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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2014 10:42:55 GMT -5
Any wrestling fans out there? I was a pretty huge fan as a kid and have been off and on the past few years. Lately WWE has a tendency to, how do you say, fuck things up royally whenever they can. The Royal Rumble was Sunday and it's been generally shit on by everybody. Now there's reports CM Punk has left the company. Considering how great things were looking a few months ago, is Wrestlemania shaping up to be a disaster this year?
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Post by GhaleonQ on Feb 1, 2014 0:07:38 GMT -5
I really, really adore wrestling. It's sketch comedy + stunt work + panto + fighting video games + international flavor, which is everything I like. I got into it with Chris Benoit and the light heavyweight division of W.C.W., which led me to the AKI wrestling games. I stopped paying attention from 2003 to 2011, and then The A.V. Club WrestleMania article, actually, made me probe around to see what was up. Coincidentally, W.W.E. got REALLY good at about that time with N.X.T. Season 5 and the ascension of the midcard, I got obsessed, and I legitimately think the product's the best it's ever been right now. While no C.M. Punk will hurt sales, KENTA and Prince Devitt are probably going to sign, which means W.W.E.'s only weakness, aerial workers, is now sealed up. They even have, like, 5 big men and 7 women I actually want to watch! Now, I like it enough to wear a fricking wrestling shirt...IN PUBLIC. tolerabilityindex.freeforums.net/post/5072/threadThat said, at this moment, N.J.P.W. is still the best in the world. (He's like an S.N.K. fighting character!) cewshreviews.blogspot.com/2014/01/new-japan-pro-wrestling-proudly-presents.html  Favorite wrestlers of all-time: Steven/William Regal Ultimo Dragon Chris Benoit Shinsuke Nakamura Bret Hart Mister Perfect Cody Rhodes Jake Roberts Kana Gail Kim Ayako Hamada Current favorites: Shinsuke Nakamura Cody Rhodes Alberto Del Rio (if he was better on the microphone in English, he'd be 1 of my all-time favorites) Dolph Ziggler Dean Ambrose Luke Harper Katsuyori Shibata Gail Kim A.J. Lee Emma Syuri |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2014 21:35:54 GMT -5
I've heard great things about NJPW, particular Okada. I think the problem with wrestling in the US is that WWE for all its flaws is still the best option. TNA's booking and decision making is even worse than the WWE. And even though ROH has a TV deal the production values are still bad and they've lost so much talent over the years without reloading. Far too many bland and undersized guys who just look to do spots. HHH has done some nice thing since taking a bigger role backstage, like reemphasizing the tag team division and turning NXT into a phenomenal developmental system. But there's still far too much young talent and guys in their prime being squandered. "Vince McMahon is going to make money despite himself. He’s a millionaire who should be a billionaire. You know why he’s not a billionaire? Because he surrounds himself with glad-handed, nonsensical, douchebag (censored) yes men, like John Laurinaitis, who’s going to tell him everything he wants to hear, and I’d like to think that maybe this company will better after Vince McMahon is dead. But the fact is, it’s going to be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family." - CM Punk |
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Post by GhaleonQ on Feb 2, 2014 12:37:01 GMT -5
I've heard great things about NJPW, particular Okada. I think the problem with wrestling in the US is that WWE for all its flaws is still the best option. Yeah, with N.X.T. snapping up so much talent, indie wrestling can be fun, but it's no longer a destination outside of 1 or 2 promotions. I like Ethan Carter and Gail Kim (both wasted by McMahon/Laurianitis), but that's not enough. I don't even think a real challenger would make them "raise their game" or anything. This isn't video games with FIFA or Madden. It's just that it would demonstrate that there are more ways to do things than McMahon's way. I'm so bummed he didn't take what was good from W.C.W. when he bought them, but Helmsley, Del Rey, Regal, Noble, and Smiley push tapes on him a lot more, apparently. What happened? The Shield, N.X.T. Divas not sucking, the Real Americans, (uh, Sin Cara) et cetera. Like I said, Devitt might take Neville's spot and Kenta may go beat up Punk and Bryan for taking his moves. It's all improvement. So, hopefully, that continues. And while I do prefer Nakamura (probably the most popular), the big 4 are all really good. Devitt is C.M. Punk plus Seth Rollins, Tanahashi is what John Cena is supposed to be, and Okada is what Ted DiBiase would have been if McMahon had more guts back then. As noted, I love elitist characters, so Okada being the smuggest prick ever is amazing to me. HHH has done some nice thing since taking a bigger role backstage, like reemphasizing the tag team division and turning NXT into a phenomenal developmental system. But there's still far too much young talent and guys in their prime being squandered. "Vince McMahon is going to make money despite himself. He’s a millionaire who should be a billionaire. You know why he’s not a billionaire? Because he surrounds himself with glad-handed, nonsensical, douchebag (censored) yes men, like John Laurinaitis, who’s going to tell him everything he wants to hear, and I’d like to think that maybe this company will better after Vince McMahon is dead. But the fact is, it’s going to be taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family." - CM Punk Like I wrote, I was sort of new to W.W.E. style back then, and I still don't think the pipe bomb is 1 of the all-time great promos or anything. (I'm a more Regal/Ambrose/Roberts person.) It made sense for his character, because a lot of it was complaining in a 1-on-1 Austin-McMahon style. THAT PART, though, made me go, "Oooooh," though. It's not just that it was 1 of 2 parts (shout-outs to cut wrestlers) where he was concerned with "the system" and not 1 particular person, but because it was so obviously, clearly true. It's the flaw of a lot of great businessmen that they do stuff you or I could never do but then are terrible when growth plateaus. We could not have made W.W.E. what it is today. AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME, however, I'm sure we'd be better managers of the promotion. He makes so many obvious mistakes or poorly planned decisions that, heck, they could own every promotion in the world, not just American indies, if they wanted to do so. |
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 2, 2014 16:10:37 GMT -5
Any wrestling fans out there? I was a pretty huge fan as a kid and have been off and on the past few years. Lately WWE has a tendency to, how do you say, fuck things up royally whenever they can. The Royal Rumble was Sunday and it's been generally shit on by everybody. Now there's reports CM Punk has left the company. Considering how great things were looking a few months ago, is Wrestlemania shaping up to be a disaster this year? I've followed wrestling off and on since I the early 80s and just started getting into it again this past fall when Mrs. Nudeviking had a night class in graduate school. Living outside of an English speaking country, WWE is on a week or so delay for me (Royal Rumble is being aired this Saturday), so I don't really know how bad things are going to be, because right now, WWE is probably the most fun it's been in a long time. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2014 19:05:02 GMT -5
I mentioned this elsewhere, but I will be attending a bachelor party in New Orleans in early April. I will be there for three nights, and on our last night there, the majority of the guys will be attending Wrestlemania. Some of these guys are my closest friends, but somehow I completely missed out on the whole wrestling fandom thing and have absolutely no interest in attending, even with the rumored Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper match. I enjoyed wrestling as a kid, and I was even on TV when I was about twelve years old and attended a televised WWF event in which Hogan wrestled Mr. Perfect. But then I grew up. So while many of the rest of the guys are attending Wrestlemania, I will be getting drunk in Nawlins. And I am perfectly fine with that. Screw wrestling!
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Post by DisgracedFormerFootModel on Feb 3, 2014 20:11:26 GMT -5
I mentioned this elsewhere, but I will be attending a bachelor party in New Orleans in early April. I will be there for three nights, and on our last night there, the majority of the guys will be attending Wrestlemania. Some of these guys are my closest friends, but somehow I completely missed out on the whole wrestling fandom thing and have absolutely no interest in attending, even with the rumored Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper match. I enjoyed wrestling as a kid, and I was even on TV when I was about twelve years old and attended a televised WWF event in which Hogan wrestled Mr. Perfect. But then I grew up. So while many of the rest of the guys are attending Wrestlemania, I will be getting drunk in Nawlins. And I am perfectly fine with that. Screw wrestling! I live about an hour north of New Orleans. Let's get drunk together! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2014 20:15:46 GMT -5
I mentioned this elsewhere, but I will be attending a bachelor party in New Orleans in early April. I will be there for three nights, and on our last night there, the majority of the guys will be attending Wrestlemania. Some of these guys are my closest friends, but somehow I completely missed out on the whole wrestling fandom thing and have absolutely no interest in attending, even with the rumored Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper match. I enjoyed wrestling as a kid, and I was even on TV when I was about twelve years old and attended a televised WWF event in which Hogan wrestled Mr. Perfect. But then I grew up. So while many of the rest of the guys are attending Wrestlemania, I will be getting drunk in Nawlins. And I am perfectly fine with that. Screw wrestling! I live about an hour north of New Orleans. Let's get drunk together! Come on down! I will be there from 4/4 to 4/7. |
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Post by Jon Pertwees Shameless Gurning on Feb 3, 2014 21:41:39 GMT -5
Oh, pro wrestling. Or lucha libre. Or puroresu. God help me, I love it so. Not that I'm following WWE closely these days (was seriously considering it due to the ascendancy of Bryan and Punk lately, but w Punk's departure and the curious treatment of Bryan by creative at his peak popularity, I'll likely pass). Anyway, loved it in high school/college, got into the indies and international scene shortly after, basically gave up on it after the Benoit tragedy, and haven't really completely come back since (caught a Mania or two, that's about it).
Favorite performers:
Mitsuharu Misawa - to show just how outta the loop I've been, I just found out prob a year ago that Misawa had died (in the ring, no less) and that NOAH (maybe my favorite promotion ever) was in the dumps. Sad. But Misawa was amazing throughout his storied career, from the Tiger Mask days to the glory days of King's Road AJPW in the 90's to the epic grumpy old heavyweight clashes in NOAH last decade. The greatest in-ring worker ever.
Shawn Michaels - Between the Kliq douchiness and his newfound evangelical Christianity (ugh), I doubt I'd ever want to hang out with ol' HBK. However, the work speaks for itself. Very good on the mic and just great in the ring. I watched his epic matches w Flair and Taker at the last few Manias, and they were jaw-dropping.
Bryan Danielson - Or Daniel Bryan, whatever. I watched his rise thru the indy ranks all the way to his epic reign as ROH World Champion. I've been to exactly two live wrestling events in my life, and one of them was headlined by Danielson and KENTA. Holy Shit. If this current storyline pays off and he does get a legit run w the strap, it will be very hard for me not to tune back in to WWE.
Triple H - I'm not sure I like his current creative role w WWE, on or off-screen, but he is the greatest heel since Ric Flair, and at least in his prime, backed it up w solid work in the ring. The last currentish match I watched was Cena v Bryan at Summerslam last year, and Trips' robbing Bryan and putting the strap on Randy Fucking Orton was pure hate-worthy deliciousness. If the rumored Bryan/HHH match does go down at Mania this year, I might have to at least get to a bar or something to see it.
Kenta Kobashi - not to be confused w KENTA (I sure can't wait to see how WWE turns him into another painful stereotype, ugh), Kobashi was the passionate yin to Misawa's cold, grumpy yang. Their careers mirrored each other (partners/epic rivals in both AJPW and NOAH) and they've been involved, as tag partners or opponents, in what still hold up as some of the greatest matches of all time. Kobashi shined while working w others as well (Kawada, Taue, and Akiyama in AJPW, his protoge KENTA and even Samoa Joe in later years), and he was never too big to put someone else over. The warrior spirit in puro absolutely personified.
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Post by Yuri Petrovitch on Feb 3, 2014 23:06:33 GMT -5
Pro wrestling is a thing which I enjoy, yes. It is brain tape since old times.
I grew up in the south in Flair Country, of course, and just about the time WWF and stuff was breaking loose so I followed that somewhat halfheartedly, because I was more from rasslin' country, of course.
Kinda fall out of it, then get back into in college and start talking with tape traders and learn about such as ECW and puro and generally get a lot "smarter" (*ahem*) and it's critical mass with all the nWo and Attitude Era stuff breaks out and so we're following all that.
Nowadays I kinda drift in and out, following wrestlers like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, and mostly the only thing I watch regularly now is NXT, as its this perfect melange between quality wrestling and scrappy throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks like the way the territories used to.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2014 23:55:25 GMT -5
Pro wrestling is a thing which I enjoy, yes. It is brain tape since old times. I grew up in the south in Flair Country, of course, and just about the time WWF and stuff was breaking loose so I followed that somewhat halfheartedly, because I was more from rasslin' country, of course. Kinda fall out of it, then get back into in college and start talking with tape traders and learn about such as ECW and puro and generally get a lot "smarter" (*ahem*) and it's critical mass with all the nWo and Attitude Era stuff breaks out and so we're following all that. Nowadays I kinda drift in and out, following wrestlers like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, and mostly the only thing I watch regularly now is NXT, as its this perfect melange between quality wrestling and scrappy throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks like the way the territories used to. I've heard some people say NXT is the most consistently entertaining American wrestling show. I knew of Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn from the indies and they've been impressive on NXT from what I've seen. Enzo Amore and Big Cass are also both absolutely hilarious. |
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 4, 2014 0:15:16 GMT -5
Pro wrestling is a thing which I enjoy, yes. It is brain tape since old times. I grew up in the south in Flair Country, of course, and just about the time WWF and stuff was breaking loose so I followed that somewhat halfheartedly, because I was more from rasslin' country, of course. Kinda fall out of it, then get back into in college and start talking with tape traders and learn about such as ECW and puro and generally get a lot "smarter" (*ahem*) and it's critical mass with all the nWo and Attitude Era stuff breaks out and so we're following all that. Nowadays I kinda drift in and out, following wrestlers like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, and mostly the only thing I watch regularly now is NXT, as its this perfect melange between quality wrestling and scrappy throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks like the way the territories used to. I too miss the territorial wrestling of yore. When I was a kid ESPN used to show something I'm remembering as Verne Gagne's Championship Wrestling (which I'm assuming was either the name of some random AWA show, or what I thought the show was called at age 7). This was in the early 80s, so WWF was already a thing, but AWA was totally different. Everything was a 2 out 3 pinfalls match, or a six man tag match, or had Abdullah the Butcher reaching into his tights for a foreign object that was never described as anything other than a foreign object. As someone whose only other exposure to wrestling was WWF Superstars of Wrestling and Wrestlemania tapes, AWA was like seeing something from another planet. AWA was also the first place I realized that wrestling might not be entirely on the up and up due to the prevalence of chloroform soaked rags used to render opponents unconscious unbeknownst to the ref and my father's insistence the rag would have taken like five minutes to knock the guy out and that everyone in the entire studio would have been able to smell it. Dad was a doctor and worked in a hospital, so I trusted him on those kind of things more than Verne or Greg Gagne... |
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Post by Yuri Petrovitch on Feb 4, 2014 9:43:25 GMT -5
Pro wrestling is a thing which I enjoy, yes. It is brain tape since old times. I grew up in the south in Flair Country, of course, and just about the time WWF and stuff was breaking loose so I followed that somewhat halfheartedly, because I was more from rasslin' country, of course. Kinda fall out of it, then get back into in college and start talking with tape traders and learn about such as ECW and puro and generally get a lot "smarter" (*ahem*) and it's critical mass with all the nWo and Attitude Era stuff breaks out and so we're following all that. Nowadays I kinda drift in and out, following wrestlers like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, and mostly the only thing I watch regularly now is NXT, as its this perfect melange between quality wrestling and scrappy throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks like the way the territories used to. I've heard some people say NXT is the most consistently entertaining American wrestling show. I knew of Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn from the indies and they've been impressive on NXT from what I've seen. Enzo Amore and Big Cass are also both absolutely hilarious. It is! I was initially skeptical, because I'd seen the first three seasons of NXT before it became what it was now and it was just dreadful, unwatchable shite, but they seem to have hot a sweet spot here with creating a lot of new characters who primarily get themselves over doing wrestling, and because this isn't the bloated monstrosity that RAW is, it doesn't overstay its welcome. It's a crisp, brisk hour. |
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Post by Jon Pertwees Shameless Gurning on Feb 4, 2014 23:15:57 GMT -5
Gosh, this is fun. Rounding out my top ten favorite performers:
CM Punk - I haven't caught a lot of his WWE output as it happened, though I've gone back and revisited the highlights, but he'd prob be in my top ten based on his work in the indies alone. The best guy on the mic hands down these days (pending his current predicament) and a top-flight in-ring worker, as his massive series of matches w Samoa Joe in ROH shows.
Chris Jericho - Another amazing mic guy who matches it in the ring. The whole Y2J and Raw is Jericho stuff was great, great television and his too-short run as the first Undisputed Champ was well-deserved. He also had great jr heavyweight matches earlier in his career w ECW and WCW. Loved his rivalry w Dean Malenko.
Eddie Guerrero - Though he never wore a mask after breaking big in the US, Eddie was the epitome and culmination of lucha libre. A flawless in-ring worker who developed into a consistent, funny talker even when saddled w terrible racist storylines. His loss hurts more than Benoit, for hopefully obvious reasons, but I miss him still even more than Misawa. He had some great work left in him.
Samoa Joe - Had/has the potential to be one of the best big men ever, but has been stuck in shitty TNA land so long. That said, he is the greatest ROH World Champ ever (and considering that exalted company includes Punk and Bryan, that's saying something), and has put on four of the greatest non-WWE matches in the post-merger era (his trilogy w Punk, and the once in a lifetime match w Kobashi).
Kurt Angle - Another career destroyed by the TNA shit factory (and to be fair, himself), but don't forget how amazing he was before. Brock Lesnar owes his entire career (including the UFC stuff) to Kurt putting him over. Classic matches against basically everyone who headlined WWE in the early aughts, and he quickly developed into a spectacular heel throughout that run. It's damn true, indeed.
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 5, 2014 3:56:41 GMT -5
Who's everyone's favorite jobber? I myself am partial to Jerry Flynn, a bemulleted karate fighter from WCW in the mid-90s, who according to youtube videos also fought in barb wire deathmatches in Japan in the 80s. The thing I liked best about him (besides his bathrobe wrestle gear/mullet combo) was that on his way into the ring he would always yell at the cameraman, "GIT THAT CAMERA OUTTA MAH FACE!"  |
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Post by Yuri Petrovitch on Feb 5, 2014 9:32:31 GMT -5
For me (and this is more a Southern thing of a certain time) it was the Mulkey Brothers.
Inasmuch as the Mulkeys had a role in God's plan for us it was to get their asses kicked and kicked good. The only question lay in the duration of time they'd have to wait to stare at the lights--if it was against the Midnight Express, it'd e a good five minutes. If it was against the Road Warriors, they'd be slammed into the dirt before "Iron Man" finished playing.
Well, one night at the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament, they actually WON A MATCH. Even the guy pinning his opponent looked astonished.
The Saturday after on WTBS, people came with signs declaring the advent of MulkeyMania It failed to run wild, but they had their one brief moment of glory.
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Post by Yuri Petrovitch on Feb 5, 2014 9:43:39 GMT -5
While we're reminiscing, I wanted to share this memory from younger times. Because as awesome as wrestling is when it's good, it's sometimes even better when it's terrible. I tried to explain to squidwidget the peculiar convergence of insanity that led to the Ultimate Warrior being A Thing in the late 1980s, and how hilarious his rambling, batshit crazy promos were. Her response, naturally, was "Creepy as fuck."
In the name of nostalgia (and also because he goes into the Hall of Fame this year) I present the following:
I maintain that THIS kinda thing is going on in Rob Liefeld's head all the time. It explains everything. |
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 5, 2014 9:50:16 GMT -5
While we're reminiscing, I wanted to share this memory from younger times. Because as awesome as wrestling is when it's good, it's sometimes even better when it's terrible. I tried to explain to squidwidget the peculiar convergence of insanity that led to the Ultimate Warrior being A Thing in the late 1980s, and how hilarious his rambling, batshit crazy promos were. Her response, naturally, was "Creepy as fuck."
In the name of nostalgia (and also because he goes into the Hall of Fame this year) I present the following:
I maintain that THIS kinda thing is going on in Rob Liefeld's head all the time. It explains everything.That's pretty good, but I still think my favorite 80s promo was delivered by Macho Man Randy Savage. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2014 10:06:18 GMT -5
That's pretty good, but I still think my favorite 80s promo was delivered by Macho Man Randy Savage. Oh man I loved Macho Man's promos. He was so intense and seemed like he was about to have an aneurysm at any moment. Ultimate Warrior was my favorite wrestler as a kid and him beating Hulk Hogan for both the Intercontinental and WWF title at Wrestlemania in Toronto remains one of my favorite all time moments. It's a shame he became an insane right wing lunatic. He's being inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame this year and I can't wait for what will likely be rambling and nonsensical induction speech. Hard to pick an all time list but current favorites: CM Punk Daniel Bryan Dolph Ziggler (criminally underused) Antonio Cesaro Cody Rhodes The Shield as a whole Luke Harper (Bray Wyatt had a GREAT match with Daniel Bryan but I need to see more of his in-ring work. Rowan doesn't impress me one bit) Chris Hero Sami Zayn Adrian Neville |
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Post by Jon Pertwees Shameless Gurning on Feb 5, 2014 10:06:54 GMT -5
God, every Warrior or Savage promo was an event. I still kinda can't believe WWE is putting Warrior in the HOF this year. Wonder who is ging to induct him now that Punk apparently isn't. I keep saying apparently, because there's a part of me that obviously wants his whole unexpected departure to be a massive work. I'm sure I'm not alone.
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 5, 2014 10:38:09 GMT -5
That's pretty good, but I still think my favorite 80s promo was delivered by Macho Man Randy Savage. Oh man I loved Macho Man's promos. He was so intense and seemed like he was about to have an aneurysm at any moment. Ultimate Warrior was my favorite wrestler as a kid and him beating Hulk Hogan for both the Intercontinental and WWF title at Wrestlemania in Toronto remains one of my favorite all time moments. It's a shame he became an insane right wing lunatic. He's being inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame this year and I can't wait for what will likely be rambling and nonsensical induction speech. Hard to pick an all time list but current favorites: CM Punk Daniel Bryan Dolph Ziggler (criminally underused) Antonio Cesaro Cody Rhodes The Shield as a whole Luke Harper (Bray Wyatt had a GREAT match with Daniel Bryan but I need to see more of his in-ring work. Rowan doesn't impress me one bit) Chris Hero Sami Zayn Adrian Neville Oh can I play too? All time favorites...in no particular order. Macho Man - Had one move, but he could work a mic, had the greatest catchphrase in all of wrestling, and E-liz-a-bit was the best wrestling babe ever. Raven - Awesome wrestler. Awesome on the mic. Looked like he could have played bass in any of the bands I liked circa 1995. He's feuds with Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman are still some of my favorite feuds in all of wrestling. AJ Lee - One of the worst matches I've ever seen in my life caused me to start watching wrestling again after a couple years of not watching it, and all because AJ Lee dressed up like Kitana from Mortal Kombat in a costume battle royal and did this...  Way to not sell that awesome move there Jimmy Snuka-ette... Chris Jericho - The Man of a Thousand and Four Holds...all of them armbars. Jimmy Snuka - Mostly because when I was in high school, my friends and I randomly saw him in a mall and he gave us high-fives and told us, "Keep it cool guys. Keep it cool..." but also because no matter how many exploding swimming pool bared wire deathmatches I've seen, Jimmy Snuka jumping off the top of that blue steel cage is still the most amazing shit ever. CM Punk - sXe Eddie Guerrero - The cruiserweights were one of the main reasons I started watching WCW more than WWF in the 90s, and Eddie (along with the aforementioned Chris Jericho) was the guy I wanted to see fight. |
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Post by Yuri Petrovitch on Feb 5, 2014 11:33:12 GMT -5
While we're reminiscing, I wanted to share this memory from younger times. Because as awesome as wrestling is when it's good, it's sometimes even better when it's terrible. I tried to explain to squidwidget the peculiar convergence of insanity that led to the Ultimate Warrior being A Thing in the late 1980s, and how hilarious his rambling, batshit crazy promos were. Her response, naturally, was "Creepy as fuck."
In the name of nostalgia (and also because he goes into the Hall of Fame this year) I present the following:
I maintain that THIS kinda thing is going on in Rob Liefeld's head all the time. It explains everything.That's pretty good, but I still think my favorite 80s promo was delivered by Macho Man Randy Savage. I'll see your coked-out Macho Man, and raise you the man, the myth, the legend, Scott Steiner And, of course, the master of coked-out promos, Ric Flair (The jacket, people. THE. JACKET.) |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2014 11:51:34 GMT -5
AJ Lee - One of the worst matches I've ever seen in my life caused me to start watching wrestling again after a couple years of not watching it, and all because AJ Lee dressed up like Kitana from Mortal Kombat in a costume battle royal and did this... Way to not sell that awesome move there Jimmy Snuka-ette... Interesting subplot to the CM Punk drama: what happens to AJ Lee? Does management punish her for Punk walking out even though she's far and away the most over woman in WWE? Do they even stay together? AJ is from I've read a gigantic WWE-fangirl and I doubt she'd leave her dream job. Or does Punk go to whichever available women in wrestling he hasn't hooked up yet? |
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Post by Smacks on Feb 5, 2014 12:19:39 GMT -5
I mentioned this elsewhere, but I will be attending a bachelor party in New Orleans in early April. I will be there for three nights, and on our last night there, the majority of the guys will be attending Wrestlemania. Some of these guys are my closest friends, but somehow I completely missed out on the whole wrestling fandom thing and have absolutely no interest in attending, even with the rumored Hulk Hogan/Roddy Piper match. I enjoyed wrestling as a kid, and I was even on TV when I was about twelve years old and attended a televised WWF event in which Hogan wrestled Mr. Perfect. But then I grew up. So while many of the rest of the guys are attending Wrestlemania, I will be getting drunk in Nawlins. And I am perfectly fine with that. Screw wrestling! "How you gonna come.....into OUR THREAD......and say SCREW WRESTLING?"  *DDT's @scottbaio* |
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Post by Smacks on Feb 5, 2014 12:33:24 GMT -5
I grew up with Saturday Night Main Event, wouldn't have missed an episode for the world! I still find WWE a ton of fun to watch and I always try to win tickets when the events come here. My parents would take me to the live shows back in the 80's and I saw so many great matches. Mr. Wonderful and Roddy Piper being the most memorable. I was so into it for a while in the early '00s I used to get the magazine. Gotta admit though at this point it's 3/4 looking at the beefcake and 1/4 laughing my ass off at how silly all the stories are.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2014 15:53:53 GMT -5
"How you gonna come.....into OUR THREAD......and say SCREW WRESTLING?" *DDT's @scottbaio* *hits Smacks with a folding chair* |
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 5, 2014 20:36:42 GMT -5
Interesting subplot to the CM Punk drama: what happens to AJ Lee? Does management punish her for Punk walking out even though she's far and away the most over woman in WWE? Do they even stay together? AJ is from I've read a gigantic WWE-fangirl and I doubt she'd leave her dream job. Or does Punk go to whichever available women in wrestling he hasn't hooked up yet? I'm guessing AJ will stay put and CM Punk will move on to Wendy Richter or Dump Matsumoto or one of the three other female wrestlers he's yet to gotten it on with. Or at least I hope that to be the case. Losing Punk is bad enough but AJ Lee too? And not even the promise of both of them could make me watch TNA again. |
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Post by Yuri Petrovitch on Feb 5, 2014 20:54:43 GMT -5
Interesting subplot to the CM Punk drama: what happens to AJ Lee? Does management punish her for Punk walking out even though she's far and away the most over woman in WWE? Do they even stay together? AJ is from I've read a gigantic WWE-fangirl and I doubt she'd leave her dream job. Or does Punk go to whichever available women in wrestling he hasn't hooked up yet? I'm guessing AJ will stay put and CM Punk will move on to Wendy Richter or Dump Matsumoto or one of the three other female wrestlers he's yet to gotten it on with. Or at least I hope that to be the case. Losing Punk is bad enough but AJ Lee too? And not even the promise of both of them could make me watch TNA again. Bless your heart for name-checking Dump Matsumoto |
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Post by Nudeviking on Feb 5, 2014 21:28:36 GMT -5
I'm guessing AJ will stay put and CM Punk will move on to Wendy Richter or Dump Matsumoto or one of the three other female wrestlers he's yet to gotten it on with. Or at least I hope that to be the case. Losing Punk is bad enough but AJ Lee too? And not even the promise of both of them could make me watch TNA again. Bless your heart for name-checking Dump Matsumoto I was going to go with Bull Nakano, but then realized, "You know, CM Punk's probably already been there." |
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Post by GhaleonQ on Feb 6, 2014 2:16:33 GMT -5
I grew up in the south in Flair Country, of course, and just about the time WWF and stuff was breaking loose so I followed that somewhat halfheartedly, because I was more from rasslin' country, of course. Kinda fall out of it, then get back into in college and start talking with tape traders and learn about such as ECW and puro and generally get a lot "smarter" (*ahem*) and it's critical mass with all the nWo and Attitude Era stuff breaks out and so we're following all that. As bad as easy accessibility to distant matches are for indies (LOOK AT THIS MOVE I SAW FROM AAA WITH 2 MORE FLIPS ADDED), I cannot imagine living in a day when I’d have needed to track down tapes. I bought every Regal Japan match for 15 dollars last year. Every one! It’s wonderful. I too miss the territorial wrestling of yore. When I was a kid ESPN used to show something I'm remembering as Verne Gagne's Championship Wrestling (which I'm assuming was either the name of some random AWA show, or what I thought the show was called at age 7). This was in the early 80s, so WWF was already a thing, but AWA was totally different. Everything was a 2 out 3 pinfalls match, or a six man tag match, or had Abdullah the Butcher reaching into his tights for a foreign object that was never described as anything other than a foreign object. As someone whose only other exposure to wrestling was WWF Superstars of Wrestling and Wrestlemania tapes, AWA was like seeing something from another planet. AWA was also the first place I realized that wrestling might not be entirely on the up and up due to the prevalence of chloroform soaked rags used to render opponents unconscious unbeknownst to the ref and my father's insistence the rag would have taken like five minutes to knock the guy out and that everyone in the entire studio would have been able to smell it. Dad was a doctor and worked in a hospital, so I trusted him on those kind of things more than Verne or Greg Gagne... In the same way that NXT has thrived as its own thing and doesn’t necessarily guarantee success in W.W.E.’s main shows, I would love it if W.W.E. bought out various promotions but operated them as (low-pay) franchises. It could guarantee a great pipeline of wrestlers, get credibility from the workers, and allow indie wrestlers to make a living. I was initially skeptical, because I'd seen the first three seasons of NXT before it became what it was now and it was just dreadful, unwatchable shite, but they seem to have hot a sweet spot here with creating a lot of new characters who primarily get themselves over doing wrestling, and because this isn't the bloated monstrosity that RAW is, it doesn't overstay its welcome. It's a crisp, brisk hour. N.X.T.’s never ending season 5 was amazing, like if Impact was good or Chikara had a bigger budget. You cannot understand the depth of my love for Fandango or Ethan Carter III until you see how good, funny, and ambitious they were on that show, since nobody watched it. Chris Jericho - Another amazing mic guy who matches it in the ring. The whole Y2J and Raw is Jericho stuff was great, great television and his too-short run as the first Undisputed Champ was well-deserved. He also had great jr heavyweight matches earlier in his career w ECW and WCW. Loved his rivalry w Dean Malenko. I generally think one has to know the tropes of wrestling before liking it, but I would show W.C.W. Jericho’s whole run to anybody as objectively quality comedy/stuntwork/drama. 1,004 holds remains the greatest comedic promo of all-time. His career until W.W.F. is 1 of my favorite runs ever. Who's everyone's favorite jobber? That's a great pick, but I just didn't watch during the territory days and so I don't know the real, authentic jobbers who were just burly guys trying to make a buck. So, I really like 3MB. I could assault you gifs, but I won’t. I just think all 3 represent the 3 types of jobbers. Jinder Mahal is the fundamentally competent wrestler who was given 2 few chances to succeed and hasn’t been allowed to grow. Heath Slater is the comedic and bumping master who’s just too fun to beat up. Drew McIntyre is the fantastic wrestler who’s being wasted and will someday get the run he’s teased on Twitter before. I'm guessing AJ will stay put and CM Punk will move on to Wendy Richter or Dump Matsumoto or one of the three other female wrestlers he's yet to gotten it on with. Or at least I hope that to be the case. Losing Punk is bad enough but AJ Lee too? And not even the promise of both of them could make me watch TNA again. Paige has tweeted pictures of her wearing Cory Graves’ glasses and hats and commenting on him being good-looking. C.M. Punk may come back just for her. *gags* |
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