WWE General Discussion - October 2007

[Jingus 0]

Brock was a unique case, because of the insane push they gave him right from the very beginning and sustained until his sudden departure. The company really did have a lot invested in him, due to all the other wrestlers they'd thrown under the bus by letting Brock destroy them in order to get him over.

 

On the other hand, I can't blame Vaine and O'Reilly at all. The WWE didn't train these people, they'd been trained and wrestling for years before they got picked up. And "get them ready for tv"? Ever talked to anyone who did time in OVW or another developmental? It's widely said to be one of the more ridiculously ineffective training systems out there, where the students are drilled to death and taught outdated and often contradictory philosophies on wrestling. 99% of their students go on to draw no money whatsoever. I used to get the Deep South tv show every week, and it was just painful to watch, the matches were all boring as hell, it felt like a small territory from the 80s, and not a good one either. Or for another example, compare the best show OVW ever ran to any ROH show. WWE developmental sucks.

[cabbageboy 0]

Eh, the OVW stuff at the peak of Heyman's booking down here was pretty good stuff. It was mostly guys like CM Punk and Brent Albright carrying it though.

 

I think the main problem with developmental is that guys are being instructed by old wrestlers who really weren't all that great even in their prime. I like Al Snow but I strain to think of more than 2 or 3 good matches I've ever seen with the guy (maybe vs. Benoit in ECW, one with Dinsmore in OVW). Danny Davis? Just a midcard guy who didn't do much of note in Memphis and the territories. Bill DeMott....would you want Hugh Morrus teaching you anything? Steve Keirn was a decent tag wrestler with Stan Lane, but freakin Skinner running a development group?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I don't think that's necessarily the whole problem, but the whole vibe I seem to get, at least from the scattering of reports about WWE's developmental groups lately, is that it seems like it's old guys teaching 1980s wrestling philosophies that WWE doesn't even follow on its three main shows.

[The Buzz 0]

As much as I do like Al Snow and Bill Demott I have to agree with the above sentiments. If you want to teach 1980s wrestling you got Dusty, Flair, Lawler, Steamboat, Rotunda, Windham, etc. Pay some of those producers some extra moolah to become a trainer instead. Make it worthwhile.

[Enigma 0]

Michael Cole & JBL's Around the Ring has returned to WWE.Com.

 

JBL's already shooting on Mick Foley. He says he's got a 50/50 chance to be voted the guest referee at Cyber Sunday. "Foley's so large now, he can't fit in the ring anymore. We don't have a garage to take him through."

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I noticed ATR /w JBL and Cole returned but whenever I clicked on it I just got a pop-up window with a vidwindow with a WWE.com boarder and video title that never loaded anything.

[Black Lushus 0]

I noticed ATR /w JBL and Cole returned but whenever I clicked on it I just got a pop-up window with a vidwindow with a WWE.com boarder and video title that never loaded anything.

 

hell that sounds like any videos they offer...

[Enigma 0]

There is an interesting new feature on WWE.Com.

 

What if the original ECW never went out of business?

 

It features comments from Tommy Dreamer, Elijah Burke, Tazz, The Miz, and John Morrison. Burke, Miz, and Morrison's comments are largely in character.

 

I am shocked that they didn't care what the champion of the new ECW thought. SHOCKED!

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I think the main problem with developmental is that guys are being instructed by old wrestlers who really weren't all that great even in their prime. I like Al Snow but I strain to think of more than 2 or 3 good matches I've ever seen with the guy (maybe vs. Benoit in ECW, one with Dinsmore in OVW). Danny Davis? Just a midcard guy who didn't do much of note in Memphis and the territories. Bill DeMott....would you want Hugh Morrus teaching you anything? Steve Keirn was a decent tag wrestler with Stan Lane, but freakin Skinner running a development group?

A wrestler being great doesn't mean they'd be a good trainer, and a good trainer sometimes isn't someone that would be considered 'great'. Brad Rheingans didn't do a whole lot in his career, and wasn't considered that great, but he helped train Vader, JBL, Jerry Lynn and others. Ed Sharkey probably wouldn't register on too many radar's outside of the AWA territory, but he helped train a few notable names, like the Road Warriors, Rick Rude, Sean Waltman, and both Steiner Brothers.

 

Danny Davis might not have done anything of note, but that has no bearing on his actual ability as a wrestler or his ability as a trainer. Jim Cornette managed Davis and Ken Wayne as a tag team, and Cornette called them the best team he ever managed that wasn't the Midnight Express, so obviously Davis was doing something right, considering Cornette's managed some pretty talented teams, including the two SMW versions of the Heavenly Bodies and Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith.

 

Just because a guy only reached the midcard, that doesn't mean he can't be a good trainer. Val Venis or Stevie Richards are midcarder's for life, but I'd bet they'd make good trainers when it comes time to hang up the boots.

[haVoc 0]

Got this off Gerweck. Little bit from Batista's book.

 

Read the WWE's Batista Unleashed book yesterday, its like most of his matches should be: short and to the point, it was a fun and quick read. Here are some passages:

 

***

Page 3-4 (on writing this book)

What do people want to know about me? And why do they want to know? I don't pretend to be a deep thinker. I don't talk that much. When I do, I say what I honestly feel, and I say it plainly, in just a few words. That's rare today, maybe - enough to have gotten me in trouble at different times - but that's not a reason to write a book.

***

Page 19-20 (on his favorite wrestler with a HUGE picture of the WARLORD in his phantom of the opera style gear)

I watched a bit of pro wrestling as a kid. I think my favorite wrestler was The Warlord. Sometimes I get teased about that. Most people don't know who the Warlord was. If you ask them who their favorite was when they were a kid, they'll always say Hulk Hogan or Macho Man, Ric Flair or maybe Dusty Rhodes.

I say the Warlord and people say, "Who?"

***

Page 62 (after a story about puking at the Power Plant and Sergeant Buddy Lee Parker)

 

I wonder how much talent he chase out of there. The goddamn WCW went under not too much longer after that. Maybe there's a connection.

 

(later)

 

Hey, Sarge, if you're reading this-I think about you every day, you f' piece of sh*t.

Yeah. You're a f' piece of sh*t.

***

Page 84 (on OVW)

 

I think on a lot of interviews since I've become famous, just because of the questions I've been asked, I've focused in on a lot of the negatives of Ohio, what I didn't learn, what I failed to figure out. I never really got to speak about what I did learn. So let me take the time now to focus on a few other things I did pick up there, and that I am grateful for having been taught.

 

One thing that I always loved about Jim Cornette is the fact he's a huge buff on the history of wrestling. He would make us study. We read Lou Thesz's book, Hooker: An Authentic Wrestler's adventures inside the bizarre world of professional wrestling, to get a feel for the industry, especially as it was during the eighties and erly nineties. He gave us another book whose title I don't recall, but which had a lot of information on older wrestlers, guys who passed away. And we watched shoot interviews with Cowboy Bill Watts. Watts was an old-school wrestler and wrestling promoter who had a tremendous store of information and stories about wrestling.

***

Pages 141-142 (on Bubba)

 

BUBBA DUDLEY IS AN ASSHOLE

 

The match continued for a while, and it was just a nightmare. When it ended, they haulded Randy out in an ambulance. I followed in a car. Even Bubba Dudley got hurt, injuring his back.

 

Or so he claimed.

 

See, the thing that really, really drives me crzy about that night was that Bubba Dudley bitched out Randy while he was being put into the ambulance. Bubba started yelling at Randy, claiming that because of landing on Randy's foot, he had hurt his back.

 

Excuse me?

 

Because Bubba broke Randy's foot by landing on it and crushing it, Bubba's back hurt and it was Randy's fault.

 

Yeah, that's it. Randy's in the ambulance with a broken foot and Bubba's screaming and yelling at him.

 

And you know, usually if somebody gets injured in your match, or even if it's ajust a guy you work with, at some point you try to give him a call to check on him and see how he's doing. You want to show a little bit of concern. He's a coworker, and whether you were responsible or not, it's just a polite thing to do. The right thing to do. Show you care.

 

Needless to say, Bubba never gave me or Randy a call just to see how we were doing. Nothing.

 

In my opinion, Bubba Dudley is a jerk-off. He's one of those people who used to always bully guys and throw his weight around just because he had a good position in the company. He'd been around for a long time and he was one of those veterans who'd always treated the rookies like sh*t. He treated me like sh*t. He treated Randy like sh*t. To this day, I can't forgive him.

 

I don't have a whole lot of bad things to say about people, but Bubba Dudley will always be a piece of sh*t in my book.

 

***

Page 113 (on Chris Benoit)

It's difficult to mention Chris now without thinking of the horrible events in June 2007, when the police say he killed his wife and son and then committed suicide. I don't know what demons were possessing him. The Chris I know wouldn't have done that.

***

Page 203 (on the Undertaker calling him out for saying Smackdown wasn't as good as Raw)

"If you have something to say, or you want to light some fire under out asses, you go to the guy and tell him. Directly," said Undertaker. "That's what being a leader is. Bring this sh*t up in the locker room. Don't go to the goddamn press and put it out there. We got all these guys who are very talented and working their asses off and who think you're dogging them, for no reason. You're just setting yourself up to be a target."

***

Page 206 (on his series with JBL)

You would think, two big guys like us, the matches ought to be great. But for some reason we didn't have very god chemistry. We were like oil and water. We struggled, and I could never quite figure out why. I almost think that sometimes you get a much better match when you have a mismatch between the wrestler: you know, a bigger guy and a smaller guy. Or contradicting wrestling styles.

I have more of a brawling style and so does JBL, so maybe that was the reason we didn't quite click. We tried, but it just didn't take off.

***

Page 215 (the night before Eddie's passing)

Eddie called me that night, pretty late. I think it was about two in the morning. I was already sleeping, so he left a message.

At that time, I was champion. The plan was to pass the title back to Randy. But I wanted them to put it on Eddie. I'd told him earlier that I was going to Vince to ask him to do that.

Well, Eddie called me and left a message saying that he really appreciated what I was going to do, but that it was the wrong decision. Randy should be champ, not him.

***

Page 225 (on Mark Henry injuring him in 2006)

I felt he was compeletly reckless. We try to give our best in all our matches, but he took me out for a long time. He took a lot of money out of my pocket, a lot of money away from my family. And the injury took a lot of money, I believe, out of the company. I still to this day can't figure out what he was thinking.

Mark's got a good heart, and like I said, he didn't intentionally hurt me. But it was still careless.

***

Page 249

King Booker had become champion while I was gone, and I think in his opinion I didn't give him the professional courtesy or respect that any veteran wrestler, let alone the champion, desceves. Which was true. I showed up at the photo shoot and I pretty much said hello to everybody except him.

I had a personal problem with Booker, which was why I was rude. People have pushed me to talk about the personal aspects, but I don't care to go into it. We move ahead. And the point is, no matter how I felt, I should have at least been respectful and said hello, not acted as if he didn't excist. He's earned respect in this business. I didn't show it, and I was wrong.

***

Page 263

My wife thought I was sleeping with Melina right off the bat, while we were still married. It wasn't true, but it did make me feel guilty about being friends with her.

 

Since then, as I've said, Melina and I have gotten closer and our relationship has become physical. That's caused a bit of controversy, but I don't give a sh*t. She's my friend, and I love her very much.

 

Wasn't it reported the heat between Booker and Batista was over Sharmell and Melina not liking each other?

 

 

 

[Black Lushus 0]

Batista's favorite wrestler was WARLORD? Somehow, that doesn't surprise me...

[Atticus Chaos 0]

I feel bad for John Morrison. Batista is now bragging about sleeping with his girlfriend.

[The Buzz 0]

In some points he seems like a nice guy, then a jerk, then completely clueless about the business he's in. I read like a 10 page preview they had on a website I copied it to my pc if anyone is interested I'll post the pages, it's not a horrible read.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well it does sound like he's not shy about just shooting all over everyone he hates. I'm amused that he is aghast that his matches with JBL sucked. Let's face it, Batista needs a real ring general in there to get a solid match out of him, and JBL has had maybe two or three matches ever I'd consider remotely decent (two with Eddie and the Cena "I QUIT" match).

[Ginger Snaps 0]

Batista seems like an arrogant ass. I think he really is clueless about the business, at least a lot of the backstage stuff. Like he can't figure out why some people get pissed off at the things he does. You'd have thought he would have learned by now.

 

And Barbarian was clearly the workhorse of Powers of Pain.

[Vampiro69 0]

The image of a young Batista marking out to the Warlord is fucking hilarious.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

I don't think it is relevant if OVW/DSW/FCW is a bad developmental, it is a wwe developmental none the less. O'Reilly has been in the developmental system for over two years and Krissy Vaine was in developmentals for a year and a half. I believe the standard developmental deal is a little over $35,000/year, so while the two didn't get rich they did make a living while training and working out as a full time job. I wouldn't have a beef if they decided to leave the business, however I think it's shady that they want to take those two years of development and head to a competitor.

 

 

 

 

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Batista is a no-talent hoss and is damn lucly he could suck up to HHH with his body building background enough that he got handpicked to join Evolution and now since HHH sees him as his legacy of sorts he's untouchable.

[Enigma 0]

I'm confused about his statements on Melina. He says "our relationship has become physical". But then he says she's a good friend and he loves her very much.

 

Is he trying to say that he and Melina hug each other a lot or is he trying to say they are fuck friends? Mind-numbing.

[Hawk 34 0]

I'm confused about his statements on Melina. He says "our relationship has become physical". But then he says she's a good friend and he loves her very much.

 

Is he trying to say that he and Melina huge ach other a lot or is he trying to say they are fuck friends? Mind-numbing.

 

I thought he made it clear that they were fuck buddies.

[RedJed 0]

I thought it was as lock that Eddy was going to win the title back in Minneapolis the day he died? From Batista's viewpoint, it was not accurate as such. Never heard that Eddy called him late at night, left a message that he didn't "deserve" the belt and then later that night was when he passed away. Pretty depressing turn of events there if thats the case, making it sounds like Eddy was in a bad self loathing state right before he died.

 

I dont buy the Melina shit for a second. Chances are that is what fueled the Booker/Batista incident, in that both Booker and Sharmell, as a married couple, took issue with Batista publicly known to have been having an affair with Melina while he was married. Like it was already said too, where is guys like Morrison in the midst of all of this? Wasn't she dating Morrison or Mercury around this same time? Whatttawhore.

 

 

[garfieldsnose 0]

I thought it was as lock that Eddy was going to win the title back in Minneapolis the day he died? From Batista's viewpoint, it was not accurate as such. Never heard that Eddy called him late at night, left a message that he didn't "deserve" the belt and then later that night was when he passed away. Pretty depressing turn of events there if thats the case, making it sounds like Eddy was in a bad self loathing state right before he died.

 

 

 

Well, how would Meltzer know if Eddie called Batista or not? Only Eddie and Batista would know, and I'd rather believe the first-hand account than Meltzer.

[Vampiro69 0]

Here is a recent photo of Bobby Lashley. Seems to looks a bit smaller.

 

[reign 0]

I guess I'm not up to speed..I know that Nitro and Melina were legit together for a long time..so did Melina cheat on him with Batista and are Nitro and Melina not together anynore? That sucks for Nitro..didn't he get depushed because of the heat on her?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I was under the impression Nitro/Morrison knows what Melina is doing and just doesn't care, since he probably fucks girls on the side too.

[Black Lushus 0]

he probably watches that shit

 

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

So that explains how she has managed to keep her job. Diva's are only kept around if they are hooking up with one or more of the boys...

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

he probably watches that shit

 

I read somewhere that Melina said she likes to fuck two guys at once. So Nitro/Morrison and Batista probably shares Melina in that respect.

[Black Lushus 0]

watching THOSE 3? sick...

[Hawk 34 0]

I can't believe the attitude that people have here. They only have jobs because they have sex and because they do have sex, they are sluts.