BobbyWhioux

He was so good at being a pure douchebag (and seemed to revel in it) I could never really hate him as much as I knew I was supposed to. [Except that water spot with Bret; go against Bret and I hated you forever in those days] Certainly doesn't hurt that he's among my earliest favorites in terms of stooging (the Sid match above being a fine example thereof). He always projects as though he's the coolest and the toughest man in the room, while making sure the audience never agrees (lest they turn him face), and so there's nothing he can do or say that's so outlandish that he does not wholly believe in it.

I watched the occasional wrestling show here and there before, but I didn't really get hooked on wrestling (or get allowed to watch it enough to get hooked) until 1991. Just the right time to get on board with newly minted WWF singles competitor Bret "The Hitman" Hart, who I immediately liked more than the hero I was "supposed" to like. If Hogan was Superman, then Bret Hart immediately resonated with me as Batman, an ordinary human who got the absolute most out of himself, was a little less than squeaky clean, and beat people with skill and smarts. And Macho Man Randy Savage of course, because he has the all time greatest "pro wrestler voice" and even before I really watched wrestling I knew him as the guy every kid at school tried to do an impression of. If you took someone who had literally no idea what Professional Wrestling was, then spent an hour explaining the premise to them, then asked them at the end of that hour to imagine/visualize a pro wrestler and what he would look/sound like, they'd probably come up with someone almost exactly like Savage. Larger than Life done right. And of course you can't talk about Randy Savage in 1991 without the man who even more than the above two got me hooked on wrestling. Jake The Snake Roberts, who spent 1991 turning into and being The Most Evil Man In America (or so it seemed). Wrestling has two hooks: heroes you believe in and cheer in is one, but the other is the villains you despise, fear, pray to see repudiated and destroyed...but often, deep down, you admire. More often than not they are the engine of the drama. The Heel is pro-active. He fires the first shot, launches the first sneak attack, he stirs the drink and poses the threat that the hero ultimately rises to defend against. And Jake was a fucking MASTER. Just like Bret Hart was my guy because he fought with his brain as much as anything else, Jake stood out because his monstrosity was likewise mental. No big brute like Hogan's Cannon Fodder of the week. Nah, Jake was devious, and he whispered where everyone else shouted. So when Jake the Snake began to fuck with Macho Man Randy Savage it was like nothing I had even imagined before, let alone seen. "The thing in the bag was merely a toy. Something for me to amuse myself with. I've always been the snake you should worry about, and for six years you still haven't caught on! It amazes me that anyone -- even you -- could be that ignorant." I remember that line better than I remember some friends' birthdays.

LOL The Royals are such a joke. About 6 people who have now been thrown out of this game after throwing at Lawrie again late in a 2-1 game.

Look, Nattie can't help that. It's in the genes:

I'm anticipating Jae's recap of the episode almost as much as the episode itself.

all previous resurrections are to establish the precedent of possibility so that when Jon gets rezzed it doesn't look like Plot Armor/Main Character Syndrome/Author Pulling Shit Out Of His Ass. Lest Jon Snow dying feel like when John Cena gets fired. [even Victarion's hand is part of this, since it demonstrates the Red God Revival Mojo on a smaller scale]

lol one more thing the Sharks can never win.

So this is the year the show just completely blows by the published books, then. Starting tonight.

Scapegoating Season is officially underway!

I will never be unhappy about a wrestler making their money and escaping with their health no matter how much I might miss enjoying their performances.

I'm pretty sure that turned out to be a couple of carnies working the Twitter audience.

Clearly I've watched too much WWE and I'm starting to act like the broadcast team.

Die Hard Dean Ambrose has a Stone Cold Steve Austin like ring to it. Dean could get the entire arena to chant "die" like Metallica does on Creeping Death before hitting his finish. Reigns will secretly be playing bass in the back. Gotta go with a reference to an ...And Justice For All track, since they're already turning the volume all the way down on Roman's segments, anyway...

Twitter-based feuds are a real life/mainstream media phenomenon that most people are already familiar with. It's time for a wrestling feud to be fully built via twitter. All you have to do is make sure all the fans know/see the tweets, and that's as easy as putting screenshots on the Titantron. It eliminates the dumb scripted promos, it condenses their slice of weekly programming time (so you can work more/other stuff in), it's clearly interesting stuff because we're all enjoying it. And it's totally believable because celebrities do this shit all the time, only without SETTLING IT IN THE RING so there you go, you have something you can sell. Damn, how is WWE not doing this all the time already? They love fawning over tweets and twitter!

Not so fast. My two cats will contest your cat's claim. There is only one way settle this. Three Way Dance. Not even an Islander or Harley Race can resist the cute onslaught of Cali & Cleo. Turns out one of your cats had an "accident". (Is it weird that I thought of Kane pushing Paul Bearer down the steps?) No more and no less weird than my old reflex to start an ECW! ECW! chant when I heard the crashing sound, I suppose.

It's been brought up in the April Discussion Thread. Of course DVDVR being what it is we've begun to joke fantasy book the whole family as a Samoan NWO. From what I gather they all flew out to NorCal from various locations to watch Wrestlemania under the impression he was winning (maybe they were told about it, or maybe they just recognized the formulaic and predictable booking of a new babyface champion's Royal Rumble To Wrestlemania march like everyone else did ) and the change from Roman Wins to Rollins Cashes In was supposedly made so late in the process that they didn't find out about it until they saw it happen.

One of the reasons why I always give Harley Race a full paragraph unto himself alone.

Hall Nash and Hogan's run in was about as slow as Robocop's, so probably not much difference. Due to the long ramp, it really felt like HHH was doing the "distracted by theme music/interference" daze for an eternity. Exit light.... *puff puff* Enter night... *chuuuuuuuuuuuuug*

Well, yeah, on one hand 30 angry samoans are rushing the ring, but on the other hand BROCK LESNAR is in said ring waiting for them, so it might actually be safest to stay there. My mental recording of Gorilla Monsoon's "irresistible force meeting the immoveable object" call springs to mind.

"I'VE GOT TWO WORDS FOR YOU:

Hall Nash and Hogan's run in was about as slow as Robocop's, so probably not much difference.

All other entrances were destined to be overshadowed by Rusev on a motherfucking TANK~! but yeah I really liked it too.

Wasn't there a young woman who only ever appeared on the first MTV episode of Sunday Night Heat because while interviewing Stephanie McMahon she made a joke at Steph's expense? Does anyone remember who she was or when this even happened? And does the clip still survive somewhere?

Particularly since there already don't seem to be any holds that are barred in ordinary competition anyway.

Well, addendum: don't do that unless you want the crowd to keep doing that. To an extent, of course, you do want to be receptive to customer demand and you should listen to them, but if you do the "let the fans pick the match/stip" thing and you don't gimmick it, be prepared for the fans to pick something silly at least some of the time. Especially on the internet where a dedicated few could organize a "Spin the wheel make the deal? LOL LET'S ACTUALLY PICK THE COAL MINER'S GLOVE MATCH!" movement.