sek69

The end of WCW all tends to run together in my brain, can anyone remind me what was the deal with the Hogan-Sting match here? They intro Hogan first, (who doesn't come out) then intro Sting, then try to bring Hulk out again who finally comes out in street clothes to do the whole "lay down for the pin" thing and leaving. Was this an actual angle, or just backstage bullshit bubbling over to TV?

I know it's cliche at this point to bash the WWE writing team, but how much does it speak to their abilities to script promos when fucking Kevin Federline had the promo of the night on RAW? If he's ever stupid enough to divorce Britney, he's got a fine career ahead of him as a heel manager. That promo he did was very Andy Kaufmann 2006 style. Not too often do you see a "celebrity" expect to be booed *and* encourage it to the point where "controversial" John Cena got a huge pop to confront him. Not to mention it got Nitro and Melina over since they actually produced one of their celebrity friends instead of always talking about them like your buddy's girlfriend in Canada.

I didn't watch, but if they kept to kayfabe, Maria should have been bare ass naked within 5 hands of the "Diva Strip Poker" thing on ECW. I mean, her character is such an idiot that HHH has to explain what "Suck It" means, yet somehow she's able to grasp a decievingly complex game like poker?

Random thoughts: HHH again proves he doesn't pay attention to the internet by having a segment where DX responds to the comments the net has been making almost verbatim on RAW. I was shocked that Edge was allowed to point out that DX is a recycled gimmick from 10 years ago. Either he's got pics of HHH banging someone other than Steph or they're going to dump the mother of all burials on him next week. After watching Candice Michelle do a poor man's Elvira gimmick as the WWE 24/7 Halloween host, it seems clear that she's mildly retarded. Hearing her speak borders on painful, she has a speaking pattern that can only be described as a female version of Rick Steiner's halting brain-damaged style after huffing a tank of Helium. Benoit-Regal from No Mercy might be the stiffest US match ever. It was awesome to hear JBL marking out on commentary. It rules when you have two guys who are comfortable with each other in the ring like that and the results are a match where both beat the piss out of each other in a completely enjoyable manner.

For those of you not aware, he's the guy who stabbed Bruiser Brody. He's doing an angle in the IWA in Puerto Rico where Savio Vega stabs him with a fork: STAY CLASSY, PUERTO RICO!

This is fairly big news, some folks are predicting the demise of AAA as well. To put it in a US perspective, this would be like if Eric Bischoff dropped dead during the Monday Night Wars.

Basically that the company doesn't want wrestling fans to work in the production department, but all the PAs were required to watch 6 hours of wrestling a week (on top of working 45-50 hour weeks). They purposely don't list credits so no one can take credit for anything which lets WWE hold it over everyone's head that their jobs are expendable. He also mentioned stuff like WWE having their library on a giant server like machine where if you wanted to find every time Terry Funk did a certain move you can punch it up and get all the matches. Also, the Attitude Era stuff is unblurred in the archives and needs to be reblurred every time it's used. He hints that they do it that way because they're holding out hope they'll be able to use the scratch logo again (the lawsuit is still pending, they just started blurring to avoid any further claims by the Panda People). It's a huge pain in the ass, that's why you don't see it too much in DVD releases and almost never in promos and packages. Said that everyone in the company knows SmackDown is the B show, despite upper management trying to drill it into everyone's head that both shows were equal. There was also funny stuff like guys on the production staff not knowing HBK and Razor had a ladder match, and that Todd Grisham is a funny guy despite having almost zero knowledge of wrestling. He also mentioned that HHH is probably one of the nicest guys in the company (mentioned he came to the production studio while the guys were having lunch and just sat around BS'ing with them for like 2 hours) but he gets a rep for being a dick because he's such a perfectionist when it's time to put in work. One bombshell he mentioned was that according to folks on the writing staff, Randy Orton's suspension was a work. They wanted to move him to RAW and try to give him more of a bad boy edge, while working the "dirtsheets" at the same time. All the stuff like him talking about smoking a joint in WWE Magazine was just part of the work to make him seem more like a bad dude. The official company line is that TNA is considered just another TV show they compete against like 24 or whatnot, but every episode of Impact is recorded and logged (to see if any former employee uses a WWE trademark perhaps?) while UFC was not.

http://dl01.blastpodcast.com/indeedwrestli..._1157433044.mp3 Interesting look at the WWE from a guy who was on the low end of the totem pole.

I found it funny and interesting that they spent so much time on Brian's encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling when said knowledge is seen as the #1 way to not get or keep a job in the WWE. In fact, that's one of the most puzzling paradoxes of the company right now. They always stress in DVDs and whatnot how important it is to know the history of the business and respect it, yet if anyone dares to let it be known that they're even a fan they get looked down on as a dumb mark.

Just watched the main feature last night and a few things stood out: WWE can be schitzophrenic when it comes to if their DVDs follow kayfabe, but this was the most "open" DVD I can recall them producing. They usually use the insider doublespeak to talk about angles, characters, and co-operation but I don't ever remember them directly talking about it before. I was really taken aback with the acknowledgement of HHH and Steph's real marriage since Hunter blew a gasket at WWE.com for doing the same thing. I kinda chuckled as well at the mention that Vince thinks sleep is the enemy, what with the long standing rumor/open secret of his fondness for Columbia's finest. I was surprised how frank Vince was about the XFL. Yeah, they tried to put a spin on it a little, but they basically came out and said "yeah it flopped, but what the hell, it was worth a shot". Not to mention Joey Styles adding (correctly, IMO) that what turned the football audience off was too much WWE content. The stuff about the family was interesting. It seems that Shane has no stomach for the typical overboard McMahon stuff, while Steph thinks everything her dad does is brillant unless it involves her directly (the incest stuff, slapping Linda). Triple H making comments about Vince being the typical "you better not mess with my daughter" dad was hysterical. Made me think that it would have made a better storyline than DX vs Vince. Greg Gagne is a bitter, bitter man. Can't really blame him, but god DAMN could you see the steam rising off him. Ironically, his brief segment in this was a million billion times better than any promo he ever did in his career. He actually made me want to see him fight Vince. What the hell happened to Dusty? His embarrassing attempts at facial hair aside, the dark circles under his eyes made it looked like the Horsemen got back together and whooped his ass for old times' sake. That map of the territories they cut to a few times was awesome, someone should make a JPG of that. Finally, Shane said that now that Vince is in his 60s and a grandpa that he's going to start slowing down a bit to enjoy life. Guess in McMahonism "slowing down" means having Hell in a Cell matches with your son-in-law.

In a way you're right, but then you have DX squashing everyone left and right while driving the point home that they're the stars of the show and no one else is worth investing time in. All while JR babbles on his new blog about how the business is all about giving young guys the opportunity to shine. Right, just like the Highlanders were getting over as the team to finally beat the Spirit Squad and now they get jobbed to DX in seconds.

HHH's cheap shot on Masters tonight was really low class. I'm sure reports will come out that Masters was okay with it, but you really shouldn't have the boss's son-in-law make size jokes about a guy who reportedly had some severe mental issues about his body image. Especially when you're best friend is standing next to you looking like an anorexic 12 year old girl.

BTW, Angle hasn't had neck fusion yet. He need it, but he'd have to retire if he had it done.

Well despite the torn groin and abdominal muscles he suffered in his last WWE match, there's also his neck which is in such bad shape he gets occaisonal bouts of numbness in his extremites. He dropped RVD on his head because of it, which is something to consider if he gets in the ring with someone like Samoa Joe. I also don't really think he fully understands the consequences either. Look at his website, he credits TNA with "saving his life". That's not someone who has a strong grasp of what's going on. He's got a severe drug addiction, and he's now working for a company that has no testing whatsoever and seems to make a point of hiring people who get fired for drug reasons. I mean, think about it: in the past, Vince McMahon has employed guys with known drug issues like Roddy Piper, Kerry Von Erich, Brian Pillman, Eddie Guerrero, William Regal, and most of the 80s lockerroom, yet it was Kurt who got the "yeah, you got to go" treatment. It's like Keith Richards telling someone he can't party with him because he does too many drugs.

In short, yes. To expand, 3 months is not nearly enough for the injuries he had to heal, he shouldn't be working any schedule no matter how light, and (if Meltzer was right about his non-compete going to Feb 2007) gave up a shit load of money to risk his life for TNA.

So I'm watching the MSG 11/30/91 show on WWE 24/7, and it's during the time that Flair was doing the Real World's Champion bit. They already gave the big gold belt back at this point so they were doing the "video distortion" thing since Jack Tunney ordered Flair to stop carrying his belt. Well for the airing on 24/7, they tried to black it out rather than do the pixelation thing, and they pretty much missed it entirely. You can clearly see it's a WWF tag belt that was perhaps modified a little so the fans at the arena wouldn't completely see through it. It's funny, when it comes to blurring logos, they'll find someone sitting near the roof holding a WWF sign and blur it, yet they did a pretty half ass job here.

I'm sure they'll get trounced, but I'd love to see Monday Night War 2.0.

Somewhere in the DVDVR thread (among all the people who usually bash TNA claming they'll never watch again) someone made a comment that TNA is going head to head with RAW and that was the real announcement. Anyone able to verify that?

That's kinda sad in a way. I guess once you start looking at things a certain way it's hard to go back, but it's funny that most of us used to sit in front of the TV with our bowls of Captain Crunch eagerly awaiting another hour of jobber matches on WWF TV but now we go into a major match on PPV with a blah feeling. Maybe I've been watching too much old stuff lately (the upside of being home sick for two days is that I end up with a lot of time to watch wrestling), but I really miss being able to look forward to a show without automatically assuming the whole thing is going to be terrible. I also don't want to become one of those guys who thinks everything current sucks and the only good wrestling was 20 years ago in tiny TV studios. That's why I was bummed over Boogeyman getting released. Yeah he sucked as a wrestler, but the character was entertaining. Marty Wright went into the role with gusto. Boogeyman never had a promo that sounded like he was reading off cue cards, or like a kid having to recite a book report from memory.

Kinda sucks, I liked the gimmick. Guess he wasn't going to be able to rehab his injuries fast enough. I like how WWE.com always makes sure to give someone's real name when announcing their release, as if it's their equivalent of tearing someone's rank patches off their sleeve.

I watched this match the other day, and I found myself into it more than anything WWE has done for a while. I realized it was because there was a lot of little things you don't see much in WWE anymore. For example: Shane McMahon's performance was so old school it was great. It was if someone gave him a comp of Tully Blanchard matches so he could perfect the "smug rich guy taking an assbeating" role. Shane gets a lot of flak for being what some people call the world's richest backyard wrestler, but he brings the goods more than just some idiot falling off stuff. He actually got a face pop for putting HHH in the Torture Rack, as if the crowd just all realized at the same moment "Holy shit, the guy who does the goofy dances just put a guy bigger than him across his shoulders". Plus he wore a white jersey in a match where blading was involved. I'm sure a certain someone who was also in the match probably hipped him to it, but it always makes the visual aspect look that much more violent. Vince McMahon being put into the Big Show's ass, while fulfilling the current WWE requirement of homoeroticism and naked man ass, was also the classic "heel gets his comeuppance" that is often missing in today's feuds. JR, to use an analogy he'd appricate, is like a former Super Bowl winning QB who's past his prime but every so often shows flashes of what made him great. His outburst of "JESUS CHRIST!" when HHH broke the sledgehammer across Vince's back was just the seemingly spontaneous outburst that's usually not there in the heavily scripted WWE universe. So while it wasn't the "Match of The Year" or a technical wrestling masterpiece, it was a nice little bit of old school goodness from a company that hates anything remotely old school.

I seem to recall High Voltage getting a push on WCW Saturday Night, but that show was in a parallel universe by that point. Didn't one of High Voltage end up winning the WCW tag titles with Rick Steiner as well?

Weren't High Voltage graduates of the WCW Power Plant? I'd assume WCW was just trying to push their students.

Meltzer was more of a fan of the NWA than the WWF in the 80s, and from the admittedly few examples of WONs from the time period, he goes to great lengths to shit on anything the WWF did during that time. Gorilla was always saying stuff like "you'll only see action like this in the World Wrestling Federation" in his commentary so he became the focal point of people who were anti WWF. I'll grant that Gorilla wasn't that great at the tail end of his career, but I don't see how anyone could say he was the worst Announcer any year in the 80s.

So most of you probably know how the WB and UPN networks are merging into the CW, right? Well part of the area served by the call center I work in extends to West Virginia (home of Jamie Noble). Their UPN station went dark last week, and the CW doesn't start programming till next week. So no UPN, on a Friday night, in West Virginia. Ho-lee shit. I think the whole state called in asking what happened to SmackDown.