Mad Dog

I remember thinking Angle was going to end up dead soon during that era.

I don't think anyone could have successfully navigated it. I think you could have found a competent booking staff but as far as a head guy goes. No idea. I think you were going to be staring down Bischoff regaining power no matter what you did.

I forgot one. Run with Goldberg vs. Steiner in 1999.

Cut the expensive deadweight. Brian Knobbs, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Brutus Beefcake, etc. Anyone that was making six figures and you wouldn't put on a PPV card. I would saw trim the roster down to about 50 guys or so. Refocus on Ric Flair in a face role for the company leading the Horsemen. At the same time push Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett and Booker T as your main event. Overhaul the announce team. I don't know who I would have signed to replace Tony and Co though. I don't think Joey Styles was necessarily the answer. I might have promoted Scott Hudson to being the main announcer and used Kevin Nash as the Nitro color commentator. Stevie Ray stays obviously. I would have brought every moderate name in from the indies and kept anyone that connected with the crowd. Reckless Youth, Quack, American Dragon, Christopher Daniels, etc. Do a Young Lions Tournament and see what you get. I would have also brought the luchadores back and gotten back to having those crazy six mans on Nitro every week. I would approach Rob Van Dam and pretty much hand him a blank check to jump ship from ECW.

Can we count Jericho as a wrestler that Austin elevated when they wrestled?

Taker was really hampered by injuries as their matches progressed. He was almost worthless as a worker in 99.

I also really liked the first Jarrett vs. Killings match and Jarrett's title defense against Disco Inferno. It wouldn't make my best list but there's also a Styles/Sandman match that was really solid.

That Lynn/Red vs. XXX match was a really great match. It's a shame Red came back too soon from that injury and kind of screwed his career up. I also remember loving I think it was an AMW vs. Rock N Roll Express match from January 2003.

I don't know why Cheeseburger even has a job.

I remember there being a couple of good AMW vs. Brian Lee and Slash matches towards the end of the year in 2002.

If you put prime Tenta in All Japan in 93-96 would that still be the same? No. I think Williams was a much better athlete than Tenta and I also think he had a better arsenal of moves that fit the All Japan style better. I think Tenta would have worked okay because he didn't seem afraid to work snug to make his stuff good but it wouldn't have worked at the same level as Williams.

Not even close. Tenta is underrated but Williams was really good for a really long time. I don't think I've seen a Tenta match that touches Williams best stuff.

I got into World of Sport because of Saint. But I came away from the first Saint matches wanting to see more Jim Breaks. I still like Saint but my view of him is a little tainted by that reaction.

Austin and I didn't even think twice. Better character and a much more flexible as a worker. Austin isn't my favorite by any means but when I look at his really high end matches in the WWF he just smokes Michaels. The Three Stages of Hell match, the Rock Mania matches, the Benoit matches and the tag team match against Jericho and Benoit. Even then when he was limited by injuries he could change it up a good bit. He approached Benoit differently than he did say the Undertaker and you got different matches out of it. He worked gimmick matches really well and he interjected his character into his matches really well. Michaels falls short for me because his offense is shit. You never believe that he's in any real danger when he's taking a beating because his matches were very formula. When I think about my favorite Michaels match, Jeff Jarrett was calling the shots in the ring. Even going back to the Rockers, I always felt Jannetty was the workhorse of the team.

It could have been worse and been Jax Dane.

Please, if there is a God don't have Elgin and Tenzan in the same block.

My wife went for Bret Hart in her younger days. John Morrison was her main interest when he was around.

The Danny Davis shit is absolutely obnoxious at this point. I'm ready for it to be over.

I'm not a Hogan hater by any means but wow he came off really bad at Andre's trophy presentation. Totally stole the guy's thunder.

My wife watched because her dad and brother did. Mostly just WWF. I wouldn't call her a fan but she has stronger reactions to certain products than she does to others. She really likes Chikara and Hydra was one of her favorite wrestlers. She was blown away when I was watching nWo era WCW. The propaganda videos and overall presentation really appealed to her. She also likes NXT and SMW a lot when I watch those. She doesn't care for RoH very much. I won't subject her to ECW.

DDP during that 97-98 period. He had losses to Savage, Sting and Goldberg in high profile situations and it just made you root even harder for him.

You could have also started pushing him after DDP came out dressed as him to beat Savage on Nitro. Reveal La Parka was in on it and start teaming him with DDP. Then break him off into some singles feuds.

I started watching wrestling in 1997 and that TV Title challenge against Iuakea was the first time I saw him. I instantly feel in love with the character and he was one of the first guys I actively looked forward to seeing in the mid-card. Don't forget, he also had the dubbing gimmick that Kai En Tai got over with. WCW just didn't know where to go with it.

I belive La Parka might have wrestled for the Cruiserweight belt once or twice but I could be remembering that incorrectly.

Money. La Parka probably cost money and smaller indy and national companies like TNA couldn't afford that. Plus TNA has been aligned with AAA which means no La Parka for the majority of their run.