I wasn't necessarily talking in terms of physique - most average, working class people didn't have a body like Ricky Hatton in his boxing prime, but he still had the look, character and attitude of a regular man you might see down the pub, and that is why he was so beloved and connected with his audience. That is what Steve Austin had, the feel of being a real person and of having some authenticity.

 

I just don't get that when watching Neville or The Miz or Dolph fucking Ziggler.

 

I complained for a long time about how homogenous WWE workers were at a certain point, everyone had this boring cookie cutter look a few years ago and had nothing to differentiate them from each other in terms of appearance, gimmick, personality. They have tried to address that with some success, but a lot of the workers now are far too stylized to the point of not resembling anything like a real person.

https://twitter.com/davemeltzerWON/status/852268859268546560

 

Meltzer trying to equate something as serious as a brain hematoma (which already killed someone in Japan) with minor, easier to handwave injuries like cracked ribs is something very stupid.

I tweeted pretty much the exact same thing about that. What I didn't know is that Shibata wrestled someone who died of the same injury they are now (apparently) doing an angle around. That's almost like WWE doing an angle based around someone falling from the ceiling.

 

Did Shibata land on his head or something?

He hit a nasty headbutt that split his own head open legit.

I meant did Shibata land on Fukuda's head

I meant did Shibata land on Fukuda's head

You have to imagine that's what happened.

My memory might be wrong (after all the thing was 17 years ago), but I think Fukuda had an undiagnosed brain tumor which ruptured after the elbow drop causing the bleeding.

Dave threw some vintage shade at Jinder "Traps Don't Lie" Mahal in the latest issue.

I'm not sure Dave "I'm 60 and have better abs than Johnny Mundo" Meltzer has room to talk about a guy taking enhancements.

I'm not sure Dave "I'm 60 and have better abs than Johnny Mundo" Meltzer has room to talk about a guy taking enhancements.

 

Especially since he seems to be all buddy buddy with "Dwayne" who will dead in the next 15 years if he keeps pumping the roids into his body.

 

Dave (and most wrestling fans to be fair) have the opinion that as long as you are good in the ring then it is okay. I mean Benoit and Eddy were blantantly roided up and it wasn't until they died that people questioned it

The biggest revelation in the new Observer is Dave finally answering the question of who was the "Glorious" theme originally written for, with the answer being Nakamura.

I'm not sure Dave "I'm 60 and have better abs than Johnny Mundo" Meltzer has room to talk about a guy taking enhancements.

 

This idea of Dave being on the juice has been suggested multiple times before and been pretty thoroughly debunked (by jdw, who was once one of Dave's closest friends). Dave gave up even taking OTC supplements long ago.

It's not the most ridiculous thing in the world to think someone's who's been a fitness buff his whole life would still be in excellent shape at age 60. Now if you're going to talk about jacked up 80s Dave, then you might be on to something.

`I didn't say he was on steroids, but he's definitely on TRT and probably HGH as well. He's bigger now at almost 60 than he was in the 90s.

Dave has spent the last 30 years not touching *anything* untoward. Doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do anything. Of course this isn't provable which means people can just make these "I'm not saying, just saying" passive-aggressive accusations without fear of being definitively contradicted anyway.

I'm saying he's on TRT at a minimum. Not just saying. Actually saying. TRT is legal. HGH can be legal in the right situations. No 60 year old man looks like that naturally even if he's been hardcore dieting and exercising for decades. You don't GAIN muscle as you hit middle age, breh.

Let's change this rather pointless and stupid topic of discussion into something we CAN prove which is that Miz was called a "comedy heel" in a recent Observer which is either a very strong adherence to the "Miz sucks" narrative that Dave likes or an admission by Dave that he really isn't paying attention when he's watching WWE television because Miz hasn't been a comedy heel since the days when he was making some people think Damien Sandow was the next big star in wrestling.

 

I guess you can argue semantics, but Miz improving in all facets doesn't change that in the end he was just there to be window dressing for the Cena/Nikki proposal just like he was part of the scenery when he main evented WM. I enjoy watching the guy, but at no point did I get the sense the company was turning the corner on him and now seeing him as a legit top level guy.

Saying that Miz is a not "comedy heel" is not arguing semantics it's saying that he in no way is a comedy heel. The upper card part is fine but the "comedy" part of the statement is ridiculous and absurd. If Dave is trying to say he's a comedy heel because of the skits where he and Maryse dressed up as Cena & Nikki Bella then that would make nWo a stable of comedy heels because they impersonated the Four Horsemen that one time.

 

He's been involved in personal & intense rivalries with Ziggler, Ambrose & Cena over the past year not doing a fucking comedy gimmick like Planet Stasiak.

I don't see how Miz could fit into the "comedy heel" category, really. Was it the Total BS sketches? If so, then how isn't Owens also a comedy heel?

I can see what Dave is saying (and I'm someone who thinks that Dave not being more pro-Miz is ridiculous at this point).

 

There's an upper level that Miz is just not a part of. That upper level is incredibly thin - Brock, Cena, Reigns now, Orton, Triple H when he's around...and that might be it.

 

AJ is on the cusp, but he's challenging for the US Title right now (which is kind of a step down). Jericho certainly isn't at that level in 2017 and maybe had two runs at that level at any time in his career. I think they wanted Rollins there, but it didn't materialize. Ditto for Ambrose. Braun Strowman looks like he could get there - but we'll see (he might end up at that slightly below upper tier where Big Show and Kane have spent most of their careers after an initial big push).

 

When all is said and done, The Miz's career will resemble that of a Jericho more than it will The Rock. Jericho has never been a "dominant" guy - even at his peaks, he was a cheater, an opportunist, and the guy at the right place at the right time. Dave doesn't give enough credit to Miz for his in-ring improvements or his consistent greatness on the mic for quite awhile now, but he's not wrong here.

Honestly what's helped Miz the most was being on Smackdown when the brand split happened which made him a default upper card heel since the roster was kind of thin at the start. He took the ball and ran with it, but you can tell when the company sees something in a guy and I didn't get that impression at all.

AJ going after the US Championship isn't a step down for him, he's elevating the title. The WWE Championship is clearly secondary now that AJ is going after the US Championship. i wouldn't be surprised at all for the next SD PPV to have Orton vs Jinder (or whoever by that point) 3rd from main behind AJ/KO and whatever Nakamura is doing.

 

I'd argue the pecking order of SD goes something like

 

AJ

Nakamura (might change when he becomes active)

KO

Corbin

Charlotte

Orton

I'm glad we could have this discussion about how Metlzer was right in calling Miz an upper card guy instead of about Meltzer calling him a "comedy heel" which was you know kind of the whole point.