efrim

Wasn't intended as a funny remark, but still - I lol'd

I was going to start a new thread for this today, but this seems like as good a place to ask - Heyman declines comment citing a gag order when in comes to talking about the WCW settlement in his new doc. Ross doesn't say much either but seems to imply it was frivolous. Was it reported on at the time what that was all about?

The feature on Foley in Japan was probably a seminal moment in my wrestling fandom.

I think I've seen this with a couple other people as well where they were talking with faux lived-through-it enthusiasm about things that would have happened when they were toddlers.

Both kinds, hopefully.

I would love to see the market research on WWE fan demographics. Just seeing the amount of money parents casually blow on merch at live events, I can't imagine the figures are so dire that there isn't a way to spin it correctly. I feel like the WWE's biggest liability may be a lack of serious corporate talent. Unless they catch lightning in a bottle with a zero profile young guy, no corporate branding wizard is going to waste their time on what is basically a corporate backwater where their upside is third in the company pecking order whenever Vince dies.

I've found myself rooting for WWE in this as something of a way to validate wrestling to my disinterested friends. For the people that don't care at all, its very mind blowing to them that WWE has the potential value it does.

Who could have guessed that suddenly disappearing and giving fans no closure in a fandom noted for obsession would lead to weird stalk-y nonsense!?

Thanks for the answers, guys. Nothing too unexpected, but its good to know for sure.

As I've learned a little more about calling spots in the ring lately, I've gotten curious about how a match between two wrestlers without a common language works on a technical level. Anybody have any insight here? Without the ability to call a high spot to your opponent, are such matches always partially pre-planned, or are there some tricks of the trade to convey more involved information to your opponent?

Yeah, I think Bodybuilding culture is very irrelevant in an era of UFC and cross fit, P90X, et al. In the 80's it was timely to sell the idea of these guys with massively inflated glamour muscles as the baddest athletes on the planet. These days, everybody knows that top athletes and super fit people don't get those kind of bodies. I think its now actually easier for guys like Cesaro and Bryan because they demonstrate marathon endurance (Bryan) and massive practical strength (Cesaro). I think thats closer to the kind of fitness that captures the imagination today.

I feel like I've had a pretty reasonable track record over the years of predicting how guys returning/debuting will do initially with the WWE crowd - but Sting as a WWE attraction in 2014 is something I have absolutely no feel for.

You could NOT care less. Could NOT. Somewhat makes it hard to take the rest of your statement seriously. This one drives me up a wall too. Hate that they're treated as interchangeable by so many people

I will say generally that I really don't like any acclaimed lex luger match. Some of his wcw stuff may be good, but my bias runs too deep. Thinking lex was a boring piece of crap was like one of my first thoughts about wrestling that wasn't an official talking point.

Yet they have outlasted WCW already. It's amazing. (that also says something about the ultra-slow evolution, or should I say the status-quo in the pro-wrestling scene since 2001) Holy shit. I had not realized that TNA has existed longer than WCW (dating WCW from 1991 not from the '88 Turner Buyout). That is just fuckin depressing. Utterly mind blowing. Can't believe they're been here for so long.

This kind of thing often occurs by happenstance, but I also loved the pre-match aesthetics. It has a really eerie, hostile vibe before the house lights came up and both Tully and Magnum communicated a lot with their posture/faces, which was enhanced by the moody lighting.

Rewatched Tully/Magnum, and I'll recant on that. Its definitely a legendary matchup. I think I was taken aback the first time I saw it by the amount of crazed rolling on the ground and ugly, desperate grappling. But now I dig how animalistic the match is and it feels like a fantastic story about survival and what it takes to survive. Amazing finish, and I really dug how Magnum holds back from a post-match beatdown on Tully, instead just giving him this disgusted look. Then he leaves relatively quickly, perhaps even a little disgusted with himself for the lengths he had to go to.

Nailed it. Overblown, bland, showing off needlessly with the vocabulary, but still masking it with humility at the end. Perfect! Don't forget the needless sports metaphor

I think the In Your House match was way better. Summerslam has the great aesthetics, and I think Bret prefers it because he can discuss it as a carry job, but In Your House is just a clearly superior match to me.

There are people that don't like this match!? Unreal. I'm with you in any event.

It won't happen, I keep imagining Punk showing up in tribute appropriate ring gear and doing a one time only match. He was by far the most visible Ultimate Warrior fan/friend/apologist while he was still mostly persona non grata around WWE

Think I'm going to have to watch Tully/Magnum TA again and give it another chance to move from "very good" to "classic"

Disco Inferno worked every way it could. Gilberti got the gimmick over and got more mileage out of it than anyone could have thought. No way it was a terrible gimmick and Glenn was a solid worker. Gotta love Bill Demott of all people talking shit about Disco when he wasn't half the worker, the promo or the gimmick Gilberti was. Demott mouthing off really annoyed me. That guy is such a fat sack of crap.

I'll hop in the Magnum/Tully camp as well. In isolation I found it only a very good brawl. First watched it consuming the Best of Starrcade DVD and I have to say I came away far more taken with the Piper/Valentine Dog Collar Match.

Thanks, that helps. I've also noticed wrestlers saying 'You're going to die', 'die', or some variation of that with or without the other guys name. I can see it working the first time around and in the context you're talking about. Now it comes across as cheesy. Man, every time I've seen Davey Richards yell "DIE!" and charge (every time I've seen him), I just wish I had a glass bottle in my hand to throw at him. Complete pet peeve of mine, can't stand it.