MAY 2020 WRESTLING CHAT.

[joseph2112]

I wonder if anybody in WWE actually understands real sports. When you get traded for "future considerations" in the real world, that means your a jobber and a team basically gave up on you. It's one step above just being fired or cut.

[Guest Edwin]

49 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

Not joking when I say this, I put Raw or Smackdown on and take a nap. It's usually after dinner, so I get something briefly amusing if I wake up or have to take a piss or something. It's even nicer now that there's no crowd. 

NXT I have completely given up on

You got it backwards.

Except you shouldn't take a nap whenever Riddle, Thatcher, Strong, 1-2 or Imperium are on.

Edited May 23, 2020 by Edwin

[olythegreat89]

49 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

As someone who used to, I think it's because WWE always gives us a glimmer of hope. They'll do something to earn some goodwill back, then end up ruining it. It's a hard habit to break. I grew up on the WWF. How can I stop now? I know I'm not alone, but there's only so many times you can get burned and be disappointed. I still watch old ppv's on the network and sometimes I'll check out nxt, but I've cut the cord for the most part.

I feel you man. I just dropped the network this month and I had it since day one. They have so many great assets yet still give us a subpar product. I'm tired of getting my hopes up with them. I used to keep the network for NXT but even now with NXT on USA, I stopped watching. AEW is my go-to for now unless something miraculous changes.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

29 minutes ago, joseph2112 said:

I wonder if anybody in WWE actually understands real sports. When you get traded for "future considerations" in the real world, that means your a jobber and a team basically gave up on you. It's one step above just being fired or cut.

I'm going to say no, or they just don't want to speak up to Vince.

[Tarheel Moneghetti]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

Not joking when I say this, I put Raw or Smackdown on and take a nap. It's usually after dinner, so I get something briefly amusing if I wake up or have to take a piss or something. It's even nicer now that there's no crowd. 

NXT I have completely given up on

Same.  I don't find the no-crowd shows entertaining, so I gave up on them midway through the first week.  I really don't miss wrestling, so I'm not certain I'll come back when things get back to a semblance of normal.  Maybe, maybe not.  I wasn't watching much outside of NXT and AEW anyway.  I stopped watching Japan, Mexico, and indies a while back.

I have watched a few random WWF shows circa late 80's/early 90's, and the current product.... doesn't compare well.  I feel like the current roster is very good and still doesn't compare to the roster from the Hulkamania era.  Maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but I feel like wrestling doesn't get as many guys with all the tools.  A lot of it's booking, but still... I mean, I watched a PPV the other night and the opening match was the LOD vs. Money Inc.  I'd take that over most main events Vince has run in the past 10 years.  I don't even like the Money Inc. team.

Since I brought up Hulkamania.... Zeus.  Holy shit, do I want to like this guy.  I don't, but I want to.  Zeus has size, a great look, physical charisma.  He really has the "it" factor.  He wasn't much of a talker, but he only really needed to scream "Zeus Smash" a few times and give the camera the crazy eye.  

If he could have wrestled, he'd have been money.  But couldn't wrestle, couldn't sell.... Seemed to know one move - bear hug.  Wow.  Did he love that bear hug.  I laughed every time he put Hogan in the bear hug and 6'6" Hulk Hogan helpfully picked up his feet to make the move look better.

Speaking of Zeus, watched the Zeus/Macho Man vs. Hogan/Beefcake tag match.  And Brutus cuts a promo before the match.  Basically, he gives the camera a wide-eyed crazy look and talks about how much he loves his clippers.  It's the sort of promo a guy with a Jack the Ripper gimmick would cut. 

Bruti is probably the second babyface in the company.  It's easier to make fun of him and say "friend of Hogan", but he was way over with the crowds.  

But that promo.  Cocaine, kids.  It's still a helluva drug.  

Edited May 23, 2020 by Tarheel Moneghetti

[bobholly138]

2 hours ago, Edwin said:

Why do folks hate watch WWE? Serious question. There's a lot of folks on here who do that or give the impression they do that and I find it kind of hard to believe you can't find a better thing to do on a late Monday night or a Friday night than to hate watch something.

Most other wrestling forums I read are full of WWE hate watchers. Who get mad when you point out "Hey why waste all that time watching something you hate when there is so much good wrestling for free out there."

I mean hell I got way more free time than most,and even then I am not gonna spend 3 to 5 hours a week watching something I hate.

[DJ Hero Morganti]

I would imagine most people on this board specifically, who watch WWE, watch it because they get enjoyment out of it, not to hate watch it.  This board tends to be more human and typical of a group of irl people shooting the shit than a board dominated by proof of the greater internet fuckwad theory .  most of the time.

[HumanChessgame]

3 hours ago, Edwin said:

Why do folks hate watch WWE? Serious question. There's a lot of folks on here who do that or give the impression they do that and I find it kind of hard to believe you can't find a better thing to do on a late Monday night or a Friday night than to hate watch something.

I've likened it to continuing to follow a sports team that's been a long time favorite even though they've sucked for years. You've got sentimental value attached and always hope they might get good again or have an entertaining game. It's also like continuing to watch a tv show you like even when you don't like the direction the plot has taken. There's the thought of being invested in it and wanting to see how it ends, for better or for worse. Though in the case of the WWE, people should realize there's not going to be a series finale and that it's ok to just quit watching when you no longer find it entertaining.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

The well has run dry.

We've gone twenty years living off interpromotional dream matches from the twenty years prior to that. That no longer applies as most of those guys can physically no longer go.

We've gone probably ten years living off the golden era of the independent circuit, and that tree has largely stopped producing fruit. You could possibly extend that to OVW for completeness of the argument.

People are no longer willing to spend a 9 month holding pattern to wait for Batista, Rock or Cena to turn up for a few months then go home. People aren't excited for NXT callups to the main roster. Usually the opposite.

The in ring stuff is almost a side hustle to explain who kids should buy t-shirts and figurines for. All things considered I think I'd enjoy WWE more if this was a lot more transparent about that objective and was just a lengthy Saturday morning cartoon show.

[Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie]

I'm still kind of in the same mindset I've been in with WWE for a few years now. If I hear a match is good, I track it down, otherwise for some reason I just haven't been interested. The closest I've gotten is a sustained show of interest in women's wrestling, but after last year's WrestleMania (which was the last WWE show I watched in full), it felt, to me anyway, that WWE has kind of lost interest in providing that anymore. The fact that there wasn't a second all-women's show or a third Mae Young Classic last year made me sad. I realize I have niche interests, but it feels like WWE is catering to a lot of niche interests right now, so that they've sort of walked back from the niche that I'm personally interested in made me move onto other things. Which is fine, I suppose. It's okay if it's not for me. It's just disappointing to see it happen, then see it stop. And I'm not saying they have deemphasized women's wrestling as a whole, but it felt like they were really going to give a chance to having more than the same old thing of only having six to eight women on each roster at a time and rotating talent out for seemingly no reason.

I did decide to give AEW a shot since they started up, and I'm still watching them to this day. They have put out the occasional stinker, but I tend to enjoy enough of their shows to keep tuning in from week to week. I'm not sure why that is, specifically. Before AEW I didn't find the entire Elite particularly interesting, but now I've come to enjoy them for the most part. Hangman Page is even getting to be one of my favorites, and if you had told me that would have happened a year ago I would have been tremendously confused.

[caley]

2 hours ago, Tarheel Moneghetti said:

 

Bruti is probably the second babyface in the company.  It's easier to make fun of him and say "friend of Hogan", but he was way over with the crowds.  

 

When I got into WWF at the age of 10/11, Savage was a heel on the verge of his "retirement", Warrior was around but close to being gone, and I never liked Hogan (I LOVED his music, but HATED his post-match posing that seemed to go on forever and thought, for such a good guy, he sure seemed to cheat a lot!).  Going back and watching the previous WWF shows, I started to really like Brutus Beefcake: he was big and colourful, he had the sleeper hold, he helped Piper cut Adonis' hair, and he had great theme music (That somehow sounded even better on that NES video game!). 

So I became a big Brutus Beefcake fan and then couldn't figure out why he never wrestled anymore and just hosted the barbershop.  It wasn't until that Hulkamaniacs came back that I learned about the injury.  It wasn't until he showed up in WCW and I'd gotten older that I realized he really wasn't much of a wrestler.  But for a time (Prior to Bret's single run), he was probably my favourite wrestler.

[Ultimo Necro]

I’ve said it a few times but outwith the occasional 4-5 year period WWE has been mostly garbage over the last 30 years.  

My childhood era of 89-92 was great fun.  I then fell out of love during the New Generation / Lex / Diesel era as a lot of people did.  

96-01 was peak watching.  

I zoned out again for a year or 2 and came back around 03 for Eddie, Cena et al. I watched semi religiously until Benoit’s death.  

Vince has stumbled into periods of big business and rode the wave out waiting on the next big one to come along. He’s been perceived as trying to bottle the magic over the last 10-15 years rather than let things happen naturally.  When he somehow stumbles across a Daniel Bryan for instance he still has to meddle rather than just let it develop.  

I think that’s the charm of AEW, they do have bad ideas like all promotions, but if they hit a good one they stick with it.

WWE has left so much money on the table over the last 10 years because of Vince’s arbitrary whims and that’s insane considering how much they have made in the last few years. 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Ultimo Necro

[Ziggy]

Since April of '14 a few weeks ago was the first time I considered cancelling the Network. I Wrestlemania was Ok and I enjoyed a few matches on Money in the Bank. I wasn't watching the tv before the Pandemic soon you know I'm not watching now. The thing about WWE is there is always going to be a few guys I really enjoy watching, like Andrade is probably my favorite to watch, Daniel Bryan ofcourse. There's probably more than a handful of talent I'd consider myself a huge fan between the 3 brands that I could give myself a  not to give up on the company completely. The way or lack of push for a some of these guys and girls may factor into my enthusiasm for the company.

Before New Japan closed up after Wrestle Kingdom, I was fully invested in it, I told myself I was gonna make an effort to keep up with it closely, then the Pandemic hit. I hear they are opening soon. I wish they stayed close until they can get crowds, I believe the people will be ready once they were to open up again and not be ran into the ground like here.

I understand why the American promotions running but I kinda wish they closed right now so the fans have a chance to miss wrestling. I thing because there is no off season , right now would have been a great time to force wrestling fans to have a break. The business could've benefited from a break from first run programming.

[odessasteps]

7 hours ago, Ultimo Necro said:

Ive said it a few times but outwith the occasional 4-5 year period WWE has been mostly garbage over the last 30 years.  

More like 70 years.  

[(BP)]

15 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

More like 70 years.  

We should have a thread where we just bitch about WWWF stuff the way we do current wrestling. 

”Fellas, ya hear about this phony baloney tournament in Rio de Janeiro? Who’s Toots Mondt kiddin’? The audience hears about that little chestnut and they’re gonna 23 skidoo.”

[LoneWolf&Subs]

36 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

More like 70 years.  

WWWF stuff isn’t very to fun watch, that’s for sure. They do hit a nice period in the mid 80’s in ring wise. But for the most part the undercard matches can be quite painful to watch.

Edited May 24, 2020 by LoneWolf&Subs

[odessasteps]

One of the worst parts of Vince winning the wrestling war is that the company with historically one of the worst in-ring products ended up the survivor. 

[elizium]

2 hours ago, LoneWolf&Subs said:

WWWF stuff isn’t very to fun watch, that’s for sure. They do hit a nice period in the mid 80’s in ring wise. But for the most part the undercard matches can be quite painful to watch.

I like the WWWF, I don't know I just like it, but it is amazing when Backlund shows up in 77 just how light years ahead of the rest of the roster he was. It's like he got dropped in from another planet.

[odessasteps]

4 minutes ago, elizium said:

I like the WWWF, I don't know I just like it, but it is amazing when Backlund shows up in 77 just how light years ahead of the rest of the roster he was. It's like he got dropped in from another planet.

Eddie Graham’s Florida might as well been a different planet.  

[(BP)]

They didn’t have a great in ring product, but they had everything they needed to get by: beefy dudes and the willingness to exploit racial animosity. 

[Guest Edwin]

Dusty Rhodes was such an entertaining commentator in 90's WCW.

[ka-to]

WW(W)F turned to garbage as soon as Lou Albano turned babyface.

[SorceressKnight]

3 hours ago, odessasteps said:

One of the worst parts of Vince winning the wrestling war is that the company with historically one of the worst in-ring products ended up the survivor. 

The worse part is that...even on an in-ring scale (especially in the modern era), WWE isn't that bad. It isn't good, but the WWE/F roster is just too GOOD to be truly BAD. There's just too many talented wrestlers on the show to make the show bad. 

WWE's not bad...it's BLAND. It's a bland piece of pablum that doesn't inspire any thoughts- good, bad, whatever. Even if WWE is trying to make "moments" instead of good story, by and large most of those moments are so formulaic even they don't really seem like great moments...in large part because there's no story leading to it and just moment for the sake of moment. 

Heck, the fact WWE is so bland may indeed make WWE WORSE than bad. At least with truly bad stuff: UWF shows, WCW in 2000, etc....at least then you can watch the show to laugh at it and have a great time. You can't even mock how bad the WWE is, because it's at least "this is a perfectly competent wrestling show. This is an acceptable show. This is a good way to waste seven hours a week of my life I will never get back."

[paintedbynumbers]

I've been watching the old prime time's from 88 and the PPV's that correspond.  I just finished Survivor Series 88. Dibiase, and Haku coming out to Akeem's theme song was solid gold.  Also I always thought it was dumb to turn Fuji against Demolition while they were champions. He could have turned on them to cost them the belts but he looked stupid leaving the champions to go with Powers of Pain.

Also Prime Time had a ton of goofy skits as we all know including Brother Love. We would probably hate the Prime Time skits in today's world.  

It's also wild how protected Akeem and Big Boss Man were in that main event match yet they never even came close to winning tag belts. 

The big difference in 80's early 90's WWF and now is that in the old days you had guys like Rude, Dibiase, Jake, Boss man, who should have won the world and/or IC belt but never did. Yet in present day we have Swagger, Ziggler, and Jinder all holding the belt. Huge difference. 

[grilledcheese]

1 hour ago, (BP) said:

beefy dudes and the willingness to exploit racial animosity. 

Anyone on the board writing a thesis about pro wres? This person just found your title!!