C.S.

I don't understand all the backlash (in general, I mean) for Bray losing to Cena. Bray, as compelling as the character is, simply isn't ready to beat someone like Cena. It's not logical or believable yet. When someone who isn't quite there yet wins a big match, the result and match are soon meaningless because the outcome doesn't have the desired effect - Booker T beating Scott Hall, Shelton Benjamin beating Triple H, etc. Yes, part of that is due to follow-up, but timing is everything, and it's not Bray's time yet.

I watched on the Roku. Had some repeats and video quality issues during the Bryan/H match but it was flawless otherwise.

Agreed. It's possible Hudson asked not to be interviewed and just wanted to attend the show "as a fan" (be there for her husband). Regardless, they definitely should have emphasized her presence a whole lot more. I didn't even realize she was there until I saw your post.

Agreed that they should have been given more prominent positioning, but there's no way Hudson was even close to being the most famous person in the building. A few years ago, maybe - but certainly not now. Hulk Hogan and Mr. T are both more well known than her, and that's just for starters. But I don't want to turn this into another Hogan/Taker/Molly Ringwald thread. Edited to add: Now that you mention it, the seating in general was weird. Randy Orton was not in the front row (he's the World Champ) but Daniel Bryan was (a good sign...I hope). Several other examples of that: DiBiase seemed to be way in the back... I could go on and on, but I can't remember the other instances.

Always liked him too, but he did get stale a few years into his WWE return. Like someone else said, it doesn't help that he changed absolutely nothing about his character and was also oddly protected with very few losses given his lower card spot. The X-Pac/Road Dogg/Tori version of DX was a complete waste of time, and X-Factor (his stable with Albert and Credible) sucked hard too. I'll probably get criticized for this, but Lightning Kid had no credibility with me whatsoever. Awesome in the ring, yes, but he seemed like a little kid outside it. His promos at the time were horrendous. He was supposed to be a heel, but he came across like a small child play-acting the role of a tough guy to impress the bigger kids. WWE got it right by making the Kamikaze Kid/Cannonball Kid/The Kid a jobber and the 1-2-3 Kid a scrappy underdog babyface.

J.R. claimed he wasn't drinking - he said any word-slurring and the like was because of his Bell's Palsy - and I'm inclined to believe him. After all, he doesn't have a history of inappropriate behavior and public intoxication - Flair does.

I think Flair was intentionally being a dick to Foley - we've seen that before in past Legends of Wrestling roundtables - and I was really rooting for Mick to snap and put Ric in his place. But my heart did go out to the Nature Boy after he broke down and started crying. It also dawned on me while watching that Mick Foley never got a proper retirement - I realize injuries and circumstances played a part in that - but he deserved a much better send-off. Instead, he's been marginalized for the past several years. The best example I can think of is him being added to some Cena PPV match - one of many in that match - and treated as almost an afterthought.

Three-part series on WrestleMania written by J.R. I'm reading through it now. Nothing too earth-shattering yet, but it's a fun look back. http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/wrestlemania-part-1 http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/wrestlemania-part-2 http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/wrestlemania-part-3

Was this ever actually a concern?! How many people really know that he's "out"? The people who do likely don't care (I hope). Plus, I'd suspect the people who pay a monthly fee to access newsletters and the like are a little bit smarter and more "worldly" than your "average wrestling fan." But let's say, for the sake of argument, that many of Wade's subscribers are indeed homophobic bigots. Are they really going to cancel something they enjoy because the nameless, faceless editor of the newsletter they love is gay. They don't know him personally and have no reason to care. I'm sure there are racist sports fans who enjoy African-American athletes, for example. Regardless, Wade hasn't been shy about expressing his disdain for wrestling's anti-gay culture (Cena's promos, etc.). Even if his readers don't know he's gay, they still know he's passionate about the subject. BTW, I like Wade Keller's style. He's not Meltzer, but he doesn't need to be. IMO, they are both equally great - just at completely different things. Wade's strengths are his incredible Torch Talk interviews (Meltzer has nothing like this) and his ability to go outside the box in his analysis and view things from a perspective that others might not.

ANYTHING THAT AIRS ON THE NETWORK WILL BE AVAILABLE ON DEMAND ON THE NETWORK AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. This question has been asked and answered everywhere for weeks. So, what you're saying is, I can watch Wrestlemania immediately after it airs live? This is far from a given IMO. The NXT PPV was not available on-demand until the next day. Yes, there was a replay shown on the "Schedule" an hour or two later, but you had to watch that "live" as it "aired" - there was no way to fast-forward or rewind it.

Amazon just came out with Fire TV, its own answer to streaming boxes like Roku and cheap Android gaming devices like the Ouya. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CX5P8FC Conspicuous by their absence: HBO Go and WWE Network. I hope those two get added soon.

This is a FASCINATING article! Credit to brawler2711 from Wrestling Classics for finding it and posting about it. http://whatculture.com/wwe/wwe-10-surprising-revelations-from-the-1991-summerslam-payroll-sheet.php There's too much to get into here, and I'd hate to spoil any of it. I'll just say, while some of the figures make sense, others seem incredibly arbitrary. Another WC poster, Matt Farmer, said the article was wrong about what "draw" meant. According to him, it wasn't a bonus at all - it was a cash advance from the overall paycheck in the days before ATMs. That changes some of the "facts" in the piece, but it's still a great read regardless.

I watched the Rivalries episode of LoW last night (found it through Schedule because the Roku app sucks). A fun, lively hour and a half. Nothing new for any of us but still entertaining. It was interesting to hear them talk about the behind-the-scenes feud between the Bulldogs and the Rougeaus. Again, old info if you've read Dynamite Kid's book, etc., but it was still cool to get multiple perspectives about all of the players. The other feuds they highlighted were all on-camera rivalries (with Bret/Shawn being both, of course).

I watched two things on the Network last night. Legends of Wrestling: WrestleMania: Nothing special, but not a bad time. A bunch of fun WM stories, but probably nothing new to anyone here. Pat Patterson had some nice anecdotes about his own WM involvement. Countdown: Biggest Blunders: I thought Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan both came off badly, obnoxiously insulting various wrestlers and moments. Daniel Bryan about the Ultimate Warrior: "Voodoo must only work if you're stupid." I groaned. It just sounds bad coming from a "nice guy" like him. C.M. Punk was the very first clip shown (before they got into the actual top ten - no he wasn't one of the ten). Shockmaster WASN'T the #1 blunder, surprisingly enough. This attempted to be "fair and balanced" overall, but the praise came across as fake and hollow to me. I am not a huge fan of these Countdown shows - they're nothing special from what I've seen - but this one was okay.

Not the end of the world, no, but a bit silly when they're eventually going to be adding a ton of Nitros and Raws with Benoit all over them - not to mention all of the PPVs already up that he appeared on.

Would short clips fall under "fair use" or does that not apply in this instance?

I watched the "Canada Effect" episode of Legends of Wrestling (had to find it in the "Schedule" on Roku - wish they'd update that damn app too), and it wasn't bad. Pretty mild-mannered overall, but there was an animated argument between Bret Hart and Pat Patterson over the merits of Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie (Mongolian Stomper). Bret thought he was the greatest Canadian wrestler ever, and Pat, well...didn't. Michael Hayes was actually cool and charming in this one, telling Pat to "let the man speak" and "he's trying to answer the question" (or words to that effect) when Bret tried to explain his stance. I was also surprised to hear Bret praise Abdullah the Butcher, of all people, calling him "the greatest monster ever." Of course, Abby is originally from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Bret is extremely pro-Canada and looks upon all Canadian wrestlers very favorably. I get the sense that if Hogan and Flair were Canadians, Bret would love them too. I don't mean that as a criticism, just an observation. I actually find Bret's Canadian pride endearing in a way.

Wait, the 80's cartoon? Because that would kick ass. I grew up on that shit. I've looked back at it on youtube, and it makes me crazy now because I know the voices the characters should be having. As a kid, I didn't know what those wrestlers actually sounded like. But I would still love it for the nostalgia value. I'm assuming so. Can't imagine them rebooting such a dated idea, especially when they're already doing Slam City - which is another "cartoon" of sorts.

Coming Soon in 2014: WWE Tribute to the Troops 2014 The Monday Night War Clash of the Champions WWE Total Divas Saturday Morning Slam WWE Rivalries Rock n' Wrestling (tentative) Saturday Night's Main Event WCW Nitro Vault Specials https://secure.net.wwe.com/account/help/help-center/?topic=subscribed/0/a_id/125/

I watched it too. Road Dogg is an underrated panelist and he was an underrated "hardcore wrestler." Patterson was funny. I thought Michael P.S. Hayes came across as an arrogant, ignorant idiot. He kept spouting off about ECW when he clearly knew very little about the subject. His reasons for why ECW died were barely accurate. I wonder how he and Paul E. got along behind the scenes. Probably not very well, if I had to guess. I'm surprised Bruiser Brody was only mentioned in passing when he was one of the main wrestlers who was "hardcore" before hardcore was really a thing. I don't understand why this panel didn't have guests that were more relevant to the subject - maybe Mick Foley or Paul E - but it was a decent, middle of the road episode.

Looks like Blackman's Bounties is already being filmed...

I watched the "Celebrity Effect" episode of Legends of Wrestling last night. Since it's from 2008, it appeared on the Roku without any issues. As much as I loved the one about patriots, this was even better! For one thing, there was no ass-kissing or walking on eggshells, like we saw in the Flair roundtables. DDP really brought the BANG (sorry, LOL). He and J.R. went at it HARD over David Arquette, Karl Malone, Jay Leno, etc. It was the most heated exchange I've ever seen on this show! Both DDP and J.R. had strong opinions and weren't afraid to state them - yet, neither of them were ever openly disrespectful or dismissive of each other (Flair should take notes). DDP's obsession over Malone was funny, and even though that whole thing was never my cup of tea, he wasn't wrong. He also had great behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the Arquette situation. Of course, they covered many other celebs as well - Ali, L.T., Mayweather, some of the Raw guest hosts, etc. I was surprised when one of the panelists (J.R., I think) called Cyndi Lauper the worst celebrity in his opinion. He didn't really explain his position, and it made him look out of touch IMO. Like Lauper or not, that whole thing accomplished exactly what it was supposed to. L.T. was called a success - and in many ways, he was (especially since the match itself was much better than it had any right to be) - but I always thought he came across too heelishly (calling the 1-2-3 Kid a "13-year-old" and acting like a pompous jackass). Having him beat Bam Bam was a bad move, and I still don't understand the rationale behind it. Unfortunately, they barely went into it at all. I wish the show had been 30 minutes longer so we could have gotten more information about L.T. and some of the other celebrity matches and storylines. I expected this to be one of the least interesting episodes, and it ended up being one of the most fascinating.

From F4W: --WWE has sent out a survey which asked people their interest in these proposed programming ideas for the network Blackman's Bounties: A reality show following Steve Blackman, who now works as a Bounty Hunter in Pennsylvania NXT Behind the Scenes Pros vs. Joes - WWE talent faces off against people in competitions similar to what you'd see on American Gladiators WWE Around the World - Talent goes around the world and tries risky activities WWE Dirty Jobs - Talent has to do different unpleasant jobs WWE Prankdown - Talent pranks fans WWE Rescue - WWE wrestlers help people with personal life problems or business problems WWE Ultimate Challenge - Scavenger hunts in different cities Xtreme WWE Collector - A WWE fan goes all over the country looking for rare memorabilia WTF?

Watched the "Patriots" episode of Legends of Wrestling last night (had to access it through the Schedule section). My favorite roundtable so far! To an extent, it was the Sgt. Slaughter Show because the Sarge was on the panel, but that's understandable because he played a big role both as an American patriot and as an anti-American sympathizer of Iraq. I really wish this had been given another full hour, because a lot of the other patriotic acts were given short thrift (including, surprisingly enough, Hacksaw Jim Duggan) or not mentioned at all (The Patriot). Other than that, Sarge told some great stories, the clips were well-chosen and complemented the discussion perfectly for once, and even Michael P.S. Hayes dialed it down nicely. J.R. was also really great rattling off various historical facts. Turns out I wasn't burned out on the roundtables after all - the last couple of them have just been crap.

Agreed, but the '90s was full of that stuff: "Mr. Ass," DDP using "bang" in a million different ways toward his male opponents, etc.