I just finished watching this weekend's confidential and it was a great show. The 2 part piece on "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd was excellent, showing how Ladd paved the way for black wrestlers in the WWE as well as, as Theodore Long said, for heels as a whole. I had heard of Ladd but this was the first I'd ever seen him or heard more than vague information about him. The man was huge!
Next up was Inside the Ropes with the Big Show. This was hands down one of the absolute funniest things I've ever seen on WWE television. I laughed out loud at Show several times, from the first words that came out of his mouth until the end. "Why'd you pick such a hot room? Don't you know I'm fat?" Show's only fears are midgets and clowns... do I smell a return of Dink to go with Doink? He did a great Mike Tyson impersonation that had me rolling. I was on the floor again when Show started talking about his cat. Apparently, his cat weighs 22lbs and they have to open the kitty gate for it to go in and out and pick it up and set it on the bed because it can't jump. "She's so fat she makes me look like Jane Fonda."
The third segment was all about the 3D. I would have expected that a several minute long segment about a single wrestling maneuver would be really lame, but this was actually quite interesting. Bubba talked about how he came up with the idea of the move, they talked about the various mechanics of it (including a normal 3D and a 3D through a table) and showed a couple dozen clips of various people taking the 3D. They even showed ECW footage of the very first 3D ever, the one Spike recently listed as one of the 10 most painful bumps he's ever taken.
Next up is From the Vault. Charlie Haas chose the Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect Summerslam match which many people claim is the greatest match in the history of professional wrestling.
The second part of the Ernie Ladd feature followed, showing Ladd in his home town. Footage of him in church and giving a pep talk to the local high school football team. Not as boring as it sounds, because Ladd really is well spoken. From what they showed, Ladd would serve as an excellent role model for wrestlers of today.
Finally, they throw in the obligatory fluff piece with Sable being pampered at a day spa while hosting Slammin' Saturday Night. Pretty much worthless, except as masturbation fodder for 12 year olds, but it was short, so I'm not complaining.
I only taped Confidential because of the fact that Velocity tends to overrun into it's timeslot, but seeing how good this show is, I think I'll start taping it regularly for now on. I've watched the Big Show interview 4 times now and still roll with laughter every time.
Ooops, I watched the show on the 25th. It was actually aired on the 23rd. Bite me!
Originally posted by InVerseNext up was Inside the Ropes with the Big Show.
Uh... OUTSIDE the ropes, not inside. Don't make me sue you for patent infringement.
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Is it my imagination, or have the drastically cut back on the amount of time for the Vault segment? I know they never showed the matches complete, but it seems like they used to show long enough segments that you could get a good feel for the match. Here it seemed more like it was just a few highlights.
And with a match like that, I have to think that the audience would rather see more of the match and cut one of the fluff segments.
Originally posted by CANADIAN BULLDOGUh... OUTSIDE the ropes, not inside. Don't make me sue you for patent infringement.
Sorry, I originally wanted to call it Beyond the Ropes (which I'm presuming I got from Beyond the Mat) but that didn't sound right. At least I didn't call it Ready to Rumble.
Here's my thinking, since WWE seems to be on a classic kick with this show.
Instead of showing the same old repeats like next week, how's about throwing a classic match or two into the slot? Some old Flair NWA, WWWF stuff from the monthly MSG shows maybe, something like that, that could take up the entire hour, instead of a repeat.