Trying something a little new this time around…

The last few days here have been real scorchers. I’ve been staying up a couple hours later than normal waiting for things to cool off a bit to make going to bed easier. As a result of been checking out some stuff to watch while I wait. I decided rather than just make a passing mention of what I have been watching, I’d write up and actual review.

I understand it’s a little lengthy…lengthier than I intended, but I was typing it while I watched the show. Let me know what you think,  because maybe I’ll consider doing more.

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WWE Vintage Collection

06/29/08

I was lucky enough to find this edition of the newest piece of weekly WWE programming, which airs in overseas markets that carried the now defunct WWE Heat program.

This particular episode highlights action from a September 1986 card at Madison Square Garden. Mean Gene Okerlund gets the opening festivities out of the way, and we’re taken straight to the ring for…

The Hart Foundation (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. the Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond).

(more…)

I don’t often write on here about current wrestling stuff, as it seems to have become so formulaic and generally uninspired of late. A lot of the mainstream wrestling product just looks so generic, that I get a big kick out of watching older stuff, just for a taste of something different. Regardless, perhaps due to force of habit, I tuned into the three-hour RAW draft this past Monday night.

Even though it seems like it was a lot longer in the past, they last did a draft about a year ago. Most of you probably don’t remember, as it seems like the only move that resulted in any sort of impact was Edge going to the SmackDown! show.

This year, however, when they said they were going to “shake things up,” they really meant it. For instance, Triple H was moved to SmackDown!, which was previously something he seemed to think was beneath him. Besides ECW, every main show was really shaken up, and it should make for some good matches down the road.

One switch that seems to have people really surprised is Jim Ross moving to SmackDown!, where he will sit in the booth with Mick Foley after doing RAW for about ten years with Jerry Lawler. While the Ross-Lawler combo has been stale for a long time, and the possibility of the Ross-Foley combo being great is really high, Ross is obviously NOT a happy camper over this. He claims he didn’t know about the switch until it was announced, and quite frankly, based on his reaction, I’d beleive it. He wrote on his blog after the show that he briefly contemplated just retiring altogether.

Rey Mysterio on RAW intrigues me, as he’s been on SmackDown! for so long that the idea of fresh opponents is great. Mr. Keneddy to SmackDown! is fine, although if they are really trying to build him as a babyface, he needs to keep up him momentum on RAW for a while, as he’s only really been there about a year.

ECW lost their champion and their top babyface. The were destroyed and really given the bun’s rush.

Batista to RAW actually singlehandedly took away a great deal of my motivation to watch RAW. I can;t stand Batista. He’s terrible, and not one of his matches has ever entertained me. I enjoyed it when he was on SmackDown!, because I hardly ever watch SmackDown!

Hopefully, they actually keep everyone seperate for a while after this. Ever since about a month before WrestleMania, guys have been all over the three shows, greatly reducing any positives that having seperate brands bring with it.

It’s obvious that they were stacking up SmackDown! to prepare  for their move to MyNetworkTV, which tons of people get, but seldom actually watch. Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Jim Ross, Umaga et al certainly give it an extra punch.

Even though I mentioned ECW got screwed over, I actually don’t mind watching ECW. It’s a little different. A bit of a change of pace.  It’s like watching a random indy show with really great production values. I probably see bits and pieces of it more than Smackdown!, but I seldom see a full show.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

As I’m not sure what was aired tonight on Ringside Live, I’ll post this video anyway (with a slight explanation).

Ringside Live, the radio I do with Ian Hamilton every Friday night via BlogTalkRadio, was acting up. As a result of various tecnical problems (not our doing), we weren’t sure if we were broadcasting live, being recorded for streaming/podcasting/iTunes purposes, or just having a phone conversation amongst ourselves.

I mentioned this goofy Lanny Poffo video, which I still can’t find the words to describe. I said I’d post it right here for any listeners that wanted to retrieve the URL.

Well, with the help of the blogTalkRadio tech crew, we went on the air one hour later than usual, and all was well. I never mentioned the video in the redo. I have no idea if people were listening to the live broadcast or not, so here it is regardless.

Anyways, thanks to the BlogTalk folks for getting everything sorted out. I really enjoy being on the show, and it’s a great way to cap off the week for me. Thanks to Ian for keeping them on their toes and getting to the bottom of everything.

What’s almost sad is that me and Ian were essentially chatting among ourselves for about 40 minutes and having a great old time. I think some people would have gotten a good chuckle over some of the stuff we were talking about (which was mostly wrestling related except my revalation that I just recently began to actually understand what Ian is saying every week).