NEWM

So, a brilliant, exhilarating payoff to the babyface having some struggles and finally overcoming, which you only get when the babyface actually has said struggles in the first place - maybe this will stop a bit of the moaning crowd with Bryan for now. Maybe this part of the angle was an acknowledgement that he needed reheating, and they had a good idea of how long they could leave it before pulling the trigger. Done now, he's one of the hot favourites for the Rumble, but this turn hasn't been stuck on the same show as Big Dave's return or some other stuff that may even syphon any of that reaction away. That was an insane response at the end there, and I was glued too, desperately hoping he'd batter Bray. Glorious pro wrestling.

I know it's a long shot but is Raw chat still a thing? I'm going to be exploding out of both holes probably for the next 24 hours at least, so will likely be both awake in the middle of the night and off work tomorrow. I'd give it a bash if yous lot are still kicking about.

I really enjoyed attending the Leeds house show for the fact the venue was a bit different, as meaningless as that seems. I've never seen images but I imagine the butlins shows look pretty interesting aesthetically, for modern day sparkly WWE.

Watched Her today and was actually quite disappointed. I know it's new and seemingly highly anticipated so I'll keep this light and spoiler-free but I felt the concept was far greater in idea than execution, so whilst the first 15 minutes were interesting and ending was okay, the vast majority of the film was pretty maudlin and laboured. At it's worst, it was a pretty generic love story, at it's best, it felt more like one of the only-okay Black Mirror's than anything else. Hey look, an Arcade Fire reference. And that's the other thing, the soundtrack didn't leave fuck all of an impact on you, that was actually a pretty major let down considering how excited I was for them doing this. Curios to see what others think of it, but I wasn't moved much at all.

I'd never liked Hogan as a kid but particularly during that spell was where I really hated him. We were only just out of seeing Bret fight Virgil, Bezerker and Fatu on telly just because he was such a fighting champion. Hulk was a total pussyfart to me for dodging both Bret and Yoko until KOTR.

Challenge are showing the first series of Stars in their Eyes with Leslie Crowther. It was amazing.

Some odd stuff in there. Crowther has some Yewtree moments, the conversation is full of 'cor, you couldn't get away with THAT now', and stuff like dragging people out there in pantomime outfit versions of what jobs they do before revealing who they're going to be is an odd aesthetic situation.

There's a great Raw main event just before Summerslam 96 between Shawn and Owen where the cast is used really well, Michaels proper takes the piss with it and they both play up to it really well. The cast is then subsequently the most over part of the devastatingly boring Owen/Savio match that happened at Summerslam for no fucking reason whatsoever.

He'll probably send Doink out there to commentate at first, only to take over half way through when it turns out he was fine all along. He's getting into character for Old School night.

Speaking of Adamle. WWE put a video of "bad news" moments on youtube the other day, based around Wade Barrett, and one of them was Adamle being introduced by Shane McMahon as new GM. At that moment he was in the ring interviewing Batista and John Cena. Just after Shane introduces him, the crowd, Batista and Cena have a moment to take it in, Batista looks at Adamle and Adamle looks back at him and says "how you doing Dave?" Cracked me right up, Adamle was great for stuff like that.

I fucking loved Adamle. I could be misremembering it, but wasn't this a case where he wasn't interviewing them, but he just brutally overhit his cue and was in the ring spoiling Shane's reveal?

WWE developed a pretty nasty habit of making the GM role an incompetent boob for the most part from the end of Eric Bischoff's tenure onwards, but with Adamle, he actually suited that role really well and they axed him sooner than they should have. Cluelessly clueless, the charm with him was just how off the pace he was, not some goof like Coach or Maddox or Jonny Ace being scared of getting in trouble off the gaffer and constantly getting one-upped by the top babyface they inexplicably insist on disliking. Adamle was a genuinely different prospect in the role and I just don't think the writers at the time a) had the flair to focus on the potential nuances the character had or b) could be arsed writing good stuff for him. I still laugh to myself about stuff like him chastising Kane for influencing kids to walk around the playground carrying a burlap sack. The GM is such a fucking rudderless spot at this stage, this was a breath of fresh air.

Find me a match from Japan where Albert was good and I'll call you a liar. Been watching some stuff this afternoon and he was just as fucking crap as he always was! It could be the most impressive Power Slam/IWC myth of all time that he magically got good. What a complete load of shit, no wonder Tensai was such a disappointment when he came back.

Actually, the whole 1996 PPV is ace and pretty underrated itself. And here it is -

Yeah, I can't remember the exact context but this and a few other moments of silliness were supposed to imply "Cor, Raw's proper gone off the rails, it's mental round here lately". The Adamle thing sounds possible too. Or possibly during a time where there was no GM maybe. I can't even remember what other off-kilter acts occurred as part of it, there were only a few weren't there?

It seems like in every Colt Cabana podcast there is one moment where the guest says something and Cabana totally misinterprets what the person is saying, leading to a moment of confusion (or sometimes longer) on both parts.

 

I don't know how his mind works.

I think a lot of the time it doesn't, which is the main problem. Sometimes he's absolutely thick as fuck, and when it strikes it can have a devastating impact on the podcast and/or rapport with the interviewee. I only tend to listen to it for the guy he's chatting to as it is, so it boils my piss when things head off a cliff.

Biggest Anti-Climax: Aces and Eights demise, CM Punk's build up for his match with The Undertaker

GTFO: All of TNA. I gave up this year.

Best Promo: Cena, Punk & Langston ahead of the Shield match on Christmas Raw, that Heyman/Punk one where they hug at the end and Punk knows Heyman's a snake, Cena in the Champions segment before TLC (saves the segment, sorts the crowd out with them chanting for Bryan etc)

Funniest Moment: Lesnar: "Paul, say something stupid."

Best Bang-For-Your-Buck: Renee Young,

Performance Of The Year: The Shield in virtually everything they've been involved with, Goldust.

Best Babyface: John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Goldust

Best Heel: Triple H, Paul Heyman

Best Tag Team: Cody Rhodes and Goldust

Best Non-Wrestler: Paul Heyman, Triple H post-Summerslam

Best Moment: Rhodes win their jobs back (Battleground), the TLC go-home segment with all the champions on Raw, Mark Henry's retirement

Best Wrestler: John Cena, Goldust, Roman Reigns

Match Of The Year: John Cena vs CM Punk on Raw, The Shield vs The Rhodes (Battleground), John Cena vs Daniel Bryan (Summerslam)

Best Event: WWE Summerslam

Best Feud: The Rhodes vs The Authority (from Cody's firing to the brothers winning the belts), CM Punk vs Paul Heyman

It felt as though half the reason for the NXT article in the latest issue was to give Chris Hero a bollocking for being such a pillock when he had a chance to make it in WWE. This is all fine (and pretty justified, IMO), but it's pretty bastard hypocritical considering the amount of generic internet shit he heaps (and has heaped for years, and years, and years....) and the company only pushing guys with the right look.

And I feel like I say this every year now, but it's got to be a bit of a trolling job on Fin's part at this point to not include Cena in these things.

If he went would he even make the main roster? Or would they hero him? You can never tell with wwe

 

Hero/Ohno got released because he continued to look like a condom filled with porridge and refused to do anything about it. AJ, barring a few wobbles, is usually in decent shape.

What a great way of putting it. I'm even just enjoying saying that outloud.

Oh yeah, I understand the financial side of it, it puts me in mind of when Raven jacked in Sunday Night Heat for the indies back in 03. I more meant if he had it in him to try and become a bonefide WWE Superstar, (whatever that represents in the modern game) instead of just TNA stalwart flippy man. I always find it hard to believe everybody in today's crop don't see that as their final destination, especially if he's financially in a decent position to take a run at it.

I could be wrong, but wouldn't it be that Raw in 09 when Jesse Ventura was guest host and he got Vince out so they could call the main event Battle Royal to crown a #1 Contender? It was a pretty spectacular disappointment to listen to actually, they were both shit (and I like Vince's commentary).

He'd probably be able to earn more on the indies than what WWE was willing to pay him. And he's 36, so I imagine he'll either pop up in Jarrett's group, show up in New Japan or end up back in TNA when his money drops on the indy scene and he has to show back up like Odemwingie

Is a move to WWE (if they want him) not pretty much risk-free though? He looks to have earned enough to pay off that big house from the emo-AJ vignettes so he's probably sorted financially regardless, then if his WWE attempt collapses, the indies will still trip up to get him, as would whatever the fuck TNA exists as by then. Hasn't Chris Hero been waving promoters off with a shitty stick since his release? AJ Styles is a way bigger name than him, failed WWE run or not. He's got to have that drive in him to give it a go, surely?

Cheers for that Ian. So really then, if there's ever a time for him to swallow his pride and kiss his kids goodbye for a few years chasing WWE money, now would appear to be the time wouldn't it? Get him down NXT to sharpen a few edges and get used to the rings, he could be bled into the product post-Mania if he shuts up and gets on with it. Especially if TNA experiences more turmoil, or ultimately closure, it would be good for him to be off the ship before the rest of the rats like Big Show and Jericho did with WCW.

I'm massively out the loop and I'm certainly not using 411 or whatever to find out, so please help - Is AJ Styles gone or not? As in, is he actually gone but we can all expect him back by Lockdown, or is he the type of gone where he might have the WWE keeping an eye in the next few months? Or is it all somewhere in the middle? I noticed he was promoted for ROH but I wasn't sure if that was still tied into the angle he had going on. He's lost the belt to Magnus proper now as well, hasn't he? It's not disputed is it? Cheers.

I thought Arn looked uncomfortable when he was flairs assistant during his co-ownership stint in 2002.

Any backstage skit that Arn was involved with just didn't seem cool, like it should have been.

He looked uncomfortable when Austin was pissing curry sauce on him, I know that much. Fucking rotten telly.