MikeCampbell

So after three years of Vince basically pissing on its name, ECW is finally going to be buried once and for all and turned into WWE NXT.

I'd heard that he'd pissed in a trash can before, but hadn't heard the balcony story. I brought it up because that's why Graham says he was fired. The Torch Talk and Hank Aaron issues are both extremely well known as being the last straw.

Very sad news, indeed.

Rovert made a little post about this over in comments that don't warrant a thread, but after finally seeing this (I got it during KC's buy 2 get 1 sale, so i didn't have to pay for it ) I think it is something that's worthy of it's own discussion thread. This really shouldn't have been an entry in the GB series, because his "booking" amounts to a JCP/CWF merger and which wrestlers he'd have used from each company. That's it. The bulk is Graham talking about growing up in the business, his father running FL, and his time in WCW. And, just like his time on the Rise and Fall DVD the bulk of what comes out of his mouth is complete bullshit. Here's just a small sampling of some of what he has to say. - Magnum's car crash was karma for jumping to JCP from Florida after Mike discovered him in TX. He seems to have forgotten Magnum becoming a big star in Mid South. - He told Vince in 1988 that Vince needed to invest in a developmental program. 15 years later "75%" of the Raw roster came up through FCW after learning under Steve Keirn. - Bill Watts was fired for taking a piss off of the balcony in his office. - The Brody/Luger thing was total over exaggeration by Lex. Luger got tired out and Brody tried to give him time to rest, and Lex freaked out and ran off. - Before the Radicals left WCW Graham (50 at this point) threatened to kick Benoit (33 at this time)'s ass, and Benoit got scared and complained to WCW's HR dept. - Not only did he tell Bischoff to get Hogan, but he also approached Hogan in the gym and convinced him to join WCW. Plus this absolute gem during the "booking" He says that he thinks Ron Simmons and The Barbarian could draw big money with each other, just like their 1992 run in WCW.

I've long since stopped putting stock into anything out of Skeith's mouth, but, just for shits and giggles I'll ask. Is there any possible, or probable, correlation between Shawn's HOF entry and his job to Flair at Bad Blood 2003? Skeith's claim was that Shawn only put over Flair so that he'd get inducted.

When Rock was (arguably) at the height of his popularity as a wrestler, he jobbed cleanly to the Big Bossman.

I made a post over at tOA wondering if TNA would actually release Awesome Kong after the incident with Bubba The Love Sponge. It turns out, Kong apparently wants out. I'd be surprised if it happened, because the Knockouts division, and Kong especially, is one of the few things that separates TNA from WWE and that TNA hasn't managed to totally screw up.

Who: My father, grandfather, and uncles were all big wrestling fans before I was born. My mother actually went into labor when my grandfather came over to my parents house to watch wrestling with my father. What: WWF at first, and then later on AWA and WCCW from their daily ESPN airings. I discovered NWA/WCW a few years later. When: From, more or less, the moment I came outa the womb. There's an old photo somewhere of myself as a baby with my grandmother and there's a wrestling magazine sitting on my parents old dining room table. Why: I really don't watch anything new anymore. It just got boring for me in the summertime and I haven't had my interested sparked again yet. I watched the 1/4 Raw and 1/4 Impact and neither of them especially thrilled me. The only fed that really interests me right now is Chikara, and they're in their yearly hiatus right now. I'm content to just watch older stuff and things like shoot interviews for now.

I've been watching Impact off my DVR, the segment involving Hogan, Hall, Nash, and Syxx Pac (that's what TNA calls him, right?) was making me cringe. And you just know that, with Russo booking, it's gonna come to head at the next TNA PPV when they're attacking a babyface and Hogan comes to save and does the shocking swerve. So far, the only thing I can really compliment is the Knockouts Tag Titles match.

I guess I made the right choice when I decided to pass on getting it. Speaking of Graham and Kayfabe Commentaries, has anyone seen the Terry Funk Roast? Missy Hyatt flat out lets Graham have it, and it's glorious.

I just finished watching RAW off my DVR, the first time I've watched a complete WWE show in more than six months. I thought Orton/Kofi had a good match, and enjoyed the 4-way match. The rest was completely skippable to me. The Bret/Vince confrontation just made Bret look stupid.

It's a good thing Jeff only signed a short term contract. He was indicted by the grand jury today for his arrest in September.

I'm guessing that Bix is referring to Gabe not being a big fan of Mexicans. When doing play by play for an ROH show in '04 with Mark Nulty they were talking about masks and Nulty mentioned how Mil Mascaras used to wear his mask everywhere and Gabe said (really quietly under his breath) "That's because he has the face of a Mexican."

Gabe Sapolsky said on "Forever Hardcore" that the Eddie Gilbert booked ECW wasn't a very good product, so take that for what its worth.

My daughter is born on the same day that Doc passes. RIP Doc, you'll be sorely missed.

Agreed on this. I was thinking more in the early 1990's under Jim Herd or Kip Frye, who knew jack about the business and would believe that Brody was a huge star and could draw them big money. You're forgetting two things here. Vince's ego and Hogan's ego. I'm sure Vince would love to be able to say he was one of the few promoters who either (A. Were able to actually do business with Brody, or (B. Had the grapefruits to tell Brody where to stick it when he tried his bullshit. Don't you also think that Hogan would jump at the chance to be able to brag that he was one of a handful of people who'd beaten Brody clean? Eddie and Art coming in to WCW in '95 would have been their best bet. The tag division was more or less the Nasty Boys, Harlem Heat, and Bunkhouse Buck/Dick Slater. They'd be a fresh team being added to the mix with a unique style of wrestling. 1996 brought the returns of the Road Warriors and Steiners, which they'd probably be jazzed about working with. But, yeah, they'd have been buried over time. So what actually happened was better for Eddie.

I think Eddie and Art would both have made it to WCW from ECW. Bischoff was dead set on beating Vince, and he'd jump at the chance to bring in a team like Eddie and Art. That said, I'm sure Art would have done something stupid down the line and blown it, but he'd have at least made it there. I've talked about Brody before on this board, and my opinion hasn't changed. He'd have gone to Vince for the big money Hogan run, and then went away or was told to go away. He'd have also bullshitted his way to a big money deal in WCW, and, again, went away or was told go away. Then he'd go to ECW to pop a house for Paul E. and then screw him over. Come back in a few months to make amends and pop another house, and then screw him over again. Magnum would have gotten the big win over Flair, but, like John said, it wouldn't have been a huge run. Flair/Magnum would have drawn a huge gate for the win, and then rematches around the circuit, but then what? The only other real money match, on paper at least, is Magnum/Nikita. Crash would have wound up like Spike Dudley. He was doing the Mad Mikey gimmick in TNA when he passed. He'd have had his run and then left and worked small time indies and then left the business. Spike is now working in an Uno Chicago Grill according to his Wiki entry.

Per Dana White, it's some sort of intestinal disorder. Brock has to undergo surgery and his fighting career may be over.

Hmmmm. I could have sworn that I'd read, years ago, that the heat was due to the '86 title change. Thanks for the info though, John.

I've never heard that particular story about Dusty and Baba. I know that Baba and the NWA had problems when Dusty won the belt from Flair in '86 he went on a tour of New Japan, who wasn't in the alliance. They obviously worked them out, since Flair went back in '87 and Steamboat in '89.

JD Dunn has reveviewed the first disc. Sadly, the two Funk wins are just short clips. Can anyone who's seen it verify if the Harley/Dusty match is their '79 one?

I've seen this match, and it quickly turned me into a huge Mimi fan

The main selling point for me are Rogers, Dory, and Terry wins.

Disc 1: Documentary & NWA Matches Chapters: * Origins of Wrestling * "An American Hero" Frank Gotch * Ed "Strangler" Lewis * National Wrestling Alliance * Lou Thesz * Buddy Rogers * New Breed of Champions * 1970s World Champions * A Flair for the Gold * Crockett's World Champion * NWA to WCW * WCW Withdraws From NWA * Revolving WCW Champions * The Undisputed Championship * World Championship Returns * Legacy Lives Matches: * Chicago 1961 - 2 out of 3 Falls: Pat O'Connor vs. Buddy Rogers * Florida 2/11/69 - Gene Kiniski vs. Dory Funk Jr. * Florida 12/10/75 - Jack Brisco vs. Terry Funk * Florida 8/21/79 - Harley Race vs. Dusty Rhodes * AWA SuperClash - Ric Flair vs. Magnum TA * Great American Bash '90 - Ric Flair vs. Sting Disc 2 – WCW * Clash of Champions XIV - Ric Flair vs. Scott Steiner * Great American Bash '91 - Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham * Baltimore 8/2/92 - Vader vs. Ron Simmons * WCW Saturday Night 10/16/93 - Vader vs. Ricky Steamboat * Halloween Havoc '94 - Career vs. Career Steel Cage Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair * SuperBrawl VIII - Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan * Nitro 7/6/98 - Hollywood Hogan vs. Goldberg * Bash at the Beach '00 - Jeff Jarrett vs. Booker T * No Mercy '01 - The Rock vs. Chris Jericho Disc 3 - WWE * Unforgiven '02 - Triple H vs. Rob Van Dam * Taboo Tuesday '04 - Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels * No Way Out '06 - Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker * SmackDown 4/7/06 - Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton * Armageddon '07 - Batista vs. Undertaker vs. Edge * Survivor Series '08 - John Cena vs. Chris Jericho * Extreme Rules '09 - Ladder Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Edge

In that case, Courture and Liddell stole the concept from Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie.