jester

Before they get good again, the first thing they have to do is stabilize somewhat. They haven't done that yet. They've experienced a series of departures, including a high-profile death. They have no real big name star, at least not on the level of Hogan, Rock, Austin. They've issued an ultimatum to their talent to get off the roids. We're only starting to see the effects of that. What they need to do first is get to a consistent level of production, and then start experiment with the next big thing.

Try Martha Hart's book, Broken Harts. In addition to the obvious Owen incident, she does discuss people working through insane injuries at some point. She is hardly the most unbiased source, but she is a source.

Anybody got before and after pictures that show a difference?

I think it's too late. Orton has been booked like a bitch throughout this whole thing. If he won now it would just be too cheap and unbelievable, no matter who ran in. I wish they would allow a heel to get something on the Undertaker just once. Most heels piss their pants the minute his music hits. Those feuds don't exactly leave much mystery.

I don't think this is true, but on the off chance it is: Howdy, banana beak! Here's the truth for you. You're neither very bad or very good overall. You're capable of both solid promos and matches. You problem is that you've long been treated like THE MOST IMPORTANT WRESTLER EVER, and you're not. You never were. You never will be. When they look back and remember this era, you will be the fourth or fifth thing mentioned if you're lucky. You and the organization you work for consistently overestimate your abilities. In everything you do, your reach exceeds your grasp. You're not an actor, but somebody convinced you that you were, and now we're all facing the consequences. You can carry a 20 minute promo about as well as you can carry Scott Steiner. The harder you try, the worse it gets. And because this organization has pushed you like this, you're always going to be remembered as the guy who got more then he deserved, probably because of his family connections. And that will happen even on those rare occasions when you do something well. I could almost respect you if were fully aware of things you pull, but now the word is that you actually believe your own propaganda. ow can one person be so clueless? Oh well, enjoy the rude awakening, and don't get me started about your wife.

Ok, so they're introducing a testing policy. But what are the consequences for failing? Has there been any mention of this? Because they can test all they want, but unless the policy has some teeth (suspensions, firing), what good will it do? Vince: Hunter, your drug test confirms you've shot up more roids than a stable of race horses. HHH: And? Vince: Just making an observation. Here, cut another half hour promo tonight. HHH: Thanks dad.

not a bad idea... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Undertaker would no-sell it.

I agree. It would keep programming on the air all year round, give workers a break here and there, and it would force them to make use of some guys who are just warming the bench.

Count me among the shocked and depressed. Like Downhome, I thought this was somebody's stupid ass prank when I saw the thread. Now I'm wishing it was. I am also really angry. I don't feel that Eddie got the really good run that he deserved, particularly with the belt. Somebody else here said that WWE took Eddie for granted. They are so right. And now he's gone.

"All of Canada is his? We're not in Calgary. What if I didn't want to do any jobs in the United States?" Well Shawn, it would mean that you decided to be a lot more generous with the number of jobs you do.

Strictly speaking, this is not a contradiction, but in the above HBK says Vince told him that Bret didn't want to job to anyone. According to Metzler, Bret offered to job to anyone other than HBK. Of course, HBK is saying here that *Vince* told him that. So, he could be covering his ass here and saying it was Vince's lie, not his.

Actually, I totally believe that HHH is that long-winded in real life. "Triple H, do you want mustard on your sandwhich?" "Mustard and sandwhiches. Everyone want to know if the best wrestler there ever was, and ever will be will have mustard on his sandwhich. And it's a good question, because I'm the best there ever was and ever will be. You see, some people put mustard on sandwhiches..."

My problem with Batista on Smackdown is that he won a feud with HHH...and the loser stayed on Raw, and winner went to Smackdown. The loser should be the one who leaves town.

Russo did pay attention to the Internet fans, but as usual focused on the wrong thing. What he should have done was said "Hmmm... 95% of the posts I read say they want a Goldberg push. Perhaps other non-Internet fans feel the same way. Let's give it a try." Instead, he'd say "Hmmm. A few guys on message boards know the Sid Vicious scissors story. Let's have Bischoff make it the punchline of a joke." Or worse: "Let's have the wrestlers behave in completely inexplicable ways on Nitro and at PPVs, and force our fanbase to master the entire IWC to understand that angle."

I'm torn on this whole thing. On the one hand, the whole Coach/Austin/JR thing is utter bullshit. If I ran WWE, I would instantly fire and have beaten up anybody who proposed an angle with the announcing crew. The whole feud never should have happened. On the other hand, the fact that Austin agreed to the initial concept pisses me off. He should have known that any feud with Coach (no matter the outcome) is a loser, and had it killed right from the start. I am also getting a little tired of hearing how it's just not the right time for Austin to job. You can always make a case for Austin not jobbing, and then end result is that he never puts someone over. Funny how it always ends up working that way. I'm not saying an Austin job should be spent on Coach, but come on. He has to put somebody over.

While perhaps not as fucked as someone of those other choices, I think Matt Hardy should be put in for consideration as well. -Got cheated on by a woman he's spent a lot of time defending -Betrayed by a friend -Fired -Brought back to do what should have been an easy and hot feud, only to have it pissed away immediately -Likely to spend the rest of his return doing fuck all.

All I know is that I tuned into Raw and saw Coach calling out Austin. And I thought, "I can continue to watch yet another angle where a crippled wrestler fights an announcer, or I can change the channel." It wasn't a difficult decision. And as a bonus, I missed Katie Vick Redux.

And we all know why he was edited. He had 15 seconds worth of lines, but he stretched them out to 25 minutes. "You see this burger is the best, just like me, because it has three all-beef patties. Three. All beef patties. Three of them. Made of beef. That's why it's the best. Because of the three all beef patties. That's what makes it the best. Like me. I'm the best. And I eat a burger with three all beef patties..."

No, they should go ahead and do it. I'd call it "The Seniorweight Belt" and let Flair, Hogan, and Undertaker punchy kicky all night long and then gradually lower themselves gently to the mat. Oh, wait, make that Hogan and Undertaker punchy kicky all night long and then gradually lower Flair gently to the mat.

I taped the show (RAW only) religiously from September 1991 until I lost complete interest in August 2002. I actually lost interest way before that, but I think I was just going through the motions, out of habit - much like lots of other ppl here. It almost felt like a burden to continue to watch.. Now, I tune in every once in a while when there's a commercial break on another show or something. I rarely, if ever, watch an entire episode of RAW (and I don't get SportsNet, so I don't get Smackdown). <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I've said it before and I will say it again: WWE shouldn't be worried about smarks who throw a temper tantrum and loudly declare they are done with WWE for good. They should be worrried about guys like Vivisect and RRR who quietly and almost without noticing find other things to do when wrestling is on, and slowly stop being a fan. I find myself in the same boat.

Having a bunch of old people who should have stopped wrestling years ago wouldn't exactly be a change of pace for WWE right now, would it?

Helwig and McMahon's pissing contest isn't anything close or similar to Hitler and Stalin having a fistfight. Stop being an idiot and making horrible analogies. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, actually comparing a wrestler and a wrestling promoter to two of the greatest mass murderers is perfectly valid, and in no way an exagerration. Keep it civil please. If you find my comments to be in poor taste, say so. I can appreciate why. Don't call me an idiot. I will extend the same courtesy to you.

Watching Jim Helwiggy and Vince McMahon piss on each other is a little like watching Hitler and Stalin have a fistfight. You're not sure whether you should cheer or boo, so you just sort of hope they do as much damage to each other as possible.

They should have reversed all expectations by making him a face. I've said this before, but I think he should have been portrayed as a wrestler who just happened to be Arab-American. Have the heel make the issue out of it, not Hassan. Vince could then claim that he has one of the more classier and least stereotypical portrayals of a Muslim American character on TV. But no. He had to go with the generic evil foreigner who wasn't really foreign.

Hmm. I just might be another buyer here.