Coffey

I don't think it's fair that WWE gave Chris Benoit a "thank you" title run when Rick Rude never got one and he had more tools than Benoit. DiBiase and Hennig too. Of course, since when has wrestling ever been fair? Different era's anyway. Maybe it's because the internet wasn't the monster that it is today back when those three were in the midcard of WWF but I don't get a lot of the Benoit love. I'm more impressed when a bad wrestler has a good match than when a good wrestler continues to have good matches. I was genuinely surprised at the Smackdown where Henry beat Rey for example. Compare that to Finlay/Benoit from this last Judgment Day PPV.

So, here we are. Since I made a new thread, I thought I should add more content to the original post and perhaps expand on my opinion more. Chris Benoit is pretty much the embodiment of "smark-darling." He has a ton of wrestling experience, great selling, good facial expressions and he's one of the best wrestlers currently active as far as it pertains to psychology. He's put on great matches in countries all over the world. He's worked for ECW, WCW & WWE. He trained in the infamous "Hart Dungeon." So, why then, do I find him so boring? It's certainly not what he does in the ring. I've found several of his matches gripping, such as his Royal Rumble match with Kurt Angle. However, even that match, to me, took awhile to get started. Maybe it's because he's so universally loved on-line that my expectations for him are raised too high? Or maybe, just maybe, it's because he lacks that certain "it" to put him on the next level as an entertaining superstar. That superstar quality. The charisma and out-of-ring quality. Perhaps it's because my attention span is too low and I don't want to sit around and wait for his matches to start getting good? Has WWE brainwashed me into being accustomed to short, "WWE style" matches that are "right to the point" so to speak. So, when Angle/Benoit are given half an hour to work, the first ten minutes feels like filler to me instead of building a story. I don't know. To me, like I previously said, it takes more than just great in-ring work to be considered a good wrestler. As much as people hate WWE and Vince McMahon, he has a point whenever he talks about "making movies" or "telling stories." As lame as a lot of the shit is, you can't just throw great workers into the ring with no rhyme or reason, tell them to have a great match and have that be the end of it. Look at Ring of Honor. So many great matches that each month dozens are forgotten. That's how Benoit comes off to me. Forgotten. His character consists of "I can wrestle good, so I'll beat you" and that's, really, about it. That is boring. I've watched Benoit in the J-Cup tournament in Japan. I watched him when he was a member of the IV Horsement in WCW. I've seen him win the WWE World Title at Wrestlemania by making HHH tap-out in the main event. It's all been good...but I'd still take a "sing-along with the Rock" over all of it. Also, because it's a thread about Benoit, here's an animated gif that my friend Jeremy made with Pivot Stick Figure Animator entitled "Benoit's Last Day." I got a kick out of it:

Maybe it does deserve it's own thread but I don't like Chris Benoit. I never really have. He's certainly had good matches in the past but for the most part, I find him extremely boring. To me, it takes a lot more than having good matches to be a good wrestler. Maybe that's why I'm a WWE fan? As far as TNA is concerned, I'm glad that the last episode of iMPACT! did well ratings wise. It was a good show. They have a couple of storylines going on right now that I care about. Good word of mouth from the internet (for the most part) is the reason that I went out of my way to watch the show...and I'm glad that I did. DVDVR makes TSM look like a bunch of Einsteins collaborating on scientific theories.

He's a chubby chaser? Hey, look! A pun!

That's all fine & dandy but part of the appeal of watching the PPV's is so that you're current with the storylines and outcomes of the matches. If you don't follow WWE weekly, yeah, it's a great solution. However, if you plan on watching Raw on Monday's, having to wait to watch the PPV for three months kinda sucks.

I thought Steph was hot when she first got with Hunter, certainly not "mannish." It wasn't until after she got the balloon implants and her arms started getting bigger that it started going downhill.

No love for his IC title match with RVD? The match had rolling Northern Light Suplexes with the arm trapped, Anderson style. Great shoulder work in that match.

So, forty bucks for a two hour & forty-five minute show? That seems expensive entertainment wise. You can go see a movie at the theatre that lasts close to two hours for only eight bucks.

The epitome of "meh." I don't even think TNA will want him. I never really got to see what he could do in the ring. Even when he was paired with Benoit, he was getting squashed in under a minute every time. I thought he had a decent enough look though.

Why does it matter how many moves a wrestler uses? Look at Hogan and he made millions. Hell, Bret Hart whom is universally loved on-line and notorious for being a great worker only had about ten moves total.

I'm downloading the show right now. The guys over at the LAW gave it thumbs down though.

Loss, I quoted your Khali response over at Something Awful. I hope you don't care. I just thought your paragraph really summed it up well.

I think a move to Raw would benefit her anyway. Get her around Foley.

I'm not a fan of the splitting of MNM but we'll see how it pans out, I guess. If Melina & Nitro show up on Raw tomorrow, I'll be happy.

There's a Smackdown PPV tonight. I really want Mysterio to lose the World Title.

Kind of in the same vein but what I don't understand is why does WWE feel the need to change what's working for the guys in the developmental league? For example, why couldn't Damaja come up as Damaja instead of as a Basham Brother? It's not like debuting on national TV and the extra road schedule and ring time and arena fans isn't pressure enough. They basically have to start all over in more than one way. They have to get over again, in front of a new, larger, more critical audience AND they have to work with a completely new, usually bigger saddled gimmick.

I guess it's like the whole baseball theory. You don't know what it's like to play in the show until you're at the show. That's all I got.

That's the best post you've ever made. Completely summed it up.

The production values continue to improve, even on the Indies. Video packages are always good. The "big draw." When wrestling is at it's best, there's always that one guy that you can point to and be like "he's the guy." You had Hogan in early WWF and Flair in early NWA/WCW. You could slap guys in the ring with them, like Orndorf or Luger or Sting or whomever and they'd gain instant credibility. Wrestling doesn't have that now. You have Cena getting the superman push and Triple H still on top. When you throw a Rob Conway or whomever in the ring with them, they aren't stars at the end of the match like they would've been if they were in there with a younger Flair. There's also not any real compelling storylines or a top faction. Whenever wrestling has been good, there's been both. The IV Horsemen with everyone chasing after Flair's title, for example. The nWo fending off Sting, DDP & Goldberg. Good managers seem to be a lost art in WWE too.

The problem is there's always something in WWE that interests me. A lot of the time the bad outweighs the good but I still like watching certain things. For example, right now, I like HHH. I like seeing which cities boo and which cities cheer Cena. The Spirit Squad make me laugh. A lot of the women, namely Mickie, Maria & Trish, are hot. I liked the Styles promo and I'm glad I got to see it live. Etcetera. I think my problem came when I tried to make wrestling more than just a TV show. When it became a hobby other than just watching it on Mondays. When I started talking about it to friends or trying to defend my opinions about it on-line is really when it all started going downhill. Honestly, I think the last boom period is what killed wrestling for me. In more ways than one. The bar was set too high. I had too many options available for me. It was the "in" thing to talk about and whatnot. When the boom died down, I was left by myself. I've been on life support since then.

Because WWE on cable TV is free. That's why. I also grew up on it and have followed it for the better part of twenty years. I don't know, it's weird. As a company, they aren't loyal to me but as a fan, I feel loyal to them, I guess. Plus there's an abundance of it. They have a big name, so everyone equates them to wrestling. It's like, when wrestling is good, WWE is good. It's mainstream and people are talking about Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, etc. or The Rock, Steve Austin, etc. When it bad? "It's just wrestling." or "You still watch that?"

I know Raw didn't hold my interest. WWE is directly responsible for how I feel about wrestling as a whole. When WWE is bad, it makes me want to actively seek out other wrestling less which I think is somewhat abnormal. In 2005, I was really big into Ring of Honor. I watched most of the shows from that year. In January of this year, I went to an ROH show in Dayton, OH. Since then, I haven't followed the company, at all. I think a lot of it had to do with James Gibson. As far as TNA is concerned, I quit following them once Christian won the NWA Title and for some reason everyone on the internet was talking about how all the fans coming into the ring was some "big moment." I was like "well, if this is a big moment, I don't like the product." The commentary and the Orlando fans turn me off from the product in a way that no wrestling match can remedy. Last night, during Raw, I found myself watching MLB and NBA instead of Raw the majority of the time. Then I went to bed before the Raw main event even came on because I didn't care. By the time Monday Night Football rolls around, with Tony Kornheiser on there now, I think I'll be done with wrestling for good. It might be time for me to get a new hobby anyway. I've become too jaded where I can't enjoy the product without critiquing it with a fine-toothed comb anyway. The "big" things on the horizon for the Summer of WWE seem to be, apparently, ECW coming back (again) and DeGeneration X coming back. It appears as if this May 19th crap is leading to Kane getting his mask back too. It's just MORE rehashing. I DON'T CARE! I like watching Pride and UFC with my friend Jeremy more...and it's cheaper.

From my experiences, stick with the big guys and the neck drops. All of my friends couldn't really "get off" on the Super J Cup tournaments and the like. However, they fell in love with Misawa, Kobashi & Kawada. Hansen too. Of course, they really liked Scott Norton and Vader at the end of his career too. They just seemed to like the big, stiff brawls that had a lot of stuff they haven't seen before. The cruiser stuff, I don't know, I guess that's because of the stigma they've received here in the States.

Which is what everyone is complaining about. Just like Cena "overcoming all odds." Everything is a rehash. That's why the product is so stale. Everything has been done and the bar is too high.

Spirit Squad comes to mind. Vince & Shane. Possibly Kane.