RavishingRickRudo

The "football tackle" had me on the floor the first time I saw it - just needless... totally, utterly, beautifully, needless. And the dude with the bag, that was fucking priceless. Also, the blonde guy who makes the bet... hilarious. Great over-the-top acting and facial expressions...

They do have a scouting dept - it just sucks... or at least, the head of talent (JR) and the man in charge (Vince) sucks and they have to fall in line and service the bosses needs.

Or don't, and keep bitching. At least some of us can see the state of wrestling for what it is now: Rebuilding and Establishing New Faces. Wow, the WWE has been pushing that line for what... *2* years now?? When they finally "rebuild" and "establish" call me...

And if you wanna bash the "Hoss" Team for being UNSAFE....then look at VADER, goddamnit, his record isn't very clean. "I'll go watch Inoki vs. Vader... then I get to see someone I don't care about dying at the hands of a hoss (though a good one, which you won't find much of on this card).. " Read. Words. Left to right. Up down. Learn. Vader had good matches. Vader actually had great matches. The price paid was well worth it. I'm not gonna rip Vader, 'cause its just my opinion that he's overrated, so I shouldn't be flamed. He's still a great talent. Spoiler (Highlight to Read): Your opinion basically means dicknothing to me. But for you to automatically judge a PPV before the full lineup's out as being crap and calling all the people that posted here and have some anticipation for the show "dumb", well then I guess you're the type of pessimist who is happy with berating others and watching your slow Japanese wrestlers of equal stature mount each other for 35 minutes and tell a "story". Sorry man, but I'll take an uphill battle that hasn't even happened yet over a "Rocky Mountain Monster" that doesn't wash his tights. Spoiler (Highlight to Read): And this, essentially, is why.

A Wrestling Off Season? April 26,2003 This subject has been coming up a lot lately. I’ve received email as well as comment board posts about it, so I figured I would look at some of the plus and minuses involved with a Wrestling “Off Season”. Wrestling is really the only sport, which does not have a designated season, and thus a corresponding off-season. Is this Good or Bad? I honestly don’t know. I can see both sides of the argument and the most important factor (the effect on business can only be speculated) Business: How would down time effect the wrestling industry? Wrestling having 51 weeks of original programming (recap show between Xmas and New Years) is obviously a big attraction to our network. Giving this up for an off-season is a huge financial down turn from a TV stand point. Even a 2 or 3 month off-season would create a 8-15 week void in programming and a huge cut in ad revenue and sponsorships. This is something that often gets over looked when an off-season is mentioned. As far as ratings and arena attendeance, there are two possibilities. An off-season may rejuvenate an audience. Fans can get burned out watching each week, forever, with no break. This may be the cause of the cyclical nature of our industry. Fans may get tired of keeping up every week and simply tune out, and effectively create their own off-season. With a definite season, anticipation of each new season may remain strong as well as a fans willingness to stick it out through each full season. (I was always so excited about the start of the new Saturday Nights Main Event season as a kid) The opposite effect might also be true. People are creatures of habit. A couple months off without wrestling and fans may find other interests and be less apt to tune in next year. Out of site out of mind is definitely a possibility. This is a huge gamble in that rejuvenation, should it occur, might only make up for the loss during the off-season. (Booming business for 9 months may not be better than 12 months of decent business). If rejuvenation does not occur you’ve cut your revenue 25 % and risk fans finding other interests in the off-season. Head you lose, tails you break even. (I’m not sure I flip that coin) The Boys: An off-season definitely sounds like a plus from the boys standpoint; a definite break in the travel schedule to be with our families and rest our bodies. Truth is however even that statement is only true on the surface and may not be a definite plus. While I’ll be the first to admit that having an off-season to spend with my family each year would be great, there is a huge price for this. If we don’t work for 2-3 months each year we are going to be making less money. 3 months of is a 25 % decrease in the number of events we work. (You didn’t think the office was just going to keep paying us as if we were working 4 shows a week did you). If I earn 25% less each year I’m going to have to extend my career in order to make that up and be able to retire. A longer career is then going to take me away from my family again (a double edged sword). Now granted if the off-season rejuvenates our fan base and keeps the other 9 months “hot” the 25 % figure may be reduced (Huge speculation here). Injuries and our Health: Now this has to be a no brainer, right? An off-season would definitely be good for your body. Even this isn’t completely true. Now granted after just having last week off my body feels 100 times better, but 3 months is a long time and wrestling has a weird effect on your body. There is this strange 2-3 week time period that your body has for adjustment. When I first started working full time (everyday) I thought I was going to die. Everyday my body got sorer and sorer. After a week or 2 my body was killing me I didn’t think I could go on. Miraculously somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd week, I just got used to it. Your body develops some kind of callus and stops feeling every little ache and pain. The same can be said for time off after working full time. If I take an extended break from work (I did between ECW and WCW and again between WCW and WWE) my back started to ache like crazy. After about 3 weeks my whole body ached like you wouldn’t believe. After constant abuse your body puts up some kind of shield against it. When the abuse stops so does your body’s ability to ignore it. (I can’t explain it but I’m not the only one of the boys to experience this) I’ve been working for 13 years now at least 10 to 11 of that full time and I’m still in pretty good shape. I’m not completely sure dealing with ring rust, and re-callusing my body each year would be less painful than just working year round, especially when you consider my career would likely have to be longer. All in all it sounds like I’m against the idea of an off-season, which I don’t think I am. I’m just afraid of change and the unknown. I’m pretty happy with my career and the way things are going. Anything that “may” have a negative effect on that scares me. If an off-season rejuvenation would occur and business would be consistently hotter over the shorter annual season, then it would definitely be good. Annual incomes would not decrease, careers would not be lengthened by necessity, and perhaps dealing with ring rust and re-callusing my body would be worth the time at home with family. The thing is, it’s such a huge if. If it had no effect or even a detrimental effect on interest a down cycle year would be financial ruin for the boys and the elusive year of retirement would be farther away than “Bin Laden/Hussein Appreciation Day” in the US. Till next week Lance Storm

Holy Shit, I agree. I found some of the 2/3 falls lagged (though It's been a while since I watched it... hmm.. I should watch it again) and I was pretty disappointed in it given the hype. But HostileCity. was a fine piece of match.

Vince McMahon was on SatNite?

Had he said "the WWE books multi-man matches well", I wouldn't have said anything... but his main points were "For once in your life don't bitch" and "They're BIG" - jesus fucking christ that's just bad.

RRR what about people who would order the ppv but are just too cheap? You all can burn in hell with Bunnies and Santa Claus. And who says what I can and can't rip into??? Until "you can't say anything bad about the WWE" becomes a rule, I believe I'm free to write whatever I want as long as it's on topic.

God this Big Show love has to stop... Seriously, it's just as bad as the "Benoit was dogging it" myth. Big Show sucks; he's the equivalency of a giant oak tree that better workers run into and around and make it seem like it's actually moving when it's really not... You make yourself look pretty foolish when you blatantly make NEGATIVE comments about EVERY match I didn't rip the cruiser match. The WWE PPVs of late have given us at least a FEW watchable contests...and this card potentially has a bunch of them, too ... As long as SOME matches are WATCHABLE~! I'm so glad the biggest Wrestling company in the world with millions of dollars at their disposal and some of the best talent on the planet and whom charges $35 for PPVs can come up with something watchable... otherwise, I'd just be disappointed. My apoligies that a potential turn in the RAW Tag, a screwjob, or kickass match doesn't interest you... Oooh SCREW-JOBS~! Haven't had one of those in a ... week... A turn?!?! WOWZERS! Just what I needed, MORE Shawn Michaels and MORE senseless turns! As for it being a "kickass match" - you're pulling that one out of your ass; but that must be easy for you, since your head is clearly up there - good visibility, not as much rectal damage... and that Smackdown has booked moreorless an "internet" match between everyone's darlings Benoit and Angle against everyone's hated Hoss Connection...I find this bout intriguing, as well. I would say "less"... as an "internet match" would feature BOTH sides being good... if there ever was such a thing as an "internet match".. If two small at wrestlers against all odds facing 5 colossal giants, in a "survivor" match isn't appealing to you, then I suggest you use your time to fish out some tapes of matches that appeal to you instead of ripping my comments. I'll go watch Inoki vs. Vader... then I get to see someone I don't care about dying at the hands of a hoss (though a good one, which you won't find much of on this card)..

They've been giving play to the Lucha Mail Boy for some time now - I think some of the writers are wrestling fans, so I imagine it will.

1st Out: Bob Holly (Goes straight for Lesnar with a Chair and brutally beats him down - taking him out for the majority of the match) 2nd Out: Bradshaw (By Morgan or/and Jones) 3rd Out: Cena/Albert (Double Count out) 4th Out: Morgan (by Angle) 5th Out: Jones (by Angle) 6th Out: Angle (By Show or a revitalized Lesnar) 7th Out: Show (By Benoit) 8th Out: Benoit (Heyman interferes when Benoit has the crossface on Brock, visionary tap by Brock, Benoit gets up to take out heyman, turns around into a F-5.)

Smackdown Elimination Match: Lots of good stuff here, actually. Yeah, I know, the heels are HOSS-IFFIC, but who cares? I don't care, since there's no way I would ever watch this PPV so my money or time won't be lost, but let's say I was and I did... They aren't even good hosses. When ALBERT is 2nd place in workrate, there's a problem. Considering all the talent the WWE has, if THIS is the best they think they've got, there's a problem. And when BIG SHOW is the "safest" worker in the match, THERE IS A PROBLEM - especially since 3 of the guys on the other team have had a history with neck injuries. Honestly, I think the cool point about this match is you get a classic mat/science little guy team (well, most of them...but Bradshaw will be out 1st) against a gigantic, and I mean HUGE team. Um, you have 2 "mat wrestlers" who only do "mat wrestling" against each other. Holly, Cena, and Bradshaw are brawlers. Hell, Benoit and Angle for 95% of the time are brawlers too. The only interesting thing about this match is the vengeance card - Bob Holly is coming back to avenge his neck injury, Bradshaw is avenging his partner, Benoit/Angle/Cena are avenging their beat downs... oh, and how they might position benoit in the match - that's interesting too. John Cena will arrive and get a super pop...this show will make him as a fan favorite. Kurt Angle will finally be phased away from Brock (for now), and I honestly believe Benoit will shine. Speculation. And stop bitching about Team Hoss! Why? Team Hoss sucks. OK, A-Train can wrestle, but he's huge. Jones and Morgan are huge. Brock can wrestle and is huge. Show is a monster. Wow, I never knew JR posted here.... "You have to see these guys live to really know how BIG they are" Sure, most of them SUCK at matwork, but for one show could we stop BITCHING about "Oh gee, Jones sucks, he can't do a dragon suplex!" Nathan Jones can't even do a bodyslam... babysteps... babysteps.. and what has the WWE done to warrant anything other than bitching?? and have FUN watching both the MARKS and the SMARKS clear-cut favorites, Angle's Team try to chop down the huge heel team. I'm telling you, this is gonna have a lot of heat, and be FUN, if anything. Wow, do you think sticking pins in your eyeballs is fun too? Vince Vs. Taker. OK, I'll agree...two old men using punch and kick attacks is kinda boring. But it's different, I guess, we've never really seen these two go at it. Yeah, this whole "Vince McMahon dominates Television time for a pointless match that headlines a PPV and buries 90% of the roster in the process" sure is a new fucking concept. Shit, Vince and the one-legged wonder was decent, and Taker's in great shape. This should be passable. I thought Survivor Series will be "Great", not "passable". Goldberg/HHH. I don't even want to hear complaining. These two have ruled RAW for the past year, and the match should have great heat (not sure for who...the crowd could turn on Goldberg, easily). Hopefully Hunter is able to perform close to 100%. Rumors of Evolution turning on HHH....HHH taking the belt....Goldberg retaining leads to a pretty unpredictable contest. Goldberg has ruled Raw? Really, wow, and here I thought Mark Henry making him his Mae Young was damaging... Zzzzz.... RAW 10-Man: The Dudleys involvement won't gain extra stars, but it won't lose any either. They'll pop the crowd and work hard. Jericho is always a player, Christian is improving, and even Steiner sees more comfortable and at least a little more watchable as a heel. RVD and Booker T, whose movesets are getting VERY boring (though RVD sees to be putting some extra effort in lately...hmmm...) will also improve the match. Orton will add some heat and will likely draw a good pop when/if he is eliminated. Austin is a heat machine, as is Bischoff, so expect their involvement. An HBK turn wouldn't be crazy... Wow, such powerful words... "won't lose any either", "work hard" "Little more watchable" "the crowd will pop" - BOY OH BOY you sold me! Next you'll be saying "Better than ya think" and "not the worst thing ever" I dunno, Survivor Series looks better than say SummerSlam, or any PPV this year (except WM 19). IF everything hits, I think we'll be raving about it. I think anyone who is dumb enough to order this show will probably be dumb enough to think it's good. As usual.

THE TOKEN BLACK GUY RULED!! I can't believe I forgot about him. "Um... what are you doing here?" That was a great fucking scene. And the waiter is/was the TV Geek on beat the geeks... I kinda marked for that.

Oh, I post occasionally at Sherdog (John MacKinnon), MMA.TV (RudoValeTudo), Ironlife (RudoValeTudo), MMA-Fighter (John MacKinnon), and the DVDMB (which is a wrestling board, but I mainly post in the MMA section - it's a good section - as RudoValeTudo)... I prefer Ironlife - great highlight videos, not so many idiots, good quality posting... I don't post on MMAWeekly, I just rip their stuff and post it here

What you *could* do, is talk about mass-medias effect on Professional Wrestling. -TV (Early days, 40's/50's) -Cable/Satellite/PPV (80's) -Internet (90's)

Territorial System vs. National Expansion - it's a good metaphor for todays globalization issue and big business (even funnier, is that the merger of AOL/TW led to Pro Wrestling becoming monopolized). Of course, you'd have to know a lot about the "old school" and whatnot, so... Of Mats and Men: Rituals and Religious Imagery in Professional Wrestling by Lee Benaka http://www.deathvalleydriver.com/Benaka/th...sis(index).html This should give you some idears, if anything, it's good read. Marks vs. Smarks isn't even an issue, as Smarks are marks... the only difference is information. SS97 has been talked about to death and I wouldn't say it lead to todays current state - though what happened after it certainly did.

Yeah, the simple stuff like the paint-covered overalls bit, the painting stickfigures, the slowclap guy, the getting-packed-to-go-2-houses-down, was what really made that movie. Plus, the Spoiler (Highlight to Read): Molly Ringwald cameo was great.

YOUR TOURNAMENT Fight and TOURNAMENT Fighters of the day ARE: Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida Name: Wanderlei Silva Team: Chute Boxe Height/Weight: 5'11 / 199lbs. MMA Record: 22 - 3 - 1 Style: Muay Thai From Brazil Last Win: vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (Win *KO* - Pride: Total Elimination 2003) Notable Win: vs. Kazsuhi Sakuraba (Win *TKO* - Pride 13: Collision Course) vs. Name: Hidehiko Yoshida Team: Yoshida Dojo Height/Weight: 5'11 / 220lbs MMA Record: 3 - 0 - 0 Style: Judo From: Japan Last Win: vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (Win *Submission/Gi Choke* - Pride: Total Elimination 2003) Notable Win: vs. Don Frye (Win *Technical Submission/Armbar* - Pride: Shockwave)

It was a lot funnier than I expected. There's hints of brilliance in some parts, and in others it's just really bad.

The Cena thing is fine, cause it's more like Cena getting revenge than Cena saving the faces. Next week they will have to do something with Cena, Angle and Benoit - where Benoit and Angle are forced closer together by default because of Cena... Like.. *Benoit and Angle are talking strategy, they have a little dispute - nothing heated, but it shows that they still aren't on the same path* *Cena walks in* Cena: Yo, you wanted to see me. Angle: Yeah Cena: Well you can't see me, remember that! I didn't forget about No Mercy Kurt and.. Angle: I know, I know, thuganomics I know, but we've got to put that behind us now... Me and Chris don't like eachother either, right Chris *both look at Benoit* Benoit: Oh, yeah, that's right. Angle: Exactly, but we're facin some pretty bad dudes who just kicked our ass last week.. Cena: They ain't kick my ass dog, I just had somethin in my eye that's all. *Angle and Benoit look at each other* Cena: Yo, why you two lookin at eachother... you ain't... why the hell did you call me in here anyways???! Angle: We have to go over strategy.. Cean: Strategy, well ok *talks in uberwhite voice* let's see here, we have the big show and he's 500 pounds, and Nathan Jones he was in prison for a while, probably likes it up the ***, and *back to regular thug voice* and I'll beat them all down with my bare hands, they ain't got nothin on John Cena! Angle: That's fine John, but you have to think about your teammates here - you can't just be all wild and crazy cause that will put all of us in harms way.. Cena: I don't have to listen to you, fact is YOU NEED ME, I'm the.. *Benoit cuts in* Benoit: Listen up Cena, you're going to listen or I'll make you listen - those guys you were making fun of - Lesnar, Big Show, Jones, Morgan, Albert... they kicked our ass last week... and I want revenge... I want to make each one of them suffer, and if you stand in my way of doing that then I will take that pain out on you. *Angle steps in between them* Angle: Easy there Chris... settle down...we're all on the same team here... *Bradshaw walks in with a cooler and a cowboy hat on* Bradshaw: Who's ready for some beer!?!

I just don't get the mentality here... "Let's build-up Benoit a little bit and then let's break him down right away!" I understand that this show was meant to build up the Heyman team, and it did do a good job it seems, but jesus christ at what cost??!

I was not speaking historically. Funny, cause "always" sorta says differently. If AOL/T-W couldn't make a fed work --- why would ANYBODY try it? T-W did make a fed work. Even with all the garbage within, WCW still was a successful promotion for a good 3 years. The promotion would still be around if the merger didn't happen. If the NBA died --- would somebody replace it? Probably not. It's a ridiculously difficult proposition. Someone would try to. That's for sure. Whether or not they would be successful is another story. Brand recognition is tough, especially in sports. The UFC has been around for 10 years and they haven't broken into the mainstream. It takes sports decades to build up - luckily for basketball and wrestling, those decades have passed and it has already been established. Which means there would be someone seeing an opportunity...

The notion of Benoit bumping for Jones and Morgan sickens me.

Poor Benoit... Poor, Poor Benoit. Well, there goes that.