Dandy

Sure, then we could just get rid of that pesky Smackdown midcard, huh?

Read it again, Bruce.

I think Nitro should break out some different colored straps, like white, blue, and yellow. It wouldn't be the same, but it would be nice to see, and it could fit his character's "fashion sense."

Why not just do the draft now? Or complete the other rounds?

I absolutely loved Orange Ice, and for some reason it is not made anymore.

You guys should have posted "Pick #1," "Pick #2," etc. earlier today in order of whomever's pick it was, and then go back and edit your picks in when it was time. Eh, people still could have posted in there because you couldn't lock the thread and still edit it. Oh well.

I enlist for the draft.

So you are about 19 years old? Now it all makes sense why you think you can beat people up, make dumbass posts, and have bad comebacks.

I know I'm fantasizing, Jingus. The question was "what needs to happen," not "what will happen." However, I do think that one thing drives Vince, and that is success. If he sees ratings continue to dive, MMA increase it's success, PPV buyrates dwindle, live gates bring less and less money, and overall revenue decline.....he will do something about it. Do I think he will incorporate all of my ideas? Hell no. Some of them? Perhaps. I'm sure that Vince did not necessarily want to adopt a wellness policy that would restrict what he was looking for in his superstars, but events necessitated it and he implimented one. You wait and see if MMA starts taking away more of his viewers if he doesn't change his direction. EDIT---I know you said they are still turning a profit now, but I think he will make necessary changes while they are STILL turning a profit. He won't wait until they go to the red before he changes.

Some of this will be a rehash of what has been said earlier in this thread, as I waited to read everything before I posted my thoughts. Also, these are several ideas that I have had for the last few years. I will look for the links to those threads after this post. Both Raw and Smackdown need big changes. First off, reward Teddy Long by making him the Commissioner of both brands (he is replacing my idea for Bischoff, but Bisch is gone now). Vince is still head of everything, but Teddy is the guy that directly oversees the shows. He will only be on TV or PPV when it counts, like some big decision on a title, a suspension, and he will be seen in every title match, as well as the draft. The draft should be handled a la the NFL draft, with both brands selecting guys from OVW, Deep South, and other developmental leagues. Highlight packages can be shown of promos, matches, finishers, etc. Their strengths and weaknesses should be talked about and teleprompted on the screen. It should be a big deal whether to go for the guy that has been in OVW for four years and is ready now, or go for the green guy with a lot of potential a couple years down the road. Two or three agents from each show will be the guys seen as in charge of their show's draft. New sets, music, and graphics for both brands. Bring back The Fink for every title match, and do a "Tale of the Tape." Time limits for matches on TV unless otherwise noted. Title matches have no limit unless they bring back the TV Title. Everyone should be designated for a division and ranked. It gives everyone a purpose. A cruiser could move up to IC, US, or HW divisions if he wanted, but only cruisers wrestle in the CW division. In boxing and MMA, the best matches and/or draws are in the lighter weight divisions. WWE should treat ALL titles seriously and showcase them. More matches should end without a signature finisher. Strikes, TKO's, and big impact moves should gradually be incorporated. Pinning sequences should be as well, as long as it is not the roll-up while someone is distracted bit. Everyone should be encouraged (behind the scenes) to come up with a few different finishes to get over, like when Batista had the spinebuster, clothesline, and BatistaBomb. Let the wrestlers cut their own promos. If they need help, they can ask for it or be given help. If not, let them run with what they are good at. As for the writing, they need to have Foley, Arn, Bischoff, Heyman, and Steamboat be the writing committee. Forget about Hollywood writers who have experience working in commercial breaks in a script. You need people with a mind for the business who can come up with great angles on feuds. I'm sure these guys would not resort to a feud over a shampoo commercial or spilled coffee. There needs to be one centralized angle that effects every member of the roster in some way. I think all angles could intertwine at brief points, but there needs to be one huge angle running in the background. An idea I had was for Vince to be found (not on camera) to be attacked and seriously injured in a hotel after a Raw/Smackdown joint show. His injuries should be like a broken leg, concussion, collapsed lung, etc. Nothing that would be cheesy like amnesia or in a coma, but serious nonetheless. He can be off TV for a long period of time, but be talked about occasionally as it is investigated as to who attacked him and why. Maybe even have an actor portray an investigator on the shows, and info can leak out between the wrestlers on who had a motive, who was there at the time, etc. The culmination of this could be a wrestler from the mid-card or so that gets a huge rub after a year-long angle (not mentioned every show and beaten into the ground). During the later stages of the Vince angle, he could give a face interview that says he is glad he was not killed, it's no wonder he was attacked because of how big an asshole he had gotten, etc. Cena should get pissed off that he lost his belt and the fans aren't as into him as they were before. Have him be interviewed by Maria and get ticked at something she dimwittingly said. He could push her to the ground or something, but do something to make all the fans turn on him. He should also still hate Edge and anyone else he has been feuding with for a while, but fight the faces as well. Make him the tweener of the century, by not being aligned with anyone, and lose the hip hop part of his persona. He could just be this pissed off, anti-everyone loner that will stop at nothing to get his title off of whoever has it. Shawn Michaels should be put on Smackdown, and after a couple of months, announce he is retiring. He would be the number on contender at this point, and be offered a match for the title. Shawn would accept the match and say it would be a nice way to end his career, going for the title. He wins, then announces he is serious about retiring, but does not just want to vacate the belt. So, when he loses the belt, that will be his last match. Every match from that point on has the added drama of "Is this Shawn's last match?" Also, I would bring back Steve Austin in a non-wrestling role, where he wears a suit and tie, doesn't drink beer, doesn't play to the crowd, and is an antagonist for the main faces. I would have him say that he was awarded stock options over his years of wrestling by Linda McMahon as a reward for all he did for WWE. He could act like he was the only reason WWE survived, and he is here to save it once again. He would be the representative from the Board of Directors, and play a rich, cocky heel. Basically, the exact opposite of what he was as Stone Cold. I would do this after they milk a Hogan/Austin match at WM23, if both sides agree. Whoever WWE wants as the next big face can wind up facing him at WM24 or something and winning decisively. Other than Austin (and Hogan for the WM23 feud), I would get rid of all the semi-retired talent. Focus on the young guys, exploit their strengths and hide their weaknesses. If they did all these, the product would be better, it wouldn't be as offensive to watch as some of the stupid stuff or the stale stuff we have been seeing, and interest might pick up among casual fans or fans that have left over the years.

Oh, gotcha. I wasn't sure about the particulars, just remember reading that somewhere.

I am not denying that Masters was on roids; I think that is fairly obvious. But I used to work in a mental health/drug rehab hospital, and people that were in there for drug addictions were there for a long time. It was also said that Masters was depressed as well. If he was off the gas AND was in rehab with no chance to work out, he probably lost more muscle mass than he would had he just been off roids. I am not saying he would still look the same by simply being off the roids, but I would venture that he would be able to put on a little more muscle now that he is out of rehab. Give him a few months, and he can get more size. He will never be as big as he was, but all is not lost for him.

I thought it was The Scotsman, and he did it to fool Scherer or someone.

I think I must be the only person on this board that watches Monk.

When was Ron Killings in X-Factor? That was X-Pac, Justin Credible, and Albert.

I've been here for every incarnation of the board, but most of the newer posters have more posts than me. Is this going to be like the millionaires vs. new blood angle, where Kevin Nash was "new blood," along with some other over-40-year-olds?

Yeah, the guy's supposed name is "Mike Rotch." He posts on IMDB, and irritates people who are too dimwitted to realize that he is fucking with everyone. It is blatantly obvious that he is not serious. Mike Rotch = "My Crotch" if you couldn't guess.

Great editing there. I loved it.

See, I have no cool channels like that at all. Being 2 1/2 hours from Cincy and 4 hours from Pittsburgh, we have Fox Sports Ohio and Fox Sports Pittsburgh. However, we don't have them as an option for HD channels. From memory, we have something like this: ShowtimeHD CinemaxHD StarzHD ESPNHD HDNet HD1 HD2 And one other movie channel, but I don't think it's HBO.

I just flipped through the program guide, and there are only 8 channels listed under HD. If it is true that I have to have the standard equivalent, then I would only get 3 of those channels.

Adelphia, which is transitioning over to Comcast here in Huntington, WV. I could be very wrong on the price in addition to my Digital/DVR box. It very well could be cheaper than the $15.95 advertisement. Adelphia sucks balls here, and I am sure Comcast isn't going to come in and say, "Hey, let's lower your prices." So if I get HD programming, it isn't just the 15 HD channels Adelphia offers, but everything that is shown in HD comes through as HD as well, correct? You'll have to forgive me, but if you had ever tried to get answers from the idiots at Adelphia here, you would understand how I might be misinformed. I just couldn't see paying $1 per channel for 15 channels that only half of which I would watch anyway. I also understood it to be that in order to have the HD channel, you had to have it's corresponding standard channel. And since I already pay to get HBO, but not Starz, Showtime, TMC, Cinemax, etc., I could not view the HD channels for which I did not subscribe to standardly. It appeared to be a huge waste to me.

Well, HD programming just became available to us in 2004, and from what I understand it is only 15 channels or so for $15.95 a month, plus box and remote rental. If every channel was HD, then I could see it. I have the digital cable package with DVR box, but I think the HD box would be the $15.95 in addition to what I currently pay. If it were only $5 or so in addition to what I pay for the DVR box, I would probably get it.

I have had my Panasonic 53" HD-ready widescreen for four years or so. I got the 1080i (not knowing the difference between i and p at the time), and have had numerous different dvd players, gaming systems, digital cable boxes and surround sound systems hooked up to it over the years. I have a digital cable DVR box, PS2, pretty high-end DVD player, and will soon be putting a new surround system in. For not having HD programming, what would be the best cables or connections for these devices to provide optimum audio/video? I currently have my DVD player and DVR hooked up through component audio and video. My TV and both of these devices have every kind of connection available (HDMI, S video, component, etc. I am also not sure what surround sound system I will be putting in at this time. I am putting in a friend's system that he wants me to hold onto while he lives in his currount surroundings. I will be putting my own system in later. Any suggestions?

I apologize in advance because I have not read the entire thread before posting this. Sorry if this has already been said. There is nothing at all wrong with mixing MMA into the WWE style. I have been a pro wrestling fan since '83 at the age of 4 and I am alos a fan of MMA with very very minimal training in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. If we are, in theory, to suspend disbelief and think of WWE as real, where the winners of the matches get paid more than the losers, or each wrestler has a shot of winning huge amounts of money, then we should believe that people versed in an MMA style would want to join the WWE thinking they could be the top dog. We are to believe that pro wrestling is a real style of fighting, same as MMA styles. We have seen Shamrock and Dan Severn in WWE, as well as submissions and tapouts. If Sylvester Terkay is the only wrestler given an MMA gimmick and makes people tap immediately, it does not undermine Flair having a figure four on someone and not getting a submission. Remember, we have seen Tough Enough training people in the "pro wrestling" style. We are to believe that a person learns how to perform as a pro wrestler, in both executing and taking pro wrestling maneuvers, but it really does hurt and the matches are not predetermined. An MMA style worker could go against the grain and think that his style makes it unnecessary to learn the pro wrestling style, and he knows submissions and strikes better than anyone else on the roster. It would even work if he didn't finish running and bouncing off the ropes after an Irish Whip. We could conceivably believe that pro wrestlers finish running and bounce off the ropes with hope of executing an offensive maneuver, as that is the pro wrestling style. Oh well, just my two cents.

I know he won't do it, but Guy Pearce would rock as Harvey Dent and eventually Two Face.