The Wrestling Thread

[BurningDoom]

Remember when wrestling was fun? Remember when you believed it was real? (Or at least could suspend your belief.) Remember wondering what was gonna happen next? Remember being invested in a great feud like Rock vs. Austin and just counting down the days to their big showdown? Or how about when you'd swear "That wasn't supposed to happen." Or when Jericho or HHH would get you to laugh out loud.

Damn I miss that. When did wrestling become all about analyzing how many toe-holds were used? Or how well a promotion "got a guy over"? Why do most fans talk about how something should have been booked over what the hell is actually happening in the ring? When did we all become such asnine critics about something that was never supposed to be all that serious anyways?

Granted, we should all have our own thought-out opinions about wrestling or about anything we enjoy. But I think too many wrestling fans nowdays are too smark-y for their own good and just need to be fans more often.

[Razzmatazz]

I think the problem is many fans that grew up watching 90s wrestling were spoilt and it was before the internet. The only way to find out what was happening in WWE was to watch the tv. You didn't have access to spoilers, podcasts, downloads and there was still the air of unpredictability at events. Fights spilled out into the crowd, backstage and the parking lot. Blood was spilt, epic matches happened at most ppvs (remember Iron Man matches) and the ring wasn't in shiny HD. Characters used gimmicks more and heels were dominant . Nostalgia also makes us remember more fondly those times and unfairly compares it to now when we know every storyline trick in the book.
Just like my father grew up on seventies wrestling and remembers that fondly even though it was primarily fat blokes slapping each other. Now young men watch cage fighting. These things go in cycles.

[Bootaaay]

Done a bit of re-watching and I've finally decided on my matches of the year;

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki - (NJPW 10/08/12)
2. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW 06/16/12)
3. Sheamus (c) vs Daniel Bryan - 2/3 Falls - (WWE 04/29/12)
4. Masakatsu Funaki (c) vs Suwama - (AJPW 09/23/12)
5. CM Punk (c) vs Daniel Bryan - (WWE 05/20/12)

Honourable mentions;

. El Generico (c) vs Isami Kodaka - (UNION 01/03/12)
. PAC vs Akira Tozawa - (DGUSA 01/27/12)
. Mike Quackenbush vs Green Ant - (CHIKARA 01/28/12)
. Masaaki Mochizuki vs Roderick Strong - (PWG 01/29/12)
. Kenny Omega (c) vs Kaz Hayashi - (AJPW 02/03/12)
. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - (NJPW 02/12/12)
. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Tetsuya Naito - (NJPW 03/04/12)
. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (c) vs Suwama & Takumi Soya - (AJPW 03/20/12)
. Jun Akiyama (c) vs Keiji Mutoh - (AJPW 03/20/12)
. Eddie Kingston (c) vs Brodie Lee - (CHIKARA 03/25/12)
. Daisuke Sekimoto vs Yoshihito Sasaki- (BJW 03/26/12)
. Davey Richards (c) vs Michael Elgin - (ROH 03/30/12)
. Sara Del Rey vs El Generico - (CHIKARA 04/28/12)
. John Cena vs Brock Lesnar - (WWE 04/29/12)
. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hirooki Goto - (NJPW 05/03/12)
. Davey Richards (c) vs Kevin Steen - (ROH 05/12/12)
. Sara Del Rey vs Meiko Satomura - (CHIKARA 05/20/12)
. Hirooki Goto (c) vs Tomohiro Ishii - (NJPW 05/20/12)
. Fujita 'Jr' Hayato (c) vs Kenou - (M-Pro 06/03/12)
. Kevin Steen (c) vs Davey Richards - (ROH 06/24/12)
. Shinjiro Ohtani & Masato Tanaka vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima - (ZERO1 07/08/12)
. AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels - Last Man Standing - (TNA 07/08/12)
. CM Punk (c) vs Daniel Bryan - No DQ - (WWE 07/16/12)
. Super Smash Bros. (c) vs Future Shock vs The Young Bucks - (PWG 07/21/12)
. Eddie Kingston (c) vs Sara Del Rey - (CHIKARA 07/28/12)
. Bobbie Roode (c) vs Austin Aries - (TNA 07/28/12)
. Mr. Touchdown vs ACH - (CHIKARA 08/18/12)
. Adam Cole vs Michael Elgin - (PWG 09/02/12)
. CM Punk (c) vs John Cena - (WWE 09/16/12)
. Mr. Touchdown (c) vs Green Ant - (CHIKARA 10/06/12)
. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Low Ki - (NJPW 10/08/12)
. Kevin Steen (c) vs Michael Elgin - (ROH 10/16/12)
. El Generico (c) vs Kota Ibushi - (DDT 10/21/12)
. Michael Elgin (c) vs Sami Callihan - (AAW 10/26/12)
. Low Ki (c) vs Prince Devitt - (NJPW 11/11/12)
. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Yujiro Takahashi - (NJPW 11/11/12)
. Kevin Steen (c) vs El Generico - (ROH 12/16/12)
. Ryback, Daniel Bryan & Kane vs The Shield - (WWE 12/16/12)

Why do most fans talk about how something should have been booked over what the hell is actually happening in the ring?

Probably because the in-ring product is a shadow of its former self, regardless of booking, and the focus is almost entirely on the nonsensical storylines, rather than compelling in-ring action and trying to tell a story via the match itself. For me, WWE is pretty fucking dull. I barely watch the weekly shows, but the PPVs are usually good for one or two matches.

Personally, I still get that sense of excitement about wrestling that you described, just very rarely from WWE.

[Gamerforlife]

Remember when wrestling was fun? Remember when you believed it was real? (Or at least could suspend your belief.) Remember wondering what was gonna happen next? Remember being invested in a great feud like Rock vs. Austin and just counting down the days to their big showdown? Or how about when you'd swear "That wasn't supposed to happen." Or when Jericho or HHH would get you to laugh out loud.

Damn I miss that. When did wrestling become all about analyzing how many toe-holds were used? Or how well a promotion "got a guy over"? Why do most fans talk about how something should have been booked over what the hell is actually happening in the ring? When did we all become such asnine critics about something that was never supposed to be all that serious anyways?

Granted, we should all have our own thought-out opinions about wrestling or about anything we enjoy. But I think too many wrestling fans nowdays are too smark-y for their own good and just need to be fans more often.

You've kind of described the internet community in general, snarky, over analytical, whiny, etc. It's kind of the generation we live in, and I know I'm probably guilty of that sometimes too

heels were dominant

I remember back when I was still a mark, I would tune in every week hoping to see someone take down that SOB Triple H, especially when him and Steph were running the show. I remember being angry at the end of a show when he would get his way, especially in his feuds with The Rock, then tune in next week to see if The Rock would get revenge. I remember the classic Austin/Triple H match against Jericho and Benoit and rooting so strongly for Y2J and Chris.

That is a key element of wrestling I think. Heels need to dominate or the audience has no reason to care. WWE today just doesn't get that. They are doing that 80s era, kids cartoon thing where Hulk dominated everyone with guys like Cena and a lot of their other babyfaces. In cartoons, good guys always win, but that doesn't win over adults. It just makes for boring TV. Hell, we live in a culture where we sometimes ENJOY seeing bad guys win. Just see all the acclaim for Breaking Bad

[retrosportsgamer]

BurningDoom wrote:
Why do most fans talk about how something should have been booked over what the hell is actually happening in the ring?

While I love to suspend disbelief - especially in the moment (PPV or live event) and also like to see how something plays out before over-analyzing things to death, we also want good storytelling in the end. And that can range from the story of one match to an entire month's worth of buildup or something even bigger (not to mention how a particular character is portrayed).

But to be completely fair, when the writing is good, we gush and are huge fans (The Shield for example) and you get that old feeling like when you first started watching.

[retrosportsgamer]

Done a bit of re-watching and I've finally decided on my matches of the year;

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki - (NJPW 10/08/12)
2. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW 06/16/12)
3. Sheamus (c) vs Daniel Bryan - 2/3 Falls - (WWE 04/29/12)
4. Masakatsu Funaki (c) vs Suwama - (AJPW 09/23/12)
5. CM Punk (c) vs Daniel Bryan - (WWE 05/20/12)

Great list - just a cool snapshot (at a minimum) of indy stuff to check out if you're not familiar. We're fortunate in the age of YouTube that those NJPW matches are out there - and in HD to boot. I've seen the first half of your #1 match, need to get back and re-watch from the start.

I have not watched the MitB Punk/Bryan match yet and I only saw HHH/Taker HiaC live (it was missing Ross and some of the storytelling no doubt) so with those outstanding - my WWE-only list would have Cena/Lesnar at #1 with a whole slew of others right behind. Cena/Lesnar is the first match I showed friends after - pulling out the DVD , plus watched it twice the night it happened.

[Gamerforlife]

Done a bit of re-watching and I've finally decided on my matches of the year;

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki - (NJPW 10/08/12)
2. Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW 06/16/12)
3. Sheamus (c) vs Daniel Bryan - 2/3 Falls - (WWE 04/29/12)
4. Masakatsu Funaki (c) vs Suwama - (AJPW 09/23/12)
5. CM Punk (c) vs Daniel Bryan - (WWE 05/20/12)

Great list - just a cool snapshot (at a minimum) of indy stuff to check out if you're not familiar. We're fortunate in the age of YouTube that those NJPW matches are out there - and in HD to boot. I've seen the first half of your #1 match, need to get back and re-watch from the start.

I have not watched the MitB Punk/Bryan match yet and I only saw HHH/Taker HiaC live (it was missing Ross and some of the storytelling no doubt) so with those outstanding - my WWE-only list would have Cena/Lesnar at #1 with a whole slew of others right behind. Cena/Lesnar is the first match I showed friends after - pulling out the DVD , plus watched it twice the night it happened.

People talk about how great the Cena/Lesnar match is, but the finish killed it for me. A great match needs a great finish and needs the right person to go over. Lesnar should have won, so that disqualifies the match from being a best of the year winner for me personally. I need to watch The Shield vs Rybak/Team Hell No match from TLC. I keep hearing a lot of good things about it. I love bumpfest matches with tables, ladders or chairs. That crazy ECW style stuff that you only see rarely in the WWE these days

[Gamerforlife]

Interesting interview with Michelle McCool, that kind of shows how WWE views women's wrestling. Nice Y2J moment mentioned in the interview too

http://allwrestling.com/news/47786/mcco ... eputation/

EDIT: forgot the link, here we go

[Gamerforlife]

Lucky bastards



I wonder how often Cena and Bryan makes jokes about their girlfriends looking the same

[sevin0seven]

Lucky bastards



I wonder how often Cena and Bryan makes jokes about their girlfriends looking the same

i can see it now..

Brie Bella said to Daniel Bryan: "We're going on a double date with John Cena and my sister."

Bryan says: NO! NO! NO!

or

Bryan can say: "I have a bella and IM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"