WingedEagle

One other note -- it looks like the new yearbook threads don't display the subtopic which listed the date/promotion/show of the topic. Any way to get that back?

Hopefully a dumb question that I find the answer to shortly, but does the new site have the same button next to each thread you can click to begin viewing from any unread posts in that thread?

Do we know yet what DVDs will be available on the network?

Absent a good reason to doubt Meltzer's sources, why question his reporting. Can argue on taste but I don't recall any reasons to challenge his integrity.

My larger point was that a key argument in the Bryan push discussion has been pointing to how over he is with the crowds. If crowds become unfocused and out of control to the point that they're chanting for just about anything, you can pretty easily construct an argument that Bryan isn't as over as some would have you believe but rather one of many excuses for people to make noise.

I hope it doesn't continue. One could easily point to that and say the crowds just want to make noise and be disruptive as opposed to Bryan actually being over as a top guy.

Perhaps not hardcore by PWO standards. But there is nothing casual about a fan who regularly goes to wrestling news sites.

Plenty of people watch the NFL every Sunday, or their local NBA/MLB team and maybe a national game every now and then. But they're not checking espn.com, rotoworld or any other sites that otherwise track micro happenings in those sports. They take their cues from what they watch. Can't imagine wrestling fans skew all that differently.

Of the overall fan base, I'd guess its incredibly low, as in the low single digits at best. But its probably dramatically higher among those that attend TV shows which is contributing to some of the out of control reactions these days. Not just on the HHH front obviously, but in general. I'd be shocked if more than 5-10% of those watching had any idea about Punk other than maybe noticing that he hasn't been on TV since the Rumble.

I thought Kobashi was thicker rather like Kawada rather than incredibly cut. Rewatching a lot now I have so much love for Taue. His style fit the look and was a master at so many little things.

Because they were playing a script based on Internet memes. "Evil HHH and his old lady holding down a guy who's the best wrestler but doesn't have the look". Find me ONE fan who has ever said that HHH 's promos actually influenced how they think and I'll eat my hat. If it were just promos you'd have a point. But its promos combined with getting laid out every week, always coming up short when going for the title and not offering a glimmer of hope that anything approaching Summerslam was feasible since then. If HHH were spouting off left and right while Bryan got the upper hand in angles from time to time it'd be a different story.

How prevalent were roids among top talent in Japan? It never seemed as big an issue as in the states, or perhaps just wasn't covered as much. Nor did you have a bunch of Warlords running around drawing your attention to it. But it must've had some kind of presence.

I meant more than enough content to pass the time. I actually enjoy Bauer. He keeps the shows from meandering too much.

Yeah, its unfortunate but I just can't listen to the show anymore. MLW and Bauer & Pollack are more than enough.

On the flipside, I thought the '97 Survivor Series was a work while watching live. Can't recall if it was later that night or the following day that it became clear to me.

I always felt the same way. Was it Vince's hair? Was I just out on the Trump phenomenon and missing what the mainstream audience bought into as an incredibly huge deal? There's no denying that the stips there had to have been big as none of the big 3 matches on their own felt like any kind of game changer.

Hogan/Vince definitely had top billing if you look at how much TV time was dedicated to the various programs and if I recall correctly the WON basically attributed the buyrate to that being the featured attraction.

But no one thought that. Not one human fucking being went "Well, HHH is right." No one may have "thought" it, but how many times do you take what anyone says in a promo as a shoot? There are characters that you, me and other fans get behind for whatever reason. If along the way you're told that they're garbage and then the booking backs it up, you're going to lose faith and interest in their progress and look for someone else to get behind. If every episode of Raw from Manias 13 to 14 ended or featured Austin called a worthless redneck and laid out rather than stunning someone and closing with glass breaking the period from 14 on might not have drawn quite as well.

Yeah. That's why I wasn't nearly as big a fan of the Shibata matches as much consensus seemed to be.

I'm not entirely sold on that. Trip's "performer" contract has a minimum of $1M. That was the one signed in January 2012 when he'd transitioned away from fulltime work and into the office (the EVP gig was handed to him the prior August). You honestly think that Cena's isn't more, while working fulltime? If it is, he has a really stupid agent... John For whatever it's worth, the word going around here with friends of his is that Seth Rollins' net income last year was 1.25 million. Consider that Punk's merch numbers aren't going to be split up the way Rollins' would, a bit higher spot on the cards, likely a way better downside, it's feasible that Punk was making awesome money. I've got a really hard time believing that. If its true, that is awesome and I hope it continues. But I'd be beyond shocked.

Big pop for Dustin hot tagging Sting, who lays out both heels. Sting goes for the scorpion on Windham but Vader lariats him, then jumps onto Dustin on floor. Windham DDT's Sting, lays out the ref and we get Vader whipping Sting with the strap to set up Superbrawl. Make this a featured angle with a sneak attack, some juice and welt marks and you can save yourself the white castle of fear funds. Hot angle.

Regal debuts! He's been in England for 9 years and debuts next week. It's a while until we see him in-ring.

Fun video of 2 Cold taking kids from the basketball court to school. Of course his dancers are there as well. This was fun cheese.

Idol interview mentioning a bad car accident a couple years ago. Seem to be setting up a feud with the Iron Shiek, which isn't exactly exciting. He gets a FedEx package with a note that its time to pay up. I can't say I'm that interested in the payoff.