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***Official Pro Wrestling Thread*** (5 Viewers)

Smack Tripper said:
Simply, Roman will be booed out of the building right now.  They're selling wrestlemania: the event instead of Wrestlemania: the matches. 

Even the shane stuff lost momentum on Monday. 

You can tell there must be real life heat because they actually feel the need to go out of their way to say they love each other on screen. 

The more logical dynamic would seem to be Shane vs. Steph with Vince torn or interceding, not the other way around. 

Shane didn't even address Steph's comments from last week.  But I'll be patient and give it time. 

But to your point, its a stilted build to mania right now. 
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Plus it might help drive Network buys

 
Good podcast episodes lately with Sam Roberts. Pat Buck and Bull Dempsey really with some insightful things regarding indies and the NXT process.

But of course my favorite part each week is Katie Linendoll. Is there a more perfect woman? Into wrestling, into tech, can make fun of herself, and looks like this:

El-KatieL-2866.jpg


katie2.jpg


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Would be huge for Lucha if true. They need all the revenue streams they can get.

The creators of Lucha Underground are close to striking a deal with Netflix to carry the show's first season, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The agreement would bring the show a much-needed additional revenue stream and would potentially expose the product to millions of new viewers.

Lucha Underground recently landed on iTunes, with the option to buy episodes a la carte or purchase a season pass. The Netflix deal would theoretically cannibalize sales of Season 1 episodes, but the rights fees and additional exposure more than make up for that.

Season 3 will begin shooting later this month in Boyle Heights, California and is set to premiere in September.

 
Craig_MiamiFL said:
Would be huge for Lucha if true. They need all the revenue streams they can get.

The creators of Lucha Underground are close to striking a deal with Netflix to carry the show's first season, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The agreement would bring the show a much-needed additional revenue stream and would potentially expose the product to millions of new viewers.

Lucha Underground recently landed on iTunes, with the option to buy episodes a la carte or purchase a season pass. The Netflix deal would theoretically cannibalize sales of Season 1 episodes, but the rights fees and additional exposure more than make up for that.

Season 3 will begin shooting later this month in Boyle Heights, California and is set to premiere in September.
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So awesome! Netflix is the new frontier for wrestling, IMO.

 
Craig_MiamiFL said:
Would be huge for Lucha if true. They need all the revenue streams they can get.

The creators of Lucha Underground are close to striking a deal with Netflix to carry the show's first season, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The agreement would bring the show a much-needed additional revenue stream and would potentially expose the product to millions of new viewers.

Lucha Underground recently landed on iTunes, with the option to buy episodes a la carte or purchase a season pass. The Netflix deal would theoretically cannibalize sales of Season 1 episodes, but the rights fees and additional exposure more than make up for that.

Season 3 will begin shooting later this month in Boyle Heights, California and is set to premiere in September.
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If they keep producing episodes like last night that are telling great stories with interesting characters, LU might end up being a bigger IWC darling than NXT could ever hope to be.

 
Bogart said:
Good podcast episodes lately with Sam Roberts. Pat Buck and Bull Dempsey really with some insightful things regarding indies and the NXT process.

But of course my favorite part each week is Katie Linendoll. Is there a more perfect woman? Into wrestling, into tech, can make fun of herself, and looks like this:
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Do you really need me to answer this?

 
It looks like Wade Barrett isn't the only wrestler leaving the company in the near future. Bryan Alvarez reported on Friday's edition of the Bryan and Vinny Show that another member of the WWE roster has officially given his notice. Alvarez reports that the wrestler give his notice this week.

The name of the wrestler was not revealed on the show, but Alvarez did say that some people will be "thrilled" to hear about it.

Dave Meltzer commented on the story, saying he hadn't heard confirmation from his sources yet. Dolph Ziggler was previously rumored to be leaving, but he recently signed a new contract with the company.
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I'll guess Sandow :)

Unreal the guy can't even see TV time with how over he was.

 
Thought the Lesnar/Wyatt  match was weak....although Luke Harper has the size, speed and move set to make a match against Lesnar interesting.....if they wanted to bump Harper up in status.

To me, Harper is kind of reaching Cesaro territory......as in, I have no idea why he's not getting a legit push. 

 
So, couple thoughts about Roadblock:

Other than maybe The Rock, I don't think there is anyone who has my interest in them sway depending on them being heel rather than face than Chris Jericho. Face Jericho, is mediocre face #3, heel Jericho really is the best in the world at what he does. Jericho being a face, is like Michael Jordan playing baseball, its like, sure you can do it, but can you just go back to the thing you are better than everyone else at... please"

Jericho even drew the short straw and had the all-madden difficulty task of making a Canadian crowd cheer Jack Swagger for being American, despite him not being on TV for so long, that I actually wasn't sure he was still in the company. The basketball shorts were a nice touch, made it seem like Swagger had no idea he was wrestling that night. Also, really loved Jericho ripping up that sign wishing Bret Hart a speedy recovery. Its nice to see heels actually do things that make them heels, and not just being told we should dislike them.

I always thought Enzo-Cass were a great act, but average at best in-ring. Last night was by far the best match they have ever had, and more importantly, proof that WWE crowds will like NXT matches as long as they aren't dumbed down like they usually are. I thought this was the match of the night, and The Revival are lights out in-ring, those Arn/Tully comparisons aren't far off.

I think I don't like Charlotte. Her match with Natalya was decent, but its become completely obvious that she was carried by superior talents on NXT. She's a lot closer in wrestling quality to the Bellas, than she is to Sasha. Also, I'm surprised Ric Flair's head didn't explode at those figure four reversal spots. 

It was nice to see Luke Harper hang in with Brock for a few minutes, and nice to see Brock crush somebody his size, that isn't 50 years old. 

Sami Zayn had arguably the best WWE match of the year on Wednesday, and the crowd was 100% into him when he came out, and then sat on their hands during a good match against the criminally underused Stardust. They need to pump up Zayn a bit on Raw these next couple weeks, or maybe people just decided after Brock was bathroom time before the title match, but that reaction was unacceptable. Probably doesn't help that they've trained the audience to not care about Stardust. By the way, stuck around for Edge and Christian's show, and Stardust made me laugh harder during that, than anything on TV has all year, not just wrestling TV, but any TV. Criminally underused that guy.

Main event was solid, if a little anticlimactic, because that is just HHH in a nutshell. Ambrose would probably be 100X cooler if Cole and JBL would just shut up about him and let the match speak for itself. There is only so many, "LUNATIC FRINGE" "HE'S CRAZY MAGGLE" soundbites that a person can take before they start to lose interest. I totally bought the fake finish, and can't imagine that is the end of this feud.

While I was hoping for a fatal 4-way at Mania, I think a triple threat could work too, with Brock getting Wyatt. Still can't imagine HHH-Reigns as a singles match, unless it goes midcard, but maybe Taker-Shane is the main event? I mean, it does arguably have greater stakes involved. 

 
travdogg said:
Main event was solid, if a little anticlimactic, because that is just HHH in a nutshell. Ambrose would probably be 100X cooler if Cole and JBL would just shut up about him and let the match speak for itself. There is only so many, "LUNATIC FRINGE" "HE'S CRAZY MAGGLE" soundbites that a person can take before they start to lose interest. I totally bought the fake finish, and can't imagine that is the end of this feud.
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th :thanks:

 
Caught Roadblock last night. Decent as a mid level PPV. Nothing stood out. Nattie was really good and I agree with travdogg about Charlotte. She looks impressive, but needs to dance with workers better than her. The NXT presence was excellent to see. Great tag match. 

And there is nothing better than The New Day. Booty-Os!!!!!!!

 
travdogg said:
While I was hoping for a fatal 4-way at Mania, I think a triple threat could work too, with Brock getting Wyatt. Still can't imagine HHH-Reigns as a singles match, unless it goes midcard, but maybe Taker-Shane is the main event? I mean, it does arguably have greater stakes involved. 
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I was hoping for a 3 way or 4 way match but since they already announced terms of the Ambrose/Brock match they were kind of locked in unless they made it a 4 way street fight for the title... that would be an odd fit for a Wrestlemania main event. 

 
Limited to watch the top of the hours because everything else is atrocious. I don't know what writing in that segment was worse: Expecting a viewing audience to take Ziggler serious at this point or the stupid stipulation he can pick any WM match -- oh, except WWE championship match -- if he beats the WWE champion tonight on Raw.  

:yawn:  Listening to Stephanie and HHH. Best part of that segment was the boring chants.

 
Craig_MiamiFL said:
Limited to watch the top of the hours because everything else is atrocious. I don't know what writing in that segment was worse: Expecting a viewing audience to take Ziggler serious at this point or the stupid stipulation he can pick any WM match -- oh, except WWE championship match -- if he beats the WWE champion tonight on Raw.  

:yawn:  Listening to Stephanie and HHH. Best part of that segment was the boring chants.
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ZIGGLER can't be Shane's champion, can he?  I mean, he's just ridiculously boring.

 
hip has sailed on Ziggler. He's a midcard guy rest of career. I just found it humorous that TONIGHT we're supposed to take him as a serious threat to HHH. Pittsburgh crowd was #### tonight from what I saw but Ziggler came out to crickets. Far cry from the ovation he got when he cashed in MITB and won the belt.

I thought they actually booked Reigns good tonight.....he still got booed heavily :lol:  

Last segment was pretty good. Taker/Shane is the only match I really have any interest in. I do think they've been booking Ambrose well for the Lesnar no holds barred fight. It's the only way to take him seriously whatsoever vs. Lesnar.

 
Craig_MiamiFL said:
Pittsburgh crowd was #### tonight from what I saw but Ziggler came out to crickets. Far cry from the ovation he got when he cashed in MITB and won the belt.

I thought they actually booked Reigns good tonight.....he still got booed heavily :lol:  
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Then the crowd wasn't that bad then. :pokey:

 
Craig_MiamiFL said:
hip has sailed on Ziggler. He's a midcard guy rest of career. I just found it humorous that TONIGHT we're supposed to take him as a serious threat to HHH. Pittsburgh crowd was #### tonight from what I saw but Ziggler came out to crickets. Far cry from the ovation he got when he cashed in MITB and won the belt.

I thought they actually booked Reigns good tonight.....he still got booed heavily :lol:  

Last segment was pretty good. Taker/Shane is the only match I really have any interest in. I do think they've been booking Ambrose well for the Lesnar no holds barred fight. It's the only way to take him seriously whatsoever vs. Lesnar.
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Heel turn might get him some swagger back. 

 
Before RAW last night, WWE visited Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital. The kids didn't just get autographs, they got miniature title belts.

I know we bag a lot on the WWE for the in-ring stuff, but to partner with the V Foundation to raise $1,000,000 for pediatric cancer gets them a  :thumbup: :thumbup:  from me.

 
Tom Servo said:
William Regal shares X-ray of his neck.    :eek: :eek:
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Jesus.

And compare his style to some of the #### some of these guys do for pennies. Really sad for both viewers and the workers wrestling  is moving more and more to "in ring work" (which attracts only the 'wrestling crowd') and not the entertainment route/casual wrestling fan one that'll attract more viewers.

On an unrelated note, Neville broke his ankle last night in his match vs. Jericho. Hence the abrupt finish.

 
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Craig_MiamiFL said:
Jesus.

And compare his style to some of the #### some of these guys do for pennies. Really sad for both viewers and the workers wrestling  is moving more and more to "in ring work" (which attracts only the 'wrestling crowd') and not the entertainment route/casual wrestling fan one that'll attract more viewers.

On an unrelated note, Neville broke his ankle last night in his match vs. Jericho. Hence the abrupt finish.
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I really disagree with that, and don't see why great in-ring work, means you can't have good entertainment value. Its not a one or the other situation.  

Jericho was on point last night, don't know what lil naitch was doing, but Jericho basically saved everyone's butt on that one. Sucks about Neville, hopefully he comes back to 100%, maybe the time out will benefit him, as he's been arguably the most misused NXT call up yet. 

 
That Charlotte promo was fantastic.

It rewarded fans who have been watching NXT and all the backstage specials by tying “out of the ring Becky and Sasha” into “in the ring Becky and Sasha” and explaining their characters (Sasha is a super nervous fangirl who pretends to be a hardass and Becky is a lady that feels out of place and wants to belong). Charlotte also got across that maybe she isn’t a terrible person and that she’s just trying to live up to her dad, planting the seeds for a more genuine face turn down the road.

And if you didn’t watch NXT and all the documentaries, you get that Becky and Sasha are sympathetic, who hasn’t been so nervous they’ve vomited (or felt like vomiting), who hasn’t felt like they didn’t have any friends and just wants somebody to talk to?

It got all three of them over, built the storyline and the feud, planted the seeds for a future face turn. All in what, 2 minutes? Probably a 50-50 chance that match is the best part of Mania.

Hopefully for WWE, they can clone those 2 girls in the front row about 5,000 times, because they were the only 2 people in the crowd who even remotely cared about Roman Reigns. I don't think I'm gonna be able to come around on this one, what possible reason should anyone be rooting for Reigns? Is it just anybody but HHH? I mean, its not even a rooting for the heels kind of thing, I just don't understand how Reigns is a face anyone can get behind. Like, I dislike Cena, I think his character is very "do as I say and not as I do" and whenever anybody actually beats him, he never accepts it, and bullies them into rematches. That said, other than that, I understand how people can like Cena. Can anybody give me reasons why they like Reigns, beyond "I liked the Shield, so I still like Reigns. Also thought it was lame that he jumped HHH after a 20 minute match. I realize that HHH hospitalized him, but unless the story is that the beating HHH gave Reigns scared Roman, so he feels he has to pick his spots, then why have that happen? It just makes Reigns look like a loser.

I don't know what to say about Taker/Shane. I feel like they did so much the night Shane came back, that immediately slamming on the brakes has almost killed the interest in the match. Nothing has happened in 3 weeks since, and we still have no idea why it is even happening. I also hate the whole, "nobody tells me what to do" followed by immediately doing what that person told you to do. Sure he went after Vince afterward, but still, this is making Taker look like a shlub.

 
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travdogg said:
I really disagree with that, and don't see why great in-ring work, means you can't have good entertainment value. Its not a one or the other situation.  

Jericho was on point last night, don't know what lil naitch was doing, but Jericho basically saved everyone's butt on that one. Sucks about Neville, hopefully he comes back to 100%, maybe the time out will benefit him, as he's been arguably the most misused NXT call up yet. 
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Charles basically said that he screwed up and didn't recognize that Nevell was injured.  He takes the blame, but was confused at the time of why Jericho was so mad at him.  

 
As a product of my era, as I recently reupped the WWE network, I've been watching chornlogically NWA/WCW Saturday night starting in 1985 and WWF Prime Time Wrestling in 1987. 

Now, I don't know if you can retrain the audience to go back to a more deliberate pace, less high spot oriented, but its really amazing what these guys could do as to a man SEASONED hands to get a reaction back in these days, on both shows.  The style was not high impact, top rope maybe 2 times in a match, a high spot then was a sunset flip and a powerslam and those moves would get nice pops. 

But the structure of the show is what fascinates me.  And they're both dramatically different in setup but both programs treated this as athletic competition that had consequences and guys that wanted to win "to move up the ranks".   It makes it so much easier to book a show, because you can have so many different stories of guys rising and falling.  It also lets the work be more deliberate as you wouldn't necessarily take night in and night out chances.  I don't know if you can ever get that genie back in the bottle though. 

And its two different structures that work. 

WCW featured the match that was set up by or followed up by a promo with the announcers outside of the ring.  I know places like Memphis did this too and other regional, studio taped promotions but its such an easy way to get larger than life characters over.  You have a small straightman announcer in a suit and let wrestlers be wrestlers. 

With the WWF presentation, and this wasn't quite their flagship show, but you again have two trusted credible guys in Monsoon and Heenan who can talk, are engaging and entertaining and can do a great job getting the talent over with their comments.  All Built on chasing titles and rising in the ranks.  And this was a group that had only 3 titles a the time. 

I've pushed her before for a more sports-esque presentation and they have flirted with that since the network with the panels and they did a VERY brief moment of having press conferences in the style you would see in pro sports after.  Maybe thats some modern flourish that could happen.

But it occurs to me taking things more in this direction would not only help guys get over but rest the authority gimmick which is milked dry.  Do an interview at the top of the raw ramp, let these guys have even a minute. 

Im not a NXT viewer, and not really a smackdown one.  I see Sami Zahn debut, everyone kind of raves about him, but I've not heard the guy speak yet.  I see a luke warm lockdown crowd and certainly not a bad worker in the little I've seen but there is nothing that they've done to GET HIM OVER TO A RAW VIEWER.  Let him talk or show me something of him.

My god, even 30 for 30 style docu stuff would get guys over.

But Vince thinks he's Dynasty or Falcon Crest.  And yes, I think thats where Vince's frame of TV reference would be these days. 

 
Smack Tripper said:
As a product of my era, as I recently reupped the WWE network, I've been watching chornlogically NWA/WCW Saturday night starting in 1985 and WWF Prime Time Wrestling in 1987. 

I've pushed her before for a more sports-esque presentation and they have flirted with that since the network with the panels and they did a VERY brief moment of having press conferences in the style you would see in pro sports after.  Maybe thats some modern flourish that could happen.

But it occurs to me taking things more in this direction would not only help guys get over but rest the authority gimmick which is milked dry.  Do an interview at the top of the raw ramp, let these guys have even a minute. 
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I like a lot of this.

NJPW (what they show on AXS) has those post-match comments. Now, granted the Japanese media treats this a little bit more like a real sport than anyone here would, you don't see any mics. It's just a backdrop, a table, and a couple of cameras going. Nothing elaborate - it's basically allowing the wrestler to cut a post-match promo.

WWE used to have Gene Okerlund in that very role you describe; that last little bit of hype before a match, that last second interview with Hogan or whomever to stoke the fire (in the days before excessive pyrotechnics). Remember, he also did those promos for the heels after they'd attacked someone to help solidify their role as the heel in the feud. King Kong Bundy is a heel because he attacked Hogan from behind and threw him through a paper mache wall. :lol:  Those 2-minute promos were gold in terms of their value to the wrestler. LU does something similar with their backstage (yet "unseen" by Vampiro and Stryker) vignettes.

 
Tom Servo said:
I like a lot of this.

NJPW (what they show on AXS) has those post-match comments. Now, granted the Japanese media treats this a little bit more like a real sport than anyone here would, you don't see any mics. It's just a backdrop, a table, and a couple of cameras going. Nothing elaborate - it's basically allowing the wrestler to cut a post-match promo.

WWE used to have Gene Okerlund in that very role you describe; that last little bit of hype before a match, that last second interview with Hogan or whomever to stoke the fire (in the days before excessive pyrotechnics). Remember, he also did those promos for the heels after they'd attacked someone to help solidify their role as the heel in the feud. King Kong Bundy is a heel because he attacked Hogan from behind and threw him through a paper mache wall. :lol:  Those 2-minute promos were gold in terms of their value to the wrestler. LU does something similar with their backstage (yet "unseen" by Vampiro and Stryker) vignettes.
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Yes!  One thing I forgot to add I don't know if it happens in njpw or Lucha but wcw spun a lot of great angles out of having common ground for guys to meet. Wwe now you're booking the mid card by guys bumping into each other back stage 

 
Smack Tripper said:
Yes!  One thing I forgot to add I don't know if it happens in njpw or Lucha but wcw spun a lot of great angles out of having common ground for guys to meet. Wwe now you're booking the mid card by guys bumping into each other back stage 
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I'm not sure for NJPW but for Lucha there's off-camera segments of wrestlers interacting with each other. They're not stilted as WWE - given that the production is done by Robert Ramirez (who does movies) - it gives off a more believable vibe. 

 
They will never do it, because they have to coddle to the wrestler's egos, but I would love to see the WWE bring back the old Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranking system, for at least the top 10. (Or basically like the MMA rankings now). A match between number 7 ranked Ziggler vs number 4 ranked Ambrose suddenly means something. And no one challenges the champion for a title match, only the number one contender gets that match. You could do it for singles, Divas and tag teams. Have a part of the show where you recap the rankings each week.

 
Bogart said:
They will never do it, because they have to coddle to the wrestler's egos, but I would love to see the WWE bring back the old Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranking system, for at least the top 10. (Or basically like the MMA rankings now). A match between number 7 ranked Ziggler vs number 4 ranked Ambrose suddenly means something. And no one challenges the champion for a title match, only the number one contender gets that match. You could do it for singles, Divas and tag teams. Have a part of the show where you recap the rankings each week.
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WWE.com has a power ranking listed each week (as does the Bleacher Report and a few others).  I don't see why they can't implement this to TV.  

 
facook said:
Why isn't Jim Ross announcing WWE still?  Is it just the palsy thing?  Seriously, just listening to him and the King on gifs of old matches gives me a semi. Michael Cole makes me stabby.
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Long story short: He took the fall for Ric Flair being super drunk at a WWE panel.

 
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