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Thomas Bugg

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Posts posted by Thomas Bugg

    Heels That Are Incapable Of Being Babyfaces

    in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

    Posted

    I thought of this as I'm sitting here watching an old Minoru Suzuki match from 2003 against Takayama. Suzuki to my knowledge has never been a babyface, and if he has it's never been a big money run. If I'm wrong I'll admit it, but I just can't even begin to envision Suzuki as being a virtuous or even a badass face. He just has that look and aura that just yells, "I'm gonna fucking kill you!" The closest I've ever seen him be a babyface is during the G1 Climax tournament when he faced Bad Luck Fale and the Tongans kept interfering (three other guys that should never be babyface, especially not Fale!). And the only reason that he and Zack Sabre Jr were cheered is because they defied the odds against those meddling BCOG's.

    One name that came to mind was Ole Anderson. I mean seriously, why the fuck would anybody buy him as a good guy? He's a fucking evil, obnoxious, cruel, sinister prick, and when he did become a babyface it was only to do the most asshole thing in the world to Dusty at the Omni in Atlanta. Or when he and the Horsemen turned on Sting at Clash Of The Champions X- practically verbally eviscerated the fucking guy on national television before they preceded to beat the piss out of the guy. Or stalking Fat Man Dust down the highway in Charlotte before a 4-on-1 assault in the parking lot, followed by him taking a baseball bat and breaking his metatarsals, then bragging about it on World Wide Wrestling. Who in their right mind would buy a T-shirt or a figurine of his likeness after something like that?

    I'm high as a kite right now so I can't think of any other examples at the moment. I don't watch WWE a lot nowadays so that's not fresh in my head either.

     

    Puroresu General Discussion for 2018

    in JAPAN

    Posted

    So I'm watching the Minoru Suzuki 30th Anniversary Special, the match where he's against Takayama for the NWF belt. I know the early 2000's were a crappy period for NJPW, but was anyone watching back then? If so why did they bring back that belt? Looks like the Bob Backlund/Superstar Billy Graham WWF belt kind of. Wikipedia only says that it was brought back as a storyline. 

    Wrestling What Ifs

    in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

    Posted

    While we're talking Herd-era WCW, would the Dynamic Dudes have worked out better in the WWF? Corny talked about it on the Drive Thru a few months back. I think with Herd being a vapid idiot and not realizing that WCW's fanbase was old style NWA fans that didn't want to see any of the WWF horseshit, at least in the WWF whoever had the book at the time would've made a few tweaks to the gimmick, or since it was getting crapped on in Philly and the fans were chanting "JOHNNY SUCKS DICK, JOHNNY SUCKS DICK" at Laurinitis they would've added heel elements and had them paired up with a Demolition or a Hart Foundation, one of the WWF tag teams that were actually cool. And I would imagine that with the resources that they had in Titan Towers, even by 1989-90 standards, someone would've at least taught them how to goddamn use the skateboard, or at least had them use roller skates instead, or something.

    In-Ring Announcers

    in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

    Posted

    On 8/28/2017 at 7:20 AM, Michael Sweetser said:

    An announcer that @James F'n X and I always enjoyed was Bill Dunn, who did the main Raw and PPV announcing for a spell in 1993.  Something about his voice cadence sounded great, even though it felt that he was new enough that he didn't quite know what to say in the right situation (a lot of instances of "for the Intercontinental championship title", although who knows if that was Vince telling him what to do and him taking it verbatim).

    <oldmanyellsatcloud>

    Even more so than referees, it blows me away how many shitty ring announcers there are, especially on the indies.  Everyone seems to think it's as simple as holding a microphone and mentioning the guys working, and as someone that's done a spell or two as ring announcer in ECCW several years back, it drove me insane.  

    It's not that hard to spend a few minutes to:

    • Look at least halfway presentable.  I'm not saying to dress in a tux the whole time, but at least have clean clothes and don't look like another one of the fans.
    • TALK to each of the wrestlers!  Find their height, weight, hometown, and anything that might make the ring announcement more professional or interesting.  If they have a little schtick they like to do, get the details.  (For example, in DOA, Dr. Kliever has a long, written-out introduction that he likes to have for his character.  He has no problem even writing it down for you, just to get it right - but you do have to ask.)  This is where note cards come in handy.  
    • Maybe even more important, talk to the promoters!  Are there any upcoming shows to hype?  Are there sponsors to plug?  If so, those sponsors are usually pretty particular about how to be announced and how many times during the show to be discussed.  Is there a merch stand?  50/50 drawing?

    It's not difficult, but holy shit do I see it screwed up a lot.  Don't just get a damn "radio personality" that couldn't care less about the show.

    </oldmanyellsatcloud>

     

    Mike, I wholeheartedly agree with you. And as someone who's done ring announcing, I try to do all of those things. I've been on some shows where I've seen people doing ring announcing duties, and not only did they not do all the subtle nuances that makes a good announcer, but just completely look and act like they didn't give a shit. And then have the mitigated gall to ask (damn near DEMAND in some cases) for pay at the end of the night.

    In-Ring Announcers

    in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

    Posted

    Well damn, you motherfuckers already mentioned a lot of my favorites (Cappetta, Cruise, Fink, Miller). I'll add to the list of great announcers with Bob Artese and Horshack from ECW. Artese had a way of adding a big fight feel to matches like Taz vs. Sabu from Barely Legal. And as for DeAngelis, I always loved his voice.

    One guy that doesn't get mentioned nearly enough to me is Dave Penzer. He had that style and delivery that fit the Southern style of WCW after Cappetta left. But you know why he gets forgotten in the annals of wrestling history? Because of fucking stupid ass WCW putting Michael Buffer in that role! 

    Outside of wrestling, I think one guy that would've been great as a pro wrestling ring announcer is Jeff Temkin. He was the announcer for the Rocky Balboa-Apollo Creed rematch. When I did ring announcing in the indies, that was one of the main guys that I emulated. I just loved his delivery and attention to detail.

    • Like 1

    Wrestling What Ifs

    in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

    Posted

    Well then that brings up another what-if- what if ESPN took Watts on instead of the AWA, or even the shitty UWF or Global? I would like to think that even in it's down periods the Watts UWF on its worst day was better booked than all three of those combined. 

    Face Turns

    in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

    Posted

    Just like heel turns, they have to be with a measure of logic, and in a lot of cases it mostly stems from it being a guy who the fans like to begin with. But some of the best ones come from the guy who happens to be the most hated in the promotion. The one that I wanted to post footage of was when DiBiase made a face turn in Mid-South- many consider it to be the best 60 minutes in the history of the promotion. But alas, nothing. :(

     

    But this will definitely do as a substitution- a fiery Butch Reed turning away the advances of Skandor Akbar and aligning with Hacksaw Duggan.

    Look at the way Buddy Landel sold for Reed!
     

     

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