The Iron Yuppie

Noam Dar's evolution from good, if not wholly generic indie wrestler to skin-crawling slimeball (in the best possible way) is amazing. In fact, I feel like 205 Live has done an overall solid job of combining some of the pure wrestling that made the Classic so great with the character-driven elements. As mentioned, Gentleman Jack's been able to flesh out his character, Neville has been top-notch as the pissed-off heel and Kendrick's entitled veteran shtick is great. My only complaint is the same as others have voiced in this thread: 205 Live is a good show with a terrible setting. I don't know how they remedy this, but the crowds are brutal by the time Smackdown's done. It's also weird to have the Cruisers on Raw but then 205 Live after Smackdown. I realize Raw needs to fill out three hours, but the division just fits Smackdown more.

I'd like to allow for one exception: Whataburger. I feel like it's the Texas equivalent to what In-n-Out was in California, in that if you're in the state it's required you eat there. Also, I may lose my California residency for this, but I prefer Whataburger to In-n-Out. Oh man...I was just out there for Takeover and the Rumble. Before the Takeover show, my buddy and I were checking out downtown and looking for somewhere to eat. I was shocked at how many places were closed in the middle of a Saturday afternoon in the city's biggest tourist trap.

D'Lo was so awesome. His European title reign in 1998, where he was introduced from a different European city each week, was tremendous. He was such a great in-ring worker, too. The feud with X-Pac produced a lot of quality stuff, he had some terrific matches with AJ Styles in the early days of TNA, and his Summerslam '98 match with Val Venis ranks among my favorite WWE pay-per-view card openers. Having seen his shoot interview, he also seems like an incredibly good guy.

The Nitro Grill being in Las Vegas makes sense, I guess, since Vegas is home to so many kitschy and sorta low-brow restaurants. It's just funny they wouldn't have it in Atlanta, though. WCW really hated its core audience. Speaking of Vegas kitsch, Gail Kim's husband Robert Irvine has a spot opening there this spring. The question is, will it be Overpriced TGI Friday's or Less Classy Donovan's? I sense a prime opportunity for Victoria/Tara/Lisa Varon to expand The Squared Circle from Chicago to Vegas and rekindle her feud with Gail. Out of the ring and into the kitchen, brother! The only wrestling-themed spot I've ever been to is Lucha Libre Taco in San Diego. It's fine, though I'd argue San Diego has the best Mexican food in the U.S. so it's nothing special. The memorabilia is cool, though. It's downtown, which has become increasingly trendy in recent years, so it's sort of a hip spot.

I love Killing The Town. There's so many little moments on that pod that make me laugh, but there was one I had to leave my desk because I was going to strain something holding in my laughter. Lance is telling a story about The Rock doing a segment with a little person, "Booker Wee." Wee kept missing his cues, including the one where Storm's supposed to hit the ring. Lance eventually gets out and superkicks him...which the little guy no-sells. Without missing a beat, Cyrus says in a completely deadpan tone: "You should have stretched him." I died.

With all the XFL attention in recent weeks, I noticed something while watching the Vince-Costas interview. He mentions The Sopranos saying "the fuck word" and adds, "I happen to like the show." I chuckled. There's zero chance Vince watched The Sopranos. Freddie Prinze Jr. told a story on...I believe it was Sam Roberts' show. Prinze was flying on McMahon's jet and was watching a movie on his laptop. Vince asks what he's watching, Freddie tells him. Vince asks, "Why aren't you watching a Wrestlemania?!?" It's ironic how eat up Vince is with things other than wrestling -- namely football and movies -- when he seemingly lives in such a wrestling bubble. ETA: I'll never set foot in a Golden Corral. I'm not a buffet person, unless I'm in Las Vegas. But I became especially resolute in my vow to never eat Golden Corral when I saw ads for a community chocolate waterfall. Every form of virus and bacteria transmittable through the air or saliva has to live in that thing.

I've only watched the Okada-Suzuki match so far from this card but...DAMN. So, so good. The story telling with Okada's knee was fantastic. I was sure it was over on spot with Okada teasing turning his Tombstone into a Gotch Piledriver, only for Suzuki to reverse into the kneebar.

There's money to be made with a Roman Reigns vs. D'Lo Brown Vest vs. Vest match! WWE has almost backed its way into the perfect sweet spot with Roman. I can't think of a more universally hated heel in ages, so putting an organically over face a Braun's been evolving into should only heighten his rise. I don't think there's much that needs to be changed -- don't give Roman a formal heel turn of any kind, just keep booking him as though he thinks he's a righteous babyface, a la 2000 Kurt Angle. He's the perfect foil to Braun, who -- dare I say -- is getting the most real face reactions of anyone since Daniel Bryan.

It does sorta look like the Mom Leatherface mask from atrocious TCM: The New Generation

And it'd be a LOT fewer with Gerry McNamara, seeing as then Cuse would not have won 10 FUCKING GAMES

I saw that shit. wtf, Cody? wtf, Donovan Dijak? wtf, ROH? Head shots in 2017?! Good lord, someone might as well give Russo a book again. ...Hey, speaking of which! Some cross-threading here. There's some talk of Russo's horrible and racist booking in 1999 WCW going on in the Photos Thread. I have moments where I think, "Maybe Nash was WCW's worst booker. Russo pushed mid-card guys, after all." Then I remember he had a 4-minute match between Juvy and Jushin Liger end in Juvy smashing a tequila bottle over Liger's head.

SLAP THE PORPOISE!

Only reason Spider couldn't wrestle was Joe Pesci shot his foot

The Mojo Rawley thing has me wondering, how many current WWE'ers are former college players? Ones I know off the top of my head are: Mojo: Maryland Roman Reigns: Georgia Tech Goldberg: Georgia John Cena: Springfield Titus O'Neill: Florida Big E: Iowa Baron Corbin: Northwest Missouri State Tino Sabbatelli: Oregon State (All Pac-10 and helped end USC's three-year undefeated run in conference!) Bray Wyatt: Troy I also remember that God-awful wrestler Ricky Ortiz was an All-WAC defensive end at Tulsa, and an XFL product!

Dick Ebersol even rejuvenated Saturday Night Live in a similar fashion to Vince launching WWF as a national promotion. SNL was on its deathbed after the disastrous Jean Doumanian era, so Ebersol strayed from the Not Ready For Prime-Time formula of the original run to hire established names like Martin Short and Billy Crystal. I see that as being somewhat parallel to Vince taking WWF national with Hulk Hogan, who was crazy-over in AWA and pretty fresh from a prominent role in Rocky 3.

Sorry, I'm an idiot and included NJPW stuff without realizing which folder I'm in. 1. John Cena vs. AJ Styles, Royal Rumble XXX, 1/29 2. DIY vs. The Revival, NXT, 1/11 3. Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews, UK Tournament, 1/15 4. DIY vs. Authors of Pain, NXT Takeover San Antonio, 1/28 5. Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns, Royal Rumble XXX, 1/29 6. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode, NXT Takeover San Antonio, 1/28 7. Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate, UK Tournament, 1/15 8. Cien Almas Andrade vs. Roderick Strong, NXT Takeover San Antonio, 1/28 9. Peyton Royce vs. Billy Kay vs. Osuka vs. Nikki Cross, NXT Takeover San Antonio, 1/28 10. Rich Swann vs. Neville, Royal Rumble XXX, 1/29

The idea of the XFL is a good one, and I do think in today's PG-era, it might not alienate potential viewers quite as forcefully: Less emphasis on the cheerleaders, no dirtball Opie and Anthony pregame show, etc. As far as rules changes, it doesn't seem like rocket science. Use some of the collegiate rules that give the college game a more wide-open style than the NFL, like wider hashmarks and the 25-second play clock (XFL used 35, still less than NFL but not quite as short as the college clock). I also don't think using wrestlers in promo packages was a bad idea, but the execution was terrible. The Rock, for example; instead of cutting a Rock promo, I'd have had him open Week 1 saying, "Before I was The Rock, I was national championship-winning Miami Hurricane Dwayne Johnson. And if I wasn't wrestling Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship this weekend, you can bet I'd be sacking quarterbacks in the XFL." A very small change that I think could have made a world of difference in the presentation. Ultimately though, you're right Niko. Vince's ego doomed the league from the start. He went with what he knew, which got us embarrassing stuff like the staged Jesse Ventura-Rusty Tillman "feud." It's also ironic Vince so aggressively attacked the NFL, as I've read him in other interviews say he learned his lesson in 1996 to not discuss competitors. The Billionaire Ted stuff actually led to some viewers tuning into WCW.

On his Talk Is Jericho appearance hyping the 30 For 30, Charlie Ebersol said Vince called Costas after the segment aired and was elated with how it turned out. So, yeah, he was absolutely shticking it up. Odd approach for an audience tuning in primarily to hear about sports, though, and a pretty fitting microcosm for the XFL's demise. Too much WWF Attitude bleeding into a professional football league, as it were.

At the minute mark, Costas is downright prescient when he asks about the XFL killing some of the "juice" around the WWF. Imagine if the $50 million lost on the XFL had been invested in bringing some of the big-contract WCW wrestlers? The Invasion as a yearlong angle with the top stars would have been a bonanza. Fantasy booking aside, I also think the XFL looking so low-rent and coming off as such a joke contributed to pushing away some of the WWF audience. Yeah, they're different products, as Vince aggressively repeats in this interview, but the stench from one absolutely rubbed off on the other. I also get a chuckle out of the Phil Mushnick reference around 2:45. Vince HAAAAATES that dude. If VKM is still alive and involved in WWE production when Mushnick dies, I'd bet my bottom dollar he'd reference it somehow on a broadcast. Also, have to give Bob Costas credit here. He never backs down. And good lord, his next guest that show was Bob Knight If Bob drank a gallon of vodka after filming that day, I couldn't blame him.

Regal should have had a face run as WHT in 2004, dammit. Also -- and I know this won't happen, but just saying -- Triple H could sit out Mania and it would have zero impact on the number of people who attend or tune in. In the meantime...ESPN's XFL documentary airs tonight. I didn't realize Dick Ebersol's son directed it until I heard him on Talk Is Jericho, so I'm expecting apologia that heavily emphasizes CAMERA INNOVATIONS!!~ and the like. From a wrestling fan's perspective, there's a great story to be told about the XFL as it pertains to wrestling. I've long found it fascinating the XFL's launch and immediate failure coincided with the apex of Vince's wrestling empire. I was in my senior year of high school in the winter/spring of 2001. I still watched in college, but I sure as hell didn't tell people. While the bungled Invasion didn't help retain an audience, the XFL's one season sort of set the tone for making wrestling really uncool again. And I think it starts here: I skipped Part 1 and embedded 2, because this is when Vince starts to get aggressive. It's surreal to go back and watch this. The Attitude Era (and the subsequent half-decade) produced some embarrassing stuff, but that Trish segment went into the mainstream. I remember meeting my present-day wife in college, and when we were first dating, she mentioned liking Tough Enough. I dipped my toes in the water and talked about liking wrestling, she immediately asked, "You don't like stuff like when that guy made that woman crawl around in her underwear, do you?!"

The New Age Outlaws were white-hot as faces not long after No Way Out, but in early '98, they might have been the most hateable heel act in the company. Also, turning Owen heel so soon after the Screwjob was bullshit. He should have been in the title match at the Rumble, beaten Shawn, then dropped the title back to him at No Way Out before feuding with Hunter over the European championship. That also leads to a reality where Shawn doesn't take the casket bump, though. I know in interviews, he's credited that to him turning his life around. This scenario goes down a whole other rabbit hole.

Add Scottie Thurman coming off the top rope with a steel chair to give Corliss the win, Cole having the presence of mind to compare it to his 3-pointer to beat Duke in the '94 Final Four, and that's an alternate reality I want to inhabit.

Savio Vega!

This was my first real "Wrestling Weekend," doing the double-dip of NXT and a WWE super-card event. Everything I've read from those watching on the Network jibes with the live experience as far as the Rumble Match. The stretch from Braun's exit until the "names" came out was mostly just deflating. Taker looked awful. I've been thinking this since XXX, but 33 really NEEDS to be his last Mania. The reaction for Reigns at 30 was amazing. There was a boy of about 8 sitting front of me, and a woman in her 30s behind me cheering for Roman. Other than that, it was the most visceral heel reaction I've heard at a live show since seeing JBL in Tucson during the Eddie Guerrero feud. I attribute Orton's win getting the reaction it did to Roman 100%. The lack of interest in the cruiserweights bummed me out, because they put on a helluva match. Swann in particular worked his ass off, but the shitty booking of the cruisers on Raw has made that division the de facto replacements for the Divas as Concession Stand Time.

I went to this show and had a great time. Much of the crowd around me did seem to think Nakamura was legit injured, at least up until Roode locked in the Half Crab. That was a great match, but there's one thing I wished they'd done with the finish... You spend all this time setting up the knee injury. That's good! You end it with a DDT. Huh? When Albert ran down the ramp, I said to my buddy I was expecting Albert/Train/Matt to play Arnold Skaaland to Nak's Backlund and throw in the towel. That would have been awesome and much more logical than a DDT finish, but whatever. Another fantasy booking discussion we had: They missed the boat not bringing Andrade in under his mask as a babyface, losing it in a Mask vs. Hair (or Mask vs. Title) match, and THEN turning heel. I still dig his heel shtick, though. He and Roddy brought it. Speaking of bringing, Ciampa...good lord. His deadlift suplexes on the AoP were SO impressive. That match was amazing, and had so many great booking wrinkles. Using the same spot that beat The Revival, only for AoP to power out really emphasized how monstrous the team is. Good shit. Nikki going through the table was a huge cringe moment for me, but again: great booking. That could have been a thoroughly meh, or even bad match if they'd attempted a Fatal 4-Way in the same vein as Sasha/Charlotte/Becky/Bayley. Having Asuka basically work the whole match, while the rest took powders at various intervals was smart, both for putting on a much better-than-expected match, but further establishing Asuka as a supreme bad-ass.