Loss

Don't get me wrong, Steamboat looked tremendous. But I think the act would get old quickly if he stuck around too long. I could see them doing a Sgt. Slaughter/Jerry Lawler-style 1-2 matches a year on RAW type deal with him, but I don't know about more beyond that, only because he looked good in small doses, so everyone would expect him to be at the level he was in his prime. If he wasn't, people would feel cheated. I also wanted to add that Chris Jericho is something to be able to carry three wrestlers in their mid-50s to something that wasn't horrible, while also interacting with Ric Flair at ringside and putting Mickey Rourke over in the post-match angle. Lots of stuff for one guy to balance, he pulled it off well.

So I'm not buying the show because it's way too expensive, but if I were, the main selling point would be seeing Ricky Steamboat in his first match in 15 years. Even if he's a shell of his former self, I'm just really curious to see how much he has left.

This would also be a pretty decent way to create a superficial jump in comparisons to last year or last quarter's numbers, something WWE is constantly seeking to do.

He was proposed a finish of doing a job to Lesnar, and responded by saying "I'm not feeling it." The finish was changed almost immediately.

Anyone else notice Dave's new fascination with the word "earmark"?

Punch or forearm, at least sell it. I think that's the more frustrating part, just trading strikes back and forth rapidly with no selling is ultra annoying. Also, try as I might, I just don't get Kenta Kobashi anymore. I realize he's broken down and that what he does gets a genuine reaction. But I just don't get the chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop chop stuff at all.

I've decided while watching Goodhelmet's 2008 MOTY set that my least favorite thing in current wrestling is rapid fire forearm exchanges back and forth that aren't sold. It's all to cover for no one being able to throw a decent punch, and what's the point when they appear to do no damage anyway? I see it more in modern Japan and (some, albeit less) U.S. indies than I do anywhere else, but I really do hate it.

Killing Liz?

I still think this is something started by a random poster in the sleaze thread at DVDVR, which someone who follows the Internet within the company probably read, and it spread from there. I don't think there's anything to this, except that in the absence of an explanation, people are searching for one. This rumor never would have seen the light of day if not for the sleaze thread. It's the only source for it, which leads me to believe it has no credibility. To clarify, that works both ways: not only as something that probably didn't happen, but probably even something Vince hasn't thought of. I can't see someone reading that at DVDVR, then going to Vince and saying, "So is it true that Savage tried to screw your daughter?" If someone in the DVDVR thread had said something totally different, like that Vince didn't want to work with Savage because he screwed Linda, it would have spread the same way. Something very well may have happened to give Vince legitimate reason not to want to work with Savage, but there is zero proof that it's this.

That's the first I've ever heard of it. When was that ever said?

This is the part I was referring to. What makes what he is writing have any value if he readily admits that he is missing possibly important parts of a match? And why the emphasis on making sure he gets his jokes in?

Jericho/Taker has also never been done, but I'm not sure how that dynamic would work.

UFC was outdrawing WWE before the bubble burst on the economy, and it continues to outdraw it on a smaller scale after the bubble burst on the economy. I wouldn't have disagreed had that been your original point. But you mentioned the Rumble being down from last year, which I do attribute to the economy.

The economy is a valid reason for PPV buys to be down from previous years. I agree that the build hasn't been on target, but even if it had, there are no guarantees anything they do would be successful this year, especially with the PPV being so expensive. That - I think - is every bit as big a factor in the Rumble being down this year as creative problems. It doesn't explain TV ratings, though.

Where to begin ...

Maybe Batista. It sounds like at the very least, he'll be healthy enough to do a run-in by that point, and that would set up a HHH/Orton/Batista Backlash match, and they're fond of doing multi-person title matches at Backlash.

I think Honky Tonk Man turned down both a HOF invite and a legends contract because he still feels he can make money with the gimmick, which he owns, on the indie scene for a few more years.

Beyond that, it's been reported many, many times that WWE only restarted the Hall of Fame to help with the marketing of DVDs.

He challenged Flair to a match this coming week on Raw.

Wow, are people overreacting to Koko B. Ware going in the WWE Hall of Fame. How many times has it been in the WON that the company sees the HOF as nothing more than a marketing tool?

Don't know. My point wasn't that Savage copped to Dave. More that Savage copped having a fling with Steph to "someone" (or several "someones"), and that person (or persons) told Dave. Because I'm still not getting Dave's logic for believing other than coming at it from that direction. "Vince Believes"... you've read 20+ years of WON's, Loss. How many times have you come across Dave taking something that "Vince believes" and ripped the fuck out if it? Or laughed and dismissed it? Even before Vince completely lost his mind in the past decade, back in the 80s and 90s there were plenty of Vince Believes that were dismissed as being stupid. Such as Vince's repeated pushing of Big Men like Sid and Nash to turn around the company. Hell... Dave's "Vince Will Go Back To A Big Man" spot was done so often it was almost a cliche if it wasn't so true. I don't get it. John Oh, I don't disagree in any way. I was just asking if anything was known about Dave's relationship with Savage. More as a sidebar question.

Has Dave ever talked to Randy Savage directly? I would assume he is not now, or he would ask him, but was there ever any point where they were talking regularly?

I've always been confused by that story, because Liz was always at ringside with him, unless we're talking about 1989 after Savage's heel turn, when she was only around for a few shows here and there, but even then, she was at ringside.