Loss

It's possible. All things are possible. HHH may be different as a character now than he would be as an active wrestler. He may be more giving. I don't think he will, and I think Matt's scenario is absolutely possible. If anything gives me hope, it's that Punk has some degree of leverage right now and would probably be willing to speak up if this turns into an HHH program. I don't know how much doing so would accomplish, but I don't see Punk sitting back and allowing a burial without putting up a fight.

In a weird way, I thought the HHH/Vince segment was way more inside-y and catered to hardcores than the Punk stuff has been. * HHH being at a Board of Directors meeting. Obviously, we know the guy wields power in the company, but why would the HHH character be there? The HHH character was not an authority figure in WWE until last night. * Assumption that everyone saw the PPV. This rang more true throughout the night, not just in the ending segment. Vince not saying Punk's name hurt it, because he needed to acknowledge that he won the match and left with the belt. It was implied, but WWE's typical nature is to spell things out, and that's what their fans are conditioned to expect. Not to mention that Cena was thankful for the great match and not upset about losing the belt. That's more catering to hardcores. Why would he be thankful to the guy who beat him, took his title and left without granting him a rematch or anything? * Do casual fans understand that this is more significant than past McMahon family power struggles? I'm not sure this felt different than THE CONSORTIUM WAS ME or Shane and Stephanie's various feuds with their father. We have seen the "end" of Vince McMahon time and time again the past few years. I thought the Bret match at Wrestlemania was supposed to be the complete end of the character, for example. He has come back many times since then. I have no reason to think this is different. I wasn't a fan of it, not because I think the angle is now off the rails and can't be saved (although that may be the case), but because board of directors meetings and executive leadership are waaaay more topics catered to hardcore fans than what Punk was doing. The focus should be on Punk leaving the company with the title. It may end up getting back there next week, but last night doesn't give me hope.

I didn't get HHH shoot taking over from that Dave update. It doesn't make sense, but I didn't get that.

Seriously ... what was that?

I would also like to add that even if this does not light the box office on fire, it could be valuable as failed proof of concept if the social media aspects of this work. Dave and others in the wrestling bubble really underestimate that -- the ROI of using Twitter in wrestling angles is not a 0.5 ratings increase or even an immediate PPV turnaround. Rather, it's an increased daily presence in the lives of your fans, which breeds long-term loyalty. Social media is still in its infancy, but WWE trying to get in front of the trend is smart and worth trying. On that level, this angle is also very interesting, to see how they take advantage of technology. Put this in perspective. Over 1,000,000 people "like" Little Debbie on Facebook. I don't think those are people that go to baking conventions, collect memorabilia or would ever subscribe to a mailing list. They're not hardcores. But they are hearing/thinking about Oatmeal Cream Pies regularly at times when they may not otherwise think about it because it's in their Facebook feed with everything else. If WWE can use this angle to experiment with what will and won't work, it will be incredibly valuable in the future. So even if the point was conceded subject matter like contract negotiations is too catered toward a devoted fan base, part of what WWE is trying to do is develop a more devoted fan base. The world is not what it was during the late 90s boom. There are too many platforms available to get things over to put all the eggs in the TV basket.

I don't agree with Matt that this is all about Montreal. I suppose there are elements in common with Montreal, but like Bix said, I don't think knowledge of Survivor Series '97 is integral to getting this angle. I think jdw's point is being missed. It seems to be that the very topic of contract negotiations itself is too inside-y as subject matter to get WWE fans excited. It's a valid point, but I will just point out that contract negotiations have been part of wrestling forever. How many times did the territories say they were "in negotiations" to bring in an exciting new star? How about the Freebirds in '86 getting signed to multi-million dollar contracts in the UWF after making demands? In itself, it's not new. In fact, it's in some ways a return to old school booking. That doesn't even get into contracts being used as part of wrestler/manager relationships and contract signings as angles forever. Bottom line: Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo suck for scaring everyone in wrestling away from doing anything that might mimic reality. Those two did it poorly, and as a result, we got a decade of overcompensation -- failure to make anything seem too tied to reality for fear people wouldn't get it and would tune out. I should also point out that this is in no way a fake shoot angle. This is an angle that is coincidentally playing off of/exaggerating real-life issues, but still exists in the confines of the WWE universe (Not to be confused with the WWE Universe ...). That its playing on another level to the hardcores is gravy, but this would be just as appealing without it. Think Jerry Jarrett building a feud with Lawler and Dundee based on real life heat more than Bill Goldberg abandoning the script at New Blood Rising, leaving Nash to be the "professional".

Agreed. The fact that this is based in reality is coincidental. I hope you don't see this as more Russo/Bischoff type stuff spoofing Montreal, because there's nothing about this that's that.

So, F4W is down. The DVDVR board is down. What is going on?

Incredibly stiff match. Kawada's kicks on Kobashi's legs and to his face are crazy. Kobashi goes after him aggressively from the opening bell, knowing he's the underdog and wanting to pull off the win. I don't think this is their best match together, but I do think it's another very good match in their series. They spend a lot of time sitting in holds after a hot opening, and in some ways, they squander what was a super hot crowd. In time, they rope them back in. So yeah. It doesn't compare favorably to some of their later matches, but it does look good next to almost anything heavyweights were doing anywhere in the world in 1992.

Really fun to see this style worked in front of a U.S. audience that pops for different things. Fujiwara knows this and does a great job setting up spots for Vale to look strong and get big pops. Fujiwara complaining about Vale going after his eye and getting in a few cheapshots is great! Fun match.

Joshi! The first match on the yearbook. Fall #1 - Solid stuff. Toyota is pretty amazing athletically and is doing stuff at a different level from anyone in the world, at least that I've been exposed to so far on this set. Her sunset flip roll through on Kimura was tremendous. I like the spot with Kong bringing in the garbage can and nailing Yamada with it the first time, but accidentally hitting her own partner when she tried a second time. Toyota ends up pinning Kimura to win the first fall for her team. Fall #2 - Kong seems pissed about how the first fall went and starts throwing furniture on Toyota in the crowd while Kimura does the same to Yamada elsewhere in the building. Toyota and Yamada are wrestlers, so they are completely out of their element. Kong even grabs a huge MIRROR (I think that's what it is) and tries to create the demise of Toshiyo Yamada. Kong is wrestling more like Dump than Kong. I normally hate Toyota screaming, but the bridge kickout and high-pitched scream is awesome, considering the punishment she took to land her in that predicament. Yamada is the savior of the team after Toyota takes a hell of a beating, and puts up a good showing against both of these monsters, but it doesn't last long. Toyota attempts a save on a pin attempt and Kong gets up voluntarily and nails her. Kong wins the second fall for her team by pinning Yamada after a middle rope tiger driver. Fall #3 - Yamada is in trouble to start the third fall. Actually, the better way to phrase that is that her team is in trouble. Even when Toyota tries to save her partner, it's futile. The other team is simply too good. Through sheer will, they start garnering some momentum, but it seems superficial -- sure, they have the upper hand on Kimura, but Aja seems fresh and is on the apron and both Toyota and Yamada seem like they have been slowed down a bit. Sure enough, when Kimura tags Kong, whatever momentum they may have appeared to have quickly falls apart and Kong zaps all the energy out of Toyota with an extended reverse chinlock. The moment when it looks like Kong may be vulnerable, Toyota and Yamada throw everything they have at her and things get exciting. Yamada pinning Kong to win the tag titles for her and Toyota is a legitimately great moment. Overall: Great match. It's not perfect, but it's still a great match. Kong wasn't the great wrestler she'd become within a year, or at least she didn't show it here. She had good attributes, but less offense and sometimes would lock in a hold too long. She also let Toyota throw her around in the very beginning of the match and do the rolling cradle like she was anyone else. All the doubleteaming at the end adds to her monster aura, but that's a credit to Toyota and Yamada. Everyone else was outstanding. I don't think this is quite an elite AJW tag, but I just watched the 1993 yearbook, so time to come back to earth. This is excellent and hit the big picture points it needed to quite well (that includes the awesome post-match).

Silver looks great. I don't know anything about his charisma, but he seems like a guy who could have been a star. I was little nervous about watching a 30-minute match in this style, and there were a few slow points, but overall, they had an excellent match. I'm digging 1992 UWFI. Kakihara gets a bloody nose in the closing minutes and Silver, who has taken a beating himself, switches strategies and takes it to the mat with the goal of beating him there. Kakihara won't have it, and the last minute of this may be the most dramatic minute or so in UWFI history, at least from the footage I've seen. Wish there could have been a victor at the last second, but wow, what a match.

Dave's recap in the WON:

I'll just recap my favorite things: * Donahue claims the WWF made $1.7 BILLION in 1990! More revenue than the NFL! * Vince's discussion with Barry O later is funny also for Vince saying "Why would I risk this alleged type of revenue?" * Love Vince telling Murray Hodgson that he was fired because he wasn't very good. "You did a horrible job." * Graham can't keep his story straight. Did he or did he not see a child get sexually abused? He also uses the word "oralsexual" * Cue Bix. Vince: "If I saw something like that, I'd call the authorities!" * Dave's explanation of the secrecy in wrestling and everyone being afraid to go to the cops after Brody's death is always interesting * John Arezzi brings up Pat Patterson sexually harassing midgets * Graham says he's injected Hogan at least a half dozen times and accuses Hogan of "child molestation of the minds" * The woman in the audience is right that career destruction or not, if you see a child being abused, you have a responsibility to report it. The response from everyone that they don't understand wrestling is kinda creepy. * Bruno gets called out by a kid in the audience who accuses him of having a personal vendetta over how David was fired! * Favorite audience question: "How many homosexuals percentage in the pro wrestling business?" Still surreal nearly 20 years later. If Vince hadn't gotten jollies from messing with people so many times through his own promotional machine, I'd feel sorry for him, since the truth to lies ratio seemed to be about 30/70.

Piper says he may have changed Bret's diapers at one point, which would mean Piper would have been 2 or 3 years old hanging out at Hart House. Piper tries to back out of Mania, saying he can't find it in his heart to fight Bret. Bret says if he's not going to fight, then Bret should be the IC champ. Piper takes exception to that, and says if Bret wants to do this, they can shake hands and they'll hate each other until Wrestlemania. Otherwise, they can not have the match and have a good friendship. Bret says he'll see him at Wrestlemania, and Piper teases attacking him, but Bret turns around. Piper says "I would have had you" and walks off. Great segment.

Was Jim Ross always this annoying and I just never noticed? Anyway, this is a solid TV match. Morton was a good heel. Here, he works over Pillman's knee. Pillman comes back and uses the same pinning combo he used to beat Liger at Superbrawl.

"Tim Horner, you owe me $500.00! And I want 5000 rolls of pennies!" -- Rogers in his pre-match promo The commentary on this is phenomenal. Dutch is making his case about how Horner will lose if this match goes 20-25 minutes because he isn't as conditioned as Rogers. Bob Caudle says he's being ridiculous, that the match is TV time remaining, and they don't have 25 minutes left in the broadcast. Dutch immediately -- without hesitation -- switches gears to accuse Bob Armstrong of stacking the deck in Horner's favor by scheduling the match so late in the show. The match is decent, but feels like it could have been excellent had it gone as long as Dutch and Caudle talked about.

So THERE'S Tony Anthony. His woman is getting kissed in Memphis while he's hanging out with Ron Wright in Tennessee. Yay awesome yearbook segue! DWB introduces himself to the SMW audience by pledging his allegiance to Wright and vows to make it to the top of SMW.

Kimberly does an interview saying DWB is almost ready to come back and when he does, he's going to tear Embry up! Embry hears his name and comes out to take exception. Embry says Kimberly wishes she could be his dirty white girl. He kisses her twice and she runs off.

I'VE DONE MY TIME, BOSS MAN! MY SENTENCE IS ALMOST UP. AND SOON, REAL SOON, YOU'RE GONNA PAY. THEN, I'LL BE COMPLETELY REHABILITATED!

There are some really good Jake interviews on this set, and I think this is the best because it's the most traditional.

For some reason, Gene is using his Owen voice to interview Savage. Savage totally snaps and says nothing but "UNTRUE! UNTRUE! UNTRUE!"