DrVenkman PhD

I just re-watched 2007 today... I don't care how uneventful the first 40 minutes are (though Sabu's elimination is cool), the Final 4 part and beyond is very good and the Final 2 with Taker/HBK is probably one of the best finishes in Rumble history.

Shane was not a heel leading up to that... or maybe he was. His heel / face dynamic is never clearly stated until he shows up for whatever angle they put him in.

Anything shot on film has more resolution than even HD so its possible that they could convert most of their library to HD, although it would be a painstaking process and by the looks of some of their library footage, the picture qualtiy has detoritated to the point where an expensive digital restoration would be required, and in some instances the quality was piss poor to start with but it could still be cleaned up. Not a cheap task and I doubt it would happen anytime soon, but its the logical next step, especially if Vince is considering what to do to preserve the library. I wouldnt see it out of the question to have a Wrestlemania HD Box Set out because that would probably be worth their time and money to do a full digital restoration into HD, and as a bonus it wouldnt require so many discs. I pointed this out in the 24/7 thread, but the the cable company that puts up advanced programming schedules (Sunflower Broadband) has now written "STANDARD" next to all of the shows. You could guess that's referring to definition, perhaps singnaling future changes are near (or, they just have other OnDemand programming in HD). I wouldn't read anything into it though, all of their VOD schedules say that.

The fact that Cracked still existed in a relevant form was actually news to me.

I did enjoy the facebook jokes.

After not mentioning it at all earlier in the week, The Score's website confirmed they're doing the HD feed for Raw and SmackDown. I don't see why they wouldn't have been receiving the HD feed for their HD channel, but I'm not really into that whole thing to know what's what anyway.

Google throws a house party Not as good as Internet Business Meeting but still amusing.

"Austin is watching this match from a [pause, as if he's going to say hospital but is not allowed for some reason] Medical Facility Bed". What the hell is that crap?

Matt Striker told Undertaker that he would not win this year because last year, Big Daddy V wasn't in the Rumble (even though he was) but this year he is.

2002, upon re-watching the Anthology version where it's easy to keep track of the intervals because each entrant is it's own chapter, has some really bizarre THREE minute intervals and some 2:20-2:30 intervals as well. No wonder it's the longest Rumble, but I like it.

I don't hate 95 - it has a weak entry list and that stupid 1 minute entrance thing going on, but at least stuff is always happening. Having just re-watched every Rumble, 1999 is an easy vote. 1993 is boring as hell and 1996 isn't that much more exciting, but both are inoffensive with some good entrants (plus 96 gets a free pass from me for introducing the "every entrant gets music" rule, which was a great addition). 99 is just plain bad - nothing of note happens in the match, there are at least TWO spots where an entrant comes out, then has to stand around and do nothing for 90 seconds until ANOTHER entrant comes out - just ONE spot like this is pretty bad. I have a soft spot for it because of the attitude era roster of characters but it's just so bad.

Here's something that's beyond description:

King already covered the basics, but the other reason - which hasn't been noticeable for the past 2 months due to the 4 one-hour episodes of Nitro - is the shows (at least for me, and I've heard other say the same) show a lot of video distortion when they're over 3 hours, especially towards the end. This would have become even worse when Nitro jumps to 3 hours (and it would take a long time to watch). I just noticed they ARE showing Parts 5 & 6 of the Ladder Match DVD, but in February, meaning they're showing all 3 discs. I figure with the amount of Benoit matches on it it was being cut down, but now that I think about it, he's only in two matches (vs. Jericho and MITB 1), right?

Your thoughts are a "Moots" point.

Outside of Clash 1 and my love of the regular program line-up, I'm not feeling next month. Maybe this month spoiled me. There are a few things "off" about Sunflower's schedule - are they REALLY airing a Raw one week after a full MNW episode (now split in two) without the Nitro? Why is Savage/Elizabeth's wedding being put up by itself in week 2, then again with the week 3 Shorties update? These are things we'll have to wait and see.

So, in canon, is Big Daddy V NOT Viscera / Mabel? Matt Striker said BDV was not in the Rumble last year, but he clearly was. His WWE.com profile says he debuted in 1993 and references in tag title and KOTR wins, so whatever. Damn wrestling continuity.

Ad rates, ad rates, ad rates... It's not the rating, it's the rates / key demographic combo. That said, I can't answer your question. Isn't "Eureka" or something a big ratings hit? Maybe Battlestar Galactica?

Is all the so-called backlash due to me getting eliminated? Well done, Venkmaniacs. Seriously though, at 29-21 and 30-24 or whatever the round vs. Agent was, it's not like Milky ran through this thing on some pre-determined path of rage that no one can stop. If I had been Matt Youngin It in the Elite Eight, I could have pulled in some last minute votes and been in the Final Four, just like last year. As it is, I lost fair and square and made a better showing than I would have thought. Defeating sports legend kkk? Breezing past CanadianGuitarist? Running neck and neck with Milky until an 11th hour surge of votes that gave him an 8 vote win? People calling me a "# favourite poster" or a breakout star? Truly, while I may not have TECHNICALLY made it as far as I did last year, the road there was much tougher this year and more rewarding... well, as rewarding as having 30 people on a message board like you more than someone else can be. Thanks to everyone for their support as I now gracefully make my exit from the tournament. Votes: Milky - Tournament rule: Always back the person that beats you (unless he winds up against King). King - Czech buddy, I'm TRYING to help you lose every round but the TSMasses just love you too much to let you throw it, I guess. Go King!

It was a regular item on WO.com.

Santino's Corner Funny stuff.

Hooray, 24/7 is possibly listening to suggestions I made months ago! Raw and Nitro are being split up into separate halves for MNW episodes next month. The Sunflower schedule is a bit odd to read because they've written "STANDARD" next to every program, I don't even know what that means. Definition? Another weird thing is that when they air Survivor Series 2007, they have the option to pick individual matches as well. There's also a house show from 1997!

Well, since that "Final 6 in the Chamber" rule never became true, they can do whatever they want. Why are people acting like this is an official stipulation? Did I miss some announcement?

Krusty: "Homer gave me a kidney. It wasn't his, I didn't need it, and it came postage due, but still a lovely gesture."

I was clogging up a predictions thread with this conversation - figured I should move it to the right thread: At one point in the other thread I was going to point out that double duty hasn't happened since 2000 - and even then, it was part of an angle where the day of the show Kaientai and the Posse got kicked out of the Rumble to make way for Jericho, Holly, Chyna, The Outlaws, and APA (that doesn't add up but that's how it was promoted). The exception was going to be 2003, where Show/Lesnar had a match to open the show where the winner got to be in the Rumble, so that wouldn't count, but then I watched the 2005 Rumble and for no real reason Shawn and Edge got to do double duty, so I guess it's happened more recent than I thought. Angle also stole Nunzio's number but that obviously doesn't count as advertised double duty. The "rule" (which never matters since wrestling has a very loose rule continuity) that was specifically mentioned in 2004 was if you had a match on the card, you couldn't be in the Rumble (Kurt had sort of tricked Eddie into having a match with Chavo on the show, thus removing him from the Rumble). Leading up to the 2000 Rumble, they had the match graphic with everyone pictured. Besides the Posse & Kaientai, Mark Henry and, I think, Mideon didn't end up in the match. So that would work that out. About the double-duty rule, don't forget about the randomness of last year: With MNM vs. Hardys on the undercard, everyone but Mercury ended up in the Rumble match. I'll wait until all 30 are announced before I do the contest. Sure, Santino will probably last the shortest time, but who knows if they actually add Shannon Moore or someone worse... Thanks for the clarification. For whatever reason I thought no one from the opening tag match (and thus no one at all from the undercard) was in the Rumble.

I use the word all the time. For the record, it's Carl Carlson and Lenny Leonard.