sek69

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.

Let's not forget the WWE tries very hard to appear non-partisan with things like Smackdown Your Vote, so Joey doing a AM talk show gimmick probably caused some worry that their cover would be blown.

Taker was mentioned earlier in the thread, and that made me remember how it went fairly unmentioned that he suddenly got cut as hell when he was in line to get a big title run. Suddenly every week he was taking the straps down like Jerry Lawler circa 1977 and looking like the most questionably buff 40-something since Barry Bonds.

That "offhand remark" was one of the hosts saying he'd beat his son with a shoe if he turned out to be transgendered as well as referring to said people as "idiots" and "freaks". Also that transgendered kids can be cured by either beatings or shock therapy. So yeah, sometimes advertiser pressure is what it takes to make people not act like mentally challenged inbreds. Just like in this case, WWE (even as conservative as the upper echelon tend to be) realized it's not good business to have an employee taking fringe talking point stands on a public forum with WWE's name all over it.

So don't you internet guys feel bad now? He's not a fatass, he was just slowly dying for YOU THE FANS until his innards spilled through his abdominal wall.

The more telling thing, regardless of how it ended up playing out, is that WWE thought referencing MJ would make anyone hip.

The thing about wrestling that makes it different is that the heels are supposed to provoke the crowd, so it's not surprising that sometimes that causes some people to try to run in the ring. My favorite two examples are the guy who tried to climb the cage in that Savage-DiBiase match and security (and Virgil) had to pull the guy off. I've been watching DiBiase matches on 24/7 and he gets amazing heel heat by just standing in the ring. I can see how the idea of him winning the title could drive someone who's already worked up to try to take matters into their own hands. The other example is when the nWo first formed after Hogan turned heel. That one fan made it in the ring and had to be subdued by (I think) Nash until security could take the guy away. That tended to happen a lot in WCW where fans would make it into the ring and either the wrestlers or the refs had to stop the guy until someone could get him. I'm surprised no one in WCW ever got hurt by a fan considering seemingly anyone could run into the ring for a good amount of time before anyone would stop them.

This tends to fly under the radar for the most part. They cut a bunch of guys they admittedly weren't using but don't pay a lot, then turn around and give all the executives fat raises. It's the age old business rule I guess, when there are expenses to cut always start with labor.

I know that's the normal reaction to a WWE injury (and more often than not I'd wager probably correct) but all accounts seem to have this just being a freak thing where he landed wrong and rolled his ankle, causing the tear. Not to mention Edge has been pretty lean in the Post-Wellness World so I wouldn't expect this to be enhancement related.

This was mentioned in the "Comments that don't deserve a thread" thread but I think it kind of does due to the potential ramifications. Edge was injured at a house show last night, possibly a torn Achilles tendon. WWE is looking at ways to get the tag belts on Rhodes and DiBiase, and this derails what looks like could have been a great heel combo with him and Jericho.

Most of TNA's big contracts are subsidized by Spike TV so I don't think they take that big of a hit financially. Biggest waste of money contract wise would be the 10 year deals the WWF gave to guys like Mark Henry and Big Show. Not in the smark "OMG FAT GUYZ SUX0R" way, but how there was never going to be an opportunity to make money off those deals.

Wasn't this originally supposed to be basically a Turner vs McMahon DVD and when Ted (not surprisingly) said no we ended up with this? I mean, if this set is covering Georgia Championship Wrestling it's hardly a WCW collection.

OK, that's odd. They have the show up right now where Rude and Fernandez won the belts and it is in fact the old style. What's up with that? They introduced the new belts weeks ago and now suddenly they switched back to the old ones. It's nice to know I'm not hallucinating my childhood recollections, but did they lose the new belts somewhere or what?