CavemanLynn

7 hours ago, LCJ said:

Looks shit and fake AF too. Not the only wrestling move that wouldn’t work in a real fight of course but has to be up there as one of the least believable moves in professional wrestling for me.

Tell that to Razor and HBK, who made it a lynchpin of their ladder matches and it always looked boss. Another example of a quality stunt move being ruined by future generations mucking it up.

The good lady Ann is sending two packs of wafer creams our way, and says thank you for the four section Venn diagram I sent her (wafer, coconut, marshmallow, and biscuit, if you're interested).

I don't doubt is easy to work with; he's been around yonks and has a slow, simple style with a low-risk repertoire. Whether that means he should still be in the mid/upper card after 20 years is the issue. The skills he undoubtedly has should be imparted to the next generation, and that doesn't need to happen on TV every week. Guys like Dolph have the skills to warrant a place; the main roster doesn't need to be it.

Get in, get out, go home. Anyone there who's happy just clocking in and out is taking up space. I know there's fewer big-money options, plus a hell of a lot of political/nepo stuff to wade through, but still, 15+ years and you still want to hang around, you should be enhancement talent.

28 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

The authors mostly deal in freemason conspiracy and "ancient advanced civilisation" nonsense, after all. 

That's a shame. I really enjoyed the Hiram Key (my dad got it, as he spent some time as a local Grand Master), and especially liked their linguistic approach to reading the scriptures. The two-Christ theory and the humanising of the plight that grounding all the "zombie wizard" bollocks in metaphor does make for a much more interesting story than the actual Bible.

Going back to when I first saw him, he must have been a boon in that midcard position, working with the guys like Val Venis, D'lo, Edge, Christian, etc.

I'm not going to retrofit him as a stellar talent for most of his career because, as solid as he was, he was just that and nothing more. But today, and possibly because everyone around him is working faster and flashier than ever, he's once again found his lane as a solid lynch pin with bags of personality and confidence, and is shining.

The Old Man League of Jarrett, along with Dustin, Sting and Billy, have replaced the Hoss division as my AEW fantasy booking. Jarrett is the best, having a blast and showing up all the young'uns around him. Great look, great work, and a wealth of knowledge that I hope the up-and-comers are learning as much as they can from. Watching the clip above, and as highlighted by BomberPat, he really knows how to make the most out of everything he does even if he isn't actually doing anything. I must've watched that clip a dozen times, but only today spotted that glorious wink straight to the camera just before he gives Caster a slap, and then IMMEDIATELY eats a kicking off the lad. Wonderful stuff.

27 minutes ago, Your Fight Site said:

I’ve been watching WCW from the first Nitro and made it through to February 2001. So little left 😢 However, I find the opposite with Jarrett.

Having watched him “week in, week out” so to speak, his gimmick is just repetitive and boring. Every promo is, “I’m the chosen one!”, calling any one and every one “slap nuts”, and every match features a guitar being smashed over some one’s head. Hell, it doesn’t even need to be his match for someone to end up wearing a gimmicked six-string as a collar. It’s just the same schtick every show and it’s “X-Pac heat” for where, I don’t dislike him because he’s being a great heel; I dislike him because I’m utterly bored of the predictable promos and plodding matches.

That said, I do think Jarrett is a great wrestler and it’s undeniable he has a great mind for the business having essentially been born into it. It was just the gimmick WCW gave him was lacklustre and way outran its course, with nothing new being added to it for the two years Jarrett portrayed it.

There was so much wrong with this run. I'd got back into wrestling about two years prior and had no knowledge of Jarrett's previous career, so he was always associated with the mid-card heel role he had around the IC title. His reported behaviour around the Good Housekeeping match with Chyna and subsequent association with Russo was one of the first times I'd picked up something from the dirt sheets, so I always saw him as a blowhard who only got a main event spot through visible nepotism. Then moving onto TNA and Impact, where he was in the mains for a company he founded, my opinion didn't change.

If the Bucks go to WWE, I think it'll be the nail in the coffin for AEW, purely because I don't know how Tony K would cope. Mind you, if all the Bucks and Omega have to bring to the show is more match types, I wonder how helpful the EVPs really are. I've never been a fan of the Bucks in-ring (although I admit they put on spectacular matches, they're meaningless popcorn to me (and don't @ me about anything involving Hangman or Matt selling his back)), and wondered exactly what they brought to the table long-term outside of indie contacts and online presence. If they leave, I'd see that as confirmation that, ultimately, they just wanted to get on telly, and weren't interested in nurturing an alternative. I don't think they'd make it to WWE though. I know there was a joke in another thread about muscled stud Montez Ford being small, but the Bucks are legitly diddy men, who'd look a joke under the bright lights of the E.

10 minutes ago, waters44 said:

There were 20 wrestlers at Elimination Chamber and the average age was just under 37. It’s an interesting point to think about what effect this might all have long term - you forget that the numbers creep up (Lashley is 46!). There were only three wrestlers under 30 at the PPV

The durations of careers and career trajectories over the past decades is interesting to me. I've always been of the opinion that, due to the physical toll of the work as much as any business approach, it should be a wrestler's goal to get in and get out as quick as possible.

I'm not an advocate of old-school dues-paying, as such - in my opinion, if a kid shows talent, you push them to the moon rather than stopping on them so they 'wait their turn' - yet many of today's big-leaguers seem to have the clock-in-clock-out lifer mentality of us working-class shmoes. He's an outlier, but look at Stone Cold - debuted in '89, was Stone Cold just 7 years later, and out 7 years after that in 2003 (arguably making his money in 2-3 of those years).

Nowadays, it's like if you don't have 10 years slumming it in men's clubs and backyards, forget about it, kid. Then again, perhaps the actual lack of indie shows (i.e. audience) is going to naturally hold back a lot of talent development. Sure, guys today are supposedly in better health than they were (despite the amount of kinesiotape propping many of them up), but unless there are more opportunities (or, dare I say, more regular loss-cutting), there's no way you don't end up with guys hanging on for a decade, picking up their salary and getting stale, not rocking the apple cart.

The gameplay will obviously be key, but after being so long in development, I did hope to see something which looked better than a mobile game. The featureless canvas and ramp bang in the middle of the screen means everything looks grey, blocky and static, and the rubberised bodies with dead-eyed heads look unsettling.

1 hour ago, Gay as FOOK said:

I could never get on board with overly cartoonish wrestling games. It's seemed for years now as the mainline entries have gotten more and more dull and realistic the alternative every few years was to go the other end of the scale entirely. I just want a middle ground. The wrestlers and the arenas to look like they do on TV, but perhaps move a little quicker/ring be a little smaller and for it to play like...I don't know...Tekken 3 with headlocks. Everyone has four grapples, four strikes, their finisher, and one of the shoulder buttons is for interacting with shit. 

This. I really wish someone would at least try to play with the formula the way All Stars did. I've been waiting years for an arcadey button-masher with a bit of depth, but the studios insist on sticking with simulations. It's the same with any sports game in the past 20 years, IMO. Especially with the mad logic and fighting style that pro wrestling portrays, the lack of imagination is really disappointing.

Give me Power Stone 2 with grapples!

9 minutes ago, Pork Pie said:

The Welsh Open started today. The first big name out is Bingham being defeated 4-1 by Jackson Page. 

The Elite?

3 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Pretty sure they aren't actually doing that. That said, if you got angry at the pancakes at Wreck it Ralph that must rule out a lot films with animals in. I'd avoid both versions of The Lion King as well.

Yeah, I know it's a ridiculous, disproportionate reaction. Damn you, Marley & Me!

Especially since I got pets of my own (three RSPCA cats and one bred Cavalier King Charles spaniel), animals being mistreated in films makes me really upset. Hell, I got blindingly angry at Wreck-It Ralph forcefeeding pancakes to that rabbit, FFS. This looks like a storm of low-bar trope writing, a trailer that spells out the entire plot (and why does every trailer have that Transformers bass BWAAAAH thump on every flare cut???), and animal cruelty. Dogs being mistreated. Dogs whoring themselves out. Dogs poisoning themselves on drugs. Dogs being horrible to other dogs. I get that it's framed as lolz, but not for me, Clive.

RUSH is everything Andrade was going for but failing - looking boss in a suit but morphing into a thug when the suit comes off. Maybe he was too handsome or couldn't mask his lackadaisical attitude to work considering all that (Charlotte) Flair money he can fall back on, but Andrade could never match the grubby psychotic charisma that RUSH has naturally in spades.

39 minutes ago, Loki said:

FWIW I was in the "dislike" camp for MJF's promo but to be honest I'm not enjoying him as champ at all.  He's quite skippable for me.  There are bigger stars on the show, and it feels like that - I think @Supremosaid earlier that when The Bucks and Kenny come out, business picks up.

MJF has had absolutely no upgrade (i.e. production support) in presentation since he won the belt, so although he has got himself into phenomenal shape, his swaggering poser demeanour just isn't enough to fill the arena. He felt like a bigger deal in the Pinnacle, surrounded by heavies, being shown getting out of private jets, and having silly shit like coming out on a throne that one time. He hasn't got any of that, so he's just a streaky-tanned guy in pants and a big belt.

The Elite always feel big because they have big curated entrances, with hooky intros, coordinated trons and pyro. *cough cough* EVPs *cough* They need to chuck a bit fo that (appropriately) at their main eventers, otherwise they'll always feel like placeholders until the stars they're actually investing in can take over.

It's a cocktail of things with Eddie, which I think are exacerbated by his mental health struggles. Eddie's whole brand is based on him being authentic, what you see is what you get, so I'm inclined to equate what we see online with the character he portrays on screen more than most. So when I see Eddie get massive, main event reactions whenever he's on screen but no focussed push to reflect that connection and work, then I see his online comments as him venting his frustrations in the only way he can. Depression isn't necessarily a guy crying in the corner. So when he's putting in the work and seeing nothing for it, the I understand his attitude, even if I don't agree with his actions.

Plus he is kayfabe sticking to known heels. If he starts digging into Mox and even Ortiz (despite the current angle), then I'll get worried that he's not OK.

It was 100% bullshit by Heyman. He took Cody, the most emotional man alive, and stuck a knife into the thing he cares most about. It's simple but brilliant, perfectly fuelling fire in Cody that could have him seeing red and making mistakes when the pressure of Mania comes, or massively backfire and give him the drive he needs to topple the Chief. Marvellous stuff.

Fuck it, as much as it's been said the Sami and Cody things should be separate, I'd be well up for Mania being a proper Thanos vs the MCU moment where everyone Roman has fucked over plays a part in his ultimate downfall. Everyone involved in the Bloodline and Cody angles, everyone Heyman mentions in his promos, just line them up for Roman to eat their finishers before Cody wins the big one is carried aloft on the shoulders of the WWE roster. The reunited Usos. The reunited Sami and KO. ROLLINS. I want this now.

A real shame. RIP Genius.

He came off like such a lovely guy in interviews. Knew his limitations, knew his lane, made the absolute most of it and seemed to come out of the end genuinely happy. I just did a YT search and found a short squash vs Rude - Leaping Lanny gets the jobber's (non-)entrance and little offence, but they still got him spitting bars on the mic about Rude making a huge mistake going after Jake Roberts' missus, because you don't have THAT voice on the card and NOT give it the mic.

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Completely agree with this. It's a pattern they seem stuck in and it's mind boggling that they keep doing it. The AEW booking pattern after each PPV seems to be:

- a few weeks of confused TV

- 4-6 weeks of bangers

- a few weeks of confused TV

- several weeks of rushing a PPV card together. 

- PPV, then repeat the above.

It's immensely frustrating to watch. 

They need to start treating more of their gimmick Dynamites (Road Rager, Grand Slam, etc.) as mini PPVs that feuds build to. They could easily throw one or two of these in between the actual paying shows. It feels like they could get a lot more out of what is still a decent idea, without bunging on more Sunday shows that might be bring in a bit more cash, but we all know are going to be pirated for free by a lot of those asking for more PPVs.

If they can Freebird-rule the tag belt onto Solo, then Sami winning the tag belts for him and Owens at WM after Jey runs in and saves him from a knockout superkick from Jimmy would be mega. Then in the post-match, Sikoa can go ape, Spiking the Usos, reuniting the brothers, before all four gang up and run him out of the ring. Continuing the saga with Solo and Heyman vs Sami & KO (who'd be defending the belts alongside) and the Usos until Reigns returns in the summer would be a great little run.

My first single was Aerosmith's "Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees)". Right in the middle of their 90s post-rehab comeback, and if they weren't on their blockbuster soundtrack rampage, I had the Wayne's Worlds on loop. Frankly, it must have been something of a relief to my Dad, having raised us on a diet of classic rock and metal. When he'd got our first 486, I went through a stage of making chibi-style pixel art in Paint of groups of characters from video games and bands, but spent an inordinate amount of time and effort making multiple cartoon pictures of short-lived boy band MN8. The video for FIL(IHOTK) is staggeringly unsexy considering the number of scantily clad possibly-lesbian models and Joe Perry eye-fucking the camera, further evidence that Michael Bay can't film people, but I still think the tune is a solid and self-aware pop rock banger.

My first album was Republica's self-titled one. Fueled mainly by the first stirrings of girl awareness for little Cave, I remember being disappointed that first-crush grrl pixie Saffron was actually doing dancy stuff rather than Ready To Go for 11 tracks, so I should probably revisit it at some point. Still, it hit my low bar of "three decent tracks on an album is worth it."

46 minutes ago, Zaheer said:

After this week's Raw I don't want to see Sami turning on the Bloodline but maybe splitting off with the Uso's turning on Roman. He's treated them like s*it the entire time. 

If that happened I may combust

 

A version of this is what I've been thinking too. To have Sami 'turn' seems wrong - he has to assume the Usos would side with Roman no matter what, and part of what has made Sami so relatable is that he genuinely seems to want to be part of their group but doesn't fit. This could be better development for Roman. He's been the bullying alpha dog for so long, bossing around the rest of the group, touting that it's about the family but actually making it all about him. To have him tell Sami to lie down, only for Sami to say no, it's Wrestlemania and he wants to see if he can stand up against the Tribal Chief, AND the Usos both step back to say to both of them "Have at it. Work it out. Prove both of yourselves to US" would be a climax that involves every member (maybe not Solo, but my fantasy booking only goes so far!). If Sami then wins, we get the feel-good WM ending, and Roman can go away for a while, reassess himself, and return as either the face leader after reconnecting with his 'mana' or as the heel challenger to the rest of the Bloodline.

Somebody probably has the facts to prove me wrong, but it feels like MJF is suffering from something AEW does where there's the big chase for the title, then both winner and loser move onto something totally different just because. The WWE automatic rematch clause was a trope, but at least it meant that there was a solid angle for the champ's next (or first) defence. Then again, MJF certainly wasn't helped by the Regal weirdness. Dastardly MJF swerves everyone and wins the belt off a betrayed Mox, but then Mox goes after Hangman? MJF walks around with exactly the same presentation, chatting shit while he waits for a new challenger? This might've worked if MJF had the Pinnacle around, because at least then you've got the Horsemen vignettes of riding round in private jets and custom suits, at least seeming to be living the champion life. As it is, nothing has changed, no one that was wronged seems to care, and so there's zero heat around the supposedly biggest belt in the company.

It's a shame Buddy Matthews doesn't 'get it' - he was excellent in Team BAMF in NXT, with a really solid basic set of moves (whiff) and stellar selling. But he revealed himself in his Session with Renee, when he talked about not understanding why having a great serious of wrestling matches with Mustafa Ali wasn't enough for him to get a push. For a guy with a great look, athleticism and technical skill, there really is nothing to him. A jacked Aussie with space age offence should be a snap to book, but he's reduced himself to just an indie guy in shredded shorts. Even when he had the opportunity to come in as something different, when he did the silly student film about his 'prison release' to tie him to Malakai Black, the lights came up and it was... just Buddy Murphy. No attempt to update his look try a new persona, or anything. In HoB's spoopy promos, you've got Malakai in face paint, Brody King in chains and bandanas, and... just Buddy Murphy.

HBK's 'boyhood dream' push looks weird, in hindsight. You've got Vince pushing him as a nice, determined kid finally achieving his childhood dream of becoming WWF champion, while HBK pumps and gyrates in stripper gear, or staggers around the houseshow loop in jeans and a cloud of cocaine.

You could probably lump a lot of the Attitude Era guys in here. Take Charles Wright - he did fine but awkward as Papa Shango and Kama Mustafa, but lit the place up as opening act The Godfather.

WK used to be compulsory viewing for me, but they've REALLY gone off the boil during and post pandemic, and are really struggling to find their feet again. I know other companies get lambasted for fucking up pushes and building new main event talent, but looking at the main events at WK this year, I swear it's been the same guys (excluding Osplay) for 10 years.

I gave the two mains a go. Omega vs Osprey was two smug cunts being horrible cunts to each other, with one trying occasionally to be a funny cunt.

I usually have time for Jay White, but him vs Okada felt like it went on for days.

Both had the same problem I have with a lot of puro and indie wrestling, in that it seems to be only a matter of time in each match before any sense of face or heel goes out the window. When both guys are working so hard they deserve to win, any sense of visceral emotion disappears. Kickouts become a test of endurance, not "OMG what are they going to do next?" but "FFS what are they going to do now?" It's just exhausting.