EVIL~! alkeiper

The hell? I can't say Jeff should've taken the title, but wow.

They could not have paid off that spot any better, seriously.

You're not alone.

You've gotten on that boat too? Much better than the hands up version. I know, brains getting scrambled, AWESOME... AM I RIGHT??!! It's been a year and a half since JBL's even been in the ring.

Wow. Crowd is solidly behind Edge here.

From that angle it's probably much tougher to see Jericho's positioning.

My friend points out that Big Daddy V might not fit through that entranceway.

Do you think the "Al Shoot Interview" thread is a good idea?

Enigma, if you are going to post stuff like that you must include a source. And indicate before the post that it's not your writing.

Since I am ordering the show tonight, I thought I might as well give some pre-match thoughts and projections. Royal Rumble Match Always a good show. I am a bit wary though on the HHH show. I find his character stale and his matches generally dull. It is not that he is not a good wrestler, but he is terribly methodical. Every time he wrestles a big gimmick match you know it is going 20+ minutes. HHH/Orton at Wrestlemania does not interest me in the slightest. The only thing that might make it watchable is an Evolution Fatal Four-way. In this match though, you have either HHH or the Undertaker, unless WWE throws a major curveball. Other storylines heading in are the Hornswaggle/Finlay saga, and that's about it. We'll see. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton You know the IWC are still marks at heart. Everyone wants WWE to put Jeff over in this match although it really doesn't make good long-term booking sense. It would devalue Orton as champion even if they gave him the belt back, and Jeff as champion would not have a ready opponent apart from the Orton rematch. I'd love to see a title change though, because we're all marks at heart. Jeff has become one of WWE's better talents, and it will be a great moment when he does win the title, here or in the future. Edge vs. Rey Mysterio No one really believes Mysterio has a shot here. MVP vs. Ric Flair Again, everyone buys Flair coming out on top, possibly thanks to Matt Hardy. This Rumble card is really devoid of suspense, which makes me believe that they might try a surprise on at least one of the matches. JBL vs. Chris Jericho I think there might be money in a gimmick match down the road, though they would be crazy to try a blood feud blowoff on the same card as an elimination chamber, and I do not know if they can drag this out until Wrestlemania. This match honestly though gives Jericho his best shot at a great match in two years. Hopefully he can deliver.

I picked up Volume One of the Royal Rumble Anthology (1988-92) from Amazon.com. At $35 any of these sets is a great value, as each event comes out at $7 apiece. I do not know how many of you were WWF fans in the early '90s, but Coliseum Video copies of the events used to run in the neighborhood of $60. Next time your elderly neighbor complains about prices these days, remember not everything has gotten more expensive. 1988 Royal Rumble It is harder to judge this event against the others, because it was not a standard Pay-per-view event. This show was essentially an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event with an extended battle royal attached. The Royal Rumble was not outstanding and not dull, and you got a Jumping Bomb Angels match in the deal. I still think the Islanders/Young Stallions match is poor. No crowd heat whatsoever and nearly ten minutes in-between falls. Given the show live must have run close to three hours, it has more of a vibe of "let's get this over with." 1989 Royal Rumble The Rumble enough is solid enough but the undercard is very weak once you get past the opening tag bout. (Rougeaus and Dino Bravo against Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Hart Foundation.) Actually there are only four matches on the show, including the Royal Rumble. The Rumble itself is again fairly good, with Demolition entering one/two, the compelling Hogan/Savage angle, the Savage/Bad News Brown feud, and the Hogan/Twin Towers feud coming into play. The match dies off with Hogan's elimination, but watching DiBiase get his comeuppance makes the match watchable. 1990 Royal Rumble As a kid I used to fast-forward through the undercards to get to the Rumble match itself. As a result, I missed the Valentine/Garvin feud. There is great stuff between those two guys, and their submission match is a great battle of psychology, with each guy sporting their own shinguards, losing them mid-match, Garvin pelting Valentine with his own shinguard to set up the finish. Up until 2000-02 gave us some good Rumbles, this was the second best of the bunch. 1991 Royal Rumble For the first time, this disc gave me the opportunity to watch Koko B. Ware vs. The Mountie (it was cut from the CV version). It does not matter much, but it would bug people who are completists. The overriding theme here is the patriotism in the wake of the Iraqi War. Vince really mis-measured fan reaction and it caused him to set up a drastic failure in Hogan/Slaughter at Wrestlemania VII. The first hint should have been the end of the Warrior/Slaughter match. Security guards line the aisle for Sarge's return to the dressing room, and the fan hatred is lukewarm at best. As an aside, it is amusing that Slaughter stayed with the AWA until the bitter end and never held the title. Yet Vince gave him the WWF title within six months. 1992 Royal Rumble Let me take a few moments and lay out the reasons why this Rumble match is whitout question the greatest of all time. Not only is it a great match, it links all the participants together and just about every point of the match means something in the grander scheme. The match is really split into two parts. Part one is the prologue, Ric Flair enters third, Bobby Heenan goes apoplectic, and Flair fights for survival. The first part is setting up Flair for ironman status. There comes a point where Flair eliminates the Boss Man and Flair is left alone for several seconds. Then the fun starts with Roddy Piper entering the fray. Then Jake Roberts with his heel character, alternatively turning on Piper and Flair as the situation dictates. You have the Undertaker entering, the Savage/Roberts feud, the Hogan/Flair feud, Sid Justice becoming a legitimate force, etc. It is solid action for the last 20-30 minutes, and watching 15 years later I am surprised how quickly everything unfolds after number 30 enters. The whole set and each event is an easy thumbs up really. I will not do star ratings, but let me take a shot at ranking the matches. Rumbles 1. 1992 2. 1990 3. 1991 4. 1989 5. 1988 Non-Rumble Matches 1. Rockers vs. Orient Express, 1991 2. Ron Garvin vs. Greg Valentine, 1990 3. Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Glamour Girls, 1988 4. Jim Duggan/Hart Foundation vs. Dino Bravo/Rougeaus, 1989 5. Roddy Piper vs. The Mountie, 1992 Greatest Moments 1. Ric Flair wins WWF Title, 1992 2. Virgil turns face, 1991 3. Roddy Piper shocks the Mountie, 1992 4. Ultimate Warrior/Hulk Hogan showdown, 1990 5. Demolition enters first and second, 1989

I was disappointed when Neidhart left and Koko B. Ware came in myself. Watching the end of the '92 Rumble, there is audible cheers and some excitement when Sid eliminated Hulk Hogan. During the after-match scuffle, Sid pointed to the crowd and got a pretty good face pop. One little thing I liked during the '91 Rumble, Gorilla references Greg Valentine and says, "his father was the same way." I never watched Johnny Valentine wrestle, but it's rare to see a wrestler that apparently commanded as much respect as he did.

I think Jackie-Joyner Kersee is as good an answer as any. Babe Didrickson might merit some consideration, but I'm wary of overrating athletes who dominated before competition was fully organized. In regards to the dynasty question, I think a single championship at least places a team in the discussion. The 1990s Braves might only have one world title, but they have five pennants, 14 divisional crowns, and led their league in wins FIVE years in a row. Only one other team has ever done that. Pound for pound boxing, it's either Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali. A lot of old timers did not like Ali because of his boxing style (ask Bert Sugar sometime), but he got results. Before his exile due to the Vietnam issue, he was flat out untouchable. Edit: Better question here. Sillier purchase: Smues buying .000016% of Randy Newsom's MLB future, buying a Nationals jersey because it had an American League patch, or buying a modship at TSM?

In regards to the Miz, when I attended the Smackdown/ECW taping I was really stunned to see how popular he was. One girl held up a sign that said, "free lapdance for the Miz."

It's a good match. Not spectacular or anything, but definitely in the category of "solid opener." Probably **1/2-*** if I felt inclined to rate it.

They wouldn't worry anyway. Look at the choices the fans were given. Finley/Mysterio: Pick the stipulation, doesn't effect the booking. Pick CM Punk's opponent: Doesn't matter, Punk is booked to go over clean. Pick Randy Orton's opponent: Doesn't matter, Orton will retain via nefarious means. Pick MVP's opponent: See above, title isn't changing hands. HHH/Umaga: Pick the stipulation, HHH goes over anyway. Diva costume contest: Doesn't matter. Undertaker/Batista: Did anyone think Austin wouldn't win? They really need to book a title change next year.

Knobs would've been in the '92 Rumble but suffered a shoulder injury.

No. Namath's win had both his guarantee and the backstory of the AFL establishing themselves as backstory. Eli would just be the QB of a team that scored a major upset. Would you rather have upper level season tickets to a Major league club or closer season tickets to a minor league team?

A dozen protesters? That won't register a blip on the radar screen. Personally, I think it is ridiculous to protest something you were not even exposed to.

I can't hate on the costume contest, it was simple vignettes, didn't waste much time, and once again Mickie f'n James is OVER. Give her the damned title. Plus Victoria had some guy dressed as Mr. Fuji with her. Cyber Sunday really needs something fresh, because as it stood the results are telegraphed a mile away, and the fan vote doesn't change the booking one iota.

The funny thing about it is that if you read The Numbers Game (and you should), people have been ranting about statistics since the days of Henry Chadwick.

Doubtful, because they realize what they are doing makes good business sense. If it was bad, why would they keep doing it? To answer the drug question, I would put more stock in Darryl Strawberry than Dwight Gooden. Gooden could have easily been felled by overwork. Other good candidates might be Josh Hamilton, Jeff Allison, Ricky Williams, Lamarr Hoyt. Which sports injury was most damaging to his team's success?

Real good Tuesday Night Titans this week as they put the sell job on for Wrestlemania 2. Brutus Beefcake with the sunglasses looks exactly like John Morrison.

79. Bobby Lashley never took a slingshot suplex from Tully Blanchard.

Why stop there? I say the thread titles themselves should match too.