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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 12:56:15 GMT -5
Wow, I did not know that. Well, I'm sure the WWF will commemorate Undertaker in some way.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2020 8:41:02 GMT -5
Gotta admit, I am looking forward to WrestleMania 36. This is the first WM in a long time that I am very intrigued by (WM VII was the last one; no, only kidding, but I did like that card!).
I'm rooting for Drew McIntyre against Brock Lesnar, who is defending the WWF Championship.
Very intrigued by Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns for Goldberg's Universal Championship.
There's much more, but for the first time in a long time, every match announced so far interests me.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 11, 2020 20:47:55 GMT -5
NWA Circle Squared Eps 2 & 3
This is the NWA sub-channel for highlighting indie talent, with an eye to bringing in new people who get over ith their audience (which still isn't that big; but, is growing).
Opening promo for next week's "Super Powerrr, with Aldis & Latimer vs Scurll and King, Kamille wrestling and, allegedly, speaking; Tim Storm vs Jax Dane (if he wins he gets 5 minutes to kick the crap out of Danny Deals for insulting Mama Storm), Rock N Roll Express vs Stevens & Question Mark.
Recap of the premise: indie talent get a promo and a match and fans give feedback through various platforms. Clips from ep 1's fight between Hawx Aerie and Tyson Dean & Jeff Lewis Neal. Hawx Aerie were the father and son team of Luke Hawx and PJ Hawx. Promos were average, with nothing special. Match was decent, with the Hawx doing the flippy stuff (especially PJ) and the other dudes doing strength/impact. The Hawx have a viral video of PJ jumping off a mall balcony during a match presented in the shopping mall. Stupid stunt; but, it got them attention. PJ has an amateur background and showed off a it of it, though he was no Kurt Angle. Not many pros can do mat wrestling, anymore, which makes it hard to do chain wrestling spots. Used to be everyone could doheadlocl, armlock and other basic counter sequences.
Like last time, we are first tortured bya bunch of Youtubers who have commented on NWA Powerrr, so they are easy marks. Last time, the only opinion worth noting was Blue Meanie. Sean Mooney for the intros. More begging for people to vote and comment, as they need the views and promotion to make the NWA seem bigger than it is. Corgan has done much to elevate it; but, it will never be more than another indie group until it is on broadcast tv and putting on shows in bigger arenas. The first arena show is the Crockett Cup; but it is still a relatively small venue (still a step up from the last two, at the GPB studios).
Kyle Davis starts the actual show, by bringing out the first competitor, Colby Corino, son of Steve Corino, of ECW fame and a former NWA World champion, from the Howard Brody regime, having beaten Mike Rapada for the title, when it meant nothing but a dead legacy. Rapada was considered a joke and Corino at least had some mainstream credentials; but, the NWA consisted of pretty small membership promotions. Corino was working for Shinya Hashimoto's Zero-1 promotion, in Japan, which was one of the NWA members and one with the most pull. This was just before the rights to use the title were sold to the Jarretts and the newly launched TNA. The title would become an even bigger joke after TNA was done with it, before the current regime started making people care about it again. Cornio was also AWA World Champion for Dale Gagne's "fake AWA Superstars network of indie promoters. Pretty much the same as the NWA promotions that sprung up: they franchised the name and the champion would appear on their shows, in front of dozens of fans. Well, maybe a few more than that.
Colby has been wrestling since 2009 and has worked for Ring of Honor and done some training in the New Japan Dojo. He is the spitting image, albeit shorter, than his father. He is also the nephew of Allison Danger, promoter and wrestler of Shimmer Women Athletes. he talks about his 7 month old kid, his dad, and growing up with wrestling. Good basic babyface promo that feels like real sentiment, even if it sounds rehearsed. He gets choked up, or at least plays it that way. Not natural; but, a good intro.
Followed by pointless commentary from the marks, including Wrestling with Wregret's Brian Zane.His opponent is someone, who despite the claims of Sean Mooney that the participants haven't competed for the NWA, is someone who wrestle in the real NWA: George South. South is as Old School as they come. He started out in 1981, wrestling for Championship Wrestling From Florida, then Mid-South, then Jim Crockett Promotions. He wrestled on the debut Crockett show on TBS. South was a regular feature as enhancement talent (ie "jobber"), who got in offense. He worked under his own name and under numerous masks in squash matches and undercard bouts. South was well liked and respected. He did enhancement matches for the WWF and Turner WCW and has worked indies ever since, while he also runs a training school and wrestling promotion and was one of the trainers of the Dawson Brothers, among many others. South is the real deal and would be a great addition as a "producer"/agent, vs guys like Crimson and Josephus, who have a more limited level of experience.
South talks about never getting to do an interview or promo, playing up the bitter old heel veteran angle. he's a born-again Christian, so he stays away from profanity or vulgarity in his promos and just uses anger, resentment and plain dislike. Good stuff. He's an old Carolinian and has the deep accent, which gives him a nice Hanna-Barbera Southern stereotype sound to his promo. He also brings up a legit friendship with Steve Corino and pretty much says it is the audience's fault he has to face "one of his own".
They have Eli Drake and Allysin Kay comment, which adds little, other than both get praised. Drake basically faults South for not varying is energy levels. Look dude, South has wrestled for real promotions; you can't teach him anything. Impact "World" Champion? You and every other guy who appeared there. Sit back and take a lesson on how to work a match, junior.
Taped background packages. Corino talks about being hooked on heroin and is two years clean (meaning he F-ed up his chance to get anywhere). He's working to move ahead. Good stuff. "I screwed up my life, I take responsibility for it, I'm looking to the future." South talks about his past and his relationship with Colby, who says he helped him through tough times. This is better meat than the "live" stuff.
For comic fans, South's ring jacket features logos from batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, as well as Jesus, John 3:16, and pictures of Blackjack Mulligan and other greats from Crockett. They lock up and go into old school headlock spots, rope breaks and action off the ropes. Cornio hits a tackle on South who bumps, then yells at Corino to settle down. he gets the advantage and dominates the smaller Corino, while carrying on a dialogue with the crowd. Corino gets an abdominal stretch off the ropes; but, is too small to buy into it and South powers out. South homages Blackjack Mulligan and delivers an iron claw to the forehead. Part of South's modern routine is homaging moves of some of the greats. Stu Bennett says shades of Baron Von Raschke, meaning he has no clue about Mulligan using the claw. They do a hope spot as Corino is counted to two before firing back. South keeps going back to the claw and Colby sells it well. crowd gets behind him and he fights ot. South throws him into the corner, goes into the 3-point stance (American football) and then charges the corner and misses. Corino gets a schoolboy rollup and the pin.
South showed old school psychology: nothing overly flashy, but everything means something. He kept going to the claw to show how you work a hold and make it the focus of a match. it was a good one for Corino to get babyface heat by being in danger; but, it being a hold that gives him options for escape. It gets the crowd into the match. South really should be working with a lot of the young talent and teaching them here. He made Corino look far better than he is. Corino did some good selling, as a babyface, did the fiery comebacks and surprised the wily veteran. Good, basic match work that stands above the average indie spot fest. Voters will probably buy into the story more than the story of the match, as it wasn't flashy enough for an AEW crowd; but, he would have gotten over with a Techwood Drive crowd.
More chatter from Drake and Kay and Drake just needs to keep quiet and take notes.
Selling the Crockett cup, with Aldiss vs Scurll and Aron Stevens vs Trevor Murdoch. they announce part of the teams for the tournament:
Rock N Roll Express (previously announced) Villain Enterprises (Brody King and Flip Gordon, ROH team) Rey Horus and Flamita (ROH luchador team) Wild Card (Latimer & Isaacs, former NWA World tag champs)Latimer and Isaacs beat Villain Enterprises (King and PCO, who will be wrestling Aldis at another show, so Gordon is there for the team) for the NWA titles, after the Crockett Cup. The Rock N Roll Express beat them for their 9th run, before losing in a three-way to Drake and James Storm.
3 more teams to be announced. 8th team will come from a wild card battle royal (royal rumble-style rules), with teams and singles wrestlers; so, you could end up with two singles guys who have never teamed before (which was kind of Isaacs and Latimer, last year). Bit over-complicated, which sounds like Lagana, as that is textbook WWE/TNA overbooking a simple idea. Why not just have a blind draw for tournament teams? ICW did that for their vacant US tag tiles, resulting in Pez Whatley teaming with Rip Rogers and winning the belts. Ronnie Garvin was teamed with the babyface Chief Tapu, who threw the match in favor of the heel Great Tio and his partner (can't recall, might have been Leaping Lanny) and then Garvin revealed that Tapu was Tio's son (never have been able to confirm if they are father and son, as there is little info out there about those tw. Samoan wrestlers; but, not part of the Anoa'i Family or the Maivia clan (which is linked to the Anoa'i Family, as Peter Maivia gave Afa and Sika their start).
Battle royal entrants: Tim Storm, Ricky Starks and Zicky Dice. More names to come.
Back to the wannabes with two women: Freya (Norse goddess of love, beauty and fertility) and Dani Jordyn. Does anyone spell their name traditionally anymore?
More chatter from the marks. Dave marquez conducts the interview and we get Freya (the Slaya, proving no one used spellcheck) first, who is on the larger scale of frame and is from Alaska. She mocks Sarah Palin stupidity, then talks about -41 def F, which Marquez says is cold. Glad he is there to point these things out.
Not a particularly great promo. Suspect she doesn't have much experience cutting one to any sizeable group. Hasn't really perfected a personna and lacked confidence in her delivery. Sounded rehearsed. Drake kibbitz's that she never said her name; which is a good point. This is an intro and even Marquez didn't give her name. Allysin Kay gives a good critique, as the marks all say they don't know who she is. She praises her look and gear and the bit about the territory history and Alaska as a frontier. Felt she seemed nervous. probably looking for another bigger gal as a potential opponent.
Dani Jordyn comes out. Another tiny woman, who looks like a high school sophomore, with tattoos around her wrist. Thunder Rosa may not be the shortest woman in the locker room anymore. She is actually doing a high school gimmick (she's even carrying a binder), calling herself the "real Mean Girl." Okay, fer sure! Maybe she can make fun of May Valentine. She makes fun of Freya and is way more polished than most of what I have seen on this program (except George South) and 99% of the women already working there. The rest could take lessons. Now, can she work?
Dani is over with the marks and Allysin Kay. Drake says she needed an exclamation point at the end of her promo, as he felt it ended flat. Maybe she can yell "Yeah" repeatedly. oh wait, that's his stupid schtick. maybe she can make it "Whaaaaa?"
Taped pieces. Freya is from Fairbanks, travels 6 hours to train, has her own ring in her back yard to work out. Dani Jordyn talks about battling against people who say you ca't do soemthing. really good, short stuff that connects. She's got a future, if she can do it in the ring.
The visual is pure Tom & Jerry as Freya is close to a foot taller and at least 100 lbs heavier. This is almost like Nitro when Rey Mysterio tried to leap on Kevin nash and got launched into the side of a production trailer like a lawn dart!
Freya plays up the giant powers moves and flings Dani across the ring and into the corner. Her execution isn't crisp; but, that looked good on camera. Dani had tried a series of rapid fire kicks to lead into the spot, which plays her up as a tasmanian devil type that will gnaw at you. They do some more giant/power stuff, then Freya misses a kick into the corner and Dan attacks the knee (Freya fluffs her positioning, though) Now they have a story of Dani attacking the knees but still getting caught and thumped by Freya, who goes for a pin but gets a 2 count. Dani gets more kicks to the leg and a lo dropkick to the midsection (she's too short for a high dropkick on anyone). She plays heel to the audience and gets thumped and kicked to the mat. frey goes for the big legdrop and Dani rolls out, as Freya continues to (badly) sell the leg. Dani tries forearms in the corner (does every indie wrestler learn that same weak forearm shot instead of punching?) and gets shoved across the ring. More fight spots, with power from Freya and tenacity from Dani. freya gets the Michinoku Driver and the pin.
Allysin Kay is high on the match, Drake talks about staying on the opponent.
Turned out to be a decent rookie match. They played the size differential well, with Dani proving that size alone isn't enough, while Freya shows that size is a massive advantage. Both are really green. Dani has the personality and has the elements of a good gimmick, that is relatable, if a bit too comical. Probably resonates more with a young crowd. Freya is not graceful on her feet, doesn't sell very well; but, she shouldn't be selling much. You can tell what she has worked most on as those moves look great. Dani showed more ring awareness; but not quite when to play to the crowd and when to keep them invested in the action.
Dani has 10 times more personality than most of the women working for the NWA, including Allysin, but has a long way to go before she is anywhere as crisp as Thunder Rosa, or even in there with Ashley Vox, marti belle or Tasha Steelz, in terms of executing in the ring. None have the psychology, but Dani at least has a persona upon which to build a style. Freya has a ton of potential as a monster heel, if she can develop a killer personality to go along with it. She seemed to be trying too hard to be liked, which works against her as a heel. I can't see her as a babyface, though she was one, since she was the victim of the verbal abuse. This could have used some better booking and both ladies need mentoring and experience; but, they have potential.
I liked that neither was a cookie cutter women's wrestler. No plastic WWE bodies, no tom boy athletics. Both had a real shape to them, both are attractive in their own right but aren't playing beauty queens. they look like misfits, which is the foundation of a wrestler who doesn't come from an amateur background. Pro wrestlers are misfits.
George South was the best wrestler seen on this programming; but, his real value would be as a trainer and agent, with occasional performances. Colby Corino has potential; but lacks his father's height, which limits him and he is on on the thinner end. Still needs to develop; but, there is potential there, with seasoning and desire. He has a story that could be developed into more, ala Tim Storm's teaching and years in the indies, making it to the NWA title and respecting the history of it, despite the less than memorable people who have held it in the past couple of decades.
They sell voting; but, I don't believe for a minute that votes count for anything, any more than it does for American Idol. It's about who they want to sell and how they sell them to you will manipulate the voting.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2020 11:06:17 GMT -5
Thanks for doing these reviews. Very in-depth and happy to read them. I do hope to watch these one day.
Any thoughts on Jake Roberts appearing in AEW?
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 12, 2020 14:23:45 GMT -5
Thanks for doing these reviews. Very in-depth and happy to read them. I do hope to watch these one day. Any thoughts on Jake Roberts appearing in AEW? I can't sit through AEW. I heard about it. jake will go where the money is and he can still cut a promo. Yoga or no yoga, his body isn't going to handle much wrestling, which is why he has only done appearances and DDTs for the WWE. He has a Legends contract, which limits what he can do. AEW is open-ended. Whether or not he is there long term or just for a show or two remains to be seen. They certainly need help with promos and booking and psychology and Jake would be a good person for those roles, though I'm not sure how he would be in a mentor role. DDP has talked a lot about how Jake helped him (and Scott Hall) develop promos and psychology and step up their game; so, maybe. Tully Blanchard has been there, as a manager and I thought I heard Arn Anderson had done some stuff. I know the Rock N Roll Express did an appearance or two. I think Cody wants to bring these guys in for the history; but, its audience is probably oblivious to them. Their core content is not aimed at older fans, so maybe they hope nostalgia appearances will attract. Quite frankly, I don't think anyone there has a plan because no one person seems in charge of the thing. Cody books his stuff, Jericho books his, the Young Bucks book the tag-team mess and Kenny Omega books his stuff. None of them have the experience to be booking anything, especially the Young Bucks, except maybe Jericho. I just can't watch anything on AEW, other than Cody, as it is all 20 minute spot fests and stuff aimed at 20-somethings with short attention spans. NWA has more my style of things and even they need to work on psychology and booking logic. Haven't seen Ring of Honor, beyond the guys who have worked NWA shows or the ones who went to AEW. I couldn't stand TNA and haven't watched the Impact ashes. I think Brian Last, on Corney's podcast, summed up what I thought of AEW, when I tried to watch it: WWE production and WCW booking.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 12, 2020 14:32:17 GMT -5
I finally realized who George South reminded me of when he cut his promo and when he was jawing in the ring. Hal Smith, the character actor who played town drunk Otis Campbell, on the Andy Griffith Show and did hundreds of voices for Hanna-Barbera and other cartoon studios. Smith used to do loud, angry voices, especially Southerners, particularly on shows like Scooby Doo. From the 70s on, he and Henry Corden were the go-to male character actors used for various bit parts. Corden later took over the voice of Fred Flintstone, after the death of Alan Reed. Smith had also voiced the Scottish engineer character, Taurus, on the Cambria sci-fi cartoon series Space Angel, which featured mostly still images, with human actors mouths super-imposed on the faces, to speak the dialogue. Cambria had used this for their Clutch Cargo cartoons and their Captain Fathom cartoons. Conan O'Brien would later use the gimmick on his talk show. George just had that same kind of delivery. During his promo, he talked about never getting to do interviews at the podium with Bob Caudle (Mid-Atlantic announcer), Gordon Solie (Georgia announcer) or Lance Russell (who was the Memphis announcer, but worked for the Turner WCW, in the early 90s). It was nice to hear the old school announcers that were synonymous with NWA wrestling (though Memphis was more its own animal, booking the NWA champion for a time, then the AWA champion for a longer period).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2020 15:55:08 GMT -5
I'm pleased that Davey Boy Smith is entering the WWF Hall of Fame: BRITISH BULLDOG’ DAVEY BOY SMITH OFFICIALLY GOING INTO WWE HALL OF FAMEDid he soar as high as he could have? I don't know. I certainly wanted to see him win a world title. I do think his promo skills really improved over time as far as his singles career is concerned. The 1991 promos (including an awkward one during the WWF's world tour) were different from the late 90s one. WCW had no clue what to do with him. I said at the time that when he entered WCW, they should have given us a Bulldog vs Hollywood Hogan match on UK soil. At the time he entered WCW, the promotion hadn't toured the UK in four years. Bulldog and Hogan never met. WCW were hopeless later on. He was part of some memorable matches and moments, so I'm glad he's getting inducted.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 12, 2020 17:03:43 GMT -5
I'm pleased that Davey Boy Smith is entering the WWF Hall of Fame: BRITISH BULLDOG’ DAVEY BOY SMITH OFFICIALLY GOING INTO WWE HALL OF FAMEDid he soar as high as he could have? I don't know. I certainly wanted to see him win a world title. I do think his promo skills really improved over time as far as his singles career is concerned. The 1991 promos (including an awkward one during the WWF's world tour) were different from the late 90s one. WCW had no clue what to do with him. I said at the time that when he entered WCW, they should have given us a Bulldog vs Hollywood Hogan match on UK soil. At the time he entered WCW, the promotion hadn't toured the UK in four years. Bulldog and Hogan never met. WCW were hopeless later on. He was part of some memorable matches and moments, so I'm glad he's getting inducted. I'm okay with Bulldog, as a single, though his single's career pales compared to the tag-team. I'd prefer to see Dynamite get the recognition. I note they waited a long time for people to forget how Davey Boy died, of a drug overdose, while divorcing his wife to be with the ex-wife of his ex-brother-in-law. Then again, most of their Hall of Fame has stuff like that in their past (not to mentionmost of wrestling). I, personally, have no feelings one way or another for the WWE Hall of Fame. It's whoever Vince wants in there, for whatever excuse they come up with. Most of the selections are for marketing Wrestlemania and little to do with any real merit. Hell, his driver is in there. I get that fans feel it is the only Hall of Fame we have, though the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame is a more realistic Hall of Fame, based on merit, and there is the Wrestling Hall of Fame, in Iowa; but the pro wrestling side is limited to real shooters and not workers. It's like the Oscars and Grammys and Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, which is more notable for who isn't in than is and who received awards vs who didn't. Using the Oscars as an example, Henry Fonda had to be on his deathbed to finally win one, because he had done politically charged films (Grapes of Wrath, mainly) and Peter O'Toole had to be given an honorary one since they wouldn't give him a real one, since he liked to drink and get into trouble (same for Richard Harris and Richard Burton). The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is notorious for the non-white people not in it and the people who weren't the darlings of Rolling Stone. Just this past year Nine Inch Nails went in but Pat Benatar didn't? Why, because she was a woman? Because she could actually sing? Because she evolved over the decades? She rocked and kicked ass, yet Joan Jett made it before her. I'm of the Groucho Marx persuasion; I refuse to join an organization that would have someone like me as a member!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2020 13:08:22 GMT -5
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 13, 2020 17:33:31 GMT -5
Thanks for doing these reviews. Very in-depth and happy to read them. I do hope to watch these one day. Any thoughts on Jake Roberts appearing in AEW? I can't sit through AEW. I heard about it. jake will go where the money is and he can still cut a promo. Yoga or no yoga, his body isn't going to handle much wrestling, which is why he has only done appearances and DDTs for the WWE. He has a Legends contract, which limits what he can do. AEW is open-ended. Whether or not he is there long term or just for a show or two remains to be seen. They certainly need help with promos and booking and psychology and Jake would be a good person for those roles, though I'm not sure how he would be in a mentor role. DDP has talked a lot about how Jake helped him (and Scott Hall) develop promos and psychology and step up their game; so, maybe. Tully Blanchard has been there, as a manager and I thought I heard Arn Anderson had done some stuff. I know the Rock N Roll Express did an appearance or two. I think Cody wants to bring these guys in for the history; but, its audience is probably oblivious to them. Their core content is not aimed at older fans, so maybe they hope nostalgia appearances will attract. Quite frankly, I don't think anyone there has a plan because no one person seems in charge of the thing. Cody books his stuff, Jericho books his, the Young Bucks book the tag-team mess and Kenny Omega books his stuff. None of them have the experience to be booking anything, especially the Young Bucks, except maybe Jericho. I just can't watch anything on AEW, other than Cody, as it is all 20 minute spot fests and stuff aimed at 20-somethings with short attention spans. NWA has more my style of things and even they need to work on psychology and booking logic. Haven't seen Ring of Honor, beyond the guys who have worked NWA shows or the ones who went to AEW. I couldn't stand TNA and haven't watched the Impact ashes. I think Brian Last, on Corney's podcast, summed up what I thought of AEW, when I tried to watch it: WWE production and WCW booking. Jericho has been amazing in AEW...his feud with Jon Moxley has been classic (even if Mox is basically playing Stone Cold). I agree the matches are spot fest-y, but it's not so bad... some of the things these guys can do is pretty impressive. There's not alot of in-match psychology (though JR tries his best), but that's just not what today's fans want, and I can accept that. They have angles up and down the card that make decent sense... the did randomly drop one (I think mostly due to Awesome Kong's injury), but otherwise its been decent. The angle with Page semi-leaving/feuding with the Elite has been a good slow burn, and I'm liking the Dark Order stuff (though I REALLY REALLY hope the pull the trigger on having Christopher Daniels go back to his 'Fallen Angel' persona and take them over). I also really like Kris Statlander.. she has a fun character and a cool move set (she legit does the Oklahoma Roll and it works). I think once they stop focusing on Riho (who is too small) and Nyla Rose (who is too big), they women's division should be really good. They don't really have any story lines there, just competing for the title, but I like that. As far as legends go, Tully Blanchard is the manager of Shawn Spears, who kinda sucks, but they're doing a fun angle where they are searching for the perfect tag partner for him.. complete with random people sending in youtube videos. DDP actually wrestled, and it was OK.. he was sorta involved in the Cody-MJF feud... I think that was meant to be a one-time thing, though. Arn Anderson is the 'coach' of the Nitemare Family... they're kinda making him out to be the Bill Belichick of wrestling, which I don't love, but isn't horrible. Jake is managing new signee Vance Archer (formely Lance Hoyt of WWE).. seems to be Cody's next feud. Dustin Rhodes, who is closer in age to those guys than the rest of the roster, is clearly in amazing shape and has put on some good matches. The Rock 'n' Roll Express did a very brief angle to prove Santana and Ortiz were bad guys, and got to get them back.. that seems to be a one off. Taz seems to now be on the payroll.. he was the color guy (filling in for Excalibur) one show, and does occassionally interviews. The also had Dave Brown do some play by play when they were in Memphis, which was really cool. I think you're wrong about the fans not appreciating that stuff.. the live crowds get really excited about it. Sure, they do some of the annoying things indy fans do (every 3rd match gets a 'this is awesome' chant it seems, and they all sing along to Jericho's entrance every time)
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 13, 2020 23:35:08 GMT -5
I may be wrong; but, i give them cred for bringing in the veterans to deliver promos, because too many of their young talent cannot. My question is how many of those young guys are taking advantage of it, picking their brains, learning from them? Guys like MJF; definitely. Some of the others? No idea.
I knew a long time ago that I was not the target audience for wrestling, pretty much from the moment that Russo came on board WCW. That's fine. NWA has impressed me in the early stages and it has more of an old school feel, without being trapped in the past (Zicky Dice notwithstanding). However, lately, a lot more of the cracks in the foundation are showing. Part of it is the short-term booking and decisions that don't make sense. Going into the tv tournament, they had Rocky Starks layout Aron Stevens, which seemed to set up him challenging for the National title and they already had a match history. It looked like they were going to build a big feud that was going to be entertaining. Meanwhile, Trevor Murdoch seemed to be positioned like an Arn Anderson; he isn't pretty; but, he is technically flawless and cuts a good, old school promo and seems legit tough. He seemed to be positioned as the feature for a tv title. Then, they had Starks win the title and go into a feud with Zicky Dice, while Murdoch went into a feud with Question Mark and Aron Stevens (which has been good). That is WCW-level of dropping the ball and expecting the audience to gain sudden amnesia. There is no discernable logic to that booking switch. Murdoch has come out okay; but, Starks vs Zicky Dice doesn't excite me that much. Starks and Aron Stevens playing Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam had mileage.
The influx of ROH guys and the cross-promoting, to me, says both are desperate to try to get noticed. They started out working together, before they started Power, as a platform for Aldis and the NWA World title to get exposure and for ROH to bring in some fresh talent. Then, after they did the All-In PPV (where ROH paid for the guys to basically audition for Tony Khan) they went to the Crockett Cup to switch the title back and then went their separate ways. Originally, they made it sound like they had different agendas and it would be quite a while before they might work together. Things seem to tank at ROH after the defections, so whether they came crawling to NWA to get some talent in there working with their remainders or whether it was a mutual "we need to work together to try to build with what we got," I don't know. I like the idea of them cross-promoting, as it reminds me of the late 70s and early 80s, when Vince Sr was still an NWA member (the WWF returned to the NWA, in the 70s, and stayed until about 1983) and Verne Gagne was cordial with them and they did title vs title matches and traded talent amicably. When Vince Jr went national, it just seemed like that went out the window on all sides, apart from the Pro Wrestling USA failure, which kind of showed they were in it for themselves, as they spent more time trying to sign each other's talent than working together and they soon went their own way into oblivion.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2020 10:24:28 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 16, 2020 20:45:41 GMT -5
So, Wrestlemania is going to be an empty arena show. Quite frankly, I think their booking could have achieved that without a pandemic.
They should get Terry Funk to do commentary (via satellite, obviously, since he had the greatest empty arena match ever, with Jerry Lawler, in Memphis.
Meanwhile, the NWA has suspended the Crockett Cup and Powerrr tapings...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2020 17:24:51 GMT -5
Is Bret Hart vs Mr Perfect for the I-C Title at SummerSlam 1991 one of the best WWF matches ever? Discuss (yes, it is).
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 21, 2020 20:34:41 GMT -5
Youtube has the first part (about 45 minutes) of the Viceland Dark Side of the Ring season 2 premiere episode, about Chris Benoit. it's narrated by Chris Jericho (who also appears in interviews), and features Nancy Benoit's sister, Dean malenko, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Vickie Guerrero (Eddie's widow and WWE performer), Jim Ross, and Chris' son David, from his first marriage (he also had a daughter, from that marriage; but she didn't appear in the footage they put up on Youtube).
It's about as dark a subject as any they did in the first season (which included the deaths of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, the murder of Bruiser Brody, the Von Erich tragedies, and the overdose of Gino Hernandez and the rumors surrounding his death). The clip ends with a tease for the second half (the episode, which debuts on Viceland, is two hours and debuts March 24) featured a lot of people in various emotional breakdowns or states. They have some footage of David breaking down talking about things. He was close with his half-brother, Daniel, who was murdered by Chris (along with wife Nancy).
What I saw was relatively balanced (and the first season of Dark Side of the Ring was relatively balanced) though it glosses over many things and paints a rather rose colored portrait of Nancy. There are stories out there about her during her time in wrestling that suggest she was no saint, though the episode seems to want to put her in that light. They make accusations of domestic violence against Kevin Sullivan, with on text notation that he was contacted and denied them, but he doesn't appear within. There are stories about Kevin Sullivan and Nancy that paint both as being involved in recreational drugs, typical wrestler vices, relationship drama from both sides, etc...
Here's the trailer for Season 2...
Topics include:
The death of Owen Hart The David Schultz and John Stossel incident, from the 20/20 expose of wrestling, back in the 80s The Brawl for All fiasco in the WWF The murder of Dino Bravo The Road Warriors (probably focusing on Hawk's substance issues and death) Promoter Herb Abrams and his version of the UWF (cocaine overdose, backstage drama, weird tv shows) The career and incidents of New Jack (of Smokey Mountain and ECW infamy)
If you haven't seen the first season, they covered:
Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth The Montreal Screwjob The Murder of Bruiser Brody The Von Erich Tragedies The Death of Gino Hernandez The Fabulous Moolah (including accusations that she pimped out her wrestlers)
The Randy & Elizabeth one was predictable, but reasonably well done. The Montreal one was old news; but, Cornette admitted, on camera, that he gave Vince the idea (which he had previously mentioned in the Kayfabe Commentaries Timeline WWF 1997 video) The Von Erich one was decent, though it sugarcoated how F-ed up the boys really were. The Gino Hernandez one was really good, especially since he isn't as well known to people, since he died before every appearing on a national stage (depending on how you view World Class, which had big syndication, even in Israel). His mother took part and put to bed the stories that promoter and former wrestler Paul Boesch was secretly his father (his father is named by his mother and she shows the man's photo and explains how they met and parted). It puts to bed the rumors about him being murdered and the OD staged (he died of a cocaine overdose), though that never stops wrestlers and fans perpetuating debunked theories. The Moolah one is okay and presents plenty of people who dispute the stories of Moolah pimping them out (though Princess Victoria both disputes it and provides an anecdote that seems to confirm it), as well as the son of a wrestler who claimed that Moolah's husband (Buddy Wolfe) pimped her out, if not Moolah, directly.
It's a bit tabloidy and exploitive; but, nowhere near as stage-managed as some of the WWE documentaries. Vice also did a series called the Wrestlers, which was pretty decent, covering indie wrestling, wrestling in other parts of the globe, the "exoticos" of Mexico, the Deep promotion of Japan (which does vulgar comedic stuff and helped produce Kenny Omega and Riho, who wrestled there asa 9 year-old), the Stardom women's group (in Japan), the Fighting Cholitas of Peru (native women wrestlers who fight men and are seen as symbols of liberation to native women) and more. Really good stuff there.
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