Against the grain wrestling opinions

[RedTwoster]

Talking of JR, I kind of liked him as an AEW commentator, I’ve come to realise. He was grumpy, clearly didn’t like huge portions of the product yet there’s still something very nostalgic about hearing him on the desk when he’s wheeled out. I don’t have nostalgia for him in WWE either really, I started watching in late 2002, with Smackdown on Sky One being the show - meaning Cole and Taz(z) are my childhood commentary team. 

My nostalgia for JR is tied into nostalgia for the early years of AEW, which were pretty tremendous. I don’t need him to ever be a permanent commentator for them again, but I hope he keeps getting opportunities to announce in a cameo role up until he no longer wishes to do so. 

Edited November 22, 2025 by RedTwoster

[HarmonicGenerator]

38 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Talking of JR, I kind of liked him as an AEW commentator, I’ve come to realise. He was grumpy, clearly didn’t like huge portions of the product yet there’s still something very nostalgic about hearing him on the desk when he’s wheeled out. I don’t have nostalgia for him in WWE either really, I started watching in late 2002, with Smackdown on Sky One being the show - meaning Cole and Taz(z) are my childhood commentary team. 

My nostalgia for JR is tied into nostalgia for the early years of AEW, which were pretty tremendous. I don’t need him to ever be a permanent commentator for them again, but I hope he keeps getting opportunities to announce in a cameo role up until he no longer wishes to do so. 

What I found most interesting about AEW era JR was, while he was grumpy almost the whole time, he made it very clear when he liked someone and put extra effort in. He did a lot to make Jack Perry feel like a big deal in the early years, and more often than not his recent appearance tended to be in Swerve matches.

[Merzbow]

I know he got a bit of stick for going about "Jungle Jack Perry" when he was still named Jungle Boy but I think that was a good call, made the lad seem more than just a childlike gimmick. 

Against the grain? I really like Jack and even liked his heel stuff, the issue for me was how The Elite were booked in general

[organizedkaos]

Yeah "Jungle Jack Perry" works pretty well and they've clearly reaslied that.

I think the problem with Jack Perry as a heel is he's a great highflyer but doesn't have enough of the skill yet to pull of the methodic heel thing. I get that getting the reps is probably the only way to improve (and it's why often wrestlers really learn character work heeling it up) but he was probably in a bit too visible a role to be figuring stuff out on live TV. His matches just weren't very intersting and then to top if off, as you say, the booking wasn't particularly good. So the matches weren't working and the booking wasn't compensating for the matches not working.

[LaGoosh]

Jack Perry was having a decent midcard heel run before the Brawl Out incident. When he came back he showed the occasional hint of great potential but leaned too far into the Scapegoat thing and never tried to wrestle for his size. His PPV match with Danielson was absolutely god awful.

[Lorne Malvo]

AEW choosing to follow up the all-timer Danielson/Swerve title change with a Jack Perry program was really odd. Danielson came out of All In hotter than ever and was then immediately cooled off by being paired with Perry. Even in AEW, they just couldn't resist Kaneing him.

[Merzbow]

I'd say Samosa Joe is the modern day Kane, and no I'm not changing that predictive text.

[SuperBacon]

18 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

I'd say Samosa Joe is the modern day Kane, and no I'm not changing that predictive text.

Has Joe ever been in a group, like a pak-ora faction?

Christ.

 

[Merzbow]

2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Has Joe ever been in a group, like a pak-ora faction?

Christ.

 

One with Korma Crush (thanks SCG) and Burfi Faye?

[AnotherCrapUsername]

Hogan's American Made theme is so much better than Real American. 

Now, don't get me wrong, Real American is what some of us grew up on and its a banger, but, American Made is a much better song and entrance theme.

[Carbomb]

8 hours ago, AnotherCrapUsername said:

Hogan's American Made theme is so much better than Real American. 

Now, don't get me wrong, Real American is what some of us grew up on and its a banger, but, American Made is a much better song and entrance theme.

It's absolutely reasonable to think that's an against-the-grain opinion, but from what I remember of quite a few posts on this forum, it's surprisingly a consensus.

Edited November 25, 2025 by Carbomb
John Salako

[Browser Brady]

WCW’s set design,  lighting and general production values were of a better standard than the WWF’s from 1995 to 1999.

[gmoney]

 

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

It's absolutely reasonable to think that's an against-the-grain opinion, but from what I remember of quite a few posts on this forum, it's surprisingly a consensus.

I think American Made is average at best, nowhere near Real American.

[Merzbow]

1 hour ago, Browser Brady said:

WCW’s set design,  lighting and general production values were of a better standard than the WWF’s from 1995 to 1999.

Once the RAW is WAR rebrand came in with the Titantron I'd say it's tough to choose who was better for me, but nostalgia gives the edge to WCW as that was still my main company back then even though 1997 WWF is the greatest looking back.

[Browser Brady]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

Once the RAW is WAR rebrand came in with the Titantron I'd say it's tough to choose who was better for me, but nostalgia gives the edge to WCW as that was still my main company back then even though 1997 WWF is the greatest looking back.

The WWF’s recap and PPV hype video packages were completely unnecessary unbeatable though.

They were so good and got you up to speed and interested in feuds in 3 minutes .

 

 

I can’t thing of a single good WCW one outside of the cinematic Starrcade 97 promo video they did .