Impact wrestling thread - It's a Don West tribute thread now!

[IANdrewDiceClay]

That's for upcoming talent, though. That's your Mike Bennetts and Adam Coles. Roode isn't an investment. He's not a green rookie. He looks great and his fundamentals are far more advanced than so many in NXT. He'd slot straight into the WWE roster if they signed him. Magnus and Styles are different, but Roode isn't someone that divides opinion at all. He's pretty much considered great throughout the landscape. If he was looking for work, I can see them taking him. He's earning decent money and has a family, though, so TNA is probably the best place for him. Roode should have went in March when his contract ran out and they never bothered to sort it out in a hurry. He'd have been on the roster now. Especially with BG James in a position of power.

 

I just look at Hennig's son and think how much better Roode would be in that position. They have Chris Hero under contract. He isn't much younger than Bobby Roode.

Edited August 23, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[d-d-d-dAz]

The new framework for WWE guys seems to be that they'd rather take former athletes, in their mid to late twenties with great physical attributes but limited-to-no wrestling and teach them wrestling for a few years and then chuck them on TV.

 

This could actually favour TNA in the long run, in that it seems their interest in taking prodigious Indy talents in their early twenties seems to be dying.

 

The WWE tryouts, by all accounts, are just murderous cardio circuits and JR recently answered a question on twitter about how to make it to the WWE by saying something along the lines of 'DON'T hit the ring, get your fitness right, get athletic and make sure your footworks right and light'.

 

A divergence of interests in terms of recruitment could be a massive boost for TNA; its probably why they're talking about recruiting hot young talent right now.

 

*edit* like Ian says, on rare occasions there'll be someone who develops outside the system like a Roode, who they might just be willing to take a shot on. He'd require little investment other than his wages, and owing to age you'd only offer him a short contract initially. Then, if he bombed, you could just let him go.

Edited August 23, 2013 by d-d-d-dAz

[IANdrewDiceClay]

This could actually favour TNA in the long run, in that it seems their interest in taking prodigious Indy talents in their early twenties seems to be dying.

They just signed Sami Callihan and El Generico. Two of the most indy blokes going. This whole recruitment process isn't a new thing. WWE have always been looking for ex-footballers and bodybuilders and athletes. But young workers will always be their target. Just look at who is on top right now. Daniel Bryan and CM Punk wouldnt have been hired, if people believe they want to train their own wrestlers up. It always has been, no matter what the target is. About 15 years ago they signed Ken Shamrock, Albert and Droz (a UFC fighter and two American Football players) as well as Jeff Jarrett, Brian Christopher and Taka Michinoku in the same 6 month span. If there is talent about, WWE are snapping it up. John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Batista never wrestled before signing with WWE either, but they still signed Benoit, Jericho, Regal and Guerrero around the same time.

Edited August 23, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[Pier Six Brawler]

Where are all the big guys nowadays? Today's Big Bossmans, One Man Gangs, Terry Gordys, Vaders, Stan Hansens etc? Aren't WWE looking into signing people cut from the NFL? That should produce some good things if it pans out.

[Kyle]

This could actually favour TNA in the long run, in that it seems their interest in taking prodigious Indy talents in their early twenties seems to be dying.

They just signed Sami Callihan and El Generico. Two of the most indy blokes going. This whole recruitment process isn't a new thing. WWE have always been looking for ex-footballers and bodybuilders and athletes. But young workers will always be their target. Just look at who is on top right now. Daniel Bryan and CM Punk wouldnt have been hired, if people believe they want to train their own wrestlers up. It always has been, no matter what the target is. About 15 years ago they signed Ken Shamrock, Albert and Droz (a UFC fighter and two American Football players) as well as Jeff Jarrett, Brian Christopher and Taka Michinoku in the same 6 month span. If there is talent about, WWE are snapping it up. John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Batista never wrestled before signing with WWE either, but they still signed Benoit, Jericho, Regal and Guerrero around the same time.

 

There's a key difference between then and now. That being WWE building the performance center, which is strictly designed for attracting football players and amateur wrestlers. Generico and Callihan were signed months before the performance center opened up. I think they are the last of their breed that you will see WWE sign. The HHH interview makes it clear they are done looking at the indies for new talent.

 

It's a shame that WWE still has a narrow minded approach when it comes to recruiting. Them thinking taking scrubs from off the street and teaching them from scratch is the best option is the reason why they have produced less major stars than they did in previous eras. This is also why most of the undercard from the past ten years is not memorable at all compared to the attitude era, where people still remember a Val Venis or Godfather type, or the Hulkamania era, where people still remember someone like Hacksaw Duggan or the Honky Tonk Man. You can't say the same for the WWE of the past decade.

[PowerButchi]

WWE are probably going to sign Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards this month, so it shows that they're always still on the lookout for "workers".

[Arch Stanton]

To suggest that WWE will stop looking to independent or foreign wrestling promotions for new talent is absurd. There will always be an eye on the business. You think they aren't keeping tabs on the likes of Prince Devitt?

[King Pitcos]

This is also why most of the undercard from the past ten years is not memorable at all compared to the attitude era, where people still remember a Val Venis or Godfather type, or the Hulkamania era, where people still remember someone like Hacksaw Duggan or the Honky Tonk Man. You can't say the same for the WWE of the past decade.

There's a lot wrong with that. For starters, we remember the characters of our youth more vividly and fondly. Twenty years from now, there'll be people talking about how the wrestlers of the day aren't as memorable as The Boogeyman and Fandango.

 

Secondly, wrestlers pre-Monday Night Wars had much more complimentary TV time. Jim Duggan was the star of all of his segments, coming down and beating a no-mark in a two minute showcase. Justin Gabriel (who is crap anyway) doesn't get that. Justin Gabriel gets ten minutes losing to Boring Cesaro in a match where nobody gets over.

 

Thirdly, wrestlers back then had gimmicks and characters. Now, near enough everyone is just "nice guy who wrestles" or "mean guy who wrestles." That doesn't make it easy to stand out, but when someone does have a strong gimmick, they do stand out. Until they get in the cycle of overlong, boring, parity-booking matches. I don't know if it's a reluctance on the wrestlers' part to play gimmicks or if it's just the WWE mentality, but it doesn't exactly get kids drawing pictures of you in their schoolbooks.

 

There are several reasons why wrestlers now don't get over as much as they did twenty years ago. It's not just because they've never wrestled for ROH.

[air_raid]

Plus everything resonates when the product as a whole is vibrant and playing in front of always-hot crowds, which there were in the "Hogan days" and the "Austin days" compared to now, and to a lesser degree the period in between. Personally I thought Duggan was shit, but he's memorable because the time he wrestled was memorable and the crowd was always into him. Likewise Godfather was a pretty marginal guy, talent-wise, but he had a decent character in front of excitable crowds so got over and stayed so.

 

Who knows, if the product as a whole had had more "buzz" between Hogan and Stone Cold and people would have been reactive to everything, we'd be talking right now about how memorable Rad Radford, Avatar, Tekno Team 2000 and Alex Porteau were. We aren't, and they were hired in a "recruit existing wrestlers" era as opposed to this "start from scratch" malarkey.

 

You think they aren't keeping tabs on the likes of Prince Devitt?

 

If you ask him, they are.

[Vamp]

Twenty years from now, there'll be people talking about how the wrestlers of the day aren't as memorable as The Boogeyman and Fandango.

 

I say that now. Hardly any of the roster are as memorable as The Boogeyman.

 

Never forget.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Thirdly, wrestlers back then had gimmicks and characters. Now, near enough everyone is just "nice guy who wrestles" or "mean guy who wrestles." That doesn't make it easy to stand out, but when someone does have a strong gimmick, they do stand out. Until they get in the cycle of overlong, boring, parity-booking matches. I don't know if it's a reluctance on the wrestlers' part to play gimmicks or if it's just the WWE mentality, but it doesn't exactly get kids drawing pictures of you in their schoolbooks.

 

This. THIS. A MILLION TIMES THIS.

 

So little time and effort is put into giving wrestlers character, its shocking. Even when they do bother to do a gimmick, they stop bothering once they've told you what they are. Fandango's a dancer and...that's about it, really.

 

I'm not advocating a return to the cartoon era, but loads more could be done to enhance characters in the WWE. It doesn't have to be childish shit, either. Look at how much we all went mental for the Bray Wyatt vignettes. They can easily make strong characters with broad appeal.

[King Pitcos]

Fandango's more than a dancer! And less. He's a weird, sleazy charlatan with hang-ups about his name who pretends to be a dancer to pick up women and trainers.

[d-d-d-dAz]

But, I think most of that is inferred. I don't think they go to any great lengths to put that across on TV.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Twenty years from now, there'll be people talking about how the wrestlers of the day aren't as memorable as The Boogeyman and Fandango.

 

I say that now. Hardly any of the roster are as memorable as The Boogeyman.

 

Never forget.

I never will. How can you forget the Boogeyman? I'm desperate to know what people were on when they came up with that gimmick. Its so over the top and the whole look of it is brilliant. I wish they'd post the original art work for it. He's one of the few wrestlers whose gimmick would have been ruined if he was actually a good wrestler. Being shockingly rubbish just made his whole weirdness better. Its like he never went to wrestling school. And why would he? I always imagined he's been living in different childrens wardrobes for 30 years of his life before finding a Jakks figure of Renee Dupree or someone of the floor and ascending upon the world of WWE.

Edited August 24, 2013 by IANdrewDiceClay

[Vamp]

He was brilliant. I know such a character probably doesn't have a long shelf life but I wish they'd have done more with him.