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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?

I've watched WWF since the end of 86/early 87 and I never remembered hearing Gorilla being called by any other name. Could just be my 8 year old mark-mode brain just skipped over it. As far as the card goes, yeah I know it was pretty much just the Rock N' Wrestling stuff, but you'd think they would have put on some better undercard matches to try to grab some of the first time fans that were watching. I mean, it's not like it didn't help usher in a huge boom period anyway, I was just surprised Vince just didn't load up both barrels for his first big chance. The poor production value was suprising too. Yeah it was 1985 but the NWA's shows around the same time smoked the WWF in production. That reminds me, if they really wanted to go all out on the nostalgia at WM XX, they should have brought back the old MSG boom mike lowered from the ceiling. You don't get more old school than that.

I previously watched WM3, since it had a special meaning for me (I started watching the WWF during the build up), and it prompted me to track down some of the shows I haven't seen. Following that track I just watched Wrestlemania I for the first time, and I was amazed at how bad it was. I don't just mean in a "watching 1985 style wrestling in 2005" way, I mean in how shoddy the show was. Right from the start, they had Vince doing a voiceover listing the card while they showed photos, and the photo they had for the Executioner was decidedly not Buddy Rose under a mask. The actual Excecutioner looked like they told Buddy about 5 minutes before the show that he had to come up with a gimmick since he had black tape covering the "ROSE" on his boots and an ill-fitting mask to go with his ring gear that looked like a ninja halloween costume withthe sleeves cut off. That leads into the next gripe, outside of the main event and the women's title match, all the matches seem to be just random people thrown together rather than the blowoff matches to major feuds like WM is known for today. Having seen David Sammartino in action, I can say Bruno has no case if he still thinks it's Vince's fault he didn't become a star. When Brutus Beefcake is carrying your match, it's time to consider a new career path. Another thing that leapt to mind, no matter how bad the brainless bimbos they have doing interviews on RAW are, they still are better than Lord Alfred Hayes was here. Maybe he was nervous or drunk, but Lord Al managed to botch his lines almost every time, and most of the time all he was doing was just bridging in between matches. Speaking of announcers, it was pretty weird hearing Gorilla Monsoon constantly referred to as "Gino". I thought he was always referred to as Gorilla, but everyone was calling him Gino despite the on screen graphics calling him Gorilla. The women's match was funny, since you had Moolah who was merely in her 60s at this point, managing Leilani Kai who's the female version of the Iron Sheik when it comes to the Most Obvious Placeholder Champion ever. The main event was actually pretty good, as Mr. T held his own, but I still think that a Hogan-Piper main event would have been a better main event. Historically it's an important show, but I don't see how this show made Vince think that Wrestlemania 2 should be even bigger across 3 venues.

Bret Hart: Excellent worker, however almost all of his problems seem to stem from him being a mark for his own character. Toshiaki Kawada: One of the most unlucky guys in wrestling history, every time he wins the big one he ends up with an injury that cuts his reign short. Demolition: I was a huge mark for these guys back in the day, looking back it was amazing they were able to stay at the level they were at for so long considering Ax was at the tail end of a long career. Diamond Dallas Page: His promos were a little repetitive, but he always seemed solid in the ring. His work always seems to be diminished by his connections with Bisch despite the fact that Page usually proved himself in the ring. Al Snow: He must owe someone in WWE a lot of money, its the only reason I can understand him being so loyal to a company that never seemed to run out of ways to misuse him. Scott Hall: I first saw him in the AWA when he was still sporting the 70s porn star look, and even then he had the potential to be a top level guy. For all the credit HBK gets for the ladder matches, people seem to forget he wasn't in there by himself. Yuji Nagata: I remember watching his work in WCW and I got a sense that he could be somebody in a place that would allow him to do his thing. Steve Austin: Went from a great worker stuck in mid card hell in WCW to a brawler with almost no techinical skills and one of the biggest draws in wrestling history in the WWF/E. He's Exhibit A in the "workrate vs charisma" debate.

I know Steamboat's reign was short, but it was his feud with Savage that put the IC belt on the map and he should get some credit for that.

I agree Savage made the IC belt mean something, as did the Honky Tonk Man when you think about it. Both guys were very good at getting people to buy tickets to see them get beaten. I'd say Steamboat should get honorable mention despite only having a very short (by 80s WWF standards) reign because his feud with Savage is what put the IC title on the map.

Every so often Meltz does something like this that makes me wonder why everyone views him as the Oracle of Pro Wrestling when he obviously allows his personal biases to cloud his judgement.

Wow, what a way to completely dismiss a guy who's been with the company for well over a decade at or near the top of the card despite being handed feuds with some of the most talentless loads in wrestling history. I know Taker's done some shitty things behind the scenes but to simply write him off as someone who's "just been around" is so ridiculous it almost single-handedly kills any credibility this list has.

I think the IWC is just turning on Batista just like they turn on everyone that they previously demand get pushed.