SomethingSavage

The GWE project lost me pretty early on. I had planned on participating and was all onboard until I read through a thread wherein a bunch of people were talking about whether voters should be "unqualified" based on not seeing "enough" lucha, puro, joshi, World of Sport, etc. Gross. Thanks but no thanks. I knew then & there the project wasn't for me. I'm a lifelong fan who loves lists, but I'm also a whole grown-ass man who doesn't require anyone to tell me when I've seen enough of anything. On no plane of existence would I need the same group of people who proclaimed Sasha Banks the best wrestler on the planet to decide if I'm qualified to submit a ballot.

Conrad has picked his lane and stayed in it. You can be a wrestling fan without feeling this burning desire to organize a list of your top 100 GWE or argue the merits of Funk versus Flair versus Lawler versus Hansen or whatever. I'm not saying one is superior to the other. But that's fandom. Not all movie fans are art-house critics. It happens. With that being said, yeah. Of course there are times where I roll my eyes at something he says. Conrad has a very antiquated Scott Keith outlook on a lot of things. But there are also times when he offers up an opinion - and you can tell he doesn't really quite know how to express why he likes something or what it is he's trying to say. And I find that fascinating, because it's part of the fun I have in watching wrestling with more casual fans. You can practically see the cogs turning, and they're digging something for all the same reasons as you - even if they can't quite explain why.

I've been enjoying JR's show most weeks, but that Harley Race episode was a brutal chore.

You're right though. These shows are so uninteresting and bland. They keep retreading the same terrain over & over. 97, 98, and 99 has been done to death. Even the 89 episode felt like that. I swear to God, I don't ever again need to hear Conrad lazily regurgitate the same "clever" line about Arn looking 40 years old since birth. That's really the.Conrad shows in a nutshell right now. They feel like snippets and "best of" clips cobbled together. The same stuff keeps being read & repeated. The 2004 shows have felt slightly fresher and new, because at least they're something different. Everything else is meh. It's hard to complain too much when the content is free, but it's also very easy to step away and take a month or two off from listening to any of them. Right now, I've dropped Eric's show and only occasionally try to catch up on these. The JR show is the only one I actively wait for week to week, and even that can be hit or miss. Conrad's formula has become a little too repetitive in general. And his topic selections are too samey across the board. I can see how that makes it easier for guys like Bruce and Eric with their schedules, but woof. It's essentially the audio equivalent of watching today's NXT to me. The stuff you're going to see this week is going to look and sound exactly like the stuff from last week. It's very paint by numbers. Instead of superkicks and thigh slaps & apron bumps, you're just getting a bunch of Meltzer bashing and results reading. That's all.

I mention this as a genuine topic of discussion, so please don't misunderstand me if I sound like a dick. Your optimism is always appreciated around here, and I always look forward to reading your comments about these shows on the board. With all that being said - it still feels like all these matches are happening in a vacuum. There's no sense of canon or actual continuity. Cesaro, Ricochet, Cedric, and Buddy are tearing it up on TV. They're having these great matches on a consistent basis, but none of it feels like it means a thing. Nobody feels like they're gaining actual momentum. Wins, like losses, are irrelevant. Because everyone is right back where they were when next week gets here, regardless of the outcomes or the angles from the week before. I appreciate it in a sense, because I can randomly watch a single match as standalone viewing and find comfort in knowing that I've missed absolutely nothing in the three months I haven't watched. But it's also really deflating, because - well, nothing ever really happens. Great TV workers are having great matches. There's no denying that. But for what? For the purpose of killing time. It's all in the pursuit of simply existing. It's all filler. I don't see any progress. Outside of somebody moving up a spot or two on your next GWE list, what's the point? There really isn't one.

Meh. I agree with a lot of what's been said, but I still enjoy the occasional show here & there. JR's is the best of the bunch right now, for sure. Several months back, Eric had a hot streak going with his podcast. It's truly been awhile since Bruce's was anything great, although I admit I've dug some of the 2004 stuff this year. The podcasts are free. They cost nothing. They're harmless background noise during the course of my week - whether it be for a gym session, my commute, or just general chores. I'm not mad at them when they don't offer insightful or extraordinary content each & every single episode. Of course we can still criticize and analyze them. That's part of the fun in being a fan. But come on. They're not changing the landscape of the fan base or anything. Trolls have always existed. Wrestling fans have always been an obnoxious swarm of pests. They didn't spring up because of Bruce or Conrad. At the end of the day, I'm a lifelong wrestling fan - but, in 2019, I'd honestly prefer to listen to these podcasts about old wrestling than watch anything from 2019. I'd certainly say they hold at least the same level of consistency. But that's just me.

JR did a lot of Starrcast shilling during the Punk episode. Like, A LOT a lot. There wasn't much of interest in terms or insight or stories. You really get the sense that JR was well outside the inner circle by this time. It always bothers me when Conrad doesn't care to correct assumptions or misunderstandings on his shows. He just lets JR goes on this tirade (several times, in fact) about Punk being a WM main eventer in his eyes - by way of the Taker match - despite the fact that it's actually Punk himself (and not the fans, as JR had assumed) who has voiced that he's NOT the main event if he's not on last. Highlight of the episode though? It's got to be JR talking about Hunter and Shawn's issues with Punk's look. The line from Hunter about Punk's white ass being "too big" and "too soft" is just bizarre - and yet, it's exactly the sort of criticism I'd expect from Hunter.

Rob Van Dam and Dean Malenko are looking better & better as previous PWI #1's. I mean, the podcast isn't anything you need to go out of your way to listen to anymore. Although - if you're avoiding Bruce's podcast but then turning around and spending your free time watching WWE television anyway - it's sort of a case of dodging a bullet just to jump onto a live grenade. You're hardly achieving anything. Swapping the sound of Bruce's bullshit to see Seth flop around like a frog in a blender is hardly a net positive.

I still love the Orton/Cena Breaking Point match. It's gritty and tells a great, basic story. Hearing Bruce Prichard make excuses for Billy Gunn's failed singles push over on his podcast, and it's got me wishing they'd suddenly somehow discover that both Seth and Dolph have asthma so they can be booked properly - exclusively in tag team matches.

That first year or so was the best. Bruce was still guarded about opening up, but he was having fun with the voices - and we all sort of got to watch them find their niche within the topics. The Macho episode, the Jarrett profile, the steroid trial, the Vader and Pillman spotlights all immediately spring to mind. I also enjoyed the Bob Holly and Beefcake(!) shows, although I know interest may vary there. I don't know. Bruce's show has mostly just felt like a retread a lot lately. We've all touched on it before, but really - the fact that Conrad keeps selecting the same subjects from the same time period over & over again doesn't do them any favors whatsoever. With all that being said, I endured the SummerSlam 99 episode as background noise. I thought I'd be done with the show after that Jericho abomination, but sometimes I just put on whatever comes up in my rotation. So there we were. Anyway, yeah. You nailed it. There was really nothing new to be found. I also noticed the saltiness whenever Conrad mentioned JR, but you already touched on that. The other interesting thing I heard was when Bruce actually agreed(!) with Austin's idea that a match with Billy Gunn was a dead end. It was an ice cold issue. It was, as Bruce said, "just a match for the sake of a match." Funnily enough, that's how I perceive every WWE card these days. All up and down the card, it's just matches for the sake of matches. So we can get to more rematches. But I digress. The SummerSlam 2004 show was fairly decent. I think it helps that those shows don't feel quite as overexposed, although we're getting there. The 04 series wasn't doing anything for me up until Mania XX. Everything since has been at least worth listening to. It does bug me a bit that Bruce feels the need to pretend Eddie was acting perfectly okay, even after everyone from Konnan and Rey to Chavo and Jericho have openly discussed Eddie's manic depression and anxiety issues on podcasts elsewhere. For years. I understand it's a touchy subject with Bruce, and the dude is always going to defend his friends to the end - Eddie, Booker, Taker, Layfield, etc. But yeah. I'd really like to hear JR sink his teeth into something like Eddie's struggles with his insecurity and whatnot.

It was refreshing to hear something from this time period. I know they covered JR's draft awhile back, but they touch on Jeff and Punk & some other stuff here. I haven't been listening to many wrestling podcasts lately, so perhaps that helped. But yeah. I thought it was pretty good. They're doing a Punk career retrospective next week, which ties in nicely to his deal at Starrcast obviously. I just hope Conrad doesn't lean into 2009 overkill the same way he's done with 97 and 99 before. The Punk episode with Bruce was brutal. It was basically just a bunch of results reading from ROH through ECW and WWE. Just a monotonous slog of a show. Hopefully they steer away from that and just let JR talk a bit more.

Interest has dropped off and people have tuned out in droves. But please. Do tell us again about how well it is working.

Also see the Payback match with Del Rio. It tells a better self-contained story than anything Seth has been involved with since the Shield split. And Dolph actually succeeds in eliciting some babyface sympathy there. Dolph also held up his end as the babyface foil for Miz in their 2016 program. It was the start of Miz *really* discovering himself as a heel again, but Dolph wasn't just a cardboard babyface like Seth would've surely been in that same role.

I still like some of JR's shows here and there, but yeah. I'm certainly starting to feel the burnout when it comes to wrestling podcasts in general. I've taken several breaks, but they're becoming a more regular thing more often lately. There's just so much redundancy in what's being covered & how it's being covered.

I agree that nobody outside the bubble is really following the shows anymore. I've even recently told y'all about my eleven year old nephew (OBSESSED with all things wrestling up until this point) coming up to me and telling me he doesn't watch anymore because it's embarrassing and uncool. But the Fast & Furious franchise is pure fun, man. THAT is pro wrestling done right. WWE wishes it had half the good will they've managed to build with their awkward acting and weird dialogue delivery. It's a simple action premise, centered around themes of family and loyalty. That's it. It's meaningful dramatic beats - complete with fun fights, shocking turns, and cool alliances being forged/shattered. Hate all you want, but pro wrestling hasn't even approached getting it that right in decades. Just seems weird for a wrestling fan to hate on something that's so uniquely pro wrestling at its core.

What's worse is that Conrad was there with Jericho when Chris gave his own version of events, so this was a prime opportunity for Conrad to get Bruce's thoughts on things. The funny "two brownies" story is just one example. But with alllllll the talk about bad booking and Jericho's loss record, it's ridiculous that Conrad didn't even once refer to Jericho's explanation. Instead of asking about Vince's reaction to Jericho's first promo or the hokey facial expressions, Conrad simply rushes past everything to get to the next results reading. It's really disjointed and flat. There's no real time taken for exploration or insight at all.

Bryan is better by far. He's far removed from the potential of his 2013-2014 peak popularity, but he's still awesome in every category. AJ isn't the most exciting answer, but he can do it all. He's not going to turn business around or spike numbers, but no one is anytime soon. Finn is at least a competent in-ring babyface. There's this guy they've continuously fucked up that should've been the ace back in 2015/16 by the name of Roman Reigns. Again, he won't shift planets or move the moon & stars, but he's much fucking better suited for the role than Seth. At least he's capable of looking and functioning like a proper headliner. They've got their work cut out for them if they ever decide to create a new star. Nobody feels like they're even approaching that territory these days. Business is fine, because they're safely buouyed by the right's fees and a reliable fan base. But fuck. Buzz and excitemenet levels are at 0. My nephew has been a wrestling fan his entire life. At age eleven, he has already decided it's uncool and embarrassing to watch. WWE feels like it's at 1995 levels of lame these days.

It may be the only nickname he hasn't tried using yet, but it suits him better than most.

Everyone has heard my thoughts on Seth as a worker in the ring. The guy doesn't comprehend the importance of connecting with a crowd, controlling a crowd, or even playing to reactions. He carries zero weight on the emotional spectrum and fails to establish any sort of relationship with anyone. He isn't skilled enough to elicit sympathy when he's cast as a babyface. He isn't smart enough to tone down his athleticism and agility enough to be a proper heel. And so he sucks in both situations. There is no ideal spot for him, because he just plain sucks. The closest he comes is when he's slotted into a tag team or an opening act cruiserweight situation. But when you start trying to hammer him into a main event role, you REALLY notice the faults & the flaws - again, of which there are many. The guy can't convey or speak and command anyone's attention. He isn't witty enough to crack wise. He isn't eloquent enough to sound engaging. He isn't charismatic enough to rise above any of that stuff. Hell, the dude just looks dumb. Like, Von Erich dumb. And he never comes across as natural or organic. Seth ALWAYS looks like he's being led through interviews and promos, beat by beat and note by note. It isn't enough that he's booked and presented like a puppet - but you practically see the strings in every move he makes & every word he mutters. Compare him to even comedy guys like Shane Helms of the past, and Helms blows away Rollins in every single category. Seth would never be able to hold his own in a live environment with a Rock, Austin, or Jericho the way Helms could. I was going to go as far as to say that running Seth on top in the main event for 2019 is the equivalent of running Hurricane Helms on top in 2003, but fuck. That would be an insult to Helms, because the dude was WAY more over than Seth has even approached since the Shield split. Running Seth on top right now is like running Val Venis in the main event for SummerSlam. He's a guy wrestling people may know and react to, but holy shit. Just no. Seth is just there. He's incapable of being a convincing heel. He's incapable of being a convincing babyface. He's incapable of delivering a believable, natural promo. He's simply INCAPABLE. And that's the exact opposite of what you want in ANY main event act. When Bruce Prichard goes on and on about "attractions" and spectacles, what he's trying to convey and describe is the exact opposite of Seth Rollins. He's the unattraction. He really fucking sucks, y'all.

ROH honestly feels well below Impact in the overall pecking order at this point. Quality-wise, there's no comparison & there really hasn't been for a LONG time. I don't watch Court's show, but is MLW a better/hotter product than ROH right now? I wouldn't be surprised.

Ugh. Yeah, that Jericho episode was brutal. So redundant and by-the-numbers. No new talking points or insight to be found. The only interesting thing from Jericho's early WWF career was the tension with Triple H and friends. But Bruce won't even approach that. The only fun thing from Jericho's early WWF career was the brownie story during the initial meeting with Vince. And, despite the fact that he was there in the house for it, Bruce doesn't even mention it. They basically skip right past anything amusing or slightly interesting & just go over results and stories that have already been told time & time again by Jericho himself. In fact, yeah. Just bypass this and seek out the Talk is Jericho episode with Conrad from 6 months ago. It does a much better job of covering this stuff.

People in theaters definitely popped and applauded when Captain America was revealed to be capable of lifting Thor's hammer in Avengers: Endgame just recently. Talk of that shit was everywhere. So yeah. It still happens. I don't know why anyone in this life or any other would expect the general moviegoing masses to pop for a Roman Reigns cameo in a Fast & Furious flick though. Maybe Dave was hoping they'd confuse him for Jason Momoa. Hell if I know.

I don't know if I was just in a grumpy mood at the gym this morning or what, but the Harley tribute felt like a fucking chore to me. Anyone enjoy it? Maybe I was still half asleep or something. It's the first podcast since Bischoff's Pillman debacle that I've actually turned off and switched up about halfway through. The two shows don't really have any actual parallels in terms of why I found them to be boring or uninteresting - it just so happens that's the last time I remember feeling so disinterested by a podcast. I eventually started slinging some weights around and woke up. Still couldn't go back to it though. Had to just stick with my Pandora playlist instead. Maybe it was the constant jump cuts or just the fact that every Harley story had been told elsewhere & usually with more enthusiasm or flow to it. I don't know.

I haven't been listening since Austin returned, but I'm gonna go out of my way to check this one out. Appreciate the heads up & the review, man. Hogan came off really well in his appearance on 83 Weeks also. It was brief, but Hulk sounded like he was genuinely enthused and delighted in discussing Dusty Rhodes. Hulk talked about his own fandom & his Japan stuff a bit there, too. Very cool and worth seeking out if anyone hasn't heard it.

Agreed. And I addressed that in a post this past week. The dearth of over acts in WWE has led to people prematurely overrating acts like Becky and Seth, simply because they're thirsting to death for something - for ANYTHING - to be over. In actuality, nothing is all that over at the moment. Nothing is resonating. I've mentioned before that I felt like Seth found his groove for awhile there in 2018. The tag team with Dean was his absolute peak for me, but even the IC reign was damn decent. Because that was his spot. He owned it. He doesn't belong anywhere near a main event role though. He simply isn't suited or well-rounded enough for it. The Jeff Hardy comparison is really REALLY reaching though. Jeff in 09 was second to only maybe Cena. Seth has never really felt close to that as a solo act. His merch definitely isn't anywhere near Jeff's level. Regarding Seth, I think some people are confusing the Pavlovian responses to any tangible type of over-ness. They were smart enough to tweak his entrance music in a way that would incite a response from the crowd. Suddenly, people started shouting along to the "Burn it down!" line, and what do ya know? Folks are confusing that for him being actually over. Fast forward five minutes into the weeds of his match though, and he's getting "Boring" chants while trading athletic dosey-do's with Dolph. Go figure.