Random Wrasslin' thoughts.....

Loughc

Palo Alto wrote: »

He's quite smart, he might just have said that to heel it up. Either way, good call.

I reckon he does have a 10 year contract, how many of them will be as an in-ring performer? Not too many, the rest he can be put to use as an agent/special attraction.

Omackeral

Loughc wrote: »

I reckon he does have a 10 year contract, how many of them will be as an in-ring performer? Not too many, the rest he can be put to use as an agent/special attraction.

Wonder if it's Iron Clad this time.

Mr.Shabby

Mania is going to be so strange. Hastily and badly booked but I still think that a couple of the matches can deliver. For me the star of the show will be the smarky crowd ****ting all over Lesnar/Reigns. And a pop of gargantuan proportions should Rollins cash in.

briany

Loughc wrote: »

I reckon he does have a 10 year contract, how many of them will be as an in-ring performer? Not too many, the rest he can be put to use as an agent/special attraction.

If the money's guaranteed, it probably doesn't concern him. A lot of people in that position would be content to sit out the contract and make that weekly/monthly walk to the mailbox to collect that fat check. A lot of wrestlers from WCW rode out their guaranteed money after that company folded. It's a big part of the reason why the Invasion angle had pretty much no names behind it.

Angron

Mr.Shabby wrote: »

Mania is going to be so strange. Hastily and badly booked but I still think that a couple of the matches can deliver. For me the star of the show will be the smarky crowd ****ting all over Lesnar/Reigns. And a pop of gargantuan proportions should Rollins cash in.

Match I have the greatest hopes for is the ladder match. Lots of good competitors in there, might even hark back to the MITB matches when they were at Mania.

Bounty Hunter

Random thought - For me Wizdow on Raw really echoed The Rock at the Royal Rumble. They knew Wiz would bomb and sent Sandow out there to save the day.


They actually know how over Sandow is but he will never get above the mid-card.

briany

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Random thought - For me Wizdow on Raw really echoed The Rock at the Royal Rumble. They knew Wiz would bomb and sent Sandow out there to save the day.


They actually know how over Sandow is but he will never get above the mid-card.

Sandow is a great comedy performer but those types don't become main event players without taking that momentum and transferring it into something more serious. It's not an trick that many have managed. Angle did it, but he also had the legitimacy of being an Olympic gold medalist, which Sandow does not have.

I definitely think that Sandow should try to push on though, because his gimmick as it is now will eventually run out of steam. It doesn't feel quite as self-sustaining as, say, Santino's was. How he will do that, though, remains a big question in my mind.

Bounty Hunter

tbh I don't think Sandow will ever be a main eventer won't stop him being over though, infact may even help him in that regard.

gnfnrhead

The problem with Big Show is the constant turns. It seems like he turns three or four times a year. It's impossible to get any sort of momentum when that keeps happening. It's like they realise he's pretty big so should be a monster heel, but get bored and remember he is fairly good at the comedy stuff, but then get bored of that and realise he's pretty big and so on. That would kill most people's careers but Show has managed to come through it and stay there or thereabouts for most of his career. Only a few times has he dropped far down the card.

He should definitely be asking about part time status though. Wrestling full time at his size and age can't be doing him any favours.

briany

I wonder was it entitlement on Sting's part or desperation on WWE's part that he's doing a headline match Wrestlemania with HHH?

Basically, the reason Sting says he never went to WWE in the first place is because he feared he wouldn't be used right, that he'd be buried as a WCW guy, but I don't think you can just expect to show up in a company you've never worked for and expect the red carpet to be rolled out for you either. You have to earn that spot. Lots of WCW talent came into the WWF and got themselves over after an adjustment period, and in my opinion were liked all the better for it. Sting's a guy who's being parachuted in to do Wrestlemania despite paying no dues within the company. He may never even do another WWE match ever again. Fair play to him for his years of graft at WCW and TNA but within WWE he's never meant anything, and who knows if he's just doing it so he can cross it off his list of accomplishments?

Lord TSC

Its strange that we can all agree (presumably) that this Mania feels so rushed, when the majority of top feuds were so obvious months ago...

gnfnrhead

briany wrote: »

I wonder was it entitlement on Sting's part or desperation on WWE's part that he's doing a headline match Wrestlemania with HHH?

Basically, the reason Sting says he never went to WWE in the first place is because he feared he wouldn't be used right, that he'd be buried as a WCW guy, but I don't think you can just expect to show up in a company you've never worked for and expect the red carpet to be rolled out for you either. You have to earn that spot. Lots of WCW talent came into the WWF and got themselves over after an adjustment period, and in my opinion were liked all the better for it. Sting's a guy who's being parachuted in to do Wrestlemania despite paying no dues within the company. He may never even do another WWE match ever again. Fair play to him for his years of graft at WCW and TNA but within WWE he's never meant anything, and who knows if he's just doing it so he can cross it off his list of accomplishments?

Sting didn't need to do it and I'm guessing that came up in negotiations. He could have waited another few years, signed a legends deal and gotten the DVD's and whatnot. WWE likely had to offer him something big to get him on board. Not wrestling for WWE wouldn't have made any difference to Sting and his legacy, but it means Vince can finally mark that last name off the WCW Superstars list.

BohsJohnny

Meltzer on today's radio show gave a great speech for people who only hate watch WWE and think it's killing their fandom that there's never been a better time to find an alternative to watch.

rovert

Wrestlemania season is Wrestlemania season but there's inordinate amount of talk on Boards about such a ****ty, dumb and non-gripping product.

It isn't 2005 you don't have know someone who knows someone to get non-WWE tapes. Or stress about whether a DVD is lost in the post. Or whether the postman will be to deliver your order or whether you have to the depot. Or whether if the DVD you ordered will be in the right Region and play in your player. Or have to watch non-WWE video in a low res postage stamp sized window on your laptop.

Legally or illegally there's an amazing amount current and old Wrestling which is really fun and non-laborious to watch and on your TV via numerous streaming methods.

Hashtag_HEEL

^^Trade me a tape?

Machismo Fan

I wonder what effect being a Pro Wrestling fan generally has on Irish fans sleeping patterns.

gnfnrhead

People who only watch WWE but then say wrestling is boring or whatever annoy me quite a lot. It's never been easier to watch other promotions but a lot of people seem to have Stockholm Syndrome and are afraid to try anything different. If you have Sky Sports, you likely have Challenge too so can watch TNA. If you have the Internet, you can watch ROH every week for free on their website. If you don't need English commentary, NJPW costs €7.50 a month for an incredible service, and you can also find various bits on Dailymotion but it may take longer. If you don't mind the little searching, you can watch stuff like Lucha Underground on Dailymotion. That's just the easy to find stuff. PWG, CHIKARA, EVOLVE etc. are usually available too but not legally. There is no excuse not to at least try something different. If it absolutely has to be WWE, watch NXT instead of (not as well as) Raw.

The only people who annoy me more, are the people who try something else, see one thing they didn't like, and refuse to watch ever again, despite WWE giving loads of things they don't like every week. WWE are immune but everyone else gets one strike and that's it.

Pentecost

I never knew ROH stuff was available for free on their site. I never get a chance to watch Raw or Smackdown these days. I read the threads on here and might catch a PPV the following day. I watch NXT on the Network every week and try and watch some old stuff too when I get a chance. Watched a few Nitros from '96 because I'd never seen it, watched Mania 17 and 18 recently and Royal Rumble 2000. I want to try and have a look at some early 80s stuff next just to get a feel for what they were doing back then.

BohsJohnny

Pentecost wrote: »

I never knew ROH stuff was available for free on their site. I never get a chance to watch Raw or Smackdown these days. I read the threads on here and might catch a PPV the following day. I watch NXT on the Network every week and try and watch some old stuff too when I get a chance. Watched a few Nitros from '96 because I'd never seen it, watched Mania 17 and 18 recently and Royal Rumble 2000. I want to try and have a look at some early 80s stuff next just to get a feel for what they were doing back then.

You really should give Memphis a try Lawler deservedly gets stick these days but he was out of this world great in the 80s and early 90s in Memphis and it's so easy to find on Youtube cause no one owns the footage outright here's every available episode from 1980 for example in a playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Cas4RAR1r4iHPGORSewUs3gQEsUk_SP

rovert

Always thought 80s Memphis was so similar to the Attitude Era - the emphasis on promos, brawling and personal beefs. Obviously Lawler is Austin, Lance Russell is Jim Ross etc.

Pentecost

Thanks Johnny, I love the feel of the territories stuff generally. Rough and ready but all the better for it. No strictly PG or Superstars or Universes.

Moneymaker

I'm watching alternatives more and more. NXT(I consider it an alternative) and slowly working my way into NJPW and LU.

Been working through WcW PPVs too.

Lord TSC

I guess it boils down, for me, as follows.

As I said, wrestling has always been WWE and vice versa; I've invested 25 years or so into WWE. I don't know if I really have the motivation any more to have to learn new characters, stories. Saying "there's alternatives" is grand if you've already semi-invested into those shows. However, a lot of the time, pro-wrestling (like many shows which have been going for years) can be a dense show to try and leap in to.

I don't buy TNA as an alternative; it's the worst parts of WWE taken up a notch in terms of booking. I don't buy ROH as an alternative, mainly because it presents itself as being on a significantly lower level, and after all these years, it's never genuinely managed to step up to challange WWE, and I don't think it ever will. I also guess that what I enjoy about wrestling tends not to be the chain-wrestling, in ring grappling, but the larger-than-life stories, the characters, the battles between people to be the top guy.

And none of the "alternatives" are able to offer me anything close to that aspect of WWE. When I see guys fighting for the "top spot", it feels like two senior infants trying to declare themselves the biggest baddass of the education system.

Andersonisgod

NJPW World might just be the best thing I ever purchased. For €7.50 it's almost highway robbery for the service they provide and it is a very real and, imo, vastly superior alternative.

Moneymaker

Andersonisgod wrote: »

NJPW World might just be the best thing I ever purchased. For €7.50 it's almost highway robbery for the service they provide and it is a very real and, imo, vastly superior alternative.

Is it similar to the Network yeah? You can watch old shows?

A Brad Maddox Guy

I only watch the occasional NJPW or RoH shows. Neither are something I follow mainly because I tend to watch wrestling that isn't RAW or NXT whenever I'm playing a game like Football Manager or TEW so it's much easier to switch on the network on the Playstation and watch something that I can drop in & out of on that. It's not that I don't enjoy other wrestling products; any NJPW event I've watched has been excellent and aside from the multi-man undercard matches I didn't find it hard to get involved into them at all. It's more that to watch them I have to go out of my way to do so which doesn't always suit me.

In saying all that I wouldn't judge someone for complaining about WWE while not watching other wrestling products; for a lot of people WWE is wrestling & wrestling is WWE. That's how I was for a long time because WWF/E was all I had access to as a kid and I only got back into wrestling towards the end of college. It's the only truly global wrestling company so it shouldn't be surprising when people only watch it and nothing else. And that shouldn't take away from their genuine complaints about the quality WWE are giving them.

Andersonisgod

Moneymaker wrote: »

Is it similar to the Network yeah? You can watch old shows?

Ye they've got a vast video library, they have some fun documentaries of the wrestlers outside of the ring. You can follow NJPW in real time, like right now they have the NJPW Cup going on, it's terrific really. The minus for some people is the lack of English subtitles but I've found I can get past that easily enough really, personally I prefer the passionate Japanese commentary than WWE's version of commentary. It's a fantastic service that any wrestling fan should be availing of.

That's my sales pitch anyway.

mrkiscool2

I don't get the argument to be fair. I don't get why people are complaining about the fact that most people watch WWE. It's biggest international competitor rarely has English commentary (and when it does it's normally only highlights of matches and not the full card, which is annoying). WWE is on Sky, most people here have watched wrestling from a young age and it has been WWE. Now, I do watch other promotions. I watch some ROH, CHIKARA, NJPW and if someone recommends a good match from a smaller indie promotion, I'll get on that. However, to criticise people for not watching anything than WWE is silly IMHO. It's 3 hours for Raw a week, 2 hours if you watch Smackdown!. That's 5 hours of wrestling a week, plus an extra 3 hours for a PPV once a month. That's a lot of time to be investing.

You have to remember there is a limit to the amount of free time people have. Not everyone can invest more than the 3 or 5 hours they do a week. And that's fine, we shouldn't be pushing those people away! We should be letting them join in the conversation, their opinion is just as important! Whether you like it or not, WWE is going to be the biggest thing wrestling wise in English speaking countries for years to come. NJPW and WWE don't have to battle each other as they are both catering to different markets and demographics. So, it makes sense that most people on boards watch (and talk about) WWE

briany

In wrestling I want to see a good promo to sell a good match and sell a good character. If you haven't got that, you haven't got anything. I think the problem of a lot of smaller feds is they give me no reason to care as to why a particular guy is fighting another. This is a real problem in WWE right now, too, but they're at least doing it in a big time atmosphere. If you give me a choice between watching a nothing match from a fairly full arena and one from a done up gymnasium, I'll pick the former every time.

In wrestling, there just aren't that many good promo guys anymore. It really is a sadly dying art, and it's so important for driving the rest of the product forward so I don't think there is a real alternative to go to if that's what you get off on.

Here's what I think is a good promo,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVEyE9F-fGQ

Bonkers, off the wall, over the top, but you also BELIEVE it. Backlund's character actually has a logical and straightforward motivation and he's able to put it across. Heyman's the same today, and everybody fawns over his ability. He's light years ahead of the top guys in the company, but even 15 years ago, he would only have been neck and neck. There just is no alternative for being able to sell a match, to draw people in, I don't care how good the ring work is.

Ageyev

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Ye they've got a vast video library, they have some fun documentaries of the wrestlers outside of the ring. You can follow NJPW in real time, like right now they have the NJPW Cup going on, it's terrific really. The minus for some people is the lack of English subtitles but I've found I can get past that easily enough really, personally I prefer the passionate Japanese commentary than WWE's version of commentary. It's a fantastic service that any wrestling fan should be availing of.

That's my sales pitch anyway.

What device are you watching NJPW World on? WWE Network is available on pretty much everything but NJPW World is basically just a website. Content wise it is fabulous but on the technical side I find it to be lacking as I don't like to be watching stuff on a computer.