iggymcfly

Triple H vs. Booker T, Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero, and JBL vs. Cena are no more main events than Undertaker vs. Orton is. And has the Luger winning the title plan been completely dismissed? I kind of vaguely remember someone dismissing it, but I was still pretty sure that the plan was for Luger to be in the ME at some point.

This isn't going to go over well, but edited for accuracy.

JBL has held the title for longer than anyone since Kevin Nash. Just think about that for a second. The nWo didn't exist yet, Nash was still playing Diesel in the WWF. With a reign that long, I don't see any reason that one loss at Mania would end the feud.

I like how everybody completely forgets that Vince Russo booked the WWE for the two best years they ever had, storyline-wise. He'd probably just leave WM alone, build up a heel while Batista finished off HHH again at Backlash in a stip match, and then set up hot feuds for Batista throughout the summer.

blah blah blah Don't be try and be a smartass. You're only halfway there, and you've got the wrong end of the act down as it is. Better to be an ass than a dumbass I suppose. And believe me, I can tell YOU have both halves down from your post.... He didn't say dumbass. He said smartass. Dumbass.

I can't pick out a particular suit right now, but I just wanted to say that my one disappointment with the main event segment was that he didn't wear a suit out to the ring last night. He just doesn't have the same aura in wrestling tights. I can kind of see it this time though, because from a character standpoint, he had to know that something was going to end up happening with HHH, and he probably figured he'd be better off going out there dressed to fight.

I'm glad somebody posted a thread on this. I thought Batista was great on Raw last night too. It actually reminded me of something from 1999 when the face was just so cool in the ring that everybody couldn't wait for him to beat the shit out of the heel, all the dialogue was good, and the heat was tremendous. I thought the "thank you" thing was actually great. What he was saying is that he thanks Flair for mentoring him, and he thanks for HHH for motivating him to beat his ass. He just didn't spell it out for everybody like Benoit or HBK would have against HHH, because that's his style. All the intangibles that Batista showed last night are exactly what someone like Booker T is misssing that kept him from ever getting the title. Batista was cool, calm, and collected. Instead of stumbling for words or looking lost, he just exuded coolness like he knew he owned HHH, and he was just waiting for the right chance to beat his ass. That brand of face charisma is what draws in most of the marks to wrestling, and I swear that Batista has more of it than anyone since The Rock.

I could see Jarrett buying different wrestling sites to shill TNA. As for Vince? It just seems like he's got better things to do.

Sean Connery definitely comes to mind for this thread. I've liked pretty much everything I've ever seen him in. A good example of his personal value to a movie is Highlander. The movie comes across as a mediocre ** movie during the early parts when he's there, but then his character dies, and the movie absolutely goes to hell. As soon as he goes, it turns into the most boring, unwatchable piece of crap I've ever seen in my life.

The thing is that they actually did a dead baby angle in the last few months, so it's not that they're afraid to go to that subject matter. It's just that they did it with all the depth and quality of a frigging high school drama production. That idea is actually exactly where they need to go with Shawn Michaels' character, and would hold more depth than any storyline they've done in a long time. However, they stopped even trying for that deep of storylines a long time ago. Honestly, the last booker that the WWE had with that kind of wide-open attitude was Russo. Right now, I'm happy to have a feud that makes sense on some level where I actually care about the winner, and don't really know who it will be. If you boil down Angle/HBK, what it is basically is a challenge between two great wrestlers from opposite brands to see which one is better. It's that simple. You don't have to read too much into Angle's promo on HBK. Just know that Shawn was on top when Angle first came in, and now having accomplished pretty much everything else he's wanted to, Kurt wants to see if he can beat Shawn. (Unless Shawn challenged Kurt in which case I can't make sense of it at all.)

I'm surprised to see the responses in this thread. I think this card looks to be the best Mania card since WM X-7. The build for WM XIX and XX was absolutely terrible, and seemed reminiscent of the build that Fully Loaded would have gotten back in the day. There was no epic quality whatsoever. And the return of Undertaker? He hadn't even been gone that long. His return was more anticlimactic than exciting. The Batista/HHH main event has better build than any WM title match since X-7, and I think Angle/Shawn and Taker/Orton have been built great as well. The Money in the Bank match is one of the most intriguing undercard matches in recent history, and as for JBL/Cena, well there's always going to be one dud. I could see the argument that WM X-8 was more anticipated, but that was totally a one-match card, and the heatless abortion of a main event puts it behind this year as far as I'm concerned. I don't know if I'll have the opportunity to watch Mania this year, but the card still looks absolutely awesome.

If I'm reading this correctly, I could swear you're saying that Vince doesn't have the balls to bury the Smackdown brand. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

Hey aren't you the one that kept telling me what a misguided fool I was every time I tried to rank them in my top ten?

HAHAHAHA!!! funniest thing i've read in ages, great job! keep it up, maybe we can get him to go away! Agreed. That's the hardest I've laughed in weeks. I was going to suggest that coils get banned for being so stupid, but that post justifies his whole existence.

I don't know what's worse: 1) That someone made that long of a list of Benoit matches. 2) That people actually read through the whole thing to check for omissions. 3) That I'm only the second person that thinks there's something just a little bit creepy/weird/crazy about it.

The thing about Batista is that he has the potential to draw money in the WWE like no one has since the days of Rock and Austin. He can actually bring in new fans. I've got two different friends that don't hang out together, and can't tell Raw from Smackdown, that out of the blue brought up how cool Batista was in the last couple weeks. I mean something's really clicking here. For all the talk about HHH's political power, at the end of the day, Vince decides what's best for business, and makes decisions based on that. In a situation where Batista has the chance to become a huge star, and would completely get the legs cut off of him with a loss, I can't imagine that he wouldn't win at Wrestlemania.

It sounds like good booking for the most part, but there are a couple parts that bother me, and make me thing it might not work. Right now CCC's in the lower-card comedic heel role, and the temporary face turn wouldn't really make much sense. The heel mastermind works best when the fans rally behind the face before realizing they were betrayed. (See Rocky in 1998) I've got the feeling that if this scenario was played out, CCC would never get very over as a face, and the fans would be half expecting him to turn back pretty much the whole way. Second, I think GAB is still too early to turn JBL. Under your scenario, he would have still been in every WWE title match for a whole year at the time of the turn. The fans really aren't going to be cheering for him to move back up the card. I agree that it's important to keep him in the upper card after he loses the belt, but I think he needs at least 2 or 3 months away from the title picture before they can turn him.

He's right. I almost made fun of it myself, but I didn't want people to get mad at me for "flaming".

Oh well. Doesn't matter now. STATE WINS! And I'm still alive for second in my pool.

Still don't like the move. The way Kentucky's been shooting in the OTs, it's far from a given that they could have scored at all if MSU played proper defense.

So, um why was it smart of Michigan State to not play defense there? I really don't get that one.

And it's kind of crazy, but I think that the three best games of the tournament so far might have all been regional finals.

Yes, great defense there! Although not getting a shot off is pretty much inexcusable at this point.

Michigan State needs a timeout. They're shaken as fuck right now.

I actually feel bad for the kid if it's a 2 pointer, but I'm pretty damn sure it is, and I'll take the win to keep my hopes alive for $150.