cabbageboy

TNA has developed a bad habit of doing that. After BFG they had some momentum and then did rematches of the top PPV matches on free TV and undid all of the good stuff that PPV accomplished. Now they are doing it again.

This was a pretty fun show tonight, but I'm always amused by the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal gimmick. At least this stuff seemed to be actually booked and if it was in fact a goofy match Vince simply made it into something else. I have to wonder now what they do with the Jeff/Orton match and also Jericho/JBL. Hardy isn't going to win the title, but do they just job him after the excellent build he's had? A DQ makes the most sense but Orton has retained that way against everyone it seems. Also with Jericho/JBL that will be Jericho's 2nd PPV match back and JBL's first....who do you job?

Slayer, I was about to say something along those lines. OSU is eerily similar to OU in that regard, but at least they have beaten some teams in the BCS outside of their national title debacles. Either way I'm sick of seeing both teams.

Here's another 15 list from WWE magazine, followed by my thoughts: 15 Reasons Nitro Failed: Nothing compares to these shameful people and moments. 15. Tony Schiavone (Agree to some extent. He became a self parody by 1998.) 14. nWo 2000 (Yeah, this was pretty bad. Though it's really mostly just forgettable.) 13. Anti-American Jim Duggan (Also bad but not memorable enough to place on the list.) 12. Chavo Guerrero & Pepe (How dare them! I love Pepe.) 11. Vince Russo in the Pope Mobile (Stupid of course, but WCW was wrecked by this point.) 10. Matches in the Mall of America (Eh? The initial Nitro from the Mall put Nitro on the map.) 09. Finger Poke of Doom (Kevin Nash drops to the mat to lose his title after Hulk Hogan pokes him on 1/4/99 Nitro) (How is this not higher than #9? It has to be top 3 or so.) 08. The Magnificent Seven (2001 faction consisting of Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell and Road Warrior Animal) (Pointless stable but WCW was on its death bed by the time this angle was going.) 07. "Crazy" Ric Flair (Yeah, this pretty much wrecked Flair's drawing power in 1999.) 06. New Blood vs. The Millionaires (This could have worked but it wasn't booked right. I guess I can see it on here.) 05. Steve "Mongo" McMichael (Do they mean announcing or wrestling? If announcing, then yes. He wasn't notable enough as a wrestler to put here.) 04. Disco Inferno (Is Disco really that bad? Geez.) 03. One Warrior Nation (short-lived 1998 faction consisting of Ultimate Warrior and The Disciple a.k.a. Brutus Beefcake) (Yeah this stuff sucked hard. I'd have put the entire Warrior run in WCW on this list though.) 02. Misfits in Action (2000 faction consisting of Hugh Morrus, Lash LeRoux, The Wall, Chavo Guerrero, Booker T, Tylene "Major Gunns" Buck and Vam Hammer) (Not exactly an inspiring stable but were they really the worst thing in the world?) 01. David Arquette (Oh lord. Though to be honest his epic title win was on a Thunder and not Nitro.)

I think the lingo was a bit overdone in Juno, but not to the point of being a serious detriment. 95% of the people I knew in HS didn't talk this way, but there would always be 1 or 2 girls that were enough like Juno that I couldn't say this was unrealistic. Seriously, this might be the first retro grunge era flick. That's what I mean by it being the first movie to make me feel old, since I remember when stuff like that Sonic Youth version of Superstar first premiered on 120 Minutes.

I guess enjoying Black Reign is my guilty pleasure in wrestling today. Actually I don't think Rhodes is phoning it in at all. Unlike most of these washed up ex WWE/WCW guys in TNA he at least is doing an entirely different gimmick and is out there kissing a rat to boot. Anyone willing to kiss a rat on national TV is showing some amount of dedication to his craft. Bear in mind I've always enjoyed these evil weirdo gimmicks. I was a mark for Papa Shango back in the day, haha.

If they can't understand Wargames I'd love for them to sit down and analyze a King of the Mountain match. Now that one is baffling if you aren't familiar with it. Wargames is no harder to understand than a Rumble match really.

Memphis isn't in any way, shape, or form the real #1. But as a U of L fan I swore an oath to never put Memphis over at all. One thing about the A-10. Is that really a Cinderella league? I've never quite put them in there as a top tier conference but there's usually someone that is really good in that league, from Temple in the Chaney era, to UMass under Calipari, St. Joes was great for a while, Xavier is tough. It's kind of in that "not quite mid major, not quite major" realm.

Let me give some thoughts on that bizarre list. 15 Superstars Who Overstayed Their Welcomes (Raw 15th Anniversary Magazine - January/February 2008 issue) 15. Too Cool (Scotty Too Hotty and 'Grand Master Sexay' Brian Christopher): I can actually see Scotty by himself, since he got unbelievably stale by the end of his run. 14. The Patriot: WTF? The guy was in the WWF for a few months in 1997. He served his purpose and then left, certainly didn't stay around to wear out his welcome. 13. Terri Runnels: Eh, she might have hung around a while past the point of anyone caring. 12. Muhammad Hassan: Agree. The guy sucked, his gimmick was terrible and embarrassing, and I am so glad he got released. 11. Clarence Mason: Not a great manager, but he wasn't awful either. Didn't really overstay his welocome. 10. Joey Abs: Why him and not Rodney or Pete Gas? 09. Joey Mercury: This is rich. The guy wrecks his face in the match with the Hardys, his tag partner is still getting pushed....what have they got against the guy? 08. New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg): Obviously. In fact they should be top 3 here. 07. Test: Agree. He was incredibly stale and even in his ECW run was overpushed. I bet he was about 15-0 vs. RVD during that time period and NO ONE cared. 06. Maven: Nah. He really wasn't pushed that hard and in fact probably had more to offer than WWE figured. 05. Debra: This has to be because she spoke out against WWE, because she certainly added to Jarrett's act in 1999, added to Austin's in 2001, etc. 04. Tiger Ali Singh: He sucked but wasn't really around enough and wasn't pushed long enough to wear out his welcome. 03. Christy Hemme: She got released too fast to wear out her welcome, but we know the reason for this. 02. The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher): Man, they seem to really hate these guys. They weren't great by any means, but I never loathed them or anything. 01. Scott Steiner: Heh, not that Steiner's WWE run wasn't awful but he was only there for maybe a year and provided a lot of car wreck entertainment. How on earth were Chyna and X-Pac not on this list? They were the very definition of people who wore out their welcome and were ungodly stale.

I don't know why anyone thought Owen would beat Bret at SS 94. I gave him zero shot in that match, since there was no way Bret would lose to him again after WM X. Here's a fun inaccurate thought I had, though I wouldn't say it was an outright prediction: I thought Test was winning the world title at Survivor Series 1999, once it was announced that Austin was injured due to the limo angle. In fact Test actually made more sense being in the match than The Big Show.

It's the epitome of junk food wrestling, much like Russo's 1999 WWF work. It's amusing while it's on but you can't remember much about it later. Just wondering but why does everyone on the net seem to hate Black Reign? I think I'm the only one who digs this crazy gimmick.

Once again I am utterly amazed at all the people thinking the Seahawks are going to Lambeau and winning. I think that game might be the biggest rout of the weekend with the Packers winning. Again, Seattle has done NOTHING on the road all year and hasn't beaten anyone all year worth a crap. I'll gladly eat all sorts of crow if I'm wrong about this. Anyway: New England 34, Jacksonville 17 Green Bay 35, Seattle 14 Indianapolis 28, San Diego 20 Dallas 35, New York Giants 31 Jacksonville will keep it interesting for a while but I can't possibly see the Patriots not winning comfortably by the end. I think the Colts will stagger around out of sync for a long stretch of that game but will put together enough of a 4th quarter to avoid the upset. As long as Manning doesn't throw 6 INTs again, they should be okay. The Giants are a cocktease here, as they would lead for a long time in this game but ultimately blow it much like with the Patriots game.

Okay, I read the results of this show and this Styles thing baffles the hell out of me. Why exactly is siding with Angle preferrable to siding with Christian? I assumed since Tomko went on his own that AJ would simply go with his tag partner and they would be their own team. I could see this angle sorta working if it was Tomko with Christian and Styles with Angle, but that isn't happening. After reading the result of the tag match and the crowd reaction I think Joe may well have jumped the shark in TNA. He's almost getting negative heat due to this angle, since he comes off like a whiny bitch more than a kick ass rebel. I don't think fans want to hear wrestlers on TV blathering about their contracts.

Yeah it's funny but when smaller movies actually get a decent amount of screens they can actually draw money.

I am utterly bewildered that some experts are seriously picking Seattle to go into Lambeau and beat Green Bay. Yes, I had the Seahawks winning yesterday because they're at least a decent home team and the Redskins really aren't very good. But let's face it, Seattle is a crappy road team (3-5 on the road this year) and hasn't beaten ANYONE all year. Of those 3 road wins they beat the horrible 49ers, Philly by 4 when I believe Feeley was starting for the Eagles, and needed a miracle fumble by Gus Frerotte at the goal line to beat the Rams in STL. And some people think this team is going to beat the Packers at Lambeau? In a way I'm glad Pittsburgh blew it last night because NE vs. JAX is at least a fresh matchup, provided Tennessee doesn't beat San Diego. Gotta think the Colts are rooting for the Chargers today, since they would want that revenge game vs. SD but wouldn't want to see the Jags a 3rd time unless it's the AFC title game.

U of L beat UK yesterday, which normally I would be thrilled with but let's face it this is the worst UK team possibly ever (maybe even including the 1990 probation team) so U of L HAD to win that one. U of L also lost at home to fucking CINCY this week, which may well be the worst loss we've had under Pitino. As far as the MVC goes, I think that conf. is really down this year. Certainly don't see a Cinderella run coming from anyone in it. I would say the Cinderella team this year is Butler but considering they made the Sweet 16 last year I don't really consider them a Cinderella.

As a kid I kind of thought Max Moon would end up being a big star. He should have been, dammit! He was cool. I also thought the Bulldog would get a world title run, though that isn't terribly inaccurate I don't guess considering he came within an eyelash of beating Vader in WCW and also of being both Bret and Shawn in the WWF.

If WWE signed Giant Bernard again it's just a matter of time before he's just the A-Train again and nobody would care. So why bother? Let the guy make his money in Japan. I too don't get these rankings in TNA. Considering that a variety of guys won the briefcases doesn't that already give TNA de facto #1 contenders in all the divisions? I think they should wait until that plays out before determining new contenders and rankings.

I was confused by this recent Impact. First off, how is a silly series of gauntlet matches a decent way to determine rankings? Shouldn't rankings be determined more by actual wins and losses vs. common opponents rather than by whether or not someone was or wasn't tossed over the top rope? Second, doesn't Petey Williams have a Money in the Bank world title shot? Why is he messing with the X Division gauntlet? And why does the Road Dog care about being in a gauntlet when he has his tag team Money in the Bank regardless? What do these rankings really mean? It's not like Cornette gives a shit. The guy put two guys who have never won a 2 on 2 tag match in a PPV title match (Joe and Nash).

I went to a WCW house show in July 2000, which was right after Booker had won the belt and Russo did his bizarre "shoot" on Hogan. They made the amazing mistake of booking the 19,000 seat Freedom Hall instead of the 4,000 seat Broadbent Arena, or maybe 6,000 seat Louisville Gardens. I swear there were maybe 2,000 people in the building. My brother and I sat next to a crazy drunk redneck who used to be on the ring crew with the USWA, and this guy did nothing but shit on the entire show. Truth be told I don't remember the action on the show being all that bad, but it was going to that show that made me realize that WCW was seriously in danger of going under. Would you believe there were scalpers outside at that show? It's not like there was a shortage of seats, haha. The highlight of the night was before a Kidman/Douglas match, this being a feud over Torrie Wilson. Kidman: "Shane, you do realize when you kiss her that's my dick you're tasting?"

The play I am now thinking about was that hideous Pittsburgh 3rd and 6 call. What the fuck was THAT? It was like they were trying some ultra safe QB run to just move into position for a FG, that's what it looked like. Why not be a bit gutsy and throw it 6 yards to Hines Ward, or at least run with the actual RB and try picking it up? It doesn't really matter much though, since I don't see either of today's winners doing much next week. Unless Tennessee upsets SD the Jags get maimed by the Patriots anyway, and Seattle isn't worth a crap on the road so the Packers will beat them pretty easy.

Spidey 3 got really bad on the 2nd viewing to me. And I think there is something to that Wild Hogs/300 thing, since there's no way in hell Wild Hogs should have made anywhere near 168 million (if it made 100 million that might make some sense).

I have to admit this is the first movie I've ever seen where I came out thinking "Man, I am getting old." I guess it was the retro 1993 Seattle grunge vibe from Bateman. Anyway, the movie was good enough. Perhaps trying a bit too hard to be an indie hipster movie, but once I got used to that it was fun.

That Raven/Stevie vs. Dreamer/Douglas match was pretty good but illustrated the serious problem that ECW had with a tag match. We had guys doing crazy hardcore stuff, beating each other with foreign objects, Cactus runs in....yet then this settles into the heels working over Douglas with Dreamer in the corner begging for the hot tag, they do a false tag, etc. How can you do this sort of formula when it's well established there are no rules? I don't really miss the Florida shows. Ironically the only thing from those I enjoy is the goofy Sullivan satanist gimmick.