El-P

Well, I was not far off. Yeah, thats was it. And that would have made no sense either.

Yeah, DiBiase, that's right. The Yoko deal was not about him joigning DX rather ?

Yep. She on the other hand looks great. You don't say...

One big rumour around the Internet back then was that it was supposed to be Jake Roberts. He was also supposed to show up in WCW as part as Raven vs DDP angle the year before. Yeah, we were all about Jake Roberts in the late 90's.

Oh, man I can only imagine. I was not pleased in front of my TV screen either. "Everything comes down to logic." Vince Russo in Guest Booker

That is amazing indeed. I demand a picture. (wedding ?)

"It was me all along !" is one of the greatest apex of shitty 1999 Russoesque WWF.

Does anyone pays attention to Nash's loads of bullshit anymore ?

Chiggy = Madonna sounds ridiculous as hell, but as far as being a draw, Chiggy is probably the biggest star in female wrestling ever. Madusa was never positionned to draw in the US, and Trish was most probably a biggest star simply because of the context and era. (Sable didn't draw as a worker of any kind, her fake boobs were the draw during those few months at the peak of Attitude era).

I watched that Guest Booker interview. Yes, Russo's idea of how it could have been booked is better and more exciting on paper than Cornette's, but you can see he only has a general, vague idea of the framework and has zero notions of how to make it work in details. Plus he shows his colors when he says "I don't care if they are heels of babyface, I only care about people watching", which means he still doesn't understand the basics at all (well, that actually appears the very first minute when he talks about the difference between a "booker" and a "writer"). Of course it matters because the entire structure of the product is based on who works with who and the dynamics between characters, and you don't book (or write) the same stuff if the characters are heels of babyface. Anyway, he does seem like a nice enough guy, and he seems to understand a lot of what doesn't work with todays' product (no strong characters, oversaturation), but there's so much bullshit coming out of his mouth it's not even funny. I gotta love him saying every two minutes that everything comes down to *logic*. Holy shit, coming from him that's a riot. I would still take his basic idea for the WCW/nWo invasion over Cornette's to be honest, but I would need someone to actually put it down and lay out the details and execution. You can feel Sean's frustration at times when he would be given answers like "I don't care if they are heels of faces", but Vince is indeed a rather charming individual so I get how he could get by for so long.

I don't have many SMW big shows, but I do have the Bluegrass Brawl. Well, it was decent but nothing special to me. And mostly it showed how much Cornette's criticism of ECW was a bit, if not hypocritical, at least a bit loony to say the least. Cornette booked three main events for this show which were : _matches involving props _gimmick matches _brawls _matches involving heavy juice Not exactly what I would call good booking in that it makes the three matches have a similar feel, plus it really relies on blood and gimmicks which is what Cornette accused ECW of doing later in the decade. Sure, this was basically traditionnal southern blood and guts matches than the car crash ECW style, but still.

Word. Got more focused after the Studd Stable left, simply because it's easier to work a focused match with less people in the ring. Dr. Tom bled a gusher.

Well, I thought this was a bit disapointing. They went too long, and this is a gimmick match that can't handle going too long, as you can strangle/tie up and drag your opponent around so many times before it gets really repetitive, which it got here (kinda like some WWF escape cage matches). I still think it's a good match, but it got too repetitive after a while, and despite the fact it worked for the live audience, they ended up losing me. Coming off watching Sting vs Vader work the same gimmick and have the best match ever of this kind doesn't help either. Also, you can see the finish from a mile away while their TV match had a great ending (although screwy). Good match, but I enjoyed their previous TV match much better.

Good to see him like that. Certainly gives you hope too.

"So, were you a fan growing up ?" "How did you get started in the wrestling business ?" "Memories of X" Indeed.

Man, I remember that show ! Oh man, that Flesh Gordon guy was pretty bad (just the name screams 5th rate). I remember the Equalizer (Evad Sullivan) on that show too, along with Carlos Plata. I don't think more than 3 or 4 episodes were shown on TV.

Well, indeed.

And this guy was made to be a plumber in WWF... And a hillbilly manager for the Godwinns... Huge waste of talent. Anyway, yes, it's a great promo from White Boy, probably his best in SMW thus far. He's both funny, shocking and menacing here.

The match seemed heavily edited on TV, probably for time constraint. Either that or they switched olds in a bizarre way. The leapfrog is clearly the highlight here.

Total bloodletting. Kanemura does get one or two moves in, but it's basically a hope spot that is cut short by the infamous stabbing. Kanemura was a sick fuck, Pogo would have been proud. And Sullivan came off looking like a total psycho. Great segment, but really sick.

Well, I finally got to see it, nearly 14 years after hearing about it for the first time, when I was browsing through a list of tapes. The previous week had a great angle with Rock'n Roll getting Arn Anderson as their mystery partner. I really didn't guess, and it was quite teh surprise. Cornette was great selling it, and Arn cut a great promo which made sense (how Eaton didn't call him when he got injured). Fun to see a serious Victor Quinones, as I always have seen him cutting goofy promos in WING/IWA/FMW before. Crash the Terminator vs Miguel Perez was a nice little match showcasing WING talent kinda like it would happen a few months later in ECW. It's odd to see how many things the two company would share, as Sullivan would then get in ECW too before the end of the year. Really the two sides of the same coin. Ah, Kanemura vs Sullivan. Great bloodletting, as Kanemura bleeds like the fiery Onita Jr. he was then, and Sullivan comes off like a sick fuck. The best part is when Sullivan gets Kanemura on the barricades outside just near a bunch of kids, as the mom looks totally horrified and takes her kids away. The way Sullivan gets his spike from nowhere and blast Kanemura is pretty slick too. Nearly 20 years after the fact, it's still a really gruesome and efficient TV segment to put over Sullivan as a monster.

And watching it, it is. Love those goofy Sullivan promos.

Best SMW match I've seen thus far. You can do that much with a bunch of punching if you punch and sell well. Blood, drama, a build to a really awesome finish that took me by surprise. Just great stuff.

Well, the March 06 TV show was really good. A nice TV title match between Nightstalker and Tim Horner, probably the best match of Clarke thus far. Fun promo by Studd Stable, as always, I wish I would like their in-ring work more, but Golden really doesn't do anything for me. The weekly good Heavenly Bodies promo by Cornette & Co. And the best SMW match I've seen thus far, DWB vs Tracey Smothers in a bloody brawl that is all punch and selling, which culminated with a great spot that I was totally unaware off. It's nice to be totally ignorant of some territories, because I absolutely popped for that finish, that I will not spoil for anyone here. But it just put a smile on my face. Show ended with another really strong Smothers promo.

Flair comes back to TBS and looks like the Ric Flair of old, suits and all. He really is more at home here than he ever was in WWF, cutting a classic Flair promo. Unlike with Hogan showing up on RAW, the WCW audience is thrilled to see Flair come back.