strummer

Most Suprising Draws Honky Tonk Man (1987-88) Incredibly weak in the ring, but drew big money headlining the B House Shows in 87-88. Without a doubt, the most suprising draw in WWE history in my opinion, although he only did it for a about a year and a half. Jim Duggan (1988-89) solely based on his program with Andre that did good business in 88 on top of the card. They actually sold out MSG while on top. Again, very short term, but suprising that someone with as little talent as Duggan (at least the WWE Duggan) could draw any big house. Yokozuna (1993) Drew pretty good money with his run on top in 93, even did good business with Tatanka of all people. Yoko was not that good in the ring, never spoke, but yet was able to be a pretty decent draw Most Disappointing Draws Rick Steamboat (1989) They guy I had in mind when thinking of this topic. Tremendous in-ring worker, great psychology, timing, transition etc. Had the every man's type charisma combined with the talent to play a perfect babyface. Was very over in 89 NWA, but was not super, super over like a legendary guy on top should be. In fact, I noticed on Flair's DVD that in the Clash leading up to their match, that Flair was getting bigger pops than Steamboat. All the talent in the world, but BOMBED on top. As Meltzer said once at WC message board, Flair drew against Luger before the Steamboat program, and drew against Funk after the Steamboat program, but couldn't draw against Ricky, which probably killed his run on top for the rest of his career. Bret Hart (1992) Tough choice, but thought I would include his first run. 1992 was the worst year in WWE financial history. It was the transition period from 7 minute Hulk Hogan matches, to long, drawn out, psychology driven matches from Bret. Certainly not all his fault that business bombed in 92. He was in a tough position having to follow Hogan and get the fans hooked on "wrestling" again. The wrestlers got smaller due to the Steroid Trial and Bret was put in a real unenviable position of trying to get the fans to take to a "normal looking" champion. Could also include his run from Nov. 95 to March 96 as the buyrate for WM 12 tanked. Tough choice and I know a lot will disagree. Shawn Michaels (1996) His wrestling ability is debated on this board almost constantly. Many here say he is overrated. But I think we could agree that he does have talent (how much is certainly debatable) and certainly had the charisma. His "boyhood dream" reign in 96 tanked ratings and did not have great buyrates. House Show business picked up during his reign, but that is just one piece of the puzzle. His program with Vader essentially killed Vader's heat as Vader was made to look like a complete idiot at Summerslam 96. Fact is while Shawn was champ, people watched the NWO on Nitro. Any others to add to the lists?

When did they stop airing first run matches on Superstars?

I always got the sense that Ahmed wanted no part of playing a heel. I wonder if that is why he was turned back face so quickly? I had heard Ron Simmons made a powerplay to have the NOD turn on Ahmed, because he thought AJ was stealing his heat. Any of this true?

Gonzo dropped an easy flyball with the bases loaded and all 3 runs scored. Johnson said something to him before going to the clubhouse and Gonzo followed him yelling back. The rest of the team went to break it up.

Actually AS,according to Baseball References the player most resembling Ty Wigginton so far in his career: Ed Sprague Ty is a solid ballplayer. He is not a patient hitter and has a low OBP. But he has some pop and has a lot of extra base hits. The comparison to Pete Rose by Mets fans was probably based on hustle, and not pure talent. I don't think any Met fan is delusional to say he is an All Star caliber player. I certainly don't think he is. He has gotten some clutch hits for the Mets this year, including the homer off of Flash Gordon last week and the game winner tonight. He is a useful player, who will probably be traded anyway because David Wright is coming up.

Loved Tom Hanks as Uncle Ned! That slap missed by like three feet, but MJF sold it well. By the way, Tom Hanks also had a cameo on Taxi as a stoner. What about Dave Letterman on Mork and Mindy? He was AWESOME. I loved Chris Farley's real brief cameo on Roseanne in about 1991 or 1992. George Clooney on Golden Girls. Brad Pitt on Head of the Class and Growing Pains. Oh, and Courtney Cox in her underwear on Dream On. Out of all the naked women they had on that show, and they skip over a Courtney Cox sex scene? They showed her in her underwear doing a "fuck me" pose and then cut to the morning when she was leaving the room. That seriously pissed me off as a kid

Anglesault, what about these names: Mike Gallego, Bob Geren, Dan Pasqua, Bobby Meecham, Wayne Tolleson, Steve Farr, Paul Assenmacher, ~Andy Hawkins~!, Kevin Maas!, Rich Monteleone, Melido Perez!, Dave Island, Scott Kaminiecki, Hensley "Bam Bam" Muelens, Spike Owen, Ken Phelps, Jeff Johnson, Don Slaught, and the immortal Rick Rhoden! Did you see the Andy Hawkins no hitter that he lost 4-0, AS? What was that, 89 or 90, against the White Sox?

really, I thought all Mets fans were eternally pessimistic like myself. The Mets fans I'm around tend to be more realitic, but maybe that is an upstate New York thing. The Met callers on the FAN tend to blow every win out of proportion, so I can see why you are coming from Anglesault. In my opinion, no Met fan should ever have the right to be cocky. Even when we swept the Yanks, I knew it wasn't THAT big of a deal.

Anyone see this? A possible 4 player trade between the Phils and Cards. Millwood and Polanco for Morris and Kline. http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/102...004-328316.html

Mets lose a tough one tonight. I knew it was over once Franco got in the game. Bobby Abreu is a great, great player and he basically beat the Mets by himself tonight. Tough loss, but I just couldn't believe they would take 3 of 4 from Philly anyway. Will this finally propel the Phils to take off in the East? They are BY FAR the most talented team in the division, but they always seem to go one step forward, 2 steps back. Mets might be in for another slide, 3 with Florida coming up, while the Phils welcome the Braves.

I was trying to limit the choices to movies where all 3 were involved, so Ghost is out the window, along with Scary Movie 3. I'm not sure about High School High or the Hot Shot series, but I believe not all 3 were involved in those. The last movie they did together was the first Naked Gun in 1988. (David Zucker directed and Jerry Zucker and Abrahams co-wrote it with him)

Don't worry Spiff, the Phils get to hit against Matt Ginter tomorrow. This guy has gotten SMOKED his last 4 or 5 starts and he is helping Scott Erickson get an actual job on a Major League roster. I haven't seen the Mets hit like this in a long, long time (maybe ever). Obviously it won't last, as some of their hitters (Wigginton + Hidalgo especially) are playing over their heads. The pitching continues to be solid, but with Ginter going tomorrow, it's like giving the game to the Phils. Hopefully if he has a bad outing tomorrow, he is removed from the rotation. I'd give Erickson a shot over Ginter, he's just that bad.

-This week's Raw drew a 3.6 rating, down from the 3.7 last week and 4.2 the week before (with Rock). The show opened with a 3.2 first quarter hour rating and grew throughout except for a dip in Q8 (filled with commercials), then rebounded to a 4.0 overrun rating. The overrun rating last week was 4.3 and the week before 5.1. The drop in rating isn't a good sign headed into Sunday's Vengeance PPV. Pat McNeill's latest "McNeill's Take" just posted here at PWTorch.com looks at "WWE's Other Problem," namely some weaknesses revealing themselves about Raw, regarded as the stronger of WWE's two brands. -In other weekend ratings, Velocity drew a 0.3 (about the same as what TNA Impact has been drawing, although seen in fewer homes due to fewer Fox Sports clearances than Spike TV), WWE Experience drew a 0.4, and Heat drew a 0.7. I do not understand why WWE doesn't put more effort during Raw and Smackdown into promoting Heat and Velocity. Credit: TORCH

They are really going out of their way to protect Cena. He didn't even have to job the title in the ring. Plus, he has beaten all his top challengers cleanly now, and by that it is burying possible heel world title contenders down the line (mostly Booker) If the title is really held up, I'd like to see Haas get a run, but they will probably go with a heel after such a long run by the face Cena. My bet would be either Dupree or Kenzo gets the US title, because the "creative" team would probably love a foreigner carrying around the US title.

And Al Leiter now has the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.05. If he had gotten run support at the beggining of the season, he would be up there with Schmidt and Clemens in the NL Cy Young race

RVD v Mark Jindrak WWE Tag Team Title Match: The Dudleys v Paul London and Billy Kidman JBL v El Gran Luchador Chavo, Jamie Noble, and Akio v Spike Dudley, Rey Mysterio, and Scotty 2 Hotty WWE US Title Match: John Cena v Booker T

Jamie Bergman is a former Playboy model who was on Howard Stern's "Son of the Beach" and was also in "Knee High PI" on Comedy Central

Something tells me the Phils are going to pull away in the NL East. On their current homestand, they are averaging around 9 runs a game. Watching as a Mets fan, nearly every Phil seems to have a .400 OBP or better. They have the makings of a tremendous offensive club. In fact, looking at the talent they have, it is amazing to me they are only 7 games over .500. For the Mets, they are on their best offensive stretch since the 99 club, which was probably the best offensive club in Met history. Hidalgo has been a steal so far and Floyd is starting to drive in runs at a rapid pace. However, Jason Phillips is really hurting this team. Last year might have been a fluke. In 2003, he had well over a .400 OBP for the better part of the season, before he started to slump in September and it dropped quite a bit . He provides no power or run production and he should not play at all if he isn't going to be the high OBP guy that he was last season. There have been grumblings in the New York Media of Wigginton moving to first when David Wright is called up, and Piazza then returning behind the plate. That would mean doom for Jason Phillips, which might be a good thing, but could also slow down Piazza down the stretch. These next 12 games against the Phillies and Marlins could knock the Mets right out of contention and they could be sellers, not buyers, by the 31st. Al Leiter anyone? Red Sox? Yanks?

Thought of a few more. Rita Rudner, Jake Johanssen (sp?), Margaret Cho, Julia Sweeney, Greg Giraldo, Robert Schimmel George Lopez is a one trick pony, similar to Dat Phan, all he talks about is that he is Mexican. Wow, how original. His show is terrible. The actress that plays his mother on the show is one the most annoying people on TV today. Brett Butler, Drew Carey (I kind of liked his early stuff when he first hit the scene, like the Bernie Kosar routine he used to do was hilarious, but now his whole act is that he is a "chubby famous guy who gets laid because he's on TV"), A. Whitney Brown, Bob Nelson (the guy that just did really goofy impressions and never really spoke) Another one, and I know a lot will disagree, is Dave Attell. I really don't see what is so great about him And I just saw the show tonight, and have watched pretty much every episode this season, but can anyone tell me what is so great about Reno 911? I mean a parody of Cops? Seems a little dated to me, but whatever.

In the fall of 99, they were building to a Val Venis v Edge program over Edge marrying Val's sister. Edge did some cryptic promo about how Val wouldn't be his best man or something of that nature. Why was this feud dropped all of a sudden? Edge went right back into tag wrestling afterwards and I think Val fought over the Euro title. Why was the program killed?

Three straight heartbreaking losses for the Sox. I can't remember the last time a team blew extra inning leads in 2 consecutive games and went on to lose.

Richard Hidalgo since joining the Mets: .327 BA 1.025 OPS 5 HR 10 RBI They got this guy for David Weathers? So far, although only a small sample of games, it has been a steal for the Mets. I don't think Mike Mussina is sad he won't see him again this year., 3 homers in 7 ABs vs The Moose

I think his match v Mero at Beware of Dog 96 is really underrated. I remember it being pretty damn good.

Kentucy Fried Movie Airplane! Top Secret! Ruthless People Naked Gun I would say Airplane! just slightly edges out KFM. KFM is absolutely hilarious, but some of the references are dated. Airplane! holds up perfectly and has just some unbelievably funny sight gags. Top Secret! is underrated, but not in the the same league as the other two. Naked Gun is incredibly funny, but some parts in the middle are a little slow. Never really cared for Ruthless People, but then again Zuckers/Abrahams didn't write it, only directed. Anyone?

Loved the DVD. The best part of Heenan's speech is when he talks about Vince asking him to go on the road with Flair in 91. Bobby's response was "great, now I have to go on the road with Larry Flynt over here" Flair just loses it at this point. The vein in his head was ready to burst because he was laughing so hard. Bobby also got some great one liners about Pat Patterson and Verne Gagne. I also liked Tito's speech. He seemed genuinely honored to be inducted. I was suprised to hear Harley Race compliment the King gimmick he was given, I had thought he would have hated it. As for the extras, well, those matches did not hold up well for me from when I saw them as a kid. Man, JYD was terrible in the ring, his punches were worse than Lita's and Shane McMahon's. But he oozed charisma and was way over. The Santana/Valentine match holds up well for today. Muracco/Morales was not that great, but had great heat. I'd definitely recommend it.