Thanks for the Fish

The crowd was dead for the Chavito beatdown run-in, but I dug it nonetheless. I've been calling for Punk to get to feud with wily veteran ring general types to keep pushing him in the ring. I've been calling for Finlay, but Chavo will work as well. What I think ECW needs to do is be taped before SD! rather than airing live after a full SD! taping. I mean it would have been like taping Velocity after SD! back in the day. Tape ECW first to ensure the crowd isn't tired out and deflanted before their taping. It will come across much better on air that way. And you could still sweeten SD! crowd noise if they fade by the end of SD! in the three days between the taping and the airing on Friday nights. I don't like that Elijah Burke is getting left behind though. I mean he is the person to bring Benjamin over and then is forced to the sidelines in a way because of him? That makes no sense. While I love Burke on ECW, I think he might be better off moving to SD! fulltime.

I don't mind Edge-Heads because that's what Edge has called his "fanbase" as a heel, I assume it's a play on egg heads. I hope Edge and Co make fun of them playing brothers - remember Edge and Christian were "brothers" as well right, so there could be some mention of Edge understanding their fake relationship. Hell they could just say that it was easier to try and get hired as a brother team with surfer/Spiccoli gimmick... I would hope Edge's faction gets a fourth member - He's the HW contender, former Majors are tag-team contenders of the faction, they need a midcard contender-type. Of course with MVP holding the title now they can't have a heel go after him for it. Maybe wait until MVP drops it to a face before bringing in a fourth member.

WWe better be on the look-out for the next big Latin American thing because Mysterio is on his last legs. It is this reason why I think wwe made a conserted effort to keep Carlito in the company but they should look to sign 3-4 Mexican/LA talents sooner than later.

I hope Tazz doing both is a temporary solution while they search to find the full time replacement. Tazz has lost his edge in the booth and is pretty bland and forgettable these days. The Majors name change is pretty silly. There was no need for it unless it played into Edge's reasoning for recruiting them as Edge and Christian were "brothers" back in the day as well. Their names are so fake and random. Kurt Bryant and Zach Hopkins? With Lenny Dykstra being the basis for Kennys last name, I wonder if Kobe Bryant is somebodies favorite basketball player and Bernard Hopkins is their favorite boxer.

I believe Steve Austin was the creative mind behind the Flair retirement run plan.

It seems JBL from the wwe.com article that is leaving SD! to become a fulltime Raw wrestler. He was a helluva lot more valuable as the color commentator on SD! - it's a HUGE loss for the brand, basically another move to make sure SD! knows it's place as the secondary show. JBL was a big part in getting the new and underpushed talent over, and I think SD! is taking a huge hit with him leaving. I'd argue that he was the most important SD! on-air entity - he's a bigger loss than losing Batista, Undertaker or Edge to Raw. Who's going to replace him on SD! Tazz as part of the talent exchange? Michael Hayes would be interesting in that he'd know exactly what he was trying to get over and such, but he's probably needed in the back for the show.

It did't work out because WWE wanted the American rights to distribute Bret Harts book, but wanted some things edited out before it was released under the wwe banner. Bret wanted his book released as he wrote it and they were at a stalemate.

Austin is a caricature of his former self and hasn't cut a decent promo in years. Same can be said about Foley. Flair is past his promo prime, can still cut a decent one, but gets lost in spots. Santino is 100% comedic, and while solid at it, it's not going to sell money matches. HHH is good in limited doses and when he doesn't try to be funny - which is too few and far between these days. JBL is very good on the mic and his title reign was better than I expected. MVP is a solid promo guy and will only get better. Regal is great when they allow him to be. Edge is top notch as well. HBK can still cut one with the best of them, Kennedy is hit(on SD!) or miss(on Raw). Matt Striker is very underrated, but then he's a jobber in the ring - he gets my vote to replace JBL in the booth. JBL's barbed wire topped cage match with Big Show was a good match with a creative ending.

dear god I hope not Last I heard/saw she had changed her look quite a bit, she took out her lip rings and cut her hair shorter. Her hair was a big shorter and multi colored, but she had her lip rings back last night for the Survivor Reunion Show.

Will Batista win the Rumble/EC and jump to Raw or will there be a trade of sorts Jericho to SD! and Batista to Raw?

I thought that segment sucked eggs. I think everybody stuck around waiting for a big pay-off that never came.

I expect Ashley to probably appear on Raw to challenge Beth Phoenix now that she is available to do so (she couldn't appear on any programming until after the Survivor finale aired).

JBL will be a huge loss to SD! when he gets back in the ring. I think he is much, much more valuable as a color commentator than he is in ring. I wouldn't want to be John Morrison right now. I bet first thing JBL does is get a tag partner and a title shot. Punk vs MVP has been announced for ECW this week. Could be a helluva match.

Wasn't Joey Styles told to stop calling the moves during matches? Unless it's a signature move with a character-tied in name it rarely gets called. Josh Matthews was pretty decent, though he was Joey Styles-lite I guess, and why go for the rip-off when you have the real thing. That and he was basically blackballed for I believe asking for a in-ring contract when he was doing a wrestling angle. Something like that. The deal with Ross is that he needs to retire rather than getting fired. If it is truely of his own decision and he gets to cut a promo in Oklahoma to say goodbye, I think the next PBP guy will be more accepted.

The angle itself - Who killed VKM?" wasn't in bad taste, but how it played itself out was. There is certain things that shouldn't have been used in the angle - the wrestlers on the stage, the video remembrances etc. That was in TERRIBLE taste. I don't know how Hayes could defend that. I loved Taz in ECW, however he was a mark for himself. He was the big fish in the small pond with the big man on campus attitude who looked puny when in the ring with the giants of the wwe. He'll always have his debut - that was epic.

Atlas Dabone and Charles Evans are two seperate people.

I was reading on another news site that OVW developmental is set to appear on a Raw in the upcoming weeks and the news stated he is a former football player - Does anybody know who he is ie real name?

I just think Sapp will come off as the guy trying too hard to be charismatic. Maybe if he dialed it back a bit, play it a little cooler - sorta like MMA's Rampage Jackson.

I don't know about going deaf, however a double slap to the ears would cause ringing in your ears...

I think having Sunny managing the Major Brothers would make certain sense. Regarding Sapp, I think he plays well to Japanese fans, but that it wouldn't necessarily translate well Stateside.

Ha. The stripper guy is... a stripper guy. He does his little cameos and that's it. He's hardly an 'on-screen character', at least a regular one. Hayes and Rhodes were relatively successful professional wrestlers in their own right, I believe, which I'd assume makes them special cases. And the McMahons OWN THE COMPANY. Which, I'd assume, makes them special cases. That's the difference between employer (and family) and employee. And if that troubles you... well, welcome to the real world. The stripper guy aka Big Rod Johnson is a writer though and when he is on camera he is there as a focal point. When Kampoor is on camera Khali is always the focal point, he is there to translate and look scrawny. Stephanie said that writers shouldn't have on-screen roles. I simply pointed out all of the writers who have on-screen roles. Condescend much? Make you feel like a big man.

If true, Stephanie is ridiculous. Kampoor has a ridiculously little part of being an interpreter of Khali - it's not like he's putting himself over in any way or anything. I mean what about the fat butterball "stripper", that guy is a writer, as is Hayes and Dusty Rhodes. Stephanie/HHH make sure he is at the top, along with his buddies. Vince Mcmahon has been the top heel in the company for almost a decade now, to the detriment to the rest of the card. This is too ridiculous to be believeable. I'd have spit in her face and quit on the spot. Wwe is going to go to shit when Vince dies.

Yeah, my av basically indicates my bias. However the fact that the "reporter" made sure to include the TNA road crew insults tossed back and that he trashed ROH shows his bias. I mean Punk is often backstage at a lot of ROH events - why would he do that if he hates the company and thinks their wrestlers suck? I just think Punk thought he was being used in the sense he was supposed to be at a charity gig and nobody was buying any toys or donating money. So you're sitting at a table swarmed by unruly masses of fans, crowded and trying to sign things. Given they were only scheduled there for an hour and there was a lot of people there you basically had to pump people through like an assembly line without any real interaction if you wanted to get the most prople through the line. Now everybody wants a few things signed, personalized a little conversation and pictures taken. If there was over 200 people, that's about 15 seconds a person in an organized setting and this sounds far from organized. Now did the fans have to donate a toy or money to get autographs? Or did they show up get the autographs and leave? I don't think they were supposed to be at an autograph signging.

I just think he'll be a lockerroom heat machine...

RAW Cody Rhodes (Dusty Rhodes) Carlito (Carlos Colon) DH Smith (Davey Boy Smith, Stu Hart) Randy Orton (Bob Orton, Bob Orton Sr) Umaga (Samoan's) Smackdown! Chavo Guerrero (Chavo Sr) Deuce (Jimmy Snuka-adopted?) Jesse Dalton (Bam Bam Gordy) ECW Scott Amrstrong (Bob Armstrong) Developmentals Nattie Neidhart (Jim Neidhart, Stu Hart) Afa Anoia Jr (Afa Sr) Lacey Von Erich Ted Dibiase Jr. (Ted Dibiase) Eddie Colon (Carlos Colon) Reid Flair (Ric Flair) Who am I missing?