sek69

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.

What I'm saying is that people buy boxing PPVs all the time that are always $54.95 for big name fights, and they have parties where their friends all come over and everyone chips in. Compared to wrestling PPVs, which are no longer being shown by bars and restaurants because fans will come in and sit all night and spend no money. The HD price is probably excessive, but in most cases if someone can afford an HDTV they can probably afford to spend stupidly high prices for a 4 hour HD PPV show.

Oh please. Wrestlemania is always worth the price, even if John Cena is in the main event or they have a boxing guy on the card or whatever stupid reason the "hardcore" fans have for hating this show. UFC and boxing PPVs have always charged at least $10 more for HD PPV, so it's no shock WWE is following suit. Most people paying for HD PPV are going to have a party and split the cost with friends, which is another thing most "hardcore" fans can't relate to since the reason bars aren't showing WWE PPVs anymore is cheap ass wrestling fans who sit there for 4 hours with their bottomless glass of Sprite.

Someone should show Vince some tapes of Kimbo Slice in Elite XC, since they seem to be doing the Hulk Hogan in 1983 build with him.

Actually, there really wasn't an opinion among hardcores that Maggie was "great" in the 80s. I'd be surprised if he ever finished in the Top 10 in the annual WON Worker Polls (not the awards... the Worker Polls that Meltzer conducted). I'm not sure Maggie every even cracked the Top 20. Granted... those polls aren't perfect as can be seen how Jumbo rates. My point is more that the notion that Maggie was a great worker really isn't something that was out there at the time. Not like say a Bobby Eaton or a Ted DiBiase from the era. No doubt there are some individual fans who thought he was a good worker. But it didn't really make a dent. My vibe in reading the stuff was that he was thought of as being akin to Good Sting as a worker. From my watching him at the time before he crashed the car, he just didn't do much for me. When I started getting stuff later in the 80s and in the early 90s... he didn't do much for me. John How much weight should be put into the opinion of the "hardcores" when time and time again they are shown to the biggest marks in all of wrestling fandom? They're also some of the hardest to please as well, so not being considered a favorite of theirs is almost a plus when it comes to evaluating someone as a worker.

I think it's pretty hilarious that she's become the best writer on the site in a matter of weeks. All those guys who post heaps of badly formatted tl;dr essays on TEH BIZ must be going crazy.

I'm honestly surprised there is a negative opinion on Magnum TA. I thought it was just common knowledge he was a good wrestler. I'm not trying to pick a fight when I say anyone who brings "when does it get good" to the discussion almost sounds like a person trying to be willfully ignorant. I mean, had things worked out differently he was probably going to be the top babyface leading the NWA into the 80s and 90s.