Loss

Hopefully some more people will respond soon, as it's only about three hours since it was posted. The politics with HHH is very interesting, although I wish there was less speculation (both from Meltzer and Keller) and more of a stated reason why he's gone and less of a plausible one. I guess if they don't know, they don't know, but if that's the case, I'd rather them just say they don't know. And I do agree that Masters was called up too early, but why do they even offer developmental deals to guys that young? A CM Punk or Samoa Joe has to pay his dues and take whatever dates he can find before impressing people on the indy scene and getting his name out, but the door seems open from day one if you're over 6 feet tall and more than 240 lbs.

From DVDVR, his HOF speech transcribed:

Meltzer tried offering the Observer online for a brief period in 2000, but his website kept crashing as a result. He said he was going to be fixing it, but he never did.

I only changed them for the final round. We're in the finals now. It's only fair.

Thank you very much for posting this. John Laurinitis seems to be the most unpopular guy in the company these days. If even HHH isn't supporting him at this point, I have to wonder how long he's going to last.

Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard

Fabulous Freebirds No contest. I think the Bulldogs are the weakest team at this juncture.

Midnight Express

Rick & Scott Steiner Not exactly two of my favorite teams, but the Steiners top handful of matches trump the Bulldogs top handful of matches.

Rock & Roll Express Why aren't people voting?

Midnight Express

Fantastics The Bulldogs were merely a great team for the promotion they worked and the time frame. The Fantastics would be great in any era.

Please read the pinned thread at the top of the page, re: the time frame.

Just looking at this picture indicates the major problem in WWE to me right now -- there's no clear direction going in the company at all. What is the current image of WWE? You have Edge and Matt Hardy doing worked shoots on one side, you have Batista acting like the modern-day Ultimate Warrior on the other side, you have Cena trying to be the next Rock elsewhere, and above, you have a Wrestlecrap-level gimmick that will be ridiculed for years to come. What is WWE about these days? Are they trying to become more mature or more kiddie? More modern or more of a throwback? Are they emphasizing work and competition again with feuds like Angle/Michaels, or are they still clinging to the Russo-ish soap opera stuff in feuds like Eddy/Rey? Do they even know?

Booker T - He doesn't totally get his due. He gets written off now as a bad worker, which I don't understand, because it's really the sort of thing that's out of his control. He was never a great worker, but he's always been able to be carried and hold up his end of big matches. There's no reason he couldn't have been a success *at least* on the level of a Sting, and he should have had about the same success as guys like Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho have had, *at least*. WWE has marketed him as a goofball where WCW, even when they didn't always push him to the top, consistently pushed him as a serious competitor who cared about winning and losing. In WCW, he was a respectable guy who wore suits and came across as classy and well-spoken. In WWE, he's been a bumbling, stereotypical black guy who loses all of his big matches and is too preoccupied with being funny. I think there's a great promo that's been buried in there for years that has yet to come out. The window is closed for him at this point, sadly, and now he's just another missed opportunity of the past few years, a list that is pretty long. Had he been Ahmed Johnson in 1995 instead of Ahmed Johnson, he would have been a huge superstar. Tito Santana - Another guy that doesn't completely get his due. Ultra-likable babyface who peaked from about 1983-1987, just before a lot of this crowd started really following wrestling. Had a spirited feud with Greg Valentine over the IC title in 1984/1985 and had a fun run under Watts in Mid South before that. Probably the best working babyface the WWF had in the early days of Hulkamania, at least until they lured Steamboat in. Jun Akiyama - Haven't seen him in years, but loved him in the glory days of All Japan. Necro Butcher - Have yet to see any of his matches, but he's being talked about quite a bit lately. I'm anxious to see him. Hulk Hogan - It's hard to sum up Hulk Hogan in a blurb-type post, but I'll try. In some ways, he's everything bad about wrestling and some of the things we see today that sacrifice the aesthetic value of wrestling but make the performers tons of money are directly related to him. He's helped make wrestling a great living for a lot of people, and he's probably the biggest star in the history of American wrestling. He's also one of the better performers I've ever seen and is amazing at working a crowd. Has always been able to work, but has picked and chosen how much to give and which crowds deserve his best for most of his career. He's not as horrible as he's made out to be -- you don't make it that far in wrestling without some semblance of talent. He's done just as much damage as he's done good, and he's brilliant at manipulating his surroundings to his advantage. Probably the biggest mixed bag on this list, and I don't feel like I really said what I wanted to say here properly. Mike Awesome - Great heavyweight highspots - not much else. Kyoko Inoue - Really awesome charisma and I love her ring outfits and her offense. I need to see more of her, though. Fuerza Guerrera - Have yet to see one of his matches. I hopefully will soon. The Rock - Everything good about wrestling -- great worker with a great attitude, and a superstar that transcends the business to boot. Edge - He's been a "superstar in waiting" for close to a decade now, and if they don't finally pull the trigger in 2005 and if he doesn't get over as a bonafide top guy on the level of those around him, he's a lost cause and he'll never meet his potential.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Vote for the tag team that you feel was better. Voting ends in approximately 24 hours.

Here are your "elite 8" finalists. British Bulldogs Fantastics Midnight Express (Eaton & Lane) Rock & Roll Express Rick & Scott Steiner Midnight Express (Eaton & Condrey) Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes, Roberts & Gordy) Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard These teams will square off in round robin matches from here on, and in an important note, the specified time frame does not exist for this part of the tournament. Therefore, if you're comparing both versions of the Midnight Express, for example, you can truly compare both versions and not just look at a partial run for one team.

It's 2005, and Misawa is still beating Kawada. How sad.

We haven't done one in a while, so let's do this. Booker T Tito Santana Jun Akiyama Necro Butcher Hulk Hogan Mike Awesome Kyoko Inoue Fuerza Guerrera The Rock Edge