Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[Schmidty]

Triple H and JR going to Smackdown might actually convince me to Tivo it finally.

[molson]

Originally Posted by saldana

and hasnt batista been drafted everytime they have done this....wow....totally random.

I was starting to doubt whether it was supposed to be random in kayfabe or not. I mean, Cole right after JR? I know this is pro wrestling but geez.

[duckman]

Wow, no world champion on RAW as both Edge and Triple H won their matches tonight!

[SirFozzie]

Give Trippa Eitch reason to appear on both shows. Ego feeding time!

[JonInMiddleGA]

And Raw now has a World Champion

[DeToxRox]

I don't care how he did it, and that he will be a transitional champ, just following his career from IWA-MS to ROH and now to WWE has been amazing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

I don't care how he did it, and that he will be a transitional champ, just following his career from IWA-MS to ROH and now to WWE has been amazing.

Yep, that's one of the cool things about following the lower levels.

On a much smaller scale just seeing Austin "Consequences" Creed debut in TNA, and in person to boot, was the biggest mark out moment I've had in years.

There's something about "knowing them back when" (or even just feeling like we knew them) that makes it a lot of fun when they really hit it big.

[DeToxRox]

Mysterio looks like he spent three days in a drying machine.

[DeToxRox]

Santino continues to be the best thing going in wrestling. LMAO at his WWE Magazine Cover photo.

[DeToxRox]

Punk vs JBL tonight for the strap. Should be fun in a morbid kind of way. I truly see Punk losing lol.

[Noop]

How did CM punk become champ? I missed the first hour.

[SirFozzie]

JR did a farewell speech. Edge came out, and had his cronies escort JR out, and said "You'll never see this belt on raw again".

Batista came running down and did a number on Edge (press slam to the announcing table, batista bomb in the center of the ring)

CM Punk came running down, cashed in MITB, Go2Sleep, pin.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That's a missed opportunity right there, had a chance to elevate somebody's profile by at least attempting a save for Cena. Didn't have to be successful, a JBL cheap shot could have ended the effort. Just seems like a blown chance to accomplish something beyond seeing JBL for the 2nd of 3 times in one night.

[DeToxRox]

This Raw has been fantastic. I'd love for "martial law" to go on on Raw for a while until they decide on a new GM. Every week anything can actually happen. I doubt this keeps on but it should.

[Noop]

Dang so the Big Gold Belt is on Raw? Nice to see the NWA Belt on the number 1 show.

[SirFozzie]

with the changes in the draft, it's arguable if RAW is still the A-show.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Incidentally, the two jobbers are from the WLW indy in Missouri. The one that looked like a raggedy Eric Young is the head trainer for Harley Race's academy.

[Jas_lov]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Punk vs JBL tonight for the strap. Should be fun in a morbid kind of way. I truly see Punk losing lol.

Nah, Cena will come back into the building and cost JBL the match.

[Flasch186]

Y'know the fact that the draft is done so randomly, so uninformed speaks volumes to how poorly the company is run. They should be planning everything, with backup plans in case of injury or suspension but scripts should be written out months in advance with care and analysis about arcing and stuff. But WTF do I know, they dont seem to pay any attention to that sort of stuff at all. Now Ill go watch the rattlesnake save Stephanie from marrying the undertaker in one of the best character arc moments in WWE history.

[DeToxRox]

I think this is leading to a multi man match at the Bash. Maybe an Elimination Chamber.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kane & Noble? And Noble actually got some offense? WTF?
Now that's random.

[DeToxRox]

There has been no wrestling tonight but this has been my favorite Raw in ages, because I have no idea what's happening. For once the predictability is gone.

[DeToxRox]

See No Evil 2 starring Chris Jericho

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gosh that was sloppy. Were these two that bad together last night?

The Lionsault was sweet & looked effortless but otherwise there were quite a few half hit moves, some low Indy quality moments, and just all around meh moments.

[Flasch186]

u watched a Jericho match, eh?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

u watched a Jericho match, eh?

I think I've seen most of the ones since his return, but this was by far the worst I've seen. He had some ring rust early on but this wasn't like that, Kingston even looked a lot worse than the few times I've seen him too.

Along the train of thought you were on earlier, this looked for all the world like a couple of guys who have spent virtually no time working together at all, which would be mind boggling since they just PPV'ed together last night.

[Flasch186]

I swear if they would let 4 or 5 guys with any writing ability, knowledge of emotion(s) and their carry, and some $ I think we could turn this thing around. I really do. Anyone wanna put together a group resume?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

I swear if they would let 4 or 5 guys with any writing ability, knowledge of emotion(s) and their carry, and some $ I think we could turn this thing around. I really do. Anyone wanna put together a group resume?

I'd offer except that I'd want angles that could last more than 1 PPV to the next and there's no way they'd ever allow it to happen.

As an odd aside, I actually think I'd be more useful in the scouting than the booking end anyway. I've played enough TNM/EWR/TEW to know how easily I can write myself into predictable situations that become lather-rinse- repeat but I feel like I'm pretty good (IRL) at spotting talent. So I'll find 'em, you get 'em over

[DeToxRox]

That security guard by the announce table is Cena I think. That hair looked so fucking fake. If it isn't him, then I am in disbelief someone can have such greasy hair.

[DeToxRox]

Okay, seeing the guy's face, I take it back. Jesus christ his hair does not look real.

[DeToxRox]

Wow, this was so random I loved it. Cryme Tyme and Cena?! Count me in.

[DeToxRox]

There was literally like 15 minutes of wrestling tonight, but all that aside, this was seriously one of the best Raw's I've seen in a long time.

[RawIsDan]

Well, at least they are trying to mix things up a bit. I thought for sure that Punk would loose to JBL but at he kept it. Santino still continues to crack me up.

[JonInMiddleGA]

OUCH !
New TNA knockout Mickie Knuckles (aka Moose), who had been getting a TV push with back to back wins, reportedly suffered a broken femur at an indy show (IWA Mid-South) over the weekend. The break is being compared to the Sid Vicious injury back in WCW. According to Ed Chuman, who is the promoter for NWA Midwest Wrestling, Knuckles took a jump from a high platform and came down with all of her weight on one leg. Sara Del Ray, her opponent for the match, tried to catch her, but was unable to latch on to the free-falling 185-pound women's wrestler.

http://www.tnawrestlingnews.com/head...17447230.shtml

edit to add: Mike Johnson at PWI is reporting this morning that the surgery to repair will be done later today & apparently it was a clean break instead of a compound fracture which will at least make the healing process easier.

[JonInMiddleGA]

After reading a recap I think I'm glad I skipped everything except the last 20 minutes.

And suddenly Kane has gone loonytoons because Vince isn't there?

When did Jarrett, Russo, and Mantel start writing Raw?

edit: And the show ends three minutes early?

[DeToxRox]

Raw was interesting. The focus on new guys and ideas is definetly there for another week, but the execution was nowhere near last week. At least Punk killed Zitsky.

[DeToxRox]

Dola .. Batista being interupted backstage by a guy doing Batista's pyro machine gun move was awesome. With that and the "snaffus" production wise, I feel like Raw is using the "inmates run the asylum" to bring in a new GM or bring back Evil Dictator Vinny Mac.

[Flasch186]

worst show i can remember...

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

worst show i can remember...

Definitely. What kind of drugs did Brian Gewirtz take before he wrote this show?

[saldana]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

After reading a recap I think I'm glad I skipped everything except the last 20 minutes.

And suddenly Kane has gone loonytoons because Vince isn't there?

When did Jarrett, Russo, and Mantel start writing Raw?

edit: And the show ends three minutes early?

actually that didnt even occur to me...i thought it was another "kane has another psychotic break because he wants to know if the undertaker is coming back or not" bit as a lead in to them bringing UT back...he cant come back to smackdown as long as that academy award winning actress, vicki guerrero, is the GM

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by saldana

actually that didnt even occur to me...i thought it was another "kane has another psychotic break because he wants to know if the undertaker is coming back or not" bit as a lead in to them bringing UT back...

That's what I thought at first too but I swear I heard him say "Vince" (or actually "Vince McMahon") toward the end of the segment.

[Maple Leafs]

Didn't see it, but Raw sounds like WCW in the "new blood" era. Why can't they bring a few guys along at a time, instead of suddenly having every mid-carder on the roster suddenly get pushed at once?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Didn't see it, but Raw sounds like WCW in the "new blood" era. Why can't they bring a few guys along at a time, instead of suddenly having every mid-carder on the roster suddenly get pushed at once?

Desperate times lead to desperate measures. They seem to be hoping that they can catch lightning in a bottle & hit on the next Stone Cold. Ratings are down, not even giving away large sums of cash gave them the boost they wanted/ needed, the return of Jericho fizzled, they've devalued the ECW brand almost completely, their #2 show got dropped by a second tier network & ends up on the broadcast equivalent of a third world country, etc, etc. There's very little good news for them lately and I sense a growing amount of frustration & desperation.

The one thing that might give them the best chance at pulling out of the slump, namely working hard to create a solid product, seems to be the one thing they're most unwilling to try.

[TexasT]

Please get rid of that hag Vickie Guerrero!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by TexasT

Please get rid of that hag Vickie Guerrero!

Testify.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The one thing that might give them the best chance at pulling out of the slump, namely working hard to create a solid product, seems to be the one thing they're most unwilling to try.

You know more about the economics of the business than I do, but would it be possible for them to have an offseason? Or at least some planned breaks during the year?

It seems like both the writing and the wrestlers' bodies could use an offseason in order to heal/become stronger.

And I could see things basically build up to Wrestlemania every year--kind of like the Super Bowl. And during the offseason, they could show "Best of RAW" or "WWE opens the Vault" and show classic matches from their film archives.

But, I have a sneaking suspicion that they make way too much money from house shows and PPVs and their TV contract to basically go into re-run mode for 2 months a year.

Still, desperate times . . .

[RawIsDan]

Another good segment from Jericho and HBK. I like the way they are slooowly building this one up.

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Batista being interupted backstage by a guy doing Batista's pyro machine gun move was awesome.

Got a chuckle out of that myself.

[molson]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

You know more about the economics of the business than I do, but would it be possible for them to have an offseason? Or at least some planned breaks during the year?

It seems like both the writing and the wrestlers' bodies could use an offseason in order to heal/become stronger.

And I could see things basically build up to Wrestlemania every year--kind of like the Super Bowl. And during the offseason, they could show "Best of RAW" or "WWE opens the Vault" and show classic matches from their film archives.

But, I have a sneaking suspicion that they make way too much money from house shows and PPVs and their TV contract to basically go into re-run mode for 2 months a year.

Still, desperate times . . .

I'm pretty sure their TV/PPV contracts would prevent that, and I don't think Vince would want to leave all that money on the table anyway. He's always run a crazy schedule (much less crazy now than the 80s), with the idea that if a wrestler doesn't like it, he can bring someone else in, and that's probably more true now than ever with no real competition. (Though I think everyone agrees that an offseason would be better for the health of the wrestlers, and it would probably help creatively as well)

TV ratings aren't really all that down (unless you're comparing them to '99-'01), and the WWE still does great business compared to most other eras of their history, especially internationally. I think the "desperation" stuff is a little overplayed - they business grew in the late 90s, and it still hasn't fallen to close the level it was before then.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

TV ratings aren't really all that down (unless you're comparing them to '99-'01), and the WWE still does great business compared to most other eras of their history, especially internationally.

I don't know that I agree, not when they've been at/around four year lows on a regular basis for several months & on a slow but steady decline during that time.

I also don't think they're looking for the 6.0-7.0 ratings they saw during the peak, but I do believe there's some pressure coming from USA for things to get back up in the 4's where they had spent most of '05, over half of '06, and the first quarter of '07.

I also suspect that a good bit of the pressure that I believe is coming from the network has to do with how close TNT is to passing USA as "the most watched cable network" in multiple demo's. Just in the past year, USA has slipped from 1st to 3rd overall (behind both TBS & TNT) in the primetime viewers 18-34, and has seen their lead over TNT narrowed by more than 25% in primetime 18-49's. Given the good performance of several of their original series over the past couple of years, I believe USA feels like they ought to be increasing their advantage instead of losing it and when your number one show has dropped around 1/4th of it's audience that would seem likely to make it a focal point.

[Neon_Chaos]

Is www.scoopthis.com making a comeback!?!?!?!?!?!

I can't wait.

(that is, if you guys still remember the old www.scoopthis.com website. hehehe.)