Strummer

So the tease of Ryback working on top has gotten a majorly negative response online. I think we knew it was happening but not this soon. I guess they want him as a safety pick if Cena is too hurt to work the PPV but I don't see how he fits in the current main event scene. I would just have him beat Miz for the IC title (which seemed to the plan last week) and then go from there

D-Lo's push also stalled because Russo left. Russo was his biggest supporter. The Russo "guys" were D-Lo, Jarrett, Gangrel and Val Venis. Jarrett obviously left and Val was the only one who got a decent push (and that's a stretch) after Russo's departure. Gangrel actually had a TV match with the Rock in summer of 99

I don't know if it's the same shoot (he's done several) but I think the "constant conflict" is also an underlying theme in his beliefs. You can tell he believes that all wrestlers should be at each other's throats all the time. Or quite simply the definition of drama is constant conflict. I think it was Jingus who noted how mean wrestlers were to each other during Russo's reign and I think this belief is at the core of that. and interesting to note that him growing up on a territory that wasn't workrate centric shaped his beliefs years later. Mick Foley grew up in the same general area and time (early mid 70s) and noted how tough it was to sit through all those squash matches but that the angles stuck out more to him due to them happening less frequently. Foley probably also paid attention to other territories while Russo did not

Bobby is Hog Wild 96 level of drunk during the main event here. Tony seems aggravated by it. I have to admit they kind of hooked me with the masked man stuff and I was surprised with Tenta showing up. I actually begged my mother to order the rerun on the Tuesday after the show. I watched very little WCW at the time due to not having TBS so I was probably more lax on the show than their hardcore fans. And it just occurred to me that WCW was probably trying to duplicate the Bret/Owen feud with Hogan and Beefcake. They make sure to point out that they are basically brothers. Bobby's "He butchered their friendship" is pretty shameful (not his fault) as is Tony's alluding to Earthquake

Man we've had discussions about this before but I never got the critiquing of all the speeches on the night of Raw is Owen. I completely understand if someone was offended by the decision to continue the show but to look at deeper meanings of all the wrestler's tributes and to extrapolate and conclude "what they really meant" just didn't sit well with me. Hunter specifically. There are tons of examples of his behavior to sight but that wasn't one of them. To clarify I could see the Godfather and Road Dog deal being offensive that night also

At one point she was drawing bigger ratings than Steve Austin. Vince Russo actually wanted to put her segments in the main event time slots but was shot down

Alvarez is reporting it was likely a heart attack

He's breathing on his own but doesn't look good

Lawler is one of my favorite wrestlers ever. This is the worst

Doesn't look good. I feel sick. This is unimaginable

He passed out ringside. They are performing CPR backstage. Doesn't look good. This sucks beyond words

Have to credit Tommy Lister here. In the build Hogan acted exceedingly scared of Zeus and the announcers acted like he had no chance against him. As Dave put it once, Hogan sold Zeus's nerve hold "Like he'd been shot". Hogan had never acted so fearful of an opponent. Of course the day of the show he was calm and collective (while being pro wrestling hyper at the same time obviously) and acted like it was no sweat but that's how the WWF did business back then. I'm not saying Savage was an afterthought but clearly the build was if Hogan could somehow beat Zeus

From personal experience, my younger brother and cousin, and all their younger friends all LOVED Crush. It was a banal, silly gimmick but kids just ate it up at the time

In 80s/early 90s WWF any wrestler or manager getting on the mic before a match usually meant the match wouldn't take place. Either they feign injury and are replaced or they brawl and the match is thrown out. prime example: same time frame. Wrestler is noticeably taking a lot of time getting out of the ring post match and spends time greeting/heeling the fans/injured. Next match isn't going to take place because the wrestler for the next match will bump into and start brawling with the departing wrestler. This happened with Duggan/Race, Jake/Earthquake, Beverly Brothers/Jim Neidhart, etc.

The debate in this thread over the general feel of WWE reminds me of Foley during his time on the outs with company from late 01 to mid 03. Part of his problem was that he had felt the company had become "too serious" and "dark". Now think about all the ridiculous angles during that time period. I've always wondered how he came to that conclusion. Maybe it's the wrestling bubble but internally the definition of serious wrestling seems to be vastly different than what the hardcores believe.

anyone else notice than Natty looked a bit thicker in the mid section area last night (by wrestling standards) after having an absolutely shredded stomach at the July 4th SD almost 2 months ago?

The Raw report is now members only?

We all (deservedly so) get on WWE for their bad comedy but man those anger management bits were terrific. Sad to see Lawler get very little reaction tonight. He was great. That's been his problem for almost 20 years in the company. He's just not over in certain markets and the younger fans don't seem to realize how awesome he is

That might be Dave's all time best line. He rarely makes me laugh but that one had me howling

Interesting article on wwe.com where Jim Ross theorizes that Vince's early traditional "hold by hold" broadcasting style influenced the sports entertainment expansion of the mid 80s. I've always sort of thought the same thing. He changed his style so much during that transition.

I think this pretty much mirrors what happened at my school. By 91 we were kind of getting sick of Hogan and things slowed down. When I was in middle school in 92 it was pretty much over except a few hardcores. And like I mentioned it was all over in high school. Another memory I have is in 5th grade in computer class talking about the Clash the previous night in Troy, NY. We were all WWF guys but WCW intrigued us

I was in high school from 1993-1997 when the popularity of wrestling in the US was at its nadir. I don't think I had one single conversation about wrestling with anyone during those years. The guys that watched all left after 8th grade. Thinking about it I remember a reference to Mankind in homeroom in 12th grade from someone who happened to flip by RAW. There was also a Luger mention in English class when we were studying mythology. THe Narcissist of course. Elementary school and junior high were different I still remember us filling out brackets for the WM 4 tournament but we didn't factor in stuff like dqs and byes and it was a mess. It's amazing how fast the decline happened

Looking at the Raw preview it looks like Hunter/Brock is going to continue on. I really don't care to see more of this feud so hopefully they can shift it to Shawn/Brock or even Shawn/HHH

Have to love how Scott is changing all his opinions on the Attitude era PPVs he gave positive reviews to a decade ago I know the shows don't hold up but even at the time he was catching shit online for giving a lot of the shows thumbs up. The Summerslam retrospects is what I'm referencing

Can anyone think of good Shawn acting performances? The Owen concussion angle Sid powerbombing on RAW DX State of the Union DX play pool at his house And umm, Debra striptease at Rock Bottom 98?