Marty

For what it's worth, Hunter on Off The Record (here in Canada) claimed that "Jericho gave me a free copy of his new CD." Fact or fiction: Ted Dibiase was briefly WWF champion at house shows in 1988 (before Jack Tunney's announcement of the title vacancy and WrestleMania tournament).

Forget Vida. Katja Kassin is where the ASS is at. You need to hook me up sometime. My knowledge of the Ms. Kassin is fairly limited.

I'm not exactly crazy about women who look like they've hit the "grape a day" diet either, but someone like Sytch doesn't exactly look like they respect their own body and health any more. Candido does make sense, but I remember friends of mine quitting smoking, falling under the same category as Sytch, and controlling their own fate as far as their own health goes. Perhaps I'm wrong, but Sunny doesn't look healthy these days going the other way. And yes, I love big butts. Hell, my desktop right now is Vida Guerra.

He said that in his shoot interview, and while Bret at times is a mark for himself, I find it hard to believe he'd lie about wanting to put Benoit over. I could see him wanting an hour too. Fact or fiction: Chris Jericho and Triple H get along these days.

Andre the Giant - I don't know if I'm being naive, but he's probably one of the few guys Loss and I disagree with. I haven't heard any stories of him pulling a "Scott Hall on Sunny's dinner" until Loss just brought it up, so I can't comment. I do know of Vince constantly persuading Andre to stick around rather than retire (as I had heard he wanted to in the mid-late-80s, so I can't fully blame Andre for exposing the business). But really, I'm always gonna be a mark for the guy in some ways, just for being a childhood fan. Shane Douglas - Quite possibly, the wrestler who's the biggest mark for himself, as he saw himself bigger than who he actually was. Didn't like the WWF gimmick myself, but the more I watch his ECW matches, the more I feel he really overrated himself. Steve Austin had worse opponents in ECW than Douglas did, and got more out of them than Douglas got out of his. Wendi Richter - Very popular, but in the end, did that matter as much? I'd rank her up there with, say, Hillbilly Jim. Someone who had their place in the Rock N Wrestling era, but wasn't a top-level star. Dustin Rhodes - Underrated in every sense of the word. Never felt he got a fair run in his original WWF days, but once he hit WCW, the Austin feuds and the tag matches were very fun. He doesn't get enough credit for his act as Goldust, as, if I recall correctly, more people were up in arms over his act than, say, Hassan's act today. I think that's a tribute to Rhodes' acting ability. Jumping to 1998, I would've liked to have seen a 2-3 month Austin-Rhodes feud, once Dustin publically ditched the Goldust gimmick and acted on morals. Given Austin's anti-morality character, it would've made perfect sense, but Austin's Undertaker feud never hurt things either at the time. Never saw his last WCW run to comment enough. Loved his comeback in 2002, and I wished the Bookerdust tag team would've received more airtime and recognition, as they were one of the more over acts in a very down period for the company. I never like the "neurological issue" angle, but somehow, he made some chicken soup out of chicken shit. A guy who never got his due. Bob Sapp - Whoops, forgot him when I originally posted. Can't comment too much, as I've never seen him, but how's he drawing these days, compared to years past?

My God, she looks completely different - and I mean COMPLETELY different - from 10 years ago. Seriously, the only thing similar is maybe the hair... It's sad, actually, what's happened with her.

It's been only a day. I bow to the awesomeness of your previous quotage displays.

"You wanna know why Ric Flair always has two women around him? That way, when he falls asleep, they have someone to talk to." - Roddy Piper

Christian: "Man, after I heard you talk to Bischoff and enter the Royal Rumble, I did the same thing and now I?m in the Rumble too. Me!" Jericho: "That is great news." Christian: "Yeah." Jericho: "Now you can help me win the Rumble so I can regain the Championship. This is tremendous. It?s great. This is awesome." Christian: "Whoa whoa whoa. Hey, hold on a sec. It?s every man for himself in the Rumble and you know what, I wanna win it. I?m gonna win the Rumble." Jericho: "Christian, I was the very first Undisputed Champion. I?m going to win the Royal Rumble." Christian: "So what. I?ve held every title there is to hold except the World Title and I want it." Jericho: "I?m a three time Tag Team champion." Christian: "Well, I?m a nine time Tag Team champion." Jericho: "Well, you?re a nine time loser." Christian: "Well, your beard is stupid." Jericho: "Well, your tattoo doesn?t look like anything, it?s a blotch of ink." Christian: "Yeah, well at least Shawn Michaels didn?t kick my face off." - Vitamin C, before the 2003 Royal Rumble.

"If you have seen one blonde naked, you've seem them all." - Trish Stratus, on posing in Playboy

"Hold on, hold on! Hold on just one second here. David Penzer, you unintelligible, moronic, high-voiced, dweeb! You know nothing about the sport of pro wrestling, and you know nothing about these fine competitors coming out today. So I'm gonna do all the Jerichoholics a great favor. I'm gonna introduce all of the contestants in the Cruiserweight battle royal. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, one of these fine contestants will get a chance at the Cruiserweight belt. They'll never win it, but tonight you're gonna see a great match from a great competitor! Let's down, get down to the list here." "Comin' out first, from Sochimilko, Mexico... You notice this guy's hat NEVER comes off. He's the master of TRIK-TRAK, the master of DA FUNK, he is SUPER CALO! Look at those moves, ladies and gentlemen! He's got about a 1 in 10 chance of winning, maybe." "Coming out next, from El Paso, Mexico! This guy used to be a great bartender, but it hasn't translated to his wrestling skills. He's the scourge of the illustrious Guerrero family, he is Chavo Guerrero Jr! Maybe a 2 out of 10 chance of winning." "Coming out next, from Mexico! This is a rags to riches story, from selling chimichangas on the streets to WCW! Ciclope!" "Now we got Damien... He can't afford a mask, he's using paint! But sooner or later, he's gonna buy a mask, I guarantee you that!" "Here we go! The winner of the Lou Ferrigno lookalike contest! This guy's also from Mexico, ELLLLL DAAANDYYY!" "Coming out next, he's the World Welterlightfeatherweightpesa champion! He is EL GRILLO!" "Now this guy pulled up in a nice rusted-out '68 El Camino Chevy! He's the UGLIEST man in our sport today! He's the illustrious Quasijuice Guerrera!" "A former champion in many countries, he's gonna rock rock 'til he drops, rock rock never stop, MARTY JANNETTY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" "Coming up next, from Allentown, PA! He is a lost and lonely soul, his name is Kidman! And Kidman, I got some calamine lotion for you after the show." "This guy's the true SHOOTER of WCW! Does he have a chance? 0 out of 10, no way. He's Evan Karagias, ladies and gents." "OH YAH, straight from Minneapolis, Minnesota, OH YAH! I want my Loverboy tape back, Lenny Lane!" "And of course we got Psychosees... He's gotta lotta hubcaps in his collection. If you need one, he'll procure you one for you after the show." "This guy is Silver King! If he wins 12 more matches, he'll be upgraded to Golden King." "This guy is Johnny... Singer? Johnny Swinger? Have you ever heard of this guy? I haven't. 0 out of 10 chance of winning, no chance." "And last but last least,(?) representing Villanos 1 through 62! From the illustrious Villano family, he is VILLANO... FOUR!!! Ladies and gentleman, those are your contestants in tonight's battle royal. I'm going to the back for a coffee, 'cause none of these guys will EVER, EVER beat me for my belt." - Chris Jericho's introductions to the WCW Cruiserweight battle royal, at Slamboree 1998

Bob Backlund: It's really cool to see Backlund get his due these days. Superb worker and tremendously over back in his day. Kenta Kobashi: Again, thanks to a lack of Japan knowledge, I don't know a helluva lot about Kobashi, other than he's a great worker with the knees of an 80-year-old. Owen Hart: Very, very underrated. I'll always remember his feud with Bret Hart, as it was one of the few things I paid much attention to as far as wrestling goes. Very tragic how his life ended. The Rock: One of my all-time personal favourites. I'm happy to see him move on to bigger and better things. I had a feeling back in the summer of 1998 that he was going to be huge. Rey Misterio Jr: Extremely fun and exciting to watch. I think he should be higher on the card than where he is right now. He's far more over than some of the guys that are pushed near the main event level. Paul Heyman: A good wrestling mind, but hardly a business person. However, he's also no different than other promoters in the past who keep hammering home the same ideas and plans. I think that caught up with him with the end of ECW. Harley Race: An undeniable legend. Great worker back in his day. Sounds like he was great with the rest of the locker room too. Konnan: Don't know much about Konnan, but I wasn't much of a fan during his WCW days. However, he does have to be acknowledged, as he helped put lucha libre on the North American map. Eddy Guerrero: One of my all-time favourites. It was great to see him win the WWE title last year, and saddening to see him lose it, especially after his recovery over the last few years. Hopefully, he can win it again. Barry Windham: Probably the best worker in the U.S. in the late 1980s. A guy who never got as high up the card as he could've back during his prime.

I'll comment on them later, but with regards to Windham: When he arrived in the WWF in '89, wasn't the Hogan-Savage feud winding down? IIRC, he came in August, and after that, Savage did a program with Duggan. Hogan never really had a defined feud at that point until the Ultimate Challenge, aside from Zeus and Hennig. He and Beefcake did do another tag match with Savage and Zeus at that PPV that should've never have happened, but I'd say for the most part, the Hogan-Savage feud was finishing upon Windham's arrival.

I like this idea, Loss. It is better than one wrestler at a time. Randy Orton: I remember going to the Smackdown tapings on 3/19/2002 and watching Orton job to Tommy Dreamer in a dark match. Never in my wildest thoughts would I have thought that he would rise in the ranks as quickly as he did, considering how, yes, generic he was that night too. I think Orton was building something special, morphing from the RNN era to the Legend Killer cocky attitude, but his face turn was at the wrong time and, even worse, destroyed any killer instinct he had (as opposed to the completion of Batista's face turn on Monday). I'm not sure if he can recover, either. Hooking him up with a pretty over diva? Didn't they try that with Jeff Jarrett under desperate times? Tazz: Tazz was booked in typical fashion for most WWF newcomers (like Jericho and the Radicalz): Become a threat to a star either at the top or one who's rising fast (in Tazz's case, Kurt Angle), and then have issues, even struggling ones, with a midcarder-for-life or two (in Tazz's case, Bossman and Buchanan). I don't know if Tazz could become as over as many people would expect him to be (I never thought he was as dimensional as the Benoits, Jerichos, and Guerreros of the world), but this type of booking hurt him, as well as the others I mentioned. I don't know if it wouldn't have mattered anyway, either, because he was going to need neck surgery anyway, meaning an end to his career eventually. So any "what ifs" are probably moot points at best. Chris Jericho: When I sit back to just watch the shows (as I actually am able to), Jericho is (and still can be) one of my favourites. However, when I look deeper at the guy's career, it's clearly fallen apart, and I don't know if Jericho's even motivated anymore to pick up the pieces. He's faced the same booking as Tazz did, and whenever he's been booked competently (false title win, defending the IC title three times in one night, etc) it's been either due to a lack of main eventers there at the time or outside criticism of not booking the guy properly. I agree with Loss' comments about his recent work, in particular his mic work. Not coincidentally, his mic work has come across to me annoying whenever he fails to take his opponents seriously. The guy is definitely in the middle of a freefall. Shane McMahon: It's been said how a lot of the so-called positives of the Attitude era have hurt the WWF in the long run, and Shane is a perfect example of that. His bumps have only led to higher expectations of other workers and not coincidentally, more injuries. Arguably, he may be a better choice than Vince and Stephanie to keep off TV. His in-ring work is mediocre and the stand-out stuff raises the high spot bar too high, and I question if he's as over as the other two McMahons I mentioned. Antonio Inoki: I can't comment too much on Inoki, due to a lack of knowledge about him and Japan in general, but from what people have said, he's stardom in Japan can't be denied, and his lack of common sense in his recent bookings, well, also can't be denied. Vader: One of the finest big men to ever step in the ring. I'd still lean towards Andre being the greatest, just because of his mainstream aura, but even today, Vader doesn't get the respect he probably deserves. He was arguably the best worker in the 1990s in the U.S. and his downward spiral in the WWF was criminal, considering the reactions he would still get in that company. A fantastic worker, one of the very best, though. The Road Warriors: The Andre The Giant of tag teams. They weren't great workers, but their popularity was off the charts. Even as heels, they were still cheered incredibly. They hung on too long, and how they were booked in 1998 is sad to see, but they will always have a legacy. Tito Santana: Had one of the finest careers a constant midcarder could have. Had a superb feud with Greg Valentine, was involved with the tag division at a couple of its better periods, and has been a well above-average worker. Jim Cornette: Has an understanding of the business that few people do. He's still able to use some old techniques at their best and fullest potential in an effort to produce the best OVW product he can. As a manager, he stood out, but not enough to take away from the wrestlers he would manage. At the same time, he would only add heat to both him and his wrestlers with both his words and actions. A fantastic promo as well. Between him and Bobby Heenan, they're the best managers the business has seen.

Hope I didn't confuse you. That's the Basic Instinct one, not the Scorpion King one (which I have no link to). I posted it because you mentioned that you haven't seen it.

CJ, Here's a link to the Basic Instinct spoof: http://wmsvod.wwe.com/smackdown/200502/10b...instinct300.wmv

It was probably the third-best on of the bunch. Booker's "Can you dig that..." at the end of Ezekiel 25:17 was the high point of the ad. I think they might've had more potential out of parodying one of the cafeteria scenes, or the blood-stained scenes near the end of the movie, with Nunzio playing Quentin Tarantino's character. The BraveHHHeart and Basic Instinct ones are tied on my list. Flair was superb in the first one, and Christian was the star in the second one. The Forrest Gump one is last, but I think it's because Eugene, in my book, is kinda becoming like Ralph Wiggum: a constant parody of himself. I'm saying that as a fan, of course.

Just try not to pick Sable this time, aight? Nice write-up on Sting, Loss.

IIRC, he got divorced in late 1998. Re-married sometime last year.

He *seems* happy... Loss, you can also add the death of his two parents as part of his downward spiral. I think he's on his 2nd marriage now.

Mod's note -- If this topic makes no sense, it's because all the match reviews were pulled out afterward and posted in the match reviews folder that we didn't have at the time, but that we now have. Check it out, it'll make much more sense than this thread. -- Loss 05/02/05 Apologies for the lack of details on this, but I picked up SummerSlam 1999 on DVD at a local discount store (along with five others). Very mediocre PPV which was nearing the end of Vince Russo's time with the WWF. The main event was really nothing to write home about, a lot of the work was very pedestrian (not surprising since Benoit & Friends hadn't joined yet), and Jericho had an off-night on the stick. To make matters worse, the main event had three alternative commentaries (done by Austin, HHH, and Foley) and from the sounds of it (I only caught a bit of Austin's and Foley's and mainly listened to HHH's, which wound up putting me to sleep), they're all kayfabed (as opposed to the interesting commentary providing on today's DVDs, such as the ECW one). Finally, I have a question to anyone who saw the show, both live and on release: Did Jeff Jarrett get the most piped-in heel heat in history for a WWF release?