The Ultimate WWE Thread

[Dan]

Alright lads :hat:

Been lurking & browsing the dirtsheets & I'm sufficiently interested by the sound of the Takeover card that I'm actually going to watch some wrestling for the first time since Mania. I really hope I don't hate it.

- Live band, huh? Last one I remember was Saliva at WM17, or maybe Limp Bizkit. They're pretty meh. Sponsorship from Rocket League too :D

- I forgot Nigel McGuinness was doing commentary at NXT now. I approve. I also forgot Percy Watson was back, but I couldn't give a shit about that one. Slightly thrown by a Mexican wrestler not having a cliche Mexican theme. Gargano is still a stud, and Almas looks bland as fuck, save a nice finishing move. Bigger & stronger than most Mexicans WWE have tried, too. Percy Watson is shit as a colour commentator.

- Billie Kay looks so much more plastic than she did when she was Jessie McKay :( Nikki Cross still has the same charisma she had on the indies even in a promo video. Announcements about trending worldwide are such a small-time, TNA/GFW-esque move, but then again this is the company that tells everyone there are 100,000 people in a 55,000 seat arena every WrestleMania.

- Authors of Pain's ring gear :D They look like kids who've made shit TMNT costumes & lost the shells. Then they take the masks off & they look like Roman Reigns at a green rally. One of them just looks like D-Lo Brown after a billion PEDs, even ignoring the clothes. Speaking of mad ring gear though, why is Alexander Wolfe wearing tights made from the big top of a circus tent? Obviously a fan of the Nikki Cross table spot, but that's a shitty, weak looking finisher. AOP look like another generic team of big, powerful guys. Corey Graves getting the Game of Thrones reference in at the end was lame, but still 1000 times better than anything Percy Watson will offer all night.

- reDRagon :drool:

- The contrast of Neville looking like the most miserable hipster of all time & Nakamura was pretty stark. Oh, and Kalisto isn't dead, so that's reasssuring I guess. Now for him to fuck off to nowhere again for six months.

- JR calling Itami's match, rather than either of the title matches seems odd, but I'm not going to complain about getting some JR on top of a match which should be good in the first place. Oh, there's another live band. This one sounds like Zach De La Rocha decided to go full metal. Hang on,
that was the same band? Jesus. Solid match - Aleister Black is legit as fuck.

- Womens match was pretty sloppy at times, and not really up to much in general. Didn't get to see much of what makes Asuka so good, and I've never really been that fussed by Ember Moon beyond her finisher. Speaking of which, the Eclipse (not surprised they didn't let her keep calling it the O-Face) in this one was pretty much just chucked in randomly with no build to the moment. I just want to see Kimber Lee (can't remember what she's called now) take on Asuka, as their match at the SHIMMER I went to was fucking incredible.

- Has Bobby Roooooooooo's entrance always taken as long as The Undertaker's? I got bored about 10mins into this match & didn't really pay attention to it, but it was probably okay. Not sure why the ref stopped Drew going out after Roode, aside from setting up the next spot, obviously.
Can't help noticing the commentators are doing a PWG now & calling dives by their technical names, rather than just calling everything a suicide dive.

- Adam Cole baybay :alan: Odds on this ROH stable getting Nigel on board quicksharp?

Seems to me that when you have three title matches on the same card involving people who are on year long undefeated streaks you're probably not booking very well.

[Queenslander]

It definitely had a PWG feel about it at times.
Dan

[Queenslander]

There are a silly amount of Bullet Club shirts in the crowd at Summer Slam.

[Ian]

What was the point of taking the belt off Neville? I'd hoped he'd do another match to make Tozawa look as good as possible and then be done with the cruiswerweights and get bumped up the card.

[Dan]

It definitely had a PWG feel about it at times.
Dan

I'd have taken Excalibur over Ranallo & Watson any day of the week, especially if we could've had a drunk Joey Ryan guest spot in place of Corey Graves.

It was an okay show, I just don't enjoy the WWE style anymore. It's too slow & limited, and even when they try to mimic a looser, more indy style it doesn't quite feel right. We've seen every spot before, so it's never surprising - I have no idea why they think I'm going to be amazed (nor how people in the crowd actually ARE amazed) that Gargano kicked out of that corner knee Almas does, for instance. Have they never seen WWE before? Moves in the corner are on par with a clothesline - it's like being shocked when Zack Ryder doesn't pin someone with a Broski Boot, or thinking X-Pac's getting a 3 count off a Bronco Buster.

They're still incredible at video packages & entrances, mind.


What was the point of taking the belt off Neville? I'd hoped he'd do another match to make Tozawa look as good as possible and then be done with the cruiswerweights and get bumped up the card.

Good to see they're still doing that stupid shit as well. Tozawa really needs to come up with a good finisher for once in his life - he's gone from a German suplex to a senton off the top rope. That's a jobber moveset.

[Ian]

Even before I saw it I thought the tag match deserved to not just be on the main card but a prominent match after their recent efforts. While I don't understand this title change ever I enjoyed that match a lot.

[Ian]

Well at least they made up for making Jeremy look like a dickhead on Smackdown by also making him look like a gimp on Summerslam.

[Gray Fox]

So that's Vince having pulled the plug on him then?

[Lewis]

What is the thinking on Baroque Les-nar tonight? I saw the IF WE LOSE WE'RE OFF MATE promo, which I would normally take as merely adding some uncertainty to him inevitably retaining it, but getting rid of him makes a lot of sense these days (and isn't his steroid ban nearly done?).

[Gray Fox]

If I remember reading right he needs 6 clean months in the USADA test pool, that or his ban has 6 months to run.

Strongly suspect he's off though. If UFC pay him enough that is...

[John]

The steroid ban was up last month.

[Lewis]

My thinking is that his comeback trail would have to start reasonably soon, but also that they aren't shot of credible (and popular) main event rasslers now (unlike when he first came back), so they would probably be happy to see the back of his wages and booking difficulties.

[John]

The UFC isn't going to offer him a contract on the same sort of money he got for the fight at 200. At that point they were scrambling to save the show after McGregor was pulled off the card and he brings a guaranteed audience.

He's now a forty year old drug cheat with two retirements on his record and no legitimate wins since 2010. He'd be lucky to get a fifth of his 200 money as a show fee if he went back now.

[Shindig]

Lesnar vs Punk, mate.

[Waffdon]

Is the main event worth watching?

[SvN]

Yeah, the main event almost saved the entire shitshow.

[wullie]

I stayed up until before the Rusev match, which seemed a good point to leave it. Enzo Amore's the worst thing in the company.

[Gray Fox]

The main event was great.

Enjoyed Bliss v Banks, SHIELD v Sheamus/Cesaro and Styles v KO too.

The rest of the(main) show verged on awful. The first 4 matches were disappointing or pointless. It picked up after but then died a little with the Smackdown main event. Luckily the RAW one was good enough to bring it back

[Browning]

I thought the main event was very good, but not great. It was interesting seeing Lesnar get dominated, but something felt off about quite a few of the spots for some reason. Still enjoyable, unlike most of the rest of the show.

I liked Owens Vs KO, but there was way too much Shane. Most of the rest of the card was shite.

Big match John winning was the right call though. Corbin is fucking shite at everything, and Cena jobbing twice in 2 weeks would not be best for business.

[Ian]

Seeing Lesnar get his arse kicked was good but there wasn't much catharsis about it for somebody who wants him gone because you always felt that that he'd be back anyway. Still, main event was fun and at least Jeff didn't have to take the pin which I'd assumed he would. Not really sure where the other three go while Lesnar's on holiday. More Reigns / Strowman? You'd think Strowman would still have some unfinished business there what with Roman having tried to murder him and everything.

As for the rest of it, Rusev and Jeremy might as well have no bothered turning up, Cass' match was yawn but hopefully the nature of the ending means he's done with Enzo now. O'Shango and Wyatt was about what you'd expect, Raw tag match was solid. As Browning said, US title match was too Shane-heavy. Jinder... yeah. And I didn't think that much of either of the womens matches either, though I was surprised Natalya got the win.

Tozawa / Neville and New Day / Usos would have been some of the better matches had they been on the main card.


EDIT: Oh, I loved Cesaro running into the crowd and breaking the beach ball. :D

[Browning]

Nattie purely won because she tied Trish's record for most PPV matches by a woman ever. They kept mentioning it in the build up and during her entrance, so I was fairly certain she was winning. I half expected Carmella to cash in so she beat the record by losing, that seems like something WWE would do.... but I guess the heel Vs heel thing prevented it.

[Lewis]

Big match John winning was the right call though. Corbin is fucking shite at everything, and Cena jobbing twice in 2 weeks would not be best for business.

:cool:

[bruhnaldo]

fuck the WWE for not strapping up Nak the gawd

[phonics]

fuck the WWE for not strapping up Nak the gawd

https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/knackpedia/images/6/6f/Knack_09.png/revision/latest?cb=20150427154022?

[Ian]

As much as Corbin is shit (he botched a fucking interview on the pre-show) and has done nothing with the bit of promise I thought he had (and presumably lots of what WWE thought they had) you wonder what the point is.

Has he suddenly pissed somebody off backstage? That's what this reeks of.

Rusev still got the lulziest result of the night though, so Jeremy's safe from that embarrassment at least.

[Browning]

Supposedly he was a cunt on Twitter to both Dave Meltzer and some injured veteran, so it's probably something to do with that.

[Lewis]

They got a look at him up close and realised that the only thing worse than Bray Wyatt is a lanky mute Bray Wyatt.

[Disco]

Who the fuck is Jerry Soto? My spanish announce team should be Rodriguez and Cabrera and they should be without a desk by the end of the night, you can't just go changing that up.

[Disco]

Tozawa / Neville - Giving Neville the title back was the least intersting option so why am I suprised. Good match though.
New Day / Usos - Good, really liked that.
Cena / Corbin - Lol.
Cass / Show - What a fucking mess that was. You know you're in trouble when the very premise of the match makes Big Show more awkward.
Rusev / Orton - Fuck off Randall you boring cunt.
Bliss / Banks - Really good, can't wait to see Asuka against on of these.
Wyatt / Balor - Battle of the gimmicks WWE don't really know how to handle and will/have inevitably ruin/ed. I laughed out loud when Wyatt looked shocked when Balor no sold his spider crawl thing, I can't understand why he isn't terrified of this!
Raw Tag Title - Alright, interested to see where they go with this.
Owens / Styles - That was more like it, although about halfway through I noticed how often Shane fiddles with his trousers and I found myself unable to concentrate on anything else. Would also have been better if they hadn't spent half the match trying to set up less interesting feuds.
Mahal / Nakamura - In what fucking universe does this shit make sense.
4-Way - Loved it, big red bastards lobbing each other about. The opening of the match was great fun, Strowman is ridiculous, the suplex tease was nice too. But, I could have done without Reigns butting in every few minutes hitting people with his wanky arm.


The booking for the first half seemed really fucking weird; Neville winning, literally everything about the Show / Cass match, Corbin and his sad tummy getting buried even deeper, the complete pointlessness of the Rusev match. Second half much better with a surprisingly good main event. I was sufficiently sports entertained.

[Browning]

Asuka is out for 6-8 weeks with a broken collarbone. How convenient that they can now take the title off her days after she beats Punk's record without her actually losing.

[Disco]

Boo!

[Shindig]

And if they can link the injury back to the fight, it'll make Ember look strong ... or botchy.

[Ian]

Boatman vs Bork then, eh. I wasn't expecting Lesnar to be at No Mercy, thought he'd have a holiday and then we'd get some more Reigns / Strowman and Joe vs some mug.

[Lewis]

Don Cena looks weird with some hair.

[Disco]

He grew it out to troll Corbin.

[Weaver]

Bobby Roode make his Smackdown debut last night, and Chad Gable has a new tag team partner - Shelton Benjamin. Team Alpha? The World's Greatest Americans?

Also, Big Cass is injured and could be out for nine months and Enzo Amore has been added to 205 Live.

[Gray Fox]

I did think it was odd that they stopped a street fight, though rewatching it you can see him smacking out at parts of the ring and looking properly distraught.

Feel bad for him, but he's a giant so he'll get another push when he comes back. Gives him time to work on a character I guess.

[Ian]

Shelton. :cool:

Always liked him.

EDIT: Also, the crowds of the last few shoes need to fuck off. Forever, preferably. As much fun as Cesaro ripping up the beach ball was it's now just encouraging them when the wrestlers are constantly having to appeal to them to pay attention to the fucking match that's going on in the ring.

[Browning]

Mysterio Vs Ospreay....

Fuck. Why isn't all wrestling that good?

[wullie]

http://imgur.com/qFEqXFU.gif

[bruhnaldo]

#BeachballMania :drool:

[phonics]

Is RAW still referred to as Raw is War? Did they get rid of it because of Iraq?

[Weaver]

Is RAW still referred to as Raw is War? Did they get rid of it because of Iraq?

It's just known as 'Raw' now, although the commentators usually call it 'Monday Night Raw'.

Never heard that second bit before but it would make sense time-wise, it was definitely still Raw is War in mid 2001 and wasn't by the start of 2002.

[wullie]

At one point the single show was split into Raw and Warzone for some reason, something to do with US TV scheduling.

[Disco]

I think it's more likely that war distanced itself from the WWF rather than the other way round, difficult to shift that kind of reputation.

[Shindig]

War screwed Brett.

[Weaver]

NXT TV spoiler:

Asuka has relinquished the NXT Women's Championship and has 'started negotiations' to join either Raw or Smackdown.

[wullie]

It's on the WWE site now too. Was the injury a work or has it all just worked out quite well?

[Shindig]

I look forward to her and Nakamura forming a mixed tag with a chopsticks theme. Also, something about Dana Brooke's boyfriend choking to death.

[Browning]

Time for Ospreay Vs Ricochet :drool:

War Machine Vs Young Bucks at the next PPV :drool:

[Disco]

Catching up on some World Cup stuff from this week, so much good stuff so far but Ospreay / Bailey (not that one) might be my new favourite thing.

[Queenslander]

Australia's own Will Ospraey is a living GOAT.

[Disco]

The whole thing has been really good, not least because I'd never seen people like Keith Lee, Jurn Simmons, Mike Bailey.

[Browning]

Ospreay Vs Mysterio, Ospreay Vs Bailey and Ospreay Vs Kushida were comfortably the 3 best matches of the tournament.

So glad I went to 2 nights of it, it was incredible.

[Disco]

First four episodes of the Mae Young Classic are up on the network too.

THERE'S TOO MUCH GOOD WRESTLING.

[Waffdon]

Cena. :cool:

[Ian]

That Reigns / Cena bit was really entertaining. Kayfabe in bits all over the place.

Reigns' best mic work in terms of lengthier promos as well.

EDIT: Not that I'm saying it was great or that that's a very high benchmark, I should stress.

[Ian]

Mae Young Classic is off to a bit of a shit start from the two episodes I've seen, but then the CWC was a bit shit and throwaway early doors too so I'll not dismiss it yet.

[Waffdon]

That Reigns / Cena bit was really entertaining. Kayfabe in bits all over the place.

Reigns' best mic work in terms of lengthier promos as well.

EDIT: Not that I'm saying it was great or that that's a very high benchmark, I should stress.

I felt sorry for him. Cena obliterated him.

[Disco]

I don't know what they were trying to achieve with it but whatever it was had to have been destroyed by having the tag together right after.

[Browning]

Reigns's main point about Cena was the complete opposite of the truth. "You can be whatever they want so you're a fake ass bitch". No... Cena has been one thing forever, that's the problem.

[Disco]

Cena was no better, he said everything was in the hands of fans. Yeah right John, what have been watching?

[Waffdon]

Cena is the GOAT, though.

Reigns was absolutely gone when Cena mentioned about him not being able to cut a promo still.

[Lewis]

Yeah that was the highlight.

[Disco]

Tune in next week when we explain how rubbish some of our other wrestlers are.

[Waffdon]

Yeah that was the highlight.

The bit about Cena being dragged back because Reigns can't do his job correctly was so good and true also.

[wullie]

Next week The Rock should come out with Cena's quotes about him going Hollywood written on his arm. Give Jim Cornette the heart attack that finishes him off

[Ian]

First round of the MYC wasn't bad. The commentary is fucking atrocious though. Even JR's not great but it turns out they had to re-do the commentary for a bunch of it so that would explain why he sounds a bit robotic. If that was Lita's best effort at the second attempt though....

[Weaver]

With JBL being traded to Bermuda, WWE have announced that Corey Graves is taking his place on Smackdown.

Raw: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T/David Otunga
Smackdown: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

Nigel McGuinness to 205 Live and Main Event, as well as staying on NXT.

[SvN]

That's shit. The two shows need to have separate announce teams.

[Browning]

And those announce teams have to be 2 men each. And not include Tom Phillips.

[Lewis]

Big Show really needed that beard.

[bruhnaldo]

That's shit. The two shows need to have separate announce teams.

You're crazy, Corey Graves is like the best thing they have going.

[SvN]

You're crazy, Corey Graves is like the best thing they have going.

Right, and AJ is the best wrestler in the company - should he be on both shows as well?

[Browning]

King Kong Bundy's return has exceeded my expectations.

[Ian]

Holy shit, that bit on Raw was INSANE. I mean....... opening with a match?

It was obvious Big Show was going through the wall of the cage as soon as the match was announced.

[Ian]

This Owens storyline is a bit lol.

[Weaver]

It's sounding like TNA could be heading down the tubes again.

Jeff Jarrett's has been made to take 'indefinite leave' to focus on personal matters by the person from Anthem, two different companies own the rights to 'GFW' and 'Impact Wrestling', and now Sports Illustrated are reporting that Anthem are wanting to sell up :D

I honestly can't see anyone wanting to buy the Impact/TNA stuff, and Jarrett owns 'GFW', so I'm guessing there's just really the video library - I reckon WWE would want that for the Network at the right price.

[Lewis]

'Johnny Impact' must be seething.

[7om]

Nice send-off for Asuka tonight on NXT. Just a pity she'll get ruined within three months on the "main roster".

[Shindig]

Fed to Nia Jax indefinitely.

[Ian]

They'll have her undefeated for a short while before having her lose clean / by rollup on TV.

[wullie]

Curt Hawkins would beat Brock Lesnar if he just cued up someone's entrance music at the right time, the distraction rollup is like a Mortal Kombat fatality.

[Ian]

A few people have been done by the ol' mahistrol cradle recently too. Zayn got done by a sort-of one of them on Smackdown about 30 seconds into the match that was so devastating he literally didn't even pretend he was trying to kick out.

I wonder if he's finally given up.

[7om]

Isn't there some talk that they're putting the El Generico mask on him?

[Ian]

What, so he can job for them with two different gimmicks?

[wullie]

He's going to get fired and come back as Mr Syria, brother HH

[7om]

What, so he can job for them with two different gimmicks?

Well, precisely.

It's a sad indictment of the disconnect between NXT and WWE.

[Ian]

A ready-made cookie-cutter slow burn underdog World Title story in Zayn, with a guy who the fans like and can do main event quality matches.

But..... nah, just have him put over Aiden English.

[SvN]

£50 says he ends up being a World Champion. He'll get his time.

[Ian]

He probably will, but it'll be yet another sudden "Right, you're allowed to beat main eventers now, mate"-type booking shift.

See: Mahal, Jinder.

Zayn was only allowed to beat Corbin so often because Corbin, by WWE booking rules, had to be booked like a fucking arsehole before they put the briefcase on him.

[Pleb]

It completely went over my head that Corbin wasted his briefcase shot on Jinder. The pop at the end of that match was pretty lol.

[wullie]

I'd completely forgot that Bray Wyatt has been WWE champ too. That OHP match at Wrestlemania was so good, the way he just got battered anyway.

[Disco]

Was that the one where he made the ring all beetles and Orton just completely no sold it?

[wullie]

That's the one. Between that, the unexplained 'trick' of joining Wyatt and then just earning the title shot the same way he would anyway and the haunted house match there can't be too many worse world title feuds in history.

[Weaver]

5 Star Wrestling have signed a deal with Free Sports TV, the new channel on Freeview, from 2018.

Don't know who wrestles for them, or the format, but extra wrestling on the TV always a plus.

[Shindig]

Cool. I don't think TNA/GFW is free to air any more.

[Browning]

It is, on Spike.

[Ian]

All caught up on MYC. It became clear that they were setting up a Sane vs. Baszler early doors but it should be an interesting match.

I think compared to the way they booked CWC one odd thing is how one-sided they've had a number of the matches be, and not necessarily in favour of the winners. It felt like there were a number of matches where they were letting the loser show her stuff so she got a chance to impress because she's going out, and then have the other woman progress to the next round. There have been some really good matches so far though and a few that you'd think it'll be no-brainers for WWE to sign.

Looking forward to the final.

[Shindig]

It's just occurred to me Dantastic isn't around any more. He would've loved this.

[Dan]

I am :wave:

It's pretty good to see the indie love growing, and obviously the women's wrestling in particular, but I've not watched any of the MYC. Might give it a look this weekend just to see how some of the SHIMMER girls like Evie & Kimber Lee (Dakota Kai & Abbey Laith) look, but we all know it'll end up going the same way as the Cruiserweights/UK championship/Womens Revolution & get chucked back into irrelevance after two months.

[Shindig]

Ah. I forgot you switched avatars a while back.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's not Paige anymore. I should probably change it again soon, to be fair. Not played 'mons for about as long as I've not been watching wrestling regularly.

PWG still looks amazing from the videos they put on YouTube.

[Ian]

Raw OPENS WITH A MATCH again. I don't know what to believe any more. I like that jason Jordan's BIG PUSH is just to be a focus of Cena and Reigns slagging each other off.

The highlight, though, was Boatman no-selling Baroque's German suplex.

[wullie]

https://i.imgur.com/PPyKS3x.png

Fire Pro dream match, Mean Street Posse vs D'Lo & The Browns

[Disco]

Can you have a D'Lo as the ref too?

[wullie]

Mark Henry's the ref to keep it impartial and sexual.

[Disco]

Oh fuck, that's even better.

[Ian]

Did you ever play EWR, wullie? I'm just imagining your Wrestlemania main events. D'Lo taking on the Posse in a 3 v 1 handicap match.

And winning, naturally.

[Shindig]

Well, the latest Botchamania made me realise Rosemary getting her arm snapped wasn't the worst thing that happened on that PPV. It's a textbook shambles. The only thing that was missing was some kind of lights failure or cutting the feed as the commentators say their goodbyes.

Also, I'm calling Sexy Star 'Scar Tits' for the rest of her life. It's like an Abdullah the Butcher boob job.

[wullie]

Did you ever play EWR, wullie? I'm just imagining your Wrestlemania main events. D'Lo taking on the Posse in a 3 v 1 handicap match.

And winning, naturally.

First ever UnivEuroContinental champ, and then put him on a diet to nab the Cruiserweight title too

[Weaver]

Did you ever play EWR, wullie? I'm just imagining your Wrestlemania main events. D'Lo taking on the Posse in a 3 v 1 handicap match.

And winning, naturally.

The EWR/TEW days :drool:

We must have spent loads of time on that over the space of about six weeks, and then never looked at it again!

[Waffdon]

Vince McMahon on Smackdown :drool:

[Ian]

The headbutt on Vince. :nodd:

Shane in another Hell in a Cell match. :nono:

I also watched the MYC final. Not an amazing match but it was smartly done (Baszler's choke had been set up as the submission of the tournament but then they set up a means of escape for Sane during the match) and Sane was the correct winner.


First ever UnivEuroContinental champ, and then put him on a diet to nab the Cruiserweight title too

I still maintain that WWE are wasting their time until they get D'Lo and William Regal together to decide who gets a fifth reign, and therefore to keep it for good. Get it booked for Wrestlemania.

[wullie]

https://i.imgur.com/Aw9T1lL.png

D'Lo has this one in the bag with his backup

[Shindig]

They need to team up, really. I've already got the music wrapped up.

"You're looking at the real men, now ..."

[Ian]

So I've finally started on my WCW PPV trawl. I'll be doing the same as with my WWF/E one. I'm not watching every match of every show. It'll be a mix of the stuff that appeals and the stuff that reviews well when I Google them.

Starting with.... Jesus Christ, Starrcade from 1983.

First match up is Orton Jr. / Dick Slate vs. Wahoo McDaniel / Mark Youngblood. First sign of how old this is, Slater does a heel spot where he's Irish whipped and he jumps over the top rope, then appeals to the ref for the DQ.

[Shindig]

Godspeed. I remember rewatching the start of nWo and the amount of time they spend on them brutalising the back (instead of wrestling the roster) results in a lot of boos. I was completely into it as a 13 year old. Not so much now.

[Ian]

Yeah, I didn't watch any WCW after about 1992 as a kid. I dunno whether to actually try and watch some Nitros and stuff as well once I get to that era but even watching interviews with Kevin Nash now annoy me so watching the nWo being given license to drive WCW into the ground doesn't really appeal.

Anyway, I've a way to go before I get to that. Currently Harley Race's gut is threatening to piledrive Ric Flair in their main event.

Loving the crowd from the one match I have watched so far though. They're well into it. And they're not even trying to put themselves over.

EDIT: Next up: Greg Valentine against "Scotland's" Roddy Piper in a dog chain match.

Sorry, a dog collar match. A normal chain / strap match but they're actually collared to each other. :D

[Shindig]

WCW crowds were legit. Southern sadsacks committed to this because it's all they have left.

[Disco]

I don't know when you get the Judy Bagwell on a pole match but you should really watch the Judy Bagwell on a pole match. It's not good but it does have Judy Bagwell, and she's on a pole.

[Shindig]

It's what limiting yourself to PPV's might screw you over with. WCW were desperate from the word go. Nitro and Thunder will have gold. And Thunder in Paradise.

[Ian]

I don't know when you get the Judy Bagwell on a pole match but you should really watch the Judy Bagwell on a pole match. It's not good but it does have Judy Bagwell, and she's on a pole.

Is that the one that features Chris Kanyon before he made the mistake of being a gay man in the WWF? I think Zane was talking about it on WWW recently. I certainly saw about it somewhere.

I'll maybe dip into TV as well. It was WCW I used to watch when we first came back from the Middle East and I'd watched it with my grandma. I dunno that I remember Hogan in WCW but I definitely remember Vader, Sting and (weirdly, these are my main memory) the tag team of Stars and Stripes. Stars and Stripes of course, featuring a young Buff Bagwell. No Judy though.

Thunder in Paradise, though. :drool: I'll have to make sure to rewatch Mr. Nanny as well.

http://www.kayfabenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Mr-nanny.jpg

[Shindig]

Stars and Stripes wound up on an episode of Gamesmaster.

[Lewis]

Suburban Commando. :cool:

[Ian]

I've never seen Suburban Commando but, having Googled it, I think I need to.

[Disco]

He wrestles Randy Savage in a wig at some point, I think that might be on a Nitro. The late ones are worth watching just for how mad they are, they thought nothing of giving away big matches so you'll definitely miss stuff.

[Ian]

they thought nothing of giving away big matches

On telly as opposed to saving them for PPVs you mean?

Much like WWE does now, if so. Though for entirely different reasons.

[Disco]

Yeah, although once Russo gets involved there's precious little actual wrestling going on.

[Browning]

Didn't they do Goldberg Vs Hogan on free TV just because it was in Goldberg's home town? (Or where he played football, or some shit). Fucking mental.

[Ian]

Did Goldberg win in his home town though? This is where we can perhaps tell your CWs from your WEs.

[wullie]

It was in the Georgia Dome too, so they passed up both the chance to sell the match on PPV but to sell thousands of premium tickets as well.

[Disco]

WCW crowds were legit. Southern sadsacks committed to this because it's all they have left.

How are the crowds at the second best St James Park these days?

[Shindig]

Haven't been in ages. I'm going to guess they're nervy.

[Disco]

I wonder if Shelvey has creative control.

[Shindig]

Nah, just Hollywood Paul Dummett. He's written himself off TV for a minute to build up a big pop on his comeback.

[Gray Fox]

Needs Paul "Rafa" Heyman. He just needs to grow his hair out and come out giving a shoot promo about "the facts."

[Disco]

I see Rafa more as the Bischoff figure (ie still disillusioned to this day) but it all falls down when you try and cast Mike Ashley as Billionaire Ted.

[Weaver]

'Well let me tell you something, wor kids!'

[Shindig]

I see Rafa more as the Bischoff figure (ie still disillusioned to this day) but it all falls down when you try and cast Mike Ashley as Billionaire Ted.

Book it so he loses authority to a returning Freddie Fletcher.

[Ian]

Unrelated and I dunno what suddenly made me think of it but I meant to say how weird I thought Ziggler giving The Ultimate Warrior shit in his new gimmick was. Surprised the WWE wrote that for him.

What with that and Jackson I think Ziggler just really hates dead people.

[wullie]

Warrior's widow was at ringside for it too, to add the extra touch of class.

[Ian]

She was? Fucking hell. You really wonder what they're on sometimes.

[Disco]

When Vince thinks he's right he likes to rub it in, even if it means reaching beyond the grave.

[wullie]

http://katsfm.com/files/2013/06/bobbyheenan.jpg


Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[7om]

:( At least he's with Gorilla again now.

[Shindig]

His Hall of Fame speech is magic.

[Weaver]

Speaking of DubYa See DubYa, WWE have announced they're bringing back Starrcade, for what looks like a live event in North Carolina in November. Might well end up being a WWE Network event.

[Pleb]

They were planning on doing that last year (so I heard) but never made the PPV list.

They should really make Money In The Bank a multi-branded PPV and leave it alone.

[Gray Fox]

All of the on-screen WhatCulture lot have left, or are leaving the company and show in the next couple of weeks.

[Disco]

Why does Starrcade have two r's in it?

[Lewis]

So the gameshow called Starcade couldn't sue them.

[Lewis]

Or the bit of Disneyland called Starcade. Probably them, out of the two; but the internet seems set on legal issues.

[Disco]

Really? :D

What a bunch of useless twats.

[Lewis]

The original 1983 poster spells it with one, but by 1984 they have shoved an extra one in, so somebody definitely nobbled them.

[Shindig]

All of the on-screen WhatCulture lot have left, or are leaving the company and show in the next couple of weeks.

Excellent. They've ran out of lists to do.

[Disco]

No-one leaving that company has anything good to say about it, given that they look to have alienated the public faces of their most successful enterprise I'm inclined to believe them.

[John]

Suburban Commando. :cool:

:drool:

I still have that on a tape somewhere, recorded off the telly. That and Rock-A-Doodle on the same tape.

[Browning]

All of the on-screen WhatCulture lot have left, or are leaving the company and show in the next couple of weeks.

Such as who? I was at WCPW just a couple of weeks ago and they were all there. Doesn't mean they can't have left, but I've seen nothing to suggest that's true.

[Disco]

Seems pretty official to me.

https://twitter.com/whatculture/status/910081043142725632

[Shindig]

Adam Pacitti is a poor man's Danny Wallace. Which makes him a third-rate Dave Gorman.

EDIT: Okay, Simon's the only one left. Him and his big bastard arms.

[Weaver]

Jinder called Nakamura 'Mr Miyagi' in his promo on Smackdown this week, apparently leading to 'that's too far' chants :D

[Ian]

He's also been turning Ls into Rs a few times.

I suppose it's nice that they're managing to do even worse than the Jinder / Randy feud, defying expectations and all that.

Nakamura got no response at all last week and this week basically gets "yeah but he won't be laughing when I beat him!" Cracking booking.

[SvN]

No Mercy has been excellent so far. Cena v Reigns is about to start, so let's hope that lives up to expectations.

[SvN]

And the last 3 matches were all dogshit.

[Lewis]

lol at Baroque Lesnar winning with one finisher after taking three of them.

[wullie]

Cesaro smashing his teeth to bits was a bit gruesome.

[Ian]

The tag match was good and I thought Miz / Jordan was decent. Everything else was somewhere between meh and bollocks. O'Shango and Wyatt just don't have anything, the womens match was a load of throwaway nothingness, Reigns / Cena got bored of doing a match about five minutes in and put on a proper, spotty snoozefest, fucking ENZO and then whatever you think of Boatman they've sacrificed months of making him look invincible at the altar of Brock Lesnar's work ethic.

[Pleb]

Enzo being a champion in any division is :D

Wasn't he and Cass doomed to fail getting the tag ones?

[Shindig]

Cesaro smashing his teeth to bits was a bit gruesome.

There's no saving them, by the sounds of it. Pushed right up into his jaw.

[wullie]

Fucking hell.

[Queenslander]

Juice Robinson v Kenny Omega was Juice's first big performance that makes him very credible at the top of the card. He can definitely take a stiff bump.

[Disco]

Was that the match with a Super OWA? That looked fucking mad.

[Queenslander]

Yeah off the middle rope. Absolute madness!

[Weaver]

I've flicked through Raw, and I have to say, the final segment with Amore, Neville and the Cruiserweights was really good.

It sounds like double turn territory, and actually, I reckon Amore might end up getting over as a heel because want to see him get pulverised.

[Ian]

Yeah, I enjoyed that too.

I also thought it was a remarkably sensible bit of booking for Strowman to follow up from last night and Ambrose can take the loss without suffering much. Dunno what he does once he beats Rollins next week though.

And finally.... are we really heading towards Shield vs. Miztourage at TLC?

[wullie]

Yeah, helped by subtly going from nothing to about 400 Shield references in three hours. It only makes sense if there's something after that as it seems a bit of a waste to use it on Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel.

I liked the Cruiserweight thing, seemed like Neville being promoted back to normal programming. I'd give Mustafa Ali a go, he could be big if they give him a chance and don't suddenly remember he represents Pakistan so give him a taxi driver gimmick or something.

[Shindig]

Nah, you get a Jinder feud going for one last shot at THE MARKET.

[Ian]

Neville absolutely should be wrestling the big boys again.

[Weaver]

After Raw last night, it’s looking like it’s going to be The Shield vs Sheamus, Cesaro and The Miz at TLC.

[Waffdon]

After Raw last night, it’s looking like it’s going to be The Shield vs Sheamus, Cesaro and The Miz at TLC.

That’ll be so good. :drool:

Remember their debut in a TLC Match? Oh my lordy

[wullie]

I wondered how they could sell the match when Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel are on one side of it, never even occurred to me that the two guys already in a tag title feud would be involved despite it being the most obvious thing in the world now.

[Weaver]

That’ll be so good. :drool:

Remember their debut in a TLC Match? Oh my lordy

Superb - probably my favourite match in years.

I’m sure WWE posted that match on their YouTube page, in full, but I can’t find it.

[Pleb]

I dunno what their best match was, that TLC debut one or the other one at the Chamber in 2013 against Cenah, Shitmus and Raiback.

Both equably decent in my opinion.

[wullie]

The tag match with the Rhodes family is a favourite of mine too, one of those where it's an ace match in an otherwise terrible PPV.

[Weaver]

The stories for both of those matches were good as well - I think we all thought Cena’s team was going over in the first because Wrestlemania vs Rock was the next month.

Cody had some pretty good gimmicks in his time, didn’t he? I reckon Stardust would have had legs if he’d been given a chance to push on. I liked when he used to put brown bags on people’s heads.

[Disco]

Dashing Cody Rhodes was amazing, the bags, the incredible moustache everything about it was great.

[wullie]

He wanted to be Stardust on one brand and Cody Rhodes on the other, instead they put him in a sparkly cupboard with the Ascension.

[Weaver]

Proper good heel tactics, right there. There was also Team Rhodes Scholars, The Legacy and that promo video put together to show how shit Big Show was at Wrestlemania over the years.

NXT Spoilers:
After Scarrcade was announced the other week, NXT are bringing back War Games as both a PPV and a match.

It’ll be Cole/O’Reilly/Fish vs Strong/Authors of Pain vs Sanity, in the War Games match, the weekend of Survivor Series.

McIntyre vs Andrade for the NXT Championship too.

[wullie]

So long as they stop short of that weird Hog Wild PPV where bikers would pay nothing and be racist at Harlem Heat just because Eric Bischoff bought a Harley.

[Ian]

Shield vs. Miz/ Sheamus / Cesaro is a much better prospect, but it's amusing that they're having to ignore the logic and hurriedly cobble together a common threat for them to unite against.


The tag match with the Rhodes family is a favourite of mine too, one of those where it's an ace match in an otherwise terrible PPV.

Was that the 2 v 2 where Goldust and Cody would get fired or was there another one? The tag was brilliant.

[wullie]

I think they were already fired but this one got their jobs back, there was another one where they won the titles but I can't remember much about it. It stands out because of how crap the PPV around it really was too. Everything about it from the buildup, pre-match promo and then Dusty breaking out the bionic elbow, magic.

[Ian]

Just checked via Wikipedia / this thread, the one I'm thinking of got them reinstated and was at Battleground '13. Great match.

I hope the final segment of Smackdown was there, in accompaniment with a win on Sunday, to make Owens look like a bastard. Because if it's going by typical WWE booking rules and Shane somehow wins then lol.

[Disco]

Shane never wins though does he?

[Ian]

Not really, he's probably taking the Vinnie Mac role of feeding his own ego while mostly getting twatted but I still have the fear after they decided to have him outwrestle AJ.

[SvN]

Shane just jumped off the cell again and it looked like an awful landing. Nowhere near as cushioned as his Wrestlemania leap.

[wullie]

I don't really like the gimmick PPVs as the matches seem shoehorned in but that tag match was ace. Nakamura's a lost cause now unless they arrange a Japan tour to follow up the trip to India.

[Queenslander]

They might as well rip up his contract so he can head back tp Japan.

What a waste.

[Disco]

Ugh, I don't want to watch.

I think this will be the end of my Network sub, the library is great and I love NXT but the dross that is the main roster is so bad. A decent match or two on a PPV is not enough, literally everything that's piqued my interest over the last year or so has been a raging disappointment.

[Lewis]

I've been getting LAST CHANCE renewal (I only had a trial) e-mails every week for about three months.

[Ian]

Shane just jumped off the cell again and it looked like an awful landing. Nowhere near as cushioned as his Wrestlemania leap.

I did spot that whatever bean bags there were were not nearly so colossal.

Tag match was ace, Jinder is oh what's the point, main event was way better than I expected. Though that was mostly because of the way they teased the big spot and then the ending.

[Disco]

Is Kofi Kingston turning into Chris Rock? Just listen to him when he's doing a promo.

[Queenslander]

Will Ospreay v Kushida for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

https://youtu.be/VPYt6YyIJjA

[wullie]

Shield reunion agenda

1. print t-shirts
2. hooooragh

[Browning]

That sounds like a fucking bizarre episode of RAW. Basically an extended 205 live.

[Queenslander]

Shield reunion agenda

1. print t-shirts
2. hooooragh

3. Please stop booing Roman

[Ian]

Adding Boatman to the Shield match means somebody has to look like an arsehole in defeat. Either the really strong team of Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro and Strowman lose with a colossal advantage or the Shield lose and you wonder why they bothered.

Fucking knows what they're up to with Wyatt now either.


That sounds like a fucking bizarre episode of RAW. Basically an extended 205 live.

Apparently they're putting all the Cruiser stuff on last because a) it pushes it but also b) because people are turning off for Monday Night Football anyway. I dunno if that actually works with the timings but if it does then it wouldn't surprise me. WWE has form for that sort of thing.

[Pleb]

Wasn't Boatman a Wyatt member before they realised he was better off tearing the roster up?

[wullie]

I don't find Finn Balor convincing on the mic, but it's to his credit that at no point he started laughing at Bray Wyatt pretending to be a girl with a sheet on his head.

[Browning]

You'd have thought a company whose female gimmicks are all shit like "I'm Ric Flair's daughter!", "I'm a boss... but in no way am I actually a boss" and "I wear goggles" would have used the character to actually give a Diva a personality but.... nope, let's just make it a bloke in drag. That always goes down well.

[Pleb]

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxing/conor-mcgregor-in-wwe-talks-as-ufc-superstar-is-lined-up-for-debut-at-wrestlemania-2018/ar-AAtgm7j?ocid=spartanntp

:cab:

[Weaver]

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan popped back up on Smackdown last night, rebranded as The Bludgeon Brothers, with MASSIVE club things in their hands.

Rumour has it that Neville has quit, but that’s not been confirmed by anyone yet.

[SvN]

Be a real shame if Neville has gone, it felt like he was really building up momentum. The timing seems odd for him to throw his toys out of the pram - presumably they had no plans for him to move to the main roster.

[Shindig]

Future GFW Champion forever.

[Baz]

Is there some kind of springboard beside the ring during Kalisto’s entrance, or does he legitimately jump from outside the ring, do a flip over the ropes and land in the ring?

[Disco]

:D

There's a springboard.

[Ian]

The Neville thing is disappointing. As SvN said, presumably he was told they weren't actually going to be treating him like a proper wrestler again, despite him deserving it.

[Disco]

It can't inspire much confidence when you look up the card and see how they're treating people who are much bigger names than you. Add that to what is happening with wrestlers coming though NXT (some in a second stint with the company) with no small amount of momentum and a few years in the indies selling merch and looking like a superstar must look pretty tempting.

[Ian]

Even if you ultimately still want to do the business in WWE then yeah, when you've got the talent just piss off for a few years and smash it elsewhere and you'll almost certainly have the option of coming back in a better position than when you left.

[Pleb]

:D

There's a springboard.
Sin Cara had one as well.

[Disco]

Yup, Rey used to get catapulted out of a hole in the ground for his entrance too, I think that was a little springboard of some kind.

[Ian]

Meanwhile Ahmed Johnson (hi, Cord !) used to do all his own stunt work while taking suicide dives to their logical conclusion.

[Shindig]

WWE's saturation of the market might just crash the whole thing, to be honest. I was reminded Austin Aries flounced off earlier in the year over similar reasons to Neville. "Man, it would be great if X was in the fed." And then they turn up on 205 live or some offshoot before pissing off.

Too much talent, not enough slots and then they do things like the UK Championship of the Mae Young Classic which just exacerbates it. Hell, the CWC begat the 205 Live debacle.

[Ian]

Me and Cord were talking about this on Steam the other day and he said it'd be amazing if WWE became a stepping stone to the indies until they sorted they shit out. And he's right. Guys turn up, make a buck and improve their reputation for a few years (a guy being underused is always better than the guy who's doing it in the mind of your common fan) and then goes on to do it with the little guys as a big name. Or NJPW if he's lucky. And then as I said above, if he's actually good and wants to go back to WWE the option will basically be his, even if he has to do a year in NXT.

But if he's ex-WWE and already knows "the style" then there's less need for that and they'd be loving the chance to exploit the return of a guy who's a bigger name.

But yeah, for all the bemoaning of the current product a lot of people seem to overlook that even their own personal biases aside there just isn't enough room for the amount of talent they currently have to be booked in the way everybody wants. That doesn't account for FUCKING JINDER, of course, but in terms of in-ring ability the standard is generally better than the most popular eras. And you'd think the mic-work would be less interminable, if less "polished", if they were given the freedom of previous eras too.

[Browning]

A month or 2 back I started watching Smackdown and 205 live (RAW was still too long for me to even attempt) but it only lasted a few weeks. I just realised that, despite paying for the network, I haven't even glanced at the last 2 PPVs, so I've cancelled it. What a load of shit it is these days. Hopefully the rebranded WCPW will stay good to give me something to watch.

[Weaver]

He’s back:
http://images.indianexpress.com/2017/10/kane-7592.jpg

The Shield vs The Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro, Strowman and Kane is now the main event for TLC.

It’ll be fun to see the Shield run through the majority of the top heels in one match.

[SvN]

I did mark out for Kane.

[Ian]

I have a deep and abiding love for Kane but even I reacted with a "Kane? Why?" before I remembered to be pleased to hear his music.

[Shindig]

When you think about big pops, he's fourth behind glass shattering, the rock smelling and the Taker chimes.

[Baz]

Imagine the pop CM Punk would get if they somehow kept it under wraps. :drool:

[Browning]

To avenge his brother who he spent 20 years trying to murder, obviously.

The what culture lot are back as Cultaholic.

[Ian]

I didn't realise Blampied was one of the ones who'd gone. I hope he gets back to doing How WWE Should (Have) Book(ed) under another name. Loved me some of them.

[Shindig]

Everybody left aside from Simon and his big arms. He also moonlights for a gaming site so he probably didn't bat an eye when it all went tits up.

[Disco]

The guy who did the leg work behind their magazine seems to working for someone else now too.

[Queenslander]

Brock V Jinder at Survivor Series has dusty finish written all over it.

[wullie]

Shame it's not in an open air arena, Brock could launch the Singh brothers into space.

[Ian]

https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2017/10/ad60818b5c1e5e45-600x400.jpg

[Browning]

Do WWE think the key difference between men and women is women have hairier faces?

[Browning]

Holy fucking shit. Angle is back and Balor is now facing Styles. :drool:

[Waffdon]

SHIIIELD

Get the milk out.

[Weaver]

Apparently this illness thing had started with viral meningitis and now quite a lot of the roster are being checked with mumps.

Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt have been ill, apparently JoJo the ring announcer is ill too. You’ve got to presume Roman Reigns is next.

Now is ‘Mumps’ going to be a baby face or a heel?

[Shindig]

He's the fourth face of Foley.

[Baz]

I hope JoJo is okay. :chief:

[wullie]

This is the most use they've ever got out of that 'card subject to change' disclaimer.

[Pleb]

So they bumped the Balor-Styles match to the main event then?

[Browning]

Is Styles going to be Sister Abigail?

[Shindig]

Neville should've waited a week and nabbed a title shot / reign. Plus he's MMR vaccinated, like all good British children.

[Ian]

Browning has asked the key question.

"The bad news, AJ, is we're committed now so you're definitely going to have to wrestle in drag."

[Shindig]

Which will go down well with the bible belt gay basher.

[Ian]

Well that was a bit of a state. The main event started well and was a good "Shield-style" high-tempo start, but the whole thing sagged way too much in the middle, relied too much on people having a five-minute kip after relatively little punishment and the bit where it was 5-on-2 was ridiculously tame just so they could make it more believable when Ambrose and Rollins fought back. I mean, you're talking about what's meant to be a bunch of brutal heels and they're holding their outnumbered opponents up so Sheamus can jump off the top for an axe-handle smash? C'mon.

And is Kane really back to give Strowman something to do?

At least Styles / Balor was good. Probably Balor's best WWE main roster match so far.