Strummer

very interesting year for WCW. In the first half they set the stage for so many awesome angles but they wanted to have a slow build (which was great) so the summer and fall are fairly dull. I don't know if it was part complacency or just good old fashioned slow build but the product lacked the spark it had in the beginning of the year. And then you have Turner execs wanting Hogan on TV more in the later months and Terry Taylor gaining more power and emphasizing workrate and titles. There seemed to be less hot angles in the second half of the year

I absolutely agree with this point. People who complain about Orton/Cena Round 345 aren't really watching. Four years ago it was brutal with the repeat matches and the same guys on top. Not the case currently. To me that makes the product feel somewhat fresh. Stylistically and aesthetically they absolutely need to make changes to the show

Pretty boring episode tonight. I don't know if the average E! viewer is going to get hooked on this show. And wow Bryan really doesn't own a TV

also, IIRC, Kim was basically begging to get airtime to promote the Playboy issue. Maybe standards and practices had issues with it

I was not yet on the net at this point (would be a month later) but wasn't there a story of Kim going online and trying to work the smarts saying Savage was crazy "for real"?

Didn't see this coming at all. Typical WWF booking would have had Davey turn face. A testament to how the company was finally willing to take risks and change their format

People forget how huge Rodman was at this point. He was a borderline A lister for a period in the late 90s. Even got a few movie deals

yeah this was an odd swerve that didn't make much (any) sense. I was pretty forgiving of that sort of thing at the time but even this bothered me. Your explanation Loss was the best I've ever heard and I don't know if the company ever used it on air to explain the turn

Hey they got a gig on RAW in 1998!

watching Total Divas. if the WWE's goal was to make their performers as irritating as possible they really hit a homerun. But I loathe reality TV in general. Poor Nattie can't even catch a break in a scripted reality show

I was at this show (a mass taping at the end of December 96). Sid power bombing Lothario was not shown on camera so nobody had any idea what was going on. I think the lack of crowd reaction for this and the Vader/Bret stuff was that the crowd was burnt out having to sit through a 4 hour taping. Near the end it was complete silence. Undertaker didn't even get a reaction

from the tapings tonight it looks like they are doing Dolph/Kaitlyn v Big E/AJ at Summerslam. Have no idea what they do with the Shield now

This is the most motivated Heyman has been in his on air career since the DA angle. That's 22 years ago. His run here is blowing away anything he did from 01-03 or any angle involving the new ECW. Hell probably better than anything he did in the "proper" ECW (which wasn't much most 94)

is Rosa Mendes still with the company? I just happened across her twitter and my God it looks like she got an enormous set of breast implants put in. https://twitter.com/LaRosaMendes Good God

anyone else notice teenage girls squealing for RVD during the Jericho match? They were like 8 years old the last time he was in the company. Dude's 42. He's the Johnny Depp of wrestling

I like how in the Wyatt promo the crowd starts chanting what and he gets them to slowly stop by just being creepily awesome

the Bellas are already teasing involvement with Cena and Bryan on twitter. They have to be doing that match

They are clearly going to push the shit out of Total Divas so I can't see them not doing Cena v Bryan. You know Kevin Dunn is busting a nut backstage just thinking about it. I really hope they don't do Bryan v Axel. I'm going to second what Dylan said earler. Bryan wins at SS only for Orton to cash in and turn heel that night. I don't want to be on the net after that happens. and word is that Vince and Kevin Dunn are crazy about Brad Maddox and think he's dreamy looking. Hence the angle last week

Scrapped because of/thanks to Bret Hart, who was in negociation to re-sign with WWF at this time. I also remember Mankind acting like Marlena was his mommy or something. Never went anywhere, sadly, could have been awesome, I guess. It was actually Sable he was claiming was his "mommy". The brief period where Goldust and Mankind were paired in summer 96 was creepily awesome. IIRC the Sable/Marlena lesbian tease only lasted one RAW and was never mentioned again. Terri Runnels never said no to an angle so it was most likely the Meros the angle took place on the July 1, 1996 edition of RAW http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xihkhi_go...=2#.UeCx4m1uNdg

and yeah it's pretty amazing. Steph looks at him the same way she did as a 23 year old in 99. Pretty remarkable. He's a charmer I guess

I think Hunter is pretty great in media appearances. During the boom he was on a lot of talk shows and he was always pretty funny and captivating. At the very least he doesn't embarrass the company.

I can't believe this was sixteen years ago. What an incredible year world wide for the business. I graduated High School in June of 97 (and started college in September) and I still remember all the great stuff from all three companies that summer and fall. Incredible year. Other than maybe my first few years watching in the mid/late 80s this is my favorite year as a fan

from Scooter's rant: um what? Bryan has been treated like an "afterthought" the past few weeks? Is he even trying?

btw, the Shield v TOF was a fun little match. Maybe TOF shouldn't have got that much offense in but it was damn good

I've seen this match several times and cannot take my eyes off of Steamboat's bald spot.