same as before. Feel free to discuss anything WWE or wrestling related. Since the board was down last week, I never got the chance to talk about how awesome Smackdown was on the 13th. Probably one of their best ever. Booker wins the U.S. title. Boogeyman bites off Jillian Hall's "growth" (hilarious!), and Kurt Angle beats Mark Henry to win the battle royal for the World Heavyweight Championship. It was also a great moment when it was just Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry left in the ring. I couldn't believe that Rey was so close to winning the strap. I'm still keeping the dream alive of Rey having a title reign in 2006, and I think that leaving him in the ring with Henry and even threatening the possibility of him holding the belt shows that the company has confidence in him. So much stuff to catch up on! Help me out here people. Also, the fantasy league will be starting soon. Who's in again?

Question Vulture... what's the future of TNA?

Its only appropriate that my first post on the new board should be in this thread.

Fantasy league actually starts today, I believe. You can jump in late if need be, but I dunno what sort of participation we'll get with the short notice (this is the fault of the board crash, not you, MV.) I'll do it if we can get the same sort of participation as the last few times.

The Boogeyman is so fucking GROSS. I wonder though...with no mole, and based on what the dirtsheets are saying and JBL's somewhat shoddy treatment of her as of late, I have to wonder if a face turn is in the cards for Jillian. She's pretty cute, if a bit larger than the average diva, and with a "normal" face, she'd be more conventionally attractive to the average fan.

Few more bits of tid:

1. So Kurt Angle's a babyface now? Wha? He was definitely playing more to the crowd, and was directing the "YOU SUCK" chants at Daivari last week. I'm a bit pissed that they gave the belt to a non-Smackdown (at the time) worker when they have talent right in front of them, though. No slam to Kurt, who deserves the belt, but really...Randy Orton is RIGHT THERE, people! If they wanted a heel champion going into Mania, he's the guy for the job. Speaking of inexplicable face/heel turns, he almost looks like he's gonna turn AGAIN given this Booker T storyline. For one thing, turning him face now will undo all the work they've done in recent months to make him this evil heartless bastard (though he's not acting like one lately), and for another thing, putting him in the U.S. title picture is a step back.

2. Orlando Jordan. Bisexual angle. Coming soon.

3. So these Gymini guys are those Shane twins I've read so much about in the dirtsheets, eh? The guys who basically forced TNA to stop calling Matt Bentley "Michael Shane?" And they're not even using the fucking name? Lame.

4. Items that can be found on WWE Auctions: all the divas' bras and panties from the New Year's Revolution gauntlet match and three pillows from the Edge/Lita "Live Sex Celebration."

5. Heidenreich. Released.

I got my Nintendo 64 and No Mercy game on Friday and i'm loving it. It blows away any other wrestling game period. I can play this game non fucking stop. I created a character named destructo. He's pretty cool and already won the IC title.

Did everyone see the TLC match last Monday with Flair and Edge? I really wasn't expecting much because Edge was coming off an injury from a couple months ago and Flair is 56-ish years old, but damn was it impressive. After Edge took the bumb to the table on the floor and Flair was climbing the ladder, the part of me that knows how the business works basically turned off and I really thought that Flair had a shot a winning. Of course, when Lita came in an grabbed him it didn't surprise me at all, but it was nice that at least for a short time there could be the same "anything can happen" mentalitly that I had when I first started watching about 8 years ago.

1. I was pissed that they didn't think enough of their own roster that they had to have someone from Raw come in and take the strap. At least it was Kurt Angle, a guy who does deserve it. But I'm not really sure they had anyone with enough build up to give the title too anyway (let's face it, a Mysterio title reign would have only lasted a few months and Orton hasn't been in the title picture for a while). One of the great things about Kurt is that he works well as either a face or heel and can be the best at both, which is not easy for everyone.

2. Yeah, I heard about this too. As if he wasn't gay enough with those highlights.

3. That's them? They look pretty good in the ring I guess. I'm glas that Kendricks and London got some offense in in their match so that it wasn't a squash


5. Yeah, he about ran out of chances. Being talentless can only take you so far.


I'm working on setting up the leage right now

league name: SOMBiemania

Bump to reflect league creation. You've got until 6 p.m. to get in this week. I'm in, but so far its just me and MV.

In

Spirit Squad.......

What the fuck....?

Yeah, that's what I was thinking...WTF?!?!?!?

Spirit Squad??? The Boogeyman??? Who the hell thought these were good ideas?

More ass kickers, less characters....sheesh.

TNA looks better every week. Even tho I'm not enthused about Sting being back...or Jarrett being champ, even though he owns the company....ugh.

X-Division rules!!!

i really need to start seeing these TNA shows. I was really intrigued by their PPV a few weeks back with the barbed wire match between Sabu and Abyss, but I just couldn't bring myself to pony up the cash for it.

they need a better timeslot, and then odds are ill be sold on it. but for now, im stuck watching Edge get fellated by Lita.

Old school minds/enthusiasts are definitely at work here.

Are you all serious? Just didn't think people were actually into that stuff.

Maybe we need an official UFC thread, because there's what I prefer and it's for real, not makeup and theatrics.

For me, it's not about the reality, it's about the drama, the skill, the artistry, the storytelling. If someone were to describe both a WWE match and a real fight, which one do you think would sound the most interesting and would have you the most anxious to watch?

I have mixed feelings on Sting in TNA. On the one hand, he's a huge name who could very well bring a lot of fans over to the TNA product and help build some interest. On the other, he's pushing 40 years old, is pretty much past his prime, and will likely get the pushes the younger guys (Styles, Daniels, Joe, Monty Brown, Christian, etc.) deserve. I would like to see the world title scene expand beyond Jarrett. Jarrett for some reason doesn't drive me as crazy as HHH does, even though they're basically the same guy, in terms of power/political pull/booking control, etc. I can maybe forgive Jarrett a little bit because he's more entertaining than HHH and at least seems to recognize the value of building other wrestlers/angles, even if he does kinda just stick them all in the X-Division. But at least the X Division is solidly built up, and is pretty much the main attraction. I don't think HHH would want anyone/any division stealing his limelight. Jarrett at least shares a little bit. Even if he basically is perpetually champion.

Amen.


Anyway the whole "Are u guyz srsly talking about wrestling in hre" posts have thankfully been infrequent, let us enjoy our utopian wrestling society within the walls of this thread. Let freedom ring!

Yeah...a "wrestling is fake" comment. Yawn. You've all seen my retort against that one, so I won't repeat.

UFC is fucking boring. And a little gay. All they do is roll around grabbing at each other's packages.

Edit: Gayer than wrestling, even. Not a lot of grappling and package grabbing in WWE these days.

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

UFC has its moments, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud at this.

Yeah, that was pretty funny.

Well, I'm backing out of this lovely thread, but not without giving you a few things to watch to disprove the "rolling around grabbing balls" comment.

Chuck Liddel Vs. Randy Couture 2
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8...135437562&q=UFC

Matt Hughs Vs. Frank Trigg
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8...558445335&q=UFC

Rich Frankin Vs. Nate Quarry
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=75...915011338&q=UFC

Andre Arlovski Vs. Paul Buentello
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5...159940076&q=UFC

Now on to this. I've been watching wrestling for more than 20 years now, and I can tell you than even in the "old days" there were plenty of stupid gimmicks/characters. They've always been around, they'll always be around. The key here is coming up with CONVINCING characters, even if they are kinda stupid. If the bad gimmick can actually get over (as the Boogeyman seems to be doing...time will tell on the Spirit Squad, but if they continue to be Coachman's cheerleaders/posse, they probably WON'T get over) then it doesn't matter. The Undertaker had a fantastically stupid gimmick...but it WORKED. So did Doink and Golddust. Even the Hurricane was kinda fun. The Godwins, Damian Demento, The Goon, Mantaur, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, any old Al Snow or non-Diesel Kevin Nash gimmick...not so much.

The thing about WWE is they use ridiculous gimmicks/characters a little TOO much, and don't always develop them or give the fans any reason to care, and then sideline the poor wrestlers (who often have a bit of talent) to squash matches forever. See: The Heartthrobs, The Dicks, Cade/Murdoch, etc.

I don't like the new stuff...

But I'm a big fan of The King of Memphis Tennesse.

Sinistro...you might want to give TNA a try. Seriously. Spike runs it after UFC. A minimum of flash and gimmickry and an emphasis on in-ring action as opposed to storylines. If you liked old-school wrestling you might dig it.

And, yeah, UFC is still totally gay. GAY.

Yeah, UFC is pretty gay. I was a fan of their reality show, however. Nothing more heterosexual than watching dudes drama and then beat each other senseless in an octagon or whatever geometric figure that thing is.

And Royal Rumble this Sunday. Any predictions? I'm banking on Trips winning for Raw. As for SD! I'm kinda torn between a few guys. I am still pretty unclear if Angle is a heel or face, honestly. I heard there was a chance of an Undertaker/Angle match up at 'Mania. If that's the case, I'd like to see 'Taker get one more chance at the main event before he probably hangs it up for good.

Wow. I must say I'm dumbfounded that men can dislike actual fighting, strategy and blood, but prefer scripted hilarity such as you're describing. That you're calling UFC "gay" blows my mind.

The UFC reality shows have been great. I don't watch the PPV shows, but have really liked that Spike has a show on each Monday, and has had actual live fight nights instead of rebroadcasts.

Winner of the Royal Rumble...

Rey Mysterio?!???

HUH!?!??!

i guess the rumble this year didn't include the 'winner gets a title shot' stipulation. but still, mysterio is pretty awesome. im glad hes getting a good push, finally. dude deserves it.

So true.

Dude, I think we all knew rey mysterio was gonna win. a. because of eddie guerrero, and b. because he came in early, and then just like, hung out on the ground in the corner for a while. when they do that in a rumble, that means they are in it for the long haul.

anyways, i just found out i could be going to wrestlemania.

this weekend i watched royla rumble 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2005, and 2006. and i killed a keg with 2 other people, which is impressive because i am of average weight for a girl being 5'6.

But still, i havent watched wrestlilng in a couple years, aside from one or two nights in the past year where i just put in on. and when hacksaw jim dugan was there for no reason when edge lost that match, im sorry, but i thtought that was pretty fucking funny.

I came across Wrestling Observer on Sirius Sattelit Radio tonight. Vince Russo was the guest I wish I heard more or something intersting. He's starting up his own federation apparently. Talked about Hogan being someone you can't always count on to show up and what not.

I watched TNA and I must say I find myself fast forwarding through many of the matches. The only one worth watching was Ryno against the Mankind wannabe guy. I thought it was retarded last week that they held over the sting gimmick for another week and then he just comes back to say goodbye.

Lame ass. I see it as a cross between old WWF and ECW but they got the worst of both worlds in the end.

Terrible jobber matches mixed with some very unextreme wrestling. I was very disappointed. I have watched maybe 3 weeks worth now and I am about to give up. I may start to tivo smackdown or raw or something and try that again.

It most certainly DID have the title shot stipulation. Rey is in the WM22 main event now. But against...who? He could work a better match against Angle, but face/face matches typically don't get booked. Unless Angle turns again before WM.

As is normally the case with the Rumble, the Rumble match itself was really the only good thing on the card. Though the cruiserweight match wasn't bad. Edge/Cena was OK, but felt a bit rushed. And what the fuck is Mark Henry doing in a PPV main event? Yeah, I know they saved that match for last so Undertaker could "break" the ring, but still.

One of the best parts of any Rumble, for me, are the WTF? entrants. You know, the unexpected, mystery entrants who are normally guys from the past who we haven't seen in months/years who just show up making everyone think WTF? Like when Rick Martel showed up in like mid-90s Rumbles, or when Honky Tonk Man showed up a few years back. I was afraid, at first, that we wouldn't get any this year, but then TATANKA showed up. Classic WTF entrant. I'd also classify Eugene and Golddust as WTF entrants...last we heard of Eugene, he was wacked out on painkillers and in rehab. And Golddust was in Taboo Tuesday, but seriously, did you think we'd see HIM again? God bless the unpredictable. Even if you know these dudes are getting tossed, its still a humorous break from the same old guys we see every week.

Fucking awesome.

Rey Mysterio winning a Royal Rumble is like the best thing ever.

I'm not sure what I'm more happy about. That Rey Mysterio won, or that HHH DIDN'T win. Both facts make me very happy.

Yeah, this is definitely made me happier than anything that's happened in the WWE since I've been watching really.

Okay, now that I've gotten my rest I can share my enthusiasm (a post with Mysterio's pic was all I could muster after getting off work at getting home at 2 in the morning): Yes! Yes! Yes! Is this the same WWE? Are they actually pushing someone with talent and not strung out on 'roids! I still can't believe how behind Rey they are (and trust me, I'm all for it). We should have known they were grooming him for this during the profile-boosting Guerrero feud last summer. This is a man with no catchphrase or unique gimmicks, just pure skill and astonishment each and every week in the ring. Good deal, I say! I know I'm looking a little too far into the future, but the WWE could benefit from having a scrappy underdog defending the belt every week. The guy was the most over face on Smackdown! before Angle showed up and after Batista got injured (which was tecnhically a span of about a hour and a half, but you get where I'm going) and you know you're getting quality each and every time. This could potentially be one of the most exciting title reigns in some time if Mysterio wins.


And I'm a Cena fan, but dammit, Edge won the belt in the most despicable manner, which is why he was such a great heel champion and I hated his guts, but for crying out loud, couldn't he have held the belt for a few more months? Didn't anyone learn anything from Orton's brief title reign?

I couldn't agree more. ESPECIALLY since Cena's getting such a mixed react from a lot of the fans, it would have made more sense to have him chase the title rather than get it back last night, to build some sympathy/empathy for him. They're making a mistake building him up as unstoppable. He's too small a guy/different a character to be getting this Hogan-esque hero booking ... and maybe that's why he's getting boos. Again, I like him quite a bit, and while I'll agree that maybe the character is slightly stale, WWE fans pop for stale ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Batista? THE UNDERTAKER? Come on...that shit's been going on for FIFTEEN YEARS and STILL gets over. HULK HOGAN?!? STEVE AUSTIN?!? So I just can't accept "Cena's stale" as an excuse, because fans LOVE STALE. Its interesting though that Cena's acknowledging the mixed response on TV.

Edge was a hate-worthy champ for sure, but a Mania headliner he isn't. Still, they could have waited at least a few more weeks. But at least now Randy Orton is no longer the shortest-lived champion of recent years.

Steve Austin stale? Guy's got the best mic skills in the history of WWE IMO. I miss him so much.

I hope they use Edge's loss to make him more conniving. That's the only good that can come out of this. We need someone else to join the upper echleon of heels along with Triple H and....well, damn, Kurt Angle is face and JBL lost to The Boogeyman last night, so I guess Triple H is on a tier all to himself.

Remedy for John Cena to stop receiving boos: Go back to what made you so well-loved in the first place. I can't remember the last time he did a freestyle. Some damn good promos during Smackdown!'s prime.

I love him too. I'm just making the argument that you can't call Cena stale without also calling Austin, et al stale, is all. Cena's got great mic skills too. Maybe not on Austin's level, but you know what I mean.

How can you reinvent a character as radical and groundbreaking as Austin's? Change would probably be the worst thing for him.

I'm still trying to figure out how Cena is the Hogan figure these days. Not quite sure how it happened. Always was cool as an annoying freestyling heel. New cena just sux.

Mic Skills:The Rock>>>>Steve Austin

Rock was great but Austin paved the way for the whole "attitude" style. The guy was fucking CRAZY. You never knew if he was just going to flip out and dish out some stunners, and he was always just pissed off about SOMETHING.
Like shit would be going on in the ring, and then you'd hear *CRASH* and austins theme would play and you knew he was angry about something. Made me laugh everytime. Austin kicks ass.

No. Austin may have used a lot of catch phrases, but practically every one of Rock's promos was like a form letter. My wife and I played the "Rock Drinking Game" when he came on.

RULES:

Drink when Rock says:

"Know your role"
"FINALLY...the ROCK HAS COME BACK to (town)"
"The MILLIONS and MILLIONS of the Rock's fans!"
"The People's Champ!"
"Strudel"
"Jabroni"
"Layeth the Smack Down"
"Roody-Poo Candy Ass!!!"
"The Rock says..."

And those are just off the top of my head. The man's entertaining, don't get me wrong, but man...shit was repetitive.

And, ok, maybe Austin's the exception to the stale rule. He can get away with it. Though, really, Steve Austin is nearly at the point of nostalgia, almost like Hogan. That segment at Homecoming where he stunned all the McMahons? Fun, but really, we've seen it. Maybe its best that he's all but retired now. He had his run, he left before he got too pathetic (i.e. Ric Flair-esque). Though I wouldn't mind seeing him back in a GM role. That was fun. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but lets move on. Mr. Kennedy is the future.

Austin is like Emo. Angry all the time.

Anyways, how awesome was the line "Drink a glass of shut-up juice jabroni!!!".

Also, anytime The Rock called the announcer "Hermy" was great.

I am definitely not denying Rock's greatness, but Austin being angry all the time was why he worked so well.

Hey! I got an idea. Since we're like talking about wrestling in general, let's do a little discussion on who/what is the best in wrestling (i.e., wrestlers, matches, gimmicks). So here's what I'm proposing: instead of starting several threads, I was thinking about containing these lists to just this thread. So for instance, let's say we want to discuss the top 5 best wrestlers of this decade, it will say "Now Discussing _______" in the sub line for the topics, and we'll just post top 5 lists until the next topic comes up. Am I making any sense? Okay, for example, here's my list for the top 5 best wrestlers this decade so far:

1. Kurt Angle (consistently great since he first appeared in the WWE. Guaranteed a quality match each and every time).
2. Eddie Guerrero (one of the few who was a master technically and on the mic)
3. Chris Benoit (may not have the accolades as Angle, but he lays it on the line every week)
4. Chris Jericho (even though he's probably lost more than any wrestler on this list, he's always been a dynamic force inside and outside the ring)
5. Rey Mysterio (I will pay your mortgage if he doesn't make you go "holy shit!" everytime you see him wrestle)

And then you post your lists for like a week or so, and then we'll just move on to the next topic. I think it's a good way to keep the thread going in the middle of the week while waiting for Smackdown!. I'm really interested to see some of these lists

Honestly, Austin never really clicked with me during his prime. But I was young and dumb and always a Vince McMahon fan for whatever reason. But looking back over some of his old promos, shit, that guy truly worked a crowd. Even when he started up his "What?" phase. Just getting crowds to yell "WHAT" at inappropriate times. So great. Or when Austin would count how many beers he'd be drinking. Always priceless.
But the Rock has always had great mic skills too. I remember Jericho's WWE debut. The banter back and forth between Jericho and The Rock. One of the best things I had ever seen in prowrestling, especially when the Rock brought up "some guy named Juventud!" Oh that was great.
The Rock, though, really did fall back more on his seven or so catch phrases, whereas Austin would just banter about god knows what, throw in a "That's the bottom line..." and then slam some beers.

And Ken Kennedy. There's a man you can bank on doing something awesome in the future. Just his ring enterance with the old timey mic coming from the ceiling. That's good stuff. I definitely hoep for big things for him.

Oh yeah, and Mysterio winning the Rumble was pretty awesome. I really like Mysterio and am pulling for 06 to be a huge year for him. And Edge losing the belt was kind of lame. I actually kind of liked him as a champ. Him duping everyone and winning the belt in the first place was pretty ingenious. One of the best swerves I think I honestly have ever witnessed in pro wrestling. Noone expected the PPV to end like that at all, but sure enough, it did, and I walked out of watching NYR with a smile on my fact, despite the fact I pretty much can't stand Edge.