Random Wrestling Thoughts (Part 2)

RollieFingers

Nobody could be worse than Cole and the WWE clones man, painful to listen to.

Striker grates on me but I do like D-Lo on commentary.

CastorTroy

Since health insurance was brought up in the AEW thread, what did that cover in pro wrestling? Like do they cover medical expenses no matter what? There must be some conditions considering the line of work since its pretty much all self inflicted, taking risks. The same way life assurance won't pay out on suicides

Riddle101

I'd say Reginald is a personal favorite of Vince McMahon now. He's super athletic in the ring, but seems to have some flair about him too I think. I kind've like him myself.

beakerjoe

Riddle101 wrote: »

I'd say Reginald is a personal favorite of Vince McMahon now. He's super athletic in the ring, but seems to have some flair about him too I think. I kind've like him myself.

He reminds me of Michelle from Gilmore Girls.

Dont @ me

LineOfBeauty

Right here's one.

I'm watching some DGUSA stuff and Cima is of course a delight. It got me thinking, what's the best live performance from a pro wrestler you've seen? Not necessarily the best match, just a solo performance from someone that impressed you?

Mine has always been Okada vs Ospreay in Reading that got Ospreay a spot in NJPW. I couldn't get over just how good Okada was, the poise, the charisma, how smooth the work was, the nuts and bolts of how the match was structured, his base work (makes sense given his training in Toryumon) the big closing stretch. At the time he would've been in his mid 20's too which is mind blowing. An absolute gem.

For other reasons the other ones that spring to mind are Cima vs Vic Viper on Waterford, the match wasn't particularly great or anything but up to that point I'd never seen a wrestler live as good as Cima. An absolutely gorgeous performer.

Pac vs Walter, really good match but Pac always stands out. He would've been in the midst of his Open The Dream Gate run at the time I believe, at the very peak of his powers, everything that man does looks incredible.

And Will Ospreay numerous times, just a special pro wrestler whatever you think of him. A genuine generational talent in pro wrestling.

Itssoeasy

I think wwe in particular may have broken my love for wrestling and it only took 20 odd years. I’ve not even bothered to keep up with the product the same way I’d normally would since mania. Even if I wasn’t watching raw(live) and smackdown (as it aired/live) the past few years I’d recorded them on the sky box and watched them. I’ve stopped doing that now. I still have the network and won’t get rid of it because I might get the spark again(and nostalgia plays a part) but where I used to watch the PPVs out of habit(especially recently) I’ve found them more and more a slog. I know Michael Cole is saying more or less what he’s told to say on commentary but Jesus h Christ it’s utter ****ing drivel. Even NXT which I loved and would watch all the time, while technically in the ring is still good, the whole presentation is just bland and safe. Nxt UK is the one thing I was watching with any regularity. It’s an hour long and the wrestling is good and Nigel McGuinness doesn’t make me want to mute the device I’m watching it on.

PTH2009

Enjoying the wwe most wanted treasures series

Is it a sub series ? Always see programmes similar to it but never sat down and watched them other than the wwe series

ShagNastii

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I think wwe in particular may have broken my love for wrestling and it only took 20 odd years. I’ve not even bothered to keep up with the product the same way I’d normally would since mania. Even if I wasn’t watching raw(live) and smackdown (as it aired/live) the past few years I’d recorded them on the sky box and watched them. I’ve stopped doing that now. I still have the network and won’t get rid of it because I might get the spark again(and nostalgia plays a part) but where I used to watch the PPVs out of habit(especially recently) I’ve found them more and more a slog

I think a lot of us are in this boat. Mania could have come and gone this year and I wouldn’t have noticed. It used to be one of the highlights of my year.

I’m sure you do, but my advice would be to attend an OTT show when they are hopefully back up and running.

I was a night one attendee and it totally reinvigorated my love of wrestling. What it has become is nothing short of unbelievable. It truly is a world class promotion. This move towards people attending live wrestling is no doubt what has driven the phenomenal Britwrest boom.

Itssoeasy

ShagNastii wrote: »

I think a lot of us are in this boat. Mania could have come and gone this year and I wouldn’t have noticed. It used to be one of the highlights of my year.

I’m sure you do, but my advice would be to attend an OTT show when they are hopefully back up and running.

I was a night one attendee and it totally reinvigorated my love of wrestling. What it has become is nothing short of unbelievable. It truly is a world class promotion. This move towards people attending live wrestling is no doubt what has driven the phenomenal Britwrest boom.

Yeah I’m the same but I don’t know this time it seems different. I’m not even watching the documentaries they have on the network. I’ve loved wrestling for as I said over 20 years and I’ve never felt disconnected from it before. I mean I’ve just reached a point where I’m going “**** it” which I’m shocked at because I’m the perfect viewer for wwe in that I’d watch any old ****e they broadcast for years but it’s suddenly gone.

Even though I’m not the biggest fan of AEW I've liked some of the stuff I’ve seen but I’ve no desire to watch that either.

J. Marston

Priest had a serious operation transformation...

PTH2009

J. Marston wrote: »

Priest had a serious operation transformation...

Jesus he's unrecognisable

fair ****s to him

B.A._Baracus

Amazing transformation.
Imo, that's why it took him so long to to make it to the dance. He is wrestling since 2004 but only made it to WWE aged 36.

Cosmetic industry as they say.

ThePott

I just realised Impact have a PPV tonight and I haven't heard a single mention of it anywhere.

The White Wolf

ThePott wrote: »

I just realised Impact have a PPV tonight and I haven't heard a single mention of it anywhere.

I knew of it but it's hard to track Impact PPVs as they have a weird way of marketing that can be confusing. As an example they had a number 1 contender match between Havok and Rosemary this week but the commentators were talking about Slammiversary in July, even though this match was for a title shot at the immediate PPV.

They need to improve the presentation of their product because it's not doing justice to the talented roster they have now.

ThePott

Like I remembered that there was one in May but it just feels the buzz isn't there which is a shame.
I don't watch weekly Impact but I do enjoy their PPVs, they should do a bit more to draw some eyes alright.

Agent Coulson

It's not really a PPV it just an Impact Plus special there next PPV is Slammiversary.

It's a good card for tonight as well.

CastorTroy

Watching the RVD WWE Icons episode and was wondering has Cena spoken about the One Night Stand match? Crowd was a wee bit hostile towards him. And all these years later what's the opinion of everyone with regard the match?

Loved it. Cena gave a masterclass. From his entrance of head down, belt up to changing his style to suit the crowd, it was brilliant. When they chanted same old sh*t, he busted out moves he never or rarely used before. When they still went at him, he soaked it in and let the audience’s noise actually contribute to the hostile atmosphere. The T-shirt spot at the beginning was played so well by him.

As an aside, it’s a pity that the trigger wasn’t pulled earlier on RVD. He was ridiculously over during 2001

Loughc

Omackeral wrote: »

As an aside, it’s a pity that the trigger wasn’t pulled earlier on RVD. He was ridiculously over during 2001

This came up numerous times on podcasts, apparently there was a LARGE number of people backstage pushing for RVD to be pushed as the Undisputed champion after Survivor Series 01 as they thought he was the only one that came out of the invasion angle better than going in.

Vince strongly opposed as he feared if a former ECW wrestler was their champion people would tune out as ECW was a failure and they would perceive WWE as a failure.

20 years later and WWE is now the failure (creatively and ratings wise) Vince always feared it would be and it had nothing to do with former wCw and ECW wrestlers.

CastorTroy

Ah but their title feud on Raw does include 2 former TNA champions and their NXT champion is from the not so successful Lucha Underground.

riffmongous

Omackeral wrote: »

Loved it. Cena gave a masterclass. From his entrance of head down, belt up to changing his style to suit the crowd, it was brilliant. When they chanted same old sh*t, he busted out moves he never or rarely used before. When they still went at him, he soaked it in and let the audience’s noise actually contribute to the hostile atmosphere. The T-shirt spot at the beginning was played so well by him.

As an aside, it’s a pity that the trigger wasn’t pulled earlier on RVD. He was ridiculously over during 2001

Watching Reigns killing it on Smackdown at the moment really makes me wish we could have seen heel Cena at some stage during the Cena-sucks days, or against Punk in particular. Would have been amazing to see him tearing in to the fans and their favourites

ShagNastii

A Cena heel turn paired with a move away from PG would have been phenomenal.

Much like “Hollywood” Hogan before him, Cena would have instantly became a heat machine.

Even when fans return, you have to think it's a given that WWE will continue to use their cheer/boo/this is awesome button to drown out crowds whenever they want.

Loughc

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Even when fans return, you have to think it's a given that WWE will continue to use their cheer/boo/this is awesome button to drown out crowds whenever they want.

100% they will continue to use them. No one will ever get over again unless Vince wants them too.

CastorTroy

Didn't they use it at Mania with the live crowd?
Though from what I remember it wasn't the liveliest crowd and spread out in a large stadium so extra audio was needed.

So which button will they use for Eva Marie? Cheer or boo? They don't seem to have a "meh" button

Itssoeasy

Deleted User wrote: »

Even when fans return, you have to think it's a given that WWE will continue to use their cheer/boo/this is awesome button to drown out crowds whenever they want.

So smackdown from 1999- 2016 where there used to be flocks of seagulls in a surprising amount of arenas ?

I love Cesaro in ring. Probably my favourite in ring WWE performer of the last decade but man he's an awful promo and boring outside of the ring. I watched his talking smack promo from a few months back that people online were saying was great and it was below average to me.

We know WWE mess up with pushing the right people a lot of the time but I can see why he was never a top guy in WWE with his promo ability. When he was put with Heyman I thought it was going to be great but if I remember correctly it just for a few weeks while Lesnar was away.

LineOfBeauty

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I love Cesaro in ring. Probably my favourite in ring WWE performer of the last decade but man he's an awful promo and boring outside of the ring. I watched his talking smack promo from a few months back that people online were saying was great and it was below average to me.

We know WWE mess up with pushing the right people a lot of the time but I can see why he was never a top guy in WWE with his promo ability. When he was put with Heyman I thought it was going to be great but if I remember correctly it just for a few weeks while Lesnar was away.

My pet peeve is people saying someone is a bad promo in WWE. Nobody is a good promo in WWE. You repeat the words they give you with that same WWE verbiage that they all speak in, in the tone you're told in the cadence you are taught. Nobody is talking anybody into the building, they're structured to get the soundbytes they need to edit into their pre match video packages. That's not what a pro wrestling promo is in the truest sense of the word. Nobody is good. It's incredibly difficult to be particularly bad.

LineOfBeauty

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

My pet peeve is people saying someone is a bad promo in WWE. Nobody is a good promo in WWE. You repeat the words they give you with that same WWE verbiage that they all speak in, in the tone you're told in the cadence you are taught. Nobody is talking anybody into the building, they're structured to get the soundbytes they need to edit into their pre match video packages. That's not what a pro wrestling promo is in the truest sense of the word. Nobody is good. It's incredibly difficult to be particularly bad.

But I presume the talking smack promo wasn't scripted? Some show that they can talk, when they're not hindered by a script, on a show like that but even on that he was bad.

LineOfBeauty

[Deleted User] wrote: »

But I presume the talking smack promo wasn't scripted? Some show that they can talk, when they're not hindered by a script, on a show like that but even on that he was bad.

I stopped watching it, everybody does the dumb WWE worked shoot promo. I'm completely burned out on it. And if they are gauging success on the mic is based on a show a handful of the audience watches then I'd say that's insanity