Hunter's Torn Quad

I was listening to the Observer radio show that covered the PPV. Meltzer said part of the reason, but not the entire reason, was she was unhappy over LAX being split up.

Any word why she quit? I was trying to find some news on that, havent had any luck so far. In part it's because there are plans to split up LAX and she isn't happy about it. She wouldn't even do the angle to write her out, hence her not even being shown on camera.

F4W

The backstage angle with Salinas was done because she's quit the promotion, and Jackie never opened her mouth because she lost four teeth at a recent house show.

I've got the matches lined up for all six of my cards. All I need now is to write a little something to preface each match.

HHH being paranoid over how he's being portrayed in a game (no pun intended) is just ridiculous, even as a politician. I don't know whether to laugh at such insecurity or feel sorry for it. Insecurity generally outweighs concern over what others think of you.

Did they show replays after any of the matches, or did they go straight to something else almost right away?

Complete with "Fire Russo" chants.

When was the last time an angle like this didn't end with the woman turning heel? We get it; women are evil whores who will screw you over at the drop of a hat.

F4W

How many seconds before they went TO THE BACK~?

Did they boo because it was the 'Old School' Undertaker spot?

When it comes to booking, Heyman is by far one of the best when it comes to hiding a workers flaws while accentuating their strengths. You can knock Heyman's business sense, but for booking, he knows how to get the most out of the least better than most. Heck, he had people who should have known better convinced that Public Enemy were one of the all-time great tag teams.

Austin vs. Foley would have unnecessarily split the fans with it being an all babyface match. Plus, it never would have had the same dynamic that Austin vs. Rock did.

WWE edited the entire angle out of International versions of Smackdown. UPN could have refused to air the segment, yes, but WWE could have easily edited the angle out themselves. They had the presence of mind to edit it out of the International versions of Smackdown, and the only reason they didn't do the same for the US version is they didn't think it would cause that much of a fuss.

Roddy Piper: Over the December period, a series of vignette's with Roddy Piper would air. They would be building up to the debut of Piper's Pit in the NWA, and that the first Pit would be at the Clash of the Champions in January. The main point of the vignette's would be Piper talking about just who the first person in The Pit would be. With all sorts of hints and teases as to who the first guest would be, people would speculate that the first guest could be absolutely anyone. The Clash arrives, and with the ring set out for Piper's Pit, Roddy Piper comes out to a tremendous ovation. After letting it die down, Piper then talks about returning to his NWA roots, and that he is going to call out one of the young stalwarts of the NWA: Sid Vicious. Piper talks down to Sid at first, and bemoans his lack of success, with Sid looking irked. However, Piper changes tack, and begins to talk up Sid and his ability and what he can do. He tells Sid that he doesn't need a gang behind him to make him great, he needs the mind of a man who was part of something that changed the direction of wrestling, and he needs the mind of someone who can turn him into the success that he knows he can be; he needs Roddy Piper. Sid smiles and he and Piper shake hands, before Piper tells everyone that with a mind like his behind him, Sid is going all the way to the top of the NWA, and that Ric Flair better watch out, because Sid is the man who will take the World Title from him. From here, Sid begins a slow climb to the top with Piper as his mouthpiece and heat getter at ringside. Their initial feud is against the Dynamic Dudes, which is really just to get them over as a unit. Sid and Roddy beat them at Wrestle War and then Sid beats Ace in a singles match at Capitol Combat. Then, it’s time for Sid to start getting some momentum behind him and for that he’s going to feud against Mean Mark, who is going to turn against Sid by accusing him of leaving him behind. It’s not that long of a feud, about four months or so, and its pretty much Sid all the way; their two singles matches, at the Bash and Havoc, see clean wins for Sid. It’s really just a feud to get Sid over as someone who can hold his own against someone his own size, and make it seem more dangerous when smaller wrestlers take him on, plus Mark is going to New York and he might as well get someone over on the way out. After the feud with Mean Mark, Sid is content to squash jobbers and issue threats for a while. At the house shows, he can face variety of mid to top level babyfaces. He goes over the midcard types clean, but goes over the top tier babyfaces via DQ when they turn the tables on Roddy Piper’s interference and get caught using whatever foreign object he was using. However, to keep the babyfaces looking good they can lay out Piper with their finisher while Sid gets held at bay when an ally of the babyface evens the odds up. This can go till the end of the year, and then Sid can start a new program on TV which can build him up for an eventual NWA title program against Sting when he gets the belt. Summary: It seems a little barebones, and I’m not entirely satisfied with it, but there’s not a lot I can do with Sid when I’ve got the other major spots locked up. Piper can do rare TV matches, typically 3-on-2 squash matches with he and Sid taking on three jobbers with Sid powerbombing them all and letting Piper get the pin. He can wrestle occasionally on PPV, but not often and probably only against Flair or Funk or other veteran names. I wouldn’t beat Sid on for a long time after hooking up with Piper, and I’d avoid having to beat either of them on TV unless it was major. House shows can be a little different, and I’d use the scenario of one babyface laying out Piper while another holds Sid at bay with a chair to keep the people happy without having to beat either Sid or Piper. I might also be open to having Sid feud with Vader in 1991, which would be interesting politically.

According to Meltzer, the big announcement is an affiliation with Golden Boy Promotions. GBP will help with production of Affliction shows.

Why was Choshu removed? What happened there in NJ? I don't know why Choshu was removed, but it wasn't too long after he was brought back in that the complaints started, and I think he'd taken a lesser role in the booking some time ago. The original complaints about Choshu booking might have been the usual grumbling you get when a new booker comes in and the guys lose their pushes to someone else, but he did get knocked for not moving with the times, which is hardly something unique to Choshu. Whatever it was, it looks to have caught up with him.

A couple of notes from the just posted WON to tide people over until Dr V does his thing: Team 3D signed new deals last week. The deals are for two years. Kevin Nash's contract has six weeks left, and he's making no secret of the fact that he's willing to go elsewhere. Everyone knows Nash will go where he gets paid the most for doing the least, and that he's looking to recreate the Diesel/HBK tandem, with the current Shawn/Jericho storyline having Lance Cade involved giving him the perfect set-up.

In a real strange turn, the latest WON just posted says the Gedo and Jado, along with Jushin Liger, are now booking New Japan. It also says that Liger was the 'impetus' in removing Riki Choshu from his booking position. I must have missed something at some point, because hearing Gedo and Jado are now helping book New Japan came out of nowhere.

Something in the just-posted Observer regarding the Smackdown Scramble: The working plan, which could change, is for the winner to defend the title later that night against the Undertaker, with the idea being Vickie Guerrero gave him the title shot as a peace offering.

! If only more Kevin Nash matches resulted in the Fingerpoke finish.

Same here. That show is never getting deleted, and I make sure to watch the KO whenever I have time. And the last two Chuck pictures are great.

F4W Somewhere, Dana White is cackling like a madman.