The SmarK Retro Rant for Saturday Night's Main Event #21 - May 1989 - Taped from Des Moines, IA - Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura.

http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe/38261-next-live-nxt-special-is- Pretty underwhelming lineup for the next NXT special event, I have to say.  Especially the tag title match that will inevitably pay off the Ascension story and send them to the main roster.  Plus I was thinking the Women's title was going in a different direction, too.  Eh, you win some and lose some, I guess.  

So TNA is near the end, the WWE Network cost more people their jobs this week than Russo did, yet somehow through all the despair there's been more great wrestling than almost any other week in history. I may be in the minority but I couldn't care less if TNA and/or the Network disappeared completely. There's too much great wrestling to be seen as it is, and not enough hours in the day. So move aside Menagerie, move aside Total Divas marathon, it's time for the good shit. The main event from the PPV earlier today (7/31/14), Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii~! G1 Climax 2014 Block A Match Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Impact Wrestling Date: July 31, 2014 Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's Destination X, meaning for one night a year, the X Division actually matters. In this case we have another Option C, as Austin Aries has cashed in his X-Division Title for a World Title shot. Also, we have the reunited Hardy Boys challenging the Wolves for the World Tag Team Titles which should be awesome. Let's get to it.

Matches tonight include: Austin Aries vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship Matt & Jeff Hardy vs. The Wolves for the TNA Tag Team Championships Also, three qualifying matches to determine the new X Division Champion: Low Ki vs. Manik vs. DJ Z Sanada vs. Brian Cage vs. Crazzy Steve Samoa Joe vs. Tigre Uno vs. Homicide

This may have been addressed before, but what the heck. For the last couple of years on the BOD,  and most other wrestling sites for that matter,  the prospect of Cena/Taker at WM was bandied about once the road to wrestlemania began to coalesce.  Obviously,  between the streak ending and Taker appearing to be finished, it's never going to happen. Question is, in which year do you think it would have made the most sense to do it,  do you think it would have lived up to the hype, and would you have had Cena end the streak. Cheers ​THE STREAK IS NEVER GOING TO ... oh, wait, never mind. I think the second Cena-Rock match should have been Cena-Undertaker, personally.  Would have been the perfect way to cap off Cena's Worst Year Ever redemption arc where he has to do the one thing no one else can in order to come all the way back from the depths of losing to Brock Lesnar (assuming he had lost to Brock, of course).  And yes, I would have had him break the streak there...

Hey Scott, Do you think they should leave PPV altogether after SummerSlam and go "all in" with the Network? According to the conference call they're not even considering PPV revenue in 2015 in their projections. ​From a personal perspective, absolutely.  If they're not counting on getting PPV money anymore, then might as well just commit and be done with it, plus now I'm used to getting the PPVs for free and having them available on-demand.  There was never any advantage to me having to pay $60 for the show and then not have a copy for later.  Also, on a related note, the more we learn about this Rogers deal for the Network in Canada, the angrier I get about it.  What a bunch of fucking bullshit, as it won't be available west of Ontario (because I GUARANTEE that Bell, for example, isn't going to play ball with Rogers on this because they're more interested in keeping TSN exclusive to THEIR app) and it'll just be the live stream.  Shit lik...

How much do you think Rogers paid them for the exclusivity deal? I need to look up how much the FX deal was for because I bet it'll be a similar number. That said... if anyone ever needed any proof it's different up here, the fact that the network actually is a network should do it. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe/38249-wwe-press-release-on-rogers-deal The wording of the press release makes it sound like it's exclusively a cable system deal like 24/7 was, in which case I can't see it doing any better.  If it's not the current OVER THE TOP Roku setup, then fuck that and I'll just continue being a citizen of Fayetteville, LA.   The likelihood of non-Rogers cable systems picking this up after the failure of 24/7 seems low, too.  Plus it's a dollar more.  Unimpressed.  

This was filmed in 2013 The Interview was conducted by Rob Feinstein It runs at one hour and thirty-eight minutes long

Today’s Question: If this is indeed the end of TNA, what will be the first thing you associate with the company? My answer is a really bizarre one, but one I’ve never been able to shake. I’ll tackle that, plus all your answers tomorrow. If you want to skip yesterday’s discussion about your late night snacking habits, then please scroll right to the end and get started.

Below is the trailer. Looks awesome.

Click below to see the predictions. If you have an asterisk next to your name, that means you picked the same number as someone else, thus not eligible for the prize. The winner is the closest to the projection without going over. If I actually do end up winning with my pick, the next closest will be the winner.

Word is starting to trickle out on Twitter... I will try to update this post with the news as it comes out. - Subscriber numbers at 700,000 at end of Q2 (6/30) - Loss of $14.5M for Q2 - New offer: $19.99 if you want to just sign up for the month - WWE Network coming to Canada, Australia, NZ, Spain and a lot more countries on 8/12 - WWE Network coming to UK in October - WWE announced 10 year deal with Rogers for Raw & SD That new offer makes sense to me, you can grab the people that just want to sign up to see a specific special event and gives a break to those that commit.

Let’s talk about….TNA I keep odd hours. It drives my wife nuts, since she’s more of a 9-5 type person. I, on the other hand, am not – I work nights, sometimes past midnight organizing comics and such. I tend to sleep from about 6 AM until 1 PM, and start my day from there.

The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 11.21.94 Taped from the Fernwood Country Club in Bushkill yet again. Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jim Cornette and the worst green screen intro ever. An HDTV is not kind to this sort of thing.

The SmarK Retro Rant for Saturday Night's Main Event #20 - March 1989 - Taped from Hershey, PA. - Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura.

Monday Nitro #179 Date: March 8, 1999 Location: Centrum, Worcester, Massachusetts Attendance: 10,856 Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schaivone, Bobby Heenan, Larry Zbyszko Reviewed by Tommy Hall We had to get to this one eventually. I've heard warnings about this show for a long time now and even though I've seen it more than once before, the idea that this was allowed to make air still baffles me. It's the go home Nitro before Uncensored, meaning this is the big show to get people to buy the pay per view. Let's get to it.

In this episode of the Place to Be Podcast, Justin and Scott welcome back Kevin Kelly to discuss the second half of 2002 in WWE. The boys talk about Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Katie Vick, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan and much, much more. Kevin also talks about the rumors surrounding TNA as well as the impending WWE Network subscriber announcement. So fire up this action-packed episode and join Scott, Justin and Kevin because it is time for another edition of the PTB Podcast! http://placetobenation.com/place-to-be-podcast-episode-324-wwe-2002-w-kevin-kelly-part-two/

http://indeedwrestling.blogspot.ca/2014/07/my-wwe-network-6302014-prediction.html Reasoning sounds good to me.  Although if they do announce 750,000 tomorrow, there's gonna be way more than 10% of the office staff fired, I'd bet.  If they were anywhere near 1,000,000 they would have already been shouting it from the rooftops instead of practically going on TV and begging people to subscribe.   On the other hand, at least they're not TNA.  

Hi Scott, you've always been so kind about plugging my work in the past, and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to plug my latest venture - an e-book with reviews of the first year of shows from Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE. This is content that can't be found anywhere else, so any help in getting the word out would be greatly appreciated. The book can be purchased here -  http://amzn.to/1uHfPNT . Thanks!

Hi Scott, If you had to cut 10% of the Superstar roster tomorrow as part of the rumoured major cuts company wide, who would you let go? By rough count there are 91 Superstars listed on the WWE website, and this does not include the NXT roster from the looks it, so that would be 9 releases. Cheers, AZ  ​Cameron, Eva Marie, Adam Rose, Alex Riley, Jason Albert, Alberto Del Rio, David Otunga (doesn't need the gig anyway), Great Khali, Hunico, Rey Mysterio (like, come on, enough already), Rosa Mendes, Tom Phillips/Byron Saxton/Scott Stamford (basically the same person).  That's 14 and I guarantee no one will even notice any of them are gone.  For sure NXT doesn't need an announce team beyond Renee Young and William Regal and we sure as shit don't need to pay Alex Riley to give his "expert" opinion between PPV matches.  If you want to wittle it down to 9, then keep Rose and Del Rio around for the midcard and let two of the announcers stay on just in case.  Rea...

Tonight on the WWE Network: 8:00 ET brings us Best of RAW. Tonight's episode is from 8/11/97, which features a main event of Mankind vs. Shawn Michaels, the return of Rick Rude and the planting of the seed for the formation of D-X. That will be followed by Best of Smackdown at 9:30 ET. This has the Eddie Guerrero-John Cena parking lot brawl. So if you want to see heel Cena, tune in to this. Also, Vince makes Stephanie vs. Brock Lesnar for the main event. Bring all your Wednesday night madness to this thread. Mid-week shenanigans are the BEST!!

Here's another match from TNA's No Surrender 2005 show that has probably been forgotten about. Maybe not a classic, but certainly a good-very good match. Jerry Lynn is the guest referee.

Possibly a sign of what's to come with all of the rumored budget cuts (NXT talent getting axed) although he did get replaced by Sin Cara as Kalisto's teammate in NXT and has been floundering since breaking away from Alberto Del Rio http://www.wwe.com/inside/ricardo-rodriguez-released-26531379

Tomorrow, the WWE will announce the Network subscription numbers. For this occasion, I thought that I would hold a little contest. The person who is closest to guessing the exact total subscriber amount without going over will win the contest. The winner will get to select the shoot interview that I will review on August 14th (next week I will be recapping the 1992 WWE Timeline with Bret Hart) and will also get my copy of interview as well along with some other random wrestling stuff. To make your prediction, just post it in the comments section by 9am EST tomorrow. And just for the fun of it, here is my prediction: 697,000 To note, on April 7th, the company announced that they had 667,287 subscribers. Good luck to everyone.

Off topic Wednesday! Today’s Question: What’s your go-to food late at night when you’re starved and need something fast? We’ll take a closer look at that and our waistlines tomorrow. If you want to see what we talked about Monday, stay tuned – otherwise skip to the head to start right away.

RAW Rating RAW was down slightly at 3% from last week. However, there was a sizable drop off in viewership during the last hour. Here is the hourly breakdown: 8 p.m. - 4.39 million viewers 9 p.m. - 4.51 million viewers 10 p.m. - 4.05 million viewers   http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe/38223-raw-ratings-notes Miz TV Segment Was Originally Scripted for RAW A Miz TV segment with Bo Dallas as the guest was planned for RAW but scrapped at the last minute. There was talk of having a three-way match for the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam between Dallas, Ziggler, and the Miz as well. http://rajah.com/node/42340 How Much Does the WWE Offer For Tape Libraries On his radio show yesterday, Dave Meltzer reported that the WWE's standard offer for video libraries are approximately $500 per hour of footage. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio

Not much of an update today. Last night's episodes of Main Event and Wrestlemania Rewind are there for viewing. In the RAW Replays section, we have another Attitude Era episode, from 5/4/98. This is the episode with Mick Foley facing Terry Funk in a Falls Count Anywhere match, and at the conclusion, Vince appears to name Dude Love #1 contender to Steve Austin for Over the Edge '98. Also featured is new Nation member Owen Hart teaming with The Rock, and LOD 2000 and The DOA teaming against D-X.

While revisiting the Mega Powers angle in your SNME re-rants, where you would rank that in the "best angles ever" debate.  It started in October 87 on SNME and if you end it at WM5 it's till nearly a year and a half of perfect slow burn.  It elevated Savage to full time main eventer forever and drew shit loads of money.  I'm born in 82 and grew up a WWF fan.  For my money, that was the best ever.  Austin/Hart Foundation 97, Austin/McMahon 98, and the NWO are up there too in my opinion. Certainly it was the biggest money drawing angle ever for a single match.  Creatively as well I'd have no problem putting it up there.  It was the kind of year long planning they just don't do anymore.  

Hi Scott, With the recent signing of Prince Devitt, I got thinking of the way in which WWE signs and assigns it's talent... http://jimmosangle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/how-wwe-brings-in-new-talent.html I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on the matter, too. cheers Well aside from Sin Cara it's hard to argue with the results thus far.  

As a nod to the signing of Prince Devitt, let's take a look back at a couple of his finer moments as the leader of Bullet Club. He was always great between the ropes, but when he turned on The Funky Weapon at Invasion Attack 2013, went full blown heel and formed the best stable in years, he elevated himself to a rare level.

OH MY GOD.  How perfect is this?  Sadly, not part of a real movie yet, but all they need is floating yellow captions randomly popping up and it’s 100% perfect to what I would have pictured in the movie version of Deadpool.  Only real problem being that Ryan Reynolds might not like being basically anonymous through the whole thing, but they nailed it with this regardless 

So, that was an interesting RAW. I actually kinda liked it. Cena was limited to the opening and had a decent match with Cesaro, Orton and Reigns is tempered in bad blood and the Bella/Steph thing FINALLY took off after 736 handicap matches.

August 9, 1986 Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon In action tonight will be Paul Orndorff, The Dream Team, Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, and more

Tonight, on the WWE Network, at 8:00 ET it's Main Event live with Dean Ambrose taking on Alberto Del Rio; at 9:00 ET it's Wrestlemania Rewind which spotlights the Triangle Ladder Match from Wrestlemania XVI (otherwise known as WM2000); and at 10:00 ET it's WWE Countdown, which is a repeat of the top ten finishing moves episode. Full schedule in MLB, or just post some random stuff. We don't judge here at the BoD.

I just had to include this as the Promo of the Day.  Bet Savage didn't need much in the way of scripting to accuse Hogan of lusting after Elizabeth before blindsiding him with the belt.  Fan-fucking-tastic.

The SmarK Retro Rant for The Main Event #2 - February 1989 - Live and in prime time from Milwaukee, WI. - Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura. (Our cable was out at the time and I was freaking out, so we had to watch this one at my grandma’s house, but the main angle was so upsetting to her that she had to leave the room because it was all so unfair to Hulk Hogan.  That’s how you know it was effective.) 

The SmarK Retro Rant for Saturday Night's Main Event #19 - January 1989 - #18 wasn't on the list of stuff, which means that I've done it somewhere before. It didn't sound familiar to me -- Ultimate Warrior v. Super Ninja? -- but at this point my fans know better than I do what I've covered and what I haven't anyway. Again, if you're enjoying these SNME rants, check out www.gamshowutopia.net, because it needs the traffic and stuff.  (Not anymore, apparently.)  - I'd also like to note before we begin that today, Feb. 25, marks my first wedding anniversary, although I can only hope to achieve the kind of long-term wedded bliss of Britney and K-Fed.  (Ninth anniversary was this year!)  - Taped from Tampa, FL. - Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

by Logan Scisco - Michael Cole narrates a video package that recaps last night’s Fully Loaded pay-per-view. - Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Anaheim, California.  One of the best signs, in a sea of them, is one that reads “Bret Hart = Work” near the front row.

Vengeance 2003: Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman... by RatedREdgeHead316

So after reading your suggestions and making the Mello Yello move from 1993 WWF to 1993 WCW I offer a hopefully more readable review of one of WCW's delicious bites from 1993. Live from New Orleans, LA Airdate: October 24, 1993 Attendance: 6,000 Hosted by Tony Schiavone and Jesse “The Body” Ventura

Backstage Heat on Randy Orton During house show matches against Roman Reigns this weekend, Randy Orton took some heat from members of the locker room for wrestling a "crowd killing" style in the ring. Further more, several guys in the WWE are thinking that Orton is slowing down Reigns' progress to the top as payoffs are down and the days of Cena as the top face are dwindling. http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/496947-backstage-heat-on-randy-orton TMZ Report of Spike TV Cancelling TNA False? PWInsider.com reports that the contacted Viacom, the parent company of Spike TV, for a comment about the TMZ story, and were told that they do not comment on ongoing negotiations, per company policy. http://pwinsider.com/article/87204/its-not-just-tna-denying-tmzs-story-updated-156-pm.html?p=1 WWE.com Officially Announces the Prince Devitt Signing http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwe-signs-fergal-devitt-26515616 Kayfabe Commentaries Taking Submissions for their "YouSho...

Bret Hart: The Best There Is, the Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be (Disc Three)

What's up, Scott? Great job with the BoD, as always.  As a longtime reader (dating back to the Netcop days), I love what you've done re: diversifying the content and the contributing writers (....missives that no doubt relieve stress from your shoulders).   Your rants are still a must-read in any case, though. You've helped me out in the past with a couple of on-site plugs, and was wondering if I could go to you for what could be a VERY location-specific plug.   I'm based in Pittsburgh, PA, and in addition to the Major League Baseball team (the Pittsburgh Pirates), we also have an independent minor league team baseball about 30 minutes south of Downtown Pittsburgh.....The Washington Wild Things....home games in Consol Energy Park in Washington, PA). This Friday (8/1), a good buddy of mine who owns a remodeling company, SDC Remodeling, is sponsoring an event at the Wild Things game featuring former ROH champ (and SDC Spokesman) Adam Cole.  Game time is 7 PM EST.....

From the PPV earlier today. A rematch of Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito, the IWGP World Title match at Wrestle Kingdom earlier this year (the world's biggest wrestling show not named Wrestlemania). The rematch here is even better, as they skip right past the feeling out process and Okada's already drop kicking bitches off the top rope 3 minutes in. The post match is an incredible moment as well, with the crowd losing their fucking minds as if Elvis was in his prime or something. When broads start crying because you've touched them, you're over. This was one for the ages, July 28th 2014~! "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada vs. "Stardust Genius" Tetsuya Naito (7/28/14)

Live from Houston, TX Your hosts are Jerry Lawler, JBL and Michael Cole

This has nothing to do with the WWE

So after double-checking with Cox, I got informed (in a call back I just made) that a car crash took out their wires and they have crews working on it right now.  But they think it won't be ready until tomorrow morning.  Darn. So... this is where you come in.  Your choice, do I: * Do this rant when the re-air comes on Saturday night, or * Do a retro rant to make up for it? In the meantime, I'm going to send a nasty letter to the cable company.

Howdy Blog O'Doomers! Most of you will discuss TNA and that's cool. I have little to add because I don't really watch the product but I always believed that the longer TNA stayed on air the better chance they would have of finding the right niche. That being said if they are truly being removed from television because Dixie Carter HAD to keep Vince Russo on payroll that's extremely sad and ignorant on her part. What did get my wheels spinning while hanging out in last night's open thread and watching the Savage-Warrior match from Summerslam 1992 and pondering what would have happened if the Warrior turned heel, won the strap and aligned himself with Perfect & Flair (as rumored by various people). First thought is...awesome...Warrior/Perfect/Flair faction in 1992 is pretty crazy to think about. Second is this version of Warrior would have been a new thing for the WWF at the time -- an unstoppable monster heel as champion. A guy that had been booked from the begin...

Negotiations with @SpikeTV are ongoing. Stay tuned and be sure to tune in this Thursday night for Ultimate X on #ImpactOnSpike !! — Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) July 28, 2014 Whew.  That makes me feel better.  Also, apparently my TNA column is one of the biggest stories on the Sporting News site right now, so keep sharing and tweeting! 

Today’s Question: What’s the best promo you ever saw? If you want to skip yesterday’s discussion and start right away, scroll to the end or hit “Comments”. Otherwise please stick around to talk about your own personal bizarro world.

WWE.com RAW Preview http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2014-07-28/five-point-preview-26515174 Potential SummerSlam Match Updates As of now, planned matches include a Fatal Four-Way tag match for the Tag Team Titles and a gimmick matches involving AJ and Paige and Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Credit David Bixenspan, Figure Four Weekly Newsletter RF Video Releases Two New Shoot Interviews Shoot Interviews with Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels were just released a few days ago. They speak candidly about the problems in TNA. And the Daniels Preview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hmGhYEONfo&feature=player_embedded

From the organization that's gaining television contracts, not losing them!

http://www.ustream.tv/njpw The card for tonight's show looks ridiculous. Okada/Naito.. a rematch of the World Title match from the Tokyo Dome this year, also a rematch of the classic World Title match from 3/4/12 that hooked me on this promotion for good. Nakamura/Honma.. can the ultimate underdog finally pull out a win, against the King of Strong Style no less? Crowd is going to be rabid for a Honma victory, despite taking on the most popular guy in the company. Tanahashi/Fale.. not a match you would pencil in as a MOTYC, but Fale has proven his worth this year. He's wrestling the modern day HBK, the guy that has me convinced that Fritz had an illegitimate child in Japan back in '76, who grew up to have the discipline that Kerry didn't. Styles/Goto.. a match I circled immediately when the blocks were announced. This should steal the show. Styles has been a complete beast so far, and Goto is a top-of-the-line MOTY-caliber guy. If this isn't the bes...

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2014-07-28/tna-impact-wrestling-spike-tv-cancelled-hulk-hogan-ric-flair-sting-total-nonstop-action Figured I should bang this one out ASAP before anything else crazy happens tonight. I imagine I'll need to write something up when the Network numbers are released on Friday as well, but one crisis at a time.  Apologies for any errors in the timelines or major omissions and such, it's late and I wanted to make sure I hit the big points while the iron was hot.

Wrestlezone.com just broke a report stating they have confirmed through multiple sources that Spike TV does not want to renew Impact. Nothing is official yet but without a TV deal, Impact will be cancelled http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/496861-future-of-impact-wrestling-on-spiketv UPDATE: TMZ ANNOUNCES THAT SPIKE TV HAS CANCELLED IMPACT http://m.tmz.com/#Article/2014/07/27/impact-wrestling-cancelled-spike-tv-tna

Hey Scott, long time follower, first time sender. I was wondering if you would showcase this currently selling "Welcome to the BoD" T-Shirt based on the poster Abeyance1. http://teespring.com/WelcomeBoD Thanks a lot and keep up the good work. ​Sure, although it kind of loses something without the proper capitalization on the shirt.  ​

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma, from yesterday's fantastic G1 Climax Day 4 PPV. I know I'll catch some heat for not going with Tanahashi/Shibata. That was a masterpiece. However, if I'm only allowed to watch ONE match back from the tournament so far, it's gotta be this one. A rematch of their brutal MOTYC in early May. This one is only 12 minutes and it flies right by. I'd have to say Styles has been the star of the tournament so far, but this is your classic war of attrition. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma (7/26/14)

Tonight, on the Network live stream, it's Summerslam '92. Also, the Ricky Steamboat doc was uploaded to the library last night, if you didn't catch it. MLB Sunday night action sees the Dodgers take on the Giants, with just half a game separating the two in the NL West. Jake Peavy makes his Giants debut in this one. True Blood and The Leftovers on HBO, SyFy features Sharkmania: The Top 15 Biggest Baddest Bloodiest Bites. I'm just fishing for stuff. It's your thread about nothing!

August 2, 1986 Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon Tonight, we will have a special interview with Hulk Hogan. Plus, the American Express, King Kong Bundy & Big John Studd are in action. Also, Harley Race and Billy Jack Haynes are in action too.

The SmarK 24/7 Rant for Saturday Night's Main Event - November 26 1988 - Are you KIDDING me? They just happen to show the one SNME that I don't have a copy of and have never reviewed? (Unfortunately they aired probably the worst one of all time.)  Seriously, this channel is like Christmas every single day. - Taped from Sacramento, CA. - Your hosts are Vince & Jesse.

Hi Scott, Hope all is well. With the recent uploads of SNME to the network, I noticed something strange. Why on earth, during the awesome March 14, 1987 episode, did they NOT promote WrestleMania 3 at all?? It was network tv and the words Wrestlemania were never uttered. They mentioned things like "Piper is soon retiring," and "one day Hogan will meet Andre one-on-one soon" but they never mentioned the biggest event ever less than two weeks from the air date. I know they taped the show in late-February, but post-production would add all the details.  Did NBC not want them promoting outside ppv ventures? ​ Could be.  You also have to keep in mind that PPV was a very different animal at that point, too, with much of the business being closed circuit airings rather than the limited in-home PPV that we think of today.  NBC might have considered it competition to their Sunday night schedule?  That being said, Wrestlemania III still did a 10% buyrate out of the li...

I reviewed this show last night but today is the 12th Anniversary of the first ever Ring of Honor Champion was crowned. Here is the sixty minute Iron Man Match between Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Spanky vs. Doug Williams

Today’s Question: If you could change one match result from wrestling history, which would it be, and why? We’ll get into the nitty gritty of that tomorrow. Start the discussion right away by scrolling to the end of this. Otherwise, stick around to talk about the ladies.

The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 11.14.94 Taped from Bushkill, PA. The crowd on the hard camera side is already thinning out severely in week 2 of the tapings. Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Ted Dibiase

WWE in a nutshell: at Wrestlemania Cesaro gets a big moment where he turns on Swagger, and Zeb and WINS the Andre Battle Royal.  He becomes a Heyman guy, gets a new nickname, and has the most over move on the roster.  So when Bryan went down they started jobbing him, he stopping doing the swing, suddenly drops Heyman and now he's getting eliminated from Battle Royals by Heath F'n Slater!!! Now the reports are Cesaro was told to stop doing the swing because "It got too over"!?!?   This is the same company that says no one gets over and runs back to Cena and Orton.  Why do they keep sabotaging their own guys?   Zack Ryder got over.  Destroyed.  Cesaro gets over, told to stop.  Bray got over, Cena cut his balls off.  The only reason Cena and Batista got their runs is because they got over and Vince ran with them.  What is wrong with this stupid company? ​You know man, there's a reason why I have more fun watching old SNMEs from 1987 and RAW from 94.  I was de...

July 27, 2002 Murphy Rec Center Philadelphia, PA Tonight, the first ever RoH Champion will be crowned in a four-way, sixty minute iron man match between Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, Spanky, and Doug Williams. 

The SmarK Retro Rant for Saturday Night's Main Event #17 - October 1988 - Taped from Baltimore, MD - Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jesse Ventura

Talk about anything going on tonight here Also, the Shawn Daivari shoot won 35% of the poll and will be reviewed Thursday.

Chris Benoit vs Rob Van Dam - RAW 7.29.2002 by RatedREdgeHead316

Thunder Date: March 4, 1999 Location: Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Attendance: 4,198 Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're coming off a good Nitro (I'm as shocked as you are) and have ten days before Uncensored. The main stories seem to be a bunch of rematches from SuperBrawl, which isn't the worst idea as the matches weren't bad but the decisions were all wrong. Hopefully things are a bit better this time, though granted that would only make the show horrible. Let's get to it.

The spambots are getting completely out of hand lately, so I changed the Disqus settings to "verified e-mail only" which should hopefully curtail it.  This also means that you need be a verified user and not a joke poster with a fake address, but then that's no big loss either.  We'll see how this goes.  

The SmarK 24/7 Rant for AWA SuperClash '85 (September 28 1985) (As per the Flair v. Magnum discussion in the previous question, here’s the one major show where the did face off in ‘85, reposted for fun.)  - For some reason the full show didn't appear on Sasktel until yesterday's update, so I've been holding off until now. But I've been dying to see the full show for years now, so this is continued evidence of the awesomeness of the people who program this channel. The concept is that all the major non-WWF promotions are working together to beat the WWF, but since they can't agree on ordering a cup of coffee, let alone running a show, things don't work out. But it was quite the attempt. The most awesome story I've heard about this mess is that David Crockett, acting as the agent for the NWA, spent most of the time signing up AWA stars for his brother. Now those are some balls. - Taped from Chicago, IL, in the sadly empty baseball stadium. It drew about 2...

Never saw this before. Awesome. Most simple thing in the world - two wrestlers deciding to see who is best. Too bad it never happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKGqs_WYegw ​Putting '85 WCW TV up against anything from today is like bringing a sledgehammer to a water balloon fight.  Was there any more awesome promo than Flair at this point?  He gives off both the aura of a mega-star World champion and also an empty braggart.   And Flair/Magnum totally happened, but not at Starrcade or anything.  They had a pretty good match on the NWA/AWA joint card and a few house show matches. 

Today’s Question: What’s the best women’s match you’ve ever seen? My wife knows the divas as “nacho break”, but that hasn’t always been the case. We’ll talk all about this further tomorrow. Start by scrolling ahead or clicking Comments, otherwise stay tuned for talk about your memorabilia.

Vault > Legends of Wrestling            > 2009 - Southern Wrestling - 12/1/09 In Ring > RAW Replays             > 1995 - Episode 115 - 6/12/95                            Episode 116 - 6/19/95                            Episode 117 - 6/26/95                            Episode 118 - 7/3/95              > 2002 - Episode 461 - 3/25/02 The episode of Legends of Wrestling is the final episode to be uploaded. The RAW episodes are pre- and post-KOTR '95 and include appearances by Techo Team 2000 and the rare WWF appearance by Scotty Riggs as a Luger flag-bearer. The 2002 episode of RAW is the first-ever draft.

Doctor of Smuganomics? He hopes the guy gets help, and Turns His Life Around :)

I'm watching the SNME where Savage turns on Hogan and FUCK was that a great angle so fun to relive. Has anyone noted how much face Hercules resembled Eugene? All he needs is the jacket. ​ So just to totally no-sell this question and talk about what I want instead, I thought Hercules was pretty great for a mindless summer popcorn movie. It was a little draggy in the middle with the sword-and-sandal troop-training stuff, but by the time he was punching wolves IN THE FACE and being awesome it really picked up and nailed the landing.  But then I'm of course slightly biased towards the Rock.  I'd call it a worthwhile evening at the cinema.   ​

The big Beaubowski was about five days late in getting this show online.  But it was well worth the wait, because the show is footage from the GRAY BLOCK PARTY SHOW!

Smackdown Date: July 25, 2014 Location: Orlando Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're done with Battleground and heading towards Summerslam with the announced main event of Brock Lesnar challenging John Cena for the WWE Title. Other than that the big story seems to be Reigns vs. Orton which would be Reigns' first big solo match on the grand stage. A win over a former World Champion at Summerslam will be nothing but good for him. Let's get to it.

The place to discuss Smackdown, MLB, or anything else.

ECW Mike Awesome & Justin Credible vs... by bombsbpimp

Night 4 of the G1 tonight with Ishii/Honma, Styles/Naito, Okada/Anderson and Tanahashi/Shibata as the big matches to look for. Pretty standard affair for their third show last night with a good Tanahashi/Kojima match, and a great Okada/Makabe main event. We finished the night with Tanahashi, Okada, Goto & Shelton X Benjamin all going 3-0 so far. However the match getting buzz from the WON today is the BJW Sekimoto/Shinobu main event from 6/30 that I was pimpin' in the comments here a couple weeks ago. This is the BEST Big Man vs. Little Man dichotomy I may have ever seen, because goddamn Shinobu's offense is so friggin' believable here. And Sekimoto is in his usual award-winning, mid-season form. This is in ever way possible a classic. No back story needed, you either root for the little dude or the big dude, because they represent your position in life and what you believe in. That's what's great about wrestling when it's done right, you can...

Even with a broken neck, he tackles a guy and holds him until the police arrive. http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/wwe-star-daniel-bryan-stops-burglar-in-phoenix

July 26, 1986 Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon Tonight, we will see the Championship Wrestling debuts of The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers and "The Rebel" Dick Slater. Plus, "The Flower Shop" with guest Paul Orndorff and much more.

Happy weekend, everyone. Join us over at PTBN and check out these pieces from this past week! Dave Musgrave looked at the career of Tomohiro Ishii: The Rise of Tomohiro Ishii Movies of The P2B Generation continued with 1990 and 1991: Movies of the P2B Generation Glenn & Steve look at the news of the week, including bits on Rey Mysterio, KENTA and more:  The High Spot: Sting, Kenta, Rey Mysterio, and the Top Stories of the Week PTBN's comic book staff doled out their 2014 First Half Awards:  The 2014 Half-Year Comic Book Awards The Good Will Wrestling Podcast looked at fixing WWE:  Good Will Wrestling: Fixing the WWE Part One Kevin Kelly welcomed Danny Cage and also discussed John Cena, WWE Network, KENTA, Rusev and more: The Kevin Kelly Show Episode 14 – Featuring Danny Cage Steve Corino talked Battleground , CHIKARA, OMEGA and much more: The Steve Corino Show Episode 13 – OMEGA Co-founder Thomas Simpson Greg & Nick checked out Kick-Ass: Hard-...

While I'm usually the graphic novel guy I came across this and thought it was just about the truest wrestling thing I've read in years and figured it needed to be shared. The point Foley makes of the "people get tired of finding out . . ." perfectly sums up why I don't watch WWE anymore and haven't for two years. Anyway here's the link https://www.facebook.com/RealMickFoley/photos/a.150133228350157.28288.126269440736536/877930535570419/?type=1

Hi Scott, I've been watching a lot of 2001 lately and seem to have a gap in my memory... I remember Shane O being the one to purchase WCW, beating Vince at Mania & then continuing on to the great match with Kurt Angle at KOTR. All of this was as a FACE. My question is: when did Shane turn heel? It seemed that he/WCW were the faces to start with but obviously when the Invasion really kicked off they were all heels; please jog my memory! ​It was pretty quick after KOTR when they did the Alliance angle to turn everyone heel, so your timeline is correct.  It's kind of crazy how momentous a swing happened in ONE SHOW.  It literally was months of storyline twists crammed into a single RAW.  The disastrous Tacoma RAW was July 2, and then the crazy Atlanta RAW was July 9.  And they managed to do one of the biggest buyrates of the modern era with only 2 weeks build based off that, which still blows my mind.  ​

Waiting for the Trade Beyond by Dwayne McDuffie & Scott Kolins collects Beyond #1 – 6   Why I Bought This: I love Secret Wars and this is a revisiting of that concept with the added bonus of being published as part of the aftermath of Annihilation ; one of the biggest high points in recent comics and the history of cosmic Marvel. The Plot: A group of (D-list) heroes and villains are whisked off to an alien planet by the Beyonder and told to fight to the death. Spoilers follow after the break. I will advise there are some fun plot twists in this story and you can buy this trade for pennies on Amazon if you want to read it for yourself first.

- Taped from Springfield, Maine. - Your hosts are Vince & Jesse. (Yay, another point system rant.) 

This disc runs at one hour and ten minutes long

Today’s Question: What’s your favorite piece of wrestling memorabilia that you own? I’m looking forward to your answer to this. If you want to start the discussion, scroll to the end or hit “comments”. Otherwise, stay here for all your CM Punk discussion from yesterday.

In our last episode, "The Fat Twin", all the Divas set women back at least 70 years by focusing way too much on their boobs at the expense of thinking of themselves and other women as whole individuals.

WWE Not Going After Archived Video Content on YouTube The reason that the WWE is not going after this footage is part of a strategic decision. The strategy is that if the videos remain on YouTube, there is a better chance to get people hooked on the product and that it will be more beneficial in the long-term as fans who get exposed to the product that way will spend more money. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Rey Mysterio Update Mysterio is still under contract with the WWE. However, there is no set date for his return and there is a question if he will ever return to the company. Also, it has been reported that  Mysterio has stopped cashing his checks that the WWE has been sending him. Mysterio's contract was renewed for another year based off of the idea that he owed them time that he missed due to injury, which is part of the standard wrestling contract that everyone signs. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Rick...

So much for the next set of TV tapings tonight: https://www.facebook.com/southernstateswrestling/posts/10152303263132734 Anyone in the Kingsport area got a backyard they could loan out cheap for the night?

  (Damn Andy Goss, stealing my thunder again…)   - Live from Nashville, TN - March 12/ 88 - Your hosts are Vince & Jesse. - We of course discuss the Hogan/Andre/evil referees controversy first. Funny story about that situation: I was watching some of those old Superstars shows from Feb / 88, and they did an angle whereby every time Jesse Ventura would start to talk about the Main Event, Vince would have the truck bleep out his entire diatribe, by order of Jack Tunney. 13 years ago, I of course had no clue why they were doing that, but now I realize that obviously those shows were from the taping cycle BEFORE the Main Event was shot, but aired AFTER it showed on NBC. And since Vince was like Howard Hughes with all the paranoia about anyone possibly leaking the Mystery Finish, he obviously didn't want to tell Jesse anything in advance and thus came up with the censorship angle to hedge his bets.  

Impact Wrestling Date: July 24, 2014 Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz  Reviewed by Tommy Hall  It's the second show in New York and the main story is whether or not Austin Aries is going to cash in the X-Division Title for a shot at the World Title next week. Does TNA think that the fans believe he might keep the midcard title instead of going after the big one using an idea he created? Other than that I'm sure Bully will be chasing Dixie around the arena with a table in hand again. Let's get to it.

NXT Date: July 24, 2014 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Renee Young, Rich Brennan, Alex Riley Reviewed by Tommy Hall As usual with NXT, there are a few matches already set for this week. Tonight we're getting Summer Rae vs. Charlotte for the Women's Title to likely blow off the BFFs once and for all as well as Kalisto finding a partner to help him fight off the Vaudevillains. That's one of the things I like best about NXT: they don't have to start from scratch every week and it saves them so much time. Let's get to it.

This week, I thought that I would choose four shoot interviews from guys who broke into the WWE this century to get a perspective of the locker room and culture of that time. Here are your four choices: Ken Anderson (2009) https://www.rfvideo.com/shootwithkenanderson.aspx Bobby Lashley (2012) http://www.highspots.com/p/bobby-lashley-interview.html Chris Masters (2008) https://www.rfvideo.com/shootwithchrismasters.aspx Shawn Daivari (2013) https://www.rfvideo.com/shawndaivarishootinterview.aspx Vote by clicking on the link below. Voting ends Saturday at 7pm   http://vote.pollcode.com/89856526

Matches for Tonight Include: Team 3D & Tommy Dreamer vs. EC3 & Rhino & Rockstar Spud in a New York Street Fight Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim for the Knockouts Championship Bobby Roode vs. MVP in a Falls Count Anywhere Match Plus, Austin Aries makes his decision on whether or not to exercise "Option C," The Great Muta makes his return to the USA, and will Matt Hardy accept his brother Jeff's invitation to appear on the show?

http://www.wrestlingdvdnews.com/match-listing-wwe-sting-ultimate-collection-dvd/69780/ Now THIS is what I'm looking for in a DVD set these days.  A whole bunch of rare TV matches and dream matches like Luger & Sting v. Hogan & Savage and Sting & Warrior v. Bret & Hogan that may not be any good but have the "Wow, when did THAT happen?" factor.  Not to mention Sting/Muta matches I haven't seen and even a Sting/Vader I haven't seen!   Well deserved slow clap for this one.  

So this happened.

Hey so last Monday they officially announced Cena vs Lesnar.  Now early reports rumored that Triple H would face Roman Reigns at Summerslam, however the ending to last Monday's RAW almost suggested that it would be Randy Orton facing Roman Reigns.  Now they could do Orton vs Kane and still do the rumored match but if they don't my question to you is:  When does Triple H insert himself into the Cena/Lesnar match as the special guest referee?  Triple H making himself special referee at Summerslam is almost a tradition now. ​Well, the logical progression is Reigns going over Orton at Summerslam and then moving onto the REAL feud with HHH at Night of Champions, unless they really want to stretch it out by doing shit finish at Summerslam / shit finish at NOC / Hell in the Cell at the PPV of the same name, and then move onto HHH at Survivor Series.  Either way, the Orton -> HHH progression seems to make the most sense.  And then HHH can make his life hell until he wins the Rum...

This was filmed in January of 2006 The interview was conducted by Rob Feinstein and Doug Gentry It is a two-disc collection Disc one runs at one hour and fifty-eight minutes

Today’s Question: CM Punk stated he won’t be back. What’s your favorite CM Punk moment? (And in the interest of varied discussion, let’s exclude the Pipe Bomb and MITB match) We’ll be hearing from ROH and WWE fans alike, I’m sure. Kick it off now by heading to the bottom, or stick around to discuss yesterday’s topic.

Brock Lesnar Update Lesnar has been advertised for the September 15th edition of RAW, which is the show before the Night of Champions. http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/495841-update-on-brock-lesnar-schedule Sheamus Update The reason that Sheamus was not on WWE television this week was due to him having a severe flu Credit Dave Meltzer, F4WOnline.com What Will Air During NBC's WrestleMania Special? The show will air an edited version of the Austin, Rock, and Hogan promo, John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt and Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter WWE Splitting up Rybaxel? Although there is no timetable yet, the WWE is planning on splitting up the team in the near future. http://rajah.com/node/42270 TNA Announces Three Re-Signings John Gaburik announced via Twitter that the company has resigned Brooke Tessmacher, Seiya Sanada, and Samuel Shaw. http://pwinsider.com/article/87117/tna-signings.html?p=1 Also, today...

This is a follow-up to a discussion from the Wednesday Evening Thread concerning the DDT promotion, Dramatic Dream Team Wrestling. Some saying DDT's brand of comedy is akin to WWE's brand of comedy. Others choosing to differ based on DDT being up front, while WWE makes you think you're getting Rollins/Ambrose, instead filling the gap with Divas matches and lemon party references. Short story long, this was one of the highlights of the year right here, courtesy of DDT. The IronMan title is the modern day 24/7 Hardcore title, the old guy at the end is long-time ref Kyohei Wada, and the rest is p retty self-explanatory. The best part is the crowd cluing themselves into what's going on, halfway through the vid. Link below.. The IronMan Title wins ITSELF~!

Let’s talk about….Battleground Well, that happened. I hesitate to label the internet wrestling community the ‘IWC’, if for the simple fact that those initials have a negative connotation that is unrivaled by most of the, shall we say, fringe groups on the internet. Yes, we are all talking about wrestling on the internet, and sometimes the conversation gets clichéd in ways that are depressingly familiar (‘Cena should turn heel‘ is rapidly becoming the Windmill and the IWC becoming Don Quixote), but while we are a collection of individual minds, I suppose that it seems reasonable to use the shorthand when best applying broad strokes to the community et al.

On episode 14 of The Kevin Kelly Show, Kevin talks about Kevin Steen, Dean Ambrose, Rusev & Putin, KENTA, John Cena going Hollywood and much more. Kevin is then joined by Danny Cage, owner of the world famous Monster Factory. Danny talks about how he took over the Factory, his recent graduate Steve Cutler that is currently in NXT, his current crop of trainees, his tenets for trainees to follow and much more. Kevin and Justin then discuss the  World Cup of Greatest TV Characters , play a game of “Who Would You Take” and also chat NBA Free Agency, WWE Network and the always hot trending stories. The Kevin Kelly Show Episode 14 – Featuring Danny Cage

The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 11.07.94 My friend sent me a Destiny beta code. No idea if it’s something I’ll care about, but yay for free stuff and yay for finally getting something interesting for my Xbox One! Live from Bushkill, PA. Is that literally a high school gym? Good lord. Your hosts are Vince McMahon and the empty hole in my soul once occupied by Randy Savage. Also, Jerry Lawler, beginning a run that would last for 20 years, give or take.