DrVenkman PhD

I'm dropping out. Twisted has final say here but I assume it's 100% cool for the next person that reads this and wants in to just announce two picks and take my place. Have fun everyone.

Don't forget Charlie Haas! I want DiBiase basically for the purpose of changing Cody Rhodes theme music.

They should be nicer to Bryan. Except when he's on one of his "I'm always right" rants and refuses to acknowledge corrections I send him. I think I finally realize (even though I've read just about the entire archive now and should have caught on) that when Bryan makes a statement like "This has got to be the first time Shawn has worked an opener in a decade", he's not saying it to open himself up to people like me saying "Shawn worked the opener against Edge at the 2005 Royal Rumble". If Meltzer were to make the same statement in the Observer, he'd make a quick note in the next issue about the correction.

I thought that too, but apparently Kevin Dunn and co. thought that was the kind of 'hip and with it' attitude the kids would love.

That and Blu-Ray won't survive the economic crisis. Marvin told me so.

Ha, CREAT~!

I have to give props to the Geico parody with Duggan. "Why'd they stop making those foam 2x4's anyway!?". The narrator also sounded a lot like Christopher Sabat but I'm sure it wasn't. Either way, my mind heard Piccolo saying the lines it and it was great. I'm also looking forward to a 3rd DX Christmas commercial next week.

If the JBL/Shawn angle leads to Shawn dressed up as a limo driver, it's golden.

Well it depends what you mean by "hate". Neither parent enjoys it, my dad has said he "has no use for it and it does nothing for him", and I'm sure my mom secretly (and a few times not so secretly) resents the amount of money I've spent on tickets, PPVs, and DVDs (and by proxy, amount SHE spent when I was a kid at home) in my lifetime. But I wouldn't say they HATE it. Hate is a strong word, but they really, really, really don't like it. But yes, your family clearly HATES it.

Not a requirement in this draft.

The only problem I had with Raw were some odd continuity issues, and I don't even know if that would be the correct term. There were two things they set up during the show that made no sense by the end. The lesser one would be removing Rey from his match with Miz, then all of the sudden Miz comes out for his match and there's no dramatic "Is Rey able to compete?" pause, he just comes on out. The injury played a part in the match so I can't fault the lack of callback there, but it was a bit odd to have Layla ask Stephanie to remove Rey from the tournament, Stephanie agree, and then Rey wrestles anyway. The bigger issue was Kane turning face but not being a face at all. I'll choose to interpret his comments as playing into the fact he's nuts, but I'm sure it confused others into thinking he turned face. Other than that, fun stuff. Jericho's promo work tonight was great, I enjoyed Punk/Kofi vs Priceless (but another slight gripe - what kind of tag champions have separate entrances? Do these guys think they're Cena and HBK?), Santino's antics, and the rest. Is there a rule that Edge has to face Cena on Raw within a few weeks whenever he (Edge) wins a world title? I think Edge did his Raw farewell job to Cena (but that might have been HBK, who I recall got to give Kurt Angle the Raw farewell job when he won the World Heavyweight Title in a battle royal) and he wrestled Cena in a champ vs. champ match at the 2007 draft. So, here we are, another 3 hour special and another champ vs. champ Edge vs. Cena match. I'm not complaining though, they work well together. I noticed people were questioning the comment about a great Jericho vs. Hardy rivalry with no answer given, but they did have a series of matches in the spring before Jeff was suspended that were pretty good. They also had a really good match at No Way Out 2003, and that was when Jeff was awful and blowing every spot.

And that place is a SELLING POINT for a subscription (though admittedly Alvarez prefaces that by noting it's "not for everyone"). I would pay extra money just to have my mind wiped and not be aware THE BOARD~! and people like rovert existed. I think that's why I got mad at Truthiness for quoting The Board for spoilers - sure they were accurate, but I hate them.

Any adult I watched wrestling with in 1991/1992 thought IRS was awesome. I went with my uncle to Survivor Series 91 and I guess he had taken my cousin to other shows (both before and after) but that was the extent of it. He seemed indifferent to it - he wouldn't be watching Superstars with us on the weekend but he didn't seem to be ripping his hair out with boredom at Survivor Series (which was a boring show, to kudos to him). I think a few times he may have sat in with us while watching a PPV, but not for very long. I recall one time in 1995 or so I had Raw on while my mom was doing laundry and she began mocking a promo Kevin Nash was doing with Bam Bam Bigelow. Nothing specific, but she just kind of said "GRR! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU UP!" or something, then asked what I saw in it. From time to time I got the "are you still into wrestling?" questions as she assumed I was going to move on when I got older (she did the same thing with video games) but by Christmas '98 she got on board with the fact wrestling and I weren't going anywhere and bought me the WrestleMania collection, a Steve Austin shirt, and a Wolfpac shirt. I think my dad saw some Mania XI footage on the news at one point and made a generic "those guys are big!" comment. He knew I watched it because we had been out for lunch in Mexican Town in Detroit the day of the event and I was keeping him appraised of the fact I had to be at my cousin's house by a certain time (and I got to bring left over Super Nacho to boot!). He brought up the news coverage thing the next time we went out. Sometimes now he or my grandmother will ask "when the next big wrestling show" is, or when I'll be going to Joe Louis next for a show, and I'll begrudgingly humour them with an answer but I really don't want to. I really don't like discussing anything wrestling related outside of friends or co-workers that enjoy it, and even then it's risky because a non-fan might hear me talking about it (but this topic is for a different thread entirely). My grandfather and above mentioned grandmother used to watch wrestling with me on Sunday's when I was over there for lunch in the early 90s. Apparently they used to watch wrestling back in the day (because in their day there was only 1 channel and wrestling was on it, or something). I think from time to time my grandfather sneaked in some wrestling to see what was up in the wrestling business in 1991, but not very often. I liked it when he complained about the referees being incompetent during tag matches or allowing Jimmy Hart to stand on the ring apron while The Mountie grabbed his shock stick. Every house show I attended from 1993-1995 was courtesy of a friend's father who got tickets via being a buyer with Ford and dealing directly with suppliers. He was always a good sport about it but I think the best part for him was he didn't need to pay attention - we always had box seats so he could just watch TV if he wanted. It was pretty great when we went to a WCW house show in 1998 with Sting defending the title against Hogan - being a house show, Hogan was obviously going to lose, but since his knowledge of wrestling was more in tune with "The Hulkster is #1", he was shocked that he lost.

Question (though based on the times of posted comments I can make a guess at the answer): Is Raw getting shorter / losing the overrun, or is The Score in Canada doing a better job of "catching up" to the live program? The show always seems to end at exactly 11:15 pm here, the sole exception in the past month was an episode that ended at 11:12 (!).

ECW Legacy and WWE: TNG, eh?

New updates (on the new weekly schedule) for Dec 1: Raw: Episode 56 March 28, 1994 | Approx. run time: 44 mins. Lex Luger is ready to take his WrestleMania aggression out on “The Model” Rick Martel this week on Raw. Can the veteran outlast “Made in the USA” Lex Luger? Also, the Quebecers get an unexpected visit from Hall of Famer Captain Lou Albano. Albano promised to deliver a mystery tag team to challenge the champions. Find out on Raw just who that team is. Wrestling Challenge: Episode 24 February 15, 1987 | Approx. run time: 41 mins. Hulk Hogan is on Piper’s Pit this week, and he’s going to answer Andre the Giant’s challenge. The main event features a huge six-man tag as Hillbilly Jim tags with the Rougeaus to face The Dream Team and their manager, Johnny V. Also, catch Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage, King Harley Race, and The Killer Bees in action. Legacy of the Intercontinental Championship: Part XVIII December 1, 2008 | Approx. run time: 63 mins. Relive the classic Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon from WrestleMania X this month on The Legacy of the Intercontinental Championship. Don’t read the Cliffs Notes on this episode, because all the matches are unbelievable! The Fink's Hall of Fame Selection: Bobo Brazil vs. Crusher Blackwell March 1, 1976 | Approx. run time: 9 mins. The Fink, Howard Finkel introduces WWE.com Legacy to many lost treasures in the WWE tape library. The Fink’s first pick features Bobo Brazil battling Crusher Blackwell in Madison Square Garden. This match, now more than 30 years old, is truly a gem worth checking out. WCCW - Freebirds vs. Von Erich's - 6 Man Elimination Lumberjack Strap Match May 18, 1986 | Approx. run time: 23 mins. This match is certainly a mouthful! Kevin Von Erich announced he was not medically cleared to compete so the Von Erich’s chose Steve Simpson from Africa to take his place. Will the replacement be enough for the Von Erich’s to claim the gold? Find out in another great match reliving the biggest rivalry in all of WCCW. Royal Rumble 1999 - Royal Rumble Match January 24, 1999 | Approx. run time: 64 mins. The Royal Rumble Match is typically one of the most unpredictable events all year. In 1999, anything was bound to happen when the first entrant was “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the second entrant was Mr. McMahon. With other competitors such as Triple H, Edge, Owen Hart and Kane involved, anyone could be heading to the main event of WrestleMania XV. WCW Power Hour - Arn Anderson vs. Great Muta January 12, 1990 | Approx. run time: 14 mins. Can Arn Anderson add the WCW Television Championship to his wrestling resume? WWE.com Legacy dug into the vaults to pull this classic match from WCW Power Hour. Enjoy this rarely seen title match. Raw - Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog February 26, 1997 | Approx. run time: 20 mins. Who will leave Germany the first-ever European Champion? Not only are both Owen Hart and The British Bulldog co-holders of the Tag Team Championship, they were both trained in The Dungeon. Can either man outsmart the other to win the title? Find out in one of the greatest matches ever featured on Raw. I suspect the reason the IC Legacy XVIII has the description it does was so they didn't have to advertise the fact it ACTUALLY contains Razor Ramon vs. Ludvig Borga and Diesel vs. Lex Luger (on top of the ladder match and Diesel vs. Razor from Superstars). I actually have Luger vs. Diesel on some tape around here (called "Off the Top Rope" oddly enough) and was quite thrilled to have it at the time!

I was just joking.

Plus the #1 Contender for the Intercontinental Title Tournament continues!

He should take his locker room back from Booker T if he's a bad ass.

Greetings TSM! It's your good pal Stephen here. Many of you know me best as my TSM persona "DrVenkman PhD" but today we're going to be prying deep (or not so deep) into what makes - or perhaps made - your wrestling clocks tick. This is basically kind of exactly like a survey Cheech already did in Site Feedback, but I am trying to put a larger focus on wrestling on this one. Traffic wise, it made sense to launch the survey in the WWE folder, but heck (HECK!) if you've never watched a minute of WWE television and want to talk about why Fedora Town Wrestling rocks the wrestling world, please do. I'm also interested in hearing from the ex-fans that populate the board, but that would require them to actually be in this area to read this, and honestly, almost all of the questions are skewed to current viewers (I'm planning on doing some "why are you LESS interested" type questions, but not many "Why aren't you interested at all?" questions). Either way, have some fun with it and if you hate this and think it's dumb... well, keep it to yourself. You'll hurt my feeling otherwise Or mention it in the appropriate NHB thread. General Interest Questions 1. Who are you and what's your business here? Feel free to not answer this if you don't want to. Basically, if you wish, let us know what your deal is and how you came across TSM Forums. 2. When did you discover an interest in wrestling? What year/era? Perhaps it was the Showa era? Maybe the Heisei era? 1993? Attitude era? (You get the idea). What angle, match, or wrestler/character do you vividly remember as your first wrestling experience? 3. The Company Line: A. Which companies have you actively followed in your tenure as a wrestling fan? B. What have some of your favourite companies been? Your least favourite? (In theory, your answer can be the same - if you were growing up a fan of the technical wrestling WCW brought to the table but thought the end of the line for them was some of the worst television this side of My Mother The Car, that's cool). C. What is your favourite company right now? Any reason why? 4. (Not So) Favourites: A. Who were your favourite wrestlers (or gimmicks) growing up / when you first started watching wrestling? B. Who were some guys you couldn't stand? C. Who are your current favourites (if applicable / different from A.) D. There was a 4th question here, but it basically ripped off the entire premise of a thread (or more than one thread, in theory) that already exists in General. Specific Questions about your Interest 5. How would you gauge your current interest level in the product? Do you still get butterflies of excitement that make you look forward to upcoming PPVs? Did you ever? Do you watch every televsied wrestling program live, or just a few - and FF'd via DVR at that? If you consider right now to be the most interested in wrestling you've ever been, the rest of the questions in this section can be skipped over. 6. At what point in wrestling history (if it's not now) would you consider your interest to have been at it's peak? When were you compelled to watch every second of televised wrestling AND shell out money on PPVs, get excited about the release of video games, have TV/PPV parties with friends, etc. 7. At what point could you tell your interest was dipping and why do you think this happened, or what specific event(s) triggered the decrease? Was there anything even specific? Just a gradual interest loss of interest? Retirement (or death) of a favourite? A boring title reign on SmackDown in the Summer of 2004? 8. Have you ALWAYS stuck with wrestling even during times of low interest, or are there any lengths of time you stopped watching for a period only to come back at a later date? 9. If applicable, at what point did you decide to pack in the wrestling fandom? Interesting Questions of a Somewhat Random Nature 10. What style of pro wrestling best resonates with your personal tastes? Has it always been this way, or have your tastes changed over time? 11. Where do you "draw the line" with the whole "suspended disbelief" deal? Do you tell critics to "relax because it's just wrestling and you should enjoy the matches" (aka TNA fans about everything that happens on Impact!), do you come up with solutions that the writing team didn't bother to think about but you figure "it's there if you read between the lines" (aka "WWE Apologists"), somewhere inbetween, or do you take your greatest joy in watching wrestling to deconstruct everything that makes no sense? 12. Do you attend live events? And more specifically, do you get a thrill out of big arena shows, do you prefer the smaller 'intimate' settings of the local indy show, or would you rather forget the whole thing and watch everything unfold on your HDTV without dealing with 'the marks'? 13. If applicable, what are the best and worst experiences you've had going to a show live? 14. What are your favourite matches, moments, or events? 15. Freestyle Add any closing remarks you feel are absolutely necessary to letting TSM know your thoughts on wrestling. Again, just have fun with it. If it comes off as lame, I apologize, but I'm hoping it brings the "wrestling sections" of the board closer together instead of further apart.

So, the year is just about done, eh?

I'm not sure how I forgot that - it actually hooked me into thinking "ok... that's a new one". But then I fell asleep and forgot all about it. Thanks for the reminder though.

I told someone else to order it for me as a Christmas present. And by "told", I mean I logged in under their account, picked 4 DVDs and nicely asked if that was cool for Christmas.

So I was watching the Fox Sunday animation block as I'm wont to do on a Sunday night and it really dawns on me that I probably will not be at all sad to see King of the Hill go and I hope the rumours of it going to ABC are complete make believe. I don't expect much continuity out of shows like The Simpsons or Family Guy but because KotH is supposed to be more 'realistic' - even if it goes 14 seasons and only ages the characters once - I expect more. I've ranted about continuity issues before, but when they write an episode that SPECIFICALLY REFERENCES a previous episode (the Order of the Straight Arrow), it's annoying to see Bobby act like this is a new and exciting thing for him and he's never been a member. He should have been telling the new kids about the snipe hunt. And is Luanne pregnant or not? They haven't bothered updating her model in the 2 (3?) years she's been pregnant. And where's Kahn Jr., off to violin academy? That's a lot of nitpicking I guess, but it was really bothering me. The Simpsons was an odd episode tonight too. I found parts of it funny but "Bart befriends a terrorist, Homer becomes prejudiced and thinks the father is a terrorist" doesn't really read as a hilarious idea. Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney were good for some laughs though ("You're the one true 'mo!"). I was also amused at the fact that Homer's plot was basically the exact same storyline Stan Smith had with his neighbours the Memari's. El Plagiarismo Del Plagiarismo indeed. American Dad was pretty good as usual though.