NintendoLogic

Maybe not, but it'd still be nice to have everything important gathered together in a single piece.

I basically agree with what Loss is saying, but I also feel that it's impossible to work with the current WWE crew night in and night out and not improve significantly.

I guess the point was a bit more nuanced than that. Bruno's style of ace was that he'd just fucking deck heels for breakfast. You wouldn't describe Bruno as "plucky", you'd describe him as ... I, dunno, a dignified beast. A gentleman who just might happen to kick your head in if you cross him. I'm pretty sure that's what Dylan had in mind when he said that "Bryan couldn't play Bruno". The narrative arch of a Bruno match is "don't fuck with Bruno". Hogan's style of ace was all about the superman comebacks. He was booked "strong" in terms of wins and losses, but WITHIN matches Hogan would sell a lot for opponents. As we all know. The Hogan formula has been replicated time and again in WWE main events, it's the most basic wrestling formula (shine - heat - comeback). The narrative arch of a Hogan match is "no matter the odds, Hogan will overcome them and win". Backlund didn't work that formula. Not at all. Backlund matches are a totally different ball game, and that's really what I had in mind when I made this thread. The narrative arch of a Backlund match is "Backlund is the best wrestler around and he's the champ for a reason". So this is as much about how Bryan could be booked to work individual matches as it is about character or week-to-week booking. Those all strike me as differences of degree rather than of kind. Just about any top babyface is going to be presented as someone who wins because he's the better wrestler rather than because he got lucky. At the same time, he has to show enough vulnerability to keep fans emotionally invested in the outcome. Bruno and Backlund may have showed less vulnerability than Hogan, but they didn't routinely steamroll opponents like Goldberg either.

It seems to me that "he was plucky, courageous, never-say-die, etc., but booked STRONG" is a standard description of a company ace. If the question is whether Bryan can be booked like most top babyfaces, I suppose the answer is yes.

What the fuck?

Using rope breaks has been a heel move for most of WWE's history. When was the last time you saw John Cena reach for the ropes rather than simply power out of a submission? I'd say the way Bret did it was more of an anomaly than the beginning of a new tradition.

Cesaro was incredibly over as a heel at the house show I went to a little over a week ago. The only thing he did that got a babyface reaction was the giant swing.

You guys are aware that Bulgaria is a separate country from Russia, right?

Jarrett's competence as a promoter, or lack thereof, is of far less concern to me than his history of treating wrestlers, especially minority wrestlers, like chattel. He's not some harmless eccentric with an outsized ego. He's a blight on wrestling and should be regarded with scorn, not ridicule.

I think they could've gotten a million subscribers or close to it if it had been ready to go right after the announcement. A lot of the excitement seemed to dissipate during the month interval.

I'm curious as to how many of those who professed to find Savage/Steamboat at WM3 underwhelming have seen the previous month's match between the two from Toronto. Anyway, my pick would be the M-Pro 10-man from These Days. I've never actually watched it in its entirety. Every time I try, I turn it off after like five minutes because it bores me to tears. Then again, flippy juniors wrestling in general doesn't really do anything for me.

I guess I'm one of the few who didn't think Cena was losing under any circumstances. Building up monsters to feed to the ace has been the WWE business model for the past 50 years.

Jarrett announcement? What? Did I miss something?

For the second year in a row, I had to miss Mania due to work-related travel, so I'll limit my comments to the booking. Like everyone else, I was legit shocked when I heard that Lesnar ended the streak. I guess this means they're not doing anything with Sting. As for the ending, I actually agree with Matt. I'm a sucker for the locker room clearing out to celebrate the big babyface win. When was the last time WWE did that? With Angle at Unforgiven 2001?

It should be noted that WWE continues to pay people for the duration of the no-compete, which is probably why it hardly ever gets challenged in court. Also, it's not really that restrictive in practice. Plenty of guys have started working the indies within days of being released by WWE. Pretty much the only place they're forbidden from working is TNA.

My understanding is that Marvel owned the rights to "Hulk Hogan," "Hulkster," and "Hulkamania." I guess Hulk by itself was fine.

Marvel still owned the rights to the name "Hulk Hogan" at the time.

That's how retribution in wrestling works. Steph is basically the equivalent of a manager, and managers have to be able to bump. Plus, she's already involved herself physically. I've been watching this shit for nearly 35 years. The idea that Steph can only get hers is by getting beat up is ridiculous. the Grand Wizard never got beat up. The Grand Wizard also never got involved physically. You really think that someone who laid a hand on Bruno or Backlund would've gotten off scot-free? Plenty has been written about how the authority figure plays the same role today that the manager played in the old days. And I'm struggling to think of a heel authority figure who never received an ass-kicking. Even Vickie has taken plenty of tombstones.

That's how retribution in wrestling works. Steph is basically the equivalent of a manager, and managers have to be able to bump. Plus, she's already involved herself physically.

I'm not really feeling Steph's involvement. It's good heeling on her part, but what's it supposed to lead to? It's not like she's going to get put in the Yes Lock or anything like that. How's she supposed to get her comeuppance?

That video package would be useful to point to if HHH ever tries to play the "what big star ever laid down for me" card again.

Wrestlers are willing to work for peanuts in developmental because of the prospect of earning much bigger money when they get called up. I don't see unionization in the NCAA fundamentally altering that calculus.

What I heard was that Shane would probably be backstage, but he wasn't expected to appear on camera.

There's an interview with Jake Roberts in the latest issue of WWE Magazine in which he mentions that he first suggested bringing a snake with him to the ring in Mid-South. Bill Watts flat-out shot him down, saying that it wasn't a circus and that the idea was stupid.

I went to a house show at the Norfolk Scope tonight with my brother and his friend. It was the first event I've attended live since WM23 and my first house show since right before WM21. The turnout looked really good. Every section was full or close to it except for the area above the Titantron, which I'm guessing was closed off. First match was Miz vs. Big E. About what you'd expect between these two. Miz worked the leg for a little bit but then forgot about it. Big E won with the Big Ending. I've heard that it looks even worse live than it does on TV, but it didn't really come across that way to me. Next was Real Americans vs. R-Truth/Xavier Woods. There must have been a lot of little Jimmies in attendance, because Truth was super-over. Zeb got some cheap heat first by confusing Norfolk with Roanoke and then by bringing up UVA's loss in the NCAA tournament. He asked Cesaro what the Swiss word for choke was, which was pretty funny. Solid match with a really good FIP section. The Real Americans got tons of heel heat overall, but the giant swing got a nice pop. Cesaro only did eight revolutions, which was kind of disappointing. He then got the win with the Neutralizer. Next was Damien Sandow vs. Sheamus, who got the biggest pop of the night so far. The match started with Sandow Pearl Harboring Sheamus while he was high-fiving fans at ringside. Sandow showed some pretty impressive viciousness on offense. Sheamus got the win with a Brogue Kick after a short comeback. Sandow then cried foul and demanded another opponent, which prompted Big Show to come out and hit him with the KO punch. Next was the Bella Twins/Eva Marie vs. Alicia Fox/Aksana/Layla. Fans got to vote via text and Twitter whether this would be an actual match or a dance-off, and the match won. To be honest, I don't really remember anything about this match. Next was Daniel Bryan vs. Kane. Bryan was insanely over. This was a really good match. Bryan's shoulder was taped up, so Kane spent most of the match working on the arm. Bryan had Kane in the Yes Lock, but Ryback ran out for the DQ. Bryan fought him off, but the Real Americans came back out to make it three-on-one. The Shield came out to make the save, which got the biggest pop yet. Kane tried to attack Bryan from behind with a chair after the faces cleared the ring, but Bryan caught him and hit him with the busaiku knee. Intermission. First match after intermission was Fandango/Summer Rae vs. Dolph Ziggler/Emma. This was basically a comedy match. The finish came when Dolph hit the fameasser and Summer Rae tried to break up the pin only to inadvertently low-blow Fandango. The girls then brawled to the outside and Dolph hit the Zig Zag for the win. Next was Bad News Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston. Barrett cut a "Look at my crazy passport" promo before the match. There were several "CM Punk" chants during the match, which tells you how much the crowd was into it. Overall, it was solid but unspectacular, but it did get better as it went on. Barrett got the pin when he hit Kofi with a forearm as he was coming off the top. The main event was Goldust/Cody Rhodes/John Cena vs. the Wyatts. Cena got the biggest pop of the night, but there were quite a few boos as well. I was under the impression that house show crowds were uniformly behind Cena because the fans who booed him didn't go to them. Maybe the rise of Bryan and the Shield and the like is bringing them back. Someone should look into that. It should be noted that once the match began, the crowd was 100% behind Cena. Not only was this the MOTN, it'd probably be my MOTY so far if it had happened on TV. Goldust and Cody both played FIP, and both were awesome at it. Dustin's was the best, but Cody was no slouch. The roof came off the place when Cena tagged in and again when he got the win with an AA. My brother thought the Goldust FIP section was boring. In related news, I no longer have a brother. Overall, the show was really good. It was like a high-end Raw from a match quality standpoint minus all the bullshit. Two and a half hours just flew by. Thumbs up for sure.