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Daily Network Thread - 5/9/14

The Network live stream schedule for today:

9:00 AM ET - RAW Flashback - 4/11/94 - King's Court with Lex Luger; The Quebecers defend the tag team titles against mystery opponents.
10:00 AM ET - RAW Flashback - 4/18/94 - Bret Hart vs. Kwang; The King's Court with Alundra Blayze.
11:00 AM ET - Extreme Rules 2014 - 5/4/14 - Replay of this past Sunday's Special Event.
2:00 PM ET - Legends' House - 5/8/14 - "Viva Las Vegas" - The Legends head to Las Vegas where hilarity ensues, I'm sure.
3:00 PM ET - WWE NXT - 5/8/14 - #1 Contender Battle Royal; women's title tournament continues.
4:00 PM ET - WWE Superstars - 5/8/14 - The Usos vs. 3MB; Paige vs. Alicia Fox.
5:00 PM ET - WWE Main Event Replay - 5/6/14 - Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger; Goldust vs. Curtis Axel.
6:00 PM ET - Legends of Wrestling - 3/1/11 - Favorite rivalries.
7:30 PM ET - Smackdown Pre-Show.
8:00 PM ET - Legends of Wrestling - 12/31/06 - Superstars of the 80's: Jerry Lawler & The Junkyard Dog.
9:00 PM ET - ECW Hardcore TV - 9/6/94 - Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck vs. The Public Enemy for the ECW Tag Team Championship; J.T. Smith vs. Jason for the ECW TV Title.
10:00 PM ET - Beyond the Ring - Batista: I Walk Alone.
11:30 PM ET - Legends of Wrestling - 12/31/06 - Superstars of the 80's: Jerry Lawler & The Junkyard Dog.

In honor of the NFL Draft, revisit the first WWE Draft in 2002. Now the episode of RAW is not posted to the Network Vault at this time, but the very first PPV offered under the brand split was Backlash 2002. Highlights of this show include a Cruiserweight title match between Billy Kidman and Tajiri, Brock Lesnar's first PPV match against Jeff Hardy, Edge vs. Kurt Angle and RVD vs. Eddie Guerrero for the IC Title. The main event is Hulk Hogan vs. Triple H for the WWF Championship.

Comments

  1. Worst list I have ever seen!! Did this come from an 8 year old or what?

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  2. Unless the list is from a fukked up 8 year old.

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  3. 1001: Triple H


    - Bret Hart

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  4. Dusty doing his hungry hippo impression.

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  5. JERRY THE KING LAWLER

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  6. What? No Grizzly Smith?????

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  7. I was thinking the list was seriously devoid of some top talent and while some of the guys on the list could talk and go in the ring, they didn't draw anywhere enar as well as Hogan or Austin.


    Say what you will about Hogan's in-ring ability (and he could go when he wanted to), but the reason we're all here was the WWF riding his back to becoming a cultural phenomenon.

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  8. richard householderMay 9, 2014 at 8:59 AM

    haha you bozo

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  9. This list needs more "Iron" Mike Sharpe and Barry Horowitz.

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  10. richard householderMay 9, 2014 at 9:00 AM

    Just five makes you make tough choices. HBK, Hogan, Rock, Austin, Andre.

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  11. 1. El Dandy
    2. El Dandy
    3. El Dandy
    4. El Dandy
    5. El Dandy

    He really is a jam up guy.

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  12. Great on the mic, entertaining matches, could draw heat like a muddafucka, one of the biggest stars in the industry, and, oh yeah, has made one or two small contributions to the business in an off-camera capacity. That man? Vincent Kennedy McMahon.


    As for Sheamus, I don't think it's a work - it doesn't benefit Sheamus in any way, and unless Hunico's about to get a big push, it doesn't benefit Hunico, either.

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  13. How the fuck is HBK not in that list? I'm going to assume the emailer completely forgot about him!

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  14. remember though this was about "performing" not drawing.

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  15. Uh...Kurt Angle??!!?? You know, before he went insane?

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  16. What aspect of Hogan's or Austin's "performance" wasn't a huge draw? They talked well, they got people into the matches in the ring and did well in out-of-the-ring segments.

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  17. Just too hard to compare managers and wrestlers. Yeah Cornette, Heenan, Heyman, etc. were fantastic talkers and could take a bump every once in awhile for a storyline but that's difficult to compare to top notch workers like Flair, HBK, Bret Hart, Savage, etc. I've always though jake was a bit overrated. Yeah he was great but he wasn't in the top echelon because he wasn't IMO a great worker. Criteria is so subjective but for me I'd not put managers on the list and go
    1. HBK 2. Flair 3. Savage 4. Bret Hart 5. Rock

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  18. didnt' say that. But drawing power wasn't one of the critiera in the email You compained that some on thel list didn't draw anywhere near as well as Hogan or Austin. My point is that the criteria wasn't about who drew more.

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  19. OK, but even taking out the argument of the draw, the rest of my statements still hold true (I believe) about their ability in the ring, on the stick and in out-of-the-ring segments. They were both really above average in all those categories, and top of their class when it came to getting reactions from fans during matches.

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  20. Austin should be 1. There was nothing he couldn't do. Just look at how he adapted to things...great technical wrestler to innovative brawler to compensate for his injury. Texas Rattlesnake to goofy character with angle to paranoid cowardly heel. All 3 were great as characters.

    He's the GOAT

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  21. 1: Bret Hart

    - Bret Hart

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  22. Sheamus as the bigger guy who tries to throw his weight around and gets bested by a smaller dude, then defensively addresses it on social media, sounds exactly like a bully to me.

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  23. If it was an 8 year olds list, it would go something like this.
    1.John Cena
    2. Rey Mysterio
    3. Big Show
    4. Sheamus
    5. Randy Orton
    6. Hornswoggle

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  24. Yup good call on vince

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  25. I wouldn't argue against Austin in a top 5. Hogan simply wasn't a strong enough worker for me. Was he atrocious? Nope. But when you are talking greatest performers ever (well atleast of the modern era, if we had enough Bockwinkle footage we might have different lists) his ring work just isn't good enough to crack the list.

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  26. Your_Favourite_LoserMay 9, 2014 at 10:00 AM

    hmm, i doubt that

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  27. But it says performer. Hogan was one of the best out of ring guys ever. Unless the list is best high flier or in ring to not have Hogan on any best of wrestling list for singles is absurd.

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  28. It isn't about stars, it is about talent.

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  29. well the criteria isn't exactly ironclad and it is all subjective but for me, when you talk best performer you are talking talking, charisma, and ringwork Hogan was a good talker but not IMO as good as Flair at his peak or Rock or guys like that. His ring work wasn't anywhere near the best. So then you have to decide how much charisma matters. If this was a list of who drew the most money then Hogan would be number one and Austin two with everyon else fighting for three, but it's not.

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  30. Perfect was amazing on commentary. You continue to present evidence you are an idiot.

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  31. Savage, Angle, HBK, Rock. Pillman in that order.

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  32. Heenan, Ventura, and original Lawler were far better. Perfect was OK on primetime round tables playing off Heenan but he sucked on every ppv I heard him call. I haven't heard the superstars he's called with vince in a long time though.

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  33. What would be the argument against Eddie Guerrero being in the discussion for the top of this list?

    Nearly unmatched talent in the ring
    Beloved as a face
    Hated as a heel

    He also developed into a tremendous talker and actor. Aside from his body language in the ring being a big part of why lie, cheat and steal got over he could also do that 10 minute silent promo to Rey's mask.

    Anyone else for Eddie?

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  34. nope. that spot already belongs to Randy Savage.

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  35. Why would you compare him to the all time greatest when he barely did it?

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  36. I get that and again Hogan had no talent???? Great on the mic (Superdome not withstanding) and out of ring. The man was the best in his role. If it is in ring where is Benoit?

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  37. I don't really know what this guys criteria is but any best of list with Eddie G on it works for me. Also his wife deserves an honorable mention. She was a great on air heel character. My thanksgivings will never be the same without seeing Vickie get a bowl of gravy dumped on her head.

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  38. I see your point and subjectively I always thought Rock was overrated but I'd still have him top five. Ditto Hogan. Charisma and mic skills were high.

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  39. He did it for at least a year and half.

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  40. Who are you to doubt El Dandy?


    (assuming you wanted that reply)

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  41. and actually a quick glance back at the email, the person does say "all aspects of the business" without specifying. We are left to guess what "performer" and "all aspects of the business" really mean. For the latter, drawing may very well be a part of it for some, so I humbly withdraw my criticism of Hogan being in the top five for those who saw the criteria as including drawing power.

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  42. No he didn't. He would pop in and out. All those guys, JR, Perfect, DiBiase, Lawler, Cornette, Hayes, Owen, would rotate.

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  43. Your_Favourite_LoserMay 9, 2014 at 10:19 AM

    we see what we did there

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  44. Everybody with serious lists are pretty good, but I would like to add Raven to this list.


    He did all 3 very well in his day.

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  45. I love Eddie G and he holds a special place for me because he basically bookended my fandom. I came to wrestling in 84 and slowly tapered off around 90 due to being high school and being busy. By summer 92ish I wasn't watching and I didn't come back to it until jan. 97 (save one trip to the 93 rumble. Boy was I shocked Hart was champ). Flipping past Nitro I saw Guerrero in the ring and was mesmerized. Nobody did what he was doing back in 1991. I kept watching and then saw Luger, Hogan, Savage and the rest. I became hooked again. During the middle of the last decade my viewing tapered off due to work and quality of the program. Basically after Eddie's death I didn't watch Raw again, save for a couple stray episodes (when I heard Bret was coming back, once when everyone was going crazy for Nexus) etc.

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  46. He did commentary on superstars for a long time in the early 90's and again in 96 where he started doing ppvs with vince. I'm not saying he sucked, but he wasn't great, certainly not good enough for that to put him in top 5 performer territory.

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  47. He was 10x better than Lawler.

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  48. Yeah if you started watching wrestling 10 years ago. Original Lawler was amazing. Any opinion otherwise is wrong.

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  49. Whipplemans wife is highly skilled in oral, anal, and vaginal. She is the GOAT

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  50. He late 90's work is so overrated. He was a hack.

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  51. King was in the WWF in 1993. 93 to 96 king was the man. I like his early work with Jr too but its not as good.

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  52. No was generic as fuck in his early days.

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  53. He was a bad Heenan knock off.

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  54. Nothing compares to Heenan but Lawler did very well with the fun heel to boo role after The Brain left.

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  55. Big Steph and HHH seems to make EVERY wwe countdown now so I think they should be numbers 6 and 7 on the list. ;)

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  56. Hunico beat up Sheamus? Awesome! Fuck that roided up lobsterheard.

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  57. You're a good guy Comdukakis!


    I win!! (just kidding)


    My list?


    In no particular order: Hogan, Flair, Austin, Savage, DiBiase

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  58. If you do a second list, separating in-ring performers from non-combat personnel (managers, valets, announcers, "Commissioners" and the like), I humbly submit a list of:


    Heyman, Heenan, Cornette, Sheri Martel (to be the token female) and Jimmy Hart.

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  59. those who never saw Ted in Mid-South are missing out. Guy was amazing as the Million dollar man but his work as both a face and heel in Mid-South was also awesome. He was more than a one trick pony.

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  60. It's a combination, so it's going to tend towards well-rounded performers. My list would be something like Flair, Austin, Foley, Angle and then the 5th spot is up for grabs between Rock, Guerrero and HBK. And no need to hyperbolize that someone has "no talent" just because they don't make a top 5.

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  61. 1 vote here for William Regal.


    Great dastardly villain, fabulous comedic face, technically proficient in the ring and great on commentary.

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  62. Bockwinkel, Terry Funk, Pillman, Heenan, Austin in some order.

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  63. No hogan is such a lol.

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  64. Best All Around Performers: (Ring Work, Face, Heel, Promos)


    1. Stone Cold Steve Austin
    2. Ric Flair
    3. Randy Savage
    4. Kurt Angle
    5. Bobby Heenan (Though Paul Heyman is REALLY making a run at him, right now.)


    Best Performers that could also be GREAT broadcasters:

    1. Bobby Heenan
    2. Paul Heyman
    3. CM Punk
    4. William Regal
    5. Jerry Lawler (in his prime)

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  65. I'd have Savage, Austin, Hogan, Flair and Rock, but it is tough to leave out Dusty, Piper, Pillman, Shawn and Foley. Shit I'd personally consider including Jimmy Garvin just because I always enjoyed his stuff.


    For me Hogan's ranking is based on his ability to sell stories: his performance as the third man at BATB was incredible. He comes down to the ring and the look is the same sort he had when saving Savage on SNME years ago in Hershey. Looking back it seems like it could be either "screw these Outsiders, I've had enough" or "screw the WCW fans, I'm taking over." Toss in the mocking of the Hulkamaniacs and it's gold. He turned around the business using two moves (two leg drops on Savage) and a promo telling the fans to stick it. He also drew a huge house to the Superdome ;) in 1987 by looking crushed when Andre ripped his shirt and cross. Ditto when Savage and Orndorff turned on him and Bundy and Muraco broke his ribs. Dude just looked heartbroken and made you want to see him get revenge. How many other performers could do that? They seem simple, but they're not really not easy to do.


    Sure its crappy acting for TV and movies, but they're some of the best wrestling performances of all time. Sorry for the hyperbole, just arguing my point lol. I really don't get not including Hogan in any top 5. Not saying it's right or wrong, just that I don't see how you could overlook Hogan is all the same way somebody couldn't understand how Lebron would someone's #1 guy over Jordan. It's not wrong...you just don't understand it is all. This was a cool email that the OP sent in.

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  66. I know I'm about 6 months behind the curve on this...but his podcast is insanely awesome. That show, alone, proves he deserves a spot on this list.

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  67. Does Hart get extra points for musicianship? My list would probably be something like Heyman, Heenan, Cornette, JR and Ventura. (Really hard to leave off Gorilla but, well, I did.)

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  68. 1. David Arquette
    2. Zeus
    3. El Gigante
    4. Nathan Jones
    5. The Maestro
    Who DARES argue this list?

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  69. You left The Great Antonio off the list. And Raja Lion.


    Or is this an "American promotions ONLY" list?

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  70. But where's Khali? No top 5 is complete without the Great Khali!!

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  71. Magoonie NOT Teddy BelmontMay 9, 2014 at 1:44 PM

    That's a damn fine list, where's the DVD set for any of these guys?

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  72. Hunico's not even Hunico any more.

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  73. Greats of all time in the ring.


    I understand his promos weren't as polished as someone like The Rock, but they weren't bad when he was a heel.

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  74. I watched GAB '89 all the way through for the first time when I got the network and my god the Cornette-Heyman feud had HEAT

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  75. I don't think Heyman is making a run at Heenan. He's doing a great job out there. But it can't be that difficult getting heat on guys like Brock and Punk. Nor is it hard to be a great manager week in and week out when you're basically the ONLY manager. I'm not trying to run down Paul E.cause he's a great heel manager and always has been. But I don't think he's even close to the Brain. Paul can enhance a heel's heat, but Bobby could create it.

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  76. I think when you take everything into consideration(match quality, promos, charisma, face, heel, star status, any measurable) then I think Steve Austin is far away the GOAT. He's Hulk Hogan but he could GO like nobodies business. Strictly match quality, Austin probably isn't #1(neck injuries suck) but he was the megastar that could go.

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  77. He's an advocate, not a manager!

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  78. Dutch does a great job creating heat, actually.

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  79. Couldn't agree more

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  80. yes, me too, but hulk is still the best
    http://jardin-botanique.eu/aquaerobik/

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