Stiva

I think when Punk said "Vince McMahon is a millionaire who should be a billionaire" is always right on the money. They seem to recognise a money making opportunity for about 8 weeks and then panic mode sets in when the ratings aren't amazing. Hell, maybe the infatuation with ratings in a DVR society is the telling reminder that WWE are still woefully behind the rest of television.

I agree that Miz needs to go away for a good while so he can come back a few years down the line fresh. Unfortunately, there's nowhere for him to go aside from trying to carve a TV career out. I think once Evan Bourne is back, they'll put Kofi with him again and they'll have a decent run as a tag team. I remember an idea being floated on DVDVR that they should get a couple of Attitude Era acts who are still in good shape and have them work on the undercard. Billy Gunn seems to be in decent shape, throw the New Age Outlaws out there for 6 months for the nostalgia pop. Are there no guys out there who have been away a while who are good for a comeback? MVP? Benjamin? Burke? Masters? But there's also guys that they just aren't doing anything with. Where's Yoshi Tatsu? Every so often, they have El Locals and I know they've just debuted a masked team but why not throw Tatsu under one of the masks and utilise the dude? Drew McIntyre is good fun in 3MB but it really comes across like he's been supremely wasted in that trio. Is Regal rooted to NXT or could he not join the main roster for a few months to freshen things up? I definitely agree with this. They have 3 hours for Raw which is fair enough, they can fill that reasonably well but when it comes to booking Smackdown, they need to repeat matches just by the nature of having so much time to fill. I was a bigger brand split apologist than most as I really liked the hard split (when it lasted) and the idea that guys would only show up on the other show around Mania season; it made for fresh(ish) matches when Punk came back to ECW to work against Finlay or whoever.

What BBC4 in the UK does with Top of the Pops is airs an old episode once a week which corresponded to the week in the year it was aired. So, 2013 has been TOTP 78, if that makes any sense. I'd do that with Raw from its inception in 93, one episode a week with it starting Jan 14. That would obviously be under the provision that they have a ton of extra stuff so that they can get away with one retro ep a week of course. I'd also have 1 or 2 hour slots where current guys on the roster pick some of their favourite matches (featuring them or otherwise) and basically get to talk about wrestling they love for 5 mins or so before showing the match in full. I imagine Punk having fun with that. A weekly reality show centered around the Performance Center and the methods of the teachers and some talking head stuff with the students. Vince McMahon soapbox hour. I'd love some kind of documentary about Jim Johnston and the genesis behind some of the best theme songs down the years. Do they film all the house shows? Rock N Wrestling every Saturday morning. I like having big blocks of B-shows. Saturday afternoon block of Jakked or Velocity would be awesome after I'd finished watching Rock n Wrestling. Hell, I'd totally commission more silly shit aimed at younger kids. The Adventures of Rey Mysterio going against the villainous schemes of Alberto Del Rio. Around things like Xmas, Halloween etc, you could easily throw together clips of Santa getting stunnered or Papa Shango Halloween Hour or something. This is an awesome thread idea.

They just released a guy who could have had a ton of good midcard matches (I say this without knowing if Hero asked for his release or not).

Totally. He had a big throne, Layla by his side and cut off a Raw broadcast in the middle of a Cena/HHH main event. It didn't last though since he failed wellness.

Agreed. Would like to see this, somebody do i! I'd gladly give it a go if we can establish when to begin watching from. Booker T at KOTR or earlier?

I figured "The Devil made me do it" was some reference to Kane but either way, it's not really something I want to see.

It's the website, only organized all in one place (this is not a negative!) and it is easy to follow. Small print, yes, but the layout is solid. Oh man, that's so awesome. If that's cheapish in any way, shape or form, it's the next thing I'm buying.

Biker Taker came about towards the end of his Ministry of Darkness run and then was established properly at Judgment Day 2000 and beyond. I can't recall many great Biker Taker matches but the heel promos were pretty great and he was a tremendous dick to Flair and The Hardys. Ah yeah, the Jeff Hardy/Taker Ladder match on Raw was enjoyable with a great tease of a Hardy victory. I assume he's turned face by Summerslam 02 as he'll be transitioning to the Lesnar program (the HITC match is a good WWE brawl if you're interested). So yeah, he was basically a 7 foot biker who chewed tobacco, threw people into popcorn machines and threw out some great one-liners. Great heel, not so great babyface. He turned back to "Deadman" Taker at Mania XX.

Also, one I noticed with JR every so often was referencing "the carotid artery" when a guy had a headlock or sleeper applied. How did that ever get past the "nope, that's not really dumb and awkward" phase?

God damn, poor Michael Cole is going to sound even more awkward and stilted now.

Do WWE (and I'm assuming this is who buys them) have Sting, Angle and Jeff Hardy on their hands? There's potential for another DVD for all of those guys and they could spin it as "wow, he lost his mind for a couple of years there but he came back and he was better than ever!"

ah yeah, I think I am. HoW isn't fully updated in places for Smackdown.

So, it's pretty obvious that The Shield are the best group in WWE on a pure match quality level for years and years, maybe ever at this point? Certainly, their first year has been at a ridiculous standard, Reigns has improved to the point where he's a standout guy in the entire company, they (along with Bryan) gave us Kane's best work in forever and their tag/multi-man matches are regularly the high point of every show. I assume WWE know what they have here and won't rush to break them up, especially since they're still so hot but how's this for a hypothetical "Shield Year One Comp"? The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan, Ryback and Kane - WWE TLC 2012 The Shield vs. John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus - WWE Elimination Chamber 2013 The Shield vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show - Wrestlemania 29 The Shield vs. The Undertaker, Daniel Bryan and Kane - Raw 4/22/13 The Shield vs. John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Kane - Raw 4/29/13 Dean Ambrose vs. Kane - Smackdown 5/3/13 The Shield vs. John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Kane - 5/13/13 Dean Ambrose vs. Kofi Kingston - Extreme Rules 2013 Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan and Kane - Extreme Rules 2013 The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan, Kane and Kofi Kingston - Raw 5/20/13 Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan and Kane - Raw 5/27/13 Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 5/31/13 The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan, Kane and Randy Orton - Raw 6/3/13 Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton - Raw 6/10/13 Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan - Payback 2013 The Shield vs. Christian and The Usos - Smackdown 6/28/13 The Shield vs. Christian and The Usos - Raw 7/1/13 Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. The Usos - Money in the Bank 2013 The Shield vs. Mark Henry and The Usos - Raw 7/29/13 The Shield vs. Mark and The Usos - Main Event 8/7/13 Dean Ambrose vs. Rob Van Dam - Summerslam 2013 The Shield vs. Kofi Kingston and The Usos - Main Event 8/21/13 The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan - Raw 8/26/13 Seth Rollins vs. Daniel Bryan - Smackdown 9/6/13 Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan - Raw 9/9/13 Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler - Raw 9/16/13 Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan - Raw 9/16/13 The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan and The Usos - Smackdown 9/20/13 The Shield vs. 11 babyfaces - Raw 9/23/13 The Shield vs. Dolph Ziggler and The Usos - Raw 9/30/13 Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes and Goldust - Battleground 2013 The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes and Goldust - Raw 10/7/13 Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes and Goldust Raw 10/14/13 A lot of those have blended together for me (the series with The Usos) but those are what I've cherry picked from History of WWE that I remember enjoying at the time. Throw in those early Ambrose promos, their angles with Taker, Bryan, Christian etc and that's a pretty great set, and a pretty incredible start to life in WWE. And there's time for more matches with Dustin, a 5 on 5 match at Survivor Series and possibly another wild brawl at TLC. How was Adrian Neville vs. Dean Ambrose and The Shield vs. Xavier Woods, Corey Graves and Adrian Neville from NXT?

I really enjoyed the main but I'm higher on Orton than most. I thought everything he did meant something in the grand scheme of things and his selling as a heel is pretty great, especially selling strikes. Had they been able to work to a clean finish, I'd have enjoyed it more but surely the Big Show payoff punch needed to be to HHH?

Cole is so focused on the Vince-fed bullet points that all emotion is lost.

Man, they really shouldn't force JBL to say "What's Up?!"

EDIT: Double post

If TNA gave us something as entertaining as El Torito, they wouldn't be such a gigantic sack of shit on a consistent basis.

The current programs with The Rhodes Family and Bryan have been carefully engineered so HHH and Steph need not look foolish in any final outcome. It's kind of brilliant in the sense that there's been more attention paid to avoiding any heel humiliation for them than there has been in the booking of anyone since around 2008. WWE's attention can be channeled, it's just always in the wrong place.

How much time is dedicated to his heel run on Raw from 02-04? And if time is dedicated, how is it spun?

Dude, the fact a wrestling company can do that in 2013 is the most awesome pro wrestling move imaginable and I hope it happens. And this is someone who enjoys Chikara's approach to storyline continuity and would hate to see it die out. Sometimes, things are just so ingrained into the fibre of professional wrestling, that you just have to applaud this beautiful, crazy sideshow.

So, am I going crazy or is Miz really nailing the babyface fire right now? I enjoy this infinitely more than whatever his last year has been.

When rewatching 2007 WWE, Burke is definitely a guy who stands out in the first 6 months of the year. He's featured heavily with The New Breed stuff but as you say, his stuff looked good, he had a decent helping of charisma but got lost in the shuffle once they broke up The New Breed and John Morrison became the top heel on the show. I have a theory that they wanted to run with a Burke/Cor Von team on Smackdown when the talent exchange thing started up but Cor Von leaving put a stop to it. I can't remember a single thing Burke did after his Unforgiven match with Punk.

As long as it isn't something like the "B+ Knee" Wikipedia has/had it as "The Move That Beat John Cena" and that should be its name forever.