I have been a wrestling fan for over 20 years, but have stopped being a regular viewer the last few years. When Eddie Guerrero died my viewing became sporadic and when Chris Benoit killed his family I stopped all together until recently. I live near Orlando and was going to take a friend's child to WrestleMania, so I started watching it again leading into the big show. I have to say I have been highly unimpressed by the shows that I've watched. WrestleMania was just terrific and the Flair tribute was great, but the stories leading into WrestleMania and the stories coming out of WrestleMania have been boring. It's the same things we've seen a dozen times over for the last seven or eight years.

The two exceptions have been the Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair storyline and the Michaels/Batista/Chirs Jericho storyline. I looked forward to Flair and Michaels' segment of the shows. They were different, unique and passionate. The same was true of Batista and Michaels' segments. The addition of Jericho, however, has been an unnecessary one. He has played his part well, but his addition should have been made a couple months from now.

Batista-Michaels had more than enough star power and storyline to have gotten them through two, maybe three matches before Jericho could have been added. Then the mixing of the three could have made up storylines well into August or September. WWE has taken a very well crafted storyline and fast forwarded it, putting six months of storyline into one pay per view event. It's very counterproductive and it's one of the reasons my viewership has fallen off.

If only they would slow down the bigger storylines and start pushing some of the newer, more exciting stars (MVP, Mr. Kennedy, C.M. Punk, etc.) I might actually watch it week in and week out. Plus, they would probably pick up another PPV buyer. Instead I leave for a year and come back to Triple H, Undertaker and John Cena dominating shows and the good storylines (Batista-Michaels) being botched by their lousy writers. It's like I never left.

Thomas Starr
Gainesville, Fla.

Powell replies: I don't think they've botched the Michaels and Batista storyline. I felt like you did about the addition of Jericho as special referee until I watched last night's Smackdown. I agree that the match was fine without Jericho, but I'm cool with his role now that he heads into the match with grudges against both wrestlers. My guess is that he was added to start a feud with HBK coming out of this match since Michaels and Batista are on opposite brands, but that's just a guess. It's hard to argue with the rest of your complaints about the WWE product.

***

Love the new site and you're the first one I visit on a daily basis.  I appreciate your comments under most news items that are posted and I enjoy your perspective and the podcasts.

Two of my favorite hobbies/past-times in life are game shows and pro wrestling (which would probably make me one of the biggest dorks around).  However, I especially love it when the two meet!  See the links below for mentions of J.R., Tony Schivone, David Crockett, and the old GLOW announcer.

The links will take you to the Game Show Forum.  The topic picks up on Mike Adamle's horrific job on ECW this week and his previous ties to the old American Gladiators.  The thread starts back in December with the announcement of Hulk Hogan being one of the co-hosts of the new version.

Apparently some on the Game Show board like and respect Adamle locally in Chicago.  But the sentiment on Adamle's poor performance this past Tuesday night is universal.  Thought you might find it interesting.

Keep up the good work!

Best Regards,

Chris Gaub
Vancouver, Wash.

Game Show Forum 1.
Game Show Forum 2.

Powell replies: Dude, I just launched a pro wrestling website after spending the last four years covering fantasy football. My favorite television shows (now that "The Wire" concluded) are "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica." I'm not sure if liking pro wrestling and game shows makes you one of the biggest dorks around, but if it does then I'm right there with you.

Remember, though, we can always pick on that guy who leaves Best Buy with a stack of Michael Jackson CDs or those nerds who like Dungeons and Dragons or whatever we're not into that's easily mockable. It's just the way the world works. Well, I suppose you could just be open and tolerant of everything, but I'm clearly not a good enough person to be that way.

In fact, I'm heading to softball practice shortly, where me and the rest of my out of shape, beer-swilling teammates will inevitably make fun of the athletically superior soccer players practicing nearby because, well, they're playing soccer. Honestly, I hope they return the favor by mocking us for being aging, borderline alcoholics who are clearly trying to relive our high school baseball glory.

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