Mad Dog Posted April 26, 2020 Report Share Posted April 26, 2020 10 hours ago, MoS said: I think Vince gets that reaction when he comes on TV because he is a legend on-screen as well and people have respect for it. If anything, hasn't the narrative been that Vince no longer has it and HHH is going to save wrestling when he finally ascends to the top? NXT is no longer as hot as it used to be, but really, I think the person shielded most from criticism in the last few years has been HHH, which is hilarious when you think about it. People are in that phase still where NXT gets praise because it's NXT. It's kind of like how people still praised ECW after it got bad because it's ECW. I think people are slowly starting to go "hey wait a minute, NXT hasn't been particularly good in awhile. Why are the same three guys on top constantly." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2020 Seriously, what was up with that last segment? It really seemed like Vince got drunk and decided to crash the party at the last minute. Hunter was out there looking like a teenager getting embarrassed by his dad trying to act cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted April 26, 2020 Report Share Posted April 26, 2020 3 hours ago, sek69 said: Seriously, what was up with that last segment? It really seemed like Vince got drunk and decided to crash the party at the last minute. Hunter was out there looking like a teenager getting embarrassed by his dad trying to act cool. According to a well connected Twitter account, Vince is just at no fucks left to give after the last 2 weeks. https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/04/backstage-talk-on-vince-mcmahon-wwe-smackdown-demeanor-669660/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 26, 2020 Report Share Posted April 26, 2020 As we say in French, it smells like "fin de règne"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2020 1 hour ago, rovert said: According to a well connected Twitter account, Vince is just at no fucks left to give after the last 2 weeks. https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2020/04/backstage-talk-on-vince-mcmahon-wwe-smackdown-demeanor-669660/ It's something not many of us stopped to think about, what happens to a noted control freak when the world turns upside down and everything is out of his control? At this rate we're probably less than two weeks away from Vince coming out in the middle of someone's promo with no pants on and wearing a beer helmet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted April 27, 2020 Report Share Posted April 27, 2020 22 hours ago, Mad Dog said: People are in that phase still where NXT gets praise because it's NXT. It's kind of like how people still praised ECW after it got bad because it's ECW. I think people are slowly starting to go "hey wait a minute, NXT hasn't been particularly good in awhile. Why are the same three guys on top constantly." HHH was a smart worker who can't get out of the way of his own insecurities when he was a wrestler and it's somewhat similar in his booking run. He built NXT the way he did because he knew he had to gain the trust of wrestling fans who didn't trust Vince anymore so when he eventually took over, fans would be willing to give him a chance and maybe come back into the fold to see how the new regime went. But the running on NXT has exposed some of his limitations as well. Without the luxury of call-ups and constant roster refreshment, he's actually pretty bad at closing out storylines in a satisfying way. And you're right about the same guys being on top forever. That's made worse by the style descending into self-parody with the HBK melodrama. AEW emerging as an alternative to WWE that's outside of the umbrella has really exposed NXT and HHH's limitations to the point where he probably has to reinvent himself once again to stay in the good books with fans long term. I think NXT as a promotion peaked as far back as 2014 with Zayn winning the title then Owens turning on him or in 2015 with Sasha vs Bayley. There have been bright spots since then but to me, it just hasn't been the same. I wonder if Dusty no longer being around is a big factor in the falling off of the storytelling. People used to always talk about Ryan Ward being the genius booker behind it all but I've literally not heard his name in years. Is he still with the company? It's an amusing twist of fate that Dusty Rhodes could end up being the most important patriarchal figure for this generation of wrestlers almost more so than Vince. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 27, 2020 Report Share Posted April 27, 2020 24 minutes ago, FMKK said: I think NXT as a promotion peaked as far back as 2014 with Zayn winning the title then Owens turning on him or in 2015 with Sasha vs Bayley. There have been bright spots since then but to me, it just hasn't been the same. I wonder if Dusty no longer being around is a big factor in the falling off of the storytelling. People used to always talk about Ryan Ward being the genius booker behind it all but I've literally not heard his name in years. Is he still with the company? It's an amusing twist of fate that Dusty Rhodes could end up being the most important patriarchal figure for this generation of wrestlers almost more so than Vince. It's a really interesting point and I have been thinking about that a lot when I watch AEW, the fact the figure of Dusty Rhodes, who was that guy in the polka dots for a generation of WWF fans and then the legendary figure in WCW, the losing brand, is now looming over the brand new, forward thinking exciting promotion, with the young son at the helm, the veteran older son as himself kind of a "legendary" figure of his generation and guys like Arn, Tully showing up, the heritage of WCW being talked about in a positive light again after 20 years of being derided. And in the middle of all of this, Tony Schiavone, as the guy who was calling Dusty's matches in the glory days of Crockett (much more than Ross), being back in the fold, respected and loved by everyone. It's fascinating to me how things work on a very long scale. (one could also talk about the buzz NWA Powerr got by reviving the studio aesthetic which is a direct reference to Dusty's days as the glory days, as opposed to the narrative of WWF being the only pro-wrestling that mattered in the 80's) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2020 I've long felt that AEW is an alternate universe JCP/WCW that somehow avoided the whole "get run into the ground by bad management/corporate meddling" thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 According to Meltzer Gerald Brisco is out! Been with the company since 1984 He termed it as "part of the recent round of releases" but I'd have to think it was more likely a buyout/early retirement. I believe he was already semi-retired and mostly just scouting amateur wrestlers at this point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 That one really shocked me. Gerald Brisco played a significant role in building the company into what it is. He's been there through a lot. Wrestling history would be very different if he and Jack hadn't sold their shares in GCW to Vince. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 Gerald tweeted that he's not been released but furloughed, just like most agents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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