TravJ1979

Unrelated to wrestling, but I named my son, Keyser after this movie

Congrats for making it up to Bash at the Beach. New Blood Rising isn't too bad. Also, while doing my decades project nine out of my top ten WCW matches for the decade are from 9/2000 to 3/2001 so you don't have too much farther before getting to end on a mostly enjoyable few months of wrestling. Russo is out as of October I believe so him winning the title and the 49er's gold rush shitfest are just about the worst shit left to handle.

Must have been one of Juventud Guerera's last matches for WCW. I found Lance Sorm brilliant in 2000 for what its worth, definitely a true MVP of WCW. Juvi was in WCW until first week of October, 2000. He had a couple of Thunder matches in mid-late September with Rey; One of which made the smarkschoice Top WCW matches poll. The match is like 3 minutes bell-to-bell and doesn't belong at all.

Just to add when Austin first brings it up, Flair says "Oh yeah, 1986, I was there." Not sure it has anything to do other than an honest mistake, but this is Flair so he may actually think it was '86.

I don't know why, but I cannot stop watching Total Divas. It is by far the most fake "reality" show I've ever seen and still I can't look away, lol. This past episode takes the cake. John Cena: Renaissance Man, teaching Nikki Chinese (WTF), drinking whine discussing his framed picture of FDR, Stalin and Churchill and telling Nikki who is who and then giving her advice about reconnecting with her estranged father, something that Bree, her own sister, couldn't do by the way. The Funkadactyls and Nattie's storylines were just as transparent. With that said, I will still watch next week. I hate myself.

I've been meaning to ask about this match for months, and this thread seems like a good place to find an answer. I ran across this comment in the WON back in 2002: "Jun Akiyama/Makoto Hashi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Saito v. Kenta Kobashi/KENTA/Kentaro Shiga/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (NOAH, 9/5/02 [9/15/02 TV], Tokyo) "Match of the Year Candidate" aired 15:00 of 50:11" Did this ever get released as complete anywhere? If so, is MOTY accurate or is it just Meltzer hyperbole?

I have the version of the excel file that says "links updated 8/17", but I still have the following problems: When downloading all of the year 2000 stuff: 1. Misawa v. Kawada 3/31/00 - The link is mistyped as MisawaKawadaCC2000, link on .biz site is correct one. 2. Kobashi v. Misawa 4/11/00 - Link says invalid file. 3. Kobashi v. Kawada 1/12/00 - This is actually 1/17 and the link is labeled 1/12 and is invalid. Was able to get it from .biz site 4. Kobashi v. Akiyama 8/6/00 - This still links to the 12/23 match as does the link listed for 12/23. On sheet twice. I was able to grab everything else. I notice 5/26/00 Kobashi v. Akiyama was noted, but was that for dead link or wrong match because I think I got the version of the sheet that corrected it.

If PWI doesn't have a complete collection, I at least know someone does because I had the complete originals from September 1979 to December 2000 with every off beat special issue in between that I sold a little over a year ago. Same with the Torch. I had a few from 89 and everything from January 1990 to December 2001. It started in October of 1987 and I never could find anything earlier. I would love to go through all of that mess Dave calls a collection just to organize and see if he does indeed have full collections of certain magazines/collections.

I can't even begin to explain how useful this is for the Japan portion of my 2000's Decade project, much appreciated. With a year to vote and owing it to myself to watch these matches anyway for my project I think a ballot will be coming your way. Quick question and it may be a stupid one as I am severely out of the loop as I started trailing off early 2002, but is there a reason that any of the Nakanishi v. Maekawa AJW matches didn't make this cut? I know Dave's "Next Flair v. Steamboat" was nutty, but I remember enjoying the 2/24/02 PPV match at least.

Finally! I have first-run watched the entire decade and I'm so glad, because 2009 was a difficult thing to watch. So with that said, I'm going to end/suspend this blog and do my final run through (which will be much more fun/easy as it is only a limited subset of matches) and probably post my "results" in the main forum. The blog didn't really help as much as I thought it would as it really became a hassle to remember to update it when I have excel files and assorted information here on my PC that I can update and reference without much effort. So to recap ... End of Blog ... and I hope my final picks stirs a good discussion/debate in the main forum.

You forgot about Dixie Carter going in, after she thought about it for a bit. Yeah, but she just put Dixie in because she was a bitch behind talent's back. The ones I named she most likely meant the literal meaning which I have to say Traci and Madison surprised me. The others, not so much.

I don't think it's totally out of the realm of possibility. First, Undertaker is one of the few guys that come from the old school and hopefully subscribes to the idea of "you go out on your back." Second, I cannot see any other way Taker would have his retirement match at any event other than Wrestlemania with the possible exception of Survivor Series. From all accounts Ohno is a respectful guy that gets along with mostly everyone especially veterans. If somehow the idea of wrestling him and possibly putting him over at Mania was brought up to Taker, I'm sure Ohno would have people like Regal, Finlay, Punk, etc. vouch for him and tell Taker that he wouldn't take it for granted or flake out like anyone else pushed to the moon and only in it for the money. Like him or not, Ohno has paid his dues with 13 years in Indies and international experience. Basically, if it was pitched to Taker in a respectful and meaningful scenario and Taker took the time to talk with Ohno and possibly watch some of his stuff he could *possibly* agree to it and lay out a match so that he looks strong going down to a pinfall, but at the same time making a guy with one match at the same time. This is fantasy booking and has 0% chance of happening, especially after having been posted on a message board so this hypothetical of convincing Taker is irrelevant. I mean Sheamus is out for 6 months so that kind of kills one of my angles already

Yeah, I've heard Kharma's YouShoot is fun. I expect that she wants to go back to the WWE, but at least (from what I heard) she buried the butterfly belt. I grabbed this from the internets last night. She does bury the Butterfly belt. She says she knows somebody put hard work in designing the belt, but she would ask to redesign it if she won. I liked the shoot and she comes off as really likeable and a happy person, but does admit before she could go back to WWE she has to take care of some personal issues. Interesting things was that she said Hornswoggle is her son's godfather ... Madison Rayne, Lacey Von Erich, Traci Brooks, and Becky Bayless go in the ho bag (She loves Becky and says "She knows she's a ho") ... when she gets the inevitable "How big is Batista's dick" question she almost gives a name to say "ask her" which would likely have been Melina. Oh, and "over half" of the joshi wrestlers are lesbians. She says the vets kind of coerce the rookies, and said she just pretended not to understand or that she was asleep.

I guess it did come off a little defensive, but I truly didn't mean it that way as I've said a few times already, I don't even particularly like Chris Hero and really have only seen his work up to the end of 2007. I was just overwhelmed that one result in a bizzaro world scenario caused nine responses harping on it and almost ignoring the entire rest of booking done for fun. Regardless of the feedback, which I realize is what I asked for and it is completely okay and justified. I still like the idea. In five months you make a guy a solidified main eventer for the rest of his career. Even if he goes on a losing steak and they bury him later on he can always say, "I beat the Undertaker at WrestleMania, so I'm better than you/you can't beat me/etc etc" In order of desired scenarios from my POV is 1) Undertaker loses to a young talent 2) Undertaker retires undefeated at Mania 3) An already established guy ends the streak. If not 2, then 3 is the most likely scenario which sucks and serves no purpose. I think if I would have tweaked it to make Mark Henry in the Ohno spot it would have been praised to no end. On the other end of the spectrum, I think the only decision I could have made that would have caused more outrage than Ohno over Undertaker would to have put Davey Richards in his spot. Regarding MITB, I haven't kept up with current WWE and I was still under the assumption that MITB's could be cashed in on any champion kind of like it was in the WrestleMania MITB matches that RVD, Edge and Punk won.

1. Fantasy Booking. Also, I'm not even that much of an Ohno fan, but this scenario seemed logical and fresh. 2. I noted I don't keep up much with the current product so Orton's MITB being title specific is new to me. I would say that in a business that makes Samoans into Japanese sumo's and Canadians into Russians, I don't think it'd be too hard to bend the rule on this. Fantasy Booking. It's not like I pitched this to anybody. Oh...no. Fantasy Booking. Reigns, Wyatt, Big E? Future of the company? That Wyatt angle is going to hell in a hand basket. Those gimmicks never work and their longevity is for shit. I'd be surprised if the other two aren't gone shortly after WM 30. I'd love the Del Rey as well, but looks like she is only going to be a trainer. I wasn't high. Either you are HUGE Undertaker fan and the streak means more to you than your first born or you are over reacting to ... FANTASY BOOKING. Like I said earlier, I'm not even much of a Hero fan and could have just as easily put anyone from Richie Steamboat to Xavier Woods in that spot. Ohno does seem to be the most talented talker and wrestler in NXT to pull this off. I have no problem with it. If John Cena is anywhere on the card other than the pre-show battle royal, he isn't "wasted' Would we rather see him in a singles match against the Rock again? Or perhaps revive the Orton rivalry. Since he is their biggest draw, fans will be happy no matter where he is. I don't think fans would care if RVD was on the card or not. The whole card would draw as Punk/Ambrose could be swapped with the women's match as in years past. I'd put Bryan/Lesnar as a draw over at least 50 percent of the mains over the past decade or so. Exactly. Better than 60% of happening? That would be Undertaker over whomever you put against him which = boring. I assume this is for Ohno over Undertaker. Fantasy Booking. He doesn't say neither are worth challenging for. He says he'll have plenty of time to win them (in line with his cockiness, he's a young superstar, and to the casual fan I'd bet an overwhelming majority would view Undertaker's streak as more prestigious than all titles combined. Also, thank you for the most positive response over this hypothetical scenario in the entire thread. I must say that I am shocked incredibly amused at the negativity that a fantasy booking could generate. I have a feeling if I would have put ANYONE else in that Ohno spot or had Undertaker remain undefeated that it wouldn't have caused such an outrage. Like I said in the preface of my post: Fantasy Booking I had fun Both were accomplished and I'm just glad I got it out of my head (the final product is much better than the initial things rumbling in my head) I'm also glad Loss decided to branch this off into a separate forum. I would LOVE to see other Road to WM 30 fantasy bookings as a comparison of likes/dislikes, booking style. I can assure you none of my feedback would be quite so negative.

I thought I’d post a “Road to WrestleMania 30” fantasy booking just to get feedback. I had fun doing it, but it was harder than I thought to get as many people included as I could and making it interesting. I started at TLC instead of the Royal Rumble to try and setup the reasoning for the story going forward. Goals: Strengthen Titles – Four separate men’s singles titles is just too much. Create fresh matchups/stars – This was difficult, but I think coming out of this theoretical WrestleMania it would be an interesting summer. NOTE: I only casually keep up with the current product so if anything is off, that is why. TLC PPV Kassius Ohno defeats Richie Steamboat On a previous Raw, Triple H came out and said at TLC there will be a match between two of the top talents in developmental. To sweeten the pot, he announced the winner would get a spot in the 2014 Royal Rumble match. Ohno wins a technical match and they shake hands. Big Show/Mark Henry defeat Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns and Usos – Unified Tag Titles After a summer of six-man tags without much success, Mark Henry turns on the Usos and beats them down. Mark says he’ll get a new tag partner and win the belts from the Shield. On the go home show during a brawl, Big Show’s music hits and he and Henry clear the ring setting up this elimination rules triple threat match. Show and Henry dub themselves the “World’s Strongest Tag Team” and here they win the belts. AJ Lee defeats Layla to retain Divas Title AJ Lee has been kept strong as champion and kept away from the Total Divas mess so this leaves Layla as a good opponent and helps setup Mania. AJ defeats Layla by cheating. Daniel Bryan defeats CM Punk to determine Title shot at Royal Rumble Daniel Bryan wins clean in the middle. The conflict is Bryan still trying to prove himself and Punk being annoyed by it playing a tweener role. Alberto Del Rio defeats Sheamus in TLC to retain World Title Sheamus has been built over the summer and gets this title shot. Del Rio wins a long, grueling match. Damien Sandow’s music hits and he cashes in his MITB, but fails in his attempt. Immediately after, Randy Orton music hits and he cashes in his MITB and becomes the new World Champion. Antonio Cesaro defeats Jack Swagger to unify US and IC Titles Over the summer, Swagger won the US title and Cesaro the IC Title with help from manager, Zeb Coulter. Of course, two champions and two egos cannot co-exist in the same faction so the argument grows between the two as to which belt means more. All the while, Coulter is subtly siding with Cesaro. The match is made and Coulter says he will be in a neutral corner. A brilliant video package plays going over the history of both titles before the match. Cesaro ends up winning and unifying the titles for the final time. Cesaro will stay strong through WrestleMania which leads to the payoff. John Cena defeats Dolph Ziggler to retain WWE Title in TLC Ziggler has been built up as a very credible challenger through the summer and this match is meant to be a career making match, just barely losing a TLC match. Royal Rumble PPV Big Show/Mark Henry defeat Brodus Clay/Tensai to retain Unified Tag Titles After proclaiming themselves the World’s Strongest Tag Team, Tons of Funk take exception setting up this match. Unfortunately, Show and Henry dominate and destroy them. Randy Orton defeats Alberto Del Rio to retain World Title Due to the opportunistic way Orton won the title last month, Del Rio gets his rematch here only to fall short. AJ defeats Layla to retain the Divas Title in a No DQ match Since TLC, Layla had gotten on the Bella’s shit list so they help AJ win. Layla needs backup. John Cena defeats Daniel Bryan to retain WWE Title Strong match with Cena winning, but Daniel Bryan’s foot was on the rope and the referee didn’t see it. Kassius Ohno wins the Royal Rumble: Earlier in the night, Triple H is shown backstage with Ohno and asks him if he’s ready for the Rumble. Ohno, playing the naïve rookie says, “Yes, sir.” Triple H smiles and tells him, “Good. Oh, and I forgot to tell you. You’re the first entrant.” So Ohno comes in at # 1 the sentimental baby face that looks up for the challenge, but confidence is not strong. CM Punk is in at # 2 to pop the smart marks and to start the match off fast. Final Four = Kassius Ohno (1), CM Punk (2), Antonio Cesaro (12), RVD (30) Surprise entrants = Jake “The Snake” Roberts (11), Ultimate Warrior (25) Strong Showings (Non-Final Four) = Dolph Ziggler (7), Dean Ambrose (9), Seth Rollins (13) Stories/Angles in the match: Sheamus and Wade Barrett work as a team for the bulk of the time both are in setting up seeds for a possible tag combination later on … Jake Roberts does comedy spots with Santino, with Santino doing the sock puppet snake thing and Jake laughing, DDT, real snake on Santino and maybe have Dolph eliminate Jake … Ultimate Warrior in late and destroys 3MB and goes crazy eliminating scrubs until face to face confrontation with Ryback who either eliminates him or Warrior goes nuts and just randomly eliminates himself after running around shaking the ropes. The biggest story would be Ohno coming in at # 1 and setting the record for the longest time in a Royal Rumble match, winning by last eliminating IC champion Antonio Cesaro (foreshadowing). He would also, within the course of the match go from naïve, unsure baby face to extremely arrogant and confident heel. Elimination Chamber PPV Daniel Bryan wins an Elimination Chamber (CM Punk/John Cena/RVD/Dolph Ziggler/Rey Mysterio) Daniel Bryan finally wins the WWE Title by winning this elimination chamber made all more impressive by the fact he was able to do it over five main event guys in an environment such as the elimination chamber. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns defeat Usos/Sin Cara Admittedly a filler match, but also used to keep the shield strong after Ambrose having lost the US Title recently and Seth and Roman losing the tag belts to Show and Henry. Total destruction job here. Antonio Cesaro defeats Damien Sandow Pompous asshole vs. Pompous asshole However, Sandow has a slight baby face edge as the feud is that Sandow has been destroying Zeb’s logic and hate speech for weeks. While Cesaro is defending Zeb, he is also interested in proving he is the greatest IC champion of all-time. The last week of TV it was teased that someone was tired of Cesaro claiming that and would show up at the PPV to confront him. After the match, Honky Tonk Man’s music hits and he comes down to the ring. The smart marks are happy because they know these two are close in real live, plus it gives the two an opportunity to work together. After a little back and forth, HTM informs Cesaro that while he still claims he is the one and only best IC champion of all-time, he is NOT the one who came to confront him. “BREAK THE WALLS DOWN …” hits and the crowd explodes. Jericho lets Cesaro know that he is a nine-time former IC champion which is the record and he goes over the history of the title doing some old school name dropping (continued rehab of the IC belt’s prestige) and challenges him to a match at WrestleMania because he wants to be a ten time champion as he likes nice, round numbers. Big Show/Mark Henry retain Unified Tag Titles over Ryback/Big E Langston In the weeks leading to the PPV, it was announced that a “Lethal Lottery” would be held where all male WWE Superstars who were not already involved in a match tonight would have their name entered into a drawing and the two names would then team to take on the Unified Tag Champs, the WSTT. Big Show and Henry are out and explain, much like they have over the past few weeks, that there is nobody left to wrestle. They are the most dominate tag team and that this “Lethal Lottery” team, whomever it may be, is just wasting their time. First name drawn is Big E Langston and he comes out to the stage ready to fight. Second name, Ryback … they run to the ring chest to chest with each member of the champions and proceed to have a good, big man brawl of a match, but fall short in their bid for the titles. Layla/Rebecca Knox/Natalya defeat AJ Lee/Bellas when Rebecca pins AJ On the TV’s prior to the PPV: With her inability to get a fair shake at AJ and the Divas Title and her run-in with the Bella Twins, Layla decided she needed help so she challenged the three to six-woman tag at this PPV. She reveals her first partner to be Natalya who the Bellas laugh at, but she hates the Bellas and wants revenge over the Total Diva drama. Before Layla announces the final member of her team AJ and the Bellas begin a three-on-two beat down. Rebecca Knox makes the save cleaning house. The announcers call her by name and explain she’s a friend of Layla’s from childhood who had been training in developmental. The match is short, but impressive and Knox actually pins the Diva’s champion, AJ. Brock Lesnar wins an Elimination Chamber (Randy Orton/Alberto Del Rio/Sheamus/Christian/Wade Barrett) Brock Lesnar wins the World Title in his home state of Minnesota. It is a completely dominating performance and he comes out of it looking like an absolute unbeatable monster. Also, once again, Sheamus and Wade Barrett team up and work together during the match. WrestleMania 30 PPV PRE-SHOW: 20-Man (couldn’t fit you on the PPV, but here is your payday) Battle Royal Seth Rollins defeats Rey Mysterio Since the last PPV, the Shield decided that while there is strength in numbers and they are still brothers, they are going to go solo for awhile conquering one WWE Superstar at a time. This is meant to kick-off the PPV with hot action and I think Rey could make Seth look like a million bucks while Seth getting the rub and high profile win would set him up going forward as a new star. Big Show/Mark Henry retain titles over Sheamus/Wade Barrett Sheamus and Wade Barrett officially became a team after their two impressive showings together in the Royal Rumble match and the Elimination Chamber. They defeat the Usos, Rollins/Reigns, and Ryback/Langston to become # 1 contender’s. They lose the match here, but very well could end the WSTT reign during the spring/summer. I think this opens up some upper mid-card to main event slots for some of the new guys to fill. Antonio Cesaro retains IC title over Chris Jericho A package plays once again about the IC title’s illustrious history. In keeping with the theme of new stars, Cesaro goes over Jericho here in a match where Jericho puts Cesaro over clean in the middle. Not only does this solidify Cesaro as a Main Eventer, but it also establishes the IC title as the # 2 title in the promotion and a stepping stone to the World Title just like it was in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. John Cena/Alberto Del Rio/RVD/Cody Rhodes defeats Randy Orton/Dolph Ziggler/Christian/Curtis Axel This is a mix of definitive main event stars coupled with up and coming main eventers. A match like this serves many purposes. The young guys get the rub from being in a match with Cena, RVD and Orton and because of those names being in the match, the casual fan as well as the smart mark will view the young guys as “on their way.” It also puts the old guard into one large match opening up spots for the newer guys on top. I’m not completely set on who wins or who pins who, but it would almost certainly be a new star pins veteran clean. Kassius Ohno defeats The Undertaker Complete Backstory/Angle The most controversial booking so far, I know. However, this is how I would play it out and the reason behind it. First, I mentioned Ohno coming out of the Rumble match as a cocky, arrogant heel. On the Raw the night after the Royal Rumble I would have him come out and do a promo with the key points being that how a short time ago he was in developmental and when he found out he was getting a chance to be in the Rumble that he knew he had to win. He goes on to say that he’s glad he did and he is about to shock some people by what he is about to say. He says that as you all know the winner of the Royal Rumble is guaranteed a main event title shot at WrestleMania. While that is all fine and dandy, he knows he’ll have plenty of time to become World champion, but there is one more elusive title he was after, a title that nobody has been able to obtain in nearly 23 years. At WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans, he wants to win the title of “First man to defeat the Undertaker at WrestleMania!” So as his reward for winning the Royal Rumble he is DEMANDING he be put in the spot as Undertaker’s opponent. In the weeks following he continues to try and get an answer from the Undertaker, but has no luck. Finally, on the go home week while Ohno is in the ring, the lights go out and when they come back on a wreath is setup in the ring with a sash that reads “Elimination Chamber.” So at the Elimination Chamber PPV, Ohno is out and says he hasn’t seen Undertaker backstage and has asked around and nobody else has seen him either. Before he says anything else, Undertaker’s music hits and Taker does his slow, prodding walk to the ring and gets face to face with Ohno, who chicken shits out to the floor. Slowly he gets back in and reiterates his challenge for WrestleMania and he explains why he felt he needed to do this now before “the old man, called it quits and retired.” He continues that for years he’s heard the WWE announcers say the Undertaker was the best pure striker in the history of WWE and how that burned him up inside. He does his “I KO with my elbow, concuss with my kicks spiel.” And Undertaker grabs him by the throat and choke slams him and points at the Mania sign. Match Ohno wins clean in a fierce and bloody match. With this win he is a made man. He is a solidified main event guy for as long as he is on the roster. With the crowd in complete shock and awe, the lights go dark. A hologram of the Undertaker rises up from the mat (same technology they used for 2Pac at the concert a few years ago) gets down in the pose like he is bowing to the urn, “lighting” strikes the hologram and it disappears as the lights come back on. The Undertaker rises up and walks to the back. The next night on Raw he comes out, not as the Undertaker, but dressed more like biker Undertaker. He mentions that all along the secret to his powers and rejuvenating abilities were due to the undefeated streak at WrestleMania. He says with his unnatural powers now gone, he will only wrestle once more and that will be at WrestleMania 31. Win or lose, he says, it will be his last match. Rebecca Knox defeats AJ Lee for Divas Title - Layla turns on Knox Knox wins a quick and decisive match over AJ to become the new Divas champion. Layla then turns on Knox, jealous because she brought her in to help her win the title and not have her win it herself. CM Punk defeats Dean Ambrose Another star making match and while the shield goes 1-1 at Mania, they are seen as contenders going forward. Daniel Bryan defeats Brock Lesnar to Unify World and WWE titles After the Elimination Chamber PPV, Daniel Bryan comes out admits while he is happy to have won the WWE Title, he feels that as long as there is an imposter champion running around, he cannot be at peace. Lesnar and Heyman out with Heyman furious at his man being called and imposter and to be careful what you wish for. In the weeks that follow Heyman asks Bryan to put his money where his mouth is and since Ohno has gone off the rails and requested the Undertaker at Mania, you two (Brock/Bryan) are free to do a Unification match. Bryan accepts. Leading up to WrestleMania sit-down interviews are done with both champions going over the history of each of their belts (Heyman talks for Lesnar) as well as former champions being interviewed talking about their runs with the title and how much it meant to them. Match Tagline: “There can only be one” Daniel Bryan defeats Brock Lesnar in a tremendously hard fought match where both guys leave nothing behind. Lesnar is so impressed he hands Bryan the World Title and requests a handshake which Bryan gives. Heyman didn’t like the show of sportsmanship so he gets an F-5 for his trouble. After the match, a line of former champions file out onto the big stage: Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, The Rock, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat and applaud as Bryan stands victorious in the ring holding both belts. Notes: I would keep BOTH belts (ala AJPW Triple Crown) and continue saying Unified World Heavyweight Champion as it is so visually impressive and sets him apart.

If I cared enough to share my views on TNA I would probably be labeled as a defender/apologist, at least 2004-2008, but as I watch 2009 for my decades project it is apparent this is when the wheels completely fell off. I would peg Bound For Glory 2008 as the end of TNA being a decent to good product, but Sting winning the title (and the end of Joe being anything important + that insane fucking stair bump ... but that is a topic for another thread) and rise of the Main Event Mafia was nail in the coffin. Main Event Mafia vs. Frontline, no wait ... Originals is the New Blood vs. Millionaires Club redux and just as awful. Not sure what my point is, but through August 2009 I only have four TNA matches pegged for re-watch while in comparison, WWE is up to like 15. I doubt I'll even get 10 matches by years end. Victory Road and Hardcore Justice 2009 are two of the worst fucking PPV's I've ever seen. I usually don't post to comment, but at the end of Nash vs. Foley for the legends title I found myself saying aloud, "FUCKING AWFUL!. JUST FUCKING AWFUL!" I am the only one home, but was compelled to verbalize it because it sucked so bad, as has the PPV. No real point ... rambling much like my thoughts, but 2009 TNA is GOD. FUCKING. AWFUL. Surpassed only by 2000 WCW in terms of the decade. Commonalities? Vince Russo, writer. (Head writer just before the two PPV's I mentioned, hmm.) EDIT: Reading this back, I didn't mean to be all Bryan Alvarez, "MINUS FIVE STARS!" (Ironically, said while he was reviewing the same material) but this time he wasn't too far off.

I wanted to just do the streak, but ended up doing his whole career. WINS - 308 LOSSES - 27 NC/DRAW - 18 Most of the losses were 3-Way, 4-Way matches, Battle Royals or some other type of multi-man match. If anyone is interested in the raw data, I'll be happy to send you the excel file. THE STREAK SOURCE: THEHISTORYOFWWE.COM and DDTDIGEST.COM 20 Wins - The Giant (*21 counting handicap against him and Hogan) 10 Wins - Jerry Flynn, Perry Saturn 7 Wins - Curt Hennig 6 Wins - Brad Armstrong 5 Wins - Scott Hall, Yuji Nagata 4 Wins - Fit Finlay, Glacier, Meng, Steve McMichael 3 Wins - Bobby Eaton, Hugh Morrus (*4 counting handicap match against him and Barbarian), Raven, Rick Fuller, Sting, Van Hammer 2 Wins - Barry Darsow, Barry Horowitz, Buddy Lee Parker, Konnan, Renegade, Scott Norton, Sick Boy 1 Win - Al Greene, Bam Bam Bigelow, Barbarian (*2 counting handicap against him and Hugh Morrus), Brian Adams, Buddy Landel, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Chris Kanyon, DDP, Disco Inferno, Hulk Hogan (*2 counting handicap against him and Giant), Jim Powers, John Betcha, John Nord, Johnny Attitude, Kendall Windham, La Parka, Len Denton, Lodi, Manny Fernandez, Mark Starr, Mike Enos, Mortis, Ray Traylor, Reese, Roadblock, Rocco Rock, Scott Putski, Scotty Riggs, Steve Regal, Stevie Ray, Terrance Black, Vincent, Wayne Bloom, Wrath, 9-Person Battle Royal No Contests - Disco Inferno, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Bam Bam Bigelow, and Kevin Nash/Bam Bam Bigelow in a handicap match. Losses - Kevin Nash From 6/23/97 to 12/27/98 - That gives me 148 Wins, 1 Loss, and 4 No-Contests. It is possible I missed quite a few house show matches, but I'm thinking the list started getting padded middle of the way through. After his win over Perry Saturn at Spring Stampede 1998 (4/19), He is announced at 74-0 and the next night on Nitro when he wins the US Title over Raven it's 75-0. At this point I have 68 wins and 2 No Contests. It's highly plausible I'm missing seven House Show/Dark Matches and the record is legit. After the 5/18/1998 Nitro win over Glacier, he is announced at 88-0.(+13) I have this as win 82(+14). His Great American Bash PPV win over Konnan 6/14/1998 is announced as his 100th win.(+12) I have this as win 95(+13). So far I've went from a difference of 7 (75/68), to a difference of 6 (88/82), and now 5 (100/95). His Bash at the Beach PPV win over Curt Hennig 7/12/1998 is announced as win 112(+12). I have 105(+10). The difference is now back up to 7 (112/105). On Nitro Xtra in early November 1998 a win against Meng is counted as 160(+48), but counting the results I have even the announced number would only be 150. My result count is 143(+38). Difference 17(160/143). The night of Starrcade he is said to be at 174-0(+14), but results I have show announced number should be 165(+5) now with 4 total No-Contests. As of the night of his loss to Nash, results I found show a record of 148(+5). So it looks like the streak was legit (+/- 5) until he won the title from Hogan. At that point it started to get a bit inflated, adding upwards of 25 phantom wins. THE REST Please excuse the formatting Kevin Nash/Bam Bam Bigelow 12/29/1998 House Show Loss Triple Threat match Kevin Nash/Giant 12/30/1998 House Show Loss Triple Threat match Giant 1/2/1999 House Show Win Giant 1/3/1999 House Show Win Bam Bam Bigelow 1/6/1999 House Show Win Scott Hall 1/17/1999 WCW Souled Out 17:36 Win Taser Match Scott Hall/Bam Bam Bigelow 1/18/1999 Nitro Win Scott Norton 1/25/1999 Nitro Win Kevin Nash 1/29/1999 House Show Win Kevin Nash 1/30/1999 House Show Win Bam Bam Bigelow 2/3/1999 House Show Win Bam Bam Bigelow 2/7/1999 House Show Win Bam Bam Bigelow 2/21/1999 WCW SuperBrawl 11:39 Win Scott Steiner 2/22/1999 Nitro Win Bam Bam Bigelow 2/26/1999 Nitro Win Bam Bam Bigelow 2/28/1999 Nitro Win Scott Steiner/Buff Bagwell 3/1/1999 Nitro Win w/Rick Steiner Bam Bam Bigelow 3/7/1999 House Show Win Ric Flair 3/8/1999 Nitro NC Hulk Hogan/Kevin Nash 3/15/1999 Nitro Loss w/Ric Flair Meng 3/19/1999 House Show 7:00 Win Meng 3/20/1999 House Show Win Hak 3/22/1999 Nitro Win Hugh Morrus 3/27/1999 House Show Win Bam Bam Bigelow 3/31/1999 House Show Win Meng 4/2/1999 House Show Win Meng 4/3/1999 House Show Win Ric Flair/DDP/Hulk Hogan 4/5/1999 Nitro NC Four-Way Match Kevin Nash 4/11/1999 WCW Spring Stampede 7:46 Win Kenny Kaos 4/12/1999 Nitro Win Ernest Miller 4/15/1999 Thunder Win Shown 4/22 Meng 4/16/1999 House Show Win Meng 4/17/1999 House Show Win Meng 4/18/1999 House Show Win DDP 4/19/1999 Nitro NC Ric Flair 4/25/1999 House Show Win DDP/Sting/Kevin Nash 4/26/1999 Nitro Loss Four-Way Match Meng 4/29/1999 Thunder Win Curt Hennig 4/30/1999 House Show Win Curt Hennig 5/1/1999 House Show Win Sting 5/9/1999 WCW Slamboree 8:16 NC DDP 7/23/1999 House Show Win DDP 7/25/1999 House Show Win Curt Hennig 7/26/1999 Nitro Win Sid Vicious/Rick Steiner 8/2/1999 Nitro Loss w/Sting Rocco Rock 8/5/1999 Thunder Win Kevin Nash/Sid Vicious/Rick Steiner 8/9/1999 Nitro Win w/Hulk Hogan/Sting Six Man Tag Rick Steiner 8/14/1999 WCW Road Wild 5:38 Win DDP 8/15/1999 House Show Win Barry Windham 8/16/1999 Nitro :30 Win Rick Steiner 8/20/1999 House Show Win DDP/Kanyon/Bam Bam Bigelow 8/30/1999 Nitro 5:09 Win w/Hogan Handicap Match Ernest Miller 9/2/1999 Thunder Win Bam Bam Bigelow 9/2/1999 Thunder Win Shown 9/9 Rick Steiner 9/5/1999 House Show Win DDP/Sid Vicious/Rick Steiner 9/6/1999 Nitro Win w/Hulk Hogan Handicap Steel Cage Match Sid Vicious 9/10/1999 House Show Win DDP 9/12/1999 WCW Fall Brawl Win Sid Vicious 9/17/1999 House Show Win Sid Vicious 9/18/1999 House Show Win Sid Vicious 9/19/1999 House Show Win Brian Knobbs 9/20/1999 Nitro Win Hugh Morrus 9/27/1999 Nitro Win Scott Norton 9/30/1999 Thunder Win Sid Vicious 10/1/1999 House Show Win Sid Vicious 10/2/1999 House Show Win Sid Vicious 10/3/1999 House Show Win Jerry Flynn 10/4/1999 Nitro Win Horace Hogan 10/11/1999 Nitro Win Lex Luger 10/18/1999 Nitro Win Sid Vicious 10/24/1999 WCW Halloween Havoc 7:11 Win wins US Title Sting 10/24/1999 WCW Halloween Havoc 3:09 Win was mystery opponent "won" title Bret Hart 10/25/1999 Nitro Loss tons of interference Sting 11/8/1999 Nitro Win Scott Hall/Bret Hart/Sid Vicious 11/8/1999 Nitro 5:00 Loss Four-Way Ladder Match Curt Hennig 11/15/1999 Nitro 2:36 Win Lex Luger 11/19/1999 House Show Win Sid Vicious 11/21/1999 WCW Mayhem 5:30 Win I Quit Match Scott Hall/Kevin Nash 11/22/1999 Nitro Loss w/Sid Vicious Kevin Nash 11/29/1999 Nitro Win Bret Hart/Chris Benoit + Kevin Nash/Scott Hall 11/29/1999 Nitro Loss Triple Threat Tag Team Cage Match Bret Hart 12/5/1999 House Show Loss Jeff Jarrett 12/6/1999 Nitro Win Lumberjack Match Creative Control 12/7/1999 Thunder 3:01 Win w/Bret Hart, Wins Tag Titles Shown 12/9 Kevin Nash/Scott Hall 12/13/1999 Nitro Loss w/Bret Hart, Lose Tag Titles Kevin Nash 12/14/1999 Thunder Loss w/Bret Hart, Handicap, House of Pain Match, Shown 12/16 Bret Hart 12/17/1999 House Show NC Bret Hart 12/18/1999 House Show NC Bret Hart 12/19/1999 WCW Starrcade 12:07 Loss Bret Hart 12/20/1999 Nitro 5:55 Loss Bret Hart wins vacant WCW Title Tank Abbott 6/5/2000 Nitro Win Goldberg's return match after hand injury (12/99) Kevin Nash 6/12/2000 Nitro NC Goldberg turned heel at Bash 6/11 Horace Hogan 6/19/2000 Nitro 2:36 Win Tank Abbott 6/22/2000 House Show Win Jim Duggan 6/26/2000 Nitro Win Jeff Jarrett/Kevin Nash/Scott Steiner 6/26/2000 Nitro Loss Four-Way Kevin Nash 7/9/2000 WCW Bash at the Beach 5:29 Win Hall's Contract at stake Jeff Jarrett/Scott Steiner/Kanyon 7/10/2000 Nitro Loss Four-Way with winner being #1 contender to WCW Title Scott Steiner 7/18/2000 Nitro NC Booker T 7/24/2000 Nitro 3:03 Win subbed for Sting Booker T 7/24/2000 Nitro Loss Kevin Nash/Scott Steiner 8/13/2000 WCW New Blood Rising Loss Triple Threat Scott Steiner 8/19/2000 House Show Draw DCO Scott Steiner 8/20/2000 House Show Win Shane Douglas 9/4/2000 Nitro Win Triple Cage War Games 9/4/2000 Nitro 18:46 Loss Kevin Nash/Jeff Jarrett/Scott Steiner/Vince Russo v. Goldberg/Booker T/Kronik Lance Storm/Elix Skipper 9/5/2000 Thunder Win Handicap Match, Shown 9/6 Scott Steiner 9/17/2000 WCW Fall Brawl Loss Lost via KO Lex Luger 9/21/2000 House Show Win Scott Steiner 9/25/2000 Nitro Win Steel Cage Meng 10/2/2000 Nitro Win Ron Harris/Don Harris 10/2/2000 Nitro Win Big Vito 10/7/2000 Nitro Win Australia Nitro shown 10/9 Johnny the Bull 10/7/2000 Nitro Win Australia Nitro shown 10/9 Chuck Palumbo 10/7/2000 Thunder Win Australia Thunder shown 10/11 Shawn Stasiak 10/7/2000 Thunder Win Australia Thunder shown 10/11 Kronik 10/10/2000 House Show Win Handicap Match David Flair 10/13/2000 Nitro Win Australia Nitro shown 10/6 Elix Skipper 10/13/2000 Thunder Win Australia Thunder shown 10/18 Shawn Stasiak 10/23/2000 Nitro Win Jeff Jarrett/Kronik 10/23/2000 Thunder Win w/Booker T/Sting, Shown 10/25 Kronik 10/29/2000 WCW Halloween Havoc 3:44 Win Handicap match Bam Bam Bigelow 11/6/2000 Nitro Win Lex Luger/Bam Bam Bigelow 11/6/2000 Thunder Win Triple Threat, Shown 11/8 Disco Inferno/Alex Wright 11/10/2000 Nitro Win Handicap Match, Shown 11/13 Lex Luger 11/11/2000 House Show Win Buff Bagwell 11/12/2000 Thunder Win Shown 11/15 Bam Bam Bigelow 11/13/2000 House Show Win Kwee Wee 11/20/2000 Nitro Win Mike Sanders 11/20/2000 Nitro Win Lex Luger 11/26/2000 WCW Mayhem Win Reno 11/27/2000 Nitro Win Lex Luger 12/3/2000 House Show Win MI Smooth 12/4/2000 Nitro Win Shane Douglas 12/4/2000 Thunder Win Shown 12/6 Dewayne Bruce 12/11/2000 Nitro Win Shown 12/12 Lex Luger 12/17/2000 WCW Starrcade 7:20 Win No DQ Buff Bagwell 12/18/2000 Nitro Win Norman Smiley 12/18/2000 Thunder Win Shown 12/20 Mark Jindrak 12/22/2000 Thunder Win Shown 1/3/01 Lex Luger/Buff Bagwell 1/7/2001 House Show Win w/ Dewayne Bruce Kronik 1/8/2001 Nitro Win w/ Dewayne Bruce Lex Luger/Buff Bagwell 1/14/2001 Sin 11:00 Loss w/ Dewayne Bruce, Goldberg would retire if they lost. Goldberg's last WCW Match Satoshi Kojima 8/30/2002 AJPW PPV 4:02 Win Taiyo Kea 8/31/2002 AJPW PPV 3:56 Win Rick Steiner 11/17/2002 AJ/W1 PPV 6:03 Win Kronik 1/19/2003 AJ/W1 PPV 17:57 Win w/Keiji Mutoh Rock 4/27/2003 WWE Backlash 13:04 Win WWE wrestling debut Christian 5/5/2003 Raw NC Christian 5/12/2003 Raw 6:50 Win Steel Cage Lance Storm 5/19/2003 Raw Win Rosey 6/9/2003 Raw 3:25 Win Jericho 6/15/2003 WWE Badd Blood 10:59 Win Christian/Chris Jericho 6/16/2003 Raw 9:12 Win Rodney Mack 6/23/2003 Raw :26 Win Lance Storm 6/30/2003 Raw NC HHH 7/20/2003 House Show Loss Stevie Richards 7/28/2003 Raw Win HHH 7/28/2003 Raw Win Dark Match Ric Flair 8/4/2003 Raw Win Ric Flair 8/11/2003 Raw Win Ric Flair 8/17/2003 House Show Win Randy Orton 8/18/2003 Raw Win Elimination Chamber 8/24/2003 WWE Summerslam Loss HHH, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Kevin Nash other participants HHH/Ric Flair/Randy Orton 9/1/2003 Raw Win w/Maven HHH 9/7/2003 House Show 1:12 Win HHH/Ric Flair 9/7/2003 House Show Win w/Maven HHH/Ric Flair 9/8/2003 Raw NC w/Mystery partner (Randy Orton) -- All three jumped him at match start HHH/Ric Flair 9/12/2003 House Show Win HHH 9/21/2003 WWE Unforgiven 14:53 Win Wins WWE Title Chris Jericho 9/22/2003 Raw 6:58 Win Ric Flair/Randy Orton 9/28/2003 House Show Win Ric Flair/Randy Orton 9/29/2003 Raw 5:48 Win w/Shawn Michaels Mark Henry 10/6/2003 Raw 5:10 Win Ric Flair/Randy Orton 10/11/2003 House Show Win w/Shawn Michaels Ric Flair/Randy Orton 10/12/2003 House Show Win w/Shawn Michaels Ric Flair/Randy Orton/Mark Henry 10/13/2003 Raw 6:08 Win w/Shawn Michaels Ric Flair/Randy Orton 10/17/2003 House Show Win w/Booker T Ric Flair/Randy Orton 10/18/2003 House Show Win w/Booker T Shawn Michaels 10/20/2003 Raw 6:30 NC Ric Flair/Randy Orton 11/7/2003 House Show Win w/Booker T Batista 11/10/2003 Raw 2:16 Win HHH 11/16/2003 WWE Survivor Series 11:43 Win HHH/Batista/Randy Orton 11/17/2003 Raw 6:13 Loss 3-on-1 non-title Handicap match HHH/Batista/Randy Orton 11/21/2003 House Show Win w/Booker T HHH/Batista/Randy Orton 11/22/2003 House Show Win w/Booker T HHH 11/24/2003 Raw 7:17 Win Kane 11/28/2003 House Show Win Kane 11/29/2003 House Show Win Kane/Batista/Randy Orton 12/1/2003 Raw 13:49 Win w/Shawn Michaels and RVD Kane 12/8/2003 Raw 5:28 Win Lumberjack Match Kane 12/12/2003 House Show 6:52 Win HHH/Kane 12/14/2003 WWE Armageddon 19:30 Loss Triple Threat, Loses Title (12/15/03 Raw) - Bischoff suspends for 30-days for attacking Conway/Dupree Matt Hardy 1/12/2004 Raw 2:26 Win Return from 30-day suspension Scott Steiner/Test 1/19/2004 Raw 5:17 Win 6 Man Battle Royal 1/19/2004 Raw 6:58 Win w/ Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Booker T, RVD, Mark Henry Royal Rumble 1/25/2004 WWE Royal Rumble 10:00 Loss Royal Rumble Match Eliminates: Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn, Nunzio Mark Henry/Coach 1/26/2004 Raw 4:23 Win Kane 2/2/2004 Raw 5:00 NC No Contest after Undertaker puts smoke/lightining in ring and Kane runs off (2/9/04 Raw) - Heyman and Austin speared. Vince suspends Goldberg Brock Lesnar 3/14/2004 WWE WrestleMania XX 13:48 Win

Yep. 7/20/03 Raw

You're right. Somehow I was remembering Rock leaving after the match and for some reason he took a win with him.

Certainly, I do not want to derail this Wyatt talk, but wanted to address the responses. He definitely was not cerebral, but I doubt when he was portraying a Russian shoot fighter in OVW that WWE had plans for him to have a uni-brow and use a snake sock puppet for a finisher. Trust me, I'm not complaining as I found him to be very good in the comedy role and he became much more successful than he would have otherwise. Speaking of Santino, it also reminds me of Vladimir Koslov who also meets the criteria of monster turned into comedic goofball when they teamed together. I'm not saying Goldberg was ruined by that one incident, but it did not help matters. What got him over in WCW was the streak and being an unbeatable powerhouse. In WWE he lost his very first match, he jobbed to HHH in their first one-on-one meeting and only had a few good wins until finally beating HHH in September, 5 months after his debut. Maybe he doesn't fit into my point when only taking into consideration his WWE career, but bring in the fans perception of him carried over and I think it fits the bill. I covered Santino above and your points on Khali, Tensai, and Brodus match the reason I put them in this group of examples in the first place. I'll agree that Kane was made relevant again by Team Hell No and, in hindsight, of everyone listed he probably doesn't belong . Big Show and Henry have been with the company so long they were able to reinvent themselves and have definitely come full circle. That isn't to say WWE did not *try* hard on more than one occasion to make them goofs. As for Waylon Mercy, I admitted in my initial post he was already broken down/past his prime as evident by him lasting only four months. I wasn't using Doink and Yoko as points of comparison because I thought they sucked, but rather to compare Mercy's gimmick of being deep and disturbed with the simple to understand, straight forward gimmicks of a fun loving clown and an evil sumo wrestler. Again, I love the gimmick and wish to see it succeed, but by Summerslam I'll not be surprised if it hasn't worked out for us fans of the gimmick.

I enjoyed the Wyatt's debut as well. I thought the entrance was extra creepy with all of the jerky camera shots, but then I realized it's just my PC not being able to process HD video in a normal manner. During that opening speech on the Titan Tron, Bray was borrowing heavily from Charles Manson rhetoric; especially the "family" and "sheep" stuff and definitely the speech pattern. I'm not going to get too excited though because gimmicks like this do not translate well once they start running ropes and applying holds. It loses all of its intrigue. It may be a crazy suggestion, but I wouldn't have them wrestle for at least six months and just use them sparingly in attacks and guns for hire bits. I'd like to see them include a couple of disenchanted wrestlers to "brain wash"which would allow them to have guys work matches that aren't them directly. The pessimist in me sees them turning into Team Godwinns 2013 with some Divas doing skits with them about how to act in a nice restaurant. The WWE has a long history of turning monster heels or psychological characters into comedic fodder when they don't work out or outlive their usefulness. Examples: Khali - From Monster to Khali's Kiss Cam and Hornswoggle's best bud. Big Show - From Monster to "Showster, and Showkishi" (Granted, he got out from under that, but he still did stupid stuff like a sumo match with Akebono at Mania) Mark Henry - World's Strongest Man to Sexual chocolate and lover of Chyna and Mae Young Brodus Clay - Vingette's of a beast coming to WWE only to get a modern Rikishi Tensai - Monster from Japan into Brodus' dancing side kick Santino - World beater winning the IC title from Umaga in his debut and then being # 1 comedy wrestler of the decade Kane - From ripping doors off cages and setting his brother on fire to therapy sessions using his attitude era back story for laughs Waylon Mercy - This probably most resembles the Wyatt's and Spivey was past his prime and probably ahead of his time since he was surrounded by clowns and Samoan Sumo wrestlers. Goldberg - Fans still believed in this guy and they put a wig on him and not much else