Strand Peanut

Still can't stand the guy. He may be some sprt of master at some aspect of wrasslin' but at this point he's the public face of over a decade's worth of missed opportunities to me. He's given the rub to ? Batista ? In a career as long as his, with so much time at the top, he leaves a wake of failed feuds behind him. Creatively and commercially. In that, he lives in rare air, a top a throne. But if anyone can think of someone comparable, please speak up!

Ha! Perhaps, I was hoping a Yellow Lantern fan would appear and give me a list of promos they've personally timed over the years.. ..or something! They ain't short, but RAW switched to two hours in Feb 97. Was he doing the long promos before then? I always thought Bret was just eating time, and the heat was good, so fugg it. But I prolly have the timeline a lil off.

This would be the most notable guy. When I see the words "smart worker" attached to Brody, stuff like this always comes to mind. More common of a trait with workers in the Japanese scene I'd say.

Were the Hart Flindation promos really that long? They weren't brief, but there was a lot less TV time I'd think. The opening in ring promo feels like it's increased in length as the show has. WCW used it too. I think it's just become standard as how WWE programs their TV. In theory, the first segment in serialized TV, should be used as a catch up and push forward for the current episode. They could use a way to freshen up how that's presented. I wonder if they couldn't do an opening 15 minute video segment instead. Not sure how the live audience would react to that tho. Hard when you are serving the master of a live audience and live TV, but now seems like a good time to experiment.

They should try switching the format for a month. House show reports read like a hardcore's wish list. And maybe their dialogue would work better for kids ?

People outside of wrestling understand Bryan. Especially in urban environments. I'd say even more so in the old WWWF cities. They know this guy. They work with him, they went school with him, they see him on the street.. They just don't know. He's not some benoit/malenko style "super worker" but maybe that's how the company views him ? But no one related to those guys, or not like they do with DB. Or, even if you think the chants got over not him, or he's the focal point of fan discontent, why him? and still him? He's got heat, put him up top, keep him there, and help spread that heat around.

Oh, this had me laughing! Wonderfully awful. The "Nooooo" at the first peak.. fantastic.

Interesting. I wonder if NJPW is just waiting a bit to see how the NWA shakes out with the split. I have yet to see any Conway in NJPW, do they see any value in him?

There were in ring moments that came from the break up of the Wyatts. They just didn't generate any heat. Like the angle and build were cut out, and as wrestling fans we'd just draw the connections and stories out in our heads. The company as a whole, management and talent, has shown no great capacity for building an angle that draws and retains it's heat. They actually squash heat sometimes. Still a HHH world I suppose.

Agreed. Also wondering what is taking them so long to go on their excursions. Both seem more than ready, but maybe they don't want too many guys out there at the same time and are waiting for Kamaitachi and/or Watanabe to return. Where is Watanabe right now? Last match was in September in the USA. Even when he returns, gonna be a bit until Komatsu and Tanaka pick up steam. Who would they gain pinfalls over right now ?

Woof. Conway still coming to Japan to defend the title ?

It's been about fifteen years since the IPO. Fifteen years of corporate structure and thinking. Everything you said about Vince is true. But what about the other folks he works with? When the brand executive (formerly of Nabisco says the bio) meets with Vince, or, somebody.. How they interpret and share their views isn't quite the same as before. WWF's office was always strong, and their edge against the competition. But bringing in Exec VP's and corporate professionals and fitting into Wall Street's culture, is it more likely this hasn't had an effect? Is going public a significant factor in how WWE books the product? Sounds like a good question. Not sure if it's significant, or sure of the answer. But 15 years into it, I think it's worth asking.

This is always the example I cite. Tho was WCW's biggest money year while they were starting to tank? That'd be a nice example of the inverse. I wonder if this was a factor in CM Punk's long reign ? Wasn't really following at the time, but I'd be curious. It was widely judged as not succesful was it not? I guess I'll need to catch up on the time line here. Heh. I'm reading things like this, Seems like CM got just enough signal thru, like old border radio at night, to low level ping the public antenna. By the time they start to show up to look in, there's DB kind of taking more stride than CM, and he interests people even more. Plus the crowd reactions only help. But the stop start nature of his push makes it difficult for folks to latch on. Is that about right? And to an earlier point about DB. (Sorry, not fluent in quoting.) DB may seem a hippie, but like him or not, he's never presented that in the ring. As an upper card act, when he enters the ring, you can't miss his drive or desire. His look and demeanor out of the ring, only strengthes and highlights it. I think people relate to that right now. Some of the kindest hardest working folks I know would fit DB's profile.

I think WWE's audience is pretty much the diehards right now. And they are invested in Brian. He's always done press, he doesn't fit their mold, but he does well. They wanted him as a featured player, they still do. But they are struggling with his use, and how to make money off it. There was an interview, DB talking about the personality tests they take. Something about how his ambition to be the best didn't show up in their data. I think there's something kind of there in that anecdote. There's something there, but it's not in their numbers. In a corporate world, with it's love of empirical data, this guy is.. "ehh, suurrrre." But the eyes and ear test tells you such a different story. It must be just driving them mad! ha! Anyone else find it funny that they'd be choosing numbers over narrative in wrestling? Cuz I'm cracking up, cuz! Ignore the numbers, go with the narrative.. What is wrestling without narrative?

This may be more concise and constructive: DB is getting most of their established base, but he loses an edge against big names. His true $$$ potential is likely beyond that base. WWE is unsure if that's true or worth the risk.

I'd argue that they don't have the eyes on them yet. Wrestling in the states has been so far off the radar for most people. The people giving the pops need to be behind the product, and telling folks to come back or check it out. That takes time. When business goes low, it takes time to heat up again. In my mind, they have not shown the patience to get there. I always think it takes at least a year to warm up before you get really hot. Maybe even a year and a half. Considering the state of mass media, and the size of their current fan base, there's no quick way around that. The numbers we know don't make a good case for DB, or CM Punk. But those two have generated incredible amounts of interest, relative to where wrestling has been the last ten years. The failure to turn that into $$$ has been puzzling, but I think there's a lot of groundwork that comes before they'd see the result.

Tanahashi has always favored that style. He spear headed their climb back up, and most have followed suit. I'd second N. Logic. Does feel closer to AJPW in a lot of ways. I've been meaning to go back and watch Tanahashi's invasion into Mutoh's AJPW. I think you could find a bit of a starting point there. Plus, I remember it being quite fun. And an important step forward in his career. I think he was already mentioning the style of wrestling he wanted to use.

Thanks for those numbers, a nice reference. I know there's data in the quarterly reports. But it's how a corporate WWE interprets and applies the data. I think, as fans, we're lacking in that information. And I think it ties into the booking of WWE. Why utulize traditional wrestling booking, when you've moved to a non traditional wrestling model, sort of thing. They run personality tests on the talent. We're mostly in the dark on merchandise sales. In ten-ish years, they've presented a booking philosophy that continues to befuddle a segment of wrestling's most dedicated fan base. I find it very interesting, and quite unique. Would love to more the whys and hows. I'm not trying to pass judgement. Everyone's booked bad shit before, missed opportunities, so on and so forth. I'm just wondering if there's an aspect to interpreting the booking that's missing. A crucial one, possibly. And they HAVE been successful running this way, without a doubt. No one thinks we're in a boom, but WWE has been a good bet despite that. In a way (with the boom/bust history of wrestling in mind) that may be one of Vince's more impressive achievements. If he's in the wrestling business that is, ha!

Questions like these.. Quoting investor reports.. Reminds me how very much Vince has changed the business. Since the IPO, this kind of questioning has been at the root of discontent in a way. It's not just presentation, and the "sports entertainment" approach but the business model as well. Wrestling booking - Guy + Guy = Gate = $$$$ In a basic, sorta simple way. But with WWE, there's what formula? How do they = $$$ ? There's lots of different things. Not quite as simple. Booking critiques are often looked through the lens of boffo box office or not? And through that, a certain logic to booking wrestling. As fans, we all know it. Traditional indicators are still a good barometer of WWE's business. But I think business wise, they have such a different formula going. Seems only natural the booking would follow suit. I'm not even sure booking is the right term for it anymore. Just another example of disconnect between the promotion and some of the wrestling fan base.

Did Daniel Bryan get chants until the end? Or did the crowd completely forget about him? Going into the show, I was wondering if we'd get a Mabel wins King Of The Ring call back. Philly and all. Were they hoping to manufacture YES! chants at the end ? ECW -> YES or something.. They had to know boos were coming. The whole thing reads strange. Maybe the booking dept should stop trying to work the crowd so much. That's the wrestler's job. That's where the heat should be.

If you missed this triple threat, how does WWE get $9.99 out of my pocket to watch it on their network? Or rather Do they ever sell the network on that point? Don't usually watch RAW, and if I do, it's at a bar with no sound. So this might be hot air....

Thanks for the gym match. Some fun stuff in there. Everyone's green as the emerald city, but it's a good time. Couple things.. Wantanabe tags in Finlay, and the heels both ditch to the floor. Order returns (there's not much of it!) and Wantanabe exits thru the ropes, and does a nice lil call back sell. Rubbing his chin, from a pretty recent strike exchange. Good touch. But even better, right after he does it.. watch across the ring.. the guy in the mask.. can't miss him.. ha! That moment was great. Also, that dual bicep smash move that Money Mike does near the middle, on Finlay? With the big clap. That's kind of brilliant. A smart and logical way to get a high impact sound. Smarter than tight slapping at least, ha! Be even smarter if the biceps looked more threatening!

Ha! Yes. I don't hate him. Please revise your statement.. perhaps to.. "Doesn't everyone, minus one, hate Mil Mascaras?" I'm pretty sure of that! 😉

Nope.

It seems that way at the moment, doesn't it? It's probably a good thing for NOAH, given the recent financial troubles, accusations of Yakuza involvement, and the departure of names like KENTA, Shiozaki, Akiyama, Aoki, etc. I wonder if Hokuto and Sasaki's promotion ("Kensuke Office", is it not?) is still affiliated with NOAH. Certainly, one of their roster - Nakajima - is wrestling for NOAH. I'd be curious to know if they are, since Sasaki left NJPW on pretty bad terms in 2002, and I can't imagine him wanting to work with them. Their finacial problems go back to before Misawa's death, I'm fairly certain. It seems like a lot of people jumped ship around the same time. So (another?) management or ownership shake up seems likely. KO has been closed for a while. I havn't been following the NOAH/AJPW/Mutoh drama the last couple years.. so I am unsure of the timeline. Appears that NOAH seems like a holding pen promotion for people NJPW might, sorta, kinda be interested ? And a lot of filler. I'll have to dig around SSS and see if I can't find more day to day info.