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Comparison


A lot of people make the easy comparison of Bret/Diesel to Bryan/Reigns. Could it be that we look back some day and see this more as a case of the Graham/Backlund decision?

No, because Graham was a major drawing card and was legitimately robbed of a long title reign that he deserved.  I think the Bret comparison is more apt for Bryan because he's not the guy who is gonna light business on fire or replace Steve Austin, but he's the placeholder guy who can keep business stable while they FIND the next guy.  I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting that Daniel Bryan was going to trigger the next boom period.  But was he a better choice in the short-term than Reigns?  Yeah, of course.

Comments

  1. Superstar Graham constantly sold out the Garden. Nobody today can say that. Or for that matter Bret/HBK/Flair.

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  2. And the other issue get here is that Reigns COULD have been the guy if they'd waited, maybe. But they didn't and now we'll never know.

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  3. "I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting that Daniel Bryan was going to trigger the next boom period."

    I don't know. I might suggest that. It could have been him or CM Punk. Because they have honest-to-God crossover appeal with a demographic wrestling has always ignored - geeks and hipsters and women. Basically, the big driving force behind the much of the mass media now are people who the WWE doesn't get. People that love comic books, super hero movies, craft beer, vegan food. Daniel Bryan is an asskicking Seattle/Brooklyn hipster. It's IN. It's now. It's why Guardians of the Galaxy and the Hunger Games are huge and why the Expendables is not.

    Reigns is entirely generic. Cena is embarrassingly off-tone when it comes to what's cool. He's dressed like a guy trapped in hip-hop culture from the late 1990s.

    Steve Austin was cool because he fit with the Times. Punk and Bryan fit with the now. The current culture is all about handmade, authentic, local, realness. Love it or not, they embody it.

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  4. I did the Cornette move count for Reigns and he has less than Nash. And most of them are variations on "punching"

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  5. Graham was definitely hot BUT he did agree to drop the belt on a certain date a year in advance. So "robbed" is pretty strong. Also Backlund was a strong draw himself just not as strong as Bruno, Graham or Hogan, but it's not like he was a failure.

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  6. Reigns will become his own footnote in WWE history. I think when it is all said and done, he will be the archetype of the worst champion in their history from a business and ability perspective.

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  7. "I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting that Daniel Bryan was going to trigger the next boom period."

    I think the Bret Hart comparison is apt, and I actually agree with the statement. However, I don't think anyone was seriously suggesting 3-4 years ago that Bryan would be the most consistently over babyface in years, nor that he would (deservedly) win the world title at Wrestlemania.

    Scott, I think your assessment is right, but I'm not so sure that I'd dismiss it the way Vince obviously has. Like you said, he's AT LEAST a guy who can keep business going.

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  8. Graham had a strong year in 77-78 as champ but man did he deteriorate by the 80s. Seeing him from his return to WWF as a kung fu guy and his run in the NWA after that, it was like a totally different person. Backlund had an underrated run i think. He wasn't Hogan or anything but fans did like him well enough. It was during a time where a good guy didn't need to be flashy or have an incredible personality.

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  9. I agree, except vegan food being cool. That is all.

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  10. Let's see how Kevin Nash & Reigns compare head-to-head

    Reigns Nash
    9 HAIR 8
    2 Moveset 4
    9 Smoldering Look 6
    5 Airport Factor 8
    2 Mic Work 7
    8 Cartoon Knowledge 3
    ==============================
    35 TOTAL 36

    Verdict - Big Sexy by a nose

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  11. I seriously think comparing Reigns to Nash as a similar quality main eventer is insulting. And I haaaate Poochie.

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  12. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONMarch 6, 2015 at 12:15 PM

    If current Vince were booking Graham/Backlund, Graham would beat Backlund in the main even of 4 straight PPVs and then have Bruno pie-face Backlund out of his way to hug him at the end of the last one. Amazing.

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  13. Backlund was easily a stronger draw than Graham. Five straight years of selling out MSG with a bunch of Felt Forum tickets on top of that? There's no comparison. Sure, he held the title longer, but if you're going to evaluate guys based on what they actually did and not what they woulda/coulda/shoulda done in some alternate universe, then Backlund blows him away.
    I agree that Graham fell off badly almost immediately after dropping the belt and was already dealing with heavy drug issues as champion. He held the title about as long as he could have. And NOBODY was touting him as a potential babyface star until Austin blew up a full 20 years later.

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  14. I seriously doubt there will be another boom period. But why not Daniel Bryan? He has an organic connection with the crowd, he and his "Yes" stuff have crossover appeal, he is charismatic and a good wrestler. Roman Reigns has none of that going for him.

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  15. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONMarch 6, 2015 at 12:19 PM

    Considering how the man practically used to garnish his food with steroids, it's not terribly surprising, sadly.

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  16. This is what I was coming to say.

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  17. I think Bryan can be the guy. He's got the crossover appeal that WWE desperately craves. Shit, he's practically the mascot for the San Francisco Giants.

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  18. I feel like your hair rating is way too skewed by late career Nash. Starrcade '98 box cover Nash was on point with his hair game.

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  19. I saw a shoot where Graham bitched about being booked to lose the belt to "boring" Bob Backlund and Bruno and him didn't like it. He thought that he was much more exciting as a champ and deserved the belt more. The thing is thought Vince Sr. was a man of his word and if he promised a title shot he went through with it and Backlund was who he wanted as champ. With the drug issues that Graham had, it was probably for the best anyway.

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  20. Agreed. Why not just ride the hot hand and give the fans what they want. Plus they have a ready-made story line if Bryan trying to slay a beast to get his title back. They could've done a bunch of awesome vignettes of Bryan training and saying his much this means, the uphill battle etc.

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  21. Exactly - I meant as strong a draw as Graham in certain parts of the Northeast, but overall Backlund had much longer drawing power clearly. Graham loves to say he could've drawn huge because of Hogan and Austin but in reality his character wasn't that similar to those two. Yeah Hogan took aspects of that character, but not to the degree Graham loves to say. I don't see the comparison to Austin at all except that Austin was a face that acted like a heel, but he wasn't a cowardly heel until the end.

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  22. And occupy blank being cool. To quote Patrick Bateman, "Get a job."

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  23. The last boom period came on the back of a guy hired to be a "good hand" midcard heel, so they may want to open their minds to the possibility that their next big star may not be someone they choose themselves

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  24. If the bad booking didn't do it, the infamous Sufferring Suttacosh promo really killed him for good. It was like a reverse 3:16 promo

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  25. Just to give you a quick example; I went to Las Vegas last summer. At 4am as the nightclub was letting out a few people started a YES chant as 4 smoking hot girls walked out. A few people joined in on the chant. Out of everyone at that spot maybe 2 of us would be called wrestling fans.

    That's mainstream.

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  26. But how does this profit to Reings or Cena ?

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  27. Sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiveling

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  28. "he's not the guy who is gonna light business on fire or replace Steve
    Austin, but he's the placeholder guy who can keep business stable while
    they FIND the next guy"

    I think that is what Vince and Triple H both think, and it's IMO wrong. Bryan is/was the most over guy since Stone Cold Steve Austin and he SHOULD be the top star of the company. AND like with Austin, this shouldn't mean that he should be champion forever. Even Austin wasn't champion for lon periods, and I think it is more interesting to have Bryan chasing the title instead of defending it.

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  29. Backlund was a proven draw and fan favorite. Reigns is neither of those things.

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  30. The sad part is that later in Bret's WWF run, he had a level of credibility that made his feud with Stone Cold so special. Austin was put on the map as a real player because, even though Bret beat him, Bret made him look special in doing it and Bret had multiple championship reigns with a lot of wins.


    Someday when that next guy comes along, there really won't be anyone like Bret who has both the wrestling ability to make the next guy and the accomplishments to make it special. We'll have some pretty decent, albeit generic workers who have been trading random wins for years.


    All that aside, I don't think we're going to see another boom period in wrestling for a really long time. I think most of the promoters, wrestlers, and viewers of the last boom period have to be dead so that wrestling can be presented as a fresh thing to an audience that isn't so familiar with its trappings.

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  31. No explanation. Just said Macho cussed him out. Hogan said why not go outside so Macho could kick his butt and supposedly Macho just stood there as Hogan ate his cheese plate.

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  32. Lanny has confirmed Hogan's reconciliation story, I believe.

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  33. They did main event Uncensored 98

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  34. I know. Didn't Savage job the title to Hogan in that one too?

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  35. Yeah but they lost the tape so no one really could verify it for sure. Well except for me and all the other ppl that VCRed it

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  36. They lost the tape but also somehow released the PPV on home video.

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  37. That was a Nitro

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  38. That's an easy and fun chant. Ask those same people to pay money watch Bryan wrestle, maybe 10% would. And of those 10%, 8% would be pissed that they wasted their time watching him.

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  39. The Hogan/Savage relationship I don't think anybody will ever understand...I think even on some level not even Hogan and Savage understand it all. One thing I noticed about Hogan the past few years is that I think he sort...kind of....has at least finally mellowed to the point of giving a lot of credit to his fellow competitors. He is still filled with nonsense (some of that stuff on Jericho's podcast was ridiculous), but I think he will actually do a good job for Savage. Honestly, given their relationship and history, there is really nobody else better qualified to do it, whether they were friends or enemies, on-screen or off-screen Hogan was always the constant through his WWF to WCW years.

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  40. He is the Million Dollar Man, he can buy his way out of any problem.

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  41. You can always tell when business is down by how many European tours they do.

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  42. Who was more or as over than Austin since back then? The Rock maybe, but was Cena really more over? Austin had usually the whole arena, while Cena has only half of the audience.

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  43. Bret Hart: 2-and-1 against Steve Austin on PPV, and his loss was a DQ.

    By 2015 WWE logic, that should make the fans love Bret MUCH more!

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  44. That was seriously one of the dumbest things wcw ever pulled. And that's saying something

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  45. He was also a super polished and very credible wrestler.

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  46. I agree. Cena is really the only guy they have right now. Maybe Orton a litte bit. And they keep dragging part-time guys like Undertaker, Brock, and HHH to put people over. That can't last much longer.


    Obviously, the horrible creative is part of it, but I think also that wrestlers aren't the same "for life guys" that used to be apart of the business. WWE has lost numerous potential big stars as they decide they would rather do something else. Guys like Punk, Batista, Lashley, Brock...people that could have been stars for over a decade, decide to leave after a few years for various reasons. They don't work like many of the stars of the previous generation (Taker, Hogan, Savage, Shawn, Flair, Sting (in TNA) who stay way past their expiration date. They just decide to do something else in life.

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  47. The thing Vince hasn't figured out is that you can't make a guy a superstar overnight. Austin had numerous milestones before he hit the top. Austin 3:16 at KOTR. SS match with Bret. WM match with Bret. Feud with the Hart Foundation. Stunning JR etc. He just didn't show up one day as SCSA - MEGASTAR. Cena was a midlevel talent on the verge of being fired before his rap gimmick took off. It took him 3 years in the WWE to win his first top title. Cena had some US title wins and feuds. The Rock is the same. All 3 grew in popularity each time they hit another milestone/accomplished something. People got behind them organically because they actually accomplished something besides poisoning coffee.

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  48. Business? No way. There's no way business is ever going to get as bad as the mid-90s Nash/HBK levels. Not anytime soon anyway. WWE is much more rooted now than it was back then, and much more of a brand that will have a certain degree of success regardless of who's on top.

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  49. Not sure I agree, if only because I don't see another pro-wrestling outlet making it big anytime soon. It would be like if the NBA or NFL had a new league come up and compete. Not going to happen. WCW worked because they had massive funding, a TV network, and a history. TNA has been around for over 10 years now and have barely made a mark. The market today is far different. WWE will remain the only game in town.

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  50. I was going to say something really similar. Bryan could have been the next Bret with some title reigns and stuff keeping things going until the next major star in the making like Stone Cold was comes along and pushes him out of the way. In the meantime, you'd have a guy as champ people like and enjoy watching and you keep the hardcore fanbase around, too.

    This new way of pushing someone regardless of whether the crowd cares or not is just odd. I'm not saying we have to like every guy they pick to headline, but why have a headliner no one has any reaction for?

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  51. That's why they missed the boat with Bryan. You had a guy who had enough grass-roots support, time in the business, and ability to be credible as a title holder, and who could actually make the next guy look like a million bucks when he comes along. The only minus right now for DBry is durability with the bad neck.

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  52. Damn...was typing the same thing.

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  53. Do see Hogan holding a respect for Savage throughout their problems. I remember on that 2005 Warrior DVD, Hogan talks of how Savage was a detail freak who'd plan out big matches in advance and such and they give him props in that new Blu-Ray doc too.

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  54. I agree with Scott. I don't see Bryan (or Punk for that matter a few years ago) being the next big megastar. I'm not sure there is a megastar in the WWE's future. Cena will probably be the last one, and even he isn't really at that level.

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  55. Bob Backlund is so much better than Billy Graham IMO. Grahams promo chops were better but not that great. He did the Ali thing, but it was the same shit over and over. The idea that he was going to be some kind of mega face right before he lost the belt doesn't hold water with me.

    I don't think there is any kind of historical comparison to the wwes booking now.

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  56. Don't think that's their business model. They want interchangeable parts. Nobody bigger than the company, otherwise they could jump start or launch a competitor.

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  57. Superstar's Ali-like promos were decent but he didn't touch Dusty Rhodes baptist preacher style promos or Ric Flairs.

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  58. ROH has its fans but yeah, still clearly WWE's game since (as much as they think otherwise), TNA has made no real impact (no pun intended) in 13 years of business.

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  59. So did Backlund and Hogan.

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  60. I would pay good money to see the 2 new NXT superstars Bret Diesel and Bryan Reigns.

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  61. No. The cage match ended in a no contest. Or a double DQ or some nonsense.

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  62. Bryan's YES YES YES mantra was adopted by both the World Series and Super Bowl champs in 2014, and WWE barely even mentioned it. Unbelievable.

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  63. And that's the dumbest way to run any business. People want to see stars and attractions. By purposely NOT creating superstars, you're only hurting YOUR bottomline. It's like a professional sports franchise refusing to pay more than $X for any one player. At some point, you're fielding a team of a bunch of middle of the road guys that aren't really marketable, aren't really popular, and you aren't selling out your stadium. Also, the guys that have the talent to possibly be stars are splitting playing time with guys who are either past their prime but have name recognition or free agents who get brought in for a year and then move on to another team. In the end, you're left with a team that's just kinda "meh". People may watch them out of habit for a while, but eventually they cease to be entertained and move on to something else.

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  64. Best part of the Steve Austin podcast really was watching HHH pretty much tell Dunn to fuck off and say that they're going over time because he said so.

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  65. Hogan vs. Cena will happen at Wrestlemania -- http://youtu.be/maop9WjUeHE

    Even if it is in my dreams.

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  66. "I don't think there is any kind of historical comparison to the wwes booking now."


    Yes there is. Remember that time you ate some bad seafood, and you spent the rest of the night in the bathroom, desperately trying to figure out which end needed to be pointed at the toilet at any moment?


    Oh, I guess you means "historical BOOKING comparison"... maybe the Turkey Bowl?

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  67. Punk was getting some mainstream attention.

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  68. To this day he can't walk down a street in Europe.

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  69. I thought Big Show did the YES thing?

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  70. Can we have a "talk about or laugh at Bill DeMott thread, Scott?"

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  71. They forgave eachother on camera, didn't they?

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  72. One of the many reasons I've never been a Hogan fan. For all the shit Cena gets, his character never pulls that kind of crap.

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  73. I just feel that Reigns is Vince's way of proving that "He made Hogan. He made Stone Cold. He made Rock" without the idiot realizing that he didn't "make them" -- he just didn't stand in their way.



    This would be like in 1996:


    "Vince, did you just hear the reaction Austin got with his '3:16 promo'? That man is gold! We need to start pushing him!"
    "Oh, really? Nobody tells Vince McMahon what to do! I made Hulk Hogan!"
    "What do you want us to do then?"
    "Put Austin in a feud with Vader. They can trade wins for 9 months until the blowoff at Mania. We're going to go with Ahmed Johnson."
    (wary) "What do you mean... go with?"
    "I mean I want him headlining Wrestlemania 13! He's going to dethrone Sid for the title! He'll be the next Hogan!"
    "Ummm... I don't know if the fans will like that."
    "Screw the fans! They'll like what I TELL them to like. I'm Vince Fucking McMahon!"

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  74. Punk walking out of the ring with the WWE Championship when his contract had expired could have been the biggest thing ever. Instead they ruined it right away--literally the next night I think--by announcing he'd signed a new deal.

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  75. I don't want to take everything away from McMahon though, because once those guys caught fire he knew (in most cases) how to keep them hot. So while I will agree he definitely didn't make the connection with the fans they put them over the top, he did nurture it to an extent

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  76. If the whole aftermath of Summer of Punk wasn't the WWE intentionally "cooling down" Punk, then they truly have no fucking idea how to book a big angle anymore.

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  77. I can't remember the last time WWE had an opportunity shoved right in front of them and them running with it. Recent examples include Bryan & the World Series champs; and RKO OUTTA NOWHERE! going viral.

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  78. Of course -- he made sure they were put in the best positions to connect, and that's commendable. It's a shame that he seems to have forgotten how to do that.


    But what he didn't do was take someone with zero fan connection (and fairly low wrestling skill) and keep pushing them against all logic while ignoring the likes of Austin. Hell, in my little "skit", Ahmed isn't even the best example because at least he had SOME charisma.


    It seems in the last few years, people succeed DESPITE WWE's booking. Think about how many idiotic things and stalled pushes Punk turned into gold. Think about how Bryan has gotten over despite WWE's constant desire to make sure he doesn't.


    It really is insane.

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  79. Please don't call whatever the hell that abomination WWE did "The Summer of Punk". It lost the right to use that when Punk came back 2 weeks after leaving.


    *clutches ROH DVDs protectively to his chest*

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  80. completely agreed

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  81. Graham did that 19 times in a row which was some kind of record.

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  82. I like Hogan's promos better than Superstar's too.


    But let's not kid ourselves -- he was MILES AND MILES more charismatic than babyface Bob.

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  83. Hogan-Savage is the perfect pro wrestling relationship, money trumps whatever personal animosity may have existed between the two.

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  84. From what I hear, Graham sold it out 19 of 20 times. That's pretty good, but nowhere close to Bruno's record of 187 times.

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  85. I actually think Bryan could have been "the guy" if not for a few factors: 1) The injury, 2) The company's overall philosophy, and 3) One could argue they waited too long to strike. (I disagree on point 3)

    Within a wrestling context, he was receiving bigger reactions and more organic connections in his matches than Punk did even at his peak. He connected the young fans and the old ones in a way few have been able to do since the Attitude Era. He also had mainstream appeal by not being an asshole and fitting into the burgeoning geek/hipster culture.

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  86. Backlund had the in ring charisma though. He wasn't a big talker, just a good wrestler.

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  87. He couldn't buy his way out of having a shitty stable however.

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  88. YankeesHoganTripleHFanMarch 6, 2015 at 2:47 PM

    I had a dream last night that I played defense for The U. I was a hybrid cornerback/line backer and my job was to look for open recievers coming out of backfield. If where were none I blitzed....it was a pretty cool dream.

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  89. To be fair, Ahmed was pretty damn over in 96 before his injury.

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  90. It's really hard to say where Bryan's ceiling would have been. He certainly connected on the YES thing in a huge way. For me personally, it's not clear if he could go beyond that, or if he was destined to be a one trick pony. We won't really know that now.
    I definitely think that they should have rolled the dice with him, which I don't think that they would really have done even without the injury. Reigns .. is not going to be the guy.

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  91. Mark Henry would have been a more accurate example.

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  92. It's funny to think that during the Billionaire Ted skits they highlighted Ahmed as one of the new generation of stars,but the dude was one of their biggest stars at the time.

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  93. Yeah that is really overlooked when people talk about Backlund as some sort of failure. He was big time over and it didn't matter about his promos or his manager's weak promos -- he had some weird charisma. He is up there with Lawler for being able to tell a story in the ring. He also had incredible Cesaro-type strength: he looked strong, but not superman strong but somehow that dude was able to do lifts and other stuff that guys twice his size couldn't do.

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  94. Also Backlund actually had talent and got over.

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  95. i always wish Superstar and Vince could have got along and Graham gotten a rightful position backstage... he changed the business by giving a "cool" edge to the Gorgeous George heel act

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  96. Don't forget doing the Fandango then having the coolest person ever in Michael Cole showing us how to do it. I don't blame you for wiping that out of your memory.

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  97. You realize Bateman wasn't the good-


    Nevermind.

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  98. Graham was back in the fold and happy when they published his book, made a DVD and put in the Hall. As soon as those checks dried up though he went back to bitching and sold his HOF ring. I'm not a Vince apologist, but I have to side with him on this one. Graham was made into a star by Vince Sr. and complained for years about having to drop the belt after he agreed to it long before dropping it. Then he was brought back and made relevant again after a pretty blah run in both WWWF and Crockett. He gets injured and has to retire and is given work as an announcer and manager. He sucked at both and apparently wasn't much help elsewhere. He left and proceeds to badmouth the company for years. Comes back for another series of paydays and then does the same thing. He was definitely an innovator, but I don't see how he deserves some sort of job for life at this point. He got plenty of money for his work if he's blown at this point that's 100% his own fault.

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  99. Yeah, I mentioned that in my post below. I was just trying to find someone with the "look" that McMahon wants without much wrestling skill...


    I have yet to find someone from that time period with as little charisma as Reigns. Bart Gunn maybe?

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  100. Twice if I'm not mistaken.

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  101. He let Beefcake handle that.

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  102. Though actually, people leaving is actually fine in a way. The problem is the people like Big Show, Orton and Cena to an extent, and god bless him, Kane who have no reason to retire because they're making over a million a year, but WWE refuses to get rid of or sign to a lesser money deal and fuck off to the house shows like Jericho. (Keeping in mind that I love Jericho.)


    Peyton fricken Manning just took a pay cut. These guys can't do the same?

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  103. He does look a lot like the San Diego chicken

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  104. Sort of half. The other half is still technically yelling for the guy, and really like, a quarter of the crowd seems to chant both.

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  105. MaffewOfBotchamaniaMarch 6, 2015 at 3:35 PM

    Cean kinda did it with the CM Punk PPV match that ended via double-pin and we were supposed to boo Punk because he didn't allow the ref to restart it when it was Cena's bleeding fault for pinning himself.

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  106. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarMarch 6, 2015 at 3:39 PM

    I had a dream that the pharmacy I stopped using across the street got torn down and was replaced by a Starbucks.

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  107. I'm amazed nobody has twigged the reason for the constant jump cuts. It was all a result of the switch to HD filming, something that potentially could have been death for something like professional wrestling. Ever reliant on the suspension of disbelief, the industry now had to deal with its product being shot in crystal clear detail, the result being that every pulled punch, every glancing blow and every careful bump would now be visible to the audience in 1080p.

    The WWE apparently spent months in the buildup to the switch trying to figure out a new way of presenting the product to maintain the kind of distance from the audience they had been reliant upon for years. The result of that is what you see now. Pay close attention and you will notice the camera shot switches with every single bump. There is never time to sit and analyse what has happened or for your brain to take in "hey he didn't really hit him", because we've switched shots and you now have to process the action from an entirely different angle.

    Distracting and annoying if you are paying close attention,but there is method in the madness.

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  108. Savage beat Hogan via countout in January of 1986 at a MSG show. but this of course set up a rematch for February - a lumberjack match -, which Hogan won.

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  109. YankeesHoganTripleHFanMarch 6, 2015 at 9:28 PM

    I'm guessing that actually happened.

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  110. The reviving elbow. Nice.

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  111. But who was booker?

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  112. Wasn't long, but certainly historical, and not once did Austin make Bret submit or get a pin fall over him.

    Of course I'm assuming Montrael doesn't happen, and it's Austin finally getting the win and belt at mania.

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  113. Be interesting to see if they show steph in the crowd on camera whilst macho gets inducted.

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  114. Maybe Flair, but they really only had that one good program at WM8. I'm sure they crossed paths in WCW, but I can't think of any other memorable Flair/Savage interactions. When people think of Savage, the next name that comes to mind is usually Hogan. It sucks that Hogan kept Savage in his shadow his entire top-tier career, but you can't change history.

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  115. Savage and Flair had an incredible feud in WCW that lasted years. Also, your argument doesn't hold much water. When people think of Bret Hart, the next name that comes to mind is Shawn Michaels. Shawn inducting Bret is equally insane.

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  116. See, for me, the next name that comes to mind is HHH.

    Whatever. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

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  117. Why on earth would you connect HHH and Bret Hart?

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  118. I meant when I think Shawn, the next name I think is HHH. Probably a defense mechanism after all the navel-gazing over Montreal.

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  119. I wonder if she ever calls HHH Randy

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