JoeDirt

Haas/Spike...Spike cracks me up for some reason. Have the writers done anything with Haas since he dumped his women at Armageddon?

Boobies!

I've gotta think it's Lillian and Big Vis.

Here it is! http://s13.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1SGANUL...M310KRNN7Y3IENL

What are the biggest non-Wrestlemania buyrates of all time?

Blatantly stolen from the WC board... Name a wrestler and his greatest opponent. For example: Ric Flair - Ricky Steamboat Chris Benoit - Kurt Angle Rob Van Dam - Jerry Lynn And feel free to debate if you think someone else fits better than somebody that was posted.

"DERE'S A LADY! DERE'S A LADY IN THE MENNNNN'S BATHROOM! THERE IS A WOMAN IN THE MEN'S JOHN RIGHT HERE IN BALTIMO!" And we can't forget this classic: Backlund: Don't exacerbate me, young man. Foley: Bob, I don't exacerbate before a match. Backlund: And you never should.

Did Nash start in WCW as Vinnie Vegas and then turn into Oz or vice versa? In the Fall Brawl 1997 Wargames main event, I seem to recall Flair saying he wanted the guy in the cage who did the Horsemen spoof. What was the original pairings for the match and was this a last second change or were they always planning to go with this main event? I remember the Wargames at FB98 was changed as well to make for a "one guy takes it" format. What were the original matchups in that match and why did they change things?

Is there any chance Turner gets involved when his no compete is up in March of 2006?

It's the other promotion ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky books. Sounds like really fun stuff so far.

From the IWA board: - Silas Young d. Dysfunction. - Josh Abercrombie d. "Metalhead" Steve Stone. - Masada & Tank d. TJ Dalton & some other guy... sorry. - Icarus & Shane Storm d. Ace Rockwell & Shaun Tempers. - Jimmy Jacobs d. "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney. - Mickie Knuckles d. Sara Del Rey. - Chris Hero d. Todd Sexton. - "The New Age Punisher" B-Boy d. "Double C" Claudio Castagnoli. - Daizee Haze (HOT!) d. APW Future Legend Champion Cheerleader Melissa to win the title. - IWA World Heavyweight Champion Danny Daniels d. IWA Light-Heavyweight Champion Delirious to retain the title. Awesome show. Can't wait for the IWA to return to Vincennes in March. Yeah, the turnout wasn't too shabby, probably a few more than the last Vincennes show. All of the matches were solid and I think everyone thought they got their money's worth. Larry Sweeney is hilarious (it's pronounced "vin-sins," not "vin-cen-nies"), and Delirious, Hero, and Tank were way over. And I STILL can't get over how hot Daizee Haze is... damn... where was I? Oh yeah, anyway, the show was excellent. Much thanks goes out to Ian and the crew for making Vincennes a regular stop on the IWA monthly schedule.

Found this old Meltzer post at the WC board: "Actually, if Hogan had admitted using them before being under oath in 1994, and if he hadn't been forced while under oath to admit he had been lying to the media and on Arsenio Hall for years, the entire modern history of wrestling would be different." Can someone explain why?

"The Champ is Here" by Jadakiss.

I got a good deal buying a bunch of them off Ebay. I'm always looking to buy old WWF and WCW TV. You'd have a hard time finding any of them cheap as well. Mind Games 1996 is one of the rarest WWF tapes and at least check (which hasn't been in a couple of years) was going for over a hundred dollars. Though, since Shawn's DVD and the Shawn/Mankind match being widely available, that figure might be down. It's hard to get master copies, yes, but bootlegged copies of rare shows are still pretty cheap.

I forgot to mention the angle where as a part of the Bulldog/HBK feud, they had a "wife of a former WWF superstar" talking anonymously about how she had an affair with Shawn and how he was the best she'd ever had, but then he dumped her and her husband was distracted when he wrestled Shawn and Shawn got the win. It was just so cheesy it made me laugh, and I had never seen it before.

I got a good deal buying a bunch of them off Ebay. I'm always looking to buy old WWF and WCW TV.

"I already spotted something that is really, you know, when you're sitting here and you're taking a look at two great athletes and you're looking at which will maybe come out into really show his own colors, if you will, there were situations that's already happening, if you noticed them, we all looked at them, to where the crowd spontaneously was talking about Eddie, and Konnan with a sarcastic way about him just a little bit, and all I'm saying is as we watch this thing read into it a little bit, see where Konnan's at and see if that sarcasm is really part of his inner workings because I know what kind of a guy Eddie Guerrero is, he's a good man, a whole man, did I shock you with that, did you see that?" --Dusty Rhodes at Uncensored 1996

You could argue that without Eric Bischoff, Nitro, and WCW, the big wrestling boom starting in 1996 and the revival of the WWF would never have happened... That's why I'm worried when WWE has no competition.

Question is in the title...whaddya think? And what time period do you think we're talking about here...5-10 years? More? Less?

Recently picked up a bunch of RAWs from 1996 that I have never seen, and here are some thoughts: Good stuff: Bret/HBK buildup: While the mutual babyface thing can be somewhat sickening at times, I liked the video promos they did to build up to WM12. Bret's were better by far, as he was great at playing the subtle heel who didn't want to lose his spot to Shawn, talking about how he realized Shawn had a lot of momentum on his side and how even Bret's son loved Shawn, but Bret wasn't ready to lose his title yet. Good stuff leading into the Ironman match. Goldust: Early Goldust was pretty good. Some of the stuff he does here makes you really uneasy at times. His promo with Piper leading to their Mania match was surprisingly good, with Piper asking "what's your major malfunction, fruitcake?" and Goldust getting on his knees (!) and crawling around Piper doing usual Goldust stuff. Goldust then smacks Piper, who drills him back, and says that he's going to make a man out of him. Some good stuff here with Goldust, maybe ahead of its time by a year or so. Diesel's last days: I was interested at how in the buildup to Diesel/Shawn at the April IYH, how Diesel did a promo threatening to not only destroy Shawn, but to "settle some business" with Vince at ringside. It seemed like an early nod to the "smart" fans who knew Diesel was leaving. Diesel as a heelish tweener was so much better than his lame babyface run. To me, this is almost the precursor that showed you the fans were willing to get behind a character like they would with Austin not too long after that. Several good matches: Bret vs. Tatanka, Bret vs. HHH, HBK vs. HHH, HBK vs. 123 Kid, Mero vs. 123 Kid, and Austin vs. Mero are all good solid wrestling matches that get a fair amount of time on RAW. HBK vs. Jannetty: I've never even heard of this match, but they face each other on the 7/1/96 episode of RAW in a non-title match that is really solid and what you'd expect from the two. Some really good nearfalls at the end of the match. I never had even heard of the match. Development of the Austin character: From his great interview to debut as the Ringmaster, to his look at Ted Dibiase when Dibiase says he'll leave forever if Austin loses to Savio in the strap match, to his post-KOTR victory stuff, watching Austin develop into what he became is cool to see. HBK/Bulldog/Diana interview: This was surprisingly really good, with Shawn telling Diana not to flatter herself, getting slapped, and then telling Davey that he knows who wears the pants in the family. Big brawl to close out a good segment. Bad stuff: So many lame gimmicks: Aldo Montoya. The Bodydonnas. Cloudy. Techno Team 2000. "Make a Difference" Fatu. The Godwins. The list goes on and on. Marc Mero: Don't get me wrong, the guy puts on great matches...but again, his gimmick here is so lame you can see why he wouldn't get cheered. I don't know why Vince thought Mero would get cheered for no other reason than having a hot woman next to him. Ultimate Warrior: His match with Isaac Yankem is just atrocious. It's funny how they showed clips of him beating Randy Savage at WM7 prior to his return. But yeah, Warrior wasn't too good here, but at least he didn't stick around long. Billionaire Ted skits: While funny for the first few times, these got old, mean, nasty, and malicious very quickly, and I could see them completely backfiriing on Vince. At the end, they were just horrible. Undertaker: It is clear here in early 1996 that Undertaker was in need of some freshening up of his character. No matter how lame you think the stuff with Kane was in 1997, you have to admit that it did wonders for Taker's career. Shawn as babyface champ: His post WM-interview just doesn't work. Maybe it's because it's just weird to hear him talking about how "Bret Hart, to me you'll ALWAYS be a champion." and give a sappy babyface promo. Again, his character became SO much better in late 1996/and post losing his smile when he got the heelish edge. Whether Russo deserves the credit for that, I don't know. Tag team division: What a dud. The Godwins, Bodydonnas, Smoking Gunns, New Rockers...teams that none of the fans give a shit about, or have a reason to give a shit about. The Godwins are supposed to be cheered...why? Again, another time when gimmicks are supposed to be cheered or booed just for the hell of it, and not for anything deeper than that. Well, that's it for now, thanks for reading my rambling thoughts.

Why did the WWF sign Brian Pillman in 1996 when he wasn't even able to wrestle a match for them until a year later? Did he get hurt after he signed, or was he signed while injured? They must have thought he was going to be able to wrestle if when they introduced him as a character and ran storylines with him and Austin, etc...can someone explain this?

I can't confirm, but I know they are one of his very first at the very least. Quack did an interview talking about how Sweeney came in and came up with the Sweet and Sour gimmick on his own, and how he is just starting out in the business.

Was Sid going to be brought back in 1996 regardless of Warrior bailing on them, or did the WWF go out and get Sid after Warrior left?

What if Vince had put Luger strong over Yokozuna at Summerslam 1993 and let him run as champion for a while? Do you think he would have flopped in the end, because let's face it...it's Lex...or would he have taken off and been huge?

Glad you liked it... But you should really buy some ROH DVDs to keep the good stuff coming.