Latest ITR

TNTNA?

It is the general opinion of many a self-styled Wrestling Journalist that one of TNA's biggest problems is that they only have one hour of TV per week. So I guess it would make sense if the company were to look into expanding their television exposure. To, say, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Clearly the world is clamoring for Total Nonstop TNA! And how would TNA look to fill up a 24/7 Video On-Demand service? Well, that's where our Intrepid Investigative Reporter, the Canadian Bulldog, comes in. His covert digging has resulted in the discovery of such gems as Big Sexy the Midget Killer, camped out in Madagascar, on a show called "N*A*S*H"? Admit it: you'd watch, and you'd love it. Bulldog has details and info on a dozen other shows in Inside the Ropes.

Latest "Breaking News"

Superfly Jimmy Snuka Publishing Controversial New Book

Rowdy Roddy Piper Diagnosed With Cancer

Just read the news over on wwe.com, and honestly, I haven't read wrestling-related news this sad since I learned of Eddie Guerrero's passing about a year ago.

I actually just finished watching Piper's new DVD set "Born to Controversy" two weeks ago and it's a real gem. The final disc alone full of old Piper's Pits is just amazing to watch, especially when you see how much heat Piper was able to get back in the day (and even during his 2003 heel run). I've said this before, but other than Mick Foley, Piper has been my favorite all around performer in the 20-plus years I've been watching wrestling.

Here's to a speedy recovery, Hot Rod.

Survivor Series Thoughts

Back in the day, I used to be good for at least posting the results a few hours after the event. But now I'm getting lazy. And hey, so is WWE!

I didn't detest Survivor Series last night, but it certainly didn't deliver on the "big event" momentum it had going into the card.

Team Flair vs. Team Spirit Squad was perfectly fine, and it showed me once again why Flair is still vastly underrated considering his age. I don't quite understand why Arn Anderson got removed from ringside for attacking Mitch, the other manager, but what are you gonna do?

Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero was decent, some good action, but I have no clue where they go from here with this feud.

Team DX vs. Team Rated RKO had its moments, and they mostly involved Shawn Michaels acting goofy. I didn't dislike this match, and I do like that his HHHness really did attempt to give the rub to The Hardyz and especially C.M. Punk. And of course, there was no reason to protect Nitro, Helms and Knox whatsoever, but I would have liked Rated RKO to look a little stronger there. Sidenote: I HATE the combined Edge/Orton music.

Mickie James vs. Lita was okay, but I can't imagine why they seemed so intent on burying her, unless she sticks around to some degree.... even if its after a six month break or something. I'm not a huge Lita fan, but she at least deserved an okay send-off for everything she's done for the company.

The Undertaker vs. Mr. Kennedy accomplished pretty much what I figured it would: it gave Kennedy a high-profile win while not really damaging Taker's rep any. I can't say I'm the least bit surprised by that development, but it could have been a lot worse.

Team Cena vs. Team Big Show was done bass-ackwards, plain and simple. Umaga getting DQ'd 30 seconds into the match made no sense. Giving RVD and/or Sabu a win in Philly would have been a nice morale-booster, particularly with an ECW PPV less than a week away. At the very least, why not keep the team of *decent* heels (as opposed to the nobodies of Team Rated RKO) strong in contrast to the other two heel SS teams? And while there was nothing wrong with Cena and Lashley winning, there were at least two other scenarios (either Umaga and Big Show winning, or say RVD and Cena) would have been much more satisfying.

Batista vs. King Booker was, for lack of a better description, boring as hell. I was falling asleep literally a few minutes into it. I like that they finally gave SD a main event after, what, 10 months of making them look second-rate, but this one just didn't have the momentum going for it? Nothing wrong with putting the belt on Batista (and being in the same arena, almost a year ago IS a nice touch), it just didn't seem like a real "moment", if that made sense.

So again, didn't hate the PPV, but think they certainly could have done a lot more with it. Sadly, I can't imagine the ECW and SD PPV's in the next few weeks are going to be any better....

My WrestleMania 23 Idea

I mentioned this today on the OO Message Boards, but I thought it might be worth repeating (especially if they end up using my idea). As far as fantasy-booking goes, it's not a bad concept. May be a tad unrealistic, but nonetheless has some possibilities.

The rumor is that Stone Cold Steve Austin is coming back to WWE early next year to start up the hype machine for his movie. Instead of using him as a lame GM or somesuch crap, how about this?

Austin makes his big return to Raw, in some sort of undefined role. Maybe for a "Beer Bash" or something, and then you have a top heel (Umaga, or maybe Orton and Edge) trying to ruin it. Who comes out to make the save for Stone Cold but.... John Cena.

The two clear house, and then Austin gets on the mic and runs down Cena. "Look atcha, with your little necklace, your little wristbands, your little spinny belt, doin' yer little raps. Who in the hell do you think you are?" Or... in a more subtle way, you could have Austin stun Cena after a mid-ring toast, but that's been done to death already. No one would be surprised by that.

From there, you could either have Cena as the heel or Austin as the heel for WrestleMania in the "one time" match Austin has said he could still do. I'm assuming that the fans would side with Austin in that scenario, but either way they tried to go for it... it would make for an interesting Mania match. Plus, being in the ring with Austin might help get Cena "over" more than he's been able to do with other guys, even if he loses the match.

I'm just saying, as a one-time match, I'd definitely be all over Austin vs Cena.

Thoughts?

Latest "Breaking News"

WWE Acquires Videotape Rights to Everything

Movie Review -- Borat

Saw this last night and didn't stop laughing for the duration of it. But I will add -- it's definitely not for everyone.

Without getting too much into spoiler country, Borat takes jabs at pretty much everyone, be they divided by culture, religion or ethnicity. Yet the people he pokes the most fun at are Americans. The results (and one has to assume that, even though most of his "interviews" and other appearances are geniune, some just couldn't be legit) are fall on the floor funny. You don't really feel any sympathy for the Borat character, yet you don't always feel sympathy for his victims, either. It's an odd dynamic.

There is one scene (and again, I won't spoil anything) that was SO uncomfortable that it was hard to keep my eyes open for it. Yet I couldn't stop laughing. The three people I was with swore that, mostly because of that one scene, they wouldn't be able to watch that film again for a while. It was THAT disturbing.

So would I recommend this? I guess it depends on your threshold for humor. If you could sit through, say, Team America: World Police and make it out unscathed (not that they're at all similar in content), you'll probably be fine with this one. If you're going to get squeamish over certain things, particularly humor from an obvious bigoted and sexist character, you may want to stay home.

Also caught "Anchorman" last night (though on DVD at a friend's house, not in a theater or anything) was definitely very funny. And I liked Steve Carell here a helluva lot more than I did in, say, 40 Year-old Virgin.

Two columns -- one new, one semi-new

Breaking News: K-Fed Involved In Bonus Survivor Series Match

Also:

I'm not sure what's happening over at Online Onslaught right now, but last week's Inside The Ropes is now available on my Myspace page, under the "blog" section.

Sick update (Part 75), Concerts, Where's ITR and MORE!!!

So I'm actually feeling much, much better and except for my voice, I'd say I'm at about 97 % now. Strangely looking forward to going back to work, the gym, etc. because at least it beats the hell out of sitting at home and watching DVD's all day. FINALLY went out for some fun last night. Our friends at nufunk.ca were promoting their biggest concert to date -- a show by the Burt Neilson Band at the Opera House in Toronto. Can't say they're really my style of music, but they'd definitely won everyone over by the end of the first set; some really good energy there.

Looks like The Rick may be suffering as badly as I am, if not worse. Didn't realize it until mid-week, but the site actually hasn't been updated in a couple of weeks. Not sure what's going on with him, to be honest, as he usually sends around an email to the crew if there's going to be an extended absence, so I hope all is okay. I did submit an ITR this week (though I missed last week's due to illness), so we'll see what happens. Obviously, it's far more important Rick is back to his normal self than worrying about site updates, etc.

What else? I published a "Breaking News" earlier this week, which I forgot to do here. Check out "Kitty Kelley Tell-All of Linda McMahon Will Shock, Surprise" if you haven't already.

My Complete and Utter Bulldog audio show has been kind of on hiatus because of my voice, but I'm hoping that will rectified by mid-week or so. Oh, and as if you needed another reason to join Club WWI -- they now have their own forums (including a forum dedicated to yours truly), which is way cool.

Last thing.... I am seriously thinking of moving this blog over to myspace instead of here on blogger. I'm already on myspace quite a bit, and use it to plug my columns, etc., so I figured now may be the time to completely switch over. But wanted to hear from you folks out there in BullBLOG land -- what do you think?

Okay, time for some more F@*&@* tea to get my throat better. Later...

Update from sick bay

Well, I started feeling a little bit better towards the end of the week, and now I'm back where I started. Without getting too melodramatic, this has been the worst illness ever (EV.... no, not even enough strength to do an "EVER!!!").

Today did give me the chance to sit on my sorry butt and watch some DVD's I recently picked up on the cheap:

Date Movie: My sister-in-law warned this wasn't even worth watching for the "so bad its good" factor, and I can't say she was wrong. Even more cliched jokes than the "Scary Movie" franchise, and very few of them worth chuckling at. Yet, if you set the DVD to "laugh track" mode for a while, it's not without its charm.

The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior: A lesson for ex-WWE guys who choose NOT to participate in their career retrospective DVD's. This is a total and complete burial by Vince & company, and even the (somewhat) kind words by Hulk Hogan by the former Jim Hellwig don't balance out all the negativity here. Funny to see Christian and Chris Jericho (who?) weighing on classic Warrior interviews, but really, a damage control DVD that never needed to be made. Can't WAIT to see Randy Savage's similar DVD whenever they decide to make it.

Superstar Billy Graham - 20 Years Too Soon: And on the other hand..... here's someone who appeared on Donahue and tabloid television shows dissing Vince in the early 90's and they still managed to give him a glowing review. I'm sure it helped that he was one of Vince's favorite characters, but still... a bit of skepticism would have helped here. And yes, I'm SO sure that Graham was thrilled that Triple H inducted him into the Hall of Fame two years ago. I think Superstar needs to join the Kiss My Ass club, if he hasn't already. Not to say that wasn't "ahead of his time" and a unique character, I just didn't really feel this one.


Anyways, as far as columns for next week, I really don't know if I'll be feeling up to them. Its just hard to feel "funny" when you're struggling to stay awake 24/7 with a strep throat. But we'll see. Later....