Matt D

Karl Marx Approves of this note?

I've got to watch this Super Porky match from 2010 first, but after that it's on track for a listen and I'll let you know. EDIT: It's already going rough since we had to get the Gazoo impression from Kris instead of Johnny. Ladder match discussion was really good though. I'm probably in the middle of both camps. I did think that Harper brought a ton of little touches that made everything feel organic and that yeah, it's the sort of match made for Ziggler. Match of the night but it would have worked so much better on a Wrestlemania or Summerslam or somewhere that it could feel important and stand out. Mizdow argument was pretty good too. I do sort of agree that it could end like Riley, or maybe a better example is Virgil, where it builds to one big match. I have a decent amount of sentimentality from Sandow from watching him come up years and years ago. He was a babyface for a while in that indy but he was sort of like babyface Edge from a character POV there. Maybe a little more towards Stevie Richards. When he went face, it went mostly straight. This will come up later with the last match I think, but one thing about this show that came through with the Rowan talk is the idea of finishes. Rowan looked good in losing. Dylan and Johnny felt that way. I did as well. And I wonder if I'm just so desensitized to WWE booking that it's something that we cling to or if it's actually true? My biggest takeaway from listening to you guys talk about the first half of the podcast is that WWE put on a show where they really accomplished a lot of what they were trying to do(ok, not the Reigns promo and the Kane/Ryback match), far more so than usual. Whether what they wanted to do was the right thing or not is a different question. Also they managed to make things seem different match-to-match in this setting. Which by the end I was a little hossed out, but is still impressive.

I think a loss where you control most of the match and have the biggest moments is worth more than a win where you look like an absolute chump the whole time. Granted, a win where you don't look like a chump the whole time is probably worth more.

I would vote 2009 Chris Masters (basically only on C shows) over 1989 Ted Dibiase in a heartbeat. I'm not sure what we're even talking about anymore or at least why we're talking about it.

See. So I am only remembering ONE of the two guys with the gimmick anyway. Pretty unimportant belt. I think a Network title that's defended on Main Event every week is not a bad idea at all, btw.

I think the most important thing was that they got the big one right at Mania. I'm not saying that forgives everything else, but it does help.

My biggest memory is Al Snow coming out to a different city each week. I think a WWE TV Title that's defended every week with a ten minute time limit is infinitely more valuable to them. I doubt a European Title would bump foreign tours all that much.

I'm a .641 on the Johnny Sorrow Scale on this show which seems higher than most of you.

We would have all been going nuts about that if Wyatt threw a fireball instead (especially if they built it from the Kendo shot to the eye).

I'm headed to the Rumble so it should be a fun crowd experience for Cena vs Lesnar at least.

That could be a photoshop. The site doesn't have the last paragraph

It's been trending on Facebook off and on for the last week with surprising resilience.

I think realistic asskicker is the opposite that they should be going for. They need to try to tap into the Monster High money instead. Bailey and Sasha and Tweens. Hunger Games AJ (collect all 8).

I'll be honest that I didn't make it to the main before I got caught up in work. There was a lot to talk about there and I imagine this particular panel would do a good job with the closing angle. I also may be colored by my enjoyment of the Vaudevillians, though i do agree that they should do more old timey moves. I just really didn't get much of a sense of understanding of the week to week build here, and that's so much a part of NXT as a studio wrestling show. You can watch a Mid-South Superdome show, but you're going to get a lot more out of it if you saw the TV building up to it. Etc. There was a sense of "So who are these guys?" which is something I'd expect out of let's say an 80s lucha watching party with Loco Zavalo and Climax but wasn't what I was looking for here.

This show peaked with Kris' explanation of Kevin Owens in the beginning. Honest opinion: I've made it about halfway through but the lack of familiarity from a big chunk of the panel in that it's kind of obvious that you guys haven't been watching NXT on a weekly basis made this not as enjoyable to me as these usually are. I do think that Johnny P always gives a good outside voice from what we're used to, but this might not have been the show for it.

Just caught the end of the show. I hadn't been spoiled at all (on the match or post match) except for in that "something happens" so I was expecting it in the initial hug in the ring and then with Neville, and then I stopped expecting it and I thought it was weird they were giving it another minute or two but I had finally let my guard down. Good on them. I thought the match itself needed a bit more substance before they started in on the big moves, even if there was a clear sense of escalation and you sort of needed the room to breathe for the story at the end. But all that paled to the emotion, really.

Imagine them feuding with Miz and Mizdow though.

Also, if anyone's not seen this yet (I know Phil isn't big into NXT), this is the most must watch thing WWE may have produced all year:

I'm only half watching, if that, because I've got some crap to do tonight and won't get to see much more until tomorrow but um.. mmm... blood. I'm the least vampirey vampire on this website of bloodthirsty monsters, but yeah, nothing makes a debut of a tough guy monster warrior like blood.

That'd be the best Gi Joe figure ever. It's like if they had signed Bowie to a special figure in the mid 80s. "General Glamrock"

There's this strange element of Disney Princess to Vince. Grown up oppressed and tortured and knowing he was secretly special and then having his real dad come and take him and make him into a wrestling prince.

Ok. I just watched that. It was awesome. There's a part 2. I will get to it later. I'm not even sure where to begin. - Mr. Moto and his ARMY of motorcycles was the most over by far. I thought "hey cool! they have an Asian stereotype Mr. Moto" when I head the name too. Boy was I wrong. -I love the overlap. You could have the two french guys team, and Genghis Kong,the Mongol Warrior, and Attila. And Cesar (who looked like one of the guys in Rome who stand outside of the Coliseum and charge money for photos) and Nero (who looked like a Batman tv villain). And the two disco guys. And the crazy dude who did all the acrobatics in the corner with the guy who looked like he had a box of quaker chewys he was handing out to the crowd who got mobbed and barely made it to the ring. -That was the least convincing pirate ever. -Most of the babyfaces looked like the sort of specimens that could be your 3rd from the top in Kansas City in the 80s. -I also love how many guys have their own songs. This was great. It was like when you're a kid, maybe 9 or so, and you've had time to amass a bunch of action figures from different lines over your life, and you decide to make a wrestling league with all of them. As for putting the toddler down, we have a bedtime routine (pajamas, teeth brushed, story, sleep sack, saying goodnight to various things in the room), then she lays down in the crib and I lay down next to it on the floor with my tablet and headphones and I watch something on youtube while she goes down while I hold her hand through the bars (if she's had a nap, it could take forever; if not, 15 mins usually). It's actually one way I got into lucha since it gave me the exact amount of time to watch a trios most nights.

It's funny that Frank is trending on FB and not Punk.

I was going to watch that Hardy Boyz vs Young Bucks match from August that's on youtube tonight while putting the Toddler down, but I'm totally going to watch that montage instead.

From a selfish level I hope he doesn't end up a MMA commentator. Seeing him in a fight or two, especially a trainwreck, would be interesting to me, but I don't care about MMA nearly enough to see him as a commentator. I tend to like him as a personality so I'd rather him do something that I'd be interested in.