strummer

I will admit the wrestling was better in 99/2000 but the angles were non-existent. What made ECW appealing to me was the in your face, emotional promos and vignettes. Foley, Dreamer, Shane, Funk, Raven, Benoit, etc. would cut these amazing promos right into the camera and you didn't see that in the WWF or WCW at the time. They were from the heart, they weren't traditional wrestling promos. They made me feel the hatred and frustration were real, and it some cases, they were. People say mid 90s stuff was overbooked, but the overbooking worked in the chaotic setting. It allowed them to be different from the other 2 companies. After Raven left, the angles became down right awful and Heyman was openly sucking up to the smart fans by giving EVERY match 20 minutes. All of a sudden ECW was "all about workrate". Funny because that wasn't what ECW was about when it started. Paul was getting desperate after all his stars left and thought he could still hook the smart fans to at least stay afloat. But in the end, they were drawing their best houses in 2000/2001, so maybe that's the style the fans really wanted. It wasn't what I wanted though. I know it would have been tough for them to still be "revolutionary" at the time (especially when the WWF was probably doing more risky stuff anyway), but they could have put some effort into creating that emotional connection with the fans.

yup, Kruk looked like an idiot there. Gammons owned him.

Tom Glavine is 2-17 (2-18 after tonight) against the Braves, Phillies, and Marlins since becoming a Met

Yankees release Steve Karsay And it's official, Bernie Williams is full time DH, Matsui to CF, Womack to LF, Cano called up to play 2nd

The JBL/Angle title match took place on the December 14, 2004 edition of Smackdown

Look no further than the cage match at Summerslam 97 for evidence, as Vince, Lawler and JR put Chyna over the whole match and barely talk about Hunter and Foley. Looking back,it was obvious that match's sole purpose was to make Chyna a star. Funny thing is, I really didn't realize that until I got the Bloodbath DVD a couple years ago. I think part of the reason Chyna got a big ego was because she was protected too much. She clearly had no interest at all in selling for the women. The way she treated poor Ivory in their feud was a disgrace. She wouldn't allow her ANYTHING and got their WM match changed to a squash at the last minute. Once Hunter broke up with her, I think the company felt they didn't have to deal with her antics anymore and just let her walk.

Melissa

Red Sox sign John Olerud to a MLC

and the Orioles are 7 1/2 games in front of the Yankees. WOW

Mets/Nationals game called due to rain. Of course the Mets had just scored 3 runs and were right back in the game. 4 losses in a row

I'm seriously questioning if Jose Reyes is a full time major league player at this point. The Mets will never send him down, but if this continues, I don't see any other option

Mets poised for another losing streak, as the Nationals are killing Zambrano

HHH/Batista is going to be a screwjob ending, probably Hunter will get himself DQ'd after not being able to put away Batista. With there being a non-finish in the main, I think it's guarenteed Shawn and Hogan are going over Hassan and Davari to give the fans a happy ending in one of the big matches.

awaits all the talk that Tony Womack is a "clutch" player, Yankees win 4-3 in bottom of the 9th

Livan Hernandez is making the Mets his personal bitch yet again, this is getting to absurd levels now

from PWI: A few sources have told us that Brian Gewirtz will be taking a leave of absence from his duties on the WWE creative team within the next month. I believe that he will be gone for three months. I have been told, but have not 100% confirmed, that he will be spending the time away from wrestling working with the Films division of WWE. Gewirtz is the lead writer for Raw, and helps out with a lot of vignettes, among other things, on Smackdown as well. He's the senior member of the creative team. I am under the impression that this being done to give him a break from the wrestling business, but I have not confirmed that yet. Speaking of creative, WWE recently hired a new writer, a man who has background working for the old Fox series Beverly Hills 90210. His name, I believe, is Larry Mollin. He is yet another "Hollywood guy" with no wrestling knowledge or experience. Earlier today we talked about how morale has been up recently in WWE. There have been complaints, however, about the charter flights, and some of the other transportation, on the UK tour that just ended, from some of the wrestlers. From what I was told, they weren't exactly the best accommodations.

I hope Mourning's recent childish and overall prick-like behavior puts an end to the talk that he's a "class act"

From Meltzer: --Wrestlemania was a huge success on PPV this year with 940,000 buys estimated at this point, so it's just below all-time record levels.

from PWI: There was something of a fight at the Birmingham, England hotel where the WWE Raw wrestlers were staying. According to several sources I spoke to, the actual hotel was understaffed since there were WWE performers staying as well as a contingent of what was described to me as "kickboxing fans" who were in town for an event promoted by the International Kickboxing Federation on 4/24 in Birmingham. The hotel lobby was said to have resembled a nightclub, with security completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people inside. Several of the kickboxing fans had "way too much to drink" and ended up having words with WWE referee Jack Doan and "trying to show what tough guys they were to the fake pro wrestlers." After Doan was physically struck by one of the fans, a number of WWE wrestlers descended upon the kickboxing fans and restrained them, warning them to calm down. I was told it was more a situation where the fans were taken down and stretched to restrain them, as opposed to a full fledged assault on the kickboxing fans. When the kickboxing fans didn't calm down and started up again, the wrestlers and hotel security all physically removed them from the hotel. No police were called and there was no further incident.

from PWI: Details are sketchy at this point, but PWInsider.com has confirmed that TNA star Dustin Runnels was arrested this past Sunday 4/24 in Orlando, Florida following a domestic dispute with his girlfriend at the hotel the pair were staying at. Runnels was taken into State Custody by Orange County authorities and was later bonded out of custody. PWInsider.com has not yet verified the exact charges, but has verified he was in custody and later released. Rhodes was not in attendance at the Impact! tapings last night, although according to several sources, his girlfriend was backstage at the show. PWInsider.com will have more details as they become available.

Jesus Al, I forgot about that and I'm a Mets fan!

The wildest thing I ever saw like that was when Lasorda moved Fernando Valenzuela to 1st base during a wild extra inning game in Houston

Luger showing up on Nitro the day after Summerslam 95, when actually it was a week or two later.

It's official, Tom Glavine is done, put a fork in him. It's sad in a way to see such a great pitcher reduced to this