RavishingRickRudo

Fuck you, Cooper tells it like it is, no slant, no spin, no bias. Perspective, motherfucker, from 360 degrees. Ain't no anchor desk here, bitch.

The WWE WISHES they could even dare to aspire to be anything close to what The Real Catfight is. A-Coop rules.

MMA has much better names for their womens orgs. SMACKgirl. Reba is no where near Gilmore Girls level of awesome. But it is the quintessential "it's either this or CNN" show, and it KILLS CNN (though it has its work cut out if it ever went up against AC360). C'mon, Barbra Jean and Van ALONE make that show watchable. Then you have the hot blonde daughter and the kickass opening theme and Corky Sherwoods husband on Murphy Brown. "You are so wise. I am going to draw you as an OWL. With Fabio behind you."

Ok, no more of this. Reba is on.

Ok, Girls and Gay guys would watch womens wrestling. Fair enough. I don't watch anything named Shimmer. I had my affair with that sort of thing back when I watched JEM and She-ra and felt very, very ashamed of it... never again.

I just finished watching a KOTC fight where the guy who was gettin pretty dominated ended up winning after landing one elbow. This elbow didn't rock the guy or anything, but it did open up a massive cut. Now, this doesn't seem fair. So what should be done? Should they be illegal? Should fighters wear elbow pads? Should cut stoppages from single elbow strikes be reevaluated and declared No Contest instread of a TKO?

Why would anyone want to watch womens wrestling? Especially American Womens wrestling.

"ECW: Sloppy Seconds" just doesn't have the same ring, though it is probably more apt.

Let's not forget about squeezing out babies.

I used to like the Trish/Mickie feud, but its done gone retarded now.

Not to speak for LOTC, but this is in the WWE folder. I'd assume this is meant to be the WWE. Besides, we all know the best in NA is Georges. St. Pierre. The problem with the way the WWE is pushing Finlay is that no one is really reacting to him. Booker is putting him over, but Booker at this point is severely lacking credibility, so that probably hurts Finlay more than helps. They need to either have people fear him, or want to fight him.. at the very least they need to have him actually making an impact. There's no point in saying he's a tough irish bastard if the wrestlers just kinda ignore him. Yes, he's been getting it done in the ring, but that's not enough for him. The crowd reacts to high spots or garbage and you can push a wrestler in the ring based on that, but to this crowd they won't react to him at the current rate of push.

Nick Diaz. The kids been getting alot of shit. He dosent deserve all the hate and bad press. This is why he is the guy I like to see fight more than anybody in the UFC. To start he is gully. He has a big set, and is all heart. He's street, and he act's like it, not like a fucking nerd. The way alot of the UFC guys act these days. He is a real fighter who brings it everytime. He dosent take shit from nobody. He tell's it like it is. He dosent watch his P's and Q's. He talks the talk and walks the walk. I wish they would groom him some. Build him up. But since he is willing to fight anyone they will always put him in tough. But in the long run it will make him a better fighter. His UFC record wont be the best. But it will make him grow as a fighter and a man. Believe me I know. Diaz is my favorite UFC fighter. NYBA Phil B

The love comes from the fact that he's unconventional. Stomping on Benoits fingers, trapping guys in the ring apron, the double foot stomps, etc. It's refreshing.

Booker takes away from the match, he's very distracting (and fairly entertaining). I got no problem him commentating for a five minute match, but any big matches he should stay away. And Benoit still is #1. Finlay is #2.

The Juniors Division is about to get CHOKED OUT.

This provides some explanation from at least two POVs. Out of the Lions Shadow Frank Shamrock had trained Mo Smith for his two title fights, just as he had trained all the other Lions Den members for their fights. "I was at UFC II, and I had been to all of them," says Frank. "I had always been the observer. I had always been the trainer, and I never stepped into the light. And I never said, 'I trained so and so. I did this, and I did that.' I was there to help other people. I was there to support and help those people. So when the opportunity came along for me to step into the light and show people who I was, I took it. Unfortunately, his decision to fight in the next UFC, which would take place in Japan, would lead to Franks dismissal from the Lions Den. According to Bob Shamrock, the problem wasn't Frank's decision to fight, but rather how he went about landing the fight. Bob, acting on behalf of the Lions Den, help set the deal up with the UFC. "We started negotiating the terms and stuff," he says, "and then after about a week, none of the contracts had come in. They're pretty good about sending them out, and I was always good about getting them back right away. So I called Art Davie and asked why he hadn't sent the contracts. He said, 'Well, Frank called us and told us to send them directly to him." Bob relayed this news to Ken, and when Frank's big brother came home from teh WWE, all hell broke loose. When the dust settled, Frank left the Lions Den for good. "Probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," admits Frank. "Those people were my family. Everybody there - I've trained everybody from the bottom up. I was in all their corners. I was the trainer. As soon as Ken realized I could fight, I was the trainer. I didn't have a life. I lived with all those people, and all I did every day was train and focus and help them in their careers. And then when I thought it was my time, Ken said, 'It's not... no, it's not your time.' And I thought it was. I put in my time, I trained everybody, I did my work, I did what I was supposed to do, and I wanted it to be my time. And Ken didn't want that. He said, 'You can go, but you take nothing with you, you never use the name, and you're no longer part of this family.' And I went. And I never use the name, and I've never trained with those people again, and I have no relation whatsoever to them. They don't associate with me. I left with the clothes in my car and a pair of blue boxing gloves. That was a little while ago." - BRAWL by Erich Krauss and Bret Aita (Pages 168/69)

Well it all depends. The positives are they have investors in it and they are from the business realm who have an interest in fighting, rather than the other way around. They seem to have a plan, and I like plans. This is not something done on a whim. Second, the popularity of MMA in the US has exponentially increased in the past year, so it's hard to compare this with other fight organizations and their success because it's simply a different game now. The Team idea I am kinda mixed on, as I am with the seasons. I don't like conventional sports. So taking these two elements and putting them to MMA isn't really rubbing me the right way. I like the idea of putting the fighters on a salary so they can be sustained on an income and train effectively, but I don't exactly know how that is going to work. If you are going to do 3 rounds. At least do 3 X 5. Their entire fights at 3 X 3 are less than PRIDEs first round.

But then WWE can't have it's cake and eat it too. This is pretty much WWE in a nut shell.

Really interesting article about a company that is either brilliant or insane and the only way to find out is to see if they are successful. (From thefightnetwork.com) COMPETITION TO THE UFC? MEET THE IFL Kurt Otto and Gareb Shamus are the co-founders of a new league called the International Fighting League. Their goal is to create a league of different fight teams, not to mention putting fighters on salary. MMAWeekly.com caught up with Otto and Shamus and got their insight to the new IFL and what fans can expect with the newest MMA organization in the United States. MMAWeekly: Gentlemen take me through your background. How did you get involved in this project and how did you get involved in MMA. IFL: (Kurt Speaking): I'm 35 years old, I will be 36 very soon. I started training in Tae Kwon Doe in 1977 when I was 7. My middle brother, Keith, started training in 1986 and actually won the Gold Medal in the Goodwill games. It's something we've always loved. From 5th grade to High school, I also wrestled. I'm currently training at Renzo Gracie's in Jiu-Jitsu. It was natural to go into Jiu-Jitsu. I was just rolling around with Jens Pulver today and that was an amazing opportunity to roll with him. Georges St. Pierre has also been training there getting ready for his fight. I have a love for the sport. My occupation and profession, I'm in the architecture real estate development business. We design homes and purchase properties. It's a great business, but the problem is I can't compete or seriously train if I have a black eye and my nose is on the side of my face. It frustrated me to a certain extent. I live vicariously through fighters which I pay for on pay per view and my cable bill is proof of that. My brother and I are huge MMA fans and we really appreciate the sport and really support the sport by buying the PPV's and going to tons of live events and smaller shows. My brother and I were watching the smashing machine on HBO and I watched the documentary and it really hit home how these two champions (Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman) who were respected in the industry, and it's amazing how that Kerr got hooked on pain killers because there was no foundation or health insurance or retirement plan for these guys. They basically kick them to the side and say next, that sadden me. I turned to my brother and said there is no foundation or support system for these guys. If you look at pro sports like the NFL, NBA, or baseball, they have a support system in place that supports the athlete themselves. So I said, MMA doesn't have a league, let's start one. So here we are. We talked with the legends of the sport, they were all very excited about it so we have moved forward with a new fighting league. MMAWeekly.com: Tell me about the team concept? IFL: We believe because of the individualism of the sport, if that man or woman gets hurt and blows their knee or shoulder out and they are done, if a popular individual is hurt then that individual franchise is done. A team situation though with the five weight classes. Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavy and Heavyweight... those five weights will always be on that team. If we took a legend in the business and made him the coach, you would have five individual fighters competing under that legends system. There is all kinds of great camps that have their own specific style. Some have the ground Jiu-Jitsu style as their base while others preach other styles. So we thought it would be exciting to bring these camps together in a league and find out which style has the better style and who is more dominant. MMAWeekly: The concept sounds great, but it also sounds very expensive. We've seen groups come and go. I remember the ICC was going to revolutionize the industry and went away after one or two shows. How do you make this concept work, with a salary and insurance structure for all of the fighters in your league? IFL: I want you to understand one thing about the financial aspect as far as the fighters are concerned. If you look at the current opportunity for the fighters out there they are signing one, two or three fight deals with most organizations. Some give them say we will give you two or three, but lets see how you do the first one. So it forces these guys to have a full time occupation, whether they are a school teacher or police officer or whatever they are. It forces them to do full-time work first and do fighting part-time. We are not coming out of the gate saying these guys are going to make millions their first year, but what we are offering is a better opportunity for them financially to do this as a full-time profession under the MMA umbrella. If you look at what they are making now, they are making $2,000 and $2,000 (per fight) or 4 and 4 and you are only fighting once or twice a year, that doesn't cut it financially. What we are offering them is a base salary situation, plus a bonus system which we've created in the IFL to make an income they are proud of and be a fighter full-time. They can get into a house or an apartment, get a car and live like a human being. We've thought long and hard about this and how much those particular fighters would be making and we found we are offering them a very fair opportunity out there. Curt: I'm in the media business. We are always in a position where we are investing in very talented people to create products. This took advantage of what I've been doing the past 15 years which is reaching guys in the 18-34 demographic and really knowing what appeals to them and how it appeals to them and all the companies that want to reach this demographic. Whether its Movie studios, video game companies, TV network, toy companies, you name it. We’re constantly investing in new products whether new magazines, new events, trade stuff, publishing magazines all over the world. We have a lot of friends that all want a piece of this. We have an incredible investor group that will work with us, on top of us being investors in the business. MMAWeekly: Tell me about the rules of the IFL? IFL: We are going to have 8 to 10 teams the first full season. In the beginning we are going to start with four teams. Let fans see the format and the rules and the format of the show. I will give you an example. The four teams will compete against each other. It’s an elimination situation. Just to give a taste of what we are doing, then the full season starts. It will be in a ring, similar to Prides. It’s a very unique 5 ropes high, an oversized ring it’s going to be a very unique situation that happens in an arena that I can’t share with you right now, but it will be very exciting for the fans. There will be a lot of interaction in the arena. The first fight to happen in the second quarter this year. MMAWeekly: So how are the rules different in the IFL compared to regular MMA organizations? IFL: The rule changes are similar to the approved rules in MMA. We have eliminated elbows due to health issues. Due to cuts that happen by the elbow. Our fighters will be competing every six weeks, each team I should say will compete every six weeks once the full season starts, so you can see how many problems we would have with cuts due to elbows. We believe that there are plenty of times that fighters are hit with elbows that a fighter could continue, he’s fine, but they call the fight because of a cut because of the bleeding that occurs. We feel it’s a loss of income to a fighter and that affects the way a fighter makes a living. Number two it’s a safer environment with less cuts and head blows are unprotected compared to a glove. Gloves protect hands and their face where elbows do not. A blow to the face with a glove protects your hand compared to an open elbow. Number three, the sponsorship will be more attractive because of the rule change. I’ve been watching MMA for 10 years. There are times when guys are getting elbowed like crazy and it’s tough to watch and I’ve watched it since the beginning. Since we are taking this more mainstream and being affiliated with a major sports cable network and the sponsorship that is now behind this because we aren’t using elbows is very exciting for us. MMAWeekly: So knees are illegal? IFL: You can still knee. You call still elbow to the body, but not to the face or head. Soccer kicks are illegal. More similar to Pride rules without soccer kicks. The rounds will be 3x3 rounds, because we really want guys that are going to the ground to work. Our refs will be relentless to get them back on their feet if they aren’t going to work. It gives the stand up fighters a better shot as well. MMAWeekly: Doesn’t it hurt the guy on the ground with just 3 minute rounds? IFL: It really helps them get focused on what they are doing and forces them to get to work. We try to make it as fair as possible, but we believe that being that they are going to fight more often and train more often. By: Ryan Bennett MMA WEEKLY

They could continue to bring in guys for Joe to beat to sustain his reign, it's not really hard. You have to realize how quickly TNA television goes by. Think of it, we've already had 4 and a half months of television and there really hasn't been someone made during that time that wasn't already made before. Hot-shotting the win on someone, or giving the win to someone that is already established doesn't really make the best use of the build Joe has already gotten. This is where WCW failed with Goldberg. There has to be a pay-off.

The last match I saw him in he was getting squashed by Joe. The best idea, IMO, is to build someone up paralleling Joe. It would have to be someone fresh and untouched. Have the guy get Joes sloppy seconds and finish them quicker and more brutally than Joe. Never entertain the thought of putting the two together - never have Tenay or West mention it - and never have the two in the same room as each other. Do this consistently for at least 6-8 months. Then one day you just have the two face off and let the fans go nuts.

TNA has absolutely no right to punish guys for showing up on time; it completely violates their Independent Contractor status.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tth4cb-Fvow...ch=bas%20rutten The greatest thing ever.

Plus, HHH "won" the feud and Kurt failed in getting Steph. 2 months later HHH was in the biggest feud in the company against Austin and Angle was one of the weakest champions in company history. It may have been one of Angles most talked about feuds, but it didn't exactly do him any favours. HHH is right up there with Taker in "helping" Angles career.

I'm starting this thread cause I need an outlet to talk about this stuff. I love the shoot-style. When it's done right, there are very few things better. Once upon a time, when there were stretchers, hookers, and shooters, wrestlers used to be considered pretty dangerous guys. You wouldn't fuck with a professional wrestler. Then along came Gorgeous George and the like and eventually this breed of wrestler pretty much died out. Each generation of North American wrestler got watered down and so did their legitimacy. Today, professional wrestling is a joke, wrestlers are cartoons. The legitimacy simply isn't there. However, a select few carried the torch, trained by guys like Billy Robinson and Karl Gotch. Wrestlers such as Takada, Fujiwara, Sayama and Maeda. They started up the UWF in the 80's which was the starting-ground for the promotions to come, promotions like RINGS, SHOOTO, and UWF-i. The next generation of professional wrestlers that resulted from this pro wrestling mindset were the likes of Funaki, Tamura, and Sakuraba. In the spirit of Antonio Inoki in the 70's, Martial Artists from around the world were brought in to compete. A particular wealth of talent came from Russia and Volk Han was generally considered to be the best grappler not only from that country, but in the world. The fall of the shoot-style would have to be with shoots themselves. Inevitably, the desire for real fights became too great. By the time PRIDE started up, the tide started to turn and worked shoot companies pretty much died out and embraced real fighting. Today there are a few companies like U-Style that promote the shoot-style, but it's nowhere near its peak like it was in the 90's. In this thread I hope to relive those glory days plus check out some of the newer stuff. I just got done watching Frank Shamrock in a shootstyle match and enjoyed it immensely. I think modern fighters could have more success performing in shootstyle than workers shoots, and I hope that the trend continues in the future. But until then, here is a swank match between Kiyoshi Tamura and Volk Han from 1995 with my review below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILDFKwY6CfE&search=tamura Volk Han is a member of the Russian Top Team, formerly the home of uber-fighter Fedor Emelianenko. LordoftheCurry and I have always called the Russian top team "The Accountants" because they do not look like fighters at all. They are every day guys, there is nothing really impressive about them, physically. Their hair, their physiques, the expressions on their faces... they're accountants. Now, I loves me some Fedor, but all this time I did not know that Volk Han used to be "that guy" in Fedors corner. He's the tall accountant. And he's like the second coming of Karl Gotch in the way he works the crazy ass submissions. Kiyoshi Tamura might just be the greatest worked shooter of all time. His work in UWF-i is tremendous, his matches with Vader and Takada are some of my favourites. The guy is just really, really, really good at making things look real. The match starts off with Volk Han grabbing a standing keylock on Tamura and picking him up by his one hammerlocked arm and walking around the ring with him. That just may be my new favouritest move. The action gets taken down to the mat with Han still holding on to the arm, trying to hook his legs across Tamuras body for the cross-arm breaker, which Tamura scoots around and grabs Hans leg for a heelhook, and then Han stands up and crosses Tamuras legs together and falls back down for a sorta figure four cross heel hold... this is all in, like, 20 seconds. I won't do PBP for the rest of the match, because as you can read it's very complicated stuff and very hard to describe. The moves come very naturally and the two feed holds to each other throughout the match. These counters are logical, but the pace itself is sped up from what you'd normally see in a shoot. There isn't the premium placed on positioning or scoring points as you'd see in grappling matches at ADCC, so they go for holds a lot quicker than usual. The matwork is very fluid and there is a diversity of moves, even if they centre around armlocks and leglocks. This is technical wrestling. Where this differs from traditional wrestling is that there is no story to it. Two guys trading holds, trying to get the better of each other, until one finally sinks in for the finish. That's it. Each guy is trying to beat the other. It's not grand. There are little theatrics. None of these guys pander to the crowd, or rally their support. They don't work limbs. They don't really build towards the finish, or have pay-back spots. The standard wrestling conventions simply aren't there. The excitement comes from the subtleties in the work, it comes in the movement and holds. It comes from the personalities, as well, in that you want one to win and the dramatics come from how close they are to winning or losing. Tamura is especially excellent at conveying danger, anticipation, importance, etc. of various moves and submissions through his body language and his facial expressions. My favourite moment in the match is about 3/4's of the way through (around the 8 minute mark), when -after all this mat wrestling and trading of holds and rope breaks and the like- the two are standing after Tamura frantically gets a rope break, and he levels Han with a kick to the solar plexus which puts him down immediately. The swings in the match also help create the excitement, as the fans are very into the "near fall". The selling by both guys is tremendous after this move. Han has his arms on the ropes, trying to catch his breath. Tamura is horny and anxious. Like, that dude just wants in there right away so he can finish the job. He sees the opportunity and he doesn't want Han to recover. Han is very sluggish in his movements while Tamura is frisky and perhaps over-anxious. Eventually Han gets back in control of the match and is able to get the upper-hand on Tamura standing. From watching his matches with Vader, Takada, and now Han, I don't think anyone plays "dazed and woozy" better than Kiyoshi Tamura. The finish is fitting for the match. It comes after a near fall/10 count spot when Tamura gets knocked down by Han after a flurry. They end up on the ground where Han has a keylock (or maybe an Americana) on the arm and traps Tamuras leg with his so Tamura can't roll out of it. They were able to catch the crowd when they were still hot after the near fall and it came at a point where the trading-moves didn't become repetitive. This is a truly great grappling match, I haven't seen many that can rival it, certainly none in North America. This is what mat wrestling is, not the Eddie/Dean pinning sequences or the armdrag and headlock crap you get on the indy scene. It was logical, it was well performed, and it worked. It should be required viewing. As an aside, I would love to see MMA guys work this style as I think they could do it very, very well. They could mix it up on the ground and standing, which would be an absolute delight. **** ~!