Current WWE

[peachchaos]

I haven't seen it, but if the match has heat and Bryan is over, it obviously has meaning.

[Loss]

Yeah, I don't even know what that means. Not every great match is iconic, nor should it be. You and I disagree a lot on modern WWE, Johnny, but I am with you on this one.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Just finished watching the show. That was an awesome main event.

What's hilarious though, is that Im reading people complaining about it "because it doesn't mean anything". Jesus Christ, if you're that incapable of joy then stop watching wrestling, and seek help before you end up feeding yourself a bullet.

 

If one of the criteria for a match being good or great is that it has to "mean something," how many good or great matches would we have a year? 10? 20? 5? 2? 8? 6?

 

Normally your duckies and bunnies outlook on modern WWE is way off the mark (IMO), Johnny, but you're spot-on here.

[Matt D]

I loved the dueling limbwork in the main event. Both guys sold very well.

[Sidebottom]

Wade Barrett's podium at Wrestlemania better be the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.

I want to see a spot where somebody sets it on fire from the bottom and the flames slowly start climbing. Intenseamania!

[Exposer]

I liked the Bryan-Orton match a whole lot and I thought Orton did a fair job at selling but there were chunks where he abandoned it completely and it annoyed me to no end.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Eh, guys no selling to advance a match is as old as wrestling itself. It's normal. I always just think "he pushed through the pain" or whatever. "These guys are so tough, they can shake shit off" and that kind of shit. It works as long as it's not over the top ridiculous.

[Dylan Waco]

The entire first portion of the match was Bryan viciously working over the leg to the point where people were commenting how it was odd but cool that they were working a heel in peril, body part psychology based match...until Orton quit selling. It didn't ruin the match or anything, but it was an odd choice and very noticeable

[Johnny Sorrow]

The entire first portion of the match was Bryan viciously working over the leg to the point where people were commenting how it was odd but cool that they were working a heel in peril, body part psychology based match...until Orton quit selling. It didn't ruin the match or anything, but it was an odd choice and very noticeable

And I was just sucked into the match and didn't even notice. And if I had, I would have just thought "Orton's leg hurt him real bad, but he's now getting past it cause rasslers are almost superhuman because of superior adreneline".

 

Oh and I don't have a "duckies and bunnies outlook". I just choose to talk about what I like and generally not talk about what I don't like. Sharing enthusiasm is a positive feeling and sharing negative feelings just gives them more strength. If WWE does something I don't like, it's gonna have to be something big to me to get me to comment and bitch about it online, cause that's just energy wasted in negativity perpetuating something I disliked.

 

I also always watch every PPV on a big screen, surrounded by friends, beer, weed, family, and pizza. The fun and community trumps "bad booking."

[Guest TheGreatPuma]

Smart words by Johnny Sorrow. Well, I don't advocate the beer, weed and pizza for health reasons but smart words and a smart post.

[goodhelmet]

The idea of Resident Evil being an advocate for Johnny Sorrow is hilarious to me for some reason.

[KrisZ]

Heddi Karaoui posted this on Facebook yesterday

 

 

 

Thanks to WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT to invite me, train me and pay me for his Camp, couple weeks ago, at his Performance Center in Florida !!! I am very proud to have made one of the best PROMO there !!! Who know when they finally will run the new Cruiserweight show but now still on my way to Paris, Italy, Africa and the Big Deal in JAPANNN just to start well the year 2014 !!! Learning the Life, Learning the World & Learning Wrestling !!!

 

So he dropped the cruiserweight show line there interesting.

[rovert]

Watching Smackdown ahead of probably most of you guys. I'll just say it was the first show this year where I felt that Wrestlemania was approaching. Higher quality show and with extra though put into it.

[NintendoLogic]

Eh, guys no selling to advance a match is as old as wrestling itself. It's normal. I always just think "he pushed through the pain" or whatever. "These guys are so tough, they can shake shit off" and that kind of shit. It works as long as it's not over the top ridiculous.

I can't buy into this. If wrestlers are such superhuman athletes that targeted limb work doesn't faze them, why do it? You've just wasted your time (and more importantly, mine) doing something that doesn't lead to anything meaningful. It's like Chekhov's gun.

[Strummer]

Watching SD instead of RAW will certainly help lower your blood pressure. That was a tremendous 2 hours of pro wrestling. It's not ideal but Bryan and Kane's confrontation was pulled off quite well with all the backstory being drilled home. Looks like HHH/Bryan is a lock for Mania after I'm guessing Kane screws Bryan at the chamber.

[Loss]

I meant to record Smackdown and forgot until it was too late. How were the Orton/Christian and Bryan/Cesaro matches?

[Jimmy Redman]

 

Eh, guys no selling to advance a match is as old as wrestling itself. It's normal. I always just think "he pushed through the pain" or whatever. "These guys are so tough, they can shake shit off" and that kind of shit. It works as long as it's not over the top ridiculous.

I can't buy into this. If wrestlers are such superhuman athletes that targeted limb work doesn't faze them, why do it? You've just wasted your time (and more importantly, mine) doing something that doesn't lead to anything meaningful. It's like Chekhov's gun.

 

 

I'm not coming down on either side particularly for the larger question, but on the point about time-wasting, I think you kind of have to have that to a certain extent. Not everything can be meaningful all of the time. And just because something oesn't factor into every second of a match, or just because early limb work doesn't factor into the finish, doesn't mean that it wasn't meaningful.

 

Like, for Bryan/Orton, the fact that Bryan worked over the leg for all that time and then Orton went on offense and sold his leg less (I think saying he blew it off is exaggerating), that didn't tell me that Bryan was ineffective or that I wasted 10 minutes of my life. It told me somethng more like, Bryan was hurting Orton, but didn't hurt him enough to injure him, and now that he's had time to recover (while he was in control) he's able to continue. Bryan went back to the leg later on and Orton sold it, so it was still bothering him. Just not enough to cripple him.

 

Does that mean he shouldn't have tried leg work at all, just because it didn't work? (And "didn't work" is way harsh since Bryan won the match.) A wrestler has to try things, but that doesn't mean it will always be super effective. Kofi Kingston has zero chance of beating Brock Lesnar, but that doesn't mean he's not going to try things anyway. He's in there, he has to. But that doesn't make it time wasting when he runs out of offense and gets squashed to buggery.

[Badlittlekitten]

I meant to record Smackdown and forgot until it was too late. How were the Orton/Christian and Bryan/Cesaro matches?

 

Orton/Christian felt like a lazy rehash of their matches from a few years back. Bryan/Cesaro was good but it never seemed to click into next gear, nowhere near as good as their clash from last year.

 

Sheamus vs Ryback was a fun meathead and is worth a look. It's as good a big man match as you'll see. It's a shame that Sheamus has gone straight back to midcard nothingness but it was a fresh match at least. He has a good habit of making his opponents look like stars ready to take on the world, even when they loose. Ryback's top rope splash attempt was the highlight of the show.

[WingedEagle]

 

I also always watch every PPV on a big screen, surrounded by friends, beer, weed, family, and pizza. The fun and community trumps "bad booking."

 

But is there anything you wouldn't enjoy given that kind of support?

[Superstar Sleeze]

Am I losing it or did the New Age Outlaws and Curtis Axel just have their best ever matches this past Monday? Sheamus and Goldust truly are miracle workers. Orton/Bryan was awesome my WWE MOTY so far.

 

Even with all the great in-ring stuff, booking is just so blase.

[Loss]

I just saw Smackdown. If Bryan vs Cesaro never seemed like it went into next gear, the bar is awesomely high in WWE right now, not that I'm complaining at all. I thought that was a very good TV match with an excellent finishing sequence.

 

Sheamus/Ryback was well laid out, but Ryback's selling is too exaggerated and over the top for a big guy in that gimmick. The match was also sloppy as hell. I feel like someone needs to work with Ryback on working like a big man outside of just the power spots. Sheamus looked really good though.

 

Goldust/Bray was a fun 80s Jake Roberts match at the beginning, but ended up going in a different direction when I think a match full of stalling and showboating could have been more effective and entertaining. It also feels like he and Cody are becoming an afterthought now, which sucks. It's frustrating to me that he and Cody don't get to show any long-term frustration over being attacked by Brock or losing the tag titles.

 

I don't think Orton/Christian was a bad match, but it was a big step down from Monday night and came across as second rate as a result. Between Cesaro, Bryan and others, the style seems to be moving in a more aggressive direction, which makes these Christian matches that are well laid out but lacking brutality seem passe. Orton's promo in the match amused me, even if it did nothing to help the match or get anything over.

[Jmare007]

http://nypost.com/2014/02/08/valentines-breakup-nbcuniversal-and-wwe-may-split-up/

 

 

This Valentine’s Day NBCUniversal will either be giving WWE a big kiss or they’ll be breaking up.

The two parties are grappling over continuation of the sport-meets-reality TV programming on NBCUniversal’s USA Network and SyFy Channel.

An exclusive negotiating period ended last week with no deal in sight. We hear the pressure is on for a deal to get done in the next few days.

An industry source told On the Money, “NBCU has until Friday, Feb. 14, to respond to WWE’s final offer.”

It’s not clear where the price tag stands, but reports have suggested the last deal was priced at $140 million, and the WWE had been looking for a leap up that gives it a similar premium accorded to sports rights.

WWE — which announced the launch of its own over-the-top network for wrestling fans at CES — is one of the few things on TV ( besides sports) that fans want to watch live.

The question is, how badly does NBCU want to keep it? And where will it land if the two parties split up?

Next week, something could be very raw, and someone could be writhing in pain on the mat.

Stay tuned.

 

 

I guess they'll never get a fair deal.

[goodhelmet]

Jmare, just curious, for such a low brow product, what do you consider fair?

[Jmare007]

Considering their consistenly good ratings and the ammount of cash networks give to other programs who have a smaller audience, I don't see 220-250 million as a crazy number for WWE's prodcut (wanting NASCAR money is insane). Hell, if they wanna get double of what they get now I wouldn't call them crazy either.

 

But yeah, the fact that wrestling is a low brow product and that advertirser don't pay a lot of money for it, makes it hard for them to get a big TV deal. I guess what I find "unfair" is how the bad perception wrestling has fucks their abilty to negociate despite having a good and very loyal audience.

[Guest TheGreatPuma]

I saw some of Smackdown there and Ziggler and Reigns aced it. Ziggler has got so much fire and I also see that fire in Reigns. Reigns is winning me over for multiple reasons as a fan. I think some people underestimated the crowd's appreciation for him at the Rumble. He is terrific as part of the Shield.