I still like Ambrose, but I would agree he's become less tolerable in the ring. But it wasn't that long ago that I was digging Ambrose feuds. I thought he was damn good with Seth Rollins, the two of them made a lumberjack match fun for once. That Hell in a Cell was one of like 2 Hell in a Cells (Taker v Brock being the other last year) over the last whatever that felt like the feud was there to merit a Hell in a Cell match (albeit it was really only used well for one big spot early in the match). IE the mother fuckers hate each other enough that it has to be settled in a Cell.
I thought his TLC match with Bray was actually a lot of fun, until the ending ruined it, and people forget how weirdly jobber proof Ambrose was during that entire time, because they had him lose all of these shits. Including taking a pretty rough bump at that Mania, and he was pretty fucking hot in terms of pops at the time.
My issue beyond some of his staleness, is that they jobbed the dude so much, and should have struck quicker on some of this shit. Why the fuck did we have a Shamus reign in there? Which is how I feel about a lot of shit, why were so many people jobbed in dumb fucking ways?
Like remember that 3 v 3 Shield v Wyatt match? Remember how the crowd was fucking lit, and the match didn't even start yet? Now does Bray even get that? I think Reigns backlash was more a post Punk podcast thing, I think as soon as he left the Shield if they just let him be ass kicker Reigns he'd be fine.
I appreciate the in ring stuff enough, I see what makes AJ Styles excellent, I love Cesaro, I think the women are great, but there are also guys very good at the in ring stuff, that I don't give a fuck about. I don't care for Sami Zayne, what so ever personally, outside of that one feud with Kevin Owens. Outside how great he is in the ring, he just comes off as another guy who can do some cool spots, that happen to be moves people kick out of. But he's not much of a character, and they do him no justice from a creative standpoint in terms of giving him storylines to work with other than "Fuck Kevin Owens"
I hate how all the world champions are booked super silly (Unless they are Roman). I actually think Roman is a lot better than he's given credit for, because he's had some dope matches the last few years, and maybe that's because the crowd hates him enough to give him a lit crowd, but fuck it, at least they react and give a shit. It's similar to Cena, is he great in the ring? Not really, but his matches are. Part of it is because Cena is the platform, and the crowd gives the match some atmosphere.
There was this one spot in um that fatal 4 way last year between the shield guys and orton, and he like throws one of the J&J dudes, and just flips him the bird as he's walking, little shit like that is what I want from Roman. Cool, calm, doesn't give a fuck to be baby face. Make him an ass kicker, if they boo, they fucking boo. If he does some heelish shit, let him, you don't have to go all the way with it. Because frankly the pure heel/pure face stuff is usually stupid these days anyway sans a few cats like The Miz (who is quite good) or Charlotte, who is the shit.
Part of my issue with sitting through modern wrestling, is that it's got this weird dumb wrestling logic to it all still. Fundamentally wrestling isn't a sport, it's a fucking tv show, it's an action show. So give me fucking characters, and assume that in the modern age you'll get some cats that cause cheers or boos and just go from there. Especially in a "the internet killed kayfabe" era type deal.
For instance Sasha Banks got "over" if you will, because of her being heelish at NXT, so why change the character that has people going "we want sasha"? Just give them the character they like, not a watered down version of that. For a lunatic fringe, he's not crazy enough. For a "show off"...when is Ziggler showing off, and exactly when the fuck did he steal the show? Because TLC 2014 was 2 years ago, and Sting won that match fam. For a lass kicker, why was Becky jobbed to Natalya?
"50/50 booking is no big deal"...then why does John Cena rarely lose clean, why hasn't Brock lost clean yet in a fight that was more evenly matched? If the show is about telling stories, than the win/lose is the resolution, the ending, and endings fucking matter in stories. Because "it's about the journey" is bullshit people say when the ending blows massive cock.
And more to it, regular ass TV shows have to deal with the uncertainty of how the crowd is reacting to the story. But wrestling? Um you literally get told by the crowd what they like and don't like. You have no excuse to bore them or make them hate something you want them to like. They literally tell you what they like.
I don't like the whole "save it for mania or summerslam" mentality that some people have for potentially cool moments, no fuck you, build some momentum for a story and do them when the iron's hot and shit. Let the stuff that is built up at the big PPV's stuff that happens organically through the process.
Also I'm with Austin on the no selling being really irritating. First of all modern matches with all the finishers people kick out of has basically made finishers lame. It's like they saw the Taker v HBK match, and thought it was only good because HBK kicked out of a tombstone, but that moment had impact because that type of shit was rare for someone to just kick out.
Also remember the HBK would hit the super kick, and then collapse and be nowhere near to pin, it protected the finisher, and still allowed the other guy to kick out. Little shit like that is rarely done, the DDT is like an everyone move, those I don't get how a double armed DDT is a finisher? Is the Red Arrow the only protected finish?
Oh and two world champions effectively makes the mid card belts inherently shittier. Go back to a Undisputed Champ, and have him work both shows if possible? Let him alternate which show gets the title defenses or whatever. But I guess that's a no go because of the new weird PPV schedule they have? idk.
....yeah this rant was all over the place, my bad fam.
Uh ambrose hart scale
Look - 7: He's not physically intimidating but he doesn't need to be, the idea is that he's supposed to be gutsy, resourceful, and a little bat shit. For that his look is fine.
Promo - 8: I think he's pretty good at them most of the time.
In Ring - 5: He's average, I'd agree he might be the least fun in the ring of the 3 shield guys, but I think Roman's okay in the ring, and Seth is the best of the 3. I think when he has the right dance partner he can go, and people swear by other shit he can do.
Character: - 5: And this is the big one that I think should be judged on Bret's scale. Fuck the look, do you buy the character. And I went with 5, because he's not insane enough, he's stopped doing dumb shit like bringing food karts out there, and if he's supposed to be a bit unpredictable and loose, let him do shit like that a bit more. Run ins, fucking with the other guy, etc. So fundamentally it's a badly executed character, but I went with average, because I think as characters so many members of the roster are shittier than Amrbose, no matter how good in the ring they are.
