Loss

*The* best is a bit of a stretch, but one of the best, agreed. Savage didn't carry Warrior alone, she was the second best worker in the match. She was awesome against Tenryu at the Egg Dome too. Loss, unless you're being 100% sarcastic you've just made the biggest P.O.S. statement in wrestling message board history. The contrasting opinion thing can die now because Loss you've just won. I'm tired of the whole "I show up at the board every few months to criticize you all for not agreeing with Dave Meltzer on every single thing" act from you. That's not even a "contrasting opinion", Sherri got plenty of praise for her work at the time. I have no problem with you disagreeing with me or anyone else here and explaining why, but it's wrong to attack someone's motives for having an opinion, even if you do think it's the craziest thing you have ever read, which I suspect it's not.

Was she used for most of 2000? If so, wow, I blocked that out. I just remember her in the Varsity Club.

What led to her quick WCW departure? Anyone know?

Yeah, at Halloween Havoc '94, Sherri took more bumps than Hogan and Flair combined and outworked them both. Speaking of that, I think there is a case to be made that from 1989-1991, Sherri was the best worker in the WWF.

There is a difference between saying "Wrestling could learn from the way UFC builds PPVs with video packages and interviews" and "Wrestling should change its in-ring and promo style to mirror MMA". I think sometimes, the first point is being made, but the second one is being interpreted, and sometimes, the second point is being both made an interpreted, but it's not often you see the first point made and interpreted as simply that. Yeah, I'm confused.

Torch Talks read more like conversations with Wade directing than a series of questions, which is what makes them good.

How did you start in wrestling? What are your memories of ...? What were your first impressions of ...? The best interviewer in wrestling is Wade Keller. It's a shame he's ... Wade Keller.

My thought with ECW has always been that matches appearing on comps typically look awful, but watching full shows was usually a fun experience. In today's comp culture, ECW isn't going to hold up well, but if you watch a full ECW card without fast forwarding anything from, say, 1995, it seems much better than it is because of the whole outweighed the sum of the parts.

WWF -- Dave doesn't expect much business from the Survivor Series PPV, since they're repeating the same team format from the year before and also says it looks like 1989 will be oversaturation for PPV since the WWF is adding an event, Turner plans to do four shows, and the AWA/WCCW/CWA group plans to do a follow-up in February. -- "They Live" with Roddy Piper is about to open, and Dave says success here pretty much guarantees that Piper's wrestling career is over. To compare budgets, this has a $3 million, but "No Holds Barred" has a $19 million budget. -- 10/16 in Providence drew a disappointing 6,700 fans for the "Lord of the Rings" tournament. -- The Bulldogs and Rougeaus had ANOTHER fight, as Raymond sucker punched Dynamite Kid with a roll of coins. Dave expects Vince to intervene soon and for some guys to be history. -- 10/5 TV taping in Toledo drew 9,500 fans. Brother Love (who Vince loves and thinks has gotten over well) interviewed Hogan and Slick sprayed something in his eyes. Then Boss Man attacked him and handcuffed him to the guard rail and Hogan did a stretcher job. 10/15 in Tacoma drew 10,300 fans and a $119,000 gate. 10/10 in Edmonton drew 15,000 fans. -- The WWF is reaching out to athletic commissions to see if they can use blood capsules in towns where blading is banned. They feel like the reason business is down is that their heels have no heat, so they want to build up their heels, and feel like they need to do some angles with juice to get things going. -- Hulk Hogan is coming out with a book on how to get big without using steroids. "I'm sure some of you will find that humorous." NWA -- Two stories going around about the NWA sale: The first is that it's done and that Turner will take over on November 1. The other is that the signing will take place this week. Terms are agreed to, but the hold up remains that JCP's creditors are unhappy about accepting 40 cents on the dollar, and Turner still wants all of the debt cleared first. -- The Road Warriors turned heel on 10/7 in Richmond, VA. Even though it's in the can, the philosophy is to heavily tease it before it airs on TV so they can build suspense and hopefully increase TV ratings. The Road Warriors are also still on booking sheets as babyfaces through the end of the month, so they don't want the turn to air until they have fulfilled their babyface dates. The story was that the Road Warriors were facing the Varsity Club and were on the defense the whole time, then Sting tagged in and cleaned house pretty much by himself. The Roadies responded by beating him up, and Sting took a bump (a pretty awesome one, I should add) from the Doomsday Device and did a stretcher job. Luger came in neutrally to check on him, and the Road Warriors beat him up too. This was teased on TBS by just saying there was an "event" and they are "trying" to speak with the Road Warriors and Dusty Rhodes about it. Road Warriors vs Dusty Rhodes & Bam Bam Bigelow was at this point scheduled for Starrcade. Dave says the turn didn't get the heat you'd think, but probably because the crowd was really small, and there wasn't much build or story involved in the turn. Dave says if Road Warriors vs Sting & Luger doesn't draw, they are pretty much done because what else can you do with them after that? -- The syndicated NWA ratings actually beat WWF's syndicated ratings recently, drawing a 7.8 rating on 150 stations, compared to the WWF drawing a 7.5 rating on 249 stations. Each ratings point represents about 890,000 homes. The reason for the increase was Clash III was figured into the rating. The WWF has had a drop in viewership lately, and seems to recognize it as a problem. -- They were hinting at a big star coming in on TV, which was Steamboat, but they have stopped hinting. They still want Flair vs Steamboat for Starrcade, but the deal is said to have fallen apart. Steamboat was offered a lot of money to just do one show, then discuss doing more after that. -- Eddie Gilbert is back in as a prelim babyface and will team with Jimmy Garvin when he returns. -- Abdullah the Butcher is expected in to feud with Bam Bam Bigelow. -- Greg Valentine's name is being thrown around as a potential new Horsemen, but Dave thinks Valentine is just trying to leverage a deal with Titan. Dave still says he thinks it would be a big mistake to give him that spot. -- Paul E. Dangerously, Dennis Condrey, and Randy Rose are expected to debut in about two weeks. Dave thinks Condrey isn't the type that gets over now, and Randy Rose will be in over his head in the major leagues, but the feud will work because of Jim Cornette and Paul E. Dangerously. -- John Studd, Bob Orton, and Tommy Rich are all rumored to be heading in after the buyout. -- "I'm all for changing the TV shows from self-contained episodes to a soap opera type format but this bit where on the a.m. show they promised showing the tape of the Warrior angle, then hinting through two hours on the p.m. show about it and then said they won't be showing it at all until next week is not a positive step. That only serves to turn off the audience, just as leaving the matches in progress at the end of the show does. If TV ratings were going up, I'd stay quiet about these things figuring those in charge no what they are doing, but ratings have consistently gone down on every Crockett TV show over the last year-and-a-half ever since the 30 second squash/90 second interview format started." -- 10/4 in Macon, GA drew 2,900 fans for a TV taping. 10/9 in Greensboro drew 4,000 fans and a $35,000 gate. 10/15 in Philadelphia drew 4,418 fans and a $61,087 gate. 10/16 in Baltimore drew 6,000 fans and a $64,000 gate. 9/30 in Winnipeg drew 4,000 fans. 10/1 in Brandon, Manitoba drew 1,000 fans. -- Rick Steiner has been filling in for Lex Luger on house shows. Luger has NOT jumped to the WWF, but he has conjunctivitis, so they want him to sit out until it heals, so Flair and Tommy Young don't catch it. -- Dave says Rick Steiner is the hottest guy in the company and it's time to do the turn, and he hopes they put him in main event feuds after doing the turn, but it doesn't appear they will. STAMPEDE -- Chris Benoit & Lance Idol won the tag titles, but they are already teasing a breakup angle. -- Gary Albright is in and is athletic and agile, but very green. Dave says he reminds him a lot of Steve Williams at the same stage. -- Johnny Smith and Biff Wellington had a ****+ match on TV recently. Dave says Wellington reminds him of Bret Hart in terms of wrestling ability, but he doesn't have Bret's charisma. CONTINENTAL -- Masa Chono is in under a mask as a heel. -- Crowds have gone way down. WCCW -- Jerry Jarrett has purchased 30% of World Class and Eric Embry will be running the office. Dave suspects that just like with Ken Mantell, this will end with the Von Erichs back in power. There is some doubt that this story is true, as Jerry Jarrett is known for presenting himself as being broke to the wrestlers and talking about how business is down. Dave says in theory, Jarrett could turn around the company if given the book, because his track record is really positive. MEMPHIS -- Interesting show on 10/17 at Mid South Coliseum, headlined by Lawler defending against Tatsumi Fujinami. Chigusa Nagayo will also be facing Candi Devine on the undercard. The crowd is expected to be small, but this is a huge deal in Japan, as Fujinami and Nagayo, the top two stars in Japan, will be working the same show. They tried to get Fujinami over on TV by showing a clip of him pinning Jimmy Snuka and Lance Russell saying he is considered bar none the best wrestler in Japan. Lawler also did an interview saying he had never seen Fujinami and didn't know his style, and wasn't sure he'd be able to hold on to the title, because he wouldn't have time to prepare. -- Downtown Bruno did an adoption angle with Phil Hickerson and is now calling him "Daddy Phil" on TV, while Phil refers to Bruno as his son. -- Sid Vicious is in and has joined the Stud Stable. They are building toward a split from the group and babyface turn. OREGON -- Tatsumi Fujinami won the PNW title from The Grappler on 10/15. Dave is surprised that they billed him as the world champion since Flair was just in billed as the world champion a few weeks prior. The angle was that Grappler said he would relinquish his title if he couldn't beat Fujinami, and they ended up wrestling to a 30-minute draw. The match was said to be really good, and by the end of it, Fujinami was as over as anyone in the territory by the end of it due to his selling and facial expressions. There were no highspots, it was entirely mat exchanges, but the crowd got really into it. The show drew about 800 fans, compared to about 1,100 for Flair, and neither match was taped for television. -- Moondog Moretti will be booking a rival group called Pacific Coast Wrestling Association starting 10/22, using Canadian wrestlers like Timothy Flowers, and local wrestlers like Rip Oliver and Mike Miller. They are adamant about not using Billy Jack Haynes. -- Art Barr is out of action following knee surgery. -- There were problems with the Flair show in Portland, as the athletic commission wanted him to do a physical before letting him wrestle. Flair tried to get out of it by producing a report from a physician, but it didn't have a drug test included, which is an Oregon requirement. So they had to take him to a local hospital to do a drug test. He passed the drug test, but it caused a show delay, and Flair was in a terrible mood until the match started, then he was fine. PUERTO RICO -- The arraignment for Jose Gonzales was postponed because key witness Tony Atlas failed to show up at the hearing. Legally, Atlas is required to attend the hearing on 11/2 and can be extradited to Puerto Rico if needed since this is a murder case. Atlas has told other wrestlers he has received death threats if he testifies against Gonzales, but he is the key witness, as he witnessed the stabbing. ALL JAPAN -- Dave thinks the lineup for this year's Real World Tag League is the weakest in the entire history of the tournament. -- Doug Furnas is getting over well with his high flying moves. -- Jumbo Tsuruta will wrestle Stan Hansen this week, with the winner facing Tenryu on 10/28 in Yokohama. -- The Rock & Roll Express were just added to the latest tour. -- Two weeks of TV were pre-empted because Emperor Hirohito was in critical condition and they were doing round-the-clock reports. NEW JAPAN -- Instead of the traditional tag tournament, New Japan, citing their success with 5 x 5 matches at the gate in the last year, wants to do a six-man elimination tournament. -- Antonio Inoki is going to return in the next series. Fujinami, due to his U.S. and Germany tours, will miss the entire tour. The opening night drew 8,600 fans in Taiwan, in a 13,000-seat, where Dave is told they would have drawn more, but the tickets were expensive. Inoki is deeply in debt, as he lost $10 million in experimental Brazilian cattle feeding. (I can't make that up.) This money loss is what caused him to underpay talent in 1982-1983 during the boom, and one of the things that led to Choshu jumping to All Japan. He made a business trip to Australia on 8/15, and when he returned to Japan, they asked him to return for the next series. However, on 8/22, he started talking to Shinma and decided to play hardball. On 8/26, he had a meeting with Choshu, Sakaguchi, Fujinami, and Saito, and said he would only come back if he was reinstated as the top star of the company. He also refused to do commentary on the same show. He then left for the U.S. to meet with Vince McMahon and Jack Petrick, but nothing came of the meeting, although Inoki and Hiroshi Hase attended a show at the Meadowlands. There are three factions in New Japan at war right now: Inoki supporters, Fujinami supporters, and Choshu supporters, although Choshu is not as adamant about being the top star and is considered the "swing vote". Anyway, by 9/19, Inoki was in charge again, and told the locker room, "I am the President of New Japan. If someone disobeys my orders, the wrestler will be fired." Fujinami got pissed and left, which is why he is touring the U.S. and Germany. He may not come back, even though he holds the IWGP title, which would be a huge loss, as he is second in popularity only to Maeda in the country.

There is a story in one of the '88 WONs about scabies spreading around the Portland territory because someone who had it bled on the mat in the ring.

It still begs the question why they wouldn't run a PPV there instead of a house show.

* avoids Dusty Rhodes joke* Big Bubba? But yeah, Luger, Nikita, the Road Warriors and to a lesser degree Sid were probably the biggest guys to get over in that time period before Vader. And this is just reminding me how Paul Wight is a guy both companies have messed up, when he should have been a pretty easy-to-make star.

That suit does make me smile, I must admit.

The stuff I bolded below from Michael Benoit is new to me:

I know it's a different ballgame with WWE now, and I know that Steamboat's health is more important than the angle, but it's so against what wrestling is to NOT exploit a real injury when it happens. It's so funny to me that this is a company that scripted Randy Orton to tell Vicki Guerrero that Eddy is rotting in hell, yet they are worried about exploiting this being in poor taste.

WWF -- NBC will televise three prime time wrestling specials during the season instead of just one, as had been previously reported. NBC has also agreed to broadcast the Slammys in prime time. Forbes had a story on this over the past week which seemed to be a mix of fact and fiction (I'll say), as they also reported $80 million in ticket sales in the past 12 months when $40-$50 million is closer to reality. The WWF's cash flow is about $19 million, and the company would be worth about $100 million on the open market. Ad rates are about half of what a normal sitcom or game show with those ratings would sell for, which shows that advertisers just don't consider wrestling a good television buy, even though McMahon has changed the audience. Some sponsors will always be interested because of the sheer number of viewers, but they will spend more money per viewer on almost anything else. -- The British Bulldogs are headlining the upcoming European tour. Randy Savage will work a few dates as well. -- Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard start at the TV tapings in Toledo. -- The Survivor Series PPV will only have four matches. -- 9/29 at MSG drew 13,500 headlined by Honky Tonk Man vs Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage vs Andre the Giant. 9/30 in Denver drew 6,500 and $75,000 headlined by the same matches. 9/29 in Miami drew 7,500 headlined by Hogan vs Boss Man. 9/18 in Toronto drew 8,000 headlined by Roberts vs Rude. -- Summerslam drew a $355,345 gate at MSG and an additional $63,376 at the Felt Forum. The combined gate is the third largest ever in the New York area. The record remains $541,730 for Bruno vs Zbyszko at Shea Stadium. Second place is Wrestlemania I at $502,000, which just barely nudges Flair vs Kerry Von Erich at Texas Stadium for the overall #5 spot of top live gates in US wrestling history. Wrestlemania III still has the record, drawing a $1,599,000 gate at the Silverdome. -- "There was some legit backstage heat between the Bulldogs and Rougeaus stemming from an incident where Jacques Rougeau shaved the head of one of the Bulldogs' friends (a ring attendant in one of the cities who suffers from downs syndrome), which, ironically, is one of the Bulldogs' favorite hobbies (ask Outhouse Jack and Joey Marella) and it evolved into a fistfight with Dynamite either cleaning Raymond's clock, or both at once, depending on the version of the story you believe." -- The C & D show crew will be cut back because the shows aren't drawing, and the A & B gates are down right now also. "Titan doesn't have any match which can pop a crowd at present (they are still in far better shape than the NWA which doesn't have any match which can pop a big crowd either since Flair-Luger is starting to fizzle down). Really, they desperately need to get a heel on fire and it looks like Curt Hennig will be the beneficiary, but I don't think they are even thinking about Hennig vs. Hogan, and it'll be six months before Hennig meets Savage so I think we're in for a slow period. Hogan has not drawn anything near what was expected of him since his return (part of it can be blamed on his opponents -- DiBiase was destroyed at Summer Scam far more than they realized; Brown and Haku are not main eventers and Bubba Bossman is too much like One Man Gang plus no angle has been done to get heat on their series; however in years past, Hogan always drew with foes good or bad." -- Live gates are a bigger portion of income than Dave had been led to believe. Wrestlers had always told Dave the live gates were gravy, and merchandising was where the money was, but according to the Forbes article, the WWF only receives about 3% of the $150 million annual gross in WWF-licensed products, or about $4.5 million annually. "Figure $40 million in live gates, $12 million more in souvenir sales at live gates, $7 million as their cut of two major PPV shows, plus live gates of those shows, $5.5 million on PPV for Wrestlemania (Titan's cut of an estimated $13 million), $1.5 million on the live house, $3 million on closed circuit and $1.5 million on videos/souvenirs of WM plus all sorts of other sources like TV ad revenue, magazine, etc. It's still a very healthy business, since it has about 166 front office employees and maybe 80 wrestlers (front office employees average $27,000 per annum.)" -- Hogan's debut in Tallahassee against Ted DiBiase only drew 3,200 fans, but they were expecting to draw 12,000 fans. NWA -- Rumors of Lex Luger and Ric Flair both leaving are false. Luger was still in the NWA as recently as the last house show and he has made threats and wants some type of show of good faith from the new organization, but he's still around. The rumors that Flair is already on WWF booking sheets are also false. -- The NWA was NOT sold to TBS the previous Friday, which is what everyone said would be THE date. Dave heard the deal was that Turner would only purchase 65% of the company, with an option to buy the remaining 35%, but has yet to confirm this. The wrestlers did all receive documents to sign at the last TV taping to transfer responsibility for their contracts from JCP to TBS. TBS has stated no contracts will be renegotiated until May 1, and after the purchase, only very small changes will be made through the end of the year. However, they will be making drastic changes in the first four months of 1989. -- Turner wants to sign key WWF wrestlers before the end of the year. They are looking at Bam Bam Bigelow, Ricky Steamboat, One Man Gang and Greg Valentine. Bigelow and Steamboat have already left, and Dave thinks OMG and Valentine would be of little value. Dave is told Bigelow's TV taping debut "was something between a bomb and a major disappointment." There is significant interest in Ricky Steamboat, and they really want Flair vs Steamboat to headline Starrcade. This is far from being finalized, as Steamboat doesn't really have much desire to return to wrestling. OMG is out since he's about to get a big push as Akeem, and Dave thinks it would be a major mistake to offer Valentine a key spot. "My own feeling is there are several guys out there who can be signed for a lot less money that would be more effective in the spot, and if they wanted to get someone from Titan, they should at least try and get someone like Bret Hart or Jake Roberts who has some charisma and isn't burned out like Valentine is and could be effective as a drawing card." They are also trying to get Eddie Gilbert back in, but Dave isn't sure if they're interested in Paul E. Dangerously, although he says it would be a mistake not to be interested. -- Dave saw the NWA show in Chicago on 10/2. The crowd was between 5,000 and 5,500 fans and about a $65,000 gate. Rundown: Ron Simmons vs Rip Morgan: Better than you'd expect. *1/2 Mike Rotunda vs Italian Stallion **1/4 Midnight Express vs Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes in a 30-minute draw: Best match on the card, and Dave has no idea how they pulled it off. Eaton took some insane Terry Funk-style bumps. "Dusty hit a gusher on this one, to the point of it being genuinely disgusting (the cut, not Dusty in general). They kept pounding on the cut which made things even worse. It was an all action brawl from this point on and both very good and very heated with Murdoch not going (sic) any clowning." ***1/2 Fantastics vs Sheepherders: Their typical good brawl. ***1/4 Ivan & Nikita Koloff vs Russian Assassins: **1/4 Sting vs Barry Windham: Great heat during entrances, okay during the match. Good match, but too many low blows. ***1/4 Ric Flair vs Lex Luger: They are back to doing Dusty finishes in all their main events, which is killing the momentum this feud had going at the gate. ***1/4 WCCW -- Rumors that Jerry Jarrett has bought 30 percent of WCCW are wrong. He has been in and out of Dallas and has been negotiating. Ken Mantell currently owns 30 percent and would probably be willing to sell his share. Dave thinks Jerry Jarrett is too smart to buy into the group unless he has 51 percent and full decision-making power, and most feel he is trying to do just that now. -- WCCW is being replaced by the AWA on ESPN. -- They have gotten out of the problems they were facing from the city of Dallas over the condition of the Sportatorium. The city will overlook the fire hazard problems as long as World Class agrees not to prepare any food on the premises. They can only sell pre-packaged food. Previously, Dallas gave WCCW until the end of the month to spend $40,000 fixing the building or they would quarantine it. CONTINENTAL -- Dave attended the Road to Birmingham show. His thoughts on the show? Since you asked: Opening battle royal: *1/4 Bob Armstrong vs Tony Anthony: A 41 second match which Dave says had a really hot pace. 1/4* Tom Pritchard vs Kokina: DUD Dutch Mantell vs Mr. Wrestling II: 10-minute draw which lasted 8:22. II got no reaction. Dutch was the heel, but got mostly cheers. "II had one fan, noticeable because it really was only one." * Terry Gordy vs Austin Idol: Best match of the tournament. **1/2 Jerry Stubbs vs Tim Horner: DUD Tony Anthony vs Dutch Mantell; **1/4 Austin Idol vs Terry Gordy: -1/2* Tom Pritchard vs Jerry Stubbs: ** Ken Wayne vs Danny Davis Hair vs Hair: **3/4 -- Brad Armstrong is starting for CWF soon. Bob Armstrong is now booking. -- FNN is still airing the show. NEW JAPAN -- 9/18 in Mitsugi drew a sellout 1,340 fans. 9/19 in Toyooka drew a sellout 2,300 fans. 9/20 in Oyabe drew a sellout 2,880 mainly to see Hiroshi Hase return from his knee injury in his hometown. 9/21 in Inuyama drew a sellout 1,760 fans. -- "I got to see the 5 vs. 5 match from 9/12 in Fukuoka and it was a solid four-stars but no match of the year. Yamada and fantastic, but he was the second guy out. Also got to see the Chigusa vs. Asuka match which was four stars plus, but I don't think they'll be having the kind of matches they used to because with the UWF popularity in Japan, submission holds are more in vogue than spectacular flying stuff. This was worked great with the most legitimate looking worked shoulder separation act I've ever seen. They did set a new world record for most streamers ever thrown before a match." UWF -- The latest show on 9/24 in Fukuoka drew a sellout 4,000 fans headlined by Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki. MISCELLANEOUS -- "By the way, the latest issue of UWF magazine had a list of the 'toughest shooters' in the U.S. and listed the British Bulldogs, Steve Williams, Brad Rheingans, Bob Backlund, Rick Steiner, Buzz Sawyer, Mike Rotunda, Badnews Brown, Iron Sheik, David Schultz, and the Malenko brothers in no particular order for those of you who have fascination with that aspect of wrestling." -- "I realize that many long-time fans like the look of a TV studio show. It evokes memories of the good old days when all the shows were shot in studios. But nostalgia isn't what it used to be. Today, all wrestling shows must be compared with Titan's TV product and the comparison, when limited to production values, is very much unfavorable. Despite the fact the in-ring product of the NWA is far superior, the casual fan usually can't identify these differences. What they do see on Titan are 10000 fans in a brightly lit arena having the time of their lives. it is loud, though sometimes canned, the fans response to the faces and heels are all properly orchestrated to avoid embarrassment to the promotion and has a major league look." -- Chris Zavisa on the letters page -- "I'm sitting here watching NWA Worldwide Wrestling and they've played that 'Catch the Pinfalls' video four times. Wouldn't 'Catch the screwjobs' be more appropriate?" -- John McAdam on the letters page

Watch the '84 match with Flair and let us know how it is.

Russo getting blamed for stuff he had nothing to do with is still a valid criticism, because it was the Russo philosophy at play, even if he didn't write it. That's not unique to him. Plenty of Dusty finishes have happened that Dusty didn't book.

Also, that historically, PWI Match of the Year has been the biggest match of the year, not necessarily the best.

Even in the U.S., there was the Funk/Brisco match in Florida that took a full hour of TV that is pretty known and accessible. I wouldn't criticize Scott Keith for not knowing about that so much, but it's annoying when he makes assumptions and answers questions based on those assumptions, and they end up getting repeated for years as fact.

Stories like that are the reason that the rumors of Vince McMahon having Russo or Nash book WCW into the ground never seemed that insane to me, even if I didn't think there was anything to those rumors.

This reminds me of the story where Harry Smith failed a drugs test in developmental and Vince McMahon put him on Raw for a few weeks, just so he could suspend someone on their main roster to prove that he was serious about drug testing. So would WWE script a fake choking angle just so they could "shoot" fire somebody who "went into business for themselves" to prove that they were serious about keeping their content PG? Just one possible silly conspiracy theory... In Trevor Murdoch's interview he makes the claim that he was fired for smoking pot to send a message that even you are liked by management and the locker room you will be fired for smoking pot. Ha, I have no recollection whatsoever of it being reported that Trevor Murdoch was even fired. I noticed he disappeared, but never saw the reason covered in the WON or anything. Maybe I missed it.

Jim Ross likes Bill Maher? It cracks me up that Jim Cornette and Jim Ross are both fairly liberal politically. In the past, Jim Ross has stated that he felt the Gates arrest was racially motivated and that Obama was right. He also once jumped on someone on his blog for insinuating he was a Republican and said his father died without ever voting for a Republican, but that initially just made me chalk JR up to a Dixiecrat.

It always cracks me up when these old school guys complain about things being too gimmicky, yet most old school guys love the Undertaker, the most gimmicky gimmick that ever gimmicked.

I understand there had to be a fall guy, but the things that are so peculiar about it are: (1) The camera switched to it when there was plenty of other action going on that they could have covered (2) Justin Roberts was also a participant in this, not just Danielson (3) Why is this resulting in termination instead of a fine or even a suspension? Had the fine been significant enough, they could have equally conveyed the point to their business partners that they are serious about keeping things clean. I'm also not sure there ever was an official "no choking" policy. Internet whispering is the first I have heard about such a WWE policy. One thing I haven't really paid attention to that I'd be curious about: since they've moved in a more toned down direction, have they changed the way they portray their women at all? I know there was discussion about doing so at one point and Kevin Dunn nixed it, but did they finally end up dressing the women more conservatively? I watch WWE highlights on YouTube after I hear about something happening, and it's not often the divas do something considered a "highlight", so I have no idea what they are up to these days.