The Tino Standard

February 14th is a Monday. ... And THAT is why I should not allow myself to post on here after 2 a.m. when I've just gotten home from the bars.

I'm kinda wondering why they're going to have Raw on Valentine's Day, which is a Wednesday. http://www.wwe.com/schedules/events/WWE-RAW-021405.jsp

There is a huge difference to jobbing to a multi-time World Champion in a match with some interference (and to keep said mult-time champ in the title picture for the next two months' storyline) and jobbing to some random midcarder just to get the U.S. title on someone else a month before WM.

Nice to see the upper deck completely empty out during the brawl at the end of the show.

I'll have to take a look at that agains and make a point to check for extra stiffness afterwards. Sometimes you don't notice that in Benoit matches with Benoit being well -- Benoit. I was debating wether that was planned or not. I'd say you're right. It wasn't meant to be on the face and was indeed supposed to be a chest bump. So if it was indeed a screwup that brings us to the fact that HHH let everybody know that he was hit on the face as he sold it like death. The cynic in me would say it was to show 1) Benoit "was sloppy" and 2) he's breaking kayfabe by putting sympthany heat on himself (HHH has never sold like that before) as wrestlers will often sell a screwed up move the way it was supposed to be sold if the move was hit correctly. But still the selling did come at a spot where HHH looked like he was going to take a triple threat vacation outside the ring so the extra selling was probably a good idea. Just convienint for Trips. Now Benoit took that same riduclous bump at the end of the Ironman and I'm trying to remember if that one was worse than the one after the tag match last night. Did HHH swing just as hard? Was the chair or Benoit's head at a different angle? Can anyone remember? If HHH was indeed being unprofessional than that's pretty stupid on his part because Benoit's been bumping like a maniac for him the last few months (see apron hip toss from Ironman) I don't think the back-of-the-head chairshot busted Benoit open in the Ironman, but on the other hand, I remember that looking INCREDIBLY sick, like it caught him flush in the head at full speed. Either way, neither one of them looked particularly swift and painless. And it's DAMN sure not a hit a guy that had spinal fusion surgery should be taking.

I'd love to see one more match between The Rock and HHH. They started off around '96 in the low midcard, moved on to be the biggest upper-midcard program of '98, became new main eventers around the same time and were headlining shows in 2000. Now, they've both basically reached the 'untouchable' phases of their careers, meaning a loss to one another really wouldn't hurt either. Maybe you could make a case that HHH shouldn't lose to a guy that's wrestled basically once in the last year or two, but I think HHH is over enough that it wouldn't be a big deal, especially considering the Rock is a 7-time champ or whatever. Add all that to the fact that Rock is an established Hollywood commodity (how BIG a commodity is your call), and HHH is very transparently trying to do the same thing. And Wrestlemania is IN Hollywood this year. It seems pretty obvious this won't happen, with the HHH-Orton main event a virtual lock, but hey, maybe, maybe not. They've gotten the belt off HHH and I don't think they'd vacate the title only to put it right back on him. Maybe they've panicked a bit and think the HHH-Orton match wouldn't draw. Doubtful, but you never know with this crew. At any rate, I'd much rather see the Rock face an established 'untouchable' type guy this year instead of putting over the flavor of the week.

Yeah, and that's the second time he's given him a blind chairshot like that. He did the same thing to Benoit during the Iron Man over the summer. Real nice move to do to a guy that has had spinal fusion surgery. And by the way, the Captain Charisma suit was kinda funny, but I think the joke of "look at this guy in the goofy superhero costume" loses its steam when, two segments before, people are supposed to cheer a guy in a goofy green superhero suit who calls himself "The Hurricane."

Under normal circumstances, I'd say HHH is just getting the belt back, but I can't really remember a situation where a title was vacated and then went right back to the guy that last held it. Normally, the 'vacated title' angle is a way to get the belt off one guy and onto another without having the champ job. They did it with Hogan in the '80s and then Austin in the '90s.

I'm pretty sure there was some initial jealousy when Jericho came in and was immediately more over on Jericho's first night with the company than HHH had ever been. HHH was in the midst of a MEGA push in the summer of '99 and wasn't exactly a smashing success as a main event heel. Jericho arrived in Aug. '99 and was more over as a mega heel in his first night thanks to his debut segment with the Rock. Couple that with the fact that Jericho also had the long blond hair like HHH and I think H felt like his spot was threatened. He immediately sabotaged Jericho by pushing for him to job to freaking CHYNA at Survivor Series, and HHH would go on to bury Jericho every chance he got the rest of the way. I think Jerky has done a good job of keeping himself away from HHH since then. It seems like he knows how a feud with HHH will go, so he's found ways to make himself a main player without needing the world title.

Yeah, they're going to have to bring somebody over next week. Last season, there were no real set points where they'd re-shuffle (just like this year). It's pretty much whenever the teams aren't balanced, somebody gets moved. I'm just a little confused over what they're going to do since 2 people got fired in the same show. If you have X amount of shows to do and that number is based on having 1 person fired per week, now what do you do? Not fire someone one week? Also, for what it's worth, I don't think a single P.M. has gotten it right this year as far as who they should bring back to the boardroom for the firing. Just about every single time, Trump has said "Why wouldn't you bring 3 other people back instead of 2?" or "Why didn't you bring X back?" Wes fell victim to this last night. Andy has one of the best boardrooms ever by not saying a damn word except for OWNING the one question he gets asked, so in Trump's mind, he's got to look pretty strong. Why would Wes bring him in? Not to say that it would've saved Wes from being fired, but at that point, you need to scratch for every edge you can get.

You could see that finish coming from a mile away. And how in the blue hell Ivana didn't throttle Jen after she jumped in and stole all the glory, I have no idea. Then again, Ivana should've been fired a month ago, so it's hard to feel bad for her. Nice to see some of the dead weight getting cleared off, but they've still got a little more to go.

Of course we all know it's fake, but WWE has regressed as far as 'protecting kayfabe' goes. They go out of their way to preserve the business now (how smart that policy is, I'll let you be the judge). Fine, we know it's scripted, but that doesn't give the wrestlers carte blanche to expose moves. And if you're on the roster, HHH should be the LAST guy you'd do that to. That's just career suicide. What good could possibly come out of saying what he said?

I wouldn't blame the Hurricane for that. I see nothing wrong with guys teaching each other how to take a move so it looks more convincing. That's just good for business. Besides, I don't think he was doing that with the idea Shelton would explain it to a reporter afterwards. Shelton on the other hand... How fucking stupid do you have to be to publicly expose the Pedigree- the finishing move of the most powerful wrestler in the entire company?

So lemme get this straight... They think the retro thing is starting to die off, but they're making a new shoe that is playing off nostalgia from its predecessor 15 years ago?

Caddyshack when I'm talking with my dad. The HBO cult classic Mr. Show gets used the most around my friends.

Just got back from Gund. I completely missed the CW match because of a fiasco with my tickets... Anyway, I thought the crowd was into it all night, and it was a fun show. I'm not sure where people were hearing boos for Orton striking the pose. Maybe he didn't get a HUGE pop for it, but I didn't seem to find anybody actively anti-Orton. The main event finish was kinda outta nowhere, but it popped the crowd huge. HHH's shitty Survivor Series streak continues. I was really surprised Maven didn't turn. The settings were all there. It would've been very easy for him to be anti-Snitsky, but still pro-Evolution. The WWE Championship match was a joke. I'm not much of a Smackdown guy, but the whole thing just felt so MIDCARD. The whistling and 'borrring' chants got increasingly louder of this before the finishing sequence. Crowd was pissed about the chick fight lasting 10 seconds. Three announcing tables at ringside and NONE of them broke? Come on! I would've liked to have seen more of Cena. That's the first time I've seen him live, and the crowd ate it up with a spoon. All in all, a good time. And it was nice to finally see a PPV here end with the good guys winning. That hasn't happened since 1996.

I thought WM 14, 16 and 17 had good hype... Hell, I watched all 12 hours of "Wrestlemania All Day Long" in 2000 because I was so jacked for that night.

I've seen multiple people talking about Bradshaw jumping over to Raw... Where the hell did this start and why? I've seen absolutely nothing to indicate that is happening.

You know, I was wondering why, when I flipped through the channels last night, I saw 'Batman Forever' on my local ABC channel during prime time.

HOLY SHIT. That guy is incredible. No idea if he can work a match, but SHIT, some of those moves were just insane. By the way, I have to mention the funny disclaimer that runs with every clip about how "Mr. Burchill is not responsible for any broken bones."

With negotiations coming up with Viacom about staying on Spike, this could become a factor. Plus, it's nice to know that if they DO stay on Spike, whenever the channel upgrades its equipment, WWE will be ready to go. Also, would this have any effect on PPV?

Along the same lines of GTV, Bischoff brought out "F-View," which was basically cameras mounted in every room backstage to catch anything at any time (Bischoff to wrestlers: "... and if you don't like it, well I say F-VIEW!"). It was actually a pretty smart idea as far as getting rid of the "Why is there a camera here, and why doesn't anybody notice it?" problem. Of course, the whole thing lasted maybe 2 weeks.

Exactly, Maniac. I think they were going for two different things. Angle, the wrestler, was going for position to get a pin. Puder was trying to lure him in to get a submission hold, not worrying about being pinned. Angle definitely looked foolish, especially when he put the bad-mouth on Puder when Puder tried to shake his hand afterward.

I can live without War Games, but they need SOMETHING to spice up this match. Gene Snitsky was a jobber just over a month ago and while Maven has gotten some talk on the Internet, he's been almost COMPLETELY M.I.A. on television. And THESE are the guys you're filling up your main event with for a Big Four PPV? This match is just SCREAMING of "time killer" until the Royal Rumble rolls around. So one team gets to control Raw for a month? WHO CARES. Put a cage on this... Hell in the Cell... Elimination Chamber... SOMETHING... ANYTHING. As it stands right now, this is looking WEAK. EDIT: The more I think about this, I'm probably extra pissed about it because the last time we got a PPV in Cleveland, it was Invasion. And that show was headlined by a COMPLETELY worthless 10-man tag main event. No stips, nothing. Just a glorified Raw main event that included guys like the Dudley Boys and Rhyno to take up space. I feel like this is the same thing all over again.

6.) Things you hated besides the Montreal Screwjob? The entire 1991 show being turned into a hype job for "THIS TUESDAY IN TEXAS, live in just six days on PAY PER VIEW!!!" Totally ruined what had the potential to be a GREAT card.