C.S.

Agreed 100%. But when Vince Russo says the same thing, and he has many times, he's derided mercilessly. Everything about his style is outdated and stuck in the '90s, but he's never been wrong about character building. Obviously, some of his characters left a lot to be desired ("Fat Chick Thriller/That '70s Guy," etc.) but at least he tried to give everyone - including the friggin' Jerry Flynns of the world - something to do. That's sorely missing today. When I remember and care more about Major Gunns than the majority of the characters in WWE today, you know something's wrong.

Agree with both of these, except that I think Dillinger should get a huge push. His character is great, he's good on the mic, solid in the ring, and got amazing heat from the fans during the Nakamura match. Time to get behind this guy IMO. Really fun show this week. - Angelo Dawkins clearly has some kind of charisma, but his loud, brash character didn't work for me and would die an instant death on the main roster, where Vince and Hayes would interpret it as "too street." That's probably why he's still a JTTS in NXT. - Really looking forward to Charlotte and Tessa Blanchard's interactions in a couple of years. Really don't understand the point of debuting Tessa as a face JTTS though. She should have been held back and protected IMO. I realize she'll probably eventually be repackaged as Tulla, or something dumb like that, but still. - Gargano and Ciampa have the most jobber looking TitanTron video ever, and I didn't buy their victory over The Vaudevillains for a second because they're not over and don't have characters. Being "ROH legends" means nothing to me, and apparently even less to anyone at Full Sail. Jury's still out on the viability of these two. Making them a tag team is probably a good move though. - Trevor Knight feels like another Bull Dempsey, and he got flatlined by Baron Corbin the same way. - The American Alpha/Enzo and Cass vignette didn't quite work for me because Jason Jordan's facials aren't convincing at all and the lines they all had to recite did not sound authentic. Still, it will be a fun match, so who cares. - Bayley's entrance, mannerisms, and behaviors seemed fine to me. Besides, everyone has robo-entrances now that can't be deviated from in any way. Ryback is the worst when it comes to this.

Now I'm wondering if I was actually thinking about this match, from WCW: He's still Studd there, and I had Austin in the back of my mind as his opponent, but I discarded that because I thought it was a WWF match.

I might think of more later, but off the top of my head... Scotty Riggs/Anton I was the only one who liked him in ECW and cheered his heel turn against RVD. I also thought he was much better than Bagwell. I remember him showing up in the WWF as Scott Studd before his WCW run and working a pretty decent long match with someone - I wish I could remember who it was, but I do know it aired on Prime Time Wrestling. Repo Man Yes, Barry Darsow is a favorite (at least on this board), but I'm talking specifically about the silly-ass Repo Man character, which always made me smile. Great laugh, great catchphrase, great costume. Darsow had a "main event" run with Smash (as far as tag teams go in the WWF anyway), but he still went all-in and embraced this goofy shit, even though he had to know he wouldn't be headlining anything with it. Curt Hennig/West Texas Rednecks/Rap is Crap This was pure and utter WrestleCrap, but Hennig embraced it and turned himself and his cohorts babyface in the process (Dubya C Dubya never acknowledged that, but the fans sure did).

The real question is, does anyone care enough about about the Bruise/Blu/Harris Brothers to dig that deeply into them? The answer is probably no.

I really wished the "like" button worked here, because I'd "like" the fuck out of this post. Wrestlers, especially old-school wrestlers, have no clue how poorly they come across. And why should they? They'll have sycophantic fans eating their shit and thinking it tastes like birthday cake.

Fun thread so far. Just one thing though: Pretty sure this was an intentional part of his "Dead Man" gimmick at the time.

Only wrestling fans would question whether giant tattoos were part of a gimmick.

Don't think this needs its own thread, but Total Bellas just officially announced. http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/total-bellas-trailer/

Don't think you even need to make that distinction anymore. He hasn't really been over with the general wrestling population either since his face run with the punt.

I think it's the same thing with Randy Orton. Wrestlers seem to universally praise his ability, but he bores the pants out of the majority of fans.

Michaels too (on the Stone Cold podcast). He essentially said Dolph is a tribute act to various other wrestlers but never evolved beyond that and developed a style of his own.

Thought this would be good for some discussion: Tag Team They're bigoted tools just like him, so no real shock there. I loved Cornette in his prime and still admire his passion and knowledge for wrestling, but he's an absolute embarrassment now in every other way. Enough of my soapbox though. Onto his singles pick... Singles His love for Dolph is a bit of a surprise. Makes me wonder if he's seen any of Dolph lately. I have my doubts, considering his earlier admission about still being unfamiliar with Jordan and Gable. Anyway, I think this would make an interesting discussion on two fronts: 1. To debate who Cornette did pick. 2. Who we think he'd pair up well with if we had to "fantasy book" his managerial comeback. (Excerpts taken from http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0417/609820/jim-cornette-reveals-which-wwe-star-and-tag-team-he-would-have/)

What's your point? Because people would shit on that type of gimmick in WWE or TNA too. Chucky, Robocop, and Oz didn't exactly work in WCW, now did it?

And people still praise this shit?! If WWE or TNA tried that, oh boy... I don't care if it's supposed to be a "TV show" and "not wrestling, that's still idiotic. (WWE, BTW, claims it's "not wrestling" too.) To be fair, I've only seen one episode of LU and couldn't get into it at all, but they're smarter than TNA (and who isn't?), they'll strike that rumored deal with Netflix or Hulu and open themselves up to a new audience. I'd certainly give it a fair shake then (I don't have El Rey - or cable at all, for that matter).

And it's their second violation. I don't remember their first, so that must've been when they were in developmental http://www.wwe.com/article/raymond-leppan-ryan-parmeter-suspended

Really?! Let's examine all the ways Rodz comes across as an abusive buffoon: (Excerpts from the Deadspin article.) - Johnny Rodz is giving me shit because I told him I like The Wrestler. “Is that what you really think wrestling is?” I’m repeatedly asked in a condescending tone. - “If you call this is a school one more time, I’m gonna fucking kick you outta this place,” Rodz growls at me. - The glory days are long gone, though, and now Rodz spends a lot of his time dealing with people he calls nincompoops. - Many of Rodz’s replies to my questions are punctuated with “but you’re not a wrestling fan,” even after I’m able to recognize the face of Al fucking Snow on a signed photograph hanging in his office. - Earlier in that very same office, a student came in wincing and pointing at a quarter-sized patch of skin missing from his elbow. He told Rodz the mat gave him rug burn. Rodz told him to quit putting his elbow down when he falls and rolls. Instead, push the arm out, and do a sweeping motion to take the bump more smoothly and spread the pressure across more surface area. There was Johnny Rodz, a master of his craft, imparting a small but important piece of knowledge onto one of his students. Rodz then politely told the student to put ointment on the wound, and to cover it with tape. After the guy left, Rodz turned to me and said, “That’s what we call pussy. Ain’t no fucking way he’s gonna be a professional wrestler. You have to go through hell to be a pro wrestler.” The real "pussy" IMO is Rodz, who acts one way toward the student and then berates him behind his back - all while continuing to take his money. He's a dick. It constantly amazes me how many wrestlers - and wrestling fans, apparently - consider abuse to be "normal" and "okay." I remember Vince Russo once writing that he was "grateful" Jeff Jarrett legitimately kicked his ass just for asking a valid question.

It's a fun read, but Rodz comes across as an abusive asshole and a complete embarrassment to wrestling. Of course, there's a myriad of other clueless clowns that help keep rasslin's black mark rolling right along.

I remember a really fun match between Balls Mahoney and RVD during the ECW on TNN era. Since I've never been a fan of RVD's style, I have to give Balls some of the credit for that. Another wrestling death. Another wrestler gone too soon. *Sigh*

Any chance that this is the sword she dies on and she'd rather see TNA go out of business than lose control? What a gross legacy that would be.

Don't know about "worst ever" but Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose was a disappointing bore, made even worse by the rumor that Ambrose actually pitched a lot of cool shit, only for it to be turned down - either for PG reasons or because they didn't want to overshadow Reigns. How about the entire Beware of Dog I PPV where the lights went out? That must've been brutal for the live audience, and it was certainly frustrating for the PPV audience, who got blacked out and didn't realize what the hell was was happening. Beware of Dog II at least redeemed itself with a classic Stone Cold/Savio Vega strap match and Ted DiBiase's final appearance.

I'd think he'd be even more baffled by Gallows' pop. The guy was a meaningless opening card act the last time he was on WWE TV.

Another good obit - this one from Mike Mooneyham. http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160410/PC20/160419943/pro-wrestling-x2019-s-blackjack-mulligan-created-a-character-for-the-ages

So that makes it okay to run tasteless body-shaming angles? Gotcha. I can't speak to Elizabeth's character, but who's to say Randy didn't have good reasons for his "protectiveness"? BTW, it irritates me that people blame Lex Luger for her death (and he even blames himself). She was a big girl. He didn't hold a gun to her head and force those drugs into her system. It's a tragic shame and waste what happened to her, but it was her fault, not Lex's.

I never knew that. Wow! All I've been able to find is this: http://www.sescoops.com/ultimate-warrior-philip-seymour-hoffman/ I loved PSH, but was Warrior entirely wrong there? But I agree, he comes across as a nasty, self-righteous dickhead, and hypocritical considering his own massive steroid abuse. I've never been one to criticize Savage for doing that. He knew what "the boys" were like. "Boys will be boys," as they say. Another example of tasteless women's angles: The horrible body shaming storyline with Molly Holly - "Junk in the trunk," "granny panties," Lawler laughing at her like a schoolboy, etc. All horrible, just because Molly didn't look like a Barbie doll bimbo model and was still a virgin.