The OAO Christmas From Baghdad SD! Thread 12-25-03

[Guest Choken One]

Uh, why was Austin there?

Because The Rock wasn't coming and He is the next biggest star WWE has...

 

It's not like he said "I'm now a part of Smackdown"

 

Jesus Christ...Some of you people actually acted as if this was an normal episode of Smackdown

 

"Why did so and so go over" " why was HE there"...

 

Why did 'Kishi go over? Because he's a fucking over Face and so they could do the Dance thing...

 

does the Eddy/Benoit matter?

 

Some here bitched about the Santa's Little Helper segment...

 

Excuse me fellas, Those warriors out there haven't had the pleasure of being able to sit behind a computer and watch Porn at any time so...Call me insane but I don't think any of those guys were complaining about seeing three beautiful (two playboy models at that) dance for them...Yeah...I'm sure when they were in the treanches...they were going "Ah, I could REALLY go for a good 35 minute Benoit/Eddy match"...Those Soldiers will take the striptease any day of the week.

 

Why did they show "so many fucking video clips?" because they were showing the interactions with the Wrestlers and The Marines...

 

but no..."THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD 15 MORE MINUTES FOR BENOIT/EDDY DAMN IT! FUCK THE SOLDIERS!" .

 

This was an VERY interesting show and I dug the FUCK out of the outdoor venue and the Choppers and the Sniper angle was ready good at showing the reality that this was still a warzone.

 

The Video was great but anyone remember the last time they used "Weathered" for a Video Package? The Next Day, Austin walked out.

 

I loved the Shot of Vince on the Bus in the Package...esp with the lyrics going "maybe that's why I feel so alone"....Just an odd connection...I'm shocked they didn't have Vince do a Scrooge type character...

[Only The Strong Survive 0]

Yeah, what he said...^^^

[JHawk 0]

Yeah, I agree with Choken One, and if you read the recap (link in the sig or at top) then you'll see I made the same point, albeit with fewer words. Yes, as a wrestling show it sucked, but it wasn't meant to be a regular wrestling show.

[Guest Choken One]

Exactly...The show was akin to a House Show to a certain degree...

 

No storyline was advanced and pretty much everything was Sportz-Entertainment...

 

This show wasn't for us...It was for them...

 

Am I the ONLY one who noticed the WWE CHAMPION was absent from the show?

[MillenniumMan831 0]

No, but the mark in me would rather see Steve Austin live than Brock Lesnar.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

The women skank-off in a country where women are dressed in burqas and scarfs to the nines. How fucking offensive.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Exactly...The show was akin to a House Show to a certain degree...

 

No storyline was advanced and pretty much everything was Sportz-Entertainment...

 

This show wasn't for us...It was for them...

 

Am I the ONLY one who noticed the WWE CHAMPION was absent from the show?

It was nowhere akin to a house show because it was broadcast on national fucking t.v and millions of people who saw Steve Austin loose his job @ Survivor Series just saw him somehow miraculously get it back. WWE didn't have to air the part where Austin stunned Vince, they could've just cut if off when he was giving gifts out to the crowd but they didn't.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Watching Cena vs Show.

 

The troops were almost asleep until the ref bump.

[MixxMaster 0]

The women skank-off in a country where women are dressed in burqas and scarfs to the nines. How fucking offensive.

It was on a US BASE...it doesn't have to follow the host countries laws or morals, quit sounding like a whiny hippie.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

It was on a US BASE...

And yet the government is so concerned that female soldiers were wearing burqas among the public in Afghanistan.

 

quit sounding like a whiny hippie.

 

Time to find a new insult.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The Show sucked - which was expected. Trying to justify it with "this show doesn't count" is rather ridiculous - since it was meant for broadcast. You can't just pick and choose which shows matter and which don't. And Austin on WWE TV when they *just* re-aired the whole Austin saga on RAW is fucking retarded.

[Guest Choken One]

Exactly...The show was akin to a House Show to a certain degree...

 

No storyline was advanced and pretty much everything was Sportz-Entertainment...

 

This show wasn't for us...It was for them...

 

Am I the ONLY one who noticed the WWE CHAMPION was absent from the show?

It was nowhere akin to a house show because it was broadcast on national fucking t.v and millions of people who saw Steve Austin loose his job @ Survivor Series just saw him somehow miraculously get it back. WWE didn't have to air the part where Austin stunned Vince, they could've just cut if off when he was giving gifts out to the crowd but they didn't.

 

 

The Fans are more intelligent then you give them credit for.

 

This show wasn't a normal show but a show to dedicate to the troops...The fans never actually brought that Austin was REALLY fired from the Company...The Fans aren't gonna go to "OMG! HE WAS FIRED! WTF!?"...No, because even the dumbest fan over 12 understands that it's a fucking televison series one way or another, always has been and always will be. They are able to figure out "This is a special show for the troops and logically, they sent their biggest star and the troop's "favorite" wrestler.

 

So If "Friends" decided to Kill off Monica and yet at the Award Show, Courtney Cox-Arquette showed up with the other cast members, would you cry "HEY! SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! WHERE'S THE FUCKING CONTINUNITY!". This is almost the exact same situation here, tonight was an special show hosted for entertaining men that go through hell that we can't even begin to fucking comprehend.

 

You are acting as if this was like a normal Smackdown!...It wasn't.

 

This show had NOTHING to do with the Show itself in General and aside from TBS/Cena...nothing from tonight will carry over next week.

 

Lighten the Fuck Up.

 

This show was done completely for two reasons, For those stuck in Iraq fighting through Hell and for Good Press. Not for us, Pathetic Internet whiners, whom even in a god damn fucking tribute show to some of the toughest men and women in the world, we *still* find something so fucking Picky to whine about. It's embarassing to see us like this, While you guys cry about something so fucking pointless about the length of a fucking wrestling match and the "lack of continunity"...I'm damn sure those fucking soilders were thinking the same thing because after all War is Easy...Watching Three girls in Bikinis strip and dance for you is pure hell.

 

The WWE's intention was to entertain those people for just a few hours and it seems to me that they did. Who cares if you were entertained?

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

Choken One is laying the Smackdown tonight.

 

Also, in response to the predictable "they should have given another 10 minutes to Eddy vs. Benoit" posts: I don't suppose it crossed your minds that those guys might not want to work a 20 minute plus match under the heat of the desert sun?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

So why televise it? If it was "for the troops" and not for the viewing public, why televise it? And if you say "they had soldiers give shout outs", then why not dedicate the whole show to that? It's "for the troops" and that certainly is. Why have Cena vs. Big Show? Why ANNOUNCE IT on a "regular" broadcast if "the show doesn't count". Oh, who cares, this show didn't really mean anything - despite the announcers treating it and the matches as they would any other night... despite the wrestlers being in the same character as they always are when "performing"....

 

Your friends analogy fucking sucks dude, as THIS WASN'T AN INDEPENDENT SHOW YOU DUMB FUCK! Austin being on Smackdown - *especially* when Bischoff said "no going to smackdown" and after they JUST SHOWED THE STORYLINE ON RAW, is completely different than Cox being on an awards show. The equivalent would be Cox showing up *on Friends* after being killed off - cept this was a "very special" episode of Friends where they were in Iraq visiting the troops and Rachel and Ross continued their on-going relationship and Monica shows up to bake a pie for the men and women of the US armed services. And why is this important? Hmm, maybe because every time the WWE goes against their stipulations the next time they make one no one will take it seriously??? Silly me, still having standards...

[geniusMoment 0]

The real story here is the troops deserved to see Torries golden arches. Thats what they all came to the show for, even the women. The thing was, I was watching this show with my family at my grandparents house and now they think even less of wrestling. So now for the next month I will hear constant questions about why I watch that crap. Seeing basically nude women girating is my idea of a good time, however, watching them get down while my grandparents are in the room ranks up there with pleasuring myself with a handful of broken glass.

[Guest deadbeater]

Rudo, wrestlers are people, not dolls for you to wind up and do your bidding. They risked their lives going into and out of a war zone and performed well under the circumstances.

 

Second, Bischoff has no real power in the WWE. Absolutely none, which is precisely how Vince and Stephanie and especially Shane wants it to be.

 

The stips specify that Austin loses GM power. That doesn't mean he can't entertain on WWE's behalf in another fashion.

[Bored 0]

Wow there are actually people upset with the Austin thing....that is hilarious.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

Wow there are actually people upset with the Austin thing....that is hilarious.

This of course is completely typical of the internet wrestling crowd: in one thread, hammer on unimportant "inconsistencies" in WWE programming, while in another, completely ignore the hatchet job That Fuck Jackson (tm. jdw) did on Lord of the Rings while calling the movie perfect and the greatest of all time and other such nonsense.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Seeing basically nude women girating is my idea of a good time

Yeah, but I'd watch porno or go to a gentlemen's club for that kind of thing. The marquee says 'Wrestling.'

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Austin being on Smackdown - *especially* when Bischoff said "no going to smackdown" and after they JUST SHOWED THE STORYLINE ON RAW, is completely different than Cox being on an awards show.

I'll have to agree that they shouldn't have aired this. The reason Austin was at the show was because the crowd didn't care. They've been overseas for MONTHS and they don't know what the fucking hell is going on now in the angles. They would probably have booed John Cena if someone wasn't probably raising an "APPLAUSE" sign off camera.

 

Austin in the show made perfect sense for the people in the stands. It made no sense to the TV audience.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Wow there are actually people upset with the Austin thing....that is hilarious.

I just had a bunch of stuff typed up but lost it so I'll just say a couple of statements here:

 

1) Everything centering around Austin was beyond insulting.

 

2) WWE could've easily edited stuff out but they didn't and the only real reason I can think of is that they wanted to pat themselves on the back (and showing off to their audience, the media) by showing how they were going the extra mile by bringing Austin in.

 

3) The show just wasn't for the troops and even so that's no reason for the show to suck.

 

4) Benoit and Eddie deserved to get more time. The crowd was popping for them and the home audience deserved it. There's nothing wrong with the highlights of the show getting more time. Some may say it was too hot but given the choice we all know Benoit and Eddie would wrestle for days straight if given a chance. Maybe they do in their off days.

 

5) WWE shot themselves in the foot again and there's no excuse for it. None. End of story.

Edited December 26, 2003 by wildpegasus

[Guest Ray]

WWE killed brand extension logic/continuity like, two fucking minutes after it started.

 

It doesn't matter anymore, WWE sucks, who cares, meh...

[Guest Boo_Bradley]

So is anybody missing Kurt Angle, Taker and Edge...

 

I was playing SD!: KYR (Xmas gift) and playing as those 3 really made me want to see them again... too bad I'll have to wait til March for at least 2/3 of them.

[Internet Warfare 0]

About TV in Iraq: I believe they said that SD! is shown on the Armed Forces Network (or whatever) meaning they probably know what has been going on.

 

Eddie v. Benoit: I don't know about you but they looked exausted out there. I really don't think they would have wanted to wrestle too long.

 

Austin: I agree that if they don't plan on using Austin on SD! again after this week they should have just edited out his segments. But what's the point of repeating yourself everytime they disrupt logic like that? It happens. All the whining and "WHY DIDN't THEY DO THIS!?" is pointless.

[Guest Ghettoman]

Wow. Some of you guys are simply sad.

 

When your overanalyzing a christmas show I think it's time to step back and realize your not getting paid to be a critic.

 

 

I liked the show, because it was fun, and that was what they were trying to do. Mission accomplished WWE, you might be somewhere if half your fanbase didn't get there daily egoboost from critiquing you.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Two things to state/remind:

 

1) I agree...you're wrestling in a damn desert...I give Benoit and Guerrero credit for going as long as they did in 100 degree plus heat.

 

2) Lesnar was having some cleaning done in his knees at the time this was taped, which is why he wasn't on the show. ...I think that's probably why Austin was put onto the show.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Wow there are actually people upset with the Austin thing....that is hilarious.

This of course is completely typical of the internet wrestling crowd: in one thread, hammer on unimportant "inconsistencies" in WWE programming, while in another, completely ignore the hatchet job That Fuck Jackson (tm. jdw) did on Lord of the Rings while calling the movie perfect and the greatest of all time and other such nonsense.

And what exactly do wrestling and Lord of the Rings have to do with each other? Two different sets of criteria for two totally different things.

 

Quit nitpicking, you look like a moron.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Seeing basically nude women girating is my idea of a good time

Yeah, but I'd watch porno or go to a gentlemen's club for that kind of thing. The marquee says 'Wrestling.'

Yeah, but read the next word on this marquee, and it'll say 'Entertainment'.

 

Or better yet, re-watch the past 7 years of programming and count up the amount of times they mention 'sports entertainment'.

 

It shocks me that people either STILL don't know what to expect when they watch the WWE, or they moan when what is expected happens. I mean, come on...it was always billed as a 'show for the troops'. It was a glorified house show, an opportunity for the wrestlers to feel special(the only good thing to come out of this whole trip)...anybody who expected an awesome show because they were in a country other than America is pretty stupid to be honest. Anybody who expected Vince to put on a great show KNOWING viewing figures would probably be down on Christmas Day anyway is pretty stupid.

 

RRR, you said 'why televise it'. I think you already know why. Vince was looking for cheap publicity. 'Let's go to Iraq, entertain the troops, throw in some cheap pop Saddam jokes and get some free publicity.' And I agree that this was a stupid idea. Like I said, Vince knew ratings would be down anyway, so decided to put on a throwaway show that might produce some publicity. And choosing which shows matter and which don't is not good business.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Wow. Some of you guys are simply sad.

 

When your overanalyzing a christmas show I think it's time to step back and realize your not getting paid to be a critic.

 

 

I liked the show, because it was fun, and that was what they were trying to do. Mission accomplished WWE, you might be somewhere if half your fanbase didn't get there daily egoboost from critiquing you.

I hated the show becauese it was the exact opposite of fun. It was a chore to go through. If Benoit and Eddie weren't on I wouldn't even have watched at all. To be fair though, TWGTT were enjoyable too.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Seeing basically nude women girating is my idea of a good time

Yeah, but I'd watch porno or go to a gentlemen's club for that kind of thing. The marquee says 'Wrestling.'

Yeah, but read the next word on this marquee, and it'll say 'Entertainment'.

 

Or better yet, re-watch the past 7 years of programming and count up the amount of times they mention 'sports entertainment'.

 

It shocks me that people either STILL don't know what to expect when they watch the WWE, or they moan when what is expected happens. I mean, come on...it was always billed as a 'show for the troops'. It was a glorified house show, an opportunity for the wrestlers to feel special(the only good thing to come out of this whole trip)...anybody who expected an awesome show because they were in a country other than America is pretty stupid to be honest. Anybody who expected Vince to put on a great show KNOWING viewing figures would probably be down on Christmas Day anyway is pretty stupid.

 

RRR, you said 'why televise it'. I think you already know why. Vince was looking for cheap publicity. 'Let's go to Iraq, entertain the troops, throw in some cheap pop Saddam jokes and get some free publicity.' And I agree that this was a stupid idea. Like I said, Vince knew ratings would be down anyway, so decided to put on a throwaway show that might produce some publicity. And choosing which shows matter and which don't is not good business.

But wrestling is still before entertainment on the marquee. Whether Vince likes to admit it or not even he knows if he went full on with the enteretainment route, he'd bomb.

 

Just because viewership is going to be down doesn't mean it's a good idea to have a bad show. In fact, that's all the more reason to have a great show as a treat to all the hardcore WWE fans who are actually watching but I suspose they don't matter to the WWE. If that's the mindset of the WWE, I'm scared. Complacency will ruin the company. Not that the WWE can put on a good show in the first place but they can at least try to be their normal idiotic selves instead of the atrocity we got from Iraq.