Hunter's Torn Quad

I was going to write something about the Rumble and WWE booking in general, but the finish to Cena vs. Edge just sucked the life right out of that idea. Not since Triple H's 30-second wait to pin Booker T at WM XIX has a match finish been so disheartening. Any doubts about WWE's tunnel vision were erased with Cena getting the belt back.

Da Meltz.

I think it might be a loss leader, but I don't see it losing a lot of money. In fact, with NOAH, I think it may likely break even. I think their fans are dedicated enough to do that.

If Henry was shit on, he'd just turn around and eat it.

I think most of that is down to the shock at Hunter doing a clean job.

He can't walk away. The pop is most addictive drug of them all.

It's not just you. He comes back too often, and for the same reason each time, to be of the kind of value he could be. Foley should come back once every 12-18 months and work a short program to get someone over, either by wrestling them or being in their corner for the last match of a feud to ensure the babyface finally gets the win.

Green Destiny This is a great idea to give the rookies experience in front of people and to get the fans educated with them. This can only turn out to be a good thing for future business.

Talk of Lesnar and Hennig putting a hole in the plane are way overblown. The chances of them opening the door to the plane were virtually nill.

Outsiders vs. Nasty Boys They had a house show match in LA and Hall hit Saggs in the back with a chair, but used the edge of the chair rather then flat part. Saggs wasn't happy and went after Hall with punches and chipped one of his teeth, and the whole thing wound up with Saggs filing a lawsuit claiming career ending injuries. Akira Maede vs. Andre The Giant A lot of people in New Japan weren't happy with Maeda, as Maeda as a well earned rep of being a prick, so they goaded Andre into trying to beat Maeda up for real during a match. In the match, Andre refused to sell a thing for Maeda and just stood there as he got kicked. There was, however, one small flaw in the plan for Andre to beat Maeda up for real; Andre was nowhere near as tough as the myth and hype surrounding him said he was, and Andre soon found himself on his back due to having no ability to block Maeda's kicks and Andre's legs couldn't take a lot of them. Maeda stood over Andre and looked to his corner for 'the nod' to finish Andre off but it never came, and Inoki hit the ring to break things up. Nash vs. Piper Nash never touched Piper, but the two did go face-to-face. Nash did, however, pie-face Piper's bodyguard.

Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer from ECW's Three Way Dance This match is the usual brawl between these two, and it actually holds up very well. It has the usual stuff from an ECW brawl; arena wide action, lots of international objects, and frequent audience participation. Raven bleeds a lot and the action never really stops, so that part of it doesn't get boring. The finish is well executed, and the audience never dies, so if you like good brawls, then you'll probably like this a lot.

At this point, WWE don't have many fans left who can be run off. They're down to the super hardcore fans who will sit through some of the worst angles, matches and skits they've ever put out.

Da Meltz.

This from earlier in the thread might have something to do with it:

The Torch is the supermarket tabloid of pro wrestling newsletters. Lots of fluff but almost no real content. Wade Keller is a prick. Most of his staff are almost as bad. The only really good writer at the Torch in the last few years was James Gutman(?), and he had the good sense to leave. If you want news, then go with The Observer. If you want opinions, and don't care too much about quality and content, then go with the Torch.

As I see it, if you're going to call your list Wrestling's Top 50 Matches, you should have seen a lot of wrestling from overseas. If all you've seen is mostly American, then call it US Wrestling's Top 50 Matches.

Thinks the new WB/UPN combined network is a big benefit for WWE for at least the next two years, as they signed for two more years, after which it could be anyone’s guess. Thinks the deal will see more eyeballs watching Smackdown come the fall than are watching it now, unless they tank creatively. Regarding Raw ratings, he was surprised at Monday’s rating. He attributes it to Edge, Cena and Flair, with the biggest demographic growth in Males 35-49. Says that Flair can raise the ratings but only short-term and is never the guy to turn a company around. The plan was to bury Flair, and was mean to drop the IC belt to Trevor Murdoch but that got forgotten in the chaos of going to Afghanistan. Flair was put in with Cena as a desperation move to get Cena over. Believes Flair didn’t cut a promo on Monday because of fear he would overshadow Cena. They have no such care about Edge getting overshadowed. The plan is for Cena to be ‘The Guy’, with Flair to be the set-up guy to get Cena over. Still set to be Cena vs. Hunter at WM, but it could change by Sunday, at which point they should be set in stone. Says Rey winning the Rumble is a distinct possibility. Thinks they’ve crossed a line with the Rey story, because they can’t do it without Eddie which is a detriment. Thinks WWE are unable pass up a chance to exploit a tragedy or story for gain. Thinks it would be a mistake to take the belt off Edge. Feels Hunter’s promo on Monday was Hunter’s way of letting people know Edge is just holding the belt and the position of Edge having to come to Hunter for help was more of making it clear that Hunter was the real star. If Hunter beats Cena in Chicago, or even loses, Hunter will be the babyface, and Meltzer jokes that he’d like to see Hunter try to be a heel against Cena. Thinks Shawn vs. Vince at WM will be horrible, and that Shawn would have to really pull out all the stops to get something out of the match. Right now, Hogan has no role at WM, but thinks that come February, due to panic and Hogan’s show having a second season, they’ll try and put something together, possibly with Foley. Dave calls the Rumble undercard horrible, with three possible winners of the Rumble match. If the belt has to be taken off Angle, Meltzer thinks they’d go with Orton vs. Mysterio, and that there is a possibility of Henry getting the belt. Called Vince’s speech to Shawn Vince being Vince, and that Vince is going nuts but nobody outside of the company really knows it. Angle isn’t taking an MRI so they don’t have to face the results and can ignore it. Calls Angle going to Dr. Jho a mistake and that it backfired. Says The Spirit Squad laid an egg the first week. Thinks it’s a good gimmick for Mike Mondo, but terrible for Ken Doane or Johnny Jeter as they’re too good for it. Says Heyman is less stressed over having to write OVW to WWE whims than Cornette as Heyman just sees it as what he’s got to do and simply tries to do his best with what he’s got. Thinks some of the ratings increase could be down to TiVO and DVR viewing now being taken into account. The quarter hour ratings, on Raw at least, have been more consistent. On Smackdown, the quarter hours are highest for Rey Mysterio, with them being “way above everyone else”. The Bob Orton hepatitis deal is still an issue. Johnny Ace and Vince both knew, but nothing will be done because doing anything to Ace would kill his credibility and it would only be done if Vince wanted rid of Ace. Said the Shawn vs. Benjamin match on Raw dragged a lot and generally found it boring, despite a couple of good spots. Said Shawn didn’t look good, and that he hasn’t in a while. Dave sees WWE on a slight upswing which may not last, but they potentially have a lot going for them, including the NBC special. Dave mocks the decision to have all the developmental guys cut their hair, and says it’s indicative of WWE only wanting one kind of look and says that so many legends would have been ruined in OVW were they there today, due to WWE only wanting that one kind of look. Dean Visk was cut because of a problem between him and Ted DiBiase.

It's long since been known that the article had nothing to do with Luger not getting the belt. They made the call to go with Bret just after the Rumble of that year.

It's more than a theory.

Jeff Hardy, for whatever reason, was being called the next Shawn Michaels. I guess some people really took that talk seriously. Like I said, if you're right at the top and are scared of losing your spot, or don't want to share that spot even if you have zero chance of losing it, then you'll see threats that might not even be there.

Hunter feared Jeff Hardy enough to bury him six-feet under.

Paranoia and fear can make people see threats that aren't really there. All it takes is a quiet word from one of these people, and suddenly 'they' don't want you to be a star anymore.

I think it's a combination of the Rumble coming up, but also something fresh and exciting happening in the main event scene.

Or at least until Hunter wants it back.