rolling Jericho calls The New Day trap queens 2016

omg the 2001 KOTR is one of the PPVs I remember sneaking out of bed to watch on a school night at the tender age of 10, during that initial romance with wrestling that I'm sure all young fans must experience where whole promos, segments, matches are just burned into your brain forever after.

so strange to watch it back now with context and realise that A) there never had been and never would be a WWE match that brutal ever again (maybe excepting the Cactus Jack / HHH stuff and B) there was nothing that 2000-2001 era Kurt Angle couldn't do. Technical exhibitions? Check. Big dramatic main-event brawls? Check. Truly and timelessly hilarious backstage comedy skits? Check. Fucking 110% insanse overblown garbage death-matches against non-wrestlers? CHECK. Dude was a fucking marvel, I know everyone goes on about this all the time but he'd literally debuted 3 years earlier!! Amazing. What a guy.

Greatest theme music, also. fuck man bring back Kurt Angle you fucks, give the guy the send-off that he deserves

i'm still v v slowly catching up on lucha underground, but dayyyyyyyym that fenix - mil muertes casket match!

that shane/kurt match is one of the best of all time. they also almost literally killed each other.

When is the casket match? Ive been doing similar, just had aztec warfare.

Kurt is a free agent or easy to get atm right? Him w/ Shane v taker would be glorious, aj and joe have already shown tna can be easily forgotten

yeah he's available. problem is they always said they got rid of him when they did because they didn't want him dying in a WWE ring. that was 10 years and a looooot of matches ago. In this brave new world of concussion awareness and refusing to let people work etc. i just can't see it

casket match is episode 19, 'grave consequences'

ah im only 11 episodes in. <3 fenix though

https://giant.gfycat.com/WavyContentAmoeba.gif

What's going on there?

I was going to ask the same thing. Failing to find a razor blade?

I've heard of "colour commentary" but this is beyond the pale!

Hey Byron when we said we needed you to provide a little colour on the commentary desk we meant in the sense o

Looks like when Lawler calls him "BS" he means "Blade Smuggler"!

Anyway commiserations to Byron Saxton on his forthcoming $90,000 fine

Others are saying it was a blood capsule he was handing off, which makes more sense. I can't imagine Sexy Roman gigging his forehead.

I'm more offended by Vince swearing in the opening segment. So Brad Maddox gets shit-canned for saying 'pricks' in a dark match but Vince can say one of the Seven Dirty Words and get away with it?

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these guys seem unbelievably good at doing other people's entrances, the Finn Bayley stuff on the NXT house shows is kind of mind-blowing

Main roster 2k16: Shane McMahon and (possibly synthetic) blood back on Monday night raw; critically acclaimed developmental brand creating the stars of the future: people in brightly coloured t-shirts jumping up and down and hugging each other

lol dad-approved blood capsule over blade isn't going to do roman's reputation any favors

(triple h is roman's dad)

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anyone worked out which bit of this is gonna get Roman Reigns over?

fast coming to the conclusion that animated gifs is p. much the optimum medium for consuming wrestling

The mishandling of Roman Reigns is definitely one of the most bewildering things I've ever encountered in my years following WWE. You'd think you'd really have to try hard to screw him up. And apparently that is a popular theory going around the internet these days (although I still think incompetence is the better explanation, for now).

Yeah I am dubious at some of the conspiracy theory stuff that's being posited, seems like a combo of vince being stubborn and out of touch, and hunter just not being able to help himself.

Kind of awesome and hilarious the way his rep has been rehabilitated what with nxt and so on, Cause I think you can make a pretty cohesive argument that he's still all about putting himself over at all times whatever the cost, and that has never not been the case.

He'll happily lose in big matches but he always makes sure to look as strong as possible during the buildup and in the actual match. I get that you want to keep the champion strong so that beating him means something. But for this particular feud, they really needed for HHH to screw Reigns out of the title at the Rumble, run away from him for weeks before Reigns can kill him, get forced into a title match through some shenanigans, and getting bulldozed at Mania to put Reigns over for good. In other words, Sting vs Hogan (the buildup, not the match itself). Instead it's HHH winning the Rumble more or less cleanly, beating the piss out of Reigns whenever he wants, and actively campaigning to have the match at Mania. And I'm sure the match will be 3/4 Reigns getting his ass kicked and making a big comeback at the end (to a chorus of boos).

The only way it works afait* is it has to go on last, i know i know, and reigns has to flip the fuck out. Like worse than austin at wm17. Hes gotta go fucking mental. Hes gotta have motivation. Preferably a manager or a faction. Possibly bring the cage down just to throw ambrose or hhh off it. Make him a scary motherfucker. If Shane wins, and he should, itll be the first time in 200 years the booker wont be the main heel and they should establish it immediately.

*obv not in the biz, ive just had 2 days off work watching lots of wrestling

If Shane wins, and he should

i think whatever happens - and right now it seems plausible that they are banking on Cena being fit or someone else coming in to fight as Shane's avatar, with Shane going into the cage only in the last extremity - there's just no way that Shane McMahon gets a Wrestlemania pinfall on The Undertaker. I know, nepotism etc. but this is Taker at Mania, that still means something. He'd lie down for Lesnar because it's Lesnar, but no way does Shane-O go over in any scenario if that's the match we get, imo.

I don't know what they're going to do about Reigns/HHH and it'll be interesting to see them figure it out. I think even the scenario you've outlined wouldn't help a great deal, this guy is just dead in the water right now, whatever happens it's got to happen before the PPV to try and shake some life into this match.

itll be the first time in 200 years the booker wont be the main heel and they should establish it immediately.

yeah lol see this is what i mean about HHH, sure he'll lie down for younger or less established guys on the PPVs when the moment calls for it (which is actually a massive step forward, lest we forget CM Punk in 2011 or Lesnar at WM29) but if you think there's any way that the show doesn't continue to be all about him all the time i think you're crazy

Shane/Taker at Mania is gonna be a schmozz in any case. Taker's greatest hits: Kane pop up from the canvas for a helping hand, Papa Shango does a run in, caskets and fire and lighting and shit. As Gorilla might put have it, it'll be a happening. I'll get my workrate itch scratched with NXT TakeOver; on WrestleMania Sunday I just want to be entertained.

To clarify:

I meant 'Shane'. I really don't think Shane fights, although he'll fall off something or through something.

I also don't expect any of that scenario to happen.

WM will be and needs to be SCHMOZZFEST 2016, at least Taker-'Shane', the title match, presumably a multi man ladder match type thing, whatever crazy tag team thing they have going on and of course the streetfight. Only whatever AJ, KO and the womens title match will be legit. And being SCHMOZZFEST is p much the best way to go, being all serious about the three match ups we currently know about would be criminal. Especially knowing nxt will be a masterpiece.

Went to the OTT Wrestling show in Dublin last night, mostly to see Will Ospreay before he heads off to New Japan. He's a phenomenal performer, oodles of charisma to match his athleticism, he's gonna be a star over there (watch out KUSHIDA!).

Sadly I didn't get to see the end of his main event triple threat, as the show ran long (my bus home was across the city, a 25-minute brisk walk). And the venue/show management left a lot to be desired: the atmosphere changed as the evening went on and the audience necked back more and more cheap lager. So many drunks, a couple getting all up in my face. Had to fight my way through the crowd to get to the only exit. I'm a 35-year-old man, I've never been in a fight but I think I can handle myself, yet I did not feel very comfortable.

I don't need that bullshit with my wrestling - nor the sexist macho/lad-culture replies to my complaints on Twitter - so I won't be going again. And I'm having second thoughts about attending tonight's ICW show, too.

(Update: I went to the ICW show in the end and it was a blast - even if I'd much prefer a seated show.)

MacDara the thread-killer strikes again ha-ha!

Anyway, what did everyone think of Raw? I'll check back in later after I've watched it.

steph promo was a+ (albeit in the classic format of "i am a heel but i'm going to say lots of things that are otm because i'm also kind of not a heel i suppose"), dean-trips stuff was v good, becky-sasha was decent but obviously setting up for bigger things, rest was not really worthwhile

tho i am looking forward to this hilarious odd couple-style sitcom, coming soon on usa network

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Kota Ibushi in "come and get me plea" to WWE Executive Vice-President of Talent Triple H.

i wish no harm upon any man but 4 real i can't wait until Vinnie Mac has checked out and Hunter has the freedom to extend his smart-mark EWR fantasy booking tendencies to the main roster.

in some alternate reality AJ Styles / Kevin Owens is yr WM IC title feud and it's hot-as-hot-can-be, and we're getting 20 mins of them tearing it up in a classic WM match to be remembered forever after.

in this actual real life reality AJ Styles is teaming with your most embarrassing uncle ahead of an inevitable split/heel turn giving us a match we've seen 5 times already in every possible combination that is entirely predictable and does nothing to elevate anyone. Kevin Owens just lost by count out to the muthafuckin Big Show. No one at the top of this company has any fucking clue at all what it is that ppl like in 2016.

AJ Styles has been w the company for 2 months, they've already had him pinned clean by one of their over-the-hill Attitude Era holdovers, killed the Styles Clash as a finisher, labelled him as a redneck and a rookie, mocked his height, dismissed his ability to cut a promo.. are these guys allergic to money or what

Styles was never going to be a main event star in WWE though. Daniel Bryan was a once in a generation exception (i.e. indie star not known for his mic work or having much of a character beyond "guy who likes kicking people" who unexpectedly developed both and was embraced by the fans while still being at the top of his game in the ring).

The Styles Clash has always been a dumb finisher too, and can't be safely or realistically applied to guys bigger than him (which is 85% of the WWE roster). They've been putting the calf killer/crusher over strong, so I have no complaints about any of this.

Jericho can still go in the ring, so he's not the problem, and Jericho/Styles vs New Day in a 15 minute tag title match at Mania could rock bells. The "redneck rookie" crap didn't help, and they've compensated for his mic work (which is poor by WWE standards) by having Jericho as the svengali behind all of his feuds so far.

I dont really mind jericho styles/new day or jericho-styles as pairings. Its gonna be alright for his first mania and hes still being booked kinda strong despite the problems. It'd be sweet if he can come out strong into a high-ish profile fued for post-mania and a good spot for summerslam (beat jericho at wm, wrestle owens for a few months, face a return like cena or orton at ss?).

Its still wwe though.

i take the point about the Styles Clash.

didn't mean to imply that AJ was ever going to be a main-event level star in WWE, just complaining in a general sense that they had this nice shiny new thing that people were totally excited about and they've managed to take most of the shine off it less than 3 months into his run. nothing's really been "ruined" or whatever, the problem is that they seemingly never run with the hot hand anymore when the opportunity is there.

Jericho beating Styles hasn't killed AJ's ability to be a big guy for them in the future, in the same way that Triple H pinning CM Punk in Summer 2011 didn't kill off Punk (I'm aware there are significant differences). but they're both examples of them hitting the brakes on guys who had momentum because... why? i just don't get why they don't run with it when they stumble into something cool and exciting.

Jericho is part of the problem here imo, not specifically wrt to Styles but with the WWE generally. any of the guys who've been knocking around for more than a decade now are part of the problem. you watch WWF/E throughout history, picking years at random and look at how different the rosters are between, say, 1984 1987 1991 1994 1999 2004 - things used to change up all the time. having so many long-termers on the roster makes everything feel so stale. as soon as anyone new and interesting gets involved with them the gloss immediately wears off a bit because it's 2016 and i don't wanna watch the Big Show wrestle anymore

I think i can think of like 5 spur of the moment booking-the-hot-guy examples in 10 years.

Punks contract
Hall of pain
The new day
The rhodes brothers
Something something daniel bryan
...that time rtruth actually got to headline a ppv match against cena?
...
...
...

I just remembered that when rock and cena tagged for a big 4 ppv main event their competitors were... the fucking miz and r truth, because of a laptop. Really puts in perspective the current lot.

Remember Ziggler at Survivor Series or when he won the title the night after Raw? He lost to miz in a minute i heard on Raw.

You've discussed Aj.

Kevin Owens beat Cena in his first match and less than a year later hes fueding with ziggler and big show.

Rusev went on a winning streak and got a fucking tank and now hes Sheamus' lackey.

Lol wyatts.

Neville had the best title non-win in a million years last year and is he even still on the show?

There are most probably a million other examples.

This is what they do.

Fuck its depressing. Come on trips.

last thing i wanna do is defend wwe, but like... i feel like everyone complains about dudes not being booked heavily enough if they're not in the immediate heavyweight title picture? i mean for better or for worse, there's a story with that title now, they can't put everyone in that story. they've already got at least 4 dudes in that story right now!

for real as long as Kevin Owens gets occasional WWE.com exclusive interviews where he has to be reluctantly roused from reclining on some kind of pallet backstage I will be happy

xpost to Will M

nah it's not about wins and losses and titles i don't think, not directly. like, i absolutely am not demanding that AJ Styles (but this goes for loads of guys) easily win every match he's in and be in the world title picture or w/e, of course not, only idiots think that good workrate = deserving top star in that way. BUT there is such a distance between that kind of myopic smark view and the reality, there is a middle ground that could be taken.

when you've got guys on your roster who are fresh, new, exciting, capable of putting together different and interesting new feuds with excellent matches PUT THEM TOGETHER! take these things which are fresh and new and exciting and let them reinvigorate your show! it'll get over! don't put them with fucking Jericho or Big Show or Kane or whoever because then I'm just an asshole sat in a room watching Big Show or Jericho or Kane or whoever AGAIN in 2016.

"________ vs Big Show"

it doesn't matter who you plug into this equation, it's still a case of same old shit and it's nothing i as a viewer want any part of. beating Chris Jericho in 2016 means nothing. feud them with fucking Neville or Breeze or Rusev or Harper or WHATEVER, just get these old fucks off my screen, give me something different. it's not like any of it could possibly hurt ratings or buy-rates. stop having fun new guys get beat by 25 year vets on your main tv show. no one's gonna get over like this

yeah, lot of fresh talent that could be feuding w/ each other but it feels like they're saving all these guaranteed straight-fire matches for a future that may never come

the new guys never get properly introduced, which is a bummer, and i blame 3 hours of live tv. their video package department is so damn good, why are they doing 20-minute individual one-act plays with shaky actors in front of 10000 people when they could do 5-minute intro things? like the nxt vids, minus the "reality" ness of it all. more kayfabe-y intros. like Lucha Underground. idk, if i'm someone who never watched nxt, how am i supposed to know ANYTHING about neville? occasional mic spots? while 10000 people say WHAT? ...i just feel like before someone gets on a mic, it'd be nice if we KNEW a lot about them.

seriously, show me a 3-minute video of neville, invent a backstory where he idk used to be a trapeze artist in the circus with a violent streak, left to join THE REAL CIRCUS of wwe.

or show me a 3-min video of breeze at his summer home in XXXXXXXX being a general vain doofus and make it clear that he hates uggos, then put him in a feud with an uggo. there are so many uggos to choose from!

i honestly do feel even though they WAY overdid it that the wyatt videos WERE effective for a while!! short, weird, developed character and to a lesser extent established motivation in a way that trying to do it in the bright lights on a mic live just can't do concisely!

otm.

i tried thinking about it and what i could come up with in recent times

2010 alberto del rio is a rich guy in a mansion
2012 chris jericho has faux taker cryptic vids and comes out saying nothing
2012 lord tensai isnt prince albert, hes got a face tattoo now
2012 brodus clay is a killer, who they then forget about and hes a funky dinosaur
2012 brock comes back from ufc
2013 wyatts
2013 team hell no anger management

im clutching at straws, and in the past 6 years there has definitely been 100+ men and women on the roster they could have done this with. to fill a 3 hour fucking show. or the other 2 hour one. or the other ones they have on top of those.

they maybe did it with sin botchy too? icantremember

were hell no's anger mgmt videos live sketches backstage or actual produced vids? i never saw them (only got back in like... 2ish yrs ago)