Fantastic

Bored at work earlier, started thinking about the potential for cool and unheard of facts about a 50+ year old company like WWE. Everyone knows the obvious stuff, but what about the not so obvious? For instance, did you know that: - Apart from Buddy Rogers (who was awarded the title as the inaugural champion), Randy Orton is the only man ever to have become WWE Champion without actually winning it in a match? TEchnically, a case could be made for Shawn Michaels, since the match was stopped by the referee on Vince McMahon's orders, and the title was basically given to Michaels. There was also no clear finish to the match or any indication that somebody won or lost, but it has. But, the fact there was a match that led to a title change kind of renders this case a moot point. Keep em coming.

Howard Finkel. Stephen DeAngelis from the original ECW, I have a fondness for him and the aggressive passion he put into it!

So he just burned every bridge there? :/ I might be misinterpreting the situation, but it would be unusual for WWE to give someone another opportunity in developmental at his age. He really fucked himself over good and proper there. He's a really talented guy... The best he can now hope for is a shot in TNA or a regular touring gig as a gaijin in NJPW. I'd see him fitting in more in NJPW to be honest.

Vince McMahon?

Current Favorite Wrestler To Watch: Dean Ambrose, gotta be him Last Fun Match You Saw: Ricochet vs. Kushida (BOSJ Final) Wrestler You Want To See More Of: Sami Zayn (on the main roster) Last Live Show Attended: Wrestlemania XXIX Match You Are Looking Forward To Watching Soon The Most: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena II Last Fun Interview/Promo You Saw: Ambrose on last night's Raw Last Interesting Thing You Read About Wrestling: Emma going klepto Last Worthwhile Wrestling Podcast You Heard: Austin's Most Fun You've Had Watching Wrestling Lately: Anything involving the former members of The Shield

Some more on this topic. Some guys are what I like to call "technically fat". This means that whilst they would be considered obese on civvy street, as soon as the get in the ring, they perform with incredible agility and conditioning (most noticeable with wrestlers who have a background in football) and the extra fat mass doesn't seem to look so bad. In street clothes though, they look like shit. I mentioned Big Show earlier. When Big Show is between 350lbs (I believe this was his true weight in his first WCW matches) and 430lbs, he performs and looks at his best. When he's legitimately getting close to 500lbs (see 2004-2007), he looks completely out of shape, gets blown up early and performs consistently bad. Big Show isn't one of those guys like Vader or Bam Bam - mid 6 footers who are carrying upwards of 370lbs and doing moonsaults whilst keeping the pace with guys half their size. Most recently, Undertaker looked like absolute death. He wasn't fat, he was just completely spent and had visibly aged tremendously since we saw him last in Spring 2013. This was Taker a couple of months before this year's Wrestlemania: Compare that the end of last non-special appearances run in late 2010: And for contrast, this was the only time (2000) Undertaker could ever be considered truly fat: Seemingly, as soon as Taker stopped regularly touring with WWE, he aged almost a decade. You can potentially understand his transformation between 2011 to 2012 as he and Michelle McCool had a kid in summer 2012, even then, he still looked in shape and wrestled a gruelling long HIAC match. This worryingly hints at the measures some wrestlers take to prevent the toll the road takes on them, even moreso when you consider that even with an extended hiatus and ample rest, the cessation of these "measures" will immediately start the clocks running again.

HBK was a hell of a lot leaner when he returned, he aged, but he remained in consistently good shape, albeit at least 30lbs lighter than he was in his prime (guess why...) Punk lost a lot of mass in general, not just muscle. He aged facially and the road really took a toll on him. There were few times where he didn't look like he needed a good night's sleep during his 2011-2013 headline push. On one hand, it shows that he's working his ass off, but on the other hand, he's the face of a brand and looking like he's been up all night partying. John Cena has no excuses, that guy works harder than everybody and always manages to look refreshed and as a start should when on camera.

I agree with everything said here. Looking like shit creates the impression you just don't care.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHDHRl-K5tQ In that video, Justin Credible discusses the importance of "being in shape", it's not just about being ultra huge and ripped. Loss: Of course, it's unrealistic to expect that Triple H is going to look absolutely fantastic 12 years later, but my point was, he doesn't look anywhere near "in shape". He was flabby, and seemed to have lost a significant amount of mass from his arms. He was walking into a major PPV to headline looking far from his best. Triple H doesn't seem to want to slim right down, it's big or GTFO with him, even if he can't workout as much because of corporate commitments, he'll still apparently make the effort to remain huge. OK, how about the opposite end of the spectrum? The road is pretty hard going on some wrestlers. Look at how much CM Punk aged in only a few short years: 2007/2008 2013

Inspired by this recent photo of Chris Hero (man, that happened quickly): I think it might be interesting to share similar photos of wrestlers not looking their best, and comparing them to when they have looked their best. Let's start with Hunter: Summerslam 2012 Spring 2000

I think this warrants a thread - Wrestlers not looking their best.

Kinda scary how fast that happened, but why should I care if he can still perform? Remember how much better Big Show is when he's only billed as 500lbs? Less weight, more conditioning, more conditioning? Better matches.

Apparently he just hates to workout. That was seemingly the main issue involved with him not being called up to the main roster during his time in NXT. WWE signed him and Cesaro/Castagnoli around the same time. I seem to recall WWE holding off Hero because they found some anomalies in his blood after the initial drug test. Contrast is pretty easy, Cesaro looks like a professional wrestler, and trains so hard that apparently the only person who can keep up with him in the gym is John Cena. When you factor those variables alongside a group of bosses who are all bodybuilding aficionados, it's clear who was always going to make it.

Chris Hero, fuck sake...

Triple H, Edge, Batista and Snitsky vs Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Maven at Survivor Series 2004 was actually pretty good.

Not quite, but it creates the assumption that he's losing. Of course, this assumption was subverted when Brock ended the streak. I'm 50/50 about Summerslam. Something needs to be done to send the fans home happy, especially now that Brock's quite possibly the most hated man in WWE because he ended the streak. On one hand, you have to factor that Brock winning the title adds more of a threat and long term mileage to his beast character. He avenges his initial loss to Cena and takes his title in the process. Brock will then presumably have one or two title defences, the latter of which will result in Brock's intended Wrestlemania opponent costing him the title, allowing Brock to preserve his aura of invincibility whilst giving him the excuse to walk out the door till mania. On the other hand, in this "network era", WWE either likes to send fans home happy, or screw them over with a wildcard at big four PPV's. Summerslam is a tricky one, last year we got Daniel Bryan's WWE title victory. The year before, Brock made Triple H tap out (the crowd were enjoying chanting "you tapped out"), the year before that we had CM Punk retaining his title in oddball fashion against fake champion John Cena before Kevin Nash came out and set up the necessary conditions for Alberto Del Rio to cash in. The year before that, Cena ran through Nexus. What I'd like to think is that WWE is going to pull the trigger on a Cesaro face turn. Lets say Cesaro takes it upon himself to try and get a shot at Brock's WWE Championship, but ultimately isn't successful. Heyman is furious at Cesaro having the gall to do that, Cesaro doesn't care. So during the Raw where Brock and his PPV opponent come out to have a confrontation, we have Brock, Heyman and the Heyman guys all in the ring. Heyman cuts a promo on how all challengers are destroyed, or something to that effect. Brock and Rybaxel then absolutely destroys Cesaro, with Brock getting the exclamation point. Cesaro stays off TV for a week or so to sell the beating and returns at the PPV where he costs Lesnar the title. We then get Lesnar vs Cesaro in a grudge match at Wrestlemania.

Going over tonight? Rusev vs Big E. Layla vs. Summer Rae Rybaxel vs. Goldust and Stardust Paige© vs. Naomi (still divas champion) Bad News Barrett vs Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs Kofi Kingston vs Rob Van Dam vs Seth Rollins The Usos © vs The Wyatt Family (new tag team champions) Alberto Del Rio vs Bray Wyatt vs Cesaro vs John Cena vs Kane vs Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns vs Sheamus (15 time!!...15 time!!... 15 time!!)

AJPW: Kinda makes you wonder what the hell the point in all that was?

I never said this was solely about blade jobs, rather color on a whole and how the brutality of some notable instances of color, added or took away from their matches or angles. A recent'ish one back in 2013 which was pretty brutal was when Brock Lesnar collided with a ring hook and gashed his skull in the mini brawl with Triple H. In my opinion, despite that being accidental, the presence of blood streaming down Brock's head as he and Triple H battered each other at the ringside, sold some much needed intensity in his feud (leading into Wrestlemania) with Triple H.

You are missing out on so much! Even when Vader was having the occasional shitty match following his post-WWF return to AJPW in the late 1990's, he was still pretty darn good!

Spot on with the NWF title. They even brought it back in 2003 for a run!

I remember poor Josh trying to master the moonsault back on Tough Enough.

Yes, you are quite right. Hmm, that's quite interesting, I wonder how many we can add to the list based on my earlier stated criteria? WWE World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, Bruno Sammartino, Canada, 50 years) (WWE, Chris Benoit, Canada, 11 years) WCW World Heavyweight Championship (WCW, Bret Hart, United Kingdom, 10 years) ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, Jimmy Snuka, Canada, 13 years) NWA World Heavyweight Championship (NWA, Leo Nomellini, Canada, 66 years) IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW, Vader, North Korea, 27 years) Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (AJPW, Terry Gordy, China, 25 years) ROH World Championship (NJPW, Takeshi Morishima, Japan, 12+ years) - provided by Bierschwale AWA World Heayweight Championship (AWA, Jumbo Tsuruta, Japan, 30+ years) - provided by Smack2K UWA World Heavyweight Championship (UWA, Lou Thesz, Japan, 18+ years) - provided by tofu_chipmunk NWF Heavyweight Championship (NJPW, Waldo Von Erich, Japan, 12 years) provided by pmo Anymore? I'm thinking that Dragon Gate's Open the Dream Gate will be a candidate soon.

Seth Rollins' finishing sequence is absolutely brutal looking and slick, especially when sold by a nimble opponent. The Turnbuckle Powerbomb followed by what is being called the "Curb Stomp" is awesome, but still impractical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20e0hGaCBuE

Not completely relevant, but I have my own little criteria for defining "true" world titles. 1) It must be referred to as a world title in at least one major company (a company with an international presence, eg, a company known outside of it's native country, that has held events in foreign countries) 2) I must be held by at least one man/woman not native to the country of the title's origin. 3) It must be defended in at least one foreign country. 3) It must be active for an accumulative period of at least 10 years (not necessarily as a world title, but as long as it's recognised at some point as one) With that in mind (some of the ones of the top of my head): WWE World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, Bruno Sammartino, Canada, 50 years) (WWE, Chris Benoit, Canada, 11 years) WCW World Heavyweight Championship (WCW, Bret Hart, United Kingdom, 10 years) ECW World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, Jimmy Snuka, Canada, 13 years) NWA World Heavyweight Championship (NWA, Leo Nomellini, Canada, 66 years) IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW, Vader, North Korea, 27 years) Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (AJPW, Terry Gordy, China, 25 years)