El-P

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.

I always hated those jingoist angles. Flag wearing, U-S-A chanting Hacksaw Duggan might be one the most annying wrestling character ever to me. What was probably the most racist about those was that Yoko was of course a Samoan, managed by an Hawaiian, both american-born citizen portraying evil japanese because you know, they have those slanted eyes...

I'm in awe. Modern day wrestlers sure are tough dudes.... Bill Watts would have probably fired him over that.

The Hall situation is just sad. The guys needs help. The last line of the article is indeed quite funny though.

Shane Douglas never did any of this. It was part of his character in ECW to vent his own personnal frustration on Flair and Michaels, and that appealed to the us vs them mentality of the ECW crowd. They ate it up, and it made Douglas look legitimate as the guy who would rather be there in ECW rather than deal with politics that would keep him down elsewhere. It didn't prevent him from getting nuclear heel heat. There was really nothing "shooty" about Douglas character. The Sully vs Pillman angle was stupid because it led nowhere, but I guess it could have if Pillman had stayed in WCW. I guess he could have a big feud with Sully, but it was a failure in essence and execution The "Loose Cannon" character was pretty hit and miss to me. And Russo's stuff is stupid because it's basically "everything is fake but THIS is real" shit.

What is Joel Gertner doing these days ?

TV writing has replaced booking anyway. There are no experienced, successful, relatively young bookers anymore. Paul Heyman was the last of the mohicans, and he got dry by 1997 in ECW. That said he wouldn't do worse than Russo & Bischoff, I don't think anyone would at this point.

So they can pay Hogan and Bischoff, who killed what was left of their company. Nice.

Hum... I guess that's why I think pro-wrestling sucks in the US in the 00's. I just haven't watched the right pro-wrestling promotion. Hum... I see, I see... Well, I used to watch K1 at the beginning of the decade, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Never struck me as something comparable with WrestleMania, a New Japan Dome show or a AJ night at Budokan... Must have missed something...

Wait, what ?

What does that mean anyway ? Feminine in what way ? Wearing dress and high heels, and makeup ? Since we are talking about private exemples, I was telling my better half the other day, that even when she's wearing a miniskirt and boots, she still has that truck driver attitude to her that just won't go away. Made her laugh because it's true. She does not behave in a very feminine way in some aspect. Yet she looks very feminine if she wants to and when that's the case she gets hit on regularly. And although I pushes her to dress feminine because she's a good looking woman and she looks great when she does, I also like the fact that she's raw and crude and that I can joke with her the same trivial way I would with some goofball male friend. So. Where is the feminity in all that ? And do I like her masculine side too ? These are not questions waiting for an actual answer, it's just a way to tell you it's a lot more complicated than "finding alpha male" - "finding feminine healthy looking woman". If you mean a deep low voice, you're dead wrong. It's über sexy. I love woman with deep low voice. It's not so simple. Androginy can be sexy too. Jane Birkin (wife of Serge Gainsbourg) was (is) a flat woman, no breast, and had short hair in the 70's, but she was a sex symbol and looked just awesome.