fakeplastictrees

Is it possible that WWE is just trying to wear down the 'smarter' element of the audience? I will 100% admit this is a huge conspiracy theory and Vince would be the ultimate genius to pull this off, but hear me out. After the Rumble fiasco, Vince realizes he needs to do an extremely slow and unconventional build for Roman. Its a mixture of 1985 Hogan booking and 2006 Mysterio booking. A weird mix indeed, but one that will eventually wear out the biggest anti-Roman fan. Slowly and frustratingly changing the sentiment from hate/anger to complete apathy and overall acceptance. The kids and women will continue to cheer for Roman--the large male demo that boos him will finally just be glad that 'its all over' and WWE isn't purposely fucking stuff up anymore. No more derailing a person like Bryan, no more lazy matches from a person like Brock, and very few (if any) castrating promos from a person like Stephanie. I don't think WWE wants another Cena in the reactions department, and 'traditional booking' (or so is the theory) isn't going to prevent that from happening. Thus this weird hybrid comprised of meta neo comparative mythos and pro wrestling psychology as understood by the most jaded fan.

Getting old sucks. 15 year old me would have marked out hard being at an 8 hour wrestling show and getting to see every wrestler on the roster all in one night. The older me can only think about traffic, not wanting to deal with people, refusing to stand in long lines for a 10 second tinkle, not really enjoying arena nachos, etc. All of this stuff enters my mind before I even think about whether or not I want to attend Mania. Its a sad state of affairs.

He's a generic guy that doesn't do anything super impressive in the ring and has some of the most forced 'charisma' this side of Robbie Williams. I believe his current fandom is at Kardashian pro wrestling levels of being over due to being over. I feel the only way to enjoy anything Adam Cole does is in a very ironic way. I have the same problem with Cole that I do with Dane Cook. I keep hearing how good he is and yet despite watching him for years, with an opening mind, and I am still not seeing it. The catchphrase is cool--I guess.

My experience with Honor Club was absolutely terrible. I am not sure who designed the layout, but ordering and getting things to play should not require a sleuth's cap of any size. Viewing a replay of an already purchased item wasn't fun either. In 2018, it took ROH about 3 days to begin the process of canceling my membership and refunding my money. With so many options and so many ways to watch ROH-- I am not sure why ROH believes the current system is the one that best services fans.

Oh god! The music alone is enough reason to check it out. I will take a listen.

I like Conrad now, but the man is not exactly an early 2000's Lafite-Rothschild Bordeaux Blend. Getting into Bruce's podcast was a chore mainly due Bruce irregularly shifting in and out of work mode, but Conrad's overall craziness definitely did not help. Maybe WHW works better for me because Conrad works best when he is not being forced into playing the straight man to a person's gimmick. Never got around to listening to Bischoff's podcast as I consider him a shill. I believe Conrad might be able to get Bischoff to loosen up and get him out of work mode. Bischoff is doing his best to protect his legacy, and I totally understand why, but I hope this new show doesn't turn into a PR pitch to get Bischoff a job behind the scenes working for WWE.

WHW sold me on Conrad as a co-host. I will definitely check out the Bischoff podcast. Hopefully Bischoff isn't 'working' the entire time and is open to sharing warts and all.

The Harris Brothers each put up a little over 76K. An Aro Lucha rep addressing the Nazi accusations by saying the Harris brothers were playing characters. I will not support this promotion. In 2018, I am unable to justify watching a neo-nazi owned wrestling promotion while there are hundreds of easily accessible wrestling promotions world wide.

Not "pro wrestling" per say, but the rape culture is online as well. I guess it never left, but it has since bubbled up on my time line. There are real situations outside of the ring yes, but I thought the community was beyond making 'threats' to rape a man's girlfriend/wife all because that man gave Misawa/Kobashi ** 1/2 stars and dislikes Vince Russo. This element is alive and well in 2018.

It will be interesting to see if Vince continues his push into Football. I am not sure if a Trump/Pence endorsement will help or hurt the XFL. Vince has said everything indicating that his target demographic are McDonald's-style patriots and the Alt-Right. The AAF sounds like "Those Son of a Bitches!" and more "Hey, let's give a healthy and fun alternative to the big dog!".

I've never been high on Trish as a worker. One of the most overrated acts (male or female) of the last twenty years or so. With that said, I can recognize the importance of her in WWE canon as well as women's wrestling in general. Where Chyna, Sable, and Sunny all failed--Trish picked up. Again, the wrestling was never anything to write home about, but for the first time since the early 90's, WWE had the prototype blonde bombshell that could pass off as a competent worker. That was all that was needed. I hate to sound like a WWE PR lemming, but the bar was raised. Mickie was a good addition as well and in my book she is the Miesha Tate of WWE women's wrestling post Attitude Era (Trish of course being Rousey). Was never a fan of hers and I roll my eyes every time she decides to pop-in on WWE TV, but if anything in WWE lore is named after Trish--there will be zero complaints from me. Same with Lita. Never was a Lita fan and she was the absolute shits in the ring. But any honor given to her will receive no backlash from me.

I'd be down for the Judy Bagwell Battle Royal.

I am not a huge Big Show fan, but its really hard to argue against him being in the WWE HOF. Big Show has been involved in a ton of wrestle crap, but the resume speaks for itself: 2 Time WCW World Heavyweight Champion 3 Time WCW World Tag Team Champion 4 Time WWF/E Champion 3 Time WWF/E Hardcore Champion 8 Time Time Tag Team Champion 5 Time Slammy Award Winner 1 TimeUnited States Champion 1 Time Intercontinental Champion 1 Time ECW World Champion I wouldn't be upset if/when he is inducted.

Good listen. Thanks for the shout out. Learned tons listening to this one! The Lord Landsdowne stuff got me laughing.

If this is all part of a bigger angle to get Roman over--it might actually work. A babyface needs to be RIGHT. Reigns is fighting for himself, the business, and the fans. This time around, Reigns promos do not come off as pandering and directionless. This should be fun to see play out.

The crowd barely reacted. A worked shot to the gut would have gotten the same reaction minus the controversy, bad press, legit injury, etc.

I see and understand the perspective. It makes sense. Fair enough. However, as pointed out earlier, WWE really need to get on the same page as far as presentation is concerned. The disconnect is real. The problem with all of this John Cena stuff is that WWE will need to deconstruct the "WrestleMania Moment" stuff. For the past decade, WWE has advertised that wrestlers doing the EXACT SAME SPOTS they do on Raw/Smackdown is a 'WrestleMania Moment", etc. WWE has also featured passionated promos from Zack Ryder speaking about how walking out to Mania is his personal WM Moment. With all of this, its easy for fans to say--HEY~! If John Cena just makes an entrance during the ATGMBR or the multiple-man IC title match/Ladder match---then he is good! Maybe it will come in the next few weeks, but the start has been shit.

Cena being worried he won't be at Mania doesn't even make sense in the WWE Universe. 98% of the roster makes it to Mania. The ones that don't are hurt or suspended. As a viewer, WWE has done nothing to make me believe the stakes are high much less even real. Cena is a free agent for a reason. For someone reason WWE wants to push the directionless narrative despite the fact that both Raw and Smackdown GMs have gone out of their way to accommodate Cena in a number of ways. There has just been nothing in the narrative that supports a 16 time WWE champion (and a man who JUST finished main eventing a PPV) will have a hard time getting booked on a show that he has been a part of, and main evented a number of times, since 2004. Forget being in the main event. Cena wants us to believe he won't even be in the ATGMBR. If Curtis Hawkins had this concern due to the fact he is on a massive losing streak--fine. If Heath Slater is worried because HE'S GOT KIDS~!--fine. If Goldust is worried because he knows he only has a few more years in the tank--I can buy that. Cena? No so much. Good story. Wrong person.

The Styles/Nakamura stuff is slightly weird, though completely expected. WWE has positioned itself to ensure no wrestler is bigger than the WWE brand. This has lead to trading wins/losses, stop/start pushes, and scripted babyface promos that are designed to take any and all heat from a babyface. A WWE wrestler, no matter what he/she does, becomes another cog in the WWE machine. So, what is there left to do? If a wrestler has to give a rambling promo about "The King in Yellow", perform a bad Bret Hart impression, or stare at the WM sign for five minutes -- How does a wrestler get over? The answer? WRESTLING! Some fans have worked themselves into (truly) believing the story leading to a match just doesn't matter. The bell-to-bell is the only thing that matters. Everything else is the dressing. While the dressing is nice--its all about the bell-to-bell. WWE, knowing WCW isn't around, knows it can take short cuts. Fighting over a lost spot in a Japanese shampoo commercial was deemed by fans and critics to be completely stupid, silly, and insulting. In that situation, WWE actually (half-assingly) tried to create a reason for Booker T and Edge to square off at Mania. Vince and company know the 'traditional' bare minimum isn't needed, and some fans are completely okay with that as long as the bell-to-bell portion checks out. Expectations are low from both the company and the fans. Its an unspoken truth. WWE is having its cake and eating it too with "the build" to Styles/Nakamura. This match is a glorified rehashed exhibition that is designed purely to accomplish a few things, none of which really need any meaningful build. I am not an apologist, its just the way I see it.

I am not sure why Ronda's promo is getting hate. She came off nature and not forced. WWE needs more of this and less of the "Sufferin Succotash~!" non-sense. Ronda's promo had realistic phases: 1. Happy to be here! 2. Thankful for the opportunity! 3. Hey what's going on here? (coming to terms that she IS in fact in WWE) 4. Done talking. 5. Ass kicking mode. It all transitioned pretty well to me and didn't come off too forced at all. I can see how the "Aw-shucks" folksy bullshit rubs people the wrong way (especially with anything involving Stephanie and/or The Women's Revolution), but it worked in this case. I think Ronda has enough clout for WWE not to push her to do 20 minute HHH style promos. Hell, even HHH can barely do a 20 minute HHH style promo.

I don't see the CW title being on WM. When Neville was doing the best work in his career---he was placed on the pre-show with Aries. I don't see this changing this year. The CWs have been working in nearly empty arenas and small crowds for a long time. It would be nice for two of the guys to be able to make Mania proper and have 80,000 people (hopefully) engaged. As far as Braun is concerned, I have read that Braun may face The Miz at WM. That match does nothing for me. There is no one on the Raw roster (that isn't potentially already booked for Mania) that excites me as it relates to a possible Strowman showdown. Because of this, I would like to see Strowman vs. Orton. They have never faced one-on-one. It would be fresh and give both marks and smarks something to cheer for. A fresh match for both that will serve as resume padding for Strowman. I agree with this. I like Roman, but the repositioning comes off as desperate. There are so many cold acts in WWE right now ( Wyatt, Ziggler, etc.) that Reigns running through them just makes sense and should be something that actually happens for an entire year. Going toe-to-toe with guys who are more over (Elias, Strowman, Miz, etc.) isn't helping Reigns. For the last four years or so it feels like Reigns is taking a Mania spot that should honestly go to someone else. Its sad because the guy has all the talent, but the company has purposely set him up to become Cena 2.0.

Mania looks interesting assuming this is the card: Lesnar vs. Reigns II Styles vs. Nakamura Rousey/Angle vs. HHH/Stephanie Cena vs. Undertaker The Finals of the CWC Tournament Obviously two of the matches are speculative, but either way---WWE is building toward a solid card thus far.

When I grow up, I want my podcast to sound like GFA!

HHH and JJ would actually have a pretty decent wrestling match. I am not clamoring to see it, but if it happened-- I wouldn't be in my own personal hell because of it.

Uh oh!