Who did you prefer: Scott Hall or Kevin Nash?

Kevin Nash

Scott Hall

Welcome to another round of "Who do you prefer?" This time around we've got two of the biggest names of the '90s. The careers of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash have paralleled each others since roughly 1993-1994.  Both of seen huge amounts of success, holding several titles in different promotions.

Both were founding members of the n.W.o. as well as members of The Kliq. Both are known for being friends backstage. They've been friends and rivals on-air. Both have also had their share of idiotic gimmicks before finally seeing success.

Personally, I find both were highly entertaining....at least through most of their careers.

What do you think of these guys? Any preferences?

Thoughts and comments below, as usual. 

Who do you prefer: Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair

HULK HOGAN

"NATURE BOY" RIC FLAIR

I want to start this off with two of the greatest wrestlers in the last 40 years or so. Hulk Hogan being the top face for WWE during the 80's/early 90's. Ric Flair being the top heel during the 80's and well into the 90's....mostly for the NWA/JCP/WCW.

Which of these wrestlers are/were you more fond of? Why? Fond memories?

As usual, add your comments below.

Hogan's return; Hall of Fame reinstatement

With Hulk Hogan recently signing a new deal with WWE, and his subsequent reinstatement to their Hall of Fame, we've been seeing quite a few discussions involving this. I personally feel that there are several good points to be made about the subject, as well.

Was bringing Hogan back a good thing? Was this a bad move? Should people "move on" and stop beating a dead horse? Is this even a "big deal"?

I'll admit that I've got mixed views on his return, so I'll try to go into some detail on that.

One perspective that's probably a no-brainer is Hogan's legacy. Yes, his legacy does involve him being a racist. I'll go into further detail on that during the course of this article. Right now, I want to discuss what he did as a performer. Hogan, quite simply, was WWE's top draw for many years. Even when you factor all the great talent the company had, Hogan was easily the top draw for the promotion.

Having so many talented people to work with made it easy for Hogan & WWE to keep things fresh. Put him against Roddy Piper? Paul Orndorff and Cowboy Bob Orton were worked into the feud. Problems with Bobby Heenan? Heenan had the revolving door of superstars coming & going from his stable....forcing Hogan to deal with a never ending source of problems. Randy Savage was constantly breathing down Hogan's neck, giving him many great matches over the years.

It was easy, at that time, to question if Hogan would survive. It was no wonder why people kept showing up, buying the merch, ordering the Pay-Per-Views, and so on. At a time when WWE was expanding into a major national promotion, Hogan was the biggest reason why Vince McMahon could afford to keep expanding.

His contribution to the business, as a whole, can't be questioned. I don't think many people would doubt that. He was one of the few people that could catch your attention and keep it.

As far as the racism is concerned, we shouldn't be surprised that it's still happening. If anything, I expect we'll be having problems with racism for a long time to come. Seems like every few weeks, we've got another example of people being cruel to each other. It could be stupid crap like being black in the "wrong" pool, grilling at a public park "without a permit", or selling bottled water without a permit.

There are too many examples to go through. There are probably examples that I haven't heard about yet (somehow).

Realistically speaking, this shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. I realize that Hogan made his controversial comments during a phone call that was recorded without his knowledge. Doesn't make his comments any less evil. I've heard the argument that Hogan likely wouldn't have made those comments had he known he was being recorded. If he was at a public event, many people seem to think he would've chose his words better.

Should that matter? Depends on the argument you're going to use. Those explaining Hogan's comments have mentioned that we all say stupid crap in private that we wouldn't say publicly. I'll acknowledge that point. I've said many stupid things over the years that I wouldn't normally say publicly.

Doesn't mean that any of my stupid comments in life should've been said. Same goes for Hogan or anyone else.

Now, for a point that should be mentioned. Since we've already brought up Hogan's racist comments, there are others points that should be discussed. WWE has a bad habit of selective memory. How many people forgot about Mike Tyson being in the Hall of Fame? How many people even realize Tyson is a convicted rapist?

If we're going to be upset about Hogan's comments (rightfully so), then we should start looking at Tyson's criminal record. I have to emphasis Tyson is a CONVICTED RAPIST!!! I'd consider that to be pretty freakin' horrible. I doubt anyone ever truly recovers from being raped. Some victims may learn how to live their lives as close to normal as possible.....if there is such a thing. It's not unusual for many victims to suffer so much from the crime, they end up committing suicide.

From what I understand, mental health issues like PTSD and depression are common problems for victims.

Yet, we have a rapist in the WWE Hall of Fame. How sad is that? Yet, we're still upset over racist comments.

You think that's bad? There's still more. We still have the allegations involving Jimmy Snuka, another Hall of Famer. This on, however, is a bit different then Mike Tyson or Hulk Hogan. The story involving Snuka involves him allegedly killing his then-girlfriend, Nancy Argentino.

For decades, he wasn't prosecuted due to a lack of evidence.....as the story goes. When prosecutors felt they could finally make a case, he was deemed too mentally ill to stand trial.

Legally, we'll never have the answers to his case. We'll have our suspicions, based off known evidence. That's about all we'll have is suspicions. Many people will argue that Snuka was never convicted, thus he's innocent. Speculation and actual convictions are two different things, so I'll leave it up to everyone else to make their own judgements.

Is this a case where we learn to forgive Hogan for his screw up? Do we use this as a learning experience?

For me, I think the way Titus O'Neal, Mark Henry, and New Day are all handling the situation are great examples for the rest of us. Their public statements have made it known that they're upset with Hogan while being professional about it. They're demonstrating that you can upset with someone without it interfering with business.

Seeing their public display of professionalism should be commended. It would very easy for them to go on huge tirades on social media. I wouldn't blame them for blowing a gasket, either. Yet, they've maintained their cool....at least in public. How they've reacted behind closed doors, I can only guess.

All the black performers should be applauded. I believe they're handling the situation far better then I could.

Worst of Wrestling.....part 2

Looks like I've been slacking quite a bit around here, as of late. I've been meaning to update this with a more bad wrestling ideas, much like mentioned in Part 1. Without furth ado.....

The Berzerker

At 6' 8" & 323 lbs., John Nord should've been a shoe-in, especially in WWE. Considering Vince's obsession with big men up to this time. Previously working in the AWA under the names Nord the Barbarian and Yukon John, he'd eventually land in WWE as The Berzerker.

More on the Yukon John character at a later time.

He was briefly known as The Viking before the company would settle with The Berzerker. Berzerker, as you can imagine, was a Viking character...which would include carrying a sword with him. He'd dress up like a lame version of the Minnesota Vikings mascot.

If you expect any kind of great finishing move, you'd be seriously unimpressed as simply preferred to throw opponents over the top rope for a count out. He'd hold his wrist, lick his hand, shout "Huss! Huss", eventually falling on his back. Berzerker acted in a fashion similar to Bruiser Brody, whom he had teamed with during his first stint in the AWA.

With Mr Fuji as his manager, John Nord would see a decent push. At one point or another, he'd take on the likes of Davey Boy Smith, Jimmy Snuka, and The Undertaker.

His feud with Undertaker involved Berzerker attempting to stab Taker with his sword, at one point. Their feud culminated at the 1991 Survivor Series.

Berzerker would eventually win a 40-Man Battle Royal on an episode of Prime Time Wrestling, gaining a title shot against WWF Champion Bret Hart.

His final match appearance was the February 1, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw in a battle royal.

The Goon

The Goon is a short lived character in the WWF. Debuting somewhere in 1996....episode of Superstars, I believe.....The Goon was supposed to be a former hockey player that was kicked out of every league that he ever played in.

Played by Bill Irwin....brother to the late Scott Irwin....The Goon saw some success in the old territories and/or the Independent scene.

The only thing I remember him doing is wrestling in a hockey outfit, skates and all.



Due to laziness, I'll just publish what I've done already.

All In

How many of you are in? Are you "all in"?

Cody Rhodes is "all in". The Young Bucks are "all in". By the looks of it, 10,000 fans will be All In at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. From what I've been reading, thus far, this will be the first show to have 10,000 fans (or more) that was held by a company NOT NAMED WWE or NWA/JCP/WCW.

If I understand this correctly, in the last quarter century, the IWC was the last promotion to pull this off in the Continental US. If you want to exclude lucha libre promotions, you'd probably be looking at WCCW's Parade of Champions (May 4, 1986) or AWA's WrestleRock (April 20, 1986).

Just to put it simply, this is easily the biggest news hitting American wrestling in a long time. We've got a show being run in September in the Chicago area hitting at least 10,000 fans and no major promoter is involved.

We're talking about Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks running the show. At this moment, I'm not aware of anyone being announced for the show. Yet, according to Cody Rhodes' twitter account, it took 29 minutes & 36 seconds to sell out.

Think about that for a moment. Just under a half hour and they've sold out all 10,000 tickets. If this is a sign of things to come, the American wrestling scene is hot......and it's only getting hotter. Anyone outside WWE that can sell out a show with 10,000 fans or more is proof that fans are craving something different.

I don't intend this as a bash against WWE, by any means. For many fans, including myself, there's a need for something different.....an alternative, in all reality. TNA/Impact/GWF....whatever they're calling themselves......has failed to provide that alternative. Cody Rhodes & the Young Bucks are attempting to pull this off.

Obviously, we won't know if this is a success until the show is actually done. Then, and only then, can we determine if this was worth the effort.

I have to admit, I love the guts this is taking. This is a make-or-break scenario. Success could take them to whole new heights......heights that wouldn't have been possible just a few years ago. Failure will break them if they don't learn anything from it. I suppose you could make that argument if they succeed. If they learn nothing when/if they succeed, that's just as bad as losing.

Personally, I think they know what they're doing. I desperately want them to succeed. As a fan, there are few things I know. One of those things that I do know is simple. When fans have choices, it forces the rest of the business to get better. This includes WWE, as well. If WWE sees fans checking out something that they have no involvement in, WWE will (hopefully) see what the competition is doing differently. Maybe this will mean a few improvements in their own product.

At the very least, we'll have something different to watch. Hopefully, this is more then a one-off deal. I don't know Rhodes & the Bucks will use this as a chance to run their own promotion. Maybe they'll do cross promotion deals with different promoters. Who knows?

I'm excited to see where this goes. As I know more, I'll continue discussing the All In show.

Roman Reigns: The Failed Experiment

I know I'm about to repeat what's been stated countless times before. I realize it's repetitive at this point, so I'll try to get to the point as quickly as I can.

For the last few years, WWE has been trying hard to push Roman Reigns as a face. Try as they may, fans have either grown to love him or they hate him with a passion. My perspective, the haters seem to out number the fans. The more I've seen Reigns, the harder it is for me to watch him.

Personally, I don't think this is Roman's fault. I don't want to take anything away from him. He busts his ass night in & night out. Unfortunately, busting your ass simply isn't always going to be good enough. Whether or not you want to talk about basketball, music, Television, the Big Screen or daily life of the average person, hard work simply isn't enough.

Some people, regardless of the industry they're in, always find ways of skating through. Some people manage to succeed because of politics. Some people can actually work hard and succeed at it. Wrestling is the same thing. There are times where busting your hump isn't enough.

For Roman, I don't have any doubts that he's working hard. You don't make it into a company like WWE if you are a lazy jerk. I suspect the problem lays elsewhere. This could probably be debated for years to come. Since I'm only looking at the problem from a fans' perspective, all I can give is a fans' perspective.

Based purely off my own vantage point, part of the problem is WWE trying to hard to make Roman the face of the company. It appears as though John Cena's time at the top has finally come to an end, for one reason or another, WWE wants Roman to be "the guy". This could be a simple case of trying too hard. How often does this happen in life where people try too hard to be well-liked by others, only ending up pissing everyone off in the process?

Happens far more then any of us could comprehend. I'd bet my bottom dollar this is one of the main problems with Roman, right now. WWE is just too desperate to make Roman so well loved by the fans, many fans have automatically rejected him. Same problem Cena had for many years. WWE tried too hard to get fans to love him.

With all the access fans have to wrestling, this sort of tactic doesn't work like it did 30-40 years ago. Back then, you could push wrestlers to the moon and get away with it because you didn't get to see them every week. If we did see certain wrestlers more often, there was only so much time on TV they could get as promoters needed to make every minute count.

There was no YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or other forms of social media to interact with wrestlers or watch them on.

Over-saturation is another problem for Roman. Tied in with WWE's efforts to get the fans to love Roman, fans are naturally going to boo him.

Here comes the problem. Fans want to boo him, regardless of what WWE wants them to do. Typically, this would be a chance to make a heel turn. Considering the investment WWE has in making Roman the top good guy, I don't imagine that happening anytime in the foreseeable future. Yet, this would be a great chance to do it.

WWE could still push Roman as a top tier wrestler. He'd easily be the top heel, automatically. Fans would easily want to see Roman's teeth kicked in on a nightly basis. There's only a few people that fans would readily accept as top faces. Because of this, Roman would easily viewed as a top ass kicker. Anyone that would take him on would automatically be cheered like the Second Coming of Christ....in a manner of speaking.

A simple heal turn would be a wise decision, in my humble opinion. I realize that the odds of this happening are pretty slim. I realize that WWE wants Roman as their top face, regardless of what I think. I'm fine with that.

If WWE wants to keep Roman as their top face, that's their choice. I doubt I'll ever agree with their choices 100%. Then, that's the nature of the beast.

the worst of wrestling.....part 1

KERWIN WHITE

Poor Chavo. For the life of me, I'll never understand why he got saddled with a character like this.

As a well established wrestler, as well as a member of the legendary Guerrero Family, WWE decided to repackage Chavo. Not like he needed a new gimmick, but WWE was hell bent on making it happen anyway.

What did they give Chavo? He was repackaged as a middle class yuppy who loved golf. He'd drive to the ring in a golf cart. Dolph Ziggler was his caddy before he became a male cheerleader, but that's for latter.

Take a few seconds to notice how Chavo had to dress. Yeah.....that's embarrassing.

And we were supposed to forget that his name was Chavo Guerrero. We were expected to call him Kerwin White. His catchphrase was "If it's note White, it's not Right."

If memory serves me right, his entrance theme was played by Frank Sinatra.

Kerwin was a completely stereotypical middle class, conservative character. This might've worked if it weren't for the fact that Chavo was already well established. He's talented. Chavo just didn't need a character like this.

MAN MOUNTAIN ROCK

Previously working in WCW as Maxx Payne, he would debut in the WWF somewhere in February 1995. All I recall of his time in the company was him :"playing" the guitar (shown in the above photo). 

According to his Wikipedia page, MMR was released in October of the same year. 

P.N. NEWS

Yo baby, yo baby, yo baby, yo!

That was the catchphrase to the current craptastic blunder known as P.N. News. A lowcard rapper in WCW, PN News debut on the May 11, 1991 episode of World Wide Wrestling. According to his Wikipedia page, he was modeled after P.M. Dawn. Don't ask.....I probably know less about P.M. Dawn then you do.

He had a brief feud with then WCW Television Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin. Unfortunately, he managed to injure Dave Sheldon (AKA Angel of Death) during a house show on June 21, 1992 after a botched Broken Record (top rope splash) on Sheldon's legs. This injury would put Sheldon out of action for the better part of a year.

P.N. News made sporadic appearances on TV after this before finally being released.

I've heard he currently wrestles in Europe under the name Cannonball Grizzly.

He's also the cousin to Mike Halac, who's better remembered as Mantaur in WWE. I'll go into detail about that later.

ABE "KNUCKLEBALL" SCHWARTZ

Steve Lombardi will be known for playing a wide variety of characters during his time in wrestling. His most well known being the Brooklyn Brawler, which I hope to get to eventually.

In this case, he briefly played the part of Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz during 1994. At this time, Major League Baseball would eventually have a player strike, which would inspire the character. Abe would be a revamped version of a character known as MVP......not to be confused for Montel Vontavious Porter.

His theme would be a variation of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".

ARACHNAMAN

I don't recall if this started in late 1991 or early 1992. What I recall is that Arachnaman was WCW's version of Spider-Man. The differences between the characters were minimal, such as the color of the costumes.

The character didn't last long as Marvel Comics threatened legal action against WCW.

Played by Brad Armstrong, Arachnaman wouldn't be the first bad gimmick he'd be saddled with. Even worse, this was far from the last (or worst) gimmick he'd be stuck with. For whatever reasons I'll never understand, Brad Armstrong was constantly stuck with lousy gimmick after lousy gimmick. He really should've been given more money for being saddled with so much crap.


More to come in later posts.

Poll: Harlem Heat vs. Dudley Boyz

This is a bit of an experiment I'm trying, mostly for the hell of it. If it works, I'll do this on a regular basis. If not, I'll give it up. I apologize in advance that I don't have a poll embedded on the page itself. I haven't figured out how to do that on a free polling site, as of yet. Please be patient with me on this.

Anyway, I wanted to see what everyone thought of a fantasy match between Harlem Heat & the Dudley Boyz. Harlem Heat was easily the most successful tag team in WCW. The Dudley Boyz dominated ECW's tag team division during their tenure.

Who would win in a match like this? Voting takes place HERE for those interested in participating. Polling ends on Saturday at Midnight.

Feel free to comment below.

Thanks for your patience and participation.

Commentary: Daniel Bryan

On a recent episode of Smackdown Live, Daniel Bryan confirmed rumor that he had recently that he was finally cleared to compete again. For 2 years, there had been doubts by many people that he'd ever be able to get in the ring again. If he did, it was speculated that it would be back in the indies. After all this time, many fans (including me) will get to see him compete in a WWE ring.

How soon that happens is currently unknown. Who his first opponent will be can only be speculated on, at the moment. What is known is that his return will happen, barring any surprises.

(Daniel Bryan as United States Champion)

As of now, it looks as though Daniel Bryan will initially feud with Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens. There's still the option of feuding with Shane McMahon, as well. I haven't kept up on the storylines very well, as of late. I don't know if I'm right on those possibilities.

Considering the nature of his prior health issues, he's only going to have a few good years left.....realistically speaking. His body will only be able to handle so much abuse before retirement is permanent.

With that said, he needs to make the most of his time. If that means going straight for the WWE Title, then so be it. Depending on how confident WWE and/or Bryan is, he could start off chasing the United States Title. Considering Randy Orton is currently the US Champ, WWE may choose to give the title more credibility by having Bryan win it (again). 

Hopefully, he can do better then job any titles in a 8 second match or avoid retiring shortly after winning any championships. Outside of a couple crappy situations, D. Bryan still has a lot to be proud of. He's accomplished quite a bit during his career. Below is a partial list of his accomplishments.

• WWE Championship (3X)
• World Heavyweight Title (WWE) (1X)
• WWE Intercontinental Title (1X)
• WWE United States Title (1X)
• WWE Tag Team Titles (1X) w/Kane
• Money in the Bank Winner (Smackdown brand 2011)
• 26th Triple Crown Winner
• 6th Grand Slam Champion (current format)
• ROH Champion
• ROH Pure Champion

(Daniel Bryan as World Heavyweight Champion)

Now that he's safe enough to compete, I'm interested to know what's next for Daniel. What is he capable of still doing? I suppose time will tell.

too many titles?

It's been recently announced that NXT is going to introduce a secondary title, which is to be introduced at the TakeOver event during WrestleMania weekend. The title is going to be the North American Title. If I've heard this right, it'll be determined in a 6-man ladder match.

After the WrestleMania weekend, the 205 Live brand is expected to introduce Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles. Last time I saw this was in WCW during their dying days.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out if adding more titles is a brilliant idea or simply overkill. Honestly, I feel these decisions could go either way. There are pros and cons to this.

The pros?

NXT currently has the a heavyweight title, tag team titles, and a woman's title. A secondary title could be beneficial for those who aren't in a tag team, not a female, or for those who simply aren't ready for the heavyweight title. Secondary titles do give wrestlers something to shoot for that aren't involved in the top title. Many wrestlers have benefitted from holding secondary titles over the years. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Triple H & many others often held titles like the Intercontinental Title long before holding the WWE title.

Secondary titles do help promotions to groom wrestlers to eventually become top stars. Adding the North American title to NXT could be helpful when it comes to grooming people in NXT.

Plus, you can only have so many people involved with the NXT title at any given time. You only want your best people fighting for the title. For those that should have a title but aren't ready for the heavyweight title, a secondary title would be something for them to fight for.

In 205 Live, I'm not so sure about adding tag team titles. How many people does the brand have on the roster? 16?  How many of those people are in a team?

Honestly, I haven't kept up with a lot of WWE programming as of late, so I'm not entirely sure how many cruiserweights they have under contract. Depending on how many cruiserweights they're working with, adding tag team titles for the division could be pulled off.

Personally, I wouldn't make the cruiserweight title or their tag team titles exclusive to the 205 Live brand. I would allow the titles to be defended on Raw AND Smackdown Live. Again, I haven't paid much attention to WWE as of late, so I don't know if they're still on Raw or not. Not even sure if they get any time on Smackdown.

To be honest, I would even allow the titles to be defended on NXT as well.

If WWE is still planning on doing a brand specific to the United Kingdom, perhaps the cruiserweight & tag titles could be defended on the UK show as well. This would give the titles more challengers. At the same time, fans would have another reason to watch the show.

Speaking of a UK brand, I don't know if WWE is still considering a brand for the UK. They still have the United Kingdom Championship. It's been defended in NXT, treated like a secondary title, as well as independent promotions in the United Kingdom.

Is this something WWE is still planning or working on? Maybe I should just get off my ass and try to find out sometime.

While more titles could be beneficial, there are also downsides to this.

As an example, WWE does have a lot of titles already. Let's break it down a bit.

RAW:
Universal Title
Intercontinental
Tag Team
Women's

SMACKDOWN:
WWE Title
United States
Tag Team
Women's

NXT:
NXT Title
WWE United Kingdom Title
Tag Team
Women's

205 Live:
WWE Cruiserweight Title

In the different brands, we've got 13 championships already being defended. 13 different titles to build storylines around. 13 titles that you need to keep a fresh supply of challengers for.

My concern is that WWE is going to devalue it's titles by adding more. I feel there's too much saturation as it is. Like it or not, but fans have a short attention span as it is. If fans have too much to try and remember, this could hurt the product if they have too much to think about.

I hope WWE can make this work. With WWE branching out, perhaps having more titles is a necessity. We'll see.

WWE: Bringing back the territories?

The following idea is going to fall under the category of fantasy, partially filled with reminiscing about he “good ol’ days”. Whatever.

Since WWE is the clear and undisputed king of wrestling/sports entertainment (whatever terminology you prefer to use), they have an impressive influence on everyone else. At least, this is going to be true in North America. For most wrestlers, I would suspect a large majority of them would like to get into WWE at some point in their career.

After all, WWE is one of the few places you can go to anymore and make some serious bank. Closest alternative would be what? NJPW? That’s the first place I think of when it comes to serious competition. Considering that most of NJPW’s fan base is Japanese or “smart marks”, WWE hardly has anything to worry about.

The casual fan might be familiar with NJPW, but how many of them are buying DVDs, merch, or paying for any pay-per-views? NJPW is going to have a fan base that likely wants an alternative to WWE.

With that mentioned, I think WWE could find a way of catching the attention of fans who crave something different and potentially make money off of it. My idea? Simply put, I think it could be beneficial if they ran a territory system, much like the NWA of old.

Since most people are tech savvy, I won’t waste anyone’s time rehashing things about the old territory system. What I want to suggest is that WWE try to develop it’s own territory system, of sorts. I don’t want it to be confused with a developmental system, such as NXT. This would work in conjunction with NXT.

Allow me to explain.

Currently, WWE uses NXT to help develop wrestlers prior to joining the main roster. While a few people have been able to go straight to the main roster, most of them end up in NXT first. From my perspective, NXT is looking more like a third brand due to its increasing popularity as well as its exposure on the WWE Network.

Since NXT has been gaining more and more popularity over time, perhaps this would be a good time to capitalize on this by expanding business. I’d like to start by suggesting WWE use some of the trademarks they already own. Since WWE already has the intellectual property from WCW, ECW, and AWA (WCCW as well?), this would be the first area I’d start in.

What WWE could do is work these territories like promoters would do in the old days. Shows could be run in different towns in certain areas. The AWA, for example, could be run in places like Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Shows would be run in communities that wouldn’t otherwise get Raw, Smackdown or NXT. Any tapings could be held at smaller venues, much like many territories did back then….or as many Indys do now.  

Occasionally, larger show could be held at larger venues. I wouldn’t necessarily go with venues that are freakin’ huge, not like MSG or anything like that. Maybe a college campus with a mid-sized gym would be one possible idea. Anything like a civic center or small stadium would be sufficient.

If WWE doesn’t want to use up space on The Network, have small tapings to be aired on YouTube. They could be 45-60 minute shows airing once a week. If any of the wrestlers are marketable enough, merch could be sold. I’d wouldn’t clutter up WWE’s website with merch from the smaller territories, as that should be used for the main roster, IMO.

While I’m at it, I would even add shows, similar to you’d see on Superstars or Prime Time Wrestling used to do. Have a few segments to hype storylines, interview segments and other such stuff. Maybe have a match or two taped during different house shows that could be aired on shows like this.

Any of the larger events would have DVD sales available, much like WWE pay-per-views.

I would even do random DVD sales, much like the old Coliseum Home Videos. They could be on the same line as the straight to DVD movies. Perhaps some of the best matches from the YouTube/Network tapings could be used or best matches from various house shows.

I’d bring in wrestlers that WWE that could be groomed for advancement to NXT or the main roster. This would be a testing grounds to see what talents could be groomed at a slower pace. Personally, I’d like to see wrestlers have more time to hone their talents longer before being hurried to the main roster. In the “good old days”, wrestlers often had more time to gain experience before making it on a larger stage. If done again, this would be a good way of helping the younger wrestlers to have that same opportunity.

Instead of having people learn how to be spot monkeys, they could develop more psychology, chain wrestling, and so on. Since different wrestlers would have different styles, that could be developed properly as well. If you have guys that are brawlers, as an example, they could better develop brawling skills.

I’d make sure many shows are held in front of smaller crowds. Do this in markets that’s typically not visited by companies like WWE, TNA, ROH or other large promoters. When fans realize that the territories are owned & operated by WWE, this could be good pr for them. They’ll realize, hopefully, that WWE is trying to bring more wrestling to fans who might not otherwise get regular shows in their town.

This would allow WWE to also invest in the future of the business, giving people opportunities that they might now otherwise get. Plus, if anyone on the main roster is injured or needs a lighter schedule (for any possible reason), there would be more people that could be called up.

At the same time, if any wrestler wants a lighter, easier schedule, they could go to one of the territories. If used in one of the territories, they could bring instant cred to that territory. Some of the more experienced wrestlers could even be used as trainers for the younger wrestlers.

If any of the talent is coming back from a major injury, they could work off any ring rust in a smaller environment. It would also give fans more incentive to go to the smaller shows, as well. This could even be an opportunity for wrestlers who have nothing going on as part of the main roster. Instead of not getting any TV time, they could be moved to one of the territories. Again, this would be a major selling point for fans to buy tickets to the events.

Each territory would have it’s own set of titles. There would be the Heavyweight title, a secondary title of some sort, maybe a Cruiserweight title, tag team titles, and a woman’s title.

At the very least, I’d bring back certain promotions, starting off with the AWA, WCCW (assuming WWE has the appropriate trademarks), WCW, and ECW. Each territory would have it’s own style of doing things. ECW, for example, could be a faster paced territory where athleticism can be displayed far more readily. Due to the dangers of the extreme-style they used to have, I would back off stuff like that. WCW could incorporate family friendly shows that displays more storytelling without the goofiness that WCW frequently had. With a company like the old AWA, I would want to avoid the insanely boring style that the original AWA had.

A few territories could be spread out in different parts of the country. Developing wrestlers to potentially make it to the main roster would be the ultimate goal. This could be used as another source of revenue for WWE, as well. Even if the performers don’t make it to the main roster, if this gives them a better shot at making it big elsewhere, that would also be great.

The big downside? It would over saturate many markets, making it harder for smaller promoters to compete. Since this is only a fantasy scenario, it doesn’t really matter.

Fantasy match: RVD vs. Arn Anderson

Rob Van Dam. "Enforcer" Arn Anderson. Depending on your viewpoint, it could argued that they were two of the greatest Television Champions to hold their respective titles. I realize that RVD never held the NWA/WCW version. Yes, I realize that Arn Anderson never held the ECW version.

When talking about either man, the Television Title was a big part of their careers. Arn held his first TV title for roughly 9 months. I believe his second reign as TV champion was a year long, if I'm not mistaken. His other two reigns were on the shorter side.

RVD's lone reign with the ECW TV Title was 23 months, interrupted due to injury. No telling how long he could've been champion if he didn't need time off.

Both men, in their own ways, made their respective versions of the title highly sought after titles. Who was more impressive as TV champion? If they were to actually face off, assuming both men were in their prime, who would win?

Give your comments below. 

Enzo accused of rape

Unless you've been living under a rock during the last few days, you (most likely) would've heard about Enzo Amore being accused of rape. His accuser came out on Twitter, I think it was on Sunday. As of today (Tuesday), Enzo has already been fired from WWE.

From my understanding of this, thus far, Enzo failed to report to the company that he was being investigated. Sucks that Enzo had to lose his job under circumstances like this. At the same time, I can see WWE's perspective. An accusation like this is bad PR. Just look at the stuff that's happened to Bill Cosby, the former Subway spokesman, and others.

On top of that, the accuser has a history of lying already. This certainly doesn't help her case any. I realize that her past doesn't make her a liar in this situation. She could be telling the truth as far as I know. I'm just saying that her history is going to work against her.

If the accusations are true, this could do a lot of damage to Enzo's career. I say "could" because different factors could come into play. I can only speculate as to what those factors could be. If the accusations are false, Enzo's accuser is going to see a serious backlash.....I would think. 

If the accusations are false, Enzo could potentially turn this to an advantage. He could use this to help make himself either one hell of a huge face or go full blast heel, claiming that he's the Teflon-man.

If Enzo is guilty of this, then he needs to do some major prison time. That's only working off the thought that he's guilty. I don't want to rush to judgement on this. It's way too early to figure out if who's telling the truth.

All we can do is wait & see.

Hogan or Flair: Who's More Memorable?

Back in the 80's, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were easily the two biggest names in wrestling. Both were huge draws. Hogan was the man in the WWF while Flair was the cornerstone of the NWA/JCP. They each drew the best money for their respective promoters. They were the biggest draws when it came to Pay-Per-Views buy rates (CCTV previously).

While they were both huge, both guys were also popular with different types of fans. Hogan was more popular with the younger fans, namely the kids. Older fans who were looking to see a "fight" were more prone to like Flair. This tends to make sense, at least from my perspective.

After all, we had Hogan mentioning stuff like "saying your prayers" and "taking your vitamins, as well as talking about his little Hulksters.

Flair, on the other hand, would talk about things that adults could better relate to. This usually involved his $600 shoes, the Rolexes, flying on private jets, riding in limos, wining and dining the ladies and so on.

I could go on and on, but I'd likely be mentioning the obvious. Hogan & Flair are probably two of the most memorable people in wrestling. Which one is more memorable? Personally, I have to say Flair. For me, Flair always stood out more. I was able to take him more seriously while I found Hogan was a bit too cartoonish for me. Even when I was a kid, it always felt like a forgone conclusion that he'd win.

Sure, I was a huge mark for Hogan. I suppose I'm still a huge mark for him. With Flair, however, I was on the edge of my seat far more frequently. Every time Flair was in a match against a credible opponent, I felt that he might finally be taken down. Didn't matter if it was against Sting, Lex Luger, Dusty Rhodes, or Harley Race. Anyone that even looked like a credible singles wrestler often looked like a credible threat to Flair.

Thoughts on this? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Ultimate Royal Rumble

Since January 1988, the Royal Rumble has been a major part of WWE programming. There have been several big names to participate in, and win, the Rumble match. Some years, the match is rather predictable. Other years, any number of people could actually win.

It got me to thinking who I'd put into a match like this. For this particular example, I'm going to use as many major names as I can think of. The only rule? I'm going with the standard 30-man rule. Everything else can be whomever I want to add.  

1. Hulk Hogan
2. The Rock
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin
4. Bret Hart
5. Triple H
6. John Cena
7. Randy Orton
8. Ric Flair
9. Lex Luger
10. Sting
11. Booker T
12. Undertaker
13. Chris Jericho
14. Lex Luger
15. Sting
16. Randy Savage
17. Ricky Steamboat
18. Edge
19. Kurt Angle
20. Brock Lesnar
21. Goldberg
22. Shawn Michaels
23. Batista
24. Eddie Guerrero
25. AJ Styles
26. Dusty Rhodes
27. Scott Hall
28. Kevin Nash
29. Rick Rude
30. Sid Vicious

If you could book a Royal Rumble match with anyone, past or present, alive or dead, who would you use?