Just John

It's at Clash of the Champions in January of 96. I have it on my Wrestlecrap comp tape. I also have Spring Stampede 97 on tape. Haven't watched it in a while, but if I remember, in addition to this classic moment, there is also a backstage segment involving Scott Steiner getting maced.

I was a bit shocked at the WWE NY crowd shitting on The Rock's taped promo for Raw X. I know NY crowds are smarkish, but usually everyone pops for The Rock.

NFL: Dick Enberg and Dan Dierdorf Sam Rosen and Bill Maas NBA: Kevin Harlan and John Thompson

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio (Halloween Havoc 97): While this wasn't a blood feud or anything, I loved the way the match was worked from a strategy standpoint. Rey was fighting on emotion and trying not to lose his mask, so he tried to keep the match at a fast pace and hit big spots. Eddie, having less to lose, tried to show up Rey and keep the pace slow. Rey's emotion led to him making mistakes where Eddie capitalized. Both men went back and forth. Most offensive spurts would start with a counter, and the pace would pick up or slow down depending on who was in control. I just loved the battle for pace control and the strategy in this match. It seemed very realistic, despite the complexity of the spots. Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (Summer Slam 01): I loved Austin as the desperate, psychotic champ and Kurt as the determined challenger going against long odds. Angle survived everything Austin threw at him early, but when Angle kicked out of the first stunner, Austin snapped. From there the intensity picks up when Austin sends Angle into the ring post 6 or 7 times. Angle, despite being bloodied and beaten, didin't quit when he suplexed Austin on the floor twice and locked in the ankle lock at every opportunity (the only time the overuse of the ankle lock didn't bother me). Austin showed how desperate he was by repeatedly attacking officials until screwy ref Nick Patrick disqualified him to retain the title. It was a sad ending for Kurt, but when you look at the entire Austin/Angle feud, this match really enhanced the story. Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (No Way Out 04): Probably my favorite underdog success story in a match. Throughout the feud, Lesnar didn't take Eddie seriously. What I love the most is how the match mirrored the feud. Lesnar just used his power to show off early and dominate Eddie. The only things Eddie had going for him were his brain and his heart. He gradually fought back into the match by wisely going for the knee of Lesnar and by fending off all power moves until Lesnar was frustrated. After a while, Eddie finally looked like a 15 year veteran while Lesnar looked like an inexperienced rookie. Eddie was matched up not only against a more powerful opponent, but he had to overcome his personal problems and prove to himself that he could compete. You couldn't help but feel good for Eddie when he won.

Well this absolutely sucks. I live in the KC area now, so I could go to a show in Kansas, but next year when I move to Columbia, I guess can expect to not get to any shows.

Was that during his internal bleeding days (or months)?

Getting kicked in the stomach hurts too, but no one gets pinned from that. It's all about proportional credibility. When you see someone kick out of a powerbomb, you just can't take a move like the worm seriously as a finisher. Another humiliating loss: Chris Benoit jobbing to Sean O'Haire in 4 minutes on a SD in 03.

Jeff Jarrett losing to Chyna in a "good housekeeping" match. I know Jarrett was just being jobbed out before he went to WCW, but this was awful. Not only did he lose to Chyna, but he had to roll around in cake and get beaten with various kitchen appliances first. Also Jericho's clean loss to Chyna at SS 99 was the lowest point of his WWF/E stint. Though, losing more than once to a very green John Cena was a close second. Anytime someone has to job to the worm is a potential career low.

I don't know why this is a big deal. It looks bad now, but in a couple weeks you probably won't even notice it. A busted lip isn't exactly a long-term injury...

I didn't really think the match was that great. It wasn't terrible, but it just seemed like a typical Raw match. Their JD 2000 submission match blows this one away. My biggest complaint was the fact that they didn't try a lot of submissions. They tried to lock in their finishers, but only a couple other moves. They did a lot of high impact moves which doesn't really make sense in a submission match unless you're working a specific body part. There should have been more mat wrestling and unique holds, but instead we got an average match + an octopus.

Malenko/Benoit - Dropkick into a German Haas/Benjamin - Superkick into a German Steiners - Scott does a top rope DDT with the opponent on Rick's shoulders Mortis/Wrath - While Wrath has the opponent in a boston crab variation, Mortis hits a leg drop from the second rope Edge/Christian - Con-Chair-To Edge/Christian - Double low blow with opponent in the tree of woe Raven/Kanyon - Combo sit-down powerbomb and reverse neck breaker

The finger poke and subsequent Hogan/Flair ME angle. I still watched WCW some after that, but I really had no hope or expectations.

Do wrestlers ever cough or sneeze during matches? With all the blading, how often do wrestlers get tested for HIV?

Will Kobe be ready to play then? I haven't heard when he's supposed to be back from his ankle injury.

And now they're getting molested by the Suns. I think the Rockets make the playoffs as lower seed. There's noticable improvement all around from last year, but especially on offense. The bench is also much deeper than last year. Padgett, Barry, and Mutombo have been pretty good off the bench. On a side note, I really like Bob Sura.

Vincent Lecavalier (Lightning)

The one girl I know that likes wrestling said Orton. My mom said Kidman and (if he counts) Mike Mizanin were good looking.

Stromile Swift (Grizzlies)

I actually liked SD this week. Three of the four matches were good. The 6-man was a good opener, the cruiser 4-way was fun, and the ME was much better than I expected. JBL wasn't bad at all during that match and Angle did his usual stuff. I also agree with whoever said London needs to shave off that moustache. It looks like a dirty sanchez.

I hated Gail Kim being from "Korea." Not even North or South Korea, just Korea.

Five point questions: 1) The winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble will be: Batista 2) Who will be the "Ironman" of the 2005 Royal Rumble? Edge 3) Who will last the shortest amount of time in the ring? Coach 4) Who will get the most eliminations? Batista 5) Who will be the last man eliminated? John Cena 6) Rey Misterio or Eddie Guerrero 7) Edge or Shawn Michaels 8) Chris Jericho or Shelton Benjamin 9) Daniel Puder or Hardcore Holly 10) Chris Benoit or Muhammad Hassan 11) Paul London or Scotty 2 Hotty 12) Jonathan Coachman or the Hurricane 13) Booker T or Orlando Jordan 14) Kane or Gene Snitsky 15) Batista or John Cena One point questions: 16) Who will draw #'s `1-4? In this order: Puder, Hurricane, Viscera, Booker 17) Who will be the last four men in the ring? Batista, Cena, Snitsky, Kane 18) Who will be the last RAW superstar eliminated? Kane 19) Who will be the last Smackdown superstar eliminated? Cena 20) Who will draw #'s 27-30 Snitsky, Eddie, Holly, Jericho 21) True or False: Coach will eliminate at least one person from the Rumble 22) True or False: We will see a surprise return sometime during the Rumble 23) True or False: Batista will eliminate Ric Flair 24) True or False: Somebody in the Rumble match will blade 25) True or False: HHH will interfere in the Rumble match in some way TIEBREAKER QUESTION: Give the exact time this year's Rumble match will last: 56:17 Good luck!

Paul Levesque. Good blueblood name, but it just doesn't work for the badass personality he's tried to put forth the last few years. Randy Poffo isn't too great either.

I wasn't a big fan of Angle's red and white pinstripes. Rey Rey's daredevil ripoff costume sucked as well. Oh, and who could forget John Cena's baby blue shorts?

87%, 392 seconds for Asia. 85% 466 seconds for Africa.

98%, 3 miles, 215 seconds. My only miss was Colorado, which I got as like my 3rd state so I pretty much had to guess where it went.