Bix

Sure, but maybe not in the last 8 weeks or so. And lately a bunch of "columnist" type stuff has been randomly made members-only. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to what this happens to. The weirdest maybe being the 24/7 Monday Night War recaps.

So does Dave actually read all of this stuff? Does he think that it's legitimately good?

For what it's worth, this show had been around for at least a year at this point, maybe much longer.

I haven't watched it in awhile but the best Hall non-gimmick singles match is probably the match with Michaels from the 8/1/94 Raw. Great match and posting about it now gave me the idea to make a Clique vs Clique WWF matches comp because most of what they did against each other from '93-'96 is a lot of fun: - That Michaels-Razor match (they had another match from earlier in the year on the Wrestlefest '94 tape that I remember being pretty good). - The Kid-Razor matches in '93 and '95-'96 - The Kid-Michaels matches from '93 and '96. - Diesel-Razor from Summerslam (don't remember much about the Diesel title win). - The ladder matches (By the way, for those who have watched the San Jose trial run handheld, how was it?). - The Action Zone tag. - The Michaels-Diesel matches (moreso the '96 ones than WM11). - Michaels-HHH from Raw in '96 which was one of the first really good HHH matches.

Harley Race beat Dusty Rhodes to win the NWA title via DQ. The actual finish didn't get much magazine/TV coverage, but Dusty was defending against Race in a "DQ rule waved" match (previously scheduled as Race defending but the stip was kept for contractual reasons) and got DQed to lose. Kinda the opposite of Al Hayes vs Dory Funk Jr where the magazines made up a screwjob that didn't exist.

What did TNA do this time?

IMO at least GCW is a necessary part of WCW history even if it wasn't actually merged into JCP. Particularly from the Vince McMahon mindset that "Ted Turner wants to put me out of business." I wasn't even thinking of that, but yeah. "After I bought GCW and had shows on his network, Turner wanted to buy into the company but I refused so he bought tried to force me out of business."

IMO at least GCW is a necessary part of WCW history even if it wasn't actually merged into JCP.

Would JYD have a better rep amongst newsletter reader types if more than a handful of promos from his prime were circulating?

If it's true that the Disney tapings helped them with selling Worldwide in syndication and getting better sponsors, then I can see why he thinks that, though there's also the argument that it killed syndication as a viable entity for anything but a fun diversion for hardcore fans since the continuity was destroyed and then the show stopped being relevant as it stopped being related to storylines (to the point of nobody wearing belts at the tapings).

I bet Watts did the Simmons title win at the Baltimore TV taping because: 1. It was a market where the crowds were usually hot. 2. It was a market with a large black population. He probably figured it would get over huge live and that it would translate as being the emotional moment that he wanted. Which it did, thanks in part to the kid in the front row jumping up and down. Watts really did a hell of a job trying to get the Simmons title reign to mean something (emotional title win in front of the hottest crowd they'd had in awhile, CNN Center press conference, etc) even if it ended up being a failure for various other reasons.

THE LAWSUIT Professional wrestling promoter (Vince McMahon) brought action against rival promoter (Eric Bischoff), alleging copyright infringement, trademark infringement, tortious interference with contract and violations of Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices, in connection with rival's employment of two wrestlers who portrayed copyrighted characters. THE FACTS AS STATED IN THE COMPLAINT Titan Sports, Inc., etc., ("Plaintiff") is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Connecticut. Plaintiff promotes live, and on cable, syndicated, and pay-per-view television, professional wrestling under its registered service mark "World Wrestling Federation" ("WWF"). TBS is a Georgia corporation which owns and operates several cable networks, including Turner Network Television ("TNT") and WTBS. WCW is a Georgia corporation and a majority owned subsidiary of TBS. WCW competes directly with WWF in televising professional wrestling, associated merchandising, and licensing programs. Bischoff is a citizen of Georgia, an officer and employee of TBS, in charge of WCW's operations and serves as a television announcer for WCW programming. Plaintiff contends that success in the professional wrestling business depends upon the development of interesting wrestling characters and story lines. Characters must have names, personalities, histories, relationships, personas, and visual appearances that appeal to consumers. Plaintiff alleges that WWF programming combines character-driven story lines with skillful wrestling while WCW has no reputation for creativity. TBS proposed interpromotional matches in order to associate WCW with WWF, but Plaintiff rejected this idea. After wrestling unsuccessfully with WCW, Scott Hall contracted to wrestle for Plaintiff. Plaintiff created a wrestling character for Hall called "Razor Ramon," alias "The Bad Guy," with a distinctive Hispanic accent, slicked back hair in a ponytail with a curl in the front, a toothpick in his mouth, a vest, and multiple chains around his neck. Plaintiff registered the service mark "Razor Ramon" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The contract provided that Plaintiff retained exclusive ownership of the character's name and likeness and the exclusive right to distribute copyrightable materials based on the character. Hall warranted that he would not enter other agreements conflicting with Plaintiff's contract rights. Plaintiff developed Razor Ramon into one of its most popular characters. He has appeared in television broadcasts, live events, a two-hour videotape, several magazines, and is the subject of merchandise devoted to the character. He won WWF's Intercontinental Championship at least four times. The character is well-recognized by wrestling fans.Plaintiff developed another character using wrestler Kevin Nash who wrestled unsuccessfully with defendant WCW. Nash and Plaintiff entered into a contract with provisions similar to Hall's contract. Nash's character was "Diesel," alias "Big Daddy Cool." Diesel's trade dress included a goatee beard and moustache, black leather pants, a black leather vest decorated with silver studs and tassels, a black low cut tank-top shirt, a black fingerless glove on the right hand, black elbow pads, black wrist bands, sunglasses, and black leather boots. Diesel is visibly different from the characters previously portrayed by Nash at WCW. Diesel was added to Plaintiff's story lines and appeared in television broadcasts, commercial videotapes, magazines, and became the subject of merchandise. Like Razor Ramon, Diesel also became widely recognized and popular, winning the WWF Heavyweight Championship in 1995.In 1993, Plaintiff promoted Razor Ramon and Diesel on its "Monday Night Raw" television program, which was broadcast weekly at 9:00 p.m. EST. In 1995, defendant TBS began broadcasting a competing program "WCW Monday Nitro" at the same time. Plaintiff alleges that TBS's broadcast continually disparaged WWF, while WCW agents circulated false rumors of Plaintiff's impending bankruptcy in order to lure wrestlers to WCW.In 1996, enticed by WCW's promise of lucrative, guaranteed contracts, Hall and Nash contracted to wrestle with WCW. After the contracts were executed, Plaintiff alleges that defendant Bischoff planned to capitalize on the goodwill of the Razor Ramon and Diesel characters. Hall and Nash were to appear on WCW's broadcast as Razor Ramon and Diesel, supposedly representing WWF in an interpromotional battle. Before the broadcast, WCW's 900 hotlines told consumers that Razor Ramon and Diesel were considering leaving WWF for WCW, although in reality, they had already done so. Defendants expanded the introductory broadcast to two hours, starting before Plaintiff's competing broadcast. Hall appeared in the persona of Razor Ramon, although the broadcast did not refer to him by name. The end of the broadcast falsely conveyed that interpromotional matches would thereafter air on TNT. Fans sent letters evidencing their presumption that Hall was performing as Razor Ramon for WWF on TNT. Plaintiff attempted to dispel the rumors by broadcasting that Hall and Nash were no longer associated with the WWF. Nevertheless, Hall appeared on two further WCW broadcasts, perpetuating the false presumption. Bischoff also indicated that the interpromotional matches would be seen on an upcoming pay-per-view program. Hall and Nash did appear on the pay-per-view program as the characters Razor Ramon and Diesel. Defendants, however, did not refer to them by any name. Titan Sports, Inc. v. Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc., 981 F.Supp. 65 (D. Conn. 1997)

That makes more sense. But it's still interesting from a WWE presentation perspective. And Boondocks, I don't think they mentioned his paleness at all during his debut, just put over his "ring presence" and compared him to CM Punk.

Obviously Bix hasn't met too many Irish people It's not that, but one would think Johnny Ace or Vince or someone in developmental would force him to spray on a tan before he made TV.

Now, I'm usually someone who thinks the stuff about wrestlers having to tan so much is BS (and that it's a good thing that spray-on tans have improved so they don't have to worry about giving themselves skin cancer), but during his debut on ECW last night, Seamus actually looked unhealthily pale, almost completely white. Danielson didn't look close to this pale when he was on WWE TV and they told him that he'd get more TV job gigs if he got a tan (and a haircut) so it was also surprising to see someone who looked like that debuting on one of their shows as a regular.

Cornette's podcast is at http://whosslammingwho.podomatic.com/ Unfortunately no individual tags/feeds for the different shows. Also, was a reason ever given for Stacy Carter's firing?

How is that a fuck-up?