Childs

This was a deeply stupid match. You want to show me you hate each other? Well then fight instead of devising increasingly elaborate and unsafe ways to fall on chairs. And fuck that crowd.

I just don't enjoy watching Devitt -- other than the occasional spectacular move, everything he does looks weak and overly performed. In a promotion full of shitty strikes, his are among the shittiest. I could say the same for Ibushi, but I've seen him in more compelling matches. Anyway, this was fine overall. They never pretended it was anything other than a string of complicated spots. And the timing on some of the complicated spots was impressive.

The early part of the match was pretty blah, but once they started throwing hands, this was great. The Sakuraba knee to a running Nakamura holds up as one of the indelible in-ring moments from 2013. And I thought Nakamura came off plenty credible, with some vicious knees of his own. I probably had a stronger reaction to this when I watched it a year ago, but that's no surprise. Still easily the most memorable match from the Dome show.

Vader vs. Otto Wanz from Germany was a great example of two hosses pounding on each other.

I think they have to be careful with making the PPVs seem less special, given that "bargain PPVs" was the chief hook for selling the network. They don't want people feeling cheated after the first six months or year, when renewals will be up for the first wave of customers.

God, this was a piece of shit. I felt bad for the announcers, desperately trying to sell it as some epic blood feud while the work in the ring failed to back them up at all. The tepid crowd reaction spoke volumes I'm amazed they spent the whole year overestimating the interest in Piper. Or maybe I'm not. And why the fuck put him over at this point, when the whole focus was looking ahead to Sting-Hogan? Obviously, this didn't take away from the interest in that match, nor did the brutally overdone stupidity with the fake Stings. But it was still moronic and a glaring sign of what was to come with WCW. It's a testament to the basic power of the NWO concept that the company didn't tank far sooner.

It was bizarre they chose to have Savage win the feud. What possible purpose did that serve? It was a very good match. I liked the way Savage targeted the injured ribs with everything he did, including the big elbows. Both guys sold really well, and it made sense to get the women involved, given their significant roles in the feud. Nick Patrick did a lousy job with the 10 counts, resetting them in completely inconsistent fashion. But that's a nitpick. With an ending that really felt like a blowoff to the feud, this might have been a legit great match. As is, I agree with Dylan's old talking point about these two guys never putting it all together in one match.

I wanted to enjoy this, because these are probably my two favorite luchadores ever at this point. But it ended up making me kind of sad. Dandy and Satanico haven't remained as active or in shape as some of their contemporaries, and it showed. They didn't even try to work the mat in any compelling way. And though I enjoyed them slapping the piss out of each other after a respectful opening, they just weren't in condition to pull out any kind of miracle.

There's already too much empty affirmation on the internet.

Also, this big laugh line: "For Shoemaker only — you wrote a gigantic wrestling book and know more about the history of this business than just about anyone."

I find it exceedingly odd that Simmons believes Money in the Bank to be a larger PPV than the Rumble, an assertion he's made several times now.

How do you know he acted unprofessionally in informing Vince of his intentions? If he fulfilled the minimum terms of his contract, he was entitled to walk away whenever he chose. Leaving a job that you no longer like does not make you a piece of shit. Nor does it make you a martyr. But to me, at least, it seems a lot more sane than desperately clinging to a company that repeatedly kicks you in the teeth. If Punk has the financial security and resolve to walk away, good for him. If he changes his mind at some point, that's fine too.

When talking to him personally, Punk wasn't satisfied with being a Top 5 player and that is an actual admirable trait to have in that warped business. It is the single biggest argument I have with with Johnny Sorrow regarding Punk. Sorrow has told me numerous times that Punk should shut the fuck up, collect his million dollar check and enjoy the creative decisions that WWE made for him. Punk's mentality was that if you left him the fuck alone and let him create his own shit, it would be much better than what creative had for him. I also admire Punk's self-respect, and though I don't see him as any kind of martyr, I appreciate that he had the courage of his convictions and walked away from an unsatisfying situation. However, I think it's also possible to look at his WWE run from the outside and say he accomplished a lot, even if it didn't meet his own expectations. As a fan, I don't think Punk's whole story is "potential unfulfilled" even if that's the way he sees it.

Geez, ya downcast bastard . The more positive spin on Punk's run would be that he forced his way from a guy a lot of people in the company didn't get to a sustained top-5 player. That's a lot better than most do in WWE-verse.

Bret was instrumental in "making" Stone Cold. I'm not a big Bret fan, but that's just undeniable if you go back and watch the 1997 TV. Given that, I think it's hyperbole to say dozens of people were more important to launching the attitude era. I also think Bret is more than a solid guy to the WWE fan base. Seems he's retrospectively viewed as one of the company's seminal stars, even if that wasn't the case in real time. If Punk is done, I can't see him carrying equivalent stature in a few years.

One of my absolute favorites; probably my No. 1 wrestler from the '70s.

Me. Though I'm not seeing it on my phone either. Can u try Starcade 84 and see if it kicks u off the network at some point? Same problem for me, Shoe.

I'm not a body-part zealot either. It only really bothers me when guys build the entire opening of a match around it, then rapidly transition to throwing bombs without any lingering effects. I will say that the body-part attack is probably an overused opening, given that a lot of wrestlers fail to do anything interesting with it.

Definitely working much better on Roku now, for what that's worth.

I'm annoyed I haven't been able to enjoy it on Roku for more than a few minutes since launch. Intellectually, I believe Loss' argument for patience. But the turd in my punchbowl seemed pretty large during the failed NXT broadcast. Sometimes, you just want your shiny new toy to work.

I keep seeing people suggest, in various corners of the interwebs, that Orton/Batista would be rescued by the insertion of Punk. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not missing Punk in the 'Mania build, not one bit.

I've always enjoyed that spot, even though it's a little french pastry. Strikes me as neat looking without being too ridiculous. He's attacking from an angle that opponents aren't used to defending.

I had no problem signing up for the free trial, but I can't get them to take my money.

My impression is that he's made a pretty clean break, letting his wrestling physique disappear, running his restaurant and turning up only for the big tribute shows to his former comrades. I've assumed we won't see him back, and you know, good for him. He seems to have made it out fairly intact compared to his greatest rivals.

The average American would have no idea what a kitchen sink drama is. The average teenager probably would not recognize even a lot of the more mainstream images on the slides, such as Gorbachev, Ayatollah Khomeini, maybe even Lennon/Yoko.