Mr Tibbs

I just hope that what happened in the early nineties in the WWF does not happen here.  We all thought Patterson and Brisco where great in the attitude era, but either did not know or forgot that Patterson had to resign in the early nineties in relation to claims made that he was making inappropriate advances to young men.  This movement should be the foundations for which a much better working environment is created for female wrestlers.  I just hope we are not sitting here in 30 years time talking about the same subject, when nothing (or very little) has been done to make the changes that are (obviously) needed.

I did a little bit of commentating for the promotion in 2003.  If anyone could provide me with copies of some of the matches I worked on, I would be a very happy man.

So a few weeks ago the Miz cuts a great promo on Talking Smack which got loads of people talking. I can't remember the last time a promo got its own thread. It showed that if you let someone be themselves and free from a script, the fans will believe.

This week they showed that they had learnt that this was the way forward by having Sasha Banks cut a contrived scripted promo which no fan believed and was full of the usual BS WWE revisionist history.

Just let the talent be themselves. Give them bullet points instead of scripts and I'm sure that a lot of them would produce better promos than the crap they are given by the writers each week.

AJ didn't just learn to work in NJPW, though. He'd spent a few years learning in TNA from the likes of Flair, Hogan, Sting, etc. Judging from the sound of things, it seems like Japan gave him that extra finish he needed to really shine.

Think we are giving Hogan, Flair and Sting way too much credit here. Styles was having great matches with Joe, Daniels, American Dragon, Paul London, Abyss etc way before the Hogan and Flair showed up. He fine tuned his skills in New Japan but would have been just as good had he gone to the WWE 3 years earlier. Thankfully, their a lot more open minded now than they where then.

Storyline wise though it sort of makes sense that he's been losing his big matches so far, he's been holding back from being his "true self" as a heel. What matters now is how they handle him from this point forward.

I can see why he lost to Reigns, but I'm still scratching my head as to why he lost to Jericho at WM?

There are a number of ways you could go with this.  You could hold of until the PPV after MITB for their first singles bought and do a six-man between the Club, Cena and the New Day.  You could get AJ in the MITB match.  He could qualify by winning a match containing all the losers from the previous qualifiers.  Cena could then cost him is shot at the brief case.

They will probably go with a one on one match though.  I think AJ needs to win the first match as I can see this being stretched over a few shows with the blow off coming at SS, possibly over the SD title.

I watched the match last night and while I thought it was fantastic, I could see, that if I showed that match to some of my non-wrestling friends they would probably see it as nothing more than a fancy gymnastic routine.

 

 

Did he not just get popped for steroids?

 

Hilarious

Yeah, so they move it out of the US.

 

Another New Day/League of Nations dogshit segment.

 

I'm so glad someone said that.

 

I'm off work today and as I wasn't tired, I ended up watching a little over two hours of Raw in what must have been the most WWE TV I've watched since the last Wrestlemania.

 

Having read a lot about the New Day, I must say that based on last night's evidence, their act is a load of bollocks! I hope that's not usually the case.

 

I quite liked the old-school simpleness of the Jericho/AJ Styles build but that Andre Battle Royal segment was a load of nonsense filler wasn't it?

 

This was not old school booking.  To have your babyface lose twice to the same finish and then have the heal win dispite being distracted makes no sense at all.  It should have been the other way round.  It's lazy bullshit like this which is one of the reasons why babyfaces can't get the crowd behind them to the level they should be!

 

Forgot this was last night and just went and spoiled it on twitter. Oh well. Was Kimbo vs The Black Rooster as bad as Shamrock vs Severn 2, Royce vs Shamrock 2 or Severn vs Kimo? Surely not? Surely? I'll watch it later.

Coker needs to sort out Kimbo vs Bob Sapp.

It's the lowest standard I've ever seen in mainstream MMA.

Watch it be one of the most watched shows this year.

Rampage vs Kimbo?

The problem they have is who do u pair Reigns with after WM? Their heel side is very weak. You could turn Ambrose after Mania to set him up as a fresh challenger. I would love to see Samoa Joe broght up as a new monster heel, but thats not going to happen!

Surely Reigns vs HHH at the Rumble is the logical move. Triple H winning the Rumble doesn't make sense.

U could tell the story that since WM last year HHH has been putting every road block in front of Reigns. The Big show, The Wyatts, Sheamus. They have all failed. Reigns beats Sheamus at the RR. There is no one else Triple H can depend on except himslef. He lays out a low card entrant in the back, enters the rumble late and wins. You all failed so I'm gonna get the job done myself!!

But what would you do with Lesnar in that case? I know some places have reported rumours of Lesnar v Owens, but I'm not buying that for a second

Lesnar is a problem, but when you have a clear money match for Mania I think you need to go with that.

They need to take their time with this. Have him whip Sheamus at the RR, possible 8 man against the LON at FL and the Triple H at WM. U could hold the Lesnar match off till SS

Do u think Trilpe H is going to win the Rumble. Makes sense to get him into the main event of WM with Reigns

I see WSOF has just stripped Palhares of the WW title and suspended him indefinitely. That guy is a piece of work who should be banned from the sport for life. He's had all the chances that he he deserves!

NXT is what TNA should've always been. Young, up and coming guys putting on exciting matches with logical storylines and a one-hour weekly show. A completely alternative product. With the quality of wrestlers they've had, chances from TV stations and fans, and amount of financial backing, I honestly don't know how (or even if) they could've done any worse.

 

They're a million miles away from the days when people were chanting 'TNA' at Raw. I remember at one point my non-wrestling nerd mates used to casually watch it, people who no longer watched even WWE. 

 

I can't think of a single positive impact (no pun) they've had on wrestling. Good riddance to them. 

Young, up and coming guys?  NXT is currently built on the backs of guys who have been  in the business for the past 15 years.  Look at last nights show.  The big match was between to guys who were going at it in PWG, ROH etc for well over a decade.  Owen's next feud will be Samoa Joe, another guy who is a veteran.  The women are a success.  But to say that NXT success is based solely on young guys is a joke.

The sad thing is, the product has been more than watchable for a good while now.  Destination America is not dropping the show because of poor ratings or a bad product.  What's killing the show (and the WWE has had this problem) is the lack of ad revenue that the show generates.  The ratings (for the station their on) is well above the station average.  Its the cost to the station that they don't feel is worth it.

 

Shawn Michaels retired in 1998, in fairness.

 

Unreal, that Austin was going to do a comeback match against Coach in 2004 on a B-PPV. When it comes to mental decisions, that might be one of their worst.

Kinda makes sense though given that Austin wouldn't have to take a bump. Similar to the match HBK had in his TWA federation in about 2000. Worked in street clothes and never took a bump.

 

I may be wrong here, but I think he's refering to the fact that Steve Austin, arguably the biggest star of the ninties, was going to make his big comeback against Coach, in a comedy match on a B-PPV!  You only get to make 1 big comeback, and for Steve Austin, that should only be on one show, and thats Wrestlemania.

 

 

He lost to the Big Show. Hardly being booked perfectly. The fans were into him as soon as his music hit and they were rewarded with Big Show beating him with a choke slam that everyone kicks out of.

You're right, but I had totally forgotten that with how awesome he was at the end.

That was the point really. I was stunned they put Show overall him, even with interference, but in fairness they did make sure he got his heat back so as not to damage him. In the end I thought it worked out well.

 

WTF!!  You can't job him out to the Big Show, then think you can erase that damage with a good closing segment  Here's a novel concept!!  Why don't you put him strongly over the Big Show, then strongly in the final segment.  Your meant to be preparing the guy for Brock Lesnar!  You DO NOT have him losing to TBS!  It's not fucking rocket science!

 

 

He lost to the Big Show. Hardly being booked perfectly. The fans were into him as soon as his music hit and they were rewarded with Big Show beating him with a choke slam that everyone kicks out of.

You're right, but I had totally forgotten that with how awesome he was at the end.

That was the point really. I was stunned they put Show overall him, even with interference, but in fairness they did make sure he got his heat back so as not to damage him. In the end I thought it worked out well.

 

WTF!!  You can't job him out to the Big Show, then think you can erase that damage with a good closing segment  Here's a novel concept!!  Why don't you put him strongly over the Big Show, then strongly in the final segment.  Your meant to be preparing the guy for Brock Lesnar!  You DO NOT have him losing to TBS!  It's not fucking rocket science!

I've been watching the Invicta shows on FP.  I've just started watching 4.  My God, what the fuck is Bas Rutton on.  During the break between rounds he starts singing loudly, over the other commentators while they are trying to analyse the round.  Is he on the rest of the other Invicta shows!

Great shows though  Some excellent fights and you can see the evolution of the promotion over the 4 events.  Looing forward to watching the rest and then catching number 8 on Saturday.

If WWE added a show to a Wednesday night TV slot (NXT, Superstars, anything really) I wonder if TNA would shit themselves again, and try to get another slot.

WWE can't get a TV Network to screen those shows.  The tried after they were cancelled.  Therefore, the chance of that happening is extremelly slim. 

Bret tells that story in his book.  It's amazing that nobody noticed any difference.  That match is very good and a great example of what a excellent wrestler Bret was.  However, I always prefered their match at IYH 5.  Bulldog was in better shape, motivated and was just in the first throws of his heel run.  Just thought it was smoother and more compelling.  Both matches are great though!

1992 was a great year. All 4 PPV were good to great. The story lines were excellent there were some truly great matches too. Bulldog Vs Bret, Bret Vs Piper, Flair at the Rumble, Savage Vs Warrior, Savage Vs Flair. WCW was great that year too! We will probably get the whole "Bulldog was a total mess before and at Summerslam story". Bret went into alot of detail about that in his book.

Then Rollins could have turned at the PPV, costing his team the match

What, so the match would have ended in the first minute? Or he would have still done all the same moves on Evolution and then in the last minute of the match changed his mind? You're an idiot either way, and don't post Smackdown spoilers in this thread. Now fuck off.

Were as battling someone for 30 minutes, have them beat the crap out of you and then join then makes all the sence in the world!!!!

Please explain to me in your infinate wisdom how Monday night made sence!??

Apologies for the spoiler.

There has to be a balance. Logic is important but if it's too logical, you lose the element of surprise. Sometimes the logical build whets the appetite for an inevitable outcome. IMO, this works much better with a babyface turn. Other times a turn with questionable logic but a massive surprise can do business. This is better for heel turns.

 

Sometimes, like the Hogan turn in 1996, you get both. That's a rare "holy grail" type moment.

Yeah, I can see where your coming from mate. However, on the flip side to the Hogan turn (and remember, the superb promo stating why he was turning) there is the Austin turn at WM17. No reason given for that, a whole in the logic and a downturn in business. (I loved that Austin charector though).

I'm hoping that it's a swerve and the Shied are looking to bring down Evolution from the inside. If it's not though, I can't see a logical reason for Rollins turning.

 

That's because you're a moron. And besides, it's wrestling. Who gives a shit about logic?

To quote the Burbs, “Bout a nine on the tension scale sunny!”

I’m not against the turn, or breaking up the Shield. All acts have their shelf life. What I was against was the sudden turn and the lack of logic in the turn (sorry mate, wrestling should be logical). What happened on Monday night was the equivalent of Lionel Messi , while playing for Barcelona, beating Man Utd twice, and then signing for them when Wayne Rooney had also spent the previous 2 matches attempting to end his career.

Would a better story line not have been, when Extreme Rules ended Triple H then stated that he had infiultrated the Shield. That one member had been bought. Then spent the rest of the build teasing different members were going to turn. You could then have done a final angle were it is strongly implied that Reigns is the traitor. Then Rollins could have turned at the PPV, costing his team the match, and the next night on RAW he could have said that Triple H had promised him a title shot and the world. Batista could have stormed of in the huff after not getting what he wanted and Orton could still act like the jealous brat of the new kid on the block.

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