The Wrestling Thread

[BurningDoom]

I don't care for the Funkasaurus act at all, but Brodus Clay is 110% into it, and that effort to get it over will help his career, no matter what gimmick he's saddled with.

That's true, I didn't look at it that way. He does go all the way with it, lol. It still doesn't stop it from being a horrible gimmick, especially for him. Disco Inferno pulled it off because he looked the part.

[the King]

Was taking some pictures of the basement for the gameroom thread and thought some of you guys might appreciate this,

[BurningDoom]

Was taking some pictures of the basement for the gameroom thread and thought some of you guys might appreciate this,

That's awesome! Signed and still in his prime! The man is a legend, very nice.

[Razzmatazz]

I don't understand the Brodus Clay hate. I think it's genius myself! Fair enough the gimmick has been done before but it's one of the only entertaining things in WWE at the moment. I could count the number of gimmick wrestlers on one hand at the moment, what happened to having characters? Brodus Clay as a monster was boring, predictable and as people have said, Mark Henry was doing that same thing.

If you look at why WWE isn't interesting it's because of the large number of bland character-less wrestlers that occupy the roster. Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, John Morrison (who's now left), Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, John Cena, The Miz... These guys are like robots, if you like that then fair enough but I enjoy humourous gimmicks that haven't been seen as much since the 80s and 90s.

More gimmicks would do the product wonders.

[BurningDoom]

I don't understand the Brodus Clay hate. I think it's genius myself! Fair enough the gimmick has been done before but it's one of the only entertaining things in WWE at the moment. I could count the number of gimmick wrestlers on one hand at the moment, what happened to having characters? Brodus Clay as a monster was boring, predictable and as people have said, Mark Henry was doing that same thing.

If you look at why WWE isn't interesting it's because of the large number of bland character-less wrestlers that occupy the roster. Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, John Morrison (who's now left), Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, John Cena, The Miz... These guys are like robots, if you like that then fair enough but I enjoy humourous gimmicks that haven't been seen as much since the 80s and 90s.

More gimmicks would do the product wonders.

I agree with most of your picks up there as being boring. But Evan Bourne and John Morrison? Both those guys can put on a helluva match and wow anyone with some insane moves. The problem with them is that creative isn't giving them any good storylines to get them over with the casual wrestling fans. Hell, creative is a big problem as to why the WWE sucks. I mean look at Hulk Hogan, the guy couldn't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. Yet he became the biggest wrestling star of all-time, and that's due to creative doing a helluva job with him. Vince should fire every single one of his writers and hire new blood.

[the King]

I agree with most of your picks up there as being boring. But Evan Bourne and John Morrison? Both those guys can put on a helluva match and wow anyone with some insane moves. The problem with them is that creative isn't giving them any good storylines to get them over with the casual wrestling fans. Hell, creative is a big problem as to why the WWE sucks. I mean look at Hulk Hogan, the guy couldn't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. Yet he became the biggest wrestling star of all-time, and that's due to creative doing a helluva job with him. Vince should fire every single one of his writers and hire new blood.

John Morrison was given a bunch of chances, the problem was/is he didn't have that "it' factor. Plus he was terrible on the mic. Mic work > In ring work at the end of the day. You mention Hulk Hogan as being the biggest star of all-time and he didn't get any of that because of in ring ability. It was because of charisma, his ability on the mic and having "that look". If you really look at the biggest stars throughout wrestling their in the ring skills have nothing to do with them getting over. How did Stone Cold finally become a star? The Rock? Cena? Hell, look at CM Punk, he was putting on great matches, but it wasn't until the pipe bomb stuff that he really got over. Of course there are guys like HBK or Randy Savage that were great on both ends, but the Macho Man was never as big as a draw as Hogan or HBK as Stone Cold. Would Ric Flair be a star if his mic work was like John Morrison's? At the end of the day your ability to entertain outside the ring IMO is more important in becoming a star than your actually in the ring work. Of course it's ideal to have both, but if you can't talk or a have great gimmick ala the Undertaker or Andre the Giant you aren't going to make it.

[BurningDoom]

I agree with most of your picks up there as being boring. But Evan Bourne and John Morrison? Both those guys can put on a helluva match and wow anyone with some insane moves. The problem with them is that creative isn't giving them any good storylines to get them over with the casual wrestling fans. Hell, creative is a big problem as to why the WWE sucks. I mean look at Hulk Hogan, the guy couldn't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. Yet he became the biggest wrestling star of all-time, and that's due to creative doing a helluva job with him. Vince should fire every single one of his writers and hire new blood.

John Morrison was given a bunch of chances, the problem was/is he didn't have that "it' factor. Plus he was terrible on the mic. Mic work > In ring work at the end of the day. You mention Hulk Hogan as being the biggest star of all-time and he didn't get any of that because of in ring ability. It was because of charisma, his ability on the mic and having "that look". If you really look at the biggest stars throughout wrestling their in the ring skills have nothing to do with them getting over. How did Stone Cold finally become a star? The Rock? Cena? Hell, look at CM Punk, he was putting on great matches, but it wasn't until the pipe bomb stuff that he really got over. Of course there are guys like HBK or Randy Savage that were great on both ends, but the Macho Man was never as big as a draw as Hogan or HBK as Stone Cold. Would Ric Flair be a star if his mic work was like John Morrison's? At the end of the day your ability to entertain outside the ring IMO is more important in becoming a star than your actually in the ring work. Of course it's ideal to have both, but if you can't talk or a have great gimmick ala the Undertaker or Andre the Giant you aren't going to make it.

-Bret Hart
-Shawn Michaels
-Ric Flair
-Diamond Dallas Page
-Sting
-Booker T
-Ricky Steamboat
-Macho Man Randy Savage
-Harley Race
-Nick Bockwinkel

All guys that got big in a large part due to their wrestling ability.

However you're right when it comes to casual wrestling fans. They need that entertainment factor. But most longtime wrestling fans get fired up over a good match. The entertainment side of that equation in the WWE is largely a responsibility of the WWE writers, creative.

[the King]

-Bret Hart
-Shawn Michaels
-Ric Flair
-Diamond Dallas Page
-Sting
-Booker T
-Ricky Steamboat
-Macho Man Randy Savage
-Harley Race
-Nick Bockwinkel

All guys that got big in a large part due to their wrestling ability.

However you're right when it comes to casual wrestling fans. They need that entertainment factor. But most longtime wrestling fans get fired up over a good match. The entertainment side of that equation in the WWE is largely a responsibility of the WWE writers, creative.

So, you as a long time wrestling fan didn't get fired up when the Rock came back and pretty much just cut great promos?

And the biggest names your list had that "it" factor and could talk. I already mentioned some of them. Ric Flair was viable draw for years after his ability in the ring wasn't where it was before. The man was one if not the greatest at talking. I don't need to tell you that. If he didn't have that, do you really believe he would be the legend he is?

[BurningDoom]

-Bret Hart
-Shawn Michaels
-Ric Flair
-Diamond Dallas Page
-Sting
-Booker T
-Ricky Steamboat
-Macho Man Randy Savage
-Harley Race
-Nick Bockwinkel

All guys that got big in a large part due to their wrestling ability.

However you're right when it comes to casual wrestling fans. They need that entertainment factor. But most longtime wrestling fans get fired up over a good match. The entertainment side of that equation in the WWE is largely a responsibility of the WWE writers, creative.

So, you as a long time wrestling fan didn't get fired up when the Rock came back and pretty much just cut great promos?

And the biggest names your list had that "it" factor and could talk. I already mentioned some of them. Ric Flair was viable draw for years after his ability in the ring wasn't where it was before. The man was one if not the greatest at talking. I don't need to tell you that. If he didn't have that, do you really believe he would be the legend he is?

Yeah, I did. But my point is that WWE Creative needs to get better before they worry about their talent. With the right creative team, even the worst wrestler can get over.

And to flip your question, do you think a lot of those guys would have got as far as they did without the wrestling ability? I'm not gonna dispute that you need charisma in wrestling, that's a given. But to keep the loyal fans happy, the fans that continue to buy tickets through thick and thin times, you need good in-ring ability too.

[Razzmatazz]

I don't understand the Brodus Clay hate. I think it's genius myself! Fair enough the gimmick has been done before but it's one of the only entertaining things in WWE at the moment. I could count the number of gimmick wrestlers on one hand at the moment, what happened to having characters? Brodus Clay as a monster was boring, predictable and as people have said, Mark Henry was doing that same thing.

If you look at why WWE isn't interesting it's because of the large number of bland character-less wrestlers that occupy the roster. Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, John Morrison (who's now left), Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, John Cena, The Miz... These guys are like robots, if you like that then fair enough but I enjoy humourous gimmicks that haven't been seen as much since the 80s and 90s.

More gimmicks would do the product wonders.

I agree with most of your picks up there as being boring. But Evan Bourne and John Morrison? Both those guys can put on a helluva match and wow anyone with some insane moves. The problem with them is that creative isn't giving them any good storylines to get them over with the casual wrestling fans. Hell, creative is a big problem as to why the WWE sucks. I mean look at Hulk Hogan, the guy couldn't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. Yet he became the biggest wrestling star of all-time, and that's due to creative doing a helluva job with him. Vince should fire every single one of his writers and hire new blood.

I'm saying Evan Bourne and John Morrison are boring as characters, not their ability to put on great matches. Morrison and Miz had an awesome match on Raw last year for the title, but I just feel there are too many guys with personality bypasses.

Nobody remembers the Perry Saturn or Dean Malenko matches, they remember the Latino that cheated Eddie Guerrero, or the Rabid Wolverine Chris Benoit. There's too many Saturns and Malenkos at the moment. And I'm a big fan of Malenko in the ring.

Kofi Kingston, this guy could be as popular as Booker T if used correctly. Ted Dibiase Jr, Tyson Kidd, Drew McIntyre, Daniel Bryan, these guys are all great wrestlers. But they are just musclebound guys after a title or a win. They have no agenda, no back story. I was watching Summerslam 96 the other day and the Tag Team Championship match just struck me how gimmicks can help make things interesting. Smoking Gunns vs Bodydonnas vs Godwinns vs New Rockers. And then the abundance of misunderstood freaks: Mankind, Sycho Sid, Goldust, Yokozuna...

The Funkosaurus is refreshing. To me at least.