Hagan

Warrior was a bad worker but he could certainly be carried to decent to good matches. He had 3 great WM matches with three pretty different sort of workers. Hell, that Sarge match isn't terrible I recall. But yeah, probably the worst pure worker, but one of the better gimmicks. Why his title reign flopped is such an interesting topic.

I think that if they didn't switch the title to Taker at OTE '99 then it may not play, but, unfortunately, that gives it some kaybe historical importance. And, honestly, if the whole selling point is that you get every PPV then you have to give them every PPV ever. Not that the company should listen to morons, but look at how much people fucking bitch about Benoit being edited off stuff. People basically accuse the company of being communists that are ruining the sacred and glorious nature of the wrestling past. If you start selective deleting things, then you just open a can of worms. If they don't one thing, then people will start to wonder why another shaky situation or performer is left in. I mean, watching ANY Owen Hart match is sad because you can't forget what happened, but it's part and parcel of the company history. I imagine the Owen tribute show from Raw will inevitably be put up. Is that egregious too? Where does it stop? Edit: I mean, does anyone think that the company is, like, happy to have the show on air? Does it paint the company in a good light? Is its inclusion REALLY going to add an extra 50,000 subscriptions? There's literally no upside for them doing this except they've apparently decided that the WWE Network is going to be a complete archive. I mean, there's going to be a lot of shit on this network that a PG publically-traded company would probably like to never see the light of day. Just wait until people wander across Steve Austin being crucified. It makes far better sense for them to edit things for their own protection, but that's not where they're going with this.

Holy cow, just watched the New Japan Road to New Beginning six-main. Early candidate for MOTY. Ishii comes across like the baddest mofo on the planet in this match as he lariats half the world out of their boots. I think I liked this match more than anything on the Tokyo Dome show. About to watch the Dragon Gate match that's been heavily pimped, as well.

Yeah, Jesus...Emma's segment wasn't fucking Buff and Booker at Tacoma. She was an unknown in front a shit crowd in a death slot of a long show. It was fine. They cheered her at the end. Everyone likes Santino, I'm sure they'll do wacky stuff for a few weeks on TV and she'll be fine. However, what is it with all the fucking dancing gimmicks?

I'm pretty sure that "face of the WWE" is now my least favorite phrase ever. I mean, in storyline, what does it even mean? Are all these grown men really fighting each other so Steph and Hunter will like them? Why can't they just say "champion?" The WWE's weird buzzwords generally don't annoy me but now they're getting nebulous. Couldn't Stephanie have just said "and, if you lose, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but Hunter and I will be fully in support of Daniel Bryan being the next WWE World Heavyweight champion." Need to re-watch the main but your typically good DB match. Also, Bryan and Kane doing something makes a hell of a lot more sense than Punk and Kane. That's always been a loose end that needed to be tied up. Continue to be excited for Shield and Wyatt's. I like the idea that after running roughshod over the world for 14 months, that The Shield are finally walking into a fight that they'll probably not win. Emma is great. Really, really shocked that the Punk and Cena's injury weren't addressed? I kind of thought this would be a bit of a reset show where they acknowledge that things have gone off the rails and do some big promise to right things. I imagine something like that is coming. I'm not sure that steady diet of Rey and Rey and Sin Cara got ADR equipped for Big Dave. Just sayin.'

With reports that Punk is basically on radio silence, this has kind of turned my thinking from "pissed off guy walks out on job" to a "guy in really bad place mentally who can't deal with shit anymore." Not saying that he's in some dark, dark place or anything, but whenever you just abruptly uproot your whole life and more or less cut off the people you need to be talking to, that's not a good sign. It's reminiscent of the Austin deal when everyone just thought it was an indictment of shitty WWE creative, but, aside from that, Austin was drinking too much, his marriage was collapsing, and he realized his neck was fucked up.

I'm pretty fucking stoked on The Shield vs The Wyatt's. They need to turn that fucker into a no DQ. I want like them fighting in the lobby. It struck me that at this point in his career Christian is the best upper-midcard WCW face. Like...in a parallel universe he's trading the TV title on WCW Saturday Night with Steven Regal or Goldust or something over six months. Or like he's opening up Halloween Havoc going 20 minutes against like some New Japan guy they brought in for the night, like Yujiro, and defending his US title.

Yeah, October 2004 never happened for me either.

I agree completely with Meltzer's analysis of the Bryan angle. The idea that creative is kind of scripting this "revolution" and getting the hardcore fans more and more fired up is dead on. Now, this is assuming that they don't stop watching, of course. There's a line you have to really straddle. If people still believe that the babyface get the big win, they'll stick with it. If they think things will eventually get mucked up, then you're WCW.

Today's JBL and Cole show is really funny. Incidentally, related, I think the Bad News Barrett gimmick is tremendous.

Between all the freaking out over Punk and Bryan on the Internet, this is the first time I'm actually contemplating taking a break from wrestling sites. I mean, I think both guys are aces but, at the end of the day, the show goes on. If Punk isn't gonna be around to main event, then I'm all aboard the Roman Reigns express. Or maybe Rollins gets a bigger profile. Or maybe any number of dudes slide up a spot in the pecking order. And, I mean, the Bryan thing I get, but whether or not he's the champion really doesn't matter as a long as he's in a good spot where he can deliver good matches and take part in great angles, which, for the most part, he is. None of this is the end of the world. There will continue to be really good shit and really bad shit in the company. I just remember that Hulk Hogan leaving was the end of the world, or Austin leaving, or Rock leaving, or all the tragedies that happened, and the company has more of a stranglehold on the industry than at any time in history. You can say ratings or lower or profits are lower, but, fuck...the stock is sky high right now. McMahon is literally a billionaire right now again. They know how to make money. Honestly, I think if your wrestling fandom is tied into the fate of one guy, then you're kind of doing it wrong. It struck me that what's happening now is kind of the 3rd and final evolution of the wrestling industry under Titan. The first was the national expansion that killed the territories and brought about the importance of national clearance on cable and PPV The second was the death of WCW and the consolidation of the monopoly. And now the third is the advent of their network and the death of wrestling as a PPV entity and the focus now on television rights and subscriptions. I think that with each evolution the wrestlers have lost power. If the Network succeeds, it'll be because WWE as an entity (past, current, and future) is the draw, not any one guy. I mean, we bitch and moan that their booking has caused no one to really be over, but...at the end of the day, that might have always been the goal.

The Twitter and Netflix thing is a little quick, especially when WWE is bad at communicating between departments. Also, there's a world of difference between "left the company" and "taking a break from the company." I don't think this is a work, but I have a hunch that instead of retconning Punk out of storyline they'll use this to further whatever the hell The Authority storyline is supposed to be.

Well, a few things on Punk. One, for years I thought it made sense that WWE should use older stars on cycles. Where the old days, these guys would have already gone to WCW, nowadays you can guys back in for short runs. However, I don't think they've managed the system well. I can understand Punk's and other people's frustration. I mean, Jericho has been used to mainly put people over, so that's fine. Rock is Rock, but his run was a bit of a flop. Lesnar has been used good, but not perfect, and Batista is back basically on a regular deal so he clearly should be a top player, but they probably should haven't made it so much of a foregone conclusion. Two, you don't walk out on your contract. This isn't quite an Austin situation, but you fulfill your obligations. Three, I imagine this kind of stuff proves Vince's point for him. The knock on Punk that he was always a whiny, malconent that didn't have the stuff that a true #1 should have. Well, when you randomy walk out on the company that tends to confirm that. You can argue that if Punk was booked like Cena he'd be happier, but then you get into the argument of whether he could hang at Cena's level in all facets. It's like when everyone ranted that RVD was underpushed because the company didn't trust, and the minute they give him the belt he gets arrested. Jeff Hardy was the same way. Edge was always injury-prone etc. Four, there's a reasonable chance Punk is back sooner rather than later, but you can imagine that walking out of a WM "main event" match is something that the company, and probably a lot of older wrestlers, will be absolutely appalled by. I think Punk, unless this is a situation wherer there's some serious injuries that we don't know about, will probably one day regret.

I love when Dave and Bryan debate a smark outrage. Bryan is such that Internet-era "THE SKY IS FALLING. THIS COMPANY FUCKING SUCKS" and Dave is so sanguine because he's been doing this shit for 30 years. Not that Alvarez is wrong, per se, but Dave seems to have a "the show rolls on" perspective that is somewhat refreshing.

Well, let's not kid ourselves. Orton and Batista aren't closing the show. Undertaker will, I'm sure. And whatever Cena is doing will be higher profile, and I imagine that Punk and Hunter will be pimped more heavily. I mean, they're stubborn and delusional but they even know that Orton and Batista is far from the most important match on the show.

Yeah, I figure the Usos are gonna win it soon from them so that's fine. Shit, it's not even about Orton and Batista getting booed out of 'Mania, is that's we have like eight weeks of build-up. How the hell does that not go completely off the rails?

Yeah, it's not like Batista isn't a guy you should be pushing in a prominent spot, but everything was so telegraphed from the jump. I also think it's cute that they see Sheamus as a much bigger star than he is. Actually, the company is fucking up with their new Russo-esque "shades of grey" mentality with heels and babyfaces. Like, how the fuck should a little kid be excited about The Authority's two best friends fighting over a title?

Orton and Batista is gonna be ugly with the crowd. Enjoyed the tag. Kind of ass backwards that the legendary tag team has the feel-good upset a few weeks after turning heel (kinda, though I guess they don't believe in those terms anymore). Bray vs Bryan was pretty fucking incredible. The Lesnar stuff was great. I hated Orton and Cena. If they wanted to go the epic big bomb route, they needed to work the earlier part at a better pace. We went from methodical pacing to a video game sprint. I think that the Wyatts against Cena should be fine, though. Rumble didn't really work. I really enjoyed the Torito part, actually, and Kofi's spot was pretty incredible. There was nothing especially surprising or revealing. I think the fact that Punk and The Shield were in there so long just didn't really work. The latter half was a little hoss heavy when you needed a lot more high energy workers in there. I dunno, it was perfectly acceptably laid out but it clearly didn't go the way they wanted. I mean, the Bryan thing...I get why he's not champion, or why they don't want to push him as lead babyface (nor should he be pushed over Cena) but this stuff isn't going to stop.

You guys know they'd have the fucking Miz host a Network interview show. The problem with Colt is that he doesn't get into the minutia of stuff. Like, with Ambrose, it would have been nice to hear how The Shield was pitched, how that evolved, how they were able to interact so well, especially because it wasn't a gimmick they fine-tuned in NXT. Austin's better at getting into the analysis of wrestling. Colt keeps it kind of light and breezy. But, fuck...it's kind of cool to hate on Cabana but he's the guy that really showed that a wrestling podcast can gain some traction. Shit, when he was in WWE he was the one sounding the horn about using Youtube more and look at that now. Oh somewhat related, but there's a Cornette podcast where he goes into the ROH stuff with Steen and Davey that's pretty fucking incredible.

Yeah, I haven't watched Dangerous Alliance/Vader era WCW since it happened. I mean, all I remember is that it was fucking awesome shit. Late 1991 WCW until the Hulkster comes in 1994 was such fun stuff. I've never seen any Mid-South stuff (stopped buying DVDs because I realized I'll never have time to get through everything) so I definitely want to start watching that. They own Georgia, right? I haven't seen any of that except for a bootleg comp a buddy gave me a few years ago.

This is a talking point that's been misconstrued over the years. Let's go to the research. "James Dudley began working for Jess McMahon in the 1950s, when McMahon was a co-owner of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. When McMahon and his partners broke away from the National Wrestling Alliance to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1963, Dudley continued to work for McMahon. Dudley performed many different jobs, from carrying buckets of waters to counting ticket sales. Dudley was a close friend of Vincent J. McMahon and continued working for the family when the younger McMahon took over the business from his father; in particular, he drove McMahon's limousine and served as his bodyguard.He has said that he thought of McMahon as a father figure. McMahon later increased Dudley's responsibilities with the company several times, and eventually assigned him to manage Turner's Arena in Washington, D.C., which made Dudley the first African-American to hold such a position in the United States.His role required him to oversee several other events, including the Town and Country Jamboree television show.Dudley also managed several wrestlers, including Bobo Brazil. Prior to Brazil's matches, Dudley excited the crowds by waving a towel while running to the ring.Over time, Dudley's role with the company diminished and he ceased working for them; the company's operations were moved to Connecticut, and Turner's Arena was demolished. Shortly before McMahon's death in 1984, he told his son, Vincent K. McMahon, who had taken over control of the promotion (then known as the WWF), "Whatever else you do, you take care of James Dudley."After Vincent J. McMahon's death, Dudley was put back on the company payroll at age 74 and subsequently received several gifts from Vincent K. McMahon to show appreciation for Dudley's contributions to the company.Dudley has been described as an "important cog" in the company, and McMahon once stated that "had there been no James Dudley, the WWF possibly wouldn't exist as it does today".Dudley continued to feel a sense of loyalty to the McMahons and their promotion.Dudley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1994 by Vincent K. McMahon." First African-American manager of an arena and a guy that worked for a company for 30 something years that later became the biggest wrestling company of all time is more than deserving of a spot. Not that the WWE Hall of Fame isn't political and motivated partly by economics and name value, but I feel too often people try to look at it through a prism of a real sport.

It's kinda silly that the WWF never won promotion of the year until 1999. I mean, looking back...Jesus...that stuff is nearly unwatchable. 1997, 1998, and 2000 were the best years of the Attitude, but 1999 was when Russo went off the rails. I guess no one really likes voting for the Empire, though. Edit: not debating it should have won other years over other promotions, but of all the times to win...though they also won, deservedly, in 2000.

Eh, the oversaturation is a big issue in the comedy podcast world and they seem to do okay. I mean, if you listen to Maron and Nerdist you're gonna get a lot of overlap. I would think that, like in the comedy world, the wrestling ones need to pick up a distinct identity. I mean, Colt is more of a shoot the shit about how you got into wrestling, Konnan is more into rumors and talking shit and the current stuff, Cornette is just cutting rants and talking about old school stuff, and Austin is doing a good job at being more of a general life podcast that is more or less revolved around wrestling. Jericho really needs to find a niche, though. I would imagine JR's is gonna end up like Cornette's. Probably focused on old school stuff, and will prolly go into regular sports and MMA. That Ambrose interview is gold, by the way. Motherfucker sounds like the coolest guy in the room, and seems like the perfect fit to be a WWE headliner. Really impressive.

Randy Orton is a perfectly great professional wrestler. I mean, shit...this board of all places should love a snug chinlock, and methodical pacing. Actually, this is kinda similar to what happened with Sheamus's World title run. I find Sheamus exceptionally more boring than Orton, but the same thing kind of happened. He's over before he wins the title, and gets considerably less over after. Of course, Daniel Bryan is the common factor in this, so it may be that, but it's also shitty booking and repetitive challengers. Shit, I think people would be way more into Orton's run if he hadn't just feuded with Big Show and Cena back-to-back. If he was doing shit against Ziggler, or Cody, or even Goldust, or Rey, at least there'd be some variety going on. That's another big reason why so many non-Cena title reigns fail. I mean, people may be all in with Big Dave winning the title, but when ADR or like fucking Kane is his first challenger for two straight PPVs that tune is gonna change real quick.

The anniversary of Hulkamania should really be, like, a national holiday.