The Dames

Rudo, I was going to reply to Cam but you pretty much answered everything for me the way I was going to answer. I've recently gotten into MMA this year. I caught UFC 51: Super Saturday, which was my first 3 hour UFC PPV and I was hooked. Ultimate Fighter came on and that helped some more and since then, I've seen the last few 3 hour PPV's (48-53) and the first 7 UFC's and gotten to learn a bit about the history and the technique of MMA. Considering I've been watching wrestling for 21 years now, the fact that I like MMA almost as much as I like wrestling shows just how much they've impacted me in less than a year. Everyone knows that I'm not exactly average height or anything and the fact that Royce Gracie was able to tap out larger fighters due to skill and technique really impressed me, especially since back then, everything was pretty much openweight. I've heard about Pride for years, but now that they've got a deal with FSN, I'll definitely try and catch up on that as well. Part of me actually wanted to do a couple of Diatribes on the past few UFC's, but I wouldn't want to embarrass myself with my lack of MMA knowledge. Dames

I'm an insurance agent, selling auto & home insurance for the AARP Division of The Hartford. Dames

Since when is UFC 'sports entertainment' though? And, WWE does do all of those things...in fact, that's usually the three things smarks complain about. Edit- well..maybe not the highlights, people usually recognize those as pretty good. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> WWE doesn't try to put over every single competitor like UFC tries to do with their video packages. Aside from some Rogan-isms, I haven't seen them try to bury anyone outright. They give you fighters strenghts, weaknesses and backgrounds...and that's more than we get from WWE these days. Dames

I like that. What do you call the Mir/Silvia ARMBAR OF DEATH~! finish? Dames

Damn...Leben finally got a win and just beat the shit out of Thacker. I marked out for the finish of Salaverry/Fryklund when I saw it the first time and I still mark out for the FIGURE FOUR OF DEATH~! Don't wanna spoil the Salaverry/Riggs finish, but it's also memorable. Dames

If Cote loses to Leben, I don't think we'll see him back in the Octagon for a while. Koscheck finally shows that he can finish! He's going to need to be more well rounded though. Can't wait to see him take on Spratt. That body shot needs a cool still shot. He sure fucked up Shonie Carter too. Nate's going to be a great fighter. Dames

Finally, someone who feels the same way I did about that promo. Thanks Matt...Young. Dames

Rest assured, everyone, this isn't a permanent goodbye or anything like that. I'll still pop in once in a while... I just won't be calling the shots anymore, which I'm going to have to get used to... Who knows, maybe one day in the future, I'll start writing again. If that ever does happen, I'll definitely let you guys know. If the forums ever do go elsewhere, I will be around... Dames

Hey "Black Widow", I hope you have fun swinging your tennis racket around, I'm still in charge for two more weeks. Dames

I want to start this out by saying that this site and the forums have given me a great sense of pride and happiness in the last few years and I would like to say thank you for that, first and foremost. I'll be frank with all of you. As much as I want to continue with the site, right now, I'm at a point in my life where financially, I cannot. I've never wanted to let this site go and those of you who speak to me online know that I've always had a place for this site since it was all I had at one point. As of the 15th of August, Mike the Admin will officially take over TSM, the board & the site. What he will do with the site will be entirely up to him. Nothing changes until the 15th, however. My hope is that he will keep the forums up and allow TSM to remain as it is for now, but that's all up to him. I know this may seem abrupt, but lately, I've had to come with the grips of reality that I haven't contributed nearly as much as I should have to the site and it's suffered greatly for it. Combine that with the added stress of all of my bills piling up on me and I feel guilty for having to reach such a decision. But right now, this is what I have to do for myself. First, I would like to thank ALL of you for coming to TSM and making it a part of your lives in some sort of way. The fact that people here have made bonds and will always have memories of this place is enough for me to be happy with. I want to thank the great staff that TSM has had, both past and present, for all of your hard work and dedication to what has been at times a thankless job. A special thank you goes out to Dr. Tom & Sass for taking care of this site when I took my extended leave of absence...and never really returned full time. I want to thank JHawk & Kingpk for continuing to update the site with Raw & SD reports weekly when no one else continued. JHawk deserves a second applause by having written the most articles and being here with me since day one. I want to thank Goodhelmet & Stephen Joseph for being there with me when TSM was first conceptualized and walked me through the first few months of it all. I want to thank Mike the Admin for everything he's done for me as well. I want to thank EVERY staff member who's been a part of TSM, Zack Malibu, Brian, Canadian Chick, Loss 4 Words, Illustrious One, APO, Kotz, HTQ, Areacode212, alkeiper, Kahran Ramsus, treble...and I KNOW that I'm missing some of you guys and I'm sorry about that. I'd like to think that I've had good relationships with all of you and I hope to keep in touch with a lot of you in the future. So...I am officially stepping down as the Owner of TSM as of August 15th, 2005. It was a great 3+ year run. Damian "The Dames" Gonzalez

Oh my god. It's starting. I just marked out HARD for his entrance. Dames

Alright...lets stop fucking around. As Miss Indy Queen said, Giovanni's Pizza on Fordham and University Ave is my second favorite pizza on earth. If you don't care for that, there's Brothers pizza on Jerome and Kingsbridge, which is my number 3. Silvio's Pizza in my old neigherbood, 194th St & Marion Ave is the greatest of all time, IMO...but its not in the best of neighborhoods. The mom and pop shops really are the place to go. And fuck anything they market as Pizza in Manhattan. Dames

I agree completely. I dont think Christian hit any signature manuevers. Dames

Did they really need a new Gladiator DVD? Or Jaws for that matter. Wasn't that released a few years back? Dames

The Donzalez...I'm feelin it. Didn't think The Don would be in the One Five. Much props given. Dames, err... Donzalez

Alright...the winner of the 6 man won't be named Smackdown Champion, since Batista will then be revealed as the draft pick. He'll have a new # 1 Contender though. Dames

I understood Juvi perfectly Dames

LOL @ The Verbal Assassin. Dames

Fuck that. I loved that entire segment. I marked out WAYYYY too hard for that. Hip hop music with Juvi bumping out to the "Mexican Limo...TWO THOUSAND FIVE~!" 3 Great talents...awesome. Juvi cutting a promo....hilarious. Mexicools. Ruled. Dames

Bad Dudes was AWESOME.... Bringing ALL the Bosses back in the end before the main Boss... That's just WRONG. *Powers up punch* *TAKES OUT A ROW OF NINJAS* Dames

Word. He's been "back" for a while. Dames

I'm almost positive that was within the same month that I started watching, if not the next week. July 1996. Dames

That guy deserves the worst possible jail time. That's just terrible and fucking disgusting. Dames

That wouldn't be a bad idea actually. Granted with the fact that the draft has been nothing but main eventers so far, the casual fan might shit on it, but Bischoff's fought hard to make Raw a good show (storyline wise). Should he go to SD, he would have to try and take down the show he built up by making good business decisions, making good matches, etc, which is what Smackdown needs. To be seen as on the same level as Raw. Dames

I'll never forget when I first saw it. I missed WCW Bash at the Beach 96 the night it aired, so I watched it the next day. After the Hogan turn, the credits rolled and segued into a Raven promo with Sandman's son. (July 96). The first few matches I saw in that show was Jericho vs. Pitbull # 2, which is where he won the title and Dreamer vs. Prime Time Brian Lee in a weapons match. I loved the intensity, the blood, the announcing (!) the crazy spots, everything. 1996 was a great year. Dames