I was watching the 1988 Survivor Series, and came to the big 5 team v. 5 team match. I love this match because it's got some of my favorite tag teams of all time, and keeps a good pace for the majority of it, but then I actually took the time to notice this...

Team #1:
Powers of Pain, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, the Young Stallions

Now, maybe I'm picky, but didn't these two teams have a heated rivalry for like 6-7 months from the end of 1986 through the spring of 1987? What logic was there in having these two teams together other than throwing every team they could in the match? Also the Stallions and Foundation had a small program in 1987 which was when the Stallions jumped from Jobbing losers to Jobbing losers who got some offense in.


From SummerSlam '92, you had Crush vs. Repo Man scheduled, and most people would assume, woah, thats the 2nd and shitty version of Demolition. Neither McMahon or Heenan bother to say anything about Crush's background considering his name was CRUSH, and huzzah.

If you start worrying about stuff like that, your head will explode..or maybe just one nut. I mean, WHY was it that Ted DiBiase presented Macho King Randy Savage with a special septer at Macho's coronation in September 1989?! One year earlier, they would have been at each others' throats!! Or, or.. WHY were Jake Roberts and Ricky Steamboat able to co-exist peacefully on the same Survivor Series team in 1987, when just a year earlier they had one of the most intense feuds in the WWF?! Or... WHY was Ricky on the same team as MACHO MAN..a guy who crushed his windpipe less than a year ago!? It's just LOGIC in WRESTLING!

It wasn't that much of stretch since the Harts had spent the summer of 1988 turing face. A face turn is one of those angles where someone who used to be a bad guy becomes a good guy. If you'll notice, the Survivor match was split evenly: Team Face vs. Team Heel. There ya' go. You could whine about continuity, but the WWF's old unofficial rule was "if it happened more than 3 months ago...we don't remember it!"

...Well, touche. (head explodes) I would also mention the Grand Finale at Survivor Series '90, but I think you covered that one already too.

I hate the spot where a wrestler is on the mat and another guy comes off the middle or top rope only to get a boot to the face. It looks like the guy jumping off is going for a double axe handle to a downed opponent. Oh well.

The only person whos ever done that where it makes sense is Rick Rude, who used to do a fist drop and came down almost standing. Other than him, I can't remember ever believing that the person coming off like that would actually execute the move.

Just watching Hell in a Cell from Sunday, and it occurs to me.....if the cage really should be inescapable....why put a door on it at all?

It isn't as if they construct it old school style and need a way out. They lower the damn thing from the sky. It makes absolutely no sense, storyline wise to stick a door on this inescapable structure.

Thats all.

Also for something that is suppose to keep the wrestlers inside, in at least half of the matches, the action has spilled outside of it. The whole POINT of the damn thing was to keep the wrestlers in and interference out, and the concept was blown the first first match when HBK/UT fought outside of it, and Kane debuted (WOO!) and at least made his run in awesome by ripping the door off, but like you said, there shouldn't be a door in the first place.

I was at least happy however, that they never made it outside the cage. That should be a special moment. Hell in a Cell should be about being locked in, with no interference, no running, no escape, no rules. Not about dancing on the top and having a contrived spot that everyone knows is coming. I haven't even seen most of the recent ones honestly. Have they been going outside and up for most of them?

Let me think...

HHH/Nash - Boring shit inside ring that was only good because Foley was taking bumps as special referee.

HHH/HBK - Boring shit with a LADDER spot inside ring. 50 minutes of pure hell that put me to sleep twice.

I hated that HBK/HHH match. I remember noticing the time and thinking "Huh, it's been 30 minutes... feels more like 60..."

I hate it anytime the ref takes a bump during a title match. It's become so predictable and frequent that the crowd just rolls their eyes when it happens now.

I agree on the ref bump. Why not just go ECW-style and do the unspoken-no DQ kind of rules that seemed to take over. I mean, it was never referred to in ECW that every match was no DQ, but I can't recall a DQ.

The E's problem is they cant do this, because then they cant "protect" their stars. Whatever the fuck that means. Logic is so fucked up in today's world of wrestling.

Heh. Not just TODAY's world....the fuckered up concept of LOGIC IN WRESTLING goes back eons...wayyyy before any of us sat our rumps in front of a TV.

But..dumb thing about the current product: the backstage "office". For storyline purposes its played off like it's an established office with a magic protal in to EVERY arena in the country. It's a travelling show and for the viewers to suspend disbelief and think that, yes, Comissioner William Regal carries around a suit of armor, a flag and a tea service to set up his "office" exactly the same in every city....that's friggin' retarded. Do Paul Tagliabue or Bud Selig have an "office" in each stadium?! When the San Jose Sharks clean out their arena, do they say "oh, don't go in there...that's Teddy Long's office"

Or a few years back when Bischoff was "fired"....he was shown cleaning out his office, packing things and choking up. Why was this so difficult for him?! He had just moved his crap the previous day!! He may have said "I'm going to miss this place". WHY? You just arrived maybe 3 hours earlier!! It's even in the WWF video games, as if these "offices" are a standard part of every arena.

It works for small companies, where they're in the same arena every week. (Isn't TNA always taped at the same soundstage? Thus, I can buy Dusty Rhodes having an office...regardless of how stupid that may seem). It would've worked for Fritz Von Erich at the Sportatorium, Paul Heyman or Todd Gordon at the ECW Bingo Hall, but it does not work for the WWE Comissioner Du Jour in Omaha.

Sorry if this is getting too technical, but here's one for you guys: Irish whips are fake. Stop running.

Here's another thing that bugged me. At Judgment Day last year, Rico and Charlie Haas defended the WWE Tag titles against Hardcore Holly and Billy Gunn. Rico did his usual "gay" antics and Holly and Gunn were both terrified and grossed out.

However, didn't Billy Gunn spend the better part of a year involved in a "gay" team with Chuck Palumbo, along with Rico has his stylist? I know in the end Billy and Chuck admitted that they weren't really gay, but wouldn't they have to be comfortable with their own sexuality in the first place to go along with it?

That just kind of bugged me.

And I agree with RFS about Irish Whips.

This happend this week... Ric Flair openly grabbing Angles balls in front of the referee. That's an automatic DQ. I've seen people be DQ'ed for just crotching someone across the top rope, but you can grab someone by his family jewels and get away with it?

Logic in Wrestling!

I'm totally with you the Irish Whips as well. Just re-goddam-diculous.

And I know its been brought up before, but why is Edge's Spear a finishing move. Thats like, a standard "start the match" move. Its a frickin tackle. With Goldberg, I could feel it, cause he is like a fuckin train. Shit, even Rhyno's Gore comes off a little believable to me. And don't even get me started on the Pounce. Somehow they made the spear an even lamer move.

Ranting, sorry. Worked punches are annoying, yet seemingly vital. If I got punched 10 times in a row from a mounted position while lounging against a turnbuckle, I would be dazed and bloodied at the very least.

Irish whips suck 99% of the time... actually, now they suck 100% of the time. Back when it was 99% of the time, the irish whip only ruled when Bret Hart took that 5,000 mph chest first charge into the corner.

I hate seeing people try to take that bump well now. Benoit is close, but even he can't do it quite the way Bret did.

How WWE makes drawing #1 in the Rumble such a horrible thing, even though drawing 2 is just as bad.

Right, and it's never Hurricane who happens to draw #1, it just happens to be a top star who you know is goin to fare well.

About Irish Whips: I don't understand the problem. If a huge muscle guy grabs your arm and slings you in a general direction, you will go in that direction. Now, bouncing off of steel cables and running back at the guy? Yeah, that's fake.

Actually one year (2000 maybe?) the first two were (I think) Grand Master Sexay and D'Lo Brown, which I found weird.

Wow, that is wierd.

1994 (Scott Steiner & Samu), 1997 (Ahmed & Crush), 2000 (Dlo & GMS), 2001 (Jeff Hardy & Buchanon), and 2002 (Rikishi & Goldust) are the biggest examples of crap starters. Come on, were ANY of these guys potential winners of a Battle Royale at the time of their participations? I say no, which makes me just laugh seeing them enter 1 & 2 in a Royal Rumble Match, where only uppder-mid/main eventers won (except 1989... BIG JOHN STUDD?!)

Yeah, I just looked up a list, and you're right. You could also add Axe & Smash to that ('89). They went out like 3 and 4, I think.

Ax lasted fairly well for a starter (around 15:00, but like you said, elimimated 4th), considering Smash was eliminated right when Curt Hennig (#4; 4:00 mark) entered.

Hey now, show some love for the Studd. Studd was a main-eventer/upper midcarder before he disappeared around 1987 and the Rumble win was a way to re-insert him in that position. From January to May 89, he would face guys like Bossman, Akeem and Andre--all 3 had recently headlined shows as the EVIL heel and were regular opponents for maineventers Hogan and Savage.

Any reason why Studd suddenly vanished from television? While on the subject, how often did Studd wrestle on television?

In storylines, there was no reason given. In reality, I believe he had health problems..or else someone in his family had health problems.

During his 1989 return he rarely wrestled on TV. I don't recall seeing him in any jobber squashes during that time. I'm sure he wrestled on MSG TV, but when it came to the national shows, he would just appear in interviews. He had a run-in for the March SNME and wrestled King Haku on "Challenge" once. That was about it.