Paid Members TheBurningRed Posted January 20, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 20, 2019 28 minutes ago, MPDTT said: For me I'm a fan of an angle where they have played the long game....planned out well in advance where the payoff is the result of long term story telling. Just say Being The Elite and All In. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeronimoJacksBeard Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Lots of mentions of unmasking angles (surprised Bischoff at the Billy and Chuck wedding hasnât been mentioned) but Undertaker and Kane playing dress up as each other in their summer long âin cahootsâ Highway to Hell story being one that has. I loved that one in particular and that whole episodic angle in general. Knock Russo all you like but some of his shit could be great and for me that angle had moments of genius. I know youâre talking about a single angle here really, rather than a long storyline angle, but Iâm on the subject now. This angle was great for over-lapping stories, developing characters and integrating others as the story progressed, but also the episodic nature and having that magic of things registering and giving you answers you missed going back or on rewatch (a quality wrestling rarely has). Although, since listening to the STWW podcast, maybe I gave the angle more credit than it deserved or made my own conclusions. As when discussing the aforementioned Undertaker dressing up as Kane angle, when quizzed on how Taker got hold of Kanes outfit by Conrad, claiming it didnât make sense and was a flaw in the angle, Bruce couldnât give a sufficient answer. To me, it always seemed obvious - the angle was they were âin cahootsâ Kane had given him his clobber. It was a number one contender match for SummerSlam - Undertaker had aided Kane in getting the WWF title by accidentally on purpose slicing Austin open at King of the Ring, proving heâs on Kaneâs side and now Kane is returning the favour. In perhaps the opposite to the unmasking angle, was a big fan of multiple (heel) Doinks - (which reminds me of Jerichos other unmasking angle that Supremo missed). Multiple Stings was always a bit of guilty pleasure too. Apt to discuss it now - Iâm a sucker for multiple angles the Royal Rumbe often does or can produce. The Rumble is such a brilliant tool for pulling off all sorts of neat angles itâs so frustrating when nothing really happens in them and thereâs no real in-match stories or developments. The magic of two particular guys coming together for the first time or of two old rivals coming together for the first time in a while. Thereâs been hits and misses over the years - Hogan/Warrior â90 and Austin/Rock â01 being two of the best examples of those types. Someone being made proper in the Rumble is great too - getting the Ironman run, eliminating a large chunk of the competitors or eliminating a bigger star. Surprise entrants, returns or anticipated returns are often that little bit more special when they happen in a Rumble too. Get a kick out of ongoing Rumble specific angles as well. When something from a previous Rumble is referenced or little touches of something like Shelton Benjamin always being eliminated by Shawn Michaels. Speaking of Shawn, he and Undertakers running Rumble story arc is one of my favourites. Being the final two in 2007, then the first two in 2008 was superb and an amazing tease of what was to come. Was just gutted there wasnât a third chapter in 2009 where theyâd meet again, just the two of them, in the middle of the match this time. That and then the final chapter of Shawn desperately having to win the following 2010 Rumble this time to face Undertaker at WrestleMania would have been fucking perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchopcash Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 9 hours ago, Supremo said: Brilliant idea for a thread rick. I love a well-executed unmasking angle. Not the result of a Mask vs. Mask match where one guy has to reveal his face, I'm talking about when someone attacks a rival whilst dressed as someone else, or reveals themselves to be a culprit. DDP revealing himself to be The Stalker, Ciclope pulling his mask off to reveal that he's Dean Malenko, even when The Undertaker used to come out sometimes in the late nineties disguised as Kane. It's always so much fun. The tension as they pull their mask off, the rush of excitement and big pop as their face is revealed. It's quintessential pro-wrestling. Listen to that pop when DDP pulls that ski mask off. This was gold. It's criminal that this angle turned to shit. Chris Jericho gets much-deserved flack these days for his ego, gut, saggy tits and infidelity, but he's proven to be the king of this type of angle. He does it loads and it always works. Attacking Naito whilst dressed as a masked fan, smashing up Rey Mysterio after being disguised as a masked kid on the aisle and more recently doing that brilliant angle at All In where he dressed up as Pentagon. Chris has got really good instincts for this type of thing and you can tell he comes up with it himself. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear he played a part in coming up with the Dean Malenko angle too. I think that's why I'm a bit of an MPDTT about that, "All In," show. They had two unmasking angles, first with Flip Gordon and then later with Chris Jericho, and they were both executed perfectly. The Jericho/Omega one in particular is an absolute home run. Like most things in pro-wrestling, it works best when they let the fans feel like they're one or two steps ahead. Let the guy in the mask show a couple of mannerisms that let the fans start to figure it out. Then hit your finisher to leave them no doubts. Then unmask to the big pop. Ideally, the announcers shouldn't say the name until after the mask is pulled off. It might slightly hurt their credibility when it becomes beyond obvious, but that's the beauty of it. Have them pop along with the fans. I genuinely can't think of many of these angles that somehow didn't work. Even the more recent, forgettable ones that they've done on Raw have been big highlights. Kurt Angle winning a Battle Royal dressed as El Conquistador or Seth Rollins attacking Dean Ambrose dressed as one of his goons in gas masks. It's always awesome. Â My favourite mask angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 20, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 20, 2019 7 hours ago, Onyx2 said: I like "super team that can't stay together". Mega Powers, Hogan Warrior, Two Man Power Trip... Yes. Love a team of two superstars. It became the Russo special but two feuding top guys winning the tag titles can be loads of fun too. I really liked Cena and Michaels together. Feel like it could be really cool these days with some of their genuine stars. I.e. Lesnar and someone. Lesnar and Reigns as dominant tag champs would be all sorts of fun for a couple of months headlining Raws. Especially if a couple of guys got together to try and oppose them. Built right given their history, a Cena and Rollins team could be great. Miz and Shane McMahon is a fun little poundshop version of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Agreed, Miz and Shane is ok. Willing to see how it plans out. I personally think there would have been mileage for a Cena/Orton "pissed off grizzled vets" team against all these indy darlings that the company has been bringing in over the years, think they would have worked really well together. Shame we'll never see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheffbag Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 On 1/20/2019 at 12:21 AM, Supremo said: I love a, "Let Them Fight! Let Them Fight!" angle where guys have a mad, wild brawl, with cops or jobbers trying and failing to break them up. They get separated for a minute, everything calms down, then one of them breaks free, dives towards the other and then bedlam once again ensues. It's completely overdone these days, but this is probably the best example. What a segment! "Cops and Jobbers," should be Tyler Breeze and Fandago's Team Name. Cant find a good quality version of it to upload but the initial Samoa Joe / Kurt angle TNA brawls were just as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 21, 2019 The regularly-used illegal weapon angle has always been great - Greg "The Hammer" Valentine with his "Heartbreaker" shinpad which he used to help apply more pressure with his figure-four leglock (and, consequently, Ronnie Garvin's "Hammer Jammer" shinpad that he used to counter it), D'Lo Brown's chest protector, and Regal's Power Of The Punch come to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted January 21, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 21, 2019 Anything with a shampoo commercial is a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 21, 2019 On 1/19/2019 at 10:12 AM, tiger_rick said: The "disguise" - Love, love, love. Whether it be Stevï»że Austin as a member of the SWAT team attacking Vince or DDP as La Parka, I just love this. Even when it's obvious. Remember reading in @JNLister's great travelogues about an angle in the USWA where the gorilla mascot suddenly lays someone out and unmasked as a heel. Just love the simplicity of that.ï»ż The grizzled vet being taunted back for one more match - Chat about this reminds me what a great job they did with Taz for One night stand. Who didn't want to see him kill Lawler. 100% on these. I've always got a soft spot for old-timers in wrestling, so any kind of "veteran forced back for one last match", or "one last run" angle is ideal for me - Terry Funk lived out both for the better part of twenty years, but Ric Flair probably pulled them both off to perfection in the build to his Wrestlemania match with The Undertaker and his retirement angle respectively. That kind of unmasking is always good fun, so long as it makes sense - there was a time during Evolution's reign of terror where, for a couple of weeks, a bloke in a ski mask was taking out their opponents. He unmasked in the ring at the end of an episode of RAW as Randy Orton, returning from injury. There was never any kayfabe explanation given as to why he was bothering to wear a mask, and why he then fucked it off and chose to unmask, it was blatantly just a cheap shortcut to that unmasking pop. In general, though, it's superb - when Drew Galloway returned to ICW after his first WWE run ended, he did a variant of this where he came out in a hoodie, and dramatically revealed his face to a huge pop. I didn't even follow ICW and thought it was the coolest thing I'd seen in ages. 2 hours ago, The King of Old School said: I personally think there would have been mileage for a Cena/Orton "pissed off grizzled vets" team against all these indy darlings that the company has been bringing in over the years, think they would have worked really well together. I've been saying for years that if the Cena heel turn ever happens, we need an Orton/Cena reimagining of the Two Man Power Trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CL Punk Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 This one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 21, 2019 2 hours ago, BomberPat said: I've been saying for years that if the Cena heel turn ever happens, we need an Orton/Cena reimagining of the Two Man Power Trip. I'd be 1000% there for that. Whatever people fancy saying about Orton's persona or bell to bell style, him throwing RKOs all over the shop during a carnage/beatdown angle is wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gaffer Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 They'd have to have their own Marilyn Manson package, of course. Heel Cena and Orton dishing out punishment set to Fight Song would be the greatest thing ever.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 21, 2019 The above posts about the main eventer tag-teams puts me in mind of another type of angle I love which is a bit rare: when a tag match is a main or co-main. Power Trip vs. Team Canadian Chris, the MegaManiacs vs. Money Inc. (the match wasn't much, but I loved that the tag belts were getting more attention - they did a good job of making it seem like Hogan actually gave a damn about winning the belts), the Mega Powers, Savage/Perfect vs. Flair/Ramon, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted January 21, 2019 11 minutes ago, Carbomb said: The above posts about the main eventer tag-teams puts me in mind of another type of angle I love which is a bit rare: when a tag match is a main or co-main. Poï»żwer Trip vs. Team Canadian Chris, the MegaManiacs vs. Money Inc. (the match wasn't much, but I loved that the tag belts were getting more attention - they did a good job of making it seem like Hogan actually gave a damn about winning the belts), the Mega Powers, Savage/Perfect vs. Flair/Ramon, etc.ï»ż Late '90s TV wrestling has, by and large, killed that. Same reason stuff like Survivor Series isn't as big any more - it used to be a huge deal to see guys like Hogan and Savage on the same team, or just to see that much starpower all at once. As soon as the Monday Night Wars meant that the big names had to wrestle on TV all the time, big names teaming together stopped being special, because it was the main event of every episode of RAW. I always hate on this specific instance, but WWE had Rock & Austin vs. the nWo as a TV main event the week before Wrestlemania. Not just all those stars in the ring together, but shooting early on the significance of having the likes of Rock and Hogan share the ring for the first time. The Power Trip are an anomaly, but probably largely because they formed right as The Rock was leaving, and suddenly the de facto biggest names were both on the heel side. It's been done to death so much now that I'm not sure you could ever recapture the sense that two main eventers forming a tag team represented something game changing or special again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 This is a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I like a good wrestling romance angle. I absolutely loved Jericho/Trish in 2004 and although it happened before I became a fan, I really enjoyed watching the Savage/Elizabeth reunion angle on the network. Given that real life relationships are so visible in wrestling now, and tend to seep into storylines, itâs probably very unlikely that weâll get this kind of storyline again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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