Michael_3165

2 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

So firstly, yeah, you’ve missed 18 months worth of Dynamite. You missed Scorpio Sky move away from SCU, and you’ve also missed the 18 months build up to Page becoming champion and why it and he are a big deal.

Also, assuming you watched on ITV, Page v Danielson 2 will be on ITV 4 tonight, or ITV next week.

Yes I know. I'm asking if there is a reason sky is acting weird. 

I've recently been tuning into Dynamite and actually I've been really impressed (generally).

Cole vs Cassidy was a really decent TV match though I missed Danielson vs Page by a week. 

Just a few thoughts:

I am unsure whether I "get" Page as champion. The cowboy gimmick just feels, unrealistic. I hope this will change over time though. I would much prefer him as a challenger. Plus that shirt with the flowers was nauseating! 

I love Dan Lambert. His approach feels really organic. That said, what the hell is Scorpio Sky doing? Last time I caught AEW was in the first months of its beginning. He went from a semi serious guy to a hammy, over-acting goofball. What happened? Did I miss something? It is a bit embarrassing. My wife was like "WTF is he doing all that body movement for?"

Love Jungle Boy and Darby. Sting still has a knack even if he is in his 60s. 

MJF is just great. I am not totally sold on him as a worker but I really enjoy his back and forth with Punk. 

Also what is up with Brandi Rhodes? Am I supposed to like or hate her? Cos she has a face you wanna see bashed in by Nyla Rose and I am not sure why. I suspect its the smarmy, smug look she has. 

All in all really liking what I am seeing. They need to do something more productive with Sky/Ethan though, it feels a bit MEH.

Gotta go w New Jack for me. Whilst Benoit would be my number 1 arsehole, given the state of his brain I just feel it'd be unjust though that's not saying his actions weren't hideous. 

New Jack is a ghastly person. No redeeming qualities, psychopathic, dangerous and reckless. Anyone that attacks someone in the ring for no reason (ooh er!) is a c*** in my view. Stabbing people ffs. 

Even Vince has done good things in the past (according to Cornette he does anyway).

I don't generally detest people for their views  only their aactions.you get shaped by your environment to hold shitty views, you know its not okay yo stab someone in a match.

15 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

WWE are posting record profits and that’s the mark of success. Business isn’t on the decline, it’s in the ascendancy. The thing that’s evolved in wrestling is Vince, that’s why he’s the most successful promoter in history. 

If you snip out the Saudi deal I wonder how much they would be making? 

The ratings and the merch sales tell a different story even though they are posting record profits - is that just because of inflation etc or is it a like-for-like increase?

I believe that just because Fox et al are willing to flit away their money, the ratings are still saying that people are not tuning in. I am astounded at how the broadcasters are still buying into the WWE as some massive investment. 

I will always see mainstream interest and ratings as the mark of success. 20 years ago everyone knew about wrestling - I could hear people talking about it a lot of the time and merchandise was everywhere. Nowadays if you ask the average person who Seth Rollins or Drew McIntyre are they would look at you blankly.  Even non-fans knew who the Rock, Hogan and Austin were. 

But if you are basing it on profits then fine. Though that won't be sustainable in the longer term unless ratings improve. 

I would say that WWE is so far removed from an actual wrestling program that the only thing that resembles wrestling is that its held in a ring (and that isn't always the case). All that stupid shit with the Fiend etc was laughable. Evolution means to improve and develop - that was in no way evolution.

6 hours ago, Supremo said:

A question no-one ever seems to ask the proponents of, “shades of grey,” is why they feel the need to evolve beyond babyfaces and heels in the first place. All the best fiction in the world, whatever the medium, has protagonists and antagonists. Pro-wrestling shouldn’t be any different.

The problem with pro-wrestling is that it’s been so badly written for so long, with paper-thin, one-note characters, that you end up with idiots like Russo and Cody thinking they’re automatically revolutionising the business by muddying the waters and putting out confusing, inconsistent shite. You aren’t a genius by having a guy kiss babies one week and then set a motherfucker on fire the next. It speaks for how much rubbish pro-wresting has pumped out for decades that guys can write something beyond, “good guy wears a backwards cap,” and then wank themselves dry at how clever they think they are.

The real evolution of the business is in creating complex, interesting characters that connect in new, exciting ways ,whilst still giving you people to root for and root against. By all means, it’s an added bonus if people can interpret characters and story beats differently and perhaps side with characters that others might not, but just trying to blur the lines for the sake of it? Get to fuck.

THIS! 

I often wonder why you would want to veer away from a formula that has worked in all storytelling forms for centuries. Wrestling is hardly Oscar winning acting with complex character arcs etc. It's two people beating each other up. Less is sometimes more. 

I'd argue that the huge decline in the business came about when Vince opted to abandon good v bad guys. In its essence wrestling is about one person you like going against some horrible bastard w something at stake. Many companies are drawing flies nowadays and I believe one of the last examples of heel v face was austin v mcmahon which was a massive draw. If I don't care who wins or loses there is little point me watching. 

I am not saying cheesy, goody goody faces, just that I have to think the person is relatable and care about their story. The best matches and stories were, for me, when some dastardly heel got his comeuppance in the end. Austin didn't act like a face but he was because people were on the journey w him. 

49 minutes ago, Nick James said:

Brock just seems to be having the time of his life these days, I feel like I've seen more of Brock Lesnar outside of wrestling and his home life this year alone than his entire career. From the ponytail and dungarees, to being pictured at a kids wrestling tournament, the man just looks happy all the time.

It's weird but quite nice. Always came off as a moody price. Maybe just the gimmick.

That said, I read the twitter handle as Brockles Narpic like it was his name!

It's over 10 years but Michaels v Flair Old Yeller promo did it for me. It actually made me buy WM24.

Michaels winning at Survivor Series 02' had me literally jumping out of bed! 

Omega winning the IWGP was also up there for me, his whole series opposite Okada was classic.

Anyone got any suggestions on how yo address a colleague that is WAY over prepped and rigid in what she does? I am probably a nightmare to work with as I am the least prepped and least needing of any form of control in my job. At the same time  I walk in and just do my job, winging it much of the time. When I throw her off track w something unexpected he freaks out. I am certainly trying to be much more consistent and have acknowledged my faults. Our job is my definition a very fast paced, anything-can-happen position dealing w lots of complex factors that move without much warning.

Also how do you raise a retention issue w managers who don't seem to want to hear it? Everyone is terrified of asking the question, preferring to blame a nation wide shortage without admitting we lose many more than other areas. Losing 12 staff in 14 months (we only have 10 staff in total at any one time) seems not a problem for the boss. Baring in mind we used to lose maybe 1 a year at most. 

Thoughts appreciated.

45 minutes ago, scratchdj said:

The possibility of making money aside, which legitimate business would want to go anywhere near a WWE sale? With the very public history that goes with the name, I’d imagine any big company would run a mile before entertaining the thought of paying top whack to suddenly become accountable for decades of really quite horrendous scandal.

I’ve read Disney being touted as a potential buyer, which is madness.

It isn't madness really. Disney would chop up the whole archive, getting rid of any sense of poor taste. Itd get much worse booking wise as the whole company would be full of directors and producers. But it wouldn't surprise me. 

I'm convinced they will sell the company within 7 or 8 years, so I'd say he will just retire, maybe do some acting work or something. He will never need to work again. 

That's if he even lasts. We all know  or suspect,  his huge steroid use so who knows. It doesn't do anyone's heart much good, that stuff. 

I guess they'd appreciate it more than Katie vick or Trish barking like a dog! 

On 8/7/2021 at 11:12 AM, CL Punk said:

Yesterday, I saw this on the shelves of the local Waterstones and wondered if anyone has read it?

Bordering on homoerotic. Ha no judgment from me though 

10 hours ago, Gay as FOOK said:

  Hide contents

So yeah, Mox's upcoming book seems fun. 

What's the betting HoF induction isn't on the table! 

35 minutes ago, patiirc said:

Sadly it must be time for those involved in this to resurface. Reported another to a safeguarding team regarding something they really shouldn't be doing given the accusations involved. 

ffs

The key here is accusations. Any safeguarding team is going to find proving anything tricky unless there is physical evidence. If someone was got rid of for an accusation I suspect there is a legal precedence for claiming unfair dismissal. This is why so many companies will be reluctant to bin off the accused if they are contracted which I'm unsure if most UK guys are?  Plus safeguarding only applies to people who are technically vulnerable due to age, illness or incapacity. 

That said, its a shit situation for these poor women who don't get the justice they deserve. 

What do other people think would be workable so that victims get justice and accused get a fair hearing? I'm not talking legalities (that's passed in this thread) but the practicalities.

I personally feel stumped w this. I have this horrible tension between believing victims (they have been treated badly enough by police etc without me adding to it!) and sticking w my ethical position of innocent till proven guilty. 

How do we wrestle w this? 

What a brilliant artist. His old school belts were genius designs and he certainly took pride in the work he put out. 

Didn't know much about him as a worker - I assume he wrestled before his belt making days?

Never found him likeable at all and his books were full of self-congratulatory bullshit. 

I would hardly describe him as a prominent main eventer and his matches were often passable (except when opposite Mysterio, Guerrero, Benoit, Michaels level talent). 

I can't really say he is a draw either - he got some eyeballs on NJPW and he was "the" draw for AEW but it wasn't really until Punk et al moved over that things have started to really pick up.

Massively over-enlarged ego and not all that worthy of such. He looks like a sack of shit nowadays but acts like he is still relevant and its rather embarrassing. 

But I also get that some people like him and thats also ok.

19 hours ago, air_raid said:

How does that work? It’s been like that forever, never mind “a few years back.”

I didn't say it wasn't. I said that's when I was into it... 

I was big into NJPW a few years back but the sheer number of meaningless multi man or repetitive matches left me feeling overwhelmed. 

Whilst anyone who is found to have acted offensively of course there should be consequences. And at the same time there's a difference between Peter Sutcliffe and a pat on the arse. There are grades of badness and the consequence should fit the crime. Losing your dream job and place in an industry you worked hard to into is a huge consequence. Jail is probably the only worse consequence. 

Okavango vs Suzuki at Royal Quest was fantastic. I also loved the Kidd vs Saint LDN match several years ago. I assume Saint was over 50 then. 

I'm often amazed at how Ziggler started in WWE around 16 years ago! I remember his debut and to think he is still going. Also Kofi has been signed w WWE over 15 years.

It's weird because Undertaker felt like he had been around for decades in 1997, and he only had 7 years in WWF. 

Give the number of guys who have hung around for so long it's shocking how little WWE has evolved. As others have said, comparing 1985 and 1997 is like night and day w so few being around from both periods. Yet here we are in 2021 and still have Jericho, Hardy, Ziggler et al still out there. Its even more mental when you consider the Hardys have been around for 23+yrs. Time seems to have stopped in the mid 2000s for me. I can barely remember anything from WM 25 onward. 

It's odd that they mentioned genetics here, as if to ward off accusations it's steroid related. 

Feel for him though, it's shit when you get those types of things. 

I've found those "insider" term users in queues to be the worst. Trying to make themselves sound knowledgeable to the casuals. Followed by that fucker who poses w replica belts for other fans. And then we've all seen THAT fan, black trench coat, a bit skinny, bad hygiene and non-ironic long hair. 

I saw a bloke literally in undertaker garb in town recently w no wrestling show in sight. Complete w black vest and gloves. 

I'm normally one of a handful of people dressed in normal, non-band/black/wrestling clothes when I go to shows. And I never cease to feel embarrassment when standing I'm queues w some of these people. 

That said most fans I've come across are rather nice people outside of an actual wrestling scenario. 

I'm really curious as to why so many people say they find fans to be knobs in the thread so far. What do they do ?