The Wrestling Thread

[JeffBohn]

Back to Daniel Bryan, even when he was a serious wrestler, he was still pretty funny.

I HAVE TIL FIVE!

I was into RoH for a few years, got to see some of his matches there, including the one against Lance Storm.

Edited February 7, 2013 by JeffBohn

[karamazov80]

Yeah, he had a hilarious match with El Generico. But he wasn't a comedy character. "I've Got 'Til Five, Referee!" should make a comeback. Would be another great t-shirt for WWE to shill. I've seen him do it on WWE a few times.

[MiniFiend UK]

Not caught him doing the got till 5 in WWE but did see punk do it to him in one of their matches when they had that bit of a series in WWE

[storm 1:08]

Yeah, I am totally waiting for the "I got till 5!" count thing to be one of Bryan's regular things. It'd fit his personality with him yelling "NO!" to the ref afterwards. And I had no idea who El Generico was until recently but I have to find that video of him and Bryan.

As for the Miz beatdown, yeah it was standard beating on paper, but I felt Lesnar made it really convincing. He ragdolled Miz like he was a cruiserweight out of the ring and literally threw that directors chair at him. Normally people throw it in the general direction but Brock didn't seem to give a crap. Miz has got to have a mark after that. Then the F5, I thought Lesnar might not have accounted for the couch being in the way a little and was kind of expecting one of them to accidentally hit their heads on it on the impact.

[MiniFiend UK]

Kinda Wrestling related. It looks like the International Olympic Committee are considering dropping wrestling as an Olympic sport. Now for me I have to say this is a stupid idea on their part. Not because I'm a fan but more that I think that wrestling is one of the sports nowdays that can be traced back to the original Olympics along with stuff like Discus, Javelin and the running sports. These are the sports that can be seen on the Greek Urns etc if you visit a museum or suchlike.

[karamazov80]

Yeah, I agree. I wrestled in high school, so I have an affinity for actual, "amateur" wrestling and think this sucks frankly. I saw that they weighed different sports as potentially getting the axe, and cut this but kept obviously more essential sports such as field hockey and canoe kayaking. . .

[Mirymate]

Tradition?

Phf!

low ticket sales and lower TV ratings = low money maker.

So what if it's an original sport. They need make room for sumthin' kewl, extreme, and X-gamey.

Idiots.

[storm 1:08]

I was shocked and confused about the decision. I have no personal connection to amateur wrestling but always respected the sport and felt it would always be a mainstay in the Olympics So is MMA going to eventually replace it? Anyway, at least trampoline is safe as an Olympic sport.

Oh, and some guy called Kurt Angle won the 1996 Olympics in wrestling with a broken frickin' neck! He must be pissed about this.

[karamazov80]

MMA certainly would draw more money. . .wouldn't shock me if it happened eventually.

[MiniFiend UK]

Time for some PPV predictions for the EC PPV.

Pre-Show YouTube Match: Brodus Clay & Tensai vs. Team Rhodes Scholars

I don't watch the you tube stuff but didn't Cody and Sandow go their separate ways?

I go for Tensai and Clay the main reason being that Vince for some reason gets a chubbie for dancing fat guys/freaks.

United States Championship: Antonio Cesaro (c.) vs. The Miz

could go either way but I can see Miz winning this to promote his movie going into Wrestlemania.

WWE Divas Championship: Kaitlyn (c.) vs. Tamina

Don't care...next

The Shield (Ambrose, Reigns, Rollins) vs. The Justice League (Cena, Ryback, Sheamus)

Cant see WWE having basicly their 3 top faces losing so got to go with Cena, Ryback an Sheamus. If Shield does win it will prob be Sheamus that gets pinned.

World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto del Rio (c.) vs. The Big Show

ADR seems to getting a good reaction as a face but I put that down to ppl liking Ricardo more then ADR. I go for ADR to retain and in a perfect world for Ziggler to cash in.

WHC Number One Contender's Match: Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry vs. Chris Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane vs. Jack Swagger

Always a bit of a hard one to pick out of a group but I can kinda break it down to make it a bit simpler.

Orton and Henry I cant see winning just yet as they seem to involved against each other at moment so I see them carrying on through WM.

Kane and Daniel Bryan they are going to feud at some point so cant see them winning but an arguement between them here sets up perfect for Kanes swansong at WM.

That leaves Swagger and Jericho and these even being dark horses are the way I will go but the win depends on ADR/Ziggler.

If ADR wins then Swagger to win EC which sets up ADR in the lovable rogue mold like Eddie Guerrero against the semi racist american which will be Swagger and Dutch Mantel (Zeb)

If Ziggler cashes in the I go for Jericho for the EC as I think these two work well together and a WM win for Ziggler over Jericho could be what he needs to ppl to see him as a top end challenge.

WWE Championship: The Rock (c.) vs. CM Punk

Rock to retain, he is just to big a non wrestling commodity for promotions etc going into WM that they wont have him lose. I wish Punk to win but cant see it.

Edited February 16, 2013 by MiniFiend UK

[karamazov80]

I caught Ziggler out of the corner of my eye last night, and totally didn't realize that was Dutch Mantel. Pretty cool to see him back.

[hellpop]

I caught Ziggler out of the corner of my eye last night, and totally didn't realize that was Dutch Mantel. Pretty cool to see him back.

I know what you actually meant, but I just think it's really funny to think that Dolph Ziggler's actually been Dutch Mantell all this time, even going back to the Spirit Squad days.

I'm not totally sure how I feel about the new Jack Swagger; I mean, I suppose it's nice to have a heel that is actually, y'know, hateable. But the WWE does not have a great track record when it comes to biting social commentary. This angle could really blow up in their face. I'm also not a big fan of bringing in a guy off the street a putting him in the title picture right away, particularly at WM. I like Swagger well enough, and think he's pretty unique, with his amateur background and his size. But they've never done a good job in booking him. I mean, NEVER.

So... what does everybody think of the new belt? Pretty terrible IMHO. Better then the Spinner, I suppose, but I almost hate it more because at least that was SUPPOSED to be ugly. I had to laugh when the Rock went on about how the WWE title should never look like a toy, then proceeded to reveal a belt that... looks like a toy.

[karamazov80]

Looks like I mixed up Swagger and Ziggler. Both white guys the WWE doesn't know how to use, easy mistake

I agree with you about the belt.

[storm 1:08]

You had to know Swagger's new gimmick would culminate with a feud with ADR/RR. I just thought it'd be a post-Wrestlemania long term feud but it seems they are pulling the trigger now to start it with WM being the grand opening shot. I think it is a bait and switch so when Ziggie cashes in, it will be a surprise since we'll be invested in the long term Swag/ADR war. Probably safe to say that the next feud will be Sheamus because he doesn't like Idaho potatoes. Remember Christian gave him a potato a while back and Sheamus spit it out? Foreshadowing! But yeah, kind of weird he is being pushed so fast but I'm kind of okay with it. Strike it while the iron is hot and controversial. I still have high hopes for Swagger in general.

I'm kind of thinking of it from a marketing type perspective and the spinner belt was a good company branding belt. New belt seems too plain but it still gets the point across. Basically they took out the gaudiness of the spinner belt. Well, some of it. But I think the reason I personally don't like it is that there doesn't seem to be a background/border design and there is too many white bling bling diamonds. I like the red diamonds as it isn't too dominant. But I would prefer it to be similar to the UFC title. Logo dominant with some design around it. But then again, market survey for kids might show this is the way to go. More I stare at it, more it looks like a championship ring, as Otunga mentioned in a tweet.

[karamazov80]

*laughs at storm for following David Otunga on Twitter*

[storm 1:08]

I will neither confirm or deny and will ignore that last statement.

So does anyone think there may be a Kane vs. DB math at Wrestlemania? They seem to be going back to having a lot of friction between them again. I'm still hoping for a tag team match at Wrestlemania to highlight the division (maybe 4-way tag team turmoil?). But I wouldn't mind seeing who is the real tag team champion. Either way, Tensai/Brodus will probably be next to carry the division. Not much action in the tag team ranks other than them. Without Rhodes Scholars and Rey/Cara, it is lacking again.

[karamazov80]

I think Kane/Bryan needs to happen because the team is a bit stale and Bryan needs to go on. I would prefer to see, say, Bryan vs. Cesaro at WM, but figure we'll see *shudder* Cesaro vs. Miz again instead, and the Kane/Bryan thing will no doubt happen at a PPV. So, might as well get it out of the way.

[Freaqualizer]

I think a Jesse and Festus reunion is in the works..mark my words..Wrestlemania will see the return of Biscuits n Gravy!..

Nah just kidding. I really like BnA..uh i mean Brodus and Tensai..i think they're like the Natural Disasters of the new millennium. I hope to see more of them.

[JeffBohn]

Wow, great main event on Raw today. The hot crowd always helps, but one of the most fun matches I've seen recently.

The piledriver looks brutal when you don't see it very often. A top rope leg drop and a hurricanrana from Cena? Good stuff!

[karamazov80]

Was a terrific match. A bit bummed that Punk is on such a losing streak now, but he never felt like a legit A-list contender and now the WWE is just proving what I already knew.

[storm 1:08]

I'll admit that I was playing with my new minimates I received from a trade today during RAW. So I wasn't really into the entire show. But the main event did seem pretty epic. I might need to rewatch it. I don't mean to fully discredit the move since it was surprising and good for the moment, but I'll call it a frankensteiner since it seemed like an ugly hurrincanrana from Cena. And I agree about the piledriver. That opened my eyes when I saw it. Not sure where Punk goes from here, other than trying to reclaim his glory by beating the streak...

[hellpop]

Yeah, great match. I missed a good chunk of it, but caught enough to get the full flavor. Definitely PPV quality, and the Piledriver in particular really made feel special. I liked both of Punk's matches with the Rock, but I wish they'd felt this big, so that it really felt like Rock had to give him everything he had to take the title.

I agree with K80 (BTW, I miss Nighthawk recoiling in horror at everything you say) that I don't like Punk's loosing streak. He went over a year as champion, but now he's lost his last three big matches. He NEEDS to win at WM, but it looks like the match with the Undertaker is on, and I don't see him winning there. Sigh. Well, Punk has probably reached the point that he can take a few losses and keep his heat, but they really shouldn't let it get out of hand.

[hellpop]

Dong!

I liked how they handled Undertaker's return. They made the streak seem like a big deal, and by having Punk defeat three other big names, they made it seem like he earned his way to the match and got some of his momentum back. I hope they use some of the apparent real life animosity that existed between Punk and Taker a few years ago in the buildup to the match.

[karamazov80]

What animosity do you speak of? I'm not familiar with that.

[JeffBohn]

For the first time, a wrestling show, Old School Raw, made me feel... old. Everyone that I watched when I was younger looked old, made me feel old. Stupid hi def TVs.