C.S.

I wonder how overblown the Vince love rumors are. I don't remember Test ever getting a major push. Cass is basically Test 2.0, but at least Test had some positives going for him.

The woman who accused Enzo of rape spoke out after the ruling and said it was a horrible feeling that her rapist was allowed to walk around free. So, no, I don't think WWE is touching him with a ten-foot pole. TNA, on the other hand... "What's E.A. doin' in the Canadian Tire Impact Zone?!?!" (Eric Arndt was smart to name himself Enzo Amore - same initials.) Edit: Then again, even TNA may be a bit hesitant to get into the Enzo business. https://www.cagesideseats.com/impact-wrestling/2018/5/16/17363574/impact-wrestling-hiring-enzo-amore-don-callis-had-a-very-reasonable-answer-when-asked I've never bought into that particular report. Would being a Trump supporter really make him unpopular in the WWE locker room? I get the impression that WWE is very Republican-heavy, and not just from the usual suspects. Kane voted for Trump and is running as a Republican, Lashley has expressed support for Trump publicly, etc. Then you have the clip of AJ Styles and Kurt Angle laughing like wild hyenas, probably with chaw in their mouths, after Kid Rock mentioned kicking Democrats' asses at the HOF or whatever gibberish he spouted off. Not to mention, Linda McMahon works for Trump.

Nia isn't trying to be a monster - she's just trying to "be herself." Unfortunately, that's impossible in the overly scripted, sterile WWE. Therefore, she comes across as phony baloney. She's far from the only one. "Suffering succotash," anyone?

I'm surprised no one has mentioned TNA. Is that off limits? If not, I'd ask: 1. What was the long-term plan for TNA? 2. Who was underrated/underused in TNA? 3. Who did you want for TNA that you weren't able to get? Edit: Never mind - the OP says Memphis.

I must be gay then, because I'm the one in this thread saying Finn is the handsomest/cutest/etc. guy in wrestling. Ironically, I'm not exactly a fan of his matches. Someone else argued that Finn's bland ring-work makes him less attractive. I can see that, I guess, even if I don't think it diminishes his matinee idol magazine cover good looks. As for the women, WWE tends to favor this really weird tanning spray for TV days. I think I've seen it on the men too. It's hideous.

What does he say? I stopped paying attention when it became blindingly obvious that he was working a trolling gimmick on Twitter. You have no idea. I'm suddenly fascinated by this topic, and I have no idea why. Imagine the following "The Last Real Man" Silas Young is going to have if/when he eventually makes it to a bigger stage.

Does that mean 75% of wrestling fans also appeal to the bear community?

I'm enjoying the Prichard show, but the fact that *cue Conrad's voice* Brother-fucking-Love has rabid fans is a bit scary to me.

Pretty awful if the building is half-empty because scalpers got all the tickets and couldn't sell them back. What's wrong with Jocephus? I wouldn't build a company around him, but he seems like a solid addition to any roster. (Note: I've only seen promos, never matches. Does he stink up the ring?)

Kind of an underwhelming card announced so far IMO - Nick Aldis vs. Cody for the NWA World Heavyweight Title, an appearance (match?) by Rey Mysterio, and a list of wrestlers are the only things confirmed at the moment, right? With that said, if this was local for me, I'd be looking forward to it. Congrats to everyone who got tickets and is...ALL IN!

It's a shame Spike Dudley will probably never get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. I don't know why they didn't do it with the Dudley Boyz like they did for Jimmy Garvin with The Freebirds.

You must hate my posts then.

That's WCW for you. But even if he wasn't a "friend of Hogan," he probably wasn't long for the WWF anyway - he would've stuck out like a sore thumb in the "New Generation" era.

I still remember a ridiculous argument between Mooney and Hayes about the pronunciation of Kato. I forgot all about Neidhart. He must've been terrible, right? Haha! Anyone remember these stinkers? - Rob Bartlett ("comedian" on the early RAWs that was inexplicably used in place of Bobby Heenan) - Reo Rogers (Bruce Prichard?) - Stan Lane (heard he was in a tag team once...) I can't remember if they were good or not, but they didn't last long: (Note: They may have been hosts and not commentators - it's been so long that I can't remember for sure.) - Charlie Minn - Joe Fowler

Looks like this was uploaded by that Nigel chap mentioned earlier in the thread. Other videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp8xemi30qghaCmDlairUrQ

The Cass "doghouse" incident - if it's even true, which I doubt - occurred on the Smackdown before Backlash. Cass was allowed to attack Bryan after the match, which means that's still the direction. It's a shame an audible wasn't called on that at least, because Cass looked green and lost in there.

Not really something you can credit to Beefcake, but I thought the Jimmy Hart face turn angle where he protected Beefcake's face from Money Inc. was incredible.

Does anyone else have fond memories of Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes on commentary during matches aired on Prime Time Wrestling? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one.

Strange observation. It's clear the odd man out here is Tye Dillinger, and that's who they don't have plans for.

The Ted DiBiase episode of the Prichard podcast on the Network was fun. You could tell Bruce was leaning in and luxuriating in his own BS this week, but based on his facial expressions, I think he was doing it with a wink and a nod. I wonder if it's like that on the audio podcast too but it gets lost in translation because you can't see his face. Lots of interesting stories about the Ted's debut, the production of the vignettes, the creation of the Million Dollar Belt, etc. Conrad's disdain for Brutus "the fucking Barber" Beefcake was very odd. I realize it's "hip" to develop amnesia about just how over Beefcake was, and what a big part of the WWF he was in the '80s, but this felt a tad obnoxious to me. Ditto for Conrad's takedowns of Virgil. Was the guy ever a super-worker? No. But that was a hot storyline, regardless of Conrad's opinion. Awesome story about Vince on a plane as "the true Million Dollar Man."

The Ted DiBiase episode on the Network was fun. You could tell Bruce was leaning in and luxuriating in his own BS this week, but based on his facial expressions, I think he was doing it with a wink and a nod. I wonder if it's like that on the audio podcast too but it gets lost in translation because you can't see his face. Lots of interesting stories about the Ted's debut, the production of the vignettes, the creation of the Million Dollar Belt, etc. Conrad's disdain for Brutus "the fucking Barber" Beefcake was very odd. I realize it's "hip" to develop amnesia about just how over Beefcake was, and what a big part of the WWF he was in the '80s, but this felt a tad obnoxious to me. Ditto for Conrad's takedowns of Virgil. Was the guy ever a super-worker? No. But that was a hot storyline, regardless of Conrad's opinion. Awesome story about Vince on a plane as "the true Million Dollar Man."

That's been his gimmick since NXT though. He did it with Eva Marie. It was hilarious then because it was such a smark audience and he was acting like she was the best ever, but I think he's gone back to that well one too many times.

I thought WWE commentary deserved its own catch-all thread because the subject gets brought up so often in numerous threads. I know I've been involved in discussions about Booker T, Coach, Mauro, Cole, Graves, etc., but I can't find them now. My guess is they're spread over multiple threads. This can be a place to vent about bad (or good) WWE commentary as it happens, or even in the past if you're doing re-watches. ("J.R. is a grumpy so-and-so.") I'll start off with a recent Graves interview that discusses PWO's two all-time favorite commentators: If he dislikes Jonathan Coachman and Byron Saxton: "Usually if I am not into somebody, then I just won't talk about them. I wouldn't have anything to say. I have gotten to the point now where I am kind of tired at points. I still am on such a roll non-stop and I haven't had a week off in any way shape or form in like 4 years. I love it though, that is what keeps me going, I am finally at a point now where I think to myself that I don't have anything for this segment so I have to catch my breath, my throat hurts, which still hasn't recovered from WrestleMania, and every once in a while I will tell Byron [saxton] to take this segment, or Coach, help me out here. Usually I am so take charge, it's either Tom [Phillips] and I or [Michael] Cole and I. We have instant chemistry and we can read each other's minds and finish each other's thoughts, but a lot of times I tend to forget that there is a third guy there. It is nothing intentional but you get in the zone and you get excited and fired up, but every once in a while I remind myself to breathe. I get burned out sometimes." Working with Coach: "I don't know Coach on a social level. I am cool with him and have hung out with him a handful of times socially, but I don't know him, which is different because with Booker T, by the time we were doing Raw together, I had worked with him in the studio every single week for a year and a half and spent all day with him. We had a chemistry, where we would go to the hotel bar and just talk business and have fun so I had a rapport with him, but with Coach, he was the square peg in a round hole, so in the first few weeks I told myself that I wasn't going to come at him too hard because I wanted to have him get back into it. It's not something you just pick back up overnight and say that you are doing Raw commentary. He and I are cool. My thing is that you can tell when he is live Tweeting on the air because he will literally repeat something or say something that means nothing, and then you will scroll through Twitter and then you see Coach sending a 'Coach em Up' Tweet, and then he'll talk about how great the match is going to be, and I say something like, 'thanks Coach.' We just spent the last five minutes saying that. The longer we work together the better it is going to be." http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2018/0509/639743/corey-graves-on-if-he-dislikes-byron-saxton/

Which kinda, sorta makes sense. Tag teams weren't considered a draw in that era. Unfortunately, everyone in WCW was too stupid, too Southern, too stuck in the old "rasslin'" ways, that they didn't realize the Blonds were a once-in-a-generation special team. Austin's subsequent pairing with Col. Parker sucked. I liked the Col. well enough at the time, but what a dated territorial gimmick. It all worked out for Austin in the end though. Hard to believe that the same guy who saw money in the Road Warriors would see nothing in Hogan and Undertaker. People are weird, contradictory creatures, I guess. *Shrug* As for Tommy Rich, even if Ole was behind that, I'm not sure how impressive that is. Sure, Rich was hot for a time, but it didn't last. Maybe that's down to Rich himself and his "demons" - I don't know - but it's not like giving Rich the NWA Title for a couple of days was this awesome masterstroke of booking. Yes, back then, holding the title even for a short time would "make" a wrestler "for life" - but "for life" only lasted a few years in Tommy Rich's case.

I'm surprised no one has brought up the fact that Rusev beating Bryan makes Rusev more of a heel, when the opposite is what should be happening. I don't want to be one of those ridiculous fans who calls a huge win a "burial," but the direction they're going in with Rusev's character seems counter to what the fans want. It's so frustrating when WWE buries their heads in the sand. I remember the same thing happening with "Bad News" Barrett when the fans wanted to cheer him. And of course, the big example of this is Roman Reigns. I agree about Mojo. His heel work surprised me. Is he a great in-ring technician? No. Does he need more seasoning? Sure. But I wish they'd run with him a bit more than they have. Why did they even bother to break up the Hype Bros. in the first place if neither man was going to go anywhere after?