Badlittlekitten

Then you missed out man! That TNA PPV was one of the worst shows I've ever watched. The Mr Anderson/Sam Shaw/Christy Hemme segment was terrible to the point of being quite mesmeric. Time slowed down. Abyss coming out from under the ring in the title match is the first time I've felt embarrassed about watching wrestling whilst nobody else was present. Dixie just isn't fit to be on camera (although she is fit) and watching her trying to pull off the Authority heel role in multiple segments to clear 'go away' heat is painful and hilarious at the same time. The wrestling is awful anyway. What a shower of shite this company is.

I'm still suffering from a St Paddy hangover too much to explain things properly, but, for me, the king of the crafty heels is Buddy Rose. He's peerless at the whole stooge heel act as well. And he's offensively dynamic and viscous enough to come across as a legit threat in the ring also. That's why I love Arn Anderson so much. He's the most ridiculous and funny stooge there is but at a flick of a switch you completely buy him as a mean tough bastard. I miss big monster heels. That's something WWE is missing right now. Some massive fucker that beats the shit out of the baby and literally squashes him. Somebody who's believable and is also capable of having good/ fun matches (so that excludes a Brodus Clay push. And Kane). I want Vader. Hell, I'd love it if WWE had an Abdullah Butcher type attraction whose matches were all booked as out of control brawls with blood and depravity and forks down the trousers. More wrestlers should have signature weapons. That's what I love about the joshi heels. Actually, now I thought about it, - Dump Matsumoto is the greatest heel of al time. Apologies to the OP, I'm just rambling nonsense. To give a shit and generic answer; what makes a good heel/face is believability. Especially the sense that the wrestler believes in the character they're portraying. That's why Cena's the biggest star. That's why I don't think Bryan or Punk or Sheamus can ever get near to his level as babyfaces. You get a feeling that they find this whole wrestling thing quite silly. Too much smirking and nudge-nudge-wink-ing to the camera. A sense that they're playing heroes rather than being them.

It took her 15 years to become this good a performer and you can tell she's having the time if her life doing this. Something Loss mentioned when the company testified for Congress is that deep down she seems starved for attention. I ll bet she never wanted to really leave TV in the first place but if she didn't she might not have improved this much. Ido hope that they drop the faux corporate act with Hunter and Stephanie as it's pretty tough to go back to after the last couple weeks Dunno about that. I thought she was good all the way back in 2000 when in a similar role. But there was more innocence about her character then, rather than the full on monstrous evil of today.

Also, watching the Authority/Batista/Orton crumble all night was hilarious. Stephanie is wrestling gold at the moment.

I loved the petty CM Punk dig in HHH's promo and also the way that they acknowledged that - yes -this is the match they should have done all along. The beatdown was too long as all Triple H things are but it was as violent and uncomfortable as it should have been. Bryan just hasn't been the same since Hell In A Cell and there's a lot of truth to what Steph said a couple of weeks back about the crowd switching. They will turn on him when he finally wins the big one like they turn all all babyfaces now. And I'm looking forward to a new direction for Bryan because the bearded 'YES' thing is played out. The Cena/Wyatt feud seems to be bubbling nicely. I like how Cena has been rattled by Bray. That video package gave me chills and might be one of the best I've ever seen.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate that spot? It's the new 619 but worse in that the opponent will be hurt selling in the middle of the ring and purposefully move into the corner and slouch in the turnbuckle to set up the move. I know they like to catch the Uso on camera calling an "U-SO!" chant before he does it but still where's the imagination? Not to focus on the negative - I agree with Coffey - WWE has been great so far this year and is back on the form it had been on before summerslam. The main story's no longer dragging the show down and new stars are on the horizon. The amount of good matches coming out of the last few of years is ridiculous.

Decided to watch some Oz Academy show I come across to see how the joshi are doing these days. Chikayo Nagashima/Meiko Satomura/Sonoko Kato/Tsubasa Kuragaki/Carlos Amano -vs- Jungle Jack (Aja Kong/Ran Yu-Yu/AKINO/Hiroyo Matsumoto/Tomoka Nakagawa) (12/02/2012) This was in the spirit of those 90s JWP multi-women matches where they start as a kinda singles gauntlet thing before all the women step up onto the apron together and join in the fun. First the positives; The early Satomura/Kong segment was okay and the Nagashima/Matsumoto was fun. This is the first I've seen of Nagashima since her GAEA days and on this evidence she hasn't lost a step. Matsumoto was a good base for her and they worked a nice brisk pace. Kong looked as brutal as ever and her and Meiko have bunches of chemistry. Amano and AKINO were fine in their portion but I really could do without the comical headbutts, they always take me out of the action. The headbutts looked pretty poor too and, although the unflattering camera angle didn't help things, there was a lot of sloppiness in this match in general . Speaking of which - Nakagawa was quite terrible in this, sloppy, loose and all over the place. Things go rapidly downhill after the singles period is ditched and all the girls clutter up the ring as they please. It's just a clusterfuck of girls constantly breaking up pins (do all four partners need to break a pin?) and tedious my-turn-your-turn shit. There's never a chance for any tension to build. And it goes on and on and on . . . There's one point 35 minutes in where Meiko seems to have a spark lit underneath her and starts destroying AKINO with an extra sense of urgency like she wants this damn thing to end . . but it goes nowhere, she's quietly snuffed out and disappears into the blur again. I didn't like this match but I'm glad I watched it. I really want to check out a Nagashima/Matsumoto singles match now (please say they exist) and would like to see more of Kuragaki vs Kong. But it was nowhere near the level of them old JWP matches as it lacked the focus and good work. Aja Kong/Sonoko Kato -vs- Ayumi Kurihara/AKINO 08/19/2012 The heavy clipping made it hard to get a full picture of this match but what was shown was fine. Kong and Kato spend the first half of the match dominating their opponents and coming out on top after every flurry. I enjoyed Kong getting the best of Ayumi and AKINO's double team attempts although I HATED that the pair completely no sold Kong's double suplex on them. Why the fuck would you do that? It's shocking how little Kong seems to have aged in twenty years. She's the joshi Dustin Rhodes. When AKINO/Kurihara finally start getting in some offence it turns into a nearfall-fest. I wish AKINO wouldn't do that horrible shining wizard thing. The match seems to continue after the time limit draw for some reason but I had tapped out by that point to be honest, although I did watch the finish and thought it was good. The best thing about this was the crowd which was surprisingly good by modern joshi standards. Chikayo Nagashima -vs- Hiroyo Matsumoto. (Oz Openweight Title ) 08/19/2012 Well I didn't have to wait long to get my match! There were some major flaws in this - the chairs were unnecessary fluff and Hiroyo's 'fighting spirit' nonsense almost turned me off, (I don't have a problem with fighting spirit in itself but there's a right way to do it in my eyes. Kobashi getting fired up after an elbow to the face and delivering a backdrop is fine because he continues selling again after the move and once the adrenalines worn off. It feels like a desperate flurry and amps up excitement in a match. Matsumoto arbitrarily deciding that it's her time to control the match after Nagashima's viscous chair attack just looks fucking stupid, especially without her showing any signs of long term damage after her offensive burst. Makes everything pointless) - BUT the closing stretch to this was very good. Nagashima's small frame compliments Matsumoto's power very well and there were lots of cool powerbombs, roll ups and reversals. It was a bit my-turn-your turn but they were at least selling fatigue in between moves and building anticipation for the finish. The finish itself was great with a ref bump! and some GREEN MIST! I've only seen a handful of Nagashima matches and I will rectify that because she's looked great here. She actually looks like she's trying to fuck up her opponents which too many of these girls don't. I loved the bit where she was violently rubbing the point of her elbow across Hiroyo's cut forehead. Good stuff.

Here you are http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/15429-a-thread-in-which-dylan-compares-various-wrestlers-to-hhh/

Might have to give this a look when I can for amusements sake. Has Russo been confirmed as back in the fold yet? That would be the perfect way for this awful company to go out.

No he didn't. Kane pulled the ref out of the ring before he could hit the three count.

I might have liked this even more than Elimination Chamber match. This was just mental. Rollins got his time to shine with his flippy stuff and the storyline advancement, he felt ready to take off. But more importantly (to me) this was Ambrose's match. The pulling of Rowan's beard, the taunting of Bray, the spitting, the Terry Funk stumbling and drunken Thesz pummelling. He was the eye of the chaos. The match peaked with the crazy big man bumps from Reign's and Rowan through the announce table. Not to mention the glorious Harper, the violent sick fuck, with his stomping and stiffness, topping things off with his tope. I'd like to know what Loss made of this match after his criticism of the beginning of the first one. This felt wild from the start.

Yeah, that's crossed my mind too. There's no doubt that he is over. But he's nowhere near as over as he was last summer before they snuffed his momentum. You can tell that when he's selling during a match. He's not on the level of Cena. 'Yes' is as strong as ever though.

Umm . . na, not having that. Embry was an absolute dreamboat in his younger days before the smelly drunk look. Johnny Ace is a funny one. Not so much ugly (though he was quite ugly), just looked bloody ridiculous in that Dynamic dudes gear.

My biggest problem with him is the smirking and the sarcasm. He was fine on Raw but this weeks Smackdown is him at his worst. It seems that all WWE babyface's have to fit this mold. Sheamus, Miz, Ziggler, ADR on his face run, Punk a coulple of years back, even Cena at his worst. Hideous people. I'm not 13 though so maybe I'm way above the age range they're supposed to appeal to. After all, I found the Rock to be insufferable during his last run but that shit was gold when I was a teen.

Batista was great again on Smackdown in his ridiculous outfit. "Since when did they start letting fans into the ring?" Bryan was awful though. For all his in ring brilliance people seem to be glossing over the fact that he's the most irritating character in the company right now (aside from JBL of course). At least Sheamus isn't given a live mic anymore. Speaking of which, it's funny how the four coldest acts in the company - Sheamus, Christian, ADR, Ziggler - seemed to be bound together at the moment. Makes their parts easier to skip. I wish they'd turn Sheamus or just do something with him. I want to like him.

Corporate heel Sheamus.

No. Nobody's kicked out of Reign's spear yet either.

I don't see it at this point. Getting HHH to lace up his boots for Bryan at Mania is being presented as a huge deal in itself. The feud feels much bigger than the world title picture. I can't see HHH losing in a midcard match at Mania as a stepping stone for Bryan's triumph later that night. Could be wrong though. Unless they hold the HHH/Bryan match of until Exteme Rules as his first defence which isn't a bad idea.

I watched this just recently and it struck me then how Rude/Steamboat felt like the main. I've said it before but I hated the fact the show closed with a 30 min draw, just after a 30 min iron man of all things. Watt's scatterbrained booking made it feel like there was no main event acts during that period.

I always laugh when the ref does that over the top wacky arm gesture to send the manager/cronies to the back following an interference spot. Always guarantees a good pop too. It's silly but I love it when a wholesome chap like Steamboat or Jumbo is beating a heel in the corner, gets carried away and tosses the ref across the ring when he tries to intervene. Similarly, I love it whenever the AJW girls would get frustrated with a conniving heel ref and spend chunks of the match kicking the shit out of him. That dumpy little bastard that was in Dump's pocket is one of my favourite refs. I'm probably alone on this but I always enjoy interaction with the referee. Any ref bump cracks me up to be honest. The Nick Patrick/Jim Cornette stand off at WrestleWar is one of my favourite things ever. I love the ridiculousness of it all. The burial of Ryback makes me sad but Brad Maddox blasting him in the balls was fucking hilarious.

This misses the point of how she got over in the first place. Her original appeal is that she was a cocky heel who thought she could dance but was painfully awkward at everything she did. A very wacky/silly character but you got to know her personality and motivations through promos, angles etc. not to mention matches. The crowd warmed to her, they wasn't told "Cheer This!" like in her first Raw segment. They introduced her in the worse possible way. She got over on NXT cos she was more than just the gimmick. It's a shame her and Summer Rae have been reduced to 'girlfriends who dance'.

Misawa is tremendous, no doubt,, but I just don't care about him. I think that's generally my problem with 90s All Japan. There are times when it's firing on all cylinders and delivers exceptional matches . . but I'll forget about them ten minutes later. I can't quite connect with the 'four'. I miss Baba and Funk and Choshu and Killer Khan. It's like the opposite to 80s WWF and AJW. Them promotions are full of crap and silliness but they involve a bunch of folk I enjoy watching and have an emotional connection to. I need to watch more New Japan.

The Konnan praise surprises me. Can't think of a more moronic and unpleasant wrestling podcaster to listen to. Can't fucking stand him although it could be worse. (Colt Cabana).

Will say something more later. 92 was an awesome wrestling year wasn't it? Sting/Vader is my favourite pairing in all wrestling ever. Fujinami was AMAZING. I'm still in a weird place with my All Japan watching - there's moments of complete brilliance but it's usually a chore to get there. The quality of the promotion has been slowly declining since 1993 and there's things creeping into the style that are beginning to bug me. Super Sexy Stuff = BOLD. MOTY = BOLD RED. ADDED Harley Race vs. Barry Windham (CWF 07/04/83) Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham ( NWA World Wide Wrestling 01/13/87) Barry Windham & Ron Garvin vs. Dick Murdoch & Ivan Koloff (NWA World Championship Wrestling 03/14/87) Jaguar Yokota vs Wendi Richter (AJW 10/05/82) Lioness Asuka vs Chigusa Nagayo (AJW 01/04/83) Jaguar Yokota vs La Galactica (AJW 07/17/83) Mimi Hagiwara vs Chigusa Nagayo (AJW (9/?/83) Yumi Ogura & Kazue Nagahori vs Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka (AJW 02/87) Lioness Asuka vs Yumiko Hotta (AJW 03/26/95) Jaguar Yokota vs Bison Kimura (JD 07/30/96) Jaguar Yokota vs Chapparita ASARI (NEO 02/15/98) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid (NJPW 02/05/80) Gran Hamada vs. Babyface (4/3/80) Antonio Inoki vs. Stan Hansen (4/3/80) Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW 2/8/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony Rocco (NJPW 09/11/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony Londos (NJPW 09/19/80) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura (NJPW 09/25/80) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) Jushin Liger vs Brian Pillman (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) Lex Luger vs Sting (WCW SuperBrawl II 02/29/92) Rick Rude, Steve Austin & Arn Anderson vs Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes (WCW Pro 04/04/92) Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Wrestle War 05/17/92) Rick & Scott Steiner vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Tayayuki Iizuka (WCW Wrestle War 05/17/92) Brian Pillman vs Tom Zenk (WCW Wrestle War 05/17/92) Rick & Scott Steiner vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (WCW Clash of the Champions XIX 06/16/92) Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat (WCW Beach Blast 06/20/92) Sting vs Cactus Jack (WCW Beach Blast 06/20/92) Vader vs Sting (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92) Jushin Liger & Brian Pillman vs Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff (WCW Great American Bash 07/12/92) Vader vs Sting (WCW Starrcade 12/28/92) Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham & Ricky Steamboat vs Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Bobby Eaton (WCW Saturday Night 02/22/92) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (WCW Saturday Night 10/03/92) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 01/24/95) Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJPW 03/21/95) Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/08/95) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/15/95) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 06/09/95) Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJPW 07/24/95) Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle (WWE 23/1/03) Bray Wyatt v. Daniel Bryan - Royal Rumble 1/26 Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton - (WWE 2/3/14) Cesaro vs. John Cena -(WWE 2/17/14)

Yeah, Hulk needs to come back home for 30. I just hope they don't get tempted to put him into a match. The thought of him battering Bray Wyatt in the main event horrifies me.