Just John

Wade getting hurt allowed the Pistons to coast in Game 6, and he had an ok Game 7 at best. Not nearly as dominant as he had been earlier in the series. I don't think any of those teams you mentioned that had the Pistons down 3-2 (including the 05 Heat) had as much talent as this year's Celtics team. I don't think Detroit's dead in the water by any means, but I think this is a bigger challenge than the previous 3-2 defecits they have overcome.

Because Dwyane Wade got injured.

Haven't posted here in forever, but I've been reading over the NBA draft which has been a lot of fun. With school being out, I have more than enough time to fill with something like this, so I'd like to join. And for what it's worth, I support the O-line group idea.

The face/heel dynamics of that angle were really messed up. I mean, Lita turned heel when she dumped her rapist husband. Using WWE logic Lita was always a conniving Jezebel who willingly slept with Kane. I think the real problem was when they tried to tie in the Edge/Matt "shoot" angle over Lita. One week Kane's this sick rapist, then the next week he was only pretending to be a sick rapist because Matt and Lita were in a relationship for real. So I guess he turned face because Edge cost him a title shot and stole his pretend wife.

The face/heel dynamics of that angle were really messed up. I mean, Lita turned heel when she dumped her rapist husband.

The subtitle for this thread should be "You made me dance!" Also, didn't Trish turn on Jericho because she liked the fact that Christian beat her up?

Technically, Tazz beat the Bossman by dq after about a minute... Of course, he spent the next 5 minutes getting beat down by Bossman and Albert to no heat, so I see your point. Not too many jobs bother me, but I don't think HHH should've gone over Booker at WM 19 or JBL should've gone over Eddie at the GAB 04 for the brand's respective titles after running horribly racist angles for both of them.

Really good movie.

Made it to level 12. Disappointed as a geography major... Should've beaten it, but I don't know my islands well enough.

It's not, as long as that feeling makes them want to keep watching the angle. Guys like Flair have made a living off cheap finishes and barely escaping with the title. There's a fine line between making the fans feel ripped off but giving them just enough so they want to see more, and driving fans away completely. Austin/Angle is a good example of making fans feel disappointed. It's not like the Hogan/Nash fingerpoke which turned fans away from the company.

Well, I threw out those buzzwords somewhat sarcastically because the people who usually bitch about that finish are generally of the generic smarky "clean finishes are the only good way to end a match" line of thinking. Anyway, I found this sentence particularly interesting... To me, this doesn't seem like a bad thing. You build up the match so that it appears Angle has to win, then you piss everyone off with a total screwjob. Everyone in the arena shits all over the lame finish because they wanted they wanted a different result. Even people watching at home get pissed because the wanted a different finish. Hell, I was unhappy with the result as it happened, but later on I came to see that was exactly the reaction they wanted. That match WORKED people, including the smart fans, which really puts it in select company. If fans hated the finish to the match "at that moment" as you stated, then tuned into Raw the next night hoping to see a re-match signed, then the fans were playing right along with what the wrestlers and the writers wanted, similar to the quote in your sig. I didn't like the finish because it made me or anyone else feel good. I liked it because it made everyone feel angry. It's like appreciating a movie with a sad ending in that you simply like it because it makes you feel something emotionally, which a fictional story generally shouldn't or doesn't do.

Anyone who thinks the DQ ruined a workrate spectacle wasn't paying enough attention to the character development, psychology, or storytelling in the match, which all built to the finish which was perfect for the situation. I could see that line of thinking applying to something like Benoit/Malenko at Spring Stampede 97, which was a fine techincal display for about 15 minutes before a DQ occurred out of nowhere, but not for Austin/Angle. Everything in the feud leading up to the match and the match itself did a great job setting up the DQ and making it work as the finish. Given that Angle was booked to win the title in his hometown the next month, I think you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better heat-building finish for their Summer Slam match.

Sting/Hogan doesn't apply because it was a terrible match all the way through. I think the finish of Angle/Austin at Summer Slam was brilliant. It pissed everyone off, which is what it was supposed to do. You don't get finishes that evoke real emotion too much nowadays. I agree with Angle/Lesnar at Mania 19, though. If Brock hits the SSP clean, people would've been giving that match MOTYC talk.

Their defense is really good.

Sheed's a heat-magnet, but his stable-mates clearly aren't over enough to warrant another title run. Their title win over the Lakers was only over because the Lakers were great heels, and their match with the Spurs was fundamentally good, but only smart fans really cared about it. The marks were apathetic to the whole thing. After that heatless "money match," it's no wonder Stern panicked and put the strap on the much more over Miami Heat, even if they weren't as technically sound as Detroit. Although it did lead to that awesome swerve with Miami turning heel toward the end of the match.

For local stuff: El Rancho (Columbia, MO) La Fuente (Kansas City) Raindancer Steakhouse (Palm Beach) Chains: Red Lobster Olive Garden Fuddruckers Carrabba's Fast Food: Taco Bell Subway Arby's

I see someone already mentioned "Picture" by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. That was one of the first two songs that came to my head when seeing the thread title. The other was "Follow Me" by Uncle Kracker.

Burke has that sweet "4-up" uppercut he throws from time to time. And more apt comparison to Lashley would be how they hype his amateur wrestling background even though he uses nothing but power moves.

Too much Avril hate here. Anyway, my pick goes to... "I Got it from my Mama" (Will.I.Am). How has this song not been mentioned yet? The chorus is grating, and third verse is beyond awful. Not that the other two bring anything to the table. "Ay Bay Bay" is bad too. As far as "Party Like a Rockstar" is concerned... I've heard worse songs, but I don't know if any song better sums up everything that's wrong with the mainstream rap scene today. Too much focus on a "catchy" hook, no substance, poor rhyming/flow. It's like the bastard child of rap and pop.

I would agree with that for the first half of the decade. I don't know how you can say that's true now after they've gone out and signed Moss, Stallworth, Welker, and Thomas, though.

Clearly, the IWC should create a movement to stuff the ballot box and rally around a none-HITC choice for Orton-Cena to teach the WWE a lesson. I always thought this would be funny, but it's impossible. There's too many mark votes out there. As far as rigging goes, I'm pretty sure Gail Kim said it wasn't rigged in a shoot interview. She talked about how the divas had to have three different costumes ready for the fantasy battle royal or whatever. Only time I recall WWE really getting in a bind over a Taboo Tuesday vote was for the Snitsky/Kane weapon on a pole match. They set up a feud based around using the chair, but the fans voted for a chain to be on the pole instead. As I recall, the match ended on a chair spot anyway.

Benoit vs. Regal (Pillman Memorial Show 2000)

What do Austin, Piper, and Foley have to do with the SD ME scene?

You know, the thought crossed my mind during the wedding that it might have been a tad insensitive to have Vickie present for a heart-attack character killing, but I see the writers are way ahead of me on insensitive booking. Not that I'm gonna get on a high horse and bitch about this or anything, it's really just more of a "Why is this necessary" sort of deal. Long was great in his role and Vickie sucks at everything on camera. Seems like SD is starting to become should-miss television.