Precious Roy

Mets would be insanely stupid to trade Looper unless they have a deal for another closer on the horizon.

Anaheim signed Mondesi a couple months in and he almost immediately got hurt. Watch him put up a career year in ATL

I'd say it points to him being in control, as unlike Belushi and Hendrix he must not do insane OD inducing ammounts, he just keeps up a steady habit. I'd say Keith Richards is the same way.

1.) Favorite world title match at the PPV? 1992 Rumble. For singles matches, Benoit v. Angle by an inch over the HHH/Cactus street fight 2.) Favorite Rumble match? 1992, followed by 2004, 1997, 1998, 1990, 2000 and 1989 in pretty much that order. 1995 and 1999 were easily the worst. I've never seen 2002. 3.) Favorite Rumble match elimination? I liked how Michaels tossed Bulldog in 95 4.) Favorite mini-match within the Rumble? Definitely Cactus-Chainsaw Charlie from 98 5.) Favorite non-world title, non-Rumble match? toss up on Dudleyz v. Hardyz table match and Jericho/Benoit ladder. honorable mentions to Rockers/Orient Express and Hart Bros/Quebecers 6.) Favorite pre-Rumble promo? don't remember a whole lot of em so I'll just say Rock 2000 7.) Things you hated besides Vince winning the '99 Rumble? The Undertaker/Yoko thing, the finish to Hart/Nash, the finish to Hart/Taker, the 1995 Rumble being only 30 minutes~!, any final four/two that COMPLETELY telegraphed the winner (2003 comes to mind).

No show on my birthday, this is the closest one: Whoa! That's a pretty historic card. Inoki, Fujinami, Choshu and Sakaguchi working MSG. The Hogan-Dibiase match, and I didn't even know the title was vacated between Backlund and Duncum. Plus Harley Race defending the NWA title against Dusty Rhodes!

Backlund was the face world champion in 1982. His reign lasted 4 years from 1979 to 1983. Hennig, I think he debuted earlier but that's definitely early in his career, he did a little jobber duty in the WWF before moving on to the NWA and AWA. That's Sal Bellomo. He worked in ECW during their first few years, the Eastern days. He was your basic 300 lb brawler. I recognize the name of Fulton, don't know much about him. Swede Hansen was old school, 60's-70's, he played a Swedish strongman, was probably pretty old by 82. Baron was also real old school, I think I have some black and white footage of him somewhere, he was your typical european heel, Maltese to be exact. I can't believe he was still working in the 80's, he must have been 50+ years old. I don't know DeCarlo or Black Demon

The fact that he's lasted this long amazes me. Honestly, It wouldn't surprise me if he lives another decade or three, he's a fucking snake.

LMFAO Prove that it's the authorative Word of God. Really. Do it. Yeah, he wouldn't say that if he saw the 500 page book in HD trying to do that very thing. I'll check it out, but you can't prove or disprove that the bible is the word of god, it's a hollow, meaningless debate. I'll check it for the entertainment value though

Pretty much, yeah, a respect feud that maybe devolves into some genuine dislike on both of their part, maybe finalize a turn for one of them at the end of it based on crowd reactions, but there's absolutely no reason to turn either man going into it when the crowd digs both of them and will get into the matches. You don't need to construct a face/heel dynamic when the matches are already guaranteed to get heat.

Ahhh, but you contradict yourself here. A DQ is a finish, and there are many examples of matches that build to a DQ rather than a clean pinfall, and do so well. Austin/Angle, Austin/HBK, Taker/HBK from Ground Zero, these are all very good matches where the internal story and progress of the match led to the disqualification. I've seen very few matches where it builds towards a DQ. Angle/Austin from Summerslam 2001 is the best example of it doing this well, but it still felt cheap to end it that way, in my opinion. The only reason to set up a DQ finish to to set up a rematch for later on. This built-in "leave them wanting more" mentality is fine for a TV match or a house show, but on a PPV doesn't work. Fortunately in the case of Angle/Austin, it wasn't the main event, and you did have a rematch the next month. Not all PPVS can deliver finality, and I wouldn't want them to, things get boring when you stick with the same formula. The HBK/Undertaker match from Ground Zero may be my favorite "forgotten" main-event, I had so much fun watching that match, was so into it, and the match ending in a double DQ was so perfectly done and left me pumped up and wanting to see these guys go at it again. And of course it built up to the first Hell In A Cell, so what's to complain about? I'm just saying that it can be done and done well with the right circumstances. Well, it's HHH and HBK we're talking about, explain WHY we should expect them to take Benoit seriously in the build up? To them he's a vanilla midget. That WAS the story of the buildup and the match, that those two viewed Benoit as a third wheel. So you're basically just complaining that you didn't get the story you wanted rather than pointing out flaws in their storytelling, because they really put over the idea of Benoit being an outsider and a "nuisance" perfectly throughout the match, and that was the part of the storyline that was meant to legitimize Benoit, the fact that he forced them to respect him in the ring. It wasn't a flaw in the storyline, it WAS the storyline.

On that list, I like Ian Eagle/Solomon Wilcots and Kevin Harlan/Randy Cross from CBS, have heard them call lots of games, but I guess I'm not watching many NFC games or not paying attention or something because I don't recognize the FOX crews he had in the ***-**** range.

Oh, and I totally agree about Madden/Michaels pwning the ESPN crew. Maddenisms are a part of the guys charm, I get why people don't get them, you just have to think of the guy as some crazy, drunken old coach who you're watching the game with, and in that context it's a comedy gold mine. Madden is a fucking character. Plus the guy really knows his shit, and he sees the whole field with a coach's eye thus allowing for spot-on analysis, you just have to take the Maddenisms during dead time to get to it. Michaels is a consumate pro, he's got good chemistry with Madden, and he flat out knows how to call a football game. They give the games a bigtime feel that most crews can't bring.

Mariotti makes more good points than you think. Yeah probably, he's just so F'n annoying and smug

LMFAO Prove that it's the authorative Word of God. Really. Do it.

Is Backlash a RAW or SD show? Either way we're probably getting a world title rematch on top of the card.

Well, I loved and cheered for Vader and Andre as heels, so doesn't that make them failures? It's all subjective, all that matters is that you were entertained.

I dig the general plan, except for this part: Why is Kurt Angle at a RAW show "doing business"? Doesn't make any sense. The more logical route is for Angle to interfere out of the crowd in the Edge-HBK match, prefaced by HBK trashtalking Angle the night after the Rumble, and an HBK-Angle backstage confrontation at the Rumble setting up the chairshot you mentioned (Angle boasting about being a Grand Slam champion, only to get interrupted by fellow GS champion AND Rumble winner HBK, or something along those lines, there's lots of ways to handle that segment) Personally, I'd love to see HHH-Batista as a NON-TITLE grudge match, and have Orton v. Edge for the world title. Orton would definitely have to go over, which not only extends the program and builds on Edge's character, but keeps Orton from looking weak and kind of makes up for the shit reign earlier, and you have Edge take the belt a couple months later at the climax of their feud. HHH-Batista doesn't need the belt, and everyone wants to see HBK v. Angle so it's win-win-win. The only doubt here is what match goes on last, and the last match pretty much has to be a world title change. If JBL is dropping the belt to Cena I guess that goes on last, but I'm skeptical (and baised) as I don't really like either one of them.

I can see Hogan's POV in regards to returning and jobbing to Lesnar for a second time, but realistically there's no way he should have gone over him at Survivor Series, so yes, despite playing nice initially it was selfish of him to demand that. There were ways to work around it in the booking and keep Hogan strong, a strong build-up for Hogan leading to the Series and a competitive match, more competative than the SD match, with Lesnar having to work dirty to win, but that was the selfish Hogan rearing his head there, because he could have got the program tailored to keep him strong, he just couldn't stomache two straight jobs without him pinning Lesnar. At the most they could have done a fluke type pin for Hogan in a SD tag match that heavily protected Lesnar leading to the match. IMO though, Hogan was pretty broken down at that point, and I had trouble suspending disbelief during Hogan's offense in the SD match as Lesnar just looked and was worlds stronger than Hogan. Realistically Lesnar should have been mopping the floor with him every chance he got, he was the most physically impressive guy the E had, maybe the most impressive guy they've ever had.

Rick Brunson has played very well filling in for Jaric. Ex-Knicks represent!

THANK YOU for bringing that up MIB I thought I was the only one on the planet who understood that. Buck going off on Moss was something he HAD to do cause it wouldnt look good to the NFL suits if he didnt. Any announcer put in that position would do the same thing I guarantee you. Whatever, I still don't get why this is even a big deal, FCC or not. Claiming that Buck had to bash Moss because of pressure from the NFL and the FCC is bullshit, and a total cop-out. What if he didn't, they would have had him fired? Give me a break.

Yeah, I heard the Marlins were trying to trade for Craig Biggio too....

I'd say Sloan publicly challenging Okur has had something to do with it. Too bad Arroyo can't get out of his doghouse.

I'd love to see Hunter in pinstripes, but I can't see Minnesota letting him go, by all accounts he's a great clubhouse guy and loves playing for them.

Yeah, it was ATH, I think it was Jay Mariotti actually, in a rare moment of intelligence

I'm not disputing any of that. He did the smart thing in maintaining him image. I'm merely saying that whoever made the original comment about Rock giving Booker a rub, based on an intended match that never happened, has no clue what he's talking about. If it didn't happen there is no rub involved, no matter what Rock wanted to happen or what might have happened. We're dealing with reality here, and in reality The Rock had a major hand in burying Booker during the Invasion, and stepped aside to let Hunter finish the job rather than risk his own neck in making the guy look good. If Rock were so fucking concerned with getting people over he'd stick around for a while rather than do spot shows which leave the guys he works with to the mercy of the bookers and the ~EVIL~ HHH. Rock's generosity, while somewhat admirable, is pretty overblown. He shows up to promote his movies and make sure rasslin fans still like him enough to go see them, and he trys to do a little good by the performers he likes. He can't make or break guys unless he's around for more than a couple dates a year, and if he really cared about putting people over he'd set aside a couple months a year to work TV and do shit that matters rather than throwaway segments. And before anyone makes the comment, I have zero problem with what he does and the fact that he's in pictures now, more power to him, just don't try and make him out as a benevelent saint while demonizing HHH in the process, because it's not accurate, and I don't like how HHH conducts his business either.