Ask 411 Wrestling 09.12.07: Bischoff vs. McMahon, Warrior vs. Sid, IWC vs. Orton and More!

It’s time to Ask 411 Wrestling! I’m Steve Cook, and I hope you’re having a fantastic week. My week is going rather well…I went 2-1 in Week 1 of the fantasy football season (including a 1 point victory over Randle…suck on that boyyyy!), and my Bengals got a big win on Monday night against the hated Ravens. Woohoo! This weekend features my Louisville Cardinals taking on the despised Kentucky Wildcats and Bengals vs. Browns. If neither of these games goes well, you probably won’t be seeing me next week. Don’t worry, if the Browns play like they did in Week 1, they won’t be beating anybody anytime soon.

Other business to take care of…the people spoke last week, and by a score of 73% to 27%, you want Ric Flair to retire as World Heavyweight Champion. Unfortunately, I think he has a better shot at retiring as…well, whatever the heck he was on Smackdown a couple of weeks ago. What, you think I watch the shows? Pfft.

All right, let’s get it started!

Comments, Corrections & other “C” words

I was reading your column and came across something that caused me to open my mouth. I read many columns on different wrestling sites, but rarely do I write in to anyone. For background, I am not a TNA guy or a WWE guy. I’m a longtime wrestling fan.

The internet whining community just needs to settle down… put down their box of tissues… make sure their pull-up is dry… and enjoy wrestling for what it is… entertainment. Sure, sometimes it is good, sometimes it is bad. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles. – Masked Fatman

To respond to your first statement, your opinion is appreciated, but the beauty of this column is that people can ask any kinds of questions they want. If they want facts, I’ll give facts, if they want opinion I’ll give opinion. That’s how we roll around here. As for the rest of your takes, you make some good points, but I don’t blame wrestling fans for not having confidence in TNA booking their “homegrown” talent properly.

Actually, you have Chavo and LeRoux’s roles reversed. Chavo was Loco as he had a “driven insane by Uncle Eddie” gimmick and LeRoux was Cajun because he actually was a cajun. – 411’s Ben Piper

When I saw the name with two words starting with “L”, I assumed it was Lash LeRoux.

In your last edition of Ask 411. Someone asked why Val Venis is still employed with the WWE. Many fans see jobbers as guys who just get their butts kicked. In Val’s case and the Brooklyn Brawler. It is more than that. Those two have become great evaluators of talent. For example, before CM Punk made his ECW debut. He wrestled Val for months during house shows. When Val gave him the seal of approval. Then he was moved up. On the other hand. Val wrestled Dan Rodimer for months as well. He told management that he was a “no-go” and the rest is history. – Rey

Many thanks to Val for sparing us a Daniel Rodimer main event push.

About Yokozuna–Rodney Anoa’i really didn’t play a Japanese guy. Whenever he’d come out for a match, the ring announcer would announce him as being from “The Polynesian Islands”. I always took it to mean that (kayfabe) he was a “Polynesian” guy who became a sumo wrestler in Japan before Mr. Fuji discovered him and brought him to the WWF. – Rob

I don’t think anyone will take Boogeyman’s place, who would be crazy enough to remove there top and bottom teeth just so they could portray a character that isnt going to go anywere but ECW filler.

Not about snitski, but about wrestling fan’s short memories. What is with Cade and Murdoch doing the whole, “respect the #1 contenders and going face again” I mean they just, I mean just, did I mention they JUST DID THIS. The whole Hardy vs. Redneck feud did the same thing. Handshake after the matches, EVERYTHING, the only difference is that they are the champs this time around, but even as far as coming out and guest commentating the match and saying how they want competition and they respect the high flying duo of the hardy’s, oops I mean, they high flying duo of London and Kendrick. This is just asinine to make us watch this crap again. – Chris Jacobs

Rock is half-Samoan, so I wouldn’t consider him a Samoan without a Samoan character. And I’m pretty sure Peter Miavia was never promoted as an American Indian.

Here is another one: wasn’t Fatu/Rikishi the guy who played The Sultan, a supossed arab wrestler. That is the one samoan I believe did not play a samoan, at least for a little while. – Chema

You are correct, sir. I had forgotten about Rikishi’s stint as The Sultan, who had one of the great managerial teams of all time in Bob Backlund & the Iron Sheik. Could you imagine discussing match strategy with those two? No wonder Sultan never really got anywhere in the WWF.

Yes I do remember this! I think it was around 2000 though and featured porn star ‘minka’, who has pictures of her wrestling experience on her website (SAFE FOR WORK)… have a looksee at Okerlund’s face! But as for the others involved in the match, I’m not too sure. Schiovane went insane on the commentary, regarding Minka’s, ahem… “assests”, if I remember correctly. – Russell Baker

That picture with Mean Gene is classic. And many thanks to Russell for almost sending me porn…I’ve been using that line near the end of the column for quite some time now, and nobody ever sends me anything. Poor me.

Bobby D wrote: “There was a match in 1998 or 1999 in WCW where Hall and Nash fought against 2 or 3 “pornstars” They acted like it was the toughest match of there life and was hilarious. Do you have any clue what date that was and where I could find a video?”

Steve, this took place on the October 25, 1999 edition of Monday Nitro. The Powers That Be, a.k.a. Vince Russo, informed Hall & Nash when they got to the arena that they’d be wrestling but wouldn’t reveal their opponents. The “match” was teased in backstage segments for the entire show, with both Outsiders reluctant to wrestle due to Hall being rusty (off TV most of 1999) and Nash partying all night in Vegas. When the Outsiders finally came out to wrestle, they were both pleasantly surprised to find that Russo had booked three Vegas strippers as their opponents. After Nash tagged in, one of the women offered to show him her boobs if he’d take the pin. Hall & Nash both agreed to get pinned but before the woman could disrobe, Goldberg ran in and spoiled the party by spearing both Outsiders. It was a pretty funny segment due to Hall & Nash’s facial expressions. – Jobez “Kid Cairo” Ferguson

Manu Bumb told me that was the first episode that Vince Russo booked for WCW. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Here’s a recap from CRZ!

OUTSIDERS v. ? – is it just me, or are we hearing a bit more of David Penzer tonight? Nothing wrong with that. Hall and Nash are still wearing the same clothes they came in with. The opponents are – well, the TWIN TOWERS come out – are they the opponents? Apparently not, they bookend a trio of women – including a woman with – ummm – tremendously overripe watermelons. Now Hall WANTS to sart the match. So we got a chick in bikini top and hot pants – and thigh high boots – and probably greased up – waiting to lock up with Hall. Listen to Tony: “The Powers To Be were looking for ratings, and they gonna getum tonight! I know no one’s turning away from this thing – the Outsiders gonna wrestle some girls!

And they looking for numbers – they got ’em!” Hall goes to lock up – and the women points her tits at him. Hall pulls up short. No WONDER both these guys got divorces. Lockup, side headlock from Hall – into her cleavage. Hall thinks he liked it. Hall tring to make the tag – but not really. Chick’s fondling herself. Now waggling her booty. Bob Ryder approves of this. Lockup, to the corner – chick with a Ten Punch Count Along which Hall doesn’t mind as his head is in her crotch. Hall with a FLAIR FLOP! Heenan: “We’re gonna get bigger numbers than Dow Jones!” Chick spanks Hall – again – and again. Hall asks that the other chick be tagged in. Nash pounds the turnbuckles – Hall strains to make the tag – tag to Nash! Nash in and in slow motion. Nash is mesmerized by the third woman, she of the giant bazooms. She says if Nash and Hall lay down and take the fall, she’ll lift her top, or something. Nash and Hall immediately lay down – both women cover – referee “Blind” Billy Silverman puts on the count – 1, 2, 3. (4:00) Nash wants to see ’em already. Here’s COLD BEER – there’s a spear for Hall – and here’s one for Nash. You know, I may be the only person that thinks this, but this segment was PRETTY FUCKING LAME. I’m on the Internet – I can GET porn pretty much any time I want, if I’m so inclined. Even pix of … MINKA! (I just shocked SOMEBODY, I bet.)

You probably might have already been emailed this, but I figured Snitsky being booked as undefeated was because he was undefeated since being re-drafted to Raw. – Jaime

For the hell of it, let’s take a look at who Snitsky had beaten in his winning streak before taking on John Cena…

July 9: Super Crazy
July 16: Val Venis
July 23: Tony Jones (Heat match)
August 6: Rory McAllister
August 13: Robbie McAllister

OK, that’s a schedule that’s even less impressive than Ohio State’s non-conference football schedule this year. Who’s supposed to be impressed by somebody who can beat any of these guys? Crazy & Venis are glorified jobbers, Jones isn’t on the roster, and…the Highlanders? That’s why the fans crapped all over Vince booking Cena to face Snitsky, because the big oaf hasn’t been built up to a level where he could be seen as a threat to Cena yet. Beating up Val Venis ain’t gonna get it done.

A note on undefeated streaks, when Sid returned to WCW as the ‘Millennium Man’ they tried to bill him as undefeated in a feud with Goldberg, despite him having over a decade at the top and losing in big matches.

Not to mention on their VHS release, they mis-spelt ‘Millennium’ – Robin

There’s another reason I miss WCW. Not only were they horribly inaccurate, they didn’t even try to be accurate most of the time. Sid also lost on house shows during his “streak”. Good times.

There is a full page picture of Lita’s lip tat in the WWE Unscripted book…which actually makes a nice coffee table book…picked it up at Waldenbooks for $5 last year. – Dustin

This isnt a correction so much as an observation, in the summer of 1995 I went to house show in Manchester NH. This was aabout a year or so before I “smarked” anyway the Eliminators had a dark match against pg13 and Shawn who was the man at the time a young Hunter Hearst Helsmsly and and Diesel were all watching attentivly right in plain view of the crowd which probably killed the tone of the match. Saturn hit an awesome looking sweet chin music kick and Shawn was visibly pissed. This may be stupid but I think the Saturn factor and the fact that both of those guys were pretty athletic and could work made the clique a little nervous. – Cactusdjt

It’s an interesting theory, but Saturn did enough to get himself in hot water while in WWE without help from anybody else. There were a couple of incidents where he shot on jobbers during matches taped for syndicated shows because they messed up a move. WWE generally doesn’t look kindly on guys that take advantage of enhancement talent, and that would have been reason enough for Saturn to not get much of a push while there. As the old saying goes, “nothing personal…it’s just business.” WWE is looking to make money like any other company, and they’re not going to “hold back” talent for personal reasons. If they hold somebody back, it’s because they feel that the person isn’t cut out to draw a lot of money. We might disagree with their assessment of who can draw and who can’t, but at the end of the day that’s what motivates how they conduct business.

“for months i’ve been looking for a picture of the tattoo lita has inside her bottom lip. it says “punk”. thanx. i’ll save the rest of my questions for next time!

that being said… – Manu Bumb

I’m guessing Sid was mocking Vader…that makes more sense than anything else I can think of at the moment. As for the Chessman…he appears to be a luchador named after Caryl Chessman, a California man who was sentenced to death after being convicted of multiple counts of robbery, kidnapping & rape. The case drew worldwide attention and criticism towards the United States for their use of the death penalty. I’m pretty sure that’s his namesake, especially since he hangs out with a guy named after Charlie Manson. Lucha fans should feel free to correct or confirm my assertions.

Questions!

I got a question I wanted to ask about what I saw on the Chris Benoit tribute show on Raw. In Triple H’s testimonial, he made referrence to a young wrestler who disrespected HBK and Benoit made him do 1000 squats one day, then 500 more the next after he was unable to move his legs as a way to beat respect into this young wrestler. The question is do you know who that young wrestler was that disrespected Shawn Michaels that Triple H was referring to? – Kristian

I did plenty of Internet research on this question and found all sorts of stories of young guys disrespecting the older wrestlers…but I didn’t find anything specifically about this question. I could make a guess, but that could border libel and I don’t have the money for a lawsuit right now. If any readers do have the money for such a lawsuit, they can feel free to write in.

Wayne has several questions…

Got a question about buyrates. If you’re able to locate
these, can you give me the buyrates to all of the Wrestlemanias from 17 to 23?

WM 17: 2.18
WM 18: 1.60
WM 19: 1.40
WM 20: 1.63
WM 21: 2.46
WM 22: 2.33
WM 23: 2.97

It’s almost ridiculous how much bigger the WrestleMania buyrate is than all the other PPV buyrates WWE has had in the last couple of years. I think that speaks to how well WWE promotes that one show, though it may come at the expense of the other shows.

During the early periods of the “brand extension”, there were times when JR,
the King, Cole, and Tazz took shots @ each other while on the air. Were any of
these comments shoot comments or just comments made to put over the “split
nature” of the shows?

They were just trying to create tension between the brands. They didn’t really hate each other to the best of my knowledge.

Was there backstage heat so to speak between Tazz and Michael Cole last year
prior to Tazz joining ECW?

I remember hearing a rumor that Tazz & Cole weren’t getting along before they made the change. They had become pretty close friends during their time announcing together, I don’t remember hearing what happened to change that.

Moving on the Monday night War era, is it true that Bischoff had a monitor @
his desk watching WWF Monday Night Raw while Nitro was live on the air?

This is true. One night Bobby Heenan was watching that monitor and calling the match that was happening on Raw, and didn’t figure out that he was watching the wrong match for several minutes. Apparently nobody noticed because nobody said anything to him about it.

Is there any confirmation that both sides watched the other shows backstage
during any period of the war?

Oh yeah, guys like Kevin Nash have admitted to watching Raw while backstage at Nitro. WWF guys probably wouldn’t admit it if you asked them, but Mick Foley has admitted to watching the replay of Nitro after a taped Raw airing. So if WWF guys weren’t watching Nitro at the shows, some of them probably caught the replay after getting back to their hotel rooms after a long night at the office. A lot of the guys had friends in their opposing company, and they wanted to see how they were doing. You can’t really blame them for that.

What was the internal reaction when Bischoff challenged McMahon in May 1998?
Did anyone think that this was legit challenge?

WWF took the challenge very seriously…they had JR & Jim Cornette bitch and complain about it, and X-Pac told Bischoff to suck it on the episode of Raw airing after the challenge. Vince issued a statement on WWF.com saying that the stunt was a cheap ploy to increase buyrates, and offered Bischoff the chance to fight him anyplace where there wouldn’t be cameras. Bischoff also got an angry letter from the WWF legal department that he read on the episode of Thunder before Slamboree. The letter claimed that when Bischoff said the match probably wouldn’t take place, he was actually insinuating that it would, because often in pro wrestling when people say that something isn’t going to happen, it does. Unfortunately the case never made it to court.

The Monday Night War DVD & The Death of WCW book was very helpful in answering that last one. They’re good watching and reading if you’ve got any questions about WWF vs. WCW.

A quick one. This past Summerslam, Rey Rey was dressed up in all silver, like the Silver Surfer. I know at WM XX he was dressed up like The Flash, and at WM XIX it was Dare Devil (took me a while to work that one out), so what other comic book characters has Rey come to the ring dressed like? – Lynx Raven Raide

At Halloween Havoc 1997, Rey dressed as The Phantom for his mask vs. title match with Eddie Guerrero. You’ve mentioned the other ones that I know of…I’m sure that there are some that I’m forgetting, but I’m not as up to date on my comics as I used to be.

Do The Ultimate Warrior and “Pshyco” Sid “Vicious/Justice” have heat with each other?. Or is their ability to stay out of the same promotion at the same time purely coincidental ?.

So…is this all just coincidental or do the two have a problem with each other that means they intentionally steer clear of each other?.
It’s a real shame they’ve never hooked up on television. As I would have loved to have seen one of the 5 star technical masterpieces they would have treated us to. Hart/Michaels and Steamboat/Flair would would pale in comparisson I’m sure. – Paul Stevenson

I don’t think one wrestling company could possibly contain the insanity of Warrior & Sid for very long. Maybe you can tolerate one for a long period of time…but not both. I think there’s some sort of universal law that has kept Warrior & Sid from being in the same company for very long, because if they were, the universe just might implode.

I would love to be a fly on the wall during a Warrior/Sid conversation. That would surely be some entertaining stuff.

Over the past couple years, there has been several high profile performers choosing not to resign with the WWE. I understand why they would do so. What I am asking as to why Trish Stratus received a “Heroes farewell”? I am not downplaying her contributions to the company. But why was Lita, RVD, Big Show (who carried ECW on his back literally) and Jericho jobbed on their way out? – Rey

The best theory I have about this is that WWE has done so much to piss off Canadians over the years that they wanted to do something that would make them happy. You have to do something at some point to make people happy if you want to stay in business…at least, I think that’s how it works. It’s very rare in wrestling that you see somebody go out on top…the time-honored tradition is for the wrestler that’s leaving the company to put somebody over on their way out, so the company won’t suffer. Maybe WWE didn’t see anybody worth Trish’s rub. They’d already done Trish vs. Mickie James to death, and besides Mickie, who else was there at that point? Nobody. RVD had Orton, Big Show had Lashley, and Jericho had Cena. Mickie eventually got her rub from Lita.

It’s also possible that they never expect Trish to make a comeback, while the others they aren’t as sure about.

I HAVE SEARCHED THE WEB FOR FOOTAGE OF A CERTAIN ECW SHOW FROM THE YEAR 2000 THAT I HAD THE PRIVILAGE OF BEING FRONT ROW FOR. IT WAS DURING ECW’S FIVE MINUTE STINT ON THE OLD “TNN” NETWORK, NOW CALLED “SPIKE TV”. THE DATE OF THE EVENT WAS FEB. 5, 2000, TALLAHASSEE, FL. AND IT WAS SHOWN OVER THE NEXT 2 WEEKS-EPISODES ON TV. IF IT HELPS THIS WAS DURING ONE OF RHINO AND RVD’S CLASSIC FUEDS. RVD ACTUALLY BROKE HIS LEG EARLIER IN THE WEEK IN SOUTH FLORIDA AND WE WERE UNFORTUNATLY THE NEXT STOP ON THE TOUR….THOUGH WE DIDN’T GET RVD.. WE GOT A GREAT SHOW NONETHELESS. I WOULD LOVE TO GET MY HANDS ON THE TWO “TNN” TAPINGS THAT WERE MADE THAT NIGHT…ANY IDEAS? OR MAYBE ANOTHER OLD SCHOOL FAN OUT THERE KNOWS? THANKS BRO’ KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! – Daniel Sadler

I don’t have these shows on tape, but I’ll put it out there to tape traders that read this column and see if they can help you out.

why does the iwc hate randy orton so much? – TheMidnightPunk

Orton bashers have a couple of main complaints about Orton…for many of them it’s the never-ending chinlocks. The dude just uses them way too much, you know? Learn a new rest hold! For others it’s his inability to cut a natural sounding promo. Sometimes he reminds me of President Bush with how he strings together words.

At the end of the day, I think what irritates people most about Randy Orton is how he keeps getting chance after chance to be in a main event position and draw money for WWE despite flunking wellness policy tests on several occasions and acting immature in other ways behind the curtain. The time he took a dump in a Diva’s bag comes to mind. He doesn’t seem to understand that he could be a really big deal in pro wrestling if he could just keep his head straight. Nothing infuriates guys like me with limited potential in life more than people who’ve got the world by the balls and still manage to fuck things up.

Hey how’s it goin, longtime wrestling fan with a few questions for you. First of all, I remember this happening back when Shawn Michaels was managed by Sensational Sherri. I remember them being in the ring and Michaels rolling Sheri through some strange compressor sort of thing? I vaguely have always remembered this and at one point thought it was a dream but when talking to other wrestling fans they had vaguely remembered this also. If you could solve this mystery it would be much appreciated.

A compressor? I have no earthly idea what you’re talking about here. Readers?

Second of all I have a question about a modern day item in wrestling. It’s not a long lost question just wondering your input. On the new ECW Matt Striker should start up his version of the Dungeon of Doom starting off with just Big Daddy V and Kevin Thorn. Eventually they could recruit The Boogeyman as well, after the feud with V is over. This would be a great new faction, give Striker some real direction, and Thorn could be the breakout star that could surprise us all and become the next Taker. Imagine Thorn staying in the faction for a while, until both him and Big Daddy V both want title shots, then they can feud with Thorn getting the upper hand and eventually winning the ECW title. Later to be moved to Smackdown where he could work his way up the card there and then get in a big feud with Kane before grappling with the Taker himself…. – Angelo

I don’t really like the idea of calling it the Dungeon of Doom, but I like the idea of Striker leading a band of freaks to do his bidding. I don’t see the same kind of potential in Kevin Thorn that you seem to, but they do need to start pushing somebody in that sort of manner. It’s not the worst idea I’ve heard this week.

I was wondering were you can buy fip wrestling dvds. I know that you can get some from ring of honor.com. But do they have there own site like RoH does? – Honestabe1712

FIP has their own site at fullimpactpro.com. They also have a limited amount of shows available in stores that were released by the World Wrestling Network. I purchased two FIP shows at a CD store at the mall last year. The problem with FIP’s videos is that it takes them forever to release anything. That’s because ROH & FIP videos are developed and released by the same people, and ROH is first priority.

JD Dunn recently reviewed an old Philadelphia Spectrum wrestling show from 1983 which was very interesting to me because it was the 1st show I ever attended as a young boy who believed wrestling is real (yes I am old). Anyways – to this day my Mom had been steadfast in claiming that on the card Sgt. Slaughter used a blood capsule to fake bleed. As I grew wiser to the sport I have since explained to her that generally wrestlers blade to make themselves bleed, especially someone as old school as Sgt. Slaughter – but she insists he used a blood capsule. JD said that it appeared to be a blade job to him because of the severity of Slaughter’s bleeding. My question to you is how frequently wrestlers use capsules instead of blading. I would think that would be fairly obvious, and it is something I have never caught in 25 years of watching wrestling while I have seen wrestlers blade on numerous occasions. – MJH

Wrestlers generally don’t use blood capsules. I think Shawn Michaels might have used one once in his Summerslam 2002 match with Triple H, but other than that it just doesn’t happen. It’s a popular story perpetuated by people trying to say that wrestling is all fake and nobody ever gets hurt. Too bad it isn’t actually like that.

before last monday, when booker faced cena, when was the last time booker had a main event singles match on raw? booker vs bagwell? – Manu Bumb

The last time Booker was involved in a main event one on one match on Raw was on April 21, 2003. He fought World Champion Triple H to a no-contest.

I read an article about Lex Luger and his newfound Christianity. In the article, he mentioned how drugs and steroids derailed his career, lost millions of dollars and needing hip replacement surgery. It has become so bad, that now he rents a spare bedroom from his pastor that he met while incarcerated in 2005. My question is, do you think there is any chance that a wrestling organization, more than likely TNA, would take a chance on Luger and give him a chance to return? I have heard that he has burned many bridges in the business, and at one time, his only friend was Steve Borden (Sting). Also, is there any chance that DDP Diamond Dallas Page will return to wrestling, maybe in a commentator situation? Also, could you shed some light on why Curt Henning and Scott Hall were fired by the WWE shortly before Curt’s death? Is there any chance that Scott Hall could return to TNA? – Eric Whitesides

TNA’s had Luger make a couple of non-wrestling appearances for them, the most recent one being in September 2006. I don’t ever see him coming back to a major company in a wrestling role, because he’s just too physically broken down at this point in his life to have passable wrestling matches. With the steroid situation being what it is today, I don’t see it happening anytime soon…Luger’s already been convicted once for steroid possession, and him being on a roster would be quite the red flag for any investigators.

DDP will be making an appearance at a Pro Wrestling Unplugged show this coming Saturday. As for a return to one of the major promotions, I haven’t heard anything about it, and DDP seems to be happy pursuing other interests including movies, yoga and public speaking.

Hall & Hennig both got released after an infamous plane ride back from Europe in May 2002. Hall had been sober for at least a little while, but he had a relapse while on the plane and became a mess. Hennig also had a little bit too much of the alcohol, and provoked Brock Lesnar into a fight. I think this was also the flight where Dustin Runnels got drunk and started singing to his ex-wife Terri. Good times.

Whatever happened to “WWF President” Jack Tunney? – Daniel

Tunney left the WWF in 1995 after they decided he was no longer necessary in promoting shows in his home territory of Toronto. He died in January 2004.

Do you know of any instance in which the Foley-HHH Hell in the Cell match from No Way Out 2000 appears on DVD? I’ve been trying to track it down without any luck, and I really don’t want to spend 35 dollars on a VHS to see it again. – Ben

Not that I know of. They keep putting the MSG streetfight on DVDs, but for some reason this match has slipped through the cracks. They might put it in Triple H’s career retrospective DVD whenever they get around to doing that…other than that I’m not sure when you’ll see it.

I remember an episode of Raw or Smackdown from i think the early 2000s where Chris Jericho paid homage to This Is Spinal Tap by recreating the hilarious segment where they cant find their way into the arena and keep running into dead ends back stage. Can you please tell me what the date of that episode was. – maijinj

This actually took place on an episode of WCW Thunder. I know we’ve discussed this before, and the date of the episode’s probably back in the archives somewhere. Here’s a video!

Do you think TNA is going to benefit from all of the recent WWE releases, i.e., a lot of former WWE wrestlers being scooped up by the company? Would this be a viable way to reinsert some of the popular semi-reality angles that were in play in the late 90’s, i.e., released wrestlers airing their gripes against WWE? – Jesse

Not anymore than they already have. Think about it…they already scooped up Christian Cage & Kurt Angle. They signed Sting. Who among these recent WWE releases would make as much of an impact as these guys? Cryme Tyme? I don’t think so. Booker T’s a great talent, but he wouldn’t be the guy that all of a sudden sends TNA to 2.0 ratings and higher buyrates. And they’ve already done enough crap with people taking shots at how they were treated in WWE…it didn’t get over then, and I don’t see it getting over now.

So I was watching four Jeff Hardy vs. RVD matches the other day that covered several different eras. Two were from the Invasion era, later that year, and then late 2002. Each match opened with the quick reversals and holds. Very reminiscent of RVD/Jerry Lynn. Now I could see them both doing this because they were both very agile at the time and insanely over so they got massive cheers for those quick exchanges. But each match opened that same exact way. Is that them going with the same blueprint for each match, deciding to just open with that to try and get the crowd into it early, or is it just laziness and just going with what works? I could see if it was once or twice but it spanned a couple years and was on tv and ppv. – Red Ripper

I’m thinking laziness. Now, you can’t really call either of those guys lazy because they both were willing to take quite an asskicking and put on a show for the crowd on any given night. But as far as putting a match together…well, it’s better just to do stuff than actually think about it. And if you can do the same moves every night and get a great response, why not do that?