Never knew ECW had action figures:

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I had Sabu.

Unfortunately, he looked like a midget next to the WWE figures.

Which is probably accurate though.

I worked for KB Toys when they came out, and I ended up getting most (if not all) of them, simply because it seemed both cool and farfetched that they *actually* had figures. Also, some disbelief on my part, because New Jack has a noose around his neck - use your brain why that would be an issue on a toy - and with the added context of this being around the time that the WWE figure of Al Snow was pulled because of that supposed controversy about Head being some meataphor for abusing women or some such shit. Some of the ones not shown on that commercial are The Dudley Boys [Buh-Buh and D-Von] and Shane Douglas. I think there was a Raven and Steve Corino, too.

Some of the many things I lost when I moved back to Ohio.

Was just thinking they should have random finishes to matches way more often. Let guys score a pinfall off the superplex, or a powerbomb or a spine buster sometimes. Protect the finishers more, don't make them a requirement to end every match. Don't have people kicking out of finishers nearly as often. Make them the last ditch effort to put away your opponent during a big match. Make the kick out of a finisher a super big deal again. Seems like it would increase the suspense a little bit to me.

I agree, especially on TV matches and especially when the finish is already established.

Example, wouldn't it make Orton's whole psychology more interesting if he started putting people away with the hanging DDT? Or that perfect superlex he hit last night, that would've been a great finish to establish that move as a game changer.

You read my mind. That match last night between Orton and Roode is exactly what made me start mulling this over in my head. The superplex was the moment that stuck out the most to me, but the powerbomb and spinebuster outta nowhere by Roode also would have been acceptable finishes to me.

Random thought/guess on Undertaker's retirement.

He beats cena this year and next wins the universal title in a triple threat with him, lesnar and reigns. Retires 25-2 and goes into the Hall of Fame.

That's how it should go. He gets his 2 losses back.

While I appreciate this continuity I would prefer this angle end at this years show. Down the road we need a new story to lead the company and Reigns/Brock/Taker for a multitude of reasons isn't qualified to lead the charge anymore.

I think if Taker does decided to do a "few more" then they need a very strong story to make it special. And he'd probably have to appear more than two or three times before WM each year.

And as for what's next for Reigns after Lesnar? Possibly Cena, Strowman, Rollins, there are options if they put the right spin on it.

Can be yours for only a nickel.

Why should UnderTaker "get those 2 loses back"?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Don’t be a cop caller, yes it’s illegal but Limewire is a great way to watch wrestling.... <a href="https://t.co/mCsdF4n8T2">https://t.co/mCsdF4n8T2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GCWrestling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GCWrestling_</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JJSB2?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JJSB2</a> <a href="https://t.co/H8m8muJeyk">pic.twitter.com/H8m8muJeyk</a></p>&mdash; Bad Boy Joey Janela (@JANELABABY) <a href="https://twitter.com/JANELABABY/status/973038143896088576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Fuck that little bitch complainer. If you wanna know, watch the show.

MDK MDK MDK. This is gonna be insane.

damnit I cant link to the sign on reddit of AJ as a nun "They dont want nun"

trying to figure the rest of the lyrics

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This AJ Styles Sign though �� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEFastlane?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEFastlane</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SDLive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SDLive</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWEChampionship?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWEChampionship</a> <a href="https://t.co/ESfOsPWWHW">pic.twitter.com/ESfOsPWWHW</a></p>&mdash; Markell Bailey (@tenorbuds) <a href="https://twitter.com/tenorbuds/status/973028483633889281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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I've pinpointed the exact spot where WWECW lost all hope. It was episode 21 where Paul Heyman opened with an announcement about an Extreme Elimination Chamber. That was all fine enough. Then Kevin Thorn and Sabu had a match to qualify for said match. Also fine. Then Daivari walked out with The Great Khali to face Shannon Moore, and all of my interest just died on impact.

What era of what show should I start watching now? Should I go back to 2005 Smackdown? I didn't really stop watching that for any reason, but I forgot to put it on my watchlist.

Besides early brand split era, Smackdown was also pretty good to great during 08-11 especially when compared to RAW.

NXT from 2012-15 was also pretty great overall. Has the rise of NXT in general and start of the rise of women's wrestling in the WWE.

Smelly Meatball beat me to it. I remember a DVD set for that specific era of Smackdown. A lot of quality television matches.

Papa Roach are back doing the Raw theme

https://twitter.com/paparoach/status/973288259425112065

According to the Observer, NJPW pulled the Rey Mysterio vs Jushin Liger match off the card for their upcoming Long Beach show.

Main reason is due to Rey needing at least a month to rehab from his recent biceps injury.

Alright song but it doesn't really get me pumped to watch some wrestling. Guess I'll see when I watch Raw.

I might check out Smackdown then. I started watching NXT from the beginning of it's current form not too long ago, so I might pick that back up, but since Neville winning the title, I've already been watching NXT on a weekly basis.

That Smackdown Era you described was also the time I was traveling for my job and I missed a lot of wrestling. That might be perfect.

I dunno about you but I'm gonna be watching a lot of Thunder!

Not only that, but sometimes, the some of the transitions, placeholders, and high spots look more devastating than what is actually supposed to end the match.

So, a guy takes a top-rope death valley driver through a flaming table that's on an unpadded floor, and they're fine enough to just get up and continue the match in the ring, but some spinning elbow "knocks them out" dead just because that's the guy's finish? C'mon... it wasn't like you got hit with a Steiner Screwdriver. A flurry of kicks to the temple makes you dizzy for a couple of seconds, but one superkick to the chin, and you're prone just because it's a superkick (unless it's a Young Bucks match, because you have to eat about 12 more of them for no reason).

We can finally re-live the Lance Storm hat trick!

Just ran across this. Anyone that's been keeping up with Being the Elite and knows Chico should like it.

Is Thunder on the Network now?

The Coach just joined Smackdown's announce team on the first episode of Smackdown from 2008. Are you fucking with me right now?

I'm looking at Hornswoggle accompany Finlay into a Beat the Clock Challenge, and I'm almost overcome with regret immediately.

Alright, the Chuck Palumbo/Jamie Noble feud is budding, and I remember enjoying that quite some bit.

Also, Michelle McCool was pretty fucking good.

Hated the Chavo of this era, though.

Disgusting promo about wanting Eddie to be alive still. Fuck that. Really bizarre how they exploited that.

As far as I can recall, Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman called the WM 24 main event of Edge versus Undertaker for the World's Heavyweight Championship.

Naomi seems like a genuinely cool and fun person. Glad she got a run with the title and a wrestlemania moment.

Here's a random nugget from Smackdown during the original brand split. Lesnar, who had just won the 2002 Royal Rumble, got pinned by then WWE Champion Kurt Angle after the "switch". They would meet again in the main event of Wrestlemania 19.

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Now that I think about it, Smackdown has "main evented" Wrestlemania only on two occasions.

WM XIX - Kurt Angle versus Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship
WM XXIV - Edge versus Undertaker for the World's Heavyweight Championship

Technically, the main event of Wrestlemania 25 was a dual-branded affair. Randy Orton stayed on RAW (after the winning the Rumble), while Smackdown's WWE Champion Triple H also showed up on the flagship show for the storyline to progress. As far as I can recall, Hunter wasn't an official member of the RAW roster until the draft lottery after Mania.

I think eventually WrestleMania will be two days long, a Sat and Sun show. WWE is very pro-profit and it'd double their money as the show keeps getting bigger and longer.