Dobbs 3K

Man, Flair looks crappy in that picture. If you like the "Country Church" album, there's some website with a ton of old vinyl covers that are equally weird/creepy/hokey: http://www.zonicweb.net/badalbmcvrs/

I thought Benoit vs Booker T, round 2, was a pretty darn good match. At least there were some spots I don't remember seeing before from these two, like Benoit's three belly-to-belly suplexs, and the spot towards the end where Benoit fell from the apron trying to do a German suplex. Does anyone know what exactly the point of this show is, though? It seems like it got announced out of nowhere, and with not much fanfare. Is UPN testing the waters of having Smackdown move to Tuesdays now?

Didn't Austin turn when he joined the Alliance as WWF Champion?

Big Four PPV? I thought this idea died out quite a while ago, since WWE runs like, what? 16 PPVs a year now?

http://www.musclefx.com/gallery/thumbnail/.../1065882983.jpg That's him. Only pic I could find.

But it was a SWERVE~! As Vince Russo can tell you, wrestling fans love swerves, even if they don't make any sense. They're the best way to build a successful wrestling promotion.

I don't understand who actually wants to be part of a mob like that. I think I'd rather go to the dentist than wait outside a big box store for three hours in the freezing cold to save a few bucks on some crap I could probably get someplace else the following weekend for about the same price. I really think retail chains should re-think this whole "door buster sale" thing. Is it really worth getting a few extra bucks early to have a horde of people outside your door, and risk people getting injured by greedy idiots? There's usually no extra security or crowd control at a lot of these places either.

If I were a pro-wrestler, I'd want to: - Be able to retire in good health without having gone through a divorce or neglecting my family. (Should be priority #1 for anyone). - Have a least one multi-year run as part of a regular, notable tag team, even if it's just in the indys, and win at least one somewhat major tag title. - Have at least one really violent, memorable, match. I'm not talking about some stupid TLC or electric barbed wire steel cage match. I just mean a good old fashioned Tully & Magnum style bloody brawl with a feud behind it. - Win the NWA World Title, and defend it overseas at least once, preferably in Japan. - Work at least one "shoot style" match, against someone like a Shelton Benjamin, or maybe a real shooter like Ken Shamrock or something. Maybe even in an octagon type ring. I'm not big into shoot wrestling, but I think it's cool when wrestlers can cross over and work that type of style (like Vader in UWFi). - Retire as someone who was generally well respected and liked in the business, and known as someone who didn't injure or take liberties with opponents. - Work a battle royal match as a heel, and win by cheating and being as cheap as possible the entire match. (Hiding outside the ring, sneaking up on guys from behind, clutching the bottom rope, etc). - Wrestle under a mask at least once (maybe as part of a "mystery man" type angle or something). See, nothing too lofty on their, other than the NWA World Title thing.

Positive #1: Tag teams. They've done a good job building up the division. I mean, off the top of my head you have: - The Naturals - AMW - Team 3D - Team Canada (well, various combinations of guys in that group) - Diamonds in the Rough - 3 Live Kru (again, a couple different cominations, but they tag regularly) That's a lot better than either RAW or Smackdown (or maybe even the two combined) can offer right now. Positive #2: Managers. Something TNA is really doing well, although it could be said they could do more with some of the managers they do have right now. - James Mitchell. Probably the best manager in wrestling right now in terms of mic work. Should probably have more guys under his wing than just Abyss (who he is perfect for). - Scott D'Amore. Just a great heel. The fans hate him. At some point Team Canada is going to have to break up, though. - Gail Kim. Hasn't had a chance to do a lot yet, but it makes sense for Jeff Jarrett, the World champion, to have a valet/manager. WWE was idiotic for firing her, IMO. I mean, she is talented, was getting better as a wrestler, looks hot, and has shown she's willing to pose nude (not that I care about that, but WWE seems to). - Traci Brooks. Probably the most underutilized. Seems to be kind of slumming with the directionless Matt Bentley. Positive #3: The X Division. OK, this one seems like a forgone conclusion, as it's been the most popular thing in TNA for almost four years or so. I almost hesitated though, because a lot of the guys seem pretty generic. The only exceptions are probably AJ Styles, Christohper Daniels, and Samoa Joe. I mean, what is the real difference between guys like Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, or Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, other than some different signature moves? They really need to build the personalities of these guys so that the crowd will care about them. Yeah, they can have a great match and pop the live crowd, but the casual wrestling fan tuning in probably won't care unless they can get into the characters a bit more. Still, you gotta give TNA credit...they could've been tempted to focus more on the heavyweights when they moved to SpikeTV, but they really haven't shirked on pushing and showcasing the X guys. Again, not to turn this into comparing TNA to WWE, but WWE has repeatedly done nothing with their cruiserweights in almost 9 years. Positive #4: The announcers. OK, some people don't like Don West, but I think he does a good job bringing excitement to the broadcasts and putting over big moves. He's also probably the most improved announcer in wrestling, at least since I first heard him in TNA's early days. Tenay just doesn't have that exciting vibe, but he does a great job calling the action. They also do a very good job on focusing on storylines which involve the guys that are actually in the ring at any given time. I also think Shane Douglas does a good job with interviews backstage. Positive #5: Feuds that are thought out and make sense. Abyss vs Sabu is the big one right now. A nice violent feud without any dumb backstage skits to get it over. I mean, think about it...TNA has managed to book an interesting feud between two guys that basically don't even talk! James Mitchell is the only real voice piece in this feud. I think Team 3D vs AMW is another good example of this. A nice logical feud with some good wrestling. You could make the case that the storyline with Kip James and 3LK also makes sense. At least they're giving these guys something to do, rather than just booking people in meaningless matches, show after show. Overall I think TNA is doing a very good job for what they have to work with now, and they just need to stay the course. The only two areas I really think they need to develop are giving characters to more of the X Division guys, and maybe tuning up the World Title picture. They need to decide who is going to knock Jarrett off the "top of the mountain", and make it clear cut. They seem to fluctuate between Jeff Hardy, Raven, Monty Brown, and Rhino lately. It needs to be decided who will get to carry the ball next, and that person should have a lengthy reign, not job the title back to Double J at the earliest opportunity.

Yeah, I was going to say...you can play the very match the original poster laid out in Fire Pro D for Dreamcast (and other Fire Pro Wrestling games). Only thing is you have to pick your team's order before the match starts, but basically the same concept. I think WWE could pull something like that off. The only downside is that other than the RAW vs Smackdwon story currently going, they don't really have any factions to use for it right now. Maybe if they brought Evolution back or something. TNA could do it too...maybe something like: Jeff Jarrett/Chris Harris/James Storm/Petey Williams/Abyss vs Christian/Andy Douglas/Chase Stevens/AJ Styles/Monty Brown OK, maybe wouldn't be a dream match like the one the original poster laid out, but I think it could be decent. Would be good if they did a special episode of Impact devoted just to this match, to build towrards a PPV. Obviously, could work with the X Division, too.

One thing that I was thinking about the other day... When the Hart Foundation first debuted in the WWF in the '80s with Jimmy Hart as their manager, was any connection made between Bret and Jimmy? Like, did the WWF claim that Jimmy and Bret were cousins or anything like that?

The only bad thing about the Devil Rays is their name. They seem to be building their club up, slowly but surely.

Think about it...if you don't have any problems with yours, you're probably playing it right now. If you have a single problem, you're going to bitch as much as possible since you just spent several hundred bucks on a defective product.

New rumor has Lyle Overbay going to Boston for Matt Clement straight up. I think that would be more realistic than anything involving Manny Ramirez, as Milwaukee had interest in Clement last off-season.

I keep hearing the Brewers' Lyle Overbay (1B) being bantered about in possible trades with the Mets or Red Sox, but I doubt any of it is that serious at this point.

OK, fair enough. If you can afford the system, fine. What annoys me more is people who really shouldn't be spending their money on video game systems, or people who whine because they can't scrape the money together to buy one. I've seen posts on different message boards begging people to help them get an Xbox 360. It's pathetic. I agree with the comment about the graphics not being that big a leap either. Personally it feels to me like they haven't really scratched the surface of what the first Xbox can do...I mean, it's been out for what? Four years now? That's not all that long. How does Nintendo justify bringing out the Revolution next year, btw? They couldn't have done a wireless remote-style controller with the Gamecube?

I don't understand why people want a system right away at launch. Aside from the aforementioned bugs and glitches, it is more expensive than it will be in usually six months time, and there are few games. I don't understand why so many people get sucked into the hype. It's not like there aren't plenty of good games to play or coming out for the systems you already have...

That is the one area I'll give Russo some credit for in WCW. Some of the characters were stupid, and most of the storylines and booking didn't make any sense, but at least every wrestler had a character or storyline going. Everyone from Hogan, to Jarrett, to Misterio, to La Parka, had some kind of angle going. That is something WWE really needs to improve on, and have needed to do so for the last three years.

I imagine Indianapolis is Cubs territory right now? Portland has been trying to get a team for many years. I think this would be an ideal time for them...they've apparently already contacted Marlins ownership.

You have to give the devil his due...he's been able to last over 40 years, being just south of the biggest democracy in the world. It shows how dumb our policy towards Cuba is. The US should have free trade. The exchange of products and ideas will do more to bring freedom to Cuba then our embargo has.

Yeah, I really couldn't see Misterio being a heel. Maybe if he totally changed his wrestling style, saying he wouldn't do his high flying moves anymore because the fans don't respect him or something. But, with his voice, cutting heel promos would just sound weird.

Anyone else getting inundated with spam e-mail offering to give you a FREE Xbox 360? Gee, they want to give it to me free? Wow, what nice people. Happens everytime a new version of the iPod comes out too.

I think most people's problems with Matt Bentley stem from the fact that, yeah, he's a decent enough wrestler, but he's nothing special enough to warrant the amount of TV time and high profile matches he gets. He basically screams "generic indy HBK-wannabe guy" as far as I'm concerned. The only thing that makes him stand out is Tracy Brooks(who I think is a very good manager). He's kind of the Chris Candido of 2005.

Speaking of homoerotic moments...does anyone remember the Nitro where right at the end Nash ran in and saved Goldberg from a beatdown, and as Goldberg was lying down in the ring, Nash was like, cradling Goldberg's face and they were looking at each other really tenderly? That was pretty bizarre.

Yeah...it's been apparent TNA needs an equivalent of the Intercontinental/US titles for a while, for guys like Abyss, Sabu, etc who won't be moving up to the World Title scene anytime soon.