Lt. Al Giardello

Forrest Whitaker returning is great news.

If the W.Silva goes anywhere, it's going to be with the UFC. He's got a huge pay day waiting for him with Chuck Liddell.

I think Yves Edwards is going to upset Joe Stevenson.

Don't even get me started. What did Owen Beck do to even deverse a title shot in the first place? Boxing politic's at it's finest to make this Giant Clown look unstoppable despite the fact that John Ruiz and Larry Donald both outboxed him. Put that clown in the ring with W.Klitschko, Hasim Rahman, or any other heavyweight with good boxing skills, he's going to get blasted.

Everytime Baroni gets his ass kicked it's always great. I'm just waiting for him to come to UFC so he can get that ass whoopin from David Loiseau that's waiting for him. Don't ever bash Canada!

Didn't Payton no-show the Hawks, thereby ripping them off in a trade with Boston similar to what Zo did with the Raptors? Yeah but who cares about the Hawks! Gary Payton's career >>>>>>>>>> The Hawks franchise

I agree with Kingofthe909 in that Zo doesn't deverse shit for what he did to Toronto. But at the same time it would be nice to see Gary Payton get a ring. But I'm cheering for the Mavericks, Avery Johnson is that nigga.

What Steve Francis did to the Grizzles was the worst. I hold that peice of shit responsible for NBA failing in Vancouver.

Alright that's understandable, just like I think Bret Hart is overrated at times. He was a great wrestler, but I found other wrestlers like Austin more entertaining. And I am from Calgary. I always perfered Owen over Bret.

Yeah, the main event of WM14 was horrible, and that Over the Edge 98 match with Dude Love was one of the worst matches of all time. Let's not forget those horrible matches with The Rock at WM15 and Backlash 99, those guys don't know how to work at all. Oh and how can I forget that sloppy and dreadful Summerslam 98 main event with The Undertaker, why was Vince doing booking those 2 clowns in the main event! WM 14 I'll buy. Even with Shawn's messed up back they still managed to have a pretty good match. The Dude Love and and Undertaker matches were solid, but they were hardly great. And no, I don't care for either of those matches against the Rock. As far as the "punch-kick-brawl into the crowd-break the announce table-overdo finishers" style that oversaturated every main event for most of '98 and '99 (and into 2000) the Rock matches were okay, but given the formula, that's not saying much. That terrible brawling formula killed a lot of those matches for me. There was just nothing to it. The Dude Love match was more then just a wrestling match, it was the best booked wrestling match problay the WWE has ever done. The fued leading up to it and the match it self was amazing. It was more then just a wrestling match, it was why the WWF peaked. And the ending was just perfect. That was WWE at it's best. To me, WWF at its best was stuff like the Bret/Owen saga. I'm not going to argue that the Dude Love match was well booked and a good enough match. Best booked match ever is definitely stretching it. I might call it appropriate over-booking. I don't think it's necessarily WHY the WWF peaked, but it served its purpose. I'm not going to bash the match. But even you admit the best part about the match is the storyline and the booking. That's fine, but it doesn't exactly make me say, "Wow that Austin just had a killer match." I just don't have a whole lot of love for much of the in-ring product from that era. The main events were the only matches that ever got any time at all but 95% of them just didn't interest me. Mostly it's the brawling and predictable formula that I mentioned earlier. I'm sorry, Austin/Kane, Austin/Rock (in 99), Austin/Vince, Austin/Undertaker (though I will admit Summerslam is their best match against each other), Austin/HHH (in 99) just didn't do it for me at all. Every match felt exactly the same. It was like they were just stalling for the finish and the first 15 minutes meant nothing. It was just mindless brawling with the predictable and pointless crowd/aisle brawling and announce table spots thrown in. Austin certainly used it the most, but Rock and HHH fell back on this at times too after Austin got hurt. Main events were just very underwhelming to me for a long time in between Bret's departure and the hot HHH/Foley series. In hindsight, I should have said "After WM 14, Austin didn't have a good match until 2001." And from there, I'll give you this: the Dude Love match is good, and the Undertaker Summerslam match is pretty good. But other than that I can't think of another match I liked. My point is this: for the better part of three years (late 97-early 01... and I know he missed some time with injuries in there), I really think he had three matches that can be considered good- Michaels, Dude Love, and Undertaker. 3 good matches in 3 years isn't very impressive. So while I admit my original statement may have been a little inaccurate, I completely stand by its sentiment. Yeah but there is also arguement that the overall wrestling in that time period was horrible, but very entertaining and popular. When Vince Russo was in charge, his idea wasn't "We can build great ratings by great wrestling", he idea was more of making Pro Wrestling a normal "TV Show", granted it was entertaining, I grew up through that time period, and that was IMO as popular if not more then then Hulk Hogan era. Steve Austin was still a capable wrestler then, but he didn't have the chance to wrestle againest Benoit, Angle, Jericho, RVD, and improved wrestlers in Rock and HHH. That's what I'm trying to say. In your post you downside the legacy of Stone Cold, you're problay an older guy who grew up in the Hulkamania era who doesn't realize how popular wrestling was from 1998-2001. If he grew up during the Hulkamania era, he had even more sucky wrestling and even more underwhelming Main Events. Watching Hogan during the Hulkamania is way more boring than watching Austin beat the crap out of The Rock. The dude has a point in that during the Attitude era the wrestling wasn't good even though they were really popular. I guess he started watching wrestling during Bret Hart's time on top with HBK and Austin fighting for the belt, 'cause they did put on great matches (that's because of Hart ofcourse). I started watching sometime in 1990, and quickly caught up with the past via Coliseum Video so I was around for Hogan's days. I never liked Hogan either. Even as a kid I knew his matches were predictable and crappy. Was never a fan. I think Hogan influenced me to not care about main events (or at least not expect much from them) from early on. I just never cared about him. So my focus went to the rest of the card. And the main event was just kind of like an extra bonus attraction- not the main reason why I watched. That's probably why I remember the 92-94 era so fondly. It's the only time I truly cared about the main events. It's also why I hate it when people automatically state the champion is the ONE guy who draws the buyrate/audience. That's true at times, but there are many cases when it doesn't apply. Anyway.... Of course I realize how popular the Austin boom was. I'd been losing touch at points during '96 and '97 and the talk of all the screwjob fallout got me to watch again and Attitude and Crash TV were new and exciting. It sucked me right back in. Then I got the internet. By '98/'99 I was watching every week again. Believe me, I was there for the boom. I don't hate Austin; he was just never that special to me. I love his matches with Bret, Benoit, Angle, the Savio Vega strap match is incredible, some of his WCW stuff, etc. I never related to his character at all. I'm not a hillbilly, I've never been to Texas, I don't hunt, I don't drive large vehicles, I have a full head of hair, and at 15 or 16 I had never chugged beers or dealt with an egomaniacal boss that I hated. I just never cared for his matches after the neck injury (until 01). But it's interesting that Hogan's name comes up, because to me, Austin was booked like a modern-day Hogan. He was the clear cut #1 guy. He was super human, even if he wasn't cartoonish and didn't "hulk up." He still kicked everyone's ass and once he won the Title he was unbeatable unless he was getting completely screwed over. And that bugged me. When guys like Flair, Savage (circa 92), Bret, Shawn, etc. had been on top, they weren't Superman. They were just hard workers that were the best wrestlers and that fact was readily apparent by watching their matches. With Austin, you never got that vibe. You were always very aware that he had the belt "because the fans eat up his shtick" rather than "because he's the best wrestler out there." Which is fine for business purposes- that's what wrestling's all about. It just personally doesn't do anything for me. I'm not trying to argue Austin's legacy. That would be silly. I just didn't care for the matches. You're right that he had much better opponents to work with in '01, but that doesn't really change what I was saying: most of his matches from 98 and 99 were no good. Of course Russo had a major impact on the whole product. But my point remains. Of course there's also this: Generally speaking, I don't like main attractions. I like the midcard over the main event. I like good contact hitters over sluggers; I'd rather see a line drive in the gap over a home run, or a great control pitcher (Maddux) over a guy that throws 98 but has no control. I like pure shooters over flashy dunkers; I'd rather watch Steve Kerr make 20 3's in a row in warm ups than Vince Carter in the slam dunk contest. Almost always, my favorite part of a song will be the verse instead of the chorus... perhaps not coincidentally, my favorite time period in the WWF would probably be from 1992-1994/5... right in between the two boom periods. Bret doing his thing in the main event was glorious. Kind of like Steve Nash being acknowledged as the MVP right now. I guess I'm just weird like that. But anyway, all this is way off-topic. I'm sticking to my opinion that popular or not, the great majority of Austin's matches from 1998-2000 just weren't that good, with the few notable exceptions that we already discussed. You think I could relate to Stone Cold? I am mixed race(Half Black/Half Hispanic), Canadian, who is sucked into the Hip Hop lifestyle. Alot of black people were Stone Cold fans also. You didn't have to relate to him to like him. There was never a character like him, everyone liked him because of his attitude. He just didn't give a fuck, if you were the boss. His fued with Vince has to be Top 10 in Wrestling history, you would tune in every week just to see if Austin was going to get his hands on Vince. And saying Steve Kerr was a bad example because he was never shit but a jumpshot, he had no game. A better comparison would be Ray Allen. And Steve Nash shouldn't have been MVP both years, but that's a way different arguement which I don't want to get into right here.

Yeah, the main event of WM14 was horrible, and that Over the Edge 98 match with Dude Love was one of the worst matches of all time. Let's not forget those horrible matches with The Rock at WM15 and Backlash 99, those guys don't know how to work at all. Oh and how can I forget that sloppy and dreadful Summerslam 98 main event with The Undertaker, why was Vince doing booking those 2 clowns in the main event! WM 14 I'll buy. Even with Shawn's messed up back they still managed to have a pretty good match. The Dude Love and and Undertaker matches were solid, but they were hardly great. And no, I don't care for either of those matches against the Rock. As far as the "punch-kick-brawl into the crowd-break the announce table-overdo finishers" style that oversaturated every main event for most of '98 and '99 (and into 2000) the Rock matches were okay, but given the formula, that's not saying much. That terrible brawling formula killed a lot of those matches for me. There was just nothing to it. The Dude Love match was more then just a wrestling match, it was the best booked wrestling match problay the WWE has ever done. The fued leading up to it and the match it self was amazing. It was more then just a wrestling match, it was why the WWF peaked. And the ending was just perfect. That was WWE at it's best. To me, WWF at its best was stuff like the Bret/Owen saga. I'm not going to argue that the Dude Love match was well booked and a good enough match. Best booked match ever is definitely stretching it. I might call it appropriate over-booking. I don't think it's necessarily WHY the WWF peaked, but it served its purpose. I'm not going to bash the match. But even you admit the best part about the match is the storyline and the booking. That's fine, but it doesn't exactly make me say, "Wow that Austin just had a killer match." I just don't have a whole lot of love for much of the in-ring product from that era. The main events were the only matches that ever got any time at all but 95% of them just didn't interest me. Mostly it's the brawling and predictable formula that I mentioned earlier. I'm sorry, Austin/Kane, Austin/Rock (in 99), Austin/Vince, Austin/Undertaker (though I will admit Summerslam is their best match against each other), Austin/HHH (in 99) just didn't do it for me at all. Every match felt exactly the same. It was like they were just stalling for the finish and the first 15 minutes meant nothing. It was just mindless brawling with the predictable and pointless crowd/aisle brawling and announce table spots thrown in. Austin certainly used it the most, but Rock and HHH fell back on this at times too after Austin got hurt. Main events were just very underwhelming to me for a long time in between Bret's departure and the hot HHH/Foley series. In hindsight, I should have said "After WM 14, Austin didn't have a good match until 2001." And from there, I'll give you this: the Dude Love match is good, and the Undertaker Summerslam match is pretty good. But other than that I can't think of another match I liked. My point is this: for the better part of three years (late 97-early 01... and I know he missed some time with injuries in there), I really think he had three matches that can be considered good- Michaels, Dude Love, and Undertaker. 3 good matches in 3 years isn't very impressive. So while I admit my original statement may have been a little inaccurate, I completely stand by its sentiment. Yeah but there is also arguement that the overall wrestling in that time period was horrible, but very entertaining and popular. When Vince Russo was in charge, his idea wasn't "We can build great ratings by great wrestling", he idea was more of making Pro Wrestling a normal "TV Show", granted it was entertaining, I grew up through that time period, and that was IMO as popular if not more then then Hulk Hogan era. Steve Austin was still a capable wrestler then, but he didn't have the chance to wrestle againest Benoit, Angle, Jericho, RVD, and improved wrestlers in Rock and HHH. That's what I'm trying to say. In your post you downside the legacy of Stone Cold, you're problay an older guy who grew up in the Hulkamania era who doesn't realize how popular wrestling was from 1998-2001.

I want to see Paulie get the snort kicked out of him. Bring on Castillo! I'm seriously going to be watching Tarver Vs. Hopkins though. Hopkins last fight, if he wins it would be the perfect ending to a HOF career.

Yeah, the main event of WM14 was horrible, and that Over the Edge 98 match with Dude Love was one of the worst matches of all time. Let's not forget those horrible matches with The Rock at WM15 and Backlash 99, those guys don't know how to work at all. Oh and how can I forget that sloppy and dreadful Summerslam 98 main event with The Undertaker, why was Vince doing booking those 2 clowns in the main event! WM 14 I'll buy. Even with Shawn's messed up back they still managed to have a pretty good match. The Dude Love and and Undertaker matches were solid, but they were hardly great. And no, I don't care for either of those matches against the Rock. As far as the "punch-kick-brawl into the crowd-break the announce table-overdo finishers" style that oversaturated every main event for most of '98 and '99 (and into 2000) the Rock matches were okay, but given the formula, that's not saying much. That terrible brawling formula killed a lot of those matches for me. There was just nothing to it. The Dude Love match was more then just a wrestling match, it was the best booked wrestling match problay the WWE has ever done. The fued leading up to it and the match it self was amazing. It was more then just a wrestling match, it was why the WWF peaked. And the ending was just perfect. That was WWE at it's best.

The majority would agree. New Jack = Entertaining TV. There are 2 elements of ECW, there was the techincal wrestling part in the mid 90's with Malenko, Jericho, Guerrero, Benoit etc, then there was the extreme hardcore garbage wrestling in the late 90's. And New Jack was very good at the 2nd part. Looks like this ECW is trying to mixed it both up.

Assuerio Silva is far from a push over. He gave the current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia all he can handle.

I don't think St. Pierre should be listed in this thread. This thread is meant more for prospects, and St. Pierre is far from a prospect. I think that Rashad Evans, also has a ton of potential, he has great take down ability, good stand-up, pretty good submission defense, and heart. What he needs to work on is his submissions and finishing ability, then he would be a force to reckon with. Hopefully Greg Jackson will work well with him.

Why? Aside from unintentional comedy value, what can he bring to the table that others can't? Because he will bring back that old feel from ECW also. Keep him in the role he was in the original ECW as a curtain jerker who would get the crowed hyped up for the rest of the event. Just thought of him using his staple gun again makes me smile. If they sign Homicide, maybe they can make the Gangstas 2K6, and have New Jack as a mentor type role.

Speaking of New Jack, I hope they sign him.

Here are the main improvements I want... - DO SOMTHING WITH CARLITO! He's much more useful then him following Maria all day, he has The Rock-Like charisma and is very over. Atleast stick him in an IC fued with Benjamin or an Upper mildcard. If they are not going to do anything with Carlito on RAW, then please send him to Smackdown. - Give Benjamin a manger ASAP. I like the guy, but damn, where did the promos skills go? Back in 2004 before he got injured, he was cutting good promos, and looked to be the potential WM main eventer, but damn man, what the fuck has happend? He needs to get a manger, because right now he's not comfortable on the mic. If Paul Heyman wasn't tied up with ECW, or Teddy Long wasn't busy with GMing Smackdown, they would be the perfect. I think that bringing back Ric Flair as manger/mentor type to Shelton Benjamin would be the perfect idea. Shane McMahon would also be a good promo man for Shelton, remember in 2000, I thought he did an awesome job as Benoit's manger. - Give Booker T the World Heavyweight Title. He's the most over heel right now, and Rey Mysterio shouldn't be champion anymore longer. The WWE has been shafting Booker for years, and everyone thought he was done and should hang them up. But if anyone has ressurect their career so far, Booker has. He is one of the main reasons to tune into Smackdown, and he has made Bobby Lashley more over then he has his whole short career. If Booker T isn't champion by the end of 2006, then the WWE once again fucked up. - Time to get over the Eddie death. I loved Eddie, he was a great wrestler, but damn stop using him for storyline purposes, just let his legacy live on. - Spice up the tag divison. Getting rid of one of the only legit tag teams in MNM doesn't help. Tag Team divison has needed help since after the TLC days.

Yeah, the main event of WM14 was horrible, and that Over the Edge 98 match with Dude Love was one of the worst matches of all time. Let's not forget those horrible matches with The Rock at WM15 and Backlash 99, those guys don't know how to work at all. Oh and how can I forget that sloppy and dreadful Summerslam 98 main event with The Undertaker, why was Vince doing booking those 2 clowns in the main event!

No, he said "I've got one more in me" in reference to choking someone out. What about Dean Malenko vs Kurt Angle???? I hope so. That would be an insane match.

Which up and coming fighters in UFC do you think have the most potential??? Melvin Guillard IMO has loads of potential. He's a stronger striker with good wrestling ability. The only problem is his submission defense. In the fight againest Josh Neer, he was winning until he got caught into a submission that seems to be the big problem for Melvin. If his camp can work out on his submission defense he will be a future UFC Champion IMO. Mike Swick is another that comes in mind. Since moving to 185, his last four wins all ended in the 1st round 2 by KO and 2 by submissions. He's is starting to go on a great winning streak, and he looks to be focused. I think 185 is the perfect weight for him, and I see him possibly becoming the UFC Middleweight Champion.

Jesus Christ, it was an over generalization. If that's the "dumbest thing you've read in awhile" then you've lived a sheltered life. This season, thus far, has been nothing but sloppy fights with fighters that can't end fights. People don't want to watch that. My life is fine, and when I'm outside I don't read. So yes this is the dumbest thing I've read in awhile considering that this was only the 2nd fight that has been to desicion. I think you got TUF 3 mixed up with TUF 2.

Is is byfar the dumbest thing I've read in awhile. You do know TUF 4 was began filming a couple weeks ago?

Tito Ortiz(His trainer ) Josh Koschek Matt Hughes Quinton Jackson