The Wrestling Thread

[GazongaJoe]

Well, turning away from the "gay" subject. I think that WWE rushed the return of the Rhodes brothers. I wanted to see more ambush attacks on the heels.

Yeah I want Drew Carrey to come back too.

[BurningDoom]

As far as Patterson being the first open gay wrestler. That's true that his peers knew he was gay, but it wasn't very public knowledge. Just like Vince was actually the owner or Joey Marella was actually Gorilla Monsoon's son. Even during the Attitude era where a lot of kayfabe things were coming out Jim Ross used to make inside jokes about Patterson on air such as "that is the largest man that has ever been on top of Pat Patterson" or "here comes Pat bringing up the rear as normal" without most fans noticing.

Patterson's actual active wrestling years were before my time, so I can't really say. But I knew he was gay in the Attitude Era, as did many of my friends. The internet was around then.

And who didn't know Vince McMahon wasn't the owner? Everyone knew that. Even during his announcing years, it really wasn't a secret when he's hosting WrestleMania and showing up on T.V. to announce he took N.W.A.'s timeslot. If you completely bought into the "fakeness" of it all and were 6 years old, maybe you didn't know.

I used to watch wrestling heavily around 94-97 and never knew that Vince was more than an announcer because Gorilla Mansoon used to take the manager or the big boss. Its very hard to imagine the single owner of it all is on the announcement table. Can you Imagine Jim Ross or Jerry Lawler are the real owners of the WWE? Pretty hard isn't it? ... I didn't know that Vince was the boss until he basically said it on TV with him feuding with Austin. I think it was the screwjob that gave it away because it turned out to be a Vince screwed Bret thing and Vince had to do an interview to talk about how the WWF was reacting to this and explain everything.

There were plenty of other moments, too. But likely you just bought into it all because you were a kid. Most of us did.

Vince McMahon introducing the first WrestleMania and introducing the celebrities.

Vince McMahon showing up on TBS broadcasting and announcing they were taking over the NWA timeslot (black Saturday):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFypD9voHME

Vince McMahon being sued for using steroids in his company, and Hogan testifying against him.

Vince McMahon making fun of WCW "wrastling" promo (I can't find a clip of this one on YouTube, but it had guys dressed up badly as WCW superstars, and Vince leading em all).

Vince McMahon introducing the "Attitude Era" at the beginning of one Raw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HznErMk97B4

[Menegrothx]

Damn, I never knew RVD wrestled in WCW

[BurningDoom]

Damn, I never knew RVD wrestled in WCW

That was awesome! Thank you for sharing. I never knew RVD was in WCW, either. Maybe a try-out match?

RVD looks so young there, and Raven looked hilarious!

[Gamerforlife]

I probably won't get much agreement on this, since a few people here seem anti-Bryan, but I'm throwing it out there. How would you feel about Bryan ending the streak? I read this on a wrestling site:

"Last year's WrestleMania numbers were disappointing and there's a feeling that The Rock appearing for the fourth straight year isn't going to pop the numbers this time around. Unless there is a major outside attraction, there's also a feeling that the only ting that will get WrestleMania back to its previous numbers is an announced retirement and final match for The Undertaker, something big with Hogan or something big with Austin."

Now most people think of Lesnar having a big match with Taker, but there's no chance in hell WWE would have Lesnar retire Taker. He just doesn't have enough good will with the company and is just a part time guy anyway. Cena's the next likely choice, but nobody but the marks wants to see that happen. Bryan is arguably their top guy at the moment (note that the returning Cena is not going for the Raw title that Bryan is chasing, but Del Rio's Smackdown title). He's no doubt got lots of good will within the company and the locker room as he's been a model employee. When you've got guys on your roster being suspended for drug use, here's a guy getting touted as so healthy he's a vegan. Bryan's more universally likeable than both Punk and Cena, and he's got credibility. He's beaten Cena clean. He's made Orton tap out in the past. He's even overcome the numbers game of The Shield by beaten them in singles matches despite the other members interfering. During his "weakest link" storyline, the Smackdown announcers even called Bryan The Shield's kryptonite. Granted, Bryan's been beaten down and screwed over a few times since Summerslam, but it hasn't hurt him much. Even Cena's had periods where things weren't going his way.

Bryan's a rising star. A win over Taker not only solidifies him as a bonafide main eventer and top guy, which arguably he already is after beating Cena clean with a new finisher, it guarantees him a spot in the Hall of Fame as well.

The only other option I like is Taker losing to a rematch with Punk, but I'd rather it be Bryan personally. In my perfect fantasy world, Bryan would be the face of the company for the next couple years with Punk right behind him as the number 2 guy. Basically what Cena and Orton were as babyfaces before Orton pissed off WWE brass with his violation.

Also, putting Bryan in a program with Taker works out for the WWE if they decide they want Cena back in the Raw title picture, which wouldn't shock anyone. This still gives Bryan something major to do for Mania

[BurningDoom]

To be clear, I am SO not anti-Bryan. I'm just anti-"YES!" & "NO!" chants. Those get annoying as hell.

As a wrestler and a performer, otherwise, he's excellent.

And PLEASE bring back Austin for WrestleMania. I'd order that in heartbeat!

[BurningDoom]

So has anyone seen this yet? Good? Worth getting?

I'm wondering, because it looks like Netflix isn't getting this one, so buying it looks to be the only choice. None of the Redboxes around here carry WWE DVDs ever.

[Menegrothx]

bwahahahahahahahahaha what the fuck is the point of doing something like that if you're going to protect your opponent so openly? Wth WWE

[Gamerforlife]

Awesome match

[Gamerforlife]

People in the WWE can be so silly sometimes. I read this today:

"WWE officials are disappointed and puzzled that Brie Bella isn't getting over more as a babyface. They couldn't understand why there wasn't more sympathy for Brie when Tamina Snuka was beating her up this past week."

Puzzled? What's so puzzling? You never gave her an actual babyface turn. She has no face charisma. The Bellas just look like heels, and they act like heels with the L on their foreheads for loser thing. They even sound like heels with those bratty voices. Also, they're on a show called Total Divas where they act like, you guessed it, total divas. I don't see how that makes a girl likeable.

Oh, did they think just pairing her up with Bryan would make people like her? That's just dumb. That heel music she has doesn't help either. The Bellas are just natural heels. You can't get them over as faces. Nothing against Brie, I just don't think her and her sister understand face psychology at all. They're not alone. Del Rio proved that he doesn't get it either with his crappy face run. And I'm starting to wonder if Ziggler gets it. He's been a horrible face. Nobody's had a worse face run than the Miz though. He takes the cake.

I also found this amusing:

"All new WWE contracts reportedly have a morality clause in them. Basically, if a talent has inappropriate photos or videos that can be found online or in print, they will not be signed. They have to sign a deal saying that no such material exists and if it happens to be found, not only will they not be hired but will be blacklisted from the company."

Does this mean that they won't acknowledge that Mickie James ever worked for them? An internet search on her can turn up some very interesting photos