The Wrestling Thread

[BurningDoom]

No spoilers, but I heard something big is going down on Smackdown tonight

Not much of a spoiler. WWE already plastered it all over the website a couple days ago.

[Gamerforlife]

No spoilers, but I heard something big is going down on Smackdown tonight

Not much of a spoiler. WWE already plastered it all over the website a couple days ago.

That's a shame that they did it. I've never bothered with their website personally until you mentioned that

I think Smackdown was waaaay better than Raw this week. Punk and Rock were both better on the mic, even though they didn't directly confront each other. The videos with Punk were great and Damien Sandow is getting quite good at playing off of legends in this business. Cody was good too, but Damien really took the spotlight

For more Damien Sandow awesomeness, there's an NXT video on WWE's website where he squares off against DX and for all intents and purposes the NWO. Basically, it's Damien playing off the cliq. It's a fun watch

The Last Man Standing match really drew me in more than Punk/Rybak's match on Raw and I loved seeing Del Rio outsmart the Big Show and even manipulate the rules to his advantage. That was a brains versus brawn match and brains won. It's a shame Del Rio's face push has been so poorly handled, as this would have capped it off nicely

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ricardo is fucking awesome. If there was one guy there busting his ass to get the crowd to care about this match it was him. I hope the WWE keeps him around for a long time, even if it's just as a support character

[retrosportsgamer]

I agree that the Christmas Eve Santa thing was a weird one-off twist with Del Rio but otherwise have no complaints with his turn. He hasn't been face-pandering to the crowd like the Miz (the worst face turn) - he's defended his friend Ricardo (and reconciled that he didn't treat him as he should have), which people can relate to, and being a face in the anti-latino stuff the Show was saying is pretty natural. Remember, Show picked RR to be his opponent in that Champion's choice night, so the feud actually uses logic. Putting the belt on him so soon was a surprise but I've seen far more forced, unnatural turns.

There are so many untapped stories with Ricardo. First, he's a trained wrestler so eventually they could be a tag team, and they could even dust off a Eugene type skill set (super wrestler no one knew about) with RR for a comedy bit. That could last MONTHS.

[Gamerforlife]

I agree that the Christmas Eve Santa thing was a weird one-off twist with Del Rio but otherwise have no complaints with his turn. He hasn't been face-pandering to the crowd like the Miz (the worst face turn) - he's defended his friend Ricardo (and reconciled that he didn't treat him as he should have), which people can relate to, and being a face in the anti-latino stuff the Show was saying is pretty natural. Remember, Show picked RR to be his opponent in that Champion's choice night, so the feud actually uses logic. Putting the belt on him so soon was a surprise but I've seen far more forced, unnatural turns.

There are so many untapped stories with Ricardo. First, he's a trained wrestler so eventually they could be a tag team, and they could even dust off a Eugene type skill set (super wrestler no one knew about) with RR for a comedy bit. That could last MONTHS.

I don't agree about the face turn for Del Rio. I just don't like the night and day shift in his personality. Now he isn't mean to Matt Stryker, he doesn't get in the ring and berate the crowd on the mic, he actually smiles at the crowd and will occasionally slap some hands of the fans. That's a totally different guy then we saw a few weeks ago, but I'm not singling him out. WWE does that with a lot of their turns and it is something that has always bothered me. A heel or face turn should be done more naturally. Right now, it's like someone else is in Del Rio's body, because he's just not the same guy he was. I think a lot of fans feel that way, and using the race card on Smackdown was a desperate attempt by the WWE to get him over since most people still see him as that arrogant, douchebag heel that he was and aren't buying into this new face role of his. It feels fake and manufactured.

I think his face turn has been equally as bad as the Miz's turn. Miz's problem is different though. It's the fact that he HASN'T changed that's weird. He's still the same Miz, just that now he chooses to verbally attack heels for no apparent reason

That said, I am high on Del Rio as a face and even as a champ. I've never been a Del Rio fan before. I always found him stale and viewed him as a mid card guy, but this is a fresh change for his character and I'm curious to see if he can show me something special now that he hasn't shown me before. Some wrestlers shine more in one role than another, and I want to see how well he takes to being a face. Maybe this is the big break he needed. I don't think the turn was handled well, but there's still plenty of time to make it work. I think Ricardo is key and giving Del Rio the title goes a long way in pulling him out of that cowardly, weak, cheating heel character many fans still have in their mind and making him seem like a credible guy who can hang with guys like Orton and Sheamus, instead of being the guy who jobs to them all the time

I think Ricardo will be a great asset to him. I've always found it awkward how faces picked on Ricardo. I never found Ricardo to be easy to hate, and it always made the faces look like bullies. Now he is in a role where we are supposed to like him, which I think is a more natural fit for him and he will get Del Rio more over as a face as well

I'm with you on some of the cool things they could do with him. I've always been high on Ricardo

[Gamerforlife]

Rock was pretty awesome on Raw tonight. "Biotch, you look horrible toniiiiiight"

This is why you keep Vickie on the roster. People love seeing guys verbally rip into her.

And did I actually see Punk run right at the Rock? A WWE heel taking the fight to a face? Wow. Good on you Punk.

I actually enjoyed Del Rio tonight. God, I can't believe I'm kind of liking Del Rio now.

Rybak's promo was okay. His mic skills are getting passable

I don't care how cheesy people think they are, I liked Team Hell No's segment with doctor Shelby

Miz is still terrible though, and Flair seems borderline senile. They really need a new direction for Miz. I think he's one of those guys like Orton, just better as a heel.

Not an amazing Raw(for an anniversary show), but not bad either.

[BurningDoom]

I was watching the Mankind vs. Rock "I Quit Match" from '99 on an old video I have, and The Rock said to Mankind:

"It looks like a monkey walked in here, took a crap, and out came Mankind! Now say I quit you piece of crap!"

ROFL!

[Luke]

I was watching the Mankind vs. Rock "I Quit Match"

This is actually why I came to this thread. I'm reading FOLEY IS GOOD and read about the I Quit Match. It's not the match on Foley's Hit and Misses dvd is it? The Rock seems a bit, chunky and I don't recall the eight chair hits to the head.

[retrosportsgamer]

I was watching the Mankind vs. Rock "I Quit Match"

This is actually why I came to this thread. I'm reading FOLEY IS GOOD and read about the I Quit Match. It's not the match on Foley's Hit and Misses dvd is it? The Rock seems a bit, chunky and I don't recall the eight chair hits to the head.

The I Quit Match was at the '99 Rumble. On the Hits and Misses DVD they show Foley's first title win, which was on RAW.

[Luke]

The I Quit Match was at the '99 Rumble. On the Hits and Misses DVD they show Foley's first title win, which was on RAW.

Nuts. I was hoping I owned it.

[the King]

they show Foley's first title win, which was on RAW.

Ha! That's gonna put some butts in the seats.