Hagan

Almost through Day 8. I thought Suzuki vs Ibushi was a big bowl of wonderful.

just finished the doc. really good stuff. definitely check it out. I've really soured on Cornette over the years but he was really good in this.

I find it odd that Orton cashing in is being so strongly teased. Almost makes me think that they may avoid an angle, have Bryan win clean, get the handshake and hug from HHH putting him over and then maybe do something the next night.

The Usos are really, really good and that might have been Cena's best promo ever.

Just finished day 7. Decent enough. Enjoyed Ishii/Okada. I'm going to watch the Naito match from a few years back that was pimped a few posts ago but so far I'm not seeing the big deal. Obviously, I'm really unfamiliar with his work and I know he just came back from a serious injury. Has he regained his old form yet or is he still shaking off the ring rust?

Goto and Tenzan out of the rest of the tourney due to injuries. Re-watched Tanahashi and Ishii. Just a fantastic match. I may be in the minority here but, while I'm digging the Bullet Club and Devitt's character, I'm finding the matches to be a little over-done with the interference and general chicanery.

Apologies if this was posted but WWE.com has a fun article about the history of the Riberia Steakhouse. Has quotes from the usuals as well as Hansen, Dreamer, Animal, and, curiously enough, Cabana. http://www.wwe.com/classics/inside-ribera-steakhouse-26137247/page-1

catching up on early matches I skipped. I've tended to skip over DBS's matches when watching New Japan but am also impressed with how he's been looking. And yeah, Shelton Benjamin has now managed to bore the life out of me from multiple continents.

Interesting enough show. Assuming RVD gets added to the world title match? Kind of wish they had saved Del Rio's murder spot of RR for a bigger program. It looked much better than the normal ring step death.

Holy fucking God, in a week that features a UFC PPV, the G1 climax and a SHIT TON of good wrestling on TV, Bryan and Sempervive spent 30 MINUTES discussing Total Divas at the top of the show. What the fucking fuck????

Okay...hitting the G1 must-see matches. Just watched Ishii/Shibata. I think it's my MOTY, but I assume that'll change a few more times before the tournament is over. And yeah, this board has really helped me get more into puro. I checked out after Kobashi's epic NOAH run because it seemed like all the puro companies were in the doldrums. Did not expect New Japan to have this epic renaissance.

Shit...they should have a random Smackdown or something where they announce that Vince and Austin will be doing commentary. I think that'd be the greatest goddamn thing ever. Fuck, have them do an NXT taping.

I think if Sting jumps over in 92-93ish he would have become the face of the company. I mean, for all the talk about Sting being booked poorly in WWF, he was very rarely booked well in WCW. His first reign was a clusterfuck because of the Black Scorpion angle. His win over Luger was supposed to be a big deal but Luger basically disappearing until the title defense and leaving right after kind of curtailed the program. His stuff with the Dangerous Alliance and Vader was good, but the Vader feud was basically him just taking a great ass-kicking. The Crow stuff was great but ultimately got fucked over. I mean, Sting was never as over again after Starrcade '97. So yeah, I mean, he would have helped the InVasion angle but by that point very few of the WCW guys were going to be booked well. Sting coming over between between 92-94, still young and reasonably healthy, and having had that main event experience without being burnt out, would have been huge. Him main eventing with Bret, Shawn, Owen and playing babyface due to the big fat heels like Yoko would have been the perfect spot for him. Shit, Sting was made for early 90s WWF. Could sell well, flashy offense, and had a character that made up for lack of promo skills and sometimes dodgy psychology. And then, everything kind of works out the same way. He'd probably jump back to WCW for the guaranteed money around '96 as the WWF was having their issues, and he's still there for the NWO angle.

Yeah, time to get rid of the ring apron spot.

DDP sounds freakishly like Danny Devito in Always Sunny.

I loved RVD in ECW, but now looking back it really comes across as some self-indulgent shit. Dude would go over 20 minutes with just the most worthless wrestlers just go to be able to get his schtick in and point to his self. Every match was this faux-epic. Tough to watch now. Though I still like the Lynn series for the most part.

I assume this is going to parallel what they did with Cena/Del Rio/Punk at Summerslam 2011. Bryan is going to win it, lose it to Orton and then win it in a few months and go on an extended reign. You can run three-ways and gimmick matches around those three for a few months before they start getting into WrestleMania season. Also...gotta think that Punk is probably moving back into the main event scene in the Fall. But yeah, Orton cashing in on Bryan is really the most logical booking. Shit...it's very likely with the McMahon machinations on TV that this ends up being almost exactly like 2011. There's a pretty chance we could even see Bryan vs HHH in the Fall. Punk/Brock is mostly interesting for where they go after it. Assuming this is Brock's swan song until the Road to Wrestlemania the question is whether this is the blowoff to the Punk/Heyman stuff or the beginning. I don't see a Punk/Axel program really exciting anyone. Del Rio/Christian should be pretty good. Assume Del Rio wins but it doesn't really matter. I figure Dolph wins it later and I think they have a LONG way to go before they'd pull the trigger on a Sandow win.

Interesting stuff in here, though it reads a bit like rose-colored glasses nostalgia for the Attitue Era or Hogan-era. The Attitue Era especially gets misrememberd. Like, everything involving Austin and McMahon awesome. Just about every DX thing was great. Same with The Rock. The rest...not so much and it probably did more to burn out the fanbase than any bad booking. Like, if you spent your teen years watching crash TV and then one day flipped on to see dudes working headlocks you'd probably think the shit sucked. No one is getting naked (well, Bellas aside), there aren't 500 run-ins, titles aren't changing hands back and forth every week. The pacing and the wrestling is probably too lethargic but we saw in WCW what happens when you go too far in the other direction. Honestly, I think the last 5 years or so has probably had the best week in/week out wrestling the WWE has had in the 20something years I've been watching. A lot of that is simply guys have more opportunities and time to work, but the point still remains How do you bring back former fans or create new ones? Well, what drew in the past? I presume we're looking for the answer to what will create another boon period. Larger-than-life guys in the mold of Hogan/Savage/Warrior and/or larger than life personalities like Austin and the Rock. A strong overwhelming protagonist and a strong antagonist. One hot angle to build the territory around. I mean, they should do more to establish mid-carders (and they're starting to do just that) but at the end of the day the fate of the company rests on the headliner. Just like Shawn/Bret weren't the draws that Hogan/Savage Cena/Orton/Punk aren't the draws the Rock/Austin/HHH are. The best booking in the world doesn't really change that. So, I mean, just like every other company in the history of wrestling, the WWE is literally one guy catching fire and riding that to the top. It'll probably happen eventually, but until then they ride with what they have, which is consistent if not gangbusters.

I like that they're setting up the small package as a finisher for Bryan. Wyatt family is great. I wonder if this leads to Kane joining the group and falling under Bray's spell?

The TV show was depressing. Too many empty seats. A main event match that was kind of paint by numbers. I dunno...it's weird...ROH feels so dated now. Not that other places aren't, but watching the whole evil faction illogically trying to destroy a promotion (including SETTING A MAN ON FIRE) just reeks of shit I've seen a million times. Where did the company go wrong? I mean, I know the talent isn't there anymore but it seems the company has lost its way of what it was meant to be.

If he had gotten clean, he definitely would have had that elder statesman role on the indy scene in the late 90s-2000s. Probably ends up in ECW managing the Triple Threat or something and later in ROH. Seems like the type of guy who would have gotten a producer tryout at some point. If he doesn't stay clean but keeps it somewhat under control...yeah, he's doing the Tracy Smother route in Southern indies. Probably would still be doing it today actually. Maybe he ends up doing shit in Mexico. Great performer, though. Also the hilarious for that Steve Corino/Missy Hyatt sleaze story.

Kofi might qualify. When put with the right guy (like Cesaro) he can do some great stuff. At other times, not a lot going on. Past guys, what about Scott Hall? Definitely a guy who would work up or down depending on the level of his opponent.

Bryan needs to let Total Divas go. Really, dude...a scripted reality show about attractive semi-famous people isn't that hard to understand or that newsworthy. His befuddlement about how they'd possibly find material to film an hour-long episode every week is annoying.

I love Dolph and AJ, but it follows the bad example of babyfaces not really reacting to things. I mean, it fits Dolph's character but I'd like him to have been more annoyed or pissed off. Actually...since I hadn't found the new board to really go off on it. The Ziggler/AJ break-up was a continuation of the babyface being a dick trend. So...Dolph loses the title to death by superkick. We see AJ weeping at ringside during it. Dolph goes away, comes back, they don't really have anything to do with each other, but no tension. Then AJ, after the month prior showing such concern for her boyfriend's health, comes down to ringside and gets him DQ'ed for attempting to prevent another death by superkick. Dolph then casually and abruptly dumps her on Raw, a woman with known abandonment issues who was mistreated by several of her last boyfriends. Character consistency is great and all, but how is Dolph anything other than despicable here? Why are WWE babyfaces such hypocrites and jerks?

So...TNA has a house show here in Pensacola (NW Florida). I've never been to a TNA show and I imagine tickets are cheap. I assume it'll be a good show but I'm not sure I'm in to be around people who are really pumped about TNA. Like...people can like what they like but it'll be weird to be around wrestling fans who are just fucking ALL IN on TNA.