DMJ

Maybe they'll have weird CGI dragons fighting CGI worms projected onto the mat? Fans loved it at Mania, if I remember correctly...

edited from my blog... Harlem Heat vs. Public Enemy - The use of the toilet lid is particularly pleasing to Dusty Rhodes, whose commentary is one of its strongest selling points. In terms of "suspense," this match has absolutely none - you are basically just watching guys waffle each other for 10+ minutes, which, at first, pops the crowd, but then bores them...Booker [is a] much stronger character and worker than anyone else he's sharing the match with...There's a table spot towards the end that sees Rocco Rock come flying with a somersault legdrop while Johnny Grunge just delivers an awkward and lazy back splash (really he just falls over) onto Stevie Ray...Rhodes commentary carries this match into watchable territory. (2.5/5)

Quick thoughts I haven't seen mentioned. Full review on my blog - Styles/Owens - For how much Owens gloats about his heel work on Twitter, if the ref goes down (even inadvertently), why not actually try to take advantage and cheat? Grab the belt, grab a chair, do something. Also, what this match needed was someone actually working a limb. It wasn't as bad as the "Your Turn/My Turn" movez-crazy match I was expecting, but it still lacked a solid thread. Cena/Rusev - Didn't hate it and the added rule of the finish at least led to a really fun-albeit-cartoonish last third. This was the WWE microwaving a feud from 2015 and just like if you were to microwave a steak that's been in your fridge since 2015, the result wasn't great. Credit should be given, though, to Cena and Rusev taking such a stale match idea with such an obvious result and getting easily the best reactions other than the opener. Zayn/Kannelis - The Power of Love thing is a "TV midcard" act with a ceiling...but I still believe that you don't debut a guy just to have him lose his first major appearance. For all the appreciation there is on this forum of 80s gimmicks, I'm a bit surprised at the derision to them here. To me, there's money in annoyingly romantic heel couple feuding with lovable pair of "normal"/"ugly" babyfaces (think The Boogeyman feuding with Booker and Sharmell) and while we may have seen it a million times before, on a TV show, it would be fine. Zayn wasn't the right foil and, even though I'm a fan of his, didn't gain anything by winning. So, the Breezango reveal, which was mildly hyped on WWE.com as actually happening didn't happen. This wouldn't be so bad if the rest of the show was better - but it wasn't, so, yeah, I'll gripe about it. A minor bait-and-switch is still a bait-and-switch. Orton/Mahal - Again, a table bump by a Singh brother is the best spot of a Orton/Mahal match. I find it interesting that there are people that are willing to defend Mahal as a "fresh" champion. I get it - Orton is super dull. But you don't have to like "Shitty Wrestler B" just because you've seen him less than "Shitty Wrestler A." This was actually the best match these two have had that I've seen - the gimmick being so ludicrous and contrived that the match at least seemed like an exotic spectacle. I'd love to hear the argument that a 3rd one-on-one singles match would've kept my interest more than this because nothing these two did in their first matches was better than just decent. Finally, I've reviewed and rated 90+% of the Network shows since its inception. The only shows I haven't reviewed were ones I attended with friends and got drunk enough to enjoy just by being there. This show was, by my math, the absolute worst Network Special ever. The other lowest scorers in my database are No Mercy 2016, which was salvaged by a good triple threat for the World Championship and a solid Ziggler/Miz match, and Survivor Series 2014 (a crowd-pleasing main event featuring Sting's return and a fun garbage match between Ambrose/Wyatt nudge it slightly above last night's show).

Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton - Expecting Mahal to retain. I read that the WWE will be in India in September, so I'm guessing he'll drop the title in October, but between then and now, I'd really love a more interesting challenger. When the smoke clears, Orton will need to be taken off TV for at least a month to get the loser stench off him. Then again, they'll probably just insert him into a feud with Owens and blame KO when fan interest is tepid. John Cena vs. Rusev - This reminds me of when Triple H returned at SummerSlam 2007 to beat King Booker because Triple H needed a win over a respectable opponent, even though it ended up causing more damage to Booker than it actually helped Triple H. I see the same thing happening here. I get that Cena needed a special return match, but Rusev as the sacrificial lamb? Ugh. One step forward for Cena, two steps back for the Bulgarian Brute. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin - This is either going to be surprisingly great with Nak stepping up to lead Corbin through a solid match that is nice and stiff and keeps both guys over or a total mess that will expose both men (but that redditers will entirely blame Corbin for). To me, this is a make-or-break Nak match because if you can't produce passable matches against your Corbins and your Kanes, you can't be a top guy. Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis - I'm more excited for this than for Owens/AJ, which will no doubt be filled with better and more movez but will probably lack any story beyond "you're turn/my turn." Zayn/Kanellis should at least offer a clear good guy/bad guy dynamic.

Jeff Jarrett built a boat, The Carters filled the tank, AJ and Joe kept it afloat, But Russo made sure it sank.

Is the endgame here Jordan vs. Angle? Or Gable vs. Jordan in a fight for who Angle's real son is? Like so many of the other convoluted "family" stories (except, oddly, that the most convoluted one - Taker & Kane - has actually maintained some integrity) that the WWE has produced, I expect that this will all be forgotten in a year or so and become a running gag for "smart fans" to chuckle about.

Its obviously Monday Morning Quarterbacking or the benefit of retrospect, but I recall the chatter about Del Rio always centering around the idea that Vince was high on him, that his push was a top priority (hence having him beat Punk in 2011), that he was a critical piece in bringing in Hispanic viewers as "the next Eddie" or "the next Rey" or whatever. All of these things, in retrospect, support the theory that if Del Rio was partying hard back then or if there were questions of his character, they would've been swept under the rug a bit. Even with Angle, the details of issues seemed to come to light when he went to TNA as the DUIs racked up and the reason for his departure became common knowledge. Is the bigger conspiracy question, though, whether or not this is actually a recurring page of the "future endeavors" playbook? I mean, Tully Blanchard comes to mind too here.

I saw on reddit that Max Landis started a petition to bring back Talking Smack already. Also, Renee Young and others have gone on twitter basically saying how sad that they are that it was cancelled. I still don't fully understand the reason for cancellation. I get that ratings would matter to USA, but this is a Network show - but the cost of producing Talking Smack, I'm guessing, is pretty low. I mean, especially compared to producing 205 Live. I know its even cheaper to just air old WCW and WWE PPVs after SmackDown, but I thought the reason they weren't doing that was because they want the Network to provide new, relevant content and not just be "the vault"? My only theory is that Vince felt like doing RAW Talk and making that the "flagship" talk show is more important to him than having a comparatively more successful SmackDown version be seen as "the original" and the "better version." I say this because, as far as I've heard, there's no plan to cancel RAW Talk and, if there were, I don't think anyone would give two shits because if Talking Smack's ratings were low enough to be cancelled, I'd imagine RAW Talk's are even lower. Having the hard numbers would be really helpful, but I know those won't ever see the light of day. Aside from those, I feel like I'd need strong evidence beyond "RAW has higher ratings than SmackDown, so it does a better post-show number too" to convince me RAW Talk gets more viewers, especially when you look at the popularity of the post-shows' respective hosts, how "buzz-worthy" they are, and the fact that, before 205 Live got shoveled in, one show took place after fans had just watch a 3-hour show and another after a more digestible 2-hour show.

Yeah, its weird. I remember watching this show at the time and being upset with the finish at age 14, probably because I was a Flair fan, but probably also because even as a 14 year old I was of the belief that at the annual "biggest show," the faces should come out on top. Re-watching it years later, I'm kind of struck with the exact same feeling - even when I'm not remotely as invested as I was back then. Plus, as Pete mentioned above, Curt Hennig is the one that does the run-in? As I was watching, I thought it'd be David Flair (that turn must happen later) and I almost feel like even though that would've made absolutely no sense, it would've at least been wacky and outrageous. Having it be Hennig is not a swerve - its precisely what one could've predicted. Similarly, when I was a kid, I feel like I remember Hall being gone prior to Starrcade, but no, I watched World War 3 and Halloween Havoc and there he is and at the start of Starrcade he comes out and states very clearly that he's got "something to prove." So, its almost the same thing with the main event finish - we're supposed to see Hall's interference as a swerve (I think), but you'd have to be a 14-year old mostly watching RAW and bootleg ECW tapes at this point not to have seen Scott Hall screwing Goldberg a mile away.

I wonder what the reason is/was. It can't cost that much to produce, right? Was there issues with travel for talent and staff? Do the numbers show that Talking Smack does worse than putting on a random PPV in terms of live Network viewers?

Lesnar vs. Test from King of the Ring 2002 is kind of a hidden gem - but not a diamond, more like a topaz or kyanite or something else that would make for a fun piece of costume jewelry? Point is, yeah, I could be convinced Test has a little over a half-dozen matches worth watching.

I'd be curious to know how many of those people that care about her from WWE are still in communication with her and how frequently. This whole situation is so f'd, if I were WWE (and I'll admit, its kind of a heartless thing to do), I'd cut ties with her the same way they did with Angle. Was it the best thing for Angle's health? Probably not...but if the shit ever hits the fan (and I hope it doesn't), its going to be on the company to explain, "Well, she was under contract with us, but hasn't been on TV or touring in over a year, and she failed two Wellness tests, but she was also recovering from injury, and her friends and family advised her to leave her husband, but..." It is sometimes a really cold thing to do to let someone hit rock bottom or to let someone make a choice that you know could be really dangerous and harmful - but what other option does WWE realistically have? Is there really a chance that if they, say, made her RAW GM and had her touring with the company, she'd actually show up? I get the impression that things are very icy between the two sides, there's little to zero communication, and there are no plans to bring her back for the time being, healed or not.

Just as a shameless plug of my blog, here are my scores from the past few WWE PPVs (not counting NXT, which tend to score higher because they have fewer matches and math is involved)... Great Balls of Fire - (3.06/5) Money in the Bank '17 - (2.58/5) Extreme Rules '17 - (2.50/5) Backlash '17 - (2.37) Payback '17 - (2.44) WrestleMania 33 - (2.80) FastLane '17 - (2.89) Elimination Chamber '17 - (2.86) Royal Rumble '17 - (3.30) Roadblock: End of the Line - (2.50) TLC 2016 - (3.00) ...and I could go on and on. But, at least from my records, the last non-NXT/non-"Big Four" show that I thought was as consistently good as GBOF would have been Money in the Bank 2016 (3.13 out of 5) thanks to good matches in AJ/Cena, Reigns/Rollins (I can't imagine enjoying a Rollins match now), a fun MITB ladder match, and a better-than-expected Apollo Crews/Sheamus match.

Overall, I found the show quite watchable. Full review on my blog. A few notes for conversation's sake: - Disagree with the comment that Miz's entourage is unnecessary. Found their involvement (and Maryse's) to be the only remarkable thing about the Miz/Ambrose match and an element that helped it stand out. Plus, as others have pointed out, Miz's batting average is really high at getting himself and his partnerships over (see his work with Morrison, Big Show, Sandow, Riley, R-Truth, etc.) and even if it doesn't do anything for Bo or Axel in the long run, its not like we're talking about two undeniable blue chippers getting held back. It's Bo and Axel. - Wasn't as big into the Ironman match as others but am willing to chalk it up to this sort of stipulation match just not being "my thing." It wasn't a bad match (I rated it above average), but it won't make my short list of MOTY contenders. - What might've made that list (at least until the finish) was Bliss/Banks. From beginning to end, I was hooked in this match and found that it may have been Banks' most seamless match in awhile. It helps when the internet is buzzing about "shoot" heat and then you see a match where both performers are not only laying their shit in, but looked like they were actively competing to be "the star" (this was Banks as The Boss in a way she never got to be against Charlotte while Bliss looks and work like she legitimately savors the championship and how it places her above her jealous opponents). Others may have seen the dislocated elbow bit before, but it was new to me, so, yeah, I loved it (and didn't find that it happened "too early" in the match at all as it actually would've been even dumber to have that as your finish knowing that it had been used before). Tack on a better ending to this match that sees Bliss cheat to win and keep the awesome post-match spot and I'm probably at 4-stars for it. - If there was a moment in the Braun/Roman match that screamed "babyface" to me it was Braun shrugging off chair shots. Just awesome. The post-match angle and commentary definitely put some heat on Roman, but I don't think the WWE is halting production on Reigns gear any time soon. I think they've come around to the idea that Roman is not going to be "the next Cena," but maybe they see him as the next Lesnar or (and I'm puking in my mouth as a type this) Triple H in that Roman will get whatever reaction he gets depending on who he's facing and will maintain his main event position/credibility because he'll be the "cornerstone" of the company the way Triple H was from say 2001-2005 (as mostly heel, but also face at times). With Cena, his challengers were almost always heels throughout his run, but Reigns is currently a different case as he's gone up against increasingly popular new guys like Strowman, "smart" fan favorites like Joe and AJ, and "casual" fan favorites like Lesnar and Taker. With Reigns, I think the strategy makes some sense - the more intriguing question to me is how it will work with Strowman. Braun gets cheered when he's tossing Roman around or when he's going face-to-face to Lesnar. I think he'd get cheered for beating on Wyatt. But against Balor? Against Ambrose? There's some interesting dynamics to consider if they ever do decide to "lighten" Braun's monster side and have him actually become a full-fledged "good guy."

New-ish documentary on Netflix called Nobody Speaks. First half is all about Gawker/Hogan and was pretty good. I, for one, after watching the documentary and seeing what's been going on with Trump's attack on the media have kinda switched sides a bit - In 2016, I didn't really care about the specifics of the case and just looked at it as Gawker/TMZ getting taken down a peg because they'd violated a celebrity's privacy and that sex tapes aren't newsworthy because, hey, what's the difference between this and "The Fappening"? Don't celebrities deserve the right to seek justice when their private pics and videos are leaked? But the documentary, which is imperfect (especially in its 2nd and 3rd acts), made a convincing argument that the threat of censorship is real and that the 1st Amendment and a free press are more important than Hulk Hogan's embarrassment or Paige's embarrassment or Jennifer Lawrence's privacy. This is also why, as a poster asked above, we should care that a billionaire like Theil was secretly behind the case. Even if you believe Gawker acted shamefully by outing Theil (to which, again, the documentary offers a reasonable counterpoint - that the article in question was not only complimentary towards Theil but was really about how even in "liberal" Silicon Valley, LGBT VCs feel the need to remain closeted), do we really want the richest 1%, with bottomless resources, to be able to piggyback onto whatever civil suits choose just so they can win petty disputes? Again, I hope others - especially those who were maybe like me and actually felt sympathy for Hogan - take a minute to watch the first 40 minutes of the film. After viewing, I actually have sympathy for Hogan in a different way. I feel sorry that he was treated like a total pawn and that his name is tied to a case that was really about Theil and the powerful anti-media Right trying to take out an independent press. I think Hulk Hogan thought was fighting for celebrity privacy when, at the end of the day, this case had almost nothing at all to do with that (arguably) noble cause. And as long as I'm on a rant, if you still think the case was at all about "making Hogan whole" and not eliminating Gawker (and putting sites like it on alert), think of the judgment. Even the biggest Hulkamaniac would probably agree that $140 million is quite a settlement when you compare it to your state's average wrongful death payout. I mean, Hulk Hogan deserves $140 million because it got leaked that he said racist stuff and slept with Bubba's trophy wife, but Ferguson settles the Michael Brown suit for $1.5? Castile's life was $3? Eric Garner is choked to death for selling loose cigarettes and NY pays out under $6 mil? If we used the Gawker case as our baseline, we'd be bankrupting municipalities every 3 months, but the LIFE of someone is worth less than Hulk Hogan's untarnished reputation? $140 million wasn't about doing right by Hulk, it was about putting a scare in the media and the fact that you can tie several of these right wing billionaires together makes it even scarier.

I'm sure there's multiple reasons he requested a release, but from a fan perspective, I can see how he might've viewed his WWE run as disappointing and not looking like it was going to get any better. With 205 Live being its own "brand" in a sense, I can see Aries feeling like he's been pigeon-holed (meanwhile, the 190-pound Finn Balor is crowned Universal Champion within a couple months of his main roster debut) and that a ceiling was placed on him fairly early (even Aries' debut match seemed more about getting Corbin more over than heralding the arrival of a potential NXT Champion and main roster player, which is the level I'm sure he believes he should be at). I can see the same frustrations eventually getting to Neville and others. I know its been said a million times already, but the problems with the cruiserweight division concept in today's WWE is not just "they don't get stories" or "they need more air time" - its that when you've got Seth Rollins doing the Pheonix Splash and big men like Luke Harper doing suicide dives, the 205 guys aren't giving the audience anything they haven't already seen.

I kinda hate to admit it, but I cried at the end of Bayley/Sasha from Takeover Brooklyn 2015. The pre-match video promo hit me, the crowd was super live for it, the emotion of the finish and post-match. I don't know, sometimes the corniest crap gets to me. Case in point, I fucking wept at the awful Adam Sandler movie "Click." It is one of my most embarrassing moments that my wife loves to bring up in front of company for a laugh and, at a recent dinner party, we were joking about it and another guest admitted they cried too - which made me feel better for falling (and falling HARD) for such melodramatic BS. I kinda feel the same way for Bayley/Sasha - it was designed to make fans tear up and they succeeded. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't have Bayley celebrate with a puppy who survived cancer. So, anyway, if anyone wants to make me feel better, they can say they cried after Bayley/Sasha too. EDIT - Just as I posted this, Benbeeach made it okay!

Vader in WCW (92'-94')

Is Carmella the worst female worker on the main roster? I think I prefer her over Tamina.

What did the tweet say?

You don't even have to look that far into history. In the 90s and 00s, people have switched from heel/face so many times, pretty much every main eventer can be pointed to as having (whether we like it or not) a successful run as a heel and a face. Take Triple H. I loathe his DX face work in the 00s and I don't care much for his heel work in the 00s either, but I think we can say both runs were successful (didn't single-handedly light the business on fire, but I'd still call him a "successful" wrestler). I liked the Rock much better as a heel than a face, but he was successful in both roles. That's actually why someone like John Cena is an anomaly in today's wrestling scene. While he has a heel run, it wasn't a main event role - so, he's really only been successful as a babyface (definitely in kayfabe terms but als, if you were to compare merch sales, mainstream media presence, etc. between then and now). Was Hulk Hogan the first guy to be mega successful as a heel and a face? That's a different question but I don't think he'd be that guy either. Randy Savage was pretty successful in both roles in the 80s/early 90s for the WWF.

So, 10 years ago, I recorded a concept album called Double Murder Suicide inspired by the Chris Benoit tragedy. A year or so later, I put out another one about the Hart Family, then about the fall of WCW, and then about Ric Flair in 2012. Despite a band name as shocking/morbid as "Double Murder Suicide," the albums are homemade, lo-fi pop (think early They Might Be Giants with slight post-punk bend and occasional balladry ala Guided By Voices maybe?). Today, I've released my fifth wrestling-inspired concept album, Razor's Edge Suitcase, and it is now up for sale via Peanut Butter Records through Bandcamp. All proceeds (or I should probably say "almost all" because Bandcamp takes a small percentage) are going to the Cauliflower Alley Club's Benevolent Fund. The album is $3 (or "name your price" if you want to make a larger donation). Anyway - I'm hoping some people here take the time and make the small monetary sacrifice to help support pro-wrestlers in need and maybe enjoy the admittedly off-kilter album I've made. And if you do enjoy it or just like the idea of raising money for the CAC, please feel free to share on whatever social media you use or on other wrestling sites. In case you don't like hyperlinks, you can check it out here: https://pbrecs.bandcamp.com/album/razors-edge-suitcase

Full review on my blog - TLDR version below: - Of all the "troll" booking the WWE has done in recent memory, this felt like the most timely and most "excusable." The idea that the heat is on Ellsworth and not Carmella isn't a wrong thought, but I don't think its a major issue. As they're a package deal, the heat transfers just fine. - Loved the Kanellis' theme song's Bolton-esque brilliance. Reminded me of nauseating garbage TV like The Bachelor. I think this gimmick has real promise as I was irritated by them instantly and I think you actually have more "notes to play" here than with the Drifter (pun intended). - The Fashion Police backstage segments are gold partially because of Fandango's somewhat subtle delivery. Unfortunately, clever, low-key comedy works great as TV segments, but the audience, at least last night's, couldn't have given less of a shit about them wrestling. Maybe with a team more over than the Ascension they would've got bigger responses - but I also wasn't a huge fan of the broad comedy that they did at Backlash show and don't want them to revert to it in place of their current comedic style. (I'm probably in the minority with that opinion, though, as many liked their Backlash match...) - Mahal/Orton II was good-not-great. If it was the main event of a house show I was attending, I'd be headed to the exit after the Singh Brothers table spots as there'd be no need to see the telegraphed finish.

I think calling this a "slap in the face to the women" is the point and will be the focus going forward - as Charlotte, Becky, etc. have a legit babyface gripe that the women's match was "won" by a woman who needed a man to hand her the briefcase. I usually hate the WWE for their "troll" booking - but this time, it at least has some timely substance beyond "Fans think Jinder is a talentless, walking Wellness Violation so let's have him win the title! That'll really set those redditers off!" Plus, when you consider the options, you kind of need to give Carmella the briefcase. Tamina, from her work in this match, is still really green and not over at all, Charlotte and Becky are over enough that they don't need the briefcase, and Natalya is like the Women's Division version of Big Show - she's been a face, she's been a heel, she's done serious, she's done comedy - she's a solid hand but is a role player. Carmella with the briefcase at least gives that character relevance for the foreseeable future.

I had never seen this in full so I was kind of taken aback. I don't think the Worst Match Ever reputation is really deserved. Yeah, Warrior is gassed around minute two. Yeah, there's the logroll spot and Hogan botching the fireball, and the convoluted ending, but there's some positives here that I think get overlooked. First, while it doesn't match the atmosphere of WrestleMania VI, very few matches ever have. I think this comes across as an important match - one that Hogan really, really wants to win. As Loss said, its not like either guy is half-assing it out there. Second, I'm not a "physique" guy but Warrior is shredded and Hogan is Hogan. The match looks right - which is more than one can say about Sting/Hogan at Starrcade. Its a minor thing but there's also something to be said for the relative speed/pacing of the match. As neither guy can really go anymore (Warrior is breathing pretty hard when he challenges Hogan to a test of strength), they actually do a nice job of covering for their age, getting the most out of very little, and popping the crowd for the bigger moments (Warrior bodyslamming Hogan and Warrior clotheslining The Giant out of the ring). They may not be on target 80% of the time, but those clotheslines Warrior throws do look like they'd legitimately hurt too. Finally, intended or not, there are throwbacks to WrestleMania VI (I'm guessing unintended because they're the kind of tropes that happen in nearly every Hogan match) that make this more fun to watch than just your average match. At WrestleMania VI, Hogan got the visual pin. Here, its Warrior's turn. At WrestleMania VI, the test of strength made for an iconic moment. Here, Hogan fights dirty so that should-be iconic moment is tainted. I'm not defending this as a good match (it clearly isn't), but in hindsight, I probably smiled more watching this match before its overbooked closing minutes, even with the absurd gaffes, than I do watching the cookie-cutter "you're turn/my turn" matches that have become the norm today.