(BP)

I just read the Natalie Slater Punk piece. It took me a minute to figure out how she arrived at 7 world titles, and then I thought, "Yeah, I guess..."

Long term, they've kind of written themselves into a corner with Bryan and Brie. Historically, one would turn on the other at some point, but I don't see them doing that while Total Divas is on. They might not be a terrible heel tandem some day; Brie has slightly more charisma as a heel, anyway.

I really didn't want a HHH/Bryan gimmick match, but now I don't think it could have been any less compelling then the Kane match. As far as Payback, have there been any good Buried Alive matches? I'm drawing a blank. Taker/Mankind maybe?

Kawada/Goldberg would have been interesting. I didn't think the Foley match was underwelming, but I knew Foley was a last minute sub, so I probably had low expectations.

Flair as a manager mixing it up with Zeb and Heyman would be fun. Or bring back Flair for the Gold. Not good, but fun. I want to hear more about HHH's love of ribeyes.

The Observer reported that Hunico and Sheamus got into a scrap backstagw at the Smackdown taping,which Hunico got the better of. I guess time will tell if this leads to Sin Cara III.

I want Kane's retirement to be a completely bonkers summation of his entire storyline run. They should do a Foley This is Your life with Pete Rose, X-Pac, Lita, and the Katie Vick doll. Then have a bunch of guys on the roster come out to give him a beat down, but Taker comes out and (safely) runs them off, so they can do the kneeling tribute thing to each other.

It's sad that Hogan and Sting delivered a better match when both both were completely broken down in TNA. I'll defend HBK/Hogan as being fun, and I understand what Shawn was going for even if it was sort of silly. The promo the next night where he essentially said he didn't really lose because it's all a work was the most objectionable thing about that program.

The interesting thing about Cena's promos during this feud is that he's saying he knows what's best for the audience and he has to save them from Bray even if they don't like it. It's the kind of totalitarian babyface schtick that was Hogan's bag during the 80's.

They were supposed to have a talent meeting to address payoffs months ago, but I think it got rescheduled into oblivion. Hard to believe they haven't addressed it this long after Punk left.

The Hogan/Flair match they ran on Raw at the time was every match they've ever had only slower. I think both guys could still be great, but they needed someone in their prime to feed off of.

If the Wyatts in "My Three Dads" isn't the next network show they're doing it wrong.

I kind of wish I'd taken the night off to watch it live. I'll probably watch it on my phone at work anyway and catch the rest late tonight. I think Barrett/Big E has a lot of potential if it's given time. Overall, it looks like a fun supercard.

Poison dart?

Austin always implied he could come back if wanted to, but recently the Torch quoted him as saying he couldn't pass the WWE's physical testing.

The absolute nadir of his character's mystique for me would be in 2000, when he had a crew cut and wrestled in a Hawaiian shirts and slacks. Even his worst WWE stuff was a dramatic improvement over that.

That sounds like something WWE would circulate to generate more interest in Bryan/Batista. It'll work too.

There's a Terry vs Dory match from Japan on Wrestling Classics' youtube page. It's apparently the only time it happened.

I'd lean to pre-'96 because I've seen plenty of post, and there's so much great older stuff I haven't gotten to. I think all wrestling is good wrestling, but I grew up on WWF/E so it's my comfort zone. I wish I had more time to go through the territories, learn more about '80s and '90s lucha and puro, etc. As it is I barely get time to watch WWE network, and I rarely watch watch Raw in one sitting. Getting shipwrecked with a ton of Memphis, AWA, Portland, AJPW, and CMLL seems like the way to go.

WWE being accused of securities violations. Not much to go on, but it seems it could be related to when the stock shot up. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_78079.shtml

He was always defensive of Terry Funk becoming a hardcore wrestler because he considered him someone who was a great worker for many years first. I think he had issues with guys who he thought couldn't work at all and totally relied on garbage wrestling, not post-prime guys compensating. It's ridiculous he's still giving Foley a hard time, though.

They were so close to returning their investment on Mason Ryan. When Batista turns face and they rehash the Evolution breakup, HHH could've brought him in as the new member. Then Dave could bulldoze him. Then release him.

The hardcore Flair run was definitely cool. That was one "crazy Ric" period I liked because the story was Foley had gotten inside his head and he was rolling around in thumbtacks against Big Show to prove a point.

What would be considered his last great match? After his first WWF run I'm drawing a blank. I like a lot of stuff after that (Steamboat '94, WCW Savage feud, HHH and Foley WWE feuds), but I wouldn't say they touch anything previous.

A lot of that was how he was booked and his subsequent loss of motivation. Once everything was about his kids and what a whackjob he was, he stopped working out and began screaming all of the time. I just saw his match with Jericho from Summerslam 2002 and it was probably the best shape he'd been in in seven or eight years.