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Dr Octogon Brings the Squared-Circle: The State of Wrestling Pt. 3 7/24/10 Edition
Jul 24th
Brain hole not full of wrestling garbage? If it is, then empty out that science and math and fill it with Part 3. In cased you missed the technology: Part 1 & Part 2
WWE
With the power, exposure, and wealth that the WWE has, there should not be any competing wrestling promotions. There just shouldn’t be any room in the market if the WWE was as awesome as it should be. They have the most air time and they have the deepest pool of talent. There should never be an excuse for a boring feud, much less a boring PPV Main Event. However, every few weeks, they put out more of the same tired nonsense. They cookie cutter every single wrestler down to what a few people in the company think they should be like, and if someone does not A) have the right skin color, or B) does not sell masks to little kids then they will be lucky to even get their hands on a minor title. They need to bring back the Cruiserweight Title, the Hardcore Title and maybe have a Television Title. Their writers are hacks and need all the gold they can get to actually make a compelling drama. Speaking of those writers, the wrestlers are better at it than they are, the WWE should be letting their wrestlers write their own damn promos.
What you have done wrong:
-Almost everything for a company in your position, actually. You have spun your wheels for way too long, and you deserve for TNA to pull it together and knock you off your pedestal. The RAW Guest GM gimmick was good from a marketing stand point but entirely flawed in implementation. Your Guest GMs needed to match two out of three qualifications for them to be successful: 1) be associated with the wrestling business, 2) be charismatic, or 3) actually care about being there. Very few of the actual participants met one, if even any of these qualifications. Ted DiBiase, Shaq, Freddy Prince, and Brett Hart are the only ones that come to mind. Just every once in a while, maybe once every two years even, I would like to see a RAW PPV Main Event that does not involve Cena, HHH, or Orton. I really do not have anything against any of the guys; your programming is just too saturated with them. You need to learn how to promote stables properly. I mean DX always was second fiddle to n.W.o. and a lot of that was just promotion. You have to give your wrestlers more freedom on the mic. Not everyone is going to be The Rock or Jericho, but you have some guys with great mic skills being hampered by substandard writing. You need the organic feel to a lot of their promos. As it is, there are no surprises when wrestlers are speaking; we can see everything coming from a mile away.
What you did right:
-CM Punk’s ‘dirty messiah’ heel gimmick is Golden. This is one of the more refreshing pieces of Smackdown, and I get the feeling that he has more free reign with the microphone than most others. Keep this going. Never let it stop.
How you messed it up:
-He has got to have a long and conniving Title reign that angers the crowd every time he wins. This needs to happen soon. He needs to headline Wrestlemania and get the most underhanded, cheap win you can conjure. For once, you need to let a heel’s persona ‘ruin’ the main event, instead of your unimaginative and rote booking. Do not let the SES go the route of Right to Censor, stuck in a mid-card routine. CM Punk has the ability to shine for decades, like the Million Dollar Man or JBL, let him.
What you did right:
-You finally let some groups form stables and have active roles in the show. For as stupid as the Spirit Squad gimmick was, it was wrestling stupid, and could have been utilized much more effectively. Since then, you have allowed the formation of The Legacy and now the Nexus. These are good moves for your company and gives your dullard writing staff some blunt instruments to use.
How you messed up:
-The Legacy was the all time dumbest stable featuring a big time star. They did nothing for Orton the whole time they were together. They had almost no impact on anything. And to make matters worse, you did not even use the group to spin Ted and Cody off into huge singles careers. I understand that Ted may have a stable in the works, and bringing back the Million Dollar belt is the right kind of nostalgia. But I just do not have faith that you will push him properly since you did not strike when the iron was hot. The Nexus is going well, but I estimate you should get at least three main eventers out of this: Barret, Gabriel, and Otunga. Craft the group and their actions correctly, and these guys can make it.
What you did right:
-Push Jack Swagger, push Jack Swagger, push Jack Swagger. I was pleasantly surprised that he was not the first MITB winner to successfully cash in the contract. In 2009, besides the Undertaker vs HBK Wrestlemania match, Swagger vs Christian on ECW was the best match of the year. This guy has the size, the technique and the charisma despite a speech impediment. He is like a tall Kurt Angle; I would be surprised if Big Daddy Vince has not tried to ‘service’ him on one or ten occasions.
How you messed it up:
-Just recently, you spent weeks having Swagger decimate the Smackdown roster. You had him injure the Big Show and the Champion, Rey Mysterio. He had everyone running scared. And then all of a sudden you have this machine cowering in a room, terrified of Kane. Come on people, I cannot tell you how sick I am of the dominant, badass heel all of a sudden cowered by someone. A person can be unethical, competent and confident. You should try having a character like this every once in a while. You know, someone that everyone hates but won’t back down from Kane, or Undertaker, or Big Show, or HHH, or the Great Khali. And just a reminder, Swagger is huge. You can have Mysterio retain in a sensible way, not by overpowering one of the most athletically gifted guys in the company. Mysterio is a midget. If you want him to win so you can sell masks to little kids and Spanish speaking people, then I understand completely. You are running a business. However, you also need to provide a coherent product. You can’t act like the 619 hurts anyone over 6’3” and you can’t have Mysterio winning with strength moves. You can’t have Mysterio’s opponents try moves they never use just so he can hit his spots and get his pop. That is the inherent problem with maintaining believability and having the big title on him; Mysterio winning matches against big guys can only be pushed so far. If he wants to continue beating people, he has to hit crazy, amazing spots that make him worth being in the main event. As it is now, Mysterio brings nothing special to the performance and he is just a representation of pandering to a minority audience. Hispanic people should feel patronized.
What you did right:
-The Money in the Bank matches at the PPV were surprisingly well done. Considering the way you have treated him in the past, Kane would have been the last guy I picked to win the Smackdown contract, and the crowd really reacted well to it. I was ecstatic when the Miz won the RAW contract. The Miz has been a huge surprise over the last few years. Every week, he puts in the best segment on RAW. Every week, he puts in the best segment on NXT. He is one of the best and is completely under utilized.
How you messed it up:
-Well, I can say I was pretty happy Kane won, but we all know the Undertaker is on his way back to take it from him. So, congratulations WWE, you successfully neutered the Big Red Machine with another short title run. I have a terrible, terrible nightmare that The Miz is going to be the first unsuccessful MITB winner. What you should have done or what he should do is cash it in on Cena right after he wins the title and he should probably be the secret Nexus mastermind. You should let it drag out for a long time, keep Cena away from the title, do it for as long as you can keep heat on The Nexus, then spring them on Cena right after he wins the strap, then The Miz comes out and cashes in the contract. The bigger the PPV the better.
What you did right:
-You have done a good job of dangling young talent out there for a bit, mostly out of necessity. You have recently pushed Sheamus, CM Punk, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, the Hart Dynasty, Drew McIntyre and set up the NXT show. This is what you need to be constantly doing to take the most advantage of your gulf of talent.
How you messed it up:
-Sheamus never beat any one of any status during his first title run, yet he was supposed to be some kind of destroyer. He has at least gotten to beat mid-card guys during this title run. Keep it up. You should even make it look like he is the leader of The Nexus for a while. You missed the boat on Kofi when he was for some reason single handedly destroying The Legacy, and I doubt Big Daddy Vince will ever look his way again. Drew McIntyre will indeed be a future champion; he looks like a young HHH. You haven’t messed him up yet, but I did expect him to win the Smackdown MITB match. The NXT show is mostly good and in a lot of ways my favorite show every week. However, the reality show crap has got to go. They do not need all these stupid competitions to establish fake immunity. If you want them to have contrived competitions then have them be wrestling related. The Nexus was a great result of this show and an unexpected one. The guys eliminated from the second season had better join up with The Nexus soon. I am thinking Summerslam, otherwise the whole motivation of the group is lost on management. The pros jumping in on the rookies was completely random and out of character, and the names they use for kids of known stars is absurd. Otherwise, keep it up and figure out some way to keep it past the second season.
What you did right:
-Finally getting a real GM on RAW. This could be the best thing you have done all year. Now, start getting relevant celebrity guests or stop the whole thing all together.
How you messed it up:
-This email thing is annoying and I am glad the wrestlers acknowledge that no one likes it. It is not terrible that the GM is anonymous but the implementation is once again flawed. The whole thing will be a colossal failure if the GM turns out to be anyone in the McMahon-Helmsley cabal and really wouldn’t be exciting if it was Stone Cold. Of the people that make sense and would provide compelling story I can think of Michael Cole, Shawn Michaels, Ted DiBiase, JBL, or Brian Danielson.
Dr Octogon Brings the Squared-Circle: The State of Wrestling Pt. 2 7/23/10 Edition
Jul 23rd
Jake is back already with his update on Total Non-stop Action. If you missed Part 1, fill your brain hole here: Part 1
TNA
There is just too much to say about the New World Ord…er, I mean the New World Championsh…dammit, I mean Total Non-stop Action, starring Hulk Hogan and friends. They brought in a talent like Nigel McGuinness and immediately started to destroy him. They waste air time and our time putting people on that they never plan on using: Val Venis, Christopher Daniels, The Nasty Boys, Orlando Jordan, to name a few. And this is all in addition to the worst public relations move in the history of wrestling, when they moved Impact to Monday Night. All the move did was show how much TNA has become WCW 2.0 and how much the company owes their existence to WWE’s incompetence. Yeah, they moved Impact back to Thursday because the fans demanded it. They demanded it by not tuning in on Mondays.
What you have done wrong:
-Sigh. You know, I like so, so many of your wrestlers: AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Desmond McGuinness, Robert Roode, Abyss, Mr Anderson, Eric Young, The Pope, Hernandez, Jay Lethal, The Motor City Machine Guns, Velvet Sky, and the Hardy/RVD/Kendrick group if they did not make all their decisions based on their drug habits. I think you have more wrestlers I enjoy than any other promotion I have experienced. How do you eff this up so much? You have killed Desmond Wolfe as a main event talent. You promote young wrestlers to only hobble them with connections to archaic wrestlers and stories. You used to have the best Tag Division in the business; now, Ring of Honor is ahead of you. Sometimes, you make me feel like Jim Cornette is trying to claw his way out of my brain so he can hunt you down and bludgeon you with Abyss’ ridiculous nail-mace.
What you did right:
-To the credit of Hulk and Friends, some non-traditional talent has been pushed since the big takeover. AJ Styles was the first champion. RVD has been retained for a fair amount of time. Kazarian, Abyss, Eric Young, Rob Terry, Mr Anderson, and Jay Lethal have all gotten nice rubs.
How you messed it up:
-Even when you push these guys, you still taint them with old. Even when they get a chance to really promote themselves, they are attached to a Hulkite like an alcohol detection bracelet to Scott Hall’s ankle. The Abyss getting the Hall of Fame ring angle was about as ludicrous and backwards as they come. Do you realize that you were making a reward from your competitor a mythical object of power? Was your intention to admit WWE supremacy? Now Abyss is coming out in silver and black. Really, now we have Hollywood Abyss; where is the boa, TNA? You do realize that the weapon he is carrying would completely murder someone with one half-assed swing, right? That thing does 3d6 base damage, for Torm’s sake.
What you did right:
-I am going to put this in caps: THE POPE IS THE BEST YOU GOT!!! I swear to God Almighty, if this guy does not have the title on him by the next Slammiversary, then you are either the biggest bunch of moronic dick weeds to ever build a wrestling ring or you are racists. We already know he is the wrong minority culture for Big Daddy Vince to put the strap on, but come on guys, this is your chance to differentiate yourselves.
How you messed it up:
-The Pope keeps earning Main Event status, not just in our hearts, but in your story and he keeps getting screwed. When he is healthy, he had better sky rocket.
What you did right:
-The Top Ten Ranking system is a great way to quantify to a sports crazy culture who you want to push in the company. It is an excellent story telling mechanism.
How you messed it up:
-Take your own crap seriously, pretty please. The first poll had Desmond Wolfe as the #1 Contender. You took a crap on him and all the people that voted for him. This result shows that I am not just some crazy internet troll with too much time on his hands and a bear-sized man crush on Nigel McGuinness; people want to see this guy in the main event. I have absolutely zero guess as to why you would not want to push someone who would get you viewers and popularity. I can only conjure it has something to do with stupidity and pride. Also, this ‘we can’t decide between the last three, so we have to have a four-way’ was a bunch of contrived crap. You have a ranking system you can’t use to rank and now after a razor close four-way, Abyss is all of a sudden the #1 Contender. Please, please, please do something smart for once. You should have written in an infallible ranking system for at least a year, with constant, clear #1 contenders. You legitimize your own mechanism this way, and then you can start messing with the audience’s expectations with this ‘we can’t decide’ routine. Then you spiral that into a series of epic matches. Baby Jesus, why won’t you guys just take a high school writing class? If you want, I can introduce you to some good people at Jenks High School.
What you did right:
-You pretty much punted any interest in Kurt Angle for the first few months, but when he bowed out of the ranking, declaring he would work his way up from the bottom of the contenders, that was an absolute perfect character action meeting character motivation. See, this makes me think someone there actually knows something, but hey, maybe you just got lucky having him do something that seemed chivalrous and noble.
How you messed it up:
-Well, I do not know if you have yet, however, I am pretty sure you will. I get the feeling that Angle is going to make it all the way through his self imposed journey to the chocolaty center of the leathery skinned, TNA hard candy shell. I think he is going to stand in the ring and weep when he finally gets the title. However, this is only the cliché that you are going to go with. It is not the way it should turn out. Kurt Angle is “THE GUY” you should be using to legitimize your young talent; not Hogan or Nash or Flair. He should make it to the top at the same time some young star also gets there, I am thinking the Pope. Maybe the title is vacated; maybe it is just the nature of his quest and the system that he will challenge the Champion and Challenger when he is ranked #2. Which ever, he has an absolutely epic match with Pope in this case. Pope wins, Angle is exhausted and deflated, but still gives Pope a huge lifting his hands and presenting the new Champion to the crowd. The next show, Angle is going to go through with his retirement but Pope comes out and he won’t let him. He tells him he respects him so much, he will give him as many shots as he wants at the title. For the next three months, you have the opportunity for a series of amazing and actually emotional matches that will permanently set the tone for your company, make a mega-star out of The Pope, and elevate what we all expect out of TNA. Ultimately, The Pope should be victorious in all of these matches. Angle can get the strap a few months down the line, but this thread needs to be about turning a young talent into the company’s Rock.
Dr Octogon Brings the Squared-Circle: The State of Wrestling Pt. 1 7/22/10 Edition
Jul 22nd
Over the last year, Professional Wrestling is approaching a nadir unlike anything we have seen since Robocop gave Sting the infamous assist. All of the televised companies have been failing to not only do anything fresh or new, but they constantly cross the line of the suspension of disbelief. WWE continues to press their talent into tiny cookie cutter roles while forcing them to compete in pointless house shows that only serve to shorten their careers. TNA has become WCW 2.0; squandering anyone not associated with the old WCW regime, and continuously promoting nonsensical angles with almost every talent. ROH holds the distinction of being a puny kid that all the jocks pick on. The other two companies are constantly raiding their talent, but then what do they do with that talent. How many pot joke wrestlers can you employ? How many hour long wrestling shows can you run with absolutely nothing happening? Wrestling is entering a dark, dark era my friends.
ROH
They lost Nigel McGuinness to TNA. They lost Brian Danielson to WWE. They are probably going to soon lose the Briscoe Brothers and at least Chris Hero from the Kings of Wrestling. ROH is the breeding ground for talent that the other companies are not going to use correctly. This little show is quite capable of putting on some quality performances. However, they get raided by the other guys regularly and I believe they are stuck in the rut where all raided promotions end up. They become petrified to turn anyone into a real asset, turning to has-beens, like Jerry Lynn, and lowest common denominators, like Necro Butcher to fill out their promotion. They have some dynamite wrestlers, many of them about to get big contracts with other companies, but these tactics are not the way to go. I think they should take the high road, wish those guys the best and move on to the next one. They do this until they are big enough that they will keep stars around and maybe one of those other guys will come crawling back.
What you have done wrong:
-Jerry Lynn has not had an exciting match in about, oh, never. It was a mistake to ever bring this guy on board. All I want to do is fall asleep during his matches. That or take my anger out on old people. Do not make me responsible for geriatricide, Ring of Honor. Secondly, I am sick of all the freaking pot joke characters. You can have one at the most for the degenerates, but not even that one really serves a purpose. You are wasting spots on your roster for young and actually talented wrestlers that you could be promoting to the main event soon. Lastly, you need to have something happen on your damn television program every once in a while. It is the now an old cliché that wrestling promotions hold all the big events for the PPV, but for Baby Jesus’ sake, you never have anything at all happen outside of the PPV, Ring of Honor. Throw us a bone, do not run the same promo of Kevin Steen and El Generico every week.
PS: Colt Cabana sucks.
What you did right:
-The Television Title tournament was a great innovation and addressed some of my complaints about your lack of meaningful action on television.
How you messed it up:
-Since the Finals, there has been very little interaction with this Title and Television. That seems to be a problem for the Television Title.
What you did right:
-Pushing Tyler Black was one of the better moves of anyone in wrestling this year. His in ring skills are reminiscent of a raw Shawn Michaels, which fortunately for ROH means the modern WWE will have zero interest in him.
What you messed up:
-Tyler’s mic skills are not that reminiscent of the Heart Break Kid. He is not terrible, but he needs some serious mentoring. With the proper training, he could be a top talent star. Also, you need to find him a foil. He needs a real serious threat that pushes him over and over and over. On your roster now, I would suggest ending the Kevin Steen/El Generico feud and moving Steen over to give it a go at playing this part. Apart from that, maybe one of the Kings of Wrestling, if one of them stays around. It would really be a coup if you could sign someone like Jeff Hardy and do a major heel turn angle against Black.
What you did right:
-You continually have a roster and a show that is more concerned with the wrestling product and the resulting matches than what the backstage wants to push. You are to be commended for this.
What you messed up:
-You cannot continue to push never-go-anywheres. You have to cut out a lot of the pot joke characters and you cannot give air time to lowest common denominators like Eddie Kingston. You need to use these spots to fill with young, vibrant talent and hopefully one day you will be to the point where one will stick around and you can start sticking it to the big boys. Oh yeah, have something happen on HDNet every once in a while.
Check back tomorrow, when I will have my scathing review of TNA.
The Producer. The Moocher. The Looter.
Dec 27th
Oh Lawds! I has a Blackberry and a free meal!
In this country, we can all be put into one of three categories in terms of one’s personal contribution. You’re either a producer, a looter, or a moocher. Let us define the terms and let you figure out where you stand. For the record, I cannot claim the producer/moocher/looter notion. I will claim the solution for said problems, however.
The Producer.
The Producer is an individual who is employed, if both able and willing. Times are tough for many that are out of work. The producer may be out of work, but is actively seeking employment and not enjoying a minute of not earning a living. The producer’s children have never taken a bite of a free breakfast or lunch at school without the producer doing everything they could to quickly end the embarrassment and personal shame for having done so. They have never had their child’s daycare subsidized. They have never gone on food stamps with the intention of it becoming a lifestyle. They probably decided to get a second/third job or sold off things they don’t need to survive. The producer’s numbers are dwindling.
The Moocher.
The moocher is the person in front of you at the grocery store with expensive footwear and/or a designer purse trying to refinance an Escalade. They feel like free meals for their *many* children at school is a birthright. They work sparingly, if at all. If subsidized housing is available, they’re in it. Nothing is their fault if you ask them. They might have tried to go to college, but it won’t be on their dime. The world owes them a living because they simply cannot help themselves without having to suffer the indignity of missing Maury Povich.
The Looter.
The looter is the smallest portion of the three, but is the most important piece of this puzzle as far as the process being able to continue. Quite simply, the looter is the elected and/or appointed officials in our government who facilitate the looting of the producer’s wages and give them to the moocher. We can quibble about what percentage of this and that goes to what government entity, but the fact is people that refuse to work and stop having children in the name of personal responsibility have no reason to stop so long as the looter continues to reward said behaviors.
My solution? Weighted disenfranchisement.
What?
If you were a moocher and knew which politicians/looters support continued looting from the producers, you would vote for the looters who could give you biggest slice of the producer’s pie. In other words, you would effectively vote yourself a pay raise.
Less work + More money = Helluva deal!
Here’s how we could put a stop the bleeding. We need to diminish the amount each moocher’s vote counts. The perfect vote would equal 1.0 votes. This is a person who works and pays taxes (on time) and does not milk the government/producer of entitlements. I’m not talking about standard things like street lights, national defense and city parks. Everyone enjoys those perks.
Everyone starts with 1.0 votes and is subject to losing a percentage of their vote.
Here’s a few suggestions…
If you are on either food stamps, WIC, subsidized daycare, subsidized housing, welfare, dependent health/dental care for more than 20% of a year’s time, then your vote goes to 0.5%.
For every child you have beyond one, deduct an additional 0.1%. This does not apply solely to the (mostly) women stuck raising these children, if it has been determined you have fathered any children in said situation(s), you will receive an equal penalty to that of your former partner no matter how many children they have. However, if you are financially and morally capable (clean rap sheet), you will have the right to gain custody away from the irresponsible party who has your child. After all, ovaries provide no guarantee of superior parenting abilities.
There are exceptions… If you are a legal guardian of a child/children you did not produce and have been charged with their care due to you being a responsible individual, you would be exempt from penalty. Hey, it ain’t your fault your a good person. I would also provide full to partial exceptions to those disabled by non-preventable disease and/or conditions. Example: breast cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, leukemia. Retired individuals would be exempted based on if they worked or were part of a household that didn’t abuse the entitlement system prior to reaching retirement age.
We’ve got to do something to obstruct the cycle of dependency in this country. We’re on a slippery slope, and if we don’t get some tread under our feet soon, we’re gonna slide to a place from which we may never be able to get our asses unstuck. Let’s put a HUGE dent in the looter’s ability to provide a payroll to the moochers.
I hope that somewhere, Atlas is shrugging in agreement.
Would you do?… The Progressive Insurance Girl
Dec 19th
The goofy girl on the progressive insurance commercial is none other than Stephanie Courtney. The question to the Couch Pirates and our fans is… Would you do Stephanie Courtney?
Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “Still Behind” Edition #7
Oct 13th
Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “Still Behind” Edition #7
A rough breakdown of the issue would be as follows:
Page 1: S.H.I.E.L.D. troops seen investigating “footprint” found in the jungle of the Andes Mountains
Page 2: Nick Fury and the X-Men are at the school talking to the S.H.I.E.L.D. troopers, Beast is trying to convince Fury to send in the X-Men to help.
Pages 3-4: In the Andes Mountains Fury’s men are attacked by something. They cannot make out what it is; only that it is “huge”.
Pages 5-6: Fury and the X-Men hear Fury troopers die in battle. They try to make contact and cannot. Professor Xavier confirms all soldiers are dead. Beast wants answer’s and wants to travel to the Andes Mountains himself.
Pages 7-11: Xavier calls for the rest of the X-Men. Beast thinks these issues could be related to Bolivar Trask (the man who created the Sentinels). Fury and the X-Men argue for a page or so, Fury says that S.H.I.E.L.D. can handle this but finally the X-Men convince him otherwise. Fury agrees to use their help. Cyclops assigns the team of Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Rogue and Kitty Pryde for the mission. Beast convinces Cyclops he is needed and he is added to the team.
Pages 12-18: During the flight to the Andes Mountains, Fury tells Jean about one of the soldiers that was killed today. The only name Fury’s gives us is “Tommy”. Tommy was the great nephew of Junior Juniper, one of the men killed in Fury’s Howling Commando’s back in World War II. This leads into a flashback about a raid on a Nazi base that was full of all sorts of hardware, experiments and weapons. The Howling Commando’s were sent in to destroy everything. Wolverine was one of Fury’s men on the squad and during the raid he killed Dietrich Trask, a German scientist. So the Trask connection evolves.
Pages 19-22: The X-Men and Fury arrive at the Andes Mountain location only to find the bodies of the dead S.H.I.E.L.D. troopers, all equipment, all vehicles, and weapons are gone. Even the giant footprint has disappeared. The X-Men scout around some, when all of a sudden they are attacked by a Sentinel, to be continued.
I guess Steve Scott (pencils) and Al Vey (inks) are the new art team for this story arc. At times the artwork is very nice and others it is quite painful. As I was reading this issue I thought there were two different people drawing this book but I was sadly mistaken. Maybe they just need some time on the book to get a feel for the characters so I will reserve final judgment at some point later. The nicer pages give fans of the book a lot of hope.
The story, what can I say about it that I haven’t said before? Not much really. Claremont seems to have characters acting out of character just to be different. Beast seems to have a new attitude about him; several times in this issue alone, he comes off snarky, as if he had a chip on his shoulder or something to prove. This Claremont-verse incarnation of Beast is not the same one we read by the same author all these years prior.
Change is good? Maybe for some, in this issue we see change in attire for some of the X-Men. Remy Picard (Gambit) is now wearing a suit and trench coat, no mask and had his hair slicked back. He still has his gloves on and carries his trademark staff. Kitty Pryde (Shadow Cat) has gone to a darker goth-lite look, with streaked purple dyed hair. Beast now supports a long style spandex type pants, instead of the blue bikini briefs. Rogue and Nightcrawler also look to have a new variant costume on as well. Not sure why all the costume changes in the beginning of this series. All I can say to Uncle Chris is this “you can polish a turd all you want but at the end of the day it’s still a turd”.
See you next week.
COUCH PIRATE INSTA-POLL:Is this Scott’s Season?
Sep 21st
I will admit that I am a man with a problem. I live in Oklahoma and I love to make fun of the OU Football team. Love it like a crackhead loves the rock. But this year a friend of mine who is a true fan of the Sooners was very kind to me durning a potentially bad plumbing situation in my Death trap of an Apartment.
That Fan was Couch Pirate Scott.
In my mind a true fan of the Sooners is someone that sticks by the team through the good seasons and the bad. Quite a few will even turn on the team mid game if things look bad, but not Scott. I made him an offer that has now come to a moment of truth. Is this his season?
I offered him one season of no making fun of the Sooners. No Calls at the end of games should they lose, no chants of “tear your Quads!” every time the QB gets sacked. Even if Bob Stoops were to be caught at the Habana Inn with all the Ruf Neks in a Hot Tub….Nothing.
I even Gave him the 1st three games of the season to make his Desicion. Is this his season to not hear my cruel jack-assery towards his team or should he hang on to this golden ticket?
HELP HIM DECIDE! Leave your comments below!!!
Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “OVERDUE” Edition #6
Sep 18th
Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “OVERDUE” Edition #6
Issue #6 opens with a classic scene, a Chris Claremont original, its non-other than an “X-Men playing baseball scene”. Yep you heard me right, Uncle Chris went back to that well once again. Most of the X-Men play baseball in the Danger Room, while they should be cleaning it up. They are interrupted by team leader Cyclops who is not too happy with them for disobeying orders. During this time Lil’ Ororo powers start to go haywire and starts creating storms and tornadoes so the X-Men must save themselves from her powers. She finally manages to get control and reel them in.
Next the Danger Room goes all crazy and starts to attack the X-Men that are still recovering from the power surge by Lil’ Ororo. Nightcrawler, Lil’ Ororo, Kitty Pryde and Lockheed all manage to escape via teleporting/phasing out. This leaves Cyclops and Gambit left inside to fight the Danger Room while the others shut it down from the outside.
Meanwhile Professor X confronts Sabretooth in the kitchen and they have a discussion about trusting and respecting each other. Sabretooth talks about how Kitty Pryde is blood now and it’s because she has more than just Wolverine’s claw in her. Sabretooth continues by saying he will be watching her, and sticking with the X-Men until he gets revenge on “Evil” Storm and the people that sent her to kill his son, Wolverine.
During this Beast and Jean Grey are seen snooping around Xavier’s computer files searching for more evidence about mutants burning out and dying young. They find more proof that what he said is indeed true.
This sucktacular issue wraps up as Lil’ Ororo wonders if the X-men are really for her and if she should stay or go her own way. Nick Fury and Professor X get some information about a Foreign Dispatch Unit that has gone missing in South America and when shown a screen shot of what is there they are surprised. They see a huge crater-like foot print with smashed tanks and jungle life in it, the end.
Not a great ending but that is Uncle Chris’s X-Men Forever tales for you.
A simple breakdown of the issue would be as follows:
Page 1-8: Some of X-Men are supposed to be cleaning up the wrecked Danger Room (see issues 1-5), but instead start a pick up Baseball game instead. Cyclops interrupts the game. Lil’ Ororo powers go crazy as she creates a tornado in the Danger Room. Cyclops saves Lil’ Ororo and calms her down, danger’s averted.
Page 9-10: Professor X and Sabretooth talk in the kitchen. Professor X tells Sabretooths he needs to earn respect and Sabretooth claims he only cares about blood. He claims that Kitty Pryde has more than just one of Wolverine’s claws in her.
Pages 11: Beast and Jean Grey are in Beast’s Lab. They discuss the raw power that is know in Kitty Pryde and Sabretooth is watching her. Beast shows Jean the data that he has uncovered from Xavier’s old files on mutants.
Pages 12-17: Back in the Danger Room a combat program begins locking the X-Men inside. Nightcrawler grabs Lil’ Ororo and teleports out, Kitty Pryde grabs Lockheed, phasing to the outside. They shut down the power and leave Cyclops and Gambit inside to fight the room, until the back-up power finally powers down.
Pages 18-19: Later Gambit, Cyclops and Lil’ Ororo talk about what she wants in life: to stay with the X-Men or go her own way. While this goes on, Nightcrawler and Kitty talks about her gifts (Wolverine’s claw and rage) and how she should use them for good.
Pages 20-22: Professor X and Nick Fury are notified of a missing Unit in South America. When they get visuals on the area we see a big footprint like crater with crushed tanks and trees inside. What does this mean?
This issue was simply a filler issue. It had a filler artist (old X-Men Penciller Paul Smith) and filler story, (See X-Men playing baseball) nothing really happened, the story barely moved forward, if at all. The only good thing about this issue is the cover by Tom Grummett and its looks like most of the real artwork was done by the colorist. The inside art was terrible, and this is coming from a Paul Smith fan of his early X-Men work. The story was even worse. The whole issue could have not happened or happened in 3-4 pages and got the same points across. I can see tons of people dropping this book after this issue. It was bad, so very bad. What is even worse, we the reader paid 3.99 to read this.
It is times like this I ask myself how much longer can I actually continue to read and write articles about this crap. See you next week.
The Best Day I Ever Had
Sep 16th
I haven’t really posted anything lately. Had I not been busy being lazy, I would/should have posted something about how it’s awesome that Uncle Teddy died. Maybe I could mentioned how ACORN has been figuring out ways to get prostitutes home loans so they can bring underage illegal aliens to work in makeshift brothels.
No, I will simply talk about the most fun I’ve had in one single day.
In about 2002 I met a girl I had messed around with was then the recent past. She probably would have liked to date, but since I don’t like spending money on broads that option was off the table. I met her at her job, followed her to house. Upon arrival, I banged her. I then took a shower and was close to leaving when she suggested getting something to eat.
At this point I figured it would be OK to get something, as long as it involved a drive-thru. She wasn’t all that great looking, but she allowed me to stick my penis in her, which is a quality I greatly value in a woman. She drove, and insisted on paying.
Hard to argue with that logic.
Upon the return to her place (never do it at your own place unless you have a temporary residence), we ate what we had ordered. Then, I banged her again, left, and never talked to her in person again. It worked out for both of us.
It was awesome.
This video has nothing to do with that story, but it’s amazing. Watch it once, then watch it again and you’ll see that it gets better as you learn the dance and some of the lyrics he’s singing.
Rate This Chick: Amy
Sep 15th
I know this is long but if you want to get to know me then it’s worth the read…
At first sight most people think I’m high maintenance and unapproachable…but I’m the complete opposite. I’m 39 going on 21. I don’t mind getting dirty and sweaty but I get whiny when I get too hot. I can be a girly girl one minute and a tomboy the next. I know how to behave in public but don’t expect it when alone.
I’m a happy, affectionate, fun loving, laid back goof ball that loves to laugh. I’m artistic, creative and intuitive. I definitely use both sides of my brain. My glass is always half full and I’m not a big fan of the “pity party”. I have a good sense of humor and it’s very hard to offend me. I’m in no way politically correct.
I am not sure I am ready for something super serious. I’d like to start out as friends/date and then go from there. I do enjoy my freedom and don’t think that couples should be attached at the hip 24/7. But, the right guy could make me rethink all this.
I do know what I want and I don’t think we should settle for anything less. So, here is a list of the “Must Haves”…:)
1) Must know when to use there, their and they’re in a sentence…:)This is a pet-peeve of mine. I’m not a spelling/grammer nazi and I don’t need anymore emails regarding any grammatical errors in my profile.
2) Must be a Man’s Man…I’m a big “do it yourself” kinda girl…but, I’m not willing to change your flat tire…unless you’re in a body cast.
3) Must have a good sense of humor. A twisted sense of humor is even better.
4) Must never have been featured on America’s Most Wanted or have put an animal in a dryer just to see what would happen.
5) Must be playful. I bite, pinch and pout in order to get my way.
6) Must NOT snore. I’m a light sleeper and it doesn’t take much to wake me up.
7) Must be perfectly imperfect. I don’t want someone with perfect looks, perfect manners, or a perfect life. I want someone who has flaws, scars, even quirks and embraces them.
Top 10 things you should know about me…
1) I don’t like being told I can’t do something.
2) I don’t like balloons, drainage grates, or clowns. I’m just quirky like that.
3) I think men and women should shave from shoulder to toes. Not a big fan of body hair.
4) No matter how minor any injury I sustain is it will require a kiss and a band-aid…or Start Flight 
5) I can careless what side of the bed I sleep on.
6) I can’t rub someone’s back while they throw up…or I will throw up.
7) I don’t like talking on the phone…I’d rather text.
I Love to take baths.
9) Currently both of my rotator cuffs are torn.
10) I will not change and I don’t want to change anyone else. If being with me requires change then you’re better off going and watching clouds. They will definitely change for you but I won’t. What you see is what you get.
Okay…now for the whole kid factor. I can’t have kids, so I prefer someone who doesn’t want kids. I love kids and don’t mind someone who already has kids but I don’t want the drama of a psycho baby mama. Now, if you have wonderful kids and a good relationship with their Mother then that I can definitely deal with.
I have a hectic schedule so bare with me when it comes to replying back. If I’m interested I will definitely reply…it just might take a few days.
PS. I don’t twitter, blog or facebook because my life is just not that interesting. I also don’t MSN, AIM or because I just don’t have the desire or time.
Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “LONG OVERDUE” Edition #5
Sep 11th
Off the Rack: X-Men Forever “LONG OVERDUE” Edition #5
Yes I am behind, very behind. No. Worse than very behind, for what it is worth I am sorry. Over the next couple of weeks I will post a new “Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition” until I am caught back up. Okay, so we agree I have a lot to get you caught up on, so let me get right to it.
This issue is the final part of this opening X-Men Forever story arc. So the big battle (or not very big battle) between the Consortium and the X-Men happens for about half the issue. After the fight, the “Evil” Storm (remember she killed Wolverine) flees the X-Men. The X-Men discover they are in one of the Consortium warehouses and are about to search the crates inside, when SHIELD shows up and tells the X-Men that they will take over from this point on.
We finally get to see the fate of Fabian Cortez, remember him from the first issue? Well in a very short scene we see SHIELD agents tell Nick Fury that a transport ship with Cortez in it has gone missing, and on the next page we see SHIELD agents hand him off to the Consortium soldiers in Northern Africa.
When the X-Men come home, Beast reveals that Lil Ororo and “Evil” Storm are exact genetic copies of each other. Beast also admits that while doing research he wandered into Professor Xavier’s old data files. These are files dating back to when he first became paralyzed. Beast unveils the shocking information he has found and that it’s a secret Professor X’s has kept for years. Professor X tells his X-Men the truth, the truth that mutants seem to eventually “burn out” and die. The more mutants use their powers the less is left to sustain their lives. Which they try to explain is why Magneto “burned out” during the original X-Men #1-#3 stories back in the early 1990’s. The X-Men are upset with this news and the fact they have been told lies all this time by Professor X. Nick Fury interrupts and tells the X-Men that somethings in life are hard, and despite the lies they have done good and saved the world many times, and for that reason alone they should continue on doing good as the X-Men.
The last pages of the book the X-Men mourn the loss of Wolverine and think about their future. Scott confronts Jean about her feelings for Wolverine. She admits she loves him and they too seem to agree that their relationship is over. Near the end Cyclops convinces the others that they should stay together and continue to make the world a better place. Ahhwww a happy ending.
A simple breakdown of the issue would be as follows:
Page 1-6: Storm is surrounded by the Consortium Troops. Lil Ororo, Gambit, Rogue and Nightcrawler fight another group of Consortium Troops.
Page 6-12: Cyclops, Jean, Shadowcat, and Sabretooth enter the scene and attack the Consortium Troops holding Storm. They all fight the Consortium and beat them, Storm kills one of the troops and flees the scene. The X-Men raid their building and are about to open the crates they found inside, when SHIELD shows up and dismisses them.
Pages 13: Nick Fury and SHIELD are seen fortifying Xavier’s Mansion. A Shield Agent tells Fury that the transport containing Fabian Cortez has gone messing.
Pages 14: The missing SHIELD Transport drops Fabian Cortez off in Northern Africa, Consortium soldiers pick him up. Cortez is confused.
Pages 15-20: Everyone comes home to the mansion. Beast confirms that Lil Ororo is the exact match of the Storm that betrayed the team. Beast also tells the X-Men that he got into Professor Xavier data files and found out that all mutants will likely die young. Professor X admits the data to be true, the more mutants use their powers the less is left to sustain their lives.
Pages 21-22: X-Men hold a very private memorial service for Wolverine. Jean admits she loved him and it looks like Scott and Jean are over. Scott asks the other X-Men to continue on fighting the good fight.
So after five issues we learn in the X-Men Forever Claremont-verse version of the X-Men that; Jean Grey really loved Wolverine more than ever before, mutants can and will “burn out” and likely die young, there is at least one faction in SHIELD working hand and hand with the Consortium, no one cares or wants to care about how and where this Lil’ Ororo came to be even though Gambit obviously knew about her before, Scott and Jean are no more, Sabretooth is Wolverine’s father and is now blind, Shadowcat has one of Wolverine’s claws in her forearm and its functions properly, Wolverine is dead, and finally the writing direction is abysmal.
What this book needs is a good old fashion Chris Claremont softball game. “No!” you scream. Well, it’s coming, but you will have to wait until next issue for that. See you next week for” Off the Rack: X-Men Forever Edition #6”.
What the Hell is Vic (AKA Cool Kevin) Watching Now? The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
Aug 20th
Well, for my first review on the site I debated about what to review. Since I agreed to do movies and TV I thought about reviewing District 9 since my wife and I saw that this weekend. It was decent, but it’s also new and there are tons of reviews for new flicks. So I decided to go with one of the old TV shows I’ve been watching on Netflix: The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Now before I go on I should point out that I watch a lot of shit. A lot of what I Netflix has shitty fx, shitty stories, and shitty acting. Occasionally I will stumble across a good (if low budget) flick, but it usually ends up being pretty shitty. I often think it’s the same compulsion that drives people to watch shit like Friends, but I could never stomach that fucking cultural abortion so I don’t know. Anyway, this show is not one of those shitty SciFi/zombie/action flicks I usually watch. This was the best western scifi adventure show ever made.
Now, most people have probably never heard of this show. It had a brief run in the 90’s and features that master of the B flick Bruce Campbell as the lead character Brisco County Jr. It also frequently featured John Astin, Julius Carry, Kelly Rutherford and Billy Drago. Set in the 1880’s, the basic plot of the series is that John Bly (Drago) and his gang is responsible for killing Brisco’s father and in turn Brisco is hired by a group of wealthy businessmen to track down Bly and his gang. Pretty basic series premise, and one that carried out through its run. But what set this series apart was the constant anachronistic references and ideas used in the show. It’s a nice show that’s entertaining even with the occasional plot hole and predictable storyline.
I loved this series. I loved it in the 90’s and I love it now. This is some of Campbell’s best stuff prior to Burn Notice. The stories were usually solid enough for a show of this type and the mix of western and occasional weird was cool. It’s nice to see it held up over the years.
Dr Octogon Brings the Squared-Circle: State of Wrestling 08/07/09 Edition
Aug 8th
The site was having some editing issues so I got behind a but this week, so here we go from ECW on Tuesday.
ECW 08/04/09
ECW was hit and miss tonight. It started out with some piss poor banter between Zak Ryder, Shelton Benjamin and Abraham Washington on the terrible Abraham Washington show. Anyone else think it is stupid this dill-hole had been called up for a month and still has not wrestled? They didn’t really need this situation to spark a feud between Ryder and Benjamin. I guess this also cuts Tyler Reks out of his feud with Ryder. Later, they had a goofy Hurricane segment but it gave me an excuse to see GM Tiffany. My favorite segment of the night was Goldust and Sheamus. They mostly had a very traditional mat wrestling contest with Sheamus finishing from a normal move instead of a finisher. Very old school. I like the dynamic they have working ECW with the veteran stars, Christian, Regal, Dreamer, Goldust, capable of training and guiding the young stars in a real setting. The Main Event was the Christian vs Dreamer ECW Championship match under extreme rules. Meh, as far as hardcore matches go, this was pretty tame. One aspect of the Dreamer/Christian/Swagger feud had been the wrestling, but hardcore pretty much eliminates that. Besides, weren’t all ECW title matches supposed to be contested under extreme rules? And a hardcore match involving Christian without a single Con-Chair-To? Come on guys.
C+
WWE Superstars 08/06/09
I thought this was a subpar Superstars for the most part but it had entertaining aspects. Santino for one was great even in a glorified squash match to Chris Masters. In tag team action, Regal and Burchill defeated Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks. This was a pretty good match. Yoshi is getting a decent push and I do not know where they are going with Reks, but Regal and the Burchills, Katie Lee and Paul, had great chemistry as a group. The main event featured Rey Mysterio against Mike Knox with Dolph Ziggler as the guest announcer. Knox once again showed a lot of talent but the match was on the way to the typical Mysterio ending when Ziggler interfered to cause the DQ. I did not really enjoy Ziggler behind the headphones. Either he did not know what he was doing or he was not prepared properly for that role. Maybe he didn’t like Vince yelling in his ear.
B-
TNA Impact
I had been reading about this episode of Impact that would be so crazy and so chaotic because it would feel like a riot. Well, it did in ways and was still a bit of a letdown. The night started off with Main Event Mafia and World Elite, the Eric Young lead foreigner faction, joining forces. Let’s pause to get this straight, MEM now contains their guys, the Nation of Violence guys and the World Elite guys. Because they didn’t say they were just going to watch each other’s backs. It sounded like the same angle they came at Joe with; that MEM was hiring them to be associated with them. So they have a few matches and do some promos building up the idea that it is the TNA originals vs MEM/WE/NoV. This might be interesting if it were not exactly the same thing they did after MEM formed. Anyone remember the TNA Front Line? Me neither really since that arch amounted to nothing. So they have a big 8-Man tag match with Beer Money and Team 3D vs British Invasion, Steiner and Booker T. This is the match that devolves into a brawl featuring almost the whole locker room. However, the brawl had a couple of notable exceptions: Homicide, Hernandez, AJ Styles, and Matt Morgan. The brawl went everywhere, it was super violent, continued for a couple of segments and even had some humor tossed in. All-in-all it was executed nicely and got the point across. However, two things weakened it. Russo or whoever did almost the exact same thing with the n.W.o and since the MEM is already a lot like the n.W.o it all seemed rehashed. At one point during the broadcast, Mike Tenay draws a comparison to the n.W.o brawl, saying even that was nothing like this but that still makes the audience think rip-off. Sigh, is there a broadcast school he can attend. They had some other wrestling during the night, Morgan evened up the series against AJ, Sting squashed Brutus Magnus, Knockout segments not involving the Beautiful People so I did not care, and another mini-brawl at the end that Hernandez clears out with a twirling chain. this is probably all the natural escalation that the Front Line/MEM confrontation should have taken but someone, presumably Jeff Jarret, interfered with Vince Russo’s plans. Now with Jeff at home, Vince is returning to his killed story. Here is the problem: we know that Russo has had major creative control over two runs in TNA, S.E.X. during the early years and now MEM. They are both very similar to the n.W.o, not to mention the new n.W.o in WCW, and then New Blood towards the end of WCW. All very similar to these story lines and all contributing to the feeling this has all been overdone by him. That and the chaotic nature of the last couple of weeks of Impact really didn’t feel all that different from the riot.
C-
Smackdown 08/07/09
I don’t know about this one. I wish last weeks show had lived up to its great final segment because my faith in Michael Hayes is starting to waiver. I am not saying he has lost; I am just saying some of the circumstances seem too contrived for their own good. The last two weeks of shows have been packed with quality and close chances to be great, but nothing ever pays off until the last segment. The show was billed to start off with a Title match between Hardy and CM Punk. The two brawl and the match never starts so Mr McMahon comes out and reschedules it for the main event. He also adds a special guest enforcer, who is pretty predictable if you think back to who was drafted and traded around recently. Morrison has a very good match with Tyson Kid, defeating him but it is a weird consolation for his awesome main event performance last week. By the way, since when did the Hart Dynasty become jobbers to the stars? After the Cryme Tyme “Word Up” segment, Slam Master J gets his first match since he adopted his new gimmick against Charlie Haas. I commend Hayes in trying to keep his old tag partner’s kid employed. Still, I don’t know how long Jesse will be around. I have never understood why Charlie Haas was an eternal jobber either, oh well. Next, Dolph Ziggler wins a fatal four way for a shot at the Intercontinental title at “Summerfest”, that almost came out and said he was going to win on Superstars. It was a good match but we all knew the results. JTG defeated Chris Jericho, meh. Normal build up for the PPV match. The Great Khali beat Ricky Ortiz in one of the fastest matches ever and then Kane came out to remain involved on “time-filler” feud number 2. In the back, their was some crap-tastic segment where Maria explained why she is boning Doplh Ziggler. Really stupid and no need. On to the main event, it is revealed that special enforcer is none other than…Matt Hardy *gasp*. Yeah, kind of saw it coming and from his very first interactions with Jeff, kind of saw the results of the match coming, too. It was a decent match, but Jeff Hardy did absolutely nothing hardcore or extreme, of course. The specter of whatever contrived thing they were going to pull off to keep the title on Jeff really dampened my enjoyment of the match. And then finally, there it was. Hey, we will have Matt Hardy play angry moron. Jeff will be acting like a little bitch, like always, and stand in front of Matt, arguing with him and with his back to the ropes. Punk will slide at Jeff and Matt will obviously see Jeff move causing Punk to knock Matt back. But no, Matt will be angry at Punk and then pull the ref out as Punk is about to win then get in an argument with Punk and then quick count an easy pin for Jeff to retain. Blah, why could they not execute this better? I do not have a problem with Matt counting the win for Jeff, I think their feud is a dead end anyway. I think there were two possible outcomes of Matt Hardy’s return. Matt costs Jeff the title, they have a huge match at say Hell in the Cell, Jeff gets hurt, and then Jeff takes some time off. Or they reconcile, Punk hurts Jeff, then Matt and Punk feud for the title. After Matt leaves the ring, Punk brutalizes Jeff again and it is great just like last weeks. Then Teddy Long makes them a rematch for “Summerfest” in a TLC match. this could go a lot of different ways but I don’t know how many of them are satisfying. If Matt is going to stay heel, I think they should have the Hardys reconcile over the next couple of weeks, then Matt gets added to the TLC, and then Matt betrays Jeff there. He could even become the champion then. If Matt is turning face, they should have them both struggle with it a bit but I do not know where it should end up. I fear that it would just turn into a normal Punk/Matt Hardy feud away from the title and that would be the end of both of their main event careers. Hopefully, before Jeff takes his time off, they can move the title over to Punk while turning Matt face in a believable way. I think Matt and Punk would work a really good dynamic with Matt coming from a place that he could throw all Punk’s rhetoric back in his face.
B-
Ring Rust: Really, is this what we want?
Aug 5th
Really is this what we want?
I saw this posted on another wrestling website and I had to comment.
Business Week recently did a story on WWE using the celebrity guest hosts on Raw. When discussing the use of the celebrities, Stephanie McMahon made the following comments…
“When Donald took over we realized that our audience wanted to see something new. We have the ability to change our story line to suit whoever hosts.”
She also said that they were talking to Freddie Prinze Jr., Bob Barker and the Reverend Al Sharpton about hosting Raw in the future.
Really Stephanie McMahon? I mean really? Do you and the other higher ups at WWE really think the high ratings on a commercial free RAW were for Donald Trump? Did you guys all forget that that show was advertized heavily for a week on every show you produce as being commercial free? I know for a fact me and several other Couch Pirates tuned in to see a commercial free RAW, not to see “The Donald”.
I also know for a fact we all hate these guest hosts. We are your customers, we buy the PPV’s, we buy the shirts, we buy your video games, we go to the live local shows, we even went to Wrestlemania 25, some of us (including myself) even buy your action figures. We are the customer’s voice, why aren’t you listening?
I say this. You guys run another two hour commercial free RAW, promote the crap out of it like you did before, advertize a World Title #1 contender tournament like you did before. But this time do it without a Donald Trump or a ZZ Top, heck let a WWE GM like Teddy Long guest host. Then let the people watch and enjoy and I promise you ratings will be high. You guys missed the biggest and best gimmick for ratings you have had to date, it’s not a celebrity guest host it is commercial free television.
