rolling (non-millenials) grabbing the brass ring 2015

loooool the briscoes. really smart hiring racist homophobes that will give champion face promos about things like how interracial marriage is wrong.

funny you should mention that, since jay's twitter is what kept them from getting signed a few years ago: he deleted his twitter completely. they know where their bread is buttered this time.

Yeah one can only hope that they are the last of a dying breed in this regard. I mean this personal politics thing is maybe the single most recurring obstacle to my uninhibited enjoyment of pro wrestling in general, this constant reaffirmation on all sides of just incredibly backwards and occasionally borderline evil/despicable attitudes and prejudices.

Inevitable, perhaps, given the history and nature of the business, the way that these dudes live their whole lives in this insanely testosterone-driven and steroid-fuelled uber-macho alpha-male environment, but nevertheless it makes me sad that in 2015 it is still not the least bit surprising when even the guys who seem at times to be more like proper human beings come out with just the most awfully depressing shit (Jericho stepping up to defend this Bill DeMott skidmark on Twiitter was a recent example).

It's the start of a slippery slope, interrogating (or paying any attention whatsoever to) the personal politics of pro rasslers, bcuz I mean even now there are just SO fucking many of them with these shitty out-of-time views of the world. I generally try not to think about it because as i say, it can really kill my enjoyment of the whole thing if I dwell on it too much.

Disclaimer tho, I say all of this as a guy who can happily still watch and enjoy the in-ring output of a dude that murdered his own son with his patented and incredibly badass finishing submission hold, so maybe i am just a hollow shell of a person like those two boys in Oryx & Crake who spend their free time watching ppl get killed on the internet. Also Usos-Briscoes in a 10 minute spot-fest to open Summerslam this year would be totally fine and, like-as-not, actually a p. fucking enjoyable nothing-match

i am certainly no stan for the Attitude Era in general, but man oh man, amongst the many many things the WWE could do with right now it is more tag teams made up of brothers (preferably real but kayfabe would do)

wait that's wrong i typed it too fast, preferably kayfabe but real would do

first off: yeah, would really be into usos/briscoes

secondly yeah, i kinda think it's best not to dwell too hard on lots of these dudes' personal politics if you want to keep watching, because jesus christ it is a slippery slope. being aware of them is definitely good, because there are stand-up folks in the business for sure, but so many of them are just garbage and that's before you're getting into the ones who've killed human beings

re: jericho, he's really shown his colors as an asshole in the last few years, think his very public midlife crisis has exposed a lot of that

Speaking of rassle-dudes who've killed human beings, I was re-watching and thoroughly enjyoing this match earlier this evening - first watched in the immediate aftermath of Wrestle Kingdom 9, when it became clear to me, as it did to all other fake-fighting fans who were hitherto living in ignorance, that Shinsuke Nakamura truly was the Second Coming - and like, the finish is fucking incredible, that kick to the head is just the most ruthless thing ever and imo far more wrestling matches should finish in a comparable style (I mean how much more interesting would it make the WWE if every once in a while someone won a match with an out-of-nowhere move that looked totally devastating without necessarily needing to become a signature move deployed in every single fucking match) but man oh man and boy oh boy but does it ever change yr opinion on this kinda shit knowing that Katsuyori Shibata once hit an elbow-drop so hard that it straight up killed a man. Lol sorry that was all 1 sentence, my bad

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21ui6p_g1-climax-2014-block-a-match-katsuyori-shibata-vs-shinsuke-nakamura_sport

I have thought the same wrt The Great Khali in the past but how brave/stupid do you have to be to get into the ring with a dude knowing full well that once upon a time that dude legit killed a man in a pretend fight?!! I mean srsly, fuck that. At least Lesnar only broke Bob Holly's neck ffs.

I post this only bcuz I like this match and it has been on my mind and I think probably I am going to watch their IWGP Intercontinental Championship match from last Autumn (also available free of charge on Dailymotion) on my lunch break tomorrow and furthermore I hope that at some point in the not-too-distant future they get a good long slot on a major show to really try and knock it out of the park, because though this is thought is only recently and gradually and dawning on me I am pretty sure that this is my favourite kind of prowrestling right now and there ought to be more of this in the world, whatever it is

i have no way of being certain but i am pretty sure that Shinsuke Nakamura is not the kind of guy to proofread anything and since this year he is my unquestioned lord and master i am following his example as best i can, deal w. it

You could tell that Demott was a fucked up dude from his segments on Tough Enough all those years ago. I don't understand why the WWE kept him around for so long. Didn't Jim Cornette get fired for slapping a guy in the face in developmental? Demott has done far worse, no doubt.

Re: Nakamura, it took me a while to really "get" his character and in-ring style, but once it clicks for you, yeah he's just amazing. Whereas most main event level guys follow a set pattern both in North American and Japan (i.e. slow feeling out process to start, middle section with big bumps and highspots, trading finishers leading to the pin) his matches usually break with that formula completely. You do get that feeling that his matches can end at any time -- as if it was a real fight.

Character-wise, he's kind of like the Japanese Randy Orton. Youngest guys to ever win their company's respective championships, the can't miss blue chip prospects, etc. They both floundered for a while and took six or seven years to really nail their characters. But of course Nakamura is 100X better than Orton.

By that I mean they're similar in that they both failed in the "youngest ever champ!" role and took a long time to find themselves while their companies stuck with them. Their actual characters are nothing alike.

I mean how much more interesting would it make the WWE if every once in a while someone won a match with an out-of-nowhere move that looked totally devastating without necessarily needing to become a signature move deployed in every single fucking match

i suppose the brock shooting star press ruined this idea for wwe forever

In the WWE everyone has to get their stuff in before the finish, which helps to telegraph the end of the match because you know Cena isn't winning his match until he hits all his signature moves (usually in a set order). Nakamura can Boma Ye someone's head off at any time (with about five different variations of the move) and totally change the complexion of the match at any time. That kind of unpredictability is almost unheard of in the WWE.

doesn't rollins very sparingly use a crazy spinning top-rope move that isn't strictly his "finisher" that i can't remember the name of?

have we talked about how absurd solomon crowe's finish is?

LOVE Shinsuke Nakamura. His matches never fail to keep you hooked.

I think the general consensus was that Crowe was barely worth talking about in general. That being said, I agree.
A part of me wants to feel bad for him because they really missed the mark with his character. Does anyone really care about Solomon Crowe?

Also in NXT: Alex Riley wrestles again to feud with Kevin Owens. I'm looking forward to the destruction, honestly.

i think he should become some kind of posthuman cranial programmer that brainwashes wrestlers by hacking into their brains

i honestly feel like his character would work better with a "dumb GM" to play off of, but regal is absolutely not that guy. like if you had a dopey GM who meant to do certain things (rowan vs harper!!! again!!!) but then the graphic gets 'fucked up' and all of a sudden it's CROWE VS HARPER and he keeps injecting himself into other people's matches, it creates awesome feud opportunities, and even awesomer opportunities for him to heel out on his rivals (did you see that? that singles match just turned into a gauntlet, poor rowan).

but yeah. doesn't work with regal because he'd just be like "i wrote these down on paper, and you can't teachhack that."

wow, i think i just earned an IWC badge. first fantasy booking in my life!!! *confetti falls*

crowe has definitely been a huge bust so far, but i really liked him on the indies. had a couple killer matches with finlay in EVOLVE a couple years back.

been rewatching and enjoying the NXT specials the last few days, it really is just so, soooooooooo much better than the main shows and sometimes I forget this.
I just got to the Fatal 4 Way show and it has occurred to me during this hair vs hair deal between Enzo Amore and that other dude that no matter how distinctly average and immensely disappointing this whole Roman Reigns main-eventing Mania and gettin the rub from the besting of the Streak and all of that sorta stuff inevitably is, we should nevertheless all be grateful that it is no longer 1994, because in spite of the internet's best attempts to convince you that Roman Reigns is basically Kevin Nash reborn, these shows, when watched in tandem with a bit of mid-90s WWF, effectively demonstrate that this dude they call Big Cass is actually way, way, way more like Diesel than Roman Reigns will ever be, and although the main show may be a steaming pile of turd, on NXT at least the fact that the hulking sidekick of the douchey showoff heel has not been pushed as a big deal at the expense of Zayn, Owens, Balor, Itami and Neville is a good thing and a sign of progress having been made in the last 20 years imo.

I am making my peace with Roman Reigns as the next guy for WWE in so far as I have let my Network subscription expire and if my torrented copy of WMXXXI doesn't deliver the goods then I am gonna retreat into my archive of 90s AJPW and assorted WWC Puerto Rico matches (and maybe a bit of contemp NJPW) and just write of the majority of contemporary pro wrestling as a bad job

you say this two days after enzo and cass pull off a great match, first match i've seen of them where i've felt like enzo could actually end up being more than just a manager-who-can-take-a-bump. they suddenly figured out their in-ring dynamic and it was great, i'd be so happy if they were on the main roster right now.

b stroud got it down perfectly i think

I’ve written about it a bit before, but Cass and Enzo have the perfect tag team dynamic. You think it’s little guy/big guy, but it’s not about that. It’s a little guy who can’t wrestle but has endless confidence teaming with a giant guy who could beat anybody in the company if he had any confidence whatsoever. They’re two halves of a whole, and that’s what a great tag team should be. Also, they called the Lucha Dragons the GEICO Lizards and told them they should save them 15% or more on car insurance or get out of their way.

if you don't like their promos idk what to tell you

Oh man that was in no way intended to run down how enjoyable an act those two have got, I think they're both great fun and personally I hope they don't move up to the main roster for a while yet bcuz they'll only get split up and have an underwhelming match on a Ppv preshow.

It was just a thought that floated through my mildly intoxicated brain having recently watched some 1994 shows that they brought to mind a kind of modern day hbk/diesel vibe and I experienced a moment of satisfaction that the lumbering bodyguard figure no longer gets pushed to the top of the card as a matter of course. Then I thought about roman reigns again and got a bit sad. But I'd been out and was drunk so it is hardly surprising that I made not a whit of sense.

But yeah fear not, I DO enjoy enzo and cass for what they are. Will have to check out that match you mentioned

no way reigns beats lesnar at wrestlemania. i just can't see it.

also there's this rs interview w/ reigns:
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/roman-reigns-wwes-heir-apparent-just-cant-win-20150317?page=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvMOf3hsGA

The latest rumours are that Lesnar is signing a new contract and will be keeping the belt. Maybe they're trying to add some intrigue to the match because Lesnar leaving and Reigns getting his big coronation has felt like a foregone conclusion for a while. I'm not sure what to believe right now.

Man if they don't put him over after all of this then he's gonna come out post-WM looking like THE biggest chump going. I mean it's theoretically possible that they could change their minds on him I suppose, in which case this whole thing will go down as a bigger fuck up then Lex Luger in the 90s, but if they really do want him to be the top guy at some point soon then jobbing him out on his supposedly breakout night is a terrible idea, it'll kill him.

Idk, I'm tired of the whole thing now really, part of me just thinks fuck it, get it over with and have Rollins cash in on him the next night on Raw, let Lesnar go back to UFC, the part timers go back to their retirements and then let's see where we are. Probably up shit creek without a paddle, but at least we might actually get to see some pushes for some of the useful midcarders (i.e. everyone in this fuckin IC title ladder match)

the rumors (brock keeps the belt, cena and bryan pick up the mid-title belts to legitimize them) sound like too-good-to-be-true fantasy booking. but that'd be great if it worked out. i'm suddenly rooting for cena?? i love lesnar turning the WHC belt god-tier and basically treating the mid-card belts like the pre-unification championship belts. maybe we'll get a brand split out of this!

tbh, have lesnar and reigns put on an actually-great match where reigns beats the shit out of lesnar, to the point where rollins feels confident enough to cash in -- i think that's enough to save reigns from complete burial -- and then have ambrose interrupt like he promised and restart their feud.

then have sting go over and magically take over smackdown and turn it into WCW Nitro and make himself Commissioner Surfer Sting and WWE is back in my good graces for the first time since i was 11

There shouldn't be any shame in losing to Lesnar. But I hope their master plan isn't to beat Reigns, have Rollins cash in, and have Reigns chase Rollins for the title.

That is, Lesnar beats Reigns, Rollins cashes in on a weak Lesnar to win the title, and Reigns gets his "big" win over Rollins at Summerslam. They're better off biting the bullet and having Reigns win, let him sink or swim, and if they need to get the belt off him, Rollins can cash in later.

rollins with the belt sounds a lot better than reigns with it, but i can't see that happening after this match has been so built up. either brock retains or reigns keeps it for a month or two.

There shouldn't be any shame in losing to Lesnar.

Yeah see it's fine saying that and in theory I agree but history suggests that you can't just pull out of a push like this at the last possible second on such a high profile show and not expect the loser's momentum to stall p. badly (what momentum tho I suppose). keeping the belt on Lesnar appeals to me as a fan because I love mid-00s Brock Lesnar and I think he is basically the king of pro wrestling, long live the king, but from a booking perspective I think it creates more problems then it solves. Who do you have go against him once he's beaten Reigns? Sting would work, I suppose? Bryan needs his title shot at some point. Rocky? Again? I just dunno how they're intending to make anyone look like they could credibly beat him now, and having him lose it on a Rollins MITB cash-in without eating a clean pin at some point would be pointless.

And yeah Seth Rollins is looking like a pretty decent get out of jail free card right now if Reigns does get the belt and doesn't take off like they hope. Ambrose involving himself in the situation would be all good stuff and tbh an ongoing three-way dance between the Shield guys for the title would be a totally acceptable use of a Roman Reigns title push to me at this point. Though that would still leave them with the problem of him being the least popular of the three.

lol not 00s Lesnar obviously, mid 10's (feels strange to me to type that, is that what people say? I'm not sure I've had cause to type or think about it before)

I enjoyed the Max Landis vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qws2ex--Tc

moment to reflect on how great this theme is and how much i want to hear it on every mixtape

just watched the Max Landis thing, very good fun, would watch more of a similar ilk

Perro Aguayo Jr dies after suffering an injury in a match with Rey Mysterio: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2404465-el-hijo-del-perro-aguayo-dies-from-injuries-suffered-vs-rey-mysterio?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national

shit!

holy shit, rip

watched the video (highest recommendation not to do this btw - it's pretty disturbing)

it's your basic 619 setup spot, if you've ever seen a rey mysterio match you can picture it; rey has the presence of mind to swing over him on the 619 itself but then the match just goes on for a couple minutes as this dude is lying there dead

word is it was an accumulated injury thing a la misawa that led to this. seeing some of the wrestling newzsites blaming rey for it which seems pretty ill-advised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc0Mhe2iLoM

ugh, such a great natural shithead heel, can't recommend his mid-00's cmll perros del mal stuff enough

Lesnar re-signs, boy oh boy I hope they keep the belt on him forever, this has nothing to do with Roman Reigns and ones wishes the guy well but it has everything to do with Brock Lesnar and the fact that he is the best thing in modern American wrestling by a million zillion miles he is the king long may he reign o'er us

wowowowowo <3 lesner 4eva

how the fuck do they not try to keep that a secret? that should've been the #1 stipulation in the contract, "keep your mouth shut until WM is over"

idk, is Sportscentre a big thing in the US? I kinda got that vibe from the comments I saw but lol I am ignorant. Anyway if it is then I suppose that keeping it secret is the last thing they would want to do because this has been a truly shitty build for a Wrestlemania by pretty much any metric and I suspect that perhaps the ppl in charge are kind of aware of this bcuz no matter how far out of touch they drift they p. much ALWAYS have something up their sleeves for a WM and this year there has really been none of that except for Sting being here but even that has been totally meh thus far and what reason have we to suppose that his match with Triple H is gonna be any better than the build thus far?

SO bearing that in mind you might think that it makes perfect sense that they would be supremely grateful to get some momentum-generating and intrigue-building coverage out there on a genuinely commercial and mainstream platform a week before the big event, especially because the problem demographic, that they have never been able to please and that they obviously scorn and hate with a vehement passion and that may well have partially if not entirely ruined the biggest night of the year for the company by hijacking the show and just shitting on all comers is right now losing its collective hivemind with communal anticipation for this event rocketing from 20% to 120% all with one press conference.

Like, a swervey sort of ending with Lesnar retaining over Reigns and then a reveal at some later date that he was sticking around after all would've been a good ending to the show, but this way they get a big publicity boost running into the show, they maybe change the minds of some people who were thinking of ditching the Network very soon by convincing them that maybe things post-WM won't be a bleak wasteland bereft of cool main-events after all, and maybe they have defused a potential douchebag-crowd timebomb that could've derailed their annual supercard. So like I think this is all good really.

If it means Lesnar goes into the show as the biggest, bluest-eyed babyface to ever kiss a baby in the eyes of all those in attendance then what does it matter? People have been booing the so-called top face in WWE for years, it's part of the landscape now.

Anyway, i almost do not care if I am overthinking this bcuz the construction of fake narratives surrounding wrestling is one of the best things about the whole enterprise imo and I for one am happy to sit back and believe that everything building to this with all the shitstorm last month about Brock walking out on Raw to attend the UFC thing and the rumours of a stand-up row with Vince and all of that stuff was all just a gigantic work leading up to this point in order to generate some jeopardy heading in and say what you will of the wider state of things right now (I have and will continue to do so) but right now I want to watch this show and more specifically I want to watch this main-event and that is the mark of good wrestling promoting, right? lol Vince McMahon i can't even

sure, maybe it's better for WM's numbers. maybe. i just can't imagine it making a huge difference... WWE fans are going to watch WM no matter what, and Brock sticking around doesn't really immediately make it more of a draw for casual fans or w/e. either he draws in his last match or he draws with a new contract. i don't think that number's gonna change.

i'd think it'd be better for business in the long run if they just produced an excellent mania capped off with a genuine shocker. that might actually convince people to buy the network and not just stream PPVs illegally. but what do i know. watch reigns go over anyway lol

Brock sticking around means there's some intrigue to who will win the match at WM and less of a chance that the crowd shits all over it like they did at WM XX with Brock vs Goldberg.

If Brock's contract negotiations were a work then you'd think they'd do a better job of building the match, instead of keeping Reigns and Lesnar apart for almost all of the past two months.

i was gonna say, more than anything they can't have it be brock v goldberg and this stops that - even if reigns is booed like he's right to censor

was brock/goldberg booed from the start? i thought it started after it became clear they weren't trying

heyman has talked about brock leaving in his promos and it was great, i don't think it would've hurt to keep that speculation going through the match. everyone has assumed brock would be gone after his contract and he's still gotten cheered like a face through it all. i don't think this would be comparable, unless he clearly had no interest in having a decent match.

yeah you may be right about that, it would certainly take a peculiar kind of wrestling fan to boo Brock Lesnar on current form (aside from the younger kids of course) regardless of his career plans. but i do think that doing it this way has created some much needed buzz about the main-event. if they'd kept it a secret and then had him retain it would've drawn a great pop to close the show but I think the danger was as much that the crowd would just be a bit flat and disinterested throughout the main-event rather than actively booing the guys. hopefully this way the crowd will be pretty live for the match.

and i suppose this might always redeem the Roman Reigns push eventually. have Lesnar go over here by the skin of his teeth and then spend the next year building Reigns up for a rematch at WM 32 where he finally gets the belt? idk they'd have to be batshit crazy to have Reigns go over now but they'd have to make a good job of rebuilding him if they have him lose here

Did Brock get cheered before the Rumble match? He got cheered by that smarky crowd in Philly by default -- he was in the ring with Cena (no explanation needed) and Rollins who played his role as the weasel-y opportunist to a tee. Point being I don't see where crowds are supposedly dying to cheer for Lesnar. But now that he's re-signed, it looks like his babyface push is coming whether we want it or not.