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Everything posted by Lee
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I don't like him as Ashley Remington. There's something about that gimmick that holds him back in Chikara. Funnily enough, I don't really care much for the Dalton Castle gimmick, but I love Ashley Remington.
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No, I think it's entirely wishful thinking. If TNA are off the air in September, that's three months, and I don't think three months is enough to grow an audience significantly enough to cover for the fact that Dixie is a pillock. I'd honestly be amazed if TNA's numbers didn't fall due to the change of night, and I can't imagine ROH bringing enough fans who'll stick around through Impact, especially when most of that audience is probably more interested in NXT at this point. All that being said, I do think TNA will still be around as at least a skeleton company come 2016. I wouldn't be shocked if they went dark, but they're selling tickets for the UK tour in January, which would only be three months after the cancellation. I think they could go dark for a while if need be. Part of me wonders if, come September, will Destination America request ROH go to 2 hours, or are TNA being used as a trial run for DA running a Wednesday night wrestling block? I mean, we know about all those TV tapings you-know-who already has planned...
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I kind of feel like if you're worrying youself about throwaway media like Botchamania, you probably need to get out of the bubble and take a day or three off.
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The most puzzling thing to me is that they've reached this conclusion where the current product is what drives the Network and the nostalgia stuff generally doesn't matter... and now we're sitting through angles on Raw in which a man pretending to be Hulk Hogan is teaming up with a man pretending to be Randy Savage in order to fight two men pretending to be the Road Warriors.
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International Pro, shown in some regions on the ITV network in the UK during the "Night Time" strand alongside The Hitman and Her, Stephen King and Jobfinder. It was literally all matches and nothing else (no promos, angles, etc.) and the footage came from various different tapings (and would thus jump around from Centre Stage to Cobb County or wherever over the course of a single episode), and you would get stuff ordered arbitrarily. Basically they'd show a TV quality "main event" (i.e. Z-Man vs. Terry Taylor) and then follow it with Ron Simmons vs. Mike Thor to close out the show. I don't think we got any exclusive matches or anything like that, but we had brand new non-specific commentary by Lance Russell, until he was cruelly, callously replaced by this awful young guy called Eric Bischoff, who insisted on listing everyone's weight in kilos and ounces. It was a nice touch I suppose, but as a kid following American wrestling, I was used to pounds and consequently had no idea what the fuck he was talking about. By 1992, it suddenly switched one week to one of the shows that Jim Ross was hosting solo, and not long after that it switched to the Worldwide show with Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura, which I think was still the case in 1993 (it was off Tyne Tees by then, where I was, but the first time I ever saw the Hollywood Blonds and found out Brian Pillman had gone heel was on an ITV show I saw while I was holidaying in Ireland). By 1994, some regions were getting a Saturday afternoon show that apparently had PPV matches on them. I think we also got WCW on Sky for a brief period until the WWF made a stink about it, but I never saw those shows at the time. I've still got about 7/8 tapes worth of WCW on ITV that I used watch the shit out of when I was a kid. I tried to convert them to DVD some years ago but the disc drive packed in so those tapes are still just sat in a drawer, and I've never seen any of them show up online in trades or on YouTube (though I've since seen matches from the Sky showings).
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I never saw the upside to Cena beat Bray at WrestleMania, and don't really see the upside to Undertaker beating Bray at this year's show either. I always figured Bray would be the guy to assume the spot that Undertaker had, and Jake before that, creepy heels who the fans loved so much that they became babyfaces. Bray's lost the big one twice on the bounce now, so I no longer care to invest in him. Can you imagine if they'd put Snuka over Undertaker at WrestleMania VII?
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Vince, and it isn't even close. Stephanie might have the delivery but her content is awful, just cutting down babyfaces left and right for no good reason, emasculating everyone who's actually supposed to draw money or sell t-shirts in sight. I don't see how anyone can be fooled into thinking she's any good unless they've got the blinders on, just like with Bray Wyatt. Good delivery of dogshit promos. Plus she's got a face that deserves kicking straight and comes across like a generally deluded, unpleasant, disingenuous person, so yeah, fuck any Steph love.
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I'm perennially gutted that Rick Rude vs. Vader never happened due to Rude's back injury, and I still harbour resentment about not winning tickets to SummerSlam '92, nor knowing that they were actually on sale at a toy shop 30 seconds from my front door and that a friend and his dad went on the coach trip down who could have chaperoned me (I was 8 and live at the opposite end of the country). My friend isn't much of a fan anymore, which makes it hurt harder.
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Eh, whatever. See, I can be lazily dismissive too!
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I'd be more inclined to agree it was an actual TV channel, but it's a subscription service catering to a niche interest. No way is anyone signing up to what they'll still see as a wrestling network just because Jerry Springer and Seth Green have daft little wrestling-related shows on it.
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See, I used to watch some of those shows back when I was in college and things like YouTube didn't exist and I had limited channel options. Jackass, Punk'd, the Contender, The Osbournes, Family Guy, sometimes Springer as background noise when everything else had informercials on, etc. Thing is, those kind of shows all seem like the key influences of the shows WWE have just announced, like they all seem to belong to that kind of era and that kind of TV, whether it's crass humour, shock TV, reality, hidden camera... and then I remembered I was in college in 2000. TWO-FUCKING-THOUSAND. I guess it's cheaper than producing cinematic-styled drama or fantasy/adventure shows like are popular now (and I can only imagine the kind of Network shows we'll get in 2030 when WWE tap into 2015's popular culture - "The Adventures of Jacob Goodnight", "The Marine: Miami" and a WWE-ised version of Total Wipeout I imagine), but the whole thing smacks of trying to recapture the lapsed Attitude Era fans instead of appealing to their current audience of pesky millennials. It's like they're going with the old Vince Russo philosophy of "How can we make something that appeals to people who couldn't give a shit about wrestling" without realising they're alienating a larger audience who bought the Network for the WRESTLING content. I get that they might think "Hey, it'll be easier for you to convince your girlfriend the subscription is worth it since we've got shows that appeal to her too!", but come on. How many people is that really going to be a dealbreaker for? I can't imagine it'd be more than than the hardcores who would love Mid South TV or WCWSN to show up in the archive, and that's a much cheaper option since you don't have to, you know, actually go out and shoot it.
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The thing that got me about that press release was they basically buried the news of monthly NXT specials at the bottom, despite NXT having a big weekend and proving to be a hit with Netowrk subscribers. Meanwhile, they were much more concerned with trumpeting a bunch of shitty-sounding reality shows that all sound like they've missed the cultural Zeitgeist of populist TV by at least 15 years. Jerry's Springer's Too Hot for TV? Really? Diva Search to get women to sign up? Holy fuck.
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I don't disagree with this entirely (there's certainly a level of obnoxiousness you get from some fans that's clearly being done for the sake of it), but I don't get the whole "misbehaving" thing and the totalitarian "you'll cheer who we tell you to cheer" notion of expecting people to pay for the privilege of being a mark, especially with the industry as exposed as it is. If you pay for your ticket, you can boo and cheer whoever you like. I'm not saying you should chant "CM Punk" during Diva matches because you think it's cool or any dumb shit like that, but if you're a Brock Lesnar fan, you shouldn't be forced to boo him like you're a paid plant when you're the one who's coughing up an entrance fee. It's tantamount to robbing you of the right to an opinion, wherein you're only allowed to express yourself if it jives with what you're being spoonfed. I'm sure Luke 'strong supporter of freedom of speech (unless it's contrary to my own personal opinion)' Hawx would love to have it that way, but I get the feeling that's a minority viewpoint.
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Meltzer seemed to think it was closer to 65,000-70,000 and that the venue knew the 76,000 number at least a week ago. Not that that damages your point, it just surprises me that people still accept WWE's "part of the entertainment" record-breaking numbers as legit when literally everything else they do on PPV is a work.
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Yeah, I was baffled with that one, I thought it was good and ended great and I guess that probably skewered people's closing opinions quite a bit, but let's not go crazy here. The Rollins thing was something where, when he came out I was ready to take a total shit on it, thinking they'd spoilt an excellent main event, and then it was over it just all fell into place for me with the realisation that they'd just set up months of main events with Rollins vs. Orton, Reigns and Lesnar, plus a possible three or four-way blow off to it all down the line.
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Not being a dick when I say this, but generally when the VoW guys or Rob Viper (all of whom I like and respect very much) say they thought a match was boring and sleep inducing I know I'm going to like it. Thus, I'm pretty sure I will really like Thatcher/Gulak and hate Fox/Gargano. What is it about said sleep inducers that you enjoy? I can understand entirely why people wouldn't dig AR Fox (I'm not his biggest fan) or Johnny Gargano (generally quite like him), but I don't see where the appeal lies with the 'charisma-deficient dudes who roll around a lot' club? What am I missing when I watch them and and struggle to maintain interest? I heard Meltzer put Thatcher over strong for the Tommy End match and my feelings usually jive with Dave's, but I like End way better, so where am I going wrong?
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I think that's a touch too subjective really, one person's idea of the best talent isn't ever going to be universal. They could sign Timothy Thatcher, Drew Gulak, Chuck Talyor and bunch of names like that who would make a certain segment of the fanbase metaphorically cream themselves, but I'd sure quit watching in a hurry. It's as broad a blanket statement to me as "book good angles" as a solution, or my all time personal non-favourite "it could work, if done correctly."
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Since they announced Tough Enough, does that mean they're going ahead with a new season or is it just old episodes? I noticed Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling was one of the shows listed, there's no chance of them rebooting the series to run alongside Slam City and Camp WWE is there?
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I'm confused by what you mean on the "more live wrestling than a month of the Network and for less money" thing when you're suggesting a $50-$70 price point vs. $9.99 for that month of your Network sub? You Yanks needs to man the fuck up and move to Europe where pretty much 99% of the live wrestling you can watch doesn't start until after midnight anyway. Seriously, I was thinking about how alien a concept it is for most of us that you could watch WWE PPVs in prime time, let alone hit the west coast for Mania and have it be over before the night has barely even begun. Get yerself sat up until the crack of dawn for this shit, then we'll talk.
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Sting was one of my idols growing up. It's just dawned on me that he's working his first ever WWE match, his first ever WrestleMania... and I could not give a shit. Good going, Hunter!
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Wrestler whom found footage would excite you the most
Lee replied to thebrainfollower's topic in Pro Wrestling
Is there any footage of Mae Young, pre-WWF? Is there any kind of consensus, either from that footage or from contemporaries or historians regarding her work? Was she any good, or was she a Fabulous Moolah-level performer? -
Wrestler whom found footage would excite you the most
Lee replied to thebrainfollower's topic in Pro Wrestling
Not exactly the answer to the question being asked, but I've long been curious to see the famous Jackie Pallo-Mick McManus match from Cup Final Day, Bret Hart vs. Megaman McGee, Owen Hart vs. Sabu from '93, Owen Hart vs. Kurt Angle from 1999 (Owen's last taped match), and those WWN tapes from when Jim Crockett and Paul Heyman tried to launch a promotion in 93/94 and taped in HD about 15 years too early. -
The jaw breaking thing wasn't alleged as Jim Ross pushed the issue on a Legends of Wrestling round table and forced an admittance out of him that he did it on purpose. In 1993 he went to court on charges of raping and sodomising a 15-year old girl but those charges were dropped when she admitted to lying about certain details. Whether you believe in "no smoke without fire" is your own call but it's no secret that he has a romantic predilection for younger women. He was also arrested in 1999 after throwing a ticket at a police officer and running over his foot, but I figure that to be more of an isolated incident than an act of general dickishness. In terms of actual wrestling, I suppose the biggest complaints levelled against him could be that he and Jerry Jarrett were notoriously stingy payoff guys, and that he booked himself on top for decades, but you can say that about most promoter/wrestlers.
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Apart from the Smackdown Pilot what other interesting stuff did it have? I think I recall a Raw but unsure what else. Not a lot, a couple of Raws I think and some pre-PPV Heats, the Halftime match with Rock vs. Mankind was one of them, which made me hopeful the first year of Heat would get uploaded. The rest was just Raw clips, like the Corporate Rumble from early '99.
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They haven't, it's all gone. SmackDown pilot, Sunday Night Heats, etc.