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Monday Nitro - October 4, 1999

Monday Nitro #208
Date: October 4, 1999
Location: Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 6,942
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We're getting closer to Halloween Havoc but tonight we take a detour into something that is actually special. Less than five months earlier, Owen Hart passed away in this same arena. His brother Bret wanted to do something special for him, and that's what we're getting on this show. Let's get to it.


The announcers hype up the main events, because those promises have held up so much recently.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko

This starts after a way too early break. Malenko quickly flips Mysterio to the floor and grabs a legbar back inside. Rey pops to his feet and speeds things WAY up for a nice counter sequence, capped off with Malenko throwing him into the air but eating a dropkick on the way back down. A hot shot is countered but Rey bounces backwards into a hurricanrana for two. That was AWESOME and even Malenko has to give Mysterio credit.

To change the subject a bit, Tony casually mentions that Psychosis beat Lenny Lane for the Cruiserweight Title over the weekend. That's code for “it turns out Turner Broadcasting didn't like having a shock value gimmick like over the top incestuous brothers on a show with falling ratings”. The title match never happened of course but Psychosis does get to defend tonight against Disco Inferno. Of course since this title means nothing, it's throw in as a sidebar in this match. You know, the match that COULD BE FOR THE TITLE instead of just being part of the Revolution vs. Filthy Animals feud over absolutely nothing.

Back to the match, Malenko gets two off a German suplex and cranks on the leg. That goes nowhere so Dean is thrown to the floor for a big dive from Rey. They head inside again and Rey loads up the yet to be named West Coast Pop, only to have Malenko catch him in a kind of powerbomb to set up the Cloverleaf.

Ropes are grabs and Mysterio counters tilt-a-whirl slam into a kind of cross body. They get back up and hit a double clothesline but Mysterio sells it more like a Boss Man Slam for an odd looking crash. Cue Shane Douglas with a chain but Saturn runs down and steals it from him. Saturn stares Douglas down with the chain but hits Mysterio instead, allowing Dean, who didn't seem to see what happened, to put on the Cloverleaf for the win.

Rating: C+. Really good start to the match here until we had to get Shane Douglas involved. It looks like the Revolution is starting to splinter, which makes good enough sense given that they have nothing else going for them. They have yet to recover from that disaster at Fall Brawl so why not just turn them heel from the inside?

Dean sees the replay on the screen and isn't happy with Saturn.

Tony tells us about the New Year's Evil pay per view on December 27, which wasn't on New Year's, wasn't on New Year's Eve, wasn't evil and never wound up happening.

Video on Bret, talking about Owen and his death.

Cruiserweight Title: Disco Inferno vs. Psychosis

Tony brings up the hiring of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara, who will be chatting on WCW.com later this week. And so it begins. By it I mean the bizarre choices, such as allowing fans to talk to writers. Why would fans care about something like that? Picture this back in 1988: “Yes fans this coming Wednesday, you can call in and talk to the booker!”

Psychosis is defending after being awarded the title in a phantom title change over the weekend. The new champ starts fast and knocks Disco out to the floor with a baseball slide, setting up a big dive over the top. Back in and Disco gets a boot up in the corner, followed by a swinging neckbreaker for two.

You know Disco isn't smart enough to make that last though and charges into an elbow from Psychosis. Well at least they're consistent. A top rope hurricanrana gets two for Psychosis but Disco pops back up, only to dive into a spinwheel kick. The guillotine legdrop misses and Disco hits the Chartbuster to win the title out of nowhere.

Rating: D+. I'll spare you the obvious question of why they even bothered with Psychosis in the first place and get to the better question of why Disco. He's still a glorified comedy character whose best matches usually get a response of “you know, he doesn't suck as much as I thought.” You have Kidman, Guerrera, Mysterio, Malenko and even Psychosis to put the belt on but instead we get someone like Disco.

Oh and just after he wins the title, we IMMEDIATELY cut to an ad for Mayhem.

Sid is on the phone. I smell shenanigans.

The Outsiders come down the stands with drinks in hand. This would be Nash's first appearance since August and Hall's first since.....I think March? Heenan asks where they've been and Hall says they've been at the party down there. Nash is retired, which Hall describes as “working a requirement angle”. They'll be back and put the band back together once the locker room is fun again. This comes off as more of Russo's “WE'RE SHOOTING” stuff that is interesting for about five minutes and then turns into a big mess with the fans asking “can't we just watch wrestling?”

Sid Vicious vs. Brian Adams

Adams is out of the KISS gimmick but still has the Demon pants on. He hammers Sid from behind to start and scores with a suplex. Naturally Sid isn't going to sell that so Adams clotheslines him over the top and out to the floor. Back in and Sid ducks his head, allowing Adams to hit a quick jumping piledriver. Of course Robinson can't count because Rick Steiner runs out and helps with the beating. Adams fights Sid off and tilt-a-whirl slams Steiner, only to have Sid come back in for a double powerbomb and a fast count. That makes Sid 120-0, though Adams got in WAY more offense than most people do against Sid.

Jerry Flynn vs. Goldberg

During the entrances, we go split screen so Sid can rant about his car. Flynn rakes the eyes to start and is promptly kicked right in the face. A pumphandle slam drops Jerry again as the rest of the First Family comes out for a distraction. Goldberg is knocked outside to get beaten on for a bit (why isn't this just a three on one handicap match to make this move faster? Oh right: because WCW is stupid enough to put Morrus and Knobbs in the Tag Team Title hunt instead of ANYONE ELSE), including a whip into the steps.

Morrus adds an elbow from the apron and even the referee can't be bothered to care about these two schmucks. The referee sends them to the back, allowing Goldberg to counter a cross armbreaker and hit the two moves for the win. You know, people remember these two fighting a lot but it really didn't happen all that often. They only fought four times on Nitro in nearly two years, with a year and a half in between two of them. Goldberg and Morrus had at least three matches so it's not a huge stretch.

Goldberg promises to destroy Sid.

Brad Armstrong tells Berlyn to speak English, end of scene.

Here's Harlem Heat for a chat about their upcoming title defense against Brian Knobbs and Hugh Morrus. There's so much wrong with that idea that I don't even know where to start. The match is going to be on like a pot of neckbone, but Booker has to stop for a Wolfpack chant. He tells the Outsiders that they're not getting the belts but the First Family comes out for a brawl. Knobbs hits Booker in the head with a chair and Morrus gets Stevie down for No Laughing Matter. The First Family leaves with the belts. As usual, decent story, completely wrong cast.

Nitro Girls search time. Baltimore can't get here soon enough.

Goldberg gets in his car and leaves. I'm sure this won't go badly for Sid whatsoever.

Benoit says he misses Owen and brings up getting his start in Stampede Wrestling. They're really making this feel special tonight.

Brad Armstrong vs. Curt Hennig

Hennig chops away in the corner but gets hiptossed and dropkicked out to the floor. Back in and Hennig chops the skin off Brad's chest but walks into a pair of atomic drops. The Rednecks come in but eat right hands, only to have the Germans come out for a distraction. The bodyguard nails Brad in the back of the head, sending him right into the HennigPlex for the pin. It really took FIVE PEOPLE to beat Brad Armstrong? That's seriously what we're going with here?

The Germans beat Armstrong up again post match.

Mysterio goes into the showers to get Kidman for his match. Kidman comes out and Torrie Wilson follows him. Rey looks impressed.

Sid gives the attendant his car keys. Why the same attendant works in two different cities isn't explained.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Kidman

Here's another match that could be for the Cruiserweight Title. They trade forearms to start until Kidman suplexes him down for two. A Stunner on the top rope drops Kidman as the announcers talk about Kidman and Torrie in the shower. Kidman suplexes Juvy to the floor and adds a dropkick as he gets back inside. Juvy comes back with a DDT out of a fireman's carry and drops a People's Elbow. I had forgotten about the Juvy Rock phase. Juvy says he knows our role as we take a break.

Back with Kidman charging into an elbow but snapping off a powerslam (very common move no matter what size people are) for two. Juvy waves Psychosis down but misses a plancha and takes Psychosis down instead of Kidman. That's fine with Kidman, who runs to the top and dives onto both guys. This isn't as good as it sounds though as they're just doing spots without the energy that made their old matches so good.

Back in again and Kidman dropkicks him out of the air but Juvy counters a powerbomb (double gimmick infringement!) into a Juvy Driver attempt, which is countered into a suplex, which is countered into a bulldog from Guerrera. The 450 misses and Kidman hits a Sky High but has to go after Psychosis again. Cue Mysterio to argue with Psychosis, but the distraction lets Juvy hit the Driver off the top for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was more about advancing the feud between the Animals and the loose stable of luchadors, which isn't really going anywhere as Psychosis isn't quite the same level as the other three. Granted he might have gotten closer to that spot had they just let him stay Cruiserweight Champion but that might make too much sense.

Juvy and Psychosis get beaten down post match.

Sid has his assistant park his car in Goldberg's parking space.

Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit

Both are faces here and Benoit's TV Title isn't on the line. Harley Race does the intros to make this really special. Bret grabs a headlock to start before they fight over a top wristlock. Hart holds the ropes to avoid a monkey flip but Benoit nips up before Bret can do anything. Very technical so far. Chris bridges out of a test of strength and wraps Bret’s arms across his own throat to get a breather.

A hammerlock has Bret on the mat and the fans chant for Owen. Off to a double arm crank on Hart but Bret reverses into one of his own. Thankfully Bret is actually holding Chris’ wrists unlike Scott Hall who would be keeping himself in the hold whenever that was reversed. Benoit flips out with a dropkick to the chest but gets caught in a Russian legsweep to put him down again.

We hit the chinlock from Hart followed by a hard knee to the ribs to drop Chris one more time. A DDT sets up the middle rope elbow for two for Hart but Benoit grabs a rollup for two. He doesn’t let go of the legs though and turns it into a Boston crab. Bret is quickly in the ropes but gets caught in a backbreaker for two as we take a break.

Back with Benoit getting two off something we didn’t see but Bret comes back with the headbutt to the lower abdomen. A snap suplex sets up a chinlock by the Hitman as things settle down a bit. Another backbreaker puts Benoit on the mat and Bret rams him into the apron. Back in and Benoit spins out of another backbreaker and hits a jumping tombstone for two. A northern lights suplex gets another two for Chris and he fires off the headbutts.

Benoit stomps away in the corner but Bret holds the ropes to avoid a dropkick and a few elbows get two. Bret charges but his cross body hits the ropes to send him outside. Chris hits a big dive through the ropes to put both guys down and we take our second break. Back again with both guys rolling each other up for two followed by Bret stomping away in the corner. They trade rollups for two each again until Bret nails a swinging neckbreaker.

A superplex puts Benoit down but he counters the Sharpshooter into the Crossface but Bret is right next to the ropes. Chris rolls some vertical suplexes and calls for the Swan Dive. He goes to the furthest corner and nails the headbutt for a slightly delayed two. The fans chant for Bret and he comes back with an elbow to the jaw. A piledriver gets two on Benoit as he puts his foot on the ropes.

Benoit gets to do Bret’s chest first bump into the corner but comes out with some hard chops. Bret tries a clothesline but gets caught in the Rolling Germans. The Crossface is blocked and they go to the mat with Bret maneuvering his legs so that he stands up in the Sharpshooter. The fans freak out over that awesome trap by Bret and Benoit has to give up.

Rating: A. This was an excellent wrestling match. Bret worked over the back to set up the Sharpshooter and Benoit tried everything he knew but at the end of the day it was Bret winning with a counter to Benoit’s best hold and a very smooth move into the Sharpshooter. That’s exactly what it was supposed to be and it was more than an awesome match. The crowd respected it too. This is the last great match that WCW had and the last time Bret was actually motivated in a wrestling ring. If you haven't seen this one before, go check it out to see what great wrestling can do.

Race gets in the ring and everyone hugs and poses before walking out together.

Gene calls out Flair and Hogan, who thankfully come out one at a time. Hogan has to limp down because of the knee injury from last week. They praise each other and my stomach is starting to churn. Hogan says Flair is the best of all time and Flair wants to join Hulkamania. Tonight, Hogan wants to see Flair style and profile. It's a bad sign when modern day TNA pays better attention to character development and history than this company does.

Sid is in the empty parking space. “I've got him now.”

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Buff Bagwell

Bagwell mocks Page's catchphrases to start, saying he's going to two time, two time, two time beat Page down. Page charges right into a clothesline to start and gets dropkicked out to the floor. Back in and Page can't hook a powerbomb but does kick Buff low to take over again. A low elbow sets up a stomping in the corner and we hit the chinlock. With his offense running low, Bagwell lands another clothesline and his swinging neckbreaker. Page avoids the Blockbuster though and floats over Bagwell into the Diamond Cutter for the fast pin.

A kid is looking at a window when a horse flies up. Dustin Rhodes is dressed all in black and that's it.

Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair vs. Sting/Total Package

Tony even has to acknowledge the fans cheering for Sting. Hogan has a big brace on his knee but is fine from last week's attack otherwise. It's a brawl to start with Sting and Hogan heading outside while the others fight inside. Hogan is whipped into the barricade as Luger and Flair fight outside.

Tony keeps calling Total Package Luger because it's such a stupid name change. I can't even say gimmick change because it's literally the same guy with a different name. Things settle down with Sting stomping on Flair in the corner but missing a dropkick. As usual, there's nothing about Sting that would make you think he's a heel. Sting slams him off the top and it's off to Luger for a powerslam.

Back to Sting for a chinlock as the fans chant for Hogan. Notice how he keeps moving around on the apron. This is something the bigger stars usually do and you can see Cena do it today. You can do so much to keep a crowd into things while standing on the apron. Pace up and down, reach for tags, shout encouragement. Let the fans know that you CARE about what's going on at the moment.

Luger prevents a tag to Hogan and Sting gorilla presses Flair down again. A running splash hits knees though and it's finally off to Hogan. We go old school with right hands and a double noggin knocker, followed by a double clothesline to put both villains down. Page runs in and gets sent into Luger, who blindly Racks him. Hogan hits the big boot and legdrop to pin Sting. Seeing him hug Flair is just wrong on so many levels.

Rating: D+. Standard main event tag here with the champ getting pinned to add to the pay per view match's build. This is wrestling booking 101, but it's still really uninteresting stuff. Seeing these four guys fighting while I could be watching the rise of HHH and Rock near or at his peak and the tag teams tearing the house down really doesn't appeal to me and that seemed to be the opinion of the masses.

Sid goes to his parking space and finds his car crushed into a metal block. If this is supposed to make me watch the match, go back to Charles Robinson needing counting lessons.

Overall Rating: B. By far and away the best show they've had in a long time, though most of that is due to the awesome Bret vs. Benoit match. The rest of the show certainly isn't bad though as a lot of the bad matches were kept short. The Sid vs. Goldberg battle of the garage stuff is getting REALLY old just two weeks in. I'm actually not sure how Sid's plan made sense and I assure you it wasn't much clearer on screen. I guess it was supposed to be Goldberg's car but someone made a switch? This shouldn't be so complicated. Anyway, best show in months if not years here, but it feels like a one off improvement.


Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Comments

  1. Bret VS Beniot should have main evented, but that's nit picking I guess.

    Looking back, especially when watching an episode like this, it seems there was so much potential to turn WCW around and building the company around top notch wrestlers like Hart, Beniot, Guerrero, Malenko, Rey Jr etc while throwing in some older guys who could still go alright like Flair and Sting as well as your big attractions like Goldberg.

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  2. WHYYYYY MEEEEEEEEEE?????

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  3. The Amazing GamecockFebruary 25, 2015 at 8:03 AM

    Less than 7000 in Kemper, you know shit was going downhill at that point.

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  4. Kinda like WWE today.

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  5. Picture this back in
    1988: “Yes fans this coming Wednesday, you can call in and talk to
    the booker!”

    Well, wrestling had changed quite a bit since 1988.

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  6. There's a lot wrong with Halloween Havoc 99 (Hogan laying down and having Goldberg crush Sting in seconds) but the company actually get their act together on a slight revival after this leading into Mayhem and Starcade before it all goes tits up yet again at that event.

    They get the belt on Hart (which is a good idea) in a logical title tournament and build to Hart/Goldberg - which is the most logical Main Event after running through Sting/Goldberg like idiots at HH.

    They turn Sting face again which had to happen...even if it was against Luger.

    And after plenty of hotshotting they get the US Title back on who it should be (Benoit).

    Unfortunately they ruin all this in the Starcade Main event and the night after.

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  7. Monumental match that doesn't get anywhere near the love and attention it deserves today. But, I guess enough people had tuned away from Nitro by this point that any classic matches were bound to get ignored. A real shame, getting my closure in the Goldberg / Jerry Flynn feud was a moment I'll never forget.

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  8. Jesus H. Christ, Nitro gave away ppv-worthy matches on a seemingly weekly basis.

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  9. The Title tournament was still Russofied to all hell. Madusa wrestling in multiple groups and being eliminated each time, a confusing Bret Hart VS Goldberg match that was a tournament match, but randomly made a Ladder match for the US title as well, and none of the matches really going longer than 5 minutes and being full of the usual Russo run-in/DQ/ref interference shenanigans.
    They probably got the Final 4 right for Mayhem with Beniot, Sting, Jarrett and Hart with Hart and Beniot headlining, but yea, then Starrcade happened with a Montreal screwjob (and sadly that wasn't even the last time it was used!) and then another nWo revival which lead to Russo being turfed, Sullivan taking over again and then the Radicalz fleeing to the WWE as a result of that.

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  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN9fHMY76io

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  11. Fair enough, probably the best gimmick ever made. Even in reality era his character still fits.

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  12. selling out the stadium won't be that big of a problem. it's WrestleMania, they could very likely fill that stadium without any announced match.

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  13. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:37 AM

    lol. Speaking of no replay value. Witness: ECW in general.

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  14. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:38 AM

    Which is fine. Some of the best movies are like that too

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  15. I'd go low top ten for the reasons you've stated plus ridiculous longevity. Even taking away these last five years that's a long ass career.

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  16. Belee_Matt!_INDEED!!!February 25, 2015 at 9:38 AM

    No one here works for WWE, so your assessment is fair.

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  17. Nikki Bella has everything down!

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  18. Not trying to diminish the match, but I think the match main falling point is that it didn't really do much to build Shawn as the next big star as it was mainly Shawn working a Bret style match rather than Bret trying to make Shawn look good by working his style of match.

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  19. I'd let her give me AIDS

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  20. He's in my personal top 10 because I'm a lifelong fan. But objectively? Somewhere in the Top 20.

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  21. He has probably 4/5 ***** star matches in his career.

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  22. Top 20 guy, great gimmick, long career, plenty of good stuff that was silly to epic, lots of good and great matches but probably not as good as his legend will be remembered for.

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  23. He and Jericho are my favorites, but realistically top 20 is perfect.

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  24. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:39 AM

    Take Shawn Michaels out of the equation and he probably has none.

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  25. Top 10; he's never been of my favorite guys. And the mark in me was pissed his garbage with Kane was clogging up the main event scene in 98 and Austin lost the belt.

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  26. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:40 AM

    I wish Shawn was healthy and/or not a bitch for a re-match in '97. Do another IronMan, but this time it's got multiple falls because THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL and they are going balls-out. Do like a 5-4 finish this time, with both dudes breaking rules, taking DQs, etc. Same hour duration, but different story to tell

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  27. He's got a LOT of **** matches though. I'm good with anywhere between 7 and 15 abouts for him.

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  28. >100 Million Homes
    >12-14 million viewers a week for Raw & Smackdown


    That CNBC spot was pure McFantasy.

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  29. I can put Jericho in my Top 10 too no issue.

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  30. I'll put the motherfucker at 1 if I want!

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  31. It's because Reigns is a guy who *CAN'T* show us he's a big deal. He's a terrible promo. He's not that good in the ring. His finishers aren't all that impressive. Hell, he's actually regressed. His Rumble 2014 performance was so much better than his Rumble 2015 performance.



    So WWE is trying to TALK about how great he is in order to compensate for his abilities. I'm not sure even Heyman can pull that off.

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  32. I like his first Kane match, I like more than Austin/HBK.

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  33. That first Kane match was epic. Love that.

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  34. HHH, Foley.

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  35. **** in my book, I like how it took 3 tombstones to take out Kane.

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  36. That could work as that was one of the big draws for WM12 with the Warrior.

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  37. I just rewatched all the Foley matched and I'd put them in four star range at best.

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  38. What's the definitive list of great taker matches? I'm talking the best of the best matches he's had?
    The two manias vs shawn and the 97 hitc for sure
    The UK match with Bret I've never seen from the Shawn vs Davey show (they just switched the version on the network from the home video to the ppv broadcast so I'm gonna see it soon)
    The 06 no way out angle match. The one vs punk. The Batista match was really good and blew away expectations but I wouldn't call it an all time classic. What was takers best match with edge?

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  39. Top 5. Greatest big man ever.

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  40. I'm pissed that the Suns have either traded, or let walk away every favorite player of mine over the past 10 years. Nash. Amar'e. The Matrix. Barbosa. Diaw. And now Goran Dragic.

    And it always made them worse.

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  41. And he was still up before Undertaker and attacking him again.

    JR was damn near flawless in that match.

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  42. Can someone please fill me in about the crowd reaction for Sting? Any new revelations since yesterday?

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  43. *cof cof* Vader!

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  44. It was half of the reaction that the Tony Mamaluke vs. Jason Cross match from 2002 NWA-TNA received

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  45. http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=761&page=10&sortby=colRating&sorttype=DESC

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  46. TGGI

    (This Goodman Gets It)

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  47. WM24 main event or Summerfest 08 for Edge.

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  48. I think there comes a point where that child grows up, and looks for more depth in that which entertains them. Looking back at the eras of wrestling you see actual change in the product which served to add something new, or another layer. Whether it was a hot new star, or an improvement in athleticism, an embracing of soap opera storytelling, an escalation in violence, or an increase in sex appeal.

    What WWE has done is taken many of those elements and synthesized them into a bland "Best Of" mixture which they haven't changed now for over a decade. Kids lose interest after awhile, we dinosaurs become increasingly disgruntled, and the vast middle sees wrestling as this ugly mish-mash of nonsense.

    Unless wrestling gets a complete makeover to accompany it, the next big star or angle isn't going to return wrestling to the pop culture heights of previous hot periods.

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  49. Selling 100,000+ tickets (a sellout would be like 110,000) is absolutely a problem. That's still 30-40k above their usual Mania crowd. That's a big deal.

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  50. You've been doing a lot of "gonna call it right now"-ing.

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  51. Vader is a close 2nd but I still have UT over him.

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  52. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:45 AM

    Don't see it with either, but I respect your opinion.

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  53. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:46 AM

    Generous. He benefited from the most protective booking ever and the best built-in gimmick, in the Streak. As we are seeing now, taking away the facade of the Streak exposes him as Just A Guy. He did a great job with what could have been a very 80s cartoon gimmick. He benefited from working with the Harts, Michaels, Angles of the world and accumulating enough high profile matches to make him seem important in retrospect. Worked good matches with big guys (Vader, Batista), technicians (Hart, Angle), and could do main event style with the huge stars (Austin, Rock, Hogan). I see him as a HHH type: he works with the guy who draws the money. And there is nothing wrong with that, because he made that work for a couple decades. He was interesting in 1990-91 as a Hogan monster heel. He was harmless from 1992 to 97 as a babyface upper-card guy who existed in his own world. He did well in the main event with Bret, Shawn, Mick, Austin from 97-99. Worthless as tits on a boar from 2000 to 2006, when he reinvented himself somewhat with Angle. Then it was all Streak all the time and his Streak gimmick made him a draw for the first time.

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  54. Just like a Muta scale for color, we need to have a Sting scale for crowd reaction.

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  55. He and Batista have insane chemistry, I like the cage match they had.


    The matches with Orton are underrated.

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  56. Excellent idea, Shelton!

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  57. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:47 AM

    Top 5????? Hogan, Austin, Bruno, Michaels, Flair, Rock, Cena in no particular order are right there.

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  58. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:47 AM

    It was half the crowd reaction of the Jerry Lawler/Terry Fuck empty arena match.

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  59. Cena vs Orton,one more timeFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:47 AM

    Angle in 2006

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  60. No problem.

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  61. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:47 AM

    Most of his stuff with HBK

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  62. I think it's an issue with the dynamic resolution algorithm they use. It's just a totally unuseable service right now.

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  63. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:48 AM

    Foley? *****?

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  64. A good match that people forget, Diesel/Taker at WM XII.

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  65. I personally prefer the summerfest bout but both are great. So that's like 8. I know he's had more. Is that rumble match where Shawn killed his back great? I can't remember at all.

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  66. I forgot about the random great Big Show match!

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  67. "PS - Please find enclosed a sexy picture of Seth Rollins naked, just because"

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  68. My only gripe with the Benoit Hart match was that Heenan was still heeling out on commentary. Wrong match for that. He should have taken a break.

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  69. I don't know Thomas, by October 1999 I was already sick of Triple H and I wasn't fond of The Rock

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  70. I checked the Smackdown SPOILERS. I'm not sure this indicates for certain what Bryan's WM angle is at this time. Something is indeed fishy here. http://www.lordsofpain.net/reports/wwe/smackdown/LIVE_SPOILERS_FOR_THIS_WEEK_S_WWE_SMACKDOWN_2_26_15.html

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  71. WE should have known something was up Monday when Heyman brought up how Reigns would have hit more home runs than Bonds or McGwire..Ran faster than Ben Johnson...

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  72. Either way, if this rumor gains steam, and Reigns did fail the test, Vince is going to have to pull him. Every microscope will come down on Vince, even if this rumor becomes an issue. WWE should go on record as soon as it is feasible and show proof that this didn't happen, if it didn't happen. This, again, is only if the rumor picks up enough steam.

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  73. Did he really say Ben Johnson??

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  74. IT was a rather over the top promo heyman was forced to read and might as well have gone that far.

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  75. This being said of the...70 year old man HGHed to the gills on the cover of a magazine right now

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  76. In my fantasy version of wwe Brock shows up for WM disgruntled and no sells all of Reigns' offence and makes Reigns tap within the first 2 minutes of the match to an armbar and the ref refused to stop it because "it's not in the script" and the whole thing ends in a confusing mess with egg on the wwe's face.

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  77. * The policy that has never Randy Orton hit the 3 strike limit?

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  78. I could see that quite easily, actually.

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  79. It's dead issue anyway, since the guy's not headed back to MMA, but what you're saying would have prevented the UFC from signing a pro wrestler AND would assume the UFC has a squeaky clean image when it comes to PEDs in the first place, which is hilarious.

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  80. Those poor Nigerian princes are so misunderstood.

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  81. Reigns just came back from a major injury of course he cheated to recover faster.

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  82. This is such bullshit. Sources of mine say that the real thing that went down was that Vince told Brock he wanted him to resign, Brock said "Sorry, I'm not interested" to which Vince than put out a blank check and said "Sign it you JOCK ASS!!!".....

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  83. Brock's Scottish?

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  84. I hope Curtis Axel's music hits when they announce it's time for the main event at Wrestlemania.

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  85. ...and then what? It's fine to leave if he wants to work Japan or do UFC or something. Being "the guy" isn't all that it is cracked up to be and, if I were Bryan, I'd do it until I wasn't happy, too injured to wrestle, or felt the work environment was dangerous.

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  86. If this match were 10-20 years ago you could add "The Spoiler" as guest referee.

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  87. Yeah, this isn't true.

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  88. He should use the Perfectplex but call it the 2.4.

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  89. My sources tell me it was the other way around

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  90. We're getting so close to Russo! Aaaaargh I'm so excited!

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  91. Really? All they indicate to me is that they have no plans and are spinning their wheels

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  92. This could KIND OF be considered a business issue.

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  93. Mike Johnson has that WWE has officially responded that this is 100% untrue.

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  94. What makes them bush league is that Hardy is still with the company.

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  95. As someone who recently sat through every single Nitro from 99-2001, I can say that is definitely false. In the early days hell yeah, 95 to mid 99 is some great stuff on a weekly basis. There was literally like an 8 month period in 2000 though where not a single TV match got 10 minutes or more and GOOD LUCK finding a clean finish. Painful.

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  96. Exactly, regardless of both of them being 'past their prime', the 'icon vs icon' match will draw I am sure, and once that finishes, both of them can retire. Taker goes over Sting, Sting gets a marquee mania match, and Taker gets to go out the way he should go out.

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  97. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 11:59 AM

    Goldberg injuring Bret really fucked up their last good "What If?" If nWo Bret stays healthy, they could have done matches with Flair, Hogan, Sting, en route to putting over a rising star like Booker and Benoit in summer of 2000. Of course, Benoit left anyway, but Booker or a Goldberg re-match were right there.

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  98. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:00 PM

    Putting the belt on Bret was the right call because he was about the only guy with credibility who could work with both the old guys (Flair, Hogan, Nash, Sting) and the workrate guys (Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, Booker)

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  99. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:01 PM

    Even after giving it away at Slamboree 1999 with a non-finish, Goldberg vs. Sting STILL could have made them money as a dream match.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Should have gone to Cena's dealer.

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  101. Yeah, that sounds pretty realistic. I don't see how Brock working with a steroid user would hinder him in any way in UFC, especially since he fought Overheem while there.

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  102. Maybe the guy just left because he was bored out of his mind the way everyone at home was? "Fuck this, I'm going home to chop wood."

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  103. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:15 PM

    Exactly. They don't bring back any of the part-timers for the expressed purpose of putting over a fresh star they want to push

    ReplyDelete
  104. Meltzer shot it down on Twitter.

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  105. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:16 PM

    But they both worse trench coats! It's a dream match!

    ReplyDelete
  106. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:17 PM

    On his back, looking at the lights, putting over a new star?

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  107. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:17 PM

    Taker vs. HHH IV can eat a whole Costco container of dicks

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  108. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:18 PM

    Yep, even Cena couldn't pull off the whole "elevated despite jobbing" trick with Bray

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  109. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:19 PM

    All the fucking lulz at Undertaker being the backbone of the WWF during the MNW. If anything, he was the one everyone wanted out of the way so Austin/Rock/HHH could work with new guys.

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  110. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:20 PM

    If ALF eats a fucking Pedigree next week, I'm done...

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  111. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:21 PM

    Agreed. I know about Harley Race NOW, but when I was a 7 year old mark in 1990, I knew fuck all about his legacy. He was just an out of shape hairy guy who dressed like the cowardly lion

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  112. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:24 PM

    Agreed. They had nothing really in common. It wasn't a dream match in 1991, or 1998, or 2007, and it certainly isn't now. They both wore trench coats. That's it

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  113. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:25 PM

    WWE fans don't know Mean Mark Callous. As far as anyone is concerned, The Undertaker debuted in 1990 and that's all there is to him

    ReplyDelete
  114. Its illegal to cross state lines with weed because it becomes drug traficking on a fed level.

    Basically, Cool if you buy in colorado but consume in colorado.

    ReplyDelete
  115. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:28 PM

    Other than a match with the returning HBK in 2002, I can't recall there ever being a "dream match" involving HHH. Yet he sure seems to end up in a lot of them thanks to revisionist history. Ric Flair, The Undertaker (End of what Era?), Lesnar, etc. are dream matches?

    ReplyDelete
  116. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:29 PM

    He was excellent in 2000-01

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  117. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:29 PM

    He could easily re-sign

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  118. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:30 PM

    Needs more Roman Reigns!

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  119. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:32 PM

    Austin clearly meant it when he retired in 2003. He laid down for Rock and never wrestled an actual match again. At any point since 2003, he could have come back for a one-off dream match with Hogan, Cena, Michaels, Lesnar, Goldberg, Punk, or a Streak match with Taker. He has stayed retired and resisted those huge potential paydays.

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  120. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:33 PM

    Probably is, if he was gonna come back during that timeframe, the money match was really Cena vs. Austin...and Punk wouldn't have liked that.

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  121. "Never fail at tears"? Must be Bret Hart's influence!

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  122. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:35 PM

    To be fair, I think HHH should have been Rock's first opponent back in WWE. Not Cena, not Awesome Truth. Rock hosting WM27, getting ready to say goodbye again on Raw, and HHH calling him out for one more Mania. Rock beats him clean at WM28 in Miami for the feel-good, "he can still do it" moment, then the next night he goes to say goodbye....only for Cena to say "I've got to know" and building to Rock-Cena at WM29, truly "Once in a Lifetime"

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  123. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:37 PM

    Exactly. DX vs. Nation was a fun mid-card feud that led to some funny skits. That's all. Rock-HHH at SummerSlam was the first time it translated into anything close to a "historic" match and it wasn't until Rock and HHH were bona fide top guys that the '98 version of DX meant anything more than nWo-lite skits and dick jokes. Austin-McMahon was the juggernaut and everything else hung on for the ride

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  124. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:39 PM

    Taker climbs for that "old school" rope walk I've always thought was retarded...and falls out of the ring and dies

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  125. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:40 PM

    HHH vs. Rock at WM28 (with Austin as Enforcer) could have been sold that way.


    HHH vs. HBK was a legit "dream match" if only because we never thought Michaels would wrestle again.


    Otherwise, no, not even a little bit. HHH vs. Anyone is only a dream match in the sense that they call it that

    ReplyDelete
  126. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:42 PM

    To say "Taker vs. Sting would have been huge 20 years ago" isn't really saying anything at all. ANY WWF vs. WCW match would have been huge back then. I don't see anything inherently "dream match" about Sting-Taker or Sting-HHH, especially with WCW dead longer than most of their audience has been alive

    ReplyDelete
  127. Well Owen was a great ribber, he'd want Bret to wrestle an invisible man in his tribute.

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  128. I'm so excited! I'm so......SCARED!

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  129. Current thinking is that Brock's freak out was over PPV money. Rumor is that in his contract he gets a % cut of PPV money for Wrestlemania. With WWE doing everything they can to get customers away from PPV and onto the Network, this is money straight out of Brocks pocket if he's not specified to get a Network cut as well.
    I can imagine him having a quick meeting with VInce where he was told that it was tough shit and he wasn't changing the deal or paying anything not specified in the contract. It's dirty dealing, but so far it hasn't been ruled illegal in court. In fact, Hollywood uses this trick all the time to screw people out of negotiated percentage deals all the time.

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  130. Fat, Ugly Inner-City SweathogFebruary 25, 2015 at 12:46 PM

    I remember brainstorming a "WWF vs. WCW" Supercard with friends in like 1998. I recall it including:


    Austin vs. Goldberg
    Rock vs. Flair (for the promos, daddy!)
    Taker vs. Sting
    DX (HHH, Outlawz, XPac) vs. nWo (Hogan, Hall, Nash, Savage) "WarGames"
    Owen vs. Bret
    Shamrock vs. Benoit
    Mankind vs. DDP
    Taka vs. Rey (haha)

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  131. Not paying Brock a million or two that you promised him and pocketing the money probably sounds like a great deal for Vince. I can see him now rubbing his hands together and giggling like the roided-up carny leprechaun he is.
    Deliberately pissing off the guy with your main belt, who also happens to be the legit toughest guy on your roster a month before your biggest show of the year is a whole new kind of stupid though, even for Vince.

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  132. Trim the fat. For example, Your audience knows who Eugene is. We don't need the "played by Nick Dinsmore shtick

    "Eugene was a retarded character. As in litteraly"

    Same thing accomplished way fewer words.

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  133. oh my god, you're right!
    And they both wore black!! And at some point used a pop culture reference on their face (Taker's Phantom of The Opera Mask)!!!
    It's truly the Dream Match to end them all!!!!

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  134. A, but he can not be the guy and have fun with his craft in Japan.

    What does WWE offer. If he wants the money I don't blame him. His legacy ***** wise is set.

    But there are reasons to leave

    ReplyDelete
  135. He still needs to keep up with the big, muscular look, regardless of what he's wearing. We all know the obsession Vince has with muscular guys, so it would be no surprise Reigns would be doing everything he could to keep up with that expectation.

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  136. And that Rock-HHH match was also the first time anyone had taken HHH serious, but it was also a platform to help put Rock over while having him drop the IC title without eating a pinfall. So if HHH was the biggest guy in the group and he wasn't big enough to pin the future main eventer...how was he really beating up WCW? Put it another way: if Austin or Rock went to WCW at that time they're in the main event. If HHH went to WCW at that time, he's feuding with Raven.

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  137. Autocorrect!! Test

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  138. He gets to be on Total Divas with his wife. What else would he want?

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  139. It was a decent enough read and you've got a pretty decent conversational style so.
    There's a few typos but nothing horrific and I think Kyle has a point in that it could be subbed down. Personally, I was fine with a long read as I was on a 2 hour train journey - but Kyle is right in that this audience doesn't necessarily need a recap on who Eugene was.

    That probably sounds like I'm damning with faint praise but I'd be keen to see more from you.

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  140. He's back down to one. They made an amendment to the policy that allows them to come off over time.

    ReplyDelete
  141. I hate to say it again but it's 're-sign'. 'Resign' would be that Vince wanted him to quit.

    Interestingly a slight rearrangement of those letters gives me 'Reigns', which makes me just want to turn off the telly.

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  142. Exactly my point - they've gone so far as to amend the policy to keep Randy safe.

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  143. Looks like he's getting lumped into the IC title multi-man clusterfuck.

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  144. How long until we get Buzzkill, the Fat Chick Thrilla, and General Rection?

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  145. "Hey Angelo, pee in this cup"
    -- Sugar Ray Leonard

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  146. Roman's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

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  147. Greatest worst match of all time.

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  148. I was tempted but shied away from it. Loved MASK as a kid, was more a fan of Hondo Maclean or Buddy Hawks - maybe an 80s cartoon battle royal? He-man, Lion-0, Skeletor, Mumm-ra, Hordak, Megatron, Jayce, Saw-boss, Ulysses, The D&D cast?

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  149. HHH: "You, uh, aren't, uh, as good, uh...uhhh...uhhhh...uhhhhh...nevermind, you are."

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  150. Brock: "You no pay Brock? Brock no get money? Brock... angry. BROCK SMASH!"

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  151. Steiner vs Goldberg Fall Brawl 2000 is a great match.

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  152. Should have been the world title match at Starrcade '99.

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  153. Russo's involvement was stupid

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  154. I missed that, what the hell was that?

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  155. Please don't say things like that it makes you sound like a retarded mark.

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  156. Why do you want to see him hurt?

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  157. You know wrestling is worked, right?


    Paige is capable of doing more than doing a 30 second tag-match, but they booked it to go half a minute.


    When all you're given is shit and commentary actively undermines you? Why would you be expected to sell out arenas in an industry that's built entirely on image?

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  158. You know, that absolutely should have be the theme song for the WCW Russo era.

    ReplyDelete
  159. The Amazing GamecockFebruary 25, 2015 at 4:53 PM

    Reading this on a phone. Are there spaces between paragraphs? There are none on here.

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  160. Again, what look? The dude's body is covered.

    ReplyDelete
  161. Because this match allows Sting to go over in his first WWE match. He would not be able to go over the Undertaker. Pretty simple, honestly.

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  162. Yeah, I don't think you need all that "the background" stuff. Cut that down and I feel like this would be very readable.

    Instead of all this: "Triple H had won the Title in September, cutting the legs off hot new babyface Orton in the process, and held it until December of 2004. Due to a disputed finish in a Triple Threat Match between Triple H, Edge and Benoit, the belt was held up with the new Champion to be crowned in the Elimination Chamber.Michaels was instilled as Trouble Shooting Referee™, thanks in large part to having issues with pretty much everyone in the match at some point or another. At this point though Michaels was firmly entrenched in a feud with Edge, who was trying to get over as an opportunistic heel. It would take winning the first ever Money In The Bank Match and stealing Matt Hardy’s bird to finally get Edge past the Upper Midcard to Main Event barrier. At this point he was a moderately over heel with something missing.
    The big story going into the match was the rise of Batista. Obstensibly he was there merely to help Triple H win, but ever so small cracks were starting to appear in his relationship with Triple H. Hints were given that maybe he’d take the Title for himself.
    Orton was pretty much dead in the water as a face by this point and would be a heel again about a month after this. Ditto for Jericho, although his heel turn would take a bit longer. Benoit was coming off probably the most successful year of his career, which had seen him win the Title at Wrestlemania XX and generally have great matches with everyone from Triple H to Sylvain Grenier."



    How about: "Triple H was stripped of the title after losing a three way with Edge and Benoit, when he submitted to both men at the same time. But the real story was the steadily increasing face pops Batista was getting in the run up to this show."

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  163. Austin/Goldberg over Austin/Hogan?

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  164. Brock no lay down for small big greezy hair man at show! Brock break last of definition out of his arms! Brock hungry Brock eat belt... Mrmph delicious corporate synergy.

    ReplyDelete
  165. Brock went home because he discovered that you don't actually have to see the big show in person to appreciate how big he is

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  166. Look at Brock. Just take a look at the guy. Does he seem like he would be upset that someone else is on PED's?

    ReplyDelete
  167. http://411mania.com/wrestling/stephanie-mcmahon-furious-about-aj-calling-her-out/



    It wasn't a work.

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  168. the divas dont put asses in seats. they are a sideshow attraction, bathroom break, filler, etc. Men's sports always superior to womens in interest. Feminists and liberals dont like the truth, but that doesnt stop it from being the truth

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  169. I dont think they mistreat them. The divas are never gonna be the names on the marquee selling out the building. Focus should be on building stronger male talent that can drive the company to bigger houses, ratings, and payoffs for everyone

    ReplyDelete
  170. Maybe some of us don't like saying the word "retard." Because not all retards are retards.

    ReplyDelete
  171. I'm all for it as long as it builds to the rumored dildo on a pole match at wrestlemania, where whoever gets the dildo first gets to use it on their opponent

    ReplyDelete
  172. I feel stupider just having read that.

    ReplyDelete
  173. CruelConnectionNumber2February 26, 2015 at 12:52 PM

    They gave it away free on Nitro in 1998!

    ReplyDelete
  174. And you know apologists will be all like, "the storyline is amazing and Steph will do the right thing in putting her over!" going into this, kind of like what they said about Brie. That storyline was abysmal and Brie didn't go over.

    ReplyDelete
  175. Worked hard? By learning a few high impact moves? Fuck outta here. Still clunky as shit and cringe worthy on the microphone.

    ReplyDelete
  176. I'm glad I waited here for two days for this amazing logic and sharp wit.

    ReplyDelete
  177. Yeah, well, I'm not on here every day to reply to such an asinine and ridiculous statement, cupcake. The fact that you deem Nikki Bella "good" in the ring proves that logic waved bye bye to you long ago.

    ReplyDelete
  178. I'll be here all night!

    ReplyDelete

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