King Kamala

World Tour 1992 was one of the tapes I rented most as a kid. I'm not sure why but IIRC there was a cool Texas Tornado/Ric Flair match on it. World Tour '96 on the other hand is a pretty awful tape from what I remember. There's even a Bret Hart/Steve Austin match that manages to be not very good.

As I told you earlier on AIM, I really dug this idea and I'm surprised (and mildly worried) that you put this much thought into fantasy booking a storyline involving Jim Powers and Joe Gomez. I've always wanted to see a journeyman tries to work his way up in the world of wrestling storyline played completely straight. I'm not sure if that's ever happened- at least not in WWE/F or WCW.

See I think you're wrong RE: Booker. Was Booker seen as a contender in early 2000? No, you're probably right but like Vampiro, I think the fans were willing to buy into Booker being a main eventer given the proper buildup (IE NOT randomly putting him in a WCW World title match ala Bash at The Beach 2000). In fact, the WCW fans did sort of buy into Booker T's surprised WCW World title run if only because of the sheer randomness of it, they didn't fully realize the potential of it. And Booker was no worse off in January 2000 than he was in July. In fact, he was probably better off since he hadn't completely undergone that awful feud over the letter "T" and the insipid G.I. Bro gimmick was months away. Was Booker really more of a contender in July of '00 than he was in January? Even though my scenario would be kind of rushed, it's certainly less hasty than what was presented six months later. Booker slowly gains momentum through out the night and the announcers could hype up him having the night of his career. He's captializing on his opponent's mistakes at the right time and he makes it through the night with a combination of luck, ring smarts, and sheer determination. I think by the end of the Sid match in the scenario I presented, the audience would buy into him as WCW's newest main eventer. He'd certainly be a better option than a departing Benoit and he'd be a way better option than Sid. Sid's a fine transition champion but what WCW needed that night was a man who could carry the torch and represent what was supposed to be a new era in the company. I think Booker could have been that man. You could talk about his troubled youth, how he found an outlet for his anger and a way to get himself and his brother out of the projects through wrestling, the years he spent working his way up his the rankings (The Tag Team, The Television), and his struggle to break into WCW's upper echelon. Play him up as the ultimate underdog and company man who reached the top in momentous fashion. Does someone have to be an established contender before hand to win a World title? More often than not. But in rare exceptions it does work. Was Bret Hart an established threat to the WWF World title in September '92? CM Punk had The Money In The Bank but did anybody see him winning the World title in a matter of weeks when he was jobbing to The Miz a little bit back? And besides,with my scenario, The SuperBrawl X print advertisements would make sense!

I was eyeing Koko too. Underrated worker. One of those guys like Tito who people didn't really appreciate because they were jobbing for the majority of their most notable run in the wrestling spotlight.

For a second, I thought Drury had gotten the last laugh on all of us and had gotten what would have been the steal of the draft by far...Then I saw that Hawk picked Taz almost twenty rounds ago. For some reason, when I searched Taz (or Tazz) in the search topic function, nothing came up. Easy to see how the poor guy got confused.

Yeah, I factored in the notion of guys wanting their release and the guys who were out with injuries at the time (Jarrett, Scott Hall). I don't think any of the guys in my tournament asked for a release except for Benoit and he jobbed in the quarterfinals. I'm not sure I follow what you're saying, cabbage. You say Sid Vs Benoit isn't all that bad of an idea given the circumstances but then you spend the next paragraph talking about why it's a bad idea. Now was Kevin Sullivan the booker going into Souled Out 2000? Did Benoit request his release before the show?

*NERDY FANTASY BOOKING POST ALERT* OK, I was chatting with Dandy on AIM and I was expounding on a fantasy booking idea I had regarding The Main Event/World Title match at Souled Out 2000 and he told me I should post it here. Tell me what you think about it. Positive or negative feedback is welcome, just make it constructive. At the beginning of the show Terry Funk comes out and runs down the changes in the card. Bret Hart is out indefinitely and he's being stripped of the WCW World title. To determine the new champion, Funk says there will be a one night only,eight man tournament for the WCW World title. The participants will be the Top Seven contenders for the title and the winner of a 20 man battle royal will fill out the eighth slot. The battle royal opens the show. All of the second-tier wrestlers of WCW duke it out for an opportunity of a lifetime. Eventually it comes down to longtime veteran Booker T and the towering newcomer The Wall. Booker T manages to win the match after The Wall misses a charge and the momentum carries him over the top rope. So after the match, the bracket is announced and we got; 1. Chris Benoit Vs 8. Booker T 4. Diamond Dallas Page Vs 5. Buff Bagwell 2. Sid Vs 7. Tank Abbott 3. The Total Package Vs 6. Vampiro We have one or two non tournament matches and then we get the first quarterfinal... Sid Vs Tank Abbott. It's an extremely hard hitting, extremely short match. The Ron Lyle Vs Georger Foreman of professional wrestling if you weel. Sid goes over with The Powerbomb. Next The Total Package Vs Vampiro. Vampiro comes thisclose to edging out the win but Luger manages to squeeze out the victory through nefarious means. The announcers crow about how Vampiro should have won, the wrong man advanced, etc. Then we get Chris Benoit Vs Booker T. The most competitive match of the first round with Booker barely going over cleanly. After, the two men shake hands. Diamond Dallas Page Vs Buff Bagwell would be pretty much the same match they had at Souled Out 2000 albeit slightly truncated. DDP picks up the win in a screwy finish involving Kimberly. So with that the semi-finals are; 4. Diamond Dallas Page Vs 8. Booker T 2. Sid Vs 3. The Total Package Sid goes over Lex Luger easily in under a minute. Sid manages to catch Luger off guard during his elaborate entrance and quickly dispatches him with the Chokeslam and Powerbomb Booker T and DDP have a relatively short (six or seven minutes) but extremely competitive match. Booker wins by the skin of his teeth but during the process of the match, he gets injured. There'll be a backstage vignette where a doctor warns Booker not to compete and he could be risking his career, yada, yada, yada but Booker won't have any of it and he wants to compete in the biggest match of his career. The doctor doesn't know if he'll be able to clear Booker medically. The announcers discuss the final. They bring up Booker T and Sid's history how Sid helped bring Booker T into the company seven years before. They put over the fact that Booker's been with the company longer than almost anybody and how he's been a loyal WCW employee through and through and how he's slowly worked his way up the rankings and finally earned his World title shot in the most difficult way imaginable. So Sid comes to the ring first and everyone is still unsure whether Booker T. Terry Funk comes out and tells Sid that the match may be a forfeit and he may have to award the title to Sid. Sid won't have any of it though and he doesn't want to win the title without a fight. He tells Funk that he'll take personal responsibility for the punishment he inflicts on Booker. Sid's no wordsmith but ideally, this promo would be simultaneously noble and vaguely heelish. Finally, Booker T comes limping out from the back.So the match starts and for the first half of the match, Sid dominates and is unleashing all of his arsenal on Booker. Just brutalizing him. But somehow, Booker is incredibly resillient and just can't be put away. Sid becomes incredibly frustrated and that frustration starts leading to mistakes. Slowly, Booker T starts getting more and more offense. Sid becomes even more frustrated and starts resorting to heelish tactics (Throwing him into the ringsteps, into the ringside barricade, chokeslamming him on the floor, what have you) but he still can't manage to put Booker away. Sid manages to hit Booker T with the Powerbomb but Booker with his last ounce of strength puts his foot on the ropes at the 2.99999999999 mark.At this point, Sid is exhausted as well but Booker's running on fumes. Sid dishes out some more punishment and Booker's nearly defenseless at this point after the powerbomb. Sid throws him into the turnbuckle and goes for a running clothesline but Booker somehow manages to get out of the way and Sid eats turnbuckle. Booker T manages to summon something within to hit The Bookend on Sid out of nowhere and he gets the pin. All of the mid-card babyfaces come out and congratulate Booker. Booker holds up The WCW World title and collapses in exhaustion. Booker gets taken out on a stretcher, still holding the WCW World title in his hands.When Sid comes to his senses, he beats up the referee. I know he had just done a face turn like a month before but I like Sid way better as a heel. Besides, it's a reboot anyways so it doesn't really matter. Then you proceed to do a Bret Hart type reign with Booker T. After having him out with the injury for a week or two, I'd have him win competitive matches against mid-carders every week on Nitro and Thunder, leading up to a rematch with Sid at SuperBrawl X. Anyways, I think it's more interesting and intelligent way to crown a new champion and a better way to make Booker T a star than what they did a couple of months later at Bash At The Beach. Again, all feedback on my idea is welcome.

Tony Atlas is scheduled to main event an indy show at a local bar on Wednesday against Pierre Carl Oullette. I have a feeling, he's not going to make it. I'll never see him get his revenge on that evil Quebecois!

I think I'd be frightened as hell if I saw that driving down the road. The Dark Night will come close but won't break the record because the competition is much better than Spiderman 3's was. I'll guess somewhere in the $140 million range.

Christ, that's like the entire menu! I can't comprehend how much Taco Bell you can buy with $72

I'll say that this was the point in WCW history where my feelings towards WCW loyalists changed from confusion to pity. It's really kind of sad to read DDTDigest recaps and the writers trying to find some good in shows that are absolutely horrible. I think what makes this period all the more worse is the fact that WWF was so incredibly awesome during this period. WCW was almost as shitty during the Summer of '99 but WWF wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire either so choosing WCW over them wasn't completely absurd. But choosing to watch Nitro over RAW in February '00----that's downright dumb loyalty. I almost admire it. Whatever happened to those WCW loyalists anyways? Where did they go when it got bought out?

Ludvig and Giant Gonzalez on the same roster? Good lord...no comment.

I usually go for seafood salad with lettuce, jalapenos, and tomatoes. No cheese or condiments.

I think Season Seven is my favorite. Not a bad episode in the bunch and at least five or six legitmate classic episodes. After this season, the show began its very slow descent into mehness for me. Here's my list (also in chronological order) 1. "A Streetcar Named Marge": As a fan of The Simpsons and A Streetcar Named Desire. This episode truly is the best of both world. The pretentious community theater director, Llewelyn Sinclair is probably my favorite of Jon Lovitz's numerous Simpsons guest star roles. Llewelyn: I'm not an easy man to work with. While directing Hats Off to Chanukkah, I reduced more than one cast member to tears. Did I expect too much from fourth graders? The review 'Play Enjoyed By Alll' (holds up elementary school newspaper) speaks for itself. 2. "Treehouse of Horror III": Got to have some Treehouse of Horror on here and this is my all time favorite. Probably one of my personal most watched Simpsons episodes. All three stories are classic and work well all year round. Shop owner: Take this object, but beware, it carries a terrible curse Homer: Oooh, that's bad. Shop Owner: But it comes with a free Frogurt! Homer: That's good! Shop Owner: The Frogurt is also cursed. Homer: That's bad. Shop Owner: But you get your choice of topping! Homer: That's good! Shop Owner: The topping contains Potassium Benzoate (Homer stares blankly) Shop Owner: That's bad. Homer: Can I go now? 3. "Homer Goes To College": Classic. 4. "Deep Space Homer": Most of the later Simpson gimmick episodes fell flat on their face but this one worked way better than it should have. Kent Brockman:Ladies and gentlemen, uh, we've just lost the picture, but what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has apparently been taken over - 'conquered,' if you will - by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive Earthmen or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves. 5. 22 Short Films About Springfield": Another gimmick episode that worked incredibly well. It's astonishing to have a thirty minute show with so many interwining stories that all work. Hospital Chairman: Dr. Nick, this malpractice committee has received a few complaints against you. Of the 160 gravest charges, the most troubling are performing major operations with a knife and fork from a seafood restaurant. Dr. Nick: But I cleaned them with my napkin! 6. "Homerpalooza": This episode is kind of outdated but for any child of the 90s, this has to be up there with the all time best episodes. Homer: Die? Well you don't scare me, doc. Cause dying would be a stone groove. Got any messages for Jimi Hendrix? Doctor: Yes. Pick up your puppy. (points to old hound dog named Rover Hendrix) 7: "A Millhouse Divivded": Showcases a more serious side to The Simpsons and one of the better secondary characters, Millhouse Van Housen. Band Leader: Who here likes The Doobie Brothers? Because we got one of 'em!

Somewhat off topic but a wikipedia search on the Dagwood sandwich reveals that there's now a chain of Blondie themed restaurants called Dagwood's Sandwich Shoppes. That's all.

Vampiro wasn't very good in retrospect- workrate wise. Even as a mark- his series with Kidman was disappointing as hell. I remember WCW hyped it as a meeting between two of the greatest up and comers in the world. I don't even want to talk about his series with Sting... Even if Vampiro, was average at best in the ring, he was very over at the time. Vampiro got the 2nd biggest pop of the night behind Sid on that shitty Nitro we were watching the other week. Besides, was Vampiro any worse workrate wise than Sid? Maybe he is just as bad as The Master and Ruler of Squirrels but it's a different kind of bad. Vampiro is sneaky bad. I never really thought he was all that terrible till Jingus mentioned it in the aforementioned Nitro chart and then I realized I couldn't remember a match of his that was better than **1/2. But at the same time, I remember any matches of his being memorably terrible. I can't remember very many of his matches that were memorable period. As a semi-mark, I think I liked Vampiro's potential more than I liked Vampiro himself. He was something different for the fans of WCW and at that time, that was sorely needed.

Did you really think Meet Dave would be a big hit, Barron? I can count on one hand how many times I've seen it advertised and all of those occassions were in the past week.

Well I was wrong. All week, I was crowing to my friends how Hellboy II would be way better off as a Fall release and would be lucky to match the opening weekend box office gross of the first one. I'm the same dumbass that predicted The Matrix would be Johnny Mneumonic redux.

Yeah, I'd been considering them for the past six or seven rounds but decided against them because I already have a couple wrestlers with similar characters and I couldn't really fit them in. I've put them as the top tag team left on the board for the past three or four rounds and it is a shame it took three hundred ninety something picks for them to get drafted but sadly, it's not too much of a surprise. Most of the draftees are just unfamiliar with wrestlers from the pre Hogan era. I actually thought there was a good shot that Jimmy would get picked as "The Boogie Woogie Man" before he got picked as part of The Valiants. I'm glad that didn't happen.

On behalf of crandamaniac... Sho Funaki!

I've decided to add a little comedy to my roster with my next pick. This guy is the quintessential lower mid-card heel. He can work a hell of a comedy match and with the right opponent, can work a good straight match. And he can get over with the crowd as a fun loving, goofy babyface or a chickenshit, goofy heel. I'll be using him as the latter. He's a two time former WCW World Television champion, a former WCW Cruiserweight Champion, and a former WCW Tag Team Champion With my twenty third selection and 394th overall in the All Time Wrestling Roster, I'm proud to select... Disco Inferno!

I'm not a Russo apologist and I wasn't entertained by his runs in WCW but let me play devil's advocate. I think it's because Russo's WCW was so batshit insane while WWE (for the most part) is relatively straightforward by modern standards. I don't know, maybe a Russo fan could explain it better but that's how I think someone could make that argument. To answer Richard's question, Jimmy Hart had pretty much stopped managing by the time Hogan returned in February '00. I know Hugh Morrus, Brian Knobbs, and Meng were all flying solo. I'm not sure about The Barbarian. He probably wasn't even on the roster at that point. And IIRC, he turned face when Luger "broke" his arm in the buildup to Super Brawl 2000 (or was it Uncensored 2000? These shitty shows run together). Then when Russo and Bischoff showed up, Jimmy Hart showed up inexplicably as a weasley heel again.

How could I forget The Dink? He's way up there in the pantheon of great midgets there's no denying that. I don't know if he beats Warwick or Billy Barty but it's close. Speaking of Billy Barty, Have we talked about UHF here lately? That movie still kills me. I grew out of Weird Al's music years and years ago but there are a good half dozen scenes in that movie that make me lose it. I think what Dirty Work is to Barron, UHF is to me. Yeah, the acting is generally terrible and some of the gags are lame brained but I'll always love it.

I smell another draft! (joking! joking! Please no one take this idea seriously). Billy Barty and Bridget The Midget are high up there for me as well. But I think my favorite is Warwick Davis. I love Return of The Jedi, The Leprechaun series from #3 on is a huge guilty pleasure for me (I can't be the only one on here who likes that series, can I?), and the scene where he was smoking weed with Jamie Foxx in Ray was probably the highlight of that movie for me. Verne Troyer would probably be towards the end of that list for me as well.

I don't know if I would call either of Russo's runs with the book in WCW fun but they were certainly interesting. Sullivan's was anything but. Zack hit it right on the head- a lot of his ideas just seemed boring and played out. Any tiny, tiny sliver of potential the nWo 2000 had went right out the window once Bret retired and very few people wanted to see Hogan Vs Flair again and even less wanted to see Hogan settle the score from WrestleMania VIII with Sid. The original ideas Sullivan did have outright sucked. The only wide spread defense of Sullivan's run I've heard is "Well, he was given an unsalvagable situation." Yes, I think we can all agree that he was dealt a terrible, terrible hand. But people dealt with worse hands have done much better jobs. An example; Smackdown in the Spring/Early Summer of '06 when Batista was out, Undertaker was on hiatus, JBL had just retired, and a burned out Kurt Angle was tusseling with Mark Henry. That roster was weaker on paper and way less star studded than that era of WCW and yet managed to put on consistantly solid (if a little bit unspectacular) shows and some good PPVs. Even at its weakest point in early '00, WCW still had some of the biggest names in professional wrestling (Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, and to a lesser extent, Nash, Sid, and Luge), some solid dependable veterans (Finlay, Bam Bam Bigelow, Curt Hennig), and a plethora of extremely talented younger guys....and they couldn't put on a show that would qualify as more than mediocre.