Dark Age

Who is complaining? People were just discussing the stips that could be involved in a match like this, stips which could very well be used (regardless of if it makes sense or not). Think Bubba/Trish vs Stevie/Jazz.

Price is $25. Looks like it will only be a 2 or 3 disc set, with matches skipped and clipped to hell. Looks like a bloodbath type DVD. Boo!

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Undertaker (Over the Edge, 5/23/99) !!!!!

Ok, thanks. I would SO buy this, though I'm sure the price would be a lot. They should have filled up with more TV matches from the last few years.

Source Plz!

People tend to get hurt in a boxing match. If he hurts his leg, tough shit. It's a fight. If he gets punched in the face, what are you gonna say? It wasn't fair because he was out on his feet? Please.

I've always been fascinated by casual fans. What is this, a nature safari? However, in an effort to understand this, I'm going to take a look at what draws me in as a casual fan of other forms of entertainment, particularly sports, as well as suggesting ways for WWE to capitalize on the casual fans out there. This guy is nuts. He thinks he's filming a documentary or something. Personalities: There are probably lots of good players on every decent professional sports team. However, casual fans don't care about how solid player X is. He knows this how? Chris Benoit got over by wrestling. They want stars. They want the Kobes and the Shaqs, not the Guy-With-An-Overly-Long-Foreign-Name-Who-Can't-Speak-English. Sadly, WWE has lost a large number of their top stars from their peak in recent years, including the Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Mick Foley. They've also lost one of their biggest homegrown stars, Brock Lesnar. Plus, they couldn't figure out what to do with former WCW stars Goldberg and Scott Steiner. WWE has to put their nose to the grindstone in creating new stars. They can't go halfway like they're trying to do with Paul London and Billy Kidman, expecting them to magically catch on without any background on commentary, without promos, without build-up. These guys aren't personalities. You could insert any two young cruisers into their spot, and most fans wouldn't know the difference. I presume he's referring to Kenzuki. Well, he ISN'T a solid player, so it's a mute point. If he said Jamie Noble or something, fair enough. But he didn't. They've lost Rock and Austin. They still have Taker and Triple H. Those two should have been making new stars in the same way Rock did with Brock. The lack of star power is the fault of the current stars they have. They DID know how to use Goldberg, but they couldn't, and they were right in his usage. To make Goldberg a star, you have to have him run through everyone. WWE, rightfully, didn't wanna take this risk, because it would hurt them more in the long run. The short term jump in buyrates/ratings you would get with WCW Goldberg would mean nothing when everyone else has been buried. Steiner blew it himself, no fault of WWE. They're trying to create new stars now with Randy Orton and John Cena, but neithe rguy is ready. Booker T, Chris Jericho, RVD and the like should be in those spots while Cena and Orton are groomed. I agree on the London/Kidman bit. Simplicity: This applies in a variety of ways. First, the sport itself must be easy to follow. Wrestling gets this right for the most part, particularly when matches result in clean finishes. Problems begin to arise when we get into more complicated matches, such as the WWE's nasty habit of changing the rules every time they have a cage match. Can you pin the other person? What about climbing out? You can just walk out the door? Why doesn't everyone just do that? You don't want fans asking these questions, you want them focusing on the product. It wasn't easy to follow back in 99 with the constant swerves and turns. They NEVER had clean finishes back then. That is when ratings were high. The Cage match stuff is stupid, but cage matches are alot less frequent these days. It's not a HUGE issue. Variety: Sadly, most Americans today have the attention span of a small hamster, including myself. This is where variety comes in. Give us fast-paced insanity. The casual fan doesn't want a nice, logical, slowly paced twenty, thirty minute match. They want to know in five or ten minutes who the better man is, and then they want to move onto something new. How the fuck does this guy know this? He's talking shit. Didn't Benoit/Shawn pull in a pretty decent rating? Don't most long matches? As a matter of fact, the ratings barely change regardless of a 30 minute match, 10 minute match or an interview. WWE has it's core fan base these days. They usually stay for anything. Matches like Benoit/Shawn HAVE brought in more viewers. Outside of pacing, it's also important to mix up the match styles. Give us a singles match, a tag match, a cruiser match, a hardcore match, and then surprise us. Don't expect fans to pay attention to generic Undercard Wrestler A versus Undercard Wrestler B matches without much build-up, then wonder why your ratings aren't doing better. The Raw women haven't even gotten to wrestle on the A show that much lately. WWE is missing an opportunity to provide more variety, and with how hard the Raw women work, it's hard to imagine why they aren't utilizing them more. I must have missed the huge ratings brought in by the Divas division. Gossip: Not everyone follows the NBA, particularly early in the season. Almost everyone has at least kept an eye on the Kobe Bryant rape trial. People want outrageous, gossipy entertainment. This is why good backstage segments are so vital. You want to be able to provide outrageousness while still maintaining a certain level of believability. This is why people will talk about the stories from the National Enquirer (Mary-Kate's on drugs! Kirstie Alley's fat!), but once you get to the Weekly World News (Dick Cheney really a robot! Bat Boy's sex slaves!), it becomes too laughable to generate any discussion. WWE seems to go to the Weekly World News well far too often, and would be better served to take a cue from the semi-believableness of the Enquirer. Or how about just forgetting about getting publicity and just focus on wrestling? Didn't this guy want simple stories? Yet now he wants outrageousness and gossipy stuff? During the show itself, the casual fans want to know the match results. Making it seem like a match will end at any moment will draw in the casual fans, and as we've proven, matches where you know they won't end for sixty minutes don't. I hate to say it, but I think that shorter TV matches are, in general, a good idea. Throw on something a bit longer in the main event slot, but keep it short and sweet other than that. Simple solution: DON'T DO IRON MAN MATCHES ON FREE TV!

Hey, Williams gave Tyson a black eye! If he didn't have the black eye, Tyson would have KILLED him! I won't consider Williams 'For Real' untill he has beaten Tyson FAIR AND SQUARE.

I'd like to know how this guy knows what all casual fans want. Did he go to all their homes with a questionnaire?

HAHAHAHAHA. You are SO funny. It's also funny that you don't have any argument against RRR's points, and just resort to name calling. You lose.

Benoit back to the IC Title division? Bullshit. Boy, they sure made Benoit a permanent main eventer, huh?

But Benoit never had the Euro Title.

Cos Benoit's has been SO strong.

Brock/Benoit was better than H/Shawn.

His job?

He could go IN WCW. Matches with Vader and Sting were really good.

If we're just talking about matches in terms of quality from 2002 onwards, then Angle/Benoit and Eddie/Brock both smoke any Triple H/Shawn Michaels match. The best Triple H/Shawn matches have involved Chris Benoit. After reading what Flair said, it seems like he was asked what would be the best match today from any two guys ("Triple H vs Shawn Michaels, it already happened). He's wrong if he considers that the best match possible today. Shawn/Angle, Shawn/Eddie and Shawn/Rock would all be better, and I'd say Triple H/Eddie and Triple H/Brock would be better too. The Raw match last year was good. I'd say he was probably talking about that more than the SS02 match, because it was straight 'wrestling'. Come to think of it, I think Flair was probably just talking about the Triple H/Shawn feud in general. I haven't seen Flair say Foley had very good wrestling skills anyway, but regardless of that, from what I've read, Flair wants to pass Foley's career off as nothing more than being a glorified stuntman, which is wrong. If he is saying this because of the HIAC bumps, then he's misguided. Yes, Foley will be remembered for the HIAC match, but the second fall wasn't planned. Is iy Foley's fault he will be remembered for the HIAC bumps? No, so for Flair to criticize him for something THAT WASN'T PLANNED is stupid. Rock/Brock was totally what sold SS02, IMO. That's what sold it for me, and that as the draw of the show. Triple H/Shawn seemed more like a special attraction. If you recall, Triple H/Shawn wasn't even made until 2 or 3 weeks before the show, Rock/Brock was set in stone from KOTR. What was 'perfect' about the feud? Triple H attacks Shawn, then attacks him again. He claims innocence, then admits he did it. Shawn challenges him to a match at SS. Seems like most any other feud to me, except that it was Shawn's return match. Shawn's match with RVD on Raw got poor ratings. That was his Raw return match. If people didn't tune in to see his return to free tv, why would they pay to see his return? Rock/Brock was nothing like Triple H/Jericho. H/Jericho was a heatless, dissapointing match. Rock/Brock still had a hot crowd, still had the aura about it that H/Jericho didn't have, and they still had a very good match. The atmosphere was influential at SS. Rock/Brock was a better match than Triple H/Shawn. Kipping (or nipping, whatever the hell it is) up after having your broken back destroyed for 20 minutes is kinda unbelievable. Alot more unbelievable than most any other stuff that happens in a match.

Yeah, I know he's somewhat friends with HHH, but I still think this has some merit. HHH/HBK at SS 2002 wasn't just a "garbage match" like so many like to suggest. When you include factors like actually making the fans care and drawing money as well as the quality of the match, it was the greatest match of our time. If Flair really just wanted to include a match with HHH that didn't have "garbage selling", he could have used the Triple Threat from Mania or something, but he didn't. The man considered by many to be the greatest worker of all-time recognized that HHH/HBK was the greatest match of this time. OK, I know I'm gonna get a bunch of HHHaters that dismiss this as Flair kissing HHH's ass, but I still wanted to post it, because I think it was his honest opinion. Ric's a hypocrite. If he thing THAT is the greatest match of our time, how can he say Mick Foley is a glorified stuntman? Foley's brawls with both men were alot more believable, told much deeper stories and were just flat out better than the Slam02 match. If he's talking about the HIAC match, same deal. If he's talking about the Raw match last year, then he hasn't seen many matches lately. Either way it's a joke. I like the TripleH/Shawn matches but they can't even compare with alot of stuff in WWE from the last few years alone. It was an enjoyable brawl, not much more. Making the fans care? Don't ALOT of matches do that? If you want an example of making fans care, watch Benoit/Angle from RR. I wouldn't say it drew money. Rock/Brock was what sold SS. This can be proven by the fact that every other Triple H/Shawn match has bombed in buyrates. Surely you're joking by calling it the greatest match of our time? It wasn't even the best match at SS02! And what is 'our time' anyway? Iggy, do you REALLY believe that's the match Flair considers greatest of our time? Do you think that's his HONEST opinion?

Yeah, okay. Who cares about Kurt beating the shit out of Eddie when you can have TEH FUNNY? Maybe it's a little too much to ask for the main feud on SmackDown! to not be a comedy one.

THREE MATCHES?!?

How is Kamala a legend, though?

No they aren't. WWE Tag Titles go back to God's Team. World Tag Titles been around forever.

Rollup doesn't establish anything. Benoit looks like a fluke, Triple H like an idiot. Someone needs to go over clean to settle it.

Didn't they do a similar thing at KOTR2000? Better solution: Benoit beats Triple H. Then beats Orton at Slam. Triple H faces Regal with Eugene returning after the match. Benoit feuds with Jericho leading into SSeries.

If you saw the edit Zsas, I changed my mind. You shouldn't be banned for that. And no, I don't want you banned at all. And if I did, it certainly wouldn't be because you are "smarter than me". It would be because you suck. ZING~