sek69

Didn't the injury happen because he took the bump wrong in an attempt to do a dramatic oversell? I was honestly surprised that they ended up paying him anything since it wasn't anyone's fault but his really. I guess they would have covered his medical expense just as a PR move, but I was shocked he got $2 million or whatever it was.

It seems like, for good or bad, there's only one master in TNA (for now) and that was Jeff Jarrett. Even Vince Russo is there because he's pals with JJ. Also being successful in Puerto Rico and being successful in TNA are two different scenarios. Puerto Rico is pretty much the last territory-style area left, and history has shown that what works in a territory situation is different than what works on a national level. I know that opens the door to a lot of "lol TNA is no better than a territory" jokes, but it still is the #2 promotion in the US even if by default.

You know, I can't help but think a lot of the stuff in TNA that people chant "Fire Russo" over was really Mantel's. He got this rep for being a great booker, but he's just the 2009 version of Bill Watts trying to book WCW like it was the mid 70s. It seemed his entire bag of tricks was shit that got over in Puerto Rico 20 years ago (or whenever the hell it was when he booked there).

I can't help but think of Yatsu as anyone but the guy on the 1983 WCCW shows playing the role of Random Vaguely Menacing Japanese Guy in the Devastation Inc stable.

I have it for the 360, it's not bad. I think people expected it to play like a Smackdown vs Raw game, and got upset that it didn't. It's aimed at people who were fans in the 80s-90s and lapsed since then so anything not marketed at the "hardcore" market gets bashed.

As someone who never was a fan of Hulkamania, it was one of my personal favorite moments in wrestling when Heenan was finally vindicated for hating him all those years.

Yeah, the first game is pretty bad with the recycled movesets, but I'm really digging the third game (Showdown). I think it would have got more attention had it not come out right before Acclaim went in the shitter.

So I've heard about these games released for PS2, and I finally got around to picking them up. Turns out they may be some of the most underrated wrestling games around. First off, just to get it out of the way, they're clearly not as polished as any WWE produced game. That may turn a lot of casual players off right from the jump, but if you get past that there's a lot of fun to be had. The first game is the most basic, but what it lacks in moveset it makes up for in the roster. Here's who's available in that one: * Hulk Hogan * Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka * Road Warrior Hawk * Road Warrior Animal * Bret "Hitman" Hart * The Iron Sheik * Mr. Fuji * "The King of Hardcore" Terry Funk * Don Muraco * Jerry "The King" Lawler * George "The Animal" Steele * "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas * Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat * Nikolai Volkoff * "The Million $ Man" Ted DiBiase * Tito Santana * King Kong Bundy * "The Bird Man" Koko B. Ware * One Man Gang * Greg "The Hammer" Valentine * "The King" Harley Race * Dynamite Kid * Ricky Morton * Robert Gibson * "Flyin'" Brian Pillman * "Superstar" Billy Graham * "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert * Rick Martel * Ivan Koloff * Ivan Putski * "Cowboy" Bob Orton * The Sheik * Kerry Von Erich * Fritz Von Erich * Kevin Von Erich * Mike Von Erich * David Von Erich * Dory Funk, Jr. * Rob Van Dam * Sabu * "Captain" Lou Albano * "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart The second one features everyone from the first game (except RVD, who returned to WWE in the meantime) plus the following: * Abdullah the Butcher * André the Giant * Andy Kaufman * Bam Bam Bigelow * Baron von Raschke * Big John Studd * Bob Backlund * Bobby "The Brain" Heenan * "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith * Bruno Sammartino * The Nasty Boys * "Dr. Death" Steve Williams * "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan * Killer Kowalski * Mil Mascaras * "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff * Owen Hart * "Soulman" Rocky Johnson * "Rowdy" Roddy Piper * The Steiner Brothers * Sid Vicious * Eddie Guerrero * The Grand Wizard The third, Showdown: Legends of Wrestling, had the roster from the second game (this time minus Mike and David Von Erich) plus the following: # "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig # Diamond Dallas Page # "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes # Jake "The Snake" Roberts # Nikita Koloff # "The Macho Man" Randy Savage # "Ravishing" Rick Rude # Sting # Ultimate Warrior It also has announcing by Tony Shiavone, Larry Zbyszko, and Bobby Heenan (unfortunately this is post-cancer, so it's a little sad to listen to), plus the ability to play in the following arenas: * Madison Square Garden in New York City * Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan * Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan * The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia * Cow Palace in San Francisco, California * The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts * Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan * Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina * Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee * Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas * L.A. Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California * Wembley Stadium in London, England * Moscow * Dory Funk's Gym * Legends Colosseum in Austin, Texas Also features Gary Michael Capetta as ring announcer. Not quite sure how they got the rights to all those wrestlers, some of them clearly seem like WWF/E creations and I don't know how they were able to include them. They did, so whatever they had to do apparently passed legal muster. All three are probably in the bargain bin of your favorite game store for less than $10, and for that price you really can't beat it. A lot of people complain about Showdown being buggy, but I've been playing it and haven't really run into any game-ruining issues. Sometimes there's a bit of clipping wackiness, but anyone who played the Aki N64 games probably wouldn't even notice. The biggest draw is clearly creating your own old school matchups. Think Superstar should have gotten his win back from Backlund? Make it happen. Want to relive some Mid South classics? DiBiase, Williams, and Duggan are all there. You can have some JCP tag team goodness with the Rock n' Rolls, The Road Warriors, and the Koloffs. World Class fans can avenge the Von Erichs against Harley Race. You can even go really old school and have Bruno vs Killer Kowalski.

I think it's just WWE forgetting about past gimmicks, or they're trying to do what they do every so often and push a guy who's been involved as comedy forever as a SERIOUS WRESTLER thinking that makes people forget about Stone Cold Steve Haas-tin.

I read it as they don't want someone out there with the bikini babes that makes it more obvious they don't know what they're doing. It's kind of a leap to go from "she's not being used right now" to "OMG PREGGERS~!". It's not the first time a woman on the roster went a long time between appearances, it's just never been someone as high up on the food chain as Beth was. After the angle with Santino ran it's course, it seems like she's Just Another Victim of the dreaded we-don't-have-anything-for-you-itis.

This is the WON tidbit: Nothing there mentions her being pregnant, but I guess you could read between the lines.

I'm reading the new WON and he mentions how WWE is using Jeff refusing to go to rehab as a babyface aspect of his character. It's interesting that a company like WWE that can't seem to get out of it's own way in terms of drug issues would make it a positive that someone wouldn't go to rehab. At least it's something to ponder the next time you see someone trying to make the argument that WWE doesn't subtly encourage or discourage certain behaviors.

Also ZZ Top provided the set up for one of the greatest lines in WWE history when they showed them at ringside and Heyman's response was "LOOK! IT'S JIMMY "BOOGIE WOOGIE MAN" VALIANT!"

Yeah it's odd how WWE looks at being a fan as a negative in terms of working for the company, yet they have to see the difference it makes in their celebrity guests.

I think what got JR's panties in a wad is that people seem to see them bringing in Seth Green (and to a lesser extent ZZ Top) as them trying to look hip but have no idea how to do so. I personally thought Seth did a great job, him being a fan made it work about a million billion times better than most celebrity appearances because at least he looked like he wanted to be there.

I was reading the interview with TA up on the WON site, and it struck me how he's probably the most well adjusted former wrestler I've ever heard of despite the fact he's the one guy who would be 100% justified in being a bitter old crank. Now granted, his situation kind of dictated things of course, but it's funny seeing guys who were career mid carders and/or jobbers do interviews full of jealousy or self delusion when TA was at the top of the world only to have it all taken away.

I can't agree more on Whalen. Pretty much all the Stampede stuff I've seen has been dampened by having to listen to him announce the matches (and the fact that the ring they use looks like something they found in the Hart's backyard, which it probably was). A lot of people who grew up watching Stampede have some kind of emotional part-of-my-childhood attachment to big Ed, and I get that, but good lord is he terrible if you don't have that.

Barry Windham just started showing up on the NWA shows on 24/7 (he and Ron Garvin just beat the Russians for the US tag titles) and I keep thinking this was his first run in a major promotion. My mind just will not retain the info that he was a WWF tag champ the year before.

I'm not saying single announcers are bad, nor that they should be blabbering non stop, but Vince would be silent for extremely long stretches to the point where I was wondering if there was some sort of problem with his microphone. He's be quiet for over half of a 20 minute match. There's a difference between knowing when to shut up and someone staying silent because they don't have anything to say.

I don't see how anyone can say pre-expansion Vince was a good announcer. In those 70s WWWF shows that pop up on 24/7 there's just huge gaps where he's silent and it's almost like watching a film of old wrestling. When he does talk he's pretty good at conveying the action, he actually comes off as a young Gordon Solie type, but there's way too much dead air going on. I wonder if Vince Sr. was in the headset yelling in his ear. That'd be pretty ironic.

I think we can all move on whenever Dave comes to terms with the fact that MMA is not pro wrestling despite any common histories the two may share. Soccer, rugby, aussie rules, and good old american football all can trace their roots back to the same point too but people who cover those sports never attempt to link them. MMA is the new hotness and as its popularity grows, he's hitching his star to it in an attempt to get out of the ghetto that is pro wrestling. I don't fault him for that, brother gots to get paid and all that (and MMA is certainly allowing him to do that), but it's like he's afraid to make the commitment to just cover MMA and forget about wrestling. It seems that his interest is waning almost daily, but he straddles both like some kind of Colossus of Rhodes. As far as subscribers knowing he covers MMA, that doesn't excuse putting out something called the Wrestling Observer that sometimes is half if not three-quarters MMA coverage. Yeah, when UFC has a big show you expect lots of space devoted to it, but he gives half the issue these days to the latest episode of TUF that I personally don't give a fuck about. That's one of the big reasons I switched to an online only sub, I didn't feel the need to devote space to actual hard copies anymore if it was going to be the "MMA/TUF and if we have some time maybe a little bit of Wrestling Observer".

Man, even by Dave's standards that's a pretty tenuous analogy. WWE is still pro wrestling despite their attempts to be "sports entertainment", MMA is going to be MMA no matter what. Unless you're claiming that they're all worked (and I know there were worked groups in Japan, that's the only thread Dave can hang on to here) then for the millionth time pro wrestling =/= MMA no matter how bad Dave wants it to. To further his analogy, that's like saying if you started covering pro wrestling in the US in 1993 you have to include MMA because a lot of the early UFC guys went into wrestling at one point or another. I mean, yeah you can mention it in order to add depth and context to the wrestling scene of the 90s, but it's not like you would NEED to include it in any discussion.

The Cryme Tyme stuff at least has them outsmarting people or otherwise getting the upper hand, the Pretty Ricky stuff just made him look like a silly negro with Beetlejuice teeth.

Wow, that segment on Smackdown with R-Truth's new gimmick of "Pretty Ricky" is pretty much the most racist thing ever.

I never understood why they put the belt on Hansen of all people. Verne always seemed all about rewarding those who've been loyal, yet gave the title to the one guy with absolutely no ties to the company. It's not like they were duped either, Stan's always been very open that Baba was his main priority so there's no excuse.