cabbageboy

Keeping Cena as a face isn't an option at this point. The guy is getting booed out of almost EVERY building he's been in for the past 3 months (the exception being his hometown where got a sorta lukewarm pop). They don't need Edge to be Vince's boy really, since there's nothing terribly corporate about his image. If anything lately he's been the rebel who is doing his talk show and doing wild shoot comments. I've thought about it and I'd do Hogan/Cena now at WM for the nuclear crowd heat it would get. Edge can face whoever for the title, but what would HHH do? I'm thinking JBL, they have to have a Raw/SD match.

It depends on his opponent. Look, whoever he goes against won't be as shitty as JBL/Cena from WM last year. I don't know what Angle is portraying at the moment. He still gets "You Suck" chants and then cheers in his matches. I nominated RVD since he'll get the big return pop and the crowd would go ballistic if he won the Rumble or something. This would also play perfectly into my idea for the 2nd MITB match at WM. It'd be guys like RVD, Masters, Carlito, Shelton, whoever. I'd have RVD win that MITB match and then keep the title on Edge for a while longer....say June. Then I'd have RVD cash in his MITB at the most opportune time: ECW One Night Stand. He who lives by the Money in the Bank, dies by the Money in the Bank.

Edge/HHH makes no sense really for the Rumble as both guys are heels. That match would die a horrible death. One of my main rules of wrestling is that when a guy first wins the belt he cannot be used as a 1 month type transition champ. Even Jericho was built up decent with beating Austin and The Rock before that debacle with Austin at No Way Out 2002 and the HHH burial job afterwards at WM. This is Edge's first title win, he cannot just job it in a couple of weeks. I think Cena will rightfully get a RR rematch (even Vince has to allow this given the dubious way he lost). The thing is they CANNOT simply job Edge right back to him. The fact that Vince never really screwed Shawn or anything leads me to believe they are dropping that idiotic angle, or maybe not having Vince himself wrestle. Have him get Angle as his boy and finish it with Shawn at WM in a deciding match. I dunno what Kane is doing but him vs. Edge again at WM is a horrible idea. The reason I nominated a returning RVD over Angle is that while Angle is getting more of a face reaction, he won't get as much of a wildly big face reaction as RVD. Besides, I saw Edge beat RVD in an IC title match in person on a 2001 Raw....payback baby!

Ok I need to eat some serious crow. I kept saying for weeks how the MITB had turned into a complete joke and that there were no real plans for Edge to ever win if he cashed it in. Everyone on here had their scheme on "Oh, he should wait till after Batista is done with the HIAC" or "He should wait till after the WM main event and cash it in" but this is actually one of the most brilliant storylines I've seen in a long time. In fact, I actually called the entire evening, and in a good way like Survivor Series 98. During the Edge/Flair match I pondered why Edge would dick around in the IC match and said "Why not just get DQed here and then cash in the MITB against the exhausted Chamber winner?" Once he did get himself DQed and did the cryptic backstage segment saying he had further business to attend to, I knew he was cashing it in. Now, since this is Edge's first title run they cannot simply just job him at the Rumble or tomorrow night. That would kill all the meaning of his 9 month MITB storyline if he simply jobbed it back with little incident. Also, they can't simply just put it back on Cena...at this point the fans won't accept it and he'll get shit on again. In fact at this point Cena should lose a rematch to Edge at the Rumble via some nefarious means and then hold in his frustration for a while. Then he should go against someone like Hogan at WM and finally just FLIP OUT and go full blown heel. Edge/HHH makes zero sense to me, as both are heels. Edge/Shawn didn't really produce great results last year either and I'm sure Vince is going to get involved with Shawn more at WM. Thus if they actually keep the title on Edge at WM, the one guy over enough as a face would be a returning RVD. Thing is, would that draw?

Gentlemen: Rob Van Dam when he returns.

Leena, I know Tubby has a pretty solid REGULAR season record at UK. But how many of those wins were against actual quality opponents, as in teams that finished ranked anywhere? Most of these wins were jobber squashes against High Point or Liberty type teams, and then UK would scrape by in a decidedly mediocre SEC. The SEC as a whole hasn't had a Final 4 team since Florida's fluke miracle run in 2000 (they could have been gone 1st round to Butler if not for Mike Miller's buzzer beater). So it's not like winning the world's worst major conference year in and year out is that much of an accomplishment. Think about that, pretty damn near every conf. since 2000 has had a Final 4 team. The ACC has had Duke in 2001 and 2004, Maryland in 2001 and 2002, UNC last year. The Big East has had UConn and Syracuse both win the title in 2003 and 2004. The Pac 10 is kinda weak but at least did place Arizona in 2001. The Big 12 placed Kansas in 2002 and 2003, Texas in 2003, OU in 2002, OK St. in 2004. The Big 10 placed Michigan St. in 2001 and 2005, Illinois as well last year, IU in 2002 (and hell going back a bit further there's MSU in 1999 and 2000, friggin WISCONSIN in 2000, OSU in 99). Even C-USA before it imploded sent Marquette in 2003 and U of L last year. The SEC is garbage. The SEC is bar none the worst major conference in the country.

Quit defending Tubby. Look, I haven't EVER seen a UK team this utterly fucking putrid. I mean even the Pitino 1990 probation team with walkons was better than this group. They were at least a bunch of white boys who could shoot the rock. I just laid it out to you flat out why Tubby is embarrassing UK. Since the advent of the NCAA tourney UK has not gone more than 9 years at a time without making the Final 4. The only times with such a drought were when Rupp was past his prime and Hall took over, and then the 2nd time was during the awful Eddie Sutton/early Pitino probation era. Iggy, let's face facts here. Tubby Smith is simply not an elite level coach. Never has been. Shit, his one lone FF and title was with Pitino's guys. Since those Pitino guys left it's been all downhill for UK come tourney time. In 2000 they lost 2nd round to Syracuse in a 4/5 matchup, no biggie since UK was rebuilding. 2001....lost to friggin USC (a 6 seed) in the Sweet 16. In 2002 UK had a hell of a lot of talent and yet managed only a 4 seed and a ho hum loss to 1 seed Maryland. In 2003 Tubby looked like he had his surefire title team and of course they get their asses kicked by....fucking MARQUETTE? Keep in mind Marquette turned around in the FF against Kansas and got killed by 35. And then the 2004 debacle vs. UAB, who also got smeared by KU the next round. Last year UK made the Elite 8, but their run was about as uninspiring as you can imagine, with an 8 pt. win over EKU, 9 pt win over Cincy, and a 10 point win over Utah in a game so god awful boring I almost fell asleep. Of course it's hard to follow Rupp or Pitino, but even the uninspired Joe B. Hall won a national title at UK and made two other FFs in 1975 and 84. At least UK was getting top level talent. UK right now has a highly mediocre talent base. Yes there are the burger boys like Rondo, Crawford, etc. But there's also the incompetent likes of Shagari Alleyne, Lukasz Obrzut, Bobby Perry, Patrick Sparks (who has seemingly forgotten how to play). UK has so many guys that are simply not elite Division 1 talent, and that is flat out Tubby's fault. If you were watching all of UK's games you might understand more about what I mean, like Alro does. Tubby was handed the greatest program in college hoops at its absolute peak and has proceeded to piss it all away to the point where a 27 point beatdown at the hands of a mediocre Kansas team doesn't even make a ripple. I'm also sick of this argument "We gotta keep Tubby, who else can we get?" Here's an idea: Fucking take a chance on someone. I mean shit, UK could hire some guy from a midmajor conf. and not lose to IU or KU by 25+. Throw a shitload of cash at Tom Izzo, since lord knows he seems to own UK when he goes agains them. As goofy as it sounds to UK fans, bring in Billy Donovan. UK still might be jobbers but at least they'd play an uptempo style and score 80 a game. Get Mark Few from Gonzaga. I mean shit, it's KENTUCKY. It can't be that hard to find a coach that brings an exciting style of play to the table. Hell, Cincy just promoted their assistant to Huggins and is playing great ball. Anyway, rant over.

UK is just fucking embarrassing. Seriously, it's time to get rid of Tubby. He's just wrecking this program. Here's a couple of facts for you guys. It's pretty obvious UK is missing the FF this year, which puts this current Smith fiasco era at 8 years of not making a FF. The other times with such a drought: 1966-75: Rupp wasn't changing with the times, retired, then they transitioned to Joe Hall. 1984-93: Hall was forced out, Sutton wrecked the program with NCAA violations, Pitino had to rebuild. 1998-06: Tubby Smith.

Road Warriors/Demos actually did kinda happen in 1990 though, didn't it? Wasn't for the tag belts though since the LOD aided the Harts in beating Demolition at SS 90. The mother of all "Should have happened" feuds: UT vs. Papa Shango, circa 1992. How could they not do that one?

He outta be glad for big brother or else I can see a Clarett situation for him in 3 years. Ol Ron Mexico will keep him off the street.

Actually I did see Alone in the Dark AND also House of the Dead via rentals. I think both were at least free rentals though, so no money was wasted on Uwe Boll. AitD is WAY worse than HotD. House of the Dead is a goofy shoot up zombie movie, but it wasn't like "OMG Worst Movie Ever" level bad. Alone in the Dark however? That was fucking horrible. It really is one of the worst movies ever. Hell, I'll probably check out Bloodrayne at some point as a rental too. It's likely god awful bad but the cast is kinda interesting.

Or better yet just drop the idea for the time being since Orton has no heat and just go with a big money match like UT/Batista for WM. Then Orton can rebuild his heat a bit and go after whoever emerges.

After seeing SD tonight is anyone else baffled as to how Orton is going to be in title contention against Batista anytime soon? Right now he seems more plausible going to WM in a US title program with Benoit or Booker T.

I keep trying to tell you guys: There is NO plan for Edge to do any of this shit. He's not going to run in after the Chamber match. He's not running in with the MITB at WM. He'll just use it at the Rumble and job quietly and that's the last we'll hear of it, unless he pleads with Vince or the new GM to have another MITB match at WM.

Ripper, I've seen a lot of NFL games and I've never seen something like what Vick did in the Gator Bowl. I've seen late hits out of bounds, maybe the occasional cheap chop block, but for the most part that stuff falls into the category of stuff within the game. And there's all sorts of stuff that goes on in the pile and in the trenches. But Vick stomping Elvis? It was a typical play, clean tackle, then the QUARTERBACK of all people decides to blatantly stomp on a lineman's leg (when no one else is even nearby mind you). The fact that the refs missed this--or maybe just looked the other way, not wanting to toss the game's primary ratings draw--is tangible proof of either ineptitude or corruption in football officiating.

Well, my friend Ian at least is an Edge Head. And yeah, he's a pseudo smark. The one match I absolutely do not want to see is Vince/Shawn. Cena/HHH? Fine, at this point just get it off of Cena. Orton/Batista? Meh. But at least they've wanted to push Orton for a while. But who in their right mind wants to see Vince wrestle again at age 60? What kind of way to sell the biggest PPV of the year is THAT? Especially against Shawn Michaels, a guy who is hardly the nostalgia type act Hogan was when he wrestled Vince at WM 19. Shawn could have another brilliant match with Angle on the show, or he could face RVD, or someone from Smackdown in an interpromotional match. I can see Vince forming a heel faction and throwing guys at Shawn, but keep him out of the ring.

Henry can thank his lucky stars that few people will really ever get to see this. On Smackdown I bet they edit it down and make him look like a monster who ripped the door off legit. You don't think they'd actually use him as a transition guy by some chance do you? As in win the title at the Rumble, job it to whoever at No Way Out, then have Batista chase for WM.

Iggy, lemme ask you this. Let's say Vick had been justifiably tossed for his actions in the Gator Bowl and from there U of L wins that game (even with a backup QB). Where do you put them then? WVU looks to be wildly overrated going into next year. They're going to have to go to Va Tech and also Papa John's stadium. Sure, they'll score on U of L, probably about 35 points. Thing is, U of L at home will put up at least 42. I believe Miami also has to come to Papa John's next season unless they buy their way out of it. This season was a transition year into the Big East for U of L...next year is the time.

Heh, realworld was just doing the hold Heenan quote whenever someone mentioned Mooney. Damn, if I knew he was on TV I'd have watched that UCLA/Zona game.

That game was a joke, Dragon. It's blatantly obvious this early that U of L is going to have to "pay the dues" as a newcomer in the Big East. Mainly that would entail getting NO calls from the refs, even at home. I mean Jesus Christ, Taquan Dean getting 4 fouls after 2:00 in the 2nd half? I know the final foul tally is probably pretty even, but Nova never had anyone notable in serious foul trouble. Nova hit a few key 3s, we missed several foul shots, but overall I was encouraged by the effort from U of L tonight. Given the lousy pre conf. schedule I thought Nova might run us by 25 tonight. To be honest I wasn't real thrilled with Nova. Without the incredibly bogus fouls that took Dean totally out of it (a couple were legit, like the charge) U of L might have pulled that out. Upcoming games now at Providence, then undefeated Pitt here, UConn here....man, I'm starting to miss C-USA! Where's Southern Miss when you need a jobber to squash?

By the way, the statement that Mark Henry "has never been over" isn't necessarily true. During 1998 I remember kinda getting into him a little when he was writing the poems for Chyna and all that during his Sexual Chocolate gimmick. By the time he was bending objects and trying to lift cars though? No heat.

Dama, why would you care THAT much about whether Texas won or lost? I mean puking? That'd be like me vomiting at seeing USF get down 14 to NC St. since they kicked the crap out of U of L this year. Different mentality I guess...in Louisville (and really KY in general) we don't care intensely about football.

Dude, you put some teams above U of L that we'd beat by 40 points. Clemson? Nebraska? TCU? I mean come on. U of L should have certainly been top 15, and next year we'll be ready for WVU here and kick their asses. I won't excuse the USF embarrassment but let's face it...the other 2 losses we had were in some fashion VERY screwy (be it the illegal onside kick with WVU or Vick needing to be ejected). And by the way, Penn St. should still be #3. OSU still has 2 losses, I don't care what they did.

Yeah but that was dumb not to. In fact I don't even really blame him much for what happened there. Why didn't they gimmick the cage to avoid this sort of thing?

You're damned if you do, damned if you don't there really. The way LenDale White had played you gotta think he could get 2 yards. Basically, USC blew this game. The time out on the 2 pt. conversion while a bit silly I don't think cost them the game. How about the idiotic facemask penalty that gave Texas a 1st down instead of having it be 4th down?