#smackdown magazine

[blowflyfag]

WWE SMACKDOWN MAGAZINE: SEPTEMBER 2005

MNM

“WE’RE GOING TO BE BIGGER THAN ELVIS”

By Keith Elliot Greenberg

You might say that MNM is rewriting history one snapshots at a time. Each time one of the paparazzi snaps their picture, it helps their star shine just a little bit brighter. In fact, they enjoy having their picture taken so much that they named their fishing move the Snapshot. And similarly, every time they nail the move, it brings them one step closer to becoming one of the greatest tag teams of all time.

With each victory, the trio becomes more and more resentful of those who apparently dismissed MNM as a fad that would soon fade. In the August issue of Smackdown! Magazine, Nitro said, “We're going to be bigger than Elvis, bigger than the Beatles.”

When you make statements as pompous as that, it’s understood that many will root against you. But MNM expected contempt from opponents, as well as the fans they’d derided as “too weird, too fat, too stupid, too scared, or too damn normal.” Now the trio believes their harshest detractors are the same journalists and paparazzi profiting from covering the electrifying new tag team.

“I have plenty of admirers in high places who’ve told me what these weasel journalists utter behind our backs,” Melina says. “I heard that some even started a pool over whether we’d be on a losing streak by the time the August issue of SmackDown! On sale–and guess who’s on the cover?” 

To a degree, Melina’s self-righteousness is reasonable. After all, many observers initially tagged MNM as the team more famous for its look than anything else. Even before their first match on SmackDown!, MNM was trailed by photographers more intrigued by the threesomes' unique appearance than its achievements.

When Nitro & Mercury captured the WWE Tag Team Championship in their very first match, the popular consensus was that the gold would slip through their fingers right away. They were too arrogant, too shallow and too inexperienced to remain at the top of the tag team ranks. Somehow, MNM proved all their critics wrong. And, now, when the paparazzi appear, there’s a legitimate reason why the pictures are in such great demand. 

In April, the team came out of nowhere and captured the titles from Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio–two proud Latino stars not accustomed to getting bested by untested talent. Although tensions had been simmering between Guerrero & Mysterio already, the loss sent their relationship into a tailspin. The two were soon bitter enemies, and when they reconciled for one night to challenge for MNM’s championship, the result was disastrous.

In the aftermath, Mysterio was plagued by troubling doubts, while Guerrero appeared to be possessed by demons. Meanwhile, MNM’s light only burned brighter. 

“That’s what we do,” Melina says, “We take the icons you people have chosen to worship, and we reduce them to nothing. We’re competitors, baby. And when you compete, some people lose and some people win.” “We happen to choose the latter.”

That was made abundantly clear when MNM tangled with Heidenreich and his new “friend,” Road Warrior Animal. The cocky young tag team held their ground against Animal–at one time one-half of perhaps the greatest tag team ever-refusing to be intimidated by his legendary status.

“The Road Warriors, The Midnight Express, The British Bulldogs, The Dudley Boyz, all those tag teams everyone talks about as being so great,” Melina says. “Yeah, they were probably all right in their day, but that’s the past. This is now. MNM is the tag team of the present, and of the future. Deal with it.” For Melina, that aggressive spirit extends outside the realm of tag team combat. Repelled by the notion that her fellow WWE Divas are paragons of beauty, Melina has used both violent language and sadistic behavior to diminish their status.

In one memorable confrontation with Michelle McCool, Melina actually asked her boys to remain backstage. Melina then tore into the athletic blonde with an aptitude that matched the newcomer’s managerial abilities. In the end, Melina survived a dropkick and a spear. But as her opponents straddled the ropes, punching downward, Melina shook off the bows, snatched Michelle, and defeated her with a powerbomb. 

Even among MNM’s enemies, there were immediate comparison to other females who established themselves in WWE as managers, but ultimately transcended the role.

Today, for instance, few recall that Trish Stratus actually entered WWE as the manager of T&A–the hulking duo of Albert (later A-Train) and Test. Like Melina, Trish drew fans with her good looks, but she had greater ambitions. After she struck out on her own, she dominated the Women’s Division.

Parallels have also been made to Sunny, the stunning cover girl who shepherded several teams to tag team gold in the mid-1990s. In the process, she gained a reputation as a woman who pretty much attained anything she desired. 

Others theorize that Melina’s career may most closely resemble that of Sensational Sherri. At different stages, Sherri managed Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage and Ric Flair, and also held the Women’s Championship.

Yet, those who focus on Melina fall into the trap MNM hopes to set–diverting opponents away from the strengths and weaknesses of Nitro & Mercury.

Mercury all but admitted this recently when he told a reporter, “While our opponents are busy thinking about Melina, talking about Melina, and, yes, fantasizing about Melina, Johnny and I can pretty much step into that ring and do whatever we want to them.”

Because of their early success, Nitro &N Mercury’s potential is sometimes compared with the records of other WWE newcomers who swiftly rocket to the top of their profession. But such comparisons mean little to them.

“We hear people comparing us to guys from back in the day like Kerry Von Erich, because he burst on the scene and won the Intercontinental title right away,” Mercury says. “But those people just don’t get it. Bon Erich already established himself years before when he beat Ric Flair for the NWA title. Unlike the ‘Texas Tornado,’ we walked into WWE cold. We came out of nowhere and shocked all the so-called experts.”

“I mean, sure there were Superstars like Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar who came here and won titles right off the bat, but even those guys didn’t do what we did,” Nitro says. “Angle was an Olympic gold medalist; Lesnar was an NCAA Champion. WWE fans had no idea who we were that first night, when we debuted in Madison Square Garden. But we changed all that by winning the WWE Tag team titles that same night. Now, everyone knows who we are.” Perhaps it’s more appropriate to measure MNM next to Carlito, who won the U.S. Championship in his first SmackDown! match, or Christian, who earned the Light Heavyweight title in his WWE debut. Both came out of nowhere and very quickly grabbed the spotlight. And in both their cases, they have remained among WWE’s elite ever since.

“To all those people who say we got lucky, I have news for you,” Nitro says. “We were lucky the day we were born. Not everyone is blessed with the attributes we were given. And that’s too bad. But nobody says that life is fair. It’s not really our fault if we’re perfect in an imperfect world.”

It’s an attitude MNM carries on the red carpet and , as the results have shown, into the ring as well.

[indeedgoodman]

[trashyy2kgurll]

D!VA$ ✧.*

[luxinwonderland]

treated myself to an early X-mas 💝

Randy is the Guest Editor ( vintage '09 magazine )

& of COURSE he was sweet in his notes about Cody, calling him "the future of business"

CONFIRMED : Randy LIKES NECK tattoos, since WAAY back, even though HE HAS NONE.. I'm convinced he hinted at Cody how much he likes ‘em

he wrote : "she has no idea what she's talking about", when Mickey James dissed ‘em )

bonus : always looking out for Cody, giving him safety tips even on here “tuck your chin Codeman!”

@anonybaby 🤓❣️

[hollywoodbabylone]

Charlotte Flair

ESPN Body Issue

Photography by Nick Laham

[sebastianlynx]

kane 2001

[playstationpark]

Extreme PlayStation Magazine #27, March 2000 - 'WWF Smackdown' cover.

[kingscapegoat]

wwe smackdown! magazine

june 2005

[cokedupblonde]

something so glamorous about being a ring girl…

[bodybybane]

WWE Smackdown Recap: Stage Is Set For Newest Member Of The Bloodline https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianmazique/2024/10/12/wwe-smackdown-recap-stage-is-set-for-newest-member-of-the-bloodline/

[baddawg94]

Undertaker

Smackdown Magazine

March 2005

[jarviskingston]

🏀⛹🏿⛹🏿‍♂️

[numberxxisora]

Today, we get back into the ring and have another good round of not knowing how to pin our opponents.

[weiila]

Hookay. So.

I find the way this magazine refers to Ozzie really interesting. "Eternal bachelor" indicates that there is some confusion or annoyance with him being unmarried, which leans more towards annoyance with the "heart hoarded". (Also indicates that Ozzie probably have been waaay better to keep on the downlow with his past partners but Fizz just does that to him.)

Now obviously this is a trashy gossip mag, but it still indicates that whoever wrote or edited, or even owns the publication, feels or senses that there's a general feeling somewhere that Ozzie should commit, and also commit to somebody in his own league - or even somebody specific.

Which is weird because the only Sin we know of that has been married is Lucifer, so what's the deal with being bothered about Ozzie not being married? BUT who have been shown to be a wee bit traditionally obsessed with political marriage and old fashioned court intrigue nonsense? Them birbs. And since Ozzie is the only Sin (that we know) who is bird-like, there could very well be a sense among the Ars Goetia that he "belongs" (in both senses of the word) to them more than the other sins.

What I'm trying to say is we've seen Fizz get unwanted attention and being physically attacked, but if there are to be more threats headed their way as Mammon so slyly I'm-totally-not-gonna-leave-without-making-it-seem-like-I-have-the-upper-hand-even-if-I-don't-have-a-plan-I'm-just-a-pathetic-abuser-desperately-needing-to-validate-myself-by-being-scary hinted at, it would be logical that it would be aimed at Ozzie somehow because Fizz has already had his difficulties and it just makes more sense from a writing perspective.

It would also make more sense for a threat towards Ozzie to be more political - but it may very well still take a similar form as what Fizz faced, just in a different cloth. Ozzie is big, powerful and imposing when he wants to be, unlike Fizz, so their challenges need to be different. Ozzie's battles have to be something that can't be punched (until it can be).

If the Ars Goetia is in for a big ol' narrative smackdown (after we all get our hearts ripped from our chests of course), it would have the bonus of opening up for Ozzie and Fizz to keep being part of Stolas' and Blitz' story because Stolas will definitely be/need to get involved in the court drama and Blitz ain't gonna stay out either.

[squeakyducky]

Ooh, can you tell me what scene that is from?

I think Mammon is greedy for mc. That he doesn’t accept the fact that mc can’t only be his. Even the brothers know how Mammon is with mc, because Mammon hasn’t been like this with anyone else. All the brothers have fan clubs, they are the elite of the elite, very powerful. Add those, and then add that Mammon is a model who makes it on the cover of magazines, he gets huge sums of money when he does his modeling work that it keeps his money going until he spends it all, and he isn’t cheap with his purchases too.

Even if he gets trashed on by his brothers, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t popular. Even Asmo mentions that many people,outside of the brothers and side characters, want to hangout with Mammon, but he doesn’t give them the time of day. That Mammon is exclusive and it’s hard to keep his attention for long.

For mc to catch, and keep Mammon’s attention this long. To the point that he goes ballistic if anyone mentions mc being physical with anyone else. He even steals mc away, even if mc is with one of the brothers, and runs away fast with them. It shows that he is down bad for mc.

Going back to OG season one. Mammon had a legit breakdown when mc died, we didn’t see how far he would’ve went if the other mc didn’t step in.

He wants all of mc’s everything. To consume and consume. He can’t get enough of it.

Given how in NB, Mammon went on a rampage/went Yandere when his demonic side took over. This shows that OG Mammon has a very strong mentality. He may get all bothered, but if he didn’t have that strong mentality, then we would’ve seen a lot more smackdowns, and terrifying fights if he went on rampages.

Aaaaaaaaaa omg omg I really like this 🥹❤️ mammon is such a cutie 🥰 thank you so much for blessing me with this writing 🙏

Ahem also, the scene is from lesson 41-14 or 15, I should put it on my post, I kept forgetting lol

[sebastianlynx]