BorneAgain

Indianapolis didn't have too bad a crowd. Hell, they haven't had a damn PPV here in eight years for god's sake. We're desperate.

Chicago.

Actually it was not televised. It will be on the WM 21 DVD, and they have yet to announce if anything was on the line.

Just got some info, here's the confirmed list of Battle Royal participants. We're missing one from the Raw side which I'm guessing is Steven Richards though that's not confirmed. From Raw: - Simon Dean - William Regal - Yoshihiro Tajiri - La Resistance - Gene Snitsky - Hurricane - Rosey - Chris Masters - Viscera - Rhyno - Val Venis - Tyson Tomko - Maven From Smackdown: - Booker T (winner) - Paul London - Heidenreich - Spike Dudley - Nunzio - Sho Funaki - Doug Basham - Danny Basham - Orlando Jordan - Mark Jindrak - Luther Reigns - Scotty 2 Hotty - Hardcore Holly - Charlie Haas - Akio

Heck no. In fact Big Show should just be the complete opposite of Taker and have the legdendary Wrestlemania Losing Streak. Then we can have some guy (heel or face, it doesn't matter) talk about how he's going to keep the streak alive when they face him and then show a video package demonstrating Show's defeats.

Directed towards both of you: How was the battle royal? (details, who was over, etc)

The battle royal reason was not on Heat, it took place during it but was not televised, as it will be on the Wrestlemania DVD (Which means I'll probably be buying it.) And glad to see that Booker got something at Wrestlemania even if it wasn't a PPV match.

Bullshit. Shawn carried the Summerslam match and his matches with Steiner showed at most how bad he was from January 2002 to December 2003, or at least a definite lack of effort on his part. RVD, Jericho, Shawn fine, but certainly not HHH.

They did one of these on the WMXV Heat too, so there is a precedent. Yeah, but that Battle Royal served a purpose, the last two participants would get a shot at the tag titles. Granted it ended up being D'Lo and Test who lost and the match was never spoken of again, but hey at least the match had a reason.

Brian, I haven't posted in this all that much, but I just wanted to say I love the DVD club write-ups you've done. They've given me some insight on a lot of episodes, and helped me pick up a great deal of things in the series. Just wanted to say thanks for putting the time and effort in these. If anybody's interested I'll be willing to go back and put these together in one big word document.

Damn, and I was gonna comment on how oversold that RKO Taker took was.

Well he made peace with God largely because he had finally gotten out of a relationship. I'm guessing Cameron (the Emperor looking guy) his new boyfriend probably convinced him to do it. As for Kenny, I don't know, maybe he whored himself out again doing disgusting things like in Fat Camp .

I believe that was the Hitman screwjob that nearly caused Mick to quit. In Have a Nice day he more or less said he would have done so if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't afford to walk away from a six-figure paying job for second time in 3 years, and thus relectantly stayed with the company. But yes he was one of many that missed Raw and the tapings the next couple of days along with the entire Hart Foundation. The thing I remember about the Owen situation was Mick feeling really sick when he was wrestling later that night in the same area where Owen fell.

Nah, I have to believe if it were up to Russo he would switch Cena and Batista at the last minute just to surprise people.

Well according to Foley in Foley is Good the original plan was a triple threat match between Mankind, Rock, and Austin, but Shawn Michaels stressed that they needed a one on one match for the Wrestlemania main event. Foley noted that Shawn was actually pulling for Austin/Mankind, but the office went with the more profitable choice of Austin/Rock. Of course a year later they went with the 4-way and ironically enough Shawn himself would be in the three way main event at WMXX.

I believe the Taker/Show team was known as the Unholy Alliance.

For some reason I want to say Terri. I could have sworn she said that on commentary during the Terri Invitational Tournament. Mike tenay during his heal run during 2000. to Stacy Keibler. One of my favorite quotes from that year.

Russo. Its just the kind of cocky BS he would say.

Coach. "This Mikey Whipwreck, he's got a big BUTT. I think he ain't really a cruiserweight with all that big-buttedness" That's gotta be Dusty.

Yes, as opposed to those like Akebono and Christy

Except for "I'd rather be at Starrcade" I got nothing.

Though I still wish there were more matches on this show, this has been one of the better segments I've seen in recent memory.

Even sadder: The Main Event (Booker-Dupree) doesn't even have a real ending. Thanks Taker.

Better spoilers. [Credit: PWInsider.com] Show opens with Tazz interviewing Big Show about his upcoming "Sumo match" with Akebono (rhymes nicely with Sonny Bono). Tazz hype's up Akebono's appearance for next week. Luther Reigns comes out driving a Jeep and says that he should be the one facing Akebono, not the Big Show. To prove this, Luther says that he will personally tip over the Jeep onto its side. After a couple of failed attempts, Luther jumps in the ring (while Big Show was laughing at him) and gets choke slammed. Then, with the crowd urging him on, Big Show attempts to tip over the Jeep. Some of this portion may be edited for TV because Big Show had some difficulties at first. Then, a guy comes out from the back with a jack and lifts up part of the Jeep. Eventually, it's enough for Big Show to tip it over. Kurt Angle in the back says he's got another "Blast from the Past" for HBK later tonight. Angle is hilarious!!!!! Scotty Too Hotty was scheduled to wrestle Orlando Jordan, but during the intro Scotty and JBL get into it and ultimately they wrestle each other. After the predictable "worm", JBL kicks out, eventually hits the "clothesline from Hell" and gets the pin. Hulk Hogan's Hall of Fame promo with footage of WrestleMania IX vs. Yokozuna shows up on the Titantron. I, admittedly, mark out for Hogan. He's "THE MAN" and everybody knows it. Unfortunately, I'm in Memphis where there's more Flair fans than Hulkamaniacs. BTW, lots of "whoooo" chants all night (which is always lots of fun). When I lived up in Chicago the Hogan chants at the Allstate Arena were always loud and strong. I guess Hogan appeals more to "Northerners" (like me) than "Southerners" like Memphis. That's just the way it is folks. Teddy Long says he's got a treat for Memphis. He says he's got an Elvis impersonator to entertain us. Out comes Carlito Cool trying to sing some Elvis songs. My only question is this: Where's The Honky Tonk Man when you really need him? Chavo and Eddie are in the back. Chavo says Eddie should wrestle Rey and Mania. Undertaker on the TitonTron says that there will be a "sacrifice" tonight to send a message to Randy Orton. All throughout the night during the matches, there's bits and pieces of thunder and lightning as the "threat" of the Undertaker loomed. Best part of the night. Angle comes out to HBK's music and Sensational Sherri Martel accompanies him. Kurt points out that Sherri was instrumental in Shawn's career early on and even points out that it was Sherri who originally sang his theme song, "Sexy Boy." Kurt says that he can sing it better than HBK. So, they hit the music and Angle and Sherri start singing "Sexy Boy." Angle even dances and poses like HBK. Totally hilarious!!!!! HBK shows up on the Titantron and then rolls out a video montage of HBK's career. At the end Sherri is shown looking "emotional" as if to say, "that's my boy." Angle throws her down and slaps on the ankle lock. Note: Sherri's not looking too good these days, but all the fans at the arena got a nice "nip shot" as she was being carried out after the segment. During breaks they're airing the WrestleMania Trailers. It goes over big with the crowd. Dawn Marie beat Mc??. Too quick and not enough "skin" for the Memphis folks. Completely pointless match, too. Eddie and Rey talk in the back. Eddie poses a challenge to Rey for a match at Mania. Eddie and Rey defeat Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly. Afterwards, Rey and Eddie speak in the ring and Rey accepts Eddies challenge at Mania. No heel turn for Eddie. Carlito in the back being interviewed by Funaki. Funaki grabs Carlito's Elvis shades and Carlito break the guitar over Funaki's head. My only question is this: Where's The Honky Tonk Man when you really need him? Booker T. vs. Rene Dupree. In the middle of the match, the lights go out, smoke emits from the ring. Lights come back on and Taker shows up behind Dupree. Taker choke slams Dupree and then piledrives Dupree on the stairs. (NOTE: during the WrestleMania Trailers, taker sneaked out with other ring workers and sneaked into the ring. I noticed it immediately. It was kinda like finding out that there really is no such thing as Santa Claus). Cena and JBL "Debate." Teddy Long mediates. Cena entices JBL to throw a punch (so that way Cena would be "allowed" to punch back). Cena spray paints JBL's limo, pours water in his 10 gallon hat, cuts his tie and tries it on, and ultimately spray paints "FU" on his shirt. Lots of quick-witted comments by Cena. Good mic work. Show ends. After the show, Cena vs. JBL in a non-title match. Match ends with ref bump, chair-shot that backfired on JBL, Cena hits the "FU." Everybody goes home happy. Overall, good show. Pops: Stone Cold Footage HBK on Titantron Cena Taker Heat: JBL Angle Final note: decent size crowd (maybe 8,000 - 10,000). Could have had more fans, but considering we had a tornado warning in effect, not a bad attendance.

Raw: Trish, Masters, Edge, Bischoff, JR/King, Kane, Davari, Hassan, Lita, Matt Hardy, Orton, Rhyno, Rosey, Simon Dean, La Resistance, Stevie Richards, Tomko, Viscera, Val Venis, and Victoria. Smackdown: Akio, Kidman, Dudleys, Haas, Dawn Marie, Funaki, Kenzo, Luther, Jindrak, Nunzio, Dupree, Shannon Moore, Spike, Teddy Long, and Torrie Wilson. Except for Linda, none of the McMahons have appeared.