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They fired him instantly, but since they didn't notify TNA for weeks I'd think that opens up the argument they could have been using that time to capitalize on what they were told. Not to say that they definitely did, but it at least creates the appearance that shenanigans could have happened. Also consider based on how the last few weeks of TNA have been laid out, it looks like Alex Shelley would have given TNA his notice not too long after Sabin returned to form the MCMGs again. Could TNA make the case they knew his deal was ending and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse? Perhaps. I stated on another board, this probably fucks over anyone in TNA hoping to jump ship for the near future.

Was Cornette a Dave source when he was with the WWF? Surely Heyman was talking to him when he was writing Smackdown I would guess. As far as non-famous writers, you're probably right just because most current writers would be afraid to talk to DA SHEETZ.

I thought how it went was that it was originally going to be Sheamus, then shit happened where everyone they were going to program with got hurt, so they were going to go with Jericho to pay off his silent gimmick when he first came back. It seemed that's where they were going when Jericho did the promo where he said something to the effect that the world was ending at the Rumble, which makes no sense if he wasn't (at that point at least) being booked to win.

That's something which doesn't get talked about nearly enough, mostly because it's pretty hard to determine who came up with what ideas. Can anyone look at any WWE match and definitively be able to tell which agent laid it out? Or which of the much-derided anonymous Hollywood writers scripted any particular promo? That kind of backstage knowledge is rarely explained even by the dirtsheets. And I think our ignorance of how it works makes smarks reluctant to discuss it or acknowledge just how incredibly damned important it is. I don't know who does each match, but one of the more noticeable things has been how different matches are laid out since Patterson retired. He gets credit for being great, but its even more telling that since he left you really only see that kind of THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MATCH kind of layout when it involves long term guys like HHH/HBK/Taker who are largely left to handle their own stuff. You can say all you want about the writers and booking, but WWE seemingly not being able to hire anyone who can lay things out worth a damn since Pat left has been their biggest shortcoming.

I don't know, he may be someone who knows a guy, but I tend to believe Dave or Mike Johnson who we know talk to people in the company in some form rather than a guy who posts on GameFaqs. Hell, most of the game information posted by people there needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

I mentioned before that Jack Korpela landed a gig in town as fill in late shift sports talk radio guy, and wow is his show educational. Just tonight I learned that HGH has no negative side effects from long term use, and that PEDs should be not only legal but encouraged in all sports because sports are all about entertaining people and being juiced up gives the people more of what they want to see. Also he got his opinions on said PEDs by listening to Chael Sonnen interviews, and according to Jack, Overeem (who's name he pronounced like "All-star Ov-reem") didn't really take anything. He only failed his test because his T/E ratio was slightly high. The only point he made that wasn't kitten-punchingly wrong was pointing out most of the drug testing done by UFC isn't accurate since the more reliable tests cost more than the commissions want to spend. Another fun moment was him relating a story about a "guy I worked with in WWE" who he didn't identify other than someone who used to be a wrestler but retired. This person was open in his steroid use while active and said he stopped when he retired from the ring. He said he did it because "all sports are entertainment", which seems to indicate there's quite the mindset in WWE that it's the fans rather than the company that expect everyone to be jacked up all the time. That's quite the impressive display of deflection on the company's part if true, considering even the guy who's only involvement was working the pre-PPV shill show still toes the line.

I may be drawing connections that aren't there, but it occurred to me that the whole crazy AJ gimmick seems to be very similar to the stories of how Mickie James was acting when her and Cena broke off their alleged relationship. Maybe it was just because of Punk's "I kind of dig crazy chicks" line.

BTW, I never wrote that Show's fat punch looked *bad*. I only said that considering it's a signature finisher spot, it doesn't look very good, that it didn't work for me and that Show isn't exactly throwing a punch like Bobby Eaton. It looks okay I guess, which is not enough to make me believe it's a lethal finisher. I dunno, I can buy a 7 foot almost 500 pound guy can knock a dude out with a punch even if it's not the most artistically sound. Probably helps that half the time it looks like he's actually making contact, which probably sucks even if he is pulling it.

Todd Martin has lost his smile.

I love how Miz came out and did a perfectly acceptable version of the Thriller dance, but Lawler had to sell as if he was dancing like Elaine from Seinfield. All the piss poor Diva matches they've ever done don't expose things as much as stuff like that does.

Every time Bryan goes on one of his rants about people getting on him and Dave saying WWE changes their plans all the time, I always get the impression he's speaking to you and/or others here directly. It just adds to the normal amount of amusement I get from his George Costanza rants.

It was awesome when Jesse would cover for obvious spot calling on WWF TV in the 80s, especially if it was a heel doing it. He wouldn't miss a beat and immediately mention how Wrestler X is adding to the pain of a hold by talking smack to his opponent while doing it. I bought it completely as a kid and it didn't dawn on me until much later what was actually going on.

I missed it & I've never seen him work before. He seems like a great talker, is his ring work any good? He was going to do the "you're not worthy" act with Tatsu, who called him a chicken and caused him to run in and beat him up. I guess his deal is going to be that he is all calm and snooty until someone pisses him off.

Come on now, you guys know what I mean. WWE has a guy do an intellectual gimmick that borrows a lot from The Genius and then have him show up wearing pink tights and lavender kneepads. Given how WWE is normally as subtle as a shotgun blast to the face, I don't think I'm pulling out the Jump to Conclusions Mat here.

Why would you assume that purple and pink means gay in this day and age? It's normally the colors WWE dresses people in when they want to make that connection. If not gay, at least effeminate. I personally don't associate those colors that way, but they tend to do it a lot. Also them more he talks, the more his speaking pattern reminds me of Lanny doing the Genius gimmick. Not as over the top as Lanny tended to get, but it was in the ballpark.

So Damian Sandow finally had some in ring action on Smackdown, revealing his ring attire under that Mr. Backlund robe and towel combo to be hot pink tights with purple kneepads. I guess that means WWE continuing the trend of intellectual = gay. Somewhere Lanny Poffo is yelling at his dog about gimmick infringement.

Kind of gives the impression they want him to shut up because what he's saying is right. It's one thing for a little wrestling-company-that-could trying to run an iPPV and having it blow up. It's worse when it's a wrestling company owned by a media group that should have its shit together better than this. Sure, it's not like they're NBC/Universal, but Sinclair should have the means to run an event that wouldn't have more than a couple thousand people requesting it without ending up looking like clowns.

UFC has overexposed itself and the ratings are starting to reflect it. Fuel doesn't count since no one has the channel, but the last season of TUF was the lowest rated ever. Fox shows have been getting less viewers each time out, and most of the PPVs without a main event hook have been down too. Add in things like the NY state legislature passing the buck again, and dealing with high profile drug test failures, it's easy to see why Dana would be in a punchy mood. I actually give Dave a lot of credit for his response, he has every right to be all "fuck that guy" and he took the high road. That couldn't have been easy, especially given him mentioning Dave's Yahoo gig and making it sound like he was some unemployed geek and not a successful small business owner.

Demos tend to be the way people with invested interests spin shitty TV ratings. Other sports like football don't bother with demos, they just announce a million bazillion people watched the NFL that week. When Dana has to break it down by demo, that's kind of a roundabout way of saying no one buy UFC hardcores watched, and the whole point of going on Fox was to attract new/casual viewers with the hope of turning them into PPV buyers at some point. Dana's response comes off like Vince McMahon getting pissed at Bob Costas. Also practically no one has Fuel, they might as well be having these shows in Dana's backyard in terms of how much exposure they get from them. These guys can have the fight of the century and no one will know it happened. It's the classic tree falling in the forest scenario.

Because Vince has been calling his business Sports Entertainment since the mid 80s at least, so Paul's line was meant to ask "Why did you bring a shoot fighter into your worked business and get mad when he hurts people presumably for real in said worked business" but of course he can't use that direct verbiage. I was at Raw and I can confirm a few things: 1. Not only does no one give a shit about Tensai, he got a noticeable "aww, not this guy" reaction when he came out for a Superstars match. 2. The crowd was doing the YES chant before the show even started, and it wasn't just pockets of smart fans, but the whole building. 3. The Johnny/Show segment did make Show look like a pussy but it got crazy heel heat for Ace. 4. This was the most obnoxious Cena promo I can recall him doing, but it got over huge with the crowd because Johnny made them so mad in the Big Show segment they were super into anyone punking him out. When Johnny made his comment about the Penguins being losers, my friend mentioned that considering they've checked out of the playoffs in the first round the last two years Johnny actually had a valid point with that one. Also Cena made sure to hit the biggest cheap pop line of all time in mentioning the Steelers since they're bigger than Jesus in this city (literally, churches are empty on Sundays if mass coincides with Steeler games).

So Konnan wants us to believe Rey doesn't juice despite all the evidence available because he didn't want Konnan showing up to his house stoned out of his mind? I'll buy that Rey doesn't do party drugs (even if the company he's kept over the years makes that a stretch), but why would a guy who's naturally a buck fifty needing to take weight loss drugs with amphetamines to address issues with his love handles? Are we to believe he just hits the catering table too hard?

Yeah, while these constant iPPV fuckups aren't good by any means, the whole "this means ROH is doooooooooomed" mindset is puzzling me. It's not like it's WWE and they make tons of money off these things so that having them blow up is financially crippling. I'm also not sure what the critics want ROH to do, their bread and butter for years was DVD sales and that's not a revenue stream that has much of a long term future. Their houseshows may not be setting the world on fire, but their TV shows have been pretty good and if it ends up building new markets for them it can only be positive. At least now they have a multimillion dollar broadcasting company footing the bills and it's not just whatever Cary can afford.

Actually he did use his catchphrase on the radio, surprisingly enough.

Imagine my surprise when I turned on the radio tonight and heard the newest local sports talk personality in Pittsburgh, Jack Korpela.

If you watch Raw from 1998, the Oddities were more over than practically everything on the show in 2012. Granted, part of it is the rising tide of the Attitude Era lifting all boats, but the crowd goes nuts when their music hits.