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anarchistxx

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  1. I personally think he has just been coasting for years, maybe since 2009. Earning good money, getting by on the minimum possible, remaining over through his name, image, finisher. He seems to have no passion for the business anymore. And he has definetely been exposed by the sheer amount of television WWE have, especially with his singles matches being so homogenous and his spots so repetetive. Everything about him has been stagnant and uncreative for years - you can see that from the spot where someone dives off the rope and he hits them with the RKO. Genuinely huge reaction the first time...so just goes back to it again and again. Whether he has had a lacklustre career is harder to define. There seemed two points where he could be absolutely massive. 2004, with his initial push and Mick Foley basically making him, and the glorious title win...until HHH got the strap back in a truly hideous match and he never recovered. And 2009(?), when he punted Vince and attacked Stephanie. Reaction to that was HUGE at the time, I think some forums received their most ever traffic and people were convinced it was going to elevate him above and beyond...until he wrestled HHH at Wrestlemania in a truly hideous match and all the magic was lost. I think if you highlighted his best feuds and matches it could be a hell of a collection. I remember one IC Title match on Raw in 2003/2004 where he bled hardway after hitting the ring post and it really was superb. The Evolution stuff. Foley. Benoit. He was a lot better before he got really corny, with the banging the mat and the cheesy serpent faces and overstated mannerisms. He should have remained an arrogant, talented, pretty boy prick character with a nasty devious streak. One thing that got me about his initial era was how they wasted the big matches of Orton v Cena, Batista v Cena and Bastiata v Orton - those matches should have debuted as Wrestlemania main events, especially since they kepy Cena and Orton apart for so long. Felt like a real anticlimax in the end. The Wayne Rooney of wrestling? Exciting, promising start that leads to a solid career that despite the achievements and fantastic performance still feels like an underachievement.
  2. Crowds like this pop anyone from the Attitude Era, and also those who haven't been on TV for a while. Vince is/was both. Am I the only one who doesn't rate Braun Strowman? Don't think he has a particularly good look, seems more like a hillbilly than some violent monster heel, and on the limited occasions I've seen him work he doesn't seem anything special. Wonder if it will be like a Bray Wyatt/Seth Rollins/Damien Sandow/Hyped NXT Guy type situation where people buzz over his stuff to begin with and then have to conclude eventually that he is pretty rubbish. Then again, I think Rusev is dated, boring and mediocre in the ring, so maybe it is a taste thing.
  3. Going to reply first without reading the thread. Not seen any WWE in a long time before this. -- Well, that was a Wrestlemania. Not in terms of pure match quality, which was fairly mediocre, but in terms of a spectacle. The production values were insane - some of the best lighting I have ever seen, beautiful effects, colours, fireworks were insane, creative entrances, the attire, the camera work. Just phenomenal. WWE is the best in the world at that sort of thing on this evidence. Must have cost a small fortune. Stuff like the roaches crawling around the ring during the Wyatt/Orton finish, made no sense but was such a wonderful image and piece of creative film making. It was also fantastic in terms of #WrestlemaniaMoments, urgh. The Hardyz were a huge shock and the first time I'm marked out for anything in years, huge buzz in the crowd as well. The brilliant finisht to the ladder match. Steph falling through a table. Undertaker at the end in that crazy blue light. The Cena proposal. It could all have come accross as corny and manufactured but they just about pulled it all off. The individual matches? Not so great. Shane/AJ was a bizarre choice for a match in the first place - the only conceivable reason is that Shane wanted to have a #ClassicWrestlemaniaMatch and thought AJ could take him there. The whole thing made no sense - JBL hyping AJ as the best wrestler he has seen in years and then you have Shane McMahon chain wrestling him and winning. The match was worked so, so badly. This wasn't Angle/Shane with a worn out wrestler being almost shocked by a sprightly, fearless young man with weapons - it was a grey, balding bloke who wrestles part time going toe to toe and working a regular match without any caveats with someone hyped as the best pure wrestler in the company. Terruble choice for opener - crowd wasn't that hyped for it, got the big spots in too early on the show and was generally pointless. Kevin Owens v Chris Jericho was pretty much nothing. Not enough hatred for the way the feud was structured. Owens still looks like man in his backyard playing at being a wrestler, not authentic in the least or even threatening. Finish was odd. Not a terrible match exactly, but didn't hold my attention. The Raw Womens fatal four way was a huge disappointment. Weird, deflating finishes once again, never got a flow going, didn't tell any sort of decent story and was generally a let down. Better without the elimination stip I reckon. Felt like it needed Sasha/Charlotte desperately fighting it out at the end. Didn't help the crowd was flat during the match itself, which was the same during the whole show. Tag team ladder match was fun, especially with the energy the Hardyz brought. Forgetabble though, and nowhere near the same level as the 2000 and 2001 TLC era matches. Cena/Bella vs Miz/Maryse did its job and was one match worked exactly how it should be - concise, clean, to the point, getting the job done and not overstaying its welcome. No meandering or endless messy finishing sequences. Proposal put a smile on my face, glad the crowd didn't totally shit on it. I had reasonable hopes for Rollins v HHH - Trips has had some reasonable matches with HBK when he focuses on a body part and reins in his tendencies. It started well but quickly deteriorated, becoming exactly what I described above - meandering, fragmented, aimless. No beginning, middle or end, just this mush of things one after the other with no rhyme and reason. Average.] HHHs entrance was masterful though, ridiculous as ever but it still looked totally badass and Steph looked incredible. I must be fucking out of touch - Beth Phoenix in the Hall of Fame? Barely know who she is. Skipped Orton vs Wyatt except for the finish. Seemed a complete afterthought - so much for making Smackdown an equal brand. Lesnar/Goldberg was a blast. There is so little variety in a lot of WWE matches, especially near the top of the card - all the near falls and shocked faces and twenty minute matches with bombs, flying moves etc, no structure, it gets homogenous. So this was incredibly refreshing, basically a massive sprint where everything came off. Goldberg, though...massive payday to return, has two thirty second matches, another six minute match where he takes all of two different bumps and that is the end of the run. Bizarre. Even Hogan did more at his age. Loved Heyman's sleazy grin on the outside when Lesnar was delivering all the suplexes. The only match on the show that kept my attention throghout and didn't have me browsing the internet at the same time. I knew it would be Taker's last match as soon as I saw Jim Ross heading down to call it. JR did make me realise how dismally bland the announcing had been on the show, things instantly felt more meaningful and he spoke in a natural cadence with proper vocabulary instead of repeating stock phrases and WWE slogans. Love Reigns - he has so much natural charisma, he feels totally at home going on last at Wrestlemania in a way that someone like Miz or even Edge/Orton never did. Finally a match with a properly partisan crowd as well - even though they were partisan against the de facto top babyface in the company. Such times we live in. The match itself was a plodding mess. Roman definitely needs a new finish, the spear and jumping punch just don't look cool or impactful enough, especially for a man of his size. He should have some spectacular bomb that just wipes people out. The ending was anticlimatic, not helped by the crowd who were basically silent during another match. Taker's retirement scene saved it, almost got a tad emotional when he kissed his wife in the blue fog. So, to recap: cool show in terms of visuals, moments etc, but dear god I wouldn't want to sit through any of those matches again other than Lesnar/Goldberg. I'll be amazed if anyone reads that long ass post
  4. Actually, it sort of does. That is the whole "WWE Universe" concept. I see little reason to talk about external topics on this board, especially in such politically charged times. There is a reason that people say you should not discuss politics at a party - it makes people instantly antagonostic and passionate in a bad way - "to be in a passion you good may do , but no good if a passion is in you" and all that. There are very few shades of grey at the minute, both sides of the political spectrum are getting increasingly extreme and hateful towards each other and views that do not aree with their own. Introducing that onto this message board opens up a gigantic cauldron and will lead to people falling out aggressively in a way that shouldn't happen if you are simply discussing the lazy selling of John Cena or the sloppiness of Bailey. There was a tendency when I was last on the board for people to post gifs and 'zingers' in place of actual discussion, or just flippantly and snidely shooting someone down without any discourse, which seemed the antithesis of what this board was about.
  5. I wasn't necessarily talking in terms of physique - most average, working class people didn't have a body like Ricky Hatton in his boxing prime, but he still had the look, character and attitude of a regular man you might see down the pub, and that is why he was so beloved and connected with his audience. That is what Steve Austin had, the feel of being a real person and of having some authenticity. I just don't get that when watching Neville or The Miz or Dolph fucking Ziggler. I complained for a long time about how homogenous WWE workers were at a certain point, everyone had this boring cookie cutter look a few years ago and had nothing to differentiate them from each other in terms of appearance, gimmick, personality. They have tried to address that with some success, but a lot of the workers now are far too stylized to the point of not resembling anything like a real person.
  6. Depends where you live I suppose - there are plenty of muscular, aggressive, working class bald men with a short fuse and an ability to humurously talk shit where I'm at. Men who dress and talk like Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and The Miz? Not really.
  7. There is an extra layer to the Austin comparison, in that he looked and talked like a normal person, which made him far more relatable. He wore caps and jeans and street clothes and talked shit. Compare that now to the top stars who are exclusively seen in WWE merchandise to the point where they look like walking adverts...who unconvincingly trot out robotic, scipted, cliche ridden promos - it isn't surprising they fail to get over. One of their biggest recent stars was CM Punk, and he was one of the last top level guys who had his own style and identity in terms of look and felt natural in his promos and delivery. He seemed like a bloke who you could meet down a street somewhere. He was relatable.
  8. Is the Tammy Sytch autobiography worth reading? Can pick it up for about £8. I like scurrilous gossip and sleaze, so aren't necessarily looking for something with literary merit or insight into the business, just something sordid and interesting.
  9. Even if we are only talking US wrestling, that is still a massively erroneous statement. The 6-Pac was fun for what it was, a fun sprint and a showcase with some huge moments. As perfect as it was for this particular show, it wasn't a memorable classic by any means, far too many flaws for that.
  10. Um, you would be going out on a huge fucking limb, yes. Ever watched any Joshi?
  11. Skimmed through it but really enjoyed what I saw. The show had an incredible sense of energy to it - not sure whether it was the sound editing or just a hot crowd but the audience seemed really loud and into everything, which made the matches seem a lot more exciting and intense. Have to say the commentary was superb as well, less sloganeering and lines being fed and more engagement in the matches, gave the in ring action a very important feel. Some brief thoughts on the bits I saw: - That scene with Miz and the kid was terrible, and such a blatant example of product placement..."you can catch my show on Nickolodeon at 7PM on Wednesday nights" or whatever, wonder how much they paid WWE to air that - The 6-Pac ladies match felt like a ROH opener circa 2004. Total go-go-go spot-fest and a lot of convoluted setups and unrealistic sequences that seemed very rehearsed, but a lot of fun all the same. Definitely served a purpose in laying down a marker for the new division and giving everyone a bit of shine. - Ziggler v Miz was shockingly good. Can't stand either of them and they still got me really engrossed in it, there was a lovely flow to the match. It definitely felt that it could have gone either way - anyone who says wins/losses/finishes don't matter is wrong, the uncertainty here and the feeling that both men really needed to win it desperately added to the drama immensely. "This is awesome" chants still make me sigh in resignation though, especially since this was very much a match where the result seemed important rather than just putting on some athletic show for the crowd to 'appreciate'. - Bray Wyatt is hideously bad at this point, embarrassing to watch. His mannerisms make me cringe. He has zero believability, nothing about the character seems real, it just looks like a third rate actor playing a role and trying to seem quirky. Skipped the whole match with Kane. - Usos should have stayed on the same brand as Roman, their ring gear almost matches now and they would have made a superb little heel stable. The match with Rhyno/Slater was nicely worked and was a good change of pace on the card. That suplex into the ring post was really cool, despite the padding taking the edge off it a bit. The right ending as well. - Wasn't as high on the main event as some, felt like a sloppy mess occasionally. AJ still did a fantastic job though, and carried it through down the stretch when it got really fun, making it seem important and a desperate war. The way he took the lariat was superb. Best WWE show in a long, long time.
  12. I don't really buy that this is a lifelong dream of his either. Don't think he ever even mentioned it until he quit the WWE and was at a loss for what do next in his life. CM Punk is known as a arrogant mercenary - isn't it much more likely that he was in UFC for the big pay day and the publicity rather than some sort of burning desire inside him? Nothing wrong with that, of course. There are people for whom fighting in the Octagon is a lifelong dream, and if it was an industry based on merit they would certainly deserve the shot more than some celebrity newcomer. But UFC is a commercial enterprise, and as such people can hardly complain that CM Punk didn't deserve to be brought in if it pops the ratings. If anything it is win-win for the promotion, because it shows just how difficult it is and how tough their fighters are when the presumptuous celebrity gets absolutely decimated.
  13. Not sure it is strictly equatable. CM Punk taking up MMA and going straight into UFC is the equivalent of Ryan Gosling taking up soccer and going straight into the Manchester United first XI without paying his dues playing in the fifth division. Connor McGregor getting into professional wrestling and going straight into WWE is the equivalent of David Beckham taking up acting and getting a cameo role in a decent film and not paying his dues in art house movies. Still jumping the queue because of celebrity, but somehow less offensive and far less ridiculous.
  14. That would be fine if Owens actually wrestled that way, instead of the ridiculous, convoluted overkill his matches usually end up being. His ring work doesn't smack of someone who just wants to beat his opponent efficiently and get paid, it looks like someone trying to have a self conscious epic and draw 'this is awesome' chants from the smarks in the audience.
  15. Part of the reason Reigns v Lesnar was such a brilliant match is because they showed some structure and built a story, albeit in a much more maximalist way than a main event from a decade ago. You have the fired up heir to the throne being schooled by the veteran monster champion, getting thrown all over the place and realizing he is in way above his head. He manages to summon the energy for a counter and gets a lucky ring post shot to bust the overconfident monster open, and dives on that advantage with quick, aggressive offense, desperately trying to put him away while in the ascendancy. There were no convoluted spots or ridiculous sequences of near falls, just plain old fashioned storytelling. Just a shame the finish was so putrid - that was just the right moment for Reigns to go over. Because of the way the match was put together it was completely believable that he was able to slay the monster and take the throne. So the run in finish was awful, not even getting to the fact that some bloke running down with a briefcase and demanding an instant title match at the main event of your biggest show of the year, while the incumbent belt holder was injured and out, is about the most ridiculous thing ever. Completely devalues the strap, makes it meaningless if you can win a stunt ladder match and basically cash in and win the title whenever you want. I'm amazed WWE fans have become so conditioned to Money In The Bank, as hideous a concept as it is. After the first cash in with Edge, which was shocking and brilliant, they should have changed the rules whereby you need to give the champion 24 hours notice. It is about the cheapest way possible to further their 'anything can happen in the WWE' myth, and such a cheap way to get heat and create a shocking moment.
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