justcoz

Bruno Sammartino - inducted by Vince McMahon Bret Hart - inducted by Shawn Michaels Owen Hart - inducted by Bret Hart British Bulldogs - inducted by Chris Benoit Mr. Perfect - inducted by Bobby Heenan Roddy Piper - inducted by Ric Flair Cowboy Bob Orton - inducted by Randy Orton The Wild Samoans - inducted by Capt. Lou Albano and The Rock

I think it would kill any legitimacy for the Hall of Fame to book storylines around the inductees. I also doubt that Bruno and Bret would have any part of that. I'm more interested in trying to figure out who the class of 2005 should be. I highly doubt Bruno would participate if Hogan's involved in the same year. My picks: Bruno Sammartino Bret Hart/Owen Hart British Bulldogs Bob Backlund Roddy Piper Cowboy Bob Orton The Wild Samoans

Like it or not, people remember groups and stables of wrestlers. From the Horsemen to NWO to DX to the face pops we see Evolution getting. They are proven to get ratings and heat. I'm not saying that you need to recreate the past and all of the sudden, in 2004 or 2005, have HBK and HHH in the old DX gear doing the same schtick from 1998. That wouldn't work. There is nothing wrong with using the name, realligning HBK and HHH after their three year feud and adding two new elements like Edge and Christian to feud with the group of Batista, Orton, Benjamin, Jericho led by Flair. They wouldn't use the Horsemen name but like Evolution - the similarities would be there. It could be an intriguing feud and set up.

You'd be pitting them as rivals to a new generation of coolness by letting Orton maintain his arrogance, Batista maintain his pimp daddy monster role, Benjamin being the confident/cocky guy he was when he jumped from SD to Raw and beat HHH, Jericho being what he is now and Flair being the legend guiding what could on paper look like a new generation of Horsemen.

I'd rather have HBK, HHH, the possibly returning Waltmen and Edge back as a "cool heel" DX to play against faces Orton, Batista, Benjamin and Jericho led by Flair.

Another one of Bischoff's projects, which he will begin soon after leaving WWE as an on-air talent, is finding a wrestling promoter with a cable television deal. Bischoff plans to entice this promoter and cable network with his resume in sports entertainment and experience in building a successful highly-rated televised wrestling program. He will also lure the promoter's son into believing that he will make him a huge crossover media star. By mixing the innovative wrestling style and workrate of somewhat smaller competitors with modest name and face appeal of underapprecited WWE talent and huge names who bring with them ego and a mission to "stick it to the McMahons", Bischoff hopes to land this promotion with a prime time Monday night time slot. Initial plans are to reveal to the interested network the creative weaknesses, dated philosophies and vulnerbility of WWE Raw, since Bischoff now has two years worth of inside knowledge as to how they produce the program on a week by week basis. Bischoff will promise the network that not only can he attract big names and celebrity appearances but ratings as well, pointing to the ratings he previously delivered with Monday Nitro. He will ask for plenty of air time to take shots at McMahon and the WWE product but will be accompanied by the promoter's son in an effort to get him and his guitar massively over. Stay tuned for part two of the Monday Night Wars.

Did Meltzer or anyone ever report why Scorpio/Flash Funk was jobbed out so quickly? They seemed to be pushing him when he debuted. Then it was almost immediate jobbing? Drugs? Attitude? They didn't like his ring work? He was hung better than Taker?

PLEASE RELEASE THEM!!!!! They are wasted $$$ on the payroll and it's obvious that they will simply never be over again in WWE. I could see both of them fitting in nicely with TNA, hell, we can have a New Age Outlaws reunion with Gunn and Armstrong.

What if FX ran them at 8pm on Monday night? They could have the occassional overrun of the main event going into Raw's start time. Test the waters by doing a two hour show down the road. Do a replay broadcast at 11:05 perhaps? Buy local advertising spots during Raw. I miss Monday being "wrestling night" and with two shows on two different networks it's possible that wrestling may be able to reclaim some of it's glory on that night. It would be much easier for me to tell my girlfriend that Monday and Thursday's are my wrestling nights as opposed to telling her that it's Monday, Tuesday night (if Impact! went to FX), Wednesday night for the PPV, Thursday night for SD and the weekends for the IWC that I watch here in Pittsburgh on Saturday night and the WWE PPV.

I agree that Paul Heyman is the guy the need in this position. What the hell happened to WWE wanting to sip his "Kool Aid" and all of those other hints that Jim Ross and Co. sent out to him when ECW was seemingly on it's last legs? I still can't believe that Vince is trusting his company in the hands of Bruce Pritchard more than the man who revolutionized the business with ECW and pretty much paved the way for WWF Attitude. This position just seems to fit Heyman's personality. He's a fan and you need a fan in this kind of role. Someone to say when a proposed storyline is lame and when things aren't consistent. So him and Vince had problems when he was on creative? Vince wanted a Yes Man. Vince needs to realize that he doesn't need Yes-Men he needs people that will challenge him to make the product successful again. Vince Russo's main claim to fame was that he challenged Vince and made him see the holes in his product. The type of holes that were created by creative blunders and the likes of Bruce Pritchard. Russo was essentially inspired by what he was seeing in ECW so why the hell can't McMahon see this? The saddest thing is the talent, guys who have worked with Paul, been through ECW, WANT HEYMAN IN A CREATIVE POSITION. Vince won't even listen to his own friggin talent. Stephanie can move on. She's had her go with creative. Move her into the public figure for the WWE in the media. Let her come across as a power woman to the general public, go on Oprah, use her position as a way for women to embrace a male product, just like Hugh Heffner did by putting his daughter in the position he works in Playboy. Some of the other problems I read about Heyman was that he was notorious for missing deadlines and messing with Smackdown's production by doing so. I really don't think he liked the stress of creative. I think this type of position, where he is pretty much just judging the product and making suggestions, where his input and touches will be on both shows, would appeal to him.

Bringing back guys like Slaughter, Albano, Backlund, Billy Graham and Piper after they badmouthed Vince and the company upon leaving. Hell, Graham even went against him during the steroid trial and Vince is still intent on making sure that his legacy his remembered, simply because he was Vince's favorite wrestler. He would no doubt do the same for Sammartino and Bret Hart. I don't count Hogan in that group because there was money to be made from Vince-Hogan working together again.

Why we can't have a sports show, or any show for that matter, here in the states, that can interview wrestling personalities in this same manner? We get the, "Do you guys really get hurt", "let me touch your championship belt", questions. Maybe if one sports talk show host booked wrestling personalities to discuss the business as it really is they would understand it a bit more. Landsberg gets most of his questions from Meltzer and from fans, correct?

I'm going to forget that whole, "just one guy" request. Sorry... Shawn Michaels needs to go heel, drop the 90's shtick, grow a beard, get a haircut and go out as a cocky heel, giving arrogant, he's a gift from God, we should all thank jesus for the showstoppa promos... Stevie Richards should be the goofy, video game/comic book loving guy that he is. Have comic book debates between him and the Hurricane. Video game reviews with Richards (makes for good product placement.) With Paul London; I like the idea of the London/Billy Kidman tag team because I think London, like HBK and Bret Hart, could gain the most as a singles star down the road with a good solid tag team run. I would have Teddy Long manage them and dub them the "Vanilla Thrillaz". They are being held back by the, "MacMan", because they are too white, too small, don't have the street cred of a John Cena, etc. Long could cut some real classic promos with this one. If the Hardy's reunite, London/Kidman definitely need to be on the same show, whether it's tossing the Hardys on Smackdown (which isn't a bad idea) or moving London/Kidman w/ Long to Raw. Hurricane needs to end unless they are willing to have fun with this and introduce some arch nemesis characters. This is where Luther Reins, someone recreating Doink The Clown, Kanyon as Mortis, Ultimo, etc. could have been used. Go the Batman route and just make up random characters that come and go. OVW guys just getting a "tryout" of sorts. They have to compliment Hurricane's style however. If they won't go this route, that's it for the Hurricane. Turn him into Shane Helms. Let him play a heel. Maybe align him w/ HBK and HHH to give him a rub. They need to push the Redneck Messiah thing with Jamie Knoble. Find a total white trash looking chick for him to play off of. Let him cut promos elevating the image of the redneck in the states. Praising country music and damning guys like John Cena who forget their white. Shelton Benjamin needs to be a heel. If they won't do this, they must give him more of a bad ass feel. All black wardrobe. Darker music. He has such a range personality wise. He deserves more than to be the black Bob Backlund. He can still be a face with a bit of an edge and arrogance. Garrison Cade needs to have some preppy frat brothers by his side. Coach can hang with them. Almost like a rip off of the Mean Street Posse. Garrison needs to play the type of asshole that the blonde guy in Karate Kid was. He just has that look to him. You want to hate him but instead you just don't care. Batista they need to go total bad ass face with. I'm starting to think more and more that this guy has the style, presence and willingness to learn and improve to be the next big time player, even Hogan like potentially. I was against them not using the Leviathan character but I'm seeing more and more that this guy as he is; is just cool period. From his size to the pimp daddy look. Plus, he has the perfect heel foil in Randy Orton to end up with an immediate huge face turn. Listen to the Pittsburgh and Indie music scenes: new this week: The Features, Trans Am, Devendra Banhart, Skeleton Key, The Fever and The Color Bars

And did you see the episode where he was going toe to toe with HHH, was thrown over the top rope within 2 minutes, HBK came in after HHH and Benjamin was never heard of or seen again on the show? He was an after thought. Not even mentioned with all the fuss about HHH and HBK being the top contenders for the title despite the fact that Benjamin beat HHH clean the first time. I'll probably get heat for this but he's not as over as he could be... or should be... given who he beat. He was also left off of Raw for one or two weeks at a critical point in getting him over, weeks after he was almost the focus point of the shows. It came across to me like they booked the upset over HHH on a whim and had no immediate direction with him following that. Then they were like, okay, what do we do with him now? That's why I said it would have been had he just got the win over HHH and was then traded back to Smackdown, if they actually cared about that show. An upset over HHH and a 50+ year old legend isn't evidence to me of a brilliant creative team. It was hot shotting to me. The HHH win could have been a HUGE deal and chances are it will be as the years go on but there was no immediate impact from it. His pops aren't where they should be. They should be spending more time giving him promo time rather than having him run down whenever another face is in trouble. His mannerisms, facial expressions and attitude are just as much of strong points as his athletic ability and they need to let him get that across to the public. There should be some kind of character they are pushing besides the young up and coming black kid who comes to everyone's aid.

His point was that it wouldn't be wise to put the fresh Raw to Smackdown talent up against Eddie right away because they would either have to be jobbed out right away or Eddie would have to lose the title to them. My point was they've already done jobs. Your point??? The test Booker-Taker house show matches were what... three weeks ago? RVD/Mysterio vs. Dudleys is hardly a feud. It's creative throwing guys together that they don't know what to do with. If RVD or Booker are ever going to be booked in a title series with Eddie then the time would have been several months ago when they switched brands, were fresh faces on a different show and had a clean start after being damaged goods on Raw. Jobbing them at all... period... whether it's house show test matches or tv midcard filler feuds, without making the most of their jumps first, is stupid.

I totally agree with what you are saying but what good is it when you have the new guys jobbing anyway? If they were building up wins leading into a title match, I'd see your point. Booker is jobbing to Taker (in 30 seconds at house shows even) and RVD is losing to the Dudley. By the time they do get to the title picture they are going to be as jobbed out as they were on Raw.

If this belongs in Fantasy Booking I apologize. I consider it more of a discussion of the Raw/Smackdown draft lottery and what happened to Smackdown following. Tweaks that could've been done at the time of the lottery to benefit Smackdown. Although Smackdown was hit with the loss of Benoit, Lesnar and Angles reoccurring injuries, my outlook for the future of the brand wasn't dismal going into the lottery episode of Raw. In fact, I thought the whole point of the lottery was to move stars over to Smackdown to balance things out. I was hoping that both RVD and Booker T would end up Smackdown. I knew they were losing Edge to Raw. I didn't even object to HHH getting drafted to Smackdown but I knew it wasn't going to be a permanent switch when they ran HHH vs. Eddie on that very episode of Raw and he didn't walk away with the title. Throughout the draft, I enjoyed the exchanges between Heyman and Bischoff. Given the fact that several years ago, this was ECW vs. WCW, it added a legitimacy to each guy running their respective brands. WHERE SMACKDOWN WENT WRONG: Shelton Benjamin to RAW: Yes, it can be debated that he got the rub from HHH and it made him an impact player, but really it hasn't. They've done nothing with the character to get him over besides the upset. I like the potential with the Shelton vs. Orton IC Title feud but Shelton, in my eyes, seemed like the logical candidate on Smackdown to step in and replace Lesnar. His smug arrogant cocky demeanor seems more heelish than a face. Instead of running HHH vs. Eddie on the draft lottery RAW, they could have Benjamin drafted to Raw. They could have ran Shelton vs. HHH that night with Shelton getting the upset. HHH could have pushed Bischoff to trade Shelton back to Smackdown where his victory over the Raw superstar elevated him and Smackdown to the casual fan. HHH could have got heat by stating that Benjamin got lucky and even luckier that he was traded back to Smackdown and there would be no rematch for HHH to prove it was a fluke. Benjamin could have returned to Smackdown where he would be greeted by Kurt Angle, requesting to be his advisor and the man to make him the next WWE champion on the heels of his win over HHH. They could've booked a Booker T vs. Shelton feud on Smackdown with Booker offering to congratulate Shelton on his win over HHH only for Benjamin to say how he finished the job that Booker couldn't get done at Wrestlemania 19 and how black kids now had a winner to look up to. Paul Heyman Quits: Heyman as the mouth piece of Smackdown added legitimacy to the brand. His mic work could sell you on a PPV or main event matchup. You believed that Heyman felt that "his" Smackdown was the superior brand. The moment Smackdown lost Heyman in that role they immediately lost a positive. RVD as a babyface: When Heyman picked RVD he immediately planted the seed for the two of them to be reunited. Then when he quit as GM his words were rendered useless. RVD should have been the one to go heel upon his Smackdown debut, not Booker T. Not only was the Booker T/Raw is the superior show angle counterproductive to Smackdown but in my opinion, the wrong guy was turned! RVD for years, even prior to being full time WWF/E, billed himself as "Mr. Monday Night". Suddenly he was taken off of the Monday night program and he was cool with this???? He should've been the one to bitch about going to Smackdown with Heyman, as the GM, trying to appease him by making him an immediate challenger for Eddie's title. An RVD vs. Eddie main event (or even Booker vs. Eddie) for the title would have had the most impact immediately upon them switching over to Smackdown. The immediate JBL main event push: I make no apologies. I like the JBL character. I think Bradshaw plays it very well and has done all he could possibly do with it. I don't like the fact that they pushed him into the program with Eddie over RVD, Booker, Shelton or even Chavo Jr who should've got that push. JBL in this character as a mid carder would highly entertain me. And they should've fed him to the Undertaker instead of Booker. Not drafting Helms to Smackdown to sub for Tajiri: Heel Gregory Helms could be the heel nemesis to Rey Rey that the CW title needed. He could have befriended Mysterio as the Hurricane in a situation with Chavo Jr. and Noble only to turn on him and denounce the Hurricane gimmick. The overall direction of the CW division has sucked but I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. There is no reason that division which could have Rey Rey, Helms, Chavo Jr, Noble, Paul London, Kidman, Nunzio, Nova, Akio, Funaki, Ultimo or guys they bring in to job like American Dragon, etc. should not be given an opportunity to be showcased. They give the women repeated opportunities and time on RAW despite the fact that they are very "not over" at times and draw poor ratings. But they won't give these guys an opportunity at all? I could come up with more but I'm out. Just some stuff I had to vent. Pittsburgh's alternative to the FM dial, local and Indie music...

They have potential although they are two guys I'd like for WWE to just give away to TNA. Russo and Jarrett would probably have a field day using them. However, if Vince and company are indeed loyal to Gunn and Holly for their years of service, using them in this tag team may be the best bet. I like Gunn as a tag team wrestler. I loved the New Age Outlaws and they were a big part of the WWF's Attitude resurgence. They were providing a hip and comedic part to RAW that you were getting from The Outsiders on Nitro and not getting on WWF television beyond Austin and the HBK/HHH DX. They saw Gunn as a singles wrestler which is when his career went down hill. He went from having a cool nick name, "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn, to a full fledged homo erotic inspired gimmick as "Mr. Ass" with pink tights, thongs, ass exposing and the worst music. Bob Holly has never been over despite attempts. Sparky? New Midnight Express? Russo had him getting over a bit as the "Big Shot" Bob Holly but then they again gave him a gay porn star sounding "Hardcore Holly" moniker and here we are six years later with no development. He's a legit tough guy bad ass in neon pink tights and bleached white hair? I see. He's stiff, seems to be an ass by all accounts, injures young guys but who better to release than Kanyon? I'm for the idea of teaming them with some tweaking to their characters. Bad Ass and Big Shot. They need a manager too.

How about the fact that it's spring, the weather is getting really nice on the east and in the midwest, it's daylight longer, people have spring activities (gardening, soccer, baseball, jogging, walking, etc) and not everyone is willing to drop everything to catch the first hour of Raw hence the low rating for hour 1? From a wrestling perspective, my enthusiasm for the evening died down with the non finish in the Benjamin/HHH match. The action was good and then it was over just like that. Shelton disappeared and so did his push. Benjamin's two wins have done nothing to establish him as a top name because they've never given him the opportunity to get a character and personality over on top of the upset win. To be honest, he would have been better off working as a heel on Smackdown against Eddie despite the HHH rub. I'm getting off subject though. I still think that the nicer the weather gets the less inclined people are to sit in front of a television. VCR's and Tivo were probably running, how does that get calculated into the ratings? I also agree with those who said the Edge/Orton match could have turned away some people in addition to the two segments featuring the completely unover women's division. Listen to the Pittsburgh and indie music scenes... New this week - The Shins, The Girls, TV on The Radio, Peaches and Iggy Pop, The Features and many more...

Hopefully Storm and Jericho go see Kill Bill Vol. 2. I can see what he's saying about the lack of plot in Vol. 1 but I looked at it more or less as introducing you to the characters. The story and dialogue are all in Vol. 2. I look for Storm to get cut. I haven't read the dark match/Heat reports, was he even used in Calgary....... Alberta, Canada? If they couldn't give him something to do in his hometown then forget about it. He would have received a reaction so we couldn't have that. How about incorporating the WWE enforcing the "Now Residing in the USA" on their Canadian wrestlers into a storyline with Storm refusing to go along with it, cutting a promo saying how prejudiced the company is toward Canadians, just look at the Montreal screwjob, etc. Yes, Storm and his Pro Canada shtick has been done before but it's the only thing that has ever got him heat. I'm torn on Storm, I see talent but not star talent. I don't think he could carry anyone to a **** match but I'd take watching him over most of the roster with the hosses, etc. Listen to the Pittsburgh music scene and more. New music this week from Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Stills, Metric, Rasputina, Mike Watt and The Walkmen

Did you ever watch I am Sam or Rainman? They were retards. Sam was a Beatles freak who could throw out Beatles facts. Rainman could do anything with numbers. They should play off of Dinsmore being such a wrestling freak by having him just randomly throw out wrestling facts and being competent in the ring, taking moves from wrestler's of the past, etc. I say even rip on the Internet community a bit and make your retard a smark. Have him rate matches with stars and the whole bit. The way they've introduced him is fine but if he's doing this same schtick totally in a year, it won't be over as much. They can also go the violent/schizophrenic route but I think the wrestling idiot savant would be more interesting. Oh, and please, at some point, let Eugene find the ATV and badge and become Raw's new sheriff!!!! Listen to the Pittsburgh music scene and more. New music this week from Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Stills, Rasputina, Metric, Mike Watt and Longwave

What pisses me off is they have relatively young guys on the roster who still have some years left in their careers and they insist on pushing guys who simply aren't ready. Matt Hardy and Steven Richards deserve a push more than Garrison Cade or Jindrak. They have experience, are still considered young talents, they've established characters and personas for themselves with no help from creative and people respond to them. I'm all for pushing young talent and I'm not saying that they should do nothing with Cade and Jindrak. My problem is they continue to force feed their audience people without giving them one reason to care about them. Why will anyone respond to someone who looks like Cade? What is he, a Dynamic Dude or Barry Windham? No gimmick, no personality, no character, he's shown no signs of charisma. I guess they are trying with Jindrak and the Narcissist revival but he just doesn't seem like the right guy for that gimmick. He looks like a dork. Now O'haire, there was a guy who had the look. They continuously waste their young guys by bringing them in too soon with no characters as vanilla "wrestlers". Had it not been for a Halloween party skit on Smackdown John Cena would probably be tagging on Velocity with Orlando. I actually see potential in someone like Rob Conway and he's stuck in the French sympathizer thing with suckbag Grenier. People are concerned about Nick Dinsmore but at least he has a character, I just hope they let him work and eventually give the character some depth. Listen to the Pittsburgh music scene and more - new music this week from Postal Service, Modest Mouse, Mike Watt, Longwave, Muse and Pretty Girls make Graves

Heyman quitting on RAW was a shoot? Can anybody give me the details on this, I totally missed anything about this.

They will probably just have him and Mean Gene as part of the WWE 24/7 project. I'm not sure if Heenan's voice will ever be back to normal to do color for a full show but I'm sure he and Okerlund can introduce matches, etc. on the new service. Listen to the Pittsburgh music scene and more. New music added this week from The Walkmen, Metric, The Stills, Denali and Eisley...

Let Teddy Long manage them. Long can call them the Vanilla Thrillaz. They can talk about being held down by the "man" because they are too white, too vanilla, too small, don't have the street cred of Eddie and Cena, etc. The Pittsburgh music scene and more. New tracks this week from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Eisley, TV on The Radio, The Stills and Metric