sek69

I would hope it's just being uncomfortable with the highly scripted current WWE format (which a lot of guys from his era and before have struggled with) and not anything else as well, but there's something about the level of jackass that he was before and not believing those particular leopards can change their spots.

Yes, I've noticed there's been occasions where he's been sounding an awful lot like rambly "no condition to perform" Shawn, but we all know that couldn't be the reason nowadays since Jesus chased the demons away (/sarcasm for those who miss it).

Is it me or does Nak have some sort of speech impediment? Not the obvious non English speaking thing, but it sounds like he always has something in his mouth when he talks. I thought it was the mouthpiece he always wears getting in the way, but he wasn't wearing it when he did his NXT goodbye speech and it still was there? I can see that becoming a sticking point in WWE since they get hung up on stuff like that.

He kept shedding clothes on the pre-show, had it gone any longer it would have been 90s DX Shawn all over again.

It's still amazing to me that an angle that started in TNA (the Hardys' collecting gold) managed to go to Mexico, random Carolina indies, ROH, and got blown off at Wrestlemania.

New Table for 3 set to premiere with HBK, Nash, and..... AJ Styles. Certainly an odd trio, but I could see it being fun if the clique doesn't try to steamroll the whole show.

Edge didn't always get the best creative to work with, but his feud with Cena where he got himself booed and John cheered nearly 100% at a time when that never happened put him above Orton to me.

The worst is how the people on THE BOARD~! who hate Dave despite paying to be on his site are crowing like it's a victorious moment for them.

People trying to claim Dave was somehow wrong because a settlement was reached are amazingly dim. Like, if he was so wrong then what were they settling about? Just because the angry mobs didn't get JBL's pelt as a trophy doesn't mean it was a false story.

Well of course this was going to end in a settlement with both sides not talking bad about the other. There was no other way WWE was going to allow this to end. I hope this doesn't turn into a wrestling version of "that bitch was just trying to get those sweet rape dollars" you see when a woman who was attacked settles with the attacker.

With Owen, he may have dicked around on house shows but I don't recall him giving lackluster performances on PPV events like Randy does.

It's just so weird that at times in his matches he comes across as a guy with zero motivation like he was someone who's had the passion beat out of him, when he's the complete opposite of that. Like I could get a Zack Ryder type saying fuck it and stop giving a shit, but when it's someone who was anointed at worst the 1B player and given every opportunity humanly possible it's mind boggling. Going back to watch the RNN era Randy compared to now seems like a completely different person. If a Warrior like rumor starts at some point claiming the original Orton died and the current boring/coasting version is a replacement I'd believe it.

He's not a geek like they were but there's a clear line where you know he'll beat the Heath Slater types and lose to the main event guys. I think the issue is that folks hear the term "comedy __" and assume that the implication is you're calling the person a shit wrestler. It's a guy who's out there for Sports Entertainment purposes.

At that point, yeah pretty much. Up until they started to make him the HHH to Owens' HBK I would have considered him in that role.

It's funny to bring up the nWo since you always knew they were going to win whatever match/feud they were put into unless it was B/C level guys like Vincent or Michael Wallstreet. At no point was there any doubt here that Miz was going to lose in the end. It's not just doing comedy, it's doing comedy in a role where it's clear you're not going to win in the end.

The whole dressing up like Cena and Nikki was done for comedy, wasn't it? It's not like Dave was implying the guy is Santino level, he's saying the company wasn't positioning him as a serious top level threat which was absolutely the case.

Honestly what's helped Miz the most was being on Smackdown when the brand split happened which made him a default upper card heel since the roster was kind of thin at the start. He took the ball and ran with it, but you can tell when the company sees something in a guy and I didn't get that impression at all.

I guess you can argue semantics, but Miz improving in all facets doesn't change that in the end he was just there to be window dressing for the Cena/Nikki proposal just like he was part of the scenery when he main evented WM. I enjoy watching the guy, but at no point did I get the sense the company was turning the corner on him and now seeing him as a legit top level guy.

It's not the most ridiculous thing in the world to think someone's who's been a fitness buff his whole life would still be in excellent shape at age 60. Now if you're going to talk about jacked up 80s Dave, then you might be on to something.

The biggest revelation in the new Observer is Dave finally answering the question of who was the "Glorious" theme originally written for, with the answer being Nakamura.

Also a mention of a non wrestling performer who was being bullied by JBL while dealing with the death of a family member, which seems like a pretty obvious description of Lilian Garcia. The karma stuff Mauro was tweeting about was in reference to him getting the call to replace the guy who had him booted from Pride back in the day, so I guess that's an L for Team JBL Apologists on that one.

I guess the real question is has anyone had a longer career as a pushed top level guy and given less effort than Randy Orton? The kneejerk response would be Nash, but he didn't have nearly the length of time on top.

Agree with this, especially the point about Ambrose being the new Orton in terms of giving less than 100% at all times. I get that it's probably not realistic to expect someone to give maximum effort 365 days a year on every show, but the performance he gave at Mania this year was so embarrassingly bad I was wondering if maybe he was hurt going in and was toughing it out. I'm sure he probably saw the plans for the projection stuff and figured "fuck all this", but how many times have we seen guys take ridiculous and/or stupid ideas and make it work through force of sheer will? I feel Orton is never going to be a guy anyone says that about.

I never got the sheer hatred Anderson gets. I mean, yeah he's not the best or anything but it seems like the level of disdain he gets is out of proportion to his actual talent.

The thing about it is that it's a hell of a message to send that if you're someone low on the card, all you have to do is get jacked to the point your veins look like a road map and you develop backne and gyno to get a big match on PPV.