Strummer

Classic Meltzer here. Delaying the point with double talk until just admitting it was bad. What a roundabout way to say you think something sucks. anyway Prichard was fine in the roll but like every gimmick in wrestling he was overexposed

I've heard that story before but it took place around WM 7 not Tuesday in Texas. anyway great story

Anyone else think they are going to go the Edge/Vickie route with Jericho/Stephanie? Something is going down Sunday because Cena isn't jobbing clean and I don't think Jericho is losing the title for a second time in a month

Meltzer/Alvarez are theorizing that this is leading to the Steph/Shane power struggle storyline that they have been planning on doing since 04/05. I don't hate Steph as much as the rest of the IWC but the thought of her dominating RAW again is quite frightening

PWI reporting that he's gone from the company as both sides agreed he just isn't cut out for the business. I actually thought he did a decent job in the role as his flubs gave some realism to his supposed (in character) frustration. Looks like Shane and Stephanie take over RAW similar to Vince in 06

Have to hand it to TNA for making Mick Foley's run completely meaningless in only 3 weeks. another retirement angle? Just a couple of weeks after he starts with the promotion? You can tell Mick's heart really isn't in this run. His pride got in the way of common sense (Vince yelling at him in the headsets) and it's costing him (not that he was going to do much in WWE)

Don't know if Dave goes into further details in upcoming issues but the shoot was never released to the public. Still have never read the reason for that.

Todd Martin does not know who Johnny Knoxville is and called him a D list celebrity (which no matter what you think of him is absolutely not true). He has all the right not to like him or Jackass but that comment made him look more behind the times than Vince McMahon and he's only in his late 20s. BTW, this was from his RAW report this week

I was just reminded of how awesome the Luger/Sting v Savage/Hogan tweener/faces not getting along storyline was in 95 That was probably Luger's best mic work of his career and he sold it great with his facial expressions and mannerisms. You had Sting who really wanted to trust his friend but at the same time was annoyed at him for getting him into more trouble. It's too bad they never blew that off as it was put to the back burner for the Savage/Flair, Hogan/DOD angles and then completely forgotten about once Hogan took his hiatus in April 96. That was pretty high concept stuff especially compared to what the norm was in the business at that time

Reading these 88 Observers it seems Duggan/Andre headlining the B shows was an inconsistent drawing card. Thye posted some great numbers (mostly in the Northeast) but some of them (like above) were awful. Still pretty impressive that Andre was still able to draw pretty well even though he could hardly perform any longer and Duggan was an upper midcarder at best. What an odd program that was.

Question for Bix (or anyone with any knowledge) I read at TSM today that Meltzer made a cryptic comment about Stephanie and Hunter's marriage and how it's similar to Vince/Linda where Stephanie is allowed to "have fun" on the side and the marriage is just business. What was the deal with this? Did she really sleep with Rodimer? What did Dave say?

He's been hired by the company to write on the creative team I'll reiterate my thoughts from TSM. I actually just read his blog and it's obvious he's a hardcore fan. He clearly watches all the shows (even ECW) and knows all the current storylines. He seems to have an above average (smart) knowledge of the business. He does say some markish type things but he seems to have a grasp on how wrestlers get over and the little things that help them get over. He's clearly been watching all his life so it's not like he's coming in cold (if that is even a positive with Vince). I would say he has a shot at making it if being a die hard fan isn't held against him And it baffles the mind that a man married to Sarah Michelle Gellar devotes so much time to watching and discussing pro wrestling. Actually quite surreal.

Anyone else get the sinking feeling that they are building to a Jericho/Michaels blindfold match at Summerslam? The booking is obviously making it seem that way. Could they have the first good blindfold match in wrestling history?

Upon his debut in the company in 1995 I swore Vince McMahon and the rest of the announcers were calling Mark Canterbury Henry Godvin. I actually thought that was his ring name for weeks until seeing it in print.

no I'm saying why didn't they release a Trish Workout video. I mean its *Trish Stratus*

My God I just saw some clips of Joanie Laurer's fitness video put out by the WWF in 1999 or so and it's the closest the company has ever come to putting out a porno. It's nothing but up close shots of her chest and ass with her moaning spliced in with some clips of her in "action" Why didn't they do this with Trish Stratus!?!?!?

Any more stories on the creepy nature of Steph and Vince's relationship? What was the real story with Lagana?

It's always funny after RAW on Mondays to go to TSM where the world is over and RAW is never good and then go to DVDVR where the same exact show is praised and people are so excited about the product. The truth is obviously in the middle of those two extremes but that's not the way the net works

After reading that Trish interview from the LAW on the Observer site I have to say she came off as kind of conceited. In fact she comes off that way in a lot of the media appearances she does. I'm a big fan of hers and I'm sure she's a fine person but she just has this natural arrogant "vibe" around her. Both on television and in real life.

She looked *awful*. She's borderline scary looking now. And she might be anorexic. Plus, did anyone see Melina's stomach tonight? No way that's natural. No coincidence she has ripped, shredded abs a week before the biggest showcase of the year where everyone is supposed to look their best

So Dave has implied that Vince is *really* banging the divas? I thought was just kayfabe stuff put out by the company. Which ones has he mentioned? And John I don't think your scenario will happen just because Stephanie worships Hunter beyond belief and I really don't see that changing.

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/f...t.asp?aID=22383 Man who is this guy that does the ECW TV reports? He is *beyond* awful and makes the site look amateurish

And was interviewed by Gene Okerland post show. Andy Warhol, Danny Devito, Joe Piscipo and Cyndi Lauper were also there

I'm not sure what the evidence of this is. WWE booking has steadily improved over the last 5 or 6 years but no one is really talking about it because, as Loss mentioned, less people are paying attention to the company. I hate to use him as an example, but with a net "celebrity" like Scott Keith not watching wrestling anymore or doing any current reviews less and less people are being influenced. There are really no net wrestling "personalities" left. They've all given up on the product or have ceased being relevant. It's hard to believe but when I first got online in 1997, there would be like a million different sites that would have RAW and Nitro reviews up on Tuesday morning and people *really* paid attention to them. That continued until the early years of this decade. It's just not like that anymore. In fact wrestling discussion on the net right now might be at it's lowest since the mid 90s (quantity wise, not quality wise) The company has booked their top guys really strong over the last few years (except Rey) and have cut out a lot of the over the top angles. In fact I was just going to post that Smackdown now reminds me of 80s WWF booking (and overall 80s wrestling booking in general). A midcard with very few angles and mostly clean finishes with a tight focus on the World Title and top programs. It's really not a suprise since Michael Hayes is booking the show (and don't forget Dusty) People who don't watch anymore still think WWE has all sorts of crazy angles with no wrestling when it hasn't really been like that in years

The '10 Years Ago in the Observer" article today features one of my all time favorite lines. Goldust (impersonating Dusty Rhodes) during his match with Bradshaw: "Bump 'round fo' me boy I dun' popt' dis territory" For some reason that line has stuck in my head for the last ten years and I still say it from time to time