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frecklystars · 2 years

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ok I know it’s monday after 1pm and nobody is online but I wanna talk about meeting Steve Blum 🥺🥺🥺

Me and my friend waited in line for three hours, maybe four? He motioned for me to come forward when it was my turn and I pointed at myself to make sure he actually meant me, and he kind of laughed and said “yes you!! It’s okay, come here” And once I approached him I started shaking just like I knew would happen, I had no words :’) He was so patient though, he said “hi” and I said “hi” and he said “hi” and I said “hi” and he laughed again and said “how are you doing today?” And I was like “I’m!! I’m well!! How are you? Are you tired?” He said “I’m good, but yeah I’m really sleepy. But it’s worth it! we made it to sunday!!! yaaay!!” he seemed so cheerful for someone who barely slept within 4 days, stood and socialized in such an overcrowded setting for 10 hours each day, living on those little 8-hour energy drinks (kind of like retail ig)

I handed him the envelope after he confirmed he accepts gifts, and he said “oh my goodness, look how beautiful this is! look at how much time you spent on this -- this is so lovely, I can’t wait to open it!! this is amazing!! I can’t wait to get home and play with this, thank you!!” and the envelope drawings weren’t even special, they were little star and heart shapes because duh it’s ME and i also put some starscream and heatwave stickers on there hehe/// but he was acting like it was so pretty, it was very sweet of him to do that

And I actually planned to give him just one of the charms separately, just to see his reaction. I chose the Steve charm bc I think it’s the cutest one + I don’t know if he often gets fanart of. like. himself? So I handed it to him, and he didn’t even have to pull it out of the bag to recognize it, he immediately says “oh my god that’s me!! oh my god that’s me!!!” and he’s holding the thing so carefully while studying it. “this is amazing, oh my god. you made this? you MADE this?? that’s... amazing” and he reads my full name I wrote on the back and says “Keri... Keri... I recognize your name... on cameos, right?” He pauses. “My little starflower, is that you??”

I was in SHOCK?? I didn’t think he’d actually?? recognize my name let alone remember the starflower thing?? and I lost my words again so I just nodded a lot, and his eyes WIDEN and he leans forward and says “wait really?! THAT WAS YOU?” and I nodded again, and squeaked “you? remember??” and he insists “yes! I remember! I remember!! my starflower from cameos!!” and he starts laughing in disbelief, shaking his head while saying “I can’t believe I’m meeting you! my little starflower, yes of course I remember you!!” and he slipped into the starscream voice and said SO fondly “my little starflower keri...” (made me GASP) “of course I would remember my starflower, of course I do, my little starflower Keri...” and I melted. I fucking MELTED and he just kept laughing and repeating (in his normal speaking voice) “wow, it’s you!! of course I’d remember that! my starflower! it’s you!!”

and I told him that the gift package was my way of trying to repay him for all the cameos, even though there isn’t hardly enough in there, I wanted to give him *something* because “you saved my life” and I wasn’t going into details abt that part but he looked rly touched and said “awww... alright, hold on, I HAVE to hug you!” AND I’M LIKE. WAIT WHAT REALLY? FOR REAL? I didn’t have any time to even open my mouth after he said that bc NO HESITATION, DUDE DROPS EVERYTHING AND *CLIMBS OUT OF HIS LITTLE BOOTH AREA* and immediately wraps his arms around me and hugged me so tight 🥺🥺 and he leans into my ear and says “you’re amazing. this is the reason why I love my job. you’re so amazing, don’t forget that, okay Keri? you’re wonderful. you’re incredible, okay? I’m honored to meet you, you’re amazing” and he kept repeating a bunch of compliments, I don’t remember half of them because I was like, barely processing what was happening and thinking holy shit I can’t believe this is actually going so well and then when he pulled away he said “okay I’m gonna sign something for you!”

So he pulls out a Starscream print and slips into the stsc voice again “to my Starflower, yes? yes...” and while we watched him write, I was completely mesmerized and gripping onto my friend’s arm for dear life. she doesn’t even know steve or any of his shows but she came all this way with me and stayed in the line with me and made SURE to take photos and record some audio and did everything to make sure we’d get in line today (she’s amazing and i fucking love her) & steve wrote “Keri... thank you for being my little Starflower. love, Starscream (and steve)” which reminded me of the one time he said in a cameo in his stsc voice sooo gently “thank you for loving me” like it just. oogghgh made me melt. and then he said “honestly, with you, Starscream is probably the nicest he’s ever been” and I was just in complete awe this whole time, I couldn’t believe he was actively encouraging my silly selfship shit to this level. I really just expected him to say “oh, cool, sure, ok here’s your print” and for the line to keep moving. all of this was so unexpected. so I said “this evil alien robot killed someone not even 5 minutes into the first episode, and you make him so nice to me, and I appreciate it so much” and he said “aww! hey, absolutely, it’s always my choice! and of course he’d be nice to you, you’re his starflower aren’t you??” GODDDDDD

and I thought we’d be done, but he suddenly calls for his agent (gwen. i love her. love gwen, absolute queen), and shows her the Steve charm and says “gwen look! look at this, oh my god. look how amazing this is!! isn’t this incredible? she DREW this, can you believe that? Keri, you even put my tattoo on there!! that’s my tattoo! the attention to detail!! I’m definitely gonna take this home, I’m keeping this on my desk forever! I love this so much, are you kidding me? I am never letting this go!”

And Gwen says “oh my god, that’s SO CUTE!!! Keri, did you make this? you MADE all of these charms?” (im assuming she opened the envelope to check inside for safety reasons, I think it’s part of her job) then she asks “do you post more artwork anywhere like instagram? you should tag us, we’ll share it!!” and steve turns, drops his markers and chimes loudly “YES WE WILL SHARE IT this is DEFINITELY going online” and she goes on for like a full minute telling me to share my artwork with steve nodding encouragingly adding a little “yes!” “absolutely!” “yes!!” every five seconds while I’m still shaking like a leaf. I looked AND sounded absolutely ridiculous w/ my dumb high pitched voice, barely remembering to nod my head and to breathe, couldn’t believe he’s talked to me this long, couldn’t believe he’s THIS enthusiastic, couldn’t believe he likes my art THIS MUCH when I was so sure he wouldn’t want anything to do with me, couldn’t believe his wholeass agent is compliment my art and saying she’d want to share it??? like literally everything went Best Case Scenario, this was way more than I could have dreamed. insane. AND WE’RE NOT EVEN DONE YET--

he opens the envelope to put the charm inside and says “I’m NOT losing THIS” and then he peaks further into the package and says “oooohh there’s all KINDS of goodies in here!!! thank you so much, I’m going to have so much fun getting to look at all of these!!” and Gwen holds up the blue star bag that I put the Steve charm in, and she says “this is my favorite!! star is my middle name, blue is my favorite color, and I looove sparkly things” and I said “you are literally the coolest human being alive” and she laughs “you are so funny!!” and Steve hugged her and said “I’ll give you the star bag Gwen!” and she said “there’s more in here with all kinds of sparkles!” and he says “ooooh, sounds like something Keri would do” SDLKJFHKLDF

and then we took a pic and then he asked if I wanted a short little video, and if I wanted to be IN the video with him, or if I just wanted it to be him only. I really didn’t want to be in it bc I already hated hearing myself talk but I said “oh whatever you’re comfortable with” and he said “well come here, you can’t have Starlight without his Starflower! I’ll ask you some questions and you answer them with me okay?” 😭💕 so he pulls me into the recording w/ my friend’s phone and he said “Keri, Keri, my little starflower... did you drink your energon today?” and I said why yes Starlight I certainly did and he replies “mm, yes, I can tell, you are looking exceptionally powerful!” and he did such a cute evil laugh and it took all of my guts to keep quiet bc my reaction every time he laughs is “awwwWWWW” but I didn’t wanna mess up the video w/ my dumb voice. and he added “Oh, don’t tell Megatron about this though, he’d be sooo jealous I get to talk to you...” like omfg dude is out here confirming that Megatron is so down bad in the megakeri relationship and he has no idea 😂

and the rest is kind of foggy bc I was barely processing half of this, so nervous abt my own behavior, in absolute shock that he was like, leaning so close and making eye contact the entire interaction to make sure that he knows that I had his full attention. he was so patient and never cut me off, even tho I was talking so fast bc I was sooo anxious but he was so so so kind the entire time... and then out of nowhere he pulls me into ANOTHER HUG 🥺🥺 and thanks me again saying “please take care, starflower. you really are an incredible artist” 😭😭😭

and after all of that, I was just. glowing. walking in a complete daze. i couldn’t even hear the crowd, ppl were bumping into me bc it was like a SEA of people at this convention, but it was just a buzzing sound to me bc all I could think about was the signed print in my hands and all the memories that come with it now... I didn’t expect him to remember me, let alone get so excited and? hug me? give me all these memorable things? say such nice things??? insist that he wanted to keep my artwork? promised he would do everything to make sure it got home safe? god. I also said at the very end “hey if you ever find an alternate to cameo... I will give you all of my money” and he laughed and said “nooo I don’t want your money, I don’t do this for money!” and there wasn’t any further comment abt cameo and I was like ok the line is moving I gotta GO go. so it’s unlikely he will ever find a cameo alternate, but like... I have over a dozen of his cameos already I get to cherish, +1 cameo we did ~together~ + all of those nice compliments. I’m just... still in shock... ok thank u to anyone who took the time to read this ❤

#i cant believe i didnt cry. i expected to cry. but i didnt even get teary-eyed. i ALMOST did tho #when he said 'yes of course i remember you' and when he hugged me. but wow i was SOMEWHAT collected? what a concept #woof #steve blum #also big shoutout to my friend for helping me. christ #i was so anxious for days and kept repeating 'what if what if'#and she would counter it with 'nooo he's going to love your art! we will make sure he receives it'#she waited so fucking long with me and tried to get us to all the events in time #granted there were only three events we were actually interested in #BUT ALL OF THEM we were so early and she navigated us SO well #and when I was all dumb and teary the day before bc we couldn't make it to ANYTHING #bc it was SO CROWDED that lines would cut off within 2 minutes #she still did her damn best and was like 'WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN FOR YOU'#and she recorded steve saying almost ALL of this bc she KNEW i needed to hear it #ppl arent allowed to video record or photograph unless if they're staff #but she recorded audio secretively and was like 'dont worry i gotchu'#kericakes cameos #going in this tag bc technically he gave me a cameo. sort of #ive been looping the audio just in total disbelief of all the nice things he said #long post #SORRY I couldn't put it under a readmore im on mobile rn #and im so impatient I wanted to talk abt it immediately #NOW I GOTTA LEARN HOW TO POST THINGS ON INSTAGRAM

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misterbitches · 3 years

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This is a personal kinda critique/my thoughts w the show im in my phone in a hotel w my parents in boston and im just rly fucking crazy rn and i cant put a read more link my bad. tagging it just in case cos i have some technical thoughts too but i doubt ppl care. I may delete this. Why is ttumblr for iphone so vad where the eff is the read more jawn.......ANYWAY

my uncle died and it has taken an insane emotional toll on me more than i thought possible. spiraling me i to an episode. when the pandemic began, i remember i was watching 2gether and it gave me solace because i had nothing else. i lost two jobs—one very important for my career—my relationship with my parents is fraught, im 29, and i have to live with them. but when i look back on 2gether, since it was what i was doing a lot at the time bc we could do even less than now, i dont feel a connection i just watched it at the time.

blih may be like this, but my uncle died...the day before it aired. I guess i watched it the next day out of desperation. I just went to check and im crying now. Idk what memories ill have of the show and i hate marking periods of my life by such silly capitalist output but what choice do we have anyway? it was nice because i got to see something mild and sweet.

and i have to say, the mom cameo was really touching. so was director mai. having grief and having a really neglected childhood those two things made me cry. they got his mother’s reaction downpat to losing the love of her life and being a widow—it hit me like a ton of bricks to hear that talk then go to the memorial service snd take care of my cousins and be there for my aunt. Im no one and not a widow but that type of love for a partner and being able to celebrate him abd love him completely forever and not having the memory leave you. It is important to me to see that it is possible. This could lie the rub between BL just for BL sake or like actual shows that are dramas that happen to have different types of ppl and not ignoring their way of life or possibility (“querrness means possibility” - a famous thai auteur named joe)

love is a really beautifl and previous thing and people deserve happiness and respect and to be loved. theres a person who is with you and the people around you and one day they could leave. for whatever reason. should we not try? if not for the emotional buts i think the show would be something people care less avout but that was a draw. and for the first time in so long especially for a BL i thought, “wow, i feel something and i’m having fun.”

it’s hsrd to talk about and personal. i miss him more than life itself. Some days it is so bad. I want to exit the earth and dnot do it anymore. but theres little teeny thngs that make it a bit better to hold on. lol theres so much to do and to be happy with. and so much to fall into despair. id rather watch it go by but i dont want to miss a chance to feel what they feel or loving people around me and finding the love of my life and my calling.

it was nice to wait for something every week that was sort of like a friend and to see a lot of the same problems im facing too. pain of loss and moving on isnt running away i guess. im similar to jyz in the fact that id rather not do it at all to not lose what i never had. i wish i didnt know my uncle, because i wouldnt feel this way but if i never knew him bow could i have loved someone so much and known him? wouldnt that bee a loss? isnt giving up and closing yourself off to force people to come to you because youre scared just as slefish? Dunno.

The show made me think a lot ans it was just perfect timing i guess. it didnt help me run away from my demons but it quelled them for a time and reminded me i could be better too.

Now as an artist with insane abandonment issues i can safely say that production mistakes were a plenty and most egregiously i would NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be able to handle the level of stress of having someone that fucking left me back. That would destroy me, when JYZ was upset around him i was and all the signs were about a relaly oppressive difficult person but they introduced him too late. but ironically i saw the patterns of abuse i went/go through w my parents and my distrust meter skyrocketed and because aaron lai is a good actor, it extra hurt. he acted like a small child—the same feelings i was having at that exact week and i felt the force of it. I feel like that was a missed opportunity and i get why but this is what i mean about the feelings they were able to get down. The actors did legwork from the script to their delivery but it alsk means the script wasnt totally atrocious. Ok now im talking in circles.

This is kinda like to my star, a nice show, tranqhil, and sorrowful but eventually just hopeful. Maybe it’s the hopefulness and peace idk. I just wish my life was calm like that but again escapism abd then they hit u with the rela shit and u cant take it

And the little prince....st exupery was an anti fascist so thats good but the whimsy of that book and the beauty of continuing or...the prince knew he was heading first into something he may not make it out of but he did it because why not? Why not go to the fullest? Nothing is set in stone. The prince didn’t understand adults but he didnt have to. He was going through life searching and encountered hardships but still took the chance. He didnt run away.

#be loved in house

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placetobenation · 5 years

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As many of you are aware, WWE Network is pretty packed with all sorts of content. And as you may also know, we here at Place to Be Nation love long term, in depth projects. So, as part of this initiative, members of the PTBN Staff are choosing programs at random and after watching each program, they will share their thoughts, notes and recommendations with our readers. So, settle in and enjoy this epic ride through wrestling history!

Smackdown! October 31st 2002

Run Time: 83 Minutes

Why Jacob Why???: Since this edition be running right around Halloween, I thought I’d pick one of the more Halloween-centric WWF/E shows. Plus, it’s an excuse to watch the Smackdown Six.

Best Segment

OhhhhhhhhYEEEEAAAAH!

Aaron George: Matt Hardy enters the Halloween party with a boom box blasting his theme song. Sure he could have entered without it, but what kind of Mattitude would that project? Before long he’s declaring Moolah and Mae Young to be “Version BC” and quickly notes that their Mattitude has all dried up. We would have been treated to sheer perfection if only he had blasted that sweet boom box on his exit.

Brian Bayless: While seeing John Cena dressed as Vanilla Ice and rapping was great and ended up elevating his career, I though the brawl between Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle backstage at the party was the best of the night. It had everything from comedy (We saw Brother Love revealed behind the Scream mask & costume, the same costume Angle was using to avoid Benoit earlier in the show) and a wild brawl that saw Benoit break a bottle over Angle’s head just before getting put through a table with an Angle Slam. And poor Shannon Moore got tossed across the room by Angle.

Jacob Williams: It feels like cheating to pick the entire Halloween party. At the same time, it’s hard to narrow it down because a lot it was very fluid. If I had to pick one bit, it would be Tajiri’s romantic encounter with Mae and Moolah. His facials were classic.

Calum McDougall: “OOHHH YEAAAH!!” – there was only one winner in this one for me and it was Matt Hardy at the Halloween Party. From him coming in with his own music playing on a boom box to calling Mae and Moolah “Version B.C.” and everything in between, it was brilliant stuff.

Dave Hall: Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit brawl at the Halloween Party. The seeds of this segment lay in the earlier segment where Benoit was looking for Kurt, who was hiding under the Scream outfit. Following Angle’s match with Eddie, Kurt comes back to the party looking for Benoit. Kurt’s approach to the “Scream Character” believing it to be Benoit was a good call back to the earlier segment, and I loved seeing the cameo by Brother Love. The brawl between the two men following this was awesome, using the tables, wall and other party elements.

Best Match

Uhhhh stay out of Riverdale!

Aaron George: It’s the brown water match and it’s not even close. Sure every other match on the card was technically better, but Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson gave us a “stiff” (as per Tazzzzzzzzz) match that will always be etched into the annals of time as simply the best to take place in a pool of liquid shit. They can tell us it’s chocolate, but honestly what kind of chocolate has that consistency? It’s liquid human shit which is clearly their metaphor for the poopstorm that is coming in the form of this feud. Was the ref rolling around silly? Sure. Were Torrie’s chops DIRECTLY to Dawn’s breasts the best since Flair/Steamboat in 89? Absolutely. The best part was after the loss Dawn gave Torrie a look that clearly said, “Yeah? Well I’m going to fuck your dad.” A threat I have often used but have very rarely carried out. I can only imagine Vince McMahon Sr. looking down from Heaven, beaming with pride as his son carried on the family business. ******

Brian Bayless: Edge vs. Chris Benoit was an excellent TV match. The work was crisp and the finish made sense as it continued the friction between Angle and Benoit, who were the Smackdown Tag Team Champions.

Jacob Williams: On a show with some quality wrestling, the opener between Benoit and Edge felt like the most complete match. I love that they could come out and just have a great, straight-up match to start the show.

Calum McDougall: As good as Edge vs Benoit and Angle vs Eddie were, my favorite match was actually Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio. This match had three distinct parts to it – the early section with Rey out maneuvering the big man, followed by the middle part where Brock throws Rey around like a rag-doll and finally the end where Big Show comes out and manhandles both of them, looking like a complete beast in the process. Great stuff for the short time it was on, and call me crazy, but I wouldn’t mind seeing another Brock-Rey match in 2018.

Dave Hall: Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero. On a show with so many options for the title of Match of the Night, Kurt and Eddie absolutely stole the show. Kurt was a wrestling machine, and looked amazing in the ring, while Eddie was crisp and quick. The two men countered each other finishers, and put on a clinic. The match built really well to some great action in the last few minutes, and a decent ending for a TV match. Benoit’s interference was appropriate to the storyline, and I loved how he took out Eddie and Chavo as well, demonstrating he was not working with them.

Most Cringeworthy Moment

Trojan Vince! Don’t let it in the city!

Aaron George: I’m not going to say that Stephanie McMahon isn’t an attractive woman, but on a show with the aforementioned Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie, does EVERY person who comes into Steph’s radius have to fawn on her as though she were Helen of fucking Troy. Are those the tits that launched a thousand ships?

Brian Bayless: Eric Bischoff making out with Stephanie McMahon after he was in her office wearing a Vince McMahon mask was something I never need to see again in my life. It was creepy in the worst way possible.

Jacob Williams: Sorry Michael Cole, but awkwardly perving out during the women’s pool-of-chocolate-sauce match can’t compete with Bischoff forcing himself on a woman 20 years his junior in a weird incest roleplay.

Calum McDougall: The piped-in cheers every time Stephanie McMahon was on the screen. Now I know that all of the cheers on SmackDown at this time were piped in, but there was no reason for Stephanie’s to be top-tier babyface loud other than pure ego. Only Brock and maybe Edge got louder “cheers”. I don’t know whether them going to these lengths to show Stephanie as being popular is cringy or outright infuriating, but it certainly rubbed me the wrong way.

Dave Hall: Dawn Marie vs. Torrie Wilson.This segment showed us just how far women’s wrestling has come in 16 years. This match was horrible to watch, with the two women degrading themselves in little clothing and in a pool of chocolate milk. I hated every moment of this match, including the customary referee gets rolled over spot. I am so glad the women’s evolution means we don’t have to see this crap any more.

Funniest Line/Moment

Hashtag Tajiritoo

Aaron George: I’m still laughing at the image of Al Wilson dressed up like a greaser. Still.

Brian Bayless: Tajiri’s facial expressions while Mae Young forced him to be her boyfriend. He is one of the more underrated comedic performers in wrestling.

Jacob Williams: Again, I can’t say enough about Tajiri’s face after the Mae Young smooch. I love Tajiri.

Calum McDougall: “He’s saying Do La Ray, you know what that means Cole? It means “I’m beating up Kurt”” – Tazz doing his best to boost the sales of his Spanish to Red Hook dictionary.

Dave Hall: With so much good “in-ring” action, there were not a lot of amazingly funny lines. However during the Eddie vs Angle match, Tazz made the comment “I like Guerrero… I like Kurt… I like everyone on the Smackdown roster except you Michael Cole”. Also John Cena’s “Vanilla Ice Costume” was a great reminder of how he broke out in the WWE. But when he told Stephanie that Vince was looking for her, and she called him out, and he then did the “damn, I look stupid moment”, I laughed out loud. Was a great reminder that John Cena has more in his character than the hustle/loyalty/respect stuff we have seen since about 2005/06, he can do good comedy and was willing to poke fun at himself.

Highlights

Remember when we weren’t insufferable pricks??

Aaron George: The entire concept of doing a Halloween show was a TON of fun, and made the show instantly memorable. They should do more theme shows today. I know that they are actively going for homogenous, but a curve ball like this would be more than welcome. The costumes were almost universally silly. Faarooq playing Charles Wright was bang on, and while you’d think that Chuck Palumbo dressed as a Native American would go down as 2018’s most offensive, you’d be horrible mistaken as the honor easily went to the fan dressed as the Rock in full blackface. Almost all the matches were top-tier television matches. “YEAH MY DURANGO, NUMBER 95,” is possibly the most Rob Zombie lyric ever. There is something beautiful about Chris Benoit simply avoiding Edge’s top rope dropkick rather than finding a way to kick him six times on the way down. Benoit also sells a turnbuckle drop in what can only be described as “like when you’re about to uppercut Von Kaiser in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.” Teenage Brock Lesnar is always a blast to have around. Kurt Angle staring angrily into the audience as they chant “You Suck” is waaaay better that the smiling Kurt we get today. He STILL doesn’t get why they are booing him. He also has the best near falls in the business. I could also watch Brock throw Rey Mysterio around all day. Even then he was one of the better sellers in the business. Speaking of best in the business: Tajiri’s kicks. Oh and the Brother Love reveal was great.

Brian Bayless: The party segments backstage were amusing enough and some of the costumes were funny (Chuck Palumbo as a Native American and Disco Tajiri) while some were just lame (Phantom of the Opera Billy Kidman). And while not as good as Edge vs. Benoit, Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero was a solid match ending with Benoit whacking Angle with the belt setting up Eddie to hit a frog splash for the win. Matt Hardy with his Version 1.0 character was amusing and I liked his entrance into the party. The Pudding match between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie was surprisingly intense and I can only imagine how hard Vince was laughing backstage after Torrie tossed ring announcer Tony Chimel into the pudding. And of course, Al Wilson dressed as a greaser was a sight to behold.

Jacob Williams: The Halloween stuff was a fun throwback to mid-80s TNT campiness that gave everyone a chance to show their personalities. I love any situation that shows that the wrestlers all hang out backstage and are basically coworkers. Smackdown had a nice roster who were either fun characters, amazing wrestlers, or a combination of both. Tazz and Cole are a fun commentary team that really fit the show.

Calum McDougall: The way the Big Show was presented was really good. It’s hard to imagine in 2018 that there was a time where people actually believed that Brock Lesnar couldn’t beat the Big Show. At least I believed that anyway… Tazz trying to call the Torrie/Dawn “match” as an actual athletic contest was excellent stuff. I watched this show on the Friday before WWE Evolution, and this really does show how far women’s wrestling has come in the last 16 years.

Dave Hall: Pretty well the entire show was a highlight. The in-ring product was amazing, and as much as I wanted to hate Chris Benoit, I loved his match with Edge and his brawl with Angle. Matt Hardy Version 1 was great, and a good reminder that Hardy always the better “character” to his brother Jeff. Brock Lesnar was awesome in the ring, although I felt he sold a little too much at the end of his match with Rey. Big Show was booked as the monster heel he excelled at. This show was a reminder of how good all these guys were in 2002, and also how much WWE missed the mark with so many of them over the years.

Lowlights

Aaron George: Big Show wrestling in his street clothes is awful. Is that business casual for him? He just looks like a god damn slob. His line delivery is worse. Is he bored? Stoned? Or did he simply study at the Stephanie McMahon “Petulant Child” school of acting? Seriously go back and watch how she says REY MYSTERIO in the opening segment when she gives him a match with Brock. Who on Earth talks that way? What on Earth was the point of the Bischoff/Stephanie kiss of weirdness? I know that she’s a sex symbol for the ages, but poor Eric simply doesn’t know what to do with himself after kissing the slutty witch of the east. Fuck Big Show for clearly ruining what could have been an awesome dream match. While I’m at it like me correct something I said earlier: there is no way Vince Sr. is in Heaven. Especially when you have a best friend named “Toots.”

Brian Bayless: One of the main goals was to build up Big Show as Brock Lesnar’s title opponent for Survivor Series and man did he fail tonight. His street clothes looked was terrible, his conditioning worse (he was gassed after beating Rikishi in a match that lasted under three minutes long), and the cut a terribly long promo that no one seemed to care about. Stephanie McMahon’s segments were all awkward tonight too.

Jacob Williams: The feud between Lesnar and Big Show was lackluster. Show looked so bloated and out of place in his biker dad jeans against a young stud like Brock. Show gasping through his promo and Brock’s stilted delivery of an S-Bomb in his response didn’t help matters. The women having to wrestle in a kiddy pool filled with Ovaltine was not a high point either.

Calum McDougall: The Big Show promo was unnecessarily long, he made the point, then made it another 2 or 3 times before Brock finally appeared. Also, Eddie Guerrero’s very noticeable bacne is a sad lowlight in retrospect.

Dave Hall: The only real lowlights for me were the segments involving Stephanie. The first segment seemed just an excuse to show off Stephanie’s breasts, while the kissing segment with Eric Bischoff, while humorous, was not necessary. With the amazing in-ring action, it made Stephanie’s part in the show seem really self-indulgent.

Wild Card BABY!!!

Wrestling!

I Can’t Believe This Got Over: It’s not rap. It’s bad slam poetry. It became worse slam poetry. – AG

Al Wilson Tidbit #1: Paul Heyman created the Al Wilson storyline and according to Torrie Wilson, Heyman gave her the option to use an actor in the role or her actual father and Torrie went with her dad because she rarely saw him and thought it would be fun as he used to act when he was younger. – BB

The Award for Most Misplaced Optimism: “Exciting times ahead in WWE after the signing of Scott Steiner.” I don’t think this one needs much explanation, let’s just let it sink in. – CM

Best Babyface in Peril: Person in the bear costume. – JW

Number of Sexual Assaults: 3! Mae Young accosts Tajiri. Eric Bischoff forces himself on Stephanie. (who is into it???) The letch in the Kane mask filming Dawn Marie. Someone should show Randy Savage footage of this guy to clearly demonstrate lust in the eyes. There is no way his hard on didn’t pierce someone’s back in front of him.

Al Wilson Tidbit #2: According to Dawn Marie, the toughest thing for her to do was kiss Al Wilson. However, Vince McMahon loved watching them kiss and even said he wanted to see “tongue.” – BB

Memories Are Forever: Looking at Brock and Kurt in amazing ring shape, and much smaller than recent years, Matt Hardy’s early character development, John Cena’s freestyle rapping and Edge using more counter wrestling really brought back some amazing memories of what these guys could do at the time. Watching this show made me think of the little things that seem to be missing today. – DH

Best Tidbit: According to Wade Keller of “Pro Wrestling Torch,” Brock Lesnar was originally going to defend the title against Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series 2002 but Hogan backed out, reportedly due to refusing to put Lesnar over. After contemplating between Chris Benoit and Big Show as replacements, Vince McMahon ultimately decided to go with Show despite Heyman pushing for a Benoit/Lesnar program. – BB

Best at Fooling Security Staff: The master of disguise Eric Bischoff strikes again. Twice now in 2002 Easy E has managed to get past SmackDown security just by wearing a mask. Extra points awarded for a good Vince impression, but points deducted for this not being as good as Billy and Chuck’s wedding. – CM

Al Wilson Tidbit #3: Dawn Marie also said that the Al Wilson angle was supposed to go on even longer with lawyers and Torrie’s brother added to the storyline but that all got nixed. – BB

Least Likely to Still be Full Time in 2018: Out of everyone on this show, who would have thought that it would be Rey Mysterio, the man of 619 knee operations, who would be the only one still wrestling full-time for WWE in 2018? – CM

I Really Tried…: I found it so hard watching Chris Benoit on this show. I really wanted to just overlook and hate him, but his match against Edge was amazing, and his brawl with Kurt was also great. As much as I wanted to, I just could not hate Benoit in this show, and I find myself really conflicted because of this. – DH

Final Thoughts

Come on! We needed one shot of this smoke show.

Aaron George: This was a fun, easy watch littered with great television matches and memorable moments. It’s easy to think of Smackdown as the “B” show, but it was clearly running on all cylinders here. Now someone please give me 75 minutes of Brock Lesnar manhandling Rey Mysterio! RATING: 7/10

Brian Bayless: The Halloween party theme worked really well and usually the WWE Holiday themed shows tend to be weak. It is also memorable for the creation of Cena’s rap character. We had a really good match and an intense brawl between Angle and Benoit. The Big Show segments were terrible but overall a fun show that breezed along. RATING: 7/10

Jacob Williams: This was a finely constructed piece of wrestling television. The Halloween stuff was enough to give the show a unique feel without smothering it. Just about everyone on the show looked to be pretty over and had something at least semi-meaningful to do. Plus, there were good matches to round everything out. Aside from the questionable Big Show spot, Smackdown looked to be in a pretty great groove at this point, so this show was a breezy watch. RATING: 7/10

Calum McDougall: It’s easy to see why SmackDown in ’02 was highly thought of at the time and is fondly remembered to this day, this stuff holds up so well. I had a smile on my face from start to finish, as this took me right back to when I would watch this on a Saturday morning. It was a fantastic trip down memory lane. It would be difficult to put on a bad show with this roster, and the quality of matches that they can and did put on was outrageous. I loved this, excellent stuff. RATING: 9/10

Dave Hall: This episode of Smackdown was awesome. 4 great matches, some good brawling out of the ring, John Cena giving us some freestyle and some good booking made this card one I would watch again. The only thing stopping it from being a 10 out of 10 was the Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson fiasco, and Stephanie’s self-indulgence. I may just need to watch some more Smackdown from this era… RATING: 9/10

And we are out! Where will the Network Adventure travel to? Which Coliseum will be conquered next? Which of these assholes will quit the project in an indignant rage??? Find out in TWO WEEKS!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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