Newb82

There's no way Yoko beating Hogan with a legdrop was coincidental.

I came to the realization that wrestling wasn't real for the wrong reasons. I was eight and saw the SummerSlam '92 results in the local newspaper before it aired (the long-running head sports writer is a fan and used to occaisionally include snippets about ProWres in his columns). I assumed all PPVs had to be live (to be fair, a safe assumption) and didn't understand the concept of time zones, so I took the results showing up in the paper to mean that the script was leaked, and sadly what my parents and older sisters had been trying to tell me was true. WWF wasn't real.

THE KILLING has been good this season and is really picking up in intrigue, even if it still does pull the "here's a solution-nope! not it!" card way too often. Holder had a REALLY bad day this week :-(

Judging by Bret's book, Vince was fucking with both him & Hogan, and the whole thing was Vince's fault. IIRC it went something like:Promo pic of Bret & Hogan doing a tug-of-war with the belt is shot, ostensibly for the cover of an issue of WWF Magazine that will be released around SummerSlam.Bret hears through the grapevine that Hogan says he won't put Bret over for the belt.Bret confronts Hogan, who after a couple tries convinces Bret to go with him to see Vince.Vince: "I never said it'd be a title match."

I was stunned by the lack of heat for the title match.

I might check out V/H/S 2 even though I was disappointed by the original.

Tim McCarver: "You know, this generation of baseball players suck at base-running." FIVE MINUTES LATER McCarver: "Why aren't teams more aggressive with their base running?"

HHH is fine when he's interested in having a good match, but not trying to force a match into being "epic". Aside from the inital street fight, his straight matches with Shawn were awesome and the gimmick matches sucked because apparently to them "epic" = "selling by laying around on the mat for half of the match".

Austin did a reddit AMA yesterday: www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1in1rx/i_am_steve_austin_wwe_hall_of_famer_and_host_of/

Nash was the first guy that came to mind for me, with his WWF matches against Bret & Shawn being the best examples. DDP was capable of carrying people himself and thus shouldn't be on the list. Guys like Raven, Bigelow, & Kanyon weren't exactly Flair-esque in their ability to have good matches with anyone. Raven in particular was a guy whose match quality depended entirely on who he was in the ring with.

My first round picks: Cole, Lethal, Ciampa, Bennett, Anderson, Elgin, Taven (although Strong could easily win) and Steen.

Or you complained about him.

IIRC, he didn't start doing the wiggle until he was at least getting close to heel status (there was some discussion on commentary about him being arrogant) and after that he did it whether he was a face or not.

I could never decide on an avatar before, so it helps with that problem plus if for some reason I can't do a review for a while, my avatar will remind me where I left off.

Starrcade '98 12/27-From Washington, DC-Hosts are Tony, Tenay, & Bobby-The crew talk about the main event, then Eric Bischoff having the rest of the Horsemen banned from the building before his match with Flair. After some brief words about Giant/DDP, they air a hype video...for a special on QVC.-Mean Gene confirms that the Horseman aside from Flair are not in the building, before teasing that some "familiar faces" are backstage, but you have to CALL THE HOTLINE to find out who they are.-Match 1 for the Cruiserweight Championship: Billy Kidman [c] VS Juventud Guerrera VS Rey Mysterio Jr. [Triangle Match]-Rey has a rap theme that I don't remember at all. Juvy slaps hands with fans despite being in the heel lWo. Juvy gives the other two attitude, so they double-team him to start. Kidman & Rey start hitting each other as Juvy cheers them on, so they stop and drop Juvy. Pretty fast-paced, and they manage to avoid the cliche "one guy gets eliminated and the other two fight it out" switches. Kidman catches Rey trying to slide between his legs, and holds him in position for a Doomsday rana from Juvy. Rey almost breaks Juvy's leg by giving him a rana off the apron that causes Juvy's leg to crash into the guardrail. Replay shows Rey almost hurt himself with that move too.There are a few different spots where one guy hits moves on both opponents simultaneously, and a lot of near-falls. The match slows down considerably as all three get winded. With Kidman out on the floor, Rey hits Juvy with a springboard rana, but doesn't go for the cover, and ends up taking a Juvy Driver and Kidman has to save. Juvy accidentally alley-oops Rey into Kidman for a second rope rana, and ends up having to make a save himself. Rey hits another rana on Juvy that sends both guys outside, and Kidman follows with a SSP to the floor. Eddie Guerrero makes his way out, drawing the most heat of the match by far.Kidman has Juvy pinned, but Eddie runs in to turn the cover over. Rey gets in and dropkicks Juvy, allowing Kidman to get the pin and retain. Pretty wild opener that was hampered a bit by the lack of heat.-Eddie gets in the ring and berates both Rey & Juvy. Eddie calls Kidman a "cream puff" and a "sissy boy". Eddie decides the only way to get things done is to do it himself, and challanges Kidman to a title match. Kidman accepts, and wants to face Eddie RIGHT NOW. Eddie tries to beg off for some reason, but gets goaded into it by Kidman. Even the dumbass announce crew knows this is a stupid move by Kidman.-Match 2 for the Cruiserweight Championship: Billy Kidman [c] VS Eddie Guerrero-Seconds in, EDDIE POWERBOMBS KIDMAN...for two. Eddie does the smart thing and goes for the immediate pin, but can't get it. Juvy tries to help Eddie cheat, but Rey keeps cutting that off. Juvy does finally provide enough of a distraction that allows Eddie to clip Kidman and apply a submission. Kidman makes a short comeback and gets a sleeper, but Eddie counters into a jawbreaker to regain control. Eddie plays a little rope-a-dope with Kidman, then takes off one of his workboots and drills Kidman for two. Eddie throws the boot at Rey, and wrestles with only one boot on. Eddie calls for the frog splash, but Kidman catches him with a superplex for two.Eddie goes back to the knee and applies another submission. In a cute bit, Rey uses Eddie's discarded boot to wap Juvy and knock Eddie's hands off the ropes. Kidman makes a comeback, but Eddie blocks a super rana. Eddie tries one of his own, but Kidman blocks and dumps him. Eddie's bodyguard tries to get involved, providing a distraction, allowing Juvy to crotch Kidman. Rey does the same to Eddie, and Kidman finishes with the SSP. Not as good as the opener since Kidman was already spent going into it, but still pretty good with Eddie keeping his control segments interesting.-Nash/Goldberg hype video.-Match 3: Norman Smiley VS Prince Iaukea-OK...what the FUCK is this match doing on Starrcade? Anyway, Smiley looks like he's tweener here, as he does the "Big Wiggle" dance during his entrance, but stops to slap hands with fans. The crowd is completely uninterested in this match, and a small "boring" chant breaks out seconds in. They give it the old college try, but this is like WWE booking Yoshi Tatsu VS Alex Riley at WrestleMania. Norman does manage to get a pop for the dance at one point. Norman uses a couple nifty holds, but Iaukea clearly has no idea how to sell them. Norman gets some applause for a nice takedown and a pop for the full-blown version of the Wiggle. They go waaaay too long, and Tony has to fill time by talking about the main event, and Norman has to keep dancing just to keep the crowd from falling asleep. It takes a couple tries, but Norman gets a cross-face chicken wing for the submission. Crowd sarcastically pops because the match is finally over.-Scott Hall comes out in an "Outsiders" shirt to a nice face reaction, and promptly sucks up to the crowd. Hall says he lost everything he cared about in 1998, but says he has no one to blame but himself for that. Hall says that despite what Nash and people in every arena have told him, the only person Hall has to prove anything to is himself. Hall finishes by saying he can't wait to kiss 1998 good-bye, because 1999 is his year.-Video recaps Bigelow attacking Scott Hall backstage, leading to a triangle match between Goldberg, Bigelow, & Nash, which ended in a no-contest when Hall interfered.-Match 4: The Cat (w/Sonny Onoo) VS Saturn-Cat actually gets some decent heat for his pre-match promo. Not much to this match. Saturn controls on the ground, and Cat tries to fight back with his karate. Onoo gets involved, but it backfires, and Saturn finishes with the DVD. NEXT!-Mean Gene brings out Naitch, who delivers a classic crazy old man promo describing the terrible things he's going to do to Bischoff.-Video recaps the iron-fisted reign of Eric Bischoff.-BPP (for now the leader of the Black + White) & Buff go into Konnan's lockerroom and threaten him. Scott says he made an agreement not to touch Luger, which Konnan questions when Luger comes in to make the save.-Match 5: Brian Adams & Scott Norton (w/Vincent) VS Fit Finlay & Jerry Flynn-WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS MATCH DOING ON STARRCADE?! Tony gets a note that the main event is now no-DQ. Finlay VS Norton would have actually made a nice Saturday Night feud. The crew take time to talk about Hogan's ridiculous "presidential campaign". Pretty much an extended squash for the nWo. F & F try to make a comeback, but Norton says "fuck that" and finally finishes with a big powerbomb on Flynn. What was Nash smoking when he put this card together?-The production crew plays Bischoff's music, not realizing Mean Gene has to intro him first. Bischoff insincerely apologizes for all the pain that he has caused, then says he's sorry that Flair is taking this match so soon after his heart attack. Bischoff speculates that Flair is wrestling tonight because he's broke, which probably isn't too far from the proof. Bischoff gives a promo that's more shoot than work, talking about Flair paying for everything himself and not saving any money himself, before pointing out that Turner pays for all of his expenses.-Video shows Jericho putting a Konnan impersonator in the Liontamer as a result of his losing the TV title to Konnan and in preparation for the rematch.-Match 6 for the Television Championship: Konnan [c] VS Chris Jericho (w/Ralphus)-Jericho has the belt, obviously having stolen it from Konnan. Jericho gets a face reaction to his pre-match promo and implores Konnan to pull his pants up. There's a close-up of Stacy Keibler in the crowd grooving to Konnan's music video. Nothing says "wrestling" like a bunch of white people yelling "ARRIBA LA RAZA!". Not much to this match either. There's a stupid spot where Jericho misses a dive and cracks his mid-section on the ring steps. Jericho bops Konnan with the belt for two, and the crowd starts to get really into this match just as Konnan finishes with the X-Factor and Tecquila Sunrise. Would fit in on the undercard of any modern WrestleMania.-The Giant gets pissed at Lee Marshall for implying that Giant can't put DDP down.-Match 7: Eric Bischoff VS Ric Flair-Flair beats the shit out of Bischoff, as he should, for the first couple minutes. Little Naitch pulls Ric out of the corner, and Bischoff scores with a kick to the head, then rams Ric's head into the guardrail, and Flair blades. Yes, ERIC BISCHOFF is going toe-to-toe with RIC FLAIR. Flair turns the tide with a low blow, then oblidges the crew's request with another one. Flair removes Bischoff's shirt and chops away. Robinson gets bumped and Flair adds a Shattered Dreams. Flair gets the figure 4, but Curt Hennig runs out and hands Bischoff an object, which he uses to KO Flair for the pin. Bischoff keeps the object in his hand even as Robinson tries to raise it. Dumbass. I know Flair wins the Presidency by beating Bischoff the next night on Nitro, but WHY NOT DO THAT HERE?! Seriously, fuck this show.-Video preview for DDP/Giant. Bret, who is not booked for this show, wins the U.S. title back from DDP with help from Giant. Bret dangles the carrot of a U.S. title shot in front of DDP, leading to a beatdown by Giant and a chokeslam off the stage.-Match 8: The Giant VS DDP-Giant spits his gum at DDP, who responds with a loogee aimed at Giant's face. Giant sends DDP into the crowd, where there's a garbage can conveniently placed. DDP blocks a punch with the can and hits Giant with it, but it has no effect. Giant works the leg, for a little bit, then forgets all about it. Giant switches up to a bearhug, then blocks a sunset flip and hits a choke lift into a backbreaker. Not content with stealing Rock's "People's Champion" moniker, DDP lifts the Hurricane DDT, calling it the "Diamond Dream" according to Tenay. The ref gets bumped and Bret Hart runs out with a chair. Bret accidentally hits Giant with the chair, and gets punched out by DDP.DDP hits a couple flying clotheslines, then calls for the Cutter. DDP tries another flying clothesline, but gets caught in chokeslam position. DDP tries a low blow (when did that become legal?), but Giant holds on. Giant sets DDP up for a super chokeslam, but DDP counters into the Cutter to send Giant to the WWF. Not bad, once they got out of the bearhug.-Same Nash/Goldberg video from before.-Match 9 for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg [c] VS Kevin Nash-Buffer does the intros. For all the flaws in WCW's booking around this time, this does have that elusive "big fight feel". After a feeling out process and dueling chants, Nash goes for the leg choke in the corner, but Goldberg grabs his leg and shoves him down. They then go to the mat and...trade submissions? Goldberg gets the spear, but Nash goes low to block the jackhammer. Nash takes control, and gets a couple near-falls. Goldberg busts out a spinning heel kick (!), which draws out Hall, who gets taken care of, then Bam Bam, who gets more of the same. Goldberg sets up for the spear, but Hall uses the TASER OF DOOM, and that sets up the jackknife to end the streak. The announcers trying to keep Nash face is ridiculous, especially with what happens in the near-future. At least there wasn't a ref bump.-FINAL THOUGHTS: FUCK. THIS. SHOW. Fuck what this show sets up. Fuck the fact that now it's onto WCW '99, which sees Nash & Hogan turn face and DDP (the logical choice for next big babyface champion) and Flair turn heel. Which is all BEFORE Russo takes over.-NEXT EVENT: Souled Out '99

I went from thinking Sabin had no shot, to thinking surprise win and short reign when Bully spent forever working the knee, since a face with Sabin's backstory HAS to win, to thinking no-contest with all the run-ins, then back to two week (or whenever Bully cashes in his *sigh* rematch clause) reign. EDIT: Oh, and it would be hilarious if TNA puts the X title on either Dutt (to fuck with RoH) or Trent Barretta (for the WHY DO THEY ALWAYS PUSH WWE CAST-OFFS?! freakouts).

That thing is hideous.

It's not in Bret's.

I'd never heard the "Warrior could have been Vader" story either.

The new X-Divison belt makes the last two WWE world belts look like pieces of art.

Missing Hasek trashing Buffalo after going to Detroit, although he did turn face again recently.

The River could have gone on, but we at least got a semblance of an ending before it was canceled. I'm still pissed about ALCATRAZ.

The whole concept says "one season".

Oh yeah, the ESPN "we'll fire hundreds of workers but not cancel this show because we love sucking our own dick" awards are tonight. I won't watch, like every other year.

BRACKETS: M. Briscoe Cole Lethal Dutt Ciampa Young/Page Bennett Whitmer Anderson ACH London Elgin Taven Strong Steen Kendrick