anarchistxx

The three you mentioned, none of whom had got anywhere, seem to remember there being a couple more. WWE at the time had zero track record for pushing anyone small or anyone with unusual body shape, so nobody held much hope for anyone being given a major push. All the new stars were being made and pushed in house.

Weird because a parallel anti-obesity campaign is occuring just as aggressively. People are getting told that fat is beautiful at the same time as being told that fat is unhealthy and killing them.

A violent, blood filled massacre with John Cena turning heel. Other than that, no. It is like trying to recreate Brazil 1 Germany 7. In terms of context and uniqueness it may never be surpassed, although the England cricket team did a fine job of replicating it last night.

You have to view the 2005 offer in the context which it was made. Back then just about everyone who had come from the indies of ROH had received minor pushes at best and usually ended up on Heat & Velocity. Looking back now with CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black doing so well it seems like Samoa Joe was dumb to turn them down. In 2006 when he was the star of TNA on a huge undefeated streak, being book well and having amazing matches? The consensus was he had done the right thing. He probably just left it too late getting out, or maybe not if the money paid for him to be set for life. For an essentially unmemorable company who have barely a PPV or famous storyline of note in over ten years of operating, they sure paid out some cash.

The brawl at the end of Raw was superb, that is how you build a match. The Ric Flair promo was good as well. Skipped everything else. Feel like the best thing they could do with Goldust/Stardust is to initiate them into Bray Wyatt's cult or something, might be a boost for all three guys.

This. Now they have established Brock Lesnar as a dominant title holder with longevity it makes zero sense to go back to cheap cash ins and switching the strap around every couple of months. They have enough 'former world champions' on the roster, most of whom are lost in the midcard or getting jobbed out every week. Time to make it mean something. You can point to the CM Punk reign but they had another world title at the time so could use their ADD booking on that. The Daniel Bryan example is a moot point as well. Sure, it led to an amazing moment, but only because the crowd went absolutely mental for weeks and forced WWE to do something. The initial follow up to the coronation cash in was a lackluster, repetitive, soul destroying feud and him getting shafted down the card for a meaningless Wrestlemania match with Sheamus. You could achieve just as much with a long chase. The title win at Wrestlemania next year is far more impactful if he loses a couple of title matches first, whether by fair means or foul. Him chasing Rollins all summer would be awful. Endless handicap matches, repetitive booking, the utter tedium and lack of creativity of another Authority storyline.

Cashing in at Wrestlemania would be a huge mistake as well. Daniel Bryan already had his huge confetti moment/coronation ruined by Randy Orton cashing in the briefcase, no need to go over old ground again and again. It would also be a mistake to have Roman Reigns' first reign last only a few minutes. He needs a long run if he is going to get established and not slip down into Sheamus territory.

They need to drop Money In The Bank, or at least insert a clause where the champion gets 24hr notice. It really devalues the belt and championship matches when they can just lose the strap anytime, it is like the fucking Hardcore Title. Such a cheap way of shocking the crowd and getting excitement/tension. It worked when Edge cashed in because nobody expected it. Every since it has been overdone and overdone, unbelievably for over ten years now.

Is that the infamous storyline where they cast the patriarch of an Indian family as an Elvis impersonator? Surprised WWE didn't try and snap the writer up. The exact same thing is happening in Coronation Street right now with the Jimmy Mistry clan. Going off topic anyway, although most of these criticisms are equally applicable to WWE writers and their clumsy writing of minority characters.

Amusing timing after Daniel Bryan dropped the casket humping necrophilia pipe bomb last night,

Not a chance. The feud won't make a dime, will be shit on by the crowd and will be awful to watch. Everyone knows Brock & Heyman are tight in real life, so it is not believable. Also it is repetitive since Heyman has turned many times and they ran the exact same angle in 2002 with him aligning himself with Big Show. The storyline would make no sense whatsoever - why would either of them turn on the other one, when it has been such a successful partnership both financially and professionally. Not remotely plausible. Not to mention that Brock is still meant to be a heel, and is fantastic in that role. He isn't just a heel because he is aligned with Heyman, he is a heel because he is a violent, uncaring mercenary, who loves destroying the favorites and riling up the crowd he looks down on, thinking as a real athlete he is above them. He loses his aura booked as a face, especially since they have no credible heels to feed him.

I actually like it when WWE does ridiculous garbage like Katie Vick and HLA and 'torrid sex' live on Raw and Al Wilson dying from a heart attack after romping with Dawn Marie. It is compellingly awful and usually unwittingly humorous. Much better than the utter, predictable, repetitive tedium that is three hour Raw these days.

Both US and UK television is completely lacking in Asian representation. There are significant Chinese, Japanese and Korean populations in England but they probably make up less than 0.1% of people you see on television - that scarily isn't even an exaggeration. In WWE this is particularly glaring considering how many fantastic workers there are from that demographic. Otherwise, I don't think they have huge problems with diversity. As mentioned the issue can be how they are presented with the casual, implied racism such as putting The New Day together for no other reason except the fact that all the members were black, or having R-Truth replace D-Von in the Royal Rumble, again seemingly because black people are just interchangeable. There are also the endlessly dated stereotypes of 'evil foreign heel' and other slightly racist stock characters they peddle.

Great talkers, good look [in the sense that they are easily identifiable and stand out], good workers who would have got even better reigned in by the WWE style. Not as if they have a stacked tag division.

Can't believe The Young Bucks are headlining NJPW, albeit it on a more minor show. Still getting the rub from working with Tanahashi. WWE missed a trick by not recruiting them and the Briscoe Brothers - they had their successors to the Hardy Boys/Dudley Boys right there.

Maybe Reigns loses but then beats down Bryan after the match turning heel. They subsequently run Reigns vs Cena at Wrestlemania. Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesnar John Cena vs Roman Reigns Triple-H v Sting Seth Rollins v Randy Orton The Undertaker v Bray Wyatt or Rusev Not the worst card.

Probably because the dumb fucks who book this shit likely had no idea that the Rumble reaction was coming. They calculated that they would get the 'vocal minority' heat out of the way early by having Daniel Bryan being eliminated, and by the time Reigns was cleaning house the crowd would have forgotten and be cheering vociferously as the three most hated heels in the company were dispatched with the help of incredibly over returning superstar The Rock . Instead it was as brutal as it could have been, so they are killing time with this storyline before they decide whether to take the risk on Reigns v Lesnar either bombing big time or the crowd turning it into a spectacle for all the wrong reasons.

Isn't Cena vs Rusev on the card for Fast Lane? Why do people think they are running it at Wrestlemania? If they are it is complete insanity to run it a month earlier. Unless they are hedging their bets hoping they can run Undertaker vs Cena and will run some sort of angle if that can't take place.

Kids can still have a bit of nationalistic fervor. I don't think cheering on the local guy is a hard concept for them to understand - also the local tends to work face in this situation, making the most out of the local connection, referencing the local sport teams, bigging up his hometown/country. Also, they are never going to put William Regal over John Cena in London. More likely it will be a minor face who the kids aren't as invested in or they will just run a heel vs heel match.

Pretty astonishing that made air, mistake or not. Pretty much confirms what we thought. Wonder how many takes they do for a lot of these promos? No wonder they look so choreographed and stale. Reminds me of some old Smackdown episodes I had on DVD from 2002, the cameras would continue to roll even when it was meant to be off air and kept running for about ten minutes after the show had finished.

Agree that there was zero reason to break them up. Harper & Rowan should have had a decent run as tag team champions. It makes sense from every perspective, solid television matches, ready made feuds, elevates the division and they can still be the hired hands for Wyatt who loses so much when he is by himself. What is the point in a cult that nobody follows? I hated the gimmick and thought the promos were embarrassingly bad, but they were still better together than apart. There wasn't even a whole lot of reason to split The Shield up either, pretty much anyone could have played the slimy corporate heel role of Rollins in recent months.

I think he meant that in WWF Diesel was booked as the main man, whereas in WCW Nash was always playing second fiddle to someone and never the centrepiece of the show, even if they had a greater reach in WCW at the time. Sort of like how Christian is better known generally even when getting lost in the pack in WWE, rather than in TNA where although he was treated as a genuine main event act and seen as a star the reduced viewer ship meant he wasn't really.

Talent development isn't the problem - at least not in the way you suggest. They are pumping more money into that than ever before, presumably with the idea of having all new talent trained in house. There is plenty of resources in that area - they are just training them wrong and drilling them wrong and basically ending up with a homogeneous group of awkward, unnatural actors. There have been steps to change that in recent years, and you can visibly see the new introductions having varied attire, varied character, varied looks, varied presentation. The art department did a fine job with The Shield and The Wyatt Family, giving them identity and a quickly identifiable image and style. Unfortunately that doesn't get around the awful writing - nonsensical, aimless, repetitive storylines and promos so embarrassing you would think a thirteen year old had written them. They are drilled incessantly to repeat both mannerisms and phrases, and are force fed dreadful scripts that come across as unrealistic, cheesy and choreographed. Nothing seems natural or relaxed, every reaction or facial expression has to be made blatantly obvious, every line has to read like a godawful soundbite they can play over a promo. Roman Reigns has/had been perfectly put together in terms of look, attire, entrance, music, overall presentation, even his moveset is just right. His booking was also superb until The Shield broke up, they hardly put a foot wrong. Unfortunately, he has been hamstrung by all the things I mention above - bad booking, awful scripts, an image getting progressively more corny and forced. They should have just let him be himself, or what he appears to be natural as - laid back, quiet, cool, relaxed but ultimately destructive in the ring.

A possible save would be to run the blowoff to Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt at the next PPV with the winner taking on Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Have Daniel Bryan vs Undertaker at WM - you can treat that and Sting/HHH as the real main events and put Reigns/Lesnar down the card if that is where they want to go. If anyone is going to get a good match out of Undertaker it is DB, his style means Taker won't have to bump a great deal and Danielson can bounce off him. Would mean more if the streak was still intact obviously. Just wishful thinking though.

Longer actually. The way he reacted to the crowd and played to the gallery against RVD at One Night Stand in the rabid Hammerstein environment was absolutely fantastic. Even in 2005 he was pulling off bloody, violent brawls with JBL. I will never seek out a John Cena DVD set or be excited for his matches, but he is clearly incredibly adept at the style they like and usually turns it on for the big occasions.