Random Thoughts III.

[garynysmon]

6 hours ago, PowerButchi said:

Bang average. Chris Jericho without the self promotion. If someone asked you to name a wrestler, you wouldn't name Edge until at least after 25-30. At least. Possibly, or probably, more. The first thing that comes to my mind when he's mentioned is the weird leggings on his skinny legs. No reall memorable matches or promos.

Also on top during an era when star power fell off a cliff due to the proper stars getting too old.

You got the feeling he was on top as they had no-one else, he wouldn't (and wasn't) have been anywhere near the world title picture 5-10 years earlier.

Edited January 21, 2019 by garynysmon

[HarmonicGenerator]

22 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

Also on top during an era when star power fell off a cliff due to the proper stars getting too old.

You got the feeling he was on top as they had no-one else, he wouldn't (and wasn't) have been anywhere near the world title picture 5-10 years earlier.

I dunno, before his injury in early 03 he was definitely being positioned as a top guy on SmackDown, and this is at a time when they had Lesnar, Undertaker, Angle, Triple H and RVD full time, and on-and-off Michaels, Rock, Austin and Hogan still about. Even in 2001 you could make a case that big things were starting to align for him before the Invasion shifted all priorities. Sure, maybe he wouldn't have been near the world title picture in 98/99 but then barely anybody who wasn't Austin, Rock or Undertaker was.

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, Onyx2 said:

 "H B K" was a thing, but Bret never had one;

"Let's go Bret"

[tiger_rick]

6 minutes ago, air_raid said:

"Let's go Bret"

HBK fanboy in blatant lie shocker 😉

[BomberPat]

1 hour ago, Onyx2 said:

"ONE FALL" felt like it came from the UK scene before WWE took it on, which I note announcers were likely told to talk over initially but now seem to just let happen. 

If I've got it right, it was one random BritWres indie show, where the announcer said something like, "the following match scheduled for one fall is a singles match, and it's scheduled for one fall", so every time he said "one fall" for the rest of the night, the crowd shouted it back at him. People who were at that show started doing it at bigger shows, and it eventually found its way to Full Sail and now every fucker does it.

Chants have always been a thing. Usually nothing more complex than a "Let's Go X" or chanting a two or three syllable name, but people chanted "Let's Go Hulk" or just "Ho-gan" for Hulk Hogan, there were famously chants of "We Want Flair" in WCW in '91/'92, and I recently watched Slamboree '94, which had a smattering of "We Want Blood" chants. The ECW crowd (or Philadelphia crowds in general) are probably responsible for the more elaborate chants, and the sort of "This Is Awesome"/"This Is Wrestling" shit that came in via (probably) ROH, on account of being a reasonably tight-knit group attending lots of the same shows. Most of their chants, as American chants tend to, still fit the "four beats and three claps" rhythm, though - more elaborate chants tended to come from British and European crowds, who have more of a tradition of terrace songs and whatnot. Do yourself a favour, and never listen to the crowd at an American Progress show trying to do the "stand up if you hate Gibson" chant and completely fucking it up.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Yeah, I meant that more kind of self-referential chant where it's less an organic supporting your favourite / annoying the bad guy thing and more about being 'part of the show' for lack of a better phrase; the kind of chanting that puts the chanters at a remove from the action, and that the people in the match can't really feed off. It was there in ECW but I'm sure I don't remember that kind of fan activity being such a dominant part of WWE shows until the past couple of years.

[air_raid]

7 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

If I've got it right, it was one random BritWres indie show, where the announcer said something like, "the following match scheduled for one fall is a singles match, and it's scheduled for one fall", so every time he said "one fall" for the rest of the night, the crowd shouted it back at him. People who were at that show started doing it at bigger shows, and it eventually found its way to Full Sail and now every fucker does it.

I want to believe this was the wee PCW fella as PCW was certainly the first place I started hearing it and for the longest time the only place I heard it, until eventually a small group started taking it into Rev Pro shows and when Progress started running Manchester I heard it there too. I think the Full Sail transition was via the first NXT tour as certainly by Blackpool the lad doing the introductions (who is now on Downers) was perfectly happy to pause and let everyone do it as it was clearly going to happen anyway. I'm guessing (don't remember) it was audible on the TakeOver London broadcast and as they say, one thing led to another.

It doesn't bother me like it does the up-counting when the ref's doing the 10 count if the ref isn't Chris Roberts.

[Sphinx]

I first remember hearing one fall in 2008 though it may have happened earlier than that.

It struck me that Americans don't really have chants like the British when I was at Mania 30. Bourbon Street had loads of chants going on, but it was mostly British with Americans trying to follow. Makes you realise how many we inherently know too.

[HarmonicGenerator]

6 minutes ago, air_raid said:

It doesn't bother me like it does the up-counting when the ref's doing the 10 count if the ref isn't Chris Roberts.

The "10" for every number during 10 counts seems to have decreased, though, so it could be worse.

[Egg Shen]

whats worse than any chant (and i dont like chants) are the fans who sit front row and do the hands on the head "oh my god!" thing every time there's a big spot, theres just nothing genuine about it. They are so desperate to get on camera and become a meme its embarrasing, i find it hard to watch wrestling because of these people, just utter cretins.

[Accident Prone]

Although not exactly "One fall!", I've been watching quite a bit of late 90's/early 00's Puro lately, and during the ring introductions the crowd will shout in unison right after the ring announced has finished his spiel. Anybody know what this is, as it way too familiar with today's "ONE FALLL!!" and i'm genuinely intrigued by it.

I also love how the origin of the 'ONE FALL!!!" chant has taken on all these different stories, as the version I know is that the regular and notable ICW announcer said that the following match was a 2/3 falls out match, only to be corrected rather visibly by someone at ringside afterwards, so the fans constantly reminded him throughout the night how many falls each match has. Hence, ONE FALL!!!!!.

Most chants are a bit shite and forced, but I'll take it over crowds who sit on their hands. "ONE FFAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!" though is probably the best one as it happens before the match (therefore, not interfering with the match itself) and loosens up the crowd a bit. I've been to a few shows where the audience has been a bit hesitant to make noise during the opening introductions but have got well into things as soon as "OOOONNNNNNNEEEEEE FFFAAAAAWWWWLLLLLL" as been belted out by a few pockets of the room. Long may it continue! 

"Fight Forever" and "This Is Awesome" can get to fuck though.

[BomberPat]

"One fall" annoys me, though I can't really put my finger on why. I think it's fans being intentionally disruptive that bothers me - like counting ahead of the ref - but if the ring announcer is purposefully leaving a gap to allow the fans to do it, then that's fine. 

[air_raid]

20 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

"Fight Forever" and "This Is Awesome" can get to fuck though.

QFT. I think 3 times between 2005 and 2009 did I get caught up and throw "this is awesome" at a match during a pause/10 count spot, all three were matches I was incredibly caught up in and remain in my top 10-15 favourite matches seen live ever. But looking back it's shit compared to shouting for who I wanted to win (which I still did loads of during said matches).

"Fight forever" is the fucking worst "YAY WRESTLING BUT WE DONT CARE WHO WINS, JUST THE MELTZER POINTS" bollocks of all time.

[WyattSheepMask]

‘That guy’ on NXT, you know which one I mean, has been a fantastic thin-skinned twat lately.

During a match Bianca Belair and Nikki Cross, Belair is stomping away and then stops. He then chimes in with “put the boots to her Belair”, despite her having just done so, and some must have said something to him (it doesn’t get picked up by the mic though) because he’s then “no you shut up!”

Later on when someone is down in front of him, and he’s standing up like he does every time. He’s a tall guy too, so presumably someone tells him to sit down, and he again is turning sharply telling someone to shut up.

People often go on about how creative fans at Progress are with their chants. They’re not. If you have a name that’s 3 syllables, you’re getting the Boney M - Daddy Cool chant (“Tyler, Tyler Baaate!...”) or the KC & The Sunshine Band - Give It Up chant (“na na, na na, na na na nan nan na, Tyler Tyler Bate, Tyler Bate! Tyler Tyler Baaate”)

The only one that has been moderately amusing was one they did for Ilja Draganov in December to the tune Do They Know It’s Christmas. It was amusing the first time, but by the eight or ninth time in the same match, it wasn’t anymore

Edited January 21, 2019 by WyattSheepMask

[Accident Prone]

31 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

People often go on about how creative fans at Progress are with their chants. They’re not. If you have a name that’s 3 syllables, you’re getting the Boney M - Daddy Cool chant (“Tyler, Tyler Baaate!...”) or the KC & The Sunshine Band - Give It Up chant (“na na, na na, na na na nan nan na, Tyler Tyler Bate, Tyler Bate! Tyler Tyler Baaate”)

The only one that has been moderately amusing was one they did for Ilja Draganov in December to the tune Do They Know It’s Christmas. It was amusing the first time, but by the eight or ninth time in the same match, it wasn’t anymore

I was at a Fight Club Show late last year that featured two tremendous chants that differed from the usual, overused Daddy Cool/KC whackabouts.

Crazy great luchadore Flamita had the pleasure of Hall And Oats 'Man Eater' ("Whoooooaaaaa, there he comes. Watch out boy he'll chew you up. Whoooooaaaaa, there he comes. He's a Flamita!) and the brilliant Meiko Satamura had the distinguished licks of Black Lace (Doooo dooo dooooo! Meiko Satamura! Doooo dooo dooooo! Meiko Satamura!).

And before some of you stomp your feet in protest and rage, YES the chants did add to the matches and YES we were all shouting for our faves too. In fact, that same show had Meiko defeat Kyle Fletcher in a match so heavily laced with story and ramifications that everyone went absolutely batshit when she won. Best of both worlds.