Loss

I think there was a slight bit of Hulk being Hulk, but overall, he seemed way more truthful than usual. I love that they only talked about his career pre-1984 because I wouldn't have predicted that route. Listening to this makes me want the WWE Network to do a multi-part series walking through his career.

We're probably only about 10 years away, if that, from Shane and HHH-Stephanie's children becoming TV personalities too.

And if that's true, why are guys like Cena sent to the major markets and guys like Bryan (and Punk at one time) sent to the B-level markets? Wouldn't the reverse work better?

There's not open rebellion but Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler are more over with live crowds than Roman Reigns in most smaller markets too.

Sometimes, I think a mass strike would be a cool angle, then I remember they did that with HHH before and he said that he'd just bring a broom to the ring and put on a better show.

To me, one of the biggest differences between then and now is that now, the heat goes to the decision makers, not the wrestler who did the deed. That's why HHH and Stephanie are so effective in their current roles, even if people aren't happy that they came back. Batista was an exception, but Batista is also a star with a really great smarmy persona and it was the perfect storm. I don't think that type of heat transfers to Seth Rollins no matter how good the booking is, partially because Seth isn't as good of a performer as Batista (that's probably a controversial opinion), but also because I don't think people see Seth as one of the bad guys in the underlying story of WWE that isn't played out explicitly in storylines every week. If they want to get him to the next level, it's about time we get some rumors of him badmouthing Dolph Ziggler to management or sucking up to HHH to keep his spot.

I think that's just the reality of wrestling now. Because of the way inside information travels on the Internet, I think the element of people responding a certain way because they know they are supposed to is fading and will be completely gone eventually. In a perfect world, it's not the fanbase that's pulling the strings; instead, they are being conditioned to want certain things the promoter wants to give them, then the promoter delivers them and they're satisfied. But I don't think people respond well anymore when they know someone is chosen to be a top star. They want to be the ones doing the choosing. It's a new form of populism that has spilled into wrestling that was also brought on by WWE breaking the trust of their fans that in the end, there will be a happy ending. I'll just add this, though. Take it with a grain of salt (just like everything else in this post) because it's just a theory, but if they were building Daniel Bryan up for a title win at Wrestlemania 31, what is more effective -- leaking that he's the planned Royal Rumble winner and is expected to headline Wrestlemania, or leaking that the company really wants someone else in that spot to start a grassroots pull for him again? It's a new type of work that I don't even know how to fully describe because it's rooted in truth. But I do think there is some manipulation going on right now with the news that is leaking.

Here is something I wrote a while back that may answer most of your questions: http://placetobenation.com/the-story-of-jerry-lawler-and-the-snowman/

Yeah, WWE production is basically high fructose corn syrup.

The stage alone is the size of a 20,000-seat arena? Good God.

I wonder if they'll get "half pregnant" and give Reigns the win, but also give themselves a storyline out with how they book the finish, so that they have a different path they can take if the backlash is out of control. I feel like Dolph or Ambrose winning over Bryan people may not prefer, but they would accept it. Reigns is a tougher sell in the short term, but I think if they spent another year letting him get more singles experience and honing his character, he could probably be what they want him to be.

Not crazy about either match, but I would have no problem with Ziggler getting a big win over Kane or Show at Mania. In fact, that's a decent path for him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QugEq-Czkq4 Follow subsequent links for Parts 2-4.

There is a match between the Rockers and Hart Foundation on Shawn's DVD that was never shown on television because of the rope break. The one where the Rockers won the tag titles. Anyway, it comes across as so much more physical than even the stuff with good workers normally did because there is no piped in heat and because of the lack of commentary, you can also hear the in-ring stuff a lot more - the bumps, the breathing, etc. I probably would have liked the match with sweetening and commentary, but I'm not sure I would have picked up on the physical aspect of what they were doing nearly as much. That's one of my favorite things about RINGS and why I love it when the crowd goes silent. I'm not sure the style would be so freakin' cool if you couldn't hear the struggle inside the ring.

Or, right as Stephanie is saying the word "fired", arena lights go out, they come back on, HHH has a bat in his hand and Stephanie has disappeared.

There didn't seem to be any heel heat. It was mass indifference.

I've gotta tune out again. WCW 2000 wasn't fun the first time. No reason to re-live it. Daniel Bryan is awesome, but I'm not sure he's worth enduring all of this.

I actually think crowds in Japan are usually pretty hot. They just pop for different things. Korakuen Hall has probably been the busiest wrestling venue anywhere in the world for the last 30 years, and those crowds are usually very excited.

I've been waiting for a YouTube highlight reel of Jim Ross calls. Maybe one will come.

Also, here's a random factoid I found reading old WONs: Russo had an edict when he was in the WWF that he later brought to WCW where no holds were allowed to be applied for more than 15 seconds. The belief was that any lull in the action longer than that would result in people changing the channel.

Will is joined by Pete and Johnny (Titans of Wrestling), Dylan Hales (Wrestling Culture) and documentary maker Johnny P to discuss Wrestle Kingdom 9! We run down all the matches, give a little bit of background on the wrestlers and mispronounce a bunch of names! This is NOT a show for hardcore New Japan fans but a great listen for people who want to know what all the fuss is about. http://placetobenation.com/wrestle-kingdom-9-reaction-show/

Does anyone know when the change was made that wrestlers on WWE TV are not allowed to work the crowd and have to work toward the hard camera at all times instead of working all angles of the arena? Is it possible there's a correlation between that change and the heat declining so strongly?

I wanted to post that Dave has made some really interesting comments lately about wrestling psychology, prompted by him watching NJ World and the Cornette garbage DVDs. The January 1 WOL devotes the last 20-30 minutes of the podcast to this topic based on a listener question. Also, Cornette's last appearance on Dave's show is a MUST-listen. I don't even agree with everything he said, but I did agree with most of it, and I could understand and respect where he was coming from on everything he said. After listening to a lot of this, I think many of us sometimes make too big of a deal of the gap between Dave's opinions and a lot of ours. Sometimes he truly does have a different takeaway, but much of the time, we're arguing semantics. So much of it comes down to him factoring wrestler and/or booker intent into his thought process when rating matches and that not really being anything most of us consider at all. Anyway, I think I agree with him just as much as (probably more than) I disagree with him. I do wish he would write more about this sort of thing in the Observer, but I also understand with everything on his plate why he doesn't. Anyway, check out the Cornette and New Year's Day audio if you haven't. New Year's is free even.

What Bill Watts said was probably worse, but somehow, WCW got away with a lot of storyline stuff in the early years because so many execs hated wrestling and didn't pay attention to it. The main issue with Ole was that he was out of touch. That type of race baiting stuff worked in the late 70s and to an extent in the early 80s, and wrestling had passed him by. It's funny that you mention high school gyms, because that was a constant Dave complaint about Ole's booking - that he was booking WCW like a regional company instead of a national one. Also of note: I think Thunderbolt Patterson understood this dynamic of them doing things they shouldn't and saw how he could leverage it to his advantage, because he insisted during this time that WCW hire him or he would arrange an NAACP protest at CNN Center.