RavishingRickRudo

I hope I die before WP just so I can have "He died incredibly disappointed that Lesnar/Benoit didn't happen at the 2004 Royal Rumble" on my tombstone first.

When the XFL bombed it officially became "uncool" to be a fan of the WWE. No one wants to be associated with a failure.

I think HHH competes with the XFL for the fall of the WWE.

BUT, Lesnar coming out at the end says that for Batista, there is no time to stop and smell the roses. He went from the frying pan with HHH, into the fire with Lesnar. And um, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Of course, that means HHH has to take a step down. Which is why it would never happen.

See, I don't care about Batista's win, so I'm willing to sacrifice his "big moment" for the killer face-to-face showdown. It contrasts WM20's finish with Guerrero/Benoit hugging, and makes for a nice transition from HHH to Lesnar.

Benoit vs. Lesnar is the biggest positive, IMO.

End Wrestlemania with him and Batista face-to-face.

Man, HHH works hard over the past 2 months with Batista and gets me to start liking him again and then this. I think part of the blame should go to the interviewers who keep asking him the same question, so he has the same, rehearsed, answer for everything. If the interviewers were better, they'd know his answers and then bring up a counter to it. As is, they were feeding him the questions. But as bad as he is, his fans are so much worse. HHH didn't put anyone over last year. For HHH to put someone over, he'd have to be under them. How does this concept get lost on people? There wasn't a single point during the year when that happened - he held on to the top spot on RAW like Steph holds on to the drumsticks on thanksgiving.

I am slowly, but surely, getting through the show. I am loving some stuff, and hating others. Love: The look. Sweet Jesus who-ever is in-charge of production should be given 10 raises. One of my peeves about their old Nashville shows was that the set pieces looked so damn amateurish. Now, it's amazing. IMO the whole production set-up blows the WWE away. I love the use of light, I love the circular entranceways, I love the docu-style camera shots, I love the video packages and the voice overs and the studio footage/"wrestlers looking at the camera with flashing lights on them and a black background motif". It looks fresh, and that's one of my biggest problems with the WWE right now - the look has been the same for way too long. Hate: Some of the camera work. One, often moves a missed and only the aftermath is shown. Two -and this is something the WWE does well, but too often-, the right camera shot can make a shit move look good; they don't quite understand this. One particular moment was when Roode was choking Storm (I believe) and it was a horrible, HORRIBLE choke. Like, his hand was RESTING on the guys throat, and meanwhile he's kicking up his legs like he's putting effort in it (meanwhile Storm is not selling it). The right shot would have been from behind/over the shoulder but instead they completely expose that move to the audience -Kevin Dunn would have caught that right away and switched immediately, but they KEPT THE SHOT. Hate: As a follow-up on the last point with the choking, some of the wrestlers kinda suck. Not so much suck skill-wise, but they just don't know how to work a match. Some guys just try to do things they can't do. Skipper vs. Dutt, for example. There was a bunch of kicking spots during that match that -if done properly- would have looked GREAT. But they were complicated spots. They were trying to be RVD/Jerry Lynn, but what they forget is that RVD and Jerry wrestled each other a billion times and had those sequences down pat so it flowed well and it looked good. The spots in the TNA match were awkward and convoluted. Good wrestlers know they're limits and don't try to do anything they can't do. Love: The Team Canada/Americas Most Wanted tag match. That was the best tag match I've seen in a long while. It was even better than RVD/Mysterio vs. Dupree/Suzuki SMACKDOWN! I loved how they paced it. AMW started out strong and made Team Canada their bitch. A great way to open the match and get the fans interested. Team Canada was fantastic at selling the beating and I got this sleazy, pathetic, Jimmy Del Ray vibe off of Young. Team Canada came back and controlled most of the match and built towards the hot finish. I think the finish had "too much of a good thing" going on. IMO, it should have finished with a Death Sentence after the heart attack near fall. Or finish with the superswank suplex/powerbomb/neckbreaker spot. I'd rather have an exclamation point ending than the one that they had. Hate: Mike Tenay and Don West. I'd like Don West more if he didn't sound like Bobby Hill when he's screaming. I hate Bobby Hill. And Tenay is just awful. How does this guy win best announcer awards? I liked him in WCW when his professor schtick was limited and he had someone else to direct traffic, but when he's in that spot he just doesn't work. He is just "And how about..." the whole time. Random point after random point, which was fine when there was Tony and Brain to bounce them off, but here? His voice gets irritating pretty quickly. Love: Dustin Rhodes. Fuck yeah. The WWE needs to sign him and team him with JBL and then eventually feud him with JBL. That would fucking rule. Hate: Kid Kashes sleeper hold. That was the worst sleeper ever. He was fucking cradling Dustins head like a fucking baby. 15 years and you don't know how to do a sleeper? FUCK. Hate: The entrances. 1. The music sucks. I hate Jimmy Hart rip-offs. 2. I don't like the continous nature. The wrestler doesn't even get to the ring and his opponents music starts up. Sometimes, a big entrance is needed and there needs to be a pause. Then again, I love PRIDE's 10 minute entrances so maybe that's personal taste. Love: The Scott Hall/Piper spot with the weapons. Hall searching Piper was awesome.

The best point he made for having "names" like Nash around is that TNA can con other _companies_ and money marks using those names. "We got KEVIN NASH, who is a HUGE WRESTLING STAR, and sold LOTS OF MERCHANDISE in WCW and the WWF" and that is better leverage than saying "We got AJ STYLES, who is a MINOR WRESTLING STAR, and is loved by HUNDREDS of fans on the INTERNET". So if having those names gets them sponsors, or toy deals, or whatever, then that's cool. Unless, of course, the return isn't as great as the investment, which I am betting is the case, then those contracts should be re-evaluated. With that said, Kevin Nash is definitely a step up from just having Raven, Road Dogg, and other B/C-Level wrestlers as the "stars". I could almost buy the notion of his presence legitimizing TNA. Almost. He's still an old man.

I think it should be in "Choose Your Own Adventure" style. TNA Folder: "If you want to fly to India and find the trunk-full-of-gold, go to Current Events. If you want to take the train to Italy to stop the evil Mr. Moriarty, go to Site Feedback" Site Feedback: "Moriarty is gone. He left you a note. "Dear reader, I am in India." PWN3D!" ... and so forth.

I think you just turned me gay.

http://www.susumug.com/photo_window_event....=24&bout_id=366 ???

Danny is God. (Danny, on his favourite movies) "...Cremaster 1, Cremaster 2, Cremaster 4, Cremaster 5 (Cremaster 3 was just too commercial for me)" GOD, I say.

It's amazing how Vera, who bailed on the team, is getting hugged and praised. STEVE FORBES!!!!

"Oh man, this is awesome. The booksmart black chick is going to snap in the second episode. The white people will destroy her brain with their guitarness." SHE SNAPPED! I... I... I am going to... um... stop living now... My greatness cannot be contained in this life. Farewell, all.

Who the fuck schedules a show at 8:30? Seriously? Jesus.

I saw it in a video store up here in Mississauga, and there were plenty on display (BR and BRII). It surprised me.

I think all the people who went to see TPM will see this one, and TPM did great business.

This will do insane business, cause this is what everyone has been wanting in the last 2 movies and didn't get. They better give some good time to Vader and building towards A New Hope, and not just the last 20 minutes. But I am doubting that. I am not a huge star wars fan, so I liked the last 2 movies well enough, but they need some serious pay-offs in the next one cause I don't think they accomplished that much in the TPM and TCW.

WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN~!

Here's the thing about being cool. No matter what you do, no matter what happens, no matter how hard you try, you will stop being cool. And in todays world, you stop being cool pretty quickly. Batista being cool now really doesn't mean anything, because it's such a fickle thing. Now, the WWE hasn't been cool in a long, long time, so there is obvious advantages in pushing Batista, _however_ does his character WORK as champ? Does he _have_ to be champ? Another thing to consider. IMO, they'd probably prolong his popularity by _not_ giving him the title.

I can't believe KIMBO SLICE has made an appearance in this thread.

They've already been watering down Batista by having him face Vis and La Rez and he panders to the crowd WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much.