Marty

What the hell was that powder on HHH's belly? I thought he was drug free?

I have terrible short term memory, but is it just me, or was Punk's finisher pretty well protected?

Lesnar looks even more badass in a toque.

Agreed that Heyman's expressions were great. Punk worked really hard and Taker was better than I thought he'd be. Not exactly any doubt who'd win, but very good nonetheless.

Pretty sure Living Colour are just about or are in their 50s. But yeah...

Submission exchanges were good. Seconds were good and Del Rio (great garb and all) did the best he could. Swagger's near the bottom of WWE guys I want to see and this did little to change that.

P Diddy = P Break

Fandango bumped well and ate Jericho's offense very well. Solid effort by Jericho. Probably as good a match as it could be.

Even Kane didn't suck. Good match, agreed that it might've been better as the opener, especially with the faces going over.

Match was really nothing, but it did have a neat finish Agreed. Drop toe hold to figure four was nice.

Ryback-Henry: Agreed with others that the layout was not the best to use with Ryback, but Henry did the best he could. Happy Henry went over.

Miz vs. Barrett was a fast-paced TV match, but got a surprisingly good reaction, especially with the figure four spots. 6 man was really good. Worried about Rollins' neck after that dive though.

I know someone whose son passed away in his 40s. When he found out, his tears were endless, and he was someone who never got emotional. Can't imagine what Ric's going through right now.

Weather Channel link, since we're well within 10 days: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/East...J+USNJ0128:1:US

I'm sorry I just noticed this thread yesterday. Tremendous stuff, Brick! Favourites are the NYC scaffold and kneedrop on Gifford, with Slayer and Mad Men not far behind.

When did he actually start saying that? Because he'd still have the odd inspired performance like the promo on the last Nitro. I always assumed "I had no self-confidence, until Vince/Trip/WWE helped me" was his way of putting over WWE 10 or so years ago.

Can't believe no one (myself included) haven't mentioned The Rock or Carlos Colon yet.

That's clear, but Arnold is practically the posterchild of steroid use. There's a difference between Bret Hart being on the juice and Hulk Hogan, maybe not qualitatively but certainly symbolically. I just think it's ironic. It's not something I'm "outraged by" or something similarly asinine; it's pro-wrestling - not that that makes it a trivial issue as much as such matters are to be expected. Arnold doesn't fall under the Wellness Policy that Bruno speaks highly of (unless the rules have changed for one-time HOF inductors), so it's okay.

From my own memory, and considering how much the WWF is a babyface promotion, I would guess around 1989 was when they started presenting Bret as more of a big deal. The Savage SNME match was great, but at the same time, Bret played the role of Honky's henchman sent to weaken Savage. I don't think the WM4/Bad News feud meant a big deal, as even if Bret was told by Vince of the letters sent by fans, it felt like Vince wasn't really ready to pull the trigger on him, and that the feud was done more to push Bad News as a new Hogan/Savage opponent down the road. On the other hand, once '89 hit, you had a number of things. Him getting the winning pinfall over an established heel at the '89 Rumble. Honky laying out Bret with the guitar and not Anvil. It wasn't a beatdown of the Hart Foundation, but only Bret. Then after Mania, there were articles in WWF Magazine on the Hart Foundation going at it in singles. Another article on the first Shawn-Bret matchup ever (although that may have been the following year). Another bit on Bret feuding with Mr. Perfect, which I remember them talking about how Perfect may actually be perfect, but if there was anyone his equal, it's Bret. Loss mentioned Survivor Series with Savage, and I'm inclined to agree. Oh yeah, there was that Alaska article too, which was one of those types of articles they didn't just use on anyone. '90 cemented his push onward. Good showing at the Rumble, if memory serves. The Harts being reestablished as a force and top contenders again, so much so that Demolition decided they needed another member. Once the titles were won, then the jacket makes its debut, helping the appearance a little. He had a nice series with DiBiase at the Survivor Series, similar to Savage the year before. So it was a tag push that year, but it feels like one designed to establish Bret as a winner. But I'd say the growth began in '89. '88 made me feel like he was still somewhat just another guy, even though the reactions began to grow.

I didn't even make it through the whole show, technically. We get RAW 15 minutes late in Canada and when that triple threat match happened, I was much more interested in seeing if the Miami Heat could make it 23 in a row. The card for Mania doesn't actually look terrible and from a match quality standpoint it shouldn't be bad, but the build to it has been a chore to sit through. I'm actually not only expecting, but *hoping* that the World title match does open it, just because I have lower expectations for that match than any of the others. Get the least of the show over with first.

http://www.myforecast.com/bin/expanded_for...mp;metric=false Link to 15-day forecast for East Rutherford, NJ.

Good for Daffney. They're post-editing their PPVs now? What are they taking out, just botches or also stuff they consider to be offensive to viewers of the modern product (e.g. putting women through tables)? Click the link I have in the previous post, as it showcases it better than I could. So far, WMXV is the only one noted, so we don't know about any others, but they basically PG'ed it down (have a different angle of the Sable Bomb, took out a lot of the Undertaker stuff, including the pre-match video and the hanging of Boss Man, took out Rock choking Austin, etc.).

Perhaps they remove all censoring of the term "WWF"? I'm hoping that they remove the blurring of the scratch logo for 14 and 15. http://www.wwedvdnews.com/major-update-wwe...1-15-dvd/36742/ Seems like 11-14 are the same versions as the Anthology ones. As for 15, "WWF" is back and all that, but it sounds like they really George Lucas'd it otherwise. I think I'd rather have the Anthology version if given the choice.

For whatever reason, a memory of mine of Paul Bearer that always sticks out was when he hosted The Funeral Parlor in early '94 with Owen as his guest. Paul being the guy with the higher morals, saying, "But...you kicked Bret when he was down..." always amused me. Fun manager. Was really happy with his '97 stuff, because rather than attach himself to guys already established to a degree (like Taker or Mankind), he instead helped build a new character, one that's still going today. RIP William Moody. Thanks for the memories.

Big John Studd