cabbageboy

If Pillman had stayed healthy and lived he was seriously about 6 months away from drawing big money in the WWF. He was ideal for the Attitude Era and brought a sense of chaos to whatever program he was in. I could see him feuding with Austin, but I think he would have been this crazy tweener type that was too deranged for the Corporation, yet too much of a nutjob to be a babyface.

Horowitz was over in an ironic way though. As in it was nice to see a longtime jobber finally win a couple of matches, but I doubt anyone would have taken him seriously as a champion of any kind. Hell, Horowitz was booked as a joke champion when he held a belt in Global.

The thing I don't really get about Crockett is why he nearly bankrupted himself buying out a bunch of territories he didn't need. I suppose it was a notion of keeping these areas away from Vince, but Vince didn't think on that level after his brief flirtation with buying the AWA. Crockett was almost too nice of a guy, wanting to buy out all the struggling NWA promoters rather than just sitting back and watching them fold and then run the towns with a mix of that region's stars and his own. Vince was about taking stars, not taking over territories. The WWF ran nationally anyway, so if you're Vince why buy out a bunch of promoters?

You know, a part of me would like them to put the belt on Michaels one more time as part of this Jericho feud. If they want to keep main eventing him in title matches then HBK does need to win the belt even if he jobs it back soon after.

I am not a huge Dane Cook fan and haven't seen much of his stand up stuff, but I also don't guy why some people seem to genuinely hate the guy. He's probably best off in supporting roles, as noted here. But he was an agreeable enough star in Employee of the Month.

I've always been baffled by that scenario since it was literally right when I started watching again and felt like I was thrown in the middle of a bunch of stuff. I recall that Hogan was announced as #1 contender for no real reason, then suddenly Macho was the guy. For no real reason. I guess Hogan bowed out since Sid turned on him and he wanted a piece of Sid? Truth be told for that era I think Sid was the better choice to be a psycho heel since he's fun in that role. Hogan as a heel in 1992 would have been....odd.

Let's see how I did today: Early Games (1:15pm EDT) KC @ ATL: Oh man what a truly hideous game. This could be worth seeing for how bad it will be. I'll take the Falcons by 10. (Falcons at least can beat bad teams. 1 for 1) OAK @ BUF: Wow, who would have thought the Bills could be 3-0? Buffalo by 11. (Raiders gave it all they had, wasn't quite enough. 2 for 2, no cover though). CIN @ NYG: You want another Giants beatdown? Here it is vs. the hopeless Bengals. NYG by 17. (Wasn't a beatdown at all, Bengals gave it their all. No cover, 3 for 3 on wins). MIA @ NE: Man, the Pats don't seem to play anyone. Let's see them against someone decent to see what Cassel can actually do. NE by 7. (Wow, this one surprised me. 3 for 4). HOU @ TEN: Curious game, no idea what to make of the Texans right now. I'll go with the Titans by 6. (Titans won easier than that. 4 for 5). TB @ CHI: Griese going back to Chicago....I'll take the Bears by 3, but it is a total tossup. (Bah, it was a total tossup but I had it wrong. 4 for 6) ARI @ WAS: Another interesting tossup game, but for whatever reason I think the Cardinals are pretty solid. Zona by 4. (Another one I just had wrong. 4 for 7) CAR @ MIN: Could it be the magic of Gus Frerotte that leads the Vikings to a win? This is a must win, so I'll take the Vikings by 2. (Frerotte baby~! 5 for 8) Late Afternoon Games (4:15pm EDT) NO @ DEN: Denver is doing well so far and conveniently have this one at home. Should be a fun and exciting game. Denver 38-35. (Man I had that almost to the exact score. 6 for 9) DET @ SF: I have no idea about this one since both teams are crap. Since it's at SF, I'll take the Niners by 6. (Niners won easier than that. 7 for 10) STL @ SEA: Seahawks are 0-2 but they almost have to win this one since the Rams are one of the worst teams in the league. Seattle by 8. (The Rams may seriously have a shot at 0-16. 8 for 11) PIT @ PHI: Great game here. Can't see the Eagles having much in the tank after Monday, so I think the Steelers sneak in and steal this one. Steelers by 1. (Just a brutal battle. Eagles had enough in the tank after all. 8 for 12) CLE @ BAL: I don't really buy the Ravens and the Browns really need a win. I'll take the Browns by 7. (Browns may be toast after this one. 8 for 13) JAX @ IND: A must win for the Jags, but will they? Uh...no. Colts in another brawl 17-14. (This was a bunch of crap. 8 for 14) Sunday Night Football (8:15pm EDT on NBC) Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers: I think the Packers might have beaten Dallas last year if Rodgers had played the entire game, we'll see if he can do it now at home. GB by 4, since Dallas (much like Philly) will be a bit out of it after the crazy MNF game. (Dallas schooled them and proved me wrong. 8 for 15)

Some of it is the skepticism about whether McNabb will truly stay healthy for 16 games. If he can stay healthy, then Philly can go pretty far.

Yeah and there's also some tantalizing Valentine/Flair bits in that Rumble. At some points in that Rumble you just look in the ring and see nearly everyone had been a world champion at some point. Just staggering. Enigma, do you think then that they should have had Hogan toss Sid and then Sid get pissed and cost Hogan?

The overwhelming irony of Flair's comments about the NWO is that the Horsemen getting ultra stale and the backstage politics of the late 80s NWA were factors in wrecking Crockett much like what happened to WCW years later. Flair mentioned that he and the Horsemen rarely even won a match during that era....but I notice they sure held the belts a lot. Hell, what did Hogan really win during the NWO era? Piper kicked his ass repeatedly. Luger got a brief win. Sting got his (crappy) title wins. Goldberg waxed Hogan's ass clean. And I also take issue with the notion that the NWO never got anyone over. Goldberg became a major star during that period, Sting was at the peak of his popularity, DDP became a major player, Luger's career was rejuvenated for a while, etc. Seriously, watch an NWA show from 1986-88 and then watch a WCW show from 1996-98 and you'll notice booking that is eerily similar. Heels dominating all the time, faces that never get a break, heels that get titles returned to them on technicalities and bullshit.

The answer to this question is easily, without a doubt, Hogan. Bruno was on top back when the WWWF was a glorified regional promotion and few people outside the northeast cared. Guys like Austin, Rock, HHH blur together in the same era as roughly on the same level. Taker has been around forever but isn't really THE guy. Cena is just too disliked by a lot of fans to ever really be in this discussion, and frankly he simply hasn't drawn the kind of money or ratings to warrant mention in this sort of all time discussion. I actually take issue somewhat with the idea of Raw being awful in 2002. It certainly was at various points in 2002, like when Flair kept booking Austin/Bradshaw vs. the NWO every week for a month. Or the Katie Vick trash. But you still had unreal matches like the TLC from Oct. 02 that is seriously one of the best matches I've ever seen. 2003 however? I won't defend Raw during that era, nor will I defend Smackdown during the 2nd half of 2004. But the notion that WWE is at its peak of quality right now? Laughable. It's not at its nadir either, since I consider that roughly 1995-96. Raw's peak was during the 1997-01 period, especially the post WM stuff from 1998. In fact April-September 1998 Raw is very likely the best week to week wrestling I've ever seen. I almost couldn't wait for the next week to arrive, which is all the more amazing since I wouldn't consider any of the top guys of that era among my favorite wrestlers of all time.

Still Fly, getting back to your point on WVU....when did they really underachieve until this fiasco under Stewart? In 2005 they made the BCS and beat UGA. In 2006 they finished 2nd in the Big East since U of L was a little better team (and that game was at Papa John's). Last year they won the league and another BCS game, although the Pitt game was a disaster. They really achieved about what they should have. This year however? They remind me a lot of U of L last year for so many reasons. New coach that is clearly in over his head. Senior QB that has to be frustrated. Lots of new personnel otherwise. The problem is that WVU basically had to go with Stewart after the OU game, and Pat White probably doesn't have great NFL prospects as a QB so I can see why he came back.

They actually largely stopped calling DQs for it anyway but it wasn't officially tossed as a rule until early 1998 if I'm not mistaken.

I didn't actually know that Orton was a face before that heel turn on Flair. So I guess that turn was the beginning of a long career as a toady for Bob Jr. Having now seen the Legends show about Factions I have to say that Flair really seems to have sour grapes about the NWO. What he said is largely correct, but it's not like WCW couldn't have done something good after the NWO ran its course...they just didn't have a clue. By sour grapes here's what I mean: Flair seems bitter at the fact that the NWO, unlike the Horsemen, actually drove WCW to the #1 spot in the industry for a while. And to be honest, what does Flair think Vince would have done with the Horsemen that would have been so much better than Crockett? The Horsemen would have been heel fodder for Hogan, Warrior, Savage, etc. Arn and Tully might have won the tag belts but they did that anyway in 1989.

Sadly no. They didn't put Vader/Cactus on there. I'm assuming that was because Foley was a major WWF star at the time of that tape's release? What I meant about Goldust was this: I can name several good Dustin matches during his WCW run in the early 90s. But name one a single good Goldust singles match from his 1990s run. What does it say when his best match was probably a mixed tag with Luna vs. Sable/Mero? His 2002 run was pretty decent however. The teaming with Booker worked and I do recall him having a decent match vs. RVD at No Way Out 2002.

Yeah we're in repeat territory at this point since they have already shown the SuperClash III stuff. Due to the power outages I didn't get to see much AWA this week, though mostly it sounds like shows that I've already seen or at least in the general area of 1986 that they have shown.

The thing is with Flair is that it's not like Vince hatched some huge plan to have him show up with the belt...that was Jim Herd's doing. It didn't matter a huge amount to Vince whether he showed up with the belt or jobbed it to Luger or Windham on the way out, as long as Flair showed up.

Yeah and I must say the Race/Flair match from Aug. 1983 is great stuff, far better than the Starrcade match. The post match angle with Orton and Slater is terrific as well. I don't get why they edit these Legends shows. If the taping was 3 hours long, why not just show it all or break it into various shows throughout the month?

I have to admit the Big Show constantly showing the UT beatdown was some hilarious stuff. They ought to make that a running joke for the next couple of weeks and then drop it so that it doesn't get too played. To be honest UT brought all of this on himself. He should have simply accepted Vickie's initial apology and said "Okay, don't let it happen again...and give me a title shot." That's what Nash would do.

Vitamin, given how the Colts have looked thus far do they still qualify as a potent offense? Maybe they'll have it going by the time they get to Lambeau in Week 6, but right now I'd almost certainly think the Packers should be favored in that one.

The Property of a Lady was already used in Octopussy though. In fact I recall there being several mentions of that phrase in the film. And I do think that Property was also the planned 3rd Dalton outing that was never made in the early 90s. The Hildebrand Rarity...ugh. Sounds a little boring as a title. I can see Risico though, that is a little mysterious and cool sounding.

Dustin was really good from 1991-94. It was in his last few months in WCW that he started getting unmotivated and then he turned to crap in the ring once he became Goldust. That Best of Halloween Havoc tape rules the earth. The highlights include the following: 1989: Sting/Flair vs. Muta/Funk (good match actually) 1990: Sting vs. Sid with Windham's goofy disguise as Sting (Wrestlecrap moment) 1991: The Chamber of Horrors (Obvious Wrestlecrap, but it's a ton of fun) 1992: Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal~! (Do I even need to elaborate?) 1993: Flair vs. Rude (eh, just whatever) 1994: Flair vs. Hogan (cage match, best thing on tape) 1995: Hogan vs. Giant (Oh lord, this is hysterical. Who on earth would have a monster truck sumo style contest on the top of the arena, have one guy thrown off the top and seemingly die, then show up later unscathed for his match? And then have another giant dude dressed as a mummy come out and then pseudo rape Hogan in the center of the ring? Off the charts Wrestlecrap here. 1996: Hogan vs. Savage (Match is eh, NWO beatdown stuff is decent)

Just wondering but what were some cases of a guy bolting for the WWF without finishing up and dropping a title on the way out? I don't really recall any of this or see the point since it's not like the WWF ever acknowledged these other promotions or belts on the air.

It was certainly creepy seeing that Pillman/Marlena segment from Raw knowing that was the last we'd ever see of Pillman. What a deranged angle to go out on. I have a new perspective on Austin from rewatching these shows. The Montreal Screwjob almost HAD to happen for the Austin/Vince angle to ever work. In the initial stage of the angle Vince's demands seemed quite reasonable, namely that he didn't want Austin to risk serious injury or paralysis while wrestling with a bad neck. I don't think the angle would have ever worked as well without Vince screwing Bret, which made the fans hate him and made Austin's dislike of Vince more understandable. Also, as weird as it sounds Austin actually needed to have his neck injured by Owen. If not in reality then it needed to happen in storyline regardless, since it finally gave Austin some focus as a character. Before that all we knew was that Austin was a crazy redneck that hated people, but there was no driving force behind it. Once Owen nearly broke his neck, we now had a reason to care about Austin and a desire to want to see him kick Owen's ass. I never understood exactly why he hated Bret so bad, but I quite understood what he had against Owen.

Yeah Steamboat was simply a better fit for WCW by 1991, though a part of me would have liked to have seen him in the WWF circa 1992-94 and see him vs. Bret, Hennig, etc. Minus the goofy aspects of the Dragon gimmick though.