The General Wrestling Thread

[Warner2BruceTD]

While not on the same level it would have that Hogan/Rock factor where the match really sucked, but the crowd was so into it it really didn't matter.

I'd imagine it'd be the same thing with Sting/Taker. They'd brawl, have a bunch of standoffs, slowly paced, but the crowd would be hot so who would care? The second Sting hits a Stinger Splash the roof would blow off that place.

Yup.

Long staredown, a few well paced highspots, a few 2.9 kickouts, and off the fucking charts heat. It would come off well.

 

[dave]

The buzz surrounding Sting should light a fire under Vince's ass to sign him up. Sting/Taker would have blown the doors off of the last few Manias. I havent seen people that excited for a potential match in a long, long time.

You couldnt pay me to buy WWE PPV's, but even I would have paid to see Mania for the first time since the 90's. That match would have been quite the spectacle.

It would even be better if Sting came out looking like late 80s Sting, cropped hair, bleach blonde ... no brooding.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

It would even be better if Sting came out looking like late 80s Sting, cropped hair, bleach blonde ... no brooding.

The only problem with that, is half the WWE Universe has no clue that this version of Sting even exists. He last rocked the blonde, what, almost 15 years ago?

Plus, it kills the whole idea of wierd dark guy vs weird dark guy.

At least the rumors gave us that fucking great (fake) WM poster. That thing was tremendous.

 

[dave]

The only problem with that, is half the WWE Universe has no clue that this version of Sting even exists. He last rocked the blonde, what, almost 15 years ago?

Plus, it kills the whole idea of wierd dark guy vs weird dark guy.

At least the rumors gave us that fucking great (fake) WM poster. That thing was tremendous.

That poster was good.
And IMO the late 80s Sting was, by far, the best Sting.
The Sting vs. NWO Sting sucked.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I think the worst Sting is "TNA crow Sting who cuts all of his promos in street clothes with no makeup while wearing sunglasses, looking like the guy that lives down the street with the hot wife and two kids who never age that have been 10 & 12 forever, but then when he wrestles he's back to being all dark and brooding with his softball bat".

I just don't get it.

 

[dave]

I think the worst Sting is "TNA crow Sting who cuts all of his promos in street clothes with no makeup while wearing sunglasses, looking like the guy that lives down the street with the hot wife and two kids who never age that have been 10 & 12 forever, but then when he wrestles he's back to being all dark and brooding with his softball bat".

I just don't get it.

I never watch TNA.
I see TNA as WCW-lite with the matches held in an Alzheimer's ward.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I never watch TNA.
I see TNA as WCW-lite with the matches held in an Alzheimer's ward.

and you would be right

 

[Cody]

Didn't catch Raw this monday, but it's nice to see Vince return.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

A few things...

-MVP will be part of the New Japan U.S. tour.

-RAW sucked

-Dragon Gate USA iPPV's each did 500 buys, with only three days to promote the shows. That's almost $7,000 in revenue generated by making the last minute decision to go PPV.

 

[JayDizzle]

Watching a repeat of WWE Superstars...

Josh Matthews is decent as always but I've never heard of this Scott Stanford dude.

...sounds like if you took a dude from a baseball commentator team and told him to do a wrestling broadcast.

 

[EmpireWF]

Watching a repeat of WWE Superstars...

Josh Matthews is decent as always but I've never heard of this Scott Stanford dude.

...sounds like if you took a dude from a baseball commentator team and told him to do a wrestling broadcast.

Stanford is a local NBC sports reporter who WWE hired a while back. Didn't know they had him doing actual commentary.

 

[JayDizzle]

Stanford is a local NBC sports reporter who WWE hired a while back. Didn't know they had him doing actual commentary.

What's great about it is there's no face/heel overtone in his voice.

He's just a dude calling a match, making references and asking questions for his broadcast partner.

No handing chairs to wrestlers, no costing people title matches... just calling what's on the monitor.

 

[dave]

What's great about it is there's no face/heel overtone in his voice.

He's just a dude calling a match, making references and asking questions for his broadcast partner.

No handing chairs to wrestlers, no costing people title matches... just calling what's on the monitor.

I don't know why people are dogging Michael Cole. He's been fucking hilarious throughout this storyline.
I loved at the Rumble when Lawler asked him if The Miz had a weakness and Cole answered "his kindness."
I literally fell off my couch laughing.
Cole is doing what he's asked to do. And him consistently calling Bryan Danielson a nerd is so stupid, it's funny.

How is Cole any different than Danny Davis the referee in the 80s.

It is still entertainment.

I think Cole is doing a good job in this storyline ... and I like how The Miz pretty much disregards him.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I don't know why people are dogging Michael Cole. He's been fucking hilarious throughout this storyline.
I loved at the Rumble when Lawler asked him if The Miz had a weakness and Cole answered "his kindness."
I literally fell off my couch laughing.
Cole is doing what he's asked to do. And him consistently calling Bryan Danielson a nerd is so stupid, it's funny.

How is Cole any different than Danny Davis the referee in the 80s.

It is still entertainment.

I think Cole is doing a good job in this storyline ... and I like how The Miz pretty much disregards him.

While Cole may be entertaining, the primary job of the lead announcer of a wrestling show is to get the storylines over, and ultimately sell the product. The viewers have to be able to "trust" what the announcer is saying, in order for the announcer to truly get the storylines over and sell PPV's/tickets/merch/whatever.

A heel lead announcer is counter productive in this regard. By Cole playing a heel role and ripping on the babyfaces, he fails to get the babyfaces over. Cole putting over The Miz makes fans think The Miz is just a geek like Cole.

Eventually, Cole will either wrestle Lawler, or be involved in a PPV match of some type as a ref or manager. Otherwise, what is the point? And after the angle plays itself out and runs it's course, what do they do then? They will have boxed themselves into a corner. Cole can not go back into normal babyface announcer mode, because people will be confused and not believe him when he tries to put over the babyfaces.

It's a fucking mess. The only way this works, is if Cole stays a heel, and they have a new babyface announcer waiting to take over. Which they don't, because they don;t think that far ahead in 2011.

 

[dave]

While Cole may be entertaining, the primary job of the lead announcer of a wrestling show is to get the storylines over, and ultimately sell the product. The viewers have to be able to "trust" what the announcer is saying, in order for the announcer to truly get the storylines over and sell PPV's/tickets/merch/whatever.

A heel lead announcer is counter productive in this regard. By Cole playing a heel role and ripping on the babyfaces, he fails to get the babyfaces over. Cole putting over The Miz makes fans think The Miz is just a geek like Cole.

Eventually, Cole will either wrestle Lawler, or be involved in a PPV match of some type as a ref or manager. Otherwise, what is the point? And after the angle plays itself out and runs it's course, what do they do then? They will have boxed themselves into a corner. Cole can not go back into normal babyface announcer mode, because people will be confused and not believe him when he tries to put over the babyfaces.

It's a fucking mess. The only way this works, is if Cole stays a heel, and they have a new babyface announcer waiting to take over. Which they don't, because they don;t think that far ahead in 2011.

I won't pretend to be as big a pro wrestling fan as you Warner ... but I have been a fan for way too damn long. I guess I just don't take it that seriously.
I don't expect announcers to be objective or professional.
Back to the days when Jesse Ventura was cheering for bad guys, I always considered announcers and colour guys part of the entertainment.
The WWE has just reversed it - Lawler is the good guy, Cole the bad guy.
And today's product is so different from the 80s when there were so fewer PPVs and main event matches.
Personally, as you already know, I preferred the days of 4 PPVs a year and squash matches on Saturday mornings (or Saturday night on TBS).

WWE does everything in its power to keep people from actually buying PPVs.

It's sad that the two biggest heat drawers in the WWE are Cole and Vickie Guerrero.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I won't pretend to be as big a pro wrestling fan as you Warner ... but I have been a fan for way too damn long. I guess I just don't take it that seriously.
I don't expect announcers to be objective or professional.
Back to the days when Jesse Ventura was cheering for bad guys, I always considered announcers and colour guys part of the entertainment.
The WWE has just reversed it - Lawler is the good guy, Cole the bad guy.
And today's product is so different from the 80s when there were so fewer PPVs and main event matches.
Personally, as you already know, I preferred the days of 4 PPVs a year and squash matches on Saturday mornings (or Saturday night on TBS).

WWE does everything in its power to keep people from actually buying PPVs.

It's sad that the two biggest heat drawers in the WWE are Cole and Vickie Guerrero.

I'm not saying that the Cole gimmick isnt working (for now). What i'm saying, is what is the exit strategy? I'm not sure they have one. Can the heel lead announcer work long term? It's never been tried, but i'd lead towards no.

 

[dave]

I'm not saying that the Cole gimmick isnt working (for now). What i'm saying, is what is the exit strategy? I'm not sure they have one. Can the heel lead announcer work long term? It's never been tried, but i'd lead towards no.

Meh.
Randy Orton punted a woman in the head (Stephanie McMahon) and now little kids love him.
Wrestling fans have the memory of an elephant ... not you, just most.

Oh wait, there's my elephant memory ... he just kissed her after punting her husband.

 

[EmpireWF]

I don't know why people are dogging Michael Cole. He's been fucking hilarious throughout this storyline.
I loved at the Rumble when Lawler asked him if The Miz had a weakness and Cole answered "his kindness."
I literally fell off my couch laughing.
Cole is doing what he's asked to do. And him consistently calling Bryan Danielson a nerd is so stupid, it's funny.

How is Cole any different than Danny Davis the referee in the 80s.

It is still entertainment.

I think Cole is doing a good job in this storyline ... and I like how The Miz pretty much disregards him.

Cole is doing a good job of being a complete dick and getting over by saying so many obnoxious things.

However, it's stupid in the big picture because what does it accomplish? While Cole is being an uberheel, he's also asked to get over all the other storylines on the show. Obviously, his credibility is shot because of his angle.

The end game we all assume is him getting his ass kicked by Lawler at Wrestlemania.

Then what?

The night after, he'll still be there calling the show beside Lawler and we'll still have to take Cole seriously (although it's impossible) when he's selling us the rest of the show.

 

[dave]

Cole is doing a good job of being a complete dick and getting over by saying so many obnoxious things.

However, it's stupid in the big picture because what does it accomplish? While Cole is being an uberheel, he's also asked to get over all the other storylines on the show. Obviously, his credibility is shot because of his angle.

The end game we all assume is him getting his ass kicked by Lawler at Wrestlemania.

Then what?

The night after, he'll still be there calling the show beside Lawler and we'll still have to take Cole seriously (although it's impossible) when he's selling us the rest of the show.

In a year, most people will forget Cole was ever a heel.
And, frankly, it's not like anyone liked Cole anyway.

 

[EmpireWF]

Is anyone else as bored of Randy Orton as I am?

Everything he does makes me yawn. His stupid shtick of moving slowly, slapping the mat, his monotone style on the mic...unfortunately, we'll see him beat Punk at Mania...

on the bright side, Punk's promos should be fun and in the end, it is a fresh match-up.