peachchaos

WWE.com ^Very cool oral history of ROH.

http://www.wwe.com/inside/the-ring-of-hono...26179913/page-2 Very nice oral history of ROH on WWE.com.

There is a difference between "casual viewers" and "casual fans". I have a friend who has watched the Rumble with us every year for the past five years and is legitimately entertained. She has no interest in seeing wrestling more than once a year, and roots for the workers associated with pop culture (Rock, Cena, The Miz). She is a "casual viewer", aware of the product and doesn't despise it but not something she would go out of her way to watch. I'd venture to say that my core group of male friends between the ages of 25 and 35 are all "casual fans" who watch the Rumble and WrestleMania no matter what and will spring for SummerSlam if it looks promising. They all consider themselves "hardcore fans" due to their connection with the product during the Era and as kids. It is worth noting that all of these people are "smart" to the business but do not follow the websites as far as I know. I also have 3-4 legitimate "hardcore fans" who are into indie/puro, read the sites, know who Daniel Bryan is & are generally frustrated with the product. I don't know anyone who watches RAW every week.

I used to believe every Sabu botch was a shoot. Now obviously it's common knowledge that he planned most of those out. ...

Far-fetched idea time. Punk purchases Ring of Honor from Sinclair. Relocates the promotion to Chicago. Only runs Chicago. Becomes the Jerry Lawler of Chicago. ...

Worth noting that Bryan is not a vegan anymore & only did it for a while due to health concerns, which in-turn caused further complications...

It certainly did not feel like Bret was the champion in '95. Hakushi was a flash-in-the-pan; Tajiri was a marginal success.

Side-track: Roop vs. Backlund Did the Battle of the Bobs ever go down? Seems like an interesting amateur match-up (legit vs. gimmick).

The biggest let-down of this whole thing was Punk's Rumble performance. I was expecting '92 Flair and instead he had a few high spots and got eliminated by someone who was already out of the match.

We were never in disagreement here, jdw. The question was asked if there was footage of the Bret-Mountie IC title change. You suggested, if the footage exists, it would be handheld. I posted a link to a clip of the handheld footage. I never claimed it was not handheld footage, just that it is of higher quality than crowd-sourced handheld footage since it was taped by a professional camera man with a WWE camera.

It's pretty clear from the Rumble Match that there is no shortage of young talent in WWE right now. I don't see much use for a Devitt or KENTA Juniors-type guy at this point. Although, Sheamus/KENTA would be hard times.

If your audience is booing Rey Mysterio, there is something fundamentally wrong with your wrestling promotion. Whether this has been the case for years is inconsequential. Rey should be a Legend performer at the level of Taker. Instead, he was upstaged by a mini.

This is pro-shot, at ringside, by a WWE cameraman, too. A step up from Gabe's ECW fancams.

There was definitely a camera in Springfield, MA for Hart-Mountie, since they showed the ending and post-match during the Rumble broadcast. So, not unreasonable to think they brought a camera to tape the Tag Title switch.

I think I remember in the days when the WWEClassics crew interacted with viewers that modern/newer wrestling drew a lot more hits than the territories. Those of us who prefer watching old footage are really a small minority. Yes. I have tried many times over to get friends and family members into Mid South, Memphis, AWA, hell even Crockett doesn't always hit. But throw on some awful Nitro or a random Austin segment and instantly everyone is entertained.

All the Flair/Steamboat and Flair/Funk matches from '89 are Five Star Matches. Funk/Steamboat is nearly on that level. What a year.

Yep. Watched this last night and it blew me away. Almost a predecessor to Lesnar-Cena, albeit with less UFC-inspiration and a much MUCH better ending.

It's been awhile since I've seen either, but I always felt the best comparison for the Harts Cage Match is the Ladder Match from WM10, which also featured little violence and was essentially two people climbing and falling. Perhaps the Ladder Match isn't as excessive and therefore less offensive in this regard? FWIW, the Harts Cage Match is so effective, even my sweet old Grandmother was on her feet cheering and yelling.

What was that lucha match from the IWA King of the Death Match?

haven't considered this, but... Bryan & Kane vs. DX @ Mania ??? not my favorite idea, but it sure wouldn't suck

I must be a total Backlund and Harley mark because I loved every second of that clash. And Harley-Lawler is the GMOAT. Though at this point, I know I've seen far less footage than most everyone here and I fully admit I do not break matches down segment-by-segment.

Great thread. I don't have much to comment other than I appreciate all the reviews and since I'm always looking for seminal shit, I'm checking out that tag match atm.

I guess it seemed obvious a few weeks ago that this was just a set up for a face-turn. Keeps Daniel hot but away from top talent and elevates the Wyatts, burns some TV time, people will mark out etc. 101

They've known all along that the money is on db winning the Rumble and the championship at WM. It's the season finale. The Wyatt stuff was all just filler. This is all pretty basic stuff. The trick is to not actually watch any of it and then it makes perfect sense. Dave is a classic over-thinker.