Wrestling (WWE, etc.)

talonmalon333 · April 04, 2015, 12:14:28 PM

Man, that shirt...

AJ Lee is retiring. So disappointed as she was one of my favorites of the female wrestlers, if not my overall favorite.

talonmalon333 · April 13, 2015, 10:35:38 PM

So they are finally giving me a match I wanted. To defend his belt at Extreme Rules, Seth Rollins has to defeat Randy Orton without the help of the Authority. Maybe now WWE will actually let Seth, you know, wrestle.

Though the RKO has been banned for Orton.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · April 13, 2015, 10:39:37 PM

That reminds me of the time when Randy Orton had to face Shawn Michaels for the WWE title. Orton couldn't get DQ'ed, whereas Michaels couldn't use SCM.

talonmalon333 · April 13, 2015, 10:42:14 PM

Speaking of Shawn Michaels, did you see the match between him and Hogan where, apparently, Shawn Michaels intentionally overplayed all of Hogan's hits because he was tired of Hulk Hogan constantly making it so he wins his matches? Not only does the match show a funny sense of humor from Michaels, it also reminds just how great an athlete he is.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · April 13, 2015, 10:52:19 PM

Oh yeah. That was at Summerslam 2005, and it was so bad it was amazing. I laughed my ass off. Hulk Hogan is an icon, yes, but it's well known that he's a total dock behind the scenes. Michaels was originally supposed to win that match, but Hogan forced the writers to have him win. Michaels was so pissed off that he basically made the match a joke by overselling all of Hogan's moves to such a ridiculous extent that it was downright funny to watch. The funny thing is that, even overselling it as much as he did took extreme athletic talent, so you could really see how much better of a wrestler he was than Hogan throughout the match, and how much Hogan's limited array of moves was holding Michaels back from being as great as he usually was in the ring.

talonmalon333 · April 13, 2015, 10:57:30 PM

I do like Hogan because I really like the character, and there's also probably nostalgia in there (he was my favorite when I was really young). But yeah, he sounds like he could be frustrating to work with, and Michaels is clearly better on a technical level. I re-watched it a few weeks ago and it seems like there is a moment where you can see Hogan putting the pieces together and realizing what's going on. It's satisfying when you realize that, in a way, he sort of brought it upon himself.

talonmalon333 · April 14, 2015, 08:11:09 PM

Also, last night Kane did something that I'm not used to from him. He was kind of... well... kind of cool. Because Seth Rollins needed a win for the night (he and Orton had their own fights last night, and winning those fights got them the ability to pick a special "rule" for their fight at Extreme Rules which, by the way, is why Orton's RKO will be banned and why Seth can't rely on the peanut gallery to win their fight at that event), he arranged to fight Kane and have Kane just lie down and allow Seth to pin him. But Kane is getting sick of Seth and his whining, and though he ultimately allowed Seth to pin him, it was after he attacked Seth with a choke slam and nearly tombstoned him (Seth was actually unconscious when Kane got on the ground and sadly allowed himself to be pinned). And afterward, you could see Kane distressed as he left the ring. It seems like he is slowly preparing to ditch the Authority. WWE in general is good at building things up rather than rushing them, so while a small part of me wishes we got to see Kane go on a rampage, I'm glad he tried to keep calm so the seeds could be planted slowly. We also got to see some good acting from him.

Also, afterward, Seth relaxed in a comfy chair in the ring. It's fun stuff.

"I gotta hand it to ya, Seth, this is quite a setup. You comfy?" - Randy Orton

talonmalon333 · April 27, 2015, 02:31:19 PM

The curb stomp was banned recently, for safety reasons. I know a lot of hardcore wrestlers are disappointed about this, but you got to remember that these are actual people wrestling. And their safety is the most important thing. But anyway, Extreme Rules was last night and was decent... for the most part. I'll list the matches with the winner's names bolded, and talk a bit about them.

Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper
Two wrestlers that I like, but wouldn't put anywhere near my favorites. It was pretty entertaining watching their "street fight", how it made its way to the backstage area, then outside, and then before we knew it, they took off in a car! Neither of these guys is particularly versatile, so it's good they were given a lot of craziness to do.

Neville vs. Bad News Barrett
Is it too soon for me to call Neville one of my favorite modern wrestlers? Because he's fantastic ever since he made his transition from NXT to WWE last month. It was nice to see him win here, as much as I like Barret.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus
This match was a disgrace to both my intelligence and to the art of wrestling. I won't even dignify it by talking about its theme. If you're curious, just look it up somewhere. I do like Ziggler, especially for how good a seller he is. However, I really don't care for Sheamus. To me, he represents the ultimate flaws in WWE writing: random things happening just for the sake of happening. Why did Sheamus come back after all this time as a heel who does nothing but interrupt fights and pick on "the little people"? No reason at all.

New Day vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro
Oh wow... New Day won... I'm honestly shocked. This reign won't last long.

John Cena vs. Rusev
The premise of this fight was a bit too silly and I think it hurt the match itself. I love Rusev and while I wouldn't call myself a Cena fan, he's gotten better since becoming the United States Champion because he's played off the audience very well and I like his open challenges (he's also a great wrestler, great talker, and great seller, the only thing holding back is his character is a little boring). Though I legitimately felt bad for the way Rusev treated Lana. After he yelled at her after the match and she was shown walking toward the Authority's office, I was pumped about the idea of her joining them, until I realized she was just duing a favor for Rusev. But anyway, I do hope they end this Cena and Rusev conflict soon enough.

Nikki Bella vs. Naomi
I really like the Bella twins. They are some of, if not my #1, favorite divas. But I do kind of want to see Nikki finally lose her belt as she's had it for a really long time. Having said that, I kind of want her to lose it to Paige rather than Naomi, although Naomi is really a great athlete.

Roman Reigns vs. Big Show
Man, Roman Reigns has fallen. Last month, he was challenging Lesnar for the championship belt. This month... he's fighting with Big Show, the joke of WWE. I had absolutely no interest in this fight. Reigns deserved it... I guess...

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton
This was what the night was all about. I've made it clear that Seth is my favorite current wrestler, and Randy is up there among my favorites as well. It was a pretty good match and I like the way they integrated Kane, with his conflict with Seth. I like how there are multiple times when you can see Randy wants to pull an RKO but can't. Also, while I love both of these guys, I was pulling for Seth and am glad he won. His story arc as the champion has been fantastic, and to end it after a single month would have been an incredible disappointment. But at the same time, I knew they needed Kane to betray him, so they found a fair middle ground. Of course, though, Seth's win is questionable because, well, he RKO'd Randy. So they will probably reveal tonight if it was against the rules or if that rule was only on Randy.

gunswordfist · April 27, 2015, 02:52:12 PM

lol what happened to Big Show?

talonmalon333 · April 27, 2015, 02:54:35 PM

Quote from: gunswordfist on April 27, 2015, 02:52:12 PM
lol what happened to Big Show?

Other than the fact that he's just a big guy who can't wrestle?

gunswordfist · April 27, 2015, 06:24:17 PM

I assumed you meant he became a jobber or something.

talonmalon333 · April 27, 2015, 10:28:36 PM

A Triple Threat Match has been officially scheduled at Payback between Seth, Reigns, and Randy for Seth's belt. I'm worried this means Seth won't walk out with the belt, but hopefully they have a big surprise in store. Because, like I said, watching his run as the champion has been a lot of fun, and I'd like to see him find a way out of this predicament.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · May 02, 2015, 02:45:29 PM

Does anyone remember this bit from back in 2004? http://youtu.be/-4Bx5lNNYyE

The Rock always had the best dialogue on the mic. You could tell that none of that was scripted. It sounds so natural because he just said whatever came to mind, and it was hilarious, especially his comment to Eric Bischoff about WCW.

talonmalon333 · May 03, 2015, 02:09:26 PM

Nice find! The Rock basically carries the entire scene. I also love how he just takes a doughnut with him on the way out.

He's definitely one of the best.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · May 03, 2015, 02:30:09 PM

That's probably why a lot of modern WWE wrestlers feel so stale on the mic, to me. It all feels deliberate and scripted. And yes, it is scripted, but it shouldn't feel that way. The best mic speakers make everything that they say and do sound and look natural, and that's usually because it is.

That part about WCW going under or where he snubs a high-five with Coach were funny as hell, and also completely improvised on the spot. I wish that more modern wrestlers could do that, and I know that some can, but they usually lack the freedom that The Rock has because of WWE's stricter policies of sticking to a script these days, and also not being as famous and powerful as The Rock to get away with their own creative decisions. The last wrestler I saw to do that was CM Punk, and he left because he got fed-up with the WWE not letting him build up his own momentum and run with it.

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Wrestling (WWE, etc.)