Kronos

What would be on Spike? Smackdown back to Thursday nights? Or would Spike try to run both companies, somehow? They already have Bellator on Fridays -- I guess they could move that to Wednesday.

Just saw a promo. Monday Night War: "coming this summer".

The best thing about Hashimoto is everything.

With the blurring and the "F" bleeping, it's almost not worth the anthologies even at that ridiculously low price.

Looks like the schedule is such that an old RAW is on each morning before work. May have to make that my morning coffee viewing. Turned it on this morning to see Shawn vs Marty for the IC belt. Good Lord, Marty lacks charisma. He tries, but it just isn't there.

Just watched "This is NXT" -- a terrific overview of the program's last year, including the Claudio-Generico 2/3 Falls match. It gives an intro to a few of the guys who went on to be rising stars in WWE and a few of the newcomers now, highlights of some title changes, and clips of the WWE stars visiting the program. All hosted by that pretty Ms. Young. As someone who enjoyed FCW but has seen no NXT (or any WWE 2013 at all), I found it really helpful. And it looks like basically a slightly higher-budget FCW. I look forward to watching it regularly.

It does work fairly well as a bookend to Mania season, which used to end with the Backlash epilogue.

Can you imagine that happening in today's WWE? Maybe on TNA in front of 50 people.

Maybe in this we should have called it the World Computer Title, since that's how I watched this match. . .

Watching Sting/Muta at Bash '89. I always thought it was weird how the TV Title is defended on PPV. Clash I could understand, as well as one of the myriad weekly programs NWA/WCW has in those days. But it's a "TV Title". It should be on TV.

I made it about 10 seconds into that video. Why did he make that guy say his last name? Enough out of you, RF. I agree with fly. 1998, this would have been pretty interesting.

Most genuinely romantic photo ever.

Muscle and Fitness The 12 Best Bodies in WWE History

None, unless you bought a Kane toy or a PPV because of him. Sadness. Wasted time. Bad dreams about hopelessness.

You didn't ask me, but the RAW CM Punk vs Mark Henry match from 4/2/12 is right around 10 minutes and its one of my favorite TV matches ever. Holy shit, that match was awesome! Loved everything about Henry here, especially the way he was both vulnerable and invincible.

I can agree with this one. When Rude is "on", he's as fun as there is. And what a classic gimmick! My only real concern even in his great matches is that I felt he had a tendency to oversell to a cartoonish level. Part of that was the era, especially his WWF period. But he could really distract me with the silliness from time to time.

This thread is wicked entertaining. I can certainly empathize with those who list HHH among the main-event guys. I can't stand him on the mic, and he does have a tendency to dominate /overstretch the shows he's on. Still, I could think of some matches from him that I have enjoyed over the years. Having not seen these apparently really good 2012-13 years, I have to go with Kane no question. No "name" wrestler that I have ever watched makes my brain to turn mush from boredom when he's on the screen. And his promos are even woirse. Good for Jacobs making a career and working clean and having respect and all that. But at what cost to the viewer?

It's a good point. I could tell that in the 2012, as they were getting down to the wire it became pretty clear that unless they wanted to repeat Orton, it was going to Sheamus. Jericho seemed unlikely -- although he made a good go of it when he and S got to the last two. And it will apparently never go to Show. I think they were the final 4. At least unlike this year, they gave it to a rising star instead of an old "favorite". That 40-man year was a serious chore to get through.

My first thought when I saw the title of this thread. And it also goes with the "gimmicks based on their day jobs" classification as well. I like the Sgt Slaughter example.

I know exactly zero about this promotion, outside of the domestic violence angle (and that only vaguely). Interesting reading - I would definitely be down for listening to that podcast.

Pre WM 25, was Taker in any matches on Mania that could be called classics? Oh, maybe the Batista match (23?), but I haven't seen it in awhile.

After reading Bix's article about which WCW PPVs to watch first on the Network, I started GAB '89. It opens with a fairly complicated 2-ring battle royal (with a crap ending). It got me to thinking: They threw 14 guys in the ring with no intro and had them start rumbling. Even the commentary didn't always know who was who, by their own admission. It was a mess and thoroughly boring. Battle Royales certainly were nothing new in 1988 when the Royal Rumble started, But I have to think they were more like this GAB match - a dull mess that simply wastes everyone's time. Was the Rumble format a new concept? If so, it was a brilliant idea that allowed for some great drama (once they got the kinks worked out within a few years). I recently watched one of the recent ones, that ended with Sheamus. It had its moments, but it also had a looooooooooot of downtime full of "I could care less about these people" action. Do you think ithe Rumble has run its course as a format?