cabbageboy

Yeah but Watts didn't take over WCW until roughly mid 1992. The stellar SuperBrawl and WrestleWar PPVs were largely under the K. Allen Frye regime, or maybe Watts took over literally right at that WrestleWar PPV, I forget (not sure of his actual input with that show). By the heel wins during that era I am thinking of stuff like Vader crushing Sting cleanly or Williams/Gordy beating down the Steiners and Windham/Rhodes. Or Scotty Flamingo beating Brian Pillman clean for the lightheavy belt, which I always found weird. The actual wrestling during that period was obviously better than stuff like this GAB tonight. I didn't say it wasn't.

That match makes absolutely no sense. That said, I can't help but think we're going to see a Cody heel turn on his dad, just to prove they can outdo WCW in 1999. At least David Flair joined the NWO to nail Torrie Wilson. What would be Cody's reason? A deep, longing desire for Orton?

Taken individually that might not be so bad. I can see Khali beating Kane the way it went tonight. I can see MVP winning over Matt. I can see Umaga beating down a game Jeff. Orton beating Dusty. But when you do this ALL on the same PPV it gets tedious and frustrating. As I said it was like watching Bill Watts era WCW with Vader and Williams/Gordy beating everyone clean.

Well, it's a strange question since Goldberg would have lost to SOMEONE eventually. As in no one can stay undefeated forever. That said, I think WCW would have been okay had he simply won the title back not too long after losing it.

Oh god, another absurd notion that Kennedy is going to do jack shit on Raw. The guy is already an afterthought on Raw, what with jobbing to Super Crazy and Lashley already made him a bitch. Kennedy isn't winning the Rumble, he isn't going to challenge Edge for the title (obviously not now), he isn't going to do shit but get buried. Orton, should get the belt, would end up being Jericho 2002 Part II. I seriously doubt that Orton could hold the title till WM and remain entertaining, so HHH needs to win it at Survivor Series or roughly near then.

I actually did end up getting this PPV tonight, mainly because I enjoy seeing the real ring ropes at least once a year (red, white, and blue). But man, who is booking this stuff? It seemed tonight like a bizarre mismash of Vince Russo and Bill Watts booking. The Russo stuff would be the silly shit like a midget winning the cruiser title followed by a Singapore cane on a pole match. The Watts stuff would be the constant clean heel wins that serve to kill crowds. I know WWE is trying to go for this ultra legit and clean vibe, but you can't do it with HEELS WINNING. What is the incentive for watching Punk go after Morrison when he's jobbed clean to the guy twice now? I guess with Matt/MVP there's always the rubber match. But Jeff/Umaga? Umaga has owned him in every match. Did they forget that heels need to do dastardly acts and cheat like mofos? If the heel actually wins clean that kinda makes him the better man. And when the heel is established as being the better man, it kills the face's heat.

Bear in mind Wedding Singer was Sandler's first hit. Before that he starred in Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, neither of which exactly lit up the box office (though they have fans now). If anything the success of Wedding Singer led to his even bigger success later in 1998 with Waterboy.

I hope there is a Khali/Batista match at SS in the PUNJABI PRISON OF DOOM. Seriously, doesn't Khali actually have to be in his own match at some point? Regardless of the precise definition of transition champ, I don't think Khali will end up being one. I think they are retarded enough to keep it on him until WM or so when UT comes back and destroys him. Though it's hard to imagine Khali main eventing a WM.

I saw Teddy Hart and Harry Smith (with Nattie Neidhart) on that OVW show, which was a Royal Rumble style show to get a shot at Cena when he comes down for the Six Flags show. And yes, they were wearing those goofy genie type glitter pants, which is what Teddy usually wears but man Harry looked like a fool. They bot got eliminated with zero fanfare.

I am baffled as to why quite a few people here think the Colts are going to suck or something. Unless they have some major post Super Bowl meltdown (which is more likely for a SB loser) they should be fine. They lost some guys on D but is it really a huge deal when that defense was 23rd in the league? The offense should still be crazy barring some unforseen injury. Not going to predict seeding but here are the teams to make the playoffs: AFC: Indianapolis New England Cincinnati San Diego Baltimore Denver The Patriots will certainly be in the mix but I don't know if getting Moss will help them in some huge amount the way some think. The Bengals will finally get back on track after the Palmer injury and various off the field problems. Chargers are still going to be mega talented even with Norv Turner as coach, enough to win the division. The Ravens and Broncos will probably both end up as wildcard teams at roughly 10-6. NFC: This is tougher since it seems like nobody can put together consistent runs. Here goes: New Orleans Dallas Green Bay St. Louis Philadelphia Chicago The Saints got a taste of success and I think can keep it going especially if they can improve at all on defense. Call me crazy but I think the Cowboys will improve on last year's 9-7 mark and win a couple more games (maybe 11-5). Packers will surprise some people since they rallied to finish 8-8 last year and just seem like one of those teams that will keep improving. The NFC West is a bizarre, crappy division but I think the Rams will win it in mediocre fashion, mainly because I just think the Seahawks are going to start fading, the Cardinals perennially suck, and the Niners aren't really there yet. Philly and Chicago as the wildcards both going 10-6 or 9-7.

As crazy as it sounds there was the seed of a decent idea with that Goldberg "Repeat the Streak" angle in late 2000/early 2001. If that was done right here is what you would have had: A dominant Steiner with the WCW title, running through people left and right. Then by Starrcade 2001 you would have a mega over Goldberg who just went through a shitload of people to "repeat" his streak. Of course they immediately fucked it up by having Goldberg lose his career to Luger and Bagwell. Thing is, that's the sort of major long term angle you can do when your company isn't about to go under. WCW needed a much quicker turnaround. Here's a what if along those lines: What if Rob Van Dam signs with WCW in 2000? Would he have been rocketed to the top, used similarly to Lance Storm in the US division, or just buried? A part of me has always wanted to see RVD vs. Goldberg. Maybe I'm crazy but I think that would be a fun match.

I'm going to watch OVW in a few minutes, and if the Harts are on it this might be pretty interesting. By the way Harry Smith was on OVW a few times before but he was mostly tagging with Kofi Kingston and jobbing. Wasn't a real great run.

Cucaracha, that wasn't exactly my point. If they had gone out of their way to do some lame RVD/Cena rematch only so Cena could get some meaningless win.....it just would have been pathetic and needless. At least by leaving that door open perhaps RVD could come back some day and feud with Cena with the point being "John, you beat all these guys but you didn't beat me!" As far as HHH/Orton goes, geez just read a bit between the lines. HHH wants Orton to get the belt because he knows Orton will obviously job to him. Has little to do with Hunter thinking he's a swell guy.

Speaking of Statham, I have Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels ordered and hopefully will get it fairly soon. Is it as good as Snatch? Anyone know why the Transporter movies were only PG-13? They seem like prototypical violent R rated actioners. Hell, it's not like those being PG-13 seriously added $$ at the box office.

God, how could I forget the shitty ending of Night of the Hunter? This goes more in the shit ending category than shitty scenes though. Pretty much everything from Lillian Gish finding Mitchum in the barn to her horrible monologue to end the movie sucks. Still, Mitchum is just the man. The guy could play heroes, psychotic villains, noir anti heroes...and did it all with the coolest of ease. If you want another shitty ending to an otherwise excellent movie, try Woman in the Window. It was all a dream baby!

The way SMW was hurt by the WWF sending guys in theory to help out reminds me of the USWA. It seemed like a bunch of WWF guys would show up in USWA in the 1990s around the time Lawler first worked for the WWF. Thing is it made the local guys look bush league and only served to wreck the fed in the end.

The difference with virtually all of those other brief championship runs is that those guys were all either fulfilling a gimmick (like Edge's first run) or were merely transition champions. When a guy is hurt the new champ is in theory supposed to a NEW CHAMP, as in someone who holds the belt for a while. I think Kane is obviously in this match to job to Khali so that Batista doesn't have to, and then they can do a Punjabi Prison or something at SS so Batista can regain without Khali really losing.

RVD? Ha. I'm glad RVD got out while he could without returning that job to Cena. Anyway, it's going to either be Lashley or Orton at this point. I heard some Meltzer update saying Orton at SS and then HHH will inevitably beat Orton. So just consider what we're going to see: --HHH comes back and buries Booker, since Booker really doesn't have much heat left with the King gimmick. --Kennedy has already been jobbed out and buried on Raw. --Cena would end up probably beating Lashley and while it might not totally bury Lashley it would be a setback for his 8 months of mega push. --Cena jobbing to Orton would make Cena look awful and sorta bury him, since Orton is a joke and has jobbed to everyone under the sun (including a guy whose contract was up AND in storyline had a concussion). --HHH would of course get to bury Orton in the end. Thus who ends up on top when all is said and done? HHH. And maybe a returning Shawn.

I think the WWF was going to usurp WCW in 1998 regardless of whatever WCW did, but that said there's no reason why WCW couldn't have still been successful and made money for years to come. They had Goldberg established as a top draw as champ but for whatever reason he just seemed to drift away after he lost the belt and streak. I can't even recall why per se, was he hurt in mid 99?

Man that is bizarre, wonder why I never heard about that Champion story until now? I'm assuming it was something that happened at Louisville Gardens. The Lawler arrest and court case was more notable around here circa 1993. What's funny is that few people before then knew about Lawler's jailbait fixation, so nobody really believed he did it!

Might as well take a crack at it: WWE Champion John Cena vs. Bobby Lashley: I also think it was a bit early for this match and it could have been built better. It'll be a double pin or something goofy (DQ, countout) where Cena retains so they can do a SS rematch. World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali vs. Batista vs. Kane - Triple Threat Match: Why would anyone think Khali would simply job here? Look, you don't just put the belt on the guy if he's not going to have ANY sort of successful defense. Kane is there to blatantly do the job. Khali vs. Batista at SS, maybe in the return of the Punjabi Prison so Khali can lose without being pinned. ECW World Champion John Morrison vs. CM Punk: Man, 2 out of 3 of the title matches are better served being inconclusive. Since they don't care about Punk they'll have Morrison cheat to win here, but Punk will have his day at SS in an Extreme Rules match. Intercontinental Champion Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy: I think Jeff will find some way to win this thing, and I would expect the Jackass crew to run in and cost Umaga to set up that silly SS program. Women's Champion Candice Michelle vs. Melina: This is a foregone conclusion, just job Melina out and build up Beth Phoenix to take the title. Dusty Rhodes vs. Randy Orton (Texas Bull Rope Match): I'm assuming Orton beats up Dusty here but maybe blades himself and takes some abuse. They had something going here until they jobbed Cody in his first match on Raw to Orton, which I still don't understand. Isn't the point here for Orton to beat up old Dust and then his boy avenges dad? United States Champion MVP vs. Matt Hardy: This is a typical setup I'm getting sick of on SD, namely a guy jobs his ass off in non title matches and then retains at the PPV. Have they never heard of two evenly matched guys trading a belt back forth a few times? Sandman vs. Carlito: Sandman has been one of the few Raw additions that hasn't been buried or jobbed out yet. Since it's in theory his gimmick match and we haven't seen it in WWE, he needs to win.

Man, I was a big USWA fan back in the day but why don't I remember this hilarious gimmick? It's the exact sort of thing they could do in Memphis and not have anyone think much bad about it, but if a major company tried it people would trash it.

Eh I never had a problem with Crystal in that, but I DO have a problem with TV stations hyping a showing of it around his bit part. I thought about this further and found one scene in a great movie that flat out sucks and I've always found incomprehensible. That would be Fargo, notably the scene where Frances McDormand meets up with the one Chinese dude in the restaurant. It's such a pointless scene, adds nothing to the overall narrative, and unlike The Big Lebowski (which has several bizarre character scenes) it isn't one bit entertaining.

Does Jarrett even count as a guy making his return to TNA? He hasn't ever left per se. The way they put it made it sound like someone new was signing.

Lushus hit upon something that puzzles me with these WCW shows. They will toss virtually anyone onto Nitro with no real reason just to have a match. That was okay with Saturday Night, which was at that point mainly filler, but when you see a Raw where every segment has a point and furthers an angle it is a bit strange to see some random jobber match on Nitro.