3 things you currently love in wrestling and 3 things you hate

[Vice]

Loving:1. John Cena. He's a terrific storyteller and excellent at everything that goes into big-match situations.2. Daniel Bryan. Watch his performance at Extreme Rules - it is note-perfect. He knows how to bring his character to his ring work, and his ring work is great.3. Brock Lesnar. He's been booked to perfection and he's totally nailing his role.Hating:1. Lord Tensai. He looks, acts and wrestles like shit. This gimmick's a write-off.2. Kane. I'm just so sick of this hokey, B-movie rubbish.3. Brodus Clay. I went from hating him, to not minding him, to hating him again. Boring, repetitive and weak.

[Romford N Reem Express]

Loving:

 

The recent quality of PPV matches in the WWE- Ok so of the last 2 PPV's the WWE has had, 1 was Wrestlemania but fuck it, there have been some absolute crackers recently. Extreme Rules alone contained 3 uniquely excellent bouts in Bryan/Sheamus, Punk/Jericho and Lesnar/Cena. I'd say I'm more of a TNA fan at heart (for reasons unbeknownst to myself) but right now the in ring action in WWE is miles ahead of TNA. Taker/HHH at Wrestlemania could possibly be my favourite match of all time and I was sure nothing could come close to that this year, and then at the very next PPV they produce 3 matches that push it very fucking close!

 

Bully Ray- Best heel in the business and probably my favourite wrestler of the moment. This guy just 'gets' how to be a heel. He plays his character to absolute perfection, make no mistake there is NOBODY and I mean NOBODY who could play the Bully character better than him right now. His promo's are brilliant, he's in the best shape of his life and his matches are entertaining too. He even managed to get a great match out of Abyss for fucks sake! Bully Ray vs AJ in the last man standing match was probably TNA's match of the year (was it 2011 or 2012??) and he just seems to get better and better as time goes on. I'm not one of these guys who believes he should be in the main event picture, he's absolutely spot on in the role he's in at the top end of the card but just below the main event. If they are looking to elevate the TV title into meaning something, it needs to be put on him ASAP.

 

Gut Check Open Fight Night- It's early days (1 episode) but the recent Gut Check segments on Impact for me were the best thing on the show and i really really enjoyed the presentation of Open Fight Night. There is this stigma amongst me wrestling fans that everything TNA does is shit, and whilst everybody is entitled to their own opinions, Gut Check and OFN are genuinely refreshing concepts and fair play to TNA for at least trying to shake things up a bit. Also if every Gut Check backstage discussion features Ric Flair burying the shit out of everybody in Simon Cowell-esque fashion, then I'm game!

 

Hating:

 

Mr Anderson- Since his return I actually think he's been trying harder. He's definitely got himself into somewhat better shape and seems to actually be putting in some effort in his promo's...but dear lord he's boring as hell. I also really hate his little promos he cuts during his entrance before the whole " Anderson...Anderson" shtick . They almost always garner no reaction and just seem to fall flat. He is the only wrestler I can honestly say I skip when he's in the ring.

 

Brodus Clay- In fairness I'm not his target demographic...his little video thingy on Raw during his entrance was clearly aimed at the kiddies, but he annoys me.

 

Matt Morgan- He's not over...and he'll never be over...fuck off.

[air_raid]

Plus there's online rumors of Austin coming back for another match and even of Shawn Michaels coming out of retirement.

Where on Earth have you read that and what on Earth would make you believe it? Shawn is very open about the fact he loves retirement, doesnt miss wrestling and doesnt even watch WWE TV any more.

I still have hope that either Brock or The Rock change the belt design if/when they win it.

Good call. Should The Rock come back for a serious run and take the title, I completely can imagine a segment where he bins, buries or by other means destroys the angular formerly-spinning title and derides it as a relic of the bygone "Fruity Pebbles era" or whatnot, not a thousand miles from the segments involving Steve Austin's custom belt back in the day.

It was like when Christian lost the world title after 5 days, so many complaints, but it actually lead to some of the best matches of 2011 with Orton, a heel turn which IMO did more for him than remaining face and another run (even if that was lacklustre too in some respects).

It's fine to criticize people not seeing the big picture but you can't really knock anyone who hated, for example, Christian dropping the title so quickly because of what great things it lead to - we aren't born with the foresight to see what's going to come of something. There is a fair amount of "wait and see" logic you can apply to certain storyline developments, but when it comes to something as dramatic as a veteran roster member's first World title reign, its perfectly understandable that if people gained an emotional investment in Christians "journey" to that moment, their reaction to his run being derailed at the first available opportunity is going to be "that's bollocks." Building up the emotional investment in Christian, with newly-retired Edge a major factor in the build and involved in the finish and then creating such a great pay off, suddenly all seemed pointless, or maybe even a "fuck you" to those viewers that had gotten behind Christian. "Fuck you. Orton main event, Christian nobody." Bollocks.I know that with hindsight being 20/20 you can say that Christian enjoyed a more sustained run on top and probably featured in more PPV title matches the way things worked out in the end than if he'd had a single reign which both started and ended as a babyface, and has suffered probably a less dramatic fall from grace back to the midcard, but the point I'm getting at is there a certain things people WILL complain about, because it's not human nature to say "that seems like bullshit.... but it might lead somewhere better." It's human nature to say "that's BULLSHIT!"I forgive anyone the same reaction to Sheamus/D-Bry being short-changed their chance to show the biggest live & PPV audience of the year what they could do, incidentally. Mostly because there was so much disposable crap that their match no doubt gave up time to allow WWE to present.

[wh1007]

Three things I love1. John Cena: Over a year ago I was firmly in the anti-Cena camp.I wasn't yet back to religously watching WWE yet so most of my information was from Power Slam's reports on WWE.After finally ditching bitter Fin's mag and returning to WWE on a mostly full time situation my eyes were open to the real John Cena.He's absolutly brilliant and i'm well and truly behind him to the point were it's developed into some what of a man crush.His performances leading up to Mania were terrific as was his his work with Lesnar.Far better in the ring than he's given credit for and he's probably the most likeable guy on the planet(Check out The John Cena Experience DVD for proof of that),Cena can do no wrong in my eyes,the guy is fucking brilliant.2. Johnny Ace: Better at the bumbling General Manager role than Mike Adamle ever was(it's probably wrong that I miss him),Ace is visibly growing in confidence week after week out there.It doesn't matter that he comes out with outrageous bloopers like Brock Cena,when he's out there he's one of the most entertaining on the mic.His delivery on this weeks Raw whilst refering to his path of destruction was brilliant.Long may he last in the role.3. Eve: After suffering through the seemingly never ending Ryder/Eve/Cena/Kane storyline,the last thing most people would have wanted to see was more of Eve on TV.whatever happened in the period of her kicking Zack Ryder in the balls and the time she was installed as Executive Administrator she's been brilliant in her role.Great delivery and she's pretty much nailed the sexy secretary look.the glasses were the cherry on top of a classy yet slutty cake.Three things I hate1. Ziggler loses again: It's been said that he's so good that he's laned himself in his current role of jobbing almost every week.If they don't see him as a main event player he should at least be riding high in the mid-card instead of losing to Brodus Clay and being saddled with Jack Swagger, who I wanted to like,and that now officially useless Vickie Guerrero2. Punk on the mic: He's great in the ring,that I don't doubt,but every time he gets on the mic to drop another "pipebomb" or "say what everybody else is afraid to say" he comes across as an overbearing and smug cunt.And a bully when confronting Big Johnny.Plus,toolbox may be the most annoying insult ever.3. Lord Tensai: Some people and Power Slam would have had you believe that the former A-Train had become the next Kurt Angle in Japan.mabye i'm missing something but since his return I haven't exactly been blown away by his in ring work.That and the character is boring.I can't imagine anybody would bat an eyelid if he came out to the train whistle music complete with hairy chest next week on Raw.

[niff]

3 things I love in wrestling1. Brock Lesnar - brought a bit of spark back into John Cena after a year long snorefest feud with Rock. I actually got goosebumps when he first returned and I never even watched him the first time round!2. Bully Ray - as mentioned earlier he's just the best heel going right now. Just watch him do a segment/crashing an interview with the bird from MUTV on youtube. Jericho needs to take note, that's how you act as a heel. 3. Sheamus - fair enough Daniel Bryan is doing great right now (was he never NOT great?) but I think a lot of it is down to his feud with Sheamus. Sheamus has done what McIntyre/Barrett couldn't and has become immensely popular in a ridiculously short space of time. Pushed, sure but he's deserved to stay in the main events. 3 things I hate in wrestling (just 3?! Shucks)1. WWE commentary teams - are you seriously telling me that these are the best people for colour commentary when JR's not around?! When they turn up on The Soup saying random scary things then you know its time to re-jig the line up. Heaven knows they've let go of enough decent in ring talent. 2. The price of WWE DVDs. Blu rays drop in price but oh no never a WWE one! 3. Vickie Guerrero - you're excused.

[Arch Stanton]

2. The price of WWE DVDs. Blu rays drop in price but oh no never a WWE one!

Where are you shopping, HMV?Silvervision has cracking offers, even on Blu Ray.

[niff]

2. The price of WWE DVDs. Blu rays drop in price but oh no never a WWE one!

Where are you shopping, HMV?Silvervision has cracking offers, even on Blu Ray.

Everywhere but Silvervision! Cheers.

[DeanoTheGame]

I'm gonna take my previous choice of JTG (which I pretty much settled on because I couldn't think of anything else) and replace it with Matt Strikers commentary. I have to watch Superstars on mute when this cunts on.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

3 Things I Love

 

1. Brock Lesnar. I loved the guy since his debut in 2002, even though he was kicking the shit out of some of my favourites like RVD and the Hardyz, he was just so freaking badass. I followed him to UFC and then back to WWE. Difference is, Brock left UFC and I still watch it. If Brock did leave WWE, and The Rock wasn't around, pretty sure I wouldn't be watching WWE.

 

2. The Rock. In the build up to WM28, I was very underwhelmed. Rock just didn't seem himself. Two weeks before Mania, he finally found his groove on the mic and followed it up with a stellar WM main event performance. The next night on Raw, with him promising to go for the WWE title, I'm majorly hooked to see what happens next with him.

 

3. Humanising John Cena. One of the biggest factors of me stopping watching WWE was the horrible way Cena was presented. He's a fantastic talent, and from 2005-2007 was my favourite wrestler by far. Then he got sickeningly goody two shoes with his actions, storylines and promos, and won every major match with his Superman routine. From Wrestlemania to Extreme Rules, they allowed him to look weakened, show vulnerability and doubt himself. I'm interested in this John Cena, moreso than I have been in years.

 

3 Things I Hate

 

1. Lack of character development. My friend turned on Raw for the first time in a few years and said, "Who the fuck is Sheamus?" I thought about it and didn't really know how to answer. He's been there 3 years, multi time champion, and all we know is that he's Irish, fella. He doesn't get much dedicated promo time or intriguing storylines to show who he is. Guys like Dolph Ziggler suffer in the same way. Let the guy cut a promo, he's actually pretty good judging from his web-show.

 

2. Lack of time spent, y'know, wrestling. If you're not a main eventer, you never get more then 10 minutes. Gone are the days where the IC champ and contender would have a 15 minute title match on Raw. Fans are pretty much conditioned that anyone apart from the top 5 or 6 are bathroom break material.

 

3. The 'top dog' in the WWE. As said by commentators like Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, I assumed this line would refer to the WWE Champion. Apparently though, it refers to John Cena, and Brock Lesnar is vying for that position. CM Who?