C.S.

Also, Ebert wrote "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" and worked with (and presumably had a friendship with) its director, Russ Meyer. Did it compromise his career as a critic? Not one bit IMO. In any case, Ebert never pretended to be "unbiased." He always said he had an opinion - about movies, politics, religion, etc. - and brought that to all of his reviews. Meltzer really isn't any different. Besides, if you want to go down this rabbit hole, you can argue with Meltzer has already been influenced by his admiration of and/or friendship with Ric Flair and others. Ditto for Keller and X-Pac, etc. They may be reporters, but they're also editorialists, and everything they write reflects their own personal opinions. That's the nature of the beast. There's nothing wrong with that. The problem comes in when people start to take their word as gospel - e.g. Meltzer rated this match five stars, so it must be!

I've been heavily critical of Adrian Neville - I am slightly warming up to him, but I'm still not a fan - and even I can't agree with what sounds like a horrible, lower-card, cartoon, comedy gimmick. What is the point of ruining him before he even gets started? Look at what happened with Terry Taylor and the Red Rooster. Yeah, people like Michael Hayes have said *puff puff, snort snort* that Rooster would've worked if Taylor had only embraced it. Maybe so. But it still wouldn't have gone past the midcard even in a best-case scenario. One can argue that Neville won't go past the midcard even as himself, but he deserves a legitimate opportunity to try.

How many of us even watched that? I didn't, had zero clue about his past with reality television except what was brought up on screen. Wrestlers have overcome worse perceptions than that to look a threat. Agreed. I never watched it. I assume this was more of an issue with locker room bullies like Bradshaw and Benoit than most of the audience.

When Miz was pushed as a main eventer, he should've been booked like Edge IMO - an opportunist who makes use of weapons in the most brutal and barbaric manner possible...chairs, the Money in the Bank briefcase, etc. That would make up for any perceived "softness" in the ring. The early characterization that was all wrong for Jericho - hitting Chyna with a hammer, etc. - might have worked for Miz.

That's a fair point. But did HBK look like a threat either? Not even remotely. But because HBK is an IWC darling (not around these parts, I realize), people will overlook that about him but criticize Miz for the same. Obviously, HBK is bigger than Miz and better in the ring, but he does not come across as a threat at all IMO.

I blame the WWE's horrendous writing for this. Same sort of thought process that relegated WWE Undisputed Champion Jericho to 4th place in his own feud behind Trips, Steph, and their pet poodle. Just awful garbage all around. When Miz cashed in Money in the Bank and won the title, it was a HUGE moment. CM Punk was butthurt that it wasn't him vs. Cena that year, but quite frankly, it shouldn't have been. Miz was far more over and entertaining at that point, and felt like a much bigger star. The CM Punk documentary, which was one of the best otherwise, made him look like a whiny asshole in that regard. Punk moaned about not getting the match, bashed Miz, etc. Miz, meanwhile, praised Punk on the same documentary. Like I said, Miz is a great spokesperson for the company and always shines in those segments. Even Daniel Bryan comes across as a smark douchebag when he's a talking head, but Miz is great. Overrated character and wrestler. His message is indeed off, but the biggest problem is that he doesn't feel like a real person in any way. Being a "cartoon" (for lack of a better word) was fine for something like Undertaker, but it doesn't work at all with Bray.

Miz will get another run eventually, mark my words. Might be a late career twilight JBL run, but he'll get it. Like him or not, he's a fantastic spokesperson for the company.

Great interview with J.R. here. http://thebiglead.com/2014/12/19/a-long-conversation-with-jim-ross-part-i/ Am I reading into it too much, or does he seem less than enthused about Jarrett picking Striker? Much more in the link: Flair's party lifestyle, CM Punk, Vince, WWE's medical staff...tons of interesting content. It's well worth a read.

The first WCW Uncensored - I loved that damn truck match, even if both wrestlers ended up getting fired over it (something I doubt I knew at the time, unless Alex Marvez mentioned it in his newspaper wrestling column) - Big Bubba (Boss Man) getting an upset victory over Sting. For some reason, I found this awesome. - I don't remember the rest of the card, but didn't it involve some dumb finish with Flair in drag losing a match he wasn't even - Hogan and Vader? Survivor Series '92 - Just remember every match being fun and good. Now, by fun and good, I don't mean five-star classic. - First Bret vs. HBK match on a PPV. For this reason alone, it has historical significance. Such an interesting time for the WWE...a major transition period. I don't think Bret vs. HBK was even the main event or a World Title match when this card was first announced.

Third opponent now: Roderick Strong. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/ROH_News_29/article_82352.shtml

I actually saw this. The movie was kind of a confusing mess, somewhat redeemed with an ending that put it all together, but I still wouldn't call it good.

They are actually fraternal twins, not identical. It's easier to tell them apart in backstage/interview/Total Divas type settings, but in the ring, in motion, it's damn near impossible.

Good news for Canadians: A second cable company, Eastlink, just picked up the WWE Network. http://www.wspa.com/story/27651986/eastlink-launches-wwe-network-hd-and-breaks-200-hd-milestone

The Call had a good premise and real star. That helps. Ultimately, the movie wasn't great, but it wasn't bad by any means either. It was good enough to generate a bit of buzz. I thought Dead Man Down (Colin Farrell) was very good, but I can understand people not liking that or not even wanting to see it in the first place. It was a strange movie and probably a hard sell. Wade Barrett looked goofy and out of place in it, but that doesn't really matter too much because he was such a small part of the movie. That's What I Am was really good, but I doubt it made money, and it's mocked by wrestling fans for the nutty Orton "I'll go to the papers if I have to" scene. I liked The Condemned, but I'm guessing people feel mixed about that one, and it probably wasn't strong at the box office. The Marine with Cena was pretty bad, but the sequel with DiBiase Jr. was better, and the third movie with The Miz was actually quite good for what it was - and Miz was the best of the Marine actors, believe it or not. The one with Edge and Jamie Kennedy was decent. Not great, but there are certainly worse ways to spend a couple of hours. The Chaperone was exactly what you'd expect - a bad kids' movie with a certain goofy charm to it. Other than Condemned, the first Marine, The Call, Dead Man Down, and a couple of others, most of these have been straight-to-video, I believe. The profit margins should be higher if they bypass theaters and stick to a lower budget, but who knows, I could be wrong on that.

Was it really, or were you being sarcastic? I found the DVD for $2 at Walmart and bought it for the hell of it. Hopefully the movie is good, but that doesn't exactly speak well of the WWE film division's fortunes. Then again, they had a lot of stuff on sale from major studios from $2 to $10 (like Doom on Blu-Ray for $7 - not a good movie, I admit, but I love Dwayne's batshit crazy performance in it, LOL).

I might have been unintentionally misleading in my post. Other than the strange "of all things" line, he was never embarrassed or dismissive of pro wrestling at all. I just remembered another story from the book: Kunkel and his business partners/friends would play the Atari 2600 game Air-Sea Battle, with the winner being the World Champion and then the rest going after the U.S. or I-C Titles...a concept he admitted he took from wrestling. That made me smile, because my childhood was exactly the same way...except with NHL Hockey on Sega Genesis (never mind the "logic" of playing a hockey game for wrestling-sounding titles). Of course, there's very little mention of wrestling overall, but that's to be expected from a book focused on his career in gaming.

He was also booked like hot garbage as champ. He lost more than he won. It was ridiculous.

I missed the pre-show (because I didn't care enough to watch it) and Dolph/Harper (because the WWE Network is still a terrible, buggy service that shit the bed because I decided to watch the PPV five minutes late - oh no!). Honestly though, no matter how "great" the I-C match was, I don't give a fuck. It's a lower midcard spot at this point, and it undoes Dolph's amazing Survivor Series push and moment. I had no desire to see it and won't be seeking it out. I only care about matches that matter. - Miz/Mizdow vs. Usos: What was the fucking point of the Naomi angle? It wasn't even a factor in this match. Cheap DQ finishes are never good, but Miz/Mizdow is a fun act. - Show/Rowan: I assume everyone is shitting on this, but I thought it was fun for what it was. Nothing special, but still a nice little brawl. - Cena/Rollins: Was shocked to see this so early, so I thought for sure Rollins would win. The earlier 3 on 1 stuff with Mercury and Noble reminded me too much of one of the Cena/Wyatt matches, and not in a good way. Otherwise, great match but unsatisfactory ending. - Nikki vs. AJ: It was what it was. I thought for sure Brie would turn at the end and we'd get a sister vs. sister feud for the title. But nope...I guess Brie's actions really have been poorly written, illogical garbage. - Kane vs. Ryback: Ryback is over. Corporate Kane isn't. Nothing else I can really say about this match. - Rusev vs. Swagger: Match of the night for me, and I'm not one of those people who thinks Rusev can do no wrong. There was a genuine false finish with the first Accolade - I really thought it was over - and then Swagger had me believing again with the Ankle Lock right after. Short match, but very, very effective. - Ambrose vs. Wyatt: I was surprised to see this in the main event slot, and even more surprised that a heel - Wyatt - went over. This was a stunt show/garbage match, which I guess was the point and what everyone wanted, but I don't really love those types of matches. Near the end when they were both laid out by the announce table, there was a blink and you miss it moment with Ambrose relaying the next spot to Wyatt - but I blame the close-up camera work more than Ambrose for that. Still, despite my dislike of garbage matches, it was good for what it was...until that monumentally stupid finish. Is Ambrose really such a moron that he wouldn't think to disconnect the fucking monitor first? The sparks didn't look cool, just stupid...and so did Ambrose's character. With the story that he used to stand up to the office whenever The Shield was stupidly booked, I'm surprised he let this one fly. It probably sounded better on paper. Not a bad show - entertaining enough, I suppose - but nothing I'll remember a few months from now either. Other thoughts: - Reigns is back! Yay? He needs another year before he gets a main event push. - Don't care about Cena vs. Lesnar at all. Their match at SummerSlam was the worst big match of the year. (Yeah, I said it. Don't care how much IWC love it gets, just because Cena got decimated. That didn't make it good or entertaining.) - Wyatt is overrated as a character and wrestler.

Why would HBO use a different company for its new service? I had assumed it would be the exact same service as HBO Go, but I'm guessing that's not the case. Edit: The article explains that HBO Go has had outages, and they expect MLBAM to better handle the greater demand. Considering how rocky the first week of WWE Network was, and the various little problems it has experienced since then, I think HBO is in for a rude awakening with the in-over-their-heads, overrated MLBAM. With that said, I hope MLBAM copies the live channel concept from WWE Network. That would actually make a lot of sense for HBO.

How do they do it?

I just finished reading Confessions of the Game Doctor by Bill Kunkel (which can be purchased as an ebook for a limited time from https://storybundle.com/games - and no, I have nothing to do with that site, author, book, etc.). It's mostly about Kunkel's lengthy career as a video game scribe, obviously, but he also wrote about wrestling on the side and there were a few interesting tidbits about that. - Kunkel and his partners Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley created the original Micro League Wrestling PC game (remember that?) - Andre was ornery and drunk during an autograph signing and hated doing them - all because of his disease. Nothing new there. - Funny Sting autograph signing story. Everyone expected the singer and wondered "what happened to him?" when they saw the wrestler Sting, as if the singer suddenly became very sick or weird. Hahaha. - Bill Cosby was an "unpleasant" asshole during an autograph signing, even though he was paid to be pleasant. Okay, that has nothing to do with wrestling, but I found it interesting. Keep in mind, this book was written years before the current controversy. Kunkel's first words about his side career as a wrestling writer described it almost dismissively - referring to it as wrestling "of all things" - but the guy was obviously a true blue fan, considering that he wrote for The Wrestling Perspective for several years (which was a great newsletter, but I'm guessing only the hardest of hardcore wrestling fans knew about it). To be fair, he did mention his wrestling fandom few more times in the book without any shame. The book probably isn't worth it just for the wrestling content, but if you like games too, it's a great read.

I was hoping the Rivalries shows would be like the Bret/Shawn Rivalries DVD/Blu-Ray, with the two parties in the same room swapping stories - but instead it's just another documentary feature, right? Kind of disappointing, if you ask me.

Sounds like something screwed up during the update. Try uninstalling and reinstalling the app.

Very fun show. I found the Zayn/Neville match a bit slow and lacking as I watched it, but after thinking about it for a few minutes and seeing the big picture, I realize it told a damn good story. And that's not even counting the fantastic Owens turn, which I called mere seconds before it happened, just because I wondered why Owens came out to hug Zayn again. I thought, either this guy is a major spotlight hog or he's turning. Still an awesome and unexpected moment though, because I didn't think we'd get this feud so quickly. Can't wait! Speaking of turns, I was actually rooting for one from Finn Balor or Hideo Itami during their match, because a rivalry between them is a lot more interesting to me than anything they can do as a team. I bet we'll get that split eventually, and some awesome matches after that. The Ascension doesn't do much for me, and the Lucha Dragons feel like a WCW Thunder jobber team. Balor clearly had the best entrance of the night (almost ruined by the announcers idiotically praising Balor's "creativity" until someone presumably yelled into their earpieces and told them to emphasize the mind game aspect instead), but The Vaudevillians were a close second with a really cool and creative (there's that word again) entrance that made me pop. I was hoping they'd beat the Thunder Lizards. I couldn't tell who was supposed to be face and heel between Charlotte and Sasha Banks, but I was rooting for Sasha. None of the matches were five-star classics, but this was a fast, fun show that actually felt important - something that can be rare at times for the WWE - because there were several major developments, new stars established, a feel-good title change, and an awesome ending. I walked away feeling very satisfied, and what more can you ask for?

What a ridiculous statement... I was never a Luger fan, and even I was cheering for him during all of this. One of the most memorable moments of the Monday Night Wars by a mile. A shame his reign lasted only six days, but his victory and post-match speech on Nitro were both beyond glorious.