Hawk 34

I do think Randle EL will be the MVP if Steelers win. Alexander will take MVP honors for Seattle. After Shaun wins the mvp the nation collectively replies "Who?"

Can you imagine if Seattle just blew out Pittsburgh right away and routed them? Ratings would equal the XFL.

Did anyone remember there was a game tonight?

I don't think I've seen Sabu in TNA lately. Is he signed with the company or not? He is with the company. While you don't have your biggest tag team and three major ECW staples (Raven, Sabu and Douglas) you still have ECW's biggest stars (RVD, Taz, Dreamer and Sandman), You still have the better wrestlers (Benoit, Mysterio, Tajiri, Tanaka, Crazy, Storm, Melenko, Jericho) and a few good brawlers (Funk, Awesome, Credible) I figure as long as they aren't signed with TNA, any one is a possible inclusion. There were some names not used last time around that could be this time (Corino, the biggest snub). There's plently of talent to work with, Heyman has done more with less.

ROH doesn't shy away from that. Who in this thread was even saying that they should? ROH is in really good shape right now. They're bound to lose talent to TNA and WWE, but using that talent to the full extent while they still have them, and using the stage that talent has helped build as an "indy showcase" for up and comers with buzz is what can keep them strong longterm. Exactly. Look at ROH's main eventers Bryan Danielson, Joe, Aries, Strong, Homicide, Styles and Daniels (other names get used on occasions as well, but those are the core ME's). Notice something? Only Danielson isn't a TNA talent. ROH has a brilliant business structure and they have utilized it very effectively. As long as they deliver a product, the fans will come back. ROH lost London,Alexis, Raven, Briscoes, Low Ki (twice), Daniels, Styles, Punk, Gibson, Danielson (for a few months), Foley, Abyss, MCAT and others and they are still thriving. Gabe is constantly updating his roster, using new talent on consistant basis, he has ROH planned out well in advance and he learned from Heyman how to work around departures. ROH doesn't want TV or PPV. It's structured for the niche market they wish to attract and that has been done very successfully. Indy promotions don't last very long and they certaintly don't keep up with a long and consistant product that almost always statisfies their fanbase. They are very customer friendly. Cary Silikan, owner of ROH will personally meet and greet every fan at the show. The wrestlers are always available for the fans. You won't see TNA or WWE wrestlers sitting down with fans at parties before and after the show. That's a key element to ROH's success, how incredily fan friendly they are. WWE pretends to listen to the fans, but ROH directly listens to them. They even allow the fans to name the shows, pick matches and will directly talk to the fans about the booking plans. ROH isn't dying. For every Low Ki, Abyss and MCAT they lose, there's 5 more talents coming in ROH to make you forget them.

He won the X title on 12/11 and since then, Joe has only worked two ROH dates (Final Battle 05 and Hell Freezes Over) He lost a 4 Corners match to Jay Lethal but it was Daniels who took the pinfall and at HFO, Joe went over BJ Whitmer. Joe was likely to job one of the matches against Daniels last weekend, but Im thinking TNA would be fine with it. It should be noted, TNA can't tell ROH what to do with Joe.

from the usual source... "World League Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH and Ring Of Honor are pleased to announce a huge tag team dream match for the March 25th ROH event in Manhattan, NY at Basketball City (Pier 63 @ West 23rd Street). The bout will see GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji team for the first time in the United States as they take on the ROH dream team of World Champion Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe. This match doesn't need any hype as four of the best in the world step into the same ring. For tickets and more info go to ROHwrestling.com, call 215-781-2500 and check Ticketmaster outlets. You can see KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji in action on ROH's latest DVD release "Final Battle 2005." KENTA battles Low Ki in a bout that Dave Meltzer called a "legit match of the year candidate." Marufuji goes after Bryan Danielson and the ROH World Title in another excellent match. You can now order this event on DVD or VHS for immediate delivery at ROHwrestling.com." ...So off the heels of losing Abyss, Low Ki and MCAT, They have made a huge announcment of bringing in KENTA and Marufuji for a second show. Gabe has promised more big announcments as well. What those will be? who knows.

No, not even close. His best work is found in RING OF HONOR, but on the 2 best of volumes, they don't have his greatest works (Punk triology, Kobashi, Danielson etc) because those matches sell dvds (they made a killing off the Kobashi and Punk shows) The Best of Samoa Joe volumes just offer lighter matches with lesser historical impact that showcases Joe without giving away the big time matches. Still worth a look, if you want to have a good overview of what Joe brings to the table.

They do appear to have hopes on using KENTA and Marufuji on a few more occasions. I still think Joe will take the loss though.

Abyss and Kobashi are the obvious ones. Kobashi, of course being a very famous match. The Abyss match, wasn't a good indicator of Joe's ability. You really should just buy the ROH Best of Samoa Joe volumes 1 and 2. It won't have Joe's best work but you get a good sample.

Joe is easily that kind of guy and he does it better then Angle and Mysterio because those two aren't good brawlers and Joe is a better wrestler then they are (an arguement that doesn't need to be dragged into this thread) Joe has had great brawls, great wrestling matches with guys his size, guys smaller then him and guys bigger then him. He can work with the high-flyers. He is very skilled at adapting to the other guy(s) in the ring.

You know, I can't really think of anyone for RVD to work with for ONS2. Everyone he had a significant feud with is either in TNA(Sabu, Lynn, Rhino) or fell off the face of the earth (Bam Bam, Anton) and I don't want to see RVD/Balls again. I doubt WWE will want to connect RVD with Kid Kash as well.

I'd buy the ppv just for Beniot vs Malenko. I've always been a fan of Malenko in the ring. Awesome vs Tanaka rematch should happen again but give them more time, than they had last time and don't show JBL every 5 seconds making fun of the match. I don't care what anyone says, the match was one of the best matches on the card last year and a rematch would be a draw. If you do bring Awesome in for the show, Tanaka is the only thing you can do with Awesome. The man just doesn't mesh with anyone else that WWE would entertain bringing into the show. I'd rather Tanaka doing something different, such as Benoit then see the 200th version of Tanaka/Awesome.

A picky little tidbit people love to ignore because people perfer to think Austin/McMahon made more money then accepting the reality that Triple H was a key factor in WWE's best year. Just as people refuse to believe Austin made more $ for WWE then Hogan did.

It really wasn't that good the first time around and considering that Al Snow hasn't stepped into the ring in awhile wouldn't be the best opportunity for Benoit, who for this show would be the #4 star (behind RVD, Funk, Rey). I would like to see Rey/Dean and Tanaka/Benoit but I have a feeling they will do Benoit/Rey instead and let Melenko work a tag match instead. I really do think they would be wise to use people who werent connected to ECW but to use talented available outside workers that would have fit the mold for ECW, today had it survived. It could be Heyman's way of saying "This is what ECW would have been today, had we survived".

Russo was an idiot! How on earth did he ever become involved in wrestling!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That idiot also booked the most successful wrestling promotion on the planet and the largest money drawing feud of all time. He wrote it along with Ferrera. He didnt book it. There is an difference. Russo did one thing right in his career and he'll try to convince you that was the norm when it wasn't. Russo proved he was a complete idiot once he got to do what he wanted to do. McMahon ran the show in 1997-1999 when Russo was taking the credit. Russo can take the credit for using as much of the talent possible but that's about it.

The Lockdown PPV is nothing but cage matches so why not take it to the extreme with barbed wire matches. TNA does not have to copy WCW and WWE all the time. Considering their roster consists of virtually the same people, TNA could copy off ROH a little more then just Gen Next. Ya know, how ROH has a larger shift of main eventers and rotates them around and brings new people into the fold and builds stars for the promotion. TNA could stand to do that. They have already designed the show to fit the forumula for nationally televised wrestling popularized by WWE, set the same tradition main event scheme. Not quite the way to be a revolutionary alternative product.

Why are so many people assuming that there will be a "Money in the Bank II" at Wrestlemania 22? I've been wondering that ever since these WM fantasy booking threads started... People are making that assumption because in theory, it's an idea that works because you can cram 6-8 mid-carders into a giant spotfest that people love, prevents having to set up a real story and gets more people on the card and because it worked for Edge and it gives them a go ahead storyline if they need one.

The DVD will likely be loaded with classic promos, skits and beatings from each manager.

You see the problem with WM4 was, there was no real "great" match. Although Savage/Dibiase finals was good, considering. Just as a whole, the show was flat, which was assisted by the long duration. Without the tournament concept, the show is forgotten.

Lance Storm isn't with the company, in any form right now. Although he could be brought in for a ONO shot, if he feels that he still has gas in the tank after the Danielson match in Chicago for ROH. Here's something I wonder, last year Heyman focused on pushing the nostalgia of ECW but what if Heyman this time booked the show to be more along the lines of an actual ECW show. A couple big matches, a few brawls and alot of angles and skits. I would be curious to see if Heyman tries to use some of his OVW stars on this show. If Heyman gets complete control again with Dreamer as he did last year, I would love to see him take advantage and use this show to debut CM Punk to a wide audience. CM Punk completely fits the mold of ECW in terms of character, charisma and he actually has talent inside the ring.

If you can deliver the goods enough to justify enough bad matches? Yes. WMIII and WMX are widely praised and they are both two match shows with alot of crummy filler in between. With the exception of WMXIV, WMVIII and WMX7, you will be hard-pressed to find a Mania that didn't have a total clunker involved. The important thing is not letting the show have the opposite effect, all crap+one good/great match(WM2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18) or even worst, all crap (1, 4, 9).

Except for WMXI and WMXIII which felt like IYH ppv's. If you look at the history of WM, very few shows have a solid card top to bottom so, by your statement WWE went .500 last year which is pretty good %. There's been some shows that had 12+ matches and only one or two delivered. If WM could match the success of WMXXI in terms of draw and even quality, I would be completely blown away. I really believe this will tank to WMXIX levels with the buyrate and sinks to WMXI levels with the quality.

Not unless TNA signs Tanaka as well. Mike Awesome, at his best was mediocre on his best day.

One big name leaves the promotion along with two mid-carders who weren't key parts of the promotion anyways, and people are predicting doom? When they are announcing big draw main events like Marufuji/KENTA vs Joe/Danielson, Storm/Danielson and more on the way, expanding to new markets. Having record sales, rising attendence totals... explain to me where it's dying. If a company is making profit, keeping it's fan statisfied and branching out in new markets? that doesn't equate with dying. That indictates they are thriving. It also says the promotion is no longer dependant on specific wrestlers to survive, the ROH name sells itself.