Wrestling Thread Vol. 3

[AtariLegend]

Devit vs. A.J. Styles was pretty good, but hopefully they do a rematch again at some point with build on a bigger stage.

As for the main event, I thought it was ridiculous on the levels of WCW. Despite the fact that you had Kurt Angle wrestling for WWE for the first time in 11 years while cosplaying as Roman Reigns.

Edited October 23, 2017 by AtariLegend

[Bono]

Holy fuck was that segment with Smackdown taing over RAW ever stupid. Like we're supposed to believe they all hate each other because they're on opposite shows. The animosity is that of WWF vs WCW. Seriously fuck off WWE

[username]

33 minutes ago, Bono said:

Holy fuck was that segment with Smackdown taing over RAW ever stupid. Like we're supposed to believe they all hate each other because they're on opposite shows. The animosity is that of WWF vs WCW. Seriously fuck off WWE

SS is the new Bragging Rights... 

[Ace Spade]

I've been a fan since Hogan slammed Andre back in the day. I finally tapped out after this years ( yet another) abysmal Wrestlemania. However, I decided to check in this thread just to see what you guys were saying about the current product. Doesn't look like I've missed much.

I'd honestly be surprised if WWE lasted any longer than another decade or so. The magic is long gone, and from what I've read, so is the rest of their audience. Ratings are in the shitter, and I've seen the shockingly low live event numbers, as well as the tarped off, empty arenas.

There's only so much revenue that they can generate from the network. They've completely lost their way, and it's only a matter of time before they R.I.P.

I blame that fucking Panda for getting the F out.That truly was a bad omen. It's seems like WWF (E) has been dying a slow death ever since then.

WCW going bankrupt,the Chris Benoit tragedy, as well as the new PC culture have also contributed IMO.

 

[AtariLegend]

The product isn't shit because it's PG or PC culture, it's shit because of terrible writing. What would change with less political correctness? This is someone who gave, million and millions to Trump and is pushing Canadian Jinder Mahal to cut race promos on the PG product.

Do people not remember the late 2000's with the constant dick/defecation jokes, especially the DX stuff? So fucking poor/embarrassing.

The silly invasion angle after they decided for no reason to turn Austin heel, was before the name change. The decline in ratings started slowly and continued since from that silly night they decided Steve Austin was a cowardly/comedy heel.

The show started jumping off the cliff from the 1st brand extension though. 2003/4 ect. were so, fucking bad. Triple H's reign of doomed as an injured world champion refusing to put over new people or JBL's random weird title reign (which was even worse than Jinder's) that lasted almost a year. Shows like Great American Bash 2004 were the dirt worst and they haven't learned anything. There's no need for the brand extension. SmackDown! was just fine before 2002.

Everything wrong and that has been wrong over the years, it's all Vince. The huge TV advert fees/network and fact that fans will buy tickets for Wrestlemania no matter is what keeps them going. 

Edited October 24, 2017 by AtariLegend

[Ace Spade]

Yeah, you're absolutely right. The writing is so bad that none of the story lines seem to go anywhere, or make any sense. And the characters are so poor you barely know who, or what they are.

That Jinder promo did get a lot of bad press in the media. The article I read claimed that the crowd chanted " That's racist!". The reason this matters is because investors and sponsors don't like any kind of bad press.

I think the PC paranoia does have an effect since you don't see the over the top personalities anymore that say entertaining shit to get heat. Could you imagine Bobby the Brain and Rick Rude making fun of fat Women on TV in 2017?

I also agree that ultimately it is all Vince. He's obviously completely out of touch with modern entertainment. I also get the impression that he despises his own audience. The Undertaker streak ending the way it did felt like a giant FUCK YOU to the fans.

At least Vince used to actually have some vision. Once he's gone Stephanie and HHH are going to finish it off for good. I say WWE will RIP by 2030. Wresting will probably survive as a small niche subculture, especially in Japan.

 

 

 

[axlslash]

According to Barasso, the Rock is now advising talent to walk out on WWE if they aren't happy with their creative plans.

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/894913-the-reason-for-nia-jaxs-wwe-leave-of-absence-revealed#/slide/1

Meanwhile, both sides of the Aires / Neville WM33 match have walked away and stand to make better money on the indy circuit than in WWE, the Bucks and Omega actively turn down WWE every time their contracts are up, and WWE is on the downswing while almost all of the other wrestling promotions are growing (except for Impact who managed to chase away the only competent leader they've ever had in Billy Corgan while mismanaging themselves into near oblivion). It's an incredible time to be a wrestling fan, even if it's a shit time to be a WWE fan. Look what guys like Callahan, Cabana, Rhodes etc have done since leaving. Hell, look at goddamn Juice Robinson in NJPW! 

Edited October 25, 2017 by axlslash

[AtariLegend]

The Rock advised his cousin Nia. However I should point that Nia isn't that big star, people aren't tunning in to see Nia. Sasha should have been the star of the women's division, but they keep trying to bury her because Vince doesn't like people getting too over.

As for Corgan. Smashing Pumpins are great, but he comes across as a complete geek. He wants to run NWA with a 20 year plan and get an agreement to work with GWF and put on "NJPW matches". Completely out of his depth when I heard speak an Observer interview not long back. He'll probably be silly enough to hire Russo for a company that'll never get on TV.

In other news, the Observer just gave 5*'s to the 10th match this year;

Wed, Jan 4th 2017
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom XI
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega

Sat, Feb 11th 2017
NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka 2017 
Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin

Sun, Apr 9th 2017
NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017
Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Sat, Jun 3rd 2017
NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors 2017 - Day 14
KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay

Sun, Jun 11th 2017
NJPW Dominion 6.11
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega

Fri, Aug 11th 2017
NJPW G1 Climax 2017 - Day 17
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Sat, Aug 12th 2017
NJPW G1 Climax 2017 - Day 18
Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada

Sun, Aug 13th 2017
NJPW G1 Climax 2017 - Day 19
Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega

Sun, Sep 3rd 2017
PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2017 - Day 3
Keith Lee vs. Donovan Dijak

Sat, Oct 21st 2017
PWG All Star Weekend 13 - Night 2
WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

At the start of this decade there wasn't a single one. NJPW seem to be on their AJPW run at the minute. Hopfully they're rewarded with better ticket sales. Attendances are up and higher than anywhere except WWE, but they're still along way from the 90's.

[Dean]

Any of you guys listen to Bruce Prichard's podcast? New episode is on The Rock's career from '97-'98.

A few quality bits mentioned, like Triple H being jealous and trying to bury him whenever possible, saying to Bret that he should beat The Rock for the IC belt in '97 that would have made no sense and Bret decided to go with a DQ finish. Check it out!

[username]

Well, Emma just got future-endevoured. That sucks. Darren Young and Summer Rae got axed too. 

Edited October 29, 2017 by username

[axlslash]

7 hours ago, username said:

Well, Emma just got future-endevoured. That sucks. Darren Young and Summer Rae got axed too. 

Asuka beat her ass that bad, huh?

Emma and DY deserved better than this. Summer didn't, but Darren and Emma should do fine on the indy scene. 

[AtariLegend]

I don't recall Young ever being any good. He'd probably have been gone years if he hadn't "come out of the closest". Emma's fine, but her options for making money is limited. NXT pays less than Stardom, but even if she went there would she really want to be a part-timer in Japan working small crowds? That only leaves TNA or random Indies. I guess there's ROH, but I don't see that.

Summer Rae I'd guess looks for something outside wrestling?

[axlslash]

And just like that, the entire WWE system is dragging Lio Rush on twitter...Jesus that kid buried himself quickly. 

[username]

6 hours ago, axlslash said:

And just like that, the entire WWE system is dragging Lio Rush on twitter...Jesus that kid buried himself quickly. 

Yeah, that was funny. 

[AtariLegend]

Jericho vs. Omega at the Tokyo Dome.

Edited November 5, 2017 by AtariLegend

[axlslash]

4 hours ago, AtariLegend said:

Jericho vs. Omega at the Tokyo Dome.

Holy shit. I thought they were building something for Jericho's cruise and thought it was odd that they'd do a match that big there... Never saw this coming. So we're already getting this and Naito/Okada on that card. This show will be nuts. 

[AtariLegend]

Card so far for the Tokyo Dome:

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

IWGP Intercontinental Championship

IWGP United States Championship

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship

*Possibly ROH Championship*

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship

Disappointed with Kota Ibushi's spot, but it should still be a killer card. Not sure whether Jericho is able to do a NJPW Tokyo Dome match at his age, but it's a cool idea on paper and a nice fresh surprise.

As for White, he's returned from his ROH excursion and been given this spot because NJPW obviously think he's a future star. We'll see.

Both Junior matches should be really good and Naito/Okada is a guaranteed early MOTY contender in 2018.

[axlslash]

SmackDown spoiler

AJ VERSUS BROCK AT SURVIVOR SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bono]

6 hours ago, axlslash said:

SmackDown spoiler

 

  Reveal hidden contents

AJ VERSUS BROCK AT SURVIVOR SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I just watched that. I actually HATE this idea. I mean for  fuck sakes that's a WM storyline that should have an awesome build. Not some match that shoehorned in for no good reason. It's like how they rushed the Cena/Roman feud although that build was good despite the quickness of it. Rushing Brock vs Braun was horrible. Now this.  It's a waste if you ask me. It will be cool to see but a waste. 

[AtariLegend]

Brock might not even be around after Mania and at least this is a cool fresh match (I might even watch it). Besides Jinder vs. Brock, despite Jinder's push is still the equivalent of Pete Gas vs. Stone Cold on a WWF PPV in 1999 and they might have realized that the reason they haven't sold out is because it looks completely fucking shit.

Always the worry though Jinder wins the title back on the India tour in a few weeks.

[axlslash]

6 hours ago, AtariLegend said:

Brock might not even be around after Mania and at least this is a cool fresh match (I might even watch it). Besides Jinder vs. Brock, despite Jinder's push is still the equivalent of Pete Gas vs. Stone Cold on a WWF PPV in 1999 and they might have realized that the reason they haven't sold out is because it looks completely fucking shit.

Always the worry though Jinder wins the title back on the India tour in a few weeks.

AJ isn't scheduled for that tour. As Uncle Dave pointed out on WOR, international tours can't always be changed on short notice with visa requirements etc, and this was a very recent change (as recently as Meltzer knew, Mahal/Lensar with Cena as ref was still the firm plan). So it doesn't seem likely that they can rebook that tour with AJ. You could conceivably slingshot the belt back to Jinder next week, but I can't imagine a better way to devalue the belt and performers that much that quickly.

And to @Bono'a point: Its a hotshotted storyline that could have had more build for AJ/Brock, but with them on different brands, what was the story ever gonna be? They'll only face off at Survivor Series in a Champ vs Champ match, at least the way they're plugging the show right now, and that's what they're doing. My bigger concern is outcome. Jinder losing in a dusty finish to set up Mahal vs Cena at the Rumble (which was the rumored plan from months ago) made sense and didn't really hurt anyone. AJ lost the US title to Baron "Where's Your Briefcase?" Corbin, now gets this win to get him back on track, but NFW does he beat Lesnar in a one-off match. So did we just put the belt on AJ to feed him to Brock so Brock can have that cred going into his job to Roman? Jesus, I would hate that. 

[username]

1 hour ago, axlslash said:

but I can't imagine a better way to devalue the belt and performers that much that quickly.

"Great! Then that's what we'll do!" 

[username]

1 hour ago, axlslash said:

So did we just put the belt on AJ to feed him to Brock so Brock can have that cred going into his job to Roman? Jesus, I would hate that. 

That's one option. The other is that they actually noticed that Jinder is shit and needed to save the SS main event. As for the outcome, they'll probably either try to make AJ look strong even in defeat or go for a DQ or something.

Imagine the upset if they'd actually have AJ go over.... Nobody actually thought he'd beat Jinder. Now nobody actually think they'll have him beat Brock. It would be fucking awesome. 

[axlslash]

Satin reporting Owens and Zayn were sent home from the U.K. Tour as a disciplinary move...

http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/sami-zayn-owens-sent-home-tour/

[ChineseDemocracy2004]

RAW & Smackdown was fantastic live, plenty of surprises.