Boondocks Kernoodle

I'll start you off with Wrestling Classic. WWF claimed 60,000 buys, but Dave at the time said he heard from another source that it was 43k. I read a while ago that Mania 2 did 100k, but I'm not sure about that.

I can't see them airing house show matches, as they would have to be professionally staged and recorded the way Raw and Smackdown are (WWE, with their emphasis on high production values, isn't going to air crappy two-camera footage from a bare arena). And that would be too much of an expense for a C-show like this.

No, someone will calm his nerves by reminding him that WWF had a Main Event before WCW.

Maybe the younger ones will respect him, but the wrestlers who have been around long enough to remember when he was "one of the boys" (even though he's been management for over a decade, albeit in an unofficial capacity for a lot of that) will never view him as a Vince-like figure. What I wonder about is the treatment of some of the legends in a HHH-run WWE, specifically the ones he doesn't like. Would there be any place for occasional Bret or Foley appearances if he was the one in charge? Dave has reported that HHH was against Bret's comeback and all of Hogan's after the initial 2002 run, so I don't think he has Vince's capacity to put aside personal differences for business's sake, though that might change when it's his money and reputation on the line.

Dave said on the LAW last night that it would be a big business story, but not something that a lot of people cared about. He even made the reference to TNA and their "major news" that always ends up disappointing. Of course nobody who wrote about it on the internet reported that part.

Dana just showed up at the EA press conference to announce that EA Sports has the UFC license now. I guess that was the announcement. Is THQ dead? Is EA buying THQ?

I was at the Philly Spectrum for Mania 1. They had the giant square scoreboard thing that hung from the middle of the place draped with four large screens. Like a giant movie theatre with seating for all four screens. Well then you're lucky. In Dallas they got one 45-inch screen for a 10,000 seat building. And the event was promoted in such a way that many of the fans in attendance thought the matches would be taking place there live.

Yeah, that's the story that keeps getting passed around, but the more I think about it the more it sounds like a huge exaggeration. What was he spending so much money on? What were the costs of doing a closed-circuit broadcast? (Hell, what were ANY of the details of doing a closed-circuit broadcast? That was before my time, but everyone who talks about the first Mania today just seems to take for granted that everyone knows exactly how it worked.) I know that all those celebrity cameos must've cost a chunk of change, but surely not nearly enough to bankrupt the guy who already owned the largest wrestling company in the world. Seriously, what was different about this show? It was held at their usual home arena. It mostly starred the usual card of the WWF's regular wrestlers. Why was this supposedly such a risk? They were renting out over a hundred buildings across the country (including big venues like the Boston Garden, Philly Spectrum, and the L.A. Sports Arena) to get people to come and watch wrestling via satellite. And from what I've read, the advance ticket sales for the closed-circuit were not strong, and it looked like the event was going to bomb until the last week or so when Hogan and T went on a PR blitz. There was a lot of risk involved. Also, Vince didn't have anywhere close to the money he would have later. I'd wager he was only worth a few million at that point.

Yeah, the guys he gets the warm glow about are from his father's era. Andre, Monsoon, Skaaland and especially Blassie.

WWE wrestlers go to UFC shows all the time. Has it ever been reported whether or not Brock still is under a UFC contract? I'm sure any obligation to fight is gone but he must still have some marketing ties with the organization. And Flik, I really don't want to be a jerk, and I don't demand perfect spelling from anyone, but please, stop with the "whear" and "thear." It's "where" and "there." I'm just trying to help you.

That's a pretty radical shift in Dana's opinion. He was always opposed to anyone doing UFC and wrestling at the same time because he didn't want people to look at his product as the equal of wrestling. I don't know what this means for the Brock/WWE relationship, but I imagine Brock is trying to send a message. I'm eagerly awaiting this morning's Observer Radio where Dave tells us that "it's one of those deals where...y'know Brock is...it's just one of those deals."

As much as I hate the Russo-esque "it was a plan all along!" stuff, if it wasn't a secret plan, that means Big Show really is a crying bitch who begged for his job last week. I guess since he's a heel now, it's OK to portray him that way, but man does it make him look weak.

At what point did Demolition become heels? I know it was some time between Mania and Summerslam in '90. Was there an angle to set it up? Were they already heels by the time Crush was introduced?

Might MMA mark Taker be so lured in by the thrilling opportunity to work a shoot fight with a real live UFC champ that he'll agree to do a non-Mania match?

I still would have preferred for Brock to beat Cena to set up a rematch, but if their plans for Brock are for "dream matches" with HHH, Rock, Taker and (possibly) Austin, maybe it's good that they let a non-retired wrestler get a win over him while he's there.

Just that one. The next month they published a note saying the series would return the month after that, but it didn't.

I've been trying to find this online for over a decade.

He means the bingo card, but I don't see how pointing out seven dead wrestlers is being a wrestling apologist. The NFL does have an alarming problem with early deaths, too.

You bring such a wonderful attitude to this board. I think the losing streak storyline for Cena was an interesting one and if he really is going to be out for a while, it would have made sense to bring up the car wreck that he was in a couple of months ago and have him do an interview from his hospital bed talking about how that accident hurt him more than he wanted to admit to himself but after toughing it out through Mania and Extreme Rules, his body can't handle it any longer and he needs to take time off. I'm not saying Cena winning is unjustifiable, but it hurts the intrigue of a rematch with Brock. Certainly there's room for debate as to whether it was a good idea to have a guy you're paying $5 million a year lose in his first match, and there's nothing about taking the negative position on it that makes one a "fucking idiot."

That main event was awesome until the finish. It was just so different and I was pretty stoked on the prospect of Brock bringing his unique style to WWE main events but him jobbing took a lot of the wind out of that sail. They must really think he's gonna flake on them soon. Uh, is Cena retiring? What the fuck is this speech?

Well, the Summerslam match was supposed to be Beefcake-Perfect, so he did get the title due to Beefcake's accident.

Rick Martel wore blue initially after his turn on Santana, then switched to pink but later went back to blue near the end of his run. Could it be that the pink tights added years to his career?

I think it's ten years after their debut under the revised criteria that didn't exist when Angle got in. If it was ten complete years as a wrestler, Rock wouldn't have gotten in when he did. Either way, Dave said in last year's HOF issue that Brock is on the ballot this year.

HealthSouth was TNA's original backer, but Andrews didn't start working with them until 2005.

Maybe he had copies of some of those documents, as a sort of "portfolio" for his next employers to show his previous success. Wouldn't he appear more successful if he stuck with the 93K number? At the time WCW was really laying the boots to the WWF. What better way than tarnishing their biggest moment ever? Tarnishing his own biggest moment as a promoter? In a private conversation? For the information to be spread to an audience of a few thousand people? While implying that your company's own current top star is less of a draw than previously thought and delusional about his own success? If Bischoff went on Nitro and claimed that the attendance figure was false, that would be one thing, but I honestly can't see why Zane would work Dave about that. Is it possible Zane himself got worked about the number?