Loss Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Coffey, have you SEEN a Rey Misterio Jr match since WCW? I mean, really watched one? He's not the same guy now he was then. He's a prototypical American-style babyface, undersized and overmatched. I don't know the difference between Rey fighting someone like Angle and Sting fighting someone like Vader, honestly. Rey did not wrestle a main event heavyweight style in WCW. Rey wrestles a main event heavyweight style in WWE, and has gotten over through his selling as much as anything. What I'm saying is that you buying Rey as a champ doesn't really mean anything because you know wrestling is fake anyway. How can you care about believability so strongly and still not believe a thing you see? That's my point. Rey may not set the world on fire, but as over as he's gotten, and as many times as he's turned crap into something watchable, he deserves an opportunity. You do realize that as much as the Eddy Guerrero storyline was criticized when they were feuding over Dominic, that their segments on Smackdown were adding 1.5 million viewers on average and it was the most successful angle they had done in years. And it's not like Rey hasn't shown in the past few months that he can't work with heavyweights, either. Not believing Rey on top ... what does that even mean? Does that mean the fans are going to reject him, or that they're going to tune WWE out in droves because the idea of a guy beating wrestlers bigger than him is so ridiculous that they can't be bothered to ever watch wrestling again? I honestly can't see that happening at all, considering how good he is at playing the babyface, and suggesting that it's going to happen is unfounded speculation at best. And if you look at the most successful babyfaces in history, almost all of them have done big business with at least one challenger (usually more) that was quite a bit bigger than them. Look at Hogan/Andre. Austin/Undertaker. More than credibility or believability (which means almost nothing in 2006 when kayfabe is totally shattered anyway, and the only people who are concerned with believability don't believe anyway), I think the more important issue is that the audience can really get behind the top babyface and want them to win, whoever that is. Rey definitely has that working for him. Like with anyone, you overexpose and push too hard and the fans will reject it, but no one ever said Rey could get over with the wrong kind of push. No one can get over with the wrong kind of push. If there was any indication at all that fans wouldn't be able to engage themselves in a match where Rey is fighting someone bigger than him, I might be inclined to agree with you, but as we've seen when he's faced everyone from Randy Orton to Mark Henry, the heat -- if anything -- escalates because it's fairy-tale like story playing out in the ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack D. Ripper Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 If fans can accept skinny pretty boy HBK beating Undertaker in HIAC after getting his ass kicked all match, why is Rey so unbelievable? It would be best to avoid putting him in matches with Taker, Kane and Big Show, but that leaves alot of wrestlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Metal Maniac Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 If fans can accept skinny pretty boy HBK beating Undertaker in HIAC after getting his ass kicked all match, why is Rey so unbelievable? Cuz Undertaker had just gotten Tombstoned by Kane, and all HBK did was roll over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack D. Ripper Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 I don't remember Kane even being around during the time of the first HIAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 That was his debut. The point is that in almost every match that's ever happened, there's a size difference, and in probably nearly half of those, it's a substantial size difference. If Rey wasn't such a great underdog worker, it wouldn't work, but Rey is good enough to make it work. Not any 170-lb guy could face the Undertaker on PPV and have people buy it though. Of course not. But Rey's not any guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Bringing up Taker-HBK kinda proved Coffey's point though. The match was booked as Shawn running for his life and trying to escape the Terminator-like Taker who would destroy him if he could get his hands on him. The whole match was just HBK bumping like a superball until Kane showed up. Shawn only won because Taker got laid out by a guy who was the same size (or bigger, we weren't sure yet) as him. He did what the little guy couldn't do. That also sums up WWF/E booking nicely, which is why I think Rey wouldn't be booked right if he ever ended up the champ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Yup, HBK won over 'Taker in what was, basically, a "fluke." He won because of a Kane run-in after getting decimated the whole match. That's how every single one of Rey's matches would have to go...some outside circumstances coming into play for him to retain. As the belt holder, that would come off extremely poor. Add in that Rey is even smaller, by quite some bit, than HBK. I just don't have the confidence in WWE's writing or roster to pull it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack D. Ripper Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 Oh, I definately don't have confidence in WWe doing Rey as champ properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I think the squash element of the Taker/HBK cell match is often overstated. HBK spent a fair amount of time on offence, busting out a pile-driver on the stpes, among other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 Anyone watch the TNA PPV tonight? Steiner debuted. Christian retained the NWA title & Daniels won the X-title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 Yeah I saw it, and really liked it. I may post a detailed recap tomorrow. Of course I went to TSM when I got home from seeing it, and all the morons over there were crapping all over it. It had: - Jay Lethal vs. Alex Shelley in the opener in a VERY solid match. - An AWESOME Fatal 4 Way X Division match - A very good Ultimate X match, in which the X division gets a new face but Joe loses NO heat. - Jeff Jarrett in the midcard. - Christian in the Main Event, as the World Champ, and he goes over CLEAN... And they STILL complain. Freaking people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 Yeah, that confused me too. I just came from there and they're shitting all over it. It surprised me too, since the Observer reviewers liked it and they usually have the same sentiments. The Puma 4-way was good but I thought both the Ultimate X match and Lethal/Bentley were better. Oh well. Jarrett appears to have been injured as well. Had to hit the guitar shot from his knees and had to be helped to the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 I for one don't know who "Puma" is. I don't watch NJPW, but I've never even heard of him, and he looked suspiciously non-Japanese. Tenay even said that he was from the dojo in LA. But having said that, I really liked the match. EDIT: Okay I googled him. Apparently he is from the LA Dojo, and he won the American Young Lions tournament last year. You know, he was okay...but he hardly counts as an "international" superstar! And I had no beef with Jarrett's role tonight. I can live with him feuding with Sting, especially if the World Title has nothing to do with it. Methinks that the next challenger for Christian will be Abyss, and that could be very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 Well, if Jarrett is injured, Christian's next opponent might be Abyss. If Jarrett is healthy, you can bet Jarrett will be next in line for a title shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 See, from the way that show was booked, I really saw one of two things happening... Christian vs. Abyss for the title and Jarrett vs. Sting OR Christian & Sting vs. Jarrett & Steiner I think Jarrett has backed out of the World Title picture for a while. He came out tonight saying he wanted a shot, but that was just a pretense to set up the Sting deal. Besides, it looks like Joe COULD be moving into the Heavyweight Division after tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 Actually Puma has worked TNA before. He was in the X Division battle royal at Victory Road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest savagerulz Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 PWInsider: After he returned to the locker room, Jeff Jarrett was said to be OK, so it appears he was simply doing a great job of selling Steve Borden's Sharpshooter. I too thought Jarrett was injured but it appears he was just selling brilliantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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