Fantastic

Given all the verbatim JBL was spouting about Henry's accomplishments last night, I've become somewhat curious as to other ludcrously strong wrestlers. Not tough, we all have the stories of fights, but actual wrestlers who had some kind of stint Powerlifting or Weightlifting or who are even just freakishly strong and have a reputation for it? Henry could potentially "truly" be regarded as the World's Strongest Man, as his records still stand today, and what's more, they are drug tested too - he's un-enhanced, a "natural human being". True, that title can be pretty meaningless, since passing drug tests are as much about who you know and how clever you are as how clean you are, but I honestly believe Mark Henry has been at least clean during the time period when he hit the record 953.5 Squat. Others? Big E. obviously, with an untested 2,039 lbs total - not really a whisper on Henry (2,336.9lbs - drug tested), but impressive nonetheless, given that Big E. gives up around 100lbs to Henry. Lesnar is in the top 12 of all time, NFL Combine benchers, having pushed 225lbs for 42 reps. And we can't really have this thread without mentioning Ken Patera, a former Olympian like Henry, and who still holds the record for the highest three lift Weightlifting total ever performed by an American with 1,397.5 lbs.

WWE? Backlash and Summerslam 2000 were pretty awesome efforts. Summerslam 2002 was pretty good too, anything in 1997/1998 for storyline, not necessarily great matches, but a good time for WWF/E when they really making an effort to take the competition to WCW. I also liked the first two ECW One Night Stand events that WWE produced. It was a great, and rare example of WWE adapting itself to another kind of wrestling medium.

Cena was acting like his videogame counterpart with all that finisher spam in the last leg of the match! Thoughts? It's clear they are going for the HIAC and Cena/Lesnar III (or V, if you count Extreme Rules 2012 and Backlash 2003). Presumably, the booking here will revolve around the idea that nobody can interfere if they are locked in a cell and "THERE MUST BE A WINNER!!" I think a lot of the booking is going to be adjusted now that Reigns' status is uncertain. That doesn't mean Brock is dropping the title prior to Wrestlemania, because they haven't had a heel champion who is this dominant in like, forever. It means continued money as they throw more and more names at him until it peaks in the build to Wrestlemania. This is where someone (Reigns initially) will hopefully be over as hell and persuade a record number of PPV buyers to buy the event, and a record number of new subcribers to sign up to the WWE Network with the hopes that someone will finally defeat Lesnar. There are really only five people who could believably be over enough as super babyfaces come Wrestlemania XXXI: Daniel Bryan (this is the person I believe WWE will probably end up going with to end the Lesnar reign of terror, it's maybe not absolutely realistic given the size differences between the two, but everybody loves a Rocky style story.) John Cena (very unlikely, but Cena's the best guaranteed backup choice shouild the other four fail) Dean Ambrose (given the chants and reception he recieved last night, along with his rapid rise in popularity following the end of The Shield, Ambrose could easily become the top babyface in the company within a few months) Roman Reigns (his hernia and the recovery time being suggested, along with people generally preferring Ambrose as the breakout star from The Shield is giving rise to doubt) CM Punk (very, very unlikely. I do see Punk returning to the WWE at some point ijn the future, but it's unlikely in the next year or so. What's more, I doubt Punk would return unless WWE offered him a Batista/Jericho/RVD style part time contract, which somewhat makes a new title reign difficult. Yes, both Rock and Brock are ultra part timers who have been given title runs, but the truth is, Punk isn't nearly as big a box office draw as either of them are) As for the rest of the card, Orton/Jericho was solid, albeit pretty run-of-the-mill, WWE is going full on WCW 1999 with all the fucking title changes. Is Paige the champion, no AJ wins! No Paige regains, NO! AJ wins. Ziggler and Miz are going to have Jericho'style Intercontinental Championship resumes by the end of this feud too.

Some very audible move calling there from Paige.

Cole said "Several months" in reference to how long Reigns will be out for....

Vince has been trying to score Rock/Brock at Wrestlemania? I can't see that match working for two reasons: 1) Rock would be the favorite to win, but there's no way they'll put the title on him again (nor do they need to), that means Brock would have to drop the title prior to Wrestlemania, which is always a possibility ,but one that would highly diminish his stock. 2) There is no fucking way that The Rock at his age, ring rust, and recent proneness to injury is going to be able to put on a decent contest alongside Brock Lesnar. Taker tried it this year at Wrestlemania, he went in, in terrible shape, got concussed early on and what followed was a pretty crappy match that resulted in Taker collapsing and having to be hospitalised, because he just wasn't in shape to contend with Lesnar's intense style. The Rock tore his abdominals performing a bodyslam on John Cena... As for Brock/Austin.. Not a chance.

I want to see Lesnar and Cena going for a five star classic tonight. They've both got the perfect opponents in each other to do it and there is no better time like the present whilst Cena is still able to go. Some of the shit going around about Cena suggests he's got maybe the rest of this year throough until Wrestlemania left in him as a full time act before he has to adopt a reduced date schedule. I can see him taking some time off, provided Reigns is back, healthy, and doesn't bomb, within the next few months to have surgery, because the guy really fucking needs it, I mean, you have noticed how he favours the left side of his upper body right?

Taker just keeps looking older and older. He's lost a fuck ton of weight too.

Potential to be huge, his gimmick in 2003 and pairing with Roddy Piper seemed like the start of the next, next big thing. Even as a WCW rookie, there was a superstar presence about him, amazing combination of agility and power.

This would work best in my opinion. From there, an overall category could be made too.

Overall, does anybody else think that the frequency of non-minor injuries has been reduced in the past year or so? Could this be down to there being a large presence of "lighter" workers on the roster? As for guys who work stiff: Brock has a reputation for being a stiffer worker, although it's probably not because he has a need to hurt people, he's just from an intensive athletic background where power is key. Jericho and RVD have had heat throughout the years for rough strikes. Is there really anybody else?

Well, from a personal POV, I just hated all those legitimate martial artists and MMA guys they brought into wrestling in the late 1990's, because very few of them actually "got it". It begun with Shamrock, who did "get wrestling" to a degree, and because of his success, both WWF and WCW thought they could try and duplicate it with other names. It ended up turning into a clusterfuck of guys who were boring to watch, yet who were receiving sustained-effort booking at the expense of actual professional wrestlers who people did want to watch.

Which is probably the worst part of that whole saga for me. Specifically, that the NWA opted to select a dud like Severn to go over a major Japanese talent like Hashimoto in Korakuen Hall (even if it was by nefarious means).

That's a lot of older guys. Even Ogawa was 35 years old at this point. Really, Hogan was done as a good in-ring performer in 1998. Anything after the was smoke and mirrors or working against somebody who could carry him and take all of the bumps (Rock, Lesnar, Michaels, Orton, etc). Nagata was pretty good in ring at this point, but didn't have the presence to really make a difference as champion for NJPW at this point in time. Really, it wasn't until Nakamura and Tanahashi started appearing as aces, coupled with the booking of Gedo and Jado that NJPW really exploded once again. That was a really tepid period between 1998 and 2007. Tenryu was pretty much in the "Kobashi of 2006" period of his career. He was still entertaining, could have good to great matches, but was no where near what he once was, and it showed. It was just one final run for Tenryu. Ogawa shouldn't have been GHC Champion, it was nothing more than a reward for years of loyalty to Misawa and being a dependable and consistent worker. He didn't have the traits needed to make a credible champion or promotion ace. But then, not a lot of NOAH's roster at that time did, which is probably why Misawa found himself delaying continually postponing his retirement or winding down. Fuck Dan Severn and his moustache!

That is pretty awful. Some thoughts though: - The return of Hogan neutralised the appeal of Triple H - Tadao Yasuda was just more MMA masturbation booking influence of Inoki. - Akiyama did have some life in him as champion. - Servern should never have stepped foot in a wrestling ring, let alone have held a world title.

Do we know what for? Pneumonia.

Cena's weakness could very well be one of his defining characteristics - namely, that he "never gives up". That could very easily be exploited. I always liked the idea of a super heel finally getting the submission or "I Quit" victory by using one of Cena's friends or Nikki Bella against him. Cena's against the heel challenger in a submission match. The challenger locks on their submission hold, Cena can't reach the ropes, he's immobilized, but because he's Cena, he'd rather pass out having not given up than give up and let his fans down. Cue the challenger's associate bringing out a distressed Nikki Bella and threatening harm to her. This is enough to bring Cena around, but he still isn't reaching the ropes or breaking the hold, so he quickly taps out (awarding and rushes the ring to rescue Nikki. Of course this is wrestling, so Nikki promptly reveals she was in cohorts with the heel and his associate all along, they plotted to finally make Cena let his fans down and do the one thing he claimed to never do - give up. Cue a beatdown. This could be the start of the downfall of Cena to the heel path.

Yeah, Make-A-Wish will always be the biggest issue when thinking about a Cena heel turn. And while we're on that subject, I can't think of anybody else in showbiz who goes more out of their way to do things for that charity than Cena.

Mike Johnson: It's not like he really made any ounce of difference in his latest stint with the company. WWE already has Jericho and RVD doing the "drop in and out" thing. I'm still bewildered at WWE's decision to give him the Rumble and the main event of Wrestlemania XXX. Even though they eventually succumbed and capitalised on the huge demand for Daniel Bryan, it's still mind boggling to consider that WWE really thought Orton vs. Batista would draw big for a milestone Mania. Evidently, Taker always wanted Lesnar this year, that ruled out Taker vs. Cena. Punk vs. Triple H may have worked as the main event with some long term booking, but not with the two months of rushed booking that they had at their disposal - not to mention people had to have had a feeling that Punk was going to leave around RR. Wasn't the initial plan for a Sheamus heel turn and a match between him and Bryan? That definitely wasn't going to be anywhere except in the first three matches of the card. In the absence of the turn-around on Bryan, the only logical decision would have been to put on Lesnar vs. Taker last.

Yup, me also for the IWGP belt, it just oozes class! I'm quite partial to the ROH title belt for some reason, it has almost a "boxing" title feel to it's design. There was also nothing really shabby about TNA's old championship belt, the new design is a blatant rip off of the "Big Gold".

A follow on from here because belts are cool! WWE World Heavyweight Championship - 2014 TNA World Heavyweight Championship - 2011 ROH World Championship - 2012 IWGP Heavyweight Championship - 2007 AJPW Triple Crown - 2013 GHC Heavyweight Championship - 2001 NWA World Heavyweight Championship - 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLwsc6eWJJQ John Cena goes Benching with former UPW wrestler Mark Bell. Cena seems to have gotten bigger too.

This could really work actually.

Best case scenario? Cena takes it to Brock, they have a competitive match up, albeit one where Brock is clearly dominant in places, before Cena falls once again to Lesnar, only it takes Brock a bit of work to finally put him away. Dusty scenario? Cena and Brock are both out of it, referee begins his 10 count. Triple H appears with Seth Rollins and quickly announces that he's cashing in, making himself an official participant in the match. Rollins immediately lands the curb stomp on a battered Cena and pins him 1,2,3 at the behest of Hunter. The referee upon some further "prompting" from rules that because the match has become a triple threat as a result of Rollins cashing in, Lesnar doesn't need to be pinned or submitted to lose the title, therefore, the winner of the match and NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion - Seth Rollins.

Imagine the streak was still intact and Tombstone kickouts continued escalating to the point where Undertaker was breaking people's necks to end the matches? "Now Undertaker, KILL him"! *SNAP* *YEAAARRRGGGHH"