> Hey Scott! > > Who would you say are/were the worst guys when it comes to not keeping face/letting their body language reveal that they are not winning a certain match? I seem to recall HBK and Jarrett being two examples, but perhaps there are others. > > And for fun let's reverse it: can't keep it in that they are winning. > > Keep on keeping on! If there's anyone with a more blatant grumpy job-face than Randy Orton, I haven't seen him.

August 15, 1987 From the Boston Garden in Boston, MA.  Your hosts are Lord Alfred Hayes and Jimmy Hart

Tonight, Tough Enough starts at 8pmEST on USA, MLB has a full slate of games, and you can talk about anything else going on here tonight as well.

I was having a conversation with friend about who the most influential wrestler of all time is. He chose Hogan based on the big boom that followed, but I said Stone Cold Steve Austin. Because of Stone Cold we longer have the "White Bread" babyface and almost all the big babyface angles involve rebelling against authority. Not to mention the "Main Event" style that still exist today. Thoughts? ​Hogan drew millions but I wouldn't call him particularly influential.  His whole act was cribbed from a combination of Jerry Lawler and Superstar Billy Graham.  Given those two choices, Austin is the clear winner.  ​

Hey Scott. I've been watching a lot of wrestling on Youtube lately and realized that I haven't really run across any pre- The Rock era Rocky Maivia matches. Would  you or any of the other readers recommend anything from Rocky Maivia or even the Flex Kavana days? ​No, he was pretty terrible in that era.  He was a guy who looked like a star and who was a project of the top people, but he didn't really develop into a good worker until the NOD era.  I'd call the HHH match where he won the IC title pretty decent and I recall the match where he lost the title to Owen Hart being not bad, but nothing else really stands out for him. ​

Dolph Ziggler Update Despite reports that Ziggler has re-signed with the WWE, Ziggler himself stated on the "Chad Dukes Wrestling Show" that he has not signed a new deal with the company. He did note that he made a counter offer and is waiting to finalize a few things before signing a new deal while saying that he is also trying to get more stand-up comedy dates and hopefully movie and TV roles, which is tough to make time for while working full-time in the WWE. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0629/597786/dolph-ziggler-now-saying-he-has-not-signed-a-new-wwe-contract/ TNA/GFW Update Right now there is a plan for a GFW invasion to take place on TNA television. Originally, TNA wanted to do it with Ring of Honor but that did not end up working out. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio WWE.com Article on the 25 Greatest Stars of the New Millenium http://www.wwe.com/inside/top-25-superstars-of-the-new-millennium Also, make sure to head over to Pl...

The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 08.19.96 So it’s the night after Summerslam 96, and frankly we’ve rehashed that ground so many times that you can probably recite the Scott Sez in your sleep by now anyway. Shawn is a whiny baby, Paul Bearer turns heel, everything else is shit, you know the drill. Live from Wheeling, WV Your hosts are Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler. Where the hell did THAT come from? Also, did you know Jim Ross did a boxing show a year ago and it’s on YouTube? Now you do.

We are two weeks from Battleground and it looks as though The Authority is on the same page as Seth Rollins as he looks to defend the title against Brock Lesnar. Smackdown proved to be a fairly solid show which is ironic since last Monday's RAW was a dud.

On Sunday Night, Cactus Jack left about 800 wrestlers for dead. Everyone, from jobbers all the way up to the World Champion were no match for Jack and his shovel. Are there going to be repercussions for the madman from New Mexico? Will Dustin Rhodes win the big one? Just what DID Erik Watts do to get arrested? And what the hell is a Thunder Cage? We hope to address this tonight, but being WCW, I’ll be happy if just one of these points is touched on. Since this is 1993, Vader’s team is dubbed “THE EVIL TEAM” by the Unknown Voice Over. Shades of grey weren’t wrestling’s strongest suit in those days. LIVE from Milwaukee, WI,  TONY SCHIAVONE  is joined by …  BILL WATTS ? This can’t possibly be our announce team. Watts gloats about teaming with The Crusher against Larry Hennig and Larry Zbyszko in Milwaukee shortly after founding father Soloman Juneau settled in the region in the early parts of the 19 th  century. Watts takes us through the state of the union; Va...

June 29, 2015 From the Verizon Center, in Washington, D.C. Your hosts are Byron Saxton, JBL, and Michael Cole

H i Scott! Hope you are having a nice start to the week . Thought this might make a good blog topic, since I think most of us are on Netflix. I'm trying to figure out how my movie watching habits compare to others. According to Netflix, I've watched/rated 3,919 titles. I'm trying to gauge whether this is a lot, a little, or average. Where ar e you other bloggers in there? ​You must have way more time than me.  My daughter pretty much burns through content on Netflix, which really messes up my profile if she's watching on a device that doesn't have the separate family ones.  Netflix thinks I REALLY love Barbie: Life In The Dream House and Strawberry Shortcake as a result.   Most of my current playlist would be Sons of Anarchy (still waiting to start season 7 because my wife was a bit upset by the ending of 6) and Orange is the New Black season 3, which we just finished marathoning this week.  HE'S THE FUCKING WARDEN.​

Howdy Blog O'Doomers! Not much to talk about on here so TV tonight: Lots of Baseball. ESPN has Texas vs. Baltimore I think. RAW I think the Comedy Central Website has like...every Daily Show ever or something. There's other stuff on too but nothing sticks out to me as worth listing unless you guys are really enjoying the final weeks of the Bachelorette. Might be a NetFlix night for me if RAW can't deliver. Enjoy and keep it clean!

(Not a new post, as I did this one while going through the entire run of Clash shows last year after they got added to the Network.  But since we’re at that point, might as well post it again.)  The SmarK Rant for Clash of the Champions XXXIII (August 1996) Dedicated to the memory of Mark “OfficerFarva” Haas.  (I will also just add that I was going through my inbox tonight to continue my quest of cleaning out stuff that no longer applies or is too dated to answer, and I was saddened to have to archive a bunch of stuff from Mark, because he always had really good discussion material to add but I just couldn’t get to all of it.)  Live from Denver, CO Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan

As we sit here on 6/29/15, four episodes from the end of Season 1, Lucha Underground has yet to be renewed.

WWE.com RAW Preview http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-06-29/five-point-preview-27554898 Wrestler Re-Signs with the WWE In an interview with the Boston Herald, Dolph Ziggler noted that he had re-signed with the company, noting that he felt he should end his career where it started. http://www.bostonherald.com/inside_track/the_inside_track/2015/06/wwes_dolph_ziggler_is_a_stand_up_guy Vince McMahon Upset with Finish of the WWE World Title Match at Money in the Bank? It has been reported that Vince, along with other WWE officials, felt the end of the match in which Rollins powerbombed Ambrose multiple times outside was "reckless." It had also been reported that McMahon wanted the match to end there but that HHH wanted to involve the belt and ladder in the finish. http://wrestlechat.net/nxt-diva-call-ups-expected-to-happen-soon-wwe-officials-felt-rollinsambrose-finish-was-reckless/ Also, head on over to Place to be Nation so you can listen to the TNA Slammive...

When exactly in 1990, did Dusty give Vince his official notice he was leaving the WWF to return to WCW as booker? Dusty's WWF character really changed right after Summerslam 90 when he began his feud with Ted Dibiase. He dropped the polka dots and went back to the more traditional "American Dream" that was in Crockett. It seemed the feud went from Dusty looking like he would beat Dibiase in the blowoff after a lengthy feud to the entire angle switching to Dibiase/Virgil issues by the time Survivor Series 90 came along, and by the Rumble tag match Dusty and Dustin were just the backdrop to Virgil turning face. ​I don't have the exact date handy but it was known well in advance, and given that the political tide had shifted 6 million times in WCW since his departure, it's no surprise that he'd be able to come back with open arms again.  Specifically, Ole Anderson was such a colossal disaster as booker that Dusty was pretty much able to walk right into th...

Simple question. WCW in early-mid '92 seemed to be doing fine. What was the reasoning behind getting rid of Frey just as quickly as he came in? I've never heard of any stories of him being a Herd type, a guy with no wrestling knowledge who thought he had some. His idea of "workrate" bonuses seemed good even. So what ultimately was the reason? ​Just money, as in WCW was losing a shitload of it and Bill Watts promised to bring the losses to a minimum.  Frey was a great guy but WCW was still millions into the red and Turner wanted immediate results.  ​

The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro – 08.12.96 Live from somewhere other than Orlando, thank god. In this case, Casper, WY, which Larry immediately buries as “the middle of nowhere”. What a pleasant fellow. Your hosts are Tony & Larry, and Hulk Hogan is once again the champion after Hog Wild, so they’re pretty bummed.

August 15, 1987 From the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, WI Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon This week we will have the in-ring debut of the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (well, as the "Million Dollar Man" character anyway). Also in action will be Randy Savage, Sherri Martel, and Jake Roberts.

Scott, I saw that TNA debuted a new King Of The Mountain Championship tonight. Where do you think they came up with the money to buy the belt, or is it on loan from somewhere? ​Considering the purpose of the belt is to be the main title for Jarrett's promotion, I'd be willing to bet that he's the one that paid for it.  ​

Slammiversary 2015 Date: June 28, 2015 Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Josh Matthews, D'Angelo Dinero, Mike Tenay Reviewed by Tommy Hall This should be an interesting one as the company has already taped the next month's worth of TV before this show, but at the same time there's some interesting stuff going on here too. The main event (in theory) is the King of the Mountain match with Jeff Jarrett returning for one more match (allegedly). Let's get to it.

​ ​ Scott - Something I've always wondered: what kind of a draw was Randy Savage during his first year-long reign as WWF World champion? When Savage won the title at WMIV, was the plan always to have a year-long burn to losing the belt back to Hogan at WMV, or was that a decision made later?  Even if Hogan regaining the title was always the plan, what kind of numbers was Savage drawing as champion? ​I kind of thought we had covered this already, but I always enjoy talking about Savage and this is a quick and easy one. Yes, they had the Hogan win planned from the moment Savage got the title.  He was always going to be getting it for the year and then dropping it back to Hogan.  And although he wasn't Hogan as a draw, he was still a giant star who sold out arenas against Ted Dibiase for months, and in particular caught fire at the tail end of his title reign after the heel turn.  He wasn't a flop like Warrior by any means, and I'd say he would be analogous to someone like...

Tonight, live on the TNA Network, witness: - Jeff Jarrett returning to main event a PPV in 2015 in a match where he's going to win and then not appear again for at least two months. - Bob Ryder yelling at internet fans like Abe Simpson going after a cloud. - A bunch of matches leading up to the title matches that were already taped but don't air until after this show! Good thing it's only $9.99...oh wait, they want FIFTY BUCKS for this?  Never mind then.  Go with FIFA Women's World cup instead. Plus the governing body there is slightly less stupid and corrupt.  

Hey Scott, I wonder why these oh-so-many stale/buried/worthless under- and midcarders don't get cut or send off to NXT. Talking about Swagger, Barrett, Fandango, Matadores, Rose, Slater, Rosa, Layla etc. Also guys like Santino, Otunga or Maddox who seemingly get paid for nothing!? At least Christian could help out in developmental or sth Meanwhile Tyler Breeze, Charlotte, Enzo/Cass or Sasha Banks are ready to freshen things up, plus they already feuded with most on NXT...why aren't they getting called up? Vince not caring? HHH wants to keep 'em to keep NXT strong? No storyline ideas? Best wishes It's more that WWE doesn't want any of those guys going somewhere where they can be a threat, so it's basically a bigger savings to pay them now and keep them quiet than it would be to let them go and possibly jumpstart a Lucha Underground, I think.  Look at how much it took to get Del Rio fired, for example, or especially Rey Mysterio.  And yeah, since the mid...

Hi Scott, Wishing you continued success with your blog. I enjoy the concept of wrestling without actually enjoying it on my TV set these days. My question is a hypothetical one since Vince would never go for it.  It seems to me that one of the most exciting aspects of Ultimate Fighting is that anybody can win at any moment.  You can't turn away to grab a slice of pizza because some dude might get knocked out with an out of nowhere knee or something. So why does every single WWE match have to come down to somebody hitting their finisher, or a run-in/fluke roll up?  Why can't wrestler A slap on an arm bar and win out of nowhere?  Wouldn't this make RAW a more compelling program?  Sure you can't do this for a PPV but on a week to week show you could have surprise victories that would lead to easy feuds.  Loser wrestler would say, "That was a fluke, there's no way you can do it again" and then you'd have instant heat on a rematch. I mean, do people really ...

James Storm Austin Aries Low-Ki Sam Shaw Gunner (...) Probably forgot someone (there's also rumours about Angle and Lashley...) I've never experienced so many wrestlers leaving a company in such a short period of time (AWA in 1990?) Does this bode well for TNA? ​I'm pretty sure everything is fine.  This sort of thing happens all the time with well-organized and financially solvent companies.  ​

Go nuts.

The Clash of Champions is coming up Wednesday, but not before a major edition of The Main Event takes us home. And as you’ll find out, for roughly the first time ever, I’m actually not kidding.  JIM ROSS  and  MICHAEL P.S. HAYES  are LIVE (taped) in front of a green screen featuring a slow moving blurry audience that appears to be cheering and booing at random intervals at … Gary Michael Capetta?

Date: Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 3:04 PM Hey Scott, hope all is well, I've got 3 topics that I'd like to pick your brains about! ​ OK, but hopefully there's nothing terribly dated here.   ​ 1) Recently, I've been hearing rumours about how Mark Henry and/or Kane were offered the to break The Undertaker's streak at Wrestlemania, but both refused. What do you know about this rumours? Forgetting now Henry and Kane, has there ever been serious thought given into breaking the Undertaker's Streak? Has Undertaker - as far as you know - shown interest into breaking the streak for someone?  ​ I'm pretty sure he's never going to have the streak broken.  I mean, that might mean Wrestlemania would actually LOSE money the following year!  That's just madness.  Never gonna happen.   ​ ​ 2​ ) I get that Daniel Bryan isn't the size WWE looks for, so they don't really care if they put him through a 18 second match at Wrestlemania, but - in your point...

According to thehistoryofwwe.com , Lex Luger was to defeat Ric Flair at a house show in early 1990 and finally win the world title before Flair had it axed. If this had occured, how would this of affected the big Sting comeback at GAB 1990? Lex was just turned face again at this point. Would they have turned Luger before July so soon? Or maybe have Sting feud with Flair as planned without the title on the line and build to Luger vs Sting at Starrcade that year? Here is the rundown from Historyofwwe.com NWA @ Chicago, IL - UIC Pavilion - March 23, 1990 (6,500) A film crew, as well as Lance Russell, Chris Cruise, and Dennis Brent were flown to the city to tape what was scheduled to be NWA World Champion Ric Flair losing the title to NWA US Champion Lex Luger; the title change didn't take place because Flair wasn't given ample notice, which was part of his contract; Flair agreed to the title change but only in return for a contract release, which Jim Herd refused; Pro Wr...

Thunder Date: February 2, 2000 Location: Broome County Arena, Binghamton, New York Attendance: 2,323 Commentators: Mike Tenay, Scott Hudson, Bobby Heenan Reviewed by Tommy Hall The big story tonight is going to be the return of Hulk Hogan, who was casually announced to be coming back on Monday during a Shane Helms vs. Norman Smiley match. I'm not sure how much good Hogan can do to save this mess of a show, but at least he'll do boring stuff with some extra charisma. Let's get to it.

I've been watching some old Doink matches, and I was wondering somethings... Why would they ever turn him face? They hardly scratched the surface of what they could do with that character! I thought maybe Bourne was fired and the replacement couldn't do the crazy/creepy character as well, but it looks like Bourne played face Doink for a while to so it must have been a creative decision. Was there ever any plan to announce who Doink really was? In a couple of matches Heenan keeps mentioning that he's familiar but he just can't put his finger on who he really is. ​I'm cleaning out my inbox from years ago, so I'm two years late getting to this one, but better late than never I guess. The Doink thing was definitely a creative decision, although the WON from the time doesn't have any insight on it.  Dave just says that Doink is turning face, and then the next issue notes that Osbourne was fired and replaced with Steve Keirn/Steve Lombardi.  If I had to guess,...

We always make a big deal out of title changes but it this was a real sport, I think a great title defense would be valued more than it is. There'd be title defense compilations on youtube along with all the title change compilations....or maybe not.  So what would be some of the greatest successful title defenses? Hogan defeating Andre at WM3 seems like the clear winner but here's some other matches I'd nominate... -Austin over Dude at Over The Edge '98 (Talk about the deck stacked against you) -Shawn over Diesel at In Your House '96 (If this was all real, that's a tough first title defense) -Miz over Cena at WM27?? (Foil for The Rock or not...a win's a win right?) ​I'd add Flair over Luger in 88, both at the Bash and Starrcade, because in both cases it was considered a foregone conclusion that Lex would win and become the star of the future, and yet Flair managed to win both matches fair and square.  ​

Because people are awake on the weekends also. Did you hear Bob Costas rip Pedro Strop to shreds last night?

Scott, forgive me if this has been asked and answered, but I always feel that the reason Raw is so stale boils down to using the exact same roster week-to-week for months (if not years) at a time. This could be just me, but it seems that every one of the top 15 or so guys MUST appear on every edition of Raw, be it in a match or a big angle — thus killing any possibility of fresh matchups, because you can only shuffle that deck so many times. I understand that USA would prefer to have Cena and Rollins and probably one or two others on every week, but surely no one at the network is insisting that Sheamus and Kane and Big Show and Miz and Orton and one-to-two Bellas never miss a show? If you're working on a Reigns story, why not have him go with a lower-card guy just for a fresh look, rather than Reigns vs. Kane/Show/Henry every damn week? Isn't a big part of the appeal of shorter shows that you don't know who you're going to see — that is, you watch NXT and maybe you...

According to multiple reports and pwinsider.com , Bully Ray is set to return full time to TNA as early as tonights tapings. If this is indeed true, was a full time return to WWE just wishful thinking on Team 3d part? Bully spent months heavily hyping a possible return on social media. Was it simply a tactic to get TNA to cave in to a full time contract? Is this a way for TNA to please Destination America in bringing back a major name? http://pwinsider.com/article/94677/big-tna-spoiler.html?p=1 ​I think it was more Bully Ray campaigning for months to go back to WWE, and when they brought him in at Royal Rumble and had the idea that he was just the same guy as he was in 2001, it pretty much killed his desire.  Can't blame him, clearly there was no future in him as a nostalgia act for WWE and really he never should have left his cushy position in TNA in the first place.  I think it was really a huge wake-up call for the TNA guys as well, showing exactly what WWE thinks of t...

Friday night means a ton of baseball going on highlighted by Yankees-Astros and Cubs-Cardinals. I don't  know if there is a PPV watch going on....but you can ask. Anything else going?

I wasn’t the only person completely baffled about a 6-man tag-team match being included on WCW’s VHS release where nobody seemed to know the wrestlers. In fact, WCW themselves never expected it.  HOWwrestling :  The truth behind that six-man - It was supposed to be the Steiners vs. the Hellraisers (Hawk & Sasaki) but the WWF signed the Steiners and blocked WCW from showing it, even though WCW argued it was a New Japan show which they had rights to and the WWF didn't. Then the WWF also signed Jim Ross, who was subsequently no longer available to go back and dub commentary on the new match. Great insight here, but I’m still not willing to accept that Schiavone and Ross DIDN’T go to a sushi bar together. You aren’t taking that away from me.

I do not have the 8/2 or 8/9 editions of Wrestling Challenge so we will be skipping over them. August 8, 1987 From the Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon In action this week will be Jake Roberts, Demolition, Hart Foundation, George Steele, and the One Man Gang.

Hey Scott-- So I've been catching ROH on Destination America, and loving it. Fast-paced, fun matches; A nice, simple hour of wrestling that is easy to enjoy. Except... Maybe I'm late to the party, but I'd like to vote Steve Corino (I'm not going to call him "King" godamnit, until he starts shrieking about puppies and begins praising the wise and benevolent Carey Silken) as an early winner for Worst Announcer of the Year. Good Doom, he is horrible. From awkward interjections, to badly flowing dialogue with Nigel McGuiness, to having ZERO emotional reactions to the storyline he's involved in where his son get the shit kicked out of him, the man is just a cypher, and ROH should find a different corner for him if he's there to simply collect a paycheck because they like him. Bag all you want on the RAW monkeys, (and I do!) they at least have the excuse of Vince screaming in their ear. Why is Corino so horrid...? --J ​I've always found him overrated a...

WWE Changes House Show Plans The Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns matches that started this past weekend and suppose to run in July have been changed. Rollins will now wrestle Dean Ambrose in Street Fights as the main event while Reigns will be wrestling on the other house show tour. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Jeff Jarrett/TNA Update According to PWInsider, Jarrett's deal to return to TNA was to allow TNA talents the ability to work for Global Force Wrestling events. It was also reported that his appearance was kept quiet and that most wrestlers not even knowing he was there until five minutes before he walked out to the ring. http://pwinsider.com/article/94653/updated-whats-up-with-jeff-jarrett-and-tna.html?p=1 TNA Worker Announces Departure From the Company Low Ki announced via Twitter that he has decided to leave TNA https://twitter.com/OneWorldWarrior Also, make sure to vote in this week's shoot interview poll if you havent alrea...

Hi Scott. I don't like Brock Lesnar fighting from behind. How hard is it to let Seth Rollins be a chicken shit heel? I mean, the story tells itself. Brock is a killer. Rollins is scared to death, yet he finds a way to hold onto his title via cheap DQ or countout. Thus, we get a SummerSlam rematch where Lesnar destroys Rollins in a callback to last year. Instead, WWE has the audacity to play the injury card with Brock and renege on the whole 'Seth is on his own and the pressure is on' deal after one week. Rollins now has a decided advantage in the feud! I don't want to live in a world where Lesnar is an underdog. Your thoughts, Sir? ​I don't know what they're doing or what they're building towards, and I'm not getting any sense of a compelling story that actually makes me want to watch the product.  What exactly is Seth's deal supposed to be?  The Authority is protecting him, but throws Lesnar at him? People were cheering Brock's destruc...

Smackdown Date: June 25, 2015 Location: Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio Commentators: Jimmy Uso, Jerry Lawler, Tom Phillips Reviewed by Tommy Hall Well Lesnar is back and a full on hero now, complete with a knee injury and Kane attacking him. We're still a few weeks away from Battleground though and Seth Rollins needs something to do before he has to face the Beast. Other than that we have Bray Wyatt being creepy about Roman Reigns' daughter. Let's get to it.

This week, I have selected four interviews from guys who were WWE Champions This Century. Here are your four choices: Rey Mysterio (2015) http://www.rfvideo.com/reymysteriojr2015shootinterview.aspx Jeff Hardy http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6994963 Eddie Guerrero http://www.rfvideo.com/shootwitheddyguerrero.aspx Bobby Lashley http://www.highspots.com/p/bobby-lashley-interview.html Vote by clicking on the link below. Voting ends Saturday at noon http://vote.pollcode.com/88615918

With the Tyson Kidd injury and thus end of the BRC what can WWE do with Cesaro?  Some options I thought of were A) tag team with "uninjured Uso" for obvious reasons, plus creates stories if partners come back B) tag team with Neville. BRC2 C) reform Real Americans (hope not) D) feud with Luke Harper (Rowan's hurt and they had a GREAT Indy feud E) stable with Sheamus and Barrett (European Union) led by William Regal F) Have him become a legit main event star (ha, yeah, I know) G) future endeavor him, he'll be in ROH/NJPW in a second ​A) I was actually thinking this would be a heck of an idea, since the other Uso isn't doing anything anyway.  Now this would also raise the question of why they don't just use Other Uso as a singles wrestler to put people over and have good matches to help fill up their 3-hour RAWs, but I guess this would fall under "because reasons", just like why they don't use Jack Swagger anymore.   B)  That's ...

Tonight, Smackdown is on at 8pm EST on SyFy and the NBA Draft begins at 7pm EST on ESPN. Speaking of the draft, get ready for that by listening to the Place to be Nation NBA Draft Preview Podcasts by clicking on the links below: http://placetobenation.com/ptbns-nba-team-podcast-2015-draft-preview-part-i/ http://placetobenation.com/ptbns-nba-team-podcast-2015-draft-preview-part-ii/

This was released in early 2014 The interview was conducted by Brett Lauderdale It runs at four hours and one minute long

Hey Scott, So back in the day, from what I understand, basically Ted Dibiase was in line to receive the NWA World Title but went to WWF, ironically, for more money. If we did a whole "What If" Scenario and had Ted stay with the NWA, how do you see that playing out? Would Ted have overtaken Ric as the Man? Was he just going to be a Transitional Champ, with Ric always staying in the top spot? On a related note, had Ted overtaken Ric, would they have essentially switched roles? Would Ric have taken the gimmick in WWF and essentially just been Ric Flair with McMahon's Money behind him instead of Crockett? Would someone else have taken the gimmick? If so, is there anyone you could imagine, from that era, playing that gimmick as well as Ted did? Thanks and Happy Belated Father's Day Let's not go crazy here, Ted Dibiase was no Ric Flair.  He might have been a placeholder guy in between Flair reigns, but it's not like he was going to take friggin' Ric Flair'...

So to date GFW is an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a six-sided ring. One thing does seem clear though: Jeff Jarrett is aiming for "number two wrestling promotion" status right off the bat. Everything about his interviews, the marketing of the brand, and the "best free agents available" roster suggest as much. My question is why take this approach? Haven't TNA definitively proven there's no money to be made in maintaining the illusion you're on the same level as WWE - that it costs too much money and the interest doesn't exist to be a meaningful no. 2? Meanwhile, haven't the likes of ROH and Chikara shown it's possible to build a dedicated fanbase as long as you keep your ambitions realistic? Has Jarrett somehow convinced himself that another boom period is just around the corner? ​This is the same guy who thought that weekly wrestling PPVs would revolutionize the business.  And we still don't know what his supposed 13 weeks of T...

WWE.com Smackdown Preview http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2015-06-25/five-point-preview-27551756 Daniel Bryan Update Bryan's current injury problems are indeed due to a concussion he suffered in a match with Sheamus on the Smackdown after WrestleMania. At this point the issue is considered career-threatening. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Jeff Jarrett/TNA Update Jarrett is going to be involved in TNA storylines beyond the Slammiversary show. The company presented Jarrett with an idea about five days ago. No word on the specifics involved beyond that. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio Erick Rowan Update Rowan suffered a torn bicep at a house show match against Cesaro on 6/19 in Saginaw, MI. He is expected to be out of action for a minimum of four months. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Also, head on over to Place to be Nation for their NBA Draft Coverage. Click on the links below to listen to the NB...

This week's ROH was taped last month at Global wars, meaning that it reflects none of the results from this past Friday's PPV--normally I'd mock them mercilessly for this amateur hour move but ROH was FUCKING AWESOME this week, so they get a pass.  Shinsuke Nakamura, The Bullet Club, RPG Vice, and Kazuchika Okada are our special New Japan guests this week for the final crossover episode.  There is a crazy amount of wrestling in this week's episode so let's get started with...

Lucha Underground – Episode #33: Death vs. The Dragon Date: June 24, 2015 Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, CA Commentators: Matt Striker, Vampiro Previously on Lucha Underground…

Impact Wrestling Date: June 24, 2015 Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Josh Matthews, D'Angelo Dinero Tonight is the go home show for Slammiversary, but it's also a special live(ish) episode which has been built up as a big deal. However, there's also the major show next week with the World Title showdown between champion Kurt Angle and the undefeated Ethan Carter III. It's not really clear which of these are the biggest or which is going to take a backseat to the others. Let's get to it.

NXT   Date: June 24, 2015 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan, Corey Graves Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're getting closer to the big July 4 th showdown for the title and that means Finn Balor needs to rack up a few wins . Up first we have the second half of the big sitdown interview with Balor , which is likely focusing on his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling . Other than that we might get some fallout from Joe vs. Owens from last week. Let's get to it.

On tap for tonight: NXT starts at 8pm EST on the WWE Network, highlighted by Finn Balor vs. Rhyno Ring of Honor starts at 8pm EST on Destination America with AJ Styles & Young Bucks vs. Kazuchika Okada & Roppongi Vice and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong. Lucha Underground starts at 8pm on the El Rey Network, highlighted by Drago vs. Mil Muertes in a #1 Contender's Match. TNA airs live on Destination America at 9pm EST. MLB Action tonight with the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs on ESPN2 at 8:05pm EST There is a PPV live watch in the thread tonight as you can discuss the 2000 SummerSlam show as those participating will begin watching at 8pm EST. And as usual, talk about anything else going on tonight here.

Monday Nitro #225 Date: January 31, 2000 Location: First Union Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Attendance: 7,514 Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Mike Tenay Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're officially in the Madden era now, meaning things are clearly dying all around us. The big story here is that Sid is World Champion again after winning it back from Nash after having it stripped earlier in the night after an off air referee's decision. Also, Ric Flair is back. Let's get to it.

> The rumor mills are swirling with.. uh... rumors that TNA and GFW could be announcing some kind of merger soon. Jarrett is tweeting out teases. > > The only way I can think this is a positive for Jarrett is if he acquires TNA"s talent (both wrestlers and production crew which I'm sure he needs) and tape library, and kills off the TNA brand name and sends Dixie packing. > > Aside from that, I don't see how this makes sense for either side.  > > -Paul. Buy they could geometrically merge their rings and have, like, a TWELVE sided ring!  They'll make MILLIONS!

RAW Ratings RAW viewership was down to 3.68 million viewers this week. Here are the hourly breakdowns: 8pm: 3.59 million 9pm: 3.61 million 10pm: 3.81 million http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/43226-raw-ratings-drop-back-down Austin Aries Update Aries' contract with TNA expires after the Slammiversary show on 6/28. No word on whether or not both sides have agreed on a new deal. http://pwinsider.com/article/94615/tna-news-and-notes.html?p=1 RF Video Releases New Shoot Interview with Jim Cornette This new concept, titled "A-Z," is filmed in Cornette's home has he shows us and describes all of his memorabilia. He is also asked about everyone he has worked with during the 1980's. You can click on the link below to view the trailer, which is almost 18 minutes long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4emzMN4v9T4

'​In a word, yes.  On a recent radio show, Meltzer said that pretty much immediately after the first Cena loss to Owens, WWE got business metrics that indicated almost immediately that people were not down with the whole "John Cena doing clean jobs" deal and they made sure to put him over in match #2. ' I'm sure that I probably already know the answer to this, but surely the business was based for nearly a century on swallowing a short term loss for longer term gain? Is there not a chance that the financial losses would ultimately be recuperated, and then some, if they allowed the feud to really build and develop over a serious time frame? It all seems a little myopic... ​Yeah, but that's the business now.  Look at how Vince panics just based on the wild swings of the ratings these days, like bringing Brock back a month early despite having no clear story to tell with him as a babyface.  And now he's already ruined that bit of drawing power based...

Scott-- Do you think there is ANY possible Wrestlemania VII main event (which is to say, any Hogan opponent) that could have put a hundred thousand butts in seats, or was Vince pissing up a rope from day one?  For that matter, any chance Wrestlemania VI could have punched into 100k territory if they'd held it at a larger venue?  Sure, it was a one match card, but that one match was a watershed event at the time.   ​No, the business was too cold.  I think Hogan vs. Savage in 89 could have sold 100K if they didn't have their stupid Trump Plaza show already sold​ and frankly I'm shocked they wasted the match on that crowd.  But Hogan-Warrior wasn't the kind of once-in-a-lifetime dream match, complete with years of backstory, that Hogan-Andre was, and it just wasn't going to hit that level.  I don't know what Vince thought was going to headline WM7 and draw that amount of people.  Maybe if they had kept Hogan off TV after the Earthquake attack and had ...

In case you've been living under a rock and haven't been an active participant in the WWE Universe, WWE Tough Enough has returned to television! I know, I know...we're all just so thrilled this show is back on television since it gave us wrestlers we can all agree are pretty OK. Like The Miz and Ryback. I'm Matt Perri and my other half, Danielle, will be putting in her quips on, this, the first episode of the sixth season of WWE Tough Enough... Let's get started...

Hey Scott - have you had the chance to digest this yet?  Some pretty stiff blows landed by the Hitman here when it comes to Joe and Bryan... http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/06/18/wwe-bret-hart-john-cena-brock-lesnar-daniel-bryan ​Yeah, I don't know what his beef with Joe is.  Shit happens, unfortunately.  Even more sad is Tyson Kidd being out for the next 14 months and frankly he'll probably be done at the level he was at before.  ​

So...best unscripted Brock-lib to date? A) Brock hates Cena's cap, kicks Cena's cap like Gene Snitsky kicks babies. B) Brock throws an entire sofa at the Miz for having the gall to wear Brock's WWE Championship 4 years earlier. C) Brock spits at Stephanie McMahon to punctuate an F5 on a cameraman, because gobs of spit are like periods on Brock Lesnar statements. D) Brock breaks three of Jamie Noble's ribs in an effort to blow off steam, knowing that he will momentarily have sell for the likes of Seth Rollins and Kane. E) other? ​Come on man, Brock kicking the cap was an all-timer, symbolic of the feelings of everyone who had to suffer through Cena that year.  Brock was kicking that stupid fucking hat for ALL OF US.​

August 1, 1987 From the Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and Vince McMahon In action this week will be Brutus Beefcake & The Rougeau Brothers, Ken Patera, and the Honky Tonk Man. Plus, the posedown between Butch Reed and Superstar Billy Graham and more

On tap for tonight: Tough Enough makes it season debut at 8pm EST on USA. MLB Action tonight, with three games Nationally televised. At 7:10pm EST on Fox Sports 1 you can see the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Miami Marlins. Plus, at 10:05 on the MLB Network you can see the Houston Astros vs. Los Angeles Angels or at 10:10 you will be seeing the Kansas City Royals vs. Seattle Mariners. The PPV live watch tonight will be the 2000 Fully Loaded as that will start up at 8pm EST. And as usual, talk about anything else going on tonight here.

Jamie Noble Update Noble, who was taken out on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital after RAW last night, suffered three broken ribs after being driven into the barricade by Brock Lesnar http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/43215-wwe-jamie-noble-injuredupdated Backstage News From RAW Both Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn were absent from RAW last night as they were in Orlando getting ready for the premiere of "Tough Enough." HHH was in charge of putting together the show last night. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio WWE Wrestler Injured this Weekend Erick Rowan suffered what was described as a "significant" arm injury either this past Friday or Saturday at a house show. No other details regarding his injury are available at this time. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio Kayfabe Commentaries Releases Newest Installment in Their YouShoot Series YouShoot with Rikishi has been released today. You can vi...

Hi, Scott. Assuming #1 was to potentially set up a Rollins-HHH match when Rollins turns face, was Hunter's desire to smirk at Brock being laid out (repeatedly?) by his finishing maneuver the #2 reason Rollins was given the Pedigree as his new finisher? ​Come on now, we all know Hunter is about what's best for business.  ​

So Cena takes the powerbomb to the apron (a death move in NXT) and two weeks later is out and smiling to set up Cena/Owens III at Battleground!?  This is what wrestling has become huh? A major feud with essentially a best of three series (all MOTYC) and it's going to be blown through in 2 months on 3 straight shows.  Why not sell the injury, have Owens do an open challenge at Battleground, win, have Cena run out and chase him off to set up a gimmick match at Summerslam in NYC?  Is there really that much fear of Cena's merchandise sales going down? ​In a word, yes.  On a recent radio show, Meltzer said that pretty much immediately after the first Cena loss to Owens, WWE got business metrics that indicated almost immediately that people were not down with the whole "John Cena doing clean jobs" deal and they made sure to put him over in match #2.  So I guess his merch numbers must have dropped literally overnight.  In other words, good or bad, Cena is still what drives...

Back in the early 90’s, WCW was gaining steam nationally – but still maintained some of its regional roots. In an effort to ensure fresh faces coming in and out of the company, they formed a partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This partnership would see the exchange of talents; most notably regular North American circuit tours for Jushin Liger, but it was also a fertile breeding ground for some of the North American guys to grow and come back as more complete athletes. Of course, being WCW, all that did was earn them a ton of TV time with absolutely no marketable push, but at least they killed time until Hulk Hogan was ready to reap the ratings glory in the main event slot. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because this is still 1993, and Hulk Hogan is thankfully elsewhere. Every year, WCW would travel to Japan to put on a supercard with New Japan’s elite, which would air on pay-per-view. This is the third and final installment of the Supershow series, and I’m working of...

Just so you all know, there's breaking news: WWE Network interviewed the Music Legend of All-Times, Machine Gun Kelly and he's totally fine . I know you all care. I don't know why but I feel like it's been forever since the last RAW. Maybe it's because we didn't have two PPV events in three weeks and I don't watch Smackdown or NXT but it feels like a long time. There are three major feuds in WWE right now: Roman/Sheamus/Wyatt, Cena/Owens and, now, Rollins/Lesnar. For those of you looking for an update on Machine Gun Kelly vs. Kevin Owens, go elsewhere. Let's go...

June 22, 2015 From Indianapolis, IN Your hosts are Byron Saxton, JBL, and Michael Cole

The SmarK Rant for Monday Night RAW – 08.12.96 I was flipping through the channels at work and noticed that on the guide WWE Network was playing Great American Bash 91 tonight, and I thought “What a world we live in where you can just randomly find Bash 91 on a Sunday night”. 20 year old me would have had his mind BLOWN. 40 year old me is like “No wonder they're losing so many subscribers.” Taped from Seattle, WA. God, even if they would have switched to a 2-week cycle at this point it would have made these shows so much more bearable and gave them more leeway to deal with stuff like Ahmed blowing out a kidney and basically ending his push. Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler.

This has nothing to do with the WWE

http://wate.com/2015/06/22/knoxville-wrestler-buddy-landel-dies-at-53/ Sadly, one of my favorite mid card guys from through the years, and a man I had the privilege to know for a while has passed away at 53.   RIP "Nature Boy". The words of Buddy when JYD passed away, ring true for him today:   I just got a call and heard you were gone, and I stand here so cold. And the booker says you're off to your biggest angle ever, walking on streets of gold. We first met when I was a kid, and I remember being in such awe! You were the first superstar I ever met, the first I ever saw. You drew more money than most people know, but how they soon forget! But in my eyes, I saw it first hand and man, you were legit! Just like you did when we first met, you took me under your wing. And it comforts me now that you, Dick, Frank and Eddie are listening to the angels sing. I'll see you again in that special place, and I can give you a ring. So once again save me a place under y...

Howdy Blog O'Doomers! Hope everyone had a good weekend and are excited for another week of life. I really enjoy reading this blog and reading these comments and last week we seemed to have a nice run of dream matches or pairings that never happened and some that did. As Scott and I both mentioned in one of the threads the ultimate babyface team of Tito Santana and Ricky Steamboat did team up once against the Dream Team in like 1985 or something. It is on YouTube in full and yes it's awesome as it sounds. For one thing it's at the old Maple Leaf Gardens with the long ramp and for another Steamboat and Tito decided to wear matching baby blue trunks to further cement their babyfaced-ness. The Hogan-Dusty pairing never happened to my knowledge and why didn't they have a tag match against Savage and DiBiase on a SNME is well beyond me. For one thing we could book this match ourselves with the The Real American Dreams storming to the ring (separate entrances of course) and cl...

WWE.com RAW Preview http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-06-22/five-point-preview-27526140 Jack Swagger Update Swagger, who has been used sparingly over the past several months, is being reported as having his morale get worse and considering leaving the WWE when his contract expires. http://wrestlechat.net/report-another-former-world-heavyweight-champion-considering-wwe-departure/ WWE Wrestler Forms New Tag Team in NXT Zack Ryder, who has been teaming with Mojo Rawley at NXT live events, will continue to team with Rawley going forward as they will be known as the Hype Bros. http://wrestlechat.net/update-on-new-nxt-tag-team-more-on-wwes-video-game-youtube-channel/ WWE.com Power Rankings http://www.wwe.com/inside/power-rankings/power-rankings-june-19-2015 Two Wrestlers Depart TNA Gunner and Sam Shaw have apparently left the company per their Twitter Accounts http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/100-tna/43137-gunner-departs-tna http://wrestlinginc...

I think the argument could be made that Hogan's greatest feud was against Heenan and not any one particular wrestler.  What one moment or match would you think would be the peak of that feud?  Do you think Hogan had a greater opponent in hindsight? ​Anyone else humming "Hogan and the Brain, Hogan and the Brain, one is a genius and the other's insane" right now? Obviously the feud peaked with Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania, which was Bobby putting all his ​chips on the one number and swinging for the fences or whatever other mixed metaphor you want.  And then his best shot lost and that was pretty much it for his serious challenges to Hulkamania.   I still do think that Randy Savage was Hogan's greatest opponent, though, because he actually outsmarted Hogan for a time by becoming his friend and using Hogan like a secret weapon to win the World title before going crazy and losing it back to him again.  

Scott-- It's pretty obvious that from the moment "21-1" became a reality, the long term plan was for Lesnar to splatter Bryan at Summerslam* and run roughshod over the main event scene until Roman Reigns stepped up to slay the beast.  A fine plan on paper that was scuppered in part by circumstances beyond creative's control.  One thing they could control, however, was who held the championship between MITB and Summerslam.  To that end, do you think they might have managed to preserve Brock's post-Wrestlemania-30 dream-smashing-mercenary-shithead heel heat if they'd kept Cena away from him for the most part?  Obviously that would mean putting the belt on somebody else for the short term, but since "short term" is the operative concept here, why not roll the bones with someone a bit less "polarizing?" (Someone who might even gain a little traction in the process and plant the seed for a proper run down the road.)  The Summerslam match was, id...