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In defense of Chicago, you could always replace "Chicago" in this statement with "FSW".

The key to it is understanding how awful Chicago and it's people are. They don't care about wrestlers. They don't care about athletes. They don't care about their teams winning or losing. They only care about themselves. The Chicago hivemind has one sole collective thought: how can we make it about us? As someone from Chicago I'd say that's a fair bit of generalizing and stereotyping on your part. Just about everyone I associate with is mainly interested in the athletes they cheer doing well, their teams doing well, and not so much in themselves in relation to their interests. Sure, there may be a vocal majority who are loud enough that they present that image of Chicago, but the vocal majority is very rarely in the right when it comes to presenting a negative view on a city. As someone from Chicago, I'd say: Don't feed the fucking troll.

John Terry is a cunt and this day should be celebrated.

That Jackie Gleason pic is awesome. Now for some Hama-time

In honor of WOTD: Guys Who Fought Andre Week, here's a fantastic pic of the man in action that I've never seen.

I didn't know you and Antacular were friends.

Phil leaving really did break you.

So well put.

I don't know what's worse, FSW's anti-Shield gimmick or the fact that he doesn't know the difference between its and it's.

That ship seemed steadied, did it not?

The key to it is understanding how awful Chicago and it's people are. They don't care about wrestlers. They don't care about athletes. They don't care about their teams winning or losing. They only care about themselves. The Chicago hivemind has one sole collective thought: how can we make it about us?

Ok late in the month but the Missing Link pic immediately triggered.. him and Nancy. Also, to the Hogan haters, idk if you are young or just the brought up to hate /Apter esque hipster fans,but just think,. If it wasn't for Hulk Hogan 70% of u wouldn't have any idea of wrestling let alone this board. He's not that bad, and I know we do this all the time, but look up any Japan Hogan. Finally,Two words..... KING BOOKAH

Trish and Lita were on another level of hotness here, both polar opposites in terms of character as well which made them a great fit for each other. Albert circa 2000 seems like a bad person to work a complicated knocklelock sequence with. That little episode seems to provide the theme for the match, which is mostly really sloppy, but the crowd is hot enough and there's a fair bit of drama to keep it interesting. The guys in crowd are super in to the idea of Lita vs Trish, and the girls love them some Jeff. Matt throws some great punches, even back in 2000. Big pop for Taz, this crowd seems pretty great. Considering it was Taz's return match, Al Snow got a lot in on him, and looked better a lot of the time. There wasn't much to this, pretty much just a sprint through a bunch of moves, albeit some cool looking ones including Taz's sweet head and arm suplex. Al had some nice looking punches, but I'd have prefered a squash. Being used to WWE in 2014, it's mental to see old footage with guys casually beating up girls. This was mostly a bunch of moves again, but Eddie and Perry do it way better than Al and Taz. Highlight had to be Saturn somehow managing to clothesline Chyna through the Spanish announce table. In fairness, the finishing run was pretty exciting but Saturn has little to no charisma to get the crowd in to it. Bradshaw cuts a pretty great pro-Texas promo on Edge and Christian, namedropping the Von Erichs, Dick Murdoch and the Freebirds amongst others. This was really fun for a short match, since going back and watching a bunch of pre-JBL stuff I'm getting to think that Bradshaw was actually pretty damn good the whole time. Had they won the belts here, the crowd would have gone mental, but we just get a lame DQ finish. Decent match though, Simmons wasn't much but he was kept to the bare minimum. The E&C promo referencing JFK was mental, that would never even be suggested as an idea now. Rikishi vs Val Venis was the best match on the show so far, Val pinballed himself into the cage a bunch early which looked pretty great. Rikishi did his somewhat trademark somersault off of a clothesline, which seems a little ridiculous but always look really impressive. Not as impressive as him walking along the top of the cage and then jumping off the top, but still pretty awesome. Lita's run-in was some nice closure from earlier in the night too. I really dug Undertaker vs Angle, the vignettes throughout the night were so much fun and Angle was so much better in my eyes during 2000 than he was in his latter years. His legwork was pretty basic, but consistant and Taker sold well for him throughout. The finish was a little anticlimatic as I thought Angle would counter the second chokeslame attempt but it just kind of ended there. Still, this was lots of fun and made me want to dig up some more old Angle stuff, both matches and goofy vignettes/promos. I really liked Triple H vs Chris Jericho, although it may have gone on a few minutes too long. This was only the second Last Man Standing match in WWE history, and so it was more about selling and emotion rather than tons of big bumps leading to 9 count. HHH was really mobile, his quad injury the next year clearly fucked him up something fierce as he was bumping way more for Jericho here than he would do as a heel just a couple of years on. It's a laboured point by now,but still pretty shocking in retrospect to see that amount of blood in a WWE match, or indeed any match. Jericho put on a pretty awesome babyface performance, and I like that the finish wasn't one of either guys main moves, but it still worked as the perfect killshot. Looked pretty brutal for Jericho to take too. Main event is a pretty good match, but very much of it's time - I really don't see them running a big title match on a pay per view with this much outside interference any more. Foley coming down was kind of a buzzkill, since Benoit winning the title was kind of a big deal and the DQ finish was actually done really well I thought - sometimes it's pretty obvious what they're going for when a company tries a finish like this, but the crowd bought in to it hook, line and sinker. Having only seen his comeback matches recently, I'd forgotten how fast and athletic Rocky was. People's Elbow still sucks though, no matter when the footage is from. I liked a show a bunch, although it wasn't as greast as I remember it being from my repeated borrows of the VHS from the library back in the day. Triple H vs Chris Jericho was easily the best match, and I definitely came out of the show with a new appreciation for early Kurt Angle. Cage match rocked as well, and it was nice to see most of the mid card matches being over with the crowd whereas I can't imagine anyone giving a shit about the 2014 equivalent of Al Snow vs Taz.

What if you're a known idiot and no-one takes you seriously anyway? Asking for a friend...

At least a full season. She's a real scene stealer.

Watching FSW become a comedy gimmick unwilingly makes Punk leaving worth it.

I'm not going to defend the New Age Outlaws in 2014, but they were far from the worst thing in wrestling, let alone the world, in 1998. The Insane Clown Posse was in the WWF in 1998, for Christ's sake.

It's just raining chunky snow that accumulates and melts. On a God Damned Saturday.

I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier Friday night. You’ll be aware that since the subtitle to this film was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, it’s the film I looked most forward to mainly because of the source material but also for Captain America: The First Avenger and Avengers Assemble. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is great. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is easily the best Marvel Studios Phase Two film and one of Marvel Studios best films in the top tier with Avengers Assemble and Iron Man. The film is a spy thriller mixed with a comic book film, I got a Jason Bourne feeling which as a big fan of that trilogy, played well with me. The film addresses themes of security with those in power, how far is too far etc. There’s great action in this film, might well be the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Only Avengers Assemble rivals it. SPOILER thoughts: My provisional Marvel Studios film rankings: 1. Avengers Assemble (2012) 2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) 3. Iron Man (2008) 4. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) 5. Thor (2011) 6. Thor: The Dark World (2013) 7. Iron Man 3 (2013) 8. Iron Man 2 (2010) 9. The Incredible Hulk (2008) I say provisional because I’m not sure about the order of the top three. I’ve watched Avengers Assemble and Iron Man a lot more compared to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I look forward to Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s DVD release so I can see what a second viewing does. I look forward to getting your reactions to the film.

Some how we got to watch Natural Born Killers in 8th grade and it was in my advanced math class. The teacher was not back the following year.

Speak for yourself. I grew up in Flair Country. Woooooooo!

You can't fault people for not liking Hogan. I've gained an appreciation for a majority of his work, but I still think what he did to WCW the first few years he was there is unforgiveable.

I was going to be all "it was garbage, do people not remember it was garbage" then I realized I was 14 when this happened, and I do remember it, so now I'm just going to lament a terribly used youth. Have a nice day!

Finally a real name for Ambrose's splendid move! It isn't my chosen name, but "Dirty Deeds" both has the word dirty in it and sounds kind of like something William Regal would name a move, so I approve. Terrific SHIELD matches again with them all getting to look great, even Reigns who smashes dudes after the matches. I still feel such a swelling of pride seeing the SHIELD smashing fools. Must be how sports fans feel when their team wins. I liked the other stuff, too, but things tend to get lost when the SHIELD are on and kicking all ass. You know? And that dark match picture... John Cena believes in the SHIELD. Why hate on that? (also, look at Ambrose in the picture. He totally loves it and you love that, admit it)

Can't you just make Dole Whip at home for $4.00? I know, I take the joy out of life!

Gainax should make a Miley anime. It MIGHT capture the insanity.

I am such a dork I was so happy that Patrice was in the wedding party

They're just showing The Room on a loop They are playing THE Jackie Gayda match all day.

I'd like to point out that the crowd WHAT-ing Hogan during his return to the WWF after nine years was a Chicago crowd. You know, not because I think it means anything, but maybe FSW can tell us how this ties into his Grand Theory of Chicago Crowds. Note: Hogan pointed out that Chicago fans ran Michael Jordan out of town to go play for the Wizards, which I'm sure FSW can expound upon as well.

People complain about Schiavone and Madden, but that was an incredibly compelling call of that match. The entire storyline was very well built for being a one-show angle with an obvious outcome.

The women's division continues to be a major highlight of the show, and that main event was crazy good. Bo almost decapitated Neville on that lariat.

My favorite WrestleMania entrance, besides the fact that I was there live, was Shawn Michaels' white light Undertaker entrance at WrestleMania 25.

FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS WAS AWESOME

In my mind, there were two main eras: Eddie Graham as lead babyface from '62 to about '68, then Jack Brisco as lead babyface from '69 until he won the title. Of course, there were tons of other top babies: Les Welch, Jose Lothario, Nick Kozak, Red Bastein, Don Curtis, Joe Scarpa. My personal favorite was young Wahoo, when the Dolphins picked him up and he started wrestling in Florida, about 1966. Imagine the Wahoo you've seen on '80s video, but in football condition, mobile as hell but still stiff as shit. Great feuds with Boris Malenko and Johnny Valentine, but the best may have been a short, incredibly violent feud with a Japanese guy named Taki Yamaguchi. "Florida in the '60s and '70s" is way too big a topic to cover in one post. I may start a thread where I upload some old Jacksonville programs I have and engage in fuzzy reminiscences, if there's any interest.

Seems like Cesaro is organically becoming a face anyway. You probably can't stop it now unless he purposely starts having shitty matches. It started with the giant swing and the fun-to-chant catchphrase, but now, just like the Shield, it's obvious to everyone how good he is and you can't boo a guy like that for long.

Still the best PPV Poster.

One of the best trailers I've seen in some time.

For sure, and that's what I liked about a lot of the 2000 events. It felt like there was good stuff spread throughout the card and even the midcarders would get a nice chunk of time. The opening tag match was a solid opener and a lot of fun. It was when the Hardyz and Lita were really starting to get over huge. Rikishi and Val Venis was really good. I recall at the time that Venis, despite joining T&A, had basically all but ditched the porn star gimmick and was mostly a serious heel and I liked that. He kind of fizzled out after this match before jobbing the title to freaking Chyna and then being relegated to RTC, one of the lamest stables ever. But even stuff like Guerrero vs. Saturn was fun and got a decent amount of time. The only other match that really disappointed me was Edge and Christian vs. APA because Edge and Christian were such a hot act at the time and this match got a ton of buildup. Unfortunately, the match felt cut off with the non-finish because they didn't want to job Bradshaw in his home state and Edge and Christian were just too big to lose the titles at that time. What I remember the most about the crowd is all sorts of vulgar chants directed at Shane and Stephanie McMahon throughout their matches. To whoever said that Trish Stratus went down in looks after 2001: I disagree.

I haven't listened to ARTPOP that much since I bought it. I liked it, but it didn't keep me very engaged. I should go back and revisit. Re Kylie: here's one of my fave videos and tunes from her.

Okay, first time reviewing a full show, but since I nominated it, I feel like it should Test, Albert, and Trish Stratus vs. The Hardy Boys and Lita It's almost kinda easy to forget how good of a tag team the Hardys were, and it's easy as shit to forget that Test and Albert were actually pretty damn awesome. Seriously, they could have been one of the better tag teams in the era if they stayed together. I never saw a match with them where I didn't think they were incredibly impressive as a team. This also is a weird situation as it's a WWE intergendered match where the women could be in the ring with the men, and I can't even remember the last time they did that without it being something for a heel GM to punish said woman for the gimmick. Anyway, Jeff Hardy bumps like mad all match, and I really miss Jeff before his body started to turn on him. T&A both have some very impressive power spots, the Hardys fly like mad, and then Lita gets the hot tag and it's easy to remember why the crowd loved the hell out of her. Then Test powerbombs the fuck out of her, and Trish comes in for a cover. I actually think this is Trish's first match, and she's raw as all hell, but you can see some potential there. This was much more fun then I remember it being, just really good shit. Also gotta say Trish Stratus in 2000: Holy Fuck. Just had to get that in somewhere. We get some some more fun Mick Foley/ E&C interaction the era was known for. Christian is sick! Also, Undertaker chasing Kurt Angle down in his building with a bike. Tazz vs. Al Snow w/Head Hey look, it's a match that also took place on this show! JR and King can't bring themselves to care about this match, neither can the crowd, and honestly, neither can I. Tazz wins via how Tazz usually wins. Eddie Guerrero w/Chyna vs. Perry Saturn w/Terri Reynolds for the European Title Another interesting dynamic in this match, but Chyna interfering on Eddie's behalf in spite of Eddie being a face kinda works cause it was a feud and Chyna is Chyna, but there's a lot of awkwardness in the early going. 3rd Match of the night, 3rd Moonsault of the night, which is... um, something that shouldn't be happening. Saturn closelines Chyna and the fucking announce table breaks. That draws Terri back out, and low blows Eddie while the ref is distracted, and Saturn wins. Not much of note, but solid enough. I usually don't like talking about backstage segments in a show review, but the backstage segments on this show are A: Really Good and B: Effect the show itself. Edge and Christian vs. The A.P.A. for the Tag Team Titles For those who are curious, the Christian J.F.K. stuff is not cut. You know when Bradshaw was at his best pre JBL? Pissed of that someone insulted Texas mode. The promos pre-match is probably more interesting then the match itself. The intentional DQ finish worked for there gimmick, but kinda sucked. It was used more to set up Rock Benoit being a match that if Rock is DQed, Benoit takes the belt. ... And I'll get to the rest of the show later.

If we don't get an X-Presidents-type cartoon on the Network from this, I'll be disappointed and will have no one to blame but you for making me think of it. I want a rehash of the Pro-Stars cartoon with wrestlers. Pro-Stars was a crime fighting team of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky who was the wacky sidekick. I'd love if they redid that with Cena, Undertaker and someone like Dean Ambrose as the nutty but loveable sidekick. Bless you, sir. I was trying to think of what that cartoon was called the other day. Yeah, that would rule. Or Hogan, Austin and Cena fighting wacky villains together...

The Houston Oilers have a nice ring to them

You have won second prize in a beauty contest. Collect $10 from John Laurinaitis and report to WWE Performance Centre.

Tim Horner makes the mistake of going into the heel locker room to receive his stolen property

Was Perfect one of those abnormally strong guys, because it really looked like he decided to make that Perfectplex twice as hard as it needed to be just because he could. Lifting a 230+ pound man over your head and doing a controlled neck bridge is insane, especially when you don't do it in one fluid motion. The guy threw a football 50 yards in the air then ran down and caught it himself. Enough said.