anarchistxx

The whole thing has been a total fuck up. They should have either gone all out or not at all. Rolling content out slowly isn't going to draw people. The whole point of an 'On Demand' service is that people can watch whatever they want, whenever they want to. Sure, they put out all the PPVs, but without the weekly television that is pointless to a lot of people. They aren't even pleasing the hardcores - those type of people have seen all the PPVs, probably a couple of times. They want rare content from the territories, or old television from the 80s, or classic matches in upgraded quality. I always thought the subscriber numbers were going to be way lower than projected. Couldn't believe it at the time when people were predicting Wrestlemania would do less than 100k buys and that traditional pay per view buys would be down to a few thousand a show because all fans would be on the network.

I did smile when Jericho's music hit during a Triple-H/Stephanie segment. Total throwback to 2000/2001. Steph is by far the best mic worker in WWE right now, she performed the last segment brilliantly. Her losing control at the end was almost cathartic given the controlled, smug heel performances she has been putting in. Who would have known she would be in the hottest feud in the promotion in 2014? She has carried WWE with her talking this year, especially with Daniel Bryan being pretty awkward on the stick, gave him something to play off. If Stephanie vs Trish at No Way Out 2001 is their blueprint, it should be a really fun match.

I actually think it is nice that a Divas feud is being given top billing. Not only does it promote and improve the division, it also makes a change from the same old stars ending the show. People complain about how homogenous the WWE can get, so surely it is good they are trying something different, especially as the feud is pretty over? It has the added bonus of keeping Daniel Bryan in the spotlight despite his injury, and promoting Total Divas On Raw you had a long promo by Paige and a segment with her and AJ, a Divas match and a long segment based around a women's match at the end. Refreshing. Now they need to start actually building feuds around the division - part of the reason nobody gives a shit about womens matches is because they are never built to or focused on as serious feuds. They should be less segregatonist as well, and start to involve the divas in mens feuds and vice versa. One of the best things about WWE circa 2000 was that everything intertwined, just about everyone on the roster interacted with everyone else at some stage. In WWE today you have all these different strands that never ever intertwine, and it would feel a lot fresher if they were able to focus on several things at once and write something a bit more complex instead of 'Bo Dallas segment', 'Rusev segment', 'Adam Rose' segment. And nobody is getting over in segments with Damien Sandow & The Miz, give new guys the rub by putting them with people already over. First Raw I've watched in two months, and sad to say it hasn't improved. Even fast forwarding it felt like such a slog. That Fandango segment is indicitave of how little they have to fill three hours, the epitome of filler. The big segments like Orton beating down Reings were re-runs of every single feud for the last decade, surely they can get more creative than 'random beatdown, put through the announce table'. That does absolutely nothing to promote the match at Summerslam, and if anything takes away from it. Just screams like creative can't think of anything for the feud, so just has a purposeless beatdown to kill time until the PPV.

He can also tell very bad dick jokes. Trips just needs to be regulated, once he goes to far with an act it fails miserably. The second DX run with the hour after hour of horrible, unnatural humour. The cerebral assasin run with lots of endlessly dull bloody brawls where he would be on his knees breathing in heavily to sell the damage. The 'company heel ace' run where he worked for half an hour every PPV in dire matches against mediocre opponents. He always seems to take his particular trope at the time to the extremes, and he doesn't have the talent to. He is better being less ambitious and more natural, as we are seeing recently.

Can't say I feel much nostalgia for the VHS format. It was functional at the time, but between the poor VQ, having to FF instead of jumping between stuff, and the bulky nature of the tapes themselves, it is worthless having any now. Always wish I'd sold my official tapes sooner, by the time they were listed nobody was watching VHS anymore and they fetched next to nothing. The only tapes still in my collection are custom ones I made myself as a kid, that might be nice to reminisce on and watch in a few years time. Never mind VHS, I barely even watch wrestling on DVD anymore. Sold all my official releases, and all my burned discs are in boxes. Got about a five hundred discs on spindles and haven't even watched a lot of them. Only really watch live wrestling, and whenever I have the urge to seek out something else it can usually be sourced online and watched within minutes. My TV goes on YouTube and the internet, and I can plug a hard drive into it and play stuff off there, so no real reason to ever buy any DVDs again unless there is a particular comp or rare match.

Not sure about that, you hear them on just about any hot match on Raw that has a lot of dives, near falls and fast paced action. I remember when the 'This Is Awesome' chants were a massive faux pas, reserved for idiot TNA smarks and sneered at by everyone else. How times have changed. The ROH board used to mock those chants to death, yet by 2006/2007 they were all over their own show, including the rest of the schtick like 'match of the year' and 'please don't stop' chants. Urgh.

Can't think of a single non-english speaker that hasn't been booked as either a evil foreign monster heel or a comedy character. Amazing that such lazy stereotyping gets a pass, suppose they are lucky that the mainstream media pays no attention to them or several shitstorms would have been whipped up over the years.

Evan Bourne is such a waste. One of the best flyers in recent memory, everything he did looked so athletic and picture perfect. Not only was he an amazing bumper, he was also a great seller. As a sympathetic babyface who fits the WWE mould he is just about perfect, he even has the muscular, clean cut look they like, fantastic physique for a small dude. He was like a really good version of AJ Styles. How they couldn't figure a way to book him is beyond me, he is the closest thing to a good looking daredevil Jeff Hardy type they have. The thought of him wrestling Brock Lesnar, Ryback, Seth Rollins is mouthwatering. Really disappointing news. Should probably go back and watch most of his WWE stuff, I was in a long sabbatical when he was around every week so have only caught bits and pieces. Surprised they cut 3MB as well, they were pretty over, especially considering they lost every week. Just the kind of fun house show act they need. At least Titus O'Neill seems to have survived, he could be something special if they actually gace him something to run with. Got a feeling he will end up being another 'what if'.

Totally disagree. She is about the only diva who looks like the type of girl who would follow wrestling, and looks like a hotter version of the pale outsider girl that the typical overweight, black t-shirt nerdy wrestling fan believes he can date (delusional or not). From the way she looks and carries herself, she is the perfect face, and the ideal antidote to the blond model types who the girls hate and the boys can't date. She is almost like a CM Punk in that respect, a 'cooler' version of the typical fan. The problem here is the abysmal booking. Her character needs to be less Mikey Whipwreck fighting against the odds, and more Daniel Bryan fighting against the tide, where she is fiery and competitive in the ring. Haven't seen her NXT stuff so can't comment on that.

This. They have someone like Ziggler who is ridiculously, inexplicably over and they resolutely don't push him. They have somehow who clearly has obvious, natural charisma like Ryback and he is just put in throwaway tag matches every show until he means nothing. Even people like BNB and Cesaro who get really over are just curtailed by the endless stream of meaningless matches, turgid rematches and lack of any character developement or proper plot lines. They seem incabaple of building even remotely interesting feuds, especially down the card where they don't even make an effort to try anything with the booking, That they are resorting to Alberto del Rio, Randy Orton and Sheamus headlining a PPV when they have all this stacked talent is just criminal. Unsurprising with the way things have been handled. Dallas and Rose just come off as novelty characters, and are booked that way, as fairly silly gimmicks with a short shelf life. Paige has lost all her momentum after what was a fantastic debut. They could have really done something with an Alicia Fox vs Paige feud, but they have no patience and have no concept of building a match.

To be fair to Randy Orton, to survive twelve years of WWE booking and still be over is some achievement.

I can definitely see Rollins transitioning from the workhorse of The Shield to the workhorse of The Authority. His turn makes sense in that respect, as HHH won't want to be working every week and Orton has wrestled the entire roster time after time. Having Rollins wrestle for them every week keeps things ticking over.

Just watched the match after your great write up – WWE conveniently has it uploaded on the official YouTube channel. Fantastic match as you say, and Jim Ross is absolutely sensational behind the desk. He adds this sense of urgency and excitement, and the realism you allude to is really prevalent, just with little things like begging the production team not to go to commercial immediately when something big is about to happen. Hearing him scream “This is sick and perverse” and truly sell the action selflessly makes me a bit sad, knowing the announcing these days, all buzzwords and endless shilling and no indication the announcers are actually enjoying the action with the fake joviality and scripted jokes. JR had an underrated vocabulary as well, for all his repetition, he always found unique ways to describe things if he was on form. The match itself is way better than I remember. It is frenetic and violent and spectacular, of course, but there are also lots of little minor things that add up to make it a classic. The close up on a shade of fear that comes across RVDs face as he goes to hit the coast to coast. Kane seeming extra violent, fighting for his life alone, adding a little extra stiffness and authority to everything he did. The sneering grimace on Christian’s face as he chokes Kane out on the table. There is a story told amongst the brutal madness, with everyone knowing their character, expressing through facials and body language. Importantly nothing feels clean either, the bumps and falls are realistic and not overly set up, the falls are clumsy and painful. Conveying chaos whilst being in total control is a real art. Add that to the fantastic bumps, the non stop action, the molten crowd, just an incredibly entertaining match, which makes you wonder why they don’t pull out the stops more on Raw these days. You probably have more consistently ‘good’ wrestling matches now, but they are definitely more predictable and homogenous compared to the variety you would get back then; a sluggish brawl here, a crazy ladder match there, a tedious HHH main event or a high flying cruiserweight sprint, a Kurt Angle style go-go-go ‘clinic’ next to a Brock Lesnar beatdown. Jeff Hardy is such a case of wasted talent. He could have been on top for years, with his natural charisma and connection with the crowd, and his idiosyncratic offence and bumping style.

Had a terrible premonition that Alberto del Rio will win the strap and spend the summer feuding with John Cena over it.

Way to kill your hottest act. Rollins is made to be a face, appeals to both men and women with his spectacular offence, breakneck style and sleazy good looks. He is the natural heir to someone like Jeff Hardy. Turning him heel is just idiocy, without even getting to the fact you have broke up the best faction the company has had in years. There is no real explanation for it - The Shield were totally dominant and held all the cards. WWE reminds me of restless, talentless soap writers, who have a really popular, believable couple and then make one of them have an affair because they are too lazy to think of anything else to create drama. The characters end up ruined. Looks like a dire summer. Daniel Bryan, if he recovers, continuing to feud with 'The Demon' Kane - anyone else die a little inside every time they use that nickname? Cena vs The Authority, yawn. Can't see who they will put Bray Wyatt with, probably Sheamus or RVD, urgh. Then the Shield breakup angle which the cynic in me says will be a horrible trainwreck.

His tagline on Twitter lists him as #WWEJobber, which is kind of funny, mostly because it's true.

They remind me of an indy band like Real Estate, where all the material on the record is solid, but nothing really stands out. Undertaker is more like a pop act such as Rihanna, with some occasionally brilliant singles but also some real filler and stinkers on his album tracks. Daniel Bryan is The Beatles.

Skipped everything other than the last three matches. Wyatt/Cena was actuially quite enjoyable, probably because I fast forwarded until half way through and was spared the rambling time wasting that takes play in the first 50% of most WWE main event type bouts. The finish was suitably chaotic, and it was a really good move getting the Usos involved; they get a good rub from working with John Cena and it adds a bit of spice to what has become a tedious, repetitive feud. Paige/Alicia Fox was decent enough, the two best women in the division and didn't feel out of place near the top of the card, even if it was just to split the two big mens matches. They can do a lot with Paige, she has personality and is a face people can get behind, she hasn't been infected by the smiley happy annoying vibes that a lot of WWE faces get destroyed by. The main event was fun, although a bit disappointing. Should have gone another ten minutes. Can't believe how little Evolution have been protected - never thought I'd say it but HHH needs to stop jobbing him and his mates out. It has made the feud far less interesting and competitive than it could have been. Batista in particular has been ruined by it, which is a shame as he is just getting into his stride again. He looked strangely like an aging roman emperor, with his blue attire and bald spot and lovely thick beard. Hope they put the strap on him if DB has to vacate, seems little chance of that though, he must have serious heat in the office to be doing all these jobs. Shame because he is a really good heel, and there are a lot of up and coming face challengers. I felt Reigns should have been eliminated after the caning, would have kept his credibility and be a shock for him to go first. And then you can have Rollins/Ambrose show fighting spirit against the odds as the underdogs, with it maybe coming down to Rollins and Trips with HHH getting the win after a struggle. Would have generated some serious heat and given the feud the impetus to carry on. Hope that wasn't the final word on it, but really hard to see where they might go after such a definitive finish. Maybe Batista walks out on Raw and does his film.

Not been less psyched for a PPV in months. The whole card is just rematches or filler. The Shield vs Evolution is the only thing to look forward to from a wrestling standpoint. Cesaro/Sheamus doesn't interest me, as the build has been dire, Cesaro has lost his aura and Sheamus is a terrible face.

I know this is just your usual wrestling fan tesosterone fueled banter, and no harm is meant, and this is a predominantly male board...but the levels of misogyny are pretty surprising and could be construed as offensive. Probably stood out because I came here from Tumblr, where these kind of sentences would be flagged down and ripped apart and condemned and used mercilessly by the huge feminist contingent on that site to prove that treating women as objects and branding them 'sluts' is alive and well. This board is better than that.

Does wrestling have an equivalent to Pirlo? A good looking, impossibly cool, suave veteran who pretty much everyone admires and purrs over? Pirlo has been on top of the card for years and still hasn't got stale. The booking has been excellent, with well times peaks and troughs. The only mark against him is his lack of work in other promotions - he is more of a Sting figure in that respect, staying loyal to his roots even though his particular promotion is declining. and spurning the advances of the big stage to do his own thing.

Batista putting in the most sluggish, tentative, lazy ladder match performance and then getting the belt after a crazy bump takes everyone out would get fantastic heat. For me he is the clear choice to win the belt, you don't want to hotshot it on somebody new as it could hurt them down the line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQUW3Km01BM So this guy shoots a load of women in California after cutting a promo that sounds like the sort of crazy rubbish they have given Kane or Bray Wyatt over the years. On the one hand it is ridiculously creepy and almost tragic - on the other hand, if you saw this on Raw you would be ranting about how cliched and unnatural it all sounds. He has clearly watched too many movies. He is the son of a famous film director as well, which explains a lot, although doesn't explain why he couldn't get laid. Rich suburban upper class white kid who isn't repulsive looking or anything - you have to think his creepy persono worked against him. "It has been very torturous. College is a time when everyone experiences such things as sex and fun and pleasure. But in those years I've had to rot in loneliness. It's not fair. It is an injustice, a crime. What don't you see in me? I'm the perfect guy. Yet you throw yourself at all these obnoxious men instead of me, the perfect gentleman; I will punish you all for it. The day of retribution is coming." I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear this guy was a regular viewer of WWE, sounds like he learned his promo skills in the performance centre.

The discussion was more related to match with build vs match without build. They don't necassarily have to run Batista vs Reigns on PPV to take advantage of the fresh, big occasion feel, but they do have to give it some build and hype.