cabbageboy

Did Sting actually say the restraining order is from now till BFG? Wouldn't that mean the order would be up the day of the PPV and not the day AFTER the PPV? Either way we know Sting's getting screwed. Judas Macias might be a decent gimmick for someone, but Ricky Banderas isn't really a big enough dude for such a monster heel. When he was wrestling Eric Young tonight I couldn't help but notice that Young wasn't all that much smaller than this alleged monster heel. The guy comes off like Gangrel or somebody when he should be some monster heel that would face someone like UT.

Malenko was #1 in 1997 because there was no one else who stood out that year to them. Austin probably should have been ahead of him though, besides his match with Bret he did win the tag titles with 2 different partners and also the IC title as well. I might have said UT in 1997 for #1, since he was WWF champion and had successful PPV title defenses vs. Mankind, Austin, Vader.

Well thus far the Patriots have been the most impressive but let's see what the Chargers end up doing this year before pronouncing it a major win. Thing is, right now the AFC East looks like one of the worst divisions in football. It's already over after 2 games, since the Jets, Dolphins, and Bills are all 0-2. The Colts are actually in a serious division, with a much improved Texans team that is 2-0, the Titans with Vince Young, and physically tough Jags. In fact the only losses the AFC South has had are within the division (Colts over Titans, Titans over Jags).

Ripper, I agree with quite a bit of what you say there. I hadn't heard of the whole Jason Simpson theory before but it does sound like he should have been looked at as a suspect. But as far as the bizarre trail of evidence that was botched by the lab and by the cops, I like what a Georgetown law student said in a PBS special: "They framed a guilty man." Based on the evidence at the trial, I don't blame the jury one bit for acquitting OJ. It was such a fascinating trial really. Has there ever been a bigger grouping of such unsympathetic people? Even the victims and their families didn't exactly inspire much sympathy, at least I didn't think so.

Well, I made it sound like I dislike Airplane earlier, which isn't true. I like it quite a lot actually, but the film DOES have major problems like that Stucker douchebag, or a tendency for rehashing tired jokes (such and such, but that's not important right now...). It's also basically a remake of the 50s airline disaster flick Zero Hour, quite literally all of the hokey sounding serious dialogue is from that film. The Naked Gun is a more original film and Top Secret is to me the funniest ZAZ film.

I think some of this could be that quite a few of the black QBs could likely be converted to another position, be it WR, punt returns, RB, etc. What else is Tim Couch going to do in football other than QB? Or Ryan Leaf? That was my main problem with Kordell Stewart, who was pictured above. The guy was simply not an NFL QB, but he was a hell of a good football player. During his initial NFL time with Neal O'Donnell as QB with Pittsburgh, Stewart was incredible. He played WR, RB, returned punts, occasionally even kicked if I recall. But the Steelers were determined to make him a QB only, and eventually it wrecked him. They did learn from it with Randle El though, another multi talented player that was a college QB.

Eh, that's a bit far off in time periods to really wonder about. I suppose it could have happened but by 1993 the Horsemen really weren't that relevant anymore. The AWA and WCCW were both basically screwed by the time Crockett sold out to Turner. I can't see Turner bothering with either as a solo venture, and also the USWA formed around this time anyway. I think Turner would have certainly taken a chance with that promotion since it was still going fairly strong, had a solid fanbase in parts of the south, and would fit well on TBS.

I have a copy of Smack Em Whack Em that someone made for me! I did rent the factory VHS back in the day too.

If Turner doesn't buy out Crockett then basically we get 2001 circa 1989 instead. The WWF would have been the only real viable major promotion out there, with maybe stuff like USWA still carving out a regional niche.

I guess a lot of people look at Hornswaggle being the bastard son as a total joke and tuned out.

Big Show was never any sort of an option to win at WM 16. He should have never been in the match. I actually recall an idea I had about Foley winning the title at that PPV, then retiring again right after it. It would be a big celebration in the ring, Foley relinquishes the belt the next night on Raw, then they do a mini tourney with Rock vs. HHH obviously being the final at Backlash. They could do the same Austin as ref angle. I still don't know why they didn't do something, anything but what they ended up doing.

Borga's act was too inherently lame to last very long. Oooh, a Finnish heel. I'm so scared. Truth be told I barely recall when he was released. He would have likely ended up jobbing to either Luger or UT in a feud, and then been gone anyway.

I'm not sure what exactly this big improvment in Boogeyman has been, but they can't release or suspend everyone. The 4 way was a great match tonight. Why hype a lame squash like the main event and not hype what was actually a really excellent match? Dreamer has been a man possessed lately. Seriously, he's a better actual wrestler now than he was in his physical prime. With that said, they should have just jobbed out Thorn here and had Burke vs. the 2 Originals next week. Or maybe they figure it puts sympathy on the heel to do that. Now Dreamer can be the face against the 2 New Breed guys, go through Thorn, but then job out to Burke.

Hell I don't even think Airplane is anywhere near the Zuckers' best movie. Naked Gun and Top Secret are both way funnier. Perhaps I don't like Airplane as much because of that ultra annoying Stephen Stucker idiot. He wrecks every scene he's in.

The Bills are in the AFC however. And yes the benching of Flutie in favor of Rob Johnson is still one of the dumbest coaching moves ever. The dude had one good game in a lame duck last game of the season vs. the Colts and suddenly he's Joe Montana. Here's a what if: What if Flutie started the playoff game vs. the Titans? Do the Bills win with ease?

As someone who used to watch old USWA/Memphis stuff it irks me nowdays to see guys who were bitter enemies now teaming up without a reason as to why they are now friends. A big example of this was last year when Carlito and RVD teamed on Raw, with zero explanation as to why Van Dam would team with the guy who tried to injure his surgically repaired leg. At least with USWA they would have these guys cut promos saying stuff like "Yeah I don't trust this guy but we're putting that aside for now to face so and so."

Heyman's OVW booking was pretty good stuff, so that is at least something decent he's done in the past decade. That and maybe his SD work circa 2002-03, and the show tailed off once he was removed from the booking. If Russo has one possible edge over Heyman it is that he has at least at one point figured out how to book for the masses. Heyman books more of a niche product and I'm not sure that's what TNA wants to be.

By the way, why was Daivari fighting over the Iranian flag considering it is well established in storyline that he's from Detroit? Hell, the initial Muhammed Hassan/Daivari angle stressed that these guys might be Middle Eastern but that they wanted to be treated like every other American.

If you're TNA why not just get rid of Cornette and Russo and bring in Heyman? It's not like Russo's booking has been worth a damn, and Cornette has been about as horrid of a GM figure as can be imagined.

Did anyone wonder where Simmons was on Raw? Santino beat him up last week and they didn't really follow this. If he was selling an injury it made no sense because we just saw him with Teddy Long on SD and he was fine. I also took note of the HHH burial of 5 guys. Does HHH really think this stuff gets him over? It mostly makes him look like a douche, even to marks. This actually reminded me of some old Austin segments where Austin would stun anyone and everyone. It made me think that it's time for the whole "loner anti hero" character to go the way of the dinosaurs. How about a top star who has some friends and guys who are glad to watch his back?

SD @ GB: Chargers have looked bleh so far and the Packers have been looking good. I'll take Green Bay by 7. MIA @ NYJ: Well, some AFC East gimp is going to have to win. I'll take the Jets for the simple fact it's at their place. NYJ by 3. DET @ PHI: Eagles will be coming off a short week but I can't in good conscience say the Lions will be 3-0. Philly by 6. ARI @ BAL: Is McNair back? Either way I think the Ravens win this one by 10. IND @ HOU: So many people predicting upset here. Could happen, but I'm thinking Colts by 10. MIN @ KC: Chiefs have looked lousy so far, so I'll take the Vikings as the lesser of two evils. MN by 4. BUF @ NE: Assrape, thy name is Buffalo. Patriots by 21. STL @ TB: Rams have started real slow and it should continue here. Tampa by 7. SF @ PIT: Niners are smoke and mirrors and quite lucky. It'll stop here. Steelers by 14. CIN @ SEA: Hell who knows with these two. I don't see the Bengals travelling to the west coast all that well though. Seattle by 9. JAC @ DEN: I haven't been especially thrilled with the Broncos thus far, but they'll probably scrape by the Jags here. Broncos by 3 yet again. CLE @ OAK: Whoa. Browns can win this one too and be 2-1. Cleveland by 5. CAR @ ATL: Falcons might be the worst team in the league. Panthers by 10. NYG @ WAS: Or maybe the Giants are the worst. Redskins by 10. DAL @ CHI: This should be very interesting. I want to say Dallas but I dunno. Bears by 3. TEN @ NO: Saints can't be as bad as they've shown. New Orleans by 6.

Wasn't the failure of that Starrcade the reason that Flair was relieved of booking going into 1990? I too think it's odd that they blew off Flair/Funk on free TV at the Clash instead of maybe doing the goofy tourney thing with Sting winning as an undercard with Flair/Funk "I QUIT" as the main at the PPV.

The main event was desperately trying to channel the killer ECW angle with Tommy Dreamer being handcuffed while the Dudleys broke Beulah's neck. However this angle tonight was more comical and absurd for these reasons: 1. Cena stood there like a douche not really all that emotional about his dad getting trashed, whereas Dreamer was screaming and acting like it was killing him to see Beulah attacked. 2. The Dudleys actually had venomous heel heat, whereas Orton is getting an ironic cheer from the crowd. Overall this Raw tonight really showed the strain that the various suspensions are putting on the Raw roster. It seems thinner than ECW right now, which is saying something. HHH got to bury 5 men tonight, I wonder if that's a new record for him.

Right now the best teams in the league have to be the Patriots, Colts, and Steelers. I'm a bit hesitant on the Steelers though since they have just squashed the Bills and Browns thus far. Colts struggled to put away the Titans today but I wasn't really shocked at that, since that's one of those odd rivalries and Vince Young is just hard to shake. How wild is it that the Cowboys, Niners, and Packers are all 2-0? Old school baby! Of course the Niners are still essentially crap, but the other 2 have looked legit solid so far.

I can't believe they actually put the belt on Batista on THIS seemingly lame duck PPV. I didn't bother watching it tonight since I assumed Rey was merely the job boy tonight and Khali would retain. Why the hell would they job Beth Phoenix to Candice tonight? Doesn't anyone study their Sting and Vader booking? That was obviously the time where Vader/Beth just beats the piss out of Sting/Candice in dominant fashion and takes the title. That Cena/Orton booking sounds truly bizarre, at least the last part of it. Am I to assume that the Last Man Standing match will end in a lame double knockout, setting up a HIAC or something to blow it off?