Mad Dog

I think some of this absolves Brian Last the more I think about it. This segment in particular was most likely Last fishing for these types of replies from the audience.

I think he attracts a lot of people like himself. People that think because they have the "right" politics that it forgives their bigotry. Often times people like Jim Cornette just project themselves onto those on the other side and are often far worse than who they demonize.

Championship Wrestling From Hollywood is one of the more underrated promotions out there. It has it's ups and downs like any promotion but for a decade they have put out mostly good TV with the Pearce/Colt feud being their best stuff.

I mean he is 73. I think they more than kept that end of the bargain. He should be retiring and enjoying his life. Not putting in the stupid hours WWE wants.

I think what happened is he was hitting that point where people were expecting to see improvement in the ring and some character evolution and he was kind of regressing in the ring and they got more main roster writing which really tanked him character wise as his shit started getting cringe.

It needs to be said. Hulk Hogan was a finished product in the AWA. Hulkamania was there and he was cutting Hulkamania promos that were less cartoon. Go look at that title match with Nick Bockwinkel. He comes out to a massive pop. Vince just took it and put it on a bigger stage and didn't try to steal his merch money like Verne.

Bruce has booked Raw like someone that hasn't watched wrestling in 7 years.

For reference, Lio bills at 5'6'' I believe.

I meant Lio Rush. It was actually a good match but they are of similar height. I'm just shy of 5'9'' and weigh 185 and just my natural bulk makes me look bigger than Cole.

It feels like a bunch of people who don't follow sports thinking this will be popular with the people who are into the "sportsball".

I dug up McAfee's combine numbers and he's actually listed as 5'11'' there which is even worse. I saw Cole wrestle Rush years ago and he was about the same height as Rush.

Also, they are using Ron Simmons for bullshit. Why not use him in the Shane role? Have these guys fighting in shoot fights with Simmons barking at them the whole time, that could actually be good.

I really liked when AEW did that weird segment with Lance Archer beating up a bunch of guys in some backwood while Jake looked on. I thought that looked slick and was cool and didn't need it to be an ongoing thing. This wasn't as good as that segment.

I would also argue Bryan is far less of a star than he should be as well. They largely mishandled his return and any aura of being a big star was gone sometime last year.

As far as the U.S. goes, Larry Sharpe also seemed to have the ability to produce successful wrestlers.

I think Sami is a good heel but I think he's better in the face role. But they seem to make a point of having people play opposite of what they are best at the last couple of years.

Don't they also have Stokley Hathaway just wasting away in NXT?

I mean why has Sami Zayn been a heel for most of his main roster tenure? Why did it take years to turn Sasha heel? There's a lot of questions to be asked.

I buy posters and some artwork on there and that stuff has always been good quality. I don't know about shirts but they run sales almost constantly.

HHH has this fetish for 1980s NWA and seems to miss the point. I think @sek69 said it in a different thread. The fetish for long term heel champions kind of misses the point that back in the days he is rock hard for, you saw the heel world champion maybe 3 times a year. It just doesn't work with the champion on TV weekly. There is no world where Adam Cole should have had the belt for another 9 months when Keith Lee got so hot so quick.

I hated when they had her and Renee doing the MYC that one year because they sound so much alike. I guess it could be worse and be Coach.

I think the Gargano/Almas and first Gargano/Ciampa match is what ruined NXT. That was the first time they were getting legit MOTY hype for stuff and it feels like they have been chasing that dragon ever since. Gargano/Ciampa is where I lost it with the company because they booked it in reverse. The first match had a clean finish and the next two were weird too long gimmick matches with bad finishes. The third match had a finish where Gargano Wile E. Coyoted himself and there were some real cracks in the armor showing. This is also when the main event would start and you realized the show had 45 minutes left. Then you got into the Gargano/Cole stuff. I thought the first match was acceptable because of the payoff but the matches just kept getting longer and more filled with superkicks. You also had the War Raiders beating the Street Profits clean, surrendering the belts and then Street Profits winning them in a ladder match. And all during this time no one really had a character anymore. You typically have generic CAW white wrestler that wants to be the best and is happy to be there and when they feel like changing it up you get generic CAW black wrestler that wants to be the best and is happy to be there. Undisputed Era was on top for far too long. There are legendary heel stables that were long in the tooth by three years. They aren't as interesting a group as people think they are and their matches are redundant. It also removes the stakes of the matches when win, loss or draw the heels are in the exact same place. Baszler's reign was also painful to sit through. Her reign had none of the flair that Asuka's had and her matches were the same "minions interfere, lol Baszler wins," Also, Mauro. God damned Mauro and Beth Phoenix. Why are they always fucking yelling at me?

So what are the chances Orton is getting the belt at Summerslam? I'm thinking 50/50 right now.

Looking at how Bruce is booking Raw, he's not wrong. Gotta job those young guys to the guys he knows.

I think Terry Funk's asking price was $2,500-$3,000 in 2002/2003. So that's a shitload for one talent on the show unless he was cutting them a deal.