The General Wrestling Thread

[Warner2BruceTD]

More from that new Cornette shoot

THIS CLIP IS A THOUSAND STARS SO WATCH IT

[Warner2BruceTD]

Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards won’t be back at the next NXT tapings and aren’t going to be offered a contract. The basic gist of the situation was that HHH didn’t want to sign them after the tryout camp because of their size. The feeling is they are loaded with guys who aren’t big who can go so the mentality is that they are looking for guys who can headline WrestleMania in five or ten years out of these camps. A lot of people went to bat for both of them, feeling they should get a deal and several pushed that they should go directly to the main roster. So HHH agreed to give them a several month tryout period. The problem with that at first is that WWE also didn’t want them on anyone else’s TV past the commitments they already had with ROH until the end of the year. But after the first taping, HHH made the decision not to sign them. There were stories out that it was because in the match with The Ascension, there was a spot where Richards landed on his head, which was an accident. Essentially, when they were working on their match, Viktor picked Richards up without dipping down first. So when they did the match at the tapings, Richards went up, and this time, Viktor dipped and the end result was Viktor lost him and he landed on his head. The ref told them to go home under orders from HHH in the back. They did, but not right away. I don’t know that had anything to do with the decision not to sign them because it would make little sense regarding Edwards who had nothing to do with the spot, and they were not there to be a team as WWE could have picked one and not the other. After seeing their tryout match, I’m at a loss because they are far better than almost everyone in NXT with the noted obvious exceptions like Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville. The other is that even in working as a jobber team, they got over bigger as far as building their match then just about everyone but Zayn has. I get the size and look issues, but to me the litmus test is do they connect and get over with the fans, and there wasn’t even a question about it. I do recognize the issues with Richards but being dropped on his head wasn’t his fault and Edwards isn’t Richards and hasn’t had any issues with any promotions he’s worked for that I’m aware of. On 1/1, Richards, when talking about things he did in the past year, said that he signed a new wrestling contract. He didn’t specify with who.

[s@ppisgod]

Is there even such a thing as "main event size" anymore? Some of the hottest acts are guys who aren't huge. Obviously Punk and Bryan, but Cody Rhodes isn't big. Ambrose isn't big. Rollins isn't big. Ziggler isn't big. Meanwhile, how is Mason Ryan working out? How is Ezekial Jackson working out? How is Ryback working out? What's wrong with having a stacked cupboard of talented guys who make the big guys seem even more larger than life? We only want huge guys right now, knowing our hit rate with them in the past 13 years is total dogshit, over two smaller talented guys who we've constantly underrated and who have mostly surpassed expectations (Mistico not withstanding). There was an excuse to be cavemen 5-10 years ago, now they're just being dicks.

[s@ppisgod]

Jim Cornette is the best kind of angry all the time.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Is there even such a thing as "main event size" anymore? Some of the hottest acts are guys who aren't huge. Obviously Punk and Bryan, but Cody Rhodes isn't big. Ambrose isn't big. Rollins isn't big. Ziggler isn't big. Meanwhile, how is Mason Ryan working out? How is Ezekial Jackson working out? How is Ryback working out? What's wrong with having a stacked cupboard of talented guys who make the big guys seem even more larger than life? We only want huge guys right now, knowing our hit rate with them in the past 13 years is total dogshit, over two smaller talented guys who we've constantly underrated and who have mostly surpassed expectations (Mistico not withstanding). There was an excuse to be cavemen 5-10 years ago, now they're just being dicks.

The Wolves thing played out exactly like I said it would. One person didn't like them, but it's the only opinion that matters. So because everybody else begged him to reconsider, he placated the mob with the "extended tryout". And just like I said would happen, he used any excuse he could to say "see? see? they're no good!", which in this case was Rick Vicktor (who is terrible) dropping Richards on his head.

They never had a chance.

The bit about them connecting with the crowd is amusing, because if last nights RAW showed anything, it's that this company could really use some dudes who connect with the audience.

This guy was in the same tryout camp, btw:

[EmpireWF]

Is that shoot # 123,772 for Cornette?

[s@ppisgod]

I don't "get" Joey Ryan, but I'm probably in the minority.

[Guest]

Is there even such a thing as "main event size" anymore? Some of the hottest acts are guys who aren't huge. Obviously Punk and Bryan, but Cody Rhodes isn't big. Ambrose isn't big. Rollins isn't big. Ziggler isn't big. Meanwhile, how is Mason Ryan working out? How is Ezekial Jackson working out? How is Ryback working out? What's wrong with having a stacked cupboard of talented guys who make the big guys seem even more larger than life? We only want huge guys right now, knowing our hit rate with them in the past 13 years is total dogshit, over two smaller talented guys who we've constantly underrated and who have mostly surpassed expectations (Mistico not withstanding). There was an excuse to be cavemen 5-10 years ago, now they're just being dicks.

And most of those guys with "main event size" are pretty much the drizzling shits in the ring. Kane and Show are the big two that come to mind. Been around for forever, are great enhancement talents, but lets face it, they aren't going to come close to carrying matches.

The inability to adapt would kill any other business, but with WWE having no real competition, they can do what they want.

[JimLeavy59]

The only guy with size and a ounce of charisma in the WWE is Titus O'Neil but he's black.

[EmpireWF]

The only guy with size and a ounce of charisma in the WWE is Titus O'Neil but he's black.

and old

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

and old

Black people don't age.

Titus O'Neil looked exactly the same at UF when he was playing there, SRS.



FWIW, O'Neil has really improved and found his character. PrimeTime Players are not featured nearly enough.

I have no idea how his "Pancake" Patterson gimmick didn't take off. One of the more natural funny things someone in the WWE has done, so it surely flew over all of WWE Corporate's head. It could have been a niche thing to hit the urban audience, but Vince nor Triple H got it, so surely the subtlety hammer stayed in their pocket.

[CrimsonGhost56]

so what is this gigantic, earth-shattering announcement the WWE is teasing for tonight? they are doing some big press conference at 9:30pm

the wwe network thing?

[FedEx227]

WWE Network, yup.

Online-only, app-based.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

WWE Network, yup.

Online-only, app-based.

Pretty awesome.

[BigBiss]

Pretty awesome.

if its like the new UFC stuff it will be pretty cool