Slickster

Gene Snitsky has a pierced tongue. I never noticed that before.

Wow, so where's Jake Roberts to defend the honor of the Snake Pit?

Hey, it worked for WCW, didn't it? DIDN'T IT?

Back on topic, I think that turning Daivari face next week could work. Say he confronts Hassan about how he has 'become the stereotype' that he had worked so long to fight. Then, Hassan has the Truth Commission take out Daivari, saying that 'they' have gotten into his head. Basically, have Hassan go over the edge, becoming even more paranoid and angry. Have his locker room become a heavily guarded 'bunker,' where he stays until he wrestles. Beef up his entourage even more, with more masked men watching his back at all times. He would refuse to do interviews unless they smuggle a cameraman into the 'bunker.' How will this draw heat? Simple. Hassan trusts no one but his Truth Commission; everyone else is out to screw him - or worse. He sees his only means of vindication, his only way to expose the USA for the fraud that it is would be to beat Batista for the World Heavyweight Title in Washington, DC at SummerSlam. Therefore, every single person everywhere he goes is a threat. He could beat the hell out of referees who count a long 2 count; he can push around Theodore Long using his Truth Commission. Michael Cole talks shit about Hassan? The next week, he's doing commentary with a broken arm. Hassan could have a Goldberg-like entourage escort him to the ring and block the ramp. Have him wear a bulletproof vest when he comes to wrestle. Have plants try to jump the rail and attack him (or at least throw stuff at him) to try to get the real crowd to react more strongly to him. All the while, he is cutting the usual 'psuedo-shoot' promos about how rotten America/Canada/England is. The commentators sell him as a man over the edge, a man beyond the norm. He's doesn't represent the Arab-American community: he's gone nuts! Meanwhile, Daivari gets to be an pro-America face. Give him back his real name of Shawn Daivari and have him feud with Paul London until SummerSlam. 'I might not agree with everything this country does, but I am proud to be an American.' Heck, he could even get the Flying Carpet as a joke finisher (like the Hurri-Chokeslam).

Rick Scaia has been reporting on pro wrestling since ~1994 and runs OnlineOnslaught.com (formerly The News from Dayton). Without his site (and his analysis of the Montreal screwjob back in 97), I wouldn't be a smark - or be as big a wrestling fan as I am today. I don't always agree with what he says, but he's far from being a lapdog for Titan Towers.

I believe Fertig just started acting stupid and breaking kayfabe in OVW.

Oh, and don't forget that SummerSlam is in Washington, D.C. this year, which is the capital of the United States as well as Batista's hometown. I expect Hassan to beat Taker via dubious means (via interference from the insurgents), then he will face Batista at SummerSlam (possibly as US Champion) and lose cleanly. As someone on DVDVR pointed out, giving Hassan his own Truth Commission only provides more people to protect Hassan from Batista, stacking the deck against the World Heavyweight Champion only for him to beat the odds and get the hometown win after squashing them all.

You mean before doing the clean job on his way out of the promotion as fodder for the guy they were pushing to the moon as their champion? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If he was fodder, why elevate him back up to face the champ? He could have faced a top-level guy who wasn't the champ, a la Vader-Razor the month before.

Yeah, GLAAD supported it until they ran the ceremony angle. And I am sort of offended but I am also amused at how far they are willing to take this cheap heat. People are now less likely to watch the WWE's shows because they are continuing to portray negative stereotypes of minorities. While this has been done before countless times using countless wrestlers, never before has it been done in a publicly held corporation. I think that this will be hard to explain to the shareholders.

I'm expecting this Cena-Y2J business to be settled on the 7/25 RAW in Cleveland, not at SSlam. I think seven weeks of buildup is far, far too long to be expected in the modern era. Not even Rock-Austin in 2001 had that long (only 5 weeks). That said, I am looking at either HBK or Edge, depending on if Hogan agrees to wrestle HBK at SSlam. Edge is kind of floating around right now until they decide to spend time to kill off his unfinished business with Kane, so after that I would expect him to cash in his title shot on the 7/25 RAW. Unless, of course, they sign Matt Hardy. If HBK-Hogan and Edge-Hardy happen, the only alternative is HHH or Angle, neither of whom have any direction right now.

HBK was last heel in 2002 as a member of the New World Order.

Odd use of the word cheap, but DAMN was that a good segment.

Yeah, he's got blonde hair and is dressed like a WASP. New name is Kerwin White.

They're in Sacramento right now.

Kerwin White. AWESOME. "Oh, it's stupid. Just like you. STUPID."

Kurt Angle has had many milk-related moments but I don't see the Dairy Council breaking down the door to get promos on RAW.

Steve Austin and the APA are on WWE programming? Also, everyone knows that pro wrestling is for kids, just like it was in the 80s.

Well, our Canadian brethren at CTV are showing entire songs from all the shows and doing minimal backstage stuff. They're focusing on the Barrie, ON show and interviewing people as soon as they come off the stage. Deep Purple and Gordon f'n Lightfoot kicked everyone's asses. They do the Barrie sets, then show earlier segments from the other shows while they change the stage.

http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/trade

Jindrak started on RAW in 03, was traded to SD! in 04, then got traded back in 05. That's a first.

-So SD! gets two-thirds of the bWo....hmm. -Also good to see the Bashams able to strike out on their own. -Mark Jindrak becomes the first man drafted to one show and traded back again.

Oh, you and your logic! Get out, you know there's no place for that here. Also, keep Vis off the list, since he isn't under contract (paid-per-appearance).

This is definitely the HHH era (2002-present), but there really hasn't been a constant #2 guy during that whole time. Brock was big, yes, but his time ended 18 months ago and at his peak he was never seen to be as dominant as HHH has been. Angle, Brock, Taker, HBK...they've all had runs at the top, but have always dropped down for significant amounts of time too. Is that due to the booking? Yes, but the fact remains that HHH has been the only wrestler to have constant dominance over the last 4 years.

Yeah, I started watching around 1992. The rest of the modern media constantly labeling it fake led me to believe there was some truth to it (see the 'Garfield' series and its constant use of pro wrestling being scripted as a running gag). The more I watched, the more I began to pick up on stuff, like how certain guys got bigger pushes than others. The best example would be Yokozuna. I mean, from the first time they brought him in it was clear he was groomed to be a top contender, what with the announcers marveling at everything he did and all. Ditto for when Luger turned face the next year. I didn't really get how wrestling was faked until....wait for it...the infamous 1998 NBC special (stunt grannies and all). Before then I had never really figured out how wrestlers called spots or threw punches.