Smack2k

I can't help it...I don't mean to be sexist or anything like that, I just don't like Women's wrestling....just isn't entertaining for me... For what it was, Paige and Naomi had a decent match and both are really good athletes and can excel in all kinds of things and have WAY more talent than I ever will....just not entertaining for me ....Randy Orton is more entertaining, and he bores the shit outta me.

I haven't read any thoughts on this show on this thread or any as I wanted to put down my quick thougths before reading any others... First Full WWE PPV I have watched since WM 28 (Thanks WWE Network)....I did watch the build to the show to... 1. USOs © vs. Harper / Rowans - To me, WOW, this was a great fuckin match that had me thinking that the end would happen 5 or 6 times, leading a great ending and clean win for the USO's...Harper and Rowans looked great as well, but man, it was a great match...best first time tag team match watch for me in a LONG time... 2. MITB - To me, fun, hard hitting, great spots (fuck, they looked hard at so many point...), and really really fuckin good.... Not many points thought did I think anyone but Rollins or Ambrose would win until the Ambrose climb at the end... The Rollins / Ambrose stuff was great as Ambrose OWNED Rollins everytime they got together, until Kane did his thing at the end...which made Rollins look like a GREAT heel now due to the way he won, and celebrating with HHH and Stephanie afterward...I also liked HHH saying "One down, One to go...." I did enjoy the Swagger ankle lock on Dolph while Dolph kept pulling himself up the ladder as Swagger yells "Let go, Let go".. The end was the right thing to do as it should only make Ambrose crazier and give us a Summerslam match (briefcase on the line?) 3. Paige vs. Naomi - Don't care...sorry, but I don't... 4. Rusev vs. Big E - Liked this way more than I should have, it was a great big man match and both guys showed great power...Big E looked great in this and came off as a tough son of a bitch...Rusev won, and got his stuff in, and does look like a badass, but honestly, and I don't know if others saw this, his facials when he was down after a Belly to Belly throw, The spear through the ropes made him look like he was gonna cry...almost like Drago in Rocky IV after Rocky started to take him apart and the "Machine" was broken and falling apart. (Drago - "He's Not A Man") If that was their plan for him to do that, its too early to make him look like that, even when fighting another hoss....but if it wasn't, man, his image as a machine was really hurt to me, as he honestly looked like he was gonna cry...not something I've seen others pushed the way he has been do.. 5. Stardust / Goldust vs. Rybaxel - Average tag match. If they would have made this a #1 Contender's match, it would have put a little more spice into it... I do like the Stardust character and Cody completely changing himself for it, and these two may be my new favorite tag team...they can really grow from here as a duo of "different" people, as long as WWE lets them and doesn't pull the plug too fast. Rybaxel, to me, is really like the Rhythm and Blues team in the 80's now..they're there, but they aint winning anything big.... 6. Summer Rae vs. Layla - Yep, don't care...why Fandango would want Layla over Summer I don't understand, Summer is fuckin hot!!....Did anyone else notice JBL talk about "Chubby Legs" while mentioning Layla? 7. MITB World Title Match - This wasn't as much fun as the first one was until the last few minutes..Again, never thought any of them outside Orton or Cena would win as its WAY to early to put the title on Reigns...I did think possibly Kane wouldn't let Randy get the belt at some point, but that didn't happen, which is good as it keeps the Authority together, and you need a strong heel group...Cena winning was really the only way to go, to me, right now, for storyline purposes as any of the others winning (outside Bray) really had no where to go...Bray was really "just there" though in this one and never really had a point where he was about to win...Orton bleeding was PHENOMINAL, both cause I cant stand him and want to turn the channel when he is featured, as well as cause blood is fuckin great in wrestling and makes it 100 times better...I loved that there was no way they could hide it once he started bleeding again near the end, and that was a lot of blood as well, so very cool to see the visual of his blood on Reigns and Cena as well...Reigns was booked great and his build can continue...The Authoriy now have another guy to go after...With Bryan out, Cena, to me, was the best choice to do this with, especially with the second biggest show of the year coming in under two months...It will be interesting to see where they go, but if I had the choice, I would build to Cena vs. Brock at Summerslam for the title...Their previous matches didn't have the belt on the line, so that would freshen it up... Been thinking about what I would do for Summerslam, but don't want to get my hopes up for matches that don't happen.... The WWE has a lot of good talent right now, and could produce a great show top to bottom with the two MITB groups all put in feuds, plus the tag scene which has a bunch of good teams...so will be watching to see where they go...which will most likely not be where I was hoping... POST THREAD READING I REALLY hope they don't do Ambrose vs. Rollins next month and save it for Summerslam for the case Cena winning was really the only answer right now, otherwise you have to change a TON of things storyline wise. Ambrose is a HUGE star in the making...he has that Austin aura about him.... Reigns has everything needed to be a HUGE star, but something is missing...not sure what...but he'll get it... Kane helping Rollins win wasn't really a terrible thing..he works for Steph and HHH, he took down and beat up an already tired and worn out Ambrose, so its not like he made him look bad, and he got the guy he was told to help to win....in terms of storyline, its fine with me....as far as someone else being in Kane's spot as the enforcer, I think it would take away from whoever it was as Kane is there just as a "go get him" guy, not a "you are a star and we are gonna focus on you" type guy...Will Kane probably face Cena at Battleground, yeah, but as long as they keep toward Summerslam, its not a HUGE deal...The rest of Battleground can cover for it...Now, if Kane starts getting main event level matches at the cost of others (instead of being the lacky helping out), they I'd have issues...Ryback has too much personality to be the quiet enforcer for the Authority...and I don't even like Ryback that much, but he 100% has that dumb powerjock that says stupid things he thinks is creative and funny while others know its stupid down pat!!

Yeah, I have the same... Skip over 87 and do 88 as there is a LOT of that and its great TV with Gilbert / Heyman booking.... As for 87, wonder what else is out there?

Anyway, what was the whole deal with this storyline outside of Konnan's group wants control of AAA, wins it, loses it, etc...

A GREAT Point is the old commercials...being in the US, our are obviously different, but damn, there were some great ones... Old NES Games commercials Dianetics by L Ron Hubbard - This was on ALL THE TIME Craftmatic adjustable bed What TBS Shows were on after Wrestling and the following Sunday... Who the Braves were playing (when they SUCKED) What was showing before and after on WPGH (Pittsburgh) before it was FOX (Worldwide was on there) THe old 80's ESPN Promos of games / events that week when ESPN showed a TON of diferent stuff you'd NEVER see today.. SOO many others, I cant get rid of VHS due to that.......and I know they could be converted but I don't have the time.

Ahhh, I was curious as they had big crowds still and the angle I was trying to figure out looked like a really good one....

Yeah, good point....I think I was thinking the same as I was typing my reply above He and you are free to feel how you want, but taking this as a "real sport" and allowing yourself to be fully involved in it and suspend reality, then you can look at some as true WORLD titles and some as not, all depending on how they were presented, where they were defended, etc... If its looked at your way, then really only the NWA title would be a WORLD title as a LOT of those matches back in older days were shoots with real wrestlers, no gimmicks, getting it on for the title. With that in mind, the ROH Title would definately fit as a World Title..its been defended all over the place with many different people trying to win it as well as foreigners winning it... I do find funny that using Canadians as the example of a foreign champion!! When it comes to wrestling, the US and Canada are kind of tied at the hip!

Dark Days? Why?

Can someone break down the entire AAA / Konnan feud from 2008 - 2009 that ended at Triplemania in the Cage? 1. What was the storyline of this? Who was Konnan with and against? How did Antonio Penas widow? fit in and why did she either hate or like Konnan? How did the story go along 2. At Rey de Reyes 2009, Vampiro fought Konnan - in the preview, Vamp was a Guardian Angel and not in Vampiro gear or character..he kept coming out and trying to help someone and then got jumped by Konnan's guys and eventually I guess because of being put over the edge started being Vampiro again and cutting promos and the such... 3. From here how did it get to TripleMania? 4. What were the best points of it.. I REALLY wish I could understand the Spanish in this feud and shit looked HEATED!!

The issue I have with Omaha and Montreal (Both Carpentier issues) as not listed as WORLD titles is that they were both broken off from the NWA title, so technically they were World Titles still due to their lineage....but I guess they werent "World" Titles anymore, so I dont know where they'd go....Omaha World Title was still defended in diff parts of US, but not World anymore, same with Montreal in Canada...

Just wanted to toss in that I LOVE this thread and reading through it...I have had these discs for a few years and never get to watch them due to soo much of my time being work and my son, so THANKS for doing these as I am enjoying the hell out of them...KEEP EM GOING through 88....dont stop now!

AWA World Heavyweight Titile (AWA, Jumbo Tsuruta, Japan, 30+ Years)

You can call the AWA Title a WORLD Title...its tied to the Omaha version of the NWA Title (Carpentier controversy) (and was merged with it). IT was defended and won in Japan, Canada, US, etc... So that says World title to me....

I ask my boss at work when he is in a bad mood if he is planning a heel turn!! He doesnt like that once I told him what i meant, so I do it more often now....

A large Vocabulary was picked up by me watching Bockwinkel in the 80s AWA..I swear almost everyday on ESPN in the mid to late 80s I'd grab the dictionary to check out what he said.. Geography, without a doubt...including Sid's hometown of "Wherever he damn well pleases"...

YES! Good call on that to.... The uneditied, unscratched, un music changed I mentioned as well and is also huge? A show with Slick and WITHOUT Jive Soul Bro? Fuck that noise...

For me, anyway, I keep them as I searched flea markets / internet / traded with people to accumulate them when it was much harder to get things built up and acquired and much more costly due to VHS tapes being expensive to ship and the footage not being readily available (things like AWA TV and WCCW TV)...so that is why I keep them....plus I like the cases to be honest...

To me, they'd need the following, unrealistic things, to happen to get it back to BOOMING like the 80s and 90s 1. Less "outside interference" - The fact that there is SO much intrusion in backstage goings on, financial information, wrestler's personal lives, takes away from their mystique and makes them pretty much athletic actors that we all know aren't those guys...Even in the 90's, the internet and other avenues didn't have as much inside information on everything going on...the internet is to blame as well with the ease of access of so much stuff, wrestling is just another thing. 2. Less Channels available on TV - We have 100's of channels now to choose from, we had like 13 in the 80's and maybe in the 50's in the 90's...too many choices 3. A change in personality - We need a cultural change to get away from this jumping all over each negative thing and burying it when its the least bit offensive to ANYONE...Today's America would never allow it to be that HUGE again, someone, somewhere would be offended by something and sue or make a HUGE stink that with soo much news penetration would be heard by many and the bandwagon would begin and it would be pushed back down to where it is now, just kinda there and part of life, but nothing special..If wrestling was as big and mainstream as the 90s right now and ONE kid got hurt playing with another, they'd be attacked by EVERY major news outlet and garnished as bad and "hurting our kids"....but that is part of my hatred for the way a lot of things go today.... 4. Go back to private...being public prevents you from taking a LOT of chances...chance that could pay off in a BIG way, but also could have crashed and burned. So I don't think it can happen and be that big again...its not "safe" enough for the general public to accept it in their homes as regular viewing.... For realistic thigns to make wrestling better and be the fun, MUST see it was back then...to me, 1 thing,...COMPETITION...REAL COMPETITION....WCW style COMPETITION....that's it, that's all....the rest would all come with it. That is my opinions anyway..........

I still watch some stuff on VCR...I too have 4 functioning, hooked up in different rooms VCR's, but also 3 perfectly good in storage, as well as Worldwide VCR and on old Betamax player stored away in their boxes as you NEVER know what may pop-up when hunting around for things or run into someone who's sons or grandkids had all these videos that they kept. Not much chance of it happening, sure...but if it does, I am ready and can convert them if needed.... Watchin a lot of the older WWF stuff unedited musically and otherwise is a big advantage of VHS, plus all the Colliseum stuff I haven't converted, as well as smaller promotions TV that I collected over the years. Even though a TON of my VHS stuff is on DVD or on my HDD's at home, I wont get rid of them as I colleted them and put a ton of time into getting them, so they stay in the man cave with my other collection (old computer hardware / software) What do you guys convert with? I have a Professional VCR hooked into a DataVideo TimeBase Corrector, then into my PC for capture / editing / cleanup / authoring... Havent gotten to do much the last 3 years due to my son and work taking time, but those days will return.....

Off topic of the stoyline, but..... Flair - "Stinger, WHOOO!!! .this is different, I wont leave you this time, this is about WCW and our PRIDE...WHOO!!" Sting - "Ric...OWWW...what can I say?".......Scorpion Death Drop...walk out...and point to his head on the way up the ramp! I dont care how much they cared about WCW, Sting teaming again with Flair would have been hilarious!!!

As far as ideal booking goes, those wouid have been dream scenarios that everyone would have LOVED.. But looking at it financially as well as logically (in terms of what the real life guys would do). I seriously doubt Goldberg would have taken a buyout at 30 to 50 cents on the dollar and then sign with WWF. If he does sign, for how much? Has to be more than he was making to go back to work instead of getting free money...If his deal is HUGE, other WWF talent are gonna get mad and either cause issues or demand / get raises..where does it go from there? After that alone, could the angle make the money needed to make it useful and worthwhile for WWF to keep going... Add-in Nash and Sting, who would have had the same issues, and its get out of hand QUICKLY. I said book DDP better, either keep him away from Taker and Sara or put him somewhere else and make him a main eventer... Keep Booker strong (you can book him as a Champ quickly and make him look great and folks will take him as the WCW's best guy and champ), get Steiner and Flair (both had MUCH less money and their deals were up soon in June 2001, so a buyout and a new deal would have been worth it for them) and start from there....Steiner needs to stay as the 2000 - 2001 Heel version and Flair could be Flair..sure he'd be cheered, but he could sell WCW as coming to take over, just look at his promo on the last NItro..it was great and he HATED that place. That alone, with the ECW turn (which was popular and I think helped the Invasion by adding more guys the crowd popped for) could have made things AMAZING...Then you have the Nash's, Goldbergs, etc... to bring in later after the initial run wears off and their deals are up for money that isnt gonna cause a TON of issues backstage and keep WWF profiting, which as a publically traded company, is priority numeral uno...And put Heyman in charge early with Shane / Steph as the backers. You coudl bring in Bischoff later as well with the NWO even as another group to freshen things up... Invasion got HUGE numbers and with Flair there, it gets MUCH more, and Steiner will help out WCW depth and keep them strong, giving you a Steiner / Booker / DDP / Dudleys vs. Jericho / Taker / Austin / Angle / Kane... Both teams are more even now and Kane or Jericho can eat the pin and get the WCW / ECW team off and running.... To me, that makes them a SHIT TON of money, makes thing seem MUCH more like an Invasion as only the Dudleys are a former WWF team with the Alliance now (and anyone would understand why they'd go to ECW, they'd been put down recently in terms of other teams on TV, so there's their reason, and with Heyman, they surely would have gone, due to the famous ECW loyalty to Paul (even if not real, in storyline, it works) Booking from there is another story, but I was only worried about starting things right, having the right guys, making MORE money, keeping the stock moving as well as having something to build on later to keep things getting better and give you a LONG term storyline...