C.S.

I'm wondering that right now. It was one of the worst matches of the year IMO. Yes, I get that people are going gaga because it was so unique, but so were the Cena/Wyatt matches and everyone shit all over those (I defended them at the time because of their uniqueness, but I wouldn't call them great from an athletic or artistic standpoint). Cena/Brock at SummerSlam was just plain boring (IMO, of course). A thousand German suplexes - or so it seemed - isn't my idea of a compelling match. At least the Cena/Wyatt series had a fun WTF trainwreck appeal about them - not that those were MOTY candidates (or anywhere near) either, of course. Then again, I may be biased - I consider Brock one of the most overrated and overpushed guys ever.

I always thought Brad Armstrong deserved a bigger push. I was glad to see him get it with the Light Heavyweight Title and awesome Pillman angle.

He still felt fairly new by Beach Blast, from what I remember of my own impressions at the time. Remember, wrestling moved a lot slower back then. A big signing in February was still new and fresh in June or July.

*Groan* Where was this announced? I can't find it on WWE.com.

But what did it mean after? Nothing. WWE has always been better about making their big moments matter, not only at the time, but for years after the fact. 1-2-3 Kid became a huge star because of it, and it's constantly touted as a great Raw moment, etc. Iaukea is barely remembered today. I think that's why no one else is jumping on Iaukea/Regal as any kind of big deal, because it ultimately wasn't.

So, nothing should be a surprise anymore because they might lose money? Yet, wrestling has done fine for the past hundred years by having surprises. It's one of the best parts of watching, especially in the internet age, where true surprises are harder to come by. There is merit to what you're saying, don't get me wrong, but does that mean we should never have surprise returns again because it might affect the bottom line? This kind of thinking is exactly why the WWE has become such a bland, sterile, corporate, and completely unwatchable product. They're leaving money on the table now by being that way. EDIT: Just saw your edit. Yeah, I probably went overboard in my wording. But the lack of surprises, the lack of fun, has just really weighed the product down. Everything is pre-planned, pre-packaged, homogenized, bland.

Yep. If it was so "FUCKING DUMB," Grimmas, how come it worked so flawlessly for Cena?

The Authority is back because Cena wanted to save...Edge?! *Groan* Christian's retirement pisses me off. Edge got a big speech, HOF induction, the whole nine. What does Christian get? Jack shit. I'd love to see Christian crack Edge in the neck, hit the Unprettier, and go off on Edge with a scathing heel promo. Won't ever happen, and there'd be no point to it, but it's no less pointless than fucking Edge being the cause of a major angle like The Authority's return. *Groan* again.

How do you figure? I think Bo Dallas and Adam Rose are miles ahead of The Ascension as characters and in the ring. With that said, I agree with you. May as well push them and be consistent about it for a change.

Maybe, but again, who "looks forward" to a major surgery?

Can't see it being retirement, as others on the 'net are speculating, because who "looks forward" to an early forced retirement? My guess is he's entering the Rumble, but if so, how fucking dumb to blow their load by announcing that now. Imagine what an awesome surprise that would be. The entire arena would become unglued. Guess we'll find out in a few hours...

Count me in as another one who thought the Liz heel turn was an awesome shocker. Didn't see that coming at all, which was rare for the mid-'90s - one of the most predictable eras ever.

And you think the crowd wouldn't turn on him in a heartbeat if they thought he was being a diva who refused to lose, was leaving right after Mania, etc.? I'm not understanding your logic. Maybe I'm missing something?

I can't agree with this. Was he Flair? No. But his "defining moment" promo after beating Hogan for the WCW World Title was fantastic, and he was always at least "solid" otherwise (sort of like Bret Hart was 80% of the time, with the other 20% being quite good). Lex's promos during the "you sold out" Tatanka feud, for example, were always convincing. Was he ever all that fiery or passionate? No. But he delivered the message he needed to deliver, and he did it realistically. I won't call Lex a "great" promo, but I do think he's an underrated one.

I agree with your general point, but I think they'd be better served finding someone new and fresh who fits that bill. Kofi has stale midcard stink all over him. I was hoping The New Day would be a heel gimmick that would give him a character and rejuvenate his career, but alas, that's not what ended up happening.

I didn't take it literally to the point that they'll put him in a mouse costume (although I wouldn't put anything past the WWE), just that it's going to be some goofy, kid-friendly, lame, uncool, opening card purgatory gimmick. I think we'd all love it if they booked him like Dynamite Kid, but I'm not sure how you got Dynamite Kid out of Mighty Mouse.

Does the Dome show come with NJPW World? Whether it does or not, what are the other ways to see it? I want to keep my options open.

Because you sort of missed the point of what I said. I never suggested plain, vanilla Harry Smith. I suggested some kind of British Bulldogs type of gimmick for them (but not specifically "The New British Bulldogs," as that never works - but rather something in the same spirit) . Something with color and flash, pomp and circumstance. But I'm not hung up on Harry Smith specifically. That was just an example. Primarily, I meant that someone "new and fresh" should be Neville's partner in this scenario - not a stale WWE midcarder like Kofi who has been overexposed for years.

It was an FF issue for me and fakeplastictrees. Not sure about flyonthewall2983.

Which is why I said this earlier:

The same thing happened to me. I cleared all WWE.com cookies, closed and reopened the browser, and logged back in. That fixed the problem.

No, because Kofi is over-exposed and isn't over at all. A tag team with two "newer" people - maybe Neville and Harry Smith, like I suggested above - would be a better bet. A tag team is a good idea, but Neville + any stale WWE midcarder wouldn't work. It needs to be fresh.

Meltzer may call himself a reporter, but he could call himself the Easter Bunny and it wouldn't change the fact that he's also a critic - just like Ebert. Meltzer's five-star reviews are one of the most famous things about him. Ebert was the screenwriter for a movie. He may not have acted in it, but I'd argue that screenwriting is every bit as important a contribution (even if Hollywood and the public don't see it that way, because Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sell more tabloids). However, I'm not sure if "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" pre-dates Ebert's association with the Chicago Sun-Times. It very well might. But either way, I don't think it ever compromised his credibility as a critic. With that said, I can see the merits of your A.O. Scott comparison too.

More color is fine, but the gimmick we're hearing about is Red Rooster levels of bad - and I don't see Neville possessing the necessary charisma to make chicken salad out of chicken shit. Terry Taylor couldn't, and even he had more personality than Neville. If I had to give Neville a gimmick, I'd go with a modern-day spin on the British Bulldogs (minus Matilda). Hell, why not bring Harry Smith back and make them a team? Not "The New British Bulldogs" since "the new anything" always falls flat on its ass, but something in that spirit.

And this thought process is exactly why wrestling fucking sucks now. A competent promoter or writer would try to get the most out of every talent. Are all of them going to be main eventers? No, of course not. But handicapping and cutting someone off at the knees from the get-go isn't the solution either. Try to use everyone in the best way possible and let the chips fall where they're naturally going to. That makes for a much more compelling product. For all of the criticisms of the Attitude era, every character mattered. Hell, every character had a character. That's not the case today, and it makes the show a slog to get through. Does that mean D-Lo Brown was as important as Stone Cold Steve Austin? Obviously not, but at least D-Lo got to be the best version of himself. That hasn't been the case in the WWE for a long time now. Some crappy "Mighty Mouse" type of gimmick for Neville would not allow him to be at his personal best, whatever that ends up being.