sek69

I know OVW doesn't update their website too often but I hadn't heard anything about him since the Rumble and I was wondering if maybe they quietly were dumping him because he embarrassed Kurt Angle.

I got the Rumble 2005 DVD from Netflix yesterday, and watching the gangraping he got from Benoit, Eddy, and Bob Holly made me realize I haven't heard from Puder for a while. A quick scan of OVW's website doesn't mention him, so what happened with the guy Vince sank $1,000,000 into?

I have a pretty large collection of wrestling matches, and I started doing a sub-collection of famous shoots/screwjobs like SS97 and Maeda kicking the shit out of people in Japan. One thing I haven't come across yet is the Spider Lady/Wendi Richter shoot, does anyone know of a place I can download it or even a old WWF tape that has it?

It sounds like RVD has become the guy from Office Space who just doesn't care about his job anymore.

Jake “the Snake” Roberts: Hell, what hasn't been said about Jake? One of the best evil heels in wrestling history, to think what he could have done if he didn't fuck himself up makes you want to cry. Which reminds me, his segment of Beyond the Mat makes you want to stick your head in an oven. I have yet to see a sadder sight than watching Jake try to mend fences with his daughter, only to end up on crack that night. Brutus Beefcake: As bad as he was in the mid-80s, he was actually on the way to becoming a fairly decent wrestler before he got his face smashed in. I give the guy credit, what he came back from made Hunter look like a pussy with his quad tear. Sadly it seems like a matter of time before he's the next tragic drug related wrestling death. Brian Pillman: Loved how he was able to morph from pretty boy babyface Flyin' Brian to the infamous Loose Cannon that almost made Bobby Heenan shit his pants on live TV. Probably shouldn't have came back after the accident that destroyed his ankle, but then guys like Brian aren't known for having long lifespans. Kevin Nash: I can't help it, I know people hate him but I have a soft spot for the big lug. When he finally comes to the realization that people with 75 knee operations shouldn't wrestle, he should be hired by someone to be an announcer. “Superstar” Billy Graham: Hulk Hogan and especially Scott Steiner should be paying this man royalties. He's also the prototype of what's known now as a "hoss", with the slight difference that Superstar had the charisma to make up for his lack of wrestling ability. No doubt he'd be a mega star in today's WWE. Terry Gordy: As a old time World Class fan, that made me by default a Freebirds fan. I got that DVD Kevin Von Erich put out of matches mainly from 83-85 and it made me realize that Terry was not only a good brawler he was a pretty decent worker, albeit the big man style.

People have this romaticized view of Foley because he cut great promos and seems to be a real-life nice guy (a rarity in wrestling, it would appear). Just because Flair is an asshole about it doesn't change the fact that he got over by being a great bumper with promo skills. Hell, HBK did the same thing. There's nothing wrong with that, it made the guy a lot of money. What bothers me is that there was a period of time (especially when he was in Japan) where it seemed all he could do was just keep raising the bar with the deathmatches and crazy spots. I don't see how getting barbed wire and thumbtacks stuck in your flesh advances the business. The fact that he's come out against backyard wrestlers when the WWF couldn't stop showing that footage of him jumping off the roof kinda irked me too. Not that I have any admiration for the yardtards, but to act all sanctimonious when most of them got their inspiration from you is the kind of chutzpah seldom seen outside of Congress.

Mick Foley: Even though he was an asshole about it, I always thought Flair was basically right about Foley: he does some of the best promo work ever but he got over because he took violent bumps. Yes Foley was more than a fat guy falling off stuff, but people who act like he would have been a superstar without the crazy bumps are just fooling themselves. Roddy Piper: His importance to the WWF is criminally underrated. Would Hulkamania have blown up without someone capable like Piper as the foil? Yeah, he probably would, but feuding with Piper gave Hogan the avenue to rocket to the top. He also managed to be the only heel working for the WWF in the 80s who never jobbed clean to Hogan, and if you watched the Hulk Still Rules DVD you know that pissed him off. Gotta love that. Randy Savage: Judging by the stories of his paranoia, he might have had a looser grip on reality than even the Warrior had. One of the all time greats who spent pretty much all of his career in Hogan's shadow. Even when the dinosaurs invaded WCW, Savage was the only 40+ guy who could still go. His angles with Steamboat, Flair, and even Hogan really, were miles above the cartoony stuff that was the norm for the WWF at the time. The Midnight Express: To be honest, I thought the Eaton/Condrey team was kinda blah. Eaton/Lane is my favorite tag team of all time. My goal when I was little was to win the NWA US Tag titles because that was the belts the Midnight Express had. Their matches with the Rock n' Rolls defined the art of tag team wrestling as we know it.

How ironic is it that the only one of those that really sucked was the one where Taker was doing Dirty Harry. You'd think that Taker has sufficent badassery to pull it off, but he just looked like a tard in a bad wig.

I like the fact that they're planning to add members to Evolution, but not if the new members are going to be chosen from that sorry bunch of jobbers who were lumberjacks. Speaking of, anyone else scream a little when Flair was giving his speech about how being in Evolution means all the money and broads you want while Hassan was standing right in front of him and his whole gimmick is how that stuff is what makes America evil? I mean shit, that's just plain lazy. Also, if Batista's reign is a disappointment, WWE needs to look no further than HHH's promo tonight. I don't care if he's pounding Stephie's anus, you can't have someone come out and take a giant shit on your company while burying or ignoring everyone on the show. That promo encapsulated every problem facing WWE: when you don't portray challengers as threats, no one will take them seriously.

Because almost every review of the movie mentions that the Rock is (was?) a wrestler, and every TV appearance I've seen he talks about wrestling, which makes it an acceptable topic for a wrestling newsletter. I'm sure if Hogan made another movie, Meltz would provide box office information on it as well.

--After his performance on Tuesday against Kurt Angle, WWE has signed Marty Jannetty to a contract. It is not 100%, but he is expected to be on the Raw side and interact in some form with Shawn Michaels --Vince McMahon returns to television (backstage, I don't expect him on TV) this week at both the Raw and Smackdown shows, and will be at this point attending all shows from this point forward. I just hope that's for the best. --Be Cool is projected as doing $5.8 million for this weekend and being No. 6 at the box office. It would end with a three-week total of $47.2 million domestic. --There will be a live Raw on 5/2 in Boston, the day after Backlash in Manchester, NH. The advertised main event is HHH & Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels & Batista (thanks to David Fournier) --A-Train debuted earlier today for All Japan Pro Wrestling, starting a feud with former WWE wrestler Jamal as he interfered in a Jamal & Taiyo Kea tag title defense against Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli

I thought the match was more than acceptable, especially by TV standards. If this was main eventing a PPV then I'd complain, but compared to what SD's been offering this was far superior.

As much as Taker's WM record is lauded as something to respect by WWE, it really doesn't hold up when you look at it: WM 7: defeated Jimmy Snuka in a virtual squash. WM 8: defeated Jake Roberts in yet another squash. WM 9: defeated Giant Gonzalez by DQ in a match so bad, most wrestling fans wish the memory erasing procedure from Eternal Sunshine was real. WM 11: defeated King Kong Bundy in a match that was only memorable for having umpire Larry Young as referee (baseball was on strike, you see....) WM 12: defeated Diesel, which would make this the first WM match so far that actually meant something. WM 13: defeated Sid for the WWF title in the match most famous for people asking "isn't that the one where Sid shit his pants?" WM 14: defeated Kane WM 15: defeated Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell. I think we all remember that one. WM X-7: defeated HHH WM X8: defeated Ric Flair (but by this point, who hadn't?) WM XIX: defeated Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match. WM XX: defeated Kane (again) So when you look back at the awe-inspiring win streak there's only really 4 or 5 matches where the outcome wasn't so obvious it was practically displayed on the Titan Tron.

They did the "how long can Marty hold on" thing last night with the ankle lock. I used to get worked up over WWE not having their wrestlers sell submissions properly, but I just resigned myself to the fact that they think a quick tap out makes the victim look weak. Hell, the only time I can ever recall a quick submission by a non-jobber was the Bret-Perfect match and even that was because Curt's back was legit fucked up. For that matter, WWE is so overprotective of certain people I'm surprised they haven't eliminated submissions completely.

Not that I expect the next Savage-Steamboat, but JBL has been wearing his work boots the last couple of PPVs. If the ladder match ends up being total spot-fu, it wouldn't be crazy to suggest JBL-Cena could end up being a show stealer as long as you don't go all Scott Keith and prejudge the match before it even starts.

That would be cool from a fan perspective but why would the WWE allow their champion to appear on a non-WWE show?

The Monday Night Wars trained fans to expect the world champ every week playing a vital part of the show, I don't know if they'd accept a champ that's only on their show every other week.

The downside is that if there was one champ for both brands whoever had it would get burned out so fast the title would probably change hands often, or worse have a situation like in the 80s where Hogan would only wrestle once a month and almost never on TV unless it was a special show. My beef with the split is that they get along too much. They should really sell the competition aspect more, have one brand take digs at the other like WCW used to do. Have the new slogan for SmackDown be something like "We Wrestle". Make it seem like they're rival promotions that only get together for the Rumble and WM.

WWE Women's Championship Trish Stratus vs Christy Hemme Such is the state of the Women's title when Christy Hemme gets a title match. At least they're trying to get their money's worth out of her, and she really seems into the business. I guess Christy's going to win here with help from Lita, but Trish will probably win it back on RAW within a couple of weeks. Kinda makes Trish the less-bearded-and-smaller-breasted version of HHH. Big Show vs Akebono Why didn't they do this match in Japan, where it would have been over huge? I guess they're banking on their being enough asian wrestling fans in LA for this to not be a total embarrassment. I'm guessing Akebono wins. I doubt he's going to fly across the Pacific just to to a job. HBK vs Kurt Angle I swear, this match has the worst build up in history. Kurt's mad because people asked him about HBK in 1996? It makes him look like a doofus waiting 9 years to do something about it. I'm going with HBK here since he always wins if HHH isn't involved. Randy Orton vs Undertaker Does anyone think Orton's the guy who should end Taker's streak? I mean, not even HHH could do it. Ending the streak should mean something, it shouldn't be done by someone who'll just go back to being HHH's chew toy. I'm calling for Taker to win. Money in the Bank Match Edge vs Benoit vs Benjamin vs Kane vs Christian vs Y2J If they want the IC belt to ever mean anything again, Benjamin has to win here. I think Kane's only in the match to provide bump opportunities for everyone else in the match, I don't see him winning since he doesn't need to. WWE Championship John Cena vs JBL Cena has to win here or he'll offically be this era's Lex Luger. Something tells me they might not want both top belts to change hands in one night (since it would take some luster off of Batista, and Vince is such a mark for JBL) but I still think they'll do what's smart and put Cena over. World Heavyweight Championship Batista vs HHH If this match is booked any way other than Goldberg vs Hogan was, it's going to expose Batista and ruin his chances right out of the box. The question is, has HHH and the WWE created the Ronnie Garvin Effect for anyone who wins the RAW title? It's at the point now when even Marky McMarkerson knows that HHH never goes without the belt for long. By the way, how sad is it that neither brand's tag team champions have a match yet, and if they get one it'll be on Heat or a shoehorned multi-team match?

I'd think you'd have to include the main events of WM 1 and 3 in any list on their historical merits alone. The WM 1 main event made both WM and the WWF itself into what it is today. Not only was it the best match on the card, it was everything Vince wanted the WWF to be in one ring. His superstars getting the rub from MTV stars and "mainstream" celebs, which when you think about it they've really never been able to accomplish on that level since. The WM 3 main event not only was symbolic of the WWF of the 80s at its peak, the image of Hogan slamming Andre is one of the iconographic moments of wrestling history. Who cares if the match itself sucked big, everyone who saw it remembers hearing those immortal words "HE SLAMMED HIM!"

So is Marty back full time or what? If not, he should be....didn't seem like he lost much of a step since we last saw him.

Does he sell PPVs and merch? Do people buy tickets because Chris Benoit is in the man event (outside of Canada)?

But in the cases you cite, it *is* true. Hogan's whole appeal was his charisma. No one bought a ticket or a PPV based on Hogan's ability to work a good match. As far as Benoit goes, he's no doubt one of the most gifted wrestlers ever, but charisma wise he's as bland as dry toast. What does he do to get the crowd involved other than sounding angry and doing the thumb-across-the-throat signal for the headbutt? To get over in wrestling you have to have an abundance of charisma and be capable enough in the ring to not embarrass yourself.

The debate is when workrate freaks demand that only wrestlers with high workrate should be pushed despite the fact that it's not what puts asses in seats. Austin didn't really get anywhere on his workrate alone, it's not until he got fired and channeled his anger over that into the Stone Cold personna did he become huge. *points at Hogan*

Speaking of old WMs, is there a way to get those two "Tagged Classics" sets (WM 1&2 and 3&4) they released in the UK without having to pay a zillion dollars for them?