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Everything posted by DMJ
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I'd personally love that booking But I also believe AJ will take the title in December/January. They ran Nakamura vs. Jinder for two months and Jinder/Orton for what felt like 3 (maybe just 2?), so there's no reason to think they won't do the same here and have AJ win it before at the Rumble. Who challenges AJ for the title at Mania is a good question - on one hand, Owens has been booked strong enough for him to make a run for the title post-Rumble, but the AJ/Owens feud just wrapped up a few months back and it definitely didn't set the world on fire. Nakamura/Styles has been a "fanboy rumor" all year (and they've both said in interviews that they'd love to do it), but who knows how over Nak will be 2 months from now let alone 6.
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I'm the opposite of a Kane fan but I could stomach a Kane/Reigns feud in the right context. For example, if Kane would've come back at the Rumble (granted, that's some months away) and screwed Reigns out of the win (and a SD guy would've won), I would've been okay with it as you could buy the story that Kane was avenging Reigns defeating his "brother" Taker last year. Then, Reigns slays Kane at the February PPV on his way to facing Lesnar at Mania. Its not going to produce a classic, its not going please the die-hards, but as a "filler" feud, I could understand the purpose and logic. But Kane returning in a 5-on-3 match where he's the 5th most interesting guy on his team? I don't want to say Kane deserves better than this, but Kane kinda deserves better than this.
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I'll definitely add that, as someone who was very vehemently opposed to the whole idea of a Zayn heel turn, I thought the execution was really good, with 100% of the credit going to Zayn. His facial expression was just the perfect mix of self-doubt/self-hatred/self-surprise (?) to get it over that his actions were about loyalty, misplaced or not, and not just the usual "You fans rejected me - so now I reject you!" bullshit they use for every other heel turn. I also love what someone posted about using this to make him even more sympathetic in the long run. I do still stand by my initial fear, though, that, in 6 months, the character development will be forgotten and Zayn will just be your average heel, which is where so many talented guys have gotten stuck in the past.
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I considered the Shane/Taker match to be one of the worst matches I've ever seen...but I have to admit to enjoying last night's match. I know it doesn't make much sense, but I think it has a lot to do with the build and Owens as a character/"athlete." Taker was protected for so long that seeing Shane go toe-to-toe with him made no kayfabe sense. With Owens, I didn't catch myself saying, "Shane isn't trained, he shouldn't be able to beat this guy" because Owens has always been presented as a dangerous, tough, but heavily flawed fighter more than an unbeatable monster or, in the case of Taker, a supernatural-powered MMA-inspired legendary badass. Against Kurt Angle, against AJ, even against Kane back in the day, the fact that Shane was able to hold his own could be rightly criticized...but Owens, with his poutine gut and basketball shorts, is a rough bully to deal with, but he's not a superman.
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Zayn going heel sounds like a terrible idea to me and I'm not even hip on every current SmackDown storyline. To me, if you have nothing for him, your better bet is to pull him off TV for a minute and then re-push him as a Royal Rumble long shot rather than kill whatever good will he does have with an ill-advised heel turn that will last what? 3 months? And get him where? The midcard? How many more Zayn shirts will they sell with him As a heel? The upside for Zayn as is, the midcard babyface underdog, still outweighs the upside for him as Kevin Owens' second.
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I know the WM30 main event is cherished by some for its outcome...but man did I hate Daniel Bryan getting taken out on a stretcher only to come back. Don't get me wrong, I wanted Bryan to win with all of my heart, but to me, you had him beat Triple H in the opener but suffer enough damage to have to wrestle in the main event with a damaged, bandaged arm/shoulder (that he sells expertly, BTW), then during the match, he eats a ton more direct damage to the shoulder/arm, then Triple H shows up and the odds are stacked against him even more - but if that wasn't enough, he ends up getting Powerbomb-RKO'ed through a table and taken out on a stretcher. Only to return and, after even more false finishes, win the match. Again, I wanted Bryan to win and I'm the farthest from a purist in terms of finishes - but I just remember watching this with my friends and thinking they were laying it on too damn thick. It was counterproductive to me because it ended up telegraphing Bryan's already fairly secured victory even more by making it literally beyond ridiculous. It was like, "We dare you to suspend your disbelief!" when you could've just had them deliver a good match (which, if you just watch the first third/half, it was) and basically keep the same finishing stretch just take out the stretcher sequence and the Triple H & Steph run-in. Those elements really took away the "timeless" aspect of it. I'd be curious to read other people's thoughts on the WM30 main event - overbooked to the point of greatness or to the point of terribleness or not overbooked at all?
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Actually found the whole match decent (not good) just cuz it was hard-hitting and they were laying their shit in. Does qualify as bad booking, though, when a hard fought victory for Booker would've definitely helped solidify him even more. For whatever reason, WCW thought there was more upside to re-establishing the Steiners as some sort of heel force when Scott was already over and didn't need Rick around anymore anyway. Also, to give credit where its due, Rick doesn't officially turn heel till later - when he helps Scott beat Buff in their US Title match (which is, surprisingly and to be fair, a pretty fun contest that the crowd was way into). Rewatching the PPVs from 99, it is kinda crazy to see what WCW was maybe attempting. At times, it almost seems like they were trying to reverse the WCW vs. nWo feud with the heel/face roles reversed - Steiners are now heel, Flair and the Horsemen are heel, Hogan is a face, DDP and Sting are "tweeners," Macho is a face - but there's not even any consistency with that conceit either. It's just a total clusterfuck and I'm not surprised the fans cheered Rick in this match because of it. Had they just disbanded the nWo by now, it might've worked, but by this point, you had heels and faces on both sides so it was just impossible to book straight-forward, basic stories.
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That's a fair question in most scenarios, but I'm not sure Enzo is necessarily hurting for merch sales compared to everyone else on the NXT roster. Even as a heel, he's probably the only 205 Live guy with an actual tee-shirt, necklace, etc. readily available (just looked it up: his old Certified G shirt is on sale for $16) and because he has catchphrases and (ridiculous as it may be) a grassroots backing who believe he's being "held down" for some reason other than his total lack of in-ring polish, he's also kind of got that "cool heel" vibe that makes wearing an Enzo shirt "cool" in a way that, say, wearing a Good Brothers or Baron Corbin shirt wouldn't be. I didn't listen to it, but I guess Alicia Fox was on Lillian Garcia's podcast recently and talked a little bit about her bad experience with the merch side of things. Essentially, despite her longevity with the company, she's never had a tee-shirt and, according to her, aside from Total Divas, never really got the opportunities she wanted or felt like she worked hard for. She got a lot of sympathy on reddit for her comments. That, to me, is an example of someone being truly "held down" as Fox, despite being perfectly serviceable in the ring (maybe just my opinion) isn't even used on either brand. Enzo being "held down" is a total myth and the screen time he gets - not only on RAW and 205 but also on PPVs - is proof of it.
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[1999-04-11-WCW-Spring Stampede] Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan vs Sting vs DDP
DMJ replied to Loss's topic in April 1999
Just saw this for the first time. To me, this was pretty enjoyable, especially when you consider how overtly choreographed and structured 4-ways tend to be these days. This one is a bit looser and wrestled a bit more like a battle royal until Hogan gets taken out and even after that its not like the match gets too cute with Tower of Doom spots and crazy double-teams. The fact that a double sleeper gets such a big reaction shows it didn't need to either. Sting looked great in this, both physically and when he busted out his signature taunts and moves. After Hogan gets taken out, Sting definitely feels like the biggest babyface in the ring - and that's nothing to sneeze at when Page was plenty over (but was probably not at his peak any longer) and Savage was also just recently back on the scene. What hurts this, to me, more than anything is the way WCW seemed to be trying to do "grey area" characters when they didn't need to and the audience wasn't asking for it. Hogan is basically a face by now - but is still coming out to Wolfpack music and when he's taken out, he's not taken out by a heel Flair, he's taken out by DDP. Speaking of Flair, of all the guys to get screwed, why him? Are we supposed to feel sympathy for Flair or glad that he got cheated out of the title? Sting makes a huge return, looks to be in great shape, but is the only guy to come out of the match with no direction. Page captures his first title, but to do so, he had to capitalize on a referee screwing a participant and unsportsmanlike use of the ring post to eliminate Hulk Hogan - far from the "feel good" title win for him that the audience would've lost their shit over in 98'. I have it at 3 stars. I wrote about it elsewhere, but there's an alternate reality where even after the Starrcade 98' debacle, WCW righted its course and put on really great shows for at least a little while longer. Spring Stampede 99' shows they had the pieces and parts to do it and that, in some arenas at least, they still had the fans' interest too.- 6 replies
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Cagematch allows people to rate individual PPVs. I like to visit there and see how my ratings compare as I watch shows from the past - but because its based in Germany (I think), aside from numerical scores, there are entire reviews I don't understand a word of. I use star ratings - 0-5 (which means a 2.5 is your average match) - and have reviewed a couple thousand matches by now on my blog. Every year or so, I post my database of just scores on my blog but this year I'm going to switch it up and just share the Google Doc (view only) via Facebook (or here if anyone's interested). At this point, I've reviewed a couple hundred PPVs, but they're a bit scattershot. For example, for WCW, most of 89', a couple 92', but then all of 93'-98' and I'm into the winter of 99'. For WWE, its roughly 2002-2004ish, but then every Network Special since the Network debuted (except WrestleMania 30, which I enjoyed with friends). Personally, I love the match reviews here and tend to come here first to see if a match has been reviewed and what people think of it and I love the option of adding my thoughts, even as I'm watching the match in the context of the full show (usually) while others were reviewing it as part of a Yearbook set.
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I agree with all the points above re: Jordan. I'm not trying to rationalize what is a very dumb angle. ...but I absolutely believe that this IS "the plan." I definitely believe the WWE thinks they can "outsmart" the fans into having Jordan get over as a heel by having him be an annoying babyface. And I don't think this is an Attitude Era-only idea. Again, look at New Day's positivity and the initial reaction to them. Look at what they tried to do with Bo Dallas. I don't think its a good angle - but to say that the WWE isn't steering into the Jordan hate seems kind of obtuse (at least from what I've seen). He's not Reigns or Cena, they're not calling Jordan "controversial," I don't think the plan is to force-feed Jordan into being a babyface like them. From what I've seen, the plan is to make the audience find him corny and cheesy and eventually see if people will pay to see him get his goofy ass kicked. Which, again, isn't dissimilar to New Day. Look back at that those early promos - in today's meta-heavy WWE, do you really think the writers thought a gospel choir-backed trio of positive-minded, brightly-dressed nerds was going to get over as fan favorites from the jump? A cursory review of their wikipedia page reveals early feuds with "smart" fan favorites like the Rhodes Brothers and Cesaro/Kidd even before they "officially" turned heel. My prediction, sooner than later, Jordan feuds with Bray - another heel that (inexplicably to me, but undeniably) gets face reactions from a segment of the audience whenever he takes out a babyface they aren't behind (Reigns, for example).
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To explain, the "Rocky Miavia Treatment" refers less to wins & losses or the way they initially pushed The Rock. In 96', the WWE/Vince still believed that if they took a handsome guy with a good look/size, gave him big hype ("The First 3rd Generation Superstar," "The Blue Chipper"), had him smile all the time and beat universally hated archetypical villains (The Sultan, the Blue Blood Helmsley, etc.) and debuted him at a big show (Survivor Series, I believe), they could manufacture the next Hulk Hogan. Only when you add sugar to more sugar to more sugar, you end up with something so sweet that it was vile and the fan backlash happened and ultimately led The Rock to becoming The Rock. In 96', it could almost be described as a happy accident. Then, they kinda did the same thing with Angle when he debuted. He had legit Gold Medals, smiled alot, and spoke about positivity - but the audience was now viewing those things as annoying and uncool, so, his Good Guy Act made him a de-facto heel. With Jordan, the "Rocky Maivia Treatment" idea is that they have a guy who is ostensibly doing things a "pure babyface" should do. He's even a "second generation superstar." He doesn't cheat and wrestles fairly. Only, now, in 2017, they believe that if they continue doing these things, he will become a red hot heel (like the Rock and Angle before him). But as someone else said mentioned, the idea of creating an uncool babyface to end up with a "cool" heel is pretty stupid (and, I'd add, so ridiculously overdone by now as its the same thing we got with The New Day just a couple years ago).
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Full write-up on my blog sometime tomorrow, but a few quick thoughts - - Based on the some of the comments here, people don't think Jason Jordan is getting the "Rocky Miavia-on-purpose" treatment? Seemed obvious to me. Its actually kinda meta-funny in the sense that they did the same with his "dad" Kurt Angle when he debuted. Happy go-lucky blue chipper who audience despises because he's so vanilla. I don't know if he'll have a third of the career that Angle or The Rock did, but i will say this, in terms of wrestling ability, he throws a mean suplex. Facial expressions and crossface could use work, but Rome wasn't built in a day. - More than the finisher-bombing, WWE has a bad habit of having matches feature crazy, non-finishers that should end a match/knock someone out entirely and then not going all the way with them. I counted two big ones that hurt their respective matches for me. First, Cesaro powerbombing Rollins onto Ambrose (who'd just taken a White Noise). Second, Nia Jax taking an absolutely nasty powerbomb, but coming back...just to be taken out again and not involved in the pin. That powerbomb looked like it might have legit broken her neck, so, there's no shame in being taken out of a match by it. It counterintuitively makes her look less tough to come back and not win. - Cena will be at Mania, but the question will be in what capacity. I don't see a natural opponent for him, but the show is a long way away. - Main event was a disappointment. I'm curious what agent worked on it; part of me wonders if they were deliberately told to keep it in the ring (and not have any of the thrills that made the SummerSlam match and the Strowman/Reigns matches fun), make sure Brock came out strong, and let the chips fall where they may with Braun. As someone else mentioned, Lesnar did not look great, just seems like he's old and doesn't give a shit now that its 2017 and not 2012 and everyone can see the writing's on the wall for him as a featured WWE performer. Too early to tell how damaging the loss was for Braun. Personally, I thought Nia Jax losing so much early in her career would prevent the WWE from getting her over as a monster, but I think they've rebuilt much of her cred. Ditto for Strowman himself when you look at his Wyatt Family days and his losses to Reigns. Even Austin lost his first major WWE Championship match in 97' when he was certainly hot enough to beat Taker at a B-show In Your House. But, even if saying Strowman was "killed off" last night is too far, that match certainly didn't help his career in any way and didn't, in my opinion, effectively tell the story of the young monster getting ahead of himself and losing due to inexperience or a veteran advantage. Just seems oddly like a decision was made to purposefully under-deliver and underwhelm and Strowman, as fun as he can be, is probably still not at the point in his career when he's going to step up and, through sheer will, deliver something better than what the writers/bookers/agents lay out for him. We already know Lesnar's motivations are suspect based on pretty much everything he's done for the past 24 months or so?
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Disco Inferno is a fave, but I'm gonna throw a curveball and also mention the team of Mortis and Wrath. Terrible gimmick, but man, Kanyon's offense was kinda sick and Wrath looked like a legit bad-ass...until he wrestled and it was clear he was not. I'd also put Saturn on my shortlist just cuz I love the way he would kinda just pilfer other ECW guys' high spots when he got to WCW and, even into 99', wrestle as this ultra-tough bad-ass but wear bizarre shit and have matches with almost no semblance of story or build, just crazy moves and set-ups to crazy moves. It's like, did Saturn suck or not? I don't know the answer, but the dude is kinda my boy because of all the bizarre elements in his character, the angles he was involved in, and the way he laid out his matches.
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I can't believe Sting vs. Hennig never happened. Seems like everyone fought everyone from 98'-00', but I couldn't find that pairing.
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Gimmick Match of the Month: The Lumberjack Match (September 2017)
DMJ replied to peachchaos's topic in Pro Wrestling
Best one I've ever seen was Ambrose vs. Rollins at SummerSlam in maybe 2014? 2015? Not gonna look it up, but I remember watching that match with some non-fans at my SummerSlam party and everyone loving the hell out of it. I'm not a big Ambrose fan and even less of a Rollins one, and I haven't rewatched the match, but on that night, it was a stellar showing and Ambrose looked like he could be the next big star for the company. -
Hot take: This match is actually better proof that WCW had fucked up the potential of Kevin Nash more than it is proof that they fucked up the potential of Rey Mysterio. Nash was so over as a babyface that lying down for Hogan in January, screwing Rey out of his mask at SuperBrawl, and hanging with Luger couldn't get him heel heat. Now, you can say that Nash himself is to blame for it, but I'd also put some blame on the WCW bookers/agents/whoever-the-hell-was-in-charge-at this point because they shouldn't have been letting Nash go out there and continue to cut "Wolfpack in the House!" promos before his match. The point is, Nash was easily the number 2 babyface on the roster - even after he ostensibly turned heel months earlier. At points in this match, when Mysterio scores offense, a large segment of the audience boos the underdog! When Nash calls for the powerbomb at the end (after Luger trips up Rey, which got heat), the audience goes back to rooting for Nash too! The guy was popular, selling loads of merch, and even had a little bit of an "easy out" after Starrcade to remain a babyface by claiming he didn't want Hall's help. You can book a WCW in 99' built around Goldberg and Nash as top babyfaces and while I don't think it would've necessarily ever kept up with WWE's rising popularity, its amazing WCW thought the better option was to put Hogan and Flair back in the main event instead (and I know the buyrate was good for SuperBrawl, but you could run Hogan/Flair without the belt and get the same result anyway). As for Rey, I think you book this same feud against a guy who the fans actually disliked - like Luger, like Giant (if he had stayed in WCW), like Scott Steiner - and it works much better. You don't get quite same Giant Killer aspect of it, but Luger or Steiner would have looked comparatively monstrous.
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Is it crazy that I found this to be a really good, really fun watch - like, maybe one of the top 10 WCW Cruiserweight Title Matches ever even? For starters, I think the presentation here is surprisingly, clumsily brilliant, as if WCW *mistakenly* almost created a could-be midcard star despite attempting the opposite. The setting is interesting and note-worthy - this is UnCenSored (WCW's "hardcore" PPV), so, it actually works that Whipwreck would debut here, but while there seems to be pockets of the audience that recognize him, its not like there are deafening ECW chants or even "You Sold Out" chants the way you might have got further north. Its an interesting, kind of subtly cool platform for him. On commentary, Tenay mentions that Whipwreck is a 5-year pro from "the east coast," but doesn't put him over too much while Heenan mocks his last name profusely. Kidman is over and Whipwreck looks like a schlub so this has all the makings of a squash match. Only it isn't. Whipwreck shows some impressive speed early, but more importantly, shows a tough, smashmouth, and reckless style unlike the lucha guys Kidman has been dispatching for the past four months. No, Whipwreck is hardcore, utilizing the guardrail and the steps and his own body to try to eke out a win any way he can. While the Psicosises and Juvis of the world opted to use their speed and the spring of their feet off the ropes to overwhelm Kidman and dazzle the crowd at the same time, Whipwreck's offense is dangerous because you simply don't know what he's going to throw at you - including his entire body. Jawing the whole time, Whipwreck gets his uncaring heel character over to the point that this may have more heat than any of Kidman's defenses against better-known guys at the previous few PPVs *and* Bobby Heenan comes around too, praising Whipwreck's ability to keep up with the established cruiser ace. Again, it almost feels like (hell, I'd be surprised if it wasn't) Heenan and Schiavone are discovering Whipwreck in real time just like most of the audience and what we're seeing is a really dangerous threat to Kidman. Speaking of character, there's also a not-so-subtle cleverness to the way Kidman, no longer scratching himself every few minutes, pockmarked, and moping around Kidman, is now the "clean" babyface while Whipwreck is the unlikeable greaseball. Its a dynamic that works really well cosmetically and historically, if you'd followed Kidman from his lowly start when he dressed much like Whipwreck does here. But then the finish happens and it almost seems like this is where the true intention of the match comes out. Was this meant to be a launching pad for Whipwreck or was it just designed to cement Kidman and establish WCW as superior to ECW? Was it originally intended to be a squash, a blatant F-U to a rival promotion but Kidman and Whipwreck opted to, instead, put on a showcase of both of their talents? Considering the stories of how nutty WCW was run, I'm not sure you wouldn't get five different answers if you asked five different people. Maybe this was just a match, plain and simple, the most likely scenario, but it ends up being more than that on re-watch because of all the elements at play - the time period, the UnCenSored setting, the tension between WCW & ECW, the panicky "let's throw any shit we can find and see what sticks" attitude of WCW in 99', the fact that its not entirely clear what the goal of this match was - and the simple fact that it is a damn good Cruiserweight Title Match to boot. It exceeds expectations because what the fuck were the expectations? I often hold out 4-stars for matches that are "must watch" and 3.5-stars for things that are maybe closer to "should watch." To me, this is a definite "should watch," but for a certain type of fan who likes "curios" from this era, I'd definitely go "must watch." So, does anyone know the full story behind this match and/or Whipwreck's brief WCW run? Does anyone have fond memories of this that can maybe speak on what the reaction was on the nascent "IWC"? Did RSPW folk freak out? Am I the only person to have ever given this match this much thought?
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I find the comparison between Braun Strowman now and Brock Lesnar in 02' as fairly apt. Its not like when Lesnar came on the scene, people weren't clamoring for Jericho, Eddie, Benoit, etc. to get their main event title runs - the same way people now want to see Samoa Joe or Finn Balor or even Ambrose get their time in the main event spotlight. But Lesnar in 02' leapfrogged a lot of the "internet darlings" because his look and aura and the production behind him and his push were well-executed. While its inevitable that eventually there will be a backlash to a guy who paid minimal dues getting put over Joe and Balor and Rollins and Ambrose, etc., by the time that happens (as it happened to Lesnar in what? 04'?), the benefits of pushing Strowman strongly and quickly would outweigh any possible consequences of a portion of the audience feeling "butthurt" over it. (Sorry, I know thats a terrible phrase, but it just feels fitting here)
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Watched the full match today and I'd add that Benoit was really over with the crowd (and based on the video package that follows about the US Title - which he was number one contender for until he got screwed by the Outsiders - maybe at his peak of overness up until that point in his WCW career). Malenko seems half-interested in the match in his minutes, but Benoit is ferocious and giving his 100% and the crowd reacts well to him and Hennig tearing it up. Classic WCW too in that, weeks before, Flair had said that Bret Hart would have to defend the US Title against Benoit, but because of nWo shenanigans and Will Sasso interference, the US Title match we get instead at SuperBrawl IX is....Scott Hall vs. Roddy Piper.
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What a jerk! That was sarcasm, btw. I know that doesn't always come across online. Personally, I won't miss him because I was never a huge fan of the guy on commentary (or in-ring for that matter). I also think that the WWE should be reconsidering its 3-man booth template. I think my favorite current commentator is Graves, but also wouldn't call him a once-in-a-lifetime talent like, say, a Bobby Heenan. I mention this because I think there are other heelish commentators around - probably undiscovered on the WWE's own roster - that would be suitable replacements for JBL. Nigel McGuinness comes to mind as someone who is capable enough to be on SmackDown. From what I've heard from him, he's pretty good already and, given time, will only get better. Graves and McGuinness taking over for Lawler and JBL feels natural to me. As for Mauro - like many here, the bloom is off the rose a bit for me. I don't think he's unlistenable and I don't buy his enthusiasm any less than I buy Cole's, but being the "straight" play-by-play man has maybe never meshed with the WWE style? I mean, looking back, who were the best WWE play-by-play guys? I'd say Gorilla, Vince, and JR (probably in that order too) and would you call any of them straight play-by-play men the way Mauro is? Gorilla wouldn't have been able to name a single move Seth Rollins does, but I don't see that as a negative.
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Haven't watched the segment, but heard about the Cena/Reigns match. Definitely looking forward to it but am also shocked. I guess they've decided to just go for broke on the non-"big four" PPVs to try to boost Network numbers? I'm not sure what the numbers were for Great Balls of Fire, but its worth a shot. I told a student in my class about the match (I work with students with moderate-to-intensive disabilities, this specific student is on the autism spectrum) and his brilliant reaction was "Is it John Cena's retirement match?" I responded, "I don't think so, but that sure would make sense." I asked him who would win - he said Cena. I gave him my honest prediction: a draw. I'd love it to be a 20-minute time limit draw, but I'm thinking they'll probably put together some sort of double DQ or double CO spot instead. Anything but a "both guys shoulders are down" and I'd be happy. What would confuse me most, though, would be if they actually have one guy get a clean W because as much as there should be that "passing of the torch" moment, I'd hate for it to happen at a No Mercy with a month build when, truth be told, Cena "going Hollywood" is not going to be like The Rock where he's gone for 2-3 years at a time, its probably going to be more like he'll be gone 6-8 months then he'll be back 3-5 and so on and so on. No reason to "pass the torch" when Cena will still be probably wrestling more matches in one year than Lesnar has in the past 3.
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I know Mayweather is a defensive fighter and his strategy was rope-a-dope, but Mayweather could've finished him in the 4th or 5th if he wanted to. He toyed with McGregor to give the people their money's worth. I don't know if that makes it a "work," but what else do you call it when one athlete is obviously not giving his 100%?
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I read that Lana turned down the rumors, but I do hope they at least consider their options whenever their contracts are up. I brought this up in my blog but the past two SummerSlams have been really telling regarding Rusev. Last year, they had Reigns destroy him before the bell so the actual match never happens. This year, he beats up Orton but then loses to an RKO in record time - so an actual match never happens. Is it me or does it seems like maybe, just maybe, in both instances there was a fear that the live crowd would cheer Rusev over his opponents if they were to actually wrestle a match? In a sense, the one way Reigns ever gets resounding cheers is when he's just destroying someone and Orton's finisher is his guaranteed pop, so it certainly seems like they made a conscious decision in both scenarios to get the reactions they wanted. ...which is, again, so counterproductive to what their intended goal to be as a profit-seeking company.