Jimmy Redman

The one everyone is talking about aired on Main Event, 1st May. In the interests of completion there's also the Raw 15th April sprint and Main Event 11th September.

I remember him being a jobber on TV under the Luke Hawx name.

It's worth noting that Backlash 2007 the month after did what was considered at the time a God awful number. Good shows doesn't always translate to box office, it hardly needs to be said. Trump was a huge deal. As Sidebottom said, he even pops Raw to a gigantic degree when he shows up and does something. For whatever reason, it works. Donald Trump is a pro wrestling draw.

Yes, but the point is, why then would you draw attention to his shortcomings? Why point them out at all, even as a "lie"? Why not protect him and try to change the minds of those who aren't convinced by him, instead of proving them right?

When I first started watching as a kid, they were doing Hunter vs Shawn (in late 2003) and I totally believed that they were former best friends who fell out and how hated each other. My brother actually still thinks the Brock/Show ring collapse was real.

I'm not knocking Dolph's ability as worker or anything like that, although I don't think he's ever been as good as some people seem to think he is. I just think his whole gimmick and persona is ridiculous in the context of WWE TV because he's a jobber who always gets beaten up and loses and then brags about how great he is. As a babyface the logic is even more absurd. The promo in question was OK in terms of his fire, but way too OTT and shooty for WWE TV and I'm not sure what it actually had to do with anything. Again, there's just a huge disconnect between how Dolph portrays himself and how WWE portrays him.

But no one thought that. Not one human fucking being went "Well, HHH is right." I 100% guarantee to you that at least one human being did. I know more than one person who sees Bryan exactly how the heels portray him to be - too small, ugly beard, not top guy material - and they are exactly the type of fan who still pops for Hunter when he comes out and thinks he's a star and some kind of badass. They absolutely buy into things that he says, especially when he's booked to be proven right. The idea that everyone can see through that kind of thing, or wants to, is overly optimistic.

This is my problem with Dolph's entire gimmick. He's the show off, he's better than everyone else, "how damn good am I at this?", etc. Good at what exactly? Clearly not wrestling, because you always lose. And not even in a "I may lose, but.." way either, because all he does in matches is bump and make the other guy look good. It's like he's trying to be the new Shawn Michaels with the "it doesn't matter if he wins or loses, he steals the show" stuff, but what they're forgetting is that a) Shawn Michaels knew how to go on offence, and he only got that gimmick after years of actually being pushed on top and winning titles and being portrayed as the best wrestler in the company. Dolph is a gigantic loser who thinks he's better than everyone else. It makes zero sense. And he's a babyface!

I think this is the best possible explanation of what I've been trying to say about promos. Thank you.

I think they're asking who else he was, since there was an implication that he has also been known to post under another name.

The Shield vs Sheamus, Bryan & Rey - Smackdown 31/1 airdate The main event here was just as awesome as the Raw match and everyone involved was absolutely murderously good. Roman is gaining confidence by the minute now. Sheamus coming back to wreck things has been amazing and he was a total boss at the start of this match. And the final stretch was a contender for the most intricate one they've done yet. A definite inclusion for this week's poll.

Can I just say, as someone who doesn't have the means for Yearbooks or 80s sets but has many, many thoughts on modern matches, this is a fantabulous idea.

Zeb talked about Cesaro immigrating the "right way" by doing it legally, speaking English and wanting to become an American citizen.

Aaaand, we're back! Alternate WWE Universe happenings: Relevant results from Over the Limit PPV on 23rd May: - The Hart Dynasty retain the Tag Titles against Jericho & Miz - CM Punk loses his hair to Rey Mysterio in their blow-off match Also, in real life, Carlito was future endeavoured sometime between the last show and this one. NXT Season 1, Week 9 25th May 2010 from Cleveland, OH "Wild and Young", opening video, fireworks, etc. CM Punk's music hits and everyone is expecting to get their first look at the newly-bald Punk. Instead, Darren Young comes out with only Luke Gallows and Joey Mercury in tow. Scott Stanford on commentary says that he understands that nobody has seen Punk since he lost to Rey. Darren Young grabs the mic and apologises to the crowd. "I know you all wanted to see CM Punk with his brand new, shiny bald head!" Gallows angrily snatches the mic away from him and screams at Young that this is all his fault. "If you hadn't have put that stupid idea into Rey Mysterio's head, none of this would have happened!" He explains that Punk hates Young and wants nothing to do with him anymore, so he (Gallows) is his replacement for the match. He makes it clear that he's not going to be helping him in any way. Darren Young & Luke Gallows vs Heath Slater & Christian Gallows basically stands on the apron as D-Young faces off with both Slater and Christian. He doesn't lift a finger and shows zero interest in participating in the match. Young eventually forcibly tags him into the match, and Gallows doesn't even get into the ring until Christian pulls him in physically, which gets Gallows angry enough to fight him back. Soon after he tags out, and goes back to giving zero fucks, ignoring the match and talking to Mercury instead of waiting on the apron. With nobody to tag, Young soon falls to Slater's finisher. > Slater pins Young Heath Slater 3-1 : Darren Young 2-2 The SES walks away as Young looks on from the ring, visibly upset about being abandoned. Various people are interviewed about the The Miz allegedly fixing the Pros Poll last week. You get the impression that it has been the big topic of conversation amongst the wrestlers over the past seven days. The remaining heels involved - Jericho and Regal - are asked to spill the beans but they remain non-committal about admitting to anything. Christian explains that he, Matt and Truth actually asked WWE Management to look into it, but the official response is that there's no evidence that the Pros weren't voting legitimately - how can you prove that they don't rate Bryan last? - so there's not much to be done about it. Darren Young says he feels bad for Bryan, but admits that he's relieved that it kept him out of the bottom two. "Better him than me," he shrugs. Bryan himself says that he's not surprised that Miz stooped to this level, he expects this kind of thing from a guy as sleazy as Miz. He does admit he was a little hurt by Regal's involvement, since Regal was a mentor to him and helped train him to be a wrestler. He didn't ask the babyface Pros to go to WWE Management on his behalf, but he appreciates their efforts to try and make things fair. Ultimately it's out of his hands, all he can do is try his best to win matches and perform in the ring regardless of whatever Miz does. His match last week proved that he is capable of getting the job done on his own. This leads to highlights being shown of the Bryan-Tarver elimination match, with the talking heads generally impressed with his performance and putting over his new submission hold. Somewhere in the arena, William Regal is trying to teach Skip Sheffield the art of wrestling. Regal talks about Skip needing to improve his skills before the next Rookie Ranking, as he tries to teach him some technical holds. Skip is totally gung-ho, but is all thumbs and keeps screwing up. He ends up taking a wrong turn and hitting Regal square in the face, at which point Regal, in severe pain, ends the lesson for the day. Elsewhere, we are with The Miz. He ignores questions about Bryan and boasts proudly about his triumphant homecoming to Cleveland, the mention of which initially gets a cheap pop. He blathers on and on about his friends and family being in attendance, everyone paying to see him and etc., while throwing in lines about how Cleveland is "starved for a star on the level of The Miz" and such things to make it clear that the crowd is supposed to see right through him. He finishes by saying that tonight, despite having to carry Daniel Bryan on his back, he will give the people of Cleveland what they want: a Miz victory, and it will be "awesome". Matt Hardy rolls up, sarcastically clapping. Matt suggests to Miz that he shouldn't be promising victories when he hasn't won that many matches lately. "You lost to the Hart Dynasty at Over the Limit, you lost to Bret Hart on Monday Night Raw, you've tapped out to the Sharpshooter like a billion times...you're in a bit of a form slump there!" Matt jokes, and Miz gets all up in his face. "How dare you disrespect me when I'm talking to my hometown fans!" Miz brings up Matt's part in going to WWE Management about him and warns him to stay out of his business. "Or what? What are you going to do about it?" Matt replies. He reminds Miz that he has to go through himself and Gabriel if he wants to win tonight, and "you can't bribe your way out of our match Miz." Daniel Bryan & The Miz vs Justin Gabriel & Matt Hardy The Miz comes out acting like the big hometown hero in a ridiculous, over the top way. He demands to start and goes after Matt Hardy, still mad about the pre-match incident. When things finally settle down, the three babyfaces get to work and wrestle a clean, back-and-forth babyface match almost as though The Miz isn't even there. Bryan does a lot of workrate stuff with Gabes while (inadvertently) staying away from his own corner. The Miz looks left out and pouts. Eventually, right as Bryan gets on a roll The Miz makes a blind tag at the worst possible moment, which sparks another argument between them. Gabriel from behind knocks Miz into Bryan, who flies off the apron, and then rolls Miz up off the ropes and gets a surprise three count. > Gabriel pins Miz Justin Gabriel 3-1 : Daniel Bryan 1-4 The Miz is in complete shock and embarrassment at being rolled up by a Rookie in his hometown. Gabes and Matt celebrate the big win back up the ramp, while Bryan looks frustrated. The Miz throws a tantrum in the ring as the show goes off the air. Next week on NXT, more teams try to secure wins before the next Rookie Ranking, and Wade Barrett has a special announcement.

He's more over than ever, but it seemingly still doesn't translate to people actually spending money on him or tuning into his segments. It's worth exploring why that is I think.

They could both turn on Zeb now as a team (as heels or with a face turn), and then split the two of them up later on.

I'm sure they planned to bring him back down the road the minute they fired him, but that doesn't mean that the firing was a work. Same thing with Finlay when he was the scapegoat for some PR nonsense. Isn't he back working now?

Well on a personal level I think it's entirely reasonable that if someone was leaving the company, and cited really not wanting to work with you as one of the reasons why, you'd be miffed. Hunter is human.

After the slap it occurred to me that Jack Swagger is probably the guy who has been on the roster the longest without ever having a face run. He debuted in late 2008 and has been a heel for over five years straight now. With WWE's usual policy of turning people willy nilly that's pretty something. I'm now trying to think if anyone beats him. Drew Mac debuted in mid-late 2009, from memory. Cody had a good run as a heel from 2007 to 2013, six years. On the flipside, Kofi Kingston debuted at the start of 2008 and has never been a heel.

I don't think Ki was in WWE long enough to either improve or give an impression of being different in some way. He was just exactly what you'd imagine Low Ki being on WWE TV in 2010 would look like. He was clearly better outside of WWE, but that's just by default really.

I don't think there's any question that the promos are designed to work the smarks. I think there's a question of what value that actually brings to the table.

Call me cynical, but I think Titus was the heel by default because Darren Young couldn't be the heel. You are right though.

Most of the audience doesn't believe those things. Not everyone in the audience is a smark or hardcore or the type to be sympathetic to a Bryan type though. I know from experience talking to the dreaded "casual fan" (especially women), and they don't get what the big deal is about Bryan, they absolutely think he's too small and ugly, and don't see him as a main eventer. So for those people, when you have a guy who still gets a pop when he comes out like Hunter saying all of those things that they believe about Bryan, all the reasons why he shouldn't make it to the top, and then...he doesn't make it to the top, it does nothing to change their perception of a guy who they think just isn't main event material. The Austin example isn't the same thing because his "problems" aren't disparaging in the same way. Austin wasn't too small or not credible enough to be the champion, he was just too much of a rebel. It didn't cut him down for Vince to say that about him, it made him a badass. "You're an out of control redneck who drinks beer and you shouldn't main event because you're too dangerous and beat the crap out of everyone!" ...that isn't Vince burying Austin on the mic. Hunter saying "You're small and scrawny and ugly and shouldn't main event because you're only a B+ level talent" is a lot different. Nobody hears that and thinks "Man, that guy is cool!"

Gist I've been getting, hence my last post, is reliance on part-timers like Brock and Batista, as well as what happened with Bryan Sunday night. Also the confusion about what the Network means for PPV payoffs and general wrestler compensation.

Also, Hunico as Hunico is about a thousand times better than Hunico as Sin Cara.