Jingus

Like, Khali is so freakishly big that he's basically immobile and unable to do much besides the most basic first-day-of-training offense, he's too big to bump more than once per month, and can't speak English? That all severely limits what he's able to do both in and out of the ring. As for Boogeyman, I already went over all that earlier. Here's a corollary: explain exactly why you think he's good. At in-ring wrestling, don't just say you like his gimmick or the way he portrays it. I don't sit through it all. I record it, leave the VCR running while I go do something else, and then go back and watch it later, fast-forwarding through the commercials and anything I don't wanna watch. ("Change the channel" was a euphemism, but considering we're talking about live TV, I thought "fast-forward" might've been confusing.)

What else is there to watch? TNA? Hah, I made a funny. Lucha? Don't understand the language, don't know the storylines, never been the biggest fan of the mexican style. Local promotions? Aren't any near me. My tape collection where I've already watched everything at least half a dozen times? I can't afford to jump online and order anything new right now. But seriously, I'll watch any and all wrestling shows basically because I'm addicted to it. I'll most likely bitch about the bad parts later, but I've never seen a show that was so worthless and irredeemable that there wasn't one good moment in it. Whether it was a match, a promo, some jaw-dropping bump, or even just one of the workers winding up and delivering a perfect punch, every wrestling show has something, somewhere in it that made me glad I saw it.

I'm judging them because I'm completely unentertained by their matches. Khali is too damn big to do anything, and he doesn't have that Andre-type charisma and knowledge of working. Boogeyman just plain sucks imho and I've consistently hated his ringwork since he debuted.

Yeah, I would be. I remember watching one of those godawful WWA ppvs with a roomful of wrestlers, the one with Jarrett vs. Christopher as the main event, and the biggest couch pop of the night was when Lynn did a run-in. Various Wrestlers Move To Nashville In Order To Work For TNA Did NOT turn out well, for lots of people.

Well, we must disagree then. I doubt you'd find many workers who'd agree with you if you told them Lynn was a bad wrestler. DDP Doesn't Bump For Undertaker's Punches In A House Show Match And his burial ensued, continued, and lingers on to this day.

Let's just say I personally think you guys are vastly overstating his abilities, cuz every time I watch him I cringe at just how bad he is. (Yes, I don't watch his matches now, I gave up after even Finlay couldn't get me to enjoy him.) Bad timing, clumsy, just awful. Oh yeah, they deserve a mention. I forget which one it was, but I'll never forget the visual of him and Batista blowing an armdrag a couple weeks back. And that's what the Smackdown editing wizards left in! What the hell kind of crap might've they cut out?! Khali... um... well, let's say the El Gigante comparisons are far too accurate. Khali's offense is slightly better looking, but he's actually slower than Gonzales was. If you've never seen the Giant Singh vs. Giant Silva match, look it up on youtube for some quality wrestlecrap.

Well, maybe not, especially in Bentley's case. But, c'mon, the Lynn vs. Styles series?

What's wrong with Beth Phoenix? She seems about average to me. Snitsky, yeah, he sucks, but I've seen him have at least halfway passable matches when he's completely carried by someone. I can't say the same for Boogeyman, who makes me leap for the channel changer when he gets in the ring. If he just didn't wrestle and didn't use the damn worms he might be a fun character, but as it is, he's disgusting in more ways than one.

TNA Fires Good Workers So They Can Pay Nonworkers They just released Runt Dudley, Damaja, Doug Basham, Matt Bentley, and Jerry Lynn. Good thing Pacman is bringing in those massive ratings.

Maybe not, but it'd be a close race between him and anyone else. (Besides the untrained bikini models.)

Um... that's more of a compliment, really.

It's not that much money, a couple hundred bucks at most. That may be a lot of money to a struggling indy guy, but is it worth it to have half the crowd at the next local show heckling you about being squashed in two seconds? And sometimes it's an easy gig... but sometimes you're like that poor motherfucker on ECW last week whose national television debut was getting the shit kicked out of him by the worst wrestler in the company and then having hundreds of live worms shoved down his throat. It must be a mark-out thing like FH said, I don't understand it otherwise.

But what I'm saying is, if you're an indy worker who's being pushed as a legitimate contender on your local shows, is it really wise to go on bigtime TV and get thrown around like a chump? It pays a little bit and could lead to some valuable contacts, but I've always thought that the lure of "exposure" is pretty overrated.

Flair even helped talk Hulk into joining up in the first place, iirc.

No, my point is that I highly doubt that wrestling influences children who have no connection to the business other than watching it on TV to take drugs, as the letter seemed to imply. I don't doubt at all that it causes a lot of impressionable young people to mimic the violence that they see.

Sorta reminds me of when Mike Rapada did a few meatjobs to the likes of LA Smooth on Worldwide around the time they put the NWA belt on him. I know that it's "exposure" and the extra hundred bucks is nice, but I've never understood the guys who are relatively big regional stars yet still take job matches where they're made to look like shit on tv.

You're thinking Christian Scientists. Scientology makes you travel around the world molesting the native children and make really bad movies.

Which is directly attributable to real sports, not pro wrestling. Most backyarders are old enough to take responsibility for their own dumbass actions.

My point was, by the time they're old enough to obtain steroids or pain pills, they're way too old to be considered some naive kid who's being influenced by his heroes on TV. Saying that wrestling promotes drug use to its young audience is just plain wrong. (Well, unless you count drinking, cuz that does get glorified a whole lot.)

Ah yes, referring to someone on a wrestling message board as a smart mark, I feel so deeply insulted. Like I did in the one thread where we had that argument? Didn't know arguing about something in one thread over the course of a couple of days equals OMG JINGUZ WONT SHUT UP BOUT CENA. But anyway, my point being, almost everyone that Heyman pushed is either gone, or no longer pushed. And CM Punk is the only one who isn't still pushed because someone else in the office is hawt for him. In fact, I'm not sure why Punk is still in the "main event", as he seems to represent everything that Vince hates in a sports entertainment superstar.

And where is everyone Heyman pushed besides Punk? Vince fell in love with Lashley's shoulder definition and then gradually fired everyone else. RVD, Sabu, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Test, all gone. Pretty much the only ones left are Holly (now injured) and Thorn (now jobbing to Stevie).

Roddy Piper on TBS. But way, way more fans heard Jesse's announcing than Piper's. Hell, until you mentioned it, I'd forgotten that Jesse wasn't the first heel announcer. Announcers don't draw money, his influence was enough that every promotion since then has had a heel color commentator, and the quality of his work was better than everyone not named Bobby Heenan (in the WWF at least, not in WCW which somehow castrated both of 'em).

IIRC, it actually did kick Funk. According to Terry's book, the worst part is the horse WAS tranquilized. God knows what that nag might've done to them if it hadn't been. And this being WCW, nobody even realized that they might need to dope up the horse until ranch owner Funk mentioned it.

Wojcik always insisted on using his laptop for reporting, even at indy shows. Not sure why, the Larry Goodmans of the world got by just fine with pen-n-paper, but that's how he did it. Example #8723 of TNA being assholes to the fans for no real reason. Especially since Alan, well, was their single most enthusiastic rimjobber; he'd cheer and defend the product no matter what, acted as an unpaid employee, did interviews with the wrestlers, syndicated his reports all over the net, and they just arbitrarily decided "something must be done, we've got to stop him!".

Bullshit argument. Since the drug use takes place behind closed doors and isn't even referred to on-camera, there's no way kids could emulate it. This ain't exactly like Snoop puffing a blunt in a music video. I ... are you serious? Don't be dense. Yeah, I'm serious. Of all the sins wrestling is guilty of, there's no need to make up new ones. How could a little kid know these guys are all on steroids and painkillers (unless an adult told them), and how exactly would they go about emulating that? Besides, you're got the violence nd cussing connection sitting right there, I've personally watched countless kids turn into sociopathic foul-mouthed little rioters at many a show.