Magnum Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 The Rock's book is full of shit though and he wasnt likely to put over Ed Ferrera in 2000 was he? John Cena says in interviews that he came up with all of his raps on the night they were aired. They dont want you to think all this stuff was written for them. The Rock was WWF's pet project. He was signed in 1996 to become their next big thing. Thats probably why he's done well in movies, because all of the years he was with WWF/WWE, his shit was written for him. I dont think anyone has ever argued the point that the Rock's stuff wasnt created by him. That wasnt his thing anyway. His delivery and timing is what made him so good. Not his creativity. Â Of course its full of shit - its probably the worst WWF/E book out there, half of it was written in character for Christ sake. Perhaps it is because he was so good, that a lot of it looked as thought it was improvised. I remember reading in Foley's second book, how he and Rock would improvise a lot of things; specifically the This Is Your Life Segment, where you can see flashes of inspiration hit Rock's face every time he comes up with the next line. Â You're probably right though about the majority of the promos but I think that on occasions, stuff must be created by the wrestlers themselves. Otherwise segments like the one mentioned above would run like clockwork - didn't they run over the TIYL segment by a fair while, and got a bollocking for it from Vince; until he saw the Nielsons for the quarter it was one? Â A lot of the Rock's best stuff came from throwaway lines that just seemed to slip out in interviews - specifically 'If you smell what the Rock is cooking' in that interview with Gennifer Flowers at WM14 (IIRC). That doesn't seem like the sort of line a scriptwriter would have come up with. Â I would also argue that you should give him credit for his creativity, at least as much as you would afford other wrestlers. Even if you believed his promos were entirely scripted, his ring work and mannerisms illustrated how creative he was - for instance the People's Elbow, a ridiculous mid-match comedy spot that became one of the most over moves in the business, and the eyebrow raise. I also struggle to believe that the WWE scriptwriters came up with all the things that made the 'Hollywood Rock' character so great all on their own when they'd struggled to write anything worth a shit in the previous 18 months. Â Don't get me wrong - I'm sure scenarios, backstage set-pieces and skits (stuff like the Hurricane confrontation and This is your Life) were primarily down to scriptwriters, but I'm equally confident a lot of the stuff that really got over started with an improv. That's what's missing these days (or seems to be). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 I miss the Steve Austin from 2001. Â I miss Eddie Guerrero. Â I miss the blue-barred steel cage. Â I miss Vince McMahon on commentary. Â I miss The Fink saying "It is now time for the Royal Rumble" Â I miss monster tag teams too. Â I miss wrestler's who have a second career. Like Dustmen and Policemen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 It's not exactly something I miss, but I can't really be arsed starting a new thread to bring this up, so here goes. You know how they like to constantly rehash things? I really wish they'd rehash the Bret Hart-Goldberg angle with the metal plate. It's been over a decade and they've got a main eventer in Edge with the spear as a finisher, so why the hell hasn't someone repeated that angle, this time using it to actually make some money? It fucking rocked back then and it'd likely rock now too. Â Same goes for the Survivor Series 1998 concept. The amount of times we've had guys lose the belt due to injury, and not once have they recreated one of the best ideas of the Attitude Era by having a one night tournament for it. I bet that'd do far more business than their other concept pay per views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Same goes for the Survivor Series 1998 concept. The amount of times we've had guys lose the belt due to injury, and not once have they recreated one of the best ideas of the Attitude Era by having a one night tournament for it. I bet that'd do far more business than their other concept pay per views. Â Ah this is something i missed off mine, i loved one night tournaments, and this one was booked to perfection. Â Also loved the early KOTR tournaments, the ones that had the Quarters/Semi's & Final on the same night, KOTR 93 being my fave i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 I miss (like a lot of people) : Legit Tag Teams. Commentators calling a match, actually naming the moves like it's a sporting event & not just getting themselves over or shilling the next ppv/movie/whatever. Randy Savage. High flying matches full of ridiculously dangerous spots (usually at the start of WCW PPV's), good managers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 Commentators calling a match, actually naming the moves like it's a sporting event & not just getting themselves over or shilling the next ppv/movie/whatever. WCW commentators were the worst ever for this. No wonder 80% of each Nitro felt like filler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 Same goes for the Survivor Series 1998 concept. The amount of times we've had guys lose the belt due to injury, and not once have they recreated one of the best ideas of the Attitude Era by having a one night tournament for it. I bet that'd do far more business than their other concept pay per views. Â Ah this is something i missed off mine, i loved one night tournaments, and this one was booked to perfection. Â Also loved the early KOTR tournaments, the ones that had the Quarters/Semi's & Final on the same night, KOTR 93 being my fave i think. I feel sorry for kids these days. They usually don't get the brackets for the King of the Ring tournament until the start of the RAW it's being hosted on. When are they going to have the time to grab their felt tip pens and draw up an elaborate poster to fill in as the tournament progresses? I used to fucking love doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 They'll probably do it on Excel on their iPad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Gordon_The_Gopher Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 It's not exactly something I miss, but I can't really be arsed starting a new thread to bring this up, so here goes. You know how they like to constantly rehash things? I really wish they'd rehash the Bret Hart-Goldberg angle with the metal plate. It's been over a decade and they've got a main eventer in Edge with the spear as a finisher, so why the hell hasn't someone repeated that angle, this time using it to actually make some money? It fucking rocked back then and it'd likely rock now too. Â Mick Foley caught Edge a kipper with that at 'Mania 22, concealing barbed wire under his vest IIRC.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrick-Bateman Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 1998-99 ERA! Just so good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra1000 Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 who do you miss in wrestling that you will never see again? Â Shawn Michaels. Â When I say never see again, I mean in the ring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 who do you miss in wrestling that you will never see again? Â Shawn Michaels. Â When I say never see again, I mean in the ring! I'd bet good money that he'll wrestle again, at least once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted April 8, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 i miss the WWE that as a product that wasn't aimed at 5 year olds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sexy Dad Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Brilliant promos on a regular basis. Â Good midcard rivalries. (Miz-Bryan from last year aside, best midcard rivaly in years) Â Joey Styles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted April 8, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 A lot of the Rock's best stuff came from throwaway lines that just seemed to slip out in interviews - specifically 'If you smell what the Rock is cooking' in that interview with Gennifer Flowers at WM14 (IIRC). That doesn't seem like the sort of line a scriptwriter would have come up with. Don Muraco used to say it in interviews in the 1980s, so it was probably a play off the recent name change to "The Rock". It was a pre-arranged backstage interview with a celebrity. Every word in that would have been scripted. They dont let you ad-lib with celebs, especially one parodying a famous interview at the time. Scriptwriters are far more creative than people give them credit for. Its the delivery and poor writing that makes scripted promos bad. Scripted promos can be magic and have been recently. And you only have to watch some of the interviews from old WWF and WCW PPV's to see that unscripted promos can be horrific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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