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Guest HTQ

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I just watched Cena/K-Fed from RAW. That was tremendous! Ripping off angles from Memphis in 1982 is always a good idea. They've got to do something with K-Fed at Wrestlemania. I don't see a way around it.

 

 

It's funny because this angle seemed to polarize the "IWC" The younger fan base on the net seemed to hate the angle with a passion while older fans rather enjoyed it. At TSM it was the end of the world while the DVDVR people were giving it high praise. As someone who watched quite a bit of Memphis growing up (discount bin videos) it indeed was awesome

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I would have liked the angle more if Cena wasn't the champion heading into a PPV. The Cena vs. Umaga build has been very solid, good even, and it was relatively serious, and for me the Federline business added an air of silliness that greatly detracted from aura of the top babyface defending against the kickass monster.

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TSM posters typically hate everything, so that doesn't surprise me.

 

Cena/Umaga has indeed been built up really well, and I think the K-Fed thing didn't do any damage to the feud. It's amazing how they've decided to actually start pushing people and making them look good, though. The people in the top positions on Raw and Smackdown are pushed very hard and not made to look weak that often these days. I'm impressed that WWE seems to slowly be getting away from Even Steven booking.

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I'm convinced that every WWE DVD ever released from here forward by WWE will either have Flair/Race from Starrcade '83, Lawler/Von Erich from SuperClash III or that Rockers v Somers/Rose match from the AWA. They LOVE putting those matches on DVD.

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If Hunter is out beyond WM, then I'm thinking Shawn and a partner versus Rated RKO for WM with the revenge storyline. If that happens, then I can also see Umaga beating Cena for the WWE Title at the Rumble with them building to a rematch at WM with finish of Cena finally hitting the FU. Cena didn't FU Umaga tonight for a reason, and if they need it, it might just be the thing to give them a replacement match for Cena at WM.

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I'm convinced that every WWE DVD ever released from here forward by WWE will either have Flair/Race from Starrcade '83, Lawler/Von Erich from SuperClash III or that Rockers v Somers/Rose match from the AWA. They LOVE putting those matches on DVD.

 

Only one of those matches has been on WWE DVDs twice (that being Lawler-Von Erich, which was on the 80s set and AWA set). Flair-Race was only on the Flair set, and there have been two Rockers-Rose/Somers matches, one on the Michaels set, and the other on the AWA set.

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That's probably what you're thinking of (although I have no real access to 24/7, so I can't confirm either way). Flair/Race was rumoured to be on the 80s set, but they scrapped it, probably to make room for matches that hadn't yet been shown.

 

Read the HHH quad tear thread at TSM. HTQ is bang-on about HHH being very lucky it wasn't the same quad. It would've meant good-bye career possibly if it had been. I wonder, assuming HHH continues wrestling, how much longer HHH keeps his current style. He's still a somewhat quasi-bodybuilder (albeit not the same hugeness he used to be) but also tries to be a true worker (athletic, bumps around, etc.) and more often than not, the two don't mix. That's precisely why last night's quad tear happened and why the 2001 quad tear happened. He also should change his finisher. Landing on your knees (even from that distance) for 250 nights a year can't exactly do wonders for said knees, or the upper parts of your legs.

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I'd say he's retired for good, wouldn't you?

 

http://michaeljl.net/CJfrontpage.jpg

 

Could be, but (in response to the PM you sent me regarding the wild possibility of Vince bringing back Jericho to face Cena at WM), Jericho could re-invent himself as being serious and being someone with a vendetta against Cena for "ending" his career the last time they met. The hair cut's a start, but they'd need to go further with it. At the same time, Jericho being a more serious, pissed off heel would likely be far more believable with that look than his previous, more well-known look.

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That seemed like a viable and realistic option for WM until I saw how scrawny he was. I'm not sure he could get a wrestling build back by WM time and still pass wellness exams. That said, it's a built-in storyline and would be a success since the fan excitement would be there for Jericho coming back for revenge against the guy who ended his career, but it seems pretty unlikely after seeing that picture.

 

Either way, Cena needs an opponent that would be fresh and mean something, and Edge, who would otherwise be the best option, has been done to death, and Cena/Orton just doesn't have the same appeal it may have had at one time because Orton isn't being pushed as the future of the company anymore. Cena/Batista is possible, but they'd have to unify the belts, which I know they don't want to do.

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He looks perfectly healthy in the picture.

 

Cena isn't exactly a monster like Trip. Benoit hung in there opposite Trip. Eddy opposite JBL. Rey's survived. Shawn looks terrible physically.

 

I could see WWE fans buying Jericho if the storyline works.

 

The bigger problem is that I don't think Jericho has ever meant a great deal up there as a heel, other than briefly when he came in. He's had stretches when he's been a decent character as a heel, but I don't think the fans have every cared in a $$$ paying way about him as a heel. Whatever "drawing" power he had in his heel world title reign, it was more that Rock, Stone Cold and a returning Trip were opposite of him. And even those didn't work a great deal.

 

As an "emergency" filler on top, I think he would be far more effective as a face. Almost a nostalgia guy from the Hot Days that the fans can briefly get happy he's back. That original speach he made when the Clock finally counted down could be aimed right at the WWF today, without a Rock to interrupt him preaching the truth:

 

DA ROCK comes out and talks some smack to try to set up a match with the Big Show later tonight - but the Millennium countdown is on the TitanTron (about two minutes late ... but who's counting?) - :16, :15, :14, ... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... lights flash and music plays and ... and ... and ... darkness. Then - An explosion! Oh yes - one word on the TitanTron - and it is JERICHO. Arms out, back to us. "Welcome to RAW ... is ... JERICHO!" Oh yeah - it's CHRIS MONDAY JERICHO at the top of the ramp, scowl, sneer, goofy hairdo and all. They've given him some Connecticut Yankee muzak. "And I am the new Millennium for the World Wrestling Federation! Now for those of you who don't know me, I am Chris Jericho - your - your new hero, your party host and most importantly the most charismatic showman to ever enter your living rooms via a television screen! And for those of you who DO know me, well, all hail the Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah! Now when you think of the new Millennium, you think of an event so gigantic that it changes the course of history. You think of the dawning of a new era. In this case, the dawning of a New Era in the WWF! Thank you - thank you!" Crowd chanting "Rocky." "A new era is what this once proud and profitable company sorely needs! What was once a captivating, trendsetting program, has nowdeteriorated into a cliched - let's be honest - BORING SNOOZEFEST that is in dire need of a knight in shining armour! And that's why I'm here! Chris Jericho has come to SAVE the WWF! Now let's go over the facts. Television ratings - downward spiral. Pay-per-view buyrates - plummeting. Mainstream acceptance - nonexistent. And reactions of the live crowd - complete and utter silence! And I know why you're silent! You're silent because you're embarrassed to be here! And quite honestly, I'm embarrassed for you! And the reason why you're embarrassed is because of the steady stream of uninteresting, untalented, mediocre 'sports entertainers' where you're forced to cheer for and care for - no wonder you're not cheering! You could care less about every single idiot in that dressing room...and especially this idiot in the centre of the ring. You people have been led to believe that mediocrity is excellence. Uh uh...JERICHO IS EXCELLENCE. And now, for the first time in WWF history, you have a man who can entertain you! You have a man who is good enough for you! You have a man who can make you jump up off your chairs, raise your filthy fat little hands in the air and scream 'Go Jericho Go! Go Jericho Go! Go Jericho Go!' Thank you. The new Millennium has arrived in the WWF - and now that the Y2J problem is here - this company, from the front office idiots to all the amateurs in the dressing room (including this one) to everybody watching tonight, will never - e-e-e-ever - be the same - agayn!"

-Christopher Robin Zimmerman, 08/09/99 RAW Recap

I mean, he could almost say that word-for-word and it would apply. He could point to the guys who were once here like Stone Cold, Rock, Foley, Eddy Guerrero... and contrast it with the folks who are currently booring the hell out of the viewers.

 

The problem is that the company doesn't have a hot heel that WWE fans (current or ones have wandered away from) would pay to see Jericho beat... and who would stooge in the program in a way that would be needed. Say what you will about Rock, but opposite Austin when he was a heel and Stone Cold was the mega face, he was willing to go all the way with the program even if Stone Cold was the one who got to shine while he had to stooge.

 

Trip is a heel that people bought into for a "chase" in the terms of Batista and a lesser degree Benoit. But even if he wasn't hurt, he'd never go balls to the wall for Jericho (in fact, Trip more than anyone in the company has worked to cut off Jericho's legs and keep them cut off).

 

So, you can bring back Jericho for Cena, but I'm not sure the fans really want to pay for Heel Jericho even if the storyline ties in and is strong. I think the fans would rather root for him to get their Benoit-Eddy moment.

 

 

John

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The funniest part of the commentary at NYE was how they took care to refer to the Masterlock as 'officially unbroken', in reference to the soldier breaking it on the Raw from Iraq, and five seconds later would talk about Umaga having never been beaten even though he's lost on Raw by DQ a number of times this year, lost via DQ all through his house show run with Cena, and even got pinned by Kane at a house show. They pay attention to detail on something for a midcarder who isn't over and yet they don't pay the same level of attention to detail for a main eventer in a program with their biggest star.

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From reading today's update, Meltzer strongly hinted that the Trump angle is going to be beyond bad. Yeah.

 

Not sure why anyone would be surprised. WWE writing sucks. Trump's own stuff has been past the freshness date since the 80s, with the current Trump run of the Apprentice essentially camping him up. Put the two together and it always was going to be shitty.

 

But shittiness on it's own is less important than whether it works in getting something positive in either fanbase or attention. The Mike Tyson stuff was, when you go back and watch it, really shitty on Tyson's part. Michaels stuff wasn't any good in it either. It really was Austin and Vince who saved it:

 

"GET OUT OF HERE! YOU RUINED IT! YOU RUINED IT, DAMN IT!!!"

-Vince McMahon going heel

 

In the end, having Stone Cold vs. Mr. McMahon taking off helped the company since Shawn was done at Mania, and Tyson wasn't going to be around long anyway.

 

Can the WWE get a Stone Cold vs. Mr. McMahon out of this?

 

I don't think so.

 

 

John

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Michaels had his moments during that time as a performer, although the way he was booked distracted from the buildup at times. The whole side story of Michaels threatening not to show up at Wrestlemania was unnecessary, although there were some angles like Tyson joining DX, Shawn holding the belt in Austin's face while HHH and Chyna restrained him and the "Vince McMahon needs me" promo that were really well done, more because of Shawn's contributions than anything else.

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From reading today's update, Meltzer strongly hinted that the Trump angle is going to be beyond bad. Yeah.

 

It went so far beyond bad that it redefined the word. The first Vince McMahon ego trip of the year.
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