Fökai

Well, Snuka was in the last game, but I know what you mean...

The Rock isn't of age to be nominated yet.

Just as Rikishi was, she will be removed from the game. They were at a higher status than most of the notable omissions were, when the characters were captured. And even so, do most of us care about most of these omissions? Outside of my usual cast of 6-8 wrestlers to use, I didn't bother using any of the lower mid-carders in HCTP. The movesets are indistinguishable from each other, and most of the these guys have no personality to make care about them. Wait...I forgot...it's not actual depth to the engine that we want....we want MORE WRESTLERS! It's the little things implemented into past Smackdown games that I liked. For one, the see-saw submission meter on HCTP, which if you do or do not remember, we had an argument about last November. You see, before the game was released, we argued about the usefulness of the new addition to the engine. See a coincidence here? If they're going to implement a new "face/heel" meter to further the realism of a match, where a face (w/ a full meter) can maintain a degree of invincibility, or a heel can do no wrong with low blows and foreign objects, I'm all for it. If they're going to implement a new "chop battle" meter to eliminate the dead spots in a match in place of banal punching and kicking transitions, I'm all for it. If they're going to implement a new "elimination" meter to enhance the realism of the "Royal Rumble" mode, where wrestlers have to be beat on (or suprised by a devastating move) for an extended amount of time in order to be eliminated, I'm ALL for it. Heck, this will make the decision to buy the game much easier. Recent favortism? Paul London appeared out of nowhere recently and won the tag team title. Same with Kidman. Regal STILL hasn't had a regular match yet. Eugene, as I mentioned earlier, would be a headache to put together in order to satisfy hardcore fans this late into production. This game is only two months away from release. Should Yukes delay the game in order to put NICK DINSMORE into the engine? The best question is, who will be omitted in February upon the game's new release date? After all, there will be a new crop of mid-carders you will all want to bitch about being absent from the roster. But wouldn't you want more wrestlers instead?

The real reason is that he came along after the models and storylines were finalized. And even then, the character would be difficult to capture without sacrificing the game engine. Like Zach Gowen, his wrestling style is much different than any of the other workers on the roster. Additionally, with the gimmick that Dinsmore is playing right now, most of the storylines a user would go through would be horribly unrealistic for Eugene's character (Starting a faction, hitting on female wrestlers, threatening other wrestlers). London wasn't in the spot he's currently in when the models and storylines were designed. Same with Spike. Same with Eugene. Same with Regal. Same with Reigns. Same with Suzuki. Kidman, Rosey, Hurricane, Grenier, Conway, Noble and the Bashams are notable omissions, but it's a given that all of the notable workers don't make it. Among others, the entire FBI was omitted from HCTP. On a personal note, I held my tounge on complaining about Hurricane's omission, after I had realized I didn't use him ONCE on HCTP. After the first few main-eventers and big names, the rest of the roster felt like cannon fodder for me. I personally won't miss any of these guys being on the game, save for La Resistance. Well, Palumbo wasn't in the last game.

Thanks, Evo. I hope to get off on the right track with my new team - maybe I could even ... *GASP*... make the playoffs!

Didn't Heidenreich nearly break Steven Richards' neck on multiple occasions, including a botched electric chair drop? I thought that was the reason the WWE sent him down in the first place.

Good point. To make an example, this was a chief reason why Hogan was fed up with the WWE following the Smackdown taping at Madison Square Garden last year. He found that the other five in the ring (Lesnar, Angle, Show, Haas and Benjamin) didn't listen to the crowd's demands and improvise the hot-tag to go to Hogan.

*DING* *DING* *DING*. Folks, there's your answer.

Is there a specific reason why Rick Reed, Brian Daubach and Kerry Lightenberg (among others) are included in an MLBPA-licensed video game roster? Did the player's union recently relent on allowing the ex-replacement players to be captured for this forum of media?

John Cena: Word Life Backlash 2004

If it's all okay with you, you are the future of the ballclub and deserve to play third. I was already willing to make a move to first, but I was a little gunshy on doing it for Detroit. Evo, if I end up in Chicago, I'd like to allow Paco to keep playing at third, and move to first: Contact Hitting: 5 Power Hitting: 3 Strike Zone Judgment: 5 Defense: 2

The title defense was on July 5th, so it's been over a month. They mentioned it on RAW this past week.

First choice would be Chicago, then NJ, then Jacksonville.

Taking into account the reasoning behind why each stable was given its name, I'll say Evolution and The Flock.

Hmm...nevermind... Do any of last year's playoff teams need a third basemen? Basically, I'd okay a trade to anyone who did better than Detroit (Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Jacksonville, Jersey, Memphis, New York, Philly and Boston).

You didn't mention Eugene/HHH, London/Kidman/Mysterio/ v. Dudleys or Cena/Booker, as well as just glossing over the possbility of a **** match between Benoit and Orton, and a strong *** encounter with JBL and Taker. If you simply don't pay attention to the shows, how can you get excited about any of the matches in the first place? I don't know how 3.0 or higher classifies as "the shitter", especially since that's still a consistent top-ten finish in the ratings for cable television programs.

Ugh. Summerall is still a decent play-by-play man, but the team he's running with right now (Theismann and Maguire) just brings down the entire broadcast. ...and just to note, the Ravens' first-string offense is currently being manandled by the Falcons' third-string defense. Yikes.

In my mind, there are no "sure fire" dream matches left, but there are a few potential matches left that would do huge business if played out correctly. Again, any combination of Rock, Orton and Cena would draw. And as mentioned, HBK/Angle...or Angle/HBK...either way.

The large arenas aren't the problem - it's the regions they book. Hopefully I don't offend anyone with these comments, but they should stay away from the dead crowds, and by that I mean most of the East Coast that hasn't been considered "WWE/WWF territory" in the past. New York, Florida, California and Texas should be their main U.S. roots, staying away from the smaller cities with a loyal fanbase, but a harder opporunity to draw casual fans in. The West Coast is an untapped market right now, as evidenced by the business they've done in Washington, their return to Oregon, and the strong shows they've put together in Utah. The Garden is a rare commodity to book to begin with. They only book pay-per-views there once every two years, hold an annual RAW and semi-annual house show. The idea of holding a show at MSG already holds importance for the wrestlers, the front office reps and the fans.

Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story.

The NFL already holds events like this - they're called scrimmages. The only difference is, there's no heavy tackling involved.

The old ESPN commercials in all of their streaming goodness... NOTE: These stream from an ESPN.com archive page.

They have too show Steiner hiding from Evander Holyfield. Best Sportscenter commerical ever. Come on Steiner! Come out and get your whuppin'. The "Melrose Place" parody with Charley was also a highlight of the old-school ESPN promos. I'll cross my fingers in hopes that they air it tonight.

Well, with the price of the boxset alone, people have already discussed the option of selling the boxset/belt bundle as a Shopzone-exclusive, which is ideal based on their previous Shopzone offers (i.e. DVD + shirt, DVD + book, shirt + magazine subscription). To disprove the legitimacy of this DVD, this title has been listed on DVD websites since the spring of 2002. It's not that WWE Home Video are pushing this title back, it was that this was a rumored title by WWE when heading into the 2002-2003 fiscal year, that snowballed into a three-DVD, or in this case, FOURTEEN DVD set. I remember reading the original financial report, where they hinted that they'd release a career retrospectus on Hulk Hogan (check) and updated releases on The Rock (Just Bring It: Special Edition - check) and Triple H (That Damn Good - check), so you can imagine how far this rumor has come. ... ... EDIT: Anyone reconsidering the usefulness of their left leg right about now?

...and adding to that, he hasn't even posted the results, much less detailed ones, on his website. Credit: wrestlingobserver.com