Mad Scientist

No, Vince obviously has some sort of Eeeeeeeeeeevil Plan to destroy and humiliate DX. Thus we will be treated to some awful unstoppable DX gimmick. I mean, HBK himself took at both Edge and Orton in a handicap match earlier in the year, and HHH has squashed everyone he's faced since returning. Santino should not get a win over Austin, as that would change his comic character into something it is not meant to be. Santino should get to at least escape the stunner in some dastardly manner (see above suggestion regarding the rochambeau) only to be forced into the ring with Stone Cold at the next PPV to receive his richly deserved stunner and subsequent beer-dousing. Santino's character is a comedic heel; he can't get the duke over the company's original badass face and still remain a comedy act. And let's face it, that's all Santino has is that glorious mic work. We don't want to have to watch any painful attempts at matches by him, do we? I completely agree with this logic. The only problem is, WWE's focus has been all on ratings as opposed to building to a PPV payoff. Since they view the ratings with more priority than anything else, Santino's fate is sealed. MY issue is, with Santino getting all of his cheap comedic heel heat, I can't believe they are wasting it on Austin. Santino is the type of guy (as mentioned above) that needs to be booked as the weasel, running away at the right times, only to have a face finally catch up to him and 'shut him up'. I know the Condemned DVD is out, and Bonnie "I Was A Teenaged" Hammer wants the ratings, but Santino is the type of guy that can actually be used to help build someone (i.e. as an enhancement talent). (And also: they have a built in, classic program with Maria as the "valet needed to be saved from the heel" that Santino's mic skills alone could make a golden angle) Of course, with Cody Rhodes jobbed out to Spark Plug, and DH Smith in love with his dad's mistress, there isn't really a face left that can be enhanced (minus HHH of course). Cody could probably pull this off if they make him into a legitimate contender. If they could let him get the duke over Holly, that could set him up to be Santino's next target. Couple this with having him express an interest in Maria, and bang. Now, before this happens, Cody really needs to GET A DECENT FINISHER. As far as I can tell, his finisher is either a schoolboy or a small package roll-up. Also, he needs to learn to sell in a way that doesn't involve him looking like a five-year-old getting a spanking from his mother. His mic skills seem good enough to be the face to Santino's mouthy heel. All he'd really need to say is a couple of words, then deck Santino and leave with Maria.

No, Vince obviously has some sort of Eeeeeeeeeeevil Plan to destroy and humiliate DX. Thus we will be treated to some awful unstoppable DX gimmick. I mean, HBK himself took at both Edge and Orton in a handicap match earlier in the year, and HHH has squashed everyone he's faced since returning. Santino should not get a win over Austin, as that would change his comic character into something it is not meant to be. Santino should get to at least escape the stunner in some dastardly manner (see above suggestion regarding the rochambeau) only to be forced into the ring with Stone Cold at the next PPV to receive his richly deserved stunner and subsequent beer-dousing. Santino's character is a comedic heel; he can't get the duke over the company's original badass face and still remain a comedy act. And let's face it, that's all Santino has is that glorious mic work. We don't want to have to watch any painful attempts at matches by him, do we?

No, no, no...Austin bookings go more like this: Santino offers Austin some Italian beer as a peace offering, Austin accepts since it's beer, spits it out because it's ITALIAN beer (the horror!) and stuns Santino and then Maria for good measure. Then drinks some real beer (AMERICAN, BAH GAWD) and spits it on both of them. He will then disappear until he has some other awful affront to all media to hype.

Where did you get this info? So far, I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere. It'd be great if it were true. Give me a few more legends, and maybe some new moves to download, and I'll be happy.

Honestly, the entire point of Marella's character isn't that he's competent in the ring, extra tough, or anything approaching a dangerous opponent; he's written and booked as a big mouth loser whose claims to camera time are (1) he's hilarious on the mic, and (2) he's got a somewhat hot girlfriend. This is exactly the kind of character that everyone tunes in to see squashed. That said, a little teasing of the squash would do wonders for Santino's heel heat. F'rinstance, when Austin first shows up, have him unload in standard Austinian fashion (accompanied by the inevitable "What?!" chants), and then have Santino rochambeau him and run away with Maria in tow, claiming that he has "outsnaked the snake of rattling" or some other stereotypically foreign malapropism. Then Santino gets more heat, and Austin gets really pissed, and we could build it up to a PPV event. That won't be what happens, certainly, but that's how I'd do it. That way, Santino gets a good heel rub from crimping Austin's normal "stunning" style, and we get the payoff of seeing Santino eat a richly deserved stunner (at least kayfabe-wise - we all know that he's completely right about "The Condemned" blowing chunks and Austin having no acting ability).

Muchas gracias for the submission match. I'm looking forward to it. And hoping Jakey doesn't pwn me in what should, by rights, be Michael Alexander's marquee match.

Mine too. although I usually don't celebrate it too much, as it is often swallowed up by one of its two bookend holidays (Thanksgiving in the US and Xmas). Plus it reminds me that I'm old(er).

I'm not available for the second show. The family and I will be visiting my parents et alia for Thanksgiving, which means that I will be sans internet for the most part until after the holiday.

Sad to hear it. However, Moolah will be and should be remembered as the last great women's champion. In the days when you needed to be more than eye candy to hold the championship.

The two jobs for character development purposes were actually very intriguing. Jay's made perfect sense, as he had to face off against a surprise opponent who severely outsized him. Fury sets himself up for a great comeback. I am still too much of a newb and a selfish bastard to do anything like that just yet, but I will give some serious kudos there. I enjoyed both the tag matches as well.

And we have a winner. That's why Masters still has a job. He's an unpushed lump with no appreciable ring talent. However, he was ridiculed on camera for getting off the roids and losing mass. If they fired him, they'd get their asses handed to them PR wise as soon as he gave an interview.

I'm with you here. All of those guys show some potential. I enjoyed Nowinski's heel work, and Boogeyman's presence is just perfect for his schtick. Shad and Morgan are "eh" for me, but certainly no worse than some of the schlock the E brings up from developmental sometimes.

I'm still perplexed as to why the E is pissed that there's this huge internet buzz and lots of TV viewing interest in this whole "SAVE_US222" business. Isn't that the idea for people to get excited, speculate, and tune in to find out if they're right? Isn't that exactly what's been happening? Are they just mad that we are guessing too close to the mark? And on the possibility of a leak, why should they give a damn? They're getting the buzz and a ratings boost (or were until they started teasing it too much). I don't understand their problem.

The WWE still owns the copyright trademark on "The Rock" moniker, right (and just let him use it for movies and stuff)? If so, I really would wonder how him in TNA could ever possibly work really. Dwayne Johnson just doesn't convey the same je ne sais quoi. He could always go with "The Pebble", I suppose. He could go with "Rocky" I guess. That was his dad's moniker. No way the E could really stop him. That said, the guy seems to have no interest in coming back to wrestling, and God forbid he should show up in the only organization that could screw up his return to the ring.

I'm in the same boat. I get to start writing only after the boy has gone to sleep, around 9:30 or so.

I'm available. I'm not up for the multiperson match, though. I'm missing being able to really write up a good catch-as-catch-can match. Speaking of which...anyone who would like a shot at the NB title, I'm up for it.

Because no matter what, ECW HAS to be made to look like the "C" show that it is. Why in God's name would Vince let a guy from that Tuesday Night show beat his Silverback? Especially when Henry will soon be moved to the Raw brand... Honestly, Mark Henry needs the duke here to keep him a legitimate threat. V has squashed almost the entire ECW roster, Khali is still recognized as a threat from his sheer size, and Kane is always over no matter how much he jobs. Henry has been thoroughly squashed by UT twice in as many months, with no other build for him. Showing him, especially showcasing his legitimately monstrous power, going over the other "monsters" reestablishes him as a force to be reckoned with. A very good idea when you're about to bounce him to a new show.

The original Silent Hill game scared the crap out of me when I first played it. It was the first PS game I played that really used the stereo sound effects, and I was playing it really late at night. Perfect scary game. Hopefully the sequels are just as good, and if so, would make great Halloween fare.

But it did have the "If there is a farm animal involved, I would beat you like it!"

You know, Santino is fast becoming the best promo guy on RAW, or in the WWE for that matter. As long as he doesn't wrestle. He should be the heel commentator since King has now become a de facto face. That Stone Cold impression video was gold. Honestly, his segments are the best thing on RAW right now.

I have no clue how to grapple in this game. Edit: Oh, figured it out. RB + RS. it still feels awkward though, the controls feel sluggish, especially for submission grapples. Also, I don't know how to do my secondary finisher. That depends on which wrestler you've got. Supposedly, Rey's secondary is the Dragonrana, which is off the top rope with the opponent standing and stunned. Randy's is that dive/reversal RKO, which is a turnbuckle grapple, UT's is any direction on LS+Y (chokeslam), and Lashley's is a ground/head grapple (Spear).

Don't let Virgil spoil it for you. I'm definitely not saying that Burke should just punch people a lot...just show off that background a little. Right now, just watching him wrestle, I'd never know he had any kind of prior boxing background if Tazz and Styles didn't constantly harp on it. Same with Lashley and his amatuer wrestling. When you've got that kind of legit background, it should be used as a selling point both in the ring and out. Have Burke do a little Muhammad Ali footwork and add a few decent combos. Have Lashley do some takedowns and do some classic "catch" moves. Honestly, Lashley's situation is a lot more problematic than Burke's, because Burke has tons of great moves; Lashley's only other selling point is as a powerhouse, and he has almost no real power moves. If they're going to push him as a powerhouse, he needs to expand his arsenal a lot. I'd much rather he incorporate some decent catch wrestling, though.

And Lashley barely has any really decent power moves.

Sort of like how they keep playing up Lashley being an Army Ranger, they just put over Burke's legitimate background. Yeah, but they keep making references to Burke as being "dangerous with those hands" and such. Lashley's chatter was pure background, but they make Burke's boxing background a facet of Burke's talents relating to his in-ring performance, by referencing his "dangerous hands." I'm not asking for him to go out and do nothing but throw punches, but a little footwork and a few combinations of punches to play that up a little.

You know, as much as they pump Burke as a boxer, a "silver-tongued pugilist", and a former Golden Gloves competitor, he doesn't seem to really do a lot of...you know...boxing. Not that I don't enjoy Burke's matches, but I'm just sayin'...if you're going to call the guy a "silver-tongued pugilist" all the time, he should box a little bit. Just a little.