The Undertaker's wrestling topic [Mobile/Archive]

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Zenithian Legend

02-24-2006, 12:44 AM

Say hello to The Deadman

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/u/undertaker/34.jpg

Over the past 15 years hundreds of superstars have come and gone from the WWE. The WWE Title has changed hands 64 times (an additional 13 times if you include the World Heavyweight Title once it was given to HHH and used in the WWE) since the debut of The Undertaker back at Survivor Series 1990. No current Superstar has remained on the active roster as long as The Undertaker, and only Shawn Michaels can claim to have wrestled for Vince McMahon longer.

They call him The Phenom, and if you have ever seen an Undertaker match live, you're sure to know why. When the lights go out, the gong tolls, the mist begins to rise and The Undertaker appears in the entry ramp a chill shoots through your blood, as you're overwhelmed by the awe-inspiring presence of The Deadman.

During his WWE tenure The Undertaker has truly feuded with a who's who of the wrestling world, and in doing-so has come to epitomize the WWE itself. Ironically Taker's career didn't start in the WWE...

Mark Calloway was born on March 24, 1962 in Houston, Texas. He started off working as a bouncer down in Texas, before a southern wrestling promoter approached him. Calloway competed under a mask in the USWA in Texas, wrestling as "Texas Red" "The Punisher" and "Master of Pain". It was as The Master of Pain that he would win his first Heavyweight Title, defeating Jerry Lawler on April 1, 1989.

On the side he continued to work as a bouncer at various clubs in Texas between Houston and the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. At the same time, my own uncle was attempting to make it big as the lead singer of a Rock band. The two men got to know each other, and The Undertaker would often make fun of my uncle, telling him to "cut his long girly hair".

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/s/skyscrapers/09.jpg

Alas, Mark Calloway was destined for bigger things than the independent circuit and working as a bouncer, and by the end of 1989, WCW had called him up. He debuted as "Mean" Mark Callous. He teamed with Dan Spivey (Waylon Mercy) as a part of The Skyscrapers, managed by none other than Teddy Long. They actually defeated the then nearly unbeatable Road Warriors by DQ.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/u/undertaker/51.jpg

Mean Mark Callous didn't even last a year in WCW, as Vince McMahon saw his amazing potential and quickly brought him in to the WWF. It was there that Mark Calloway was given the name "Kane the Undertaker". The "Kane" portion was dropped from his name before appearing on TV, and at the 1990 Survivor Series The Undertaker appeared as a part of Ted Dibiase's team.

By Wrestlemania VII, The Undertaker had his new manager Paul Bearer, many people don't know this, but Taker was originally managed by Brother Love.

The Undertaker went on to feud with everyone, and I mean everyone. It started with The Ultimate Warrior, as Taker continued to build momentum.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/u/undertaker/35.jpg

Then at the 1991 Survivor Series, just one year after his WWF debut, The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWF Heavyweight title, with the aid of Ric Flair. Unfortunately the title was vacated only a week later, when Hogan and The Undertaker had their match interrupted by Ric Flair again.

Around this time the crowd began to really take to The Undertaker and so he turned face. Taker continued to rip through the WWF roster in all sorts of innovative matches. The Undertaker is the WWE's originator of The Casket Match, The Buried Alive Match, The Inferno Match, and of course... Hell in the Cell.

Somewhere around this time, The Undertaker's series run-ins with my family continued. This time it was with my mother. My mom was boarding The Undertaker on to a plane, and asked him where he wanted her to put his tickets. He told her just to put them in the front of his suitcase, so she unzipped it and to her horror she found... The Undertaker's underwear!

At The Royal Rumble in 1994, Yokozuna and around 20 other men helped seal The Undertaker inside a casket. The Undertaker vanished for awhile, and Leslie Neelson was hired to find him.

The Undertaker resurfaced in early summer of 1994, again managed by Ted Dibiase, and again evil. In one of the best swerves in WWF history, Paul Bearer returned and claimed that Dibiase's Undertaker was a fake. Fans were certainly skeptical, but at Summerslam that year, the real Undertaker would return and defeat the fake Undertaker (Brian Lee/Chainz) in a casket match.

Taker continued to feud with the whole of the federation, remaining one of the company's top draws for the next few years. Feuding primarily with Mick Foley as Mankind, in a series of hellacious matches that included the Boiler room brawl, Buried Alive, and Casket Matches.

At Wrestlemania XIII, The Undertaker would finally regain the WWF Heavyweight title defeating Sycho Sid. This time The Deadman's title reign would last much longer, as he would finally drop the belt to Bret Hart at Summerslam, when none other than guest referee Shawn Michaels hit Undertaker with a chair, helping Bret win the match.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/b/bod/04.jpg

A few months later at Bad Blood, The Undertaker would attempt to gain revenge on Michaels in the first ever Hell in the Cell match. Taker tossed Michaels off the cage, and appeared to have the upper hand, when all of a sudden the arena went dark red, demonic organs played and The Undertaker's brother Kane showed up, ripping the door off the cage, and giving The Undertaker the Tombstone, allowing Michaels to win the match. Thus began what would be a very love-hate relationship between Taker and Kane, that has continued through to today.

1998 was a very memorable year for The Deadman, as he would have two of the most unforgettable matches in WWE history. First he defeated Kane in an inferno match, setting the arm of his brother on fire. Then two months later he defeated Mick Foley (Mankind) in their infamous Hell in a Cell match, a match that is remembered as perhaps the most brutal on American soil. Taker would also defeat Steve Austin at Breakdown, the September ppv that year, but since Undertaker pinned Austin simultaneously with Kane, the title was held vacant.

The Undertaker then slipped further into the Dark Side, the very Dark Side, forming the Ministry. A few months later The Ministry of Darkness combined with Shane McMahon's Corporation to form the Corporate Ministry. Shane and Taker then both claimed that they answered to the very mysterious "Higher Power".

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/u/undertaker/33.jpg

On May 23, 1999 (the most tragic day in wrestling history) The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin to win the WWF Heavyweight Title for the 3rd time. Sadly this event was overshadowed by the unfortunate event that took place earlier in the night.

Several weeks later on Raw, The Higher Power that The Undertaker answered too finally revealed himself, it was Vince McMahon all along.

On an episode of Raw in June of 1999, roughly a month after Taker had won the title, he dropped it back to Austin. Slowly The Corporate Ministry began to dissolve and Taker began to appear less and less on TV.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/u/undertaker/23.jpg

Over half a year later, The Undertaker returned, with a shocking gimmick change, he now came down to the ring on a motorcycle, and had pretty much become a biker. It was at this time that Undertaker resumed his run-ins with my family, and fortunately this time it was my turn. I sat next to Kurt Angle on an airplane and immediately across the aisle sat The Undertaker. I mentioned to Kurt Angle that Taker was undefeated at Wrestlemania, and Kurt asked him if this was true, Taker then looked at me and said "Hey kid, don't jinx it." Next, I told Kurt that Mideon used to be a pig farmer, again Kurt asked Undertaker to verify this, Taker told Kurt that I was half right, but Mideon didn't farm pigs, he FUCKED them! Clearly, the man has a disturbing sense of humor. Kurt Angle then told me, that The Undertaker didn't drop his gimmick to become a biker, but rather dropped his old gimmick and became himself!

The Undertaker continued to feud with pretty much the entire lockerroom always remaining at the top of the card. The fans though grew sick of the "American Badass" and wanted the old Deadman Undertaker to return. Instead of doing that, The Undertaker turned heel, forcing Jim Ross to join the illustrious Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/ppv/kotr02/45.jpg

At Judgment Day 2002, The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan (again) to win the WWE Undisputed Title. Two weeks later on Smackdown, The Undertaker successfully defended his title defeating Randy Orton in their very first encounter.

The Undertaker began a fairly solid title run, that included one very memorable match on Raw against Jeff Hardy. It was a ladder match, and naturally Jeff came very close to winning, but in the end Taker emerged victorious. Following the match, The Deadman raised Jeff Hardy's arm, and thus turned face again.

On July 21, 2002 at Vengeance in Detroit, I was fortunate enough to be on hand to see The Rock end The Undertaker's 4th title reign in an amazing triple threat match that included Kurt Angle.

Again, Taker would resume feuding with any and everyone on the roster for the next year. Including Vince McMahon, who would defeat The Undertaker with the help of Kane in a buried alive match at Survivor Series 2003.

Finally, at Wrestlemania XX, the fans were given their wish, and The Deadman rose again. After months of build-up, the arena finally darkened, the gongs tolled, the mist rose, and The Undertaker stood eerily on the entry ramp once more.

Since then The Undertaker has remained at the top of the mountain. Although, he has yet to recapture the WWE Championship again, The Undertaker remains a serious contender, battling Kurt Angle for the title, in a 30 minute classic at No Way Out.

Throughout his career The Undertaker has won the World Heavyweight Championship 4 times. He also held the Hardcore title for a brief period of time back in 2001. The Undertaker has also won the WWE Tag Titles on 6 separate occasions. He first won the Tag Titles with Steve Austin, then with The Big Show, next with The Rock, and finally twice with Kane. During The Undertaker & Kane's final WWE Tag Title run they also captured the WCW Tag Titles, and held all of the tag belts at once.

http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/pictures/u/undertaker/67.jpg

Despite all of these accomplishments, titles, and major storylines, perhaps The Undertaker's most impressive feat is his unblemished record of 13-0 at Wrestlemania.

The Undertaker's Wrestlemania Run:

Wrestlemania VII: Undertaker w/Paul Bearer defeats "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
Wrestlemania VIII: Undertaker w/Paul Bearer defeats Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Wrestlemania IX: Undertaker w/Paul Bearer defeats Giant Gonzales w/ Harvey Wippleman via DQ
Wrestlemania XI: Undertaker w/Paul Bearer defeats King Kong Bundy w/Ted DiBiase
Wrestlemania XII: Undertaker w/Paul Bearer defeats Diesel
Wrestlemania XIII: Undertaker defeats Sycho Sid for the WWF Heavyweight Title
Wrestlemania XIV: Undertaker defeats Kane w/Paul Bearer
Wrestlemania XV: Undertaker defeats Big Bossman in a Hell in a Cell match
Wrestlemania XVII: Undertaker defeats Triple H in a falls count anywhere match
Wrestlemania XVIII: Undertaker defeats Ric Flair in a No-DQ match
Wrestlemania XIX: Undertaker defeats Big Show & A-Train in a handicap match
Wrestlemania XX: Undertaker w/Paul Bearer defeats Kane
Wrestlemania XXI: Undertaker defeats Randy Orton w/Bob Orton

2Fast

02-24-2006, 12:50 AM

The hint you gave in the last topic makes sense now. Great write-up, by the way.

OntheDL

02-24-2006, 12:52 AM

I was at that Royal Rumble when every heel and his brother came out to try and get Undertaker into that casket, 1992, I think, I still have the ticket stub some place. Man, they finally got him in there, dragged the casket toward the back, then the Taker showed up on the Jumbotron, and the casket "exploded" then the Taker came up out of the video screen into the rafters, that shit was bad ass.

vrs1650

02-24-2006, 01:00 AM

oops, too late on the last topic with my request, nice pick. Undertaker is always solid and has yet to lose at WM. But I have to admit, I hated the American Bad Ass gimic.

Xevious

02-24-2006, 01:22 AM

Yes! THE UNDERTAKER!!!

Graystone

02-24-2006, 01:40 AM

oops, too late on the last topic with my request, nice pick. Undertaker is always solid and has yet to lose at WM. But I have to admit, I hated the American Bad Ass gimic.

I liked it, it was good for a while. I think he should of just came out instead of riding a bike. Now that I think of it, I don't like any wrestler that comes out in a vehicle of any sorts.

PhrostByte

02-24-2006, 02:15 AM

Undertaker is cool... or used to be at least. Haven't been entertained by him in a while... looking forward to his fued with Boogeyman though, it's inevitable.

Zenithian Legend

02-24-2006, 04:05 AM

I liked it, it was good for a while. I think he should of just came out instead of riding a bike. Now that I think of it, I don't like any wrestler that comes out in a vehicle of any sorts.

Agreed, but not all vehicles are bad. Remember when Austin came out with the beer truck? Or the Zamboni? And come on how cool would it be if someone came out in a tank? Or hell if Goldust came down to the ring in this:

http://photos22.flickr.com/28120628_7da1dc346b_m.jpg

Demolition Man

02-24-2006, 04:19 AM

I'm going to continue on something that got written in the previous thread....

Asked what he thinks WWE needs to do to create a more compelling product again, Jim responded, "I think probably a mainstreaming in the medical community of brain transplants. I mean, I don't know. I can't come up with an answer for why anybody with that much talent on the roster and that much money to spend on advertising and promotion and that much technical expertise in the television studio would consistently produce crap on national television. I really can't understand it. I don't know what the cause of it is. I don't know what the cure for it is."

This is almost word for word what I said about two weeks ago to a friend of mine when he asked me why we weren't going to Rasslamania.

Why isn't it better? They don't have to try any more because there's no more Dubya Si Dubya? The bookers are out of touch? Why is it that you can go to any rasslin fan message board and find people talking about what they would do if they were in charge but yet everyone is almost always dissapointed with what the actual people in charge come up with? I mean, steal some ideas here, put some thought into what you want out of your product, get us to believe again.

Vince, I'm here, I want to like wrestling again, I do, I really really do, I want to talk about awesome spots that happened the night before, I want to look forward to seeing matches. I want it all, and oh, I have money. Here, take it, take my money but please please make rasslin interesting again, that's the only catch. You have to do what you're supposed to do and make me wanna watch.

But you're not doing those things, I've asked for a while, I've wanted it to change but, no, you don't care.

So, Fuck you.

I just watched the Vince Russo/Ed Fererra shoot interview that Wade Keller did not that long ago where Vince described the back then how the WWF booking was done along with how its done now. He described the "wrestling bubble" that goes on around there - or in other words how little the people who are booking these days follow what is going on in the outside world and what the people really want.

There is good proof of this when someone mentioned to Vince McMahon not that long ago of coming up with a Dave Chapelle style gimmick. Vince McMahon has NO idea who Chapelle even was.... AT ALL. Now yeah someone finally showed Vince a few episodes of the show and he got it. You would think that a man who's always trying to stay on top of what is hot would actually keep up with what people are talking about around the water coolers around the nation.

I mean at this point of time I'm almost halfway expecting to eventually see a gimmick centered around a man who's really a lizard inside and is part of a alien race who wants to take over Earth to use us Human's as food (and if anyone knows what 80s miniseries I'm refering to then you are just as much of a geek as I am). I mean given now we have a gimmick centered around a guy who eats worms and another one being a pirate this wouldn't be too far off.

Demolition Man

02-24-2006, 04:21 AM

Agreed, but not all vehicles are bad. Remember when Austin came out with the beer truck? Or the Zamboni? And come on how cool would it be if someone came out in a tank? Or hell if Goldust came down to the ring in this:

http://photos22.flickr.com/28120628_7da1dc346b_m.jpg

Screw Goldust using that... I should be using that whenever I make my run ins on the CAG wreslting topics. :rofl:

mykevermin

02-24-2006, 09:23 AM

I can't think of any occasions where I actually saw UT wrestle live. Either he was boring, or I have just been really unlucky.

Danro

02-24-2006, 09:46 AM

I still own the official WWE VHS King of the Ring with the Hell in a Cell vs Mankind. Still makes me cringe watching it.

guyver2077

02-24-2006, 10:16 AM

nice topic...

just in case anyone missed it in last topic

In recognition of one of the best tag teams never to be wwe tag champs i post the following lol...

http://www.themiamifamily.com/Videos/hearts.WMV

hilarous

getmeoutofjoliet

02-24-2006, 10:55 AM

I mean at this point of time I'm almost halfway expecting to eventually see a gimmick centered around a man who's really a lizard inside and is part of a alien race who wants to take over Earth to use us Human's as food (and if anyone knows what 80s miniseries I'm refering to then you are just as much of a geek as I am). I mean given now we have a gimmick centered around a guy who eats worms and another one being a pirate this wouldn't be too far off.

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/8431/vminiseriesposter2ub.jpg

supermariomelee

02-24-2006, 02:31 PM

I can't think of any occasions where I actually saw UT wrestle live.

I've only seen him wrestle once during all the shows I went to and that was a dark match against JBL on Smackdown(the Smackdown show right after Survivor Series '04). Honestly his matches are painfully slow(as is his entrance).

Seems JBL got the okay to go back to work after surgery and will probably be facing Chris Benoit(who supposedly broke JBL's hand during a match on tonight's SD) at Wrestlemania.

Matt Young

02-24-2006, 03:25 PM

Undertaker's been at several shows which I attended. My first ever show on September 27th, 1997, in Champaign, IL, he beat WWF Champion Bret Hart by DQ. I've also seen him lose to Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar, team with Kane to beat DDP and Kanyon in a cage match, and beat Randy Orton (when he should have lost) at WrestleMania 21. That's all I can think of right now, anyway.

I want to share with you a video package for New Midwest Wrestling. I used to attend all their shows and briefly traiend with them, which I intend to do again once I move back to Illinois. This is the only video package I know of that they have online, and it is promoting thjeir show, "Rivalry".

http://www.youtube.com/v/KtyEZY4KMg4

Zenithian Legend

02-24-2006, 03:28 PM

Stacy Keibler appeared on the Mark and Kim Show on KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles today. When asked about whether she would appear at WrestleMania 22, Stacy said she would be meeting with Vince McMahon after "Dancing with the Stars" ended to discuss her WWE future. She added that for the past seven years, she has been touring with "a circus" and mentioned how WWE forces most of their talent to pay for their own hotel rooms and rental cars and said how WWE provides no health insurance to its workers. She then said that Triple H is the one "making all the money."

WWE has come to terms on the release of Stacy Keibler. We wish her the best in all future cookie and cracker production endeavors.

Danro

02-24-2006, 03:36 PM

cgpwns

02-24-2006, 03:42 PM

Undertaker has been my favorite wrestler for a really long time.

Matt Young

02-24-2006, 03:52 PM

Wow! There were some pretty good moves in there, but it looked like everyone was just recruited off the street :D

Eh, it wasn't the best representation of their work, but it's all they have online. But yeah, most of the wrestlers are averagesized, normal looking people.

mykevermin

02-24-2006, 03:53 PM

WWE has come to terms on the release of Stacy Keibler. We wish her the best in all future cookie and cracker production endeavors.

Eh, they won't announce it for her; she just won't be used or mentioned and her contract will run out, Scott Steiner style.

http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/philippines1/photos/16.jpg

I love that picture.

So, with WrestleMania fast approaching comes the post-WrestleMania release fest. Now, they usually release guys in groups of three (or so it seems). Who do you think are the top six guys to go?

Me:
Basham #1
Basham #2
Lance Cade
Johnny Swinger
Rene Dupree
Rob Conway
Snitsky
Tomko
Spanky
Paul London
(maybe) Jamie Knoble
The Gymini
Simon Dean
Sylvan
Vito

So, well, that's more than 6, but I'd be surprised if *any* of those guys got to keep their jobs, outside of Knoble.

I'm intentionally ignoring the long-term dead weight; I know that Scotty 2 Hotty, Funaki, Hardcore Holly, Viscera, and Val Venis (among others) should have been fired years ago, but the fact that they haven't yet been fired shows that they're more likely to keep their jobs over the above guys. They could end up being "Billy Gunn'd," however.

Danro

02-24-2006, 04:25 PM

Eh, it wasn't the best representation of their work, but it's all they have online. But yeah, most of the wrestlers are averagesized, normal looking people.

But really they are more likely to be people the fans can associate with. Kind of a "hey, I could do that" type of promotion. In that mixed gender match, who was the woman?

Matt Young

02-24-2006, 04:31 PM

That was Rian Cruz:

http://www.newmidwest.com/bios/Rian_Cruz/index.html

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=24790719

Cherry Malone, the one getting abused in the video, is also a wrestler/manager:

http://www.newmidwest.com/images/bios/cherry/cherrypb.jpg

http://www.myspace.com/cherrymalone

I am friends or at least acquainted with everyone who was around before November 2004, and I attended all the shows, so I can give you all the information you may want.

Zenithian Legend

02-24-2006, 05:21 PM

So, with WrestleMania fast approaching comes the post-WrestleMania release fest. Now, they usually release guys in groups of three (or so it seems). Who do you think are the top six guys to go?

Me:
Basham #1
Basham #2
Lance Cade
Johnny Swinger
Rene Dupree
Rob Conway
Snitsky
Tomko
Spanky
Paul London
(maybe) Jamie Knoble
The Gymini
Simon Dean
Sylvan
Vito

RAW
Danny Basham
Lance Cade
Gene Snitsky
Johnny Parisi
Joey Styles
Rene Dupree
Eugene
Matt Striker
Rob Conway
Stacy Keibler
Tyson Tomko
Torrie Wilson

SD
Doug Basham
Jillian
Animal
Sylvan
Vito

While this list is merely speculation, I guarantee you Vito is gone.

Kinda makes you wonder what the logic on the part of WWE creative was when they split up The Bashams, La Resistance and Cade & Murdoch. All of those tag teams could be rather established at this point, and it's not as though they didn't draw at least some heat. Plus the Heart Throbs and Dicks would perhaps still have jobs if they had more tag teams to feud with. Everytime a superstar is released because of poor character development, someone from the creative staff should be fired too.

Danro

02-24-2006, 05:28 PM

Vito was just featured in the latest issue of Smackdown! Magazine. And here I thought he was to get at least a mild push.

Zenithian Legend

02-24-2006, 05:33 PM

Vito was just featured in the latest issue of Smackdown! Magazine. And here I thought he was to get at least a mild push.

I dunno, I've been reading on a lot of wrestling sites (my first mistake) that he's not well liked in the lockerroom, and his release has been inevitable for awhile now.

Speaking of people who aren't well liked, it seems the Warrior has some commentary up. In it he seems to have stumbled upon a way for TNA to compete. His idea is a Warrior vs Goldberg match. I must agree that this would be a unique match, that no one has seen before, and would probably draw, however, Warrior will be the first to tell you how expensive such a match would be. Plus he leaves no plans for after the match... keeping Warrior and Goldberg would certainly get expensive, and which of those two egos would do the job?

"[Sting] also mentioned in the press conference that Ultimate Warrior coming to TNA would be interesting. Yes, I have to agree -- it would be very interesting. What would be more interesting is if the TNA execs had the creativity, integrity and balls to entertain it seriously. Frankly, what they should do, if they want to be competitive (there's that nasty blood, sweat and tears word again), is sell some of those construction materials Daddy Jarrett has laying around, and put up the financing to bring in Goldberg and Ultimate Warrior and let us try to beat the intensity out of one another.

Now there's an idea -- an attention getting one, and a money making one. I mean, instead of always using "warrior" as the adjective to fallaciously describe all those who aren't -- bring a real, and Ultimate, one in. Let the hardcore, natural intensity rip. Let both of us take our mischaracterized heads halfway out of our asses, just enough for us to be businessmen capable of discussing the serious potential success yet not enough to defuse a competitive grudge, and let the serious and creative thinkers at TNA, those without an agenda or envy problem, work out a program.

Put your silly a** fear and prejudice for my strong, bold character away and think SUCCESS. Hell, I'm all for great ideas. But don't expect me to keep my mouth shut when you don't come up with any. Of course, as I hinted at, it won't be inexpensive. Goldberg has an agent and has to give him a cut. I'm my own and I charge even more. The bigger obstacle, and definitely the one that has us both the most hated in the industry, is that we are strong individualists who don't need, or even necessarily want, to be in the business and can get along having great lives without it. But, what a way it would be for the most envied and despised to shove the final word down the throats of those Nor'Easterners, while TNA capitalizes off the incredible heat of it all."

mykevermin

02-24-2006, 05:40 PM

If Warrior changes the name of his finisher to "The Queer Crusher," and dresses like IRS (like when he does his, *ahem*, "lectures"), then I'd totally watch that match.

If he wants me to pay to see a 50 year old man who couldn't wrestle when he was 30 wrestle another 45 year old man who couldn't wrestle when he was 35, he's got another thing coming. TNA needs to get marks to watch the show, but that's not the right way to do it. If he thinks he can draw in the short term, he may be right. If he thinks he's good for the long term, or good for the company in the long term, then he's as deluded as his language unnecessarily pretentious and a polysyllabic nightmare.

Think of the fans that shit all over Lesnar/Goldberg; do you think that replacing Lesnar with an inferior wrestler will make matters better?

I think earlier I spoke of seeing if Goldberg would be a guy to help the company or take the money and run; nobody would argue that Warrior Warrior is the latter. He could single-handedly run that company out of business.

AdamInPlaidum

02-24-2006, 06:20 PM

Of course, as I hinted at, it won't be inexpensive. Goldberg has an agent and has to give him a cut. I'm my own and I charge even more.

This might be the funniest thing I've heard all day. Ultimate Warrior charges more money for an appearance than Goldberg? Maybe that's why we never see Warrior Warrior hosting cable shows or starring in made-for-tv movies. Or maybe it's because he's a washed-up old loon. If the people on Hollywood Squares are "B" stars, he must be at least a "D".

"D" for destrucity!

Matt Young

02-24-2006, 06:31 PM

So did anyone else check out the New Midwest Wrestling video? I'd like to hear more comments.

Anyhow, here's a link to a shitload of WCW themes available for download:
http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=76430

Matt Young

02-24-2006, 06:48 PM

I haven't watched it yet, but Angle/Taker from No Way Out is on YouTube. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E59XgydySQ8&search=wwe%20no%20way%20out

Scorch

02-24-2006, 08:15 PM

I haven't watched it yet, but Angle/Taker from No Way Out is on YouTube. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E59XgydySQ8&search=wwe%20no%20way%20out

Yeah. Jimmie posted it in the last wrestling thread.

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1721395&postcount=467

Matt Young

02-24-2006, 08:33 PM

Shit, I didn't even notice.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/844/finlaycrowe6nf.gif

EDIT: I clicked on the link to finally watch it and got this:

The video you have requested is not available.

If you have recently uploaded this video, you may need to wait a few minutes for the video to process.

guyver2077

02-24-2006, 10:09 PM

why do the wwe smackdown divas keep alternating michelle mccool's song..

first jilian hall used it and now krystal

thesilentshadow30

02-24-2006, 10:42 PM

I know I am a page late but...

Nice write up on the Undertaker

AdamInPlaidum

02-24-2006, 11:11 PM

Man, you could really tell JBL seriously fucked up his hand. It was just laying limp when Mysterio went for the splash on him.

Looks like Benoit vs. JBL and Lashley vs. Finlay for Mania.

Roufuss

02-24-2006, 11:24 PM

2Fast

02-24-2006, 11:49 PM

I know I am a page late but...

Nice write up on the Undertaker

Hey! Don't you know that sig and avatar combo is borderline gimmick infringement?

Demolition Man

02-25-2006, 12:31 AM

Hey! Don't you know that sig and avatar combo is borderline gimmick infringement?

I sense a CAG fued brewing here...... more news on this as it develops. :D

neocisco

02-25-2006, 12:44 AM

Hey! Don't you know that sig and avatar combo is borderline gimmick infringement?

I believe that's a class-one felony.

Demolition Man

02-25-2006, 01:13 AM

I believe that's a class-one felony.

Which leads me to believe that the name "neocisco" is a 1st degree murder all on its own. :rofl:

Off to jail you go ya Circuit City slime-oh. ;)

2Fast

02-25-2006, 01:17 AM

I sense a CAG fued brewing here...... more news on this as it develops. :D

I just hope no one starts a CAG Wolfpack.

thesilentshadow30

02-25-2006, 01:27 AM

Lol

thesilentshadow30

02-25-2006, 01:39 AM

neocisco

02-25-2006, 01:45 AM

Which leads me to believe that the name "neocisco" is a 1st degree murder all on its own. :rofl:

Off to jail you go ya Circuit City slime-oh. ;)

...says "Demoltion Man". Sylvester Stallone called, he wants the title to his crappy movie back. You can have Judge Dredd, though.;)

Demolition Man

02-25-2006, 01:48 AM

I hadn't seen anything posted about this so I figured I would ask...

This past week I saw a XWF DVD at Wal-Mart.
I think it was called something like the lost tapes or something.
I have never seen the XWF and was wondering if it would be worth picking up?

I know it has a couple Hogan matches and some other guys that had left WWE sometime ago.

Its decent stuff and well worth picking up. It was filmed I believe in the same spot that TNA now uses at Universal Orlando even.

Graystone

02-25-2006, 02:03 AM

I hadn't seen anything posted about this so I figured I would ask...

This past week I saw a XWF DVD at Wal-Mart.
I think it was called something like the lost tapes or something.
I have never seen the XWF and was wondering if it would be worth picking up?

I know it has a couple Hogan matches and some other guys that had left WWE sometime ago.

About that "Wal-Mart are selling a three disc XWF DVD set. Each disc contains one one hour long XWF episode. One of the discs feature a match between Hulk Hogan and Curt Hennig."

Demolition Man

02-25-2006, 02:07 AM

...says "Demoltion Man". Sylvester Stallone called, he wants the title to his crappy movie back. You can have Judge Dredd, though.;)

Except Sylvester Stallone is going to have to deal with Gordon Sumner aka Sting since the nickname is from the song Sting wrote originally for Grace Jones then he used it himself on The Police album "Ghost In The Machine." By pure coincidence (or irony) he then redid the song himself for... you guessed it... that same said crappy Stallone film. :rofl:

Oh and for good laughs here's a quick screencap I did from The Police video that was done for the song as it appears as an extra on the "Every Breath You Take The DVD."

http://www.quotethedemolitionman.com/police.jpg

And by irony one of my older sigs actually used a screencap from the video Sting did for his own remake for the movie....

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/demomanTNA/cagsig2.jpg

Demolition Man

02-25-2006, 02:17 AM

I just hope no one starts a CAG Wolfpack.

Naw... they'll just defect over to that other company... what's their name.... oh right... Fatass Wallet or something like that..... yeah.....

Zenithian Legend

02-25-2006, 03:38 AM

That Smackdown was so boring...

I hope Rey Mysterio wins the title at WM 22, Batista then comes back and goes for the title, and two good friends have to fight over it.

I'd rather see that then anything else.

Eh.. Rey vs Batista just doesn't work for me. Rey is so little that he can only really get over as a face, Batista is a huge fan favorite (unlike Mr. Cena) wherever he goes. The only way this works is if Batista is the giant heel. Ya know, the classic David vs Goliath bit. It'd be hard to give Mysterio a legit title run, and I really don't think the current WWE creative team is clever enough to find a way to make a Rey title run work.

Genocidal

02-25-2006, 06:21 AM

Having just finished watching SmackDown, that shot JBL's hand took sandwiched in the steps looked brutal. You could definitely tell something was wrong with the way he 'oversold' it, and seeing him motion for help from the back after the match only confirmed it. Hopefully it's nothing too major, as Smackdown really needs a 3rd top heel (Orton and Henry being the other two, for now) and with the way Booker's been booked lately, I can't see him stepping up to fill that slot in the near future.

Danro

02-25-2006, 01:02 PM

Am I the only one who wants to see HHH beat the living tar out of John Cena? I know H isnt well liked around here, but I think Cena was too soon.

thesilentshadow30

02-25-2006, 01:05 PM

I wouldn't mind seeing HHH beat the snot of of Cena.
But then we are still talking about 2 people that are pushed
down our throats.

Danro

02-25-2006, 01:11 PM

Well, as far as HHH goes, I know hes married to the boss's daughter, but I say good for him. Lets stop the jealously and just come out and admit it :D

thesilentshadow30

02-25-2006, 01:19 PM

And for that he is set... face it.
HHH is never going to go away.
However, that being said... doesn't mean that he has to ALWAYS
be either the champ or fueding with the champ.

There was a time that I liked HHH but it didn't last too long.

If he was used in other ways I think he would get over better,
instead of always the same thing.

AdamInPlaidum

02-25-2006, 01:52 PM

To be perfectly fair to HHH, he has been out of the title scene for a good long time, since the middle of the draft lottery. However, if he would pull his head out of his ass, he would have seen that Edge was really getting over as a top heel, and let him run with it for awhile.

thesilentshadow30

02-25-2006, 03:18 PM

Yea even though I really don't care for Edge, at least it would have been someone new with the title run.

mykevermin

02-25-2006, 04:04 PM

Edge was really getting over as a top heel, and let him run with it for awhile.

The treatment of Edge, ironically (or coincidentally instead; I've got a brutal High Life hangover today, so fuck you if I make grammatical errors) resembles what happened to Christian about this time last year. He was hot, he was a fresh new face that was getting over with crowds left and right, and, for the most part, the crowds always paid attention to these guys. It was clear that there was a fan movement that demanded these guys needed to move up higher than they were (just like there was a fan movement to get the belt off of Cena).

Christian suddenly became a good guy on Raw, belittling Cena (and getting cheers for it, before people developed ambivalence towards Cena) and seemingly moving into the upper card. He spent the year before in a solid feud with Chris Jericho and showed he was a very good, if not great, wrestler. It was time to give him a chance at the top.

Then he was traded to SmackDown!, never given a title shot, never given a major feud or storyline, and the WWE spent a lot of money building up a "talk show" set for him to see it used roughly 5 times; not to mention, talk show segments are so passe that it seems that all but the juniors have them, so getting a set and a segment isn't anything to be happy about.

Compare that with Edge, who became *the* guy to hate in 2005 as a result of Matt Hardy (funny how that one turned out, no?). That feud was totally hot (well, they fucked it up somehow, but the heat was there and the matches a lot of fun). Their cage match was excellent, and while Matt Hardy got *some* comeuppance, Edge totally won that angle; he took everything good from it, and Matt Hardy is just a bitch, upset because he's tag-teaming with motherfucking Chief Eats-Too-Much (or, alternately, Chief Too-Old-For-This-Shit) instead of feuding for the NWA world heavyweight championship. I don't think *anyone* can say Matt Hardy made the right choice in his career there. But this is about Edge.

So, Edge is hot off that feud, and he has a new,*ahem*, edge to his character; his interviews are top notch, full of fantastic barbs, and very, very believable. There's something about his promos that cut through the make-believe WWE world and tell you that Edge is for real. In a world of Boogeymen, midgets, mexicans on lawnmowers, Dicks, and BodyDonnas, Edge somehow convinces you that he is the real deal.

So he gets a run at the top, winning the title in the single most brilliant (that's not a compliment) booking decisions made by the WWE this year. Ratings go up, Edge as champ is awesome, and somehow Cena managed to parlay some of the crowd ambivalence toward him. All is well in the world of OZ.

Now Edge lost the title, HHH jumped in to stake his *yawn* claim at WrestleMania (it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "WrestleMania Rewind"), and Edge is in a meaningless feud with Mick Foley. Now I love Foley, and I (kinda) look forward to his matches (I'd rather he set an example for others and actually retire); however, we now have *two* WrestleMania matches whose outcomes are only unknown to the dead and mentally handicapped. Wresting is often predictable, WrestleMania should *not* be. Hogan/Savage? Hogan/Andre? Hogan/Warrior? Rock/Austin (1, 2, or 3)? Brock/Angle? JBL/Cena? HHH/HBK/Benoit? Batista/HHH? That shit wasn't predictable. This shit is, and shit it truly is.

What benefit will Edge get from handily beating a middle-aged fat fuck whose main purpose currently is to be one of those inflatable punching clowns? Edge *had* his heat; he's lost it now, and beating a man who has lost at the past three WrestleManias (or did he not work WM21, and lost at Backlash? Ah fuck, I dunno)? Not a damn thing other than a paycheck. Edge lost his chance when they pulled the trigger on him and shut it right off, putting the title on that merchandise whore hip-hop cracker Cena.

I'd say that the popularity of Edge and Christian (their rising, denouement, and subsequent fall into the morass of sheer boredom and being kept out of the title scene) parallel each other to an uncanny extent. The only thing that differs is that Edge got a taste of the gold for about two weeks, wheras Christian came close to getting a match, but never did (and by the time he was Batista's punching bag on SD!, he wasn't a serious contender anyway).

End rant. I tivo'd SD!, didn't watch much of it at all, but I did watch one match: Psicosis versus Gregory Helms. If you can, go watch that match. It is exhibit A in the case against WWE regarding that Jim Cornette quote that several people cited (How can a company with so much talent, so much money and so much experience promoting wrestling and producing television consistently put out crap on tv every week?). It was a cruiserweight match without a *single* cruiserweight move. It was hold for hold the same kinda bullshit that Booker T and Benoit wrestle every week, that Matt Hardy and Captain Dipshit (or whomever he wrestles on a given week). It was not the cruiserweight division, it was the "smaller guys, same bullshit" division. TNA will truly fly right past WWE much faster than we can imagine if they keep putting matches like that on TV. It made me yearn for the technical excitement of Lance Hoyt, or some other dumb musclebound fuck.

Poor, poor Psicosis; how good you are, and how little we would know it thanks to the WWE.

Sporadic

02-25-2006, 04:28 PM

I hadn't seen anything posted about this so I figured I would ask...

This past week I saw a XWF DVD at Wal-Mart.
I think it was called something like the lost tapes or something.
I have never seen the XWF and was wondering if it would be worth picking up?

I know it has a couple Hogan matches and some other guys that had left WWE sometime ago.

I was actually at the tapings and got a t-shirt (No More Prima Donnas :lol: ).

It was pretty decent (highlight had to be the crusierweight battle royal) but I had to leave before they taped Hogan (they must have taped 6+ hours of footage that day).

Roufuss

02-25-2006, 06:04 PM

You know... Smackdown this past week was really boring.

I could care less about Matt Hardy / Tatanka fighting MNM (decent tag team, very shitty name, and Melina shrieking gives me a headache).

That Boogeyman match... why did Booker T not shut up the whole time? Something about a birth certificate, how Boogeyman dosen't have one, he started spouting gibberish I think because I sure as hell couldn't understand him... it was really obnoxious. Boogeyman's gimmick is getting old too.

Smackdown seems to be the gimmick show... mexicans on lawnmowers, a pirate, a worm eater, an indian, a british guy, a dead man. Some work, but the majority don't.

I turned the television off after that shitty cruiserweight match, where the crowd seemed completely dead.

evanft

02-25-2006, 08:27 PM

This thread needs more of the whole f'n show, Rob Van Dam:

http://images.art.com/images/-/Rob-Van-Dam--C10141175.jpeg

thesilentshadow30

02-25-2006, 09:30 PM

I tried to watch Smackdown this week but I could only stand to watch a bit.
It was mostly boring. And yea that Boogeyman match was a waste of time.
Not only was the match a waste but damn... can't Booker T ever shut the hell up.
He may be decent in the ring but put him near a mic and god is he annoying.

On a side note... I was out looking for something to watch today and I picked up TNA Bound For Glory on DVD. I decided on that over the XWF DVD... at least for now. I have only watched a bit of it and it looks like it should be pretty good.
I haven't watched any TNA for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time but I figured why not check it out.

Demolition Man

02-25-2006, 11:25 PM

Reminder to CAG that TNA Impact is on in 30 minutes on Spike TV. Should be a good one tonight with the NWA World Title match in the main event plus the hyped up Sting footage. Too bad we dropped the whole XBox Live wrestling chats... would be fun to do that one of these days again (complete with me screaming "TOUCHDOWN" during a backstage skit lol).

mykevermin

02-25-2006, 11:37 PM

I normally am not around to watch Impact, but after 8 pints of High Life last night, I'm in no mood to leave the house. If I can stop cursing at PoP: Warrior Within, I'll turn it on.

Demolition Man

02-25-2006, 11:58 PM

Damn mykevermin you are suck a drunk. :rofl:

Demolition Man

02-26-2006, 12:06 AM

BAWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA @ Monty Brown getting pwned by Christian Cage.

CaseyRyback

02-26-2006, 12:29 AM

BAWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA @ Monty Brown getting pwned by Christian Cage.

he had me rolling when he gave Monty the geography lesson

Demolition Man

02-26-2006, 12:47 AM

he had me rolling when he gave Monty the geography lesson

I certainly never think of geography in the same light ever again....

Graystone

02-26-2006, 01:11 AM

can't Booker T ever shut the hell up.

Thank you & QFT, hell in all of the times he has came down and tried to do commentary. The only thing I liked that I heard was, when sharmell said "look a dick just got wood". Thats when one of the dicks hit the table outside the the ring yesterday. But no one could really here it cause Booker T wouldn't shut the hell up.

2Fast

02-26-2006, 01:18 AM

He's supposed to be annoying when he's doing commentary.

PhrostByte

02-26-2006, 01:37 AM

How good was tonight's Impact? Scale it... To download or not to download, that is the question.

2Fast

02-26-2006, 02:09 AM

How good was tonight's Impact? Scale it... To download or not to download, that is the question.

Not as good as last weeks. Although, Shark Boy was on the show and the Sting video at the end was somewhat worth seeing.

PhrostByte

02-26-2006, 03:31 AM

Not as good as last weeks. Although, Shark Boy was on the show and the Sting video at the end was somewhat worth seeing.

Guess I'll check it out :)

PhrostByte

02-26-2006, 04:45 AM

For the TNA fans:

http://www.youtube.com/?v=IVgfMWaPDDY

hopesfall

02-26-2006, 04:54 AM

Not as good as last weeks. Although, Shark Boy was on the show and the Sting video at the end was somewhat worth seeing.

I really hate Shark Boy. At least, I hate his "gimmick". If I were a casual viewer, who just happened to come across TNA and Shark Boy was on, I would classify them as completely bush league. Just my opinion, I guess...

2Fast

02-26-2006, 04:59 AM

I really hate Shark Boy. At least, I hate his "gimmick". If I were a casual viewer, who just happened to come across TNA and Shark Boy was on, I would classify them as completely bush league. Just my opinion, I guess...

Don't ever watch Smackdown! then.

I really like Shark Boy because when I see him, it makes me feel like I could go out there (especially live). Not that he's a bad wrestler by any means; he's just so damn small and out of shape. I am in waaay better shape than that guy.

hopesfall

02-26-2006, 12:45 PM

Don't ever watch Smackdown! then.

I really like Shark Boy because when I see him, it makes me feel like I could go out there (especially live). Not that he's a bad wrestler by any means; he's just so damn small and out of shape. I am in waaay better shape than that guy.

Heh, yeah I think a lot of people are :). He might not be a bad wrestler, but geez...he just seems so..."hokey", I guess.

Zenithian Legend

02-26-2006, 07:01 PM

Closing the gap in the fantasy league.. pity Paul Burchill's match was on Velocity instead of SD... oh well. And that damn Matt Hardy didn't win the tag titles... again, oh well.

mykevermin

02-26-2006, 07:50 PM

I was looking at the lineup for TNA's Destination X, and although only four matches are announced so far, they all look good on paper (despite putting Bob Armstrong in the ring).

Outside of the Outlaws and Billy & Chuck, I, like most of you, didn't like Billy Gunn at all. I must say, however, that being paired back up with BG James seems to have given him a lot more life and vigor. He's a good guy to have on hand; while not a spectacular wrestler, I can say that he's solid, he's willing to make others look good, and rarely seems to half-ass a match. He has it all except for some top-notch wrestling skills (which is a vital omission, certainly) and wit on the mic (another). There is a reason Vince kept him on the payroll for over a decade, guys. Honestly, most of the ex-WWE guys have done a *great* amount to show Vince and Johnny (who?) Ace that they were wrong to get rid of them or de-push them; Rhino, Kip James, Christian, D-Von Dudley, and there must be some others; the only one who let themself go was Bubba Ray (and that's up for debate).

Can you imagine if their momentum keeps up? RVD leaving for TNA (which he should have done by now)? RVD vs Samoa Joe? AJ Styles? Face it, kids; you're the dumbest of the fucking dumb if you think RVD's gonna get anything but Intercontinental gold or the tag-team belt (both of which are empty gestures and a burden more than anything else) for the rest of his tenure in WWE. He needs to leave the company and start wrestling again.

neocisco

02-26-2006, 08:35 PM

mykevermin

02-26-2006, 08:57 PM

Wow, I didn't expect anyone to agree with me when it comes to praising Billy Gunn. Neat. As I said, he's not a show stealer in the ring, but he's no slouch either. Watch him sell sometimes; while a great wrestler is a great wrestler, the extent to which a guy sells his opponent's stuff (and also considering the "level" of his opponent) will tell you a great deal about a wrestler. I think Gunn sells stuff consistently for people, regardless of who he's in the ring with; knowing that the biggest criticism of the X-division wrestlers is that they'll do a seven-person hurricanrana from the top of the roller-coaster, 75 feet down into a powerbomb/pinning combo, then immediately get right back up and run the ropes like there's nothing wrong with them, it sounds really strange to suggest this, but those guys could learn a thing or two from Billy Gunn.

On the other hand, there are guys who just don't sell a fucking thing; not because they shouldn't (e.g., Kane/Undertaker), but because they think their shit doesn't stink. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head, but I can specifically recall one match this past week (dunno if it was WWE or TNA) where one of the guys didn't even blink when getting punched by his opponent, and it ruined the entire match.

TNA needs to make Destination X a stellar show, as well as the one following it in order to convince me to buy another. I know they can put on good shows, but it's my bad luck to have ordered Final Destination (yep, still bitter about it!). If DX and the next show are awesome, I'll give them another chance and order the next intriguing show.

Dunno about Benoit, but he has a title, so I guess he's on some kind of contract (don't want another "Jarrett" to happen, do you?). I don't think Benoit will leave WWE, which is a shame the way they've treated his best friend's death on television. It just goes to show you those guys have no fuckin' balls when it comes to telling the company to not do something.

I could see RVD telling the company to fuck off, since he seems to still have the desire to wrestle a match (given the excitement he shows towards anything "ECW" related), and he *knows* that WWE style means that he should shut his fucking mouth and work a style that doesn't show up top talent.

CM Punk is in for a rude awakening once he hits TV, if he even gets that far; I understand his position, however, since TNA kinda shit on him and Julio Dinero the last time he was there.

Depending where on the card Edge is in six months, I could see him leaving too. God knows he can't be happy that he had the belt for 3 weeks and is now out of the title picture for the long-term. Is he gonna feud with a heel champ in HHH? Not a chance.

Matt Hardy should kill himself, and complete the trifecta of self-pity and lifelong stupidity. It's kinda funny to think that he made a *HUGE* mistake going to work for WWE instead of TNA. I could not have forseen that.

Anyway, if Raw is, by and large, the same fucking reruns in six months that we've been watching for years, then I could see a lot of guys go down south, especially if Impact gets good ratings on Thursdays.

Demolition Man

02-26-2006, 09:16 PM

Myke, stop teasing me w/these potential RVD combos.

Lemme see here....

RVD vs Jerry Lynn (which will draw well on PPV, no angle even needed - just let em at it)
RVD vs Alex Shelly
RVD vs Christopher Daniels
RVD vs Jeff Jarrett (you read that right)
RVD vs Monty Brown
RVD vs Jushin “Thunder” Liger (any bets Saucy is going to reappear just to mark out to this)
RVD vs Petey Williams
RVD vs Samoa Joe
RVD vs AJ Styles
RVD vs Abyss
RVD vs Raven
RVD vs Matt Bentley
RVD vs Chris Harris
RVD vs James Storm
RVD vs Jay Lethal
RVD vs Shark Boy

... and I am only warming up.

neocisco

02-26-2006, 10:21 PM

You forgot one of the best...

RVD vs. Chris Sabin

I think RVD will stick around until at least the ECW PPV in June. After that, who knows? Shows how closely I'm following Smackdown. I didn't even know that Benoit had won the US title. The only things that would get me to watch SD on a regular basis again would be good cruiserweight matches (HA!) and another Angle/Benoit feud. In Benoit's case, I would LOVE another "Jarrett" incident. Myke, I'm surprised you didn't see Hardy's current situation coming about. To me, the writing was all over the wall on that one. He brought the whole situation to light outside of the WWE's control and I just didn't see any other way of this happening (a short feud that puts Edge over w/Matt selling beer at concessions, I mean buried on the undercard) since WWE is notorious for their punishments of talent who don't toe the line. Matt is looking at Christian right now and saying "That should have been me!:cry:".

mykevermin

02-26-2006, 10:31 PM

VanillaGorilla

02-26-2006, 10:33 PM

Because the CW's might use moves that make the big, talentless hosses look, well, big and talentless?

neocisco

02-26-2006, 10:39 PM

After the Helms/Psicosis match, I'm convinced you'll never see real "cruiserweight" matches on WWE tv. You'll see cws wrestle, but they won't be any different in content and flow from any other match on WWE tv. I don't understand why you would have an entirely separate division that isn't any fucking different.

Seriously, there wasn't a single move in that match that you wouldn't see in a Kane versus Tyson Tomko match. What's the fucking point? It's like dating a gorgeous woman who dresses like a lost member of "Little House on the Prairie." Yeah, you know what they're capable of, but you get pissed off when they settle for so much less than that.

That's what is so damn frustrating. They have THE BEST CW roster in the business right now (London, Kendrick, Helms, Noble, Punk, Kash, Psicosis, my personal fave, Super Crazy, etc.) and it's completely wasted. When I said the best I was including the X-Division as well. Those 2 groups are extremely close but the CW's have just a little more depth, IMO. The X-D looks better, of course, since they're actually allowed to wrestle their styles. If the CW's could really cut loose, look out. It will never happen, though.

Zenithian Legend

02-26-2006, 10:40 PM

Vince McMahon never really had a grasp on the cruiserweight concept. If there was one thing that the WCW did really well it was their cruiserweight division.

mykevermin

02-26-2006, 10:59 PM

Because the CW's might use moves that make the big, talentless hosses look, well, big and talentless?
Well, I disagree; there's a place in wrestling for a classic NWA 80's-style wrestling match (the kind that Flair/Sting used to have, and that HHH *thinks* he's wrestling). Just one look at the Angle/Taker main event match from last week shows you that these guys definitely *can* go, and that they are the main event guys (compared to the cw guys).

There are plenty of big talentless guys, I'll agree to that. While letting Brian Kendrick and Super Crazy go to town would make them very popular, they won't ever surpass the top-card guys. Snitsky? Yeah, but who the hell cares about that?

What's frustrating, and what neocisco and ZL point out is that it's not the wrestlers, it's the *context.* If I tell you Paul London and Super Crazy had a match on Velocity, none of you would watch it. If I said they had a match on TNA or in ROH, then you would *expect* that the wrestling was top notch. That's something that I can't figure out about WWE; with all the talent they have, they've conditioned the fans to expect their wrestling matches to be of the poorest quality compared with the other up-and-coming companies out there at the moment.

PhrostByte

02-27-2006, 02:21 AM

they've conditioned the fans to expect their wrestling matches to be of the poorest quality compared with the other up-and-coming companies out there at the moment.

Saving resources? Maybe? You can bet your bottom dollar that when (not if, but when) TNA reaches WCW-eqsue status Vince will definitely turn the heat back on. You gotta wonder if he's anticipating another Monday Night War type of ordeal... except maybe for Thursdays?

RVD in TNA would be a dream come true... Although I'd like to see him have matches with the X-Division guys (AJ vs. RVD would probably be my most anticipated match ever, too bad RVD is getting old and can't keep up:cry:) he'd have to be competing for the NWA belt. Having hardcore matches with the likes of Abyss, Sabu, Rhyno, and eventually Jarrett :)

Zenithian Legend

02-27-2006, 04:05 AM

You know, it might be in Vince's best interest to start up another federation on the side... of course he'd have to do so through someone else, for as soon as we knew it was Vince behind it we'd tune out. Anyway he could put in his cruiserweights and other guys such as RVD that we'd love to see outside of a WWE ring. Instead of releasing these guys or letting them jump to TNA you put them all in an alternate WWE, not SD/RAW, but an entirely different company.

Then, as Myke said, people would tune in to see these guys wrestle. Vince could fund a TV deal behind the scenes too, and make more money. Obviously the trick is going to be slowly moving the right guys over to this alternate-WWE. Essentially it'd be a WWE for the smarks. Then you can have Psichosis take on Nunzio in a five star match, and people will actually care.

I'd probably start the roster off by pooling together some of the bigger indy-fed draws. Maybe even reach out to Jeff Hardy, as he has nothing better to do at the moment. I know someone like Jeff Hardy violates the idea that this would be a wrestling federation built on nothing but quality wrestling, but #1 you need a draw, and #2 Jeff does some things that most other wrestlers just don't/won't do.

Remember when Vince secretly funded ECW on the side? That's kind of what this would be like, but I wouldn't have Heyman involved of course. I'd get someone with no association with the WWE to run the show.

niceguyshawne

02-27-2006, 08:38 AM

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 08:40 AM

What you are describing is what he should have done with WCW six years ago. Remember the whole Shane buying WCW storyline? They could have taken six months off for Shane to recruit talent from the WWE (on camera, of course) to retool and come back as the "new" WCW.

Don't you know that the public was just *clamoring* to see Undertaker's dogshit-ugly wife pin Diamond Dallas Page?

Duh!

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 10:09 AM

JBL's hand got messed up pretty bad it seems.

http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/jblinjured

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 10:30 AM

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 10:34 AM

After getting way too intimate with the insides of Batista's triceps (watching the surgery video), I don't think I'll click on that video link. Thanks though.

Anyone else pumped for the match of the century between Candance Michelle and Trish Stratus, or what? Let it go 25 minutes, and they'll show you why RVD doesn't even belong on Heat, shining Rob Conway's boots!

The JBL video doesn't show anything like that. Just a bit of the doctor and JBL (in character). They show his hand but the doctor is just holding it. It's not graphic at all.

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 10:41 AM

They show his hand but the doctor is just holding it.

For some reason, I really want to hear Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" right now.

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 10:53 AM

For some reason, I really want to hear Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" right now.

:lol:

Demolition Man

02-27-2006, 04:04 PM

What's frustrating, and what neocisco and ZL point out is that it's not the wrestlers, it's the *context.* If I tell you Paul London and Super Crazy had a match on Velocity, none of you would watch it. If I said they had a match on TNA or in ROH, then you would *expect* that the wrestling was top notch. That's something that I can't figure out about WWE; with all the talent they have, they've conditioned the fans to expect their wrestling matches to be of the poorest quality compared with the other up-and-coming companies out there at the moment.

Exactly myke. Vince McMahon (and the bookers) keep treating the CWs as not even a second thought but more like at least a SIXTEENTH OF A THOUGHT of importance to the company with even the janitors, Snitsky, and Tyson Tomko ahead of them. How often do you see the CW champ even on SmackDown! at all? The last CW title match was at NWO which had barely any build up or importance to it since they only gave it any push during the SmackDown! before NWO.

Then again it seems like WWE can't decide on what to do with SD anyways. Its like as if they want the shows to be a tribute to the cheesy aspects of the 80s era of wrestling (ie: Boogeyman, Paul Burchell the pirate). Then we got the CW side which is just absymal at best. Followed by the Juniors which I just don't get. Then we got the part that is resembling too much of the early to mid 90s complete with Kurt Angle in the role of Bret Hart, the Undertaker back to his dead man gimmick, Mark Henry who at best should be either a security guard or janitor at the show. Chris Benoit is being wasted. Randy Orton has been given a completely lame character. Rey Mysterio should have quit and gone to TNA by now. Booker T's character has gotten very boring.

EDIT: Oh... and JBL who's I swear has more in common with Ted DiBiase than the Bradshaw from the APA days.

So... again.... what's the point of SmackDown these days? If I can't get it then obviously the WWE isn't doing a good job. Yeah there is occasionally some good wrestling on the show but overall its just a disaster. Sadly I don't see this changing any time soon either.

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 05:46 PM

Vince McMahon has given more thought to his "Kiss My Ass" club than anything dealing with cruiserweights. I still can't believe he actaully got Regal to do that.

Genocidal

02-27-2006, 06:19 PM

How often do you see the CW champ even on SmackDown! at all? The last CW title match was at NWO which had barely any build up or importance to it since they only gave it any push during the SmackDown! before NWO.

Actually, Helms has been on Smackdown for the past 3 or 4 weeks, and defended last Friday against one of the Mexicools. Supposedly he'll be defending the title every week now on Smackdown by decree of Teddy Long.

Also, an update about the 'big meeting', turns out it was about the drug policy after all:
Effective today, February 27, 2006, WWE is implementing a broad WWE Talent Wellness Program. The Program has two components: 1. an aggressive substance abuse and drug testing policy, and 2. a cardiovascular testing and monitoring program.

The Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy (“Policy”) prohibits the non-medical use and associate abuse of prescription medications and performance-enhancing drugs, as well as the use, possession and/or distribution of illegal drugs by WWE Talent. The use of masking agents and/or diuretics to conceal or obscure the use of prohibited drugs is also prohibited. This Policy will be administered by Dr. David L. Black (http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/2209198), Ph.D., D-ABFT, D-ABCC, of Aegis Sciences Corporation (http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/2209248), Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Black will be responsible for scheduling Talent for testing, administering collection of samples, coordinating secure shipment of samples to the testing facility, determining whether any WWE Talent has tested positive and directing the appropriate penalty be imposed.

Under the Policy, WWE Talent may be tested on a random and/or reasonable suspicion basis. The initial test of all Talent will be considered "baseline" testing. No discipline will be imposed for a positive test on the baseline test. The results of the baseline test, if positive for any prohibited substance, will be utilized thereafter by Dr. Black to determine if use has continued. After the baseline test, subsequent positive tests for non-medical use of a prohibited substance will result in disciplinary action. For testing positive the first time, a Talent will be suspended for 30 days without pay. A second positive test results in a 60 day suspension without pay or, if Dr. Black so determines, in-patient care at a substance abuse facility, during which the Talent also will be suspended without pay. A third positive test results in termination.

The cardiovascular aspect of the wellness program will be handled by New York Cardiology Associates P.C., (http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/2209272)led by Drs. Post and Feuerbach. Under this aspect of the Program, all WWE Talent will undergo an extensive cardiovascular stress test. Examinations and treatment will be conducted thereafter as warranted. Looks to be a step in the right direction.

And that concludes good old post 1000. :bouncy:

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 06:25 PM

Shame post count means nothing anymore ;)

Looks like Scorch (and I) were right about the drug testing; being distantly connected to the testing company, though, he was a bit more right than I.

Three times and you're fired? I think that's a bit lenient, and it shows that they (and this is understandable) don't want to lose their talent. OTOH, the punishments for first violation (30 days unpaid leave) and second violation (60 days of the same) seem very appropriate. Kudos to them.

I'm still skeptical of it, and I don't believe they'd send home any top level talent for a violation. Tomko? Sure, but he won't even be with the compan by the time the first round of random testing starts. Triple H? No way he'd get put on ice. Same with Angle, same with Chris Masters, and on down the line.

The irony is that they'd probably only send Spanky home for drug abuse.

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 06:54 PM

RVD doesn't still use marijuana does he?

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 06:56 PM

I'm sure he does; I don't expect him to get in trouble for it.

Genocidal

02-27-2006, 07:02 PM

CaseyRyback

02-27-2006, 07:16 PM

http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/hofonusa

USA showing the HOF ceremony is definately a smart move, and judging from the time it is going to be shown I guess WWE wants to send TNA to primetime on a down note

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 07:22 PM

The Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy (“Policy”) prohibits the non-medical use and associate abuse of prescription medications and performance-enhancing drugs, as well as the use, possession and/or distribution of illegal drugs by WWE Talent.

From that I would wager marijuana would be grounds for discipline.

The funny thing is that Brian Christopher could have stayed in WWE if this policy was in place then. He would have only gotten a 30 day vacation.

I think the cardiovascular testing/monitoring is a huge deal. Hopefully in can help catch problems early.

Zenithian Legend

02-27-2006, 08:04 PM

Actually, Helms has been on Smackdown for the past 3 or 4 weeks, and defended last Friday against one of the Mexicools. Supposedly he'll be defending the title every week now on Smackdown by decree of Teddy Long.

Also, an update about the 'big meeting', turns out it was about the drug policy after all: Looks to be a step in the right direction.

And that concludes good old post 1000. :bouncy:

And you made it here! As for Helms, I can't see a reason not to put him on your WWE fantasy team for every week from now til the end of the season. Tatanka, Goldust and all five Spirit Squad members are available to be selected for your fantasy team too. The first two for $200,000 and the Squad at $1,500,000 each.

I'm still skeptical of it, and I don't believe they'd send home any top level talent for a violation. Tomko? Sure, but he won't even be with the company by the time the first round of random testing starts. Triple H? No way he'd get put on ice. Same with Angle, same with Chris Masters, and on down the line.

The irony is that they'd probably only send Spanky home for drug abuse.

Shame Masters is in that group... I once mentioned to my friend that Masters probably wouldn't last long after steroid testing took full effect, but then mentioned to me that Masters' background in professional body-building pretty much rules out the potential use of steroids, as those guys are tested almost every day.

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 08:18 PM

I wonder if they can check for HGH? I don't remember if there is a reliable test for it or not.

Zenithian Legend

02-27-2006, 08:24 PM

From the wording of that policy, it doesn't look like drugs in the sense that most people think of them (marijuana, cocaine, etc.) are being tested for. I could be wrong, but I'd imagine the full policy is more complex than the snippet they gave us on WWE.com.

I personally hope one of the bigger name stars (HHH ideally, not because I dislike him but because of his pull backstage) gets caught early and WWE puts their foot down, suspending them for 30 days. I'd like to see that they really mean business with this policy.

You know the H's aren't going to get caught. He's basically set to inheret the company, and like him or not, Triple H is no fool. He's not going to throw away his position on keeping himself abnormally large.

A few months ago a friend of mine from a class was discussing how one of his friends was doing steroids essentially for the look. Well this weekend I found out it was a guy I kind of know, as he is one of my old roommate's fraternity brothers. Anyhow, I hadn't seen the guy since late last year, he wasn't small, but he certainly wasn't built, and now he's absolutely huge. He's also good friends with the friend of mine from class. My old roommate said it was a lot of creatine, but obviously you can put 2 and 2 together here. I don't understand why people would do that though, clearly something off psychologically. I guess I should've asked... instead I just said "Hey computer repairman! You sure have put on some weight there..."

hopesfall

02-27-2006, 08:40 PM

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 08:46 PM

I don't understand why people would do that though, clearly something off psychologically.
Instant gratification; it's the same reason that lottery tickets get sold every week, but people drop out of high school.

It's more valuable to take a chance at instant results than it is to put in effort to guaranteed results. And, while I won't take offense, that's a far more sociological than psychological phenomenon. ;)

You're dead right about HHH, though. Shame about that.

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 08:55 PM

I saw (most of) and interesting little documentary on TLC last week. It was called "The Man Whose Arms Exploded". It was pretty interesting. Basically showed the effects of abusing steroids. Did anyone else see it? Also, on MTV last week they had something like "True Life...I'm a Steroid User" or something to that effect. It showed a bunch of steroid users who used them for different purposes. Well, the same general goal, but different reasons to get to that goal. Personally, I would love to be able to pack on muscle better, but I'd rather do it naturally and not deal with the health risks invovled with steroids. I certainly see the temptation though...the gains are pretty significant.

The thing about steroids is that you still have to work hard to get results, it just happens faster. People involved in sports often use steroids to recover faster from fatigue.

Myke is right about the instant gratification factor. That is major factor in almost any drug use.

Also...

Howard Stern reported on his radio show yesterday that Nicole Bass is back in the hospital due to steroid influenced pancreatitis.

sources - PWInsider.com, Wrestling Observer

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 08:56 PM

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 09:05 PM

That steroid show sounds cool, hopesfall. It isn't on again until late March, unfortunately. If I had one criticism about the Billy Graham dvd, it's that it glossed over his drug use and how bad it fucked him up. They spent more time focusing on how bitter he was in his lawsuit against the WWE than they did on his body failure, liver replacement, and other aspects.

For some odd reason the Rev. Billy Graham popped in my head. :-s

I think one of the first surgeries I remember seeing was Superstar getting work done on his knee. At least I think I saw that on TV.

GuilewasNK

02-27-2006, 09:15 PM

I'll be damned, there is a local indy wrestling program on my TV, the AIWF. I didn't even realize that we had a fed here. Interesting....

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 10:10 PM

"You're rated 'O' for 'old'"

I take back those compliments about Edge's promo style...#-o

And what's with his bukkake shirt? (sorry for stealing evanft's only good joke of the night)

BAH GAWD STUN COLD!!!! STONE CLOD STONER!!! CANDANCE MICHELLE AND KISS MY ASS TO-NITE FOLKS! BARNBARNERSLOBKNOCKERROCKETBLASTERBAHGAWD!THIS COULD BE THE GREATEST RAW OF ALL TIME!!! THIS COULD BE BETTER THAN TINY TIM'S WEDDING ON THE TONIGHT SHOW, OR JANET JACKSON'S BOOBIE ON TV!!1BAH GUD SLUN CODE BONER@!!!

Zenithian Legend

02-27-2006, 10:41 PM

Instant gratification; it's the same reason that lottery tickets get sold every week, but people drop out of high school.

It's more valuable to take a chance at instant results than it is to put in effort to guaranteed results. And, while I won't take offense, that's a far more sociological than psychological phenomenon. ;)

You're dead right about HHH, though. Shame about that.

Too true. And you're right (obviously) it is more sociological. The psychological aspect is a result of the sociological part, so... ya, we'll just leave it at that since we're in agreement.

I had a feeling Big Show & Kane would defend the tag titles tonight... where was Viscera's partner? I was flipping between 24, Raw and leveling up in La Pucelle.

Zenithian Legend

02-27-2006, 11:02 PM

Alright, I've posted a few of my opinions on how to fix Wrestlemania, and I've decided that I'm just going to post it all, as some of the things are already happening (much to my delight). I've updated some of the card (in yellow) since I wrote this a week ago.

Here it is in its entirety, MY Wrestlemania "corrections":
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, 'Horse' you say, if you're so clever what then is your master plan to fix Wrestlemania. I mean we're on the road to Wrestlemania right now, and things aren't looking so good. Well, 6 weeks is a long time, and I believe that if the a few precautions are taken, that come April 2nd, we might not be faced with the worst Wrestlemania of all time.

1. WWE Title - HHH vs Cena - Despite the fact that this match should've taken place a long time ago when people still cared about Cena, there's still a possibility for this to go down as a good match. The build-up will be very important here. I want to see HHH out there ripping into Cena for the first few weeks. Do NOT put them in a match together. There's a time and a place for that and it's called Wrestlemania 22, and it's in Chicago. If I'm booking this the fans don't get so much of an in-ring tease out of these two for the next 3 weeks. One week you have HHH doing commentary during a Cena match, the next week vice-versa. Have plenty of stare-downs, and continue to build the tension. Right now these two have little to no history, and we've only got a month to fix that. HHH has his motive, and that's to take back what's his, Cena on the otherhand does not. We also have plenty of reasons to hate HHH, yet so few to like Cena. So, my proposal is to use none other than Maria to fix this. I want to see her continue this little romance with Cena, and then in a few weeks I want to see HHH pedigree her right in the middle of the ring, while Cena can't get down there to make the save. Then we'll watch as Cena carries her limp body to the back. I think doing something like that would actually give the fans a reason to like Cena, and make sure that they still hate HHH. The week after that, you'd have Cena and HHH finally get in the ring, but have security split them up of course. Have McMahon come out and say that his Wrestlemania main event is not going to be ruined. Then the week after that, ideally the Raw prior to Mania, we finally let Cena and HHH go at it, end Raw with the two of them beating the hell out of each other. Perhaps Maria could be back that week, and HHH could be going after her again, and this time Cena could make the save. I believe the crowd would eat that up and then Cena would be viewed as the "night in shining armor" instead of just the guy trying too hard to be cool. At Mania, you have got to let Cena win. It's so critical that Cena goes over. If John Cena is ever going to be a big star, he has to win this match. After that, if the fans still won't take to him, then it's time to give HHH the belt at Backlash and make other plans for Cena. It's also going to be important that Cena and HHH isn't the 8 minute crapfest that Cena vs JBL was last year. Cena is actually capable of wrestling a good match, or at least he was at one point early in his career. This match needs to be around 20+ minutes, and probably gory as hell in order for the fans to get really into it. Tease the finish over and over as necessary, of course Maria has to be down there during the match to potentially muck things up for Cena, but in the end the title has to stay around Cena's waist. If HHH wins this match, it's a good sign Vince has abandoned his idea of Cena being the next big star.

2. I/C Title - No DQ - Shelton vs Flair - A lot of people would probably like to see RVD here. That just can't happen, and I'll tell you why. If you put RVD in this match, then in order to continue his momentum, RVD must win. This in turn de-values the I/C strap as Shelton just won it. Shelton vs Flair isn't going to be a good match to be quite honest. It's a necessary filler though. Have Flair remain off TV next week, to sell his injuries and then comeback the following week and cut a promo demanding a rematch against Benjamin. They could have a match prior to that on Raw or at SNME, and Shelton's momma can make sure her boy doesn't lose the title. The result is at Wrestlemania Shelton faces Flair one last time in a no DQ match. Again, Shelton should cheat in some manner to win the match (true you can't technically cheat in a no DQ match, but you get the idea). Hopefully, this finally completes Shelton's heel turn, and Shelton no longer gets the silent treatment like he did for the most part when he nailed Flair with the oxygen tank. It's gonna be kind of hard to get people to really care about this match, but if the WWE spends the next few weeks working on turning Shelton heel, I think this match could be decent. After Wrestlemania, Shelton should begin a program with a mid-card face, such as Chavo, and hold onto the belt for awhile until he looks strong enough, that losing the belt to RVD isn't going to automatically drop Shelton off the radar again. Ultimately, I'd like to see Shelton drop the title to RVD, but still move up the card, as he's fully capable of putting on a good match.

3. Tag Titles - Kane & Big Show vs Eric Bischoff and 3 Minute Warning - This is the most logical way to re-introduce Bischoff. I know a build-up to this match isn't going to be easy, especially if Bischoff is kept off camera much longer, but who else is there to face Kane & The Big Show at this point? They've already beaten every team on Raw. Ideally the WWE could just unify the belts and have them defended on both shows, but I doubt that will happen. This could be a good time to finally split Kane & The Big Show, as Vince seems to want to put Show in more singles matches again as of late. Remember that "Mr. Jacobs" storyline I came up with for Kane? Why not have Big Show conk Kane in the head with something dense on accident and trigger my scenario? Either way, if you're going to bring back 3 Minute Warning, they're going to need the belts to make people forget how much of a joke they turned out to be last time. If you don't put them in this match, put in someone else that Show and Kane can just crush. You save time, and continue to make Show and Kane look like good champions, until a real challenger emerges.

4. Women's Title - Trish vs Mickie w/ Ashley as the guest referree - I know the Trish, Mickie angle has been going on for quite some time now. I think that's great though. Back in the day there used to only be 4 WWE ppvs per year. As such, each ppv was generally full of matches with a good story behind them. The writers have been very patient with Mickie, and a good pay-off should come at Wrestlemania. I suggest putting Mickie in as many matches on TV as possible leading into Wrestlemania. Finally, two weeks before the big show, have Trish beat Candice if she hasn't done so already, and then have Mickie turn on Trish after the match. Don't do this backstage, do it out in front of the fans so they get a chance to let Mickie really hear it. Then at Mania, you've got your big match between Trish and Mickie. A women's match that people will actually be interested in. We can toss Ashley in as the guest referree for good measure, plus that way she's not wrestling. I thought about tossing in Victoria and Candice or Torrie too and making this a fatal 4 way, but I really think that Trish and Mickie need to have it out. I would have Mickie win, because if Trish wins there's little to continue to feud with, and right now no other woman but Victoria deserves to be wrestling. *well now that Ashley is hurt, she can just be left out of the match*

5. Hardcore Match: Edge vs Foley - Honestly, I don't like this one. I know Mick will make Edge look good, but if you're going to make Edge a main eventer, you can't drop him down here. Foley is basically retired, and paraded around at big pay-offs to make current guys look better. Problem is, Edge has already been to the top of the mountain, and now he needs to be facing someone else that's up there. I'm not sure who else you can use on Raw as there really aren't any top faces left outside Cena, who is getting boo'd most of the time anyway. I'd like to see Edge vs RVD, but perhaps it is too soon for that. Especially with so little time to build up to it. Anway, Edge will pick up the win. I'd like to see Duggan in Mick's corner, to counter Lita. By having Edge win regardless of Duggan being out there, you make Edge look stronger. If Edge wins because of Lita he looks weaker. Common logic lets you know that Edge needs to look stronger if he's going to stay at main event status.

6. Rockers vs McMahons - This could be great if executed properly. I think Vince needs to continue humiliating Jannetty during the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. It's absolutely necessary that Michaels and Jannetty actually team up and win a match or two on Raw though, to remind older fans and introduce newer fans to The Rockers. Hell, I'd even have them come out at Wrestlemania in their old Rockers costumes. A deal of some sort could be reached between Michaels and McMahon, kind of a loser leaves town type of deal. Since HBK is expected to take time off anyway. The match would end seeing Jannetty turn on Michaels and helping Vince win. Later on, it would be explained that Jannetty did it to gain revenge for the infamous Barbershop incident all those years ago. Of course Vince would put an unconcious Michaels in the sharpshooter to win the match.

7. World Title - Angle vs Orton vs Rey - Yes, Kurt is capable of putting on one hell of a match with Orton alone, but the only way you're saving this one is by adding Rey. Putting Rey into the mix does three things: First, you save your Kurt. We all know damn well that Kurt Angle has seen better days. If you toss Rey in there, Kurt won't have to do as many high risk spots, thus preserving what's left of him. Second, you appease the fans. I touched on this before, Rey is more popular than Randy Orton. The people want to see Rey in the match. The build-up between Randy and Rey, although distasteful, is very intense. Third, you add an extra level of unpredictability, if Rey can get in the match, then perhaps he could win it. He did win the Royal Rumble afterall; that is what you want the fans to believe. Whether Rey wins or not would be irrelevant at that point. It should be interesting to see how they handle this situation on Smackdown this week. I think a non-title match between Rey and Angle would help Rey's cause. Let Rey pin Kurt, so again you continue to build up that belief in the minds of the fans that Rey Mysterio really could win the title. Rey can continue to say that this is for Eddie all he likes, just stop having Randy take cheap shots at Eddie, and have him start in on Kurt. After Rey has proved himself over the next month (next 4 SDs) then you finally have Vince himself show up and put Rey into the match, as a way of giving the fans what they want. I think Vince can get away with this, as Vince can do pretty much anything, yet still turn around the next show and keep all of his heat. So, we end up with Rey, Angle and Randy. In the end I have Kurt pin Rey. Right now Smackdown desparately needs a little stability, and only Kurt Angle can provide that. The fans aren't ready to accept Randy Orton as champion (again) yet. Plus a potential Angle vs Batista match is something we haven't seen yet, and the WWE can finally have the Randy vs Batista showdown at Summerslam. By having Kurt pin Rey, Orton doesn't look as weak for not winning the title. Orton would also have a gripe that he was not pinned, and this would allow him to continue his feud with Angle, until Batista returns. *Excellent, Rey is officially in the match, now hopefully the rest of my plans are followed*

8. US Title - 2 out of 3 falls - Benoit vs Booker T - These two have got a great history already. Plus Booker T can complain that he wasn't at 100% when Benoit took the title from him at No Way Out. Let this be the be-all, end-all to one of the greatest upper mid-card feuds in the history of wrestling. A 2-out-of-3-falls match helps bring about that sense of closure that these two need, and Wrestlemania is the best stage to close out a feud. It really doesn't matter who wins the match, as long as they can win clean. Perhaps you can have Sharmell help Booker win his first fall, but then have her sent to the back because of that, so the final fall is just Benoit vs Booker T. Hopefully the Booker man is in good enough shape to go for this one, I'd hate to see him get replaced due to his injury. I'm assuming if he wrestled at No Way Out though, he can go for Wrestlemania. Again, I'm not sure it really matters who wins this one. I'd probably keep the title on Benoit though, as he just picked it up, and Booker could then take some more time off to fully recover, or... start a feud with The Boogeyman. *Seems the Boogeyman feud has already started up, I hope they finish things off on SNME, so the Benoit/Booker T match can happen, perhaps the Boogeyman can beat Booker T on SNME, and then Booker T can beat Benoit, setting up a Boogey vs Booker feud for the tag title.*

9. Tag Titles - Fatal 4 Way - MNM vs Tatanka & Matt Hardy vs Gymini vs Finlay & William Regal - I'm not sure fans are aready to accept the team of Matt Hardy & Tatanka as legit title contenders yet. I think people would accept Finlay teaming with William Regal though, as both hail from western Europe, and both have similar in-ring styles. You could substitute Hardcore Holly for Regal, but I'd much rather use Regal here. The way this is built up to, is first by having Finlay and Regal form a team on as soon as possible. Then you have MNM cheat Tatanka & Hardy out of the titles, and find a way to retain them up to Wrestlemania. Gymini would also be a good throw-in for the match. As long as they beat teams like the Dicks, Kendrick & London, etc on tv they'll look more legit. Putting them in such a match, would help the creative team really gauge how far they have (or have not) progressed. Naturally you don't let Gymini win the match, and I'm not really in favor of Hardy & Tatanka winning either, as at the moment I have no idea why they're even teaming up. The only thing that comes to mind regarding the Tatanka/Hardy alliance is they're both billed from North Carolina. I think putting the titles on my Finlay/Regal team wouldn't be a bad way to go, as fans might finally take Finlay a bit more serious after that. Of course, keeping the belts on MNM would be a safer move. Due to the lack of title changes I have scripted for the entire show, I'd have MNM drop the straps here to keep the overall title picture fresh. *Obviously the Regal/Finlay combo isn't going to happen. Instead let's run with this Finlay/JBL combo. I know it's a step back for JBL, but he's injured right now. Being a hand injury he could probably wrestle with a cast on, but competing in the MITB match as I had originally just isn't going to work. So, put him in tag action and let Finlay carry the work load. You can even have Finlay and JBL win the match, as few would expect this.*

10. Cruiser Title - Free Fall Match - Gregory Helms vs Brian Kendrick vs Funaki vs Kid Kash vs Nunzio vs Paul London vs Psicosis vs Scotty vs Super Crazy vs Simon Dean vs Steven Richards vs Chavo - I'm sure some of these names may be omitted, especially if Psicosis and Crazy are teaming up in the previous match. Remember back to Wrestlemania 2000, when they had that great Hardcore Battle Royal? The 24/7 rule was in full effect, and the title changed hands numerous times over the course of the match. Well, that's what I want to see here, a Cruiser free for all battle royal. Put 15 minutes on the clock and let them go at it. Whoever, ends the match with the belt is declared champion. This way the valuable tv time that Vince doesn't care to give to the light heavyweights doesn't have to be wasted, plus we avoid an exact re-hash of the match at No Way Out. There's other benefits too, as you can have someone pin Helms, then have another wrestler pin that guy, and have Helms get the final pin and ultimately retain the title. A feud could then be born, as Helms would not have pinned the man who pinned him. Another possibility is giving the title to Chavo and moving him back to Smackdown. The Smackdown fans are more familiar with Eddie, and therefore would be more prone to cheering Chavo. I think this would be a great way to move him back over there, just like the WWE did with Helms at The Royal Rumble. *Since JBL is hurt, I'd rather see Chavo in the MITB match, although he could do both. There were a few wrestlers who had other matches and still were in the Hardcore Free for All at WM2000, it'd be cool to see Chavo win this after losing the MITB*

11. Gimmick Match - The Undertaker vs Mark Henry - Taker doesn't want to be in this match, and quite frankly I don't think anyone wants to see it. The Undertaker is sure to win, as he's dominated Wrestlemania for too long, to drop a match now, let alone to Mark Henry. I think the WWE officials have realized that while Henry certainly has the look and demeanor, he lacks the in-ring and mic abilities to be a main eventer at this point. So, why not spice this match up a little bit, and give the people a reason to want to see it, make it a gimmick match. Undertaker has been in so very many gimmick matches, but there's only two I can see as being viable choices here. While we'd all love to see Mark Henry fall off of the cell in a Hell in the Cell match, the last thing the WWE needs is a repeat of the HITC match between the Bossman and Taker, so cross that one off. Then there's the Inferno Match, again, I just think that could get too ugly. Henry probably smells bad enough as it is, I'm sure he'd smell like burning rubber (or blubber) if he caught on fire, so let's go in another direction. That leaves us with either a Buried Alive Match or a Casket Match. I think the Buried Alive is the most long overdue, so that's my pick, but a Casket Match could be interesting too. Just make sure there's some interesting gimmick at play here, and make sure the match is kept to 10 minutes in length. I think by keeping the match short and gimmick-style, you'll keep the fans interest.

12. Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Carlito vs Masters vs RVD vs JBL(Chavo) vs Lashley vs The Boogeyman - The only way this match really works is to make it co-brand. You *could* replace the Smackdown guys with Kane, The Big Show and Chavo and then since there'd be no Raw Tag Titles match, you'd have room for Lashley vs JBL part 2. However, that would leave the Boogeyman displaced, and I don't think fans would really buy into Kane or The Big Show winning this type of match at this point. Most people who have been watching wrestling long enough know all too well that Kane and Show tend to be fillers in cluster matches and never potential winners. If you're going to put Kane or Show into the match, then they really have to win, and since this match is designed to elevate someone's career, I would simply leave Kane & Show out, as they've already been at the top of the card for a long time. Now that my explanation for the participants is out of the way, here's how I book the set-up. Obviously, Carlito has made it clear he wants another Money in the Bank match to take place. Well, I think JBL should insist upon this too. Have him campaign for one on Smackdown, ultimately leading to an inter-promotional match. With Carlito in the match, RVD should naturally want to be in the match. RVD and Carlito have some history and worked a great match together during the #1 Contender Tournament on Raw. Masters has been appearing in more and more of these types of matches lately, so including him is logical as well. Masters can come out next week and campaign for the match too, while he says that he is the future of Raw, and not Carlito. Since JBL cheated to beat Lashley at No Way Out, Lashley should want to get in the match not only to prove himself and get the MITB shot, but to get revenge on JBL too. Finally, Teddy Long can introduce the final competitor in the match... The Boogeyman. The Boogeyman adds a true wild card into the mix, and the fans have already taken to him so quickly. The difficulty then becomes picking a winner. Since I think Angle and Cena should retain, naturally the individual who wins should be someone who can start a feud with one of those two. I believe that the Smackdown title picture is fairly clear through SummerSlam right now, Angle will retain at Mania, then start a program with Randy Orton, until Batista is healthy and enters the mix. So, I'd have to go with a Raw guy to win the match. Edge did such a great job using the Money in the Bank briefcase to his advantage as a heel that I'd hate to see a face win this match. Plus, I'd like to see RVD win the I/C title at some point, before moving full steam into the WWE Title picture. So, that leaves us with either Masters or Carlito. Either one is a good choice here, but my pick is going to be Carlito. I think Carlito seems more like the type that would use that briefcase to help himself win a few matches. Plus if you plan on keeping the Belt on Cena, he's going to need a decent heel challenger. Carlito ended up being the final man in the elimination chamber against Cena, so why not give him a one-on-one shot. Carlito can always bide his time like Edge did last year, all the while building up character by using the MITB briefcase to aid him. If Carlito at any point appears to be losing heat with the crowd, or if it becomes necessary to strip Cena of the title, then simply have Carlito lose the MITB shot to someone else. RIght now, I feel Carlito winning a match like this would make Carlito look worthy of finally getting a title shot. While waiting any longer to push Carlito could leave him on the outside looking in, permanently. *Alright, I've already touched on the JBL injury and Chavo made an appearance on SD last week, so I suggest having Chavo qualify for the MITB match this week on SD, and have him replace JBL*

karsh

02-27-2006, 11:05 PM

I have to say, HHH just had the best line of the night in my book when he dissed Cena on the fact that his only move is to pump up his Reeboks. I just turned it on after 24 and I doubt anything could have made me laugh as much as that did tonight.

mykevermin

02-27-2006, 11:12 PM

I dunno what to think of the Raw main event for WrestleMania. On one hand, the male crowd is more against Cena than ever; on the other, they aren't willing to cheer HHH. That's not a good sign for the biggest show of the year, where the crowd hates both guys in the main event of the "A" show.

On the flipside, perhaps the crowd does view HHH as being "above" the belt, and that Cena beating him will give him some much needed credibility with the crowd.

Zenithian Legend

02-27-2006, 11:24 PM

Hmm, well with Chavo vs Benjamin right now, it's unlikely that the MITB match is co-brand, sucks... if they were gonna make it all Raw superstars why not put Chavo in the match? Meh, maybe he'll get in the cruiserweight match...

Sigh, this just shows how stupid the WWE writers are. There's gonna be no I/C title match at Wrestlemania now? So dumb... I guess Flair and Shelton will finish things off at SNME, and I doubt the title changes hands. Instead Flair will probably join RVD, Shelton, Carlito, Masters and... oh at this point why not put the fucking Spirit Squad in the match. Although, who says it has to be only 6 people in the match?

GREAT GREAT GREAT Choice for the WWE Hall of Fame, Mean Gene was one of a kind. I hope The Brain inducts him. Well