This is usually a fun show.

Tonight's card, from Philly:

John Cena vs. Mark Henry for WWE title

Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler for World title

WWE Title Money in the Bank match
Randy Orton, Christian, Sheamus, C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan and Rob Van Dam

World Title Money in the Bank match
Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Fandango, Dean Ambrose, Wade Barrett, Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger

Chris Jericho vs. Ryback

Curtis Axel vs The Miz for IC tile

A.J. Lee vs. Kaitlyn for Divas title

Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns vs. Usos (Pre-show match at 7:30 p.m. on WWE web site)



In other news, tomorrow WWE will reportedly announce that The Ultimate Warrior will be a playable character in the new WWE 2K14 video game... he's also supposed to be at the press conference... buckle up...

_________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

the way henry squashed cena on monday tells me we're gonna get trite rinse repeat SUPER CENA for the win, though.

my ideal finish sees henry cheating to get the pin...and then cutting a black-fisted promo afterwards (with an all-black stable forming on monday).

anyway back to reality.

I was coming to make it about an hour or two before showtime, I think I'm ordering this one, ladder matches are my favorite and I dont want to deal with a choppy, jacked up stream like I did with Payback....



You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

the last PPV that was its subject line? I do.

_________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

Bryan probably takes the WWE one, but I have no idea who's gonna win the World title one, kinda hope it's Sandow though. Interesting that it's all faces in one (if you count Punk as a face now) and all heels in the other.

but I am HYPED for this one.

Love the format of both MITB matches, and I will be rooting HARD for Mark Henry.

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

I'm glad the Usos are getting kind of a push right now.
Great pre-show match

good match, but I knew the Usos wouldn't win....



You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

I don't know who this guy is, but he has posted on reddit the past 3 or 4 ppvs and been 100% right each time.

He does not list how the match would go, I don't think he gets that info, but he has access to the winners and losers each ppv somehow. Anyway they are here. Probably shouldn't comment on any specific spoilers but they are here if you want to know, or just to test and see if he is right.

http://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/1iay46/spoilers_mitb_results_inside_this_thread_100/

I look only because streaming it sucks anyway so I usually don't even bother anymore.

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

i think it's fckn hilarious.

has there been a post? (if not, it deserves its own)

how Cesaro went from hating America to "We The People".....



You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Before Zeb, he wasn't against all Americans, just the "fat, lazy, stupid" ones. He did claim to love America, but he hated (most) Americans.

With that said, I agree, this trio doesn't really have much impact though.

to blue collar/man of the people forced babyface push overnight.

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

I'd like to see Sandow take it, but I'd also like to see he and Cody get more of a push as a tag team. They, the Shield, Usos, Swagger/Cesario and Primetime Players could make for a fun tag division, I think. It seems like either way Sandow and Cody are splitting pretty soon, though.

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Also really liked that Fandango powerbomb.

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

pushed his partner Cody Rhodes off the ladder to get the win.....




You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Was wondering what happened to Sandow's push... great finish too

Pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

don't really need to see a maddox/vickie segment right now.

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Just has the misfortune of following that live ass MITB match and is hampered by the fact that the fans aren't really into either competitor. The pacing and events of the match were fine to me.


"I halfway hope people put "btw, rappers lie and shit" on CD covers, like a parental advisory sticker." - OKP Villain

www.twitter.com/lexlamont

I really dont like Miz and I HATE this Curtis Axel character.....



You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Neither is all that interesting, honestly.


"I halfway hope people put "btw, rappers lie and shit" on CD covers, like a parental advisory sticker." - OKP Villain

www.twitter.com/lexlamont

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

The spear was a little underwhelming, but only in comparison to how great it looked in the lead up to the match the last few weeks. AJ might have the best submission move going right now.

>AJ might have the best submission move going right
>now.

Agreed

is it just me or has all the life gone from this crowd?




You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

"I halfway hope people put "btw, rappers lie and shit" on CD covers, like a parental advisory sticker." - OKP Villain

www.twitter.com/lexlamont

AJ interfered and costs Dolph the title.....



You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Didn't want that finish.

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

The PPV is called Money In The Bank, so it feels appropriate to end it with that match.

which means he's going over clean.

Cena squats like 900 pounds. Lifting Henry is nothing.

It was their way of pretending Henry had a chance. The whole Hogan/Andre thing...if you can't slam him, how can you beat him? Then of course, the slam happens.

They did Mark a solid to let him kick out after the AA. Having him tap was some ho shit to me. Maybe I just wanted him to win. I would've bet on it if they went out last. But they didn't.

Jimaveli

Yep

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

http://boundless-expression.tumblr.com/

http://themichaeljacksonarchives.tumblr.com/

"I halfway hope people put "btw, rappers lie and shit" on CD covers, like a parental advisory sticker." - OKP Villain

www.twitter.com/lexlamont

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Never been an Orton fan, but if this run accompanies a heel turn then it could be really great.


*crosses fingers*

But the finishes in three of them pissed me off.

Mark tapping out? Be serious.
Curtis Axel takes out Bryan and Heyman turns on Punk, allowing Orton to win? Be serious.
AJ interferes in her boyfriend's title match? C'mon.

In that at least it wasn't stupid Sheamus.

and i like the direction they're going.

Tag Team: incredible match by the Usos and Shield. It'd be nice to see the Usos win the titles at some point, but a long Shield run will be nice.

WH MITB: Loved this one, especially the ending. I like those two as a team, but if they both get a push out of this it'll be great.

IC: I don't really care for Curtis Axel just yet, but at least he's a shake-up for that belt. hopefully they flesh out his persona a little more than "paul heyman's guy".

Divas: Another good match, keep the belt on AJ!

Ryback-Jericho: Meh, but Ryback was in need of a PPV win.

Del Rio-Ziggler: Once again I love the match between these two but not the ending. I like this heel run by ADR, but why are they so afraid to take the belt away from him? I hope Ziggler stays in the title picture.

WWE Title: Dumb ending, and a pretty forgettable match, but I didn't picture anyone other than Cena with the belt going into SummerSlam. How long can the WWE Title be overshadowed in the PPVs though? It's not even Cena's fault, and I kinda forgive it for MITB, but it's still pretty noticeable.

WWE MITB: While I would've preferred a Bryan win I'm fine with an Orton win, and Bryan does have enough heat to get the match regardless. Orton needs a change and this is an easy way to do it.

There is some good ass wrestling happening throughout the cards right now. And I can't act like I didn't just see (fine ass) AJ doing a video game submission. Jay Lethal must be proud. The WWE has finally staffed itself with a slew of good and experienced workers WHO CAN STILL GO. And they allow them to work matches and get over (and fill the ridiculous amount of programming hours they have weekly). It is like the early 2000s all over again except they are taking guys from their own farm system (and Ring of Honor instead of WCW), giving them new characters, and sticking them in the ring. Regardless, it is a great time to be a good wrestler in the WWE. And even if you aren't, you have to break a sweat trying to fake it so you can stay on the card. People can say what they want about him winning all the time, but Cena be working.

Either that or you could be Randy Orton. Eh. I get it..they are gonna give him another go. I'm sure he'll heel up gradually before kicking John Cena in the head in some heelish situation in the right town (otherwise he'll be cheered fiercly), and carry the belt for a while. Hopefully he doesn't drag down the title scene. Who am I kidding? Maybe he'll align with Heyman so that a face Punk can carry him through to Royal Rumble.

ADR is a wrestling mofo. He's a big guy but he moves. To me, he needs the belt to be important. And I'm glad he's a heel again. He has the facial expressions and moveset just right for it. And people being racist as hell doesn't hurt. I like him. He makes it so clear that he likes being booed.

And Dolph...he is a master at selling pain and fatigue. And he works FAST and pretty crisp. HBK is somewhere smiling. Big E is gonna be kicking his ass for the rest of the year once they go ahead and finish the breakup with (fine ass) AJ. It'll be awesome. Then he'll win the rumble and get back in the title picture.

Jericho = decent match + win for some guy who WWE thinks needs a win. Cryback!? Haha..good stuff, Jericho..good stuff. I like Ryback's coward monster thing. It is better than him halfass pretending to sell pain like mild confusion (shaking his head while on the ground) before jumping up and doing all of his moves...you know, every Goldberg match ever. Faking injuries, being a coward, freebird stalling, etc...that's good heel stuff.

RVD had me scared that he'd blow a couple spots, but they didn't give him anything too crazy to do. All of his 'standard' stuff is awesome when you haven't seen it in a while, so it worked. I thought they'd let him win in Philly. Either him or...

American Dragon..I swear..this guy is stupid over right now. And of course...he can go. He's probably going to be the one to take the belt off of ADR. My response: yes.

Kurt's kid...he's getting a little bit of the forced push. And with so many damn good wrestlers all over the card, he's gonna have a hard time looking good. But hey..we bitch when WWE doesn't do this enough, so I'll live. And I always smile when I see a Perfect Plex.

Jimaveli

>and i like the direction they're going.
>
>Tag Team: incredible match by the Usos and Shield. It'd be
>nice to see the Usos win the titles at some point, but a long
>Shield run will be nice.
>
>WH MITB: Loved this one, especially the ending. I like those
>two as a team, but if they both get a push out of this it'll
>be great.
>
>IC: I don't really care for Curtis Axel just yet, but at least
>he's a shake-up for that belt. hopefully they flesh out his
>persona a little more than "paul heyman's guy".
>
>Divas: Another good match, keep the belt on AJ!
>
>Ryback-Jericho: Meh, but Ryback was in need of a PPV win.
>
>Del Rio-Ziggler: Once again I love the match between these two
>but not the ending. I like this heel run by ADR, but why are
>they so afraid to take the belt away from him? I hope Ziggler
>stays in the title picture.
>
>WWE Title: Dumb ending, and a pretty forgettable match, but I
>didn't picture anyone other than Cena with the belt going into
>SummerSlam. How long can the WWE Title be overshadowed in the
>PPVs though? It's not even Cena's fault, and I kinda forgive
>it for MITB, but it's still pretty noticeable.
>
>WWE MITB: While I would've preferred a Bryan win I'm fine with
>an Orton win, and Bryan does have enough heat to get the match
>regardless. Orton needs a change and this is an easy way to do
>it.
>

Is it too much to ask to finish someone off with it every once in a while?

>Is it too much to ask to finish someone off with it every
>once in a while?

Haha...yeah. I'm even more hurt that Sheamus has a modified version of Misawa's finisher as a transition move.

Wrestling is so simple sometimes. If you treat something like a finisher, people will USUALLY eventually buy it as a finisher. Perfect Plex 2013 could totally work if they just let him win with it. Hell...Miz is setting up a Figure Four in the midcard with 3 or 4 'I'm hitting your leg now' moves and they are selling that as a sureshot tactic.

Jimaveli

>
>And Dolph...he is a master at selling pain and fatigue.

seriously. it's funny watching with non-wrestling fans, because they're convinced that dolph is fatally injured several times throughout the match.

>Kurt's kid...he's getting a little bit of the forced push. And
>with so many damn good wrestlers all over the card, he's gonna
>have a hard time looking good. But hey..we bitch when WWE
>doesn't do this enough, so I'll live.

This is how I feel about WWE as a whole right now. After a predictable Wrestlemania and an underwhelming Extreme Rules, the last two PPVs have had some balls so I can't be too mad at any of the results, and they're on a nice roll heading into SummerSlam.

speaking of Extreme Rules, why did they have mark henry lose if they were gonna give him a push and do nothing with sheamus?

I'm excited, first live WWE show. Post-MITB will probably be a good one. Probably no cash-in, but a boy can dream, can't he?

edit: also can't think of anything I'd desperately want to put on a sign.

>edit: also can't think of anything I'd desperately want to
>put on a sign.

damn you WWE, you tricked me!

Honestly, no ped-o, but one of my favorite parts of WWE events is the kids reactions to everything. You can have the John Cena loyalists chanting "Cena sucks!" if they see older people doing it. But just in general, their reaction to everything is unmatched. Screams when the bad guy wins, TD dances when the good guy wins, makes me wish I got into wrestling even younger than I did.

but this super nice family was in front of us, the parents were like 40, mad cool, 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son and they LOVED Cena... we said fuckit and cheered for Cena the whole match, kids were loving it, whole section was hating us

neither do I"

>edit: also can't think of anything I'd desperately want to
>put on a sign.

Let's see if anything changes

http://deadspin.com/a-redditor-has-been-leaking-wwe-outcomes-for-months-787445495

In February on r/SquaredCircle, Reddit's pro wrestling forum, one poster kicked off a "prediction series," asking users to pick who they expected to win at that week's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event. The winner was a user named "Dolphins1925," who posted just minutes before the start of the event, and nailed the results of every single match. It was the first sign that WWE had sprung a leak.

"I will win this guaranteed," Dolphins1925 wrote as he made his picks. "I know all the winners."

That sort of confidence in itself isn't unusual; neither is someone scoring 100 percent on his predictions. Pro wrestling is fairly predictable. Pay attention to who's being pushed and who's being buried, combine that with dirtsheet rumors on what storylines are coming down the pipe, and you can get a pretty good sense of what's going to happen at any given event.

No, what's weird about Dolphins1925's perfect slate is that he made his picks for the next pay-per-view, and the next, all the way down to last night's Money in the Bank event, and he's been completely right, every single time. He's 38 for 38 in predicting the results of matches. He's not just some fan guessing. He knows WWE's plans.

He claims he doesn't work for WWE himself, but has a source who does. He claims he's revealing the results in order to embarrass the company, so it'll realize how leaky its ship is. "I am hoping that spreading the word will get WWE's attention," he wrote. "I am hoping that it will put a stop to spoilers from being leaked."

The Reddit community didn't realize what they had at first. After he went 5-for-5 in the Elimination Chamber, including predicting the winner of a six-man match, one user told him "Your predictions were very... sharp."

They caught on next month. No longer content to leave his picks in the replies to the "prediction series," he made his own post. These weren't guesses. These were, in his words, "spoilers."

WrestleMania RESULTS inside this thread. 100% accurate. Do NOT click until after watching if you don't want WM to be spoiled.
They were, of course, 100 percent accurate. In addition to the eight matches that aired, Dolphins1925 correctly predicted a dark match that was held before the show, and one that was scheduled but bumped until the following night's Raw.

He went 8 of 8 on his Extreme Rules picks, but not without some controversy. He had said John Cena would win and retain the WWE Championship against Ryback. Technically, the match ended in a no-contest, but Cena retained the belt.

In explaining his pick for that match, and clarifying that he doesn't know exactly how any given match is going to go down, Dolphins1925 wrote something of a manifesto, explaining why he's doing what he's doing.

I would like to clarify once again that I DO NOT work for WWE. I am not a WWE Superstar, I am not with; the lighting crew, the camera crew, the sound technicians, the stagehands, the prop guys, the merchandise sellers, nor the popcorn vendor in the 15th Row, “Congratulations, Louie!”

I am just a WWE fan like everyone else, and I am getting my information from a source who has VERY credible inside information regarding the outcomes (win/losses) of the matches themselves. Given that this information is out there, we both feel that I should continue to share this information until it garners the attention of WWE. Vince and upper management are not taking reasonable measures to prevent this information from being leaked. These people whom are leaking this information are profiting off it at the expense of the WWE, the fans, and the integrity of the product. It is for these reasons that I am hoping to put an end to WWE insiders leaking PPV outcomes.

Also, I feel that WWE owes the fans. They need to be more protective of the actual results as a fellow Redditor had stated in the thread. It is hurting the integrity of the product, and I should not have access to this information.
Despite his noble intentions, Dolphins1925's project hadn't yet come to success; we're told that WWE creative didn't know he existed before today.

He soldiered on, nailing seven of seven match results at the recent Payback event. But it was last night's Money in the Bank that would prove to be one of his toughest tests. There was one match with six competitors, and another with seven. The field was wide open, stymieing handicappers. A few minutes before showtime, Dolphins1925 revealed his picks. In each of the mass ladder matches, his winners were neither expected nor popular. (It's fun to see r/SquaredCircle flip its shit when he tells them Randy Orton is going to win a title shot.)

He went eight for eight. I watched rapt as each pick came in, culminating in Randy Orton scaling the ladder to grab the dangling briefcase.

It's impossible to gather more information on Dolphins1925, who created his Reddit account in February and hasn't used it for anything but WWE spoilers. He has not replied to a message sent through the site, but I have no reason to believe he's anything other than what he says he is: a fan tired of WWE's failure of secrecy.

RELATED

The Quirks Of Gambling On Professional Wrestling
Since the dawn of time, it's been mankind's dream to own the Sports Almanac from Back To The Future Part II. If one could know the result… Read…
So what does it matter, beyond the embarrassment to WWE? Betting, for one. As I explored a few years ago, gambling on pro wrestling is a growing phenomenon, though maximum bets are capped low, specifically because of situations like this. The uncertainty surrounding the secrecy of WWE's plans extends even to those setting the lines. Adam Young, then the head oddsmaker at Bodog, told us

"It's always more tricky when it's not statistically based. The lines are iffy, you can't do a ton of research before making your wagers. but it's a lot of fun, and that's the purpose of it."
Curiously, the odds for Money in the Bank had all of the eventual winners installed as the favorites, leading Reddit users to speculate if bookmakers have access to the same information Dolphins1925 does.

It should surprise no one that WWE isn't Fort Knox, because it has never pretended to be. Writers have long put out information to build "organic" buzz for upcoming storylines, as well as leaked proposed angles that they hate, to be killed in utero by public opinion. Every factual leak is counteracted by three false ones, rendering most spoilers utterly worthless.

What is rare is for someone to have 100 percent correct information, and to have it for so long. For decades, WWE has done a fantastic job of keeping quiet the results of what's essentially a scripted show. It has done so by keeping the circle of people who know the outcomes small—the writers know, as do some of the technical crew; not even the wrestlers themselves know the plans for an entire card—and only sharing that information at the last possible moment. It's likely why Dolphins1925 posts his spoilers just a few minutes before showtime.

But though wrestling fans were among the early adopters of the internet, there's never been a community that offers the reach, the intimacy, the immediacy, and the anonymity of Reddit. It's possible that once-removed sources like Dolphins1925 always had this information; they just weren't able to share it with the world like he can.

This run is likely to be short-lived, and the upshot minimal. Once WWE realizes what information is out there, it's a matter of time before it changes its secrecy procedures and fires the leaker. But we had a good run, didn't we? At least we had time to prepare ourselves for another Randy Orton push.

_________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

He seemed unhappy about how easy it was for the spoilers to get out, so this could finally make that change.

>He seemed unhappy about how easy it was for the spoilers to
>get out, so this could finally make that change.

He'll surely get somebody fired, if that's his goal.

Sounds like ti is his friend has a source

It may be impossible to even trace it through that path, maybe his friend doesn't give a shit about the source. Maybe they know that the guy won't get caught and WWE will just tighten the ship and make it harder for results to get out.

http://youtu.be/9l2FeI5GMg0

It's about a minute too long

________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

Not that it's important that he was Asian. I don't have anything against Asians. I would have laughed if it was a nerdy Anglo guy too.



Not that all Asian guys are nerdy.



I can't believe Warrior is still alive.

Yeah, wwe13 looked incredible, why does this look like an arcade style game?

that is making WWE 2K14

The 2K Sports folks are behind this new incarnation of the game, so that might have something to do with it

_________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

I'm on the west coast feed so I don't even know what you're referring to yet, but that's been an under-discussed storyline seemingly everywhere (credit to how good wrestling's been overall lately too though).

#BradMaddoxEra

>I'm on the west coast feed so I don't even know what you're
>referring to yet

Only provider here is Cox, and my spot faces the wrong way for a dish.

It was rather annoying when USA switched to the west coast feed like a year ago.

i guess that's the textbook way to do it.

This^^^^^^^


His mic game is genius....

________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

the Heyman/Punk/Lesnar angle was great, RVD vs Jericho was fantastic, i will never not like the way RVD acts like the 5 star hurts him after he hits it.

and Daniel Bryan gettig the whole arena to chant "YES! YES! YES! YES!" was a great scene...

>the Heyman/Punk/Lesnar angle was great, RVD vs Jericho was
>fantastic, i will never not like the way RVD acts like the 5
>star hurts him after he hits it.
>
...

It looked like Rob was gonna throw up out there in the ring. He hasn't had to work that hard since he left. I didn't feel it as much as everyone else did.

"We may have a modern day Nostradamus on our hands. We might have to monitor these posts in advance of our next pay-per-view to see how good he or she really is."

great crowd too. they cooled down a little in the middle but kicked it right back up at the end. The "YES!" and "Daniel Bryan" chants even got going during a commercial break or two.

I gotta download this shit

Bray is a fucking beast on the mic. This is a great tribute to the early WCW brand of wrasslin' to boot. It's an exceptionally well done take on that style, that look, those promos.

I'm, sitting here waiting for Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes to come running out. Big Josh making the save an shit.

is how Bray almost sounds worried the way he says "we're here." Like he doesn't know what he and the Family might do, and he feels sorry for those to whom they're about to cause great pain.

"If you wanna help us, fine. Sit down with your kids and make 'em study at night...otherwise, shoot THIS mothaf*cka!" (c) Morgan Freeman,

Damn...they pulled the trigger on the rest of the Dolph situation. And yep, Big E whooped his ass. And he sold it like attempted murder because he's awesome.

These divas be looking good as hell. That is all.

Run Mark! Run! Ohh...nevermind! Handle those fools! Yeah! Ohh (after sleeper)...ohhh! (after spear) Ohhh! (after Fire Pro Wrestling triple powerbomb critical). The Shield is awesome.

RVD and Jericho showed their ass fo sho with the layout of the match even if they didn't totally kill it physically. These are 40-year old cats out there going at it! ECW heyday was a long ass time ago! Shiiiit...both of their first WWE runs were a long ass time ago! Kudos to legends who can still go.

Paul and Punk put on character-perfect promo clinics regularly. Tonight was more of the same. And maybe...just MAYBE we finally have a reason to GAF about a Brock situation now. If Paul and Punk can't carry you into a dope story and matches, you can't be carried. Brock's job has never been easier than it is going to be the next month or so. I just hope he doesn't injure CM Punk with his sloppy ass.

Hmmm...Orton...I get it but I'm just not down right now. And wtf was that delayed ass pin? I'll just assume Fandango ticked off Orton at some point in the match. I love how a damn near fired dude might still think he can do stuff like that. I remember he did a similar thing to Ken Kennedy/Anderson after a shaky backdrop. I'm reaching now...

American Dragon vs Cena at Summerfest? I'm down with that. And I guess we get a stipulationified Ziggler/ADR match? Or maybe Big E/Ziggler. That leaves a gang of folks available for goodness. WWE is on a roll right now. I'm not even gonna think about how they'll screw this all up by Christmas. I'm just gonna hope they don't.

Jimaveli

>This is usually a fun show.
>
>Tonight's card, from Philly:
>
>John Cena vs. Mark Henry for WWE title
>
>Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler for World title
>
>WWE Title Money in the Bank match
>Randy Orton, Christian, Sheamus, C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan and
>Rob Van Dam
>
>World Title Money in the Bank match
>Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Fandango, Dean Ambrose, Wade
>Barrett, Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger
>
>Chris Jericho vs. Ryback
>
>Curtis Axel vs The Miz for IC tile
>
>A.J. Lee vs. Kaitlyn for Divas title
>
>Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns vs. Usos (Pre-show match at 7:30
>p.m. on WWE web site)
>
>
>
>In other news, tomorrow WWE will reportedly announce that The
>Ultimate Warrior will be a playable character in the new WWE
>2K14 video game... he's also supposed to be at the press
>conference... buckle up...
>
>_________________________________________________________________________________________
>But Zootown, black people and media, so...

This would be a GREAT time for Punk to bring in Chael.

>This would be a GREAT time for Punk to bring in Chael.

Not a single segment disappointed me.

"If you wanna help us, fine. Sit down with your kids and make 'em study at night...otherwise, shoot THIS mothaf*cka!" (c) Morgan Freeman,

It was faint, but you could hear people singing "John Cena sucks!" along with his entrance music.


The energy reminded me of each of the Raws following WM28 (YES!) and WM29 (Ziggler)

is starting the "WHAT?!?!" chant during Bray's promo, but that just proved an opportunity for him to shine- if you laugh and talk through those chants, and be Bray Wyatt, you can turn that crowd.

Especially since they've pervaded virtually every audience, regardless if there's a heavy smark presence or not.

Massive credit to Bray for continuing his cadence and including random expressions to cut off the chants.

for giving us the #BradMaddoxEra


Like a certain smark columnist said last night on Twitter, they're giving him the Big Johnny treatment: he aims to please, but everyone still gives him shit

"If you wanna help us, fine. Sit down with your kids and make 'em study at night...otherwise, shoot THIS mothaf*cka!" (c) Morgan Freeman,

now that we know it was directed towards Kane. (I know there was that connection from last week's Raw, but I didn't notice till later).

Some really interesting lines in there... I'm guessing we're going to see the Big Red Monster again sooner or later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-d3OiuvZbr8#t=90s

http://i.imgur.com/146gOl2.gif



Sonofabitch I can't stop reading about wrestling right now

my kids got it for me for my birthday, and since as a kid I was always more of a WCW/NWA fan than WWE, it was like bringing back my childhood again watching some of those old matches, most of which I'd never seen since there was no way my parents were ordering PPVs of wrestling for me back then. The DVD also includes a Tower of Doom match with 3 cages stacked on top of each other that I dont even remember happening, the match has a dumb concept but seeing dudes like 40-50 feet above the ring fighting was cool to see, especially when it featured the Road Warriors, the Garvins, and Kevin Sullivan (who I truly thought was the Devil when I was a kid).....



You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I can talk about Main Event...Wyatt Family has it...just hope the WWE doesn't ruin them...

Smackdown was the best one i've seen in a while...

They just released Bruce Pritchard and D'Lo Brown from their office staff and released a grip of wrestlers.

I'm calling it now: Panda Energy pulls the plug on TNA in November.

It'll make it to 2014...but hopefully Sting and Kurt Angle gets to WWE before then...

A gentleman's bet, if you will.

I was already planning to with friends, but if you want to support this (fucking great) brand of wrestling we're watching be sure to buy Summerslam.

Click for the footnotes:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9485772/a-day-money-bank-wwe-arrives-brooklyn

And it's funny that he mentions Wade Keller, because Keller's colleague Bruce Mitchell has a different, much more cynical take on all of this: essentially, the idea is that the McMahon's and SuperHHHero Trips are pushing Daniel Bryan even though they don't really want to, and ultimately are going to stick it back in the fans' faces... he's taking everything Vince says, and the ways Stephanie and Triple H (and now Cena with his half-ass announcement of Daniel Bryan's name) talk about Daniel Bryan, at face value...

I'm also wondering if at some point during the Cena-Bryan promotion it will come out that it was Cena who went to bat for Bryan and got him rehired when Bryan was fired after the Nexus invasion...

__________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

> the idea is that the McMahon's and SuperHHHero Trips are pushing Daniel Bryan even though they don't really want to, and ultimately are going to stick it back in the fans' faces...

Although I was just fantasy booking this with a friend right now... Imagine if Bryan beats Cena at SS, then


"VINTAGE ORTON!!!!! RKO OUT OF NOWHERE!!!!" ***


"RANDY ORTON is now WWE CHAMPION after cashing in on a spent Daniel Bryan, who was only the champion for 18 seconds!!!!!"


Big fuck you right? But would it necessarily be a bad thing? It would draw great parallels with his WHC match with Sheamus, then set up a program between him and Orton, further reinforcing his underdog role and making his chase even more fulfilling.

But on top of that, it would be an INCREDIBLE way to turn Orton heel, since Bryan is so insanely over. He's been wanting to turn for a while now, and this would be so visceral and immediate. Plus, if he cashes in on Cena there's a big chance people would cheer, since Cena's so polarizing to begin with.



***(sidenote: I'm aware that Orton would need to notify the ref first to ring the bell, but I'm running with the RKO OUT OF NOWHERE metaphor since that's basically how the MitB briefcase works, haha)

That reportedly is the plan as of now, thus cementing Orton's long-awaited heel turn

The big hang up is Orton's new neck injury that he's steady downplaying

But yeah, it would be a thumb to the fan's eyes if they put the belt on Bryan only to have him lose it minutes later, serving as a reminder to the fans that WWE is going to push who WWE wants to push...

_________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

This would make him a made man. Orton's a guy the smarks can't and won't cheer because DB is their guy. Considering how much the mainstream already loves him, if HHH and Vinny are dumb enough to try to do that as a fuck you to the IWC, it will backfire like crazy because there will be very little division. It will be perhaps the clearest example of good vs evil in a fued we've seen in ages.

Pretty much everyone else in that main event picture has a polarizing effect of some kind, but Orton cashing in on DBry would be a pretty hard line.

I suppose the smarks could cheer the Orton heel turn, and while I think most of them would do so against most other opponets- especially a guy like Cena- I have a hard time seeing it in any significant number with Bryan.

> I suppose the smarks could cheer the Orton heel turn, and while I think most of them would do so against most other opponets- especially a guy like Cena- I have a hard time seeing it in any significant number with Bryan.

I think the smarks will boo Orton, and this is why such a dramatic heel turn would work so well. Smarks know what kind of a shithead Orton is in real life because he knows he's protected by the front office. This gives an opportunity for the smarks to boo Regular Person Randy Orton while appearing to boo with the marks.

Since wrestling storylines are written for the marks anyways, this gives us the very rare opportunity to see marks AND smarks hating the same heel with equal animosity yet for VERY different reasons.

He was considered a major asshole in OVW.
He's really gotten by on talent for the most part. He spent a nice chunk of his career under some form of punishment.

He's also calmed down considerably and most accounts I've read over the last few years are that he's become very much a leader in the locker room.

Really, the last big thing I heard from him (other than the wellness violations) was.. the Kofi incident? Maybe? I can't think of anything else in the locker room from the somewhat recent era.

motherfuckers will go CRAZY

people will REALLY get behind Bryan after that, and Orton will instantly be the most booed man in the country everywhere he goes. I think this can be a refreshing take on the hero wrestler vs. the McMahons storyline if the follow-up is up to par with what they've been doing lately. they've been on a roll, so i'm willing to trust them right now.

I was bummed that the site was down all day, because I was dying to post this. More than an hour, but I dug every minute of it.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2013/0718/564201/mark-henry-talks-being-punished-and-more/

didn't know mark was so close to the hart family. man from that split second he got choked up, you can really tell owen meant a lot to him.

sounds like vince isn't gonna turn him full babyface. good!

http://img.pandawhale.com/17691-1B1yfgif-VN6u.gif

This is a fucking clinic.

Which the live crowd has pointed out with the "you can't wrestle" chant.

>Which the live crowd has pointed out with the "you can't
>wrestle" chant.

thus the problem with having him close out shows. even bryan and cena can only make him look so good.

Swiss Death into a small package? Flawless to boot.

Something changed backstage. Pushing Bryan in a 40 minute gauntlet match (that featured Cesaro with multiple segments) to close out Raw? Letting the young talent showcase themselves in jobber matches to the stars? Building a LEGITIMATE tag team division? Introducing new wrestlers with fantastic builds (Shield, Fandango, Wyatt Family)?

These never would have happened like four months ago... right?

But I don't really understand what's driving this new direction. I'd like to think that part of it is Vince ceding more control to HHH/Steph, and that they're doing all this out of their own good sense.

Part of it might be that a lot of the main event/upper midcard guys of the past decade are pretty close to the end of the road. Cena seems like he could go a while longer, but Big Show is always hurt now, and so is Christian, and Y2J is strictly part-time, Mark Henry probably will retire for real in the next couple of years, and I wouldn't be surprised if Punk left in a couple of years either. Kane seems to be in great shape, but he's 46 years old. I don't think they buy Del Rio as more than a stopgap top heel, and it isn't clear that any of the youngish midcard guys (e.g. Rhodes, Swagger, Kofi, Barrett) are ever gonna draw real money.

So it's conceivable that they desperately want to avoid, 4-5 years from now, a main event roster consisting of Del Rio, Orton, Ryback, a 40-year-old Cena, Ziggler, and Sheamus. Not a lot of PPV buys in that combination.

Which is why I'm a little scared about this Bryan/Cena match, because I get the sense that this is a test of Bryan's ability to draw money. If the PPV doesn't do that well, it's easy to imagine Vince saying, "I told you so," and burying him.

And maybe the accumulation of ex-RoH stars is having an effect too. I don't know how much influence Punk and Bryan have with booking, if any, but I'd like to think Bryan had a say in booking that Cesaro match.

But who knows. It could all go to hell Monday night.

Part of me also hopes that Vince/Trips/whoever is starting to listen more to the IWC crowd. Reddit's SquaredCircle subreddit got their attention from the leaks, and guys like Stroud and Shoemaker post there regularly too.

A lot of the things happening today are basically "old school" wrestling tenets: keep the guys feuding outside of a ring until the PPV, push the young talent, make the champs look strong (I'm going to pretend that Orton going over Del Rio on the last Smackdown didn't happen).

And I definitely agree with your sentiment regarding the Bryan/Cena match. Not sure what my plans are for watching Summerslam, but if it ends up that I watch it at home alone I definitely plan on buying it to support the current product. These buys are gonna play a big factor on whether or not we see a continuation of great wrestling. Hopefully this quality build continues to Summerslam.


Or it could all go to shit Monday night.

>Or it could all go to shit Monday night.

It always fits.

Half of me expects the other shoe to drop in the fall. The other half thinks that when they have a roster like this with enough good characters/storylines they can't possibly fuck up THAT bad... right???

>Half of me expects the other shoe to drop in the fall. The
>other half thinks that when they have a roster like this with
>enough good characters/storylines they can't possibly fuck up
>THAT bad... right???

It doesn't matter what we think. It matters what 11-year-olds think. The Wyatts, Fandango, Bryan, Ambrose/Shield....that's all fine and dandy, but they are worth to WWE precisely how much money they draw--no more and no less. And smarks don't buy merch and they steal PPVs.

>
>It doesn't matter what we think. It matters what 11-year-olds
>think. The Wyatts, Fandango, Bryan, Ambrose/Shield....that's
>all fine and dandy, but they are worth to WWE precisely how
>much money they draw--no more and no less. And smarks don't
>buy merch and they steal PPVs.

but part of the optimism comes from my belief that since Wrestlemania they've been less committed to keeping the kids happy and more committed to just putting out a better product and hoping everyone is happy. Who do they even have specifically for the kids these days? I count Cena and Tons of Funk (who can't even get a filler PPV match)? And I think the line between marks and smarks is becoming more and more blurred.

but yeah, like I said, half of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

After the Cesaro clinic.


Also, there was a Bella nip-slip at the end of the Miz TV segment. Most people didn't notice it because they tuned out of awful TV.

was readin the rumors... love the Briscoe Bro's... Would fit right in with this tag team renaissance they are trying to pull off... or you could have them roll with Heyman, Colter, or even the Wyatt dudes...

Hope they sign


<< Started From The Bottom

Problem is they're gonna have to tone down their acts way down to fit into PG television. No more chugging whiskey, slinging chickens around, cussing and firing shotguns.

I'm just nervous WWE is gonna do something to make them corny.

Don't know/care about Eva Marie; your mileage may vary

Also, I'm digging Brad Maddox, but it always seems as if he's a second or two behind on his cue... and not because "but he's supposed to be playing nervous," either

Even though Punk-Heyman was a bit stilted, it was still the best thing on the show... next to Daniel Bryan taking up the last 40 minutes of the show with some epic-ass IN-RING storytelling...

And I might have said this before but if you're tired of this HHH-McMahon business, suck it up, because it's apparently going all the way to WrestleMania...

_______________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

with Austin being Vince's representative.

I think of all the ways you could possibly bring Stone Cold Steve Austin for one more match this is probably the least creative option available.

Austin? LOL

And turning Triple H makes no sense, either, especially since he's been front-and-center as the new face of the company going forward

And no, I don't buy any explanation that he's such a babyface for the company that his turn will be more "shocking" and "surprising" down the line; that's just stupid

_________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

>Also, I'm digging Brad Maddox, but it always seems as if he's
>a second or two behind on his cue...

But yeah, liking his reign/the McMahon family angle so far.

Eva is fucking hot tho. Hotter than the Bellas.

But Jojo looked great in that dress, but nothing otherwise.
_________________________
http://expertise.blogdrive.com
http://twitter.com/KMBReferee
http://www.formspring.me/KMBReferee

_________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

http://angrywrestlingguy.com/2013/07/23/the-world-is-ready-for-daniel-bryan/

I have a theory that the top, iconic, wrestling characters reflect the society that births them. In the world of professional wrestling, how could this not be true?

Vince McMahon’s traveling circus version of the wrestling model provides a perpetual, massive, national (and sometimes international) focus group. People make a lot of noise about ratings, but nothing is more instructive than the genuine reactions of thousands of people in real time because those ratings are just numbers — they don’t capture the FEELING of the audience. The WWE owes its longevity to listening to those feelings, understanding them, and out-putting a product that reflects those feelings. You give the people what they want.

My theory is that individual audience members, from all generations, all share a common bond through the cultural architecture of their times. Consequently, iconic characters are successful because they somehow tap into that collective consciousness in a way that, not only thrills us, but holds a mirror for us to see who we are and what we desire.

You can learn a lot about history just by watching old professional wrestling shows…

In the 1980s we had Hulk Hogan, the quintessential Cold War superhero. He was a manifestation of the desire for strength through patriotism, belief in self, and loyalty to your own. Like Rocky Balboa fighting Drago, he was a reaction to the subtle current of uncertainty and fear running through American society. In the face of that fear, he represented the rationalization that we, as a people, were powerful, righteous and that nothing could overcome our dominance. He was “The Real American”.

In the late 1990s we had Stone Cold Steve Austin, an emotionally unstable, unpredictable, violent anti-hero who very much represented the same sense of discontent and anger felt by young adolescent males at the time. The late 90s, though it ushered in an era of economic prosperity, stability, and relative peace, left many white youth with an aimless yearning for something more than a steady nine to five job. These sentiments were captured perfectly by Tyler Durden in Fight Club: “We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives”. From the deluge of cultural malaise came “The Rattlesnake”. He wasn’t here to beat the communists. He wasn’t here to teach your kids to take their vitamins. He was here to bring down the establishment. It didn’t matter why. It didn’t matter how. Stone Cold Steve Austin was here to unleash a can of whoop ass just because he could, just because he was angry. Every Monday Night RAW was catharsis. When Austin went crazy so did we and there was no greater release than watching someone tear down everything just to watch the world burn.

Finally, John Cena has embodied the attitudes of Post 9/11 America to a T. Like during the Cold War era, the threat of a foreign enemy (terrorism) rekindled the desire for indomitable strength, but not at the expense of our prosperity and leisure. John Cena doesn’t really fight for anything in particular. “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” are just buzzwords. Why are we hustling? To whom are we loyal? To what do we owe our respect? They are words that make us feel good, wholesome, but we’re not meant to put too much thought into the matter.

His strength is no longer aimed at defeating an enemy, but is supposed to be a comforting distraction from the unknown perils that lie outside the purview of our awareness. We don’t want to look into that abyss we merely glimpsed at on 9/11. We need someone to make us feel like it’s going to be all right. We may not fight our Post 9/11 wars personally, but we’ll go over-the-top with our show of respect to the less-than-one-percent who wear military uniforms in Iraq and Afghanistan. We offer our show of gratitude to the military establishment as prayers to the universe hoping that our reward will be never having to endure the horrors of war personally. John Cena is the yellow ribbon bumper sticker, the jets flying over The Superdome before the Superbowl. He is the business-as-usual champion; a nice guy; easily digestible like organic vegetable juice; the consummate company man; the dutiful consumer’s hero.

Now we arrive at Daniel Bryan. Could he be the next iconic wrestling mega-star? If one merely glances at his short stature, shaggy beard, and often goofy demeanor, it’s easy to dismiss the possibility. And yet, there’s something to the notion that Daniel Bryan is a mirror reflecting the current stream of collective consciousness.

It seems like we are entering into a post-hipster world, one in which people are more aware of the shortcomings of society and themselves, but also able to avoid the cognitive dissonance that comes with those revelations. People are becoming cynical to the jingoism of the early 2000s. People no longer trust the government to look out for their best interest. Simultaneously there is a conflicting sense that something must be done, but that “something” is nebulous.

We know we are trapped within a technological vacuum; we spend our lives finger poking smart phones, making connections with people hundreds of miles from our physical location, while we sit across an actual person at a restaurant. We are a society of deep contradictions, simultaneously more and less connected than ever before. How many people, surrounded by technology, crave a lifestyle of simpler times, or seek connection through yoga, social causes, Crossfit, or even Reddit.

Perhaps the most signature aspect of this new paradigm is that we, collectively, have not only become aware of the absurdity in our lives, but have met it with good humor. Our reaction is sometimes to lament our state of affairs, but more often than not, it’s to simply laugh and resign ourselves to our fate — like an episode of the Daily Show that points out government corruption without even a hint sanctimonious outrage, but by turning it into one big joke. In the face of our powerlessness, we sometimes just have to laugh. We try to enjoy the ride, even if it is a downward spiral.

When I re-watch Daniel Bryan interacting with Kane in Anger Management, I realize that Daniel Bryan is actually a terrible actor. At no point during his tantrums did I believe he was actually angry. He always seemed like he was just on the edge of laughter. It’s as if the Daniel Bryan character always has some meta-awareness that he’s just a Daniel Bryan character. And I don’t mean that the actor who plays Daniel Bryan has that awareness, I mean it’s like the character itself has that awareness. In other words, if WWE were a comic book universe, Bryan would be Deadpool, the comic book character who knows he’s in a comic book. Somehow, I think this is relevant to who we are as a people. Like the financial analyst who secretly sympathizes with Occupy Wall St., the lawyer working at a big law firm who secretly wants to be an activist, or the urban teen who plays sports to fit in, but is really interested in gay rights, we routinely adopt roles due to societal demands, knowing deep down, we’re just playing a character.

Even this past Monday, during his confrontation with Cena, as he pleaded that he was out to prove himself, you could detect an undercurrent of subtle joy as if he was already secretly enjoying his sudden popularity.

And somehow, all of that is all right. My enjoyment of Bryan never comes at the expense of my immersion. In fact, there’s something intangible about his persona that makes what should be shortcomings into endearing qualities that I would miss if he got rid of them.

Bryan embodies contradiction in other ways too: he carries the beard of a huntsman raised by wolves, yet he’s a vegan; he has one of the most complex in-ring styles in the history of professional wrestling, yet has the simplest catchphrase; in terms of in-ring storytelling, he is the best wrestling artist to come along since Shawn Michaels, yet his character stretches the limits of the “goofy nerd” label.

When people speculate that Bryan could replace Cena as the top dog in the company, it’s easy to reflexively say “No”. I mean, after all, just look at him. Look at that beard. Listen to his theme music. Look at that goofy side-step entrance on his way down the ramp…

And yet, in the age in which contradiction defines who we are, it is for those very reasons that I say “YES!”

That is convincing. And awesome. I think Punk fit for all of the same reasons. And he was a lot more Stone Cold-ish with it. The thing left out below is that there is no recent generation who is not a sucker for nostalgia in the right doses. If we're willing to agree on that, then who does American Dragon remind us older wrestling fans of? To me (35), he is Benoit/Malenko/Eddy in one guy with a lot of the issues those guys had previously somehow 'fixed'. He isn't the short guy who wanted to be a big meathead that Benoit was. He isn't the borderline out-of-shape-looking guy that Malenko was. And he isn't tied to his race to a point of his detriment like Eddy was (and ADR is now). And his style of working matches is more Flair than Misawa...aka his style is more phsyically demanding than it is dangerous.

And now...every wrestler isn't 6' 4", 270 pounds. And more folks are clearly fine with wrestlers not looking like Cena or Ryback as long as they have a decent character and/or can work (nostalgia..word to Dusty, Duggan, and Dog). If a loud-enough sound gets made when you kick someone, the crowd buys your kicks. If midcarders don't kick out of your finisher, get up and immediately pin you with theirs, people generally buy your finisher as a finisher. DDTs of any variation are gaining value again. You don't have to dragon suplex somebody through a table for the crowd to think you're inflicting pain. All of this works in Bryan's favor. And I'm happy about that.

Side: the WWE did a damn good job with toning things down, allowing submissions/rest spots to gain heat by putting folks over with them, etc. Things had gotten out of control in terms of what was required to sell pain and fatigue. The 80s had a problem: either you had to have huge power wrestlers, smaller guys going 30-60 minutes (Flair/Steamboat anybody), or specialty matches to sell the fatigue. The late 90s...well, everyone knew 42-minute matches wasn't where it was at so high spots, absurd weapons, and dangerouse AJPW suplexes came into play. For WWE, it took deaths, pain killer addictions galore, and losing main eventers for a year at time with serious injuries for at least half a decade before they figured it out, but still...they eventually took measures to get it together.

The scary thing about believing in WWE to get Bryan right for good...wrestling minds from the powers that be still change so slowly. I catch myself when I hear Hogan going overboard to put over Austin Aries in a 'I know he's little, brother, but he's awesome and stuff too, dude' way. I wonder when I hear HHH doing the same to put over American Dragon..it reminds me of what they did when they decided to put Benoit over. The good news is that...even then, they figured out the best way to put over stupidly good wrestlers was to put them in the ring a lot and let them tell their stories vs established names and other good workers without the old guard thinking/coat of paint over it. Monday night was a sign that MAYBE they get it with Bryan.

Jimaveli

>http://angrywrestlingguy.com/2013/07/23/the-world-is-ready-for-daniel-bryan/
>
>I have a theory that the top, iconic, wrestling characters
>reflect the society that births them. In the world of
>professional wrestling, how could this not be true?
>
>Vince McMahon’s traveling circus version of the wrestling
>model provides a perpetual, massive, national (and sometimes
>international) focus group. People make a lot of noise about
>ratings, but nothing is more instructive than the genuine
>reactions of thousands of people in real time because those
>ratings are just numbers — they don’t capture the FEELING of
>the audience. The WWE owes its longevity to listening to those
>feelings, understanding them, and out-putting a product that
>reflects those feelings. You give the people what they want.
>
>My theory is that individual audience members, from all
>generations, all share a common bond through the cultural
>architecture of their times. Consequently, iconic characters
>are successful because they somehow tap into that collective
>consciousness in a way that, not only thrills us, but holds a
>mirror for us to see who we are and what we desire.
>
>You can learn a lot about history just by watching old
>professional wrestling shows…
>
>In the 1980s we had Hulk Hogan, the quintessential Cold War
>superhero. He was a manifestation of the desire for strength
>through patriotism, belief in self, and loyalty to your own.
>Like Rocky Balboa fighting Drago, he was a reaction to the
>subtle current of uncertainty and fear running through
>American society. In the face of that fear, he represented the
>rationalization that we, as a people, were powerful, righteous
>and that nothing could overcome our dominance. He was “The
>Real American”.
>
>In the late 1990s we had Stone Cold Steve Austin, an
>emotionally unstable, unpredictable, violent anti-hero who
>very much represented the same sense of discontent and anger
>felt by young adolescent males at the time. The late 90s,
>though it ushered in an era of economic prosperity, stability,
>and relative peace, left many white youth with an aimless
>yearning for something more than a steady nine to five job.
>These sentiments were captured perfectly by Tyler Durden in
>Fight Club: “We’re the middle children of history, man. No
>purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression.
>Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our
>lives”. From the deluge of cultural malaise came “The
>Rattlesnake”. He wasn’t here to beat the communists. He wasn’t
>here to teach your kids to take their vitamins. He was here to
>bring down the establishment. It didn’t matter why. It didn’t
>matter how. Stone Cold Steve Austin was here to unleash a can
>of whoop ass just because he could, just because he was angry.
>Every Monday Night RAW was catharsis. When Austin went crazy
>so did we and there was no greater release than watching
>someone tear down everything just to watch the world burn.
>
>Finally, John Cena has embodied the attitudes of Post 9/11
>America to a T. Like during the Cold War era, the threat of a
>foreign enemy (terrorism) rekindled the desire for indomitable
>strength, but not at the expense of our prosperity and
>leisure. John Cena doesn’t really fight for anything in
>particular. “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” are just buzzwords.
>Why are we hustling? To whom are we loyal? To what do we owe
>our respect? They are words that make us feel good, wholesome,
>but we’re not meant to put too much thought into the matter.
>
>His strength is no longer aimed at defeating an enemy, but is
>supposed to be a comforting distraction from the unknown
>perils that lie outside the purview of our awareness. We don’t
>want to look into that abyss we merely glimpsed at on 9/11. We
>need someone to make us feel like it’s going to be all right.
>We may not fight our Post 9/11 wars personally, but we’ll go
>over-the-top with our show of respect to the
>less-than-one-percent who wear military uniforms in Iraq and
>Afghanistan. We offer our show of gratitude to the military
>establishment as prayers to the universe hoping that our
>reward will be never having to endure the horrors of war
>personally. John Cena is the yellow ribbon bumper sticker, the
>jets flying over The Superdome before the Superbowl. He is the
>business-as-usual champion; a nice guy; easily digestible like
>organic vegetable juice; the consummate company man; the
>dutiful consumer’s hero.
>
>Now we arrive at Daniel Bryan. Could he be the next iconic
>wrestling mega-star? If one merely glances at his short
>stature, shaggy beard, and often goofy demeanor, it’s easy to
>dismiss the possibility. And yet, there’s something to the
>notion that Daniel Bryan is a mirror reflecting the current
>stream of collective consciousness.
>
>It seems like we are entering into a post-hipster world, one
>in which people are more aware of the shortcomings of society
>and themselves, but also able to avoid the cognitive
>dissonance that comes with those revelations. People are
>becoming cynical to the jingoism of the early 2000s. People no
>longer trust the government to look out for their best
>interest. Simultaneously there is a conflicting sense that
>something must be done, but that “something” is nebulous.
>
>We know we are trapped within a technological vacuum; we spend
>our lives finger poking smart phones, making connections with
>people hundreds of miles from our physical location, while we
>sit across an actual person at a restaurant. We are a society
>of deep contradictions, simultaneously more and less connected
>than ever before. How many people, surrounded by technology,
>crave a lifestyle of simpler times, or seek connection through
>yoga, social causes, Crossfit, or even Reddit.
>
>Perhaps the most signature aspect of this new paradigm is that
>we, collectively, have not only become aware of the absurdity
>in our lives, but have met it with good humor. Our reaction is
>sometimes to lament our state of affairs, but more often than
>not, it’s to simply laugh and resign ourselves to our fate —
>like an episode of the Daily Show that points out government
>corruption without even a hint sanctimonious outrage, but by
>turning it into one big joke. In the face of our
>powerlessness, we sometimes just have to laugh. We try to
>enjoy the ride, even if it is a downward spiral.
>
>When I re-watch Daniel Bryan interacting with Kane in Anger
>Management, I realize that Daniel Bryan is actually a terrible
>actor. At no point during his tantrums did I believe he was
>actually angry. He always seemed like he was just on the edge
>of laughter. It’s as if the Daniel Bryan character always has
>some meta-awareness that he’s just a Daniel Bryan character.
>And I don’t mean that the actor who plays Daniel Bryan has
>that awareness, I mean it’s like the character itself has that
>awareness. In other words, if WWE were a comic book universe,
>Bryan would be Deadpool, the comic book character who knows
>he’s in a comic book. Somehow, I think this is relevant to who
>we are as a people. Like the financial analyst who secretly
>sympathizes with Occupy Wall St., the lawyer working at a big
>law firm who secretly wants to be an activist, or the urban
>teen who plays sports to fit in, but is really interested in
>gay rights, we routinely adopt roles due to societal demands,
>knowing deep down, we’re just playing a character.
>
>Even this past Monday, during his confrontation with Cena, as
>he pleaded that he was out to prove himself, you could detect
>an undercurrent of subtle joy as if he was already secretly
>enjoying his sudden popularity.
>
>And somehow, all of that is all right. My enjoyment of Bryan
>never comes at the expense of my immersion. In fact, there’s
>something intangible about his persona that makes what should
>be shortcomings into endearing qualities that I would miss if
>he got rid of them.
>
>Bryan embodies contradiction in other ways too: he carries the
>beard of a huntsman raised by wolves, yet he’s a vegan; he has
>one of the most complex in-ring styles in the history of
>professional wrestling, yet has the simplest catchphrase; in
>terms of in-ring storytelling, he is the best wrestling artist
>to come along since Shawn Michaels, yet his character
>stretches the limits of the “goofy nerd” label.
>
>When people speculate that Bryan could replace Cena as the top
>dog in the company, it’s easy to reflexively say “No”. I mean,
>after all, just look at him. Look at that beard. Listen to his
>theme music. Look at that goofy side-step entrance on his way
>down the ramp…
>
>And yet, in the age in which contradiction defines who we are,
>it is for those very reasons that I say “YES!”

http://i42.tinypic.com/1z2dda8.png

I don't seeee nuthin wroooooong...

I love that broad.

I mean think about it. Daniel Bryan, the first guy to ever submit John Cena.

Cena wouldn't suffer from it at all. But DB would be THE GUY after that. You submit John Cena as the cap to the last year and the beginning of your title run and you're a made man.

But Cena will not lose the belt for at least 8 to 10 months.



.......... Cheers!

Same way he's been beating most people as of late.
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Maybe orton aligns with shield

Broadus did yell at Ariane/Cameron because she was constantly fucking up when they rehearsed the match, and Vincent really did want to step to Broadus for it.

Boy, would THAT have been a crash and burn scenario for him had he stepped up to The Big Homie. And especially if Tensai was in the room too? *LOL*
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That segment actually felt really contrived to me.

Regardless, I kinda liked Total Divas... trashy fun, but I'm committed. It even made me care about the SECOND divas match from Raw (which actually was entertaining to watch). Hopefully this becomes a legit feud and they start pushing Natalya to coincide with the show's run.

Wrestling is in a fucking great place right now where even the Divas segments are compelling. Other than Curtis Axel (and champs losing), I have zero complaints from Monday's show.

is that it comes off in a bad light in regards to how WWE treats the Divas. Natalya is EXTREMELY talented; she's probably the best US women's wrestler today now that Beth is gone. And on the first episode she looks like she is a woman that could be the Divas version of John Cena, minus a bit of the charisma. But she is well spoken, looks good, and is very professional. After she retires I could see her working in WWE's front office, even replacing Jane Geddis (that's based on how she comes off alone; I don't know either Geddis's or Natalya's background).

But WWE treats her as an afterthought. Both on this show and behind the scenes. Hell; when they teased the rest of the season at the end of this show, even Tyson Kidd treated her as an afterthought, and she was wearing some sexy assed lingerie! If you're a woman thinking about becoming a Diva, you gotta look at that as well as the Bella's cattiness (which isn't a work; look at how Maria Kanellis has been flaming them on Twitter the past couple of weeks) and wonder if that's what you really want to get into.

The show is good in that it takes a look behind the scenes into the lives of the Divas and WWE backstage. However it doesn't shine any of them in a good light but Natalya and (for the moment) Eva Marie.

I thought it had the potential to make the Bellas into breakout stars outside of WWE, but I'm not sure about that now. They sound like they're rehearsing lines every time they talk. Geez that scene with Nikki Bella and John Cena fishing looked so fake and forced. Ariane is a pain in the ass for everyone. The only reason she still has a job is because they want Broadus to keep the Funkadactyls, and Broadus ain't fond of her. Naomi has no charisma whatsoever, and she's only worth paying attention to as long as there is a conflict with her and Ariane or her and Jimmy Uso.
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Hopefully the show becomes an actual push for Natalya so watchers of Total Divas can root for her in the show and in the ring.

As far as the Bellas' portrayal though, I think this is the intention. They've always been great heels with tons of character and even though they're the "face" of TD, they're basically the anti-heroes.

Like I said, I KNOW Nikki Bella and John Cena's bits were fake. They come off as they have been handed their personality to them rather than it coming naturally.

Brie seems like she may be a cool chick if you can get her alone. But the heel stuff they try to have them do doesn't help her either.
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That Notebook sequence was entirely cringeworthy.

But despite the WWE setting Total Divas is still, first and foremost, a reality show. No excuse for the acting, sure, but they need conflict (whether genuine or not) on the show, and the Bellas are the best they got.

made her look kinda spineless

and the light skinned funkadactly ...makes her look horrible so far


"If you wanna help us, fine. Sit down with your kids and make 'em study at night...otherwise, shoot THIS mothaf*cka!" (c) Morgan Freeman,

http://www.sescoops.com/randy-orton-big-e-langston-attacked-by-fan-in-cape-town-south-africa/84040

speaking of security, how did he get in there?

nor tons of other wrestling by promotions that shut down before they got started.

TNA isn't the worst by far. It isn't the best either, but not the worst.
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And it's boring because TNA really has never created new stars or developed a true top star.

But we've seen craziness from Memphis Wrestling, ECW had crazy shit at times, WCW in the final two years was absolutely horrible especially when Vince Russo ran it, and there's stuff like IWA-Mid South that is beyond disgusting. TNA isn't in their league when it comes to bad wrestling.
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>TNA isn't in
>their league when it comes to bad wrestling.

Have YOU seen TNA lately? It's the writing. They have good wrestlers. Some great ones, even. Some really good matches. But the storylines are shit, and the booking often makes no sense in the same way that WCW booking made no sense on the last few years of that company.

I watched some last night, because I was curious about the "August 1 Warning" bit. Here's Caldwell from pwtorch:

"Roode flipped and went to the outside to start chucking chairs into the ring. The announcers said Roode has snapped again. Roode tried to re-enter the ring with another chair, but the ref reprimanded him. As the ref cleared chairs from the ring, Roode pulled out a beer bottle from under the ring and smashed Hernandez with it. Roode covered Hernandez and the ref decided to ignore the beer bottle shards in the ring to render a three count."

That right there is some WCW shit.

The wrestling is out of control - if there's a straight up match the pacing of it is WAY too fast, and if it isn't going 110 mph there's still some bullshit stipulation or weapon gimmick attached to it. It's painfully reminiscent of the Russo WCW.

the wrestling is great IMO. I and my wife enjoy every episode....

But I'm hardly agree with here lol. Admittedly, with their finanical problems they are kinda dying a bit. But I love the X Division. That Bound for Glory tourney is a great idea.

I hope they can right the ship.

I think all 3 could make a major impact there

Just watch the circus finish very carefully.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Jiar-NM8c&feature=youtu.be&t=2m56s

Did Styles forget the finish?
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It would be one thing if all of these guys were fresh. But the vast majority of them have been used and abused by TNA for years now.

They need fresh blood. But the fact is that they burned their bridges with the former ROH guys (Danielson, SHIELD, Punk, Briscoes, etc) so they weren't able to attract and raid any of those. Now in the U.S. it's slim pickings and even if it wasn't they're paying so much for Hogan, Bischoff, and to do televised shows on the road that they couldn't pick new guys up if they wanted to.

Fact is, Styles, Roode, Daniels, Aries...they aren't going to get over. Never. Not with TNA anyways. Regardless of how TNA handled them being on top, they've all had their chance and failed. And to make things worse, they gave Sabin the belt, who is probably the most underwhelming champion they've ever had. TNA is going the way of WCW, in which so much damage has been done to that brand that nothing can really save them from being mediocre at best to bankruptcy and shutting down at worst.
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I'd love to argue this in the spirit of an internet nerd wrestling fan blindly supporting smaller and more unconventional 'star' wrestlers, but I can't. They've ruined the cred of almost every possible star they've ever tried to put over. Joe, Styles, Anderson, etc...all of those guys are Luger'd out right now. Turns don't matter. Character strife doesn't work either. Joe and Styles have been Crow Sting'd multiple times. Who gives a shit if Styles doesn't shave or if Joe shows up and attacks random people with no explanation for months...haha..I pulled the plug on DVR'ing TNA 3 or so months ago. I want to see 1 episode to see what I'm missing, but I'm scared it will lose me forever.

Roode is fine enough, but truth is he's a monster tag guy who they were trying to force to be a singles star/character because they need one. And they just can't decide how to properly mix Flair, Ted DiBiase, Perfect, and whatever other classic heel they can think of to get him just right. And Storm is just a more country version of Stone Cold.

And TNA's desperate attempts to recreate the nWo or the Horsemen...ahhhh...so horrible. There's no long-lasting end-game. There's no amazing matches to come from it. There's just 'gotcha bitch' turn attempts. No one has enough character cred for a turn to mean anything. That and jackass beatdown/DQ endings is what we end up with. That ain't enough to make money or carry feuds.

And the WWE finally figuring out that having experienced dudes who can work WILL eventually work screwed TNA too. All of those ROH guys and dudes like them are a big part of every portion of the cards in WWE now. And when they throw in Rock, Brock, Cena, Taker, Jericho, etcetera to fill things out...it is curtains. Imagine if Stone Cold can get his shit together and replace Rock as the Attitude legend mingling with current stars...oh shit.

It is the same thing TNA tried to do but executed better. Problem is...TNA was and still is kinda sorta building shows around Hogan when he can't run, bump, or even drop a leg too...it is a terrible base to build a company around. It would be like WWE building their whole shit around Bret Hart when he can't work a real match physically. At least HHH can do a little something still and they are smart enough to quarantine his ass from the title scene.

Back to TNA...Sting is their Taker, but he has NO mystique, streak, or protected TNA legacy to carry him. For all of the bitching about Taker being booked stupid strong for years, his annual guest appearances up to Mania the last half-decade have just been on the money. And what do you know...a MFer like HBK giving his career up to try to beat the streak is a big reason why. TNA damn sure doesn't have a HBK to take something decent like a WM streak and make it excellent. I guess Angle is supposed to be that guy, but it doesn't work. Angle/Joe should've been it, but Joe got screwed up so badly after that run of good matches.

It has to be over for these guys within 2 years, right?

Jimaveli

>It would be one thing if all of these guys were fresh. But
>the vast majority of them have been used and abused by TNA for
>years now.
>
>They need fresh blood. But the fact is that they burned their
>bridges with the former ROH guys (Danielson, SHIELD, Punk,
>Briscoes, etc) so they weren't able to attract and raid any of
>those. Now in the U.S. it's slim pickings and even if it
>wasn't they're paying so much for Hogan, Bischoff, and to do
>televised shows on the road that they couldn't pick new guys
>up if they wanted to.
>
>Fact is, Styles, Roode, Daniels, Aries...they aren't going to
>get over. Never. Not with TNA anyways. Regardless of how TNA
>handled them being on top, they've all had their chance and
>failed. And to make things worse, they gave Sabin the belt,
>who is probably the most underwhelming champion they've ever
>had. TNA is going the way of WCW, in which so much damage has
>been done to that brand that nothing can really save them from
>being mediocre at best to bankruptcy and shutting down at
>worst.
>_________________________
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Samoa Joe has always deserved better....His talent has always been top notch...And he has worked his ass off in that joke of wrestling organization....But he is being wasted away in TNA...

U put Joe (gotta lose some weight) or a lot of those other TNA wrestlers (including AJ Styles) in the WWE and u will see their true talents shine...

But more importantly, the story lines would be more believable....

He just got busted for a DWI (again; fourth time in three years or something like that) and is going to rehab.

Angle needs TNA about as much as TNA needs Angle. He's busted up bad from both pro wrestling and amateur wrestling. WWE won't take the risk of Angle getting paralyzed in their ring or dying while he's on that company roster.

Sting's possible. It'll be similar to the Lesnar deal, only much much smaller. I can see him only wrestling Taker and Cena, and that's it.
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Maybe not even in ring.

Right now they're having their annual G-1 Climax. Twenty wrestlers split in two 10-man round robin tournaments over nine straight days all over Japan. The winners from each block then face each other in the finale and get a title shot.

I'm telling you; every style you can find - aerialist, groundwork, amateur style, strong style, brawler, muscle - is in this tournament. Night 2 ranks up there with Payback as the wrestling show of the year. Today is Night 5. New Japan about 16 months ago took Kazuchika Okada, who was in TNA languishing as Samoa Joe's sidekick, gave him a rich kid with bling gimmick and within a month of his debut they put the title on him and began a new renaissance in purosesu.

In WWE and TNA, there are only a handful of guys in each company that are good to great workers. In New Japan, there's only a handful of guys that AREN'T. And the gimmicks are great as well; I don't need to know a lick of Japanese to understand them or the feuds.

This is a big contender for match of the year. If you got about 20 mins, take a look at it (ignore the first two minutes; no audio is due to NJPW not having rights to play Ishii's entrance music on their iPPV telecasts):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTxWRNYB7tE

That was the main event of Night 2. Tanahashi is the former champion, considered the John Cena of the company; top babyface and top draw. However he's in Tokyo, which has a hardcore audience, and Ishii is considered a legit shooter. The last 5-10 minutes of this match is some of the best wrestling you'll see this year.
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where does one follow that scene online?

Thanks for this! I've been needing a Japan tour guide to update me/tell me what needed to be watched. Last time I looked for info Kobashi was about to retire (again) after another set of injuries and after noselling cancer. I still have to remind myself that Misawa friggin died in the ring and Kawada was in some other fed that was cracking jokes.

10 minutes in on this match and I love that Flair chops and Misawa elbows have basically replaced punching.

Jimaveli


>Right now they're having their annual G-1 Climax. Twenty
>wrestlers split in two 10-man round robin tournaments over
>nine straight days all over Japan. The winners from each block
>then face each other in the finale and get a title shot.
>
>I'm telling you; every style you can find - aerialist,
>groundwork, amateur style, strong style, brawler, muscle - is
>in this tournament. Night 2 ranks up there with Payback as the
>wrestling show of the year. Today is Night 5. New Japan about
>16 months ago took Kazuchika Okada, who was in TNA languishing
>as Samoa Joe's sidekick, gave him a rich kid with bling
>gimmick and within a month of his debut they put the title on
>him and began a new renaissance in purosesu.
>
>In WWE and TNA, there are only a handful of guys in each
>company that are good to great workers. In New Japan, there's
>only a handful of guys that AREN'T. And the gimmicks are great
>as well; I don't need to know a lick of Japanese to understand
>them or the feuds.
>
>This is a big contender for match of the year. If you got
>about 20 mins, take a look at it (ignore the first two
>minutes; no audio is due to NJPW not having rights to play
>Ishii's entrance music on their iPPV telecasts):
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTxWRNYB7tE
>
>That was the main event of Night 2. Tanahashi is the former
>champion, considered the John Cena of the company; top
>babyface and top draw. However he's in Tokyo, which has a
>hardcore audience, and Ishii is considered a legit shooter.
>The last 5-10 minutes of this match is some of the best
>wrestling you'll see this year.
>_________________________
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Gedo vs. Prince Devitt for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Devitt has formed a foreign heel stable called The Bullet Club, and beat Tanahashi to become the #1 contender to Okada's championship. However, before Okada gives him the title shot he talks Devitt into giving Gedo, a once-heralded Jr. Heavyweight who's now Okada's manager of sorts, a title shot. Gedo was supposed to have no chance but this match is one of the most fun matches I've seen in a good while. Japanese frowns on a lot of outside interference but they made it The Bullet Club's trademark in almost all of Devitt's matches and you've never seen it like this at the end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vzzFiCOC0

Kazuchika Okada vs Karl Anderson. This is from last year. Okada lost the title to Tanahashi last June. Okada now has to win the 2012 G-1 Climax to secure the rematch with Tanahashi. This is the Finals.

http://youtu.be/HdlEnQw9lyQ

Prince Devitt vs. Lo Ki vs. Kota Ibushi - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. This is from Wrestle Kingdom VII in January. Devitt's the defending champion (he was a face then), and he had beaten Ibushi (who is probably the best Jr. Heavyweight in the world right now) earlier in the year. You'll get a kick out of Lo Ki's outfit.

This one, I found, had actual English commentary. I don't know if it helps or hurts.

http://youtu.be/HdlEnQw9lyQ

that's just a handful. I'm easing yall into it for the moment until I get to the heavy stuff.
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Tight. I THINK I'm decently versed in most of the styles. I'm interested to see how they've evolved since I watched old tapes. I assume from the few things I've seen that the main guys are in better shape and take less absurd head dropping chances. And even when they do...hey, they are in better shape so it usually works out better.

But it is wild to see who their Cena is. And I'm interested in what the Jr's are up to since the smaller heavies do what Jr's used to get by on.

Shady heel cheating warms my heart easily so I know I'm gonna be down with that!

Thanks again...I'll report back once I watch these...

>Gedo vs. Prince Devitt for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight
>Championship. Devitt has formed a foreign heel stable called
>The Bullet Club, and beat Tanahashi to become the #1 contender
>to Okada's championship. However, before Okada gives him the
>title shot he talks Devitt into giving Gedo, a once-heralded
>Jr. Heavyweight who's now Okada's manager of sorts, a title
>shot. Gedo was supposed to have no chance but this match is
>one of the most fun matches I've seen in a good while.
>Japanese frowns on a lot of outside interference but they made
>it The Bullet Club's trademark in almost all of Devitt's
>matches and you've never seen it like this at the end:
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vzzFiCOC0
>
>Kazuchika Okada vs Karl Anderson. This is from last year.
>Okada lost the title to Tanahashi last June. Okada now has to
>win the 2012 G-1 Climax to secure the rematch with Tanahashi.
>This is the Finals.
>
>http://youtu.be/HdlEnQw9lyQ
>
>Prince Devitt vs. Lo Ki vs. Kota Ibushi - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight
>Championship. This is from Wrestle Kingdom VII in January.
>Devitt's the defending champion (he was a face then), and he
>had beaten Ibushi (who is probably the best Jr. Heavyweight in
>the world right now) earlier in the year. You'll get a kick
>out of Lo Ki's outfit.
>
>This one, I found, had actual English commentary. I don't know
>if it helps or hurts.
>
>http://youtu.be/HdlEnQw9lyQ
>
>that's just a handful. I'm easing yall into it for the moment
>until I get to the heavy stuff.
>_________________________
>http://expertise.blogdrive.com
>http://twitter.com/KMBReferee
>http://www.formspring.me/KMBReferee

Devitt is pretty awesome. Ibushi too. And Lo Ki in the Hitman outfit...yeah...pretty awesome. He's on some old 4th outfit slot on those AKI games shit. Speaking of that, the video game kicks, stomps and spots...all crazy. The match reminds me of the more awesome TNA X-division matches..probably a little better. Spot after spot. Random kick after random kick. Special move shit after special move shit. Jackass reversals/pin breakups galore. Physically impressive. Solid execution. Video game finish. It is nice to see how things are turning out with NJPW nowadays. Thanks again. It is crazy how Lo Ki can work so well here but never even come close to working out as well here in the states doing the same damn thing.

I'll confess that I was never a huge fan of the double-foot stomps since there's no way to really do those without damn near killing somebody. But I understand that Japan believes in that move like a mofo. So you have to 'let them have it' when a stomp actually connects and is sold. I see that the 'kickout normally then sell near death' thing is still in full effect too. Sometimes it works, sometimes I feel lied to...but hey...its wrestling...I get it. HBK could show 'em how to kick out and sell at the same time. Dolph too.

Gedo vs Heel Prince was cool too. I remember Gedo from VPW2/Fire Pro/something. The match of course was a little slower, but still...good story and style. And Devitt's entrance...bwahahahaaha! And he had the nerve to leave like that too!? Ridiculous. Bullet club!

I'll jump into that Okada/Anderson soon. Thanks!

>Gedo vs. Prince Devitt for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight
>Championship. Devitt has formed a foreign heel stable called
>The Bullet Club, and beat Tanahashi to become the #1 contender
>to Okada's championship. However, before Okada gives him the
>title shot he talks Devitt into giving Gedo, a once-heralded
>Jr. Heavyweight who's now Okada's manager of sorts, a title
>shot. Gedo was supposed to have no chance but this match is
>one of the most fun matches I've seen in a good while.
>Japanese frowns on a lot of outside interference but they made
>it The Bullet Club's trademark in almost all of Devitt's
>matches and you've never seen it like this at the end:
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vzzFiCOC0
>
>Kazuchika Okada vs Karl Anderson. This is from last year.
>Okada lost the title to Tanahashi last June. Okada now has to
>win the 2012 G-1 Climax to secure the rematch with Tanahashi.
>This is the Finals.
>
>http://youtu.be/HdlEnQw9lyQ
>
>Prince Devitt vs. Lo Ki vs. Kota Ibushi - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight
>Championship. This is from Wrestle Kingdom VII in January.
>Devitt's the defending champion (he was a face then), and he
>had beaten Ibushi (who is probably the best Jr. Heavyweight in
>the world right now) earlier in the year. You'll get a kick
>out of Lo Ki's outfit.
>
>This one, I found, had actual English commentary. I don't know
>if it helps or hurts.
>
>http://youtu.be/HdlEnQw9lyQ
>
>that's just a handful. I'm easing yall into it for the moment
>until I get to the heavy stuff.
>_________________________
>http://expertise.blogdrive.com
>http://twitter.com/KMBReferee
>http://www.formspring.me/KMBReferee

Sign me up.

nm

I'd pay top dollar to see Ambrose wrestle Andre the Giant's ghost.

Still not sure what happened there in that mixed tag. Natty releases the hold before AJ taps, the ref isn't paying any attention. A clusterfuck of an ending.

Alberto Del Rio. Crowds are bored to death with him.

Everything about his character screams heel and he was building great, the random face turns back to heel turn took all the momentum away.

When Cena goes into that mode, I hear him but I don't listen.

Because yeah, the cancer kid thing was so much of a cyse that I forgot about the flag bit.

DBD's "parody" riff was absolutely golden though.

He didn't compare the two. He simply used the flag as an analogy.

PLEASE find ways to keep this feud going, WWE.

http://www.tmz.com/2013/08/15/darren-young-wwe-superstar-gay/

Now I'm not saying he isn't gay, he could very well be gay and this could be real and props to him.

Just, a random interview with TMZ which everyone will be talking about nationwide, a few days before a PPV, in an empty? LAX airport.

Is that how you would come out if it is something you had been hiding for a long time? Just a random dude with a camera while you are picking up your bags alone in an empty airport (a thing I'm having trouble grasping).

Also a very random 1st question, also why would TMZ even care about Darren Young? He isn't really famous outside WWE and barely famous in it.

I dunno, not to shit on his moment or anything, the video just reeks of Vince publicity stunt as a way to get some press by a guy who could use the favor in Vince's eye looking to get pushed.

>Is that how you would come out if it is something you had been
>hiding for a long time?

My sense is that he probably hasn't been hiding it, which is why he was so casual about it. I'd wager the locker room has known for a while. But how often does any sort of mainstream press talk to Darren Young?

>I dunno, not to shit on his moment or anything, the video just
>reeks of Vince publicity stunt as a way to get some press by a
>guy who could use the favor in Vince's eye looking to get
>pushed.

Maybe, but it would be a weird way to push somebody. And remember that Pat Patterson has worked for Vince for 30+ years (and is Steph's godfather), and they don't get more openly gay than him.

in recent years as it becomes less and less of a "controversy". they probably wrestle (no pun intended) with how to go about it for a while and then they blurt it out in an interview just to get it over with. plus he looked ready to leave the whole time. that's a natural reaction to paparazzi, and i don't think he's a good enough actor to plan that.

and TMZ seems to follow anyone of note, if only to make fun of them after for not being a bigger celebrity... yet they don't recognize the irony in following a "non"-celebrity.

But would you be that surprised to find out Vince was behind it one day?

but I don't think this should be one of those times.

>But would you be that surprised to find out Vince was behind
>it one day?

the writing was on the wall.

i liked cena's response when the TMZ guy told him.

class.

>Is that how you would come out if it is something you had been
>hiding for a long time?

I love how people always point to how you/they/etc would do something, as though there's no way people would ever do anything any differently from anyone else as evidence that the way someone chooses to do something is fishy/fake/etc.

>Just a random dude with a camera while
>you are picking up your bags alone in an empty airport (a
>thing I'm having trouble grasping).

Shrug, why not? Why is this really so unbelievable?

>Also a very random 1st question, also why would TMZ even care
>about Darren Young? He isn't really famous outside WWE and
>barely famous in it.

You found the smoking gun! OMG THIS is the thing that really drives the point home.

>I dunno, not to shit on his moment or anything, the video just
>reeks of Vince publicity stunt as a way to get some press by a
>guy who could use the favor in Vince's eye looking to get
>pushed.

Do you realize how bad the backlash would be if this were all just a publicity stunt?

The man is gay, this isn't a publicity stunt, he came out, and that's that.

but that would require a less snarky response I guess and I mean this is the internet!

I had a gut reaction that it seemed fishy, shortly after I said yea I don't think it is. A day later here you come with some internet lawyer act to rip apart my initial thought word by word.

Cool, good job bro!

>but that would require a less snarky response I guess and I
>mean this is the internet!

Yes, that's EXACTLY the reason I didn't read a post where you backed away from this stance. Yes, that's more likely than the fact that I simply responded to the post that I read and didn't know you had a change of heart down the line. I didn't get the memo that says we need to read the whole thread to see if dumb, ignorant, knee jerk statements are later retracted before responding to them.

>I had a gut reaction that it seemed fishy, shortly after I
>said yea I don't think it is.

So.... you're taking issue with my issue with your initial reaction because I didn't read your mind and assume that you had another post retracting it? Gotcha.

>A day later here you come with
>some internet lawyer act to rip apart my initial thought word
>by word.

LOL@this. Like I waited a whole day to respond to you, because it was that important. Yeah, I've been stewing all day just to write that one response, because that makes a lick of sense.

Listen, don't get pissy with me because you didn't take the time to form a coherent thought before posting it. The lesson learned here is that you jumped the gun with a ridiculously cynical reach of a conclusion, and should probably think it through a little better next time. Perhaps then it won't be laughably easy to rip it apart word by word.

People post dumb shit, other people will call it out. That's how shit works and always has. Either grow some thicker skin or log out, because that shit isn't going to change no matter how much you cry about it.

>Cool, good job bro!

I could have simply called you an ignorant prick, as that's a perfectly justifiable response to the bullshit you vomited forth, but I gave you the dignity of an actual response. Sue me, cupcake.

>but that would require a less snarky response I guess and I
>mean this is the internet!

Yes, that's EXACTLY the reason I didn't read a post where you backed away from this stance. Yes, that's more likely than the fact that I simply responded to the post that I read and didn't know you had a change of heart down the line. I didn't get the memo that says we need to read the whole thread to see if dumb, ignorant, knee jerk statements are later retracted before responding to them.

>I had a gut reaction that it seemed fishy, shortly after I
>said yea I don't think it is.

So.... you're taking issue with my issue with your initial reaction because I didn't read your mind and assume that you had another post retracting it? Gotcha.

>A day later here you come with
>some internet lawyer act to rip apart my initial thought word
>by word.

LOL@this. Like I waited a whole day to respond to you, because it was that important. Yeah, I've been stewing all day just to write that one response, because that makes a lick of sense.

Listen, don't get pissy with me because you didn't take the time to form a coherent thought before posting it. The lesson learned here is that you jumped the gun with a ridiculously cynical reach of a conclusion, and should probably think it through a little better next time. Perhaps then it won't be laughably easy to rip it apart word by word.

People post dumb shit, other people will call it out. That's how shit works and always has. Either grow some thicker skin or log out, because that shit isn't going to change no matter how much you cry about it.

>Cool, good job bro!

I could have simply called you an ignorant prick, as that's a perfectly justifiable response to the bullshit you vomited forth, but I gave you the dignity of an actual response. Sue me, cupcake.

and it is such a weird video

Please WWE don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up...

With Young coming out, there's a decently high chance that PTP's will have a match on the upcoming Raw in Anaheim (which I'm going to).

Orange County runs the gamut from relatively progressive to ultra conservative (mostly deep south OC tho), but I'm guessing it'll be a solidly receptive crowd for Darren Young. Smells like it could be an instant faceturn for PTP, right?

And everyone's throwing out The Real Americans as the natural foil (especially since they're feudless at the moment), but instead of making gay bashing the central point of a potential feud, how about this...

(time to put on the fantasy booking hat)

What if Zeb comes out saying "I hate YOUR KIND Darren Young! (typical gay bait stuff)... But not because you're gay, that's fine. I hate you because YOU'RE BLACK! You come in here with your pimping, and your barking, and your strutting and it's an embarassment to our society!"

This would be treading familiar ground with the WWE, address Black Cena coming out, and ensure they don't potentially caricature him with future segments. Because honestly, no one really trusts WWE to maturely handle Young being gay for an extended period of time, right?

I don't think it'll happen, but it makes the most sense to me to address and acknowledge the issue without any negativity.

Anyone have predictions on what's gonna happen?

>(time to put on the fantasy booking hat)
>
>What if Zeb comes out saying "I hate YOUR KIND Darren Young!
>(typical gay bait stuff)... But not because you're gay, that's
>fine. I hate you because YOU'RE BLACK! You come in here with
>your pimping, and your barking, and your strutting and it's an
>embarassment to our society!"
>



I could see PTP going over/face via TRA though, thats good...


Colter spews hate/alludes to gay marriage, and Young coming out and having something to say...


thats compelling, imo. TRA already blur that line for a good chunk of the fans... getting legit cheers for Colter's promos in Texas about immigration, etc...

Saw that there this morning done with more racism...because reddit

Another angle Zeb could take is accusing PTP of "living on your WELFARE and your OBAMACARE. What we need more of in this country is GOOD, HARD WORKING FOLKS that shouldn't be PAYING for your GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS and FREE HEALTHCARE."

This shit is a goldmine, damn haha

Face PTP maybe, but open race-baiting, no, if for no other reason than it would likely jeopardize their PG rating.

"Sneaking" across the border?

But yeah, even if directly attacking PTP on race is too obvious, Zeb could always take the "welfare and obamacare" angle.

First, a technical objection. Mexican is not a race. Indigenous central American is, but Spanish is Caucasian.

Second, one's a hot-button political issue, and the other is a white person denigrating a black person for being black. The latter isn't really defensible on any family-entertainment level.

But yeah, maybe welfare.

But by using "technical objection" you've already gone over the heads of most of the "WWE Universe". The typical mark isn't gonna differentiate between Caucasian Spanish and "indigenous Central American".

However, regardless of what the crux of a potential feud between PTP and TRA actually is, my point was a way to address Young's situation without trivializing it nor ignoring it. Pivoting the feud to something like "government handouts" (also a hot button political issue) stays consistent with Zeb's character while also protecting Young's integrity.

The last thing anyone wants to see is insensitive handling of this issue (especially considering the exposure Young is getting now), which we all know the WWE is entirely capable of.

>The last thing anyone wants to see is insensitive handling of
>this issue (especially considering the exposure Young is
>getting now), which we all know the WWE is entirely capable
>of.

It would be nice if it were never incorporated in any storyline whatsoever, and treated on-screen exactly the same way every other wrestler's legit personal/sexual life is treated, which is to say, not at all.*

Edit: *Total Divas excepted.

But we all know that's not going to happen right? Anytime Vince gets a sniff of mainstream media, he's all over it. When Fox News picked up on Zeb, he sent a camera crew straight to their HQ. Now that Total Divas is a mainstream hit, we get an extended season 1 that is currently filming now.

Trust me, the last thing I want is the WWE touching this issue, and to just treat it as the (hopefully) non-issue it actually is.

But do we trust Vince to? And if he does... what will he do?

What, with all of Vince's talk about having a champion that is to his liking

We find out that Triple H and Vince were on the same page all along, and together with Orton as champ they rule the WWE with an iron fist or something, then somewhere down the line Vince turns face and recruits somebody - like Stone Cold Steve Austin - to fight Triple H for control of the company at WM

I don't know where Steffy fits into all of this

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

Punk-Lesnar was completely insane. Five stars, easy.
Bryan-Cena was a great match. Would have been the match of the night if not for Punk-Lesnar.
Christian-Del Rio was an excellent undercard match. Hard to believe it only went 12 minutes.
Bray Wyatt-Kane was at least a fun spectacle with the ring of fire.

Orton cashing in at the end was a gut punch but I sorta expected Triple H to turn (on whoever won the main event).



I could nitpick about things but this show was easily ten times better than Mania.

The 2 main events were the show and they delivered -- in SPADES

Punk/Lesnar was off-the-chain in person... just great, involving storytelling from all involved... of Brock's 6 matches since he's come back, I'd say that only 1 or 2 were bad... the rest, including this one and the Cena one, were heatrock

The crowd as a whole was into just about everything, save the Divas and The Miz, and they only turned in favor of The Miz when he finally decked Fandango at the end there...

And I'm going to say it again, y'all, I know we all hate on Cena and he sucks and shit, and there was a VERY LOUD contingent of cats at Staples who shitted on everything this guy did, but I'm telling y'all, this dude has control of the crowd -- good and bad, cheer and boo -- like no other full-time dude in this company... not to mention he's had a spate of fantastic matches... the match with Daniel Bryan had no business being as good as it was, and sure, Bryan had a great deal to do with it, but another big part of it was that, like it or not, Cena and the way he played off the crowd and adjusted his work to their reactions... it's at the point now where he's trolling the hater dudez as he wrestles, and it's quite fun to watch...

Not to mention the whole thing about the women and the kids LOVING this dude is 100% true as well... I saw a lot of little ones in their Cena gear, and there was a sista and more than a few little kids in my section who were HEATED that Cena was getting booed so much... but I looked around the arena during the match and noticed that Cena got a LOT of lady and kiddie love from the crowd, almost as a reaction against the arena-wide bro army who decided to boo everything that cat did... son is 12 years deep and is STILL very much over... if y'all can't understand why he's still on top, that's a pretty goddamn big reason why right there...

And believe me, I get it, there should be "somebody new" who they "give a chance" to. But they already did that, with CM Punk, and unfortunately, he didn't move that ratings needle like he needed to, and they gave him OVER A YEAR with the belt. And they can't just pass the belt around like a hot potato, giving people "their turn" with it in the hopes that they will stick and that business will dramatically improve... that's just not how you run this business, guys...

Anyway, after the Bryan win the very vocal Daniel Bryan contingent in my section was celebrating like shit. People around me were looking at them and getting pissed with their obnoxiousness, until I noticed that Triple H never left the ring after the match, so I told a couple of people nearby that the show wasn't over... and sure enough, when he turned and cost Bryan the title, that contingent of dudez was shocked and quiet as shit...

But that finish wasn't that hard to figure out, they planted the seeds for it when Vince talked about not liking Cena and Bryan not being champion material due to his lack of "ruthless aggression"... and when Cena showed everybody his injured elbow during a promo on Raw that was a pretty big hint that he wasn't walking out of Summerslam with the title... all that was missing was the catalyst for both the Bryan loss and Orton's turn, and voila! Triple H inserts himself into the match as the special ref... and of course, when he came to the ring with his "alternate" theme, it was pretty simple to see... the nice thing that they did, though, was give Daniel Bryan a good 4-5 minute celebration, complete with the confetti and fireworks and shit, just to plant a little seed of doubt that the double turn was going to happen...

Now my question going forward is exactly how they're going to turn Vince a babyface. It seems to me that, as the future leader of the company, it should be Triple H who goes face. He should be the one who joins in on this "preferred champion" business but gets kicked aside down the line when Vince and Orton downplay what he did and gradually push him to the sideline... then he could split with them and vow revenge, stating that he doesn't even care about the championship, he wants to seize control of the company... then Vince could say, okay, cool, you want control of the company? Then you have to face my hand-picked opponent (whoever that may be) at Mania.... but it appears they're going in the opposite direction, so...

And I'm also wondering if Vince will have the patience/discipline to let this thing play all the way out to Mania, which it's reportedly supposed to do...

____________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

so that's really only Rock or...Austin?

I loved the finish and the spots, but the whole pacing of the match felt off. Not sure if Punk/Lesnar took a lot of it, or if Cena's arm was bugging him more than let on, but I spent a good portion figuring out what story they were trying to tell.

The whole PPV was pretty solid from top to bottom.

Does anyone know if SummerSlam in LA is permanent? Trying to plan my boy's bachelor party around next years'.

Could be wrong, though...

I really was surprised at how much fun I had, even though the lines to get into the building around 4 pm Pacific (an hour before the show) were insane and annoying, and I had the pleasure of sitting next to this 300-lb dude. And Staples Center seats aren't that fucking big.

Also, fuck the Staples Center for letting me enter the building with my high-end camera then waiting about an hour into the show to tell me that I couldn't take pictures with it.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

Obviously Wyatt's debut was a bit lackluster, he didn't get much offense in and ate three chokeslams for whatever reason.

But Punk-Lesnar, Cena-Bryan, and Del Rio-Christian more than made up for that.

My only complaint was that they couldn't fit Henry in on the card somewhere. The guy's wrestling for the title on the last PPV, and here he's relegated to standing outside the ring during the pre-show. But I guess Big Show returning a few weeks after he was originally scheduled to kinda killed the build to that tag match.

Tonight is gonna be fucking bananas

probably because the ring of fire gimmick was below average. just felt like a snoozer for bray's debut.

nothing really to add to what's already been said about punk/lesnar. i was marking uncontrollably during the last fives minutes or so.

natty neidhart, holla @ me when you come off tour.

And frankly, I'm a bit surprised that Vince would allow a gimmick that's so... dark... to be in the company... even though dude's whole presentation is a derivative of those home invasion horror movies where the unknown assailants terrorize a family, it's also very disturbing and effective here... the only problem is that creatively, they're going to run into complications and limitations regarding just how far he can go with it... but I like his presentation as a whole...

And yo, regarding the Divas, I didn't know that Kaitlyn was so... thick, b... not sure I'd smash, though...

... but as I said above, "plain" or not, I'd have no problem with lil' Jo Jo...

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

>And yo, regarding the Divas, I didn't know that Kaitlyn was
>so... thick, b... not sure I'd smash, though...

Like, you ever see any of those Chyna videos? I'm wary of jacked chicks taking testosterone and such.

Not sure if Naomi let go too soon, or if he wasn't in position in time. Two weeks in a row though, wouldn't want to be him backstage.

She let go before AJ tapped and before she heard a bell. Watch it again

Just rewatched it, and he doesn't handle that sequence all that poorly. He's in position when the sharpshooter's applied. He doesn't end the match when he sees Natty release it too early, and says something to her when she tries to get him to raise her hand.

Hope Rollins is alright.

Dude's entire WWE run has been one big joke.

I think he sprained that knee.

After taking that stupid suplex to the floor he limped for the rest of the entire Raw.
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"If you wanna help us, fine. Sit down with your kids and make 'em study at night...otherwise, shoot THIS mothaf*cka!" (c) Morgan Freeman,

RVD been back a month.

at least for the moment, which I didn't think would happen

The logical thing to do down the line would be to have Daniel Bryan win the big blowoff match at a major show but it doesn't seem they're going to do that

I liked Triple H's initial explanation for what he did, saying that it was "for business" and that he was doing it for the WWE Universe, and mentioning that he doesn't like Orton personally but did what was right for business

A little of the "condescending prick heel authority figure" goes a long way, though, and it's worse when you involve Steffy in it as well

I look for this thing to be over by November, though, I think they're going to run with this for a minute, have Orton get challenged by someone else (Ziggler?) then start the actual Mania build... if Vince (who looked haggard tonight, btw) has the patience and discipline to see it through...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
But Zootown, black people and media, so...

if DB has to go through the Shield, then Hunter, THEN Orton... boy that's minimum 6 months of really interesting build right there.

>if DB has to go through the Shield, then Hunter, THEN
>Orton... boy that's minimum 6 months of really interesting
>build right there.

i think last night showed they're gonna pull this off right. and he's arguably the face of the company even w/o the belt as long as they keep the "Corporation" vs. Bryan storyline in place. Meanwhile, Orton finally goes heel (in a way that people will care) and we have a champ that can deliver entertaining matches. i think they'll give it to Bryan at Wrestlemania or the Rumble, and it'll be that much greater.

How can the scrappy face underdog get a title shot when the bosses refuse to let him have it?

Win the one thing they can't deny to get the shot at the biggest stage.

Though I won't lie, Orton vs Bryan doesn't have a great WM 30 headliner sound to it, but that is a few months to build on it.

>Though I won't lie, Orton vs Bryan doesn't have a great WM 30
>headliner sound to it, but that is a few months to build on
>it.

>Though I won't lie, Orton vs Bryan doesn't have a great WM 30
>headliner sound to it, but that is a few months to build on
>it.

You can only have Cena there so many times. I don't see anyone they could have Cena face that wouldn't be completely boring, at this point, unless he goes heel.

Orton fits well as the hand picked champ, and Bryan is on fire.....if they don't screw this angle up, I think it will work. To me, this seems like a hard angle to screw up.

I've half paid attention without really being invested for a long, long time.....but I'm on board with where it looks like they're going.

Cameron is annoying as hell! Thank God for Naomi!

yes I watch total divas. Jey Uso is hilarious on there


"If you wanna help us, fine. Sit down with your kids and make 'em study at night...otherwise, shoot THIS mothaf*cka!" (c) Morgan Freeman,

Especially how Ariane was going on and on about getting fake ones. She is just annoying as hell. Add that with Nikki Bella always mentioning hers.
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SummerSlam against Cena was the equivalent of Austin losing to Bret Hart in 1997.

Austin didn't become the second or third biggest star in the history of the business overnight. Then the system (Mr. McMahon) lined up against him to keep him down for the better part of a year.

This is going to be really good. I'm not "wait and see what happens" tentative like I was when the entire roster gave Triple H a vote of no confidence. Daniel Bryan is gonna be that guy.