The Smackers Thread

[d-d-d-dAz]

In a world where we didn't all stop watching when The Fiend was stinking up the shows, I think were getting what we deserve.

[NeverYield]

That Roman and Cody segment was quality, that could have been extremely cheesy but they pulled it off pretty well.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

14 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

The syringe spot whether you like it or not is essentially the same as every other thumbtack, barbed wire, fireball, spike or even table and kendo stick spot from all of pro wrestling history. It's just an escalation of that type of spot. Disgusting or not it still clearly fits within the established context and logic that has been there throughout all of wrestling history. You don't have to like it but it's as much a part of pro wrestling as every hardcore spot that has ever happened. 

I don't think "cinematic" promos with music scores and invisible cameras fit at all with the well established context and logic of what wrestling has always been.

They are not comparable. 

But maybe that's fine. Maybe wrestling should be more experimental. My own personal tastes are that all entertainment should have a consistent logic, presentation and rules to the world it's created so as long as it makes sense I'm all for it.

I said we weren't going to agree. I see a connection between them, you don't then that's fine. My connection was about the people praising/hating them though, yours is about the actual spot/promo. I find it amusing when people have picked their sides and are going to praise/hate something out of principal. I don't think you fall into that category at all. Again I'm not having a dig at you, I'm amused by the tribalism, it's better than get all fatutzed about it. 

[Supremo]

I’ve only seen clips of the vignette, but it’s not surprising. It’s very on brand for WWE in 2024. They’ve improved massively. They’re red hot. But don’t they just know it. There’s a real sense of smugness and being up their own arse half the time. This was the perfect example of it. I swear, half the accounts on Twitter calling this stuff, “Cinema,” are just Shawn and Hunter’s burners.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Just now, Supremo said:

I’ve only seen clips of the vignette, but it’s not surprising. It’s very on brand for WWE in 2024. They’ve improved massively. They’re red hot. But don’t they just know it. There’s a real sense of smugness and being up their own arse half the time. This was the perfect example of it. I swear, half the accounts on Twitter calling this stuff, “Cinema,” are just Shawn and Hunter’s burners.

I might try and start a competing movement to 'This is Cinema'. If I can make 'This is akin to the sort of found footage, phone shot content that I can believe might realistically be shot in this situation' catch on, wrestling might get closer to what I really want. Here's hoping.

[Chili]

I swear the cinema shit comes from a mix of both modern day 'false epic' fandom in the mainstream but also wrestling fans (and I actually say not like you'd get on here but absolutely on Twitter/wherever) that have had so much shit about liking wrestling even though it's naff and should be, that any attempt to try something a bit fancy (which usually fails as it's wrestling and if they were all good enough traditional actors, they'd be doing that instead of stupid wrestling anyway) that it's some legitimisation that's it's proper telly of something that's meant to be celebrated as a bit of silly bollocks. THIS IS CINEMA!!!! FAP

[Snitsky's back acne]

On 9/20/2024 at 9:18 AM, Supremo said:

Unless they dedicate a whole hour to Strowman and Reed demolishing the city, of course.

I hope they have Reed and Braun be like Peter Griffin and The Chicken in Family Guy - just eternal enemies that randomly interrupt the show by fighting and smashing shit up.

Any time they randomly bump into each other they start fighting. A random moment on Raw - Reed and Strowman fighting.

'We got CCTV of Reed and Strowman saw each other while out shopping' and then cut to them fighting and smashing shit up. 

I'd watch. 

[JLM]

To counter this, I heard Forbidden Door 2025 is going to be even longer than this year’s and will be directed by the ghost of Andrei Tarkovsky. There will be no matches. 

Edited September 21 by JLM

[Chili]

2 minutes ago, JLM said:

To counter this, I heard Forbidden Door 2025 is going to be even longer than this year’s and will be directed by the ghost of Andrei Tarkovsky. There will be no matches. 

My dream is that Wrestling just ends being full of allegory like an episode of The Prisoner or when people watch The Matrix too much and start creating a philosophy out of it. When really it should always resemble Road House or something.

[Duke]

53 minutes ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

I hope they have Reed and Braun be like Peter Griffin and The Chicken in Family Guy - just eternal enemies that randomly interrupt the show by fighting and smashing shit up.

Any time they randomly bump into each other they start fighting. A random moment on Raw - Reed and Strowman fighting.

'We got CCTV of Reed and Strowman saw each other while out shopping' and then cut to them fighting and smashing shit up. 

I'd watch. 

If there is ever an opportunity for the return of "IM NOT FINISHED WITH YOU" this is it. 

 

I'm now imagining that Cody/Roman schlock being interrupted by Strowman bowling Roman over mid promo and I've got the giggles.

Edited September 21 by Duke

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

I’ve only seen clips of the vignette, but it’s not surprising. It’s very on brand for WWE in 2024. They’ve improved massively. They’re red hot. But don’t they just know it. There’s a real sense of smugness and being up their own arse half the time. This was the perfect example of it. I swear, half the accounts on Twitter calling this stuff, “Cinema,” are just Shawn and Hunter’s burners.

I wouldn’t say ‘this is cinema’ - but I would say ‘this is Lucha Underground’ - they effectively pulled together something that show did almost a decade ago.

If I was feeling less generous, given the contents of the promo, I might say ‘this is One Tree Hill’. It wouldn’t have looked out of place as a melodramatic show-closing encounter on that particular program. Add a bit of Imogen Heap and I’d have been transported right to the mid-2000s.

As I said, I don’t mind them experimenting and applaud them for doing so - but it didn’t work for me. Sometimes shaking things up will give you Sami’s goosebump-inducing walk to the ring at Wrestlemania, other times it’ll give you this. Not terrible, but not worth repeating - at least not in this particular format.

Edited September 21 by RedTwoster

[The King of Old School]

When do we think Cody/Roman 3 is happening?

I can see Cody/Roman winning the tag at Bad Blood, thinking the Bloodline is taken care of and end up facing each other at the Saudi show in November.

That will end in chaos with the Bloodline interfering, leading to Cody, Roman and friends facing the new Bloodline at War Games.

[Duke]

34 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

if I was feeling less generous, given the contents of the promo, I might say ‘this is One Tree Hill’. It wouldn’t have looked out of place as a melodramatic show-closing encounter on that particular program. Add a bit of Imogen Heap and I’d have been transported right to the mid-2000s.

See, that's interesting, my take was "This is very CW" , because it reminded me of an unusually badly written episode of Arrow, which isn't too far. 

[Snitsky's back acne]

1 hour ago, Duke said:

If there is ever an opportunity for the return of "IM NOT FINISHED WITH YOU" this is it. 

 

I'm now imagining that Cody/Roman schlock being interrupted by Strowman bowling Roman over mid promo and I've got the giggles.

Right? How many backstage segments would be vastly improved by Bronson Reed randomly bursting through a wall he had just been thrown through by Braun Strowman or 'Cody's getting out of his bus' and the camera pans out to Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman fighting on top of it? 

[mim731]

The fact this has generated so much discussion and been so divisive is fascinating. That discussion probably makes it a success for the company in the terms they love banging on about, buzz etc even if not necessarily in artistic terms.

Still better than that fucking Ciampa/Gargano shite from NXT though.