sek69

Loss is right, if this isn't a work, it's pretty telling that guys don't even care if they get punished anymore.

I just happened to end up talking about this with people on IRC. I think people on Smackdown are getting tired of being treated like the B-show. Look at when SD guys invade RAW, they might beat up some jobbers or mid carders, but the top guys usually get away scot free. When RAW guys invade SD, it's usually mid card RAW guys destroying most of the SD roster like we saw yesterday. It's got to be demoralizing to the SD roster, when the company so blatantly favors one brand over the other. Tazz and Cole better watch out, cause anyone who speaks truth in WWE ends up getting humilated, de-pushed, or fired. Sometimes all three.

I think it pisses off Vince, or at least people that have his ear, that there's people who think ECW offered a better product than WWF/E. If they release DVDs that only have garbage (figuratively and literally), they probably think that will prove that WWE product is better.

Knowing Vince, this is probably an attempt to convince newer fans that WWE is the best promotion ever by releasing a DVD of bad ECW garbage matches.

This strikes me as odd, seeing as though they can't even say the word "violent" on WWE programming anymore. I wonder how they'll pimp this on TV, call it "ECW's Most Physically Intense Matches"?

I would think if WWE was dumb enough to let Benoit's deal expire and he went to TNA, Bret would go there to have a final match so he can end his in ring career on his terms. If Bret's still in any kind of shape (and it appears he is), Benoit would be able to carry him if he had to. I'd wager that's what the discussion was. Bret probably told them to give him a call if they land Benoit. I agree that Bret would be a good manager type, since TNA seems to be the only place left that still incorporates old school male managers.

When Kane and Show first attacked, they laid Batista out with a boot or a clothesline and Dave was holding his arm in a way that made it look like he was hurt and was trying to shake it off.

Did anyone watch Smackdown tonight? I paid close attention since I knew about the injury, and it looked like Batista was holding his arm kind of funny after the start of the 2 on 1 attack as if he felt something wrong and was trying to survey the damage while still selling.

Being the best wrestler on RAW these days is like being the skinniest kid in fat camp. The argument being made isn't that Angle is in any way horrible, rather its that he's not the best wrestler in the world that some make him out to be.

Isn't it all but confirmed the Genesis suprise guy is Christian, other than TNA's attempts to be coy?

I don't think Styles is THAT bad outside the ring, he's supposed to be the lovable babyface and he doesn't do anything to mess that up, so what else can you ask of the guy? Besides, you haven't addressed the fact that Angle has significant drawbacks in the ring that keep him from being considered world-class by most people's standards.

Meltz's opinon carries more weight than almost anyone on the internet. There are people out there who have no opinon on a match or a wrestler until Dave chimes in with his. As far as your comparison of Angle to the guys I've mentioned, their out-of-the-ring shortcomings are no better than Angle's in-ring shortcomings. He's simply not a top notch professional wrestler. At this stage of his career he should be far better at pacing a match, not to mention being more professional than to get upset at a guy for selling because it doesn't allow him to do more suplex spots. *edit* That made me remember another guy better than Angle: Eddy.

Off the top of my head: Benoit, Daniels, Joe, Styles (at times) are all as good or better than Angle on a more consistent basis. Angle has stepped it up lately with his more serious character, but in the ring Kurt is extremely overrated. He's more concerned with setting up the next suplex spot than the pacing and flow of a match. Being able to hit 97 suplexes a match does not make you a world class professional wrestler.

That's the thing, he's not. Kurt Angle is a world class olympic wrestler, but only an above average at best professional wrestler. His shortfalls have been discussed ad nauseum and I'm sure someone will arrive to detail his spotty selling and over-reliance on suplex spots. In short, he's far from the best performer in the US, but he's being sold as such because main voices in the internet fanbase (Meltz) see him as validation to their "real fighter" man crush.

A lot of times people will say something they believe to be true in the context of humor in order to blunt any harshness and/or to give the speaker an out if they're ever called on it ("Hey I was just joking man!"). It just seems that reading between the lines over the years it seems Angle has garnered himself a reputation of thinking highly of himself. People like Meltz giving him constant BJs doesn't help matters either.

I'm starting to get the impression that a lot of people seem to think Angle's a dick.

That actually would explain a lot, if he caught WWE sleeping and trademarked Captain Charisma before they did. It would explain why they stopped selling his merchandise and would be a reason for why they would offer him a lowball contract.

I'm not denying that, I'm just saying I don't see it happening as long as Vince "I Luvs Me Some Big Men" McMahon runs the company.

Rey Misterio, WWE Champion? Not likely, unless they make a title for the midget divison.

Isn't it established that if a guy can prove he used a ring name before entering WWE, that they can't claim ownership? Isn't that the reason they always tried to give everyone a new WWE-owned gimmick even if they were better known as someone else before? Christian was wrestling as Christian long before entering WWF/E, I don't think they can claim that as WWE property.

Marvel owns the Hulk Hogan name, due to WWF billing him as "Incredible" Hulk Hogan when he first started with them. It's also why he changed to Hollywood Hogan, WCW got tired of paying Marvel. Christian should be able to call himself Christian Cage at least in TNA, since it's easily proven that the name predated his WWF run.

Well one good thing about WWE's booking is that there probably weren't any long term storylines an injury like this would wreck. So what should they do with the HHH Memorial Gold Belt Championship? If Batista's out for a period of time, do they strip him of the title? How do you determine a new champ? Personally, they should bring back King of the Ring (or at least a KotR style tournament) for the next Smackdown only PPV and have the winner of the tournament be the new champion.

He wrestled as Christian Cage before WWE so he has all rights to that, but how the hell did WWE not copyright "Captain Charisma"? Another victory for that crack WWE legal team....