DMJ

MITB is a top 4 PPV of the year simply because the Money In The Bank, for better or worse, is such a key element in the WWE landscape. Before this year, the Survivor Series hasn't had any "stakes" attached to it for what? A decade? I won't check the numbers, but I'd be curious to see whether or not MITB outsold Survivor Series over the past few years too. Only SummerSlam has been presented as important and if pushed to list the reasons for it, "historical legacy" would rank near the bottom. I'm willing to call MITB a "B-show" if we can all agree that there are only two A shows (Rumble and Mania) left and that shows like Battleground and Fast Lane are C shows. If that's our guide, I'd rank MITB just under SummerSlam and I'm not sure I wouldn't put Extreme Rules or TLC above Survivor Series at this point.

I attended the show, so I thought I'd share some live notes/thoughts... * I believe it was a legit sell-out. Crowd was hot at start of the show - some "Thank You Dusty" and "Dusty" chants even before the show began that got even louder once the whole roster came out for the 10-bell salute. * Reigns got a big reaction and was supported for his offense...but there were some questionable calls. Before Wyatt came out, I believe Reigns had tossed Ziggler or Neville off the ladder, which got booed. When you're plotting out a match, I'm not sure why you'd have Reigns' "last obstacle" be one of those two and it was that poor choice, way more than any real anti-Reigns vibe, that made the crowd erupt in "Yes!" chants when Wyatt screwed him. Similarly, once Reigns was knocked out of contention, the crowd was pretty unsure who to root for - partially because the best face choice seemed to be Neville as Orton and Ziggler seemed to spend 90% of the match on the floor taking naps. Again, more than anything, this seemed to leave the fans disappointed that Wyatt didn't retrieve the briefcase himself. Overall, the match got good responses for its bright moments (the RKO on Neville, for example), but like many, I think the general feeling was that Sheamus winning was the wrong choice. I like that Reigns still has mountains to climb, but if it wasn't going to be him, I'd have went with Orton, who not only has plenty of history with Rollins but, more importantly, is a big enough name to be an interesting challenger to Brock Lesnar. * Paige/Nikki started slow and the crowd was pretty disinterested, but as the match wore on, I think it won over people. Finally it seemed like Nikki was able to play the clear heel, though, who knows? With Total Divas returning soon, they'll probably try to make them faces again. * Lots of "New Day Rocks/Sucks" chants throughout the evening - before the show, during the show, after the show. People just love that damn chant/clap. * Cena/Owens was the peak of the show. Three separate "This is Awesome" chants. I'm not sure how it came across on screen but, while there was the traditional "Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks" chants, there was also a sizeable portion of the audience that responded to "Let's Go Cena!" with "Fight Owens Fight!". To me, that is a really, really telling sign of just how over Owens is already - the fact is, fans weren't just booing Cena as they usually do, they were actively rooting for his opponent and there were loads and loads of KO shirts and sizes in the crowd. With all that these two brought to the match, the crowd was just completely sucked dry. I'm not sure how it felt at the last PPV, but at this one, there was a real sense that the best part of the night was over once the match and post-match angle ended. * Ambrose and Rollins worked really hard to revive a dead crowd. At one point, somewhere near our section, someone made an audible "Woo Woo Woo!" shout and I just turned to my friend and said, "It is not a good sign when you're hearing Zack Ryder noises during your main event ladder match." As the match went on, I think Rollins and Ambrose did succeed in bringing the audience back in to a respectable degree and, personally, I thought this was Ambrose's best showing in months (selling the knee all the way to end, not overusing the slingshot moves), but Cena/Owens was just too good of a match to be outshined.

Both are money to me. I also think Rusev's recent injury has hurt him way worse than the loss to Cena. He was penciled in to win the IC right? I think you can heat Rusev back up pretty easily: Have him beat Cena on a RAW. Clean or not, that would make him a viable number one contender to me instantly. Rusev/Reigns has potential. I'm going to MITB tomorrow and I'm hoping Owens wins tomorrow just because I really don't want to see a replica of the Rusev/Cena feud. I enjoyed it, but why not switch it up a bit? Have Owens beat him twice just for the sake of elongating their rivalry. If Cena wins, you're left with not just Owens in a somewhat directionless spot, but who's next for Cena exactly?

Legend. Visionary. Must-see performer. I'm glad someone posted the bit from 94' where he asks Dustin to make him his partner. What a great promo and overall feud (Dustin vs. Stud Stable). I wrote this in a Facebook group, but I'd like to repeat it here - Dusty had many, many great feuds, great promos, great rivalries and moments, but there was something so magical and emotionally powerful whenever he was in the ring with his sons. Whether it was the build to the 91' Rumble or even the more recent Rhodes Family vs. Authority angle, these storylines and Dusty's passionate promos during them were just on a whole other level than what pro-wrestling typically achieves.

Haven't seen the RR98' match in a long while, but I remember liking it when I was a kid. I still think HIAC 1 is great and, at the time, being 13 and not having seen all the stuff I've seen since, I was convinced that it was the greatest cage match that ever happened. (I think Foley even called it that in his first book, so, it's not like it was a bizarre opinion then or now). To answer the poster above's question about why Austin won this by such a landslide, I voted Austin based on my gut and I think many others did too. I know that part of my gut reaction was based on things that almost have nothing to do with Austin and Michaels' actual resumes - for example, when it comes to watching previously unseen matches from these guys, I'd watch 10 Austin matches I'd never seen before from ANY point his career before I'd be curious in seeing a single one from Shawn's career. Again, this is a gut instinct based on what I can recall from memory, but I feel like a lot of Michaels' singles matches only get good in the final 3-4 minutes, while Austin's matches, in WCW or WWE, typically start great with some real urgency, either lag a little in the middle or get a bit tedious, but then get really hot again for their finishes (whether that finish is a sprint with a ticking clock as was often the case in WCW or an overuse of run-ins like his WWE main event run).

Just watched this for the first time and, as El-P says, it is too long. There are a couple moments that I did like, though - Sting flying into a spinning powerslam from Animal, Booker T leveling Hawk with a particularly stiff Scissors Kick, the aforementioned Luger cameo, and the second round of chairshots that happens towards the end of the match - but there are also some pretty boring stretches and highly questionable production/execution decisions that really make this one hard to enjoy (Sting's lengthy search for a weapon only to return with two 99 cent brooms, Booker T "quitting" the match rather randomly when his team is not in trouble and after he has withstood at least 15 minutes of Road Warrior beatdown, the tedium of watching Hawk no-sell piledrivers and Sting miss Stinger Splashes multiple times in the same match, the commentary team sounding audibly exhausted). Compared to Finlay/Regal from the same night, it isn't violent enough and, without the drama of traditional tag rules, it has no form or suspense because there is no escalation or urgency at any point. If Sting wasn't still darn over, this match would probably be an even bigger turd - but the audience pops for the big hits, so, it's not like its a total dud (the same defense can be applied for Booty Man vs. DDP from earlier in the night, which, while certainly not worth viewing, will make you question how a just God could create a world where there are so many Ed Leslie fans this late in his career).

To me, the problem isn't that he does the slingshot clothesline every match...it's that he does it 4-5 times every match. If he kept it to just once a match, it'd be way more effective.

This is that killer Miz promo that Parties mentioned. It is probably one of my favorite promos of any WWE guy in the past 5 years.

Definitely had pretty different view of the show than many on here... * I really enjoyed the tag chamber match. To me, the good outweighed the bad. I liked how the first half of the match featured the Luchas and Los Matadores doing their big high-flying stuff, but that the match noticeably shifted in its second half. I liked Kalisto getting caught up by New Day and the crowd responded by chanting "New Day Sucks!". To me, that's a smart way to get heat. The Ascension are awful (no argument there), but Cole was right - last night was the best they've looked and giving them two eliminations at least gives them some credibility. Cesaro and Kidd were great as usual, but Prime Time Players really shined. That was easily the best work I've seen out of Darren Young, whose offense looked more energetic and natural to me than it had in the team's first run. I've liked Titus for awhile, so, no surprise I dug his work here. Then you got the New Day - they're a great act. To me, the bad was Cesaro bumping for Torito and Kalisto dropping from the top of the cage, but all in all, I was entertained and felt like all the teams came out of it looking better than they went into it. I get the criticism that it was "messy," but, aside from getting rid of the 2-3 really questionable spots, I enjoyed it quite a bit. People calling that match garbage seems a bit heavyhanded. * Similarly, the divas match was certainly not as good as Lynch/Banks from the NXT show (or maybe any womens' match from any NXT special), but I'm going to give some credit to the participants. No one executed well (the Tower of Doom spot and the half-Canadian Destroyer thing Naomi did to Paige both looked sloppy), but they were given a set number of minutes and obviously tried to jam pack it full of high-risk, impactful moves. I respect the effort. Put that same match on WWE programming anytime in the 90s or the early 00s (when womens' wrestling meant Bra and Panty matches and hair tosses as finishers) and it would blow people away, not necessarily for the execution, but for the ambition. * The worst matches of the night were the IC Chamber and meaningful Neville/Dallas match. I'm not sure if I don't like Bo Dallas as a wrestler or I just don't care about Bo Dallas in his current role or if the writers have dropped the ball on Bo Dallas, but the result is the same - I want to fast forward or change the channel whenever he's on screen. * Loved Owens/Cena, but wouldn't call it a MOTYC. Very cool "big match feel" considering Owens is a relative unknown. Didn't adore either guy kicking out of eachother's finish, which also hurt the actual finish for me because it just seemed to come out of nowhere rather than being the result of a true "knockout blow." * Liked Ambrose/Rollins more than most it seems. Not a MOTYC or anything, but I enjoyed it quite a bit more than their Hell in a Cell match from 2014. I liked how this one was different than their Lumberjack Match too, which was much heavier on the brawling. The Dusty Finish is obviously something that those of us on this board have seen dozens of times over, but I know that my students (middle schoolers) probably lost their shit watching that (the same way I did when I was their age watching Jericho get screwed by Triple H). I thought these two delivered a good hard-hitting match that did not overrely on outside interference (one of my gripes about the Orton/Rollins and Cena/Rollins matches). Ambrose does repeat his signature moves too much and I'm amazed no agent has got in his ear about it, but I'm not giving up on him just yet. Similarly, I think Rollins is fantastic, at times a "Shawn Michaels with Better Offense," but he's still not as despicable or as crafty as he should be? I don't know what it is, but I do think he'll get there. Tonight's match was, like the opener, more good than bad, with easily the most dramatic nearfalls on a show jam-packed with 2-and-three-quarter counts. As a whole, this was my favorite Network Special in quite some time.

I voted Miz because I don't think he's nearly as terrible as people say. In the build to WM27, I thought he did a great job as a heel. I think he's had 3 decent-to-great tag runs (with Morrison, Big Show, and Sandow) and that this is his strength. Outside the ring, I think he is excellent as a spokesman for the company. His work as a singles is very inconsistent, but I'd say the same thing about nearly every midcard worker with comparable years on the roster - Kofi, Ziggler, R-Truth, Barrett, and Cody Rhodes, for example, have been around for quite awhile and, while they're all better athletes than Miz and have had individual matches better than his best, it's not like any have spotless records. I'm also not sure any have ever been as over as Miz was in late 2010/2011. Miz's staleness as a character is hurting him more than the small improvements he's made as a worker have helped him. Miz is also from Cleveland (Parma to be specific), so, that gets extra points from me. Charlotte is a great talent and there are plenty of other men on the roster that she is more valuable than (Darren Young, Fandango, The Ascension), but The Miz is an established act with proven value. If I'm starting a company tomorrow, I'd take the Miz based on his track record, experience, marketability, and age. At 34, he's still young enough and relatively healthy enough to give me 5-6 more very good years (plus, we've seen plenty of guys actually get better as they reach 40).

So, so pumped for this. I've heard great things about RoH's TV from friends, podcasts, etc., but I'm just not the type to watch shows online on a computer or iPad. I've seen some matches here or there, but I'm excited to watch things episodically. Sinclair did not have a channel here in Cleveland (at least not on Cox Cable - maybe Time Warner?), but I *think* I get Destination America. To be honest, I haven't looked in awhile mostly because I gave up on getting into TNA probably sometime around 2011 - starting in 05' or so, I'd watch a show or two, try to get into it, but lose interest and this would happen over and over through the years, TNA never getting good enough to keep me interested for anything longer than a month or two. RoH, on the other hand, has a reputation of being for "real fans," a bit of the original ECW mystique in its humble roots and being the "birthplace" of guys like Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk (accurate or not), and is a legitimately NEW promotion to millions of eyes. Save a handful of matches each year, it is brand new to me. I expect RoH to outdraw TNA, maybe handily. The "buzz" is there. Last thought: The news of today reminds of the most recent twist on one of my favorite current shows, Silicon Valley on HBO. On Silicon Valley, the main character (CEO of the data-crunching Pied Piper app) recently bested a rival company that stole his algorithm by sabotaging their deal with an industry-leading internet porn company. They did this by illegally hacking into their competitor's files, seeing their deal with said porn company, and then approaching the porn site with "We can do what our competitor does - but we can do it cheaper and produce a better product." I'm guessing RoH snaked its way into DA's good graces with similar promises and I don't think their claim is at all wrong.

I liked this match. There's the aforementioned Vaderbomb and Vadersault, but Bulldog also impresses with a vertical suplex on the "Baby Bull." Also, a pretty hot crowd that absolutely loved Sting (with sizable chunks of the audience also cheering Vader) helped keep the match moving.

Anyone got a good comparison for Mark Henry? I'm thinking something to do with a guy who, after some weak earlier years, came into his own and became an All-Star caliber player some time around his 10th season in the league. Tyson Chandler maybe? High draft pick (Henry had that big post-Olympics contract) but ended up bouncing between a number of teams (just like Henry bounced through a number of gimmicks/stables/turns) before winning an NBA Championship in 2011 (Henry won the WHC in 2011).

He's that rock band that has sold millions of records...but I don't know a single person who owns one. He's also the rock band that other rock bands seem to think is great, while the rest of us scratch our heads and don't think its anything special.

I've only been rating matches since getting the Network last year, so, this is definitely not a very accurate picture of everything I've seen (and also one that, like anyone's list, is purely subjective), but here goes, straight from my database: ***** The Rock vs. Steve Austin (WrestleMania XIX) War Games Match (WrestleWar 92) Sting vs. Vader (Starrcade 92) The Dudleys vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boys (WrestleMania XVII) The Rock vs. Steve Austin (WrestleMania XVII) ****1/2 (I don't do quarter stars in my database) Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle (WrestleMania XIX) Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns vs. Triple H, Orton, and Batista (Extreme Rules 2014) Vader vs. Koloff (H. Havoc 92) Vader vs. Sting (Gr. Amer. Bash 92) Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude (SuperBrawl II) Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Spring Stampede 94’) Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck (Spring Stampede 94’) Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs. The Nasty Boys (Spring Stampede 94’) Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan vs. The Nasty Boys (Slamboree 94’) Austin vs. Steamboat (Bash at the Beach 94’) Triple H vs. Austin (No Way Out 2001) (3 Stages of Hell) Triple H vs. Undertaker (WrestleMania XVII) Sting vs. Vader (Fall Brawl 94’) Cena vs. Lesnar vs. Rollins (Royal Rumble 2015) Cena vs. Daniel Bryan (SummerSlam 2013) Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (WrestleMania XIX) My biggest takeaway is that Spring Stampede 94' owned.

I haven't listened to it, but what else was she supposed to say? "No, I don't understand the business." Obviously, she can't say that either. I don't think she needed to say "I have no clue what I'm doing," but there is zero humility in her tone or words. Compare that to William Regal, who, on Jericho's podcast, admits he "never drew a dime" and that, despite wrestling for a long time before coming to the WWE, didn't feel like he learned the style of "WWE wrestling" for years into his tenure there. If Dixie had just once admitted that there have been bumps in the road and that the reason for those bumps was that it is difficult to navigate the waters of running a wrestling promotion, I'd respect that. Instead, she admits things haven't been smooth, but puts none of the blame on her own management skills and unfamiliarity with the business. Instead, she just says the market isn't good. Well, duh, but knowing the market wasn't good, was it wise to bring in so many high-priced talents? Was it wise to run live against RAW before the product was hot? Was it wise to try to bring back ECW for the umpteenth time thinking there was money in it that McMahon hadn't already gotten to? She had a chance to own up to how difficult her job is, but instead, says she had it all figured out in 18 months. If that's true, she doesn't come off as intelligent, she comes off as utterly incompetent.

Here's another story from my past, this would be around 97'-99', I was between 13-15. My middle school/high school friends and I are big wrestling fans, it is the Attitude Era, and we think we discovered the lost city of Atlantis when we came upon Lords of Pain and start reading news and rumors (and Tito's Phat Daily Column). We learn that RAW is coming to Cleveland and we are pumped! We also learn, via the internet, that Road Dogg will be making his return to WWE after a brief stint in rehab on that night. And so I bring a sign that reads "Road Dogg Fears Sobriety" (in the tradition of the "Sabu Fears Taz" and "_____ Fears ____" signage that was popular at the time). We also happen to be sitting along the TV side of the entrance ramp. Road Dogg comes out to a huge response, goes into his "Oh You Didn't Know?" speech and, very audibly, on TV, says "What's that sign say?," a clear reference to my sign, which me and my idiot tweenage friends were holding. Dick move by me if he really was just coming out of rehab. My bad, Road Dogg! If you don't believe me, this is documented. I'm not sure what RAW it is, but it would be sometime between 97' and 99', at Cleveland's Gund Arena (now Quicken Loans). There were at least 3-4 that happened during that time, but I do know it was *not* the one pre-WM14 and it was *not* the one the night after KOTR 98'. You can clearly see me and my buddy absolutely lose it as Road Dogg walks by and references our sign (we're the pimple-faced losers marking out along the entrance ramp).

This could probably be its own thread (or maybe there should just be an Austin Podcast thread?) but I'm going to post this here... Has anyone listened to the Dixie Carter interview from last week? I listened to most of it today and I have to say Dixie Carter comes off as the biggest "money mark" I've ever heard. At one point, Austin asks, very clearly, if the learning curve for running a wrestling promotion was steep, stating that wrestlers are notorious "sharks," that there is a ton of "bullshit" (this is on the PG version of the podcast, but he still says it) in the business and asking how long it took Dixie to wade through the bullshit and really understand the business... She responds that she understood "the bullshit" from the very beginning and that it only took her a few years to understand the business. I can imagine Austin hearing that and just shaking his head/rolling his eyes as Dixie, moments earlier, described how Panda Energy dumped an increasing amount of money into TNA with very little of her investment paying off. Dixie's refusal to admit that she's made any mistakes in who she trusted and who she invested in is beyond head-scratching. After hearing her thoughts on pro-wrestling, I am LESS likely to support TNA because she really seems to believe that her management of the company has been good (at one point she brings up how the real problem is in antiquated Neilsen ratings, but I've been to TNA house shows - attendance is spotty and that is far more telling than ratings). So, I was curious, has anyone else listened to her interview? Were you as perplexed by how delirious she sounded as I was? To say that she understood the business after "a couple of years" came off as almost insulting.

The "Benoit is innocent" stuff is conspiracy malarkey. I find that kind of willful ignorance, in this specifc case, to be harmless. Like people who believe what they read in Weekly World News. Lionel Tate immediately came to mind. And, sadly, also myself. Drunkenly (I was 18, but able to secure some beers thanks to a fake ID), I said some pretty nasty things while heckling a female valet at a Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling show (or maybe it was a Pro Wrestling Ohio show) back in 2005 or 06'. I remember loudly, enough for the audience (where children were) calling the valet a "slut" and telling her to suck my genitalia. It was crass and embarassing, so much so that one of the guys in the ring "broke," turned to my direction, stared me in the eyes and said, "C'mon, dude!" I've since learned to hold my Miller Light better and not spout off every disgustingly sexist thing that might pop into my head in the heat of inebriation and wanting to "rag on the heels." Also, just so people are aware, I wasn't the only most-likely-sexually-frustrated asshole saying dirty things - Cleveland indies can be brutal with hecklers, much worse then than now (and even worse in the late 90s) - but it still makes my skin crawl thinking about what I said and how unnecessary and "stereotypical wrestling moron" it was.

What was really interesting to me on that podcast was how humble Regal is and how he pretty much admits that there was a stretch that he wasn't performing as well as he could've, not just because of substance abuse but also because he struggled to really find his footing in the WWE at first. Instead of saying "The WWE didn't know what do with my character," Regal owns up to the fact that it took time for him to figure out how to be successful in that environment - from what I remember, his matches in 2000 against the likes of Road Dogg and Al Snow weren't lighting the world on fire. Really great interview that confirms how awesome Regal is, not only as a knowledgable wrestler, but also maybe as a person. At one point, he says "I never drew a dime" and you just want to shake his hand and tell him that it may not have seemed like it from his perspective, but from a fan's perspective, when you saw his name on the card, you always knew you'd get one match that was going to deliver the goods.

I don't know if I get why mentioning Moolah would be trolling. I was going to bring her name up as an honest answer to the original question. I don't know much about her, but I always assumed/thought that she controlled (booked and trained) womens' wrestling nationwide independently (or with her husband? ex-husband?) but was essentially subcontracted by Vince Sr. and others who paid her to bring her troupe in and perform on their shows. Is that at all accurate? So, as a performer, Moolah is already in the Hall, but as a trainer and booker (if she was one), I'd say she has the trifecta too because of her impact on the industry.

It was announced today that Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame has joined TNA as a Senior Creative Team Producer or whatever. Does anyone know how his Chicago-based fed was? Good? Bad? At all successful? I get that Corgan is a fan and I personally don't care what happens in TNA because I don't watch it, but when I read news like this, its hard not to chuckle a little and think of the question posed as the subject of this thread. It reminds me of that lyric from the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness song "Zero": "Emptiness is loneliness and loneliness is cleanliness and cleanliness is godliness and god is empty just like the ring in a Reverse Battle Royal match for the X-Division Championship."

I just saw this for the first time today and would definitely agree with what others have posted but, and I can't really explain 100% why (I'll try below), I still found this kind of enjoyable. First, I like how, despite this featuring 60 guys, it is shorter than every Royal Rumble (I think). If this match went anywhere close to 60 minutes, I'd be searching for cyanide, but instead, the whole thing runs under 30 minutes. Now, that doesn't make the match remotely credible or realistic or anything, but it certainly helps the watchability. Second, while the first 30 or so eliminations go by like nothing, once everyone moves into just one ring, there are occasional bright spots. As per usual, Savage finds a way to stand out even in this setting, brawling with Luger in the unused rings and on the floor. Then, there's Eddie Guerrero, who is marvelous once he actually gets a chance to shine - first by surviving a cool-looking Stinger Splash that looks like it should eliminate him and then, minutes later, getting into it with Arn Anderson and Flair. Unfortunately, Guerrero's actual elimination isn't shown, but whatever, at least we get to see him do *something* in this match. Third, the ending. It is definite Hogan backstage bullshit not to lose clean, but from a storytelling point of view, I think it works. Does it taint Savage's victory? For sure…but it also adds yet another level of intrigue into the WCW main event scene. At this point, you have Hogan who deserves a shot, Lex Luger who deserves a shot (he beat Savage earlier in the night), and The Giant still being presented as dominant and unbeatable. Throw in the never-ending rivalry between Savage and Flair and you've got a title picture that is full of baby faces and heels that all could lay claim to being next in line (you could even add Sting as he beat Flair decisively on the show and was also involved in the Luger/Savage feud). In another thread someone pointed out that too often, in WWE, the champion only seems to focus on that month's Challenger, as if, for those 30-60 days, there are only two people vying for the belt. in this scenario, you actually had a variety of guys in that position and it made storyline sense. At least its something different. Lastly, I'm going to give credit where its due to Hulk Hogan's post-match performance. He comes off as a total crybaby, but unlike the countless times in the WWF where Hogan's anger about getting screwed was almost always justifiable, in this instance, the way he smirks and the way he mocks Savage, it comes off as borderline heelish. Whether or not that was the intention, it breathes some life into his character as, instead of congratulating Savage and simply asking for a title shot and taking the loss like a man, Hogan outright calls the championship "his belt" and pouts like a toddler. If WCW had bothered, they could've referenced this event as foreshadowing of his actual heel turn 9 months later, but I don't remember them doing so. All in all, not great, but certainly not as terrible as it should be. Plus, hearing Penzer introduce The Yeti, who comes out dressed as a giant ninja (can someone explain that to me?), is the kind of ridiculousness that I find entertaining enough to sell me on the match just from the entrances alone (bonus point for Mike Winner wrestling in a PPV main event).

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/rick-rubin-on-wrestling-and-how-roddy-piper-turned-the-beastie-boys-bad-20150420?page=3 I had no idea Rick Rubin helped bankroll SMW. He must've felt pretty awesome hearing some of his work used in WWE, specifically his Johnny Cash credits.

I just watched Halloween Havoc 95' and there are two pretty clear examples on that show that both fall into the category (or close to it) that Jimmy mentions in the post above. First, DDP vs. Renegade. This is not Renegade's first match, but its the most entertaining one I've ever seen, mostly due to what DDP does - Renegade hits him with a punch, for example, and DDP bumps over the top rope, stumbles over the guardrail, and ends up on the floor of the arena. Back in the ring, there is a noticeable spot when Renegade puts DDP in a headlock and DDP literally walks his way towards the ropes, positioning himself (and Renegade) into the next bump, defying all real logic. If you have the stomach for it (like I said, its actually a pretty entertaining match), there are other moments in the match where DDP is obviously overselling/positioning himself or his opponent to make Renegade look competent. Second, in his first match, The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan in the main event. At one point, Hogan literally grabs The Giant's hand and applies a chokehold to himself in the corner. There's not a whole lot of big spots in this match, so, its basically just Giant clobbering, Hogan selling, Giant clobbering, Hogan selling, leading up to a "Hulk Up" and then one of the all-time most clusterfucked finishes ever, but I'd still consider this a Hogan "carry job" because The Giant was just so, so green and almost noticeably unconfident out there. If you would've told me in 95' that the Giant was going to leave the sport in 3 months, there's nothing in this match that would've made me say "No, he's going to be a main event fixture for the next two decades."