I always thought that Gordon Solie could have been the top “announcer guy” at whatever sport he wanted. Back when I was a kid, he hosted wrestling programs out of both Georgia and Florida. The Florida program was especially great because it often showed highlights of recent non-televised wrestling events that had been shot on (silent) B&W film (as opposed to video). It had this incredible film noir feel to it with Solie’s great voice–a voice that has now been silenced as the result of throat cancer–intoning “. . . and now Rhodes’s face is becoming a crimson mask . . . .”
And every time I’m in Atlanta, GA, I always try to get people to go with me to Abdullah’s House of Ribs, owned by none other than Abdullah the Butcher, but I just can’t get any interest.
I live in a podunk town called Toccoa,GA. Ole Anderson has been seen all over town. This is a town where wrestling stars are born & raised, we even have our own Wrestleplex that houses matches, even some of the WCW stars have made appearances.
I have always wanted to eat at Abdullah’s house of ribs & nobody will go with me either.
And on the subject of Gordon Solie…
I miss him.
I will always love wrestling & I don’t care who knows it!
I saw Summerslam. I will begin by saying that the Stone Cold/Kurt Angle match was the weakest piece of tripe I’ve seen in a long time. Angle put up a good performance, but SC’s work was, sadly, sub-par. And the ending (the WCW ref calling for a DQ) was a pathetic cop-out.
That said… I thought Edge’s match was excellent, I thought Jericho’s match was excellent (even when ol’ Y2J slipped thrice on the ropes), I thought the Undertaker/Kane vs. DDP/Kanyon match was VERY fun to watch (even though the part where 'Taker took off his shirt reminded me of Mae Young… ::shudder:::…)
The Ladder Match was pretty good, but didn’t have the sheer number of big bumps that previous Ladder matches had. And the Dudleyz/Test vs. APA/Spike match was pretty solid… not spectacular, but entertaining. Spike got worked very nicely in that one, and I always love watching the APA fight.
The gimmick where Stasiak (AKA Meat) would rush at the Rock and miss (subsequently smashing into a wall or into a table) was… amusing, in a Bugs Bunny sort of way. Also, Tajiri was in top form tonight, even though X-Suck won the match (with a little help from Albert).
Rocky’s match with Booker T showed some nice, solid wrestling… the Rock proving that he can sell a move like no one else (when the Rock goes down, he doesn’t just go down… he flops around like an epileptic fish). Also, it was nice seeing at least ONE of the two Company HW Championship Belts change hands tonight.
All in all, it was a well-rounded PPV… not overly spectacular, but entertaining, and it paved the way for some more storylines in the future (and, hopefully, will be the last we’ll ever hear of that dreadful “DDP is stalking Sara Undertaker!” angle… Dear Spam, I’m getting tired of that!)
Also, Stephanie looked even more the slut… which made Jericho’s antics about “trashbag whores” seem all the more amusing. 
SPOOFE
Back in the day when WrestlingDotCom had its message boards, I remember a post about the Rock’s way of selling moves that went something like this…
Rock takes the Stunner, does a complete backflip, bounces off the ropes, off the ropes into the front row, bounces off a kid and ricochets like a Superball through out the Arena, as Austin sits down, has a beer and waits for him to get back into the ring for the pin.
And that’s when Rocky manages to restrain himself… it’s like the guy’s made of Flubber.
A-FUCKING-MEN!!
I’ll say this much for restholds: Assuming you’re talking about headlocks and chinlocks, Why is it that the only way to counter them is to 1. let the ref drop your hand twice, then keep it up a three…let your hand quiver a little with the effort. 2. Somehow stand up, while other guy is still cranking away at your neck. 3. Elbow the other guy in the stomach a couple of times.
Could we see a little more variety here? There are some fairly simple counters to a half nelson (A hip toss comes immediatly to mind) that look much cooler!
X-Pac: His moves are alright, but my GOD is he a smarmy little bastard! My personal dislike for the guy is because he thinks he’s much better than he is.
OK, here’s my subject contribution: Which finishers do you love, and which ones need to go?
My favorites:
The crossface crippler: I love the way Benoit sets this move up with an armbar take down that looks realistic.
The Rock Bottom, Diamond Cutter, Stunner, Van Daminator:I love quick finishers, that look like they would actually hurt. Special props to DDP, for coming up with at least four different ways to Diamond Cut someone. That’s cool.
The Choke Slam and the Death Valley Driver: Evil, brutal looking moves.
I’ve never actually seen the Vertibracker (sp), but the description of it sounds good.
Least favorite:
The WORM, The People’s Elbow, Hogan’s Leg Drop: Take a basic weardown move, add several seconds (Or half a minute for The Worm) and a lot of silly dramatic flourishes, and what do you get? A silly ass “Finisher” that shouldn’t be. At least when Earthquake took his time to apply his finisher, the end result looked like it would actually finish someone off.
Many people refer to the above process as “hulking” out of the hold. I wonder why…
You’re kidding, right? I agree that the non-ending was anticlimactic, but that was the best match of Angle’s career to date and has to be in Austin’s top three. What didn’t you like?
I saw Summerslam as well, and was fairly impressed with the four big matches (Hardy v. RVD, Taker/Kane v. DDP/Kanyon, SCSA/Angle, and Rock/Booker T). The other stuff was pretty much grudge matches that finished story lines from the previous month.
I do look forward to Raw tonight to see what Booker T and SCSA has to say for themselves. I thought the SCSA/Angle match was REALLY anti-Climatic.
Sealemon88
Least favorite finishing moves: I agree with all your choices.
Favorite finishing moves: The Crippler Crossface, the Van Daminator and the Acid Drop/Dudley Dawg.
I know people expect me to say the Swanton Bomb but Jeff always lands it wrong and gets up holding his head. I prefer the Whisper in the Wind-the reverse corkscrew somersault.
Put it this way about Jeff, when me and my friend were trying to come up with names for our webpage, one of his suggestions was…
Ouch I Hit My Head-The Jeff Hardy Blown Spot Page.
Tonights RAW, was one of the funniest yet.
With Rock bringing out “mini T”, and then at the end, the Alliance singing “You are the wind beneath my wings” to Stone Cold, followed by Kurt Angle’s, Got Milk, ending, this was one of the funniest, and they have been funny a lot lately, I have seen in a while.
You know it was a ripoff of Austin driving in the beer truck and spraying Vince, right?
It was still funny. The look on Kurt’s face, when Meat, I mean Stasiak, slipped and got a direct shot with the hose…
Still laughing.
Yeah, that’s what made it so funny.
And, me too.
Mouthbreather…
Austin. He just kinda limped around like a decrepit old man. Angle kept putting effort into the match, but Austin never returned the energy. I agree that Angle was at the top of his game, however.
Sealemon…
I love the Walls Of Jericho. The name is cool as hell, and it LOOKS very impressive. I also think the Pedigree and the Rock Bottom would actually be nice, pummel-iscious finishing moves. I also used to love the Tombstone Piledriver, but since Vince has disallowed piledrivers, the Undertaker’s replacement is pretty nice, too.
I also loved the Fame-Ass-Er, even if Billy Gunn is an awkward wrestler.
I thought that the Stinky-Face (Rikishi’s move) was absolutely stupid, and was a mockery to the man’s wrestling prowess. Additionally, I think the X-Factor is pathetic-looking, as the force it would inflict would be less devastating than your average DDT… for it to be effectualk, X-Pac would have to weigh more and have greater upper-body strength. Yet it always seems to put the opponent down for the count…
RE: The Rock Bottom and The Worm - these two moves aren’t exactly “Finishing Moves”, they’re “Adding insult to injury”. It’s basically telling your opponent “I’ve beaten you so badly, I can afford to waste all this time with a pointless move and I STILL get the pin.” I agree that they’re ineffective for anything other than that, however.
RE: The hatred people have to X-Pax - the main reason why X-Pac keeps getting pushes is due only to the fact that he and Triple H are real-life friends. If it weren’t for that, X-Pac would be relegated to Jakked status, or even get bumped down to the minors.
I knew I forgot to mention something-the Pedigree.
BTW, Jericho used to do a variation of the Walls of Jericho were he put his knee into the person’s back. Looked brutal.
Hell, I forgot the Pedegree too! I love the way HHH pins his opponent’s arms behind his back, preventing him from blocking the drop with his hands. Great visual effect.
SPOOFE: I’d agree with you about The Worm and The Elbow, except that both moves are always set up with moves (Bulldog and Spinebuster) that would normally get 2 counts. Both moves are supposed to put an opponent down for the three if they hit. Jerico’s Lionsault is the same concept, but at least that move’s FAST. No screwing around with bouncing off the ropes twice, or Riverdancing, or whatever.
Oh, and I forgot to list my least favorite move of all time: The Shake Rattle And Roll (Jab, jab, jab, dance for 30 seconds, standing closeline. Oh, yeah, THAT’s a realistic finisher).
Oh, yeah, and the 450 degree somersault thingy Jueve used to do was neat.
Proof I Am Way TOO Into Wrestling
I was emailing a friend this morning, complaining about my new cube. (I was moved directly in front of my supervisor’s office-apparently I’m a distraction.)
So I’m whining away and he sends me this gem…
“Shhhh. I secretly replaced his desk with a Spanish Announcer’s Table.”
Then we went into a list of foreign objects I could use on my boss…A ladder, a steel folding chair, a tube sock, a two by four and the one he sent that almost made me pee my pants…
an artificial leg.
Way back when, a wrestler once took off someone’s fake leg off and hit him with it. I think it was Scott Hall. Can’t believe I know that and admit to knowing it.