Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[BishopMVP]

Or, you know, since it's WWE let's just have John Cena go back over Brock at NOC

[JonInMiddleGA]

Heyman RT'ed this earlier. I laughed

[dubb93]

Still think Brie Cold Rocky Bryan is fixin' to run wild?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Jake 'The Snake' Roberts HOSPITALIZED With Double Pneumonia | TMZ.com

[Mota]

I watched the Ultimate Warrior documentary today. It brought tears to my eyes. It's scary how you got into this process of the Warrior getting into the Hall of Fame and reconciling with Vince and Hogan just before dying.

I thought the speech he gave on Raw was just eerie when it happened, but it's extremely rare that you could get insight into someone's life at such a pivotal moment, just days before dying.

[RainMaker]

The Monday Night Wars show on the Network is pretty good. They have 3 up now and it's supposed to be a 20 episode run.

[JPhillips]

A really fascinating look at lucha libre exotico Cassandro.

[Toddzilla]

that was fantastic - thank you

[molson]

Close call, or Rollins being a daredevil?

[BishopMVP]

If you actually saw it though, the cage stops about an inch after that .gif stops (and a foot above the ring), and the ringside workers had to step up to guide it in to the posts. So I don't think he was really in the danger of being impaled like the .gif implies.

I also loved that there was more action in a 3 minute NXT match than the 20+ minute main event. You have great talent - let them wrestle.

I would say the Bella storyline is the best comedy WWE's done in years at this point, but I wonder if Triple H/Steph have become self-aware and are just messing with people. Clearly Triple H pays some attention to the internet.

[molson]

Jerry Springer getting legit injured (not seriously) during that segment has to be the highlight of the Bella storyline so far.

[Matthean]

Former WWE wrestler Sean O'Haire dead at 43 - Yahoo Sports

[BYU 14]

Just saw this, another sad and way too young death. Hate to speculate, but more than likely either steroid related or pain pills.....

[molson]

TMZ is reporting it was a suicide, that he was found hanging from his bed post by a rope.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by molson

TMZ is reporting it was a suicide, that he was found hanging from his bed post by a rope.

Even worse, and how the fuck does TMZ always find out first?

[RainMaker]

He had some of the best vignettes WWE has ever produced.

[Matthean]

Speaking of promos.

The worst professional wrestling promos of all time - Extra Mustard - SI.com

[molson]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Speaking of promos.

The worst professional wrestling promos of all time - Extra Mustard - SI.com

Those are actually all GREAT promos, I'm not sure what the hell that guy is talking about.

And I feel a little bit bad about myself that I've seen all of them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Grantland looks at TNA's situation

[PurdueBrad]

Bad news on the eve of Night of Champions for WWE:
Roman Reigns rushed to hospital for emergency surgery; out of WWE Night of Champions - Yahoo Sports

Looks like Reigns has a nasty hernia and is now out for awhile. I would guess there will be a lot of effort to rush back Dean Ambrose as I know he's on the verge of returning from filming. It is a hit to tomorrow night's card though and, in terms of their creative team, removes a fairly integral piece.

[Mota]

It is a pretty bad time to lose him. That momentum is hard to get back, especially before a wrestler is fully developed.

I wonder if Ambrose will inherit the super-push that Reigns has been getting? It would be great to see him pick up the ball and run with it and steal the coveted push.

[IlliniCub]

I think Ambrose is better overall and than Reigns anyway. I'd love to see Ambrose get it

[PurdueBrad]

I agree, Ambrose has MUCH better potential. The wife used to root for Reigns once The Shield disbanded but she's sick of how formulaic he's bouts/promos are. Ambrose is one of the most exciting wrestlers out there so it would be GREAT to see him get the push.

[IlliniCub]

I think tonights ppv has the potential to be a good one. Anybody else watching?

[PurdueBrad]

I'm going to watch it on the Network tomorrow so I can watch the Steelers tonight but I do think it has some potential.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by IlliniCub

I think tonights ppv has the potential to be a good one. Anybody else watching?

I'm watching. Tag opener was good, missed most of Cesaro-Sheamus cause a friend called and then the network died.

[Terps]

Show was ok, ending was lame.

[Mota]

This was my first PPV live since I got the WWE Network.

Overall I did enjoy the show a lot, even thought it was a placeholder show.

Cesaro / Sheamus was awesome.
I really enjoy the Seth Rollins / Dean Ambrose storyline. That is a good Hell in a Cell matchup if it happens.
Mark Henry / Rusev was totally lame. Get that crap off my TV. Like Mark Henry has meant anything in years (other than the one cool angle with Cena that created about 2 weeks of interest).
Cena / Lesnar was actually pretty good. Bad ending but once again, the PPV is a placeholder to get us to the Cell.

[SirFozzie]

So, I watched someone's cell phone footage of the debut of Finn Bálor (just like KENTA became Hideo Itami, Prince Devitt is now Finn Bálor). It's a good time to be a NXT fan.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

So, I watched someone's cell phone footage of the debut of Finn Bálor (just like KENTA became Hideo Itami, Prince Devitt is now Finn Bálor). It's a good time to be a NXT fan.

If Cesaro (and Big E/Emma) could get demoted to NXT there would be zero reason to watch RAW etc until Vince dies.

[Neuqua]

ALL RKO VINES randy orton (steveozzi) - YouTube

[molson]

TNA has no more scheduled shows, but a couple of months of TV in the can still. Dixie Carter has told people for quite a while that new TV deal will be announced within the "next week".

[Toddzilla]

The "deal" is supposedly with WGN America - which is basically a death sentence, since there is no chance the Tribune Co. can give them anything close to the money they need to stay afloat.

[molson]

Ya, it's all a question of whether they're able to scale down the budget enough. They've certainly tried, and most of the bigger names are now off the books. They also do have some international TV deals.

[dubb93]

I've been thinking some lately about the first wrestling event I attended. It was actually a World Championship Wrestling event held in a small town gym in Rushville, Indiana. I've attempted to use thehistoryofwwe.com to track down the ring results, but I haven't been successful. I was around the age of seven at the time and it was held in front of a crowd that would have been lucky to be larger than 50 people.

What I remember of the card is Erik Watts, Johnny B. Badd, Dustin Rhodes, and The Hollywood Blonds. The closest I can think of is an event from 1993 attributed to Portland, Indiana. Portland is another small town of roughly 6,000. The card passes the smell test:

Johnny B. Badd defeated Scotty Flamingo
Erik Watts defeated the Barbarian
2 Cold Scorpio fought Chris Benoit to a draw
WCW US Champion Dustin Rhodes defeated Barry Windham
WCW World Champion Big Van Vader defeated Ron Simmons
WCW/NWA Tag Team Champions Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas defeated Steve Austin & Brian Pillman

I don't recall the 2 Cold Scorpio/Benoit matchup nor the Vader/Ron Simmons matchup, but otherwise, I think this may be the event and the town could have been labeled incorrectly on the website.

What I recall from the event was how small the crowd was. It was roughly in front of 50 people. It made some of the guys act funny. I remember Erik Watts and Dustin Rhodes in particular completely phoning the performance in. Basically just going through the motions and not interacting with the crowd at all. They just went out, did their match, and went home. Yet I recall The Holllywood Blondes treated the event like it was Wrestlemania. They spent time engaging the crowd and really getting everyone going. Their ring work was solid as well. They really put on a great show that night. Was just thinking about this as I was watching a Brian Pillman documentary tonight on the WWE Network. Really puts the career arc of all the guys (that I remember appearing on show atleast) in perspective a bit. Erik Watts was a total bust. Dustin required an elaborate gimmick to ever get over. Yet Austin and Pillman put on a show so good that I remember it twenty years later(in front of basically not crowd at all.) Probably explains the career arc of those two comparatively. I wonder how far Pillman could have gone if he hadn't passed away at such a young age.

[IlliniCub]

Wow, Cesaro and Ziggler both need to be pushed to the moon.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by IlliniCub

Wow, Cesaro and Ziggler both need to be pushed to the moon.

there's room, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose just did a spot off there..

(ok, it was halfway off hell in a cell)

[dubb93]

I don't understand the finish last night. With Ambrose-Rollins being the biggest thing WWE has going at the moment(of the year so far?), I'm not sure why they didn't give it a finish last night. All I can think of is they are trying to save Ambrose-Rollins for Wrestlemania. The longer they put this off, the less I care, which I don't think is what WWE should be going for with two of their major YOUNG stars. This isn't the way it needed to go, but I was way more invested in this at Summerslam than I am now. It's all the bait and switches and then non-finishes that are killing it. This might be the most overbooked feud in WWE in years. Correctly booked, this could(should) have really made both guys look great. Hasn't happened so far IMO.

Lesnar probably hurts these guys a little bit holding the title. Logically, one of these guys should have went over cleanly last night and moved onto the World Championship. With Lesnar holding that title, you don't want either of these guys anywhere near him at this point in their careers.

I'm thinking Wyatt-Ambrose probably feud for roughly three months(seems to be the going rate for a cookie cutter Wyatt feud this year). That puts us into Royal Rumble. Then you only have to get through Elimination Chamber(put Rollins and Ambrose both in it), and you have saved the 1v1 payoff until then. People may not care at that point though.

Best I can hope for (I know this has about a 0% chance of happening) is Ambrose vs. Reigns vs. Rollins to headline WM next year. That would require a Rollins cash in on Lesnar though, or at the very least a Cena victory over Lesnar with a Rollins cash in following.

[RainMaker]

I didn't get it either. Hottest feud they've had for months and they end it with interference from some guy who hasn't been on TV for a month and hasn't won a feud in a year.

[IlliniCub]

Looks like they're doing away with Elimination Chamber this year actually. I just hate the fact that I feel like Bray and Ambrose both need to win their next feud desperately, putting them together right now just doesn't make sense.

[Mota]

Don't worry, there probably won't be an ending to that feud either.

[PurdueBrad]

So looking ahead at Survivor Series, what do Team Cena and Team Authority look like?

Spoiler

I'm guessing, to start, Team Cena is John Cena, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose. Not sure who else. Although if you were going to break out Sting before Wrestlemania, this would be a good way to do it.

Team Authority is Seth Rollins, Kane and Bray Wyatt. Does Triple H come back into the ring as a fourth?

[dubb93]

Going back and re-watching wrestling from a set point on the network is great. I never realized Kamala had a main event run as monster heel foil to Hulk Hogan between WM 2 and 3.

[Maple Leafs]

Saw someone on Twitter mention that Ambrose/Rollins was the first WWE PPV main event to exclusively feature guys under the age of 30 since 1994. That can't possibly be right, can it?

[molson]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Saw someone on Twitter mention that Ambrose/Rollins was the first WWE PPV main event to exclusively feature guys under the age of 30 since 1994. That can't possibly be right, can it?

That was surprising to read at first since Cena and Orton were both pushed so young. But when you look back, the attitude era was built around veterans who came up in the territory days, and while the 00s featured some younger main eventers, there was a ton of multiple-man matches, and the brand split meant that there were a lot of title matches in the middle of cards. If that stat's true, and I haven't seen anyone refute it, it's pretty interesting and a little fluky. I do see that Cena and Orton main evented Summerslam 2007 when Cena was 30 1/2 and Orton was 27. I guess they didn't actually go last on a PPV before that. (It's crazy to think that Orton didn't turn 30 until 2010.)

[Maple Leafs]

Yeah, looks like the Rock/Lesnar match at Summerslam 2002 would have just missed by a few months. There was also a Lesnar/Edge match a few months later that that also included Heyman as a tag partner.

I don't see anything else. Still, it's kind of a crazy stat.

[dubb93]

No more six month requirement and it looks like if you are a new sub. you get November for free. Those of us who have had the Network from day 1 continue to get the shaft on that end.

[Flasch186]

Wwe subscription model has been an abject failure for their bottom line

[Mota]

Originally Posted by dubb93

No more six month requirement and it looks like if you are a new sub. you get November for free. Those of us who have had the Network from day 1 continue to get the shaft on that end.

Be glad you don't live in Canada.

We pay $11.99 and other than the live feed, we have about 10 PPV's on demand to choose from.

[molson]

TNA announced a TV deal with Destination America starting in January. It's a big step down exposure and money-wise, but they will survive.

So that makes 3 smaller wrestling promotions that one can find SOMEWHERE on cable. I haven't seen Lucha Underground but people seem to love it - it's produced by Mark Burnett and they're trying to get on Netflix or Hulu. And Jeff Jarrett is going around making PPV deals for Global Force Wrestling with New Japan, and their goal is to become a weekly show at some point. So between that and the WWE Network, it's a pretty good time to be a fan.