El-P

Well. You're right about that honestly.

He brought fucking nothing to the table as a manager. He was playing a racist stereotypical japanese salt-throwing sadist, couldn't cut a promo and was not the bumping type. Yoko ? Hey, it's no wonder they brought in Cornette to cut the promos for him once they had to build a money feud for Luger. Fuji was terrible. I'd watch Harvey Whippleman over Fuji.

Meltz said that Fuji helped clean up the Rick McGraw mess (and may have played a role in the Nancy Argentino debacle too), hence why he had a job for so long in WWF despite basically bringing nothing to the table. It's a bit like the chauffeur getting in the HOF. NYT ? Well, I guess all the guys from the Hulk Hogan era were considered as stars.

Rusev & Lana are pretty damn excellent. Jericho is all sweaty and sleazy now. Sasha and Bailey. Eva Marie ? in a perverted way... KEVIN OWENS !!! FIGHT !! FIGHT FOREVER !!!! Well yeah, there are not many.

Really ? The whole, and only, argument for Roman Reigns is "he has all the best matches in the company". So yeah, really, the only thing is that people don't agree about the greatness of matches, but this is pretty much the only argument. The fact that Reigns is not a good promo, that his character has been pushed as Cena N°2 etc doesn't seem do be taken in account in why he's being rejected. The whole argument is "Stupid indy-loving WWE crowd, Roman is da great wrestler". Ok. So, it's only a matter of chosing your own "greatest wrestler who has all the greatest matches". They just disagree on the matches. In essence, this is good old smart fan, snowflake loving argument. That's why it's kinda funny to me. (about Roman Reigns being a great worker or not, I don't really care, or even really don't, but I was more interested in him vs Rusev than any other match at SS. Well, because of Rusev, but still, I was curious to see the match, as opposed to the other main events)

"Roman's awesome !" clap clap ! clapclapclap ! "This is wrestling !" clap clap ! clapclapclap ! "No more workrate !" clap clap ! clapclapclap ! "This is five stars !" clap clap ! clapclapclap ! *yawn* Maybe the fact Roman Reigns is kind of a crappy Cena 2.0 character with lame-ass promos and taglines also doesn't help him get over with the current WWE crowd. I mean, Bryan is far away now, let's not pretend it's just because of him to this day that people don't buy Roman. Let's fucking turn heel already. He would be better anyway.

Kayfabe ! Yeah, now kayfabe = "not everyone knew the finish" as opposed to "it's real !". O tempora, o mores…

What Coffey said about Rusev. And I didn't quote that Volkoff/Zhukov angle randomly. It's the very first angle I saw on WWF TV and of course I was all excited about it (and yeah, thinking what you saw as a teenager is the greatest thing ever to this day because of nostalgia is just plain dumb).

Matt posted a link to a Kevin Owens promo to show how he actually showed genuine heel character. Parv blew him off saying he wouldn't even watch it and rather watch 1990 WWF Superstars. Because the Boris Zhukov vs Nikolai Volkoff stuff was so compelling, you see. So yeah, I'd call it trolling under a disguise of "pro-wrestling analysis".

Gotta love that. "Hey, Owens, don't move, I'm winning the belt for you." I want a HHH vs Jeff Jarrett carny of all carny dream match at Mania.

I fiind it hilarious that people are all up in arms, not because it was a stupid as fuck finish that put HHH back in the saddle again, but because the title went to EVIL INDY GUY. And I'm the first one to dislike the indy mentality of spot-spot-spot (just read my TNA stuff). But really, at this point, give me Owens vs Zayn vs Joe in a Triple Threat at Mania, just so we have a smark mark collective orgasm and the biggest "THIS IS AWESOME" chant ever. After all, Matt, you were right. We indeed like in a *Post-Bryan* Workrate guilt era now.

You confused me with someone who gives a fuck. Like I said, Good for Owens, who from all acount is a really good guy, a huge pro-wrestling fan (like us) and doesn't have the traditionnal WWE look. More power to him and congratulation. (yes, I realize the angle was stootip and all about Triple H, but does anyone really think Trip is gonna be someone else than the asshole insecure egomaniac he's always been once he's got all the power over the company ?) And about the girls, yes, Becky and Sasha deserved to be pushed a lot more than Charlotte as they were better pro-wrestlers all around. The heel turn did Charlotte tons of good though, but she still ain't all that.

Yuu Yamagata is still working ? Wow. I would never have guessed.

Depend what you call AGAINST. Mark Henry's praises have been ridiculous at times. I remember the infamous OH MY GOD THIS IS SUCH A GREAT MATCH on Raw a few years ago against CM Punk. I remember watching it. It was like a good little TV match in which Henry was *good*. But the idea that Mark Henry was all of a sudden a superworker, yes, is pretty overstated. I still have nightmares (well, not really) of his match with Taker at Mania a few years back. And like I've stated before, I liked Mark Henry back in 1998 when he joined the Nation, way before he got good. So, it's not like waited for he became the new darling of post-Benoit workrate guilt crowd to enjoy that big load. Like I said in the G1 thread, I've always loved big working guys and legit feat of strenght. So, always enjoyed Mark Henry. Dunno why this post was so long winded though. Ah, the Big Show ? Yeah. Awful for most of his career.

AJ Styles vs Alex Shelley (TNA iMPACT! 09/17/04) iMPACT! really hasn't been a good or interesting show since its debut during the last months of the weekly PPV era. Lot of competitive squash which doens't work well when you have X-division guys or Jeff Jarrett. Not much in term of angle except regular "chaotic beatdown", which has been overused to death. The timer on the screen may have sounded like a neat and different idea, but it also expose of rush much of the matches are, including the competitive ones. Anyway. this was a good TV match, lets call it a good iMPACT! match which isn't as a good as a Nitro match because it more rushed. I always enjoyed Alex Shelley since he showed up as Goldylock's "Baby Bear". Although it took me weeks to figure out why that nickname. I never thought about the translation of "Goldylocks". Anyway, he's got a nice matwork style which is really refreshing, bumps well, works crisp, doesn't do contrived shit. So, good match against AJ Styles. And at some point, toward the end, I'm pretty sure, but I may be wrong, there's a timid "This is awesome" chant after an AJ Style kick out. It's repeated like two or three times only. I have no idea what was happening in ROH at the same time, but it must be one of the very forst occurence of the most famous chant of post 00's pro-wrestling on TV. Thus, it's quite interesting. And the match is really a good iMP.. screw that, Nitro match.

That's what we call a running gag. It's kinda like the old giant swing, it only gets really good when it's absurdly long.

So, Yokozuna was only one time WWF champ I guess. And Dean Douglas never got that IC belt. (More 90's references ! I live that gimmick, don't I ?)

Fun fact there has never been an American Universal Champion. Well, if you believe Stephy, Kevin Owens is the *first* Universal Champion. So I guess that Finn fella never won it. Like, a week ago.

You are all awful mysoginist pigs for not worshiping Stephy and her Steve Austin-like promo ability and character work. Shame, shame on you all. (can't wait until she taps Bailey on the shoulder after her biggest win ever)

Nash's answer about Greg Gagne is glorious. Levy's interview will probably will very interesting. He looks good for someone who should have been dead a long time ago. He doesn't for a guy who's basically only 12 years older than me. But hey, I love me some Raven and Sean will probably get the best out of him. Oh yeah. S : "Are you a genius ?" R : "Probably more of an idiot considering the stupid choices that I've made." S : "Do you have an IQ of 143 ?" R : "Yes. … Probably not anymore though." Maybe that's why I love Raven. I can relate. (not to the ability to get women naked though easily though, let's not be kidding. IQ a little bit lower too, although not that much)

I'm still frustrated about not getting that Reigns vs Rusev match at SS. He's good. He can have really good matches. He's certainly not a super worker.

Yes. It's the Contrarian-to-stupid-contrarian-meta-mainstream-WWE-fans-&-Evil-Meltzer-japaneseshit-workrate-culture attitude. That's the way now. Be in on it. #lolmovez.

Ok ok OK PEOPLE ! J'ai rien dit ! Putain… Well, he's still the first UNIVERSAL champion from Montreal. (and don't give me shit about Koloff being champ in WWC. Everybody knows this doesn't matter. The WWE Universal title is the only one, ever.) Do we need to say more about Stephy "This is a woman revolution" bullshit on Monday ? Or don't we ? (ah, beaten by a few seconds)

Day 5 A Block Ishii vs. Fale Fale as Samoan One Man Gang, I like. Fale trying to exchange a-la Vader, much less. Ishii's style can get repetitive and weary if you see too much of him, I can see that now. Don't mesh that well together, the two bullies. Fale looked plodding for the first time. Ended up decent. Disapointment. SANADA vs. Makabe Makabe more motivated it seems. Too much crappy elbow/punches exchange. Nice finishing stretch like with the Tanahashi match, but Makabe doesn't do a whole lot for me at this point. SANADA without a really worker doesn't deliver quite the same way. Yup yup, weakest G1 card yet, including the rather dismal undercard. What city were they in ? Tenzan vs. Marufuji Hey, the 00's guys are saving the day. Fuck, Marufuji knows how to chop. Kobashi-like brutal. Tenzan's skin is melting away. Niiiiiice. Tenzan's such an odd beast. He's not very good at anything, yet manages to have good matches with everyone, mostly. Maru is pushing the old vet, who doesn't give in. This is Strong Styletm. Counters and shit, hit me again and I'll headbutt you in the stomach, rat faced punk. Some of those kicks are safe like Lance Storm, but crowds eats it. Very good. Hell, maybe excellent after all. Yeah ! Respect match of sorts. Tonga vs. Tanahashi Tonga is doing the Stalker gimmick. I wish this was Windham. Dearding Tonga's match at this point. Well, Tanahashi does a Liger here, giving his opponent way more than he deserves. Tonga just isn't a good worker, sorry. Still his most watchable match, because Tanahashi looks like one of the best worker in the world, still. That upset didn't go over too well. Deflating actually. Goto vs. Okada I see some Rock influence on Okada. Which are not the best parts of his work. This feels like a routine my-turn your-turn 10's NJ match, from what I've seen. It's really good action but… something is missing for me. Crowd wakes up though. Dunno, this show was though to get through, so this was still a hot finishing stretch at least. Very good stuff, overall, but unengaging to me. Weakest G1 show, undercard & G1 matches. Isn't the G1 way too long these days ?