Wrestling Entertainment - we know, you don't have to tell us!

[Miller11]

Didn’t know about the health issues, though I’ve heard him comment several times how he considers himself very fortunate to still be alive.

My first exposure to him was slightly after the Blue Bloods run (I was on a wrestling hiatus at that time), but quickly came to love Lord Steven! Seeing him and Bobby Eaton work with and against each other later was great, but I do wish I’d seen it at the time.

He could be so valuable to AEW. I hope he’s put in a position where he can help some of the wrestlers work on their basics and psychology. I don’t think there is anyone on the roster who couldn’t learn a thing or two.

I’m reminded of that video clip where he sits in on one of Matt Bloom’s classes at the PC and goes absolutely ballistic at the trainees for their sloppy footwork. He might clash with a certain EVP!!

Perhaps the greatest all rounder of all time? He will certainly make anything he is given the highest quality. I think a commissioner run would be perfect for him here. Working closely with Tony Khan would benefit the product and give TK an invaluable learning experience. He could reign in some of his worse ideas and likely make everything make a bit more sense. Can’t ask for a more credible authority figure either.

[Dreyski]

4 hours ago, Miller11 said:

Didn’t know about the health issues, though I’ve heard him comment several times how he considers himself very fortunate to still be alive.

Regal himself is refuting this. Says he's healthier than he has been in years:

https://twitter.com/RealKingRegal/status/1502346915425529861

I could listen to him talk for hours. Certainly belongs in the conversation of 'best wrestler never to win the world title in a major promotion'

[DE.]

14 hours ago, Miller11 said:

Didn’t know about the health issues, though I’ve heard him comment several times how he considers himself very fortunate to still be alive.

My first exposure to him was slightly after the Blue Bloods run (I was on a wrestling hiatus at that time), but quickly came to love Lord Steven! Seeing him and Bobby Eaton work with and against each other later was great, but I do wish I’d seen it at the time.

I think Regal is one of those wrestlers you appreciate much more when you're older and smarter to the business. As a kid, in WCW I always saw him as the British fella who worked slow matches that looked a lot more real than the other bouts, whilst in WWE he was just the comedy commissioner. That was about it. It's only now, much later, that I recognise how talented and underrated he was. 

10 hours ago, Dreyski said:

Regal himself is refuting this. Says he's healthier than he has been in years:

https://twitter.com/RealKingRegal/status/1502346915425529861

I could listen to him talk for hours. Certainly belongs in the conversation of 'best wrestler never to win the world title in a major promotion'

Yeah this was seemingly just Meltzer's poor grasp of the English language causing confusion again - thankfully. Although Regal's fatalistic promo certainly added fuel to the fire. 

I think Regal is in the same bracket as Scott Hall - an insanely talented and smart wrestler who was held back by his demons.

[DE.]

Meanwhile Big E suffered a broken neck on Smackdown after a botched belly-to-belly suplex.

Fortunately he's tweeted from hospital that he can move his digits, etc.... so fingers crossed a speedy recovery.

[Miller11]

16 minutes ago, DE. said:

Meanwhile Big E suffered a broken neck on Smackdown after a botched belly-to-belly suplex.

Fortunately he's tweeted from hospital that he can move his digits, etc.... so fingers crossed a speedy recovery.

That looked horrific! Glad he’s seemingly okish, I think he’s great. 

This overhead belly to belly seems to be really in vogue at the moment, but obviously it’s risky. Saw a clip where Bron Steiner hit a beauty. Not sure it should be used on someone as large as Big E though, and I’m convinced it shouldn’t be used outside the ring.

[DE.]

You gotta be confident in your technique to pull off those kinds of suplexes. The likes of the Steiners, Taz, etc all had incredible technique to go alongside their strength. Holland maybe needs to leave moves like that alone until he's sure he can pull them off without injuring a colleague.

Thankfully it sounds like Big E is going to be alright.

[Blue blood]

On 12/03/2022 at 17:47, DE. said:

You gotta be confident in your technique to pull off those kinds of suplexes. The likes of the Steiners, Taz, etc all had incredible technique to go alongside their strength. Holland maybe needs to leave moves like that alone until he's sure he can pull them off without injuring a colleague.

Thankfully it sounds like Big E is going to be alright.

He spiked Gargano on his head from a power slam last year which was very.nasty too. Like the character but he's a liability in the ring imo. 

[Mike E]

Hope Scott Hall manages to pull through but it's not looking likely. On life support after 3 heart attacks over the wknd (hip operation dislodged a clot, apparently).

'Hard work pays off, and dreams come true.

Bad times don't last, but BAD GUYS DO!!'

[Dreyski]

It's not looking good. According to Nash (on instagram), they're going to turn off the life support after his family gets there 😟

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbEqfqau6zp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Edited March 14, 2022 by Dreyski

[DE.]

Gutting. Scott Hall was a huge part of WCW when I first started watching wrestling. An incredible performer who had the entire package, just couldn't tame his demons until his career was over. In the conversation for straight up coolest wrester in history, and definitely one of the best to never hold a world title in WWE or WCW. With his issues during that time period you can understand why both companies never put the main strap on him, though. 

[Miller11]

One of my all time favourites. 

The visible decline in his health over the last 20 years has been very noticeable. The demons clearly taking their toll. 

[Mike E]

He's gone 😞

[DE.]

What's funny is I rewatched the Nitro where Hall debuted recently (27 May 1996) and that show absolutely sucked before Hall arrived. WCW in general was pretty poor until he and Nash turned up. The product changed rapidly after that, and eventually became something totally different. Hall and Nash really did start the transformation of American wrestling into the beast it became in the late 90s. Without the Outsiders' invasion WCW never becomes cool and Vince never has a reason to start the Attitude era. I know ECW was pushing boundaries at that time but they were far too niche to ever have a major impact on the likes of WWE. Hall's place in history alongside Nash and the nWo really can't be overstated. 

 

[DE.]

For anyone that has the WWE Network, the Razor Ramon documentary is on there. Well worth a watch.

[Dreyski]

On 12/03/2022 at 02:03, Dreyski said:

Regal himself is refuting this. Says he's healthier than he has been in years:

https://twitter.com/RealKingRegal/status/1502346915425529861

I could listen to him talk for hours. Certainly belongs in the conversation of 'best wrestler never to win the world title in a major promotion'

After listening to him talk on Jericho's podcast, I hope my above comment is true and he is healed up now. Certainly deserves it.

[DE.]

On 08/03/2022 at 14:13, DE. said:

Tay Conti was rising fast but seems to have plateaued a bit. I'm not sure this match did her many favours, and honestly I find her current presentation a little bland. Much like her boyfriend Sammy Guevara she doesn't really have much of a personality beyond 'plucky babyface'. They reference her martial arts background but it still doesn't provide much depth. I actually think her and Sammy would benefit switching to a heel duo. I could see that working well, although I don't think it's in AEW's plans. I don't think they've mentioned Sammy and Tay's relationship on screen at all.

So as it turns out AEW have gone the route of pairing Sammy and Tay up, but somewhat inexplicably have put them into a babyface position. It's a very WWE-esque monkey's paw version of doing the right thing the wrong way. I'm not sure why AEW thinks 'beautiful people on national TV talking about how much sex they have' is conducive to a babyface reaction. Tony Khan isn't usually that tone deaf. They're now feuding with America's Top Team who are categorically heels, so until that feud is done Sammy and Tay will have to remain faces, even though it does them no favours. I can see a WWE style reaction from the audience where they end up cheering the heels over the faces in this one, however, as the heels are more likeable and interesting than the babyfaces.  

Edited March 25, 2022 by DE.

[DE.]

WM night 1 - mixed bag.

The Usos Vs Nakamura & Boogs - Didn't really feel like a WM worthy match. Boogs getting injured obviously screwed up the finish and they had to come up with a new one on the fly, so who knows if the Usos were going to win anyway or if Nakamura & Boogs were scheduled to win. Bad luck for Boogs.

Drew McIntyre Vs Happy Corbin - This one definitely wasn't a WM worthy match. Pointless. McIntyre deserves much better than this.

The Mysterios Vs The Miz & Logan Paul - The recently traditional celeb match. Logan Paul did really well. Can't say I cared a great deal about the match itself, and I'm not sure what they were going for with Miz turning on Logan Paul at the end. If the idea is that Paul will be the babyface... WWE may have to think again.

Becky Lynch Vs Bianca Belair - The first match of the night that really felt like it deserved its place on the show. Belair's character needs to evolve at some point from 'smiley, dancing babyface' though. It's the default position for WWE face characters and it's boring and leads to crowd apathy pretty fast.

Cody Rhodes Vs Seth Rollins - Wrestling's worst kept secret was finally unveiled. I find it really funny that Cody was able to keep his entire AEW entrance, including his theme song which is literally a direct swipe at WWE. He even had the codyvator. The commentators obviously pretended like AEW doesn't exist, because WWE. They'll only mention AEW when it's dead, owned by them or irrelevent. Maybe all three. The match itself was solid, and considering how little prep time these guys had I thought they did a great job. Now let's see how long it is before the crowd begins turning on Cody.

Charlotte Flair Vs Ronda Rousey - Apparently Rousey threw a temper tantrum on Friday after being told her and Flair wouldn't be main eventing. Seemingly she thought she should main event over Stone Cold Steve Austin in Texas. Quite the ego she has. Match itself was fine but I don't care much for either Flair or Rousey, so I wasn't particularly invested. A little surprising to see Ronda lose though.

Kevin Owens Vs Steve Austin - So, turns out old Stone Cold had one more match in him after all! They kept it simple and didn't have Austin take any major risks. The crowd went home happy and it was a nice way to end the show. No complaints here. 

Overall the show didn't really get going until the Lynch Vs Belair match. This event does not need two nights. All that happens is that Raw/Smackdown/secondary PPV calibre matches end up on the WM card, giving the entire event lipstick-on-a-pig vibes.  

As for tomorrow's card...

Lashley/Omos I am expecting to be really shit.

Raw Tag Team Triple Threat should be decent.

Zayn/Knoxville should be entertaining.

McAfee/Theory could be anything,

Smackdown Women's Tag means nothing.

Edge/AJ should steal the night.

Roman/Brock is either going to be really good or really bad.  

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by DE.

[Guest]

Something about watching newbies thrown in at the deep end and succeeding that I find really fun to watch. Paul did a great job, arguably the best celebrity first timer they've had. Agree with the above though, he has to be heel, had more heat than half the roster on his first night.

Austin match was obviously poor, but it had to be that way to get him through it. Loads of fun, but let's stop kicking a dead horse now

[DE.]

What surprised me about Logan Paul is how natural he looked. Legit seemed more at ease than a lot of the wrestlers you see starting out in NXT and on AEW Dark/Elevation. It was really impressive. It's hard to explain but his poise, the way he moved and his timing for everything was just spot on. Didn't look out of place at all. 

Stone Cold's match was OK - his limitations were obvious, but I think they hit the beats that needed to be hit, and the crowd ate it up. Attitude Era going over at every WM is getting a bit tiresome now though. Especially when most of the AE guys look pretty old these days. It's not a great look for the current generation and it isn't something the likes of Stone Cold, The Rock, Undertaker, etc had to go through as their generation eclipsed almost everything that had come before them. Hogan would have been the only real exception and he spent most of his time holding down WCW's fresh talent as opposed to going over WWE's fresh talent.

[Miller11]

I’m mostly caught up with Wrestlemania now. Mixed bag. Cut out all the rubbish and they could’ve had one really excellent, normal length event. I guess it’s the way things are today, but the roster is so bloated and everything so repetitive.

Have to echo the comments on Logan Paul… he was really good. What a natural heel too!! Enjoyed Austin a lot, thought Roman and Brock delivered big time too. Cody is really interesting for now, although I am sure they will ruin it.

Hated the jackass nonsense, Vince botching the last stunner even more than he did the first was funny.

[Blue blood]

Finally caught up with WM. Mixed bag is the word. 

There was enough in there to be a one night classic, even with the usual bore fest from Reigns and Lesnar. Just a school of thought but you can do more than 3 moves each. And it's a bad shout to end the match right after the first interesting moment in the bout too. That's a main event? My word...

There were some really strong matches, Bianca Vs Lynch was exceptional and the pick of both nights, whilst Styles-Edge and Rhodes-Rollins were also good. Charlotte Vs Ronda seemed a bit messy for me, though they worked hard. Logan Paul and Stone Cold put in excellent showings given their circumstances. So all in all there was a good night's card in there. Shame it was surrounded by so much dross and filler. 

I do wonder how WWE keeps going when so much of its product lacks good story telling and appeal. So many titles going to waste, so much under utilised talent. Maybe this is what you end up with due to a monopoly. 

[Mike E]

Summerslam coming to Cardiff! What a shame that it's when I'm as uninterested in WWE as I have been in years.

They have all the component parts, just no creative to tie it all together.

For me, the beauty of 2000-2007 (ish) was that stars were booked up and down the card as if they COULD be main eventers.

[DE.]

https://prowrestling.net/site/2022/06/15/wwe-board-investigating-3-million-settlement-paid-to-an-employee-who-allegedly-had-an-affair-with-vince-mcmahon/

Oops...

[Mike E]

11 hours ago, DE. said:

https://prowrestling.net/site/2022/06/15/wwe-board-investigating-3-million-settlement-paid-to-an-employee-who-allegedly-had-an-affair-with-vince-mcmahon/

Oops...

Hang on. Have all the released wrestlers in the last two years 'due to budget cuts' actually been due to paying this woman? $3m would cover roughly 30-50 wrestlers' annual salaries (lower card, or not used).

Edited June 16, 2022 by Mike E

[DE.]

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

Hang on. Have all the released wrestlers in the last two years 'due to budget cuts' actually been due to paying this woman? $3m would cover roughly 30-50 wrestlers' annual salaries (lower card, or not used).

I believe WWE are claiming VKM paid the money from his own personal funds... how easy it is to separate his personal funds from WWE funds will likely be the crux of the debate.