anarchistxx

To be fair I mentioned that weeks ago as well, probably around the RR time. The symetry with Wrestlemania 10 was obvious. Also, Punk had nothing really to do with Daniel Bryan getting into the main event. He was getting these crazy reactions way before Punk had left, just watch the Rumble match. It has been the logical conclusion since Summerslam, but the crowd forced their hand to actually do it. Most likely he would have beaten corporate Sheamus and got in the main event that way. No chance they would have stayed with Batista vs Orton as the main given the reactions.

So why did Joe/Kobshi draw such a big ROH crowd and become one of their biggest DVD sellers? Why was the crowd going ape shit over Kobashi being there before the match had even started? And that was only people who could get to New York. There was a definite crossover between people who liked ROH and people who knew about puroresu. I would estimate (based on ROH message boards and the UK shows I was at) that at least 90% of ROH fans had heard of Kobashi, and maybe 40% had seen a match of his if not more.

Fair enough, didn't know that. How come RVD, Rhyno and others got to keep their names?

True. But most people who followed, say, ROH, would at least know who Kobashi was, and they numbered many thousands judging on DVD sales. Even though they might not have been buying DVDs of All Japan off Dan Ginetty, they were still aware of things like 6/3/94. I would say a greater percentage of smart fans then were knowledgeable about puroresu, even despite the easy availability of stuff via YouTube now. You are right in that did get many boards like Wrestleview or just Geocities pages of people who read backstage news, knew it was all fake yet still didn't go outside the WWF/WCW bubble.

There are vast differentiations between groups of 'smart' fans now. In 2004, most smart fans agreed; Kenta Kobashi was amazing, Gene Snitsky was terrible. You would get the occasional argument about someone like Kurt Angle by a contrarian, or an argument about whether CZW type feds were worthwhile, but overall most smarks agreed on things. Nowadays there are numerous types of smark - the ones who believe John Cena sucks and the Attitude Era is the pinnacle of wrestling have nothing on common with people on here, for instance. Or there are those who worship Davey Richards and Kota Ibushi, and others who think that type of guy is ruining wrestling and love watching Memphis. The fans I know in real life are certainly 'smart fans' in that they read the backstage news, but they aren't 'smart' to the extent of people on here; they don't really know who Dave Meltzer is or have any interest/knowledge of 90s AJPW. If you wanted to be reductionist and simplistic, you could argue for two types of fan, but really there are a lot more. Every fan is an 'internet wrestling fan' now, as oppose to 2001 when it was still a sort of minority.

Possible it got signed over to WWE at some stage, like the Dudley Boyz.

Test got a great match out of Kane once. Not 'in the world' any longer though I suppose.

The Austin character along with the catchphrases were in place before he feuded with Bret. The feud did take him to the next level as a legitimate star, though. Really? Casual fans seem to view him as a solid worker, but nowhere near a 'seminal star'. His reactions today are way below those of The Rock, Hulk Hogan and even people like Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair. Maybe in Canada he is a huge star, but elsewhere he is just remembered as a great worker but not somewhere amongst the upper echelons of WWE 'greats'. Not sure about this, either. Bret was portrayed as a whiner and complainer, more than an anti-authority figure railing against the evil boss.

Yeah, I suppose, not seen 1997 is years so can't really argue. He definitely deserves some credit for helping make Austin, although he was really over already by that point. You can't really use the screwjob as credit - it was critically important in the developement of Mr McMahon, of course, but Bret himself was completely oblivious to the actual events. It's like giving Roy Trafford the credit for the drumming on Strawberry Fields Forever. Without him it wouldn't have happened, but he didn't actually have any input or influence ultimately. That is just ridiculous hyperbole, though. There are dozens of people more responsible for the Attitude Era than Bret Hart.

Really? I'm not sure Hart contributed too much to the style and presentation that was fashionable during the boom. If anything, he was sort of the antithesis to all that, except for the shooty stuff with the Foundation in 1997. You could argue for HBK as someone who really influenced the Attitude Era stuff without getting to reap the financial and other benefits of being around when the product as at its hottest. Maybe. They could definitely reach a Game Of Thrones type of scenario for a while though, where everyone is talking about what happened on Raw the last night and writing about it on social media. Things still 'boom', especially amongst the younger demographic that ate up the wrestling craze in the late 90s, although these days they often tend to be some video or dance thing that goes wild for a couple of weeks and then dies.

Good for him. He would always have been compared unfavourably to Ric, and the wrestling industry isn't really made for overly normal people.

What does David actually do now? Has he got a regular job? According to his Wikipedia he used to date Stacy Keibler, which must be weird for him if she is at award ceremonies with George Clooney and he is working some tiny independent show in front of fifty people in Carolina.

If WWE does enter into a boom period shortly, how will CM Punk be looked back upon? Like Bret Hart i.e. a solid guy who was on top for long periods when business was poor?

Yeah, everyone who argues how Cena has been shoved down our throats as a star should remember that he got himself over from a terrible position. Just about everyone who saw him in 2003 was crying out for him to be pushed to the moon. Batista as well, he went from being an assistant to Reverend D'Von to an effective but unintersting lackey to the biggest star in the company, just because of how well he played it. This isn't a case of Alberto Del Rio or Sheamus or Ryback debuting and getting pushed to the moon regardless of reactions.

Surprised you went as high as 3.5*s on this - remember having an argument with you on SC at the time because I had been marking out to fuck watching it and you hated it. 'Nobody will remember/be talking about this match in a couple of years' was your general reaction to the smark hysteria that has surrounded it at the time. To be fair you criticized the selling to fuck even back then. Saw it a few years ago and thought you were right, as it was nowhere near as exciting as I thought at the time, and had a bunch of flaws that you don't notive when you're a fifteen year old watching a 'dream match'. Not sure it was to do with JBL being a 'real heel' - more due to the fact that: a. Cena was still reasonably hot with the crowds. This was before he got 'stale' with the smarks who loved his heel run, by making embarassing 'poop joke' promos and being treated as superman for the year. b. JBL was despised by the demographic of fans who would later boo Cena out of the building every week. His title run was widely regarded as a boring, dismal joke, and he was seen as a serious step down from the headliners of past years. It's only in the last few years JBL has started to get cred with so called 'smart fans'. Even Cena was preferable to a guy that was perceived as a terrible worker and only on top because of his backstage politics. Not seen the match for years, remember the blade job being fantastic though. I miss blood, especially now they have guys like The Shield, The Wyatt's and Daniel Bryan who could really benefit from having bloody, chaotic, arena brawls. Imagine a blowoff to the Shield/Wyatts feud with everyone exhausted, bleeding all over the place having torn each other to shreds. Would really stand out in the current product.

Easily - part of the hate simply stems from the fact that the logical conclusion to the Daniel Bryan storyline was him winning the Royal Rumble and going on to get his huge moment at Wrestlemania. When it became clear Batista was coming from nowhere to take that spot, they turned on him, and then also things bulldozed from the 'new faces vs established star' thing that is also happening amongst the crowds. Batista has enough personality and charisma to turn it round. Once he starts playing up the 'cool heel' thing he did during his last run, and they put him against a lukewarm face like Sheamus, he will get good reactions again.

From the Pitchfork review of the new Wild Beasts album: You might miss the money quote courtesy of Jake “The Snake” Roberts (“A little fun for me/ And none for you”), but the title is indeed a Ric Flair reference, and so the and so the caricatured imagery of “Nature Boy” makes the song as a whole a laugh at how complexities of class, masculinity, and sex can often be reduced to the heel/babyface duality of pro wrestling. A similar skewering occurs on “Wanderlust”, which thankfully doesn’t aspire to be another pat, “Common People”-style rant about the rich kids fetishizing artistic “authenticity.” Instead, Thorpe questions the reductionism that goes on in both sides and the self-obsession that goes into any artistic pursuit. Bizarre, never had them pegged as a band who would be into wrestling/make references.

If Batista is really turning heel they will have to add someone else to the title match. Knowing WWE they will see this as a golden opportunity to run a 'double turn' Wrestlemania main event with Randy Orton ending the show with a glorious face coronation after finally proving he is the man. In my dreams, Daniel Bryan defeats Triple-H, gets added to the main event and wins the strap.

Wrestlemania card looks horrible. Probably the worst combination of those eight guys they could have come up with. Presuming they will be running Ambrose vs Reigns as well, which seems too soon. Either than or The Shield beat down Hogan and Reigns makes the save and turns face. Not sure if I can even bring myself to watch it; I just know I'll be waiting with baited breath all night to see Bryan somehow get a title win, and end up ridiculously deflated once again.

Um, what? They routinely run exactly the same title match for three PPVs in a row.

With the network having a week free trial for everyone today, does that mean everyone can conceivably watch Elimination Chamber for free on replay? Bold move if that is the case.

Mabel was fucking horrible, and managed to be a low point even on those atrocious WWF PPVs in 1995. Viscera I always loved though, he seemed to have an aura and as a kid in 1999/2000 I thought he was cool as fuck, especially as part of The Ministry. Didn't see much of his ECW run but the bits I saw were very fun as well, real shame. His black leather jacket was fantastic as well.

He has grown on me, but no way should he be getting John Cena at Wrestlemania. Cena should be in a marquee match with another big name legend, not helping build a star; save that for Summerslam and the minor PPVs. If anything it would make more sense for Wyatt to work Undertaker, because at least that would have the supernatural angle to it or whatever. Bray has grown on me a fair bit, but they could easily put him over in a big six man tag or a singles match against Sheamus - someone he can beat with credibility without being a major selling point of the card. I'm sure they will put together a decent match, whether the crowd will be invested in it is another matter. I'd rather they had put Cena with Roman Reigns if they wanted to give someone the rub, the crowd would have gone crazy for it and Reigns has been built up a bit more, seems much more of a natural threat than Wyatt who often seems like he is playing a character. What is his character exactly, except being a weird horror movie cliche? I don't see much character work from him, just mannerisms and facial expressions which to me seem a bit forced and cringe worthy.

Just watched the show. The ending was a fucking joke again; how many times can WWE keep giving these screwy finishes to their fans? Indefinately I suppose now the network reduces their reliance on PPV revenue. It wasn't just that it was a screwy finish, it was just a plain bad finish. What is Kane doing anywhere near the title picture even in this capacity? There had to be a more creative way to end it than that. Can anyone see a Wrestlemania X style scenario, where Daniel Bryan wrestles Kane in the first match and if he wins he gets added to the title match later? That would work. If all they do at WM is a singles match with Bryan and Kane they have wasted the biggest opportunity to crown a new superstar that they have had in years. He is ridiculously over but there is only so long you can be this hot, and if they fail to capitalize now they will lose it completely. -- As for the rest of the show... Firstly it was FANTASTIC to see the reception The Shield vs The Wyatts got. The crowd was so hyped, 'this is awesome' chants before it even started and they kept them involved all the way through. These six guys have been with the company for a year or less, and they managed to generate so much heat and excitement, it is a fun time to be a fan with all the new faces coming through and actually getting over, as oppose to feeling forced and shoved down our throats. The pushes have been far more old school if a bit accelerated e.g. tag run, part of a faction, get over and then do a singles run off the back of that. As oppose to the strategy in recent years of having them be invinvible for a while after debut, and then the crowd getting bored, the booking team running out of ideas and their next big star is suddenly jobbing every week. Felt like the match could have been more of a crazy brawl but it worked well, I was marking out big time when Reigns got out of the Bray Wyatt finish. The undercard before that was alright. They have a ton of guys with potential like Darren Young and Titus, both could work well in an underdog face role and monster heel role respectively. New Age Outlaws have been fun this run. Swagger is a million times better with Dutch, really enjoyed the opener even if I think Big E is a bit underdevloped as a character, and they really don't want to turn him into a smiling, happy face. Speaking of horrible grins, Bad News Barrett is fucking awful, seems really forced and he is almost getting X-Pac heat now. I can't see him lasting out the year with all the talent on the roster now. The TNA title beckons for him. Skipped the Del Rio match other than the finish. WWE must be worried about the Batista reactions, no way is he going on last if he wins the title, they won't end Wrestlemania with the crowd shitting all over him. The Elimnation Chamber was fun until the finish, but it had me gripped because I was so desperate for Bryan to win. I will say it is impressive how much more creative matches are in the WWE these days Watch a PPV in 2007 and the in ring action was so predictable and lacklustre compared to now, you can tell they put a lot of effort into coming up with interesting spots and segments.

BSkyB runs a very successful 'On Demand' service, which is simple, quick and reliable to use. Is there any suggestion that the WWE Network could appear via Sky themselves? That would be a fantastic deal for both parties - Sky have the infrastructure, WWE would get that reach of the existing consumer base and presumably a fair amount of free advertising. They already have deals to handle 'On Demand' libraries for ITV, BBC and other major content providers.