RocketCrypt

Technically this may not count, but Hulk Hogan initially going over Sting clean in the main event of Starrcade 97 has to be one of the worst cases of the wrong guy going over, irrespective of the fact that the match was restarted. Especially when you factor in the notion of a "fast count" being null and void. For what was an excellent build, and Sting eventually getting the win on the night, the initial finish typified WCW both in isolation and on a wider scale. When you factor in Sting looking like crap, Hulk Hogan's typical backstage shenanigans, and the biggest babyface in wrestling on the back of Montreal, Bret Hart, acting like a whiny cry baby, this ended up being one of the worst pay offs in wrestling history.

I know he has a reputation of being a right bollocks backstage, but I absolutely adore Bob Holly. Always thought he was under appreciated as a wrestler. Terrible promo, but that always added to his charm for me. I was more excited than anyone should have been when he faced Brock for the belt at Royal Rumble in 2004, even though there was no chance he was ever going over. Shame he was back in the lower mid-card just a few months later, slumming it with the likes of Mordecai. I would also recommend his book from a couple of years ago, one of the better ones I've read in a while.

Are you saying that there can only be one wrestling match given the full five stars? I'm not sure I understand this line of thinking. Sure, certain five star matches can be better than others. But if something is worthy of the rating, it should get it, irrespective of whether there are other five star matches superior to it. Parv's music analogy is spot on. As for the show itself, I've only listened to the first three episodes thus far, so will eventually get to this one in due course.

Jericho is a guy who is perceived by many fans, particularly the casual ones, and the company itself, as one of the biggest names of the twenty first century. He certainly thinks that too, judging from the way he talks about himself on the podcast. I've never been the biggest fan of his work, but there is no doubt he has achieved everything there is to achieve in wrestling. Pretty much anyone who has ever watched wrestling knows who Chris Jericho is. I don't think the same can be said for rock/metal fans, many of which I know from experience do not have the foggiest who Fozzy are. Plus, I would imagine a high proportion of Fozzy fans are wrestling fans first and foremost. They came to my hometown a few years ago and a friend of mine wanted to go and see them, just to see Jericho, even though he actively dislikes the band. To say he has reached the same level in both fields is ludicrous.

The thing I find sad is that, judging from his podcast and books, Jericho genuinely ranks his wrestling and music success on a par with each other.

I echo most of the Vince sentiments. You can question his business practices, but when it comes to his on-screen performances, there are few better. This question really is a no brainer. The only big downside I can see for Vince is that his success as a heel authority figure has paved the way for nearly two decades of promotions trying to recapture that spark, and for the most part, failing. I could kind of understanding someone voting for Shane. He had some fun and sometimes sick brawls in the attitude era and beyond, but his body of work doesn't stand up to that of Vince's, regardless of whether you analyse his performances from an artistic or business perspective. His match against Test at Summerslam 1999 stands out as his greatest performance. Although it did get a bit ridiculous towards the end of his in-ring run where he was presented as an equal to the likes of Kane. Stephanie has certainly improved in recent years compared to where she was upon first debuting. But when you start at the very bottom, you can only really go up. The current Authority run has already outstayed its welcome, yet her and Triple H look like they will be pushed even harder this year in the run up to some high profile matches at Mania 32. Also, her well documented, weekly emasculation of the WWE roster often does very little for me. The votes for Linda have to be ribs. I'd love to hear a compelling argument that she is the 'best performer' of the four.

That rare feeling when you realise that you are witnessing history take place. I often feel as though I missed out on a huge chunk of historically significant moments in wrestling, and have to settle for watching them retrospectively. Regardless of how you go about viewing this footage, there is something to be said for watching it in the moment. A certain magic, if you will. But occasionally, something will happen in the present where time appears to stand still. I look back on it now and laugh, but the moment where the referee slammed his hand to the mat for a third time, signalling the end of The Undertaker’s streak, is still an indescribable feeling. I was sitting in a room with a part time fan and a lapsed fan of the attitude era, and all three of our reactions were the same. Complete silence for a good minute. Special moments like this one which do not come about very often, and reaffirm the notion that wrestling, when executed correctly, Is the best medium of storytelling. Often against my better judgement, this is one reason why I continue to persevere with the current product.

To add to this, I really wish the main event of WM2000 was a Rock/Triple H singles match, not that "McMahon in every corner" bullshit 4-way. Furthermore, I regret that Mick Foley did not stay retired.

A regret of mine is that we did not get to see the Shield square off with The Wyatt Family for an extended period of time. I'm talking upwards of five years, on and off. I am probably lower on Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family more than most (though I am a big supporter of Luke Harper), but the feud with the Shield was the only point of their run that I was invested in the team whatsoever. It was excellent while it lasted, but had the potential to be something very special had they not panicked and broke up the Shield. I'm still not sure why they decided to split the Wyatt Family up either, but at least their amicable parting of the ways leaves the option for them to reform at any point. It would take years and years for any sort of Shield reunion to be at all believable (see Evolution in 2014). Overall, the Shield was excellent while it lasted, but I feel there was a lot of missed opportunities for both teams. You could have kept the Wyatt Family together for at least another five years and then given Rowan a Virgil-esque babyface turn.

No matter which incarnation of the gimmick he is portraying, I have never been a fan of The Undertaker. He's tolerable at the best of times, but more often than not I find him to be groan inducing, fast forward material. He typifies my hatred of supernatural tropes in wrestling.

Particularly after Austin was praised for the job he did in the first two Network podcasts, and that Jericho has developed somewhat of a reputation for being a company shill.

Yes. This. TNA and Lucha Underground have polar opposite philosophies when it comes to producing their backstage segments. LU film their's like a TV drama with multiple camera shots whereas TNA have the 'Hervey cam', where the wrestlers often don't know they are being filmed because the cameraman is hiding or filming them from afar. Both work like a treat. TNA especially should be commended for this. WWE are in this murky middle ground where the wrestlers face the camera, but blur the lines as to whether those in the scene are aware that their interactions are being broadcast on the big screen. It's horrible and reeks of laziness. WWE's utilization of backstage segments is something I'd like to explore in greater detail, and may start a separate topic on in the near future.

Austin has said on Twitter that he will be addressing recent events concerning his relationship with WWE on his podcast this week.

A lot of mine are related to wrestling fandom: - Fans still calling wrestlers by their indy names, even though it's been years since they were last used. If you're still talking about Tyler Black, Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson in 2015, you really need to have a word with yourself. I wonder how many OVW fans still refer to Cena as The Prototype. - WWE revisionist history bugs me, but not nearly as much as people's willingness to accept it as gospel. - "This is awesome" chant - Dutch Mantell said it best, if you saw two people kicking the crap out of each other in the street, would you stop and chant "This is awesome" clap clap clap clap clap? - The entire Reddit subculture of wrestling fans. Where memes and gifs take precedent over everything else. EDIT: One that is separate from the others, the self-fulfilling prophecy of positioning part timers in prominent positions at Wrestlemania.

We're in The Podcast Era.

I always use a Walking Dead analogy when the ''fake" argument is used. "That's like refusing to watch The Walking Dead because they don't use real zombies" etc.

This doesn't bode well for the matches I fear will go unnecessarily long, specifically Hunter/Sting but also Taker/Wyatt and even Lesnar/Reigns.

To be fair, Scott defaults to saying that about every single guest we or he have on. He told fucking Joe Dombrowski he could come on monthly at one point. I think you could hear my head hit the table when he said that one. I'm still waiting for the hotly anticipated return of Brian Papa.

Legitimately started laughing when I saw man of the hour "Aubrey Sitterson" in the preview. I might have to pick up a copy. The rest of the issue looks interesting and his article might provide some comic relief.

Four Way Tag: I can see the Usos regaining the straps at some point, particularly with Rikishi knocking around for Mania weekend. Seems like an obvious feel good moment for them to win the belts either with their dad in attendance, or even getting involved. Saying that, they could save it for Raw, which would be a mistake given the crowd will likely be extremely pro-Kidd and Cesaro. Prediction: The Usos Women's Tag: Hard to predict given there is nothing on the line. Could easily go either way on a whim. Given that AJ and Paige were at loggerheads with each other on the go-home Raw I'll go with them winning. Also, it'll almost certainly be in a buffer slot, so the faces winning seems logical. Prediction: AJ/Paige The Missed Opportunity Ladder Match: May as well pick a name out of a hat for this one. The logical choice would be Bryan. But if logic meant anything to this company, Bryan would be challenging Brock, so who knows. I do think it'll be one of the trio of faces - Bryan/Ambrose/Ziggler. I also expect this to be the first match on the actual card. Prediction: Bryan (Ignoring the potential Sheamus factor) Battle Royal: I don't see them topping last year's inaugural effort. The Miz/Mizdow storyline will likely come to a head here, with Mizdow eliminating Miz. This could be the finish, but there are guys I see winning above Mizdow. I think it's Meltzer who's been saying that Reigns/Big Show might be the direction after Mania, so if that's true, it makes sense for him to win. If they have plans for Ryback, he's another possibility. Prediction: Big Show (Sheamus if he's in it) US Title: Seems a real waste if they're going to have Cena go over here. I'm a big Cena fan but Rusev has comfortably been my MVP for the past 12 months and if they're going to feed him to anyone, it may as well be Reigns further down the line (if he's ending the night as champ). Give Cena as many visual pinfalls as you want, but it would be a mistake to have him go over. Sadly, I think he will. Either way, this is comfortably my most anticipated match. Prediction: Cena Orton/Rollins: Second most anticipated match of the night from a quality standpoint. Somehow Orton has managed to stay really over despite the terrible booking since Fast Lane. Tough to call, but expect Rollins to go over. Lots of shenanigans. No cash in at Mania, but wouldn't rule it out on Raw. Prediction: Rollins Taker/Bray: Could not care less about this match. Bray Wyatt is my least favorite full time guy in WWE right now, and I have no desire to see Taker. The outcome depends entirely on what they are thinking of doing at Mania 32. Seems logical that they'll want Taker there in some fashion, possibly a retirement match and HOF double, a la Flair. If so, he'll go over here. But can just as easily see Wyatt squash him. Prediction: Taker Sting/Triple H: I agree with the notion that it's ridiculous to call this a 'dream match', but I'd rather watch this twice over than see Taker/Wyatt at all. Seriously, do not care about this one either. Intrigued to an extent, but not expecting a whole lot. I fear the match will get considerable time, to its detriment. You never know with Triple H, but he gains nothing with a win and loses nothing with a defeat, and there is potential for Sting to have a more extended run, so this seems a fairly obvious outcome. Surely... Prediction: Sting WWE Title: I have read and heard a million different potential outcomes to this match over the last month. I really wouldn't be able to buy in to a Shield reunion. Reigns and Rollins seem to have been somewhat kept apart since they disbanded, but the Rollins/Ambrose feud had too much substance to it to make a reunion believable, particularly this soon. A double turn seems logical, which means it won't happen. I think any mega-angle that they might be planning will be saved for Raw. Prediction: Reigns

Loving the shows so far. About to dive in to the Starrcade one shortly. I don't know if this is the right place to mention this, but I just finished listening to Will's appearance on the Place to be Nation's The Main Event show, and I don't think I've ever found myself shaking my head in disagreement as much when listening to a podcast. As well as coming across as being genuinely unlikable, the dude who spent the majority of the show at odds with Will appeared to have a completely opposite philosophy on wrestling to myself. Whether it was towing the WWE company line, or just being sucked in by their rhetoric, I got the impression he could easily be on their payroll. I think it was mentioned that he used to be employed by them at one point or another. If it wasn't for a couple of the other guests and the host holding it together, I would have had to tap out after five minutes. I'd be interested to know if anyone else felt a similar way.

I want to get behind this project, but Jarrett isn't making it easy. He claims to have a database of 500 wrestlers who could potentially be used yet he's charging people for tryouts already. Any word on when the next announcement announcing an announcement will be?

It'll be interesting to see what they do with the title during his absence. Hopefully they can use this extended spell on the sidelines to distance Bryan from Brie Bella. I get that they're married and what not, but I still don't understand the rationale behind having Brie alongside him for every match/segment post-Mania. Is it meant to complete Bryan's ultimate underdog story in the sense that he "got the title and he got the girl"? If so, I don't think it's working. It wouldn't surprise me if they did it just so the horror spoof angle could be done with Kane. Or is it merely to promote Total Divas? I understand them not acknowledging the relationship between Cena and the other Bella, but they hardly ever mention the Uso/Naomi marriage either.

My name is Tom and I live in Wales. Wrestling has been an integral part of my life from a very young age and despite a few dips in interest throughout the years, it has always remained a constant presence. I am still relatively young in comparison to the majority of the board, having not quite finished my teen years. My introduction to pro wrestling was a tape of Wrestlemania 14, where I bizarrely found myself enthralled by the dumpster match between the New Age Outlaws and Foley/Funk. My dad then taped Summerslam 1999, which was airing that Sunday night, and the rest is history. I have since gone back and watched the majority of WWF, WCW and ECW (at least every PPV or big show the promotions have done), whilst also watching a significant amount of AJPW, NJPW, NWA, SMW as well as other random stuff. I have watched WWE from 1999 to the present day, although I did take a couple of breaks during this period (a brief run in 2003 and also parts of 2006-2007). I also watched TNA from 2005-2010, often against my better judgement, as well as ROH from 2005-present, and NJPW for the past couple of years. My interest in contemporary wrestling is at its lowest ebb since I first starting watching the product. Luckily, I can't get enough of seeking out as much older footage as I possibly can, and look forward to discussing it on this board. I feel I'll learn a lot from participating in discussions here. Recently I've developed an obsession with wrestling podcasts with my favorite being Where the Big Boys Play. The Place to be Podcast is enjoyable too. That's pretty much everything. Oh, I'm a little confused by the whole Yearbook thing. If anyone could shed any light on them, that'd be great.