cabbageboy

Yeah I think that was the best DeBeers match I've seen actually. He could do some decent stuff out there if he had a real opponent, rather than the squash matches I've mostly seen.

It was interesting in that prematch promo to hear Race say how he slammed Andre and thus slamming Bundy wouldn't be as big of a challenge. As far as title wins go, how many of Race's wins are even on tape? He beat Brisco in 1973 but I don't know if the match exists on tape, the various wins in those brief title exchanges with Baba and Dusty might not exist (though I think Dusty's win over Race popped up on 24/7).

I said it last week and I'll say it again: Why doesn't Vickie simply fire UT again? The guy is out there basically threatening to kill her. I smell a swerve of some sort, maybe she makes amends with Big Show and hires him as a henchman in exchange for a title shot.

How many times did Bret even main event a PPV as champion? He did some in his first run with Survivor Series 92 and WM IX. But his best run in 1994? He won the title at WM X but didn't main event KOTR, SummerSlam, or Survivor Series. Ironically during this dubious run in 1995/96 he did at least main against Bulldog and Diesel on PPVs, and of course at WM vs. HBK. Then in 1997 his stuff with Patriot was midcard on PPV, but I guess the Montreal Screwjob was at least a main event.

I have to wonder why she posed for those pics under her real name. Did she just not care at the time and think some day it wouldn't come back to haunt her? She handled that badly in the interview. Just say something like "Yeah that was me and I now regret doing it" and move on.

Didn't Washington really only make a playoff run last year due to the Taylor shooting and also Todd Collins stepping in for an injured Campbell at QB? They really were just a mediocre team that got some inspiration late in the season, and tonight showed that.

TNA needs to come to Louisville for a PPV in 2009. They could at least run the Gardens, which is actually IN town unlike these other goofy locations. Knowing TNA they would book a HS gym in Southern IN and promote it like these other PPVs. Speaking of this, why does TNA run these bizarre places that aren't quite in a major metro, but then market it as such? I can see why they have trouble selling tickets. If I could drive 10-15 mins. for their show, I would do so. But 90 mins or so? Eh.

I have yet to watch Raw but do recall the show from when it was on initially. But I'm glad you brought up that ultra irritating pet peeve of mine, Venkman. I always hated Schiavone calling Hugh Morrus "Humorous." It was so annoying. Otherwise that was a pretty fun show. That Hall/Larry stuff gets stranger as it goes, with Hall eventually cutting shoot promos on him saying he drove the AWA out of business, etc.

I remember being a little depressed by this title run after the initial enjoyment of it all. By the time the Rumble rolled around I knew exactly what the WWF had in mind, namely that Michaels was winning the RR and then the title at WM. As a junior in HS I (and a lot of others) was sickened by this obvious setup and would have rather Bret kept the title, but knew he obviously was jobbing. Bret was presently pretty well at first, getting the win over Bulldog in a tremendous match that was way different from the SS 92 classic. But once the calendar hit 1996 he was booked like a lucky jabroni with the world title, having Diesel screw UT out of the title and then UT screwed Diesel at the Feb. IYH. Bret wasn't exactly being booked strongly.

I'm not really sure but considering the topic matter I'm assuming Raven likely included too many details for broadcast. Amusing segment though.

I kinda wish Kim would sign with WWE. I don't see much for her to do in TNA at this point, other than feud incessantly with Kong and job out. Put the SD diva belt on her to try and get it some slight vestige of credibility.

I have no idea what kind of matches these will be, but I do think we'll see a few different kinds of finishes: One will have the silly pin in the last minute finish. One will be a guy breaking things up for 20 mins. and surviving. And one will be a guy dominating only to end up losing the belt. I would think Punk would be the guy who constantly breaks stuff up, HHH's match will end in the last second thriller, and the ECW match will feature Henry destroying everyone only to lose.

I'm assuming it was a Braves game so the NWA show was shortened for it.

Yeah around here the HD PPV feed is the same 40.00 that the standard feed is. As far as that Survivor match idea, can you imagine a bizarre Series match this year with CM Punk, Santino, and Team Priceless vs. (for instance) Orton, Kofi, and Cryme Tyme? What a curious match with echoes of the 1995 Wild Card match.

That's odd. I knew I remembered Konnan winning the US title on TV, yet when I saw that match listed I assumed it was the title change. Bischoff never saw a hotshot booking idea he didn't like.

I have always found WM XIX a bit lackluster. There's some solid action on it, but nothing on it stood out as anything overly important. All of it seemed like some sort of foregone conclusion: Brock obviously was going to wax Angle, Hogan of course would smash Vince, Jericho would be jobbed out to Michaels, and once Booker beat HHH on Raw I knew he was jobbing at the PPV. I guess there was some doubt about Austin/Rock but it was the third time we'd seen that match at WM, so it felt a bit stale.

Bringing up KOTR 2002 is bad salesmanship, haha. But I've ranted for the past 6 years on that event, so I'll skip it. I would be in favor of the KOTR winner getting a title shot if I had any confidence that they wouldn't blow it completely. The least offensive time this occurred was 1994 with Owen...he got his shot at SS and lost, end of story. But Mabel in 1995? As far as Survivor Series goes, I think the PPV needs to have some sort of title match on it as a main event with all of the other matches being the team deals. 1992 was the first time they went mostly with singles matches and it was fun at the time, but then they went back to the team matches following it.

I have mentioned previously that I would enjoy seeing some old WCW PPV names used for shows that are essentially B list. Why keep No Mercy for October? Use the much more enjoyable Halloween Havoc name and it might attract more buys. Or instead of the bleh Armageddon in Dec. why not have Starrcade? Since I've been watching the Summerslam box set I have come to a sad realization: Summerslam may no longer be a truly major PPV. Sure, it stayed major up until fairly recently but has any PPV been hurt more by the combining of rosters for every PPV? SS stayed relevant in the brand split era since it was one of 4 PPVs where you could see all the talent. But since WWE made every PPV a combined effort, SS seems lost in the shuffle. The Royal Rumble has the Rumble match itself to hang its hat on. Survivor Series has the team elimination matches. WM is the biggest PPV of the year of course. Summerslam though? Mostly a history of really good PPVs, but no real concept.

That was curious, I noticed that PTI moment as well. I thought it might be a commercial for something but then it turned out to be a small blip. I haven't read enough of Mariotti's work to 100% know what the deal is with him and Reinsdorf, but it sorta came off like one asshole badmouthing another asshole. Regarding the Bulls breakup in 1998, it was just going to be over at that point. That year was the end of the golden era for the NBA (roughly 1981-98), and the lockout would have put an end to the Bulls' run either way. The whole mantra of "Players don't win championships, organizations do" is partially true and partially false, but those organizations are teams like the Lakers or Celtics. Organizations with a huge tradition of winning, and thus they can attract the big name talent. The Bulls however? They quite honestly don't have that kind of history. It's just the Jordan Era and not much else before then (1970-83) and not much since.

Having seen a lot of Ortiz (Dabone) in OVW, I have to say he is selling entirely too much in ECW. It didn't help matters when he was going against Ryan Braddock and the entire match was a side headlock. OVW got it as right as you can with Ortiz: Keep him in short matches, have him sell a bit but not all that much, then hit his goofy splash and that's it. A pretty good show tonight, but slightly down from previous weeks due to the 8 man putting all the main guys in the same match.

The most notorious part of this show: I respect you, Mr. Bookerman! Looks like a really fun show though I have to admit the main event might be a bit of a chore. Was this Johnny B. Badd's last WCW match before he went to the WWF?

WCW circa 1994-95 with Hogan was such a cynical promotion, using nothing but 1980s WWF booking in an era where it was almost entirely out of style. The whole post Hogan/pre Nitro era WCW was the dead zone, in fact I was shocked that some of those hideous PPVs from that era actually did solid buyrates. Perhaps Hogan's turn in 1999 could have worked had they laid the foundation for it at all. Instead they let a crazy Oakland heel crowd at SuperBrawl dictate a goofy and ill advised double turn with Hogan and Flair. There was nothing in the angle that would indicate either man would turn at all, and frankly in Flair's case after his own son turned on him and he'd beaten attacked every week by the NWO on TV I didn't care if he screwed Hogan over or not.

What is it in particular that WWE wants MVP to study from Shelton? Shelton is of course dull on the mic and really I've never thought he was very interesting as a heel in the ring. He seems like one of those guys who stops doing anything cool or exciting because he's a heel and is afraid it'll get a pop. Both have had long matches with Jeff on SD and those have ranged from semi decent to outright dull (part of that is my aversion to 20 min. long matches with DQs). You know what these guys should do? Become a tag team. Neither is quite main event material at the moment, so team em. MVP can carry Shelton on the mic, and Shelton can bring the flashy moves in the ring.

Just wondering if Steve Smith is still suspended for the Chargers game? I only ask because I am trying fantasy football for the first time and the guy I'm facing has Smith starting, but I do believe he's suspended.

Is Sex and the City really an underdog success story? It was based on a very successful TV show and the audience for it turned out and it made money. Mamma Mia though? I didn't see that one coming, but I do think some are underestimating Meryl Streep's drawing power. I thought that would get lost in the shuffle since it came out the same week as Dark Knight, but it turned out to be ideal counter programming for females. The Women though? That's a tougher sell. A remake of a 1939 film without a single guy in it (even SATC has Mr. Big) is an iffy proposition. Remaking The Philadelphia Story would go over better. Thing is, the 1939 Women had Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell....all at or near their peak of drawing power. Can you really say the same about Meg Ryan and Annette Bening?