Parties
-
Posts
1130 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Everything posted by Parties
-
When did Miz become good again? His multiple pin attempts got a standing ovation in my section. Putting Virus/Cerebro in front of me during a live show is cruel and unusual punishment.
-
Women really liked Amell. If Lawler and Jerry Jarrett still want to ask Bill Watts, "Where are all the blowjobs?", the answer herein would be Arrow and Neville. "We want Snooki" and "Where's your bow?" chants for Amell from the jealous stank-bros, but I thought he was surprisingly agile, good at selling, and a better FIP than most of the roster. In some ways this was the best pure wrestling match of the show, even if the New Day comedy was more entertaining. They had the tag formula down pat. Tough Enough scrubs got booed out of the building. No love at all.
-
Rusev/Dolph: aside from "We want Lana" chants, this was a mass exodus for the crowd. Tons of people leaving for bathroom/beer, and the remaining bodies were silent. Brief "USA" chant that died out fast. In-ring this was the worst match yet. With the right booking this could have been a hot feud. Instead it languished in apathy, as Ziggler spent the sixth of his nine lives, in the seventh or eighth hour of his career, wondering what will come next. No one in-ring did anything wrong, yet they all looked miscast in the high school production of West Side Story. Lana got by far the pop of the match for her initial interference. How those women worked spots in those heels is beyond me. I actually really liked a match ending in a countout draw. Everyone stayed strong, but the women are clearly owning this feud.
-
First half of match: when I said this crowd was louder than the Takeover audience? Please allow me to reverse that in overdrive. People loved the New Day promo but this match was getting little to no reaction, as was the case for Orton-Sheamus. Second half: Titus is trying and he did very well when cleaning house. Crowd ate him up after having previously stuck to "How you doing" chants for much of the action that preceded him. Really hot finish and the crowd loved the title change. Big E's gyrations were over as hell, as was Woods destroying Torito. Stewart's "Laugh-In" sketches are dying a death. Way too campy and verbose. There's a reason WWE writers don't hear back from the Daily Show when they send in their packets.
-
Re: arena smoke, Johnny Sorrow stopped by and hasn't yet switched to vape pens. Match was entertaining in the building even if it didn't get a big reaction. Finish felt sudden, but Sheamus is a fun heel to boo. He knows how to get the right reactions.
-
Robert Reich and Dutch Mantell down there died a death at first, but is slowly winning the audience over during their two-man stand-up routine. Their shtick was initially inaudible over the crowd. It pretty much sucked and the reaction was mediocre, but improved by the end.
-
If you've never seen Lillian Garcia's self-sung entrance video, be somebody and go YouTube that noise. Michael Cole gets the biggest heel reaction of anyone this weekend. JBL gets a big pop wagging his cowboy hat like it's the last scene of Dr. Strangelove. Lawler gets the best reaction of the three. He deserves to make everyone's All Time Top 100 ballot for his entrance music alone. Chants for New Day throughout. Crowd 50/50 on Lesnar and Taker. Kids and parents are for Mean Mark, while twentysomething cretins prefer Brock.
-
I said as much in about seventeen paragraphs on the PTBN Reaction show thread, but I quite liked the sentiment behind the moment and didn't mind that it was incongruous to RAW. Mainly because all three women have been horribly booked on RAW and I barely watch that show, which is far less interesting week to week than NXT. NXT need not fit into the box that Vince and Dunn draw up. The curtain call felt like the end of one chapter, with tonight as the start of another. Where Sasha goes from here is anyone's guess, but even having Naomi and Tamina scowling at her from ringside is either going to be blown off as nothing, or the beginning of a remodeling of the factions. It's clear that the integration of the NXT women into the main roster was half-baked at best, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them realign Sasha with PCB in the near future. Seriously: I'm not that concerned with how a curtain call jibes with the characterization of the last two weeks in the lives of freaking Naomi and Tamina. The greater concern is what happens with Banks going forward, and last night told a better story than the one Vince and co have told on RAW and SD. Which should surprise absolutely no one.
-
Prediction: I throw a hot dog at one of the many goons in this crowd who still showed up dressed as the Hulkster. Reinvest in some new eBay gear in the name of social justice, Brother!
-
PTBN Reaction Show: NXT Takeover Brooklyn
Parties replied to goodhelmet's topic in Publications and Podcasts
Re: the curtain call - it seemed clear to me that it was an instance in which NXT and the main roster have separate continuities. It worked for me as a moment because it felt apparent that this was being presented as Charlotte/Lynch/Sasha's last nights in NXT. If they end up continuing to do double duty, then that moment may look worse in hindsight. But I suspect that we won't be seeing them on NXT going forward (at least not Sasha), and the moment was a validation of Bayley as "one of us", in keeping with the story told in the hype video of her feeling as though she's been left behind by the other three in their move to the main roster. You have to buy into the idea that these are two different worlds, almost as if you were watching territorial TV and saw a team as faces in one company and heels in another. I realize that's a stretch for some, but I really liked the moment because it felt both genuine and dramatic. It's so rare that WWE offers genuine climaxes to their stories, let alone offering stories at all. To me Banks' character was never some Owens-like diabolical troll who'd fake a hug just to spite her opponent. Rather, she's more like an arrogant athlete or music star who believes she's the best, but is still capable of sincere emotion precisely because she's such an egotist. She's not the Dirty White Boy luring in Tom Pritchard. She's Kanye West on award tour. -
One other thing that may be obvious from this thread and prior conversations: while it may have just been a Brooklyn thing (I don't think it was), there is definitely a vocal minority of fans who are watching NXT but aren't watching the main roster. Or if they are, they tune in for the 4-5 biggest PPVs of the year to see Lesnar and big matches. Call them "network" fans, call them indie geeks, whatever: there is a growing recognition from casual and semi-smarkish fans alike that NXT is in its own bio-dome, separate from what turns them off about the Vince-Dunn Express. I don't want to overstate the point, but the idea that this is no longer developmental and is rather its own brand has taken hold in the eyes of consumers. It's become the best of both worlds: attend a genuinely fun wrestling show with great matches and wacky gimmicks, but do it in a 13,000 seat arena in your city, rather than having to bring your girlfriend or parent to the town dump to see a comparatively low-rent indie alongside 200 creeps. The value of this show in comparison to ROH cramming into a hovel like Terminal 5 two months earlier was night and day. Especially for those who'll happily buy a $30 ticket and a $30 t-shirt at Takeover, while ridiculing the idea of buying a $100 ticket to Summerslam. A show like last night garners loyalty and future sales from fans, at least in the short-term.
-
While it may not have been the same ratio as Orlando, there were lots of kids/families in the crowd. They may have been drowned out by the 50/50 reaction that the dude-bros were giving to Banks, but Bayley's fans came in force. Plenty of gangly, high-pitched data entry guys in "I'm a Hugger" shirts pulling for her as well. Women stole the show. Much better match than the main event, and it was much more over in the building. Crowd seemed to know that Owens stood no chance of winning, and they teased Attitude Era weapons spots that weren't going to happen. I liked the Ladder Match, but it was no comparison to crossface wars and the power of hugs. Nuclear reaction to Bayley's win. The response to the submission counters was as loud as anything I've ever heard in a wrestling show. This really was the night to pull the trigger on the Divas movement, and you saw the difference between the way this is being presented here vs. RAW. It'll be very interesting to see Banks two nights in a row in decidedly different roles.
-
Didn't hear boos per se, but it was stuck in the middle of the card. Also felt like a crowd that was here for dynamic TV characters and title matches, while this was neither. Got a decent "Joe's gonna kill you" chant at the beginning, but TNA lays its stank upon the innocent, and Joe hasn't yet been positioned as a real player on the brand.
-
Dillinger's character feels like a reach: it's a crowd that will get anything over, but "10" is a bit lazy. Why wouldn't you go to 11? Short and some definite dead spots, but solidly executed for a debut. Lots of "Uhaa" chants early, and crowd loved his combo finisher, but the screens were turned off for the match until the replays. Also had no idea he's from Stone Mountain, GA. Bring in Jake as his manager! Nothing could possibly go awry. The Dusty Classic is awesome as a 2015 Crockett Cup, and Regal is the best authority figure they've ever had.
-
"Gangs of New York" chant in my section for Vaudevillians definitely wins "least expected reaction" from a crowd that I've ever heard. Herbert Asbury is dancing in his grave at the thought of his work being bellowed from the cheap seats in Cobble Hill. Near falls really got over: the Aiden English senton was huge and the crowd loved the title change. Vaudevillians are making this gimmick work against all odds, and Blue Pants - despite looking indie as hell - can really dance a jig to that tuneful piano. Taker is already getting booed in the building during his promo video. Tomorrow night may end up a slaughter if his conditioning isn't up to par.
-
Crowd was familiar with Liger and really stoked to see him. A mix of "Liger's gorgeous" and "Full Sail sucks" chants. You can also see from this how eternal the Liger costume is and how much it protects his character. Awesome match: the selfie stick moment was over huge.
-
Hunter asking the crowd to be silent during his self-congratulatory promo was both insane and a tribute to what an expert bullshitter he is. Hunter the Real Life COO is a lot more entertaining than the character.
-
Smooth chain wrestling and power offense from Bull Dempsey. Hadn't seen him work in a while and he looked good. Was totally unfamiliar with Elias Sampson: is he working a gimmick of the ABC hit series "Nashville"? Bull struck me as a very likable baby face who got a solid but not stellar reaction in his hometown. He will become a really good worker, but I wonder if his height and body will keep him from doing much on the main roster. He's shorter than I realized and in a different time and place could have been like, Pequeno Jerry Blackwell. I don't get Dana Brooke at all. Meltzer calls her the next Beth Phoenix, but the Beth Phoenix gimmick doesn't work if you're smaller than everyone you face and dressed like Ashley Massaro. Lynch was more over than Charlotte in the building, but people still like saying "Woooo." Fun four-way: Emma was the story of the match, and is awesome as smug heel who went bad as shoplifter and learned some cunning tricks in those four hours behind bars. Lynch was solid, but nothing you haven't seen. Charlotte looked more crisp than usual here. Really weird Hogan post-match conclusion that made the faces seem like sore losers who were jumping the heels from behind after the bell to hit their finishers.
-
Vociferous boos for Eva Marie. Crowd was brutal to her even though Carmella was working exactly the gimmick you'd expect to work as a heel in Brooklyn. Match was fine and Marie was not nearly as bad as the crowd would tell you, but Carmella ate up the crowd reaction. Overall this was met with awestruck hatred, and "We want Blue Pants" and "ECW" chants. Honestly after this I'm an Eva Marie fan. She did everything right and could get over as a massive heel or maybe even a face in time. Almost a Cena-like level of vitriolic reaction that could go either way.
-
Tons of shirts for Banks, Owens. Balor's new shirt with the teeth was all over as well. Many, many spontaneous New Day chants all over the neighborhood: I can't think of a time when I've heard a chant out of nowhere on the streets like that. The Barclays Center is in the middle of Brooklyn next to a bar called McMahon's: the sheer volume of fans condensed into a few blocks was wild. This is also by far the most number of women I've ever seen at a wrestling show. Actual women! Attractive women. It was utopian. Lots of girls in Banks and Bayley shirts. Almost no one supporting Charlotte, which was interesting. Probably the most fun crowd I've seen at a show in NYC. I'll take these people over ROH trolls any day. Barclays is gorgeous: there doesn't look to be a bad seat in the house, and I say that from the rafters. Show seems to be starting 20 mins late, which may not bode well for the TV taping unless they cut a match?
-
Gotta make time for Stephanie to talk down to Jon Stewart.
-
Strong and Elgin should be heels. I honestly thought Elgin was a heel during the Terminal 5 show this summer: his reaction was 50/50, he scowled the whole time, and his moveset screams douche.
-
Of course they did, just like they hated John Cena getting pushed as company ace. Looking at the real problems of why the company was broken makes certain corners of wrestling fandom uncomfortable, so the brand split became an easy scapegoat. That things have gotten vastly worse since the split ended, and that, in retrospect, the split was an unambiguous good (and seemed like an unambiguous good to me at the time) is besides the point. OK, but why was it a scapegoat? Like, what was the IWC talking point that was being used back then that made people think unification would solve problems? I guess I can picture folks thinking that the SD/ECW guys were getting hosed on PPV time, but my memory of it is that even back then most people recognized that it was a net positive to get Vince's eyes off SD and keep like, Mysterio as far from HHH as possible.
-
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen (12/6/89) [DVDVR: #4, 5840 points] Great match. Initially it seems more of a Hansen-Jumbo war than a Yatsu showing. Hansen's chops are obscene here: from the sound of his striking, you expect swaths of flesh to fly off his opponents like a Cronenberg movie. At first I though I liked this less than the Tenryu/Kawada match, largely because it feels like more of a typical Hansen tag brawl that you've seen elsewhere. I didn't like Yatsu as much as FIP pin cushion being eaten up by Hansen, which doesn't seem like a knock on Yatsu as he does well in the role, even if it's less fun than him on the rampage. And that beating he takes tells the right story, because he comes back with a vengeance. Halfway through he really becomes an exciting FIP, and you're begging for him to make the tag. The taped-down headgear is a little wacky, but it tells a fun story of him saving the day. The bulldog on the floor was insane, and by the end Hansen is really giving Yatsu a lot of offense in a way that suggests he really respected him.
-
I just watched Jumbo/Yatsu vs. Tenryu/Kawada from 2/23/89. #14 on the DVDVR set. Amazing match that reminds you how good all four of those guys are. It reiterates the legend of revered dudes who we all know are supposed to be all-time greats, but who you want to catch in new matches you haven't seen before to view them with fresh eyes at their best. Yatsu is a crazed killer in this, working as Jumbo's hot-headed bad lieutenant. Maybe it's that I've watched Serpico and The French Connection recently, but there's just something about him that screams corrupt cop in a great way. Awesome offense, arguing with the ref, believable heat with his opponents, talking trash, great selling. Yatsu here gives the best performance of four top 100 guys here working at the top of their game in what I can say is the best match I've watched in quite a while. The snap on Jumbo's last suplex on Kawada is worth the price of admission. Yatsu's a guy I want to watch more of, as he combines certain things I like about a variety of guys: Fuchi, Fujiwara, Animal Hamaguchi. Feels like a multifaceted talent who deserves more attention.