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September Wrasslin |OT| The one night a year when every table will be on the line

K

klonere

Banned
NXT was great last night, especially Crowe and Crews. Sunny I am happy to report that heel Crowe is looking good.

The Bayley/Sasha segment was incredible. Sasha genuinely gets better every time she gets on the mic, its kinda scary.
 
B

British Monsoon

Member
What's the deal with that Ryan Smile? I saw Whiplash going into him on twitter a few weeks back, something about paying to get into a show he wasn't booked on so he could heckle a wrestler he's got beef with. I saw a few matches of his last year and was pretty impressed, but the general consensus seems to be that he's a bit of an idiot. Also, bitter about all the attention Seb & Tom are getting, which I found quite funny.
 
I

imBask

Banned
Wade Barrett would benefit from a good old HHH burial anyway, he'd be better off somewhere else because it's just not working around these parts
 
J

Jamie OD

Member
Bootaaay said:
What's the deal with that Ryan Smile? I saw Whiplash going into him on twitter a few weeks back, something about paying to get into a show he wasn't booked on so he could heckle a wrestler he's got beef with. I saw a few matches of his last year and was pretty impressed, but the general consensus seems to be that he's a bit of an idiot. Also, bitter about all the attention Seb & Tom are getting, which I found quite funny.
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He's popular in Dublin whenever OTT Wrestling brings him over but this is the first I've heard of him getting into trouble.
 
B

bjork

Member
Has there ever been a dude kicking another dude in the balls on wrestling where it didn't make both dudes look like total bitches?
 
D

DMczaf

Member
bjork said:
Has there ever been a dude kicking another dude in the balls on wrestling where it didn't make both dudes look like total bitches?
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XhEcB.gif
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Bootaaay said:
What's the deal with that Ryan Smile? I saw Whiplash going into him on twitter a few weeks back, something about paying to get into a show he wasn't booked on so he could heckle a wrestler he's got beef with. I saw a few matches of his last year and was pretty impressed, but the general consensus seems to be that he's a bit of an idiot. Also, bitter about all the attention Seb & Tom are getting, which I found quite funny.
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Maybe he's a new Teddy Hart!
 
A

avengers23

Banned
DMczaf said:
XhEcB.gif
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The real reason Cena won't marry her and give her babies: he can't.

Bootaaay said:
What's the deal with that Ryan Smile? I saw Whiplash going into him on twitter a few weeks back, something about paying to get into a show he wasn't booked on so he could heckle a wrestler he's got beef with. I saw a few matches of his last year and was pretty impressed, but the general consensus seems to be that he's a bit of an idiot. Also, bitter about all the attention Seb & Tom are getting, which I found quite funny.
Click to expand...

To be fair, paying to heckle a fellow wrestler you're beefing with outside kayfabe might be the most mark behavior possible.

Did Sunny lose an avatar bet?
 
F

FlammableD

Banned
No idea what the deal is with Smile. I assume just people think he's a cunt. Haven't heard a single reason, I don't claim to have the gossip. I've heard people have a shitty opinion of Josh Bodum as well, but again, haven't heard why.

tumblr_drama_500.gif
 
B

British Monsoon

Member
Vince McMahon said:
Maybe he's a new Teddy Hart!
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Nah, there'll never be anyone as insane as Teddy Hart. If I was a billionaire I totally would've funded his idea for a promotion where the turnbuckles would raise or lower and hazards would activate around the ring based on a live-consensus of audience members with voting machines. He also wanted to train a variety of animals to wrestle so they could be managers and compete in interspecies tag matches.
 
C

Cagey

Banned
Discotheque said:
noooooo, i liked her husband a lot on that show. and naomi's booty was...god damn. at least bring in sasha banks or somethin.

also smh at paige and her lapdog going along with that engagement plot in the show. it just makes him look like a real lame.
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While no one brings butt thunder like Naomi, MandySacs and her fit white girl squat booty are about as good a replacement as you can hope for.

The real crime is keeping Paige on that show because she's an obnoxious, immature child. She acts like a high school sophomore. It's not entertaining, it's change-the-channel-until-she's-done.

EDIT: Also, Naomi and Her Uso are the most normal, human seeming people on the show. They will be missed.
 
D

DMczaf

Member
I also love how WWE has completely written Ole Anderson out of the Four Horsemen, and for good reason.

Fuck that old racist bastard.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Bootaaay said:
Nah, there'll never be anyone as insane as Teddy Hart. If I was a billionaire I totally would've funded his idea for a promotion where the turnbuckles would raise or lower and hazards would activate around the ring based on a live-consensus of audience members with voting machines. He also wanted to train a variety of animals to wrestle so they could be managers and compete in interspecies tag matches.
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I wish we could get him to Lucha Underground as the new GM.
 
D

DMczaf

Member
Fox318 said:
I think it has more to do with Vince hating him.

Its why Mr. Anderson had to be called Mr. Kennedy
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Well...yeah.

If they were writing people out of the WWE with the sole reason of them being racist, they would only have New Day and Bret Hart left.

Maybe Daniel Bryan, but hipsters are known closet racists.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
avengers23 said:
Since it was for a charity event benefiting a sick kid, we can't mock the sentiment, but we can mock the form.

#IndyPosterThursday
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Hey, Bull Schmitt, he's a good dude. Used to wrestle with Vader in Japan sometimes. Maybe a couple times.
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
Hey guys, I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you. You guys all said some really nice and uplifting things both here and privately and I honestly wasn't expecting that much of an outreach from you guys (that sounds a little backhanded after re-reading it, but honestly, it's meant to be a purely positive thing). Yesterday was really rough, rougher than I was honestly prepared for. I'm still feeling a bit rough but I just wanted you guys to know that I appreciated everything you said and it genuinely helped me through yesterday. Thanks a million, you're #BestGAF
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Sephzilla said:
Hey guys, I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you. You guys all said some really nice and uplifting things both here and privately and I honestly wasn't expecting that much of an outreach from you guys (that sounds a little backhanded after re-reading it, but honestly, it's meant to be a purely positive thing). Yesterday was really rough, rougher than I was honestly prepared for. I'm still feeling a bit rough but I just wanted you guys to know that I appreciated everything you said and it genuinely helped me through yesterday. Thanks a million, you're #BestGAF
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dLNFk3W.jpg
 
A

avengers23

Banned
Sure, let's take a 6 year old to an indy wrestling show with a name and poster that reference Trainspotting.

giphy.gif


Sweet mullet on Bulldozer in that Prochain Spectacle De Lutte poster though.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
avengers23 said:
Sure, let's take a 6 year old to an indy wrestling show with a name and poster that reference Trainspotting.
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This is the same place that did "The Pimp Who Slapped Me" with a 6 and younger get in free sting.
 
J

jmdajr

Member
Sephzilla said:
Hey guys, I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you. You guys all said some really nice and uplifting things both here and privately and I honestly wasn't expecting that much of an outreach from you guys (that sounds a little backhanded after re-reading it, but honestly, it's meant to be a purely positive thing). Yesterday was really rough, rougher than I was honestly prepared for. I'm still feeling a bit rough but I just wanted you guys to know that I appreciated everything you said and it genuinely helped me through yesterday. Thanks a million, you're #BestGAF
Click to expand...

Our Family only had 1 dog and it died, a pretty horrible painful death. I won't go into details but it was awful.

Anyhow not sure ho much I contributed. But I know the feels, it's a tough deal, and I hope you bounce back soon. I am glad the folks here helped.
 
S

Savitar

Member
The Meltzer speaks:

The positives WWE has right now is that they are really the only game in town to all but a tiny percentage of a wrestling fan base. But in being the only game in town, the popularity of pro wrestling is declining, even as some media sources in recent weeks have made the laughable statements that it is the most popular of any period in history, being manipulated by irrelevant numbers. At the same time, to its most loyal audience, the product is hot when it comes to the big shows, which seems to be a worldwide pattern, since it’s the same thing that is going on with CMLL and AAA in Mexico and with New Japan. You could also argue that boxing, UFC and Bellator fall into this pattern. For the big events, such as WrestleMania and SummerSlam this year, WWE can charge far more than ever before, and be more successful from a live gate perspective. And even with the ratings decline, house shows have held up, although so far in September, the numbers have been, in the words of Big Cass, SAWFT.

The issues are stated weekly and endlessly. The three hours isn’t going to change. The revenue difference, even when you erode overall interest with it, and long-term contracts in place, lock WWE into that.

However, the show can change its predictable pattern. The opening interview segment to set up the show inherently isn’t bad, but it would be better most weeks with half the time. The interviews, with the exception of the elite few, need an overhaul. For one, the verbiage feels overly scripted and when it does, whatever goal or message is lost. The disaster of the Ryback promos the past two weeks may in some fault be his due to delivery, and perhaps somebody like Michael Hayes or Roddy Piper in their primes could have taken the wording he was given and pulled it off, but he is not them. The constant buzzwords may read great in a marketing textbook, but they don’t connect with the audience and are not effective in the goals of the interview, which is to generate more interest in the program.

What’s weird is, and there are always exceptions, but as a general rule, the promos, both believability and effectiveness, of wrestlers in the non-scripted generation blow the current generation out of the water. Having seen this generation’s guys outside the scripted environment, while not all are great, almost all are better unscripted.

There are also issues of context. Throwing out matches, even with big names and being of good quality, with no importance, has its limitations. My turn, your turn booking has created the generation of midcarders. Sting, a midcarder with some natural charisma, became an overnight superstar because he went to a 45 minute draw with Ric Flair on television. But the key was the follow-up. Had Flair then beaten Sting once each of the next two months on television, with a submission in the third match, Sting would have never been the enduring star he was. Similarly, if Undertaker, or Ultimate Warrior lost half the time on television in their first year, they’d have never gotten out of the blocks. Yet, even with Kevin Owens, a guy they were trying to make fast and the most promising talker in developmental, they gave him the big win first, and figured since they gave him that win, they could beat him constantly. So instead of being a top tier superstar, he joins the fun sea of very talented mid-carders, guys that fans know, think of as stars, have good matches, but their ability to move the needle is minimized.

Even though it didn’t work, the creation of records like with Nikki Bella’s streak, put more emphasis on the Divas title than any time in recent memory. The Twin Magic screwjob finish which is fine in certain situations, but somewhat out of context given the type of emphasis on the match, did make sense to build the rematch on the PPV. But the follow-up has to be strong. This isn’t pure sport and shouldn’t be booked like sport. But within its context, it should have meaning. The idea that we’re entertainment and anything goes is fine, but when something isn’t working, it needs to be looked at as to why. The key right now is the ability to create interest and an emotional response. If things are presented as if they don’t matter, in almost every case, they won’t. If they don’t matter to the participant, it’s hard for them to matter to the fan. One of the reasons real sports work is the ramifications, the exhilaration of the win, the disappointment of the loss, and even more, the follow-up. The loser creates a story as to either the mistakes he’s made, what he’s learned and how he’ll change things, or, if it is legitimate based on what happens, blames an outside party for derailing his upward mobility. When upward mobility doesn’t exist, and the context of wins and losses don’t matter, you lose a key interest element.

But you also need variety in a three-hour show. That is, very different personas, which WWE somewhat has, and a wide variety of styles, which WWE has less of than many other wrestling companies with far less resources. But all of those are minor points.

The key is making larger-than-life superstars. Whether it’s Bruno Sammartino and Superstar Graham, or Dusty Rhodes, or Hulk Hogan, or Steve Austin and The Rock, or Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Antonio Inoki, Perro Aguayo, Konnan, Mistico, or Ali, Mayweather, Leonard, or today’s Rousey and McGregor, the boom periods are either created by technological changes or larger-than-life superstars. More then boxing or MMA, pro wrestling has more ability to create them, since they can fully script their storylines and control all their outcomes to maximum benefit. But they haven’t, and for whatever reason, have dropped the ball frequently when the seeds of momentum are there because of having pigeon-holed themselves into a mentality that while certain guys are fine on the show, only a certain type can be that larger than life star. And they’ve muted their value when they are either quivering geeks or guys who are good but not great in presentation who are being controlled or propped by up the authority figures who are the biggest stars on the show. It’s worse when those same figures slip from charming and philanthropic babyface who are the people responsible for giving you your wrestling, and then flip to being heels, almost telling you while watching that you are supposed to think, “She’s this really great person who has to play a bad guy in a few skits on this show.” And then they wonder why the other people in the skits, or the skits themselves, have minimal traction as compared to usual historical levels of the business.

Yet, ironically, staring them in the face is a 5-foot-9 skinny Irishman and a woman who they are desperate to copy, yet the people in charge have absolutely no idea how she got there. And they don’t allow people to be themselves and tell their real stories enough to take advantage of what they are to have them connect at the same level.

The excuse that wrestling isn’t real and thus can’t be as popular would ring less hollow if documentaries were kicking the hell out of screenplays at the box office. And while there are exceptions to every rule, and fantasies are prevalent in movies, you rarely see character and plotline inconsistencies and the muting of character development, or the general level of bad dialogue and poor delivery that you see on Raw. Wrestling at its best should be something you look forward to every week and when it’s over, can’t wait to see what happens next. It should not be something where you feel like you deserve a medal just for being able to sit through it and maintain interest in the third hour.

Keep in mind, that in January, ratings will bounce back, to a degree. In actuality, the early year bounce back in 2015 felt like less than most years, and the pre-football decline was significantly lower to start with than any year since Raw was getting killed by Nitro. So record lows, as we’ve had already the past two weeks, should get even lower, particularly in October when the sports competition gets even stronger.
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He's right you know.
 
D

DMczaf

Member
lovely ladies said:
http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/...ng-wwe-and-feuding-with-seth-rollins-20150916

That's my Sting.
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A lot of fans felt like your Raw promo a few weeks back 'put Triple H over' at the expense of yourself and your feud with Rollins. How do you respond to that?

I don't pay attention a lot of times to what's out there, so this is the first time I'm hearing any news of that. I don't think there's anyone who's going to carry all that to Night of Champions and think about that, because the bottom line is, my focus is Seth Rollins. Triple H is Triple H, and he's worth the put-over.
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jmdajr is Stang. I knew it.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Savitar said:
The Meltzer speaks:



He's right you know.
Click to expand...

Wrestling at its best should be something you look forward to every week and when it’s over, can’t wait to see what happens next. It should not be something where you feel like you deserve a medal just for being able to sit through it and maintain interest in the third hour.
Click to expand...

That's it right there. I get the good feelings from NXT. From PROGRESS. From a few other spots.

I rarely get it from WWE's Raw programming. The only solution is less WWE on TV, but they can't do that.

It's gotta split universes, or wrestleverses if you will.
 
A

avengers23

Banned
I'll give EVOLVE credit for running tight shows that are about two hours long and leave me with a positive impression that gets me to come back.

The lunatics in PersonaGAF convincing themselves that a Persona 3/Persona 4 HD collection is being teased at the end of that TGS 2015 Persona 5 trailer is leaving me legit shook.
 
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