Hunter's Torn Quad

His visa has been sorted out, and he'll be in OVW very shortly.

I'd like Angle more if he didn't punch so much. A legit wrestler shouldn't punch so much, especially when his punches look weak. Angle should use either forearm strikes or European uppercuts, because they fit him better, and because they'd have to be better than his punches.

I'll try this one last time, because talking to you is like banging my head against a brick wall. The WWF gained literally million of fans with the Austin v McMahon feud. They were living through Austin, as he did to his boss what they wanted to do to their own boss, but couldn't. When Austin wound up siding with that boss, those fans connection with Austin was destroyed. By siding with the very boss they wanted him to beat up, so they could live through him, their emotional investment in the Ausitn character was rendered useless. And without an emotional investment, a character isn't going anywhere. The millions of fans who lived through Austin left the moment he sided with his boss, because they no longer wanted to live through him. Why should they ? He sided with the very figure they wanted him to take down. And Austin needn't have kept feuding with McMahon, he just had to have kept being the anti-authority figure that people who lived through him wanted him to be. When he wasn't that person, people tuned out. Remember Invasion ? That got 740,000 buys. Why ? It wasn't because of the Invasion storyline. It was because on that last Raw before the PPV, the fans got the Austin they wanted.

A change was needed in Austin's character. That's not what caused fans to tune out. Austin siding with McMahon was undoubtedly a major factor in turning off a lot of fans. That's the time I stopped watching and it had nothing to do with Austin leaving. The Austin/Vince/Angle skits were the only things I watched for. The fans were going to leave either way because the product was dick. At least they were trying something new with the Austin turn. Read what MARTYEWR just posted. Austin siding with an authority figure, the same figure whose feud against Austin pulled in a ton of new fans, was a major turn off to those fans. The very thing that drew them in was shoved in their faces as being complete bullshit.

A change was needed in Austin's character. That's not what caused fans to tune out. Austin siding with McMahon was undoubtedly a major factor in turning off a lot of fans.

At a guess, I'd say it was because WCW, and therefore Russo, was in charge of whatever he did, and Liger, despite hating it with a passion, and he did, didn't want to rock the boat and reluctantly did what he was told. I don't think he wanted to risk the New Japan/WCW relationship, though I don't think it would have mattered anyway, because I don't think they had much of a relationship after that. The whole bullshit impacted New Japan a little, I think, because the next January Dome Show saw Liger beat Kanemoto in less than four minutes, which I believe was done to rehab the title after what went down in WCW.

I know at one point WCW wanted a Norton v Van Hammer, I think, IWGP Title match for Starrcade, and that got cancelled, I'm guessing for the same reason as this match did, because New Japan didn't want to sully the IWGP Title with a match against someone it felt was many levels beneath the title. Do you think the problem with WCW booking a DQ finish in an IWGP Tag Title match where, apparently, Bulldog & Neidhart won the Tag Titles from Chono & somebody (might have been Mutoh) would've played a role? That happened in 1998, I believe. I assumed NJPW was livid. -=Mike Chono and whoever it was could have squashed Bulldog and Anvil in 3 seconds, it wouldn't have mattered. In no universe is Van Hammer on the level of someone who should get an IWGP Title shot.

Hmmm, I don't remember seeing it for a while but I do remember someone cutting down a rumor about the creatures being Shane and Steph. I've never head anything about Stephanie being a CotN. Her first appearance of note was years later.

I know at one point WCW wanted a Norton v Van Hammer, I think, IWGP Title match for Starrcade, and that got cancelled, I'm guessing for the same reason as this match did, because New Japan didn't want to sully the IWGP Title with a match against someone it felt was many levels beneath the title.

I'm still waiting for Dusty to book himself as World Champ. -=Mike He'll live that dream through Dustin. We all know Dusty is going to push for it at some point.

The Raw rating drop from going from USA to TNN gets exaggerated a lot, and the move is a conveniant excuse. Ratings from September 2000 - February 2001: September 4, 2000 4.2 September 11, 2000 5.8 September 18, 2000 5.7 September 25, 2000 5.4 October 2, 2000 5.4 October 9, 2000 5.4 October 16, 2000 4.8 October 23, 2000 5.5 October 30, 2000 4.9 November 6, 2000 5.1 November 13, 2000 5.0 November 20, 2000 5.0 November 27, 2000 5.0 December 4, 2000 5.0 December 11, 2000 5.75 December 18, 2000 4.8 December 25, 2000 3.8 2001 January 1, 2001 4.55 January 8, 2001 4.8 January 15, 2001 5.2 January 22, 2001 5.6 January 29, 2001 5.4 February 5, 2001 5.0 February 12, 2001 4.8 February 19, 2001 4.8 February 26, 2001 5.1 The Raw ratings had been stuttering over the summer, with the August 29th Raw getting a 4.9. The ratings dipped a little in October, but were very stready in November, with the December 11th Raw rating being in the same range as the pre-TNN Raws, and was a fraction higher than the last USA Raw, shattering the myth that some hold that Raw could never get as high a rating on TNN than it could on USA. As Janauary shows, they could still get mid-5's, and they got a couple of 5.7's in the first half of 2001 as well. The move to TNN is an easy out, and one that doesn't hold water.

Because when a concept gets hot, wrestling bookers tend to use it over and over again, because it's hot and it saves them having to come up with something else. They also keep going back to it if they want to try and spark business. The problem is they never know when to stop, and they eventually use the gimmick so much that it winds up meaning nothing. It's not the first time Dusty has driven a gimmick into the ground.

Shane was the Creature Of The Night that Kama destroyed on Superstars in the lead up to Summerslam 1995.

Out of curiousity, which WWE superstar would be most suited to the job of ending UT's Wrestlemania streak? Who could benefit the most from it without getting this 'X-pac heat'? One wonders if this is the greatest possible rub WWE can give to a young star. It's hard to say who is the most suited, because, right now, there isn't anyone who the casual fans, or even smart fans, would buy as being the one to end the streak. I think what they need to do is set WM XXII as the date for ending the streak, and keep an eye out for someone who they think can be a major breakout star, and probably around SummerSlam begin a very slow build to Undertaker v Wrestler X. At that point, Wrestler X needs to be protected by doing as few jobs as possible, and certainly no submission jobs. He cannot do any slapstick comedy, or anything lame and geeky. Most importantly of all, he cannot look weak in any way, shape or form. A little vulnerability is ok here and there, but he must never look weak or stupid, or like he got outsmarted. He has to be kept totally serious, because that is the only type of persona that anyone can buy as being the one to end the streak. Once we get into 2006, he does no jobs, period. He has to be kept strong enough to be believable as a threat to Undertaker, and that means no losses. Once we hit the Rumble, they can begin the proper build-up to Undertaker v Wrestler X, with it culmination at WM XXII, and the wrestler in question getting the big win, which should, in theory, herald his rocket ride to superstardom Undertaker's streak has to end, for the good of the business. It's just that simple. It is the only real rub left to give, and it has to get given at some point, in order to make a new star. Re: Hunter v Undertaker at WM X-7. Undertaker was always going to win. Shawn was meant to cost Hunter the match, to set up their singles match at Backlash. It was also very smart for Hunter to do a clean job to Undertaker, because he it was clean job at the biggest WM of all time at that point, and he did it to someone already at his level, so he didn't elevate anyone.

He asked who never met, and that was it. It was rather vague, so I tried to lighten the mood. I'll try not to lighten the mood in future.

What exactly was the point of that post? To highlight the vagueness of the question asked.

Rock is leaving for six months right after WM X-7, so I think that would take a lot of the sting out of the loss for Rock he returns. It could even be played up, with them pushing Austin as the one man Rock can't beat.

The only real problem I have with ROH tapes isn't the lighting, but that they set almost every building up to look exactly the same.

Some nameless Japanese Indy worker v Some nameless US Indy worker

I agree wholeheartedly. Anyone complaining about wrestlers "biting the hand that fed them" need look no further than Shawn Michaels, the poster child of selfishness. The manlove he gets all over the place seems a bit misplaced considering how often he used to put himself above the other wrestlers, and quite unprofessionally at that. I, for one, would welcome Lesnar back in a heartbeat. I guess I just miss great wrestling. Shawn Michaels didn't get a private jet with his fuel bills paid for him. Plus, Shawn has produced more memorable matches than Brock and has stayed with the company, whereas Brock produced few and left when he got bored. Shawn screwed up a planned major WM match. Brock didn't. Brock/Goldberg. Brock was originally meant to go over before he asked to get out. Not the main event, but a high profile match. And a WM is one thing, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to appease one person is another. At least Brock v Goldberg took place. Shawn screwed up the main event because he hated Bret, Brock left because he didn't want to be demoted or repeat a feud. If Shawn was going to beat Bret at WM XIII, he'd have 'gotten past his hate'.

I agree wholeheartedly. Anyone complaining about wrestlers "biting the hand that fed them" need look no further than Shawn Michaels, the poster child of selfishness. The manlove he gets all over the place seems a bit misplaced considering how often he used to put himself above the other wrestlers, and quite unprofessionally at that. I, for one, would welcome Lesnar back in a heartbeat. I guess I just miss great wrestling. Shawn Michaels didn't get a private jet with his fuel bills paid for him. Plus, Shawn has produced more memorable matches than Brock and has stayed with the company, whereas Brock produced few and left when he got bored. Shawn screwed up a planned major WM match. Brock didn't. Brock/Goldberg. Brock was originally meant to go over before he asked to get out. Not the main event, but a high profile match. And a WM is one thing, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to appease one person is another. At least Brock v Goldberg took place.

It will never happen, not enough money or status and he doesn't actually want to play football that much. Apparently the Vikings tried to refer him to coaches of other teams in Europe but Brock never bothered to try contact them. He'd have to move, accept a money offer under 100k, work hard to even attain the level of the European league, probably have to sell his jet and estates in the USA... so, never it is. But playing football is his "dream", that's why he left a million dollar WWE contract. I think you are confusing "dream" with "excuse to stop touring endlessly because he missed his daughter". Despite how it played out, Brock really did have a dream to play in the NFL.

Rock turning heel wouldn't have made that much of a difference on his movie career. People would have been able to distinguish the two. Rock isn't accpeting the loss, though. Yes, it looks like he is, but he's seething on the inside, and he takes his opportunity to get revenge on Austin by, not only turning on him, but forcing him to have to wait to get revenge. That could even be used to slowly sow the seeds of an Austin turn; having to wait to get revenge could turn him nuts. As for turning Austin, I don't know how that would be accomplished, but if Rock is the heel going into the proposed WM X-8 3-Way, it would depend on Hunter's status. If he's a heel, then Austin should be face, but if Hunter is a face, then Austin should be heel.

I agree wholeheartedly. Anyone complaining about wrestlers "biting the hand that fed them" need look no further than Shawn Michaels, the poster child of selfishness. The manlove he gets all over the place seems a bit misplaced considering how often he used to put himself above the other wrestlers, and quite unprofessionally at that. I, for one, would welcome Lesnar back in a heartbeat. I guess I just miss great wrestling. Shawn Michaels didn't get a private jet with his fuel bills paid for him. Plus, Shawn has produced more memorable matches than Brock and has stayed with the company, whereas Brock produced few and left when he got bored. Shawn screwed up a planned major WM match. Brock didn't.

I am sure Vince would blame it on Ted Turner...So? Do you have a point to make ?