DMJ

I was firmly behind the "Give Reigns the title, keep him face" idea, but I may be jumping ship to the "Give the title to a non-ex-Shield guy" now. Have Romans get screwed out of the tourney by Triple H sooner than later. He turned down the offer, he gets screwed. Then, use the tournament to build a new babyface champ to drop the belt to Lesnar at the Rumble. Ziggler works. Cesaro works. I'd rather not Ambrose get it, but that's just a personal choice. I don't think winning the tournament is going to make a full-time, legitimate main eventer in one night - but I don't think it would do that for Reigns either. To me, you should use the tournament to create as many intriguing feuds and characters as possible to get us through January. If Reigns wins, what happens to the rest of the roster? Where does anyone go? I think everyone and there mother knows Reigns is the guy the company is looking to push hard in 2016...but for the last two months of 2015, I don't see why they can't pull a bit of a swerve and have an unexpected, plucky underdog take home the victory. If Ziggler wins, you can have Ziggler feud with whoever he beats in the finals (Owens? ADR?) and then *also* have Reigns in a high profile feud with an Authority-hired bruiser like Sheamus. (I also love the idea of Ziggler bringing up the fact that he survived last year's Survivor Series main event and that he defied the odds again this year)

Stopped watching wrestling entirely for a good 4-5 years around the end of 2000. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the final straw was - but Undertaker as a biker, the switch over to TNN, the nu-metal inspired theme songs and oversaturation of the WWE brand, and the fact that the war with WCW was essentially over by the end of 99', my fandom was weakening just as the WWE was seemingly going more and more mainstream. As weird as it sounds, though, I can say with 100% certainty that it *wasn't* the Austin heel turn. My fandom was already pretty dead by then. To be honest, I actually think the moment that made me say, "Fuck this shit, I'm gonna start going to see punk bands and try to meet chicks" was the "I did it for the Rock" angle. I was a big Austin fan and when he came back only to feud with Rikishi, who I never saw as anything more than a midcard comedy character and the ratings just seemed to go up and up and up...I knew there wasn't anything "cool" or "outsider" about being a wrestling fan. So, yeah, I'm going to say that Rikishi's push was the jump the shark moment for me for the WWE.

Totally agree that this is going to lead to a Sheamus cash-in, which is just so, so, so lame. If this year hasn't proved that they need to take a break from the MITB concept (I'm not saying forever, but 12-15 months where no one is holding a briefcase is not too long to ask for when the company goes close to that without it mattering when it is held by someone), then nothing will. The briefcase is in the hands of one of the least over/relevant characters on the current roster and, even if it were on someone more over (like an Ambrose or Cesaro), I still don't think it could be used to thrust anyone to the next level in today's 50/50 booking scene. Personally, I'd have Reigns win it. As a heel, face, or someone in between, I think he's somewhat bankable as a WrestleMania opponent for Lesnar, Cena, Triple H, The Rock, or Ambrose. What I presume this is going to come down to, above all, is what the original plans for Mania were regarding Lesnar. He is the centerpiece and I think all the other pieces on the board will be arranged around whatever his storyline is, including the championship.

Just watched this for the first time. Thought the good outweighs the bad. Bad commentary that detracts from the match, lethargic crowd that seemed maybe "burned out" on cruiserweights/Japanese wrestlers (this match followed Malenko/Dragon and Madusa/Hokuto)? I feel like, watched in silence, with the right music in the background, this match would be more appreciated. I'm not very knowledgable about Liger, but I always felt like he was a babyface or a "tweener" in WCW (based on what I've seen), so I like how he works heel here. Compared to Malenko, Liger seems to realize early on that the crowd *wants* to boo the foreigner and while Mysterio isn't a "hometown guy" either, Liger wisely takes the role of the de facto villain around minute 2. This is also why I think criticisms of Liger not showing "urgency" are misplaced - any time he took between moves was used to show classic heel mannerisms (clapping his hands as if he had "wrapped it up," playing to the crowd, etc.). There are a couple of noticeable hiccups, but when sequences or high spots do click, I'd say this eviscerates anything Dragon/Malenko did earlier in the night. A hotter crowd and a more serious batch of commentary playing up the "dream match" idea and this match becomes a WCW MOTY contender for me. Without that, I'd still give it 4 stars.

I know he's a bit of an anomaly, but wouldn't Brock Lesnar be an easy example of a guy who lost a bunch of big time matches but was successfully rehabbed back into being an immensely over top heel/character? Rusev loses to Cena - fine. But what was the point in him then losing to guys like Ziggler and, I believe, Cesaro or Ryback at one point too? i'm not even down on Ziggler, Cesaro, or Ryback….but losing to them after losing to Cena was the opposite of what Rusev needed. See Bray Wyatt for another example of a guy that, for whatever reason, people still see as having a "bright future" and being "money," but who won't be a big star anytime in the near future because it is far easier to rattle off the names of guys who've beaten him (Cena, Reigns, Taker) than the guys he's beaten (uh…Kane? Ryback? Jericho?).

So tonight's Hell in a Cell and I'm not surprised there's been little discussion of it around these parts (or other forums I frequent or Facebook). It definitely feels like Taker/Brock "III" should be a much bigger deal, especially considering how big their SummerSlam match felt going into it (and how much I think the general consensus was that it was pretty awesome in the moment and delivered). Not having Brock/Taker on many shows together and not having them do another big pull-apart brawl (granted, doing it again wouldn't have been original anyway) or some other sort of "add feul to the fire" angle was a real misstep here. It also doesn't help matters that you've got Cena in an unadvertised match (and one rumoured to be his last for a month or two). Considering that this might be Cena's last appearance for awhile, you would want some eyeballs on it. My prediction is that he actually retains tonight and drops the title on RAW in some sort of big show-ending angle, but, to me, this is exactly the type of thing you should be trying to get people to subscribe to the Network for.

How about Big Show's World Title run in late 99'-early 00'? * First, he wins the title after being inserted into a match that was a legit blockbuster - Austin vs. HHH vs. The Rock - when Austin is injured and kayfabe run over by a car. Fans didn't really care because, prior to this, Big Show hadn't really achieved much in the WWE (in fact, IIRC correctly, he'd lost to Steve Austin on his first RAW in the company and went on to lose to Mick Foley at that year's WrestleMania, going 0-for-2 in the two most important matches of his debut year with the company). The fact is, being booked to serve as a replacement for the top babyface in the company was a rough position for anyone to be put in...but things went from bad to worse. * His first opponent and the guy given the job of trying to add some credibility to Big Show's reign: 80s Star/90s JTTS, Big Bossman. Obviously Ray Traylor was a solid hand and his feud with Big Show was "So Bad-It's Good" level...but it was also truly tasteless and, because Bossman was not regarded as any sort of top contender for the Championship, the outcome of their match at Armageddon 99' was never in doubt. Big Show pinned him in under 4 minutes despite interference from Big Bossman's right hand man, Prince Albert. Yup. Nothing screams "World Heavyweight Champion" like 4-minute title defenses and interference from a guy named after a penis piercing. * Big Show ends up losing the title to Triple H on the January 3rd 2000 RAW in a lackluster match. * While Big Show would go on to wrestle as a part of WM16's main event, his comedic turn on an episode of Saturday Night Live led to him getting repackaged as a silly babyface who impersonated other wrestlers. This brilliant gimmick elevated him to new heights of stardom and credibility, revitalizing a career that seemed to be heading to distaster. Except the exact opposite happened actually. The schtick wore thin within weeks and Big Show was written off TV for the remainder of 2000 and sent to OVW to lose weight. In summation, Big Show's WWE Title reign, possibly designed as a "last ditch effort" to get him over, was a complete disaster that not only failed to establish Big Show as a credible main event talent and failed to entertain fans, but it seemed to set into motion the man's professional downfall, one I'm not sure he's ever fully recovered from.

I'm actually just now watching the 2002 WWE PPVs for the first time as I was one of the hundreds of thousands of fans who stopped watching in late 01' through, in my case, the summer of 05'. My biggest takeaway from the spring of 02' is that Austin was still the top act. Maybe not the freshest. Maybe not the best in-ring performer. But like Cena today, his crowd responses are the most consistently strong and emotional. His match against Big Show at Insurrextion (a nothing show if there ever was one) is a great example of how good and important Austin still was - that match screams "filler" but is essentially the best house show main event match you could ever want and totally gets the crowd engaged more than the actual main event (HHH/Taker). If there was any ego on the roster worth placating, it wasn't Hogan's, it wasn't Rock's, it wasn't HHH's...it was Austin's. Somehow, keeping Hogan heel is kind of key too. I'd have had him tease a face run and then have him and the nWo screw HHH out of the title. Then, let Hogan be the heel champion he was in WCW while you find a way to give Austin a much needed break (say May through July). Then, once you've given Hogan his last real main event run (maybe he retains against HHH, Taker, and, I dunno, tags in an 8-man with the Outsiders & XPac against Hunter, Taker, Kane, and Flair in that time), you bring Austin back and have him beat the Hulkster for the title. I don't think ANYTHING would've stopped the decline in popularity that hit the WWE in 2002, but if there is *one* potential feud that could've lessened the blow, it was Hogan vs. Austin.

Some thoughts on RAW... * Liked the opening segment. When it comes to promos, Ambrose is effortlessly charismatic and enjoyable when he isn't burdened with selling Wyatt's meaningless drivel or having to counterbalance Reigns' awkwardness. Similarly, when Orton goes out and just has fun, he comes off as likable. It was nothing special from either guy, but it was also kept short, made perfect sense from a character perspective, and led to New Day. Anything that leads to New Day is solid right now. * Liked the tag match too, especially the finish. Way better than any of the New Day/Dudleys matches we've seen thanks to a faster pace and a crowd that cared about all five performers. * Cena/Ziggler was good, not great. I'm not as down on Ziggler as others around here and think he was actually his "best self" here. Sure, he was going from overselling to no-selling in the blink of an eye, but he was doing it in the confines of a straight-up singles match and, compared to recent Cena/Owens or Cena/Rollins, it wasn't like they were hitting nothing but finishers out there. In this context, with this sort of escalation of big moves, I was able to buy into the comebacks. In a ladder match where Ziggler is taking "He Should Be Dead!" bumps, for example, him springing back to life every couple minutes is much more annoying. Like the tag match, the right man won too. * Wish they weren't positioning Sasha as a face, but not worried about it. She's getting cheered now, getting over, but, in due time, when the Divas Revolution storyline wraps up, she's good enough to establish the Boss character as it should be. It won't be hard either as there is still plenty of good will to milk out of Charlotte's heritage and Becky Lynch being the "steampunk geek girl next door." * Man…not a fun night for Roman Reigns or Bray Wyatt. Still don't think it means that much in the long run as Reigns doesn't draw that kind of reaction every night in every town, but the clock is ticking on what I assumed the plan was (heating Reigns up for another Rumble win and WrestleMania main event). Wyatt getting "Husky Harris" chants in one city on one night is also not a huge deal…but, to me, the takeaway is that these two need separated STAT. The good news is that Hell in the Cell is going to be the blow-off. The bad news is that its a month late and neither side is coming out of this feud looking better for it. * Who would've thought that, out of Lana, Rusev, Ziggler, and Summer Rae, it is Summer Rae who is coming out of this months-long storyline smelling like money? I don't even think its so much that Rae has improved her character work by leaps and bounds as much as its Rusev being practically castrated from a win/loss perspective, Lana being pulled off TV without a trace (to the point that fans have almost forgotten her), and Ziggler being on the same hamster wheel he's been on for years (which only hurts Rusev for not being able to beat him). Only Summer Rae has momentum coming out of this clusterfuck of an angle. * Don't even know what to say about the main event. Is Kane/Rollins confirmed for Hell in a Cell? Will it even be for the title when Kane has shown no interest in that? Am I crazy or was there some foreshadowing of Kane/Big Show feud Version 489? I was on board with this feud when it was about Rollins escaping Kane, the ultra cheesy demonic psycho, chasing him every week. Weeks later, Kane has destroyed Rollins at every turn, the villain has gotten his comeuppance numerous times, and I no longer care.

Just cuz I was the one who brought up Brock/Rock, let me clarify that I was only listing that match as an alternative to Rock/HHH, which is what I've heard is the plan. If one would argue that HHH/Rock is better than Rock/Brock, I'm all ears. Hell, if you think both options are *equally* bad, I'd listen to the argument…but, to me, if these two are the sole options, Brock/Rock is the better alternative. After writing the OP and considering that Vince really only views a handful of guys as being worthy of matches against any of these part-timers, my vote would really be Rock/Reigns or Rock/Orton (in that order). Also, if people are bothered by Brock/Rock talk, I'll go out there and say that nothing annoys me more than when people suggest Kevin Owens or Cesaro in those positions as if there is really any chance in hell that in 2015-16 they would even be in consideration.

I'm excited about the Rock in WWE whenever it happens. He's a legit movie star and that brings importance to anything he does on the program. I'm not going to say he can do no wrong or that relying on him for ratings bumps is great longterm strategy, but he's the friggin' Rock and he's still more "must see" than just about anyone on the active roster. …but boy am I not interested in seeing him going up against Steph and Triple H. On the list of options of what to do with him, that really rates pretty low for me. Reasonable alternatives I could get behind would be obviously a match with Brock (mostly for the Heyman/Rock verbal jousting in the build-up), a tag team-then-feud with Roman Reigns (could be a great way to turn Roman heel and give him a huge Mania match), or something totally out-of-the-blue like just having him show up and be involved with relatively random guys where he just comes in and lays out heels with Rock Bottoms (Miz, Barrett, Sheamus, etc.) until someone like a newly-turned Orton drops him with an RKO or Rusev attacks him. Orton/Rock, Rusev/Rock, Wyatt/Rock, or even Rollins/Rock would all work in that sort of scenario for me.

As an overall year, I'd put him at the top of the WWE. Lesnar has been excellent too, but his aura as a part-timer makes his "nothing" matches (like squashing Big Show on Saturday) seem top notch even if they're nothing better than average. For my money, Lesnar is more "must see," but Cena's been a constant for a decade+ so its hard to view him that way anyway. Here's what seals it for me - * The Triple Threat from Rumble is probably still my MOTY * I liked Owens/Cena 1 a good bit * Cena/Neville was cool * Cena/Zayn was cool * Cena/Cesaro was cool * I liked the Rusev/Cena "I Quit" match even if it was cartoonish * Last week's 30-minute segment/matches with New Day proved he's still RAW's "MVP." As good as New Day is, against lesser opponents, they merely overshadow their foes. Up against Cena, they came off as a legit main event act. * The Cena/Rollins match at SummerSlam was great until the finish * The Cena/Rollins RAW match where Cena got his nose broke was a strong TV match * Cena/Rollins in the cage was solid on Saturday, it just sucked from these two already fighting like 6 times this summer already Reigns has quietly had a good year too, arguably a Top 3 in the WWE, but there were also some really weak moments - his Rumble performance, his SummerSlam performance, his 5-minutes-too-long-and-cop-out-ending match against Bray Wyatt at Battleground (I think it was?) - that keep me from putting him on the same level as Cena. If Cena is leaving for awhile, he left after a pretty darn strong 10 months.

Crowd seemed quiet during most of the show, to be honest, which made me wonder if the producers had their hand on the dial. For example, there was an audible "We want Sasha" chant at the start of the Divas match and then it just kinda stopped as soon as it started. My full review is on my blog - overall, the worst Network Special in 11 months if you ask me. Not out-and-out terrible, but also not a single moment was special aside from *maybe* the freshness of Jericho/Owens, which was a good-not-great match. Cena/Rollins was good too, but when every time they wrestle they hit a B+/A- minus range, it makes it hard to appreciate them hitting that same mark again. Lesnar/Big Show was meaningless and a waste of everyone's time - the segment where he tossed Bo Dallas around was ten times better. I think the producers wanted a "Please Retire" chant for Big Show's exit (which explains why Eden Stiles would announce "Let's give a round of applause to Big Show!") but didn't get it because either the crowd didn't even care enough about the guy for that or maybe, like me, they just feel bad for the dude. I'm not a Big Show mark or anything, but, man, he's a 7 foot, 450 pound, former World Champion and he actually got the premise of the match over through his historically-based and passionate promos leading up to it (with no help from Heyman or Lesnar, mind you). He was made to look like a complete chump…which makes Mark Henry and Cesaro look like chumps too. I hope this isn't what the WWE's house shows are normally like because I don't see why anyone should pay $30 a ticket to see a show with so many video recaps, NXT advertisements, and backstage segments.

Jobber matches would also help and I don't think it would damage ratings the way they fear or feared during the 90s. Kevin Owens roughing up the hell out of some no-name, followed by a passionate promo about Ryback, is more enticing to me than seeing Owens wrestle a competitive match with a midcarder like Neville because, at the end of the day, the finish is predictable in both. Similarly, I'd rather see Neville beat a jobber than lose to an established guy. That way, down the line, when we were to see an Owens/Neville match, it would be a battle between two guys who, up to that point, seem almost "unbeatable." Ryback's initial run was based entirely on him squashing jobbers. Sid, Warrior, etc. all got over with that formula. Hell, this week on NXT, I saw Apollo Crews take out Johnny Gargano (who I don't believe is even signed by the company?). Gargano got a touch of offense in, but it was a Crews showcase...and it generally worked and at no point did I say to myself, "I better change the channel because this is too predictable! Where are the stars?!?" Also, on the idea of time off/returns, someone said that even giving people time off doesn't freshen them. I disagree. The problem with Orton, Sheamus, and, most recently, Barrett's returns is that, when they do return, they are almost always thrust back into the exact same stale positions/feuds/gimmicks that they always had OR they come back in a big way but, by the next week, are wrestling in a midcard throwaway match. Look no further than Orton - he comes and goes, but never comes or goes in a remotely interesting way. They brought him back recently to serve as a 6-man in a Wyatt feud because why? That's the most interesting character development you can come up with for this guy? When's the last time Orton was in a relevant storyline over actual stakes? WM30? Just playing fantasy booker, there was a time when Orton/Lesnar seemed like it could've been a big deal. I think a face/face mentor/protege thing with Ambrose could've worked a year or two ago. I even think Orton vs. the Wyatt Family - with the Viper having no one to back him because of years of him being the untrustworthy Viper - could've been decent midcard fodder if you re-established Orton as a loner who RKOd everyone, friend or foe, and the Wyatts had stuck together in their original form. But one bad booking decision leads to more bad booking decisions and now everyone mentioned in the last paragraph, except Lesnar but including Randy, is stalled.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's filming something too or even just taking time off to "test the waters" with auditions and whatnot. I didn't see it, but Trainwreck got solid reviews and from what I heard from friends who saw it (including my mom), Cena was good in it (my mom had no idea he was a wrestler). I'm not sure what would surprise me more - Cena taking the time off as an opportunistic "power play" ala Hogan (just doesn't seem to match his track record) or the WWE having the common sense to finally say "Hey, maybe we don't need to overexpose our top guy by having him wrestle on all 52 RAWs a year." If only they'd let Orton off the show for longer than 8 days at a time. Also, Barrett returned this week...for what has to be his 9th "return" since his debut. I'm not a huge Barrett fan, but, man, when you're big return happens in a nothing midcard match in the middle of the lowest rated RAW in years, you can really tell how many shits are given about you by the higher-ups (answer: none. none shits.) I bring that up just to note that, if you held off on bringing in Barrett, he could've been brought back as something more special or in a more meaningful context - as a "spoiler" in some capacity (maybe he costs Reigns a match against Wyatt because he's sick of Reigns being "The Next Big Star" [a role Barrett once had] and we can transition Reigns into a fresh rivalry that would likely produce good matches) or as a Cena mystery opponent (especially if Cena is dropping the US Title soon). Him returning to pick up the storyline with Stardust makes logical storyline sense, but makes absolutely no sense when the WWE asks themself "How can I make an irrelevent character with potential relevant so that we can tap said potential?" In summation, Barrett's not a ratings draw and his return wasn't going to "move the needle" no matter what...but running the same play isn't good strategy when its not working and, when you're handed an opportunity to reinvigorate a character in a natural way, you should take it.

Only saw the first segment + match(es). Thought Woods/Cena and the six-man were both really strong. Woods was absolutely excellent in both and I'm guessing Cena appreciated having a bit of a "night off." I don't mean to imply that Cena was anything less than his usual good-to-great, but this was exactly what I wanted out of him after months of arguably overblown matches with Owens, Rollins, and Cesaro. Cena's work in the six-tag also made me wonder if anyone has ever talked about Cena in tag situations. Maybe something for the Microscope? I don't have an opinion either way, but I'm sure the body of work is there to see if he's bad, average, or good. I thought he was really good here, selling for New Day masterfully. I especially like what he did for Big E, who, at one point, hit him with a shoulder block that Cena bounced all the way to the heel corner from and, the cherry on top, ate a nasty spear to the outside that company ace John friggin' Cena didn't need to take. I read the rest of the show is not great, but if you told me that the show declined from here on out, I'd believe you - the top 4 reasons to watch RAW were done by 8:30.

Occasionally I have issues where I press play and the loading goes on and on and on and the video never appears. Occasionally I get the buffering start/stop crap. Rebooting the app seems to help. I've even rebooted my Roku itself (basically unplugged it, waited a minute or two, and plugged it back in). I'm not knowledgable about how these things work, but in my mind, I feel like it helps to "break the connection" with the WWE Network and then establish a brand new connection if that makes any sense.

I miss the early 90s "Computer Tournaments" that the mags would have that were obviously never run through any sort of computer. Not even the one the Alexandra York and the York Foundation used (which would have put Terry Taylor at number 1 and Richard Morton at 2?).

Am I crazy but I thought I read somewhere that he has a match against Bret Hart thats good?

i think Kane/Rollins is perfectly passable as the midcard title match at Hell in a Cell. With Taker/Lesnar in a Cell, the rest of the card barely matters, especially to fans who are currently on-board with the product (haters gonna hate). Throw in what looks to be Orton/Reigns/Ambrose vs. Wyatts, the Ryback/Owens rematch, I'm guessing some sort of Cena defense (I'd like it to be someone vastly different from Owens and Rollins - maybe Henry? maybe Miz? Jericho? - that can wrestle him in a match that doesn't rely on popping the crowd with crazy moves every 8 seconds), plus Charlotte vs. Nikki again (?) and you have a perfectly reasonable show headlined by the biggest match possible in October 2015. Whoops, left off New Day, Rusev, Cesaro, and Sheamus too. I don't think Kane/Rollins would be an interesting, attention-getting main event on 9 out of 10 Network specials, but like the Kane/Bryan match at Extreme Rules 2014 (which also featured, if I'm not mistaken, Cena/Wyatt in a cage, and Shield/Evolution), it makes sense storyline-wise, it isn't necessarily positioned as THE top match on the card, and it may surprise us by being fun.

No need to google it. You can strap 10 rockets onto Sheamus, he couldn't then and he can't now fly as a main event guy when he probably isn't even in the Top 10 when it comes to getting consistent live crowd reactions, selling merchandise, or having his matches have that "big match feel." He's an upper midcard act that has been overexposed and doesn't have the charisma/character/mic skills/"it factor" to project himself back into that top tier the way, say, CM Punk could in 2011 or Daniel Bryan could whenever he comes back or, arguably, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, or even Rusev probably could in 2016.

I only saw part of the "pipe bomb" promo, but totally agree that if this is their attempt at turning Paige heel, they have once again overbooked what should be a really simple story. Charlotte won the title. The crowd liked it. She's a face. Paige is jealous, she attacks Charlotte. She is now heel, even if she's justified and the crowd isn't yet hating her. Then, next week, you have Paige bring up the nepotism, maybe even spit or slap Ric in the face. The crowd loves Ric and now they have reason #2 to dislike Paige. I know the WWE loves their "shades of grey" characters, but if you're building a division from scratch - which is essentially what the WWE is doing when 30% of your active female characters are relatively recent NXT call-ups that are unknown to a sizable part of the audience - you need clear good guys and bad guys. This isn't just a Paige problem either - I think Sunday night showed that Nikki Bella, when in clear cut heel role, can be pretty darn good. Unfortunately, her feuds with Paige and AJ weren't scripted that way. At one point, several months ago, she basically cut her own pipe bomb promo, breaking the 4th wall by confidently expressing how hard she works, how much she loves the business, how she doesn't care that she's not "different" or "indie" like AJ and Paige, etc. etc. that was practically cribbed word-for-word from her boyfriend's playbook. Throw in the fact that, on Total Divas, all the girls are depicted as likable (or, at least, as characters you "love to hate," and therefor, like).

Really agree with this and I might add that you don't have to look much further than the Macho Man elbow drop he started using. To me, it looked pretty terrible, like he was just tossing himself off the top, not really aiming for any specific part of his opponent and rarely connecting with the "sweet spot" that Savage always seemed to land on. But man was it a great tool in his arsenal, one that worked on two levels too - the first being the obvious nod to Randy Savage The Wrestling Legend that every fan under the sun remembers, the second being the slightly more subtle nod to Randy Savage The Excommunicated Black Sheep. Punk's adoption of Mach's elbow drop worked fine as a desperation high risk move (even if sloppily executed), but its real brilliance was that it further defined Punk's own status/character as the company's chief outspoken outlaw, the pipebomb-throwing individualist who stood for the future by standing up for the past. So, yeah, not a very elegant worker - but it absolutely worked for him, arguably more than if he would've been smoother.

Ugh, gotta disagree. The nu-metal garbage is one of the reasons watching those shows back is a bit of a chore for me, especially the Manias and whenever they were trying to sell another WWE music CD and all of a sudden everyone had new theme songs for 3 months (the most atrocious example might've been Austin's comeback theme in 01'). Since then, though, I *do* think the WWE has improved substantially in this department. If you look at the current roster, I'd argue that (especially with guys like Edge, Batista, Matt Hardy, Jericho, and other "Aggression Era" guys gone) this is the most diverse entrance music period in at least 15 years. Orton, Dolph, and Sheamus are still holding down the heavy metal/pop metal dirge rock, but at least they cut the lyrics from Reigns and other guys like him. Without lyrics, the songs are much more bearable and generally fit the character. Extra note - my buddy brought this up and it is absolutely true 10,000 percent. The problem with Dean Ambrose's music/entrance has nothing to do with Ambrose or his music. It's the fact that it repeats the fucking engine rev multiple times within a span of maybe 90 seconds. What the fuck kinda stupid shit is that? The engine rev should be the same as Austin's glass breaking sound - it should happen once and only once while the song itself can repeat as needed and if it does loop back into the song, maybe stretch it out so that you don't hear it so many times. Meanwhile, if you think of acts like the Wyatts, the Bellas, Charlotte, The New Day, Stardust, John Cena, Mark Henry, Los Matadores, Neville, the Usos...none fall into the metal trap. To me, to complain about the modern product being too focused on heavy metal/pop metal/hard rock in 2015 is at least a decade late.

I don't mind the guitar shot as much as the sledgehammer. At least with the guitar, you get a great visual - with the sledgehammer, there is no payoff. Its like the kendo stick or the phony aluminum trash can - at the very least, those objects made awesome sounds. The high heel shoe is the first thing that came to mind when I read the title of this thread, but that's likely because I'm in the midst of a WCW PPV marathon watch and have recently finished 95' and half of 96'. How about Jim Duggan's Taped Fist finish? I never really understood it conceptually. Tape or not, it's a right hand to the jaw so its going to hurt - but wouldn't athletic tape covering the knuckles, however slightly, weaken the punch by "cushioning" the knuckles? If not, why not just wear the tape from the beginning of the match too - I mean, it's not even illegal. Maybe this is the wrong thread for delving into the theory behind that gimmick.