sek69

That reminds me, why don't they do end credits in wrestling anymore? One of the neat little things about WWE 24/7 is seeing the crew lists on both the WWF and NWA shows (Producer: Virgil Runnels!). I mean even if you're pretending that wrestling is real, someone still has to work the camera and they haven't been shy about showing the production truck/crew on TV.

In today's update, Dave mentions that WWE will be announcing that all their shows in the US will be rated PG. Any thoughts on what that will mean, and will this include PPVs too?

While Dave would give them props for their production, and of course acknowledge how much they were drawing, it seemed pretty clear that he didn't like the fact that it was Vince's cartoon style and not the more traditional NWA style that was going to be the mainstream success. Also: Who was this referring to? The only guy I can think of who disappeared after the Duggan-Sheik incident was Adrian Adonis, but I don't think cocaine was his biggest problem. JYD maybe?

Future Dave would be upset at the use of the word mark like that.

The football thing I could give you, but the gist of his rant was yet another "blarg, internet is TEH EVILZ" routine like we've seen millions of times from people in the wrestling business who seem to be the most mad about the internet making it a little harder to con people. I'm not saying the internet isn't full of jackholes, cause Lord knows we all are aware of that fact, but because of the internet a wrestling company can't just come out and say some bullshit without having it called on by someone on a message board. It really seems to piss off the old carnies that they have to put a little more effort into working the marks due to that goshdarn interweb thingy. Also, based on his reaction to the Benoit deal, it probably would be a good idea if he didn't talk about murders.

The latest from the "JR is running out of things to be grouchy and vile about" department: Uh, yeah. A guy who's spent over 20 years in the wrestling business hates the internet because there's bad language, people use fake names, and sometimes spread bullshit to get themselves over. Is JR working a neo-Andy Kaufman gimmick where he's being so blatantly grouchy that people don't realize the onion-like layers of irony? Also this: Which is JR basically saying "don't assume future events spoil anything 'cause no one knows what the fuck's happening further than next week". Of course, that's true, but a WWE employee saying so in public is pretty LOL.

You know, I've heard this off and on, it seems to stem from the WON back in the 80s when Dave was in an anti WWF mindset and seemed to hate everything they were doing. I don't recall him working his own storylines, unless you're talking about the running jokes he'd have with other announcers. The only times I've heard him ignore or crap on matches would be during those excruciating 30 minute jobber vs jobber matches where you can't really blame him for not wanting to discuss the finer points of a 15 minute Steve Lombardi headlock.

For old school attempted vehicular homicide, Roddy Piper ran Goldust over with a car in their backlot brawl at Wrestlemania.

I believe he did a promo at one point about making somebody famous (by beating them), and dubbed his finisher the Fame-ass-er, which later became the "Famous-er" when they realized they couldn't use the original version in games and whatnot.

So..............apparently attempted murder is a monthly occurrence on RAW now? I guess the whole appeal to kids thing is over?

I think the whole argument about Vince doing more to change wrestling comes down to 2 key points: 1. No one else in the industry is in the position to change things but Vince, so making him out to be a hero for doing things no one else has the ability to do is a bit hollow. 2. He only made the changes he did to avoid further embarrassment and/or damage to his company, I guess you can argue about doing the right things for the wrong reasons, but he did make changes that will help wrestlers *if* (and this is a big if) the changes don't get undone a few years down the line.

Also, he was writing a book that is supposed to engage the reader, not a textbook. It seems like some people are upset that Matt took on a tone that wasn't plain and straightforward, which would have made for a book that was boring as hell. Plus, with the stories that we know are true with the parties involved in the book, is exaggerating the right word anyway? If a couple of tales are embellished, there's scores more that have been accepted as true.

That may be true, but if Dave came out and said "this book, while maybe not 100% factually accurate, is a prime example of how the mentality that exists in wrestling can lead to horrible things", I'd wager that there would be some people who would stop talking to him. I don't mean to attempt to insult Dave's integrity, but the guy's livelihood depends on a group of people who embody the "LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU" mindset to the fullest. I don't even know if it's self censoring either, I really think that Dave has convinced himself that everything he's saying is impeachable truth.

He owned part of Capitol Sports, right? Also I'll cop to not knowing a whole lot of WWWF history, buy wasn't he also involved with booking some of the areas outside of NYC back then? Like I said, I'd say he should be in just for his announcing work alone and anything else would be icing on the cake.

Also, Gorilla not being in as an announcer/backstage guy is ridiculous and probably due entirely to Dave's weird hate boner for the guy in the 80s. Monsoon was the voice of the WWF for anyone who started watching in the 80s, and should probably be in for that alone not even taking into account his work behind the scenes.

I think you can make a case for The Midnights/RnRs for changing how tag team matches were looked at (weren't they the first tag teams to main event that wasn't two main eventers paired up?), and maybe Ivan Koloff, but after that I think what Loss said is right.

I tend to agree with the opinion that a lot of people in "TEH BIZ" are pissed off over the book on some level and Dave's review comes across as him trying to put out the fires so he doesn't lose any of his sources. Also, he's been around wrestlers and the wrestling business for so long it's not out of the question to think he'd share some of the defensiveness wrestlers show when an "outsider" criticizes their profession. Consider our very own Jingus, who never misses a chance to remind us of his involvment in wrestling, still clinging to the "there's no proof wrestling caused anything" point so imagine what people who actually knew/worked with/talked to Benoit must think.

At this point, anyone who manages to not die in their 30s or kill anyone can claim to have successfully negotiated their way through a pro wrestling career.

I got that vibe as well. I could tell from Dave's review of the Pillman DVD that he felt pretty strongly about Brian (and maybe a little of "maybe I could have done something more" as well) and that almost all of his issues with Ring of Hell seem to stem from him catching feelings over anyone even suggesting mean things about him. Also it kind of alarms me that Dave dismissing so quickly the fact that Benoit idolized one of the biggest psychopaths in wrestling history. It's not as if he didn't meet him until much later and not know what a tremendous asshole Dynamite was. It's one thing to find out your hero is a jerk. It's quite another to find that out and continue to hold him in high regard as if nothing happened. For a guy who usually is fast to point out the twisted mindset that seems to thrive in pro wrestling, Dave really bends over backwards to drive home his point that completely patterning your career around a guy who not only was a dick but also ended up in a wheelchair has no connection at all with Benoit ending up with brain damage/becoming a family annihilator. It's like he'll fully acknowledge the messed up side of the business in a "lol, wrestling" kind of manner, but once there's a hint of it leading to serious shit he's almost as bad as the Justice for Benoit people.

Again, the key part isn't what she jumped off of, but that she landed on one leg because she was selling the leg injury from earlier in the match.

It's only 10 matches. The WWF MSG shows of the time seemed to have around 9 to 11 matches each. MSG shows were pretty much just houseshows. This was supposed to be the kickoff to the biggest event of the summer and you have Black Bart vs Todd Champion? Major WWF shows didn't load up the jobbage like that.

Reading that lineup made me realize one aspect of the NWA vs WWF battle that seems to go unnoticed: NWA shows were always entirely too fucking long. Outside of TV tapings, major WWF shows always had the pacing to build up the enthusiasm , leading to the crescendo of the main event. NWA shows were always jam packed with guys who really didn't need to be on card, or trying to have every territory represented no matter how long it made the show run.

It's funny to hear someone from WWE giving UFC tips on how to build their brand when they've been forced to go more kid-oriented since UFC has pretty much taken all their fanbase over age 21 or so.

Jumping from a height and landing on one leg is pretty much guaranteeing bad things will happen, especially to bigger folks.

I think Fox just wants Smackdown to give MNTV something close to a respectable rating. If they get anything close to what they did on the CW, it would put WWE in a position of calling the shots of sorts. Although not moving SD back to Thursdays is a sign that MNTV execs must be happy with the barely measurable ratings they currently get.