C.S.

Because, while the Giant Swing may be that kind of move in your mind, it has never actually been presented that way on WWE TV. With that said, it would be foolish to blame that finish solely for Cesaro's decline. Of course not. It didn't help though.

Has this been posted? From whatculture.com: Vince Russo’s 10 Insider Stories From Running WWF Magazine

That's how it is now, I believe. But I think it was more complicated in the early days of the Kindle. Not really sure though. Some of those early Kindle books had some pretty wonky formatting...Ring of Hell wasn't alone in that, but it was probably one of the worst I've seen for it.

Amazon doesn't sell a kindle version anymore, which is odd. Figured that having a kindle edition of a book available allows it to still be sold even if hard copies are out of print. Never read it, but remember when Alvarez interviewed the author and told him a line like "every bump in the ring hurts" was complete bullshit. And one of them said "except all of Velvet Sky's bumps hurt". I wonder if it got pulled after too many complaints about the formatting. Wouldn't surprise me. What does surprise me is why the author/publisher haven't done anything to get it back up there. Here's one example (of MANY) of the shitty formatting in the Kindle version: "When former NJPW Champion tried to pick up his bags. When former NJPW pound monster was less elusive." WTF is that gibberish? I e-mailed the author (no response, which is ridiculous), the publisher (did respond but was clueless), and Amazon (promised to look into it, but nothing ever got fixed as far as I know).

The ADR release is a shocker, to be sure, but I think most of you are making too much out of his appearances on Main Event. ADR vs. Ambrose seemed like a big deal, and it made me tune into Main Event for maybe the first time ever. Never mind that the match sucked - it never got out of first gear - and the non-finish of Rollins interfering didn't help (even though it was understandable and logical considering the circumstances). The truth is, ADR has been bland, stale, and phoning it in for a while now. Booking is partly to blame, but at some point, he clearly just checked out.

Who also posts here. The Kindle version had horrendous formatting issues. Don't know if it still does. I emailed him about the issue. No response. He clearly didn't care. Not exactly a fan of his because of that. This was back before refunds for Kindle books could be initiated at the click of a button within the first seven days.

I shit on that finisher at the time, going against the tide of the majority of this board. Glad to see someone else finally point out what was always obvious to me. It was a horrendous finish that unintentionally (?) buried the fuck out of Cesaro. I don't think that alone is responsible for his recent decline, but it sure as hell didn't help.

WWE Network is clunky as hell, still feels like it's in the beta testing phase, and there are all sorts of little problems with each app (for example: none of the early '90s SNME episodes are showing up on Roku, but the '80s and late '90s are there - and there have been other problems of that sort throughout). Simpsons World isn't comparable at all for one simple reason: It's using the HBO Go model. You have to be tied to a cable subscription to get it. Apples and oranges.

Probably true, but the fact is, wrestling is best watched in the moment, as it's happening. The 98-99 stuff was successful in 98-99. It worked for that specific time period, era, and audience. That's what really matters. I'm not saying there isn't any merit rewatching old stuff, but the fact is, it cannot be judged as accurately because something is always lost in translation. Sure, you can still enjoy or not enjoy something from a bygone era, but no matter what, you will never experience it the same way as people who were there as it was happening. Certain references, nuances, and period-specific attributes will be lost on you.

I think you're discounting the importance of improving the experience. The WWE Network still seems like its in beta test mode. It comes across as a lame, clunky, unpolished, unfinished, minor league product right now. I have to think that people are being turned off because of that. I'm not entirely thrilled about it myself. These things would help the presentation immensely: More reliable live PPV streams (hasn't been an issue for me, but there are still complaints) Thumbnail previews when fast-forwarding/rewinding A proper resume function on ALL devices (I've had this on Roku for months, but apparently there are still 360 issues, judging by that post on the last page) A much better search - and one that doesn't RUIN match results Playlists and/or categories for each wrestler, show, etc. A queue system More content, period (Nitro, more territory stuff, Prime Time and TNT, etc.) Better distribution of content (why isn't ALL of Total Divas Season 1 already up, for example - uploading a new episode each week is downright idiotic when the show is already on Season 3) Quicker turnaround on new Raw and Smackdown episodes (I understand why this isn't the case, but it's STILL a problem to the average consumer regardless of the reasons!)

I watched Main Event last night for the hell of it. There was a random Heath Slater/Titus O'Neil vs. Tyson Kidd/Zach Ryder match. Zach seems to have a new look (or maybe he's had it for a while - I haven't really been paying attention). But what really struck me was how crisp and intense Tyson Kidd's offense was compared to everyone else in the match - particularly Ryder. It's ridiculous how good Kidd is, and yet he's being wasted in nothing matches on c-shows like this? WWE sucks sometimes. The Slater/O'Neil team does nothing for me, even though their little gimmick of trying to overshadow each other is fun. There was also an Ambrose/Alberto match. Can't say I particularly enjoyed it. I was disappointed because it never seemed to get past first gear, and the finish did it no favors (even though it made sense). Alberto desperately needs six months off and a character makeover. He's almost as stale as Orton at this point.

1. WWE Network should and probably does have safeguards against too many people using the same account. When there were connection issues early on, I remember not being able to load a stream because I had "too many devices connected" (was probably switching between my Roku, PS3, PS4, etc. to get the damn thing working), and that was simply one person - me - trying to access my own account. 2. WWE sending a collection agency after people punishes the honest customers who've had a card expire, get cancelled, etc. Those are valid reasons for a subscription to lapse early, and those people shouldn't be penalized.

About what? Yeah, I think a copy and paste got lost somewhere here and I'm curious too Can't actually cut and paste this, so I'll link to the post. Click on the "spoiler." I was referring to Wade's last question asking whether Taz got a raise, etc. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/4999-the-wade-keller-appreciation-thread/page-20&do=findComment&comment=5614004

I can sorta see why Taz got offended by the last question, but Wade is not wrong...not at all.

I watched the black history "Soul of Wrestling" roundtable. The panelists were J.R. (host), Teddy Long, Tony Atlas, Dusty Rhodes, and Bill Watts. No Michael Hayes... Gee, I wonder why. Bill Watts seemed very self-conscious about his reputation as a racist. He went out of his way to talk about how close he was to Ernie Ladd and the pushes he gave to JYD, Ron Simmons, etc. He even briefly mentioned the Torch Talk incident (Mark Madden - not mentioned by name, only as someone "from Pittsburgh" - sent it to baseball legend and Turner exec Hank Aaron and got Watts fired). I was surprised that Watts actually brought it up, and I was hoping he'd get grilled on it a lot more - but that wasn't going to happen on a show hosted by his "boy," J.R. Do you all think Watts is racist? Honestly, I don't. What I do think is that he's a product of his time and he's probably made casually racist comments like many of his peers from that era and region, but I don't think he legitimately hates black people. However, I wouldn't cite his pushes of JYD, Simmons, etc. as evidence that he isn't a racist. Like all of the panelists said many times on the program, green (as in money) meant more than black, and Watts would have been no different in that regard. Still, I'm not ready to condemn Watts as a hardcore racist...I just don't see it. While the Madden story was glossed over, I do credit Watts for bringing it up - and also for admitting to cutting racist promos early in his career when he was "young and stupid." Aside from Watts, what I found most interesting - and surprising - was the black-on-black racism described by both Tony Atlas and Teddy Long. While everyone else on the panel praised Thunderbolt Patterson, Long had some pretty damning words about him. Tony talked about card-carrying members of the Klan having his back in a fight, because that's how strong the bond between the wrestlers was. Fascinating stuff overall.

My thoughts on the show: - Rose/Fandango was a waste of time, but it was mercifully short, so I'm okay with it. - Cameron/Naomi was pretty bad, but Cameron showed some nice intensity as a jealous heel. For those of you criticizing AJ/Paige (more below), did you not watch this match and see how much worse it was? - I was one of the few who didn't like last month's match between the Usos and Rowan/Harper, but this month's was fantastic - maybe match of the night. I minded the first two falls being so short as they were happening, but the awesome third fall more than made up for it by the end. - No Ambrose/Rollins sucks and reeks of shady false advertising, but with all of locked into six-month commitments, I guess they can get away with that shit now. With that being said, I loved the intense brawls between them, and it makes me even hungrier for a match. What's the deal though? Was there something to the rumblings about the Rollins injury after all? - AJ/Paige wasn't great, but I didn't hate it the way most of you did. I also think comparing Paige to some random Japanese female wrestler is absurd. We all know the way the WWE books its women is light years behind how it's done in Japan. Still, things are improving for the WWE Divas division IMO. Despite its flaws this was still a pretty solid, serious effort - not the cheesecake puff we would have gotten only a year ago (and did get earlier in the night with Cameron/Naomi, which was also a step up in a way because it was one of two women's matches on the card and featured a real storyline and rivalry). Paige desperately needs to turn heel though. - Jericho/Wyatt was nothing special, but I can understand the rationale behind Jericho winning. The problem is, he no longer means anything anymore - just like RVD. Having him lose to Fandango at WM and other similar losses killed his aura long ago. Yeah, Wyatt will get the win back, but too little too late. They definitely overestimated Jericho's perceived significance, but I don't think it will hurt Wyatt in the long run either way. - Miz winning the I-C Title the way he did was pretty obvious to me - I saw it coming a mile away - but it was the right move, I think. Heath Slater lasting as long as he did and eliminating Cesaro of all people was a shocker. I hope this is actually leading to something for Heath. Otherwise, what's the point? I felt bad for Zack Ryder (and to a lesser extent, Xavier Woods and R-Truth). - I liked the main event. Hard to be disappointed by Cena winning when that was as obvious as can be. I wasn't expecting a cash-in either. It was pretty clear there wouldn't be one when Rollins drove off.

Not if they ditch Ole, who was an even worse pick than Roma at that time, and go with both Blondes.

Paul Roma wasn't a bad choice. Yeah, I said it. He's underrated. Great? Maybe not. But certainly decent, both in the ring and in terms of charisma. He also had that rich, cocky Horsemen vibe, or could have at least developed it. Ole was the bigger mistake in that incarnation of the Horsemen. Too old, too Southern, and here's the big one...not around. Roma and Orndorff formed a pretty good tag team after the Horsemen, so there's that too. But to answer the question: If not Roma, then who? Nothing really jumps out at me. Was Orndorff around then? Even so, that doesn't quite work for me, for whatever reason. Pillman a few years earlier? Nah. Was Stunning Steve Austin around? If so, maybe he's the answer. I kind of like the idea of a repackaged Nash too, but in terms of impact, he would have had the same effect as Roma... "That job guy?!" Edit: Yeah, I'm going with Stunning Steve. There's my answer. Were there any storyline conflicts at the time that would have prevented this? Another edit: Ditch oldie Ole entirely and put Austin and Pillman in there instead! Were they still a team at that point? If not, reform them!

My favorite memory is the WWE Magazine piece that launched a major WrestleMania angle - the pics of Ric Flair and Elizabeth. "She was mine before she was yours. Wooooooooo!" Even as a kid, I knew the pics were somehow bullshit because Flair had short hair in them, even though he had long hair earlier in his career when this supposed relationship with Elizabeth was going on. Still, it was a cool as hell storyline - much different and more "mature" than what the WWE was offering back then.

Been meaning to find time to tackle this topic ever since I first found it. Full disclosure: Kamala is one of my all-time childhood favorites. I guess I liked the way he patted his belly. In all seriousness, it was refreshing to see a "real" physique closer to my own and not the super-muscled bodybuilders that dominated the landscape back then. I recently discovered that Andre/Kamala cage match and was blown away by it. It's actually good. Was especially shocked to see Andre walk the ropes, a la "Spoiler" Don Jardine or Undertaker. Didn't know he ever had that kind of agility in him. But this is about Kamala. Yeah, I really loved him. A few years ago, a friend bought me an autographed Kamala figure for my birthday, and it's still one of my favorite gifts ever. We can dissect his "racist" gimmick (even Kamala has gone on record saying it was "bad for the blacks"), created by the Southern white Jerry "The King" Lawler. We can dissect his ring work. But do those things really matter? Kamala was a pure gimmick character, and he played that character up to the hilt. The real-life Jim Harris has lamented the disparity of his payoff vs. Undertaker's for their SummerSlam match. Unfortunately, the WWF had all but neutralized Kamala's aura as any kind of "threat" by that point. Not even the littlest kids thought Kamala had a chance. The face turn further eroded that, of course, but at least it was fun and funny - something new for the character after many years, so I didn't mind it too much. Reverend Slick's "you are a man!" proclamation about Kamala was also pretty cool. Too bad the WWF was never sophisticated enough to really go anywhere with what could have been an interesting, complex theme - a "savage" discovering his own humanity - but that's really too much to ask of wrestling, especially at that time. No matter what you may think of Kamala's ring work and gimmick, the man behind the character gave it his all. He embraced it wholeheartedly. That kind of commitment seems so rare today. For as much as we all liked Drew McIntyre, did you ever get the sense that he was truly into his 3MB gimmick? Yeah, he tried hard and did his best, but it was never him the way Kamala seemed to be for Harris.

Reigns is being rushed and shoved down everyone's throats. He shouldn't be main eventing World Title matches for another year at least. I like him, but in the end, he'll be the next Sheamus.

I've seen this sentiment all over the 'net and I can't agree. The way Rollins won wasn't very satisfying, but having Ambrose overcome his adversary now would have been jumping several steps ahead in the story. In order to build a big heel turn and big heel, that big heel has to win and be successful while the faces lose, are undermined, and have major obstacles to overcome. In order for Rollins to be an effective big heel, he has to be successful for a while. Having him lose his first big match a month into his heel turn would not have been good storytelling and it would've cooled him off as a heel in a bad way.

Gonna use Smack's post to format my own... PRE-SHOW: I missed it because it didn't get posted to the Network right after it aired. I found it as a "recommendation," but got an error message when I tried to load it. (WTF? I'm tired of what a clunky beta product the Network continues to feel like. When a bunch of people don't renew after the six months, this will be one of the reasons why.) It was eventually pulled from the recommendation screen. Anyway, they replayed "highlights" of the Daniel Bryan segment on the PPV itself. What a waste of Bryan. Goofy midcard spot with Bo (who I like too). Would they treat any other main eventer like this? 1. USOs © vs. Harper / Rowans - I wasn't as high on this as everyone else here. Felt really dull and clunky at first. Also ruined by the HORRENDOUS commentary that severely overpushed the likelihood of a Wyatt Family win, which completely sapped any drama and made it all but obvious that they were losing. I went into this thinking the Wyatts would win, but the boob crew ruined that for me. Not a bad match or anything, but nothing special either. 2. MITB - A lot of fun. I was actually rooting for Kofi and hoping against hope that he'd win. Some insane spots. I winced whenever that clumsy buffoon Swagger did anything. Because of him, I was half-convinced the Ambrose injury might have been real. The Rollins victory was probably the right way to go, but the Kane interference felt cheesy as hell. Still, that story continued in the second MITB match, so I kinda understand the rationale for it. 3. Paige © vs. Naomi - I actually really enjoyed this. A classic? No. But it was fun. Cameron's facials outside the ring were priceless. 4. Rusev vs. Big E - I grow more and more bored with Rusev's 1980s act and style, but this was a good match (as was last month's match with E). I hope E moves on from this and gets a renewed push. He actually had me believing he could pull off the win. 5. Stardust / Goldust vs. Rybaxel - Nothing amazing, but fun. Cody is really going all out with this act. Do the red eyes mean he's really a heel in disguise? 6. Summer Rae vs. Layla - This was more fun than it had any right to be. Not a classic, of course, but I enjoyed the (silly) story they were telling. 7. MITB World Title Match - Took time to get going, but the last few minutes were great, Cena won, which was disappointing, but that was to be expected after the SummerSlam poster leak. I was hoping Orton would win, only for Rollins to cash in and reform the Shield as a way of truly outsmarting The Authority. Would have been cool. Still, the Rollins heel turn has been a success, so I guess abandoning that would not have been wise. OVERALL: Too many filler matches that belonged more on an episode of Main Event rather than a PPV. Nothing was bad, but would they have run this lineup as a $60 PPV? (I realize some people are still paying $60.) This was definitely a two-match card.

Really dumb that they didn't just put the whole season up there, especially when the Network only has Season 1 and the show is already on Season 3. Whoever is in charge of content, scheduling, etc. for the Network is beyond clueless. It's just been so bad, slow, and frustrating lately.

To be fair, Meltzer has never been a great writer. Great reporter, yes. Great writer, no.