Matt D

I'm not defending Keith but he is a WWE fan that dabbled in some WCW on the side. The Bruno stance would make sense for his worldview. Plus, a lot of people think that however incorrect it might be. I don't think that it's the wildest idea in the world, no? It depends on criteria.

What about ECW? I know you've stated a preference for later ECW, but ECW in '95 still had Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, and Scorpio tearing it up for all or part of the year, and the Gangstas carried TPE to probably their best ever brawls and Cactus carrying Sandman to some good brawls too. Plus, for whatever shit Raven deservedly gets for being lousy, '95 was probably his best year. As you've said, wrestling domestically wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire in '95, but ECW was a much fresher promotion than death knell era SMW, even if SMW had some gems at the end of their run. There was a lot to like about 95 WCW. It just wasn't necessarily on the PPVs/A Shows. Just a great tag division with Blue Bloods, Bagwell/Patriot, Lightning Express (then Armstrongs), Slater/Bunk, Austin/Arn (for a month or two at least), Harlem Heat, Nasties, Southern Posse, Pillman/Badd (then Pillman/Arn or Benoit).

I think it's not THAT hard to get a good match out of Zombie heel taker. The Hogan matches are both good, with the second one really building off the first. It's just... as always, up to the definition of good. Will they be ACTION PACKED? No. Will they have a REAL SPORTS FEEL? No. But you can have a good strong narrative and stay within the rules being established and it can be a good match.

Awesome. Nitro was the number one wrestling show on TV for how many weeks with the Living Legend on commentary? How much credit do I have to give him? If you read Larry's book, you'd see that he gives himself PLENTY of credit for that.

You know what's sad? It seemed like the biggest thing in the world, the idea someone would win the IC and WWF belts in the same night. If they did that today it wouldn't mean anything at all.

Okay, I've seen him both in 80 Georgia and 84 Mid South now and I am mad at all of you for not telling me previously how awesome Ernie Ladd was.

I think the real problem wasn't the Tourney but Vince's actions the night before and the fact he had given up on trying to get Punk back. The tourney was just a symptom of him giving up on getting Punk back.

"Suuure we'll hire your buddy, Paul, guys, but there's a catch..."

Punk did get the final word in the opening segment last night along with his music playing (although HHH *almost* got that one). That said, I thought HHH's smug reaction to Punk's comments hurt Punk a lot. Punk is the guy who infuriated Vince and even got him worried. A statue could've taken HHH's place last night with the way his non-reactions were. Well see, that all goes back to Montreal... I'm kidding. Mostly.

They should give him the My Time theme again.

The first segment last night was a lot like the last segment. Instead of the music going back and forth, it was all about who was going to get the last word. They went out of their way to give it to Punk who also had his music played. Whether or not it was effective or how it was supposed to be effective is up to you to decide.

Presumably Punk wasn't going to resign unless he was either getting a huge payday or had some confidence that they wouldn't totally mistreat him in the angle.

I saw the Austin Idol/Freebirds/Kevin Sullivan/Mike Davis "FOUR FLAT TIRES!" angle in context the other night. One more blind spot taken care of!

Because he was unconscious after getting pedigreed? Especially if the rest of the show stayed mostly the same and Del Rio had already failed to cash in on a prone Rey who recovered too quickly? If I have to choose between cashing in on the conscious, recognized but less legitimate champion or the unconscious, not quite as recognized but more legitimate one, I'd probably choose the latter if I was a heel? Because he has a very real chance of not actually being the champion and having wasted his contract. Plus, the implication was that HHH would do it so that Del Rio could cash in, when he had no reason to need Del Rio to cash in, I think we could, without a very far stretch, show how Vince was willing to bend over backwards for Punk, just on the THOUGHT he might have the title and be able to leave for it, and figure that beating Punk for it would be very, very good for his career. Add in the fact that ADR stated that the MITB case didn't matter, that his destiny was the title, and it's probably within his character to figure this would take him closer and give him leverage one way or another. Plus, if Punk WASN'T resigned and considered champion, then cashing the MITB case wouldn't count, because it wouldn't be a sanctioned WWE title match. He had nothing to lose and plenty to gain.

I would guess that the Hunter taking over thing has been planned for a while now. This entire Punk thing getting over has just been a spanner in the works of that. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't see it as a nuisance to deal with. Because he was unconscious after getting pedigreed? Especially if the rest of the show stayed mostly the same and Del Rio had already failed to cash in on a prone Rey who recovered too quickly? If I have to choose between cashing in on the conscious, recognized but less legitimate champion or the unconscious, not quite as recognized but more legitimate one, I'd probably choose the latter if I was a heel?

I still think they were blindsided by just what sort of reaction Punk got and initially he was never meant to leave Chicago with the belt. Though the booking of a #1 Contender's match which ADR won before Punk even did his thing makes me wonder if he was going to give his rant in the first place.

ah makes sense now Starrcade 95 did a real shitty number. .36? Ouch I don't think there was a whole lot of mainstream appeal to Starcade 95. Past the main event and Triangle match, nothing really had a story behind it except for maybe Sting/Sasaki.

Re: Hunter. I've said it before but I can really see them thinking (and them could be Hunter and Steph) that this is setting WWE up for the next 5 years with the Mr. Hemsley gimmick and that in the face of that Punk is a blip in that roadmap.

People love secrets and mysteries. Did the Higher Power Reveal do great numbers?

Wasn't WCW already gaining momentum in early 96 between interest in the really well done Sting/Luger stuff and the Macho/Flair stuff?

I think if we're straining this entire situation down to one central question, it would have to be "Is this going to pop the territory?" or whatever the modern equivalent of that is.

I rather liked that post, though yes, I did get a little carried away. I still say it was more pie-in-the-sky fantasy booking than what we figured would really happen. It's not my fault my brain has more internal consistency then Vince's. I think at this stage the big question is still just how much or little Punk is going to be able to protect himself moving forward, and the secondary one would be if he's even staying past the end of this angle or if he wants time off.

I'm planning on participating in this one. It's such a black hole for me.

Were there any Masked Superstar vs Sgt. Slaughter matches in 84? How much was Backlund around? Was he just doing Pro Wrestling USA or was he doing AWA tv too? I've seen so little AWA.

That's going into the PPV. After the PPV and he won there wasn't any more "leaving." That's what I was referring to. Sorry I wasn't clear. Except for in that he might be leaving after he drops the belt. You should do a poll right now to see how many people think that once he drops the belt he's gone for a while. Capture this moment so you can more clearly reference it later!