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MAY 2022 Pro Wrestling Discussion


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21 minutes ago, Infinit said:

I saw a video and it made me wonder...

Is Shelton Benjamin the Brad Armstrong of the this century? Supreme athletic worker that just didn't have "it" to become a bona-fide main event superstar?

I'd say that's an apt comparison. Shelton's one of those guys that I think would've done really well in the 80s. He can have a decent to good match with damn near anyone so he'd have made an awesome traveling midcard babyface who could occasionally come in and work a top program with a guy like Lawler. Put him against a top heel who could carry things on the mic, maybe some tag-team partners or something and a promoter could milk that feud for good money for a couple of months worth of house shows/tv. I don't think he could carry things on his own but he's a guy you could fit into a bunch of spots due to sheer ability and look. When I was a kid, I always looked at Brad Armstrong as a middle of the road guy who'd beat prelim bums (tm Eddie Ellner), trade wins with midcard guys and give the top guys a fight but come up just this short. However, he was credible enough that I wouldn't have batted an eye if they'd have had him pull an upset on a guy like Luger or Flair. That's what prime Shelton was to me. 

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And this is probably the video that was being referenced. After watching this, I'm gonna put the onus on "creative". You have a guy who can do this shit. Figure out a way to maximize his strengths. Who cares if he doesn't come off well in musical chair skits or cut nursery rhyme promos with catchphrases. Figure it out. Give him a mouthpiece or put him against people who can carry a feud on the mic. Or I guess you could just hire some C-list level actress as his "Momma" and give him shirts that make him look like a dime store Rock. Whatever floats your boat.

 

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I don't think they should have ever broken up WGTT, but WWE doesn't care about tag team wrestling, unfortunately. 

WGTT in the '70s and '80s could be Midnight Express-level across territories with a good mouthpiece. 

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2 hours ago, Infinit said:

I saw a video and it made me wonder...

Is Shelton Benjamin the Brad Armstrong of the this century? Supreme athletic worker that just didn't have "it" to become a bona-fide main event superstar?

I think Shelton had it, TBH. He got a lot of dumb shit over, like the aforementioned Mama angle, or being saddled with a gimmick which appeared to be simply "Hey, that black guy has blonde hair." His in-ring was explosive enough that I think, with a sustained effort/push, he could have remained over without even saying a whole lot. For example that kick ass TV match with Shawn at one point that convinced me he would be WWE champion. I seem to remember a lot of comparisons to Sting at that time, I guess because of the corner splash. Easily one of my favorite guys of an otherwise pretty butt era of WWE.

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I don't think Shelton had the personality or charisma to be WWE champ. I do however think he should have been a semi-regular challenger for the belt, and WGTT never should have been broken up.

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Who did, "Hey, that black guy has blonde hair" as a gimmick better: "The Natural" Butch Reed, or "The Gold Standard" Shelton Benjamin?

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50 minutes ago, cwoy2j said:

And this is probably the video that was being referenced. After watching this, I'm gonna put the onus on "creative". You have a guy who can do this shit. Figure out a way to maximize his strengths. Who cares if he doesn't come off well in musical chair skits or cut nursery rhyme promos with catchphrases. Figure it out. Give him a mouthpiece or put him against people who can carry a feud on the mic. Or I guess you could just hire some C-list level actress as his "Momma" and give him shirts that make him look like a dime store Rock. Whatever floats your boat.

You say C-list level actress but I'm pretty sure like 95% of black people who were watching Raw at the time were like, "Is that Thea Vidale...what the fuck is going on?"

I'm STILL surprised WWE got like a real actress of instead some random lady from the indies or like a Sapphire situation where it's some superfan that's been hanging around forever. The storyline itself was pretty bizarre, but that aspect itself still blows my mind.

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I just like that people were shitting on it at first, but then Shelton's Momma kinda got over just on the strength of Thea Vidale's comedic timing and talent. She was wayyyyyyyyyy too good for that role. It was weird that she popped up on RAW.

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I haven't revisited this stuff in a long time, but I remember finding ECW era Shelton to be frustratingly spotty and "getting-his-shit-in". I can't speak to any other point of his career but he was probably my least favorite guy on the roster for a while around 09.

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13 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I haven't revisited this stuff in a long time, but I remember finding ECW era Shelton to be frustratingly spotty and "getting-his-shit-in". I can't speak to any other point of his career but he was probably my least favorite guy on the roster for a while around 09.

I think your memory from that period is on point. By that point he had been used and abused by the office. He got over multiple times based purely on his work. By the time he was in ECW he was done trying to be a complete package and just went into coasting on spots.

WGTT would have been tag team GOATs if they came up in the 80s. Imagine peak WGTT vs peak Steiners or Midnights or Rock n Rolls.

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I would pay good money for WGTT as the athletic bullies with surprising hops against the Fantastics.  The first matches in that series being the Fantastics getting a nasty surprise as these bigger athletes also match their speed and aerial prowess would be great, as would the follow-ups as the Fantastics adjust to that. 

Don't get me wrong: All the Steiners and Midnights, etc., matches would be great, too, but WGTT/Fantastics has long been a cross-generational matchup that I've thought I'd pay lots of money to see. 

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So you’re telling me Vince McMahon had an incredibly talented, athletic black guy on his roster who was able to get over racist gimmicks but wasn’t considered championship material?

Edited by JLowe
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Shelton should have Bobby Eaton and WGTT should have had the run that FTR are getting right now.

And all the participants  made that Mama stuff work as best it could. Problem there was no angle behind it so no where for it to go like a lot of the sitcom writers stuff

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I think Shelton was one of the guys hurt by the MitB match being a thing early on because he became one of those guys that they had to slot into that match because he was important enough in their plans to have an actual angle going on but he was important enough not to leave out that match because the knew he could hit a Tom of crazy spots to keep the match exciting. Kinda like Kofi and Naomi are the their respective Rumbles. Like you no they aren't out there to win but you know they are going to do some off the wall spot. 

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They were even all set to recreate WGTT with Shelton and Gable (something that came about after breaking up another perfectly good tag team and giving Jason Jordan some clownshoes angle) and just when they were gaining traction, they split that team up too. Then he found himself in yet another over stable in The Hurt Business which was prematurely dissolved. He and Cedric could still be tearing it up with the best of them instead of being jobbers.

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1 hour ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

 

Henry/Punk can have their own Main Event on who can ascend to biggest hypocrite status. From Henry's comments on bullying-culture & the weakness of talent to report what is tantamount to assault to management, through to Punk's own historic comments which Miro aptly and simply replied to .. yeah, these guys have got some gall weighing in here on 'respect' or 'solidarity'.

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  • Sasha Banks and Naomi were edited out of the intros for SmackDown and NXT Level Up last night. WWE has also taken down Banks and Naomi’s company-run Facebook pages.
  • AEW’s CM Punk posted a tweet today indirectly mentioning the Banks and Naomi situation: “Doesn’t matter if your opinion of your coworker is positive or negative. Stand with them. Because they’ll do the same thing to you and you’ll wish someone helped. Trust me. You’re expendable. Together you’re unstoppable.”

F4wonline.com.

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19 hours ago, Ziggy said:

Well,  Stephanie hasn't been involved directly in creative for about 15 years. Yes she's been an on air authority figure and had like 1 or two major angles that she was the focus of but she's mainly been on the corporate end. Shane's story had a bigger effect because it effected one of the biggest matches of the year and Mania plans.

As for Sasha and Naomi,  I agree with Dave that this was probably more of a contract leverage thing than anything else. If so than WWE is probably looking at this as these women are setting a bad precedent and is just another reason for WWE not to push the person over the brand itself. 

I was surprised how many news outlets outside Wrestling covered Naomi and Sasha walking out or WWEs statement E news and TMZ an a few others I seen

Really. I think that Stephanie McMahon's departure from the corporate sphere is the real story. She may not do so much creative but she has been groomed as the representative McmMhon on the board. Her absence as a performer of little import. Of course, S&N's walkout had as much to do with money as control, but it is their status and manner of leaving that makes this a story to keep an eye on. And as I said, the two stories back-to-back is what blows my mind.

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On 5/20/2022 at 10:18 AM, The Natural said:

From whatculture regarding Clash in the Castle:

Both and ludicrous ticket prices.

Lest we forget WrestleMania 38 was not a legit sellout and WWE's announced attendances didn't even meet Tony Khan's projections.

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On 5/20/2022 at 4:17 PM, SirSmellingtonofCascadia said:

How easy is it to get to London from Cardiff or Swansea or anywhere in Wales? 

They should maybe tour and run a building actually in like Swansea or something (and do a stadium show in London at Craven Cottage if they think they can fill it). 

How popular is AEW in the UK, anyway?

Getting from London to the major south Wales cities is straightforward: go to Paddington Station, jump on the train, get off in Central Cardiff less than 2 hours later. Swansea is about another hour but the train is still direct from London.

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