Wrestling (WWE, etc.)

talonmalon333 · May 03, 2015, 04:02:40 PM

Bray Wyatt actually does his own speeches and is great at it. His promos are incredibly well done. Admittedly they have gotten repetitive and the character has basically been going in circles ever since WrestleMania 31, having resorted to giving speeches that boil down to meaningless jabs at Ryback because WWE simply has no idea what to do with him. But that's WWE's fault. He's a great talker and is one of the few left who aren't just scripted.

talonmalon333 · May 13, 2015, 01:27:32 AM

So just this past Monday's Raw had a bittersweet moment where, after a month off of TV due to health problems, Daniel Bryan returned and announced he would be relinquishing the IC Belt, was going to be out for a while, and might never even wrestle again. It was sad to see. I mean, Bryan is one of my favorite current wrestlers. He's just a great wrestler and, more than that, a great guy. But, I can accept it because his health is more important. He's been having trouble with that for a while now, so maybe it's best for him that this happens.

Anyway, let me get away from the sad news... and talk about other sad news from last Raw. Curtis Axel and Damien Sandow, the two most irrelevant wrestlers in WWE, have formed a tag team... as the Mega Powers. It's painful. Axel's gimmick is mimicking Hulk Hogan, having labeled himself "Axelmania", and lately Sandow has started mimicking Macho Man (since mimicking is what he does). And now they are going up against The Ascension at Payback under the "Mega Powers" title. Way to disgrace the legacy of Hogan and Macho Man.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · May 13, 2015, 08:26:43 PM

Randy Savage must be rolling in his grave.

Spark Of Spirit · May 13, 2015, 10:59:21 PM

Not really on topic, but I don't care.

And I agree.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · May 13, 2015, 11:36:42 PM

Glad to see that wrestling fans still remember the best videogame adaptation in the genre.

Peanutbutter · May 15, 2015, 02:34:57 PM

I like Macho Mandow and Axelmania myself. I don't think it's an insult. It's an homage. The Tag Team Division needs as many teams as it can get in order be strong like it was a couple years ago.

Anyway, I think the last two Raws have been really good. They apparently Jimmy Jacobs as their new head of Creative, and if this month has been any indication he's doing a good job.

talonmalon333 · May 17, 2015, 01:53:07 PM

Well I think we can agree that it's supposed to be a homage. But whether it succeeds as that, or is just an insult, is subjective. I just can't for the life of me understand some of the things that happen here. We have wrestlers like Sheamus who turned heel just... because. Then we have every diva aside from the Bellas, Paige, and Naomi getting no time in the spotlight as anything other than jobber (not to mention every diva aside from Paige is a self-absorbed heel, something that the Bellas pull off very well but gets tiring seeing it with nearly every other diva) We have Axel who's purpose is to be a jobber that no one likes, and Sandow teaming up with him thus making them both look bad while forming a gimmick that will make people dislike them even more (and neither is particularly good in the ring so I don't think it would help the Tag Team division that much). And we have Bray Wyatt fading fast into irrelevancy with vague promos and fights with Ryback for no reason (I actually like Ryback but this conflict makes no sense, and Ryback is so simplistic that I can't see how anyone would even need to feud with him, so it just feels like WWE needed to give Bray something to do). Then there's all the incredibly talented guys and girls from NXT who need to make the jump to WWE, most of which are far more skilled than somebody like Sandow.

I love WWE, but in the times when it fails, it really fails.

EDIT:

And yeah, I pretty much agree on the last two Raws. Honestly, aside from the problems I listed above, I think WWE has been a lot of fun lately anyway. I do think they need to push a few things. For example, the conflict between Seth and Kane is starting to run in circles a bit, but I think we'll see the next big step for that storyline tonight at Payback, which I'm really looking forward to. The last paperview, Extreme Rules, was just sort of okay, with some great parts and some weak parts. And Payback has its fair share of matches that don't interest me, but the parts that excite me could turn out to be really good. For example, Neville is awesome and I love the king angle they are taking with Barrett, and I'm looking forward to seeing the end of the conflict between Cena and Rusev. Most importantly is the Fatal 4 Way for the Heavyweight Championship belt.

talonmalon333 · May 18, 2015, 01:11:14 AM

So Payback was decent. Nothing amazing but some of the matches were great.

R-Truth vs. Stardust
I didn't watch the pre-show so I missed this. I do love R-Truth so I'm sure he gave a good performance.

The Meta Powers vs. The Ascension
Another pre-show match that I missed. Not that I care about this one.

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler
Sheamus is the worst. Ziggler is great but I have no interest in this rivalry.

The New Day vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro
Kidd and Cesaro are great, and I cheering for them in this match. But, New Day has been pretty fun as joke champions, so in a guilty way, I'm fine with them keeping the Tag Team belt for a little while longer.

Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback
Man, Wyatt is really losing me. He's great at writing his own dialogue, but he's a mediocre wrestler and his character is going absolutely nowhere. But I will say that I kind of wanted him to win here, despite being a Ryback fan, because I want him to have a win so he can maybe do something and become somewhat relevant. His conflict with the Undertaker back before and during Wrestlemania was great but he's done nothing since then.

John Cena vs. Rusev
This match was pretty great. Rusev is one of my favorites, and Cena is pretty great too aside from a few problems I have with him. They really went all out on each other. Cena kind of had to win but that didn't stop me from cheering for Rusev. I'm curious what they'll do about Lana next, too.

Naomi & Tamina vs. The Bella Twins
I don't know, Naomi just isn't doing much for me. She's a great athlete but I feel like WWE's attempt to make her a star did nothing to fix the problem with their treatment of the divas, in that they don't get enough attention beyond the Bellas. And turning her into a heel, as I was getting at before, just made her feel really tired as a character. I wish the Bellas won here, namely Brie, as she deserved to get Naomi for the way Naomi talked about her husband, Daniel Bryan.

Neville vs. King Barrett
Two wrestlers I'm a fan of. Neville is awesome and Barrett is a great character.

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose
This was the match that the night was about. And it didn't disappoint. Not only was it a four-way match for the belt, but the involvement of J&J and Kane meant there were seven people involved! It was a lot of fun watching these guys go at each other. I also really like how Ambrose and Reigns remained friends in this fight, working as a team to take out the other two and then, once they felt confident that the two of them were the only ones left, returned to the ring to battle each other in a friendly match to decide the champ. Ultimately, the best moment of the match was the reunion of Shield. To take out Orton, the Shield performed their classic Triple Power Bomb to send him through the table, and then celebrated together! It felt good, I had a big smile in this moment. But of course, this reunion was only meant to be brief. Seth reached out to perform the Shield's signature fist pose, only to have his grin fade away as Reigns and Ambrose looked at him with the intention to beat him. It was a short reunion, but it was fun while it lasted. Seth then went on to pin Orton and win, as I wanted him to.

Peanutbutter · May 18, 2015, 08:43:17 AM

Haven't watched all of it yet, only the first three matches on the Network due to Game of Thrones being on last night. What I saw I liked, and I've noticed people saying it wasn't great, but that it was good. That Jimmy Jacobs gut probably booked it. Hopefully tonight will be extremely good. Usually, the best episodes of RAW lately have been the post-PPV ones.

talonmalon333 · May 22, 2015, 10:42:53 AM

This match from Unstoppable, NXT's last paperview, between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, really proves my point that WWE has no excuse with how they've treated their diva division.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ogeAg2WLY

If you look at that, you'll see that they gave an absolutely phenomenal match. Easily the best one of that paperview. NXT has a very strong pool of divas, and they are given a lot of love. Which makes it really confusing how dead the diva division is in WWE. We have the Bella twins, Paige, Naomi, and Tamina, and... that's it. There are some others, but they get pushed far under the rug, in order to give us conflicts eternally revolving around the girls I mentioned above, and no one else. On top of this, the divas only get one match in an entire Raw/Smackdown/Paperview, with the rest of the 2-3 hours being dedicated to the guys. I know there are more guys in wrestling in general, but it's still not right that the divas get this little respect. On top of that is the fact that they are pushed for their looks far more than their talents. I mean, seriously, in that match I posted above, Becky and Sasha gave a far more impressive fight than many of the guys in WWE. And it's not limited to that match alone. I could post dozens of other matches from NXT where the girls are incredible. And while I don't hate Paige, Naomi, Tamina, or the Bella twins at all, it gets so tiring seeing them over and over, especially since all of them, with the slight exception of Paige, are written in roughly the same way, as the stuck up heel diva who is obsessed with their self. Not only do they not give their women much attention, they don't know how to write them, either.

Lucha Underground makes this point even more clear. The girls are not only given an equal amount of attention there, but they actually wrestle with the guys.

Peanutbutter · May 22, 2015, 01:34:53 PM

I have a feeling Hunter and Stephanie are taking over very soon. If some recent reports are to be believed, they've gotten into it recently with Vince about the Divas' Division. They've seen how well UFC have been doing with their women's circuit. There's also been a rumor going around that Vince could be starting to go blind. Not sure the latter is true, but it's out there.

talonmalon333 · May 22, 2015, 02:02:02 PM

Vince really doesn't sound so good. He doesn't appear much, but I've seen him in commercials about the Ultimate Warrior, and from the sound of his voice, his health doesn't seem to be what it once was.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken · May 22, 2015, 07:52:58 PM

Speaking of Vince, does anyone remember this speech of his? https://youtu.be/2xOcCYCFnrk

He was such an effective heel, partly because, while an exaggeration, the Mr. McMahon character was an extension of his own personality. It's a well-known fact that he did a lot of awful things in his career and really screwed over a lot of people in the pursuit of elevating his business (it got to the point where he didn't even really try to hide it anymore), but part of the fun of wrestling is bringing just a touch of realism into the ring and on the mic, which is why Mr. McMahon was such a memorable villain, in the end.

That's probably the biggest reason for why I don't watch wrestling regularly anymore. What made a story-line compelling in the first place wasn't really the face or hero character as much as it was how effectively the heel character got you to despise them and want to see them get their asses handed to them. I haven't really seen any modern heels that can successfully get that much heat for their character, these days. It's very telling that the old combo of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar was the best example of great heels in years.

talonmalon333 · May 22, 2015, 11:40:36 PM

Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on May 22, 2015, 07:52:58 PM
Speaking of Vince, does anyone remember this speech of his? https://youtu.be/2xOcCYCFnrk

He was such an effective heel, partly because, while an exaggeration, the Mr. McMahon character was an extension of his own personality. It's a well-known fact that he did a lot of awful things in his career and really screwed over a lot of people in the pursuit of elevating his business (it got to the point where he didn't even really try to hide it anymore), but part of the fun of wrestling is bringing just a touch of realism into the ring and on the mic, which is why Mr. McMahon was such a memorable villain, in the end.

That's probably the biggest reason for why I don't watch wrestling regularly anymore. What made a story-line compelling in the first place wasn't really the face or hero character as much as it was how effectively the heel character got you to despise them and want to see them get their asses handed to them. I haven't really seen any modern heels that can successfully get that much heat for their character, these days. It's very telling that the old combo of Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar was the best example of great heels in years.

Well, I'm a big Seth Rollins fan, so I can't totally agree on that point about modern wrestling. He's done a great job as the champion who has basically earned nothing, having been given everything he has, and cheating to retain it time after time. And from fan reception, he's been very successful. But for the most part, I do get what you mean.

And that's a great Vince speech. While he's done things that aren't excusable, overall he's been such a big part of the WWE experience.

talonmalon333 · May 31, 2015, 10:52:09 AM

The WWE Network has started a series documenting rivalries in the WWE's history. The first few parts, which I've watched recently, were about the rivalry between Steven Austin and McMahon. Even if you know the history, it's a lot of fun watching a documentary on one of the great battles in WWE history, between one of its greatest wrestlers and one of its greatest villains.

In other news, Elimination Chamber is tonight.

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Wrestling (WWE, etc.)