SomethingSavage

http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/news/a-new-extremely-sad-photo-of-bobby-the-brain-heenan-with-roddy-piper-surfaces-online Apparently, this is the latest pic that's making the rounds..? Seems really sad, but here's hoping his spirits are at least high when he's allowed to enjoy time with old friends and fans.

Parv. Look at this. This is what WWE.com does with its time now. Christ. I can't unsee that Comments section now...

I admittedly don't pay much attention to Brie's stuff on TV, but I'm pretty sure she suffers from TRYING to act. When you're wrapped up in getting from A to B to C without "messing up", then yeah. It can totally take you out of the moment & cause a great sense of disconnect with any audience. Doesn't just apply to theater or stage actors, but stand-up comedians & so on as well. Plus, hey. Let's be honest. Not everyone's got a knack for it. Back to Naomi though, I really have been impressed with her since the heel turn. It makes me curious to seek out her previous work, like the stuff you just mentioned, because it's an honest to God blind spot for me completely. Didn't see ANYTHING from the divas NXT season, and Naomi was never really on my radar until the Funkadactyls act came together. But yeah. Her bit on SmackDown was exactly what you said - it was an unpolished, real piece of dialogue that felt (for the most part) almost entirely authentic. Whether she's speaking from the heart or not, it doesn't matter - because it comes across like it's real in that moment, and it seems to have lit a fire under her ass. And, while I don't fault them for falling into the current holding pattern initially, I'd desperately want to see more interviews & promos of THIS type in the future. I don't care that a line might get flubbed. I don't care that it's not polished, sleek, and flawless. I don't want overly sanitized, properly pronounced syllables in every word of every line. These girls wanna fight? Guess what? They're GONNA trip over a word here or there. They're gonna get so riled up & irate that they'll skip a beat, pause, or lose concentration. IT HAPPENS. And that's especially the case with the guys. I just can't stand for them to sit there, hit their marks on dates & events and plots & plans to harm their hated enemies - who are standing approximately five feet away at the time. It's just a bit much, and really - in today's product, with announcers allowed to do ALL the shilling for them - it's a dated model that could quickly go extinct without interrupting a single thing.

Paige's part in that segment notwithstanding, I thought Naomi brought the goods in BIG TIME fashion there. She killed it. I usually DESPISE the whole "stand there and talk, talk, talk" to your hated enemy from a few feet away thing. It's an outdated relic from the Attitude Era that needs to be obliterated from wrestling immediately. But - and I realize the risk of sounding sexist here - I actually think it's not so bad in the case of the women. Hear me out. Two men aren't likely to stand across from each other and make sure they properly pronounce every syllable of every word - or think of some "clever" or cute metaphors to accurately describe what they're going to do to one another - along with pausing to take the time to mention the date, time, and place of their upcoming fist fight. It just isn't realistic. It only undermines the moment & exposes things as inauthentic and contrived. But I've known a few women that'll GLADLY take the time to get their verbal shots in first. It's every bit a part of their fight as the clawing, scratching, and swinging. Naomi's insults didn't feel too far off from what she'd probably say in a real life situation. She didn't look like she was reciting bits & pieces from a script. And I didn't get the impression that she was stalling or waiting for her next "turn" to talk. Really refreshing.

That Angle match was a different breed of Flair altogether. It was really refreshing & engaging to see, but yeah. Not your typical Flair match by far - a lot of interesting stuff there, including the eye gouging and fish hooking.

Nice. Gonna try to dive into this one over the weekend. 'Preciate it!

Always dig the reaction shows, but this one really was a truckload of fun. Dylan chomping at the bit & just waiting to rip Ryder's carcass to shreds at the end there was tremendous. But that split-second where all discussion went silent, and then Pete busts out the "BLOW ME, SASHA" out of left field? Gold.

Absolutely agreed. Stardust is the dogshit worse. I'd rather crawl & crab-walk on hands and knees through a dozen dirty dumpster fires than watch Stardust try to "act" his way through another segment or interview. Christ. At least with plastic-mask Cody, you got some good matches out of the ordeal. The Street Fight with Randy was pretty great, the earlier matches with Mysterio, etc. Plus the idea of having generic henchmen at ringside as "bag boys" was a nice touch, supervillainy or not. That's just pro 'rasslin.

"Rebook" the cast of Seinfield, using larger than life 80's era WWF characters only. Feel free to include as many of the supporting cast members as you'd like - Newman, the Costanzas, etc. That's it for the here and now. I'll ponder over something more serious and submit it later.

To be fair, Hogan did an awful lot of losing in that return run. His one big win was for the title, and it felt like an impulse reaction to ride the wave of Hulk-A-Mania nostalgia. Almost everything else was a loss. He lost to Rock, Triple H, Taker, Brock... you name it. He transitioned the tag titles onto the Un-Americans to help heat them up. He tapped out clean to Kurt Angle. And so on. Oh. I think he might have beaten Jericho or some such on a random SmackDown. But come on. Point being, I loved the loss to Lesnar. But it could easily be argued that the moment would've meant more if he hadn't lost to every Tom, Dick, and Harry from that Spring to that Fall in the first place.

Yes. Tank Abbott as the biggest boy ban fan on the planet was tremendous. That should have been the next logical step for 3MB. They should have released a new "single", then get upstaged by their babyface rivals - only to have some monstrous killer show up as their super-supportive groupie / bodyguard. Gangbusters.

I started revisiting every old episode of the (formerly NWA) Championship Wrestling From Hollywood television show towards the tail end of last year. It got off to a hot start - mostly thanks to my time off around the holidays - but it's really taken a back seat to other priorities lately. Anyhow, I'm still (slowly) treading through the series. It's incredibly enjoyable viewing on a consistent basis, with almost every episode delivering at least one standout match. I've always said - and still stand by the statement - that this show, to me, is like a precursor to what we later got with things like the NXT 2012 reboot & even Lucha Underground today. The format is a fun freaking throwback approach to the old studio shows of the past. And there's a real sense of continuity among all the story arcs. For the most part, angles aren't abruptly shuffled or shifted around without reason. Almost everything feels connected & carried out to its intended purpose. Just good stuff through & through. I'm smack dab in the middle of Pearce's baby face redemption run. The whole "One Last Ride" thing is tremendous. It's (of course) elevated by the fact that Pearce pitches some of these promos like a pro. Guy's preaching freaking sermons here. Talking about leaving his newborn baby at home to take "One Last Ride" with the leather & gold, etc. It's just classic stuff. And don't get me started on the Pearce/Colt program. My god. This is wrestling done right. Feels precisely like what we'd get from the territory days. But yeah. Pearce gets a lot of flack in some circles, but I really dig the guy. He absolutely RUINS & flattens people with that Piledriver, and (with the One Last Ride angle) he's recently started to incorporate the Lariat as a backup finisher in his arsenal. He takes it a step further by psyching out his opponents with them both as a sort of one-two punch. He'll tuck 'em in for a Piledriver, then when they pull back? BAM. Lariatoooh. Other things, like the formation of Team P-P-Ray... the genesis of the Scorpio Sky Experience, with Big Duke as the "strength coach" and the introduction of a super agent... just so many neat things. I think I last left off with Johnny Goodtime returning and first teaming with Joey Ryan. I've seen this stuff before, but I honestly don't remember the details of Yuma & Goodtime splitting. So this is really refreshing to go back & immerse myself in it all over again. The Colt & Pearce program only gets better from here (with the 7 Stages coming up), and that alone would be enough to keep me moving onward with this little re-watch project of mine. Haven't decided if I'll do the same for Traditional Championship Wrestling or possibly Booker's PWA/Reality next. Course, that's gonna be awhile down the road anyway.

Steven vs Television for Feud of the Year 2015?

I know some people find it predictable and repetitive, but I've really enjoyed the hell out of Cena's US Open Challenge series so far. No. It's not likely that any of these guys are going to beat Cena out of the blue or anything, but it's produced some fun stuff & interesting match-ups at the very least. Neville's attempt this week might have been the best of the bunch. Cena ate his offense like a pro, and the crowd really seemed to come alive for most of it. I've seen the criticisms concerning Neville's (lack of) character work, and I'd agree. Guy needs SOMETHING to spark a connection. But there's still time for that. Right now, I like his entrance. I think they've done a neat job with the presentation of it all. The Prodigy ripoff theme is a nice touch, too. I don't get the criticism of Neville's offense though. He's a thick, muscular guy. While it's certainly true that his aerial assault doesn't look as devastating or brutal as - say a 2 Cold Scorpio or a Kid Kash heavy hitter type - he still connects with enough force & impact for it to look like it's effective & harmful. He doesn't look like he's tumbling and landing as lightly as possible, in other words. I guess I can understand why they seem so hesitant to keep him from speaking, but I don't know. I dug his sit-down and backstage interviews in NXT. His interview about having his front teeth knocked out instantly springs to mind as one of the best they've done. If they protect him & present him in THAT light, then there's very little to lose. It's better than trotting him out there with talkers like Barrett, Sheamus, and Dolph every week - only to have him stand there & look like a mute. Oh. And the "Man That Gravity Forgot, the New Sensation" Neville is a terrible freaking moniker. Combine that with the way Cole is made to hammer it home in EVERY one of his segments, and yeah. It's just terrible. The "Gravity" tagline is okay, I guess. It's clever if it's new to you, but for anyone that's followed PAC, it's old & worn by this point. I think it was Alex Riley that tried calling him "Air Devil" Adrian Neville for awhile there in NXT. Might have been Corey Graves, but I'm almost sure it was Riley. Anyway, I think that stands a better chance of helping him stand out. It's (at least slightly) clever, and it certainly stands a chance of being more marketable for merchandise & whatnot than the terrible run-together train of words that Michael Cole is choking on every week.

Jimmy Rave might surprise some folks, or even older fans that dropped out of following him after his last ROH stay. Some could argue that he's actually only improved since then. I'd probably classify him as a wiser worker nowadays - at the very least. The Young Bucks are fun. Their act is over like Rover most places they go, whether traditionalists are into them or not. I could certainly see the appeal they'd bring to the table. Same could be said for all of the Bullet Club ranks frankly. Styles has been setting shit on fire since leaving TNA. Can't see any reason why they WOULDN'T at least try to pursue him & lock him into some kind of deal. I just wish Austin Aries - or hell, even Bobby Roode - would break loose from TNA and undergo a redemption run of their own by this time next year. I could see them making similar waves.

Totally agreed. Roddy's been ripping shit up for well over a year now, but his 2015 performances are almost on another level. Guy's got great fire, stamina to spare, and he's proven to be tremendous in EITHER role of babyface or heel. WWE commentators like to call Randy Orton the "best in the business at shifting gears." Roddy is much closer to that description in reality though. Matches with Tanahashi and Nakamura just scream, "MUST SEE" to me. Maybe I'm in the minority. Maybe I'm not. But I'll definitely be waiting to see what he does in those.

Mygoddamngod. This was a fun freaking show. "Texano Khan" legitimately had me cracking up. But I don't know. I haven't decided if it tops Pete's new "Shoe the fugitive" gimmick. Toss-up. And yeah. The Hard Times concept has to be considered a smash hit already.

It's a regular thing for Zayn's matches in NXT. And Cole's referred to Cena's Proto-Plex as a "Blue Thunder Bomb" on commentary just recently. I wanna say one of the Rusev matches, but I might be wrong about the specific instance. Going back to the Honky Tonk Man for a second though - when listening to the WM13 Rewind podcast from P2BNation recently, it reminded how much I dug Ferris on commentary for that short stint back in the day. Can't see them ever plugging him back in, but the guy definitely keeps up with the business & always seems to have an interest in the modern product - even when he disagrees with damn near everything that happens.

Sorry, Steven. But your list fails for lack of Booker T. His infectious energy, off-the-wall "not sure if he's kidding" remarks, and Whoopi dreads make him a lock for ANY future panels in my opinion. In fact, I think a hyped Booker would make a tremendous counterpart for a dead-serious Jake Roberts... or even a frumpy, almost apathetic Tommy Dreamer there.

To be fair, Strong's had a hell of a run over the last few years - at least. His tear through the BOLA last year was tremendous, from start to finish into the finals. And hell, he got a GREAT little match out of Brian Cage in PWG too. Just a fun fucking opener that actually felt (for the most part) like an honest to God fight - which is high praise for a Cage match. I'm a big time fan of the guy, but not very many of his matches look & feel like an authentic struggle. But Roddy brought the pressure & kept pouring the heat on. Rapid-fire exchanges, a fierce comeback, and some relentlessly nasty knee (and elbow) strikes all over the place in that one.

Not sure whether he knows exactly how to articulate it or phrase things into words, but I'm pretty confident that Hogan knows a truckload about playing to a crowd, letting big moments breathe, and not rushing too quickly from one step to another. Not gonna lie though. Part of me hopes at least one of the contestants goes into this with a "smarky online insider" attitude towards Hulk - just to get ripped to shreds for it. And Sorrow's right. I wish I could remember specifically what podcast it was, but I recall somebody talking up Billy's work as a trainer in Florida & how he's a guy similar to Bobby Eaton - in that he is the type of trainer that's more about the hands-on approach. The discussion was about how some trainers - Billy being the example there - will show you how to do things, versus others that can break it down & explain why you do those things.

What's the story behind Ciampa cutting ties with ROH? I'm really outside the loop when it comes to the rumor mill, so I might have missed something that made the rounds.

I followed every show I could last year, and Kushida killed it all summer. Hoping he gets to shine again this year, and actually wouldn't mind seeing Shelley make up for his missed time in last year's tourney. Don't expect him to make it too far in the field, though ya never really know. Seems to me like every year Liger is participating, you almost have to soak it in & appreciate a little more than the last time around. I like Trent... well enough, anyway. And I'm on the O'Reilly bandwagon, big-time. But pitting them against each other in the opening round feels like a waste to me. Could be a throwaway match on just about any super indy card. Meh. I was gonna question the idea of running the NEVER Title rematch, just to gauge interest among you guys - but Chad sort of beat me to the punch there. I'm honestly indifferent to it at this point. But at least it stands a minor chance of turning into something worthwhile with Ishii involved, I guess. No Ricochet anywhere on the card - after last year's finale - feels like a minor letdown, but I know I might be alone in thinking that. But enough negativity. I'm absolutely as stoked for this series as I was for last year's, when I admittedly spent a ridiculous amount of my precious free time trying to cram as much of the Super Juniors as I could into my viewing schedule. Early predictions on the finals and/or eventual winner? And do ya think they'll go on to dethrone Omega?

This ongoing series has been enjoyable already, documenting the pitfalls and setbacks of WWE's booking over the past year plus. But yeah. I got a kick out of the intro for this latest installment, literally just replaying & echoing statements that you guys made a year or more prior. And Justin's comedic timing packs its usual punch, WITH pinpoint accuracy. Good stuff. Could even be a future installment down the pike, since (it seems like) they are actively attempting to redeem Roman now by letting him drop down the card a bit & work his way back up.

Harper being the rat king sounds especially tremendous. If they're going to keep doing comedy shtick with Ambrose, then just have him lose in the finals with the added stipulation that the runner-up serves as the tourney winner's "serf' or "jester" this year. Then just pair 'em up as this year's new Team Hell No. You'd think WWE would be drooling over the idea of an act getting that hot again. Oh. And I caught myself waiting there for a full-on "scientology gimmick" pitch from Dylan. /=