BillThompson

Yes, at least in the case of Vince and Dunn that's all they believe the people pay to see.

I think Europe is as close as we'll get, unless WWE really surprises and thinks outside of themselves for once.

Apparently Lana put up a picture of the European belt on her Twitter yesterday, and then quickly removed it. If this in anyway means that Rusev is going to retire the US belt and bring back the European title I'm all in favor of that as a thing his character would do.

I'd like to see more of his indie work, because out of all the guys who are mainly flyers he seems to be on a completely different level.

Actually I was glaringly positive, but expressed how it sucks that this most likely won't translate to a positive future in the WWE. Different opinions are fine, including positive ones mixed with some realistic negativity.

All Pro Wrestling: Gym Wars (03-20-2010) Matt Carlos vs. Timothy Thatcher vs. Dave Dutra This is a Triple Threat Elimination match for Dutra's APW Internet Championship. Terrible, terrible match full of some of the worst triple threat spots I've seen in recent memory. The match can be broken down into two sections. In the first section all three workers grapple with one another simultaneously as they try, and fail, to get across some sort of "we're all trying to out-grapple each other" idea. The second section is your standard triple threat nonsense where one guy hits a move, is taken out by the second guy, and then the second and third guy wrestle for a bit while the first guy either lays on the ground knocked out or just stands by and idly watches the other two guys wrestle. It's all so meaningless, and badly choreographed, the first truly terrible match I've seen from Thatcher.

If anything you're the one coming off base. Vince McMahon, a guy who we know from reports knows nothing about developmental talent until they make the main roster is all of a sudden watching NXT? If it's not the main event Vince doesn't care and hardly watches, and that's just on the main roster. Every writer and talent who has come out of the WWE has said this is the case. He didn't watch OVW, HWA, PPW, and FCW, and he sure as heck isn't paying attention to the NXT product. He has no reason to because until those guys are on the main roster and near the main event he has no reason to. And I'm sorry, but if you don't see that Wyatt has been depushed or that Paige has been booked as weak as could be (which is pretty much the way every woman is booked) since pretty much the month after her debut then there's really no point in this conversation proceeding.

That is definitely a downer of a post. The guys (and gals) with talent have mostly done well when moved to the main roster. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns are top guys. Wyatt is a top guy, and while the writing/booking has been lacking, they're committed to him. Paige won the Diva title on her first night and along with AJ and the Bellas has been pushed as someone special and above the rest of the girls. There's really no basis in fact to what you're saying. Also, if you think Vince McMahon didn't watch the show I don't even know what to say. Of course he did. He might be old and out of touch, but c'mon....you're being ridiculous There is nothing but basis in fact for what I'm saying. Rollins, Ambrose, and Wyatt have been kept as mid-carders and I don't see that changing. In fact, Wyatt has been depushed almost as much as Cesaro. Ambrose has been turned into more of a comedy character than anything else, while Rollins has been booked to be one of the most idiotic heels on TV in quite some time. Paige was booked horrendously, and continues to be booked horrendously. The Bella's were given a main event level program, but neither of them were ready for such a program and it showed. Besides, Nikki has worked hard to be decent in the ring, but I wouldn't call her one of the talented ones. What reason does Vince have to watch? When has he ever given any inkling that he cares about anything but the main event? Him watching NXT would be the same as him knowing what is happening week in and out on Main Event and Superstars; he has no freaking clue because he never watches.

Supposedly NXT is mainly Tripe H's baby. He handpicks the trainers, the talent, and is the main force behind the storylines, the writing, everything really. Trips has a lot of faults, and I think his racism is a major problem that has only been touched on, but I do believe NXT shows that Vince is out of touch and at least product wise Trips should be the one leading the main roster now.

Anyone else been having issues on the PS3? Updated it on Tuesday, and it wouldn't let me watch anything.

I said it on Twitter, and it sucks to be the downer, but NXT can continue to be great and pout out shows and matches that scream, "Awesome," "Money," and what have you, and it won't matter a lick. I don't believe for a second that Vince watched a second of tonight's show, or has any idea about any of the talent in NXT. One day Owens will get called up and Dunn will say, "He's a fat guy, let's put him in a purple suit and have him be an Oomple Loompa." Vince will laugh, and that will be that. Don't get me wrong, I love that NXT is great, that I really enjoy their shows, the wrestlers, and the work they do. But, it's depressing to know that as far as the future of the WWE goes none of it means a gosh darn thing.

In terms of talent there are a lot of women who I believe could do that right now. But talent and booking are different. I firmly believe that you put Sasha Banks and LuFisto in the ring and they can deliver a great match as the main event of any show because of how talented they are. However, if they don't have the booking behind them this won't happen, and that's the same that could be said for any wrestling really.

Talent is subjective, and I'll say that right now there are plenty of talented women in the WWE. The problem isn't really talent, it's in how they're being used. You take the male roster and tell them they can go out week after week and only have matches around 3-5 minutes, and they'd be in the same spot.

Supreme Pro Wrestling: Unknown Event (02-20-2011) Jesus Kruze vs. Timothy Thatcher This match is for Thatcher's SPW Heavyweight Championship. Probably the most interesting Thatcher match I've seen yet. It's very much a Kruze match and not a Thatcher match in the way it is worked and laid out. However, the reason for that is due to Kruze being a very limited professional wrestler and Thatcher working to his style. There's one tiny section in the middle where Thatcher attempts to work over the arm, but it lasts a few seconds, is quickly stopped by Kruze, and makes sense. It's not so much that Thatcher was trying to insert his style of match but rather that Kruze was beating him by brawling and Thatcher made an attempt to take away Kruze's method of dominance. Watching Thatcher engage in garbage brawling is, as I alluded to earlier, interesting. He manages to work in his European Uppercuts so that they work alongside Kruze's wild looping Punches. But mainly Thatcher bumps big for Kruze's power offense, including a Bearhug Slam into the gym wall where Thatcher leaves an indent in said wall. Bump away is what Thatcher does and he manages for the most part to make Kruze look far better than he actually is. In the end though Kruze is very, very limited and the match goes on far too long for someone as limited as Kruze. The ending is also troublesome. Thatcher takes a steel briefcase shot to the head, which is yet another example of the underrated diversity Thatcher often brings to his matches. This followed a Thatcher Stretch and Thatcher ends the match with another Thatcher Stretch, which may be Thatcher's signature move but it does not fit the match in any fashion. This was a garbage brawl and it needed to end in a garbage way. It's unfortunate too because Thatcher spent so much of the match working to what Kruze could do but then in the final moment made the match about what he could do, which hurt the match.

I don't know man, I'm inclined to agree with Grimmas' fantasy booking. I loved Dr. Death during that run, and at other points in his career, but Mark Henry in that time and place wrestling at his very best would be on another level from what Dr. Death was able to do and would bring a far different dynamic that I personally would fine more interesting.

In the context that WWE is using it I think it is a demeaning term. They aren't referring to them as goddesses, but rather as bitchy entitled women.

I don' think so, at least not in the WWE. Were a group like a Shimmer, or even WWN to make it bigger then maybe they would get somewhat of a fair shake. I'm not usually one to copy and paste, but I left a reply at another forum about whether or not women in the WWE have it worse off than they have in the past, I said yes, and since my long response ties into this topic I'll leave my reasoning here, There are a few issues at play here, and in the end I actually think the women workers of today do have it worse off than those who came before. --The diva label is a ludicrously demeaning one. They should be presented as wrestlers, simple as that. Calling them divas brings a very negative connotation into play. Basically, "Oh, these aren't wrestlers or entertainers, they are bitchy women, and that's why you want to watch them." Perhaps this is true of some fans, but that's not the case with me and the label of diva is a constant source of head shaking for me. --The roster is more talented than it ever has been. This is a double edged sword though, because all the talent in the world doesn't matter when talent is still asked to go out and compete in sub-2 minute comedy matches. With Emma, AJ Lee, Paige, Alicia Fox, Natalya, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, and Bayley they have the best working roster they've ever had. Those women can put on good to great matches on a regular basis, if they are given the chance. They aren't given that chance though, and that makes their treatment all the more glaringly worse than those in years past. --There is no longer a clear demarcation between wrestler and manager/valet. Lana seems to be one of the only ones so far who they feel comfortable keeping exclusively as a manager. The fact is that more of the women should be kept in that role. Layla and Brie Bella, for example, have shown that they will never be competent workers. There's no shame in not being a good worker, but when those who are not good workers are forced into the role of a worker it makes the division far weaker. Of course there always needs to be room for upwards mobility. Nikki Bella has worked pretty darn hard and I'd now consider her to be a decent worker. Same goes for Summer Rae, and there's no reason that a female wrestler can't improve her skills to the point where they become a wrestler instead of just a manager. --NXT creates lots of problems just by its very existence. It shows us how talented some of the women have become. We get to see them in matches ranging from 2 minutes to fifteen minutes or more, and we see them excel in those matches. We also see them screw up, which helps to make them seem no different than the men. Not every women's match is going to be good, but NXT gives the viewer the chance to see that the women are capable of both good and bad. Then one moves up to the WWE main roster where all of the work NXT did to give the women legitimacy is removed from the equation. They are put into programs with non-workers. They are relegated to the time wasting slot on the card, and are given very little time to show their wares. In NXT we get women who can wrestle and show us as such. In WWE we get some women who can wrestle, and they aren't allowed to show us that they can in fact wrestle. --Sara del Ray is a fantastic wrestler, and by all accounts a great trainer. All of her work is for naught when the women move up to the main roster and everything that del Ray has taught them is put on the backburner for them engaging in pillow fights. Del Ray has shown a knack for planning out women's matches, but once the women reach the main roster they have agents planning their matches who don't really care for how the women look, as long as the male audience thinks they're hot. --Lastly, the women of today are still hurt by the way WWE tries to use their sex appeal and femininity. A woman can be hot and a tough as nails ass kicker. In NXT this dichotomy is presented all the time. In WWE the focus is heavily on sexiness and femininity, so much so that the women are presented not as wrestlers but as hot chicks who happen to step into a ring every once in a while. Alicia Fox's ability to hit a picture perfect Northern Lights Suplex isn't talked about, but her ability to fill out a bikini sure as heck is. Women can have both, but those running WWE, read Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn, simply don't agree with this. To surmise my long winded post; the women in the WWE have never been better talent wise. At the same time they are presented just as awfully as women in the past. The fact that we know how good they now can be and know that they aren't allowed to show this on the main roster is why I think the women of today do have it worse than the women of the past.

Is WWE really so worthy of being defended that you need to personally attack someone and pull out years old posts over it? And why is it that it seems like the biggest arguments online about WWE happen over the Divas? Why does anyone on the internet even care or watch the Divas division at all? You can't complain how there is too much TV and Raw is too long and then NOT fast forward the Divas. To the Divas point, I think it comes down to what people hope for and what they know that certain women in the division can deliver. Charlotte and Nattie are good wrestlers who have shown they can have a really good match together. Most of the complaints are over them not giving the women time to do anything, and they are legit complaints. To my mind it's similar to offering up someone a great steak dinner, but then only cooking it for a few seconds and expecting the person who wanted a well done steak to still enjoy the steak.

All Pro Wrestling: Gym Wars (02-06-2010) Adam Thornstowe vs. Timothy Thatcher Thornstowe can give as good as he can take and that added up to a pretty good match. This is the first out and out grappling match I've seen from Thatcher in quite some time. He always works grappling into his matches, but against Thornstowe the match becomes a question of who is the better grappler. To that end the opening moments of the match feature hold for hold grappling at a nice pace. They take their time, that's what I liked most about this match. They really let things breathe and that makes the moments like Thornstowe's Double Foot Stomp into a Senton mean that much more. It also helps that the finish is a natural continuation of what has come before and a near perfect capper to the match. Like much of the match it's a simple counter wrestling sequence that is executed well. Thatcher counters a Backslide attempt from Thornstowe and then grapples Thornstowe into position for a Backslide of his own to take home the victory. Very simple wrestling, but done really well and a lot of fun to watch.

There are some people, I believe Parv and Loss for example, who have said that where a guy is placed on a card does matter to them. They, or if I'm mistaken the people who did say this, believe that being a great worker isn't enough. It matters where you are a great worker and the amount of importance you have to the card and the industry. Can't say I agree, but that viewpoint is present.

All Pro Wrestling: Super Summer Series (06-12-2010) Timothy Thatcher vs. Vinny Massaro Short but sweet match. Massaro surprised me, I'll readily admit I was guilty of judging a book by its cover. For a bigger guy he's able to go really well on the mat. He counter wrestles Thatcher early on and quickly takes an advantage and for the first time Thatcher is the one having a limb worked over. Massaro really goes after Thatcher's arm, employing some nifty arm slams and a really cool, and agile, Rolling Hammerlock. Thatcher makes his comeback, and he does a wonderful job of selling his damaged arm, All of his offense is from his uninjured arm. The finish is a bit out of nowhere, but for a short match having a KO finish that doesn't tie into any of the previous work isn't a real problem. Still, a short sprint with a lot of limb work that highlights the very best of Thatcher's skills in the ring.

Last I checked Emma is dead in the water, Nattie is teetering on the edge of being dead all the time, Alicia Fox has been dead ever since she actually became good, etc. Being good in the WWE does not matter if you're a woman, at least as long as Dunn and Vince are around.

No, they don't and won't. Where did you get that idea? Most wrestling fans are not the kind of folk you find on boards like this. Unless it's a main event star, they're not going to remember. I'm not talking about people on boards, but people at work who only watch WWE and can ring off stuff that happened five years ago that I barely remember.

I said it on Twitter earlier, but were this tumbling Ricochet would be great. It's not tumbling, it's pro wrestling and Ricochet isn't great, he's not really good, but he's sort of decent. All the flipping and flying doesn't matter if you can't do anything but flip and fly. I mean I'm not asking for him to be the best in the world, but when a guy works over your arm pretty viciously and then you proceed to use your damaged arm to stop an Irish Whip and then reverse said Irish Whip and use your damaged arm to execute an Irish Whip of your own you missed some memos when it came to constructing a pro wrestling match. Also, I just watched him throw a kind of Forearm/European Uppercut where he gently placed his arm against his opponents head and apparently that was supposed to hurt. If you're strikes are that awful, don't throw them, ever.

They most likely do remember that match and will remember this one. Wrestling fans, casual or otherwise, tend to display pretty graphic memories for the most minute things.