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Rewatching that match last week actually turned me off Vader a little. IMO, it really exposed him as just a big fat dude who couldn't really wrestle all that well, but sure knew how to stiff guys. Ric Flair probably wasn't the best guy off which Vader could showcase his skills. Regardless of Vader's skills though, it was a great match. I love the AWA show on this week. I don't know how good the matches are, but I love seeing a whole show of stuff I've never seen before.

One thing I couldn't help but notice, on the bottom of page three. What the heck is that supposed to mean? It's some scandal that Titan Towers has a dress code?

To me, the name matters more than the style or attitude. Jericho is being treated as someone the fans should care about, that's what is important. Of course if Jericho doesn't win the title by the Rumble, the 'net will crap all over it.

Agreed. Even in terms of ability Gagne wasn't bad, he was just too small.

I wonder if being a promoter's son is a huge issue. It seems a fair share of the worst second-generation wrestlers come from such families. Tully Blanchard? David Von Erich? Kevin Von Erich? Kerry Von Erich? Gino Hernandez? Eddie Guerrerro? Chavo Guerrerro? Hector Guerrerro? Mondo Guerrerro? Dory Funk Jr.? Terry Funk? Not all of them of course. But we've had Erik Watts, Mike Graham, Greg Gagne, Carly Colon, etc.

I'm thinking more of how many of them never wanted to be wrestlers in the first place?

I wonder if being a promoter's son is a huge issue. It seems a fair share of the worst second-generation wrestlers come from such families.

Is Carlito possibly our era's Erik Watts?

You've talked up MS1/Chicanre (sp?) to an insane degree. Why not throw that match in?

Gorilla had a good pace and tone of voice that quite a few announcers can't seem to master anymore. Part of being a good/great announcer isn't what you say, but how you say it. Monsoon's pace was spot on, getting excited when necessary and toning it down as the situation called. Jim Ross is still excellent at this point, particularly when calling a Jeff Hardy comeback. (The Undertaker/Jeff Hardy ladder match is a great example of this.) We could easily do a thread of nothing but Gorilla Monsoon repeated quotes.

One thing I appreciated about Gorilla is how he would mention assaulting/bullying the referee would result in a fine. Or that the winner would take home more money than the loser. Simple stuff like that explains why wrestlers are trying to win. I mean, is it ever explained what incentive wrestlers have today? As far as the tangents go, I listen to quite a few baseball broadcasts where the announcers trail off the subject during a dull spot in a baseball game. When it comes to a house show in particular, you're really just selling a main event and filling out the card to kill time in the evening. Having the announcers interject a bit of personality at these points makes the card more enjoyable. During one card a couple months ago, Jesse asked Gorilla about touring the USSR as an amateur wrestler. I thought that was interesting. Of course I'm likely a bit biased. Gorilla Monsoon was just an extremely likable character.

Concerned, right. Rush decided to hold hearings because all the sudden he was concerned with steroids, and not because a steroid hearing now in the wake of the Bonds scandal is good press and publicity. As an aside, what does Energy and Commerce have to do with all this? This is a separate committee from the Senate group that held the famous MLB hearings with Palmeiro, et al. This one really reeks of political gamesmanship, moreso than usual.

Just curious, how much of it personally involved Moolah?

Sex is wholesome, porn is not. The problem is that your typical pornstar is not Jenna Haze or Belladonna or some otherwise successful young lady. It's a girl who answers an ad and sees an easy way to make $300 or so. They're thrown into a scene where the director gets as much as he can out of the performer, and usually she's done after 1-3 scenes. What follows is a stigma that may follow them the rest of their lives. In regards to specific examples of sleaze, the stories ARE out there in the porn industry. Abuse, rape, drugs, you name it.

Cute. Porn has a body count too. Recently there was Inkyo Volt Hwang and Haley Paige, a story where a director probably killed his pornstar girlfriend and himself O.D.'ed on drugs. As far as a body count, check out this page. It's safe for work, just text. http://www.rame.net/faq/deadporn/

I watched SuperClash recently. It amazed me that a show with wrestling legends Stan Hansen, Giant Baba, Harley Race, Jumbo Tsuruta, Mil Mascaras, Crusher, Bruiser, Ric Flair, Ray Stevens, Nick Bockwinkel, etc. only drew 21,000 to Comiskey Park. It wasn't the booking as much as their promotion and production was awful.

Gotta give the nod to porn. In wrestling, there is no problem in being recognized on the street. How many porn stars use their real names? Many in fact get upset that sites like Wikipedia openly publish their real names. I think if you polled former wrestlers and pornstars, more wrestlers would look fondly upon their past profession.

This was the first time I ever saw the Flair/Vader match. Holy crap. I heard it was good, but had no idea it was THAT good. Easily one of my five favorite Flair matches ever.

I would imagine it was Vince and his fear of sounding rural, since most people in the US associate "Birmingham" with Alabama rather than England.But... doesn't the WWE run shows in Birmingham, AL? They always identify the city at the beginning of every Raw taped in America. Perhaps it wasn't as much a fear of sounding rural as much as they just did not want to confuse the audience.

They got it right on the back cover at least. My guess is they sent the match listings to the design folks, and they made a mistake. The first couple of matches feature Fuerza and Juventud Guerrera, so if you're not paying close attention that can happen.

Even worse, it's one of the SAME ones from Prime Time Wrestling. At least the feud went away, but the Stallions push lasted through the Survivor Series. Tip to wrestling promoters in the future. If you want to put young talent over, you can't just make heels up.

It doesn't matter. This specific case involves determining the order of deaths, which makes the drug testing records irrelevant. I don't see what WWE specifically could provide, short of Benoit sending a text message saying "I killed Daniel first and then Nancy. I'll be in Houston for the PPV."

In fairness, I've been as impressed at times with WWF Ron Garvin.

I did see the match and loved it. I was pleasantly surprised how good the Magnum T.A./Ole Anderson match was as well. As good a weekly show as I have ever seen. If you have 24/7, I can not recommend this show highly enough.

Or accurate.