garynysmon

Not the masters though.

Having just read up about the movement, it reminds me of those in this country who obsess over causes such as "help for heroes" and the general glorification of the military. Its a front for something much more jingoistic and was set up as a counter to Black Lives Matter. Make of that what you will.

A sentiment that's echoed on here, both directly and indirectly, is the obsession with shoehorning every single roster member onto the card. It just brings down the overall standard and tacks on filler matches that no-one is frothing at the mouth to see. I can't fathom why they are on intent on following through with this when the roster is so big. In years gone by, even when the roster was much leaner, there were always a couple of upper mid carders that were left out.

Thinking about route one always reminds me of this. (6.55 in)

Its bollocks isn't it? We're all just as entertained by our sides scoring after the goalie lumped it up and a melee in the penalty box. I'm the furthest thing from a football purist you could get. Never saw the enjoyment in Barca's tiki taka days and passing the ball for no real reason.

Personally I think there are enough ways to protect the Undertaker, be it tag matches etc, I'd rather his swansong took place in front of an audience at least.

Agreed. But as someone who thought that Jake Roberts tempting the Ultimate Warrior into a snake pit almost 30 years ago was a bit too hokey for my tastes, I was certainly never going to enjoy something like this. That said, I don't watch the weekly TV so had no idea of most storylines going in, but I found the Mandy Rose/Dolph Ziggler storyline with that big fella to be quite charming. Was quite reminiscent of a midcard storyline during the Attitude era (only that back then she'd have ended up lezzing it off with the brunette or something.)

Personally I think the best World Cups in terms of kick off time are those in the Americas. I remember that for Brazil 2014 we had kick off times of something like 6pm, 8pm and 11pm which meant I didn't miss any due to work etc. Even in Europe there are always 3pm kick offs which can make it awkward and don't get me started on 2002. Fucking waste of a good tournament that was. Echo the love for USA 94. The first World Cup I can properly remember, we had the wall chart up at primary school and everything and the headteacher insisting we filled it in as a class before any thought of some actual schoolwork.

I'm really struggling with this lack of crowd. I realise they have no other choice and understand the rationale of presenting a show when pretty much every major sport is on hold. But the lack of feedback just sucks out so much out of the presentation and you can tell that the wrestlers struggle with it too. The fact that so many of them are still presenting that signature poses on the way in etc, which are pretty hokey at the best of times, comes across as utterly cringeworthy when there's no one there apart from the timekeeper and a couple of cameramen. Its also pretty funny when, out of habit, they try to garner a non-existent crowd response to something.

Haku's jump to the WWF in late 2000 was pretty strange, was exclusively wrestling on Heat in no time. Quickly got lost in the shuffle when the WCW influx came in after WM.

Never been a fan of the broken stuff tbh. I can see why Impact allowed him to do it, and was beneficial in that it got people talking about the product during a time when they were desperate for any exposure. But I can't say I enjoyed much of it, outside of the Hardy compound stuff, as I feel that such gimmicks delve way too far into "this is just embarrassing, phoney shite" territory that you couldn't suspend your disbelief even if you tried. The kind of stuff that your dad would walk in on and laugh at how crap it all is. Not sure that AEW are in the position that Impact was in 2016 or so though. Plus they are on an actual half decent cable channel that normal people watch. Not convinced that many outside of the hardcore wrestling bubble would appreciate such gimmicks in all honesty.

And therein lies the problem. Generally the eye has been taken off the ball in terms of trying to grow the wrestling audience and attract your traditional wide ranging fanbase, in favour of everyone trying to appeal and wring every last penny out of the same narrow demographic that will always be there anyway. The most popular periods in wrestling aren't known for the high quality of the in-ring action, with more emphasis on the characters, promo work etc. This seems to have been forgotten.

Buddy Landell, complete with rip-off Ric Flair gimmick and theme, rocking up in the WWF in late 1995. And although I wasn't complaining at the time and always love a comeback, no matter how past their prime they are, a badly out of shape Roddy Piper competing in the mid 2000's "Ruthless Aggresion" era was a bit strange.

I agree. It was always said that advertising and promotion was a major, major flaw in TNA. Even when it had Hogan etc and was paying top dollar for talent, the size of the organisation itself was miniscule with whomever they had on the payroll wearing so many hats (look at Borash for example). It still annoys me how decision makers in that company managed to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.

As critical as I've been of the dead crowds for Impact TV tapings, I haven't half appreciated having some kind of background noise for the past two weeks of episodes!