cabbageboy

The only real problem I have with Shawn and Flair as the top faces is that both guys are old and to some degree stale (Flair the older, Michaels the staler). Neither are really worth building the company around at this point, but when you take a look and see Cena being booed out of arenas, Angle on death watch, Orton being generally heatless, and guys like Carlito and Chris Masters being worthless...who else IS there right now?

I didn't expect Lashley to last a huge amount of time, but the first man out? They couldn't job out the useless Chris Masters or the even more worthless Carlito before him? I'd have at least had Lashley keep some credibility by fighting Show and Kane and being counted out or something. That Torch thing seems so insanely full of shit to me. There is no way they can possibly keep the belt on Cena for most of 2006, not at this rate. My God, the guy is getting jeered out of the building. The sad thing is the comment about "They want you to want HHH to beat Cena" is very true. Hell after the Angle/Cena match last night I said "You know, I'm so sick of Cena at this point I almost wish HHH would get the title back."

What is Edge doing on that show? Is he hurt for a long time or something? He needs to just cash in his Money in the Bank so he can job and be depushed quietly. Is RVD even going to be back for that PPV? I thought his return was targeted for the Rumble? Flair/Hogan for the IC title is depressing on numerous levels. I hope that doesn't happen.

There is one absolute positive reason Angle can't work as a face and that would be the "You Suck" chants. He gets the most bizarre reactions I've ever seen. "You suck" as he arrives, but then the match goes on and people cheer for him. Thing is, it's hard to have a top face who gets treated in that manner. I don't really think Cena/RVD makes sense for WM, there's too much that is uncertain at the moment. Cena/HHH is likely what they'll do. I might have RVD/Angle though, since they haven't wrestled each other in forever and I used to personally dig those matches during the Invasion. But yeah, Raw really needs someone like RVD at the moment. Someone the crowd actually likes, and not in some bizarre TNA dueling chants sort of way.

Eh, well TCU is 10-1 at least and would provide a fun little matchup for Texas that'd have some local interest. They'd get killed of course, though they did beat OU.

I'm telling you, by March Van Dam will be the most over face on the Raw roster. Whether they actually push him or not is debatable. I don't think the crowd is responding well to Cena because what does he really DO in the ring that warrants a seriously long title reign? He doesn't really have anything that can put major opponents down for a 3 count enough to warrant this sort of title run.

Ah goody, so it doesn't matter that Brian Brohm is hurt and we may well job out to UConn this week. And by the way, WVU isn't getting near the Big East title again next year. They gotta come to Papa John's Stadium and U of L is going to ROLL their asses. Think about how great it would be if there was a 16 team playoff though, like I-AA. Take a look at the top 16 in the new poll: 1 Southern California 11-0 1615 1 2 Texas 11-0 1570 2 3 Louisiana State 10-1 1447 3 4 Penn State 10-1 1430 4 5 Virginia Tech 10-1 1332 5 6 Ohio State 9-2 1276 7 7 Notre Dame 9-2 1252 6 8 Oregon 10-1 1144 8 9 Auburn 9-2 1126 9 10 Miami (Fla) 9-2 989 10 11 UCLA 9-1 942 11 12 West Virginia 9-1 932 12 13 Georgia 9-2 899 13 14 Alabama 9-2 758 14 15 Texas Christian 10-1 740 15 16 Louisville 8-2 600 17 Imagine how cool it'd be to have USC/U of L first round, Texas vs. TCU, an LSU/Bama rematch, Penn St./UGA, a WVU/Va Tech rematch, Ohio St. vs. UCLA, Notre Dame/Miami, and Oregon/Auburn.

The Seahawks are at "Bears 2001" level bullshit in terms of getting miracle luck to win these games. I can assure everyone they'll get the shit kicked out of them by SOMEONE come playoff time. By the way, how is it that Seattle gets nearly every solid team at home this year? Note the couple times they played anyone worth a shit on the road they lost. Redbaron, let's face it....you predicting Pittsburgh is just wishful thinking, since the Seahawks might stand a chance. If the Colts played Seattle on a neutral site that game is a 45-20 rout.

Lashley jobbing first was a horrendous booking mistake. Look, I figured he had to do two things: 1. Break the Masterlock, which he kinda did. 2. Destroy Carlito and eliminate him. He did kill him with the Dominator, but Carlito wasn't legal. The wrestling on this show was pretty good I thought, but the booking was just garbage. They are just flat out force feeding some guys who the fans simply are not buying. When damn near 80% of the crowd starts chanting "Cena sucks!" it might just be time to job the guy, or turn him heel (preferrably both). Hell, Orton isn't even getting any kind of response whatsoever and they've pushed him as hard as humanly possible. Cena bitterly divides crowds...Orton puts them to sleep.

I was greatly amused by the Jeter lockerroom storyline. I wonder if this is some insider rib at Matt Striker? Either way it actually fit into the established storyline of Danny Davis and everyone hating Jeter. Not sure why Skyfire and Chet retained vs. the Riggs Bros. They just seem so thrown together, why keep the belts on them? By the way the guy Elijah Burke squashed was Casey James, I saw him on a house show earlier this month. He does a really fun old style Memphis heel act. Hell, I liked him better than Burke after seeing him ONE time.

Well, a lot of old timers put on those same plain, vanilla matches that if seen today don't have many highspots or thrills. The RVD doesn't surprise me since I recall he wrestled Dory on that Terry Funk retirement show and I would assume are friendly.

I had maybe just barely heard of Rent until Team America came out, then I read about the "Everyone Has AIDS" music number being a spoof of Rent. A musical with bohemians in NYC dying of AIDS? I think I'll pass.

I know U of L has beaten the shit out of people at home this year, but 36 is still too big of a line to play. If it was 26 it might be worth playing, though it'd have been a loss anyway. Hypothetically let's say U of L is ahead 55-13 in a total squash but Cuse scores a TD in the last minute and makes it 55-20. You don't cover though it's a total squash. Oddly enough the 41 U of L did put on them was the most Cuse has given up all year, so to cover it'd have to be 41-3 or something.

Edge is not in it because NYR is the perfect time for him to cash in the Money in the Bank. Rumble is a bit too big of a show for Edge's title shot considering he has, you know, no heat. NYR is the perfect time to get the Money in the Bank off the books. What the hell, they might even use Edge as a transition guy to whomever at the Rumble. I don't see Flair on there because I'm thinking HHH will hurt him bad and he'll be selling an injury. But seriously, why else would Angle not be in the Chamber match unless he already had the belt and the others were fighting for #1 contender?

It's interesting that the 1995 and 96 shows had the worst buyrates and both are strong shows.

Yeah but if Angle doesn't win tonight he'd still be an obvious pick to put in the Elimination Chamber. How could he not be IN it while some asshole like Carlito is in it? I'm telling you, the Chamber match will be a #1 contender match, with the winner getting Angle or whoever at the Rumble.

I used to do a bit of betting 2 years ago until I lost some $$ and finally wised up to the fact that I suck at it. Let's analyze those games and I'll explain why those are iffy bets (that sadly I'd have probably bet on as well). Pittsburgh: Pitt is terrible, thinking they could go into Morgantown and put up a showing is a leap of faith. LSU: As has been stated, LSU has trouble covering period. Colorado: Nebraska tends to just flat out own Colorado, even in Boulder. Iowa State: Wasn't this at KU? Given Iowa St.'s tank job vs. Mizzou last year, the thought of them doing it again had to be there. Not a good enough team to either bet on or against. Mississippi: Ole Miss sucks this year, picking between them or Miss St. is pointless since either could blow the other out. Cincinnatti: Perhaps the Rutgers assraping in Louisville made them look worse than they are? A matchup of two bleh teams but Rutgers is at least bowl eligible. Notre Dame: This wasn't a bad pick really, but teams travelling out west is always a scary pick. Louisville: This was a case of the line simply being too big. Syracuse's D isn't too bad really, and while U of L ended up winning by 24 it was a far cry from the insane 36 point line. 30+ lines are something I'd avoid, it's just too many points. Oklahoma State: Not too bad of a pick since they play OU tough sometimes, but they are still one of the worst teams in the Big 12. UL Monroe: Eh, I learned from betting on bottom rung Div. 1 teams. Georgia Tech: Not a bad bet really, the UGA game could have gone either way. Florida State: As has been states, FSU sucks this year. Them going to the Swamp and having a good showing was unlikely. Mind you, I suck at betting but what I'd try and do was find games where I could pick an obvious winner, combined with a spread that seemed reasonable. Even obvious squash games like the U of L/Cuse would be stuff I'd avoid...I mean hell if U of L wins 55-20 you don't get any $$. What I'd go nuts doing was picking NFL games though. Sometimes I'd go 5-1 in terms of actual winners but end up going 2-4 in terms of covering the spread.

Could it be that Angle will have the title and the Elimination Chamber might just be a #1 contender match? And why the fuck is Carlito involved in all of this stuff anyway? The guy is a JOBBER. If Edge isn't still hurt how about him cashing in the Money in the Bank at NYR?

I wasn't all that worried about ND since I was watching OVW actually, then turned it on just to see them score the winning TD. On the late news they showed the Gator Bowl rep at today's U of L game and he said the bid was practically in the bag anyway. I doubt it could have happened but ND losing tonight and then playing U of L in the Gator (rather than taking their spot) would be tremendous. The biggest losers of the day? Of course it would be USF. They went from "The guys the BCS was terrified of" to now having to beg the Meineke Bowl to take them. They may actually finished tied for 2nd with U of L in the Big East, but no bowl on earth would want them over the Cards. It's called having a fanbase, Tampa. Hell, USF has 40,000 students and no one down there gives a shit about USF's football or baskeball programs.

I'd quite like it if Smackdown was on Tuesdays instead of Friday. It gives you a nice follow up to Raw on Monday the next night rather than forgetting everything and then having to tune in at the end of the week. If UT ends up on the team how would he and Orton coexist? I don't think he'll be on the team but instead will show up at some point and freak Orton out, causing him to be counted out or eliminated.

I know and it makes me so happy. I figured USF would have a struggle up at UConn in that freezing weather. In a more depressing development I think Brian Brohm was injured in the 2nd half of the Syracuse game today. Christ, if he's out and Michael Bush is out U of L might well job out to UConn on the road next week too. Can't really say it was dumb to have Brohm in though, the game was only a 27-17 ballgame at that point. If he'd gotten hurt when we got up 41-17 then it's time to get pissed at Petrino. Basically Cuse's strategy was this: We suck and can't win, so we're going to try and kill Brohm. It worked pretty well too. I'm shocked that they are now 1-10, since I found them easily better than Rutgers and Pitt.

I disagree about it burning out an audience having everyone with a storyline. When I think of 1998 I think mainly about the central guys like Austin, Vince, Rock, Foley, DX, etc. But even stuff like Sable and Marc Mero was an interesting angle that gave them something to do.

How exactly is all of this going to work at the end of the day though? As in who is going to emerge as a heel and face in this whole angle? Are guys just going to stay heel or face on their show and only go another way when on the other show? As far as the S. Series match goes, Lashley should not be the first man out. So far no one really knows who he is, so he shouldn't just go out and job early in the match or it kills him out of the gate. In fact he might be a dark horse to survive in the match, or maybe last a while before getting counted out. He cannot eat a pin here however. I'm not sure who will win yet but in terms of Raw I'd have Carlito out first (taking either an RKO or Lashley killing him), then Masters out after he has the full nelson on Batista and weakens him but then Lashley breaks out of it and rids us of Masters. I'd have Big Show and Kane double team Batista soon after and eliminate him. JBL can eliminate either Show or Kane and the other fights with Lashley on the floor and both are counted out. I think that would leave us with Rey/JBL vs. Shawn. Shawn would get sweet chin music on Rey to eliminate him, leaving us with Shawn vs. JBL. Not sure who would win there though.

I enjoy going to college basketball games but the times I've gone to U of L's football games have pretty much sucked. One was against Army and we were sitting way up at the top of the stadium on a very cold Nov. day. Another was the great FSU game where it was pouring down rain the entire time.

I keep forgetting BC is in the ACC now. Are they really all that great? Personally I thought they were ludicrously overhyped last year and that was accurate once they lost the 2nd round to Wis.-Milwaukee. I do agree though, C-USA is certainly crappy compared to what it has been the past few years, but this talk of Memphis running the table is absurd. UTEP has made the tourney the past couple years, giving Maryland a scare and taking Utah to the finish. UAB is likely to finish 2nd in the league and I think they can beat Memphis at least once. I know Duke, UConn, and Texas all won their tourneys to start the season, but were any really all that impressive? Duke looked great at times but staggered past Drexel and were on the ropes vs. Memphis. Texas flat out should have lost to WVU before Pittsnoggle decided to choke at the FT line. UConn at least beat Zona and Gonzaga while shorthanded but I would like to see a rematch with Zaga when the Zags hadn't played an epic 3 OT marathon the night before.