SomethingSavage

The Prime Time Players had endless rematches with Team Hell No around the same time, too. Couldn't tell one Titus & Darren performance apart from any of the others there either. I don't necessarily think that's always a damning indicator that a team's the shits. Sometimes it's just a case of running rematch after rematch - where nothing is angle driven, and you've got too much TV for any of it to stick or commit to memory in the big scheme of things. There are exceptions, for sure. The Shield are a shining example of that. But I don't think anybody's really trying to say the Rhodes Scholars are on par with the Shield in terms of producing quality TV matches. I'm just saying that - if you're giving me a choice of Rhodes Scholars or Stardust and Macho fucking Mandow as individual acts? Then yeah. I'll gladly get on board for another Rhodes Scholars run.

Well yeah. Sandow's never struck me as anything above average in the ring, but he's done well with what's been given to him on the character front. The guy tends to work hard, bust his ass, and find ways to take garbage & get it over. There's something to be said for that. Doesn't mean he should be placed at the top of the card or anything, but he certainly has a spot. I might be in the minority, but I remember really liking his TV performances from the week he cashed in his MITB contract. I thought the title challenge against Cena made for an exciting live TV experience, even if it doesn't hold up so much on rewatch. It was pretty cool in the moment, and I actually liked it again the second time I watched. I'd rate it up there with some of the other "Cena miracle" matches, where he makes the most of a situation & brings out the best in his opponent. Beyond that, they ran a six-man tag with Cena & The Rhodes Bros. against the Real Americans & Sandow on both SmackDown and again the following Raw. Both were tremendous & helped to make Sandow seem like a credible threat. Nothing stuck though, and it didn't take long for him to settle back into the same old spot. And, of course, Sandow was never once the best guy in the ring in any of those encounters. But he came out looking better than usual by association. The stunt double shtick was fun initially, but I felt like it was drawn out too long for the payoff that gave us. If it had to simmer for so long, then they certainly could've AT LEAST gotten one PPV match or something out of the deal. And the followup on all that momentum & brief popularity has quickly dissipated in a flash. I don't see the Macho Mandow thing being anywhere near as successful as those two, to be honest. Although, in reality, I think Sandow's best work was with Cody in the Rhodes Scholars tag team. They played their roles well - both collectively & individually. In hindsight, I think it really helped to benefit both guys. Their split was one of the rare times I actually enjoyed a feud of former tag team partners, but yeah. Honestly wouldn't mind seeing them go back to that, if all else fails.

Scott Steiner and Abyss threatening & chasing off fans in Ring Ka King = Indian Brody & Hansen. Boom. I said it.

Before this, I only remember Wyatt losing the "Boot Camp Match" back at Tribute To The Troops. But I could be wrong. All these Even-Steven feuds have endless rematches, so ya never know. Although I still say the best Wyatt/Ambrose match was the meeting they had last summer in the MITB Qualifier from SmackDown. All the gimmicks and garbage they did last winter was fine, but none of it surpassed that for me.

I've gone back & forth on Romero a ton of times by now. He's outclassed by a lot of guys in this field. Don't get me wrong. But he's not somebody that you can ever totally sleep on when it comes to quality performances. I've seen him do enough with a wide range of opponents to make most of his matches *at least* worth checking out. Definitely not a must-see act, but he's had some surprisingly good stuff in just the last year.

Here's the scenario. WWE is interested in creating a new trios team from members of the NXT roster, similar to the way the Wyatts and the Shield were brought up. What 3 guys do you assemble? What's the team name? What's their gimmick? How do you debut them? And what's their first feud?

To each their own. I personally found it immensely entertaining & crazy enjoyable. I liked the story setup for Show as the immovable object. He was this sort of dragon, and the "Land of Extreme" was his guarded domain. Knights from the two other brands would come in, challenge the dragon, and try to slay him. It was a nice way to help separate the ECW brand at the time, which was desperately needed. Show fit the part fine, even if he wasn't in the best of shape or whatever. I don't think Flair looked any more sloppy here than he had in the few years prior. His work never really changed. The guy's always taken shit back bumps. He's been looking like an undressed mummy since Evolution. It's like the guy aged fifteen or twenty years between 2001 and 2003. This is hardly something that sprung up in time for the match with Show. And the American Onita thing is just a term I've seen used across the Interwebz. Not sure who's credited for coining it, but I don't know that anyone ever said he "worked LIKE Onita." It's just that he adopted the death match style in his later 'E years. Still, I don't care if I'm alone in thinking that this is some entertaining stuff from Flair. It's not his best work by far, but it's damn sure better than a truckload of his nineties stuff. And, if he was going to stick around & request to work anyway, at least he had the good sense to reinvent himself a bit in the process.

I love the team, but I still don't think Fish comes close to touching O'Reilly as a polished singles performer right now. To be fair, Kyle's had more opportunities to shine in that area. But, to be perfectly honest, the times I've seen Fish in similar situations - he's been total hit or miss. You are right though. That opener between Fish and Perkins from BOLA is fantastic. Straightforward storytelling of submission skills versus aerial offense. Fish sticks (ha) to what he does well there, and TJ does a fine job of fighting for survival. The finish is basic - but it's tremendous, and it honestly would work in any era of wrestling. As for the booking, I went in with expectations of Kushida and Kyle lasting the long haul & moving into the final stretch. Wouldn't be shocked if Liger or Dorada were there. Sucks to hear that Shelley's injured AGAIN. Same sort of situation went down last year, when everyone kind of predicted Alex & Kushida to square off at some point & have that play an integral part in things moving forward.

Okay. Here's the deal. For one night only, you can go out & have drinks with any 3 wrestlers from any era. Who do you choose & why? Extra credit. As the young boy of the wild bunch, you're sent to the bar to open a tab & order the first round of beverages. What specific drink do you order for each guy? In other words, if you had to GUESS, what would you expect them to order for themselves? Is anyone getting hustled at the pool table? Who's half-naked before last call? Who goes home with the ugliest heat rat? And so forth.

I've read reviews about what's been going on. I haven't seen the last two weeks of TV due to work, but I've got 'em downloaded for when I'm able to catch some free time. I can only imagine what the vignettes look like right now though. What's the consensus on the latest Fenix/Muertes rematch though? Like I said, I haven't watched yet - but I'm absolutely unafraid to gush over the Casket Match they had awhile back.

Well, what initially brought me around to posting here (rather than just lurking) was the feeling & impression that people are more accepting to different views & opinions on wrestlers that way. I'd hate to see any fellow posters discouraged to voice their views or speak their piece - simply because it's different from the majority. A pro wrestling card, without variety, gets to be super boring & stale fairly fast. I'd say the same about message boards. I've been a part of plenty, and the ones I abandon the quickest are those that make you feel like you can't veer too far out of their realm of "acceptable" opinions. It's pointless to not be open-minded about things, 'cause even the "smartest" and most critical of fans have changed their thoughts & ideas on things over the years. Nobody just saw their first wrestling show at five years old & thought, "Wow. This guy's a hoss, and I especially love the attention to detail with his facials & selling of the limb work." It's a learned appreciation, and different tastes will hold appeal with different folks. I'll close out my little rant with saying that these are the things I dig about the reaction shows, especially the last one. The ball-busting between Will & Pete (and, as always, Will & Johnny) makes for fun-spirited & lively discussion. It's all so boring if everyone's just all, "Yeah. Agreed."

I don't know. That image of Charlotte & Natty tied together in a Figure Four, with neither of them knowing whether to sell pain or put on the pressure for offense, kind of makes me think neither Charlotte nor Miz have the Figure Four down to an art really. But, as somebody pointed out above, what bugs me the most about Miz is that there's this kind of disconnect between his character & his in-ring work. I can appreciate that he's CAPABLE of putting together decent matches at times. But I don't know. Even as a babyface, when his character just doesn't fit or function properly at all in my opinion, he had good outings with Barrett and Cesaro. And that's even at a time when they were shoehorning the Figure Four into his arsenal, which definitely didn't help matters. Miz doesn't come across as a likable or sympathetic guy at all, so they'd almost have to go out of their way to craft & create the perfect scenario for him to hope to garner any kind of sympathy with the crowd. They kind of ALMOST had that with Randy Orton embarrassing him in front of his parents or whatever at ringside that time, but there was almost literally no followup - as Steph just kind of buried Miz on TV, and Miz went away to do PR work with no real rebuttal or rivalry to stem from it. His best stuff's clearly as a heel, but even then I feel like he works too "tough" and too "big" in the ring. It's an odd thing, but it's noticeable. The Daniel Bryan and Alex Riley feuds - and ESPECIALLY the first Cena program - where Miz is allowed to be this overbearingly obnoxious (and cowardly) prick, is about the perfect placement of Miz for me. If he's not going to stay strictly in the tag team scene with a partner, then he needs to be the pest that aggravates a crowd-favorite until they're begging to see him put in his place. And the point is supposed to be in KNOWING that he will get what's coming to him, if ONLY the babyface can catch him in a fair fight or get their hands on him. Almost anytime he needs to go over should be a stroke of accidental luck or a banana peel deal. Care to elaborate a little? Curious to hear your take on it. Outside of the whole "social media ambassador" thing, I never really got it.

I'm a huge fan of Booker, but his best traits lie in the "character" and showmanship department for me. I loved him in the King Booker phase. It was glorious in its sheer ridiculousness. Also dug that period of popularity where it seemed like he might actually be a breakout superstar for them back in '02. For awhile there, Booker was everywhere. People love to talk about Fandango'ing & the Yes chants carrying over into stadiums and other sports... but Booker's "Five" gesture, spastic head shake, and Spinaroonie deal was making the same rounds back then. So yeah. I know Booker's "emergence" kind of came in '98, and I guess I can see why people will refer to that as his most talked-about & widely praised work. But I don't know. I'm not sure I'm even convinced that was his best in-ring stuff either. Have to review some of the later Benoit matches in the 'E - for the US Title, along with his tag run alongside Dustin and later Eddie. I enjoyed both at the time. Not sure I'll even be involved with any list, but if I were? I doubt Booker would make even my Top 100, but the guy's personality & presence is what made me a fan anyway. Strictly judged on the body of work output, I'm not sure he SHOULD rank very highly on anyone's list though.

I have yet to see him work, so this year's tourney will be my first impression & glimpse at him, but... Do you figure Finlay will come away from this excursion with a style similar to Sabre Jr after Noah? Just curious. Taguchi & Trent are normally skippable for me, but I might check this one out. Everything else here looks enticing enough. Jackson & Romero can be completely hit or miss in singles, but I'm trying to catch as much as I can from the tourney.

Awesome idea. I remember first discovering the "1984 Year of Transition" playlist a few years ago and being so stoked to relive things like early Tully, Slater's "Faux Horsemen", and especially the very divisive Paul Jones vs. Jimmy Valiant war. Good stuff there. Same goes for the Mempho channels. Some of them are a little chaotic in the order they're posted, but there are a few that have compiled full playlists for things like McMemphis, Lawler's specific feuds, and yearly timelines. Might need to take a break from some of the modern YouTube indie channels for awhile & revisit some of these. Thanks to everyone that's contributing.

Judging by your review, I can't tell if Fish had a solid showing for himself there or not. Sucks to hear he had to carry the workload himself though. I'll still be checking out the match to see how he performs anyhow. Ditto for Dorada's deal here. Liger vs. Kyle is one of those pairings that will keep me dialed into the field until the finals, regardless. Definitely have that on my short-list for priority viewing this weekend. On a side note, this weather's been a sadistic son of a bitch this week. Not sure exactly how nearby you are to my neck of the woods in Texas, Pete - but has it wrecked your neighborhood as badly as it has mine? Thankfully my house sits on a leveled hill, but the town's practically a flood zone just waiting for the rivers to rise. Ready for mother nature to body slam this madness & get back to my usual routines already.

Are you talking about the Kayfabe Commentaries releases? I used to catch ALL of them when they were made available, but I kind of fell out of following once the podcast scene blew up so big sometime in 2014 or so. Is Sean still pumping out quality content? Even though they tend to retread some tired territory here & there, a lot of the stuff is really well produced & comes across as professional anyhow. Plus you'll get the occasional home run - like the Bruno & Larry timelines, the Nash '95 timeline, the Cornette Lost Questions, the Waltman YouShoot, etc. Hmm. Maybe I need to backtrack & see what I've missed in the last year or two.

Yeah. I think most people associate the term "boom period" with a boom in business. The industry doesn't feel like it's undergoing a complete turnaround like it did in the 80's and again in the mid-nineties. There's certainly a huge upswing in available content. But that resurgence didn't happen overnight. It came (like most things) with the introduction of YouTube, other streaming platforms, and access to online ordering. Wrestling itself is a niche product, and the marketplace is absolutely saturated with easily accessible content now - more so than EVER before in the past. Wrestling itself is still a niche, and I don't think it's really anymore popular than it was before. It's essentially the same audience watching. It's just that they've/we've now got a whole hell of a lot more options & avenues for watching. I don't know if WWE is capable of attracting or creating new fans with their product. Each time they seem to stumble onto that opportunity - Punk in 2011, Bryan in 2013, etc. - they really just seem to shit the bed. I think the best hope lies with a new, more unique product attracting or creating those new fans. It took the nWo concept, ECW influences, and "Attitude" to do it before. I just feel like the best chance lies with new fans finding interest in a Lucha Underground, PWG, or perhaps even NXT - as something distinct and unique enough to get them to dial in and commit to fandom for it. I just don't see WWE creating & maintaining that sort of buzz anymore. They're too far into their comfort zone & usual holding pattern to change anything major. It's like they don't want to run the risk of alienating existing fans in order to attract or create the new ones. But that's business. And I just don't believe a real boom period can occur again until something gives on that front. It's going to take something substantially different. Again, right now it's the same audience watching. They've just got more to watch. The "boom period" doesn't happen until a new audience latches on to some of the stuff that's out there.

Joe's music did sound a bit... off. I think I would have preferred a ripoff of the old "Champ Is Here" ROH theme, but this one might just take some time to stick. Truth be told, a lot of themes sound strange on first listen. That's especially the case when you start to associate one guy with one specific theme though. So there's that. As far as Balor goes, I think the "Best Case" scenario with him lies in those big bomb-throwing WWE main event style matches for the time being. His most hyped matches from NXT so far seem to be the ones with Neville & Owens - both of which were structured in that style. It's the usual sequence of "bomb offense, pause to sell and rest, reset, and go again." It's just back and forth big moves to set the stage as something epic or grand, even if it's not all that really. It just doesn't translate in the smaller scale matches - like this one with Breeze. I don't think it's a case where he's condemned for not "getting it" yet. He may get there. In the meantime, I'd just like to see some fundamental stuff from the guy. Not everything needs to be treated like an all-out war when it isn't. This match could've been served better as a straightforward match without any of the "risk life or limb" stuff that seemed way too staged and unnecessary.

I don't know a thing about Popes in pools, but I do know that I HATE that "shoulder to the ring post" spot. I mean, it CAN be pulled off in a way that looks convincing or even sounds sick - like it snaps a collar bone or something. But that's rare. Normally, it just exposes things and looks like the guy's shoulder never comes within a foot of the post. It's just one of those things in wrestling that's hard to pull off. And, unless you've got a REALLY high success rate with it, I don't know why you'd even bother working it into your match. There's a lot of other ways to shift momentum in the corner like that.

I'd like to see the match. If it shelters us from the possibility of another Hunter/Rock singles encounter, PLUS it gives us the Hunter & Steph that will bump and show ass for Rousey? Sign me up. I'd be all on board for that. I'm not exactly holding my breath, but yeah. It'd be interesting and certainly add to the atmosphere & FEEL of a memorable Mania match. I just hope that IF it does come together & become a realistic option for them - then I hope they're able to secure the details & set everything into motion in time to really put some proper buildup behind it. Ultimately of course, a lack of great build still wouldn't detract from the enjoyment of the match. But it could be so much more if they're allowed to milk it for a few months & prep for it. It'd just suck to see them get it finalized with two or three weeks to throw things together.

Exactly. The real stupidity lies in the fact that they never even ran the Goldberg/Hogan rematch on PPV, which still would have had big money potential for them. Although I'm not really on board for the idea of switching the belt from Rollings to Reigns anytime too soon either. Guess that kind of hinges on how they'd book it to play out though. Wouldn't it run the risk of cooling off Brock's vendetta and grudge against Seth? Unless he does the run-in and provides the opportunity for Reigns to win. But, even in that case, it doesn't do Roman as much good as it should to win the belt that way. So yeah. They've got something special on their hands with revenge-hungry Lesnar & another potential Super Fight feel main event between Brock & Reigns down the road. I don't know if having Seth fall prey to Roman before he's fed to Brock is the best move to make in the meantime.

Spot-on fucking analysis. Love it. Bullet Club is "over" enough with their marketed fan-base, so it's kind of forgivable for them to have such a goofy name, but yeah. Saying it out loud to people who aren't aware of what & who they are? And you'd come away with a bunch of people asking, "What the fuck is a Bullet Club?" They're Aces & Eights essentially, with a better roster. I know some fanboys would get in line to rip me apart for saying that, but come on. That's the gimmick. It's a Sons spin-off that's just kind of slowly morphed into it's own thing. Part biker gang, part wrestling posse with face-paint, Samoans, rednecks, ruffians, and so on. Oh. And Pete, I really 'preciate you posting all these reviews & thoughts for the recent Super Juniors & ROH shows, man. I didn't miss a single Super Juniors show last summer - or the joint shows with ROH - but work's a son of a bitch this year. So I have to be a bit more choosy, and these rundowns help out on that end.

I like Brennan, especially with his small time stuff for Booker's ROW out in my neck of the woods - but he really started to sound a lot like Cole on that Unstoppable show. There was a "For the championship!" or "For the win!" to accompany every other pin attempt. He does bring a little more energy & excitement at times, coming across as a genuine fan that's stoked to be there. But yeah. It's early. Time will tell if he's just going to be groomed to be Cole 2.0 or whatever.

I'm hoping it's a swerve, and come bell time? They got Mike George.