Thanks for the Fish

Interesting add. But I guess they can use the EC to put over some fresh faces when Cena winning is a foregone conclusion. Knox outlasted Shad, JTG, Dolph Ziggler, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes in a six-man battle royal to secure his spot in the EC - quite the line-up. They probably needed Knox as a base for Kofi and Mysterio during the match. I'd expect another heel added to even up the sides, Orton maybe. I wonder if we'll see Knox and Jericho vs Kingston and Mysterio this week on Raw.

Matt Hardy's and RVD's haircuts - what's up with that? They have long hair everywhere except at the sides of their head from their ears forward that always cut short. Is that the neo-mullet? Did they cut it once by accident (maybe trimming their sideburns up too high) and now can't let it grow in because of the "in between" stage

Just caught a bit of Smackdown - You can add Umaga to the list of wrestlers who use injury down time to get (further) inked. His chest and shoulders/upper arms are all covered now. Also given some of the moves he can pull off, you'd think he's have something better than the thumb to the throat as his finisher.

I could be wrong, but Vince brought in Goldberg, Flair and the nWo after their Turner contracts ran out, meaning they were probably brought in under the wwe payscale and under wwe contracts not the guaranteed WCW variety. All those under Turner contracts were getting crazy money, probably much more than what the top wwe guys were getting at the time.

Owen Hart was just a tragic accident, however Vince deciding the show must go on was ridiculous. When planes crash at air shows, the shows stop. I believe when Detroit Red Wing Jiri Fischer collapsed on the bench and needed CPR ringt in front of the players and then rushed to the hospital not knowing if he was going to survive the game was called. On the other hand Rae Carruth of the Carolina Panthers in the NFL had his pregnant girlfriend killed (and might have even did it himself) because she wouldn't abort the baby. The NFL was never really piled on as far as I can remember.

I LOVED the initial Mankind gimmick. His promo's were on another level. 2002 could have eventually gave 1996 a run for it's money if Lesnar had stayed around.

Wwe continuing the show after Owen had died was the HUGE black eye from that incident. I still think this is bigger than Benoit, because every profession has it's crazies.

The Invasion failed because the WWE couldn't take on the bloated WCW top talent contracts without blowing their salary structure out of the water at the time. I'd vote never having Hogan vs Flair at WM as the biggest "dropping the ball" happening. Austin vs Hogan never happening is another one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz1Iag8kgmA

Why is the Orton running kick sold as death, taking victims out for weeks or months when similar type moves happen as part of a match? How can it be sold to be so much more potent than a pile driver, running knee, chair shot, DDT? Super Kick, Pedigree etc?

Way different. Because in NHB Zeus and Hogan(whatever his character name was) didn't let it be known Wrestling was fake as part of the movie. They were two actors in a movie about NHB fighting who were then storylined to have a real beef that needed to be settled in a WWF ring. If Rourke was in a football movie and then came to fight Jericho it wouldn't bother me. It's the fact that "The Wrestler" is all about the real life lives of wrestlers and exposes wrestling in all of it's fake glory being part of a wwe storyline that is the...wait for it... ...PARADOX. Was "Ready to Rumble" a behind the scenes look at Wrestling or did the Oliver Platt character exist in a kaybafe world where wrestling was real outside the ring, away from the crowds in his every day life? And it's the wwe's fault regarding the camera man issue because sometimes they acknowledge them (talk to the camera or kick the camera man out or whatever) and sometimes they're supposed to be the hidden eye. Hell the wwe even tried to film from the perspective of talent sometimes(with is utterly ridiculous). They want to have it all ways and expects the fan to accept it.

I'm not arguing that there is anybody who doesn't know it is fake. The point is is that in the wrestling storyline wrestling is supposed to be real, the wrestlers are supposed to be fighting in the ring. By bringing "The Wrestler" into the storyline world you are essentially running a storyline where wrestling is both real and fake at the same time. Chris Jericho the on-screen character is a real wrestler, he really fights in the ring and really hates the fans and Stephanie McMahon, however Mickey Rourke played a wrestler in the movie that showed wrestling is fake. So Jericho (the onscreen character) watches the movie and his beef isn't "Hey, Rourke said everything I do is fake and scripted" but is accepting the portrayal so his character is saying I'm fake; I'm just a scripted character when I'm out here and my matches are scripted too and we really don't hate each other. It's hard to describe I guess. And yes I do despise time travel storylines. "Lost" especially included because I was a big fan the first three seasons.

I think Jericho would have needed to attack the pathetic has-beens who still wrestle in high school gyms for the pop of the five people in attendence and the loser indie guys who will never make it big but keep on truckin because they can't accept the fact that they are going to work at McDonalds their whole loves. Make Rourke the symbol for these wrestlers - I think fans would get behind it. Of course that doesn't explain the fatal flaw of this angle which makes it unworkable.

It would be a "heel authorative figure" angle but rather Shane McMahon would make The Legacy essentially untouchable to the GM or Board of Governors. The Legacy could run roughshod over the whole roster and Shane could shield them form any fallout, discipline etc.

I think this is the year a heel will win it and lose when they try and cash it in. I don't know if it would be used o the same night because the wrestler who wins it loses the push that comes along with having it, and carrying around the stylized briefcase.

That is the only "out" or explanation they have for that trainwreck ending - to have Shane revealed as part of Legacy. They could explain Shane's phantom punches as he was "pulling them", and Orton selling the punches as if he just went 12 rounds with Lennox Lewis in his prime because he was faking it, same for Cody and Teddy being handled so easily. It was all an elaborate ruse. Shane could be the manager/political power broker that would make The Legacy untouchable in any storyline sense. They could explain Shane's motivation in that he saw HHH weaseling in to take what was rightfully his.

I hope this is the case, but as has been mentioned, it's probably just walking back the angle because "creative" realized there wasn't two months worth of storyline there AND it was going to hurt his Oscar chances. The angle started really flat to boot. And there was that whole paradox thing of wrestling being both fake and real at the same time.

Has there been any dirtsheet information about how the closing angle was received by Vince?

More detalied spoilers from pwinsider- I love Edge rubbing iit in to those who expected Christian with the "Five-Second Pose". Classic heel.

More in depth spoilers from courtesy of pwinsider - I guess we'll have to tune in to see, but unless the character was dropped it makes sense that Kizarny would be part of the Battle Royal.

The mainstream, and especially Hollywood, thinks pro rasslin' is the drizzling shits and lowest of the low probably ranked just above or just below scat porn.

Also it seems like Vince himself wanted to induct Austin, so he bumped Flair, who as the above indicates, is induction Steamboat.

When is the last time either wrestled on wwe programming? Candice is in backstage segments fully clothed and Mickey is stalking Cody Rhodes in backstage segments as well and filmed from the boobs up.

I think it does, and I think it kills Rourke's chance at an Oscar, but I don't think Rourke cares. I think Mickey wants to do it, he seems to get along well with the old timers and given the road he has traveled (at his own doing) they sort of have the same stories to share. I think Mickey wants to see if he could work a real match. I HATE the storyline because in "The Wrestler" wrestling is shown as fake/scripted. Now we all know this to be the cace but Chris Jericho the wrestling character (read not Chris Irvine) is a professional wrestler, his fights in the ring are supposed to be real. Chris Jericho, the scripted character, is acknowledging that wrestling is fake for the sake of the angle. So if wrestling is said to be fake in a storyline, his character is fake - It's a paradox.

One will have Hoss brutality and the other will have innovative flippy-shit.