sek69

It's kinda funny, because it seems Edge was seen in the same way by the company for years, and he only got his shot at the top because they wanted to do a quick belt swap. Also: So you're saying anyone who sees a difference between MMA and pro wrestling is a behind the times old fart? I really don't see any connection between the two other than both are popular in Japan and both at least try to plan long term to build PPVs. I mean, pro wrestling and boxing have co-existed for about 100 years and for a good part of that time both were being presented as genuine contests. If anything, I see MMA replacing boxing in that dynamic simply because boxing seems to be unable to create any "feuds" that can generate more than one PPV buyrate. I mean, if Meltzer wants to include MMA in the WON awards that's fine, but they need to either make a separate award for MMA fighters or rename the Wrestler of the Year award.

Why would someone from UFC win Wrestler of the Year? Also, on a related note, Dave really needs to separate wrestling and MMA a little more clearly. I'm certain the WON is the driving force behind people who seem to think MMA is going to destroy wrestling.

I guess it can be debated how much input he had, but like it or not Crash TV was one of the things that helped WWF turn the corner on WCW. They went from the death throes of the cartoon era to an edgier style with Austin, Rock, and DX. WWF started targeting teens and young adults instead of the little kid demo the Hulkamania era was popular with. He also gives jobbers/lower midcarders a semblance of a gimmick or personality. Some of them suck, but really who didn't like Screamin' Norman Smiley? The thing about Russo is that he doesn't seem to know how to write a proper end so his shit goes on way past the point it should have been over and just keeps going.

I'll freely admit not having a vast library of either promotion yet, but I dig Pride's matches more than UFC so far. Even the champs-vs-cans matches remind me of NWA champs taking on jobbers. I guess what I'm saying is pretty much what everyone else has said, watch some of both and see what floats your boat the most.

from WO: There was much LOLZ-ing over them getting a low rating around Christmas time, I guess the folks who hate TNA but can't stop watching it every week so they can bitch about it are telling their friends to watch and bitch as well.

You know, I don't really want to defend Russo but there seems to be a definate trend to want to minimize any contributions Russo made at all because he is pretty much unquestionably an asshole at best and an egomaniac who nearly destroyed the business at worst. I realize it's really hard to overlook all the really bad stuff he's been responsible for, but the current trend of completely dismissing his entire body of work seems to be almost as much revisionist history as a typical WWE DVD.

If you have a Netflix subscription, they have UFCs 43-58 and a veritable assload of Pride stuff. I've decided to just jump head long into all of it. It's funny how UFC vs Pride ends up similar to WWF vs NWA in the 80s. Pride seems to have the better fights but UFC has the better (and perhaps more marketable) characters from what I've seen.

I often wonder if Ric Flair will end up the American Baba when it's all said and done: a guy who most people will remember as a flabby old man who everyone says was good decades ago but is most remembered as a guy who worked to the point of almost exposing the business due to age/decaying skills.

People will probably snark at it not being the best match technical-wrestling wise, but I'd say it was one of the best worked matches if that makes any sense. The end of the match going into the final reunion with Liz payoff was one of those moments that will never be able to be reproduced.

I was still chuckling at Maria doing the Jeff Hardy Shuffle during their intro and somehow managing to look more like a doofus doing it than Jeff usually does.

Besides Carlito's speech about the Rosie/Donald skit, the bit with Rated RKO taking everyone's DX sign reminded me of the bit in either this week's WON or last week's where Dave mentioned they were cracking down on signs at a house show and how silly it was.

I just hope for the continuted health of Kennedy's head and neck area that Batista doesn't try to power bomb him again.

I couldn't tell if Dave was just being dismissive because he just assumed it was a prank caller, or if it was because he agrees with AJ's viewpoint.

I love how AJ reacted like having a following in the gay community is some horrible insult.

Both please! PM'd you. -- Loss, 1/15

I was under the impression AJ was one of those "gays burn in hell" christians.

I just watched Impact and I noticed that in the PPV promo packages, they're using a picture of the NWA tag team belt in the world title match. Does Russo think the NWA title is too old school looking or something?

That's the same guy. It seems cheesy now, but what from the 80s doesn't twenty years later? However this very well could be where Vince got the "we're not in the rasslin' business" line. "Kevin Von Erich when he's HIGH AND FLYING"..........OMG Fritz must have nearly had another fake heart attack hearing that.

So considering how Teddy Hart was prominently featured in the Wrestle Society X promo video on MTV.com, what are the odds that Vince will sign him up just to be a dick?

So has the December to Dismember PPV replaced Bash 91 and WM IX as the worst PPV ever? I don't recall hearing about a show so poor it caused a wave of complaints to the providers.

This could be funny, cause Trump has proven with his Rosie O' Donnell feud that he can cut an effective wrestling promo.

I'm a bit of a MMA n00b, but I'm finally going to start trying to get caught up with the scene. I had a question about DVDs. In the WON, Dave will mention from time to time how WWE makes assloads off their DVD sales and that's one thing UFC can't compete with since there's some sort of copyright issue with the older footage. Was the footage not part of the deal when Zuffa bought UFC?

Considering it was during the holiday week, that's not too bad. TNA's ratings have been pretty good considering they've really only been on nationwide TV for like a year or two. You can make the case the ratings should be higher to justify some of their signings, but all in all I don't think Spike or TNA could have asked for much more.

(second post since "edit" wasn't working for me) I feel compelled to add another point as well. As much shit as Vince gets for being out of touch (not entirely undeserved), the biggest problem that WWE faces is that their head of talent relations spends more time signing clueless bimbos who end up pissing off the entire roster. I mean seriously, it's amazing how much Johnny (I won't even try to spell his real last name) Ace's stunning incompetence gets forgotten about. There's tons of guys flailing around with nothing to do, and his pet project is hiring 20 more models like Kelly Kelly. He's managed to make half naked women boring to wrestling fans. That takes a special kind of failure. Has anyone in the history of WWF/E gotten more heat for fucking things up and remained employed? Does he have nude photos of someone or what?

Agreed. If they had the same amount of people in creative, but they were actually fans of wrestling rather than guys in between sitcom gigs, there would be no problem. I kinda like the balance they have on their creative staff now where they have guys like Michael Hayes and Dusty along with the Hollywood rejects. While the main storylines are still made to please Vince, at least we get some good TV along the way on occaison. BTW, what happened with HHH supposedly being an 80s NWA mark? You'd think he'd be able to steer things away from the bad comedy and soap opera stuff. Maybe he's just biding his time until Vince kicks it and he gets a bigger say?