MikeJordan23

http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_New...cle_30939.shtml

Ummm...they are still continuing with the Raw and Nitros they are up to. The RAW and Nitro's from 12/29/97 will be updated on May 5th. They are going to be showing the beginning ones, and the ones they are all ready up to.

1999. WCW was hideous, and WWF was just as bad. I mean, what an awful year. The wrestling was bad across the board, the PPVs were snoozefest, most of the booking was atrocious, and the weekly shows were downright insulting.

And then you have Steiner, who couldn't be bothered to shower and change in the next 45 minutes. and because of that simply put a jacket over top of his wrestling gear while Angle chastised Christian for not wearing a suit. Seriously, did nobody think to tell Scott "Change into your suit so the angle might make sense"? Chastising Scott Steiner isn't gonna work. I think it's more of "Scott Steiner does whatever the F he wants, and we deal with it". Christian can't do what Steiner can do.

Mr. Perfect DVD, by the way, is the highest selling Sports DVD out currently. It's selling so good, I wonder if they will do another. Hopefully.

2004 Rumble was cool, didn't think it was as fun as the 1992 Rumble, though. The Taker/Shawn Rumble I thought was right behind RR 1992.

This is a very good point. What you said about Hennig can apply to a lot of the top heels during this era, like Ted Dibease and Rick Rude. They were great wrestlers but because they were heels, they had very few high profile wins. Rude's only major WWF win was his title victory against Warrior. Not to mention that great wrestling matches wasn't exaclty a WWF priority during that era. Entertainment ruled. Hennig's big singles matches were his Summerslam 91 and KOTR 93 against Bret (both losses) and his Raw match against Ric Flair. So picking his top matches for a DVD is difficult. If you look at his IC and US title victories they came against Tito Santana (still a good worker but one step above a jobber at this point), a past-his-prime Kerry Von Erich, and Steve McMichael. Curt deserved better. Still though, matches the WWF could have put on this DVD... -The complete version of his Raw match with Ric Flair. -I appreciate them wanting to avoid repeats but Hennig vs Hart at KOTR should have been there instead of their terrible WCW match. -Hennig and Savage vs Flair and Ramon at Survivor Series 92. Hennig's big return as a face and the only time he was in a PPV main event (not couting Royal Rumble). -Hennig's very entertaining title defense against Roddy Piper at MSG, a match that came about after Piper refereed that match between Hennig and Von Erich the previous month -Hennig's IC title rematch against Tito Santana was supposed to be very good. -Hennig and Barry Windham winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship from Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko. Obviously, because of Benoit, this wasn't going to be on the DVD. Hennig vs. Santana from SNME, and verse Doink KOTR should have been added. Take off the Bret match from Uncensored. The Flair Havoc match was better than that and it was his only rea singlesl feud in WCW besides DDP.

Very strange match selection. A lot of random stuff. Bret/Hening Souled Out? What? No Survivor Series 1992 match, not the KOTR qualifying match with Doink, not the match with Flair from RAW. Very strange selection. Also thought their new selection for Flair's recent DVD left a lot to be desired.

I thought the WWE did a bad job on a lot of their recent DVD releases. Not that they're not good, but just that they could've been so much better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDVXH5iUUpo That one, right?

Yeah, I agree. Though, even though it gets bad reviews, I always enjoyed Royal Rumble 1999.

I know the Steiner Brothers refused to job numerous times through the years.

Hennig's WCW run was very forgettable. I would've just put some of his WCW highlights on there. (The Wargames with Flair, winning the US title, the Hennigplex to the Giant, some of the Flair feud highlights). His best match in WCW, imo, was the tag match with him and Windham vs. Malenko and Benoit for the Tag Titles, and obviously that's not gonna make the DVD. They missed some really good matches, but WWE hasn't been good with match selection on DVDs, as a whole. I do have to say I'm glad the Shawn Michaels SS 1993 match is on there, because while it's not up to expectations, I think it's very good. I would've added the Doink KOTR qualifier match, the Survivor Series 1992 return, his match with Jerry Lawler, and taken off the Uncensored Bret Hart Match.

It's in the Observer.

I think Freeman is doing a Colvin, where he's about to retire, and just wants that one more case, and he can go away happy.

I'm sorry about that. I meant to put Episode 9 spoilers at the top.

Episode 9 Spoilers

It would probably lose them less money than their current direction has over the past year. It's not about putting on long matches on TV. It's about putting out a product with little in the way of the constant "to the back" moments, where nothing gets time to sink because we need to rush backstage for another inane skit, and instead putting the focus on the matches and the wrestlers, with promo's and serious angles to build programs, rather than stupid skits and goofy comedy that might make a few people laugh but do nothing to make their viewers want to buy the PPV's. Sure, there's room for the occasional comedy skit, but that kind of stuff is best kept to the midcard. Because it's a house show, there isn't a place for the lame skits and bad comedy that infest Impact and do nothing to make you want to buy the PPV. Which is exactly why people rave about them. It gives fans the type product they want to see, rather than the product that creative wants them to see. Yeah, I definitely agree. I'd be all for them changing the format, to having less backstage skits, and more emphasis put on a select few angles, instead of jumbling 20 angles into two hours. And I understand people have egos, but how could anyone possibly book these shows, and think these skits are actually funny? Occasionally Kurt or Borash will have a funny line but that's about it.

I don't know if this would actually make them any more money. The lack of interest in PPVs, stems from the lack of emphasis put on it. (Also the lack of having any good angles) And nor do I think putting on 10-15 minutes matches on TV is a good business model. Sure, the main event of the program should have some time, but I think long matches should be reserved for the PPV and house shows.

My problem with Stone Cold Sharkboy is that he was like the 5th, late 1990s, WWF reference on the show.

I was exaggerating a bit I guess when I said Second Half of '98. The stuff leading up to SummerSlam was really good. But I think everything after SummerSlam was kind of shitty. I mean Judgement Day and Survivor Series that year are two PPVs that are just as bad as anything they did in '99. I thought Survivor Series 1998 was one of the most entertaining PPVs they've ever done. Do you guys have a pulse? Yikes. I mean, I love in-ring action as much as anyone, but some drama and swerves (when done right) makes for terrific television. I guess that's why I like TNA more then say, ECW. Yes, ECW makes more "sense" (Whatever that means when it comes to wrestling) but it's too "safe". It's a very bland and dry product, and completely lacking anything resembling liveliness. As fucked up as TNA's booking is sometimes, at least there's something interesting or entertaining every episode. Whether the matches, or the women's division, Samoa Joe, or Christian, Tomko, AJ Styles/Angle, LAX (even though, not as much as they were with Konnan) there's something there to make me want to watch. Btw, WWF 1999 was pretty awful because the angles were ridiculous, plus the matches were pretty awful too. WWF 2000 probably had the best balance of everything since WCW 1996 or WWF 1997.

Because SMW and OVW under Cornette's watch were just dullness personified and had no 'entertainment factors' about them... I can't speak much for OVW, but Smoky Mountain indeed was pretty boring for the most part. Some characters were interesting enough to make up for it, though (New Jack). And I'm not one of those Russo fans, I think he's awful, and Cornette is clearly a better candidate for the position. I think TNA would be better ran how Bill Watts was running the UWF. Enough storyline/entertainment to it so it does not bore, but also not chaotic.

I'd be fine with D'Amore getting the book, as long as he stays away from the X-Division, as he's not a big fan of it. It's also worth remembering that D'Amore's stint as booker was during the time TNA had no national TV, and were forced to keep things very basic and simple as they didn't want to run any major angles. Whether D'Amore could be as disciplined and focused when booking a full, two-hour show, remains to be seen. Cornette knows how to book logically, make the most with the least, and hide weaknesses and accentuate strengths. By any reasonable booking standards, that makes him great. He knows how to book wrestling, with sound logic, and does a good job of hiding his talent weaknesses. However, whenever he has had the book, the shows/his own promotion was very bland and boring. There is an entertainment factor that I think Cornette doesn't have a complete grasp of, and probably never will. There needs to be a balance. He's too old school in his philosophy.