goodhelmet

I voted for the Freebirds previously, completely forgetting about the 1985 stipulation. This time, I am going with the British Bulldogs

I am going to go with Arn and Tully but I am not happy about it.

I am also going with the Fantastics, but to be fair, the British Bulldogs had less talented tag teams to work with. I came to my conclusion by comparing the matches the Bulldogs had in Japan with the ones the Fantastics had. Fantastics win by a mile when using that criteria.

Yeah, if you read the WO News and Notes, I just posted about the boogeyman and the absurdity of it all.

More absurdity on the Hassan-Taker debacle: --- Meltzer points out that they were switching gears on the Hassan character. The original plan was to have the 5 guys dressed as terrorists (vaal Venis, Paul Birchall, Mike Hettinga, and todd and Mike Shane) to continue their roles through the summer!?!? Due to the controversy, that was obvioulsy dropped. ---WWE claimed that there was no way they could altered the tape at such a late date afte rthe London bombings occurred. Meltz points out that this does not explain why they were able to do so in foreign markets, have two versions of Velocity ready (where foreign versions omitted then angle completely) and that they still put the video on their website the day of the bombings. ---A UPN spokesmen says that the network had the option to edit the angle but didn't feel it was necessary. After the bad press, then the company asked that they keep Hassan off air. --- On Tucker Carlson's show, carlson and Max Kellerman debated the issue. Carlson saiud wrestling had always used villains like Nazis and Russians and likened the modern-day villain to radical Islamic extremists. Kellerman repsonded by saying that anything that trivialized terorism was inappropriate and terrorists should not be treated as caricatures. He said this would be he equivalent of using Nazis in wrestling during the height of WW2. Kellerman said, "Nikolai Volkoff wrestled during the Gorbachev era of the Cold War. Gorbachev was a guy who could talk reasonably with Ronald Reagan. This is not the same thing." Interesting Notes on Jim Cornette's firing: --- The move, in recent months, was seen more as a "when" than an "if". The altercation with the student was just the straw that broke the camel's back. --- Heyman was asked to be a stop-gap booker, not a permanent replacement. When they tried Tommy dremaer the last time Cornette was gone, he nearly ran the company into the ground. ---While many see putting Heyman in as an affront to Cornette, Meltz feels that if Cornette were to pick a successor, it would be Heyman himself. ---Previously, Cornette never complained about Heyman coming in as an interview coach and when WWE business was declining due to bad creative, when Heyman took over booking for SD!, Cornette referred to Heyman as "the last hope". --- (Just read about the Boogeyman that Loss posted a picture of) --- The Boogeyman was the idea of creative, not Jim Cornette's. When he was brought to OVW, the idea was that Cornette wanted him to be genuinely scay, not a cartoon character. Cornette wanted to get him over by saying that wrestlers usually are exaggerated characters of themsleves to get themselves over (like Flair adn Austin) and claimed that Martin Wright really believed he was the Boogeyman and had psychological problems. ---On one show, Wright was supposed to be hiding under the ring, come out and beat up some jobbers and cut a scary promo. Well unbeknownst to Cornette, creative told Wright it would be better if he came out fromthe ring wearing antlers. Well, the antlers killed the Boogeyman's debut. Well, the intention was that after the promo, he would leave through the crowd and Cornette had some plants in the audience who were supposed to act scared. Well, one plant, Anthony Carelli, a guy ot under WWE contract and paying to attend Danny Davis's swrestling school, laughed instead of playing his scared audience member role. Witnesses to this say that Carelli was out of line. ---Backstage, Cornette laid into Carelli and Carelli claimed he was never instructed to act scared but that Carelli still should not have broke kayfabe on camera so Cornette gave one of his real-life promos that he has given in the past on Jackie Miles and Kevin Fertig. ---The slap was described as a working slap to get his attention (whatever that means) and Carelli acted like he was going to fight back. Cornette cut another promo on him after that and said he was lucky Wright didn't kick his ass even though Cornette did not know that Carelli has a legit shooter background. ---Then Cornette slapped the kid 10-20 times in the face!!!!! Carelli just took it even though he has a background in judo and amateur wrestling. --- Nobody defended Cornette's actions after the fact but there is clearly a double standard when it comes to outbursts. Meltz claims that Cornette's outburst was mild compared to Bob Holly roughing up Matt Cappotelli and Rene Dupree (the latter which he was punished, but not fired for) and JBL-Meanie. However, Meltz claims that the "others have done worse" argument is not justified and that Cornette was already on thin ice and should have been let go. --- There had been problems in OVW for some time. PArt of the reason, according to Tom Pritchard, is that Corentte would defend OVW while Connecticut would knock it. Since so much of the talent was so green, they weren't ready for television so the Fed felt that the training in OVW wasn't good enough. However, in every case that the Fed felt a wrestler was deemed too green after going to the WWE, Corentte and Davis had already told the WWE that they were not ready but were ignored. ---Meltz uses Chris Masters as the perfect example. Masters was intended to be the next Lex Luger. Before being brought up he had just recently been able to do short tag matches wih the right foes. Since he was only 21, Corentte fel he still needed 3-4 years of training before being brought up and he would still only be 25 and be a star in the making. Instead, the fed sent him to TV almost immediately where he has not gotten over while creative debatedon whether he should be the next Lex Luger or the next Rick Rude. ---A few years ago, Cornette adn Davis rated the talent based on who would be ready for TV. The bottom three were Mark Jindrak, Orlando Jordan and Jackie Gayda, all three who were called up before being ready.

Just curious, but where is that picture from?

First off, This week's Observer starts off with 4 pages dedicated to Shinya Hashimoto. You can expect this to be in the next Tributes book. If I can ever figure out how to scan these friggin things, I'll post the articles. WWE news: Different reasonsTrips left: --- The storyline reason HHH isn't around is that he is injured from HIAC and needs to take time off to heal. ---He did not like the plans for him (including a match against Flair at Summerslam), with the other stars around him taken care of, he felt it was better to take a break. It is likely Trips did not want to work the angle with Flair. It was designed because Trips needed a win after three straight losses to Batista, and it is no big deal to have Ric Flair lose to put Trips over. --- HHH also realized, with Hogan back, that was the one person he couldn't compete with when it came to star power and dominating the show. Plus, there is no upside for Trips to work with Hogan when the HBK match is the "dream match". Matt Hardy --- Meltz recaps what we already know. --- The deal was actually put together in Mid-June for him to return. So, anything after the 6/20 show that we posted from his website or anywhere else was definitely a work. Morale among wrestlers --- Everyone understands the roster cuts but it was insult to injury by signing Lesnar and then cutting 19 wrestlers. One wrestler said "This has killed morale more than anything I've seen since the welcome mat for the NWO." However, Meltz points out that McMahon will hire anyone back, regardless of what they have done in the past if he thinks they will make him money. Meltz defends the actions of the Fed from a business standpoint: --- On Lesnar, he says, in theory more top names means more business overall. ---They were carrying more wrestlers than needed; most of the cuts made sense; underneath talent should be budgeted. ---The fact is that the wrestlers were warned. Roster Cuts: Dudleys: --- The Dudleys contracts were coming due. They were constantly told creative had no ideas for them which is ironic since Vince told Johnny Ace he wanted more tag teams. --- Meltz says there was alot of controversy bringing in Axl and Balls for the slot when they are a far worse team than the Dudleys. --- Bubba rubbed Stephanie the wrong way when it got back to her he was complaining that the writing staff had nothing for them. Matt Morgan: --- A chock considering his size but the stuttering gimmick killed him dead and he simply was not a good worker. He had developed a reputation as a "know-it-all" when people tried to give him advice on improving. Meltz said the stuttering gimmick was designed for failure esp. since Morgan's strongest asset was his promo ability. After comparing Morgan to Batista, Meltz said it was never clearer that the difference in being fired and in being a top guy is timing and luck. Charlie Haas: ---Meltz says this is a hard one to justify. He was floundering after the WGTT broke upbut that he has still been putting on good matches with Holly and MNM. Haas was a professional, worked hard and not a problem. To put it in perspective, Meltz finds it boggling that he would be considered behind names such as Nova, Greneir, Scotty2Hotty, Rene Dupree and the Hearththrobs.

Just to clarify, it was Earl Hebner in the NWA at the time.

Well, I am sure most people, myself included, have never even seen Necro Butcher wrestle. Then stars like Kyoko Inoue and Fuerza Guerrera have probably only been witnessed by a few also so no one is expecting you to post on them BUT for those who have seen them, it does give the other posters a chance to hear about someone they may have never been exposed to.

How did you come to this conclusion by reading those results? CM Punk has always been a great charcter in ROH but I wouldn't know that by looking at that results page. Are you going by prior knowledge? I think Punk is going to be stuck in OVW for awhile so by the time he lands on RAW or SD!, this angle will be long forgotten.

Is this a house show match or an episode of SD! ?

He was implying that 10 years ago, if Kobashi wrestled the way he does now, he would be shit on. In other words, he has regressed.

I am going with the Freebirds also but not because I think they had better matches or drew more money. Hell, unless it was Terry Gordy in the ring, Freebirds matches weren't pretty. I am voting for them because of that aura... The JYD feud, piledriving Ted Dibiase, DiBiase piledriving Gordy, seeing them in front of 250 people at the old Hemisfair Arena in the dying days of the UWF, Buddy Roberts whiskey-soaked voice, battling the Von Erichs... BADSTREET U.S.A. motherfucker!

Again, like a broken record, I'll abstain.

Um... you repeated it without actually repeating it. :ph43r:

I am very interested in what role ROH is going to play in this, if any at all.

The Steiners have had blow away matches in the NWA, Japan and at least one good match in WWF. The Rockers had a helluva feud in the AWA and a good run in the WWF. Probably one of the closer matchups but the Steiners at their peak destroy the Rockers at their peak. The Steiners

After getting a huge overdose of Eaton and Condrey on NWA and Mid-South, there is no way I am voting for the MVC over them. The Midnight Express!

Isn't that JBL's shtick? OMG ~ Gimmick infringement!

And I will attempt to track both down in order to give them thier props.

To those of you who think this will draw money... ease on down. In no way does Matt Hardy get elevated to Main Event status. If anything, this is just a way to stop the bleeding and exploit the backlash that occurred during the Kane-Edge program. Edge is still on course to challenge for the World title and Hardy will be stuck like Chuck, looking up at the lights when all is said and done. I would not be surprised if they blow this off in a couple of weeks on TV somehow AND THEN release Hardy again.

A no-brainer. Eatonand Lane were involved in some of the best North American tag matches of all-time. Owen and Davey-Boy were better served fighting each other than together... Midnight Express (Eaton and Lane)

Arrgghhh. This is a hard choice if you are going by impact. It is, however, a no-brainer if you are going by the body of work. Rock N Roll Express

A couple of points... I only mentioned one PPV match... unless you were lumping Clashes in with PPVs. I never said they didn't have potential. Hell, I have seen a lot of teams that were only around for short stetches that had the potential to become great. I agree that they outworked the Horsemen in the Clash match but it still did not produce a good match. I also think it sucks that they jad their legs cut out underneath them. I do, however, want to see the cream of the crop of the Blondes (if the big stage matches aren't it) because I have been very underwhelmed wih this team that had so much potential.

OK, well ,sometime this week, I'll do quick reviews of the Blondes matches in my possession.