Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Catering to the 1% is what AEW does. WWE really needs to avoid that.

the 1% of what, exactly?

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

the 1% of what, exactly?

The 1% of pro wrestling fans that consumes everything wrestling. The 1% that hangs out on internet message boards and talks about wrestling. Us pretty much.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

“NOAH and WWE will make a major announcement at the BUNTAI event in Yokohama on June 16th!

“A message from a certain wrestler is also being released!”

403 Forbidden

I think it works much better for AEW, to be honest. WWE fans are very insular, and much more casual.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mota

I think it works much better for AEW, to be honest. WWE fans are very insular, and much more casual.

I didn't say I thought this specifically was a great idea, but figured I'd throw it out here anyway.

Honestly, I don't like it much for the NOAH product, which was good enough in person last week that Will had already mentioned that he should probably expand his various subscriptions & try to watch more from Japan besides NJPW.

[dubb93]

I’m getting frustrated missing Dynamite’s main event every week because DirectvStream won’t let me extend the damn recording.

[dubb93]

The Indie promotion that we go to all their shows ran an angle tonight that culminated in a Dog Collar match being set for July 20. I wonder how that is going to turn out?

[dubb93]

Have there been any recentish dog collar matches? My son asked what they are after the show and I sent him a video of Piper-Valentine. Idk, I’m old I guess.

[SirFozzie]

This was one from DEAN~! on wrestlemania weekend
VIDEO - Mad Dog Connelly v DEMUS highlights from DEAN~!!! - YouTube

Also: CM Punk vs MJF

[Carman Bulldog]

Can't forget FTR vs. The Briscoes.

Somewhat oddly, Jay Briscoe's penultimate match was a dog collar match while Brodie Lee's last match was also a dog collar match (vs. Cody).

[RainMaker]

I don't know about that last segment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I don't know about that last segment.

That might not be THE dumbest thing I've seen in probably 2+ decades, but it's waaaay up the list.

I'd argue that the last James Mitchell into The Underworld (or whatever the hell it supposed to be) was actually even dumber ... but that was also on a non-serious C-grade program too.

That shitshow made Broken Matt look like Shakespeare, and based on the arena reaction honestly I'm wondering if the IQ of the paying fanbase might not be at a low we haven't seen in decades.

[Flasch186]

When I saw they were playing murder I said out loud

“They fucking blew it.”

And I was the only one in the room. I hope I’m wrong. But how do you reverse people being murdered in the play?

Smh

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm wondering if the IQ of the paying fanbase might not be at a low we haven't seen in decades.

The reaction was for Bray. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

[Mota]

It reminds me of a time I was running an e-fed over 25 years ago. I was super busy and didn't have time to read every interview before posting them in my recap show. I was going to read them later. Then someone sent me a note, "Hey, you realize that Stygian (who had a kind of demonic gimmick) just blew up a church full of people in his latest segment, right?". Oops. Had to do a comment from the announcers in the next show saying "thankfully the church was empty", hahaha. I always read everything before posting after that.

[RainMaker]

I'm not a big fan of the spooky supernatural gimmicks. It's fine in smaller feds like Lucha Underground or TNA as it gives them something different from the others.

There's probably a way to pull off a faction like that. But the over-the-top production values and then completely no-selling it after it happened just comes across weird to me.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I'm not a big fan of the spooky supernatural gimmicks. It's fine in smaller feds like Lucha Underground or TNA as it gives them something different from the others.

I’m not saying I liked this angle as I haven’t watched it yet but I just want to point out that WWE is and always has been the wrestling place for the supernatural. One of the most iconic WWE wrestlers of all time is The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt is a multi-time champion that has taken the world title into WrestleMania and both had supernatural gimmicks.

It isn’t even just those two. Off the top of my head I can think of The Boogeyman, Kane, The Ministry of Darkness, and The Brood as other successful supernatural gimmicks and I’m sure there are many other examples of this stuff littered throughout WWE history (Papa Shango interfering in the main event of Wrestlemania for example.)

[RainMaker]

Agree, although a lot of those gimmicks are old. And later on characters like Kane were almost tongue-in-cheek with how serious you were supposed to take them.

I still wasn't a fan of the Fiend gimmick. Cool concept, Bray was a creative guy, but it's kind of tough to go anywhere with it. It ultimately ended up with him burying Rollins and then having that weird match with Orton that most people made fun of.

I'm sure they'll sell a ton of merch and fans will tune in for the next couple months to see what kind of stuff they do. But I feel like it's tough to create real storylines with the supernatural stuff in today's business. Feels like Bray should have been working in Hollywood.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Agree, although a lot of those gimmicks are old. And later on characters like Kane were almost tongue-in-cheek with how serious you were supposed to take them.

I still wasn't a fan of the Fiend gimmick. Cool concept, Bray was a creative guy, but it's kind of tough to go anywhere with it. It ultimately ended up with him burying Rollins and then having that weird match with Orton that most people made fun of.

I'm sure they'll sell a ton of merch and fans will tune in for the next couple months to see what kind of stuff they do. But I feel like it's tough to create real storylines with the supernatural stuff in today's business. Feels like Bray should have been working in Hollywood.

Pretty much this.

As I noted at some point last night, being sorry that Windham Rotunda died and absolutely hating 90% or more of his "creative input" aren't mutually exclusive positions.

[dubb93]

Orton vs. Bray was absolutely one of the worst wrestling matches of all time. One thing I never understood about Bray was wrestling with the different colored arena lights. The red lights or even the “Mountain Dew pitch black match.” I don’t even think Gunther vs Tomohiro Ishii would be watchable under that crap.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

As I noted at some point last night, being sorry that Windham Rotunda died and absolutely hating 90% or more of his "creative input" aren't mutually exclusive positions.

[SirFozzie]

If any wrestler had this kinda heat these days, they'd flee the arena and never return

x.com

(The Rougeau Brothers in Mexico in 1990)

Remember how the fans would be chucking stuff into the ring at the end of Nitro after yet another NWO run in? These fans are so amped, they're doing it during a REST HOLD.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ahhhh Mexico lol

What was the Jericho comment, about getting doused with a full cup of cold piss?
That you REALLY had to hate someone bad to hold a cup full of piss long enough for the temp to drop just in order to hit 'em with it

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, I think the coolest single moment of Will's trip to Japan has now occurred.

He had some time to kill before heading off to drink his way around/through Shinjuku, a perfect opportunity to go a couple train stops away and visit Minoru Suzuki's merch store (basically a small shop in the basement of a mini-mall).

Lo & behold, the KING himself was in. Gracious for a photo and a quick bit of conversation, the legend-turned-proprietor even bagged up the shirts himself.

Not sure I've heard my child as excited after something since he was about 7 or 8 and did photos with Samoa Joe and a fair chunk of the TNA roster.

[Mota]

If I met Minoru, I think I'd have to ask him for a chop. That is a pretty cool experience!

[RainMaker]

The Joe Hendry gimmick is really goofy and completely over with me. Not sure if it'll work on a big stage but NXT seems perfect for it. Song is catchy too.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Okay, I think the coolest single moment of Will's trip to Japan has now occurred.

He had some time to kill before heading off to drink his way around/through Shinjuku, a perfect opportunity to go a couple train stops away and visit Minoru Suzuki's merch store (basically a small shop in the basement of a mini-mall).

Lo & behold, the KING himself was in. Gracious for a photo and a quick bit of conversation, the legend-turned-proprietor even bagged up the shirts himself.

Not sure I've heard my child as excited after something since he was about 7 or 8 and did photos with Samoa Joe and a fair chunk of the TNA roster.

This is so incredibly cool. Trying to imagine Minoru bagging up some shirts for a customer has me laughing.

In Japan, is wrestling just considered more mainstream? It seems like it doesn't have that negative association you find in the states.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

In Japan, is wrestling just considered more mainstream? It seems like it doesn't have that negative association you find in the states.

Yes, absolutely ... but also, kinda sorta, not entirely either.

It gets fairly serious sports page treatment for example. The fans are a pretty good cross section, though he's coming away feeling like it's considerably more promotion-by-promotion than we previously understood. So it's segmented, but in a way different from the promotional loyalties we're accustomed to here.

At the same time, similar to anime I suppose, it's more mainstream but by acknowledging your fandom there is a certain degree of ... marginalization that you subject yourself to. There's just a bit more people willing to accept that marginalization, if that makes sense.

[Toddzilla]

I was in attendance last night with the boy at AEW Dynamite here in Fairfax. Pretty great show, it does seem small-time compared to WWE, go figure. I was surprised how small the ring looked as compared to on TV. The wrestlers looked bigger, however. All the hometown folks (Sanjay Dutt, Nyla Rose, Lio Rush, Serena Deeb) all got huge hometown pops which was very cool. No pyro, thank goodness.

If you're interested, I'm on the hard-cam all night long - left side in a blue polo that stands out amongst all the black tshirts. The boy is on my right with Eddie's "Deez Nuts" shirt.

[dubb93]

If this news about Lucas Oil is correct then I need to start saving now. Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, AND SummerSlam within the next handful of years?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

I was in attendance last night with the boy at AEW Dynamite here in Fairfax. Pretty great show, it does seem small-time compared to WWE, go figure. I was surprised how small the ring looked as compared to on TV. The wrestlers looked bigger, however. All the hometown folks (Sanjay Dutt, Nyla Rose, Lio Rush, Serena Deeb) all got huge hometown pops which was very cool. No pyro, thank goodness.

If you're interested, I'm on the hard-cam all night long - left side in a blue polo that stands out amongst all the black tshirts. The boy is on my right with Eddie's "Deez Nuts" shirt.

I feel like AEW would come across better if they did medium sized arenas. Venues of like 5k where it can get real loud and has an intimate feel. Can still do big arenas for big shows.

When I do watch their weekly show, it just feels off because they're filling out maybe 5000 people in an 18000 seat arena.

[RainMaker]

Jacob Fatu to WWE. Looks to have slimmed down a bit but looked pretty menacing.

[miami_fan]

WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble headed to Indianapolis | WWE

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble headed to Indianapolis | WWE

I will never financially recover from this.

[RainMaker]

I don't know if it's the same but I remember Indy is a great spot for events because you can walk practically everywhere you need to from the hotel.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I don't know if it's the same but I remember Indy is a great spot for events because you can walk practically everywhere you need to from the hotel.

Downtown Indy is very walkable. The usual venue, banker’s life, is great because it has an attached parking garage. Parking isn’t as good at Lucas Oil but you can generally get within 5-6 blocks for $20 or so.

[RainMaker]

Was very skeptical about the Wyatt gimmick but I thought the promo on Monday was incredibly well done. If they drop the supernatural stuff and it just becomes a grieving brother who is dealing out punishment for his anger about his brother being "forgotten", I could see it going somewhere. Especially since they did seem to pick other wrestlers who have been abandoned in a way by their stables in the past.

Either way, I thought the promo was well done and some of the best acting (not even sure that's the right word since those emotions felt real) I can remember from a professional wrestling product.

[RainMaker]

Good lord Jacob Fatu is good.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Catching up on the G1 Climax show from yesterday, Uemura vs Takeshita was a right banger.

Match of young Yuya's career to date I'd say. And better than the much anticipated Takeshita-Tsuji match featured on night one.

The tournament so far has actually revealed a weakness, of sorts, in Takeshita's current state. He's so rarely worked people of similar size & skill that it doesn't come across quite as well as him working more "normal" sized people. When this is over, AEW should put him in the training ring with guys like Archer & Big Caz, just to round out that part of his game. That's picking nits, he's really damned good.

[RainMaker]

I've really liked what I've seen from Takeshita too. Just wish AEW would give him a win from time to time because he has so much potential to be great.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just thinking about the stablemate Jackson Brothers and ol' Jungle Jackoff and realized: if they were a Class AA secondary in Georgia HS football they'd be referred to as "undersized"

[Mota]

Who cares though? It's 2024. We're not in 1980's WWF anymore. I'd rather watch the Young Bucks fight any day over Omas, or any of those 7'0 guys that can barely move.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mota

Who cares though? It's 2024. We're not in 1980's WWF anymore. I'd rather watch the Young Bucks fight any day over Omas, or any of those 7'0 guys that can barely move.

Sure ... but I'd never really considered just HOW small they were when you pile a bunch of 'em into a tag match together with normal sized humans.

[dubb93]

There is a difference between not being 6’8 and just not working out at all. The bucks and Jack look like regular dudes that just walked in after stocking shelves. And I’d say that attendance and ratings say that probably does matter.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Catching up on some backlog of G1 Climax matches from NJPW and I gotta say, Zack Sabre Jr is pretty clearly THE best worker on the roster right now.
With Ospreay gone, there's simply not anybody better there today. We can talk "new generation" this and "new era" that, but seems to me that you have to give a run to the best you've got TODAY.

[GrantDawg]

I know nothing about current wrestling, and haven't watched it since the late 80's. But I just bought WWE 2k24 because I watched somebody playing it and it looked fun. I have no idea who anybody is nor any of the story-lines. It should be interesting.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I know nothing about current wrestling, and haven't watched it since the late 80's. But I just bought WWE 2k24 because I watched somebody playing it and it looked fun. I have no idea who anybody is nor any of the story-lines. It should be interesting.

You can go to community creations and download all the guys you know. You can even download familiar arenas and shows and such. There really isn’t a reason you couldn’t customize the game to basically any era or promotion you wanted to play.

Back when I played the game I would always download WCW arenas and the full roster and do a brand split on universe mode of mid to late 90s WCW and WWF.

[GrantDawg]

I may have to figure out how to do that.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[RainMaker]

How bad is Tonga Loa that they won't let him do a match anymore?

[SirFozzie]

TEW IX is out!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

How bad is Tonga Loa that they won't let him do a match anymore?

He washed, and has been for quite a while. His last knee injury (June 2022) did him in, and he was always kind of the Stevie Ray to Tama's Booker T anyway.