At 8/1/06 05:04 PM, StevensA wrote: But, does anyone notice that TNA is something like a WCW reincarnate, with a little wannabe ECW on the side?

I see it as an ECW-esque show, but with WCW style star-stealing powers, and WCW's supreme bitchiness to WWE.

I wanna join.

At 8/1/06 05:11 PM, luigi_is_cool wrote: I wanna join.

I reccommend getting some more posts under your belt, then come back to us, but I suppose I've been a bit of a Phantom around here lately, so, over the time, I'm sure veiws and opinions have changed, so Again I'd like to find out each person's favorite wrestler from each Brand (Tag Teams count as one) So, Here's mine as Follows: RAW: DX, SD!: The Blackjacks (Kendrick and London) ECW: CM Punk TNA: Sting

I just finished watching the last three matches on the Rise & Fall of ECW DVD. Here are my reviews for Tommy Dreamer vs Raven from WrestlePalooza 1997, Taz vs Bam Bam Bigelow from Living Dangerously 1998, and Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn from Hardcore Heaven 1999.

1.Tommy Dreamer vs Raven
Raven's last ECW match before going to WCW. The crowd chanted "You Sold Out!" to Raven during this match. This was a great brawl and it had lots of fighting in the crowd. After Tommy Dreamer won. Jerry Lawler and his Anti-ECW crusaders (Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Bill Alfonso, and Louie Spicolli) came out and Jerry Lawler talked trash about ECW while Rob Van Dam & Sabu were attacking nearly everyone from the ECW locker room that got in their way. RVD, Sabu, Bill Alfonso, and Louie Spicolli were the only ECW wrestlers that were on Lawler's side. But then Taz comes out and Jerry Lawler and his gang exit the ring. Raven returned to ECW in 1999. But he left again in 2000 to go to the WWE. He was released by WWE in early 2003 and now he's currently wrestling in TNA.
2.Taz vs Bam Bam Bigelow
Taz calls this his second favourite match in ECW. Another great match. The part where both of them go through the ring is the biggest "HOLY SHIT!" moment of the match. What was more impressive? Brock Lesnar superplexing Big Show and making the ring implode in the process? Or Bam Bam & Taz going through the ring?
3.Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn
The best match on the disk. This match had great technical wrestling. Rob Van Dam won at the end to retain the ECW Television Championship.

I like to ask you guys a question, Out of all the matches that I posted on Page 482, Which one is your favourite?

Well, uh, sounds like ECW's main event wasn't such a big hit with the present fans...

I thought it was pretty boring, myself.

But hey, on the brighter side, CM Punk debuted. He could've had a better match, I suppose, but the fans seemed to like him a lot, which makes me happy for him, since the fans have been pretty hostile with the rest of the newest talent.

Well, I actually like the main event tonight, but from a wrestling fans standpoint; not a fan who knew the outcome wasn't gonna be pretty. Congrats for both wrestlers dealing with the crowd and putting on a decent match. I'd hate to see Cena in there; I bet he'd get his wigger ass booed outta the building...

But, aside from the main event, loved the CM Punk debut, thought the Extreme Rules match was...ok,..good, but not as good as the ECW One Night Stand match with Dreamer/Sandman vs. The Dudley Boys.

Well, what did everyone else think about it? ...I thought (aside from the crap) tonight was actually pretty damn good.

I thought there was a balance of good and bad.

The Extreme Rules match was pretty good, despite its outcome. CM Punk didn't make a huge impact, but he's shown that he has some talent, both technical and high-flying, so we can have high hopes for him.

Batista v. Big Show used neither athlete's potential, and was boring to me. But Sabu appearing at the end was nice, because Sabu appearing is always fun.

It was CM Punk's first match (on TV anyway) so we couldn't have expected a 5-star match, the guys here who have seen Punk's best matches know that he has a lot more talent than what he showed tonight but the fact that he way over the crowd helps.

The main event.... was what I expected.. Neither man was gonna get cheered and it took Sabu putting Show through a table to make the crowd cheer. Don't know if anyone else noticed but Sabu sent a bit of a message to RVD, when he left the ring he pointd to sky and with his other hand he pointed to himself (ala RVD).

So Angle's opponent was.... The Brooklyn Brawler.. OK? Angle was also over with the fans so he's officialy been accepted as an ECW wrestler, now just let him wrestle Punk.

And the Extreme Rules match... Was OK but it definitely could have been better. The show overall was pretty good but the main-event seemed to bring it down a bit. I mean the crowd was chanting "Change the Channel" which I did for a while anyways.

One more thing if I'm not mistaken RVD's suspension should end this week hopefully this means we'll see him back in ECW tv next week.

Kelly got her butt beat.

At 8/1/06 11:38 PM, StevensA wrote: Well, I actually like the main event tonight, but from a wrestling fans standpoint; not a fan who knew the outcome wasn't gonna be pretty. Congrats for both wrestlers dealing with the crowd and putting on a decent match. I'd hate to see Cena in there; I bet he'd get his wigger ass booed outta the building...

I thought the main event was a real low point for me, and not just because the crowd that was there were against anything "WWE" on the show (I heard the mix was 50/50). But it just outlined Batista and Big Show are NOT workers who can have great matches with anybody. It was one of those times where you just go "well, they can't all be good" the spots with Sabu at the end were great, and my personal hope is that they add these two to SummerSlam and the belt is flipped to Sabu, it's something the fans really want, and I think Sabu has really been doing his level best to impress the company the last couple of months.

But, aside from the main event, loved the CM Punk debut, thought the Extreme Rules match was...ok,..good, but not as good as the ECW One Night Stand match with Dreamer/Sandman vs. The Dudley Boys.

I thought Punk had a good match with Justin, I'm not crazy to see Justin used as the "work horse jobber" but I do hope his performances of late help encourage the company to give him a larger role soon. Punk didn't get to do a huge amount different from other workers, but an impressive first night, in front of a crowd that was knowledgeable about his work.

Did I just read that right? Are you comparing a PPV match to a Television bout? Are you for real man? You can't compare a pay per view main event to a televised opener. This was an excellent match (best of the night I'd say), and was what the crowd wanted to see, not so much the finish, but I think Tommy and Sandman proved that if they're allowed to do what they do best, they can have decent matches with Knox and Test. Tommy spanking Kelly? Goddamn I love when they let Tommy be Tommy!

Kurt Angle had a fun squash over Brooklyn Brawler. The fans have easily accepted Angle because Angle is the sort of worker the ECW faithful would have accepted in the old company's glory days. Big Show is still a bitter pill for some, but when the title comes off, I think as long as he gives the kinds of good matches he has lately, people WILL warm up to him.

Also, Tommy Dreamer's Diary of Violence returns to ECW.com saturday. Kelly's Expose is killed, and The Diary of Violence reinstated (something WWE DIDN'T want to do) all by fan polls? Gotta give WWE credit for making their polls matter, and I think it gives all of us hardcore faithful another reason to frequent ECW.com.

As to the comments about TNA? I've been saying that about them for a long while, they want to be ECW, but rely on WCW and WWE castoff's to be their main event players and carry their title. They may have some momentum doing that now, but I think eventually the fans are going to see through them and they'll hit a glass ceiling in terms of growth if they don't start forging an identity of their own.

My favorite wrestlers on each brand?

Smackdown: Paul London & Brian Kendrick. Their non-title upset against MNM was probably my favorite non-PPV match. Also Rey Mysterio, especially because he's the reason I'm a wrestling fan.

RAW: I'm taking a bit of interest in Umaga, though I'm just a little more entertained by his manager. But aside from HHH and HBK, there isn't much on the RAW roster that I take a whole lot of interest in.

ECW: RVD, and moreso Sabu. Sabu is very innovative with a chair, and you really have to appreciate how a man his age can do such wild stuff.

TNA: Samoa Joe is serious business. Being 280 lbs. and wrestling like a cruiserweight is cool all by itself, and he does it with intensity. Honorable mentions include Eric Young and Alex Shelley, for both wrestling and comic talent.

Favorites for each brand? ok here's mine:

Raw: Carlito.
SD: Super Crazy
ECW: RVD
TNA: Raven

In looking at the SD superstar page... Little Bastard has a profile.. lol. And the Gemini are still there. I thought they were gone.

Mine:

SD!: Lashley/Batista; Lashley's one for the recordbooks: the dude can take on 3-4 people at the same time, get beaten up by them, and get back up & resume from where he left off. Batista can't always do that, but he can certainly beat the shit outta' someone when he's pissed....Mark Henry? Steel chairs/steps? Concussions? Makes for good TV.

RAW!: I still say Cena; I know he's a face, but it works. So FU! ^_^ Umaga's rather creepy; obvious just from the clip I saw last week. And of course, ya' can't not laugh at DX making of Vince & Shane in the way that they do: UTTER HUMILIATION TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT.

I forgot to mention that I can't speak for ECW or TNA, as I haven't watched them yet. But I hafta' give Sabu notice; he's FAAAAAAAAAAAAAR worse than Benoit in terms of suicidal plunges - I can tell just from the few clips I've seen of him going through tables w/o any regard to himself. HE'S A FUCKIN' NUT.

Favorites??

RAW: Carlito... yeah its a homer pick but let's face it he's good on the mic and he can get it done in the ring... And he still hasn't had a great match. I remember long ago he wrestled some dude named... Sabu? In a hardcore match, best match I've ever seen in person.

SD: Rey Mysterio... Mosttly based on the past. I also like kendrick and London.

ECW: Two-way tie between Sabu and Van Dam

TNA: Christopher Daniels

I hate to double post but.... Its ECW news.

Credit: PWInsider

There is talk of putting Rene Dupree into the ECW brand full time. He wrestled in a dark match last night and come off well.

There are also discussions of putting the Boogeyman in ECW full time upon his return. The Boogeyman would add another "supernatural" character to the show and would also protect him from so much in ring time since that was one of the big criticisms of him on Smackdown.

CW Anderson will now be known as Christopher W. Anderson. This was done in part to separate him from the new CW Network which will air Smackdown but also to separate him from CM Punk.

Christopher W Anderson?? He'll always be CW Anderson to me and he should be on the tv this guy can wrestle.

Boogeyman in ECW?? No, just no.

At 8/2/06 11:49 AM, Assi9 wrote: RAW!: I still say Cena; I know he's a face, but it works. So FU! ^_^

Much love man! You can say what you want about "Fuck-the-faces-Huzza-for-Heels", but you know that in the end, Heels Are only ther to make Faces Look good!

...Have you guys ever noticed that...Well, That Sabu's Nipples are always hard? I guess he's aroused at the idea of beating the holy hell out of people.

I never really cared about ROH and Independant circuit wrestling or whatever until you guys started talking about it, But Man, That CM Punk Guy was awesome! So he was an ROH heavyweight Champ? hes awesome!

And what the hell Was Steve Lombardi Doing at ECW? Man, He got whooped guud!

Here is my list.

RAW: Shelton Benjamin.
SmackDown: Chris Benoit.
ECW: Hard to say. It's a tie between Kurt Angle, Sabu, and Rob Van Dam.
TNA: Hard to say. It's a tie between AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, and Senshi (Low Ki).

At 8/2/06 01:43 PM, redface wrote:

At 8/2/06 11:49 AM, Assi9 wrote: RAW!: I still say Cena; I know he's a face, but it works. So FU! ^_^

Much love man! You can say what you want about "Fuck-the-faces-Huzza-for-Heels", but you know that in the end, Heels Are only ther to make Faces Look good!

Great, I think this place has more Face fanboys than ever!

...Have you guys ever noticed that...Well, That Sabu's Nipples are always hard? I guess he's aroused at the idea of beating the holy hell out of people.

Oh,...my...God...you are not right.

At 8/2/06 04:00 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 8/1/06 11:38 PM, StevensA wrote: Well, I actually like the main event tonight, but from a wrestling fans standpoint; not a fan who knew the outcome wasn't gonna be pretty. Congrats for both wrestlers dealing with the crowd and putting on a decent match. I'd hate to see Cena in there; I bet he'd get his wigger ass booed outta the building...

I thought the main event was a real low point for me, and not just because the crowd that was there were against anything "WWE" on the show (I heard the mix was 50/50). But it just outlined Batista and Big Show are NOT workers who can have great matches with anybody. It was one of those times where you just go "well, they can't all be good" the spots with Sabu at the end were great, and my personal hope is that they add these two to SummerSlam and the belt is flipped to Sabu, it's something the fans really want, and I think Sabu has really been doing his level best to impress the company the last couple of months.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. I mean, two guys with their size put on a decent match. I know they couldn't do anything out of the ordinary, mainly because of the hostile environment. Overall, I wouldn't mind seeing a match with Sabu winning the belt.

But, aside from the main event, loved the CM Punk debut, thought the Extreme Rules match was...ok,..good, but not as good as the ECW One Night Stand match with Dreamer/Sandman vs. The Dudley Boys.

I thought Punk had a good match with Justin, I'm not crazy to see Justin used as the "work horse jobber" but I do hope his performances of late help encourage the company to give him a larger role soon. Punk didn't get to do a huge amount different from other workers, but an impressive first night, in front of a crowd that was knowledgeable about his work.

Yeah, I enjoyed the match. I understand that it was his first night, and only so much could be put in that match.

Did I just read that right? Are you comparing a PPV match to a Television bout? Are you for real man? You can't compare a pay per view main event to a televised opener. This was an excellent match (best of the night I'd say), and was what the crowd wanted to see, not so much the finish, but I think Tommy and Sandman proved that if they're allowed to do what they do best, they can have decent matches with Knox and Test. Tommy spanking Kelly? Goddamn I love when they let Tommy be Tommy!

..yeah, I was. I feel stupid for doing that now. I realize that it was opening for a televised event compared to a PPV MAIN EVENT. I feel like an idiot. Sorry about that people.

By the way, did anyone notice the audience chanting "Show your tits!"?

Kurt Angle had a fun squash over Brooklyn Brawler. The fans have easily accepted Angle because Angle is the sort of worker the ECW faithful would have accepted in the old company's glory days. Big Show is still a bitter pill for some, but when the title comes off, I think as long as he gives the kinds of good matches he has lately, people WILL warm up to him.

Great seeing Angle back. I enjoy his athletic skill. Where the hell has he been for the past few weeks? (if someone said the reason already, I wasn't paying attention: so sue me)

Also, Tommy Dreamer's Diary of Violence returns to ECW.com saturday. Kelly's Expose is killed, and The Diary of Violence reinstated (something WWE DIDN'T want to do) all by fan polls? Gotta give WWE credit for making their polls matter, and I think it gives all of us hardcore faithful another reason to frequent ECW.com.

Okay. I guess WWE listens after all...

As to the comments about TNA? I've been saying that about them for a long while, they want to be ECW, but rely on WCW and WWE castoff's to be their main event players and carry their title. They may have some momentum doing that now, but I think eventually the fans are going to see through them and they'll hit a glass ceiling in terms of growth if they don't start forging an identity of their own.

Amen. Well, least I'm not alone when I think that.

As for fave wrestlers...

RAW: D-Generation X, Carlito
Smackdown: Kennedy, Undertaker
ECW: Sabu, CM Punk, Dreamer, Sandman
TNA: AJ Styles, Samoa Joe

I'm really hoping that Degeneration-X will like ummmmm....win the tag-team titles.......HEY EVERYONE ....CHECK OUT MY SITE(s)

The Undertaker's Asylum

DX Website(It's not finished yet....well.....enjoy!!!)

I'd like to ask you guys a question, Out of all the matches that I posted on Page 482, which ones are your favourites?

At 8/2/06 05:41 PM, Jeffaro wrote: Yo what is happening with kane?He didnt apear on raw for the fourth or fifth time

Rumour around town is that Kane & Undertaker are planning to retire After Wrestlemania XXIII, And considering their Age, it's pretty beleivable.

Breaking News!

After Nearly A Year's Absence form The Ring, Hardcore Holly Is Currently Planning his ComeBack!

link!

At 8/2/06 09:21 PM, redface wrote: Breaking News!

After Nearly A Year's Absence form The Ring, Hardcore Holly Is Currently Planning his ComeBack!

link!

Oh, yeah, he had a Dark Match on Monday. I forgot to say something about that.

Damn good news, too. I think he's pretty good.

At 8/2/06 09:21 PM, redface wrote: Breaking News!

After Nearly A Year's Absence form The Ring, Hardcore Holly Is Currently Planning his ComeBack!

That is good news considering teh infection that was in his arm almost killed him. Good to hear that he has gotten well enough to wrestle again.

They also have a link that shows Ron Simmons WCW title win.

LK- Haven't had a chance to watch them yet, but I will soon.

At 8/2/06 04:56 AM, The_Redangleprince wrote: Okay, I've about had it with this talk about TNA being an ECW wanna-be. I think you kiddo's are just holding on to what is lost, and thats the old ECW. You're right, ECW is gone and it cannot be duplicated by any means. It was a one shot thing, and TNA knows this.

Is that the reason why they keep bad mouthing Vince and the new ECW the way the old ECW used to? Is that why they have Shane Douglas talking about ECW to get himself and his guys over? Is that why they have a pseudo "hardcore" division which they've packed with former ECW guys, or people managed by former ECW guys? Is that why they keep trying to get Rhino and Team 3-D pushed using their ECW pasts? TNA is absolutely stealing from ECW, and hoping to create that sort of synergy and connection with their fans. Look at how the die-hards chant the company initials.

In my opinion, TNA isn't trying to be ECW because they know that they'd fail. Sure, there are some "extreme" matches and some old ECW faces there, but that doesn't mean anything. TNA is nothing like the old ECW in my opinion as they drive toward their goal to becoming the new face of professional Wrestling.

TNA wants to be known as a good work promotion, that's what ECW was. TNA relies on smash mouth matches, which is what ECW did. TNA isn't in any way acting like a new face of pro-wrestling, they are doing exactly what Vince has been doing of late, mining the shit out of the past in terms of talent, angles, and concepts, hoping that will allow them to stay viable till the next big fad comes along.

Think about it. A six-sided ring, Monsters Ball, King of the Mountain, An all Cage match PPV, The X-Cup. Theres more to it too. TNA is an innovative and progressive promotion that is attempting to forge its own unique identity using the skills and names of former WWE/WCW wreslters to catapault the product while building its own stars in the process.

They don't seem to be doing any sort of good job building their own stars, who continually bump a glass ceiling while all the cast off's from elsewhere continue to chase the top belt, Samoa Joe was right on the cusp of being NWA champion, he's ready I think, and TNA said "no, we're going to give that title match to Sting". King of the Mountain is a convoluted and retarded concept, a reverse ladder match? Bah. The all cage aspect of Lockdown has been criticized over and over as killing the idea of a "cage match" by having that stip on all the bouts. Ultimate X is the only really great concept TNA has managed to come up with. All the X Cup is, is just another tournament, but it's supposed to be more better because they use guys that can fly around and do cool spots. Um, I can see that in a regular X Division title match already.

The matches are different, The product is different, the wrestlers and the style and atmosphere are all different than what was in the old ECW. And anyone that wants to say that TNA is an ECW wanna-be is ignorant.

I disagree with that on just about every level. They run the same small building most every week, they've done SOME different match types, but stuff like the X Division has it's roots in ECW, to say otherwise is ignorant. TNA is trying to be seen as "rebelling" against the Mcmahon establishment, just like ECW. I watch that show anymore and I just see a company that has no real identity, and is mining the past like I said above, playing on the hopes of people who want an alternative to Mcmahon based wrestling.

Now, with that said, I'd like to make it clear that I have not said, nor will I say, that TNA is better than the old ECW. But in my opinion, I believe it can be.

It can be, they have the tools, but they continue to show me they will not really use them properly, and to be better, they need to do something different. TNA isn't really showing me anything I haven't already seen before by and large.

ECW: Sabu, RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Justin Credible.

I don't really watch the other shows enough to have favorites. Would anyone be interested in me doing sort of like a "top 10" for ECW each week? I'm not sure how well the report card format has gone over with you guys, and it is sorta time consuming, so I thought this "top 10" deal might be a fun way for me to contribute, it'd be similar to the WWE ranking system, and would probably be based on these criteria:

1. Win/loss
2. Performance
3. Exposure (this being through wrestling, promo, or vignette)
4. Overall contribution to the show.

Any takers?

Raw: Lita (when she actually wrestles of course)
SD!: Paul Burchill
ECW: Rob Van Dam

So is the Boogeyman returning at Summerslam? I saw him hiding in the promotionial poster. Any news on when Burchill will return?

At 8/3/06 04:31 AM, aviewaskewed wrote: ECW: Sabu, RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Justin Credible.

I don't really watch the other shows enough to have favorites. Would anyone be interested in me doing sort of like a "top 10" for ECW each week? I'm not sure how well the report card format has gone over with you guys, and it is sorta time consuming, so I thought this "top 10" deal might be a fun way for me to contribute, it'd be similar to the WWE ranking system, and would probably be based on these criteria:

Any takers?

I actually like the report card but I wouldn't mind seeing a top ten. Ultimately it your decision, because like you said the grading thing consumes more time than a top ten so it depends on how much you like to type.

I think the top 10 is a good idea. Go for it!

I really don't want the boogeyman back, I just hope they keep him off ECW. That dude will never be accepted there.