King Cucaracha

Ooh, boy, a public contract signing. Sounds unpredictable! I called Jindrak earlier in the week as first draft. But having watched Smackdown and the backstage skit he was in, I'm changing my pick. I still think whoever gets drafted will go over Jericho though, so I'll hope Angle and expect Carlito.

Bundy.

Well, I'm probably the only person in the fed who enjoys writing multi-man matches. It probably has something to do with me being spot-tastic and not plot-tastic, I don't know, but it takes me an age to sort out what to do and then get around to devoting time to it, at least in a straight up singles or straight up tag. Likely because I've been in so damn many of them this year (especially now I'm writing most of my OAOAST stuff too). And it doesn't help that half of them have been against Johnny. I'm cool with Buck because it's a new character. I'm cool with singles matches and tag matches in principal too. But something different and more 'wacky' or whatever once in a while would be nice. If only because I'm good at those types of matches. Hence the battle royal win. And the CFuck. TLC. Office Brawl. Hardcore #1 Contender 4 way. Three way with Mike and Spike...

Well, it's more than likely a heel goes to RAW this week. Jericho does the interview, the new guy gets cocky, leading into an impromptu match in which the new guy defeats Jericho. I'd be surprised if that wasn't the plan. And if that is the plan, then I call Jindrak.

When was the last multi-man match we had? Aside from the TLC Match. I can't remember the last straight up triple threat we had. Oh, and my match is done, pending proofread. So unless my computer blows up or something, I am shockingly going to show.

Yeah, but if Homicide and B-Boy are as stiff a striker as that in a wrestling match, how stiff would they strike for real? You're right though. Holly's dangerous because he's the shoot version of a cheapshot artist.

Well, apparantly, we've just signed Van Der Sar. Not bad, although Buffon would have been top choice. I guess this means Carroll leaving.

Ted's been feuding with Homicide and B-Boy for over a year now on the indies, why would he give a fuck about anything Bob Holly could do? I picked him up from the airport after his first match with Cide, you shoulda seen the bruises he had all over his body. I dont know. Hardcore does have a rep and he comes across as being a mega asshole in the ring. Did you hear the reaction he got on SD vs MNM? And? I'd take Homicide and B-Boy over Bob frikkin' Holly every single day of the week. When was the last time Holly did anything to anyone REMOTELY expecting it and able to defend himself? Being an asshole doesn't mean he's tougher than someone.

*delayed markout*

MAIN EVENT - TAG TEAM FACE-OFF Ejiro Fasaki © and "Hollywood" Spike Jenkins vs. Toxxic and Johnny Dangerous - Ejiro/Spike MATCH TWO OF THREE "The Critic" Scott Pretzler vs. Wildchild - WC HOLY FLURKING SCHNIT! DID I BOOK THIS? Landon "La Cucaracha" Maddix vs. Lil' Buck - ELM CRUISERWEIGHT EXTRAVAGANZA - NON-TITLE Insane Luchador ©© vs. "The Dean of Professional Wrestling" Jay Hawke - Hawke POP THE CROWD-O-RAMA "Maniac" Bryan Rodgers vs. Uncle Filthy - Ebony. OPENING MATCH Zyon vs. Martin "Big Country" Hunt - Zyon

RAW had 3 no-contests, a DQ and screwy endings to the final two matches. Say what you will about RAW now, but at least you get more clean finishes and longer matches. Did Michaels appear between that Smackdown and Judgment Day 2000?

Usual time folks, usual time.

Val? Regal?

Why Red? Unless they give him a Psicosis or Juvi "we'll use you for a month then try and make some money in Mexico from you, whilst jobbing you out on Velocity" contract. And even then, Red = Mysterio lite. I can't see them signing Red and jeapordising some of Mysterio's uniqueness. Maybe Chad Collyer?

So long as nobody's worried about the show being slightly later than usual, I'll justify my modship and post it.

Well, even though I can't get the American version, the British original (which was about a year ago I think) was entertaining. I doubt they've tweaked the formula at all, seeing as they didn't with The Weakest Link, American (Pop) Idol, WWTBAM etc. What's better though is the program he does over here now, Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares...where he goes to actual restaurants, instead of the gameshow format and pretty much tries to turn the failing restaurant and their terrible staff into 'successes'.

Storyline progression for Rodez/Wright. Plus, an update on the HI-YAH HV Title.

Uh, Tony, I actually wrote that segment. So really, you wish you had one-tenth of MY promo ability. Forget Zack. Zack is wack. Or whack. Or whatever.

Nova invented the fake submission spot.

I agree with Rudo that he needs another finish. The Exploder Slam would work as a secondary finisher, or a crowd popping 'maybe' move. If you build a move enough it'll get over, sure. But he doesn't have a move that you'd believe could pin Batista, HHH...even Edge and Benoit. He needs a hook too. They tried the stereotypical 'he grew up on the streets' stuff a while back to make him sympathetic. They tried giving him a 'short temper' in the Jericho feud. Neither worked. He needs some sort of catchphrase, some sort of big move...something that'll make people notice him, outside of 'wow, he's athletic'.

Predictably, I amz the no-show. Tired, can't concentrate, all that shit...plus, I really couldn't get into the match. Memo to CC...please, don't book Maddix/Dangerous 7 in the next six months at least. I'm burnt out on Maddix/Dangerous spots. And without spots, I am nothing.

It depends what you're looking for. It's hard to answer outside of that. Indy Wrestling covers 1000s of promotions. WWE is one promotion. To compare 1000s to 1 without stereotyping every indie worker in the world is impossible.

Liar. Well, I suppose I better say something about the show. Quite a few of the matches were pretty short (at least, by PPV standards) and two of them were mine. Then again, there was a good reason for all of them, so it's cool with me. I'm surprised the Sk8ter Boiz won the straps, but I suspect a little Cornette legal wrangling because of the restart. Good stuff there. The Hardcore Match showed improvement from the HD match MMoM wrote, which is a goal for pretty much everyone here...self improvement. That and attention seeking. Speaking of which, Rodez's return~! Eski, I agree it was a little OTT in terms of Wright's embarrassment. Not sure if you were around then or not, but I'm trying to take a little influence from the Midnight Carnival in the SWF's old days and have Rodez become a bit more of a 'prankster' than a 'fighter'. Plus, after doing my best to make him an ass to Igor, I figured it was a good enough time for some Wright comeuppance. And yes, expect henious revenge. Alf is the ultimate cheap heat guy. It'd be cool for him to randomly end a promo with 'Praise Allah', just for the hell of it. Nice beatdown to continue GPX's reign of terror. Frankies/THR did it's job and more. Very good, chaotic brawl...and some storyline development to boot. Good to see Frig got something done, despite his insomnia. Nice to see Stevens' return, even if I did upstage it slightly. CSI would have been a good name for a tag team with detective gimmick. Hoff has robbed us of that gimmick now. Probably for the best. Hoff/Gunner was a little short too, but that's to be expected. Still a decent match though. The triple threat was great. Just what the GPX needed after losing to two chicks at Anglemania. Not that there's anything wrong with losing to chicks. It developed a whole bunch of storylines, put GPX over strong, made Black T a little more likeable, teased Drek vs. Zack...all round good stuff. And the Ladder Match was very good too. I actually did wonder if Crystal would win at one point, which in itself is an accomplishment. Either that, or my prediction radar's faulty. Got all the spots in and Crystal ends up looking pretty decent at the end of it. Good stuff.

Very good stuff and a very entertaining read. But way too shoot orientated to work in reality. At least without blowing any sense of kayfabe left out of the water. EDIT: And besides that, you'd suffer from a certain amount of Russo syndrome. You do explain things in a kayfabe style, but there's still elements that'll go over everyone's heads, except for those who already know the inside workings. You're basically telling people that everything they paid to see in the last few years had been organised between certain wrestlers, who at certain times had schemed with certain other people to monopolise the business. People wouldn't react well to that. And nobody would ever buy anybody as a face again, because as soon as someone did a good act, the instant thought would be 'why are they doing this really?', 'what organisation are they doing this for' and of course 'how are they trying to swerve us?' Still, entertaining stuff.

Only if he wore a) kickpads or b) went barefoot.