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MARCH 2021 Discussion of Wrestling.


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4 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Guys, I don't watch WWE but I do have some understanding of what's going on week to week via podcasts.  Can someone fill me in on if there's more context to what's up with Apollo Crews (nee Uhaa Nation)?  I hear he's been re-gimmicked and is now carrying around a spear and speaking with a Nigerian accent.  Is there more to it?  Please tell me they didn't just Saba Simba this dude in 2021.

He said that his family was Nigerian royalty generations ago and he's part of that bloodline.  Not only does he have the spear but he also has two guards with him, a royal scarf and the accent.  It's one of those things where if it was most other companies there might be enough nuance/benefit of the doubt to see where it goes.  But since he's with WWE then yeah this doesn't look good.

I will admit though that I kind of like his new theme.

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1 hour ago, Dog said:

The "second-tier" wrestling sites are saying Meltzer reported a few days ago that Aleister Black won't be used again before his contract runs out. True?

On Monday Night/Tuesday Morning radio show - someone wrote in and asked about Black's status. The person who asked the question used the phrase "will he be in catering until his contract runs out?"

Dave responded "unless Vince changes his mind, he will be in catering"

Now I will say - about a month ago there were reports on the other sites (Fightful and PWI) that the WWE was going to use him they just wanted to wait and then redebut him.

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3 hours ago, D.Z said:

PWInsider:
"World Wrestling Entertainment staff were officially informed this morning that John Laurinaitis, 58, is now officially General Manager, Talent and will be heading up Talent Relations going forward.  Mark Carano would now report to Laurinaitis, who would then report to WWE's Executive Vice President of Operations, Brad Blum.

PWInsider.com is told this would have no effect or change on WWE's Talent Development department, which is headed by Canyon Cemen, who reports to Paul Levesque."


WWE filed for two new trademarks Symbiosis and Franky Monet.

Surely this has to mean the days of NXT, in its current form at least, are numbered, right? Surely Johnny Ace isn’t going to stick to the model of signing smaller indie darlings.

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1 hour ago, Dog said:

The "second-tier" wrestling sites are saying Meltzer reported a few days ago that Aleister Black won't be used again before his contract runs out. True?

He hasn't had a match since October and his wife asked for her release after publicly discussing unionization in wrestling. It's a pretty safe bet he's waiting his contract out. I hope he doesn't have to sit around for long as it would be great to see him wrestle elsewhere.

 

9 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said:

He said that his family was Nigerian royalty generations ago and he's part of that bloodline.  Not only does he have the spear but he also has two guards with him, a royal scarf and the accent.  It's one of those things where if it was most other companies there might be enough nuance/benefit of the doubt to see where it goes.  But since he's with WWE then yeah this doesn't look good.

I will admit though that I kind of like his new theme.

Incorporating nods to his heritage is one thing (his parents actually are from Nigeria) but framing his ancestors as feudal polygamist militants comes off as some gimmick that would have been done in the 80s and cringed about now.

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3 hours ago, D.Z said:

.....

PWInsider.com is told this would have no effect or change on WWE's Talent Development department, which is headed by Canyon Cemen, who reports to Paul Levesque."


WWE filed for two new trademarks Symbiosis and Franky Monet.

Who better, I guess.

(I’m not touching that surname with a 10 foot pole, don’t want Cash in my future).

As for Johnny, this is just shameless nepotism by Daniel Bryan. And judging from the trademarks, they’ve finally got a name for Randy’s discharges.

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Have to wait and see, maybe we could expect more big men who can go like Drew and Lee instead. Looks and size will factor in hires if Ace is sticking with his taste and gets the signing job.  But Triple H and co and his Talent Development branch are the ones into developing the talent. 

Talent relations is being split into two with Talent Management and Talent Branding, Talent branding department consists of appearances, television commercials, movies, and other third-party engagements.

 

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1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

Guys, I don't watch WWE but I do have some understanding of what's going on week to week via podcasts.  Can someone fill me in on if there's more context to what's up with Apollo Crews (nee Uhaa Nation)?  I hear he's been re-gimmicked and is now carrying around a spear and speaking with a Nigerian accent.  Is there more to it?  Please tell me they didn't just Saba Simba this dude in 2021.

It's a little more nuanced than it sounds.  They had been foreshadowing a Crews heel turn for 6 weeks or so.  He wrestled Big E for the IC title and that turned into an angle where he kept showing up to antagonize Big E.  He also appeared on the aftershow a couple times and did segments with Heyman where Paul talked him up and lectured him on not reaching his potential.  I thought maybe they were going to have him join Roman's group.

Two weeks ago, he debuted the Nigerian character (complete with new accent and tights).  Last week, he came out with a spear as a prop (it was meant to be a sign of his family's power and heritage), as well as a couple uniformed bodyguards.  I'm waiting to see where they go with this before I judge it.  So far, it's a kind of interesting direction for Apollo and he's been good in the role.  His exchanges with Heyman were great and it's a shame more people didn't see them.  

That said, the optics of a character embracing his racial heritage as part of a heel turn aren't great, and his promo last week - though good - probably reminded people of Muhammad Hassan.  It won't be a surprise if this goes bad really fast.  So far, I find R-Truth's weekly shtick as idiot black guy who talks to invisible people and probably doesn't know what day it is to be a lot more problematic.  

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Eoae said:

probably reminded people of Muhammad Hassan.  It won't be a surprise if this goes bad really fast.  

I was thinking that, especially after just today reading a thread about how Daivari just gave an interview discussing that whole angle.  Wrestling just does not do nuance.  Muhammad Hussan went from Arab American frustrated with his treatment post-9/11 to straight-up terrorist pretty quickly.

4 minutes ago, Eoae said:

I find R-Truth's weekly shtick as idiot black guy who talks to invisible people and probably doesn't know what day it is to be a lot more insulting.  

That bugs me a lot.  One of the company's most high profile black wrestlers' entire gimmick is "he's really dumb."

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Much like Crews, Truth's character might be okay in a different company. He's just doing a sort of Cloud Cuckoolander gimmick. The issue is that Vince enjoys that character most likely because it reads as a black buffoonery character to him, and because we know him and the history of his company, there's no leeway to give there. 

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1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

That bugs me a lot.  One of the company's most high profile black wrestlers' entire gimmick is "he's really dumb."

Is Truth one of the most high prole black wrestlers in the company? He is pretty far behind New Day, Hurt Business, Street Profits, Sasha Banks, & Bianca Belair.

56 minutes ago, Smelly McUgly said:

Much like Crews, Truth's character might be okay in a different company. He's just doing a sort of Cloud Cuckoolander gimmick. The issue is that Vince enjoys that character most likely because it reads as a black buffoonery character to him, and because we know him and the history of his company, there's no leeway to give there. 

Truth's character for the most part is the same type of dumb that Goldust has been at times and Santino was in general. His being black doesn't really tie into the character for the most part. 

Edit: When was it Truth became dumb anyways? Originally it was more insane like Goldust, but both in the end just became dumb after some time.

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28 minutes ago, Eivion said:

When was it Truth became dumb anyways? Originally it was more insane like Goldust, but both in the end just became dumb after some time.

Seems he was originally an unhinged character, and then one day he forgets the name of the city they're wrestling in, and almost overnight he's bringing a ladder into the Royal Rumble.

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37 minutes ago, Eivion said:

Is Truth one of the most high prole black wrestlers in the company? He is pretty far behind New Day, Hurt Business, Street Profits, Sasha Banks, & Bianca Belair.

Truth's character for the most part is the same type of dumb that Goldust has been at times and Santino was in general. His being black doesn't really tie into the character for the most part. 

Edit: When was it Truth became dumb anyways? Originally it was more insane like Goldust, but both in the end just became dumb after some time.

I agree with you, which is why I mentioned that he's really just a Cloud Cuckoolander, but that the company he works in makes it understandably easier to mistrust the way the character's portrayed. 

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WWE stock upward of 57.22 again, but if WWE wants to get above that they need the Saudi Shows back and the upcoming new video game to do better than the last two games.

Anyway looking like NXT might stay on Wednesdays because of ESPN.

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3 hours ago, Smelly McUgly said:

I agree with you, which is why I mentioned that he's really just a Cloud Cuckoolander, but that the company he works in makes it understandably easier to mistrust the way the character's portrayed. 

But if you think about it the company portrays almost every face on the roster as really dumb so R-Truth is the paradigm WWE babyface.

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5 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Guys, I don't watch WWE but I do have some understanding of what's going on week to week via podcasts.  Can someone fill me in on if there's more context to what's up with Apollo Crews (nee Uhaa Nation)?  I hear he's been re-gimmicked and is now carrying around a spear and speaking with a Nigerian accent.  Is there more to it?  Please tell me they didn't just Saba Simba this dude in 2021.

It's a Big difference between Apollo and Saba Simba. Apollo is moreso embracing his heritage. Saba Simba was more of the white collar middle age Caucasian bookers perception of what they believe is African culture on top of the fact that you have Tony Atlas in the gimmick.

I'm an African American, I've educated my self about alot of African Culture and its funny to hear Meltzer kinda blown away by Apollo breaking down his family history not sure whether or not it's a stretch. It's pro wrestling,  it's possible that some of what he was saying was a stretch but based on my knowledge of African culture he could be telling the 100% truth about his heritage. I see alot of 1rst and 2nd generation Africans  in America really like this direction with Apollo. I guess I could understand people getting uncomfortable in this politically correct generation but this definitely is not a Saba Simba or Kamala type situation. It seems like they are letting him have alot of creative freedom with this and Apollo was just another Smiling soft spoken black babyface with an impressive physique. I think with having more control over the persona, he'll finally come out of his shell.

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I really wanna believe the spear came about because Vince wanted to dress him like Saba Simba because that's how he thinks all african people dress and when he was finally talked out of it, he yelled "FINE BUT HE'S CARRYING A GOD DAMN SPEAR AND THAT'S THAT!"

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2 hours ago, BrianS81177 said:

I really wanna believe the spear came about because Vince wanted to dress him like Saba Simba because that's how he thinks all african people dress and when he was finally talked out of it, he yelled "FINE BUT HE'S CARRYING A GOD DAMN SPEAR AND THAT'S THAT!"

What is it with spears on this roster now? Edge, Lashley, Roman, Apollo...

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  From the AEW Revolution 2020 thread:

On 3/8/2021 at 4:46 AM, Spontaneous said:

Everything was too damn long for no reason.

Pure wrestlecrap at the end.

  

On 3/10/2021 at 11:00 AM, The Natural said:

You've reminded about a topic I've had an idea on, time management. The best matches using the time right to those overlong, overdone.

 

---

There are match times which use the time assigned well while there are those which overstay their welcome. For examples of the former that come straight to mind: Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair at NWA Clash of the Champions VI Two out of Three Falls goes 56 minutes and is paced perfectly, the time flows by. Same goes for Ricky Steamboat's 30 Minute Iron Man Match vs. Rick Rude at WCW Beach Blast 1992. A match can overstay it's welcome by a few minutes or needed to go home a lot sooner. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 2004 was 47 fucking minutes and went twice as long.

Edited by The Natural
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5 hours ago, PetrolCB said:

What is it with spears on this roster now? Edge, Lashley, Roman, Apollo...

And AEW has Shawn. 
 

Guys, R-Truth just likes to have fun!

(forced laugh)

Oh, just look at him dance! 

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