twiztor

i could definitely see that happening. He played his role great, he was becoming quite a good wrestler in-ring, and (most importantly?) he had earned the goodwill of the fans and they were ready for him to be a huge deal in ECW. ultimately, i don't see that changing anything once he inevitably ends up in WCW or WWE. Just look at other former champs/main eventers: Raven (midcard in WCW, lower midcard in WWE). Sandman (low carder in WCW, short term WWE contract). Shane Douglas (mid card in WWE, midcard in WCW). Tommy Dreamer (low carder in WWE). Tazz (high profile debut in WWE then immediately to the midcard). Justin Credible (low carder in WWE). hell, Rob Van Dam was a midcarder for most of his WWE run who flirted with main event status occasionally. Rhino, Steve Corino, Jerry Lynn. all had high profile ECW runs but middling WWE success afterwards. I don't remember any of these guys (except Lynn) being a big deal in TNA either, although i never followed TNA very closely. All i'm saying is that Stevie's placement on the card in ECW makes virtually no difference whatsoever to Vince McMahon.

i'm a big Stevie Richards mark. hell, i even liked his short run in WCW where he did essentially zero but was entertaining. His rise in ECW, from absolute nobody to semi-main eventing their first PPV, is fascinating. But to think that maybe ECW doesn't go out of business is just wishful thinking. Stevie would've still jumped to WCW, where his role wouldn't have been all that different (maybe a longer run, maybe a bit higher on the card, but he was never getting anywhere near the US title, let alone a main event spot). WWE had him under contract for years, and it wasn't until they relegated him to a third-tier show (Stevie Night Heat) that he was able to show off any sort of personality. And that got him no more notoriety than anything else. the Big 2 just didn't see anything in him. A damn shame, but not a sport changing miss either.

making this post mainly to remind myself of the special start time: Early Prelims @ 9:30AM (central) Main Card @ 1PM (central)

i've been a Devil Rays fan since '98. this year has me incredibly excited, even moreso than 2008. how often does the World Series include the two teams with the best records in baseball? #RaysUp

gee, maybe you shouldn't essentially take the first 6 rounds off. if you want to tire your opponent out, you need to push them at least a little.

sorry @Lawful Metalbut the Astros couldn't pull off the comeback. #RaysUp!

had a conversation with a coworker about Tyson fighting Roy Jones Jr. next month. he initiated the convo and didn't understand why Tyson was fighting "some bum" instead of for the title. after some confusion on my part, he admitted that he didn't know who RJJ was. what. the. fuck. this is why i hate talking to people.

it wasn't that long ago WWE was offering huge money on contracts. sometimes it's as simple as most money or most security. hard to fault someone when we don't know their situation or contract details.

just found this out today. been bumping KMK most of the day. their music's really hit-or-miss with me, but Saint always seemed like a good dude.

i, as an American, have never heard someone refer to the rockstar as anything but "Bow-ee"

well? where's the new Southpaw? summer has come and gone, WWE. time to release these vhs tapes from 94.

absolutely gutted. Eddie Van Halen is #3 on my list of greatest guitarists of all time. Van Halen with Diamond Dave is on my shortlist for favorite bands. the world lost a talented musician today. condolences to his family and friends. words can't even express it enough right now.

haven't seen this mentioned anywhere, but last week NWA sent out an email survey. link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R6YVBJ5

i agree with @D.Z Super Mario 35 is a blast. took way longer than i expected to earn a 1st place finish. pretty consistently in the top 5 or so.

ha! i didn't catch that the first time and had to go back to check it out. he actually wore 3 different ties during his short appearance. Here they are, in order. Also note that his pocket square changes each time.

really good point. i used to think of him as TNA's Test. not a favorable comparison.

for anybody into this sort of thing, Hasbro is bringing back its D&D style game, HeroQuest. they've got it up on Hasbro Pulse, which seems to be an in-house version of Kickstarter. Met its goal within 24 hrs. https://hasbropulse.com/products/heroquest-game-system

a couple months ago (holy shit, April 1st), Dark Order #8 and 9 lost to the Natural Nightmares on Dynamite. #9 made another appearance in August (8/5/20) at the time, it was reported that Brandon Cutler played #9 in the second appearance and that it would lead to a future storyline. around that time, Peter Avalon seemed to entertain an offer from Dark Order (maybe this was on BTE? i don't remember for sure). Did i miss an advancement in this specific regard? i know they faced each other on Dark recently, but i don't remember a Dark Order role playing into it at all. thoughts?

so, my birthday is October 24th. i turn 38 this year. i say that, not to fish for bday wishes, but to mention that every year, i have a 3-day party. we're talking every year for like 15ish years. but of course, this is 2020, so fuck your plans. i've used this as a chance to reach out to friends that i've fallen out with. not because of bad blood, but just due to life. and i've reconnected (virtually....) with some cool ass people. it feels fucking great. some of these folks i was tight with until life happened. i didn't know how much i missed some of these dudes until i was talking to them again. now's the time. reach out. set something up. i don't care if it's a zoom call, a lunch meeting, after work drinks, or an online gaming session. make it happen.

well, shit. i fucking adore Hickman's current run, but i'm only reading the mainline X-Men title. will probably wait for it all to come out before i read it. seriously, this run is balls to the wall bonkers. every issue matters, and how many ongoings can say that?

the recent LHW announcements got me thinking. i'm ready for Jiri Prochazka to follow up his Fight Island debut. is anything lined up? who's not already committed?

fully disagree. by this point, we'd been in SuperCena's world for well over a year. he dominated every thing and every one. he always won the verbal battles. he never showed ass. at this point, anyone that buys Cena as a sympathetic babyface hasn't watched the WWE Universe in a long time. maybe i'm just jaded because IMO the SuperCena era is THE lowest point in WWE history. following the previous few years of dogshit booking, Cena on top and overcoming the odds (every. fucking. week!) completely killed my love for wrestling. fuck Cena.

LOL.

WWE policy in a nutshell

snarky teenager logic always told me the same thing. wrestler 1 is a master of his maneuver. wrestler 2 doing it makes it less effective. in cases where #2 does it to #1, wrestler #1 "knows the secret way out" and can't be pinned from it. i would've marked out for a storyline where a vet "passes on his move" by teaching all the secrets of it to a younger guy, only to see young guy make a heel turn and use it on the vet. sadly, if it happened during 90s WWF, it would've been rushed, ineffective, and forgotten about by the next week.