strummer

from Meltzer: --Hulk Hogan's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame (only Hogan, nobody else's) will air as a special at 11 p.m. on 4/2 on Spike TV, and replayed at 5 p.m. the afternoon of Wrestlemania.

None. yeah, that was a big rumor on the net in 2002/2003, I never really bought into it. Anti-Orton people would always cite it as a reason for Orton not to be pushed

any truth to the rumor that Cornette wanted to cut Randy Orton from OVW, but management refused?

For me, Heenan. I like both, but I thought Heenan was better on the mic and a lot funnier. I did not see a lot of NWA in the 80s, so I missed Cornette's prime. Cornette's WWF run was far from stellar, although one could argue it was because of the talent he was given to work with. His WWF peak was during Yokozuna's monster heel push in 93, drew good heat and helped Luger get over. . He helped Vader initially get over as a monster, before being humiliated by Jose Lothario. Camp Cornette was OK, but I don't think the fans bought them as a huge threat Heenan was great. Helped draw big heat for Hogan/Orndorff, Hogan/Andre, Andre/Studd. Helped Rick Rude and Hennig get over as heels. Just tremendous in getting over Flair in 92. And the best color man in wrestling history, just hilarious. He made watching wrestling fun.

Not necessarily hilarious, but more sad, when Nidia was interviewed shortly after she was cut, she said that her and many of the Tough Enough 1 Contestants did not realize wrestling was a work until they started filming the show. She was "freaked out" by this. I don't know if she was kidding or not, but if she was serious, that is funny for all the wrong reasons.

Giants bow out of the Plaxeco Burress chase. Eli still has nobody to throw to.

Steph during the Alliance would have sold a lot of Playboys.

As opposed to all those great years with the Royals The pitching doesn't scare me that much this year, but in the next couple years, it could get bad, especially if Petit and Humber aren't ready. It looks as if Trachsel's 2003 season was indeed a fluke, as his peripherals were awful last year. Zambrano has GREAT STUFF, but he can't throw strikes, so it makes it a mute point. Although he does have a tremendous record against NL teams. Benson can look dominant in some starts and then cannot get any outs in his next. I don't know how many starters can "Harness their stuff" and turn it around, but maybe Benson and Zambrano can

On the Bloodbath DVD, during the Jannety v Shawn Cage match, Raven points out the huge gut Shawn was sporting during that time period. Shawn sleepwalked through that match and wasn't even trying AT ALL . I'm pretty sure it was a combination of drugs and contract negotiations that saw him dog it in the ring in the summer/fall of 93. 1993 was a real bad year for Shawn, but he rebounded big time in 94. As far as him being a better worker in the Rockers days, he probably was. He sold a lot better and was able to time his babyface combacks perfectly in the context of a tag match. No one could take a beating like Shawn or Marty. But let's not forget that when Shawn went singles and was being groomed as a top guy from 94-96, he had to adapt to what Vince McMahon wants in his top babyface stars, which is random no selling, overt charisma,constantly pandering to the crowd, and having a "superman" like aura. Bret somehow maintained his style once he made it to the top, being really the only WWE main eventer not to play superman.

these are from gamefaqs http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessag...&topic=19698792 Could still mean they are real though, as the gamefaqs reports have been legit before

Id bet on the Shannon Moore/Nunzio v Joey Matthews/Johnny Nitro tag match as the dark match and Booker v Heidenreich as the Velocity main event.

Kendrell Bell signs with the Chiefs, about time the Chiefs spent money on a defensive player

I'm pretty sure that was a *wink wink* *nudge nudge* reference, as the Undertaker gimmick was modeled after the old Undertakers in Clint Eastwood Westerns. That's where Patt Patterson originally got the idea for the character. This and the Pulp Fiction one have been the worst so far, although I didn't think it was that bad

an obscure one from 95, Duke Droese finds a $100 bill in his trash can. The announcers put it over as luck, but I thought it was going to lead to Duke joining the Million Dollar Corporation. It was never mentioned again on television.

One of my problems with Roseanne was how Dan would be cracking jokes one minute and then be steaming mad the next. There was never any in between. Also, towards the end they just made Jackie a complete neurotic mess. At the beginning of the show, she actually was a stable working woman looking for commitment and as the show went on, they just turned her into a complete psychological mess.

Not really a clear example of getting real serious, but the Drew Carey Show took a drastic change in direction towards the end. The show shifted from a light hearted portrait of a working common man to a fat guy trying to get laid all the time. The shift was mirroring Drew's real life changes at the time, and it just KILLED the show. They didn't get as serious as Roseanne did, but the show lost its "let's just have some fun" vibe

from Meltzer's update today: --Despite what plans were yesterday, I was told not to expect Matt Hardy to attend Raw today

89 was a terrible year for the WWF, workrate wise. I even stopped watching for a while, from about April to November/December ( I was 10 years old). I got hooked again by Royal Rumble 90. I always thought the Rockers had the best squash matches out of everyone in WWF, they just woked their asses off while other guys would just sleepwalk through their usual spots. They must have done about 65 jobs to warlord and Barbarian that year. No one got the best out of the POP like Shawn and Marty.

Giants sign Falcons kicker Jay Feeley

it was always funny to hear how Gorilla Monsoon would react to Warrior and how Vince McMahon would. Gorilla would say something like "Here's a newcomer to the World Wrestling Federation, a man with immense strength, a man with a lot of energy, The Ultimate Warrior" Then Vince would just go insane "The UUUUUUULLLLLTIMATE WAAAAAARRRRRRRIOR" Warrior wasn't treated as a star until he squashed Honky.

Thankfully, Son of the Mask has been a TOTAL BOMB

Paul Diamond (Kato, Max Moon) was fired for having an affair with Tatanka's wife And Lita was off the road from March 2002 till September 2003

I agree with Norm 100% here. Spade/Farley/Sandler might not have been the most talented actors in the world, but they were funny They could make something out of horribly written sketches. People like Ana Gastayer, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shannon, Kattan etc. might have been better actors, but when on their own, not aided by great writing to follow, they just weren't funny. I hated the cheerleaders sketch as well. I know the 95-97 cast gets a lot of love, but IMO it was because the writing had vastly improved since the bad boy years and because they were better actors, with more improv cast members than stand ups.

From PWI: World Wrestling Entertainment's home video division is currently working on a documentary style look at The 1997 Survivor Series incident from Montreal. The look will be a 2-disc set titled "Screwed: The Bret Hart Story." Also currently in development are 2-DVD sets dedicated to The Ultimate Warrior, The Road Warriors, WWE Legends, and ECW's "Greatest Matches." While the Bret DVD set does not currently have a release date, the other DVDs are all slated to be released before the end of 2006.

Norm is fiercely loyal to the Sandler/Farley/Schneider/Spade SNL era, despite the fact he became a big star after they all left. Didn't he badmouth the Ferrell led group that took over in 95?