Topic: Wrestling Thread (AEW, NJPW, WWE, etc) (*)

[Stockholm Syndrome]

Smart move by Vince.

Maybe they have been put in place as Vince will concentrate on the XFL relaunch soon

No chance Vince gives any power to anyone. Vince would rather take up cocaine so he never has to sleep again and can run both, than give anyone control of anything.

[Something Worse]

I’d actually like if they just rehashed old storylines but with Vince as he is now

‘It’s me R-Truth! It was me all along R-Truth’

Cornette said, many years ago IIRC, that you needed a 7year gap before you rehash storylines, but I think they could probably just replicate the first few Manias at first, see if anyone catches on.

No chance Vince gives any power to anyone. Vince would rather take up cocaine so he never has to sleep again and can run both, than give anyone control of anything.

"Take up" lolol

[arfy05]

The backstage dynamic would be way better tv for wwe. I think anyone thinking this is a good idea shouldn’t get hopes up. You can add as many layers of management/ directorship if they are reporting to Vince and he is the proxy then ultimately its his show and vision through a partial Bischoff/ Heyman lens. The dynamics of those individuals and there egos as well will mean ultimately this will end in disaster. If Vince stepped aside I’d be really excited but he won’t until death. What’s very interesting is how HHH, Stephanie and Shane are marginalised and almost way down pecking order. Reason I don’t think Vince will step down or diminish duties is this would have had to be reported to SEC I would have thought
.

[Mr Kipling]

No chance Vince gives any power to anyone. Vince would rather take up cocaine so he never has to sleep again and can run both, than give anyone control of anything.

He won't be giving up power, but Paul E and Easy E know how to produce and put on a show. Plus the shareholders might be looking to spice things up ratings wise as they see less return. I can see them working with Hunter better than anyone else, who will peobably be the guy who is Vince's go to man when the XFL is in full flow.

I can't see why he'd employ both otherwise as they are all the complete opposite of each other and him. This could be really interesting.

[OsirisMVZ]

[Mr Kipling]

With any luck, it'll be 1997, when Pro Wrestling wasn't shite.

[OsirisMVZ]

Main feeling is that they've been given 3 months during the biggest down period of the year (October-December will be a nuclear winter for the first time in decades for wrestling thanks to AEW's debut) to imprint a new creative style, interesting storylines, and actually get people over so that fans are re-invested in the product once the competitor comes along in the Autumn, and actually have a reason to not change the channel, something Bischoff excelled in at WCW until that one time.

Apparently it is as legit as it can be in terms of 'they are the NXT Triple H of each brand'. Heyman has turned down offers for a creative job for years after what happened with WWECW so it would take a lot to get him back. Bischoff completely failed at TNA and its probable that Vince has no idea this even happened.

I'll probably check out the first Raw because Heyman has always had his finger on the pulse in terms of who and what is hot in the business, but after that I'll wait for good (or bad) word of mouth before checking it out sequentially. If in the long run this means we get 4 coherent weeks of TV storylines leading into a blowoff PPV then that's wonderful, and its also amazing they have been so bad for so long previously doing something so simple!

[OsirisMVZ]

With any luck, it'll be 1997, when Pro Wrestling wasn't shite.

Pro wrestling is really good right now, its WWE that's shite At least this news today is their acknowledgement!

[Stockholm Syndrome]

He won't be giving up power, but Paul E and Easy E know how to produce and put on a show. Plus the shareholders might be looking to spice things up ratings wise as they see less return. I can see them working with Hunter better than anyone else, who will peobably be the guy who is Vince's go to man when the XFL is in full flow.

I can't see why he'd employ both otherwise as they are all the complete opposite of each other and him. This could be really interesting.

Bischoff I feel had lost the spark, his TNA run wasn't great. But I guess we will see.

I may be a cynic but I have seen these moves for shake ups for 10 years now since I started noticing again. And nothing changed in that time.

But I guess time will tell

[Something Worse]

Bischoff I feel had lost the spark, his TNA run wasn't great. But I guess we will see.

I may be a cynic but I have seen these moves for shake ups for 10 years now since I started noticing again. And nothing changed in that time.

But I guess time will tell

Yeah I'm not optimistic about Bischoff but if he's just there to be creative and has Vince behind him rather than Hogan on top of him, it might work out.

Main feeling is that they've been given 3 months during the biggest down period of the year (October-December will be a nuclear winter for the first time in decades for wrestling thanks to AEW's debut) to imprint a new creative style, interesting storylines, and actually get people over so that fans are re-invested in the product once the competitor comes along in the Autumn, and actually have a reason to not change the channel, something Bischoff excelled in at WCW until that one time.

Apparently it is as legit as it can be in terms of 'they are the NXT Triple H of each brand'. Heyman has turned down offers for a creative job for years after what happened with WWECW so it would take a lot to get him back. Bischoff completely failed at TNA and its probable that Vince has no idea this even happened.

I'll probably check out the first Raw because Heyman has always had his finger on the pulse in terms of who and what is hot in the business, but after that I'll wait for good (or bad) word of mouth before checking it out sequentially. If in the long run this means we get 4 coherent weeks of TV storylines leading into a blowoff PPV then that's wonderful, and its also amazing they have been so bad for so long previously doing something so simple!

What do you mean by nuclear winter? If anything you'd hope it would be the opposite.

[OsirisMVZ]

Ha I meant nuclear hot rather than the Cold War endgame

[Sheer Magnetism]

You have to factor in that WWE has also rehired Bruce Pritchard. Triple H is the young creative blood in that promotion.

[sinnermichael]

21 years ago today. A game changer really.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1144621655798382592

[I've been a good boy]

The first ever match I watched and got me into wrestling was HIAC Undertaker v Shawn Michaels (Kane's debut), the match type was a game changer back in the day. A shame that they've completely devalued it now by having shite like Usos v New Day inside the cell.

[mgs88]

The first ever match I watched and got me into wrestling was HIAC Undertaker v Shawn Michaels (Kane's debut), the match type was a game changer back in the day. A shame that they've completely devalued it now by having shite like Usos v New Day inside the cell.

In fairness the usos v the new day was one of the better ones recently.

[tubby]

In fairness the usos v the new day was one of the better ones recently.

That was brutal, great match.

[gazzalfc]

AEW daring to go with their brand where WWE just won't go.

Cody taking a pretty stiff unprotected chair shot though is concerning. There is just no need nowadays

The hardcore Jon Moxley match was pretty well done and safely put together all things considering

[gazzalfc]

The only way this is a smart decision is if they make sure that they are never onscreen personalities. Make no mention of it on the show. Not even a second on camera. Heyman has to drop Lesnar and stay back stage

If they play this right then it could be smartest decision WWE has made since launching NXT

And in true WWE fashion both have been advertised as appearing in the next RAW and Smackdown respectfully

[El Lobo]

AEW daring to go with their brand where WWE just won't go.

Cody taking a pretty stiff unprotected chair shot though is concerning. There is just no need nowadays

The hardcore Jon Moxley match was pretty well done and safely put together all things considering

Aye sounds great that 

[Something Worse]

Aye sounds great that 

It's awkward for me because I think the safety of the wrestlers should be the most important thing at any given show, but Cody getting his brain caved in at his own request is probably good for him.

[OsirisMVZ]

AEW daring to go with their brand where WWE just won't go.

Cody taking a pretty stiff unprotected chair shot though is concerning. There is just no need nowadays

The hardcore Jon Moxley match was pretty well done and safely put together all things considering

Yep watched it this evening, really good show for something that was free. Going by crowd reactions it did feel like a lot of the product was new for the people there as opposed to All In/Double or Nothing and this is where they have to experiment in gaining new/more fans.

Moxley and Janela did some big spots for a one-off match, I hope they have intertwined stories for years to come. That enormous elbow drop from Janela will get replayed for years in AEW intros.



Here's the Cody headshot for those that didn't see it. The chair was gimmicked btw If you can make it look good and its still safe then why not do it.

[Something Worse]

"safe"

[Something Worse]

No idea how much freedom Paul Heyman really has but right now it's very much a Paul Heyman episode of Raw holy shit.

[Garrus]

Don't know about the effects of the "gimmicked" chair but that still looks brutal. Absolutely no need for that and the thousand replays after. As the owner of an NFL team, I'd have thought Khan would be sensible about this kind of thing.

[OsirisMVZ]

Don't know about the effects of the "gimmicked" chair but that still looks brutal. Absolutely no need for that and the thousand replays after. As the owner of an NFL team, I'd have thought Khan would be sensible about this kind of thing.

The chair was as safe as Elias' guitars. There's still that one time he nearly took Finn Balor's face off but apart from that they're a good ratio. A 'safe chair' is a new concept but because WWE outlawed chair shots for so long they visibly still seem dangerous.

Cody would prefer stitches to a concussion anyway especially with the next show Fight for the Fallen in 2 weeks.

Regarding Raw, I'm going to have to download it and watch for the first time in years. I can imagine him walking into the writer's room and saying "yeah you remember when we signed the Bullet Club 4 years ago??? It's time we fucking used them."

[my usenme changed?]

Deffo a Paul Heyman episode of raw. Good ending. Although its almost rather than building the momentum change, he tried to go all out (excuse the pun) in the first episode. Are we really supposed to care about Maria and Mike? I did read that Heyman is hot for her to be on tv but still, going from absolute zeros to a match against the two champs? Bit much.

[OsirisMVZ]

They were just fodder (and fortunately maybe the only other established male + female tag combo they could've gone with on Raw) but did have promo skills to be able to make their own storyline out of it. Now Mike Kanellis has to find his mojo and that gives his character some motivation and goals for the first time in ages, maybe even including their debut.

[Stockholm Syndrome]

The only concern I have with the Club is they already joined with AJ like 2 years ago and just discreetly dropped it. Same with Balor. On top of this I doubt Karl will stick around much longer, seems to be REALLY missing Japan (and nos just NJPW,  actually living in Japan)

Raw sounds better, in a somewhat manic way. May be bells and whistles to distract as of yet but may also be genuinely entertaining. Time will tell

[ScouserAtHeart]

Actually curious about SmackDown now for the first time in ages

[tubby]

"safe"

With my man Claus on this one.  Gimmicked or not, there's no need for chair shots to heads in this day and age.

Unless they're being delivered by Lance Storm.

[gazzalfc]

How do you even gimmick a chair? It not like the old trash can lids WWE used to use that were thin, flimsy aluminium sheets.

The cut to the head was either a pretty bad blade job or they used some extra blood to stain the ring

As for WWE. A solid start by Paul E.

Meltzer saying the 'Holy shit' from Graves was scripted and was deliberately not beeped out by USA network

Maria Kanellis is legit pregnant and apparently on $500k a year for 5 more years hence the sudden push from 205 live. Says there looks like there will be a 'whos the father angle' (all Heyman apparently) to run for the rest of the year (if they haven't buried Mike Kanellis with last nights promos and tap out)

[Something Worse]

How do you even gimmick a chair?

I would assume the seat was weakened in some way, but it didn't matter because the back (top?) of the chair hit him.

And this big moment was used on... Shawn Spears. Bizarre.

As for RAW, I've been saying for years that nothing really matters in terms of "burying" guys. People say this title is worthless or that character is buried, but you can undo it in a month easily. If Kanellis is the focus of this (which would be shocking) and it's done well, he'll be fine.

[Tonyh8su]

Deffo a Paul Heyman episode of raw. Good ending. Although its almost rather than building the momentum change, he tried to go all out (excuse the pun) in the first episode. Are we really supposed to care about Maria and Mike? I did read that Heyman is hot for her to be on tv but still, going from absolute zeros to a match against the two champs? Bit much.

Well it's not like they went over? They did a job and started a new story (from what I read, I didnt see the show outside of the opening angle), which is exactly what they need, a new story and a reason to be on TV.

[my usenme changed?]

Well it's not like they went over? They did a job and started a new story (from what I read, I didnt see the show outside of the opening angle), which is exactly what they need, a new story and a reason to be on TV.

This is true actually. First time there’s been a new angle/matchup in aaaaaaages.

[Something Worse]

Whatever the true story is, both shows feel somewhat different as of this week at least.

Wild that Vince can just snap his fingers and earn all the goodwill he's lost over the last 5 or so years.

[bird_lfc]

Can Mike actually go in the ring? I mean he’s got a decent look and with a valet like Maria by his side I’m sure If they do this right they could make him look semi credible.

[OsirisMVZ]

Can Mike actually go in the ring? I mean he’s got a decent look and with a valet like Maria by his side I’m sure If they do this right they could make him look semi credible.

I think he's barely ok, he lacks a certain in-ring charisma. A couple of years ago he was in a ROH/NJPW faction with Matt Taven, Maria and Adam Cole and its easy to see who the star of that group was! Maria brought a sex appeal to New Japan that has been lost since.

-

Bischoff starts Smackdown after the Extreme Rules PPV in a couple of weeks which explains why Raw was so good and Smackdown so mild this week.

[wampa1]

With my man Claus on this one.  Gimmicked or not, there's no need for chair shots to heads in this day and age.

Unless they're being delivered by Lance Storm.

The guy in the check shirt by the ref.

[LiverLuke]

Meltzer has said wwe are pushing away from PG.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Tonyh8su]

Meltzer has said wwe are pushing away from PG.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

The "holy shit" from Graves on Raw was definitely the first step of this.