Promoter

I agree Royal Rumble is the #2 show and SummerSlam has lost the spot. However, the wwe sees it as #2 because they book Mania to SummerSlam and SummerSlam to Mania most of the time for the long storylines and bigger feuds.

MAY? I'm surprised too I'm just hearing of it. Mike Bell's bro being the director explains Hogan in the centre of the picture.

I knew something was up when Jeff won the title. If they wanted him as champion for real he would have won the Rumble and win the title at Mania. Jeff giving up the title to face Christian isn't bad, but I'm not sold on HHH/Edge at this moment. The two will turn it up though I'm sure. HBK/UT is the best draw imo. Mania streak vs. Mr. Mania. So, the silver anniversary is shaping up to be this? Cena vs. Orton world heavyweight title HHH vs. Edge wwe title Christian vs. Jeff Hardy I guess they are hoping Christian gets over huge.

As mentioned by someone before this was my first live ppv experience that I actually had ordered(seen the other events at bars/arcade for free which was special in retrospect), so it has a place in my heart. I remember the promo on Viewer's Choice that followed a singer from the movie The Five Heartbeats. I agree some of the angles were red hot and a vast improvement from that garbage earlier in 1991. Anyways.............. I haven't actually seen Survivor Series/TIT in a really long time(still have the original tapes I recorded the shows with) really felt flat to me(even as a kid) for various reasons already mentioned. The Flair tag title was funny because it was obvious on tv it wasn't the big gold belt. The ending for that was flat. Hogan for some reason I thought would lose. I don't know maybe that nonsense about UT being undefeated foreshadowed it. It came off Hogan v. Warrior redone. The match sucked and I think they did a horrible Tombstone piledriver. Flair interfering out of nowhere didn't make sense either. He came into the wwf to challenge Hogan and his claim as world champion. I didn't buy him doing it out of hate towards Hogan because he originally came in with noise about being the real world champion and the wwf champion was living in a bubble. It would fit his character imo to beat Hogan wearing the belt. The show went on to suck even more after. Rockers breaking up. Then Sid not showing up and Boss Man of all people ending a show. Maybe as someone said too many heels going over here and not much babyface heat to pop for may have made it seem flat. YET........I still got TIT. This show came off better, but sloppy in some parts as stated. Yes, even then it looked off to me such as the bumbling in the Hogan/Taker match(where Hogan looks a A LOT more energetic for some reason ). Bulldog/Warlord put on a better match than their Mania one. It was nice to see Bret defend the title although it was nowhere the heat he had at SummerSlam. Bret was coming in his own then for real. The show set up Royal Rumble nicely and was surprising to me since I was SURE Hogan/Flair champ vs. champ was going to be the main event of Mania. Savage/Jake was stellar and I had always wanted to see them feud since their match on SNME in 1986 from LA Sports Arena. With all that said, I remember it fondly since the shows came off a bit unpredictable(although flat at points) in a time when people were saying the wwf was getting too predictable(the "you know what's going to happen" line they tried to counter in commentary).

Cena/Orton could work at Mania, but not really looking forward to that. Cena/Austin? Doubt that. People talk about Hogan's ego, but I really don't see Rock or Austin giving anybody any rub at this point in the game to boost one of the newer guys profile in the public. In Austin's defense, he was damn right to refuse jobbing to friggin Coach

I have no real problem with the spinner belt besides the obvious problems associated with it being on smackdown. I don't like the monday night crap on it either. I liked it better than that crap JBL and Eddie were walking around with. That belt just looked plain as old dry paint. They won't bling out the big gold belt or at least I hope they don't. I use to actually like the belt Hogan had during WM 3. It looked like a heavyweight title. The eagle belt which HE brought in was inferior to it.(I always wondered why people called it the HBK belt when Hogan wore the belt 3 times before HBK was even close to being a champion). I liked Austin's skull belt actually. I see why they changed the belt to look bigger the night after WM 14 though. WCW was making some outlandish claims about how the big gold belt traced back to the early 1900's with George Hackenshmidt(sp?) and went through the likes of wrestlers like Lou Thesz. The wwf could only back to the 1960's and they pretty much ignore Bruno Sammartino, so they had to do something to make the belt change for a new era. That DIVA belt has to go. It just sounds wrong. Like it's some bowling trophy for a diva contest.

Agree. What happened to the HBK from the Jericho feud? If HBK just returned from a long hiatus I would buy into this character change.

I miss the wcw version of Gene Okerlund SCHEME GENE!!

For the silver anniversary of WrestleMania him and the wwe should work together for the HOF show. He's the biggest star of the earliest Manias along with Ultimate Warrior to not be inducted. As for the title of the thread I meant for 2009 next year obviously.

okay, is it true that Savage did an interview for SD magazine a couple of years ago? If so, I thought him and Vince were so against working together? Speaking about the HOF I wonder if they would induct Miss Elizabeth or is she inducted already. Can't keep track of that honorable institution sometimes. She is after what wwf called the first lady of the company. You know how her death happened and all.

The internet didn't exist during the 80's? Are you sure? There is a big difference between the 80's and today. Back then it was a different feeling. Yeah and back then they didn't give us overkill with useless ppv and tv shows either I actually think Cena winning was more 90's attitude era. Book opposite what everyone thinks. Come on, how many people thought the wwe was going to draw out Cena's title win for down the line at Mania or something. You know the hometown hero losing in his home place started at Survivor Series 1997. A decade later reverse the finish.

:lol: :lol: Oh Yeah! I think you get the reason for the actual thread. Anyways, when I first saw the pic I thought of Wolfman Jack for some reason.

Wrestling wit Shadows Part 2: The Shadow of The Grim Reaper's Streak over The King of Kings

Really. They are real serious with this policy. I lost my 24/7 channel and when I had it they had reached to around the end of 1996 and early 97. Mentioned above I don't think some of the shows hold up well either and not because we got older. I think it's that some of the substance just lacks. I can watch some old snme shows from the 80's that have more sizzle than these shows(such as the show that had Jake The Snake against Savage and Hogan/Hercules) from LA Sports Arena. At the time I remembered the shows on raw lacking talent depth and nitro having better matches overall, but crappy storylines and characters.

Yeah I was going to comment on Big Event. That was the real pre-cursor to WrestleMania III to test if fans would come out in large numbers to see Hogan as champion. Outdoor events should only happen at Mania or SummerSlam for reasons already stated. They do give the event more of a special feel to it.

I don't think the Benoit/Eddie ending of Mania XX can be erased. This is not something like Lesnar and Orton in that both guys made headline news with their deaths and that moment was all over mainstream television news. People won't forget that. Of course, Steph and Shane seem to be on "starting from a clean plate", so who knows what the hell they will come up with. I don't even think the Orton thing erased Lesnar either because Lesnar beat Rock for the title in all intent and purposes Rock's real last match. That after beating Hulk Hogan at Mania. Orton could have been big, but we know how that reign turned out and not to mention the Benoit connection again to him with the title and Mania XX. UT/Kane celebrations is a bit much. A funeral celebration

Like I alluded to, I think they're more going to re-try the original intent of that 2002 storyline, which is that Stephanie is cheating on HHH with the champion Jericho. I heard the wwe might be going for a long story arc regarding Steph and Shane vanquishing all the old wwe elements and starting a post Mania era whatever the hell that means. That is where all the "entertainers" vs. "wrestlers" rumor may be going.

Not that I want to hear World Wrestling Entertainment Champion and hopefully they keep to that rule too. I remember that match unfortunately , but not the promo.

I tried to see if I could dispute this and you are right. I haven't heard them say World Wrestling Entertainment Champion EVER! Goes to show even they know it sounds stupid. Just like when wcw announcers use to say THE WCW.

That's another thing. Do you people think it's time for WWE to change their logo? I mean, save for the fact that they dropped the F part of it, they've had the same style of logo for the past 10 years, going into 11. Well, it goes hand in hand with them keeping the same formula for RAW(when they changed to RAW IS WAR with the two hours and copying Nitro with big name interview openers unlike the Godwinn opening match fiascoes) that was changed 10-11 years ago too, so they are at least being consistent.

I wonder if "Entertainers" may come back to haunt him down the line to because he's being cheap. Watch a wrestler use it for the actors guild or something and end up costing Vince more money than paying sports taxes

I have to agree. All these changes are making me less "entertained" by the "product". With that said maybe I'm turning into Bruno Sammartino at an early age. I remember when I was a little kid and people saying Hogan and the wwf was ruining the wwwf by guys like Bruno and Superstar Billy Graham. Interesting as maybe it does go in cycles. However, it can't be denied that the wwe has NOT been the same since around Vince getting wcw. RAW and Smackdown for the most part is the same damn formula it was 10 years ago. Go back 10 years and 10 years before that and you could see a DRASTIC change in the product that MADE you want to watch. They are coasting now. At least back then you could kind of see a future with bright stars being groomed in ecw, wcw, and the wwf. I know Cena is not liked on the net too much, but he is a prime example. Watching the promo packages tonight they stripped most of the things that made people like Cena to begin with. The humour, edgy punch-line raps(for wrestling anyways), and that hot up and coming star. Even his "controversial" tweener crowd response is gone of one of half of the audience loving him and the other half hating him. I also thought Vince got around this athletic tax issue back in 1989 and then in 1997 in New Jersey? You know, I can understand why the government would want to keep an eye on this shit. Look at all the damn wrestlers dying and then seeing stuff like Mick Foley on ABC News back in 1999-2000. Then you see stuff like Chris Benoit popping up. People must be telling the government to keep Vince in check. Besides, why shouldn't Vince pay taxes like other businesses? He could lie/scheme around it anyways like all business men do ENTERTAINIA That would be the deathknell!!! For those who say it wouldn't how would they promote WrestleMania's rich past without mentioning WrestleMania. Plus it sounds more majestic. Like Vince use to say "the marquee says WRESTLE" I remember Bret being told by Vince he was moving away from wrestling toward more entertainment. I just hope he doesn't go too far with it. He's stripped too much of the life-like nature of wrestling as it is and are losing the most passionate fans. I mean one tell tale sign is the internet and how the wwe has treated the fans that helped them come back a decade ago. I remember websites and forums all over the net with fans with opinions, suggestion for storyline ideas, feedback, and gossip. The wwf use to feed off that, while wcw ignored them. The wwf killed that part of their product when they got the monopoly. Fans who loved the behind the scenes stuff use to have an outlet with other fans.

Exactly what I was thinking

:lol: You know it is true. Hogan would just get the belt back anyways. However, Sting should have gone over, but the thing is I think wcw was trying to have their HBK/Hart Montreal finish with Hogan/Sting and thought it would be a good idea. Sting not going over pretty much killed wcw as a brand name imo. Let's be real people were watching because of the nwo. That's why Bischoff really did want to try to make a nwo show and wcw show, but that nwo show bombed on tv(in retrospect it was stupid of them to think people would watch wrestlers taking down a set and putting up a set without changing the channel). The angle doesn't pass the test of time I agree. However, I understood why they prolonged it after seeing that response at Uncensored 97. As for Sting being the most over yeah it's arguable, however it was kind of a bogus over. While he was just making spare appearances on nitro Austin and the rest was slowly gaining popularity on the wwf end through tv AND house shows. I think that eventually got more people emotionally invested in the newer characters in the wwf. Goldberg though was the nail in the coffin. They messed that up bad. Goldberg and Sting should have been protected and pushed as the equivalent or greater than Rock and Austin. Rock and Austin just blew them away in overness eventually.

I typically try to downplay historical "what ifs" in wrestling, but I truly believe that Pillman would have been Austin's primary foe during the Attitude era. I don't think it's a stretch to say he would have had a 2 or 3 year run at or near the top of the company. I think you have to go even further than "if he hadn't died," to "if he hadn't had the motorcycle accident." He was a walking cripple for pretty much his entire WWF run, and there's almost no way he could've stood up to the rigors of being the guy on top. Plus I doubt Vince would've looked at him (appearance-wise) and seen a main eventer. He was pretty small, even smaller than Eddy, I think. Damn, I was going to agree with Pillman until I saw the point about him being pretty much cripple. However, since this is "what if" I think Pillman was the epitome of attitude. I think Vince saw him as a big star actually if we remember his original angle coming into the wwf. They played him off like they did with Bret Hart eventually as both face and heel. Remember the press conference that one week they played parts where he came off like a face thanking the wwf and fans for the opportunity of being in the wwf and then the following week he was a jerk heel cussing out the "reporters"? The worked shoot came really big after his death, but he initiated it with "I respect you bookerman" in wcw. He would have played the character to the fullest. I think the wwf is trying to this with MVP now somewhat how his character has developed as the asshole big money athlete acquisition. I agree about Vader losing his steam with Hogan before even coming to the wwf, but the potential was there. I remember them pitting him against Shamrock for his first feud and even that little incident he had with the reporter saying what he did was fake and threatening him. Vader still had his badass aura to him. He just got out of shape and wasn't the same imo. Goldberg and Warrior man are the biggest. Warrior was suppose to be the Hogan of the 90's after getting the strap at Mania 6. By 1996 he was a shell of himself due to his disappearances and so on. Goldberg was the poor man's Warrior in that respect as the same thing happened to him.