C.S.

I think everyone is so completely and utterly sick of Randy Orton. He elicits groans from me at this point. It's not that he's bad - he's actually a very good wrestler - just stale and boring. It's almost a shame that he didn't pop the racist employee in the mouth and get fired instead of ADR. A stint in AAA or Japan - or anywhere, really, that takes him away from the WWE for a year or two - would do wonders for his career and longevity as an act.

Can you quote the article for those of that don't want to go to that spyware-infested hellhole. (Don't know if PW Insider still has that issue, but it once did, so fuck them.)

What if he doesn't have a non-compete though, or what if it doesn't apply outside the U.S.? These tweets are from an AAA announcer. Why would AAA's (I assume) equivalent of Jim Ross post blatantly false information? I'm almost certain WWE owns the name though. Personally, I'd rename him Alberto Don Caras (assuming they can get away with even that).

ADR jumping to AAA this Sunday? http://www.cagesideseats.com/2014/8/11/5992893/will-alberto-del-rio-debut-for-aaa-this-sunday-at-triplemania-22 The actual tweets: https://twitter.com/rudorivera/status/498915479613083649 https://twitter.com/rudorivera/status/498916128413216769 https://twitter.com/rudorivera/status/498916232671002626 Can anyone translate?

Playing up how strong he is while doing the move does not mean they are saying he's showboating by doing it. Even during the one match where your argument might hold water, the commentators never accused him of showboating. You are filling in your own blanks and arguing a story point they're not telling and have never told. You're right about the feud though. It didn't continue - and what if, could have, should have, etc. does not magically make that finish work. It still sucked. It was bad, shortsighted, and it buried one of Cesaro's top moves. Anyway, we're over-analyzing it at this point. Has WWE Creative put in even a fraction of the thought we have on this already forgotten match, "feud," and finish? Nope. So it's almost not even worth debating. (Not a slight against you, but rather against the braindead morons in the writing room who can't even figure out how to use a legend like Flair, much less someone like Cesaro. When they get something right, like Cesaro's big win at WM, it almost seems like it's by accident.)

Maybe because of the celebratory nature of the Hogan birthday stuff? But I don't know... Wrestling is in its own world.

Everything about the site sucks. There's no polish to it whatsoever. Some could say the same of the newsletter, at least in terms of layout and formatting (I don't mean content). The message board is a complete joke too, though maybe that's the point. Compare all of that to the Torch, which is miles ahead in its presentation (print and online).

Which is why I love PWO. Am I the only one who wishes the Wrestling Observer didn't have MMA coverage at all?

Because, while the Giant Swing may be that kind of move in your mind, it has never actually been presented that way on WWE TV. With that said, it would be foolish to blame that finish solely for Cesaro's decline. Of course not. It didn't help though.

Has this been posted? From whatculture.com: Vince Russo’s 10 Insider Stories From Running WWF Magazine

That's how it is now, I believe. But I think it was more complicated in the early days of the Kindle. Not really sure though. Some of those early Kindle books had some pretty wonky formatting...Ring of Hell wasn't alone in that, but it was probably one of the worst I've seen for it.

Amazon doesn't sell a kindle version anymore, which is odd. Figured that having a kindle edition of a book available allows it to still be sold even if hard copies are out of print. Never read it, but remember when Alvarez interviewed the author and told him a line like "every bump in the ring hurts" was complete bullshit. And one of them said "except all of Velvet Sky's bumps hurt". I wonder if it got pulled after too many complaints about the formatting. Wouldn't surprise me. What does surprise me is why the author/publisher haven't done anything to get it back up there. Here's one example (of MANY) of the shitty formatting in the Kindle version: "When former NJPW Champion tried to pick up his bags. When former NJPW pound monster was less elusive." WTF is that gibberish? I e-mailed the author (no response, which is ridiculous), the publisher (did respond but was clueless), and Amazon (promised to look into it, but nothing ever got fixed as far as I know).

The ADR release is a shocker, to be sure, but I think most of you are making too much out of his appearances on Main Event. ADR vs. Ambrose seemed like a big deal, and it made me tune into Main Event for maybe the first time ever. Never mind that the match sucked - it never got out of first gear - and the non-finish of Rollins interfering didn't help (even though it was understandable and logical considering the circumstances). The truth is, ADR has been bland, stale, and phoning it in for a while now. Booking is partly to blame, but at some point, he clearly just checked out.

Who also posts here. The Kindle version had horrendous formatting issues. Don't know if it still does. I emailed him about the issue. No response. He clearly didn't care. Not exactly a fan of his because of that. This was back before refunds for Kindle books could be initiated at the click of a button within the first seven days.

I shit on that finisher at the time, going against the tide of the majority of this board. Glad to see someone else finally point out what was always obvious to me. It was a horrendous finish that unintentionally (?) buried the fuck out of Cesaro. I don't think that alone is responsible for his recent decline, but it sure as hell didn't help.

WWE Network is clunky as hell, still feels like it's in the beta testing phase, and there are all sorts of little problems with each app (for example: none of the early '90s SNME episodes are showing up on Roku, but the '80s and late '90s are there - and there have been other problems of that sort throughout). Simpsons World isn't comparable at all for one simple reason: It's using the HBO Go model. You have to be tied to a cable subscription to get it. Apples and oranges.

Probably true, but the fact is, wrestling is best watched in the moment, as it's happening. The 98-99 stuff was successful in 98-99. It worked for that specific time period, era, and audience. That's what really matters. I'm not saying there isn't any merit rewatching old stuff, but the fact is, it cannot be judged as accurately because something is always lost in translation. Sure, you can still enjoy or not enjoy something from a bygone era, but no matter what, you will never experience it the same way as people who were there as it was happening. Certain references, nuances, and period-specific attributes will be lost on you.

I think you're discounting the importance of improving the experience. The WWE Network still seems like its in beta test mode. It comes across as a lame, clunky, unpolished, unfinished, minor league product right now. I have to think that people are being turned off because of that. I'm not entirely thrilled about it myself. These things would help the presentation immensely: More reliable live PPV streams (hasn't been an issue for me, but there are still complaints) Thumbnail previews when fast-forwarding/rewinding A proper resume function on ALL devices (I've had this on Roku for months, but apparently there are still 360 issues, judging by that post on the last page) A much better search - and one that doesn't RUIN match results Playlists and/or categories for each wrestler, show, etc. A queue system More content, period (Nitro, more territory stuff, Prime Time and TNT, etc.) Better distribution of content (why isn't ALL of Total Divas Season 1 already up, for example - uploading a new episode each week is downright idiotic when the show is already on Season 3) Quicker turnaround on new Raw and Smackdown episodes (I understand why this isn't the case, but it's STILL a problem to the average consumer regardless of the reasons!)

I watched Main Event last night for the hell of it. There was a random Heath Slater/Titus O'Neil vs. Tyson Kidd/Zach Ryder match. Zach seems to have a new look (or maybe he's had it for a while - I haven't really been paying attention). But what really struck me was how crisp and intense Tyson Kidd's offense was compared to everyone else in the match - particularly Ryder. It's ridiculous how good Kidd is, and yet he's being wasted in nothing matches on c-shows like this? WWE sucks sometimes. The Slater/O'Neil team does nothing for me, even though their little gimmick of trying to overshadow each other is fun. There was also an Ambrose/Alberto match. Can't say I particularly enjoyed it. I was disappointed because it never seemed to get past first gear, and the finish did it no favors (even though it made sense). Alberto desperately needs six months off and a character makeover. He's almost as stale as Orton at this point.

1. WWE Network should and probably does have safeguards against too many people using the same account. When there were connection issues early on, I remember not being able to load a stream because I had "too many devices connected" (was probably switching between my Roku, PS3, PS4, etc. to get the damn thing working), and that was simply one person - me - trying to access my own account. 2. WWE sending a collection agency after people punishes the honest customers who've had a card expire, get cancelled, etc. Those are valid reasons for a subscription to lapse early, and those people shouldn't be penalized.

About what? Yeah, I think a copy and paste got lost somewhere here and I'm curious too Can't actually cut and paste this, so I'll link to the post. Click on the "spoiler." I was referring to Wade's last question asking whether Taz got a raise, etc. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/4999-the-wade-keller-appreciation-thread/page-20&do=findComment&comment=5614004

I can sorta see why Taz got offended by the last question, but Wade is not wrong...not at all.

I watched the black history "Soul of Wrestling" roundtable. The panelists were J.R. (host), Teddy Long, Tony Atlas, Dusty Rhodes, and Bill Watts. No Michael Hayes... Gee, I wonder why. Bill Watts seemed very self-conscious about his reputation as a racist. He went out of his way to talk about how close he was to Ernie Ladd and the pushes he gave to JYD, Ron Simmons, etc. He even briefly mentioned the Torch Talk incident (Mark Madden - not mentioned by name, only as someone "from Pittsburgh" - sent it to baseball legend and Turner exec Hank Aaron and got Watts fired). I was surprised that Watts actually brought it up, and I was hoping he'd get grilled on it a lot more - but that wasn't going to happen on a show hosted by his "boy," J.R. Do you all think Watts is racist? Honestly, I don't. What I do think is that he's a product of his time and he's probably made casually racist comments like many of his peers from that era and region, but I don't think he legitimately hates black people. However, I wouldn't cite his pushes of JYD, Simmons, etc. as evidence that he isn't a racist. Like all of the panelists said many times on the program, green (as in money) meant more than black, and Watts would have been no different in that regard. Still, I'm not ready to condemn Watts as a hardcore racist...I just don't see it. While the Madden story was glossed over, I do credit Watts for bringing it up - and also for admitting to cutting racist promos early in his career when he was "young and stupid." Aside from Watts, what I found most interesting - and surprising - was the black-on-black racism described by both Tony Atlas and Teddy Long. While everyone else on the panel praised Thunderbolt Patterson, Long had some pretty damning words about him. Tony talked about card-carrying members of the Klan having his back in a fight, because that's how strong the bond between the wrestlers was. Fascinating stuff overall.

My thoughts on the show: - Rose/Fandango was a waste of time, but it was mercifully short, so I'm okay with it. - Cameron/Naomi was pretty bad, but Cameron showed some nice intensity as a jealous heel. For those of you criticizing AJ/Paige (more below), did you not watch this match and see how much worse it was? - I was one of the few who didn't like last month's match between the Usos and Rowan/Harper, but this month's was fantastic - maybe match of the night. I minded the first two falls being so short as they were happening, but the awesome third fall more than made up for it by the end. - No Ambrose/Rollins sucks and reeks of shady false advertising, but with all of locked into six-month commitments, I guess they can get away with that shit now. With that being said, I loved the intense brawls between them, and it makes me even hungrier for a match. What's the deal though? Was there something to the rumblings about the Rollins injury after all? - AJ/Paige wasn't great, but I didn't hate it the way most of you did. I also think comparing Paige to some random Japanese female wrestler is absurd. We all know the way the WWE books its women is light years behind how it's done in Japan. Still, things are improving for the WWE Divas division IMO. Despite its flaws this was still a pretty solid, serious effort - not the cheesecake puff we would have gotten only a year ago (and did get earlier in the night with Cameron/Naomi, which was also a step up in a way because it was one of two women's matches on the card and featured a real storyline and rivalry). Paige desperately needs to turn heel though. - Jericho/Wyatt was nothing special, but I can understand the rationale behind Jericho winning. The problem is, he no longer means anything anymore - just like RVD. Having him lose to Fandango at WM and other similar losses killed his aura long ago. Yeah, Wyatt will get the win back, but too little too late. They definitely overestimated Jericho's perceived significance, but I don't think it will hurt Wyatt in the long run either way. - Miz winning the I-C Title the way he did was pretty obvious to me - I saw it coming a mile away - but it was the right move, I think. Heath Slater lasting as long as he did and eliminating Cesaro of all people was a shocker. I hope this is actually leading to something for Heath. Otherwise, what's the point? I felt bad for Zack Ryder (and to a lesser extent, Xavier Woods and R-Truth). - I liked the main event. Hard to be disappointed by Cena winning when that was as obvious as can be. I wasn't expecting a cash-in either. It was pretty clear there wouldn't be one when Rollins drove off.

Not if they ditch Ole, who was an even worse pick than Roma at that time, and go with both Blondes.