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Stunner

Hi Scott,
 
2 q's for your consideration:

1: The "Stone Cold Stunner": an iconic finisher indeed. If you could bestow that finishing move onto anyone on the current wwe/nxt roster (say in a section with Steve Austin to give the rub). who would it be?

2: Rey Mysterio: I missed a large chunk of wrestling and updates over the past couple of years, what is the deal with Mysterio? There seems to be a lot of angst between him and the company. Hes a 3(?) time heavyweight champion and has probably made boatloads of cash off mask and dvd sales. He came back at the most recent rumble then did not too much at mania and disappeared.Over the past 6 years or so has he really had that much time off for injuries and is this the main point of contention between him and management?

Thank you, all the best 

1.  Dean Ambrose seems like the most logical person to inherit it.  Really, it's been 12 years now since Austin retired, it's time to let someone else have it.  Shit, they gave Shawn Michaels the crossface less than a YEAR after Benoit died!  

2.  The deal is that yes, he's been injured what the company would consider to be an unreasonable amount of the time that they've been paying him.  Further, they've been tacking that injury time onto the end of his contract, and Rey feels that his contract should have expired by now.  I think WWE feels that Rey should have taken better care of himself and is milking things while living off merch sales, but that's just a guess.  

Comments

  1. I say let Kevin Steen have it. Ambrose is too wacky/Piper-ish for that finisher.

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  2. Nice choice. I'm sure Kevin Owens would differentiate his stunner from Austin's in some way. If they gave it to Ambrose or another face it would just seem like they're trying too hard for Austin 2.0 (and it would likely draw a lot of Austin chants). But give it to Owens now and then when he turns face the Stunner will be over huge.

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  3. Maybe kick them in the balls instead of the stomach?

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  4. The double-arm DDT was an improvement for Ambrose, but yeah--he could still use another finisher.

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  5. More like Austin doesn't tap the keg right, ambrose gets foam in the eyes. Sister Abigail for the pin.

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  6. 100 percent agreed. That Big Show spot alone earned him whatever he wants from them.

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  7. Really? Thought he was still persona non grata in Mexico after unmasking in WCW.

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  8. His character does appear to be that he's mentally challenged in some way.

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  9. He'd get shot for wearing the mask, but no reason he couldn't go back as his normal self

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  10. Speaking of finishers, I think they should give the Canadian destroyer to Roman Regins. Call it the Roman Destroyer of Empires in the WWE Universe, Trademark circa 2015!

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  11. Exactly, guy did so much for the company, he's earned the right to live off the cash for a while.
    If nothing else, he's proof (if any was needed) of how full of crap Russo's "fans will never back a masked wrestler" line is.

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  12. Ambrose is a little too obvious I think, he's already a poor man's Stone Cold as it is. The problem is that move is synonymous with only Austin, it's not like HBK's superkick which people use all the time.

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  13. Lawler, in WWF land, was almost unwatchable. Lawler, in the comfort of his territory, was amazing at working a crowd, both in the ring and on the microphone. I used to laugh at the amount of titles he won, until I discovered the booking style from the area. Does it cheapen a belt to have it go back and forth between people often more than not being defended at all? If it draws, it doesn't matter, IMO. Lawler was a draw up until the final few years when the idea of a limited territory just couldn't work anymore.

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  14. Johnny Ace would like a word with you.

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  15. 1. Know how to sell.
    2. Know how and when to make your comeback.
    3. Know how to throw a good looking worked punch.
    4. Profit.

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  16. It would have to be a face to get it, right? It's such a conditioned response to pop for it that no heel will be able to touch it for a while.

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  17. I look at Finn Balor and I see the next wellness violation.

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  18. He does have some remarkable abs

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  19. I don't think anyone would watch Ambrose pull off a Stunner and think "oh look, Johnny Ace's move". Besides wasn't it more a Diamond Cutter?

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  20. Strictly speaking it's a 3/4 face lock jawbreaker

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  21. His overall muscular look (to me) is kind of how Randy Orton used to look. He's just too bulky AND shredded down (I know that sounds weird).

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  22. He probably did a cut cycle before nxt

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  23. I just googled him and found a picture of him and Norman Smiley. My day is now complete, and I'm absurdly happy. Norman Smiley!

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  24. In regards to Rey, I don't think the WWE is thinking he should have taken better care of himself. My guess is they see they have a contract for a guy who sells a lot of merch with a way to extend that contract longer without paying any extra money and that's what they're doing. I can tell you from my job that's the way corporate people think.

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  25. Not necessarily. A heel could have it be a killer finish and then you get the 1! 2! Threeeeeekicked out! in big matches.

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  26. Completely. He fell like three to four feet, unprotected, face-first into the fucking ground. Whoever came up with the idea for that should have been smacked on the spot.

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  27. Exactly. I doubt WWE even cares about Rey as a worker at this point. Don't underestimate the value of kids wanting masks.

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  28. God I miss that guy. I'll never forget the big Vegas entrance where all the Showgirls came out and did the Big Wiggle.

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  29. Ambrose should get his own move over. Austin didn't take the legdrop after becoming the star to make wrestling mainstream again.

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  30. The only finisher Dean AMbrose should be inheriting is Doink's fucking top rope whoopie cushion.

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  31. Ambrose won't make it to Mania other than in the battle royal cause he's a Santino level comedy act.

    PHEW!

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  32. Hahaha...there's the reply I was waiting for. In all seriousness, given the way they book, I could see Ambrose getting a push, becoming a comedy act, getting put in the Bunny costume, or all of them at once. I'd love for them to get behind him, but you've been kind of right on with how they've been positioning him.

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  33. I'd take the stump puller or crucifix pin from the original Doink.

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  34. Ambrose should bring back a legendary finisher: the crossface chicken wing.

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  35. Yeah, I think the Stunner is too endemic to Austin for someone else to get it over. Ambrose got both the bulldog driver and the double-arm DDT over just fine. I don't think that's been his problem.

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  36. No insult to the person who wrote this email (as being mega-successful in one small-ish territory for decades is extremely remarkable, but you're dramatically underselling Lawler. He wasn't "pretty good" on the mic - he was flat out awesome and an better promo than anyone currently in the WWE. He wasn't just a "good brawler", but a legit Top 15 worker in North American history. Quite simply, he was able to so successful for so long because he was one of the very best to ever do it.

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  37. Agreed. Maybe in ANOTHER ten years or so, but it still feels too iconic and "too soon".

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  38. People have been clamoring for WWE to let Ziggler use the damn Superkick as his sole finisher, and yet...they DON'T want Ambrose to inherit a move? Fair enough, I guess. I mean, bequeathing a move unto a younger wrestler doesn't exactly always work (Flair/Miz:: Figure Four), and unless Austin were to actually take Ambrose on as a protege, I don't think just gifting him the Stunner would work all that well. Eugene was a special case where he was busting out multiple different moves due to being a savant....Ambrose suddenly using a Stunner out of nowhere would be all sorts of awkward.

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  39. The stunner is too associated with SCSA under WWE mythology to simply "give" it to another worker without there being some sort of Austin related component to memorialize the passage. From an audience perspective there'd be little, if any, way to allow Ambrose to utilize the move without mentioning Austin in some way and, if he were so mentioned, the expectation is that he'd be involved at some point.


    For purposes of comparison, the crossface may have been intentionally moved away from Benoit via Michaels so as to disassociate it from Benoit as quickly as reasonably possible. Additionally, given that they'll never refer to Benoit unless absolutely forced to, there's no audience or announcer involvement.


    Regarding Mysterio, he sells TONS of merch to kids (masks particularly), which they don't want to give up. I think he's also milking the contract. The conceit was probably that Sin Cara would step into that role, but that (obviously) didn't happen.

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  40. A few months back some guy on Reddit calculated that Rey Mysterio only appeared on 44 out of 78 (56%) of WWE PPVs from 2007-2013 because of injuries.

    Worth noting: "As a point of comparison, Chris Jericho appeared on 50 PPVs from December 2007 (first return to WWE) through July 2013 (his last departure) despite two lengthy breaks during that period."

    http://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/1yggd9/one_reason_wwe_isnt_planning_on_renewing_rey/

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  41. However, in that case, WWE *might* want to consider signing up some younger guys, and making some new "masked men" whose masks kids will clamor over. Shark Boy could have been one of those, once upon a time. But this company has all the foresight of a blind aardvark.

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  42. Smiley was all sorts of crazy awesome. I was like, the only person in my high school who dug Screamin' Norman.

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  43. Deano Eugeno? Fuck it...bring back Eugene, and make them long lost brothers. A "Goofus and Gallant" for the new age. Eugene can do no wrong, and Deano can do no right.



    License to print money!

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  44. Medium Daddy Kewl, Roman Reigns.

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  45. You could have a heel "steal" the Stunner and start bragging that of course they should have the move now since they're a true star, while Austin is yesterday's news. This inevitably sets up Austin backing a face to beat this heel in a blowoff match and then Stunnering him (or both guys) himself afterwards. Or, if the heel is a big enough name, maybe this could be the angle that sets up Austin's return (if he's able and willing for one more match).

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  46. The superkick is a much more generic move that's been used by seemingly half of all wrestlers over the last 20 years, and it just happened to be used by an iconic performer as a finish. Ziggler was already using it in his moveset when people started to clamor for this, and it was getting way over.

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  47. I LOL at the WWE claiming any wrestler "should take better care of themselves" given the meat-grinder schedule they put this wrestlers through.

    Sorry, sports entertainers.

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  48. Harlan Leverage IIIJanuary 5, 2015 at 1:48 PM

    Reigns should master the hair flip first.

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  49. The most glorious McMemphis promo was easily Vince's aghast reaction to the news that Lawler had hadokened Giant Gonzalez.
    "We--we're talking WRESTLING, now...and apparently WRESTLING in Memphis, Tennessee has been REDUCED...to Jerry "The King" Lawler...CHEATING." The delivery sells it, but Vince standing up as the arbiter for PURE WRESTLING is too hilarious for words. McMahon *had* to know who he was trolling when he went that route in the promo.

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  50. lariatoooooooooooooJanuary 5, 2015 at 4:45 PM

    I love Bret, but that's a ridiculous argument. It's all fake. How can one fake fight be faker than another?

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  51. lariatoooooooooooooJanuary 5, 2015 at 4:49 PM

    We'll have to agree to disagree on Lawler's overall working ability, but I don't see any basis for criticizing his punches. He threw arguably the best worked punches of anyone in history.

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  52. lariatoooooooooooooJanuary 5, 2015 at 4:50 PM

    For all the talk here of how Lawler wasn't a good fit for the WWF, it was his 1993 feud with Bret that took the Hitman to another level as a main eventer. It started out as comedy fodder and ended up being the hottest feud in the company.

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  53. Easily - some wrestling looks way more fake. Not sure Bret's criteria, as I'm unfamiliar with Memphis, but he'd a mark for tight, stiff technical stuff and less stalling. He didn't like wrestling the loose, safer style.

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  54. lariatoooooooooooooJanuary 5, 2015 at 6:13 PM

    If people prefer, say, Dynamite Kid to Memphis-style wrestling, that's their right as a fan. But they're out to lunch if they say one is more realistic than the other. There's nothing realistic about diving headbutts and Sharpshooters.

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  55. And here's a weird promo from Memphis where Jerry tries to explain that.

    http://youtu.be/uXBROjoi0Q0

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  56. MaffewOfBotchamaniaJanuary 6, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    I hadn't thought of that. He was the CM Punk of Memphis.

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