Wrestling

Monday Night Raw – February 24, 2020

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 24, 2020
Location: Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Super ShowDown but since WWE doesn’t get the idea of slowing down on anything, we are also building towards Elimination Chamber and Wrestlemania at the same time. Brock Lesnar is in the house tonight and that could mean some interesting things for Drew McIntyre and Ricochet. Let’s get to it.

Read moreMonday Night Raw – February 24, 2020

Superman Punch

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When roman reigns cocks his wrist prior to a superman punch, does he have a limited amount of time before the punch loses its effectiveness?

Has he ever “double cocked” his wrist to try and increase the power of the punch?

I’d like to see him reload it like Linda Hamilton in T2 sometimes.  Change it up a little, you know?

Monday Night Open Mic

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Howdy Blog O’Doomers!

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

RAW is live tonight and it’s the go home show for Blood Money III: Bonesaw Bugaloo. Of course we’re getting a Black-Rowan rematch tonight because Rowan is good guy to take falls for Black.

Full slate of NBA games tonight. One NHL game because it was trade deadline and apparently everyone was traded. Probably some Cactus League stuff still going on. Check out Scott’s rant on the AWA/NWA Night of Champions and him dumping all over Rick Martel.

Keep it clean!

Blog Drive 2020

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Hey all!

So we’ve reached the end of February, which means that the annual server bill is coming due soon.  Which sucks, but I need to maintain a private server because of the amount of traffic I get.  In this case, it costs me a little over $400 for the year.  Not the end of the world, but life costs money.

Anyway, this is a reminder that the blog archives are available for purchase for a one-time price of $20 via PayPal if you’d like to help out with the cost of the server AND get something in return!  It’s a OneDrive link where I save everything I write, as I write it, so it’s always as complete of an archive as you’re going to get.

https://blogofdoom.com/index.php/buy-the-full-rant-archives/

Or if you want to do a more direct contribution, you can always send to my PayPal.Me link: https://paypal.me/rspwfaq

As always, thanks for reading and commenting and hanging out here. People have helped me out in the past and I’m always blown away by the support I’ve gotten for my silly website about snarky wrestling reviews.

Joshi Spotlight: AJW Midsummer Typhoon

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(the playlist starts here)

AJW MIDSUMMER TYPHOON:
(15.08.1992)
* Time for a big Summer Event from AJW!! The booking for quite a few months has culminated right there, which is super exciting!! Though I already reviewed the Main Event, so I kinda just have to do the undercard and then do an abridged review of the Main (which is *****, by the way, and ends in the BEST POST-MATCH ANGLE EVER). Dave Meltzer apparently describes the Main Event to this day as the greatest match he’s ever seen live. A bout where merely his description of what happened had people on the Blog welling up with tears.

“TL;DR- Why Should I Watch This?”: The main event is one of the most famous Joshi matches in history, and the one Dave Meltzer says was the finest match he’d ever seen live (unsure if he changed that recently in the era of 7-star matches). The final three matches are all killer, but yeah- that main event, and the angle & ending surrounding it, is the reason everyone should see it- it’s Savage/Liz Reunion good.

Read moreJoshi Spotlight: AJW Midsummer Typhoon

What the World Was Watching: ECW Hardcore TV – January 10, 1995

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Tully Blanchard tells ECW Champion Shane Douglas that other Horsemen might be afraid of him but he is not.

Joey Styles puts over the newly designed ECW Arena to accommodate more fans.  Fans shower him with chants of “You still suck.”

Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: ECW Hardcore TV – January 10, 1995

Most Heelish thing a face has done.

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I know you're not a fan of the NXT tv show but I find the recent Velveteen Dream/Roderick Strong feud to be interesting.  It's basically a copy of the old Rick Rude/Jake Roberts feud when Rude put Jake's wife on his tights.  Only in the new version it's the face (Dream) who put the heel's family on his tights.  Never seen it done this way before. So what's the most heelish thing a face has done without turning heel?

I mean, pick 6 or 7 from Hulk Hogan, really.  

Not Watching Wrestling At All?

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Have you ever became so bored or sick of wrestling during a certain time period that you totally stopped watching and following what was going on, or have you always found something to like that maintained your interest?  

2006 nearly killed my fandom.  I was completely tired of Cena and there was no alternatives out there (I don't think TNA even had a TV deal at that point, or at least none that i could watch in Canada) and if it wasn't for WWE 24/7 I probably would have bailed completely.  However, that channel basically saved my fandom and pretty much gave rise to my current run where I've been reviewing old stuff on a constant basis all the time.  

Video Game Quickfire Round

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Syphon Filter or Splinter Cell

Never played Syphon Filter.  Played all the Splinter Cells.  

Doom or Quake


Doom, which actually got me kicked out of the computer labs in university for using the LAN to play multiplayer with my other nerdy friends.  


FIFA Soccer or Pro Evolution Soccer


HAHAHA no.  


Mario or Sonic

If you knew me you wouldn't even have to ask this question.  Mario all day long, by the way. 

Metroid or CastleVania


Never played either one.  


Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat


Street Fighter (Alpha 2 specifically was my main game) but I suck at both of them.  


Ridge Racer or Wipeout

Ridge Racer.  I had like 2 games for the PS1 and played RR over and over because it blew my mind that I could put a CD in.  I used to go with Green Day's "Insomniac" album as my racing music of choice. 


Fire Pro Wrestling or AKI wrestling games 


OK bro.  


Crash or Spyro


Playing the remastered 2-pack AS WE SPEAK.  But Spyro is one of my all time faves overall.  


Asteroids or Space Invaders 


OK boomer.  


Go!

The SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – AWA/NWA Nite of Champions II 12.29.85

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The SmarK Rant for NWA/AWA Nite of Champions II – 12.29.85

I actually keep finding random stuff on the Hidden Gems section of the Network that I’ve never watched before and I just go “WTF? Where did this come from?” This is another one of those things.

Taped from the Meadowlands in New Jersey, apparently drawing 12,000 people.

Read moreThe SmarK Rant for WWE Network Hidden Gems – AWA/NWA Nite of Champions II 12.29.85

Rock Star Gary reflects on WCCW 09-01-1984

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Taped from Dallas, TX

Airdate: September 1, 1984 (taped 08/17)

Attendance: unknown

Hosted by Bill Mercer

Can Kevin topple Hernandez and earn a shot at the Texas title? How will the Pretty Young Things fare against Parsons and Young? What’s going on between Hernandez and French? And who will join me for this unsettling episode?

Read moreRock Star Gary reflects on WCCW 09-01-1984

I know there’s a moratorium, but…

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…I think this is more of an Invasion question. I just finished reading Jim Ross's excellent new book and his chapter on the purchase of WCW made me wonder this. If there had been a universe where WWE had already had experience with instituting a brand split a few years before the purchase of WCW, do you think they would have done a better job with their plans for the two separate, competing brands they initially envisioned in 2001 for the invasion angle?

No, because Vince McMahon already had it in his head that WCW was the losing brand and they were never going to get one over on "his" promotion, plus the network didn't want any part of it anyway.  Without a fundamental change in attitude from a lot of people right from the start, it was doomed to failure.

Also, take a drink.

If not KofiMania

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This should be simple. Kofi replaces Ali who got legit injured by Randy Orton I think, at last year’s Elimination Chamber. That was the whole catalyst for the big KofiMania super push with gauntlets and screwjobs leading up to him finally getting the match booked like the week before WM.

So was that all supposed to be Ali’s spot? Bryan/Ali at Mania? Or did they even have a plan before the Kofi thing fell in their lap?

Yeah it was supposed to be Ali.  But, you know, at least he gets to team up with Shorty G and lose every match on TV now, so he's got that going for him. 

AEW Series 2

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Hey Scott-

All fun with Orange Cassidy's Inaction Figure aside, who do you line

up for the next wave of AEW figures? I know series 1 isn't even out

yet, but I have to imagine interest will be high enough to squeeze at

least one more set of figures out of this concept.

Here's who I'd go with in series 2 (picking six since that's the

precedent set by series 1.)

– Mox

– Adam Page

– MJF (with scarf, BattleBowl ring, and "King of the Douchebags" look-on-face)

– Nyla Rose (with women's championship belt)

– Santana and Ortiz (hard to pick between them and the Luchas, but it

seems like Pentagon and Fenix work with a lot more promotions then P&P

do, so it would probably be easier to nail down licensing with Santana

and Ortiz. Plus, your Jericho figure needs flunkies)

What do you think? Anyone on the roster you'd like immortalized in

plastic before those six?


What, no Britt Baker with Starbucks cup for Tony?  But yeah, definitely Hangman (hopefully with giant pitcher of beer and maybe Hunter Horse Helmsley) for the next wave.  I'd say PAC probably deserves a figure as well, and yeah Santana and Ortiz would be cool from a visual standpoint.  Darby Allin with skateboard seems like another natural addition.  

Sunday Night Reset: February 23, 2020

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COME AFTER ME!  I’M A MAN!  I’M 40!

(Yeah, I’ve been saving that one for some time.)

But seriously, this is my milestone 40th birthday and I was all ready to spend it with the guys at CRAB when my ride pulled out at the last minute.  To say I’m pissed off about it would be… kind of accurate, really.

XFL going on right now.  Everybody lost in college hoops this week.  And I’m gonna watch WM12 and WM13 to drown my sorrows.  Thank heaven I got tomorrow off as a birthday present.

Enjoy the night.

Has WWE neutered any interest in CM Punk?

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Seems like Punk going to AEW or returning to WWE in the ring would have been a huge deal. Instead, he's kind of back (paid by FOX) as an occasional commentator on a show nobody watches. It caused a stir initially, but now, nothing. Did Vince win this chess match by killing any interest in Punk?

Punk leaving wrestling for years and then getting knocked out like a tomato can in UFC did a pretty good job of killing interest on his own.  

Say it isn’t so

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Scott are you buying the rumor that Cena is coming back to face Elias of all people at WrestleMania? Talk about underwhelming if true. Cena vs Bryan would make more sense. Bryan has nothing else lined up.

Fear not, Dave said on Observer Radio that the WM card is drastically changing on the Smackdown side and it might even be Cena getting the title shot now!  So don't worry, you'll get your precious John Cena in the main event again.  

FuryMania

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So after his dominating performance over Deonte Wilder and with his popularity at an all time high, I would say there's a better than average chance Vince will pay Tyson Fury a boatload of money to compete at WrestleMania. Cena vs Fury? Taker vs Fury? Goldberg vs Fury? Your thoughts

Speaking as someone who is not in the boxing bubble at all, my only exposure to Fury is through the wrestling stuff and I didn't even know who he was before that.  And he was terrible there, so I hope to god he's not matched up with anyone at Wrestlemania.  

Your AEW takes and rants

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Sorry Scott, but besides enjoying your rants, gags and blog in general, I can't take your opinions on AEW seriously.

There are tons of double standards you gleefully put up to excuse their weak points. Rating this week's tag team battle royal ****1/2 is laughable at best, that stuff was nowhere near that good, for a bazillion reasons (from Orange one-note-joke Cassidy vs Bunny to a million dumb unnecessary flips IN A BATTLE ROYAL to Dark Order's interference leading to SCU being eliminated. Yikes). If Russo wrote/booked this stuff in another company, you'd shit all over it.

This doesn't mean AEW is crap (usually everything involving Jericho, Moxley, Cody, MJF is excellent) at all, I enjoy it this year more than before, but declaring any show they ever put on even being near any Takeover in terms of quality, as you stated in an email response a week ago, is total BS. ALL the stuff you wrote in the past 25 or so years speaks against it.

I don't get your reasoning (agreeing with Meltzer? Getting paid off by TK? Cuddling up to the AEW nerdculture zombies?), but I'm gonna avoid anything AEW you post from now on and enjoy it (or not) by myself.

Good day!


OK bye.