RavishingRickRudo

Awesome, I wanted to hear No Mercy brought up and one of my biggest peeves is the create-a-wrestler where you can change them any colour and make their head huge. Their style effecting how much damage their moves do is awesome as well. I am, officially, wanting to play this game now.

That said, I think Benoit ended up fine in the end, because they made him look like a million bucks on RAW for about 8 weeks. Could you, uh, splain this?

Wrestling is built on deceit, fer cryin out loud. When two guys plan to "fake" a fight, so they can get money out of the "marks", it's not exactly an honest business.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race6/show/ep06/ Here's a recap.

THEY WEREN'T. Kendras titties were, but Hayden kept the ladies inside the house on this one. Unfortunately, Gus's titties were on display the most.

When Vince screwed Bret, he showed absolutely no loyalty to the wrestler who paid his dues, who respected "the business", so fuck him and the business. Wrestling is and always will be me-first; it's sleazy, it's scummy, and it deserves no respect. Fuck the mentality of "no one is bigger than the business", the whole business is based on being bigger than the business.

I forgot Daily Show B+

It does mean Destiny. ... I was hoping the Sodomy thing never came up.

Here's what I wrote in the Lesnar/Benoit/Cena Smackdown thread Benoit didn't "lose" to Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar did not "beat" Chris Benoit. Brock Lesnar's intention in that match was to make Benoit tap. Brock Lesnar's intention in that match was to never tap again. He tapped to Benoit, he couldn't tap Benoit out. He "won" the match, but he did not "beat" Chris Benoit. Next week have Tazz interview Brock in the middle of the ring, have Brock brag about tapping out Benoit and have Tazz say "Brock, you may have won that match, but you did not tap out Chris Benoit. Chris Benoit never gave up." then have Brock go nuts. Benoit yelling in pain and then going completely silent was a nice touch. I would have liked to have seen a "no no" finger wave that slowly dies down, for the visual - but that's just me. Brock Lesnar is the guy who has, thus far, been given everything. He's the spoiled rich kid (yeah, I know, grew up on the farm). He's physically gifted. He doesn't know defeat and he doesn't want to know it (yeah, I know, he's been beaten). Benoit is the poor lil rat from the wrong side of the tracks who was taken under the wing of one of the greatest wrestlers who ever lived (yeah, ok, dunno if he was poor and Stu Hart was legendary, but his status is debatable). He's worked his way up. He suffered. He paid the price. He knows the value of that championship. To Brock, the title belt is just another trophy. To Benoit, the title represents everything that he has worked for in his 17 years in the business. He has never been handed anything, and when he gets something - it gets snatched from him. But not now. He tapped out to Angle but he will never tap out again. Time is short and he needs to get it done NOW. I'd like for next week, to have Albert look for benoit - "WHERES BENOIT!" he asks as he bullies around staff and wrestlers. Build it up as if he wants his money back. When he finally confronts a distraught Benoit, he stops and shakes his hand. Even though he lost 10, 000, the performance Benoit gave was priceless. To Albert - to the fans - Benoit never lost. The story can go both ways - which is what makes it good. Since the WWE doesn't have anything that can TOUCH that in terms of feelgoodness and depth and Benoit IS the most deserving for that title and the fans SO wanted him to win that match, Benoit going over Brock would be the best thing... of course, I'm a bit biased. Brock vs. Holly doesn't need to be for the title, Angle is coming back near rumble-time, I'm thinkin Benoit vs. Angle, Brock vs. Holly at NWO would be just fine . Angle comes back and says "what the hell? Chris Benoit is champion? Well, I beat him last time, I'll do it again" - Benoit goes over, thus cementing his status as champion. A Benoit title reign freshens things up - you can work numerous possibilities. Benoit vs. Eddie, Benoit vs. Cena, Benoit vs. Angle, are the main ones. I'll elaborate on that... Mania is for the Hogans and the Rocks. Benoit is not them. Benoit is not a posterboy. You'll never see him come down on a zip-line, or have pyro. He doesn't make ladies scream. There were several shots tonight that showed that Benoit ain't a pretty man (good camera work, good emotion by Benoit - you really see his "character" when he's in-pain. It's the Austin/Blood-factor.) When Benoit beat Cena tonight, the joy he showed - he was happy, he was proud, winning actually meant something to him. I dug the shit out of that. He didn't go into the crowd and celebrate, he didn't jump up on the ropes and have flashbulbs go off - it was more of a private moment.

Monday: RAW D- Tuesday: Amazing Race 6 B Wednesday: LOST A+ Thursday: CSI A, Survivor B Saturday: Velocity D+ Sunday: Arrested Development A+

He isn't efficient with his words, too much filler and fluff. It appears he thinks length = quality. It's pretty common stuff, easy to spot, and god awful to read. I skimmed some of what he wrote, - An excellent promo and a money promo are two different things. Christian is one of the best actors they have, his delivery is great as is his timing, he doesn't flubb his lines nor does he sound rehearsed. His promos, however, don't make me want to (a)see his matches, let alone (b)pay to see his matches. I also disagree (with Loss) on Rock cutting money promos for the same reason. 95% of Rocks promos are "entertaining" promos rather than "money promos", no doubt Rock *can* cut these promos, but I really only can name a few that he actually *has* cut. And there really hasn't been one since his Hogan promo "..With THE ROCK?", and even then, I mean c'mon, it's Hulk fucking Hogan and his returning Wrestlemania, not that hard to make. - Christian was not better in-ring than Hogan. Aside from crazy bumps (and even then Jeff Hardy and Edge usually outshined Christian in terms of reaction), Christian has been unable to get a fraction of the excitement and emotion out of a crowd that Hogan could and can. Hogan was a fantastic dramatist, which is a huge part of in-ring wrestling. -_Wrestlers_ will say that the territorial system was better for developing talent than todays system. It's just logical. - "Heat" is the crowd reaction, it doesn't just relate to boos. You are way out of your league here, it would be best for everyone if you just stop. "In-ring" storytelling is a HUGE part of wrestling. Do you watch a movie and say "God, that SUCKED but the storytelling and emotion were great"?

I think HHH will have Brock run in when it's time for him to drop the title, so the focus can be on "Brock Lesnar returned! (and cost HHH the title) than "X beat HHH". Well, that's what _I'd_ do, if I were HHH. Lesnars return will get a huge pop, just in the "OMG Lesnar returned, and I am seeing it live!" vein. However, once that intial pop dies down, people will remember and the boos will start up. It would probably be best to make him the ultimate outsider/tweener. That way you can maximize fan interest, where people tune in to see what Brock does. Vince will probably have the GM's ban Lesnar from ringside and Brock keeps running in on matches "wanting back in". Here's a lil poll... How should Brock come back: a) A run-in on a WWE/World Title match, costing champion X the title or wrestler X the match. b) A general run in, squashing everyone in the ring. c) "Is that, is that BROCK LESNAR in the audience?! What is HE doing here?" d) Lights Out. Lights On. F-5. e) Random people are found laid out backstage, sez a victim, "It was... LESNAR!" *music* Lesnar comes out cuts a promo (or, end show... Lesnar starts off the next show with a promo) f) Other (insert your scenario here)

Kendra has a tremendous rack, how dare any of you say bad things about her.

Hogan/Andre was a great match. Hogans selling and facial expressions were off-the-charts. The story was fantastic, where Hogan had to work and struggle and go through hell to keep his title. He couldn't win it right off the bat with a powerslam, he couldn't just hulk-up and get it over quickly, he had to tire the Giant down. This was incredibly difficult because Andre was playing the smart game - he maximized the smallest of moves to its full potential, but he also used a variety of moves to keep it from getting boring and repetitive (Hogans selling of each move was fantastic, he walked the line of over-the-top at times, but there is a lot of subtle selling that made the beating seem real). The key spot in this match was Andre backdropping Hogan onto the floor on the outside, and in doing so expended the most amount of energy (what he was trying to avoid for the whole match). Quickly after that Hogan was able to get Andre down and from there it was over. The pacing was unique for a WWE main event, and didn't run the regular formula that we now see. 95% of it was dominated by the heel (Andre was particularly good at elliciting a crowd reaction, in setting the tone) and the end came very quickly. It was a short match, 10 minutes at most, which was just right for the capabilities of the two men. Then there was the atmosphere, which was probably the best for any match I've seen in the WWE, and the commentating, which was well done.

I just figured he'd torture Heyman into signing another match. A match at the Rumble would have been much better than a match at Mania, the story was already there. Benoit tapped at the last rumble against Angle, didn't tap against Lesnar, there's progression there. It's just too much a fit to pass up. If Edge knew who his attacker was, why didn't he report them to the police? Or exacted a contrived plan for revenge from his hospital bed? HUH?

Benoit would have beaten Lesnar for the title at RR, not Wrestlemania.

He speared Bischoff for no reason. ISN'T THAT ENOUGH FOR YOU?!? I am not so sad about them not following up on "who hit Edge?" given the success of "Who hit Austin?". Maybe when Edge is in limbo, creative will say Simon Dean hit him. But it was an accident, cause Simon was so fat back then that he couldn't see Edge in his way and knocked him out by mistake with a giant hoagie.

I like how this works under the premise that the WWE only sucks right now because there isn't competition (as if competition doesn't exist from external sources like Monday Night Football, CSI, etc), not because they're complete idiots. God, I feel dumber right now after reading that. Oh, btw, The UFC's new show "The Ultimate Fighter", will be premiering after RAW on January 17th. Just sayin.

There are surrounding factors which influence heat that may not be related to the content in the match. The crowd can be "into" a bad match if the two wrestlers are popular enough, the build was good enough, or if they just hadn't seen wrestling in a long time. The objective of a wrestling match is to work the fans - to connect with them, to motivate them, to get them to cheer and boo, to make them feel like their money was well spent. If a technically great match fails to do it, then there was a disconnect. The wrestlers were too focused on went on in the ring than what was going on in the stands. It's a common problem with some indy matches where its just spot after spot after spot and guys looking to do something crazy where they assume the fans will react. A big part of wrestling is "playing off the crowd" and it's something that was taught in the 80's that tends not to be taught now; and it certainly is something that is learned through experience. However, with that said, a form of it _is_ taught now, but it's typically cheap heat. Guys are taught high spots, how to work a formula, certain heat spots, how to insult the local sports team, but they don't know how to lead the fans along and get them to care. They don't know how to get a crowd that doesn't give a shit to take an interest. Sadly, in todays WWrEstling climate, there's a reason for that. Hogan/Andre was a great match, btw. Fuck Meltzer.

Dammit Loss, you had to one-up me by suspending him in mid-argument. If this thread gets deleted...!

Workrate? I've been in the business for 30 years and I've never heard that term used in the lockerroom. Go ask Johnny Valentine what his workrate is and he'll swat you out of the sky like a fly. - Crudosm mask

Wasn't Lesnar the WWE champion at the time? And how could he have a lifelong dream to win a title that only existed for 2 years? It doesn't make sense any way you try to angle it.

Yes. I cry for the future of the humanity if people like you continue to exist. Hmm, who would have thunk this thread would have turned into a big discussion over Benoits run? I've mentioned before my disappointment in them not capitalizing on William Regal. IMO, his character during the spring/summer while alligned with Eugene, saying he was a bad person but finding something good in Eugene, could have been special. We could have had a main eventer right there if they wanted to. They've been dropping the ball on Jericho as well, he should have been included in the Taboo Tuesday main event. How could he not get a feud with Benoit during the title reign? Oh yeah..

LOL! Once that title histories thread went up and the discussion of the WCW/World Title came up, all the feelings came rushing back... I was just thinking to myself today, "Rudo (Which is what I call myself...) you haven't been bitching nearly enough on TSM". Oh, those were the days.

I'm glad Benoits life-long quest to win a title that was 2 years old came to fruition at WMXX. Fuck the importance of the title right now, when its all said and done, his name will be off the record books as WWE champion.