Matt D

I think the deal with Henry is that MITB was SUCH a huge number and drew more than so many other things and Meltzer bases it almost all on Henry's promo/angle. It hits so many marks that matter to him when it comes to drawing/wrestler importance that he simply can't dismiss it without seeming totally hypocritical.

I feel like there are a lot of guys who are really in the discussion for the first few years or even the first half of the decade but then drop off.

WON says: Essentially, the technical reason some things did and didn’t work, or didn’t work on different devices was because for both video-on-demand and live streams, WWE and MLBAM are using a content distribution network of a number of caching services in various locations around the country. These servers bring content geographically closer to a user requesting it. But they only serve what is expected to be the most popular content. That’s why the live stream has few problems, but some video-on-demand material that they didn’t expect there would be much interest in, such as WCW and ECW PPVs, have had more problems. When a user requests content not part of the local cache, the cache has to request it, taking time and server resources.

While he's turned the corner on Henry as a heel, he's still down on him as a babyface.

I found his 95 finishing sequence a little goofy though. I do think the feud with DDP is pretty fun.

Is 08-10 ECW on the network?

They should play up Orton's last few months and basically make him a Pariah in the locker room, sort of a crazy Crow Sting/early 98 Randy Savage force for chaos.

Dave thinks that Orton is one of the best guys in the WWE. He praises him all the time. Did you send that on to Dave? That's the sort of thing he occasionally runs. I just want to see it out there for the world that Goldust is #1 and the Best.

One thing I hope will come through this, by way of the search feature, is a move away from judging wrestlers on great matches; instead, I hope wrestlers become judged a little more on their body of work and on trends and patterns over time. Also, maybe a bit more watching of things in at least some context, instead of just island hopping from one acclaimed MOTYC to the next.

That's one thing about Cesaro's stuff. He builds off of previous matches in a way that sort of breaks the MOYTC formula. It means people who have been watching will appreciate things more than people who jump in and out. That's absolutely the case for the Zayn 2/3 falls match.

MITB works so much better at Wrestlemania, at the very least as a way to get guys on the show.

I fully admit that I thought Taker would just dramatically sign his name. It reminded me of the set up for Taker/HHH. That was such a better way to do it though. My first hope (fully thinking he'd just sign) was that he'd make lightning come down and sign his name. Screw that real sports build. I want magic Taker Lightning. This was good too though.

Okay, yeah, Ambrose coming out to save the day was pretty great.

Far, far less than you'd expect. It's the most frustrating thing about the last year or so.

These are like the mini-segments you see on like a HBO between movies/programs starting at the top of the hour. They recorded one for Regal too. Like Word of Mouth on TCM?

Dustin's one of my five favorite wrestlers ever I think, but I've heard his shoot interviews and read enough of his book and I'm not sure that's a good idea.

I would have loved a Neidhart's Raiders style angle where Razor went heel and stole the Million Dollar Corporation.

I am going to remain networkless for the near future, so if someone else wants to take the reins, be my guest and I will jump in when I can.

Or you could cut a promo on them pretending to be Bam Bam Bigelow.

Eskeletor and wrestling's Mumm-ra?

Why didn't they turn Razor in 95?

It's just that the pack has changed a lot over the last few years, I think. I'd put the cut off point at 2011 with the Punk vs Cena and the Christian/Orton feud and then Henry/Show/Bryan fueding towards the end of the year, which rolled into 2012 with things like Brock vs Cena and the Sheamus/Bryan 2/3 falls match and Cena/Punk rematches and a brief Bryan/Punk feud and Mark Henry off and on doing great things, which then rolled into 2013 with the Shield and a thousand six mans and Henry vs Cena and the rise of Cesaro first in the mid card having miracle matches with Kofi and Miz and then the Rhodes bros teaming and etc. etc. I've been watching 1994. I like it well enough, but we're not there anymore. We're spoiled beyond belief and I'm glad you've made it to the party.

I think it's great to see Charles' excitement in watching stuff in real time while following the weekly product which is something he's just getting back into. I do think that the WWE has been as good as it is now or close to it for much of the last few years, certainly since 2011 and maybe a year or two earlier. Probably not exactly on a weekly level since the 3 hour Raws have allowed for a lot more good matches, but if you factor the C shows maybe. That might be where some of the disconnect is coming.

Christian coming in and just destroying the shoulder was pretty glorious. Is it too much to ask that Christian ends up with Zeb somehow?

Really enjoyable match with tons and tons of memorable moments and some really great character work but Bryan really does drop his selling quite a bit. I wonder if it's the Backlund complex.