goodhelmet

It would have been interesting 5-6 years ago. There are about 40 guys I am more interested in seeing than AJ Styles at this point.

Yoda: You must unlearn what you have learned.

Yeah, the Olympics... I need to create an Olympics thread in the pro Wrestling Mostly folder. Is there anything more worked and as needle stained as the Olympics?

Just want to add that I love you are doing this. An absolute must-have companion to the set.

Have you had your eyes checked recently? More athletes looked like Erik Watts than say this guy...

hair

Greg Gagne. Watts looked like an athlete. Sawyer reminds me of Tom Pritchard.

You are in the era of Bill Dundee Studio Ace. After the completion of the Memphis set, Lawler came away as the best arena wrestler while Dundee was the top studio guy.

Me too. I might have both guys in my Top Ten of all time when all is said and done.

Ok, the security told me I had to turn my IPad completely off and couldn't use it during the show which is the first time that has ever happened to me. When the lights would godown, the iPad light lit up my face and it was apparently really noticeable. Also these thoughts are from being there live with really good seats so my experience and perception will apparently be completely different from everyone else's. CM Punk vs. The Shield- Live, this Felt like the best handicap match I have ever seen. Maybe that Bill Dundee Memphis one was better but everything was really snug and executed well. Punk outsmarting the Shield was reall done well and it was all excitement after Roman went flying over the announcers booth. The worst spot was Ambrose doing a 180 to position himself for the elbow. Crowd was huge into Punk. The booking with Roman Reigns spearing Rollins in the end was a perfectly acceptable way for punk to pick up the win and overcome the odds. Great match live. AJ Lee vs. Natalya- this was really good and stiff too. They were also laying in nice tight shots. The whip into the guard rail was sick. Natty was really over but don't know if it came across that way on TV. This may be the best women's match I have ever seen live and I have seen about a dozen of them. Normally this would be my smoke break match and I am glad I stuck around. Big E Langston vs. Damian Sandow- Nothing match but the the crowd liked Big E. Up close, Sandow works really, really light. Probably works for the boys but looks bad up close. Also, unless you are standing next to him, there is no way to describe how thick Langston is. Fucking huge. Fatal Four Way Tag Match- Match of the night and a MOTYC. Heyman's team was being heckled early but the work was solid. Also, Ryback wears the Chris Jericho lifts in his boots. The crowd went nuts for Big Show's slaps. Picked up to another level after the first elimination. Even the Real Americans were over huge as faces. This is Texas so go figure. Goldust took over and it was a career performance. The dropkick looked beautiful. One of the best FiP segments I have ever watched. When he tagged Big Show, the pop was deafening in the arena. Big Show was pretty awesome here too. His punches were a highlight especially the one that finished off the Americans from the top. Forget who got nailed coming off the top rope but it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen live. I was concerned the crowd would die in the face vs. face segment but all four guys busted their ass with the false finishes and the final pin. Brodus Clay vs. R Truth- For such a short match, it went on too long. The crowd just wanted to dance with Brodus. Kofi vs. Miz- Piss break. Came back to the entire arena chanting boring and Kofi getting the pin. Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family- This didn't seem as good as the Punk match live but it was still really great. Everything was executed great and I thought we were going to get another face win. This is also the best I have seen Wyatt look since he debuted. His splashing he corner was sickening. It was really exaggerated after Rowan did a splash a few moments later and it sort of sucked. Bray was soaking up the "That was creepy" chant with his hair over his eyes trying to conceal his smile. There was one point in the match after Wyatt asked Daniel to shake his hand where Bryan is on the mat in the ring alone and I shout "Shake his hand Bryan!" He gave me an Eat Shit and Die look that had the whole row marking out. There was absolutley no doubt who he was looking at. The crowd was bummed when he lost but the kiss, the finish and the post match had everyone engaged with Bryan's head in Wyatts lap. John Cena vs. Randy Orton- I guess being there live makes all the difference because I had no interest in the match at all going in and they kept me entertained the entire time. The pop for both guys felt huge but Cenas was insane level... More than Bryan or anyone else by a mile. One of the loudest I have ever heard lie anywhere. I honestly had no idea who was going to win because I don't really pay attention to reddit guy or bad WWE booking. All of the chair shots, table spots and ladder hits were sick live. When Orton got hit with the stairs the first time, he was busted open pretty bad. Looking at him on the floor, he was starting to pour some blood. When he stood up, he had a red dot on his head. They cleaned him up really fast during the replay. The handcuff spot was great live. When Orton threw the keys into the crowd, he actually threw them to a production guy. There were two guys in wheel chairs right next to us. Before the match they were told they were going to be moved because the wrestlers would be going through the aisle. In actuality, they didn't want a couple of guys in wheel chairs getting nailed with the keys. I don't know if this came through on tv but when Cena was handcuffed, before he unscrewed the turnbuckle, I shouted "take off the turnbuckle John!" and he gave me a quiet Thank You. It wasnt subtle because the whole section was marking out so I got two genuine in ring reactions during the show. The final climb really felt like Cena was going to win and even though he didn't fall through and bust the table, my friend and I were calling it the Million Dollar Baby Spot because it looked like a nasty botch that puts you in a wheelchair and not a wrestling is fake botch. During the post match celebration replay, the crew was furiously trying together belts off the hook that Orton took down. I don't know how long the replay took but it fet like they were panicking because the belts were bolted on and not just hooked so they could avoid a TNA moment during the big swing earlier in the match. Once the belts were handed to Orton, it went almost immediately live in the nick of time. The "celebration" went on forever and the McMahons just stood there looking dumb and then they just left. Don't know if it was on TV but Orton kept shouting "Say My Name" after and eventually left. Once the announcers left, shook Lawlers hand, shilled him a 35 disc set and stole his crown. Actually, just shook his hand. JBL left next and he looked much smaller than I expected. As a total live experience. This was the best live show I have ever attended. With the exceptions of the Sandow, Brodus and Miz matches, everything else felt good to great with the MOTYC four way. Huge thumbs up from my vantage point but I guess people are so jaded on the WWE product that the bad booking and tone deaf decisions kill any enthusiasm. Hey at least Dylan enjoyed the main along with me.

Randy Orton and I wouldn't call it close.

I spent the gas money. Worth every penny.

Read all of your thoughts. If it came off as no energy then there is a severe problem with the WWE sound system because I have been to some loud arenas in my time and that main event match had as much heat and was as loud as any match I have ever been to live except for MAYBE the end of the 2007 Rumble with Taker-HBK. I will post my live thoughts on my way home from Houston. I am stuck in the parking garage and the wifi is spotty at best. I will say the is the best live experience I have ever had and best live show I have been to. Well worth the gas money and lack of teaching that will happen tomorrow.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Fandango - real fun match that looked pretty painful up close. Yep.. Dolph is Heath Slater.

I don't know. Maybe there is a way to track Twitter and find out when she stopped following him That's when I found out he was no longer with Beth Phoenix.

Punk and AJ Lee are a couple. AJ was jealous.

I wasn't going to go. Houston is 3 hours away but they have had 3 bad PPVs in a row. I can't see them pulling a WCW and doing 4 bad shows. I am hoping the 1 on 3s are going to be straight handicap matches and have some kind of story advancement worth watching.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Fandango Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio & Big Show vs. Ryback & Curtis Axel vs. The Real Americans (Fatal 4-Way Match) Intercontinental Champion Big E Langston vs. Damien Sandow Divas Champion AJ Lee vs. Natalya CM Punk vs. The Shield (3-on-1 Handicap Match) Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family (3-on-1 Handicap Match) World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs. WWE Champion Randy Orton (Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match)

Again, you are right... but it was someone outside of the NXT "family" which is who Rob was referring to when he said that everybody liked him.

Imagine how those guys must have felt finding the Rosetta Stone and then translating hieroglyphics. El Boricua is our Rosetta Stone.

Agreed. It is also known that the decisions on who stays and goes isn't made by the people who work at NXT on a daily basis which is why I highlighted the 2nd statement. Rob also mentioned on the podcast that they offered him another job in the company but for less money and having to relocate to Connecticut and gave him a month's notice he wasn't going to Orlando so I think they expected him to stay in some capacity.

On Meltzer's site, they announced Court Bauer is now part of ROH. I laughed because earlier this week, John Pollock was on his show with Bauer and said "this is a promotion where it is difficult to be a fan of this product" and Bauer trying to dance around in his response.

Rob's my friend but what Rob said was supported by at least another wrestler in Meltzer's write-up when he was let go...