CavemanLynn

WHAT?!? His nutty cerebral bushwhacker gimmick was quality. If they'd have gone with the reactions and booked him face, he'd have been one of the top guys. Unfortunately, he does seem to be one of those guys who they're throwing things at, trying to get something to stick. I was disappointed with his backstage promo with Cesaro last week - his character seemed to evaporate in favour of WWE's generic conniving heel tropes.

If this was a full-on animated movie, I'd be all over it.

I don't think it would carry over to Raw, as they've kinda pigeonholed themselves by conditioning the audience over the past decades to expect Raw to be the big premier wrestling show of the week, both live and broadcast. I could see it working for Smackdown though. It's prerecorded so the shows could accommodate lots of quick matches, and still leave lots of room for vignettes, recorded backstage angles, etc. Some smart Raw booking could drop some good Gs to keep up Smackdown attendance ("I can't wait a week for my title shot. I'll see you at Smackdown, champ!", etc etc). Smackdown needs a format change to properly differentiate itself from Raw anyway.

Everything's paced so well. The fact that it's one hour is perfect. One of the problems with wrestling tv at the minute is pretty much everyone's on every show. You can almost call the whole show from the first segment. With NXT, because there is such a short time frame, you don't know who's going to be on each week, which is much more refreshing and entertaining. It's not afraid to say "hey, we know you're here for one match, but here's some quick matches thrown in to keep you going", instead of treating every match like its on PPV. Sure, there might be the odd duffer, but the show-long angles and big match hype are top notch.

NXT is the only show I watch without fast forwarding.

Anyone who doubts the awesomeness of NXT need know one thing - the future barnstormer between Cesaro and Regal was put in motion by an announcer stepping on a flag by accident.

I fucking love NXT.

Not quite getting this one - the Rock Bottom, the Stunner, the chokeslam, the Trouble In Paradise, the Clothesline From Hell, Sweet Chin Music, etc., all require the opponent to be standing.

 

The point is that working a leg for the Figure-4 might preclude the opponent from being vertical enough to hit the Skull-Crushing Finale, i.e. working the leg might actually be detrimental to Miz' chances of winning the match by pin with his normal finish, if he's unable to illicit the submission.

 

Never stopped Jeff Jarrett winning matches with The Stroke, which is almost the same move.

 

Ahhhhhhhh, I see! Sorry, didn't realise CavemanLynn meant the two moves in conjunction with each other, rather than as two separate finishers.

 

It's an odd point - I always had (for example) Jarrett's Figure Four as a sort of secondary finisher, rather than as a prelude to the Stroke, in the same way that other guys had an impact and a submission finish.

Thanks for clearing up my post's meaning for me

Yes, my point was that a wrestler's arsenal (thanks for that as well) should fit logically together, IMO. It's one of the reasons I enjoyed Keiji Muto when he came back around 2000, with the Shining Wizard, pimp coat and Stone Cold goatee. He spent most matches knackering the opponent's legs with dragon screws and figure fours, which logically led to the opponent not being able to stand, hence setting them up for the Wizard. It was simple, logical storytelling that was subtly different depending on who he faced. It was a part of his solid rounded act - he wouldn't start attacking an opponent's arm just because. It makes sense to me - if I have a manoeuvre that I KNOW is going to put my opponent down, why faff around with other stuff? I get paid the same if it goes 2 minutes or 20! (Kayfabe)

There's probably waaaaay more evidence of wrestlers not doing this than doing it, but hey, it's not my fault nobody can rassle, grr, argh, rant rant rant etc.

It seems counter-intuitive, at first, but I think the key to individuality is for the wrestlers to do less in matches. Look at their (gah, I hate this fucking word) move sets. Everyone has a move from everywhere. What's so cool about the cruisers when even Sheamus and Cena are coming off the top rope? Why the fuck is slimy psycho Randy Orton doing T-bone suplexes? Miz does a figure four because of ONE angle, and still needs the guy to be standing on both legs to hit his so called finisher. And everyone does everything every match. It's dumb. Your opponent does the same thing every week, but you still get caught by it, so you're a dumbass and I care less about you. Wrestling is about solid basics, good movement, and visual drama, with one or two things that stand out as individual trademarks. I've heard it said that wrestling is what happens between moves. It just seems right now, moves are getting in the way.

Christ, I feel like the polar opposite of people here. I gave Yonderland a few goes and it's unfunny toss, full of those rent-a-comic-actors who think acting weird will make people think the script has jokes in it. That council scene in the first episode went on forever and went nowhere. Yes, it's a world of nonsense, but I don't need every bloody character telling me so every scene. You might as well have the speccy one from The Inbetweeners in an inset in the corner saying "bit [whatever it blatantly is]" after every line.

And I really enjoy The Walking Dead. It's not been an easy watch - season 1 was good because the formula was intriguing, seasons 2 and 3 were all over the place, dropping characters and plots in and out like '90s Horsemen. But season 4 seems to have hit a stride. Every episode has several moments that become meme-worthy, and just about every character now has had a chance to settle and get some good moments. Hershel has been a revelation this season, and his battle against the returning infected was quality. The pace feels faster too, which is no bad thing, considering how much things dragged around the farm.

When I went I thought the impact zone was tiny. If it's smaller they must really be using smoke and mirrors to create the illusion that the commentators aren't a few feet from the ring.

They don't need the commentators out there anyway. Just have a shot of them holding mics in the room and everyone can make out they're Jesse and Gorilla in the sky box. Then they can read from their scripts all they like and never get caught.

I like Harper as well. He's good enough to have a decent match with someone really good, and more importantly, his stuff is different from everyone else's. I'll take a gimmick worker over ten generic superstars these days, even if they end up being short-lived. Boogeyman, Santino, Harper, Harper's shit mate, Viscera, Doink, they should all be on Raw for a minute or two each every week instead of giving Jack Swagger ten to fifteen.

 

I'm with you on that, definitely. They're technically good matches but I'm desensitised to them. There's not enough variety on the shows.

Definitely. Rattle them off. Especially at Smackdown tapings, when there's enough dead time for them to send out mini-Mantaur and Hornswoggle for a Model Village Streetfight.

WWE has upload a 3 minute comp of every recorded Tombstone ever. This is an awful amount of work, for something so short but I'm glad they did. The progression of the Undertaker and the move is wonderful to see.

Watching that reminds me how much I love the over shoulder variation he used for the first few years. Looked like he was properly screwing their head into the canvas to me, for some reason. But yeah, that video makes your knees hurt just watching it.

Neither Knox nor Gallows emerged fully formed. Both required years of main roster time to develop, and they got given the gimmicks to help that development. And when there was no room for them, yes, they were fired. Today, I believe they'd be sent to the Performance Centre and NXT when there was nothing for them, because today that secondary tier is much better established. Harper is a different beast, in that he plays the wide-eyed zombie rather than the sadistic monster. As a character, that makes him scarier to me than a Knox or Gallows, and knowing that he is capable of other things due to his years working on the indies, I believe Harper will fulfil his role well in various forms for a fair few years.

I'd rather have a guy who looks and works the gimmick, than another 'WWE Superstar', if that makes sense. I like that he doesn't do a lot. I like the gimmick and I like the style.

Once the Wyatt gimmick dies, what do you do with someone with his physique and look?

 

He wouldn't still get ring time if a higher-up didn't think he was good - they have NXT for that.

Of course he would. WWE has been built on putting people on TV because of peoples appearance. Do you think Adrian Neville or Sami Zayn need any type of seasoning in developmental?

Yes, they do. They worked the indie style for years, they can physically do more, so the need for retraining and fine tuning of timing is more important. They're solo acts too, so they need that extra time to solidify their characters before coming under the main-show microscope. Harper has always had a simpler brawling style and a standout look, so he fits more easily with the WWE style. In the Wyatts, he's the 'big brother' directing Rowan. Given time, he'll talk more. Separated from the Wyatt family down the line, he'll probably adopt the trucker gimmick he worked on the indies. He'll be a solid mid card heel with an over catchphrase ("yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah"). Neville and Zayn will have main-roster success, but more is and will be expected of them.

Dont agree on Harper. He's been around since 2001. You'd think he'd have mastered the craft by now. But there's just something about his work that doesn't do it for me, when he isn't in there with someone who's great. But I may be just being hard on him because Rowan is abysmal and Wyatt isn't half as ready as anyone thought he'd be. Harper's job is to carry Rowan and Bray in the ring. And there's just no way he's ready for it. To use a rotten analogy, Harper should be the Batista of the Wyatts. Where he has enough potential to be put around people to learn from and find himself. But Rowan and Bray are desperate to improve themselves. At least Harper has something about him in the ring. Harper can have good matches with good people. Rowan on the other hand is just fucked. This fucking bloke is such a useless bastard.

I don't know what Harper is supposed to learn and implement from anybody. His character is basically a tree that throws lariat. He's not supposed to be a trained professional wrestler, just a lumbering brute who gets put in the ring. That's why I like him. He does bare bones basic shit. No flash that might make people pop. It's up to his opponents to add the flash. He's the obstacle. I've not seen a bad Harper match that wasn't down to his opponent being unsympathetic. I think Harper is great at his job, and the moment people here start thinking he can have 'great matches' is when he'll fall back into the shuffle. He wouldn't still get ring time if a higher-up didn't think he was good - they have NXT for that.

I might be wrong, but

Yeah, just jump in. They update their intro pretty regularly so that'll give you a quick run down of who's involved in current story lines and pushes. And seriously, the story lines they do have really aren't rocket science - it's pretty much Booking 101 in effect.

I've been doing a lot of overtime this week. Usually I go 6am-2pm, but this week I've done an extra 3 hours each day. I've caught myself, when people ask me when I'm working til, whisper-shouting "I'm in til 5!" in the style of Danielson's old "I have til 5!", including adamantly holding up five fingers and at one point calling the person Ref.

Not technically a thing, but there's a thank-you card on a notice board with "Thank Ewe!" and a huge closeup of a sheep's face on it. I fight the urge daily to draw The Wyatts on it.

A slow few weeks but still lots of good stuff.

Enzo breaking his leg won't hurt him at all - like what's already been said, his persona can work a treat with that onscreen. He's a prime example of what NXT often does really well, which is play to the workers' strengths. Enzo was a gym rat with a mouth who wanted to wrestle, so they gave him a mic and bumped the snot out of him, and he was awesome. Bo looks cheesy even when he's being serious, so they ramped the cheese up and he looks more of a star than ever.

They'd never turn Paige either. They'd need an absolute killer angle to get the Full Sail crowd to boo her. The crowd really do support the guys they want to succeed, regardless of so called heel/face divides. Breeze, Enzo, English, and especially Zayn. Far from not giving a shit, the crowd fucking love Zayn. They know who he was, they know how hard he's worked and does work, plus he's adapted brilliantly to the WWE style, and yes, he is a darn nice guy, which makes a change.

NXT is pretty much the perfect wrestling show right now. UK promotions looking for TV should make notes on the format. And it's great for WWE - sure, Rip Rogers will get you working 90 minute Broadways in OVW, but if you can't get over with a 3 minute match, then there's the door.

Good. Anyone who's paid to follow his so-called dream and is put in a place with all the tools to be a success, and still looks that bad, not only in terms of look but also performance, deserves to go. It smacks of arrogance, because you'd assume with all the experience he has in the indies he'd have the sense to realise that it was time to hit the gas rather than try and cruise by on what talent he had. If he didn't have the genetics to bulk up, he could've leaned down, but he didn't. So balls to him. He can take the esteem of "former WWE star" back to the indies, where being able to jump to the top rope from standing and passing off slapping a guy with your bingo wing as an elbow strike is more acceptable.

Fucking Corey Graves. He finally shows the fire and style he needs as a face, and promptly turns heel.

With the exception of Zayn, the booked faces are a pretty bland bunch, especially with the crowd being so vocal in their support for Breeze, Enzo, and even Kruger to an extent.

I'm sure I heard that that roperunning Sasuke does is a coded warning to backstage that he's pissed and to stay out of his way.

Man of Steel was a chore to sit through, and guilty of all the criticisms unfairly levelled at Superman Returns, which didn't tank - it drew $400m when the studio wanted it to draw $500m. There was no zip in the Man of Steel dialogue - just exposition and frowny faces, and regardless of how many gravitas-bearing actORs you bring in to try to elevate the material, Cavill was still just a handsome plank and Shannon a one-dimensional villain ex machina. Even Crowe phoned it in. Costner was on screen for about five minutes and put the entire film to shame by being incredible.

They even nicked the small knife gag from Street Fighter, for fucks sake.

I've had a bout of sleep paralysis once, before we moved to our new flat. It was pretty grim, especially because it started while I was asleep and continued into waking. I occasionally have that "lucid dreaming" moment where, if I'm having a pretty shitty or fucked-up dream, I'll wake myself up. In the dream I was lying on the floor somewhere, with something that I can only describe as looking like the front half of a dog crawling up me towards my mouth (I have a recurring dream thing about things trying to get into my mouth), so I woke myself up, saw I was back at our flat but the half-dog was still there and i was totally paralysed. My wife had to shake me out of it because I was screaming with my mouth locked closed.

I get a less freaky version of this, kind of combined paralysis and lucidity, when I try and walk in dreams. Last night, I dreamt I was holding up traffic trying to cross a road because my feet felt so heavy and my legs felt like they were moving through concrete. I know I'm dreaming then, so I let it pass. Running or flying dreams I never have this problem. I had a Parkour-style running dream set in a crazy bright fantasy world like Final Fantasy meets Avatar meets Myst, in a gold and marble resort on a never ending mountainside beside a waterfall. Amazing stuff that leaves you waking up feeling energised, positive and happy.

NXT is marvellous. It's a show where everyone feels like a proper act. Sure, there's the odd dud (CJ Parker, yeah). Even the bloody jobbers have some semblance of gimmicks. Love it.

Sami's amazing. It really is that simple. It's his promos that really are the revelation, and he can do serious angle material like with Cesaro just as well as cheesy flirty stuff with Renee without sounding forced. He's just a natural character and entertainer. It worries me, though, how much of it is down to the intimate Full Sail setting. Full Sail are absolutely mental for him, and even the Ole chants are genuine support rather than smarky. But I wonder how such an understated character played by a guy who works so well reacting to the crowd in the moment will come across in the highly scripted main shows.

Enzo found his feet really quick, and he's another guy the Full Sail crowd make look a star. Regal keeps likening him to DDP, but I see a better resemblance in him to Road Dogg. Heck, is Dogg backstage these days? Get Enzo working with the Outlaws in training and watch him become a megastar in six months. None of this awkward flying head scissors rubbish. Give him a punch combo and a pump handle slam (call it the Sawft Landing. Bwaha) and there's your money. And give Big Cass the Meltdown for stereo finisher goodness. Are you hearing me, WWE!?

Plus he's not your goody goody hero type - he's uncompromising and willing to do whatever it takes. He's the World's Greatest Detective too. In the animated series, at least, it's been revealed he knows who all the other superheroes really are, and JL: Doomsday animated movie had the whole League incapacitated when Bats' own fail safes against his team were set off. So yeah, he's got their number.