The Wrestling News Experience: 05.18.09
Posted by Stephen Randle on 05.18.2009
Judgment Day is in the books, and for once, there are no new champions, but we've got the results anyway. Plus, we preview tonight's Raw, then talk about drugs, Ric Flair, and why WWE continues rebranding their product. No, those three things aren't related. Well, not entirely.
Monday, May 18th, 2009
From 411Mania's Canadian offices in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, this is The Wrestling News Experience, with Stephen Randle!
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Experience. I am Stephen Randle, fresh and happy and back from a well-earned Victoria Day weekend trip to the Rogers Centre and my first live Jays game of the season. Speaking of which, 26-14, still First in the American League. And with all our injured pitchers coming back, within the next two weeks we'd actually have enough healthy bodies for an eight-man starting rotation. Regression to the mean? This isn't statistics, this is real life, baby!
And in other news, kudos to long-running Fox show (which narrows it down right there, although they did show flashes of intelligence by renewing Dollhouse this week) King of the Hill for showcasing my former stomping grounds of Guelph on yesterday's show. Although I don't recall anyone there having a Quebecois accent, and Coffee Crisp isn't a cookie. But everything else was pretty accurate. Fear our passive-aggressive revenge!
Moving on.
PPV In Review - WWE Judgment Day 2009
Live from the City with a baseball team that got embarrassed by the Blue Jays this afternoon. Hell, they even had Halladay spot them the first two runs.
Lansdell has the live coverage.
Umaga defeated CM Punk (pinfall, Samoan Spike)
You know, you'd think after Kane at Backlash, I would have seen this coming in the Roundtable. Actually, I did see this coming, I just thought it was a really, really stupid idea.
Christian defeated Jack Swagger to retain the ECW championship (pinfall, rollup with inappropriately large handful of tights)
Seriously, a different camera angle on the finish and WWE would have to close the book on pretending to be PG.
I love the whole "Christian is a dirty cheater" angle they're playing up through the commentary (and Striker seems to be going more heelish about it), because it shows that he's smarter than the av-er-age wrestler, which worked so well for that other wrestler who won a lot by cheating. Plus, everyone knows that Christian, at heart, is a cheating little weasel, so it won't shock anyone when he turns heel.
John Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin (pinfall, Starship Pain (split-legged corkscrew moonsault (go nested ellipses!)))
Here's a shock, these two had a good wrestling match. However, I do think that Morrison might want to look into toning down some of the high-flying (especially the 720 to the floor that required Shelton to lunge forward and catch him) in exchange for some safer stuff.
The Miz defeated John Cena (via substitute Alfonso Soriano) by forfeit
Okay, this has been entertaining, but that was reeeeeally stretching the whole Miz vs Cena thing. And Santino comes out and gets massive face pops, which nobody on earth would have seen coming a year or two ago. If he could manage to learn how to wrestle, he might actually be a draw for more than comedy segments.
Oh yeah, and Chavo attacks a downed Santino for all the "pig" comments. I don't think anyone is ever going to mistake Chavo for a threat, even to Santino, anymore.
Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Championship (pinfall, 619-splash)
Another great match, lots of false finishes, more please. And if I'm correct, we might see more, because I can't help but notice that the finish was very, very close to the ropes, and while the camera angle used didn't allow you to see, one of Jericho's feet might have been under the ropes, allowing his conspiracy theory to continue.
Batista defeated Randy Orton (DQ, Orton slaps ref). Randy Orton retains the WWE Championship
Well, I guess the finish explains the placement on the card.
Holy Christ, make your top heel and Champion look like a complete pussy much? I say this rhetorically, of course, but if you were thinking they couldn't cut Orton's balls off much more after the whole build to WrestleMania, how about attempting to run away from this match or wuss out at least five separate times, leading to a blatant slap of the ref, who, knowing Orton is trying to weasel out, should have ignored it. That's what the old-school refs used to do.
I think this match underscores the big problem with Randy Orton (and Batista): they wrestle the exact same match. I realize that's true for everyone to a certain extent, but it stands out on PPV, where other matches are full of people innovating and trying a few new things, while this match is basically the same thing you could have seen between these two any week on Raw. There's no changes in the moves, even the sequences are almost exactly the same. And yes, Hulk Hogan wrestled the same match for twenty years, but he wasn't on Raw every week plus fourteen PPVs a year, so you only got to see that "template match" a few times a year, as opposed to a dozen times in a few months.
Ah well, at least Ric Flair returned. How long until the "Evolution vs Legacy" six-man tag match?
John Cena defeated The Big Show (pinfall, Attitude Adjustment)
Oh come on, who decided to waste the opportunity to have the trademark DDP "taped ribs" here?
Another slow match following the WWE title match, but to emphasize my point, The Big Show, one of a few guys on the roster who could actually get away with wrestling the same limited match every time due to his size, even busted out the Alley-Oop powerbomb and actually hit a pump splash (which never hits) on PPV.
Edge defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (pinfall, top rope Edge-cution DDT)
Hey, I love how the Raw announce team got to stay and watch the final match, but the ECW team was gone once their match ended.
I swear to somebody, did JR and Grisham really spend five minutes comparing Jeff Hardy to a poker player? I mean, I got the analogy the first time, did it require constant repetition of Hardy being "all in" after every move?
Kind of an odd finish, since Jeff kicked out of the initial cast shot, but then couldn't make it up to the top rope for a Swanton before Edge recovered. It seemed so abrupt, but maybe that's just me.
Overall, it's quite obvious that WWE has decided to lower the amount of long, big-name matches on free TV, saving them for the PPV, and I have to say I agree with that sentiment, since if you can see lots of high-quality matches on TV, why pay forty bucks for the same match (of course, then Orton-Batista comes along and tries to wreck the whole thing). I realize the last few years we've been spoiled by some really good long TV matches, but from a business perspective, this makes sense.
The downside to this is that this PPV also made it obvious that WWE moved all their "good wrestling" talent to Smackdown, while keeping the "big names" on Raw, underlined by two-thirds of this card involving Smackdown talent. But there is good news, as underlined by the segment involving The Miz, a suddenly slightly more badass (well, at least he fights back now) Santino, and even an active Chavo, showing that WWE has realized that the undercard on Raw desperately needs some elevation of talent, and might actually follow through on it.
Buddy?
Buddy Is Paying Attention
What's On Tap - WWE Raw for May 18th
Last night, Randy Orton did everything he could to escape with his title, and while he may have avoided losing the belt, Orton still ended the night at the wrong end of a beating from Batista and the returning "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. It seems that this Legacy vs Evolution feud has just reached another level, and there will surely be hell to pay tonight.
Plus, John Cena overcame damaged ribs and the largest athlete in the world at Judgment Day, but his greatest challenge may lie ahead, as The Miz continues to lord his alleged 4 and 0 record against Cena over anyone who will listen. Will tonight be the night Cena finally shuts the former reality star up?
Of course, The Miz may also have to deal with Santino Marella, with whom he engaged in a pull-apart brawl last night. And he may have some backup in the form of Chavo Guerrero, who seems to have finally decided to stand up for himself, and also get some revenge for Santino's continual mocking of his aunt, Raw GM Vicki Guerrero.
Plus, MVP and William Regal continue their rivalry, and will this be the week that Mr. Kennedy finally returns to the ring? All this and more, tonight on Raw!
The Wrestling Threatdown
5. The "S" Word
No, it's not another diatribe about WWE's new PG direction, that comes later. This is about the other "s" word that has been driving headlines for a good long time now, especially when it comes to sports and "fake" sports. Yes, it's steroids, and while it's not Manny getting caught taking estrogen (Manny being Manuela?), it's still a noteworthy event in the entire "war on performance enhancement", or whatever we're calling it this week. Dr. Astin, noted for being the physician who prescribed medication for several prominent athletes and pro wrestlers, including Chris Benoit, was sentenced to a lengthy prison term this past week for his role in providing illegal prescriptions to those willing to pay. There's no joke here, just another pit stop on the long and winding road that has been the investigation into drug use in athletics, one that will probably go on as long as there is a chance to get an extra edge in professions where the difference between fame and mediocrity could potentially come down to what supplement you took this week.
4. Ric Flair
And speaking of jokes or lack thereof, we have Ric Flair continuing to do interviews where he talks about how much he'd love to get back in the ring again, always with the caveat of an unbreakable promise to Shawn Michaels that the WrestleMania 24 match was his last. Of course, there are lots of ways in which Ric can come back and not actually wrestle, and lucky us, we got to see it last night as he rushed to the ring to save Batista and deliver some chops to the interfering Legacy. Hey, if he's going to do it, we might as well try and get that dream match that WWE somehow never managed to pull the trigger on: Hogan vs Flair. I mean, Hogan's got to be aching to get back into something high profile, he's run out of television shows to host and his wife is taking him for pretty much everything, so I'm sure we could make it happen. I do think the end result would be more orangish, sagging and wrinkled skin rolling around a wrestling ring than an Oompa-Loompa battle royal, but they managed to get Ricky Steamboat in a singles match on PPV three weeks ago, so anything is possible.
3. Free PPV
Bad news on the Internet, as it looks like WWE has become aware of the possibility that there might be places on the Web where one could watch Pay-Per-Views in streaming video for free. Wait, there are? Well, this is the first I've heard of it, and I am both shocked and appalled. And yes, WWE is planning the expected reaction, attempting to crack down on such sites, as is their complete and total legal right. Of course, trying to prosecute people on the Internet, as has been proven by a multitude of file sharing, torrent, and video hosting sites, is like trying to bail out the Titanic using a sieve. Hell, they've been cracking down on YouTube posting old wrestling matches for a while now, and I can still find any match from the last twenty years somewhere on the site if I look hard enough.
2. Kid Rock
The DVD for WrestleMania 25 will be available this week, which continues to be a slight culture shock for those of us old enough to remember when you had to wait six months to a year for the VHS release of a PPV, which no video store in town ever got anyway, since Steve Austin hadn't happened yet. Where was I? Oh yes, and speaking of old memories that are no longer relevant, it seems that the Kid Rock "concert", which wasted twenty minutes of PPV time that could have been used to actually introduce all the Divas in the Miss WrestleMania battle royal, will be cut from the DVD and Blu Ray releases, likely because of WWE not wanted to pony up for royalties. Which begs the question, why was it so vitally important that Kid Rock have a mini-concert at WrestleMania in the first place? Did anyone buy that PPV because they desperately wanted to hear thirty second segments of Kid Rock's Greatest Hits, and don't live anywhere near an HMV?
1. The Bash
Yes, it seems that the stock of America has fallen so low, that WWE has decided to rename the Great American Bash PPV to "The Bash". I predict that WWE will quickly come out to spin this change in two ways. Firstly, there is the obvious "PG" changes in WWE that also took away "One Night Stand" (although expressions about the end of the world as we know it are apparently still acceptable), even though I'm not entirely certain how "Great American Bash" isn't PG. That's why I'm leaning more towards the likely second reason, that being the continued "globalization" of the WWE brand, which can probably be read as "paranoia that the rest of the world might not buy an ‘American' PPV".
You can laugh, but I bet I'm closer to the mark than you think.
The Injury Bug Bites
I'm going to say this one time and see if it works. The first part of this list is how the injury situation stood as of the last Experience. The second section details any changes, which will then be represented in next week's list. This is my likely futile attempt to prevent a dozen "so and so returned last week, you should take him off the list" comments. A man can dream.
Inactive List as of 05.11.09
WWE Raw
- Triple H, out indefinitely as of April 26th (kayfabe, Orton punt)
WWE SmackDown
- Candice Michelle, out 4-6 weeks as of March 8th (ankle)
- The Undertaker, SD!, out indefinitely as of May 2009 (hip/knee)
ECW
- No reported injuries
TNA
- Christy Hemme, out indefinitely as of January 10th (neck surgery)
- Hernandez, TNA, out 6-9 months as of May 2009 (neck)
- Rhaka Khan, TNA, out sixty days as of April 30th (suspension)
Transactions
- David Hart Smith, ECW, finally made return to television on May 12th ECW
Who's Holding Gold
WWE
WWE Champion: Randy Orton
- 22 day reign, with Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes, defeated former champion Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon in a Six-Man Tag Match on April 26th (Backlash PPV)
World Heavyweight Champion: Edge
- 22 day reign, defeated John Cena in a Last Man Standing match on April 26th (Backlash PPV)
ECW Champion: Christian
- 22 day reign, defeated Jack Swagger on April 26th (Backlash PPV)
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Rey Mysterio
- 43 day reign, defeated JBL on April 5th (WrestleMania XXV PPV)
WWE United States Champion: MVP
- 59 day reign, defeated Shelton Benjamin on March 20th (Smackdown)
WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions: Carlito and Primo Colon
- 43 day reign (+191 day reign as WWE Tag Team Champions), defeated World Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison in a Tag Team Title Unification Lumberjack Match on April 5th (WrestleMania XXV PPV)
WWE Women's Champion: Melina
- 113 day reign, defeated Beth Phoenix on January 25th (Royal Rumble PPV)
WWE Diva's Champion: Maryse
- 144 day reign, defeated Michelle McCool on December 26th (Smackdown)
TNA
TNA Heavyweight Champion: Mick Foley
- 29 day reign, defeated Sting in a Six Sides of Steel Match on April 19th (Lockdown PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Kurt Angle, Sting, and Jeff Jarrett, Ultimate Sacrifice Match, Sacrifice PPV
TNA Tag Team Champions: Team 3D
- 29 day reign, defeated Beer Money, Inc. in a Six Sides of Steel Match on April 19th (Lockdown PPV)
TNA X-Division Champion: Suicide
- 62 day reign, defeated former champion Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal, and Consequences Creed in an Ultimate X Match on March 15th (Destination X PPV)
TNA Knockouts Champion: Angelina Love
- 29 day reign, defeated former champion Awesome Kong and Taylor Wilde in a Triple Threat Six Sides of Steel Match on April 19th (Lockdown PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Awesome Kong, Sacrifice PPV
TNA Legends Champion: AJ Styles
- 62 day reign, defeated Booker T on March 15th (Destination X PPV)
- Next title defense: vs Booker T, "I Quit" Match, Sacrifice PPV
411 will have live coverage of Raw tonight starting at 9 pm EDT.
Remember, if you love poker, and are in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo area, check out Player's Poker League.
And for the drunken ramblings of Sean Carless and his merry band of reprobates, check out The Wrestling Fan.
Thirdly, and most importantly, if you've ever wanted to join with a group of dedicated people and defeat an angry, deformed troll, but are afraid of the stigma that being a D&D fan brings, maybe you should join a more socially-accepted movement, the one which demands that true hockey fans be rewarded for their dedication to the sport, the one which plans to save a once-proud franchise from destruction, I'm speaking of course, of Make It Seven.ca. Together, we can defeat the forces of evil and bring a seventh NHL team to the fanbase that deserves it.
And finally, from our promotional department, I've been informed that if you really do like 411Mania and all it provides, or even just me (and really, who doesn't like me), don't forget to bookmark the site in your browser or make 411 your homepage, and tell all your friends about how awesome 411 is.
That's our show, Small is in tomorrow.
Have a good one, and always be a fan.
And the Lord spake unto the Angel that guarded the eastern gate, saying Where is the flaming sword which was given unto thee?
And the Angel said, I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down somewhere, forget my own head next.
And the Lord did not ask him again.
"Holy Christ, make your top heel and Champion look like a complete pussy much?"
Dude, this has been going on for years and years within WWE, and frankly it's getting no-one anywhere. Edge, Jericho, Orton, the only heel who ever was allowed to dominate was Triple H.
Posted By: Balki Bartokomous 111 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 02:02 AM
Guess that's a big up yours to HBK
Posted By: Guest#5167 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 02:40 AM
"That's what the old-school refs used to do."
Tommy Young or Earl Hebner would have slapped them back.
Posted By: christopherg (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 02:47 AM
I hate when people say something makes "business sense," even as it doesn't make any freaking sense for the consumer.
What the hell do we care if WWE is better off saving big matches for PPVs, where they will make more money, while depriving us of decent wrestling? Why would anyone, an internet writer or anyone else, endorse that? Methinks Mr. Randle owns WWE stock or something! : )
Seriously, though, it's hard to get behind. It's like going into Wal-Mart and not getting any service whatsoever, buying your item and leaving with a shrug, saying, "The fact that I couldn't find a single employee is a sign that Wal-Mart is cutting back on labor costs. And that just makes good business sense for them. Kudos, Wal-Mart!"
And it doesn't make good business sense anyway, since knowing that every TV match will be under four minutes, and every TV main event will end in a DQ only makes me want to watch the TV shows even less, as well as not buy the PPVs.
Posted By: Sam! (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 03:48 AM
who would have seen santino becoming a face? Everyone: why wouldn't someone that makes the crowd laugh not become a face? Oh, sorry you are canadian. That means you have no logic.
Posted By: puba516 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 04:22 AM
EDGE - HARDY SAVED JUDGMENT DAY .
REST OF THE SHOW - MEH .
Posted By: HBK (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 06:16 AM
Looks like the injury bug doesn't bite that bad right now in WWE! That's just positive. Only Undertaker out with a wear-and-tear injury and Triple H nursing his family. Gives the new guys a good chance to shine.
Posted By: ThomasDK (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 06:52 AM
Have you told Jeff Hardy about the Player's Poker League? He's just like a poker player, you know! All In!
Posted By: Todd Grisham (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 07:34 AM
Just what we need, more boring Jericho promos
Posted By: Guest#1301 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 08:27 AM
I agree about the quality of wrestling on free TV.
That was always a ctiticism of ECW and Heyman's booking in general.
Heyman would give you the best TV matches he could every week, look at the Smackdown Six era for example but if your getting all this great wrestling for free why buy the PPV. On top of that the matches on free TV were so good sometimes the PPV matches would have trouble topping them and that's not a good thing.
I've always believed that free TV is all about characters and storylines because casual fans don't care about quality wrestling.
It's PPV that needs to deliver the quality matches because people are actually paying for that expecting to see something good.
My only question is when TNA does this with their TV, all anyone can do is add up the amount of in ring time. Why is it okay for WWE but not for TNA. Just a question.
Now I liked the Christian-Swagger finish at the pay-per-view but I feel if TNA had done it everyone would be saying, "That's stupid, your confusing the audience, shades of grey doesn't work and doesn't draw. Epic fail."
Not that I'm a TNA fanboy, I enjoy both companies, I just feel sometimes there's a double standard where WWE and TNA are concerned.
Posted By: Mike (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 09:17 AM
"And it doesn't make good business sense anyway, since knowing that every TV match will be under four minutes, and every TV main event will end in a DQ only makes me want to watch the TV shows even less, as well as not buy the PPVs.
Posted By: Sam! (Guest)"
EXACTLY!!! I still DVR all the shows but honestly am now fast forwarding to nearly all of the matches, just because you know nothing is going to happen. Maybe a run in at the end, etc, but that's all you need to see because the TV matches themselves don't mean anything. It's getting as bad as the WWF Challenge/Superstars shows of the old days. Promo, quick match, ppv sell, promo, quick match, ppv sell, promo, quick match, ppv sell, Main Event "match", beatdown/run in/run out ending & final shot of champion or challenger....end credits, next show.
Posted By: Byzdalmyt (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 09:31 AM
"Of course, there are lots of ways in which Ric can come back and not actually wrestle, and lucky us, we got to see it last night as he rushed to the ring to save Batista and deliver some chops to the interfering Legacy. Hey, if he's going to do it, we might as well try and get that dream match that WWE somehow never managed to pull the trigger on: Hogan vs Flair."
scratch that, if flair comes back, I want flair-steamboat one more time.
Posted By: cj (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 09:32 AM
In the last few weeks, we've gotten Morrison/Benjamin, Jericho/Hardy, a good fourway ending with Hardy over Mysterio, Jericho/Morrison and Punk/Edge all on TV with decent time and pinfall finishes. That doesn't sound like 'saving' matches for PPV.
Posted By: Nick (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 09:42 AM
The main criticism of Heyman's booking is that he had no idea who to push and who not to
Posted By: Guest#6569 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 10:30 AM
"However, I do think that Morrison might want to look into toning down some of the high-flying (especially the 720 to the floor that required Shelton to lunge forward and catch him) in exchange for some safer stuff."
No, that is why Morrison stands out among the crowd, because he can do stuff like this. One of the reasons I don't watch WWE is becuase no one takes any risks until April in the Money in the Bank match. Do not cut the balls off of Morrison, as he is one of the reasons to watch this crap.
Posted By: Guest#1800 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 12:50 PM
"Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Championship (pinfall, 619-splash)
Another great match, lots of false finishes, more please. And if I'm correct, we might see more, because I can't help but notice that the finish was very, very close to the ropes, and while the camera angle used didn't allow you to see, one of Jericho's feet might have been under the ropes, allowing his conspiracy theory to continue."
I had the same thought. Want to bet that Jericho will not be able to find a single camera angle that shows his feet at all, let alone whether one was under the ropes? Conspiracy indeed!!!!
Posted By: Guest#1343 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 01:34 PM
Sam! You are confusing business sense with what the consumer wants. It makes perfect sense. Why would the consumer pay for something that he can get for free? They are trying to entice us to buy the ppv. If they can make compelling storylines without giving away big matches the hope is that more people will buy the ppv to see the big match. Not rocket science buddy.
Posted By: cpbasil (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 01:41 PM
I prefer "Manny being Annie" or "Womanny."
Hogan/Flair = do not want. I don't care how important it may seem, I don't want it in 2009. Fuck Hogan's exorbitant sum, sign Angle, and give us Michaels/Angle III for Michaels' WrestleMania sendoff in Arizona.
The Bash name-change is almost obviously done to globalize the product. I mean, half the "I Know You Don't Care, But Did You Know Anyway?" segments are about their worldwide presence. Reading any PGness into is ridiculous. It's a smart business move with the only downside being them settling on the name The Bash. WWE The Bash: epic grammar fail.
Posted By: neverAcquiesce (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 01:45 PM
I like what SmackDown's doing now with matches like Edge/Jericho: a good fifteen-minute match with a no-finish. This way, when the two inevitable have a World Championship PPV match you can look back at this and think, "Man, if the TV match was that good imagine what a 25-minute PPV title match will be like!" Long, exciting matches between top-tier talent have their place on TV but it buries a huge revenue stream and WWE (and wrestling in general) is first and foremost a business.
Posted By: neverAcquiesce (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 01:54 PM
WWE has long been saving the big matches for PPV only for those matches to suck. Maybe if they tested some of their bigger matches on TV and let the match end in a non-finish, they might see what works and what doesn't. Or they can just ignore it like they have with Hunter and Orton, who have never had a good match because they have zero chemistry together.
Posted By: Guest#9340 (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 02:40 PM
Manny being tranny.
Posted By: Spaghett (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 04:46 PM
"Not rocket science buddy."
I'm not confusing anything...buddy. I'm saying it's irksome to me and a lot of fans when we see WWE's "business sense" applauded when it flies in the face of "consumer sense."
This was Sr. Randle's original comment: "Overall, it's quite obvious that WWE has decided to lower the amount of long, big-name matches on free TV, saving them for the PPV, and I have to say I agree with that sentiment..."
Agree with that sentiment? So we're supposed to watch free TV and, at the end of the night, say, "I know why that sucked, and I agree that it SHOULD suck. Good business sense! More Jimmy Wang Yang v. Mike Knox to close out the show, please!"
We know they're in it to make money. We get that. Obviously. But should we really be encouraging the McMahons to limit the free TV matches so that it can put more money in their pockets? (Again, theoretically, as I maintain that it doesn't make very good "business sense" anyway.)
No, it's not rocket science. It's Business 101: you can either let me sample something and if your product is actually good I'll buy the whole thing; or you can have Michael Cole yell in my ear for two hours about how vintage and groundbreaking it's going to be, sight unseen, and I'll either believe him cuz he's Michael Cole and he'd never lie to me, or I'll find something else to do that Sunday.
Posted By: Sam! (Guest) on May 18, 2009 at 09:02 PM
5. The "S" Word
