iggymcfly

Dude, that is what happened last year. HHH was in the premier feud without a belt while Kane was in the secondary feud with the belt. And if you throw in the HIAC match, I think even the thickest of people will remember something strangely similar happening almost exactly a year ago. So what? In the long run, it will just put Batista over more if he can win the HIAC to blow off the feud in a position where HBK wasn't capable of doing the same thing the year before. Plus, whereas, the Kane/Benoit feud was just a placeholder last year, this time, it will be based on the WWE's pet hot angle, and will lead logically to a heated title match at Summerslam. The symmetry of screwing faces out of the title at Survivor Series 8 years in a row didn't bother the WWE, nor did having a face win the Royal Rumble for 20 years, so I don't see why similar main events for the June/July PPVs with different results should bother anyone.

Maybe it's just because I was such a mark for Kurt, but I loved his character in 2002 and early 2003. Even though he was still presented as being a little goofy, and heels never won clean then, (at least until Brock came in,) there he was beating HHH, making Hogan tap clean, getting the best of Edge whenever it really mattered, winning the title from the Big Show, then coming back as a tweener and pinning Brock clean with the Angle Slam. His character was far from being boring or unbelievable, and he could still be funny sometimes, but he had that credibility of being one of the absolute biggest badasses on the roster when he got between the ropes. I don't mind the serious Angle that stands on the middle rope to cut a great promo on the Big Show. The bullshit they're doing now though is raping Angle's character to the point where his only hope is that he'll get drafted to Raw, and they can write ths off like Katie Vick.

I think it's pretty obvious that the Gold Rush match needs to end with a DQ. Edge won every tournament match either via the briefcase or Lita. I say the ref finally catches Edge this time, only to have Edge continue the beatdown with the briefcase, then open the briefcase and demand a rematch instantly. Then, from there, they can either let Edge win nefariously, cheating and capitalizing on Batista's injuries, or else let Batista put himself over further by beating Edge even after being beaten down in the middle of the match. Personally, I'd almost find HHH/Batista more interesting if it wasn't for the title, and I think Edge vs. Kane for the title would be a solid secondary main event for the card. That way, when Batista does finally get his rematch with Edge at Summerslam, it will be good build and feel more like a real main event than if they tried to throw something together with a half-ready Orton. Since Smackdown's on the verge of going off the air now, I don't really see them sending their hot new angle of Edge and Lita over there, nor will they move HHH or Batista. If they move anyone major to Smackdown, it will be someone who doesn't quite "fit" into Raw like Jericho or Benjamin. It does seem awfully easy that Kane would just cost Edge the match tonight, and it would be typical WWE booking. However, the way they've set up this intriguing two title shots thing, I think they'd be way better off having Bischoff ban Kane from the building or something, and just saving that drama for later.

Yeah, uh, in retrospect, this doesn't look so good.

When I was young, I used to play this Red Baron computer game all the time, and I had this dream where I was this celebrated pilot, but after the war was over, the Nazis decided I was useless, and that they should cut up my body for spare parts. Actually, it was part me and part me watching someone else, but either way that dream disturbed the shit out of me for about a week. And thinking back, I think they might have taken my arms and legs first before actually killing me for organs.

Yeah, at 140 pounds, he has about as good of a chance at getting called up to the main roster, as I have of teaching my dick to write Shakespeare. Honestly, if we knew the truth, I bet Daivari weighs at least 200 pounds.

I think the Fatal Four way to determine the #1 contender on Smackdown was the best match they ever had, including the matches mentioned in the first post. Even though Benoit and Eddie did their part, the majority of the match ws Edge and Angle, and it was terrific. I was rooting for Angle, and there were at least 10 or 12 near falls where I honestly believed that he was losing the match. When Angle finally hit the Angle Slam off the top rope, it was just orgasmic. I too had that match recorded, and I probably watched it at least 15 or 20 times, and every time, it was still terrific. I finally did lose it when we switched satellite receivers, but for a match that never got that much credit, that Fatal Four Way was a timeless classic.

I just want to say that the Mavs really should have won that game last night. They just completely collapsed. In the fourth quarter and overtime, they couldn't run their offensive sets, played bad defense, had absolutely no communication, and made terrible game management decisions. They had every chance to win, and they really deserved to lose the way they played. Phoenix probably still would have taken the series in 7, but if the Mavs had played anywhere near their potential down the stretch, they at least would have survived on their home court.

I just wanted to say that the last few episodes, (since Trey came back) have been way better. They were falling into this rut where they were all just a bunch of boring kids who sat around and played video games, but now they're actually doing stuff again, and it's really interesting. I will say that if Trey really took the fall there when he didn't do anything, then that's just incredibly stupid. Risking a lengthy jail term for drugs when you're already on probation so that Marissa doesn't have to spend the night in jail? STUPID!

Actually, I kind of like the larger league. Makes it a little more exciting to be in contention or something. I'm not saying you should replace every team that drops, but I think that a 16 team league or something would work just fine.

I refuse to watch Smackdown while this shit's going on. Kurt's frozen in my mind as the badass face who beat Brock's ass at Vengeance and Summerslam. I don't want to hear about how he wants to fuck Booker T's loud bitchy wife or any of this other crap. I did see a little of the evil GM stuff, but I managed to clear most of it out of my mind.

Well, next week the finales of most series are done, and we have the first realistic (if still incredibly small) chance of a title change on Raw in quite a while. I'd say they have a chance to break 4.5.

"You'd really like it on the North Shore." I did really like that line. The amount of clever stuff underneath the surface on that show is really incredible sometimes. I just feel like I need another 5 or 6 episodes or something. As great is this closing episode was, and as well as it tied everything together ("I spent the whole year trying to be something I'm not" almost gave me chills), it feels like we just needed more good TV like this, and we wasted too much time on boring freakin' Lindsay. Oh well, that's the problem with episodic TV, I guess. If they tried to work straight through without all this time to recharge their batteries, they wouldn't possibly be able to keep up this level of quality work for more than a year or two. (See WWF Monday Night Raw)

You can talk about the no-HHH thing all you want, but the real reason the ratings went up is pretty simple. Instead of focusing on wrestling, they ran a lot of interesting angles that people stayed tuned for, instead of getting bored with. Batista bonding with Flair, Bischoff stopping the ECW match, Viscera being creepy, the Orton and Vince segment, and to a lesser extent, even the Lita turn all contributed to that. If they can actually continue to put out quality writing for a while, they won't need to worry about turning Cena into the next Austin or turning Batista into the next Rock; the ratings will go up on their own.

Actually, that's only in certain markets that the affiliates split time with another network. It's kind of like how FOX used to be split with ABC in several markets. Most areas have different programming for UPN and Fox.

Indeed. That last half hour was awesome. But why do they have to give such a big cliffhanger over the summer? What's going to happen to Marissa? Is Trey dead? Inquiring minds want to know.

Am I the only one who remembers Edge's face run from 2001-2002? He was terrific! He was in a **** match every night, and he wasn't carried every time either. I really think that he worked better with Angle than Benoit did. And his character was pretty solid too. All these people who talk about how Edge hasn't done anything good since 2000 just piss me off. And really, his heel act isn't that bad either. Right now he's just a cocky, slightly menacing heel who does what he can to try to get to the title. His character isn't quite as fleshed out and clever as Orton's or HHH's, but I think he's a really solid heel. He certainly doesn't bore me the way someone like Kane would in the same position.

If you read the article, it basically says that wrestling fans are such losers they'll be home on Friday night anyway, so the change won't hurt anything, whereas their "real" programs need to target their audience during the week.

He had one MVP award which he didn't deserve. He never won a ring. He was always a borderline elite player, rather than a truly great one, even in his own time. Sure he was a star in Utah, but over the scope of the existence of the NBA, he's nowhere close to being the second greatest scorer of all time.

I can't believe the WWE would even agree to this. They'd be better off moving Smackdown to WGN than they would be letting UPN put it on Friday night. I mean that just screams "crap television". I guess UPN's trying to punish the WWE for putting all their focus on Raw, but I still don't understand the move. I mean isn't Smackdown still one of UPN's highest rated shows? The idea that they'd take that and move it to the second worst TV night of the week is just ridiculous.

How, exactly is the Suns starting five "much" more talented than that of the Mavericks. Nash has had a great year, but when he and Dirk were together in Dallas, there wasn't much doubt that Dirk was the more talented one. Marion and Stoudemire just rebound and get open dunks when no one guards them. Neither one's really capable of creating their own shot. Stackhouse meanwhile can still rebound fairly well, but can create off the dribble and dish the ball out as well. He may not be as good as Stoudemire all around, but he's at least as good as Marion. As for Finley, if you go by natural talent, he's probably third on the floor behind Nash and Nowitzki. However, he is getting a little older and he's not quite as versatile as he once was. Still though, he's absolutely deadly on the mid-range jumper, and if he needed to get open and get a shot in 4 seconds to win the game, you could count on him to do it. As a unit, the Phoenix starting five may be a hair better than Dallas's crew, but if you count in the bench at all, Dallas is definitely there. Marquis Daniels, Josh Howard, Devin Harris, and Darrell Armstrong would all start over Jim Jackson at this point. I guess the thing that gets me about Phoenix is that only two guys on their team can shoot. (Quentin Richardson and Steve Nash) Everybody else on their team relies on getting dunks and layups, and it just seems like if the Mavs would play to their potential on defense, their would be nothing Phoenix could do. When Nash can run the screen and roll five plays and a row, and have a wide open shot without a hand in his face on four of them, that's not a talent difference, it's an effort difference. If Terry really is that incompetent on defense, they should just take him out and put someone in who won't give the game away.

He's falling behind so I'll take one. Generic hoss in every sense of the word. Doesn't have much for ring skills, and his charisma's not enough to get him over. Really isn't all that strong of a performer. However, he would definitely be better served as a midcard generic heel in the US Title chase on Smackdown than he is following Christian to the ring and looking like a jobber every time he gets in a physical altercation.

Speaking of adjustments, the Mavericks need to bench Jason Terry right now. I thought Avery Johnson figured it out in Game 4. When Darrell Armstrong's in the game, he handles the ball well, gets everybody involved, and plays solid defense. When Jason Terry's in the game, he jacks up lots of shots that should go to other people, turns the ball over, and plays TERRIBLE defense on Nash. Terry's a great player for a team that desperately needs a scorer, and he's a servicable point guard on the offensive end, but he can't guard the MVP of the league. I'm telling you, if Armstrong doesn't log at least 15 or 20 MPG from here on out, Nash will keep lighting up the Mavs, and the Suns will advance to play San Antonio.

I actually disagree with this one. With the advent of players coming to the NBA straight out high school, it's a lot easier to log the number of seasons necessary to get to that number of points. The fact that a mediocre player like Malone can make it all the way to second is just more evidence that it can be done. I'd say that if LeBron James stays healthy throughout his career and doesn't get bored and go play baseball or something, he could easily get there. By the time he gets to his fifth season (the time Kareem came out of school), he'll certainly be averaging more a season than Abdul-Jabbar was in his rookie campaign, and he'll have a huge head start as well.

I really think the main reason people are siding with Matt on this is that they enjoyed his character more than Edge's character. If you remember, when Meltzer first broke the story that a married wrestler was sleeping with a diva and the office was looking to take action, everyone was like "oh, leave them alone; it's their personal life." It's only when we found that a former smark favorite was getting cheated on that things went to shit. Honestly, if anyone handled things wrong here, it was the WWE. Matt Hardy was pretty damn over for someone who never got that big of a push, and he was proficient in the ring as well. They should have just sent him to Smackdown in the draft, and let the whole situation die down.