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WWE TV October 19-25


WingedEagle

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The Seth-HBK segment was abysmal. Man, I am a little less than 2 hours into this show and I may have to tap out. This just isn't fun right now.

Hulu Raw (90 minutes) is somewhat difficult. 3 hour Raw (with no commercials) is unberable. 3 hours live with commercials I just can't imagine.

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First couple minutes of the Brock podcast were amusing for him using phrases like "Ambiance" and "I was talking to another fellow", while noting "I spend a lot of time on my patios." It weirdly got less interesting the more they talked about wrestling and MMA. Reaction to the choice of words in the Heyman shoutout will be interesting, but I don't expect anyone to be in hot water over it.

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I felt bad for every other wrestler in WWE watching Brock on Austin's podcast last night. Despite being an awesome performer with great aura, he is just there to collect a check, which is his prerogative. But he's also been given opportunities and pay that most of them will never get, even the ones who have sacrificed far more and worked far harder to get where they are. So he says that if you look around, there's no one else credible enough to end the Undertaker's streak, which is kind of an insult to everyone else that is around. It also goes against his earlier point that "everyone knows it's entertainment" -- if everyone knows it's entertainment, why didn't Fandango end the streak?

 

This isn't limited to him, but there is this really annoying double standard in wrestling where when they feel like doing something stupid "everyone knows it's a work" and when they won't push smaller guys, suddenly credibility and coming across as a tough guy is paramount. It's just a way for them to justify doing whatever they want to do at every moment, and they flip back and forth between mindsets as is convenient for them. Brock's legit background only matters because they want it to matter. If Ryback goes a year without selling for anyone or losing while dominating everyone he encounters, he's just as credible as Brock with or without the legit background, but they don't want Ryback (or anyone getting their first superstar push after 2005) to be seen at that level.

 

He came across anti-social, entitled and dismissive of everyone else in the company in the way not a single other person in the company could ever get away with. On top of that, he's got the personality of a box of hair.

 

It also touched on a bigger issue with WWE, and that's their current kayfabe standards, which are all over the place. Soft-spoken Brock who could sit next to a would-be rival that long without going for the kill chipped away at his aura some. I don't think they need to be trying to fool anyone in 2015 into thinking wrestling is real, but I do think there should be consistency in how they present guys, and I think that's possible to achieve even if they are out-of-character in certain settings. Right now, we can have one person who is presented in conflicting ways on regular TV, the Network, Total Divas, in puff piece videos highlighting their charity work and on social media. So then you have a company that wants Brock to have a real conversation after Raw while Lana gets heat for showing off her engagement ring to Rusev. I understand why wrestlers are confused about this, because I definitely am.

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Yeah, Brock is a cock-end. In fairness, he pretty much is the character he portrays and he doesn't give a solitary shit but like you say, he's an amazing performer but it's sad in a way to see how much verbal power he has, if anyone else couldn't identify a Wrestlemania they were in by their number (not like he was in shitloads of them, cmon) they would get slaughtered. Who else could basically get away with saying "yeah, I'd much rather still be in UFC if I could". Must be maddening for folks from whom wrestling has always been their #1

Stark contrast to the E&C cast which just seemed like old buddies having a great laugh, in this one Austin seemed a bit uneasy grasping for common ground with a socially-stunted weirdo like "so we're still going hunting some time ey?"

Somehow I was a little surprised about his comments on breaking the streak as everything I'd heard suggested he was overwhelmed/nervous and didn't want to do it initially. So bit disappointing to see him give this ultra-nonchalant brush-off approach to the topic, as he did most wrestling things.

 

Also full on admitted he was a bully as a kid and never really changed or learned much. Success story ey? #BeASTAR

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I had a slightly different reaction. I don't find Brock particularly interesting or likable, but I do appreciate his bluntness in refusing to bow before the altar of wrestling. We talk about WWE choking itself with all this self-conscious shit fetishizing the Wrestlemania dream, and he's an antidote to that. I don't blame him for feeling he deserves what he's gotten, and I don't agree that he's worked less hard than his peers. By all accounts, he worked his ass off to become an elite athlete. He took the risk of walking away from big money and then earned himself an invitation to an NFL camp and a career in UFC. Those are things the other guys in the locker room simply could not do. He then leveraged his UFC achievement into his current status as a special attraction. Again, I say more power to him as a businessman. And he's a terrific performer to boot.

 

I agree with Loss about the weird inconsistency/sloppiness in WWE's presentation of reality. But to me, it's great that Brock has gone at his career from a unique angle and made it work. Would it be better if he was another guy with huge potential who got ground up by the WWE machine?

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The New Day Vs. The Dudley Boys & John Cena

Rusev, Wade Barrett & Sheamus Vs. Neville, Cesaro & Dolph Ziggler

The Shield Vs. The Wyatt Family

 

Is there a new law in WWE that there has to be a six-man tag every hour now, or what?

 

Beat me to it. I guess the Trios Revolution isn't just exclusive to the women anymore.

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I had a slightly different reaction. I don't find Brock particularly interesting or likable, but I do appreciate his bluntness in refusing to bow before the altar of wrestling. We talk about WWE choking itself with all this self-conscious shit fetishizing the Wrestlemania dream, and he's an antidote to that. I don't blame him for feeling he deserves what he's gotten, and I don't agree that he's worked less hard than his peers. By all accounts, he worked his ass off to become an elite athlete. He took the risk of walking away from big money and then earned himself an invitation to an NFL camp and a career in UFC. Those are things the other guys in the locker room simply could not do. He then leveraged his UFC achievement into his current status as a special attraction. Again, I say more power to him as a businessman. And he's a terrific performer to boot.

 

I agree with Loss about the weird inconsistency/sloppiness in WWE's presentation of reality. But to me, it's great that Brock has gone at his career from a unique angle and made it work. Would it be better if he was another guy with huge potential who got ground up by the WWE machine?

 

He has clearly worked hard in life. But he's not someone who has devoted himself to his craft in wrestling like a Steve Austin or Bryan Danielson. He has never been anything less than a top guy at any point in his career, to a point that I don't think he has any grasp of the effort it takes others to get to that level. The sacrifices and amount of proving naysayers that guys like Austin and Bryan had to make in order to make big money is just on a level beyond anything Brock has ever had to do. That's not something to begrudge him for, but I do think it reflects on him that he didn't seem particularly gracious about how much money he's making to do so little compared to other guys who have sacrificed so much and will never make that sort of income.

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I don't think he believes he did little compared to those guys. He believes he did different things that they couldn't have done and made his own destiny. Now, I don't entirely agree with that. But I don't think his POV is insane either. His mentality just exists entirely outside the wrestling bubble.

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