Al

The differing titles from the Danno O'Mahoney/Jim Londos era sounds a lot like boxing's WBA/WBC/IBF mess. You might be able to track a linear champion. But the biggest champion changes from champion to champion, year to year and even month to month.

Bobby Heenan at the end of this Bockwinkel/Gagne match. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEHqPHZxPc4

I think it's on the last DVD bio they did for the Rock where Vince himself says he didn't like the "This is Your Life" skit and has no idea why it was so highly rated. Watching it live and as a fairly experienced wrestling fan at the time, I knew there was a payoff coming. Foley would go through all this sillyness, finally the last person would be revealed as someone who would attack the Rock along with Foley. Heel turn, easy feud. You don't run a 25 minute interview segment without a payoff, right? I still think myself and every other wrestling fan sat through that because they thought there was a big angle or swerve coming at the end.

The answer is obvious. Lots and lots of inferno matches.

Thesz and Santo. They were born in the same decade. Did Thesz ever travel through Mexico?

Yeah, if I get stuck in a loop watching footage and I neglect things like household chores and such, then it's a problem. But my daughter's diapers get changed and she's fed, so everything seems good.

TNA has a show coming up in Bethlehem. I looked up tickets out of curiosity and they're running $23-85 for the show. That's roughly the same I would pay for a WWE show, and they've established a standard of quality. I wouldn't watch a TNA show on a whim at that price.

The 6/4/88 CWA show has the Harris Brothers against Jimmy Golden (Bunkhouse Buck) & Rob Fuller (Robert Parker). To a fan from 1994, I think THAT would make my head explode.

ECW got television coverage very early on thanks to Sportschannel 48 (which at the time I believe was the biggest Philly area sports network outside Prism, which was subscription). I think that set them apart from the TWA's which only ran periodic shows. As far as I remember. Mick Foley's first book has some recollections of his TWA stint. The description of having an indy show with a "last blood" battle royal is a hoot.

I don't expect soccer to surpass the big four. Not for a long time at least. But it's reached a point where it's viable, and I'm perfectly comfortable with that.

Legends House is really just blase. I'm not a fan of the genre in general. The more exciting the show, the less realistic it is. The best I can say about the show is at least the participants come off as honest portrayals. A part of me though is just sad we'll never have a version with Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan and Lord Alfred Hayes.

William Sherman had amazing heel heat in Atlanta.

Similar, Dave Batista claiming that he used to imitate the Ultimate Warrior when he was a kid. Batista was 19 when Warrior won the Intercontinental Title.

World Cup '94. The latest upswing I think is the rapidly increasing ability to follow foreign leagues live. NBCSN had live premier league football about every time it was available. And when you get to watch top level teams rather than the poorer quality domestic teams, that makes a real difference. And personally, English soccer is great because it runs completely opposite the baseball season. October to May with games frequently airing on Saturday mornings (before my wife decides we should be productive). It jives perfectly with my schedule.

I'm tempted to suggest they temporarily split the titles again. Keep one on Bryan, vacate the other one and crown an interim champion. When Bryan returns, promote a unification match and reunite them.

The Funks vs. Sheik/Abdullah. All three matches from 1977-79 really. Some of Terry Funk's best babyface work. Also there are the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawls. Here's the original. Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee vs. Wayne Ferris & Larry Latham (6/15/79)

I don't know if Ali/Inoki qualifies as a dream match, but that turned out as bad as a dream match could possibly be.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Flair/Andre match in there too.

Most reviewers would rather not do star ratings. But readers demand them. They're a fun diversion but best taken with a grain of salt.

Hogan a decade ago in an interview praised Kamala as being someone who would protect you in the ring. Knowing what we know now, that's the kind of opinion you can only get from workers about other workers that's really worth considering. American women for a long time worked a more boring style than their Japanese counterparts. But is working safe really a cause for criticism?

Gotta throw Hart/Michaels from Wrestlemania XII in this. I don't think it's a bad match. But it's a match I have to watch as a completionist more than actually enjoying it.

What's really interesting to me is that instead of 150K or so buys for each PPV, you've now guaranteed 500-600K viewers for each interim PPV. They'll take a hit on revenue in the short term, perhaps. But a great deal of those subscribers may come from fans (like me) who don't necessarily follow the product on a week-to-week basis. Increased viewership in the overall product can only be beneficial to the future.

It may not be as simple as that though. I watched it on my tablet, came out great. But if I want to watch it on my television, I have to invest $50-100 in the appropriate hardware. (And while I'm thinking of that, anyone have a recommendation on a Roku box?) Then there's getting the broadband data which is an additional expense, and may be capped by some ISPs. I'm perfectly happen with WWE Network, but ultimately I know it's actual cost is more than $10. Let me add though that reports that Wrestlemania streamed perfectly should hopefully attract new subscribers.

Just saw a tweet that WWE Network is again offering a one week trial. Essentially, offering up the Wrestlemania 30 replay for free.

Loss, I missed this the first time around so let me share belated congratulations. My wife gave birth to our first child last week. It's a bit of an adjustment, but she isn't the time killer that I feared she might be. She sleeps, eats, messes herself and that's it. And I can watch television doing all three. (I confess though I've been more in tune to MLB and Premier League Soccer.)