El-P

I already expect a few "Better than Takada"s.

Episode 31 was better than the previous week, with some cool stuff including the return of Chavo in the ring. Well, Blue Demon Jr. looked like crap, honestly, but I guess his whole purpose is to get Chavo over anyway. Mother fucking DRAGO !!! is back, and his new outfit make Finn Balor looks like a geek cosplaying at the Japanexpo. Seriously, Drago is terrific and one of the top character in the company, so glad he's back. The four way was pretty decent although I'm not a fan of the gimmick. Enjoyed the interactions betweens Cuerno and Cage. The right guy won. The trios match didn't do that much for me, because you know, midget going toe to toe with regular guys, well, not my thing. Bengale has one hell of a cool outfit. From Secunda Caida I get this is Ricky Marvin ? Man, the guy got kinda fat, but it's ok with me, I like fat flyers too. The Disciples of Death are a cool little gimmick, but of course Catrina, oh my god Catrina !!! Finally they're building toward the season finale, I guess things will get quite interesting. Johnny Mundo going 45 minutes is just scary though, but the vignettes were once again terrific. Dario is the best non-wrestler character in years.

Well, Dean Malenko was rather short and kinda bland. And to be honest, at this point, I wonder if I would not take Nash over Malenko as a worker anyway.

Crafts. Ok. Arts and crafts, if you really wish to push it down the "artistic" path. (really, this whole obsession about stuff having to be *Art* to be worthwhile or worth discussions and analysis is making me scratch my head.)

Yeah, poor Corny, that must be hard on him.

Censorship sucks too. Just sayin'

The early June episode has been the worst by far. The trios match actually kinda sucked, and Daivari looks really bad. I have no idea why he's even employed. Yvelisse's injury really happened at the worst time. The first match was not too good either, and the Sexy Star vs Pentagon Jr. match was absolutely ridiculous. The swerve at the end made the whole deal even worse. Bad episode, the first of its kind. Vampiro is doing his best work ever though it seems. That doesn't mean I want to see him vs Konnan at the season finale.

Well, I guess it's time to throw that one out : Pro-wrestling and… Staging and borders crossing (The big show of sport/entertainment, a look back on a pro-wrestling sociology) (In my former university no less) (And no, I haven't watched it yet. And I probably won't be able to translate what this guy is saying, he's a Dr. in sociology, so, there you go.)

Agreed. Pro-wrestling can be a great craft. And there's nothing wrong with that. The pedestal on which so-called "art" is put on to the detriment of anything else really make it seems like you have to call anything "art" to be able to praise it. Pro-wrestling has never been an art. It doesn't keep it from being awesome at its best.

Just watched it. Yeah, Punk comes off like a mensch here. Cool story.

Ah ah.

Catching up with my favourite wrestling TV show. Agreed. I liked the deathmatch too, although I really could do without unprotected chair shots to the head in 2015. That bump though. And at least, a death bump is sold as such. Catrina's death lick is still the coolest thing going on. So sleazy. The Hernandez vs Puma match was easily one of Puma's best in the promotion, and the best stuff I've seen from Hernandez. Excellent match all around. Cool interview with Sexy Star too, and the opener, well, I can't say I care much more about Mundo as a heel, but he's more tolerable that way. Have no idea how they can pay off Cueto's brother's angle either. That final vignette was probably way too much, but since they've done such a good job thus far, yeah, we'll see.

I'm an ECW fan. And there are lot worse things than chants that came from ECW. And really, the most annoying "chant" ever is "What ?".

With which move did John Cena defeated Owens already ?

Curious about this last part from people critical of the match. Did you just take issue with what they did or found it silly? Or did you really not like the match? I can't tell from some of the comments others are posting if they actively hated it, or for all I know thought it was great but didn't like how they got there. The match was a spotfu. Move/kickout move/kickout. Like I said, they worked a good mindless X-Division match, going overboard with the kickouts spamming at the end. I enjoyed it to some degree, for what it was. I enjoyed Cena's antics (as I often do). I don't think it was a very good match, because at some point that formula gets old. But for what they were aiming, it was good. Not as good as the previous one, which I thought was very good. That's pretty much what I think about the match itself.

Talking about forming your own form of narrative, saying that the move was used right in the context of the match because it fits the "storytelling" is quite funny. Because really, the match was a spotfu. There was not much in term of storytelling apart from : move kickout, move kickout, try AA kickout, try powerbomb kick out, try submission escape, try AA again kickout, etc… That's the definition of a movez (for you haterz) match. Which can be fine if you dig that. Now, if we're assuming the idea that Cena had to dig up and use new moves to beat the younger generations (and really ? He beat Rusev with one AA at Mania), then why would he use a move that apparently, in WWE context, has never even been a finisher (as Loss said, used as a thrown-away spot in Zayn vs Cesaro before, used by JTTS Goldust since 2013) ? The answer is simple : because it's a cool looking move that pops the crowd, even more since it's a shocker to see Cena use that move. Period. It's just a cool (although stupid) indy looking move used for a kickout (let's not say nearfall, because it wasn't) in the middle of a dozens of other moves/kickouts. There was no great thoughts behind it other than : "Fuck, Cena just did a Code Red !". And that can be perfectly fine. I, for one, found the moment quite cool in the context of a mindless spotfu. I wouldn't try to pass this as a proof Cena was a brillant worker reinventing himself (well, and they did botch it up too, although apparently even that fact was a positive… okay…), nor that it was great psychology or anything of that ilk. It was a cute/stupid move that popped the crowd because it looked cool and surprising. And that can be enough to enjoy it for what it is. But apparently, everything has to pass for some great psychological ploy these days when favourites are involved. So yeah, "forming your own narrative" definitely applies to some stuff around here. And again, I didn't hate the move nor the match. And I like Cena.

People said it was cool that Cena did a Code Red/Canadian Destroyer (apparently, Will who watched the match wasn't sure of the move either) in a match that was praised as "indy style movefest". I was amazed by that and found it funny. That's all. I never once alluded to the match itself before watching it. What I find funny is the argument itself. (and for the record, I don't take all of this that seriously, there's no means spirit on my part)

Seriously, the whole Code Red isn't a big deal as far as the match itself goes. What is funny to me is that Cena working a good little X-Division match, with some execution issues (I mean, the first few minutes were so telegraphed that it was ridiculous in a total RVD way), all of a sudden is praised for it when infact the same match would be brushed aside in many other contexts. And the Code Red is a cute but stupid move (and the fact they kinda blew it didnt make it better, no). Seriously, the whole match was basically : move, kick out, move, kick out,, move kick out, repeat, rinse ad libitum. And there's nothing wrong about that if you like that style. But let's be somewhat consistent. For the record, I don't care about that kickout-spamming style, but for what it was, I did enjoy the match. Not great or anything, but Cena, despite his obvious flaws (sorry but his STF is laughable), is always someone I enjoy watching when he's not in full WWE Epic mode, because his interactions with his environment are always cool (in this case, yeah, getting frustrated with the ref). The Dusty hommage was cool (and sad, I was moved, Dusty seemed immortal). The finish to Nikki vs Page was idiotic, but the match was pretty decent.

It's Cornette's formula anyway.

This is way too meta for me if this is seriously the kind of "storytelling" they were aiming for. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Cena. I also find it funny that all of a sudden, Cena busting out one of the most idiotic indieriffic offensive move of the last 15 years gets praised. It's certainly good for the WTF aspect of it though.

No. Terry Funk doing a sloppy moonsault in his 50's fit his character of being totally insane. John Cena doing a stupid indy finisher while still not being able to apply his own finishing hold in a convincing way after 15 years is both cute and idiotic. The kind of stuff Kurt Angle would be murdered for around here. But hey, if Ric Flair was doing Shoji Nakamaki in 2006, I guess Cena can do RVD in 2015.

Ok. I see. Code Red is less worse. But it' still a very stupid indy spot.

So let me get this straight : people are praising John Cena for turning himself into an indy-like stopfu artist, doing a lot of new moves, including the Canadian Destroyer (which has been rightly ridiculed for years) ? That's what I'd call consistency.

Hell, weren't most of those guys pro wrestlers anyways? Wasn't Jamie Dundee part of the cast at some point ?

Episode 16 finally has another match I really enjoyed : RVD vs Hardcore Holly began on shaky legs, because of RVD's awful work (really, why did he begin to use clotheslines since he looks worse than Lex Luger throwing those around ?), but slowly developped into what I'd call a very good (for RVD) match, with the help of an impressive performance by Holly who badly cut his back after an insane spot outside the ring (the one criticism I have is that they cut to commercials right after the spot, not too smart). One of the most gross injury I've seen this side of FMW, really, blood was pouring of a large gash. Holly's selling was excellent, and he was almost babyface like here to the point he got a round of applause after the match. He was the glue that hold the match together too. RVD must be the shittiest wrestler to have so many good matches, because of what he can bring to the table in term of bumping and impressive spots. What a paradox. Big Show vs Sandman wasn't too bad for a Big Show match, as Sandman's energy and selling (again), kept me interested throughout, despite Show's boring offense. Show's sole strong point to me is his demeanor, if he had the execution and offense to go along, he would be fine. But the truth is, I wish I had The One Man Gang in all those matches instead. Matt Striker screws Sandman by taking his cane away. Earlier in the show, Striker had been caned by JR (we're in Tulsa, amazing that JR didn't get humiliated instead) with the help of the Sandman. Continuity. With a watchable main event and a really good match (which took some time), I can't complain too much about a useless catfight between Ariel & Francine. I do think it's Francine's last appearance on a TV wrestling show (she made that ECW nostalgia show when she was pregnant as hell later). Good for her that she left the business and got herself a family like she wanted. We get an interaction backstage between CM Punk & Mike Knox, of course about Kelly. Guys talking about women like they own them always bothers me (in 2006, jeeez), but CM Punk is obviously the most interesting guy in the promotion on the mic too, thanks to his strong personnality. Extreme strip poker in two weeks. Really ? 2006.09.26 Hardcore Holly vs RVD