The Wrestling Thread~
- Thread starter SLAB
- Start date
I thought that the "cruise" was just docked and done with some degree of social distancing/limited capacity like they do the shows. With all the heat WWE took for their string of positives I don't recall AEW being accused of super spreading.
Speaking of AEW. Don Callis showing up. what? I do love how they cooperate with other promotions instead of taking Vince's hard line. Look forward to Impact next week to see what's next. Not sure I've ever said that.
Also. Sting showed up tonight, at what point do Sting and all of the guys who had their best days in the 80s and 90s showing up become the equivalent of Patterson and Brisco in the 90s?
Speaking of AEW. Don Callis showing up. what? I do love how they cooperate with other promotions instead of taking Vince's hard line. Look forward to Impact next week to see what's next. Not sure I've ever said that.
Also. Sting showed up tonight, at what point do Sting and all of the guys who had their best days in the 80s and 90s showing up become the equivalent of Patterson and Brisco in the 90s?
I thought Sting medically retired. I’m gonna guess it was less a DBry/Edge recovery situation and more WWE just saying “We don’t want to use you.” I wasn’t watching when Sting was in his prime, so he’s never moved the needle for me even a little. My favorite run of his was probably the goofy Joker version late in his TNA run, so that probably tells you how much I know about Sting’s history.
I’m kind of the opposite with Impact. I’ve actually caught a few episodes recently and I’ve actually been enjoying it, but I don’t want to see any of the Elite brigade. I don’t care about them, I don’t want to watch them, and I’m not going to go out of my way to try to remember to switch the channel on Tuesday for the time being.
I’m kind of the opposite with Impact. I’ve actually caught a few episodes recently and I’ve actually been enjoying it, but I don’t want to see any of the Elite brigade. I don’t care about them, I don’t want to watch them, and I’m not going to go out of my way to try to remember to switch the channel on Tuesday for the time being.
I have watched Sting since he was in UWF with Hot Stuff International and have pretty much hated him from after about a year of the Crow character so he doesn't move the needle for me either. And his hair looks like grandpa hair, which I think is why I said "damn, I've been watching this guy for 35 years now" and pondered the question. There's just nothing "cool" about an old man copying a gimmick from a 25 year old try hard movie most notable for killing its lead.
I watch Impact on and off. I guess I wasn't thinking of the Elite crew taking over Impact as much as a fun angle with a heel Omega. Especially since Jericho will probably be turning soon.
I watch Impact on and off. I guess I wasn't thinking of the Elite crew taking over Impact as much as a fun angle with a heel Omega. Especially since Jericho will probably be turning soon.
If AEW is going to crossover with Impact, at least that would finally suggest a quality upgrade in the women's division.. And I am 1000 percent in favor of anything that gives Jordynne Grace a larger platform.
"Judas" is over like rover, but I don't like that song with a babyface wrestler. Like, at all.
"Judas" is over like rover, but I don't like that song with a babyface wrestler. Like, at all.
Agree with Jordynne. And much of their women's division would be a step up.
Judas would be silly with a babyface but when the crowd sings the heel's song (also looking at Glorious Domination) and then boos the whole match ... that's weird too. Does Fozzy have any other songs with a halfway decent hook?
Judas would be silly with a babyface but when the crowd sings the heel's song (also looking at Glorious Domination) and then boos the whole match ... that's weird too. Does Fozzy have any other songs with a halfway decent hook?
Soft disagree. I think it's a great song; it just doesn't fit Jericho's character particularly well. Allow me to paint you a word picture:
Imagine you have a career "White Meat" Baby Face, like Steamboat, or Tito, or, hell, Kofi, before the New Day's initial heel gimmick... Somebody who's been around for years, flirting with the upper midcard/main event, but never getting a title run, maybe never even getting a title shot. Let's say that WMBF's best friend is the champion, and they don't want to fight each other, but after years of getting snubbed, the champion finally agrees to give WMBF an opportunity. They fight, WMBF loses, because his friend is the champion, and is better than he is.
Along comes a heel contender. Our beloved WMBF ends up serving as The Dragon to the babyface champion. WMBF loses, heel goes on to challenge and defeat the champion. WMBF gets a brief program as the challenger, after the ex-champ fails in his rematch opportunity, but always comes up short, before getting dropped back down on the card. Ex-champion eventually regains, rinse cycle, and repeat for a few years.
Eventually, WMBF's best friend moves on to greener pastures. WMBF stays in the territory, and finds a young protégé to groom. They have a successful run as a tag team, and eventually split amicably, when the Brass™ wants to push Protégé into the main event picture. WMBF is sent back down the card, all the way to B-Show/C-Show status, where he stays for a few more years, but continues to be extremely popular with kids, and as a nostalgia act, for older fans.
Because the Brass™ sees WMBF as someone with evergreen credibility, they assign him another Young Stud, to mentor. WMBF doesn't have the same chemistry with Young Stud as he had with Protégé, but YS is over as hell, with bottomless charisma, and WMBF is a good hand in the ring, who excels at playing Ricky Morton in tag matches, so they make it work. It's not long before YS begins to outshine WMBF, and eventually believes that WMBF is holding him back, leading to a "Barber Shop" moment. Protégé comes to WMBF's aid, and stands behind him in his feud with YS, but YS dominates the feud, anyway, and moves on to challenge Protégé, who has since become a popular champion. WMBF gets sent back down the card. Again.
Fast forward a couple more years: WMBF has married a popular women's wrestler (who has since retired, so that they can start a family, but still occasionally comes back to take a bump, for a storyline) and gets a career resurgence, scoring an improbable fluke win at Money in the Bank. Suddenly, everything is coming up Milhouse WMBF. Because he's a "jam up guy" (shout out to Bret Hart), he doesn't try to play Ultimate Opportunist, but instead "calls his shot" against the heel champion, his old nemesis, YS. He gets a main event match at a major PPV, only to lose, due to interference from an incoming new monster heel. WMBF gets fed to the Monster, before getting sent back down the card, his title hopes quickly forgotten. By everyone but him, of course.
After another couple years, WMBF gets another career renaissance, winning the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Monster. He gets to main event WrestleMania, where he will challenge his old friend, Protégé. They have a classic at Mania, but Protégé wins; they do the sportsmanlike thing, and have the embrace, for the feel good moment. After Mania, WMBF sticks around in the upper midcard for a little while, and even gets a run with the midcard title, as a "gold watch," of sorts, before being used to put over some up-and-comers, and sent back down.
Despite being relegated to the C and D-shows, WMBF gets SUPER-OVER, after creating a YouTube channel, out of boredom. Over enough that the Brass™ puts him back on the A-Show, where they re-cycle the Daniel Bryan "B+ Player" storyline, leading to him getting a title shot against an unpopular babyface champion (think SuperCena/pre-leukemia Reigns). Just like in that storyline, WMBF finally gets the feel-good moment, where he gets the upset victory, to become the Champion, only to immediately get turned on by the Brass™, and lose the title, minutes later, to the MITB holder, who also happens to be endorsed by the Brass™. Un-like that storyline, WMBF does not get the storybook ending at Mania, as he loses his rematch, and then gets sent back down the card. Again.
WMBF eventually builds himself back up, though it takes a couple years. This time, they re-cycle the Kofi storyline, as the Brass™ throws obstacle after obstacle in his way, trying to break WMBF, and keep him from reaching his objective. With all the fans and the locker room firmly behind him, WMBF perseveres, overcoming all obstacles to earn a title shot... against Protégé. By this time, Protégé has become a crossover star, and there have been hints about him leaving for Hollywood. Leading up to the match, we see the introduction of a kayfabe Hollywood Executive, who strongly implies that it's in the best interest of both Protégé and the company, if Protégé is still the champion, when he goes off to shoot his movie. This is followed by a number of closed-door meetings between Protégé and Hollywood Executive, Protégé and the Brass™, and sometimes all three, leading WMBF to get suspicious.
Protégé insists that nothing is going on, that he's his own man, and that WMBF is going to get a fair shot. They have a match at a Big 4 pay per view (not Mania) and, while it is excellent, it is also clear that WMBF is still outclassed by Protégé, and that he'll never beat Protégé in a fair fight. Leading a desperate WMBF to do the unthinkable, as he takes advantage of a ref bump to turn heel, knocking Protégé unconscious with an "international object," to score the win, and continuing to assault him savagely after the match, with Protégé even doing a blade job, to put the turn over. Rolling out of the ring, he lands in front of his heartbroken wife and kids, who looked up to Protégé like a big brother, and can't even look them in the eye. He turns from them, head down, and walks away, clutching his newly-won Championship to his chest for dear life, looking for all the world that he acutely realizes, in that moment, that he just threw away everything good in his life for that title.
The next episode of Raw, the first sound you hear after the intro is:
Still think it's not a good song?
Imagine you have a career "White Meat" Baby Face, like Steamboat, or Tito, or, hell, Kofi, before the New Day's initial heel gimmick... Somebody who's been around for years, flirting with the upper midcard/main event, but never getting a title run, maybe never even getting a title shot. Let's say that WMBF's best friend is the champion, and they don't want to fight each other, but after years of getting snubbed, the champion finally agrees to give WMBF an opportunity. They fight, WMBF loses, because his friend is the champion, and is better than he is.
Along comes a heel contender. Our beloved WMBF ends up serving as The Dragon to the babyface champion. WMBF loses, heel goes on to challenge and defeat the champion. WMBF gets a brief program as the challenger, after the ex-champ fails in his rematch opportunity, but always comes up short, before getting dropped back down on the card. Ex-champion eventually regains, rinse cycle, and repeat for a few years.
Eventually, WMBF's best friend moves on to greener pastures. WMBF stays in the territory, and finds a young protégé to groom. They have a successful run as a tag team, and eventually split amicably, when the Brass™ wants to push Protégé into the main event picture. WMBF is sent back down the card, all the way to B-Show/C-Show status, where he stays for a few more years, but continues to be extremely popular with kids, and as a nostalgia act, for older fans.
Because the Brass™ sees WMBF as someone with evergreen credibility, they assign him another Young Stud, to mentor. WMBF doesn't have the same chemistry with Young Stud as he had with Protégé, but YS is over as hell, with bottomless charisma, and WMBF is a good hand in the ring, who excels at playing Ricky Morton in tag matches, so they make it work. It's not long before YS begins to outshine WMBF, and eventually believes that WMBF is holding him back, leading to a "Barber Shop" moment. Protégé comes to WMBF's aid, and stands behind him in his feud with YS, but YS dominates the feud, anyway, and moves on to challenge Protégé, who has since become a popular champion. WMBF gets sent back down the card. Again.
Fast forward a couple more years: WMBF has married a popular women's wrestler (who has since retired, so that they can start a family, but still occasionally comes back to take a bump, for a storyline) and gets a career resurgence, scoring an improbable fluke win at Money in the Bank. Suddenly, everything is coming up Milhouse WMBF. Because he's a "jam up guy" (shout out to Bret Hart), he doesn't try to play Ultimate Opportunist, but instead "calls his shot" against the heel champion, his old nemesis, YS. He gets a main event match at a major PPV, only to lose, due to interference from an incoming new monster heel. WMBF gets fed to the Monster, before getting sent back down the card, his title hopes quickly forgotten. By everyone but him, of course.
After another couple years, WMBF gets another career renaissance, winning the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Monster. He gets to main event WrestleMania, where he will challenge his old friend, Protégé. They have a classic at Mania, but Protégé wins; they do the sportsmanlike thing, and have the embrace, for the feel good moment. After Mania, WMBF sticks around in the upper midcard for a little while, and even gets a run with the midcard title, as a "gold watch," of sorts, before being used to put over some up-and-comers, and sent back down.
Despite being relegated to the C and D-shows, WMBF gets SUPER-OVER, after creating a YouTube channel, out of boredom. Over enough that the Brass™ puts him back on the A-Show, where they re-cycle the Daniel Bryan "B+ Player" storyline, leading to him getting a title shot against an unpopular babyface champion (think SuperCena/pre-leukemia Reigns). Just like in that storyline, WMBF finally gets the feel-good moment, where he gets the upset victory, to become the Champion, only to immediately get turned on by the Brass™, and lose the title, minutes later, to the MITB holder, who also happens to be endorsed by the Brass™. Un-like that storyline, WMBF does not get the storybook ending at Mania, as he loses his rematch, and then gets sent back down the card. Again.
WMBF eventually builds himself back up, though it takes a couple years. This time, they re-cycle the Kofi storyline, as the Brass™ throws obstacle after obstacle in his way, trying to break WMBF, and keep him from reaching his objective. With all the fans and the locker room firmly behind him, WMBF perseveres, overcoming all obstacles to earn a title shot... against Protégé. By this time, Protégé has become a crossover star, and there have been hints about him leaving for Hollywood. Leading up to the match, we see the introduction of a kayfabe Hollywood Executive, who strongly implies that it's in the best interest of both Protégé and the company, if Protégé is still the champion, when he goes off to shoot his movie. This is followed by a number of closed-door meetings between Protégé and Hollywood Executive, Protégé and the Brass™, and sometimes all three, leading WMBF to get suspicious.
Protégé insists that nothing is going on, that he's his own man, and that WMBF is going to get a fair shot. They have a match at a Big 4 pay per view (not Mania) and, while it is excellent, it is also clear that WMBF is still outclassed by Protégé, and that he'll never beat Protégé in a fair fight. Leading a desperate WMBF to do the unthinkable, as he takes advantage of a ref bump to turn heel, knocking Protégé unconscious with an "international object," to score the win, and continuing to assault him savagely after the match, with Protégé even doing a blade job, to put the turn over. Rolling out of the ring, he lands in front of his heartbroken wife and kids, who looked up to Protégé like a big brother, and can't even look them in the eye. He turns from them, head down, and walks away, clutching his newly-won Championship to his chest for dear life, looking for all the world that he acutely realizes, in that moment, that he just threw away everything good in his life for that title.
The next episode of Raw, the first sound you hear after the intro is:
Still think it's not a good song?
Jeez Slim, a lot to unpack there. When I said it's not a particularly good song, I mean that from a listening perspective, the chorus is A+++ and the build in the pre-chorus is also A level, but the rest of the song, is pretty dull and not remotely as memorable. (I say that because I was really bored one afternoon and put it into my computer, stripped the vocals and started working on a karaoke/cover rendition). I know that someone else might say that its just a slow build and the payoff makes it worth it, and it totally works for a ring intro - but I don't really want to listen to it on my home stereo is all I meant. And this is a several years old song that as far as I'm aware wasn't intended to be a ring intro.
And I've yet to hear anything else Fozzy that grabbed me, even though I am sure Jericho has some pretty good songwriters working for him. But that was all I meant.
And I've yet to hear anything else Fozzy that grabbed me, even though I am sure Jericho has some pretty good songwriters working for him. But that was all I meant.
Man, I guess. I feel like it's worth point out, at this stage, that because I don't typically listen to that genre of music, my metric for what qualifies as a "good song" in that genre probably differs from yours. The song jams, to me; that Fozzy hasn't made any other music that grabs me, factors not at all.
Lol, I actually loved their first three CD’s back in the day, but it was probably more just because I was a huge Jericho mark and thought it was awesome Jericho was in a metal band.
Listening back now... the first two album had some solid covers (I really like their version of Ozzy’s Over the Mountain) around some original work that didn’t age well at all. They got a quite a bit better with their third (they also seemingly became more serious about it, dropping their goofy backstory, stage-names, and it being their first all/original album), and I didn’t keep up with much of their work after. I know Judas, which is pretty on-level with their third album stuff. Pretty inoffensive, not great, but not that bad either.
Listening back now... the first two album had some solid covers (I really like their version of Ozzy’s Over the Mountain) around some original work that didn’t age well at all. They got a quite a bit better with their third (they also seemingly became more serious about it, dropping their goofy backstory, stage-names, and it being their first all/original album), and I didn’t keep up with much of their work after. I know Judas, which is pretty on-level with their third album stuff. Pretty inoffensive, not great, but not that bad either.
I was looking back at past results and I guess there were times the NWO team won, which I guess serves as a painful reminder of how bad the booking got in WCW at the end as well as why this year's totally swerved me especially after the babyface team had their advantage reversed. There was never a doubt in my mind Team Shotzi was going to win until the final count.
I know right! I eyerolled so hard when she was first introduced as Dakota’s heavy, but the PC put in work with her. She has a bit to go with her selling and nailing a character but her offensive is all deadly looking. Can’t wait for Rhea/Raquel 2, and also 3 in a gimmick match after Raquel ties the series.
So poking around the network and I'm finally getting around to Walter/Dragunov. Dragunov looks worse than Cody after he took the lashes from MJF. Walter's kicks to the face look stiff AF and so did all the suplexes and clotheslines these guys dropped on each other, but holy hell all those chops/whacks to the back right below the neck. I know there's Japanese matches stiff like this but I instantly recalled that Finlay/Regal match from Uncensored.
I really need to watch more of Walter's matches.
Think I'm going to watch some Pat Patterson before turning in.
I really need to watch more of Walter's matches.
Think I'm going to watch some Pat Patterson before turning in.
