The General Wrestling Thread

[JimLeavy59]

Vince has such a bad track record of guys he likes to peg as "the next top guy".

 

[EmpireWF]

Then his wife ruined it for him.

 

[SuperKevin]

Drew McIntyre's ex wife is super hot. She's the female ref on TNA

 

[JimLeavy59]

I think Sandow has #1 heel written all over him.

 

[SuperKevin]

I think Sandow has #1 heel written all over him.

I think he peaks at upper midcard though.

 

[JimLeavy59]

I think he peaks at upper midcard though.

I think it all depends on if his character can evolve into something more.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Vince has such a bad track record of guys he likes to peg as "the next top guy".

Outside of Hogan, he's really really bad at giving a guy the ball...perhaps The Rock, but Rock was a Jim Ross guy. Otherwise, all of his top guys are his reluctant choices otherwise.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I think it all depends on if his character can evolve into something more.

"something more" in the WWE Universe always devolves back to the being generic.

What separates Sandow right now is that he doesn't need to evolve toward anything right now, his character is essentially made already...he doesn't have to change. He just needs some feuds with substance in the mid-card to just naturally elevate the guy.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Any thoughts on having that second ref step in and call the match a no-contest due to the ref interference? That way, you have Punk retain, Ryback still gets his revenge on top the Cell and the streak is still going.

 

[EmpireWF]

I think Sandow has #1 heel written all over him.

Not in WWE.

 

[SuperKevin]

I wonder what Hurricane Sandy references RAW will give us tonight

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Outside of Hogan, he's really really bad at giving a guy the ball...perhaps The Rock, but Rock was a Jim Ross guy. Otherwise, all of his top guys are his reluctant choices otherwise.

And lets face it, Hogan was already arguably the biggest star in the business before Vince raided him away. And The Rock was pegged for superstardom before his first match in Memphis. Vince actually botched him at first with the white bread babyface gimmick that flopped.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

And lets face it, Hogan was already arguably the biggest star in the business before Vince raided him away. And The Rock was pegged for superstardom before his first match in Memphis. Vince actually botched him at first with the white bread babyface gimmick that flopped.

Hogan was probably second to Andre, but I totally agree...Hogan was almost pre-made before he went to Vince.

The Rock was a Jim Ross guy, Jim Ross was the catalyst behind a lot of the early attitude era talent...the WCW guys like Austin and Mick as well as the young talent like Rocky.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Gonna watch the final night of King of Trios, If the WWE wants to do goofy childish shit why don't they just sign some of the Chikara talent?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Gonna watch the final night of King of Trios, If the WWE wants to do goofy childish shit why don't they just sign some of the Chikara talent?

Those characters wouldn't work in WWE, because they would find away to destroy the charm.

CHIKARA is part live action comic book, part tongue in cheek fun. There is a certain charm about CHIKARA that can't be explained. Some of the shit they do is absurd, but it works in their universe. It's just...fun.

The problem with the WWE, is there is no subtlety to anything they do. AJ has to tilt her head every three seconds, because that's what she does. Daniel Bryan has done a good job being a crazy guy, so they make him over the top bat shit insane. Santino showed great comic timing, so they essentially turned him into a fucking court jester. There is no charm. Everything they do is so over the top and in your face that it becomes annoying and abrasive.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I've come to the conclusion that the idea of "drawing" and being a "draw" is absolutely irrelevant, not only in this era of wrestling, but has been a dead term since at the very latest, early 90's.

Once wrestling went national, the idea of drawing power died. The industry has essentially become one that rides with its own ebb and flow and it has mattered not who is at the top of the national wrestling scene, the national wrestling scene has its peaks and valleys and thats pretty much that.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

There are still people who can move the needle, and show to show there are guys or angles that can make a 10% difference or whatever, but yes, from a wider lens it is the WWE brand that draws now, not an individual. It's more about the story & the build these days. A good story can still uptick business and a big star like Lesnar or The Rock can bring in more business.

Remember when the national companies would stress over title changes, because they would be scared shitless of picking the wrong guy who might not draw on the road? Shit, not even just the world champ, things like the tag team titles mattered too, because those guys would headline the B or C tour.

Now title changes are done on a whim and who is champion matters zero.

 

[EmpireWF]

Edge was finally seen as a star by management only because ratings improved during his first, short stint the gold.

 

[BigBiss]

I've come to the conclusion that the idea of "drawing" and being a "draw" is absolutely irrelevant, not only in this era of wrestling, but has been a dead term since at the very latest, early 90's.

Once wrestling went national, the idea of drawing power died. The industry has essentially become one that rides with its own ebb and flow and it has mattered not who is at the top of the national wrestling scene, the national wrestling scene has its peaks and valleys and thats pretty much that.

I can tell you at its base form you can fell a difference between having a draw on top and not, some guys draw some guys dont, some booking draws some dont. WWE has just built up enough die hards its not going to effect there raw rating or ppv buy rates too much either way.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

There are still people who can move the needle, and show to show there are guys or angles that can make a 10% difference or whatever, but yes, from a wider lens it is the WWE brand that draws now, not an individual. It's more about the story & the build these days. A good story can still uptick business and a big star like Lesnar or The Rock can bring in more business.

Remember when the national companies would stress over title changes, because they would be scared shitless of picking the wrong guy who might not draw on the road? Shit, not even just the world champ, things like the tag team titles mattered too, because those guys would headline the B or C tour.

Now title changes are done on a whim and who is champion matters zero.

Moving a needle isn't really "drawing" though...getting a one or two week pop in ratings that doesn't even venture outside of your standard deviation isn't really drawing, IMO. It isn't even a "draw" if they pop a buy rate that isn't outside of their standard deviation (Rock, nor Lesnar popped a rate that was outside of a normal standard deviation...before Rock-Cena...Cena-Michaels popped the highest buyrate at WrestleMania. Plus, the way they promote their business at this point isn't an individual effort, its a group effort...there was essentially three main events at the last WrestleMania. They can give credit to Rocky for popping the buyrate all they want, but we're civilized folks and that conclusion doesn't really hold up, IMO.

The WWE specifically, has made itself into the NFL but with a much smaller audience. It doesn't matter if Tom Brady or Peyton Manning are playing...

Even looking back to say, the Monday Night Wars era...everyone says Austin was the biggest draw and star...and to a point, I don't doubt that, but...how is it possible to quantify his drawing power when that era had a record setting number of guys at the top? The WWE had Austin, Rock, HHH, Mick Foley...on the WCW it was Hogan, Nash, Piper, DDP, Goldberg...was a monster period of buyrates and ratings that held up over the long term...but, Austin gets the credit for being the biggest draw...something doesn't compute.