JimmyHendricks

There wasn't a single stall session this time around. Finlay tried to climb but collapsed. Punk was selling the blood lost but still got up pretty quick. Booker stalled but that was because he was trying to decide to get the briefcase or save Sharmell. Also, what a dick was Matt tonight? Convinced Jeff to kill himself and threatened to hurt Sharmell. I looked at Matt telling Jeff to kill Edge for him to get back for the whole Lita thing. But this is WWE, so I'm sure that wasn't the reason.

I HATE SLOW CLIMBING in ladder matches, and that happened several times tonight. Funny thing is, I don't remember much of that in the first MITB. The whole "I'm going to climb real slow because I'm so blown up/worn out/beaten" move is quite dumb to me. Hell, it took Kennedy 5 seconds to get the latch off the briefcase. Punk just layed there "grabbing" the bottom of the ladder for about 10 seconds. That doesn't seem real. It didn't make me hate or dislike the match, but it still irritates me.

Just proof that The 40 Year Old DX will continue once HHHHHHH makes his triumphant return.

Something I haven't seen: About 10 mins or so into HBK/Cena, Shawn was working on Cena's leg in the corner, then gets on one knee and starts talking to him. They very noticeably muted the in ring mics for about 5 seconds. Lawler acknowledged it as Shawn saying "something about being his partner". Big coverup or just masking a called spot? And the guy on 411 is an idiot. I enjoyed his review until he turned into a dumbass mark for predicting Cena/Rock, Hbk/STING! and Hogan/Foley for next year. Why does everyone want these "dream" matches?

Wait till next year, outdoors at the Citrus Bowl. Bret (I think) said it was really tough to wrestle as SSlam 92 at Wembley because the outdoor crowd noise didn't seem as loud/took longer to get in the ring. I bet everything will sound muted.

Also (might have already been mentioned), but how long before everyone disputes the 80,000 attendance figure? Oh wait, Keith's blog has someone saying it looked like only 55,000. For the record (and I know you will all shit on me for this), but I believe the 93,173 number for WM III. The SilverDome held 90,000 for football, and all those seats were full, plus all the ones on the floor. How someone could equate that to 60,000 or so is beyond me.

While Cena as champ isn't making me tune into RAW, I can't see anyone else who would be better with the belt than him. I mean in 97, you KNEW Austin was going to be champ, and when he won the belt, you never wanted to see him lose it (unless it was by a Vince screwjob). I don't really want to see Edge as champ, or Orton, or Umaga, or Shawn. What bothers me is that I don't know who can work a credible program with Cena this summer. I'm fine with him being champion, it's just that he's boring because he has no one to mesh with. His feud with Edge last year was semi interesting, but it took a back seat to the DX/McMahon shit. If you're going to put him over in the main event two years in a row, HE should be the biggest face on the poster, not Vince or Donald Trump. Austin/Vince was MONEY. Hogan/Andre was MONEY. Rock/HHH was MONEY. Cena needs someone to do the same for him. And right now, I can't think of anyone who would work, at least within WWE storylines. I guess we'll have another "Cena beats an unstoppable opponent, overcoming all the odds when NO ONE thought he stood a chance" feud coming up. Traditionally the night after Mania starts a new booking year/period/quarter/whatever, so I guess we'll see what the big summer feud will be. As long as it doesn't involve someone named McMahon, I'll be mildly interested.

Cena desperately needs to be a heel, or a I-Just-Don't-Give-A-Shit Tweener. No, he isn't at the moment, although WWE would like to say he is. As far as the production? I love WM in stadium settings, and 80,000 fans is awesome. But I really want more darkness. WM III was the shit with Andre and Heenan riding the cart out in front of 93,000 (oh wait, sorry, 63,000) fans that you couldn't see. For some reason, that's more powerful than practically lighting every fan in the place.

Yeah alright buddy.....You might want to just quit watching wrestling totally then. Cause obviously you wouldn't know a solid show if you slapped you in the face. He won't stop, he'll be right back here 51 weeks from now bitching about how the Citrus Bowl looked stupid or something. Hell, he'll be back here tomorrow bitching about RAW.

Seeing both title matches, there's no doubt that they should have been switched. The PPV ending with Taker at the top of the ramp with the belt would be much better than the odd exchange between Cena and HBK. I don't hate Cena like a lot of people, but I'm not crazy about him like I was for Austin or the Rock 7 years ago. He seems kind of Diesel-like, although he does try to work his ass off. He just needs a repackaging. People are booing him, and the WWE expects this? This is not correct. He is not some weird new tweener star of the future. Austin set the world on fire. So did the Rock. Hell, his promo on Vince a few weeks ago got the biggest pop of the year, and he hasn't wrestled a match in 3 years. With all that said, Cena should have gone over. Shawn was thrust into this position because HHH got hurt, and did a great job, but like Flair, he shouldn't be anywhere near the World title. He needs to be in the midcard, having ***** classics like his one with Angle two years ago. I have faith that Cena could be something good, but people aren't buying him as a superstar like they did for Austin and Rock. Taker/Batista was much better than I expected. I guess they did work their asses off to show they were pissed about not going on last. MITB seemed off for some reason. The first one is still the best. This one seemed like they were overly concerned about setting up spots (Punk's helicopter with the ladder, for instance), although the Jeff/Edge bump was insane. I don't think Edge was legit hurt...I think he was taken out so he can say he didn't really lose. Hair vs. Hair was a lot of fun. I was hoping Rock would be the one to catch Vince running away and throw him back in, but it was Lashley's moment. Austin took a little heat away from himself, but not much. He should have poured beer on Vince to wash the shaving cream off for a better look. Oh well Women's match and Khali/Kane were forgettable, and short, thank god. Why was Khali put on the show? The ECW match was better than I expected. I guess they wanted to give the Originals their moment before shuffling them off to JOB land. Benoit/MVP was too short, but the right guy went over. In all, thumbs leaning slightly up, as Scott Keith would say.

Wow, only 8 matches. JR wasn't kidding when he said this wasn't an overbooked card. Hopefully that will mean longer matches. I'm guessing it means longer entrances and a 15 minute shaving session for Vince. We'll see. I was about to pass on ordering this, but the idea of seeing 70,000 people packing Ford Field made me order it. If this was held at say, the Hartford Civic Center, I would easily pass. I'm excited about the atmosphere more than the card. They need to have WM in a stadium like venue every year. As for the matches? HBK/Cena: I sense a repeat of last year, with everyone booing Cena out of the building, but he goes over clean, probably with an F-U. Shawn is there to give him as big of a rub as possible. Taker/Batista: Taker will use everything but the kitchen sink and win the belt. Batista will look strong coming out of this, somehow, but I don't see him being the one to end the streak. MITB: I guess Kennedy, although Booker, Finlay, Orton, Edge and maybe even Punk (on the ECW side) will be in the World Title picture over the rest of the year. The Hardyzzzz are there just for the suicide spots. Kennedy has the best potential to make it a gimmick, though. Lashley/Umaga: Will go down exactly as HTQ said. Austin is there to stun Vince and humiliate him one more time. I can see this ending in a DQ or some lame finish to protect Umaga (unless that isn't possible within the "contract") Khali vs. Kane: These two guys? In a match? At WrestleMania? Hopefully Khali fucks up royally and we never see him again, but I doubt it. Khali in a 12 minute car crash that goes 11 minutes too long. MVP/Benoit: I see Benoit getting a hard fought win here for some reason, but the objective will be to make MVP look good so he can win the belt on the next PPV. So, it could easily go the other way, but I think the crowd would completely shit on a Benoit loss. Melina/Ashley: Ugh. Melina will retain, but be blamed for Ashley's suckiness and will be gone within a month. Unless she's REALLY in the doghouse now, and they'll bury her tonight--but I think she'll win. ECW match: The originals will beat the ever living shit out of the new breed, but the newbies will eek out a win, probably by massive cheating, possibly with Foley's help. See you after the show. I hope I didn't just throw away 50 bucks. I thought about waiting for the DVD like I did last year (first time I didn't order a WM EVER), and it didn't seem as exciting watching it 2 months later, obviously. I'm going with a WM 8 or 12-like response from this one. Good, but not great (like X-7 or III)

For the record, was that legit? I remember reading right after that she was wearing a prosthesis or something.

Holy cow, I didn't know some of you were so passionate about frickin WrestleMania ELEVEN. I think it is disliked because of several reasons. It seemed too packed with celebrities-you had Jonathan Taylor Thomas in a 5 minute skit playing chess with Bob Backlund, Nick Turturro conducting a 2 hour search for Pamela Anderson....hell, didn't they have Diesel bring her into the ring before his match with Shawn in a big showoff spot? And of course the LT match, which made Vince keep saying "If you are joining us for the first time....." like all of America bought the "wrasslin show" to see a retired football player wrestle. They even had Salt N Pepa (sp?) sing him to the ring in another 5 minute waste of time. WM 10 had a bunch of loser celebrities as well (Rhonda Shear?), but they had the wrestling to back it up. XI didn't. You had Diesel as World Champion, and the lousy, tamed down lame "New Generation" in full force. Bret/Backlund was boring. I loved how we were supposed to believe that Bam Bam Bigelow was an unstoppable monster who could destroy Lawrence Taylor. And of course LT himself. Vince has a hard on for the weirdest "celebrities". Was anyone excited about that match? Like many people said, it felt more like SummerSlam.

Don't know if this has been already posted, but I put it in the YouTube folder as well. Funny stuff: Jim Ross: "My ASS" (Part Deux):

BAH GAWD!! Jim Ross: "My Ass" (Part 2):

I was there live, so I saw it. Well, at the 10/6/97 RAW (the night after Brian Pillman's death), they taped Shotgun Saturday Night beforehand. There was a match, with "Rockabilly" (with Honky Tonk) vs. some jobber. Before the match could start, Road Dogg walks out with a mic and berates Billy for dressing like an idiot and having Honky as his manager. Eventually Billy KO's Honky with the guitar and leaves with Road Dogg. From then on they were a team.

Oh yes, it will be mine! Says March 6th is the release date on Shopzone. Probably the best decision they've made in regards to DVD releases in the last few years. If they re-release every WrestleMania (even IX and XI and XV) like this, I will buy every single one. I've always wanted a 3 hour retrospective documentary about WrestleMania itself, much like the WrestleMania XIX doc that aired in 2004 and is on the WM XX DVD.

It's up now. Fucking A! Bret vs. Savage!

Just heard this on the Bubba the Love Sponge show, of all places. For some reason, I'm not shocked, but still saddened. RIP.

I hope you were being sarcastic. I think it will sell quite well, to be honest. Not anywhere near Flair's or Bret's DVD's, but the hardcore mark fanbase they have now will snatch this up. But I'm sure they will all be at used DVD bins within a couple of years when those marks realize how stupid it all is.

This whole thing seems like a big work. Why would the WWE call Hogan at Bubba's show? Why not call him at home, or on a cell phone? I can't see Vince's secretary calling the show and saying, "No, I don't want to talk about shocking Sal the Stockbrokers nuts. I need to talk with Hulk Hogan about our Hall of Fame inductees! Is he available?" That list sucks anyways. Ali? He was a "referee" at the first WrestleMania. Tyson? Same deal, although he did create a lot of buzz for WM 14. Vince just wants a bunch of press coverage. Mr. T deserves a "celebrity" induction. Why put Flair and Jim Ross on there, when they are both still actively involved with the company? Savage and Warrior were put there to create buzz with the smarks. No way would either of them, especially today with Vince's ego, be allowed in. That's why I think this is all a huge work. We'll see, though.

Just a quick addition to this, be sure to check the front of the store. At my WalMart at least, the display is not in the DVD section, it is in front at the check-out section. I would have missed it had I not been walking out of the store the way I had. It is on the same display as another movie, I forget which one, something that just came out. And these things usually don't stay up but for a week, maybe two so if it is in your area get the ones you want quickly, just in case. Being a retail veteran, that DVD Display is known as a "dump", a quickly assembled display that is used to fill a hole somewhere in the store. So, unless Wal-Mart has a designated spot for that thing to go, it could probably be anywhere in the store. I went to 3 different Walmarts over the last 3 days and didn't see it. At all three they had similar cardboard displays near the entrance doors for POTC 2 and that new "Bandits" movie with Salma Hayek, but no WWE. I'm tempted to go back and just walk the damn store to be 100% sure. I'd call up there, but I'm sure they wouldn't know what I'm talking about. Anyone have any extra info? That's a hell of a deal on some of those. Benoit's DVD for 4 bucks? Damn. If I already didn't have it......

Yes, that is one pathetic neck brace.

I have the Comcast TV version and enjoy it, although they could include a lot more content. I dunno, perhaps they are only allotted a certain amount of space at a time. Also, some of the choices are really obscure. WCW Battlebowl 1993? Nice to have an oldie, especially a WCW oldie, but odd. I LOVE the "Monday Night Wars" Nitro/RAW back to back that they have on there, but they lump it all into one big 3 hour block of a program. Sometimes I really get bored with Nitro, with Schiavone plugging the nWo every 10 seconds and just want to watch RAW. It would be nice to have them seperate. Also, they are only putting 2 up a month, and right now they're for the last 2 weeks in November, 1996. At this rate, it will be a long time before we get to RAW is WAR and Austin vs. the Harts. Nice to see them putting up some 2006 PPV's, though. No Mercy is up right now. Last month, I saw a really cool roundtable like discussion moderated by Michael Hayes about the Stars of the 80s. Dusty, Steamboat (I think), and a bunch of others were on there. But, it cut off after about 5 minutes. It did this every time I tried to watch it. HUH? As long as they don't overload it with Attitude era stuff, I'll keep it. I mean, I loved the Attitude stuff, but it's the 80's material I haven't seen in forever. Right now they have the Primetime Wrestling from after WrestleMania III on there. It's really cool to see Mean Gene doing his "Update" segment from an emptied out Silverdome, recapping what is still probably the biggest and most legendary wrestling event ever. And seeing Heenan bitching with Gorilla over the false 3 count in Hogan/Andre is awesome as well.

That is one of the greatest things I've ever seen.