sek69

Well there's no doubt that Stephanie's "Billion Dollar Princess" character owes a debt to Missy Hyatt. All Steph was missing was the Gucci bag to hit people with.

Poor Tatum, he got forgotten in real life and in storylines. Now he's running a state fair according to obsessedwithwrestling. He's probably one of the saddest stories in wrestling that isn't directly drug and/or alcohol related as he ended up not only second fiddle to his wife but having to have his breakup turned into a wrestling angle.

I was watching the Looney Tunes Golden Collection 3 today, listening to the commentary tracks and learning about the history behind the cartoons we all grew up with. One of the things you learn is that Bob Clampett (director of some of the early Bugs Bunny cartoons, among others) claimed he was the sole creator of Bugs Bunny, much to the chagrin of the other famous directors who had more of a hand in the creation. Fast forward to today and there's a group of people like Ren and Stimpy creator John K who worship the ground Clampett walks on and takes the time on his commentary on the Golden Collection to bash other directors at every opportunity. Why? Mainly because history's shown Clampett was a dick and a lot of the people who worked with him have gone on the record saying so over the last 50 years. You may be wondering where the wrestling tie-in comes in, and it's here: Some folks, after learning the behind the scenes stories, no longer feel the same way about the cartoons they grew up watching as a kid and I wonder if that doesn't happen with wrestling as well. An unfortunate part of the smartening up process is an awareness of the politics and other assorted bullshit that goes into what ends up shown on TV every week. I know every one of us has had their enjoyment of a show or match ruined just a little knowing that in a match between A and B, B is going to win because there's no way he'd agree to job for A. Things like that take you out of the atmosphere the workers are trying to create, and it ends up making fans more cynical and jaded. I know there's times where I wish I didn't know so much about the inner workings of the business, and I wonder what it would be like watching the last decade or so of wrestling through the eyes of someone not so "aware". Not someone who thinks everything's legit, just someone who doesn't read the sheets or go to message boards and websites. Nothing symbolizes this feeling as much as the last episode of Nitro. I knew from reading websites that Vince bought WCW and would probably appear on the last episode. Had I not known that, that show would have taken on a much different tone for me. As such, I pretty much knew what to expect and when it happened I was just "meh" instead of marking out. So I guess my question is this: Would you trade the "insider" knowledge you've gained for the ability to watch wrestling the way you did before you knew about politics and such?

That second pic is probably the first unattractive pic I've seen of Maria, and the cig only makes it more so.

I know his history, I was just poking fun at how much of a poser Punk and some of the more annoying Straight Edge crowd can be. Drinking and smoking are bad, but fucking every slut you come across is A-OK.

Maria and CM Punk. Ironically, there's probably no sex involved since Punk is Straight Edge.

On one hand, you can't argue with Watts' style since guys had performances under his watch they never came close to matching anywhere else. On the other hand you can't help but argue that the way he got guys to produce at those levels also bought their tickets out of his promotion.

WWE will probably do in 2006 what they've been doing the last several years, stumble around until they find the next hot property (by accident usually), then brag about how smart they are.

The Orndorff story along with the famoust HBK story reveal Bill Watts' biggest shortcoming: He was good at motivating people, but in the process he'd piss them off so much they'd end up hating his guts and leaving.

I've always been an NWA mark, so my all-time favorite promotions were places like World Class and JCP. I just preferred their "realer" style over the more cartoony WWF product of the time. My current favorite would probably be TNA, ironically also because I prefer their product over the more cartoony WWE stuff. Not everything they try to do ends up working, but they aren't afraid to let their guys go balls-out without handcuffing them with style limitations.

Again, I have to say I don't think they'd be kicking the idea of more titles around if they weren't at least getting the impression from Spike of increased TV time.

By the way, I don't think USA has the Dog Show anymore. But if they still have tennis or something, then they might get bumped for that. Or if the ratings decline any more, "Monk" reruns. Raw's getting bumped in Feb, I believe, for the dog show.

I know most people have been trained by the WWE "divas" to think that most women wrestlers are talentless bimbos with ginormous fake knockers, but there's a lot of talented women workers in various NWA territories that TNA could bring in that would mean a women's division with actual wrestling talent.

I'd wager the fact that this is being considered would mean that TNA must think they're going to get additional TV time in 2006. The ratings for Impact have been steady, the one dip was recovered the next week. They've done the best you could hope for with the incredibly shitty timeslot they currently have. I think once WWE starts getting pre-empted by dog shows again, you're going to start seeing 2 hour TNA shows.

Overabundance? One of TNA's problems is they only have 2 (3 if you count the World title, which is pretty much JJ's) titles and a shitload of people milling about with not much going on.

TNA is considering adding a Women's title (NWA World Women's title perhaps?) and a tag team X divison title sometime in the next year. The X tag title would add some depth to the division and give some of the guys not in the singles X title hunt something to do, and I have to admit I'm interested to see what a non WWE company can do with women's wrestling. I don't see why it can't find a niche without having to be reduced to bra and panty jello pudding fights.

Bret Hart's DVD sold well in Canada? Color me shocked!

The Japan scene is interesting... in the US people complain that Vince having a virtual monopoly is part of the reason his company's creatively in the tubes, yet part of the reason Japan's in a mess is because there was about a billion indy feds at one point.

Actually someone like SK pointing out Bret's repetivness is somewhat significant since he's such an admitted Bret mark.

LOL @ Bret calling other people's matches repetitive Five Moves of Doom, anyone?

Missy wasn't bad as long as she wasn't whining as part of her spoiled brat gimmick. She really toned that down after the UWF era.

Watching NWA TV from 1986 reminded me how horrible David Crockett was on commentary. He'd literally. Pause so long while talking. He'd end up speaking in mini-sentences. Like someone. Learning. How to read. So annoying.

If Matt was so keen on protecting his momentum, he would have no sold Vince "rehiring" him and killing all the heat off his program with Edge.

What I don't get is all the Kurt Angle love that seems solely due to the fact that he's stopped doing that Goofy Kurt gimmick he's had off and on since he started in WWE and became Serious Kurt Wearing a Mouthpiece. If anything, his deterioration is progressing at an alarming rate. He's still capable of bringing it in the ring, but I see so many folks saying he's not only the best in WWE but one of the current best in the world and I start to wonder if it's possible to deliver crack via broadband internet.

I guess Matt had to be a man, and couldn't let it slide. He's a real American. Fights for the rights of every man.