The General Wrestling Thread

[Warner2BruceTD]

You can just use the spoiler button.

But yeah, Nigel is telling people he was sitting home for the last month, waiting for the contract to arrive, and it never did. So he signed with TNA instead. Gotta pay bills.

The downside: It's TNA, so he'll be booked to death like everyone else.

The upside: It's TNA, so nobody watches anyway.

The downside: His rumored name willl be Dylan Wolfe.

Dylan Wolfe?

Nigel McGuinness was a KICK ASS name that fit him like a glove. I know they strive to be the WWE in every way, and one of those ways is copywriting names, but they could have just called him "Nigel".

[Warner2BruceTD]

Haha, it's not Dylan Wolfe. It's actually worse.

Desmond Hawk.

TNA is truly awful.

EDIT: He's facing Kurt Angle at Turning Point, so I would say it's a dream match, but "Desmond Hawk" vs. anyone can't be a dream match.

[Bigpapa42]

The fact that he's going in a big feud right away gives me hope. The bad name (every different version I've read so far is terrible) and the basic fact its TNA makes me have less hope. Even if they make him a main eventer, I still think there are more interesting feuds in the WWE for him.

[Warner2BruceTD]

The fact that he's going in a big feud right away gives me hope. The bad name (every different version I've read so far is terrible) and the basic fact its TNA makes me have less hope. Even if they make him a main eventer, I still think there are more interesting feuds in the WWE for him.

Just the fact TNA had no interest in him for the last 5 years, when it was no secret he would have gone, yet all of a sudden they scoop him up when WWE drops the ball, reeks of their typical inferiority complex and desperation.

Now the .001 percent of the audience that knows the inside story will turn on Impact next week to see his debut. That's great and all, but TNA always over rates this stuff. They think they stole Nigel McGuinness, but in reality, they got a second hand "Desmond Hawk".

[dave]

TNA changing his name is so stupid.
They should let guys like this keep their name.
Scotty Goldman Jr. ... here we come!!!

[BigBiss]

So how bad will they rape Dragons name

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Desmond Hawk? Are you fucking serious?

This is why I don't watch wrestling anymore...lame ass generic names for the motherfuckin loss.

Nigel is boss, but who gives a fuck about Desmond Parks and why is this schlep fighting Angle as soon as he shows up?

Turrible.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

So how bad will they rape Dragons name

He'll be Travis Smiley with a Diamond Dallas Page Infomercial gimmick, bank on it.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

What did i miss?

[Warner2BruceTD]

As we all give TNA shit for the goofy name, in actuality, might have been Nigel's decision to change it.

Nigel McGuinness is a gimmick name, and TNA insists on owning the rights of gimmick names. This is why Austin Aries told them to fuck off and went with the "Austin Starr" gimmick. Since Nigel obviously used the name before he signed with TNA, he could continue to use it if/when he left, so they probably offered to "buy" it from him to ensure they owned the rights. He probably said no, and opted for the switch, similar to Aries.

Then you have guys like Shawn Davairi & (I think) Elijah Burke, who use their birthnames, but TNA gave them gimmick names so they could own the intellectualy property. So you get shit like Pope D'Angelo Pimp or whatever the hell call Burke, and Col. Mustafa or whatever they call the former Davari.

I'm very curious what will happen with Bryan Danielson, no matter where he lands, because this is a guy who has been the premier indy wrestler of the decade, and a guy who has a decent sized (albeit probably meaningless in the grand scheme) built in base of fans.

How CM Punk survived this and kept his name is mystery to everyone.

But then again, if you look at WWE main eventers, most have rights to their own names.

-CM Punk used the name before WWE and thus owns the usage
-John Cena, birth name
-Batista's birth name is Dave Bautista, so it's so close no one would notice
-Randy Orton, birth name
-Rey Misterio owns the name/gimmick
-Shawn Michaels used the name before WWE and thus owns the usage
-Matt & Jeff Hardy, birth names, and have worked other orgs with them
-Christian can use the name, as long as he adds the "Cage" because he was Christian Cage during his indy days

These guys would be fucked, but most will never leave for obvious reason:

-HHH
-Undertaker
-Edge

[Warner2BruceTD]

More on Nigel...

He apparently failed a physical, or something along those lines, due to his assortment of injuries that he never let heal properly over the last few years. So the WWE pulled back the contract offer, and Vince Russo pushed for TNA to bring him in.

Bryan Danielson is all clear, signed his contract, and is expected to start with WWE any day now. He is expected to go directly to the main roster, and for his sake, I hope to God it's ECW.

[BazookaJoe5]

ECW is already the best wrestling on TV, that would make it even better. I've never even seen the guy wrestle so I'm excited to see him. SD! might be "ok" for him too, just as long as he doesn't go to Raw...that'd be worst case scenario. Though I can see Hunter getting Vince to put the worlds best wrestler on his show so he can bury him.

[Warner2BruceTD]

ECW is already the best wrestling on TV, that would make it even better. I've never even seen the guy wrestle so I'm excited to see him. SD! might be "ok" for him too, just as long as he doesn't go to Raw...that'd be worst case scenario. Though I can see Hunter getting Vince to put the worlds best wrestler on his show so he can bury him.

Going to ECW first definately benefitted CM Punk, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, Hart Dynasty, and others. It's also where Miz & Morrison grew as performers. It allows these guys to be built up the right way...vs. jobbers, then get wins over mid carders, then work in top of the card matches for the ECW title & such. If you dont get over, its because you don't deserve to get over, like Chris Harris or DJ Gabriel.

RAW is a death sentance where nobody ever gets a real push, and it's the more entertainment based show. You are swimming with sharks on the show, with the likes of HHH, HBK, Orton, etc killing careers left & right.

SD has a good mix of talent, and Michael Hayes does a good job with the booking, but its on a dead network.

As i've said before, Danielson will have to drastically change up what he does to make this work. He's the best "long match" worker of this era, but he has to be able to adjust to 5-12 minute matches. He's really, really good, but it will be hard for this generic looking, pasty, normal looking white dude to get over to fans conditioned to only accept super hero looking steroid freaks as stars. He has charisma, but it's the type of charisma that comes through his work, similar to Chris Benoit or Ricky Steamboat (before he roided up). He wouldnt even stand out at your company christmas party, let alone in a locker room next to Batista or John Morrison.

[Epidemik]

Interesting WCW EPIC FAIL tid bits

- WCW kept Scott Hall employed despite missing a Nitro before a PPV main event he was to feature in, causing havoc on a flight to Berlin and missing the flight back... and despite threatening to hit Terry Taylor with a guitar. They felt he was too valuable as a witness in their copyright infringement battle with WWE to allow him to leave.

- WCW gave up on keeping Scott Hall sober so told him to "pretend" to be drunk during promos. His pretending of course involved a lot of alcohol consumption and some ridiculous remarks including shouting out "Giant...that's your cue!"

- Scott Hall came out of a stint in rehab and returned along with Kevin Nash (who just a few months earlier had "retired forever"). Hall made comments saying Kevin Nash "was working a fake retirement" and would be back "when wrestling was fun again." Okerlund tried to tell Hall it was fun now.....Hall's retort - "You must've not been in the dressing room lately."

[Epidemik]

Found some more

- Chris Benoit left the company as WCW champion. He offered to lose the title to whoever they wanted but was told instead to just leave. Those backstage who questioned the move were told that Benoit was a vanilla midget who would never draw. Guerrero, Malenko and Saturn were all granted unconditional releases as well. Despite being mid-carders most of their WCW careers, their RAW debut drew a 6.59 rating to Nitro's 2.79. The peak of RAW's ratings was during the main event, featuring - you guessed it - Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero and Saturn, AKA The "Vanilla Midgets." Their match drew a rating of 8.1.

- Vince Russo's second show in charge featured Bret running in on a Juventud Guerrera/Psychosis match. Neither were told Bret was running in and nobody to this day knows quite why he ran in.

- WCW spent weeks hyping the debut of "The Machine." He wrestled DDP, lost and was never seen again.