Well, I’ve been looking to try something new, and the generally positive reaction to this show have convinced me to bite the bullet and give this a shot. That and zanadude’s relentless pimping of it… This will be the first time I’ve watched a WWE TV show in years, outside of catching brief bits of Raw during Top Gear commercial breaks. It’ll certainly be nice to see something with decent production values, unlike the ROH shows I’m used to.

Monday Nitro #89 Date: May 26, 1997 Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee Attendance: 6,484 Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyzsko Reviewed by Tommy Hall We’re back to the regular two hours again and that might be something good in this case. Also Hogan is here tonight which always helps make the shows feel bigger than they do without him. We’re coming up on the Great American Bash in three weeks and odds are we’ll get the main event announced tonight. Let’s get to it.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "chris phelan" Hey Scott, Unsure if this will spawn good discussion or not (can't see how it will), but my curiosity is getting the best of me. Assuming they're going out there and doing a 20-25 minute cell match, if you're CM Punk, are you panicking right now? You're basically going to have to carry a rookie in the main event. My overall question, is CM Punk and Ryback constantly going through the match nonstop every free moment they get, perfecting it? Or is Ryback going to completely follow Punk's lead during the match. Do pro wrestlers really "rehearse" (not counting house show matches) for bigtime gimmick matches like this? I can't seem to picture these two in an empty arena with the cell lowered on the ring, practicing their match over and over... although maybe they should... Thanks! ----------- Yup they really do rehearse, sometimes extensively, and I've heard Punk is s...

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Hey Scott, Just finished watching Roode vs. Storm from Bound For Glory, and while it was a great brawl, Earl Hebner's refereeing came close to ruining the match for me. His 2.9999 counts are now so telegraphed he's stopping his hand before anyone's kicked out. I felt it was notably distracting, and when the three count came, he wasn't even facing the right way. Was it just me bothered by it? ------------- Yes.  Yes it was.

Hey, Scott I generally abhor armchair booking, BUT I have been entertaining this idea, because I am kinda wondering if they may actually do this. Punk vs. Ryback at HIAC. Match is going...whatever. Ryback looks as if he is going in for the kill. Suddenly, Lesnar comes out from under the ring. Maybe a stare down, a collision,  destruction. Lesnar costs Ryback the title. Punk retains, and keeps it until Rock. The natural stable between Heyman clients is formed. Heyman one ups Vince. Ryback has a monster to try and hunt down in  a big time feud that can be stretched out for a month or two maybe.  I dunno...am I really, really wrong, or is this not a bad idea? I am a little murky on what they would do with Ryback after he would be done with Lesnar though. Seems unlikely that he would be dominated by OR dominate Lesnar. I suppose a returning HHH can cost Lesnar a win over Ryback in a couple of months to set the table for Trips/Lesnar II at Mania, but that seems...not right. And of cours...

Both are former talents who were gone and then came back. Both squashed people only one man went over huge and the other is in a gimmick death dive I don't think it is a case of Mr Perfect v Red Rooster where one person had a far more marketable gimmick.  Is it really a matter that more people just recognized Albert or is it a matter of Nikita Koloff-Goldberg-Ryback having more charisma  Or a case of Lord Tensai begin a slow moving squasher and Ryback being a fast moving squasher? Curious on your take. Wayne "Mr. Burns, your campaign has the momentum of a runaway freight train..."   I think perception is an interesting thing, because Ryback hasn't actually beaten anyone of note, but he's current getting a good reaction, so the perception is that he's over.  However, keep in mind that he has not moved ratings one bit (and in fact, ratings have plummeted in the month since his megapush began) and he's never even been in an advertised PPV match.  I'm no...

Scott, The Brodus Clay burial post got me to wondering… Why would you ever bury your own talent now that there isn't a viable competitor for them to jump to?  "Yeah! We'll show this guy we've invested time and money in just who's boss! We'll make him a total loser who will never draw heat or money and then we'll release him!".  That seems like a very short-sighted, spiteful, WCW kind of thing to do. You've pretty much answered your own question there.   The weird thing is that it totally goes against the POINT of wrestling.  There should never be a time, except in extreme circumstances with a final blowoff match, where you want one guy to look like a nothing loser.  Your goal should always be to have both guys looking strong as possible.  Look at, say, Kurt Angle v. Chris Benoit from Rumble 2003, where Benoit lost but came out of it a much bigger star.  Now the mentality seems to be some sort of weird "robbing Peter to get ...

Very minor Smackdown spoilers ahead...

The Netcop Retro Rant for In Your House: Badd Blood. (Whoops, almost forgot I was doing the WWF shows too.  Hey, I’m 38, you think I can keep track of EVERYTHING?)  By popular request, here's the show that featured the SECOND Shawn v. UT match in 1997, and by far the most famous. After we get this one done, then it's onto the King of the Ring rants. And speaking of which, since the only real point of comparison for the Mankind-Undertaker match in 1998 was the last match before that involving Hell in a Cell, let's set the way-back machine for October, 1997... (This was one of the last shows I bought on VHS before the DVD changeover came in late 99.  I always wondered what was with the second “d” in Badd, though.  A secret alliance between Marc Mero and Ricky Steamboat?)  Live from St. Louis, MO Your hosts are Vince, JR and the King.

WWF Championship Wrestling March 31, 1984 Your announcers are Gene Okerlund and Vince McMahon This week features the return of “Cowboy” Bob Orton. Also, Piper’s Pit with the first inductee of Sgt. Slaughter’s Cobra Corps, Terry Daniels, and the featured bout, which will see Piper go up against SD Jones.

I know people were getting cranky on the RAW thread because they think Sheamus v. Show is a Cell match, but they went out of their way not to say that it was a Cell match, only that it was AT the Hell in a Cell PPV.  Here's the full preview article from WWE.com: http://www.wwe.com/shows/hellinacell/2012/sheamus-big-show-26055549 Again, notice it says nothing about it being a Cell match, whereas the Punk-Ryback match is specifically noted as being in the Cell.   Point:  Me.  

Hey Scott, Would a Cena heel turn on Ryback be a good way to spark some interest in Cena, keep Ryback strong and MAKE him in the process? I mean, obviously nothing is ever set in stone in terms of something getting over, but it just seems that if Cena screwed Ryback and shook hands with Punk and Heyman it would instantly make Ryback the number 1 babyface and could lead to Ryback "hunting" Cena down. Of course, we've all thought about the Cena heel turn over and over and the odds of it happening are slim to none ... but it would be different at least. Plus, what's the best way to get the crowd to HATE Punk? Put him with a heel Cena. Now the kids hate him AND the marks hate him. Food for thought. - Randyback Holy god dude, they are practically running panic drills because Cena can't make it to the PPV and they have no backup #2 babyface ready, and you think they're gonna turn him HEEL?  Now?  No way, man, if anything they're gonna push Cena...

TNA Impact Wrestling Review First off, I just wanted to quickly introduce myself and explain my review system. My name is Dan Selby and I’d like to thank Inside Pulse and Scott Keith for this opportunity. Secondly, here’s how I’ll be doing these reviews. Each match/segment will be scored with a positive (+), a negative (-), or a neutral (N). These will then be calculated to give a fair overall rating for the show. Impact kicks off with it’s usual opening package highlighting the main storylines going in to Bound for Glory. I have to say, I don’t get the impression this is a ‘big’ Pay-Per-View. It doesn’t have that big fight feel to it. It doesn’t help that the bout that’s been built up for a year has a largely unknown MMA fighter injected in to it (Roode summed it up best with “I don’t give a damn about some Bellator fighter!”). Either way, it looks like a poor man’s Brock, or a rehash of Austin/HBK/Tyson. But, from a business perspective, it’s cross-promotion, so… Our other main ang...

Scott, I don't know how much you've been following Linda's Senate run, but the third debate made some national news.  Aside from her supporters apparently catcalling Murphy, thus causing delays and leading to the network it was broadcasting on cutting it off during her closing remarks, my favorite part was Murphy's reply to Linda stating to have created hundreds of jobs during her corporate WWE years, responding "they were jobs that came without health care benefits, they were jobs that ended up with dozens of employees dying because of the abuse they took in the ring."  You'll note that when she wants to make a point about job creation and community involvement, then she was one of the driving forces behind WWE.  But when people bring up Benoit or any of the other deaths, she had nothing to do with the company and in fact has never even heard of this "pro wrestling" thing.  In other words, she's a born politician.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyOGR7TBAfw Short and to the point: After watching this, I'm starting to believe that it's a work. Why is "Hulk Hogan" suing Bubba and Gawker, but "Terry Bollea" isn't?  Dude, it's HOGAN.  Who knows what he thinks is real life and what he thinks is a work.  

by Logan Scisco - Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Richmond, Virginia .

Taped from Montgomery, AL Airdate: May 15, 1993 Hosted by Tony Schiavone and Jesse “The Body” Ventura

I will say this much for the Ryback push -- the most intriguing main events tend to be those where both guys should win and neither one should lose, and that's definitely what they've got coming up with Punk-Ryback.  However, I REALLY REALLY REALLY wish they hadn't painted themselves into a corner with the HIAC stip, because clearly this is the perfect time for Ryback to beat the shit out of Punk and Punk to walk out of the match and leave the arena like a coward.  I don't often advocate that finish, but this would have been the place.  But since they can't really do Sheamus-Show in the Cell yet, they have to have SOMETHING in the namesake match for the show, and Ryback-Punk is it. Maybe Ryback throws Punk through the cage door, and then Punk runs away and drives out of the arena?  I dunno, but at least I'm somewhat interested in how they're gonna screwjob this one up, so that's...something?  I guess?  

Scott, I'm sure Vince McMahon and WWE do not consider TNA "competition" in any real sense, nor should they.  They do not compete head-to-head and are in an entirely different stratosphere in terms of media and business model.  However, given Vince's history of raiding competition, can you see him trying to do that to TNA just for the sake of it?  TNA has picked up some steam in terms of a niche audience and he certainly isn't looking over his shoulder in any sense, but could you see him throwing big contract offers at top guys just to keep TNA way beneath him?  Or just to be a bully like the old days? Nah, I think Vince is past the point of doing stuff like that to be an ass now that he's apparently more worried about Mattel bailing on their toy deal and/or launching a new show for every night of the week to be concerned with petty things like talent acquisition.  If there was ever a time that sort of thing was going to happen it was during the Flair/M...

The SmarK RAW Rant – 10.15.12 Live from Nashville, TN Your hosts are Jim Ross and Michael Cole Big Show starts us out, complaining about the debate and Sheamus in general. So tonight, he’s going to erase the spectre of his previous 45 second loss to Daniel Bryan by beating him tonight. We cut to the back, where the tag champs happen to be watching, and AJ forces him to go out. Sadly, Kane does not have his back. Why can’t those crazy kids just get along?