El-P

Reading this, I'm just glad I'm atheist. Russo is retarded.

Disco had talent. Hell he had more longevity with that gimmick than he had the right to. But he was at his right spot during his whole career. And I don't mean in a booking commitee. The Harris are a waste a space. What an idiot Russo is... I can't wait for me extracts from this abortion of a book too.

Oh, that would explain why he would insist on using those two useless talentless SS-tatooed skinheads everywhere he goes. I remember him saying back in the days that this was the US and people didn't want to see guys who can't talk English on TV, hence fucking with the mexicans and japanese guys.

Wrestling was already pretty dead in Europe. I don't know at which point it died in the UK, but I'd say by the mid 80's it was really past the point of meaning anything. In France the only time wrestling was big was in the 50s and 60's. Well, US wrestling is really big now here , which is a thing I really can't explain. France is so behind the times sometimes. Europe was pretty much Otto Wanz's CWA.

Well, pro wrestling is, you know.... crummy. That, and Finlay is probably full of shit too. Yeah, you surely broke hundreds of thumbs like that. Sure. I guess it has happened a few times, and like any old school guy it becomes "hundreds of times". Love them carny old wrestlers. Does Mattel goes along that sort of behaviour ?

Ah, old-school wrestlers. They broke the mold. Finlay would have been at home in Mid South...

Totally agree. These days workers all look the same. They are all from the same mold. No characters anymore. Piercings are "gimmicky" ? Jeez. Fat guys are gimmicky too. Big muscular guys used to be gimmicky. Everything is gimmicky. Flair was gimmicky. The Rock was gimmicky. Ross is so out of the loop.

Tommy Dreamer ? In 2010 ? The fat JTTS guy who had an office job in WWE for the last 8 years ? Dixie never fail to deliver. At least bring back Raven and let them work some elaborate old man feud, I'm sure Levy could come up with some good twisted storyline stuff....

What's the point on going such a elaborate road if it's a work ? Does the basic audience of the WWE care to begin with ? I mean, if it's a freaking wrestling angle, why not go the easiest way, having the Raw anouncers say that the NXT crew has been fined or such, but Bryan has been fired because his actions went too far. This whole "working the internet" nonsense reeks of Russoesque desperation.

Corporate pro-wrestling is such an oxymoron.

I remember him selling those chops, which at the time I found really stupid. I should have no-sell it like Luger would no-sell Flair's. Then again, Vader used to sell too much too easily anyway.

I fail to see how Vader selling for 60 or so year old Gorilla Monsoon worked in any way shape or form. Terrible way to introduce Vader, made him look like an idiot, which is basically the way he was booked during his entire tenure. I though it as an epic failure of a debut.

How bad things really are when people have to wonder if a firing is "a work" or not. And if it is, how bad is that when WWE have to go to some "shoot" angle with a "real" firing to get some interest. It's as bad as anything Russo does in a "we are fake but this is real" way.

If it's not a work, well... WWE never fail to deliver on the retardation and the suckiness.

The guys from NXT are considered as "rookies" right ? If so, I just can't see how they will compete with the established stars. The NWO was about two of the biggest stars of the opposite company showing up, and being joined by the biggest superstar ever. Is the WWE audience supposed to believe that guys that haven't done shit will kick the ass of the megastars of RAW now ? I know, I'm playing the devil's advocate, as I really don't watch WWE at all at this point, nor care, but reading the whole thing, there's just something that doesn't work for me. Indeed it sounds like Natural Born Thrillers redux rather than NWO redux. Then again, what do I know.

I'm way past the point of even batching an eye at a WWE program, but it's funny to see the reaction of people following what looks like a nWo redux with people from the NXT show. It's telling of how dull the product has been for years, no matter how current WWE fans want to like it. Something unpredictable happens like in a 96 edition of Nitro, and all of a sudden "wrestling is back".

And that's supposed to be a good thing ? Just asking.

Wasn't Runnels Pillman's girlfriend at the time ? Anyway, I think Runnels denied it. Well, it's not like she would brag about it if had happened anyway...

Yeah, Taker's wasn't really a chokeslam as we know it. As far as the powerbomb goes, I heard Spivey day he was the one bringing it back from Japan, as he stole it from Tenryu. And basically Sid got it from Spivey. Wasn't Terry Gordy doing powerbombs in the 80's in Texas already ?

Sid was made to be a face, despite his psycho character. His feud with Diesel in 95 was a borefest, much like anything he did while being paired with DiBiase. Of course it was WWF 95, and the Million Dollar Corporation was a lame faction with lame angle, but still, he was freaking Sid. Yet, he was crazy over when he came back as a face in 96, much like he was in 91-92 when he showed up the first time around. I don't remember how the crowd reacted to him during his millenium man stint in WCW. I think that might have been the most over he was as a heel, no? WBF magazine. Oh, Vince... I loved squash matches. Ah, to be 14 again... Anyway, was Sid the first guy to popularise the chokeslam in the US ? It's odd how this became a huge finisher spot from the mid 90's on, I guess with The Giant (and 911 in ECW), but it really wasn't put over as much before.

Agreed. Tony and Bobby wasn't working very good from the get go, and with the passing years it just became plain bad as neither gave a shit anymore. But I would take prime Tony over a lot of people, and any announcer active today. He's become very underrated because people only remember about his last years during the Nitro era, which were actively bad. Since I'm watching ton of ECW now, it's interesting to see how Joey Styles evolved. He could be very good at points calling the action alone, explaining angle, playing the straight man reacting to goofballs like Richards and being scared shitless of Taz, but at some point he could also be quite poor, mainly because of overreactions (his forced laugh was terrible). He's certainly an interesting case.

Actually I didn't know that. I'm not too familiar with WCW TV from that time period, I mostly know of the PPV and Clash matches. Sounds very interesting. The more I watch Douglas, the more I enjoy him.

True. I enjoy Gorilla + Jesse because Jesse wouldn't let himself bullied by Gorilla. Gorilla & Heenan sure had fun working with each other, and it shows, but that's pretty much the only thing good about their combo. Gorilla was a bully babyface announcer. Jesse & Vince and Jesse & Schiavone were both a much better combination than anything involving Monsoon.

Shane Douglas vs Brian Pillman in March 1996. Pillman couldn't work back then, and ended up in the WWF shortly thereafter, but the few confrontations they two had got nuclear heat. It's funny how ECW was a laboratory for dismissed wrestlers from WCW and WWF. Steve Austin's short stint was really a way for him to show what his Stone Cold character could be. Of course since no one was watching ECW Vince turned him into the mute and dull Ringmaster, the creative genius that he is. Pillman basically kept on digging his Loose Cannon gimmick, which was a bit forced at times, but still was a formidable heat magnet in ECW. Douglas was a fantastic worker at this time, it's really too bad they could never work a few matches.

You'd have to hear the huge U-S-A chant he got in Paris in 93... Fucking French dumbasses.