Stiva

Also, I forgot to add it to my previous post but I hope WWE never takes the focus off tag wrestling. Goldust needs to be working tag matches for the next 3 years.

Real Americans vs. Big Show and Rey Mysterio vs Ryback and Curtis Axel vs. Rhodes Brothers I really enjoyed Axel for the time that he was in since he had some fun stuff with Show. It's amazing how Dustin will have only been active for 4 months of the year and will probably end up on people's end of year lists because he's so, so great. Cesaro is the best worker in this company and I'd like him to swing someone out of the ring at the Rumble as ridiculous as that is. Big Show isn't far behind Cesaro and his hot tag was great and the spot leading to the pin with him and Cesaro was awesome. Cody Rhodes has never looked better than he has in this team. This match just made me want a 25 minute Rhodes Brothers vs. Rey/Show match at the Rumble.

Big. E. Langston vs. Damien Sandow Big E is really fun and pulling down the straps is a guaranteed way to make me like you. Sandow is a guy who is good to watch but has been floating around ever since he failed to cash in MITB. As a result, that match came off as meaningless but it was perfectly fine regardless.

EDIT: double post I really like these packages putting the World Title over

AJ vs. Nattie I've seen Nattie look a lot worse than this. All this talk of AJ being buried seems destined for her to lose a rematch on Raw in 30 seconds rather than tonight.

I was thinking that Cena wins tonight and we get Cena/Bryan II at the Rumble but that seems like a Mania match to me so I expect Orton to win through some sort of shenanigans.

There's an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch where Billy Gunn is wrestling for reasons I couldn't possibly remember.

That's what I was thinking. The Bryan/Kane exchange looks like something a 15 year old e-fed writer would rustle up.

CM Punk hasn't had the greatest year but every so often, there's little things that are awesome, like him laughing at Stephanie's introduction of HHH. The Daniel Bryan chanting at the end was awesome and it really seems at this point that he's got to win the Rumble or at least be heavily featured at Mania. They can try and force Orton/Cena all they want but nobody is listening.

Harper is so great that Rowan becomes watchable through osmosis but I did like him throwing the sheep mask at Punk to try and derail the hot tag. I enjoyed the powerbomb spot but agree that as a whole, it felt a bit flat. They've definitely kept a certain aura around Wyatt himself since there's been a few times now where they've teased him brawling with guys and the crowd has popped.

Roman Reigns is going to be huge. Cesaro won't be far behind when he inevitably turns babyface and giant swings Zeb.

Michael Cole is incapable of talking like an actual human being because he's so busy hitting all the bullet points that Vince is shouting at him. In between mentioning the App, Twitter, their dumb nicknames for guys, Lawler saying "Ow!" after everything and JBL trying desperately to get his shitty jokes in, I'm amazed it doesn't just completely fall apart more. Cole on NXT was actually pretty fun since he seemed a lot more natural and relaxed, even if he was shitting on the show and in the middle of his awful heel gimmick. He can't muster up convincing emotion in the same way that JR could in his Attitude Era prime but there must be a middle ground between that and robotically parroting whatever is coming from his ear piece. I agree that it's becoming unlistenable. JBL especially seems lost now that Cole has shifted from hapless Smackdown announcer to "Voice of the WWE". Their Smackdown chemistry was based on Cole saying stupid things or heavily favouring the babyfaces and JBL jumping on it. He doesn't seem to know what to do with Lawler there and a different Cole to bounce off.

I had no idea music this lame still existed but of course it's associated with WWE.

I think when Punk said "Vince McMahon is a millionaire who should be a billionaire" is always right on the money. They seem to recognise a money making opportunity for about 8 weeks and then panic mode sets in when the ratings aren't amazing. Hell, maybe the infatuation with ratings in a DVR society is the telling reminder that WWE are still woefully behind the rest of television.

I agree that Miz needs to go away for a good while so he can come back a few years down the line fresh. Unfortunately, there's nowhere for him to go aside from trying to carve a TV career out. I think once Evan Bourne is back, they'll put Kofi with him again and they'll have a decent run as a tag team. I remember an idea being floated on DVDVR that they should get a couple of Attitude Era acts who are still in good shape and have them work on the undercard. Billy Gunn seems to be in decent shape, throw the New Age Outlaws out there for 6 months for the nostalgia pop. Are there no guys out there who have been away a while who are good for a comeback? MVP? Benjamin? Burke? Masters? But there's also guys that they just aren't doing anything with. Where's Yoshi Tatsu? Every so often, they have El Locals and I know they've just debuted a masked team but why not throw Tatsu under one of the masks and utilise the dude? Drew McIntyre is good fun in 3MB but it really comes across like he's been supremely wasted in that trio. Is Regal rooted to NXT or could he not join the main roster for a few months to freshen things up? I definitely agree with this. They have 3 hours for Raw which is fair enough, they can fill that reasonably well but when it comes to booking Smackdown, they need to repeat matches just by the nature of having so much time to fill. I was a bigger brand split apologist than most as I really liked the hard split (when it lasted) and the idea that guys would only show up on the other show around Mania season; it made for fresh(ish) matches when Punk came back to ECW to work against Finlay or whoever.

What BBC4 in the UK does with Top of the Pops is airs an old episode once a week which corresponded to the week in the year it was aired. So, 2013 has been TOTP 78, if that makes any sense. I'd do that with Raw from its inception in 93, one episode a week with it starting Jan 14. That would obviously be under the provision that they have a ton of extra stuff so that they can get away with one retro ep a week of course. I'd also have 1 or 2 hour slots where current guys on the roster pick some of their favourite matches (featuring them or otherwise) and basically get to talk about wrestling they love for 5 mins or so before showing the match in full. I imagine Punk having fun with that. A weekly reality show centered around the Performance Center and the methods of the teachers and some talking head stuff with the students. Vince McMahon soapbox hour. I'd love some kind of documentary about Jim Johnston and the genesis behind some of the best theme songs down the years. Do they film all the house shows? Rock N Wrestling every Saturday morning. I like having big blocks of B-shows. Saturday afternoon block of Jakked or Velocity would be awesome after I'd finished watching Rock n Wrestling. Hell, I'd totally commission more silly shit aimed at younger kids. The Adventures of Rey Mysterio going against the villainous schemes of Alberto Del Rio. Around things like Xmas, Halloween etc, you could easily throw together clips of Santa getting stunnered or Papa Shango Halloween Hour or something. This is an awesome thread idea.

They just released a guy who could have had a ton of good midcard matches (I say this without knowing if Hero asked for his release or not).

Totally. He had a big throne, Layla by his side and cut off a Raw broadcast in the middle of a Cena/HHH main event. It didn't last though since he failed wellness.

Agreed. Would like to see this, somebody do i! I'd gladly give it a go if we can establish when to begin watching from. Booker T at KOTR or earlier?

I figured "The Devil made me do it" was some reference to Kane but either way, it's not really something I want to see.

It's the website, only organized all in one place (this is not a negative!) and it is easy to follow. Small print, yes, but the layout is solid. Oh man, that's so awesome. If that's cheapish in any way, shape or form, it's the next thing I'm buying.

Biker Taker came about towards the end of his Ministry of Darkness run and then was established properly at Judgment Day 2000 and beyond. I can't recall many great Biker Taker matches but the heel promos were pretty great and he was a tremendous dick to Flair and The Hardys. Ah yeah, the Jeff Hardy/Taker Ladder match on Raw was enjoyable with a great tease of a Hardy victory. I assume he's turned face by Summerslam 02 as he'll be transitioning to the Lesnar program (the HITC match is a good WWE brawl if you're interested). So yeah, he was basically a 7 foot biker who chewed tobacco, threw people into popcorn machines and threw out some great one-liners. Great heel, not so great babyface. He turned back to "Deadman" Taker at Mania XX.

Also, one I noticed with JR every so often was referencing "the carotid artery" when a guy had a headlock or sleeper applied. How did that ever get past the "nope, that's not really dumb and awkward" phase?

God damn, poor Michael Cole is going to sound even more awkward and stilted now.

Do WWE (and I'm assuming this is who buys them) have Sting, Angle and Jeff Hardy on their hands? There's potential for another DVD for all of those guys and they could spin it as "wow, he lost his mind for a couple of years there but he came back and he was better than ever!"