The General Wrestling Thread

[s@ppisgod]

So I was bored yesterday at Target and I ended up buying the KOTR DVD. God I miss Shane McMahon. Never saw that entertaining slop-fest with Angle, but wow. Also, it still pisses me off how over UT was in that match with Mankind. He didn't do A GODDAMN THING. He owes Foley for getting him that over when they raised the cage.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

So I was bored yesterday at Target and I ended up buying the KOTR DVD. God I miss Shane McMahon. Never saw that entertaining slop-fest with Angle, but wow. Also, it still pisses me off how over UT was in that match with Mankind. He didn't do A GODDAMN THING. He owes Foley for getting him that over when they raised the cage.

Foley is fantastic at getting people over. Maybe the best ever.

He draws sympathy so well, but he does a great job as a heel and a "mentor", too.

 

[EmpireWF]

Foley was key to HHH getting uberheat in his physical prime back in 99-00.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Foley is a monster at putting over talent.

He has elevated quite a few wrestlers in his day...not necessarily "put over" but definitely elevated...

Off the top of my head...

Ron Simmons
Vader
Sting (look up his match v. Foley at Beach Blast 92, great Foley match)
Randy Orton
Edge
Mr. H's
The Rock
The Sandman (check out his match where he and Terry Funk hit Foley with a Singapore Cane a million times)
Hell, the ECW product all together was raised to a level by Foley working there
Gained Tommy Dreamer an insane amount of sympathy (great sympathy character by Heyman) when he turned on him to join Raven)
Mikey Whipwreck
Shawn Michaels (the Mind Games match)
Undertaker

That's a who's who right there of top talent that whose game were definitely raised up by working with Foley.

Surely we can add to the list, but that's a strong list of the top of my head.

 

[JayDizzle]

wtf

Welp.

Good thing ROH isn't PG.

 

[JayDizzle]

 

[JayDizzle]

When your best match is the curtain jerker (cage or no cage), it's not a good night.

Michael Cole has been around forever and still hasn't learned how to STFU at certain points and just let shit happen.

 

[SHOGUN]

AJ: "Well from my point of view..."

AmDrag: "AJ, shut up."

 

[dave]

opcorn:

WWE Classics - Legends: "The Celebrity Effect" - YouTube

That's cool that Arquette gave his money to Pillman's widow. That makes me forgive the Arquette title thing. That was cool.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

To be fair to Arquette, he was uncomfortable with winning the World Title and didn't want to do it. Blame Russo, they thought it would grab mainstream pub.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

 

[EmpireWF]

LA Park, La Parka and ???

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

LA Park, La Parka and ???

left to right

Super Parka, LA Park (Adolfo Ibarra, the original of WCW fame), La Parka (new AAA version).

-Super Parka is LA Park's uncle.

-(New) La Parka is also known as La Parka Jr and AAA La Parka

LA Park is the original La Parka from AAA in the early '90s and the one who was in WCW and XPW. The rights to the gimmick of La Parka have been the subject of court battles since La Parka left AAA; so far, they've ruled that AAA owner Antonio Pena owns the name and the look, and LA Park can not use the "La Parka" on television in Mexico. (He's allowed to and does use La Parka in the US and elsewhere.) The name L.A. Park means, La Autentica ParK (Where the k is pronounces as ka), so the name means "The Authentic Parka"

-There is also this guy:

Hijo de LA Park, son of LA Park

-And this guy!:

Mini Park, storyline nephew of LA Park, but that's kayfabe. Works Lucha Libre USA and indies in Mexico.




But wait, there's more!

-The "original" La Parca (yes, with a "c")

...and more minis!

-La Parkita, the original mini version. This gets really confusing:
*The original La Parkita was murdered in 1999.
*La Parkita II is now Octigoncito. He dropped the La Parkita gimmick when La Parka (now LA Park) left AAA originally and Antonio Pena dropped the Parka gimmick.
*La Parkita III, the current La Parkita in AAA, since 1997, when Pena reintroduced the La Parka character (AAA La Parka/La Parka Jr).

LA Park returned to AAA two years ago, and beat La Parka for the rights to the La Parka name at TripleMania. However, the decision was reversed by the athletic commission, which did not stop LA Park from working as La Parka.

Got all that?


Basically, if you see a La Parka, and he's really good, it's the orginial (LA Park). If you see a shitty La Parka, and you are watching AAA, it's new La Parka. If you see a really shitty La Parka, it's Super Parka because he's old as fuck. If you see a mini, well, good luck with that. It's probably Mini Park, but who knows.

 

[s@ppisgod]

To be fair to Arquette, he was uncomfortable with winning the World Title and didn't want to do it. Blame Russo, they thought it would grab mainstream pub.

Someone elsewhere mentioned that they wouldn't bring up Russo winning the world title because it would be too close to McMahon winning the world title, and detract from their usual "bash WCW" segments.....

 

[IamMedellin]

 

[EmpireWF]

She's so damn cute.

 

[IamMedellin]

WWE smackdown
Its cable network can’t get off the mat

Vince McMahon’s plan to expand his Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment empire through a dedicated cable channel is on the ropes.
Although WWE’s TV shows draw big ratings, it has yet to strike a single deal with a cable or satellite-TV provider to carry its own cable channel, sources said.
WWE had timed the April 1 launch of the network in 40 million homes to coincide with its pay-per-view extravaganza, Wrestlemania. The company even had a clock counting down to the April launch date on its site, which has since disappeared.
The Stamford, Conn., company is also lagging when it comes to hiring experienced cable executives. It was expected to hire some 200 employees, including a general manager to run the channel.


“WWE has the programming and marketing muscle, but they just have no one with cable experience who can execute for them,” said one cable executive.
WWE swung to a loss in the fourth quarter on costs to launch the TV network and revamp its film division. The company lost $8.6 million, while revenue fell 7.8 percent to $122.5 million. WWE spent $4 million in the quarter to get the network off the ground.
While WWE still targets mostly 18-to-34 year-old men, the company has toned down its once raunchy programming in a bid to become more family friendly and broaden its appeal for advertisers.
"Distribution is a hard fought battle that takes time," said a WWE spokesman, adding that the company is "actively" in negotiations with pay-TV providers. "We have a seasoned executive staff of television veterans from such well-regarded companies as ESPN, Warner Brothers Television, Viacom, Fox and Discovery who are actively involved in the continued planning of the WWE Network, and we will continue to add top professionals from the cable industry.
"We are confident that WWE Network will be well received given our proven track record of developing top-rated PG cable programming."
WWE’s often raunchy programming targets mostly 18-to-34 year-old men, although the company has made efforts to become more family friendly and broaden its appeal for advertisers.
“Given the content issues, I think a whole channel would be a stretch,” said Gerri Donini, senior vice president broadcast at media-buying shop R.J. Palmer. “It is very limited in who it reaches.”

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/wwe_smackdown_ugf9Ju67DsXq4yq06OEZ6I

:brianwilson:

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Vince will never do it, because he's a stubborn old coot, but an obvious programming hook he should land for his network is MMA.

MMA is still a 'hot' TV property, and there are always promotions looking for exposure (Pro Elite comes to mind at the moment).

Wrestling has been a TV staple since the late 40's, and he owns the only brand that matters. But it's not hot enough right now to support a network on its own (read the last quote in the article). Throw in some MMA, and you have something else to present to potential partners.

What Vince fails to understand, is movies with his wrestlers, and TV shows with his wrestlers, might as well be wrestling in the eyes of advertisers and partners. His wrestlers are not the cross platform 'superstars' he thinks they are, because he lives in a bubble and is delusional. The biggest reason WWE Films has failed is because 'WWE Films' has an awful stigma attached to it. "That's a wrestling movie. No thanks." I sat down to watch "That's What I Am" the other day, which got good reviews and stars Ed Harris, but my GF rolled her eyes when that WWE Films logo flashed on the screen.

Anyway, they have wrestling content to fill thousands of hours, with new shows like Superstars and NXT that can be moved off of the internet, and all of the archive footage they own. They have about 20 or so movies they own the rights to, going all the way back to 'No Holds Barred'. They are filming Legend House as we speak. But that's all WRESTLING. And WRESTLING = eye rolls to the mainstream.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I still think its funny that the WWE Network can't get off the ground...Satellite is filled with shit television, nothing channels, but Vince' wrestling channel can't get picked up.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

its the stigma

Vince is largely at fault. For all of his talk of saving 'wrasslin' from small smoke filled rooms, if you watch old wrestling footage, you see the well dressed sophisticates of the time in packed ballrooms and places like MSG, similar to the "it" crown of today that spend big money to sit ringside at big boxing matches.

Vince wasn't the first to promote to the lowest common denominator, but he sure pounded that hammer like no other.