justcoz

They should've kept it in SNL's time slot. SNL has a lot of repeats throughout the season. They should've filmed it from a smaller New York venue like Hammerstein Ballroom to give the show a totally different look and feel from other WWE programming. It should've been "live from New York, it's Saturday Nights Main Event" For one night, they should just forget about brands and feature a lot of Smackdown vs. Raw matches. They should've paid Jesse Ventura to do color with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jim Ross. They should've had a SNME Legends Battle Royal recycling famous names from SNME's past. A lot of people watching SNME for clear nostalgia purposes would get a kick out of that.

Tell me, who on Smackdown is even worth a spot in the match that is designed to get you a world title shot? Matt Hardy is JTTS, who can only bump. Everyone else for Smackdown is used. People kind of anticipate bumps in a match involving ladders. Hardy should be there but he won't be. I would also like to see some SD guys in the MITB match, it doesn't have to be exclusive to Raw and that title. My picks would be Matt Hardy, Chris Benoit and Super Crazy. Yeah, I know, Super Crazy, WTF. I just thought it would be cool. Benoit, is a little busy at WM. Alright, then the Booker T idea is pretty funny and would work for me. I agree who whoever said this match is RVD's to win though. Cashing in at One Night Stand and forcing HHH to work in front of what should be an ECW-smart crowd would be pretty good, assuming they actually let RVD go over at the PPV.

Tell me, who on Smackdown is even worth a spot in the match that is designed to get you a world title shot? Matt Hardy is JTTS, who can only bump. Everyone else for Smackdown is used. People kind of anticipate bumps in a match involving ladders. Hardy should be there but he won't be. I would also like to see some SD guys in the MITB match, it doesn't have to be exclusive to Raw and that title. My picks would be Matt Hardy, Chris Benoit and Super Crazy. Yeah, I know, Super Crazy, WTF. I just thought it would be cool.

For some reason I thought that Rocky Johnson had been inducted years ago but I guess not. Tony Atlas had a longer history with the McMahon family. I believe Rocky just had that one stint from maybe '83-'84. Tony was there in the early 80's and later for the Saba Simba run.

OK, let her work with Heyman in OVW. Christ, I don't care. It was just an idea. Throw the girl a bone (haha pun), she's been through a lot, especially with Candido passing away. She's working county fairs and high schools when I'm sure she has something more to offer the business in some role or capacity. I don't think OVW is the place to force change on someone with addiction issues but maybe the opportunity to work for the biggest company in the business again just may be and Heyman could help her with a character to bring to the big show again. At least bring her in for the ECW PPV.

Not sure about the white trash thing but I think many felt Sunny was so hot because she was similar to a hot girl at the bar or a hot neighbor. Not a fake (although I'm sure she had implants) unattainable fantasy hotness like a Candice Michelle or other Divas that look like they came straight from Hef's mansion. It was a more ordinary girl hotness so I get where you are coming from. And Vince isn't obligated to do anything. But he does have a history of reaching out to former employees with troubles or hardships, he's helped people like Ric Flair, Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka and brought in Tony Atlas as Saba Simba after hearing word that they had addiction or money problems. Sunny was a big reason for WWF's turn around in the ratings war. She was their most popular figure for a few months even, especially when it comes to net fans. She's pretty much responsible for the whole 'diva' thing that has made Vince so much money (although some would say Sable since she was on top of their most successful run). Yeah, that really did Tony favors. All it had to do was pay a few bills.

Not sure about the white trash thing but I think many felt Sunny was so hot because she was similar to a hot girl at the bar or a hot neighbor. Not a fake (although I'm sure she had implants) unattainable fantasy hotness like a Candice Michelle or other Divas that look like they came straight from Hef's mansion. It was a more ordinary girl hotness so I get where you are coming from. And Vince isn't obligated to do anything. But he does have a history of reaching out to former employees with troubles or hardships, he's helped people like Ric Flair, Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka and brought in Tony Atlas as Saba Simba after hearing word that they had addiction or money problems. Sunny was a big reason for WWF's turn around in the ratings war. She was their most popular figure for a few months even, especially when it comes to net fans. She's pretty much responsible for the whole 'diva' thing that has made Vince so much money (although some would say Sable since she was on top of their most successful run).

Lex Luger's been in the business for a long time. I wouldn't want him in a creative role. Yeah, I get your point but I think Tammy genuinely loves (or at least loved) the business and had a mind for it. Jim Cornette always spoke of her having input in a lot of her Smokey Mountain angles. I'm not saying she'd be an instantaneous creative genius or anything but you know, why not a chance?

It would be nice if Vince McMahon tried to help Tammy out. I say sign her up to do a WWE book release where she exposes some dirt on her WWF days and her struggles afterwards. Maybe even do a DVD since they own much of Candido's career footage and they could focus on the whole Sunny story and how over she was and what went wrong. I think a book or DVD regarding her and Chris Candido's life would be pretty damn interesting. They could bring her in to promote the book as the anti-Diva. Just like the former child stars out there that speak against that practice. Sunny could come out, looking just as she does now, and verbally abuse either the Divas or the girls in the Diva Search competition. If creative would give her free reign, I'm sure she'd know exactly what type of promo to cut. Knowing WWE however she'd probably come out just to be insulted by Simon Dean and for Lawler to make fat ass wannabe jokes. And who knows, maybe Tammy could be groomed for a creative type role? She's been in the business long enough, what's the harm in trying to save someone from self destructing?

Stephanie McMahon is being promoted and is stepping down from the creative team.

It wasn't done with any touch of creativity or storyline continuity. HHH wasn't playing the role that I'm proposing. They touched on some things in the McMahon/Helmsley era but let's face it, the McMahon/Helmsley era was years before it's time. We didn't completely expect that storyline to become real-life and dominate the company behind the scenes. There's more realism in the storyline now. That's a shame because you've missed some good stuff, the best pay-per-views of the past 12 months and some good talent get some national exposure. Don't get me wrong, I see the same problems as you mentioned but they are doing a slightly better job as of late giving the X Division guys some characters and storyline development. I agree with you about the "James Gang", that's a wasted attempt of trying to recapture something that was over years ago and is just pathetic now. These aren't the WWE leftovers they need to make an impact. The names I mentioned, Jericho, Benoit, Goldberg, Jim Ross, etc. are. You get Jericho or Ross and Lawler and it's the equivalent of The Outsiders and Mean Gene/Bobby Heenan. And the way WWE hands out pink slips these days. TNA isn't the solution but competition and a threat to Vince McMahon is. Like I said, he only makes changes to his philosophy if someone else is enjoying success that should be his. AMEN!!!!!! They no longer listen to their audience. They instead try to force feed what they want on the audience despite the crowd reaction. Television is written to entertain themselves, to put over the egos rather than talent, to amuse or avenge themselves rather than draw money. This is why nothing will ever change until the creative process is completely overhauled and Vince realizes that he's doing exactly what put WCW out of business. Much of his success against Ted Turner was because they listened to the net fans, the sheet writers and most importantly the reaction of the crowds. I even remember Vince doing AOL chats. If Stone Cold would have cut his King of the Ring promo in 2006 instead of nine years earlier - well, first off, the promo would have been scripted by an 18 year old pimply-faced creative dork. Second, if the audience continued to cheer Austin's heel actions, tcreative would have had him cut promos against the troops or dark promos at the arenas, ripping on the city and their fans, to ensure he got booed when he walked through the curtain. It's all really quite ridiculous. The exact opposite of what they did ten years ago. http://www.pittsburghnetradio.com

That "big time" feel doesn't come across at times when the product isn't very good and the crowd isn't into it. When the match inside the ring has no heat. Smaller crowds feed off of the participants in the ring and there is typically heat for everything. I see no harm in doing one of the shows, whether it's Smackdown, Raw or SNME from smaller theater style arenas similar to Hammerstein Ballroom. Most cities have mid-sized venues. If gate/revenue is an issue just charge $50-$250 a ticket or something. The fans that do go will be rabid and it's more intimate, they can do Axxess type things at the venue during the day, etc. When I first heard they were bringing back SNME, I figured they'd do it in SNL's timeslot and felt they should just run it, "Live From New York's Hammerstein Ballroom" or something. Especially since they weren't running the Garden but that is supposed to be changing soon.

Why bother having OVW if you are going to change everyone's gimmicks once they get called up and then fire them for not being able to get ridiculous gimmicks over? I'm seriously figuring that Nick Dinsmore, Rob Conway and Doug Basham are next.

We need to start a "Save Our Dicks" petitition. Seriously though, why cut tag teams when there are people like Viscera, Bob Holly, Scotty too Hotty, Snitsky, Tyson Tomko, etc. hanging around?

Can TNA/ROH and OVW be in the draft? They should do an online indie wrestler draft and make it all NFL-like. Would at least be a good way to introduce new talent.

JESUS, THIS FOLLOWING POST IS LONG, THOUGHTS JUST KEPT COMING - if you don't have the attention-span to read, my apologies. I think we are on the verge of another wrestling boom, however, it possibly won't heat up until 2008. Actually the timing is almost parallel to the state of the business ten years ago. This isn't something that Vince McMahon and WWE are going to generate on their own though. It's necessary for TNA to succeed in this equation and I think it's necessary for a head to head spot on Monday night. I think each of us would be hard pressed to disagree that the Monday Night Wars were an extremely fun time to be a wrestling fan. Spike also needs to put some money behind the TNA product and lure in people like Jim Ross, Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, The Rock, Brock Lesnar (if it becomes legal) or even Paul Heyman or dare I say Eric Bischoff. Christian and The Dudleys are a start. You need to create the feeling of the tide turning, just like ten years ago when WWF stars started appearing on WCW. And of course, the existing guys like AJ, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Aries, etc. are the next Benoits, Mysterios and Eddies to benefit from more viewers drawn by bigger names. TNA has young guys that are exciting to watch but few guys that are going to draw people into watching. For example, you need the NWO for people to notice the cruisers. What does this have to do with WWE winning back the casual fan? This forces WWE to change gears. Vince doesn't feel the urgency to re-invent his product until someone is taking money, ratings and accolades that should be his. Completely changed his formula when ECW and Nitro started having an impact. If you watch TNA, it feels fresh. If you watch WWE it looks no different than 1998. I'm all for Legends but WWE looks like Nitro used to feel anymore with Hacksaw Duggan, Goldust, Flair, HHH, HBK, Kane, Taker, etc. still taking up air time. We are back to silly Vince McMahon gimmicks just like The Dumpster, MVP, The Goon, etc ten years ago. Don't think that common channel surfers flipping stations don't notice this stuff. Everyone watched wrestling at some point in their lives, whether they were kids, in college or whatever. They stop mostly because they get bored with it, it becomes too predictible, people say they 'outgrow' it but what that essentially means is they are tired of the same old shit and it all comes across as childish to them. First, drop the current creative regime. Yes, this is smarky, no casual fan even cares but this creative team hasn't made one star or produced one money making angle in six years. Put Stephanie in Linda's role as spokesperson. I'd almost like Paul Heyman to stay with the company just because I'd like to see what a Vince/HHH/Heyman combo can do, I believe it would be as good, if not better, as Vince/Russo/Ferrara. It also takes a load from McMahon's shoulders. Instead of Vince being in the announcers headsets, it's Heyman, producing a more ECW-styled Joey Styles and Tazz, working a RVD promo, etc. Whether he's head of creative or not, use Heyman to get people over, cover their weaknesses, play to their strengths and make new stars. He's proven he can do it in OVW only to have all of his work thrown in the toilet when guys are called up with silly WWE gimmicks. I think the era of running television in big arenas is done. Note the Impact! Zone. Tour smaller venues, similar to the Hammerstein Ballroom to create a more intimate program where it seems as if there is more heat and energy from the crowd. End backstage segments, they are 1998. Become 'smarter' without going over people's heads. For instance, most fans know that HHH and Stephanie are married. Everyone knows that HHH is the top dog because he's tied in to the McMahon's. It's admirable that they'd like to create the impression that this is lost on 90% of their audience but it really isn't. Maybe 30-40%. It's not McMahons on TV that we hate. We hate McMahons on TV with no purpose but just to be on TV. You pop for a Vince appearance if it's been awhile. People pop for Shane McMahon, lots of how will they use him, what's he going to do talk only to have creative forget they put him on television. I still feel there is a money-making angle using the McMahons. Stephanie and HHH taking power in the company away from Vince. Deeming Vince "out of touch" with the times just as Vince Sr. once was. Making Vince the 'good guy' and the man that the roster supports. Bringing in legends to back him. Also bringing in legends who side with Steph/HHH. I know we've already had the McMahon/Helmsley era but there is more power to it now. Acknowledge HHH being a McMahon (and setting him up for the future Mr. McMahon type character) and use his and Stephanie's position to hold talent down storyline wise. Tell guys like CM Punk he's just the 'king of the indies', RVD that stoners never become world champions, call John Cena out for being booed, feed somone's ego like Shelton Benjamin by calling him their money, franchise player, creating that TO character like suggested. Use Vince McMahon as the motivational force behind the talent supporting him. Vince telling Kendrick and London that he sees the next Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart in them. Comparing Jamie Noble to Chris Benoit. Telling John Cena how much he believes in him. I really feel it's time for HHH to look at himself and see not Ric Flair or Harley Race but Vince McMahon. The man that will run the empire. How he could let ego ruin smart business is beyond me. HHH doesn't need the title for camera time. He can still be the center of the show based on his name and presence alone. I like the idea of making Cena more or less a Boston type meanie. You can't drop the hip hop shtick completely because I do think that's a real part of his personality. There is enough there with Cena where that alone doesn't have to define him, he doesn't have to dress like Marky Mark. He can show up on Entourage or at hip hop awards and just be the Boston guy into hip hop. He could still do the occassional edgy rap, the type that brought him to the dance and carry the heel attitude he had on Smackdown. Have 'Lazy Sunday' type video vignette/promos on his opponents. Remember the grey area that Vince talked about in the 90's. No more black and white. Listening to the audience and letting them decide who to boo or cheeer. Cena was over huge as a heel and they turned him and softened the character, he's booed now because he is the generic babyface, playing to the crowd, trying to be cute to get a pop and people don't eat that shit up anymore. He's limited in the ring but can be carried. He has the charisma, looks and acting ability to be the next Rock but the Rock would have never turned into what he is had they kept him in the Rocky Maivia role and continued forcing him on people, people turned on the Rock too because this creative team often did the same thing with him on his babyface runs. Like the idea of putting Carlito with someone like maybe Melina or Mickey James. I actually liked Bob Orton being in Randy Orton's corner. BRING BACK MANAGERS!!!!!!!!! My God, this pisses me off. James Mitchell, Bill Alphonso, Joel Gertner, Don Callis, Coach, even Paul Heyman - there are potentially great managers out there. My friends who no longer watch wrestling always talk about the managers. Coach as the agent for Shelton Benjamin would have been tremendous. Heyman as the agent would have surely worked. But in typical WWE fashion, we have Mama, just as we had Sapphire, Mathilda and Rocco. Those are the type of decisions you make when you don't feel threatened by competition. Coming full circle here. TNA needs name attractions to build a larger audience. Providing more exposure to the real workers in the company, the X Division guys, etc. These guys will feel overshadowed by the big money contracts the company lays out for guys like Sting, Goldberg, Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, etc. Suddenly Vince and WWE start signing men like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Elix Skipper, etc. WWE starts their youth movement. And by 2012 we hit another wall again until someone "shakes things up".

Yeah, it's very unlikely the McMahons or HHH would go for such a storyline. The general belief would be why give someone like CM Punk a rub that he hasn't earned yet. Of course, it's nothing to insert Chris Masters or Gene Snitsky into a main program on their debut. There are also shoot elements to the storyline that I proposed which pretty much write themselves, something creative doesn't pay enough attention to. So someone like HHH is critical of Punk and doesn't think he can cut it on a level above the indies? Why not write that into a storyline? Make him HHH's bag carrier and play off of it. It's at least a sensisble way to introduce him to the audience. Plus, I still think there is money in Maria in a Miss Elizabeth kind of way.

Just random fantasy booking. CM Punk and Maria are dating I guess. John Cena was just kissing Maria on Raw. While I know that they would never bring Punk up and immediately put him into a main slot opposite Cena there is still a way to introduce Punk as Maria's pissed off boyfriend and lackey role for HHH. Cena is jumped and bloodied backstage. The common belief is HHH is behind the attack. HHH denies the accusation. Security cameras reveal that it was a mysterious blonde attacker with Maria screaming in the background for him to please stop. Punk tries to jump Cena again the next week but is restrained by security and cuffed by police. Maria is crying as she tells police that it's her boyfriend. HHH enters the picture telling the police that he's connected with the McMahon family and requests that they release Punk, his bail is paid for by HHH. The next week HHH reveals that he has plucked Maria's boyfriend from obscurity in wrestling's indies with the promise of becoming a star and joining HHH to avenge Cena's play on his woman. Punk loses to Cena in a Raw main-event and HHH goes into the ring and verbally berates him. Slapping him in the face and telling him that just because a few hundred losers on the internet think he's a star doesn't mean anything. HHH throws Punk out the door of the arena telling him to go back to wrestling in high schools. The following week, Maria pleads with HHH to give Punk another chance. HHH is about to pedigree Maria when Cena comes to the save. Cena backs HHH into a corner and Maria, with an unwilling look on her face, gives a crotch shot to Cena who is then pedigreed by HHH. HHH nods approvingly at Maria who appears disappointed and concerned as she looks down at Cena in pain. Punk wrestles in squashes with various indie jobbers with HHH in his corner verbally berating him and serving as a mentor of sorts. Punk accompanies HHH to the ring and serves as HHH's towel boy. HHH also forces an unwilling Maria to accompany him as his valet. If Punk impresses management they build to the slow Batista like babyface turn. If he doesn't impress management, HHH buries him to Velocity, Heat or the indies. http://www.pittsburghnetradio.com

I think they could have added more '84-'87 stuff. I remember a MSG match, early in Hogan's title reign, against the Masked Superstar. For some reason I loved that match as a kid. I also liked Hogan and Dr. D. David Shultz plus I'd like to see matches against people like Don Muraco, Harley Race or Jesse Ventura. He also had a way better match from the Spectrum against the Iron Sheik. Maybe a squash match on TV against one of the Samoans. The Hogan-Orndorf angle. Oh well. I have most on video somewhere (except for that Masked Superstar match that I'd like to see again just to know if it was actually good or just a fond childhood memory).

As someone who is still arguing with disgruntled Seahawks fan, could you please link to this site that you mention?

Wow. Jesus Christ. Yes, he may be awful, but damnit people, just fucking boo him. Please. Its not going to stop until you do. HILARIOUS!!! AND TRUE!!!!! What can we expect from ol' Randy. He's been messing around dead people since Mania last year Lame I know, but so is this angle. I just wrote to wwe.com in their feedback section - I know that it's just a useless waste of time but seriously, this shit needs to stop, I can't watch this anymore - yet I can't turn it off - I just want to go to Stanford and beat the entire creative team and all of the McMahons, with the exception of Shane, for some reason I think he's sane.

That answers that question. What the hell is he talking about here? In the opinion of many people, the Seahawks were directly robbed of those 11 points. What he's saying is had the illegal block to Ben's back been called, Seattle'sinterception return would have been backed up to the 50 yd line. Seattle scored six points with the extra point following that interception return. Had that penalty been called they may not have scored from their 50 yd line. Those 11 points that people are crying about wouldn't have mattered if Seattle didn't score on that drive. It's the same as people saying that Pittsburgh wouldn't have scored or attempted the Randle El-Hines reverse play had Pittsburgh's interception return not advanced 15 yards due to the illegal block call on Hassleback. People are saying those seven points were given to Pittsburgh thanks to that call so this writer is taking seven points from Seattle thanks to that particular missed call.

I'd rather see a Goldust/Boogieman tag team, putting Boogieman in a tag team situation would mask his obvious weakness as a worker while still playing on the strengths of the character.

or he was pushed back... But there was a good attempt to even get at the ball. It was still an easy play to at least deflect it. Thats just laziness and he's lucky that there was a PI call on that. Probably because he was looking for a flag for the OPI since he was pushed back and knocked out of position. Not that letting a play get by you because you are expecting a flag is the right thing to do and I agree with you that Cowher would have reemed him had there been no flag. You can't do that in a game like this.

or he was pushed back...