Bix

The insistence on YELLING AT US all the time. The insistence on YELLING AT US what the wrestlers just said in their promos all the time. "OOH, THAT WAS STIFF!" The tuxedo. This. As my friend SLL put it: He was okay on color in WCW. WCW went out of business 6 years ago. He has been increasingly awful since then. Let the idea that he's any good go away.

I think he's mostly a godawful wrestler who represents everything I think is wrong with the business today. Yeah, he's kind of a draw and many other people love him, great for them, but I can't stand the bastard. That's pretty much my whole reason, I just viscerally hate watching him wrestle.Ok, WHY? Tenay is awful though. I don't care if he know shit, he's seriously the most loathsome personality on wrestling TV right now.

So I guess that means Dave or one of his minions lurks either here or at DVDVR? I'm not sure how I missed that, but I did send him the list on Tuesday. The point (which was mentioned in the email) was to neutralize people's righteous indignation, though, not a defense of the angle (even if I think it's awesome).

Well... ...ummm...yeah...

By the way, he said this in November 2002. Three months after they main evented a successful PPV.

And it's a real ad.

You're all off my christmas card list.I'm open to hearing any reasonable & well-thought-out arguments against Cena, but they have to be reasonable & well-thought-out. Tenay is a horrible, horrible caricature who makes constipated Sam The Eagle faces while yelling out EXACTLY WHAT EVERYONE JUST SAID. Cole is fine, especially with JBL. He's still a little robotic but he's improved a lot from working with JBL over the last year.

Oh my GOD. Was the Torch always a subtle version of "Sean Waltman Does The News" and we didn't notice it until Jericho jumped, or was that the beginning of Wade losing his mind and thus taking his sources at face value?

I really, really hope the pic of the smoke bomb is still out there somehwere.

I agree for the most part, but the build wasn't really heated enough for me. And you need to watch AAA. Also, Tim is right and I should've said Val Venis is the rightful winner. Y'know, there are enough MMA shows now that he should consider splitting them like he does MOTY. I don't mind recent JR, he doesn't care in a good way (random Gordon Solie/Pak Song during the pudding match at ONS, etc) as opposed to a bad way. Usually, yes, but D2D was rejected in pretty spectacular fashion with all of the refund requests. I could see Hayes and Roldan gaining steam for 2nd & 3rd after Juan Manuel Mar came in 2nd last year. He doesn't even HAVE a gimmick now. I totally blanked on that.

Eh, why not. Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year) Pretty easily Cena and then Mistico right now. I don't think you can blame any of talent for the buyrates being down. There are too many and they're too expensive. Cena is delivering in-ring, on promos, and is drawing people to house shows. Mistico isn't as good in-ring, but he makes a scary difference in attendance. Most Outstanding Wrestler There's a really strong argument for Cena, but I don't see him garnering support from voters. If Matt Hardy stays on a tear for the next 6 months, he could get it. Maybe Nigel McGuinness, but ROH's buzz is decreasing. Best Box Office Draw Cena and Mistico again. Feud of the Year With WWE booking being so odd right now, I don't see anything I'd pick or that the voters would pick. For me, Apaches vs Billy Boy in AAA is pretty easily FOTY, but it won't get votes. An MMA feud (probably Shamrock-Baroni or Penn-Pulver) has the best shot of winning depending on how Vince's killer vs whoever goes. Tag Team of the Year The Hardys are probably (really this time) splitting after the PPV tomorrow, and while they're a pretty clear pick for the first half, they may be a non-entity as of Monday. London & Kendrick are getting buried and their main opponents (Deuce & Domino) lowered the quality of their matches. MNM started the year as good as or better than the Hardys, but then Mercury relapsed and got released. If they keep having a good run, Cade & Murdoch should run away with it. Most Improved Cena, MVP, and the re-motivated Batista all seem like the easy picks, but it's the WON awards and I could see some "great technician" like Davey Richards doing well. Best on Interviews Flair's great when he's given a shot, but that's not often. Konnan has great delivery but the content is often babyfaces LAX when they're the heels. Cornette is pretty generic as a figurehead now. Cena is my pick, partially by default, partially by actual merit for acting above the level of the script. Most Charismatic Cena won last year and he upped the rest of his game this year, so I see no reason why he wouldn't win. Best Technical Wrestler Danielson's downtime being at the start of the year will help his case, and he's a solid pick. Benoit had a good spotlight with the MVP feud and will for the rest of the year atop ECW, so he's my pick and he should place well anyway. Bruiser Brody Memorial Award - Best Brawler Cena again, for obvious reasons. Can't see picking anyone else other than maybe Gran Apache. Best Flying Wrestler Mistico is a safe choice and a good flyer anyway. Personally, I'd pick Jack Evans or a random member of Fuerza Aerea. For overrated/underrated, remember that the WON definition is talent vs push, not hardcore fan consensus... Most Overrated Shawn Michaels is pretty loathsome in-ring and as a character, plus the crowd was turning on him (LAUGHING at his collapse to sell the concussion) in the Orton match before his injury hiatus. Kurt Angle is pretty terrible and has not had any drawing power past the 1st Joe match in TNA. Most Underrated If Shelton Benjamin wins again, I will hurt people. Umm...CM Punk is in this weird spot where he's over and pushed as the #2 guy in ECW, but it's ECW and it's sort of by default. Cade & Murdoch have a push now, so they're not really picks for this. I dunno. Promotion of the Year UFC will probably win. WWE (they haven't won since the brand split so I have no idea how to vote there) or AAA should win. Best Weekly Television Show If TUF wins again, I will hurt people. Should be Smackdown pretty easily, followed by AAA. Worked Match of the Year For me, it's pretty easily MNM vs Hardys from Royal Rumble. There are a ton of good picks, though, and I'm not really sure what will come out on top. Rookie of the Year The rules on this one are pretty wonky. MVP? Is he not eligible for Most Improved, then? Best Non-Wrestler Vince McMahon, though if he doesn't come back it could hurt his chances of winning. Best Television Announce Pretty easily JBL at this point. He gets everything over while also being tremendously entertaining. Worst Television Announcer Todd Grisham is bad but I get the impression that nobody watches Heat and everybody is voting for him based on the Benoit DVD. It really should be Mike Tenay, but since Dave never criticizes him, I can't see him taking the top spot. Best Major Show Wrestlemania was transcendently good and the oddly lukewarm reception to the show made me angry. Worst Major Show December to Dismember will win. I don't see it being close. Best Wrestling Maneuver Johnny Nitro's new finisher is pretty cool. I dunno. Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic Vince's death will take it. Jeff Jarrett using his dying/dead wife to sustain his babyface turn is probably a better choice. Worst Television Show TNA should finally take it this year. Worst Worked Match of the Year "Rosie" vs "Trump" will run away with it. Worst Feud of the Year Eric Young vs Robert Roode. Worst Promotion TNA should take it, but the Vince death angle could sway people. Best Booker Blah blah Sapolsky hurt people. Should be Dorian Roldan or Michael Hayes. Promoter of the Year If you're including MMA, then it has to be Dana White again. Otherwise I'd go with Paco Alonso, Dorian Roldan, or Vince McMahon. Best Gimmick MVP after an iffy start. Worst Gimmick Whatever Shawn Michaels is supposed to be. Him or Robert Roode. Best Pro Wrestling Book Didn't finish the NWA book yet, plus it's pretty wide open depending on what else is released. I could see it winning, though. Was J.J. Dillon's book eligible last year? Best Pro Wrestling DVD I forget what the eligibility period is and I haven't watched the families DVD yet. WWE's WCCW DVD could end up being a contender.

Crash's death was acknowledged eventually on the year-end shows.

Gran Apache & Super Calo vs Laredo Kid & Super Fly (AAA 5/26) This aired on Galavision in the US today. One of the neat things about AAA is that in the way that the shows are scheduled, the 3 week delay between Mexico and the US is a lot less painful. They tour and run the tapings, backlog them, and take breaks from running shows. It doesn't feel as awkward as CMLL does on a delay with its weekly tapings at Arena Mexico. Anyway, this feud has been brewing for a month or two as Apache/Calo/Alan/Decnnis (truly the pinnacle of Pena's name changes for trademark reasons) vs Fuerza Aerea. Fuerza Aerea is much more polished than the Cadetes de Espacio stable of a decade ago, but they still need some structure added to their matches at times. The previous matches were spotfests, this was more like the Lucha Libre interpretation of a WWE style brawl that's slotted as not quite the main event. There were chairshots, removal of a turnbuckle pad, and lots of blood. For whatever reason, American style chairshots in Lucha brawling aren't usually very good (and Lucha brawling tends to focus less on weapons aside from the occasional row of chairs being thrown), but these were fine. Calo is a much, much more well-rounded wrestler as a veteran rudo than a young technico flyer, though he still takes some insane bumps, now with Rudo stooging instead of technico sympathy. His version of the Fuerza/Hamrick feet first to the floor bump was really nasty looking. Apache was awesome as usual. Super Fly hit possibly the most graceful Space Flying Tiger Drop ever, which got the Tecnologia Televisa Deportes treatment. A very good match that showed some promise in what's to come in the future.

Especially as a guy who seems to get stressed out easily, he desperately needs somebody to sit in while he recharges. 5 and a half years as the head booker of a promotion with an increasing schedule is a disaster waiting to happen. Dave Prazak is right there and has proven himself to be a good, logical booker in IWAMS & Shimmer.

Gabe isn't just anti-Lucha, it seems like he's anti-Mexican, too.

The problem with Brent Albright is that he kinda sucks. They SHOULD bring in a bunch of Southern guys, but Gabe is pretty obtuse about it.

Oh, and for those who don't know what I'm talking about w/ Ryder et al:

This is just really warming up. I don't think I've posted anything truly transcendant yet, just stuff that is a little wacky. Well, the TNA new concept is, but that's fresh in our minds anyway. The Heyman deal is pretty close. As someone who was around for the Keller/Mitchell vs Ryder/Scherer deal over the first ECW PPV, I'm curious if JDW has any insight to offer us on that, especially if he thinks the infamous "Bragging about getting the PPV cancelled" WON hotline update from Mitchell really existed and was quickly replaced, or if Ryder & Scherer totally made it up.

Rey Sr's son (Rey Jr is his nephew, remember?). He's supposed to be not good yet.

Whoever finds the original column about WCW needing ropes that light up and make noises when bounced off of wins the thread.

Was this the Japanese tour that aired on ECW TV during that period? IIRC they showed a bunch of clips (including an explosion match) and one or two complete matches including Tanaka-Gladiator.

Did they ever run "pure" ECW shows in Japan? I remember ECW sending over groups of wrestlers to work for IWA, FMW, and maybe W*ING, but not any ECW branded shows. But yes, you're pretty much right.

The thing with ROH is that a US indy taking the risk of running back to back shows in Japan would normally generate SOME buzz, even with the depleted roster. Maybe if they hadn't done the UK tours first?

Having just watched a bunch while converting it to DVD, deathbed AWA was a surprisingly a lot more watchable than TNA is.

ROH is 3 weeks away from its Japanese tour and four months into the majorly hyped (via Gabe "HAY DAVE HEARS ALL MY B00KING 2 PRINT" Sapolsky) Takeshi Morishima title reign, yet there's much, much less talk about the promotion lately. TNA just came off their 5th anniversary show, and there's less and less discussion about them than ever before. People have even tired of making fun of them. One can blame the loss of Aries, Cabana, Homicide, and Joe on ROH being less hyped than before, but with the big events going on it's still surprising and I can't really figure out why the Japanese shows aren't being talked up much. Even if Joe's departure threw a major monkey wrench in the shows (the planned main events were originally Joe-Sasaki and Joe-Tenryu), it's still something of a big deal. I can't think of a similar breaking point for TNA. Was there a specific moment where Russo lapped himself so badly that his booking became numbingly bad as opposed to amusingly bad? Did Angle do something specific to become even more of a non-entity in peoples' minds?