This will probably be our last blog entry for a long, long time, if not ever.  We ended up spending so much time on entries that it interfered with writing for the main site, which is obviously our top priority.

Also, I finished the Nikki Sixx book (The Heroin Diaries), which is incredible.  It was so amazing to read diary entries from 20 years ago at the peak of Nikki’s drug use.  It made me want to start documenting my own life in a journal, and I suggest all of you do likewise.  Not that we’re so important, but it would be cool to look back in 20 or 30 years and read them.  Even now, wouldn’t it be cool to go back and read how your life was many years ago?  I sure wish I could go back and read how my life was 20 years ago, as a 5th grader.  Back then, the WWF was my life.  I had a big WWF calendar, and would put count down the days with big X’s until WrestleMania and Survivor Series.  The WWF was so cool with 10-year-olds back then.  Everyone outgrew it a couple years later, except me.  10 years later, wrestling was back to being the coolest thing (at least WCW was).  Today, in 2007, wrestling seems to have gained a more family oriented audience that watches SmackDown and takes their kids to see John Cena.  Adult fans from the 80s and 90s eras have largely left, mainly watching UFC now.  Even on this site, I see a huge difference in articles we write about the current product vs. articles about storylines that only older fans would know.  Except for the few hardcores, that audience is gone.  Very, very sad.

Congrats to our very own James “Jimbo” Swift for landing a gig as ECW recapper for TheWrestlingFan.com.  This is a big opportunity for him, and we hope he does well and gets the recognition he deserves.  Jimbo, for those who don’t know, was “discovered” by all of you guys.  In early 2005 we did a contest called Armpit Idol, which was a mock of American Idol, in which we posted sample guest columns from readers and had Armpit fans vote on the best.  I knew from reading Jimbo’s first entry that we had a winner, hands down.  He won, and became a mainstay with us ever since.  Way to go, Jimmy.

Sunday was my wedding anniversary, and what a nice present it was to wake up and see near record traffic for this website at just 8am in the morning.  We got plugged (our Backstage Fights page, what else) on a large wrestling forum, leading to several pages of reader discussion.  We are so thankful to people who link us in message boards, because it helps us get discovered by more people, and only good things can come from it.  The more people see us, the more popular we become, and the more time we can justify spending on it, which leads to a higher quality of content.  This site is capable of so much more than what it is, but like everyone, we lack time and resources.  That’s why we’re go grateful to Rivera, Jimbo, and Shannon for their great guest columns.

That anniversary present was a lot better than what my parents and sister gave us, which so far has been nothing.  Oh, but if WE were to forget their anniversaries??  They’d raise Hell.  Funny how that works.

Well, since this could be curtains for this blog, thanks to everyone who read us during the extremely short time we had it up.  Enjoy the rest of the year, and make sure you catch UFC on 12/29, which should be an historic show.  Adios.

The writing for this site is usually done a week before it is posted. And since this is a holiday week, nothing has been written, so next week will have nothing, except maybe a few blog posts. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Oh, and Chris Jericho looks F’n ridiculous with that short haircut. His comeback would’ve been the most awesome thing ever if he had come back with his old look. Oh well.

Thursday when I got home from work, my wife led me to my laptop. On top was a brand new copy of the “Heroin Diaries” book by Nikki Sixx. Now that’s true love! She ordered it behind my back and got it for me as a surprise. Is it any wonder why I love that woman? I read some of it over the weekend and it’s awesome. Nikki was a major heroin addict for years, and he kept diary entries in 1987, which this book has republished. Every entry is about heroin, coke, sex, rock n roll, and the decadent lifestyle that real rock stars used to live. If you’re a heavy metal fan, and especially a Crue fan, this book is a must-read.

What a strange weekend. It’s mid-November, and we’re having gorgeous summer weather out here in the Bay Area. Heck, it’s better than summer weather, because it wasn’t hot, but warm. No clouds to be found, and sunshine all around. Perfect weather to walk in, and that’s what we did. You know, one day we’re going to get hit with a massive earthquake or two, but to me it’s worth it to live here. The California Bay Area is great, as long as you stay away from San Francisco.

Saturday was UFC 78, and it was a very underwhelming show. Rashad Evans has zero charisma, and while Bisping does, he’s still not over enough yet to where he can headline a PPV in the country’s biggest market. The New Jersey crowd was dead, barely popping for anything and not popping at all when people like Matt Hamill were shown on camera. Interesting to see Randy Couture. I’ll never understand that dynamic. Dana and Randy are having something of a war of words, and there they are, a few yards from each other. Do they look at each other and say “Hey?” Do they pretend they don’t see each other? How awkward is that?

Houston Alexander suffered an unfortunate loss to Thiago Silva, which really sucks because he had potential to be a big star. It would’ve been so perfect if he had destroyed Thiago and popped the crowd, but of course, it didn’t happen. It’s moments like those that make pro wrestling superior to MMA, because they could’ve booked it the way they wanted. Oh well.

Haven’t seen Survivor Series yet, but all reports are that the Batista-Undertaker match was awesome. That makes them 3 for 3. They’re not Flair-Steamboat, but the Undertaker-Batista series has produced some excellent matches, which is a feather in both of their caps.

This morning in the gym I watched UFC 40: Vendetta. I wasn’t closely following UFC at the time, but I sure remember the hype surrounding this one. It happened in 2002, and had this show not taken place, it’s possible there would be no UFC today.

UFC was fighting for its life back then, losing millions of dollars in search of a TV deal and government acceptance. UFC 40 featured the best possible match-up that could draw back then: Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock. Shamrock was only a few years removed from a major WWF run in which he was on top during the peak of WWF’s popularity in 1998 and 1999. Not only that, he was a UFC legend who drew big PPV numbers long before he ever went to the WWF, during UFC’s early 90s heyday (which didn’t last very long). If you recall, he also wrestled for TNA when they opened up shop in 2002, and in the promos for UFC 40, you can see Shamrock wearing a TNA shirt. This fight marked his return to UFC, and the attention and hype led to a PPV buyrate that breathed some life into UFC.

The other part of the equation was Ortiz. Ortiz (who has also done some work for TNA) was an amazing heel character. Even though he’s a classy guy in real life, he’s smart enough to know how to act in front of the camera to draw money. Ortiz’ skill level is not top 5 (top 15 maybe), but his charisma and aura are top 3. In 2002, he was the ultimate heel, and just so easy to hate. I remember hating him so much back then, before I fully understood what he was doing. The fact that he hung out with Fred Durst was reason enough for anyone to hate him.

As for the fight, anyone who knew fighting knew Ortiz would destroy him. He was bigger, stronger, younger, and his skills were more modernized. He trained with better coaches, and his ground game is still world class. Despite the obvious mismatch, this fight was a huge success each of the 3 times it has happened.

The entire UFC 40 card was great. The undercard was a who’s who of future MMA stars, including Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Matt Lindland, Robbie Lawler, and Andrei Arolvsky. That means that today, you are seeing undercard guys who will be bigger stars in 5 years, including Forrest Griffin, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn (not a new name, but still very young), Rampage Jackson (already a star), Brandon Vera, and much of the PRIDE crew.

Another highlight of the show was a total pro wrestling style segment with Dana White introducing David “Tank” Abbott back to the Octagon. Tank came out, as charismatic as ever, to a huge pop. He cut a great pro wrestling promo, saying that in the time he has been away, all these young punks have come in with blond highlights. Tank was nowhere near top level, even back then, but it didn’t matter. UFC was dying, and signing him was a smart temporary move to bring back old fans, and the way they did it, in front of their biggest PPV audience, was brilliant.

I’ll say it again: UFC is/was pro wrestling the way it used to be and the way it should be. The booking is so darn simple and effective, and it works. Stars fight just a few times a year. Wins and losses mean something. Feuds matter, and the action is real. There are ring entrances and a slow build with long intros, so each fight means something. Less is more. New stars are nurtured and built up. Take every booking concept from pro wrestling, and UFC does it.

UFC is exactly what TNA would be if I ran TNA. UFC doesn’t have 2-hour TV tapings and an endless staff of writers. They don’t need them, because booking is supposed to be simple. And that is why TNA draws flies, and UFC draws hundreds of thousands of buys for even its low-level PPVs. And yet… no one learns from it. Absolutely amazing.

Time was short today because we had to leave work early and visit my brother-in-law in the hospital.  He just had colon cancer surgery, and he’s in tons of pain, but in good spirits.  My brother-in-law is only 45, and was notorious for eating lots of BBQ meat and virtually no fruits or vegetables.  There was no cancer in his family, so it was most likely his habits.  Eat your fruits and vegetables, folks.  That’s all there is to it.  Men need 7 to 9 servings a day.  I get about 7 or 8, so it’s very possible.  Eat one or two servings with every meal, and you’ll hit your daily quota.

This morning I saw Tim Sylvia’s UFC debut from 2002.  It must have been during his steroid days, because he looked more fit and more muscular.  The fight was awesome, and the crowd was giving him a standing ovation for the action, which is so weird because normally he gets booed for his boring fights.  This fight made it obvious Sylvia was going to be a force to be reckoned with.  Sylvia is one of the best fighters in the world, period.

On that same show, Ricco Rodriguez beat the p*ss out of Randy Couture to win the belt.  Great fight.  Ricco will be making a comeback in 2008, and we wish him the best.  He fought a great fight because Randy was on his game.