Coffey

So that WWE PPV is tonight? I missed like two weeks of RAW & they're having another PPV already. Maybe my calendar is messed-up in my head but it does really feel like they JUST had one.

It's irritating to watch a sloppy wrestler constantly mess up killing all sense of disbelief in a match too.

Some pretty memorable promos in Smoky Mountain. He was fun from a "did he really just go there?" standpoint. Both in and out of the ring. Won't be making my list though, or anywhere close to it.

To me? No, not really. I've sort of become desensitized to a lot of the "hardcore" stuff over time & it's very hard, if not impossible, to put myself into the time frame again to appreciate it in the moment. When I was seeing table spots & whatnot as a teenager, it was fresh & new.. it covered up a lot of weakness of a lot of the roster. Rob Van Dam, for example, when I try to watch now, is just all stalling, taunting & setting up the next contrived spot. Be it with a chair, with a table, both, whatever. There are some people in ECW that I think still have value. The likes of someone like Tajiri or 2 Cold Scorpio comes to mind but it's usually because of work they did elsewhere. Another big point to consider is how much innovation factor into how it affects your enjoyment of a worker? Sabu was doing things no one else was doing before others thought of them for a long time. Does that make him be remembered more fondly? Or would that still put him behind the likes of an original Sheik or even Abdullah the Butcher? Ya know? I'm also firmly in the "Abby sucked shit" camp. It's tough. I loved ECW in the moment but I don't think the majority of it holds up to me now. The bar has been raised for me. I expect more from my pro-wrestling that some hardcore spots can't really give me.

I don't feel like Shane Douglas passes the most basic & important question of this entire project: "Is [shane Douglas] one of the top 100 pro-wrestlers of all-time?" In my mind, upon reading that question, my initial thought is "no." He was an OK worker and a decent promo. Neither of which put him in the greatest ever running, in my opinion. Is "just OK" & "decent" (my words) good enough to be in conversation for top 100 greatest. Ever? No, not to me. If I were to go back & watch all of his stuff, is he going to be moving up the list, or am I wasting my time? From the Douglas I have seen, which includes a lot of his ECW run & his Steamboat tags, I feel it would be a waste of time. Is his Dean Douglas run in WWE going to raise his stock that much? Doubtful. A lot of this for me is a gut feeling. If you've seen a lot of a guy (or gal) and ask yourself that initial question, if it's not at least a "maybe" or "I need to see more" that pretty much takes them out of the running for me. Cutting to 100 people is HARD. Sure, when all is said and done, the 90-100 on a personal list might not matter all too much but it will certainly affect an overall PWO list.

This doesn't really explain anything. I don't think it goes against everything that her character is. Does she pander to the crowd usually? No. She did this time & was scolded & sent to the back over it. It's better than just ignoring the live crowd, in my opinion. Plus Lana has been off of TV a lot lately & this plays into Rusev getting mad at her before at Wrestlemania. I thought it was natural progression. With her recent tweets about equality, her being in movies in addition to being a great character & a beautiful woman, a babyface turn was inevitable.

Why do people hate the Lana spot? That was the only part of the entire match that I actually enjoyed.

So next PPV is when Lana turns babyface on Rusev, I suppose?

Best Big Show match in awhile. Ain't that the same finish for when ADR beat him in a LMS match on Smackdown? That was MotN imo. Who woulda thought?

Maybe they're for the ring crew that has to take down & load the truck after the show is over? Since it'd be later in the night after people already left, so they might not be able to get catering drinks anymore.

Favorite style of wrestling? I love pro wrestling when it's presented like a sport, where the best man can win on any given night. Despite knowing about the concussions & whatnot that came from it, I'm inclined to say my favorite style is early 90's AJPW. Favorite way wrestling is presented? See above. Favorite type of match? Old school cage match. Keep the two guys in. Keep everyone else out. The man that walks out of the cage is unquestionable the winner, in the blowoff of a feud. Favorite gimmick match? Is that not the same question? Favorite wrestler? Ever, Stan Hansen. Currently, probably Rusev. Favorite match? I love the Misawa/Kobashi Vs. Kawada/Taue (6/6/95) tag. Favorite feud? Sting Vs. nWo Favorite angle? The "love triangle" with Triple H, Kurt Angle & Stephanie McMahon is up there. Favorite promotion/period of wrestling? Late 80's WWF, Early 90's AJPW, Late 90's ECW, 2005 ROH. Little things that happen in wrestling that you always love? I'm a mark for a good valet. I think they can just add so much to a gimmick & really help get a guy over. Lana is great right now. I also love when someone blows the roof off of a live crowd.

Naomi's shoes will be all anyone is talking about tomorrow.

...what the hell? Did you hear that pop for the Bellas? What did I miss? Good for them!

EDIT : If that Lana spot was planned due to them assuming the crowd would chant "We Want Lana" that was freakin' GREAT.

Not for 2016, but just in general, is there ever a chance someone like Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi or Jumbo go into the WWE HoF?

Wasn't expecting a New Day title win there. Not sure what exactly that accomplishes for WWE... I guess Lucha Dragons Vs. New Day so LD can win the titles from a heel team? Since Cesaro/Kidd were kinda defacto babyfaces.

...what in da hell?

Was that the first win for Neville on the main roster?

Totally forgot that Roman Reigns Vs. The Big Show was on this card. That's hilarious to me. EDIT : The crowd sounds hype!

Barrett Vs. Neville could be fun. I'm OK with that change. Shame about Bryan though. So, are they going to strip him of the IC title?

It feels like it is when you watch all the TV, though. Three PPVs in a row when there's only four PPVs a year & no RAW every week is a lot different than three PPVs in a row that happens every month, with RAW & Smackdown every week. Also because Wrestlemania, the biggest show of the year, where all the blowoffs are supposed to happen, was just casually thrown into the middle of the series, instead of being the end of it is weird to me. The post-Wrestlemania PPV being nothing but Wrestlemania re-matches is silly to me too & always has been. Wrap it up & move onto the next story, or space it out so it doesn't feel so rehashed. Maybe I'm different in that aspect than most. Just feels like now WWE can't really book themselves outta this. Cena can't lose the belt already & Rusev shouldn't be losing. WWE feels like if you walk away for four months & come back you didn't miss anything. I find that problematic. Take potshots all you like. I'm allowed to have an opinion, even if it differs from others.

I'd push Ryback over Wyatt 100 times out of 100. Everything good about Bray Wyatt stops when he gets to the ring... and that was all WWE produced & could have been given to anyone. His theme song & entrance are great. As a promo, he's boring & long-winded. As a worker, he's kinda sloppy & boring. He's also been booked to look directionless & as not a real threat to any "real" stars. Ryback is as generic as they come. Maybe a little underrated at talking but he doesn't get a lot of opportunities. His gear stinks. His entrance stinks. His music stinks. He's like a big, jacked-up, Create-A-Wrestler from the 80's. Like The Warlord. He doesn't even really have a gimmick. None of his moves are really impressive. He has some physical charisma, admittedly, but compare him to someone like Goldberg or Brock Lesnar. He's always going to come off as second rate. He gets blown up super quick & is not very strong for his impressive physical. He fucked up picking up Paul Heyman, in example, where Goldberg was Jackhammering The Giant. Maybe an unfair comparison. Ryback reminds me more of like a Bobby Lashley, which is not really a compliment. Both Ryback & Wyatt need convincing wins and some tweaks to their presentation. Ryback doesn't even really have a gimmick. He's "The Big Guy" that chants "Feed Me More." Um, OK..? He's not an unstoppable asskicker or anything. We've seen him win, we've seen him lose. He's just a middle of the road guy with an impressive physique. We need to see more. Even during his jobber squashes that were trying to build him up, he needed to bring a lot more intensity. He needs to do things that make the crowd go "ohh!" or "damn!" like Goldberg & Brock did. He's never going to be a 20-minute plodding main event style worker & he shouldn't be. WWE needs to get out of that mentality of trying to make everyone work the same. 100/100 times? I don't think either one is doing a whole lot of much, honestly. Now if we could have given the Bray Wyatt presentation to Ryback... they might have had something. I still don't understand why they ever broke up the Wyatt Family. Now Rowan barely makes TV, Harper is trading wins in meaningless midcard matches & Wyatt just rambles backstage in vignettes. At the end of the day, those things do matter. Moves, themes, gear, entrance, etc. It's all a big part of the show. Especially in WWE. Swamp Cult Leader could have worked. I think it could still be salvaged but they need to go a different direction. Wyatt Vs. Ryback doesn't do anything for either wrestler. They would just trade wins for three months & be forgotten about.

This is the third straight Pay-Per-View running John Cena Vs. Rusev. Gimmick match or not, I'm not sure what more they can give us at this point. Cena goes over helps no one. Him losing the U.S. Title this soon would make much sense either. Just feels like they booked themselves into a corner. I would have rather they waited for Rusev Vs. Cena to happen the first time, at Wrestlemania, with Rusev going over. Now it already feels played out to me. I guess best case scenario is Cena retains via the ref throwing the match out due to Rusev not stopping a beating or something? That way Rusev can move on past the U.S. Title (like it doesn't mean anything to him anymore & it's beneath him) while Cena can keep doing the Open Challenges to try to add some prestige to the mid-card title again. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Lana turn babyface sometime this year. Rusev Vs. babyface Brock could be fun.

I could really get on board with some of those multiman tags if they feature different characters too, instead of just the same old stuff with Kane/Orton/Show/Rollins/Cena I'm thinking like Neville/Goldust/Mark Henry Vs. Sheamus/Kidd/Harper or something. So we just get fresh interactions. Maybe expecting something like that on RAW is reaching too far though. At this point, I would love to see a final Goldust run as Dustin in WWE.

Sandow got like a 15-minute match with John Cena on a RAW and managed to be boring, so I have completely written the guy off.