cabbageboy

Gotta love WCW back then. That Beach Blast show has stuff like Sting/Cactus non title and Steamboat/Rude was also non title. It's like they went out of their way to not draw a buyrate.

I'd be glad to watch Havoc 89 if they would put it up soon. I'm assuming it will be there on Wed.'s update? The amusing thing about that Philly crowd is that I think they went back there for Havoc 1992 and the crowd treated Zenk/Douglas/Gunn like crap and cheered on the Anderson/Eaton/Hayes team.

There are also a few clips tossed onto WWE DVDs from Memphis, just stuff like Joe LeDuc tossing Lawler onto the announce table. Or Lawler beating Hennig for the AWA title (though this might be from the AWA library?). Lawler vs. Funk in the empty arena was on 24/7 a while back. I think one problem is that Memphis footage just looks like crap anyway in terms of video quality.

What is this, U of L actually showing up to play tonight? I was right....the fans here have become such a hindrance to this team that they play better on the road away from the booing and calling for Kragthorpe's head. And to be honest as much as I've been pimping Cincy this year, they got exposed tonight. Now if U of L can simply beat WVU and USF both on the road we can make those BCS plans, haha. USF and BC will be 2 and 3 I'm assuming but I think both will lose their next game. BC is certainly going down against VT, and I will go out on a minor limb and say Rutgers stops sucking long enough to beat USF.

Wow, the UK/LSU game today had to be the game of the year thus far in college football. From the get go once UK got that deflected TD in the 1st quarter it just sorta seemed like their day. I think UK might just go back to #8, which is where they were before the SC loss. It would be funny if Hawaii was the only unbeaten team at the end of the season, especially given how shaky they are. U of L vs. Cincy is tied at 14 at the half. What's with U of L playing better on the road? I guess it could be a relief to get away from home since it's possibly more hostile at Papa John's than on the road.

I quite enjoyed the initial RVD/Sabu feuding in 1996. Those matches at least bring some wild athleticism into the brawling. I loved that sick fisherman's buster from the top rope, with RVD targeting Sabu's injured neck. Psychology in those matches?? Am I alone in thinking that ECW's late 90s (1998-99) product is much better?

Yeah I don't really want Sting's last match to be him jobbing to Angle after Angle attacked his son and all that nonsense. If nothing else give Sting the feel good moment at BFG, then either have him job it back to Angle and retire or put someone else over on the way out.

Iggy, let me gives some thoughts on the various teams you mentioned. Tier 1: LSU: Very likely the best team in the country, but yet they don't seem invincible by any means. If they lose 1 game they could still be in the title game anyway though. Cal: Something tells me USC or Arizona St. or just SOMEONE will beat these guys. If so, Cal will plummet since their SOS is currently 105, and let's face it Cal just doesn't get that much national respect. Arizona State: I dunno, they kinda struggled in their last game so they will likely lose to someone in the Pac 10. Oregon, Cal, or USC will beat them. Tier 2: Ohio State: It disturbs me but they very well could run the table. The Big 10 doesn't really deserve anyone in the title scene this year, so I'll say Michigan beats them. The Wolverines live to ruin an unbeaten OSU season. Boston College: Okay, let's get real here. It's BC, they're in the worst major conference, and they are bound to lose to somebody like Va Tech. South Florida: I'm bewildered at people suggesting these guys might run the table. Their offense is mediocre and inconsistent, the kicking game is horrid as well. They have gotten by on luck and solid defense, but let's face it they struggled just to beat FL Atlantic last week. I think they lose 2 or 3 games, maybe to Rutgers and Cincy. Missouri: I'm not sure how good they really are, but we'll find out tomorrow. Might get to the Big 12 title game, possibly BCS if they can win a rematch with OU. Cincinnati: I've been highly impressed with Cincy but their SOS isn't good enough to go to the title game. They are bound to lose to USF or WVU anyway. Kansas: A nice little story but they have no shot. Mizzou, Colorado, A & M could all beat them. UConn: I would be more tempted to say they are for real if they hadn't barely beaten TEMPLE. Way too hard of a scedule too, with UVA, USF, WVU, and so on upcoming. Oregon: They could be in the BCS running but not national title. Hard to put them over Cal since they lost at home to them. South Carolina: They are pretty good but they just reek of 2nd tier bowl to me. May well win the SEC East though. USC: Even if they somehow win out (which I can't see) they are out of any serious title consideration. You don't lose at home when favored by 40 and play for a title. UK: Yeah right. UK has a couple of certain assbeatings coming up with LSU and FL. Might have a shot at one, but not both. And UGA on the road won't be easy. UK is roughly an 8-4 type team. Tier 3: Oklahoma: Let's be honest, after the Jason White teams tanked in the title games pollsters are looking for reasons not to put OU in the title game. They might choke again to Missouri or someone in the Big 12 title game. WVU: Nobody from the Big East with 1 loss has a hope in hell of going to the title game (believe me, I know how that goes). Still, if they win out they should still win the Big East and go to the BCS, since I think USF loses a couple. Illinois: A nice and improved team, but hardly a title contender. They can play S. Carolina in a 2nd tier bowl. Wisconsin: They were a fraud anyway, and now that they've lost there is no shot of them going anywhere. May lose again to OSU. Florida: I think they are totally screwed. In fact they might not win the East with 2 losses already and some other tough games left. Tier 4: Hawaii: I'm not sure they will make the BCS even if unbeaten. Schedule is horrible. I think Boise or Washington will upend them. Texas Tech: Ha. They have Texas and OU coming up, as well as Mizzou. If they can actually win all those more power to them. Texas A & M: Got waxed by Miami. Nuff said. Tier 5: Virginia Tech: I dunno if they are really no chance in hell. They obviously have no shot at the title game since LSU crushed them badly. But if they can beat BC soon there's no reason why they can't go to the BCS. Virginia: Decent team but getting to a bowl would be an accomplishment. Purdue: They have some losses upcoming to Penn St. and Michigan. And maybe even IU. Indiana: Hoosiers have improved but just get to a bowl before thinking bigger.

I don't mind the product placement stuff if it is actually a part of the film itself. I mean in The Wizard the plot of the movie is that the kid goes to play Nintendo games at a competition, so it stands to reason that Nintendo games are all over the movie. Lushus, you are dead right about the warp zone though. There is NO WAY anyone would ever think of doing that. Harold and Kumar has the greatest product placement ever. Right after seeing that movie I flat out had to go to White Castle.

It gets trashier too, since we find out later that Beulah is faking it to cover up for her lesbian antics with Kimona. I have to admit that when ECW first aired in my area (I'm thinking Aug. 1996 or so) I didn't really care for it all that much. I became quite the ECW fan though during the 1998-99 period, in fact I'd say in 1999 ECW had the strongest in ring product considering WWF was Crash TV nonsense and WCW was falling totally apart by midyear.

Steph didn't take over the booking team until Nov. 2000, so you can blame that horrendous Survivor Series with Austin dropping HHH (in a car) from a crane and the goofy Eric Angle nonsense in the UT/Angle match on her. I don't think Steph was booking in Sept. 2000 when they blew it with the Angle/HHH/Steph angle and the Austin limo angle. Considering the WWF had an insanely awesome roster in 2000 with all the WCW guys jumping ship it would have been hard to not make serious $$. Kreski just had to say "Hey, I think the Rock and HHH would be a good match" or maybe "Let's take our 3 best tag teams and let them kill each other will tables, ladders, and chairs." I doubt we'll ever know for sure, but I wonder if Kreski was demoted in Nov. 2000 because those long term angles didn't really pan out all that well. Combine it with the WWF taking a serious ratings hit with the TNN move, and maybe Vince panicked and went to Steph. I wonder if WCW was in better shape if he would have put Steph in charge of anything.

I guess it's not so much that Cody should lose to Orton if they faced off, it's just that they shouldn't be facing off because it will just make Cody look like a jobber. Once you get that jobber label it's hard to shake it. When they try to push Kenny at some point this is going to hurt him, since he's basically a jobber.

I still think the only reason they would call him Jericho only is because they are terrified Jim Ross will fuck up and still confuse him with Chris Benoit. I wonder, if Ross did confuse the two and called Jericho "Benoit" on Raw would that get him fired? Personally I think the whole "last name only" fetish in WWE is idiocy. We know Batista's name is Dave, so why not just call him Dave Batista? We already recall Finlay used to be Fit Finlay, so just call him that (I can see not calling him Dave Finlay).

To be honest I've always found Kreski's booking horribly overrated. I will give him this much..he at least just let the guys perform, but in that 2000 era that's really about all the WWF had going on. Quality in ring work. Go back and watch shows like No Way Out 2000 or WM from 2000 and tell me those are well booked shows. There's some great action on them, but stuff like the Rock jobbing to the Big Show and THEN following it with HHH ending Foley's career? That's just terrible, downbeat booking that sends the crowd home unhappy. Here's some of the stupid crap that happened during the Kreski era: --The obvious WM main event of Rock vs. HHH became a mishmash of McMahons running wild and Foley and Big Show added to it for no good reason. Oh, and HHH retained the belt on that show (bear in mind there was a 50.00 all day version some bought....I can only imagine how thrilled those people must have been). --They brought in Taz and after a slight push mostly just buried him. --The Rock never did quite get the blowoff win over HHH. He beat VINCE for the belt in a convoluted 6 man tag. --The whole Jericho/Chyna co-IC champ storyline. Nuff said there. --Pushing the lame X-Pac/Road Dog tag team over nearly everyone in the tag division aside from whoever had the belts. --The booking of the main matches at Fully Loaded 2000. They had a chance to elevate some new stars, but instead Benoit, Jericho, and Angle all ended up flat on their backs. --The entire month of September 2000. Let's see, we had Austin return and then the whole goofy revelation of Rikishi being the limo driver that ran him down. That angle ended up being a big letdown to a lot of people. Oh, and there was also the big blowoff to Angle and HHH over Stephanie that tanked, with Steph reluctantly choosing HHH even though the entire angle had built to her turning on HHH and choosing Angle. This isn't to say they didn't do some terrific stuff during that period. Anything E & C related was brilliance, the Eddie/Chyna stuff was really the only tolerable Chyna angle ever, etc.

Yeah, while the D'Backs might take game 2 I don't really see this series heading back to AZ. The D'Backs had their best shot tonight with Webb on the mound and didn't do shit.

I dunno about that, Sting after all was recently seen jobbing without a hint of irony to PACMAN JONES. If I'm him I'd flat out demand a title run to do that crap. I enjoyed most of this show tonight but is it just me or is there hardly an X Division left at this point? If they are going to bury that belt then they need a TV or N. American title so that a bunch of midcard guys can feud over something.

Lushus, maybe he just saw Road House one too many times? As far as movies that seem strangely similar, I've always thought the first Harry Potter seemed quite a bit like Young Sherlock Holmes. I think both were directed by Chris Columbus.

The ultimate sad aspect of Dustin Rhodes' career is that his peak as a wrestler and his peak in terms of working the mic and having charisma did not coincide. His WCW work in the early 90s was very good, but he had zero mic skills. Then as Goldust he had all sorts of charisma but he mainly sucked in the ring (aside from his 2002 run with Booker perhaps).

UCLA has absolutely zero shot at going to the BCS. May as well say U of L can still win the Big East....at least they put up a better fight against the mighty Utah. Hell UCLA may be lucky to make a bowl at all, considering ND just waxed them in LA.

Mind you, I haven't seen a huge amount of ROH stuff but it seems to me like Sapolsky has this hard on for factions and teams. I swear it seems like everyone in ROH is in some kind of gang, with maybe one or two main guys that are alone. This isn't exactly a trashing of his booking, more of an observation. What I would like to see in wrestling now is this: Get rid of the whole anti hero schtick. This would involve reducing the cliched heel boss or GM, maybe just have Vince or whoever make an announcement or two but otherwise stay out of things. If a guy is a face, let him have some friends in storyline. This is a problem I always had with the Austin era of booking....the guy was such a psychopath loner that either he had no friends or if someone did turn on him it made total sense because he would stun them or whatever. Also, I would like to see outside the box booking. Some of my favorite matches are Warrior/Savage, Bulldog/Bret, and the like. Let's have some face vs. face booking without one guy turning needlessly on the other, then the guys shake hands after the match. Or maybe like the Savage match where he goes in a huge heel, but in the end is redeemed.

Well, first off the USC/Stanford line was wrong. I don't think anyone should ever be favored by 40 points in a conference game. Stanford has gotten their asses kicked this year, but by an avg. of 30 points a game. Add in that USC hasn't beaten anyone by 40 all year and that was a crazy line even if USC had won the game easily. USC could have won that game 49-10 and not covered.

I don't recall Jeter really being around in OVW much when he was in the Spirit Squad. Before that he was an ultra douchebag heel feuding with Matt Cappotelli. He might be able to play face, but he seems more comfortable as a heel.

If there is one thing Russo certainly adds to a product it is a crazed sense of pacing. Something is always happening on a Russo booked show. With that said, why does every discussion about the creative process always end up with either Russo or Heyman? There has to be some undiscovered booking talent out there with a fresh approach.

The comment I made about the Bears making an "ill advised" playoff run was sarcastic. As in after this Grossman QB controversy crap, the dreadful 1-3 start they just need to suck and go 4-12, then get a decent draft pick. I kinda wish they had kept Grossman in there, he was certainly entertaining.

Nicholson is at the point where he has such a mega huge screen persona that he can't really do anything else. I also find it amusing that his character is often named Jack in the movie, like in The Shining or Batman. I don't know exactly when it was that Nicholson stopped really blending into a role though.