Rolling 2014 Haunted Rocking Chair Thread

lmao @ the batista-orton promo. they chant for punk. "if they boo me, i boo them back!" oooooh dave.

people chanting we the people to cheer the foreign white heel against the nice black american dude? im reading too much into that right? either way it makes me a bit uncomfortable.

fuck me thats a horrible crowd for bray v. reigns. you get the two biggest stars of the next ten years in the main event and you chant for jerry fucking lawler and husky harris and every other fucking wrestler? gtfo. well done for ruining it.

Paul Heyman just isn't a short-haired man, he has a ghost ponytail much like the ghost moustache we find on the upper lip of formerly moustached men who've recently shaved. More conspicuous in its absence than it ever was when present.

Trying out the network. Live streaming works great - they're running shows throughout the day and no hiccups or anything wrong at all.

The on demand vault stuff though has been a different experience. Tried about ten different things and they all froze between 1-10 minutes of starting. However, right now I'm watching Starrcade '83 and it's working fine. Tried earlier and it kept freezing after 3 minutes.

Spoke too soon. Died about 35 minutes in.

Think I'll leave it for a while until it settles down a bit, the internet here is shoddy anyway.

In other news, looks like they officially turned Bootista heel last night. "I will destroy your heroes" Kinda helps the tv shows because now at least they can pretend that they've got themselves a lightning hot heel rather than an failed superstar babyface. But does that leave Orton as a face champion? :((((( This match is still gonna suck seven kinds of ass, idk if they're gonna run with Batista as the new choice of the Authority and have Orton go rogue or what. They haven't really left themselves much leeway with the other matches now set in stone. Heel vs heel is never gonna happen at WM, so I suppose a turn for Orton must be in the offing. What a fucking mess.

Its Dragon v. Evolution I tells ya.

This vid was recently reuploaded to Youtube in the wake of the sad passing of Nelson Frazier Jr. Can't make up my mind whether my favourite part is the juxtaposition of Big Kev's snidey revisionist takedown and Mabel's wide-eyed naivete ("I felt like it would've been better for me to be the champion and let Diesel chase", "It was a good match") or the transparent David Brentism of "they were going to fire him on the spot [...] I said fire him, fire me". Kevin Nash - eats, shoots and leaves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KloN39L8nk

NXT Arrival kicked of with a match of the year candidate. Cesaro v. Zayn was special; great wrestling, great pacing, great ring psychology. High bar for the rest of the show.

The next two matches aren't just failing to reach the bar they're tarnishing the damn thing.

I'm really into watching all these old PPVs on the network. Just finished the Wrestlevision Classic from 1985. It's the Survivor Series tourney before it had that name, and was a blast to watch. Lots of fun pairings, and a heaping helping of prime Macho Man.

If anyone has recommendations for classic events I'd love some tips.

wcw in 1994 pre hogan is increasingly becoming one of my favourite eras - sting pillman austin cactus vader flair steamboat rick rude regal - its a perfect roster.

wm17 19 and 24

no way out 2001? if thats the one with rock angle and the three stages of hell

idk any ecw but heatwave 98 is generally considered the classic

summerslam 98

are the clashes on it? wrestlewar... 89? if thats the end to steamboat-flair.

great american bash 1991, king of the ring 1995, wcw in 1999 and 2000 (although i think spring stampede is a beloved show), december to dismember and royal rumble 2014 for hate watching.

Thanks! I've seen some but by no means all of those. Looks like every WWE, WCW and ECW PPV is up to stream so all of these recommendations should be accessible.

Had nothing on this morning and I'm hungover to hell and crave entertainment so I've caved and set up the free trial for the Network. Pretty good really, isn't it? Just watched the MSG show from December 1991 with Hogan vs Flair, Bret Hart vs Mountie, Rockers vs Nasty Boys. Good fun show, Flair / Hogan makes for interesting watching given the eventual situation at WM VIII. Flair bumped like a champ for him all match, as you'd expect, but then was allowed to kick out of the Leg Drop (or at least get his foot on the ropes). Crowd was loving this stuff.

dayyuumm, just dawning on me how much content this actually is. It'd be worth it for the PPVs alone. Is the current plan just to keep adding content then? It'd be absolutely extraordinary if they got the complete archives of Raw, Smackdown, Nitro, Thunder, ECW Hardcore tv etc. up here, not to mention all of the super shows from the '80s etc.

Streaming quality for me so far has been fine, no delays, no problems, all in HD. And I'm working off quite a crappy internet connection here, max download speed is around 400/500 kbps. Seriously impressed so far. Might watch some of the early In Your House PPVs later.

Ah, jinxed it. It seems I can't play any of the videos now except for the two I've already streamed this morning. Piss.

I gave up on trying to do this from UK cos I couldn't get it to work on the hilariously low-budget PS4 app, but the In Your House and War Games blu-rays I ordered just turned up so eh

Spring Stampede 1994 is definitely up there with the best, has the novelty of Muta being introduced as heelishly "intending to take the US title back to Japan" even though he's fighting uber-heel Austin, but then the crowd eventually goes crazy for him anyway because he's doing avalanche hurricanranas in the USA in 1994

Stunning Steve Austin is like this endlessly fascinating alternate path of history, totally different kind of character and worker to prime Stone Cold but pretty much just as good and with tons of matches against the ridiculous roster hoy notes above

Ah I've managed to get this sorted I think, just needed to use a VPN or equivalent to kid them that I'm in the USA. Using UnblockUs at the moment, you get a week's free trial before they require payment so I'll make a decision about whether to bother with the whole thing next Saturday I expect.

And straight away I'm back to just straight loving this service. Watching the first In Your House show atm. I find this period of WWF history endlessly fascinating to read about, but I've never watched much beyond youtubing the odd match. Like, just such a colossally mismanaged shambles from top to bottom, it's hilarious.

On the one hand you've got Bret Hart, at this point the most over, established guy with main-event credentials on the roster, incredible worker, going out there and stealing the show in the opening match against Hakushi (incidentally, what became of this Hakushi guy? he looked damn fucking good in this match). Some of the spots in this - Bret's Suicide dive, double suplex over the top and Hakushi moonsault to the outside - were badass.

And then Diesel vs Sid is the main-event! I mean sure, it's funny lol but idk what Vince was thinking. All good fun though, anyway.

Looks like they're missing a bunch of WCW events from the late 80s/early 90s, including Wrestlewar (though I've seen that Flair v/ Steamboat match before). Decided to watch Halloween Havoc 1993 because I've never seen it and the card looks decent.

ooh - the Shockmaster without the glitter helmet! Poor Tugboat.

Have done a little bit of research with regard to what the plan is for adding new content from the vaults. My concern atm is that, for example, the first episode of Raw is no longer showing up (you can still get to it via search though so idk if this is intentional or not), but there seems to be a degree of discussion about whether there's gonna be a constant process of changing up the content each week, similar to many other on-demand services. The emphasis will be on the live-streaming TV channel aspect of the service with the on-demand there as a bonus. Of course I have no idea whatsoever how true this is.

If it is true, it would be a bit of a shame I think really. Obviously this wouldn't apply to PPVs but even so, I hope that this eventually turns into an insanely complete archive of all the content that they own.

I hope so too.

By the way, this Steamboat v. Orndorff match at Halloween Havoc '93 is horrible. Missed spots galore, Ricky oddly sloppy, and it goes on and on and on.

Orndorff was basically one armed by then right? (Although that must be about the time he floored Vader in the showers so I guess he could still go.)

Just watched Zayn-Cesaro and holy shit this is not hyperbole, thats one of the 20 best wrestling matches I've seen in my life.

Cesaro's uppercut is the best move in pro wrestling today.

Yeah, that match was the best in AGES.

For sure, that uppercut through the ropes was a fucking GREAT spot

Heyman's 10 minute long Punk-isn't-here troll promo is the match of the year

does anybody bump better for a chokeslam than Lesnar

hogan?

http://wrestlingonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/awkwardshield.jpg
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhQhYKjIEAAlyBQ.jpg

is that michael rapaport

Been rewatching some old Wrestlemanias in anticipation of XXX (which will now definitely be quite good because they're gonna have Bryan do the triumphant Bret Hart two-matches-in-one-night deal) and it's just occurred to me - wtf happened to The Miz? I mean ok, he was the worst guy to main-event a WM since Diesel and everyone could see it (and he fucking won!) but like, at what point did the administration realise that this guy was a fucking feeb who could never make it to the top level? I stopped watching at some point pretty early in that interminable title reign so I missed the moment when they decided to drop him like a hot brick.

I personally think it goes back to the Survivor Series when Miz and R-Truth were jobbers in a main event to Cena and Rock. They did that excellent Raw On Strike angle. Then the next week, they had the best 30 minute start to Raw in forever, where it was Hunter reffing Sheamus v. cena and cm punk commetating as they were the only scabs. And then they did the shitty Johnny Ace and The Miz saves the day; so Cena has to fight both of R-Miz on his own, decks them in like 5 minutes and still calls in the Rock to do it again a couple weeks later to do it 'to save the WWE'. It was maybe the worst ever case of Super Cena and that storyline/period is when I officially gave up watching Raw. Even still now I think I've only watched a handful of full episodes since and generally check just whatever like match/promo or two the internet says is worth checking.

The Miz always sucked though, and him as champ was a fucking embarrassment. Between him and Barrett Garage must have been the scariest period to work in professional wrestling, it must have looked like a fucking deathknell. No wonder thats when the performance centre and stuff got commissioned.

Yeah I totally agree with that last point. In hindsight, 2008-2010 was just horrifying. It was like the New Generation era again in terms of how bad the booking got. Every single person they tried to elevate was quite clearly not good enough and never going to stick - The Miz, Barrett, Swagger (remember that title run in 2010?!), R-Truth, Drew McIntyre, even Sheamus, who has admittedly turned out quite well in the end but at the time, when he won the WWE title within a month of arrival off the back of being gym buddies, it was just like are you fucking serious? None of them could talk and none of them could work a decent match.

Then there was Jeff Hardy's departure, Punk getting his legs cut from under him at the end of 2009 by Taker to go and spin his wheels in the midcard, the ongoing use of Rey Mysterio, Kane, Big Show in main-event feuds even though no one wanted to see those guys at the top at all.

Agree that this realisation, combined with Taker, HBK and HHH all basically calling it a day at about the same time, probably led to the significant change in direction that followed, and also probably helps explain why they let Punk go so wild before MITB 2011, they must have been getting desperate by that point.

*gym buddies with the Hs

yup. ive heard a bunch of times that hbk didnt need to retire but he just looked at the roster and thought 'who the fuck do i work with anymore? these schmucks' and quit

WWE has sent out a survey to fans on their mailing list asking for interest in several potential WWE Network reality shows. The shows and summaries of the pitches (via PWInsider) are below:

* Blackman's Bounties: Former WWE star and legit badass Steve Blackman reality series following his bounty hunting team based out of Harrisburg, PA. Think Dog the Bounty Hunter.

* NXT: Behind the Scenes: A reality series following the talents trying to make it out of the Performance Center and to the main roster, looking at their work, their personal lives and the fraternity of the NXT brand, including the heartbreak of being cut. So, it's Tough Enough-esque.

* Pros vs. Joes: Pretty much the same as the old SpikeTV series, pitting WWE talents against an average person in physical and non physical challenges. The non physical challenges listed included an air guitar competition. The physical challenges were described as similar to American Gladiators.

* WWE Around the World: Following WWE talents taking part in some of the scariest stunts and attractions around the world, such as shark diving and eating strange foods. It read as if it was modeled after some of the Travel Channel's "Extreme" specials with a dash of Anthony Bordain's No Reservations.

* WWE Dirty Jobs: Just like the Discovery Channel reality series of the same name, WWE talents have to perform unpleasant jobs, including going into Chicago sewers and picking up garbage in NYC.

* WWE Prankdown: a practical joke show that features WWE talents pulling tricks on unsuspecting "Superfans." The example given was John Cena and Randy Orton both wanting to buy an expensive car and getting into a fight at the dealership, only to show the damage they caused was part of the show to trick the fan.

* WWE Rescue: a reality show where WWE talents come to the homes of "super fans" help them with their personal and business problems. Think Restaurant Impossible meets Nanny 911.

* WWE Ultimate Challenge: WWE's version of CBS' Amazing Race with a 12 hour extreme scavenger hunt in different cities.

* Xtreme WWE Collector: Starring "Super fan Michael Patterson" - basically a WWE version of Travel Channel's Toy Hunter, except Patterson is chasing WWE toys and memorabilia.

YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES

I would watch it all.

idk how I ever doubted that this Network thing would work, I'm just cursing that it only arrived 2 years after I left uni.

brother this thing is swallowing my spare time

done some of the countdowns, some of the old round tables which Flair ruins by just fucking yakking over everyone endlessly, Cena vs Youmanga, Doink vs Marty Jannetty, Benoit and Angle vs Mysterio and Edge from No Mercy 2002 and Lesnar vs Undertaker HIAC (FOR HEYMAN'S SCREAMING)

I've been taking advantage of the backlog of Raws to start from the beginning and work in the PPVs as I get to them, it's fucking amazing! Relatively few stellar matches (though the Flair vs Perfect loser leaves town match was a hell of a treat, wasn't expecting that so early in the run), but just seeing some of these guys during their actual run with the company is so much fun e.g. Razor Ramon back when he was the top prospect in the business challenging Bret Hart for the title, some of those promos!!! or like Repo Man (who was kinda entertaining and actually not entirely awful, who knew? feuding with Macho Man over a stolen hat etc.

it's cool how in retrospect vince actually shouted AN-BE-LEAVABLE more than he shouted WHADDAMANOOVER

Kinda incredible how shitty Raw looked in those early days too, tiny tiny crowds, minimal production value that is actually endearing - the ring girls with their sign cards were a great feature - Brain just being unstoppably hilarious from start to finish regular as clockwork every show etc. Man but Vince really was the pits on commentary / presentation

lol xpost

aw im so jealous. i think the girlfriend would leave me though if i got it. football manager causes enough of a strain. that said she's on a two week work experience course, so i need to get in more wrestling. all ive watched this week is raw and taker v. batista at wm23.

i've never watched an old raw, since it was on and i was 6. i rewatched 123kid v. bret recently though, still great.

idk enough about pre-97 wrestling to say this as fact but didnt p much every territory film in some shitty bingo hall? like if you watch old jcp or memphis or whatever, its in front of about 14 people. even wcw saturday nights are rubbish.

some of the mid-south stuff from the '80s looks relatively pretty slick tbh

Yeah, but every one of those 14 people started a band became a wrestler.

I'm so pumped about WM. Its gonna be the best since idk 24. Gimmick battle royal with importance so it'll last longer than two seconds? Bray who has been in two MOTY contenders already with Cena who is secretly a great wrestler when time calls for it*. Bryan doing double duty. Lesnar bumping like a boss. The Shield, always. Oh and whether Sting or Punk comes out being the best potential sight of someone since Lesnar returned.

*Watched the Cena-RVD One Night Stand match the other day. Cena was such a great dickhead heel that night.

For sure, on paper this is shaping up to be a great card. It'll also be fascinating to see them finally stick it all behind Bryan, it feels like although the likes of Punk and Sheamus have had big WM matches in the last few years, the reeeeaaaallly big main events have been dominated by Cena, Taker, HHH, The Rock, Orton, HBK, Batista.

How long has it been since someone new was actually elevated to be the top guy at a WM? It's got to be pretty much a decade since this last happened, when Cena and Batista got the kick upstairs at WM21. And no, The Miz does not fucking count.

If they really follow through on this and have Bryan win both matches (and how are they not going to do that really, it would be ridiculous) then ought to fix him in the A-League for the rest of his run with the company, and I can't wait to see it happen.

http://www.kayfabenews.com/mordecai-overlooked-hall-fame-yet/

it's funny because his run was actually short-lived and underwhelming