Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[Noop]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Pretty much what the pbp I'm reading said, something to the effect of "possibly the worst PPV segment of all-time right here".

It was terrible although it did have one or two funny moments but this crap doesn't belong on a PPV. TNA wonders why people don't buy their product they need to watch sometimes because this PPV has been trash so far.

[Noop]

Samoa Joe looks silly...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gotta love the whopping 1:29 match for what should be one of your top two stars.

[SirFozzie]

What the fuck is with the multiple cheap endings?

[Flasch186]

not worth it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

What the fuck is with the multiple cheap endings?

I think it's called booking yourself into a corner.

Don't want to fire Bubba or Devon but you're booked into a corner with the Off the Wagon Challenge bit, so you have to find a way out of the match without just putting Beer Money over.

Not sure why the aborted match with Joe & Steiner, probably just a silly way to push the new Joe but it does make me wonder if somebody was hurt & they had to cover that up. I wonder even moreso since they added Magnus vs EY to the card as well.

And of course we likely have another screwy finish of some sort coming up in the Sting/Angle match w/ Foley as special ref.

[SirFozzie]

I'm shocked. I would've laid good odds that the guitar would have been used.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Then again, hard to put that entirely on Vince when products featuring smaller workers don't draw the ratings that products featuring musclebound freaks do.

ROH has some third rate TV deal, TNA barely breaks even compared to (today's) ECW.

Vince pushes the look he pushes in part because that's what he personally prefers but he also does it because those guys tend to be guys that get over with a lot less effort than smaller guys with more basic skill.

You're right Jon and Vince can't be responsible for guys when they leave or watch them all the time. I will also say he has improved the wellness program since the Benoit tragedy, but just so many of these guys dying have ties to the Vince era of steroids and painkillers. I have to give him some of the fault for starting the while bodybuilder/wrestler craze.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I will also say he has improved the wellness program since the Benoit tragedy

I'm always loathe to give Vince credit for much of anything but I have to admit I was pretty happy to discover that he/the company paid for Martin's rehab stint last year. He'd been gone from their employee quite a while by that point & had even worked for ostensibly the closest thing to a competitor they've got left in the U.S., so doing that was pretty decent on their part afaic.

[DeToxRox]

If you have HDNet do yourselves a favor and catch the ROH weekly show Saturday at 8 PM. Just had the premier. Great, great stuff. It's the alternatie to WWE and TNA for sure. I believe replays air throughout the week so make sure to catch up on it if you have the chance.

[DeToxRox]

Dola ... ROH World Champ Nigel McGuiness worked Saturday's 7th Year Anniversary Show vs KENTA with torn biceps in both arms and apparently it was one of the best matches this year. Dude is a warrior.

[molson]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm always loathe to give Vince credit for much of anything but I have to admit I was pretty happy to discover that he/the company paid for Martin's rehab stint last year. He'd been gone from their employee quite a while by that point & had even worked for ostensibly the closest thing to a competitor they've got left in the U.S., so doing that was pretty decent on their part afaic.

They actually sent letters every single former WWE/WWF employee offering to pay for rehab. (Even Bruno Sammartino, who was offended to get the letter, even as he retains his bitterness about the WWF doing nothing to fix the problem). I'm not sure if there were conditions or qualifications, but thyere's no doubt they've been extremely aggressive.

Beyond the performance enhancers, the pro wrestling lifestyle is just a junkie lifestyle, at least since the 80s. We don't have MLB/NFL players dropping dead on this scale. Pain Killers/Steroids/HGH/Cocaine/Alchohol/Heroin/Junk Food/Exhaustion equals a much lower life expectancy.

Vince definitely didn't invent the problem through his preference for bigger performers, though that seems to be perception. There's a ton of dead wrestlers from 80s that had little or no association with the WWE (most of the WCCW roster, for example)

[DeToxRox]

SHOCKING DEPARTURE FROM WWE
by Mike Johnson and Dave Scherer @ 11:29 AM on 3/31/2009

Former ECW World champion and long-time WWE announcer Tazz left World Wrestling Entertainment last night after calling the matches for this Friday's edition of Smackdown. He is now officially done with the company as his WWE contract expires today. We will both have many more details on this story in reports on the Audio section of PWInsiderElite.com today. If you are not a member of the Elite site, you can sign up now by clicking here:

[Noop]

That is shocking?

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Noop

That is shocking?

He is the best color guy in the business right now. He and JR are fantastic together. Well, were.

Now they have a glaring hole on commentary since Cole/King are so bad. I assume JR/King are reunited and Cole is either paired with Striker or Striker and Grish go to SD.

[Noop]

I never found Tazz to be entertaining. Striker however is great and I hope he gets pushed into that role with J.R.

[Ryche]

Please let Striker replace Tazz. He's the best color man in wrestling right now as far as I'm concerned.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Noop

I never found Tazz to be entertaining. Striker however is great and I hope he gets pushed into that role with J.R.

I agree. I didn't like Tazz at all, and contrary to popular opinion, I really like the King. He's goofy and fun to listen to.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tonight's episode of CSI had a lucha theme, but other than Aaron Aguilera it looks like most of the cast were stuntmen not wrestlers. Which probably explains why they all look like Super Porky.

[DeToxRox]

Jerry Lynn won the ROH World Title last night, only the 11th champion since 2002.

[Noop]

Nigel had to drop the title because he was hurt else he would have held it alot longer. He was a great heel champion and I hope when he gets better he gets another run at the title.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Noop

Nigel had to drop the title because he was hurt else he would have held it alot longer. He was a great heel champion and I hope when he gets better he gets another run at the title.

Actually the plan all along was for him to lose to Lynn, they've been building Lynn up as somewhat like Randy "The Ram" from The Wrestler. Nigel being hurt (two torn biceps) might've sped up the process, but yeah, Lynn is probably just going to hold it 2-4 months then drop it to Tyler Black.

[BYU 14]

I have always like Lynn, not much charisma, but one of the most under appreciated wrestlers in the sport IMO.

[Noop]

The Hall Of Fame show has been good. I miss Stone Cold.

[DeToxRox]

Taker vs HBK = 5 stars, best match I've seen since HBK vs Angle. Unfuckingreal.

[spleen1015]

I am watching this HHH and Cena match and the announcers keep saying that if HHH gets counted out he would lose the title. They're saying it so much that I think he's going to lose that way.

[Noop]

That Undertaker and HBK match stole the show and should have been the last match. HBK is truly Mr. Wrestlemania after that performance tonight. I thought the Undertaker hurt himself with one of those spots but thankfully he didn't although I am sure he will be sore tomorrow.

The outcome of the MITB was interesting because I thought it would be someone else. However the winner is the right guy and has alot of potential storylines waiting for him if used correctly.

The main event was anti-climatic and very boring.

[Mota]

I think giving CM Punk the MITB for a second time could be good. He's definitely one of my faves. The last run was pretty pathetic, it's almost like they gave him the push without pushing him, like they felt he wasn't ready to go over on the bigger names yet. Hopefully this time they are prepared to give him a title and actually push him.

[Neon_Chaos]

That was a completely forgettable Wrestlemania.

The highlight was the Taker/Michaels match, which was awesome, but every match from top to bottom will be forgotten a couple of years from now.

[Mota]

My son's favorite moments were Hornswaggle jumping off the top rope, and Santino Marella winning the Women's Battle Royal. He's 5. I haven't actually watched most of it yet so I couldn't tell you what I pick.

[molson]

I missed 'Mania, but am looking forward to checking out HBK/Taker, and also Ricky Steamboat. He was my favorite as a kid, and I'm glad he retired before he totally broke down physically, but we really missed out on some great matches in the late 90s/early 00s because of that injury.

[DeToxRox]

Steamboat was on Raw tonight again and stole the show in a sick 10 man tag.

[molson]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Steamboat was on Raw tonight again and stole the show in a sick 10 man tag.

Just saw that - first live Steamboat match I've seen in 15 years. Only in wrestling.

And a little trivia, I'm not 100% sure of this, but I think Steamboat's last televised match was VS. HHH (as Jean Paul Levesque) in WCW. He's the US Champion in this match, but I think it was actually taped before he won the belt against Steve Austin, the match where he hurt his back.

Dailymotion - Ricky Steamboat vs. Jean Paul Levesque, a video from Stinger1981. Ricky, Steamboat, Jean, Paul, wrestling

[Deattribution]

Convenient how the match of the night and MOTY candidate at WM gets practically treated like it didn't happen on Raw. A few mentions and a short package about it (which I apparently missed with my dvr fingers). Maybe they were just giving Michaels and the Undertaker the night off but it seems like a huge blown opportunity.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

Convenient how the match of the night and MOTY candidate at WM gets practically treated like it didn't happen on Raw. A few mentions and a short package about it (which I apparently missed with my dvr fingers). Maybe they were just giving Michaels and the Undertaker the night off but it seems like a huge blown opportunity.

It's one of those matches that was really just meant for that one big event, and wasn't really going to go anywhere else.

[Deattribution]

I understand there wasn't a rebound match to follow last night coming but a promo by Michaels talking about being so close to ending Takers streak keeps his momentum going, and opens up the possibly for an interruption by someone to start his next feud or a number of other possibilities. Something along the same lines could have been done with Taker as well.

It just devalues it to act like now that it's over everyone has forgotten about it. I only wish that would of been the case with this terrible let's Orton Randy Orton again storyline they have going.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

I understand there wasn't a rebound match to follow last night coming but a promo by Michaels talking about being so close to ending Takers streak keeps his momentum going, and opens up the possibly for an interruption by someone to start his next feud or a number of other possibilities. Something along the same lines could have been done with Taker as well.

It just devalues it to act like now that it's over everyone has forgotten about it. I only wish that would of been the case with this terrible let's Orton Randy Orton again storyline they have going.

Agreed, although I read not to long ago that HBK was for sure taking time off after Mania, and Taker usually does, the last few years when he had the strap not withstanding.

[DeToxRox]

Mike Johnson, in a PWI Audio Show, said Ricky Steamboat is going to work part time at least for the next little bit. Rumor is Jericho vs Steamboat at Backlash.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Bad as it is that Danny Bonaduce was in a TNA ring, there have been worse celebrity appearances in the history of wrestling.

Hardly any of them are ever good but at least they put it on the pre-show.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Suicide retains the X-Division title with a dive (into security) from the top of the cage.

ODB is the Queen of the Cage

IWGP Jr Tag Title match next, LAX vs No Limit vs MCMG

[JonInMiddleGA]

Machine Guns retain IWGP Jr Tag Titles

Morgan beats Abyss thanks to interference from Stevie Richards (revealed as "Dr. Stevie"). A nod to the PPV being in Philly, not the only such appearance expected tonight.

[Noop]

The crowd is dead.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As expected, Angelina Love is the new Knockout Champion, pinning Taylor Wilde after TBP tied Kong's braids to the cage.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Either an odd selling job by Angelina to get to the finish or else she was knocked about 3/4 goofy when she took a top rope crossbody from Taylor. On the near fall leading to the finish Taylor had to almost jump up to avoid pinning Angelina, Love basically didn't move at all best I could tell (unless I blinked).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Noop

The crowd is dead.

The crowd is also at least half papered. Sales were not good leading up to the event, they've been handing out tickets for several days.

[Noop]

Angelina took a bad bump because it looked like she hit the back of her head as she took the cross body block.

[Noop]

I know Vince is laughing at the fans chanting ECW.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Noop

I know Vince is laughing at the fans chanting ECW.

Eh, there's zero connection between the legacy & the current product under that name. Nobody, and especially nobody in Philly, is thinking of what Vince owns when that name is mentioned.

[Flasch186]

wrestling has lost me again...i havnt watched in a long time consistently.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ladies and gentlemen, your winners and NEW TNA Tag Team Champions of the Worrrrrld ... Team .. 3 ... D

Storm to slam the cage door into Ray's face, Ray reverses & sends Roode into the door shot. 3D through a table & the pin.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And Bobby Lashley debuts in TNA, following the Jarrett guitar shot to Booker (after a missed chair shot that took out AJ) to allow Team Jarrett to win as Styles pins Booker.

Lashley gets intro music, appears on the ramp after a lights out. Jarrett looks worried, Angle looks triumphant. And we cut to Sting interview with Lauren backstage.