Promoter

I would agree fully, but this is pro wrestling. They run everything into the ground any time some success happens. I mean we could go down a list of things.

I agree. A little off topic, but what if ecw does come back and replace smackdown? Wouldn't HHH walking around with Ric Flair as uppity superior heels in an ecw setting be hilarious? Yeah, it's fan fiction right now, but they could conceivably do this. HHH and Flair already have disdain for ecw type wrestling as it is. A smark crowd's dream would be shoot type storylines with HHH in an ecw arena. Of course, would his fargile ego be able to handle the criticism.

Well, Dark Age it fits perfectly for there not to be a superstar babyface on smackdown. That way HHH can justify holding the top title over there. I also think it's highly possible HHH is moving to smackdown, but the trash talking he does all the time about the brand could be his real thinking. It would work for the babyfaces trying to shut his trap by trying to overthrow him. It could simply be Batista getting switched with the title(the plan alledgedly with Orton) and then HHH following him. However, there is still the opening with Batista and Cena. People forget that is an open end feud waiting to happen due to the Rumble and the Mania title victory stories. They have set up Christian and Jericho already for Cena on RAW.

As for the old school ppv buy-rates, people should also remember that those ppv shows did not include the closed circuit arena broadcasts. I still think more people saw events like WM 3 than WM 17 simply from the mainstream buzz it got during those days from Entertainment Tonight to George Michael Sports Machine etc.

Okay, you also had HBK, Angle, Flair, and HHH all in the same ring. The main issues were amonst themselves and the world heavyweight title. JoeJoe already brought up Flair's remark. ****POSSIBLE SPOILER******I won't spoil things but it is a rumour. The ending of RAW may very well have something to do with Smackdown and the world heavyweight title. DAMN.....I hope the damn company IS reading this stuff.

HHH vs. Cena at WM 22. Just watch. Anyways, I also think Batista's going to smackdown. There is a reason there's a loophole with the title match. It would be the best way to end the draft season as well since it started with the big bomb of Cena jumping. BTW, I think it's obvious Vince wants his glittered wwe title on raw for the move to USA. It fits too much. I agree this time about HHH. Just keep him the hell away from Cena. Send both Batista and HHH to smackdown and bring Angle to raw and I'm happy.

I may be wrong, but I think Hogan-Andre has only been featured once as part of Hogan's DVD. From what I've heard Randy Savage's existance could be acknowledged if he wasn't overly greedy and would sign the royalties package that they're giving out to the "legends". <{POST_SNAPBACK}> So in other words, he should just accept the lowly pay Vince wants to give him and be treated like Piper's last stint. I agree he is being greedy, but if he knows Vince is going to try to get him back, he might as well get into his pockets. I mean he got even Hogan with the Mr. America nonsense and the line of ...."everytime you try to do something on your own you fall on your red and yellow ass" or something like that on a smackdown show post Mania 18. Savage might be the smart one here. Vince would make some coin with a Savage DVD though. Savage is not overexposed like the other legends since we haven't seen him in years. I think Bret and Savage are the last two money guys. We aren't seeing too much Bret Hart stuff either.

Come on, don't forget about all of his 5 star classic matches and promos that will be all over the release He's the greatest wrestler on the planet today. He is just that damn good. The current champ beat him, but he has not gone through him. Hell, he might be the greatest of all-time. Ric Flair said so...

That just isn't going to happen. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Add this with Jericho's current persona and it could be a doozy. The triple threat we have all been waiting for since August 1999

I think ONO is also Bret's last great match as well. The closest he came to anything like that match was with Benoit on nitro. I wonder if the DVD will have the original Monsoon commentary for a superstars show where Undertaker is called Kane? Anyone else remember that? It was like for a week and they dropped the Kane name. It was also rumoured that the initial feud was going to have this aspect brought up in that Undertaker did it as a tribute to his dead brother. It never materialized obviously.

I'm going to agree with the UT match-list. I can't even believe they don't include Warrior getting stuffed into a casket on the Funeral Parlor. They should have Warrior/Taker's feud on there as it was important. UT actually got cheers against Warrior in some cities back then as a heel. It was part of the reason they turned him face in 1992. I guess we were lucky in Canada to get Hart/Taker and I taped it. It REALLY should be on there too.

Heat and Velocity Cancelled Sunday Night Heat and Velocity are cancelled according to this tv website. Heat is apparently going to be replaced by "WWE Tonight". Source: http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/617/6179....html?fromint=1

I never heard that scenario before. I dread the thought of that one, but Rock seems to be okay with it in Be Cool

Long ago was LAST MONTH. The rumours were flying last month about Hogan and Austin having too much ego to be in the same building. Yes, I know it's rumours, but you never know(it was clearly false). I usually try to tie things up with what is presented on television. In 1999, Austin was the top babyface champion and they wanted HHH as the top heel. It made no sense to see HHH go over Mankind on RAW the night after SummerSlam. Then in October Austin jobbed to HHH and the company starts promoting a triple threat match they knew wasn't going to happen. They knew to help give HHH's reign credibility he had to go over Austin before he went for surgery. What choice would Austin have in that case? The ironic thing is in 2000 HHH did not give Rock's reign from KOR credibility by having him go over Vince Mcmahon. It could just be a case of stupid booking as well.

Can you PROVE Austin never wanted to do the job? It could be just like HBK didn't know anything about the screwjob I mean, people were saying Austin didn't want anything to do with Hogan, yet this week on the LAW Austin said he would be open to doing a match with the guy if the money was right. Austin even praised Hogan for having the greatest run ever. This is completely opposite from what people were inferring with Austin and Hogan around Mania time this year. So, I guess it wasn't possible for Austin vetoing a program with Jarrett as champion that year either right? I'm an Austin mark, but we all know the guy isn't an angel. That is why I don't vilify HHH as much as the rest of the net because all the top guys play dirty politics at one time or other. For the record I think Austin was right with both HHH and Jarrett.

When I say good segment I mean the segment is what the general audience wanted to see resulting in a high number. I have seen this argument before. Hell, I've seen Rock and Foley praise the damn thing. It's that age old sports entertainment vs. pro wrestling debate in what draws fans to watch. Foley even commented that it was kind of bad to see it destroy nitro on the other channel when it was giving a wrestling match. Not that I don't agree the whole thing sucked just like the big disappointment of the Higher Power angle. It's not the actual result/content that got the ratings in those scenarios obviously, but the implication people thought would come out of it.

HBK in this scenario IS RIGHT because he was in much worse shape when he put AUSTIN OVER at WrestleMania 14. People were expecting a star bonanza with that match before it got out that HBK was banged up too. You didn't see them put another wrestler in there with that excuse.

Where did I say it was a good segment? However, people on the net have used it to say it was a good segment because of the high rating. It sucked and I said it didn't deliver that's why the rating never got that high again for a stupid segment like that. As what said, the wwe made people think a swerve was going to happen. I'm sure people thought Mankind was setting up The Rock for the way he was treating him like crap.

Well, that's what his buddy HBK allegedly proclaimed in rumours as he thought HHH should have won. With HBK's past at the time and having Vince's ear I can believe it's possible that Vince might have HHH win especially since he was the pet project(My Time). If it isn't true, why didn't they just have HHH go over Austin the night after on RAW? I already know the excuse about having Jesse Ventura raising the hand of a heel champion to end the show(funny how that was excused for the second biggest show of the year, but at Mania it was pulled off with the generous Rock). Austin jobs the month before he has to go do surgery seems like a forced job to me. By the time NWO 2001 came around HHH had enough star power to get a clean win(Austin even claimed that things were different as Vince wasn't listening to him as before).

His point was that all the belts are on first timers and this is not new. It seems like it because we've had guys like HHH and Rock repeat as champions so much in the last few years. Go back before 1999 and see the pattern. You forget that there was actually a wcw title lineage don't ya? It's just that they might have caught onto the fact that they need new main eventers and champions after repeating the same ol' thing since 2000. The wwe title's only real fresh faces have been Cena, Eddie, Brock and JBL because Show and Angle already wore those belts under one roof. Anyways, this will all change come Vengence

This is my honest take on HHH. He hasn't forgotten the Madison Square Garden incident and he is making sure nothing like that happens again where his career suffers. Seriously. I don't rag on the guy as much as the net does, but he is getting beyond ridiculous with the main event scene. HHH is a main event guy and has the tools, but his monster push doesn't match his drawing power or talent imo. The guy is/was a good wrestler and somewhat of a draw, but anyone who has watched the mighty wwf years in the last 20 years knows this guy is a joke champion trying to place himself with Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and Steve Austin. People may rag on the masses, but I can bet money A LOT of friggin people off the net don't see HHH in their league. My friends who watched the HOF ceremony on tv were really PISSED how HHH's face was always shown. My friends who aren't even die-hard smarks know he is married into the family and believe me that is what some people see him as. One of my friends said the look on HHH's face when Hogan got the fan response seemed to be like he wishes he will be loved like that in the future, but I highly doubt it especially if he just tries to break Flair's record. HHH's only way to manufacture this legend status with the wwf holy trinity and the NWA/WCW's greatest poster boy is to create this legacy on raw. A lot of people believe he is manufactured and is even trying to surpass Shawn Michaels. There was a time when people were saying all he was doing was copying HBK and to some extent in DX he was a copycat in promos, but that's another story. I've read comments by HHH himself in those spotlight magazines that he wanted to be the Babe Ruth of the wwf. That Vince gave other wrestlers chances, but they never really took him up on it. This magazine was released just a few weeks before Hogan signed back with the company in 2002. Don't think it's just coincidence the man was bulked up like Incredible Hulk in 2002 when Hogan made his comeback. In that same magazine, HHH ripped on Hogan as just being a puppet of Vince Mcmahon and a poser. He belittled Hogan in the mag for no reason. That's why all this crap I see with him praising Hogan now seems hollow imo. Hogan returned and BLEW HIM AWAY as a face. Austin's heel turn flopped and he also blew HHH away as a face. The Rock was still above him as a face as well. HHH probably didn't want to turn face last fall for the Orton program because of how badly he stunk up the joint as a babyface in 2002. He knows he can't win the contest for the most over babyface of all-time when he is clearly leagues behind Hogan, Austin, and Rock. So, we won't see him in a face role of that magnitude again. He jobbed to Hogan at Backlash 2002 because even Vince wasn't blind to the opportunity of milking Hogan's last title win. Of course, HHH went along with it because he would get a win over Hulk Hogan later on to add to his resume, but honestly who remembers that and everyone knows Hogan in his prime would destroy HHH in a traditional feud anyways. Vince Mcmahon chose HHH as the future of the company in 2002 because Rock was leaning towards movies and Austin was all banged up(HHH went over Austin in 2001 and Rock in 2000). There was a reason why Austin and Rock were booked the way they were. Vince was really trying to position HHH as the top guy and look what has happened ever since. The buy-rates and tv ratings have fallen. It's not all his fault, but with putting him as the focal point it has made business drop. You really can't point to 1999 as being HHH being a massive draw when you take things into context. HHH WAS NOT OVER when he first got the title. That is why Austin made that veto for SummerSlam and it was turned into a triple threat. HHH still went over Austin that year at No Mercy or something. The guy didn't get over until the Rumble match with Foley. The funny thing is HHH probably makes all kinds of excuses for guys like Benoit, Golberg, Orton, and Batista being champions without really giving them a REAL CHANCE like he got in his initial main event championship days. Add to that Foley was retiring and at his peak of popularity along with The Rock. The whole angle that got HHH over for good was breaking a tradition at Mania by going over two of the biggest babyfaces on the planet bar Austin that year(wcw didn't have anyone as the nWo fad long past). People say Hogan was in the right place and the right time in the 80's, but I beg to differ. HHH was in the right place in the right time with the added luck of Steve Austin being out of the picture because I've read rumours that the WM 17 storyline for Austin was planned for WM 16 with Rock's growing popularity. They did monster business for those months, but right after KOR '00 things started to slide. The Rock's popularity was not the same for obvious reasons such as not beating HHH for the belt, but Vince Mcmahon. Kurt Angle was rising as the top heel, but we know what happened there and when you take into account what I said above it's obvious why HHH put himself back into the picture as a heel against the returning Austin. It's the same damn deal perhaps why he didn't turn face the night after Mania 17 when fans were begging for it. The 2 man power trip was a smart way of having Austin play second fiddle. Really study HHH and the wwf since he's been on top and you realize he's done much more damage than what Hogan did in wcw imo. It's just that the wwf is so well run and it also split into two that ratings and attendance aren't even worse than they are. Hell, HHH has even scored the biggest coup by having Flair and HBK(two men many always called the greatest ring performers of the last 20 years) kissing his ass. It's really coy when you look at it. HHH has made it seem like he is the "evolution" of the business. Sure he's married to Vince's daughter, but he knows all too well how wrestling relationships end up and he could just be securing his spot in history by running things now. I totally agree this guy is being selfish and disguising the whole thing as doing what he feels is right for business. The numbers showed Benoit was getting good numbers as champion. Orton was also being groomed very well and all wrestling logic and booking was thrown out the windo with how they made him champion and kicked out of Evolution. He made Evolution his group when it should have been the other way around with Orton being the youngest in the clan. HHH even makes his own damn matches on the show. With all that said, I think the guy is valuable and just needs to take a damn chill pill and allow others to main event. The ONLY time this guy is not involved in the main event or the title chase since 1999 has been the time he has been injured with his quad. THAT IS RIDICULOUS when comparing him to Hogan, Austin, and Rock's run at the top. Hogan held the title for 4 years in a time when the last babyface wore the title for 6 years. Hogan however was not ALWAYS the main event storyline or championship level scenario on television weekly. Austin was not also given this monster push this long either EVEN when he was rising in 1996 and 1997. The Rock the same.

I have always debated that TIY was something similar to the big number for the goldrush finals last week. The wwe built the segment up from prior weeks where it was plausible for the audience to believe Mankind would turn on Rock for the way he was treating him in Rock 'N Sock. That is why I think people stay tuned. They didn't deliver and the fans responded by changing the channel. I bet this is exactly what happened this week on raw. People tuned in to see the finals and they are turned off from what happened. Personally, I thought Edge and Lita sucked in that opening promo and it was stupid. How does Lita look like a heel in all of this to fans who don't know about the Matt situation? Add the horrible acting of Glen Jacobs as Kane and you got yourself a stinker. HHH has nothing to do with this crappy number OR the competition on monday. Obviously, they planned on having a big world title match to help them draw and it tanked. Edge sucks anyways.

Nothing new! 1998 WWF Champ Rock WWF IC Champ Shamrock Woman Champ Sable Real quick examples 1992 WWF Champion Bret Hart WWF Tag Champion Natural Disasters IC Champion British Bulldog 1986 WWF Champion Hulk Hogan IC Champion Randy Savage Tag champion British Bulldogs

I guess they failed miserably!! So, will it stay the same or get worse when everyone sees Flair is back with HHH? How about Edge vs. Kane as a snoozer of a feud?

At first HBK vs. Mcmahon seemed out of place in that list, but I can definitely see HBK trying to regain some respect for Montreal by squaring off against Vince Mcmahon. I could see Vince and HBK thinking about doing this.