Strummer

Yup that sounds like Vince all right, first impression is very important to him. Now you can see why Nash got the push he did

D-Lo/Val Venis from Summerslam, absolutely terrible finish, but I really liked the match

Stacy Keibler was hazed mercilessly when she first came into the company, but management put an end to it quickly because they saw dollar signs with her and didn't want her to bolt. I would bet that the girls that don't have boyfriends that are workers are the ones that gets hazed the most

I'm terrible at star ratings, but that sounds about right. The match in question sees Viscera go over Jericho after interference from Eddie and Chyna

From PWI

Obviously due to the Owen Tragedy, no one really remembers this match much (and rightfully so), but I remember loving X-Pac/Kane v D-Lo/Mark Henry at Over the Edge. This was during the height of Russo booking, so the crowd was silent throughout, but it was just a hell of a match. Great double teaming moves by Pac and Kane and Mark Henry playing the monster role well. Plus D-Lo held everything together. I have not seen this match since the original airing, so I don't know if it has held up. I just remember really liking it.

I'm getting a Steve Austin/Chris Adams vibe from this deal, although on a much larger level. It's too bad they never saw Matt as a top guy, because this would have been one hell of an angle. I think it boils down to them not having any faith in Hardy to carry a top angle, even a tailor made one like this.

I was thinking the same thing last night. He's still bad, but I think he has improved in the ring. He's better than Heidenreich and Snitsky for sure, although that is not saying much. He's definitely better than he was in the mid 90s

As far as Hogan being a legend, I clearly remember Jeff Marek questioning if Hogan was a legend or not. The discussion centered around Hogan's book and that if Hogan thought so little of the wrestling business and wrestling fans to lie like that, that you could make the case he should not be portrayed as a legend. He has a good point, but lying in a book shouldn't take away the fact he was a legend

Oh yes, it was inflated by Beefcake, but the guy did have a successful run on top with Hogan in the Zeus/Savage program. Summerslam 89 drew a HUGE buyrate. About the book, yes Hogan did work people, but the guys at the LAW were questioning whether he was a legend or not at that time. My problem was that they were trying to devalue the success of wrestlers they personally didn't like. They treated Hogan like crap on the show, trying to say he wasn't a legend. They recently did this with Warrior, saying he didn't deserve his own DVD, when he was one of the most over guys during that period.

*Spoilers on upcoming draft ( I think this classifies as a spoiler)* from Keller: -The timing of the Draft Lottery being schedule for May makes sense since WWE wanted to get through Backlash before making roster changes, especially with Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan teaming together. -The top rumored switches within WWE are Shawn Michaels to Smackdown and Kurt Angle to Raw. Politically, it would be a fascinating double-switch since Angle and Triple H are not close and there has been undercurrent of rivalry between them over the past couple of years. Meanwhile, Michaels has major political clout due to his years of closeness to Vince McMahon and his friendship with Triple H, so he would be seen on the Smackdown side as both a welcome boost in star power but also a "spy" from Raw who would take away political power from others.

also from Meltzer: *SPOILER WARNING* (mod edit -- sorry Strummer, just wanted to warn everyone in advance) MNM will be beating Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio for the tag titles at Smackdown prior to Raw. The focus will be on making Melina a star, and not on the other two, who will be background for her. Not suprising, Nitro and Matthews are both small, Vince doesn't think they can get over on their own, and thus Melina gets the big push.

Thank God they are finally doing the draft. I feel bad for Trish. Can't wait for next week when they do vignettes implying Trish slept with Big Vis. It wouldn't suprise me if they filmed vignettes similar to the Noble/Torrie Wilson stuff in summer of 2003. I guess Kane v Vis at Backlash, yeah poor Trish, but what about poor Kane, Kane sold more for Vis than he has for the most of the guys he's feuded with. Are they turning Jericho heel? The hearthrobs act wasn't over at all in NYC, probably would have been more over in a rural setting. These guys obviously are not ready in-ring wise, but I could see them getting over with their gimmick eventually

he's dead on about ECW, Shane Douglas would have matches with weapon shots and brawling all over the place and then would win with a belly to belly suplex. I always thought that was incredibly unrealistic, yet I liked it at the same time

I don't think they will ever have Dinsmore drop the retard gimmick. In Vince's eyes, wrestlers the size of Dinsmore need gimmicks to get over, because they are too small to get over on their own. The minute the retard gimmick is dropped, Dinsmore's push is dead. Notice how big guys don't get gimmicks? Dinsmore was in OVW forever because of his size and the Eugene gimmick is the only thing that got him called up. Vince would never push Dinsmore the serious wrestler in any way.

Does anybody listen to the LAW on Sundays anymore? I used to listen when they would have the archive up the next day. I've heard the show has declined since Marek left. Marek was a little arrogant for my tastes but he knew how to host a radio show properly. Is it still any good? Oh, and did anyone see this quote from the LAW update today: *It's only on special occasions that I like to bring out the "LAW Moment of Zen", but this quote warrants that title: I had so many matches with Hogan, main events, sold out shows. Twenty-plus thousand people night after night after night. And worked with everybody else too ? Dibiase, Martel, the top heels, when I was babyface. It was nothing but spectacular. It was the greatest time for the wrestling business in history. We had sold out shows every night. We had 2 or 3 towns running, A, B, and C towns, and all three were all sold out. --Ed Leslie (a.k.a Dizzie Boulder, Brutus Beefcake, The Booty Man, The Disciple, The Man with No Name, The Mariner etc). Umm, I don't see why that is supposed to be ironic or funny, that is pretty much dead on as to what happened in the 80s. It's stuff like this, where the site blatantly tries to be cute and funny and rip guys who smarks generally hate that turns me off. Who can forget the wonderful parodies about Hulk Hogan's book where they had him taking credit for inventions and historical events. The LAW site has greatly declined in quality over the past couple of years IMO. Any thoughts on the show and the site?

I think the writers were basically telling her "Guys aren't going to cheer you with your look" But Molly did play a great face in May/June of 2001 in the shortlived Austin program.

Batista not being booked as the focus is obviously not his fault, can't really say that is a reason he shouldn't be champion. The guy is way over and is drawing some of the best ratings the company has seen in years. His segment on Monday drew the highest rating of the year.

Don't see how Batista as champion is bad. He is over enough to be champion and is drawing very good ratings. The quarterhour for his interview on Monday was the highest rated segment of the year on Raw

He was Carlito's bodyguard on SD for a few months. He hurt his neck and had surgery in January.

thanks HTQ, that's what I thought, it was done so Austin could have good matches, it was never about making Eddie a star or anything

I think Austin asking for the Eddie program is one of those Net myths, he thought Eddie was a great worker and wanted to have good matches, that was really the extent of Austin's wishes. I don't think it was about Austin elevating Eddie or anything like that. Austin wanted to feud with Undertaker and Vince more. He loved working with Taker and didn't see why they couldn't just go back to that program. He also thought the Austin- McMahon angle still had legs. There were conflicting reports on this issue on the net in 2002, so if anybody has the real answers (HTQ maybe) that would be appreciated.

Luther is a good talker, but is pretty bad in the ring. As I said about Raw, they didn't start any new programs on the show, I really hope that is a sign the draft is coming

I loved the HOF DVD last year, but I guess they didn't sell many copies. I can see why last years didn't sell because it didn't feature any real big stars (Graham and Heenan were probably the biggest names), but this year they could probably sell more with Hogan and Piper involved.

"Road Warriors - Life & Death Of The Most Dominate Team" is scheduled to be released on June 14, 2005. It will be two disks. Also, WWE will be releasing a DVD that same day looking back at 80's wrestling stars. It is called "WWE: Greatest Wrestling Stars Of The 80's" and it will be three disks. The Wrestlemania XXI DVD will be released on May 10, 2005. It will be 3 disks. I'm bringing this up because the Hall of Fame ceremony will be included on that DVD, rather than WWE releasing a DVD just about the Hall of Fame like last year. The DVD on the 80's stars should help fill the void though. And lastly for English wrestling fans, Silvervision.co.uk has some new Tagged Classics coming out of old WWF PPVs. They are Royal Rumbles 1993 + 1994, King of the Ring 1995 + 1996 and Survivor Series 1989 + 1990. Unfortunately, they are only available to people living in the UK as Silvervision doesn't ship overseas. WWE has never revealed the reason as to why they don't release these DVDs in the USA. Damnit, no separate HOF DVD! I was dying to see the extras. UGH I'm definitely getting the 80s WWF stars DVD as I'm a huge mark for that time period. I might get the Road Warriors one, although I was never a huge LOD fan or anything. Still pissed over no HOF DVD