Magnum Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 You can pretty much track that change in Angle in his physical appearance. He looked like he could be in Saved by the Bell when he first turned up in WWF. Nowadays he looks like the sort of bloke the bouncers would think twice about kicking out of some rough pub after he kicked off at the pool table. I bet the Angle with hair would never have tried to sell people them weird cardboard ready meals he keeps plugging these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Stoner conspiracy moment: What if the greatest work of all time is Cena actually being WWE's top heel for the past however many years. Everything he does is cleverly designed to make the older fans detest him. From the STF to shit eating grin, we are supposed to boo him all while they make a fortune from the kids. "JBL is poopy? Yeah that will piss off everyone over 12 more than saying their football team is shit." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I am a little murky on Angle/Sharmell though. Wasn't he just lusting after Sharmell, then Booker stopped him from advancing on her? Hardly drugging her or kidnapping her, although it carries creepy as hell undertones. I could see other shows being similarly creepy... in fact The OC did it, and they targeted young teens, while Smackdown in 05/06 was still more adult orientated for the most part than current WWE. It was Angle saying that sex with a black woman would constitute 'beastiality sex' that was the real kicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I am a little murky on Angle/Sharmell though. Wasn't he just lusting after Sharmell, then Booker stopped him from advancing on her? Hardly drugging her or kidnapping her, although it carries creepy as hell undertones. I could see other shows being similarly creepy... in fact The OC did it, and they targeted young teens, while Smackdown in 05/06 was still more adult orientated for the most part than current WWE. It was Angle saying that sex with a black woman would constitute 'beastiality sex' that was the real kicker. Fair play, as I said I was a bit murky on the details, that is pretty shocking. It probably went over my head as I was about 15, didn't know what 'beastiality sex' was at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted December 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 The Trish thing will haunt them forever. It was brought up in the Linda election as well. People were super offended by it. Its the one thing people seem to use as an example when they are saying "what an embarrassing company". Top wank ammunition though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted December 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 For me, Bret is a good example of a guy that was a decent and believable person. Â Since we appear to be talking real life rather than pro wrestling persona, it needs to be pointed out that by his own admissions The Excellence of Sexecution has been far from decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Stoner conspiracy moment: What if the greatest work of all time is Cena actually being WWE's top heel for the past however many years. Everything he does is cleverly designed to make the older fans detest him. From the STF to shit eating grin, we are supposed to boo him all while they make a fortune from the kids. "JBL is poopy? Yeah that will piss off everyone over 12 more than saying their football team is shit." Â Would be fine if it was making those older fans keep paying money to see him get beat. Generally, though, those fans have just fucked off, so if it is a work, it's not a very clever one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 They just think "JBL is Poopy" is great. And "popcorn farts." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Butternut Squash Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 For me, Bret is a good example of a guy that was a decent and believable person. Â Since we appear to be talking real life rather than pro wrestling persona, it needs to be pointed out that by his own admissions The Excellence of Sexecution has been far from decent. Â I was talking about wrestling persona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted December 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Then yeah, Bret mostly did what he thought was the right thing for most of 1988-1997. Although he did a fair amount of complaining. But he was usually right, damn it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted December 20, 2012 Moderators Share Posted December 20, 2012 Yeah, from 1996 he was a crying girl on WWF TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Ronnie Posted December 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 It was Angle saying that sex with a black woman would constitute 'beastiality sex' that was the real kicker. I don't think the intention was racist but simply that Angle used the word to mean "have raw, primal sex/fuck like animals" and that others have read racism into it. It's daft of him, since beastiality would mean sex with an animal but I can't see why otherwise he and his producers would deliberately put on air "black people = monkeys". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Up Chuck Posted December 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 (edited) Remembering that great Hogan lightning picture that inspired the Poster of the Year award, I thought Ronnie would like what Kofi Kingston found in his trip to the WWE warehouse: Â Edited December 20, 2012 by Up Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ShortOrderCook Posted December 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted December 20, 2012 Some tremendous discussion over the last few pages chaps and some particularly interesting posts from Pitcos, Ian and Statto. Â As much as many like to be negative about what WWE and pro-wrestling has become, the overall aspects and details of the phenomenon as a whole, with how it works, continues to exist and evolve are really just as fascinating as ever, if not moreso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I was just about to post that - the general consensus over the last few pages is absolutely spot on. Wrestling is for kids - Cena is as great for them as Hogan was for kids in the 80s/90s. Cena's character isn't my cup of tea, but then I'm a 30-something male who really should have grown out of this now. If the WWE were catering their product to get money out of people like me, they'd go bankrupt in 6 months. Â I think that brief 97-2001 era really confused the issue with pro wrestling. There was a strong anti-establishment, end of millenium counter-culture thing going on that the Attitude era style just caught onto like the crest of a wave. At exactly that moment, the generation of people who grew up with superhero WWF were sick of it, but rather than drift away from the product they latched onto assholes like The Rock, nWo and Austin as their new anti-heroes. Â Everyone knows that wrestling is in decline, audience-wise, in the US, but what demographic should it be going for? Up until the 80s, wrestling was for grown-ups, it was violent adult entertainment. Then Hogan and the Rock'n'Wrestling came along, Hogan got a cartoon series, and they started making serious money off kids. Then in the 90s boom it was teenagers. Does anyone here seriously think, in the modern age, wrestling could be big again with adults? Â I've always assumed that Vince changed the product the way he did in the last decade in an attempt to start his audience again - get em in as kids, keep them as long as you can. Perhaps now would be a good time to take it more adult and try and recreate that boom in teenage/twenties audiences, but I don't think there's an appetite for it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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