The Rock's return to WWE last night

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Eric_the_Red

Actually DiBiase did hold the belt for a very brief time, and he didn't beat anyone to get it. So, true he never was recognized as WWF champ, but after Andre beat Hogan, Andre immediately gave the belt to DiBiase.

I was a big fan of DiBiase's when he was wrestling in the K.C. territory in the mid-70s. Even though he turned heel, I still was and am a big fan.

[Mario-Rijo]

Originally Posted by Chip R

I was a big fan of DiBiase's when he was wrestling in the K.C. territory in the mid-70s. Even though he turned heel, I still was and am a big fan.

I watched him alot in Georgia Championship Wrestling (In my best Gordon Solie voice: from the Omni in Atlanta) but he was my favorite wrestlers nemesis; Tommy Rich so never rooted for him. Back then he was just Ted Dibiase.

[Slyder]

Originally Posted by Eric_the_Red

Actually DiBiase did hold the belt for a very brief time, and he didn't beat anyone to get it. So, true he never was recognized as WWF champ, but after Andre beat Hogan, Andre immediately gave the belt to DiBiase.

Shortly thereafter Commissioner Jack Tunney declared the title vacant, leading to a tournament at WrestleMania IV where Randy Savage beat DiBiase in the finals to win his first world championship title. As a kid and Macho Man fan, I was very excited.

I liked one explanation as to why DiBiase never officially held it. Why give him that one when he can buy his own? And I didnt/dont count him buying it from Andre as having it.

[Mario-Rijo]

Originally Posted by Mario-Rijo

Ditto, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer, The Fabulous Freebirds. I met Tully Blanchard a few years ago, nice fella but I dwarfed the guy and I'm a hair short of 5' 10". I bet he was no taller than 5' 6" maybe 5' 7", shocked the crap out of me.

I was thinking of some other guys I liked back then from GCW, the Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant, Ronnie "Hands of Stone" Garvin, The Great Kabuki, Magnum T.A., Ivan (the Russian Bear) and Nikita (the Russian Sickle) Koloff, Abdullah the Butcher, Black Jack Mulligan, Bruiser Brody, the Masked Destroyers, the Armstrongs, etc., etc..

[cincrazy]

Originally Posted by Eric_the_Red

Speaking of the Macho Man, I found this and suddenly felt very, very old:



And here is the Ultimate Warrior. (Fun fact: his actual name is Ultimate Warrior. He legally had his name changed to his gimmick.)

I worked at an insurance place a few years ago, and came across an insurance document that had the name "Ultimate Warrior." It was clear by the name and his residence who it was, and that gave me a good laugh for the day.

Wrestling's only hope of drawing any ratings today is living off the past. Bringing in The Rock for a cameo, or Austin, etc. The only reason Wrestlemania is mildly entertaining is because of the Undertaker's streak, and now The Rock. Other than that, it's The Miz fighting John Cena. I mean really? The Miz.

Wrestling died the day WWE took control of WCW. It's impossible to flourish without any competition, IMO. By killing their chief rival, they killed themselves.

[TRF]

Originally Posted by cincrazy

I worked at an insurance place a few years ago, and came across an insurance document that had the name "Ultimate Warrior." It was clear by the name and his residence who it was, and that gave me a good laugh for the day.

Wrestling's only hope of drawing any ratings today is living off the past. Bringing in The Rock for a cameo, or Austin, etc. The only reason Wrestlemania is mildly entertaining is because of the Undertaker's streak, and now The Rock. Other than that, it's The Miz fighting John Cena. I mean really? The Miz.

Wrestling died the day WWE took control of WCW. It's impossible to flourish without any competition, IMO. By killing their chief rival, they killed themselves.

TNA is making some headway. action figures and I believe video games. Plus their X Division is fantastic. How is AJ Styles NOT a WWE superstar is beyond me.

[Tom Servo]

I was really enjoying the TNA product until the beginning of last year when they decided bringing in Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Mr. Anderson, Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, and others was just a swell idea.

It wasn't.

[Mario-Rijo]

Gosh I name all these guys off and cannot believe I left off my favorite tag team of all time, the Legion of Doom, Animal and Hawk the Road Warriors.

[cincrazy]

Originally Posted by TRF

TNA is making some headway. action figures and I believe video games. Plus their X Division is fantastic. How is AJ Styles NOT a WWE superstar is beyond me.

They've chipped into a bit of the stone, but it's still nowhere close to what WCW was, and I don't think it ever will be. Some guys may go from TNA to WWE, but you're going to see hardly anybody go from WWE to TNA unless they get fired.

[Slyder]

Originally Posted by cincrazy

They've chipped into a bit of the stone, but it's still nowhere close to what WCW was, and I don't think it ever will be. Some guys may go from TNA to WWE, but you're going to see hardly anybody go from WWE to TNA unless they get fired.

Some guys like Angle went to TNA for the reduced road travel. But thats beside the main point of my post.

Until the day that Je double F Ja Double R e Double T isn't booking for them they will continue to flounder. They had an opportunity to be unique, an opportunity to push something different and they turn it into WCW-lite. Dont get me wrong I still love watching Angle, RVD, and even Mr. Anderson in the ring but in the mean time they have put all their creative eggs in the same basket that arguably killed WCW. If they pushed the X-division and took the old farts completely off the air I think you would see another revolution in sports entertainment.

People have seen TNA before when it was WCW. TNA's goal should have been to elevate AJ, Joe, Motor City Machine Guns especially now while WWE is in a bit of a rebuilding mode with the youth movements not sit there and put people to sleep with Fueding Dudleys, Hogan, Flair, cheap nWo and horsemen knockoffs. Maybe it was depth perception but 6 sided ring looked small but it was unique.

While WWE was hyping Undertaker return with the videos, TNA was hyping Jeff Jarrett's "family" life... before that Jarrett was handpicking "fans" to beat up like he's some MMA dude... You got one of the greatest tag team in history resigned and what do you do.. have them fued... WHY? They use up a good 2-3 segments letting Bischoff, Hogan, or Flair ramble on about anything... again WHY?

Some of the names that have graced WCW-lite under this regime...
The Nasty Boys
The Band (Multiple times)
Shannon Moore
Mick Foley
Terry Funk
The Outlaws

Of the time and money wasted they could have put toward younger guys with a future you might have seen a growth. But as long as they keep wasting time with the old guys like listed above the less youre going to compete with WWE. An occasional signing such as Angle, RVD, Mr. Anderson fine as long as they are either A) Young or B) can contribute in the ring thats great but quit wasting news feed for Daffney, Hogan, Flairs of the group.

[will5979]

Originally Posted by Eric_the_Red

Speaking of the Macho Man, I found this and suddenly felt very, very old:



And here is the Ultimate Warrior. (Fun fact: his actual name is Ultimate Warrior. He legally had his name changed to his gimmick.)

I don't know exactly why but I want to cry after seeing that picture of Randy Savage, I actually thought it was a picture of Jesco White.

[TRF]

Originally Posted by Slyder

Some guys like Angle went to TNA for the reduced road travel. But thats beside the main point of my post.

Until the day that Je double F Ja Double R e Double T isn't booking for them they will continue to flounder. They had an opportunity to be unique, an opportunity to push something different and they turn it into WCW-lite. Dont get me wrong I still love watching Angle, RVD, and even Mr. Anderson in the ring but in the mean time they have put all their creative eggs in the same basket that arguably killed WCW. If they pushed the X-division and took the old farts completely off the air I think you would see another revolution in sports entertainment.

People have seen TNA before when it was WCW. TNA's goal should have been to elevate AJ, Joe, Motor City Machine Guns especially now while WWE is in a bit of a rebuilding mode with the youth movements not sit there and put people to sleep with Fueding Dudleys, Hogan, Flair, cheap nWo and horsemen knockoffs. Maybe it was depth perception but 6 sided ring looked small but it was unique.

While WWE was hyping Undertaker return with the videos, TNA was hyping Jeff Jarrett's "family" life... before that Jarrett was handpicking "fans" to beat up like he's some MMA dude... You got one of the greatest tag team in history resigned and what do you do.. have them fued... WHY? They use up a good 2-3 segments letting Bischoff, Hogan, or Flair ramble on about anything... again WHY?

Some of the names that have graced WCW-lite under this regime...
The Nasty Boys
The Band (Multiple times)
Shannon Moore
Mick Foley
Terry Funk
The Outlaws

Of the time and money wasted they could have put toward younger guys with a future you might have seen a growth. But as long as they keep wasting time with the old guys like listed above the less youre going to compete with WWE. An occasional signing such as Angle, RVD, Mr. Anderson fine as long as they are either A) Young or B) can contribute in the ring thats great but quit wasting news feed for Daffney, Hogan, Flairs of the group.

yeah, the "they are here" angle was kind of a letdown. I do like the group. TNA does tag team better than WWE does. X division is fun to watch. I don't mind Anderson at all, good on the mic and does a great HHH impression.

Flair? Hogan? Foley? yawn. Jarrett? double yawn. never liked him. Love Kurt Angle though. Tired of seeing Scott Steiner.

TNA had trouble figuring out if it was WCW or ECW. Now it's neither and lesser for it.

I did find it amazing that they did use Angle and Jarrett's personal life though. just felt odd watching it.

[Tom Servo]

I give WWE a lot of credit for their recent youth movement, something TNA never wants to pull the trigger on. Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, and Cody Rhodes are just now either getting that big push or are on the verge of it. I'm terribly disappointed though in how they built Jack Swagger up a bit and gave him the World Title (and put him over Orton, Jericho, Edge, etc) only to shun him back down to the midcard after the run and act like he was never World Champion.

[Slyder]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

I give WWE a lot of credit for their recent youth movement, something TNA never wants to pull the trigger on. Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, and Cody Rhodes are just now either getting that big push or are on the verge of it. I'm terribly disappointed though in how they built Jack Swagger up a bit and gave him the World Title (and put him over Orton, Jericho, Edge, etc) only to shun him back down to the midcard after the run and act like he was never World Champion.

They rushed Swagger and I think they learned from that or else Barrett, McIntyre, or Ziggler probably already been a champ. Thats just IMO, never been much of a Kurt Angle's little brother.

[Slyder]

Anyone watch Wrestlemania last night and think we have seen the Taker's last match? If he's able to control his breathing and kay fabe show a concussion I applaud him and he deserves an award but he was turning purple at the end where he stumbled out of the ring and collapsed. Overall very disappointed in the show, whoever ordered the matches needs fired, whoever booked them needs fired. And the biggest crime of the night the winner of the Royal Rumble opening the show...