Remianen

This is hilarious. You really expect a 50+ year old survivor of a stroke to be some awesome physical specimen? Especially given the fact that he wasn't one in his prime? The man is blessed to even still have full motor function. You cannot be serious. Do you not know how this all works? Yeah! I mean it's not like WWE took most of ECW's concept and used it as the basis for the most popular era in its history. Honestly, people amaze me with how they can't seem to separate a concept from its execution. Paul Heyman was a creative/artistic type. Anyone who has worked with or employed people like that will tell you that you must keep them on a leash or they'll burn through money/budgets without a second thought. Ever hear the term 'starving artist'? Now, ever hear the term 'starving banker' or 'starving hedge fund manager'? Why? Maybe that statement should read 'ECW wasn't brilliant because WWE didn't think of it first'. Would probably be more honest that way.

Not surprising. I mean, it's not like you need steak to attract pigeons.

Um, you do realize that many cities have minivans and SUVs operating as taxis, yes? None of those men (besides the two unknowns and the the driver) are particularly large, after all.

Putting this here just in case.... I saw this exact same thing for Katrina. In fact, I SAID some borderline offensive things to family members, once they got up here. This one is no different. I was born & raised in Brooklyn, NY. I've got tons of Haitian friends. It's one thing to say something to friends or in the company of people who know you're helping and not just trying to stir up stuff. A Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck can say something because only their audience or fanbases actually care what they think (so most folks don't even hear it). But Bubba's in a bad position in that he's on national television now and has to work with people outside of his little bubble. Thus when he says something offensive (to some), he has to be willing to face the music (or guard his grill, as the case may be ). Kia's a big sweetie but everyone has their limits. *shrug*

lazorbeak is right. You can't take too many chances when you're in the 'E's position. Their industry is already seen as less legitimate than many (if not most) corporate sectors. So their money is made off the stars they already have (who are largely the stars of the late 90s, with a few exceptions). Um, no. That puts three of the limited number of workers who can main event Wrestlemania into ONE match. Too many eggs in that one basket. I'm probably remembering wrong but I think the 'E uses triple threats and four ways as a way of covering for a worker who perhaps can't draw necessary interest (WMXX for example). Putting three workers who can/have drawn in the same match seems off. Everyone prefers being a face. That's where the money is (generally speaking). But Show's in a bad place since he's one of the few 'monster' type heels they have who can actually work a match. So you completely extinguish Kofi's heat and momentum that you've spent the last 6 months building? So how do you rebuild Khali to make him credible again if he's jobbing? He's a monster with limited to no in-ring skills and almost no charisma. He needs to be seen as a threat at all times. That doesn't happen if he's jobbing constantly. And do what with Cody? I don't think Cody has his father's gifts so he and Ted are a package deal. I think Santino's in a perfect position, personally. Sure, he could be booked stronger but he bounces back from losses and still remains relevant to E fans. Well, while good, the options you suggest answer some questions but create other problems that would need to be addressed. I thought for sure that they would've turned Ted leading up to the release of The Marine 2 and maybe turn him back with a swerve at the Rumble but that didn't happen.

ReapeR, I am convinced that you could poop on a title belt render and it would still come out looking awesome!

Yeah, just like Jake Roberts! And the British Bulldogs! And Koko B. Ware. And.... Much of what Ken is known for, there are people who would give anything for. He's not an Elijah Burke level person (but few people that young are) but having that one hook can often make you employable. Different strokes. Personally, I've never been too high on Booker. I don't think he's nearly as charismatic as Burke is (or at least, it's not as obvious) and Booker T on the mic is like Hattie McDaniels for all intents and purposes. Good caricature though, if that counts for anything. That's kinda harsh. chris is close. Sunrooms are similar to solariums, except for their purpose. If I remember right, solariums are built for sun exposure (and usually out of glass) whereas with sunrooms, the 'sun' part is a bit of a misnomer since they're usually built for casual viewing (not sun exposure). A sunroom is often shaded (you see them a lot in Florida dwellings) whereas a solarium by design is there to invite the sun. Solarium http://www.globalsolariums.com/PhotoGallery/homepiccenter.jpg Sunroom is covered on three sides (roof and both sides) with the front in glass. You can tan in a solarium much easier than a sunroom (since the room's exposure to the sun is much longer and larger). http://www.globalsolariums.com/PhotoGallery/image-curve-eaves-sunroom.jpg ANYWAY, I liked the show a lot. They found the perfect capacity for Ric Flair and the one person on the entire roster who can profit (the company and his own stock) most from Flair. I wouldn't be mad if they build a stable around these two (get some more folks learning at the feet of one of the masters).

Which is your right. However, typically the reason why a booker is replaced is because....what s/he was doing wasn't working (or wasn't working well enough). Most people look to immediately correct that while at the same time putting their own stamp on things. This is no different to Allen & Shanahan in Washington (if you think that team is returning intact, I've got oceanfront property in Nevada you might like to see) or any coach/GM taking over a team. Trust me, I am not a fan of Hogan (though Bischoff has his moments) but I totally understand TNA's choice to basically turn away from old characterizations. If you're trying to sell 'NEW', you don't begin by continuing the OLD. (Yes, I realize the irony in that statement ) It's like promising someone a new car and giving them a Dodge Dart. Yes, technically it's new (to them, because they didn't own it previously) but it doesn't fit the image of the statement.

cappyboy, did you really expect for a new regime to "take over" and be held to the old regime's characterizations? Honestly. As PeterHilton said, this is a reboot. When you take over a promotion in TEW, do you have to keep with everything the previous booker did? To me, that line made the promo because it's so absurd. That's like 'Susan Boyle is gorgeous' or 'Kevin Nash is easily the best technician on the planet'. Everything else was 'meh' about it with Bischoff as the only person who seemed to hit his lines properly.

You have got to be kidding me. You can't possibly be serious. You really don't know why? I used to laugh at the Beautiful People's entrance, when they straddled the ring ropes and Velvet would point the cameraman at her postage stamp booty. I'm hoping this pointless booking has...a point. I'm also praying to every diety on Earth (as well as Faerun) that Beer Money doesn't lay down for Hall & Nash. I did like Jarrett's heel turn though ("There aint enough talent in this company to fill a coffee cup").

No. And if the Nasty Boys show up on Genesis, it's a guaranteed 'pass' for me. Nasty Boys-3D is bound to be as awful as Angle-Styles is good (probably moreso). It's like saying in order to get with the hot girl, you have to do the grenade first. Ugh. Those two probably look as bad as Jim Neidhart did.

He does not. I don't think he ever has. There's a reason he phased it out of his billing name. If you look at his movie credits, in every movie he's done with 'The Rock' moniker, there's a little blurb in the opening credits that says, "In Association with WWE Films". That means WWE was getting a cut (however small) for licensing the name for the use of the movie. By dropping it altogether, WWE gets nothing for 'Tooth Fairy' or 'Spy Hunter' or 'Get Smart' or 'Doom'. Think about it. The Rock name has value. Why would he stop using it altogether if he owned it? *shrug* It's not universal though. When I worked for American Express, I was on the team that developed the 'Blue' card (with the gimmick microchip in the center?) from conception to launch. I signed an NDA but there was no non-compete clause in it. To this day I can tell you how the Centurion card (aka "the black card") was developed since it was based largely on Blue and the Platinum card (which Blue took a lot of internal elements from). In fact, three members of that team went to Visa and helped them develop their Black card. Now, maybe I'm not seeing something here but I'm guessing internal details on credit card programs might be considered a bit more sensitive than a wireless salesperson's knowledge. Could definitely be wrong though and the two industries might have very different priorities. Non competes are often a fact of corporate life though. A friend of mine is a litigator with a top firm here and if she leaves her job (or is fired for incompetence or something), she has to cool her heels for 3 months before she can get back on the horse, with a few stated exceptions (lobbying or non-legal fields).

Generally speaking, this might be correct. But there are problems that come with this. Just ask General Motors and Ford. When you're that big, it's hard to be nimble and responsiveness is extremely important in the entertainment field. But jwt does have a point (even if he doesn't explain it properly). There is a lot of value in reaching 'institution' level. Embodying a product or industry and/or defining an industry or function has definite value. From 'Kleenex' to 'Kotex' to 'Google', it's clear that's true. That's where the whole 'brand management' side of marketing comes in and earns its keep. When people think 'pro wrestling', they think of ONE company and when the tide is high, that can drive your bottom line. (Conversely, when the tide is low, it can have a negative impact as we see every time some wrestler or personality associated with the industry dies). Good point. I think most people can see that. Is Windows the best operating system? Only if you don't know any better (and let's face it, most people don't). It's the most popular and has become the OS equivalent of an institution, so the point becomes moot (you don't have much of a choice in the matter, for the most part). Same can be said for Internet Explorer vs Firefox. From a corporate standpoint, WWE is better (though I wish their P&E was better). From a consumer standpoint (which is the very definition of personal opinion), nah. I think I've given away or turned down more tickets to WWE events than most people ever see (even traded Royal Rumble tickets for Gospelfest ). I'm not really a fan of them (more of a casual observer, given their institutional position) but then, I'm not a fan of Kim Kardashian either but there are obviously folks out there who are. Fast food chains don't pay people a couple million to feature in their commercials if no one cares about them. How many people here are avid 'Jersey Shore' viewers? Must be a few fans somewhere if their cast members are being offered a hundred grand to hang out at a club for one night.

Yeah, that was funny to me. Flair can still wrestle the kind of match he always did. He never was a particularly high impact sort but he can still do a traditional style match better than 96% of TNA's current roster. Gonna throw out some names here: Lou Thesz, Karl Gotch, Mil Mascaras. All of them able to do what they did, better than many (if not most) of their contemporaries, despite (or perhaps because of) their age. I'd put the Legends belt on Flair and let him teach the younger guys how to feed off a crowd, how to work a match on the fly, how to structure a match that makes sense, and for TNA, good God I'd let him teach them how to cut a promo. Sure he doesn't look as good physically but Flair has never been known for his physique. Hogan looks like he might be ready for a C cup, after all. Flair can still wrestle. Can he work TNA's spot-heavy style? Probably not. But someone needs to school the spot monkeys on how to be cruiserweights/juniors and if one match per night has to run at a different pace to accomplish that, I wouldn't mind it. You must be freebasing Drano. While I'm not a fan, saying Sean Waltman is better than Triple H isn't even opinion. It's a transparent fallacy. Can you explain to me what 'Triple H heat' is and whether it's a universal term synonymous with 'awful crowd reaction'? Because I know that 'X-Pac Heat' is. Yeah, he's nothing if not entertaining ("Wolfie"). I really wish they'd put the X title on him rather than have Mr I Couldn't Entertain a Church Full of Relatives without help but I can do the flippity floppity dance all day. That's not fair. The divas (by and large) aren't wrestlers. You can't compare even Mickie to someone like Sarah Stock not even mentioning Kong (who worked/was champion in the most prominent women's promotion to date) or Hamada (who's done it since she was like 16, in both Japan and Mexico). It's like comparing high school football teams to say the Detroit Lions. Even the best high school team isn't as good as the worst NFL team. I bet even Fuuka could wrestle circles around the divas.

I would, and I'd take your money TWICE. I don't know why people get fixated on this size thing. I've taken down people three times my size and I'm not even that good (just crafty and fast). But I can't see them going with an unproven in the main event of the biggest PPV of the year. No way, no how.

Using 'em ALL. They rock!

Reaper, I have to say, even when you screw up, you rock it hard!

WTF, those are freakin' AWESOME! I honestly didn't expect them this quickly! WOW! Thanks tons!

Cop out. Given your particular inclination though, I'll give you a pass. The same crap line is used by bad writers and directors to justify their....well, badness. "Watch with your heart", "Don't judge", "It wasn't made for you" (so who was it made for? Lobotomized mongoloids?). Uwe Boll says the same kind of thing. Repeatedly. The same (or similar) was said about Ishtar and Water World and the first Hulk movie (apparently, fans of the character made the movie suck ). But you're a screenwriter so I'm guessing you might be too close to the situation. Keep this in mind though: everything is easier to watch/consume...when you turn your brain off (since it's usually your brain that tells you "Wait, this doesn't make sense!" while air raid sirens go off in your mind). You could do 100 shots of Jaegermeister or Everclear....if you just don't think about it. Anyway, I noticed something while they were setting up for the 'MVP jobs to Sheamus' match. The WWE title belt.....doesn't have a name plate on it. I mean, previously when someone won the title, the very next night on Raw, the new champ came out with his name on the belt...but not this time. It's especially apparent during the tight shot of him in the ring with the belt draped over his left shoulder. The part where the nameplate should be....is blank, a black void, has no plate there at all. Hmmm........

Yeah, that's why Triple H/Cena/Taker keep carrying the props. Doesn't make it good business in the short term. Sure it can pay off in the long term sense but that's not guaranteed money. Bird in the hand and all that. Actually, if I remember right, I "talked about Sheamus" in fear that they'd misuse him. Absolutely not. Seriously, do people not exist prior to signing with WWE? Umm, are you serious? The belt is the central point of most money drawing programs. The only time it's not is when workers are bigger than the title (see: DX, Taker-Michaels, JeriShow). This whole thing is a setup to a 'babyface chases the title' storyline. Now, without the title, what's the babyface gonna chase? Why does he want to beat this guy? What's his motivation? Props are infinitely interchangeable and replaceable. A gun in a fight scene is easily replaced with a knife or a spatula or a pair of panties. That gun doesn't define the fight. A title in this kind of program defines the program. It represents the goal. It's a finish line of sorts. Without a finish line, where and when does a race end? I think you're oversimplifying things, but that's your right. I always treat titles as a symbol. My top title is always an anointment of sorts. It's me telling the fanbase that this is my top worker (or this is what my top worker is striving for). You think the Vince Lombardi trophy or the Stanley Cup is a prop? I know many who would disagree with that assertion.

*shrug* It's a personal thing. I like Dennis Miller (and Bill Maher and Ron White ("I was gonna!"), etc) and despise people like Dane Cook who are funnier to themselves than they are to anyone else. I mainly like Dennis Miller because he's an intelligence test (IMO). Half the references he makes requires people actually know stuff. But I would agree that WWE should've known better since he's not appealing to their audience. In fact, they would've been far better off with Dane Cook than Dennis Miller. I mean, he called Triple H "The Show". I liked a lot about this episode though. Masters and his schtick, Vicki & Santino, I loved how Randy Orton sold the chokeslam after he "beat" Taker though I didn't like how Punk got....well, punked. It fit but I didn't personally like it. King's joke about Mark Henry and computer dating was good too.

Well to be fair, WWE's audience isn't Dennis Miller's typical audience. I'll not say any more than that (to stay outta trouble ). Match of the Year is Taker-Michaels or somebody needs a lobotomy.

That seems like a fairly common occurrence. And yes, your love of WCW is about as much a secret as my love of women's wrestling.

God I hope you're kidding. I used to get pissed when I'd take a friend to SHIMMER shows and hear crap like that (til I just quit taking friends). You're a dyed in the wool WCW fan though, aren't you? Sweet Saraya can still go. But you have to understand that the UK style is not the US style. If she's working the style she's most familiar with, she's easily one of the best workers the UK has. She's not a flippity floppity spot monkey (that's more Britani's style) but her strengths lie in her performance skills and charisma. I dunno. Last I saw her a year ago, Britani was still really green. If she came to TNA, they'd have to restrict her to working only with the experienced hands (Hamada, Melissa, Sarah Stock, Tara, Kong) or doing color-by-numbers style matches with everyone else. Otherwise, somebody gon' get kilt! Maybe they signed Saraya to work with the Knockouts as a road agent (she'd be good at that).

Yeah but this holiday season is expected to be soft. There aren't nearly as many 'must have' items (ala Beanie Babies, Tickle Me Elmo, Sing & Snore Ernie, new consoles, etc) this year. So (some) retailers are kinda pissed about people banking on post-Christmas activity when that's traditionally the time they cut prices to the quick to get (leftover) stuff out the door. If they released during the official holiday shopping season, the stores could run promotions to help move units. Post-Christmas, aint nobody tryin' to hear anything but '75% off' or BOGO in this economy. At least that's the perspective of some larger retailers. "Spokesmen are like politicians. It's their job to bend the truth and outright lie because the truth is ugly as my mother-in-law" (direct quote from the manager of a Best Buy).