RavishingRickRudo

Shawn is not about the fans. I went to an HBK autograph signing and the guy got there an hour before it started (didn't leave his limo) and left immediately the second it was scheduled to be over leaving hundreds of those "fans" out in the cold. Fuck him.

You wanna do something for the fans? DON'T LET FLAIR WRESTLE!

Is he trying to say "It's about US"???!

Two words: Hollow Promises Two more words: Bull Shit

Dude, this is SOOOO the new Smile speech.

God I wanna hang myself while listening to this.

CHUCK PALUMBO Height: 6 foot 5 Weight: 255 pounds From: San Diego, Calif. Finishing Move: Superkick Career Highlights: World Tag Team Champion; WCW Tag Team Champion Born in a blue collar community in San Diego, California, Chuck Palumbo came into life not with a silver-spoon in his mouth, but a steel monkey wrench in his hand. At an early age Chuck learned the lessons of life in his fathers fix-it shop, repairing cars, smoking cigars, and looking at pin-ups on the wall. It was a tough life, but it was a good life. A stable life. However, that life was torn apart when Chuck Sr. died after being pinned under a car for 12 hours. Chucks mother had a nervous breakdown and wasn't able to support the young kid and provide him the basic amenities that a growing child needed. Chuck considered running the garage, but at 12 years of age he knew it was an impossibility, besides, fixing cars always reminded him of how his father died. Instead, he hung out with street thugs who were able to provide him with the money, family, and support he needed and wasn't getting at home. The gang was a group of Italians and had connections to the local mafia, Chuck loved the feeling of togetherness and felt safe with his paisons watching his back. A few years later, Chuck saw professional wrestling on TV. He took a special interest in it after his mother -in one of her rare moments of clearity- said that his father wanted to be a wrestler back in the Bruno Sammartino days -as all Italian kids did back then- but had to give up that dream when lil Chuck was born. Palumbo saw this as a sign and knew he had to fulfill his fathers dream at any cost. So with a few dollars to his name, Chuck went across country to Atlanta and signed up with the WCW Powerplant. It was tough work, but the work ethic instilled at him in an early age proved to be beneficial and he graduated from the powerplant and made it on to the big show after just a few short months. It was here he learned of the nasty political atmosphere that was in professional wrestling and he once again felt alone. However, he managed to identify with a few of his younger peers - Mark Jindrak, Sean Ohaire, Shawn Staziak, Mike Sanders - and they got together and formed a group: The Natural Born Thrillers. Once again, Palumbo felt safe in the company of friends and this gang prospered. It was not to last... WCW was purchased by the WWE and Palumbo feared he'd be on his own again. Good fortune appeared in the form of an "Invasion" and this time Palumbo was not only surrounded by The Natural Born Thrillers, but the entire WCW (and even some of the WWE locker room) as well. Chuck was happy, he was content. He was living his fathers dream and was supported by his fellow wrestlers. He wasn't alone. Fate, as they say, is cruel and as soon as the Invasion began it was over. Palumbo was on his own, and he was scared. Some how, some way, Palumbo managed to work his way back onto the WWE roster and had to start all over again. This time, he found fellowship in the same place he did as a teen - his fellow Italians, the FBI. The group struggled, but they were able to get some key wins and started to make an impact on Smackdown. Sadly, as has been the case throughout most of his life, the family was torn apart when he had to be traded to RAW. It was here that he started to look back on his life and he realized that something needed to change. He took a hard look at himself and saw that he wasn't trying to live his fathers dreams, but rather, he was trying to run away from his fathers life. The pain as a child was so great that he had been escaping it for almost 15 years and that he had continually tried to find that father figure in these gangs and it always fell apart for him. He realized that he had to grow up. That he had to accept his past. So he went home. He went to the abandoned garage. He visted his fathers grave. He got over it. Now, as a tribute to his mechanic father, he wears a similar outfit to the one his old man wore. With this new sense of independence, Chuck Palumbo is looking to make his own mark on the world, to make his own dreams a reality, to let everyone know that he is his own man.

I was watching it and thinking "Why are they talking about his dads' cast? Is that the most compelling stuff they can think of??"

One of the biggest problems the WWE has is character development; to be more specific, there isn't any. Each character is painfully one-dimensional. The bad guys are bad because, well, they're bad. To show that they are bad, they do bad things (cheat, yell at the fans, pick on lil kids and push down old ladies). The Good guys are the opposite, they are good because the WWE tells us they are good. To show that they are good, they help out other good guys and beat up the bad guys. This is the extent of the character development in the WWE, and -quite frankly- my tastes are beyond that, and I think everyone elses are too. The shows I watch have characters who have depth, who have history, who have demons and who have goals and motivations in life. So, since the WWE won't give us any of this kind of stuff, I propose that we provide it ourselves. Why is HHH so obsessed with the belt? Why is Chris Jericho a smartass? Why does Eric Bischoff constantly use ... KANE! as a weapon of punishment? Why does John Cena rap about gay people? Why is Carlos Carribean "Cool"? Why is Edge so mad that he continues to run down empty streets and under bridges? Why is Gail Kim so... uninteresting? Why is Todd Grisham such a tool? Well, here is our opportunity to say why! http://raw.wwe.com/superstars.html http://smackdown.wwe.com/superstars.html

Nah. "It was clear Kimmel saw him (Orton - Flair hadn't been mentioned in the article yet) as someone to make fun of and Orton wasn't quick enough to handle it well (Orton's fault). Kimmel started making fun of Ric Flair when Orton talked about his opponent, saying he was 85 years old, and when Orton couldn't come back, Kimmel was really on him (Orton's fault for not coming back, the mention of Flair is buried in the middle of the paragraph, Kimmel gets some blame here too). It was the first time Kimmel had made fun of a wrestler (Orton) and treated one like he was a joke (Orton) as opposed to a big star."

Hendo got nothin on this.

Orton *is* completely uninteresting as a person and character though. That is of some actual concern, but Meltzer doesn't bring that up, only Ortons inability to defend -really- the undefendable.

What? Kimmel makes fun of Flair, and Orton looks bad? May we go over this again? Well, you see, Ric Flair is good for wrestling. The fact that he is over 50 years old and still continuing to wrestle on a regular basis despite being terribly repetitive and almost utterly useless in the ring (besides his wonderful facials and knack for drawing blood, which apparently still makes him a great worker) is something that we as wrestling fans should not be ashamed of, even if people like Jimmy Kimmel look at Flair and laugh. However, Orton not being able to defend his ridiculous opponent is of some concern. It is a law of the universe that Ric Flair is good for wrestling, nothing can ever possibily go against that. And it should be noted that any minute mention of Flair anywhere - be it his WHOOO at hockey games or the phrase "to be the man.." being used in a football locker room - must be mentioned and played up on every single occasion.

There ya go.

True, but before didn't they at least try and look for hosses with some actual talent? Not really. That was an added bonus, and during the early to mid 90's they were afforded the luxury of hosses who knew the basics and had experience because of the wrestling environment of the time, but in this new age of wrestling where the WWE is the only place to go, the environment has changed but the mentality has remained the same.

I love how Meltzer sees the issue as such: 1. Orton is not a huge star. He was slow to the draw, and though he mentioned the PPV and stips, he still wasn't able to "handle himself". 2. Because of this, Kimmel made fun of him 3. Stephanie couldn't even mention the PPV when she was on. Because it can't possibily be because the thought of a 50+ year old man in the ring is fucking ridiculous, no no no no no. Not in Meltzers world. Wait, no. Not in Meltzers world *regarding Flair*. Kimmell was making fun of Orton here.

The Wig on Goldberg is the perfect example of how the WWE fucked up with Bill. They wanted to make him their own, rather than using what they bought. The fucked two-folder here. 1)They thought Goldberg would make a difference, bring in interest, etc. and 2)They then went against the very thing they wanted (Goldberg) and made him into something else. What a stupid company.

Ace is doing what he thinks what Vince wants him to do. The guy has advanced this far in the company for a reason. The big man mentality was there long before Ace was.

From what I gathered, "Great Facial Expressions" = "Great Working". Meltzer is such a mark.

The problem with the belts in general is because there is no structure. Orton lost the IC title one month and was winning the World Title the next. Benoit had the World title and the Tag titles at the same time, and dropped dramatically from the uppercard to the midcard. Edge had the tag titles and then the IC title. Jericho, for some reason, is still in the IC division despite having the UD title in 01/02, and showed no real interest in it before winning it. What determines where a wrestler is? Why does anyone want the IC title? Why does anyone want the tag titles? (Clearly no one does since there are so few tag teams, and more singles wrestlers tagging up.) What does winning ANY title do? Are you the top star? Well, when Benoit was champ he wasn't the top star; he didn't even headline against Kane. "To be the best"? The competitive aspects of wrestling are a joke. Do you get money? Maybe, but that's not played up. In the UFC, Matt Hughes (sig) said he wanted the welterweight title because it offered him security. He just bought a house and got married, he has a kid, he needs the guarantee and big money of being on the show and at the top of the card. There was an actual reason to winning that title. Actually, on that point, one of the brands should do weight divisions rather than this undefined structure they have now. On Smackdown you have the WWE Heavyweight Title (230+), change the US title to a Middleweight title (215+) and have the Cruiserweight title (214 and below). You have have guys "move up" or "move down" in weight, you can have open-weight matches, and the tag titles can be open weight as well. This would be a much better structured belt system and would be a fresh, distinct, view of wrestling on Smackdown.

The Nak will obliterate Hendo. O B L I T E R A T E.

Ratings were the highest in 1999 with a yearly RAW average rating of 6.1 vs. the 5.9 of 2000. (4.4 in 1998). Also, May of 1999 had a 7.0 avg rating. That would probably be the best guage of popularity. Though things like buyrates, house show attendance, and merch sales gives you a better look at how much people liked what they were watching. Of course, I think it's ridiculous to compare the audience of today to the audience in 1999. 5 years have passed, are you saying your tastes haven't changed in 5 years? What worked in 1999 won't necessarily work now. Whether they have long or short matches is irrelevant IMO, because it's the fans' interest that matters and whether or not what you are putting in 3 or 30 minutes is good and worthwhile.

I am SOOOOOOOOOO picking Nakamura!!! He's the Japanese George St. Pierre! Cept he'll win this time!!!! RRR: Getting addicted to betting

You were doing so well with the first two Bart Simpsons Dracula is -by far- the best single THOH episode they've done.

Then why couldn't you have picked "I'm Cool"?? Double or Nothing for the PRIDE show! The bet made the show sooo much more interesting