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September Classics: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle - Unforgiven 2002

To close out September today and tomorrow, we'll go with the brand split era and the Smackdown side of things. Benoit and Angle had the classics ***** encounter at Royal Rumble 2003, but before that at Unforgiven 2002, they paired off in another great match, this one has an ending that hearkens back to their WM X-7 encounter.




Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle - Unforgiven 2002 by puropwgwwestuff

Comments

  1. I'm going to Raw in Indianapolis on Nov. 24 and I'm thinking about making a sign that just says "BEN-OYT." Obscure enough to not get confiscated?

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  2. I actually prefer this match to their Royal Rumble classic(which I also have at *****)

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  3. The following program is presented in its original form. It may contain some content that does not reflect WWE's corporate views and may not be suitable for viewers. WWE characters are fictitious and do not reflect the personal lives of the actors portraying them. Viewer discretion is advised.

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  4. Sport, Lemon, Dot, Tv




    It's a weird fucking world when I'm getting all the PPV's legit but have to steal the TV show.

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  5. Speed Force sounds like the name of a car show that will take TNA's timeslot on Spike.

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  6. During the first month or so of the Biker stuff they were going for more of a Hell's Angel vibe with taker that had more continuity with the Ministry stuff, but then after a while he just became "Generic Texas Biker."

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  7. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonSeptember 29, 2014 at 1:42 PM

    Speed Force sounds like an energy drink.
    OK, I think we're done now.

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  8. Hard to believe Vince had to light a fire under UT, ever. He's always been portrayed as the guy the rest of the locker room looked to for leadership -- and that's not just the official WWE line.

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  9. I once used a disclaimer on a Benoit post, but people thought it was obnoxious and unnecessary.

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  10. Out of curiosity, who's the fourth? I assume you mean HBK, but could see it being Jericho, Edge, or Punk, who were all also pretty great around that time.

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  11. "Yep Mode" ABeyAnce1©September 29, 2014 at 1:53 PM

    The closet full of Emmys was a fun gag.

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  12. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomerySeptember 29, 2014 at 1:54 PM

    This was the first PPV I ever went to. This match needs more love, it's just about on the same god tier as the Rumble match. The most wonderful thing about it is the crowd gets red hot for it despite the fact that A) it's a heel vs heel match and B) Benoit wasn't really much over, a few months back from injury and a heel run that didn't really take.

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  13. I haven't watched Raw in two weeks but I'm assuming they haven't addressed the gaping plot issue of Cena battling the authority and their representatives while his wife has to all intents and purposes joined the authority?

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  14. Punk was barely relevant in 05-06 WWE. Edge was there, but hadn't achieved that status yet IMO. Jericho was gone by the time Eddie passed away, so he won't count, unless he makes #4 that departed. So I'd have to vouch for HBK on this one.

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  15. I agree that HBK was a top 4 guy, but the timeframe includes the death of Benoit in '07, and by then Punk was something as was Edge. I didn't know/remember Jericho was gone at the time.

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  16. Mine was the EWF... Ewok Wrestling Federation. Not sure why I just shared that...

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  17. Kudos for the Brock "chicken shit/chicken salad" reference from TUF.

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  18. Piss off Jimmy Hart. You ruined Hulkamania.

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  19. I'll be in Milwaukee tomorrow night, but you an probably expect the exact opposite kind of crowd- quiet and mark-y.

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  20. Yeah, it was really odd. It made total sense once BikerTaker hit the scene, but it was an odd transition period.

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  21. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:05 PM

    Boy, that Stevie Richards sure could wrestle.

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  22. What could possibly get anyone pumped up for a stable of soon-to-be jobbers? WIth a name that is exactly as exciting as this sentence I've just typed.

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  23. Definitely a good worker but he's never been given a character so he's in no man's land.

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  24. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:06 PM

    Called this afternoon. Now TWC will only be getting $44.95 plus taxes out of me every month as opposed to the $100 they wanted to charge me.

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  25. Actually, I'm forgot that I'm not gonna bring a sign. I'm off to the side near the entrance ramp. If you aren't on the floor on the side the hard camera shoots at, what's the point?

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  26. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:07 PM

    I may go to see if I can punch the bunny in the face...

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  27. Still stuck with the internet?

    That's close to what I pay and I only have basic...If I wasn't a huge sports fan, it would be gone.

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  28. I would kind of question the point of the sign to begin with. Why not make a sign of something useful, like "9-11 Was An Inside Job" or just a picture of a penis?

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  29. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:09 PM

    Yeah, there are very few options for other Internet providers around here. Tried to get some prices for Verizon over the weekend, but that phone call actually went a lot worse than calling to cancel my cable today.

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  30. I had Verizon DSL and I had a lot more problems with it than TWC internet.

    How did it go worse?

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  31. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:10 PM

    Soon-to-be?

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  32. You have gigantic boobs?

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  33. Would you rank Punk or Edge circa '06-'07 over HBK though, in all seriousness?

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  34. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:14 PM

    I called Verizon because I wanted to know what the Fios upload/download speeds were and the price, because the website would only tell me the cost of bundles.


    The woman I was speaking to refused to answer any questions and kept trying to give a spiel about why Verizon is better than cable internet. I asked her nicely to just answer some of my questions, she kept telling me to wait as she tried to sell me on DirecTV.


    I finally had enough, started to say, "thanks, but no thanks," and then she said, "Fine, thank you, whatever" before I could finish the sentence and hung up on me.

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  35. Just awful customer service...and the first warning sign to you should have been when they hem-hawed around the speed and the price.

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  36. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:16 PM

    Yeah. I'll stick with TWC. At the very least, when I call to yell at them, they just take it. It can be very cathartic.

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  37. Any chance the crowd this week or next shits on the Komen stuff? Has it started becoming widely known what a crap "charity" they actually are?

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  38. Duh....Brie needs to borrow some money from John and Nikki and John has refused so this is the chance for both of them to earn enough money to help Brie buy the Bed and Breakfast she and Daniel want to help secure their future.

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  39. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:17 PM

    Don't we still have a week until that happens? It's not October yet...


    Please don't tell me they're starting early.

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  40. Hahahaha I've called to yell at them a couple of times, they take it pretty well, seems like they are used to it.

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  41. It'll be even funnier then the NFL tries to pretend like they give a crap about women.

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  42. Tonight, BRUTHA.

    What's ya gonna do when Hulk Hogan, a crooked organization of overpaid "non-profit" executives, and Pinkamania run wild on you?!

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  43. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:21 PM

    Great new Wendy's ad featuring Austin, and will probably resonate with some of the more underprivileged BoD'ers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otx0xSxHBII

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  44. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:21 PM

    GO SPEED FORCER

    GO SPEED FORCER

    GO SPEED FORGER, GOOOOOOOOOO

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  45. I heard Benoit was a federal criminal who smoked pot... I bet the pot caused Benoit to lose his mind because its a federal crime to posses or smoke marijuana. Benoit probably felt remorse for being the scum of the earth (a pothead) and did what he did. Chairshots had nothing to do with it, Benoit just couldnt live life as a federal criminal...Infact I heard he had always wished he wouldve helped out political campaigns but instead he got high.........There is no hope with dope, right?

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  46. No, but that was my original question for the OP; who did *he* think was the fourth guy. Mostly the "high speed" angle of it is what makes me curious, as while HBK can go at any pace, he certainly has a more "WWE" style than Benoit or Guererro.

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  47. The original iteration of the biker gimmick was great, I thought. It started out as a kind of undead "biker from hell" and just morphed into just a regular biker dude within a few weeks.

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  48. Man I really struck a nerve. Good to know.

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  49. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:39 PM

    "does anyone think the Austin/McMahon handshake was that surreal pseudo
    shoot moment of Vince owing WCW (even though Shane owned it in storyline
    terms) and the two joined forces to say the Monday Night War is over."

    Overthinking, you're doing it.

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  50. The IYH's don't count because they were subtitles. Like Friday the 13th 7: The New Blood.

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  51. I just think your opinion on marijuana is outdated and preposterous.

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  52. In that particular post I didn't state an opinion. I stated the fact that using it is against the law, and that by using it you are breaking the law and are therefore a criminal. :)

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  53. Um, I don't think you did. Know your audience. :)

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  54. We are talking about a previous conversation, not this one... it bothered him so much he feels the need to bring it up again here.

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  55. Unlike most here, I can admit i'm wrong (as extremely rare as that is), so my bad.

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  56. No worries. I see how confusing it would be without a frame of reference

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  57. I think TheTNAguy is a gimmick

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  58. Dustin Harris still won't respond to me. I should start trolling him again

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  59. Gotta turn yor phone sideways

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  60. Nobody criticizes him but I don't know if that is legit respect or "this guy has too much pull to piss off"

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  61. Last time I did he said "FOR GODS SAKE WILL YOU LET THAT GO?????" I said "No"

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  62. What bothers me is he got mad at people for calling him idiots and asked for proof. I gave it to him. Nothing.

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  63. Some people are just never ready to unplug from their personal Matrix.

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  64. Helps a bit still gotta scroll to read the ends of sentences. Thanks though

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  65. That's why I feel bad for Jericho. They hazed him so bad that even HE believes he was out of line. The Jericho character was supposed to be a delusional WCW mid carder that thought he was better than everyone else. Those guys were hazing everyone that came out of WCW. HHH all but admitted it on Jericho's podcast.

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  66. probably a combination. Many wrestlers haved talked about how much they respected Taker (Foley, Bret, Jericho, Rock, etc.) but I know a few guys (mostly younger) who also weren't that fond of him but knew better than to cross him.

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  67. I thought I was the only one who felt this way. Both matches are great, but I do like this one from Unforgiven 2002 a bit more.

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  68. Mostly the same. I did sorta like the early UT, which is odd because I usually hated hokey gimmicks. However by 98 I just hated the guy. He was by far my least favorite wrestler during the underbiker phase. my hate for him was white hot. I was glad when he was gone, I hated it when he won, when he destroyed yet another guy, when he once again had an otherwise tough wrestler cowering in fear, etc. Ultimately he had some decent matches in the last few years of his career but I was never sorry to see him go and I rooted for that streak to end from WM15 on. I was THRILLED to see Lesnar win, even if I would have much rather had Edge, Batista, Orton, or some others have beaten him instead a few years earlier.
    I understand he is very well respected by a lot of guys that I really like, but at the same time it's hard for me to separate the wrestler from the gimmick. What I mean is that I have no idea how much of his not jobbing, his eating guys alive in the ring, his no-selling, his expecting others to cower in fear, was him and how much was Vince and the bookers. Either way it irritated me to no end. No other wrestler in the history of this business owes his success more to how he was booked and to how other wrestlers cowered in fear, allowed him to take 90% of the match, allowed him to no sell, etc. NO ONE. But to his credit he took what he was given, no matter how much, and he playe it to the hilt. There's no guarantee it works with anyone else, no matter how protected he was for 24 years.

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  69. Makes sense, look at all the unsafe giants he had to work with over the years before 1996.

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  70. yep (full on abeyance mode)

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  71. John Edwards is a molester of boys Prove me wrong. See how easy that is?

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  72. I commented in that thread again. Come on Dustin Harris!

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  73. As great as he became in the ring after 2004, I really hated the return to the "dead man" character. Taker was great on the mic, and it sucked that he didn't get to talk anymore.

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  74. Hey, there's a few every week that make me giggle. If you aren't going that direction with it one way or another- I do like "9/11 Was an Inside Job"- then yeah, I agree. I thought "BEN-OYT" was kinda funny in a fairly obscure way. But then again, we're pretty baked when we come up with these ideas watching Raw every week.

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  75. Between 05 and 07, it's Shawn. No question. Jericho was gone completely most of that time, even if you want to argue he was on their level to begin with.

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  76. Didn't Kendrick and London shit on 'Taker in one of their drugged shoot interviews?

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  77. I don't car what anyone says, that promo is unintentionally hilarious.

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  78. What I really like about it is that Lawler (if I remember correctly) is as confused about 'Taker's point as the crowd seems to me.

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  79. 'Taker definitely lost weight when he returned as the Deadman, but he always had a big head. I mean, Rocky used to mock his "10 pound head" (as well as his "Mickey Mouse" tattoos) back in 1999.

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  80. I remember him doing a clean job for the super-hot Hardy on an episode of SD, but yeah, he beat most of his opponents.

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  81. He was really over, but I remember the crowd seeming a lot more hot for Rocky than they were for 'Taker on the post Judgment Day-RAW in 2000.

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  82. Breaking the law!!!!! (Actually just following doctors orders but still)

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  83. Vince's match with HHH at Armageddon that year was really competitive.

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  84. TJ: I just had a customer who was wearing the old "WANTED" poster Cactus Jack shirt, which led to a brief discussion with my equally smarky co-worker about best wrestling shirts ever.
    My short, off-the-top-of-my-head list:
    -Original nWo shirt
    -Original D-X shirt
    -Austin 3:16
    -CM Punk, "Best in the World"
    -Jerichoholic
    -Eddie Guerrero, "Latino Heat" (the scarface-style shirt)
    -Cactus Jack, "Wanted"

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  85. I agree, shame Mark Henry had to fuck up what would have been a ten year Wrestlemania Classic streak.

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  86. It's a common name. We all know the senator did that but Thinking he posts on a wrestling blog is silly.

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  87. Ausint 3:16 is the best shirt ever.

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  88. My reply was meant with love and affection.

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  89. Lesnar vs HHH from Summerslam 2012 was "The Perfect Storm".

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  90. Edwards didn't molest boys. He cheated on his wife (who had cancer) and he had some campaign violations that were criminal.

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  91. I think some people thought Jericho really was a cocky shit who knew it all because he'd been all around the world, and by his own admission he probably was. Even though I think it's never all that defensible to fuck with a co-worker like that, HHH is pretty frank about it: it was a cutthroat time. They hadn't quite finished off WCW yet and even aside from that, there were a lot of all-time greats either at their peak or ascending to it in a very small window of time. A lot of alpha dogs fighting for a few spots.
    I really love that interview. It's cool to see HHH with his guard down and just nerd out on old wrestling stuff with someone we've always assumed he had heat with, but has apparently buried the hatchet and become buddies with.

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  92. Which thread are you referring to?

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  93. Original nWo and Austin 3:16 are the best.

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  94. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 29, 2014 at 4:04 PM

    Is Stevie Richards the default go-to replacement for Benoit?

    At the ROH tapings, we were looking at some old flyers they had up for past wrestling shows, one of which prominently feature Benoit, and some guy referred to him as Stevie Richards

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  95. Lation Heat was the best Eddie Guerrero shirt. The nexus ones were pretty sweet.

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  96. Gunther the Nasty LoserSeptember 29, 2014 at 4:08 PM

    Cesaro King of Swing (KotR style)

    The Daniel Bryan Che Guevara

    Valentine's "I broke Wahoo's leg" and Ole's "Damn I am good"

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  97. Damn, that list keeps growing by the week lately.

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  98. I wonder how many matches have never aired due to Atlanta Braves baseball.

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  99. Virgil's Gimmick TableSeptember 29, 2014 at 4:17 PM

    "Laotian Heat" Kahn Souphanousinphone.

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  100. Because Friday the 13th Part VII: This isn't Jason vs. Carrie, Really It Isn't was too long.

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  101. My best guess is that the Stevie Richards meme started because Stevie Richards replaced Big Show in the No Mercy story mode, because Big Show was cut from the game for being fat or something.

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  102. Virgil's Gimmick TableSeptember 29, 2014 at 4:18 PM

    That's what happens when you inject too many marijuanas.

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  103. Anyone hear about GFW? Rebranding the NJPW Tokyo Dome show as GFW for PPV in US. Or so they say.

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  104. Wait, I thought it was marijuana pills?

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  105. Whoops for some reason I thought it was him on the Google search. Since I don't live in Indiana I'm not that john Edwards either.

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  106. Interesting theory. I like the symbolism, but don't think they were going for that.

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  107. I thought Breaking Point sounded lame.

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  108. looking forward to a Corporate Kane themed PPV with whiteboards and pie charts on fire

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  109. the main event being a "best for business" boardroom match

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  110. best for business boardroom match


    *bored room

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  111. Ya but what about when he was a bad ass biker? That was so sweet!

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  112. He also dropped about a hundred pounds.

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  113. Favorite: Purple 'Macho Man' shirt
    Guilty Pleasure: 'I Love My Testicles'

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  114. That WM 17 match is great and underrated I think. That raw cage match was great too.

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  115. Adam "Colorado" CurrySeptember 29, 2014 at 4:57 PM

    EC F'N W!

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  116. Badd Blood became its own PPV in '03, IIRC. There were some dumb ones like Fatal 4 Way, too. Horrid.

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  117. Sounds like a Depeche Mode song.

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  118. That should've been the sign of wrestling leprechauns and Boogeymen to come - I remember thinking how bizarre it was that after the more realistic direction wrestling had taken since the tail end of the Attitude Era, 'Taker reverted to being a fucking zombie. I couldn't believe when they had him strike the ring with lightning after that Mark Henry main event at the Rumble whichever year it was (and that's not just because I couldn't believe they'd put Henry in a main event at that time). I know he sucked as Bikertaker, but a zombie doing MMA moves makes no goddamn sense.

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  119. My top 5 matches between the two or tagging together:


    1) Royal Rumble 03'
    2) No Mercy 02' Tag title match
    3) Unforgiven 02' (vs Edge/Rey)
    4) Wrestlemania 17
    5) Raw cage match.


    Talking of the tag match, where do you guys think it ranks as the greatest non gimmick tag matches of all time? I probably have it at the top. It's crazily underrated in the grand scheme of things!

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  120. I don't remember that AT ALL... so, he was like Ghost Rider?

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  121. Old news.. very old news. *yawn*

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  122. KK's rant about Hunter and the Steiner match at Royal Rumble on his last in-review podcast was GLORIOUS.

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  123. never seen it though so its new to me.

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  124. Not sure if it is worthy of a 'thread hyjack' :/

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  125. Its not but now I have this awful image of Cena banging a 280lb women.

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  126. I guess it makes me a horrible person for watching the Naked Gun movies then...

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  127. Vince just transferred his genetic jackhammer power from his penis to his fists.

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  128. No it would be something like Matthew Jones.

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  129. @WWENetworkFollow

    The launch of @WWENetwork in the U.K. will be delayed given discussions with potential partners. A launch date will be announced by Nov. 1.

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  130. Hmm. Not even a date then, just an announcement that there'll be an announcement. Not surprised. There's been not a word about it until now.

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  131. It'll probably just end up as a shitty Sky-only service, much like Canada has with that Rogers company. :/

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  132. Probably. Does WWE's PPV deal with Sky expire at the end of this year? If it's longer, I can't see them giving up the £14.95 a month they get for those. I can't see the PPV's being part of the network, and I'll assume that's the negotiating hold up.

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