Corey_Lazarus

CVS. Various blank 8-hour tapes, EP mode, VCR...add it up, sir. If I order a PPV, I tape it so that I can one day go back and watch it how it appeared live, especially since most home releases are edited to avoid fuck-up's (physically and verbally), and I feel that it ruins what happened for the world to see. That and I hate paying money for PPVs and then more money down the line for the DVD.

1. How often did you buy the weekly PPVs? More than the monthly PPVs? Less? I bought every weekly PPV from Week 4 (the first following my discovery of TNA via this very site) until the very first King of the Mountain match, and have every one on tape. I have yet to buy a monthly PPV live, but do own Bound For Glory 2006 on DVD. 2. What were the benefits of the weekly PPVs compared to the monthly ones? Drawbacks? The benefits were 8 hours of commercial-free programming, allowing matches to go on much longer than they usually do now (I'm also using Impact match times). $40 a month or 8 hours of new professional wrestling sounds like a great deal to me, especially when you were guaranteed (at least for the first year and a half) at least one very fucking good match each week. The biggest drawback was that the company then relied entirely upon revenue from the PPV companies, and with each show having low buyrates that was, needless to say, a bad business decision. Another drawback was that during Mantel's initial reign the shows became dull and boring, but only seemed as such due to the fact that people were paying $10 a week for programming that was sub-par quality than what you could watch for free every Monday and Thursday night from their competition. Mantel was writing solid, though unspectacular, television, but that was the thing: TELEVISION. He wasn't writing PPV-calibre shows, but rather run-of-the-mill free television programming that fans were then forced to pay for. 3. Do you think a promotion could ever successfully use the weekly PPV format? No. TNA ran it for over 2 years, and it failed horribly. And that was with talent that fans WERE willing to pay money for, such as Raven, AJ Styles, Jerry Lynn, LowKi, and Ron Killings. The pricing of each show was its best aspect, though $40 a month can seem like quite a chore when the company changes direction every 6 months or so. 4. What are some of your fondest memories of that era? Despite its horrible ending (ie. just fizzling out) and what others may say, I loved the TNA vs. SEX storyline. It actually made Glenn "Disco Inferno" Gilberti into a serious wrestler who was legitimately over with the fans. And, of course, all of the X-Division matches from the initial Styles/Lynn feud up until Michael Shane was given the belt (get rid of Siaki's abortion of a reign, as well). The first year of TNA's existence, pretty much, was its best, as each week had a solid ***1/2-**** match, episodic storytelling, and fresh faces for fans who were into independent wrestling but not to the extent that they sought out every single tape with every single wrestler. Were it not for the 4-team elimination tag match in late April, Chris Sabin would still probably be wrestling nobodies in the Michigan independents, with maybe a solid stint in RoH before coming to TNA to be jobbed out again and again (well, maybe I phrased that wrong). I loved the New Jack/Shark Boy tag team, especially Shark Boy using the HULK HANDS to knock opponents out with. I loved Don Callis as the heel DOA feuding with Erik Watts as the face DOA, if only because the one match they had with each other was better than any match put forth from TNA in the prior month or so. I loved Kid Kash's rise to heel awesomeness, Trinity showing that women CAN fly to a national audience, and Alexis Laree being discovered. Raven's debut is still the best moment TNA has ever had, and the popular photo of that night, with Raven holding the recently stolen NWA World title in his hands on the ramp in a crucifix pose and a sign to his side that reads "McMAHON FEARS RAVEN," is still great. 5. Do you think the weekly PPVs have any impact ( no pun intended) on TNA today?

The brand extension, in theory, was a great idea. And after the first year of it being put into place, it was proving to be valuable, despite its setbacks. Without the brand extension, it's not very likely that John Cena, Randy Orton, or Edge would have been able to rise to the top of the card. However, after the last year or so, the brand extension has proved to be nothing more than a reason to have multiple shows. A (pair of) wrestler(s) would thrive on one show, only to be brought to another and then buried. Say what you will of backstage politics, but this is unacceptable. There is no reason why a team like Brian Kendrick and Paul London, who held the WWE Tag Team titles on SmackDown for over a year, should be demoted to nothing more than a pair of jobbers on Raw following their trade. Similarly, there's also no reason why talent considered midcard on Raw (Great Khali, Big Show) should have been moved to either SmackDown or WWECW and treated as 100% bonafide main event talents. I'm glad that Big Show was given a main event run, he deserves it, but not at the expense of talent on another show that has worked hard to be taken seriously. Now to answer the questions and give me some direction... 1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how successful has the brand extension been? Why? 6.5 or so. It started off poor, and then grew into something solid, as Raw became the show with top-name talent but lacking with in-ring excitement, and SmackDown shined as a show to watch for a solid in-ring product. Once the rosters were traded, though, it began to slide again, albeit with both brands keeping their own somewhat unique styles: Raw being more sports entertainment-based and SmackDown being a true professional wrestling version of what WWE was. Enter WWECW, which has been a failure to diehard Mutants (such as myself) since episode one, and the over-inclusion of Raw and SmackDown talent. This lead into 2007, where the decision was made to have each PPV (following December '06's disastrous December To Dismember show, well-known for its horrible booking and the various pro-TNA chants in the crowd throughout the main event) tri-brand, thus ending THE best aspect of the brand extension: offering a spotlight for younger talent to shine, and letting angles build over a 6-8 week period rather than rush them every 4. 2. Has the extension helped to create new stars that wouldn't have had a chance to shine in the old set-up? Is it more effective than having one brand? Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, Edge, and now CM Punk - despite what some may say - would not have gotten over to the degree they have since their debuts, IMO, without the brand extension in place. Orton leaving SmackDown for Raw and aligning himself with HHH while displaying a cocky attitude helped get him heat, and in the following years his more stalker-ish aspects put him over into the stratosphere, whereas were Raw and SmackDown one unified roster he would have been lost in the shuffle for several more years. Cena is the best pro-extension argument, as his "fiery young babyface" gimmick was horrible, despite his natural charisma, and his chance to shine as the wannabe-thug on SmackDown in '03 lead to his rise to the top of the card. Without the chance created by the extension, Cena would be just another musclehead. Edge was always going to be placed into the main event, as he was being groomed to head there before the extension, but thanks to the separated rosters (and fucking his former best friend's girlfriend) he was able to get over as the company's hottest heel in years. Batista was a generic hoss who got over on his cool demeanor and to-the-point promo's, which were aided incredibly by the brand split. Remember Deacon Batista? That would have been the end of his career, likely, were it not for Raw and SmackDown having different rosters. And CM Punk, regardless of his in-ring abilities, would have been buried as a cruiserweight if WWECW were not its own show. 3. What has been the biggest success of the split? The biggest failure? Biggest success: John Cena. The man is over with half of the crowd to the point that they buy everything he does, says, and sells on the ShopZone. Biggest failure: PPVs. Too many PPVs in a year lead to the tri-branding, as fans refused to shell out money for shows with less starpower and no promises of great matches each and every month. 4. Have fans come to accept Raw and Smackdown as two separate brands with their own characteristics, or just tv shows with different wrestlers doing the same thing? TV shows with different wrestlers now. SmackDown once was different from Raw, with an emphasis on the in-ring product over promo's, but now both shows share not only similar sets but similar booking styles. 5. How much longer do you see the brand extension lasting? Do you still think it's a good idea? I see it lasting for another few years before the majority of WWE contracted talent retires, dies, or leaves for greener pastures (be it in or out of the ring). It's still a good idea, but I wish they'd go back to how it used to be, with Raw being more entertainment-based, SmackDown being more wrestling-based, and either just get rid of WWECW altogether or let it be the "extreme" show that was promised to fans when it was first announced that Vince was bringing the brand back to life.

ANTI-PROCRASTINATION SONG!!!!!!!

It's called "work." I fucking love GWAR. LOVE 'EM. Dave Brockie is one of the few frontmen I can think of that says so much without saying anything. He is to rock music what Trey Parker and Matt Stone are to sitcoms: complete nonsense, but there's actually a few serious undertones to everything. Here's my rankings of Gwar's LPs, favorite to least, not including Live From Mt. Fuji since it's a live album. Scumdogs of the Universe This Toilet Earth Beyond Hell War Party Violence Has Arrived We Kill Everything America Must Be Destroyed Hell-O Ragnarok Carnival of Chaos Favorite 20 songs (song title - album): "The Salamanizer" - Scumdogs "Slaughterama" - Scumdogs "Meat Sandwich" - Ragnarok "Saddam-A-Go-Go" - Toilet "Penguin Attack" - Carnival "Song of Words" - Violence "Immortal Corruptor" - Violence "Tormentor" - Beyond "I Love The Pigs" - Beyond "The One Who Shall Not Be Named" - Beyond "A Short History of the End of the World" - Kill "Baby Raper" - Kill "Obliteration of Flab Quarv 7" - Toilet "I'm In Love (With a Dead Dog)" - Hell-O "Bring Back the Bomb" - War "War Party" - War "A Womb With a View" - War "The Private Pain of Tekno Destrukto" - Carnival "Hate Love Songs" - Carnival "The Performer" - Kill

I love TNA apologists. I really do. So many of them are so oblivious to the real facts (decrease in live attendance during the initial Mantell reign even though the tickets were FREE, the so-low-they're-not-reported PPV buyrates, fans bribed to cheer with free merchandise rather than out of legitimate care, etc.) that they eat up anything Carter and Jarrett say, and lap up every bit of Russo's crap on TV.

I really think that TNA needs to establish a set of rules for the X Division to separate it from everything else. "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits" was thrown right the fuck out of the window the moment it became apparent (oh, Week 4 or so) that everybody involved in the X Division was going to be a high flyer, considering it's geared more towards fans of Cruiserweight/Junior Heavyweight action. That's why Siaki didn't work: he was a brawler with a few cool moves. That's why Michael Shane didn't work: he was an old-school wrestler that could bump big. But a simple addition of a set of rules, like things concerning pinfalls and no count-out's and maybe even take some of the rules from the RoH Pure matches, could differentiate it and allow ALL to compete so long as they can fit the rules.

Well, considering it's well-known that the TNA roster is extremely talented in spite of the creative direction, I'd say we can disregard that belief. You are right, though: you can't blame the TNA creative team for everything that's wrong with TNA. But you can blame them for the bulk of it, considering they're the ones to blame for the bulk of TNA's problems.

I can't wait until they do a tour with a setlist spanning ALL of the albums. Like, their 2 favorite songs per album. Be a long fucking show, but worth every penny.

GUFFAW?! Combine Jarrett's urge to want a more serious, in-ring product with Russo's love for wacky antics and forward-movement, and we'll get something similar to the awesome first year of TNA. Go for it.

I hope they go back to at LEAST the '07 controls, because I couldn't even play '08 for more than a minute due to how horrible the fucking controls were. What the fuck good are having grapple moves if you can't even fucking do them?

This is because Maiden rule. End of story. I am getting more and more excited for the Suicidal Final Tour this summer. My favorite band of the three will no doubt be on first, but it'll be worth staying to see a semi-full Darkest Hour set, and then check out some At The Gates stuff too. But really, I'm just going because MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK [me] UP!

To be fair, that figure was from one service provider in Canada, and, IIRC, it was Northern Canada, which as a much smaller population than Southern Canada. I don't believe any figures overall of the RoH PPVs were released with total buys, which leads to the belief that they're not doing so hot. Oh well, as long as the company breaks even, it's still an avenue worth attempting.

I don't see what the huge deal over him not blading was. I can understand the decision to not blade, considering if it's done wrong it can be awful (see: MASS FUCKING TRANSIT), and it leaves incredibly unsightly scars on one's forehead. Maybe it was how he said it. Maybe, instead of calmly and politely explaining their personal reasons for not blading, they just went "nope, uh-uh, not fucking blading, eat shit." Then I could see a problem a-brewing. Either way, though, don't punish one of the most over tag teams in the INDUSTRY because of one argument. I only caught the end of Kong/ODB and the main event, but what I saw was tight. The main event actually had me looking forward to Nash and Tomko duking it out. FUCKING NASH. Now THAT is how you build a feud: hint at the faces getting retribution, but have the heels take an easy way out and then go on with a beatdown. I can't wait to see Team Christian take Team Tomko on, be it on DVD or live on PPV.

I'm actually tempted to try to find a papered ticket and travel the hour up to Lowell to see the show, work the next morning from 7:30am-5pm be damned. Not for any other match but this one. However, due to my lack of faith in TNA ever since Destiny (it's been nearly 5 years and I'm STILL not over it, dammit) and, more importantly, Mantel's initial run, not to mention the shit from the SpikeTV deal through Destination X (just unwatchable rubbish), I don't want to experience another huge letdown live. Hopefully they do the right thing. Hopefully, even if there's interference, Joe wins clean by making Angle tap to the Kokina Clutch. Hopefully, even if Karen figures into it, Joe gets the clean win and the TNA World title. It's the only way they can go without pissing the MA fanbase off to the point where most of us wouldn't bother even watching Impact.

Everything. Commercials running featuring AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" over computer animated images of a city in fiery rubble, with the SummerSlam logo being the ultimate goal. There was just a mystique surrounding the Austin/Taker match due to 'Taker having thrown Foley off the top of HIAC a couple of months prior, and now that Austin was THE MAN it was interesting to see he and 'Taker, both top faces in the company, going one-on-one. It sure does help that the match was fucking solid, too.

1. What wrestler has had the most memorable Mania matches for you? Steve Austin. I began REALLY watching during the Attitude Era, and WM14 was my first 'Mania live on PPV. Austin/Hart from WM13, Austin/HBK from WM14, and Austin/Rock from WM17 cement my choice. 2. Has anyone been "made" from a Wrestlemania match? If so, whom? Austin again. He was over as a good heel going into WM13 with a solid cult following, and because of the match he was sent on a path to become the biggest face in the company, and the match itself is great to boot. 3. What match do you think of first when you think of a big Mania match? Somebody's legacy being forever cemented in history. Be it through a great match, a great entrance, a great segment, or just a well-booked and well-timed victory, a big WrestleMania match has to serve as one of, if not, THE highlight of said wrestler's career. Hogan slamming Andre. Warrior pinning Hogan. Michaels on the zipline, and pinning Bret Hart. Austin reversing Sweet Chin Music into the Stunner and holding the WWF Title up high next to his other hand giving the bird. Rock and Hogan staring each other down. Every single bump taken by Jeff Hardy in TLC II and Money in the Bank. Cena F-U'ing Big Show. Benoit and Guerrero hugging with their World and WWE titles, respectively, in their hands as confetti falls. Edge shaking uncontrollably after Spearing Foley through a flaming table. THESE are moments I'll always remember and associate with WM. A truly great WM match needs to have a truly memorable moment. 4. How important is a memorable entrance for a match at Mania? How much does that add to the feel of the match? It's important to an extent. Michaels coming down the zipline at WM12, Austin walking over broken glass at WM13, HHH coming out to Motörhead at WM17, the Undertaker returning to his old-school "darkside" entrance at WM20, the ECW Originals walking through the crowd at WM22, and even Cena coming out as a mobster for WM22: they helped hype up the matches they were involved in tremendously, but the finish of the match is the most important part, not the parts before the opening bell. 5. Who has had the best Mania entrance that has added to the feel of the match? Undertaker. He has the single best entrance in the entire industry. Deadman 'Taker, not the Underbiker (though heel-turn '02 through his return as the Deadman Underbiker was great, the entrance wasn't the same). The bell chimes as the lights go out, seguining into creepy orchestral strings building up with chanting heard over it, and then BAM! Funeral march as a smoke machine fills the entrance way. The moment 'Taker looks up, his eyes revealed under the brim of his hat, is just spine-tingling.

FEDERATION YEARS: WM I. I'm a Piper mark, and the heat for this main event is off the charts. It's also the reason we still have the WWF/WWE as a dominating force today, so I take that into heavy account. Nothing worth watching outside of the main event, which is horrible from an actual quality standpoint, but I love watching Piper in the 80's. ATTITUDE ERA: WM X7. Perfect all-around. I remember going "HOLY SHIT" so many times during this show, and I think the only other PPV that the WWF/WWE has done since to come close to matching it in overall quality has been Vengeance '03. CURRENT: WM 22. The second MitB. Edge/Foley. The great crowd interaction during HHH/Cena. I don't remember any other matches, because those are the only ones I need to remember at all. Edge/Foley may just be my favorite 'Mania match ever. Outside of Benoit/HHH/HBK from XX, I can't think of any other really solid match. 'Taker/Kane was shitty, save for 'Taker's entrance, and Lesnar/Goldberg was only enjoyable in the sense that the crowd hated both men. 21 is pretty solid, 23 was "meh," so I'll take the post-X7 'Mania with my favorite match on it, which would be 22.

I voted both. I miss WCW because it was a place to see PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING on TV. Even during the horrible days, from the Fingerpoke of Doom through the New Blood, there were still a few damn solid matches here and there. Hell, I even remember Shawn Stasiak putting on a fun match with Booker T at GAB 2k. Yes, I said it: I ENJOYED A SHAWN STASIAK MATCH. It was another place for guys not in the WWF to work and not have their checks bounce, and it was fun to watch during Raw commercial breaks, or while bored with the Drew Carey Show on ABC on Wednesday's (in '01) or during SmackDown commercials. That said, there is a televised alternative to WWE that is an exact replica of WCW. It's called TNA. It has enough solid wrestling action to appease most diehard fans, and the storylines are so stupid that it's amazing how little the people who run the company forgot about what helped WCW's ratings die.

Try the ProjectPlaylist site. Selection is poor, but if they have it, you could copy the URL beneath the song title and d/l it that way. It's how I got Madonna's "Suck My Pussy" (albeit a short version of it) after looking for it with my girlfriend for the last 2 months.

Sounds sorta like The Hole, but I don't think there's cannibalism in that.

Carcass - Symphonies of Sickness Not as good as I was expecting, honestly. Whenever you read about important death metal bands, especially during its first 10 years or so, you always read about Possessed, Morbid Angel, Death, Sepultura, and Carcass. I'm not sure if this is just a lame album or if I just need to listen to it more to appreciate it, but I was pretty underwhelmed by it. Then again, the genre has grown a little bit since the late 80's, so maybe that's why it just sounds tame compared to, say, Terratism or Skinless. Stuck Mojo - Southern Born Killers Finally: the new Mojo disc is in my possession. Stuck Mojo was once a pretty damn polarizing band. You either loved them or you hated them. You loved the way they brought funk and rap into a perfect groove metal/hardcore style, or you thought rap and metal should never mix. Then something happened: rap/rock and rapcore began dying off as a style due to the bulk of the bands playing it sounding atrocious. Kid Rock reverted into one step above a country singer, Rage Against The Machine called it quits, people realized how awful Limp Bizkit actually are, and metalheads stopped thinking throwing some rap into their music for fun was interesting anymore. Suddenly, Stuck Mojo were no longer polarizing, but rather just "there." This album doesn't help much. The first half is very solid. "I'm American" and the title track, "Southern Born Killers," are pure Mojo goodness. Lord Nelson makes as good a replacement for Bonz as anybody could ever help for, and in truth actually helps the music much more than Bonz ever did. He seems more versatile a rapper than Bonz was, and I'm sure it helps that his voice and rhyme styles are more similar to Chuck D of Public Enemy than they are to...I can't even think of who Bonz sounded like, but I'm sure they had a mouth full of marbles. "The Sky is Falling" and "Metal is Dead" are both right at home on a Mojo album, keeping the pace flowing, and if it weren't for how amazing Rising was in '98 I'd say this was the best Mojo has done on keeping a steady pace for the first half of an album. Much better than their Century Media debut, Snappin' Necks, or the follow-up Pigwalk, and Declaration of a Headhunter had too many spoken-word parts every few songs to have a steady flow, but so far this album just plays through freely. Then "For the Cause of Allah" comes in, which is Rich Ward noodling around in the background with a synthesizer and a drum machine as a spoken word regarding militant Islamic leaders and their plans of global domination as set forth by the Koran. "Open Seasons" cues in after the spoken word goes on too long, bringing us back to the fun, but the damage is already set: the flow has been slowed down, and it's a little choppier now. The final four tracks - "Prelude to Anger," "That's When I Burn," "Yoko," and "Home" - don't fit the album all too well at all, especially "Yoko," a stab at Yoko Ono and similar band-ruiners that I believe could be taken as Rich or Nelson's personal animosity towards somebody they know. It's a fun track, but it doesn't fit the theme or feel of the album at all. Overall, it's a solid return to form for Ward (and nobody should kid themselves: Rich Ward IS the creative force behind Stuck Mojo, always has been, but it's not truly Stuck Mojo unless Bonz is involved too), and Nelson's raps are solid, but it's not better Rising.

Eh, you could always tune a second guitar an octave lower than the first one. I did that a few times when jamming with a friend of mine in high school, and while it didn't sound like a true BASS I fucked with the settings on my combo to get a decent sound out of it. Man, I kinda miss my combo. I love my Line 6 head and my B52 cab, but my combo...that was some fun stuff.

I'd say Killings has more of a racial suit than anybody else in TNA, realistically. There was never a point where he couldn't have been pushed, and as his initial heel run to the NWA World title proved: the fans WILL get behind him as a believable champion. Hell, remember the heat that the first Killings/Jarrett match had and it was just a generic brawl? Fuck...even during Mantel's first reign of terror, when Killings got the schoolboy on AJ Styles (who was one of the only OVER guys on the roster) to win the NWA title again, people were popping. People popped for NOTHING that didn't involve Sabin or Styles at the time. Then...he loses the title in the first King of the Mountain, and never even gets another shot at it, or even the chance to be pushed to the top. I'd say he could throw in for a discrimination suit, considering he was a decent enough worker with a lot of charisma that the fans liked but still wasn't pushed beyond a horrible gimmick tag team.

You make me sad to be from Massachusetts.