Slasher

This is a terrible argument. Looks like all that WCW watching didn't leave any lessons to be learned from?

I just meant that it is possible for someone to offer an opinion that comes from a place of neutrality or not leaning towards one "side" or the other. But anyone who offers such gets dismissed by the super stans. It's not so much a problem here as it is in other places though, thankfully.

Oh no not the people who want to see a new promotion succeed. The ones who have already decided that it is the greatest thing ever and that it smokes everything WWE has ever done in their history. I feel like at this point, the "lines have been drawn" and people have chosen sides. Objectivity or speaking from a place of neutrality or unbiased opinions seem to be a thing that have gone out the window or dismissed out of hand by the super-stans.

...and AEW fanboys of course. Don't forget them.

Or time to do this.

I think the reason Becky is shining even if she is being scripted boils down to the fact IIRC Becky is actually a trained actress as well as wrestler. I think she was doing acting at the time when she was retired from the Indies before WWE came calling. That means she is going to know exactly how to be when she does a scripted promo. The WWE folks and all the talents that they have been signing up are people who generally do not have time or does not have the foresight to learn how to act. So Becky stood out for that reason when she was finally given the ball to prove herself.

There is a trend now where people are worried about the long term viability of American football, which is currently something that makes billions of dollars in their sleep, way beyond anything WWE or any other wrestling organization can possibly hope to make. The reason for this is because health insurance coverage is getting too expensive for leagues to possibly cover every single player. In the NFL there's only so many spots you can grab so yes they are all covered in terms of health insurance, but if the NFL was taking on other leagues like the WWE does, they probably would end up running up a body count they can't afford to cover all. Minor league baseball had to have a law passed to ensure that they can keep paying their players less than minimum wage. All of that is to say that while it is nice to unionize and of course it is the fairest thing to do when you are asking people to throw themselves around risking injury, that shit is expensive. A single person could cost upward to 50,000 dollars just to insure. You are talking about an ever expanding roster here with 100+ talents. The simple truth is wrestling and football are so inherently dangerous that if you need to shell out a fortune just to be insured, then maybe those sports aren't worth it anymore. Is Vince greedy? Yeah sure of course. But like El-P says, capitalist moguls are focused on making money. That is the bottom line they look at, not how many employees they made smile. It's just their nature. They got to that position by being heartless. Why would they stop now that they are at the top? The singular driving objective of every business is to make as much money as you can in the window of opportunity you have. Vince and the WWE is no different.

You take stuff too seriously sometimes man I agree. That was akin to say a Hank Aaron saying hed probably hit well against Clayton Kershaw. Clearly meaning healthy and in the prime of his career, all thongs being equal. Even with that considered, it isn't likely to be true still. Bryan went into pro wrestling extremely young and so that is all he knows. There is a big difference in looking good grappling with opponents who you expect to cooperate with you and grappling with opponents who would legitimately fight for every inch in grapples. Unless DB has some extensive background in any martial arts discipline (that I am unaware of), he won't stack up well against any MMA fighter with an ounce of experience. But clearly he's entitled to his opinion, but it is fair to disagree with that notion.

Bryan vs Brock is a terrible idea for the obvious reason- Brock has shown little to no regards for his opponents' well-being. He is the guy who has gotten so lazy that his moveset consists of recklessly suplexing people and F5s. He might mix in elbows thrown with more oomph than the average elbow. And Bryan is supposedly required to get a checkup after every single match he performs in, as a condition for his return, but we're supposed to put them together? C'mon now.

I agree. Maybe not mainstream, but Ricochet has potential to be the top star in the WWE. The only thing that can really hold him back is Vince's biases. He's not very big and he's black, which are two things Vince isn't keen on pushing. Right now though, I think Drew McIntyre is the one that the WWE really like out of the newer/returning crop.

To be fair, it's pretty rare to see a submission for the figure four, however way it is done.

Pretty sure that is why Tommaso Ciampa calls himself Tommy Entertainment, as the direct opposition of Johnny Wrestling.

Yes obviously, but is part of the punishment that he loses his spot across the ring from Daniel Bryan in a high profile program or do they still have plans to continue that feud? Because while everyone would prefer to see DB vs Miz around the house show circuit, you'd think if they still planned to continue the Cass feud that they would give him time at house shows to get up to par vs DB through practice.

Not only that but (based on the small sample size of what I saw this year during RumbleMania) it feels like most of them are reading off of the same script, and that the script was written by someone who has never ever 1) been in a fight - or been in a tense situation, or stood up for themselves... I mean, the truth is, it's likely much of the 2018 WWE roster, especially the people under thirty has never been in a 'real' fight outside of an MMA gym. America is a far less violent place than it's been in decades. Bullying is done via social media shaming and the such, not beating up somebody at their locker or whatever. I say all of this seeing it largely as a good thing, even if it means we have less people to cut promos based on their bar fights. But ultimately not true. We watch the news. I don't even get cyber bullying people you see in real life. I would have kicked the shit(or tried) out of a kid who did that to me if I saw them at school. Does this violate some code I'm too old for. "No Horatio, we only bully on the internet." I feel like most of the cyber bullying or shaming is done anonymously. Like people create fake profiles for the purpose of trolling, bullying or to express opinions they are too ashamed to take ownership of. I rarely see people blatantly bully people with their primary profile.

I wonder if them doing DB/Miz at the house show means they are warming up for the inevitable tv feud down the road or if they are about to go ahead and start the feud soon, and dismissing Big Cass from his push vs DB? Like was that beatdown Cass suffered at the hands of DB a signal that the feud is blown off?

Even if he makes a ton of cash from the new tv deals and their agreement with Saudi Arabia, I think it is still undeniable Vince could be so much more than what he is. If he didn't do the XFL (twice now) or the WWE Studios or the WWF New York restaurant or the bodybuilding federation, he could be a trillionaire now after this. But the guy is 70+ years old now, so it is no longer something to strive for. After all, nobody takes their fortune to the next life. Being what he is now is more than good enough.

CHIKARA Street Fight. They are obviously leading to a Nutcracker on a Pole match.

I am assuming they are actually going to put the belt on her because of the following reasons: 1. The WWE finally got around to signing the final two members of the MMA Horsewomen, and they have teased a showdown with the WWE Horsewomen more than once. 2. Stephanie from the very start has been portrayed as the mother of the Women's movement in the WWE, including being the one to bring Sasha, Charlotte and Becky to the main roster. 3. They want to do Ronda vs Charlotte at Mania So I think what will happen is that Ronda wins the belt, and then through the rest of the year building up Charlotte and Ronda as the top stars of SD and Raw. Stephanie would continue her Austin/McMahon feud with Ronda, and I could see Steph using her homegrown Horsewomen to create problems for Ronda. This brings her pals in the storyline for a Survivor Series showdown, maybe a wonky ending where Steph costs the MMA Horsewomen the match. Then she hides behind Charlotte and the build towards Mania kicks in. If they do that though, they have to quickly establish Ronda as a legitimate threat to the belt, which much like Vince did years ago with Austin, leads to Steph trying anything to keep/get the belt off her by sending people at her. Putting Ronda in "feel out" programs with the likes of Mickie and Natalya does not help with that story. And they do not have the time to do that either. If that is what happens, I'll go on record now to agree that it is a mistake to rush her like that. But I mean, shes gotta be making a lot of money being in the WWE due to her celebrity status. And yet she hasn't really become a factor in the weekly tv storylines so it is kinda like they need to hurry if they want to get to next year's Mania with that match built up. They need to maximize her moneymaking potential. Going up against Nattie isn't that. Alternatively it could be that the WWE thinks that putting her in matches with Mickie and Nattie would come across as silly if she has to sell for them. This is Ronda Rousey after all. A former fighter who was once considered unstoppable. What can Mickie and Nattie even do to her?

I do agree that it is hard to properly credit the agents or producers backstage for a good match because the information is usually not available to the fans, however the reality is that at this point the wrestlers are more like just actors who plays a role in the match, with directions coming from those in the backstage area. I also think there is a correlation between there being a lot of solid matches nowadays and the power of planning matches being stripped from wrestlers and given to the agents. I think there are a lot of wrestlers in WWE, males and females both, who we think are good, because they have the benefit of having someone there with the wrestlers to help merge both the overarching storyline and the in-match story being told in a way that makes sense (for the most part). Wrestlers are no longer required to call the matches so those who can are just luxuries that the WWE doesn't utilize very much in the way they used to be.

My question is why was it so important to Cass to beat the guy down? For him to first argue with the agents, go over their heads to appeal to Vince, only to be shot down, then go ahead with it anyways, he really must hate little people or something? Weird.

I have no problems with Rusev over DB because Rusev is due a push again on Smackdown, and DB is basically a made man. But I disagree with the idea that DB is some kind of underdog. He isn't. He's the guy who wrestled gauntlet matches by himself, he beat the Shield, he beat Evolution practically. He in his main event run was a guy booked to wrestle on top. The only underdog thing about him is his size and the booking itself of his character against the "A list" guys in segments and promos that has nothing to do with his wrestling style. In that way, no, DB shouldn't have lost to Rusev. But in reality he doesn't need to be in that ladder match anyways. So yeah, go Braun!

That certainly reads awful. I wish Dave would be less vague, because I think if you read between the lines it's pretty clear, but he doesn't go right out and say it. Which says something about certain promoters than Moolah. Dave was likely vague because he had nothing concrete. Really? We all know what promoters can be like and being on the road with the guys. Moolah was sending the amount of women needed for the time needed and were taught not to complain or cause trouble and any one who did was gone. That sounds pretty fucked up to me and I don't know how you can read that as Moolah being innocent. The implication is pretty clear and kind of direct as to what is being alluded to here that Moolah was basically the pimp who supplied her girls to different promoters, some who may have had good intentions and others who did not. Moolah did business with them all, knew what was going on and kept the system going. But you're right Victator, this has nothing to do with Moolah. Its all the dudes' faults.

Of course it's not odd for Dave. I don't even get worked up over what he says because I know he is who he is and I take him for what that is worth and nothing more. I was speaking in more general terms, like that is what it basically amounts to. Now the problem of course is he treats his position as a historian very seriously so I think it goes beyond just "Well Bruno would have wanted it this way". He is doing it to be Dave Meltzer, the authority of wrestling not Dave Meltzer the dear friend who is perturbed by fake numbers flying around. That is who he chose to be, and I can understand why that is a bad look for some.

I'd find it odd that a friend would be offended about an inaccurate number partially designed to make me look better that he'd correct that myth on the day I died, but that's just me. I don't think it is worth getting all worked up over though either way.

Vince is supposedly high on Jinder Mahal and Baron Corbin so that's two opponents for Roman Reigns that nobody has to worry about getting over on Roman.