Hey Scott,
Just wondering, since Vince thinks Managers are dead, how did Zeb get a job? I've heard Heyman came back because Lesnar requested it but it seems like Zeb just got hired. If it was just, "Well, Swagger sucks on the Mic," how come that philosophy doesn't extend to other talent?
Thanks.
Excellent question, Shelton.
I think in Zeb's case it was that they were going for a specific gag about American politics, and honestly I don't pay attention to anything on the news that isn't posted by George Takei on my Facebook feed anyway, so I couldn't even tell you what it was supposed to be spoofing. But it was less a managerial hire and more of a "Vince has a crazy whim and wants to mock someone" hire.
Also, Flash was fucking awesome tonight and the monkeys who write these shitty wrestling shows wish they could have me jumping up and down and losing my shit like I was watching "Out of Time" on Hulu tonight. NERDGASM! Of course we know Cisco can't die because he has another destiny, but HOLY FUCK show, rip my heart out much. A++++++++
"Excellent question, Shelton!"
ReplyDelete*golf clap*
Hey, who remembers that time when Jack Swagger won the World Title and they jobbed the shit out of him. That was awesome!
ReplyDeleteWinnin' the world title? That's a paddlin'!
ReplyDeleteThat's easy, Eddie steals his mask and then rides off into the sunset in his lowrider, homes. Odelay!
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is, that someone can think that managers are dead. And then they complain, why nobody gets over and it's "soooo hard to be a heel today without kayfabe and with internet"...
ReplyDeleteBack then, if someone came out with Harvey Whippleman, you know he is a heel and everybody booed him.
Zeb wasn't meant to spoof anyone specifically (except his name was clearly a reference to Anne Coulter), but he was made to look like a stereotypical red-state tea-partier.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Takei used to be a lot funnier. Now it's 80% pro-gay stuff. And that's fine, and good for him, and I'm not disagreeing with any of it politically, but it's definitely a less fun read.
ReplyDeleteThe best part of that Flash episode is a finally found it how to pronounce "Eobard".
ReplyDeleteScrew the ones who write wrestling shows, the ones who write the shitty DC movies wish they could be as good as the ones who write Flash. DC owns TV (yep, Gotham doesn't exist) and Marvel owns the theaters, pretty much.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem with Zeb Coulter was a he was a heel, but whether we like to admit it or not, too much of the wrestling fanbase actually thinks like Zeb Coulter. Therefore, they are not gonna boo him.
ReplyDeleteI love The Flash. Everything about it should scream cheesy bad but it works so well.
ReplyDeleteIt's maybe 10% gay, 10% his play.
ReplyDeleteFlash was outstanding this week. Although I was confused by Cisco bringing up the Reverse Flash in that trap thing. Was he watching a replay or was RF messing with him again?
ReplyDeleteAnd nobody cared because it's Harvey fucking Wippleman. Put a guy with him and there zero chance of him ever getting over. He was death.
ReplyDeleteSid Justice?
ReplyDeleteYeah that's been killing me for the longest time.
ReplyDeleteSid was over before him. Plus, that was Harvey's first guy. No one knew how much Wippleman sucked then.
ReplyDeleteHow can DC Comics produce awesome t.v. and such below average movies? They are crazy for not letting their TV cross over to movies.
ReplyDeleteSecond guy. Wippleman debuted with Big Bully Busick. Remember it like it was yesterday.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. But I don't think Busick lasted the long. All I remember seeing of him is jobbing once to Von Erich on a MSG show.
ReplyDeleteSame guy who has his guys wrestle but bans the word "wrestling", has guys wear belts but bans the word "belt". Probably best not to try and understand him
ReplyDeleteC'mon Mister E Mahn this sounds like "I used to like korn before they made it big" or "family guy sucks now". His stuff was always 80 percent gay stuff.
ReplyDeleteNo he didn't last long. A few months in late 91. You'd only associate Wippleman with him if you were an avid fan at the time.
ReplyDeleteThey've been having managers slowly creep back in over the last few years.
ReplyDeleteColter, Heyman, Lana, even AW pre-Kobe joke.
I think part of the problem as much as Vince not liking them is where are all the managers outside the WWE? I'd like to NXT develop some. Lana was a great start.
ReplyDeleteI miss the Heenan Family.
ReplyDeleteArguably the best manager of my younger days was Jimmy Hart. So annoying, so good in his role - you just had to hate whoever he associated with.
In the trap, Cisco is seeing a pre recorded hologram Wells made for before he gets pulled in and beat up by reverse Flash.
ReplyDeleteThey sometimes favour alternatives to managers. J&J Security do all the weasely things managers used to do (distractions, interference etc), without the stigma of being a "manager". Because, heck, that might imply that the person in he ring is a... *gasp* "wrestler" :-O
ReplyDeleteI am loving Flash and Arrow right now, both shows are killing it (Flash more than Arrow to be honest). That last ten minutes was just one big holy shit moment. Also Scott, don't think a character having a certain destiny will save them from getting killed. I thought the same thing with Arrow.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't believe when they turned him face and put him with Hogan. Seeing him in a red and yellow jacket managing Hogan and King of the Ring instantly made Hogan less likable to me, because Jimmy was just so great at coming off like the biggest little prick in the world. Plus Hogan spent a lot of the 80s beating the shit out of him and Bobby Heenan, so it came off as creepy to then put them together.
ReplyDeleteEven Heyman is not a manager in a traditional sense. He rarely interferes anymore during matches and mainly just talks to hype up his client/match.
ReplyDeleteIt all goes back to Linda's two failed senate campaigns. Zeb Colter represents the ultra-conservative Tea Party that has come to dominate the Republican Party. While the Tea Party has made significant in-roads in certain states with their extreme right-wing beliefs which include anti-immigration reform, anti-healthcare, anti-taxes, and the belief that our president is a secret Muslim agent, they haven't done all that well in the northeast, especially Connecticut. Linda was running as a moderate in an overwhelming Democratic state. She even tried to cozy up to Obama and ran ads encouraging voters to vote for them both. Since the Republican Party is associated with the tea party, it hurt her. I'm convinced Colter is Vince's reaction to that.
ReplyDeleteWe should never have to ask why Vince is putting a redneck caricature on TV. It's just what he do.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that you are right but that almost put me to sleep. Can we talk about how much Roman Reigns sucks now?
ReplyDeleteWwe obviously has a few managers but they never have a stable anymore. At most they just manage 2 guys at a time. great angles have come about because a guy managed 5+ at a time (like the dangerous alliance). If Lana or zeb had a stable of guys that all had a similar attitude, it would be somewhat better because more heat on more people.
ReplyDeleteScrew the shitty WWE, we need Flash threads week in and week out because that show kicks tons of ass. BRING ON GRODD!
ReplyDeleteWell they also teamed him with fan favorite Cesaro, and gave them a catch phrase that in a certain way, was already "over".
ReplyDelete...
ReplyDeleteI never actually thought about it that way, but given that Vince is an old-school republican who doesn't give two shits about god, guns or gays, but only his money, it makes perfect sense.
Yeah the Tea Party thing was a hot button topic at the time and they were just doing it for ratings and attention. I think Fox News even got pissed at them for mocking conservatives.
ReplyDeleteThey'd never allow it because all stable heat must go to HHH and his beloved Authority.
ReplyDeleteLana is going to be terrible if (when) they turn her face and she becomes another smiling diva.
ReplyDeleteThere's still time for them to turn it around.
ReplyDeletewhat's funny is I'm a conservative and I LOVED it. The same way I loved JBL ... because I can get a joke and its professional wrestling.
ReplyDeleteManagers don't make sense when you've got corrupt authority figures who change matches on a whim and target certain wrestlers unfairly. Post-Mr McMahon, a guy like Bobby Heenan would probably be a face. Why? Because he's working to advance his client's career, not the fortunes of the company.
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh, ok that makes sense now. Damn that was a great 10-15 minutes of TV.
ReplyDeleteReally? I would have said 60% gay 20% play, but maybe I'm just not paying enough attention.
ReplyDeleteAlso it was like... why does Hogan all of a sudden need advise from Jimmy Hart in the early parts of the match? He's Hulk Hogan!
ReplyDeleteHe got that job because Dutch Mantell is great.
ReplyDeleteCisco has another destiny? I thought they just made him up for the series...
ReplyDeleteAs long as there are thongs, Sisqo lives on.
ReplyDeleteI'm torn on Bobby Heenan in 2015 WWE.
ReplyDeletePro: If he can get a role similar to Heyman, and be given some leeway in his character, he'd be just as over.
Con: If he gets the "follow the script, don't bother making suggestions" response, he shuts down and is about as heatless as 90% of the roster.
And I could see either result happening.
Zeb Colter showed up in WWE because Vince feared that all the inbreds who fear all them "immigants" and "queerosexuals" were going to make it illegal to import Samoans.
ReplyDeleteAre we talking about an ideal world where Heenan is healthy enough to accept the role?
ReplyDeleteDamn Bayless and his annual NCAA Tournament staycation is really fucking things up!
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall a pretty specific confluence of things. Wasn't he featured on some TV special (pre-"Zeb") espousing his legitimately strident conservative views, (I.e. "Zeb" isn't really much of a stretch for the guy)? Vince et al caught wind of this, and, seeing as Dutch is a proven commodity anyway, brought him on board to "turn the volume up to 11", so to speak, to riff on the Tea Party, both in terms of the popularity on the national level, and specifically re: Linda's campaign.
ReplyDeleteIt was a rare case of the manager getting the push, with Swagger along for the ride. Once the ensuing mainstream pub went away (Glenn Beck, etc.), they switched gears to explore the lighter, comic possibilities
Maybe Linda should have run against Roman Reigns. Only way she wins.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking 80s/90s Heenan in this world. Modern Heenan, even healthy, wouldn't have a chance with The Idiots In Charge.
ReplyDeleteZeb is one of those gimmicks where McMahon gets to say what he thinks, but taken to an extreme so that he can get credit for disavowing such views.
ReplyDeleteIn the comics, Cisco Ramon is the identity of vibration-powered D-list hero "Vibe," who occasionally ends up on D-list versions of the Justice League.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Caitlin Snow is the identify of the most recent version of villain "Killer Frost," so it's interesting to think about why those characters were chosen to hang out with Wells/Thawne at STAR Labs.
There are very few characters in the show that aren't a name drop to the comics. It's extra-awesome that way, and I don't even read Flash comics.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Zeb is actually very liberal. He may be conservative in terms of finance, but he's not a tea-partier in terms of race, religion, sexuality, etc.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Dutch already work for them backstage? Meaning that he wasn't hired specifically for this role.
ReplyDeleteI think the latter part was the biggest issue. The fans are so starved for anything to occupy them that giving a heel a catchphrase was going to end up with the audience playing along no matter what. Look at the Rumble - even Ryder still got the crowd to say his stuff, because they wanted to be engaged in something.
ReplyDeleteCosigned
ReplyDelete"Not God....GRODD"
Arrow is really starting to pick it up now that there's a clear conflict and they finally have Ollie and Felicity back on the same page (even if someone else is tapping that). I have my suspicions about a Nyessa face turn...
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, I wish they were part of the current DC Movie Universe, but on the other hand, I do like they get to do their own thing without being handcuffed to the movie progression, which kills Agents of SHIELD from time to time. Plus there's no way they would Arrow pluck so much from the Batman/DC rogues gallery.
ReplyDeleteIt's doing Raimi's Spider-Man style of superhero even better than Raimi. And the stuff with Wells and time travel have been incredibly interesting hooks, plus all the interesting ways they can take it (will Caitlin Snow turn into Killer Frost?)
ReplyDeleteWhat are the odds the Suicide Squad movie doesn't even match up to the Arrow eps with its own SS?
ReplyDeleteVIVA LA RAZA
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of weird, actually, because "Cisco Ramon" was specifically created by Geoff Johns for the New 52 reboot of the character. Originally he was Paco Ramone in the 80s, basically the worst instincts of idiot gangbanger era Eddie Guerrero but booked as a babyface. They were really two different characters anyway.
ReplyDeleteWWE needs a time-travelling wrestler.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that (you know, because who cares about Vibe?). I'm sure part of the idea was to erase the name "Paco Ramon" from existence. That's Apache Chief bad.
ReplyDeleteAnd the show's Cisco is nothing like the comic-book version. Vibe in the comics is... not smart. At all.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHeenan would get over regardless. The truly good always do.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the association with Hart was a subtle attempt to make Hogan look weak on the way out.
ReplyDeleteAny heat for the Swagger/Del Rio match was mostly for Zeb. I loved watching a guy who got started in wrestling literally decades ago walk before a modern audience and get himself over again.
ReplyDeleteI feel you there but they are doing a Justice League movie and as far as casting goes how can you not let Grant Justin be THE FLASH~! He's already over just use him. Anyone else is in the role is just going to look VERY wrong. Tom Welling should have been in the Superman movies.
ReplyDeleteI'm rooting for DC comics movies succeed but the margin with their movies and tv is amazing.
Loved the flash. The shows keeps getting better. It is my favorite show on tv now that sons of anarchy is done
ReplyDeleteThat may have just been icing on the cake. Yoko dominated him at King of the Ring '93. Hogan never slammed him and he got pinned by his own move.
ReplyDeleteNot seen anything about him working backstage, but utilising his booking skills would be as much a use of his abilities off-screen as generating heat on-screen. You could see him helping creative in NXT easily, maybe working with the women's division like he did the Knockouts in TNA?
ReplyDeleteOh, wait, sorry, I meant the other guy.
ReplyDeletePoor Cisco, Wells/Thawne just broke his heart. Right before he RIPPED IT OUT OF HIS CHEST.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Iris looked surprisingly unsurprised that Barry was the Flash. Deep down, she always knew.
No, the worst part was super-white Gerry Conway scripting lines like "What chu know, mang?" while having Vibe do breakdancing exhibitions on the street like he was writing Scarface 2: Electric Boogaloo or something. It was a pretty dark time for the Justice League.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked that anyone in WWE remembered he used to manage the Blu Brothers and Bradshaw as Uncle Zebekiah.
ReplyDeleteBradshaw was hilarious. There were times where he's said stuff that almost convinced me that it wasn't an act though, like the slurs towards Eddie and Rey, whenever he talks about Khali, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe actual answer is that they wanted to do something with Swagger and Triple H wanted to do Dutch Mantell a solid after hearing how badly he was taking his granddaughter's death.
ReplyDeleteAnd then took him to WCW. When he finally turned on him at Havoc 95 and hung with the Dungeon of Doom, we got the real Jimmy back
ReplyDeleteIt's not an act,Bradshaw really feels that way. He works for Fox News. I guess he figured fake fighting,fake reporting whatever.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I'm for equality,so I didn't need to read the 3,000 pro equality messages he tweets in a day.i understand it's there to try to win over boors,and I understand why that's necassary,but I don't need it.
ReplyDeleteNot to be Debbie downer Scott but I have 1 thing that stops the episode from being an A+. Barry/iris continues to drag. I feel Grant Gustin and Candice Patton have little romantic chemistry together, some of that feels like the writings fault though. We have very little insight into iris and suddenly were supposed to buy shes had feelings for Barry all along. Its a very clunky transition, compared to the subtle work done w/ Barry/Caitlin in crazy for you.
ReplyDeleteI think "Agent Carter" was pretty good.
ReplyDelete