SomethingSavage

Rick Remender's run on Captain America is this big, bold, adventurous, ambitious story arc. It almost operates like a Superman book. The idea of Cap and what he represents - a symbol of heroism and justice - is this larger than life, prevailing theme. And I really appreciate that. Right away, Cap's foes and battles are given new life and greater scope. Arnim Zola and his Dimension Z serve as a ripe new world for Cap to explore and inhabit. It provides a clean break away from the usual and the norm in Cap's corner of the main 616 Marvel Universe, which comes like a welcome change of pace. Plus, it's always cool to imagine this is just Cap fending off Krang in Dimension X. But maybe that's just me. In all honesty, I dig the weight and the gravity given to Zola's world here. He's basically so sick & tired of actual existence on Earth that he's effectively established his own reality in Dimension Z. Here, he has engineered his own "family" and followers. It's hardly an all-original concept or anything, but it works and sets the wheels in motion for everything that follows. The novelty of seeing Cap displaced in another dimension affords the readers the chance to sit in on some neat world-building, but I also like the simplicity in Remender's approach to hitting the reset button on Cap's classic "man out of time" theme. That is essentially the goal with this storyline in the first place. Cap lives out a lifetime - experiencing every day in full. He experiences. He learns. He grows. And, in that time, he takes care of one of Zola's creations and basically raises the boy as his son. He adopts the child as his own - teaches him to hunt, to defend himself, and to uphold certain values in life. It's hardly ideal, but Cap carves out a wonderful slice of life for himself in Dimension Z. But then, it's all so tragically ripped away from him. I won't delve into every single detail, but Cap is separated from his son. Steve Rogers has lived this full life in another dimension, while his friends & "family" back home have only aged 15 minutes. And so he's (once again) left feeling cold, empty, and alone - once again a man out of his own time. There's a particularly powerful little exchange between Cap and Sam Wilson, wherein Cap confesses his heartbreak and grief over losing his surrogate son and just feeling like he doesn't belong at home in this world anymore. It's wrenching and gripping and simultaneously so engaging to see Cap seem so vulnerable in such emotional fashion. Not everything is a homerun. The Iron Nail is a bit of a misfire in execution, although I admire the actual idea in theory. His idea of enslaving the rich and physically laboring them to death is actually very cool (and perfectly on point for a politically-inspired hero like Cap). So I can overlook some of the artistic flaws in the character design in order to appreciate the bigger beats of the story there. I've been busy reading, so I admittedly haven't done much digging to find out the details about the mantle temporarily going to The Falcon. I always assumed it was just another editorial edict from Marvel at the same time they were making Iron Man a teenage black girl, The Hulk became an Asian guy, and on & on & on. It was the diversity drive, right? Apologies if that timing doesn't line up, but that's just me guessing. Besides, I really don't have an issue with temporarily sidelining Cap and giving Sam Wilson the green light to go with the gig for awhile. It's a refreshing breather that lets Cap basically become weathered old man Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond. He basically becomes modern day Clint Eastwood. It's great. And it allows for the stories to focus a bit more on Steve Rogers as a strategist and a true blue, time-tested, battle-scarred commander. Grumpy Gran Torino Cap is A-okay in my book, as he really gets to flex his wisdom & experience for awhile there. Oh. And Mindbubble. My god. Doctor Mindbubble is one tremendously TRIPPY villain. I loved him right away. He's got these warped, wicked, wacky psychedelic super powers. But at the end of the day? He's just a manipulative wimp & a smarmy little coward that can't handle the pressure of being punched in the fucking face. LOVE IT. He's just this groovy, funky, fantastic bad guy that I would love to see resurrected or used again in a major capacity somehow. Mindbubble's origin story is outrageous, too - since it literally involves the mixing of LSD and the Super Soldier serum. The peak of his involvement comes when he traps Cap in a "For The Man Who Has Everything" dream state, which is obviously kind of a discount version of the iconic Superman story. But this also provides a neat snapshot into Steve Rogers' sheer willpower & really galvanizes his deepest desires at this particular point in time. Anyway, yeah. There are some really enjoyable elements here, even if we are taken down a few roads that feel too familiar and seem to exist as retreaded terrain. Trust me. The overall direction is progressive and worth sticking around to see. It all hangs together quite strongly in the end, and that's ultimately all I want out of my reading these days.

It's unfortunate that Eric misunderstood Conrad's question when he was asked to compare & contrast the evil boss characters of Bischoff & McMahon around the 97/98 time period. Instead, Eric went with it as if the question was about Bischoff versus Russo. And a long-winded rant ensued. Plus, there's really no comparison. Eric's confusion doesn't really bother me much, but Conrad being too lazy to guide him back or restate the question is aggravating. I would have been interested in hearing Bischoff discuss the differences & parallels of those two characters at their respective peaks.

Why sure! Seth is absolute shit. And he has been for a long, long time. Even his portion of that gauntlet match at the start of the year was VASTLY overrated. Same goes for the Raw match with Finn a week or two removed from that. Miz and Elias (of all people) were the only two people to drag Rollins to anything remotely "good" all year, and both instances were because they had guys operating & functioning as traditional heels there. They slowed him the fuck down and told a story (how about that?). Left to his own devices, THIS match with Dean is the sort of horse shit he'll produce though. Mygoddamngod, it's truly fucking awful. He hovers around & haunts us like the specter of every terrible Davey Richards trait imaginable, yet people are still somehow convinced he should be in main events again. People confuse a couple of crowd reactions for being over. Seth Rollins is not over. Hell, he's barely a character or a personality at all. People don't connect or invest in anything to do with Seth Rollins. They cheer exciting moves and scream along at his entrance. That's it. Seth Rollins can't convey emotion, stakes, drama, or hatred to save his fucking life. He showed that in the original Ambrose feud. And again in this one. And it was on FULL display in the Triple H program, for sure. He wrestled what should have been a heated grudge match like it was just another exhibition at the Rex Plex. Dude just doesn't get it. He may be athletic as fuck. And maybe he can flip tires or Crossfit his heart out. But pro wrestling just ain't his jam, man. I offer up that familiar long-winded rant, but it really all comes down to this: Seth Rollins is the ultimate example of a pro wrestler who is all motion & zero emotion. One is effective for killing time. The other is effective for drawing money, drawing interest, and sustaining both of those things. In closing. Seth Rollins is absolute shit. I'd rest my case, but we all know next month will just provide more evidence to support the facts. Good times!

The story of Ken doll Eric Bischoff, wearing nothing but a friend's wife's full-length mink coat & wielding an Uzi, answering the door for a Pizza Hut delivery is fucking bonkers. And I love it. There's been a solid chain of episodes here lately. The Starrcade 97 one wandered a little too deep into the old "Meltzer rant" territory that they'd temporarily left behind, but I'm numb to that nonsense now. I just accept it as part of the shtick & enjoy the other, more interesting discussion pieces. If anything, the pendulum has swung in the other direction for me. I mean, I still roll my eyes at Eric's exaggerated disdain for Dave from time to time. But Conrad's Scott Keith-level "insight" is just the dirt worst. It's like literally digging up the fossils of articles written in 1997/98 and reading those opinions out loud. But hey. I take the good with the bad. For the most part, there's some really good stuff in these latest episodes.

ROH will always choose the blandest, most uninspired path possible. Instead of bringing someone in as a monster heel to storm the gates & challenge for the big belt - or cycle dudes in & out like an assembly line of challengers for a few hot months - let's just recreate the Hangmen Three or some horse shit. Good times.

Ken Kennedy/Anderson is forever king of the Stone Cold/Rock cosplay act, but yeah. Eli Drake has always subscribed to the same set of mannerisms & styles for the most part. I do still think he's an exceptional talent overall though. Dude's got plenty of personality, and he carries himself like the largest star in the room at all times. He does the brash, arrogant, loud & obnoxious bit VERY believably. The Rock cadence & tempo is dated, but there are enough positive attributes in the guy. His work is what it is. He's got some cool MOVEZ for a power guy, to be honest - although he can often look fairly uncoordinated and clunky (like a Cena in terms of athleticism). But I've also been a fan since first discovering him as Shaun Ricker. So I'm admittedly invested in seeing the dude find some semblance of success wherever he goes.

Preparing them for future treatment on the main roster, then..? In all seriousness, I think NXT has had a far better track record with this than main stage WWE, where everything happens on a treadmill without any markers, milestones, or conclusions in sight.

For someone like Gargano though, this was the wisest move to make. He's instantly elevated by this run in NXT alone. A solid run on the Network brings him higher value wherever he goes next. He's practically guaranteed to look like a bigger star if he goes to iMPACT, back to PWG, onto ROH, or wherever next. The (unlikely) alternative is that he makes big money on the main roster. But, either way, every bit of it was worth a shot for someone in his position. In that sense, the move's already successful for him.

Yeah, I haven't caught the DX show just yet. But the Survivor 93 ep was decent. The Lawler talk basically made the show. And my main takeaway was how much better the Harts/King deal could've been with the proper, planned payoff. Patterson's idea of gradually revealing the Knights one by one - with each elimination - really would've elevated the whole ordeal. Like Pat's idea for the Rumble entrants, I think it would've been a creative way to keep the crowd engaged and popping throughout the match.

The AWA episode really was excellent. And I'm in agreement with your other points also. This was essentially his origin story. Everything I enjoyed about the Prichard Houston show back in the day was here. That translated to an engaging, wholly enjoyable listen. It ranks right up there with the Hogan run-in on the Dusty episode as a peak moment for me. Eric's long-winded responses are absolutely part of his charm, too. I mean, yeah. It can be maddening at times when he loses the thread, but he almost always finds his way back in the end. It's not a case of him dodging bullets or anything. It's just his style. His answers are often packed with insight and information, even if the business-speak could understandably turn some folks off at times. Bischoff is still a fun storyteller when the situations presents itself though. The Ninja Star Wars sales pitch to Verne and the boys rinsing up in the livestock showers in freezing cold weather are two prime examples of that. Plus I don't know if I've ever heard a more accurate description of Diamond Dallas Page's personality than we got here. I can both appreciate Page for his positivite contributions and still find the dude to be too much at times. Anyway, this was a good one. Well worth the listen without feeling unnecessarily long or drawn out.

Johnny Wrestling has 205 Live written all over him. That's hardly the worst fate in the world, but it's still practically WWE purgatory for the most part. It's a paying gig though, and so ya can't fault anyone for whatever success they find there. I'm still holding onto hope that Murphy can parlay his run there into something tangible on the "real" roster someday. Dream is an interesting case. He SEEMS like a guy Vince would value and find something for, but you never really know anymore. There's literally no rhyme or reason to their selection process anymore. Some of the most versatile performers are given nothing, some are given the shittiest material as some trial or test to overcome, and some are outright cast aside in favor of the same old shit.

I don't come here to argue, man. The post didn't make any sense when I first read it. I totally understand it now that you've laid it out like that. Apologies if my response was a little much. No apologies for the XFL being a joke & not on my radar though. My work/life schedule is plenty crazy enough without giving any time to that nonsense.

Maybe you should've elaborated and actually said THAT in your previous post. Go back and read your last response. It was all over the place - just one big run-on with random stuff about Vince. It made no sense without the context you just framed around it. Whether you realize it or not, we don't all exist in a bubble or hover around wrestling Twitter 24/7. We're not all clued into the XFL bullshit & its specific timetables. I follow WWE very casually and have since 2014. If you want someone to follow what it is you have to say, maybe try forming a complete thought and presenting it as such, rather than typing out some ridiculous run-on sentence that looks like a bunch of Vince facts or whateverthefuck. Am I being dense for expecting you to possess the social skills to converse with people who aren't obsessed with wrestling reddit or Twitter? I don't know. Maybe. But it's equally ignorant for you to just automatically assume everyone here lives like that & knows all that shit.

Except that Vince being old and concentrated on the XFL doesn't exactly line up with him, Steph, and Hunter staging this grandiose return to WWE television or anything.

That was so, sooo good. But a lot of that had to do with it being built on the back of Chuck's rich history with PWG and all them feels.

That looks like the most nonsensical, cobbled-together statement ever. I can't make heads or tails what you're even talking about there. Might as well have said, "The Rumble is coming up and Vince likes Shark Week and his favorite color is powder blue." I mean, sure. It's a statement you've made, but it's not really saying anything to anyone.

Except that your theory doesn't really hold any weight when we can put it to the actual test and PROVE there are people who regularly choose to watch SmackDown but skip Raw. I'm one of them. I've seen plenty of other posters - both here & at various other sites - that talk openly about doing the same week to week. Same thing occurred back in 2002. And again in 2016. Why would it be unreasonable for people to simply watch the better program but pass on the shittier show? It absolutely can & does happen.

The last time they were in this situation - Raw sucked, SD consistently delivered - was the Fall/Spring of 2016/17. And their brilliant solution was to "shake up" the rosters just enough to make sure both shows sucked again. ... So those of you holding out hope for a shakeup may want to be careful what you wish for. I mean, at least SmackDown is good for now. Enjoy that and let Raw continue to dog it. If one show has to be a total mess for the other to be serviceable, then so be it. Just please, for the love of god, keep Seth Rollins and your fantasy booking of him in the Mania main event far, far away from the actual A-show.

I actually REALLY dig the D-Generation X In Your House, so I may check that one out. I don't expect the show to be anything new or extraordinary, since they've gone over that time period again & again like '98. Still, the show itself is a guilty pleasure of mine. And it's not all for nostalgia purposes. Even on my 97 rewatch back around 2015, I remember it really sneaking up and surprising me. Brian Christopher's "Jerry's kid" act is a blast, and Taka is great. The Slaughter match ain't pretty, but it's fun enough. Austin steamrolling the Nation is a glorious whirlwind of chaos on your screen. And, as obnoxious as Shawn could be, the match with Shamrock was basically the bastard child to his One Night Only performance against Bulldog - a bunch of pinball bumps and frantic energy for a few minutes. Either way, I still find some value in this podcast. It has dropped drastically, but there are worse efforts out there. But yeah. I would be surprised if it's legitimately still the "most downloaded" or whatever for too much longer. The content and the output simply isn't there. I've said it before, but I still wish they'd target some of the gaps in Bruce's tenure & mine those for fresh material.

Only for the ECW episodes. Tony seems to express a genuine joy watching those shows. Everything else consists of too much Conrad for my taste. His humble bragging about owning guy's gear, his annoying frat boy friends, the constant 8th grade level dick jokes, etc. is just not my thing at all.

The product and the presentation is still so stagnant though. Insertion of new talent is key. That much is true. And so this is certainly a step in the right direction. But perhaps cycling out the booker should be of equal importance. It feels like that should be a critical priority at this point. There's something to be said for creative oversight, supervision, and stability. But this isn't that. This is one guy steering the ship in the same (safe, but awfully uneventful) direction for far too long. It's time for some new approaches or ideas to surface already.

I'm baffled by ANYONE'S fondness for Seth Rollins, so yes. The correct response is always & forever yes.

Okay. I'll gladly play devil's advocate here. In no way, shape, form, or fashion do I believe it's an unreasonable expectation for Impact to be resistant to that idea. LAX is basically their top tag team. They've been a prominently featured act for 2 years now. I mean, come on. I get that they allow their guys to take bookings elsewhere, but it's totally understandable why they'd have a problem with this one playing out that way.

I had it on in my ear buds while I was at the gym this morning. In a word? Brutal. It's another episode that is mostly Conrad reading results - in such a monotonous & repetitious manner that he trips up and reads some results as if Christian "beat Christian" more than once. And it just goes totally unnoticed. There's A LOT of retread from the Edge episode. Fairly fitting, when you think about it, that the conversation KEPT drifting back to what Edge was up to at the time. The episode *does* manage to zoom in on Vince's fixation with Christian a bit though. It's another one of his bizarre hang-ups with someone's physical features. And the fact that it follows Christian for his entire career is just baffling. On Christian's literal last night with the company in 2005, Bruce even tells a story of approaching Christian backstage and pondering if maybe his career with the company could've turned out different (and more successful), IF ONLY he'd have cut his hair back in 2002 like Vince had asked. Christ. They just keep harping on & on & ON about cutting his hair. Vince & co. were definitely bitter and butthurt over Christian a) not cutting his hair when asked, and b) letting them know that anti-American heat is boring and generic. Oh. And apparently I'm the only one who saw some entertainment value in the Spirit Squad gimmick. It's a guilty pleasure, if nothing else... Kind of interesting to hear that the Page/Christian program was a case of trying to do something with 2 guys that "Vince had given up on." Makes total sense, and it's something you hear about lower-tier feuds from time to time. It'd be pretty cool to try to go back and track rivalries that perhaps started out that way but actually ended up getting one or both guys over with the boss - or the audience - or even both.

Callihan/Penta is at least worthy of a mention. Their Slammiversary match was legitimately great, and the BFG six-man tag was a super fun frenzy - filled to the gills with bombs & athletic spots. But a quality feud has to be about more than just the matches, and their feud brought it. The attacks were brutal. The buildup spanned across the industry & bled into other promotions on other cards. Masks were ripped & removed. Heads were shaved. Sami even showed up under the Pentagon hood to blindside Fenix. Plenty of good stuff like that help to place this one firmly in the discussion for me.