Just John

Jericho's Debut: I didn't read the net at the time, so I was really surprised, and very happy. I marked out pretty hard. When I saw the "millenium countdown" thing show up during a reular Rock promo, I was intrigued, then went crazy when I saw who it was. Jericho's phantom title win: I wanted to be excited, but the way it went down, I never really believed in it. No way the title would change hands clean in the opener. Then, HHH came out and the decision was reversed in predictable and uncreative fashion. As soon as Hebner said his peace, I knew he was getting fired and beat up.

More good news for the new ECW. I guess we can look forward to more shows like Week 1.

If they get Roy, it would be forgiveable, but still a gamble. With the Rockets age issues, I don't see how trading two young players for one does much for the team. We can't rely on more old guys carrying this team. Especially when the old guys are pretty much utility players to begin with.

The comedy announcers are the only thing I can stand about ESPN basketball coverage. Walton and Tolbert are great. Everything else about their coverage seems bush league if you've watched a TNT broadcast. Actually with as poorly as ESPN covers most sports, I can see why they'd try to branch out. Whoever made the WWE analogy was spot on.

As a Rockets fan, I must comment on the link Alfdogg posted: The Rockets would have to be dumb as shit to make that move. Absolutely retarded idea. Head's one of the few guys under 50 and actually has some promise. He can play off the bench or could evolve into the starting PG, which is something they desperately need. You would trade that to move up two spots in a weak draft? Essentially you give up a young guy with potential at a crucial position for the team and a draft pick for another draft pick, likely resulting in a player of similar quality. And it can't be a money issue, becuase Head's making rookie money. Unless they're gonna get AI or something, this is probably the worst Rockets trade proposal I've heard since that one guy here suggested they give up T-Mac for Lamar Odom and some Orlando scrub.

Official Predictions: Edge vs. RVD (WWE title): I'm pretty sure this is only for the WWE title, which means Edge definitely goes over. It won't be clean, but Edge wins in some fashion to get the WWE title on Raw again. DX vs. Spirit Squad: Have they made any mention of this being for the tag titles? I don't remember any. Not like it matters, as DX goes over either way. It's HHH and Michaels. They just reunited. They've regularly beat the SS down the past few weeks. Without massive cheating (and honestly, how do you pull that off when it's 5 on 2 anyway?), I don't see how DX can't win. John Cena vs. Sabu: With Edge winning and Sabu being booked strong, I think Sabu wins. Cena going over "against all odds" wouldn't surprise me, though. Shelton vs. Carlito vs. Nitro (IC title): Could be really fun or could be a clusterfuck. Total toss-up as to who wins any way you look at it. Shelton has been a lame-duck champ and the other guys seem to be getting mini-pushes. On the other hand, Shelton has been putting over both guys recently which is a good sign in the world of wrestling going into a ppv. I really have no clue. I'll say Carlito, since Shelton never ever beats him. Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton: Hm, this is another one that could go either way. I say Orton gets his win back by cheating. Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley: Mick's sabotages the first 10 minutes or so and wins the first fall by cheating. Flair overcomes Foley's low workrate to win the second fall. Then, I'm torn on the finish. I could see Foley getting "caught up" in the match and start really trying to win the decisive fall... OR I could see them sticking with the intentional sabotage and have Foley get intentionally DQ'ed or counted out. Kane vs. New Kane: The new Kane wins, with a weird twist in the storyline that requires more explanation on Raw. Umaga vs. Eugene: Eugene with the stunner/leg drop combo. Does this match deserve a serious prediction?

Mark Madden

The thing is, if Phoenix wants to move to the next level, they need to keep them both. Otherwise, they're in the same spot they were this year (one good starter away from championship). Now, for Seattle, they should be going after this pretty seriously. Marion + Allen = Wins.

I think that would be a bad trade for Phoenix. They shouldn't be giving up Marion. It's no secret the Suns are bad on D, but at least they can stick Marion (who in all fairness is a great defender) on an opponent's big frontline threat to ease the pain. Not to mention he averaged a double-double last year, contributing about 22 points and 12 rebounds a game.

I agree with this. It also has to be the most credibility Regal's had since 02. Booker and Regal deserve pushes for the shit they've gone through the last couple of years. Their previous programs were jobbing to the Boogeyman and wearing a dress (respectively) for god sake. On a side note, who at the beginning of the year would've thought Fit freakin' Finlay would be getting one of the best pushes in the company?

JR had the best line in this segment. "Come on, Kane, don't do something you're gonna regret for the rest of your life! Well, not that you haven't already, but come on!"

I have no doubt that Sabu will dive into a crowd at some point, but the lumberjacks will probably wind up keeping this match in the ring more than it should be. The match would be better if it was just "extreme rules." Even with that stip, you could still do the Sabu dives into a crowd of ECW guys spot and it would be far less predictable.

SD again shows why it's the real A-show and the best wrestling show on television today. L/K vs. Mexicools was a solid opener and the Mexicool breakup (while not beneficial to the tag scene in any way) was well done. I'm glad they didn't go the emotional route and have Crazy try to talk to Psicosis before getting attacked from behind and beat down. Crazy just beating the shit out of him as soon as he got up was great. I suppose he'll be off to ECW, hopefully with Psicosis, because Psicosis will rot on SD without Crazy carrying him. The Booker/Lashley feud is pretty good. Those two guys have some unexpectedly solid in-ring chemistry too. This week's match was better than the last two, as it helped put over both guys. Lashley's comebacks were better-timed and more effective as well. I like the finish too, as it helps make Lashley look like more of a badass. I also like how they protected Finlay at the end. Seriously, just pick up the Lashley/Finlay feud again already. Rey/Henry wasn't great, but it was a decent enough match. The finish sucked on lots of levels, but then again pretty much any Henry match that starts off looking alright ends that way (first tv match with Taker, Benoit). Eddie's dead, stop milking it. And would it really hurt to put the freakin' WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION over somebody clean? The losing champ gig never gets anyone over. As for the bad stuff, this is where you see why SD is infinitely superior to Raw. SD has it's fair share of crap. Khali, Vito, and the leprechaun all managed to get on the show, BUT their segments were kept short and to the point. Hell, even in Vito's case, they managed to advance his character a little bit. At this point, I'm not sure which brand has more potential to be good, but SD definitely makes the most out of what they've got. Raw builds their shows around crap, while minimizing their strengths. SD minimizes the crap, while building around their strengths.

SD may be treated like the C-show, but in terms of quality it's still the A-show. I'm really glad Vince thinks of Raw as the A-show, though, so all of his "genius" ideas gets put over there.

At the time, I was happy because I didn't like Goldberg at all. Once he squashed Raven for the US title after one day, I never wanted him to win a match again. In hindsight, I wish someone else could've done it, but whatever. It wouldn't have helped WCW much at that point. The hidden tragedy was Nash squashing Wrath to "build" the feud, as Wrath was getting over in the midcard and could've moved up. A new question to ponder in addition to this one: What was your reaction to the Radicals showing up on WWF Raw in January of 2000?

It will definitely hinder it. Cena's a decent brawler, so keeping the match confined to the ring (minus the occasional Cena beatdown on the outside) is very counter-productive. It will also limit the spots Sabu can do. I'm actually very interested in Foley/Flair. I'm glad they're not going to pretend it will be a classic and Foley's attempted sabotage should be funny. This show actually looks pretty good match-wise. Only problem is none of the matches have more than 2 weeks of build. And some are completely thrown together with no hints of planning (IC 3-way, I'm looking at you).

I'd concur with Joe/Styles from Turning Point. It's got pretty much everything you need for a great match. Good story, lots of intensity, good spots that all make sense and aren't forced, good face/heel work, and an great emotional finish. After seeing AJ get the crap beat out of him for so long, you want him to complete the face comeback, but he passes out from the kukina clutch with his arm just inches from the ropes. Not a happy ending, but not all good stories have happy endings. I'd give it **** 1/4. The story puts it way above all the usual spot-driven matches that get lots of praise (including the Styles/Daniels/Joe 3-way).

Let's try some recent crossover: 2005 NOAH vs. 2005 WWE Low Ki, Ricky Marvin, SUWA vs. The Mexicools (Juvi, Psicosis, Super Crazy) Go Shiosaki, Kotaro Suzuki, Scorpio vs. Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Jamie Noble Naomichi Marufuji vs. Shelton Benjamin Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Jericho Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Takeshi Sugiura vs. MNM KENTA vs. Rey Mysterio --Intermission-- Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kurt Angle Jun Akiyama vs. Eddie Guerrero Kensuke Sasaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Katsuyori Shibata vs. Edge, Christian, Triple H (Main Event) Kenta Kobashi vs. Chris Benoit ------------------------------------------------ I know I technically used a couple freelancers, but I figure since they were in NOAH at some point, I could use them. I made this pretty fast, and when I look at it, my last 6 man is really odd, but I wanted to get Sasaki, E/C, and HHH on the card. Plus it makes a good buffer between my big singles matches.

I still don't get why people think losing Randle El was a big deal. He was the freakin #3 receiver and a part time kick returner. Santonio Holmes (and plenty of other college players) could do that. The only loss I see is the Steelers can't run that screen 'n pass from Randle El to Ward. I bet the Steelers do better than the Seahawks. I think the Cardinals will be a playoff team this year.

If they want to win a title, then I see no problem with signing as a free agent to a contending team and trying to be a part of that. In the end, it's all about winning, so why not try to go out with a title? I guess if you just want the ring as a souvenir from your NBA run, that would be ok. It would've meant so much more if Payton could've gotten it in 96 when he was actually a contributor to a successful team. Right now, he deserves a ring about as much as Michael Doleac or Wayne Simien.

Yeah, I don't know how even the players themselves can't think of getting a ring by whoring themselves off to an already successful team as just a little cheap. I always root against players like that. I have a ton of respect for guys like Reggie Miller who may not get a title, but at least they retire with dignity in an organization that cares about them.

If there's one positive for Knicks fans, this might speed up Isiah getting canned. If the Knicks stink up the place yet again with Isiah at the helm, that guy is out of excuses. He's one of the few people in the world that actually believes in the NY roster, so I imagine he's gone if he can't lead the Knicks to moderate success. Sure, you'll have to throw away this season for that to work, but it's kind of a "1 step back to go 2 steps forward" thing.

Neither of those matches is worse than his match with Hogan at Judgment Day, though. That match moved like a slug through molasses and ended with the weakest chokeslam ever executed in mainstream professional wrestling.

I agree with Booker T, except that he advertised for Hungry MAN. A whole pound of food men love...

Of all the live shows, I've been to, I've seen lots of mediocrity. Little on either side of average. Worst match was probably either Orton/Batista (9/27/04 Raw) or L/K vs. Gymini (4/1/06 Velocity). Orton/Batista was right after Orton had just jobbed the title back to HHH and got squashed terribly in this match, complete with a predictable fake face turn with Flair. Extremely disappointing. The tag match was pretty much just a squash with a few botched spots, so it looked really bad live. I wish I could remember more about some WCW shows I went to back in the day (A Nitro in 98 and a couple house shows). I do remember a Booker/Benoit match being good, a Mongo/Goldberg and a Hogan/Savage match being bad. It's just not as fresh in my mind so I can't make a real judgment.