Styles

Sorry to not join the pity party, but I'm not too upset over this. I mean, yeah, personally he probably should have been given the backstage role he wanted, but who knows what issues led to this (well we'll know by next week's issue of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer (thumbs up, cheap pop!) But anyway, bottom line he was hideous in the ring and I'm glad I don't have to sit through any boring Smackdown matches with him anymore. Now get rid of Rikishi and we'll be cooking...

Nothing is hotter than Maryland senator Barbra Mikulski, who bears a striking resemblence to Jim Ross in drag...

I really hope not, we can't afford to lose the UK...

Cool, I wonder if it will get 2 discs like most of the recent releases? I ask for only 2 matches, vs. Austin from Smackdown 01 in Edmonton which I haven't seen since and vs. Bret for the Owen tribute match (unless they're saving this one for the inevitable Bret retrospect, if so then maybe the match they had on Thunder around or after Bret's concussion.) Anyway this will be good!

Hmmm....especially with Orton getting the win over Foley at Mania I could see Foley just beating him down with the mic to his face yelling "SAY IT!" and finally Orton, weeping says I Respect You. And then after the match Foley kind of pulls Orton up and embraces him or something like Orton has been humbled and then Flair and Batista run in and get pissed so Foley and Orton fight them off. That way, Foley gets his win so he doesn't look like a chump, and it elevates Orton in loss because it adds a new layer to his character and he gets the rub from Foley. I highly doubt it would happen but it would be a deep angle if WWE went with it...

Here's my theory on the "smart crowd" that so heavily booed Brock and Goldberg and was totally into Benoit, Eddy and Angle... Wrestlemania tickets are not only hard to get, theyre more expensive than regular tickets too. So, the fans that buy tickets to Wrestlemania are by and large big fans. They were aware enough to get the tickets quickly and didn't mind the high price tag. Casual fans by and large wouldn't pay the high cost or be prevy enough to even get the tickets before they sold out. Therefore your MSG crowd consistented of mostly die hard, life long fans, who are by and large smarter than the casual everyday fans and that explains the reactions.

Who knows? Austin got screwed up too. Yeah, but it took Austin another 4 years, Angle was already messed up again in 2 months...

It's baffling really how something that should be so exciting and interesting like space exploration is so incredibly boring and apathetic...

I can see the resemblance!

I don't think we're talking about the same God here...

Well not to get into THAT argument, but it DOES trace back and has the same lineage (it was just worn by scrubs for most of the past decade) but anyway yeah I totally agree with you otherwise.

"Gay Marriage in America"

Actually I think they were: Lance Storm, Matt Hardy, Paul London, Orlando Jordan, Spike Dudley and Stevie Richards.

I think it's becoming crystal clear that Angle should have just gone with the traditional 1 year neck surgery. It would have sucked to miss the past year, but who knows how salvagable it is even at this point...

You forgot to mention "By Submission" Goldberg also beat HHH clean for the title. By Submission though is even better. You're right. I forgot the most important part. I am still amazed that HHH agreed to tap to what is basically the biggest WWE PPV ever. Why do I have a terrible feeling he is setting up the "Internet Smarks on their parents computer's" for the biggest Fuck You in the history of wrestling? Worse than the Finger Poke of Doom. Yes he tapped cleanly at WM, that was part one of the Fuck you (to everyone who said he wouldn't do the job, Michaels was added so HHH wouldnt have to job, etc) I have a feeling Backlash may just end up being what basically amounts to squash with Benoit getting in only token offense. I hope I'm wrong but I can definitely see "The Cerebral Assasin" in Vince's ear already, convincing him Benoit's title reign was a bad idea. Because unlike in WCW, Vince is the boss and as much as we sometimes demonize him he would never allow his wrestlers to go into business for themselves and go against what is good for business. And also unlike Hogan and Nash who were there strictly for their egos and paychecks, again as much as we demonize HHH for his use of political power, he loves wrestling too much to blatantly disrecpect it like that.

And that's what you indy fans don't get. Rating a match is not ALL about the work. Atmoshphere, story, emotion and suspense all are important factors in taking a match from good to great and great to legendary. While the ROH all stars can churn out ***** matches everynight at the Boston Armory, it won't come close to the feeling of a Wrestlemania main event delivering on all cylinders and providing an ending of such significance and emotion. Everyone has their own scale they judge on. That's why you can't compare apples and oranges...

That's err....great. If they thought Brock/Eddy headlining did a low buyrate...

What about the May show? Oh good point...uhhhhhh well they could go the route of last year with Brock/Angle/Lesnar. Have Angle/Eddy straight rematch in May, add someone else like Big Show for the July show and then the Eddy/Angle iron man/last man standing/whatever blowoff at Summerslam. Either way I have a feeling they have many great matches left to give us.

Especially with Brock gone, I actually see Angle/Eddy being the feud on Smackdown through the summer. Big rematch at July's show which Eddy wins again and then there's the big blowoff at Summerslam that Angle can win.

You're just a sad, jaded fan, aren't you? Whatever, I guess it had too much HHH in it, and the fact that it was viewed by a mainstream audience in a sold out arena rather than a shady convention center on a bootlegged video tape takes down it's quality... Wow, I'm being stereotyped more than Chief Alcoholic Eagle here. HHH being in a match has no problem with me. He jobbed clean. He is OK in the ring. Shady convention center, eh? Depends if it's on handheld or pro shot. Handhelds = credibility. If I see this on handheld, I might bump it up to *****. (JOKING) Bootlegs? As long as it is 1st or 2nd gen it is usually fine with me. So, care to present an actual argument or just take shots at me? Thanks for taking the jests in good gesture. Well, let's see your arguments? They didn't sell? I don't see how you can say that, they had to since they 1 guy had to be eliminated for each guy to have a segment with each other. The blade jobs did make sense. Shawn hit head first into the steel post and did a fabulous mid air blade job. I think HHH got hit into the stairs, but I honestly don't remember at the moment. Your criticizing an innovative and creative spot in HHH physically stopping HBK's hand from tapping. I don't even remember the last time someone verbally submitted in WWE, and you could say Benoit's arm was muffling Shawn's mouth in the crossface, so that wasn't an option. The table spot wasn't contrived, it made sense. HBK was dealing with the devil. They both realised they could work together to elminate Benoit and fight amongst themselves, thats why they gave each other that look before suplexing him. It made it all the more dramatic when Benoit broke up the pedigree pinfall at the last second. The sharpshooter was great, and dramatically built to. HHH struggling against having it put on just adds realism and made it all the better when Benoit put it on. I don't see how you could be down on the announcing, JR and even King was ON. They put over everyone huge and gave the match a big match feel. So there's your argument. I got to say anyone who thinks it was less than **** is just jaded and looking for things to complain about.

You're just a sad, jaded fan, aren't you? Whatever, I guess it had too much HHH in it, and the fact that it was viewed by a mainstream audience in a sold out arena rather than a shady convention center on a bootlegged video tape takes down it's quality...

Folks, none of the belts are "real". Its a fake sport, it's all in a portrayal. As the belt handed to and rarely defended by HHH it has no legitimacy. With Benoit winning it clean in the main event of Wresltemania and celebrating with Eddy it brings it's status up to legtimacy in the eyes of the fans.

Go back and watch it, the crowd was consistently chanting for Benoit. They even BOOED HBK when he ripped off the rolling Germans and chanted for BENOIT when Chris was laid out outside and HBK was making his comeback. The crowd was in love with him and the crowd reactions reached a fever pitch at the end when HHH tapped.

How I honest to God see it and I think everyone will agree with me. HHH handed the belt, basically holds it for over a year: Not the "real" belt. Benoit beats him clean in the main event of Wrestlemania and celebrates as an equal to WWE Champion Eddy: It has become equal and a legitmate world title.

To those who didn't think the Triple Threat was ***** what fault was there? All the moves were executed perfectly, there was serious drama and the fans were into it, Michael's bladejob was tremendous, HHH tapped clean. There was nothing faulting it from being a perfect match.