King Kamala

I was thisclose to picking them last round but for some reason, I went with Lanza and Duncum at the last minute.

I've always thought Tatanka was a bit underrated. I was considering taking him a couple of rounds back but then I realized that Chief Jay Strongbow was on the board and decided to go with the original popular WW(W)F wrestling Indian. Tatanka was a half decent worker and I was a bit of a mark for him back in the day. Fun fact; Tatanka was the first wrestler I ever met. Met him at an autograph signing at a local video store a couple of weeks before he turned heel and joined The Million Dollar Corporation.

A while back I was considering going to a Smackdown!/ECW house show tonight about an hour away from where I live. Looking on the venue's website, they're advertising a main event of The Big Show Vs The Great Khali. Also scheduled is an ECW World title match between Matt Hardy and Mark Henry. Finlay, Chavo Guerrero, Jesse & Festus, Shelton Benjamin, Maria, Kelly Kelly, and Hornswoggle. I am so glad I didn't spend $40 to go to that show. Fortunately for WWE, the show sold out a month ago (The venue is pretty small- holds 3000 people max) but christ is that an awful lineup. Not only is there no Triple H or Edge but they couldn't even bother to put MVP, Jeff Hardy, or Umaga on there. But I guess seeing two big guys go at it is worth $40 in WWE's mind.

You can't place a whole lot of blame on Arnold. Sure, he was woefully miscast but they didn't give him anything to work with. His dialogue in that movie was horrible and it wouldn't have sounded much better coming from Anthony Hopkins or Patrick Stewart.

I remember reading on wikipedia once that some point on one of the failed Batman projects between Batman and Robin and Batman Begins that Bret Hart was considered for the role of Batman. I'm 99.999998% sure this is wikipedia bullshit but the thought of Bret Hart as Batman (and especially the thought of him as suave, debonair playboy Bruce Wayne) makes me giggle.

The only time I ever got to go to a sneak preview was for Cinderella Man. While I really enjoyed that movie, it was possibly the worst movie audience I've ever been in. The idiots around me actually cheered when Jim Braddock beat Max Baer.

I think in the long run Hogan hurt the WCW World title's credibility more than he helped it but to call him the worst WCW World Champion of all time seems a bit absurd. I could name three or four guys who held the title in the year '00 alone that were worse than Hogan.

Sure it made a lot of money but that doesn't mean it's a massive, undisputed success. Hulk made $245 million and almost everybody I know hates that one. I think Superman Returns was a victim of high expectations. After a nineteen year layoff filled with aborted productions, people were expecting the quintessential Superman film. You had all of the right elements; a talented director well versed in making good superhero films, an unknown in the lead (ala Christopher Reeves in Superman), and an Academy Award winning, incredibly talented actor as Lex Luthor (OK, I'll grant you that almost everyone of Kevin Spacey's films post American Beauty have sucked hobos for quarters but he's still got a reputation). What we ended up getting was a solid single up the middle instead of the grand slam everyone expected. I actually kind of like the movie but people were expecting much more than a solid *** movie when they went in to that one. Let's face it; we're living in the age of great superhero movies. I'm not sure if there will ever be a time better than now for them. The bar is set way higher for superhero movies than they were ten years ago.

First off, kudos to my good man, oldskool for coming up with this thread idea. In this thread, we'll look back on a turning point in wrestling history and discuss what might have been, if things had turned out a bit differently... The Setup: In September 1993, Shawn Michaels quit The WWF after it was announced that he was stripped of his WWF Intercontinental title for failing to defend his belt enough times during a set period. In reality, he had been suspended for testing positive for steroids. During this time period, Michaels receives numerous offers to join the roster of World Championship Wrestling. The Actual Result: Michaels spurns WCW's offers and returns to the WWF in November of that year. He goes on to have a memorable feud with the winner of the vacant IC title, Razor Ramon which culminates in a legendary ladder match at WrestleMania X. This match in effect launches Michaels into the stratosphere. Eventually, Michaels becomes a 3 time WWF Champion, the first Grand Slam Champion, the founder of DeGeneration X, and the alleged leader of the infamous backstage group, The Clique. The Question is...What Might Have Been? Let's say Shawn Michaels doesn't turn down WCW's offers and agrees to join the then somewhat struggling promotion in the Fall of '93. What do you think Michaels immediate impact is on the promotion? Where does he enter on the card? Mid card? Upper mid-card? Main-event? What happens to Razor Ramon and the Intercontinental title scene? Who does Razor face at WrestleMania X without Michaels around? What happens to Shawn Michaels' bodyguard Diesel (later to be known as Kevin Nash)? Without Michaels around, does he eventually become a part of the main event scene in the WWF? How about Bret Hart, Michaels' in the ring and out of the ring archrival? Without the Clique around to play backstage politics, does Bret become a full time staple of the main event (Instead of drifting between that and insipid feuds with the likes of Jean Pierre Laffitte and Issac Yankem)? Without Michaels, there would be no Montreal Screwjob. Would Bret Hart retire with the WWF/E? Would he stay a babyface for the rest of his career? Would Michaels eventually reach the main event in WCW? Would he become a World Champion as he has in the WWF? Where would he fit in when Hogan signs with the company in June '94? Would we see their SummerSlam '05 match a decade early? What do you think would happen?

Fun fact about Superman III; they cast Richard Pryor in that movie after The Salkinds saw him on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, talking about how much he enjoyed Superman II.

Agreed. I don't think there should be any trouble finding a venue. You might have to look a bit deeper than you have with the wrestling draft but there's a good two dozen cities that I consider great wrestling towns and worthy of havign a promotion centered there. Question; Could two members pick different venues in the same city? Say Stevieguy picks The ECW Arena/Viking Hall and I pick The Spectrum, would that be allowed? Didn't mean to spoil venues there but I just wanted an example.

I saw the other singer in The Goo Goo Dolls walk out of a Dunkin Donuts in Downtown Portland about a year ago. The Goo Goo Dolls were playing a show in town that night. I'm a big enough of a dork about '90s rock to know that his name is Robby Takac and he was actually their full time lead singer for their first two albums and sang most of the songs on the third. He's kind of The John Oates of The Goo Goo Dolls. He sings a couple of songs on each album but they're never released as singles. Early on, apparently The Goo Goo Dolls were a blatent Replacements ripoff. The Beach Boys- "Cuddle Up" I've been listening to Carl and The Passions- So Tough a bit late and what an eclectic album. The first side is filled with competent The Band knockoffs and the second is mostly comprised of classically inspired ballads. On the first listen- I think I like the latter a lot better. Dennis Wilson often stole these early '70s Beach Boys albums and I'm looking forward to checking out his recently reissued solo album.

Pissy was the wrong word to use about use. Befuddling is more like it. Personally, I just don't see how one could claim something so new could be the best ever. It's disregarding the watchability and lasting impact factor. Again, it's a personal opinion. I'm hardly the arbitrator of good taste on TSM (I say this as I stare at my copy of Muppets From Space on DVD).

I might catch some crap from this statement (I've never had more than a passing interest in comic books but have always liked comic book movies) but I think there was too much angst in Superman Returns. I mean, angst is understandable I guess given that he's the last survivor of his home planet but the movie didn't have the sense of sly, tongue in cheek humor and wonder it should have and the '78 film did have. The continuation idea was terrible too, just awful.

Yeah but I can have the opinion to disagree with other people's opinions. But I think regardless of opinion, I think we can all agree that it's stupid to go into movie expecting "the best movie ever". Expecting it to be really good? That's fine but I don't think I've ever gone into a movie expecting it'd be the best anything.

I might be the only one who but I think the Superman franchise needs a reboot ala The Hulk. I didn't hate Superman Returns at all but it was clearly a single up the middle instead of the home run it should have been (and Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were). Routh is too bland, even for a relatively straight laced character like Clark Kent/Superman.

People who are disappointed for this living up to the hype of being "the best movie ever" are as dumb as the people who proclaim this to be the best movie ever. Now don't get me wrong, this is a great movie and perhaps the greatest superhero movie of all time. Maybe even an outside contender for one of the best movies of this year but to call it the best movie ever is downright absurd.

Uh...Bret Hart did have the first ladder match in the WWF. And I don't think McMahon would have ditched Bret's match against Owen or his revenge match against Yokozuna for a face Vs face match with Razor Ramon. I think what's being understated here is the effect it would have on Kevin Nash (assuming he stays with the WWF when Michaels leaves). In the Fall of '93, Nash was pretty much just a heatless big lug. Wihout Michaels antagonizing him, there's no slow burn face turn to launch him into the main event. Still, I think Nash had enough natural charisma and a decent enough look to carry him past the role of random, intimidating stiff. He probably would have still had the big run in The '94 Royal Rumble and gone on to face Bret Hart at King of The Ring '94. Still with Michaels not around, he doesn't have a more charismatic heel to play off of and turn face against. I think he goes on to join DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation and feud with Lex Luger and The Undertaker. With no Michaels around, he probably doesn't have the same political aspirations and lingers around the mid-card for a couple years before jumping to WCW during the Monday Night Wars to be a random foe for Hogan. Shawn Michaels probably immedietely becomes a part of the mid-card scene in WCW. I could see him feuding with Ricky Steamboat or perhaps renewing his rivalry with Davey Boy Smith (who hadn't yet departed). I can see him working his way up to the WCW U.S. title and a feud with Sting and perhaps a match or two against babyface World Champion, Ric Flair. After Hogan arrives in mid '94, Michaels finds himself falling down the card. Maybe he gets used as cannon fodder against Hulk Hogan but eventually- he leaves the company in the Summer of '95 shortly before The Monday Night Wars. He immedietely goes on to work in ECW where he joins some success in a role not entirely dissimilar to his role as DeGeneration X ringleader a few years later. Michaels would jump at the first chance to go back to the WWF in early '96. He Razor Ramon benefits the most from Shawn Michaels' departure and has a lengthy run with The WWF Intercontinental title. If Ramon stays out of trouble, I could see him eventually becoming a main eventer and winning the WWF World title around the time of SummerSlam '95. I think Bret Hart still wins the WWF World title at WrestleMania X obviously and goes onto have a lengthy rivalry with Owen Hart- leading up to a final rematch (A 60 Man Iron Man Match) for the WWF World title at WrestleMania XI. Bret Hart goes onto resign with The WWF in '96 and without Michaels as a rival political power, he stays with WWE until his retirement and perhaps to this day as an authority figure/commentator.

Amusingly enough, there was a brief period where I thought WCW blew a big opportunity with Goldberg. Almost immedietely after he had his first string of semi-dominant wins over established mid-card veterans, he got stuck in a heatless, forgettable feud with Steve "Mongo" McMichael. But then inexplicably, he caught on with the fans and the rest is history.

I'm such a dork that not only did I already know that but I know that the second guy he beat was The Barbarian. He mowed down poor Jimmy Hart's stable of lower mid-card heels.

He debuts on the September 22nd, 1997 episode and I'm not sure why I know that off the top of my head.

I don't see a problem with recasting Ledger. They just don't have to at this point. Let's face it, somewhere down the line, 15-20 years from now, Max Spielberg will be directing a new Batman series and everybody will want a new Joker. Right now, it just wouldn't be worth the backlash to cast a new Joker. Since they don't have to have one, I don't see why they should immedietely go about looking for a new Joker. And Man-Bat is an interesting idea for a villain in the next one if not a bit obscure. Having thought about it some more, I'd almost rather have a villain we haven't seen before on the big screen.

You know I was actually thinking of picking Maven in one of these later rounds. It seemed like just as he was showing some good improvement in mic skills and ring work- WWE decided to release him. Ah well- we'll always have that cool mini-angle with The Undertaker.

After veering into the late 90s and early 00s, it's time to go old school again with my next pick and I'm going to go for yet another tag team. This team is another excellent fit in my division, they're shitkicking brawlers who will fit in well paired up against The Nasty Boys, Public Enemy and The Mamalukes. I think they could also produce a really entertaining match against Strike Force. Hell, they'd be good against any team in my division. But I plan on using them as grizzled veteran tweeners who just straight up like to kick ass- be it babyface or heel. I plan on using them against The Mamalukes. It'll be Shitkicking Cowboys Vs Wiseguy Mafiaso in a series that is sure to produce some entertaining brawls and vignettes. These men are former AWA World Champions and individually and with other tag partners, were notable stars of the 70s. Ladies and gentlemne, with my 27th pick in The All Time Wrestling Roster Draft, I'm proud to select... ...Blackjack Lanza and Bobby Duncum Sr!

James Brown- "The Payback" I think we can all agree that themes to blaxploitation movies were way better than the movies themselves. And I like blaxploitation movies. The albums this was off of was supposed to be the soundtrack for the little remembered Hell Up In Harlem but was rejected by the director for "not being James Brown enough." And the line "I don't know karate but I know ca-razy!" still kills me.