ISportsFan

They'll edit out the boos and 'boring' chants for the broadcast. Well, they wouldn't have had cheers I don't think either. It's a pretaped interview it looks like, so they'll just play the tape of it. But it doesn't change the fact that nobody wants to see it. And I know I used the word "nobody." I meant to. Jason

At least the WGTT is back, but they're off the PPV it seems. Timeout. Ultimo Dragon. Winning? On TV? Who looks like the heel and who looks like the face here? And can't this feud, that could have been hilarious, not be so crappy? Speaking of crappy. Geez, don't they get the hint that people don't want to see them? Speaking of literally crappy, that's what this feud has been. I can't believe Smackdown anymore. And isn't Gowen v. Hardy at the PPV? Why aren't they on Smackdown at all? This makes no sense. Jason

I think everything's legit after I saw last week's episode. Jason

I'd throw Road Runner in there somehow. I mean, the coyote was way smarter and spent so much money. Plus, all he's trying to is get dinner - something every carnivore tries to do. But somehow physical and natural laws get bent for Road Runner, and it always pissed me off (even as a little kid). Jason

I love how Cubs fans have claimed they've waited for a title for 95 years, but then they go ahead and ruin it for themselves. Seriously, that was something that turned the tide of the entire game. But the Cubs still needed to produce, and had ample opportunity. The easy grounder to Gonzalez for an inning-ending double play was muffed. Baker made the decision to bring Prior out and THEN make Farnsworth issue an intentional walk (contrary to every intelligent baseball idea in history). The Cubs (along with the Cub fans) messed this one up, you can't blame it all on the Cubs fan.

I never thought I would long for the days of my high school cafeteria food, but they're here. The food in Champaign at U of I is just horrendous. If I weren't such a cheapskate, I'd go out to Jimmy John's or Subway or this pita place around town, but I am cheap and we're required to buy at least 12 meals and $15 of overpriced snacks a week. So I eat those. Suffice to say that when I go back home I don't want to do anything else but see people I haven't seen in a while and eat good food. Jason

OK, now, obviously communism's second definition and socialism's definitions have very much the same meanings. However, the original (and thus historically based) definition of communism under Marx and Engel's definition is definition one for communism, which is the theoretical economic system which in the long run has no government. So, that's about 3 parts dictionary.com and 1 part me on that answer. Jason

Any type of "communism" the world has ever seen is similar to a bastard child of Karl Marx and Augustus Caesar (as possibly seen on Conan O'Brien's If They Mated). The ruler of the supposed "Communist" country takes Marx and Engel's doctorines and spins them in a way so the people think it's truly a state for the people and there will eventually be no government some day - but it's all just to give the leaders of the nation more power and give the people no choice in anything. So communism is similar to Thomas More's Utopia - good in theory, not practical in life though. Jason

I'm not breaking any new ground here, obviously, but hopefully if we get enough of these going then we might see some wrestling again. I'm not holding my breath for it though. "Are you World Wrestling Entertainment? Or are you World Non-Wrestling Unentertainment? Here's why people watch wrestling (and this may be a shock to you): to watch wrestling. Not to see 2 minute matches, watch newcomers be destroyed for no reason, have championship storylines where people are sprayed with feces, and most definitely not to see McMahons all over their TV. When ratings were high and buyrates were exceptional in 2000-early 2001 (not when ratings were exceptional and buyrates were average in 1999 - you want money, right?), here was the formula that worked: Great wrestling (HHH when he wasn't 30 pounds too heavy with muscle, Rock, Austin, Benoit, Jericho, Angle, Malenko, Guerrero, good tag teams, etc.) and good storylines that didn't involve mannequin humping or HLA or BUTT-kissing or crap-spraying. Why are ratings bad? Well, first, Raw just sucks. Sorry, but it does. There are no redeeming qualities. HHH has squashed any possible contender to his title. Booker T was so over he could have made mega-money, but he was humiliated throughout the feud with racist messages and then beaten CLEANLY after a one-minute stall at WrestleMania with a pedigree. Rob Van Dam, despite his shortcomings as a wrestler, is so unique that the crowd absolutely loved his act. He could have been world champion anywhere from late 2001 until mid-2002 and fans would have bought it (and bought PPVs). Instead, HHH squashed him at Unforgiven 2002 and he has been in the midcard ever since. Same with Kane at No Mercy 2002. Same with Goldberg at SummerSlam 2003. Same with Hurricane on an episode of Raw in April RIGHT after Rock put Hurricane over. Same with Jericho every single time he faced HHH. HHH is out of control. Wait, I said Goldberg... Yeah, I did. He was massively over despite attempts to make him not be (i.e. not having him do the same stuff WCW did to make him massively over, squash people - it doesn't hurt anyone if Goldberg does it to everyone), and then HHH beats him in the Elimination Chamber for no reason. What a waste. The people were ready for it, but it wasn't to be. Now, on Smackdown, that show was consistently good. It wasn't getting ratings because Vince and Stephanie were the two most pushed characters on the show (and they're not wrestlers!), but the show at least had WRESTLERS doing their job every once in a while (Edge, Benoit, Angle, Eddie, Chavo, Mysterio, etc.). Now the higher-ups have decided to make Smackdown like Raw apparently - terrible skits involving wrestlers who are not actors and keeping matches short. Sorry, but poop does not sell tickets. Wrestling sells tickets. Nobody wants to see Eddie Guerrero drive a septic tank to the ring and spray a monster with poop. Nobody! The only WWE show that looks to be worthwhile this week is Velocity (which, unfortunately, is placed at 10pm eastern on a Saturday night so most people don't watch it since they're not home), which will have Rey Mysterio and Kanyon in a seven minute match (which by all accounts is good). I will not watch WWE again until there is wrestling on the shows again. Velocity appears to be that show, so I will watch that one. Another question - Vengeance was one of the best shows of the year, but why did the buyrate suck? Answer: What was the most heavily promoted match on the card? Not Angle v. Brock v. Big Show, as one might expect. No, it was Vince McMahon, a 50-something non-wrestler, versus Zach Gowen, a loser portrayed in storylines as someone who whined and had cheating occur to get a contract who also only has one leg. Is this the circus? Or is this a professional wrestling promotion? Where was the promotion for athletes like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero who went out for 20 minutes and had a show-stealer (until the awful run-in finish, of course)? Where was the hyping of Kidman and Rey Mysterio against Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, what many people consider to be the best tag team match your company has produced this year? It was sacrificed for the promotion of Stephanie McMahon v. Sable and Vince McMahon v. Zach Gowen. So, in conclusion, Triple H is ruining Raw and the McMahons are ruining Smackdown. I didn't even touch on Shane McMahon because I have a multi-variable calculus midterm tomorrow, but suffice to say he made the rest of the roster look like a joke in the treatment of Kane over the past weeks. Self-promotion at the expense of promoting the people you're paying to wrestle is not only wrong, it's why Vince McMahon is now a $437 millionaire instead of a billionaire. And, I wish that McMahon were a trillionaire, because that would mean he's putting quality wrestling product on the television set. Unfortunately, he isn't right now. Sincerely, Jason Mead Lifelong fan"

It's already been listed as an extra along with his MSG debut in 1984 (or thereabouts) on Meltzer's site. Jason

I still don't get why they put the WrestleWar match on there when the Chi-Town Rumble match is yet to be on DVD, and the WrestleWar match is already on the HHH DVD. Jason

Their feeling right now is if it made ratings in 1999 it's platinum. Jason

My attempted proof (as is the best anyone on here can do unless they own a ton of Observer back issues) is to state that in 2000-2001 they made money hand over fist and their formula was great wrestling and good storylines. Jason

You are so right too. Once again, I just lacked patience to make sure the letter was all "positive and uplifting" after a lack of sleep and the suckitude that was Smackdown. Jason

Oh, and if anyone wants the address (I found it in the WORKRATE REPORT thread and decided to write): [email protected] Hopefully you can come up with a better opening line than me on almost no sleep! Jason

I'm just very frustrated though. Maybe it's because I've spent many thousands of dollars on their product, or maybe it's because I just like wrestling so much that I want to see it succeed in a great form in this country, but watching tonight's show just depressed me. I've not watched Raw in months (I still tape it, but don't watch it - I'm a completeist), but Smackdown was my haven for at least one good match a week. It looks like not anymore. Sorry, I'm venting again. Jason

You're right, it is terrible. I've just been awake studying for a very long time and it seemed funny to me in a "been awake for 20 hours" mode. Jason

I thought the head refs were pretty obviously Earl Hebner on Raw and Mike Chioda on Smackdown, but I guess they prefer Patrick (who I do not really like) over Chioda (who I really do like). Also, Raw has all the really good refs now. I really miss Charles Robinson since I don't really watch Raw anymore. And now I'm gonna miss Chioda. Jason

Mysterio v. Kanyon for 7 minutes. I'm there. Haas v. Funaki. Oh yeah. Jason

Velocity: (Edit: I was beat to it) Jason

Especially since chain matches normally suck anyway. Jason

Spoiler (Highlight to Read): Whatever the crap, no pun intended, happened at this week's (10/7/03 tape date) Smackdown has to also be mentioned. I haven't even seen it yet and it easily looks like a candidate for this list. Jason

Not really a spoiler, but I'm putting it in tags anyway. It has to do with the apparent quality of the show, so read at your own risk (again, nothing on the show is being spoiled). Spoiler (Highlight to Read): Let's just say I'm still holding out hope that this show is false. Not likely since it's on Meltzer's site, but holding out hope. Jason Errr yes that isn't a spoiler. If its on Meltzer's site its legit. The final segment is a very stupid WWE "comedy" segment. Don't think that's really spoiling anything but that's probably why it did sound fake. It is legit, it was put on rajahwwf.com too (sent by obviously a different person). My advice: watch Velocity. Jason

I used to look forward to Smackdown, but now all it is about is crap. Literally. Life sucks. Jason

Even though it's been on Meltzer's site, I'm still holding out any hope that this is false because it sucks bigtime. Jason