MLW announce new TV Deal

[BomberPat]

Tom Philips, yeah.

Michael Cole apparently does a ton of work with NXT, in terms of announcing, production and presentation. I'm sure part of the reason Cole has done as well for himself in WWE as he has is that he seems to have a Vince-esque schedule and work ethic.

I know Corey Graves has Tweeted in the past about his own workload, sometimes running into 16-18 hour days between announcing, voiceovers, recording stuff for the Network, and so on, and Cole's doing more than him.

 

One of the coolest things at the Performance Center is the announcing training set-up - the entire video library available to pick from and record commentary over.

[tiger_rick]

5 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

One of the coolest things at the Performance Center is the announcing training set-up - the entire video library available to pick from and record commentary over.

That sounds like the premise of a great show on the network. A fake commentary audition. Like those "casting couch" pornos meets the early auditions of X-Factor.

[Accident Prone]

Good to see people being impressed with Matt Riddle. In my opinion, he is the absolute total package and should be headlining massive arena shows yesterday. Charisma pours out of his body like water from a tap and everything he does is silky smooth. He's only been in the game since 2014, so it's mind boggling how great he is this early in his career. These ex-MMA/amateur wrestling types really take to pro wrestling mindbogglingly fast.

Here's a small, yet probably insignificant, example of Matt Riddle's reach and potential;

Me and a few friends went to Wrestle Mania this year and I booked us tickets to some of the other shows happening around the week. One of my friends is a lapsed fan; hasn't watched anything since the late 90's/early 00's heyday and was coming with us as it sounded like a good time (I mean, it's New Orleans at the end of the day). I took him to a couple of Fight Club: Pro shows (indy promotion in Wolves part-owned by Trent Seven) as a primer; he really liked the atmosphere and how passionate people were but didn't like the convoluted nature of some matches and wasn't a big fan of any comedy/4th wall-breaking moments.

He'd also had some trouble with present day WWE, finding it hard to get into. He was really excited for it all though; after all, it is New Orleans (incredible city, by the way) and he was looking forward to seeing his old WWF faves as well as Rousey, Daniel Bryan and the BritWres guys that he took a shine to.

Overall, he thought Wrestle Mania was, "a bit gash and over-priced" and talked about how none of the characters really stood out or connected with him, how he thought some of the matches were a bit boring and, over all, it didn't really make him want to watch WWE regularly again.

But there was one guy who stood out to him after it was all said and done, and that was Matt Riddle. He was one of only two guys he bought merch off and got a photo with (the other being Will Ospreay). Matt Riddle's status as an all-time great in his eyes was cemented due to his incredible bout against the aforementioned Ospreay on the Friday night. We had all ready seen Riddle at two previous shows, but he said it was the first time he been properly emotionally invested in a match since the "good old days" and it was due to both wrestlers being very compelling, believable characters with buckets of charisma and looks that made them stand out. It was Riddle he leaned towards due to his demeanor, style, mic work and, most importantly, he was able to believe in him and make that connection.

So the lapsed/casual fan, who doesn't like the current WWE product and is quite selective regarding what he likes outside of that bubble, his favorite wrestler right now is Matt fucking Riddle. 

And yes, I know all this detail because we had a 7 hour car ride back to Houston Airport on the Tuesday so we had a lot of time to dissect and piece together our week in and around Bourbon Street. Well, what we could remember anyways. Bourbon Street, lads.

A bit of a ramble that, but there you go. If MLW keep Matt Riddle at the top of the card, they'll have little trouble grabbing fans and getting them to stick to their product. As an aside, just in case this isn't biased enough, I also bought a Riddle tshirt and got a photo with him. I asked him how much a photo would cost and he said, "I'm not gonna charge for a photo dude, I'm not the Young Bucks". God bless that man.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Accident Prone

[BomberPat]

Matt Riddle was definitely the standout star of Wrestlemania weekend - don't think he had a single bad match out of the God knows how many he was in.

While I'm not really a fan of the whole "Bro" thing, at least it's giving him some character beyond just being an MMA guy (because there's more and more of them about, and it helps to have additional strings to your bow). He's probably as good as anyone at integrating his MMA background into modern pro-wrestling, and finding a style that really works for him, rather than feeling like a half-arsed neither one nor t'other.

He's one of very few wrestlers out there at the moment that I can watch and get the sense that I'm seeing a glimpse of the direction wrestling is going to head down in the future.

[Bukamania]

He is defiantly the coolest guy to meet on the indie scene. Outstanding wrestler, seems genuinely happy when meeting fans, doesn't charge a penny and will happily speak to anyone even if they ain't buying shit (take note Colt Cabana and Young Bucks).

[AVM]

Agree on the Riddle love. He’s genuinely got time for everyone, a top bloke, knows exactly how to market himself he oozes charisma and is a top, top athlete. Literally the only things holding him back is the wellness policy and apparently no real desire to head to WWE.

[Merzbow]

I've started to really get into MLW since just before Battle Riot 2, Corny is great fun as commentator and his shitting on Sami Callihan makes even his matches totally watchable.

Contra Unit are an interesting group with Jacob Fatu being the standout star, he's pretty amazing isn't he? Simon Gotch is an odd choice for such a stable but he seems to fit it much better than I would have expected.

Plus, there are multiple fat guys in the fed!

Edited April 26, 2019 by Merzbow

[Jazzy G]

On 4/21/2018 at 8:56 PM, PunkStep said:

Yeah I think that's the case, when....fuck my mind is blank. I was about to name the lead announcer but cannot remember his name. Todd Philips? Tom? Barry Wong? Whatever the fuck his name is, when he got the call to Smackdown I think he thanked Cole, who in turn bigged him up on Twitter- giving the impression he showed him the ropes.

Wilson Phillips. 

Matt Riddle is amazing. He has the potential to go on and achieve some great things, but I worry that they're not going to have a clue what to do with him when he gets to the main roster. There are some cracking matches he could have there as well, Nakamura, Styles, Bryan, Joe, Lesnar. 

Edited April 26, 2019 by jazzygeofferz

[King Pitcos]

That’s an odd thing to say if you’ve seen any of Nakamura’s work in the last three years.

[Devon Malcolm]

Shinsuke Nakamura is the new Lord Tensai.

[Accident Prone]

17 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Shinsuke Nakamura is the new Lord Tensai.

[uklaw]

2 hours ago, Merzbow said:

I've started to really get into MLW since just before Battle Riot 2, Corny is great fun as commentator and his shitting on Sami Callihan makes even his matches totally watchable.

Contra Unit are an interesting group with Jacob Fatu being the standout star, he's pretty amazing isn't he? Simon Gotch is an odd choice for such a stable but he seems to fit it much better than I would have expected.

Plus, there are multiple fat guys in the fed!

MLW Fusion is my appointment viewing wrestling show.

The shows just flow nicely, able to cover the multiple stories in a way that does not seem like it’s been forced in. 

Contra Unit have been presented as a major threat but in a totally different way to Promociones Dorado (specifically LA Park). And Selina de la Renta... what a force of nature!

Jacob Fatu can’t be long for MLW (sadly for them). Though I’m not sure he’ll be booked to win the title if he was put with Tom Lawlor, he’s clearly the standout.

Jim Cornette has been a good addition to the announcing team, although I also enjoyed Tony Schiavone.

I could go on, but I’m glad for it’s presence. 

 

[Devon Malcolm]

14 minutes ago, Accident Prone said:

You'd have thought somebody who has the nerve to call themselves the King of Strong Style would have offence that doesn't look even pisser weaker than Booker T or Dolph Ziggler. He couldn't even have really good matches with AJ Styles. He's been absolute shite.

[tiger_rick]

He's been disappointing since he left NXT but his worst match is still 50 times better than Albert's best one. Listened to @King Pitcos rant about Bloom on an old SCG radio recently. That's a thing of beauty.

[LEGIT]

I watched a couple of MLW episodes recently. Thought I would enjoy it, but didn't really. It was when Low-Ki shanked Konnan. I thought it was quite lame. I'll probs give it another try soon mind u. 

I've heard a lot of praise for Corny. I've said it for a while, love or hate his booking/podcasts, but on screen, be it on commetary or as an act, he's first rate. People who dislike him for his off screen antics sometimes forget how good he can be on screen. 

Edited April 26, 2019 by LEGIT