Gorman

I'm still not giving up on this. Give him a "Diesel" and give him a chance.

Save the Last Dance I'm here to help.

I'm still trying to get over the irony of a guy nicknamed "The Lone Wolf" teaming with anybody.

Thoughts on In Your House 7 (Good Friends, Better Enemies) Clarence Mason made an early bid for the MVP award with his injunction to ban Jake Roberts' snake. Little did he know that Jake had the power to grab Our Man Johnson from the back and magically turn the bout into a tag team match. Owen & Bulldog beat Jake & Ahmed in a reduced version of their Wrestlemania six-man. Diana Smith appeared on screen for about two seconds, which also happened at WrestleMania. I guess we had to remember who she was before she leveled her shocking accusations against Shawn Michaels. Goldust must have had a serious knee injury to have such a non-match with Ultimate Warrior. Poor Mantaur didn't even get a name as Goldust's one-time bodyguard whose sole purpose was to get beaten up by Warrior. At least they could have dressed up him up in a giant version of the "Goldust's usher" outfit. Razor Ramon gets the MVP award for his strong effort against Vader. Since Razor was on the way out of the company, he very easily could have mailed it in, and this would have been a one-match show. Instead, he made Vader look great in a competitive match. Mad Dog Vachon looked so happy to be at the show, especially knowing that his leg was going to be involved in the main event. Shawn Michaels was not happy with referee Earl Hebner shoehorning his way into his victory celebration at WrestleMania. So after beating Diesel, Shawn just threw Hebner out of the ring.

DA also got rid of ROH. And ROH was giving them their show for free. At least TNA got paid. Look this stupid company isn't allowed to die until I get the book. ..... and until I get to do commentary. I smuggled a #makeroom4Gorman sign into the Cleveland Impact show and taped it right behind the announcers. And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling producer, who tore it down at the last minute. And I didn't make all of those Gut Check Challenge videos for nothing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er1VtttgtLs&list=PLMavBLFAzyRC4T7rBLbxg2bwERXSLjmOx&index=31

Time for 10 new Brooke Hogan albums!

UR Fight is a company that makes customized MMA T-shirts and other apparel. At the MMA fights that I announce, several of the fighters and their fans have personalized T-shirts that say .... "It's UR Fight (Bulldog/Wildman/Destroyer) Win It!!"

"Big Fresh ... get the tables!"

I am begging for Elias Samson to come out to the song from the '70s educational TV series "The Electric Company:" He's the Drifterrrrrrr The Drifting Drifterrrrrrrr They call this man .... The Drifterrrrr

Bray was on Rover's Morning Glory today (syndicated radio show based in Cleveland). He said he has three goals: win the WWE title, headline WrestleMania, and beat The Undertaker.

Before I saw the photo, I thought, "Wow, I didn't expect Punk to throw out a Vince McMahon quote like that."

Agreed. Especially after JBL had been making a point of how important the title was to him in the build. I understand he's a heel and so talking a good game but not being able to back it up is expected, but it is a terrible, terrible ending. I don't know if Cena had a submission at that point but it would've come off better if he'd have had JBL in some kind of hold and JBL taps out super quickly to avoid having something broken. Like a fujiwara (I know I spelled that wrong) armbar or something else that looked super painful where if you don't tap quick, you're apt to get something broken badly. You spelled it right! All you need is a capital F.

I actually got to announce this match at the first ROH All-Star Extravaganza. It was for the #1 Contenders trophy, and since AJ won, they dressed up the little man on the trophy to look like him.

They're basically the worst of post-2005 Kurt Angle, anytime RVD, and 2002 ROH combined into one tiny package of shit. Davey Richards is like...the textbook example of indie shithead. Neck and neck with AR Fox. ----- (tear rolls down cheek) -----

Oops - I meant Razor and Goldust.

Thoughts on WrestleMania XII This show really got changed around. We were supposed to get Vader vs. Yokozuna, and a Miami Street Fight between Razor Ramon and Goldust. Even though Steve Austin beat Savio Vega by using the Million Dollar Belt, it was clear that Austin didn't need DiBiase at all, and that partnership would end shortly. The tag team title was really an afterthought here, as the Bodydonnas' win over the Godwinns in the tournament final was relegated to the Free for All match. Yoko was supposed to get 5 minutes with Jim Cornette if his team won, but they lost. Usually, the babyface gets his five minutes with the manager and then someone else attacks him to save the manager. Hunter Hearst Helmsley got crushed by the Ultimate Warrior but immediately started a feud with Marc Mero, which took away some of the attention from his quick defeat. Sable was mentioned several times during her debut, and she was also present for the Mero-Hunter brawl, so it was clear that she was not just Hunter's weekly arm candy. Diesel looked very good against the Undertaker, hitting two jackknife powerbombs and losing due to his own cockiness. Piper and Goldust had a very dangerous looking brawl. Piper seemed to have hurt his hand while bashing the car window, because it was bandaged when he arrived at the arena. Also, Piper looked like he could have been seriously hurt by riding on the hood of Goldust's car, but in retrospect that may have been a stuntman. It was hilarious how far the WWF went to get the OJ Simpson video footage joke. They made sure we saw that Piper was getting into a white Ford Bronco, and we could hear police sirens when Piper called Vince on the phone (twice) while chasing Goldust. The Iron Man match doesn't get enough love. Bret and Shawn didn't go crazy for 60 minutes, but they kept up a very good pace, so the match shouldn't be considered RestHoldMania. Shawn gets the slight edge for the MVP award thanks to his jaw-dropping zip-line entrance from the top of the arena.

If Storm left WWE now, he would have the same record as Harris (2-0).

Thoughts on In Your House 6 Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid had a good blowoff to their feud. However, the "crybaby" match stipulation seemed a bit forced, especially compared to the hog pen match between HOG and HHH. Speaking of Hunter, Duke Droese had him beaten right in the middle of the ring with the Trash Compactor. Instead of collecting the pin, the Dumpster went to get his trash can. Of course, he ended up getting clobbered with the lid and pinned. It's hard for fans to get behind babyfaces when they are booked to be idiots. Yokozuna was booked to be a hero, cutting a promo in English and taking a huge beating from Davey Boy Smith and Vader. He's the MVP of the show. Rowdy Roddy Piper even set up a Vader-Yoko match for WrestleMania that never happened. Vader destroying Yoko in a singles match at WrestleMania would have shot him to the moon, but instead they went with a six-man match. Shawn Michaels and Owen Hart had the best match of the night. Shawn danced on top of the "In Your House" home, complete with pyro on top of the house. He then did a mini-rope swing to the stage, foreshadowing his epic entrance one month later at WrestleMania XII. Piper and Cornette ranted at each other while the cage was set up for Diesel and Bret. Before that conflict, Piper said the WWF title match at WM 12 would continue until there was a winner. So in kayfabe terms, Bret should not have expected to walk out as champion after a 60-minute draw. Bret battled Diesel on pay-per-view for the fourth time. I'm a big fan of steel cages preventing outside interference, so Undertaker coming through the mat and dragging Diesel to hell was the beginning of an unfortunate trend.

Nia Jax's biggest issue right now. She doesn't know how to not be incredibly attractive. She is a very good looking woman, who has a smile that lights up a room, but that isn't what you really want from your killer, monster heel. Her character is supposed to be Godzilla terrorizing Tokyo, but that isn't what I feel while watching her. OK guys, if you walk into a bar with all of the WWE women, and you had to pick which one to approach based purely on her body language, where does Nia Jax rank on the most approachable. She looks like she wants you to like her, when her character shouldn't want you to like her. This is a problem for some of us.

Thoughts on Royal Rumble 96 Razor Ramon lost the IC title to Goldust to kick off the year, just like he lost the belt one year earlier to Jeff Jarrett. Marlena really added a lot to Goldust's act, showing up just in time for him to win the title. Speaking of Jarrett, his top rope guitar shot to Our Man Johnson was one of the highlights of his WWF career. Vader looked great in the Rumble, earning the MVP award. There was no shame in his elimination, as he was battling Yokozuna only to have Shawn Michaels sneak up and topple both giants. Vader came back and threw everyone out, and he also foreshadowed his attack on Gorilla Monsoon, who was trying to get him under control. During the Rumble, Jerry Lawler did such a great job hiding under the ring that I forgot he was there until Michaels pulled him out. Steve Austin made his PPV debut, tossing out Bob Holly but getting pitched by "Makin' a Difference" Fatu. Mr. Perfect put Austin over strong by (of course) comparing Austin to himself. As Vince said at IYH 5, the 1996 Rumble featured participants we would never expect. True! I wouldn't have expected Doug Gilbert, Dory Funk Jr. and the Headhunters (aka Squat Team). The latter duo was very entertaining. One got eliminated by Vader and came right back with the other so they could get clobbered by Vader and Yokozuna. The finish of the Rumble made Diesel look strong, too, as he had just eliminated Kama when he ate the Sweet Chin Music. Diesel also had another "Attitude Era" moment when he flipped off Undertaker. He was developing the "nWo Kevin Nash" persona that would end up paying dividends for WCW.

It may not be the best hope, but it certainly would be a new hope.

I'd say the bigger problem is the people at the top aren't over. Of course people are going to want the over guys to move up the card when they don't care about the people who are positioned at the top. No one was clamoring for the New Age Outlaws or Crash Holly to be pushed over Austin or The Rock. People weren't as unanimous of their love of Austin/Rock as one might think in hindsight. A lot of folks on the IWC were pretty tired of Austin/Rock and clamoring for other people to be on top (Jericho, Benoit etc.). JR's non-stop praise of Austin, even during matches that had nothing to do with him, were pretty off-putting. And Rock was often viewed as a guy who dominated his opponents on the mic and never let them get the better of him. Maybe an undeserved rap, but it's the way things often were. Something tells me Billy Gunn will not argue with you on this point.

Thoughts on In Your House 5 The Attitude Era starts RIGHT HERE with Goldust coming on to Razor Ramon. The WWF hadn't tried anything so envelope-pushing in years (if ever). Diesel also did the Austin-like "face that acts like a heel" gimmick and the Bret-like "I only care about this subset of fans (wearing his black gloves)" gimmick. Sid and The 1-2-3 Kid were being pushed as threats to the WWF tag team title, so why on earth did they lose to the makeshift team of Marty Jannetty and Razor Ramon? The poor ring announcer introduced Buddy Landell, but nobody told him that Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett and Dean Douglas all had to cut promos first. Then Dean introduced Landell (The Graduate Student!) only to watch him get destroyed by Our Man Johnson. I didn't like Johnson no-selling the devastating post-match attack by Jarrett and Lawler. It really made the returning Jarrett seem like no threat to beat him at Royal Rumble. I loved the hog pen match. Even though it was attached to a silly gimmick, it was a solid brawl. Hunter Hearst Helmsley went over to keep his streak alive, but then he got thrown into the pen afterward to flop around in the mud. Perfect booking. Sunny even sold how bad Hunter smelled when she was interviewing him on the Superstar Line. Helmsley gets the MVP award for going the extra, sloppy mile. Undertaker annihilated King Mabel and Sir Mo and finally got his hands on the gold chain, so he and Paul Bearer could turn it back into the urn. My fandom for heel Davey Boy Smith continued here, although it was right to have Bret go over. I still could have lived with Davey winning the belt from Diesel at IYH 4.

Didn't the ref tell Diesel to back off and that's why he didn't powerbomb him? I don't think he was taking it easy on him. Perhaps, but the announcers were saying that Diesel may have been showing compassion to his injured opponent.

Thoughts on Survivor Series 95 Public Enemy wrestled the dark match, losing to the Smoking Gunns. The 1-2-3 Kid got great heat, not just X-Pac heat. It's like the fans finally had permission to boo him. Ted DiBiase buying Jean-Pierre LaFitte's spot for the Kid made perfect sense for both characters. Mr. Perfect put himself over way too much on commentary, but he did have a great line during the opening match. Marty Jannetty hit the Rocker Dropper, and Perfect immediately said, "That'll break your neck!" Alundra Blayze did not look good at all. It's like she didn't know the rules of a tag team match. She would just waltz into the ring before getting the tag, and then her partners started doing it, too! Aja Kong on the other hand, was unstoppable, pinning the champ clean with the backfist. This set her up to challenge for the title. Did that ever happen? Goldust's star continued to rise with a win over the departing Bam Bam Bigelow. I thought the bulldog finisher was a little too "Dustin Rhodes," but I guess it would have been tough to hit the Curtain Call on Bam Bam. Undertaker is the obvious winner of the MVP award, as he single-handedly destroyed King Mabel's teammates and sent him running for cover. He easily defeated Yankem, his future brother, and even chokeslammed Sir Mo, who was the sacrificial lamb as Mabel high-tailed it out of the arena. Jim Cornette actually cut promos for both teams in the Wild Card match, as he had Bulldog on one side and Owen & Yokozuna on the other. Cornette and Bulldog were great at celebrating the win, even though Shawn Michaels and Our Man Johnson (my buddy thought that was his name) knocked Bulldog out of the ring before putting Yoko away. Diesel taking it easy on Bret (only to get pinned) didn't make sense as far as winning the match, but it explained his heel turn. Too bad we didn't get more than six months of heel Diesel before he defected to WCW.