Kahran Ramsus

Fire Sullivan and build around Chris Benoit as World Champion, leading to Benoit/Goldberg face vs. face at Starrcade where Goldberg would go over in what probably would be the best match of his career. I don't like Goldberg but he was one of the few draws that the company had, so you have to put him over. But at the same time the real strength of the company was in that they could always say they had better workers than the sportz entertainers in the WWF. Once Benoit, Malenko & Guerrero left it was over for the company. Any plan to save WCW has to begin with keeping them around. Spring Stampede is too late. You have to start at Souled Out. As for opponents for Benoit throughout the year, obvious choices for the spring are Jarrett & DDP, but a heel turned Guerrero likely would make a good opponent for much of the summer.

I don't like the idea of seeing it. In the opening titles of ANH, it says that the Rebels had won their first victory against the Empire when they got the Death Star plans. Are we supposed to believe that they got their asses kicked across the galaxy for 20 years and managed to survive? My impression from the originals is that there was a lot of discontent within the Imperial Senate, but that they had only managed to pool their resources into an organized rebellion rather recently. Sort of like how tension was strong in the US for years before the South finally seceded. They did film the scenes, but I do think it is better that they aren't in there. ROTS is about the Empire first and foremost. ANH is about the Rebellion.

They weren't going to get it anyways. Paris was considered the heavy favourite almost immediately, and it still is. The darkhorse was London.

Definitely the X-Wing series. Of the two authors, I prefer Allston to Stackpole as his characters have more flair and he makes better use of humour. Corran Horn who features prominently in the Stackpole books is pretty bland compared to the heroes in Wraith Squadron. Some of them are borderline insane. Another good series is the Han Solo Trilogy by AC Crispin which includes alot of the early stuff about Han's career, from his entrance/expulsion with the Imperial Academy to the final flameout with Lando that is touched upon in ESB. Most of the big events are in there (meeting with Chewie, winning the Millenium Falcon, signing up with Jabba, etc.) Probably the most interesting part of the books is the Godfather-esque relationships between the various Hutt families. Jabba is actually given a real character here.

Why? If HHH is going to bury someone, shouldn't it be the wrestler with the less promise?

No. 1) Hogan wasn't around much. He'd make maybe 5 or 6 televised appearances a year in his heyday. He started showing up more often sometime in 1989. Even then, he did his thing and that's it. Other wrestlers still got their time. 2) Hogan was the biggest draw in history at that point and was enormously popular. Other wrestlers liked working with him because shows that he was one drew a lot better than ones he wasn't.

He was on the decline in 2003 before he bounce backed last year, so it doesn't surprise me that much that he has fallen this far. I thought the Yankees would get one good year out of him, and that's about it, but it looks like I was off by a little bit.

And you still have the problem of having Cena & HHH on the same show. They have to be seperate, period. Even if it means HHH crushing Batista for the belt at Vengeance and going to Smackdown afterwards.

Not counting Rock?

Not intentionally, but it will happen. Because the show will always focus around HHH. No matter how many times he jobs to Cena in the next year, it will still be about HHH. Even if HHH does everything right and steps down to the midcard, the fans are trained by now to expect him on top all the time. He has to go for Cena to have a chance.

Not with HHH around it isn't.

Batista isn't good enough to carry Smackdown. They need Cena. And Cena needs to stay away from HHH at all costs.

This is the absolute worst guy to have taken. He has to get traded back before HHH ruins his career.

The Hart Foundation (Hitman & Anvil) did a fair amount of cheating, even when they turned face. Mr. Perfect in 1993 was another one who cheated quite a bit despite being an extremely popular face. Just watch him against Bret Hart at KOTR 93.

Most HHH matches worth watching are already on DVD, so giving him a 3-Disk set is pointless. Do we really need another copy of the MSG Street Fight? Taker on the other hand has had a career lasting for almost 15 years at this point. His set is easily the most interesting of the three. Ladder matches is in the same spot as the HHH set. Pretty much everything they would put on is already available on DVD. You have a better chance of getting something new like the Summerslam 95 match, but it still is less necessary than the Taker set, or the Cage Match set they had a couple of years ago.

Shawn Michaels had that reputation, especially after him walking out after getting beat up by Bret Hart in the summer of 97. There was also the marine incident.

He shouldn't be forced to do the movie, and he said he would still do it if Fox was willing to wait until after Superman anyways. It is the studio's responsibility to higher a proper replacement and it seems like they haven't done it. They damaged Daredevil by mucking around too much with it (compare the DC with the TC) and they seem to be doing the same thing here.

I was thinking that too. My other guess would be RVD, if only to hype his appearance on the ECW PPV.

It is amazing how much the fortunes of this series and the Superman series have reversed in the past two years. This movie is just looking like a mess right now.

There is also the attitude of the Imperial officers whenever there are aliens around in the films. "Where are you taking this...thing?"

There is only one guy on the roster right now that comes close to being the total package and it is Eddy Guerrero. But to be honest, I don't see anybody being at the level at the moment. The closest was probably Austin in his heyday. He could do everything, especially pre-injury.

I said 1 & 2 on the SHOW, as in on Smackdown. Benoit & Shelton are 1 & 2 in the company, but look where they are. And since you mentioned it... Benoit (Midcarder, getting beat up by Snitsky & Maven last I saw) Shelton (IC Champion since November, has had one meaningful feud) Jericho (About as threatening as Val Venis in the ring, and not as entertaining as Carlito outside of it. Terrible as a face to begin with.) HBK (Injured) Christian (Getting a minor push against a Smackdown wrestler and he still can't beat an 80 year old man) Big Show (Midcarder. Last three feuds were with Akebono, Carlito and now Matt Morgan) Undertaker (Injured) Of all of those only Christian is getting any sort of push at all, and it is on the basis that his character wants to go to Smackdown. Many of his promos are of the comedy variety, and I find them about as entertaining as the old Kurt Angle goofball promos. The difference with JBL is that he can actually be serious and sell a match, unlike Angle. His segments are the best thing on either show at the moment. HHH hasn't said anything new since his 'Its My Time' interview in August 1999. He's decent, but we've heard it all before.

Michael Cole was really, really bad in 1999...and is still really, really bad in 2005. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> But not as bad as Jim Ross in 2005.

It worked for Big Show & Chris Benoit in 2002.

True. When Gunray was talking about peace, I imagine he thought that they would become seperate from the Republic.