The Wrestling Thread

[Raging Justice]

I saw this clip on youtube, which I guess was from Raw (which I didn't watch). This is one of the best post losing your title promos I've ever heard from a heel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usCNnUmtK7I

That's how you re-establish your dominance and your pride, while sort of acknowledging a babyface's accomplishment in beating you without losing your heelishness. This man is...so...fucking...good. WWE doesn't deserve him.

[Raging Justice]

Wow. Glad I didn't waste three hours of my life watching this. Just reading the recap from Raw was almost sleep inducing, and that only took a few minutes:





Gotta sell more of those books of hers I guess, or maybe this is just so she doesn't head over to AEW

[Raging Justice]

I'm starting to understand the whole "cinema" thing that WWE Stans keep throwing out all the time. It' s because of stuff like this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/ ... _one_shot/

To me, this is all style over substance. I don't care about your fancy one takes, camera angles, production, etc, etc. WHEN YOUR STORYTELLING AND BOOKING ARE STILL SHIT!!!

NONE OF THIS FUCKING MATTERS!!!!

Like WWE is trying to look like they are giving us three hour movies every Monday with none of the skillful storytelling that would actually make ANY OF THIS CRAP MATTER.

EDIT: This may be the coolest Ospreay/Bryan related thing you'll see this week:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/ ... n_vs_will/

Crazy that in the short time he's been here Ospreay already has two, 5-star, match of the year contenders.

[Reprise]

So Swerve is champ now. I don't know how long he will have the title or when he will drop it.

Cody is going to be champ until next year's Wrestlemania.

Why do I point this out? To show one of the key differences between the two products. I like not knowing what's going to happen. I like that AEW's world title picture is not always clear.

I think he will drop it to Will Ospreay, but I kinda don't want him to, well at least not too soon.

Most people seem to think it will be him vs Ospreay main eventing All In later in the year.

I am not a fan of how it's being spoken about who Cody will be defending the title against at next Mania. There's even some talk of him facing the Rock. I agree it just makes it predictable that he will be holding it for the foreseeable future, which takes the fun out of feuds and title defences.

[Reprise]

To me, this is all style over substance. I don't care about your fancy one takes, camera angles, production, etc, etc. WHEN YOUR STORYTELLING AND BOOKING ARE STILL SHIT!!!

NONE OF THIS FUCKING MATTERS!!!!

I agree with this. So much of it is about presentation and the icing on the cake, but it doesn't matter if you don't enjoy the things that actually matter, such as the story, characters and matches.

EDIT: This may be the coolest Ospreay/Bryan related thing you'll see this week:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/ ... n_vs_will/

Wow, that's really cool. There's something about CRTs and 4:3 that just makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I have seen people do a similar thing with modern video games and it has been very effective.

[Reprise]

Swerve shared this: https://www.reddit.com/r/AEWOfficial/s/tWu2XcCHQs

[Raging Justice]

Swerve shared this: https://www.reddit.com/r/AEWOfficial/s/tWu2XcCHQs

I always love the, "I don't know who that person is" comments. They say it as an insult to the wrestler, when it's really a reflection of the ignorance of the person making the comment, and the fact that they are too lazy to do a little internet research. It's people basically saying proudly, "I'm a lazy idiot". This is where 90% of WWE's audience comes from.

You can not like someone or not be excited about a new signing. That's fine. You're entitled to your opinion, but the whole, "I've never even heard of this loser" attitude when someone like Okada gets signed while you go on a five page spiel about how awesome whoever WWE is shoving down your throat is says more about you than the person you're insulting. You're the, "I like whatever is popular and mainstream and make fun of everything else" typical, generic, mediocre individual that makes up most of our population. You're basically this:

[Reprise]

You're the, "I like whatever is popular and mainstream and make fun of everything else" typical, generic, mediocre individual that makes up most of our population. You're basically this:

I find it surprising how prevalent that attitude is in wrestling and that people are quite open with holding that attitude, behaving as if it is the cool attitude to have.

It's like the polar opposite of most fandoms/hobby communities, where a lot of people will mock what is mainstream and popular and try to like the most obscure stuff imaginable (if they're as argumentative as wrestling fans are).

Imagine people on a metal discussion board trying to argue that only Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch and Bring Me The Horizon are worth listening to and anyone who listens to lesser known bands are all losers

I saw arguments in wrestling groups over the last couple of days. In one group someone posted that they think Dynasty will be better than Wrestlemania and of course someone was name-calling and saying that no other PPV ever tops Mania blah blah blah.

And then somewhere else I commented that Ospreay vs Danielson is my favourite match I have seen this year so far and of course someone has to tell me how dumb my opinion is, because apparently Cody vs Roman and the other Mania matches blow it out of the water

[Raging Justice]

You're the, "I like whatever is popular and mainstream and make fun of everything else" typical, generic, mediocre individual that makes up most of our population. You're basically this:

I find it surprising how prevalent that attitude is in wrestling and that people are quite open with holding that attitude, behaving as if it is the cool attitude to have.

It's like the polar opposite of most fandoms/hobby communities, where a lot of people will mock what is mainstream and popular and try to like the most obscure stuff imaginable (if they're as argumentative as wrestling fans are).

Imagine people on a metal discussion board trying to argue that only Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch and Bring Me The Horizon are worth listening to and anyone who listens to lesser known bands are all losers

I saw arguments in wrestling groups over the last couple of days. In one group someone posted that they think Dynasty will be better than Wrestlemania and of course someone was name-calling and saying that no other PPV ever tops Mania blah blah blah.

And then somewhere else I commented that Ospreay vs Danielson is my favourite match I have seen this year so far and of course someone has to tell me how dumb my opinion is, because apparently Cody vs Roman and the other Mania matches blow it out of the water

What's sad is that I've seen this with my own family members when I talk about something in the news or in pop culture or whatever that they've never heard of. The response is just, "I never heard of that" with a blank stare. There isn't even a spark of curiosity, no attempt to ask me more questions about it or anything. It's just, "I have never heard of this thing, person, or event that you speak of, therefore it must be completely irrelevant and not worth discussing any further". These same family members use facebook as their source of news and as what they base their political opinions off of



Sad thing is some people are so set in their ways there's no changing them, it's like a computer that's been running software for years that you can't access or change in any way. They still running code from like decades ago

[Raging Justice]

It's fun to contrast Ospreay/Bryan with Okada/Pac. Ospreay/Bryan was very modern. Spot heavy, crazy athleticism, finishers being used multiple times as the opponent kicks out of them, some no selling.

Pac/Okada went with something more old school and traditional. It wasn't spot heavy, instead the emphasis was on precision and execution with two people who make even the most basic wrestling move look amazing. Okada makes a dropkick, one of the most basic moves in wrestling, look so beautiful that it pops a crowd. Pac delivered one of the most clean looking moon saults ever on Okada. Someone put up a slow motion gif of it somewhere online. There was a focus on timing and little details, like that moment in the match where Okada's facial expressions got wild and crazy like a demented villain overtaken with bloodlust. There was great heel work with Okada getting a crowd of people who were chanting his name to instantly turn on him and start chanting, "Fuck Okada!". Both guys were avoiding each other's finishers like the old days when as soon as a guy hit you with his finisher, THAT WAS IT. GAME OVER!

It was a very old school type of match and Jim Ross seemed quite comfortable calling a match like this. This is his wheel house.

Some people love Okada because he works a more old school style. There's a simplicity to his matches that people like. Plus, there is psychology in his matches. His finishing move is one of the most inconsequential moves in wrestling. It's just a clothesline, but he builds up to it by focusing offense on your neck and on that impact zone where The Rainmaker is going to hit you. Pac/Okada is a great showcase of the fundamentals and basic building blocks of pro wrestling.