Cox

I think there is a separate MMA Hall of Fame so the UFC guys would be candidates for that. I wonder if Jericho will make any headway this year after the year he had, adding a Wrestler of the Year to his resume, even if it was the weakest year for candidates ever. Every eligible candidate to ever win the award is in the HOF, so that would seem to help him. It's probably not enough by itself to put him in, but he should see a nice bump from it.

And that was four people who REALLY didn't want to work for Kevin Sullivan, particularly Benoit. I don't think anybody has a real problem with Angle, certainly not to the degree Benoit had with Sullivan. Plus, the WCW situation was unique, in that Bill Busch actually granted the Radicalz their releases despite not having any real reason to do so, all of those guys were under legal and binding contracts to WCW. TNA would probably not be so stupid as to let half the undercard just walk out in one fell swoop.

Thanks John - that's kind of a lousy way to handle it for Finlay, though. He probably shouldn't have even bothered being listed on the ballot in the US/Canada region, because he doesn't have anything close to credentials to deserve induction, even if he's always been an awesome worker.

Does this mean he's going to put Finlay back on the ballot? It really doesn't seem fair for him to be considered a US wrestler because of his midcard WCW and WWE runs, although I guess it doesn't make anymore sense for Konnan to be considered a US wrestler when literally all of his credentials are for what he did in Mexico.

Are the UK wrestlers on the ballot considered in their own "region," or is Dave lumping them into the US/Canada region? If they are considered their own region, some of these guys might have a chance, but if they are considered US/Canada (which would be insane) they have no hope.

Probably a New Japan tour? Check to see if there are any results online of Hawk wrestling in New Japan around that time. Edited to add: Looks like there was a pretty major event four days after Fall Brawl, Hell Raisers vs. Hogan and Muta. http://www.wrestletapes.net/newjapanmajore...okohama%20%2793

Too bad Vince didn't have more children. He had a Fredo and a Connie, but not a Sonny or a Michael, and he could have used a Michael for when he has the inevitable heart explosion.

I was at the show too and noticed the same thing, but I didn't think it was any different from a Raw/Smackdown taping I attended three years ago. The days of the hardcore Philly fanbase going to WWF/WCW shows certainly seem to be over, those fans just aren't coming to WWE shows anymore. I thought the Cryme Tyme/Hart Dynasty match might have been the best match of the show, just a nice simple formula tag team match. I think Cryme Tyme are really underrated, JTG does a good job selling for the heat and Shad takes a great hot tag. They have a few good, recognizable spots and they always seem to be over. Fortunately, it seems that they're going to be locked in a Best of 51 series with the Hart Dynasty on Smackdown, so that should be fun to watch play out over the next several months.

Didn't know Gary Cole was on Entourage now, haven't watched since, ironically, Seth Green made his cameo.

Apparently, Jeremy Piven will co-host Raw with Shaq today, as per Meltzer. He's at least an A-/B+ star these days, being the only guy on Entourage who can act.

It really continues the variety show direction that WWE feels like they have tried to push Raw in for the past few years, what with the combination of goofy comedy and occasional serious wrestling angles. Having a new celebrity enter their world, like an SNL guest host, just feels like a natural progression. Not saying I enjoy it or anything, but for those of us who want good wrestling shows, that's why Smackdown and ECW exist, since Vince seems to give two fucks about them anyway.

Maybe he's making 24/7 recaps members-only because 24/7 is a subscription service? Not saying that makes it a good idea or anything, but just a thought.

Can anyone make this part of that diatribe less "WTF?" for me? Two seasons ago on The Ultimate Fighter, these were some of the pranks the contestants pulled on one another in the house.

I mean, if they haven't figured it out by now, those advertisers are never going to find it out.

Orndorff's Smoky Mountain run wasn't until '92 (the first year of the promotion's existance). If I remember correctly, after he left WWF, he took a few years off to run a bowling alley and disappeared to the point where a rumor had started that he died. Then he wound up in WCW in 1990, left by the end of the year, worked Herb Abrahms' UWF in '91, SMW in '92, and then was back in WCW for his last run from '93-'95.

Jerry Lawler is apparently running for mayor of Memphis again. Is it just me, or is this a really, really bad idea? I mean, his idiot son just got arrested a week ago for being a drunken buffoon.

Was Barbarian as the first challenger to Simmons' world title booked any worse than Barbarian as first challenger to Ultimate Warrior's world title? B Warrior's first challenger was Rude, not Barbarian. Barbarian spent most of 1990 feuding with Jimmy Snuka and the Big Boss Man.

Even though Taker can still have good matches and all, his body is pretty clearly telling him he's gotta retire.

To be fair, you really can't expect Bryan Alvarez to give you the same details that Dave Meltzer would give you in an obituary, that's just not what he does. I'm not defending the factual inaccuracies, which is just lazy writing, but at the same time, I don't think I've ever had the same level of expectations out of Alvarez, so it didn't really bother me. I wouldn't bother with Figure Four Weekly if it wasn't part of the Observer subscription package, and I only read it to kill time at work on Tuesdays. Now, if Meltzer ever decides he's had it with the fake stuff and Alvarez ascends to the #1 spot by default, that's another story, and that's when pro wrestling "journalism," such as it is, falls completely off the cliff. But I don't think Alvarez is trying to be Meltzer, and I've always thought of Figure Four Weekly as a supplemental item to the Observer.

I eagerly anticipate Matt Hardy trying to work BS 2 minute matches with a torn abdominal muscle.

Some of that might have been because Dustin was the son of Dusty, who was far from a "smark" darling in the early 90's. It took until Dustin got really good in 1992 for the "smark" fan base to really accept him as capable of handling his push, which may have also been aided by the start of the ill-advised Erik Watts push.

I dunno, from what I read, it sounds like Joe and Angle are going to form their own group seperate from the Mafia, so I guess they are forming Main Event Mafia Hollywood or something with Taz, while feuding with Main Event Mafia Wolfpac with Sting, Booker, Nash, and Steiner.

I don't think Vince could have offered Hansen enough money to work in the US full-time, he was likely making more money working tours for All Japan than he would have made working 300+ days a year for Vince, plus he was able to work for WCW part-time on top of it.

Not saying I didn't enjoy it, but man, that sure reads like somebody who is getting crazy burned out from covering both MMA and wrestling full-time. Also, even though Bryan Alvarez is supposed to be the "funny" guy at the site, this was funnier than anything Alvarez has ever written.

From this week's Figure Four Weekly... I mean...does the world REALLY need a fourth Mick Foley autobiography? I mean, the first book was very good, because it was a good story going from working small time gyms and beating himself up to becoming a top star in WWF. The second book was mildly interesting, because it gives the story of a year in the life of a top star in the WWF, as well as what looked like the end of his full-time career at that point. His third book was a self-absorbed piece of garbage, which could basically be summed up as "WAAAAAAH! VINCE WON'T LET ME USE MY IDEAS FOR MY MID CARD FEUD WITH TOMMY DREAMER AND TERRY FUNK! WAAAAAAAH!" I can only imagine how bad the fourth book is going to be. Also, good luck selling that one without the WWE publicity machine, TNA television reaches so many folks, there are still fans out there who probably think Kurt Angle retired out of the blue three years ago.