Slickster

^right on both counts.

Not for the Austin thing, at least. Like it or not, Austin's character is still uber-over, especially with many fans who were in their early-mid-20s when Attitude began and are now casual fans of the product. In my opinion, they comprise many of the current Austin fans (many of whom probably marked the fuck out at having him there more than anything). Austin is still the one WWE superstar whom EVERYBODY knows. If you told some non-fan that you saw Charlie Haas and John Cena wrestle, they probably would'nt know them; mention Austin, and they're interested. Bottom line, though he's retired, Austin is still the best choice if you want to pop a crowd or get instant name recognition/attention from the media.

....cause all the AMERICAN house shows they run every week aren't meaningless at all.

Barring human error, what ALWAYS defines a wrestling match? Answer: The ringing of the bell to start and end it. When the first two teams of Tag Team Turmoil are about to lock up, the bell rings. When one team loses, the bell rings (ending the match) and the ring announcer declares the winner of the match. When team #3 enters the ring, the bell is rung again (to start a new match). The length of the match is irrelevant; be it Bundy-SD Jones (WM1), Mero-Sable (OTE98), Bossman-Rock (SS98)...because the bell was rung to start and end it, the length of the match has no bearing on whether or not it is a 'real' match. Otherwise, you're arbitrarily lumping matches together because they were 'too short.' Oh, and your Rumble argument doesn't hold water because a) the bell only rings at the beginning and end, not after each elimination; and b) most importantly, Howard Finkel has stated in his Rumble introductions that "[it] is now time for the Royal Rumble MATCH ."

Kotz- Sadly, there is no WWF Hall of Fame building...it's just a list of names. Speaking of which, here are the inductees (courtesy of the GREAT site that is wrestling-titles.com): World Wrestling Federation Hall Of Fame -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1993 Inductee] Andre the Giant -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1994 Inductees] June 9, 1994 Omni Inner Harbor International Hotel Baltimore, MD Chief Jay Strongbow Arnold Skaaland Bobo Brazil Classy Freddie Blassie Buddy Rogers Gorilla Monsoon James Dudley -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1995 Inductees] June 24, 1995 Marriott Philadelphia, PA Fabulous Moolah Pedro Morales Ivan Putski Antonino Rocca The Grand Wizard George Steele Ernie Ladd -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1996 Inductees] November 16, 1996 Marriott Marquis New York City, NY Capt. Lou Albano Killer Kowalski Baron Mikel Scicluna Johnny Valiant Jimmy Valiant Johnny Rodz Pat Patterson Vincent J. McMahon Jimmy Snuka

(ticktickticktickticktickticktick) EVOLUTION! Evolution is a soup tureen Full of things that no one eats Clogs insides (like arteries) That buffet was long ago My inside still hurts, I know Pepto-Bismol, please, ASAP! I see the bile in my hands Time to find who runs this scam! And they're making all the crap they can! EVOLUTION! EVOLUTION! EVOLUTION! (solo, song loops)

Not too old school, but does anybody have any details on the time Norman Smiley became backyard wrestling champion on a 2000 episode of Thunder?

And everything after BatB 2000.

Quite the long double-post, by Betty Houle, almost 3 hrs apart!

That was cool. I read ND's sig on page 1 and....BAM! He's banned RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES as I turn to page 2. Good work, guys. I knew there was a reason I'm up right now.

Shelton walks back to the corner, leans on the ringpost and smiles out at the crowd.

Show channelling the mic power of Konnan here....

All a spokesman for the WWF would say about deal negotiations is that ``the USA Network has been our home for 17 years.'' - A 2/2/00 report

Here. Me > Eagan

For the $8000 that Bubba's belt cost, it BETTER not break on impact...

Actually, with the Tag Team Turmoil, that's TEN matches: Kane-GB-HHH Orton-RVD HBK-Batista Booker T- Mark Henry Jerichristian-Trish/Lita Tag Team Turmoil Team #1 -#2 #2-#3 #3-#4 #4-#5 #5-#6

Well he's unique in that he CAN'T turn heel permanently....they'll just cheer him (because he's the Rock) until he turns face again.

*CoreyLazarus shits and cums*

La Resistance should've read the back of Rock's new shirt to prepare a witty comeback, but nooooo.....

Great promo from Kane, arguably his BEST ever. He's got the creepy killer look down, doesn't he?

The storyline is BACK ON, baby!

No, they can use the block logo (see their reproductions of classic WWE belts like the Winged Eagle and the old IC belt).

It pretty much is...they unified their titles with the NWA's in May and haven't held a card since.

Interestngly, those BOTH took place less than 30 minutes from my house. I couldn't go to the Cornwall one but I made it to the one in Potsdam (with one T) , sitting in the 3rd row. I remember Al Snow was up in the cheap seats watching after his match, but I didn't go up there because I thought 'He's just a jobber!' Oh, and HBK was quite drunk that night, wrestling about a 3:30 main event with Goldust before starting to strip in midring, showing us all his ass. There was a RABID ECW contingent in the back of the arena, as they chanted the fed's name all night. This conversation took place: WWF Fan: Why did you come here? ECW Fan: To make fun of you! Ah, memories.