Scott, I randomly saw your old rant for WCW "Great American Bash" 1999 and, during the main event Sid Vicious returns to attack and you seemed legitimately surprised by it.  Whether that was the case or not, it got me to thinking: what are some of the best surprises for you in terms of legitimate surprises?  Warrior's return at Wrestlemania VIII is at the top of many people's lists of surprises, along with the Hogan turn (many guessed it not many actual KNEW). To take it further, do you think it's even possible to be shocked at this point?  I mean, between Twitter, blogs, and other leaks, I don't know that a company could bring in a guy (Brock Lesnar's return?) without us hearing before hand.  Whether true (Brock Lesnar) or false (Batista), no return/debut/turn ends up being a shock because we've heard the rumors already.  We're also so conditioned at this point to look for a John Cena heel turn, a McMahon return, or a swerve just for the sak...

Scott, Do you think SummerSlam 2002 was the right time to make Brock Lesnar WWE Champion?  That was a REALLY quick ascent from beating up the Hardy Boyz at Backlash to beating The Rock at SummerSlam.  Would it have been better to build him until Wrestlemania?  Perhaps he gets fed up with Heyman as his mouthpiece and goes Goldberg-style loner.  Then you build him as a babyface leading to his domination of the Royal Rumble.  All the while, have Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit trade the WWE Title from summer on (with the decisive match being the Rumble '03 classic) to 'prime' the transition to mat-based main events.  Then the Kurt vs. Brock Wrestlemania XIX main event is built up as more 'special' AND it's Lesnar's first title win?  It worked out just fine for Brock, and the wins over Rocky and Hogan ran him to the top quickly, but I felt like there was more appeal in the 'chase' with Brock, at least for that initial phase. Summerslam was fine t...

Question for you and the ranters. Are we too harsh on the creative team? With guys like Lagana and Seth Mates on Twitter now and giving the fans an insight to what it was like working with the WWE on creative, it sounds like it wasn't the easiest job and I can see why. They practically are booking 24/7 and i'm sure Vince isn't the easiest guy to work with, so I can understand why everything they shit doesn't turn to gold. After all, can we really even blame them, don't they have to get approval from Vince on most of the script, so this would in turn be Vince just being Vince then right?  But then I looked at it the other way, I mean when something fails, no one(except the fans) wants to call out creative, it's let's blame (insert scapegoat talent here) and demote them as punishment. Did they really think Zack Ryder was gonna recover from getting his ass kicked by Kane on a weekly basis, cock blocked by John Cena, and friend-zoned by Eve? It's the e...

http://www.freep.com/article/20120625/ENT04/120625074/Insane-Clown-Posse-Chris-Benoit-Violent-J-Shaggy-2-Dope-Juggalos My only thought: This isn't gonna end well  To be fair, that's not actually a QUESTION per se.  I will say that this couldn't possibly be any stupider than their song about how rainbows are magic and shit.  I would have to assume they're doing it for shock value and they're succeeding, so huzzah for them.

WWE.com posted what they believe to be the Top 50 matches of John's career. I'm a big Cena fan, and think he's Ric Flair-esq in his ability to get a great match out of almost anyone. That said, their list is a bitch skewed. vs Triple H in the Top 10? No sir. vs JBL at Judgment Day at 20? That one is easily Top 3. The Unforgiven bout is decent, but it's ****1/2 at best. This list doesn't even have John's match against Jericho at Survivor Series, it's fantastic. I also think the bout against Lesnar at Extreme Rules is very over-rated. Plus, I don't even know what the Bragging Rights match with Orton is. I'll assume it's their Iron Man. Other than those gripes, the Top 10 does have some excellent choices.

Smackdown Date: June 29, 2012 Location: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T, Josh Matthews Reviewed by Tommy Hall It appears to be time to start the MITB build as they did that over on the Raw show. Now over there we had people that had only been WWE Champion, but there aren't that many candidates for the Smackdown World Title. Also I'm not sure if there are going to be more people in the Raw match or not, but they have more time to change it if they want. Sheamus defends against Ziggler and Del Rio in a triple threat tonight too. Let's get to it.

Hey Scott, I've been quietly reading you online for...12 years now, so I thought I'd drop you a line like I do every couple years or so, and bring up a couple topics for possible blog discussion. People may think of Brock Lesnar as being a washed-up ex-star cashing in on his past success in WWE/UFC, and his original WWE run (2002 to 2004) was a long time ago.  But look at it this way: Brock is currently two years YOUNGER than Vader was when he broke into WCW in 1992.  And of course he's 100 pounds lighter than Vader, but just as powerful.  My point is, couldn't Vince and Brock collectively decide to make Brock THE monster heel in the WWE for the next 3-4 years, and make a shitload of money?  I guess one or both things might be true: Brock hasn't shown a willingness to completely dedicate himself to the business, and/or Vince refuses to believe that Brock will be loyal after Brock flaked on him 8 years ago.  Who knows. I think that everyon...

Has anybody, in the history of wrestling, gone from 'does not touch a mike' to 'best actor in wrestling' the way abyss has? It seems baffling. Really, why hasn't he had the chance before? What's really awesome about Park is that he's a good wrestler portraying a bad wrestler, and doing little subtle things that someone who has never wrestled before would do, like the way he runs the ropes or has trouble navigating the ring.  The obvious payoff seems to be Park turning into a Jekyll & Hyde type character, where Joseph finally snaps and realizes that Abyss has been the dark side of his personality all along.  It's like man v. motorcycle v. horse!  Yeah, an  Adaptation  reference, take it and love it. I think Undertaker also progressed pretty fast, given that he had never cut a promo in his life before getting to the WWF in 1990.  He was always the big scary silent dude, like Mean Mark or The Master of Pain, and finally after years of Paul Bea...

Waiting for the Trade By Bill Miller Avengers Assemble Vol. 2 by Kurt Busiek and George Perez Collects 12-23, 0 and Annual ’99 Why I Bought This – As I mentioned a few times the week of The Avengers movie I purchased several trades. This was first on the list with a bullet as I’d waited literally years to read this since the original hardcover volume has been out of print for some time, and I absolutely loved volume 1. Thankfully the movie caused this to be re-released in soft cover. The Plot – This is a collection of sequential issues so it doesn’t have one plot, although the Ultron story at the end is what this collection is famous for. Spoilers ahead.

Hey Scott, How are you, man? Obligatory "long time reader, sometime writer." OG Cred? From Rantsylvania & TheSmarks days. Even Wrestleline! So, I started a blog of my own. And, I was hoping you might be kind enough to plug it. A word of warning, it really has nothing to do with wrestling or even pop culture. It's a few sex stories (who doesn't like those?) and a few social commentaries. We're adding writers now and then too. But, because of the subject matter, can totally see you not being interested in plugging it. And I wouldn't take it personally. But if you do...Thanks, man. Much appreciated. Maybe later you can tell me how to monetize it ;-) www.the-malcontents.com Thanks! I bet you can find some links in your e-mail that will tell you how to make money REALLY fast!  And possibly buy Viagra and Rolex watches, too.   

Interestingly, John Cena's comments about most of WWE's fans being 9 year olds were removed from the repeat of RAW.    http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/WWE/article10025937.shtml Too bad they didn't remove the Cena interview, too.  Would have made for a much better show.  

The SmarK Rant for TNA Impact – 06.28.12 Live from Orlando, FL Your hosts are Mike Tenay & Taz AJ Styles and Dixie talk about the big reveal to start, and AJ is still pissed at Daniels & Kazarian. He should be more upset with the agents, I think. And apparently the story MUST CONTINUE tonight. Oh dear.

Hey Scott, I realize your hatred for ECW and especially every reincarnation that keeps tainting whatever legacy the original left behind...but I have a double header of EXTREME soundbytes that you and your readers might enjoy. Matt Hardy and Stevie Richards stopped by W.H.I..P. Temple Update Wednesday morning to talk everything from Vince being a "psychotic genius" to wrestlers wearing shirts in the ring "not being wrestlers." Both interviews are at  http://jjpowerhour.wordpress.com/extreme-rising/ Shane Douglas will be on Friday at 10 a.m. EST on W.H.I.P. on IHeartRadio Thanks a bunch! "Hatred" is a strong word.  Perhaps it's more that I didn't treat ECW and Heyman with the slavish devotion that the idiot hardcore mutant fanbase did, and there was a lot of people who e-mailed me on a constant basis who were too blinded by their own fandom to realize that I was right and they were stupid.  But I wouldn't say "hatred" as such.   ...

For those so inclined, since I've heard requests come up lately. Switch between Spike and ESPN2 and you'll get X Division vs. X Games, so it's a win either way.

http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/77-figure-four-daily/26284-june-26-figure-four-daily-bryan-alvarez-talks-to-robert-karpeles-the-man-behind-wwecreativeish-who-also-happened-to-be-a-part-of-the-wwe-creative-team-in-2005-and-2006-stories-galore You should subscribe to the WON just to hear the epic story of Vince and his ARMY OF HOBOS.  He could have been a billionaire a million times over off that angle.

NXT Date: June 27, 2012 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Byron Saxton Jim Ross Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're back again after last week's great debut episode. Tonight we're going to get a lot of new people debuting which is a cool idea. The perk of NXT being merged with FCW is that there are a ton of guys that the masses haven't seen before and they're letting them trickle in, which is a good way to keep people watching. Let's get to it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FHJBMS The newest collection of my stuff on Kindle is my collection of the first 41 UFC rants, as mostly presented on Heavy.com before they forgot I existed and erased me from the archives.  The one for UFC 41 was in fact never published and is exclusive to this collection.  Only $2.99!

Scott, Could you explain for less knowledgeable readers what exactly what trending on twitter is? I've noticed it a few times in your writing so if you could shed some light on the proper meaning, that would be great. Thanks! It means that no one was talking about something on Twitter, and then suddenly a lot of people started talking about it.  It doesn't mean the MOST people were talking about something, however.  So when RAW starts, generally it goes from no one talking about the show to a few thousand people talking about the show at once, so it's trending.  However, there's still hundreds of thousands of people talking about, say, Obama or the NFL or whatever, but because that's constant on Twitter it's not trending.  So it's kind of an indication of what a small subset of people on the Twitter-verse are talking about, but it's generally the same people talking about the show every week.  So basically what WWE is bragging about is that some of the...

Scott, How is Vader not in the WWE Hall of Fame already?  With Vince recently moving toward acknowledging legacies outside of WWF/E more and more, Leon seems like a shoe-in yet he's not in yet.  I always had the impression Leon White was universally-loved by the lockeroom and never heard any bad blood in promotions, so it's not a Savage-type thing.  The guy had a tremendous run in WCW and had some good matches in WWF, despite never getting that '96 title reign.  Throw in his international body of work and the guy is FAR more deserving than a Ron Simmons, much less the usual Koko B. Ware reference.  Any idea why ol' Leon hasn't gone in sooner? Because the Hall of Fame is a joke and has nothing to do with merit in the least?  I could certainly see him going in at some indeterminate point in the future, though.     As an aside, wouldn't it be kind of cool for WWE to invite Sting to induct Vader? Never gonna happen.  

Monday Nitro #73 Date: February 3, 1997 Location: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's my 9 th birthday and the best they can give me is freaking Memphis? Anyway we're getting close to SuperBrawl which means it's close to Piper's return which I'm sure dozens are clamoring for. Giant and Luger have seemingly formed a bond to fend off the NWO which would result in a tag title shot for them at the PPV. The card looks ok at best so let's get to it.

A lot of you know what's coming in this clip but you still cringe when you see it.

---------- Forwarded message ------ Hey Scott, Long time fan, yada yada. I have a super quick question for you. I'm the global moderator of a pro wrestling forum. In a discussion, someone said that the Liontamer move (Walls of Jericho with a knee to the back of the opponent's head) will be on WWE '13. But a friend of mine said, "Liontamer and Walls of Jericho are the same moves. It was called Liontamer when Jericho was in WCW, but when he went to WWE, the move was named Walls of Jericho. In WWE, even when he put his knee to the back of his opponent's head, commentators called it WoJ (see NXT's debut episode). Liontamer name was not said in WWE, never."  But i was thinking that Walls of Jericho (a normal Boston crab) and Liontamer (Boston crab with a knee to the back of opponent's head) are different moves. So i made a quick search, but found out that even when Jericho applied the move with the knee to the head, commentators were calling it Wa...

---------- Forwarded message ------ http://www.wwe.com/classics/decade-of-john-cena   Whatever happened to that Cena guy anyway? (it feels much, much longer than 10 years at this point) --------------------------------- The crazy thing is that he's been on top of the promotion most of the time, too.

What's the good word, friends. Wrapping up what has apparently not only been WCW month OnDemand, and but as well as here at the ol' Blog of Dune. This time around, I thought I'd do a bit of a lighting round, and then you fine chaps can also throw in your thoughts. Of course, that sly bastard Scott made sure to post a similar thread right before this one. He's always trying to undermine me ever since my posts have been getting 1/1000th the attention of his! Well, you have won the battle this time, Mr. Scott, but soon, it'll be Caliber Winfield Presents The Block of Doom!

Why haven't they tried to put the "Albert" chant over as something that BOTHERS Tensai because that's not who he is anymore, like the "Aldo" chant for Justin Tolerable (tm Sean Shannon)? Because WWE is apparently dead set against admitting that anyone other than themselves has a usable idea for getting someone over.  Otherwise, yeah, the logical thing would be for Tensai to just be like "Yeah, I was Albert, now I'm not, so fuck off" and then go from there.     Along a similar line, you mentioned that if the Sheepherders hadn't become a comedy act in WWE, that Paul E probably could have revived their careers in ECW. Wouldn't they have been prime material for a "Borne Again"-type gimmick, regardless? From a creative standpoint, perhaps, but they've been doing quite well on the indy circuit with the silly Bushwacker gimmick since leaving WWE, and it's not like Heyman would have been able to pay them very well anyway...

Hi Scott, Not sure if you/your readers are aware of the Wrestling with Rosenberg series on YouTube. Rosenberg is primarily a hip hop DJ but is a big time and long time pro wrestling fan. He has some great interviews with Hulk Hogan, HBK, CM Punk and most recently an awesome talk with Daniel Bryan. Here are the links: Daniel Bryan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7A0SfjIAsU CM Punk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ik6VvbXND8 Hulk Hogan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWV69vroavs HBK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SN5q70T9Pw Chris Jericho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvrQZ9-dn4E&feature=relmfu The Miz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Hskkgn-dc&feature=relmfu You're welcome. Hey, I didn't even say thank you!

Hey Scott, Love the blog and visit it daily. Had a question for you. With the recent release of the WCW Clash of the Champions set (which per your suggestion in your review, I picked up and is a phenomenal set by the way), I was in a WCW mood. I was curious what you would rank as your top 5 (or more) WCW pay-per-views of all-time. I know you rave about Bash '89. Would love to hear your input, thanks. Steve Maybe I should do a Book of Lists on Kindle this summer, or a more detailed version of my "Guide to Every PPV Ever" rants. So yeah, Bash 89 is clearly my favorite.  The Bash/Bash combo of 96 is also awesome, featuring the Outsiders powerbombing Bischoff through a table at GAB and then of course the Hogan turn at BATB 96.  Spring Stampede also produced some great stuff, most notably 94 with the Flair-Steamboat main event and 99 with Blitzkrieg's one PPV match and a fantastic Benoit/Malenko v. Raven/Saturn tag match.  Halloween Havoc 89 is an underrated show, with...

I made this comment in the "angle-killing promo" thread but I feel it deserves more discussion.  Alberto Del Rio was brought in and treated like the next huge superstar upon his debut.  He won his matches often and with authority.  Also, the character and the approach to the character was fresh and seemed to be quite over. He won the Rumble and seemed ready to steamroll WWE in 2011. Clearly, he has been seen as an upper to mid-carder since his return from injury and unfortunately, he felt that way during his runs as WWE Champion last fall.  Why do you think this is? I have a couple of theories:

Waiting for the Trade By Bill Miller Mighty Avengers: The Unspoken by Dan Slott, Khoi Pham and Sean Chen Collects Mighty Avengers 27 – 31. Why I Bought This: Late last year I decided to sample the first Slott trade on this title because even though Hank Pym (who is my least favorite of the longtime Avengers) is the central character, the story also promised to focus on Wundagore Mountain , which is one of Marvel’s more interesting settings when done right. Well that first volume showed that even when settling for an Avengers team made up of cast-off characters that Bendis doesn’t want, Slott is an infinitely better choice to write an Avengers story than Bendis will ever be. So in the week before the movie came out I decided to pick-up several Avengers trades and considering how much I liked Slott’s first volume this one made the cut. The Plot: So in the wake of Secret Invasion, Norman “Green Goblin” Osborn is put in charge of both SHIELD and by extension the Aven...

by Logan Scisco - Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Chattanooga, Tennessee. - There was no Free for All match for this show, as the Free for All featured promo battles between the four participants in the Final Four match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcLlxXqKCRE The smarkiest Are You Serious yet!  And that's saying something! "I'm dressed as Loki" "You mean the guy from NXT season 2?" "No, that's Kaval." Seriously, if their goofy comedy skits on Mondays were half this funny, there wouldn't be so much to complain about.  

Taped from Philadelphia, PA Airdate: March 24, 1998 Hosted by Joey Styles Joey welcomes us to another installment of the History of ECW and plugs a tag match featuring Danny Doring and Roadkill against the FBI. Also, the tag titles will be on the line as the champions Lance Storm and Chris Candido face Chris Chetti and Jerry Lynn. Additionally Bam Bam Bigelow will defend the TV title against Sandman. Lastly RVD will face Al Snow.

The SmarK RAW Supershow Rant – 06.25.12 Live from Fort Wayne, IN Your hosts are Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

i don't know if you saw this, but I've never heard of Anderson talking this kind of smack EVER! I thought Chael was able to talk, but maybe Anderson is trying to top him in that area as well. http://www.cagepotato.com/anderson-silva-promises-to-beat-chael-sonnen-so-badly-it-will-change-the-image-of-the-sport/ TAKE MY FUCKING MONEY, UFC!  JUST FUCKING TAKE IT ALL RIGHT NOW! This fight is going to be EPIC.  

Oh what a weekend in West Central Florida. Neighborhood can still only be reached via kayak although that's rapidly improving. Mr. Princess killed at least two snakes to save our dobermans when the water in the yard got a little threatening. Really Tropical Storm Debby, go somewhere...preferably to the panhandle. On the bright side I have cable and power so Monday Night RAW it is. Enjoy the show and come out swinging but keep it clean or I'll send this annoying, rainy storm your direction!

Was always curious how the main event match of Fall Brawl 94 came to be. It was Dusty & Dustin Rhodes & the Nasty Boys vs Terry Funk, Bunkhouse Buck, Arn Anderson & Col. Parker. How was that a main event at that time? The Dustin vs Studd Stable feud was not a main event feud. Hogan had debuted a couple of months earlier & wasn't even on the card, and neither was Flair. What gives? Well, much like Brock today, they had a certain number of dates with Hogan per year, and didn't want to blow them on shows that wouldn't make back the investment.  Plus Rhodes v. Studs absolutely was a big program stemming from Arn turning on Dustin at Bash at the Beach, so I can at least understand the rationale there.  It was Wargames with a pretty hot feud, so why not?

Hey Scott,   Question for your readers - why wasn't Flair vs. Hogan a draw for WWF back in that '91-92 period?  We criticize WWE a lot for all the angles they bungle (Invasion, Nexus, etc.) but this seemed to be a legitimate Wrestlemania main event that never was.  I've read at the time that Flair had some confidence issues and house shows running that matchup didn't draw well but it seems crazy they didn't run it on PPV at least once.  What's even more puzzling is that WCW ran it in 1994 on PPV for Hogan's first match and did a great buyrate if I recall correctly.  So was it just a matter of bad timing?  WWF politics?  Or something else all together? Yeah, Flair came in during kind of a dead time between Summerslam and Wrestlemania, and they ran the first matches in markets where Flair wasn't going to be a strong draw, and from there it was already kind of dead in the water, unfortunately.  You'd think they should have run it at Survivor Series at...

Source STAMFORD, Conn., June 25, 2012 - WWE (NYSE: WWE) and ION Television today announced a new weekly one-hour original series airing on Wednesday nights at 8/7C. WWE Main Event will debut on October 3, 2012, and feature WWE Superstars and Divas from the rosters of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown. The new show will be available in 100 million U.S. television households on ION Television, a top-rated general entertainment network that features a broad mix of critically acclaimed series, movies and original programming. "ION Television is delighted to begin a new partnership with such a successful and well-recognized franchise as WWE," said Brandon Burgess, CEO, ION Media Networks. "As a general entertainment network with a solid foundation, WWE Main Event is a great addition to our lineup that features something for everyone. We look forward to introducing our ION audience to all of the excitement and drama WWE has to offer as well as w...

Good morning, Scott - I was watching "Best of Clash of the Champions" on Netflix, and I wanted to ask your opinion on something. Was there ever another referee who tried to make himself a focal point of the match more than NWA/WCW senior official Tommy Young?  Maybe not in a "get yourself over" type of way - but man, you sure do notice him when he's in the ring. Whenever one wrestler was outside the ring, and the other would stand on top of the turnbuckles to play to the crowd, Young would be there, either leaning out between the ropes to the outside or actually standing on the ropes, berating the wrestler to get down off the turnbuckles.  Or if there was a pinning situation, Young would go FLYING over them to get in position to make the count. Maybe the most obvious example is during the Ivan Koloff/Ricky Morton Russian Chain Match - and Morton has touched all three turnbuckles and is straining to reach the fourth - and Young stands there with his arm in t...

The SmarK Rant for WWE Falls Count Anywhere (DVD) No Blu-Ray from E-One this time, sadly. Once again I would like to pimp my new line of Kindle books as I attempt to milk every revenue stream available to me, specifically my latest entry:  Scott's Blog of Doom Presents:  Monday Night RAW Season One .  Only $2.99 for my review of every episode of RAW from January 93 - February 94.  Plus if you're a cheaper sort of person, like myself, there's always Scott's Blog of Doom Presents:  The Worst of Wrestling , which gives you a dozen reviews of horrendous PPVs that you might not even know existed (like the WWE/Girls Gone Wild abomination) for only 99 cents!  You can't even get a cup of coffee for that price, and I'm giving you hours of reading entertainment. So onto the DVD, and this is quite the mish-mash of concepts, as this one covers street fights, hardcore matches, and falls count anywhere matches in one big catch-all DVD.  The setlist sort of reminds m...

So at the ROH I-PPV best in the world Kevin Steen cut a Heel promo eviscerating the crowd for being hypocrites and going so far as to yell FUCK NEW YORK! in the Hammerstein.  all i could think of when the crowd refused to boo him regardless of what he said was the monster pop Austin got after beating the Rock at wrestle mania as the result of going heel. If you've commited to a big heel turn where you say Fuck the fans (literately in Steen's case) and the crowd won't hate them, how do you fix it.  I only know about the Austin example through DVD's and the near universal agreement heel Austin didn't work since it was before my fandom, so i can't even look back on that for comparison in the long term.  I guess  my question is this, if you turn your top baby face Heel, but the crowd still reacts like he's the top baby face how do you fix it, you can't just take what they said to turn heel back can you?    The first time Austin had that problem they just t...

Dear Scott,  I am watching the Best of the King of the Ring set, and arrived at the Davey Boy Smith/Shawn Michaels match from 1996. A spot in the match confused me and made me wonder if it was ever officially verified by the WWF at any point as to what the rules on over-the-top-rope DQs were in the promotion. I can only think of three instances where it was directly brought up and each one was decidedly different. Wrestlemania V--Hulk Hogan dumps Randy Savage clear over the top rope onto the floor, and Jesse Ventura nearly has a heart attack in outrage demanding an automatic disqualification be called. Gorilla Monsoon was indifferent to it. My assumption at the time was that this was a case of Jesse being the heel and Gorilla being the oblivious face and that the WWF just didn't have that rule. Survivor Series 1993--The Heavenly Bodies regained the Smoky Mountain tag title beating the RNR Express in a match where the top rope rule was directly referenced as it pertained to Smok...

Hey Scott, Long time reader, and I'm really enjoying the AskScott stuff on the blog recently.   I have a theory about WM and Backlash 2000 - you've said numerous times that the Backlash main event and ending were so perfectly booked and that should have been the WM main event and ending, with Rock going over HHH straight instead of the 4 way mess that we got at WM. I totally agree with that. But watching the main event at Backlash, seeing Austin meander down to the ring, barely able to swing a chair and roll through the ropes - is it possible that all that WAS supposed to happen at WM, but Austin was physically unable to do it? That would lead them to essentially go into holdover mode until Austin would be physically able to go out there, and might be why they needed the ridiculous Foley return 3 weeks after his "retirement", because they wanted Austin to be a part of Rock's win and were painted into a corner in that regard, so the 4 way was the alternative that...

I've been rewatching Raws from 1997 on. Well I'm in Arpil of 1999. The pilot episode of Smackdown. I know their plans fell apart as they had someone else in mind to be the "higher power" but it fell through so they went with Vince. My question is: Why didn't they just go with Shane McMahon as the higher power? It made a whole lot more sense than Vince did. Shane had motive, he had means, and he had opportunity. His rise to power coincided with Undertaker's continued attacks on the McMahon family, yet Shane went practically untested. With Vince tied up with Taker, Shane gained nearly full power, slapped his father and pretty much bitched him out. Even on the pilot episode of Smackdown, Shane comes out and unites with the Undertaker, thus forming the "Corporate Ministry" Wouldn't that have been the perfect time to unveil Shane as the "Higher Power" I actually liked the whole Ministry angle and Undertaker's attempts to take over th...

Hey there, it's NWA88 from the blog -- I thought this might be a fun idea for a blog topic -- specifically wrestlers who debuted after a long series of vignettes. Over the years we've seen many of these kinds of hype videos for soon to be debuting wrestlers.  Some of them (like "garbage man" Dusty Rhodes or Mr. Perfect) were crafted to reveal facets of the characters themselves, where others were shrouded in mystery and designed to create a buzz (Blood Runs Cold, the Millennium Countdown).  I just thought it might be fun to discuss the best and worst of these and to shed some light on some of the lesser known or forgotten ones. Best:  Razor Ramon.  Gave you everything you needed to know about the character in one shot and instantly turned him into a star before he even stepped into the ring.  Mr. Perfect was a close second, I'd say, but Perfect was someone who could get himself over as he went, whereas Ramon really needed to have the character launched from ju...

--From the bingo halls, flea markets, and high school gyms of America, here comes Inside the Indies, your BoD look into the world of independent & developmental wrestling. This week we take a look at the lineup for Ring of Honor's Best in the World: Hostage Crisis and give some predictions, plug a few live events going on this weekend, and, for the first time, we take a look at The Underground, a YouTube show that exists in the universe of Jeff Katz' much-hyped Wrestling Retribution Project. All that, plus a look at some of the top names the uninitiated need to know on the independent wrestling scene...

http://www.wweshop.com/item/2011-dvd-package/DVDMedia/50-09107 The entire 2011 WWE PPV set on for $40 on WWE.com!  That is pretty darn tempting at what, $3 a show?  Especially just for MITB and Wrestlemania.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/john-cena-make-a-wish-300-requests-pro-wrestling-wwe.html;_ylt=AjcIdoC71DZMU3LI7zUaGVG37ux_;_ylu=X3oDMTVkYm1yZXIxBGNjb2RlA3ZzaGFyZWFnMnVwcmVzdARtaXQDTWl4ZWQgTGlzdCBOZXdzIEZvciBZb3UEcGtnAzAwZDRjZGE4LTkyMDktMzAyZS1hYTE2LTY5YzAzMzJhY2I0YQRwb3MDNQRzZWMDTWVkaWFCTGlzdE1peGVkTmV3c0ZvcllvdUNBVGVtcAR2ZXIDNjU2ZmNkZjEtYmNhNC0xMWUxLWIzYjgtZDZlNDNjMjVhZDI1;_ylg=X3oDMTJvdjJvZ2E3BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDOWIxYTcyYzQtNDhlYy0zNTdkLWEwOWMtZTZhNjZiYWFiNmY2BHBzdGNhdANuY2FhZgRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3   And that is why Cena will never turn heel. Got to admit whether you like Cena or not that's pretty cool.   Also, pretty funny to note that Hogan is one of the only other athletes with over 200 wishes granted. No one ever said Cena wasn't an awesome guy, he's just an incredibly stale character who's booked like Superman.  

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DR6IWG Next up on the Kindle run, a collection of the 24/7 RAW rants from the debut episode in January of 1993 all the way until the service disappeared with the February 1994 episodes.  Reading over these again made me realize how fresh and fun that RAW used to be, especially when it only took 40 minutes to watch an episode.  Check it out, a YEAR'S worth of RAW rants for only $2.99!   Pretty sure my next set will be the RAW/Smackdown rants from 411 era, 2001-2004 stuff.  

Okay, so normally I would never bother you with stuff going on at another site, but right now cageside seats is having their wrestler tourney to decide the best of all time.  And in the first round it's 1 seeded Steve Austin versus 16 seeded Daniel Bryan.  And Austin is winning, but people have actually voted for Bryan claiming he's been the best worker for 10 years or was a better worker...   Okay, this bothers me.  Wasn't Austin a better worker, both pre and post neck injury, than Bryan?  I get it, Bryan has great matches and has had some really great stuff.  But has he even done something that would rank with austin's top five matches?  The match with Bret at survivor series and WM, the match with foley (with the rules ever changing and undertaker being the enforcer), the 2/3 falls match with HHH, the main event with Rocky at WM 17 are all matches I would EASILY put above anything DB ever did.  That's excluding the stuff he did with Angle, the tag match with hu...

Why are wrestlers still using steroids? Let me put it another way, why are specific wrestlers still using steroids? I wouldn't be shocked if Ryback had HGH in his bag because he needs something to get noticed. But Borne? He was already an established guy who was (probably) as high (on the card) as he was going to go. Plus, his spot was specific to someone who can do fancy highspots and appeal to the kids. Nothing is about Roid-Monster would've helped him with those Reqts. The same is even more true with Rey.   And what does Orton have to worry about in terms of his spot (I know he also got busted on marijuana but that's beside the point)? His competition (if they are in competition) is Punk. Besides which, he's been their main guy for ever. The office seems to always be looking for an excuse to put a rocket up his ass (as opposed to in his checks). Am I missing something? Are these people using steroids for reasons other than physique? Also, on a related topic, if W...

---------- Forwarded message -------- Hey Scott, wanted your thoughts on something.  This is a tweet from CM Punk in response to fans claiming that since he is the champion, he should be in the main events of RAWs and PPVs:  Placement on a card determining quality? Y'all need to reevaluate. I'll wrestle @WWEDanielBryan 1st, 3rd, 7th or your precious last... it will ALWAYS be the main event Not saying he doesn't have a point, but when Punk did that shoot promo last year, wasn't one of his main points that despite being the best, he is never in the main event("Dwayne being in the main event at mania makes me sick!")?  Now he's taking shots at his fans who have been behind him even before that promo.  He was an edgy character last year, and now he is another goofy babyface in the WWE who spouts out catchphrases and tries to get things to trend on twitter.  He says 'WWE Universe' (didn't he cut a promo last year saying how stupid that phras...

Smackdown Date: June 22, 2012 Location: 1 st Mariner Center, Baltimore, Maryland Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, Booker T Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're past No Way Out and we have the same world champion in the form of Sheamus. We're starting the build up to MITB as well so maybe we'll have someone added to the ladder match here. If I understand it right we have eight people in it again, but I'm really not sure if they have enough people to put 16 guys in two ladder matches. Besides that's too many in a single match anyway. Let's get to it.

While we're on the subject of the Rockers... Hey Scott, Long time reader, yada yada yada Random question - I've been watching some DVDs, and it seems that the Rockers were super-over back in the day. Why did Vince never give them a major push or a run with the tag team titles. Their match quality was incredible and the fans loved them, so what gives? (I've heard about the title change that was supposed to happen but cancelled, and that just reinforces the question, why was their push scrapped?)  Because Vince thought they were too small, plus both of them were flaky party boys who were often far more concerned with getting high than with showing up for work.  I don't think I would have pushed them as a serious top team given all the baggage they came with, either.  

You think heel McMahon is cool?  How about heel Rock N Roll Express in a bloodbath against PG-13 with Mark Curtis beating the shit out of everyone?  HOW ABOUT THAT?

The SmarK Rant for TNA Impact – 06.21.12 (Open Fight Night) Live from Orlando, FL Your hosts are Mike Tenay & Taz

Okay, this is pretty awesome. I now hate my childhood cable company for not carrying USWA in 1993.

Hi Scott   A few fairly random questions if you're interested.     Sure.  Maybe I'll do a whole e-book on this sort of thing one day and clean out my inbox for good.     1) I dug out Owen-Austin SS 97 recently for the first time in ages and it got me thinking. What if Austin's injury had been serious enough to retire him at the time? Given the momentum they finally had, what do you think the most sensible strategy to employ short-to-medium term would have been in order to maintain some momentum without "Stone Cold"? Man, the world would have been a totally different place, for sure.  I think maybe the development of Rock and HHH would have been rushed forward and they would have survived in the long term, but I don't think there would have been the same kind of boom without him.     2) Was there ever any prospect of putting the AWA World title on Sgt. Slaughter in 1985? I'm pretty sure he was there at the time and it seems to me tha...

So people don't hijack the ones I actually care about.

NXT Date: June 20, 2012 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Jim Ross, William Regal Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's FINALLY a new season of this shindig and things are really shaken up. We're permanently in Florida now with FCW and NXT merging and I can't say I'm complaining a bit. These will now be up on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays as they only air internationally at the moment, so I have to wait for the videos to surface online. I don't know what to expect from this so let's get to it.

This week's Are You Serious got me interested in checking out WCW's Seven, as I'd only heard about it from the Interwebs without ever seeing it for myself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWtXAtGJ4JQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4inIvA8nm8 That...actually had some potential.  Especially the entrance...it may not have played well in the late 90's, but had they played this seriously, I think that this could have become WCW's version of The Undertaker. Do you think that Seven had any more potential than it's use as a throwaway shoot joke?   - Joe If you could look past the fact that he came across like a child molester, sure, but the gimmick was a bit too oogy for me.   

Scott, this is poster Brian_Bayless from the blog. I do not recall seeing these segments on the blog but they are becoming popular on Deadspin. Its readers writing about their encounters with pro wrestlers. The John Morrison story is great and they always close the segment with a Virgil story. Anyway, here is the link to the newest installent.   http://deadspin.com/5919728/getting-stoned-and-playing-mortal-kombat-with-the-road-dogg-more-wrestler-run+ins Coolness.  Road Dogg seems like a fun guy to hang out with.  

Hey Scott, your previous plug for our site was awesome in helping us move some Macho Man shirts.  Wanted to see if I could trouble you for another, since yesterday we added a few new shirts to the site and have dropped the price of the Macho Man shirt down to only $10 bucks, for 3 days only.  But more importantly, we also designed a sufficiently bad ass Mick Foley shirt that is only gonna be available from the man himself.  He'll be selling them on his comedy tour this summer and at the shows he's doing in Edinburgh UK.  Later this year, we'll be selling them on our site with some of the profits going to benefit http://www.RAINN.org , which is a charity Mick is heavily involved in.  But for now, buying them direct from Foley on tour is the way to get them.  His tour dates are here:  http://www.realmickfoley.com/events-3/ ALL of the shirts we sell can be seen here:  http://doomsdayattire.storenvy.com/ But the 2 wrestling related shirts are right here: http://i.imgur.com/p...

Monday Nitro #72 Date: January 27, 1997 Location: Veterans' Auditorium, Des Moines, Iowa Attendance: 3,970 Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're past Souled Out now and that means it's time to get back to Piper. Enough of those young and talented guys like Giant. WE WANT OLD MEN THAT CAN'T MOVE!!! There are four Nitros to go before the next PPV and this is the first one. The main event at the PPV was Giant vs. Hogan so tonight's main event? Giant vs. Hogan, for the second time on Nitro (third overall) in two weeks. Let's get to it.

Source Quick note about NXT: I can't find it online and it's not listed on WWE.com so I have no idea when/if I'll be able to get it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uE3-avXVIk There are a few ads to start the video, 'cause hey, a buck's a buck.  We will be moving them to the end of the video for the next episode. Joe I'm all for you making a few bucks, Joe.  Keep up the great work!

---------- Forwarded message --------- Where would you rank Hall and Nash's WCW Tag-Team Title run?  I always felt it was one of the most disastrous runs in the history of Wrestling.  From early on it was clear they would only drop the belts to the Steiners and even that took forever?  They rarely defended them, treated their defenses like a joke and at the end WCW Tag-Team Division was destroyed. ------------------------------- Yeah but they were the top stars so they should have been the champions, end of discussion.   It would have done way more damage to the division if you had Nash and Hall running around above everyone else while some geeks were the champs. 

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Jeff Burns" Hey Scott, Just wonder if you've seen this and what you think. http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe/Kenn_Doane_Interview_Cena_Being_The_Tiger_Woods_Of_WWE_Wanting_Orton_Fired_Spirit_Squad_More.html A lot of people seem to think that Kenny's just making things up because John Cena is a big star and he isn't, but he doesn't come off like he's making anything up. It all seems to add up. The part about him wanting Orton fired over failed drug tests would add up to, considering Cena's holier than thou attitude on the subject. -------------------------------------- I would tend to consider Cena more credible than Doane, but honestly I try really hard not to pay attention to the high school drama stuff anyway.

Hey Scott, Has the WWE basically flushed money down the toilet like they have with Zack Ryder ever before? I mean the guy was over huge. With the smark and mark fans alike. He was selling a pretty decent amount of merchandise. Which I thought at one time meant something. He was even over with the little kiddies with his bright colors and goofy outfit. Yet they buried him for months until he was just a jobber, and than off TV entirely. And for what reason? And even after all that he's still over huge. His merchandise might not be selling as well, or at least you don't see it in the live crowds as much (though that could be because why would you wear something for a guy who isn't even going to make an appearance) but he got one of, if not the biggest pops of the night at the PPV on Sunday. And than they were chanting his name TWICE on Raw on Monday. Once during the embarrassing Cindi Lauper segment and than again during the pointless Cena main event. I thought for sure he...

Hey, Scott! Knowing you to be a major fan of all comic-bookery and a purveyor or plugs - I was wondering if you would give a quick plug for our upcoming play: True Believers. http://www.indiegogo.com/TrueBelievers?c=home We're about halfway to our funding level and just need a small push to help with the more elaborate costumes. You too could own the Cyborg Head of Stan Lee. Thanks in advance! Jim TRUE BELIEVERS   by   Boston playwright Thom Dunn  is a new play that brings the fantastically nerdy world of Comic-Con to the stage, complete with aspiring comic book artists, psychotic fanboys, cybernetically enhanced humans and girls who dress like Princess Leia. After having readings at VTG's There Will Be Words and Improv Boston's Geek Week, this full production will unite theatre and cosplay in order to create a hilarious, quirky and character-driven production that represents the Vagabond spirit. With your contribution, you will have actively aided the in the crea...