Parties

This was more just me wondering what his health is like. He's a guy who by some accounts has subsisted on coke, pills, roids, and roast beef since 1985. But for all I know he could have incredibly good genetics. What I was picturing was less of a hostile takeover and more of a situation where he turns 75 and Steph gently asks him to step aside while he still can on his own terms. But it's a good point that guys like Vince/Trump/Redstone/Murdoch view themselves as uniquely immortal. Plus all the new psych talk which says that people live longer when they have work or some other cause to live for.

There’s a lot more worth saying about this, but you can really feel the “territory with TV” aspect in having guys like Rhyno and Kendrick come in for two week stints. It’s a great point that this is no longer a “rookie” promotion. It’s more like FOX setting up Searchlight as the film division for their smart, artsy stuff. Sorry if this derails the topic, but what’s the over-under on Vince working full time in his current role? He turns 70 this year, and I cannot fathom a 75 year old man working 12 hours a day just so that he can write lame skits where Seth Rollins shits his pants while on a date with Charlotte Flair. Even if Vince wants to be Vince until the day he dies, I have to think that either the kids or Board of Directors step in at some point. While I get the skepticism about HHH as a true-blue CEO going into meetings with the Masters of the Universe, I’ve never understood this idea that the company’s biggest investors and chairs think that no one else could ever possibly run this company. I don’t know if that’s really what the Board thinks, or if it’s what the internet assumes the Board thinks. Either way, publicly or privately, there are substantive contingency plans in place when your boss is a volatile 70 year old man who may or may not be on HGH.

First off, WWE would kill to have a heel with Honky Tonk Man’s mic skills and level of heat right now. At his best, Miz had a Honky vibe that the company recognized as a Honky vibe, and they were so enamored with it that they made him world champion and had him beat Cena in the main event of Mania. The IC champ is currently “King of the Losers”. You’re top jobber. It’s been that way for at least 7-8 years, probably longer. It’s due to the tiered system by which Vince/creative views the talent. HHH rejecting the belt in '02 is as good a death rattle as any. And yes, it's another good reminder of why Russo sucked. In those last 7-8 years, there’s been about a dozen guys who are in the top tier of real main eventers. Cena, Orton, Batista, HHH, HBK, Punk, Rock, Edge, Undertaker, Brock. Maybe Bryan, maybe Jeff Hardy, probably Jericho. Big Show oddly enough is a guy who fits in here, and we can now add Reigns to that list, assuming his push doesn’t implode this year. But those are the company-backed heroes in the top tier. They’re the answer to the question that they ask of every new talent: “Can he main event Mania someday?” Note that the vast majority of the guys I just listened will either be gone from the company soon, aren't there now, or will never wrestle for them again. 50% of the people Vince considers stars aren't even options right now. If you haven’t cracked that top tier, the company does not care about you. They might like you backstage as a person, they might think you’re talented, they might even employ you for the next 15 years. But at best, you’re King of the Losers. Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Mysterio, Benoit before he flipped. The haves-and-have nots attitude there has made it so that the McMahons are apathetic about almost all of the workers on their roster, at least from a booking perspective. Vince thinks the Cesaros of the world are whiny nerds who don’t live in his world. Your matches just don't matter. The IC title has been devalued not just because they think so little of the title, but because they think so little of anyone who could conceivably hold it. That doesn’t change the fact that it should be booked very differently, and that the Wyatts and Reigns’ of the world feuding over it would be a big improvement. I’ve been a broken record on this for weeks, so I apologize for saying it again, but the WM moment I’m hoping for this year is the show ending with Reigns hoisting the World Title, and being joined in the middle of the ring for celebration with your new US champ John Cena and your new IC champ Daniel Bryan. A win-win for company priorities, relatively good fan reaction, and the ultimate babyface victory, which the company has sorely lacked in their heel-dominated booking the last few years. Bring value to the secondary titles, establish Cena’s role as the new Bruno, let Bryan reestablish the IC as the Nakamura-style cool smark “workrate” belt, etc.

Alvarez is saying that Jason Albert/Tensai/A-Train/Giant Bernard is expected to be Demott's successor as head trainer. I'd say that's a mild upgrade from a workrate perspective. And better still, it might take him off NXT commentary.

I'm not defending DeMott, but this is not a good standard for criticism. Lots and lots of people are better at teaching a given skill than performing it. See most of the great coaches and managers in the history of sports. And conversely, Michael Jordan is one of the worst managers in NBA history. I love Ricky Steamboat, but being great at something doesn't mean you have the patience and communicative skill to make others great at it.

Agreed. I've had plenty of interaction with Cabana and he's been nothing but the nicest friendliest guy. To be clear: I'm not trying to defend Cabana here. I'm a casual listener to his show, which I enjoy if he has a good guest. I'm agnostic on Colt as a personality: dude clearly has a lot of Marc Maron in him, for better and worse. But here I'm really just curious to hear some clarification on what's so duplicitous about the way he portrays himself vs. who he is when outside the spotlight.

Kevin Dunn: What are the stories about him that make his douchiness unique to Vince’s? I’ve genuinely never heard anything about the dude except that him and Vince love all that Kid Rock-style dogshit music, and that he was the reason it was/is used so much by WWE, 15 years after it fell out of fashion. He has a terrible rep and is no doubt the cause of some problems, but I’ve never read anything specific about his approach. Colt Cabana: I’m not trying to turn this into the DVDVR Sleaze thread, but is anyone able to elaborate on this idea of him treating people badly? Is it that he’s become a prima donna backstage, or that he’s just a shameless carny shilling t-shirts to his fans? What about him makes his “fun guy” persona so phony?

The US title needs Cena more than Axel needs the US title. If you only put it on undeserving jobbers via fluke distraction wins, it's worthless. The role of "Cena's naive buddy" didn't work wonders for Ryder, Kofi, Sydal, Big E, etc, etc. Now if you had Cena win the title, gave Axel continued credibility over the next few months, and then had Axel be the one to beat Cena for it - then sure, they'll have done something to put someone new over. There are a dozen guys more deserving than Axel, and I personally don't think the Axelmania gimmick is going anywhere, but if he's the guy - fine. But the belt needs to first gain value from the less-than-zero it's at now, and Axel winning it as the C-plot of a match happening in three weeks is counterproductive. (Which means it's almost certainly what they'll end up doing.)

Not to pile on the bandwagon, but I've never understood the praise for Stephanie's mic work in this run. Seems like people liked parts of the Brie Bella feud and are forgetting how lame her other stuff has been. Even if you excuse that she never does anything to get anyone but herself over - even Authority members like Orton and Rollins - I still don't think the promos and delivery are much to write home about. Is it impressive that a real-life millionaire executive is capable of spouting dull corporate rhetoric? Her only big crowd reactions that I can recall came to her by repeatedly calling Brie a bitch, then beating Brie in their one-and-only match while turning herself babyface for the night in front of her daughter and the Four Horsewomen. That was six months ago. It's not productive heat. It's "go away" heat that makes everyone on the roster look cowardly and dumb. The four weeks in December without the Authority were widely praised. At no point in company history have they skewed the onscreen power dynamic so far in favor of the heels. Let alone heels who never wrestle (or in Hunter's case work 1 or 2 matches a year). Rare moments like Hunter jobbing to Bryan or Steph letting Vickie throw her into mud don't validate bad angles and promos that have now gone on every week, for years.

Regardless of who wrote it, point seems to be more that is was delivered really well, and in its content/intent was completely different from modern WWE promos. If the whole thing was written by Vince and/or his writers, then kudos to them. Makes you wonder why they don't write that well all the time. Ditto "Daily Show interns." Either way it begs the question: why doesn't WWE like to acknowledge recent storyline continuity/history in its promos, yet is still obsessed with WCW, Montreal, Bischoff, Turner, Hogan and other horseshit that no one under 30 cares about? Because they are the shadows that Vince can't stop boxing. The constant message is that wrestling was better and more interesting/important 18 years ago that it is today. Which happens to be true, as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because they can't let it go, and they don't love their new boyfriend the way they loved Stone Cold.

He's trolling. Knows dismissal is what makes him a heel amongst online fans, and knows it's what stirs up a lot of action on their Social from angry marks expecting HHH to someday bow down to them. Especially the weekend after the AJ stuff. Doubtful that Vince cares as much about looking cool online as Steph and Hunter do, but none of them were happy with Twitter this week.

I love moments where they do Springfield-style crowd shots of all the people who normally aren't on TV, so Miz throwing a party attended only by undercarders was greatness for me. If whatever R-Truth is doing is what it takes to let Bryan win and validate the IC title... fair deal? Wyatt having to do weekly promos for this Taker feud is already tedious and repetitive. No need for him to even be on this show unless it's to squash a Ryder or Kingston.

Just watched Rey vs. Cody Rhodes, Falls Count Anywhere from Extreme Rules 2011. A match with zero historical relevance. I knew they did a feud off of Cody’s orbital bone Dr. Doom mask, but never saw this follow up to their Mania match before. Turns out it’s a fun, wild brawl for the PG era: stiff headbutts and strikes, around-the-arena, cut from the same cloth as the Evolution-Shield stuff from last year. Cody works as hard as ever, and Rey is fantastic, hitting crazy dives off the stage and concession stands, selling well, and pulling off a surprising finish. Could have be match of the night anywhere in the world right now, yet completely forgotten by the Youtubed annals of time. That’s the story of Rey on PPV. He has dozens of good-to-great-to-classic performances in matches that were either midcard filler or main events meant to make everyone but him look good. He’s not only the best WWE worker post-Attitude, he’s also the most selfless. Also watched Rey-Kane for the World Title at Summerslam 2010 and Elimination Chamber 2011. Gets as good a singles match out of Kane as I can recall, especially in the midst of that heatless five month title run Kane got by beating Rey in 50 seconds at MITB that year. EC has Rey making Edge look better than anyone else ever did, and they’d been working together for nine years by this point.

The superlatives could go on all day, but I will say: Most underrated worker in WWE history from a value-to-respect ratio. (Moreso than Regal, Finlay, Valentine, etc. Rey was a huge draw and the company's best talent, yet Vince has always denied it.) Best overall worker of the last 20 years, which is saying something given that I can't recall him having a great match since 2010, or early 2011 if you count his last Elimination Chamber performance.

While I'm not saying that wrestling should be held to the same BS tests and fact-checking as world affairs and politics, the way wrestling gets discussed within mainstream media always make me a little more suspicious of news reports and "experts" on other subjects. Whether your own area of interest is wrestling or Finnish movies or astronomy, it often seems that when presenting a topic to the layman, less-than-ideal people are chosen to speak on it. Even Shoemaker, who I like as a writer, can be hazy on history (though I can't blame him for wanting to appear on Radiolab rather than tell them "You don't wanna talk to me - you need Dave Meltzer"). I can understand Rosenberg as a 35-year old DJ for the biggest radio station in NY, and Shoemaker for Grantland cache, but Russo's continued ability to pull wool over eyes is really something. Though it's a something that would be avoided if WWE were willing to talk to the press about their own history.

Which would actually be tremendous if it leads to those titles mattering. Whoever then beats those guys would be immensely elevated. The titles are likewise elevated by being held by true stars. Bryan is so over that done right he could be the Nakamura who validates the IC titleholder as a close #2 or #1A champ. It's a little odd to have all three your top three babyfaces holding the top three titles, but it could be a lot of fun and open up a lot of fresh matches. While I'm sure some hardcore Bryan fans would resent it, the visual of Cena, Bryan and Reigns meeting in the ring to hoist three newly won titles is a pretty redemptive finale to a shaky WM.

I voted Arn. One thing about Tully is that for better/worse, he was a career heel who came off as a complete scumbag. To me he was such a creep that I at times don't like watching his stuff as much as I should. He was so skeezy that he almost has X-Pac heat for me, especially in something like the Magnum "I Quit" match where he's squealing like a pig throughout. Yet it seems unfair to fault a top heel for being loathsome. If anything that's a plus, esp. when he was also such a good worker and promo. But in spite of all that, if I'm being honest, I often feel like I should be enjoying Blanchard's work more than I really do, while Arn if anything gets more enjoyable over time, for all the reasons of longevity/diversity discussed above.

I picked The Godfather only because it was the most successful rags-to-riches story. He was a truly shitty worker who had been an outright flop twice with Shango and Kama. The Nation was great, but he was playing fourth banana to much better guys. The Godfather took a dude who was really among the worst main roster guys they've ever had and made him into a credible singles champion with a gimmick that was ridiculously over and ideal for its time. The reactions he (or at least the women accompanying him) got are astounding when you watch Attitude RAWs. He's one of those guys who lapsed fans from that era remember vividly and still ask me about often. People who don't remember who Owen Hart, PG-13, D'Lo or Simmons were remember the Godfather. And in terms of an evergreen character with potential longevity, "pimp" is better than the rest of these. It's the world's second oldest profession. I nearly voted for Too Cool as they were probably the most over of anyone listed, and the gimmick was what made them stars. But Godfather emerged from lower depths up to relative heights.

Bryan made his promo work, and I liked Heyman's too. Bookended the idea that Reigns beat Bryan and won't beat Lesnar: wins and losses mattering. But they're laying it on thick with Roman. The less he's talked, the better's been - though I don't know if I want everyone else then doing his talking for him either.

Stephanie's been solid getting heel idiocy over tonight. She really is good at delivering the lines most of the time. Laughed at Hunter silently crossing his arms through two segments in the first 40 mins. He's been watching noir and realizing the best kingpins talk less?

Adjusting the concept to make the winner the #1 contender for Summerslam makes a lot of sense, as it would elevate someone, give them a raison d'etre in the summer months, and knowing when the match is happening and building to it would actually create more excitement than the current approach of "The cash-in kicks off the RAW after a PPV, or happens directly after a PPV main event." MITB's appeal was that it was something unpredictable, but it's become all too formulaic in the cash-ins. It's a flawed concept in that they rarely take advantage of the spontaneity. You now have Battleground between MITB and Summerslam - which would actually help build suspense if they were willing to book the champ and #1 contender on opposite sides of a tag match or something. Utilize the champ in a way that isn't a title defense to keep Summerslam important. The Brock run's actually been great for this, and which WWE hopefully learns from: defending the top title 4-6 times a year is more exciting than defending it 12-15 times a year.

Commentary's very important in all its forms, but the comment on how wrestling feels without it is interesting. I remember seeing WCW house show footage from the late 80s and early 90s: something as good as Dustin vs. Windham actually seemed less exciting without the commentary. Conversely, present-day WWE house show footage is amazing, in that you can see how good the workers are in a single-camera still frame, and hear what's working with the crowd (which is often more than I'd expect). It's perhaps the most telling indicator that WWE is overproduced, and how much better it would be without bad camera work/scripting/commentary. If you were judging the company on what someone shot on their phone and posted to Youtube, you'd think this was a hot product.

I'm curious about Buddy Rogers, if only because so many major people in American wrestling credit him as their favorite or "the best", and as the prototype for Flair. The big one for me might be Jackie Fargo, who's looked amazing in everything I've seen, which amounts to about five total minutes on Youtube. And more French lutte libre a la Cesca/Catanzaro. Not a lot of historical context available, but the stuff in this channel's been great: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCylA1VG1JDH-fMTVLSDzsrw

Had never seen that dive onto the concrete steps until now. That is really on the shortlist of dumbest bumps ever. Like, that is 10 times worse than Angle throwing himself off the rafters in that Jeff Jarrett brawl. You could have attached a bag of weed to the handrail and 1994 Sabu still would have turned that down.

People view the New Day gimmick as racist because their gimmick is that they are black. Being black is the reason that they were put together. It's the only thing they have in common as workers. Moreover, as part of the gimmick, they've been given a bunch of Gospel church clothes and scripted mic work that sounds like a 1940s cartoon. It's all totally out of place with how they've all been portrayed in the past. Big E went from “silent, deadly heel” to “funny urbane guy who's good at Twitter” to a weird Jesse Jackson imitation that would be too broad for SNL. The lack of diversity is not a by-product of wrestling not being cool, or any skewing of national demographics. It comes from the show being run by 70-year old white Republican millionaire Vince McMahon, perennially ignorant Kevin Dunn, Human Resources nightmare Michael Hayes, and HHH: world's biggest Motorhead fan, and the guy who did blackface in DX and a horrible race-baiting feud with Booker T in which the racist heel won. Their rationale for not using luchadores is that most of them can't speak English, and thus can't cut their horribly written promos. They don't see money in people like Rush, Dragon Lee and Cavernario, all among the best in the world and between the ages of 19 to 26. Ditto for Asian workers, represented exclusively by past-his-prime KENTA being sent to developmental. Prior to his arrival, they were represented by no one. Still-fresh memories of Tensai and his meek sidekick come to mind. Uhaa Nation and Moose look like what Vince would draw in the margins of his notebook. Bobby Lashley and Umaga had the highest grossing match in company history (thanks to Trump, but still). They paid Mayweather millions for one (great) match. Even someone as half-dumb as Court Bauer was begging them to develop a more diverse roster, embrace hip-hop, and take notice of what the most lucrative athletes in the world look like. The talent is out there.