Coffey Posted March 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 I'm watching the World Baseball Classic. Dominican Republic against Venezula. I think I just saw Mick Foley in the crowd. Right above the Dominican dugout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Are they playing in Alabama? Cause that's where Foley was last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 No, I think they're in Orlando, Florida actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World's Worst Man Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 It was definitely Foley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Nice to see what the mainstream media still thinks of WWE... From Meltzer... WWE takes a taste hit, although this won't be the last time. The 3/13-19 TV Guide lists NBC in the Jeers of the Cheers & Jeers, for bringing back Saturday Night's Main event. "Just when the network is starting to restore it's high-quality reputation with My Name is Earl and The Office, why ally with the lowbrow likes of Vince McMahon and Triple H? Plus, it won't really be a Main Event if there's no appearance by fabulous WWE-babe-turned-ballroom dancer Stacy Keibler." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Thanks Vince, for continuing to make being a fan of pro wrestling something we all have to constantly defend/apologize for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Interesting that the face of WWE to the mainstream now includes HHH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Not surprising since he's been all over every show since 2000, save the times he was out with the quad injury or making a movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Leena Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Still surprising. Unless you're someone who watches wrestling, you'll probably have no idea what a Triple H even is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Except for those commercials they ran on USA when WWE switched over with HHH looking menacing into the camera, and those little blurbs at the bottom of the screen USA runs during their other shows (read: Law and Order reruns) that feature HHH running the ropes. I'm pretty sure he was on the cover of TV Guide during Wrestlemania before too. So even if you just watch USA for Monk, you've probably seen Mr. Levesque looking all scary faced on your TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 While it's true WWE has done quite the job plastering HHH's mug the last 5 years, HHH still hasn't crossed over to mainstream as HHH. To Joe Blow on the street who doesn't watch wrestling, he's just what you said. Scary faced wrestler guy. He's still probrably known as the "suck it" guy, hence the association with being called lowbrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Well, he was in that Wendy's commercial with the "Triple H burger!" He was also in Blade 3 and was on MTV's Punk'D amongst other things. I think people that don't even watch wrestling have a pretty good idea nowadays whom Triple H is. He isn't Hulk Hogan or even Stone Cold or The Rock. He's right below them though. More known than people like Jericho, whom is all over VH1 and doing the Fozzy bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Speaking of wrestlers and fast food ads, what the hell prompted Hogan to do that Arby's commercial? Seeing them basically make fun of him for using roids boggled my mind considering heels in the 80s weren't even allowed to point out his rapidly receeding hairline. Certainly he can't be that hard up for money can he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bruiser Chong Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Thanks Vince, for continuing to make being a fan of pro wrestling something we all have to constantly defend/apologize for. Not all of us still do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 Speaking of wrestlers and fast food ads, what the hell prompted Hogan to do that Arby's commercial? Seeing them basically make fun of him for using roids boggled my mind considering heels in the 80s weren't even allowed to point out his rapidly receeding hairline. Certainly he can't be that hard up for money can he? I don't know why he agreed to do the commercial but it's certainly not because he's hard up for money. Last I heard, he just bought a new mansion, which is like his fourth one. I'm guessing he just wanted people to remember that he was still around. He's been out of the spotlight for a couple of weeks. It is getting close to 'Mania time though, and since it's the Hulkster, I wouldn't put it passed him to have some motifs. Not all of us still do that.The only time I've really ever had to defend my watching wrestling was back during the last boom period when it became really popular and everyone was watching it. Nowdays, since no one really watches it anymore, they don't seem to care if I do. Also, just curious, but does anyone watch TNA anymore, or at least iMPACT!? I know that Sek made the iMPACT! Spoilers thread and it didn't get any replies. Is TNA THAT far off the map? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Leena Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 I always have to defend my wrestling watching habit. Even more so now, since the people I used to watch it with in 2000ish absolutely hate the product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 A couple of my friends still watch wrestling, thus we still talk about it. Hell, we still get together to watch Raw on Mondays. Lately, we've been watching a lot more tapes and shit though to kind of fill the void that the current product is leaving us with. We're pretty broad in our viewing habits though, so we have a lot more options than just WWE on Monday's and the occasional PPVs. With Japan, Mexico, TNA and Indy's there's plenty of current shit to keep us occupied. If not, there's plenty of older shit to do the job. My friends that don't watch wrestling anymore, well, since they don't watch it, we don't talk about it. It would just be awkward, since they'd know nothing about it anymore...that's just not a street to go down. I don't want to have to explain things just like they don't want to have to ask things. Everyone else that ever talked to me about wrestling is the people I was generalizing though. Like in high school. Everyone knew I was a wrestling fan and they all talked to me about wrestling when wrestling was big. I had a lot of people ask me what ECW was and how they could check it out. I let people borrow tapes and magazines and shit. Once Wolfpack shirts weren't sold in J.C. Penny's anymore though, they all went on to the next fad and I haven't talked to any of them since. Maybe if I run-in to someone that I haven't seen in a few years they'll make a comment like "you still watch wrestling?" It never goes much passed that though. It doesn't break down into "I can't believe you still watch that shit. You know it's fake right?" or any of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 All I'm ever asked is where guys are that aren't around much anymore -- Austin, Rock, Hogan, Hall, Nash, DDP, Goldberg, Lesnar ... and when they do ask about someone who's still around, it's either HHH or someone like Jeff Hardy or Chris Jericho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Are you saying that WWE does a bad job of "building stars for the future?" Shit, just look at this years Wrestlemania. Does anyone actually want to see Vince McMahon wrestle Shawn Michaels? Why'd Carlito and Masters get slapped together in a random tag title match? Why isn't Carlito in the Money in the Bank match that he proposed, so that he can move on to bigger and better things? That last big star that WWE was trying to make, that didn't seem to get shit on, was Brock Lesnar and he dipped. Cena doesn't seem to be working, nor Orton...yet WWE are too stubborn to abort, so maybe in a few years people will be asking "Whatever happened to that Orton dude?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 There's just such a difference in making guys seem special. People still ask about LEX LUGER for crying out loud, and there is no reason that should be happening for him and not happening for so many of the more talented guys to come along since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 If you're booked as a winner, you look like a winner. Today's wrestling, outside of a couple people like Triple H & John Cena, is all about even-stevens booking. If you lose, you get your win back. If you win, you gotta lay down next week. No one looks special anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Bobby Heenan made an excellent, excellent point in one of his shoots that should be carved in stone and dropped on Vince's head. He was asked about how WWE scripts everyone's promos now, and Heenan said it's the reason no one can get over now, no one can stand out. Using his time as an example, he said that someone like Jake Roberts couldn't do the promos Heenan did, and he couldn't do the promos Jake did. If they were in the WWE now, they'd have the same guys writing both their promos and it wouldn't work. Promos get people over, and if you don't let giys use their own voice to get themselves over, it's all going to sound the same to the audience. No one in the post attitude era really got over, and a lot of it is due to everyone cutting promos in the same vanilla cookie-cutter style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bruiser Chong Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Again, agreed. When you think of the people who were the Attitude Era's biggest stars, it wasn't necessarily based on what they did in the ring. It was their presence, character traits and unique abilities on the stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 WWE can also hide weaknesses, when they want to. Brock Lesnar was never a good promo and he still isn't, but they minimalized his talking by giving him a mouthpiece and when he went away, Lesnar still didn't talk all that much. They still booked Lesnar strong and protected him and the guy still has a drawing aura to this day. While scripted promos have cut into the creativity of wrestling, so has the general look. All the Spirirt Squad guys look exactly alike and the only way any of them are going to get over is if they break away and become individuals with traits specific and unique to that guy. Guys like London and Spanky look like your average Indy guy. Now, I'm not saying to go and make a guy into a complete idiot (see Paul Birchall) but you've got to create characters that are not far off from the guys playing them. That way, when the time is right and you tap into them, they'll be able to relate and you'll see the true talent come through. I'm not saying I'd have an easier time with this, but I sure as hell wouldn't have made Paul Birchall a fucking pirate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 The death of male managers in WWE is another reason Heenan gave for WWE not being able to get people over. Their job would be to help guys who couldn't talk get over. I'd wager that if Brock didn't have Lesnar, he would have been another WWE musclehead that didn't get over. By the time Heyman left, he was already established enough that it didn't hurt him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts