twiztor

i don't know how much older stuff like Portland would translate to anything for TNA. WWE could use it, but i feel like TNA wouldn't really have a valid reason or way to use it. As far as the WWA stuff from 2002 or whatever goes, absolutely. There was some really good stuff happening there, plus a lot of it was guys that at some point have worked for TNA. Indy NWA promotions would also be helpful, whether it be using it to introduce new guys or fill out dvds, or just offering videos you haven't seen before. And i still can't believe someone hasn't gotten ahold of stuff like the Super J Cup, or J-Crown, and dubbed it in English. Hell, King of the Death Match would sell a million copies.

Sonnen/Evans and Sonnen/Davis are both stinkers of fights and i don't really have any inclination to see either one. and i thought sonnen and/or evans were moving to middleweight?

so i just watched Henderson/Pettis 1 for the first time (travesty, i know). It absolutely lives up to all the hype given it and is, off the top of my head, the best 5 round fight i've ever seen. i don't expect the rematch to live up to those high standards, but it should be a fantastic fight. can't wait for saturday.

the Condit/Kampmann fight was a classic. it continued to get better as it went on, and you could just sit back and watch Condit get more and more comfortable while dealing more and more damage. THIS is the reason main events are 5 rounds. It would've been a shame to see this end as a 3 round decision. didn't notice beforehand that the Gastelum fight was at Welterweight. Everybody else is correct, he IS a beast. Perez/Mizugaki was my personal FOTN. i'm not a huge fan of the feather- and underweights, but fights like this make them totally worthwhile.

here's a quickie: In October 1994, Luna Vachon and David "Gangrel/Vampire Warrior" Heath were married. i keep running across references to this appearing on WWF tv, but it's always referred to in a vague sense, never a date or show listed. Any ideas if this actually aired and when?

it's only $25 for Pearce/Cabana unless you go with the deluxe deal. that being said, i'd pick up a dvd of the NWA World Title Tournament from 2007 or whatever if they ever released that like they (NWA) said they would.

that did a great job of making me think that Wanderlei really will smash Sonnen. until the rational side of my brain kicks in and i realize that's not likely at all. fuck it, i'll still root for him.

you'd be good to jump right in. you're already in the loop with the Sonia bit, which is all you need.

i'm a HUGE nightwing fan. at the point you're at, whilst reading the monthlies, i had pretty much decided that the title would never be above "decent". It has enough interesting things going on in the background, like Sonia Branch/Zucco, to keep me reading. I was very interested to see where the "Haly's has a permanent home in Gotham" was going to go, until i saw the ending, at which point it felt completely wasted. But yes, when Dick travels to Chicago, everything is all good again. also, a couple weeks ago, i got caught up on Batgirl (i had stopped reading after #8/the 0 issue). This series also hits its stride at some point during the James Jr. stuff. Whatever issue number it is where Gail Simone comes back after 2 issues off (16?) is a great turning point, and feels like the title's going somewhere finally. Not sure how far they are in trades tho.

he's also never scored a pinfall on Hogan. Won a few times by count out in the late 80s, but that's the closest he's ever been to beating the Hulkster.

re: Overeem: one failed drug test (for high testosterone, no steroids detected) he was the 2010 K1 champion as an mma heavyweight, he: split a series with Kharitonov, beat Paul Buentello, Mark Hunt, Brett Rogers, Todd Duffee, and Fabricio Werdum. He also faced (a WAY past his prime) Cro-Cop, which went to a no contest, and entered himself into the StrikeForce Grand Prix whilst holding the SF and Dream heavyweight titles. granted, none of this is the absolute best of the absolute best, but who else was there for him to face outside of the UFC? the biggest names (Fedor, Bigfoot, Barnett) were all also in the GrandPrix. With his first fight in the UFC being a KO of a Brock Lesnar fresh off losing his title, i see no problem with him being the #1 contender.

i remember Monsoon calling it the Head Knocker one time when Andre used it, so thats what i've called it since and no WCW jobber team is complete without Renegade, Jim Powers, and Joe Gomez. and if you want a luchador, there's always Lizmark Jr.

so, random thought. the kids in Scooby Doo are often referred to as "Mystery, Inc." but i can not EVER recall hearing this name used in the cartoons themselves. the first time i remember hearing "Mystery Inc" was around '96 when Cartoon Network was gaining traction, and i didn't know who they were talking about. Any ideas how/where/when this came from and how it came to be the standard?

I'm fantasy booking this at Fall Brawl '98 (september). This was during WWF's height as well as WCW's period of doing weird shitty things to try to get the audience back. Team WWF: Austin, Undertaker, Kane, Mankind Team WCW: Luger, Sting, Giant, DDP Giant gets taken out early, maybe a stretcher job or something. This acts as his last match in WCW before jumping ship to the WWF. Team WCW are outnumbered but valiantly fight a losing battle, until the WWF team turns on Austin at the end, leaving him to the mercy of team WCW. We end with Austin in the Scorpion Deathlock and he passes out ala the Bret match. the special guest referee, Eric Bischoff, calls for the bell, once again using the Montreal Screwjob as a finish.

i am a humongous fan of Brubaker's Captain America/Winter Soldier run. And Gotham Central. both are highly, highly recommended from me.

Sunday, 10/24/82 WWF @ Trenton, NJ: Mr. X def Bob Bradley Curt Hennig def Frankie Williams Salvatore Bellomo def Mac Rivera Pete Sanchez def Johnny Rodz by DQ Ivan Putski def White Angel IC Title: Billy Graham vs. Pedro Morales © ended in Double DQ MACW @ Roanoke, VA Jimmy Valiant vs Jos LeDuc Jack Brisco vs Paul Jones Jay Youngblood & Johnny Weaver vs Sgt. Slaughter & Pvt. Don Kernodle AWA @ Green Bay, WI Baron von Raschke def Bobby Heenan by Count Out Bobby Duncum def Ray Stevens Brad Rheingans def Sgt. Jacques Goulet Hulk Hogan vs. Ken Patera ended without a winner as a no contest Handicap Match: Andre the Giant def Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey Rick Martel won a Battle Royal which featured everybody else from the card as well as Tom Lentz and Tom Stone Stampede @ Calgary, AB Bill Haynes def Mike Hammer Gerry Morrow def Tony Rocco Danny Davis & Hubert Gallant def Mr. Hito & Mach Hayato Hercules Ayala def Ho Chi Lau Mike Shaw def Jim Neidhart Davey Boy Smith, Bruce Hart, & Bret Hart def Duke Myers, the Great Gama, & ??? by DQ NJPW Fighting Spirit- Day 16 @ Saijo, Ehime, JP Norio Honaga def Nobuhiko Takada Makoto Arakawa def Masanobu Kurisu Ryuma Go def Shinichi Nakano Kuniaki Kobayashi def Black Cat SD Jones def Junji Hirata Rusher Kimura & Animal Hamaguchi def Kantaro Hoshino & Haruka Eigen Tiger Mask & Osamu Kido def Marty Jones & Johnny Londos Seiji Sakaguchi def Bad News Allen by DQ Antonio Inoki, Kengo Kimura, & Tatsumi Fujinami def Les Thornton, Abdullah the Butcher, & Bob Orton, Jr. ?? (CSW?) @ Topeka, KS Mark Romero def Tapu Tommy Sharpe def Tio Manny Fernandez vs. Mike George ended as Double DQ Kim Duk def Bob Brown Buzz Tyler & Rufus R. Jones def Dewey Robertson & Hercules Hernandez i would totally watch any of these shows

to get a (very small) taste, the first issue of Invincible is also free on Comixology

the nWo got me into watching WCW and seeking out older NWA as i was purely a WWF guy until that time. So mid '96-mid/late '97 will always hold a special place in my heart. also, this is definitely in the minority, but i loved the Alliance period in 2001.

this is an excellent idea. i picked up a number of things from my local library: Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Neil Gaiman's Eternals, Will Eisner's the Spirit, and some others that don't spring to mind.

re: Final Crisis when i read the main mini series as it came out, i didn't understand it and thought it sucked. i later sat down and read everything, main series, tie-ins, spin offs, all of it, in a single sitting and thought it was just good. not great, not bad, just good. everything else that i've read from him (entire Batman run, Animal Man, 52, All-Star Superman) i've really enjoyed. his launch of Action Comics worked on its own, but when it was supposed to lead the Superman franchise it faltered. I'll tackle the Doom Patrol run at some point.

anything by Kurt Busiek. his standout stuff is Marvels and Astro City, and both are absolutely fantastic. He wrote a mini called Kirby: Genesis last year that did a lot of world building and introduced a ton of Jack Kirby's creations into their own universe that was pretty decent. also, Alan Moore's Miracleman isn't as well known or well regarded as Watchmen but absolutely should be. Unfortunately, it's not collected anywhere, so the only place to find it is by either buying all the individual issues (which gets expensive quick) and downloading them.

my recommendation is to pick a few characters you're interested in (for example, Batman) and then read some solo stories (ex. Year One) and some group stories with them as the main focus (ex. Tower of Babel). Find out what kind of stuff you enjoy reading, and go from there. P.S. Anything with Alan Moore is also highly recommended.

while it has no bearing on either man's career, or the future of the weight class, or really any relevance whatsoever, i've always been interested in Rampage/Tito. i think it is a solid co-main for whatever title fight they decide to headline their debut PPV with. also, the Alvarez bit was my first reaction to PPV also. Here's hoping this proves his point and he gets freed up to do whatever he wants to do.

pretty much Sonnen is their leading candidate for every fight at this point. he's more marketable than the other 95% of the roster combined.

Damian was pretty much universally hated (at least on the forums i visited). when Bruce "died", there were unanimous votes of people who wanted to see it revealed that Damian wasn't really his son and that he just go away forever. fast forward a couple years, and these very same forums and fans preach about how DC "never should have killed Damian", "he's the best character they've had in years", and so on and so forth. I think i've gotten just about as much fun from seeing the complete 180 in the opinions as i have from reading the books themselves.