Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dubb93

That was a joke, right?

Yep.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I know the number of people that watch classic wrestling is probably pretty low but it's hard to believe we have entered another age of classic wrestling purgatory with the Netflix deal where classic RAWs are simply not available to watch by any legal means currently. Peacock was forced to remove them all and Netflix has chosen not to add them. Remember back when the WWE Network first started and one of the big ideas was that all of this content would be available forever? That was a joke, right?

I loved the WWE Network, and subbed even though I wasn't a fan of the WWE product at the time. Then they screwed over the Canadian market by preventing the app from working in Canada, you had to watch through the website. And then they made it even worse, you had to watch through a 3rd party Sportsnet app which had very little classic content.

I'm currently watching ECW history from 1994, they were still Eastern Championship Wrestling at the time. It is just wild! Removing all of the excessive violence, the fighting "feeling" out of control would be cool to incorporate in today's wrestling. Maybe a bit of Lucha Underground added to it. That's what AEW should try to be today, something completely different than WWE.

[Suicane75]

I've had the idea in my head of a southern gothic style Lucha Underground for years now. Same format, same tv presentation, just with southern horror, mystery and charm. I realize it's an uphill battle to make that any sort of a profitable endeavor but the first few seasons of LU were so good that I'd selfishly like to see an attempt.

[Mota]

Apparently Penta looked good on Raw last night. I think he's great, and his brother is even better. My biggest fear is that they don't speak English, so they'll never get featured. WWE is all about the 20 minute talking segments, so they'll always be secondary characters. Which is basically exactly what they ended up being in AEW, so I can't see how they'd be much happier there.

He does look to be in much better shape than he was in AEW, looks about 20 lbs lighter.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Mota

Apparently Penta looked good on Raw last night. I think he's great, and his brother is even better. My biggest fear is that they don't speak English, so they'll never get featured. WWE is all about the 20 minute talking segments, so they'll always be secondary characters. Which is basically exactly what they ended up being in AEW, so I can't see how they'd be much happier there.

He does look to be in much better shape than he was in AEW, looks about 20 lbs lighter.

He speaks English, but Gunther says hi! Penta will be a IC/US title guy and that’s fine for him. I don’t understand why everyone thinks they have to be WWE World Champion in WWE but are content wrestling on Collision in AEW.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Wish I didn’t have to, but had to explain to my oldest that Hulk Hogan is a piece of shit. I kept telling him they were cheering and he kept saying it sounded like booing. “Why are they booing him?” “Are they cheering or booing? It sounds like boos.” I hate this show.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The beer is actually brewed here in Chicago and I've had it twice. Really funny that they bought into the brand and are actually promoting it so much on TV.

How is it?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Cross-promotion is great stuff, but imagine if WWE and TNA/DDT/Whomever ran a huge show the day before Wrestlemania.

Todd, are you a WWE/TNA insider?

WWE & TNA Wrestling announce multi-year partnership | WWE

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

How is it?

Busch Light tier but twice the price. Notuing wrong with that but you're paying for the can.

[Mota]

I've been watching WWE since the Netflix launch, and I do have some updated comments about them.
First of all, the crowds are massive, and they are loud. That's pretty impressive.
They're doing a good job with Penta.
It's not as cartoony as it was even 6 months ago. Seems like a more sophisticated presentation.
Booker T is the worst announcer in wrestling. He's like Michael Cole was several years ago, too excited about everything, it's extremely fake.
I'm going to try and watch it again. I'm still fast forwarding through a bunch of the crap though.


AEW Feedback:
The crowds are getting eerily quiet. And smaller. Hammersmith audience was really good though.
Wrestling is still miles ahead of WWE. But the bad crowds aren't helping.
Toni Storm is amazing
Tony Khan really needs to think about 2026 or 2027, and try to think of who he wants at the top of the card then. And start building them up now. There are too many ex-WWE guys right now, and the personality that made AEW is largely gone.
I agree with keeping the guys who don't want to be there off TV. CM Punk showed what happens when you have these guys in the dressing room, and you're better off keeping them at home. Let the guys who want to be there shine.

[Mota]

More feedback...
Jacob Fatu is great. His persona is very strong, and he's also a good talker. I think they need to keep him to shorter talking segments, but they're very effective. They really have a gem with him.
Solo Sikoa has not done well as the leader of the opposite side. He was the worst of the bloodline members, so I'm glad they're apparently doing some sort of reshuffle.

In AEW, I've enjoyed the growth of Kyle Fletcher, and Takeshita is a mean dude. I think Takeshita's ceiling is lower in the USA because he doesn't speak English, he may be more successful in NJPW.

[dubb93]

I don’t think anyone saw that Rumble winner coming.

[dubb93]

So some people say it I guess. Jey was 68-1 to win on Friday and then on Saturday when they say the “smart money” comes in he closed to 20-1 but still a massive underdog.

[RainMaker]

So my brother took his kids to Indy for the Rumble. Got to meet a lot of wrestlers and had a great time. But he talked about how incredible Dominik Mysterio was with my niece.

She's really shy and he was apparently really good about coaxing her into talking to him and smiling for the photo. Then they saw him later on outside a restaurant and he somehow remembered her name. She's young and probably had the greatest weekend of her life and that was a big part of it.

Nothing to really add but that guy is a pro and hope nothing but success for him.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

So my brother took his kids to Indy for the Rumble. Got to meet a lot of wrestlers and had a great time. But he talked about how incredible Dominik Mysterio was with my niece.

She's really shy and he was apparently really good about coaxing her into talking to him and smiling for the photo. Then they saw him later on outside a restaurant and he somehow remembered her name. She's young and probably had the greatest weekend of her life and that was a big part of it.

Nothing to really add but that guy is a pro and hope nothing but success for him.

He gets alot of undeserved flak from the IWC for having overness > ring skill. I mean it kind of is his fault that he got over before he was ready in the ring, but you can't really hold that against him. It's like the Die Rocky Die era with him and while I can't imagine him ever approaching Rock levels there isn't any reason he can't be a top heel in a few years. WWE needs to get back to pushing the sneaky cheating heel. Dom would be the best at it. Triple H really likes his monster heels like though.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

So my brother took his kids to Indy for the Rumble. Got to meet a lot of wrestlers and had a great time. But he talked about how incredible Dominik Mysterio was with my niece.

She's really shy and he was apparently really good about coaxing her into talking to him and smiling for the photo. Then they saw him later on outside a restaurant and he somehow remembered her name. She's young and probably had the greatest weekend of her life and that was a big part of it.

Nothing to really add but that guy is a pro and hope nothing but success for him.

How old is your niece? That is pretty insane that he remembered her name later on that night. He probably met quite a few people.

I have such good memories of going to shows with my son. I started to take him from the age of 5, and the wrestlers went out of their way to talk to him, we were in line to buy some food at an ROH show and Mark Briscoe just walked up to my son and started to talk to him. Then he turned 14 and all of a sudden, they wanted $10 to sign his autograph book, LOL.

At his 10th birthday party, he took a bunch of friends to a Smash Wrestling show and The Bunny took a picture with all of the boys. I thanked her after, and she talked about how her dad used to bring her to all the shows when she was a little girl. A lot of them still remember being fans.

[RainMaker]

She is 11 but has a unique name that he joked with her about. Her name is Evelyn but goes by Evie. He spelled it EV at first and then told her it's so much easier to do it that way and that her Dad was trying to make her life harder.

My brother has taken them to a lot of signings and events over the last few years and apparently some wrestlers are just really cool and make the kids feel welcome while others just sign, take photo, and move on. He is the former. Natalya, Miz, and Rhea were also supposedly incredibly nice although Rhea had the longest line and so people were a little rushed which is understandable.

[Mota]

I'll agree with you on Natalya being nice. I met her at a Walmart manager's show many years ago, and she was very friendly. I'm sure she is great with the kids as well.