Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 It has to be a PWI style ranking system to work, IMO. it doesn't need points or anything complicated, just a published ranking every fortnight or month that takes roughly into account wins and losses and doesn't have any glaring fault. I think it can have a place. It saves you running millions of #1 contender matches or arbitrarily picking someone from nowhere. It gives fans something to discuss. And it can be a useful storytelling tool if you use it to have someone climb the rankings or have the #1 and #2 guys face off in a big match to determine the challenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 (edited) 15 minutes ago, air_raid said: The simplest way to get these across to your viewer in a way that makes sense is a re-establishment of "the championship committee" who determine the rankings. This gives you easy stories to tell where the heel gets to be a whiny bitch about their latest challenger or the fiery babyface gets to go all out to prove that they deserve a title shot all in the direction of the faceless committee without having to adhere to the worn out trope of the visible in-ring/on-screen authority figure taking too much mic time away from the talent and boring the viewer to death. 100% agreed. No more bloody Vince simulacra; apart from being overplayed, it also doesn't feel quite as "authoritative" any more, now that we know somebody can stand up to the evil boss, beat the shit out of him, and foil his machinations. With a committee and perhaps a Jack Tunney type who only shows up on rare occasions to deliver a judgment with an air of authority that cannot be challenged (mainly because nobody can find the fuckers to deliver the decision-changing beatdown), it would make storylines a bit more solid, I think. EDIT: On a personal note, I would also like to see the use of bullshitted (bullshat?) random occurrences, like Pat Patterson creating the Inter-Continental title by apparently winning THE South American championship at some kayfabed tournament in Brazil. Would help facilitate storylines and angles by enabling the bookers to mess with the rankings using "outside events". Also, it's funny. Edited January 16, 2019 by Carbomb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Carbomb said: With a committee and perhaps a Jack Tunney type who only shows up on rare occasions to deliver a judgment with an air of authority that cannot be challenged (mainly because nobody can find the fuckers to deliver the decision-changing beatdown), it would make storylines a bit more solid, I think. Agreed. The authority figure used to be important and powerful because they delivered summary judgement from their ivory tower which couldn't be challenged - they could neither be challenged nor coerced with face to face pleas or threats. Vader duffing up Gorilla Monsoon was shocking as hell at the time because it simply wasn't done and established Vader as an unpredictable monster heel more dangerous that anyone had ever seen (and then he broke Yokozuna's fucking leg!!... for a month). Steve Austin standing up to Vince with the threat of being fired hanging over his head was fresh and authentic, but 20 years later it's repetitive and dull in truth, and the kindest way of putting it would be that if a startup wants to sell itself as "the alternative" it's one of a thousand things to avoid to stand out as satisfying viewers disenchanted with WWE. Edited January 16, 2019 by air_raid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 25 minutes ago, IANdrewDiceClay said: What a 5 star burial of Cody Rhodes in Forbes. I was moaning about this article on Twitter - it's utter tosh, and sums up a lot of what's annoying me about coverage of AEW; it just has no grounding in reality, it's so deep in the Bullet Club T-shirt wrestling fan bubble, and has no sense of perspective. The whole thing is comparing AEW to WCW, because fans so desperately want there to be another WCW - people who grew up thinking the Monday Night Wars were the default state of how wrestling works just can't conceive of a world where wrestling isn't two equal competitors at "war" with each other. The article unquestioningly echoes Jericho in comparing him signing to Hogan signing with WCW, refers to Kevin Nash as a "name from the '80s", and buries Nash as a booker, saying that it resulted in "obvious conflicts of interest", then praises Cody & The Young Bucks' "track record" as bookers based solely on All-In, a show on which Cody and the Bucks won their respective matches, but apparently that's not a conflict of interest. And if you can make sense of what those quoted paragraphs even mean in relation to one another, you're a more perceptive man than I. 16 minutes ago, Carbomb said: EDIT: On a personal note, I would also like to see the use of bullshitted (bullshat?) random occurrences, like Pat Patterson creating the Inter-Continental title by apparently winning THE South American championship at some kayfabed tournament in Brazil. Would help facilitate storylines and angles by enabling the bookers to mess with the rankings using "outside events". Also, it's funny. In CIWW, we've now had one "tournament in Rio de Janeiro" to crown our first Tag Team Champions, and a United States Champion who just debuted with the belt. So much easier than faffing about with rankings, that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJackTaylor Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Authority figures are so done. Have a faceless governing body who make the decisions and managers of factions who do the talking. I feel making the concept of a Pro Wrestling Promotion different to what 'the norm' is, is paramount to creating a successful market so anything they can throw at it that is so far away from WWE can only be a good thing. You aren't going to get very far just doing the same thing. Tony Khan as heel GM etc. WWE is just far too oiled and stable now that having another show that is similar will just die on it's arse. But maybe people just want the same but just not under the WWE umbrella?  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 11 minutes ago, BomberPat said: I was moaning about this article on Twitter - it's utter tosh, and sums up a lot of what's annoying me about coverage of AEW; it just has no grounding in reality, it's so deep in the Bullet Club T-shirt wrestling fan bubble, and has no sense of perspective. The whole thing is comparing AEW to WCW, because fans so desperately want there to be another WCW - people who grew up thinking the Monday Night Wars were the default state of how wrestling works just can't conceive of a world where wrestling isn't two equal competitors at "war" with each other. In fairness though, its neither the default state of wrestling to have one juggernaut enjoying a monopoly-like market share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Problem with a ranking system is it creates losers as well as winners. It's alright if you can find enough losers that you're not wasting potential winners which maybe why they've hired Kazarian. If they want to be an alternative and not the poor man's NJPW everyone is expecting them to be they should go with no titles. Clearly. Have people wrestle for interpersonal reasons or for speedboats, lawnmowers and cuddly toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 If you want to see how a kayfabe ranking system can be made to work, just look at any of the rankings of any of the world boxing organisations. They seem to be able to come up with "Eliminator" and "Final Eliminator" matchesthat make very little sense. Look at the WBC heavyweight rankings. Wilder is champ and they don't rate Joshua in the top 15 despite the fact he is champion of all the other organisations. Wins and losses matter but they are not the be all and end all. The rankings can be used as a storytelling device, they are in boxing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 minute ago, Vamp said: the poor man's NJPW everyone is expecting them to be If they have the Golden Lovers as well as the Bucks, in the eyes of many that will leave the poor man's New Japan as actual New Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted January 16, 2019 Moderators Share Posted January 16, 2019 WCW ran a successful enough top ten for 3 or 4 years. It's a non-issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 9 minutes ago, BigJackTaylor said: Authority figures are so done. Have a faceless governing body who make the decisions and managers of factions who do the talking. I feel making the concept of a Pro Wrestling Promotion different to what 'the norm' is, is paramount to creating a successful market so anything they can throw at it that is so far away from WWE can only be a good thing. You aren't going to get very far just doing the same thing. Tony Khan as heel GM etc. WWE is just far too oiled and stable now that having another show that is similar will just die on it's arse. But maybe people just want the same but just not under the WWE umbrella?  The problem is finding a balance. As someone said earlier, WWE have a demonstrable model that is known to work and make money. The challenge for any promotion looking to get anywhere near a fraction of that level of success is to take the elements that work, like perhaps philosophy of performance (match structure, psych, booking principles) and production values, while working that all into a model that differentiates them enough from WWE in terms of presentation and "feel" that will give the fans a reason to tune in for something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Your Fight Site Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 51 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: It has to be a PWI style ranking system to work, IMO. it doesn't need points or anything complicated, just a published ranking every fortnight or month that takes roughly into account wins and losses and doesn't have any glaring fault. So the WWE Power Rankings, then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 minute ago, Your Fight Site said: So the WWE Power Rankings, then? Isn't everyone equal first place on that? Except Curt Hawkins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCJ Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 2:15 PM, PunkStep said: Eh? Spent relatively little?? They had the fourth biggest net spend in the PL last summer. They spent shitloads! They also outspent Bayern, Real Madrid, Barcelona and had a similar net-spend to PSG (who bought Mbappe for 145m Euros). I'm willing to bet that the likes of Man City have outspent Fulham by a considerable amount during the last few years. If they really have spent that much, then quite frankly they haven't used the money wisely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Rankings and tables are fun. WWE is loads more enjoyable when they do tournaments and so forth. Round robins are usually good too. They just have to stick with it, when it’s just a random idea that is given up on quickly it becomes a joke. Pick a system and just stick with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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