Australian Pride

Would Yokozuna count as someone Vince lost confidence in? He was pushed as a monster and then Vince decided to bring back Hogan and gave him the title less than 5 minutes after Yoko won it. He got given a second chance, but only because Hulk wouldn't put Bret over.

Imagine if they did do a draft off all young talent, JR would be creaming himself all night at the thought of those blue chippers coming to Raw.

def. Mabel at In Your House V def. The Executioner (Terry Gordy) at Armageddon 1996...I mean In Your House. def. RVD at Vengeance 2001 (replaced Armageddon that year) Has he ever won at The Royal Rumble? I think he beat Bret Hart by DQ, but it could of been the other way around.

I always thought Chris Candido got a bit of a rough deal in the WWF with his Body Donna gimmick. He might not have been World Champ, but there was so much more that he could have done. Everything after that is basically his own fault by getting into shit with drugs.

Dean Malenko Shawn Michaels Tito Santana Ricky Steamboat Owen Hart Curt Hennig

Anyone remember Raven/Goldberg for the US title? My memory is sketchy but I remember it being really hot and only going for about 5 minutes.

I'm not sure if it was ever on sale to the general public but Owen 3.16, with "I just broke your neck" on the back was the most amusing I have seen. The Kurt Angle 'You Suck' shirt is up there, and you can't go past the classic Austin 3.16.

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR Eddie Guerrero - Eddie Guerrero as World Champ was once unthinkable, but he did a great job of it before jobbing it to JBL. If the intial JBL push hadn't been so rushed, and he had been put over more prior then it would have been better for both men. After that he had a run with Angle, which was good in the ring but not so good outside it, before moving to Luther and now back into the headline scene for Survivor Series and Armageddon. TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR Le Resistance - London/Kidman and Rey/RVD were probably better, but their alliances were only fleeting, and they were never booked as anything important on TV. La Res aren't the greatest tag team ever but they were put into some big matches involving Benoit/Edge and Eugene/Regal. NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Gene Snitsky - intentional or not, he has gotten over big with his off-beat character and 'it's not my fault' interviews. Makes a nice variation on the random hoss that WWE likes throwing out there. MOST IMPROVED WRESTLER Shelton Benjamin - was always good as one half of the WGTT, but has really come into his own as a singles wrestler since the draft. Has been given big wins over HHH and Chris Jericho, has an expanding moveset, and improving mike skills. Should be a main eventer in the near future. FINISHER OF THE YEAR Other - Benoit's Crossface, and Sharpshooter. Made both HHH and HBK tap out, and the move has been booked as a sure fire finisher. ANGLE OF THE YEAR Other - The Wedding from Hell. I haven't cracked up like that since Austin/Angle/McMahon in 2001. FEUD OF THE YEAR Chris Jericho vs Christian - The had some good matches, and the team of Christian/Trish was very entertaining. MATCH OF THE YEAR Other - Eddie vs Brock Lesnar, No Way Out 2004. Great execution, allowing for a Goldberg run-in where Brock kicked out, and then Eddie picks up the cleaner win after that. His post-match celebration was one of the highs of the year, as the fans were allowed to soak it up with him, while Cole and Tazz shut the hell up. TV MATCH OF THE YEAR John Bradshaw Layfield vs Eddie Guerrero (Steel Cage Match) (SmackDown! – Aug 2004) PAY-PER-VIEW OF THE YEAR Royal Rumble 2004 - The rumble match was in the top five best Rumbles ever, and HBK/HHH was good with a bad ending. Everything else was a bit rushed, but at least it set up Guerrero for his World title run by putting him over Chavo clean, and put a bullet in Bob Holly's main event push.

The TV show was Perfect Strangers. Larry and Balki I believe their names were.

Owen Hart vs Steve Austin - 97 Survivor Series. They were both injured (Austin/neck, Owen/brain bruise) and they went in there for 3 minutes and did everything they could in that time. Austin had another match a month later with Rocky Maivia which lasted about 6 minutes and was pretty good for the amount of time.

I'm going with Cena. Neither of them look like heading a new boom period, but Cena is above Orton, and he could become more mainstream if (and it's a big IF) his movie is successful. If he won the World title around the same time as his movie was released it could be a nice link that could put his name out there, as World Champion John Cena obviously has a better ring to it than just plain old John Cena, especially if they put him on the talk show circuit to promote it. Randy has been shoved down peoples throats too fast and he doesn't appear to really know how to carry a babyface character. He may learn, but will it be too late by then?

Having barely seen any WCW I was indifferent towards Chris Benoit (and the other Radicals) until his submission match with Chris Jericho at Judgement Day 2000. I didn't like the Austin/Hart ending, but I did like the match. Eddie won me over at King of the Ring that year when he had a very good match with Val Venis. Dean Malenko vs Scotty 2 Hotty at Backlash helps ranks that card among my all-time favourites. I wasn't expecting that match to be anywhere near that hot. Perry Saturn, I had actually seen have a blinder with Raven at Fall Brawl 98, and he never really approached that level again in WWF/E.

Looks like Main Event Maven is a winning idea.

My Favourite - the Austin/Angle/McMahon skits from 2001. From hugging, to bad singing and wearing miniature cowboy hats, they were a crack up.

The somebody else was Chris Jericho, I think. Great moment when Heyman gets in there and says that the war is being taken 'to the extreme'.

Ricky Steamboat Steve Austin Bret Hart Randy Savage

-2004 Royal Rumble Probably the third best Rumble, behind 1992 and 2001. They under-emphasise Benoit and have him sorta just there for periods of the match, which isn't what I was expecting and dragged the crowd enthusiasm for him down a bit. -Eddie Guerrero vs Brock Lesnar (No Way Out) Loved this match, and rank it as my MOTY. -Jamie Noble vs Paul London (Velocity) Don't get Velocity down here, and haven't attempted to find it elsewhere so I won't comment. -Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero (WrestleMania) This match didn't do it for me, but maybe my expectations were so high that there was no way it could live up to them. -Triple H vs Chris Benoit vs Shawn Micheals (WrestleMania) A great match, and a memorable one. The fact that Benoit gets the clean tap-out from HHH was THE ending of the year, but I wouldn't rank it in an all-time WM top 5, or even top 10. -Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Misterio (Smackdown gauntlet final) Don't remember much of this match, other than it was exciting. No classic though. -Triple H vs Shelton Benjamin (Raw - the first upset) Anytime time HHH gets beaten reasonably cleanly will be considered a big deal. Wouldn't put it in the classic category, but it was a great match that emphasised how Shelton will be a star of the future. -Mick Foley vs Randy Orton (Backlash) Great brawl, particularly when you consider that Foley had been pretty much inactive for 4 years prior to this. -Triple H vs Chris Benoit vs Shawn Micheals (Backlash) Technically a better match than the WM one, but it lacks the emotion and the historical significance. -Chris Benoit vs Shawn Micheals (Raw: Showdown in the Desert) Like Eddie/Kurt this one didn't click for me, and again it was likely because my expectations were sky high. Still a fine effort from both men, just not as gripping as I was expecting.

This Monday is the first time since his return from injury that I've actually cared about what Edge does in the slightest. There's a whole heap of possibilites involving Benoit/Michaels/Evolution. But what would you like to see happen? Do you put him in with Evolution? Personally I don't see the point in this. The basic reasoning for his heel turn was that he was bitter about not getting the World Title shot, and if he hooks up with Evolution then there is a guarantee that there won't be any title shots in his future. And will there even be an Evoloution after Taboo Tuesday? What direction does Flair go in after the cage match? Does Edge do the most obvious thing and feud with Chris Benoit? It has the makings of a great confrontation - either as a singles match, with the winner getting control of both tag titles and can choose his own partner, or initially as a tag match - pick their partners first and then wrestle with the titles on the line. Personally, I'd like to see Edge/Christian against Benoit/Jericho on Raw, and then something like Edge/Christian/HHH/Batista/Flair (or Tomko if Flair goes face) against Benoit/Jericho/Orton/Regal/Eugene. Save their first singles match for Royal Rumble, if there is room, or for the next Raw exclusive PPV. Edge vs Shawn Michaels has to be put on the back-burner due to HBK's injury, but we should definately see this in the new year sometime. Form a Team Canada type stable with Edge, Christian, La Resistance and Tomko (who I don't believe is Canadian, but neither was Brian Pillman)? It's been done to death, but Christian is a master of working the crowd, and heel Edge is good at it as well. It would also give La Resistance a boost, and would likely lead to them getting the titles back, and hopefully they get higher profile challengers next time around. Where would you take it?

Moderate Changes - increase the amount of viable headline options, and use them in matches that don't always involve HHH and the Undertaker Tiny changes - let John Cena cut loose on the stick, instead of having him use his pathetic gay jokes, 'the champ is here' and 'you cant see me' over and over again.. Phase them down, he can still throw them in occasionally (except the gay jokes), but for the most part he uses original material every week.

Was there ever any feud/match between Bret Hart and Lex Luger after the WM9 brunch incident where Luger nailed Hart with his metal forearm?

Yeah, I know Pillman (and Neidhart) had the actual connection to Bret Hart, I only included Tomko because he seems to be joined at the hip to Christian at the moment, and he needs to be surrounded by guys who can at least attempt to cover for his inabilities (same as Sylvan Grenier). I like the loner idea for Edge. Just have him attack anyone and everyone (faces and heels) until he gets what he wants, and be damn proud of it all. Kinda like the 1996/97 Austin, but I would definately try to play down any similarities between them.

When was the last time WWF/E ran a PPV where the IC title match was nearly 3 times longer than the World Title match? I guess it needed to be, and even 9 minutes was still way too much Diesel/Mabel for my liking. You had to feel sorry for Bret Hart and the Undertaker, lumped with deadweight like they were.

It'd be cool if Benoit is allowed to pick his partner and he gives a belt to Jericho. Then they can tear HHH's quad again.

Road Wild 1999 August 14,1999 1. ICP/Vampiro vs Rey Mysterio Jr./Eddie Guerrero/Kidman Boring match. Should have been better with Rey/Eddie/Kidman in there. 2. Tag Team Titles - Harlem heat vs Jersey Triad Another boring match, why were Harlem Heat even put back together when Booker was going along nicely as a solo perfromer? 3. West Texas Rednecks vs Revolution Slow and dull. The Rednecks seemed to be over with the bikers in attendance though. 4. Cat vs Buff Bagwell They had a real fight backstage, won by the Cat. Buff picked up the win on screen, but the backstage fight would have been more entertaining. 5. US Title - DDP vs Chris Benoit The only choice for match of the night. Some good work by both of these guys, and it was nice to see Benoit go over a former World Champ in convincing fashion. 6. Sid Vicious vs Sting Surprising finish, with Sid winning clean, but everything prior to that was pathetic. 7. Rick Steiner vs Goldberg Steiner uses a weapon for half the match without getting Dq'ed. Another crap match overall. 8. Macho Man vs Dennis Rodman This was okay, but very far-fetched. The tipping over of the port-a-loo with 'excrement' flooding out was funny. Rodman should never have looked as strong as he did against a legend like Savage 9. Career Match for WCW Title - Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash The 'career' stipulation was taken so seriously that they didn't show one shot of Nash after the 3 count. They should have been showing him looking devestated at losing. Hogan won with the always pathetic legdrop to end the show. Nash was back on TV before the end of the year.

No, it wasn't. He botched it in that match. Really? I don't fully remember it, the last time I watched the show was about 5 years ago. When I first saw WM9 11 years ago I had never seen the frankensteiner before, and I was quite impressed, so maybe that is clouding my memory of it. I'm gonna have to dig it out now just to see.