And just after they came back from commercial you could see 3 guys getting escorted out of the arena. Good show, this has tripled my anticipation for Mania, so much going on it's great. That WM ad is at least 2 minutes maybe closer to 3, i just think its too long but very well done. Teddy Long should have been judge.
Originally posted by King Of Crapbr>I know I'm not the only one who heard the old "N...W...O..." voice in their head during the spraypaint job.
Same here. Also, from the looks of the Playboy cover, unless it's a total gaffe, it appears Christy will get the belt off Trish.
I think the copy refers to her being the Diva Search Champion.
I HOPE that's why it's there.
I think it was "WWE's Champion Diva" or something like that. So it doesn't really mean anything.
If it turns out to be a screw-up, why would the WWE get a blow-up and instead of just cutting the top few inches off, they have Trish draw attention to it? Also, if something got leaked out about a title change (ANY title change) at Wrestlemania 4 weeks away, there's no way that the WWE would have that title change still go ahead, so maybe we *should* be hoping that they screwed up?
Originally posted by King Of Crapbr>I know I'm not the only one who heard the old "N...W...O..." voice in their head during the spraypaint job.
Same here. Also, from the looks of the Playboy cover, unless it's a total gaffe, it appears Christy will get the belt off Trish.
After looking at that cover I thought just one thing "I really want to read that article about Uday's plot against Saddam!"
I'm old.
"Flaming Box of Stuff:
If a brewery closes in the middle of the Pacific Northwest and no one cares, what happens to the soon-to-be-unemployed? The refreshingly low-keyed Seattle troupe answers that question in "It's the Water." Set in the 1970s the show opens with black lights, "Dark Side of the Moon" and a character named Burnout but not so '70s that anyone makes a "Laverne and Shirley" joke.
In the opening sequence, the plant manager, a one-man Revenge of the Nerd, ducks his workers' questions about rumors of a layoff. From there, the show moves from direct silliness (a bear-hunting expedition during the final company picnic) to an unexpectedly moving encounter between a brewery grunt and a waitress in a local tavern. There's a pleasing lack of strain in "It's the Water."
"FINALLY they get the bright idea to - get this - use a JOBBER... in a SQUASH MATCH. There's no better way to help an audience get introduced to the character."
Maybe, but they've already had weeks of vignettes and last week's squash to establish the character. I think everybody gets that he has a nice physique. The question is: why should anybody care? Masters flopped last week, so shouldn't they have spent this week creating an actual heel character for Masters and then maybe establish a reason as to why we're supposed to hate him? Look at it this way: The Hurricane did pretty much nothing this week. The Hurricane is slightly over, moreso than Stevie or Walters. The Hurricane can bump and make a big stiff look good. They could've jobbed Hurricane to Masters, maybe even set it up with a short backstage segment. It would of easily been a more productive use of Hurricane, and it might have even gotten a little heat on Masters.
"What kind of brains does it take to push the guy who HAS the match at WrestleMania over the guy who HASN'T a match at WrestleMania? This isn't rocket science, people."
My problem wasn't with Edge jobbing so much as Edge looking like crap while jobbing.
I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hara-kiri Rock. I need scissors! 61!
Does anyone else think it might be a bad idea to have the Batista v. Flair match in North Carolina?
That is Ric Flair country and I'm sure atleast half the arena will be behind him (not to mention the sympathy factor of having to face an opponent twice his size because of Triple H), something you don't want when you're trying to establish Batista as the biggest babyface in the business.
Originally posted by Lima TimeDoes anyone else think it might be a bad idea to have the Batista v. Flair match in North Carolina?
That is Ric Flair country and I'm sure atleast half the arena will be behind him (not to mention the sympathy factor of having to face an opponent twice his size because of Triple H), something you don't want when you're trying to establish Batista as the biggest babyface in the business.
As a lifelong Carolina resident, I can assure you the crowd will at least be as vocal for Batista as against him. Even if the majority of folks were to cheer for Flair, they'll still make monkey noises when Batista hits the big moves.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by CRZ"What kind of brains does it take to push the guy who HAS the match at WrestleMania over the guy who HASN'T a match at WrestleMania? This isn't rocket science, people."
Also, Edge is currently at the bulletproof level of heelishness. He could easily afford to lose this match, because he just needs three minutes next week to regain any lost heat. He's had a month to carry the mantle of "Guy who beat HBK" and use it to boost his own value. This loss means nothing to him.
I don't see it that way. You could put it this way: "What kind of brains does it take to push the guy who IS as over over the guy who is ALREADY over. This isn't rocket science." I think that makes a lot of sense too because Michaels is not losing his heat anytime soon.
The bottom line, to me, is that there was no reason that that had to happen. If they wanted to push Shawn they could have fed him someone else fairly strong and had him squash them. If they cared about keeping Edge strong, they wouldn't have jobbed him to Michaels and had him kick out of Edge's finisher.
I feel silly making arguments about wins and losses, because in the end they may or may not mean anything. But in a situation like this, I think Edge had to win.
Whatever, maybe they put something in the water last night but I was entertained the whole two hours of RAW last night- I can feel the magic!
1. Matches that were 1/2 crap- Snitsky v Shelton and Hassan v Benoit, were alright to me at least because they were 1/2 not crap- Benoit tried to have a good match with Boring Foreigner Gimmick #978 and I went to have a snack so I fortunately missed the crappiness. Benjamin rules! I've been telling everyone but I guess nobody will believe me until they give the man a storyline push- HE HAS THE MOVES, Wake up people!
2. Non-Wrestling Stuff
-Hall of Fame announcement- HULK HOGAN! Whatcha Gonna Do Brother, when Hulkamania Destroys you?! A little tear welled in my eye sniff* As soon as I heard Real American hit I jumped up and tripped over a misplaced shoe.
-Stone Cold/Pipers Pit- Just cool. I know its just a dream but I wish Hogan would challenge Austin at Piper's Pit and they have a match later in the night.
-Mania Promo, JBL and Cena were both VERY good in this.
-Playboy crap- ah, not really that entertaining but whatever; its two beautiful women and then the really entertaining NWO moment payoff. Just like when Hogan did it, except Trish isnt in the NWO she's in the SLUT Faction.
3. Batista!
- Some say we love Batista now because of how they have built him, and thats true- but it takes the man to make the gimmick, and Batista is the man. ...he is also the Animal. Making Hunter look like a punk by using Ric, and Hunter just makes himself look even worse by putting Ric agains Dave next week. Hoewever it was set up, I hope that Batista doesnt just Squash flair in his hometown and they actually have a good match- which is what Im expecting.
4. Main Event
-Some of you say that Edge shouldnt have been beat like that, but I think that furthers the amount of anger and frustration that is becoming an integral part of his character- until he totally snaps and becomes the craziest son of a gun we have seen in a while (he's getting there..) Good match in any case, and oddly people were cheering Angle right before the show closed.
I dont feel like it's Summerslam- I feel Wrestlemania 21 coming, and I promise the WWE hasnt payed me to post this.
"FUCK THE FCC" - that guy deserves a medal.
"Have you ever looked at a twenty dollar bill, on weed?"
Originally posted by krakken2000After looking at that cover I thought just one thing "I really want to read that article about Uday's plot against Saddam!"
I'm old.
Yeah, I was worrying about noticing that too. Nice to learn someone else caught it.
Anybody else just get a nice vibe hearing JR say "KURT ANGLE!" again...Ahh, feels like the old days.
Originally posted by Juggalo101Anybody else just get a nice vibe hearing JR say "KURT ANGLE!" again...Ahh, feels like the old days.
Somebody certainly must have gotten to Ross after he said "Olympic Slam" last week, though, 'cause he made DAMN sure he called it an "Angle Slam" LAST night.
When it seems like the whole world is full of idiots, maybe your standards are a bit high. - Guru Zim
Originally posted by Juggalo101Anybody else just get a nice vibe hearing JR say "KURT ANGLE!" again...Ahh, feels like the old days.
Somebody certainly must have gotten to Ross after he said "Olympic Slam" last week, though, 'cause he made DAMN sure he called it an "Angle Slam" LAST night.
I was actually curious about JR referring to various moves by the wrestlers that made them famous. I noticed two times last night where JR called moves this way.
First, he called Shelton's corner splash the "Stinger Splash", & then later on he called a knee life (by I think Michaels) a "Million Dollar Knee Lift".
Originally posted by CRZ"What kind of brains does it take to push the guy who HAS the match at WrestleMania over the guy who HASN'T a match at WrestleMania? This isn't rocket science, people."
Because the aging Shawn Michaels doesn't need to beat Edge or be built up to face Kurt Angle? How does beating Edge help Michaels? Especially in a match that's being promoted as a dream match. Edge is supposed to be one of their top heels on RAW and he gets chumped off in a Street Fight by Michaels. If Angle had cost Michaels the match, it would have kept Edge strong and wouldn't have hurt Michaels.
It's not rocket science to protect the guy that needs to be protected.
"When did they pass a law that says the people who make my sandwich have to be wearing gloves? I'm not comfortable with this. I don't want glove residue all over my food; it's not sanitary. Who knows where these gloves have been?" - George Carlin
Originally posted by BigSteveI don't see it that way. You could put it this way: "What kind of brains does it take to push the guy who IS as over over the guy who is ALREADY over. This isn't rocket science." I think that makes a lot of sense too because Michaels is not losing his heat anytime soon.
The bottom line, to me, is that there was no reason that that had to happen. If they wanted to push Shawn they could have fed him someone else fairly strong and had him squash them. If they cared about keeping Edge strong, they wouldn't have jobbed him to Michaels and had him kick out of Edge's finisher.
I feel silly making arguments about wins and losses, because in the end they may or may not mean anything. But in a situation like this, I think Edge had to win.
Alright, lets look at the other options for the match:
1) Edge beats Michaels clean. Sure, its great for Edge, but Michaels has no momentum as he transitions into a feud with Angle.
2) Edge beats Michaels with an Angle assist. Edge can hold onto the claim of back-to-back wins over HBK, but in terms of promoting the forthcoming Wrestlemania match (one of the marquee matches of the event) it doesnt help put a lot of personal sizzle on it. And if they did the old Michaels had Edge beat, but Angle screwed him routine, then it really doesnt do a lot to make Edge look good either.
3) The match goes to a no-decision because of Angles interference. Again, not doing Edge any favors.
The ending we got accomplished two things. First off, it was a clean blow-off to the feud. Both guys are now both free to pursue other matters (Michaels with Angle, Edge with whoever he feels is mocking him for the way he lost this week). Second, it provided an opening for Angle to come in and destroy HBK with no assistance. It puts the spotlight entirely on the feud between those two, without any involvement from anyone else. And in the grand scheme of things with Edge, its a minor loss. Its not like hes going to be challenging for the title at any point in the next two or three months anyway, but hes still had plenty of camera time in the middle of a high-profile feud with an established main-eventer.
And kicking out of a heels finisher in a main-event is nothing new. Its an ages-old way of showing the determination of the babyface, because even the heels best move cant keep him down. It usually takes either a follow-up with the same finisher, some creative cheating, or a combination of the two to put the main-event babyface away. Look back at the final Rock/Austin match from a couple years ago. As I recall, didnt heel Rocky have to hit Austin with three Rock Bottoms and a Stone Cold Stunner in that match before he finally put him away?
The feud could've been over the night after the Rumble. Edge got a really important win. Michaels got to save face with a superkick. But Michaels is such a baby about doing jobs that every time he puts someone over on PPV (Flair, Orton, and now Edge) he has to get the win back on TV, even though he's beyond bulletproof by this point and the losses don't hurt him a bit. It's not the booking so much as the principle behind it that's so annoying.
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Throw Kane in there with Brock and Angle and see what happens. As far as UT/Kane at Mania, yeah, I could live with that. I don't see an alternative suitable opponent for either (save maybe Goldberg vs. Kane)