Hunter's Torn Quad

Career wise, nobody is saying Austin outdrew Hogan. We all agree on that part. It's just that for WWF, and WWF alone, Austin made more for the company than Hogan did.

Anyone burning themself out and risking their health puts them at an increased risk of dropping dead, especially when they've got a history if a serious heart condition in their family. Angle might not be in danger of dropping dead, but if WWE internally are worried about it, then that alone is reason enough to be concerned. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, totally HTQ. I mean look at Angle, I don't think anyone thought Eddie Guerrero would/could drop dead but apparently that's what happened. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No offense to Eddie intended when I say this, but Eddie had a history of putting toxic substances into his body which Kurt does not. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> By all reports, Angle is just as doped up on painkillers as Eddie was. He might not be using coke or abusing alchohol but he's loaded to the gills of painkillers and steroids. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> News to me. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Try reading the whole thread.

Did you not read my first post? I said "Schwarzenegger (pre-Governor days.)" <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I pretty much ignored you when you tried to say that Flair or Foley would get more mainstream attention than Angle.

Anyone burning themself out and risking their health puts them at an increased risk of dropping dead, especially when they've got a history if a serious heart condition in their family. Angle might not be in danger of dropping dead, but if WWE internally are worried about it, then that alone is reason enough to be concerned. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, totally HTQ. I mean look at Angle, I don't think anyone thought Eddie Guerrero would/could drop dead but apparently that's what happened. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No offense to Eddie intended when I say this, but Eddie had a history of putting toxic substances into his body which Kurt does not. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Angle hasn't exactly been keeping himself to water and vitamins, either.

Arnold became Governer of California. Kind of eclipses Hogan 'running for president' angle.

Then everybody knows who is losing. At least with Christian vs Brown you can sort of argue that either guy could be winning.

Some people have very strange ideas when it cames to what Hogan means outside of wrestling. Which is very little.

I liked the pink and black design he had in the last year or so of his WWE career.

It started with talking about how big Rhino was, then grew from there.

Some poeple have this weird idea that Flair or Hogan or someone like that means more the general public than Kurt Angle. Angle won a gold medal for the country, while Flair, Hogan and the rest are considered jokes. Angle dying would mean more to the general public than anyone else.

From Meltzer

Christian wouldn't work as a heel any time in the first year or so of his being in TNA. They want to cheer him like crazy. Going against that would be a terrible idea.

It's dumb, if they've booked themselves into a corner they don't want to be in. It's always possible that they realise that Monty isn't ready for where they want him to be, and by putting him in against Christian, and having him lose, but in a competitive match, that they can ease back on the Monty push until they have Monty where they want him to be at. If they do want to ease back on Monty, having it be because he loses to Christian is the best way for it, because Monty can gain a lot from that loss, and it can help be part of the rebuilding.

Saying that if Christian can’t afford a loss to Monty Brown then he wasn’t worth picking up is missing the point in spectacular fashion. It’s not about whether Christian can afford to lose to Monty Brown. It’s about whether the value of bringing Christian in, someone who willingly left WWE to come to TNA, can survive his losing his first major match. It’s about whether the momentum that his jump generated with the fans of TNA, and they were so in love with it, can survive it, because a lot of it wasn’t just because he was a former WWE guy, but because he left WWE for TNA, and wasn’t kicked out, given his release or fired. That key point is getting missed by a lot of people, and it’s a part that cannot me underestimated enough. Yes, Monty has been built up to be the new star of TNA, but is he really at that level? And has he really had enough time to the new audience, what there has been of it, to be built to where he would be accepted as the world champion of the newest national promotion? I don’t think Monty is that level, and he absolutely has not had the time to me built to mean something to the new TNA audience. Maybe it’s how he was mishandled earlier in the year, but Monty doesn’t have the charisma he used to have, and he hasn’t had it for some time. If they want the best out of Monty Brown, then they need to hold back on him until they can find some way to get the charisma back, and that charisma is his strength. It’s going to have to be, because he’s decidedly ropey at best in the ring, and his interviews, while fine for the a goofy midcard gimmick don’t look so good when they’re being given by the world champion. Is Christian beating Brown and then beating Jarrett for the NWA Title really so bad? For one thing, if Monty is still their chosen one, then the guy who he finally beats to win the NWA Title should be the person who can get a really good match out of him, and right now Christian can do that better than Jeff Jarrett. If Monty beats Christian and then beats Jeff for the title, at best it’ll be a **1/2 match, it’ll be the same clusterfuck bullshit match that people have long since been tired of, and it won’t the kind of big bang that Monty’s reign should be. If they go with Christian over Brown then over Jarrett for the NWA Title, which they have to do, it allows for a few things: It allows them the time to get some real charisma back into Brown, which he has been lacking ever since they screwed up and turned him heel. It gives them time to give Brown a solid program; we’ll say Abyss for this example, presuming Abyss beats Sabu in the Barbed Wire match, thus making him this psychotic monster. This lets the fans, all of them, see the entire program evolve, as Brown is shown to take on an eventually beat the monster Abyss and, if they are smart, able to have a killer instinct, which he hasn’t got right now. That killer instinct is something he should have, and this program can give it to him. It gives them time to run a Christian vs. Jeff Jarrett program, which sees Christian fend off Jarrett’s group, along with The Dudley’s or whoever, and to see Jeff off of the main event scene once and for all. Why should Christian be the one to lose the NWA Title to Monty and not Jeff? Beating Jeff would mean almost nothing for Monty. Beating Jeff means virtually nothing as it is, because nobody wants him in the main event level, so why waste Brown’s big coronation win on somebody who it isn’t going to mean much to beat anyway? So, why not have the guy who beats Jarrett for the NWA Title be somebody who can afford a win that means little, and have him shown to be the guy who finally sends Jarrett packing to the midcard. Then, you’ve got an NWA Champion who the fans really want to be the champion, who is over huge, and is a hundred times the worker and promo guy that Jeff is, and has a hundred times the personality and charisma than Jeff. And what do you also have? An NWA World Champion that it will mean something to beat. You haven’t got that in Jeff Jarrett. But you’ll have that in Christian, fresh off of sending Jeff out of the main event scene. And it’s somebody like that who Monty should be beating to ascend to the top of TNA.

I'll say one thing; if Jarrett ends up losing the belt but not getting pinned, then that will tell you once and for all who the power is in TNA.

If such a three-way happened, that would be the single worst finish they could have for it. The finish to Christian vs Monty depends on which member of creative can argue their position the best. If Tenay wins out, I'm guessing Christian wins clean, but Monty gives him a hard match, so that, while Monty loses, he still looks strong for forcing Christian to work hard to get the win. They can build Monty back up if need be. They can't do the same for the buzz Christian's jump created. If they fuck it up now, they can't get it back.

If the idea behind TNA bringing in talented guys from WWE that aren't getting their due is to show that TNA isn't like that, especially a guy who should have gotten a run at the main event spot, why stick him in the midcard? For comparison, look at WWE bringing in Chris Jericho from WCW. They made a big deal about bringing him back in, and look at his first major match; a DQ loss to Sean Waltman. That was a bad idea, and Christian losing his first major match in TNA, even if it is to Monty and not clean, is just as bad. You want the most out of Christian, you push him hard, right off the bat, and that means putting him in the main event. As for Monty, he isn't ready for the NWA Title. He's not at that level. If they put the belt on him next month, it'll get a pop for one night, but then it'll deflate, because he'll be exposed because he isn't ready, and they'll have ruined him because he got the belt too soon. And even if TNA also think Monty is too soon, and don't put the belt on him, he'll get beaten by Jeff Jarrett. Again. And which do you think does Monty less harm; getting beaten by the heatless wonder, or getting beaten by a guy who willingly left WWE, entered TNA to a monster pop, and is someone the fans actually want on the top level? Christian is at that level, because the TNA fans know how good he is, accept how good he is, and would accept him being in the main event, and being NWA Champion.

Bret and Rude were very good friends. When Rude passed away, Bret had a lot of good things to say about Rude, saying that Rude was somebody who would have his back in a fight.

They thought Austin going with Vince would be strong enough to turn the fans. Think about it; they teased Austin turning on Rock, the other major babyface, and they still booed Rock over Austin. They then sided Austin with McMahon, the biggest heel they had, and people either turned off and never came back, or stayed around and booed Austin in a half-assed manner. It wasn't going to work, no matter what.

They gave up on trying to make Austin a heel, after finally realising that it wasn't ever going to work. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think it could have worked if Triple H hadn't insisted on the two-man power trip angle. That program with the heel/face dynamic change could have been big and they just laid an egg and killed the momentum there by doing the BOD and Hardyz stuff. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It never would have worked. The people didn't like Hunter enough to decide to side with him over Austin to where it would have meant anything for Austin to be a heel. At best, you'd have half cheering Hunter and half cheering Austin, but even that would a stretch. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It would have been better then what we had actually gotten. They simply should have not turned Austin in the first place but I guess they either felt it ran it's course or wanted to see if Austin could have a Hogan like turn. The difference was that the fans werent tired of the act yet. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Austin had only been back for just over six months. They should have waited at least a year or so before even starting the tease. Not that I think it would have worked very well, if it all.

Christian should be put in the ME now, not later. He shouldn't lose anytime soon. Monty probably shouldn't lose this soon either, but if it's a choice between Christian winning or Monty winning, then Christian has to be the one.

They gave up on trying to make Austin a heel, after finally realising that it wasn't ever going to work. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think it could have worked if Triple H hadn't insisted on the two-man power trip angle. That program with the heel/face dynamic change could have been big and they just laid an egg and killed the momentum there by doing the BOD and Hardyz stuff. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It never would have worked. The people didn't like Hunter enough to decide to side with him over Austin to where it would have meant anything for Austin to be a heel. At best, you'd have half cheering Hunter and half cheering Austin, but even that would a stretch.

They've already started selling Eddie t-shirts and armbands, with any proceeds going to Eddie's family. Eddie merch

They gave up on trying to make Austin a heel, after finally realising that it wasn't ever going to work.

Anyone burning themself out and risking their health puts them at an increased risk of dropping dead, especially when they've got a history if a serious heart condition in their family. Angle might not be in danger of dropping dead, but if WWE internally are worried about it, then that alone is reason enough to be concerned.