Go2Sleep

Oh, did anyone else catch that the Funkadactyls were wearing their new gear from this episode on Raw this week?

It's the best thing since wrestling.

Going back a couple pages, but I think non-finishes can still be a part of great matches if it fits the story as part of a larger feud. All Japan had some quality time-limit draws with the big four when they were all evenly matched, but I think my favorite was from 1990 when Misawa and Kawada were teaming against Jumbo and Taue. Misawa and Kawada were on their way up the ladder, but Taue was a couple years from taking off, so the match was built around Jumbo bailing his ass out repeatedly and surviving a massive beating to the point where a draw felt like a good win for him. ROH used to run time-limit draws to great effect, most notably the Punk/Joe series and during Danielson's title run. The original NWO-forming match officially ended in a no contest. In WWE, the ones that come to mind are the Rock/Foley LMS with the double chair shot KO, Edge/Matt street fight on Raw where Hardy did the kamikaze side-effect off the stage, and the Show/Lesnar ring explosion match. While Austin/Angle was a wonderful piece of storytelling and a top match for both guys, I don't count it because Angle was the clear winner by DQ. Perfectly unsatisfying as intended, but not quite in the scope of the question.

Wasn't Fandango basically doing Ziggler's heel gimmick the entire show? Also, his dead pan "We're not doing it again" after the Eva tryout was pretty hilarious.

I really have no idea why they don't let Brock do his own promos. He's not as polished a speaker as Heyman, but he has this totally authentic vibe that is completely wasted by having the super-manufactured and gimmicked-up (though admittedly well-spoken) Heyman talk for him all the time. The way Lesnar always sounds like he's kinda joking around but really may snap and kill someone at any moment is some of the best subtle character work in WWE. Oh, and Brock just catching the chair that Punk swung at his face and throwing it off to the side was badass. Also, The Shield really has no direction anymore. I thought they were supposed to be feuding with Henry. I would've liked Henry issuing a 6-man challenge for Summer Slam with mystery partners and using that to bring back Kofi and Show. Kofi could even take the fall and maybe set up a heel turn, because when changing tights is the most interesting thing you've done in 3+ years, you've got problems.

I'm guessing there's an angle planned for Eva Marie once the show ends because it seems like the whole thing is a vehicle to get her over. I think it's kind of funny how this show tries to portray the Bellas as the biggest divas going today, even though they haven't really done anything since they've been back. Kind of disappointed we haven't even gotten a cameo from Kaitlyn or AJ. And as someone who doesn't watch a lot of reality tv, that hotel room proposal scene is what I imagine just about every reality show to look like.

Of course you're kind of revealing your own prejudices by assuming Kharma can't be considered attractive. That's why I said "looking like a model" instead of "being hot" or something like that.

I could've won so much money placing a bet on "casting against stereotype" appearing in your follow up post. Why do you assume someone like Kharma couldn't pull the gimmick off as you described (not that I'd want her to have to try)? Someone who could win fans over with her ability and really send the message that there's more to being a diva than looking like a model? One that reveals even more troubling underlying assumptions. Not that it would be too much better, but why wouldn't a feminist character suggest that the male-dominated power structure encourages/forces divas to sleep with them by blackmailing them with tv time?

Though unintentional I'm sure, this segment of your post reveals some critical flaws with your idea. "Needs to be attractive" is bad enough, but a "feminist" character whose primary motivation is slut-shaming? Uh...

After a bad few months where they lost 3 (nearly 4) big matches in a row together, Punk saw that it wasn't working with him and Heyman anymore and wanted to amicably go separate ways. Heyman had Lesnar attack Punk and lied about it, then cost him MITB by busting him open with a ladder. Then he had Lesnar injure Punk again. Heyman handles breakups worse than AJ.

This match needs to be seen on video in order to appreciate the sheer absurdity of Tony Schiavone talking about Nash and Steiner improvising a new finish. It's not good by any conventional measure, but it's so fucking weird you almost have to admire it on some level.

Brock Lesnar and John Cena definitely benefitted from being able to rise to the top of card without running into the HHH/Evolution show that was in full force at the time. Eddie and Rey were getting a ton of tv time and drawing latino viewers in pretty significant numbers before Eddie's untimely death. To a lesser extent, CM Punk and Jeff Hardy reaped the benefits of the soft split towards the end.

The best time for Sting to go to WWE would've been shortly after the invasion. He was a bit past his prime, but he still had enough in the tank for a solid run based mostly on nostalgia angles and dream matches. Best case scenario, he ends up with a run comparable to Michaels second run. Worst case scenario, Goldberg's WWE run.

WCW from Memorial Day 96 to Fall Brawl 96 was some of the absolute best-booked wrestling to ever get on tv. It was very heel-centric, but that was very fresh and novel idea at the time, in addition to being well executed. That is how you get some heels over. Like others have said, the problems didn't start until the writers decided to make the faces look like buffoons except for crow Sting. Sting being made to look like a buffoon at Starrcade was the nail in the coffin. And while the Nitro quality started to drop off by the end of 1996, the ppv quality was still top notch through 1997. If you're gonna compare modern WWE to the attitude era, the biggest difference is no rotating main event quality guys. When Austin was there, he was on top, but the depth they had meant he never had to rush back from injuries. They could cycle Rock, HHH, Foley, and Taker between the main events and upper midcard programs from 99-02. Austin was more of rotational guy too after the invasion concluded. It kept everybody fresh and helped the midcarders on the rise (Angle, Jericho, Benoit) immensely because they didn't have to tread water waiting for their turn to fight "the man." There was always someone credible to feud with outside of the main event scene.

Yeah, I thought this was gonna be a much different story. Can't believe Orton no-sold the ball-shot like that, though. Have some professionalism, Randy.

That's gotta be BS. Not only has Cena already had several classic matches (including one each of the last 2 years), why would Vince care about that? When was the last time a "5* match" was a big part of someone's character in WWE? Bret or Shawn?

The most logical person for Orton to cash it in on would be Bryan. The whole "weak link" stuff seemed to be building towards someone out of Bryan/Kane/Orton winning MITB and cashing it in on another of the group. It doesn't have to be at Summerslam. If the storyline is Orton needing the briefcase then ducking a rematch because he can't win a fair fight, then Bryan having previously beaten Orton just adds to that. (But they've actually traded wins between Payback and Money in the Bank.) Oh, it makes plenty of sense, but it's just a step back for Bryan at this point. A corporate heel turn for Orton would require a fairly long run as champ to be effective, but there's way less value in Orton at the top and bringing Vince/HHH to the forefront instead of letting Bryan just do his thing. I like Orton more than most here, but this is just a bad situation for him. It's definitely in WWE's best interest right now to go full throttle with Bryan and see if he can draw. Orton is who he is at this point and his push can be postponed indefinitely without consequence. As I much as I hate to suggest this, the best way out might be to have Orton cash in and HHH costs him the match as part of the ongoing power struggle with Vince. This should not happen at Summer Slam, btw.

The card looks like PPV-of-the-Decade material on paper, but I don't wanna get my hopes up that much. The top two matches are the most intriguing ones WWE has run in a long time, then you've got ADR/Christian and probably a Shield 6-man which would both have MOTN potential on most shows. Cody/Sandow and Ziggler/Langston should both be solid and Kaitlyn and AJ have had surprisingly decent matches at the last 2 ppvs and I don't see anything else getting the potential diva spot here. Kane/Wyatt is the only match that looks subpar, but even that has a good story with a hot new faction and lot of potential creative directions to go. I really hope they find something good for Orton to do because I really don't wanna see a MITB cash-in here. The whole "Orton as a corporate champ" thing would be good in most situations, but Bryan is too hot right now to mess with. Plus Bryan has already beat Orton and it doesn't make sense to have Bryan go back and chase him. Now if they could find a way to get the MITB case into Lesnar's hands, then they could be onto something.

Punk's initial "pipebomb" promo and leaving with the title were the only things I've seen that got former/non fans talking about wrestling since Brock Lesnar's first run. Well... And Benoit too, but obviously I mean for the right reasons.

When I read over this, I thought it sounded pretty apt, but then I watched Raw this week and it was built around 4 people talking about whether or not the most universally liked wrestler in the company was good for business and how they should market him... It's not too often I'm just watching show and think "God damn, that DVDVR post I read a couple days ago was spot fucking on," but here we are.

I'm digging savvy veteran Christian. He could have a good feud with Del Rio. Daniel Bryan's corporate makeover could be hilarious. Or it could be a disaster, but I'm trying to be optimistic. Bryan and HHH are funny guys, it depends how much Vince hams it up and what Steph does during the segment.

Best: Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley I Quit (Summer Slam 06) Worst: James Storm vs. Chris Harris blindfold/cage (Lockdown 07) or "Rosie" vs. "Donald" on Raw (1/8/07 I think)

I thought she came across as bitter and whiny. I mean, she does have some good reasons to be bitter, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to make her the main character if that's the case. Trinity/Naomi came across as the real winner to me. The Bellas seemed nice and cool when they were at home, but they really looked like they were living the gimmick on the road. I'm sure there are plenty of people who think that's a good thing, though. Bryan and Brie were really cute together, but that whole Cena thing looks like it could end real bad for Nikki. Agreed that Ariane/Cameron seemed crazy, and that dude she's with seemed like a real loser. I kinda wanted Brodus to beat him up. Jojo didn't get much time this week, but Eva did stand out. Had she not been on Raw with her flaming red hair last week, I would've guessed she'd be fired for not going blonde. It did give some pretty good insight as to why character development for new talent is often shite, though. "We think you need to be blonde." *Does something completely different* "That's... actually a lot better... But don't do that shit again!" Alright show. It's pretty much your standard over-produced "reality" tv affair, but with characters I'm already somewhat interested in and cameos from characters I'm very interested in. I'm sure I'll stick it out to the bitter end.

The biggest thing about "boom eras" or "glory days" in wrestling is having multiple generational talents in their prime on the roster at the same time (aka luck). The initial 80s boom in the WWF had Hogan, Savage, and Piper. 90s AJ had Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi. The attitude era had Austin, Rock, Foley, and Taker. 96 WCW was really the only company to kind of escape this rule by virtue of Hogan and Sting being past their primes at the time. Looking at WWE from 2003 on, when have they had more than one prime, generational talent on the roster? As big of a hit as Cena has been, there has been no one on his level since like 2006. Bad luck definitely played a part in that with Lesnar leaving and Eddie Guerrero dying. Eddie was capturing a new audience and Brock really should've been the defining star of the era (and almost certainly would've been had he not left). The problem isn't that Cena isn't good, it's that he isn't enough by himself. He has no foils, no one that can fill his spot so he can change his character, and there's no one else in a prominent position for fans to care about. Think about it, unless your favorite wrestler is Cena, your favorite guy is an upper midcarder at best and that's unlikely to change. Hence, stale writing and declining interest for the last decade. Barring injury, Cena's still got a lot left in the tank, so there's time for someone else to step in and help him out. I still maintain that they missed the boat big time with Punk circa MITB 2011. Bryan has a lot going for him right now, but it remains to be seen if he can displace Cena, even for a little bit. If he proves to be a legit draw, WWE is in great shape going forward because they have a lot of potential break-out talent under contract, but they need more than one credible guy to work with. It's also tough to gauge Bryan's outside appeal at this point, but if you could get casual/ex/new fans to sit down and watch his matches, he would probably get their attention.

If you're reading this thread and the title of this video doesn't interest you, I don't know what to say... A good effort from Finlay in WCW: