Thus: What are your favorite 'shoots' - things that really happened on TV / PPV that weren't supposed to, and were awesome because of it? Feel free to include all the post-WM "Raw" crowds, and any "shoot comments that aren't supposed to be shoot comments".
I have one example, an example so big, so huge, so massive, so undeniably memorable, that one image file alone captures its majesty:
Oh, and then these fuckers were cool too, where every thing they said was a proverbial shoot comment:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Far Cry 4: 10 Essentially Features it Must Have
10 Video Games Ruined By The Hype
7 Great Games Playing Watch_Dogs Will Remind You Of
Watch_Dogs: 10 Reasons it Sucks
Follow @MeekinOnMovies
Two divas blowing a spot is a shoot? If so the wwe has more shoot fights than PRIDE
ReplyDeleteExactly. I actually like watching Cena's reaction nowadays. It's just so fucking strange, yet fun.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest singular t-shirts in wrestling history (Hulkamania, Austin 3:16, nWo) were not exclusively sold to 6 year old kids
ReplyDeleteI NEED a WON archive subscription. Is the price good?
ReplyDeleteSo BB was not the Kamala clone? (Have not seen that Clash in ages)
Not really, because he's working on borrow time. He's not a Chris Jericho never injured part-timer, he's guy who is going to get shut down because of his neck.
ReplyDeleteThe first was more of a kiddie shirt, but the last two were definitely not.
ReplyDeleteAdults wore them, I'm old enough to know. And the whole rock 'n wrestling gimmick wasn't a kids thing. Hogan kinda became the guy who sold t-shirts to 6 year old kids, but he wasn't originally
ReplyDeleteYep, and when I'm desperate to give Cena a compliment, I'll concede he's good at merchandising. It's one of those things that can't be proved until it's tried but I have strong doubts the "losing millions in merchandise" is a thing that would happen.
ReplyDeleteIf done right, his heel merch would sell, and then you'd hopefully have the face merch of whoever they get to stand up to him.
Regarding the post wrestling career ambassador thing... what about doing commentary? It keeps him on TV, but actually makes him in ALL the segments, something they have yet to really accomplish with him. Cena going from being the 'face of the WWE' to being the 'voice of the WWE' might not be so awful if they do it right.
ReplyDeletenobody buys a friggin ticket to a house show these days based on who is advertised to be there. They are either going or not going. The whole "draw" thing with house shows has long been dead. The overall product sells house shows, as does who the champ is. It was on thing when you advertised next week or next month's show featuring Lawler/Dundee, Hogan/Studd, or Von Erichs/Freebirds. Whole different animal when 85% of the tickets sell long before anyone is advertised and cards/matchups are almost never announced ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteactually that's a decent point. When one guy has 20 times the items anyone else does, merchandise sales can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
ReplyDeleteI think they do buy house show tickets for the "draws", it's just whether it's worth running as many of them as they do. I mean if you're drawing 4000 at 40 bucks average (if that), are you even making money on running the loops?
ReplyDeleteProbably the reason they go overseas so much
Solution, make Cena heel, but a corporate sellout uncool heel. Noone cheers Randy Orton for example.
ReplyDeleteIt was a heel turn that no one wanted. Any heel turn where the guy has to turn heel more than once... nope.
ReplyDeleteThing is WWE have the international roster to do a really good World Cup right now
ReplyDeleteAs well as the US wrestlers you've got
Canada - Christian, Tyson Kid, Sami Zayn
UK & Ireland - Regal, Sheamus, Barrett, McIntyre, Neville
Europe - Cesaro, Santino (could also be on Team Canada), Rusev
Africa - Gabriel, Kingston, Adam Rose (though obviously gimmick wise he's british)
India - Khali, Mahal (could also be on Team Canada)
Mexico - Del Rio, Sin Cara, Camacho
Japan - Tatsu, KENTA assuming he signs
Bulk out a few of the teams with some talent brought in especially for the tournament & you'd have a very decent world cup
tj, since there's not a daily update thread
ReplyDeletegooood, let the hate flow.... stay classy, billy
Billy Graham Says He's Done Watching WWE
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 06.01.2014
Watching Smackdown made him vomit...
-
Superstar Billy Graham says that he's done watching WWE. Graham posted
the following to his Facebook page, saying that he's finished with the
company's programming following Friday's episode of Smackdown:
Hello Facebook friends,
This message will be my last as I have decided after watching the entire
Smackdown show that aired Friday night May 30th, that I am wasting my
time viewing the WWE shows. There are of course many very good matches
and hard-working top guys out there performing for you fans. To quote 2
lines from Bob Dylan's " Wedding Song " tune, sum's up my position
perfectly, " It's never been my duty to remake the world at large....
Nor is it my intention to lead a battle charge. "
It is not my job and I have no business to critique or pass along any
negative judgment on the WWE. Believe me there are plenty of critics
around to opine on the state of the WWE.
Last night when I saw Bo Dallas running around the ring acting like an
idiot and hugging his opponent Xavier Woods when the match was over I
wanted to vomit. Then here come the effeminate Pete Rose sucking on a
lollipop, followed by maybe 15 of his circus troupe of freaks and
geek's, he gives me the creeps. Then came the dwarf El Torito dressed in
a children's bull costume who proceeds to pin a normal size wrestler.
By then I did indeed vomit.
I get intelligent responses from my Facebook friends and then I get
ignorant ones like this one from from Dan Pedreyra who wrote about
Cesaro and I quote " Give Cesaro time to develop, he's learning, he's
hanging out with Cena." Who the F is Cena ? God ? I will tell you who
got it right in her response and that is Jaynie Mullins Mullins, who
said and I quote, " The WWE is now the WWZZZZZZZZZZ. "
Peace,
Superstar Billy Graham
I guess New Orleans will never get another wrestlemania now.
ReplyDeleteI still don't buy that smarks would boo him if he turned, let alone buy his merch; it's still John Cena and it's in the smark nature that they would just shit on it soon enough just to fuck with everybody. I loved the Cena promo where he basically said why should he be someone he's not for the sake of people who hate him? There's zero financial gain to turn him and you lose the one actual cash machine if you do.
ReplyDeleteInstead of turning Cena, you just make other good heroes, options 1B if you weeeel, that the non-kids-and-women can cheer for, a la Bryan and Punk.
The shows with Cena sell way more than shows without him. You can say its for other factors but it is what it is.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with that, the 1st house show I went, I was SOLD on going before even hearing what the card was.
ReplyDeleteBingo
ReplyDeleteI also like and respect the part of Cena's character, where he basically says "to hell with the haters and peer pressure, I am who I am, and I'm not changing for anyone".
ReplyDeleteYep, everyone does. I certainly loved Rey's heel run where he messed with Eddie Guerrero's family and tried to steal his kids. That dastardly Rey.
ReplyDeleteYep, he's a lemon, and a non-BO-LIEVER.
ReplyDeleteNot even that. Adam Moore is right here. Don't fuck with Batman.
ReplyDeleteYes I've always liked that about him since he "jumped" to raw. He is a heel. And he is a face. Its actually one of the better things wwe has done. Plus he's put over ziggler, punk, Bryan, and Wyatt. I'm far from pro wwe but Cena is the man.
ReplyDeletesorry but most of the people have no idea who is on the card when they buy tickets. It is the overall product that sells. Now if Cena is on top they may assume he will be there, but 85% of the tickets are sold before anyone specific is advertised and long before any matches are ever advertised. If the product is struggling, it doesn't matter if Cena is wrestling on top or Bret Hart or Mabel, the ticket sales won't be there. That is why in the 90s they headed overseas. Nobody was selling tickets and the product wasn't selling tickets.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Grahams take but hasn't he trashed the wwe a bunch?
ReplyDeletecan you link where that info is from? Just curious. I have a lot of interest in the business side of wrestling. One thing about wrestling is it is definitely difficult to isolate causes. There isnt any scientific method with controls to show who is or isn't a draw or whether it really matters. I just know that most tickets sell the first day or first week and rarely is a specific wrestler advertised that far in advance.
ReplyDeleteTop faces don't job 100% clean all that often.
ReplyDeleteehh chicken or the egg thing. I'm not saying Cena isn't going to outsell Goldust if they both had equal merchadise lines, but at a certain point, if you have more options with one guy human nature says this is the guy to buy.
ReplyDeleteThat's 8 teams right there. They could easily go 32 if they wanted by bringing in other guys. It's a novel concept and with so much tv time to fill, why not?
ReplyDeleteAmericans can't even do that. 92 or 94 or 96, one of those years, was supposed to be the big breakthrough in popularity for Soccer. 20 years later and nothing.
ReplyDeleteHere's just for 2014
ReplyDeleteJanuary- Cena shows avg 5,563/Bryan 2,767
Feb- Cena 6,225/Bryan 4,833
March-Cena 6,955/Bryan 5,750
The Tl;Dr is that even accounting for city size Cena is worth at least an extra 10% in attendance.
ReplyDeleteI linked this below for Comdukakis but I'll put it up here in case anyone else wants to see it. Its an interesting breakdown of Cena vs Bryan as house show draws by Chris Harrington using meltzers figures.
ReplyDeleteHow is he even alive? Last time I remember his name in the news I thought he had like liver failure or kidneys or something, couldn't travel and was counting the hours to live...like a year or two ago
ReplyDeleteNo they aren't. Portugal is overrated as fuck and let's get real, Ghana isn't scaring anybody.
ReplyDeleteThe US has a fantastic shot at that second spot.
There's only so many times America will go over Mexico before it gets redundant.
ReplyDeleteAnd not doubting the numbers, but how much is that legit cause and effect or something more along the lines of "Let's see, we only have 2,500 tickets sold to Shithole, Wyoming, let's give Cena the night off" and "Christ, we sold out in Boston/NYC/wherever, better let that kid die without seeing Cena and make sure he's in the main event"
ReplyDelete...and I'm not doubting Cena's the bigger draw, just would judge it more on merch sales than house show ticket sales
Once every four years? Sure. Year to year? Hell no.
ReplyDelete1994 men, 2000 women both attest to that. As do the 2010 men and 2012 women.
32 is WAY too many, 16 at most. You'll lose the crowd otherwise.
ReplyDeleteStoryline-wise, they've made a huge fucking point that HHH > Cena, let alone Orton > Cena in the eyes of HHH and Steph. Steph flat out refuses to even ACKNOWLEDGE Cena as the "face" of the company.
ReplyDeleteSubtle-wise, storyline-wise, he's a useful idiot who does all of the charity related shit that is beneath Orton even THINKING about doing and the only reason they didn't try and take that away from Cena during his feud with Orton circa December 2013, was the fact that Orton basically would have to do that if they took that away from Cena and no one in the Authority wanted to deal with sick dying kids, when they could just let Cena do it.
See him next Friday.
ReplyDeleteI'd go if it was free. It's not a huge investment either, it's all matches and the show is only 2.5 hours, so there's still plenty of time to go do other things on a Friday or Saturday night.
ReplyDelete"Then here come the effeminate Pete Rose sucking on a lollipop, followed by maybe 15 of his circus troupe of freaks and geek's, he gives me the creeps"
ReplyDeleteHOW BOUT IT?
legit lol
ReplyDeleteyeah? well c u next tuesday!
ReplyDeleteYeah Austin was always dealing with McMahon BS in his first run then his broken down body in his second run. Hogan faced a lot of guys that were bigger or had managers so there was the element of danger. Compare that to Cena: he's facing a cult leader with two huge guys with him and scores a clean win then loses on a fuck finish. Cena has done clean jobs but 99% of the time he's the Terminator. A little vulnerability would go a long way.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Cena turning would happen when HHH is fully in control of the company, this of course depending if Cena is still going. With Bryan's title win, it's clear that HHH is willing to do something different and is more receptive to the fans. Would a Bryan title win happen 4 or 5 years ago with this same fervor? I don't. I really don't think we should completely shut the door on a Cena heel turn, I'm sure it will happen down the line.
ReplyDeleteRe: Merch- I bet his merch sales wouldn't be as high as they if 90 percent of the merch booths weren't all Cena merch.
It's not just this feud. He could of turned during the Nexus feud, '11 Punk feud, Bryan feud.
ReplyDeleteTGGI- This guy gets it.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that smarks would all start cheering for him is a myth that needs to die.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can help me with this regarding Bo: The guy is, I'm assuming, a heel right? If that's the case, why am I suppose to hate him? Because he over-celebrates and is positive? There's nothing remotely heel about the guy
ReplyDeleteNot in one night. Have the first round be prelim matches and give some guys first round byes. You could do a couple of upsets to get people vested in it. Then do the real tournament on a house show and televise it.
ReplyDeleteespecially since Champions League > World Cup nowadays anyway.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean a heel turn. I mean just take the character in a different direction.
ReplyDeleteBut they would. they love being rebels, and making it all about them.
ReplyDeleteI think Spain is the obvious favorite: the last three tournaments they were part of (Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012) were also all won by them.
ReplyDeleteThe way I understand it he's a walking meme which is where the hate is supposed to come from.
ReplyDeleteThat did wonders for Ziggler when a week later Cena kicked out of every single finishing move Dolph ever had.
ReplyDeleteCena can lose to guys like Barrett, Ziggler, and Wyatt all day until the cows come home. If those guys can't do anything after that, then that's not Cena's problem. You can still get over even if you don't beat Cena. Austin didn't beat Bret yet he still came back for more. Wonder why they never book that for other heels.
ReplyDeleteCena's done a ton more jobs than Austin and Hogan combined but he and/or the company make sure they don't mean anything. MITB '11 was supposed to be this big watershed moment for Cena, Punk and the WWE but 3 years later can you say that it means anything?
ReplyDeleteThey're sort of doing that with the Wyatts right now I feel. Cena's had the upper hand, but they keep coming at him, and Cena's getting a bit worried/frustrated.
ReplyDeleteThey support their favorites. Pit Cena against Bryan, and NO ONE would cheer for Cena.
ReplyDeleteI'll see your crazy ass at the PPV tonight.
ReplyDeleteThat could still be applied for each feud I listed.
ReplyDeleteHow much is it pitting a heel Cena again a smark favorite and how much is just general apathy toward Cena?
ReplyDeleteWe haven't seen eye to eye lately but could not agree with you more. Cena would be one of the most over heels in a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteCena vs. Bryan would have been a big money feud, and still could be.
ReplyDeleteI've long thought someone like Cena could really benefit from some off time. I think all wrestlers should get 3 months off a year to rest and recover and give the audience a break from them. I think having 4 different groups taking 3 months off a year in intervals would freshen things up. The audience is burnt out on Cena, so let him take a break and when he comes back he can seem all new and fresh again.
ReplyDeleteTurning Cena heel is one of the only "bullets" WWE had left in the chamber at this point. I agree with @cultstatus, it is a total myth that smarks would suddenly cheer him. I'll double down on that point by saying I think heel Cena stuff will still sell really well, if not better. The best selling shirts ever were nWo and Austin 3:16 shirts. Furthermore even if he does become a "cool heel", who cares? Wrestling was at its best with cool heels. I'm a John Cena Heel Turn guy.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think Spain are favourites but Belgium have a very good team as well
ReplyDeleteAlso have a feeling Ronaldo is going to single handedly drag Portugal a long way
He did take a 2-3 month break all year. And all I kept hearing was "Just wait till cena comes back and steals all of Daniel Bryan's heat away, it's gonna suck!"
ReplyDeleteLike really, there was more talk about him when he was actually away.
The issue is it doesn't work when he feuds with guys who are presented as 1980's style heels.
ReplyDeleteIt's the kind of thing that the network was made for
ReplyDeleteUSA may not be good enough to win, but building to the future is crazy. Anything can happen in the next four years. You try to win now, not four years from now.
ReplyDeleteBray can throw a bloodied Cena off the top of Hell in the Cell and take him away in a casket. Cena will just laugh about it the next night, this is the problem.
ReplyDeleteBut if Donovan is one of the (however many players are on a World Cup Team) best players in the US, he should be on the team.
ReplyDeleteThat is such an important show that everyone pays attention to. Ziggler could pin Hogan, Goldberg, Lesnar, and Roddy Piper all at once and no one would notice.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know. I've always said that I wished they would bring someone in just to worry about the midcard. Like, "Here are the main event guys that are off limits to you. Everyone else, you can book however you want."
ReplyDelete"Right now John represents nothing."
ReplyDeletethat's not 100% accurate. remember how many people (much more than one would expect) were siding with him for his WrestleMania match with The Rock? the reason: him talking about how he was there "all the time" etc. seemed genuine and true.
I'm not sure about crediting HHH fully with Bryan's win. He definitely gets credit for putting him over strong in the ring, but it was Vince's call to run with him, was it not?
ReplyDeleteRight he is a "lemon", Billy wouldn't know anything about how to get over as a wrestler.
ReplyDeletejudging by the merch sales, Bryan is nowhere near Cena (yet?).
ReplyDeleteThat's the point. He might not be, and he did himself no favors with his little "vacation" a while back.
ReplyDeleteSo if Cena were to play the coolest heel, he'd basically be a much better Batista. I would be down for that.
ReplyDeleteso you weren't invested in Cena vs. Bryan, Cena vs. Lesnar, Cena vs. Punk, Cena vs. The Rock I, ....? because I sure as hell was.
ReplyDeleteYou are talking about 5 or 6 PPV matches out of an entire 3 year period.
ReplyDeleteI have doubts that Vince didn't have to be talked into by Trips.
ReplyDeleteI'd like it too.
ReplyDeleteback then I thought he would not be able to top his accomplishment of getting almost half the crowd cheer him against The Rock..... until he went against Taker at WrestleMania and still got dueling chants (despite him clearly being positioned as the heel).
ReplyDelete2010 Batista was just awesome. I don't think Cena can pull that off. His promo leading up to WM 26 was spectacular.
ReplyDeleteisn't that just personal interpretation? I am sure that to a lot of people Cena doesn't feel "forced".
ReplyDeleteI would.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteWatch your back Mar. Where's there is one unstable more aren't far behind.
ReplyDeleteI could've sworn KENTA used the instrumental version of this...
ReplyDeleteGonna need to listen to it soon.
ReplyDeleteThat theme was perfect when Sting came back from the hospital at Clash of the Champions XVII and his music started playing while he was brawling with Rick Rude.
ReplyDeleteNo shame, I'm sometimes on here on the toilet.
ReplyDeleteYes he would. He literally has laughed off being beaten by seven guys at once. The bigger problem is the booking of shows doesn't end up meaning anything in a few weeks. It's hard to be invested in anything when you know it's not going to last.
ReplyDeleteChaz.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVE2wt_zzrE
Yeah, it was awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe truth.....has set me free.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I keep thinking that Skillet's "Circus for Psychos" should have been used in a Punk Brock video package.
ReplyDeleteNot a question of 100% clean job. It's to make Ziggler look competitive. Which did not happen, instead Cena make Ziggler look inferior. Which doesn't help anyone.
ReplyDeleteHa, Boy Scout.
ReplyDeleteShit, to go off of the Bo Dallas thing, make him his fanboy/apprentince. The unbearable suck up who accompanies him to the ring and EVERYBODY wants to see get his ass kicked.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the BoD!
ReplyDeleteI'm a Boliever.
ReplyDeleteOh, if Klinsmann genuinely thought that Donovan wasn't truly deserving of a spot, I have no issue whatsoever with that. My only point was that there was some speculation that this was a move about sacrificing the present for the future. I just didn't agree with that move, if that were the case.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, is that based on Vince's past, the way Bryan was being used prior to the big push, or something else?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I always thought he was okay. I mean, he put on good matches and was generally entertaining and ever thing, but that was just something missing with him for me.
ReplyDeleteCena on commentary would result in levels of corporate shilling unseen by even Michael Cole.
ReplyDeleteI sing it in the shower and on road trips. I'm embarrassed to play it in front of my girlfriend anymore cause it's so easily recognizable.
ReplyDeleteCan never take anyone seriously if they choose a killswitch engage song over Cult of personality, not only is it an inferior song regardless of the wrestling entrance, it doesnt make sense in regards to punks character, it's a rejected randy orton song given to punk because punk's tattoos suggested screamo, where punk is more of a you know...punk guy.
ReplyDeleteNot to me, man, that Zombie song will always be Edge's to me... that Metalingus song sucks... as a song and as an entrance
ReplyDeleteAs I mention below, a LOT of that speculation seems to be coming from butthurt bandwagon fans.
ReplyDeleteIt is that obvious and simple really. His character now is a pseudo-heel. If if turns heel, he will get cheers again. What can you do really.
ReplyDeleteHe was never one of my favorites, and he was never really the BEST at anything, but the character had become so integral to the main event so naturally & gradually. The only time I ever actively disliked him was during his post-Christian-breakup face run, because he always seemed like such a goofy pandering schmuck. Plus Christian got saddled with that weird cherry red one-piece thing that seemed specifically designed to get people not to take him seriously. It's hard to get more ludicrous than mesh tank tops, but they did it.
ReplyDeleteBrazil is THE favorite in Vegas, but yea I got Spain
ReplyDeleteas the article notes though, some of that can be explained off by differing sizes in the cities. Also if in fact we are assuming (a bold assumption) that fans know who will be on the card, we cant necessarily assume Cena doesn't have a better "backup group" than Bryan as well.
ReplyDeletewell I'm a bad example since I'm not really, nor have I been a fan of the product for the past 6-8 years (basically since Cena and Orton became the new stars. I always liked Batista though). But when I say emotionally invested, I'm not talking about specific feuds. I'm saying that fans were deeply emotionally vested in seeing Austin or Hogan or even Sting at Starcade 97 win. With Cena you have half the crowd at best emotionally invested in his winning. I think that hurts the overall product. I believe a wrestling company functions best when the top face, whether champ or a series of challengers such as in the 80s NWA, has the backing of the vast majority of the crowd. The fans were invested in seeing Cena lose to Rock, Punk, and Bryan. They were split wth Lesnar. I don't think having your top face being rooted against by half the crowd makes for a product that draws people in overall. We saw that with Hogan in WCW 94-96. The product suffered as a result.
ReplyDeleteOn the wwe website they have an events schedule and it lists the house show schedule with "superstars" that are going to appear (along with the card is subject to change disclaimer).
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks. And thank you, TBK.
ReplyDeleteNigel used "Fuckin' in the Bushes" by Oasis in ROH. I would totally use that...
ReplyDeleteIf I couldn't have Voodoo Chile, I'd go out of the box and choose Lance Storm's ECW theme -- El Phantasmo and the Chicken Run Blast-o-Rama (remix).
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lfh-zL-NIw
Wrestlemania 13 defined Austin's character - he just wouldn't quit. He had no fear, he'd take on anyone, and he was a tough motherfucker. Sometimes the odds were too much but he'd go down fighting.
ReplyDeleteCena would have kicked out of the Sharpshooter and won with the F5.
You don't fuck Roman Reigns, Roman Reigns fucks you.
ReplyDeleteGoin to the lay window baby!
ReplyDeleteHe also spent the spring getting beat by the Harts. He'd get the better of them sometimes, but they'd get him too. It was enough to keep the feud interesting.
ReplyDeleteCena probably would've jobbed to Bret, but he wouldn't have bladed or limped to the locker room. See that Backlash ppv against Brock (it's not called Backlash, but that's what I'm calling it)
The "Zombie Song" was "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)"....in case you cared. Not trying to be a know it all...I just don't contribute much around here and thought I'd share a bit on a topic I *DID* know something about. Carry on.
ReplyDeleteHear hear! I picked up on that too. Scott says Killswitch Engage is shit, but he likes Alter fucking Bridge? Heh. Different strokes and all, but DAMN....
ReplyDeleteI dunno that's so campy it almost comes around to good again for me.
ReplyDeleteI think "This Fire Burns" fits Punk's character better, and was more intense than "Cult"....as for the opening riff, I agree there, but it just never felt like they USED that "static interruption" properly. Like, you remember how the shattering glass used to interrupt Vince or Shane or whoever, and it got an instant, awesome crowd reaction? It strikes me that they never really used that element of Punk's "Cult" theme to that advantage, They would play it after his opponent had finished speaking or whatever, and it felt like....I dunno...like it was so rehearsed and anticipated.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, you're bang on about that. I'm kinda shocked that they haven't "borrowed" that tron for DoucheTista yet.
ReplyDeleteWaterproof Blonde. And yes, it was far, FAR superior to the remake.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if carrying that extra mass had anything to do with the shortening of his career?
ReplyDeleteWas that the P.O.D. song he used? I fucking HATED that.
ReplyDeleteVictoria's TaTu theme "All The Things She Said" was her best, IMO. Before they, you know, turned an intense and intimidating women's character into a booty-poppin' cheerleader, shaking her ass at all the kids in the audience.
ReplyDeleteFUCK SALT!
ReplyDeleteHe's a delusional heel who believes he's a babyface; think early Kurt Angle, minus the insane talent.
ReplyDeleteHe just needs to stop being poopy joke Super-Cena. Lose every once in a while, especially when the odds are stacked against him, and be more serious.
ReplyDeleteVince's past. 10 years, even 5 years ago, Vince would of completely ignored the whims of the audience no matter how much show hijacking occurred.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand Cena just as much as everyone else over 10 years old, but the fact is, he's a cash cow when it comes to merchandise. The WWE doesn't want to jeopardize that and who can blame them. Now maybe heel Cena would sell 10 times the merch, but it could also tank. The sad reality is that Scott's response hit's it right on the head, that Cena having a career ending injury is the only way things are going to change. As much as I can't stand super good guy Cena, I don't wish a career ending injury on him.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I've got to pick Spain until someone actually beats them, and I also feel I have to pick Brazil since the tournament is actually in Brazil. Not to mention Argentina and Germany both have powerful teams, so it'll be one of these four holding the Cup next month.
ReplyDeleteBelgium has no chance. They're this year's fresh new underdog that underachieves, probably getting on further than the first knockout round.
I think smarks hate Cena because women and children love him, and no two groups are feared and hated more by mutant wrestling fans.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness he's basically on the WWE Mount Rushmore, been a top guy longer than Bret Hart's entire run with the company, never fucks up out of the ring, never gets hurt, never takes time off, works with everybody, and gets pretty much universal props from everyone involved in the industry EXCEPT dudes who like to cheer for cool heels.
I think Scott, and a lot of IWC peeps', real beef with Cena is that he got the big babyface push that Your Favorite Guy (whoever he may be) never got. He won the title in the biggest show of the year, and basically didn't lose clean for 3 and a half years, never backed down from anybody, never allowed himself to look weak. If you read old SmarK rants there's ALWAYS a dude Scott is chastising the WWE about for messing up their push (and he's usually right) and when the hardcore fans blanched and Cena in this spot, the WWE kept their head down, didn't panic, and stayed the course. And the hardcore fans were forced to acknowledge their powerlessness over the product EVERY NIGHT.
Personally, Cena's the only dude left in wrestling that gets a rise out of me, and the only dude amongst my friends (who hate him) who can inspire passion. The dueling chants (which, except for a few rare exceptions are always ignoring who Cena's in the ring with) give Cena's matches the feeling of ACTUAL SPORT in a weird way, where there is a "home team" and a "road team."
I'm sure this will take a lot of flak, but he's pretty the last guy who you can make any kind of GOAT WWE Champion case for, and he's probably got another 5 years in him, fuck off haters.
It's never gonna be a major sport, but seeing that it's grown to where we have a lot of MLS-only stadiums that fills all the seats every game is a pretty good stabilizer. With the cycle of our best players going overseas and Euro players winding down their careers here, it will never be a top-flight league, but the fact that we actually have a B+ league that will last after so many false starts is a pretty good measure of success. Combine that with the rising ratings of European soccer on TV to where watching the EPL, La Liga, the Champions League is easy to find, I think the sport has gained a lot of popularity. Never going to be THE sport, but every roster needs solid midcarders.
ReplyDeleteHe did. It ruled
ReplyDeleteAnd they even have access to a guy with experience in doing that with Jimmy Hart.
ReplyDeleteI laffed
ReplyDeleteBut nobody says that Cena has to be then heel forever. Turn him heel, let him rule the world as champion for six months or so and then let the new chosen one beat him for the title and then Cena can turn face and he can be the face merch cash cow again.
ReplyDeleteAnd if he sells even more merch, when he is heel, then just let him be heel a little bit more.
I don't understand the fear of losing him, because a) you can turn him back any time you want and b) we have new guys like Daniel Bryan who can be a good new top face (if he is fit ;-))
There are a ton of guys that would be great at it. Hart, Heyman, HHH (why not?), Cornette is he wasn't impossible to get along with. It's just such a simple solution, but we all know it probably won't happen.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably correct. I've said before that I really trust the future of the company to be in HHH's hands.
ReplyDeleteI never even considered that. That would be pretty incredible.
ReplyDelete"Smarks" apparently include two-thirds of the crowd- and why don't these smarks hate Bryan, The Shield, Punk, etc? Those kids and women love those guys, too- and I don't think we have to dig too deep for why they don't like him: he's been doing the same uninteresting thing for way too long of a time. I like Cena, and I generally agree that sticking with him all this time has mostly been the right thing, and from an objective standpoint I think a majority of these so-called hater smarks would say the same.
ReplyDeleteBut just because you acknowledge that something makes smart, safe business sense doesn't mean you have to find it interesting or critically appeasing.
I didn't watch wrestling when I was 10 years old. I didn't become a fan until I was in high school, so my reasons for enjoying it are somewhat different than the childlike wonder instilled in others.
ReplyDeleteAgain, you're basing your entire argument on a false premise: "obviously everyone liked wrestling better when they were 10, therefore wrestling is obviously marketed toward kids."
Not only is the setup of the premise false- not everyone liked wrestling better when they were kids than now or at any point thereafter- but even if that part was true, that doesn't mean it's marketed toward kids. It's a kid-friendly product to create/build/sustain a younger generation of fans, sure, but the majority of fans is still right where they're targeting: us. The coveted 18-to-49 demo.
Fair enough. I have no problem with the coach doing what he thinks his best for the team.
ReplyDeleteLol Cena got the biggest pop of the night last night when he went over, don't inflate your importance.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's no such thing as an objective viewpoint except money made and Cena DESTROYS everyone but Hogan, rock, and Austin there. He owns and he's STILL the dude the crowd has the biggest investment in one way or the other.
"Don't overinflate your importance?" You're just saying words with no regard to them actually meaning anything at this point.
ReplyDeleteAnd apparently you aren't reading them because if you had you'd see that I said objectively, most smarks would say sticking with Cena as your top babyface has been the right move for most of the last decade. But you seem to think that we should act beholden to that knowledge when we form our opinions of what we enjoy or don't enjoy.
For that matter, we shouldn't necessarily be beholden to that knowledge when forming an opinion on what would be [HHH]best for business.[/HHH] Cena's been a safe, reliably bankable choice during a period of good-but-not-great business, but WWE's greatest successes have been when they've gambled big. Granted, they've usually been forced to do so, but nothing about Cena is a gamble, or a shot taken at winning huge.
I've said it before, but Cena is the Cal Ripken of baseball. He's done little that was transcendently, all-time great. His greatness is in being remarkably reliable, consistent and durable for a really long time.
I'm not disputing that he gets an enormous crowd reaction; I've written multiple times that the mixed reaction for Cena is not only not a problem, but arguably a positive; he's already a heel for those that want him to be. But "the biggest pop of the night?" C'mon, dude. It was a loud reaction that was mixed. Daniel Bryan and the Shield got much louder pure babyface reactions. Because they're much more popular as pure babyfaces.
I watched the show. That's what happened.
Check the pop when he won. It was nuts and it wasn't mixed.
ReplyDeleteStrange how 90% of the time it's the people who are nowhere near top condition who are totally ready to yell "steroids" anytime someone is in good shape...
ReplyDeleteLike I said: I watched the show. It was mixed. And that isn't a knock on Cena. Unlike the guy who sent this e-mail, I don't see any cognitive dissonance with Cena. At the risk of being a WWE shill, I think it's simple: cheer who you want, boo who you want. I think the WWE does more than merely pay lip service to this idea, too, hence Bray's "growing following" being such a big part of that storyline despite him nominally being the heel.
ReplyDeleteHow good of shape does one need to be in to see a physique so jacked that not even NFL players can match it? Or to be aware that pro wrestlers often use steroids?
ReplyDeleteTo me, it seems like you could be the scrawniest/fattest guy alive and recognize this as long as your a)vision and b)cognitive reasoning abilities are working.
While my cognitive reasoning abilities are often suspect, they are sufficiently working for me to note that there's not really a logical connection between your NFL point, the fact that other wrestlers are often on the juice, that somehow magically points to Cena being on the juice. Cena eats super clean *and* like a horse, works out 6 days a week has some pretty phenomenal genetics.
ReplyDeleteIf Cena *was* on the juice with his diet and schedule, he's a lot likelier to look like Dexter Jackson or the bodybuilder Jay Cutler, not like an athletic human being who's above 6 feet tall. He also was a previously competitive bodybuilder whose only record is of being in all-natural competition and he's had his body since around that time or slightly before it anyway.
None of what I wrote states that Cena *isn't* on the juice either. My point was that most of the time I hear the "Cena's obviously on the juice" stuff it is from guys who are noticeably out of shape and don't look like they've seen the inside of a gym in their life. To be fair, I am reading it mostly from a wrestling blog which skews the dynamic some. ;)