DrVenkman PhD

I read a review of the Piper / Orton TNT that said Piper cuts an odd promo while dropping insider terms. I was going to check it out anyway just to see how the show went with the heels hosting, but now I want to see this promo.

Notice for Canadian Raw fans, if any. Meltzer made mention of the horse racing on TheScore ending in March leading some to believe Raw would go back to being live television in Canada. This is the latest on that from PWInsider:

The Hardcore invitational made sense because it was a closure on the 24/7 title angle and it was a fresh concept of a battle royal. The battle royals I agree with. I agree and still enjoy watching the match on my annual Road to WrestleMania (and I'm at that speedbump right now where I watched WMX, so I have 11, 12, 13, 15, and even 16 to a point to trudge through), but looking back, did the Mean Street Posse really deserve a Mania payoff?

The LAZIEST bookings are matches like the 15 minute Hardcore Invitational and the "Mania Leftovers" battle royals they've done two years in a row now. I give those a pass since they're dark matches / DVD extras.

Yeah, it's not testing very well. Consider it dropped for now.

Well they've been calling that one for years now (by "that one", I mean Orton in a singles Maniavent, not just Cena vs Orton) so yeah, it's gotta happen one year right? Off topic: "Maniavent" - clever portmanteau of Mania Main Event or annoying word?

There are pros and cons to every argument and this is no different. Sometimes just pushing a guy up the ladder through normal booking isn't enough to make the casual fan go "wow, this guy is worth watching". It doesn't help that said booking usually results in unnecessary losses just to show that due paying is more important than money making. I could certainly see Punk winning the match and using the title shot as his right to jump to Raw (which has been rumoured). He will of course lose to Michaels (here's hoping!) in a good showing with a handshake. The casual Raw viewers who probably don't like the ECW brand could be like "hey, this guy from ECW, he IS pretty cool". I realize that above scenario is HIGHLY unlikely, and a phone call I took while typing this made me lose my original train of thought... but yeah, there might be a point somewhere in there.

Crap. There goes the match I've been wanting for Mania since December. No offense but why the f*** would you want a show to be booked with TWO multi-man ladder spotfests (and I realize you were probably hoping they would do that match in-lieu of a MITB match, but even after MITB was announced you wanted the TLC bout)? I thought it was stupid enough to announce a (edit: "4 Team Ladder Match") the PPV before Mania (which they smartly corrected) and the idea they would put both matches on the SAME PPV is insane. Or you're a regular EWR / SmackDown vs Raw GM Mode player and are used to people loving a shows with repeated gimmick matches since their AI fans don't get sick of / burnt out on them.

From Meltzer's Monday update: I'm fully aware the things I spoiler tagged are fairly well known around these parts, but better to play it safe, eh?

From WO.com's Monday update:

Shelton and Jeff are in one tonight, against each other.

$5M for 3 - 7 points is still not a great deal. Now if he were to start hitting people with chairs, we'd be in business.

Yes, Booker and Edge should be in the running for pre-scheduled matches under match stipulations decided upon by someone in a match booking capacity. The Money in the Bank winner can (and already have) use their contract to get the jump on a weakened champion or make a match to suit their best interests.

Sabu could be a long shot participant.

They're two for two in having good matches with a good storyline coming out of the victory, so in that sense I strongly believe it should be an annual event. A MITB match is exactly where I felt Punk would be come Mania time, and sure enough that's where he is. It does seem odd to have Edge in it again and Booker at all, and while I support the idea that this match could be used to push someone up a tier, kayfabe wise it makes sense for former champs like Edge and Booker to try and earn a shot anytime the want in any match they want at the biggest show of the year.

$5M for 3 points is not a good deal.

Getting to the year 2000, WWE.com just writing what happened without making any subtle shots or sarcastic comments is burial enough. 6 title changes in ONE MONTH (May)? I must have really blocked late WCW out of my head (and barely watching in 2000 helps) as I don't recall much of this.

I don't think Russo's name was dropped. Booker always gets stuck with that sort of thing. Remember the Champion of Champions build-up where he talked about being the star of Ready to Rumble (which admittedly made me laugh)?

So far what I've read has been pretty serious (I went right to Arquette and Russo first), although they do say that "Luger met his demise at the hands of Sting", making it sound like Sting killed him. "The World Heavyweight Championship that has recently been carried by such greats as Batista, Chris Benoit and Triple H got its start in WWE back in 2002. But its prestigious lineage can actually be traced back all the way to George Hackenschmidt and 1904" Yeah, this doesn't add any confusion to the title lineage issue. Basically, "the world title started in 2002 but that doesn't sound very impressive, so whenever needed we'll claim it dates back to 1904" seems to be their stance. Apparently my childhood memories of Vader being an unstoppable champion that Ron Simmons finally defeated is wrong and Vader was only champion for 3 weeks in 1992. I guess I mixed up him being an unstoppable force all year with his championship reign.

Well I have nothing to do, might as well read all the entries to look for some WCW burying.

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I, on the other hand, find myself wondering why I disliked WCW so much. The nWo angle was really cool (and I did enjoy that) at the time, but watching these shows back to back really makes me wonder why I ever thought Raw deserved the ratings win. The only thing I can think of is that while my current tastes have changed to accept the idea of watching Dean Malenko vs Jimmy Graffiti (is that really Jimmy Del Ray?), back then they didn't have the character of a high flying pimp (Flash Funk). However, when we get into 1997, we'll see because I loved those Canada vs USA Raws and never understood why they didn't beat Nitro.

Last house show in the States I went to, tickets were still $40 (or $45) for the top tickets. The last show I went to in London had pricier tickets ($70 for ringside), but that was Canadian funds. Checking WWE.com, it seems tickets are still $40-$20 US for house shows (the one I checked was for New Mexico). I guess California just costs more.

Top 10 after 5 weeks: Team Name/ Points/ Avg. Per Week 1. Degeneration seX 1399 279.8 2. Perfect Strangers 1396 279.2 3. YonkersWho?3699 1390 278.0 4. BX-t®eme D®e@m Te@m 1346 269.2 5. Torn Quad Kids 1334 266.8 6. Ron's Squad 1330 266.0 7. Palumboners 1302 260.4 8. Exslade 1294 258.8 9. CAPITAL I.N.C 1290 258.0 10. Whatever It Takes 1283 256.6