justcoz

he's not active but still with the company...

so he'd possibly be ready in time to debut at the ECW PPV? if anything, please let the company take advantage of this break with a huge push when he returns, six months can rejuvinate someone in the eyes of the audience, he'll seem fresh again and this would be the time to give him a world title program.

I was told one day after Abyss walked out that there was nothing to worry about. He was already in talks and they were renegotiating. They thought it would be a matter of hours before he re-signed. And he re-signed and stayed with the company. So how does that make me wrong? I may have jumped the gun and posted that he re-signed prior to him actually signing but that doesn't make my source wrong. The main thing is he stayed in the company and that's pretty much what I was told he was going to do. So Meltzer said they agreed to terms and signed a new contract on the Tuesday leading into the PPV. Would seem to me like there had been some previous talks about re-signing, right?????? I doubted the source as well when there was nothing mentioned as to Abyss staying with TNA, partly because I had been told at some point that a certain ex ECW guy/current WWE performer was going to show up at a PPV and face off with Raven which never happened. In the end... they were right on this one.

Right, Nash was over initially because he displayed a ton of attitude as a big man heel. They took that and tried to recreate Hulk Hogan, all the way down to him winning the championship at an MSG house show in record time against Bob Backlund. His title reign was a failure on many levels, partly due to them neutering his character, stripping him of the attitude that got him over initially, plus it's hard to draw as champion when you are programmed against King Mabel. By the time the WWF realized how wrong they went with Diesel (probably due to the Clique's influence on McMahon at the time) and Nash cut his "they had me kissing babies" promo directed towards Vince McMahon on Raw (the first time any talent really acknowledged Vince being more than an announcer) he was practically on his way to WCW. He was finally getting over again as the arrogant heel. They let him show his personality on commentary, etc. And his "overness" was a huge reason the Outsiders and NWO worked out as well as they did in WCW. It's a classic example of WWE screwing up with their over-heels turning babyface. They take away the attitude that made crowds react to them in the first place. Randy Orton is the latest example. He was over because he was cocky and the Legend Killer shtick was entertaining. Now he's bland. They never got babyface Shawn Michaels right, to the point that he was booed as a face. Compare The Rock's heel runs to his babyface runs in entertainment value. Brock Lesnar went from being a monster to an oversized Bob Backlund. Kurt Angle became Captain America. Shelton Benjamin became the token smiling black guy that overcame the odds. Jericho shaves his facial hair and resorts to catchphrases for a crowd reaction. Eddie Guerrerro doesn't lie, cheat and steal quite as much anymore. And can any more be said about how lame John Cena is now as a face? Keep Batista as he is - how people are reacting to him - and he'll be fine.

I think that's the key point. Batista has a natural charisma and presence. Audiences were starting to react long before they started the teases between him and HHH. Ring work is important but The Rock wasn't exactly a **** star worker and he's the most successful product the business has ever produced. The same applies to Hogan. Batista has a million dollar look, a character which seems to be an extension of his own personality and enough ability to at least be carried somewhat into good matches. He also seems to be wise to the business and willing to work to get better, despite his age (which may be his only downfall, if this guy was 24, there would be no hesitation to push him to the top). I would have preferred things had they kept Randy Orton heel and had Evolution turn on Batista at that time. They could still possibly turn Orton heel to program with Batista falling his title win. Another option is to bring Brock Lesnar to Raw to feud with Batista. Lesnar could be one hoss that could bring a good match out of Batista. Send HBK (as a heel) to Smackdown to even things out. Just an idea. I could easily see Batista getting a mega push and a good two year reign as their "next big thing" including WWE Film productions, talk show appearances, etc. Seeing Big Dave styling and profiling in a custom made suit on Letterman, Leno or Conan with the World Championship belt isn't exactly the worst scenerio. Although I enjoyed Albert too. Damn he would have made a great old school 80's heel brought in to take out Hogan.

I wasn't right but my source was.

Can each title be named as well? So JBL is the World Wrestling Entertainment Champion and HHH is the World Heavyweight Champion. Makes no sense. This is why they need to have actual brand names rather than Raw and Smackdown. Couldn't JBL be the World Wide Wrestling Federation champion and HHH be the World Championship Wrestling Champion?

Plus, HHH's title belt replica is the one that athletes have been parading around with whenever they win the championship (some of the Eagles had them last night) - that probably feeds his ego.

I happen to really like Batista's chances at crossover success. He has the perfect look and I could see Hollywood being more into his presence than HHH. I never saw any of Rob Van Dam's straight to cable/video action flicks but I'd like to see him and Tajiri get some movie roles as well. Big Show, as already mentioned, would be great but I see him being spotlighted in something more like a television sitcom. Maybe he can move next door to Lou Ferrigno on King of Queens or something.

They were very lucky to win but they won and that's all they had to do. The Jets played them tougher than teams like the Patriots and Eagles TWICE this season but came up short both times. I also happen to believe they will play better against the Steelers than both New England and Indy but we'll see. I think they are a very good team, whether they backed into the playoffs or not and it's just a matter of making necessary changes in their coaching system.

I know man, it's fun to come down from a beer buzz and do this though...

So New England has some key players back... my point was the Steelers do as well... and Dillon's presence may or may not be a huge impact because the Steelers play well against the run.

Well, I think Duce was out for the first time in the Philadelphia game, which was after New England.

Thank you for clearing that up for the intelligent sport fan.

And Pittsburgh has a healthy Ben Roethlisberger, healthy Plaxico Burress, Duce Staley, Clark Hagans, Kendrell Bell and Deshea Townsend. They were winning without all of those guys but now they have them back so one would think that would make them stronger. Like I said, today's game was probably a HUGE wakeup call and I think you'll be seeing a very pumped up Steeler team with a different attitude. But the Steelers' defense are capable of stopping that run and the only reason today's game was so close was because the Steelers were "plagued by turnovers" twice on otherwise successful drives where it looked like they would score.

Again, don't forget NE escaping with a difficult win over a lesser team en route to the Super Bowl last year. This is the best Steeler team I've seen in years and this was a bad game. I was wanting them to lose going into the playoffs just to come back down to earth a bit. That didn't happen but today's game could actually be a blessing in disguise in the fact that it's a wakeup call and reality check without actually having to lose. They looked like a defeated team on the sidelines during much of that game. They haven't been in this position very much this season. They've already beat New England this season. Beat them up pretty bad as a matter of fact. Indy and Payton rely on getting the ball and making big plays. A little scary after seeing how the Steelers choked on big plays in today's game. However, if Pittsburgh attacks on the ground, eating away the clock and not giving Indy's offense a chance to work their magic, they can easily beat Indy. Or at least eeke it out like they did today against the Jets.

That Big Ben is a rookie and capable of making bad plays, overthrowing receivers and general misjudgments. He's great and his presence has done nothing but good for this team but he's still a rookie. That their most effective weapon is staying on the ground, letting Jerome and Duce tire out the defense, with help from the offensive line and control time of possession with the occassional big play/gain to Hines, Plax or Randel El. That if they overlooked the Jets, thinking ahead to Indy or New England, it nearly cost them their season.

The Monday Night Wars were a really fun time to be a wrestling fan and that was the reason that both shows were drawing the numbers they did and people at your office, school, etc. seemed to be talking about wrestling rather than Monday Night Football. Even people that hadn't watched wrestling in years couldn't help to be intrigued by Hogan turning bad, guys from the WWF showing up on Nitro and Vince McMahon abandoning the whole era of family entertainment and creating new stars and characters in response. The simplest thing like Rick Rude showing up on Nitro while appearing on a taped Raw was just so f'n interesting. The actual in-ring wrestling didn't matter but it was beneficial that different guys brought upon different styles. The cruisers were bringing a different type of action that a Hogan or Nash main event. The bottom line is the business was just entertaining as hell and you didn't know what you would see from week to week. It was the same formula, building towards the PPV at the end of the month, but what both brands would do to top the other one made things interesting. Right now, regardless of the fact that you have good workers who can put on good matches, the storytelling just falls flat. Everyone is forced to wrestle the same style with rest holds in cruiser matches, etc. Take something like the invasion angle or the brand split. This could of been WWE's way of recreating the era of Nitro vs. Raw had the creative teams done things correctly and had McMahon not allowed politics thru his family and yes-men to override sensible business. You could have very easily recreated the brand jumps, etc. with Raw and Smackdown with the dueling GM's trying to out do each other, stealing each other's talent, etc. How would you feel if next week, Jim Ross ended up in the broadcast booth on Smackdown with Tazz? Or if Shawn Michaels showed up to confront Kurt Angle? Or John Cena interrupting a HHH interview on Raw? Basic suprises. And it could go further than that since there is no competition. So New Jack was at Raw on Monday night? Why not put New Jack on camera and have him interfere in the Diva pillow fight or something? Just to see if the crowd reacted. Why not have a suprise battle rap between John Cena and Randy Savage? Sign Savage to a four month deal or something with a couple PPV's, etc. It's not like he's going to show up on the "other show" anymore if he isn't signed long-term! Give Juventud an on-air try out match with Mysterio. Let Bret Hart make a one-time appearance at a Raw in Canada. They don't think about entertaining the fan anymore. Breaking the formula from show to show. Suprising or shocking them. Yes, I can watch the product and "just enjoy it". I get a kick out of JBL's character. I mark out for Orlando Jordan anymore and I think the Bashams look pretty damn cool in the "cabinet". I'm not the typical smark in the sense that I don't allow myself to be entertained. I mark out for the backstage skits with Batista and HHH. The Internet doesn't dictate what I'm entertained by. But, as a whole, the obvious flaws of the shows anymore are the lack of suprises, not pushing new talent to the top and the shows looking the same as they did five years ago, right down to the tired JR-Lawler announce combo.

At this point wouldn't you almost accept a power combo of Shane McMahon and Hulk Hogan over HHH and Stephanie?

I credit that to my ten years in politics/government. Ok, I believed the source and they made an ass out me. Happy?

That's pretty much it. This inside source apparently likes to hang out on the net and IM people denying Internet and Meltzer rumors and feeding these folks with rumors about who is coming in, etc. They have been credible in the past but this is two in a row where they've been wrong.

I usually can't stand Coach on commentary but did anyone else feel that the show had a completely different feel/fresh feel to it when he was doing play by play by himself? I don't know if it's because it had been so long since I've heard a one man commentary, probably since Joey Styles, oh yeah, once when Tazz had to go solo due to Michael Cole running away from Heidenreich. I think one of my main problems with Raw right now, besides HHH and a poor creative team, is that the show needs freshened up and that includes disbanding JR and the King on commentary. At the very least, get Austin or someone in there as a third commentator. I'd like to see JR in a President of WWE camera role and Lawler could either host Kings Court or be a backstage interviewer. Put them together on PPV's from time to time perhaps.

Yeah, I know it sounds bad but that's really the only way I can refer to my source without said source getting pissed off (or in trouble). They've only been wrong once so I consider them to be reputable source.

somone who knows someone, that knows someone.... and i consider them to be legit...

He re-signed today and everything has apparently been worked out.