Rolling 2014 Haunted Rocking Chair Thread

these are the only 2 seconds of tna i have seen in 2014 and they are worth everyone seeing http://gfycat.com/DeadlyFinishedBoar

also lol eric young is champ? the bad comedy wrestler?

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--JGedZDMI--/mfxzbhxkwyzn7vyijjag.jpghttp://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/pictures/mryan2.jpg

Crikey, and he won it off Magnus?! I've never watched it outside of half-a-dozen recommended matches but it doesn't seem long ago that the TNA belt was getting fought over by Kurt Angle, Sting, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles etc. What the fuck happened there?

Also that gif is fucking wonderful, and it's Bubba Ray Dudley still gets paid each week to be putting people through tables on TV in 2014. I heard he'd had a JBL-style late-career renaissance but if you ask me that's still just Bubba fuckin Dudley

*it's good to know... etc.

tbf Bubba Ray as a main eventer seems less bizarre to me than when I returned to wrestling after years away to see 'Sexual Chocolate' Mark Henry as an unstoppable monster world champion.

http://gfycat.com/ForsakenSparseFrenchbulldog

Seriously would keep watching just for these guys right now, definitely think that individual singles runs whilst still nominally being a team is the best way for them to go

Shield v. Evolution was genuinely the most fun. If it doesn't end up my match of the year then this year is a fucking classic (it already might be.)

Bray v. Cena last night (and the past couple Raws tbh) is Dungeon of Doom levels of bad.

Watching the main event now and this is some fun attitude era garbage hardcore. No movez at all. Not seen this in forever and its pretty fun and refreshing. Wonder if Heyman booked it.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/a1f92ffa354610a7e1797561b02742cf/tumblr_n52vfi633Q1ty96ego1_400.gif
https://31.media.tumblr.com/a1f92ffa354610a7e1797561b02742cf/tumblr_n52vfi633Q1ty96ego1_400.gif
https://31.media.tumblr.com/a1f92ffa354610a7e1797561b02742cf/tumblr_n52vfi633Q1ty96ego1_400.gif
https://31.media.tumblr.com/a1f92ffa354610a7e1797561b02742cf/tumblr_n52vfi633Q1ty96ego1_400.gif
https://31.media.tumblr.com/a1f92ffa354610a7e1797561b02742cf/tumblr_n52vfi633Q1ty96ego1_400.gif

I turned on the main event last night on my ipad with no sound and was pretty damn bored with what I saw.

gifs of seth rollins is a definite future thread to be made

http://i.imgur.com/RceNWPR.gif

That's amazing.

Bryan needs neck surgery :(

Its good they have Cesaro, the Shield, Wyatts etc. because fuck me I'd be depressed if this happened to Punk in 2011. Daniel Bryan has been the most consistent joy in wrestling for the past 2 years and if he has to take time off just after getting the being john cena title, that will be such a kick in the teeth. It was bad enough for Ziggler last year but for the BJC Title Holder? Boo, injuries.

http://www.lolwrestling.com/how-long-has-jtg-been-employed/

7 years! Pop the champagne!

jesus christ, does he have one of those mark henry contracts?

last week i was in paris and caught an episode of raw during a bout of insomnia, lemme tell you bray wyatt's vague profundities sound even more vague and profound when some dude is doing them in french voiceover.

also caught an rvd match for the first time since he's come back and he's kinda sad to watch these days, isn't he? he's lost his speed and flexibility to the extent that what used to be super fluid and dynamic in his style now seems quite stop-start and clumsy, and he doesn't seem to have done anything to compensate for that.

just watched this. pretty wild.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HitHAHRTmcU

Having a bad day? Vince McMahon lost $340 million yesterday. WWE stock price dropped 50% after WWE's new TV was announced. So what happened?

• Earlier this year, share prices exploded from about $8 to $30 with buzz over the Network launch and new TV deal.
• NASCAR has the same demographic as WWE (with better sponsors and about a million more viewers than RAW) and got a deal worth $820 million/year.
• With that in mind, Vince hoped/promoted getting double or triple their current deal.
• WWE's lineup of RAW/SD/Total Divas is worth about $95m. They got $160million.
• This low-balling means there wasn't a bidding war for WWE's main shows and NBC Universal don't think much of wrestling.
• This sent investor confidence down the toilet, and WWE's stock price with it.

Update on the WWE Network
• Prior to it's launch, WWE threw around getting anywhere up to 2.5 million subscribers (aka 3-4% of the ludicrous "77 million WWE Homes").
• It brought in only 667k subscribers, it needs 1.4 million subs (in USA) to break even.
• This number is higher because DirecTV and Dish have dropped WWE PPVs (only InDemand are left)
• More subscribers this year isn't looking good as 10-15% of subscribers are non-Americans, and WrestleMania (a main factor for buying it) has come and gone.
• The Network's EVP of Programming (Matt Singerman) was fired, and Chief Digital Exec Perkins Miller left for the NFL last week.
• If WWE can't convince more people to buy the Network they'll likely up the price (perhaps to $12.95/month) or put at least WrestleMania back on PPV.

Wrestlers are pissed
• WWE are keeping the Network money for themselves, whilst delaying having a talent meeting to explain to the wrestlers how they'll be paid for being on the Network. They were stiffed on last year's videogame royalties and haven't seen a Mania payoff.

I assumed the NFL picking up the former head of the network meant that it was a good product.. I guess just because its a good product doesnt mean it makes money

It's back to within the same ballpark of where it was before all the speculators jumped on last fall. It didn't lose value; it had an inflated, false value and is now back to where it should be. WWE is fine.

Oh sure. I'm eagerly awaiting the ways Daniel Bryan and JR can be publicly humiliated for their failings though.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/23/4133082/wwe-in-trouble-financially-hardly.html

i've been enjoying the WWE coverage on grantland and occasionally i've googled things shoemaker mentions but i still find a lot of it mystifying (tho really compelling). is there like a primer, or 101 coverage of WWE that u could recommend?

dunno if there is a "definitive" primer (i know there's some kind of wwe-produced encyclopedia but have no idea what it's possibly like). shoemaker's book is pretty good for newbies. it's been 10 years since i've read it so no idea how it holds up but i remember "the death of wcw" being pretty interesting and in-depth. jonathan snowden's "shooters" is more specialized--about legit "tough guys" that wrestled--but is worth checking out.

there were a few books with the title "pro wrestling hall of fame" that were worth it. one was "heroes & icons," one was "the heels," think there are one or two others i'm forgetting, and they're definitely full of shit to latch onto.

for week to week coverage, a lot of people like brandon stroud's columns on raw over at uproxx, which i'm not super familiar with but seem pretty accessible.

Not quite clear what you're looking for Mordy - do you want a primer on the current WWE output or a more general thing about the ins and outs of pro-wrestling and how it works?

WWE hot-streak stil going steady as of last night btw, really solid show aside from a few totally wtf sections (don't really understand why Bo Dallas gets lumbered with Kofi and Kane, I thought they wanted this guy to get over) but the opener was good fun (Cesaro will surely take the belt off Sheamus at the next PPV) and the two main events both delivered.

If you can't be bothered watching the whole thing, just check out The Shield / Evolution match. Predictably great, all the usual trademark high spots and bumps (Rollins is making the insane dives from unlikely places a monthly feature it seems) and none of them have gotten boring yet. Kudos to the old fellas for working so hard to make The Shield look great. Roman Reigns is surely less than a year away from a run with the belt now.

Not quite clear what you're looking for Mordy - do you want a primer on the current WWE output or a more general thing about the ins and outs of pro-wrestling and how it works?

yes to both? i started reading The Squared Circle last night and i'm finding it very enjoyable so far

particularly i'd love to read more about the meaning of daniel bryan. like i read this:

The story line1 that took Daniel Bryan from hapless NXT competitor to the winner of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was a thing of beauty. It was a relentless uphill struggle from the unlikeliest minor league existence to the top of the heap. It kept fans not just guessing but actively railing in support of their hero, and it kept them in adamant disbelief that he would ever reach his goal. It was a story line that would have seemed feasible in the ’70s or ’80s, when simplistic morality plays were accepted as gospel, but not today, not in this modern era when fans know (or believe they know) a great deal about backstage happenings, and when they rate the product based on what could have happened rather than on what did.

The case of Daniel Bryan seemed to be evidence of both a new mode of crowd interaction and a new era for wrestling storytelling. Either through diabolical scheming or just blind luck, WWE told a story over the past seven months — or two years, or more, depending on how far back you want to reach — that transformed Bryan into the industry’s standard-bearer in the most compelling way possible. It blew people’s minds because so many assumed Bryan would never get there, and because everything fans knew about the WWE enterprise gave them reason to think that Bryan was doomed.

but i couldn't quite figure out why it was so unlikely that daniel bryan would "reach his goal" and what made his transformation so compelling. is it just that he looks like a hippie which is unlikely for such a macho organization?

1. he's second smallest on the wwe top star range (only rey rey is smaller) and vince still runs it, traditionally wanting big guy roid factory

2. he's not a great promo, even if he can do the occasional great one or interesting shit (hug it out for example)

3. bearded, hippie

4. indie guys, bar punk, traditionally havent gone over and up until last summer, cesaro was also said to be for the chop

5. put with kane traditionally not a winning strategy

6. already been fired once for choking out justin roberts

7. bar what people think may be happening backstage/noone knowing whats happening and whether it was the plan all along, the royal rumble and big show taking over yes! for survivor series make a pretty compelling argument that noone backstage gave a shit about what every fan wanted until the last minute

are mainstream fans also big hippie fans, or is this mostly internet smarks that were cheering for him winning?

also

If you can't be bothered watching the whole thing, just check out The Shield / Evolution match.

outside buying the program or sub'ing to the channel is there a way to check out a specific match like this one?

I think since the Raw after the 18 second Sheamus match going YES! crazy it was official that a general mix of every crowd was super into d-bry. All the anger management kane stuff, winning superstar of the year, the rock calling him goatface etc. all added to the mix. It makes no difference to 98% of his fans that he was roh world & pure champ at once.

my usual source of totally legality

Oh man, there's just too much to unpack with regard to the whole Daniel Bryan thing, as it's merely the most recent and probably most interesting example of a debate and a dichotomy that's been a part of pro wrestling forever, and some of the protagonists are whole other stories in themselves (HHH, Batista, Randy Orton, in particular). You've actually kind of hit the nail on the head with the hippie thing actually. In very broad brush strokes:

Looking right back through the history of the WWE / WWF / old WWWF all the way back to the dark ages of the 1960s and 70s when a guy called Bruno Sammartino was the top guy, the company has had a very clear preference for giving the spotlight to big guys who look like action heroes, inevitably at the expense of other wrestlers who were perceived to be more talented wrt athletic ability and in-ring smarts. These guys usually seemed to do better in territories based in the south of the USA, while the big hosses would do better up north.

As I say, this reputation has clung to the WWE in some form for donkeys years and it is now an inarguable and vital piece of wrestling lore Vince McMahon has a jones on for big guys and will give them exposure at the expense of more "deserving" or "talented" individuals.

At various points throughout history, smaller more athletic guys have made it to the top of the WWE, but that doesn't change the fact that this always seems in some way to be going against the grain of the way the people in charge want to run the company. The most famous examples of this would be the mid-90s when Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were the top guys despite being way smaller than any headliners had been in the WWE before. It is worth noting that during this period business for the company was in the toilet (not those guys' fault, actually, but in wrestling a headliner is always judged according to how much money they make and will always bear the brunt of the blame for bad business).

So that's POINT 1, I suppose - Vince McMahon likes big guys at the top, he's never been happy with giving small guys the spotlight.

The next point is related to the wider state of the wrestling industry in the last decade or so - since the decline of all meaningful competition and WWE's total monopoly of the market, the only other US companies that have been able to eke out a living are the ones who focus almost exclusively on niche aspects of the business, b/c playing the WWE at their own game is now impossible. Primarily this means focusing on providing superior WRESTLING (which WWE apparently, and perhaps justifiably, thinks its mainstream audience will find boring) as opposed to the broader ENTERTAINMENT variety show that the WWE tries to offer.

These smaller companies are collectively known as the independents, or the indies, and they cater for your hardcore wrestling fans, the sort who inhabit Squared Circle and the like. Most of their shows take place in gymnasiums, bingo halls and other small venues (at least that's the stereotype) attracting few but rabidly enthusiastic customers.

The independents are the domain of those who can't get a job with WWE - because they don't look right, they don't sound right, whatever - those that don't fit the stereotype of what WWE (aka Vince McMahon) thinks a pro-wrestler should look like. The flipside to that is that the independents are full of guys who are actually way better at their jobs than their WWE counterparts.

For many years, Daniel Bryan was the undisputed king of the indies. He wrestled everywhere, he worked with everybody and he always had the best match on every show he worked. Like, unbelievably talented, unbelievably consistent, and everyone thought he never had a shot at getting anywhere near the "big leagues" because he didn't look right, wasn't charismatic enough, etc. So he came to be adopted as the mascot and idol of the hardcore independent wrestling fans.

Of course he did eventually get his shot in the WWE (following in the wake of another independent legend who went on to become maybe the biggest star of the decade so far, CM Punk) and was pretty much evidently the best thing going from day one. And he has also pretty evidently had to overcome a degree of antipathy from the WWE higher-ups, who couldn't have made it more clear, on numerous occasions and in a variety of ways, that they didn't really want to make this guy a star if they could possibly avoid it. Some people in the WWE do nothing to deserve their exposure, but because someone backstage likes them they get chance after to chance to connect with the crowd. Bryan has basically had to work with what he's been given from day one, and not only has he made it work, but he's made it work to such an extent that he's now the most popular wrestler in the company (and possibly the world, at the moment).

There's way more detail to be gone into as to why the last 4 years or so have been such a crazy series of ups and downs for the guy, with the last 2 years in particular being a bit of a rollercoaster, but this post is already too long.

In summary:

- Daniel Bryan is short and odd-looking, but proved on the independent scene that he was the best wrestler going

- Vince McMahon HATES, and always has hated, giving the spotlight to people that don't look like action movie heroes, and that goes double for guys from the indies

- Daniel Bryan spent 10 years establishing his reputation and becoming the patron saint of hardcore wrestling fans

- when he finally did come to WWE, Daniel Bryan had to overcome a fair amount of bullshit in order to become a top guy, which actually enabled all of the hardcore fans (who might have deserted him had it all happened too easily) to stick it out in his corner, holding him up as a shining example of the hypocrisies and injustices of the system

- through the magic of the internet (which is a whole other conversation to have wrt this situation) the wider mainstream audience have become aware of this situation to such a point that the WWE were forced to make "Daniel Bryan is being held back by malevolent political forces" the whole thrust of his storyline.

- Daniel Bryan is now arguably the most popular wrestler in the world, bridging the gap between the hardcore fans and the mainstream audience. He is also still the best in-ring worker in the business, has a catchphrase, sells merchandise and is basically approaching the platonic ideal of what many people think a top wrestler should be.

- last month he got his biggest opportunity on the biggest show of the year, winning the title and beating 3 of the top guys of the last decade in the process (including HHH, which is pretty big news for historical reasons).

For the fans that have followed him for many years, I suppose this is the wrestling equivalent of a beloved local band that you first saw playing in a shitty bar in front of 30 people finally going number one and headlining a major festival without compromising any of their integrity. A feel good story for the ages, then.

Shit sorry, that was long and I still haven't started to cover why this is being treated as such a big deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsX1ATcyQxU

this in-storyline promo video for WM was good

slso provides some evidence that

- he was pretty normall-looking til he grew that stupid fuckin beard (and I guess he's kind of bloated and squat looking these days cos he's bulked up a ton)
- he works a style that will destroy his body and mind

feel like w/ that beard he should be coming out to a bon iver song

- he works a style that will destroy his body and mind

Yeah this doesn't seem to be spoken about too much (though I'm sure Bryan himself is more than alive to the potential dangers) but modelling your whole in-ring steez to form part of the Dynamite Kid --> Chris Benoit lineage is kind of questionable given how those two ended up, no matter how entertaining that style might be.

- Vince McMahon HATES, and always has hated, giving the spotlight to people that don't look like action movie heroes, and that goes double for guys from the indies

idk if this is true anymore. of course he did bring in the radicalz/jericho/rey and made stars of them all without it ever really being superhero types. on top of that, he has always loved a big big fatty - yr mabels, bossmans, yokos, kishis, etc.

also ive always wondered how much influence brisco has. he is notorious for his talent spotting, especially from amateur wrestling but i guess once someone has been spotted and signed he is in vince's hands and gets told to do 6 moves.

also always wondered how much of an influence monsoon had. books need to be written about vinces inner circle types from the past 30 years.

Yeah this doesn't seem to be spoken about too much (though I'm sure Bryan himself is more than alive to the potential dangers) but modelling your whole in-ring steez to form part of the Dynamite Kid --> Chris Benoit lineage is kind of questionable given how those two ended up, no matter how entertaining that style might be.

― Windsor Davies, Monday, June 2, 2014 7:24 PM (59 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there has been a lot of talk about him changing his style for a while. i remember the austin podcast just after his concussion last year and how he needs to cut out the dropkick where he lands on his back&head.

Yeah yeah I know there's a lot more nuance to Vince's position wrt to bigger guys these days but I did say I was painting with broad brush strokes. fwiw I still think it's essentially a truism to say that he'd much rather push a big guy than a small one, irrespective of talent. The experiments tend to fail horribly but they still happen - Khali and Kozlov weren't that long ago. Should be interesting to see what happens with Rusev.

Anyway, the superhero thing of course isnt true across the board, but in the context of Bryan's ascent I do think the point about "look" is a vital one - Orton and Batista both representing different aspects of the vision of how WWE stars should look.

The Radicalz thing is a fair point but then how much choice did he really have? WWF's midcard was non-existent by the time those guys tipped up. Big fattys I lump in with the wider point about look though - they were still essentially just comic-book characters, the sort of guys that could look enticing on a poster opposite Hulk Hogan.

To be clear, I'm well aware that the smaller guys get their chances these days, I'm just talking really about the readiness of WWE to push the big guys, relative to how hard the smaller ones have to work to get their shot

it's weird cos by this time last year Bryan was at this unexpected point where he was winning 80% of his matches clean and if it was against a bigger guy he'd just do it via sneaky tehcnical superiority rollup pin, and it was like wow he is Bret Hart now, he is actually at the top of the protected booking mountain

then by like two months later he was doing ultimate warrior comebacks and winning 90% of his matches clean by knocking everyone from Cena downwards unconscious with a knee smash while screaming

like even if they never intended for him to be champion, at some point he clearly overtook Sheamus as the second most protected guy on the roster, at 5'8

Hmmm maybe, he's definitely rocketed up the pecking order in the last 12 months, even by the end of last year that was obvious.

I didnt really watch the TV stuff enough last year to keep up, but on PPV I certainly wouldn't say he's been noticeably heavily protected though - he actually lost pretty consistently on PPV for the year from WM29 through to WM30.

Admittedly there were important exceptions at Summerslam and Survivor Series and he's now one of the guys who is always allowed to look competitive with everyone, but still feels like he's been taking quite frequent losses on the main shows.

Sorry, that looks like I'm one of the crybabys that thinks he should be winning every match every time he goes out there, of course I don't think that. I think he's been used pretty spectacularly well for a long time now. Just arguing the point for argument's sake really

pffft when hes fit he should get like a 2 year long title run never losing. noone else is actually ready yet, reigns still cant cut a promo or do a singles match, cesaro secretly doesnt have a character, wyatt cant beat a cena i guess and everyone and their dog is bored to fuck of cena, orton, sheamus etc. - it would build up the person he does win it at wm32 to be p damn important too.

should i attend this event? http://www.2300arena.com/event/details/wrestling-with-disaster-2014-june-14/

(sorry, not real WWE i don't think, but real famous venue!)

you might as well hit up the ecw arena. i live in philly and always forget the damn thing still exists

what's the deal w/ john cena? is he a "face" that fans are just tired of / maybe represents older WWE pre-reality era? do most fans like or dislike him?

It's split between the kids that worship him and the marks who love to hate him.

the snarky crowd have loved to hate him since 2006 (think about one night stand 2006) and it most probably peaked in 2011 with the miz at wm and the punk stuff etc. but afaic, if you can get over the occasional boring superhero promo or awful comedy segment, he's like the 6th best wrestler on wwe.*

*sure hes no technician but hes like hogan, who could ramp up that big fight feel into something terrific. and unlike hogan, he can hang with anyone, an umaga, a bryan or punk, a luke harper, a cesaro or mark henry etc. and not just other powerhouses/fat guys.