Holy crap, that's terrible.

Well, I hear tell that Lita's available for the right price.

Agreed.

I'll admit I was a major mark for the guy (as well as WCW in general, at that time), but even I can admit this does not surprise me. I consider myself able-enough, though, to separate enjoyment of a character from dislike of him from a personal level. (Sort of like enjoying Tom Cruise's roles/movies while thinking he's a complete nutjob on the religious scale.)

If I didn't like that "Bullrun" show so much for what it actually was, I probably would've stopped watching after the first ep just because of his seeming assiness.

I have a story to share about Chris.

I didn't know him very well but apparently I knew him enough for him to seek me out when he came out of the closet. I remember getting an email from him with his number and a request to call. He talked about doing what he felt he had to do to "make things right" with people he's known in his life. He then proceeded to tell me that he was gay and wanted to know what I thought about that. I told him that I, like alot of other guys, thought he was working the internet but he wasn't - He was dead serious and reiterated his question.

I paused for a minute and answered, "Chris as long as you're the same old Kanyon, I don't give a good goddamn who you're blowing." It sounded like he paused for a minute because the phone was silent, then I could hear the laughter. I took his breath away with that one I guess but gave him a good laugh. His only answer was, "Fair enough." We talked for about 15 or 20 minutes more before saying goodbye. That was the last time I talked to Chris.

When wrestlers die, sometimes you're on "the list" that gets a call before the internet, or as the internet is finding out. This was one of those times. I don't have a very favorable view on suicide personally. The last wrestler to die that hurt really bad was Mike Awesome who hung himself. Chris though - I was mad about. I remember shouting, "That sonofabitch!" My wife looked around the corner to see tears coming from my eyes and she knew. Another one was gone.

I relish the time I spent in wrestling and the time I continue to try. I don't relish the fact that so many people I've crossed paths with are gone for no good reason. Everyone has demons but this business seems to be infested with them.

Fair enough point, Thai. I like him well enough, but I certainly wasn't clamoring for his return.

I always thought Cena was Cena in blackface.

Chat Rumble Results:

1. Eric - 12, Edge (10 Points Winner 2010 Royal Rumble, 2 Points Eliminations (Chris Jericho, John Cena)), Yoshi Tatsu (0 Points)

2. Stu - 11.5, Shawn Michaels (6.5 Points Eliminations (Triple H, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, Cody Rhodes, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, 1/2 Drew McIntyre), 5 Points Most Eliminations), The Miz (0 Points)

4. DrMuerto - 8, John Cena (5 Points Longest Entry, 3 Points Eliminations (Yoshi Tatsu, Kofi Kingston, Dave Batista)) Chris Jericho (0 Points)

4. Boz - 5, CM Punk (5 Points Eliminations (Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne, JTG, Beth Phoenix, Zack Ryder)), Evan Bourne (0 Points)

5. Karmic - 2.5, Triple H (2.5 Points Eliminations (CM Punk, Kane, 1/2 Drew McIntyre)), JTG (0 Points)

6-T. BeerBaron - 2, MVP (2 Points Eliminations (The Miz, MVP)), Zack Ryder (0 Points)

6-T. BTR - 2, R-Truth (2 Points Eliminations (Mark Henry, The Big Show)), Cody Rhodes (0 Points)

7-T. Sportsguy - 1, Big Show (1 Point Elimination (Chris Masters)), Drew McIntyre (0 Points)

7-T. Lou - 1, Kane (1 Point Elimination (Matt Hardy), Ted DiBiase (0 Points)

7-T. Firewoman - 1, Kofi Kingston (1 Point Elimination (R-Truth))

7-T. Andy - 1, Beth Phoenix (1 Point Elimination (The Great Khali)), Shelton Benjamin (0 Points)

8-T. Matt - 0, The Great Khali (0 Points), Chris Masters (0 Points)

8-T. TommyD - 0, Jack Swagger (0 Points)

8-T. Anglefan - 0, John Morrison (0 Points), Matt Hardy (0 Points)

8-T. DevSop - 0, Dolph Ziggler (0 Points), Mark Henry (0 Points)

The Official List of Draws Eliminations:

1. Dolph Ziggler (2, by CM Punk)
2. Evan Bourne (1, by CM Punk)
3. CM Punk (7, by Triple H)
4. JTG (3, by CM Punk)
5. The Great Khali (4, by Beth Phoenix)
6. Beth Phoenix (5, by CM Punk)
7. Zack Ryder (6, by CM Punk)
8. Triple H (17, by Shawn Michaels)
9. Drew McIntyre (16, by Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
10. Ted DiBiase (14, by Shawn Michaels)
11. John Morrison (15, by Shawn Michaels)
12. Kane (11, by Triple H)
13. Cody Rhodes (13, by Shawn Michaels)
14. MVP (9, by MVP)
15. Carlito (12, by Shawn Michaels)
16. The Miz (8, by MVP)
17. Matt Hardy (10, by Kane)
18. Shawn Michaels (27, by Batista)
19. John Cena (29, by Edge)
20. Shelton Benjamin (18, by Shawn Michaels)
21. Yoshi Tatsu (19, by John Cena)
22. The Big Show (22, by R-Truth)
23. Mark Henry (21, by R-Truth)
24. Chris Masters (20, by The Big Show)
25. R-Truth (24, by Kofi Kingston)
26. Jack Swagger (23, by Kofi Kingston)
27. Kofi Kingston (25, by John Cena)
28. Chris Jericho (26, by Edge)
29. Edge (WINNNER 2010 Royal Rumble)
30. Batista (28, by John Cena)

Congratulations to Eric, the Winner of the 2010 OOChat Rumble. That goes to...um...every Eric out there, I guess.

Jeb Lund Memorial Award for Chat Rumble Futility: Beer Baron, for having his only points coming on MVP's elimination of himself.

BTR Award for Talking a Good Game and Failing to Deliver: OOMatt for setting this up, and then somehow having his 7-foot monster eliminated by a girl, and also getting "Iron Chef Wrestling" Chris Masters in the second half.

The Rick Scaia Award for Excellence: Rick Scaia for once again ignoring this great OO tradition in favor of posting video ads to the frontpage. No, I do not wish to hear more about college football, main page!

Thanks for another great year, see you next year when I hire an accountant to keep track of points!

Chicks talking about wrestling? Whaddadeknow?????

Well his final statement about Dixie is just plain idiotic. Unless he knows something we don't Dixie Carter is looking at the highest rating in TNA history, more exposure and buzz than they've ever had, and an experiment that not just exceeded Spike's stated expectations but which actually managed to swipe viewers from WWE. So Cornette acting like Monday was an unabashed failure for TNA is a hilarious joke and very clearly nothing more than his bitterness towards the company and parties. Unless he's hiding some great secret we don't know.

But while the "had to rely on people and stories from a decade ago" argument looks good at first glance it strikes me as pretty shallow. This is an industry rooted in history and WWF has been drawing on the past to push stories for years. And lets ignore that RAW didn't draw a bigger rating than last week so its not even an issue, but even so its not like it was 2 hours of Bret Hart. Kofi vs Orton, Sheamus vs Bourne, the US title mix, and Maryse/Miz all played a part of that show and got good reviews based on OO's comments. So what exactly is wrong with using stars from the past to draw people in to a product that is dominated by stars of the present? That's a sound business strategy used by all sorts of people. The goal should of course be for Bret to lure you in but for Kofi/Orton or Sheamus/Bourne to keep you interested. Then when Bret goes you stay for those guys. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

But there's nothing inherently wrong with TNA using the nWo to draw your interest and hopefully get you to watch Wolfe/Dinero, Samoa Joe, or the Knockouts. There's nothing wrong with using Flair and Hogan to put AJ Styles over as a big deal. These are, on paper, sound business strategies. Of course the problem comes when and if they begin to dominate the storytelling (Main Event Mafia) and don't give room for the rest. Or if the "new" you have just isn't good enough to make the people who came for the "old" care.

But I really don't see the argument to say that WWE or TNA did anything wrong by putting the focus on Monday on what it was. Both companies had no buzz. Both companies used something people care about to create a buzz. That's smart business in my book. And they even managed to use ACTUAL wrestling characters and stories to do it rather than relying on Celebrity Guest Hosts or controversial football players like Pacman Jones or fake gay weddings or Jay Leno wrestling a PPV main event. Wrestling's got a long history of stunt booking to create a buzz and it WORKS, so for Cornette or anyone to get up in arms about Hogan and Bret being used to draw attention when the last 7 months has seen RAW using Al Sharpton, Nascar, and Shaquile O'Neal to do the same and TNA has drawn out Jenna Morasco, Toby Keith, and David Eckstein.

But Cornette would GLADLY use the past to promote stories if he thought it made sense. Like I said, he did an entire Invasion booking shoot where he made the case that in 2001 people didn't care about anyone under 40, they cared about Hogan, Dusty, Funk, Flair, the Road Warriors, and the stars of days gone by and THOSE were the guys you should book a story with dozens and dozens of young and talented wrestlers about. He's just screaming and yelling because Russo and Hogan are the pricks who drove him away and TNA are the pricks who let it happen so he wants them all to crash and burn in a firey mess.


This whole thing might fall apart for either company under the weight of egos, misplaced priorities, and an underwhelming current product. But I don't see the case for why in and of itself its a bad thing to use a story people care about to get their attention.

Then you're just not as cool as the rest of us.

He was one of my favorites from the 80's. Had skill, size, and an intimidating look. Varsity Club and MVC were great.

And to be fair to TNA, my match was just a one fall w/a stipulation. A good one (IMO), but still pretty much nothing like what TNA did. But the name is eerily close...

well fuck - damn me. i fail, lol. still RIP

The article doesn't explain why they don't have scales there.

I miss Ric Flair.

So TNA has gone from the Vince Russo gang angle to the Hulk Hogan all-my-old-friends-get-to-be-champion angle. Great...

I was going to be all cool and smite you and then explain why your karma is dropping. But I pushed the damn "Exalt" link instead. So to make up for it, I will smite you every time I can for the entire weekend. You have been warned.

His promos with Vince as interviewer got me hooked on wrestling. RIP.

I'd chip in, but I don't play C&B Baseball

www.smartmarkvideo.com/Chikara-DVD-2009-Chikara-Sampler/

Seems like a good deal. I haven't gone through the order yet since I'm at work to see if they ROH-ya on the shipping, but I always have liked Chikara's DVD's.

Man, that's TWO Exalts I've given out today.

Agree. Or that she's holding back a monster dump.