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You can't be serious . . . Ahmed Johnson should never have been even CLOSE to the WWF title. In fact, if he tries to call Figures, Inc. to order a replica belt, he shouldn't be allowed to do that either. No Jakks Pacific toy foam belt, no 8x10 pics of anyone he knows with the belt, nothing. Don't even give him black paper, glue and glitter to make his own belt. Ahmed would've injured every challenger he had for the title, and then left his own injured kidney stapled to it when he finally forfeited the belt. My God, if Ahmed had won the WWF title, I wouldn't even be typing this right now, as I would've quit watching wrestling and taken up a new hobby, like eating shards of broken glass or repairing nail guns with a backfiring problem. Little Japanese children just started crying over your post proclaiming Ahmed as a should-be WWF champion.

Here's my "fantasy booking" for that situation: 1) Lex wins the title at SummerSlam, holds it until Survivor Series, where he loses it back to Yokozuna in a blowoff match. Let the Owen heel turn happen here, or on an episode of Raw prior to the Rumble. 2) Bret wins the title from Yokozuna at the Royal Rumble instead of the abortion of a match that was the UT/Yoko Casket Match. Owen wins the Rumble, to set up WrestleMania. Let UT die in the Rumble and be carted out in the casket - that way, the ten guys that are in the ring are at least there because it's the Rumble, not because it's an over-booked run-in extravaganza. And the looks on the faces of the guys that are still in the Rumble could be priceless - the lights come back up and they're still standing there going "what the fuck was that?" 3) Bret/Owen takes place at WMX, not as the curtain-jerker, but as the main event for the WWF title. Owen still wins, same match, but instead of a one or two star main event, we've got two five-star matches that headline. Would've made it an even better WrestleMania. 4) Instead of Bret/Diesel at KOTR for the title, we get Owen/Razor in the title vs. title, with Bret/Diesel in a #1 contenders match or something of the sort. Let Michaels or Jarrett win the KOTR, who cares. Bret wins, Owen retains, and were on our way to . . . . 5) SummerSlam '94 - Owen/Bret in a cage for the title, same match, same result, with Bret regaining instead of retaining. Clear as mud, or is that crazy non-senseless booking? I think it could've made things just a bit more interesting.

Kane should've never won it to begin with, it was just done to pop a rating the next Monday night. If anything, they could've held-up the belt via controversial finish in the First Blood KOTR match the next night, pending a rematch at Fully Loaded, where Austin regains the title. Or something like that . . . I don't know booking (as I look over to Mini-Me).

I agree - Rude was originally scheduled to wrestle Ron Simmons at Starrcade '92 for the WCW World title, and I'm quite sure he would have won it, but injury forced him out of the match. Simmons lost it a couple of days later at a house show to Vader, so I'm sure that was to make up for the Rude situation - they had planned on taking the belt off of him anyway before he tanked the entire company as champ, so Vader was the next logical choice. Vader couldn't wrestle Simmons at Starrcade, he was already booked with Sting as well as being in the BattleBowl, IIRC. Starrcade '92 wouldn't have sucked nearly as bad had the show gone off with the original matches, and not such tripe as Simmons vs. Steve Williams in a thrown-together match that NO ONE cared much about. As for someone who deserved it but never won it, I'd have to go with Orndorff on the WWF side, and maybe Barry Windham or Tully Blanchard in WCW/NWA. I think Nikita Koloff would've made a good champ in '86/'87 for at least a couple of months.

Congratulations, you attended WCW's last house show ever. Damn, I didn't realize it was their LAST house show . . that's pretty swank. Wait, no it's not . . . . no, yes it is . . . no, it's not . . . . OK, confused . . . . am I supposed to think that's cool, or really think that's pathetic? I think I'll have another.

OK, this may take a while . . . . I'm not gonna list the numerous indy shows and three or four Smoky Mountain Wrestling shows I went to during high school (graduated in '94) - SMW used to come to the high school I went to about every four months or so. Needless to say, I'm an SMW mark for life! OK . . first house show was Bluefield, WV - WCW in October '92 with a main event of Ron Simmons vs. Rick Rude for the WCW title. Pretty cool show, especially since it was my first "major league" show. Next, I went to Fall Brawl '94 in Roanoke, VA - sat six rows back from the double rings, on side facing the steady camera. My first PPV! Good show - Steamboat's last appearance in a ring for a LONG time - forfeits the title to Austin, who turns around and loses it to Duggan. Decent WarGames, I guess, but no blood. It was over a year before I got to go to my next show, a Nitro taping in Salem, VA, the night after the first World War 3 in '95. We sat front row, it was awesome, even for WCW. First time I'd seen Hogan and Savage in person. No matches were outstanding (DDP/Badd was OK), but it was just a good experience overall. Fall Brawl '96 from Winston-Salem was next, sat on the second row ringside, at the ring closest to the entrance, on the side with the stationery cam. The heat for the NWO was unreal, probably one of the loudest crowds I'd heard to that point. Fun show to go to. Nitro in Roanoke - 3/31/97 was next, in what had to be one of the worst shows I've ever been to. Sat near the top of the arena, and sat through such wonderful stuff as Luger/Giant vs. Rick Fuller/Roadblock, Dallas Page vs. Lance Ringo, and the Steiners vs. "Danger Danger" High Voltage. One highlight was a Jericho/Regal match, and Benoit vs. Hugh Morrus. Fall Brawl '97, again in Winston-Salem, was my next show. Good show, especially with the Guerrero/Jericho CW title match. Sat in the back of the floor, opposite of the entrance. Hard to see, but we still had fun. Next, I went to a RAW taping in Roanoke in late Nov. '97. If anyone remembers, this was the show where Austin drives his truck into the back of the arena during Rock's match, stands on top of the truck/bed and drinks beers. I can be seen through his truck window as he's getting out, I think it's even on one of his career-retro DVD's or videos. Good times, good times. Went to Nitro in Winston-Salem, NC on 3/9/98, with a main event of Sting/Savage/Giant vs. Hogan/Hall/Nash. Bleh show, nothing of note happened. Sat on the very upper row, top deck (next to the ceiling, yes LOL). Next, was a trip to Greensboro for Unforgiven '98, a week after our Nitro trip to NC. We sat at the back of the floor, directly next to the entrance. When Vince comes out (when he cuts his promo about Austin) - I yell at him "You're the man" - he looked right at me and smirked and said "Thanks" - I marked out like a madman, it was pretty damned awesome. It was quite a while before my next show, but it was well worth it. Feb. 6th, 99. Concord, NC - an ECW house show. It was the most insane thing I'd ever been to in my life. I think the fire marshall could've shut the place down, there were more people jammed into a little rec-center gym than I'd ever seen before. Highlight of this show was Taz breaking Sabu's jaw with a brutal clothesline that was replayed on many of the ECW TV shows in the next several weeks. Awesome stuff. Then, two WWF shows, on two nights in June '99 - King of the Ring in Greensboro, and RAW the night after in Charlotte. KOTR was horrible. Period. The Rock/UT title match was mildly entertaining, everything else was just terrible. Sat near the top, upper level, and it was probably a good thing we couldn't see much, because I'd probably have been even more irritated at how bad it was. RAW the next night was a different story. Sat a little lower down in the arena in Charlotte, and got to see Austin win the title from UT to one of the loudest pops I've ever heard. My first WWF title change LIVE! Cool enough. Went to Unforgiven '99 in Charlotte - good show, with the six-pack challenge, and Jericho/X-Pac. Sat right next to the stationery cam, so we had a really good view. One of the better shows I'd been to. Got married in July 2000, and as a gift to me, my wife got us tickets to SummerSlam 2000 in Raleigh (we'd moved to Myrtle Beach right after the wedding for my wife's new job). We had nosebleed seats, but it's still probably the best show I've ever been to (except for the ECW show, which is just a completely different experience). TLC was awesome live, and so was Shane's insane bump off the entrance. Smackdown taping in Charleston, SC was next - Feb. '01. Big Show vs. Rock was the Main Event. Sat next to the ramp, so needless to say it was awesome. Good show, even as slowly paced as a Smackdown taping can be. WCW House Show March '01 from Johnson City, TN was next (we were back up here visiting family, and a DJ friend got us free tickets). Pitiful show, Smoky Mountain drew more fans than WCW did here that night. I think the main event was DDP/Dustin vs. Steiner/Jarrett. At least I can say I went to one of the last WCW shows, but thank God it was free. Went to a WWF house show in Bristol, TN next the weekend of Survivor Series '01(wife's job had moved us back to Tennessee). Good for a house show, again, free tickets from the good radio-station DJ friend. Main event was RVD/Raven for the Hardcore title, and Edge vs. Test. Cool thing about this show was the OVW Exhibition match that was the curtain-jerker, with Crash, Randy Orton & Ron Waterman vs. Billy Kidman, Tommy Dreamer & Rico Constantino. Good show. Didn't go to any shows in '02 at all, but got free tics again to a Smackdown house show in Johnson City, TN - May '03, the night after Judgment Day. Main event was Lesnar/Mysterio vs. Big Show/Cena. Good show, the free tics were front row ringside. Hella good fun. Finally, the second week of December 2004 - on Monday, 12/6, went to a Smackdown house show in Johnson City. Free tics again, this time next to the entrance to the arena. Pretty good for a house show. Headlined by JBL/Booker/Eddie triple threat and UT/Heidenreich. Then, my wife and I, and a couple that she works with went to Atlanta the next weekend. While my wife and her friend went to the Nutcracker in downtown Atlanta, her friend's husband and I went to Armageddon '04. OK show, more fun in person that it was watching it on DVD a couple of weeks ago. Cool thing about this show was staying at the Holiday Inn across the parking lot for the weekend. No standing in line waiting to get it, and after the show, no waiting in traffic. Just a 5 minute walk each way. Very cool, especially after a few beers at the arena. Next stop? I hope it's SummerSlam in DC this August. I'm trying like hell to talk her into a weekend there with the couple we went to Atlanta with, but we'll see how that goes. And please, God, let them hold a WrestleMania somewhere remotely close to here soon . . . that would be the pinnacle of my wrestling experience. There you have it, my complete history of attendance at WCW/WWE/ECW shows. And my longest post ever. I'm sure you're bored all to hell by now, but it was good memories trying to remember all this info, with a little help from results boards for the earlier shows. Now . . . time for a beer.

OK, I'm really wanting to get some more ROH in my collection. I've got one of their DVD's (The Era of Honor Begins), and I'm looking to purchase more. I'm sure there are some ROH fans in here that can give me some good advice. Let's say I can only buy 3 DVD's right now - which three shows are vital to add to my collection? Give me some feedback and help me decide which ROH shows deserve to be added to my wrestling DVD and video collection.

Heh, the good ol' "WrestleMania on DVD" post - this gets brought up every so often . . . I think they eventually will, maybe releasing two or three at a time, or something of that sort. They've been releasing them two at a time in the UK under the name "Tagged Classics" . . . they really don't have to worry much about the Wildlife guys until you get to the Attitude era with the scratch logo, plus omitting the letters WWF when said out loud . . . plus having to edit the word "Hulk" from Hogan's name. Maybe it would be a bigger pain in the ass to release them after all.

I've heard people rave about how good World Title Classic is . . . I've almost convinced myself to pick that one up. I'm not so much into watching stuff in order, as I am by getting the best quality matches/promos/etc. I can kinda get a "refresher" on the storylines by visiting a lot of the websites that follow ROH. Thanks a ton for the advice! Anyone else?

Yep, sounds like a hella good show, no doubt.

That was my thought, I'd never heard of it either . . . McMahon Stadium? Heh, that would be too funny. WM22 at McMahon Stadium.

Ya know, that's why Vince deserves a kick in the ass (or now, a kick squarely on his injured knee) for letting Gail Kim, Nidia, and Jazz go. We'll get a combination of Trish/Molly/Victoria for the next 6 months . . . that should be fresh and entertaining come SummerSlam time. At the least, they need to draft Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson over to RAW to help fill in. Yes, they suck, but at least it gives us SOMETHING more than the same three women for such a long period of time.

He's our lord and savior, or something. I love the guy to bits too, but suckas need to lay off of EVERYTHING being some mass conspiracy to bury him. Heh . . . . I'd bet even Benoit himself would be like "dammit, shut up guys, there ARE other wrestlers on this roster that deserve a little bit of credit"

Agreed. I'm a huge Benoit mark too, but hell, he's not the only wrestler in the WWE. I think if some of you had it your way, you'd just produce about 65 clones of Benoit, and they'd wrestle each other in every match, every night, for every title. Enough already. So they didn't focus on him the entire night - it didn't ruin the match . . . although I'm sure a ton of you guys are calling it "Worst PPV Ever" since he wasn't the focal point of the Rumble match.

...or they just have a different opinion than you. Here's my own damned opinion . . . The PPV was awesome - if UT/Heidenreich hadn't occured, it would've been even better. HBK/Edge was really good, would probably give that one ***1/2 UT/Heidenreich was * at best, the ONLY thing saving it was the Snitsky/Kane interference, and the bump with Heidenreich halfway in the casket getting a legdrop from UT. The WWE title triple threat was pretty solid, I thought. *** HHH/Orton was superb. I know, I'll get flamed because everyone's two least favorite wrestlers were involved, but sue me - I liked the match. **** The Rumble itself was off the chain. Better than 04, on a pretty even par with 92. The ONLY thing that killed this Rumble was the ending, and I can even look over it, considering Vince probably busted a nut AND a kneecap trying to get in the ring. I have a feeling that he was supposed to speak and restart the match, but the whole thing went to hell when he couldn't even get in the ring properly. ****3/4 As a whole, it's one of the best PPV's in the last 5 years, without question. I'm stoked about WrestleMania, even moreso than last year. HHH/Batista will hopefully have a "big match" feel (assuming that's the route they take), and Angle/HBK should be about ten kinds of wrestling goodness.

I would guess that's Tom Zenk under the "Yellow Dog" mask . . . . Wow, gotta love WCW 1991.

$11.99??? Are you serious? Did they sell you a jar of Vaseline to go with that, because you got SCREWED! The suggested retail price on the Andre DVD is $9.95 - as in, that's what WWE Shopzone is charging for it. You can order it from Deepdiscountdvd.com for $5.99, and it is available at Best Buy (saw it there tonight) for $6.99. I seriously don't see how places like FYE stay in business . . . they've usually got stuff jacked up WAY too high. Most of the time, WWE DVD's at FYE are at least $4-$6 higher than anywhere else, sometimes even moreso. I once saw WrestleMania XX there for $39.99, when you could get it for $20-$28 if you looked just a little bit. What a f'n ripoff. I'd drive 50 miles for a DVD before I ever gave FYE a dime of my money, but that's just me. I guess if its the only choice you've got, then ya do what ya gotta do.

WWE.com has posted the PPV schedule, with locations for most events, through Royal Rumble '06. Most notably, it looks like SummerSlam will be at the MCI Center in Washington DC, Survivor Series will be in Detroit, and next year's Rumble will be in Miami. And it looks like they've definitely penciled in that ECW show in New York for 6/12. Here's the direct link to the list, in case anyone wonders about its validity. Royal Rumble | Sunday, January 30, 2005 | Fresno, CA RAW & SmackDown! PPV No Way Out | Sunday, February 20, 2005 | Pittsburgh, PA SmackDown! PPV WrestleMania 21 | Sunday, April 3, 2005 | Los Angeles, CA RAW & SmackDown! PPV Backlash | Sunday, May 1, 2005 | Manchester, NH RAW PPV Judgment Day | Sunday, May 22, 2005 | Minneapolis, MN SmackDown! PPV TBD | Sunday, June 12, 2005 | New York, NY TBD Vengeance | Sunday, June 26, 2005 | Las Vegas, NV RAW PPV The Great American Bash | Sunday, July 24, 2005 | Buffalo, NY SmackDown! PPV Summerslam | Sunday, August 21, 2005 | Washington DC RAW & SmackDown! PPV Unforgiven | Sunday, September 18, 2005 | TBD RAW PPV No Mercy | Sunday, October 9, 2005 | TBD SmackDown! PPV Taboo Tuesday | Tuesday, November 1, 2005 | San Diego, CA RAW PPV Survivor Series | Sunday, November 27, 2005 | Detroit, MI RAW & SmackDown! PPV Armageddon | Sunday, December 18, 2005 | TBD SmackDown! PPV New Year's Revolution | Sunday, January 8, 2006 | TBD RAW PPV Royal Rumble | Sunday, January 29, 2006 | Miami, FL RAW & SmackDown! PPV

Yep, I'd say you did just fine with that purchase. SummerSlam '99 is a pretty good event, as is Unforgiven 2001 (especially Austin/Angle and RVD/Y2J). I personally went to SummerSlam 2000 in Raleigh, and it was an outstanding PPV live. Got the DVD last year, and it again didn't disappoint. The first TLC match is on there, plus Rock/Angle/HHH (Angle gets a legit concussion, thus fucking up the match - but, in their defense, it was still a really solid outing). Those two matches alone were worth it, but you've also got Shane McMahon falling from the top of the SummerSlam entrance in an insane bump (padding or not), and a really good Jericho/Benoit 2 out of 3 fall match. Good purchase, my friend, hope you enjoy them.

Yes, that picture of Ahmed Johnson needs to be promptly flushed down the first available toilet. If it's on any sort of disc or related recordable media, please use a hammer or even a powerful blender/food processor/garbage disposal to destroy before flushing. If it's a scanned picture, a paper shredder or pair of scissors should suffice. Please take a dump on said remnants before flushing, and remember to NEVER post anything that inhuman or vile on these boards again. Thank you.

The matches are the main feature. I just picked up a copy during my lunch break today. Note to my fellow Canadians: It's at HMV now. What's up with Canada getting a WWE release before we do? I thought they were usually a month or so behind us. It's a conspiracy! If I could explain distribution inconsistencies to you, I would. Actually, instead, I'll spend that sort of time watching the DVD. (I can finally watch that Robbie V vs. Pat Rose match!) On a side note, do you guys think there'll be much in the way of intros for RVD in the footage, particularly in ECW? It'll be funny watching the fans go "RE....SPECT....WALK!" while One Of A Kind (or RVD's other WWF theme) is playing. I sincerely believe the ECW entrances will be edited all to hell. The only cool thing with ECW is that most of the time, the wrestlers weren't actually introduced until they were both/all in the ring.

The matches are the main feature. I just picked up a copy during my lunch break today. Note to my fellow Canadians: It's at HMV now. What's up with Canada getting a WWE release before we do? I thought they were usually a month or so behind us. It's a conspiracy!

Tomorrow is the scheduled release date for the Andre the Giant and Best of the Intercontinental Title DVD's by WWE. Of course, these are just rehashes of old Coliseum Vids, but they'll definitely be something that I'll pick up. Even though they're not SUPPOSED to come out until tomorrow, has anyone seen them anywhere yet? If Wal-Mart has them, they'll probably be in the $5.50 cheap DVD bin, since they're only retail-priced at $9.99. Best of WM and Boyhood Dream both were in that bin upon release. So, has anyone found them yet?

Checked two Wal-Mart's in my area last night, and neither one had them, but they did have Armageddon 2004. Seems like Wal-Mart (at least in our area) is kinda hit-and-miss on what WWE DVD's they carry - they hadn't carried a new once since SummerSlam here where I live, and then they get Armageddon? Seems kinda erratic to me.

The Great American Bash switch to July kinda fits, that's the month that they used to always have it in . . . what I wouldn't give to see them do a "War Games" match there for the main event. It'll NEVER happen, but I guess I can dream, right? not really....WCW moved the Bash to June in the mid 90's and kept it there until it was done. -Paul Jacobi- I'm talking old-school Great American Bash in July, when the show actually meant something, not the Great American Bashes of WCW late 90's headlined by such great matches as Nash vs. Savage and Sting vs. The Giant in a ONE-ON-ONE Tag title defense. God, what a nightmare.