August 2022 Wrestling Discussion

[Casey]

1 minute ago, L_W_P said:

FIVE YEARS?!?!

I'd like them to quietly wrap him up in the next five months!

Five days is more like it. He's become more and more irritating as time goes on.

[Elsalvajeloco]

13 minutes ago, Casey said:

Five days is more like it. He's become more and more irritating as time goes on.

The man has survived firings, Bells Palsy bouts, his mother passing, getting replaced numerous times, his wife passing, a slip and fall at his house, a couple cancer scares, and Vince McMahon. The motherfucking grim reaper would need to personally escort him out of the booth.

[Nineteen]

I'm having a hard time with timelines but I remember Heenan/Schiavone/Tenay on Nitro being excellent. Schiavone called the show and did a great job putting everything over, Tenay especially introducing the lucha concepts and cruiserweights, and Heenan was just always a treasure. I actually remember enjoying the Nitro desk in most iterations, even Bischoff and Mongo were tolerable as long as one they didn't have to do all the heavy lifting. (Minus Zybysco, of course)

-three minutes of wiki later-

Okay Stevie Ray was a weird treasure with Schiavone and Tenay/Hudson during the dark days of WCW... fruit booties

[Elsalvajeloco]

5 minutes ago, Nineteen said:

I'm having a hard time with timelines but I remember Heenan/Schiavone/Tenay on Nitro being excellent. Schiavone called the show and did a great job putting everything over, Tenay especially introducing the lucha concepts and cruiserweights, and Heenan was just always a treasure. I actually remember enjoying the Nitro desk in most iterations, even Bischoff and Mongo were tolerable as long as one they didn't have to do all the heavy lifting. (Minus Zybysco, of course)

-three minutes of wiki later-

Okay Stevie Ray was a weird treasure with Schiavone and Tenay/Hudson during the dark days of WCW... fruit booties

Oh boy Larry....

I was watching a Nitro a couple weeks ago, and Larry is talking about how Randy Anderson (or Mark Curtis/Brian Hildebrand) is consistently slow on his count.

So you mean the referee is fair to BOTH competitors? What a novel concept.

Just a dumb fucking thing to say on commentary.

[Curt McGirt]

You have to wonder how many attending WCW fans actually knew who Larry was prior to the Dangerous Alliance. Or if any of the current ones knew who he was at all, because as a kid I sure didn't know who the hell this "living legend" that looked like one of my dad's golf buddies from work was. 

[zendragon]

1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said:

You have to wonder how many attending WCW fans actually knew who Larry was prior to the Dangerous Alliance. Or if any of the current ones knew who he was at all, because as a kid I sure didn't know who the hell this "living legend" that looked like one of my dad's golf buddies from work was. 

I never saw the Pre Nitro era WCW and only knew about the Bruno feud from PWI

[Gorman]

11 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

Agreed. It's a rarity, but those three always have a great booth. Feels like we're in a state of flux a lot of the time with Tony also balancing doing the interviewer role (which he's great at, and always has been) and J.R. now showing up on Rampage and only doing half of Dynamite.

When J.R. hangs it up in the next 5 years or so, I 100% think these three should be the A-booth for Dynamite and PPV. By that time, Jericho, Henry and Paul Wight will have either improved (or not, and moved on) and you can build the Elevation, Dark and Rampage booths from there depending who you got

And also, the landscape could be totally different by then. If ROH can't get TV, the Riccaboni/Coleman team is pretty good. Coleman I thought was particularly good on the episode of Dark he called the other week. I enjoyed the gentleman from MLW last night on the Flair show whose name escapes me, and Tom Hannifan was great too (and always is any time I've caught him on Impact, or years ago on Smackdown). I liked when they would have Veda Scott on, they could give her another look at some point. So depending on the future of those companies and those guys' availability, AEW could probably put together a pretty deep bench if they wanted to in the future.

Joe Dombrowski !

[Gorman]

11 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

Agreed. It's a rarity, but those three always have a great booth. Feels like we're in a state of flux a lot of the time with Tony also balancing doing the interviewer role (which he's great at, and always has been) and J.R. now showing up on Rampage and only doing half of Dynamite.

When J.R. hangs it up in the next 5 years or so, I 100% think these three should be the A-booth for Dynamite and PPV. By that time, Jericho, Henry and Paul Wight will have either improved (or not, and moved on) and you can build the Elevation, Dark and Rampage booths from there depending who you got

And also, the landscape could be totally different by then. If ROH can't get TV, the Riccaboni/Coleman team is pretty good. Coleman I thought was particularly good on the episode of Dark he called the other week. I enjoyed the gentleman from MLW last night on the Flair show whose name escapes me, and Tom Hannifan was great too (and always is any time I've caught him on Impact, or years ago on Smackdown). I liked when they would have Veda Scott on, they could give her another look at some point. So depending on the future of those companies and those guys' availability, AEW could probably put together a pretty deep bench if they wanted to in the future.

Let me fix my double post by saying the MMA guy on Raw is Jimmy Smith.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Gorman

[kafkonia]

8 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

Oh boy Larry....

I was watching a Nitro a couple weeks ago, and Larry is talking about how Randy Anderson (or Mark Curtis/Brian Hildebrand) is consistently slow on his count.

So you mean the referee is fair to BOTH competitors? What a novel concept.

Just a dumb fucking thing to say on commentary.

To be fair, if he's consistently slow, it's kayfabe still bad because it's making it harder for a wrestler to get a pinfall. It's like when an umpire has a too-wide strike zone. It will piss off the hitters on both teams even if the pitchers are a-okay with it.

[Technico Support]

17 hours ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

There's some unreliable sources saying Hunter has come to an agreement 

  Hide contents

w/ Sasha and Naomi

 

Are they disciplining or getting rid of whatever writer(s) screamed at them and called them spoiled or whatever?

12 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

By that time, Jericho, Henry and Paul Wight will have either improved (or not, and moved on) and you can build the Elevation, Dark and Rampage booths from there depending who you got

 

I feel like Jericho is hitting his stride balancing his character work with actual decent color commentary.  Between all the screaming and gimmickry, he covered for/reigned in JR a few times and did  decent job explaining why certain things were happening in the context of the match.

[JLowe]

35 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Are they disciplining or getting rid of whatever writer(s) screamed at them and called them spoiled or whatever?

I feel like Jericho is hitting his stride balancing his character work with actual decent color commentary.  Between all the screaming and gimmickry, he covered for/reigned in JR a few times and did  decent job explaining why certain things were happening in the context of the match.

Agreed about Jericho. Taz was super annoying a few months ago, but has now really gotten away from being the heel announcer and settling comfortably into the color commentary role. Jericho is doing a good job of putting everyone over, being funny, and still getting his angles in.

I don't think Henry is every going to be more than what he is now, he can be kind of funny but he doesn't add a lot when he's on commentary other than comedy and a little bit of awe. Wight is getting there. I think Regal is served best in guest spots, he's more valuable I think backstage.

I've enjoyed Coleman's guest spots on AEW and that episode of Dark, but I thought he was a little rough at the PPV, lots of stumbling and pauses. 

[AxB]

30 years ago today, Ron Simmons beat Big Van Vader to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

[Curt McGirt]

You know you'd never think about this but Taz is closer to vintage Mike Tenay on (big show) commentary than anybody in recent memory. Then on the little shows he gets to be Dusty. It's bizarre. 

[Technico Support]

5 hours ago, AxB said:

30 years ago today, Ron Simmons beat Big Van Vader to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

My top two memories of this:

• The kid at ringside who loses his shit when Ron wins,  We should all have at least one moment of such unmitigated joy in our lives.
• A friend called me around noon or 1 to go to that show but I was really really hung over and couldn't make it.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Technico Support

[caley]

14 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

You have to wonder how many attending WCW fans actually knew who Larry was prior to the Dangerous Alliance. Or if any of the current ones knew who he was at all, because as a kid I sure didn't know who the hell this "living legend" that looked like one of my dad's golf buddies from work was. 

"The New World ODOR"

[The Great ML]

31 minutes ago, caley said:

"The New World ODOR"

That and DDPs constant reference to Hollywood SCUM Hogan like it was a new joke each week…cringe.

[Unnatural]

So this is what, 6 years old already? Still cracks me the fuck up every fucking time!

 

[Sublime]

1 hour ago, The Great ML said:

That and DDPs constant reference to Hollywood SCUM Hogan like it was a new joke each week…cringe.

That kept me from being a DDP fan for quite a while. I knew he was fun to watch and the diamond cutter was the bees knees but God that was so lame and he kept throwing it out there.

[J.H.]

I mean Zybysko had more than 1 run in Georgia/Crockett so older fans would know him. But he wasn't as big as he was in Minnesota

James

[brynn9292]

Been watching a bunch of old SMASH Wrestling shows that are free on their YouTube channel (including the last show they did before the pandemic put them on hiatus) along with stuff that's on Impact Plus and I've really been enjoying it. They've got their comeback show coming up this weekend with Speedball vs. Alex Shelley as the main event and also Veda Scott and Matt Cross on the card. They've got a lot of good homegrown talent too with Kevin Bennett, John Greed and my favorite Psycho Mike (who's just freakin' awesome!). 

With that being said, does anyone know if their show on Saturday will be shown anywhere? From watching their old shows, it sounded like they were being taped and then shown on Fight Network (I think) in Canada. If so, is there any way in the states to watch it?

[Phantom Lord]

7 hours ago, AxB said:

30 years ago today, Ron Simmons beat Big Van Vader to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

I was just watching this clip and a thought came to me. This is exactly how Roman Reigns should lose the Universal championship. An underdog on a flash pin. Roman can even win it back the same way Vader did a few months later. But I can just hear the reinvigorated Michael Cole on the call.

" " WINS THE TITLE...THE TRIBAL CHIEF HAS BEEN DETHRONED

Edited August 2, 2022 by Phantom Lord

[caley]

2 hours ago, The Great ML said:

That and DDPs constant reference to Hollywood SCUM Hogan like it was a new joke each week…cringe.

God WCW wasn't afraid to hit on a catchphrase of limited popularity and run it into the GROUND

I'm haunted by Rick Steiner grabbing the mic nearly every week and going "If you want some, come get some! If you don't like me, bite me!"

 

[HarryArchieGus]

1 hour ago, onelegbrynn said:

Been watching a bunch of old SMASH Wrestling shows that are free on their YouTube channel (including the last show they did before the pandemic put them on hiatus) along with stuff that's on Impact Plus and I've really been enjoying it. They've got their comeback show coming up this weekend with Speedball vs. Alex Shelley as the main event and also Veda Scott and Matt Cross on the card. They've got a lot of good homegrown talent too with Kevin Bennett, John Greed and my favorite Psycho Mike (who's just freakin' awesome!). 

'Who wants to see a bodyslam!?' I dig that guy's act. I'm curious to see his work in WXW Germany. 

[The Idiot King]

1 hour ago, Phantom Lord said:

I was just watching this clip and a thought came to me. This is exactly how Roman Reigns should lose the Universal championship. An underdog on a flash pin. Roman can even win it back the same way Vader did a few months later. But I can just hear the reinvigorated Michael Cole on the call.

" " WINS THE TITLE...THE TRIBAL CHIEF HAS BEEN DETHRONED

Maybe this topic has been beaten to death or is better suited to the WWE thread, but now here we are at 700(?) days of Roman Reigns's Reign -- who takes the belt off him? Let's assume, barring injury, it's probably at Wrestlemania. The Rock? Rollins? Those both feel a little bit like a dead end. Cody probably makes the most sense, but that's assuming he's good to go by the Rumble, and he really hasn't had enough time to see if his whole thing is gonna stick. There's not a lot of viable contenders. Even in terms of an underdog getting a flash pin, who's even close to that spot? I feel like Riddle is over enough, but that still feels kind of unsatisfying. I know this is fantasy booking and a lot is bound to change with HHH at the helm, but it's not something I have any kind of obvious answer to.

The Usos are in a similar situation, but truth is, with how the tag titles are generally handled, it could really be anyone with a few weeks of build. I'm thinking of when The Shield finally dropped the titles to the Rhodes Brothers. It sort of came out of nowhere, but it made sense!

Also, when I was a kid, I always assumed Zbyszko being called "the living legend" was a semi-sarcastic heelish self-selected title, like Bobby Heenan being called "The Brain." Had no idea he was anybody other than an announcer for ages. Learning about the storied career of Dok Hendrix was equally mind-blowing.

[Niners Fan in CT]

12 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Are they disciplining or getting rid of whatever writer(s) screamed at them and called them spoiled or whatever?

it was probably Bruce.