The General Wrestling Thread

[EmpireWF]

--On the most recent "Art of War" podcast, Colt Cabana and C.M. Punk did a segment where Punk confirmed that a 3-disc WWE retrospective of his career is in the works and he's in charge of the product, including the music, the matches and who he wants interviewed. He didn't say anything about whether any pre-WWE matches would be allowed to be part of it.

I wonder if it will include HHH talking about him being king of the indies or Tony Atlas telling him to take off the hand wraps. :smug:

 

[s@ppisgod]

Hogan was an international star long before Vince lured him from Gagne. Vince pushed him to another level that I don't think Gagne would have been capable of, because only Vince had designs of going national. With that said, somebody was eventually going to split from the establishment, exploit cable, and make a go of it (Joe Blanchard actually tried it first, as a lot of people forget that he was on USA Network long before WWF).

Vince had no faith in Austin, to the point they hated his promos so much that they wouldn't let him talk. Austin largely made his own break by creating the Stone Cold character (basically because the office didn't care because he was just a mid carder), and cutting the 3:16 promo. But if you remember, it still took months for them to get behind him. Eventually, they had no choice, he got over on his own.

I will give them credit for The Rock, who they found (well, he came to them) and developed, but even with The Rock they misread the fans and tried to push him as a smiling cornball babyface. If he hadn't been persistent, he might have quit (think: Maven, Lashley for examples).

All of that is true. Hogan was a star, and all Vince really gave him was a larger platform.

Austin was a crazy story. If WCW had any sense at all, they could have made him into a main eventer. The talk about how short the Hollywood Blondes run was, and yet how popular they got and how remembered they are is a testament to how talented they were. Then 4 short years later, they're closing out Raw in one of the most remembered angles ever. If WCW's top talent was willing to put anyone over, he could have been a main eventer. If ECW had any type of real financial backing, he could have become a big thing there. Or if they had realized how they work, and not featured him so prominently, they could have kept him longer. Then he FINALLY ends up falling in the WWF's lap, and they STILL almost fumble the whole thing away with the Million Dollar Belt and a god-awful gimmick. Then he makes himself a star, and they reap all the benefits.

The Rock I agree again. They gave him a big initial push, despite him not really having any gimmick or direction. It eventually went south, but they struc while the iron was hot with a heel turn. His charisma put him well over the top, which I don't think the WWF really had much to do with. But they played it smart with him. It wasn't something where they basically gave up on him ala Stone Cold. They worked around the crowd reaction, and he became a star. That's hardly ever as easy as it seems, so they deserve credit there.

As for Tyson, I don't think he was really a risk. I mean, it was Tyson in the 90's. Who cares how much money they spent? They were still in questionable waters, but you can't really change the tide of business playing it safe. Tyson was WELL worth the investment in making the WWF a mainstream name again and getting all the media coverage that comes along with Tyson in a wrestling ring. I mean, it's simple risk/reward. Best case scenario: Tyson comes in, does what he's told, carries out a storyline, and brings big press to the main event. Worst case scenario: Tyson goes Tyson and fucks up the deal with some insane stunt or action or says something crazy. And then you get ungodly amounts of press and buzz. It's win-win. It's the same as if you brought Charlie Sheen in last year. Either it goes off without a hitch and brings a lot of buzz or it goes terribly bad and it brings a lot of buzz.

 

[s@ppisgod]

I can definitely see McMahon having no idea he was calling himself "#HEEL" for weeks...then one day, he's in the gorilla position and he just happens to be watching this match and catches a glace at his tights.

Three weeks later, he catches Ziggler walking around backstage calls him over...

"Does that say HEEL on your tights?"
"Yeah."
"We got to get rid of that."
"Vince, I've been using these tights for the past month and a half...hell, my Twitter name is HEELZiggler...I thought it'd be cool since I'm always a bad guy and all"
"We got to get rid of that...why don't you try 'THE SHOW MAN!!'"
"Vince, that's awful."

You really expect me to believe Vince went something like a month without looking at Ziggler's ass? I understand he's less involved these days, but come on. Next you'll be telling me he went 2 months without longingly gazing at Dave Batista's package in 2007. That dog won't hunt, monsignor.

 

[SHOGUN]

:jonesy: @ what just happened on IMPACT.

The crowd gave the hometown kid Haskins no love when he faced Austin Aries. It was nothing but Aries chants the entire match. Then Haskins completely botched the Shooting Star Press, almost breaking his neck a la Brock Lesnar and knocking himself silly.

TNA actually feels like a legitimate wrestling company tonight. The Wembly Arena crowd is rocking and has a PPV feel to it.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

:jonesy: @ what just happened on IMPACT.

The crowd gave the hometown kid Haskins no love when he faced Austin Aries. It was nothing but Aries chants the entire match. Then Haskins completely botched the Shooting Star Press, almost breaking his neck a la Brock Lesnar and knocking himself silly.

TNA actually feels like a legitimate wrestling company tonight. The Wembly Arena crowd is rocking and has a PPV feel to it.

Was Haskins the guy who bombed on the PPV a few months back against Doug Williams? Or was that Robbie Brookside?

 

[SHOGUN]

Was Haskins the guy who bombed on the PPV a few months back against Doug Williams? Or was that Robbie Brookside?

Yup, that was him.

 

[Derrville]

Awesome Impact tonight.

 

[IamMedellin]

Hulk Hogan Lulz

Can anyone name me one single person on this earth who tells more tall tales than Hulk Hogan? ANYONE? Hogan’s latest is that before he broke into wrestling, he was a bass player in a band which is a true story. What people do not know is that he was approached by Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and asked to be the bass player for Metallica but he declined. He said this. In another doozy, he claimed that he was originally contacted on three separate occasions to play the lead role in the Academy Award nominated movie the Wrestler but he turned down director Darren Aronofsky due to the fact that it was such a great script and he felt the movie would get unfair criticism since critics do not like him personally. WOW.

 

[JayDizzle]

Hogan is KING BULLSHITTER... but I'd still love to pick his brain before he goes senile.

As for IMPACT, Bully Ray may be an asshole in real life but the gimmick of "The Largest Calves in the World" is gold through him.

Also, Haskins shouldn't be building the same ring Aries wrestles in, let alone fight him in it...

 

[JayDizzle]

Watch while you can

EDIT: Link to Botchmania 200 with Steen intro

 

[SHOGUN]

Bully Ray has been on fire since he went solo. I actually look forward to his segments.

 

[s@ppisgod]

Bully Ray is great. A lot of it is just him having ridiculously good mic skills. But I think what's lost nowadays is the straight up and down asshole heel. I mean, in an age where everyone is either a monster heel or a subtle or condescending heel or a cool heel, no one seems to want to be the guy that people want to reach through the TV screen and slap around. That was something that wasn't in short supply when I was growing up, but none of the big boys seem to want to do it anymore. WWE's heels are all canned. Henry is a monster. Kane is a monster (though technically a tweener because he's giving face Cena advice and he brought fire back from his trip to hell to share with everybody). Miz is a chickenshit heel/3rd rate serious Jericho. Jericho isn't even a heel yet. Barrett is a smarmy heel. Dolph is a cocky heel. None of these losers could/would pick a fight with an old lady. Where as I could easily see Bully Ray doing that as a hobby in his down time. Call me old fashioned when it comes to heels, but that's downright endearing...

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Bubba is just a natural NY ass hole. One of the greatest instigators on the mic in wrestling history.

Bubba would have smart marks at the ECW arena wanting to whoop his ass at house shows after he'd go all-in on them on the mic...he's just a NY ass hole.

He's bad in the ring, but he's always good as a character, either in a team or as a singles guy, just as long as you let him be his natural NY ass hole self.

 

[SHOGUN]

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="360" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xocu7i_03-kanemaru-genba-vs-the-bravado-brothers-noah-01-29-12_sport"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xocu7i_03-kanemaru-genba-vs-the-bravado-brothers-noah-01-29-12_sport" target="_blank">03. Kanemaru & Genba vs The Bravado Brothers -...</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/SenorLARIATO" target="_blank">SenorLARIATO</a></i>​

W2B and I talked about this in the CB earlier, but The Bravado Bandwagon not off to a hot start in NOAH. They look really off compared to their ROH work for some reason. I think they'll adapt sooner or later.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="360" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xocu7i_03-kanemaru-genba-vs-the-bravado-brothers-noah-01-29-12_sport"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xocu7i_03-kanemaru-genba-vs-the-bravado-brothers-noah-01-29-12_sport" target="_blank">03. Kanemaru & Genba vs The Bravado Brothers -...</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/SenorLARIATO" target="_blank">SenorLARIATO</a></i>​

W2B and I talked about this in the CB earlier, but The Bravado Bandwagon not off to a hot start in NOAH. They look really off compared to their ROH work for some reason. I think they'll adapt sooner or later.

Thanks for this.

I believe this is from the 1/21 show. This is the one show from the tour that I hadn't downloaded, because I hate that depressing building that they run when they do this particular spot show.

This is the only televised tag they did on the tour to my knowledge, and it was significantly better than the singles matches that I watched (yes, I realize it's clipped, but still). Maybe they just seem lost when they aren't working together. Who knows.

Anyway, working this tour will only make them better.

 

[krulmichael]

The admission of trolling by Y2J. This feud with Punk is going to be epic...stealing the show at WM.

 

[EmpireWF]

Well looks like R Truth got a concussion because Miz failed to catch him. :smh:

 

[krulmichael]

Well looks like R Truth got a concussion because Miz failed to catch him. :smh:

Yep. Wonder who they replace him with.

 

[JayDizzle]

Looks like light work for Killings the next 2 weeks while Miz continues his descent back to the Mid-card then.

It's shitty but who else can they swap in if Miz gets punished and Killings can't go?

Maybe Henry unless he's still legit hurt?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Henry is legit hurt.