brother

Big Brother Canada – Triple Eviction

7th May 2015 by Scott Keith

You've been pretty quiet regarding Big Brother on the blog. What did you think about the Triple Eviction episode?

Usually twits can spice up a season but it really feels like BBCan has interfered way too much in the game this season, and it is nearly impossible to play strategically with all these unexpected twists without just getting lucky. I'd be surprised if BBUS Derrick could survive under all these ridiculous twists and interference.

Your thoughts?

I'm a day behind on viewing because I don't have cable any more, so first up thanks for not spoiling anything.

This season has been getting progressively more annoying as it goes on, mostly because they're all a bunch of boring slobs who suck at comps and are handing the game to Zach and cowering in fear from him. In general I don't mind producer interference if it means:

a) Messing with the houseguests to punish them or just to drive them nuts. Good examples would be the challenge where one person had to break into the vault and another person had to keep them from getting in, and neither person knew about the other. The rodent scare from BBUS last season was one of the best ones they've done, as another example. Making them work for furnishings and basic necessities was a GENIUS idea, and they dropped it after one episode!

b) Twists that are fair to everyone and reside within the rules of the game. The ridiculous "double veto" fan-voting twist this season that production was barely even able to EXPLAIN before it went into effect was one of the worst ones ever.

Now, for stuff like the triple eviction, that's a different layer of interference altogether. This season has been VERY low-rated and apparently there's network pressure to just wrap it up already and free up the three days a week for something people will actually watch. Having five minutes of recaps every episode isn't helping the excitement level, either. And when was the last time we actually ended an eviction episode knowing who the new HOH was? The production has been terrible this year, the challenges are looking cheaper as the season progresses, and everything is sponsored by someone in order to finance the show. The timings on the episodes are all wrong, and you'll see stuff like production spoiling the POV winners in the "Coming up…" teasers at the beginning. Just real bush-league errors that CBS hardly ever makes. Not to mention editing the show into a series of "showmances" like the ridiculous attempts to make Willow and Sarah look like the lesbianest lesbians who ever lesbianed.

So yeah, there's only two weeks left and I'll finish it, but GOD has this season sucked.

You Can Trust Me, Brother

29th January 2015 by Scott Keith

For some reason I’ve been really interested in watching World Championship Wrestling from the late summer to early fall of 1999. This would be right around the time that the company was obsessed with bringing in musical acts to play on Nitro and Kevin Nash had “retired” after a loss at Road Wild in August.

It’s also the last several months that Eric Bischoff was in control of the company. The last major program that occurred on his watch was a WCW World Heavyweight Championship feud involving Hulk Hogan, who had just gotten back into the red and yellow, against his on again off again friend, Sting.

I’ve got to provide some background to really understand what was going on. Right after the July pay per view Bash at the Beach, Hulk Hogan returned to the company and reclaimed his “rightful spot” at the top of the company when he defeated new WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Savage in the main event on the 7/12 Nitro.

Over the next five weeks, Hogan would align himself with Goldberg and Sting to feud with the heel trio of Kevin Nash, Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner. Hogan focused with Nash & Sid, Sting dealt with Steiner and Goldberg was after Sid, as well.

For the most part, the good guys dominated the feud and Hogan was appreciative of his friends. So much so, that he offered to give Sting a title shot on the 8/23 Nitro from Las Vegas.

The dastardly Total Package making his move to ruin a friendship.

The dastardly Total Package making his move to ruin a friendship.

Everything was going all fine and dandy until Lex Luger returned to WCW television on the program and told Sting that he didn’t have a good feeling about Hogan. Lex suggested that Sting not trust Hogan. Sting dismissed the allegations and was focused on regaining the championship later on in the night.

As per usual with WCW Nitro main events, Sting and Hogan battle for several minutes until Sid and Rick Steiner caused the bullshit no contest. Hogan offered a rematch with Goldberg and Luger watching their backs to get a decisive winner.

The following week, Hogan went on the offensive against Lex Luger saying that he would never stab Sting in the back and wanted to see Luger’s proof. If Lex were to be trying to frame him, he’ll just kick his ass. Later on in the program, Lex shows Sting a picture of Hogan standing next to a white hummer, which had been a topic over the summer when someone drove a hummer into a limo that then WCW World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Nash was in.

Luger's evidence that Hogan is a real bad guy. He drove the HUMMER!

Luger’s evidence that Hogan is a real bad guy. He drove the HUMMER!

Hogan denied the allegations, but the news seemed to be making Sting think about everything. Sting even said “How many times have you stabbed me in the back? Why am I supposed to believe you?”

At the end of the 8/30 Nitro show, Sting walked into Hogan’s locker room to see Randy Savage sitting with his girlfriend Gorgeous George. It was looking more and more like Hogan had been lying.

On the following weeks 9/6 Nitro, Hogan warned Luger to stay out his business with Sting. He also noted that he drives a black hummer and not a white one. Why wouldn’t he have made note of that last week? Plus, he swears he didn’t know that Randy Savage was in his locker room.

Later on, Sting and Luger walk into a locker room where Hogan and Bret Hart are talking. The lights go out and a brawl appears to take place. When the lights come back on, Sting is laid out and there is almost a fight between Luger and Hogan over what just happened.

That would leave Hogan and Goldberg to a disadvantage in a handicap steel cage match against Sid, Rick Steiner and DDP. Of course, Sting made a miraculous recovery and helped his team win the match. Afterward, Luger was livid with Sting and hit his friend with a punch, only for Sting to return the favor. Perhaps Sting was coming to his senses?

Hogan and Sting would meet for the first time on pay per view in a singles match since Superbrawl VIII on September 12th at Fall Brawl. Of course, they were the main event. The ending of the match saw Bret Hart and Lex Luger come down with Luger bringing a baseball bat into play. Sting had the bat and proceeded to use the bat on Hogan to effectively turn heel and reveal that is was all just a screw job so Sting could be champion again.

The next night, Sting and Luger teamed to take on Hogan and Hart in a huge tag team match. Luger and Sting got the victory after Luger whacked Hart in the face with a baseball bat allowing Sting to get the pin fall.

On the 9/20 Nitro, Sting continued to try and get fans to boo him by viciously attacking Hogan’s left knee with a baseball bat, but the jeers just weren’t happening.

The following week there was supposed to be a six man tag match with Sting teaming with Luger and DDP to take on Flair, Hogan and Bret Hart. However, at the start of show Sting attacked Hogan by pretending to be a fan and strikes the bad knee several times. As Hogan gets checked on by the doctor, Sting comes into the room and delivers a baseball bat shot to the knee.

Hogan recovers to come down to the ring after the main event ended in a disqualification to fight off the heels with a bad leg because Hulkamania overcomes the odds. Hogan would get some revenge when he cleanly pinned Sting on the 10/4 Nitro in a tag match that saw Flair team with Hogan and Luger teamed with Sting.

In a weird moment on the 10/11 Nitro, Hogan cut a promo saying that the internet made him sick and didn’t want to come out and wrestle. He also told the guys in the back at he’d get the last laugh at Halloween Havoc when he wrestled Sting for the title.

The ending of the feud, which was over two months and was the focal point of the end of the summer and most of the fall, saw Hogan simply lay down and allow Sting to pin him to retain the title.

WCW never learned from their mistakes.

WCW never learned from their mistakes.

As if WCW hand’t learned their lesson from January and the Finger Poke of Doom. Hogan would vanish from WCW television until February of 2000.

The weird thing is that the angle had a lot of poetiental to be something good for the company. Luger’s role in the feud was the first time in years that Lex had been used well. I mean, he had a good run in 1997, but 1998 saw him being used as a cheerleader for Kevin Nash. The return of a douche bag Lex Luger was exactly what needed to happen.

Having the heel turn at Fall Brawl didn’t accomplish anything positive for the storyline. Sure, Sting turned heel, but nobody wanted to boo the guy. I don’t think anyone has ever truly hated Sting when they were supposed to.

Lets face it, by this point people had grown tired of Hogan, especially the internet. So, everyone wanted to see a guy who had been held back by the Hulkster to get the better of him, and they ate it all up. The attempt to get heat on Sting with the association of Luger helped, but obviously Luger benefited from the angle more than anyone else. It really helped rejuvenate his career in the company.

Eventually, Sting would turn back into a good guy, Luger would break his arm and they would wrestle at Starrcade 1999, which Sting won. So, the heel turn lasted all of two months, if that.

Prior to the Sting/Hogan feud, WCW had a fun three vs. three feud with Hogan, Sting and Goldberg feuding with Nash, Sid and Rick Steiner, as noted before. Had they continued that throughout the fall, and perhaps have a WAR GAMES match at Fall Brawl, it would have been more successful.

You could do the same angle, but have Sting realize that Luger is a liar. So, at the pay per view it would be Hogan, Goldberg, Sting and Bret Hart vs. Sid, Steiner, Nash and Luger in a WAR GAMES match. That could have been some fun with mega star power in there. Maybe even have a Hitman heel turn to set up Hogan/Hart at Starrcade?

Now I’m just having too much fun with this.

What were your memories of WCW circa the fall of 1999? Did you believe in Sting as a heel? Are my ideas ridiculous? Was Hogan/Sting played out by this time?

Leave your thoughts below!

For more reviews and columns, head over to WRESTLING RECAPS!

Thanks for reading.

Let Me Tell You About Randy Savage, Brother!

14th January 2015 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott–

Loved your Sporting News piece (and a fan of your work for close to 15 years now.) I am thrilled that Savage will finally get his due. As a Bay Area native, you can bet I'll be there at the ceremony. I also won't be one of these small-time indie guys who thinks it's appropriate to attend a ceremony such as this in a Shane Douglas t-shirt; Horsemen finest all the way, baby! (with perhaps a pair of Randy's lava shades on for a bit of flair.)

However, there is one turd in this resplendent punch-bowl; Hogan is doing the induction speech? Given the metric-ton of made up bullshit the Orange Goblin has dropped on us over the years (how heavy is Andre now?) what is going to come out of that man's mouth?

What do you expect out of Terry Bollea on March 28th? And if you had your druthers, who would you have inducting Randy before Lanny makes his speech (hopefully with a poem for good measure?)

It should have been Lanny doing the induction, period. We didn't need a separate speech; the show is long enough as it is. The Hogan thing is strictly a ratings and ticket-selling ploy and a pretty transparent one at that. I bet you any money though that Hogan will tell a story about how Steamboat and Savage had their classic at Wrestlemania III and then Hogan was the first one to go shake his hand and congratulate him on the great match or something. In fact, he probably booked it himself and refereed it.

QOTD #60 – Big Brother

23rd August 2014 by Scott Keith

Question of the day: I think a pretty good portion of the blog are fans of the show Big Brother.

a) What to you think of the season so far? (Particularly as compared to last season)
b) Who do you think will be in the final 2?

What ya gonna do brother…

19th November 2013 by Scott Keith

“What if time” mofos. This is geared mostly for the old school heads and the wrestling historians we have here on the BoD. I’ve read everything I can on this topic, but since I was 1 at the time, I ask this question mostly out of ignorance…

What if Hulk Hogan chooses to stay with the AWA in 1983?

Things to consider:
– Is Vince still successful in going national without Hogan?

– Was WWF the dominant territory promotion at the time, and was expansion inevitable with or without Hogan?

– Most interesting to me, who does Vince choose to be the face of the expansion if Hogan is not around?

– Is the first WM as successful without Hogan?

Fun fact: Wikipedia claims Vince wanted Hogan to color his hair red upon his original WWF stint.

Like I said, I ask this question mostly out of ignorance so will digress to you guys.

You Doomers Can Stick It, Brother!

9th November 2013 by Scott Keith

I finally got my laptop back from Best Buy (was writing these on my phone and old ass tablet) so will be able to extrapolate a little more then I had on the previous “What Ifs.”

If you’re a wrestling nerd, which I assume we all are, Im sure you have discussed this at some point in your life. Its argueably the biggest money drawing angle EVER, with huge repercussions so I’d be remiss if I didnt ask about it here…

What If Hulk Hogan turns down the proposed Bash At The Beach/NWO heel turn and insists on staying face? Since its been awhile, a recap of the wrestling landscape at the time might help. Hogan left WWF in summer of 1993, and joined WCW in June of 1994. In addition to offering him lots of money, WCW offers him cross promotional opportunities with Turner broadcasting and COMPLETE CREATIVE CONTROL over his WCW persona. Hogan starts appearing on TV in July 1994 with essentially the same red and yellow persona he had used for over a decade in the WWF. In the Hulksters first WCW match he defeats Ric Flair for the WCW title belt at Bash At The Beach. Hogan then defends his title and feuds with Flair, The Butcher, and Vader until he eventually loses his title to The Giant at Halloween Havov 1995. During this time, the WCW crowd quickly sours on Hogan. His face reactions, drawing ability and name value slowly start to diminish within WCW. In early 1996 Hogan takes a step back/is pushed aside, depending on who you talk to, and begins to appear less frequently on WCW programming. In the meantime Scott Hall and Kevin Nash make their initial WCW appearance on May 27, 1996 and June 4, 1996, respectively. Nash and Hall then hype a third “outsider” who will help them take over WCW. A 6 man tag match is set for July 7, 1996 at Bash at the Beach, between Hall/Nash/mystery man vs. Savage/Sting/Luger.

In the WWF, Shawn Michaels is headlining SummerSlam vs Vader. Bret Hart is on sabbatical. Mankind, Undetaker, Austin and Sid are amoung those filling out the rest of the roster.

Relevant Monday night ratings: http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Monday_Night_Wars_Ratings

So now that we are caught up…what happens if Hogan insists on staying face?

Things to consider:
– By all accounts, Sting and Luger were the backup third man options? Do either of those guys have an impact in that role?
– Do Nash and Hall become bigger stars, not being overshadowed by Hogan?
– If Hogan positions himself as the top opposing babyface, does he insist on going over the entrie NWO in 6 months, thus killing the entire angle in about half a year?
– Do Bischoff and managemnt see the money in the NWO and pay Hogan to stay home so he doesnt pull “Hogan things?” If so, who is elevated as the top opposing face?
– Does the overall angle just simmer out without Hogan? Asking it another way, how important was Hogan to the overall draw of the NWO?
– Does WCW ever exert dominance over WWF without an NWO led Hogan?

Possible Scenarios (listed in order of plausibility, in my opinion):
1) Hogan positions himelf as the top opposing babyface, goes over the entire NWO in 6 months, kills the biggest angle dead in the water by 1997 (almost mind numbing to think of the power Hogan had at that point.)

2) Bischoff consolidates backing from the important players, sees the money in the NWO, and pays Hogan just to go away for awhile. Hogan eventually comes back and either joins the NWO or again, insists on going over them.

3) The NWO rolls along for awhile, but never reaches the heights it did with Hogan. The angle eventually simmers out in 12 months, and WWF and WWE run even for 96-98.

This is just a jumpoff point. Go in any direction you like.

** If you have any “What Ifs” feel free to email them to me or post them.

Hostamania…brother!

11th October 2013 by Scott Keith

Oh, brother…

http://www.hostamania.com/

I know there’s a snarky response to this, but I don’t know what it is. I dare say you and the BoD’ers might, though…

Something something prayers and vitamins, something something DENIAL OF SERVICE, MEAN GENE…I dunno, there’s lots of ways to go with this one.

Big Brother 15

8th September 2013 by Scott Keith

Have you been following big brother 15? I am curious about your opinion about the remaining folks in the house and how the season has gone so far.

Of course I've been following it! I wanted Elissa to win but obviously that's out, so basically everyone left can die in a fire and I don't particularly have any favorite left. Judd is the least deplorable of the scumbags left in there so I guess I'm cheering for him by default. I don't watch the feeds so I don't know what went down after the double eviction on Thursday, but I'm assuming Ginamarie is gonna get tossed by the boys' club because she has too many votes in Jury and then from there it's anyone's guess. McCrae absolutely does not deserve to win at this point after hiding behind Amanda for 90% of the game instead of playing his own game. Spencer is entertaining but kind of an awful human being. Andy is a backstabbing weasel and really I'm just hoping he goes first. Probably a Judd v. Spencer final would be the best case scenario at this point, but honestly this has been without a doubt the most butt-awful season of the show I've ever seen aside from a couple of awesome episodes that got rid of Amanda FINALLY.

Big Brother – Amanda Unleashed!

5th August 2013 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott,

I know you said you thought Amanda was hot earlier. Have you been reading anything or hearing anything about her lately? They've set her up to be the hero on the television program, but she's actually quite nasty and just as racist as Aaryan and GM.

Amanda Zuckerman: Social Justice Warrior This video shows the hypocrisy that is Amanda. She started off playing a great game but has degenerated into one hypocritical, bossy, controlling and ugly person. What are your thoughts?

Big Brother 15 Amanda and Jessie Fight (audio vision) Her uncut fight with Jessie.

-Mike

————————-

She's still hot, but they've been giving her more and more of a villain edit, especially after her catty argument with Jessie. Plus last week's MVP vote made it pretty clear that the audience doesn't sympathize with her ME ME ME attitude.

But still so very hot.

Do you watch big brother canada?

27th April 2013 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott, it's PeteZahut from the blog comment section. I was curious if you have watched any episodes of Big Brother Canada? There was a contestant that got evicted recently named Peter. Peter is an avid Pro Wrestling fan and references CM Punk multiple times throughout the show including his exit speech by sitting Indian style, drawing in the sand, and even calling him and his friend from the game Alec (also evicted) the Shyled (spelled that way for some stupid reason). They even use the phrase "believe in the Shyeld.

Keep up the hardwork man. We love you!

It's Shyeld with a "Y" because Y Not, Bro? No, really.

Yeah, I've mentioned this season of BB a couple of times on the blog now, but I'm a hardcore Big Brother fan and I've been watching BBCan, of course. Although the ENDLESS Jillian and Emmett HOHs (they've literally alternated something like 5 or 6 times now leading up to the finish) has sucked all the drama and entertainment away. If Emmett doesn't win this thing 7-0 I will be totally gobsmacked. Peter and Alec (and AJ as well) really are giant wrestling nerds, though, and might even be blog readers judging by how Peter talks. It's very much a difference in Canada, where it's socially acceptable to watch wrestling for some reason. Alec reminds me a lot of Edge, too, in his speech patterns and face.

The season's been good, but way too "twisty" and showmancy. I was disappointed when Peter was sent out, though, and there's no one left in the final four that I'm really cheering for or anything.

It’s 4 life brother…

3rd April 2013 by Scott Keith

Scott, you got us talking about Hogan in your 2013 Scott Sez post and we got questions. A few people suggested Hogan paid Nick Patrick to screw up the finish/count at Starcade 97? I know that it was booked to be a quick count with Bret Hart restarting the match and yada yada, but kinda assumed Patrick just fucked up.

Got any insights? Do you think Hogan paid Patrick to give a normal count? I get why this would be beneficial for him but it seems that it would be low, even for the Hulkster brother.

The Hogan payoff is certainly the prevailing theory. I don't know that Patrick has ever admitted anything after the fact, though. Of course, it was all for nothing because Linda got custody of Nick Patrick in the divorce anyway.

Oh, Brother

18th February 2013 by Scott Keith

Front page of the Tampa Bay Times website.

http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/dining/hogans-beach-restaurant-in-tampa-needs-some-heavy-lifting/1275626

My love of train wrecks had me curious enough to beg my better half to check this place out several times but he refuses to go. Sadly this review won’t change his mind.

Hulk’s Gonna Drop The Legal Legdrop, Brother

5th October 2012 by Scott Keith

http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/118-daily-updates/27796-hogan-threatening-lawsuit-over-leaked-sex-tape

I'm not gonna link to the original Gawker page because a) Google has very strict policies regarding that sort of content and b) Zanadude would just say I should have watched Main Event anyway. But regardless, I find it kind of funny and very Hogan-like that he originally claimed that he didn't know the woman in question and didn't know he was being filmed and yada yada, and now it comes out that in fact it's Bubba the Love Sponge's wife (at the time) and he obviously does know her and knows exactly what's going on. I think Linda should take him back to court for this, just so she can get whatever money he was actually left with after the divorce.

Big Brother – Is Dan Gheesling playing for second place?

15th September 2012 by Scott Keith

Hi Scott,
What a crazy last half this season of Big Brother has been. I was really curious what your thoughts were regarding the latest back stab by Dan and his chances of winning. Will a shell shocked Shane enter the jury house and only stir up the bitterness towards Dan? I am a huge fan of Dan but I'm worried now that he cannot beat either Danielle or Ian. Danielle looks to have Frank, Shane, and Jenn locked up as votes and that leaves Britney, Ashley, Ian, and Joe where she'd only need one of those. Dan vs Ian it looks like Ian would have Britney (Coach loyalty?) Frank, Ashley, Shane and possibly a bitter Danielle — Could Danielle even vote for Dan after he lied to her 100 times and then got her voted out? With the up coming HOH, it almost feels like Dan has to lose on purpose so he won't have to cast the final vote and lose a jury vote. I think ultimately, Dan has no shot vs Ian, and can only barely beat Danielle depending on bitterness of the jury – Thoughts?
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mabhadSlHe1qz82gvo1_500.jpg Danielle's amazing jaw drop face =D

I think Dan would destroy Danielle in a jury vote, like not even close. Everyone knows she's his puppet at this point. I think Ian definitely beats Dan, though, although even if Dan only gets second he's still getting the $25000 from the online poll so he'll make out well either way. And yeah, Danielle would still vote for Dan, because he's probably already used the DAN MIST on her and convinced her that voting out Shane was for her benefit. Honestly I'm fine with any of the three winning it, they all deserve to be there and they all played a great social game. Ian will be back for the inevitable All Stars 2 next year even if he doesn't win this, and I'm sure Frank will too if WWE doesn't sign him to a developmental deal.

And not to spoil anything, but it doesn't appear like Dan's in the comp throwing mood now.

Big Brother 14 Dan Gheesling

30th August 2012 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott,
I remember a few years back on the blog you were praising Dan Gheesling for his performance on Big Brother 10. Just curious if you're still watching the show, as he has returned to play in Big Brother 14…. and last night may have been one of the biggest strategic moves in the history of the show. Everything about that move was pure genius and amazing. Did you catch it and what were your thoughts?

Man, everything from the double elimination show last week has been AWESOME. I'm still cheering for Frank to win it all this year, but if Dan wins it for a second time I won't be sad either. Really, the guy in the best position right now is Joe, because either Frank or Dan is probably going to take him to the final two so they can win. Ian's a dark horse but he's burning bridges now, whereas Dan is a pure social player (as evidenced by the FUNERAL FOR DAN last night). Long as idiot Shane doesn't coast to the finale, we'll get a good winner this year. But yeah, it's been like a slow building ***** match this season, especially once Boogie got booted.

Sid On Big Brother

3rd August 2012 by Scott Keith

http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/big-brother/video?watch=4khn2kme7u

They should do a wacky spinoff show with the Eudy family. At the very least Sid can tell the stories about the squeegee fight, or trying to stab a guy with safety scissors, or shitting his pants in the ring against Undertaker. As for the show itself, Sid Jr. got a stay of execution for sure, although now I'm torn between staying on Team Frank or switching back to Team Dan again now that the coaches are into the game. Hopefully this newest TWIST will improve the quality of the season.