IpponDropkick

That Bobby Fish promo is a line for line ripoff of a Chael Sonnen promo.

Burke's...nephew I think Marcus is currently tearing it up in my local Indy. He's probably the number 2 heel behind Chris Daniels and he's heading toward what should be an awesome clash with Chris Hero.

I was at one of those Beauty Slammers Shows, went to the one in Sydney that was supposed to be an IPPV but was so sparsely attended I don't think it ever saw daylight. Deeb played that coat act here too, though it made more sense since the show was in a chilly hockey arena. She also insisted Starbucks was better than Tim's. We were appropriately outraged.

Hogan And Savage: Forget Elizabeth, Just Wrestle! - April 1989. "The fact that Hogan is married with a baby daughter means nothing to savage. All he can remember is the sight of Hogan hugging Elizabeth at the end of the Survivor Series. It is an image that burns in his mind, a sight that torments him at night. Hogan on the other hand probably has no romantic interest in Elizabeth but he is not the kind of man to back down when challenged, especially with the WWF World Title on the line. The 'Hulkster' prizes the belt the way Savage prizes Elizabeth; Savage's challenge - whether a product of Hogan's own imagination or not - gives him an opportunity to regain it." The apter mags started sucking when they stopped being like pro wrestling. Pretending to be about a sport while making the whole thing all about big old themes and theater.

Threads like this are why I love this place. Fantastic analysis gents.

Angle signed with TNA in 2006. Orton didn't start doing the Angle Slam until years and years afterward, like 2010/2011. It seems like you're implying it was some sort of shot at Angle out of spite when that makes no sense.

This is such an amazing thread. Thanks for all the great stories guys.

What an awesome post. Favorite stuff in it was probably the speculation about SD Jones and the Paul Ellering quote. Awesome. I didn't get into wrestling until the tail end of 2000, and going back and watching tapes is never going to be the same as being a kid growing up during those times. It's great to hear what it was really like for you guys. My generation will never see stuff like Andre The Giant in some little hall while he's still a huge star.

Oh man, the idea of a legit Daily Bugle being published and talking about recent comic events would be the coolest thing in the world. It's weird, because this is totally what I want from my wrestling shows. I love the pre-show stuff that talks about it likes it's real. At the same time, I absolutely hate guys appearing in character on talk shows and the like because I think it makes wrestling like stupid. Just interviewing "The Miz" is too much for me. Show me Mike Mizanin, have him talk about the challenges of the show and how excited he is about what's going forward independent of the character. If it's within the universe of WWE, kayfabe it up but doing this winking "Har Har Wrestling is totally real!" shit that hosts do on late night just goes a long way toward encouraging the kind of people who feel the need to remind me it's fake every ten minutes.

He tagged with Meng. Wanna talk shit in a public forum about Meng? Go ahead. It's not a troll gimmick,it's a rejection of this whole "good matches" bullshit. Shield don't do anything ever. They show up at tv, have a Good Match and then go home. They don't cut interesting promos, they don't have angles, they just wrestle matches. The Horsemen breaking Dusty's arm was fucking great. The Shield working various hodgepodge six mans is interesting at best. Austin punching Vince was great. The Wyatts being a creepy group of dudes who don't do creepy things isn't even fun. The whole thing with the Rhodes brothers? The Wyatt rivalry that JUST ended? Did these things not happen on your TV? Did they get stopped for a hockey game or something? What rivalry? They worked some matches. There was no reason behind it, nothing came of it. It wasn't some big moment in either group's development. It's totally without purpose. As for the Rhodes, that was a legit point. So one feud of any purpose, ever. Otherwise they're just the fuck finish and good match guys. The Wyatt stuff nearly lead to the team breaking up. It was the one time since they got together that someone got in their heads and got them off their whole "Sacrifice individually for the good of the team." and it cost them. It established that the Shield are only good as long as they're together. It was the feud that actually established on screen personalities for them (Roman as the swaggering, confident slightly sarcastic leader. Ambrose as a wild overaggressive gnat who can't control his own temper and Rollins as a ground level commander who tries to hold these two forces of personality together, but can only take so much. That 'architect of the shield' shit only means anything because of the Wyatt feud). Bray Wyatt managed to get into their head and that's the only reason he's been able to beat them back. When the breakup happens, and as cool as the face run is I think it's still coming soon, the things that happened in the Wyatt feud are going to be the key grievances each guy lists for their side.

He tagged with Meng. Wanna talk shit in a public forum about Meng? Go ahead. It's not a troll gimmick,it's a rejection of this whole "good matches" bullshit. Shield don't do anything ever. They show up at tv, have a Good Match and then go home. They don't cut interesting promos, they don't have angles, they just wrestle matches. The Horsemen breaking Dusty's arm was fucking great. The Shield working various hodgepodge six mans is interesting at best. Austin punching Vince was great. The Wyatts being a creepy group of dudes who don't do creepy things isn't even fun. The whole thing with the Rhodes brothers? The Wyatt rivalry that JUST ended? Did these things not happen on your TV? Did they get stopped for a hockey game or something?

`I really wish I had a better idea who was who in that match. I mean, I get the general appeal of it (Badass "shoot" guys vs NJPW dude's) but without knowing the specific players well beyond Inoki it's hard to really get it. If someone could help out...

Regal vs Hashimoto http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9a8ci_shinya-hashimoto-vs-lord-steven-reg_sport Man, Regal is so mean.

Of all the things to complain about, this is what you go with? Edwards has been beating dude's with the half crab for years. Magnus' finisher is a cloverleaf. It's not that weird.

Honestly, I think the entire Crucible thing sucked. If there had been some leadup to it, fine, but it debuts in three and it was so clear they needed a desperate way to wrap the entire thing up.

Steve Wright vs Tiger Mask. There's so many cool little moves in this. Both guys move like they're made of water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQNF7TqU7k

How can you not love this guy?

Are we supposed to be impressed that you're pretending not to know Cesaro's indy name? Good lord, anti-smark culture is ruining wrestling fandom. Never thought I'd say that.

Just for future reference: How many people have to watch a show before we're allowed to care about it?

Regal match, promo for Regal match. Easy.

I gave my reasons in my post. They have nothing to do with being "tired of Bryan winning" and everything to do with me enjoying Cesaro more this year.

Watching the mental breakdowns some of you are having is making this pretty fun. Anyway: Cesaro. I liked Bryan a LOT this year and it's super close, but the Cesaro stuff was the most compelling stuff of the year for me. Bryan's matches were solid but there's been so many starts and stops in his momentum, so many irritating little things about the way he talks and yes, a few matches that didn't do much for me. Cesaro on the other hand, for about half the grading period has had this very slow burn face turn going. First earning our respect by putting on fantastic matches, then the waters being tested by beating guys we hate. It's "organic" just as the "yes movement" became manufactured. Seeing what Antonio Cesaro becomes is honestly far more exciting to me than even Bryan getting his long overdue wrestlemania moment. There was no match this year that got to me on the emotional level that Regal/Cesaro did. Absolutely nothing. Regal's prematch promo was great and Cesaro's growling out the words "Far better man." made me wish more than anything that Regal would pull it out even though there was no chance of it happening. In NXT this year, Cesaro's been booked as an unstoppable force. He's the guy that no matter how good you are, he will eventually say "This. Is. OVER!" and uppercut your face off. Kruger, Zayn, Regal were all matches where going in I KNEW who the winner would be. And it didn't matter. They were compelling for reasons entirely other than who's going to win. It's close, but it's Cesaro.

Even if I wasn't outraged at Reigns beating Cena, I'd pick Cesaro. He's a more complete pro wrestler at this stage, better at more things, has had more solid matches this year without having a team of great guys around him to make him better. He's fantastic and he clearly edges out Reigns for me.

Reigns beating Cena is crazy, and seems likely at this point. It's not The Shield vs Cena.

Things which I loved: -Daniel's over the top screaming in pain over simple shit like being slammed off the apron and the table. Why? Because his hands are cuffed behind his back and it would hurt WAY MORE because now your shoulders are being all ground up. -The defiant kid in the front row who started screaming "Yes! Yes!" because his hero is getting the crap beat out of him right in front of him. -Triple H dragging Bryan over to the barricade to beat him up directly in front of that kid. Little kid proceeds to hide behind his mother in fear. -Stephanie's "Not much now is there?" like she was involved while making sure to stand far enough back from Bryan to have a ringpost to protect her. She can talk all the crap she wants, but Daniel Bryan is ALWAYS a threat and she knows it. -I watched this on the youtube channel, where when Triple H goes to hit Bryan with the chair up against the post they freeze the image and don't show the impact. Made it seem absolutely devastating. I can't believe they actually made me want to see a Triple H match in 2014. Like, I'm SUPER critical of the Authority thing. I think it's mostly been absolutely terrible and I think it's defenders give it way too much credit for being a "master plan" but oh man, I want Bryan to knee Steroid Stark's head into the fifth row.