Statto

I like the other girl, she's stunning IMO, but I think sticking with Summer Rae would be the way to go. Gives the option of mixed tags etc. down the line.She's a pretty dreadful ballroom dancer though, and I'm not sure if that's deliberate or not. Either way, the commentary team need to start picking up on it and making it part of the character, or it'll just end up looking silly. Have her gift Fandango a few victories with a Sherri-esque shoe/purse attack, and they can point out how he's keeping her around for that, not her dancing skills.

No thread for Raw this week.. can't remember the last time that happened!

As there isn't one, I'll put this comment here...

Hiring a famous, celebrity dancer who won't draw a single viewer to your show just by being there, then not having her dance is one of the most WCW moves WWE have pulled off in a while.

Fully agreed with you, LaGoosh. Having enjoyed the first season but not quite got the "best show in the history of television" hype a lot of people gave it, and watched Season 2 because I thought I should, I'm totally fucking loving this one.

Jaime Lannister's face turn really is something to behold. Great stuff.

The new finisher Damien Sandow busted out on NXT this week, The Silencer, looked sweet

Oddly, Ted DiBiase's Dream Street was renamed The Silencer on Superstars this week. Joined-up thinking as always.

Also, loads of Fratton Wrestling Alliance and going on about a bloke called Shane (?) Heyward in it as "hometown hero".

It was Gary Hayward, IIRC. Only really remember the name from the FWA music CD, though.

Just sat through a not particularly thorough, and in some places strikingly inaccurate, new Queen documentary on Sky Arts, the highlight of which was undoubtedly one of the (about 5 total) talking heads, one Kate Mossman, who apparently is New Statesman's "pop correspondant":

Just love his look too, but even moreso since HarmonicGenerator pointed out that he could be made up to look like Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones with not too much work. Now, I've never seen Gane of Thrones but Drogo looks tremendous, total badass and I'm now desperate for just that to be done with Reigns one day.

I may be wrong, but I think it was probably Reigns' physical resemblance to the Drogo character that got him his final FCW nickname (The Thoroughbred, although that obviously works with his family background too), his trunks with horse imagery on them, and this awesome theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-1S3oWbRiE

I hope he reclaims all three as and when he breaks away from The Shield.

When did Pauline Quirke become the archetypal kiddie-fiddler/murderer on the telly?

1996, for me:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117574/

Scared the shit out of me at the time.

It was one of the half dozen or so superstar themes that cycled as menu music on one of the SvR games, definitely. Whichever one Archer was in, I guess. Shad's heel theme was too. Odd selections.

Not to be cynical, but in the recent past things like that have always turned out as suggested - it'll be a 30 second clip on whatever the equivalent of You Bet! is these days.

The promoter can then slap "AS SEEN ON PRIME TIME SATURDAY NIGHT ITV1!" on their poster for the next decade.

Everyone's a winner.

It really rankles with me that since he's returned, they do Jericho's entrance all backwards.

Pyro, tron, lights & music, THEN blackout & flashy jacket makes no sense.

I can just see the big reveal at the end.

 

It was me Shaggy, it was me all along Shaggy.

If this ends any way OTHER than this, I'll be astounded. No way is Vince passing up the opportunity to truly be a cartoon villain. It was actually the evil owner of the company all along, trying to put the willies up the champ because, oh I dunno, he threatened to start a union or something. Writes itself.

I love Zeb, but Bray doesn't need anyone to do his talking for him. Plus, Bray's a nutter who walks to the beat of his own drum. Putting someone in control of his career would tarnish his gimmick, IMO.

Quick reminder for anyone who might have forgot: the x-division one night only PPV is on challenge tonight at 10pm

Just been watching the first couple of matches on this. When it first started, I thought to myself how nice it would have been if they'd gone for something completely different on commentary for these, just to give a different feel - Borash & Al Snow might be worth a try, or Borash & a rotating cast of guys from the roster not on that particular show - hell, even bring Don West back for an X-Division one.

Two matches in, I'm begging for that - I'd forgotten how bad Taz & Tenay together as a pair had got towards the end, and I don't think I can take much more of the guy who presents himself as dyed-in-the-wool TNA, and the guy who betrayed him and the company he loves to join a rebel gang trying to destroy it, yucking it up like they're best mates. Tenay has even called Taz "buddy" on a couple of occasions.

Matt Bentley looks hilariously like a retired (because no-one would book him anymore) wrestler who now works in a hardware store or a fast food restaurant kitchen or something who they stuck back in tights - probably because he is.

I still really like Anthony Nese. Good wrestler in his style, and a great look (although the beard on the night could have done with a trim) - I still think he looks like a mini Chris Masters, and there'd be mileage in a big brother/little brother tag team in either company.

It's really reminded me how much I love Kid Kash, too. Either he was pissed off (more than usual - maybe they'd just told him he was getting released) or he just doesn't care personally for Rashad Cameron (who, by the way, cuts perhaps THE most by-the-book 'indy' promo I've ever heard before the match), but there were times he looked like he

was trying to properly kill him. The suplex-slam (if you can call it that...) is a thing of hideous beauty.

Edit: Just flicked back a couple of pages & followed the links to the Gut Check thing. Jesus, and people think WWE give their guys bad ring names? I'd take any of the names doled out in FCW over the likes of JB Cool, Justyn Glory or Ruff Ryder Rashaan.

Radio One still have a chart show, right? If so, and this does make the Top 40, they should totally have Fandango phone in.

From what we've seen of that gimmick so far, and of Johnny Curtis on NXT, him ad lib bantering with radio DJs could be massive fun.

Not sure this is strictly "news" but seemed the best place for it.

Was just doing some late-night channel flicking and stopped at Loaded TV, Sky channel 200 (still seems to be branded Controversial TV on the EPG, but it's basically a men's lifestyle mag on TV where all the ads are for Loaded magazine or others from that publisher) as Dial M, a music show I've caught a few times before that sometimes has decent live performances on but is presented by an annoying twat, was about to start.

Just before it did, they ran a trailer for the point of this thread - Tuesdays, 9pm, Wrestlicious!

They suggested it was "brand new" so presumably starts this week. If you like the idea of GLOW for the 21st century, here's your chance to catch it.

I'm really glad we're past the point of Wrestlemania main events ending with Vince McMahon chair shots.

Might just be a few weeks out of date. I've just been through the WM6 card and unless someone's died without me knowing, I can only make 12 including Liz. Or possibly, to muddy the waters of who's counted & who isn't, leaving out Liz but counting Monsoon...

My reading of it has certainly been that Fandango is a completely new wrestler, not just a new persona (I don't want to say "gimmick" in this context) for Johnny Curtis, in WWE kayfabe continuity. In the same way that Dolph Ziggler is not Nicky from the Spirit Squad, I guess.

Edit: before someone else says it, yes I know there have been a few occasions where Dolph's past as Nicky has been referenced in a nudge-nudge wink-wink kind of way. The same is true of Kane having been Isaac Yankem, Unabomb & The Christmas Creature, thanks to Jerry Lawler. In WWE canon, they're unrelated.

No. Too much else going on. I think the 8-person tag will fulfil the fun multi-person slot on the preshow.

I wonder if they might switch that into a lumberjack/jill match to get everyone out in front of the crowd. Guys on one side, girls on the other. Potential for comedy spots I.E. Tensai gets thrown out on the girls side and they hug & kiss him, Sandow goes out there seconds later & they slap fuck out of him. Something like that.

IIRC, their interactions thus far have disintegrated into outside brawling leading to no contests, so there's a logical reason to add the rule too.

Who liked the whole Bully explanation?

 

I really liked it. I wonder if they knew from the very start what would happen, or whether it was a case of slotting Bully in half way through, and working out a pre text that worked for all the stuff before (i.e. Bully "calling" Bobby etc). Nice to have the continuity regardless.

I enjoyed it, mainly because (as has been said) Bully delivered an excellent, convincing monologue/promo.

I'm still convinced it WASN'T intended to be Bully from the start, but with only minor retconning, they put together a logical sequence of events that it was.

Actually, it tended to be retcons that weren't key to the narrative that grated a little - the timeline of Wes Brisco joining, for example : we all knew he was the wild-eyed, wild-haired guy who had been involved in the beatdowns from pretty much the beginning, was revealed as such eventually, but apparently he didn't join until after Hogan said he had to go through Gut Check to get a contract?

Actually, the timelines of a few of the current guys joining were off - we all knew Anderson came in later & had never been masked, Doc & Knux were the guys not contracted to TNA used as masked heavies from the start, and D'lo was the 'inside man'/VP. Taz may have been a member from the start, but certainly wasn't involved in the beatdowns as he was ringside. Apparently Devon & Garrett only joined once Hogan turned down their help AGAINST the group. So that leaves Doc, Knux & D'Lo from the start who could have been involved in the early attacks - who were all the other guys then? Scrubs, maybe, but then Bully said "we're all unmasked now" or words to that effect.

And the biggie - when they recapped the BFG challenge in the clubhouse, they showed the President delivering the challenge, then a split-second of someone firing up a welding torch by Joseph Park's head. Immediately afterward, Bully said "see that scene Hogan - that was my brother Devon" - did he mean the torturer or the 'president'?? If he meant the torturer, why not a longer shot of him? If the president... well, whilst I can believe the guy with the sticky-out ears wearing a baseball cap backwards could well be Bully Ray even though it was clearly really Eric Bischoff, the fact those sticky-out ears were white makes it a little tough to be convinced it was Devon...

Anyhow, I'm kinda splitting hairs, just some stuff that's been buzzing around my head since watching it. As I said at the very outset, I did enjoy it, and I think they did a damn good job pulling it together into a convincing story.

I do very much like Bully in the role too, the very best thing about it being that he's finally stopped wearing that hideous "Hardcore 5150" basketball jersey (much like, for all it's benefits, the very best thing about Impact on the road is the return of the walkway. I love a good walkway.)

One last thought - the music used at the start of the Bully videos with the Aces & 8s theme playing then winding to a halt? They should totally use that little chunk as an intro to Bully's regular theme and let him use that, I think it would sound awesome. He's the president, he deserves his own theme, it would stamp the authority of "this is Bully's club" all over it, plus all pro wrestling themes based on China White rock.

Bizarre Japanese promo that appears to be hyping the first appearance of the Road Warriors in the country:

Basically, they arrive on Earth from their destroyed home planet in a Superman II villains style, eat a deer and lick the blood off each other's hands (the editing is so great that after this segment you clearly hear Hawk say "Gimme a fucking towel" as he walks off camera), then appear to live in a scrapyard until they are found by evil businessman Paul Ellering (we know he's evil because he's smoking a big cigar, and laughs evilly a lot) who takes them to a gym where they train to be wrestlers and listen to The Who.

The rest of their legendary careers is, as they say, history.

Something that occurred to me earlier - in a wrestling world where moves that used to be deadly progress into being run-of-the-mill (the DDT is the king of this IMO, but in the early 80s jobbers were being put away on WWF TV with bodyslams & vertical suplexes), how has the humble belly-to-belly suplex remained viable?

I always found it strangely incongruous in ECW where, while guys were kicking out of chairshots, getting assaulted with cheese graters & one guy pretty much had a balcony dive as a finisher, World Champion Shane Douglas was dominating opponents with his deadly belly-to-belly suplex.

Now, Bo Dallas is using it as a finisher (presumably as WWE have quite rightly made him sack off the spear because it's Kaitlyn's now ) - I just don't get it!

A question for anyone who followed FCW before the NXT switch - is this current Regal/Ohno angle effectively a rehash of the Regal/Ambrose feud?

I've only seen snippets of the latter or read about it, but the main facets appear virtually identical - Regal sees himself in the younger man but doesn't want him to end up haunted by the evil things he's done like Regal is now, younger man respected Regal in his youth but now wants no advice from a guy they now see as washed-up, violence ensues, Regal is remorseful about it, younger man taunts Regal by doing things like ripping off his moves (Ohno did a version of the Regal Stretch last week but, as befits the former Chris Hero, he had to put a cravat into it. Man, Chris Hero loved a cravat...), likelihood is Regal will 'snap' and be evil to him and love it once more. Just seems very similar.

Not reading the spoilers as I enjoy the show too much, but working from the end of the episode just aired, I'd love to see WWE build towards some kind of 2-hour "NXT Supercard" special. No practical reason for them to do it, but I think an NXT "big event" would be great right now - backbone of it would be Langston vs. Graves vs. O'Brian for the title (Big E drops to Graves so he can move onwards & upwards in WWE), Dallas/Neville/Grey vs. Wyatt Family, Summer Rae vs. Paige, Gabriel vs. Kruger in some kind of gimmick match (ladder match for some kind of WWE opportunity- IC/US Title shot?) and of course Regal vs. Ohno.

Pad that out with a couple of main roster vs. NXT up-and-comers (the likes of Woods, Dalton & Carter) matches, and that's a damn good little event, IMO.

I thought that match was OK, but was struck by how believable Summer Rae is as a heel. Her walk down the ramp, gestures to the crowd, referee, and opponent between moves and her intensity doing the moves - I can see her fitting in to the current WWE roster nicely.

Agreed, I thought she was ace. I love the 'mudflap girl' recline she does on the top turnbuckle as part of her entrance, awesome.

Then again, I may just be a mark for people sitting on the top rope in unusual ways, as I remember thinking it was really cool when Hawkins & Reks (in their 'People Power' advocacy phase, I believe) delivered promos sitting on the outside of the top turnbuckles, and wondering why no-one much more significant had ever done something as sweet as that.