Timbo Slice

I can't believe I saw that spot on a WWE PPV. God damn. Awesome stuff. Match was great, but outside of a couple spots, I don't know why the Usos were in the match.

I think he was screwed over with all the change in the Japanese wrestling scene when he made the switch to being a heavyweight. Considering the dearth of New Japan's heavyweights at the time, he actually could have had a good run there, especially considering Mutoh and Kojima were making their exodus. Plus, while Z1 was about doing a lot of dream matches with Hash, NJPW was still making a lot of money doing dream matches, and he could have had some run up top there. That being said, he was one of my favorite juniors of all time. His 1996 was incredible. Might have been Lyger's best opponent, too, and that's saying something.

It's your normal stuff from Nate, but even then, it still resonates well.

Nate Silver opens 538's new stuff with a bang. This is what I was talking about earlier. Grantland's content won't be able to match up to 538 from an analytical standpoint overall, no matter how much I love Lowe, Keri and Jany.

It's funny because considering Grantland's status as the offshoot of ESPN that people are more likely to read because they don't want to read the generic ESPN fluff, Nate Silver's 538 site, which will be presented similarly to Grantland, is going to blow Grantland out of the water for anyone interested in analytics. If there's one thing Silver gets, it's how to present analytical information in a coherent manner no matter the audience, something that I think only Lowe and Jonah Keri get on Grantland. Rany Jazayerli does, too, but he's too infrequent a contributor. This site is very analytical and strives to push forward ideas that aren't so much contrarian as they are outside the box. The biggest talking point from wrestling fans is how if someone has an opposite opinion of something, that he's simply doing it to buck a trend or be contrarian or stir up shit...but that's how analysis works. You're taking a deeper look into something and trying to see it from as many perspectives as you can. I can't even begin to tell you what sites like these and tOA and the older version of the DVDVR boards did for me in how I perceived wrestling, simply because a lot of people decided to look at it differently and made you think about those perspectives. Sure there were assholes who said it was their way or the high way...these are pro wrestling boards we are talking about, after all. It's not so much that Shoemaker is a bad writer. It's that he presents wrestling in an antiquated context with his bullshit "post-modern" gimmick.. I have no doubt that if he wanted to sit down and present wrestling the way he perceives it without having to water it down that he'd be perfectly fine. And the hilarious part is that Simmons would have no problems with it either. They fucking let Triple H sit there and give as candid an interview as you'll ever see on pro wrestling (with bullshit involved because it's Trips) and it was a great read because Shoemaker wasn't trying to spin it with his gimmick. Or Vince gave Trips an earpiece to give to Shoemaker so that he could yell the right questions in Shoemaker's ear. One of the two. Point is that basically everyone on here believes in transparency and can snuff out bullshit pretty easily. They just want to know more about something they're passionate about. The more information there is about anything, the more we can figure out so that we can understand it better. They don't care so much about being right as they do about finding new ways to look at things both already covered and not yet found. And I feel like that sentiment is growing more and more over time.

I don't really get why they take the moral compass and make him the centerpiece of this feud, now. Show was best on the side as a wild card, but now...I don't see it. Bryan is so over at this point and now you're going to dilute that by bringing Show into the equation. Supposedly, HHH and the McMahons are gonna be off TV after HIAC, so Show being pushed is probably what's going to make that happen. I don't see what the end game here is. They've now made Bryan's two big wins mean basically nothing now that so many other things are being involved.

Well that was...something.

Wow. This is crazy.

FUCK YES TAG MATCH.

God, Axel is just so bland.

Finish of the year.

I know there's arguments out there against how much a guy really draws in the modern age, but I never really saw Edge as a guy that people came to see more than anyone else. Much like Sasaki, there were always guys on the card that were the focal points, even if they high up on the card or even in the main event. I think I weigh drawing power more than other things when it comes to HOF, and Edge wasn't really that big of a draw. Hell, even Trips said so the other week. I don't see him as "top brand" champion, either. I saw him as a guy who was given the belt a lot as a transitional champ. In fact, here are his title reigns: WWE Title 1) 1/8-1/29/06 (Cena cash-in, Cena wins it right back) 2) 7/3-9/17/06 (Where he won the belt after RVD was about be released, transitions to Cena after a couple months) 3) 11/23-12/14/08 (Hardy's surprise replacement in Triple Threat, wins and then loses to Hardy in Triple Threat w/Trips) 4) 1/25-2/15/09 (Wins No DQ vs. Hardy, Lost in Elimination Chamber, only to go to WHC EC and win) World Heavyweight Championship 1) 5/8-7/17/07 (dropped due to injury) 2) 12/16/07-3/30/08 (Wins triple threat, sets up dropping belt to Taker) 3) 6/1-6/30/08 (CM Punk cash-in) 4) 2/15-4/5/09 (Jumps Kofi to take his place in EC, wins, loses to Cena in Triple Threat with Show) 5) 4/26-6/7/09 (Wins LMS vs. Cena, drops to Hardy in ladder match, CM Punk cash-in) 6) 12/19/10-2/15/11 (Wins Fatal 4-Way, stripped due to use of spear) 7) 2/15/11-4/12/11 (Beats Ziggler on same night to win title, vacates due to retirement) So out of all of the WWE title reigns that Edge has, one was to establish the MITB usage, one was so that there was an easy transition to Cena after RVD was a bonehead, one was so that the belt went from Triple H to Hardy without Hardy actually pinning Trips, and then to establish him back on the SD brand...while Trips got his win back without pinning the guy who won the belt in the first place. The WHC stuff is a bit better, where his first win could have really established him a lot better had he not gotten injured, and the second one set up him dropping the belt to Taker and the match went on last at WM. The rest of his reigns don't really do anything for me, especially the last two. Edge seems to be a guy to me who is "HOF talent" because he was a guy who created a lot of big moments in garbage-style matches and has so much TV on him that people who liked his style would make him easy to get into. In his earlier days, he was a hard worker, but was never the top guy in a match, having the benefit of working with Rey, Eddy, Angle, Benoit and the like. He was a good hand, he was semi-popular, but he wasn't a HOF guy in the sense that the WON HOF looks for. However, because there's a lot of new voters whose viewing is limited to wrestling in the last 10-15 years (as brought up earlier), he seems like another Ultimo Dragon pick.

It didn't kill Crocket's business because it worked the first time, and then they used it until they ran it dry. Which is why, after all these attempts at doing it by various means over the years with various promotions (and didn't get nearly as good a reaction), I don't get why they think it's still a viable option. It's completely contradictory to the end game. They're too caught up in the chase to realize that if nobody cares by the end of the chase, they've screwed up. They already screwed Bryan over, now they're going to continue to screw Bryan WHILE HE WINS. They keep crying wolf and then when he actually wins, it's not going to mean nearly as much. You have all these types of finishes that have been used for years and years, and within a month, you're doing a similar finish two PPVs in a row. They're not doing it nearly as well as they could be.

What sucks is that they're diluting what will happen when Bryan wins the belt for real. I understand the angle. I get why they're doing it this way, but if they don't figure out a different way to keep the belt away from Bryan, people are going to get over it because the window will close. There were a ton of different finishes they could do, and now they're gonna pull a bait-and-switch with the most over guy on the roster. It's like lining up every fan in the arena and kicking them in their collective crotches.

It's a cheap way to get the heat back, but man...not a fan.

Triple H coming in last in that poll is great.

With all the heels winning like this (Except Miz, big whoop), this is feeling very much like a Dusty finish-type end to the show.

Darren Young in Detroit doing a very recognizable Steiner spot is awesome. AND he apes Hero's spinning elbow off the ropes spot. PTP have really turned into something good. And Rollins is absolutely ridiculous.

Not enough Bobo love. Match was not what you would expect from those two. I still think Ziggler is trying to figure out how to be a face.

Ryback's refined his character in recent weeks and is now more than just some big dude. Him with Heyman is perfect.

Also, in 20 seconds, CM Punk made up for the crap on the show with that opening sequence.

It's like Johnny Ace is booking this like Baba. If he was booking.

Pretty sure the Heyman and Axel/Punk hype video has gone longer than the Divas match.

I liked that they really tried hard to put over the damage, but it was just not interesting in the least. Miz's offense is awesome for a heel but is CRAP for a babyface. He needs to turn back.

So Dylan starts this thread and doesn't include Chris Masters? Is this a socko account or something?