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Archive for May 10th, 2009

Why I Don’t Watch

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Hey Scott,
I know you've mentioned casually in the past that you no longer watch WWE programming, but I was curious about a few things. I've been a fan almost as long as you have and am also bored out of my skull with WWE (and have been for sometime), pretty much swearing off all their programming completely a few months ago and doing something more constructive on my weekday nights. I suppose I just wanted to get some insight from a peer.
- When did you "officially" stop watching WWE?
- Do you ever catch RAW or SD every now and then? If so, what are your thoughts?
- Outside of "it's not what it used to be" or "it's boring," is there a specific reason you don't dig the current product?
- When was the last time you considered yourself heavy into the business?
Thanks for humoring me.

1. I “officially” stopped in August 2006, which was my last attempt at a RAW rant before I went crazy from irritation at the product and decided to stop. I still watched now and then, but the official OFFICAL ending point was of course Benoit’s death in 2007. That being said, I cared so little about anything going on at that point (I couldn’t even have told you who the tag and I-C champions at that point were) that it wasn’t any big loss to me to quit watching.

2. I haven’t watched an episode of Smackdown in more than three years. Last time I even saw one it was on TV at work and I was just half-watching because it was a boring night and it was on 30 TVs at the same time. The times I’ve flipped over to RAW (when the channel was free or that I’ve downloaded the show for “special occasions” like the 18 anniversary shows they do a year) it just looks the same old product over and over. They haven’t done a significant visual change in the product since 2002 and it really gives the show a sense of sameness from year to year. Like, can you watch an episode from 2006 and one from today and even tell the difference? Aside from the HD presentation, of course.

3. Because all the people who inspired me to form an emotional attachment to the storylines are dead or long retired now and I just don’t want to deal with it any longer.

4. 2005. The rise of Cena and Batista really gave me hope of something new and different for a while, but Eddie Guerrero’s death was the beginning of the end for me and I just couldn’t pull out of the funk that it put me into.

(more...)

Tags: Batista, RAW, Smackdown, TV, WWE
Posted in Rants | 23 Comments »

Post-Vince

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

20, 30 years from now, with Vince (presumably) dead by point, do you get the sinking suspiciousness that Triple H will be basically the "owner" of the WWE, whereas he has a large stake in the company legitimately, but is also the be-all-end-all figurehead of the actual shows themselves? I don't think Shane has it in him to replace Vince himself, or does he?

The prevailing wisdom has always been that Steph will be left as the owner of the actual company, which would indeed make HHH the head honcho for all intents and purposes. Just guessing, I don’t think that Shane really wants to run the business end of things.

That being said, Vince will outlive us all, so don’t hold your breath.

Tags: HHH, WWE
Posted in Rants | 16 Comments »

Battle Royale stumper

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Hey Scott, maybe you can help me. I remember an old WWF magazine that had pictures of a "Bunkhouse" Battle Royal. I really want to see that match as it's one of the last few matches i haven't seen. Basically the participants could wear whatever they wanted to the ring. Demolition wore their spiked entrance attire, Lanny poffo wore his suit of armor, and i think Duggan wore a football helmet. I want to say that One man Gang and Billy Jack Haynes were in it. That would place the event in 1987-1988. I've downloaded pretty much every Coliseum home video and every house show i can get my hands on but i cannot for the life of me find it anywhere.

I know there was a similiar battle royal on the WWF's even more unusual matches VHS tape.

1/3/1987 Boston Garden, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
      -BUNKHOUSE BATTLE ROYALE
      Hillbilly Jim                              King Kong Bundy
      Blackjack Mulligan                  The Magnificent Muraco
      "The Rebel" Dick Slater          Cowboy Bob Orton
      Corporal Kirchner                  Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
      Mike Rotundo                        Brutus Beefcake
      "Golden Boy" Danny Spivey Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart
      Haku                                      Sika
      Tama                                        Jimmy Jack Funk
      Leaping Lanny Poffo              "The Duke of Dorchester" Pete Doherty
      Scott McGhee                          Mr. Fuji

But the one in the magazine definetly had Demolition in it.

From a Lanny Poffo interview about his armor and the battleroyal....

"You were talking earlier about the suit of armor. I remember a bunkhouse brawl style of battle royal where you wrestled in a suit of armor...
"I did about 15 of those and when I was done, the suit of armor was destroyed," said Lanny. "It was theatrical armor that you would use if you were going to be playing Sir Lancelot in Camelot. But it was not real armor. It cost me $1,800, it was an idea I had on how to get over in this business. It worked to an extent, it didn't set the world on fire, but at least I was trying."

any ideas?