RavishingRickRudo

I remember about 6 months before it happened, there were rumours of Linda McMahon talking with execs. It was one of the only times I ever thought "It would never happen". Had I known that WCW would have been purchased for under $5 million, I would have changed my tune. I still can't get over how they fucked it up. They had Hogan, Nash, Hall, Bischoff, and Goldberg... problem was, they didn't bring them in at the same time and instead used big names like Lance Storm, Hugh Morris, and Booker T. Not to mention making the storyline Another McMahon vs. McMahon storyline, rather than WCW vs. WWE. It's telling about the wrestling business that morons like this are still far-and-away the most successful promotion in North America. Or perhaps its telling about wrestling fans.

I am lifting this from THE LAW website for now. More comprehensive cards can be expected in the future. All I gotsta say is HOLY SHIT! ULTIMATE FIGHTER FINALE DATE: April 9th at 9pm EST LOCATION: Las Vegas, Nevada @ The Cox Pavilion MAIN EVENT: Ken Shamrock Vs Rich Franklin CARD: *Light Heavyweight Finals: Sam Hoger or Forrest Griffin/Bobby Southworth Vs Mike Swick or Stephan Bonner *Middleweight Finals: Diego Sanchez vs. Kenny Florian *Chris Leben Vs Jason Thacker *Nate Quarry Vs Loudin Sincaid *Josh Rafferty Vs Alex Karalexis PRICE: Free on Spike TV DETAILS: A very successful reality series for both UFC and Spike TV with rumors of a second season being discussed. Originally this was only going to be a 1-hour finale but was increased to 2.5 (meaning "Velocity" gets dumped that week for UFC). It's not going to hurt the wallet, so why not? Should be a good show and some excellent promotion for the UFC PPV the following Saturday night. AND IF YOU'RE REALLY HARDCORE: It's "UFC Day" on Spike TV and they will air the entire "Ultimate Fighter" series starting at 9am and it goes right up to 9pm. So it's 14.5 hours of straight UFC! Booya! UFC "COUTURE VS LIDDELL II" DATE: April 16th 2005 LOCATION: Las Vegas, Nevada @ MGM Grand Garden Arena MAIN EVENT: Randy Couture Vs Chuck Liddell for the Light Heavyweight Title CARD: *Matt Hughes Vs Frank Trigg for the Middleweight Title *Matt Lindland Vs Travis Lutter *Georges St. Pierre Vs Jason Miller *Lee Murray Vs Patrick Cote *Joe Riggs Vs Ivan Salaverry *Renato Sabral Vs Travis Wiuff *Mike Van Arsdale Vs John Marsh PRICE: $29.95 DETAILS: Coming off the "Ultimate Fighter" series this has the chance to be the most successful UFC PPV since Shamrock Vs Ortiz in November 2002. Couture dominated their first fight back in June 2003. This will easily appeal to the casual fan as well due to their visibility as the coaches on the series. This will also be Lee Murray's first appearance on PPV since April 2004. PRIDE BUSHIDO VOLUME 6 DATE: April 14TH 2005 LOCATION: Yokohama, Japan @ The Yokohama Arena MAIN EVENT: Fedor Emelianenko Vs Tsuyoshi Kosaka CARD: (shown in this order) *Dennis Kang Vs Oba Takahiro *Amar Suloev Vs Paulo Filho *Dean Lister Vs Akira Shoji *Daisuke Nakamura Vs Marcus Aurelio *Luis Firmino Vs Luis Azeredo *Daijyu Takase Vs Daniel Acacio *Aleksander Emelianenko Vs Ricardo Morais *Ryuta Sakurai Vs Murilo Bustamante *Ikuhisa Minowa Vs Gilbert Yvel *Suloev/Filho winner Vs Lister/Shoji winner (to get into Pride GP tournament) *Fedor Emelianenko Vs Tsuyoshi Kosaka PRICE: $19.99 DETAILS: This will air on 4/14 on tape delay on PPV. The main event is very intriguing because Kosaka is the only man to have ever beaten Emelianenko (back in RINGS). Bustamante is one of the best middleweights out there so I expect that to be a good match with Sakurai. This is one of the better Bushido cards on paper. PRIDE GRAND PRIX: TOTAL ELIMINATION DATE: April 23rd 2005 LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan @ Saitama Super Arena MAIN EVENT: Wanderlei Silva Vs Hidehiko Yoshida CARD: *Wanderlei Silva Vs Hidehiko Yoshida *Dan Henderson Vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira *Yuki Kondo Vs Igor Vovchanchyn MORE 1st ROUND MATCHES TBA *Participants: *Wanderlei Silva *Hidehiko Yoshida *Antonio Rogerio Nogueira *Dan Henderson *Igor Vovchanchyn *Yuki Kondo *Quinton Jackson *Kazushi Sakuraba *Mauricio "Shogun" Rua *Kazuhiro Nakamura *Vitor Belfort *Alistair Overeem *Kevin Randleman PRICE: $29.99 DETAILS: This will be another strong tournament out of Pride. Tons of strong names in there and some dream matches. My sleeper pick is Vovchanchyn, who has dropped down in weight and just looked awesome at the "Fists of Fire" PPV, though Silva is clearly going to be the guy to beat in this tournament. Can't wait for this one.

The problem with Bradshaw is that they immediately put him up to the ME ranks. One day he is the beer drinking Texan, the next he is the rich guy from NYC. They dedicated TWO segments to transition from one to the other. He turned on Faarooq and that was it. With CCC, there is a natural transition because of his past relationship with Cena. Bradshaw is mad, he wants Cena dead, he goes to the guy who had him stabbed. Logical stuff. CCC sees that as an opportunity, and possibly has for a while. He also sees that controlling the world title means that he can control the GM position (to a point). It has been well established that Carlito wants Teddy Long gone. From the end of Mania-on, we are to assume that CCC has formulated a plan that will ultimately be fulfilled at the Great American Bash. This gets CCC over as a super-smart heel. And up until that point, he'll be an upper-mid carder, not a ME'er. When they build him up as a face, he'll be interacting with Rey and Eddie and Cena, this will give him an uppercard rub. When he seconds Cena in the title match with Bradshaw, the focus is still on Cena. Then when he turns heel, he will be alligned with the top heel, this is more rub. It may appear that he is a lackey of JBL, like the rest of the cabinet. What makes him the uber-heel is when it is revealed that he has been playing JBL -formerly the top heel- all along. He goes from playing second-fiddle, to leading the pack. These are all, of course, nuances that will never ever ever ever ever be recognized and developed by the WWE. They'd do what they did with Bradshaw - shoot em up to the top of the card and hope he sticks. IMO they totally fucked up on JBL vs. Cena, where they could have recreated Austin/Hart, and if they used this storyline, they could have made an NWO-style storyline. Two of the best storylines in the 90s that started the boom are right there. I'm not saying that there would be a great level of success, but in terms of storytelling, it would be fantastic.

I'd also have The Undertaker play The Crow Sting role, where Randy Orton (with the help of CCC) eventually beats the Undertaker, and no one (Cena, Bradshaw, Eddie, Rey, etc) is there to help him. Have Taker go away for a while (coughCasketmatchcough). So when they need Takers help, there is the question in whether or not Taker will get involved.

It wouldn't be booked around him, it would be booked around the storyline/group. It is an ensemble piece, if you will. His main role would be to act sly and evil, and he'd only wrestle on major shows. It's certainly not a new concept, but it doesn't have to be as long as there are new people doing it. I don't even _like_ CCC (either in-ring or as a promo), but apparently some people do enjoy his character. This would not be a wrestling push, it would be a character push. In terms of in-ring, it would be more booked around Cena and Bradshaw. Add in guys like Eddie and Rey into the mix, and you got yourself some workrate. This sort of angle affords a revolving door in the top spots and can progressively build until Teddy Long comes back and removes the Evil GM from power and gives the good guys the upperhand and ultimately the win. This, really, is an extension of the Cena/Bradshaw saga, and Bradshaws 2004 Big Heel Run . In this case, it is not who is the champion that matters, it is who _wants_ it, and who is _protecting_ it that matters, which -in theory- makes it more valuable.

Depending on how Mania goes, if Bradshaw loses. - Have Bradshaw go up to Carlito and say "I hear you can get things done", Bradshaw wants Cena dead, Carlito says no, Bradshaw gets upset, commercial break. - Later on in the show, have Bradshaw and Cronies beat up Carlito, Cena comes in for the save. - Build Carlito up as a face, trying to get on Cenas good side (don't make it soooo obvious, but have Carlito return the favour on the beat down on the next Smackdown) - Have Carlito make amends to Teddy Long, says he doesn't mind being his personal assistant/lackey whatever. - Build build build, do some of the classic face stuff with Carlito. Have him bring out the ladies, have him team up with Rey and Eddie, etc, etc, etc, etc. Meanwhile, have Bradshaw et. co out to get him. At about the 6th Smackdown after Mania, have them put Carlito in the hospital with a broken leg/arm. - Teddy Long makes a title match on the 8 or 9th Smackdown after Mania. Saying that each man can have 1 person in their corner. Bradshaw has OJ, Cena has CCC. - The match happens, CCC turns on Cena by removing his cast and clocking him with a steel bar that was hidden in it (or something). Bradshaw pins and wins. They raise each others' hands and then show a dazed and bloodied Cena on the Titantron what was said to each other AFTER Carlito said "no" to Bradshaws initial proposal (what the commercial break hid). Then they show Carlito and the Cabinet faking the beatdown. No big surprises here. Teddy Long comes out but before he can say anything he gets beat down. Carlito destroys him. Blood everywhere. Carlito says the plan worked perfectly. - The next week it is revealed that Teddy cannot perform his GM duties, so they bring in a substitute GM - insert whoever here- (a face GM). The GM declares a 3 way at the Great American Bash, Carlito vs. Bradshaw vs. Cena. - Cena tries to get into OJ's head about Bradshaw favouring Carlito more, and how Carlito is pulling the strings, etc, etc, etc. A nice side story to develop. - At the PPV, have the standard 3 way match, but in the end, when Bradshaw is about to pin Cena, have CCC clock Bradshaw with the belt (or something) and pick up the pin. OJ and the Cabinet come out, look at CCC, JBL starts yelling at them to take out CCC, CCC shows them the belt, they turn on JBL. The GM comes out with an angry look on his/her face, but then smiles and raises CCC's hand. CCC picks up the mic and says the plan worked perfectly. - The Smackdown after that, have Cena pissed and Bradshaw devestated and confused. They discover (eventually) that they need each other to beat CCC and his crew and form a Superteam. CCC can bring over someone from Raw here (Orton preferably, and if Orton was already traded, he still can be brought into the fold). This can be carried all the way through Summerslam and beyond and guys can be cycled through it (Big Show, Eddie, Rey, Orton, Taker) and it would elevate everyone IMO, given the grandeur of the angle. I also think CCC turning on Bradshaw would make him an even bigger heel, and would make Bradshaw a pretty big face, especially since Bradshaw can cut an awesome pissed off face promo and he's been given enough heel time over the past year to where the fans would grab on to him being a face. That is the real twist: CCC becoming the #1 heel and Bradshaw sharing #1 face status with Cena. The evolution of Bradshaw becoming a face wouldn't happen in one show, it would take a few weeks to develop. He needs to be down and out. He needs to be drunk in the gutter. He needs Cena to bring him back up. He needs to keep the rich guy gimmick, but play it towards the positive (he is funding the operation).

It's probably the best evidence that Kevin Smith is the greatest storyteller ever, as Kevin tells the Superman story in "An Evening with Kevin Smith" and builds it up for 15 minutes for an outstanding punchline.

The fact that Kawada and Benoit wrestled and I only find out about it now makes me want to cry...and then kill... kill for the match. Ditto Benoit/Albright. Though I doubt it would live up to expectations as it's early-on in all of their careers. If it would have happened in 1995, sweet mama jesus.

*nods* Dammit, you made me miss the IRON LEFT HAND. *edit* ... or would that be THE LEFT HAND OF STEEL~!

Nope. It was everything a cruiserweight match shouldn't be, and everything a WWE match is.

The Bashams music is horrible. Jindrak needs a character, and a reason for people to cheer for him. But that goes for 90% of the roster... 95%... 99%...

I'm thinkin they could have Funaki and Paul find a time machine and go back in time to find old wrestlers from the past... it'd be Sho and Pauls Excellent Adventure

Paul London is reminding me of a certain someone... Make it happen.

They need Don Callis/Cyrus on commentary JUST to make fun of Josh and Steve by intentionally being more whiter than them.

I hate watching cruisers brawl.

http://bjj.org/techniques/ This is a good resource for BJJ moves. Bicep Slicer is in there Anaconda Choke Americana

The last Thunder was SOOOOOOOOO much better.

Lyoto Machida def. BJ Penn by Decision (3-0) Sam Greco def. Heath Herring at 2:41 in the first round by TKO (soccer kick after Heath went down with a twisted knee) ABUH?!

Wow, Steph could not be more of a dumbass.. despite being good at challenges. Bobby Jon looks like Jesus, and James' god says "E" has to go. Such a quotable episode.

It's 2 hours cause SHIT FUCKING HAPPENS.

HOLY SHIT!

I like the fact that Rob and Amber switched places with Lynn and Alex, from 5th to 1st

KONICHIWA BITCHES!

I can't wait to see the reaction to Rob and Amber getting on the plane.

MENDOOOOZAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!