Matt D

I think Meltzer or someone said that WWE was going to pay a lot for limited return in order to hype Mania around the launch of the WWE Network and when that was "delayed" it no longer was worth it to them. But don't quote me on any of that.

I'm disappointed for totally different reasons.. Show vs Shaq would have been way more high profile, would have gotten more attention and time, and it would have been one of those meticulously thought out matches that would have just turned out brilliant. Show vs Cody will be fun, but it doesn't have the same oomph. It won't be a Show miracle performance.

I sort of watch a LOT of wrestling, and also a lot of wrestling en masse, whole shows, whole years, etc. One of the biggest joys of it for me is when I'm honestly surprised by something I was weren't expecting. When someone shows up in a place I didn't expect. When I get to hear an announcer talk about a wrestler that you never thought he talked about, or two wrestlers interacting that you never thought interacted, that sort of thing. Stuff like Bockwinkle announcing in WWF, or Lance Russell announcing the memphis Lawler vs Regal match from 2000 that I hadn't realized existed until yesterday, or even Jim Neidhart in 1993 WCW using a Cobra Clutch they called the "ANVILIZER!" Here's something I came across yesterday. Rip Rogers in WWF: For a weird two week span in 1995, Rip Rogers worked a couple of TV matches. One was vs Adam Bomb on Raw (with Cornette and Vince announcing) and the other as a tag with freaking Chic Donovan vs the Smoking Gunns. Very weird. As far as I can tell, it's the only WWF we have of his. Though if I'm wrong, please correct me. www.dailymotion.com/video/x76but_adam-bomb-vs-rip-rogers_sport www.youtube.com/watch?v=eizSMmo0UQc

I don't care about the current product. But I still hate Trip, and Trip ending The Streak while I'm sitting there watching it would piss me off to no end. John Somehow, deep down, you'd know that it was your fault!

I never mean to do PBP when I'm reviewing stuff but I feel the need to mention every cool thing.

Maybe they're just THAT concerned about their audience and didn't want anyone to get their hopes up only to have their spirits dashed when.. I can't even finish that sentence.

Should have Jericho been working with Hogan, Nash and Goldberg in late 98? Even Goldberg would have been mostly a comedy angle where he got fed to him brutally and probably ended up looking the worse for it. Look at how Raven's push got obliterated because he happened to have the US title at the time that Goldberg needed it. Just a month or two before he was attacking DDP on talk shows. Jericho should have had a 6-8 month run with the TV title and then moved into US Title stuff. Stayed there for a while and then MAYBE ended up in the main event 6-8 months after that. Mid 00 Sounds about right, actually. You can't be protected while working with Hogan/Nash/Goldberg.

And who the hell put together a card with FOUR tag matches in a row? To me this is an interesting thing to examine. Yes, putting Jericho into NWO Hollywood would have PROBABLY been a mistake, but considering that a lot of the booking of Jericho at the end was to bully him into signing a contract, I'm not sure that should be examined. Certainly in 98, he was booked strongly, and very well protected. He was kicking out of guys' finishers left and right as Cruiserweight champ. Part of his trophy collection was that he kept taking guys out, one way or another. The Malenko feud was super hot. It was only what, two months after he lost the Cruiserweight title at Road Wild that they gave him the TV belt which seemed like a good logical progression. The Goldberg thing was a bit of a mess but I think Jericho actually came out of that stronger and more over in some ways. I have no idea why they put him with Bobby Duncam Jr. though. And yes, he lost the belt to Konnan shortly thereafter, but they let him go over during the start of the feud with Saturn, even during the midst of the contract negotiations, and that really wasn't a bad pairing for him at the time. It's not like WWE used him well in 99. Don't get me wrong. I was 17 in 1998 and Jericho was one of the things that really re-hooked me into wrestling after a lapse of a few years and I thought he should be god champion of the world. But I'm a bit more mellow now and more detatched, and I'm not sure that what they DID do with him was all that bad anymore.

The Mayweather match is such a work of art, this amazing performance by Show where he did every tiny thing almost perfect. I'm way more interested in Shaq vs Show than any other potential Wight match, just to see how they'd put it together and if he could possibly match that.

I wish they'd bring back the Ultimate Survival Match at Survivor Series and then have the winners there get automatically good Royal Rumble draws.

I blame myself for the bedbug assault while we were trying to move and we found out the wife was pregnant hitting RIGHT when my MP3 player broke. I could never find the exact quote. It's all my fault.

Has Heyman lost a meal ticket with Brock's retirement?

Hulu starts with the first show in January 08. It's a solid starting point.

WWECW ages great though! WWECW title is the best WWF TV Title ever.

I'm too lazy to make a Glacier joke

Not many people are capable to work an exciting 30 minute main event period. And I don't think he ever claimed he could (nor anyone else for that matter). I found Raven matches more enjoyable than most stuff on ECW, certainly more enjoyable 15 years later than overrated "technical" demonstrations of Eddie vs Dean, or nonsensical wankery a la RVD, or horrible boring brawls a la Duds. Way more fresh and more fun to watch. Yes there was ton of bullshit, but it was fun bullshit that worked. Just me (litteraly, since I'm probably alone to still enjoy Raven as much as I do). I bet I could name three thousand wrestlers better than Raven. If I was restricting myself to wrestlers just based on 90's work I could hit a thousand. Even if I were to give him extra points for his career - much of which was carried by Stevie and the other underlings - I don't see how he's a top three hundred U.S. talent for the 90's. I feel like his mic work in memphis in 93 and super fun announcing in GWF would... wait, what's the question?

I was watching a King Kong Bundy vs Tony Garea match from July 85 on All American Wrestling. Monsoon and Mean Gene are announcing. and Gene says that he just spotted Doctor Harold Duffelmeyer in the crowd, from Columbia University, and that his nickname is the Professor. And Gorilla says he's spotted at a lot of WWF shows. Was this some sort of inside joke?

And then The Big.

Levy is a guy who always put a lot of thought into his stuff and who generally loves wrestling. Really, the only thing I'd ever want to go back and watch in ECW, past Tracy Smothers and Tommy Rich and weird cameo appearances by guys like Jannetty, is all the non-match Raven stuff.

It was "WE ALL HATE YOU!" On paper everything about the Kane/ Cena angle works for me. Evil Bad guy does evil things to get good guy to snap, including fucking up his protege to the point where the protege eventually hates the good guy, add in a chick..etc..etc. But the execution has just been bad, besides Kane who's so good at making shitty stuff work. I actually haven't SEEN any of it. I've had a hard time catching Raw lately for some reason and I've just missed all of it, and let me tell you, on PAPER, reading about it, it's not so bad. Especially if we're under the assumption Eve is in cahoots with Kane now.

I just realized I used Meng twice. Not only am I screwing up the point of the note but I'm overusing Meng. I kind of want to do something else. I was looking at 85 NWA but it's almost too easy and other stuff, like Mid South just doesn't have the roster depth, while later WCW has TOO much. I could probably put together a great Pro Wrestling USA card though.

Everyone needs to go out of their way and listen to Regal announce this Ambrose match. I know it's mainly to further a story but it's great, great stuff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSDVBMPUzsA

Fishing.

I feel like it was a year and a half in wwf for a lot of the guys. Arn's shoot is interesting when it comes to talking about Vince and salary.

That's mainly just the beginning of dusty getting there in 84, though.