The SmarK Rant for WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 – 05.31.15 Live from Corpus Christi, TX Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler & JBL

Quite frankly, I'm always excited to see a WWE PPV. I'm stoked that Elimination Chamber is back -- albeit, last second. But, let's see what this show has to offer...

Matches tonight include: Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins (c) for the WWE Title John Cena vs. Kevin Owens Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber Match: Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback vs. King Barrett vs. R-Truth. Rusev has been ruled out for the match and a replacement will seemingly be made tonight Tag Team Title Elimination Chamber Match: New Day (c) vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores vs. Prime Time Players vs. Ascension Paige vs. Naomi vs Nikki Bella (c) for the WWE Diva's Title Neville vs. Bo Dallas

July 5, 1987 From the Louisville Gardens in Louisville, KY Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon In action tonight will be Jake Roberts, Honky Tonk Man, Demolition, Brutus Beefcake, and Killer Khan.

I'm allowed to post this if it isn't up, I think. Guess we'll find out.

Hey, Scott. I was watching some old Nitro episodes from 1999. The whole nWo thing was pretty much done after the "fingerpoke of doom," but is there any truth to the rumor that it was all Hogan's attempt to claim more merchandise rights? We had nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood before they reunited, but I had heard a rumor that the red and black merch was selling like crazy, while the black and white merch wasn't. In other words, was this Hogan deciding he could just reunite the group, start calling himself a Wolfpac member the next week, and poof! Now anything with "Wolfpac" or the red nWo logo are magically "Hogan" merch too? I remember he and Steiner instantly started wearing Wolfpac gear, and the black and white stuff was left for the undercard guys. ​Yes, I believe that was essentially the motivation.  The Wolfpac side was getting too popular, so Hogan made sure to associate himself with the side that was winning.  Kind of smart if you think about...

Great call out on Bruce Hart making up some of the worst names in wrestling.  Dick Pound was bad but how about Semen White or HIV Thompson or The West Edmonton Mauler?  Wow. ​That was "Seaman" White, right?   Also, special note to Bruce for literally naming crooked referee Ron Hayter after the member of city council of the same name who they were fighting with.  The phrase "don't burn your bridges" is obviously one that Bruce has never heard of before.  

The SmarK DVD Rant for Satan's Prison: The Complete Anthology of the Elimination Chamber Setting aside the fact that the title sounds like a bad Tarantino B-movie homage, you had to figure that they'd be coming out with this collection sooner rather than later. This is basically just a collection of the matches in chronological order, hosted by Todd Grisham. A quick word on video presentation, as much of these matches are from the HD era and thus presented in 16x9. However, the older stuff is 4x3, and just like on the Ricky Steamboat DVD, the matches are presented window-boxed with “Elimination Chamber” graphics on the sides of the screen to fill the space. Either leave it black or let the DVD player handle it, production monkeys. Anyway, I never thought this was such a hot idea for a match in the first place, but they sunk a LOT of money into developing and building the equipment, so you knew it was going to be a yearly thing whether we liked it or not. The one thing that RE...

Discuss what a bunch of wankers the Blackhawks are here!  And other Saturday night stuff. 

September 6, 2003 From the Charbonneau Field House in Wakefield, MA Your hosts are Ray Murrow and Chris Levy

Hey Scott, Was thinking about this the other day, after reading a review of some old WCW card that had Kwee Wee wrestling on it:  What do you think are some of the worst wrester names ever?  I'm not talking about shitty gimmicks that found their way into the name (Red Rooster, Firebreaker Chip), but stand-alone names that were horrible. I've got Kwee Wee (obviously) near the top, along with Zan Panzer, Dolph Ziggler (although he's overcome it), and maybe Don Kernodle.  What say you?   What's wrong with Don Kernodle?  You might as well bust on Nick Bockwinkel while you're at it.   Developmental of course has held the record for bad names lately, although to be fair they're more horribly generic than BAD, per se.  Kwee Wee was absolutely awful, one of the worst.  I think the worst by a country mile was WEE WILLIE WILKINS, but that was more of a specific rib by Dusty Rhodes rather than any kind of attempt at seriously naming someone.  And I know others are not on...

Click below to vote for the greatest Nov/Dec PPV card of all time, brought to us by Place to be Nation http://placetobenation.com/place-to-be-podcast-episode-374-november-december-all-time-ppv-cards/

Thunder Date: January 6, 2000 Location: Civic Center, Florence, South Carolina Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson, Mike Tenay Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's a new year and please, for the love of all things good and not made of Russo, make it be a new Thunder. Almost the only stories coming out of Nitro are new Tag Team Champions.....who had to run away so we could get to the NWO stuff, and the new commissioner.....who was beaten up by the NWO to end the show. Heaven forbid WCW let anyone new (as new as Commissioner Terry Funk could be) get over. Let's get to it.

I'm doing a sporcle quiz of WWE HOFers and I'm typing Martel Martel and nothing.  How come Ric isn't in the Hall? His list of qualifications are WAY better than some of the jabronis in there and he rates way high on the Bushwhackers/Koko B Ware scale... AWA World Champion Multiple time WWE/F Tag Champ dating back to the 70s Had a great heel turn AT Wrestlemania and rode that gimmick as a solid mid card heel for years Was even a WCW TV champion in 98 until his career ending injury... So why not Rick Martel?  Is there any beef with Vince we don't know of, or just out of sight, out of mind? I don't think there's a HUGELY compelling case for him, or any major beef against him for that matter, so I'd say he's a solid choice to go in a midcard guy one of these years when they need one.  I just don't feel like anyone's been clamoring for Martel aside from maybe Pat Patterson or Tony Garea.  

Should I sign back up for WWE Network to get a Elimination Chamber tomorrow? What am I, a magic 8 ball?  You should sign up because the WWE Network is fucking awesome anyway.  

Hi Scott, I was wondering when Vince first got the bug up his ass about it being "entertaiment" instead of "wrestling"? I can't recall ever hearing the term "Sports Entertainment" until sometime in the Attitude era and when I go back and watch stuff from the 80s and early 90s, the word wrestling is everywhere and no one seems to have any ideas about calling it anything else. My own theory is that it stems from the story he always tell's about Turner calling him up to let him know he was in the "Rasslin" business. I was wondering what you thought though. Thanks. ​The term was invented in the early 80s, specifically to get around things like athletic commissions or Boxing and Wrestling commissions.  You'd have to kick up a portion of the gate to them and pay doctors for ringside and such, and that's money out of Vince's pocket.  "Ah", he would say coyly, "we should not be governed by wrestlin...

The SmarK Rant for New Japan on AXS – 05.22.15 My DVR found two episodes of the show on AXS tonight, so we’ll start with last week’s show and proceed from there. And yeah, I can watch it on NJPW World with the original commentary, but not on my TV and not with Mauro Ranallo. Taped from YOYOGI NATIONAL GYM, June 2014. This would be the Best of the Super Junior 2014 finals.

Impact Wrestling Date: May 29, 2015 Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Josh Matthews, Al Snow Reviewed by Tommy Hall After all the insanity that's been going on behind the scenes in this company, they're really in need for a good show to calk things down a bit. This show is being billed as May Mayhem, which is their version of a pay per view this month. The main event is Eric Young challenging Kurt Angle in an I Quit match. Let's get to it.

On tap for tonight: The final Friday Night edition of TNA Impact airs tonight on Destination America at 9pm EST, highlighted by Kurt Angle defending the TNA World Title against Eric Young in an "I Quit" match. Next week, Impact will air on Wednesday nights at 9pm Game 7 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals starts tonight at 8pm EST on NBC Sports as the Tampa Bay Lightning face the New York Rangers, with the winner moving on to the Stanley Cup. MLB has a full slate of games tonight with the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals at 8:15pm on the MLB Network. Also, head on over to Place to be Nation and check out the "Hard Traveling Fan Boys" column as they discuss The Avengers. You can read that column by clicking on the link below. http://placetobenation.com/giant-size-hard-traveling-fanboys-the-avengers/ And if you havent already, vote in this week's shoot interview poll by clicking on the link below. http://vote.pollcode.com/815876...

July 4, 1987 From the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon The featured matchup this week is Killer Khan vs. Outback Jack. Also in action this week will be Randy Savage, Kamala & Sika, Tito Santana, and Brutus Beefcake.

I'm not sure how many people remember Herb Abrams, but he was probably the worst owner in professional wrestling to get a national TV deal (and PPV), with an eccentric personality (to say the least), a habitual liar, someone who constantly stiffed workers on pay, ordered Steve Williams to break another wrestlers nose for whatever personal issues he had with him, and eventually died wearing a diaper, covered in baby oil, and chasing hookers while high off his ass on coke… and yet, I don't know if that's enough to be worse than Dixie Carter.   Ignoring the obvious, like letting guys like A.J. Styles walk with low-ball contract offers and throwing butt-loads of money at marginal celebrities and MMA fighter wrestling fans don't care about, here's a few things I can come up with…   Gives a "motivational" speech on TV that basically tells the entire roster that she is the supreme knower of all and they can either like it or leave it, ...

With Kevin Owens being advertised for almost every Raw leading up to Summerslam and more than likely being a part of the main roster going forward how would you book him dropping the belt? Personally I'd love Kevin to hype up getting a "WWE" contract and he fulfilled what he wanted to do by destroying one of his best friends, taking the title, and forcing "the powers that be" to give him his shot.  I'm sure we'll get a non finish between Cena/Owens at the Elimination chamber, but say that he takes the US title from Cena at the next show or Summerslam.  Owens wins and then tosses the NXT title as "he doesn't need it anymore".   Prior to actually winning the US title Owens would keep stressing on the NXT shows that he doesn't need NXT and he's getting his shot in WWE.  He came here to do what he needed to do.  Keep have him destroying guys.  Hell,  take out Corey Graves or Regal again and force Regal to strip Owens of the title....

Hi Scott,   We all know the opening match is exceptionally important for setting the tone of the night and getting the crowd all hyped up. Matches like HHH vs. Dude Love at One Night Stand 1997, Lance Storm vs. Edge at Summerslam 2001, HHH vs. Daniel Bryan at WM30 and Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart at WM10 really stand out as being exceptional and standing the test of time.   Do you have any opening matches which are your favourites or any opening matches you feel genuinely helped pump the crowd up for the rest of the card? Bret v. Owen is of course the most obvious, but WCW made it into an artform with the Cruiserweight era.  Rey v. Psicosis at Superbrawl II was arguably the greatest opening match of all time, and even 4 years earlier Pillman v. Liger pretty much nailed the Best Match award in the opener of Superbrawl II.  I'd also give an honorable mention to Jericho v. Raven at Havoc 98.   I feel like one of the biggest disappointments in openers was Barely Legal, in that they should h...

Kevin Owens Update Owens is now advertised as appearing on every episode of RAW through SummerSlam, with the exceptions being the 8/3 and 8/10 shows. Owens is also advertised for the Battleground PPV this July. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0528/595763/kevin-owens-officially-on-main-roster/ Brock Lesnar Update Lesnar, who will be back on WWE TV in June, has also been advertised to wrestle on the July 4th house show in Japan against Kofi Kingston. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0529/595769/brock-lesnar-added-to-live-event-in-japan/ Rusev Update Rusev, who was injured this past Tuesday at the Smackdown taping, has been removed from all house show matches this weekend and replaced by Kane. At this moment, Rusev is still advertised for the Elimination Chamber show. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/42763-rusev-injury-update-and-new-wwe-main-events Also, make sure to vote in this week's shoot interview poll. You can do so by ...

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2015/5/28/8681663/nxt-women-triple-h-wwe How can you not love this man with the heat of a thousand suns? -J (an unbiased Triple-H fan) ​Yeah, but don't forget that guys like Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley are also under his watch.  

Hey Scott, I was just thinking today that isn't it fitting that the year NXT is rising like a phoenix and is pretty much universally praised, is also the year that TNA could very well go under after 13 years? That all the guys that are making NXT really spectacular are all guys that TNA could have had if only they concentrated on cultivating their own talent and signed the big independent guys to exclusive deals? You know, rather then go after ex-WWE guys that drained the company dry? They could have had Owens, Balor, Zayn, and Itami.  If you look at the main roster, the two guys that closed the last two Wrestlemania's holding the WWE title high...they could have had them too. CM Punk? Didn't they have him back in 2003? Throw in Cesaro as well. Wasn't Dean Ambrose a pretty well known independent guy? Hindsight in indeed 20/20 I guess. Or maybe Dixie is so inept that if she could do it all over again she would sign Hogan to an even bigger deal? ​Well it's...

Smackdown Date: May 28, 2015 Location: Mohegan Sun Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler Reviewed by Tommy Hall I've been saying this too often lately but it's the go home show for a pay per view. The big stories going into this Sunday are the two Elimination Chamber matches as well as the World Title match between champion Seth Rollins and challenger Dean Ambrose. They haven't really had time to put together a great story so I'm assuming tonight is going to have some hard selling. Or some lame matches that keep everything where it was coming out of Raw. Let's get to it.

This week I chose four shoots that are filled with crazy stories. Here are your choices: New Jack (2004) http://www.rfvideo.com/newjack2004shootandundercover.aspx Brickhouse Brown http://www.highspots.com/p/20886.html Jamie Dundee http://www.highspots.com/p/16448.html Danny Doring http://www.rfvideo.com/shootwithdannydoring.aspx Those are your four choices. Vote by clicking on the link below. Voting ends Saturday at noon. http://vote.pollcode.com/81587644

On tap for tonight: WWE Smackdown starts at 8pm EST on SyFy. Matches include Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins & Kane, Ryback vs. Rusev, Ceasro & Kidd vs. Lucha Dragons, and Paige vs. Naomi. Plus, Kevin Owens will make an appearance as well. There are several MLB games tonight, with the Boston Red Sox vs. Texas Rangers at 8pm EST on the MLB Network. And as usual, talk about anything else going on tonight here.

Hello sir, I just want to take a second to speak about the sorry state of reporting breaking wrestling news. Like many that visit this site, I joined the wrestling observer website because it made me feel that I was connected to the business of wrestling. My friends watched wrestling but I was the guy that had the behind the scenes dirt because I was willing to pay the ten bucks a month to find out the scoops before everyone else. Now after every story is reported by everyone else I have to hear Meltzer say oh I've known something was going down for weeks blah blah blah. Then why haven't you said so on one of 35 shows you do every week in between all of your well you know/I don't knows?  I'm not paying to hear Bryan Alvarez talk to his grandmother. I want the dirt. You acting like this fountain of knowledge while not giving your members the information you have is a disservice. The truth is no one really breaks news in a professional and entertaining way any...

http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/42760-wwe-news-brock-lesnar-advertised-for-june-22-raw I guess they finally figured out that actually using or at least mentioning the guy they're paying 5 trillion a year for might be a sound business strategy.  

This was filmed in The interview was conducted by Rob Feinstein It runs for two hours and forty-five minutes long

Hi Scott, My question isn't really about whether the WWE product is any good or not (although the answer might be relating to it), so here goes: what's up with crowd reactions during matches lately? By lately I'm focusing on the last year or so. What I mean is that I see some guys come out and get good reactions...but then no one seems to care about them during the matches; like, people don't pop for anything they do in the ring. At least is doesn't feel like they do. Case in point, all these main eventer guys now. The shield alums, Bray Wyatt, even lower tier guys like Neville (whom fans seem to care about, and love his finisher, but he was getting the shit kicked out of him a couple of weeks ago and I could hear crickets). All these guys get great pops when their entrance music hits, but as soon as matches start, no one gives a shit. Eventually audiences come around once the match has hit almost 15 minutes or so, on Raw I mean. But...

Was there any way of doing Yokozuna's face turn right? For a long time he was massively over as a heel until he was put lower and lower down the card. It seems like he could have been turned face and used in a way that wasn't terrible even with his incredibly limited mobility. I guess they would have ended up releasing him no matter what since he wasn't able (willing?) to lose the weight. Seems like kind of a shame for his WWF career to end like it did considering how good he was as a heel in 1993.   ​Well, I'd like to once again plug James Dixon's awesome Titan Sinking book, while we're talking about that era: http://amzn.to/1J8Wj1Y Tie-in:  I think had Yoko made the commitment to actually lose weight, his new direction as the samoan ass-kicker that was closer to his backstage personality might have worked.  Especially since exactly that sort of character was only a few years away from debuting.  You know, Roman Reigns.  ​

Hey Scott, My publisher, Pro Se Press, just released a new book. It's a short story anthology that hearkens back to the days of pulp adventure books. Back then, an artist create a cover for a book. Then writer(s) would tell stories around this art piece. We saw something similar in the episode of Deep Space Nine, Far Beyond the Stars. Pro Se decided to bring this concept back with WRITE FOR THE COLVER VOLUME ONE. This one great piece of art by Adam Shaw inspired a little over half a dozen writers to create a story around it. The reason I'm e-mailing you about this is I'm hoping you can help spread the word since my work - SARA SAVIOR AND THE INTERGALACTIC ARMOURY - is featured. I haven't written a lot of straight up space-faring sci-fi before, so this was a lot of fun for me. So if you could please post this on the 'ol blog, I'd appreciate it: http://amzn.com/1512348937 You'll probably hear from me again in a few months when my second novel drops later this ...

Rusev Injury Update Rusev suffered a lower leg injury at Tuesday's Smackdown tapings. He is currently being evaluated for them at this time. http://www.wwe.com/inside/rusev-injury-27435244 Destination America Memo Regarding TNA Being Cancelled Leaked Here is the memo: " Destination America is not renewing TNA Wrestling next year. While the ratings were strong, the audience was not large enough to justify the program investment. We plan to honor the current contract and continue to air original episodes of TNA Wrestling on Friday nights through the end of the third quarter 2015. When the up-front rate card is released, the Friday night anthology title will now be called 'American Tales,' which will be a combination of Paranormal and Americana programming. I hope this is good news given all of the advertisers that included TNA on their DNA list." It should also be noted that the "DNA List" means the "Do Not Advertise List," which is...

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2015-05-28/nxt-in-review-kevin-owens-samoa-joe-solomon-crowe-becky-lynch Oh my god who let Mojo Rawley back on TV again?  Also, I feel like this Kevin Owens fellow might have a future in the business.  Hopefully John Cena takes a mentoring role with him.

NXT Date: May 27, 2015 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's the week after Takeover: Unstoppable and the main story seems to be Kevin Owens fights everyone at once. After challenging John Cena on Raw, sending Sami Zayn away to get shoulder surgery, possibly putting Hideo Itami on the shelf, attacking Commissioner William Regal and getting a new #1 contender with Samoa Joe, Owens now has to deal with the debuting Samoa Joe. Let's get to it.

Doesn't seem like anyone was doing this... Discuss!

I'd say this is probably bad for TNA...     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  May 27, 2015           CONTACT : Nikki Suseck | 212-548-5452 | Nicole_Suseck@discovery.com   DESTINATION AMERICA BRINGS MORE ACTION TO THE RING ACQUIRING THE RIGHTS TO RING OF HONOR'S WEEKLY TELEVISION PROGRAMMING   (Silver Spring, Md.) –Destination America announced today that it has signed a national broadcast deal with professional wrestling league RING OF HONOR, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., bringing one of the most respected wrestling organizations to the only network dedicated to all-American entertainment. Destination America is now the one-two-punch to professional wrestling, adding RING OF HONOR (ROH) to its line-up after launching IMPACT WRESTLING in early 2015. RING OF HONOR has been delivering top wrestling matches for ten years with captivating hard-hitting stars such as Jay & Mark Briscoe, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, The Youn...

Here is the official announcement of Ring of Honor on Destination America, starting June 3rd at 8pm. http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/104-ring-of-honor/42743-breaking-news-ring-of-honor-coming-to-destination-America It should also be noted that Dixie Carter has scheduled a conference call for 3pm EST and requested that all TNA talent participate. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0527/595702/tna-to-address-talents-later-today/

Monday Nitro #221 Date: January 3, 2000 Location: BiLo Center, Greenville, South Carolina Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's a new year and in the best present WCW could give us, the show is back to two hours instead of the usual three. The big story this week is the rest of the Tag Team Title tournament with all the random and wacky teams and the rest of the field being filled out by regular teams who were “randomly” paired together. Let's get to it.

Sami Zayn Update Zayn is in Birmingham, AL today, likely to get shoulder surgery. Word is that the injury is something that has been haunting Zayn since before he signed his WWE deal. http://wrestlechat.net/report-sami-zayn-in-alabama-likely-getting-surgery-today-timetable-for-return-unknown/ Sasha Banks Update Despite missing recent live events, the reason Banks was absent is not yet known. However, it has been confirmed that Banks is not injured. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0526/595675/update-on-sasha-banks-speculation/ TNA Knockout Gives Notice Christy Hemme has given notice and will be leaving the company soon. She has been with TNA since 2006 and currently works on the creative team. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0526/595667/veteran-tna-knockout-leaving-soon/ Also, head on over to Place to be Nation and check out the newest installment in the "What If........" series as they talk about Sting jumping over to the WWE at various poin...

Hey Scott, After watching Payback, I started thinking about Reigns. I know it's just a matter of time before he's champ because WWE are waiting for the crowds to accept him. But, if John Cena has taught us anything, it's that the Smark contingent will change it's mind about a wrestler. Once you're a heel/face, in their eyes, it doesn't matter how well you're work or how well you're booked, you'll always be their first impression of you. So by that logic, Reigns will never be "ready." But, if all that is true, why the heck does Reigns even need the title? Why not just make whatever match he's in the main event, regardless of what's at stake. In other words, make him the John Cena Champion. You could even christen this new era by having him beat Cena in a main event, while Rollins fight whomever. As you said, the title is not the title. As an added benefit, if Smarks start seeing Reigns fighting, and winning, in the main event enough,...

Whoever runs that department may want to start working on his resume.... ​And this had to make it through a lot of people, don't forget.  ​

June 28, 1987 From the War Memorial in Rochester, NY Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon Tonight's featured match is Greg Valentine vs. Raymond Rougeau. Also in action are the Can-Am Connection and Randy Savage.

On tap for tonight: Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals takes place tonight as the Cleveland Cavaliers look to sweep the Atlanta Hawks tonight at 8:30pm EST over on TNT. Also, Game 6 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals takes place as the New York Rangers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who lead the series 3-2. This game starts at 8pm EST over on NBC Sports. MLB has a full slate of games. The Washington Nationals and the Chicago Cubs just began over on ESPN, which will also be airing the Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game at 10:10pm EST And as usual, talk about anything else going on tonight here.

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2015-05-26/scotts-mailbag-of-doom-kevin-owens-cm-punk-samoa-joe-daniel-bryan-wwe-nxt Hopefully this will perk things up a bit here.  

- Vince McMahon tells the stooges that he is leaving to briefly train for the Royal Rumble (because he supposedly could not do this earlier in the day) and he says he will come back with a “Christmas bonus” for the Corporation.  He leaves Shane in charge of tonight’s show, but reminds the stooges that he will hold them responsible for Shane’s actions.  Once Vince drives off, Shane races toward the arena because he has a lot of things to do. - Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler are in the booth and they are taped from Spokane, Washington. Cole welcomes us to the “greatest action adventure series on television!” whatever that means.

If all goes as well as realistically possible, Angle returns for one more feud/match. Of the people there, who would you like to see him battle?  ​Rusev.  That's really the only realistic use for Angle if there were to bring him in.  ​

Original Plans for the John Cena/Kevin Owens Feud The feud between the two was supposed to begin later this Summer but it was rushed so they could also hype up the NXT Takeover: Unstoppable show, which was on the Network this month, which was free to new subscribers. http://wrestlechat.net/original-plans-for-owens-vs-cena-revealed-dolph-ziggler-gets-heat-for-being-dumb-and-reckless/ Dolph Ziggler Catching Heat Backstage? After busting himself open at Payback in a match against Sheamus when using multiple headbutts, WWE Officials were not too pleased with him, saying it was "dumb and reckless." http://wrestlechat.net/original-plans-for-owens-vs-cena-revealed-dolph-ziggler-gets-heat-for-being-dumb-and-reckless/ Reason For Hideo Itami's T-Shirt Getting Pulled from WWE.com The reason the shirt was pulled is that some of the Japanese Characters on the original design were incorrect so they are going to fix that issue before adding it back to the website. ht...

The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro – 07.15.96 Overwhelming sentiment seems to be that I should continue on with Nitro since they were getting incredibly hot and I’ve never seen these shows before anyway. So we’ll plow through until the end of the archived material in December 1996! Live from Orlando, FL Your hosts are Tony & Larry Let us take you back to a magical time called two weeks ago, when Hulk Hogan betrayed WCW and kicked off the hottest period in wrestling history.

I hope everyone had a nice, safe Memorial Day and is hunkering down with their post-BBQ drink of choice to wind down the long weekend.

May 25, 2015 From the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY Your hosts are Booker T, JBL, and Michael Cole

This has nothing to do with the WWE

Howdy Blog O Doomers! Hope those of you celebrating Memorial Day are enjoying it as much as I am. Talk about what you like but keep it clean! We've got: RAW NBA Western Conference Finals NHL Western Conference Finals A ton of baseball and new reality-based television shows :)

WWE.com RAW Preview http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-05-25/five-point-preview-27417327 Who Was Behind Lana's Babyface Turn? Vince McMahon was the driving force behind Lana's face turn, believing that she was "too hot and blonde to be a heel," which is why they put her with Dolph Ziggler. http://wrestlechat.net/wwe-nixes-big-plans-to-reform-group-more-on-lana-being-teamed-with-dolph-ziggler/ Update on Wyatt Family Reunion Rumors Despite rumblings that the Wyatt Family would be reunited, along with Bo Dallas added to the group, the plans were scrapped last weekend. http://wrestlechat.net/wwe-nixes-big-plans-to-reform-group-more-on-lana-being-teamed-with-dolph-ziggler/ WWE Talent Returning to Action at This Weekend's House Shows Big Show, Brad Maddox, and Layla all returned to action at this past Saturday at the house show in Utica, NY http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0524/595600/wwe-live-event-results/ Former WWE Writer Kevin Eck B...

Top three face TITLE REIGNS of all time? ​1.  Bruno 2.  Hulk 3.  A tie for everyone else ever.   Well that was tough.  ​

Was what we got really the idea they originally wanted? Like THAT was planned out? As a kid I totally thought it was going to be the million dollar man's mystery partner. Which would have been funny to see taker come out of the egg. ​Yes, that was really what they wanted.  They thought a Thanksgiving mascot was legitimately going to be this huge hit with kids, but of course the problem was that it was hyped like a wrestler debuting and expectations were raised too high in the wrong direction.  I think if they had just been like "And oh yeah, we'll debut our stupid dancing turkey, yee haw" then people might have panned it but then immediately forgotten it and moved on.  It was really the egg that sunk it and turned into the legendary bomb it was.  ​

June 21, 1987 From the War Memorial in Rochester, NY Your hosts are Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon In action this week are the Islanders, Honky Tonk Man, Ken Patera, Koko B. Ware, and Demolition

Scott,  Hulk Hogan feuded with Mr. Perfect in late '89-early '90. At the same time, I remember an angle run on TV where Brutus Beefcake had a run in with "The Model" Rick Martel ​​ , cutting up his clothes that he had been modelling, kick off a feud between those two. Then it seemed that it was abruptly changed, when Beefcake had a run in with Mr. Perfect at the Royal Rumble, totally no-selling the run in he had with Martel a couple weeks before.  It seems to me that Beefcake was being put in a feud with a guy who was a hot heel at the time, with the heat from the Hogan-Perfect feud now being transferred to Beefcake-Perfect. Then Beefcake gets into the career-defining accident, cutting everything off.  Given that Hogan got his feud with Beefcake at Starrcade '94, do you think that Beefcake was being groomed as yet another "Hogan friend turned enemy" run, if he had not gotten into the accident? ​I doubt it.  Beefcake already had his run with Hulk in 85 ...

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/page/instantawesome-therockwedding-150521/that-dwayne-rock-johnson-surprised-fan-officiating-wedding As if The Rock wasn't already on the Mount Rushmore of Pure Awesomeness. I don't think there is any argument that Rock is the greatest choice to officiate a wedding.  But which 3 wrestling personalities would you think would be the next best options? My list: Macho Man - The guests wouldn't understand him, but he would raise his voice at just the right times Bobby Heenan - Just for the option to cut down every crazy member of the family Ric Flair - While he'd be looking WAY too closely at the bride, I think ultimately he'd do the right thing and go through with the ceremony. Dead last would be Shawn Michaels, who would actually go through with what Ric Flair is thinking.  ​I think Bobby would be better suited to hosting the wedding or giving the best man speech.  Really I doubt anyone is going to top the Rock in this kind of battle. ...

Was the plan for Hennig to always turn face in '92 and feud with Flair? If warrior hadn't left how would they have gotten to that point? Explain this to me. The Harts win the tag title from demolition in a 2 out of 3 falls match where one fall they won by DQ. On an episode of Saturday nights main event the British bulldogs defeat the Harts in a 2 out of 3 falls match with one fall being one by dq yet they are not awarded the titles because titles can't change on a dq. So, like, what the hell happened? ​Man, Sundays.  Not even anything on TV now that I subscribe again.  But lucky for everyone else, I get ROH on some random ABC station at 2AM that I can DVR, as well as NJPW on AXS, so get ready for the HOT FIRE, as JTG puts it in his book.   Anyway, no, the Hennig thing was as desperation last-minute as you can get.  There was no plans for him to turn or even come back to wrestling leading up to it, as far as I'm aware. As for the second one, that's always bugged me...

To distract you from all the TNA posts.

http://www.wwe.com/classics/wcw/50-forgotten-wcw-stars-photos There's no real narrative to this list aside from "Here are people that existed" so I'm kind of unsure on the point, but there ya go.  

I know everyone loves bashing TNA, but let's not be blind and stupid here.   Think about this; ECW is beloved by most fans and it ran less than 8 years from August 94 through March 2001. ECW produced ONE 5-star match by your account, and the only guy who came straight out of ECW to find major WWE success was RVD. Everyone else used ECW as a stepping stone (Austin, Foley) or a place to recharge (Sid, Rude). Based on talent, quality, probably overall money made while in business, and longevity, shouldn't we remember TNA as being better than ECW?   TNA had over a decade of amazing matches. Their talent level was NEVER the issue. Starting from Day 1, the X-Division was fresh and different and was near 4-star match every week. The Cruiserweight/Extreme style had been seen in a while. Guys like AJ, Daniels, Lynn, Low-Ki, Petey Williams, Doug Williams, etc. busting their asses. The Tag team division also was always quality especially compared to WWE over that period. X...

We've all heard every theory for the collapse of WCW from the finger poke of doom to the AOL/Time Warner merger. But what if it was an inside job? By none other than Hanoi Jane herself? Hear me out. Jane marries Billionaire Ted in 1991. The same year WCW became WCW, right? she divorces him in 2001, the same year WCW goes under. Coincidence? THINK ABOUT IT But who was she working for? Crockett, perhaps? Another jealous NWA honcho? JIM HERD?!?!? Let's not forget WCW also ran shows in N Korea. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!! How have we not seen this before? If I were a betting man, I'd even wager it was her own voice on those WWF skits in 96. That's probably when she recruited Razor and Diesel! Whoa, And that just came to me! IT GETS DEEPER AND DEEPER!!!! THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!! ​I feel like I've already thought about too much as it is.  Don't you think I've been considering that very theory in my mind over and over since the company died?  Don...

Well Scott, seeing as how TNA is more or less the walking dead at this moment, my question is what do you think happens to most of the talent now?  Who could break out in any way?  I believe that James Storm, Austin Aries, and Bobby Roode are safe and will make a fortune in the indies and Japan, Kurt and Ken Kennedy are persona-non-grata in WWE for more reasons than I can think of, Matt and Jeff Hardy may squeak in somehow if they change their act, EC3 and Bram could be brought back to NXT because they're both young and have matured in the ring, but I doubt that Eric Young, Jesse Goderz, Homicide, or Abyss will get any attention from the WWE.  Who looks more promising to you in making it in this business? ​ I think they'd probably bring EC3 back unless he's completely burned all his bridges.  Bram got nailed on a DUI so I doubt they'll bother with him.  I can see the Hardyz coming back for a Royal Rumble appearance or two or RAW Retro deal where we get to hear about how...

Okay, so by the beginning of October, TNA will no longer have TV in the U.S. But they'll still have international distribution deals that they need to fulfill, right? So will they keep taping and airing TV for international markets and show Impact online like they did after they got the boot from FSR?   Or, if TNA really does go out of business, can the international TV networks sue them for not delivering a promised product? -Paul. ​ I think by that point getting sued for non-delivery would be the least of their worries.  Not being a legal type, however, I have no idea how their deals would work or how long that TNA would keep foolishly clinging to life.  I mean, I guess in theory they could keep making TV shows, but Destination America is footing most of the bill at this point so I don't even know if they have the cash to produce their own product.   ​

Well, I un-cut the cord today because it's actually cheaper to get three months of Sasktel TV service on promo than it is just to have internet.  So discuss this and other stuff going on this afternoon!  Go sports?  I dunno, whatever, Brian is better at this shit.  

Reading the March 30, 1998 Observer, and two things struck me. I was curious what you'd think.   " In the 4/27 battle with Raw in Hampton and Nitro in Norfolk, WWF has sold 5,910 tickets for $102,000 or about 80% of the building while Nitro is already sold out at 9,000 tickets and $164,000."   This, of course, was the famous DX Invasion. When I've seen the WWE's side of the story, Nitro was supposedly papered to all heck, but according to this, the Nitro show (during the peak of WCW's business) was sold out in a bigger building with a bigger gate, faster than the WWF show cross-town. So who's right here? Is the WWE lying today, or did Meltzer get ba ​d​ info back then?   ​ Given that Nitro was at its hottest point then, it's pretty clearly WWE lying.  In fact WCW used to err on the side of going too small with the arenas for a while when they could have sold out bigger ones.  But that was the propaganda line from Vince -- they pape...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/pro-wrestling/trish-stratus-wwe-diva-considered-mma-but-is-happy-she-joined-lita-as-team-bestie-instead-1.10463012 Thanks much!

June 20, 1987 From the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, NY Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon In action this week will be the Can-Am Connection, George Steele, Killer Khan, and the featured match between the Killer Bees and the Hart Foundation

Hi Scott, I just read on Wiki that essentially Johnny Rodz was basically the first jobber in History. How accurate is that? What is the history of Jobbers? Happy Memorial Day or Whatever it is you freaky peace-nik Cannucks celebrate. ​We throw rocks at veterans because we're Bizarroland.   I guess it depends how you define a jobber, but there certainly were guys who were basically tomato cans even in the Goldust Trio era.  It's a tough designation because there was no TV and so there was little need for squash matches.  I'll tweet the question to Karl Stern, because that's the kind of thing he'd probably love to cover on his show.  ​

She is whore, no? ​y sunny do porn? I mean, I thought that getting traded to Ahmed Johnson for a bag of coke or doing Skype phone sex calls for internet nerds was as low as someone could sink​, but here we are.  

Since it's Memorial Day, Destination America has decided to not air a new Impact Wrestling tonight and is airing a completely out of context pay per view from eleven months ago.  As confusing as this might be, I'm not sure why this hasn't been done before, at least in an edited version. Slammiversary 2014 Date: June 15, 2014 Location: College Park Center, Arlington, Texas Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz Reviewed by Tommy Hall Time for another TNA pay per view which at least has been good in the last few years. The show has had some decent build, but due to a combination of injuries and TNA's horrific marketing skills, the World Title match has been changed and there was no mention of the X Division Title match on television. The show does look good on paper though and we get the newest Hall of Fame announcement. Let's get to it.