Mad Dog

Call me crazy but maybe DGUSA should sell their DVDs at a competitive price with other wrestling promotions. Chikara seems to be doing just fine and I know their product gets pirated. But then, their DVDs are $15 while the DGUSA DVDs are $20. And they also have a better product and have developed a loyal fanbase that wants to support the company. It kind of comes off as sour grapes because DGUSA has really fallen flat.

Loss, have you tried NWA Hollywood at all? It has it's flaws but it has several of the attributes you seem to want.

I've always just gone after what I like. I've never cared one way or the other what anyone else thinks or has to say about that. I don't like ECW that much. I don't like All Japan that much. I hate RoH. I love WCW even when it was bad. I love New Japan. I love CMLL. I love Dragon Gate. I love Chikara.

I don't have a ton of specific examples off the top of my head. But those moments where one babyface gets another babyface disqualified in a big match up, sometimes a title match and afterwards they're all buddy buddy. Shouldn't the guy that just lost the match be pissed off? I remember in 2000 that Killings did this to Road Dogg in a European Title match. Afterwards they started rapping and dancing. Killings had just cost Dogg the European Title right before this.

Rick Steiner in character was dumb though.

I just watched the May 16, 1987 U.S. Tag Team Title Final between the Midnight Express and Windham/Garvin. Windham looked like a total idiot in this match as he was so busy taking out Cornette that he lets Eaton and Lane take out Garvin with a chair. Then he gets so busy going after Lane that he lets Eaton pin Garvin. Then he takes out Lane and is surprised that the match is already over and he can't make the pin. He also wasn't the legal man when he did that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUg-TjOqyXE

They came in, earned the trust of Abyss, then set him loose on the roster while working secretly to gain control of the company. Once they had tricked Dixie Carter into signing over the company, they formed Immortal. Hogan lost control of the company to Sting at Bound for Glory so he really had nothing to lose by turning against Immortal.

It doesn't bother me having all that stuff. The last time the wife went out of town, I just started randomly grabbing discs out of the box and watching them. It can sit there for months and I won't think about it. They'll still be there when I want to watch.

Off the top of my head: 70 discs of All Japan Classics still to watch. Most of SMW's TV run. 1985-1986 World Championship Wrestling. 40 New Japan discs. 20 Dragon Gate discs. 15 NOAH discs. 2002-2004 OVW Television. The Wrestling Society X set. 25ish random cheap DVDs I've bought on whims from Amazon. 30ish episodes of NWA Hollywood This is before I start buying those DVD sets of ECW, figure out a new contact to start buying more Crockett/WCW from and someone that can get me Mid-South/UWF Television for a good price. This is while also toying with the idea of buying GWF Television, World of Sport Best Ofs and my flirtation with getting into DDT. Wow, I really need to seek help.

I steal a match here and a match there. I rarely watch wrestling more than 30-45 minutes at a time. My longest time to sit down and watch is if I watch an episode of SMW. Usually, I wake up about an hour earlier than my wife on the weekends and I get. I'm really inconsistent though. I've never been able to maintain a regular watching habit since the Benoit murders. Now granted, I got married in that time frame and that has just as much to do with it. As far as style. It's whatever garners my interest. I watched nothing but Dragon Gate from 2007-2008 because I found the shows interesting and entertaining. I honestly don't care about seeing classics or great matches, I'm out for being entertained and having fun.

That's a noticeable increase. And they essentially put the title back on Christian for a longer run because the backlash to putting the belt on Orton was that severe. There's also the fact that they were going to build Smackdown around him and he failed at really drawing. It seems like there's significantly more interest for Henry as champ.

Has Orton ever really been any kind of draw though. He's never seemed to deliver the kind of heat or numbers to justify his constant push. I'll admit, I fucking hate Orton and always have. I'm blinded by bias to a degree but I still feel like he's never justified the kind of push he gets.

At what point was Harris considered to be the worker of that team? He was taller and worked a looser WWE Edge-like style that people thought might work out for him, but he was always clearly the weaker link. I remember the general sentiment was he was better until the heel turn in 2005. I always thought he would go further because Storm really lacked personality until that heel turn. Like I said, the funeral segment I posted earlier is really where I saw Storm in a completely different light.

I like Roode. I just don't see him as a world title guy, I never have. Storm was a guy that was considered to be second best to Chris Harris in AMW and has really proven everyone wrong. Who would've thought that Harris would be unemployed in 2011 and Storm would be World Champion. To me, Storm just makes you care. You want to cheer the guy when he's a face and you want to boo him as a heel. Looking back, I think his big breakout moment in TNA was the Dudley Boys funeral in 2005. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4JFxOYvLWo This was the first time I looked at Storm and saw someone that had the charisma to be a top star for the company.

Actually, his arms have been in a fairly visible state of atrophy since his last year in the WWE or so. I think it's more, his neck is that fucked up.

I feel like Storm is a much better choice than Roode is for the championship. He's a better promo, I think a slightly better inring guy and I tend to think the fans want to root for or against Storm where they're more lukewarm to Roode. I think if they're serious about turning the product around that he's the right guy to have the belt on.

TNA Impact appeared on Hulu this week for streaming and it's not Online only like WWE programming is.

I think the problem is, it's been so long since they've had to create a consistent main eventer that they've kind of forgotten how to. They wanted ADR to be that and they continually jobbed him in key situations, they wanted Punk to climb to that level and he got sucked up in the HHH vacuum. The problem is they don't think about anything long term. So they'll essentially bury a guy like Sheamus or Goldberg in various segments and then wonder why they aren't over when they come to the ring. For someone to become a legit month to month main event calibur guy, they need to think long term and approach every segment with caution.

There's a Sheik Toronto match on the Wrestling Gold set where David Meltzer commented that the referee needed a bra. Actually, the Wrestling Gold set is good if you want to see some shitty referees in action.

I always forget, Nick Patrick was kind of a big guy for a referee. He has a credibility doing that stuff that other referee's lack.

What all does David Manning do wrong? I've probably seen him, I'm just terrible at remembering referees.

Those were awful. His going totally limp act kind of sucked too. My thing with Earl Hebner are that, he jumped to TNA and suddenly the main event title changes seemed a little more epic in scale and it was because he was counting the three.

Tommy Young, PeeWee and Earl Hebner are the best referees IMO. There's something special about Hebner counting the three in a big title match. Theodore Long comes to mind as one that I have memories of fucking up counts in big situations. There are several guys in the 80s that were beyond horrible but I can't remember their names. I recall one guy couldn't even get down to his knees and the wrestlers would just have to stare while he waddled over and struggled to his knees to make the count. I've seen several look at the heels cheating and look away real quick in business exposing moments.

It was really sad with 2006 TNA. You had undefeated Joe, you had Sting vs. Jarrett, LAX vs. Styles/Daniels and you had that awesome Joe/Angle confrontation right before Bound for Glory. Bound for Glory was a pretty good show and they closed the door on the Jarrett era well. Then Russo came in and the product fell apart. I really enjoyed the product that year and it seemed like they were headed in the right direction and then hired Russo.

But drawing is a part of being a wrestler. You can know all the moves you want but if no one is willing to pay to see you wrestle then you're a bad pro wrestler. Why should RoH Champion Davey Richards wrestling in front of hundreds and being watched by thousands not be factored against WWE Champion John Cena wrestling in front of thousands and being watched by millions. There's a reason Cena is in the big leagues and Davey isn't.