Dandy

Edit---Kinetic. I think he guessed someone else to throw us off the trail, and he is just the kind of guy that would keep track of how many public bathrooms he jacked it in.

Kamala, for the theater thing. I know he hasn't mentioned living outside of Maine, but these are supposed to be facts we don't know.

I wonder what (if any) crazy entrance we will get this year? FanMan, anyone?

I guess VitaminX. I thought he mentioned not having a driver's license before, and the theater part had me leaning that way.

I know it's going to be easy for me to guess when it's me he is giving facts about.

My first guess is Kinetic.

That unappreciative bastard!

I liked SS98, as well. When you go back and watch how they set it up for Rock throughout the entire tournament, it makes sense. Rock pins Bossman in 4 seconds with a small package; Rock is fighting Shamrock and Bossman throws the nightstick to Rock "accidentally," allowing Rock to win; Kane interferes in the Taker match allowing Rock to move to the finals, and we all know what happened there. Mankind was set up to go the the finals as well, so it was all one big plan. The goal was to get Mankind and Rock in the finals, and screw Austin royally along the way.

Okay, that tops all the others. I never thought you could do better than the Marvin video, but that did it. I have no idea where you found that graduation picture of me, but props!

What number are we on right now, 607?

Edit---Nevermind, they don't allow linking to that pic.

Makes me wonder whether we should consider Orton's reign transitional as the end result was probably always to have it be put on Triple H at Mania, yet he held it for almost six months, if not actually six. I actually had Orton's current reign in mind when posting. I haved mixed thoughts on it. On one hand, I think he was meant to transition it to either Triple H, or a returning Cena (depending on whether or not they wanted him to keep it until Cena got healthy). On the other hand, I think they wanted to give him a lengthy reign to establish him as a competent champ.

I think a problem with some of what we are saying is personal definitions of "transitional champion." I don't see it defined by length, personally, but I think some of you clearly do. A transitional champion does not have to drop the title the next night (i.e. Kane, Foley), nor do they have to drop the title the next month (i.e. Shawn 2002). If the belt is on A, and you want the belt on C, you might need to put it on B. This is usually because of the face/heel dynamics, but it could be a myriad of reasons. For a number of years, it was perceived that there was an annual ritual of crowning a transitional champion late in the year to carry over until WM plans could be finalized. Some of those reigns lasted 4 months or so. They were still transitional champs. Unless there is a long-term plan to keep the belt on someone, they are a transitional champ. There would be nothing wrong with HBK holding the belt for 2-4 months, provided he had a couple of successful defenses. I think some people read "transitional champ" and think it is going to be a quick nostalgic run a la Hogan in 2002, and they dismiss it quickly.

See, I tried to tell you guys that "Czech already did it," but he had thread deleted.

Good thread.

Haha. I knew it couldn't be erect penis pictures, but I thought maybe it was a doublecross and it would in fact be erect penis pictures. Umm, but that is not why I came in.

Well, that was kind of the format I had in mind. I wanted it to be a bit different from the "Let's Talk About.." threads in General Wrestling. This was supposed to be "state your opinion, but answer these questions at the end." It doesn't make much of a damn, but you can clearly get better discussion when you aren't just answering the questions. It's not my fault that people don't or can't read. HTQ simply answered the questions, but he at least put enough content in there to start the discussion going.

My take on this angle is that it was almost done perfectly, including the end of the angle. When I first watched the match that ended the angle, I thought it was a letdown, but I felt a lot different after time passed. The build to this storyline was simply amazing. Kurt Angle is the brash young rookie, while at the same time, a bit goofy. He was a tremendous wrestler, but had an aura of a bumbling twit at times. Triple H and Steph were running the show, and Steph started noticing Kurt and commenting on him from time to time. Triple H was subtly jealous, although it became more apparent and outward as the angle went on. I guess that is what I liked about it so well, as nothing was beaten over our heads, it was subtle, had plenty of layers to the storyline, and the continuity was there until the end. Things like Trish and Trips having their back and forth flirting added much to this storyline. Triple H was pushed as the main heel at the time, and Angle was in his first year in the company. This catapulted Angle into the upper mid-card and had him on the cusp of main events. The ending makes a lot of sense to me in retrospect. Steph knew that she and Triple H were running the company, and she knew that was her meal ticket. Perhaps she knew Triple H would not stop until he was satisfied that Kurt was out of his way. Triple H had Angle beat, and told Stephanie to choose. She chose Triple H, and The Game won the match. Kurt went on to win the Title the next month and held it for four months. Without this angle, I don't think he would have gotten there as quickly. Triple H moved on to the feud with the returning Austin after revealing himself as the mastermind behind Austin getting ran over. It is my opinion that Stephanie needed to be with Triple H at this point, and Kurt was sent on to the title. The angle accomplished what it set out to do: Kurt was moved up the card and "legitimized" in the eyes of the fans as being near the top; Triple H was given a high profile feud that was a slow burn to take up most of the year; and it kept the fans' attention and made for great TV. Additional Questions: 1. How would you have ended this angle? At the time, I felt the ending was flat, but I have grown to enjoy it. I think it was the right ending for the feud. 2. What long-term impact did the angle have? Kurt was put over even though he lost the feud. He was in the highest profile feud on the show, and I son't think he could have taken as quick a trip to the title as he did without this feud. I think this feud "made" angle at the time. 3. Would you have ran this angle with other individuals in the roles? If so, whom? With the writing as good as it was in this storyline, I think it would have been successful no matter who played the main roles. However, Triple H needed to be in the angle to make it so high profile, and I can't think of a better person than Kurt to play the new love interest. He was a heel, he was a newcomer, and he had that "aww shucks" vibe to him. 4. Was Kurt Angle better off or worse after the completion of this angle? Much better off. 5. Was this the best angle of the year 2000? If not, what was? In a year of great angles, this was the best.

Yes, I think they missed the boat on putting the title on him on at least one occasion in the past 5 years. I was an advocate before of turning him heel and giving him a run with the belt. It appears he has no intentions of playing a heel for more than one match (and leading up to said match) at a time, though. So now, I think he should be built up to winning the title, and have a monster heel decimate him for the title. Shawn can really take an ass-beating, and it seems to always have drama when he is laid out and put on the shelf. This would be a good way to usher in a new era for a strong heel.

We covered that it should be elsewhere, i.e. General Wrestling. It hasn't been moved yet. I disagree that there is nothing to discuss, and I will be posting my thoughts on it later this evening when I have the time. I guarantee we won't all have the same opinions.

Yeah, I forgot that we do anything over 5 years in General Wrestling. I was just trying to add some discussion to the WWE Folder like Al suggested. Also, I keep trying to point out that the format should be stating your overall opinions on whatever we are discussing and then answer the questions afterward. It was put in bold this time, EHME. Not much discussion can come from answering short questions that are randomly picked out each week.

I see what you did there.

What?

I don't try to ride him about quoting his sources, but he tries to do the same to others. He is one of the first to point out when news has already been posted. It is laughable about how he is trying to be the number one news source in the folder.

It looks like you are at least smart enough to do a bi-weekly mortgage. You save a lot in interest that way. I can't help any more than Rant and Curry have.