• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

March WrassleGAF |SHOW-T| Big Shoes Mean Big Appetites

Is that Tampa show worth seeing? I've heard mixed opinions on it from people who saw it live.

I really enjoyed the show. The Extreme Colony Force is must see stuff and even though I heard bad things about Kingston vs Kong I really enjoyed the hard hitting match they had. Full review in the next hour or so.
 

strobogo

Banned
Guys (are there any girls in Wrasslegaf?) GTA SA is almost 10 years old and it really, really doesn't hold up. It's so wonky. I tried Vice City sometime last year and it was for real unplayable. Makes me sad.

But I found ROH Death Before Dishonor. The original. Expect some gifs in the next few hours.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Guys (are there any girls in Wrasslegaf?) GTA SA is almost 10 years old and it really, really doesn't hold up. It's so wonky. I tried Vice City sometime last year and it was for real unplayable. Makes me sad.

But I found ROH Death Before Dishonor. The original. Expect some gifs in the next few hours.

The framerate is atrocious. And the PC GTAs have dogshit for controls, it's absolutely horrible. Honestly the only reason why I haven't gone back to try it again.
 

gurudyne

Member
Guys (are there any girls in Wrasslegaf?) GTA SA is almost 10 years old and it really, really doesn't hold up. It's so wonky. I tried Vice City sometime last year and it was for real unplayable.

borkstaredown.gif

strobogo...it's on. You. Me. New York. New Jersey. (points to sign) Wrestlemania.

The framerate is atrocious. And the PC GTAs have dogshit for controls, it's absolutely horrible. Honestly the only reason why I haven't gone back to try it again.

And I guess it'll be a handicap match.
 
It's too late for Joe, ROOOOOOOO, Storm, and AJ. They're all right around 35, which I think is too old for WWE to really give them a shot. They'd be 40 year olds in NXT. Aries is pushing it, too. Also, he's tiny as fuck. He's noticeably shorter than my main man D-Bryne, and he's pretty small in WWE rings. I can't even see how A Double would fit in WWE right now. He has way too much personality for what they've been doing for the past 6-7 years.


Samoa Joe still has a shot to make it to WWEor at least thats what I hope to be the case. I personally wanna see a punk vs joe match at a wrestlemania but, that is looking like it will never happen. I think he made a mistake when her chose TNA over WWE. It took Punk sometime but he finally made it to the top. TNA screwed Joe over when they jobbed him out to kurt angle when he came over from the wwe after being fired. They destroyed the most over face wrestler the company ever had on a drugged up kurt angle. Then they had him become a lackey for Kevin nash after a lackluster title run. It was sad how horribly he was booked after angle debuted in TNA.

TNA as a company always destroys something thats working for them whether its the x-division or the women's division or the tag divsion when ever it gets really good they mess it up and can never recapture what they had.
 
At the time I was so excited for the Angle v Joe matches, but they burned through them so quickly and then just dropped Joe after them. Joe was so over within TNA at the time too, they had done a great job of building up him for what seemed to be a good year or two.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Lol, Archie...

iWdeZu4tl7BOn.gif

Sandow did it better.
 

Kaladin

Member
TNA is full of guys that had potential at one time or another and TNA failed to give them that final push to be a true star....or either made them into a star and dropped them like a bad habit the minute the first big angle was done.

AJ Styles
Christopher Daniels
James Storm
Abyss
Samoa Joe
Austin Aries

Any of these guys could have been the next big thing for TNA at one time or another and it's like they don't know what to do with a big star that wasn't from WCW or WWE.
 

somedevil

Member
At the time I was so excited for the Angle v Joe matches, but they burned through them so quickly and then just dropped Joe after them. Joe was so over within TNA at the time too, they had done a great job of building up him for what seemed to be a good year or two.

When they did the 3 matches Joe should of won the first one and the last match. This would of game the next big push towards stardom. The big problem was before those matches Russo came back to TNA.

Then Joe lost the series with his "girlfriend" being introduced where angle put an ankle lock on her. Then people watched star implode. He was kidnapped by ninjas, got a face tattoo with a matchete and got like negative thousand points in bound for glory. He to far gone to save.
 

strobogo

Banned
borkstaredown.gif

strobogo...it's on. You. Me. New York. New Jersey. (points to sign) Wrestlemania.



And I guess it'll be a handicap match.

Have you played it lately? The controls are so bad now. It's a shame. I loved it and Vice City so much and put so many hours into them. But they're close to unplayable now. As much flack as GTAIV gets, I'd love for those controls put into a SA/VC game. Actually, some kind of melding between Saint's Row 3 and GTAIV controls would be the best. The soundtracks are still completely unfuckable with.

KDST, Master Sounds, Bounce FM, Playback, Radio Los Santos, Radio X. Fucking great.

I think it might be better than VC's soundtrack, which is also fucking great.
 

Kaladin

Member
Nice write-up on from pwinsider about Extreme Rising having to cancel their Wrestlemania weekend events....and (possibly) killing the promotion.

How could the shows have been doing so poorly on a weekend where there are 80,000 fans in the NYC area and other events are doing well and even selling out in advance?

Here's the whys and hows.

Quite frankly, the promotion caused the demise of their own shows. Extreme Rising is headed by "Five Guys Wrestling" with there being five different partners - Shane Douglas, Steve O'Neil, Kevin Klinerock, Cody Michaels and Michael O'Neil. All decisions for the company are done pretty much via committee and in this instance, certain members of that management (Douglas specifically as there were large chunks of time he was unable to be found by others when they needed his input) kept the final decisions to run the shows at a snail's pace.

The final decision was eventually made to go forward with the shows, but by the time the company did so, just about every other major Wrestlemania weekend event was on sale, for months. So, fans had already decided where they were going and spent their money.

So, not only was Rising fighting for a small piece of a larger pie, but they were fighting over whatever pieces weren't already accounted for.

The fans that would have spent money on independent wrestling that weekend already had - Wrestlecon, ROH, etc. had been on sale forever and had gotten those fans and their money.

By the time Rising released their card details and dates, they had lost the majority of the the traveling fans. They aren't the only ones who have had this issue leading into Wrestlemania. In checking with sources at the Beacon Theater, less than a 1/4th of that venue has been sold out for the "Hulk Hogan Uncensored" event Wrestlemania weekend. Why? The event was announced long after all the other WM weekend events were on sale. The fans had already picked where they wanted to go and spent their money - and very few fans are going to eat that money to go to something else.

The other issue was that the promotion opted to run away from the hub of the Wrestlemania madness. They were going to run Philly on a Thursday and running wrestling there on weeknights (and even Friday nights) had never been a smart move in that market. ECW ran very few ECW Arena shows on Fridays and hell, the first Sabu vs. Cactus Jack match couldn't sell out the Arena when it was held on a Friday.

So, Rising lost a portion of their usual audience and without the usual support from the locals and the fans coming in from out of town for their Thursday show. Now, add in that the rent for the National Guard Armory is said to be $5000 (according to a source outside of Rising), without tickets being moved, there was no way that show was going to be the money-maker the promotion hoped for and needed.

The other Rising shows in Staten Island, in a smaller 200-300 seat venue, were likely loss leaders in order to give the talents work but weren't going to make the company big money. The idea was likely to film and sell them as DVDs, but without a good showing in Philly, the NYC shows weren't worth running....unless the company wanted to end up deeper in debt.

The promotion had also declined a slot at Wrestlecon, where they would have run a midnight show on one of the days, which in hindsight, ended up being a strategic error as Wrestlecon will be one of the sites were the majority of the fans that would have spent money on a project such as Rising will be congregating. Whether they meant to or not, Rising booked themselves too far out of the game that weekend.

So, the company started out late to the game and as they have stated publicly, they have no financial backers. Whatever money was coming in was what they were using to fund the next events. The December events led to some talents having to wait to be paid while the promotion waited for money to come in from other deals, which already stressed some relationships with talents. A planned fundraising for a potential TV show didn't come through so there's no marketing via TV. All of that meant the promotion was were relying on the money from the live ticket sales, merchandise and concessions to carry them through and all signs were that it just wasn't going to happen here based on the advances. Could there have been miraculous walk up? Sure, but who's going to take that chance in 2013 when it's their money on the line and they can't absorb the loss personally? Not you, not me and certainly, not Shane Douglas.

I noted earlier that one of the problems was that the promotion took too long to get themselves going with the now-canceled shows.

From speaking to numerous people, a major issue had been that only Steve O'Neil was truly working on the day to day while the others were off handling their own personal and professional businesses, but when it came to making decisions, the conference calls between all parties never seemed to get anything accomplished quick enough for them to work it out.

So, in a lot of ways, Rising was O'Neil's promotion when it came to the responsibility, but not when it came to making the final decisions. That in itself was a recipe for disaster, since as we've noted in the PWInsider Elite section, the Douglas side was at times in disagreement with the O'Neil side as to the direction of the company, talent booked, booking, etc. The back and forth ended up hurting the overall planning and they could never gain any of the traction needed to get fans' interest on the WM weekend events.

Even with the decision to cancel, PWInsider.com was told that Douglas was adamant the shows take place because "his name was on the line" when there was talk of canceling a week ago, which delayed the inevitable and now left a roster of talents trying to fill 2-3 dates a week before the busiest weekend of the year. Given how much Douglas publicly complains about the treatment of wrestlers from WWE, TNA, Paul Heyman, etc., there's a really sad irony there.

Extreme Rising officials have stated to PWInsider.com that this is not the end of the promotion, but they are going to have to work extremely hard to rebuild relationships with talents and with what fan base they had...if they even can.

Some will look at this as another failure of an "ECW" reunion product, but the reality was that the failure was within the decision-making process of the company, nothing more. Whether the talents were doing ECW style, Lucha, or worked MMA, the late start to the game is what caused the cancellation of those events - and possibly (maybe even likely), the promotion.
 

strobogo

Banned
I watched that Tajiri match on my Raw viewing. It was so random. You'd think they would have put him with someone like Owen, not the Godwinns.
 
CHIKARA March 8, 2013 "Just Shadows In The Fog" - Tampa, FL

The Batiri vs. F.I.S.T. vs. Jigsaw & The Shard vs. Mike Quackenbush & Green Ant

I thought this was a great opener for a new CHIKARA crowd. Lots of in ring action and a bit of storyline progression on the Quack vs Jigsaw feud and the F.I.S.T. in fighting/cooperating. I really enjoy where they are going with Jigsaw and Quack. Was Jig right all along about Quack or did his jealousy turn him to the dark side. This story is only just starting. I can't believe Icarus is going make a face turn but all signs are pointing that way.

Johnny Gargano vs. Gran Akuma

I thought this match was great. Gargano as always brought it and Akuma is actually winning me over with his in ring work.

Obariyon vs. Archibald Peck

Fun comedy match between these two. Obariyon is turning into one of my favorites and Peck while always bringing the funny is turning into quite a good wrestler.

Hallowicked vs. Sean Waltman

I've said it a couple times but Hallowicked it one of my absolute favorite guys to watch on the indies. He and Waltman brought it in Tampa and had one hell of a match. I'm amazed at what Waltman is able to do in the ring at his age. When working with someone like Wicked it was just that more obvious.

Fire Ant, assailANT, Satuyne & Dasher Hatfield vs. Colony Xtreme Force

Colony Xtreme Force is fucking amazing! They are constantly playing to the crowd and are the most non genuine thing I've ever seen. Pretty good match wrestling wise, the CXF guy's can carry their own.

"Mr. Toucdown" Mark Angeloseti vs. Jakob Hammermeier

If you would have told me that Jakob was going to be consistently having good wrestling matches a year ago I would have called you crazy, but Jakob kept up the good work here though with the always great Mr. Touchdown. I really like what Jackob and Tim Donst have going on right now and having bad girl Veronica around ain't to bad either.

Devastation Corporation vs. 3.0

D Corp is probably my favorite new tag team. There aren't to many big monsters like these guy's on the indies so everything they do looks that much more awesome. Add in the always entertaining territory manager Sydney Bakabella and you've got a money making machine. 3.0 is a really good tag team now and where able to carry D Corp to a more then passable match. All five guy's told a good story through the match that made it that much more enjoyable.

Eddie Kingston vs. Amazing Kong

A shorter match then a think everyone was expecting, but it was hard hitting and stiff. I would welcome more Kong in the future as I think she would fit in great as a regular in CHIKARA. Kingston was acting kinda heelish with the crowd after the match. The pressure of being Grand Champ might be getting to him.
 

gurudyne

Member
Have you played it lately? The controls are so bad now. It's a shame. I loved it and Vice City so much and put so many hours into them. But they're close to unplayable now. As much flack as GTAIV gets, I'd love for those controls put into a SA/VC game. Actually, some kind of melding between Saint's Row 3 and GTAIV controls would be the best. The soundtracks are still completely unfuckable with.

KDST, Master Sounds, Bounce FM, Playback, Radio Los Santos, Radio X. Fucking great.

I think it might be better than VC's soundtrack, which is also fucking great.

Yeah, I replay those things every year. Vice in the fall and SA in the summer, (scheduled that way mostly for nostalgia.) The controls aren't good per se, but I've never had it impact my enjoyment. I have more fun with them than a lot of games from this gen. And I play through every mission (minus some of the sides like trucking and the speedboats in VC.)

You are right about those soundtracks.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, I replay those things every year. Vice in the fall and SA in the summer, (scheduled that way mostly for nostalgia.) The controls aren't good per se, but I've never had it impact my enjoyment. I have more fun with them than a lot of games from this gen. And I play through every mission (minus some of the sides like trucking and the speedboats in VC.)

You are right about those soundtracks.

If I can manage to deal with it for about 3 hours, then I don't notice the shortcomings. It's an endurance test for me.
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
Guys (are there any girls in Wrasslegaf?) GTA SA is almost 10 years old and it really, really doesn't hold up. It's so wonky. I tried Vice City sometime last year and it was for real unplayable. Makes me sad.

But I found ROH Death Before Dishonor. The original. Expect some gifs in the next few hours.
lol no
 
n't believe Icarus is going make a face turn but all signs are pointing that way.

Johnny Gargano vs. Gran Akuma

I thought this match was great. Gargano as always brought it and Akuma is actually winning me over with his in ring work.

What's happened to Akuma? He used to be one the better in-ring guys, as he dipped recently, or were you never really a fan?
 

UberTag

Member
I would imagine any girls with a passing interesting WrassleGAF would be rightfully scared away by all of the gratuitous T&A diva pics plastered in the thread each Monday night during the inevitable tedium of the 3-hour (plus overrun) RAW broadcast.

WWE's YouTube account has been posting some obscure matches featuring stars before they were stars:
Let me know when they put up that Cena vs. D.Bryne match from Velocity. (Although I suppose they already punched that stamp with the Jamie Noble match. Ah well.)
 
What's happened to Akuma? He used to be one the better in-ring guys, as he dipped recently, or were you never really a fan?

I was not a fan of his character before he left F.I.S.T. I just didn't like the guy and couldn't appreciate his ring work. I like loner Akuma though. He's kind of like a poor mans Tazz right now. I'd like for him to become more of an ass kicker so whenever he comes though the curtain you know it's about to go down.
 

Anth0ny

Member
I think the only thing that hasn't aged well about VC and SA are the visuals. They look fucking atrocious.

I can look past them, however. The soundtrack, the gameplay, the story and the designs of each city are still so damn fun, even today. GTA IV ain't got shit.
 
The framerate is atrocious. And the PC GTAs have dogshit for controls, it's absolutely horrible. Honestly the only reason why I haven't gone back to try it again.


I bought those on a Steam sale and felt cheated. I should've waited for the PSN versions.

But the soundtracks still rule. V-Rock forever!
 

Verendus

Banned
I pulled out my VHS tapes of some PPVs from 2000. There were some good matches I'd almost forgotten about. Chris Jericho vs. Triple H at Fully Loaded in a Last Man Standing for example. Also, that match between Austin and Triple H at Survivor Series 2000 is just pure dominance from one side. It's basically Stone Cold beating the crap out of Triple H the entire time. I think Triple H has offence that amounts to a total of about 2 minutes or something. It's bloody crazy.

Also, I don't know why my friends and I just keep laughing at the line, "It was me Austin. It was me all along. Now you know, you dumb son of a bitch."

There was also the Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker match at SS2000. I really hated Angle back then. That swerve with his brother was mind blowing back in the day. But then, I guess most things are when you're 11 years old. I don't understand, did he eat cake underneath the ring? Why is he so fat all of a sudden?!

Such good stuff.

Also, Kane was really muscular. He looked like a beast. There is match between him and Rock on Raw, and The Rock struggles to fight him. Today, John Cena would tap out the equivalent person in about 3 minutes like the wanker that he is. You have to appreciate how they made the top talent all look really strong back then.
 

gurudyne

Member
I think the only thing that hasn't aged well about VC and SA are the visuals. They look fucking atrocious.

I can look past them, however. The soundtrack, the gameplay, the story and the designs of each city are still so damn fun, even today. GTA IV ain't got shit.

Hey, I was more disappointed with GTA IV than anybody, but that is one lovingly designed city. You can't deny that much. The only bad thing about it is you can't do anything in it.
 

strobogo

Banned
The most fun I had with GTA IV was suicide bombing to see how far and high I could blow my body away and jumping out of helicopters to see how many things I could bounce off of.
 

Pavaloo

Member
VC used to be my favourite GTA, but I just enjoy the driving system so damn much in GTA IV. Countless hours just fleeing cops, dropping grenades out the window, flying out of windshields, swerving all over the place.. it was awesome.
 
I just realized...we could have had an amazing buildup and match this year for a Y2J vs Punk match at WM again, no championship involved.

Damn, WWE should have gone with that. So easy to build up that match too.
 

gurudyne

Member
I doubt I even got there. I stopped missions very early on. I did enjoy the DLC stories, though. Gay Tony was a lot more in the vein of VC/SA and was a lot more fun. Plus, TANKS!

Broker's where you start, I think. The set I'm talking about is about fifteen blocks from the starting safehouse. Youtube it. Hilarious.

And the DLCs are the way DLCs should be handled. They were great. My favorite mission is the rails shooter on the back of the bike from TLatD. Pipe bombs and an autoshotty, plus a wealth of targets.
 
Top Bottom