sek69

So I wonder if Randy Orton's going to end up jobbing to Eugene since he dropped a WWF-bomb on live TV tonight.

I don't know if I'd consider it ball-polishing, he's basically stated that the early 90s was as steroid free as the WWF could possibly get and Vince sees a direct connection between that and the company losing money. Not to mention how they stopped testing completely as a direct result of WCW.

Is it even possible for a show to be more "Vince" than tonight?

Anyone else I could understand, but we all know how Vince holds grudges and after the whole lawsuit thing I was shocked to see Hall using the Razor Ramon name on a show with WWE talent.

It's interesting they'd bill him as Razor Ramon (although he wrestles in his nWo Wolfpac era gear) since you'd think WWE would be well aware of it. He even wrestled Carlito at the Anniversary show. I guess Vince must have a real affinity for daddy Carlos.

Ronnie P Gossett's passing marked Dave's remembrance of one of the great cons when Ronnie sold half of Memphis (that he didn't own) to some unsuspecting money mark. He went to jail for it, so I guess he didn't learn how to finish it properly like Lawler did.

Your new WWC Universal Champion: "Razor Ramon" Scott Hall. He's actually being billed as that. Doesn't US copyright law extend to PR or is that one of those things that don't apply like having representative in Congress? *edit* here's a photo: He actually looks to be in better shape than the last time I saw a photo of him looking like Fat Elvis. However shaving the stubble off his face makes him look 10+ years older.

USA is on the expanded basic tier on most (if not all) cable systems, and those channels haven't been moved in years.

I don't remember the specifics, but I recall reading about Vince not having a talent contract around the time the Wellness Policy came into effect.

I just might be tempted to pick up a used PS2 from my local game shop just for this.

The funny thing about Wahlers is the way he writes in such short, abrupt paragraphs makes all his columns look like haiku for the mentally challenged.

This past week aside, does anything on USA come close to the usual RAW rating? I'd guess Monk probably does, but not much else. I don't think USA would just toss WWE aside when they have a pretty sweet deal (don't they get all the ad revenue?) and good ratings. If anything, this just means WWE has less leverage when it comes time to negotiate a new contract. I could see USA possibly cutting bait if any more bad PR comes out against WWE, but I don't think ratings alone will spell anyone's doom. What sucks is that RAW has been on a roll lately, and I hope the ratings don't cause a panic where everything currently being done is scrapped for more EDGY~! programming.

Watching RAW from 1997, I just realized how Sunny completely copied Rick Rude's "fat, out of shape" heat routine. I guess I was distracted by something when I was watching this as an 18 year old........ *edit* TELL ME A LIE VIDEO! GREATEST RAW EVER!

You know, considering how funny WWE gets when it comes to editing stuff on 24/7 that could be construed as "uncomfortable", during the Bossman/Akeem/Andre vs Demolition/Duggan match they zoom in on a sign at ringside saying "DEMOLITION WILL BRING DOWN THE TWIN TOWERS" with a drawing of what looks like the WTC. Also, it was hilarious to see Andre come out to "Jive Soul Bro" for this match.

I wonder, what would everyone here suggest for ways to fix the business?

So we end up at the same point a lot of political debates end at, the idea that nothing will change so why bother even trying.

For those who watch Adult Swim, the commercial bumps during "Action" shows contain one that's a picture of a building with "TBS" on it. That's the Techwood Drive studios of WCW Saturday Night fame, located across the street (or a few freeways) from the Adult Swim studios on Williams Street.

Wow, this is why TNA needs to never go out of business. Just to keep bringing the awesome carny.

The thing is that Vince (and I guess every promoter, but Vince is the best at it) preys on people's vulnerabilities and weaknesses while pushing all the right macho bullshit buttons to get guys to do what they want. Yes when it comes down to it, it's the individual wrestler who pops that pill or plunges that needle, but to act like in every case that decision was made clearly is just asinine. I liken it similar to a military induction. You get told what to think and what to do, and before you know it you're making choices that perhaps aren't in your best personal interest for the good of the corps (or the business).

Gah, the "ITS A PERSONAL CHOOOOOOOOOICE" crowd is really pissing me off. Like I said in the DVDVR thread, it's really not a personal choice when it's been made clear the company considers guys who don't do what they're told to be pussies who can't handle the workload of being a wrestler.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6175782.html The price point is rumored to be $19.99, which would be awesome. If you've played any other Fire Pro games, that's pretty much all you need to hear. If you've never played, GO OUT AND GET THIS GAME! Fire Pro, IMO, is the greatest series of wrestling games ever produced. Even the two games for GBA are worth the effort to track down (the first one might be hard to get thanks to the UFC though).

from WO.com:

Wow what a douche. The divorce was the last straw, but pretty much everyone agreed wrestling left him a mess physically. JYD's death was not drug related, but he certainly had a problem. It cost him his job in the WWF when he was a top babyface. You can tell he's never worked a job outside of the pro wrestling business. You can't even get hired to work the fryolator at McDonald's without passing a drug test. Also, most non sports jobs are not likely to be rife with roids or HGH either. Nancy and Daniel would beg to differ. Only midcarders were getting released and the suspensions stopped when they started to interfere with storylines/PPVs which tells you all you need to know about how serious their testing is. So is Ryder trying to wrangle himself a WWE job or what? Surely he doesn't think they need him to be their interweb shill?

Which is one of my biggest concerns. Congressional action is essentially drug testing employees of a private company. Would any of us be comfortable if the government tested us for drugs at our own workplace? If my workplace had an alarming amount of deaths, I'd probably welcome any investigation. Now I realize Congress may not be able to directly change WWE policy, but perhaps airing all their dirty laundry on a public forum would shame them into making some real changes. If nothing else, for the stockholders' sake at least. I can understand how anti-government people would be upset at this, but then they should stop and think how we got to this point.

I don't think anyone's trying to arrest Vince, that's just WWE "everyone's out to get us" paranoia. However, if evidence turns up that Vince or any WWE official was aware of the drug trafficking these doctors seemed to be doing, they could be boned. I think people kinda want the deaths to slow/stop more than "OMG GET VINCE".