The Tino Standard

"It's all over but the shouting!"

Man, it's just depressing to look at the tag team scene 15 years ago vs. now. In 2005, they've got twice as many workers and two tag team championships, yet maybe a 1/4 of the number of viable teams they had back then. Sure, you can make a case that teams like the Bushwackers being a joke, but the fact is, for every crap team like that, they had gems like Demolition, the Hart Foundation and the Rockers and countless others. And above all else, the tag division consisted of TAG TEAMS, not "a collection of singles wrestlers paired up because they have nothing else to do."

"Brain, WILL YOU STOP?" "intestinal fortitude" "the irresistable force meeting the immovable object" "the roof is LITERALLY coming off <arena name here>!" Yeah, Gorilla had a few cliches, but so what? What can I say? I'm a mark for the guy. He was my favorite announcer of all time. While we're on the subject of Gorilla, props to the Philly fans at WM15 for giving him the big ovation before the Brawl for All match. Considering the WWF was in full-blown "Attitude Era" mode and they were in Philly, prime ECW territory, I wasn't sure how Gorilla would be received. Good for that crowd. RIP, Monsoon.

Very well could be, that's why I put the "couple weeks ago" disclaimer on my post. Keep in mind, the company we're talking about has a penchant for booking-on-paper-napkin tendencies.

I mentioned this in another thread, but it seems applicable here.. From what I heard, the plan as of a couple weeks ago was to bring the Dudleys back to face Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio for the tag titles at WM.

I think the huge reaction for all of this stems from the fact that you just don't get nearly as much good dirt on the Internet as you used to. Back in the day, you had multiple companies going toe-to-toe, so there was always the "who's jumping" type of stories. Plus, companies weren't quite as good at stopping leaks and dealing with the Internet. Now, we have one dominant company, and that company has put a lockdown on dirt leaking for the most part. Thus, when you get a gem like this to slip through the cracks, the public is so starved for info, you get a circus like we have now.

The new majority owner of the Cavs is Dan Gilbert, who, from everything I've seen so far, is going to be a fantastic owner. I got to cover his introductory press conference last week (there's a picture of me sitting next to LeBron on Cleveland.com right now ), and Gilbert just came across as a total first-class, do-business-the-right-way owner. Other than changing the name of Gund Arena this summer, I'm totally on board with everything he's proposing. On the other hand, it is just so Cleveland that with the three sports teams in town, we've got free-spending guys owning teams in the leagues with salary caps (Gilbert with the Cavs, Lerner with the Browns), while the Indians are owned by a penny-pinching tightwad.

Yup. Well that post was worthy of an exclamation point. Austin's heel turn didn't even start working creatively until he stopped dealing with HHH and Taker. Oh and him saying "My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin" was awesome. My name is Stone Cold Steve Austin. I am the WWF Champion. And I do not deserve to be treated like this! Man, heel Austin (complete with out of control goatee) ruled.

Austin. WM 17. Astrodome. And....? You didn't happen to notice that everyone no-sold the turn, did you? The point is that it didn't stop them from trying. And if they're willing to try to turn freaking STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN heel in Texas, why in the hell wouldn't they try to turn Eddie Guerrero heel in California? What's his tie to the west coast that will guarantee he's the most over anyway? He's from El Paso, not to mention the fact that the guy he would be turning on IS from California.

Austin. WM 17. Astrodome.

I have to first put up a qualifier here that I don't watch SmackDown and I have very little idea of what's going on with the show, so I really haven't what Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero have been doing on TV. HOWEVER, I've heard through a trusted source that Eddie and Rey DID, in fact, get to pick out their own angle for WM, but they're not doing a singles match. From what I've heard, the plan is for them to defend the tag titles against the Dudleys. The idea of a ladder match was tossed in, too, but this info is from a couple weeks ago, so I'm thinking the ladder idea is out because of whatever they've got Jericho doing.

I've started getting my roommate into watching this, and as we were watching last night's episode, he was asking how the boardroom firing worked. I explained it as Audrey and Angie were plotting, then I told him how Angie was going to 'stick the knife in her in the boardroom, mark my words.' Sure enough, after being loyal for a bit, Angie saw Audrey was a dead duck and proceeded to stick the knife. Seriously, I think they've started telegraphing these things a little too much. By the way, GREAT call on the John/Vince Vaughn thing. EDIT: One more for the road.... How fucking stupid was Audrey to not bring Chris back to the boardroom, especially considering she got to bring an extra person? Trump RIPS the guy for putting in a chew in front of the kids, and she lets him go. Seriously, Chris was the only other person with a chance in hell of being fired.

Sorry if this has been discussed in here before, but in my nearly 3 years of SmartMarks posting, I've never been in this forum. Anyhoo, I'm looking to buy an mp3 player, but because of cost, I'm looking for a more cost-effective option than an iPod. Only problem is, I've been downloading songs from iTunes for the past year or so, and while it's only like 40 songs or whatever, I'd like to be able to transfer them into a non-iPod mp3 player, and I'm pretty sure in the iTunes format (whatever it is), you can only put songs onto CDs and iPods. So, is there any way to convert iTunes files so they'll work on non-iPod mp3 players?

This alone will earn SmackDown a spot on my weekly DVR schedule. (Goes and cranks up the Million Dollar Man's theme song )

The last few years before WMXX, they ran 4 hours, starting at 8 p.m. Last year, of course, the show was a staggering 5 hours, beginning at 7 p.m. A quick check of WWE.com shows that this year, they're starting at 7 p.m. again. Are they really going 5 hours again? I just don't see enough matches in place to pull that off.

For all intents and purposes, the WM main event IS a title match every year. I think it's a case of this being not only a title match, but a title match in the main event of Wrestlemania. That's a way bigger deal than a title shot on Raw or some other random PPV. Guys will get experimental runs with the world title every now and then, but the WM main event is a once-a-year deal and only the creme-de-la-creme get that spot.

Oh shit, I remember that... That guy had that creepy voice... He sounded maniacal watching that house burn down. But on the bright side, in an UPDATE! a couple months later, I also remember the guy getting busted. Part of the problem with the videotape was that it was dropped nowhere near the house, so the authorities had no idea where the house actuallly was. But once UM aired the case, the people whose house burned down recognized it as THEIR house, called the authorities, and it led to the guy getting busted.

Austin-Hart at XIII, Rock-Hogan at XVIII, Flair-Savage at VIII. With every one of those, no long-term perspective was needed. I knew I was watching history as it unfolded.

One of the unlockable stadiums is Boston with years going to the present, so I'm thinking that would be your daytime Fenway. Still, 15 classic stadiums are in the game, including a few never before seen in EA games, including Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which had me marking out. Between the Mistake by the Lake and the 80s uniforms, the only things missing are Joe-Boo, Wild Thing and Roger Dorn.

Chicago is the third largest market in the US after NY and LA, so it's no surprise that's where they'd go for next year. I know when they come to Chicago, they always go to the Rosemont Horizon (excuse me, ALLSTATE ARENA... bleh), but that venue just doesn't seem up to par for a WM these days. I can't believe they wouldn't try to book the United Center instead. They had SummerSlam at the United Center one year, so it's not like they've never run there before.

Savage-Flair from WM8. Just a perfect culmination... Savage's knee is destroyed, and he's about to be put in the figure four... Flair, who had been tormenting Liz for months, gets too cocky for his own good and taunts her again. Flair loses his focus just long enough for Savage to sneak in a roll-up, and in classic, win-at-all-costs Savage fashion, he grabs a hand full of tights to win. Still one of my all-time favorite matches.

Teddy Long's suits make him look like a small child playing dress-up. It wouldn't be so bad if he got dress shirts with a neck that actually fit him.

By my count (and I admit, I had a few beverages this evening, so consider these results unofficial): Triple H's days with the World Heavyweight title: 532 EVERY OTHER WWE WRESTLER COMBINED: 294 (oh, and this doesn't even fact in his current reign)

Well, it was unseasonably warm here a couple days ago.

This is why Batista is the man. He even makes the played out "babyface destroys heel's property" scene cool. Goldberg tries to be a hard ass and ends up fucking up his arm. Way to go, genius. As for Batista? Roll up the sleeves, methodically bash the windows of the limo, tear off the bull horns, then use the side mirror to adjust your tie and touch up your sideburns. OWNAGE.