MikeCampbell

I hear Dave Meltzer isn't very fond of him.

Eh, I guess it depends on what everyone considers to be the traits of a good booker. Not screwing things up is a plus, but a big one for me is keeping all the storylines, angles, feuds, whatever happening in a logical manner. Which is where I think ROH is a bit faulty, but not always. I loved how they had Davey Richards cut a small, seemingly meaningless, promo saying he's getting people to watch his back, and then a couple of months later the NRC forms. But by the same token, would Strong have helped start the NRC if him and Aries won the ROH Tag Titles? Also the "decison match" between Jay/Aries and ATOF was just a waste seeing as they were vacating them in the first place. Why not just vacate them on the heels of Mark's injury and not make the match a waste?

I've got my own theory on Gabe's short fuse dealing with criticisim, not just in this case, but from his past appearances on shows like WOL, and my own few dealings with him. He thinks he's some sort of modern day Paul Heyman, and you'd never see any ECW fans daring to question the booking decisions of Heyman. So therfore Gabe thinks he should be as equally infallable. Of course I don't think there was an official ECW message board with ECWPaul as the moderator either. I also think Ben's assesment was pretty much spot on. ROH has always tried to be known for all it's great workrate matches with all their MOTYCs and snowflakes galore. Gabe himself has even said that he doesn't beleive in road agents and just let's the wrestlers call things in the ring. So really, what's that leave him to do? Just to tell The Briscoes and Jacobs/Necro that they've got 20 mintues and that Briscoes are going over? EDIT: Not even that much. The Joe/Punk shoot interview states that they called Gabe and told him they were doing a draw in their first title match. And that they decided how long their 3rd title match was going to go. So Gabe did even less.

All I've ever gotten are whiny/snotty e-mails from him and banned from the board for not orgasming at the thought of Misawa in ROH.

Even scarier is that everyone is commenting on how good his review was.

Someone recently uploaded a boatload of old WOL episodes to DVDVR, and during one show the subject of Backlund came up. I'd known before that Dave wasn't a fan of Bob, but he really let it out, saying that Backlund's popularity was all Vince, and that he was carried to all of his good matches. Watching Will's best of Backlund set, I'm wondering what Dave was on, or how many Backlund matches he's seen. I'm at a loss for any other Ivan Koloff singles match as good as Bob's match with him from the first disc, and other than the Boot Camp match with Slaughter, has Iron Sheik had any other really good singles matches? Granted, Bob's methodical style of working isn't for everyone. If you're accustomed to Memphis, Mid South, Continental, etc. then you'll probably find Bob's matches boring. And yes, Bob certainly wasn't the guy Vince Jr. needed as the face of the WWF when he went national. But to just totally dismiss him like that is way off the mark.

The closed fist rule was last enforced in late 2003/early 2004. Flair was the guest ref for a tag match with the Dudleys against a couple jobbers and Flair disqualified Bubba for a closed fist.

Jeff Farmer as Sting?

What about Brad Armstrong as Mr. R in Georgia?

The WWE didn't start up Deep south until 2005.

Knox was actually the first person that I thought of. But I didn't think a WWE developmental deal and being in DSW would make them enough money to have a house. Plus I didn't think he was with the 'E in 2004, since they started up DSW in 2005.

I'm not positive on their last few PPVs, but Lockdown (at least last I knew) was doing very well. Plus the last couple house shows in NY state (one in NYC and one in upstate) both drew pretty well.

Not really a 'stand in' but I recall hearing once that a tape of a Terry Funk promo got lost somehow, so Dick Slater cut the promo doing a perfect impression of Funk, and they aired the audio over some old footage and nobody knew the difference.

They're seemingly projected to this year. I don't think they have yet. But their house shows and outside Orlando PPVs usually draw well.

Excellent post, Loss. I fully agree (much as my first post started with me saying that I agreed with Bix' point).

No, it really doesn't. And the fact that you had nothing else to say about anything in my post other than that, says enough.

Before you go generalizing everyone who can separate Benoit the person from Benoit the wrestler (no offense to you, RE, if you see them intertwined so be it, you do have a good point), as being heartless fanboys. You might want to stop and check the flip side of the coin. Of all the people who get so outraged and offended, how many of them are only doing so because it makes them feel like they're good people for it, or because it's what society dictates. I'm sure tons of people only even care because it was Chris Benoit instead of some random person. Hell, if it was Sid Eudy there'd probably be tons of dipshits saying "LOL Sid really was Sycho!" Jeff Hardy's house burns down, taking his dog's life, and destroying everything he owns and people make Meth Lab comments. Where was all the public outcry when MCW started the Shame Shamrock Cup, a tournament in honor of an indy wrestler who used to smack his girlfriend around and was shot and killed by police officers during a domestic dispute. When ROH announced they'd be running the tournament in 2004 the reaction was "ROH! ROH! ROH!" Again, what happened that weekend was no doubt a tragedy. Chris Benoit's actions left a black eye both on his legacy and the face of the profession that he loved. And I don't doubt that some people are legit outraged and offended by what happened. I know of many people who can't bring themselves to watch his matches. I know a guy who tried to, but once he saw Benoit start choking someone he had to turn it off. But just because others, like me, can draw a clear distinction between Chris Benoit the great wrestler, and fondly watch his matches, and Chris Benoit the human being, doesn't make myself and those like me any less human beings or make us ignorant.

I'd like to have seen Flair/Shawn go on last, but I can see why Edge/UT got that honor. The WWE Title had headlined the last couple of WM shows, so the World Title was due for a headline. Plus, it was a nice way to reward Edge for doing such a good job both in the ring and with his character by letting him (especially with his well documented WWF fandom as a child) headline a WrestleMania.

Bix, I don't disagree with your original point in the least. It's very fucked up to hear people cheer the mere mention of his name, especially while riding Cena's ass all night. I'd chalk it up to people just wanting to be different for the hell of it. And the Benoit defenders are quite annoying. The WWE's attempt to erase him has almost him a victim of sorts. However (and no, I'm not trolling I'm being dead serious here), is it really that hard to separate Benoit the wrestler from Benoit the person? I accepted it a long time ago: What Chris Benoit did is a tragedy and is both unforgivable and unforgettable. I doubt any wrestling fans can ever think of Benoit without remembering what did that weekend. That said, it doesn't, nor should it (IMO) change that fact that he was amongst the best wrestlers in the world and spent a good number of years putting on matches that a good number of us enjoyed.