Hunter's Torn Quad

The constant references in the 80s by Gorilla Monsoon and others about the 'Terry Garvin School of Self-Defense' and how he taught guys the go-behind, and whenever Garvin showed up, they'd talk about him bringing up the rear and how he was used to that position.

A couple of notes from Meltzer on Sunday's WOL: The Flair 'one last run' storyline is set to happen, but how far it goes is going to depend on how it gets over, and there are people still negative on the idea. Said the reaction to Jericho's return depends on who you ask internally. The people who wanted to like it did, and the people who didn't want to like it found more than enough not to like. When Alvarez asked if there are still people looking for Jericho to fail, Meltzer said, "Oh yeah" (You might want to hear it for yourself, as the tone if Meltzer's reply seemed to indicate that a lot of people are of that mindset). He thought the angle went on too long, with it peaking in early October. They have their WM plan set and things aren't likely to change it now in regard to Jericho. He doesn't know if Jericho is in the title picture for WM, but would bet against it.

I'd have Rock pin Austin, which is probably the only finish I think you'd get out of everyone, and have it used to trigger a HHH heel turn over not being able to put away Austin in his last match ever.

Actually, you could make the case that in Rock's eyes Austin deserved it after he was the guest referee counting Hunter's pin of Rock on the previous ppv. True, but it would have been accidental so they could further build towards the planned Austin vs. Rock match at Wrestlemania the following year. Re: Austin vs. Hunter vs. Rock. If Austin only has one match left, I wouldn't mind it being that one.

The whole finish to that PPV was more than just Hunter beating Austin. It was Hunter laying out Vince, laying out Rock, and beating Austin all in one night. That was putting Hunter over as strong in one night as they possibly could. Except, besides the fact Hunter didn't win clean, all the ending really did was set up the foundations for the (prospective) main-event at the Survivor Series. The last thought on most people's minds wouldn't have been "woah, Triple H just took out The Rattlesnake, he's the real deal". It would have been "oh man, Austin's gonna be pissed, I can't wait to see what he does to The Rock to pay him back". He was the afterthought, as World Champion. Which would have seen Hunter pin Rock after Austin misfired with the sledgehammer. Austin vs. Rock vs. Hunter is the one major match involving those three we never got to see. Which is a shame, because I think it could have been great.

How can you not be sure? The best thing for business would have been to get the most PR they could out of using Ventura, and that meant having him be physically involved in the main event. That meant coverage on a ton of news stations, with the Governor of Minnesota being physically involved in a wrestling event. You couldn't have got that with Ventura just commentating. The whole finish to that PPV was more than just Hunter beating Austin. It was Hunter laying out Vince, laying out Rock, and beating Austin all in one night. That was putting Hunter over as strong in one night as they possibly could.

Ventura being a guest referee meant more publicity than him just being a commentator. That publicity, and the PR that came with it, was worth a short delay to get HHH to where they wanted him. It was great business.

You expect them to bring in Ventura and put him in an undercard match?

You're wondering why they brought in the governor of Minnesota to guest referee? Think about that one for a second.

If you're talking about Austin supposedly refusing to put HHH over, that wasn't the case. I thought that was at least part of it. I know there were other extenuating circumstances. But, it still amounted to the same thing. Could Austin not have dropped the title to HHH the next night if he was being put over, instead of Mankind taking the belt as an interim, making everyone involved look bad? It wasn't part of it. Mankind pinning Austin was done so that Ventura didn't have to raise the hand of a heel, and so Mankind could transition the belt to HHH who could get his big win over Austin at a PPV, where it could be built to and made to mean more than if it was just given away with no build on Raw the next night. They wanted HHH's big win over Austin to mean something.

If you're talking about Austin supposedly refusing to put HHH over, that wasn't the case.

Now we're back on track.

The Memphis show drew maybe 5,000, but probably closer to half that. The whole thing was considered a disaster. Hogan's appeal is strictly nostalgia, and nothing more.

He always says "It'll have to be a big Dream Match for him tro consider having a match". I think Cena/Rock could happen in about 3-5 years, If Cena continues to be a huge draw, gains a nice bit of mainstream attention, and stays healthy. I don't think Rock would have a problem giving the fans a 15 minute roller coaster ride, Vince probably wouldn't have a problem shilling out a million for a Rock/Cena match. Presuming Rock doesn't take off and get a steady stream of work. If there's ever a conflict between a movie and a wrestling match, even a dream one, Rock will choose the movie every time.

Rock has long since moved on from wrestling. Making a cameo is one thing, which he might do on occasion, but an actual match? He has no reason to ever do so, and I don't think Vince can offer him anything to change his mind on that.

Hogan vs. Edge

That would indicated Bob Sapp. Bob Sapp is as "can't miss" as they come, and TNA will still miss.

Hogan isn't going to TNA unless he thinks he has no chance of returning to WWE, and he knows that day will never truly come. Hogan might be on the outs with Vince now, but he's been on the outs before and he's always returned eventually. And why would Hogan go to TNA anyway? It's a second rate promotion, if that, and Hogan, for all his ego and inflated sense of his own position, knows that going to TNA would be a huge step down for him and would serve only to devalue what his name means. Sure, TNA has a bunch of people he could work with, but apart from Sting and possibly Angle, none of the matches would mean anything and would have no real spark or money drawing potential to them. For all the limited matches Hogan has available with WWE, any one of them will mean far more than all of the potential matches he could have in TNA.

Bryan Alvarez's column on The Fight Network a few weeks ago, about WWE developmental:

Apart from John Cena, who didn't spend half as much time in UPW as he did in OVW, where he got the majority of his training, what big name players have come from UPW? Heidenreich? Nathan Jones?

You mean when they had different attitude towards their future superstars than they do now?

Austin was definitely getting the title at WM 14, but not necessarily from Bret. It wasn't set in stone that Bret would hold the title until Mania, or that he'd have the title by then. With Shawn and DX catching fire, it's likely Shawn would have got a run with the title, even if relations between Bret, Shawn and the WWF remained amicable.

UFC 80 will be on PPV, with a 3pm EST start time.

This weeks episode was fun, and next weeks looks like it could be all kinds of awesome.

So, you not only want WWE to get out of teaching their future superstars the way they like their wrestlers to work and act, but you want those future superstars to work in places (Indies) where they'll learn a style that is counter to everything WWE likes, thus getting them tagged as 'not knowing how to work' when they get brought up, which will then see them either let go or, if the company feels like it, WWE sending them to school anyway, so they can get taught to work and act the way WWE wants.