Hooker

I don't understand this comment. You mean that none have debuted since The Big Show? There's Batista and Brock Lesnar, but on the whole, fair enough. But for about ten years since Show debuted, Undertaker, Kane, and come lately, Mark Henry have all been active wrestlers, so your implication that they don't or didn't have big/tall wrestlers is plainly false. One of the biggest knocks against the WWE is its over-reliance on physically imposing wrestlers.

To be fair, Christian hasn't been cleared for his concussion. Imagine that it were possible to research anything at the drop of a hat with minimal effort. How awesome a world that would be. In the amount of time you took doing that, you could have answered the fucking question. Not to mention the fact that this is a subject where a basic Google search can be misleading. Cis means you identify with the gender you were genetically born with. It's a term that's gaining popularity in the fight for equality in LGBT rights. The relevant Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisgender EDIT: It's also something I seem unable to break the habit of capitalizing.

Right, I'm not accusing you and, sorry if it came off this way, but not really meaning to accuse kigushi, either. But it happens so much on this board (for instance, to the point where Kurt fucking Angle is a reviled wrestler!) that I wanted to start a dialogue on the issue.

Fuck me. I watch RAW on Saturdays, so I never get to these discussions in time. So much of the AJ vs Lawler/JBL handicap match discussion I want to respond to, but I got up to page 10 and though, "how many more pages are there?" Turns out there were nine more. So, I'll just post my few comments: I don't think anyone is "white knighting" in this thread. However, I also think it's a real gender issue that shouldn't be thrown out altogether, as it represents the other end of the spectrum in the same way that people being especially nice to black people is still racism. AJ's robbing the cradle joke (it's not really a "pedo" joke, is it?) was pretty blue, but was said to the guy who, over the course of five+ years talked about how Vickie is fat and ugly and how he would never sleep with her. So, in terms of the respect Lawler is due, especially from women, I think he's made his bed and he needs to sleep in it. Maybe not the best metaphor... Fuck JBL. Lawler called AJ ugly, but he said it to her (albeit under his breath, which is pretty lame). JBL's reaction is a textbook case of microaggressions. The clearest example being, after AJ said "pissed off," JBL said to Michael Cole, "Hey, this is a family show!" and then giggled. Which is a clear male power move; treating women like they're not in the conversation. What's more, since the WWE put out (rough math here) a trillion hours of programming each year, we know the reaction the announcers have to male performers, and it's some variation of, "Hey, this is a family show!" said to the person in question. So, again, fuck JBL. I thought Michael Cole was totally decent in the whole affair, surprisingly. Full disclosure: I urinate with a penis, have since birth, and am cis.

Continuity is important for comic books as well.

On a broader scale, can we talk about how nitpicking psychology is the wrestling equivalent of comic book fans getting hung up on continuity errors? Many of my favourite matches (of which I would include Tanahashi/Okada) have or could be argued to have psychology / logistical / whatever problems. Nearly every one of them, for instance, none of the wrestlers ever flinch or try to avoid it when another wrestler tries to punch them in the head. Totally unrealistic! If you don't like something, fine. But the language of this sort of nitpicking always has the subtext of I-liked-this-match-a-lot-but-I-have-come-up-with-some-reasons-why-I-shouldn't. This is wrestling fans not being able to have nice things.

About a year ago, I was complaining to a friend of mine that the WWE used to inspire people to create pretty creative art (smackdown drive / jabroni boulevard street posts, moving signs, etc.); at any given show, you would be able to look around and see all this creativity on display. That's very close to, if not outright gone now, and a testament to how less interesting the product is. On the other hand, I was at the RAW that Kid Rock performed on (the last televised show they've ran in Vancouver), and the same friend got into an altercation with a woman who wouldn't stop waving her fucking sign around and was blocking us all night. So, take that for what you will.

So, this tweet from Trips kind of makes me think the whole thing is a work. Anyone else getting that feeling. Also, having thought about it for a day now, if it's not a work, what a hilariously shitty thing to fire a guy who has been nothing but a company man for two decades over.

So, having just watched the video game panel, it just baffles me and unfortunately does not surprise me that the WWE was upset by it. Flair was both totally genuine and wildly entertaining; clear no-nos for the company.

So if this really is the final chapter for JR - being fired for something someone else did - how will his treatment by the WWE go down in history? To me, it seems pretty clear that he was aggressively taken off TV for the far inferior Michael Cole way before his time and then went on to be humiliated by the company for no obvious reason from then until now.

Well, Kane has probably produced more WrestleCrap material since he debuted than anyone else, so I don't know how he dodges that bullet.

Thank you, Log.

So, when I brought up the comic book writer analogy, my point wasn't really that better writers would do a better job, but rather the opposite. I'm pretty certain that they could bring in Cormac McCarthy to do the Wyatt Family and all the technical wrestlers, Margaret Atwood to do the Divas division, Dave Chappelle to do the comedy acts, and a reincarnated William Shakespeare to do the main event angles and it would still be the same show.

Enough talented wrestlers? Yes. Enough creative talent to maintain two shows of largely differing storylines? Negative. This is an interesting question. How many writers do the WWE have on staff? How many writers does a comic book company have on staff, or just a specific comic inprint? I bet the WWE has far more writers than, say, Ultimate Marvel, which currently has three (arguably) compelling and distinct storylines that frequently have important crossover events that span multiple issues of each title. I'm much more inclined to believe that the problem with the WWE is the McMahon creative-cockblock at the top than it is a lack of talented individuals working for them

I pretty much love all the Triple H stuff from 2000. As much as I think post-quad Triple H has been brutally awful 90% of the time, 2000 Triple H kept the company afloat during Austin's absence. He was terrific in the heel heat he kept, his high rate of quality matches, and his willingness to sell for anyone and everyone he faced. Those last two items, especially the most latter, obviously disappeared after the injury.

Realistically, the 20th-2nd greatest WWF/WWE reactions should all be Austin coming out, with number one being the entire Rock / Hogan match.

My favourite RAW, by far, is the one where they spent the whole two hours hyping up the return of Kevin Nash after a lengthily hiatus. They hammered the topic all night long. Kevin Nash will be getting back in the ring tonight; don't change that channel. Finally, the main event rolls around. You didn't really care that Kevin Nash was going to wrestle, but whatever, it's what they've been pushing all night, so you still have a bit of anticipation despite yourself. But it's a six or eight or whatever-man tag match, and they draw out tagging in Kevin Nash. It might have even gone to commercial before he gets tagged in. Finally, the moment comes. Kevin Nash gets tagged in. He gets the big boot. He gets the sidewalk slam. Those sure are Kevin Nash moves, you say to yourself! And then it happens. Having exhausted the extent of his wrestling repartee, he goes to tag out of the match not 10-20 seconds after getting tagged in and what happens? He crumples to the ground, having re-injured himself through the terrible exertion of walking from the middle of the ring to one of the corners. Say what you want about your favourite joke. The twists and turns it takes. The adventure it ferries the audience on before arriving at its ending that is both surprising and yet, in retrospect, so obvious. It has nothing on the magnificent setup and punchline of that RAW.

I won't continue it, but it's at great person effort.There's always PM's, sunshine. What am I going to do, grandstand in private messages? Get real.

I won't continue it, but it's at great person effort.

As the most 19th-century-liberal person on this board, you mean?

Wrestler says something is or isn't the case. Hooker continues to believe as he did regardless.

Wait, Bryan, who got into the main event a couple weeks ago, can't draw, but Punk, who lost viewers over an entire-2012 main event push, can? Take me off the list of people that think you honestly believe what you're saying and aren't just a stupid troll.

So as to the earlier discussion of whether or not the WWE cares that Cena gets boo'ed, they tightly edited his promo from the week before to remove all the boos at the expense of it sounding incredibly weird.

This could be the most intolerable thing the WWE has ever produced.

Monday Night Jericho I don't think Jericho actually could have bought WCW for $7,000,001, though. A large part of the appeal in selling to Vince was that it gets Nitro off television.