The Dames

Bob, buy a pair of pants already please. You should have walking pneumonia by now. Dames

To be honest with you, naiwf, I'm still in shock to this moment about that scene with Shane and Lem and it sure puts the last 2 seasons in perspective to the point that I really didnt care about the fight between Vic and Kavanaugh. It was theraputic for Vic for about 10 seconds, but the reality has set in. One of his own has been murdered. By his best friend. Dames

She is THE reason why I am watching the Real World this season and I haven't been able to stomach an entire season for a few years now. Dames

I...I can't comprehend this. I can't believe how hard hit I was by this episode tonight. I considered Shane to be one of my favorite characters tonight and that scene with Lem....from the moment they hugged, I felt something was off. In one instant, he turned himself 100% heel better than any moment I've seen in professional wrestling in about a decade. I FEEL HURT. I FEEL BETRAYED. Part of me feels absolutely silly for feeling this way about a fucking TV show, but dammit, I've put so much time and emotion into these characters that this simply broke my heart. I dont think I've ever felt this HURT from watching a show in my life. That scene will go down in my life as probably the most defining moment of TV that I'll ever watch. Dames

I live in Bristol, CT now... Home of nothing but old people and the biggest Ghost Town I've EVER seen. Coming from life in the Bronx is definitely a big culture shock. Rent is CHEAP here. I've got a 1 BD apt that goes for 525 a month...when you'll pay at least double that in the city. But getting back to the original point, I blame MTV. Seriously. I'd explain in more detail but anyone who's turned on MTV in the last 3-5 years has seen the influence this shit has had on today's society. It seriously pisses me off. It basically encourages stupidity, being anti-authority and being sexually active (be it gay or straight), despite the fact that the shows main viewers are 14+. And this comes from someone who actually used to watch MTV on a regular basis up until about 3 or 4 years ago. Dames

But in reality, the first one isn't that great. And those who didn't "get" the sequels probably don't "get" many movies to begin with, either. You have to be a blithering moron to be confused by the Matrix trilogy. Or maybe not blithering, but close enough. I think its more that Xion was so gay (which is the first half hour of the second movie, and 4/5's of the third movie) that it was a turnoff to fans. Also they took alot of ideas they set up in the first one (about Neo, Morpheus, even Xion) and threw them completely out the window. I was willing to forgive Matrix Reloaded (which I thought was shit on unmercifully by the fans) as long as Revolutions did well. Then Revolutions pissed me off to the fact that I've never seen the Matrix sequels again, don't own the DVD's (which is hard for me since I'm a completist and I have the original and Animatrix) and in my opinion, the last 30 minutes of Revolutions completely destroyed the trilogy. I felt like I had wasted 9 hours of my life watching the Matrix movies at that point. Imagine if at the end of LOTR, Frodo lost the Ring and the entire cast of characters just threw their hands up in the air and said "Oh well, guess we wasted all this time and effort for nothing" and the credits rolled. That's how I feel about the Matrix Revolutions. Dames

I actually attended one of the ECW shows that Scott Hall appeared on in Schenectedy, NY back in late 99/early 00 I believe. I'm pretty sure his run was only a 3 show stint. Dames

You are all pathetic. Dames

Ok...So, Zeke and the "Others" use theatrical glue and have bad wardrobes to go out and try and blend in with the jungle. This IS all related to Dharma somehow... But why is Walt whispering! Thats the question I want answered now. Dames

I loved it. I love seeing guys train. It makes the battles seem a lot more important. Where should I know Rachelle Leah from? Dames

In the 3+ years of TNA, I reviewed the first 50 or 60 weeks for this site. Oh, the memories. The Truth promo with Ricky Steamboat. I remember watching that and being blown away by Truth's promo ability and the total execution of it that practically turned him babyface just by pleading his case. The buildup to Destiny....and how PISSED the crowd was when the 3 count went down. The newspapers flying into the ring... The first Lynn/Low Ki/Styles match... Seeing Ultimate X blow up in their face with the X falling down twice during the match. I couldn't help but laugh because I initially hated the gimmick. I'm still not a fan. AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn feuding for the X Title while teaming up to be Tag Champs in the first few weeks really put over AJ Styles to a new audience quickly. The Truth defending the title against Low Ki. TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES OFF THE TOP~! I don't remember the last time he did that move. Everything Mike Sanders did in TNA. HEY~!!! Glenn Gilberti's rise to main event status, only to job and go RIGHT back into a lower midcarder. The TNA Cage girls...MOLLY AND LOLLIPOP!! The original Heel Section. There's more, but we'd be here all night. Dames

TSM Posters, There are too many people consistently changing their name to the point that I don't even know who is who anymore. Some do it for fun, others do it for gimmicks, either way, it's distracting and when I have to ask who is who and if such and such person is a previously banned poster, something is wrong. After next Monday night, there will be no more name changes until April 2nd, unless it is needed (such as for E-Feds or something important). So, I suggest that you all choose a username that you will be happy with by Monday and request your change in this thread. Dames

I received an e-mail from someone who writes for the Oratory and posted an article on June 5th. An excerpt from this article is as such: "How many times have you heard a wrestling fan say that we should all be eternally grateful to Vince McMahon for masterminding the rise of professional wrestling, and bringing it to each of us on such a grand scale? I know I used to express such a sentiment. As a ‘mark’ I used to think that we had McMahon to thank for popularising wrestling to such an extent that it almost became a legitimate mainstream attraction. I used to think that we had McMahon to thank for making wrestling a global phenomenon. I used to think that McMahon was the ‘genius’ responsible for breeding literally millions of wrestling fans. I’d bet that almost all of you would have agreed with me at one time or other, and the vast majority of you would still agree with these statements even now. You know what? You’d be right to agree. That is, you’d be right EXCEPT for a few small details: this is NOT wrestling, the WWE’s impressive globalisation represents more the rise of corporate dominance than it does the rise of wrestling, and these ‘wrestling fans’ are barely fans of wrestling at all: they are merely shallow victims of corporate branding. Welcome to the world in which the corporation is king. ‘The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multi-national corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be traced back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid-1980s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products,’ (Pg. 3 of No Logo, a book at the forefront of the anti-corporate movement, by Naomi Klein). This is not going to be just another column bashing the WWE, as fun as those always are. This is a column about a shift which started to take shape in the mid eighties when corporations stopped marketing products, and began marketing brands. When the WWE ceased to focus on wrestling (i.e. its product) and instead began focusing on the branding process – a process which has entailed drastic changes in the nature of the wrestling business, and has had dramatic consequences. This has all been brought to my attention by studying sociology, through which it has become clear that the success of the WWE is merely the result of a prevalent trend in wider society today: the rise of the corporation. The WWE is not the most successful wrestling company in the world because it is the best at producing, or even marketing, wrestling. On the contrary, it is simply the best at marketing brands. And yes, this is a bad thing. There are reasons why thousands of protesters have joined the anti-corporate movement in an attempt to bring down these corporations: they prioritise marketing above product, they concentrate on building an emotional tie with consumers so that consumers either don’t notice or simply don’t care that their product is inferior to another, and they end up breeding a fan base of mindless individuals. Rather than instigating the rise of wrestling, McMahon has merely instigated the rise of the WWE. The two are entirely different. One emphasises choice and concentrates on providing the best possible product (i.e. wrestling), the other opposes choice and attempts to breed fans loyal to its brand, rather than hungry for the best product. The WWE’s success lies largely in its ability to breed the mindless. ‘I haven’t the slightest idea what professional wrestling is…we don’t do professional wrestling…we’re in the entertainment industry and we’re about sports-entertainment…we combine all these different elements together and you have this wonderful hybrid of which there’s nothing like it on television,’ (Vince McMahon on Inside Edition, February 1999). McMahon doesn’t promote wrestling. He promotes his own brand of sports entertainment, and tries to build that all important emotional tie with customers by emphasising the underlying themes behind it. Just like Nike might imply that using their products will bring you the athleticism exhibited by its promoters (e.g. Michael Jordan), or Starbucks might like to pretend that there is some wonderfully romantic experience behind drinking a cup of their coffee, the WWE has most recently suggested that viewers will absorb a certain attitude from watching their product. As McMahon himself conceded in his infamous interview with Bob Costas, ‘this is brand building; this is not just television programming and that’s the thing that I think a lot of people, quite frankly, miss’. Although he was referencing the XFL in that instance, his attitude is plain to see: brand building is far more important than producing a good product. History would certainly support him here. Sociologists trace the origins of the branding process back to the economic recession of the eighties, out of which emerged a new type of corporation: one which marketed brands which built an emotional tie with customers to ensure their loyalty to that brand. It is no co-incidence that the WWE began to take off at the same time. Furthermore, I would even argue that it is no co-incidence that a momentary downfall in WWE business really started at the same time as the entire branding process declined for a short while: during the early nineties. Guess when the resurgence of the brand was? The mid nineties, as was the resurgence of wrestling. Now brands have faded again, and I shouldn’t need to tell you that wrestling has, once again, followed their lead and faded with them. Brand building brings business, and with that business comes a degree of loyalty, which might explain why so many mindless fans are not only watching, but genuinely enjoying, some of the typically awful WWE programming today which even dedicated fans cringe at. These are the mindless fans that the WWE has worked so hard to breed. There may not be so many of them around today with the decline of branding but, unfortunately, the mindless still meander among us. These are the fans that cheer the ‘Mr America’ angle, even though any fan with even a semblance of intelligence is all but reduced to tears during his segments with the dastardly evil genius Mr McMahon. These are the fans that cheer the very personification of evil dancing around in a thong, even though Rikishi’s embarrassing act was nauseating when it began three and a half years ago. These are the fans that rejoice in cheering any woman mindless enough to sell her body like a prostitute, and froth at the mouth come the mere sight of bare female skin. These are the fans that cheer any act of patriotism, no matter how blind or nonsensical, as long as it demonstrates a love for one’s country. These are the fans that revel in mindlessness. These are at least partially the result of corporate branding, which has not only kept them hooked to a particular product (the WWE), but has made them refrain from considering unbranded alternatives where the product is actually far superior. I’m not suggesting for a minute that a revival in the popularity of the branding process will miraculously reverse the WWE’s dying fortunes, but it is clear that the rise of the corporation has brought branding and success inextricably together, and the WWE’s turnaround will depend not only on distributing a better product, but also on marketing that product effectively. This is where Vince’s real strength lies. He has never been a great wrestling promoter, as those ‘in the know’ have been saying for years. How many times has he been declared a wrestling genius? Not nearly as many as he has been called a marketing genius. In researching this article I came across one critic commenting that he has to sell the sizzle, because the steak is simply not enough on its own. Historically, this is difficult to argue with. Even Ric Flair locates the difference in wrestling’s popularity today to its relative unpopularity years ago in its marketing, not its product: ‘I think the biggest difference in the business is the marketing, but that entails so much in terms of the characters that the guys build themselves into, the way the company markets them. I don't think there's a marketing concept in the NBA, the NFL, or the NHL that can even compare with the marketing concepts behind the WWE, and the way they promote their wrestlers to the fans, and the show itself,’ (Ric Flair on Channel Surfing with Lisa). So much has changed from when wrestling was genuinely a family owned, family orientated industry, to where it is now, in which everything is ‘in the name of television ratings. It’s in the name of attracting a higher rating, a higher-quality sponsor and ultimately more money. It’s all about that’ (Vince McMahon in an interview with Raw magazine, March 2001). In other words, it’s about the corporate pursuit of capital, which is far removed from its foundation of actual wrestling. Wrestling is all but a forgotten by product of a controversial brand – watch, listen to or read any interview with McMahon, and how much discussion goes on about actual wrestling, and the actual matches themselves? In researching this column I can’t recall seeing any. It’s all about the themes behind the product, the controversial content, the glamorous characters; the list goes on and on until you eventually find wrestling at the bottom of McMahon’s priorities. Wrestling is undeniably a key component to a product, and it can undoubtedly draw business in itself, but the sad truth is that when talking about the WWE, the actual wrestling is often the last thing on the minds of the mainstream. The brand comes first. ‘Within these real and virtual branded edifices, options for unbranded alternatives, for open debate, criticism and uncensored art – for real choice – are facing new and ominous restrictions… the terrible irony of these surrogates, of course, is how destructive they are proving to be to the real thing,’ (No Logo, pgs. 131 and 158). Unfortunately, whilst the heavily branded WWE may have benefited enormously from the rise of the corporation, in its path is an ominous trail of destruction. The key concepts behind McMahon’s sports entertainment brand have often involved vulgarity, a lack of morality, and invariably controversy, which have been absolutely devastating to other wrestling companies. Why? Because the WWE is the biggest ‘wrestling’ organisation around, therefore whatever they do is taken by the Mr Average Joe to be representative of wrestling in general. And so now, thanks to the WWE, wrestling carries a very unwelcome stigma which makes it extremely difficult for any other wrestling company to get a TV deal, to attract the sceptical onlooker, or to even be taken seriously. The lack of real choice has been seriously restricted, so much so that even McMahon himself failed to attain a timeslot in which to showcase WCW when he wanted one in 2001, which is of course what caused the rushed embarrassment that was the invasion angle. Far from being the masterpiece behind the ascension of wrestling to previously unforeseen heights, McMahon has, in many ways, been irrevocably destructive to it. Just as the anti-corporate movement predicts, the rise of the big corporation selling a brand rather than a product is ‘destructive to the real thing’. What chance does a legitimate wrestling promotion like Ring of Honour have anymore? We can only hope that the decline of the brand will be met with a revival of the actual product: wrestling. Not only is it difficult for any other wrestling organisation to be taken seriously nowadays, but the fans themselves have been made a part of the problem. No Logo details that the rise of the corporation produces ‘shallow, depthless identities’, and the WWE can be accused of producing the same mindlessness in their fans. I’m not saying that everyone who is a mindless wrestling fan is a mindless person when they’re removed from a wrestling environment, but moreover that whilst watching WWE programming, the promotion encourages fans to turn their brains off and recoils in horror at the mere suggestion that fans should be able to critically evaluate it, as the WWE’s war on the internet is evidence enough of. Through years of corporate wrestling, fans have by now been conditioned to demand various theatrical elements from a wrestling program in addition to the pure wrestling, so much so that even a supposedly pure wrestling promotion in ROH have resorted to mixing their top class wrestling with often irrelevant entertainment. There is little hope for wrestling as a product in and of itself now. Whether or not that is a bad thing is entirely subjective, but what any objective mind will acknowledge is that what is a bad thing is fans chanting boring during a great wrestling match like Lesnar vs Angle (as they did during parts of their Wrestlemania match), screaming for ‘puppies’ whenever a female performer appears on screen, and calling for mindless violence with weapons whenever a suitable prop is in sight. This has not necessarily been caused by the WWE, but they have harboured these concepts to such an extent that fans now have set expectations when watching wrestling, and are often intolerant of alternatives. In a sense, they have been branded. Society as a whole now features more ‘bandwagon jumping’ than ever, with ‘individuals’ keen to follow the latest trends and conform to what is supposedly fashionable. But once again, they don’t necessarily want the best product. More often than not they don’t listen to the most talented bands, watch the best films or wear the best clothes. On the contrary, fashion dictates their every move and they are so conscious of their own social appearance that they won’t even allow unbranded or unfashionable alternatives a chance, regardless of the quality of their product. This is unavoidably linked with wrestling, whereby ‘wrestling fans’ are keen to jump on the latest bandwagon and support the most fashionable brand, therefore if a new promotion comes along with new ideas or a new approach, ‘fans’ are all too often unwilling to even listen. They have to be seen to be following the best. And for them, given its history and unparalleled media attention, the WWE is the best. Heck, for most of them the WWE is wrestling. These people no longer have an individual identity as wrestling fans. They are merely victims of the branding phenomenon, and forever loyal to the brand that has brought wrestling meaning (for them). WCW had a distinct brand of its own. A brand that brought many customers the same sense of attachment to WCW as the WWE has with a large portion of its own fan base. Is it any wonder that those branded WCW fans are no longer watching? Their brand goes, and with it goes the meaning they attached to wrestling, and since the rise of the corporation has stripped them of their identity, many of them lack even the personal motivation to bother finding another wrestling company. " Now, let's take a look at Paul Votsis' column.... "Just wanted to blurt out a very solemn "Rest in Peace" to "Classy" Freddy Blassie. I am ignorant of him and his era, however I'm not dumb enough to miss the fact that he meant a lot to the WWE and pro-wrestling in general. Rest in peace, Fred. I'm sure everyone who is viewing this piece is wondering what kind of articles will I be producing every week from here on. In case your eyes have been staring at a computer screen for 24 hours (which I'm sure they have), glance quickly at the title of this column, and you'll (hopefully) get the idea. I'm here writing on The Smart Marks to vent any particular frustration or anger I have with the wrestling world in general. I am a very avid wrestling fan and too many times in the past year have I been given plenty of reasons to just disregard pro-wrestling and find another form of entertainment. One of those reasons has been the WWE. No, I'm not going to just blab on about how the WWE is a sinking ship and Triple H is the anti-Christ (that's for sometime down the road). We all have our specific pet peeves with Vince McMahon's multi-million dollar company, and frankly, over the past few months I've been disillusioned over one specific annoyance of mine. How many times have you heard a wrestling fan say that we should all be eternally grateful to Vince McMahon for masterminding the rise of professional wrestling, and bringing it to each of us on such a grand scale? I know I used to express such a sentiment. As a ‘mark’ I used to think that we had McMahon to thank for popularizing wrestling to such an extent that it almost became a legitimate mainstream attraction. I used to think that we had McMahon to thank for making wrestling a global phenomenon. I used to think that McMahon was the ‘genius’ responsible for breeding literally millions of wrestling fans. I’d bet that almost all of you would have agreed with me at one time or other, and the vast majority of you would still agree with these statements even now. You know what? You’d be right to agree. That is, you’d be right EXCEPT for a few small details: this is NOT wrestling, the WWE’s impressive globalization represents more the rise of corporate dominance than it does the rise of wrestling, and these ‘wrestling fans’ are barely fans of wrestling at all: they are merely shallow victims of corporate branding. Welcome to the world in which the corporation is king. ‘The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multi-national corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be traced back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid-1980s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products,’ (Pg. 3 of No Logo, a book at the forefront of the anti-corporate movement, by Naomi Klein). This is not going to be just another column bashing the WWE, as fun as those always are. This is a column about a shift which started to take shape in the mid eighties when corporations stopped marketing products, and began marketing brands. When the WWE ceased to focus on wrestling (i.e. its product) and instead began focusing on the branding process – a process which has entailed drastic changes in the nature of the wrestling business, and has had dramatic consequences. This has all been brought to my attention by studying sociology, through which it has become clear that the success of the WWE is merely the result of a prevalent trend in wider society today: the rise of the corporation. The WWE is not the most successful wrestling company in the world because it is the best at producing, or even marketing, wrestling. On the contrary, it is simply the best at marketing brands. And yes, this is a bad thing. There are reasons why thousands of protesters have joined the anti-corporate movement in an attempt to bring down these corporations: they prioritise marketing above product, they concentrate on building an emotional tie with consumers so that consumers either don’t notice or simply don’t care that their product is inferior to another, and they end up breeding a fan base of mindless individuals. Rather than instigating the rise of wrestling,! McMahon has merely instigated the rise of the WWE. The two are entirely different. One emphasis choice and concentrates on providing the best possible product (i.e. wrestling), the other opposes choice and attempts to breed fans loyal to its brand, rather than hungry for the best product. The WWE’s success lies largely in its ability to breed the mindless. ‘I haven’t the slightest idea what professional wrestling is…we don’t do professional wrestling…we’re in the entertainment industry and we’re about sports-entertainment…we combine all these different elements together and you have this wonderful hybrid of which there’s nothing like it on television,’ (Vince McMahon on Inside Edition, February 1999). McMahon doesn’t promote wrestling. He promotes his own brand of sports entertainment, and tries to build that all important emotional tie with customers by emphasizing the underlying themes behind it. Just like Nike might imply that using their! products will bring you the athleticism exhibited by its promoters (e .g. Michael Jordan), or Starbucks might like to pretend that there is some wonderfully romantic experience behind drinking a cup of their coffee, the WWE has most recently suggested that viewers will absorb a certain attitude from watching their product. As McMahon himself conceded in his infamous interview with Bob Costas, ‘this is brand building; this is not just television programming and that’s the thing that I think a lot of people, quite frankly, miss’. Although he was referencing the XFL in that instance, his attitude is plain to see: brand building is far more important than producing a good product. History would certainly support him here. Sociologists trace the origins of the branding process back to the economic recession of the eighties, out of which emerged a new type of corporation: one which marketed brands which built an emotional tie with customers to ensure their loyalty to that brand. It is no co-incidence that the WWE began to take off at ! the same time. Furthermore, I would even argue that it is no co-incidence that a momentary downfall in WWE business really started at the same time as the entire branding process declined for a short while: during the early nineties. Guess when the resurgence of the brand was? The mid nineties, as was the resurgence of wrestling. Now brands have faded again, and I shouldn’t need to tell you that wrestling has, once again, followed their lead and faded with them. Brand building brings business, and with that business comes a degree of loyalty, which might explain why so many mindless fans are not only watching, but genuinely enjoying, some of the typically awful WWE programming today which even dedicated fans cringe at. These are the mindless fans that the WWE has worked so hard to breed. There may not be so many of them around today with the decline of branding but, unfortunately, the mindless still meander among us. These are the fans that cheer the ‘Mr America’ angle, even though any fan with even a semblance of intelligence is all but reduced to tears during his segments with the dastardly evil genius Mr. McMahon. These are the fans that cheer the very personification of evil dancing around in a thong, even though Rikishi’s embarrassing act was nauseating when it began three and a half years ago. These are the fans that rejoice in cheering any woman mindless enough to sell her body like a prostitute, and froth at the mouth come the mere sight of bare female skin. These are the fans that cheer any act of patriotism, no matter how blind or nonsensical, as long as it demonstrates a love for one’s country. These are the fans that revel in mindlessness. These are at least partially the result of corporate branding, which has not only kept them hooked to a particular product (the WWE), but has made them refrain from considering unbranded alternatives where the product is actually far superior. So much has changed from when wrestling was genuinely a family owned, family orientated industry, to where it is now, in which everything is ‘in the name of television ratings. It’s in the name of attracting a higher rating, a higher-quality sponsor and ultimately more money. It’s all about that’ (Vince McMahon in an interview with Raw magazine, March 2001). In other words, it’s about the corporate pursuit of capital, which is far removed from its foundation of actual wrestling. Wrestling is all but a forgotten by product of a controversial brand – watch, listen to or read any interview with McMahon, and how much discussion goes on about actual wrestling, and the actual matches themselves? In researching this column I can’t recall seeing any. It’s all about the themes behind the product, the controversial content, the glamorous characters; the list goes on and on until you eventually find wrestling at the bottom of McMahon’s priorities. Wrestling is undeniably a key component to a product, and it can undoubtedly draw business in itself, but the sad truth is that when talking about the WWE, the actual wrestling is often t he last thing on the minds of the mainstream. The brand comes first. Take a look at this excerpt by the WWE. ‘Our operations are organized around two principal activities: 1) The creation, marketing and distribution of our live and televised entertainment, which includes the sale of advertising time on our television programs; and 2) The marketing and promotion of our branded merchandise. In addition, we are working to expand the mainstream potential of the World Wrestling Entertainment brand in domestic and international markets, develop extension businesses off the World Wrestling Entertainment brand, fully develop our internet programs as an entertainment and advertising platform, and develop new programming and sports entertainment brands that leverage WWE's core competencies. [please credit WWE’s corporate website] Whatever happened to wrestling? There isn’t even a mention of it above. So don’t thank McMahon for something he doesn’t even care about himself. You shouldn’t feel obliged to be loyal to the WWE. Don’t join the mindless. Because the idea that McMahon and the WWE provide the best wrestling around is simply ludicrous. There are several alternatives to Vince’s promotion than meets the common fan’s eye. I, myself, have been interested in picking up some ROH (Ring of Honor) tapes, because my mind has been squeezed dry by giving the WWE a chance to make a turnaround. I have invested my own time and money into the WWE, and just for that, I simply do know owe Vince McMahon any kind of false praise. Neither do you. It is the WWE myth that says you do." It is CLEAR that his work was plagarized and I am FURIOUS right now. I'm giving you the chance to defend yourself Paul. You are not banned from the forums because you technically haven't broken any of the rules (although I wish I had made one for this), but you ARE banned from ever writing for TSM ever again. I'm VERY upset right now, but I'm more so disappointed because I honestly felt that we had found a diamond in the rough. We're trying to create a credible site here and something like this can RUIN all of the hard work that everyone here has done. Dames

Fuck that. That bitch is crazy. Probably bite my dick off or some shit. And post about it. Crazy bitch. Dames

I just find it hilarious that people think she's hot shit all of a sudden. *shakes head* Dames

As most of you know, last night....something went horribly wrong in the forums. While it appears that MANY well known posters were banned (over 2500), let me assure you that that is NOT the case and everything is fine now....sort of. The bottom line is that I am an idiot. This wasn't caused by a troll looking for revenge or someone who hacked us. This was caused by human error. Mine. Basically, last night, I meant to prune all of the users that had zero posts and/or haven't posted in over a year in order to curb possible troll aliases, since we've been bombarded with them lately. SOMEHOW, I swear that I don't know...the interval was incorrect and it deleted practically everyone with a few exceptions. Even the mods themselves were deleted. You should have seen my face last night. Basically, I've been up since this happened with a 2 hour nap, working with the admin and the support staff to try and fix things. I even skipped work today to try and fix the board. Last night, things were very bleek. Basically, we only had two options. It was either try and restore all of the user names, which thankfully, we were able to...or restore the board using the latest back up which was in JUNE. Needless to say, I've learned a few lessons here. We're going to do back ups more often and I'm going to try and not fuck things up again. Ok... With that being said, the board looks to be in terrible shape. Even though many of your names look like they've been deleted and your old posts read as "unregistered", you are not. Everyone should be able to log in. Searching old posts will probably be difficult though. As for the post counts, the names were restored from the June back up, so you should have your post counts from June. Hey, it's better than having none of the posts from June. For the record, some of the people that we've banned since June will still be able to log in, so we're going to have to work on eliminating them again. There will be ONE person, however, who was banned who will be able to return. Last night, while I was freaking out and Mike The Admin was away, a certain someone helped me last night with the research on how to bring the forums back without killing 3 months worth of posts and also kept me from becoming more of a wreck than I was last night. I owe him a debt of gratitude and the only thing that he wanted in return was to come back to TSM...so I'm making ONE exception. That person is Banky. Anyway, I will be doing a LOT of work in the next few days to try and get things to the way they were. Most things should be up and running and if not, please let me know IN THIS THREAD. I was bombarded by IM's last night and couldn't concentrate. Eventually, when everyone starts posting again and we have a bunch of new topics, we won't even see a difference. Dames

It's no secret that I go to other boards, lurking around. I've noticed that many people have some negative things to say about this board, which is fine. However, if you have any greivances about this board, please take it up here and address the issue. It doesn't solve anything if it is never brought forth. So, please, USE this forum because we do want your feedback. Even if we don't agree, you can't say that we don't listen. Dames

I'm always around, bitch. Dames

That reminds me.... Fuck you, Leena. For someone who supposedly could care less about ever coming back, you were counting down the minutes, seconds and days to come back like the cockroach you are. Happy posting. Dames

That reminds me.... Fuck you, Leena. For someone who supposedly could care less about ever coming back, you were counting down the minutes, seconds and days to come back like the cockroach you are. Happy posting. Dames

Now, just to be a big fair, I don't want Damaramu to see an old Royce Gracie fight and be disappointed by the hype... As someone who recently just got into MMA, I did go back and download the first 1-11 shows... Royce is only a 180 lb fighter and fights with a Gi on, so if you were to see him in a back alley, you wouldn't be intimidated by him if you had no idea who he was. I don't believe he ever won a fight, at least in the UFC, via knockout. He was a technician who schooled the world that technique can over come sheer strength and power and he had a Bret Hart esque presence. You weren't intimidated by his size or strength, but you still wouldn't want to fuck with his technique. With that being said, he straight up EMBARRASSED a few cats back in the day. Especially his first fight in UFC, against a straight up BOXER named Art Jimmerson. This fool came to the Octagon with only one boxing glove on and the moment Royce took him down, Jimmerson was simply unable to move himself at all...and tapped out due to pure frustration and realizing that he had absolutely zero ground game. Oh and by the way, no one knew what the guard was in the US until Royce used it to nullify everyones offense and showed why BJJ is considered by the most dominant fight style in the world today. Dames

I still think she's just a crazy bitch. Dames

I've already got a back up in place, got a Flash drive all set, but I need a new replacement Hard Drive. But what brand should I get? I hear that Western Digital is one of the most well known, but they give you problems... I want something reliable. Hook me up! Dames

How about that replica WWE Title signed by Eddie that's going for almost 3G's!? Dames

Should I do. A) Impact from last week, which pretty much is inconsequential since BFG is over and done with, but is being replayed tonight apparently. B) BFG, although it's going to take me some time to do and most likely won't be finished til say...Thursday. C) Just fucking stop already cuz I can feel myself lacking the energy to continue past BFG. Dames