Captain Kronos

That was my initial thought. Then I remembered Foley's story about Douglas ribbing him by calling as Patterson. Patterson didn't seem to find the story very amusing, incidentally.

TNA would give him the belt because they want to swerve all the people who expect them not to give it to him. But then they would decide not to because we figured they might decide to give him the belt to foil our expectations of them not giving them the belt. Then at the last minute, they would run a staph infection angle and keep him off the PPV completely.

That's so weird, actually seeing his name onscreen in front of him.

Watching Mania 1. (though I paused to check out this Total Deevers show.) I saw it on the Anthology about 7 years ago but never since. It's funny to see them struggling with dialogue and presentation - especially the bits where Lord Alfred is trying to speak from the Gorilla Position as wrestlers are coming in and out of the locker room. Steamboat/Borne was a decent match, as was Valentine/JYD -- though a weird ending. (why would the ref restart a match just because a third party with no affiliation to management run out and say Hammer's legs were on the rope?) I need to rewatch Sammartino/Beefcake because I was distracted. Or do I? The Iron Shiek tag was about to start when I paused it. Looking forward to that one.

IT'S STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT! (except Nikki's puppies - them things is totally pretend; bet they were expensive)

Is it because Shawn has been singularized?

I just thought it was funny, especially Punk's "Smart! So smart!"

What I learned from Total Divas just now: Nattie is a drunk and a phony. Nikki whines because Cena fucks with her head. Also, she cannot pronounce "mercury". Brie is sick of Nikki's shit. And DBry is bored with it, too. Daniel Bryan has a bus. Eva Marie is dumb. Jimmy Uso is cool as the other side of my pillow. Eva's douche-bag husband made a massive face turn, and now I like him.

Moving away from the racism topic, which can never end well: seeing Hogan on this week's Raw, it amazes me that whatever you want to say about the guy, he sure has aged better than Piper and Flair have. Not entirely fair, as Roddy had that whole cancer issue going. But it's still amazing.

If that question is directed at me for posting the original comment: actually, I wasn't watching wrestling in that era. I didn't start watching wrestling until 2006, when I was well into my 30s. That's very strange experience, I know, but it happened. I've worked very hard in the last nine years to catch up with decades of wrestling.

Okay thanks. I found them on my phone, along with The Wrestling Classic. Went out of Roku app so I can watch this week's Raw and SD on Hulu. I'll check again on Roku in a few hours. It's funny – after watching main event and superstars this week, I feel like I've already seen Raw.

Where did you find this show? I also saw mention of Tuesday in Texas. I looked under the pay per view section, and did not find them. I don't think I saw them under old school, either. I looked on Roku and iPhone.

Emma-Paige at Arrival could have been a SHIMMER main event. I see SDR all over this match, from the back-to-back standup to the power bomb to Paige's finisher. Have we ever heard a "this is awesome" chant for a Divas match - when it's clearly about the wrestling and not the tits? Also, the Emma intro video did a great job catching me up on her character.

Watching NXT Arrival. Trying to decide if the crowd chanting "N-X-T" and "Ole Ole" is cool or if is annoying. Loved Zayn flailing his arms about while being swung. These guys' attention to detail is terrific in this match. Haven't gotten to it yet, but I realized the Emma-Paige match I watched was from July. I think this show is the pimped one, not the last summer match?

I don't think I have ever seen a full ep of 99 SD! -- is possible he's on there? As annoying and juvenile as he could be at times, I really miss hearing a heel commentator. Cornette just shouts a lot on this ep.

Stacy is The Kat? The "get to see her nekkid" angle was on No Way Out 2001 that I watched yesterday.

I'd like to take this moment to confess that I was certainly one of those people who predicted Bryan Danielson would barely make it out of FCW because he'd get buried for being too small. No matter what happens here at mania, I am super happy to have been proven ridiculously wrong.

Not sure it excuses the Mizark racist skit, but if it soon after, then Henry destroying Waltman certainly helps.

If you were charged $60, it sounds like you may have paid for the entire six-month subscription in one lump sum. I seem to recall that was an option when I signed up, but since there was no discount in prepaying I decided not to choose that option.

What happened to Lawler in 1999? Watching RAW post-Backlash show, and Cornette is with JR.

I know it is a morbid "what if" topic, but I've found the speculation over the last few pages to be fascinating. Certainly I don't want all the big stars – or any stars – to die in a tragic plane crash. But sadly these things do happen, and you never know how they're going to handle it. With as deep a roster as they've got now, they're positioned as well as they've ever been to cover for such a horrible situation.

Im looking forward to the show. Might even have purchased it for the first time in about 5 years. Don't have to now. Thank you, Network.

Watching Summerslam 1990. Why on earth did Vince not give Kerry a manager to speak for him? Was it that the babyface never gets a manager? Also, why change his name? Vince didn't change Dusty or Flair's names - presumably because he figured he could sell more tickets with her famous names. With that not have been the same thing with Von Erich as a name?

The best mic workers have always put over their opponent *and* themselves. Watching Jan 2014 RAW eps, and Heyman shows how it's done.