Pro Wrestling

I finally had a chance to check out the match, which I thought was very good. More than that though, I was a fan of the overall presentation of the match, that it was something presented credibly with good announcing, built slowly with matwork to start and was contested over a championship that people cared about. Dave kind of walked through the idea of at the very least separating a few of the better working women from the pack in the latest WON, maybe as something separate from the Divas label. US wrestling has never attempted to push women on equal footing, but he pointed to the success of Ronda Rousey and made the action hero analogy that I thought was interesting…

Hornswaggle vs. El Torito (Hair vs. Mask) - Kickoff Match - No doubt that El Torito wins. SHould be fun! Rusev vs. Big E - Rusev wins and nobody will care. Alicia Fox vs. Paige - I want Fox to win so I am going to pick her even though I think they are keeping the belt on Paige for awhile. Cesaro vs. Sheamus - I don't want Cesaro holding the US title but I don't want Sheamus to win either. I think Sheamus wins with the Brogue Kick. Bad News Barrett vs. RVD Barrett wins. Sheamus and Barrett feud to set up a unification match at MITB. RVD does something sloppy. John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt (Last Man Standing) - I hope Cena wins with the added stipu…

Anyone know the timeline that this ran from start to end? What started it and why? Dont watch TNA Thanks for the help!

I've been going through the old PPVs on the Network the past few months. In general it's been a treat to hear/see the way the crowds are reacting to the wrestling. They aren't in on it, they aren't marking for themselves or trying to create chants that will draw attention to them. They are hating the heels, loving the faces, and when they are quiet it's because the match isn't engaging them. I'm currently on ECW Barely Legal and this crowd is bugging me right from the opening. Is the ECW crowd the beginning of the present day live crowd? Is the influence of ECW to blame for the crowds of today who don't seem to care about what's happening in the ring, and instead are …

I'm working with some guys on a WWE fantasy game and need your help. I've been on vacation and not following the storylines closely and hoped you could lend me your expertise. Who do you consider the favorites to win in the following matches? If they are strong favorites, please note. I appreciate it! El Torito vs. Hornswoggle Triple H Randy Orton and Batista vs. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam Sheamus vs. Cesaro Paige vs. Alicia Fox

I recently started a topic about when sloppiness is welcome or adds to a match. Today I was watching some early 90's Scott Steiner as well as Marc Mero/Leif Cassidy from In Your House 13: Final Four. What I was watching got me thinking of unacceptable sloppiness, but more to the point how much the sloppiness that hurts a match actually bothers us. The Scott Steiner stuff was spurned on by me reading some of Scott Keith's thoughts on early 90s Steiner and realizing he had such a crush on the guy that he would overlook all of his sloppiness. In the infamous Steiners/Iizuka & Fujinami tag the beginning of the match features Steiner badly blowing a couple of Suplexes,…

Lately I've been watching 1983 WCCW TV and his commentary is mostly unbearable. It's to the point sometimes where it's so bad, he takes away from what's going in the ring. I understand that he was a commentator for other Dallas sports, which makes him seem credible in the eyes of the fans in that area, but that's where you have to draw the line. He has a Bob Caudle feel to him, but unlike Caudle, most of Mercer's folksy commentary is instead either just nonsense or worded incorrectly. It's like his brain is completely confused and never knows which words to use when he speaks. He very rarely calls moves correctly. I'm sure he's a nice man and I'm not insulting his charact…

The match between Alicia Fox and Alexa Bliss, and a conversation about it on the LAW podcast What's NXT? got me thinking about sloppiness in matches. For those who don't know, Bliss attempted a Standing Moonsault, but she came up short and ended up dropping her knee right into Fox's midsection. It's sloppy on Bliss' part, no doubt, but it's the sort of sloppiness that I think is perfectly fine. A big part of the mystique of wrestling is that it's two people going at it in a rough sport, and a botch that still connects in a meaningful way reinforces that rough mystique. Blown spots that look horrendous, like the ref bump in TNA a week or so ago, aren't what I'm talking…

Watching NXT from last week and the main event of Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd got me thinking about the concept of the Triple Threat match. It's become possibly the most popular gimmick match in pro wrestling, or at least in North America it seems to be most widely used gimmick match. It's a match that can, and often does, offer up neat and interesting spots, but all the same I find it to be a very problematic match. I'm not a fan of the gimmick, and while I know it's not going anywhere, I really wish it would go away, or at the least be used way less than it is. I find that the Triple Threat match doesn't connect with me on a basic structural level. In …

Let's give this a shot. If your answer is "it can't", don't bother posting in the thread. Realistically, are there changes in wrestling's presentation that could happen that would result in upper middle class college graduates watching in greater numbers? If so, what are they?

Haven't come across this being discussed here. Personally, I think the fact that he's been able to overcome having the deck stacked so far against wrestlers in favour of management is commendable. I can understand his co-workers resenting it, but I hope there's still a sense of 'good for him' too, and the boys recognising that you get what you can when you can in wrestling. Or is that an 80s/90s mentality long gone in 'grew up loving the business' day and age? Maybe I'm an old Trotskyist at heart.....

This is easily my favorite wrestling style of all, based on the maybe 20-25 matches I have seen between guys like Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, Taue, Williams, Gordy and Hansen. I decided I would go back and watch, in chronological order, how this progressed from late 80s onward. Also, lately I've been noticing that when I take notes and write about the matches after, I tend to pick up on a lot more stuff. Not to mention that other people far more knowledgable than I can point out some things I miss. So here goes. Tenryu/Kawada vs. Hansen/Gordy 12/16/88 Kawada's tights are...zubaz, wow. Kawada is so far over his head here against the two big gaijin. Also, he's al…

So, Jarrett has made his announcement.

Match of the Year At this point my pick is The Wyatt's v. The Shield at EC, but I don't see a great deal of consensus on this looking around places. I get the sense this is a wide open thing in the eyes of many, and there may not even be an early favorite. I think I'd lean toward Cesaro v. Cena at two. Not sure what would be three, but to the shock of many I'd at least consider Nakamura v. Tanahashi from Invasion Attack for that spot. Wrestler of the Year: This is another year like 2012 where I don't think there is a strong candidate. Probably the strongest candidate by default is Daniel Bryan, who is still the most over guy in wrestling, and has at l…

http://www.belfasttimes.co.uk/are-you-ready-for-wrestlinbelfast-royal-rumble-special-at-strandcinema/ Just wondering if this thing goes touring round the UK? I was at the January event listed above and another one on 6th April. The January event had highlights from most of the Rumbles, and the complete Rumble '92 and Hardys v Dudleys and HHH v Cactus from 2000. It lasts about 2 1/2 hours altogether with 15 minute intermission. The WrestleMania one had highlight videos covering mania 1-20 (lot of clips from True Story of WrestleMania) and full matches were Flair v Savage and HHH v Benoit v Michaels. Pretty cool to see on the big screen!

I've been thinking about my own viewing habits and wondering if it's typical around here. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine watching all of Raw. I usually get through it in 60 to 90 minutes. If a match on Smackdown takes my fancy, I'll watch that match too, and maybe an angle or two. I watched the Shield v Wyatts from Main Event a few weeks ago - can't remember when's the last time prior to that I watched any Main Event. Similarly with ppvs, Wrestlemania 30 was the first one I've watched end to end since Wrestlemania 29. If there wasn't so much product, and if so much of that product wasn't getting trashed here and there all the time, I'd be more inclined to get …

Looking to find current storylines / angles as well a place to keep up with them going forward for: NJPW AJPW NOAH Zero-1 CMLL AAA and the other smaller promotions working with them Any help is greatly appreciated!

Here's something I wrote for the e-book I'm currently working on about 90s wrestling, as I announced in the Announcements folder a week or so ago. However, after writing it, I realized I want to do something very different that would cover this and a few other topics in a more unified way. That said, I had this huge Lawler/Snowman article that I thought was very good and nothing really to do with it so I thought I'd dump it here. If you like this, I hope you'll pick up the e-book when I release it for much, much more of the same. *** It’s only fitting that in the same city where Sputnik Monroe refused to wrestle until Ellis Arena removed its “colored section” and …

a controversial subject I nominate HHH-Jericho last man standing from 00 I also nominate HHH-Foley from Royal Rumble 00 his triple threat matches with Benoit and HBK were pretty good, but stick him and HBK in a singles match and was bound to suck he did some good stuff with Jeff Hardy I'm kind of a fan of the guy as a worker, when he actually works and isn't all "I am HHH ARRRR" with his shit

Best: (eg) The guys who looked the part, who personified the "look" that a professional wrestler should have, or looked as tough as they were made out to be Worst (eg) The guys who didn't have any style , the guys who could pass as any guy off the street, or the guys so out of shape you were surprised they weren't the types who gassed climbing up a flight of stairs, let alone wrestled 20+ minute intense matches several times each month. For me, I'm personally a big fan of the physiques that some of the wrestlers in Japan have developed over the years. They maybe don't look as aesthetic, cut and comicbook-like as their American counterparts, but they li…

We've all got opinions on what wrestling is great, good or poor. Some of us just happen to be right more than others. That being said, there's a pretty big consensus that certain matches are great for their time, promotion, or all-timers. I'm curious what widely praised match just never clicked with you, and whether you could identify why. Leading things off for me: Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage (Wrestlemania 3, 3/29/1987): Mania is this weekend so might as well start with one that is generally considered in the upper echelon of mania matches. This always comes across as a smartly constructed and executed match without any major flaws. You've got a hot fe…

Anyone have some? I made it to the end of 86 on my own, could use some company to finish it off. Thanks.

Benoit/Malenko from Hog Wild '96 is up next in my "watch every PPV on the Network" project I have going on. I remember liking the match a ton when it first happened. This time though, I'm wondering how I will react to it. The reason for this is that while the guys worked a match that a lot of workrate people liked, they pretty much ignored the reactions of the crowd. That approach never used to bother me, but now it has started to become a problem for me. My most recent example is Steamboat/Flair from Spring Stampede '94. I thought it's still a bottom level great match, but the first half of the match is hurt because both guys have decided they are working their speci…

For me, Hogan/Michaels. I remember very early on kind of wanting to see that happening, thinking it would be a good fit character-wise. When it finally did happen however, well, you know the rest of the story.

I'll get this started early, and I know Will's prepping for the Spurs game. Here's the card: Torito-Swoggle (WeeLC) Rusev-Truth/Woods Big E.-Barrett (IC Title) Paige-Tamina (Diva's Title) Cesaro-RVD-Swagger (Elimination) Cena-Wyatt (Cage) Shield-Evolution Bryan-Kane (Extreme Rules f/ WWE Title) This isn't a particularly compelling card tonight. I do think it could be pretty entertaining. Thoughts, predictions, discussion, and everything else may now commence.