BigBadMick

This was a bit of a storm in a tea cup then?

I was reading Power Slam from April 2012 and the write up on the match is critical of Cena's actions in the post match. Apparently, the agreed finish was Cena wins but required help getting to the back, like HHH-Undertaker at Mania 27. That didn't happen, as Cena cut a promo, talked about taking a vacation, and left under his own power. Did Cena go into business for himself? Was he opposed to making Lesnar look strong? Why did nothing come of this?

Yeah, it's documentary feature. This one seemed to contain some new interviews with Hogan and Piper, as well as older clips. It was enjoyable enough - better than the HHH-Michaels or Austin-McMahon two parter, about as good as Flair v Rhodes. I've enjoyed then so far, as definitely fresher/more interesting than the Monday Night War series.

Caught up on one of the rivalries shows - Hogan v Piper.Thought it was fine, covering 1985, 1996-7 and WM 19 quite thoroughly. Having Ambrose advocate Piper was a nice touch.

Any chance of listing his top 5-10 matches?

I'll dip in and out if the storylines bother me. If the matches are well-received, I'll watch them irrespective of surrounding angles.

He looks a lot like the photos of his father they always use.

Certainly looks to have lost a lot of weight anyway.

I'd like to know his frame of mind after leaving the Raw after Rumble. Had he no intention of wrestling again before his contract ended in July? Or was it a 'wait and see' approach he was taking? He didn't make it sound like Vince ringing him a week or two later was completely unreasonable to him.

I take it Colt Cabana has blackballed himself out of any involvement with WWE going forward? And no more WWE guys on Art of Wrestling?

Just wondering - while it's accepted that Vince is the best wrestling promoter, how would he do if we widened the scope? Were would he rank among top businessmen outside wrestling? What would Alan Sugar (just throwing him out there as an example, I don't know a lot about finance) make of him?

Thanks Loss, that puts a lot of things into perspective. Keller is nearly entirely analysis/opinion these days. It seems well thought out and prepared. Which makes for a nice contrast from Meltzer, who - judging by the comments on the megathread - sometimes doesn't seem to put a great deal of thought into statements he blurts out at times. And, as has come up on the thread, I don't think Alvarez is capable of debating Dave on anything. It's embarrassing at times how dismissive he is of Bryan, but at the same time Bryan doesn't seem to know enough to enter the debate. By contrast, Keller and Mitchell seem to have conversational, back and forth discussions and seem capable of influencing each other. Keller's very good at directing the discussionand keeping Mitchell on point and ensuring he's clear in any argument he presents. I agree that Mitchell is polemic and that can be tiresome (his 'WWE is trying to create it's own indie league with NXT' tirades are fast forward material for me), but his wealth of knowledge and experience, especially with JCP, make up for that, for me.

Thought I'd bump this because I'm curious about how little coverage Keller and Mitchell get in PWO. They will cover Punk's podcast in detail over the weekend. Keller has already provided a fairly detailed breakdown which I enjoyed greatly, going into issues about Punk and an employee and the WWE system as a place to work. I thought it was balanced, insightful and thought-provoking. Anyway, does anyone else on PWO listen to Keller and Mitchell? And if not, is there a particular reason for strong aversion against them? Where is Keller on a totem pole of credibility as a wrestling writer? I'm really curious about all this, partly because he produces all this content but is largely ignored on PWO, and no-one's really explained why.

We probably need a definition of a casual fan here. To me, it's someone that watches Raw weekly, and Smackdown sometimes, and in the pre-Network era would have ordered 'Mania, SummerSlam and Rumble. Doesn't really bother with the internet much. Has a memory Perhaps we're on different trains of thought here?

I don't think the Hogan/Backlund analogy applies here. Maybe I'm speaking for myself here, but when the product is hot, you don't tend to look to the past. If you'd been a casual fan from, say, 2008 to now, I think you'd be inclined to look at 2008-10 as 'the good old days' and not be as keen on the present. You'd still pay money and support it, but be aware that it's in a bit of a slump. Again, I'm not going off any concrete evidence here, just a feeling I have. I don't think casual fans only live in a perpetual present.

And to pick up on another point, I don't think WWE has a current 'living legend' that they would try to call the greatest ever, like HBK.

'Just like Simon Cowell makes music I'd never ever ever buy in a million years, but the charts are full of his acts.' Yeah, but that doesn't make it right I see where you're coming from, Parv. But I would be curious to know if casual fans, paying the casual dollar, feel WWE is as good was it was even 5 years ago. And I'm not sure how you would even try to find out.

Ok, but Parv I think there are about 50 people on this board more qualified to speak on the decline of Vince than me. You've said before that you stopped watching in about 2005, can I ask why, and whether you feel there was a decline in WWE at that time?

It's a very different Vince out there now though, Parv. If he was 1/2 as capable now as he was in 1998 I'd agree with you.....

I've listened to Keller's analysis, think it makes a very good companion piece.

Holy shit! Just up to the night after the Rumble. Phenomenal stuff. Fair play to Punk for holding his silence so long and letting this have the massive impact it will now.

That's when I'd stop cheering him.

I would. And I think a lot of the over 40s that watch WWE would too.

Mention Foley on wrestling classics and this will change. Oh? How so?

I thought Arn looked very fat backstage with Batista. Could do with shedding a few pounds anyway....