balls to the wall like he could when he was working CMLL (now he's in AAA). I thought his work would in the X Division would be close to his Lucha work, but he has been somewhat of a disappointment. Another thing not helping him is he's a better heel than face and right now, he's a face. I know he's a world class in ring worker, but his work in TNA is much to be desired. I do think his work is more solid and less spotty than guys in the X Division like Dutt, Red, and Elix. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> He was getting noticibly booed during his match on the ppv pre-show, so they might very well turn him heel. It's probably not a bad idea since, I agree, he's way better than this in Mexico - I just saw a match a few weeks ago with Dr. Wagner Jr in CMLL that was tremendous. And when you can work some serious magic with Vampiro, you're a pretty decent worker if you can carry him around.

Yeah I just breezed through it again and its definately not in the current issue. So basically everything here is probably BS anyway as far as the card goes. Oy vey!! Although in WWE logic, it certainly makes sense too.

You said it right there, he has to be credible, and he's far from it at this point, partly because of the way he's booked (why in the fuck did he do a weak ass job to Cena on the way out of Raw is beyond me) and part, I honestly believe, just because he doesnt have that charisma or star power to amount to anything beyond the midcard. Something is definately missing - its more than just the weak ass workrate. I agree that the stereotypical gimmick is actually holding him back as it generates CHEAP UNSUSTAINABLE HEAT (I really dont know what you are watching). If fans really hated him, they would pay money to see his ass getting kicked and they didnt really do so when they paired him off with Hogan, did he?

The way I look at it is this way - Angle for Orton, fair trade, both are viable main eventers TBS for Hassan, fair trade, both stink it up IMO Christian for Carlito, fair trade - both have potential but are just kind of there right now RVD for Benoit, seems fair to me also Those trades didnt amount to shit on either side and were more a joke than anything since many got released, on both sides. The only people who have benefitted (or at least got airtime) since then is Chavo, Dupree, and Simon Dean. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I twill look fair if you just stay pairing them off any old how. I look it at differently, on the basis of the image they portray: Cena for Batista - fair trade Angle for Benoit - fair trade RVD for Orton - fair trade TBS for Hassan - 1-0 for SD, TBS has been crap for quite a while now. CCC for Christian - 2-0 for SD, ooo, another talk show host in exchange for a wrestler. Jindrak, Kenzo and Hiroko have since been canned. What air time has Dupree got? Id rather have no air time than be doing what Chavo currently is. Danny has done the square root of nothing. Regal stands out as a way better wrestler from all the people traded. Have you seen his match with Benoit before you post? Simon Dean and Stevie Richards are doing the bWo thing (its always there to be broken out). Candice > Hiroko. I forgot who else was traded to SD. It doesnt look at all fair to me. Plus, SD recently got the Mexicools. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I still think you are comparing apples to oranges when you are looking at the trades/picks. Carlito and Christian are virtually the same deal, they get over on the mic, but creative havent rushed a super push to each, even though we're supposed to be taking each seriously I guess. By most, Carlito against Christian is a fair trade. Hassan is better than the Big Show how? Or vice versa? They both fucking stink up any match they are in, IMO. I think you'll see Hassan is going to flounder on Smackdown (especially as a main event heel they envision) big time. And for that matter, so will Big Show on Raw. Regal and Dean have been on Velocity once. BWO was on once. Chavo has been on Raw a few times and Dupree had a Raw match last week. NONE of those guys that came through via the trade are getting over really, with the exception of Regal if they follow through with him (and yes I saw that match with Benoit, but what does that have to do with anything?), which they probably wont. Sans with the BWO - that very well might have been a one shot deal since Simon Dean is now back to that character. I'm surprised they didnt follow up with them last Smackdown. Ultimately if Benjamin moved to Smackdown, it wouldnt have mattered in the big scheme of one brand better than another. It appears Raw is always given the preferential treatment with the big angles and storylines on there - EX: Michaels/Hogan, Edge/Hardy, etc, etc. Generally speaking I think the main event to upper midcard is much better on Raw than Smackdown, lower card stuff like CW division and tag stuff is probably generally better on Smackdown than the lower card stuff Raw has, such as Masters' bit, etc. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And your comparing an apple to a car. CCC and Christain both get over in the ring, but Christain is a better wrestler than CCC. Hell, does CCC know how to really wrestle properly? I think its a bit foolish to compare Christains ring work (which could be better) to CCCs (which is flushable). And we can only talk about what they have done in a WWE ring, the rest is out of the window since it isnt going to change much what happens in the WWE. Id rather have somebody who hasnt sucked several times over in the form of Hassan, than somebody who has a tried and tested history of blowing (i.e. TBS), which shows since 'Creative' has jack shit for him apart from play his size and weight thing. Ohhhh, when was the last time he did that? It doesnt matter how many times Regal, Dean, the bWo (maybe cause they would have overdone it since the focus is on Batista and JBL?), your mamas pet chiwawa, Angle-plex's hat, Mr Choco's left nut et al has been on TV, they are still with a particular brand and have the potential to be used. They have the potential of running Benoit-Regal and Dr Jackel and Mr Hyde in the form of Hollywood Nova and Simon Dean. Kerwin White and Dupree are blah blah blah crap. Jindrak, Kenzo and Hiroko were canned fo crying out loud. What can you do with a wrestler who has been fired? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Apples to car? Huh? First off, I'm not sure if I'm right or not, but I think we are comparing the sides from two different perspectives. You're talking about future potential where I am talking about what will seemingly be the likelihood of how little or much someone will be used in the brand specific. Bottom line is this - Christian and Carlito, to me, have the same level of potential, which I'm sure you disagree with, but I think long term both could be upper level to main event stars. I never really compared their ring work at all but now I will - Christian is still not knocking anything out of the ball park work wise, and neither is Carlito. If anything both are going to get over with their mic work and in due time, and with the right booking, I think they will get over around the same, dare I say Carlito even more because I think the company is much higher on him and he doesnt have that past going against him that Christian has. In fact WWE had a chance to do something decent with him (Christian) just recently but started jobbing him out on Raw and then he goes to Smackdown and in his first match gets a shitty treatment by having him job out like a chump to JBL in that elimination match. I dont see when Hassan HASNT sucked - he's never had a memorable match, even fucked up against Benoit, and generally just has dropped the ball on a long term plan they had to really build him up. I think of him as a pet project of nothing more than cheap heat from his racial shit, and nothing more, akin to a Suzuki. Fuck, they were going to give him Austin one on one, and instead tried the Hogan route, that didnt draw, so then they gave up on the Austin idea. The guy can't work a solid match, cuts nice cheap promos that arent sustaiable heat (I might be eating crow on this point in a few months) and generally is just not over. Show at least gets some notable pops and is a semi-household name to some fans.

Yep, I know. Why they dont try and get Tiger Mask IV (NJPW), Kaz Hayashi (AJPW)or Wataru Sakata (Zero-One) in is beyond me. Them, plus Jushin Thunder Liger (NOAH), would have been my Team Japan for the World X Cup. Ultimo Dragon or TAKA Michinoku could have been the Manager of the side, or even NWA legend Antonio Inoko. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think theres a chance they might get Tiger Mask since they are trying to get a working relationship with NJPW.

You;re making it sound like Hardy and Edge are actually shooting all of the time, they aren't!! BTW, I myself didnt see this announced lineup in this week's Observer, so this might not even be a real released lineup from Meltzer. Can anyone verify further?

I have a really hard time accepting a Kane/Hardy v. Edge/Snitsky match at the ppv. The answer is obvious - you take the street fight from Carlito-Benjamin proposed match and have it a singles Hardy/Edge match, that is what would draw interest. Fuckin unbelievable shit there. They're already dropping the ball on this, and now instead of them doing some logical thing like I mentioned before and at least playing Hardy against Kane based off of past storylines, they ARE going to play the worked shoot into ongoing storylines as well and TEAM Hardy and Kane together, this is after Kane basically raped Lita, married her, and in storyline fashion, put Hardy out of commission? It makes no fucking sense! Hassan v. Batista should not be the world title match, period. I can see why they think it will draw though - the terrorist controversy, the fact that its also in Washington DC plays up against it, but Hassan could have just as easy have challenged Benoit for the US title and had him play off subtly against the weird "Americana" ego of JBL and made that US title match a three way. Batista then could take on Lesnar at SummerSlam, which is the only opponent Batista is going to draw against potentially right now. This in itself is a major problem facing Smackdown right now - little or no credible heel opponents to feed to Batista at the second biggest show of the year. So I guess we get Angle v. Show (what a fucking waste) instead of Flair v. HHH huh? Oh joy...

The way I look at it is this way - Angle for Orton, fair trade, both are viable main eventers TBS for Hassan, fair trade, both stink it up IMO Christian for Carlito, fair trade - both have potential but are just kind of there right now RVD for Benoit, seems fair to me also Those trades didnt amount to shit on either side and were more a joke than anything since many got released, on both sides. The only people who have benefitted (or at least got airtime) since then is Chavo, Dupree, and Simon Dean. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I twill look fair if you just stay pairing them off any old how. I look it at differently, on the basis of the image they portray: Cena for Batista - fair trade Angle for Benoit - fair trade RVD for Orton - fair trade TBS for Hassan - 1-0 for SD, TBS has been crap for quite a while now. CCC for Christian - 2-0 for SD, ooo, another talk show host in exchange for a wrestler. Jindrak, Kenzo and Hiroko have since been canned. What air time has Dupree got? Id rather have no air time than be doing what Chavo currently is. Danny has done the square root of nothing. Regal stands out as a way better wrestler from all the people traded. Have you seen his match with Benoit before you post? Simon Dean and Stevie Richards are doing the bWo thing (its always there to be broken out). Candice > Hiroko. I forgot who else was traded to SD. It doesnt look at all fair to me. Plus, SD recently got the Mexicools. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I still think you are comparing apples to oranges when you are looking at the trades/picks. Carlito and Christian are virtually the same deal, they get over on the mic, but creative havent rushed a super push to each, even though we're supposed to be taking each seriously I guess. By most, Carlito against Christian is a fair trade. Hassan is better than the Big Show how? Or vice versa? They both fucking stink up any match they are in, IMO. I think you'll see Hassan is going to flounder on Smackdown (especially as a main event heel they envision) big time. And for that matter, so will Big Show on Raw. Regal and Dean have been on Velocity once. BWO was on once. Chavo has been on Raw a few times and Dupree had a Raw match last week. NONE of those guys that came through via the trade are getting over really, with the exception of Regal if they follow through with him (and yes I saw that match with Benoit, but what does that have to do with anything?), which they probably wont. Sans with the BWO - that very well might have been a one shot deal since Simon Dean is now back to that character. I'm surprised they didnt follow up with them last Smackdown. Ultimately if Benjamin moved to Smackdown, it wouldnt have mattered in the big scheme of one brand better than another. It appears Raw is always given the preferential treatment with the big angles and storylines on there - EX: Michaels/Hogan, Edge/Hardy, etc, etc. Generally speaking I think the main event to upper midcard is much better on Raw than Smackdown, lower card stuff like CW division and tag stuff is probably generally better on Smackdown than the lower card stuff Raw has, such as Masters' bit, etc.

They're trying to find an international star to work Daniels at the next ppv. So far Liger and Ultimo Dragon deals fell through or couldnt be worked out apparently due to schedule conflicts.

That has always been news about the Saturday Nights Main Event thing, Torch and Observer reported it. That was part of the deal signing with USA that made it attractive to them and eased their minds of losing out without getting any revenue from advertising. USA/NBC is a part of a whole conglomerant of networks, USA, NBC, Bravo, etc - much like the whole Viacom deal. I think they have 2 or 3 scheduled throughout the fall and winter seasons.