sek69

So does he really think the show running long was the issue and not the huge fucking melee that broke out?

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but the "Midcarder X is superior to Main Event Guy Y" argument to me is like the height of contrarianism on the interwebs. I mean, I like Finlay, but his biggest legacy in the business is making the women's matches suck less for a period of time.

Wasn't MVP one of the guys who kept getting pot fines and got his push stopped to send a message that they weren't tolerating it anymore?

The 91-97 down period was drawn out further than it normally would have been, considering all the scandals and Vince being on trial pretty much forced them to change their entire way of doing business. They had to retrain their fanbase to accept guys like Bret and Shawn as main eventers instead of bodybuilder guys.

Shocking news: Todd Martin didn't like tonight's Raw. At this point, I really don't get why he keeps watching a show he clearly hates. They're never going to do anything he likes, why keep punishing himself? Dave doesn't pay for these gigs does he?

It should be noted that Linda has the best possible astroturf squad already in place with WWE fans. Given the level of discourse on sites like YouTube it would be next to impossible for a stereotypical paid shill to stand out unless they used complete sentences and spelled correctly.

I don't even think Vince dying would affect things too much, since Steph already runs a lot of the behind the scenes stuff and for the most part can sway Vince to do things the way she wants if need be. The only thing that would seriously hurt them would be losing TV clearance, which is why I think they are renewing interest in starting their own network. They have some pretty good TV deals in place now, but if Bonnie Hammer ever leaves NBC/Universal they may be fucked since they put all their eggs in one basket with Smackdown's latest move.

Are they going to have some kind of uplink to a studio for the guys still stuck? One of the things hyped for RAW was Bret having to acknowledge ShoMiz as the best tag team, and they're one of the ones still in Europe.

You know, 98% of that column echos my view of Jim Cornette these days. Yeah, I like a good Corny rant as much as the next guy, but he sat there and ate shit while working with Russo in TNA and only went back to the ranting when he got fired. I don't think I'd put him in Iron Sheik category yet, but he's clearly turned the corner to self-parody.

What always kills me is how when he's cycling off, he ends up looking dangerously similar to a old time territory fat guy like Killer Tim Brooks or something. You'd think a guy who probably uses bodybuilding mags as stroke material would at least maintain some definition when off cycle.

Considering JR's job was to give the news that someone was to be "endeavored", I don't think it's surprising that ex WWF guys may not have a favorable opinion of the guy. Also HBK's drug use wasn't even that well kept a secret at the time, let alone him being open about it now. Hell he'd be on TV looking less-than-top-form back in the Rockers days.

On more JR related topics, anyone know why he continues to work for the company that has gone great lengths to humiliate him in ways that stand out even by Vince's/WWE's standards? I don't think he needs the money, he seems pretty smart in terms of saving what he earned plus the restaurant looks like it's doing well. Is it just his way of sticking it to Vince in terms of making them pay him when they really don't want to just to keep him from going to TNA or some MMA group?

This all reminds me of how they showed the Thrilla in Manila on ESPN Classic a couple weeks back. The doctor waives of the fight, Ali is on his knees in exhaustion, and his corner people are all around him like he's going to collapse. When the announcer comes in the ring to get comments from him Ali's response was something like "first off I just want to say I'm the greatest, Fraizer may be the best in the world after me". Just classic stuff. We get so used to how Ali is today, it's easy to forget he was by far the best "heel character" of all time.

I'm all for a good HHH bashing, but I can't see how he would still be protecting his spot at this point of his career. He's established to the point where it wouldn't hurt him at all if someone overshadowed him at this stage.

???? It was somewhat WCW-esque in how it featured old dues, top guys mailing it in (Silva), and BJ Penn losing to the MMA equivalent of Rocky Balboa.

I don't know how much more they could have got from Goldberg. Yeah, it was stupid to beat him so cheaply like the did, but if that didn't happen what else would they do with him? It always seemed to me that once he beat Hogan, there wasn't anything left for him to do.

Michaels? How is Michaels in position tell him this? As the guy who trained him for the biz, WWE probably felt he should deliver the news. Or maybe Shawn offered, who knows.

You know, it's very telling when considering the "does Dave even still care about the WON" debate that in the endless blurb that starts the daily update there hasn't been a back issue worthy of mention since the Kowalski bio from September 2008.

From the latest WON: That really should be copied and pasted about a million times the next time WWE brags about offering rehab to all employees.

Don't forget Harley Race tried to get Benoit to stop doing the diving headbutt because of the toll it took on him.

Actually, what stood out to me the most is how obviously the answers were worded to get the results they apparently want. Usually they're a lot less transparent in their manipulation.

I went to the ROH site after reading the last post and saw this pic: Really? The ROH TV belt has a circa 1960's television on it? With rabbit ears no less?

Do you agree with Daniel Bryan being ranked the No. 1 NXT Rookie in the first-ever Pros Poll? Yes. Bryan has proven himself worthy of being the WWE's next breakout star. 32.21 % 1059667 Votes No. Bryan doesn't have the look or personality to be a top-level WWE Superstar. 67.78 % 2229925 Votes Total Votes: 3289592

Diesel had the same problem Taker did, Vince kept wanting to do matches versus other big men that no one wanted to see.