blueminister

Dungeon of Doom wasn't really that bad. It's easy to see why it isnt someone's favorite angle but it was surrounded by cool stuff and the idea that it represented a low for wrestling is nutty. (i have questions as to the significance of an off time that begins at the dungeon of doom and ends with the debut of the nwo considering they were virtually successive angles)

I relate him to russo in that his entire rep is based on being around during the austin/rock/foley ascendance and glomming onto what was really their success.

Ron Reis's first WCW run: where he debuted as Dungeon of Doom's mummy named "The Yeti" at Halloween Havoc 96, reappeared as a giant ninja named "The Yeti" at World War III, then worked Saturday Night as non-Dungeon-affiliated Super Giant Ninja before being taken off TV. Three appearances, as apparently the same character, with very little name/appearance coordination.

Shane Douglas is a up there: even though he got runs in XPW and TNA he was done as a major league superstar the moment the ink dried on the WCW sale.

Joel Gertner gets my vote. Too intrinsically ECW to for his shtick to fit anywhere else, and was never given a real chance to try anything new. A shame, he was very committed and even if you didn't like his sexy rhyme of the day his appearance alone could elicit a chuckle.

That was more or less Steve Corino's deal in ECW before the Dusty feud.

Yeah, I don't think Callis was ever that bad of a performer or anything* but when your resume adds up to angles that were either beneath notice or actively harmful to the company you'd have to be pretty fantastic to rate above guys like Akbar or Creachman. * I think he was sort of a pre-Larry Sweeney in terms of internet appreciation vs. his actual effectiveness.

what

Any answer that isn't "Vince McMahon is an incredibly strange person with control issues" hardly suffices.

If your answer is anything but Toots Mondt you're wrong. Maybe still even more important than Vince.

It's weird how people can advocate someone breaking legal contracts and their word based on some phoney-baloney carny logic. Remind me never to enter into any sort of business relationship with you guys.

Saying "Barton Fink" is about wrestling is stretching pretty hard. By the same standard you'd probably say it was a William Faulkner biopic.

Goldberg was a DDP buddy, DDP had Bischoff's ear.

This is like the only thing possible would make me to renew f4w.

i've lived in the South my entire life and speaking as somebody who is probably More Southern Than You Karl's got one of the thickest drawls I've ever heard, wanna challenge me to a duel over it or something

I don't subscribe to F4W any more, was there anything especially significant about his take? Stern's response is on the front page of the website. I don't subscribe either, so I don't know what Randazzo said to make him say this. Now that I've listened to his radio show I can't keep from hearing a thick southern drawl in my head as I read it. Mr. Irregardless lecturing somebody on proofreading is pretty funny, as well as the fact that he feels an outsider has some obligation to champion reforms to the industry. As if there were any reforms past WWE's recent "don't fall on your fucking head too hard" initiatives and Gabe's revolutionary "no cussin'" policy to champion. Still, in terms of radio shows with one person talking about shit for over an hour he smokes Mike Coughlin's series of overdramatic MMA thoughts.

I don't subscribe to F4W any more, was there anything especially significant about his take?

only the british can end up sounding like the gayest men in the room while attempting to make homophobic insults

Nice of the WWE to send Jeff Hardy a message by giving the MITB to the DRUG FREE contender.

Are you sure you're not thinking of the Peter Blake portrait? That makes a lot more sense, so I'll go with that.

I read in an article that he did a Kendo Nagasaki (British) print during Kendo's wave of popularity in the UK, but I've never seen the print and can't verify that.

Not to be rude, but I wish people would write about their selections a little more instead of turning this into a list thread.

Bret deserves credit for never injuring an opponent (that we know of), but safe wrestling does *not* look like Bret Hart. Even if you chalk up Goldberg's mule kick as an unfortunate fluke, Bret broke his sternum taking a nutty bump to a guardrail, had serious knee issues, and used the same hard-bumping style that completely fucked the backs and necks of many of his colleagues. The concussion wasn't an unfortunate fluke, it was the direct result of Goldberg being rushed through the training process and not knowing how to work strikes with any consistency. The sternum injury was a fluke, as to my knowledge wrestlers can work that guardrail spot relatively safely. Point taken about Bret's unfortunate bumping style, but I fail too see how his offensive style isn't a logical step forward from dumb head-drop city.

Thing is, nobody's trying. They still either wanna play late-90's Four Corners of Heaven or just plain Mick Foley suicidal idiocy.

Safe wrestling looks more or less like Bret Hart. You don't need to sacrifice impact, variety, or dramatic build if you know what you're doing.