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At 3/23/09 01:58 PM, Outlaw88 wrote: I think the reasoning behind the Tag belt merger is that they were having Miz and Morrison appear on all three shows while being defending tag champs anyway, and the fact that there are so little tag teams to begin with that they must have figured it was pointless to have two existing tag titles. I have to disagree with you on the merging of the mid-level belts as they can be used to establish up and coming talent. That and they have been more consistent with keeping them to their respective brand. Yeah we saw JBL battle Taker last week, but it wasn't about the IC title.

And THAT'S THE PROBLEM!!! MVP and JBL are CHAMPIONS!! But nobody seems to want their belts, or want them on a consistent basis. Being the IC or US champion means jack fucking shit, it only works if you're a babyface that the people ALREADY like, and why can't the ECW belt (which hey, may not even be the ECW belt soon since Sci Fi and WWE are supposed to be "re-branding" that show, and hopefully it'll be in part so they can drop those letters and let them rest in peace) be defended across all the shows? Giving it and it's champion more exposure. The Monday Night Wars proved it too, if you have too many belts, they can't all be special. The World title (or A world title I should say) is always going to be the most important belt out there, and that's fine, it always SHOULD be. But if I have say, four titles underneath that, how can I really and truly justify them as all being important? How can I make it seem like they all matter if they serve essentially the same function? That's the problem here. The IC and US titles are basically just mid-carder belts with nothing special about them at present.

The Tag Titles to me should be a belt on a similar par with the world title, in that it makes you the best TEAM, like the world champion is the biggest star, Ditto a women's belt, and (if one existed) a lightweight belt.

I agree we need a mid-level title so guys get that experience of being a champion before they get a run at the top, but we don't need three, we need one. We would only need that many if there was more of a hard split, but there isn't. It's too much for a company that is not really keeping it's shows seperate. This is not me saying let's end the brand split, this is me making a plea for sanity, and for if a guy (or guys) can himself (themselves) champion(s) it should fucking well mean something. Now it only really matters in like 2 cases.

how awesome was that promo that shawn michaels delivered?
haven't seen a great promo like that in ages

also apparently stephanie mcmahon was legitimately hurt after the whole ending segment on raw

At 3/24/09 04:41 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: how awesome was that promo that shawn michaels delivered?
haven't seen a great promo like that in ages

I personally thought it ran a little long.

also apparently stephanie mcmahon was legitimately hurt after the whole ending segment on raw

IMO, they're getting a little beyond suspension-of-disbelief with some of this stuff now. The "home invasion" wasn't as bad as wielding guns or attempted vehicular homicide angles, but there are some crimes where it doesn't matter if the victim doesn't want to press charges, the DA will see that your ass is still going on trial.

I know we're supposed to close our eyes and pretend really hard that it makes sense, but as a former law student, my eyes keep seeing the cracks beginning to show whenever they do their selective law enforcement storylines. It's not quite as ridiculous as the Undertaker using lightning powers, but still, tort law and criminal law are two very, very different things...

As you guy may or may not have noticed, WWE will be releasing a film called 12 Rounds, starring John Cena (Why they haven't hyped it up is a mystery to me >_>).

But you see, John Cena isn't the only wrestlers with a movie coming out. Everyone's favorite Olympic gold medalist is also revealing a movie. Oh, yes.

I give you... ENDGAME!!!

At 3/24/09 11:46 AM, pepeatumi wrote: (Why they haven't hyped it up is a mystery to me >_>).

Are you shitting me!?

At 3/24/09 12:36 PM, DannyIsOnFire wrote:

At 3/24/09 11:46 AM, pepeatumi wrote: (Why they haven't hyped it up is a mystery to me >_>).

Are you shitting me!?

Really?! I must have missed it! They only played it a few million times too...

Ah, sarcasm.

So it seems the all diva night thing got canned. Or perhaps moved as we are going to see Morrison in action against Carlito as well as a VIP lounge segment with all the MITB competitors involved. So now I have reason to watch it tonight.

Raw was ok, but I honestly had a tough time paying attention to it. Too much hype and not enough decent action.

At 3/24/09 12:36 PM, DannyIsOnFire wrote:

At 3/24/09 11:46 AM, pepeatumi wrote: (Why they haven't hyped it up is a mystery to me >_>).

Are you shitting me!?

Just to let you know. If I add the shifty eyes at the end of a sentence, it was more than likely a sarcastic remark.

At 3/24/09 04:41 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: also apparently stephanie mcmahon was legitimately hurt after the whole ending segment on raw

I don't buy it, haven't read it on any of my legit sources that would know (PWInsider) and I saw that DDT, Steph took that bump textbook and Orton delivered it textbook. So other then the bumps and bruises one might get from the standard taking of a DDT, can't imagine this was serious

ECW was good last night. I enjoyed the opening match between Morrison and Carlito as well as the tag match between Dreamer/Bourne and Swagger/Kidd. The VIP lounge was also entertaning to watch as well.

From wrestlezone:
During the Ric Flair beatdown from Chris Jericho on last night's WWE RAW, Flair suffered a bad wound on his head from the shot with the handheld video camera. After the show, Flair needed a dozen staples to close the wound. [Credit: PWInsider.com]

At 3/25/09 08:34 AM, Outlaw88 wrote: ECW was good last night. I enjoyed the opening match between Morrison and Carlito as well as the tag match between Dreamer/Bourne and Swagger/Kidd. The VIP lounge was also entertaning to watch as well.

Agree with everything except the VIP lounge part. I was expecting (Or hoping for) a big brawl to end the show, and instead we get all participants saying that they're going to win the MITB.

And I have to say this, its a shame that neither Evan Bourne nor Jack Swagger will be wrestling at WM this year.

At 3/25/09 10:33 AM, pepeatumi wrote: And I have to say this, its a shame that neither Evan Bourne nor Jack Swagger will be wrestling at WM this year.

I do agree about Evan Bourne he would fit in perfect in the money in the bank match. I would love to see him jump off a 20ft ladder. this year the money in the bank match seems not as good as the years past. They put in 4/5 guys who you almost never see in thoes types of matches and never go airborne. That was a stupid mistake of the creative teams part.

At 3/25/09 09:43 PM, idiot-buster wrote: I do agree about Evan Bourne he would fit in perfect in the money in the bank match. I would love to see him jump off a 20ft ladder.

i finally figured it out, im guessing that they didn't put bourne in the MITB match because they don't wanna risk it
he just came fresh off an injury only 2 weeks ago and i don't think it would be wise to put him in such a dangerous match so quickly

but i agree, putting him off the whole WM card altogether is just bogus man...

I think with Bourne what happened was they want to try and promote the Mania card a little further in advance, and MITB has become a big selling point. Plus, I don't think they were 100% sure that he'd be back in time for the PPV.

Also wanted to ask you guys a question, my boards are going to be in need of a revamp. Possibly a total relaunch (some issues with the old database) and I was curious if you guys would be interested in having a wrestling forum over there? I know the one Red did didn't really work out but this would be something built into an existing forum with an existing NG userbase. So you'd have the wrestling section, but other parts to hang out on as well, and it'd allow people to have their own threads and stuff for news and other stuff that goes on in here. Let me know if you have any interest.

At 3/26/09 01:04 AM, aviewaskewed wrote: Also wanted to ask you guys a question, my boards are going to be in need of a revamp. Possibly a total relaunch (some issues with the old database) and I was curious if you guys would be interested in having a wrestling forum over there?

I'm all for it. It gives me yet another place to spread the word about some of the lesser know wrestling feds out there.

I'd be cool with it.

Here is an article talking about the WWE offering assistance in fighting substance abuse to former employees. You can read about it here.

It's good they are doing that.

Mexican star Abismo Negro (Black Hole or Black Abyss) aka Winners in AAA, whose real name is Andrés Alejandro Palomeque González, was found dead, floating in a river in El Rosario, Mexico earlier today.
You can read the full article here...

At 3/26/09 01:04 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

Also wanted to ask you guys a question, my boards are going to be in need of a revamp. Possibly a total relaunch (some issues with the old database) and I was curious if you guys would be interested in having a wrestling forum over there?

sounds good

hey here's an interesting note
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

-- As reported earlier, Big Show was originally earmarked to take part in the Money in the Bank
Match at WrestleMania XXV, but Vince McMahon decided to put him in the World Heavyweight Championship bout instead. Mark Henry ended up taking place in the bout. Had Big Show stayed in the match, he was expected to win the briefcase.

At 3/26/09 01:09 PM, Outlaw88 wrote: Mexican star Abismo Negro (Black Hole or Black Abyss) aka Winners in AAA, whose real name is Andrés Alejandro Palomeque González, was found dead, floating in a river in El Rosario, Mexico earlier today.

Black Abyss. This actually happened a couple of days ago. He was supposedly on a bus, suffered some sort of nervous breakdown (He even asked the bus driver to let him out) and the next thing people know, he was dead.

Though I've gotten used to wrestling deaths (Unfortunately), I have to admit that this one took me by surprise, mostly due to the bizarre circumstances surrounding his death.

Can't believe I forgot to post this.

This would be ROH's first tv episode on HDnet. You know, for those that might not have seen ROH before.

By the way, it was uploaded by the guys from ROH. Hopefully you guys will at least give it a look.

Good for ROH taking advantage of that opportunity. I hope they are able to expand their audience with this.

I have no idea whats in store for us on SD tonight but I don't care, I'm looking forward to it anyway. After the week I had I'm ready to indulge in the sillyness that has been going on. I'm sure we will see more of the Taker/HBK fued as well as Edge and all his woes.

At 3/27/09 11:40 AM, Outlaw88 wrote: I have no idea whats in store for us on SD tonight but I don't care, I'm looking forward to it anyway. After the week I had I'm ready to indulge in the sillyness that has been going on. I'm sure we will see more of the Taker/HBK fued as well as Edge and all his woes.

Smackdown was a bit predictable until the end of course. HBK did something i never expected and reminded me alot of the promo he did back in 1997, the last time the 2 feuded. Now is it me or is the creative team just focused on this one match to make wrestlemania and if it goes bad :::i doubt i will::: Werstlemania will not be very good. Not one single match has the same hype as the HBK/Taker.

Cena/Edge/Show has become a comety and i think most of you agree with me that this is not the way to go about putting on a manina main even. It would be fine if they did this at a lesser ppv, but i think Cena/Edge could put on a good show without Big show. Really what does he add to this match at all, he has not had much so much momentum that they had to put him in the mainevent. I can not remeber a thing he did this year that would make him get a spot in this match in this environment.

**********************SPOILER ALERT**********************

Gail Kim returns to smackdown, she takes out Maryse and Michelle McCool, so she's returned as a babyface

I thought the HBK/Taker bit was done well. It was entertaining to see him to a Taker like enterance. I also found that again I liked the under-card a bit more than the main event as I though the matces involving the tag champs and the MITB guys were better than what Show and Edge were doing.

At 3/28/09 11:08 AM, Outlaw88 wrote: I thought the HBK/Taker bit was done well. It was entertaining to see him to a Taker like enterance. I also found that again I liked the under-card a bit more than the main event as I though the matces involving the tag champs and the MITB guys were better than what Show and Edge were doing.

Which is what is so wrong here, it's a world title match being outshined by mid card acts? Geez.

No offense to the guys involved, their talented all around and of course some of them are going to be the one's carrying the company when the H's, HBK's, and Taker's finally hang it up, but this is just so sad when you're heading into the biggest show of the year. I think Mania is locked in to underperform no matter what they do now, they've lost the interest of the casual fans that tend to push that buyrate higher. So at this point your milking the people that buy every year, and even that ain't a sure thing (it's all but a lock that for the first time in the last 14 or 15 years I won't be ordering this show). It is well past time for them to look in the mirror, and realize that they are stuck in a rut, what they're doing isn't working, and to try something else. It's sad we keep saying the same thing year after year, but it seems like they are just immune to ever even considering they might be to blame for their problems.

At 3/30/09 01:44 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 3/28/09 11:08 AM, Outlaw88 wrote: I thought the HBK/Taker bit was done well. It was entertaining to see him to a Taker like enterance. I also found that again I liked the under-card a bit more than the main event as I though the matces involving the tag champs and the MITB guys were better than what Show and Edge were doing.

Which is what is so wrong here, it's a world title match being outshined by mid card acts? Geez.

they did the exact same thing last year, all the matches were all shoved aside while Big Show vs Floyd Mayweather jr. was getting the biggest push

At 3/26/09 02:19 PM, pepeatumi wrote: Can't believe I forgot to post this.

This would be ROH's first tv episode on HDnet. You know, for those that might not have seen ROH before.

By the way, it was uploaded by the guys from ROH. Hopefully you guys will at least give it a look.

I liked it, something different.
Wasn't really that entertaining but it had some decent spots.

WWE having the price of the show raised will hurt them I'm sure. That's just too much money for me to throw at something I'll see on DVD some time down the road. I don't think WM will flop as they do have some talented guys performing this year, like the Hardy's extreme rules match and the MITB. However because of the lack of interest on the world title bouts and the high price, the PPV may not do as well as others in the past. We'll have to wait and see as we could end up being wrong.

At 3/30/09 09:35 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: they did the exact same thing last year, all the matches were all shoved aside while Big Show vs Floyd Mayweather jr. was getting the biggest push

But both world title matches were booked seriously. Edge vs. Taker was booked like a serious, old school, babyface chasing down the heel champion and they had months of build to refer back to. Now Edge is defending his title and trying to win so his cheating wife will love him again. Big Show is trying to win the same woman, and John Cena is just kind of there. H vs. Orton is built on the premise that we should care that Orton continously beats down the utterly unlikeable McMahons, and that somehow a match we saw how many times last year is now worth a 55 dollar price tag.

They may have pushed the celebrity involvement over a lot else, but there was still enough good on the card that you wanted to see it. This card on paper looks pretty pedestrian and more like a B-show lineup and they've done very little to convince people it's worth the money. Jacking it up another 5 bucks is basically an admission they expect this show to do a lower buyrate then years past.

Well, a decent RAW as far as the show is concerned. As far as the last RAW before WM25... probably not so good. Unless they're planning something to flip-flop the Orton-H story (yet again) on SD!, why would they "relieve the tension" between the two as they did? Just seems as though now that Trips has already gotten his hands on Orton, what's left? Where's the suspense now that the balloon has been deflated? Does anyone even care anymore?

I was, however, delighted to see Cena lose his match (I don't know why, I just really don't enjoy that guy in any aspect of his "entertainment"), though contrary to him 'losing' momentum before WM, we all know he'll most likely pick up the win in the triple threat. Oh, how I'd love to see Edge carry the title longer than a month or so again...

As far as 'Taker and HBK... well... build as they may, we all know 'Taker will keep his streak. I've no idea when he's planning on retiring, but it seems it'll be soon (the man can barely walk anymore!), and maybe the more "tension-rising" path would be to just draw it out to 19-0 then book his last Wrestlemania as a high-profile match wherein he can retire with a clean 20-0 or slap a blemish on his record with a 19-1? Seems like that'd be a good mark for him to end his career on... Maybe I'm wrong, who knows.

Honestly, though, I'm looking forward to MITB this year, with the obvious exceptions of Mark Henry and Kane. Looking past that, though, it seems it'll be a pretty solid competition, with the likes of a newly-contracted Christian (which seeing him win would simply be awesome, though I'm sure the "new" generation has no appreciation of him), a returning CM Punk, Finlany, the token Irishman, and an always-entertaining Kofi Kingston. I'm not too big on Shelton, though seeing MVP win would not disappoint me in the least. I mean hell... toss the guy a bone here, right? On a side-note, why so many grounded competitors? I wanna see some aerial action, dammit!

As for JBL-Mysterio and whatever the hell Jericho's building this week... I'm not gonna waste much time. Though I believe I remember someone suggesting Jericho wins his match and shortly thereafter gets his ass beat by Stone Cold... hell, that'd almost make watching the PPV worth it. I mean I get how they're trying to go with the "legends" route being it's the 25th milestone of WM, but come on; just get it over with already. This whole angle is ridiculous. Poor Jericho...

is it just me, or do they really seem to be pushing kane over the other 7 participants in this MITB storyline?
in the past weeks he's always seemed to be the most dominant with all the MITB segments/matches

At 3/31/09 02:37 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: is it just me, or do they really seem to be pushing kane over the other 7 participants in this MITB storyline?
in the past weeks he's always seemed to be the most dominant with all the MITB segments/matches

Kane is a good soldier I think they always want to protect (and rightly so. Dude the best or most over guy? Nope, but he's always done whatever was asked of him and made more out of that character then I think anyone expected when he first came in, he deserves big ups for that), but I think he has 0 chance of getting the briefcase.

RAW was kind of "eh" to me, and it seems like WWE is resigned to the fact that they're going to draw whatever they draw come Sunday. With Cena he has his limitations, but his biggest problem in my mind is that he just tries so hard to be Vince's no. 1 soldier, that he just won't appeal to anybody in the smart fan community.

Also I've got my boards restored, so tomorrow I'll set up that wrestling forum you guys said you'd be behind. Just remember that as a security measure I have to validate your accounts before you can post, but I've got the day off so I should be around and if you use the names you use here it'll be ok. If you want to use something different though make sure you get with me about that so we can get you posting as soon as possible. :)