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SorceressKnight

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Everything posted by SorceressKnight

  1. WCW still dies when Jamie Kellner pulls it off television. The same token- I don't think WCW dies if Kellner pulled it off television- we can assume that Jarrett would have been one of the core guys in a outside-bought WCW, and since TNA did start when it did, it's likely that Jarrett (or even Russo, who was close to doing the same in 2001) would have brought up the possibility of going to weekly PPVs like TNA did (and WCW's name brand probably could have gotten a WCW TV deal quicker than TNA got one.)
  2. WCW still dies when Jamie Kellner pulls it off television. The same token- I don't think WCW dies if Kellner pulled it off television- we can assume that Jarrett would have been one of the core guys in a outside-bought WCW, and since TNA did start when it did, it's likely that Jarrett (or even Russo, who was close to doing the same in 2001) would have brought up the possibility of going to weekly PPVs like TNA did (and WCW's name brand probably could have gotten a WCW TV deal quicker than TNA got one.)
  3. Cold nothing. It's New England. The average blood type is Dunkin' Donuts positive. You need as many people to get your coffee as possible.
  4. One other problem seen with the Over the Edge 1999 edits made: Should it be edited or not put on the Network? Probably. Already, there's the small slippery slopes. As said in the network thread- Hawk died from years of drug abuse- should they edit out all the "Hawk relapse-commits suicide" angle from Raw?" If Chris Benoit had went crazy from years of concussions- should his matches be cut out because we know they caused them to happen? Those are just the FIRST part of this. Having said that- does anyone here actually TRUST the WWE with the edits they could make- either by slippery slope or not? We KNOW the WWE by now. We know what they'd do. If we know they'd censor Over the Edge 1999, we KNOW that WWE would also go from there to "CM Punk left us? NO CM PUNK MATCH MAKES THE NETWORK UNTIL HE COMES BACK TO THE FOLD!"
  5. I sincerely doubt anything major changes from the plane ride from hell. The nWo in WWE was flailing badly to begin with, and Scott Hall likely wouldn't have changed it any more than he did. As far as Hennig being a transitional World Champion- considering that a few weeks before the Plane Ride from Hell happened, he was having the Perfect-Plex kicked out of at 1 counts (albeit to Big Show, but still), That kind of says he was never going to do more than be a Heat jobber in WWE.
  6. The big point with Over the Edge '99 is that it's a case where just having it on there, but not saying anything about it, takes out some of the power behind it that would occur if you kept it off. The fact is- having Over the Edge 1999 on the Network, and not putting out any real fanfare about it (which WWE didn't do until people called them out on it enough so they had to say that it will be edited- and even that has people say "if it's edited, fair enough- we can see why they would") is better for it, simply because if WWE Network DIDN'T put it up, after saying EVERY PPV, more wrestling fans would say "You promised us EVERY Pay-Per-View, uncut, unedited! Where's Over the Edge 1999? LIARS! You promised us all of it!"...and then, Over the Edge 1999 keeps its power and has MORE people try to find it.
  7. But Snuka, or Savage, or Steamboat -- none of them could have been The Guy the way Hogan was. And without the WWF behind him, Hogan would never have amounted to the same thing either. Separately, neither Vince nor Hogan would have had the impact they had together. What if, in the absence of Hogan, Vince turns to another tall well-built blonde with a patriotic gimmick, who also happens to be younger and more athletic than Hogan? More than the "Windham didn't have Hogan's larger-than-life persona", more specifically, Windham wasn't ALREADY famous. Make no mistake, Rocky III was a bigger part of Hogan being a face for Vince to build around simply because he was already one of the most famous wrestlers in the world, getting him that credibility to mix "wrestling" and "celebrity" that pretty much NO other guy in the WWF could have matched in the 1980s (the only guy who could have matched that for WWF was Sgt. Slaughter- and even he needed a year or so to REALLY become SGT.SLAUGHTER.)
  8. Also, does Mike get pushed so hard? Does Mike still kill himself? What about Chris? With David around, can he help keep Kerry under control, so no motorcycle accident? That could really change things. Yes, Mike still gets the super push because he was a VE and they all got it minus Chris. Yes, Mike still probably kills himself since he was a druggie and the Toxic Shock Syndrome was a big factor as well. Kerry was his own biggest enemy and if he didn't kill himself, would have ended up in jail for the long term anyway like he was scheduled to. The VE's can blame David's death all they want and while I'm sure it played a factor, it is just a convenient excuse for parental abuse, drug problems/too fast too soon stardom and never growing up. This. I think the old board had a "What if Eddie Gilbert hadn't died in Feb 1995" and a plausible scenario is that Gilbert dies 5 months later in a hotel room in Puerto Rico from the same cause. Or he ods a week after that. Or.... Gilbert was an addict with a destructive personality. It's hard to imagine him getting clean and living another 20-30 years. Sane with the Von Erichs, in my opinion. The biggest threat to the brothers' health was themselves (well, maybe Fritz). If David lives, I think it changes the timeline of events somewhat, but not the ultimate outcome. KIerry sill spins out of control,Mike still does drugs and either kills himself or ods, etc. I'm skeptical that David's death was simply a heart attack as the VE's claim (Fliar's claim that Brody destroyed the evidence sounds a little more likely), If David did have a heart attack, I'd guess prior drug use had something to do with it (same with Gilbert). The Von Erich's were a bad combination of parental pressure, success they weren't ready for, and immature, addictive personalities. It's really difficult to think that turns out well simply because one or two events happen or don't happen. But it IS that timeline changing that makes the What If so questionable- simply because if David "originally" lives, then the question becomes: What ORDER do the VEs die in? If David originally lived, he probably would die- but probably wouldn't have died "FIRST" of the four (and since David was the most blue-chip star of them, that is important.) Even if you assume it becomes Mike/David/Chris/Kerry, then the whole VEs order goes differently since David was a blue-chip NWA prospect. Instead of "David Von Erich, star-crossed star", then he likely ties to a Magnum TA-style "he could have been THE person to put NWA back in the game if not for this happening" move.
  9. Continuing with the smaller What Ifs- one of the newer What Ifs with potential coming from the last few years: -What if WWE picked the jobber originally booked in late-January 2008? Colin Delaney was the third choice to be the jobber in ECW, and got a short WWE run out of it before being released in mid-2008. The first choice: Brodie Lee/Luke Harper (who, assuming that he does get the shot that time- presumably has the same career in 2008 and is long gone before the Wyatt Family formation.)
  10. Update on Over the Edge 1999: In an article about the subject today here , WWE revealed that they will be editing Over the Edge 1999 out of respect to Owen Hart.
  11. One smaller one I've always liked: -What if the USA Network didn't force WWE to do a "second draft", leading to the 15-person 2009 trade? (The trade: Raw got Mark Henry/Jack Swagger/Evan Bourne/Alicia Fox/Gail Kim, Smackdown got Finlay, Matt Hardy, and The Hart Dynasty, and ECW got The Bella Twins, Shelton Benjamin, Goldust, and William Regal- plus, Sheamus, Ezekiel Jackson, and Yoshi Tatsu got called up the next night.) Put it in, you could argue that trade swung the World Title potential of about 5-7 people.
  12. Tying into the "does HHH hold people down" thing- that is kind of your best example: CM Punk's pipebomb promo (and arguably, from that point and Punk's prior storyline, The Nexus Riot) directly led to a blowoff of "Triple H fights Kevin Nash in a ladder match." ...if you're a pro-"HHH holds people down" claim (I don't personally believe it- as there's too many flawed "claims" for the held down people to do so), that should be Exhibit A.
  13. But the big issue there is- any schooling has nothing to do with becoming a professional athlete either. If you say "Why should a player who's good enough to be paid to dunk a basketball be forced to go to college", then by definition, that question can also be brought down to "If you're a 10th grader or 11th grader who's a red-hot high school prospect, and you're good enough to get paid to do it- then why on earth should you be forced to get your high school diploma and not be allowed to drop out of school to enter the WWE Draft?" And from there, the slope can go further and further down (Players in Europe are allowed to sign to soccer or basketball teams' development systems as children and rise the ranks, even making their teams as young as 14 (like Rubio did.) We know that the ranking systems for prospects is down as low as 5th and 6th graders right now. With those, why can't the parent of a top prospect 5th grader decide to emigrate their family to Europe and sign their kid to a Euroleague team?" Is it perfect, no? But you need to draw a line SOMEWHERE.
  14. Now that the New Age Outlaws are officially back and champs again, as bad guys [but not conclusively in or out of the storyline], I just want to see WWE do the Vince-esque move to make them heels of the NAO being put in a match with HHH and a mystery partner, which becomes HBK- then the New Age Outlaws do a fingerpoke of doom for DX. It's simple, but the Vince-esque ways would make it golden: There "was" the angle in TNA where VKM put up one million dollars for a match against D-Generation X back in 2006. Dixie Carter famously put $1 million in reserve, expecting DX would actually collect it. The only issues there- during the challenge: -VKM NEVER SAID that it had to take place in a TNA ring. On the contrary, they openly said that it could take place in a TNA or a WWE ring- in their words, "your house, our house, or an outhouse". Likewise, they never said that they had to be called VKM in that match- the only rules were that those two had to fight HBK/HHH in a match. -VKM's challenge had NO time limit mentioned in the promo- they never mentioned a date when that challenge expired. Meaning- if WWE runs a random "DX vs. New Age Outlaws" fingerpoke one week, then WWE can legally go to TNA and say "You told us if DX fought these two men, you'd pay $1 million. We made the match- that will be one million dollars", and legally TNA would HAVE to pay up.
  15. But on the opposite side, the other question would be- wouldn't the downgrade (you lose 17% of your starts to downgrade from a #1 to a #6) be counteracted by the benefits (the more rest a pitcher could have, the more innings they can throw [saving relievers], with presumably harder stuff since you get that much rest in?
  16. Oh, i agree with that. You could say ryan was like a pitching Dave Kingman, given the K number coupled with the BB numbers. Tou could argue also that Ryan could be one of th HOFers already enshrined that is a PED user. I didn't hear much about PED user- but supposedly, in the late-'80s, Ryan was apparently known around the league as...having learned from Mike Scott in the Astros' staff, shall we say.
  17. Voted "Rest of the World", but just a couple possibilities for it: -Since it's a March Madness-style one, with how the NCAAs changed up- would adding a "First Four" or "First Eight" rule to help the rest of the world or indies in help more- the lowest eight play in for the 15-16 seeds? That way, you keep some spots for top indy names and/or top international names? -For the "do you add women" in, with the "NIT" suggestion there and how it works for others, would a March Madness, women's only field of `16 NIT field work well for anyone?
  18. If you're doing that (and especially with how loaded the ballots are now), then the three strikes rule should also change the BBWAA voting rule: If you get less than 5% of the ballot, you're ineligible to be voted in from the BBWAA for the ballot- but, after the normal 22-25 years past your career's end, you do become eligible for Veterans' Committee consideration. (However- to keep with the "3 strikes" rule: Any player who got less than 5% on the Veteran's Committee ballot starts with one strike and only get two chances to make the HOF through the committee.) It should help keep things going as new stats/effects change people's cases for the better (and should work when the HOF closes the Expansion Era at 1973-1994 and just institutes "The PED Era" from 1995-present, just to get it over with.)
  19. It depends on how you feel about his columns. It's just a bigger feel, with a lot of columns put into the book. On the plus side, the book did rein him in a bit- he didn't mention CM Punk's Pipebomb for nearly 180 pages. That's over half the book, instead of "tie in whatever's going on at this moment, or the history, to that one promo and claim it's a new era".like his Grantland work.
  20. But the problem is- even if he is popular, the fact that Punk is too shooty is his fatal flaw to keep him from being THE MAN in WWE. I am a Punk fan- but CM Punk is the type of babyface who makes his name by preaching to the choir, not converting the masses who aren't watching. During the time when he became "Voice of the Smarks, er, Voiceless", it's the type of gimmick where a person who's already a WWE fan would love it [especially if they're already IWC]...but could you imagine having this conversation with a non-fan about Punk right after the pipebomb: Fan: "I know, I know, but trust me. You HAVE to turn on Raw!" Non-Fan: "But Raw's sucked- why should I?" Fan: "It's different now, I swear! They have this guy CM Punk that you have to see in action! You'll be a fan again in no time!" Non-Fan: "What makes him so good?" Fan: "Well, get this- you thought the show sucked? Well, Monday CM Punk talked about how much WWE television sucks! It's awesome!" Non-Fan: "Well, if he's good...uh...okay..." Fan: "But that's the best part. See- in a few weeks his contract's going to expire! He's going to leave the WWE for good as its champion!" Non-Fan: "...so, let me get this straight. You're telling me to watch Raw now...because WWE TV sucks...and this one guy is telling us how and why it sucks so bad...and in a few weeks he'll be off WWE programming as WWE Champion, so now the show will still suck, and it's going to lose its most entertaining character, who is also taking away the thing everyone's fighting for- so on and offscreen WWE loses their best guy, and is left with a show we're told sucks?" Fan: "Yeah! It's awesome, right?" Non-Fan: "...yeah, no..." ,
  21. Oh, please... Like a Japanese-owned team wasn't going to sign Japan's best active hitter after he expressed interest in playing in the US? But having said that, would Ichiro have expressed that interest if Nomo hadn't been competitive enough to show that Japanese players could thrive in the US? Normally, Nomo would be a very, very borderline case- but considering the World Baseball Classic, Nomo's probably worth at least a Veteran's Committee look (if he can get the 5%.)
  22. I've hinted it before if I make claims for the HOF, but: Tinker, Evers, and Chance. At least two of the players there didn't have great stats, even for the 1900s, and the third was a fringe HOFer even by 1900s standards. One of them was actively mediocre. They weren't even a particularly deadly double-play combination in their day. The ONLY REASON those three players are in the Hall of Fame is because of the famous poem. Kick them out.
  23. Very much so. NJPW right now is a weird hybrid of WWE style with some strong style still mixed in, and MUCH more engaging characters. I also agree with this. I mentioned Tanahashi, Okada and Kojima specifically because they have outstanding physical charisma, and could possibly get over either way. With that said, very few of the very top guys over there are working the dangerous 90's-mid 2000's style anymore. Even physical charisma doesn't necessarily mean a Japanese wrestler could work in WWE, though. There's plenty of talented Japanese wrestlers who don't have charisma that translates in the West- they fail if they go to WWE. If a wrestler- like a Tajiri [or a Tanahashi/Okada/Kojima] does come to the WWE...if they don't speak English, they'll fail to get over in WWE because they can't cut promos. Then, to make matters worse- even if they have outstanding physical charisma, and they can speak English fluently (witness Tajiri/Yoshi Tatsu/Funaki as three good examples of those)...they're still screwed, because apparently from booking, Vince McMahon thinks that their accent is inherently funny (so they'll be locked into being comedy characters.) , So...if a puro star had a great, WWE-style in the ring...and impeccable physical charisma...and they were fluent in English, which they speak with a newscaster's lack of accent...then, maybe they'd get over.
  24. Should David consider altering his ambitions because of what a few message posters say? No. Should David consider altering his ambitions because no major company would hire him and, even if they did, he'd have to deal with constant crap about his dad every day of his career? Yes, I think so. Why should he change because of a few assholes would treat him? I doubt anyone in the business would give him a hard time about his father. And when you say no major company, you mean WWE. He can still make a comfortable living wrestling in Japan. You act as if he has not considered all the possibilities. Plus, the big problem with David's career is that even if WWE did blackball him because of his father- WWE can't win the argument. The media would complain if David Benoit got hired- but at the same time, the media who would complain loudest about his hiring tend to be the sections of the media that are already biased against WWE and would complain for any reason, be it "hiring David Benoit", "running a big PPV event", or "it's a slow news day and I have 1500 words to fill." People are saying "WWE shouldn't sign David because Phil Mushnick/his ilk will complain!"- as if it wouldn't be just as easy for that ilk to write a column saying "David Benoit is a innocent young man who just wants to live his dream and be a wrestler, but the heartless WWE cares so little for the surviving family of Chris Benoit that they've dropped the survivors and won't even dignify him with a tryout!" as it would to be "WWE signed the son of the murderer Chris Benoit!"
  25. I think character actors are more like the luchadores in WCW. There were some like Juvi and Psycosis who eventually separated themselves from the pack. There were others like Silver King and La Parka who eventually got cult followings. Then there were guys like Ciclope and the Villanos who were guys who you recognized, and were in some really fun matches, but ultimately weren't ever contenders. Ron Perlman who is great in just about everything he is in, is an intercontinental or U.S. champion at best(not an insult, some of the best wrestlers in history peaked with those titles). I think Benoit/Malenko were solid mid to upper midcard guys, who were closer to Jake Gyllenhaal or Idris Elba. They are guys with solid fan bases, can carry a movie, but ultimately are a step below the biggest stars. Are we going to include TV actors in this discussion? Comparing them- wouldn't Ron Perlman be slightly higher than the character actors [or indeed, closer to midcard]- but if that's the case, wouldn't the previously mentioned Chris Evans be in the same boat right now [Evans, like Perlman, hasn't been a big star- and the only huge, peak stardom moment for each one happened in a superhero movie- so it is possible they weren't the draw as much as the character was], and if Evans is presumably at his peak now, it leads to the same comparison. EDIT: And if that's the case - wouldn't that put most of the ilk of people who are big box office draws due to being major players in superhero movies inherently in the role of the gimmicked-up midcarders [guys like Fandango/Los Matadores/3MB/etc.]- they are higher on the card then they'd likely deserve if not for their gimmick?
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