BorneAgain

So have things ended with a bang or a whimper? I suppose it doesn't really matter either way.

The atomic bombing of Japan is complicated matter to begin with, but I can't completely fault Truman for his decision, nor can I fault the beliefs of people like Eisenhower and MacArthur who didn't believe it was necessary.

Rey's not the best example to use considering he was made to look like complete crap when he had the belt. I can't recall any World Champion in the last couple of years who had more clean losses and was presented as poorly as Mysterio was. Only in the few couple of weeks that he feuded with Booker did the booking actually have him fighting back and looking strong. On the main point the talk about cycles as someone noted is difficult to figure out, considering there are so many other factors (booking, injuries, programming changes) which account for changes in revenue.

To be fair, there's always been some level of realpolitik to US foriegn policy. We just happened to enact it less severely than other countries did, and in many (but not all) occasions did make some effort to not completely fuck over the people/nation we were intervening with.

Having a far reaching foriegn policy is one thing, but it doesn't really work when its done with just the short term in mind and blowback (see Iran, Afganistan, Iraq, etc) comes back and bites you in the ass. The Iraqi occupation itself was blown from the very beginning with the gross incompetence of the Coalitional Provisional Authority and the lack of knowlege of Iraqi economy, customs, culture, and religion. I can't help but feel that the window for an interventionist foriegn policy is starting to close, especially in light of the economic crisis. We lack both the money and the international good will to pull it off well.

Barring occasional cameos, Roy and Jan are more or less gone.

Holy crap... Well my interest in this season just went up considerably.

Got these from the Wrestlecrap Board. Not entirely certain about the source, but they look credible. Dark Match: * Mike Knox b. Johnny Curtis ECW: * Primo Colon b. The Miz - Primo got the win following a backstabber. Tyson Kidd w/Natalya b. DJ Gabriel w/Alicia Fox - Tyson Kidd gets the quick win with a elbow off the top rope. * It is announced that Evan Bourne will return next week. * Tri-Branded Battle Royal with the winner getting a spot in the Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 25. - The final two in the Battle Royal are Christian & Chavo Guerrero. Christian gets the win to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 25.

Solid stuff with Primo and Miz. Good to see Primo's safe after that head bump.

Apparently, Randy hears voices not in his head, but those belonging to his other Real World roomates.

Rey is basically the only mid-card face left for JBL to face in an IC title match whose not busy, so I'm guessing it'll be those two for Mania. The past month or so seems to be leading to Colons/In Crowd for the Undisputed Tag Titles. Umaga was injured at a SD taping, so he might not even make it to the pre-show. Priceless will be part of Orton/HHH. If Swagger is at Mania, Bourne or Dreamer would work as an opponent in an ECW title match. Cryme Tyme aren't on PPVs much anyway. They dont' seem to be doing anything with Khali or Kozlov at the moment.

Though it sucked not seeing a big Five Star Frog Splash, RVD falling off the ladder in his match against Eddie on Raw really did put over how risky the gimmick could be.

Don't know if its been mentioned, but Booker's holding a legend's convention in Houston with some TNA guys the weekend of Wrestlemania. Booker T's Legends of Wrestling Fanfest Sting, Nash, Joe, Team 3D, Beautiful People, and Christy Hemme will all be there. Stan Hansen, DDP and Kimberly, Ernest Miller, Jake Roberts, Lita, Brian Knobs, Jimmy Hart and Rikishi are supposed to be there as well. Tully Blanchard, Iceman Parsons, Rockin Robin, Missy Hyatt, and Baby Doll are all vendor guests. They had a few others but WWE pulled them from the show. They're holding right before Ring of Honor's show in the same arena. Torch says Booker and ROH have a agreement.

Regarding the ECW title scene:

Reeves in Freaked is a sight to watch, just because his acting style as Ortiz the Dogboy is completely unlike anything else he's done before or since. Given that he's friends with Alex Winter, who directed and starred, I suppose that's why he went all out, but still interesting to watch.

In hindsight I wonder with Brock gone, Big Show taking time off, Angle injured, and Eddie not being able to handle the pressures of being champion, who they should have gone with as champion instead of JBL. -I like Booker, but he really didn't start giving a shit in the ring until Sharmell started traveling with him. Still he was more main event material than Layfield. -Taker probably could have worked given his then recent return as the Deadman character, but then there was the question of transitioning the belt from Guerrero to him and what heel he'd go against until at least Angle came back. -Cena was certainly over, but it might have been to early then, especially given he had just gotten the US at that point. -RVD would have been a sight to see. A face/face series between him and Guerrero could have been a blast and one probably could have stretched it out depending on if and when which one went heel. Had they spent a couple of months building up JBL as an upper mid-card act (a US title feud with Cena perhaps) then I would have had as big a problem as a did when he won it. But to go from APA to WWE title feud was just too much, too soon.

From PWInsider.com Dark Match: *Kofi Kingston defeated William Regal in a good match. ECW: *Kane defeated Boogeyman after a chokeslam. *Mark Henry defeated Santino Marella to quality for the Money in the Bank. *Natalya (with Tyson Kidd) defeated Alicia Fox (with DJ Gabriel). After the match, Tyson tried to attack Gabriel but was tossed over the top rope to the floor. *ECW champ Jack Swagger & WWE Tag Team champions John Morrison & The Miz defeated Christian & Tommy Dreamer & Finlay when Swagger pinned Christian. Really good six man.

I've pretty much accepted Night of Champions as the one PPV where the titles will actually be showcased. If any of the mid-card belts get something at Mania, that's cool but its pretty unlikely these days.

Might be good impetus for a babyface to go heel. Comes up short as the only one not win with MITB and snaps as a result.

-Rock got more and more prominence as he got more mic time, but you can basically point to around the DX In Your House PPV as the time he really picked up steam and became the unofficial leader of the NOD. Rock had the Kama, D'Lo, Mark Henry kick out Farooq the day after Wrestlemania 14. -The stable once a lot of members with Clarence Mason, PG-13, Crush, Savio Vega, along with D'Lo, until Farooq grew fed up and fired everybody but D'Lo in June 1997. He started a new version with new members Kama and former enemy Ahmed Johnson. Savio and Crush later formed their own stables: Los Boricuas and the Diciples of Apocalypse, leading the the wretched gang wars period. Ahmed was tossed after he was injured and replaced with a heel turned Rocky Maivia in the late summer. Mark Henry joined in January 1998. -Owen was basically doing his own thing and "retired" after kayfabe injuring Dan Severn with a piledriver similar to the one he gave Austin at Summerslam 1997. Godfather wasn't really a part of the group either at that point. I don't recall why D'Lo and and Henry turned on Rock, but probably was something about him being weak or caring about the fans. Just a guess. -Rock got pissed at Shane for botching in his match against Austin at Backlash 99 and Shane in turned fired him.

Presumably, the crowd chants "Yes He Can! during his hope spots. Would it too much to ask he have an inside cradle finisher called the "Small Stimulus Package"?

I find it odd in kayfabe its Steiner he's going after. Nash is the one who betrayed him, his issues with Angle are well known, Sting took his title, hell even Booker he feuded with a while about six months ago and has a championship to take. Yet its Scott he's going crazy over.

I probably haven't paid attention to TNA as I should (insert comment about how that's a good thing), but when exactly did Joe turn into a knife weilding sociopath? I know wrestling regularly features stuff that realistically would send guys to jail, but the Joe/Steiner bit seemed a bit much.