The General Wrestling Thread

[dave]

This angle is dead, finished, over, killed, done.

I shouldn't be surprised that they blew it, because they drop the ball on anything that is gift wrapped and easy to book.

-WCW invasion
Agree completely. I think they should have kept WCW a separate brand for a while and just put it on Smackdown.

-ECW revival
There was a market for this, but McMahon didn't understand that market. He could have easily had a solid minor league talent feeder here and made money.

-NWO return
IMO, this was ruined by Hulk's WM match with The Rock. I don't really blame this one on Vince, Hulk's fans wanted him back, Scott Hall was deteriorating and Kevin Nash was old.

-Goldberg
Not sure how Vince could have done with Goldberg. I get the impression Goldberg was simply in it for the pay check at this point.

-Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan
This angers me to this day. Could have been the event of the century (frankly as big as Andre-Hogan), and Vince destroyed it. I loved how WCW tried to re-create it a few years later ... and failed big time.

-Summer of Punk II
Just came back waaaaaaayyyy too early ... and they're letting HHH be his equal on the mic, which is stupid. Everyone is coming off as a face here - Cena, HHH and Punk. That never works.


All paint-by-numbers, million dollar angles HANDED TO THEM ON A SILVER PLATTER, all blown to varying degrees because they tried to get too cute and put their personal stamp on every single one.

-WCW, booked to look like geeks, dominted by WWE side at every turn, burned through months of storylines in ONE NIGHT at the RAW where the "merged" with ECW. Oh, and Stephanie McMahon was involved, killing it for the demo the needed to capture to make it work. FAIL.

-ECW, monster DVD sales, monster PPV burate, ZERO follow up for nearly ONE YEAR because they did not want to admit the success. Then Vince declared that "only 1,000 east coast fans care about the old ECW", choosing to ignore that waaaay more than 1,000 people bought the DVD and the PPV. FAIL.

-NWO, no edge and booked in goofy storylines like hitting The Rock with a truck. FAIL.

-Goldberg, all they had to do was repeat the winning streak and leave him alone. The people wanted it. Instead, they changed his music, changed his tights, and had him doing comedy skits with Goldust on his first night. How the hell do you whiff on GOLDBERG? FAIL.

-Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan, the most anticipated match possibly ever. Easy to book, just have the heel Flair talk shit about Hogan until WrestleMania, keep them apart until then, and boom, one million buys minimum. Nope. Wrestled every night on a house show loop, killing the novelty of the first match. Flair's character WWE-ized by dropping the trash talking playboy act, and turning up the volume on the insane wildman act all the way up. Flair, imo, never recovered from this and was never the same.

-Summer of Punk II, another layup, just keep the guy away for a couple of months, let him do more "shoots" at random indy shows and public appearances, and have him tell the world that he is showing up at SummerSlam. NEVER MENTION HIS NAME ON TV. It's 2011, viral marketing does the work for you, especially for the hardcores who fell for the gimmick hook, line, and sinker. Instead, they keep him away ONE FUCKING WEEK, and all of the edge and "coolness" of the angle is sucked away when he walks out on RAW 8 days after MITB. Innovative, cutting edge angle dead, same old boring uninteresting shit alive and well. Punk went from breaking through to pop culture to latest McMahon family TV foil. It's over.

What connects it all? None of these things were created by Vince, so in his mind, they can't possibly be good ideas or work unless they manipulate them. What connects and doesnt connect with the audience is subtle. Ringmaster fails, Stone Cold is the biggest star ever. Tom Magee fails, Hogan is an icon. You change the dynamic, ever so slightly, you yield different results. By changing the dynamic of these simple stories, Vince McMahon has left millions on the table, and its why I always say he's the least successful sometimes billionaire ever. If it wasnt for Hogan, and then Stone Cold, Vince is likely out of business like everyone else.

See above.

 

[s@ppisgod]

The only thing that matters in the Punk angle is they took it from something new, interesting, and captivating and turned it into another cookie-cutter angle. It doesn't matter if Trips or Vince is in charge, it doesn't matter if Cena or Rey are intirim. The only thing that mattered was CM Punk going out, selling the "no contract" thing and saying things he wasn't supposed to. Things like the Comic Con run-in was what made this angle a bigger deal than even some of their biggest angles in recent history. Things like that belt pose-down made it irrelevant. The people who still care about this angle are the E fans who care about any main angle they have. The critics, who were pretty much unanimous in how good it was, are also united in how bad it's gotten.
SAMSUNG-SGH-A887/A887UCIJ1 SHP/VPP/R5 NetFront/3.5 SMM-MMS/1.2.0 profile/MIDP-2.1 configuration/CLDC-1.1

 

[EmpireWF]

HHH is playing a subtle heel. Eventually they have to be doing Punk vs. HHH...whether they ever actually wrestle or not, I guess we can assume they will.

 

[dave]

HHH is playing a subtle heel. Eventually they have to be doing Punk vs. HHH...whether they ever actually wrestle or not, I guess we can assume they will.

The problem so far is HHH is coming out feeling like a face. To his credit, he's doing a great job in these promos. Never been a HHH fan, I find his in-ring style boring and most of his success based on Shawn Michaels and Stephanie McMahon. Without either, he's a mid-carder IMO.

 

[EmpireWF]

The problem so far is HHH is coming out feeling like a face. To his credit, he's doing a great job in these promos. Never been a HHH fan, I find his in-ring style boring and most of his success based on Shawn Michaels and Stephanie McMahon. Without either, he's a mid-carder IMO.

In 99, Shawn had no influence and there was no relationship with Stephanie and that's when he really became a main eventer.

As for whether he gets the breaks he did in 1997 if he wasn't friends with Shawn, that's a logical debate.

 

[dave]

In 99, Shawn had no influence and there was no relationship with Stephanie and that's when he really became a main eventer.

As for whether he gets the breaks he did in 1997 if he wasn't friends with Shawn, that's a logical debate.

Frankly, in 1999, I wanted a relationship with Stephanie McMahon. She was her hottest in that time frame.

 

[Bigpapa42]

In 99, Shawn had no influence and there was no relationship with Stephanie and that's when he really became a main eventer.

As for whether he gets the breaks he did in 1997 if he wasn't friends with Shawn, that's a logical debate.

I think it was more what happened in late 97 and early 98 with Degeneration X that set Triple H up for his main event run in '99. Rewatching all the Raw's and PPVs from '98 and I had forgotten just how much D-X was all over everything at that point. HBK and Trips got to say and do whatever they wanted on multiple segments per Raw.

Honestly, I think Triple H would have ended up a star in the WWE even without HBK or Steph. He had a great look, good size, was capable of working a good WWE-style match even early in his run, and could talk. None of that makes it certain, but put him in a really good spot. Especially at a time when the WWE needed to make new stars. Much like with Austin and Rock, it was about finding the right gimmick. What his backstage connections did for him was make it happen faster and last longer much longer than it probably otherwise would have.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

HHH is a heel, but he plays to the crowd...so, he receives faux face pops.

 

[SHOGUN]

Jeremiah from Tough Enough goes HAM on everything. Worth a read if you have time.

I was informed yesterday that the WWE isn’t going to use me.

Two weeks ago I was invited to go to Tampa to tryout for FCW and from what they gathered they loved my personality but they said I was only average in the ring and said I have a bad attitude and carried myself like I had something to prove. I told them that if I’m average I’m doing pretty damn good considering I had only done this for two months. If I can get to average in several weeks imagine what I can do in a few months. And of course I’m eager to prove myself. I was surrounded by guys who had done this for several years and they were all wondering who this new rookie was. I had to show them I belonged.

If I’m average the pecking order starts behind me. Compared to me none of those guys are as cut up as me. My physique puts them to shame. Maybe I do have a bad attitude. I don’t give a f–k. I went on their TV show and ran circles around everybody with no experience. Andy wasn’t the star of the show. I was. Hell I won challenges they didn’t even show on TV. I got all the camera time and I got the biggest reaction when I was on RAW. You know why? It’s because I’m me. I’m not a clone or a sell out. People recognize that. That’s why CM Punk is so hot right now. He is his character. He’s just being himself. But I do it and I have a bad attitude.

John Morrison was there at FCW and he walked up to me and shook my hand and told me that he thought I won the show. Just about all the guys said that. Ted DiBiase told me I won it too. His dad, the Million Dollar Man asked me why I wasn’t on TV. John Cena even tweeted me saying he thought I won.

The third day I was there I was doing promos and the only direction I got was to have fun with it and they would send it up to Vince for him to see. One guy did a promo about having sex with a goat and one of the girls was really nasty with hers so I went out there with all guns blazing. I cussed on my first one and said I wish Vince McMahon would’ve slapped me because I would’ve kicked him in the nuts. They pulled me aside and told me I couldn’t cuss. So on my next one I decided to really have fun with it. I didn’t cuss but I did a promo about how I couldn’t cuss and counted on my hand how many words I wasn’t allowed to say as I said them to myself then threw the mic over my shoulder and laughed as I walked off. I thought it was hilarious. All the boys did too. Just about everyone there told me they had never seen anything like that. I was doing crazy CM Punk stuff before he made it cool.

After that I got called to the back and Dusty Rhodes jumped on me and told me I couldn’t do that and chewed me out. He went to walk away and I told him to get back over here because I wasn’t done talking to him. He walked back over and I thought he was going to piss in his pants because he was acting so nervous. I told him that I would do whatever they wanted me to do but no one said I couldn’t cuss or throw the mic. I was just having fun with it and being me. I think it kind of threw him off because no one there stood up for themselves. I wasn’t going to let anyone walk all over me. I said what I had to say and we were cool. A lot of the boys thought I got sent home and were surprised when I came back the following day. They were even more surprised when Dusty went out of his way to walk over to me and shake my hand. I’m going to stand up for myself and I think they are afraid of that.

90% of those guys are vanilla. They are all the same. Long hair, pony tail, boring as can be. The day I left Tampa I shaved my head because I didn’t want to be anything like them. I’m Jeremiah Riggs from Vicksburg, Mississippi. I’m not going to be a clone. All of their promos sounded the same. They are boring and play it safe. People are afraid of the truth. What do they want in a superstar? I don’t need a character. I’m Jeremiah Riggs. I don’t need a new name or gimmick. The WWE has a shitty developmental roster. No one stands out. They are all scared of failure and half of them have been there for years. They are all the same and do the same stuff. Sure, they have a few guys that have potential but they are all clones. But I’m not going to be just like everybody else. What are they going to do send me home? You can’t scare someone who ain’t afraid.

Johnny Curtis told me a lot of the boys didn’t like me because I was doing the stuff they wish they could do but were too afraid because they were all kissing ass trying to get ahead.

The day I got there they pulled me in the office and asked me what I wanted out of the business and I told them I wanted to make money. I told them I don’t have to be in the WWE to be happy. I told them I wasn’t going to kiss their ass and tell them it’s been my lifelong dream because it hasn’t. I want to make money to support my family and give them the life they deserve. I told them I wasn’t here to be at the bottom of the card and make hillbilly money. I would do whatever it takes to get to the top. I looked at it like a week’s vacation in Tampa on the WWE. If they didn’t see it in me I told them I’d shake their hand and leave. And yesterday when I was told the WWE wasn’t going to sign me I thanked them for the opportunity.

By the end of my week there Dr. Tom (Pritchard) liked me. He told me he got it and I’m just being me. He kept saying “I’m Jeremiah Riggs from Mississippi and I’ll whip your ass. I don’t give a f–k.” He’s right. I’m not going to change or be something I’m not. He said he used to be a lot that and saw a lot of himself in me.

I’ve had offers from other promotions and I have had offers to go back to MMA. Hell I turned down a good paying fight after I came off Tough Enough because I wanted to give the WWE a shot. I would like to pursue pro wrestling because I think I showed in the short time I was on the show that I could be very good at it.

I’ve been a fighter and a had a good career. I won 5 straight and fought for Bellator and Strikeforce. I was on the Ultimate Fighter a few years ago. I’ve been on reality TV like David Otunga. I’m marketable. Who has all the Twitter followers? Did you hear the pop I got on RAW during the finale? I got a bigger reaction than Luke or Andy. The Miz told me I hit a homerun when I said ‘I’m from the Dirty South’ in Atlanta when I was on RAW the night the show debuted. Cena even walked up and shook my hand and said ‘Great Job’. CM Punk shook my hand to and said ‘Way to Go’. People know I’m real and what you see is what you get. I’m an entertainer but I’m no sellout. That night on RAW the only guy who got a bigger ovation than me was Steve Austin. He’s a Hall of Famer and I’m just in the hall.

What made Steve Austin, The Rock, and CM Punk such big superstars? They speak their mind and buck the system. I know this may hurt my chances of ever making it in the WWE but what are they gonna do? Fire me? They aren’t ready for someone like me.

It’s all politics at FCW. People are real phony there including the trainers. Me and Bill were cool on the show. I heard he got a job as a scout for the WWE and I was glad to hear he was doing good for himself. He deserves it after so long in the business. When I was in Tampa doing my match with Orlov Bill was praising me and talking about how good I was doing. I was doing stuff that Luke and Andy couldn’t do, on the first try. But when I walked into FCW a few weeks ago he acted like he was too cool to talk to me.

He’s changed man. He thinks he is somebody because he was the big man on the show. I guess Hollywood went to his head. Sure he had a mediocre wrestling career and found new life on Tough Enough. I don’t give a shit. I’ll whoop his fat ass. He’s no better than me. If I was to shoot on him who is going to stop me? Andy sure as hell ain’t. I’ve rolled with some badass heavyweights like Jon Madsen and Scott Barrett. Seriously, what is Bill DeMott going to do to me? All he could do about it is write another chapter in his sorry book about how he got run over by Big Rigg when he gets his arm out of the cast. I lost all respect for Bill. If he only knew what the boys say about his fat lazy ass he wouldn’t even come to work. I’m sure he will read this and put something on Twitter about it. I don’t care. He might have Twitter muscles but I’m the real deal. He said I was green? The only thing green on me was the shit stain on my boot I stuck up his ass.

Hell, Andy the dude that won the WWE contract is a big pussy too. He is still in FCW. He’ll be in FCW the rest of his life. He had a developmental contract with the WWE before the damn show aired. He’s boring and a big f—ing baby. He cried the whole time we were doing the show about his wife and his kid. He did it all for pity. We pity the weak.

I got a little boy at home but you got to make sacrifices if you want to make something of yourself. I thought about my little boy the whole time we were shooting but I didn’t whine about it. I used it as fuel. I want the best for him so I had to step it up and show them I belonged.

Earlier this year my mom had heart surgery. My dad is deployed right now and is overseas so I’m supposed to take care of things on the farm. Her surgery was actually the week before my last fight. I should’ve backed out and stayed at home but that’s not how I do things. I drove to Nashville and trained for a few days before the fight when I should’ve have an 8 week camp and still got the win. I fought on January 29th in Nashville and on February 2nd the people from Tough Enough were at my house in Vicksburg filming behind the scenes stuff. Two days later I was flying to Los Angeles for 5 weeks. Now talk to me about sacrificing.

I’m not trying to run down everyone from the WWE. I have a lot of respect for John Cena, Triple H, the Miz and all the guys who were cool to me and took time to help me out. Hell, Ted DiBiase is one of my real good friends. I really enjoyed working with Dr. Tom and Ricky Steamboat at FCW. Even though Dusty and I got into it I think he’s a legend and a pretty cool cat. Steve Austin is like a big brother to me. Same with Booker T. I love those guys.

Things are still looking up for me. I still get offers to wrestle and fight all the time. People know who I am. If you want to hit me up I’m on Twitter @JeremiahRiggs. I’m maxed out on friends on Facebook but I do have a fan page. If you have interest in booking me hit up my manager allen@mmamonsterfactory.com. The WWE thing was a speed bump. I’m still gonna go 100 miles an hour and you hadn’t seen the last of me. It ain’t personal. It’s all business.

 

[EmpireWF]

Stacy Keibler and George Clooney are apparently fucking in Italy.

Both are just off long relationships and using each other for fucking.

Stacy Keibler....fucking.

 

[BigBiss]

Jeremiah will show up on inpact in no time, JJ loves him ... but i bet he wont be in Cen Tex any time soon

 

[JayDizzle]

Stacy Keibler and George Clooney are apparently fucking in Italy.

Both are just off long relationships and using each other for fucking.

Stacy Keibler....fucking.

Clooney's been the Goddamn Batman.

Of COURSE Keibler's gonna jump his bones.

 

[EmpireWF]

Swagger's wife =

She's also pregnant now.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Swagger's wife =

She's also pregnant now.

Was she near George Clooney recently? That would explain the pregnant thing.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

A photo surfaced online recently showing what appeared to be The Undertaker with a shaved head. There was speculation as to whether or not the photo was legit but a WWE source has confirmed that Taker indeed shaved his head.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llaCDim11tM&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

Anyone else finding these less and less entertaining.

That Woo Woo Woo Kid needs to step up his game.

 

[SHOGUN]

Ryder's mailed it in a few episodes ago and is just hocking merchandise now.

On a more interesting note, here's Lashley/Barnett in Inoki's weird ass wrestling promotion.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcHazjFqJD8[/ame]

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Who the fuck is the Big O?

 

[FedEx227]

Nice writeup on Punk/Cena Warner. I've wanted to write about it for awhile and post it somewhere but you've basically said all I can. Maybe I'll still do something but god damn have they dropped the ball so royally on this. Just terrible.

It's lost almost everything for me. I don't know how they did it, but I literally went from being the biggest mark again after Money in the Bank to just shrugging it off again.

It's been decent TV, but it's not nearly what it should be.

 

[EmpireWF]

Zack's dad has been the best part of the Z Story for weeks.

Ryder's mailed it in a few episodes ago and is just hocking merchandise now.

Guy needs to make his money somehow.