Matt D

Demos are the only team that could properly contain Napoleon Complex Broken Down Dynamite

Here's the Norfolk NXT card: I'm not sure what reshuffling of that particular crew can create a really great show in Bel Air on Saturday.

Hey, WWE bought some more stuff that they can put online instead of the stuff we want to see. Great.

I'm in the group that is very curious about how this will worked. Goldberg's reticence could rein in Brock's worst tendencies.

The key is Ryan Ward combined with two hours vs three. Look at 2014-2015 NXT. I don't get why this is hard to figure?

It's not about who has the final say or who does the broad strokes. Smackdown's about the detail work: Ryan Ward.

For example, there was a period in 2000 when M2K was doing a gimmick called "the double ring-out committee". Their goal was to internationally ruin good matches by having them finish in a double countout. It was an awesome gimmick. That sounds like Parv's single least favorite thing ever. I need to win a bet with him so he'd have to review those matches.

The gimmick had more value than the wrestler, no?

Negro Casas would have been my easy choice and that's without being able to hear him do promos. He has such a connection with the crowd, is so emotive and conscious of managing their behavior while in the ring, or in post-match antics, or even in his entrance, that I think it's a no-brainer. I kind of like Atlantis for this too. I'd toss Mark Henry up there too actually. It's to be provocative to some degree, but it's also pretty much true. I have an easier time going with him than someone like Rey Mysterio.

The title match feels like a "high pressure" one for me to watch, so I haven't seen it yet. I did catch most of the rest of the show this morning on 2x speed on youtube, skipping completely the Rollins interview and slowing down for the Jericho/Owens/New Day Segment which was a lot of fun.

Hey, over is over. Beefcake made them a ton of money as a #2 or #3 babyface and Crush was more naturally talented than him. Sid is who they should have pushed as a mega face in January 92. In-ring skills don't matter all that much when it comes to the early 90s WWF machine. Crush was inordinately over in four minute TV squashes. They should have figured out how to capitalize on that. Stooging for Doonk had killed his momentum by the time they pushed him against Michaels.

I was in a similar boat. I had become more casual in 92 (my high point as a kid was fall 90-fall 92 really). Survivor Series was in Boston in 93 and thanks to my friend who had an uncle that worked for Titan I got to go for free (And to go backstage beforehand so there's a picture of twelve year old me with the Smoking Gunns somewhere). I had only been watching casually, but I had zero interest in the RnR vs Bodies match. As a kid, it felt hugely out of place and bush league compared to everything else. I think I was most excited for the Rocekrs' theme and then tuned out. Now, if I was going to Quantum Leap back into my 12 year old self, it'd probably be the match I'd be most excited for.

They updated the line-up of people for the Bel Air show. No sign of Almas, Lorcan, or Revival currently. Almas and Alexander were in FL for the last loop and are listed for FL that night as well. That said, Blake is listed for both places so, it's all probably not final. So far no Gargano/Ciampa, TM61, Moon, or touring cruiserweights either.

Was anyone else thrown by Al Perez vs Abdullah suddenly appearing on disc 2?

He'd be a hell of a lot better off with Yes! as a crutch. That's for sure. That's one thing he's missing, the sort of crowd participation part of it all. It was a lot easier to get that Ole chant going in NXT, and really, there's absolutely nothing in his current character which would inspire that for a casual fan.

Wouldn't he be one of Dos Hombres then?

I'm not a big fan of most of the characters but Bix being flustered by the Black Scorpion was generally a guilty pleasure.

I'm not forgetting. I just want people to break things down and compare/contrast specifics. Enlightenment era fake pro wrestling pseudo science is what we do best.

Boesch @ Houston, TX - Sam Houston Coliseum - May 23, 1980 Tiger Conway Jr. d. Lord Alfred Hayes That's the one I really want to see. Hopefully it turns up.

I think it's possible to control for booking to some degree. Take a look at some of Sami's bigger matches in NXT and on the main roster, breakdown what he does to garner sympathy and get the crowd behind him in both settings. Compare, Contrast, and note the effectiveness of it all. Is he wrestling differently on the main roster than he was in NXT? Should he be? Etc. Breaking down matches is what we do. I think we can get at this better than just shouting "He was never that good in the first place!" and "They're just using him poorly!" at each other.

One of the best things about the site is getting more of a 360 view on certain wrestlers we've only had bits and pieces of before. Conway, Jr. is someone I think we're not quite there on yet. I think so far he's been better in shorter matches and in tag matches as he's charismatic, has a connection with the crowd, and a certain effectively awkward athleticism that I'd almost call Greg Gagne-ish in the best ways, but longer 2/3 falls singles matches don't always hold together.

Look at how over Crush was at the very end of 92 until Doink took him out. That's the real answer of who should have been pushed.

I still think the IC belt should have a ten minute time limit on TV (longer on PPV) and they should have some slightly different rules for cruiserweights. Maybe the Smackdown Title should be 2/3 falls on PPV, to help make up for the smaller roster.

I have to admit that it's all the commentary and between the scenes stuff that's the big draw here. The action and the screencaps are good, don't get me wrong, but it's the meta-narrative that's over the top great. I think that's true of the project as a whole right now. When the 1984 one dropped, a lot of the appeal in reading was how people moved the pieces around. With this 95 one, it's all of the creative presentation styles. You wouldn't think something like this would have a real sense of "mood," but it absolutely does.

Or Rollins during the Authority era. Just without a babyface challenger.