Bierschwale

For influence: Just look at RAW last night, where maybe the second most-over face of the night was a tiny guy in a mask trying to work like Red, spot-for-spot.

God, I had forgotten how good Onyx was. It's insane to think about the buzz over Uhaa getting signed to the NXT deal when there was a guy doing the exact same thing 14 years ago. But better. Also unconscionable that TNA would give Justice the job of being "shitty ersatz Mankind" when he was already awesome as a taller and weirdly effeminate version of Rhyno that could cut actual promos.

The Fleisch-Storm touring series! It was the Psic-Rey of 2001/2002.

Are TNT on it? I won't lie, it was a bummer that they didn't get a mention.

I think that Hunico has become the most-unfairly shit upon guy on the roster in a while, which is kind of astounding.

Really? Then kudos to you for exploiting a B-city for Baltimore/Philly/Washington to get a New England bump.

So when are you planning on running that show in New England?

Great, great match. In a way, it's the perfect choice to be the "last great WCW match"; a classic well-structured tag for a weird secondary title with great faces and heels, but focused on the type of wrestlers that made Nitro-era WCW what it was.

I'm gonna hazard a guess that this is the Juvy-Storm match that came up: God, that's awful commentary, but still a highly enjoyable indie 1.0 match for a promotion for which my most vivid memory was reading a discussion on the DVDVR board when I was 12 about an Extreme Associates girl having an anal prolapse on film. Jessica Darlin, maybe? But that's neither here nor there.

More than words...

Oh God, absolutely. It's so bad that every time I see Parv/Grimmas's threads for rebooking '83, I think about an AWA rebook and that match.

(Final of the LHW title tournament.) The incessant commentary joke for this match is Lawler denying that he's related to Brian, no matter how many times that JR catches him. Christopher is SUCH a piece of shit scumbag heel, taking a rising sun sign made for TAKA, tearing it in half and wiping his ass. You just want him to fuck off and die throughout the match, it's excellent. That friggin' hyena laugh. I also love that great tacky dark red leather belt. The crowd is all over Christopher about being Lawler's son, too, just a perfect storm of hateability. And of course, this is prime TAKA, flipping out of a low-angle German attempt by Christopher that looks great, with the crowd eating up his comeback and popping huge for a classic TAKA springboard plancha. Christopher takes back over and throws TAKA to the outside, and goes for an arrogant dive of his own and just EATS SHIT, going face-first into the rail, getting busted open for his trouble. Another great pop and the first nearfall for a TAKA tornado DDT which Christopher takes like a champ. TAKA pops up after a baseball slide under Christopher and hits a rana that sets up another great Asai moonsault from the turnbuckle. Back in the ring after Lawler comes over in concern and dabs the blood off of his baby boy and we get a good rope-running exchange that ends with Christopher planting TAKA with a good full nelson facebuster after TAKA escapes a wheelbarrow suplex, then catches a TAKA telegraph with a sitout powerbomb. Arrogant crotch-first pose leads to a nearfall that TAKA reverses into a 2.75 of his own. The match is just pure energy. Second-rope dropkick from Christopher hits TAKA in the back of the head. Rocker Dropper and a gutbuster leads to another 2. Christopher mocks him with some horribly shitheaded crane kicks in the corner before a waistlock exchange that ends with TAKA taking a whammer of a head drop off of a German. Christopher dicks him around before a powerslam to set up the guillotine off of the top, but this ain't his night, and TAKA escapes and catches him just as Christopher snaps his tailbone with a great Michinoku Driver for the three. Awesome pop for the win. TAKA looks as good as anyone in the company, Christopher goes above and beyond in scumbaggery to help him get over, and it almost looks like that the LHW division might have a future. Almost.

Tenryu was in a few Rumbles afterwards. I think he was one of the seven-hundred guys who stuffed 'Taker into the casket in the main event, too, which is funny because they teamed together in '94 on one of those loaded house shows from the Japan tour against Bam Bam & Yoko. I think that that's overblown, though. I think that, even though I don't personally like the Cena-Lesnar feud, it added to the significance of the SummerSlam match, and I think that Cena losing only makes sense if you want to do a true downward spiral storyline for him. Brock was screwed over more by losing in the series with The Great Satan.

This is why the "The Authority's on vacation!" episodes are so dumb. Why the hell is Kane making these dipshit moves like trying to "punish" Rollins with a match that night? (And against Neville, who shouldn't yet be considered a real threat to beat Rollins. And why is a week-on-the-main roster face getting that kind of chance from a heel GM? God, that match made no sense.) Also, I think that Lesnar-Rollins works best for MITB. I think that I'll have a stroke if they run an actual Lesnar-Reigns-Rollins triple threat.

Yeah, HHH ingrained it in that interview with Cole on RAW before the match with Bryan at WM. But in that context it didn't really mean anything for a "Reality Era" itself. He used it to just say that he was going to shut up the fans and prove that they didn't have any power to change WWE after he defeated DB. It was pretty far from Austin just saying "ALRIGHT, KAYFABE'S DEAD" or whatever actually is supposed to be part of the "Reality Era". Is it fourth wall-ish? Yeah, but it was all 100% natural and in-character.

That's some wild disparity between segment rating and the agent notes for Blassie.

It wasn't that great but I would have no problem saying that it was better than Neville-Rollins.

Both of the curbstomps just looked like shit.

Valentine now has three of the six highest-rated matches. That investment is definitely paying off.

How much will people overrate whatever promo that Heyman gives tonight? This feels like the right night for a huge gulf.

WARNING: SHORT FANTASY BOOKING DIGRESSION RELEVANT TO DISCUSSION AT HAND. If I could book the blowoff to Cena-Rusev... Cena continues the open challenges, against Sandow, Axel, and Slater (only chosen for MOSTLY arbitrary reasons, like wanting an Axel/Slater tag team). Retains in all three; in the Axel match, it goes to a no contest after Rusev rushes the ring, attacks Cena and MURDERS Axel, and then invokes his return match clause. The rematch goes about a minute or two before AXELMANIA RUNS WILD ON YOU and he hulks up and attacks Rusev, so Cena retains via DQ. Rusev goes even more apeshit and tries to rip Axel's head off, Cena & Rusev brawl, etc.. Kane comes out and says that the violence between the two has reached a level that the company can no longer condone. He books a submission/TKO match for Extreme Rules that will not be officially sanctioned and will hence NOT be for the US title, and that after that match Cena and Rusev are barred from competing against each other "for the indefinite future", meaning obviously that in a year or so or whenever it will be useful for another Cena-Rusev feud, the ban will be lifted. (It's probably just me who thinks that this is a good idea to use semi-regularly to curtail feuds, but it gets the idea that they give a shit about booking matches across.) In addition, both men will compete in two matches at Extreme Rules-- Axel vs. Rusev in the preshow, and Kane "keeping Cena to his word" or whatever horseshit and forcing him to face an open challenge for the US title. ER: Axel with Heath Slater in full patriotic "DING DING YOU SON OF A BITCH" regalia faces off with Rusev on the preshow. Rusev dominates, but AXELMANIA and Slater distractions get under his skin. Finally, Cena comes out, gets in his own bit of interference, and Axel pulls off the MIRACLE AT THE ROSEMONT HORIZON. Rusev loses, but again, it isn't a clean loss and it releases some of the pressure from the balloon of him having been "undefeated" for so long. Cena faces off against... someone ECW-y because it's "Extreme Rules". I first thought of Rhyno, so let's go with him.

I am hyped for a Gage-Gulak match to a stupid, stupid degree.

Shit just got real.

God, I remember sitting back watching her spout that nonsense at the time. Considering she was in her early 20's at the time, she came across as an utterly deluded young woman to make such a God awful, self indulgent comparison after such a horrific day in history. Isn't the story that she came up with the Vito LoGrasso crossdressing gimmick via inspiration from The Sopranos, which was her favorite show? So of course it's perfect that she was (...is?) a real-life Meadow Soprano.

I think that the Elimination Chamber has to have a bespoke show. How often at the same time are there really six guys on the same level who would either fight for the title or #1 contendership? I also think that someone "unexpected" making it into the EC match would make for a big deal, and end up as clear evidence that they're being pushed. That actually did happen last year with Cesaro. It ended poorly months later, but him making it into EC and then being in the round-robin series in the run-up was a legitimate push.