Zoo Enthusiast

I really want to see the Titans of Wrestling era of stuff, so I'm hoping that gets up there, though I'm not expecting it nor will it be a deal-breaker at any point for me.

Oh shit, outside of the Cactus match at the Rumble what is there? I know his 2000 stuff wiht The Rock was praised at the time, but I don't think it's going to hold up too well. He did have a good match with Austin with the 2/3 Falls? Does that hold up? I like the Austin match as well as the Foley match at No Way Out 2000.

Has anyone clarified if the Raw episodes uploaded on the Network are full or the edited ones that go on Hulu Plus now? Not that I have seen. I'm planning on just continuing to DVR it on my DirecTV, most likely.

Great show. I'm with Bix as far as his optimism goes. Maybe it's something that comes with being 29 for some random reason. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't want to get as much content on the platform as soon as possible, because it will likely take more than what they have at roll-out to retain the kind of subscription numbers they need past that six month window. And the goal has to also be gaining more subs via word of mouth - the hardcores talking to their lapsed fan buddies and telling them to give it a shot. Too much is being made of what their numbers are at launch, and I think the forest kind of gets missed for the trees at times. They have to keep on selling the network, and that's what has to drive them to put out current wrestling that is compelling. It's not like they can just go into shutdown/coast mode after Mania just because they got $60 out of 750 K people (as a number out of thin air) one time. They have to keep the Network vital, especially since they have essentially closed off the entire model of traditional PPV. Though I agree with everyone that we don't need more Scott Keiths running around.

I was just curious, because I plan on dropping my Torch sub when the Network starts, and probably my Netflix one. Not because of price, but just time constraints. Actually will probably dial down my DirecTV package, as well. I sub to MLB.tv and will have The Network, so I don't have time for much else on my dish aside from watching my local baseball team's games. I already watch Raw on DVR and don't see that I'll have any incentive to start watching it live (as much as I do enjoy the show, I just can't enjoy it watching it for 3 + hours live). I'll keep my Observer sub, though.

I don't recall the number of contracted dates becoming public on the new deal.

I thought the same thing. He and Powell were both kvetching on that show about how they were invited on such short notice... Even though everyone knew about the announcement for at least a month. The fact is, no one was really all that "on top" of this deal, aside from Dave having some hints but nothing concrete. Or if you choose to believe WrestleZone actually had the facts. I wonder if Wade or Dave think the fact that the Network is cheaper than their services will have an impact on them at all. Wrestlezone DID actually have all the facts. I'm not sure what you're saying, it's not like they didn't show their hand. I'm saying what Dave said on the Board - that they didn't really have anything different than he did. Not trying to be completely dismissive of them.

I also like to think that he has no idea about the fact that his deleted tweets are still on the WWE page. I have no idea how WWE screwed up such an easy character as "Big Dumb Bully." The best part of the whole Bully Ryback segments was the one at SummerSlam where he complains about his soup being cold and he's told that it's supposed to be cold because it's Gazpacho soup. His reaction was the best character work he's done in WWE, and it's kind of too bad that segment happened at SummerSlam instead of on Raw because then I think more people would remember it. I also tried finding a video of it on youtube, etc. but it was only a couple of small clips and not the whole thing. Totally agree. The Big Guy doesn't like cold soup.

I thought the same thing. He and Powell were both kvetching on that show about how they were invited on such short notice... Even though everyone knew about the announcement for at least a month. The fact is, no one was really all that "on top" of this deal, aside from Dave having some hints but nothing concrete. Or if you choose to believe WrestleZone actually had the facts. I wonder if Wade or Dave think the fact that the Network is cheaper than their services will have an impact on them at all.

The Big Guy rules. Seemed to me he was just trolling and got a lot of people to bite.

Wicked.

He looks happy! I mean... "Goddamnit, I'm happy!"

I don't even think Dave thinks in terms of sophisticated positions. John To them sophistication boils down to whether or not you're "smart." They consider sophisticated fans to be the ones worried about "logic" in the Daniel Bryan-Wyatt angle, instead of ones willing to go with it because they expect some awesome promos and skits along the way. The default position among hardcores for 20 years has been "the booking is awful" and "my guy is being buried." The insistence on being smarter than the booker has caused the internet fan to miss some awfully cool stuff that was right under their noses. Somewhere in the past year, I lost that whole aspect of my fandom, thankfully. Now, I just really like watching wrestling and find something I enjoy in almost all of it that I watch. Once you get past the entitled wrestling fan way of being, it's a hell of a lot more fun. Once in a while I'll be disappointed in something, but it doesn't deter me from enjoying the shows for the most part. I still subscribe to the Observer, and enjoy Dave and the newsletter (and even some of the board) very much. Bryan, not so much. To the point that I don't listen to much of anything there aside from the Dave shows (the Sin Limite shows are the best, obviously) and Alan's show (most of the time, depending on the topic). The negativity from Bryan is just too much for me to handle anymore. It's professional fucking wrestling, not anything important in the big scheme of life.

Every dollar is the same. Ric being Ric. Thanks, figured I'd drop some Mitchell/Meltzer.

Only makes sense to have him change gear. Would be pretty silly to have a boots and tights guy in the Wyatt Family.

"Ted, tell me 'bout the damn Kliq."

"Any good road stories?"

Every dollar is the same. Ric being Ric.

I'm not trying to say Bryan is some kind of intentionally bad influence, but whenever Meltzer is interviewed or talks wrestling with someone else, he really does come across much more positive and differently. I should have put current day wrestling. While I understand that modern stateside wrestling can be frustrating, I just don't think it's as bad as they make it seem to be at times. Absolutely they play off of each other in a bad way, creating a spiral of negativity. The obsession with whether or not wrestling angles are "logical" has killed their ability to enjoy anything about the sport. Absolutely. Also, every single active wrestler has been "buried" so many times that I have no idea how they haven't all suffocated.

Definitely was expecting "were you a brawler or a technician? Or a brawling technician?"

Love that hospital story. Don't think I have heard it before (forgive the late slip).

This was just so superb. I was ready to call it a night, but now I want to stay up and keep watching. I so love those Bobby Eaton short uppercuts.

I don't think it's even that long-term of a thing (as you would hope breaking up a "family" would involve).