Pinc Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 All this movie stuff is drawing my wrestling fandom to a close. The thing that’s so intriguing about wrestling is that it’s a fake athletic contest taking place in the real word (i.e. in front of a real audience). If it just becomes fake fights in a fake world I might as well go and watch Dragonball Z or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 34 minutes ago, Pinc said: All this movie stuff is drawing my wrestling fandom to a close. The thing that’s so intriguing about wrestling is that it’s a fake athletic contest taking place in the real word (i.e. in front of a real audience). If it just becomes fake fights in a fake world I might as well go and watch Dragonball Z or something. It's only a small percentage of what they're doing at the moment though. Surely it wouldn't stop you from watching completely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted June 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 10, 2020 I think there's a place for it, and some of it can be great, but I hated the Adam Cole/Velveteen Dream match, and a large part of that was because it was neither one nor t'other. It felt really uncomfortable watching Adam Cole bleed, and both of them take dangerous bumps, in a heavily edited pre-taped match. There's no need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted June 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 10, 2020 31 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said: It's only a small percentage of what they're doing at the moment though. And the rest isn't good either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 1 hour ago, DavidB6937 said: It's only a small percentage of what they're doing at the moment though. Surely it wouldn't stop you from watching completely? It blows my suspension of disbelief for the rest of it though. The whole narrative of the shows stops making sense if some of the matches take place in a parallel cinematic universe. They can’t really be separated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lenin Posted June 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Pinc said: It blows my suspension of disbelief for the rest of it though. The whole narrative of the shows stops making sense if some of the matches take place in a parallel cinematic universe. They can’t really be separated. I agree up to a point but I think it has a place. If they kept it character specific, it would allow Taker a few more years and even help The Fiend's longevity as a character. Then, on a couple of bigger shows each year, it would be a big deal when they show up in person. Keeping it character specific would allow me to continue suspending disbelief as I can put it in the context of these two dark, unusual characters. Everyone else should be as you were otherwise what happens when fans are allowed back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Suspension of disbelief is an interesting thing, and I guess we all have our breaking points there. I think we've all had to go through that over the years, where there's something that just feels one step too far compared to everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Aye I think that's where I am. I'm the biggest Brock fan in the world but I couldn't have given a fuck about his match at Mania this year because it came immediately after my suspension of disbelief had been immolated by the Firefly Funhouse. It's fine like, I had a bloody good run as a fan. And I always loved how Cena's weird top-babyface-who-everyone-hates character broke the fourth wall. His character eating itself in the Funhouse was a good way for me to go out as a fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted June 10, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 10, 2020 Shit as that "funhouse" was, I really wanna see Cena fronting his own nWo now. He'd be the business as the Hogan-like super uncool heel who thinks he's a big movie star. Maybe one for when Hangman and Kenny jump over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 3 hours ago, DavidB6937 said: Suspension of disbelief is an interesting thing, and I guess we all have our breaking points there. I think we've all had to go through that over the years, where there's something that just feels one step too far compared to everything else. I've found that lately with some stuff I've seen. I can't remember the exact spot but I remember seeing a Ricochet/Will Ospreay match from Progress the other week and Ospreay did a 'wink-wink, this is all just pretend' thing and it took me out of the rest of the match. I found myself going 'well why should I try and believe any of this other stuff they're doing'? 'Cinematic wrestling' is like that for me too - although I did enjoy the Boneyard match on the whole. Hey, maybe this is just the way wrestling is going. It certainly seems to be popular in certain circles but it's just not my cup of tea. It's why I'm watching virtually no new wrestling at the moment [a few clips/highlights here and there] and I honestly never thought I would not watch wrestling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uklaw Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) JUST IN: The RAW and Smackdown creative teams have been merged. The official line is ‘streamlining the creative process’. Long and short of it is Bruce Pritchard now runs the creative team and Paul Heyman is now a performer only. I suspect a number of the writers will be shown the door. I will admit, I’ve been a little out of the loop, but I understand that SmackDown has actually been the better of the 2 main shows during this time. A couple of people I’ve spoken to say that RAW has been sleepwalking into oblivion, notwithstanding the hand we’ve all been dealt over the last few months. Edited June 11, 2020 by uklaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Smackdown has definitely been the better of the two in recent times, although neither has been that great. Whatever is going on backstage really needs to be sorted out. This lack of consistency must be a killer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCJ Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 I had a feeling Heyman’s days in charge were numbered as the ratings kept dropping. I’m not sure that was entirely his fault though. I don’t fully know how things are working in WWE right now but doesn’t Vince have to green light everything on Raw or Smackdown in order for it to happen? I agree that Smackdown has been the better show lately but they have the advantage of being a shorter show that doesn’t drag as much and they arguably have the better roster (they’re the flagship show now after all). I doubt Heyman would’ve been thrilled after AJ Styles was transferred to Smackdown and WWE released Gallows and Anderson. Be interesting to see if Heyman sticks around once his contract expires as he can’t be thrilled with this demotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Butternut Squash Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) Raw started to go down the tubes when the XFL folded. It's definitely had the feel of Vince chopping and changing stuff on the fly, while Bruce knowing what notes to hit, has room to breath on the relativity coherent Smackdown. It will be interesting to see how pushes are affected - already the likes of Cedric, Ricochet, Belair and Shayna have vanished, and badly scripted talk shows and promo trains have been more prominent. It's all pointless obviously. Until Vince sacks himself. No wonder HHH wanted nothing to do with the main shows. Edited June 13, 2020 by Mr Butternut Squash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Fairly solid show this week all things considered. But obviously Orton is a highlight and damn he's fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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