Does it bother you as much as it bothers me that whenever a WWE Superstar leaves the ring...they always have to walk backwards and look at their opponent while their opponent looks back and them and attempts to appear angry? Just walk the fuck away.
Yeah, well that's a WWE thing that they teach in NXT along with always working to the hard camera and a billion other stupid little things that no one used to care about but now get hardwired into them. Goddamned indy geeks, with all their bad habits like going for a pin opposite of the hard camera. Fuckers.
I don't remember a build to either of those matches. I remember rumors of them based on things that had happened 8-10 months before, but that's hardly a build to a Wrestlemania match.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I hate is that every entrance seems to be in the same sequence....guy enters ring, goes to hard camera turnbuckle, does a generic pose, and then repeat for his or her opponent.
ReplyDeleteWell for this year they've got Sting. It's Sting in WWE, he's the last biggest living guy who's never appeared at Wrestlemania before, that'll be the big sideshow draw.
ReplyDeleteAfter that though...I dunno. I have a feeling it's going to be lots more Triple H, Cena, and Orton, probably with some Big Show and Kane in there, but really hope I'm wrong.
Thing that bothers me is that no one can enter without music anymore. Not even for a surprise run in. So there will be a match going on, and suddenly music will start playing. If I'm in that match, I'm as upset with the music guy as anyone. That damn music guy has cost many a wrestler a match!
ReplyDeletethere going to have to get big names back in the ring. i expect wwe to try and get stone cold for next year as well as hbk. id love to see hbk vs the rock next year at mania.or rock vs batista.but if they dont come back then they better make someone real fast
ReplyDeleteI wasn't paying much attention at the time, so I had no idea they were ever leaning towards Taker/Barrett. But if they'd gone ahead with it they could have had exactly the same match and it would have gotten Barrett over huge. Actually the same would have been true for Taker/Sheamus.
ReplyDeleteWhen did that start, anyway? I'm fairly positive it was late Attitude Era, but that crap's been bugging me FOREVER.
ReplyDeleteI see someone doing a skit where someone is trying to mug someone, but the damn audio guy keeps playing their theme music.
Know what I miss? Ring robes. Guys coming out in just trunks or at most a T-shirt is just not the same.
ReplyDeletewhat bothers me is when guys are on there back selling but moving there tights or kneepads or moving there shirts.davey boy smith and tommy dreamer did that alot
ReplyDeleteNot really a surprise if your music gets played. God, I HATE that shit.
ReplyDeleteI still think a wrestler wearing earplugs so he's immune to that horseshit would be funny.
I'd say early AE, maybe even before that depending on when you consider the AE as having started. I think it (the whole playing your music when doing a run-in bit) first started when Raw went to 2 hours, or at least when it became Raw is War/War Zone. Though at first it was only top guys that did it, midcarders had to run in with no music like a schmuck.
ReplyDeleteI hate hate hate it when a guy gets slammed in the wrong position and has to crawl to the right place for his opponent to hit his top rope finisher.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the agent I would chew the guy out for not slamming his opponent in the right place. Hell, he could've easily dragged his opponent to the proper position.
That too, it's like everyone has their own take on the Austin or Rocky entrance.
ReplyDeleteI miss Raven's entrance, where he'd just walk down and sit in the corner.
I gotta give the HIAC and the one before that a watch again. I mean, whether or not you think their Wrestlemania X7 match was over-booked, it was certainly entertaining. Crazy bumps, a sick last ride counter with the sledge hammer, and all sorts of shenanigans that had me on the edge of my seat.
ReplyDeleteOh, that just looks so unbelievably fake. Your casual fan probably doesn't even notice and we've just kind of come to accept it, but a non-fan would be like "why the fuck did he do that?" And for a company that tries this hard to break indy habits that is incredibly Natty league.
ReplyDeleteLot of old men "it was better in my day" in these comment threads/posts lately. :). I wonder if this is how the Bruno people would've been in the 80s if the internet was around then.
ReplyDeleteSigned,
A guy who slightly prefers the 80s era to now
While we're talking about production quirks that piss us off, I'd like to when a guy makes his surprise return and the announcers start reeling off history and stats and shit instead of, you know, being surprised. Sting at SS and pretty much the entire RR15 commentary. ROH does it quite often too.
ReplyDeleteIt happened in the Attitude Era but as you said not everyone came out with music. Austin did it because anytime he would surprise run in the glass shattering would blow up the universe. Now EVERYONE runs in with music.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. And Austin wasn't looking for a shitty distraction finish either, he was there to beat the shit out of people, didn't matter to him if you knew he was coming, you were no less fucked. Plus he'd actually run in. That's the worst part of the distraction finish, the guy coming out doesn't even do anything, he just stands at the top of the ramp and the guy in the ring is like "Oh shit, that guy is 50 yards away what do I do now?" and he gets rolled up from behind. Fuck. That. That's why the 3 on 1 match with Cena just infuriated me. That and the fact that Rollins had to eat the pin when Kane and Big Show were RIGHT FUCKING THERE.
ReplyDeleteYou, Brian. Fuck you.
ReplyDeleteYou had to know that was coming.
Yeah whatever...that match, story, follow up, build for rematch,match and psychology of the match was fucking awesome. Will gladly explain it to any doubters. And the Cell not playing a part in the match made absolutely no difference to me.
ReplyDeleteWhile the crowd just shits all over it.
ReplyDeleteI'm OK with something coming out of nowhere with a small build if it results in an interesting matchup. Not all the time because the main shows suck at building things up, but take Punk/Jericho; all the "CM Drunk" stuff was stupid, I would've been perfectly fine had it just been over "You say you're the best in the world, but *I* say I'm the Best In the World At What I Do, so stop calling yourself that or you'll experience first-hand why you're a lying sycophant" et al.
ReplyDeleteThat grunt off is a sublime bit of awesome pro wrestling stupidity. If you enjoyed nothing else that's a good segment that holds up.
ReplyDeleteUltimate Warrior run-in at WM VIII is the first one I recall.
ReplyDeleteThe last time Undertaker had made an appearance before WM27, the Nexus was helping Kane bury UT alive. The rumour was that Undertaker would return at Wrestlemania and have to work with a team to face both Kane and the Nexus, with the idea being that there would be more drama at having the Streak possibly end if a teammate got pinned. It would've been a clever way to give 3-4 other guys the Streak rub at the same time, as Taker's hand-picked team to destroy Nexus once and for all. This would've been much better than the stall-fest with HHH.
ReplyDeleteIt was your typical case of HHH trying to fool everyone into thinking he's an actual legend by trying to top the Michaels/Taker classics at the previous Manias. It's ridiculous that two years of the Streak were essentially wasted on this "end of an era" nonsense. If it was HHH vs. Taker at WM27, okay fine, the story is Triple H trying to avenge his buddy's career, I can dig it. But running the match AGAIN at WM28 was just a waste of everyone's time, especially when they had to include the Cell and Michaels as the ref to gimmick it all up.
ReplyDeleteReigns, Ambrose and Rollins are all 2-0 at Wrestlemania. My guess is that at least one of them gets to go on another 'streak' for a few years to build it up as the new unbeaten mark to chase. Ideally, all three guys would get streaks for the next few years to eventually build to them all facing off at future Wrestlemanias.
ReplyDeleteJake's return to Raw was the last one they really sold the surprise for. I think everyone, from Ambrose to Cole, was genuinely marking out. :)
ReplyDeleteAt NXT Rival, Corbin looked a solid step less badass coming out in a tshirt instead of the biker jacket. That really irritated me for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI miss Raven in general. A feud between in-his-prime Raven and Bray Wyatt would have been brilliant.
ReplyDeleteActually, that's another thing I miss - factions and faction feuds.
One of the major reasons there's so many roll-up finishes is because they want the defeated competitor to be able to react to being defeated, something they can't do at least immediately if they had just taken a finisher.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't mean i still don't hate the whole fucking thing though.
Fuck that. Losing to rollups and shit, with plenty of notable exceptions, makes a guy look weak, and does nothing for the other guy's finisher. A big, built properly up match, that finish is fine, they fought so hard that one guy was able to score a quick pin. Some Raw match? End it with the finisher.
ReplyDeleteYou know what's a great reaction to losing? Sami Zayn knocked the fuck out at the hands of Kevin Owens
ReplyDeleteTaker vs Barrett? I don't remember that ever being discussed.. Or sheamus and triple h rematch for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the few here who loves the Cell match from 28. I thought their match at 27 was good but 28 was great.
ReplyDeleteThe three dream matches that are left are rock vs hbk, austin vs cena and taker vs cena
ReplyDeleteI was watching some 1989 NWA stuff the other night. Lex Luger and the Midnight Express had some sweet robes.
ReplyDeleteI think it was because everybody saw it for what it was - Triple H trying to outdo Shawn Michaels.
ReplyDeleteGuys in TNA (or at least Roode from the top of my head) still come out in robes. It's true though, not something you see a lot anymore.
ReplyDeleteOne minor annoyance for me is when 2 guys are going to have a match and they talk about how they're going to "tear the house down" or "have a 5 star match" and don't even make a single mention of actually trying to win the match.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated. As for how I do it: I love wrestling. Even if it's the worst show of the week, I still find it more entertaining than almost anything else on TV. You never know when you're going to see something awesome like the Rumble three way or get to enjoy NXT going from just a basic promotion to the most awesome show in forever.
ReplyDeleteThe Network makes it even better. I grew up in the 1990s and was lucky to get to rent one PPV a week for $5 from Blockbuster. For less than double that, I can now get every pay per view ever plus a bunch more stuff. Add in all the other non-WWE stuff like New Japan, Lucha Underground (really entertaining show that flies under the radar), TNA, PWG and ROH and there's such a variety of options out there.
It's an amazing time to be a wrestling fan but if you read people's reactions to it, we're in the dark ages because Roman Reigns might win the WWE World Title and WWE NEVER listens to its fans, because Wrestlemania XXX was such a big middle finger to what the masses wanted right?
Having said that, I can understand how lavish robes didn't fit with the AE aesthetic.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Orton won the Rumble six years ago. He spends forever pointing at the sign and gets visibly angry since there's no pyro going off. He then talks to the ref and clambers onto the turnbuckle to point at the sign, at which point he finally gets his pyro.
ReplyDeleteEveryone except for the live crowd I guess, who ate the segment up (and incidentally popped louder for HHH's crotch chop than they did for 'Taker's throat-slitting taunt).
ReplyDeleteSomething else which has crept into the Rumble that I HATE is that numbers 1 and 2 seemingly HAVE to have a staredown at a predetermined angle, so they can then turn their head and stare at the Wrestlemania sign... and then resume their staredown. This also happens with most major staredowns throughout the Rumble. It has become SO cliché and corny. HORRIBLE.
ReplyDeleteThe last really good robes I remember, in WWE at any rate, were Goldusts when he first appeared in 1996.
ReplyDeleteOne instance that really sticks in my mind of NOT performing to the hard camera was Undertaker's first ever televised Tombstone on Koko at Survivor Series 1990. On that occasion it really would have been nice for him to turn around, being the debut of the move and all.
ReplyDeleteEven though the fans and audience liked it. A waste of time, eh?
ReplyDeleteI've never understood a guy saying that, unless it's a face/face match.
ReplyDeleteMuch like the 50/50 nonsense, it ends up helping no one.
So it's just honest to god enthusiasm for this crazy stupid sport that brings us together.
ReplyDeleteThe negative snarky stuff can be fun to read sometimes, but at the end of the day we're all here because we love wrestling (well, except for maybe Mr. Satan).
WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT THESE THINGS?!?!
ReplyDeleteRemember when we just enjoyed the wrestling, and ignored how stupid it was? Like when we watch the Expendables?
Yeah 27 was good...but 28 got me back into wrestlin . The storyline of Undertaker being an unstoppable force, no matter how old or broken down was great and compelling.
ReplyDeleteI also really loved the storytelling and role reversal of their second program. At 27(and like pretty much every Undertaker Mania match since 21) the story was someone challenging Taker and that they were going to break his streak. But with the build to 28 it was Undertaker challenging HHH. It was Undertaker demanding a match and calling HHH Out. A complete reversal of their first match and reminiscent of the second Shawn program where Shawn desperately perused a rematch. This time it was Undertaker and that was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I see people complaining about how they're quitting the Network because *insert show here* isn't on it yet. I have to bite my tongue to keep from telling them to just stop watching altogether because it's clear that they're here to complain about any little thing they can find and don't want to just enjoy what's being offered to them. Not liking the product is fine (WWE is incredibly boring at the moment and full of problems), but stuff like complaining that all the stuff you get on the Network isn't enough comes off as complaining for the sake of complaining.
ReplyDeleteThey were the best thing about 27 so I don't understand if people still dislike it.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Hunter do one of those things in the build up where he (either deliberately or inadvertantly) buried the entire roster by claiming that titles were worthless, that he was so far ahead of everyone else and that the only thing that was important was the streak?
ReplyDelete100%, and you actually see it a lot from "indy darlings". I've seen it a number of times in NXT.
ReplyDeleteThat was so funny I had to upvote that
ReplyDeleteThat was probably just HHH in the lunch line on an average Monday.
ReplyDeleteIMMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT BEYONCE'S LAST ALBUM WAS BETTER THAN ANYTHING MARVIN GAYE PUT OUT!-Yeezus
ReplyDeleteNope
ReplyDeleteis the 27 match where Undertaker fucks up the gogoplata at the end?
ReplyDeletekayfabe-wise I think so - Neville looks like Dynamite Kid.
ReplyDeleteNever liked when the champion comes out first. That for me trumps all the other minor annoyances in this fake sport. Oh that and when a guy is knocked out after a finisher and he fixes a wedgie.
ReplyDeleteI do. That was the Bryan/sheamus wm rumor in its day.
ReplyDeleteDivas tend to do the clothes adjustment thing more than men, They are knocked out completely, but they'll still adjust their top or move hair out of their faces.
ReplyDeleteToo true. Listen ladies, if your tit falls out when you hit the mat, you goddamn well lay there with your tit out. Kayfabe. Screen caps. This is what's important.
ReplyDeleteThat was always so cool, because he seemed to be saying, "Let me know when this whole bullshit is over, so I can start wrestling."
ReplyDeleteBecause pointing at a sign is a suuuuuuuper lame way of saying all of those things.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly!
ReplyDeleteI saw Roman Reigns quickly fix his hair after he was dropped outside the ring during Smackdown. Not like it's going to stay in place for the rest of the match.
ReplyDeleteThat was on a Total Divas episode; one of them was planning to stage a wardrobe malfunction and the head of talent caught wind of the plan and went off on the poor Diva. If it's staged, you can blur it and build on it if it gets some heat.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Rollup finishes protect the guy jobbing (I refer to an actual pin combination rollup, not the dreaded distraction finish) because it looks like someone just caught them up and if they hadnt got caught it could have gone the other way. A finisher means you clearly and decisively beat your opponent, and it does less to protect the jobbing one.
ReplyDelete2/8/1997. Undertaker tombstones HHH on the escalator in New York City's Penn Station and a KO'ed Trips takes the ride down. I will always remember that more than any WM match they've had.
ReplyDeleteNexus interfered in a Taker/Kane match so everyone assumed we were getting Taker/Nexus.
ReplyDeleteThe best sign pointer will always be Michael Cole at RR2012.
ReplyDeleteTaker/Barrett was definitely rumoured, after Barrett had lead the Nexus Even n taking Taker out months before. Of course by Mania we had The Corre and Punk's Nexus.
ReplyDeleteTo me it depends on whether the history is relevant. I agree for Sting its just BS, especially as he's had no interaction with HHH before in storyline or real world. But for someone like Kevin Owens and Sami then a brief mention of the history can add a lot - especially when they have both real world and keyfabe history. You can combine suprise and history - "oh my god that's Sami 's best friend Kevin Owen powerbombing him on the apron".
ReplyDeleteY'KNOW I'M DOWNRIGHT DIRTY, RUTHLESS MOVEMENT, WHY DYA HAVE TO RUIN ALL THE MUSIC?!
ReplyDeleteThat.
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrestled, I always tried to snap suplex them in to position. It's always accurate. And hey, if it isn't, just drag them into position, stomp them, and go.
It really isn't hard, and it's definitely annoying seeing people shuffle in to position. Good call.
How the hell does it protect a guy being unable to kick out because you're in such a state of shock from hearing entrance music that he can't kick out of a simple rollup? If anything, it makes the guy look like a putz AND weak.
ReplyDeleteIf they wanted to incorporate distractions, have a guy get distracted and then eat a finisher. Imagine Rollins getting distracted at Bryan on the ramp, and Ziggler hits the Zig-Zag from behind. At least Rollins only looks like a putz.
I think the worst thing is the awful camera work that goes on now. The constant cuts, the zooming in and out, once in awhile I actually get dizzy from watching it. It is terrible. I miss the days when this was treated like a legit sport and the camera reflected it.
ReplyDeleteLuger did that and fix his hair CONSTANTLY. It drove me nuts.
ReplyDeleteThis is clearly not the blog for you.
ReplyDeleteThe HHH/Taker matches are awesome, but I think the build-ups for most matches today are just horrible in general, especially undercard matches where there really is no feud and the winner does not matter. I enjoy the old stuff so much because they placed meaning on the winner, whether it was getting the share of the winner's purse or that they were moving up in the contender rankings. Now who cares? My favorite recent example was the Ryback/Henry match from Wrestlemania 29. They feuded, Henry won the match. Next night on RAW, Henry gets a title match, but it doesn't end in much, but then Ryback runs to the ring and does his heel turn and gets into a title feud...even though he just lost last night. Therefore the Henry/Ryback match means absolutely nothing. There are countless examples of that. Winning and losing a match means nothing anymore.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I used to love it when Jesse Ventura would call it out.
ReplyDeleteI know right. I loved that hell in the cell match. Drama in it was off the charts. The real mania waste will ALWAYS be not running Cena/Taker instead of Cena/Rock II. I'm not saying don't ever not do it (because it made money) but in a perfect world Cena would have lost to Brock, put over say a Zigler at summerslam then take a few months off because he starts doubting himself. Gives us fans a break and then he reappears at the rumble and wins it. Instead of challenging for the belt he challenges for the streak. THEN the next mania you do Cena/Rock II.
ReplyDeleteI should also point out I thought the Expendables was rubbish.
ReplyDeleteYes...Undertaker vs Triple H was a terrible match...I will forever lament The Undertaker not facing Bad News Barret at Wrestlemania.
ReplyDeleteEh, I just think we are all just fans that grew up on wrestling when it was treated like wrestling and not some manufactured junk. I'm not losing sleep over wrestling, but I kind if wish for the days when I can suspend disbelief again.
ReplyDeleteI think it did play a part if you think about it. I remember many too liking it at first, but seems a lot of opinions changed over time. Like people suddenly felt bad for liking a Triple H match.
ReplyDeleteStoryline wise those were some great four years.
ReplyDeleteIf someone wasn't thrown to the outside sixty seconds into every match, would there never be commercials? Would Smackdown just roll on?
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me? Point to the time in IWC history where we have EVER just "enjoyed wrestling."
ReplyDeleteNitpicking is what we DO. It's what's we're ABOUT. And it has ALWAYS been as such.
No, fans would have just looked at it as Taker's teammate losing.
ReplyDeleteNetcop Scott Keith was born because people were just as nit-picky about watching wrestling in 1990 as we are now. They just didn't have the forum everyone has now.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people just enjoyed NXT Rival.
ReplyDeleteNot me. I nit picked the SHIT out of that show. Sasha Banks kicked out a millisecond too soon on a certain nearfall and I detracted 1/4*
Tough but fair.
ReplyDeleteTrips just patting him on the back and smirking was some really fine psychology too I thought.
ReplyDeleteIt's just such a dumb thing to say. As long as there have been people discussing wrestling on the internet, those people have by and large been critiquing it.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great little moment and I loved the callback from the previous year. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI bought Mania 28 for that match. Rock/Cena and Punk/Jericho just sweetened the pot.
I hate that.
ReplyDeleteTough Butt Fair: name of Art Vandelay's sex tape!
ReplyDeleteOh man the camera work is awful! The Shield's first couple of matches and attacks featuring the zoom in and zoom out crap.
ReplyDeleteMultiple distraction finishes on a show.
ReplyDeleteI think my annoyance's come from watching referees. A bad referee cadence can distract me more than it should.
ReplyDeleteScott Armstrong I'm looking at you.
I didn't mind the match or the angle leading up to it. They were right to put Undertaker against big opponents for the last few years of The Streak. My only beef was them completely ignoring the Wrestslemania 17 match they had. My other beef is them avoiding Cena vs. Undertaker, which could have been a big money match, now it's too late. All 3 Triple H vs. Undertaker matches were very enjoyable as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteNothing kills a guys aura as a legend faster for me then having the branding department hammer me over the head with the notion.
ReplyDeleteIt's no different than WM itself. It seems less and less important every year. If they put 1/3 the effort and budget into actually making it epic as they do into telling you how epic it is, then it would be a much more enjoyable experience.
To be fair, last year's mania was pretty dope.
ReplyDeleteI remember there was a gif going around of Bully Ray (I think) rolling himself onto a table on a TNA show and it was embarrassingly bad.
ReplyDeleteRemember when they built up the Hell in a Cell match at WM 28 as the "End of an Era" and Triple H, Undertaker, and Shawn all hugged at the top of the stage when it was over? Well, Triple H and Undertaker both wrestled matches at WM 29, 30, and will wrestle at 31. What era exactly was it ending?
ReplyDeleteThe era of Mister_E_Mahn having never gagged from overblown melodrama at the end of a WM match.
ReplyDeleteI miss tag teams actually feeling like teams and having a team name and a general feel to the team.
ReplyDeleteI know there are some exceptions (like the Usos, Ascension, etc), but nothing annoys me more than a thrown-together team of two singles guys who tag for a while - possibly even taking the belts - but don't actually end up with a team name, look or finisher.
Also, one major MAJOR bugbear of mine is how established tag teams are used as enhancement talent for singles guys. No thrown-together-for-the-night team should ever go over an established tag team, unless they're serious jobbers like Los Matadores, because the existing tag team should be seen as being more experienced and knowledgeable of how to work in tandem.
I miss when the bad guy would drag the good guy up to the ropes right in front of the ringside camera and just give em a fish hook and rake his face and talk trash to the camera.
ReplyDeleteThe Usos were tag champs for what seemed like all year, but I remember Batista and Orton treating them like they were nothing at all around Mania time.
ReplyDeleteThe.... sexy referee Shawn Michaels era? Did he ever ref again? I can't recall.
ReplyDeleteExactly. If they want to have jobbers, then have jobbers. Don't feed the fucking TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS to random main eventers for the hell of it.
ReplyDelete(The same goes for any belt holder, frankly - the IC Champ especially. The legacy of that belt has been utterly destroyed and it's a damn shame.)
Henry over Ryback is a small scale booking decision I still scratch my head over.
ReplyDeleteThe Jim Ross era.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bad comparison. WM is the only PPV they put thought and effort into the look and atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteBUT HOW MUCH FOR THE PLASTIC SURGERY, MAN?!
ReplyDeleteBut they put 10x whatever that effort is into telling you how epic it is. The more hyperbole that they put into it, the less interesting that it is to me.
ReplyDeleteHe refereed the Bryan/Orton 2013 Hell in a Cell match.
ReplyDeleteShow me, don't tell me.
ReplyDeleteThis is an industry that is based on hyperbole. That's the whole point of stadium shows, elaborate entrances and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteIt's a big deal because it's hyped as a big deal. Otherwise it's just Battleground or a Payback or whatever.
I've said this before, but if you even have to think about the ref, unless he gets bumped or something that's supposed to be part of the match, he's not doing his job right.
ReplyDeleteWas that during that period that some reddit guy was giving away all the results qith 100% accuracy, and so eventually each show they switched some match at random right at the last minute?
ReplyDeleteLots of back and forth about HHH and peoples opinions of him. Let's cut through the shit. Was this the match where Shawn was crying in the corner for half of the match? Because that was hysterical bullshit for the over dramatic.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like some of that stuff, but for me there's a line. When it's way overblown that takes me out of it. That makes me feel like I'm just watching two grown men in their underwear doing something that actually has zero importance to it whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteThat's totally different from what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteHated that. Hated "I'm sorry, I love you" too.
ReplyDeleteGive. Me. A. Fucking. Break.
I hate when the babyface wins and the heel manager/partner runs in to beat them up, the babyface escapes through the ropes and the fresh heel acts like the ropes are now a concrete wall they couldn't possibly get through to chase the tired babyface.
ReplyDeleteThat...would explain a lot about that.
ReplyDeleteLoved it. But I'm more of a storytelling guy than a work rate guy when grading matches. I love it but I understand why others don't.
ReplyDeleteSimilar thought, I hate the WM27 match but understand why others like it.
The worst is the Diva version with the walk backwards to the curtain waving "bye-bye" while the diva in the ring does a bunch of sassy head movements followed up with a "talk to the hand" and whatever the fuck else they do
ReplyDeleteI never, ever do this sort of thing but a few months ago, I used the feedback section of wwe.com to complain about the shaking camera. It's so obnoxious and although my comment won't change anything, I needed to tell someone in the company.
ReplyDeleteAlot of it too, which Scott didn't mention, was the fact that most everyone was anticipating Sting to sign to the company and be Takers opponent for WM27. So when you get no Sting and its just HHH, you get an ehhhh response
ReplyDeleteLol that was WM28. And it was overkill
ReplyDeleteThe chairshot to the head in the match is honesty what I remember most from it. That was pretty shocking
ReplyDeleteI've never noticed anything wrong with wrestling.
ReplyDeleteGlad they didn't stick with the original booking. Taker vs Triple H was great. Those other matches would have been decent I guess.
ReplyDeleteI complain about this constantly but since we have a post for it, why not? Why isn't The Authority concerned with putting on a good show and making money? It boggles my mind that they feud with the top faces for no reason. There is a guy holding the world title that never shows up to work and they don't have a problem with that guy. Drives me up the wall.
ReplyDeleteNot even that, but if we're not allowed to critique stuff, what's the point in even watching? As fans, if we can't look back on a football game and question a coach's decision to punt, instead of go for it, why even bother? To me, that's a lot of the fun in watching wrestling, movies, sports, etc: Discussing various aspects of what we saw, and what they could have done differently.
ReplyDeleteWhich is weird, because that was intended entirely for the audience and that's entirely how they write their show now. You'd think that would be popular.
ReplyDeleteYou really need to listen to that new D'Angelo record, pal.
ReplyDeleteI think those finishes are great. It protects the guy and sets things up for future matches where the blow off can be the guy finally losing to the finisher.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. At least Vince McMahon openly said at one point that he hated Austin, but at least he was bringing in cash. It seems like almost every heel authority figure since then has feuded with the top face because, "Well, isn't that we're supposed to do?"
ReplyDeleteNo what wasn't good? late 70's to early 80's porn. Nearly ever chick looking like she has a Wyatt family member in a head scissors.
ReplyDeleteYou should watch TNA. It's almost always ONLY factions and faction feuds.
ReplyDeleteThis.....
ReplyDeleteWhy not actually do what is best for business?
I love female wrestlers...I hate WWE Divas.
ReplyDeleteNot really, no
ReplyDeleteLack of actually tag-team finishers are really annoying
ReplyDeleteEh....that's on instance when it was done right. I think it works only when guys have been gone for a while.
ReplyDeleteThe replays. WE JUST SAW THAT! Why on earth do we need to see it again, from 5 angles, in the middle of the match? You show highlights after the match is over, not during.
ReplyDeleteThey're telling stories nerd.
ReplyDeleteYou know what I can't get enough of? Six levels of authority feuding with each other over who actually holds power. I love when the announcers need a flow chart to explain who holds what power and what that actually means. I really like when there are at least three different authority figures on RAW. My favorite time when was Vickie was Interim GM, Brad Maddox her assistant, HHH and Steph as more powerful talking heads that would constantly mock her, and Vince as a strutting pile of testosterone that would grunt every now and then.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think the odds are that Taker saw Wasteland for the first time, laughed and vetoed the Barrett match.
ReplyDeleteDon't they also do this in every other major sport, though? I know in football they do it as a part of the whole "stall for a few minutes" thing they do between each play.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when the announcers talk. About anything. Every one of them. Blithering idiots.
ReplyDeleteI miss bad guys doing bad things. Choke a guy with the tag rope, give him a boot scrape, rope burn his eyes...GET HEEL HEAT!!!
ReplyDeletebecause it doesn't resemble the wrestling that a lot of started enjoying in the first place? I know its crazy that some things can change for the worse, but it does happen. Generic looking wrestlers, spinning to hit your finisher to the hard camera, interviews that only look at hard camera, backward walking up the ramp....all stupid changes that has made the product look more "corporate" and less like "wrestling. Its a nuanced concept that is hard for the knuckle-draggers to understand.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find hilarious is how Vince is so insecure he has them literally vocalizing to the audience how they're supposed to be reacting. I know the JBL "We're have fun" thing is a meme here, but god, that's some of the worst live production I've ever been witness to.
ReplyDeleteCould be worse. I know you're a Brit but they had the NBA Dunk/Skills Contest last night and those guys talked through EVERYTHING.
ReplyDeleteI think Cole mentioned on air he has a reference book of every wrestlers weight and highlights. If I'm remembering this correctly it's the best "thinking on his feet" moment ever for explaining not being surprised.
ReplyDeleteI can confirm too that there are english football commentators (Michael Owen, Andy Townsend to name but too) who are actually a thousand times worse than Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T combined.
ReplyDeleteFalse tags behind the refs back in tag matches. The baby face getting the hot tag, but the ref doesn't see it, due to being distracted by the heels.
ReplyDeleteGood line.
ReplyDeleteI watch the Expendables for the tight pacing and plots.
ReplyDeleteScott Armstrong should have his goddamn arms ripped off and be bludgeoned to death with them.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense in football, cause there's downtime. Wrestling there is, or should be, still action happening in the ring.
ReplyDeleteHere's where I'll disagree. When that was happening in the '80s with Hogan and Bruno, it was justified because the new production techniques, presentation, and characters were drawing in a new and larger fanbase. The changes they've been making over the last twenty years have actually caused their audience to dwindle. They've taken all the good parts and cut them out to make a "slicker" production without actually having any reason for that beyond the corporate appeal of being able to use bullshit investor parlance like streamline and synergy.
ReplyDeleteNothing captivates a wrestling audience like arguing about corporate structure.
ReplyDeleteI wish, the day after Mania, they would reset. No more HHH and Stephanie, no corporation and a new heel faction arises that is run by WRESTLERS to feud with whoever is the babyface champ.
No, there's downtime is football so they can do those things, not the other way around. The downtime, and by extension the replays and other gimmickry, in football only exists so they include commercials and product sponsors.
ReplyDeleteThat's why Vince is doing it, and why USA wants a three-hour show. Football was engineered through the '70s and '80s to become a TV show, not a real sport. WWE is mimicking that.
I miss Luger loudly yelling everytime he got hit. A match between him and Iron Mike Sharpe could have been glorious.
ReplyDeleteI think Dean Ambrose would become the biggest face in wrestling if he went completely crazy and became an anarchist intent on destroying the corporate hierarchy. But only if he wears WWE-branded "No Gods, No Masters" shirt to really drive home the irony.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Hack Myers? He got his nickname "The Shah" because that's the sound he'd make after EVERY fucking movement he made in the ring.
ReplyDeleteTriple Threat. Luger/Sharpe/Hack. Make sure your volume isn't too high.
ReplyDeleteWasn't American football around before television though?
ReplyDeleteAt least my long lost half black brother won the 3pts contest.
ReplyDeleteRemember in 2012 when things got complicated that they actually had to put a FLOW CHART on the website explaining who was in charge?
ReplyDeleteHogan started doing that in WCW for a while. It was so annoying. ASHAH. ASHAH. ASHAH. I think he did it during the Warrior match.
ReplyDeleteWorst meme ever too.
ReplyDeleteAt least if someone says "Who's yo' daddy?", you can reply, "Dell Curry".
ReplyDeleteIt seems like they know to lay around for a bit so they can show a reply.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but it had low attendance and relatively low ratings until it exploded in the '70s. Throughout the '70s the game began emphasizing player personalities and mythologizing the teams themselves, so you ended with people "Mean" Joe Green on the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys became "America's Team." Monday Night Football in the '80s also radically altered how the game was presented by adding a ton of "flash" to the presentation and was directly responsible for Vince's creation of Monday Night Raw in the early '90s.
ReplyDeleteBasically, the NFL was being run by some really smart people who were ahead of the game and knew the future was in television and not the live experience. That's why the new Dallas Cowboys stadium has a fucking 70 foot screen. More people in that arena will watch the game on the screen than on the field itself.
I could understand the replay maybe if there's a chinlock happening in the ring. But when a guy hits a spot, and they show the replay of that spot, while another spot is being hit and they have to show a replay of THAT now, is fucking annoying.
ReplyDeleteThe NFL had low ratings, college football was huge though.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened to English football in 92. Sky TV took over, the First Division (of four) became The Premier League, and money poured in. Sky even tried cheerleaders their first season but they had to back off from going that far.
ReplyDeleteI find endless replays of shit that happened earlier that night a lot more annoying.
ReplyDeleteYou ever read the original Observers from the early 80s? That's exactly how it was.
ReplyDeleteIf it's impactful and memorable, I don't need a thousand replays in the same show, I'll remember it.
ReplyDeleteWhat in the fuck is the point of even having the tag rope if heels aren't going to choke the guy with it?
ReplyDeleteEveryone's doing it now. Production isn't about presenting an experience, it's about telling people what to think and how to engage with the product. It's a socio-psychological marketing campaign. Announcers aren't announcers anymore, they're advertisers and salesmen now.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but it encourages people not to watch parts of the show. I know I can skip the first hour because if anything notable happened I'm sure I'll get 7 replays of it.
ReplyDeleteThat's the shit I love. I'm hoping they get to a point where they create a corporate drama for the network. Imagine if every time Kane walked into a board meeting the lights flickered and flames shot out of the corners of the long board table.
ReplyDeleteDouble team moves too. When the Rockers would double hip toss, double elbow drop, then double kip up, that was cool as shit. I haven't watched since the night after Summerslam, do the Usos do any double team moves?
ReplyDeleteYou guys are missing the point. The mid-match replays are somewhat superfluous, but the between match highlights packages are there specifically to stretch the show with filler so they have more time for commercials.
ReplyDeleteThose mid-match replays do serve a purpose, though. Repetition is also highly important in creating familiarization. You might think if something's memorable, that's good enough, but it isn't. Especially not for memory vacuums like Roman Reigns. They want certain guys to get over so they repeat highlights of those guys repeatedly so those guys get stuck in your head. That's why we see Roman spear someone in the opening segment and it's shown six more times throughout the night. They want to create a certain response in your head by the time you see him at the end of the show.
It's actually them passive-aggresively showing they have a crush on each other. Remember - walking backwards on the way away = "I liiiiiike you"
ReplyDelete