I'm picking up the ball tonight, fellas. It's a little late, and you guys are threadjacking, so have at 'er. College football, Bellew vs. Stevenson on HBO, other assorted happenings, or maybe you just want to post something random.

Bash at the Beach 1998 Date: July 12, 1998 Location: Cox Arena, San Diego, California Attendance: 10,095 Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan  Reviewed by Tommy Hall  Tonight is all about the celebrities as the main event is DDP/Karl Malone vs. Hollywood Hogan/Dennis Rodman. We've also got football player Kevin Greene vs. the Giant in what was supposed to be a tag match. Their original partners are in a world title match as new champion Goldberg defends against Curt Hennig. The midcard matches should be solid, meaning this has potential to be something good. Let's get to it.

The Netcop Rant for the "Heroes of Wrestling", a one-time-only (oh lord let that be true) so-called PPV that I wasted $19.95 on due to a long story that I don't wanna get into. Thankfully, I made sure to stock up on alcoholic beverages before the show, and BOY did I need them.  (Rather ironic that I would rag on Jake Roberts for his behavior while getting wasted myself.) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dU6nWfgLZI not great, but worth a look Now there's a morbid list that could be done.

In this era of being able to see what you want, when you want, some 'Doomers might not know what it's like to read Scott talk about the Rocker's white tights being covered in blood and having to wait 3 years to watch the match (Shawn's first DVD was so great given the fact that it might have been the first "Hey, we OWN all of wrestling history DVD" DVDs). Is there anything that you've heard of IN THIS BUSINESS that you've never seen that you want to? Being a former tape trader myself ('tween the ages of 12-18, seriously that Lucha on Galavision show bought me my first car!) I was privy to many ECT tapes with stuff like the Brody/Luger match, McMemphis,MutavsHase, assorted garbage wrestling, and my favorite tape-Eddie Gilbert's angles! Also, anything pre TNN ECW were big sellers (we tape traders are all to blame for ECW going under. You may not admit it to us, but how much money did you make of off ECW? I'd honestly say that I made around ...

White Thunder here,  I mentioned in the Rumble thread the other day how cool it would be if Royal Rumble was actually for the Unified World Titles. I hate to see a screw job at TLC and yet another reign by Abeyance but a Rumble for the belt would be amazing. They could also have some hot TV matches as guys could have to win a qualifying match to get into the Rumble. 1992 is still considered the best Rumble and I feel this would be a great way to build some excitement heading into the Wrestlemania season. Any chance we see this or this too much of wrestling angle and not enough entertainment? I think if they vacated the title AGAIN and then built up to Rumble promising that this time, no lying, we absolutely swear that we won't do a screwjob finish and will have a definitive winner for the belt...they'd probably kill the Rumble off once and for all.   I've had enough of Abeyance the Champion this year.  Let it die.

Thunder Date: July 8, 1998 Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, Birmingham, Alabama Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone Reviewed by Tommy Hal The main story here of course is Goldberg winning the world title two days before in the Georgia Dome. We're heading into Bash at the Beach on Sunday and the question is how does this change the PPV card on Sunday. Goldberg had been scheduled for a tag match but the world title wasn't scheduled to be defended anyway. Hopefully we get the announcement tonight but it's WCW so they probably haven't thought that far ahead. Let's get to it.

I don't think you've had a lightning round in a while, but I was just wondering about your musings on the following gimmicks and personas:

Smackdown Date: November 29, 2013 Location: Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield Reviewed by Tommy Hall The main story coming into tonight is Cena vs. Orton being confirmed for TLC, but I can't imagine we'll get much on that at Smackdown. Other than that the big questions are what did the Wyatts do with Daniel Bryan and why did Shield take out Punk on Raw. The show likely won't answer any questions but we might get a food fight because that's how wrestling works around a holiday. Let's get to it.

> > If there's nothing we can do to stop the Roman Reigns super push than why don't they go the full nine and have him challenge Taker at WM 30. It actually makes sense as the Shield put him through a table last time we saw Taker. Taker comes back in the Rumble and ends the Shield's "diesel run". Taker can run through Rollins and Ambrose en route to Mania but always get speared by Reigns. Reigns make the challenge and then puts on a great effort before getting tombstoned and pinned. They can do the Rock/Hogan ending where the Shield turns on him for failing only for Taker to make the respect save and boom! Reigns is mega star and face. > > Sent from my iPhone Sure, that would be fine. Long as they don't do something stupid like the Legacy three way from 2010 (2009?).

June 21, 1985 Your hosts are Gene Okerlund and Gorilla Monsoon

Scott, I can see your point about Daniel Bryan not getting a real run as the top guy recently due to numbers being down from Cena's runs (though it can be argued that "pushing" him while they are also acknowledging that he really isn't a main even guy is a self-fulfilling prophecy).  However, using that logic, what is behind this plan to push Roman Reigns to the moon?  He has a decent look and family ties, but he is nowhere near as seasoned as the other Shield guys, let alone some other guys on the roster who are waiting for a spot (like Antonio Cesaro, who has a ton of experience, can work the WWE style, and has abilities on the mic.) Because that's how it works.  They've decided that Reigns is The Guy, so everything will be reverse-engineered to make sure he gets over and looks good and none of the other excuses will be applied to him.  Welcome to wrestling.

Impact Wrestling Date: November 28, 2013 Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's the Thanksgiving episode tonight and the main story is an eight man elimination tag with Team Roode vs. Team Angle. No word on who will actually be on each team, but it shouldn't be that hard to figure out. We should also get some buildup for the remaining tournament matches. Let's get to it.

Scott, With it being Thanksgiving, I am wondering: what about a "2013 Scott Sez" for the Starrcade cards? (or even the old Survivor Series....you know - back when Storylines made sense?). I also want to thank you for making the workday go by so much faster. Enjoy your day. Already did both series.  The Survivor Series one was the debut of the "...Scott Sez" concept, in fact.  Shouldn't be too hard to find them via Google.  Here's Starrcade to get you started: https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=cr&ei=ONyXUumYIIzkoASx54DwDg#q=site%3Arspwfaq.net+%22Starrcade+Countdown%22&safe=off

Better late than never

NXT Date: November 27, 2013 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Tom Phillips, William Regal, Renee Young Reviewed by Tommy Hall The main story coming into tonight is the #1 contenders match between Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville with the winner getting a shot at Bo Dallas next week. Other than that we have our usual drama with the Divas which should be very nice for a change after watching two Total Divas matches from the pay per view and Raw. Let's get to it.

Hi Scott Keith I have been getting emails about me being a Nazi. Please let me clarify. Im a WW2 reenactor as well as Civil War. I portray a German Red Cross Nurse. I just like the uniforms since they look better than the Allies. I have no idea why a group has me as  member. The  units I am affiliated with in reenacting is 1st SS LAH and IR134th. We are neither to the left or the right. You can check out my website at www.drksoutheast.com to see pictures and info about the hobby. missy hyatt I don't think anyone was seriously accusing you of being a Nazi, but thanks for the update!  

> > hey scott > dumb question but if they unify titles at wrestlemania, whats the rumble winner get? > jim > > I can't believe people aren't taking HHH's claims of a unified title at TLC seriously. He said it In a WWE.com interview with Michael Cole! That's like a blood oath!

Happy Thanksgiving to the US folks at the BoD! Here is a collection of Thanksgiving wrestling memories.   http://placetobenation.com/ptbn-thanksgiving-wrestling-bounty-of-awesome/ We also have a collection of TV's best Thanksgiving specials... http://placetobenation.com/televisions-thanksgiving-memories/ ...and what we are thankful for in the world of comics! http://placetobenation.com/a-place-to-be-nation-comic-cornucopia-of-thanksgiving/ And thanks to Scott for all the support!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone. WWE.com Interview with HHH In the interview, conducted by Michael Cole, HHH states that the titles will be unified at the TLC PPV. http://www.wwe.com/videos/playlists/triple-h-exclusive-interviews-with-michael-cole RF Video has 40% off All Items Sale The sale ends Friday at Midnight. Personally, I am going to take full advantage of this offer to get some shoot interviews. http://www.rfvideo.com/rfvideocurrentsale.aspx Two Sons of Famous Wrestlers Trying to Join the New Japan Dojo David Benoit, the 20 year old son of Chris Benoit, and Cody Hall, the son of Scott Hall, are both trying to see if they can get over to New Japan. David is looking to get into wrestling and is 6'2 1/2 tall, with aspirations of making it into the WWE. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Tell 'em, Steve-Dave.

Jesse Baker sez… Three scenarios: 1. he comes back pissed off that HHH and Steph aligned themselves with Randy fucking Orton, as far as Vince not forgiving Orton for all of the crap he pulled on the McMahons ages ago. Have Vince reveal that he was willing to accept say, Punk as HHH's corporate champion when he greenlighted HHH's plan but HHH secretly made his pact with Orton behind Vince's back, angering him mightily 2. they acknowledge how full of shit HHH is and how Orton is just a puppet for HHH to hide behind as he steals the spotlight from everyone AGAIN and we get Vince FINALLY acknowledging that HHH was never a "superstar" but some talentless hack who road the coattails of Shawn Micheals and who only has any standing in the company of note or value, because he fucked Steph and Steph begged daddy dearest to do his damnest to make HHH the face of the company even though he was a complete and total hack failure (which BTW might be the only way to turn Vince...

Hi Scott, This revelation is now a year old, but as far as I can see, none of the pro  wrestling websites or blogs mentioned it. A list of members of the American National Socialist party was linked to the left-wing website One People's Project, and among the names on there was none other than Missy Hyatt. I double-checked, and yes, it is that Missy Hyatt.  It's the same Howard Beach address she has used elsewhere. "Missy Hyatt has a 11-3-09 entry listing her as a member. According to her Wikipedia entry, she is a former wrestling valet with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), both since bought out  by World Wrestling Entertainment. The Howard Beach PO Box found in the entry  matches what she uses as his contact information, although digits in the PO Box  were reversed." Read the details here: _ http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=959%3Awhos...

The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT – 11.27.13 They are FAST with getting these up the past couple of weeks.

"What if" time Bod.  First off, I hope everyone has a good and safe Thanksgiving holiday.  I love this holiday...Wednesday night is always a great night to go out with friends/significant other, Thursday is full of food and football, and Friday is a great day to do nothing.  Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I will. I haven't seen the BoD this down on the product since I've been posting here.  Admittedly, this hasn't been that long, but man are people down on the product. Rightfully so. Since we're headed for Cena/Orton, I wanted a "what if" that would play into that... What if Cena gets "future endeavored" in late 2002? If you're unfamiliar with the urban legend, Cena was spinning his wheels as a generic performer in early 2002. According to scources, he was close to getting fired until he randomly started freestyle rapping on a European tour.  According to the legend, Stephanie heard the freestyle rap, liked it, and a few weeks ...

> > Hey Scott...I know the BoD has had plenty of DBry talk recently, but I had a thought. If the goal was to have an eventual unification match with Cena, why in the world wouldn't they give us Cena vs Bryan for the 2nd time? The pinfall Bryan got was cleaner than any other I can remember in a Cena match; in what world wouldn't building on that make for a great unification bout? > > I know, I know...in WWE Creative's world. Still, if they ultimately wanted to give it back to John and unify the belts (or pretend that's what they're going to do...most of the blog anticipates a simple switch of the belts), how do you not address the fact that there is a guy who beat THE CHAMP? Who is HERE? > > Rock on, sir. I shall.

Here are your choices:   1989 WWF as told by Brutus Beefcake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJSfaFN2rKI 1993 WWF as told by Lex Luger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAeKRRyp36A 1995 WWF as told by Kevin Nash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0oAwTGIPo Vote by clicking on the link below. Voting ends Friday at Midnight. http://poll.pollcode.com/4524266

Monday Nitro #144 Date: July 6, 1998 Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia Attendance: 41,412 Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone Reviewed by Tommy Hall This is the night that changes a lot of things in WCW, which is why it's been built up for a full four days. The main event tonight is the undefeated Goldberg challenging Hollywood Hogan for the world title in Goldberg's hometown of Atlanta. On top of that it's the go home show for Bash at the Beach, meaning the basketball players are here tonight as well. Let's get to it.

RAW Rating Rises to a 2.9 It should also be noted that the show lost a half-million viewers in the third hour. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe/34172-post-survivor-series-raw-number-up Big Show Not Cleared for Action That is the storyline they are going with http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2013-11-25/big-show-sent-home-not-medically-cleared-26167116 Kayfabe Commentaries Announces Release Date for Next Project with Jim Cornette The "Breaking Kayfabe" with Jim Cornette will be released on January 7th. http://kayfabecommentaries.com/

BAM! This is happening. First, a quick introduction. I am the Stranger in the Alps, and I have been a long time reader of the BoD, and just recently started contributing to the comments section several months ago. I want to thank Mr. Keith for the opportunity to bring a fresh column onto the blog. Hopefully, it works out, and I can turn this into a weekly gig. We're all a little tired of WWE and it's directionless direction, so I'm taking a different approach to reviewing, and I'm going to focus on a little known indy fed with a TV show. TCW - or Traditional Championship Wrestling. They are focused mainly in the southern US like Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee. They have a weekly TV show that I found on The Pursuit Channel on DirecTV (ch. 604) Fridays at midnight CST. Here is a link to their various TV stations, categorized by state: http://www.tcwwrestling.com/tvinfo.shtml And if you don't have any of those channels, they have a Youtube channel, and n...

Do you think the reason the select few who didn't like Survivor Series or Big Show being back in the main event is that they've never seen him in person?  I mean, he looks big on TV, but it pales in comparison to being a part of the WWE Universe at a WWE Live Event and seeing him up close.  He is simply enormous.  That has to be the only logical explanation for why someone wouldn't have enjoyed Survivor Series. I sort of think they would have mentioned something about that on TV by now if it was important.  

June 15, 1985 Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon. In action tonight are Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake, Tito Santana, Ricky Steamboat, and Paul Orndorff.

by Logan Scisco - The presidential sex scandal parodies continue, as Sunny is dressed like Marilyn Monroe and sings “Happy Birthday” to Classie Freddie Blassie.  It was Blassie’s eightieth birthday. - The D-Generation X beatdown of Steve Austin on last week’s show is recapped in a video package. - Jim Ross, Kevin Kelly, and Michael Cole are in the booth and they are taped from Evansville, Indiana.  I will be really happy when we get rid of this three man commentary team in hour one.  Listening to it is like Ross fighting a verbal handicap match.

This is a match that's gotten around on the net in the past few months and is probably on one of HHH's DVDs. Here is the "authority" on WCW Saturday Night as Jean-Paul Levesque taking on the great Ricky Steamboat. FWIW I was looking for a JPL-Sting match but couldn't find one. Can't find a Sting/Mean Mark match either. Fucking WCW man, all these dream matches and they never took 'em. Anyway I'm curious to hear what you guys think about this one.

This was filmed in 2005. I runs just under two hours long. Rob Feinstein is not the interviewer for this and I have no idea as to who the replacement was either. Dustin is wearing a hoodie and has is actually wearing the hood throughout the interview.

The SmarK RAW Rant – 11.25.13 Live from Long Island, NY Your hosts are Michael Cole, JBL & Jerry Lawler

Dave Meltzer on Steve Austin's Podcast http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/118-daily-updates/34162-dave-meltzer-interview-with-steve-austin-up-right-now Kayfabe Commentaries Releases 1963-69 WWE Timeline with Bruno Sammartino https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDyu3DLyJBM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUxY4Sa92Z0xbzuSrRhBMJZQ Layla Update Layla is not out with an injury, so her absence from TV is due to another reason Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio

So I was digging around on YouTube, and shortly before Montreal, Ken Shamrock had RAW matches against both Bret and Shawn... not only are both matches well above average for a Shamrock TV match (not surprising), but both matches end with a distracted ref missing it as Shamrock forces Bret and Shawn to tap (more surprising). Were there main event plans for Shamrock at the time? Because otherwise it's kinda weird to have him pretty decisively beat (even if technically both matches ended in DQs) two of the three biggest stars in the company within a week or two of each other.  If there were plans, what happened to derail them?  Well I mean, he DID main event the December PPV against Shawn, and there were vague notions of putting the belt on Shamrock when the whole Bret thing was going down, but the PPV match was weak enough that I don't think anyone would continue to push Shamrock at that level.  

When last we left our heroes, an Ultimate Showdown appeared to loom. After brushing aside Alberto Del Rio, John Cena set his sights on Randy Orton. But why? He's already a champion, and one title isn't better than the other, is it? Meanwhile, what happens in the undercard, with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan taking out the Wyatts, Roman Reigns dominating his match, and Big E Langston and the Miz winning their singles bouts? Has Survivor Series any long-term impact? The look-in ad informs us that we have special guest host Michael Strahan and will talk about the Show/Orton match, opening with the WWE Champion, whomever it may be. - The PG Era Rant for Raw, November 25, 2013. - Live from Long Island. - Your hosts are Michael Cole, JBL, and Jerry Lawler. - This show is dedicated to the memory of Mad Dog Vachon.

Hey Scott, Inspired by the recent post with the Austin/Rock serenading promo, I wrote a short article on my blog: http://nickpiers.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/what-wwe-is-missing-then-vs-now/ Now that we have the shameless self-promoting out of the way, I'd like to throw the same idea out to you and the rest of the blog. Given today's environment in WWE's creative and corporate structure, do you think many of today's legends would even make it to the top if starting today? How many would be buried for trying to get themselves over or having more fan support than they should have? Do you think any would still get over regardless, such as The Rock? Basically, how do you think many of wrestling's (or at least WWE's) legends would be treated today if they were just starting? I shudder to think of how, say, The Undertaker would handle starting today. The ropewalk spot wouldn't be approved in developmental, he'd get shit for not having a good body, they...

Howdy Blog O'Doomers! Well the Survivor Series is over and it seemed to go as expected, which is to say it wasn't very good. The crowd rightfully dogged the main event because, at the end of the day, not many wanted to see it in the first place. So now we move on and who knows where we go. The main storyline has been a failure on all fronts. I truly believe they don't know where to go next and they don't appear to know a direction that will help cover up the mistakes that have been made. It's hard to believe how this has played out given how strong the booking was in the summer. Even the short programs like Mark Henry-John Cena were well done, tightly booked and had proper payoffs. The good news is the undercard has gotten a little more interesting and we can now count the days before Roman Reigns' push to the top begins. There's also a ...eh....Monday Night game on. The Redskins kind of suck this year but I just find joy in watching RG3 and we're a...

WWE.com RAW Preview http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2013-11-25/five-point-preview-26166021 Mark Henry Update Orton is scheduled to face Henry on the December 7th & 8th house shows. Credit PWInsider.com Dean Malenko Sent Home From the European Tour Due to Health Issues Malenko was hospitalized due to chest pains then was sent home afterwards. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

> > Look I want to begin with what I'm about to say is a bit outlandish. But it is at all possible that the WWE was sandbagging it on this PPV? Honestly is it crazy to think that they (Vince and company) put together this below average show on purpose. Here me out on this because I'm never one for conspiracy theories or this other crazy internet bs but something stunk about this whole build to a supposed "big four" show of the year. With the WWE about to renegotiate for their TV rights and the new network on the horizon you would assume ratings,PPV buys,and overall popularity will play large part in those upcoming negotiations. So to show improvement in all those areas you bottom out this month and show steady gains from here on out. Honestly why else would you place Show ( a guy whom hasn't drawn in years and you could argue never drew) in the Main Event? Vince and company know that they aren't dumb. They know that a decent number of fans will buy th...

From the go-home RAW heading into Survivor Series 2001. This is still one of my favorite promos to date, with an almost surreal "house show" feel that you don't see much nowadays; you give John Cena a mic and 15 minutes to fill and you're going to end up with weak self-deprecation and Call of Duty jokes. WWE also put this up on their own channel but I prefer the unbleeped version, you SSSS---SSSS---SSSSUMMMMMBITCH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lf9Ar861Ws ZOMG, I so wish Rock would do Austin's podcast for a 16 part series.  It would be EPIC.  

Never mind the bullshit that was Survivor Series, apparently Family Guy has become so desperate for plots that they killed off Brian tonight?!  There's no way this is gonna stick, but still, is this really how low the show has sunk?  I'm pretty glad I jumped off after the HD changeover, actually.   In other non-WWE news tonight, Thor was pretty good.  Liked it better than the somewhat pondersome first movie, not as much as either Captain America or Avengers, and I wish they'd give Loki his own movie.   It did lead me to think about how perfect Marvel has been with their casting, though -- like really, could you even picture anyone other than Hemsworth as Thor at this point?  Or a better Cap than Chris Evans?  But regardless, it was fun, I ate popcorn and enjoyed myself.   Also, football fans are going crazy here tonight because the Roughriders won the Grey Cup on home field.  If you're Canadian and enjoy football you were probably already aware of this.

June 8, 1985 Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon In action this week are Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, Ricky Steamboat, and George “The Animal” Steele. Plus, Bobby Heenan hosts “Piper’s Pit.”

I was going to stream the show on WWE.com and do a live recap of the show at the top of the thread but my work computer is unable to stream Netflix (I assume it won't be able to handle the PPV) so I will not be watching the show live tonight. Anyway, post away as this show does not look like much at all on paper, but you never know how this will turn out.

Prediction #1:  I'm going to go see Thor tonight instead of watching this crap. That being said, the winners seem pretty obvious: - Randy Orton by screwjob when we get interference and help that was explicitly promised not to occur. - John Cena by pin yet again to set up a third match at TLC that no one cares about. - The IndyPowers take out the Wyatts - Big E retains the title. I really don't care about the other tag matches.  

Scott, Long time reader, occasional commenter.  I read your post about how WWE makes most of their money of TV rights, and I hear they may be about re up and triple that deal or some kind of crazy nonsense.  Doesn't this seem short sighted?  I mean it seems to be that in the next 5-10 years the way people watch TV will change dramatically.  I feel like cable companies will go the way of the dinosaur as people start picking and choosing what they want to watch. By extension this seems like the days of networks are numbered too.  Am I crazy here?  Just a thought. Vince is living in a dreamland with his "double or triple the rights fees for RAW and Smackdown" nonsense.  They're the ones who are coming up with these numbers, not the networks.  They seem to think that if they make enough comparisons to sports like NASCAR and football that they can get that kind of money, but I just don't see USA shelling out for them.  Especially when their big push is creating...

Dynamite Kid Suffered a Stroke The stroke happened several days ago. PWInsider.com was able to confirm the story after speaking to someone close to the Hart family. Apparently, there were rumors of this happening a few days ago but the story was unable to be confirmed. Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com Match Cut From Smackdown Able to be Seen on WWE.com The 3MB vs. Prime Time Players match was apparently cut due to time restraints. The 3MB are impersonating the Fabulous Freebirds in this match. http://www.wwe.com/videos/the-fabulous-3birds-vs-the-prime-time-players-wwecom-exclusive-nov-22-2013-26165900 RF Video Releases Shoot Interview With Angelina Love http://www.rfvideo.com/angelinaloveshootinterview.aspx

Hi Scott -   Wanted to share some cool pieces from the last week or so over at PTBN. Of course everyone needs to check out your appearance on the PTBN Summit about the Spring of 2001 if they haven't done so already!   http://placetobenation.com/place-to-be-podcast-episode-269-ptbn-summit-pro-wrestling-in-the-spring-2001/   Our latest Five Count looks at the top Survivor Series teams: http://placetobenation.com/the-five-count-top-survivor-series-teams/   Justin breaks down the terror of Ludvig Borga and Survivor Series 1993: http://placetobenation.com/filth-pollution-corruption-the-ballad-of-ludvig-borga/   Brad looks at the most meaningful Survivor Series title changes: http://placetobenation.com/the-five-most-meaningful-survivor-series-title-changes/   Scott has our Survivor Series 2013 preview: http://placetobenation.com/2013-survivor-series-preview/   Survivor Series Lisa-A-Mania!: http://placetobenation.com/survivor-series-list-a-mania/   Place to Be Pod...

Lots of stuff happening tonight, including: Boxing on PPV, with the main event of Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios College Football, with #4 Baylor vs. #10 Oklahoma St. College Basketball NBA NHL Saturday Night Live is new tonight with host Josh Hutcherson and musical guest Haim Also, the Dustin Rhodes shoot interview beat out Matt Hardy's by three votes. It will be posted either Tuesday or Wednesday night.

Thunder Date: July 2, 1998 Location: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Georgia Commentators: Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're getting closer to Bash at the Beach and the card is starting to fill out a bit more. The hype machine around the NBA match calmed down a bit on Nitro and hopefully that follows through tonight. On another note though, a major announcement is happening tonight which is going to change a lot of things in WCW very soon. Let's get to it.

The only reason I bother to watch RAW live (sometimes) is because I'm confident they'll cut good stuff out in favor of crap for the Hulu version. This was VERY true last night, as apparently Hulu omitted the Xavier Woods debut, the entertaining Miz/Kofi vs We the People tag with the Miz heel turn and the amusing-if-overlong Ziggler/Sandow match — but left in the crappy Show/Ryback match, the pointless Vickie and Brad stuff and Florida Georgia Line. Does that bother you with the Hulu versions? To be clear, I'm not writing to urge you to return to rants on the full shows; on the contrary, if I were you, I'd be wondering why I was bothering to recap a version of the show that has so much crap and cuts better stuff and thinking about skipping the whole thing at this point. While they might cut out stuff that some consider "good", I find that one thing they excel at is leaving in everything that's actually important to the ongoing storyline in the mai...

WWF Brawl For All in its entirety! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5XkOk7I1w Why hasn't this ever been released on DVD? Because literally every other subject possible hasn't been covered yet?  

                                                     My newest book is pretty self-explanatory. It's the complete history of In Your House, a WWF pay per view series that ran from May 1995 to April 1999. The series covers most of the New Generation and the first half of the Attitude Era and everything in between. There are some absolute masterpieces included in this series, ranging from the first Hell in a Cell to Canadian Stampede to Austin vs. Dude Love II to Shawn vs. Mankind and many others. Also included is a look back at the story that kept the company afloat when WCW's boot was over the WWF's throat: the Border War. The majority of the story took place at In Your House, including the final blowoff in Calgary. There's also a good portion of the most famous feud of all time with the corporate Vince McMahon trying to suppress the rebellion b...

Wanted to leave you with a solid weekender match that's slightly off the grid. Here is The Midnight Express, certainly an A+ tag team if there ever was one, against Ric Flair and Barry Windham at the end of Clash IV I believe. This match is also on the Blu-Ray Clash DVD. Tremendous match with four guys that knew how to get it done. For those of you that haven't seen a double goozle (sp??) in the context of a match, you will see it in this one. Enjoy your weekend. Midnight Express v Ric Flair & Barry Windham

So does anyone else get serious Chris Benoit vibes from Wes Welker? Think about it: 1. Both hyper intense with chips on their shoulders. 2. Because they're relatively undersized and up against bigger / stronger / faster players. 3. Both take incredible amounts of punishment, and have a reputation for taking incredible punishment.  4. Started small (ECW / Miami) made the 'big' time (WCW / Patriots) before getting kind of screwed with and heading to the 'other' big time (WWE / Denver Broncos). I'm not saying Wes Welker is going to go nuts and kill his family, but... Do you think Wes Welker will go nuts and kill his family? 

Do you remember when Big Show and Randy Orton wrestled at Extreme Rules six months ago?  No?  And Cena-Del Rio was one of the lowest buyrates in the history of the company (Vengeance '11) but they're wrestling on multiple PPVs two years later? Are they just trying to not sell PPVs at this point? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy with them.  They get the bulk of their money from TV rights fees now, so they ignore PPV revenues and then blame declining PPV revenues on the PPV market dying.  This conveniently ignores UFC doubling their average buyrate on a monthly basis and boxing still making hundreds of millions off PPV even with the sport in the state that it's in today.  But that's the thinking they have, which is why it's REALLY important to get the Network up and running so they can jettison that PPV anchor that's been weighing them down, ya know.  

Diamond Dallas Page Teaching his Yoga at the WWE Performance Center DDP has been at the performance center training the NXT guys. He got there after receiving an invite from Bill DeMott and Triple H https://twitter.com/realddp Daniel Bryan to Appear on Steve Austin's Podcast? Austin apparently made the announcement that Bryan will be on his show in a few weeks Credit PWInsider.com Sin Cara Popular in Europe? Despite not being seen on TV recently, Sin Cara's T-Shirt sold very well on the European tour amongst kids Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Interested in getting the BOGs thoughts on my idea on how to fix Survivor Series. My pitch is having two of your standard tag elimination match (4 or 5 per team) goes down. The remaining wrestlers at the end of those then fight at the next months PPV, with the winner there fighting for the title at Royal Rumble. It allows for multi-month booking, easy build for feuds and gives those eliminations some weight. Plus, if you're building up a new threat, having them win big matches at three straight PPVs sounds solid to me. I do think they desperately need something to give the fall season momentum going into the Rumble, but I think I'd ditch the traditional Series format entirely and go with a King of the Ring style one-night tournament to find the #1 contender for the Rumble match instead.  No need to overly complicate things, plus TOURNAMENTS ARE AWESOME.

Hey Scott, this is CM Gentleman. I have kind of a weird question pertaining to editing announcers on WWE DVDs. It always pisses me off when they edit out Jesse Ventura's announcing on their DVD releases. I'm vaguely familiar with why, he sued them in some way so that they have to pay him extra whenever he's on a release. My question is, why haven't people like Tony Schiavone, who is now completely out of wrestling, or Mike Tenay, who works for another company, done the same thing? It seems like they would want to get some of the money being made off these DVDs, or are they just happy to be on them so that people will remember them? Thanks. Jesse's contract originally stipulated a portion of home video proceeds because he had Barry Blaustein as an agent and Blaustein was a SHARK.  Guys like Schiavone would have had standard contracts, but Jesse was smart enough to get a piece of the future pie written into the original deal, and when Vince tried to renege on that d...

Smackdown Date: November 22, 2013 Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's the final show before Survivor Series and we've more than doubled the announced matches since Monday. The main story coming out of Raw is the return of Rey Mysterio ahead of schedule from his knee injury. He'll be the fifth main in one of the Survivor Series elimination matches on Sunday even though the word on the street is he's not ready yet. It's hard to say if we'll see him tonight or not. Let's get to it.

One of the commentors said he had never seen any of the Bret Hart-Undertaker matches so he gets a Bret Hart-Undertaker match. These two had a weird chemistry. First there were those RAW matches in like 1994 that were decent but treated as if it was they were the next coming of Flair-Steamboat (they weren't) and then an awful borefest at Royal Rumble 1996 before having a considerably better match at Summerslam 1997. However, by the fall of 1997 they went to England for "One Night Only" and FINALLY got a right, at least in my humble opinion. So to start your weekend here is Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship at One Night Only.

"What if" time mofos.  The Kliq was such a vortex of politics, destruction, and talent that they completely changed the fortunes of two wrestling companies in the mid 90s. I have a tough time picking the most plausible scenario for this one, due to the unpredictability and political power of Nash, Hall, and HBK at the time. I'll be interested in what you guys have to say on it... What if Nash and Hall never jump to WCW in 1996? Things to consider : - The power of the Kliq in the WWE, especially during 95-96.  The Kliq essentially had free reign on the main event scene, a significant say on the pushs/burials of others, and an overall voice in the direction of business. - Do Hall, Nash, and HBK lead the WWE into the Attitude Era instead of Austin?  Does the Attitude Era ever happen without the NWO/WCW pushing the WWE into it out of necessity?   Do guys like Austin, Mankind, and the Rock ever get put into prominent roles with the Kliq around doing Kliq things? ...

WWE Network Rumors According to one source, the WWE is thinking about using WrestleMania as a lure to get people to sign up for the network. The plan would have them market the idea to fans that they would get WrestleMania "for free" if they signed up for the network. The monthly price for the network has been talked about being anywhere between $9.95-$14.95. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Former WWE World Champion Backstage at Last Night's NXT Taping Dave Bautista was backstage at last night's tapings Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com WWE Rushed Rey Mysterio Back Before he was Ready? Despite not being ready to come back, Rey was asked to take part in the Survivor Series, with the feeling that he wouldnt have to do much in a ten-man tag match. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter TNA Looking to bring in New Talent? Dave Lagana has apparently been trying to recruit the top talent from RoH, the Independent sce...

Impact Wrestling Date: November 21, 2013 Location: Impact zone, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz Reviewed by Tommy Hall Usually I start each NXT review by saying Welcome Home but it's more appropriate in this case. Tonight is the Turning Point special as we return to the Impact Zone in Orlando. The focus tonight is on the tournament with two tournament matches, but we also get Bully Ray vs. Anderson, with the future of aces and 8's on the line. Let's get to it.

What was the reason for Jimmy Hart turning face and becoming linked to Hogan? Its always seemed odd to me, considering Harts general nature and Hogan never having a manager up until then during his reign. Because Jimmy was always Hogan's real life manager and they wanted to "out" their relationship on the show for whatever reason.  Never made sense to me, either and I don't think the fans really bought Hogan needing a manager or Hart's face turn, but there was a lot of stuff going on that year that didn't really make sense.

Hi Scott, hope you are well. In honour of the late Mad Dog Vachon, RIP, here is an angle with him and the Crusher from the early 70s. Wow, what a blade job. May sound like an odd way to honour someone, but this is wrestling. One of the all-time great characters in wrestling history. Take care. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G22rzJWVrlQ Makes me glad that the last thing I watched him in was that wedding reception on the Coliseum video.  RIP Mad Dog.

Here are your choices: Dustin Rhodes, Volume 2 Balls Mahoney, Volume 1 Matt Hardy Voting Ends Saturday at 8pm. Vote by clicking on the link below. http://poll.pollcode.com/7932746

Tonight, TNA returns to the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL for "Turning Point." Matches for tonight include: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe in a Falls Count Anywhere Match (Heavyweight Title Tournament) Bobby Roode vs. James Storm in a Bullrope Match (Heavyweight Title Tournament Bully Ray vs. Ken Anderson, with the stipulations being if Ray loses, Aces & Eights Disbands and if Anderson loses, he must leave TNA. Plus, Joseph Park issues a challenge to his brother Abyss, Gail Kim issues another open challenge, and Shark Boy makes his TNA return.

NXT Date: November 20, 2013 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Byron Saxton, William Regal, Alex Riley Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's the start of a new taping cycle tonight so we should be in for a much fresher show. The main story tonight is the return of Bo Dallas who has been on an international tour for the last few weeks. The question now is who challenges him for the NXT Title after he's pretty much done everything he can with Sami Zayn. Let's get to it.

This interview was filmed on 10/17/04, shortly after an independent show in Philadelphia, PA. It lasted for one hour and twenty-three minutes.

Since we're talking about it and it seems like the perfect tribute to "Mad Dog" Vachon's passing, let's load up that Diesel-HBK brawl from 1996's "Good Friends, Better Enemies" IYH. I saw this about six months ago and it's still Nash's best match IMO and one of a series of great matches from HBK during his babyface title run. Nash, in his podcast with Austin, said that Vince asked him to lay three times before his departure to WCW. First to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XII, then here to HBK and finally to Warrior. You can guess which one he wasn't keen on doing. Enjoy this one again or for the first time.

WWE High on Summer Rae? According to one source, Summer Rae is one of the three wrestlers that the WWE is looking to greatly elevate next year, with the other two being Big E Langston and Roman Reigns. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Shawne Merriman Update Merriman, the former NFL Star who was training at the Performance Center last month, did not impress WWE officials, who were openly critical of his performance, including the fact that he got tired really fast. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter WWE Hall of Famer Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon Passed Away He was 84 years old http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2013/11/21/21283811.html RoH Planning for a New Top Heel Stable in 2014? The plan for right now is for Adam Cole to be the lead heel, like Ric Flair, in a group that would feature Matt Hardy in a mentor role, like Ole Anderson or JJ Dillon. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Queens of the Ring? Didn't I look at this already?

The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT – 11.20.13 Actually up at the stroke of midnight tonight! Taped from Orlando, FL Your hosts are Byron Saxton, Alex Riley & William Regal

A Christmas Story 2 Review by James Fabiano Still getting over the post-Christmas letdown?  This movie won’t help… My name’s James Fabiano, I’m a longtime reader of the blog, as well as an occasional contributor to comments threads.  This is the first time I’ve attempted to write something for the site.  I have written wrestling and movie reviews for other sites way back when, but have kind of laid off for a couple of years.  But… it takes a special kind of movie to bring me out of retirement. OK, we all know the story of “A Christmas Story” by now.  Not just the plot of the movie, but the story of the movie itself.  You know, holiday movie based on Jean Shepherd’s “slice of 1930s Americana” (as TV Guide used to put it in its movie listings) comes out in 1983, doesn’t exactly set the world on fire.  Then said movie hits cable and home video, and builds a following until it becomes a full-fledged Christmas icon and has its own 24-hour marathon Christmas...

Monday Nitro #143 Date: June 29, 1998 Location: Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida Attendance: 10,900 Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're 13 days away from Bash at the Beach and of course the major story tonight is the NBA tag match. Tonight also marks the first appearance of Karl Malone on the show, meaning Tony will constantly tell us how nothing has ever been bigger in the history of our sport. The hype wound up working due to how successful the PPV was but man alive it's not easy to sit through week in and week out. Let's get to it.