The Wrestling Thread

[retrosportsgamer]

Well - In his "defense", Ryback had been put through another table by Punk/Cena and destroyed earlier. He broke up a pin, hit the shellshock (which John Cena apparently SOLD) and then was taken out and Punk stole the pin.

So, even though much of his heat is gone, Cena selling his finisher as that devastating is new and different.

[retrosportsgamer]

Some more WWE '13 talk:

I played online last night for the first time and the experience was lag-free. The guys I played with are in NJ and Wisconsin and we played a triple-threat match and then two matches where one of us was the guest referee. Used CAWs also (Owen Hart for me - and I submitted Bret). Ton of fun. May be a short sample but I know online issues has been a problem in the past so I figured I'd pass it on. This is on PS3.

[Gamerforlife]

Damnit! One week I decide not to watch Talking Dead only to discover that CM Punk was on!

Anyway, interesting reading regarding Punk. This harckens back to something I posted a bit earlier in this thread

http://allwrestling.com/news/47126/repo ... n-cm-punk/

"- We covered on Tuesday how WWE Champion CM Punk complained on
Twitter that WWE wasn't promoting his appearance on Sunday's episode of
Talking Dead, basically the Walking Dead post-show, or his Thanksgiving
Day Parade appearance in Chicago.

PWInsider reports that there has
been a major disconnect within the relationship between Punk and WWE
over the past few weeks. It was originally reported that John Cena was
the one who spoke out at Vince McMahon backstage and told him the
product needed major changes because it was in bad shape. PWInsider
reports that other people are saying it was Punk who spoke out.

There's a feeling that WWE is doing Punk wrong because he has held the WWE
Title for over a year now and is still not featured on the promotional
material for WrestleMania 29. There's also some concern about how Punk
will react if The Rock does actually take the WWE Title from him at
Royal Rumble. Some feel that if Punk isn't treated right during
WrestleMania season, then there will be "hell to pay."

It's said that Punk has some pull in developmental, nowhere near the level of
Triple H or someone like that, but Punk has gone in and told them they
should push this guy or hire this guy. Punk is expected to be a big
focus of the NXT storyline invasion in the coming months."

[Gamerforlife]

I was recently trying to get caught up on my Ring of Honor backlog on my DVR and watched an enjoyable mixed tag match between Sara Del Rey/Eddie Edwards and Mike Bennet/Maria. I can't say enough about how refreshing it was to watch a match where the opposite sexes were treated like equals. As the announcers themselves pointed out, mixed tag matches in Ring of Honor don't follow the same rules as a certain diva focused wrestling promotion. Men and women are allowed to go at it in the ring. Sara del Rey and Mike Bennet were exchanging moves with her getting the better of him.

It says a lot about how much WWE has brainwashed me over the years that it was initially jarring to see this sort of thing. My brain's first reaction was, "WTF!?". However, this was quickly replaced by, "this is awesome!"

The match had an entertaining finish too. For some odd reason the fans in attendance busted out a CM Punk chant. I don't believe Punk has been in ROH in years.

If I ranked the top 3 promotions by the quality of their matches it would be:

1. Ring of Honor
2. TNA
.
.
.
.
.
.
3. WWE a distant third

I would love to see some New Japan Pro Wrestling matches

[meat]

PWG??
kevin steen vs adam cole world title match
steen wolf from 2011

[retrosportsgamer]

Some good sales at WWEShop - 20% off DVDs plus free shipping (so like another $10 there) BF201220 is the code. There were a couple blu-rays that I needed that were cheap and I filled out some other niche areas in my collection.

Ring of Honor has 35% off their DVDs. I love their (regular) $19.99 2-disc compilations so I grabbed the new(er) Kevin Steen, Kings of Wrestling, Samoa Joe and Danielson vs. McGuiness sets at $12.99 a piece. They have a ton more - I passed on Davey Richards, Austin Aries (was '04 to '07 stuff) and others.

[Gamerforlife]

Just saw Punk on Talking Dead, he was a fun guest. Kind of cool for me as both a wrestling fan and a little bit of a comic book geek. His real life persona has a little bit of natural heelishness, but it makes him fun

[BurningDoom]

I was watching WWE: The Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80s DVD, and during the Iron Sheik part, it mentioned that Verne Gagne (AWA's owner) offered The Sheik $100,000 to break Hulk Hogan's leg in the now famous Madison Square Gardens match and take the belt with him to the AWA. And according to Sheik, he was getting between $10,000-$15,000 a week as WWF Champion at the time.

...wow. That's some crazy and shady stuff. I never knew that, and just thought I'd share it.

This was right after Hogan left the AWA to go the WWF, which it's well known Gagne wasn't happy about that and many wrestlers defected with Hogan shortly thereafter. So I can see why, but still, wow.

[retrosportsgamer]

I had always heard that story but didn't know they talked about it in that DVD (good DVD, btw). Very cool.

[Gamerforlife]

There's a lot of crazy and shady stuff in wrestling history, especially during the territory days. People would try to make matches go their own way and only relented when their opponent threatened to legitimately hurt them in the match.