thebrainfollower

IIRC Steve Austin pretty much dissected the entire roster in the buildup to, and during, RR 98. I would be curious as to what happened to ratings if it became clear Bryan was going to be given that sort of rocket push. Bryan's looking more like the lovable loser that just come up short..again and again and again. But he's not a 6'3 bodybuilder so he is a loser in Vince and HHH's heads I guess. I don't know. This strikes me as "fine we will put him in the EC in the hope it shuts you people up since he's not winning anyway"

My money is on Cena-Wyatt. Cena wins, Bryan comes out and leads off a YES chant for John Cena and that's what Vince was talking about for his WM moment. And that ends Bryan with the fans right then and there.

Only the 1st of those options Jerry. Though imagine the visual if Batista-Orton went on last and 60,000 people stood up and walked out. THAT would change things in a heartbeat.

The difference between WWE and real sports is that we could get the result we want every time and we don't. If you compare WWE to movies and tv well..... Even George Lucas wasn't stupid enough to feature Jar Jar Binks heavily in EP II and III after how hated that character was. People go into movies and television and ALL other forms of entertainment with writers/directors/producers whose goal it is to entertain the audience. I've been an actor for 20 years in theater and a director nearly as long and my first goal is always to make the audience glad they came to see me or my cast/crew and try and analyze what they want and give that to them. I've not always succeeded but I've learned. WWE is truly unique in that it's all about the whims of 3 egomaniacs who couldn't function outside of the twisted world of wrestling for ten minutes.

I don't think Batista has many fans. But they announced his return, first one since Brock (and that was a shock to the general public) so it was a "hey let's check this out" moment for the fans. If they announced a week in advance Bryan vs. Orton Title match no DQ if Bryan loses he's fired the ratings next week would be a hell of a lot higher than Batista's return IMO.

Normally I love your work on Titans Johnny but you're just completely wrong on virtually all of your major talking points here. I don't know if you were going "heel" to be entertaining or you genuinely believe everything you said but I'm sad either way. 5th match is mid card. If it's not then 40% of your matches are main events in an average PPV. By that argument Beefcake-Dibiase main evented Wrestlemania V. Will and Scott made great points and spoke for what so many of us feel as fans in a friendly but honest way. The crowd wasn't into Rey at all. They booed him during his promo. Why? I think it's a combination of how stale he is and how hard it is for fans to invest in a guy that spends more than half a year on the shelf. I like Rey as a person and I'm sorry this had to happen to him. I hope you're honest enough Johnny to admit it when past Mania you're proven wrong. I will gladly if I am and Bryan is given his run soon.

Massively hurt Loss. You didn't hear any Austin chants during say Undertaker-Kane at WM XIV. Why? Because the fans knew they were getting what they wanted. At this point they pretty much either bite the bullet and make Bryan the guy now (which won't happen) or flush away yet another chance to escape the predictable mediocrity of the past decade.

That would make Bryan look better. I would not be shocked if they book Bryan to lose to Sheamus faster this year, and then just send him crashing down to the lower card ala Zach Ryder. Do not dare defy the almighty Vince. In all honesty this made me decide to not get the network. I'll be darned if Vince gets another dime of my money until he starts listening to his audience. Youtube and dailymotion can suffice.

I have yet to see much evidence that any of WWE trained "only worked in WWE" types have the improv skills the weakest actors I direct in community theater possess.

when was the golden era of people working a crowd back into a match? Just curious there. Seems like that's a point you'd want to avoid and if you get there, you're not getting out alive anyways. I seem to recall that Lex Luger and Barry Windham had some problems when things went off the rails. And I'd guess when things go off the rails, they're not getting back on the rails all that easily. Ended about the same time that Weather Dominator thing didn't pan out Commander.

Yeah but Steamboat's biggest story and push came after Scott got canned. There's no one left in WWE Vince listens to other than HHH who is a virtual clone of his views and foibles. HHH is as big a bodybuilding mark as Vince is. Cena's opinions are tolerated I'm sure but he has less impact on the product than any tippy top guy I can think of...pretty much ever. Except maybe Yokozuna if you want to stretch it.

Starrcade 97 called. Eventually that approach will bite on on the ass. I have never watched UFC but at this point I'd try a product where there's a chance I will get a result I want.

And the fact that no one can put together a company and give these insecure buffoons a run for their money is really sad. Vince McMahon has made pro wrestling worthless in the last 12 years. And nobody likes old school WWF more than me here except maybe MIA Jerry. But it's the truth.

WWE would rather not fail then take a chance at success. If this Vince was running the company he would never have gone after Hogan, etc, gone national and we'd probably be watching a Ted Turner owned wrestling world right now. Alternatively Austin would never have been pushed and there wouldn't be a major wrestling company at all. The only way things ever change is a legit god honest riot in the arena WHEN Vince and HHH are in the ring. Other than that nothing will change, they simply lack the courage to succeed. Vince lost his eye of the tiger years ago. I still think Rocky III is one of the most profound movies ever. I'm drunk and still possibly serious about that.

Agreed 100% with that JDW. I just watched an Arn/Tully - Young Stallions LA match from November of 88. Despite the fact that the Stallions mini push is over and they are on the verge of breaking up and Arn/Tully are the new hot team they basically dominate 75% of the match with their lame arm work. Arn/Tully do get a more or less clean win at least. As for Bob here's a question for people. Assuming, unless anyone thinks otherwise, that his working on top style was Bob's own choice, what was his motivation? Deep insecurity ala Hogan against Flair in 94? Being a legit tough guy who needs to show it all times? Just the way he thought a match should go? BTW Parv in Rocky III Rocky pretty much kicks the hell out of Clubber Lang in their rematch. Even the heat segment with Clubber in Round 2 is pretty much Rocky just mind fning him to show he can take Clubber's best shots and survive. That's a rare example of babyface domination in the movies. Lex Luthor barely feels like a threat at all in Superman 1, 2 and IV. Just a nuisance really. General Grievous is pretty much no sold as a threat by both Anakin and Obi-Wan in Ep III and gets his ass kicked when he fights Kenobi. Wussy villains getting clobbered is rare but it DOES happen. All of the Batman villains in the 60's show. With the exception of the Joker in his first story, at no point does Batman sell ANY of these guys/girls as threats. They're scum beneath his contempt he outwits and outfights with relative ease.

I believe the first Mountie vignettes had aired by the time Starrcade 90 was broadcast, so that would leave Jacques out actually.

I currently have a 103 fever and are on a ton of meds. I'm so weak it took me 3.5 hours from the moment I woke up to get the strength to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water. And I STILL finished this show just now. Because as awesome as the gang is during moments of health, you guys are even greater when someone is barely coherent. Particularly Johnny Sorrow.

Agreed. I would say the backlash when Cena does finally leave/retire is going to be worse than the way business tanked after Hogan left. Which is all part of Vince's plan to sink the company after he leaves IMO. On a subconscious level at least.

No there's not a worse booked supercard I can think of. Maybe Heroes of Wrestling featured worse actual action, but even then it's pretty close in quality. Sad to hear that guests are proving hard to coordinate with. I always enjoy hearing different voices for the big shows, though I don't think any combination of hosts could have made this better. Except possibly drunk out of his mind Johnny Sorrow "calling" in to wish them a Merry Christmas.

The only thing I've heard about Scott is that he favored his Carolina buddies like Valentine and Steamboat and that Hogan and Piper united in opposition to Scott and forced him out. I've love to hear more about this too.

HHH hate.......uniting even JDW and JVK. And Scott Keith come to that. Truly a remarkable thing not seem since the days of Mother Theresa.

The 24/7 version edited out the women's tag and the Greg Gagne match. I would assume neither of those were recorded.

In SK's defense I don't think the Nasties apply Camel Clutches all that well. They aren't as bad as Rick Rude or Scott Steiner but nowhere near as good as Iron Sheik's version. I watched that match for the first time recently (yeah I know sad) and put it at 3.5 stars so I'm somewhere between you and Keith. I think you may have a point but I'd argue the bigger problem is the star rating system. It's not the easiest thing to use and come up with completely new points of view on your own, so naturally you look to those that have gone before. And with old WCW stuff there aren't many that have, so SK wins via being one of the only players in town. But even he admits he's not relevant anymore and just blasts Raw as a semi comic review. Now where's Evil Jim Herd when we need him.

I did watch Superboy as a kid and remember Luger's appearance (and just got copies of seasons 2-4 and rewatched his appearance) He plays an enhanced "Superboy" in a dream sequence who beats up Superboy, then reveals him to be a robot and blows him up while making time with Lana Lang. He's kind of a cocky jock heelish prick in that too. His trunks were red btw.....oh wait wrong board. Jerry's hatred of Scott Keith vaguely reminds me of history PHD's who rip apart their high school history teachers. It's valid as a criticism but really, who cares about Scott Keith anymore?

Every time I have to clear my cache it's three hours of my life trying to make that thing work. You would think it would be changed.