cabbageboy

No more bullshit. No more run ins. No more cheap booking. This match 100% has to be Joe beating the piss out of Kurt Angle. I've said it before, but I give Angle some hope spots here but largely he is getting beat down for 20 minutes. How many people are they expecting to show for this PPV? Attendance wise?

Yeah Steiner is cashing in his money in the bank or whatever it is. So Joe almost has to be winning the belt. That feud was never quite resolved to my liking.

Nash's title reign was almost like Cena on some levels. Put him against crap workers and he would largely be cheered by the crowd, but once you put him with someone the audience liked better his run didn't work that well. The problem is that Cena can do the smaller man vs. giant type match...with Diesel it was two giants (either Sid or Mabel, etc.) and the matches sucked. The biggest dilemma is that Nash didn't beat anyone good his entire title reign aside from Michaels at WM. Never beat Bret. Never beat UT. Hell, he didn't even really beat a heatless heel Bulldog. And the one major win over HBK was met with crowd disapproval. He couldn't face anyone good, since those guys were more popular than him. But the guys he did face mostly sucked. Add to it the notion of Nash being a smiling babyface champ instead of the edgy tweener with a personality and is it any wonder his run tanked? It's funny that the WWF did the exact same thing with Michaels a year later, putting him into the role of smiling babyface champion that wasn't really suited for him.

Yeah I always enjoy seeing some old school WCW PPVs. There were perhaps too many tag matches on this show though, with only 2 singles matches on the entire card (main event and Cactus Jack MANSON vs. Norman the Lunatic). The main event was booked about as perfect as it could have been. Since the long term feud was Sting vs. Flair they couldn't put the belt on Luger there, but it certainly kept Luger strong and the finish gave his character an added dimension. Is it just me or do people give Luger almost too much crap? He was never really the same after the motorcycle wreck that gave him the steel plate of doom, but from 1987 to 1991 he was an excellent power worker.

No, I didn't mean the 1996 Rumble itself was one of the worst ever. I mean the roster was sad at that point, the direction of the company was blatantly obvious (Shawn was winning it and then beating Bret at WM), and I reacted worse to that than I did Diesel as champ. Sure, Nash kind of bored me back then but I don't recall being up in arms over him as champion. And guess what? By then I had another option in WCW, so I started watching more and more of that even before the NWO angle hit big. So I guess in that respect 1995 was worse, since WCW sucked hard most of that year and we didn't get ECW where I live until mid 1996.

I suppose the signs were all there in 1992 for a bigger Bret push. He went over Piper clean at WM. Actually mained SS vs. Bulldog, albeit in England. It was just the bizarre, out of nowhere lack of build to it. I think if he first won the belt at WM, then Yoko or someone screwed him at SS it could have worked better. For what it's worth though I did immediately accept Bret as champion. Certainly a pleasant surprise at the time.

WCW improved and went in a more adult, serious direction by late 1995. But man the previous 8 months or so of WCW in 1995 sucked so much shit it's not even funny. The key is that no one really CARED especially or it would be as reviled as the dreaded year 1999. As in there was no MNW yet, so people could either watch or not watch WCW and it didn't matter. The WWF had some solid individual matches in 1995 but the overall direction of the company was so dire that year. Everyone was misused, from Bret to UT. Diesel's title run had a series of truly horrid post WM opponents. Bulldog did a goofy heel turn that no one liked. The real dead zone for the WWF however wasn't technically 1995. I'd say the real dead zone was maybe the Rumble in 1996. They didn't even have enough guys to fill up the actual Rumble, had to bring in jobbers from the USWA and crap.

I think TNA might start making money because they are becoming a real promotion at long last. Let's face it, you can't just run PPVs and do TV tapings and be a legit promotion that is making money. You have to actually run shows, take it all over the country, build a fanbase. The house show I went to was excellent, probably better than the overbooked TV. These house shows are likely doing strong word of mouth so if they go back to a town more people might show up. Personally I think the next step they need to take is get the hell out of Orlando. Take the Impact tapings all around the country and get people truly interested in the product.

I mentioned it earlier but there was no point putting Yokozuna against Bret in the first place. The match was a huge style clash, so why not give Macho the Rumble win, he has a dynamite match with Bret that solidifies him as champion, etc. Frankly, the entire booking of Bret's first run was bizarre and didn't serve to get him over. He won it from Flair in a match no one saw, had no sustained feuds but mostly just took on all comers, etc. Frankly I had no real memory of his title run from Survivor Series 92 until losing to Yoko. I would have put the belt back on Savage at the Survivor Series if Flair was unable to go a full schedule due to his ear problems. Or maybe at a taping before it, who knows. Have Macho fend off Razor at the Rumble, then Bret can win the Rumble and thus you get a true build to his title win rather than throwing it on him cold. Let's face it, Bret was coming off losing the IC to Bulldog in England, so circa 1992 it seemed quite odd that this guy was suddenly the world champ. I liked it, but it was still weird.

I wonder what Flair's legacy would have been like had the following 2 things not happened: 1. David Von Erich's death in Japan in 1984. 2. Magnum T.A.'s career ending car wreck in 1986. I have no idea if DVE was going to be any sort of long term NWA champ, or maybe just a short term deal like Kerry ended up. But Magnum was very well going to be the uber popular face champion for the NWA, leading them into the late 80s and into the 90s. My favorite Flair match is the 1992 Rumble, if that can be considered. There are several Flair/Steamboat matches so I don't know which to pick exactly. But that Rumble is one of the single greatest performances I've ever seen. There have been guys who have gone the distance in the Rumble, but none have ever taken command of an entire Rumble, fought an entire roster of the greatest stars of an era, and been that Rumble's primary focus.

If UT's new finisher isn't really getting over yet (at least not until WM perhaps) I think it is due to Cole and Coach not being able to commentate worth a crap. They don't know what the move is, other than "that deadly submission!" and don't properly convey it as a finisher.

Lushus I thought the same thing about the bottom 2 both being black, haha. Chikezie was certainly not the worst singer in the field. For some reason I thought the judges had it in for him the whole way through, constantly badmouthing some fairly decent performances. I personally thought Ramiel should have been gone. She did a song that she wasn't suited for at all, and that we've seen other singers do much better.

I think people should be allowed to post whatever threads they want. If the thread is pointless or no one cares, then it will get no responses and drift away (or if it is too inflammatory it would be closed). I haven't even wanted to start threads lately since I don't know if whatever news I'd post would be considered a "comment that doesn't warrant a thread."

WKU is a better team than Texas A & M, certainly better than Cal (who got ripped off at Pauley), etc. UCLA is about like the west coast Georgetown, getting by on BS calls and luck. The only difference is that UCLA got to stay practically at home for the first 2 rounds while G'Town ended up playing a tough Davidson in what amounted to a road game. I've heard talk this week that UCLA is going to flatten Western, blow them out. I think it will be a real battle given UCLA's struggles of late and not really being 100%. Ah well, I'm leaving for FL tomorrow (going to WM) and hopefully I'll get to see some of these games. Hopefully at least 1 of my local teams wins tomorrow night or else the trip will be off to a dubious start.

This movie is going to tank, much like Nixon did. See, the difference with an actual Stone hit film like JFK is that 1. JFK is a much better remembered president. 2. The film has actual dramatic tension involving the investigation, regardless of how much is actually true. The problem with Nixon as a film is that very few people like Nixon for shit and certainly don't want to see a film about him, especially knowing he's just going to resign at the end due to Watergate. George W. Bush is even worse since the audience won't even get that resignation comeuppance.

I don't really remember much about it....I think everyone simply realized RVD was staying in ECW and it was goofy for him to constantly pimp the WWF (especially when he had his chance to leave when he appeared on Raw, but didn't). Sure, the "WWF" side won but in reality it was Heyman blowing off that stale angle and giving RVD the win to prepare him for a major push in 1998. And really that was what the initial angle was all about, Van Dam feeling like Heyman was screwing him and that he wanted a bigger opportunity.

I watched Bret/Bulldog for the 100th or so time earlier. I can practically remember individual crowd shots, lines of commentary, spots in the match. My favorite match ever, and SummerSlam 92 is one of my favorite PPVs ever.

Yeah I think the word is out that TNA's actual live show rocks the house. I went to a house show last May and thought it was terrific, easily better than any WWE house show I've been to. TNA is somewhat like a band that is just whatever on record, but if you see them live they kick ass. Seems like I read that they drew about 4000 people for a house show in Pikeville, KY. This points to something that is interesting, what TNA can do to draw money. Run smaller towns that WWE wouldn't mess with. WCW near the end was still able to draw some good houses in podunk towns in WY or MT. They just killed off the major towns and markets.

The amazing thing is that on the ECW end that whole WWF oriented feud lasted until N2R 97! Bear in mind the angle is dying on Raw and this is like June/July, yet Heyman kept doing it on his end until November when they did the RVD/Dreamer blowoff.

Yeah I miss it. Even at its worst WCW was at least another wrestling show on TV and gave a bunch of guys a paycheck. Doesn't really seem like a lifetime ago to me though...in fact it seems almost like it was yesterday.

Hogan vs. Warrior....face vs. face, drew almost 70,000 people for WM 6. Bret vs. Bulldog, face vs. face...drew 80,000 to Wembley in England. I don't know if Savage was fresh enough in the WWF to draw anything on that level, but it could have worked well.

Edge vs. Undertaker: This one is a no brainer. Edge, while hilarious and brilliant of late, hasn't really been portrayed as a serious threat to the streak (which Batista was). UT will get the belt. Orton vs. Cena vs. HHH: This match just has zero intrigue to me. The signs are all there though....Orton is going to retain. HHH will get the belt fairly soon, Cena is off to film a movie, and the storyline to some degree is Orton can't beat Cena. Mayweather vs. Show: Don't care whatsoever. Are we supposed to be rooting for the sleazy David or the heel Goliath? I'll go with Mayweather simply because there is no way he would sign on just to lose here. Flair vs. Michaels: Best angle and match on the show, not even close. Of course it looks like Flair is retiring so Shawn will win here, but the key is the epic booking. I noted that Patterson needs to be booking this, put in all sorts of false finishes, HBK questioning God on whether he should win or just walk away, hitting 5 superkicks and Flair keeps kicking out to stay in it. Michaels eventually wins. MITB: This match became useless once Jeff failed a drug test. Of all the guys in it, I suppose it almost has to be MVP winning since he's the only guy in it that could use it to do something. Where was Kennedy this week on Raw? Batista vs. Umaga: Batista will win, but it will keep Umaga strong and set up a future rematch. Finlay vs. JBL: Given the bizarre angle here it almost has to end with Hornswoggle returning to stick it to JBL and cost him the match. Could be the sleeper of the show. Bunnies match: Ashley/Maria are going to win. The various celeb involvement leads to this conclusion. ECW battle royale: Kane will win, then challenge Chavo and win the title.

Still, once Savage was healthy again why not put him vs. Bret on PPV? Were they allergic to drawing money in 1993-94? That would have been an excellent match, maybe have Macho put Bret over and then go to WCW.

That is certainly ironic looking back. I had never heard of the UFC at all until Shamrock showed up on WWF TV, it was just something of an underground thing that if you weren't into it you wouldn't know much about it. Vince putting over the UFC actually may have gotten them on the map with a more mainstream crowd, and in retrospect I wonder if he wished he hadn't put them over.

Yeah I'm pretty sure the whole Luger/WBF thing was mainly a vehicle for Luger while his WCW contract ran out. It was something convoluted like Luger's dates were up in WCW and he wasn't required to work more shows, but he was still under actual contract for another year. If that is in fact correct would that mean WCW was actually still paying a guy who was sorta working for the competition?