sek69

I wonder with the new WWE "get people talking with SHOCKING non sequitor moments" policy if JR knew ahead of time. He either wasn't told or he did the best sell job RAW has seen in ages. Him sitting there stewing was GOLD.

Of course they don't actually change the finishes, they just have stuff happen around them so you don't notice as much.

That was the best ending to a RAW in a long time. I look forward to the new era of Regal going on rampages and bloodying faces.

Didn't WWE cut ties with Chris Nowinski once his group started suggesting a link between concussions and the murders? It seems odd that they would then do a 180 and basically do what SLI was wanting them to do.

Actually I'm fairly certain the fake Razor/Diesel gimmicks happened because they had a relationship with AAA at the time. Vince saw how they put different people in gimmicks when the originals leave and decided to try it. Also they had to show they were still using the characters after Hall and Nash left due to the lawsuit that was pending.

A year ago you could have said the same thing about Benoit.

I was hoping it was Snitsky just so we could hear how IT WASN'T HIS FAULT~!

I had no idea Bruno quit in 1988, I thought he was long gone by then. I don't remember seeing him after those 6 man matches that were hyping WM III. How funny is it that Bruno is basically the wrestling equivalent to the little league mom mad at the coach over her son not getting enough playing time, and Vince is the coach who has to be the one to say the kid sucks. Not to mention the Sammartinos had a falling out over David being a steroid user all while Bruno was the biggest critic of bloated physiques. ESPN Classic provided so much comedy since they've shown bloated AWA 1986 David and also chemo patient 1991 UWF David.

The story from the Fox Atlanta: What? Since when is it not illegal to take steroids w/o proper medial clearance (which obviously is what's being implied here)?

What's up with wrestlers suddenly being really dumb about hiding their stash? Really..a crawl space? Did he keep a secret porn collection in there too?

We knew that before the Benoit stuff. Irv is building this up as a SHOCKING REVEAL~! and it's not even news for anyone who's paid attention at any point in the last 20+ years.

Man, Irv's really coming across as an obsessed nut on that blog. What's it going to prove if Vince/WWE knew Chris did the murders before the show started?

Reading that piece and getting hung up on a date of all things seems to be remarkably nit picky to say the least.

I didn't want to start Benoit Topic #708091, but I can't stop re-reading the section in the WON I got today detailing Benoit's cell records. Key points mentioned: - Chris was unknowingly blowing Daniel off, not aware that his son had learned to call people using speed dial on cell phones (he was highlighting his father's name and hitting the button). That along with Nancy's texts (which were basically "wtf is wrong with you") is just heartbreaking. - Apparently after that tag match with CM Punk vs Monty Brown and Elijah Burke where everyone had a brainfart and the ref had to call a shoot DQ, Benoit blew up on everyone backstage. Punk texted an apology to him later that night. - Nancy was on him to get off steroids since it was causing mood swings, saying it was making him passive aggressive. - Benoit was depressed over never getting to see his two older kids despite paying $60,000 a year in support. - People Benoit called on 6/22 include Bill DeMott, Chris Jericho, Delta (to rebook his flight for the PPV I guess), Bob Holly, Rey Mysterio, Teddy Hart (!), "Terry Gordy" (who Dave assumes is Terry Ray Gordy aka Jesse), and Chavo Guerrero. - Chavo, Jericho, and Scott Armstrong called numerous times, almost every time Benoit would let it go to message and then call to check the message within 3 minutes. - On Monday before wrestlers got the news, Chavo, Vickie, Finlay and the neighbor who found the bodies called. - Jericho texted Benoit to let him know about Beef Wellington's death shortly after he was presumed to have hung himself (Dave adds he emailed Benoit at almost the same time with the same info). - The mysterious third person who Benoit spoke to on 6/22 was John Laurinatis. - The day after the RAW show, 3 different wrestlers (who aren't named) sent texts to Benoit's phone as a means of some kind of closure. After reading the story the only question that comes to my mind is why did they wait so long to send police? Clearly Chavo and Scott Armstrong were freaking out (which is probably why they got the infamous "physical address" messages) for several days but no one was sent to investigate until that Monday. Also the story pretty much removes any doubt that WWE didn't know when they did the tribute show. They may not have had official conformation yet, but several WWE officials and agents had been calling all weekend and anyone with common sense would have to reason that something horribly bad had happened. It doesn't answer any of the Big Questions of course, but it's a window into what was going on during that awful weekend,

It's so easy to be cynical about pro wrestling, and usually for good reasons, but if the end of that match didn't draw you in then nothing will. HBK as the reluctant executioner of Flair's career might be one of the top performances by a wrestler ever. Flair getting to his knees before the final Superkick and being all "come on, motherfucker" was great too. The sight of the Greatest of All Time going out on his shield was the kind of stuff you usually only see in war movies.

Not that anything Bix is saying is wrong, but I gave up on wrestling fans acting anything resembling human beings a long time ago.

It's scary how Rock can come back and still be like a million billion years above everyone in the company charisma wise. The lines about Jericho's hair and HHH's need for the title getting Steph pregnant had me pissing myself. Also, I really really really want to see a Rock-Santino program.

I saw some YouTube clips of Sid in I think Memphis recently and he looked pretty much like he always did.

Re-reading that made me notice the not so subtle homophobia, Liza Minnelli entrances indeed. Note to humorless amateur wrestling nerds: your beloved sport is basically gay porn with wacky headgear.

It seems like amateur wrestling people are like the "don't you know that stuff is fake?" crowd turned to 11. I honestly thing they believe that bumps don't hurt, blood is fake, weapon shots don't really hit. Perhaps they believe in stunt grannies too.

from somewhere that c/p'ed it from Amazon: Apparently Rock had control over which matches went on the set, which probably explains why there doesn't seem to be any obvious gaps.

Don't forget that John Cena got his push because Steph heard him rapping backstage and decided it should be his gimmick.

I always assumed when Dave spoke about OVW divas having/not having the "look" WWE wants it was code for whether or not Vince wants to bang them. Not to mention I thought it was an open secret that women get pushed/depushed based on their willingness to play ball if you weeeeel.

Wasn't HBK sent home for "being in bad shape" until a combo of his kids, Kevin Nash, and Jesus got him to clean up? Also I seem to recall Dave mentioning Ron Simmons was "in bad shape" backstage at the 12/29 RAW which led him to check into rehab. Perhaps the WWE chain of drug abuse is first time you get sent home and the second time it's rehab or GTFO?

I think WWE is banking on a lot of HD owners wanting to waive their digital penis around to be able to buy a better looking show than the common folk. A lot of people will only watch programming in HD once they have the option. Is it a sound strategy? Probably not, but that's what WWE has decided to do. I'd wager that they probably will end up keeping HD PPV the same price as standard once HD becomes further entrenched as the future of TV. Hell, right now where I live doesn't even have a HD PPV channel.