Just John

I re-watched the match myself, and yeah, it's not nearly as offensive as I remembered. A few elbow toward the end don't get much attention, but still not too bad. I know on the internet you're not supposed to do this, but... Um, I was wrong. Maybe I am thinking of a different match. I still don't like the TD91/TS85 back-to-back overkill, but that's just something it looks like no one will agree on.

I always wondered what if Bobby said something like "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad to see Hogan right now!" I think more people would've bitched about that telegraphing the turn more than his real comment. Announcers using reverse psychology is the biggest giveaway in wrestling.

I'm inclined to agree that Joe couldn't pull the gimmick off as well as Jamal. Not to discredit Joe in any way, as he's top 10 in the world right now, but the no amount of wrestling ability can just make a gimmick. He's better as the regular guy badass, plus he uses too many wrestling moves for a Samoan savage (STF, Kukina Clutch, etc). Jamal also has the better voice to yell things like "AHHH SAMOA!!!"

I guess. I wasn't really looking for any continued selling at that point since Misawa had hit about 20 elbow shots by then without flinching.

I always thought of the 10/21 match as a simpler match that worked because they didn't try to do as much in terms of making the match complex. By that point, they had teamed together and fought each other enough that they knew this would be an all-out war. So, from the bell, it's just each guy going for big moves in an attempt to put the other away. It's a lot of back-and-forth, "I'm gonna hit you with whatever I can" kind of fighting that favors both guys' styles. They get to hit and kick out of lots of impressive moves without having to worry about things like long term selling because it's just one random move after another. Anyway, back to 1/20... Yeah, I get the whole "straw that breaks the camel's back" thing with the elbow finish, but why do it? It's anti-climactic and hurts the rep of the TD91. And standing back up after the TS85 on top of that? Just too much for me. Those two moves back to back should be enough to keep someone down. I could be more forgiving if the elbow came right after the TD91, as it would've been like WP's Street Fighter analogy. But throwing the TS85 in the middle was going overboard. Yes, you could just push the straw/camel thing back a step, but at some point it has to become overkill, right? And as for arm work... It's not as big of a deal, as I know stuff like this gets shrugged off all the time. And hey, one time Kawada worked most of a match with a broken arm legit and didn't really "sell" it. My main problem is that the point of Kobashi working the right arm would presumably be to slow down the elbow assault and/or make it hard to execute the Tiger Driver. Could've been a nice element to the story, but Misawa shakes off 10 minutes of arm work after about 2 elbow shots, thus making the work pointless since it doesn't factor into the story in a meaningful way. The fact that he used the injured arm in the finish was just ironic icing on the cake.

TNA must get a 2-hour block if this is going to help. Two 1-hour shows just means you'll get more repeat stuff from top guys, or you end up with a "Heat" like show that no one will watch. A 2-hour block gives you time to showcase a variety of talent, do promos, get decent match times, etc. I think getting 2 hours would help TNA immensely. Hell, I know I'll go out of my way to watch.

Because IM's are won by the most total falls, no matter how you accumulate them. Anyway, another puro example to look at... Misawa/Kobashi 1/20/97: As a big fan of both guys, I really hate to bash what many call their best match together, but I absolutely hate the finish to this one. The match is damn near perfect until the last 15 minutes or so. It drops to just great when Misawa starts no-selling the vicious arm-work, but still no major complaints (because hey, it's Misawa) until the final sequence. I know Kobashi's the ulitmate "never say die" fighting spirit kind of guy, but him kicking out of the TD91, then standing back up after the TS85 completely ruined the match for me. It didn't help that the real finish was a freaking running elbow with the injured arm. So you basically discredit Misawa's two killer moves back-to-back just so you can piss all over the psychology? Nuts to that. 10/21/97 forever.

You know, there's really no reason why every team couldn't have at least one national tv game when an average of 6 games a week are shown every week for 5 1/2 months. I know some teams are more marketable and there is a business side to things, but I'd really like a chance to see every team play at least once (especially since NBA league pass isn't an option at school). Would it really hurt to stick Toronto, Atlanta, and Portland in one of those 10:30 spots just once?

Murphy's Law says that he'll lead the Knicks to a mediocre 35-win season (falling just shy of the 8 seed), but since that's an improvement on last year, management will extend his welcome. Then the Knicks will move on to a couple more years of sub-30 win seasons. And I'm sad that the Rockets aren't on the NBA's Elite National tv list this year. Not that they deserve it, but national tv is the only way I can see their games. This years list looks like: Miami Dallas Phoenix Cleveland San Antonio Chicago Detroit Both LA teams All televised games feature a combo of those teams or a rare appearance for some peasant who is lucky enough to ride the coattails of one of them into the spotlight for a fleeting moment.

I wonder when was the last time 3 teams scored 15 runs on the same day. Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida all did it yesterday.

No SNF on ESPN is giving us an extra day of national tv games. I like that. Sundays in the fall will now be even better.

People throw around the phrase "exposing the business" a lot. Even though you could argue about how much you can expose something everyone knows isn't real, there are definitely some things that are so ridiculous, it makes suspending disbelief impossible. What things do you think expose wrestling the most?

Just saw it, and I must concur that it's good stuff. I was amazed at how emotional the film got despite how ridiculous it was at other points. The racial slurs dialogue was fantastic. "Come to think of it, maybe my grandma was a little racist... She did once refer to a broken beer bottle as a nigger knife."

You know, this Raw was actually better than it has been in recent weeks, but it was still a perfect example of everything that's wrong with the show. 1. Nothing changes. Since DX has formed, have any storylines changed or developed substantially in any way? Not really. DX/McMahons is still a bunch of bad comedy skits. Foley and Flair still still cut into each other with shoot-laden promos. Cena, Edge, and the WWE title are just there. The 3 IC title division guys are still wrestling in pointless (but usually above average) matches. The Divas are floating aimlessly. Orton and Hogan started a couple weeks after DX formed, I guess, but since the start, every week is more of the same generic Hogan/anti-Hogan promos. Seriously, every Raw in the last 6-8 weeks is completely interchangeable. You could put this week's Raw on 2 weeks ago, or the 7/3 show on now and it wouldn't matter. Nothing develops, nothing changes. 2. Everything that's portrayed as important is a promo. No match means anything. The matches this week might be the best overall showing Raw's done all year. Everything was passable to decent, but it didn't matter because none of it was important. IC match? Doesn't matter, some combo of those 3 will be fighting next week, as has been the case forever. Divas tag? Time filler, there's not even a divas storyline to be found. Cena squash? Might as well have been an Edge promo. Rory Highlander vs. Johnny might have been the most meaningful match of the night because it gives the Scotsmen a kayfabe excuse to get another title shot. Umaga's involvment in the Michaels beatdown was completely pointless. Nevermind that all the promos that don't involve Flair or Foley are damn near unwatchable.

Yeah, but it would keep the NWO off SD. Who really wants to see Hogan, Nash, Hall, and whoever else dominate the fresh(er) faces on that show?

I'm still upset that everyone being suspended is from SD. You're telling me no one on Raw besides Masters is on the roids? Please.

This feud could be hot... If it was 1998. Bagwell, Hall, Nash, and Savage at this age? That's right down there with NWO B/W 99 for worst NWO incarnation ever. The only interesting thing is what side Waltman would be on.

2nd year at the University of Missouri. Or "Mizzou" as we like to call it...

Good to hear Lashley will be back. He's not the best wrestler in the world, but he's improving, has lots of fire, and the fans like him. SD needs more midcard faces. Once Benoit gets back, SD should return to its early 2006 form in terms of quality.

Good show again from SD this week, and much better than it looked on paper. Other than Vito/Dean, there wasn't anything I didn't like, or at least couldn't tolerate. The Batista/Kennedy mini-feud is rather interesting. WWE must be really high on Kennedy to put him over Batista twice (even in cheap fashion) since Batista was one of the most protected stars in the company for a while. I think it's just to give Kennedy an excuse to squeeze in to the SD Summer Slam main event when Batista inevitably wins a battle royal or tournament for the #1 contender's spot. Vito/Dean, as mentioned earlier, was bad. Please kill both gimmicks. The only redeeming quality is hearing JBL run them both down throughout the match. The exchanges with Cole about going to a bar with Vito were funny too. Sylvain/Tatanka was way better than I thought it would be. Pretty decent tv match, and I like the return of the TKO. Divas match was typical stuff. Hard to really get worked up over it. Bad finish, but whatever. Cole and JBL again make it watchable with their good commentary. The coronation thing went on too long, but at least they went all out with it, and Rey got involved. Finlay/Regal was solid stuff again, although the finish was pretty lame. I'm still waiting for someone to destroy the leprechaun. Diva search was short, so no big deal. Not like SD has a lot of guys losing tv time over this any more. And Erica is super hot. Terkay looked decent enough in his squash debut. I liked his strikes a lot. At first I thought he was going to give Matt one of those striking combo specials from No Mercy. I wish he did, because that submission finisher he used was weak. Looked like a generic resthold. He'll still be a welcome addition to the depleted SD midcard, though. Does anyone know if Elijah Burke wrestles or if he's just a mouthpiece? Booker and Rey have good chemistry. All 3 of their matches in the last week have been good. It's good to see Booker motivated and fired up again. He looks like he's gone back in time 6 years. I wish they could've done a different finish, but at least Chavo's interferrence looked painful. And Booker did get to use a finisher this time.

I know there's only 17 guys on SD, but damn... Are they just going to re-enact the GAB as the show this week?

I'm not normally much for conspiracy theories (and I can't even come with a logical motive for this one), but the excessive amount of SD stars getting in trouble is really bothersome, especially when other guys from there are getting shipped to Raw for no reason (Nitro, Orton). With all these new violations, I can't in any way see how this testing is being done in fair or consistent fashion. Seriously, just take HHH's name out of the hat and randomly test the Raw guys too.

Something to think about: Why are all these "wellness violations" happening on SD? Besides Masters, has anyone from Raw become victim to this program? Seems like a suspiciously lopsided number of violations occur on SD.

On the Astros: In 2004, they were 56-59 and behind 5 teams at one point before they rebounded and got the WC. They aren't out of it by a long shot. The NL was better then too. Of course, so was Houston's pitching, so it all might even out. I don't think Houston needs to trade for anyone, but I wouldn't mind seeing an extra hitter in the lineup. Taveras, Everett, and Ausmus, while bringing either speed or good defense, are black holes in the batting order. Once you get to the 6 spot in the lineup, it's smooth sailing through the bottom of the order. Problem is, the Astros won't part with those 3 for various reasons unless it's part of a huge trade (like for Tejada).

Mid 90's WCW was stacked. I'd probably go with 97 if I had to pick a year. It had a good combo of big names and workrate. Hogan Savage Nash Goldberg Hall DDP Luger Sting Piper Hart Flair Giant/Big Show Benoit Malenko Eddie Guerrero Chavo Guerrero Jericho Mysterio Ultimo Regal Finlay Steiners Booker T Syxx Jarrett Meng Mortis/Kanyon Wrath/Bryan Clarke Raven Saturn Konnan Alex Wright Hennig And all sorts of luchadors (Psicosis, Juvi, La Parka, etc) 1992 AJPW would be a good lineup too since we're not considering age. You get the end of one era (Jumbo, Tenryu, etc), and the beginning of another (Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, etc).