Aero

Mark Henry turning on D'Lo Brown at Summerslam 99. Everyone is supposed to assume that he turned because D'Lo made him eat healthy foods, as opposed to meat, in order to get his blood pressure down.

Here's Cena... In the Smackdown Tag Team Title tournament that ended at No Mercy 2002, Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit beat Kidman & John Cena (jobber look) in the first round. Cena basically turned heel after the loss and blamed Kidman for the loss because he tapped out, not him. At the Smackdown Halloween party (10/31/02), Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice and started rapping. I guess he got a decent reaction, and it became permanent, although he wasn't actually taken seriously until after WM XIX when he won an 8-man tournament to get a title shot against Brock at Backlash 2003.

Bret Hart Steve Austin Undertaker Chris Benoit

It's not like they needed to change the entrances for either that much, except taking out the druids for Taker, but it's no big deal to me. Taker looks PERFECT this time around, and he has the grey instead of the purple, so that's a plus. I think it's funny that when Kane comes out, the Unforgiven name graphic says, "Masked Kane", but I guess you can't have two Kanes on screen if you have a match.

I thought Smackdown was really good tonight, outside of the Tough Enough part, which I didn't pay attention to. They're actually starting to freshen things up a little with Chavo as a face, as opposed to the same heelish cruiserweight from the entire year, and Booker T stepping up to the main events as a face, which the crowd seems more than happy to accept. The main event was good, too, and I wouldn't mind seeing JBL defending against Booker T at Survivor Series, although, I would rather see a Survivor Series Tag match. The same goes for Kidman and Chavo. Overall, I liked Smackdown better than Raw, this week.

LOD videos are up now, and they gave them their LOD 2000 music instead of the original. It doesn't bother me too much, because at least they still have "Ohhh what a rush" in the beginning. Now, if they don't have Bret's theme in, I'll be pissed.

Tomorrow is Wednesday.... The PPV's are usually on Sunday... it's a habit.

Well, the show sounded awful as a whole, but I'll likely get the DVD when it comes out. The cage match sounds like it's worth a look. As for the Flair turn, I'm surprised it didn't end in a swerve... or are they saving Flair's millionth face turn swerve for tommorrow night?

I just got home and quickly read the results from 411. So, how's the show been so far, match quality wise? Was Jericho vs. Shelton good?

HHH's opponent: Benoit Jericho's oppponent: Shelton Benjamin Diva's battle royal outfits: School Girl Christy Hemme vs Carmella DeCesare stips: Aerobics Snitsky vs Kane stips: Chain Match Bischoff vs Eugene stips: Loser wears a Dress Flair vs Orton stips: Falls Count Anywhere I could really care less about the Diva Search match and Bischoff-Eugene, so I just went with the ones that the majority will likely not vote for for no particular reason. Well, Shelton has Vince's endorsement, so I voted Shelton! Not really, but I'd really like to see a Jericho-Shelton match more than I'd like to see Jericho vs. Steven Richards on PPV.

I was definitely more hyped for last year's, but I'm still looking forward to it this year if only for a more updated roster. A new season mode will be refreshing, too. I am getting San Andreas right away, though, so I might hold off on this for a week or so.

Whoops, messed up. Fixed it though.

"Wait, it's the Cerebral Assassin! What's he doing here!? He's a Raw guy! Exclusive to Raw! He's taking apart Jordan, who's exclusive to Smackdown! Someone has to stop this!" Carlito Caribbean Cool tells Hardcore Holly he's not cool.

Undertaker incident leads to Wrestlemania vs. Paul Bea...

It sounds like the type of angle that everyone loves just because it's hilariously stupid, kind of like Snitsky's current push. I got a good laugh out of it though. One question, is Tomko supposed to be a face while running around, making the team of Jericho, Christian, Edge, & Rhyno heels?

Weren't the teams originally Boss Man, LOD, & Sid vs. IRS, Natural Disasters, & Jake? I thought that Tunney, punishing Jake, took him out of the PPV, as well as Sid to make it even. I think Savage was still "retired" from the career match at WM VII, only to be reinstated the next week.

I'm bored, I'll add another one... We're thick in the Russo era in WWF. Fresh off of the epic "Greater Power" angle, and Stone Cold and the McMahons are feuding over the ownership of WWF. First up for the tournament is X-Pac vs. Hardcore Holly. It's nothing really offensive, but it might as well be the typical Raw match that was 3 minutes or less. Holly is DQ'd for using a chair. Next up is the infamous Kane-Big Show match. Pretty much what you'd expect from the two: crap. Suddenly, after a ref bump, Kane locks Show in a one handed choke that goes over 2 MINUTES. At first, the crowd is cheering on Show to make a comeback, but after a minute, everyone turns on the match completely. Kane later advances with a chairshot. Backstage, Shamrock has been sitting in the middle of the floor for the entire PPV with his dreaded internal injuries (blood from the mouth, of course). His match with Billy Gunn is next, feel the excitement. The referee says Gunn is the winner when Shamrock is being beaten so badly, especially after that sit-down powerbomb! The last quarterfinal: Road Dogg vs. Chyna! Finally, a match that goes 13+ minutes.. too bad that it's basically nothing but stalling. Road Dogg wins when Chyna hurts her hand by trying to lowblow him, only to hit the "metal" cup. Oh, the irony! To be fair, the Hardy Boyz-Edge & Christian match isn't bad. They were given no time, and it was just filler for a match that was supposed to happen on Heat. Billy Gunn vs. Kane in the semi's is another horrible match, and Road Dogg & X-Pac have a basic 3 minute match. Undertaker vs. The Rock is about 20 minutes of garbage. Unfortunately, it was the only WWF Title match that would've made sense at the time since the only other top face was Austin, who would actually win the belt back the next night. Taker tries to use the dreaded ETHER, but Rock reverses it and uses it on Taker. HHH interferes on the Corporation's behalf, and Taker retains. Billy Gunn is crowned KOTR after beating X-Pac in another short match, and the phrase, "Billy Gunn'ing the KOTR" is born a few years later when Edge wins. Billy Gunn will likely go down as the second worst KOTR ever, after Mabel of course. At least Edge had decent matches mostly, and he did get a good push for a while before his injury. Shamrock's win in 1998 was just really forgettable, and it was rarely even acknowledged. The main event... Steve Austin vs. Vince & Shane McMahon in a Ladder match, for ownership of the WWF! Shane was "injured" earlier on Heat by Shamrock, though, so Vince brings Steve Blackman out as his suitable replacement. I will admit that as a rabid Blackman fan, I mark out for this moment. Commissioner HBK sends Blackman packing though and brings Shane back out. Damnit. This is the MOTN, and the only match to even break one star, IMO, with **1/4! It's mostly just Austin kicking the McMahons asses with some fun spots thrown in, like the entrance set of ladders collapsing on the McMahons. In the end, Austin reaches for the briefcase hanging high, but it moves up! WHO MOVED THE BRIEFCASE!? It's a question that is still asked today, although most believe it was actually the Big Boss Man, who was kicked out of the Corporation the Raw previous, only to rejoin the next night. The WWF never directly acknowledged this again. The McMahon's outsmart Austin and win. End show. Not a single match except the ladder match breaks one star in rating, and it's just 3 hours of boredom. If you want to know how bad this show is, I have two words for ya... KING ASS.

Well, I'll take KOTR 1995... June 25, 1995 Philadelphia, PA - Free-For-All Match (KOTR Qualifying Match): Savio Vega pinned Irwin R. Schyster (4:01) - KOTR Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Savio Vega defeated Yokozuna (8:24) via countout - KOTR Tournament Quarterfinal Match: The Roadie pinned Bob Holly (7:30) - KOTR Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Shawn Michaels drew with Kama (15:00) - KOTR Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Mabel pinned The Undertaker (10:44) - KOTR Tournament Semi-Final Match: Savio Vega pinned The Roadie (6:36) - "Kiss My Foot" Match: Bret Hart beat Jerry Lawler (9:20) via submission - KOTR Tournament Final: Mabel pinned Savio Vega (8:32) to win the KOTR Tournament - Tag Team Main Event: Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow beat Tatanka and Psycho Sid (17:35) when Diesel pinned Tatanka. On paper, the tournament quarterfinals look bad, but with the LIKELY semi-final round of HBK vs. Undertaker, and a final of LIKELY HBK or Undertaker vs. Razor Ramon, or even Yokozuna, it can't be that bad. Wrong. Before the PPV even starts, you're informed by Stephanie Wyand that Razor Ramon cannot compete due to rib injuries, I believe, and his replacement will be the winner of an epic Savio Vega vs. IRS match... The Caribbean Legend vs. The Tax Man.. what a bonus! Savio manages to advance, and to officially kick of the PPV, Savio's immediately back to face Yokozuna in his quarterfinal match. Bad, slow match. Savio gets the fluke win when Yokozuna hits the ringpost and is counted out. At this point, due to the bracket set-up, you're thinking, "Savio, The Roadie, or Bob Holly is going to be in the final?" Yes. Speaking of the latter two, they're up next. It's sad that with a card with guys like Bret Hart, HBK, and even Undertaker, that the best performance comes from a match between The Roadie and Bob Holly. Match hits about **1/2 tops, and the Roadie gets the win, to advance to the semi-finals against Savio. Next, HBK, fresh off of a face turn with the ENTIRE crowd behind him faces Kama. Well, there are worse wrestlers out there besides Kama. Here's one way to help kill a live crowd: Take the most over guy in the tournament, HBK, and put him in a boring 15-minute match that goes to a Time Limit Draw, and ELIMINATES him from the tournament all together. Well, at least there's still the Undertaker. Undertaker is in the feud where the Million Dollar Corporation stole his urn, particuarly Kama. The match is obviously bad, since it's Mabel vs. Undertaker. Taker chokeslams Mabel, but no referee! Wait, it's Kama! While Taker is pinning Mabel, Kama KICKS HIM IN THE HEAD! Mabel with a splash, and Undertaker loses? Yes, Mabel is going straight to the finals to face the winner of Roadie vs. Savio Vega, as everyone cringes at the thought of what a disaster this tournament has been. Savio does win that match and advances, BTW. While we were getting Diesel vs. the likes of Sid and Tatanka in our main events, Bret Hart was stuck in his feud with Jerry Lawler, once again. Sure, it had already been covered over a year ago, but it must be done again, this time... with foot fungus! It's a Kiss My Foot match, so the loser obviously must kiss the winner's foot. Lawler being so confident that he'll win, has been dirtying up his foot for weeks, not washing it once. The match is nothing special at all, but it tops just about everything else minus the MOTN mentioned above. Bret wins, and Lawler tastes his own foot as a result. The fans are happy, until... KOTR Final: Mabel (of MOM) vs. Savio Vega. Boring match, although I will admit that there are some decent nearfalls at the end that made it seem like Savio was going to win. Mabel wins a bad match and attacks both Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid afterwards, who come to Savio's aid. Mabel is crowned King on the stage near the entrance as Sir Mo reads the royal proclamation. Meanwhile, the crowd is booing and literally pelting TONS of garbage at him. There is one pop when someone manages to hit Mabel right in the head with something. Worth seeing just for that alone. KOTRs: Bret Hart... Owen Hart....... MABEL. Main event time. It's Diesel & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Sid & Tatanka! What a main event! The entire point of the match is to further the Diesel-Sid feud into one more rematch at the next IYH PPV. The match is as bad as you would expect, and the crowd is even denied seeing Diesel and Sid settle anything, as Sid walks out on the match, leaving Tatanka to be pinned. Bad match, HORRIBLE PPV. I'm not just saying this, but if I ever have trouble sleeping at night, I can literally just pop in my tape of this show and watch anything to fall asleep within minutes. The show is just horrible matches and horrible booking. The tournament had a chance to possibly redeem the show with an HBK, Taker, or Razor win, but no.. Mabel.

Just watching JBL's entrance, again, I just realized that they even went as far as to have JBL shake an unseen fan's hand in the aisle, and at the end, right before he smiles, from the the distance, you see JBL whipe his hands together... the hand sanitation cream!

I think JBL's entrance is basically perfect. The limo would have been great to have, but I'm not overly disappointed. Dupree's entrance is up, also. Just like JBL's limo, it would've been great if he came down with Fifi, but he doesn't. At least he has his robe, though. The Tag Titles not being in doesn't bother me. In Season in HCTP, they always just stayed with TWGTT, who fought Los Guerreros in a gimmick match at EVERY PPV, anyway. Unless you're being someone in an established team in Season, like Charlie Haas or Hawk, the titles usually only came into play when Jerry Lawler tries to team you with your arch rival, bringing on such hijinx as one partner eating all the pizza. Besides, if the tag belts are that important, you can probably create them easily in the Create-A-Belt feature. They'll only be defended in PPV Mode, though.

I'll use Cade occasionally as a jobber to beat. And I can reinact Sunday Night Heat matches with him and Palumbo!

Wow, such little activity in this thread, compared to last year's HCTP thread. Anyway, I think that the ring entrances are coming out much better than last year's. Guys like Garrison Cade and Chuck Palumbo actually show some sort of character in this year's game like posing and such. Last year, I remember Sean O'Haire's entrance was about 20 seconds long and all he did was walk to the ring and stand there inside.

WWE.com has three matches for tonight... Evolution vs. Edge, Benoit, & HBK Trish vs. Stacy Keibler for Women's Title La Resistance vs. Regal & Eugene for Tag Titles Doesn't look too bad for tonight, although I would've preferred an HHH-Regal main event, instead.

I'd say that the Heidenreich-Undertaker angle from No Mercy last week qualifies. The match wasn't that good to begin with, but the whole car crash angle was a downer on the entire show. I was pretty disappointed with HHH retaining at WM 2000, but in hindsight, it wasn't that bad. It made for a better storyline with Rock needing Austin's help at Backlash to beat HHH and the Faction. And Undertaker vs. Undertaker was definitely a BAD way to close Summerslam, especially after such a great Bret-Owen match.