cabbageboy

I know Batman will be #1 next week but am I the only one who doesn't think it will do jaw dropping business? It has no momentum anymore as a franchise.

Nah I wouldn't move RVD back to Raw...he's still hurt and wouldn't even be part of a storyline at the moment. Besides, he has all sorts of good stuff he could do with Rey, Eddie, Benoit, etc. on SMDN. What's he gonna do on Raw, dick around with a heel turned Jericho? Maybe go after the IC title and Shelton? It'd be a great match but I'm sick of seeing RVD fuck around in the IC division. It should be Angle. He's embarrassed at the moment, got his ass kicked by Taz, Booker T, and so on. He has nothing to do on SMDN now so just move him.

Yeah I was wanting Walk too. I think that song is just as much a part of RVD as Enter Sandman is for Sandman. The thing is, where do they go from here? If the show was such a rousing success it's hard to just let it go at that. I think any show that is actively a part of WWE continuity needs to have ramifications (whereas if it was a purely ECW show with no WWE guys it could exist in its own vacuum). It sounds odd to continue this on SMDN though...aside from the two main douches in Angle and JBL no one on that show really dislikes ECW all that much. Certainly not Teddy. I'm hardcore!

You know what would be truly glorious though? ECW invading Raw soon and beating the everloving shit out of HHH. God let it happen. It won't most likely but it'd be great if it did.

Something to ponder is this: Did anyone feel that an unspoken storyline is that the WWE guys weren't remotely going to invade by the end of the show? Bradshaw and Co. seemed quite entertained and impressed by the action really and I don't think they would have done shit until Austin goaded them. It was funny but the guys I thought fared worst on the show were guys who didn't attempt to stray from their WWE persona. Austin came of a bit mixed, yeah I know he was in ECW and thus had the right to be there but he mainly was in his usual persona (though I dunno what else he'd do, not like anyone would recall much of his ECW work). Eddie and Benoit did a match more typical to SMDN and Eddie seemed a bit uncomfortable staying in heel mode while most everyone else wasn't following current storylines. It was hilarious though to see the way the crowd sorta shit on Rey for the 619 and his WWEized act....he really should have known better. Sometimes it takes a vicious crowd to point out things like this, stuff like the 619 being a lame finisher. It's something I think most people deep down KNEW but no one really felt like mentioning until this show.

I remember HH2000 more for the fucking nuts Corino/Tajiri match where Corino did the blade job of all time, blood flying into the camera, etc.

Tanaka/Balls was just them beating the shit out of each other with chairs mainly. It was amusing but not really a great match. And I wasn't counting the Lynn/Tanaka vs. Awesome/Credible tag match since it was basically them fighting each other there too.

I think RVD's point was just to address everyone and say that he was glad to be back in a place where he was most appreciated and that yes it was him who talked Vince into the show. In a way I'm glad he didn't go out of his way to trash HHH or whoever, but still showed more emotion and passion than he has in years. Production wise the show felt like a hybrid of old ECW and WWE stuff. No pyro or anything but maybe a bit better camera than old ECW. Why does it shock anyone to see that Awesome and Tanaka would own everyone? Here's the problem with both guys though: I've never seen either have a good match with anyone else. During their ECW run I can't recall a good match either Awesome or Tanaka had with anyone else on the roster...they literally can wrestle each other and no one else. It's kinda the anti Eddie/Benoit, where they can wrestle virtually anyone but each other. Either way, tonight that was a MAN'S match. I'm glad to hear this show is getting over like gangbusters. Hell, even my friend Ian's wife got him the PPV tonight (early Father's Day present) and they hardly ever get PPVs. Anyone else have bar reports of how people enjoyed the PPV?

I had no worries about that match since I knew they would fucking kill each other. Hell, I didn't expect Awesome to bust out the sitdown powerbowb off the top rope and yet he even did it THROUGH a table. People who are criticizing matches are missing the point in a way though. This was a show designed to exhibit the ECW style, thus guys only got a certain amount of time and all that. Oh I guess this is a minor quibble but I wanted Taz to choke Angle out in the ring with everyone stopping and looking at it. Out on the floor it didn't quite have the same impact.

Yeah they really should have just done Eddie/Malenko there and gave Benoit something else to do. It wasn't really BAD I didn't think but the crowd was distracted with the Crusader jobbers and thus they did a lot of slow mat stuff. I bet Deano is kicking himself for missing this PPV. There were just brilliant bits of continuity on this show though. Stuff like Rhino attacking RVD, which is exactly what I would have done since the last ECW PPV had them facing off. Then the Sabu save and reunion with RVD...I don't believe they had shared a ring since early 2000, right when Sabu did a heel turn on RVD and teamed with Awesome to do a beatdown. It warmed my heart, I love those crazy fucks. Dreamer was a man tonight as well. He took the cheese grater to the head, he took the 3D, then took the powerbomb through the burning table. And yes, I loved the Tommy/Beulah moment all the more knowing that they are married in real life as well. And that too was continuity at its finest since the Duds gave her the 3D. My lord was Joey Styles on his game tonight or what? The man shot all over everything, told it like it is, trashed Bischoff, trashed bad gimmicks like Simon Dean, badmouthed Mike Awesome for leaving ECW something fierce, only to then get caught up in his fabulous match with Tanaka. I'm not sure if it was quite as good as their old ECW matches but it was damn great. And of course, what more needs to be said about Bischoff getting his ass handed to him? Usually when announcers say "This is one of the greatest things I've EVER seen" it's hyperbole. Not in this case. This was the shitkicking I think everyone has wanted Bischoff to take since he joined the NWO in 1996, but since he ran WCW he always booked himself to look way too good (the Zbyszko match, Flair feud, etc). For that and his attitude towards ECW I just loved seeing him get the shit beat out of him. Great PPV tonight!

Oh God, that'd be for the pure masochists out there. And yes, I realize that hardcore boxing fans won't give McBride any credit here but to John Q. Redneck beating Tyson means something. I'm hazy on this but when was the last time Tyson actually held a title? Was it when he lost to Buster Douglas? Or did he have a title of some sort during the Holyfield ear biting period?

I'll probably end up seeing this when it comes out but I can't say I am exactly jacked for it. Maybe it was due to Batman and Robin killing whatever interest I had in Batman, I dunno. Perhaps it is also the trailer not really thrilling me....it looks way too much like some curio backstory rather than a Batman adventure. And frankly, no matter what smoke and mirrors relaunching talk they do the bottom line is still Ra's Al Ghul and Scarecrow are the heels in this movie. I remember Ra's Al Ghul on the cartoons and the dude was the most boring guy on earth. His whole villain schtick consisted of standing by a volcano and calling Batman "detective."

I think I will go with Eddie to win that match, mainly because it'll be a clean, Japanese style match and then Eddie will bust out some dickhead heel cheating to win. Benoit will be like "WTF? This was meant to be a scientific match!" There might be another match or two added with the guys who have no match, but most of them I'd think are there to be reinforcements. And yes, I'd love to see RVD win the title from Rhino here but I have no idea if that is a legit title win or not.

Sounds terrific really. I am all for them putting all the goofy WWE invaders in the Duds vs. Dreamer/Sandman match since those guys were the main ones to attack people on Raw and SMDN. Belive me, if you give Paul E. a chance to overbook some wild shit he will gladly do so and it'll be a rollicking cluster. I don't really care if that match ends in a pin or not....I mean who cares really who the better team is? We all know those guys will be fighting with each other vs. the invading jobbers anyway. I expect Bischoff to taste a 3D through a table (burning table anyone, or is Uncle Eric man enough?). I expect Taz to choke out Angle, but that's a given.

Ares sometimes doesn't want to work right, I'm not sure why. As in it takes forever to post the results and all that. As far as LimeWire goes, there are a lot of corrupted files on there so just watch out, it'll warn you usually though whereas Ares doesn't (though on Ares there don't seem to be as many corrupt). I'd just download both of those and use them for whatever when it is necessary.

McBride is basically Peter McNeeley if McNeeley got to fight a broken down bum Tyson instead of a pissed off Tyson fresh from prison. Hell, maybe Tyson should give ole Pete a rematch and job out to that bum as well. McBride will probably get some sort of title shot due to this "huge" win. He'll get beat down of course. Personally what boxing desperately needs to do is unify all these world titles. God, it isn't wrestling...they can unify the titles and then have one guy everyone is gunning for.

Ever like to hang around a gymnasium? I might take some shit for this but I think Airplane isn't as good as either Naked Gun or Top Secret among Zucker movies. Airplane has more clunker jokes and lines, with that one annoying asswipe Stephen Stucker killing every scene he is in. Top Secret is so underrated, I love that movie. Has the most out of nowhere stuff in it, haha.

I wouldn't bet on it being the last ECW PPV ever if it does any sort of buyrate or sells some DVDs. I actually think ECW circa 1999 was one of the high points of the fed. In fact I'd say ECW's wrestling was better than either the Russorific WWF of the time or the dreary WCW. WCW had a lot of cruiser stuff like ECW did (Tajiri, Super Crazy, Guido, etc) but I think the ECW guys did more insane shit. I keep trying to remember what ECW's PPVs were rated. Were they TV14 like this show? They used to have profanity out the ass, entire promos filled with fucks, shits, etc. One thing no one has addressed is the ring. They are using the smaller ECW style ring (I think WCW also used a similar size). I know Bret Hart used to badmouth WCW for having a smaller ring, but in a way I think the smaller ring HELPS. The action has a crisper, faster edge to it in a smaller ring, whereas the bigger ring makes the small guys look even smaller.

Everyone says it is over for Tyson, but it really can't be. The guy owes like 40 million dollars, so he's basically designated punching bag for the next 5 years or so until he pays it off. It'll be a sad sight too and every time he fights people will wonder if he'll finally bust it out.

Let me comment on that post about RVD being the best in his weight class. I think that was meant as a comment on "Who would win what match?" dream scenarios. As in "Who would win between Eddie and RVD?" circa 1998 or so. RVD would have. Or Benoit, anyone. Hell aside from possibly Bill Goldberg circa 1998 there was no one who was more unbeatable. With RVD on SMDN he should in theory be away from the HHH crap that kills Raw. Let's face it, without Cena on SMDN there really won't be shit in terms of a main event scene and I doubt Batista/JBL will rivet anyone. If RVD rants and raves and goes in a totally new character direction the main event on SMDN is a big pussy waiting to be fucked. Hell, an edgy tweener RVD could defend the title on SMDN against Eddie, Benoit, Rey, etc. and it'd be great. Compare that to Batista likely coming over, having a shitty feud with JBL and the Cabinet. Anyone wanna argue this?

I have two reactions to this RVD thing, both of which are on the extreme end of things. First, he is liable to just go out and trash anyone and everything to the point where they end up firing him soon after. Second, Vince and Co. could just listen to it and take it in stride and make it part of a major storyline once RVD gets back. I used to read RVD's hilarious webchats on his website, god those things were scathing and funny. Stuff during the Barely Legal era where he wasn't booked and basically went out and said "Fuck the PPV." RVD circa 1998-99 was the coolest wrestler. He'd talk all sorts of shit about his opponents as a FACE (or at least I assume he was a face, the crowds cheered him), he did some of the most wild and flamboyant things in the ring, he was hilarious and dangerous. Hell, the real RVD makes Cena seem like Vanilla Ice in terms of coolness. The real Van Dam is too raw for the WWF Attitude era, with the blatant pot promotion, the profane promos, etc. I think this could be as big as his tirade at the Barely Legal PPV, where he trashed ECW and said he was too big to stay there and wanted to showcase himself on Mondays to the highest bidder. For newer fans who are used to the laid back, almost silent RVD on WWE TV, they'll get a kick out of this.

I liked this SMDN show this week. After this is there any doubt Kurt is getting destroyed at the ECW show this weekend, likely with a katahijime? Oh and it is TAZ for those who remember the vicious badass from ECW, which was critical for that angle with Angle. This whole thing isn't going to amount to much anyway. I figure these idiots just show up and get the shit kicked out of them anyway. Actually I had the thought that since most of the gimps already got beat down by ECW guys this week most won't even show up or will turn tail and run, leaving Kurt, JBL, and Bischoff to get their asses kicked. Just wondering but why hasn't Bradshaw mentioned the ECW guys wrecking his PPV match at Mind Games in 96 (vs. Savio Vega?) when they disrupted things?

I don't think the initial buyrate really matters here. I think the buzz after the show about how good it was is what matters. With that you'll get people buying the DVD, that sort of thing. Also, I had a wild thought. Anyone else think that the ECW faction could become a sort of NWO type group? Just wreak havoc all over WWE shows, Heyman takes over commentary for the hell of it, they attack people for no reason other than they are WWE guys. It presents some problems though since ECW has been positioned as a face in this whole deal, whereas in such an invaders angle they'd have to switch to being heels.

I was disgusted when the Pistons gooned Wade because I knew I'd be doomed to this garbage. Look, I'm not saying that defensive shitfests have no place in basketball, but that stuff is more appropriate on ESPN Wed. Night college games with Cincy or Pitt. Here's the thing. When I first watched the NBA it was games like Lakers/Celtics and it seemed like everyone was over 100 a game. That's how I knew the major difference: these guys were pros and could really, really SCORE. There is absolutely no excuse for an NBA title caliber team to put up 69 points in a FINALS game. That's garbage and it is not basketball. It isn't the Spurs' fault really, I know they can play very high quality games from the Sun series.

Bennett is one of my favorite heels in 80s films, he really is. There is definitely a bizarre homoerotic vibe to his character, the way he waxes poetic about Matrix being able to take out an entire army. And of course the finale where Bennett seems to get some creepy sexual thrill out of tossing his gun only to go after Arnold with a knife. It should be noted that Vernon Wells' other well known character from The Road Warrior actually WAS gay I think. Recall Wez in that movie had the blond boy that was his BUTT buddy, although it was never directly mentioned exactly.