The Ultimate WWE Thread

[Browning]

Yea, I could have sworn I remembered a fair few back in the day, but I checked the last 3 years (excluding last night) and every year had 1 or 2, mostly women though.

[Disco]

The rule is, as ever, whatever they need it to be on the night.

[Baz]

It’s ridiculous how much I love watching Jon Moxley. His ring walk alone is more entertaining than any WWE I’ve watched in years.

Seeing him shrug off Darby Allin’s top rope crossbody with a big SUCK IT VINCE sign in the background was great.

[Disco]

It’s ridiculous how much I love watching Jon Moxley. His ring walk alone is more entertaining than any WWE I’ve watched in years.

Seeing him shrug off Darby Allin’s top rope crossbody with a big SUCK IT VINCE sign in the background was great.

He great, his G1 run in the summer was so good and his AEW stuff has been equally great. He's being used properly too, I love how he was on the show right after his match with Omega while Kenny had to have a week or two off.

Haven't caught up on WARGAMES yet and I have no intention of watching Survivor Series but it's great to see Keith Lee getting main roster opportunities.

[bruhnaldo]

I love how he was on the show right after his match with Omega while Kenny had to have a week or two off.

I think this Kenny Omega arch is really gonna be something if I'm honest.

The part where he turned back to the doctor and said "well uh... what about Mox?" and the doctor goes "oh well ya he was cleared" and then he kinda was like "oh...o...k.."

And now this whole kinda sure that PAC was the problem and beating him will make him feel better and more like himself but also seeming sorta not really sure and trying to convince himself that he did last week which will undoubtedly lead to Pac beating Omega and sending Kenny into some kinda interesting tailspin...

I think it's gonna be really good tbh. It'll all culminate in like a year or so in Kenny overcoming his demons and winning the title off whoever and instead of just feeling like they strapped Kenny up because he's Kenny Omega it'll feel like he actually accomplished something.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Watching the pre-show and I had forgotten just how annoying Lawler is.

Fuck me, why did they bring him back?

[Shindig]

One of our work newsletters came around today and it turns out the bloke who publishes it used to work for Impact. Ring announcer. I was genuinely impressed.

[Disco]

I think this Kenny Omega arch is really gonna be something if I'm honest.

The part where he turned back to the doctor and said "well uh... what about Mox?" and the doctor goes "oh well ya he was cleared" and then he kinda was like "oh...o...k.."

And now this whole kinda sure that PAC was the problem and beating him will make him feel better and more like himself but also seeming sorta not really sure and trying to convince himself that he did last week which will undoubtedly lead to Pac beating Omega and sending Kenny into some kinda interesting tailspin...

I think it's gonna be really good tbh. It'll all culminate in like a year or so in Kenny overcoming his demons and winning the title off whoever and instead of just feeling like they strapped Kenny up because he's Kenny Omega it'll feel like he actually accomplished something.

It does feel like it's going somewhere, which is about all you can expect at this stage.

[Ian]

Watching the pre-show and I had forgotten just how annoying Lawler is.

Fuck me, why did they bring him back?

He made a joke on Raw the other week which was met with a genuine 5 seconds of silence before Dio Madden (who I actually think is alright) said, "What does that even mean?"

I see Graves has nobbled Ranallo as well.

[bruhnaldo]

Watching the pre-show and I had forgotten just how annoying Lawler is.

Fuck me, why did they bring him back?

Because they're shook as fuck from AEW and trying to tap into that nostalgia thing that they're getting with Tony and JR.

[Ian]

It's not even that because they've been using him on and off for donkeys. It's just jobs for the boys, and probably afraid of what horrendous things he might admit he's done if he gets to speak freely elsewhere.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Finished Survivor Series and it was my first PPV SummerSlam (I also haven't watched RAW or SD for a couple of months now) and it was surprisingly decent.

Pre-show:

Tag Team Battle Royal was horseshit and I can't recall any Tag Team battle royal ever being any good. They also picked the worst possible winners which didn't help.

Cruiserweight Triple Threat, they weren't given enough time to really shine but I think they did well although it was clear that Lio Rush was going to retain.

Tag Team Champ Triple Threat, started a little slow but ended up as a really good match largely due to Undisputed Era.

MAIN SHOW:

Women's Survivor Series, I didn't like that they basically copied Wargames having Team Rhea lose two members but I thought it was fairly good overall. Would have been better as well had they not pulled the 'injury' thing with Io so quickly.

Secondary Championship match, I liked the crafty ending and I think Roddy added a lot to the AJ/Nakamura dynamic which struggled last year (or was it the year before).

Dunne/Cole, match of the night for me. I liked that they didn't just forget about their matches last night and had them operating 'injured' and the Panama Sunrise counter of the Bitter End was really well done.

Fiend/Bryan, only my second FIEND match and I still don't get it. I find the character very crap American SHOCK AND HORROR, it starts way too slow, the no-selling and the lightning all just don't work for me. The Bryan Yes Movement revival was done well and the crowd seriously rooting for him helped to not make it a complete disaster.

Men's Survivor Series, what the fuck were they doing wasting WALTER so much? Other than that it was probably the best Survivor Series match in a while.

Baroque/Rey, pointless.

Women's Triple, it felt so lethargic, lazy and slow. They leaned way too heavily on the triple threat trope of 2 in 1 out and it was just dull. Biggest dud on the main card by far.

[Queenslander]

Talk about wasting Walter the bloke is clearly over.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I could do with a proper WALTER v McIntyre match.

[Queenslander]

That match would have to be a classic surely?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's one of those matches that I hadn't thought about until they were both in the same ring on Sunday.

Such bullshit that they took the Austrian out so early.

[Queenslander]

Me neither but it makes sense to shift Drew to NXT UK for a bit to put over Walter. Walter being pinned first stinks of Vince or one of his off siders saying we will give you Keith but we get to squash your UK champion.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He probably thinks that no one would know him.

He thought the same about NXT for a long time (probably changing his mind when it moved to USA) too IIRC.

[Queenslander]

Yeah that makes sense. Walter over Lesnar at the next WM is my dream fantasy booking.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A motivated Lesnar against WALTER would be incredible.

[Ian]

You might as well say a unicorn against WALTER if that's your caveat.

Rollins heelturn was about due. Are the AOP going to be his new J&J? because if so that's a bit of an upgrade.

[Ian]

I actually think Raw was pretty decent last night. Not perfect by any stretch and I still wouldn't have wanted to sit and watch it live at it's full, flabby 3 hours but it had much more stuff I watched than usual.

We were talking about Lawler and he was better than he's been in Christ knows how long on Raw. Just him and Joseph and while there was nothing at the level of Lawler's heel work at his prime he still did a good job as a heel announcer last night.

[Browning]

I've obviously not watched a second of it, but from skimming the results it sounds like Rollins turned heel by 1) Telling a bunch of shit wrestlers that they're shit and then 2) Fighting KO, who people thought had turned heel the night before. Sounds pretty standard....

[Ian]

Last couple of Raws before Survivor Series there were signs of (especially against Carillo), then SS and last night's show basically confirmed it. It's been quite organic and actually coincided with shifting crowd reactions*. Obviously they'll turn him into a cackling bellend but it's been handled uncharacteristically well so far.

* I'm quite prepared to believe this is luck on WWE's part.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Speaking of Carrillo, Alvarez said this:

“Vince is done with Humberto Carrillo for the time being. He’s giving him the ‘Cedric Alexander.’ Like you’re still gonna see him on TV. I’m sure he’s gonna win here and there, but like it’s exactly like Cedric Alexander. He got a few weeks, Vince thought he wasn’t getting over, so he’s just — he’s done.”

[Ian]

Sounds about right.

Still Black who's getting treated the weirdest though. Was on TV constantly and over with O'Shea when they came up, started doing this sitting-in-a-dark-room thing and now seems to win every match he has but only wrestles once a month, if that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ranallo wont be at NXT tonight :moop:

Graves really is a fucking twat.

[Ian]

Yeah, he is.

[Ian]

1199894598853824512

Aha. :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1200594421483483138

Just me who thinks that's hideous? It seems to be getting rave reviews but I think it's absolute toilet water.

Oh and WWE are selling them for $6.5k...

[Shindig]

Where there's a mark, there's a buck.

[Disco]

Even within the realm of replica belts that is horrendous.

[Queenslander]

Im loving MLW atm Jacob Fatu is such strong champion.

The Opera Cup is on atm I recommend checking it out on youtube.

https://mlw.com/december-5-2019-opera-cup/

[Queenslander]

Peak NWO rubbish.


https://youtu.be/fncAyxe1c8E

[Ian]

So apparently TLC is less than a fortnight away. No matches announced and I'd struggle to even speculate what the card is going to look like. Rollins / LO I guess, Charlotte plus somebody (Becky?) vs. the Kabukis in a TLC probably, Lashley vs. Rusev.

Sounds great.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

THE FIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! vs Daniel 'I might say yes' Bryan too.

I wonder how many TLC shots he gets to no sell in red lighting. Under/over is set at 4.5.

[Ian]

I do quite like the slow burn face turn Bryan's doing even if it's entirely transparent how it's going to end.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Speaking of face turns.

I didn't watch Smackdown but I love that Elias and Lacey turned face with no build up (makes sense in Elias as he's been injured for a while so couldn't build to it) or real reason.

[Ian]

They've never really given Elias any build for any of his turns. See also: Keith (Orton, not Fat Keith) now seemingly being a face? Sort of? Maybe he's not really anything now and is just a "Keith."

[Disco]

Ciampa says he'll retire if he gets moved to the main roster. What a lad.

[bruhnaldo]

someone will buy that fiend belt and that makes me very sad.

[bruhnaldo]

Apparnetly AEW got blown out in the ratings last week which also makes me very sad because I feel like we are fucked.

We as in fans of AEW.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Apparnetly AEW got blown out in the ratings last week which also makes me very sad because I feel like we are fucked.

We as in fans of AEW.
NXT have taken it for the last 2 weeks now.

AEW is winning the 18-49 but NXT are smashing it with the 50+

[bruhnaldo]

I think I'm going to try to go to Dynamite in January in Miami, I just hope it's not one of the last shows smh.

[Disco]

Apparnetly AEW got blown out in the ratings last week which also makes me very sad because I feel like we are fucked.

We as in fans of AEW.

Because of one dodgy number? And if you look at the demographics they still just about 'won' the only age group TV/advertising people care about so it's not a disaster by any means.

Meanwhile NXT have been filling their episodes with main roster people, which isn't going to work forever (and actually has made the show worse in my opinion).

[Ian]

Filling is a bit of an exaggeration.

You're spot on about the age demo, though. The idea that is sometimes bandied about that NXT appeals to the yoof simply isn't true. It's pretty much the same people (demographic wise) who watch WWE, it seems.

[Disco]

It's wrestling, you're supposed to exaggerate. Which I did mainly because I hated the build to Wargames being ruined by all the Survivor Series rubbish, in that respect it felt like they spent too long concentrating on a show I was never going to watch.

AEW was also a bit guff last week and they pulled the same shit with this new group that they did with the Dark Order, the somewhat free pass I'm giving them for being a new promotion is wearing very thin.

[Ian]

My disdain for WarGames matches is enough that I actually preferred the Survivor Series matches.

And not just because of Fat Keith.

[bruhnaldo]

Why do ya'll not like Keith?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He loves Keith, as do we all for he is limitless.

[Ian]

Why do ya'll not like Keith?

Fat Keith (Lee) is great.

Randall Keith Orton I am bored of. As I assume we all are.

[Disco]

No-fucks-given-Randy Orton is a gift to wrestling. He so obviously doesn't care and it's amazing.

[Ian]

He's fine until they actually have him wrestle a match. Who was his last good one? AJ?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I lolled at his HIAC match with Jeff.

The earlobe pull was great.

[Ian]

The most he's enjoyed himself since I got back into it was when he was given apparently free license to do to the Singhs whatever the fuck he wanted.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Seems to be a theme with the wrestlers that can't be arsed anymore because Baroque loved flinging them across a ring.

Almost broke one of their necks too.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Kofi is now at over 1000 days as a WWE/F tag team champion in his career.

[Ian]

Not too shabby.

I love that since he got squashed by Brock you really wouldn't know that he'd ever been one of their world champions based on commentary and such.

[Disco]

Is Jinder Mahal still going?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Injured but has hinted that he might be ready for the Rumble.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Dio Maddin is officially not going back to RAW for commentary duty, he's gone back to the PC to focus on wrasslin.

Apparently that wasn't the plan but Samoa Joe has been doing so well that they want him continuing until he can wrestle again.

[Ian]

Joe is great. Surprise surprise.

WWE sort of maximising how they're wasting him here

[Shindig]

Taker's normal voice is so damn modest.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1203336792629563398

1203336804050644994

He's had a mare of a couple of months.

[Gray Fox]

https://i.gyazo.com/1347774e92cb82aff104ed8eb5f9fc30.png

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Luke Harper, Sin Cara and The Ascension (who I didn't know were still employed) have been released.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Also, the match between Miz and Bray at TLC will be a non-title with Bray as the Firefly host not The Fiend.

[Smjffy]

I just Googled to see when the TLC PPV is but then I saw what you lot probably already know. Bray ripped out Bryan's hair? :confused:

[Smjffy]

Luke Harper, Sin Cara and The Ascension (who I didn't know were still employed) have been released.

Sin Cara should have been released years ago. I don't understand they can keep someone like him who adds nothing but quite happy to future endeavour someone like Damien Sandow. Luke Harper should go to whatever the other brand is and run roughshed over everyone as I think he's underrated.

I find the whole thing so boring though which is a shame as I would like to like it once more.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I only watch the main roster PPV's (and even then I skip some) because it's terrible.

NXT though is fucking great.

[Ian]

https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/finn-balor-keith-lee.gif

:D

He is amazing.

[Ian]

Bate vs. Ohno from NXT UK a couple of weeks ago was very good. Not quite Bate/Walter but it's a valid comparison because of the structure and pacing of the match.

[Ian]

I know NXT tend to give guys mixed results in their matches, have them build others up and appear to be doing little with them until they suddenly have something ready for them (Keith Lee being a prime example) but I see the NXT results and the Cameron Grimes booking seems particularly odd.

He had a few weeks of quick wins and essentially a one-hit-kill finisher and now has had a couple of quick defeats back to back. Bit strange.

Also didn't expect O'Shango to be winning last night. I was sure it'd be Lee to go through and be the loser against Cole next week or whenever it is.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1205663429824012288

:D

lol

[Smjffy]

TLC tonight but the card looks absolutely awful. Mostly tag matches too from my quick gander.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The only match that actually excites me is Buddy Murphy v Aleister Black.

Viking Warriors v TBA could be good too if they pick the right team to face them and they actually give the match the time it needs. I assume it will be against The Street Profits which is a good team but they sort of ruined it by making them lose fairly quickly on RAW.

[Ian]

You know the card isn't even so much bad, to me, so much as it just feels deeply uninspired. Which is somehow worse than something they'd given an earnest go but just looked balls.

Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin - Will probably be fine right up until it becomes an overbooked arsefest. These two are fine-to-good but the feud is awful and it feels like we've seen these two a billion times.

New Day vs. The Revival - Should be good, maybe even great if they get the time, but as much as I'd like this to be what New Day /Usos was as a series this doesn't feel like it has much build behind it.

Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz - Only thing I'm interested in here is, if he's starting as Funhouse Bray as the name on the card suggests compared to previous ones, exactly how long does it take for Miz to start to get the upper hand, lights go out and a quick costume change for Miz to get fisted by the Fiend.

Black vs. Murphy - I hope this gets the time to make it great because it could be and I've even enjoyed the relatively restrained build. Give 'em 15 minutes and leave them to it. if it's good then Murphy won't suffer from the inevitable defeat.

Kabuki Warriors vs. Lynch and Flair - The kabukis are obviously losing to set up some future Lynch / Flair feud here but unlike the above they won't gain anything from this. They've already been booked to struggle to beat these two separately in handicaps so what hope do they have? It'll have its moments and I want an Insane Elbow off the top of a ladder but it will ultimately be a waste of time.

Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley - In an alternate reality these two get 10-15 minutes to have a gloriously hard hitting match. In this one, sadly, they'll have an overbooked shiter in front of a largely dead crowd (unless they get going for Rusev) and Lashley's probably going to incorrectly be given the win. A waste of both of their time.

Fridge Raiders vs. TBD - Who knows. get mullered by AOP maybe? I'd love to see that feud but not just as an excuse to move the titles to AOP immediately because they're in a big storyline now.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It is as Funhouse Bray and it isn't for the title so utterly meaningless.

I'm guessing Bray gets squashed, Fiend change happens and it sets up a title match next go round.

[Smjffy]

The only match that actually excites me is Buddy Murphy v Aleister Black.



I didn't know who either of them are but this Black fella has got to be hurting. Jesus.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Cena is getting all the marks worked up by posting that he needs to keep the streak (wrestling on at least 1 PPV a year since 2002) going and TLC is the last PPV this year.

[Smjffy]

He has not wrestled at all this year then?

It's all a bit meh but the best season is en route. Royal Rumble, baby! :cool:

[Smjffy]

That's never Rusev?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He has not wrestled at all this year then?

It's all a bit meh but the best season is en route. Royal Rumble, baby! :cool:

He's made a few appearances and I think he's had a match on RAW/SD but he hasn't wrestled at a PPV this year. Was scheduled to be in the Rumble at the start of the year but he was filming so withdrew to 'injury'.

[wullie]

Daniel Bryan looks at least 10 years younger with a trim and shave, a lesson for all the scruffs out there.

[Ian]

That main event seemed sloppy as fuck (happy with the result though) and there was a lot of meh going on in general but I did really enjoy Black and Murphy, as expected.

Also lolled at it taking about 12 people for Jezza to beat Reigns.


It is as Funhouse Bray and it isn't for the title so utterly meaningless.

I'm guessing Bray gets squashed, Fiend change happens and it sets up a title match next go round.

Well, we both got that wrong.

[Ian]

Actually what the show really needed was Lawler talking about KFC more. I think that's where it fell down.

[Smjffy]

Anyone else catch his reference to Asuka and her partner? Kabuki Warrior one or two or words that that effect. :D Racist fuck.

[Ian]

Ever since they brought Lawler back Joseph and Madden (now Joe) largely ignore him. He was making jokes about Aleister Black's tattoos and they were paying him no heed at all. Like a drunk uncle everybody just tolerates because you can't really kick him out of the house.

Joseph and Tonga Jeff are a decent combo even if Joseph sounds like Mini Maggle.

[Browning]

Read the results after not following all month. TLC is an odd name for a house show.

[Disco]

I got an Observer sub when it was on offer for £3 to see what it's like. The radio shows are probably worth it but the newsletter itself must be an acquired taste. It reads like Meltzers stream of wrestling consciousness, I dread to think what the print version is like.

[Ian]

I've only seen / heard a couple of clips and he comes across exactly how you'd expect a guy who worked obsessively hard on a wrestling newsletter in his youth would.

[Browning]

I like Dave. I think he gets a bad rep for just being honest. I’m sorry but not every WWE match should get five (six...) stars. That said I’ve only listened to the odd video from him, no idea what the newsletter would be like.

[Disco]

I like a lot of their output and the more you read/hear the sillier it makes his critics look. But by god does the man need an editor.

[Ian]

Who, that isn't a swivel-eyed loon, honestly gives a shit about his ratings for WWE matches and how biased he is or is not? I think he probably underrates the average WWE main roster match by a small amount and overrates some NXT stuff a little but his tastes are clearly just different to mine. I don't auto-fellate when a Japanese man tries to shatter his own neck, for example. And even the NXT ones he adores tend to be different to my favourites because he clearly likes something a bit more indieriffic.

I'm not sure who you're arguing against that "not every WWE match should get five stars" because it's patently not anybody on here or who can walk and breathe at the same time. What debased corners of the IWC are you exposing yourself to?

Also in looking at matches he has given five stars to I might have to seek out Walter vs ZSJ in PWG a couple of years ago. PWG isn't always my bag but I like both of them a lot.

Back on Dave as an individual, I've never listened to him and Alvarez properly, only clips of him in interviews and his Stone Cold Podcast appearance and I just find him a bit odd.

[Browning]

I just seems that the man is hated for not giving every match (which is an exaggeration, it’s probably more like one match per PPV) 5 stars. There are some obvious ones that should have got it, Taker vs HBK springs to mind, but I just find it incredible when grown adults get so angry that he gave something average 4 stars. I don’t watch any NJPW and never have so I can’t comment on if he over rated it, but if he does, who cares?

It’s also like because people disagree with his ratings they go out of their way to discredit his “scoops” and make themselves look like even bigger idiots because he’s usually right.

[Ian]

I get that it's his thing now and it would be foolish to change it but I'd go the RPS route with their game reviews and not give stuff a number or a grade at the end. Because honestly why would you bother?

I tend to use Csonka's reviews on 411Mania and Brian Zane who I like for different reasons but in both cases I pay very little attention to the number they're giving.

I don't imagine the anti-Dave angries will enjoy whatever he's going to give last night's matches because it really wasn't very good.

Apparently Kairi Sane picked up a concussion and possibly quite early in the main event, which is possibly why she was struggling to throw some chairs into the ring... that whole bit of the match was veeeeery strange.

[Disco]

Webly hit the nail on the head when he described him as exactly the sort of person you would expect to have been running an exhaustive wrestling newsletter out of his garage for forty years.

He goes to no effort (not that I'm saying he should) to explain a couple of things that lead to a lot of people who aren't subscribers giving him grief. His rating system has no ceiling and never has, people expect a rating system that never went above 5 to top out at 5 and some of them get irate when a match in a promotion they don't watch gets more than that. And his star ratings are based somewhat on personal opinion but more than anything he bases it off the crowd reaction and how well the match goes down in the building (this is where the perceived Japanese bias comes from I think). There's also a decent slice of american fan(boi)s who have only ever watched WWE and think it's the only way to do wrestling, they get rather irate when someone says the highest quality matches/booking take place elsewhere.

[Browning]

Strangely, I never watched Zane during my actual watching WWE years and even when I only watched PPVs and used recaps for the weekly shows I rarely touched his stuff, but now that I’m done completely, I find him the only bearable way to know what’s going on.

[Ian]

The bit about it being partly based on how it goes down live is interesting.

I know even just from what little I've seen (and even a couple of WWE Network events in Japan) that Japanese crowds react differently. Would you say from what you've seen they're less fickle?

Because dead crowds really take me out of it as well and ever since I got back into watching WWE a few years ago I find that some crowds just sound impossible to please. Using last night as an example, even in the first few matches when the action was solid they really didn't seem up for even trying to get into it, which if I'd spent whatever they have going I'd at least be showing some willing before the show actually went to shit. Black and Murphy got more out of them as it went along (and they popped for the Black Mass) but that was about it. And what show was it recently..... might have been the Raw the week before last (I think) that was actually a pretty good show and the crowd just didn't respond to aaaaaanything.

I get that you should / might go into a WWE live show with a due sense of trepidation at what quality you're about to get but if you're not going along even planning to try and give it a fair shake then don't bother going at all.

[Ian]

Strangely, I never watched Zane during my actual watching WWE years and even when I only watched PPVs and used recaps for the weekly shows I rarely touched his stuff, but now that I’m done completely, I find him the only bearable way to know what’s going on.

Yeah I really like him. Clearly trying to be positive but not to the point of being blind to their flaws and is pretty level-headed.

I tried to watch some Cultaholic but couldn't really get into it. Their "pitches" ones are okay but I largely find their presenters a bit annoying. A shame Blampied had to go and be a dickhead because his How WWE Should / Should Have Booked videos were great. The muscly fella on Cultaholic tried to do one and it was a bit crap. Haven't even checked if he's done more since.

[Shindig]

OSW's latest has me wondering if Bret Hart should've turned his hand to booking. Unless he can only book his family.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Is it worth watching TLC other than the Black/Murphy match?

[Ian]

The New Day vs. The Revival was decent enough but in a way that you wouldn't remember much specific about it a month from now. Kofi has some nice spots where he's clearly warming up his balance antics for the Rumble next month.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A 50 minute gauntlet match that had no winner and no point as the prize for winning was always going to Seth sounds fun.

Well done RAW.

[Ian]

That is some special booking by normal standards, pretty run of the mill for WWE. It had a few of their favourite things to be honest:
- Whole point of a match taken away? Well none of them got the prize so yeah.
- Bullshit ending contrived for that particular match? Roger.
- Wrestlers with daft motivations? Double whammy! Andrade for having no interest in winning the match and Rollins for his big heel turn beginning by him aiming his sights lower than he has all year in the name of REVENGE? Alright.

O'Shea was great in the match though. And Umberto delivers a great moonsault.

And Rollins promos are much better now he's a heel again. I like what they're doing with him so far.

Anyway, decided to try and do my matches of the decade (no particular order):
- Bate vs. Dunne (Takeover Chicago)
- Bate vs. WALTER
- HBK vs. The Undertaker
- AOP vs. Revival vs. DIY (there were a lot of NXT tag matches around this time that I could've gone for but I've plumped for this.
- Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins (The first or one of the first matches to be built around letting Lesnar have a good long lie down but I absolutely love it.)

[igor_balis]

Okay, long term Dave listener here. He's an absolutely incredible journalist, but his HOT TAKEZ on the current WWE product/match star ratings etc really aren't his best work.

Whilst his match reviews and ratings are fine, they're also inherently massively biased (duh) towards his own personal preferences, e.g. he fucking loves 40 minute flipathons with a million false finishes, but he can appreciate a match elevated by the story/context etc (e.g. he gave Cena vs CM Punk 5 stars at money in the bank 2011, despite it being a pretty untechnical, clumsy match).

He's basically just a really really great old school print journalist - the hours he spends researching, watching wrestling, talking to his contacts etc is just fucking mental, and his knowledge of wrestling history and minutia is probably better than anyone else, but he's basically forced to do the podcasts etc cus, as far as i can tell, that's where he gets the bulk of his money. People (myself included) will pay a monthly fee to hear him and Alvarez talk shite, but absolutely wouldn't be arsed to do it for the actual OBSERVER.

This isn't helped by the fact that within minutes of each issue being released, kwl-wrestling-newz.com etc will have already released all the hot gossip themselves for free on twitter, and obviously having actual unique breaking news in a weekly publication is hard these days anyway.

I mean, Dave is a pretty odd dude, but still a pretty decent audio journalist, as long as he's being well managed by his co-host/interviewer etc. The Lapsed Fan podcast did an episode for each Wrestlemania, and managed to somehow get Dave to come on and answer questions about historical context/clarify rumours etc for a solid 20+ mins for each one, and it's possibly my favourite journalism of any kind EVER, albeit helped massively by the host Jack Encarnacao asking great questions, and politely cutting him off when he starts veering into irrelevant shit anecdote mode. It's brilliant. Tho I guess plenty of people will just be exposed to 5 minute segments of Dave being asked shit questions on other podcasts and answering badly, or his admittedly pretty bizarre match ratings.

[igor_balis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSt-vig2CAc&list=PL-TY3zgtW3AsUCiLPCthjKzXmuCJHmqSZ

here's WM1

well worth listening to the eps for the WMs you care about, it's amazing stuff

[Ian]

Might need to give them a go.

[Disco]

The bit about it being partly based on how it goes down live is interesting.

I know even just from what little I've seen (and even a couple of WWE Network events in Japan) that Japanese crowds react differently. Would you say from what you've seen they're less fickle?

Because dead crowds really take me out of it as well and ever since I got back into watching WWE a few years ago I find that some crowds just sound impossible to please. Using last night as an example, even in the first few matches when the action was solid they really didn't seem up for even trying to get into it, which if I'd spent whatever they have going I'd at least be showing some willing before the show actually went to shit. Black and Murphy got more out of them as it went along (and they popped for the Black Mass) but that was about it. And what show was it recently..... might have been the Raw the week before last (I think) that was actually a pretty good show and the crowd just didn't respond to aaaaaanything.

I get that you should / might go into a WWE live show with a due sense of trepidation at what quality you're about to get but if you're not going along even planning to try and give it a fair shake then don't bother going at all.

I'm probably going to sound a complete wanker trying to answer this but I'll give it a go. Japanese crowds are a lot quieter for the most part but I think that's more of a cultural thing, they are definitely harder to get going but they tend to get more excited as the show goes on. That's not an accident either, the shows build to the main event which will almost always be the most popular guys or the biggest current storyline. The crowd follows the arc of the show and vice versa. I don't think that's the case in the WWE, there's too many meaningless matches that end inconclusively or just get repeated ad nauseam. Storylines peter out or are just forgotten, guys get pushed one week then dropped the next or simply overshadowed by one of the owners. The crowd has no idea what's going on because they've been taught not to care, there's no reward for following closely so you just end up getting excited for the high spots and not much else. That's how you fuck your crowd up. Vince has always said that they don't do wrestling (he says Sports Entertainment but I prefer Meat Opera) and I absolutely agree with him, they just use wrestlers to play the roles.

[Ian]

https://whatculture.com/wwe/wwe-edit-dean-ambroses-name-out-of-shield-debut

Vince McMahon really is the world's pettiest man.

[Ian]

Sounds like Ripley / Baszler was a bit of a banger to cap off an already excellent-sounding episode last night.

[Ian]

NXT was as good as the reviews suggested and Ripley / Baszler was a brilliant ending. Helped, as discussed the other day, by the crowd being massively up for it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I just watched last weeks and that Garza/Rush match was brilliant.

Not too sure about Balor getting a shot at Cole (Goldie should have gone home for Christmas) but that triple threat was also great.

[Ian]

Neither Balor or Cole do much for me so that wasn't a match I was looking forward to but I really enjoyed it.

This is one thing where NXT crowds not giving a shit about face/heel alignments works because they were still hot for it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1207962353867919361

:D

Best pure striker in the game.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Also, Fandango has had Tommy John surgery and will be out for 7+ months.

It's a surgery that usually only MLB pitchers have and they're usually out for 12-18 months but the hope is that because he wont be needing to throw balls at 90mph+ that the recovery will be quicker. Batters who have it usually are out for 7-9 months.

Sucks as the Fasion Police have been great since 'dropping down' to NXT.

[Ian]

You watched this week's NXT yet, 'How?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Cole v Balor finished how I thought it would but it was very good and by far the best I've personally seen of Balor.

Also, that Grimes/Kushida match was ruined by Grimes clearly kicking out way too late (it was a three) from that near fall. Not sure about Kushida losing to Grimes too.

Banks v Dunne :drool:

I had the outcome of Ripley/Baszler spoiled for me but it was still awesome. Rhea is a genuine star.

[Disco]

I liked how annoyed Trevor Lee was at having his hat stolen.

[Disco]

NJPW free Monday match is one of the first strong style matches I watched that got me hooked. Suzuki vs Goto in a hair match, if you don't want to watch the whole thing at least skip to the finish (about here https://youtu.be/ZvA_YR0pBoE?t=1321 ) and watch the best reaction to losing a hair match ever.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvA_YR0pBoE&t=0s

[Ian]

If anybody's still not seen it the Andrew doc is on Sky Atlantic this evening.

[phonics]

Jeff Gerstmann has gone through every character in WWE2K20 and ranked how bad they are. This is why I pay this man 40 dollars a year. To do this dumb shit.


https://youtu.be/OP7nLWzZ3Wk

[randomlegend]

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/eftsnb/d/

:D

Sorry for linking the whole thread, doesn't seem you can directly link the video.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1210037326568738816

Oh fuck.

[phonics]

It’s mad how big wrestling is. I was walking around Ledbury with the parents buying Christmas food and the only poster you can see isn’t for a gig or theatre, it’s for the wrestling. No stars. No names. Just blokes.

[Queenslander]

Walter better pin Cole in the middle of the ring.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1210034093410390016

Really liked the look of Austin Theory and Shotzi Blackheart too.

[Ian]

I've not watched any of this week's yet but I heard that Austin Theory was pretty solid.

[Gray Fox]

Lars Sullivan is trending on Twitter and I implore anyone to avoid checking why.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1211094297568776192

:lol:

[Ian]

Alright so they need to give his return long enough that fans won't chant Mitch at him....

[Ian]

Ah, I see Boatman has now officially become the Big Show:
https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2019/12/419e222c1bd9a40a-600x338.jpg

Can't for them to try and pitch him as an uncaring destroyer again.

[Disco]

Alright so they need to give his return long enough that fans won't chant Mitch at him....

So in about forty years then. Americans will forget the racism but not this I don't think.

[Ian]

:D

Fair.

[Ian]

1211261786927902721

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's fake.

[Ian]

Yeah I googled it before I posted it and couldn't see anything, it just amused me.

[7om]

https://twitter.com/joey61775279/status/1211179906144575488?s=21

[Ian]

:D

[Queenslander]

Mitch is going to off himself sooner rather than later.

[Ian]

You weren't paying attention to the video. Other people get him off.

[Ian]

A surprise lesbian angle was exactly what this Lana / Rusev / Lashley story needed. Great writing.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Masters at work.

[Gray Fox]

This must be that good shit that Vince was on about.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://sport.bt.com/wwe/nxt-and-nxt-uk-join-raw-and-smackdown-on-bt-sport-the-new-uk-home-of-the-wwe-S11364421557178

NXT and NXT UK are officially going to BT Sport.

[Ian]

:sick:

[Pleb]

Still on the network I hope? :moop:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Riddle and Dunne is a seriously intriguing partnership.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Baroque entering the Rumble and at 1.

He's the champ and should he go the distance (he has to) then he'll have wrestled for longer in one night than he does in most years.

[Ian]

"Wrestled." He'll put out entrants 2, 3 and 4, perhaps, then shenanigans will see him put through an announce table and he'll have a kip for most of the rest of the match.

He'll be in the last two with whoever they're having face him at Mania. Given Brock's character is basically him and mostly about doing as little as he possibly has to putting him in this makes absolutely zero sense but I guess they're building to something. Probably. Sounds like it was a decent enough show.

[Disco]

Things you should absolutely watch from WK weekend:

Okada / Ibushi - Best. Match. Ever. Which is getting old at this point but it is the best so what can I do?
Naito / White
Okada / Naito - Second or third best match of the weekend but far and away the best spectacle, mainly down to the crowd.
(In this order so it makes sense but you could skip Naito / White if you want)

Ospreay / Hiromu - The most amazing thing about this is that a match this good can be overshadowed by two or three others.
Tanahashi / Jericho - Probably the most accessible match for those less familiar with NJ.

Ligers retirement ceremony from New Years Dash if only for Tanahashi blubbing like a baby and the lovely bit with Ligers wife and son.

[Ian]

Might watch a few so I can say I've given it another try. I suppose eventually there'll be a 78-star omgbestmatchevar that I'll get into enough to give a shit about.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I wonder if Big Show has turned heel yet.

[bruhnaldo]

he was apparently on last night tho i'm guessing you knew that

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah as a face and it's almost been 24 hours since then.

He must be getting itchy.

[Gray Fox]

They're going to have Reigns and Lesnar as the last 2 and then build it to Wrestlemania again aren't they?

[Ian]

I think Reigns will be the one to topple Wyatt after 78 Spears. No idea who Bork's getting.

[Ian]

I love that people have put Lesnar's Rumble news and murmurings of Edge doing a match together and come up with them two at Mania.

Because that's what you want, a man with a history of neck issues facing ago who has the German suplex as about 40% of his moveset.

[wullie]

https://i.imgur.com/m5TfRfz.png

Fucking hell

[Ian]

Only a small number of quads were injured in the making of this post.

[Ian]

Calm down, Phil.

https://i.imgur.com/YOOkPPu.jpg?1

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah Phil, that's Vince's job.

[Queenslander]

Phil is a bore.

[Ian]

Fat Keith. :drool:

That main event was heaps of fun to cap off an episode that had already been pretty good. The UK Takeover card for this weekend is looking pretty decent.

[Queenslander]

Dirt shirts reporting that WWE want Jay White. Surely he would just get lost in 205/NXT shuffle unless they put him with Balor...

[Ian]

Depending if he's being thought of for NXT or Raw/Smackdown you may already have put more thought into it than WWE have. If it's Raw / Smackdown then they'd be trying to sign him for no other reason than stopping others have him. They can worry about the specifics of ruining his career later.

[Ian]

How do you manage a double post that far apart? :D

[Queenslander]

:D Put my phone down picked it back up and it still had the text box unsent.

[Queenslander]

Depending if he's being thought of for NXT or Raw/Smackdown you may already have put more thought into it than WWE have. If it's Raw / Smackdown then they'd be trying to sign him for no other reason than stopping others have him. They can worry about the specifics of ruining his career later.

He would just Balor Mk2 surely.

[Ian]

I'll take your word for it, I've never seen him.

[Disco]

I see they have Balor / Dragunov at this NXT thing at the end of the month.

Dragunov is great and I shall bang on about him like I did with Fat Keith until everyone agrees.

[Disco]

He would just Balor Mk2 surely.

I reckon he'd sink without a trace in WWE.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I see they have Balor / Dragunov at this NXT thing at the end of the month.

Dragunov is great and I shall bang on about him like I did with Fat Keith until everyone agrees.
I haven't seen much of him but his match against Cesaro was fantastic.

I really need to get back to watching UK after their Takeover.

[Ian]

I feel like whenever I watch UK that it has a much broader mix of talent levels but there're definitely some good people there.


Dragunov is great and I shall bang on about him like I did with Fat Keith until everyone agrees.

The current focus on Big Fat Keith is the best thing about NXT in ages, and I really like NXT.

[Disco]

I haven't seen much of him but his match against Cesaro was fantastic.

I really need to get back to watching UK after their Takeover.

One of my favourite matches of last year but it suffered from being on the same card as Walter / Bate.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I feel like whenever I watch UK that it has a much broader mix of talent levels but there're definitely some good people there.



The current focus on Big Fat Keith is the best thing about NXT in ages, and I really like NXT.

I didn't like that they were pushing out multiple episodes each week near the start. It was annoying being so far behind because of that.

[Ian]

Not keen on the sound of the Walter / Coffey match last night or the way they booked Walter to need help from his goons in a match nobody really expected him to lose.

[Ian]

Impact making Tessa Blanchard their champion is an interesting move.

[bruhnaldo]

They really wanted that publicity that bad lol

[Shindig]

Their crowd numbers aren't great to look at. AEW's not much better.

[bruhnaldo]

Speaking of I'll be popping in at AEW on Wednesday :drool:

[phonics]

1216931815874879488

Honestly, one of the best spots I've ever seen.

[Disco]

Jesus he only just makes that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

David Benoit wants to wrestle for AEW or NJPW as Chris Benoit Jr using his old theme music and ring gear.

LOL.

[Queenslander]

Throw the cheque book at him!

[Shindig]

How fucking small time. :D

[Disco]

He was Pegasus Kid in NJ so that might work, the rest is all a bit creepy.

[Baz]

I absolutely LOVE IT that AEW bought the “Bash At The Beach” trademark after WWE let it expire. :lol: Looking forward to the event too.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They let it expire over 10 years ago. Cody bought the trademark last year saying it wouldn't be used by AEW...

[Ian]

Is Graves doing A Thing with his constant digs at Raw or does he just quite fancy getting sacked?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I think he's trying to be EDGY as a way to promote his shit podcast.

[Ian]

Booker T has said that Impact making Tessa Blanchard their world champion is "the worst idea in the history of wrestling."

I'm trying to think how long a list of the worst things just WWE has done would have to be before making a woman its champ would feature but I'm confident it wouldn't break a top 20. Chuck in the madness of the rest of the industry and you're probably talking top 50.

[Browning]

If LOLTNA is still around, almost everything on that list would be worse. Granted there’s controversy around her, but I doubt even then it’s cracking even the top 500 industry wide. He’s insane.

[Queenslander]

How many black WWE Heavyweight World Champions have there been?

[Ian]

The Rock. Kofi.

.....

Is that it?

EDIT: Obviously not, as soon as I hit send I forgot Booker and of course Mark Henry in Hall of Pain mode. :cool:

[Browning]

Arguably even Dwayne doesn’t count. Many considered Kofi the first.

If you include their other “world titles” there’s a couple more.

[Queenslander]

The Rock. Kofi.

.....

Is that it?

EDIT: Obviously not, as soon as I hit send I forgot Booker and of course Mark Henry in Hall of Pain mode. :cool:

Henry and Booker were just the old WCW heavyweight title holders.

I mean Hogans belt.

[Ian]

Arguably even Dwayne doesn’t count. Many considered Kofi the first.

His dad was African-Canadian. He's black/Samoan. For me he definitely counts.

[Ian]

Watching NXT and this opening tag between Dunne / Riddle and Webster / Andrews is really good fun and has a lot of cool tag spots.

EDIT: That whole episode was great, including the battle royale, and I normally get very quickly bored of non-Rumble variants of those.

My only minor concern with that is that I think Belair genuinely has the potential to be one of the best women in the company and this is her already going into her second world title match that she's really, really obviously not going to win.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just watched Blackpool II and it was very good.

Favourite match was Bate (doing what he does again) and Devlin, least favourite was the main event. A little overbooked, too much stable noncery, too long and they didn't make me believe that Coffey could win at any time during the match.

The post-match UE stuff was done very well though.

[Ian]

I may only bother with Bate / Devlin but I do need to watch at least that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I may only bother with Bate / Devlin but I do need to watch at least that.

I enjoyed every match bar the main event tbh. I rank them as:

1: Bate/Devlin
2: Ladder match
3: Women's
4: Dennis/Seven
5: Main event.

During the commentary of the women's match McGuiness said that someone once told him that Kay Lee Ray is the Scottish Sabu and it's quite apt. Every single time I watch her she seems to mess up a spot ever so slightly that results in her taking a huge bump. I'm stunned she didn't break her neck during a top rope senton. She's going to fuck herself up bad one day.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Watching NXT and this opening tag between Dunne / Riddle and Webster / Andrews is really good fun and has a lot of cool tag spots.

EDIT: That whole episode was great, including the battle royale, and I normally get very quickly bored of non-Rumble variants of those.

My only minor concern with that is that I think Belair genuinely has the potential to be one of the best women in the company and this is her already going into her second world title match that she's really, really obviously not going to win.
I've just watched the tag match, great stuff. Riddle/Dunne look like a perfect pairing.

Loved the shooting star press countered with a right hand by Dunne.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1217637985048580096

:D

ffs.

Edit: I'm also surprised they got Shayna in for the battle royal. I didn't think we'd see her in any ring until Royal Rumble (and see her win to move her onto the main roster).

[Disco]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4wqqFXZxXY

[Smjffy]

I got all excited that the Royal Rumble was tonight and that I have tomorrow off. Imagine my disappointment I found out it's next week instead. :moop:

I haven't seen what sort of card to expect but then the Rumble itself is the only reason to tune in.

[Pleb]

Bork is winning it.

[Gray Fox]

Brock will enter at #1 then sleep outside the ring for most of it, then #30 Roman Reigns will be the one to throw him out with shenanigans and then BUILD to Mania.

[Ian]

Bork is winning it.

Nah.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Brock will enter at #1 then sleep outside the ring for most of it, then #30 Roman Reigns will be the one to throw him out with shenanigans and then BUILD to Mania.

This.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Bork is winning it.

He absolutely is not. They're doing this to try and HYPE up the WM fight even more.

If he wins what would they do? Let Bork get a free pass at Mania? No. Unify the titles? No. Let him pick an opponent? No.

[Gray Fox]

And this will be their 4th(?) attempt at it I think. About a 6th Mania main event for Reigns too.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

4th singles I think, yeah.

[Ian]

I had it in my head that Reigns would be toppling the Fiend bit maybe that'll be Bryan.

I don't think they'll do him and Bork again. But then nobody who actually sells gets a push so it's hard to know who else it'd be.

[Browning]

Brock vs Reigns as the mania main event would be fucking ridiculous.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Imagine the over/under for finishers landed though :drool:

[Ian]

I reckon if they're careful fans would be more receptive to Reigns in the title scene again but they will absolutely shit all over it again of they suddenly throw him in the main event against Baroque.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

A lot of people are jumping on the Drew train for the Rumble largely because of his face turn but I can't see it.

He's quickly moving into Braun territory.

[Ian]

Only saving grace so far is that he's not lost every important match like Braun has. But only because he hasn't had any.

I'd be up for him hoofing Bork's face off though.

[Disco]

Don't worry, if he's going to main event a big show you can be sure he'll be losing some matches in the run up. Someone will beat Strowman though, Vince still thinks beating a giant is enough of a build.

[Browning]

Personally I’ll be shocked if the main event is anything other than Lana vs Liv Morgan.

[Ian]

Lana on a pole match between Morgan and Lashley.

[bruhnaldo]

Speaking of I'll be popping in at AEW on Wednesday :drool:

I had a wonderful time!

[Ian]

I've barely been to any live wrestling. I've got a couple of friends who go to ICW and they reckon it's a good laugh so I should probably go with them one time.

[phonics]

It's a totally different experience but well worth going to IMO.

I'm off to Hoodslam in July.

http://thepioneeronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IMG_0957.jpg

Yes that is Dan from Street Fighter versus a Mortal Kombat ninja.

[Ian]

:D

I definitely won't be going to WWE again any time soon over here. Or at least if I did decide to do it I'd go to a house show because sitting through all the shite for a Raw taping was torturous. There are only so many ads for Total Bellas one man can put up with.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've never been to one. Our local was Southside Wrestling but they merged with Revolution Pro.

They have an event in February which features Rhyno :drool:

[Ian]

Rev Pro's pretty decent is it not? I mean apparently ZSJ is still their champion and I'd go just to see him if he was on a show you could get to.

[Disco]

I've been to a Raw house show and had a great time, NXT as well (even in Plymouth).

Phonics is right, it's such a different experience live. I never really *got* Tanahashi as I hadn't watched him at his real peak but he was absolutely electric live. Ospreay too, he seemed inhumanly fast when we were in the building.

I'd probably go to almost any promotion if they came down this way very much. I certainly think ICW would be a hoot, you should give it a go.

[Browning]

I’ve been to a house show and wouldn’t do it again. Pointless matches you’ve seen 30 times on TV with zero chance of a title change (but they insist on putting the belt on the line) just isn’t for me.

Went to 3 TV tapings which were infinitely better but with the state of “the product” means I couldn’t do that again either most likely.

I went to WCPW a fair few times along with whatever that fed was that did Ospreay vs Dunne. Indy wrestling with Ospreay on the card is about all I can stomach now.

[phonics]

You don’t go watch wrestling for storyline development.

[SvN]

I've been to wrestling live once, and it was brilliant. It helped that it was a great episode of Raw. Not sure I'd ever do a house show.

[bruhnaldo]

:D

I definitely won't be going to WWE again any time soon over here. Or at least if I did decide to do it I'd go to a house show because sitting through all the shite for a Raw taping was torturous. There are only so many ads for Total Bellas one man can put up with.

Ironically when I went to the Raw after Mania a few years ago I was surprised how seamless it all felt live as opposed to the commercials and stuff on TV but perhaps they worked harder for the Raw after Mania pop.

[Ian]

I went to a house show in Nottingham about 18 years ago (Jesus Christ) and started a chant for the Hurricane so I think my live event experience may have peaked to be honest.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

You've won life.

[Pepe]

I went to a house show in Nottingham about 18 years ago (Jesus Christ) and started a chant for the Hurricane so I think my live event experience may have peaked to be honest.

I hope that's on your CV.

[phonics]

I went to a house show in Nottingham about 18 years ago (Jesus Christ) and started a chant for the Hurricane so I think my live event experience may have peaked to be honest.

When I went to my first Arsenal game, my 8-9 year old friend and I berated the ref with our best SpecSavers jokes and the crowd around us started chanting 'Whos the bastard in the black'

I'd never felt so much power.

[Ian]

At Old Trafford I once started a boo for Lampard as he was about to take a corner. He promptly crossed it in for Carvalho to head in an equaliser. Bastard.


I hope that's on your CV.

It is my CV.

[Disco]

I can only lay claim to getting Peter Fox to 'give us a wave' from the dugout at St James Park one time which I don't imagine other people rate as highly as I do.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I was once too nervous to ask Luke Chadwick and Michael Stewart for an autograph at Stamford Bridge. I guess I win.

[Ian]

I know that you can't have him feuding for the WWE title because then you might accidentally cause people to give a shit about it and the US title is also on a heel but it still seems strange to me to have Rollins / Murphy take the tag belts rather than AOP.

Still, Rollins is doing much better in this role than the last stretches of his babyface run and I'm happy for Murphy. The two of them should be a fun tag team.

[Ian]

1219563855015219201

The Whatculture headline as NXT Uk getting on free to air TV. Is Paramount UK free?

[Browning]

Yes it is. Wiki reckons it’s channel 31 on freeview but it’s 54 for me. 31 is the seemingly defunct 5Spike so maybe it’s moving.

[Ian]

Fair enough then. No idea how many eyes it'll have on it there but at worst it leaves them in the exact position they're already in I guess.

[Browning]

Holy shit, he’s back.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pVzofce6WP8

[igor_balis]

I was once too nervous to ask Luke Chadwick and Michael Stewart for an autograph at Stamford Bridge. I guess I win.

I said 'alright' at Stewart Lee once and he nodded and smiled.

Actually had a few decent chats with colt cabana after various Edinburgh shows. Him and brendon burns once shouted for the bar staff to reopen the front door so my mate could have a piss.

Latest awkward 'celeb' encounter was drunkenly shouting BOING BOING when I unexpectedly spotted Darren fletcher at a NJPW show in altrincham. He just looked scared and confused. Sorry mate.

[Ian]

Holy shit, he’s back.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pVzofce6WP8

Ooooh I'll need to give that a watch.

I do miss How WWE Should / Should Have.

[Disco]

Holy shit, he’s back.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pVzofce6WP8

Seems like a one off which is a shame, everyone deserves a second chance.

[Disco]

Lots of noise on Twitter (yes I know) about Vince being mental at Rocky Johnson's funeral. Apparently he gave a speech in which he said the only good thing Rocky did in his career was get married and have kids. Pat Patterson is supposed to have called him a motherfucker and had to be led off the stage. :D

Peak wrestling.

[Ian]

It would be hilarious to see WWE's seethe if the Rock turns up in AEW or something just to spite them.

Has Vince actually gone full dementia mode now?

Also: Big Fat Keith Lee. :drool: Though I'll be honest I thought they were going to build up to UE losing all the gold on the Takeover before Mania.

Also also: Didn't realise they were doing DIY vs. Moustache Mountain at World's Collide. That should be awesome.