Damn you go to bed for one night and this thing is overflowing.
Do you laugh at Anvil when he and Bret are giving their promo before their match at SummerSlam '90?
Probably. I love that show and saw it so many times I probably laughed at one point.
Is there a professional wrestling promotion that exclusively has an 8-sided ring? If so which one? Trying to check out new stuff.
If there is I've never heard of it.
KB, your opinion on Austin vs Angle from Summerslam 2001? Its one of Austin's best matches.
Can Miz ever be a face?
WWF Title: Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin
They meet in the aisle as Austin isnt afraid of Kurt, which I think helps his character a lot. If Austin had just become this little coward, then no one would have bought him as the leader of the heel faction. By keeping him as the bad ass that he always had been, they make the Alliance look that much stronger. For the most part all we have in the first 2 minutes is nothing but punches.
I get why thats how most big matches start but not two minutes worth. Austin works on the leg which isnt as odd as youd think but Angle gets a sweet counter into the ankle lock. The announcers more or less ruin it as they make it clear through their voices that this isnt it. When I say announcers I mean JR. Its weird to see Austin being in control for the majority of a match like this. These two are suplexing the hell out of each other, which is just freaking cool.
Its not often that you see Austin using offense like this but its certainly both looking good and working. Angle hits seven or eight in a row, which somehow isnt the most Austin has ever taken in a row as Benoit once hit I think 13 in a row. Thats just not only sick but impressive that Benoit could keep getting him up as well as he did. Since its pro wrestling though, Austin is just fine after a few seconds of resting following that many suplexes.
From out of nowhere, Austin gets a Stunner after about 8 minutes. The crowd has no idea what to think as Austin got it and got it clean. Angle of course kicks out and the second Stunner sends him to the floor. I dont get why the announcers are so surprised that Angle kicked out. Rock kicked out after about 3 of them at Mania and after about a 20 minute match. Anyway, Austin goes to the floor and just beats the hell out of Angle.
He nearly breaks his leg and its Austin doing what he does best. This would have been a standard Austin match in the late 90s actually. See how well this was done? Theyve just turned his allegiance around and now Austin is still what he was before but just working for a different side. They go out into the crowd where Austin hits a suplex over the barrier but doesnt go down with Angle. Apparently this was the best move ever, despite it being little more than a slam.
Angle counters though and gets the ankle lock on the floor with a downright scary look on his face. He gets it again in the middle of the ring, but hes in the ropes in all of 4 seconds. Angle is bleeding bad here, like almost Austin at Mania 13 bad. Ok on second look its not that bad. Hey, did you know that Angle won an gold medal with a broken neck? Now sure if youd ever heard something like that.
More suplexes follow as Im gaining a new appreciation for those things. Angle busts out the moonsault and hits it like Curt Hennig would. Angle is going commando on Austin
whatever that means, but Austin breaks out the cobra clutch, which despite using it at Mania where Ross says that he hasnt used is since he was the Ringmaster, Austin uses it here for the first time since he was the Ringmaster.
As Angle does the 80s style arm stays up on the third drop, his head is just looking awful. A third Stunner after all that only gets two as the fans are WAY into this. Angle Slam is the counter to the kick, as I continue to try to figure out how the Angle Slam is any different from a belly to back suplex thats rotated just a bit. Austin hits the referee though after it gets a two as JR is of course, say it with me, FREAKING OUT.
Did you know that JR thought he knew that man? Did you know that? Not sure if you had heard that one or not. Austin low blows Angle and then stuns the other referee as JR is quoting the 25th letter of the alphabet. A THIRD referee comes out and Austin hits him with the belt. Angle hits the slam but JR is SHOCKED that the referee that got hit maybe 4 seconds ago is down. After all that, we get to the odd part of the match.
Nick Patrick, an Alliance referee, runs out, counts ONE time, and then slides out and tells Fink that its a DQ. Why in the hell would you count a one and then go for the DQ? I thought he was pulling up because he was going to say his shoulder hurt or something like that, but just to count one and then the DQ? What kind of sense does that even begin to not make?
Naturally, Angle goes off on Patrick with the ankle lock, and I have two observations. One: Patrick taps. Why? Does he think that its a match and thats going to make Angle let go or something? Two: Ross, as usual, says that hes tapping like a drunk man. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? Ive been around people when theyre drunk and not once have they tapped. The line makes no sense at all and yet somehow the fans have accepted it.
After the match, Ross goes insane again and just babbles on forever about how he knows Austin cant beat Angle. I know I make fun of Ross a lot, but this was beyond bad looking. This was bordering on embarrassing. Either way, Austin would lose clean to Angle next month after some of the best promos that I can remember, easily the best Angle has ever done.
Rating: A-. This was an awesome match. Austin went suplex for suplex with Angle and they had huge drama going on near the end. Angle took a freaking beating but kept going. Im not an Angle fan, but there are times when he gets into that zone of his that he is just flat out mesmerizing. This was one of those nights for him.
And yes anyone can be a face or a heel if booked right.
Given the fact that wrestling is "entertainment" to the general majority, do you think that the creative, or higher ups behind TNA, WWE, whoever behind the products don't sometimes give enough credit to the fans of the product and that's what ends up giving us the sometimes less than stellar products on tv? IE...repeated storylines, stars either getting fired/leaving and going to rival promotions and pretty much repeating the same trajectory career wise again and then expect us to NOT fall for that predicament all over again when in fact we pretty much can see it a mile away?
Basically...in short...if they (the creative...higher ups) supposedly respect and want to keep fans, and keep our money, wouldn't they want to give us the best possible product and know that we aren't as dumb as they think?
Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men and almost every other major Marvel Comics character once said that "every comic book is someone's first." I think the same thing holds true for wrestling. You never know how many fans have seen this stuff before and how many people are enthralled by brand new stuff.
Take Kane vs. Undertaker for instance. Every old fan called this feud stale. In reality, their first match in this recent feud was their first televised one on one match in over two years. Prior to that their most recent match was at Wrestlemania in 2004 which was a one off match and not really a feud. Prior to that they had two matches in the year 2000 (Summerslam and a match on Raw).
Old school fans call this stale because apparently Taker and Kane are always fighting, when in reality prior to this feud they had 5 matches in ten years prior to this feud. Wrestling fans have incredible memories and can't just accept a lot of the time that a match is fresh simply because they don't like it.
In summation, wrestling fans like to bitch and aren't happy unless they're complaining.
What are your thoughts on the new TNA title belt? and When do you think Miz will cash in MITB?
It looks like a Barney Cookie Cutter.
It's hard to say. WWE has done a masterful job at building Miz up perfectly so I'd hope they don't pull the trigger too soon this time.
Is Raven among the best talkers in the history of Wrestling?
Not really. I find Raven to be very overrated other than his time in ECW.