rolling (non-millenials) grabbing the brass ring 2015

As far as NXT goes, I would love for some of the talent down there to come up to main roster (I hear Neville's next in line?) but I'm afraid that the move would ruin them. Paige was the only transition that wasn't totally a waste (though I'm wary of what they do with her as far as storylines/total divas/etc.). When The Ascension (who I didn't really care about while they were in NXT) moved up, they were turned into the new Demolition/Road Warriors, which didn't work for them. Not even having them beat New Age Outlaws got them over (but it did prove that Billy Gunn is still doing pretty well).

Also, let's take a moment to appreciate the Kevin Steen/El Generico reprise in NXT.

The Shield and The Wyatts transitioned fine

I actually forgot about them completely. The Shield did very well and the Wyatts had a pretty interesting run. Adam Rose and The Ascension, however, were less successful. Bo Dallas had a pretty entertaining streak and had a decent amount of feud potential that I hope they bring back because I thought the character was hilarious. I desperately want some of the divas from NXT up on the main roster, but I'm worried that they won't be handled well.

Paige was the only transition that wasn't totally a waste (though I'm wary of what they do with her as far as storylines/total divas/etc.)

https://twitter.com/WWEAJLee/status/570390583853895681
https://twitter.com/WWEAJLee/status/570390665726693377

this could go well or it could go very poorly indeed

o i suppose aj and paige aren't the same person. but anyway

I saw those, but doubt that anything will really come of it, unfortunately. I was late to being a fan of A.J. but I've really missed her in the divas division, lately. Her more recent storylines didn't seem quite as forced as the Bella Twins (and Nikki's weird heel turn at Summerslam).

Well, with Lucha Underground, NJPW, ROH and Impact, there ARE other options.

they really aren't, though. wrestling fans, esp smarks who grew up with WCW/WWF, are always going to want their massive top-of-the-food-chain promotions. anything else right now isn't in the same tier. they're all better -- LU is probably my favorite show on television right now -- but they occupy different space in our brains. there's a reason smarks hate WWE the most and still spend 95% of their time talking about it.

why is "belee dat" a thing? he pretty much pronounces all the letters when he says it

like literally the queen's english

it reminds me of barbershop window shawn's "i don't think so" in corniness and stopping a talented dude in not getting over

The meltzer article copied and pasted here is really pretty good on the current situation re: Bryan and Reigns

http://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/2x6e60/dave_meltzer_but_the_biggest_story_on_fast_lane/

He makes a strong case, but I'm not sure why it means that Bryan is finished as a main eventer. Couldn't you have said the same thing about Bret Hart in '93, for instance? He was supposed to get a big win over Hogan at Summerslam and get solidified as the top guy, instead they jobbed him to Yokozuna and Hogan left the company. You could say that they missed the boat with Bret and didn't strike while the iron was hot, etc. They changed their minds with guys before, they can change their minds with Bryan if they wanted to (they don't want to, but that's a separate issue).

He's definitely right about one thing with Bryan -- nobody has ever done so much with such a crappy push.

Yeah some of the doom-laden "oh it's all over and finished forever!!" stuff is silly, Rollins and wyatt still look like sure things to get a run at the top soonish and Rollins/Bryan will no doubt tear the house down at some point.

But I think that meltzer is otm in his analysis of how this reigns push is egregious in its pigheadedness even by wwe's usual standards.

The underlying stupidity of Reigns' push is nothing new though. People are reacting so strongly to this piece because of what he says about Bryan.

I actually feel bad for Reigns. I'm sure he works his ass off but the company isn't doing him any favours by a) pushing him too fast, and b) giving him such horrible material to work with.

it reminds me of barbershop window shawn's "i don't think so" in corniness and stopping a talented dude in not getting over

― a hoy hoy, Thursday, February 26, 2015 2:56 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm not talking about roman saying "believe that" i'm talking about smarks mocking him by spelling it "belee dat"

i think this is good news:
http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/2015/02/triple-h-and-stephanie-mcmahon-have-been-elected-to-wwes-board-of-directors-wait-thats-real/

"Belee Dat" has become a habit with me and my friends talking about Reigns, really. It's asinine, but whatever.
It's unfortunate for Reigns that so many people are being turned off of him because he's being shoved down our throats. I rolled my eyes at the Bryan endorsement, mostly because I am a huge fan of DB, and I was really hoping for a David and Goliath win from him at Mania. I think that assertion that he already had his Wrestlemania moment is a ridiculous copout for not letting him have another.

it's odd to think back to how much of a star reigns looked while losing at last year's elimination chamber, and how much of a chump he's looked since the shield splitting. is there any instance in any form of entertainment, business, anything, of an organisation getting everything so consistently and idiotically wrong yet still being basically successful in the way that the wwe's been doing for years now?

idk if i would agree that they always get everything consistently and idiotically wrong from a creative perspective - maybe you could argue that they have been doing so since last year's Wrestlemania?

I mean sure, I recognise that they've been fucking up loads of stuff on a semi-regular basis for years now, but they've always been careful to throw in just enough of what the more hardcore fanbase actually wants to see in order to maintain a little bit of buzz. The Summer of Punk, the return of Rocky, the return of Lesnar, the rise of the Shield, the Bryan push and the whole Yes Movement thing, the rise of the Wyatt family, the launch of brand NXT - some of it was undoubtedly fucked up (lol Johnny Ace and Diesel getting into it with Punk), but he still went on to hold the belt for more than a year eventually.

I actually think part of the reason this year has seemed so creatively bankrupt this past year is that for a couple of years prior to this they hadn't been doing an entirely shit job (certainly when confronted with all the barricades and obstacles of modern WWE - that they themselves have erected!) of building new talent that people want to watch and putting on matches that people want to see. Certainly when you compare it to the years before of endless Cena/Orton feuding, The Miz title run, Michael Cole as top heel, R-Truth as main-eventer, the Nexus abortion etc.

But yes, this year they've got it completely bang wrong, and not just with Reigns. I mean they've botched the Sting arrival so badly. A couple of years ago, a WM with a Lesnar main-event, a Taker match, Cena wrestling a hot new heel and the WWE debut of fuckin' Sting would've felt like a surefire hit. Instead it's shaping up to be the worst WM in 4 years.

R-Truth's 1 solo main event was dope, he was crazy and everything a heel upper midcard should be.

But yeah, WWE is so stale and the booking is horrible on top of that. Even with the russo-esque ghost finishes, "wish you died in the woooomb", exploding tvs and stabbing a mannequin etc. - fucking hell the characters are mostly so dull. Sandow, Cody and Wade don't really do anything for me but at least they've tried in the past year to come up with a gimmick for themselves. What the fuck is idk the usos or kane or ziggler or swagger or or sheamus or eric rowan etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc doing to get themselves noticed? nothing? oh well then who gives a fuck?

Bryan isn't going to be Hacksaw like Meltzer says. He'll be the new Eddie. But who the fuck is the new Hacksaw? What the fuck is worth watching on the 5 hours of Raw or Smackdown when one of the top 8 wrestlers aren't involved?

Just fucking fire everyone.

With my day off with nothing to do but wait for a package, i'm watching WMXXX. Fuck me this is beautiful. EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT (I've not yet got to Taker's concussion but hell if he didn't hit his head, I'm sure it would have been 5* too.)

What the hell happened to Cesaro? Poor fucking guy. Putting Big Show over the ropes got a reaction nearly as big as Bryan.

Tbf to ziggler he works to get himself over by having good matches whenever they give him a bit of TV time. but he's also probably reaching the stage where he gives the whole thing up as a bad job and acknowledges that it's not gonna happen for him.

Swagger I have grown to kinda like in that he's a big dude who can do moves and they probably should have done much more with him by now, but obv he hasn't exactly done himself many favours.

The Usos are a good tag team who have good tag team matches and, this being wrestling after all, I have no problem with guys whose gimmick is "happy go lucky Samoan". The problem is with the rest of the division, if there were fresh matches to be had then they'd be completely fine as they are.

But yeah, fire Kane, big show and Vince McMahon. They've made a good start by ditching mysterio.

what happened to wee rey anyway, i missed wrestling for a decade and i came back to find that who i knew as one of the best workers around was a pariah.

ziggler and cesaro (and to an extent ambrose) being inexplicably buried seem to me some of the most egregious failures, a lot of the rest correspond to some backwards business logic but in those cases it seems that wwe just has an objection to certain people being good and popular.

Ring name Real name Notes
Adam Rose[3] Raymond Leppan - FIRE
Bad News Barrett[4] Stuart Bennett[5] WWE Intercontinental Champion
Big E[6] Ettore Ewen[7]
Big Show[8] Paul Wight[9] - FIRE
Bo Dallas[10] Taylor Rotunda[11]
Bray Wyatt[12] Windham Rotunda
Brock Lesnar[13] Brock Lesnar[14] WWE World Heavyweight Champion
Makes limited appearances

The Bunny[15] Unknown Inactive; has not appeared in over 30 days - FIRE?
Cesaro[16] Claudio Castagnoli[17] WWE Tag Team Champion
Christian[18] William Reso[19] Inactive; has not appeared in over 30 days - FIRE
Curtis Axel[20] Joseph Hennig[21]
Damien Mizdow[22] Aaron Haddad[23]
Daniel Bryan[24] Bryan Danielson[25]
Darren Young[26] Frederick Rosser III[27] - FIRE
Dean Ambrose[28] Jonathan Good[29]
Diego[30] Edwin Colón[31] - FIRE
Dolph Ziggler[32] Nicholas Nemeth
Erick Rowan[33] Joseph Ruud - FIRE
Fandango[34] Curtis Hussey[35] - FIRE
Fernando[36] Orlando Colón[37] - FIRE
Goldust[38] Dustin Runnels
Heath Slater[39] Heath Miller[40] - FIRE
Jack Swagger[41] Donald Hager[42] - FIRE
Jey Uso[43] Joshua Fatu[44]
Jimmy Uso[45] Jonathan Fatu[46]
John Cena[47] John Cena[48]
Kane[49] Glenn Jacobs[50] (storyline) Director of Operations - FIRE
Kofi Kingston[51] Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah[52] - FIRE
Konnor[53] Ryan Parmeter[54] - FIRE
Luke Harper[55] Jon Huber
Mark Henry[56] Mark Henry[57] Inactive; unknown injury
The Miz[58] Michael Mizanin[59]
R-Truth[60] Ronnie Killings[61] - FIRE
Randy Orton[62] Randall Orton[63] - FIRE
The Rock[64] Dwayne Johnson[65] Makes limited appearances - LOL
Roman Reigns[66] Leati Anoa'i[67] Royal Rumble winner
Rusev[68] Miroslav Barnyashev WWE United States Champion
Ryback[69] Ryan Reeves
Seth Rollins[70] Colby Lopez[71] Money in the Bank contract holder
Sheamus[72] Stephen Farrelly[73] - FIRE
Sin Cara[74] Jorge Arias - FIRE
Stardust[75] Cody Runnels
Sting[76] Steven Borden Makes limited appearances
Titus O'Neil[77] Thaddeus Bullard, Sr.[78]
Triple H[79] Paul Levesque Minority owner
Executive Vice President (talent/live events/creative)[80]
Member of the Board of Directors[81]
(storyline) Chief Operating Officer
Tyson Kidd[82] Theodore Wilson[83] WWE Tag Team Champion
The Undertaker[84] Mark Calaway[85] Makes limited appearances
Viktor[86] Eric Thompson[87] - FIRE
Xavier Woods[88] Austin Watson[89] - FIRE
Zack Ryder[90] Matthew Cardona[91] Inactive; has not appeared in over 30 days - LOL
Female wrestlers

Nikki Bella
Ring name Real name Notes
AJ Lee[92] April Brooks Inactive; neck injury[93][94][95]
Alicia Fox[96] Victoria Crawford[97]
Brie Bella[98] Brianna Danielson[99]
Cameron[100] Ariane Andrew[101] - FIRE
Emma[102] Tenille Dashwood
Eva Marie[103] Natalie Coyle[104] Inactive; breast implant rupture[105] - FIRE
Layla[106] Layla El[107] Inactive; has not appeared in over 30 days - FIRE
Naomi[108] Trinity Fatu[109] - FIRE
Natalya[110] Natalie Neidhart[111] - FIRE
Nikki Bella[112] Nicole Garcia-Colace[113] WWE Divas Champion
Paige[114] Saraya-Jade Bevis[115]
Rosa Mendes[116] Milena Roucka Valet of Fandango - FIRE
Summer Rae[117] Danielle Moinet - FIRE
Tamina Snuka[118] Sarona Reiher[119] Inactive; torn ACL[120] - FIRE
Other on-air personnel

Stephanie McMahon
Ring name Real name Notes
El Torito[121][122] Unknown Mascot of Los Matadores - FIRE
Hornswoggle[123] Dylan Postl - FIRE
Jamie Noble[124] James Gibson Security for The Authority
Occasional wrestler
Also producer
Joey Mercury[125] Adam Birch Security for The Authority
Occasional wrestler
Also producer
Lana[126] Catherine Perry Manager of Rusev
Paul Heyman[127] Paul Heyman[128] Manager of Brock Lesnar
Stephanie McMahon[129] Stephanie Levesque Minority owner
Chief Brand Officer
Member of the Board of Directors[81]
Occasional wrestler
William Regal[130] Darren Matthews General Manager of NXT
Talent scout/evaluator
Zeb Colter[131] Wayne Keown Manager of Jack Swagger
Inactive; unknown injury
Broadcast team
Ring name Real name Notes
Booker T[132] Booker Huffman, Jr. Color commentator for Raw
PPV Pre-show analyst
Hall of Famer
Byron Saxton[133] Bryan Kelly Color commentator for SmackDown and Superstars
PPV Pre-show analyst
Carlos Cabrera[134] Carlos Cabrera Spanish color commentator for pay-per-views
Co-host of WWE en Español
Corey Graves[135] Matthew Polinsky[136] Color commentator for NXT
Pre-show analyst for Raw and PPVs
David Otunga[137] David Otunga, Sr.[138] Pre-show analyst for Raw - FIRE
Eden[139] Brandi Runnels Ring announcer for SmackDown and Main Event
Backstage interviewer on Raw and pay-per-views
Jason Albert[140] Matthew Bloom Color commentator for NXT
Also NXT trainer
Jerry Lawler[141] Jerry Lawler[142] Color commentator for SmackDown and pay-per-views - FIRE
Hall of Famer
Jerry Soto[143] Jerry Soto Spanish color commentator for pay-per-views
Co-host of WWE en Español
John "Bradshaw" Layfield[144] John Layfield[145] Color commentator for Raw, Main Event, and pay-per-views - FIRE
Co-host of The JBL and Cole Show
JoJo[146] Joseann Offerman[104] Ring announcer for NXT
Kyle Edwards[147] Arda Ocal Co-host of Bottom Line and Experience
Lilian Garcia[148] Lilián Garcia Ring announcer for Raw, Superstars, and pay-per-views
Marcelo Rodriguez[149] Marcelo Laprea Spanish color commentator for pay-per-views
Co-host of WWE en Español
Michael Cole[150] Michael Coulthard[151] Lead commentator for Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-views
Co-host of The JBL and Cole Show
Renee Young[152] Renee Paquette Co-host of Bottom Line, Experience, Vintage and Free for All
Backstage interviewer on Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-views
Color commentator for NXT
Host of This Week in WWE
PPV Pre-show host
Rich Brennan[153] Rich Bocchini Color commentator for NXT
Lead commentator for Superstars
Scott Stanford[154] Scott Stanford[155] Co-host of Free for All - FIRE
Pre-show host for Raw
Tom Phillips[156] Thomas Hannifan Lead commentator for Main Event and NXT[157]
Backstage interviewer

Fuck it, just pay for Lesnar v. Bryan or Rollins or later Zayn, Neville or Kenta every week and fire everyone else.

Rey, as opposed to WCW Rey Jr., hits all the reasons why everyone hates Orton. Can't cut a promo & has annoying spots where wrestlers keep having to find themselves waiting to be 619-ed* eternally.

*an example for Orton is that inane DDT using the ropes.

+ A wrestler who relies solely on speed who has had many knee-ops and is as slow as big show.

Oh man, poor Ascension, not even the New Age Outlaws could get them over. I don't really like them, but what a sad debut.

Christian, if I remember correctly, has officially retired. It wasn't announced because it has been years since anyone has cared about Christian.

Lol perhaps I am missing some glaring sarcasm here, but I've read "not even the new age outlaws" in some other places too, so even if you were kidding i am gonna take this opportunity to vent a little.

I mean, how the fuck are the fuckin road dogg and assman billy gunn gonna get anyone over in 2015? They were never, they were fucking never remotely good at any stage, they just had a catchphrase that caught on. You might as well be surprised at someone not getting over on hacksaw jim duggan in 2015 (curse you meltzer for puttin that analogy on my head).

Perhaps the bullshittiest part of wwe's latter-day revision of its own history is the deification of these two hacks as the greyest tag team EVAR in an utterly transparent metaphorical rimjob to hhh and hbk meant to ensure that every aspect of attitude era dx is enshrined forever after as the pinnacle of what pro wrestling could and should be about.

Don't get me wrong, I have watched and enjoyed a number of jeff jarrett's mid 90s wwf matches, but even so. I don't wish him any ill feeling on a personal level, but fuck Brian James forever imo

619 spots or not, rey was one of the best workers in the world well into the late 2000s, even if he was mostly useless since then. he got a lot of smark hate but whatever

fwiw christian claims that he isn't retired but wwe says he is, so who knows

also i fuckin hate the outlaws more than any team maybe ever but they were undeniably over and are still pretty beloved by the general fan

well w/e, who gives shit about shouting along to a chant, that does NOT make you over. no one in 2015 is tuning in to watch the New Age Outlaws, no matter how much the ppl in the audience enjoy giving it some beans during their intro on PPV. The Ascension will never be nothing unless those two dudes change their gimmicks bcuz apparently it was more important for Rd Dogg to get his chant in on one of the big PPVs and fuck the biggest tag team to come through developmental in several years (once again, idgaf that the Ascension are a pair of goofs, FUCK BRIAN JAMES, FUCK BILLY GUNN AND FUCK DGX IN GENRAL IMO)

There was no problem with bringing back the Outlaws for nostalgia's sake. You bring them out for the opening match, they hit their catchphrases, there's plenty of room for that in wrestling. The problem was forcing people to take them seriously by making them the TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS. The Outlaws got over by making of fun of old teams like the Road Warriors, who weren't as old in 1998 as the NAO were in 2015.

their 2014 title run was horrific. also pretty bad: the philly crowd at the rumble chanting "you still got it" at billy gunn

brandon stroud:

Best: Stephanie McMahon, Professional John Cena Wrangler

Sometimes the Bests and Worsts in these columns can be muddled and facetious, so I want to clarify that when I give Stephanie McMahon a Best for being a boss (and a baws) and shutting down John Cena’s fussy temper tantrum I am giving her the Best Possible Best.

Here’s the thing: John Cena is used to getting what he wants. He’s popular with children because he’s the Ultimate Child. Why do you think he’s always dressed like that? He’s the perfect adult version of an upset, raging toddler. He’s able to hold his breath longer and stomp his feet louder than any child could and get what he wants, every time. He can’t be punished. He can’t be grounded. He says I WANT THIS and if you tell him no, he calls you names and threatens you. You have to give in. He’ll “never give up” because he doesn’t (or can’t) have an adult’s perspective. He’s Veruca Salt in the body of a 37-year old body builder.

Think about his motivations. He says he wants something and his boss tells him no, so he calls her a bitch. She still tells him no, and he’s so mad that his rage bubbles over and he violently attacks the next person he sees. He’s mad because he’s not getting what he wants for the first time in 15 years. When people are calling him “old,” they don’t mean he’s an old man … they mean he’s getting older, which if you’ve ever watched an episode of ‘Rugrats’ is the worst thing that can happen to a little kid. You’re not daddy’s little princes any more. It’s time to learn how to make your bed and wipe your own ass.

Stephanie and Triple H aren’t bad guys because they’re evil bosses like Vince was, they’re PARENTS. Parents are the ultimate bad guys now. They make this decisions about what’s best for everyone that seem selfish and withholding. They seem mean, then say they aren’t. We’re seeing the story from the child’s perspective, with the Special Precious Baby (Cena) suddenly losing his parents’ attention because of new additions to the family. Why do you think Cena’s always ranting about how NXT guys aren’t gonna show up and take his spot? He’s worried that when the new baby comes, his parents won’t love him anymore.

Stephanie McMahon as the angry mom who loves her son but knows he’s being a little brat is the best. She’s keeping it together in front of all these people, but when they get home so help her God she’s going to light his ass up. And wait until his FATHER gets home.

The more I type it, the more it makes sense. Triple H used to be the John Cena character. He was raised as a pageant child, then rebelled when he met some cool friends. He raged against all the “grown up” characters on the show, pointed to his dick a bunch, spray painted stuff. Made jokes about how “cock” meant both chicken and penis. He then “grew up,” cut his hair and became the adult. Now he’s got these kids of his own and these rose-colored memories of how good he was when he was their age, and how everybody loved and praised him for being such a good boy.

Solomon Crowe has a shit stain on his butt. Also he's punk rock taz? another week and i still dgi.

I don't think I could care less about Solomon Crowe than I do. He doesn't draw any sort of interest or emotion from me. I was more interested in watching CJ Parker's temper tantrum and Jordan and Dillinger than anything he has done thus far.

at least they apparently replaced his dumb finisher with, uh, the stretch muffler

idgaf about crowe either but i feel like that's almost amplified by how awesome all of the other debuts have been on nxt over the past year or so... itami, balor, owens, etc. hopefully he'll kinda figure it out because it seems like nxt generally does a good job of curating its talent, but... yeah.

owens is already approaching top-tier of fave wrestlers ever with this insane bully schtick. i kinda wonder if this would translate to 30000 people audiences but goddamn i am loving the fact that he's just petty and mean to everyone because family.

i saw someone describe it as a walter white gimmick, which i think is perfect. like him and hunter had a discussion about how waiting too late and then getting the chance finally to gain the love and protection of your family can turn ww/ko into a psychopath.

and if true, thats amazing, cos if it was vince who'd watched breaking bad he'd had told him to put on the hazard suit and called him Gordon 'The Cook' Grey or something and he'd be a heel by hitting people with science.

so now breaking in the Rumorz mill: samoa joe and the briscoes heading to nxt. heard something about the latter a few weeks ago and it's blowing up today, and joe himself confirmed negotations with hhh recently.

is hhh the biggest money mark of all?

loooool the briscoes. really smart hiring racist homophobes that will give champion face promos about things like how interracial marriage is wrong.

funny you should mention that, since jay's twitter is what kept them from getting signed a few years ago: he deleted his twitter completely. they know where their bread is buttered this time.

Yeah one can only hope that they are the last of a dying breed in this regard. I mean this personal politics thing is maybe the single most recurring obstacle to my uninhibited enjoyment of pro wrestling in general, this constant reaffirmation on all sides of just incredibly backwards and occasionally borderline evil/despicable attitudes and prejudices.

Inevitable, perhaps, given the history and nature of the business, the way that these dudes live their whole lives in this insanely testosterone-driven and steroid-fuelled uber-macho alpha-male environment, but nevertheless it makes me sad that in 2015 it is still not the least bit surprising when even the guys who seem at times to be more like proper human beings come out with just the most awfully depressing shit (Jericho stepping up to defend this Bill DeMott skidmark on Twiitter was a recent example).

It's the start of a slippery slope, interrogating (or paying any attention whatsoever to) the personal politics of pro rasslers, bcuz I mean even now there are just SO fucking many of them with these shitty out-of-time views of the world. I generally try not to think about it because as i say, it can really kill my enjoyment of the whole thing if I dwell on it too much.

Disclaimer tho, I say all of this as a guy who can happily still watch and enjoy the in-ring output of a dude that murdered his own son with his patented and incredibly badass finishing submission hold, so maybe i am just a hollow shell of a person like those two boys in Oryx & Crake who spend their free time watching ppl get killed on the internet. Also Usos-Briscoes in a 10 minute spot-fest to open Summerslam this year would be totally fine and, like-as-not, actually a p. fucking enjoyable nothing-match

i am certainly no stan for the Attitude Era in general, but man oh man, amongst the many many things the WWE could do with right now it is more tag teams made up of brothers (preferably real but kayfabe would do)

wait that's wrong i typed it too fast, preferably kayfabe but real would do

first off: yeah, would really be into usos/briscoes

secondly yeah, i kinda think it's best not to dwell too hard on lots of these dudes' personal politics if you want to keep watching, because jesus christ it is a slippery slope. being aware of them is definitely good, because there are stand-up folks in the business for sure, but so many of them are just garbage and that's before you're getting into the ones who've killed human beings

re: jericho, he's really shown his colors as an asshole in the last few years, think his very public midlife crisis has exposed a lot of that

Speaking of rassle-dudes who've killed human beings, I was re-watching and thoroughly enjyoing this match earlier this evening - first watched in the immediate aftermath of Wrestle Kingdom 9, when it became clear to me, as it did to all other fake-fighting fans who were hitherto living in ignorance, that Shinsuke Nakamura truly was the Second Coming - and like, the finish is fucking incredible, that kick to the head is just the most ruthless thing ever and imo far more wrestling matches should finish in a comparable style (I mean how much more interesting would it make the WWE if every once in a while someone won a match with an out-of-nowhere move that looked totally devastating without necessarily needing to become a signature move deployed in every single fucking match) but man oh man and boy oh boy but does it ever change yr opinion on this kinda shit knowing that Katsuyori Shibata once hit an elbow-drop so hard that it straight up killed a man. Lol sorry that was all 1 sentence, my bad

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21ui6p_g1-climax-2014-block-a-match-katsuyori-shibata-vs-shinsuke-nakamura_sport

I have thought the same wrt The Great Khali in the past but how brave/stupid do you have to be to get into the ring with a dude knowing full well that once upon a time that dude legit killed a man in a pretend fight?!! I mean srsly, fuck that. At least Lesnar only broke Bob Holly's neck ffs.

I post this only bcuz I like this match and it has been on my mind and I think probably I am going to watch their IWGP Intercontinental Championship match from last Autumn (also available free of charge on Dailymotion) on my lunch break tomorrow and furthermore I hope that at some point in the not-too-distant future they get a good long slot on a major show to really try and knock it out of the park, because though this is thought is only recently and gradually and dawning on me I am pretty sure that this is my favourite kind of prowrestling right now and there ought to be more of this in the world, whatever it is

i have no way of being certain but i am pretty sure that Shinsuke Nakamura is not the kind of guy to proofread anything and since this year he is my unquestioned lord and master i am following his example as best i can, deal w. it

You could tell that Demott was a fucked up dude from his segments on Tough Enough all those years ago. I don't understand why the WWE kept him around for so long. Didn't Jim Cornette get fired for slapping a guy in the face in developmental? Demott has done far worse, no doubt.

Re: Nakamura, it took me a while to really "get" his character and in-ring style, but once it clicks for you, yeah he's just amazing. Whereas most main event level guys follow a set pattern both in North American and Japan (i.e. slow feeling out process to start, middle section with big bumps and highspots, trading finishers leading to the pin) his matches usually break with that formula completely. You do get that feeling that his matches can end at any time -- as if it was a real fight.

Character-wise, he's kind of like the Japanese Randy Orton. Youngest guys to ever win their company's respective championships, the can't miss blue chip prospects, etc. They both floundered for a while and took six or seven years to really nail their characters. But of course Nakamura is 100X better than Orton.

By that I mean they're similar in that they both failed in the "youngest ever champ!" role and took a long time to find themselves while their companies stuck with them. Their actual characters are nothing alike.