Corey_Lazarus

...why would it be great? Have they put out games before? Who would they get to develop it? Would they advertise it thoroughly and not to the point of excessiveness?

When TNA started, there were definitely parallels with ECW. Constant garbage matches with some decent spotfests (and some amazing ones), and giving new, little-known talent a somewhat national stage to present their talents. Many indy workers could demand more money after working dates for TNA, and others have gone on to become commonly ranked high in lists published by hardcore fans of wrestling with such titles as "best today," for example. AJ Styles was practically unknown save for the small (at the time) fanbases of RoH and Wildside, despite his WCW work (which was jobbing to various more-pushed cruisers), and once he hit TNA, he suddenly became a favorite of everybody (for at least a year or so). So I see how they compare to ECW in THAT aspect. Otherwise, I'll state what I've said since the first time I watched TNA: TNA is what WCW would have been had it not closed. The product was originally very similar to what the last 6 months of WCW's existence was, in that the big "superstars" were there now and then but mostly to put over the young talent, the cruisers/X-Division was there to steal the show, and nearly everybody had something to do - either they were wrestling for a title, wrestling for a shot at a title, or wrestling somebody they disliked.

Yeah. I figured you just Czikkity-Czech'd me into the Owndom Motor Inn.

Read the whole "unleashed the fucking fury" story, dude. Unless you have and are just being a dick. The daughter of the bassist for one of metal's biggest and most important bands is singing Avril-like songs. And somewhere, Lemmy weeps...

I don't think RVD is great. I know that he's just above average, if even that, and is only exciting because his technique is that much different from every other worker's. But to deny that he's had some damn good matches in ECW is either ignorance towards the material in question or flat-out idiocy.

And Unleash The Fury isn't too bad of an album. Me and my buddy Jon have come up with a plan: We're going to go up to the local college in our town, which is mostly Asian exchange students, and yell "I'M YNGWIE!" before punching them in the face.

Because Dusty has a terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE track record. He booked TNA into an incoherent mess (more so than when Russo and Jerry Jarrett were fighting over what should happen on the show). He booked the NWA into being filled with heatless feuds thanks to his trademark DUSTY FINISHES. Why should now be any different when just earlier this year was the TNA run?

The comments I made about the character impacting the match were about Corino, mostly. Because he pulled off the character of a smart-mouthed, chickenshit heel so well, and the fact that he took an asskicking like no other, his matches were enjoyable. I also felt Rhino's ECW matches were better than any of his WWF/WWE matches, with the exception of Raven vs. Rhyno from Backlash '01, because he was allowed to be the pure fucking monster that he can play whereas in the WWF/WWE he had to actually try to wrestle, which he's not that good at. I completely forgot that the TIT had E&C/Hardy Boyz as a best-of-5 series. All I remember between the two teams is the awesome No Mercy '99 ladder match. Speaking of which...ECW ladder matches weren't spotfests? Uh, Mike, one of the biggest reasons to dislike ECW is that 70% of their matches WERE spotfests. So you disliked Credible's work because of his placement on the card? Interesting. While I'll wholly concur that he wasn't a good World champion, I can also see why Paul stuck him in the role, seeing as how Credible was one of the few workers on the roster that could generate heel heat without getting cheers. Sure, a lot of it was because he wasn't anywhere near the calibre of performer that ECW fans were accustomed to (and I'm just leaving that open for you to throw in an RVD insult, since I know you'll hardly be able to resist), so they boo'd him. The Dreamer/Anderson series of late 2000 was much better than the Dreamer/Credible series, but Dreamer/Credible also had a little more emotion to their matches because of Credible's entourage stacking the deck against Dreamer. Then again, maybe that's because Dreamer just rules. And there's no way you can't have enjoyed the RVD/Sabu Stretcher match from '96. C'mon! And yes, WCW did have Three Count. And the Jung Dragons. And Elix Skipper when he was still putting on good matches. And Kidman before he sucked. And Rey Mysterio Jr. And Kid Romeo towards the end. And Jason Jett/EZ Money doing some of the best work of his career towards the end. Hence why I summed it all up with "Cruiserweight division," since the most watchable points of WCW seem to always come from the Cruiserweight division.

But you'd think with how well the album was received by both the audience and critics that image WOULDN'T matter. Sure, in any style of music image will ALWAYS matter, because I wouldn't expect a black metal band to wear flannel, but if you're going to go for an image...why not use an image that might change how people look at you instead of opting for "middle-aged men dressing like 15-year-old boys"?

It's because everybody worth a damn knows Maiden > Ozzy.

Also, some other points I'd like to clarify: 1. Yes, WCW in 2000 had young talent that you could see moving up and possibly becoming something. Helms, Moore, O'Haire, Palumbo, Sanders, Knoble...hell, even Hugh Morrus had become watchable beyond the occasional short garbage brawl he would have before the whole New Blood angle started, and Norman Smiley was made even more entertaining as Screamin' Norman. But that still doesn't excuse the fact that most of WCW's matches up until the last quarter of 2000 were downright awful, with the only glimmering hopes being in the Cruiserweight division and during the short Lance Storm/Booker T series. 2. Yeah, 1999 was a pivotal year for the WWF/WWE, as The Rock did rise up and become the superstar he was destined to be 2 years prior, D'Lo was bringing good matches constantly (and still was before his tour of Japan after his first TNA stint, oddly enough), and the E&C/Hardy Boyz feud was unmatched. Oh, wait...the E&C/Hardy Boyz feud didn't start until early 2000, since they only had...what? One match in 1999 against each other, and that match was better than most of the rest of their matches? Hrmm...almost all of the "great" WWF/WWE tag matches in late 1999 and 2000 were done in an ECW-style manner...interesting... 3. So nobody liked working for ECW? I think most interviews say otherwise. The only "big" player for ECW that I can think of that hated it was Lynn, and that was because he wasn't getting paid at all. Corino, too. Everybody else loved it, but ultimately decided to try and make the best decision they could by jumping to a bigger company for a bigger and more steady paycheck.

Mike, seriously. Go back and watch HALF of the Justin Credible main events in ECW. His timing was good, his selling acceptable, and the only thing that hurts his matches are his generally weak offense and overall lack of beyond-lower-card charisma. Also, if you really think that how well a wrestler plays their role doesn't affect the quality of a match...then seriously, dude, you're just not even thinking about trying to justifty your views anymore.

We were trying to make a rhyme scheme, but somebody named Renegade fucked everything up.

You're a tool. I found it funny. I'm a Maiden fan too. Let's make a clone of you and me and name him "Shitface."

Union Underground? That's okay, though, because Union Underground sounds like every other "grr, we're fuckin' tough" rock radio band.

cabbage, RVD didn't care that he wasn't getting a push to the World title, considering he made the TV title more important during his reign.

I hate Strats. But yeah, it is a terrible fucking crime to plaster your guitar, especially if it's good, with a bunch of band stickers of bands that suck. It's even worse if you have an amazingly awesome guitar and don't know how to play more than a powerchord and maybe know how to do hammer-on's and pull-off's. Which is why I like my cheap Hamer, because I suck at guitar.

Send More Paramedics should win "Second Best Horror Band Today" in some awards ceremony...with the best going to Zombie Apocalypse.

In a shocking turn of events, I was listening to Brave New World last night after listening to some Ozzy and BLS. And one of Maiden's weaker albums blows that shit away. Hurrah!

I could see Josh getting in because he was young and XPW gave him a shot, so he took it. I don't see why people hold grudges against wrestlers that took a paying job if they needed a break (with the exception of Justice Pain, since he DID fuck CZW over by leaving for XPW).

Justin doesn't get nearly enough credit around these parts for whatever reason. He's a very solid worker, can talk pretty well, and knows exactly how and when to bump. He deserves a shot in TNA. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ehhhh...he had a shot in TNA that ended with a less-than-stellar rehash of the feud with Lynn which didn't make much sense in the first place (in ECW, the feud started as just the two trying to out-do each other, then Lynn got pissed that Credible used his entourage to win so it got personal, and then it was over the World title), since it all started because Lynn was angry over ECW and the lack of paychecks he got and Credible said it was a great place to work. Plus, Credible works best in ECW-style "mix wrestling with garbage brawling" matches, and TNA doesn't do many of those outside of the main event, and I don't wanna see him in the main event.

RoboCop

No, but they can play hockey wearing women's jeans.

Uh... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It's a joke that I knew nobody would get but said anyway. My friend Kurt was in a parody emo band called Chadmeister, and the one album they recorded (well, by "they" I mean him and his older sister Jess) was called Hey, At Least We're Better Than At The Drive-In.

Nah, we should keep it going. Because if he spends five minutes alone, well, then he's hellbound.