Dave Meltzer stuff

[evilclown]

The Ring had an interesting system in the Steve Farhood years where they graded a fight based on both quality and relevance. That might be a way to approach this.

[jdw]

 

Most reviewers would rather not do star ratings. But readers demand them. They're a fun diversion but best taken with a grain of salt.

 

In Ebert and Siskel's case, they boiled it down to "Should I see this movie? Thumbs up -- yes. Thumbs down -- no." But they had a lot of trouble with the middle ground, since you can't give a 2.5 star movie the thumbs up. That's why Ebert generally rated a 2.5 star movie higher if he thought it was worth seeing, because people react more favourably to a 3 star rating than a 2.5 star one.

 

 

I read Rogers years ago explaining that, but I found him being rather odd about it... or simply just bad with math. He talked about a 5 star system (actually is was a sitting system rather than star)having a "middle" at 3 , while a 4 star does. The problem is that Roger wasn't paying attention to how he has truly rated movies over the years:

 

Level 1 - 0.0

Level 2 - 0.5

Level 3 - 1.0

Level 4 - 1.5

-------------------

Level 5 - 2.0

-------------------

Level 6 - 2.5

Level 7 - 3.0

Level 8 - 3.5

Level 9 - 4.0

 

He does have a middle: 2 stars.

 

And yeah... it's his star rating system and he "knows what it means". Except it's not exactly a system he invented, just something that had been around for years before him. The 2.5 rule is more how he and Gene came to understand it.

 

 

If you know that Ebert generally rates higher and that he will give an action movie a positive review if it meets his genre expectations then I think the star system is useful. I certainly refer to ratings whenever I'm researching films or music albums. I think they're an invaluable research tool if you trust the reviewer's opinion. In the case of someone like Robert Christgau, I usually check his ratings to see how far apart we are.

 

 

My general thought: it depends on the value one places in the reviewer. You're still going to disagree with them on occasion, unless you have a Borg-like relationship with the reviewer where their opinion becomes yours.

 

 

For MMA, it would be great to have a better resource for recommended fights instead of having to skim through google results. I don't think it necessarily needs to be star ratings, but more definitive lists would help.

 

 

Something like that.

[jdw]

I think what we need is a weekly "What You Need To See" list. Include UFC, boxing, Bellator, etc. There's so much material, it would be worth the effort to help people decide when to hit play on the DVR and when to clear that precious room.

 

Weekly or Monthly that can be compiled into a Year End.

 

And not just Good/Great Matches. Sometimes something is Big and needs to be seen, even if it's mediocre.

[rovert]

Hate these stories with a fiery passion. On the front page yesterday:

 

 

 

UFC: Bethe vs. 4 Horsewomen program continues in NWA-esque booking

Monday, 05 May 2014 14:00

After beating Jessamyn Duke recently on the 4/26 UFC undercard, Bethe Correia will face her second member of the "Four Horsewomen" in Shayna Baszler on the 8/2 UFC PPV show from Staples Center.

Yes, we did used to see that in UFC with Tito Ortiz with Jerry Bohlander, Guy Mezger, and Ken Shamrock.

 

 

[Loss]

Dave arguing that Bryan not showing up to Raw in a limo devalues the role of the world champion is cringeworthy. His argument is that he's a world champion of a major corporation and as a result, Bryan can't be the everyman anymore, that he has to be a larger-than-life character because people don't buy tickets to see their neighbors. I sort of see where he's coming from, but there's a lack of understanding of Bryan's character here.

[anarchistxx]

He totally missed the point as well. Bryan as an 'everyman' character is devalued far more with cringe worthy supernatural angles than it is with him showing up in a regular car. Take an athletic, exciting, pure sports champion and put him with the most stale, slow, unrealistic character on the roster in tedious, overbooked gimmick matches. That is what devalues his character, not his choice of vehicle which actually fits perfectly, especially since DB in real life seems uncertain of his newfound stardom. The limo is what you bring out for the heel turn when he gets above his station.

[KrisZ]

The one issue I've had with the Bryan character the last month is the fact they have pushed Brie as his wife like crazy and we know that in the past that hasn't been the best thing to do with wrestlers who are over with males.

[Loss]

Yes, all things equal, if Brie wasn't involved in that feud, it would still be bad, but not nearly as bad.

[cm funk]

Dave arguing that Bryan not showing up to Raw in a limo devalues the role of the world champion is cringeworthy. His argument is that he's a world champion of a major corporation and as a result, Bryan can't be the everyman anymore, that he has to be a larger-than-life character because people don't buy tickets to see their neighbors. I sort of see where he's coming from, but there's a lack of understanding of Bryan's character here.

 

Yeah, I just came here to discuss this odd rant. Alvarez pointed out that Bryan is a do it yourself everyman who would never ride in a limo with a chauffeur and Meltzer then slightly switched gears to complain about his "crappy rental car". Jeez, I didn't recognize the exact make/model of the car, but it's not like it was a Ford Focus or something. So weird. Meltzer was just passionately arguing this flat out stupid and wrong point. Of all the things wrong with that segment, the rental car and the fact that Bryan and Brie drive themselves to and from shows wasn't one of them. Ugh.

[Edwin]

I think what we need is a weekly "What You Need To See" list. Include UFC, boxing, Bellator, etc. There's so much material, it would be worth the effort to help people decide when to hit play on the DVR and when to clear that precious room.

If anyone is willing to do said thing, I'd be down to support this and add in my opinion on what's good and what's not good since I do indeed follow MMA a lot more so than I do wrestling.

 

I did post an extensive list of the best UFC fights from the last 3 years in this thread: Great UFC fights 2012 on

 

Was tempted to post some non UFC fights in that thread from JMMA, BMMA, etc. but opted not to since I'm not sure anyone on here cares about non UFC MMA.

[sek69]

Unless I misheard, didn't Stephanie provide Bryan and Brie the car on Raw so they could escape Kane? Made sense given that it was tampered with to not start later on.

[KrisZ]

You are correct sir...Steph was the culprit

[kjh]

I'm not sure the WWE "creative" team could resist the tired trope of demonic Kane terrorizing Bryan's wife.

[Jordan]

If anyone is willing to do said thing, I'd be down to support this and add in my opinion on what's good and what's not good since I do indeed follow MMA a lot more so than I do wrestling.

 

I did post an extensive list of the best UFC fights from the last 3 years in this thread: Great UFC fights 2012 on

 

Was tempted to post some non UFC fights in that thread from JMMA, BMMA, etc. but opted not to since I'm not sure anyone on here cares about non UFC MMA.

 

I'd definitely be interested in those.

[Edwin]

Posted it here: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/26205-great-ufc-fights-2012-on/?p=5602142 I tried being as extensive as possible and I got pretty much everything you should watch on there.

[jdw]

Dave arguing that Bryan not showing up to Raw in a limo devalues the role of the world champion is cringeworthy. His argument is that he's a world champion of a major corporation and as a result, Bryan can't be the everyman anymore, that he has to be a larger-than-life character because people don't buy tickets to see their neighbors. I sort of see where he's coming from, but there's a lack of understanding of Bryan's character here.

 

"Limo? What's this silly bastard talking about?"

[gingears]

Alvarez actually brought that up and Dave stuck to his guns on the matter. I guess he just really, really didn't like that rental car.

[El-P]

To be fair, Austin always used cool as shit vehicules that fit his image. If Daniel Bryan's character is so uncool that as the world champion he's using a basic rental car, well, I agree there is some issue here. But it's a minor detail compared to the fact they portrayed the babyface champ as running away in panic from a guy whom he already beat. Godawful booking (and godawful segment in idea, writing and execution).

[Bix]

Bryan wasn't running away, he was getting his wife away. There's a distinction.

[BillThompson]

The fact that Bryan is using a rental car, and a rather normal one, only accentuates his character. He is an everyman, and in these hard economic times seeing the champion showing restraint should only further his connection with the majority of fans.

[El-P]

Bryan wasn't running away, he was getting his wife away. There's a distinction.

 

Come on. He can't defend his wife against *one* guy ? Whom he already beat ? This entire angle is rotten from start to finish.

[anarchistxx]

Have to agree with El-P on this one. Can you imagine Steve Austin, The Rock, Hulk Hogan or John Cena running away from Kane?

[jdw]

I'm sure that Trip would have run away to save Steph.

 

[Bix]

 

Bryan wasn't running away, he was getting his wife away. There's a distinction.

 

Come on. He can't defend his wife against *one* guy ? Whom he already beat ? This entire angle is rotten from start to finish.

 

When Kane is wrestling, he doesn't use magic powers to appear and disappear. He does when he's chasing people.

 

It wasn't a good angle at all but too many people are complaining about the wrong parts.

[gingears]

I'm sure that Trip would have run away to save Steph.

 

 

A vengeful Daniel Bryan breaking into Kane's house could make for an interesting segment.