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Goldust lusting after a Playgirl posing "Boy Toy/Heartbreak Kid" is really a no-brainer feud and he may have been the one heel who could get the male 18-34 demo fully behind Shawn. Problem is I don't think Shawn would have been down with that and it would have been too similar to the Razor feud. Maybe Dustin would have had a chance for a bigger run during the Attitude era if he didn't have weight/injury/drug problems?

I suppose they could have done some sort of Dusty finish with the computer bleeping in to screw Lawler out of the title to put further heat on Cole vs. Lawler for Mania. Not sure I'd actually put the belt on him, given that the last time they did something similar (Hogan in 2002) it had no legs outside the initial pop and they already switch their world titles far too much.

With The Rock WrestleMania is a possible million buy event too if you factor in worldwide buys into the equation.

Dave in response to Oliver Copp joking "I wonder how they could given that Tito has no brain" when Dave said "MRI & CTSCAN came out perfect": WTF?

Also, it's a bad question. I presume Dave means by "better on PPV", better in North America, not better worldwide. In North America UFC 129 should comfortably beat Mania, but it's highly questionable that it will beat Mania once overseas buys are factored in.

There's an easy joke here about Babinsack being totally insane too, so it isn't surprising that he didn't sniff out Bruce's bullshit. But having read a lot of Babinsack, a theme that is almost as prevalent as his hard on for indy wrestling, particularly Shimmer, is that all his book/DVD reviews are worded in such a manner that any criticism is fainthearted and he ends up putting over the product that he's been given a free copy to review. It's part of the reason he's so bad.

I liked Vince being most shocked at Lawler calling Dakota a brat, that's beyond the pail!

I agree that it's an apt comparison, but from my perspective it actually backs up Yohe's and tomk's point. Cena's momentum fell when he started being booked like Ric Flair in the late 80s, a guy so charismatic and great on the mic that he can job to anyone and retain his heat, while the focus was on having the show revolve around the jealous booker. In 2008, he jobbed to Orton on two consecutive PPV events, then eked a victory in a curtain jerker with JBL and then jobbed to Triple H, JBL and Batista in three straight PPVs, which killed his heat after his 2008 surprise win at the Rumble blew the roof off the Garden. If Cena's miscast as a bayface, then that's because he's done far to many meaningless jobs at the wrong time, since his 2005-2007 peak. If they listened to the crowd response, they'd have turned him after his Royal Rumble win in 2009. Instead they waited a year after his babyface momentum reached boiling point and the turn was poorly executed in a feud with damaged goods.

When I said put over, I didn't mean put him over in a match, as there's no plans for Rock to wrestle. More like your post match scenario, a handshake or a mutual sign of respect after Cena's match with The Miz, where Rock may help stop Alex Riley's or Nexus' interference, after teasing the opposite. I'm not sure how well that will go down with the live audience, when a lot of them will probably be rooting for Miz to beat Cena.

She just has weirder, wider shaped hips than the normal Diva really. She cant be accused of have a gut or anything like that by anyone's standard. Well, maybe an anorexic's standards.

I think it was obvious that The Rock would outclass the whole roster in his comeback. It's also obvious that unless they pull the trigger on a heel turn for Cena (which I highly doubt after they rushed the Cena in Nexus angle and the subsequent firing angle) that Rock will somehow put over Cena to close WrestleMania. Problem is I don't think that's the ending the hardcore WrestleMania live audience will want to see.

Also, he's pushed because Rey is difficult to work with (complaining about pay, refusing to do jobs, wanting more time off) and they want to replace him as the top Hispanic star with someone who'll be easier for them to handle.

I wasn't really suggesting that it wasn't stupid, but it's not something that was morally offensive like all the other suggestions. Firing angles are corny to begin with and if anything the damage has already been done from all the years of trivialising major stipulations.

Missy Hyatt goes to Strikeforce: Learns what she already knew as a kid watching wrestling To be fair, when Missy sticks to talking about wrestling she makes some good points.

Um, I don't know what to say about these poll results. It wasn't like Steve Austin wasn't fired based on a stip and never missed a show - was that the worst event of 1998?

Small price to pay if it's the end of his wrestling career. I always thought I would be excited for this day too, but he can do a lot more damage running the company than he can as a wrestler. I'm really scared of Vince retiring with this succession plan in place. But I don't know what Vince could possibly do with his free time if he retires, seems like he would go nuts. But Vince is already nuts! I honestly don't know whether Vince's negatives outweigh his positives at this point and him having less input wouldn't be a bad thing. Apparently the few TV tapings Hunter has run were a much less stressful environment to work in. He certainly has more appreciation of the history of the business than the alternatives who could have come to power. I think it's also a good sign that he's willing to step aside from his wrestling career, unlike so many other bookers/owners who clung on for far too long.

Yeah, I know that was naughty of me, but I did it because of the stories that Johnson wanted to promote the movie like a dream wrestling match: Rock vs. Vin Diesel.

Cageside Seats WrestleMania coverage so far: [Potential spoilers] - Does WWE need Sting at this year's WrestleMania? WrestleMania update - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson rumoured to be the celebrity guest host for WWE's flagship PPV event, new main event planned

There's probably good reason for that.

WWE's 2010 fourth quarter financial results - disappointing but slightly better than expected

Add Goldberg to the list of successful wrestlers WWE deemed didn't know how to work.

Not really. Both Perros Del Mal and IWRG are really struggling to draw at the moment from what I can gather.

Even with these flaws, Jericho was still the best person to have a program with The Rock at the time, given WWE's dearth of quality heels. The writing was already on the wall with Billy Gunn's push. The only thing the Bulldog had going for him at the time was that he was married to a Hart. Sometimes it gets ridiculous though. Like Matt Hardy complaining to the agents to get Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn to follow his match layout.

I would rank both AAA and CMLL above Dragon Gate. Both are on Televisa, whereas Dragon Gate doesn't have national TV in Japan. CMLL still draws over 5,000 fans for its Friday Arena Mexico shows. AAA still packs mid sized arenas for all their TV tapings too.

The "doesn't know how to work" put down is actually fairly common within WWE. You mentioned Vader when he came in. Obviously Jericho is another example. Rob Van Dam got that label after he caused a few injuries with his risky Van Daminator move in 2001. Chris Kanyon got it for tearing down the house after a dark match with Shark Boy. CM Punk got it after a nervy tryout match. Triple H even attempted to propagate that myth about Chris Benoit before being forced to eat his words by Benoit rising to the occasion in his debut match. tomk cited the example of banged up "sober" old Eddy being unable to keep up with banged up, pill popping Kurt Angle. That's just off the top of my head, there's probably plenty more.