funkdoc Posted April 4, 2019 Report Posted April 4, 2019 don’t get too bent out of shape if you can’t convince the person who thought a hacker gimmick was money in like 2015 Quote
sek69 Posted April 4, 2019 Report Posted April 4, 2019 The statement they released kind of makes it look like JR won't be a regular part of their commentary, maybe just special events or just Double or Nothing? Quote
Coffey Posted April 4, 2019 Report Posted April 4, 2019 1 hour ago, sek69 said: The statement they released kind of makes it look like JR won't be a regular part of their commentary, maybe just special events or just Double or Nothing? That's probably for the best. I guess it's still a wait-and-see thing right now, but I really feel like the new, fresh, not-WWE wresting promotion, which already is going to have Chris Jericho on top, should probably not have J.R. on commentary too. Don't want to get branded WWE-lite right out of the gate, like TNA did! Quote
C.S. Posted April 4, 2019 Report Posted April 4, 2019 5 hours ago, funkdoc said: don’t get too bent out of shape if you can’t convince the person who thought a hacker gimmick was money in like 2015 Who and what are you referring to? Quote
sek69 Posted April 4, 2019 Report Posted April 4, 2019 Hunter for thinking Sami Calahan would make a good hacker in NXT? No, that was in 2014. Quote
C.S. Posted April 5, 2019 Report Posted April 5, 2019 The writers did nothing with the hacker gimmick, but I think it could have potentially been cool. Hacking the TitanTron, the match schedule, parts of the show, WWE.com, etc. A lot could have been done with it. Sami Callahan totally shit the bed though. He was atrocious in NXT, a geek and a goof with awful mugging facial expressions that made early-WWE Jericho seem subtle. His valet (Seth's Nazi GF) getting canned right after they were put together - giving his act a much-needed infusion of...something - was probably one of the final straws. Was Sami miscast? Maybe. But it's not like he was forced to come across as such a dweeb and never have any good matches in NXT. Quote
SomethingSavage Posted April 5, 2019 Report Posted April 5, 2019 Sami was miscast. He actually pitched the idea/entrance/look for Sanity to get away from the garbage hacker gimmick, which later went to Eric Young. I actually think EY is way underrated, and he's been passable as the crazed psycho in both TNA and NXT. But he's also miscast in that role. Ideally, EY could have been their next Santino as the comedic underdog. He's got great timing and broad enough comedic chops. I could especially see him catching on with kids. At the very least, Sami could have been the runt of the Wyatt Family - think a deranged version of Spike Dudley, hurling himself around like a cannonball and coming across like the terrier to the larger pitbulls of the pack. Instead, they stuck him with some hacker shtick with vague direction and no real plan. It almost seems like they signed him to appease Finlay or Regal or something, and then swept him aside as fast as humanly possible. Quote
aaeo_ Posted April 5, 2019 Report Posted April 5, 2019 On 4/3/2019 at 6:14 PM, C.S. said: I wish AEW had managed to get Mauro Ranallo. I know he has his detractors here, but I'm not one of them, and he'd kill in a sports presentation. How so? I think Mauro makes actual sports worse and goofier with Showtime and Bellator. Quote
joeg Posted April 5, 2019 Report Posted April 5, 2019 Mauro might be worst of the big name boxing/MMA commentators. I'd put Max Kellerman, Teddy Atlas, Mike Goldberg, Michael Shiavello, Joe Rogan, Andre Ward, Bass Rutten, etc all ahead of Mauro. With that said, he's probably the best of the play by play guys in wrestling right now just because every other wrestling commentator is sooooo bad at the moment. Quote
Dale Wolfe Posted April 5, 2019 Report Posted April 5, 2019 Jim Ross and Excalibur are both mistakes if they're trying to present themselves as a more mainstream product, I think. Not really a Mauro fan either - his work with Bellator was embarrassing at times - but Jim Ross is a throwback really. If you're trying to present a fresh/modern approach (which is the whole point of this, surely), then its a bit of a contradiction. I like Excalibur's work but the mask and name do put me off- I'm an old man maybe but wrestling always works best when commentary/interviewers etc are the straight man to a wrestlers idiosyncrasies. When everything is a gimmick its all a bit much. Oh well wait and see I guess. Quote
sek69 Posted April 5, 2019 Report Posted April 5, 2019 So Alica Atout will be the backstage interviewer, she was pretty good in Impact so that was a good get for them. Justin Roberts will be the ring announcer, so everyone be careful of those neckties. Quote
Laz Posted April 7, 2019 Report Posted April 7, 2019 On 4/5/2019 at 8:19 AM, Dale Wolfe said: I like Excalibur's work but the mask and name do put me off- I'm an old man maybe but wrestling always works best when commentary/interviewers etc are the straight man to a wrestlers idiosyncrasies. When everything is a gimmick its all a bit much. Oh well wait and see I guess. Totally you being an old man. The goofiness of Excalibur wearing his mask long after he retired from the ring and using his ring name is gone halfway through the first match of the night, at the latest, and it's not like having gimmicks for commentators wasn't a thing before. Hell, the best teams literally have gimmicks. Did you call him Robert Marella or did you call him Gorilla Monsoon? How long was Jerry Lawler wearing his singlet while at the table? Was Jesse Ventura all business suits as color or was he wearing the sunglasses/boas/etc.? Is he Jim Ross or is he Stetson-clad GOOD OL' JR? The only difference is Excalibur wears a mask and has a one-word name. It's such a minor difference and being unable to get over it is sillier than him keeping a bit of kayfabe going. Quote
El-P Posted April 9, 2019 Report Posted April 9, 2019 Latest episode is called "Pissant". No comment. Cody cut one hell of a promo on Samy Guevarra. Brandi and MJF are gold together. Quote
JaymeFuture Posted April 9, 2019 Report Posted April 9, 2019 I laughed my ass off at Cody's deadpan response to Sammy asking if he was subscribed to his channel. "There's not a chance in fucking hell." Quote
FMKK Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 Lots of speculation on Twitter that Turner is going to present AEW to advertisers as part of their autumn offerings. This guy is outright reporting it but I don't know how legit he is. Quote
El-P Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 Hire Tony Schiavone already !!!!! That Fyre Festival teaser parody was quite funny too. Quote
sek69 Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 11 minutes ago, FMKK said: Lots of speculation on Twitter that Turner is going to present AEW to advertisers as part of their autumn offerings. This guy is outright reporting it but I don't know how legit he is. JR basically outed they were starting a live 2 hour show on a "major network" in October, and TBS was rumored to be one of the two stations interested (returning to TBS would also fit the underlying them of Cody trying to reclaim as much of his father's legacy as possible with AEW) so it all fits. Also the first major competition in nearly 20 years airing on a Turner station might be enough to give Vince a coronary, so there's that too. Quote
El-P Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 Poetic justice. Billionnaire Khan videos incoming... Quote
FMKK Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 I know they're going to try to be something different but I would love if the TV managed to capture some of the feeling of WCW. I love the aesthetic of those 1995-97 Nitros. It would be nice to see some wrestling television with quality production values that doesn't just follow the Monday Night Wars TV format (or suffer from the modern day Kevin Dunn shaky cam shit) Quote
El-P Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 7 minutes ago, FMKK said: I love the aesthetic of those 1995-97 Nitros. Yeah, I'm not the nostalgic kind of guy, but I admit I would mark out so bad if they recapture a bit of the feel/aesthetics of those shows. Loved Nitro back then. Quote
peachchaos Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 Well literally any aesthetic other than the "Kevin Dunn" production style will be a huge breath of fresh air and a step in the right direction. If they're able to go live on Friday nights I think I'll die from sheer excitement and anticipation. All In actually had a few of those Nitro-esque moments with Jericho's surprise appearance but they're on a whole different playing field now. Being The Elite is far from my favorite thing ever, but it's fascinating to watch this whole thing being built from the ground up all on social media. The thought of a Monday Night Wars Redux is basically like when Disney bought Lucasfilm Ltd. and we all realized there was gonna be new Star Wars. Quote
Dale Wolfe Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 Pretty good if this is all true, would be a real injection of pace into everything if they can present it well. I'd personally prefer a more sports atmosphere but Nitro would be cool as well. On 4/7/2019 at 3:19 PM, Laz said: Totally you being an old man. The goofiness of Excalibur wearing his mask long after he retired from the ring and using his ring name is gone halfway through the first match of the night, at the latest, and it's not like having gimmicks for commentators wasn't a thing before. Hell, the best teams literally have gimmicks. Did you call him Robert Marella or did you call him Gorilla Monsoon? How long was Jerry Lawler wearing his singlet while at the table? Was Jesse Ventura all business suits as color or was he wearing the sunglasses/boas/etc.? Is he Jim Ross or is he Stetson-clad GOOD OL' JR? The only difference is Excalibur wears a mask and has a one-word name. It's such a minor difference and being unable to get over it is sillier than him keeping a bit of kayfabe going. Dont take it so personally. Taste is subjective. As I said, I like his work at times but masked commentators are a bit too far for me. Personally i would hope for a fresh, sports-like presentation over "NITRO!!" but, also, that would be a million times better than modern Raw etc. So I would be cool with that, although are the personalities that carried peak era Nitro really present in AEW roster right now? Not sure but a two hour show affords a lot of freedom for them to develop. I think the best way to go would take a lead from MMA presentation really - the WWE style is played out and anything close to the backstage magic camera storyline bullshit just seems hackneyed. This really could be good news though. Wait and see I guess. Quote
joeg Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 But I think the difference is Gorrilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura, and Jerry Lawler while being cartoony gimmicks were top stars as wrestlers prior to being announcers. So their gimmicks actually lent credibility and name recognition despite being cartoony. Excalibur was not a top star. Only people who followed the SoCal indie scene in the mid 2000s ever saw him work so its not a fair compairison. Don Callis isn't going by Cyrus or The Jackyl anymore is he? Quote
peachchaos Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 The mask does not factor into Excalibur’s performance at all so it’s a none issue really. He’s fantastic. Quote
BruiserBrody Posted April 11, 2019 Report Posted April 11, 2019 https://www.sescoops.com/aew-plans-to-use-3-man-commentary-booth/ “I’m not a big fan of three-man booths,” Ross says. “I’m even less of a fan of three-man booths when it’s with people I’ve never worked with.” “So how do you fix that? If the company wants a three-man booth, we’ll give them a three-man booth,” says Ross. “But we’ve got to prepare for it.” Quote
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