King Kamala

Who defeated Shawn Stasiak in his first televised match at Survivor Series '99

Aren't we at the stage where we can start banning people for no real good reason? Bob Barron isn't around anymore. C'mon Matt Young, ya know you want to.

If you ban YKRG, Matt, I promise I'll pick up his role as the mediocre poster who posts a ton of unneccessary shit in order to appease Mike the Dyke.

zhangmeijie, naked photos or GTFO!

Maybe this should go in LSD but fuck it-only six people read the board these days anyways. This is an 100% true story that happened to me this evening/early morning. OK so this weird, fortysomething homeless guy randomly shows up to a birthday party I'm at and everybody's kind of uncomfortable but he leaves after like 10 minutes and we're all kind of relieved. Then about an hour later, he appears again and I'm talking to this girl I've been trying to hook up with all night and I'm like "we should get out of here!"...not because I'm trying to hook up with her but I'm genuinely freaked out about the creepy, middle aged homeless guy and she's like "Nice try!" Shot down! And I wasn't even consciously trying. So I leave the party freaked out and dejected and go to report this incident to some AIM buddies. a while later, my roommate shows up with THE CREEPY HOMELESS GUY AND HE'S STAYING IN OUR ROOM TONIGHT. Immedietely, after he introduces himself, he tells me not to be paranoid. Needless to say I gathered my most important belongings bolted to a buddy's who's roommate is home for the weekend's room as quick as fuck. That homeless guy could have been harmless but I'm sure as hell not taking chances!

Watching Roma-Wright on DailyMotion and boy The Brain sounds hammered on commentary. I remember reading about him being drunk at some WCW shows but it's really kind of noticeable here. And it's only the opening match.

If they did, I hope they didn't do it on my bed! Oh amusing sidenote, once I reached the friend's room, I locked his door just in case. And I went to the bathroom at about 5 A.M. and locked myself out. Terrible. Just terrible. One of 'em stole a Coke from my min-fridge. Bastards! It was one of those glass bottle ones to boot!

I honestly don't know. Roommate is really an odd duck. I'm assuming they just met that night or something.

Who's John---Tommy?

I'm not sure about the Slim Jim story myself. I vaguely recall one starring Diesel in '95 before they went back to Savage. Anyways, isn't Slim Jim back as WWE sponsor? Don't see why he'd still be so BUTT hurt about it. And if Savage did have an affair with Stephanie when she was 14, why did they keep him around for another two or three years and give him a warm goodbye as well? I'm not sure if there will ever be an explanation of Savage and Vince's estrangement that will ever make 100% sense to me. The one that makes the most sense is the simplest. Savage saved his money and is content in retirement and doesn't want to deal with the BS of the wrestling industry.

While Adventureland was directed by the same guy who did Superbad and features some Apatow regulars, there's no actual involvement by Judd Apatow. I'm seeing it on cheap night on Tuesday. Reviews seem to indicate it's a lot more serious than the trailers make it out to be.

Either this Thursday or next Tuesday at 8 P.M. EST. Leaning towards the latter

Narrowed it down to five choices; 3/8/99 Nitro: The infamous show where the entire first hour is comprised of bizarre backstage segments, interviews, and several appearances by former Headbangers Ball host Rikki Rachtman. Matches include; an oddly intriguing sounding Goldberg Vs Ric Flair main event, Bret Hart Vs Van Hammer, and Raven Vs Hak Vs Bam Bam Bigelow. Note, there are five matches on this show and this is in the three hour Nitro era! 4/26/99 Nitro: Flair hangs out in a mental asylum with Scott Hall and Asya. The World title changes hands twice in one night. Matches include; Sting Vs Diamond Dallas Page, Sting Vs Diamond Dallas Page Vs Kevin Nash Vs Goldberg, Randy Savage Vs Scott Steiner (let's hope there's a promo showdown before hand), Bam Bam Bigelow Vs Mikey Whipwreck Vs Hak Vs Brian Knobbs, Rey Mysterio Jr Vs Psychosis 5/20/99 Thunder: Randy Savage goes over virtually every mid card babyface on the roster at the time. David Flair battles Barry Horowitz. Matches include; Randy Savage Vs Buff Bagwell, Raven and Saturn Vs The nWo B-Team, Billy Kidman Vs Juventeud Guerrera, and Rick Steiner Vs Scott Putski 5/31/99 Nitro: Kevin Nash dumps sewage in Randy Savage's limo as edgy babyface commentator, Eric Bischoff cheers on. DJ Ran and the Filthy Animals don't like Curt Hennig hating on hip hop and an early appearance by Tank Abbott. Matches include; Sting Vs Rick Steiner in a steel cage match, David Flair Vs Erik Watts, Perry Saturn and Kanyon Vs Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow. 8/19/99 Thunder: Not one not two but three matches end in disqualification as a result of Sid running in and beating the shit out of the participants. Lenny Lane wins the WCW Cruiserweight title, The Barbarian cuts a promo and we get a rare appearance by Coach Buzz Stern. Matches include; Perry Saturn Vs Rick Steiner, Lenny Lane Vs Rey Mysterio Jr, and Harlem Heat Vs The nWo B-Team.

Alright, welcome to the fifth part of our six part series covering the past, present, and perhaps future(?) of WrestleMania. This week, we're covering the last four editions of the biggest event in sports entertainment. But before we start, let's introduce our panelists... Alkeiper: TSM moderator and resident baseball expert. Smues: President of the Anchorage Chapter of the Nicholas Cage Fan Club. King Kamala: Leader of these shindigs. Bob Barron: Stalker Mattdotcom: Founding member of Team Dog Abuse. Featuring special guest commentator Dr. Venkman PhD: Four time roundtable alternate. WrestleMania 21 Alkeiper: Wrestlemania 21 I find difficult to sum up in context, it was the show meant to make Batista but he stalled due to injury and never quite made the jump to mega stardom. The highlight of the show seemed to be Money In the Bank, and I remember my feed of Edge's victory interrupted by the cable company running a scroll of a flood watch in the area. Undertaker/Orton featured a hot ending sequence. Cena/JBL was quite underwhelming for what it should have been. Smues: WM21. Good to great show, but way too much filler. On the collection disc the first side just flys by and is awesome. Then you flip the disc and it takes TWENTY minutes to get to a match, and THIRTY to get to a real match, and not just the sumo garbage. MITB1 is a classic and defined the match. Just a nonstop fun 15 minute spot fest, only marred by JR calling it a 16 foot ladder when Kane is barely shorter than it. Benoit selling his injuries all match was a nice touch, and Edge winning in typical Edge fashion was a good step to his main event career. Angle vs Michaels is also a classic, and makes me realy miss WWE Kurt Angle. It's 25 minutes+ of intensity, and the only negative thing I can say about it is Michaels was in the Anglelock for TWO minutes before tapping, and given it was 25 minutes into the match I don't buy that he could hold out that long. But anyway great fucking match. The title matches, while it's nice they were building new stars, are both pretty disappointing, especially the Cena match. And after HHH gets a 5 minute entrance jamming with Motorhead the crowd is drained and doesn't seem to give a shit for Batista's mundane entrance. And like I said, filler filler filler. Too many WWE hollywood spots that weren't as good as they should have been, and the sumo match. I'll admit to actually liking watching sumo on ESPN, but this wasn't sumo, this was stupid. Overall it's a really good show not dragged down too bad, but you could cut close to an hour of filler without losing anything, and the peak of the show is Michaels/Angle and it's all down hill from there. Oh and I need to mention the JBL $100 bills, those were awesome. King Kamala Classic: I really enjoy this show. Borderline Top 5 'Mania for me. Though it's a rare recent 'Mania where the undercard overshadows the main events. Both Cena/JBL and Batista/Triple H have have had better matches on other shows though they're certainly not terrible matches. I think the first Money In The Bank is the definitive one and has yet to be topped, Taker/Orton is another one of Taker's fine Mania efforts in this past decade (well, let's just ignore his bouts at XIX and 22), and HBK/Angle is my match of the night. Absolute classic. Eddie Vs Rey Rey isn't half as good as their WCW matches but a fine opener nonetheless.Like Smues said, as a show to pass the torch to the new generation of WWE superstars I'm not sure it worked entirely as Batista and Cena surely didn't look like definite superstars that night but obviously, it didn't hurt them really at all. One thing I don't like about this show is it started a trend of eschewing secondary title matches. Not having the IC or Tag Team titles defended on a Mania show has always kind of bothered me.The Intercontinental title hasn't been defended on Mania since X8! Though I guess that might change this year. As a bonus, The Hogan Knows Best episode set at The Hall of Fame induction ceremony and WrestleMania 21 is one of my favorites. Yes, I admit it's pretty pathetic that I have favorite episodes of Hogan Knows Best. We got to see The Hulkster's ass cheeks in that one. Terrifying Bob Barron: This was a two-match show. The MITB is fantastic, and Edge got a huge rub from it and it helped propel him to superstardom. Angle v. HBK is amazing, and one of my favourite matches. It tells a great story, and it's a match you can nitpick all you want, but it's awesome. Rey v. Eddy had the potential to be really good, but Rey's stupid mask. The two title matches are awful. HHH v. Batista was 20 minutes when it didn't have to be. Cena v. JBL is a straight wrestling match from two guys who would not be ideal candidates to have a straight wrestling match. Plus, it just ends. He hits the FU out of nowhere. I remember we thought the FU was the beginning of the hot nearfall finish, and it just ends. 10 months of Honky Tonking with the world title and it ends like that? I also hated that the opening video package was another movie spoof. And Trish owns this show.Orton v. Taker is really good. Orton should've gone over except that he was out for 4 months afterwards so it made sense for the Deadman to win Mattdotcom: First off, there's no shame in having a favorite episode of Hogan Knows Best. So one year after "it all begins again", 'Mania goes Hollywood, and they replace the dark and serious Blassie-esque promos with the mostly awesome and definitely memorable movie parody trailers. It works for the show, which looking back is a pretty upbeat experience. Earlier today, I was discussing the booking of WM IV in the WWE Multimedia folder (congrats on that DrVenk) and how the heel favoring finishes are what kill the show rather than the time. I might be wrong, but this is the only WM where two faces win both titles from dominant heel champs, not to mention The Undertaker triumphing over the Ortons. This one is the definition of sending the people home happy.. MITB is a concept that still works today, thanks in part to the excellent match here and also to the following months with Edge's antics. I'm not one to lavish praise on Chris Benoit nowadays, but he turned it up a notch here and biting the ring apron to sell his pain is one of those little things that we fans only get to appreciate every blue moon. I agree that the JBL/Cena match was a disappointment. Both title matches are underminded by the rematches that followed being miles above anything here. Although, HHH dropping the title two years in a row was pretty unexpected. The only thing really worth discussing about HHH/Batista anyways is the buildup and the thumbs down angle.Sadly, this is Eddie's last Mania. I consider his match at XX one of my all time favorites. The match here is quite good too. Heel Trish was unbelievable. Jericho's book mentions how great a heel Finlay was in Europe and considering he was in charge of the women, I suspect Trish learned about antagonizing a lot from him. Oh god I didn't mention Angle/Michaels and I just watched it. It's a fantastic match.I love the little touch, mostly on commentary, that Charles Robinson may be a tad biased since he is a SmackDown ref. It's also one of the only Angle matches where the German off of the apron spot works because watching it live, you're caught up in the match and you think "Well, it IS Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania. He might just take it" Smues: I forgot to mention Lemmy forgetting most of the lyrics to his own song. Mattdotcom: I AM THE GAME NO WAY YOU CAN PLAY ME I AM THE GAME YOU KNOW YOU CANT PLAY ME Smues: "Mumble mumble mumble mumble ready to run. Mumble blah mumble mumble TO RUN!" Alkeiper: HHH/Batista was dull last time I saw it Bob Barron: Cena v. JBL is just JBL punching him and Cena gets the FU out of nowhere. There's no build. This ten month title reign where he found new ways to sneak out with his title ends like that. It was such a great feud to. Smues: Oh and I forgot to mention Raw champion HHH treating Smackdown champion JBL like a joke early in the show. Seemed odd Bob Barron: Yea, HHH v. Big Dave sucks. It should've been Big Dave killing him, not HHH beating him down Mattdotcom: Agree or disagree: In retrospect, considering the WHC match was the first in a "trilogy" (I hate to use that word), would the booking have been more effective in creating a new star/Mania moment if it had been a squash match for Batista? King Kamala Classic:That's another weird sort of trend for recent Manias...the rematches to the World title matches at Mania being better than the Mania matches. Bob Barron: Yes, I think Batista should've just destroyed him and you could do a fun garbage match with JBL v. Cena if you don't want the fans to feel ripped off Mattdotcom: It would have given more time to Cena/JBL too. And Cena is more important to the company than Batista King Kamala Classic: Cena/JBL had to be one of the shorter World title matches in Mania history Bob Barron: Cena trying to put it over like this big moment when no one cares is great Smues: the triple threat that we'll talk about in a few minutes was pretty short too King Kamala Classic Triple Threat match at 22 I think takes the cake though Mattdotcom: Criminally short WrestleMania 22 alkeiper :WM 22 brought the show back to Chicago with a great atmosphereI think Edge/Foley stands out in retrospect as the most memorable match. Insane, crazy bumps. Lita bleeding. Edge falling into thumbtacks. And Lita nearly throwing up at the smell of burnt skin just sells it. Watching it again though, I had an uncomfortable feeling about the whole thing. I mean, isn't it going too far? Cena/HHH is sure to spark some discussion about how HHH buried Cena in interviews, I'm steering clear of that.Others will mention the triple threat match. Let me state before I finish that Kane's entrances from WM 20-23 are generally awesome Smues: Despite WM22 being a solid show, the main thing I think of when I think of it is awful entrances/outfits. What the fuck was rey wearing when he came to the ring? Who the hell thought Cena with a Tommy gun was a good idea? And what in the holy hell were they thinking with the whole HHH debacle. The whole coming up through the floor in a throne with crown, fur, and other things I’m forgetting while KING OF KINGS plays wasn’t ridiculous enough, he’s got a cheap ass bottle of water with him that looks like it cost him $.59 cents at a 7/11. Whatever it was they were going for was ridiculous enough, and the water bottle kills it anyway. CONAN LIKE DASANI. Outside of that, you’ve got one epic WM moment match in the hardcore match, and one good to great match in the main event, and a handful of other decent to good matches. Money in the bank isn't as good as the first, but I still liked it. And the crowd was popping like mad for everything. the triple threat is good it's just criminally short. Michaels vs Vince is ok I guess, but it's way too long, and serves no purpose. Whoopdy shit A multiple time world champion can take out a 60 year old non wrestler. Excitement she wrote. Oh and he can take out the Spirit Squad too. WHOOOOOOOO. This show was also firmly into the WM HOF era, and it was the first ceremony where I bothered to watch the whole thing, just to see Bret's speech. Good stuff and it's awesome they got him to do it. It's a little lame though at the inductions at the actual show they rip on Bret a bit, considering he didn't have to do the whole thing in the first place. It's also sad that 3 years later 2 inductees are dead (granted one already was) and another is a murderer. Skip the ceremony or you're honoring a murderer people. Don't do it!And Lastly I want to say one last thing about the hardcore match. It's great, inovative, and it's just amazing how Foley constantly comes up with new and original spots and isn't just repeating himself. The spear through the flaming table is a great visual. The only complaint I have is the announcing. I don't get why people like Joey Styles, I can't stand him. And I think he takes away a lot from the match. Some examples include "Edge is tied in the tree of woe. OH WOE IS EDGE", "Foley tries to nearly ‘decapinate’ the rated-r superstar" and "Spear spear edge hit the spi". Glad to know he hit the spi. And his OH MY GAWWWDDDDD is just so stupid sounding and dampens an awesome moment in the table spot. anyway good but not great show, but nothing offensive or anything to drag it down. King Kamala Classic: Again, like basically every WrestleMania since XX, another good to great show. I think of all of them though, this is the one I'm least enthusiastic about. I have to attribute it to the main event(s). As alluded to, the Triple Threat match is criminally short and began the Worst World title run since Diesel and Triple H/Cena was a good, perhaps even great match but it was hard to get worked up over a match between the two least liked guys amongst the IWC at that time. Really, the frequent mentions of Eddie in the lead up to the Triple Threat were downright shameful. The aforementioned silly entrances also sort of weaken the main events I'll agree with al that Edge/Foley steals the show here. Great way to give Foley one last memorable Mania match (well I hope it's his last Mania match. Dude should hang up the flannel) and to put Edge over as a bonafide superstar. HBK/Vince as all Vince WM matches is a good garbage match but led to that godawful DX/McMahons feud that ranks as one of my least favorite feuds since Vince Russo era WCW. I'm getting mad just thinking about it. I also enjoyed The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony that year. How great it was to see a legend like The Fridge finally get inducted. Kidding aside, Bret Hart's speech was fantastic. I'll take a second to agree with Smues RE: Joey Styles. I didn't even really like him all that much in ECW so I really didn't care for the toned down version that we saw in WWE. Props to him for knocking out JBL a couple months back and I also saw him shilling a Millenium Silver Dollar on late night TV back in the day and marked out huge. That's neither here nor there.But yeah Money In The Bank was pretty good but nothing immedietely witty or insightful is coming to mind to say about it other than how odd it was to see Flair in a garbage match. Lastly, I'm sure sometime in the future, when CM Punk is a heel, a wiseass babyface will show footage of him in the gangster getup behind Cena on the Titantron during a feud and Punk will seethe and hillarity will ensue! Bob Barron: Wrestlemania 22 is a fine show. Everyone was slagging it big time leading up, so it was nice to see them put on a good show. Edge v. Foley is brutal, even though it's essentially Orton v. Foley with Lita and a cooler ending. I liked that both Edge and Foley won the feud, Edge beat the Hardcore Legend and Foley got his Wrestlemania Moment. Trish v. Mickie is amazing, from the crowd turning on Mickie, to Mickie grabbing Trish's vag to counter a move and then doing the V symbol. They almost had the match of the night. I don't even mind the botched finish since it fits into the story of the match with Trish's knee.The triple threat match has a great 9 minute buildup for 20 minute match, only it goes 9 minutes. It's weird how Angle was the most protected in the match, given he'd be gone in a few months later. Rey doesn't look good in the match at all, and he doesn't even get to pin the champ. The crowd booing him but then realising they have to cheer when he wins is hilarious.Cena v. HHH is fantastic. It def has that WM big match feel with the crowd reactions. It's a well worked match and it was cool seeing Cena get the win and that fan flip out. Plus, CM Punk makes his Wrestlemania debut! I was marking out like crazy for that. Also, them introducing Vickie Guerrero for the Hall of Fame was a great moment. HBK nailing Vince with the bullhorn is hilarious. Probably the weakest MITB. Mattdotcom: Historical Mania here, as this is the first show I was able to watch later on thanks to a burdgeoning website at the time called YouTube. It's a pretty weird show, in retrospect. I don't think the tag title match is even worth mentioning. It's two thrown together teams: the old big guys and the new guys. I'm pretty sure they were both broken up by May. May 19th to be specific. I'll admit to being a huge RVD mark, so his winning MITB (even if it isn't as good as the original) is one of my personal favorite moments, so I'm behind the show at this point. Flair was coming off the ladder match with Edge, so his inclusion wasn't that strange. Scary exit, though. JBL going over Benoit was odd at the time, since his retirement seemed to be iminent. Makes his IC title win a little less strange now. Foley himself considers the Edge match to be his one true WrestleMania moment. It's a fantastic piece of ultraviolence. Interestingly enough, both this match and MITB led indirectly into ECW One Night Stand/the ECW revival. Well, it would be interesting if either of those had meant anything in the long run. Still, Lita calling Tommy Dreamer the "Innovator of Silence" was totally worth it, but I digress. And by digress, I mean I skip the Boogeyman/T Family crap. Trish/Mickie is probably the best woman's match they've ever had, regardless of it being on WrestleMania. I know a lot of people complain about the botch at the end, where Trish's knee buckles when Mickie tries the Stratusfaction, so she has to win with a Chick Kick. I'd argue that, despite the error, it adds to the storyline of the match, making it turn from "Mickie wants to be just like Trish" to "Mickie CAN'T be Trish, but she can beat her". The only real complaint about the match is that they cut Mickie's infamous Vaginal Claw+Lick. Lesbian overtones should never be cut from anything. Undertaker/Henry is skippable. Probably the weakest Taker Mania match of the Streak era. I hate McMahon matches nowadays, but the true WrestleMania moment is JR's overblown commentary when McMahon comes out. I should have written it down. I believe it goes "This man is genuinely the most evil man in history. When he dies, he is going to Hell and Satan bettter watch out because McMahon will take over HELL." Seeing the WHC triple threat fall flat is such a downer. Rey's a longtime favorite of so many fans, myself included. No one ever thought this would happen, and they bog it down with the Eddie Memorial booking and forced Orton into the equation just to get him on the card. He could have taken Finlay or Flair's place in MITB. It's too late to rebook though. It's at this point that the show is pretty weird, like I was saying.Cena/HHH is a smark's wetdream, not only because Cena is reduced to tears by the reaction at the end but CM Punk debuts! This was before he was buried every week, ya know. At this point, Trips has jobbed three times in a row, so my question is, do you guys feel he is redeemed for the brainfart that was the WM XIX match with Booker T? Bob Barron: No, because he booked a feud where the racist one in dominating matter! Smues: No. HHH tapping to benoit was like my favorite moment ever, and even that couldn't redeem it. Yeah it's a good thing HHH jobbed at a few Wrestlemanias, but it doesn't excuse all the racial bullshit with the booker T one, controlling the match, AND the pedigree of 25 second death. Bob Barron: I remember watching the three-way and thinking that if they keep it up, this is easy a ***** MOTYC and then it ends King Kamala Classic: yeah, definitely "Is that it?" reaction when it ended. I was actually not against the idea of Rey being champion but woah boy was his reign bad. Smues: The Eddie Guerrero memorial title run was a flop Bob Barron: There was no reason to book Angle as Superman if he wasn't going to take the fall Mattdotcom: One last thing that I find weird about this show: look it up on Wikipedia. The poster is just BAD. Bob Barron: CM Punk's smirk makes the show Alkeiper: the entrances are generally embarassing, Cena redeemed himself at WM 24 though Mattdotcom: CM Punk doesn't drink or smoke but he has a tommy gun?! Bob Barron: No drugs, sex, alcohol but tommy guns yes! Mattdotcom: This show is such a waste for Mr. WrestleMania but I'm hardpressed to think of anyone else he could have been booked against Bob Barron: Hmmmm.... HBK in MITB would've been cool Smues: I forgot to mention the Taker match. Yeah that sucked and probably his worst WM match behind giant gonzalez, and maybe Bundy. Bob Barron: I don't mind when Taker faces scrubs for WM, since I hate the streak. Might as well make it an obvious match Smues: Has there been a casket match ever besides maybe RR98 that didn't suck? Mattdotcom: The Tombstone is impressive though King Kamala Classic: hmmm...let me think...I'm inexplicably a mark for casket matches even if they're almost all terrible. I just love the spot where they open the casket to throw the opponent in and someone else pops out. Always cracks me up for some reason. Smues: Sure, outside of the outfits, and yeah it's still a good show, but there's not a whole lot that's memorable to keep talking about wm22. It's just a show that's there King Kamala Classic: good show but not particularly memorable outside of Foley/Edge and the zany entrances for me WrestleMania 23 alkeiper : Wrestlemania 23 moved the show back to a large stadium. I remember many were skeptical, but they filled Ford Field. This was a terrific show. Cena/Michaels was a classic, Taker/Batista delivered a good match. Money in the Bank delivered. The only big negative for me is that Umaga vs. Lashley with the Trump/McMahon story bombed Smues: Great show. Two great matches (main event and MITB). Actually make that three, with UT/Batista. Plus a bunch of decent to good ones. And the only stinkers were Kane/Khali and the women's match. MITB had a ton of awesome little touches like Booker T finding the tiny ladder. and Hardy sacrificing himself to take out Edge. Great stuff. Take/Batista was low in the card which people bitched about after the fact, but really most of us were expecting it to suck, and had no idea it was going to be so great. Top to bottom just a great card and a fun show. Now to spend the rest of my print on my favorite part, the backstage skit with Cryme Tyme. I don't know why I love it so much, but I could watch this on an endless loop to the end of time. Cryme Tyme cheering up Eugene with some hoes, then Slick shows up, then dusty rhode, then more people than I can remember. Slaughter, Brisco, IRS, Mean Gene, I think Heenan is there, Jimmy Hart, it's just markout city. An then of course Steamboat, and finally Ron Simmons. Just awesome. Yeah it's a two minute skit, and the show had some rocking matches, but I'm wierd and just loved this segment to death. Only negative thing I'll say about the show is I thought the 'all grown up' thing was stupid. It makes me think of that stupid "Rugrats in highschool' show, and it's not like WM3 had all the people on WM23 as kids or something. Oh, and Aretha Franklin singing America the beautiful. Holy christ. Did she eat the girl who sang it at WM22? Wow! Bob Barron I thought that was Viscera singing America the Beautiful King Kamala Classic: Really great show, terrific atmosphere. The two World title matches really delivered. Both were great in their own separate ways. Those would have been more than enough to solidify this one as a good Mania but MITB is also very very good to being the best like Smues said, some great small touches in this one. Some great storytelling. Genoa/MVP was a bit of a disappointment but a solid enough match but I loved seeing 70,000 people BALLIN' (sounds a bit gay)The only real disappointment with the show was Umaga Vs Lashley. Umaga so far in his short WM career is the opposite of HBK as he always brings the suck at Mania. Sure, I didn't expect either of his matches to be Steamboat/Flair but I expected them to be half decent power contest and they just flat out stunk. That Trump/McMahon angle really fell flat because Trump's lack of enthusiasm towards doing a rasslin angle really showed.) Kane/Khali was probably the worst match of the night but it was a bit better than expected and we all wanted to see a Giant get slammed on the 20th Anniversary of WrestleMania 3, baby! And like Smues, The WrestleMania Dance Party sketch cracks me up. One of the better fluff backstage segments in recent memory. And it was probably even more bizarre to see Flair in a pre-show match than it was to see him in Money In The Bank. Bob Barron: Wrestlemania 23 is a good show. My friends were there which made me insanely jealous of them. They really loaded up MITB that year to the point that it was too much. A great match, Matt Hardy really shined and Jeff legally killed Edge. Too bad Kennedy never went anywhere. Batista v. Taker is fantastic and better than it had any right to be, especially given how terrible Batista was since his comeback. Cena v. HBK is also terrific, and I was happy Cena won. The Trump angle probably didn't work as well as they wanted, with Trump botching the stunner. But weeks of: isn't Bobby great cracked me up to no end. Seeing Dreamer, Sabu, and Sandman get to shine at WM was also a nice little moment. Benoit v. MVP is too short, but it tells a great little story in the time allotted, really an underrated gem. I interviewed Donald Trump right after Wrestlemania, and I really wanted to ask him about Wrestlemania. Instead I asked him about winning an award for donating parkland. Jerry Lawler's I don't want to be here at all Hall of Fame speech is classic too Mattdotcom: "We love ya, Bobby!" were the words of encouragement that propelled Bobby Lashley, whom his wealthy owner Donald Trump inexplicably thought was named "Bobby Lindsay", to victory over the Samoan Savage whom Mr. McMahon had forced to do battle for him. The match was stupid and marked the decline of Shane O Mac's abilities to do a shitty Van Terminator. It was also born out of some awful segments on Raw, such as O'Donnell vs Trump and The Donald's bored Titantron promos. Nothing like a wealthy man on a giant screen. Other than the near hour that (plus the Ashley miscarriage of a match and the ECW match that was topped on a free TV show that no one watches) this eats up, everything else is pretty damn good. Taker/Batista is THE match that shouldn't have been good but delivered. Cena/Michaels is a great match. I like it better than the almost-an-hour Raw match. I loved the epic return of the Dragon at the climax of the dance party. You guys pretty much covered MITB. It's only marred by the fact that Kennedy won and (luckily) never used the briefcase. MVP's entrance is one of the best of all time. I want to love the match with Benoit, especially since it does tell a neat little story given its short nature, but I don't think I got to see it until after the Benoit situation. I think it's worth noting that WrestleMania weekend brought an absurd amount of money into Detroit. Bob Barron: They could use it now Mattdotcom: Leading to today where we have cities going after Mania like they're trying for the Olympics King Kamala Classic: I'm personally campaiging for Mania 27 to take place at The Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. I'll even let some of the guys stay at my house to save on lodging. Bob Barron It beats Hartford! Dr. Venkman PhD Hey gang, just wanted to do a run in for Mania 23 as I was there live. I could not believe it when I read reports about how unlively the crowd was. I had to go to work the next day and had absolutely no voice... and the venom we all showed towards Batista and John Cena was amazing. I've been to Raw, SmackDown, house shows, Survivor Series, and a Royal Rumble... but none of that compares to a WrestleMania. Just waiting for Ford Field to open was an experience. News crews, vendors, people in homemade "Cena Sucks" t-shirts (with a picture of HBK superkicking him on the back), people going nuts. Bob Barron: Oh yea. At WM XX, when Fink said: WELCOME TO WRESSSSSSSSSSSSTLEMAAAAAAAAAAANIA I got goosebumps. I knew it was totally worth it no matter what happened Dr. Venkman PhD: The show itself... well, my view on the show is rather biased, but I thought it was great. Khali vs Kane sucked, Ashley vs. Melina sucked, and Flair working a dark match was a crime against wrestling. Mattdotcom: Flair doesn't even get the finish. Carlito wins it for the team. I can't believe Carlito gives all those interviews saying he hates to wrestle and then someone like HHH talks about passion and every year Carlito makes it onto the card. Dr. Venkman PhD But MITB 3, Batista/Taker, and HBK/Cena were excellent and made the show.I was really fearing Batista/Undertaker too, so kudos to them for getting pissed off over not closing the show and trying to steal it. And who didn't mark out for the barber chair having it's own entrance? Oh yeah, I have to mention this guy sitting in front of me at Mania 23: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/219/4444083...b271aaae1_o.jpg Mattdotcom: YES Smues: Nice jacket King Kamala Classic: wow. incredible Smues: And as someone who has also been to a Wrestlemania yeah nothing else compares. WM19 wasn't even my first PPV but it blows away normal PPVs. Dr. Venkman PhD: Live, there was a spot with Booker T I missed where he pulls out a step ladder and gets flustered. So it was nice to see on DVD. Smues: yeah the mini ladder was awesome Bob Barron: I like Hardy threatening Sharmell to goad Booker Mattdotcom: Booker T rules at getting frustrated Smues: As was Booker despite being a heel giving up his chance to win for his wife WrestleMania 24 Alkeiper: We got Ric Flair's retirement match, John Cena's kickass band entrance, Edge/Undertaker and killer fireworks, CM Punk winning money in the bank, and Mayweather/Show. I think it's a good show, but nothing tremendously overwhelms me about it Smues: WM24 is probably the weakest WM for since 18. It's still good, but no more than that. Nothing really awful, but no real blow away matches. UT/Edge is the closest thing they've got and it's great but not epic. And the ECW title thing was bizarre. That said, I love the atmosphere outside, it reminds me of WM9 but with a good card. And rain on the camera sometimes too, which is kind of annoying. Thi is also the only WWE show that I know of available in HD, and of course I had to get it in blu-ray. Outside of the WWE logo being like 20% of the way into the screen and not on the side it looks amazing and helps make the show more appealing I think. CM Punk winning MITB was nice and actually lead to something, but the match itself was just ok, not great. Oh and the boxing match was pretty lame, but not like a terrible WCW boxing match or anything, and at least better than the sumo match. And as noted, Cena's marching band entrance is possibly the best entrance ever. Just awesome. King Kamala Classic: I'm with Smues. Mildly underwhelming Mania. A lot of good matches. Heck, virtually everything except the women's match and Batista/Umaga is at least decent (I hardly count Chavo/Kane as a match). Taker, of all people, once again puts on one of the best matches of the night. Cena's entrance is fantastic, Flair's exit was good. Though in retrospect, I'm not sure if the final days of his career were how I would have done things if they inexplicably decided to hand me the book. I love the look of outdoor Manias. I really wish they could do it more often. I've always thought they should do SummerSlam at a smaller MLB park like Fenway or PNC Park in Pittsburgh but I guess that's a thought for The SummerSlam roundtable Bob Barron: Wrestlemania 24 is a really good show. Finlay-JBL is a fun garbage match although Finlay losing is kind of messed up. MITB is great, and I was going crazy for Punk and then he won! Batista-Umaga has Regal saying YOUMANGA. The crowd going: U-U-U-MAGA should've become a new chant.Flair v. HBK is really good, but not this all time classic people like to play it is. Watching the IWC play the who can get more emotional card re: Flair's retirement was always good for a laugh. The three-way is an awesome match, really underrated. I loved it when I saw it on 24-7. The finish is perfect and puts Orton over tremendously.Show-Mayweather is alright. Mayweather doesn't exactly do anything, but Mayweather's handlers make me laugh. Taker v. Edge is a great match. Watching it live, I didn't care, since I hate Undertaker, love Edge and knew Taker was going to win but the match slowly sucked me in and I really got into it. Taker v. Edge was really VINTAGE UNDERTAKER. Kane v. Chavo is hilarious, I could watch it all day. I would not have wanted to be near Vince when the lights went out. King's crack about Taker was funny. Cena's entrance rules. Mattdotcom: With all the debate over the quality of the build up this year, there's only one thing I can talk about when it comes to 24. The promo that Flair cut when he brought out the NWA title was the best money promo I've heard in years because it was the single defining factor in my friend and I purchasing the show live on PPV. It was the first time we'd done so in eight years. It didn't disappoint. The opening shot of the stadium was breathtaking. Sadly, the opener falls flat. JBL nailed Hornswoggle with a trashcan. That's about all that's worthwhile. He probably shouldn't have won the match, especially since it was the opener, but it happened. Since it turned out he was going to be getting pushed for nearly a year straight, I guess it worked out.Moving on, John Morrison hits a moonsault while HOLDING a ladder. I love Morrison in this MITB, especially when he tries climbing the ladder that's wedged in to another. I hated how they did a repeat of the ladder breaking in half, though. All the new stuff they tried makes the match work, not the rerun spots. Besides, nothing's scarier than Shelton's slip up after he balances himself on the top rope. I liked the finish with Punk and Jericho, too. Batista really bombed it up here, no pun intended. I really like Umaga, so the only part of the match I liked was the previously mentioned U U UMAGA chant. Good for Kane for getting his name in the fake history book for having the shortest match. That's a pretty cool accomplishment for the one main event guy out of the Attitude era who never got an extended run with the strap. I'm in the camp that LOVES Flair/Michaels, botches aside. I know I said it earlier, but Flair not being able to get the bridge adds to the story even if it detracts from the match. The only complaint I have is that I had hoped to see Flair lose in one of two ways: either going for the Figure 4 and getting small packaged or going for a slam and getting small packaged. I know it's too NWA for WWE but I would have loved that. Epic match. Epic robe. Epic fireworks. The wind blowing through Shawn's hair would also be epic if Michaels had more hair.Plus Michaels deciding to kill himself with moonsaults all night made me mark out. The woman's match is excusable this year because it gave us Santino calling Snoop Dogg "Snoopy the Dog!" Plus the Escalade golf cart Bob Barron I loved that promo Snoop cut where it was pro-Santino only to reveal that it was written by Santino Mattdotcom: Orton winning the triple threat was cool too. I love the punt. I was also glad to finally see a Doomsday Device with a crossbody thanks to Orton and Cena. That and their match against the Raw Roster makes me want them to team up down the road I may be in the minority but I love the Show/Mayweather match. Despite his involvement in WM 2000, I'd this is the first time they got Big Show in a good role for the literal big show I know the prematch stuff was marred with inconcsistencies but everyone accepting Big Show as the face led to such greatness as "HE CAN'T BE STEPPIN' ON HIM!" Show was so over after this match and I think they really blew it with him King Kamala Classic: yeah Show should have been a top babyface after that match but they had to do the requisite tall guy Vs tall guy feud instead Mattdotcom: Edge/Taker blows it all away. Edge countering every big move was fantastic. We kept repeatin this, but I'd say their post Mania matches aren't as good as this one. Plus Charles Robinson (who I was glad to see reffing the Flair match) running down the ramp is fantastic stuff. To sum it up, I love this show. It's not my top favorite, but it is up there Bob Barron: Coach and Cole though....they put Susan St. James in perspective. And on that note, we end our second to last part of our six part series on WrestleMania. I got something exciting up my sleeve though to fill in the void between WrestleMania and SummerSlam roundtables and it'll be interactive!

Yeah, unfortunately, I'm not sure if that Youku site will work. It's hella slow. An old episode of Thunder would be badass to do. Some suggestions from the site Timmy linked; August 19th, 1999 edition with not one, not two but three matches ending in disqualification as a result of Sid running in, an appearance by Coach Buzz Stern, Lenny Lane winning the WCW Cruiserweight title, and The Barbarian cutting a promo! Another suggestion; The May 31st, 1999 edition of Nitro from The Astro Dome featuring a David Flair Vs Erik Watts epic, Kevin Nash dumping sewage in Randy Savage's limo, edgy babyface Eric Bischoff on commentary, and an early appearance by Tank Abbott in the main event! Or The April 26th edition of Nitro with Flair in the mental asylum with Scott Hall and the WCW World title changing twice in one episode. Any of these options along with probably many others would be fine with me.

Wednesday will probably work. How are we doing this? Chatroom? Live thread? I think the live thread might be a better idea...also, people who happen to watch the show earlier or later than us can chip in their two cents. You aren't lying Jingus. This motherfucker is slow as hell. I might have to start loading now for Wednesday!

On a few odd occasions, I've read some celebrities Tweet's (most notably Shaq's---that shit cracks me up endlessly) but I don't think I'll ever do one myself. Don't spite anybody who does, just don't see a good enough reason to do.

Venk, I'm totally down for Tuesday night chats. Just shoot me an IM at some point tomorrow.

God damn, Jingus...I've got to finish a paper of the 1953 Iranian Coup D'Etat and you spring this shit on me? Tremendous. We are so watching Uncensored 2000! Sting/Luger in a lumberjack where all the lumberjacks are guys who got their arms broken by Luger! Sid/Jarrett! The immortal pairing of Norman Smiley and The Demon. Booker T and Ahmed Johnson fighting over the letter "T"! Dustin Rhodes beating up a dude in a chicken suit! YAPPIPI STRAP MATCH! YAPIPPI! And Fit Finlay manages to drag a half decent match out of Vampiro but we're not highlighting the decent stuff when you have YAPPIPI to talk about. Yep, we'll watch it at some point next week.

Warren G (ft. Nate Dogg)- "Regulate" (FTW) Smashing Pumpkins- "1979" 2Pac- California Love New Radicals- "You Get What You Give" (Hot asses<bucket hats)

Link plz. I always thought those might have more than three people in 'em if we did them in the style of live RAW threads.

I was on the fence but now that I see my good internet buddies, Cheech Tremendous and DrVenkmanPhD, I still think I'll post here on occasion.

I haven't gotten shit...was I supposed to get one? Am I in charge? Have mercy on all of us!

Like I said- I'm still in until this draft is done. Maybe after I'm not sure. What I'm wondering is if Mellow and al have left TSM, who is going to update the draft board in the first post?