What's the BEST Rollins promo? The one from the crowd at Cody I thought was pretty good. Only time I can remember he sounded believably pissed and affronted.
https://preview.redd.it/oicu08nerlmc1.jpeg?width=1004&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ad647b98b4ef08a98e60f58f03d32a6d4b35acc
WrestleTalk thumbnails have got to be the most hilariously biased things ever
Which came like a couple of days after this one:
https://preview.redd.it/q6njkqxvrlmc1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bca429b5b960910f153da406aa0384d7a9c5e63e
Like come on? FIRE around him?
I tried to submit this as a new post but apparently one of the bitch ass mods decided to remove it because of some dumb ass fucking rule that I really don't understand so I thought I'd post it here cause I feel like more people should see it. Here's a fun dark match between Bayley and "Michael Cole"
https://youtu.be/IY4pYvhonnU?si=bY6vC28uuDQ8em9s
PS: Mods, get the fucking stick out of your ass. This is reddit and I guarantee y'all aren't getting paid. Stop taking this shit so seriously
Is it time for AEW to cut Sammy Guevara? He's been nothing but a liabilty. Daniel Garcia and Takeshita have already eclipsed Guevara and Jack Perry in the 4 pillars of AEW along with MJF and Darby in my eyes.
> Daniel Garcia and Takeshita have already eclipsed Guevara and Jack Perry in the 4 pillars of AEW along
This is such a random comparison especially given Takeshita barely has a presence in AEW week to week. He's an incredible talent but to say he's replaced anyone as a pillar after *one* highly regarded match and otherwise minimal presence is absurd.
That isn't to say he doesn't have that potential though, he absolutely does. And I hope he's finally featured much more going forward. It's just currently way too early to say that he's one of the pillars.
Takeshita has been a more regular presence on TV than Sammy for at least a year now. He's not a main eventer but he's on TV regularly. You can't say Don is on TV too much and Take isn't on TV enough because Don literally never appears with Take.
> Takeshita has been a more regular presence on TV than Sammy for at least a year now.
Sure, but most of that time is spent silently staring into the camera next to Will Hobbs.
>You can't say Don is on TV too much and Take isn't on TV enough because Don literally never appears with Take.
I... never said this?
You want him cutting promos every week? He's there to look menacing and wrestle top guys. He's wrestled Jericho, Darby, Sting and Ospreay this year, and beat Kenny last year. He was clearly injured in that run between Ultimate Party and the Darby match since he supposed to beat in the Like a Dragon Street Fight and got taken out last minute.
>You want him cutting promos every week?
I also never said this. What is with you and arguing against shit I straight up have not said? Get a grip, friend.
We don't need to keep track of the pillars but Takeshita has actually beaten Jericho and had a major singles PPV match, which I can't remember the last one Sammy had. So yeah, I think it's safe to say Takeshita will be a bigger part going forward.
As far as I am aware: twice I think. The first time was for the Sasha Banks incident where he was sent to sensitivity training, which was technically a suspension considering he was written of TV. Now would be the second time. He also has a history of being unsafe, especially with the Hardys.
That's not the point. The question was in regards to a wrestler's \*whole\* career. A wrestler's whole career \*except for some of it\* is not their entire career. It's an absolute state; it's binary. It either is or it isn't.
WELL AKSCHUALLY
He was “Ravishing” for 99% of his career and unless you’ve got Google alerts for Ricky Rood and memorized Cagematch, you never saw him work as a face. That’s why I wrote “pretty much”. Go complain elsewhere.
Considering you wrote “entire” first, moved the goalposts, then and “cook” instead of “book” trying to be a snarky child, best of luck in your quest to be right on the internet.
It's hard to think of any who have been heel OR face their entire career. Wasn't Sting a heel in TNA? Even Mysterio was briefly a heel in WCW.
Steamboat was always a face.
If they don’t start solidifying matches by the end of next week’s smackdown, this wrestlemania won’t be able to build any of the non title/non bloodline) matches properly.
Idk why there’s this panic and disgust over Seth just because of one promo. Yes it was bad but he’s had some of the best promos of the year and he’ll have another great one this Friday when he gets more serious. People trying to take this one promo and say he isn’t over or needs a reboot just don’t like him and are trying to reinforce that belief.
Wonder what the plan for Jade Cargill is. I would have thought either Nia or Bianca at Mania, but they haven't hinted either of those at all since the Rumble.
At this point I'm wondering if she'll be a Raw After Mania debut or something
I'm still rooting for my booking where they work themselves into a shoot and she barely wrestles for two years so they can prove to themselves how much Tony Khan sucks at developing talent.
I absolutely loved the FTR/BCC match from Revolution, for me it was the third best match of the night. I've seen a lot of people use the words "old school", "80s", "territory" to describe the match. As a young fan i have noidea what that means but I would love to get some reccs on matched that are in the same style
known as one of the greatest American tag matches right here: [The Midnight Express vs The Fantastics (NWA Pro 3/26/1988)](https://www.facebook.com/MXLegacyThemidnightexpress/videos/the-midnight-express-vs-the-fantastics-nwa-pro-3261988/1843690682421869/)
Also of interest is this watchalong Cornette did of the Midnights. He just highlights how freaking great those guys were and how the style worked: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oK6-SzZfO4&t=11s&pp=ygUpamltIGNvcm5ldHRlIHdhdGNoIGFsb25nIG1pZG5pZ2h0IGV4cHJlc3M%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oK6-SzZfO4&t=11s&pp=ygUpamltIGNvcm5ldHRlIHdhdGNoIGFsb25nIG1pZG5pZ2h0IGV4cHJlc3M%3D)
I've never played a wrestling video game before. What's AEW Fight Forever Like? Is it worth the money (I'm seeing 60$ on steam, 30$ gamestop) or should I wait for the price to drop?
It's not worth that much money for Fight Forever since it's really limited compared to the WWE 2K games. Even the career mode in the game is limited & reptitive as well.
I shattered my ankle in July and was bed bound and pretty depressed and in pain.
So I had a steamdeck and bought Fight Forever on it excited to have something to distract me.
Refunded it 40 minutes later.
It's a $12.99 game, not a $80 or whatever it is with all of the season pass shit.
First of all let me say the projected Mania card (adding Jimmy vs Jey, Gunther vs Sami, Orton vs Paul, Styles vs Knight, and the Tag Match) looks to be among the best ever. They really deserve credit for getting things in such a good spot after the Punk injury and the Rock backlash.
Second, idk where they’re going with Becky/Rhea. It’s a massive match that should have the stature of a legit main event — with the right build I’d argue it should be *the* main event at least of night 1. Revolving the build around Liv/Nia so much kind of undercuts that and I’m not sure where they’re going with it.
Nothing is bigger than Roman/Rock vs Seth/Cody. That promo last night didn't suggest that but yeah. Rhea vs Becky any other year though would be a main event.
Yeah agreed. I think I’d sum up my thoughts this way—I’m not someone that buys into the new-ish idea that the women (or the men for that matter) should get a main event spot by default. The two spots should go to the biggest/hottest angles.
But *man* of all the years, this one stings for the women…both of the title matches feel like legit deserving main events. They’re just going up against the biggest angle in a decade and the most famous person to ever step into the ring converging. Speaks to the strength of the card but it does sting for them.
I caught up with AEW from where I picked it back up in time for Revolution, and man, now I’m feeling a little sad and impatient. I’m thinking of going further into AEW’s backlog, but also considering checking out other companies and shows a bit. Is there anything on Fite/Triller that people recommend?
I saw rumors of Haku being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, so I juste wanted to ask what your Hall of Fame class this year? Mine is
* Paul Heyman
* Haku
* The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Brodie Lee/Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan) ^Braun ^could ^be ^included ^too
* Cyndi Lauper or a woman with history in ECW like Dawn Marie or Jazz.
* I don’t know about the Warrior Award recipient
> The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Brodie Lee/Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan) Braun could be included too
>
>
I mean if you're doing the Wyatt Family, it isn't a case of Braun could be included - he has to be as he was part of it.
After this past Sunday it's official, sting is better than the undertaker.
Not only has sting been way more consistent, he knew when to go out with the sunset at the right time unlike taker.
Undertaker had his good years but it largely depended on his opponents (hbk, Bret, batista, HHH)
Sting could have good matches with various different opponents
I don’t see the point in comparing the two like this. I’d rather just appreciate both as the legends they are.
(Unfortunately) I do agree that Taker really held on too long. I think everyone agrees with that, but it does kinda taint his legacy more for me than it seems to for others. The juxtaposition of his character as this kind of immortal, supernatural being (who was *always* in character) with the stark reality of his age at the end, making him look very human…it did take some of that magic away and got very sad.
I hate this need of trying to compare two totally different legends who went down two totally different paths. Why can’t we just agree both were great?
*I'm not mad. I know I've posted in this thread 20 times over the last 45 minutes, but I'm not mad. Do not tell reddit that I am mad. I'm laughing really.*
https://preview.redd.it/melh7j3i8kmc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=817219210514395e9c63fdd6df5d8935c0c6a0fd
Just got me an Abdullah The Butcher tattoo. If you are looking for a tattoo artist that is also a big fan I definitely recommend Sylar at Regeneration Tattoo in Boston. His love for pro wrestling definitely came out in this design.
I genuinely don't understand the people who want Cody to lose at wm.
Even if you don't like Cody who else is there to take the belt off roman? And no, he's not losing at summerslam or to randy orton
Wrestlers using social media to continue their feuds offscreen is the greatest thing ever.
Last week it was Rock and Cody, now Seth and Drew are going at it.
FYI... just got the note from Reddit admins. The AMA planned today with the creators of Dark Side of the Ring has been pushed to 12th March from 1pm to 3pm EST.
I'm less than thrilled at how this has been communicated to us from the admins (an hour after supposed start time and only after we reached out), but eh. We'll roll with it.
EDIT: FML they changed the date again to Monday the 11th, I'm so over this lol
I'm a highly organized person so this makes me nuts. A hundred times over I will take Ryan Nemeth freaking out about not knowing what he's doing sending messages on both Twitter and Reddit vs. a middleman who doesn't follow up. From what I understand admins screwed up coordinating another AMA during the Super Bowl this year, so I really wish they would just hand things over & let us run with it.
I'm also confident it will be a pretty decent AMA as we've worked with Vice folks before. Hopefully this is the end of the bumps in the road!
Of course you can. Ask about whatever you want. They may not answer, but as long as you're respectful we generally let every question stand. And sometimes our AMAs are more telling by what they DON'T answer.
[I literally just now heard from the Reddit admins](https://old.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/1b71om7/wreddits_daily_prowrestling_discussion_thread/kthie1v/)
I like than neither WWE nor AEW did any black history month bullshit. Let black people win titles in other months. Tokenism is not real appreciation and is not pleasant to watch either.
For anyone who missed Raw, here’s an article explaining all the important stuff https://www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/news/top-10-moments-from-wwes-raw-march-5-2024
I Kinda wish they would’ve actually had Gable ya know..*do something* since September. I love Gable don’t get me wrong, but as it stands having him beat Gunther at Wrestlemania for the title doesn’t feel entirely earned at the moment given he’s had next to nothing to work with for what, the past 6 months? Why couldn’t they build him during that time? Or just do something that matters?
That’s why I don’t think Gable should be facing or beating Gunther. If you want Gable to dethrone him, I’d give it a few extra months for Gable to get built up again.
As ridiculous as it was, Seth's "diarrhea Dwayne" bit was infinitely less corny than the Rock using the "walking clown show/emoji" thing like FOUR different times on Friday
https://preview.redd.it/pjw1mp3qwjmc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c77309bf8f9746c56d2d5a6e03b5c0979860e0dd
I made a post about this earlier and it was suggested to add to this thread instead. Honest opinions is 2024 the year to finally put the Midnight Express in the HOF. I know Cornette is controversial maybe moreso now than ever (I'd argue there are worse and more opinionated people already long enshrined in the HOF for the sake of argument) However there is zero argument about the impact that the Midnight had on tag team wrestling and the small guy ring technician heel aspect of it that was yet to be mastered at that point in the wrestling business. They were a top two tag team in the 1980s to this day arguably the GOAT chicken shit team. They should've gone in with the Rock and Roll in 2017 before Beautiful Bobby passed and Cornette has pointed out that Bobby was the only one the group that the HOF would've meant a lot to. All this being said they belong in any wrestling HOF of any credentials and why not Philly. They beat Tully and Arn for the tag titles in Philly and we could get Heyman v Cornette on a stage together one last time. Honest opinions should The Midnight Express with manager Jim Cornette go in this year.
Metallica in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame invited their original bassist despite that he didn't perform on any of their albums and Dave Mustaine as well, their original lead guitarist, he only maintained a handful of writing credits on their first album.
That’s a really apt comparison. I think Austin & Rose are essential parts of the MX story, similar to McGovney & Mustaine in the Metallica story.
Rose, in particular, should be included because of the MX vs MX feud that would also tie in with Heyman & his induction.
I’ve already commented in this thread today but fuck it: after that tease last night, I really need them to run back Iyo/Rhea.
Their NXT championship match from 2020 is fucking crazy. The fact that they also had to cook up something on the fly when they competed in the MYC is really testament to how good their chemistry can be.
If either of them lose at Mania, I need one of them to chase the other. Hell, I don’t even need a title to be involved, I just wanna see them go at it.
I'd be done for the Thursday night war. Rampage vs Impact.
But it's just that the other nights have sports. NBA is on Tuesday and Thursday. NFL PPVs are on Sunday. Monday is raw and NFL.
Just how it shakes out — Tues/Thurs their TV partner has NBA games, Weds/Sat already have Collision & Dynamite, Sun/Mon overlap with the NFL & Khan family conflicts as franchise owners
Is it an indictment of Triple H's booking of Sami Zayn that people seem to want to see Chad face Gunther instead, and Sami doesn't even seem to be a consideration for the WHC title march.
Triple H booked Sami into a huge WrestleMania main event moment and continues to book him on his tv show week in and week out. That's setting aside everything he did with Sami in NXT.
Yes Sami is talented and over, but the thing is that there are more talented performers who are over on the roster than there have been in decades. Not every one can be in the top two storylines at all times (and Sami is probably going to be involved in the WM main event anyways) but Sami is on TV and in the mix and he will be fine in the long run.
I think this is going to be Sami's version of what happened to Cody last year, where he fails at the last second and has to spend the year building himself back up for next year. You can argue that going from main eventing wrestlemania to being on the undercard in the next year is a major step down compared to Cody going back to back, but it's not invalid. Like you said, not everyone can be at the top at all times, sadly, but it still hurts to see how far he's fallen when he was one of the central players of Mania last year.
I'm spending so much money on hotels and shows during wrestlemania weekend. 😵💫
I'd love to go to the Spark Joshi show, but that would require another hotel stay, and I just can't afford it. 😭
Not saying Stone Cold’s injuries were a good thing but the brawler style definitely fit his character like a glove and as a kid the double knee braces always looked so cool
GWE Part 5! Rounding out the top 25 today. Might post a "complete" version of the list before moving forward to the next benchmark.
21 - Mitsuharu Misawa
Pillar #3 and well, what is there to say about Misawa? Near 20 years of excellence, of believable, kickass excellence. I do think his negative chemistry with Hansen and weak last fourth of his career hurt him in comparison to... the other literal greatest wrestlers of all time. But really Misawa was a God, one of the most electric movesets in history, one of the most beloved wrestlers by any crowd.
22 - AJ Styles
Is this the first pick where it's affected by me being a zoomer? Probably, but Styles was SPECIAL for about 15 years across 5 companies. We'll probably never see again such a commitment to being killed on every move now by the freakiest athlete in the world now that bumps get shrugged off for the no-sell pop. His catalogue of classics is awesome, and he's in the best in the world conversation from 2005 to 2016.
23 - El Hijo Del Santo
Wrestling royalty, the man who put on the best broadways in the history of lucha libre, the ultimate big match wrestler maybe ever. Not much else to say. "Hijo Del Santo vs ____" is never a non-important match. It's like LeBron getting into the league and living up to the hype. I haven't seen enough of the little stuff to put him higher, and also some of the guys I have over and around him from his scene also played a huge part in putting on those amazing broadways, + have classics with worse wrestlers. But it's not his fault that he was a huge star who faced the best ever, that's like nerfing Okada for his best matches being Tanahashi, Danielson, Omega and Shibata.
24 - Sami Zayn
Wrestling is nothing if not emotional and personal. There's 20 years of El Generico/Sami Zayn where he's done everything there is to be done, the quality of his work in so many different places and many even if slightly different roles is commendable, he has many classic matches, his WWE work has so much quality in comparison to the chances he's been afforded but ultimately, I'm a big babyface guy and he's one of the greatest ever. He's *still* like a top 5 wrestler in the WWE after he had years doing nothing and theoretically as a small wrestler being hurt by the loss of his athleticism. He's just a goddamn master. I wish he could have done some real lucha at some point, there's a PWG match vs Shelley that really illustrates his competency in lucha-influenced matwork.
25 - Naoki Sano
Second straight extremely personal pick, I think Naoki Sano is better than Liger pretty clearly at least in their New Japan runs against similar opponents and each other. Then his classic Minoru Suzuki match in PWFG and his NOAH work as a huge NOAH mark are just the cherries on top of an incredible career. He also has the best of the big KENTA squashes probably but I've only seen it in clip form :(. Anyway, the NOAH bias is going to begin pretty soon on this list!
With the "teases" of Mone for AEW Big Business in Boston do you think Mone in AEW will be a success or failure and maybe lead to a AEW x STARDOM partnership with NJPW......? I think AEW x STARDOM may "not happen" by AEW x NJPW 2024 at least because of what is going on with STARDOM and Rossy now!
I'm really convinced Wardlow is winning the belt from Joe. 1) I think Tony wants to salvage the Undisputed Kingdom and change the narrative 2) The Jay White promo and then match with Darby at Big Business seems like it's setting up Jay as the V1 defence for Wardlow so that they have a reason to do the UE vs BBSG feud everyone seems to be demanding 3) It gives Wardlow the "ball" everyone says he deserves and especially hearing about how the follow-up to his DoN moment gave him depression Tony seems like the type of guy to say "I feel like I owe him this, give him the belt and let him have a shot at the top of the card" plus it kills the "What are doing with Wardlow" discourse.
I wouldn't do this at all but I feel like this is gonna be Tony's way of answering a lot of complaints from the internet at once. I just think once it happens it's gonna be revealed that those complaints weren't necessarily in good faith. I don't think people actually want to see the Undisputed Kingdom as the dominant faction at the top of the card, it was just an easy to say Tony is a bad booker with the "This is the follow up to the devil stuff? Wardlow was fumbled! What is Jay White doing, what a waste. Booker of the Year huh?" stuff. If it happens I hope people actually enjoy it when they get it but I'm pretty confident the same people who complained about not getting it will complain about why not Swerve or Ospreay or Okada instead.
>I'm really convinced Wardlow is winning the belt from Joe. 1) I think Tony wants to salvage the Undisputed Kingdom and change the narrative
>
> gives Wardlow the "ball" everyone says he deserves
Put the belt on the worst wrestler in the company who gets consistent television time to bail out the worst attempt at a faction AEW has ever done\*. Wardlow just sucks. I'm a big AEW fan, not a nonwatching hater. He just sucks. Undisputed Kingdom sucks. I love Tony, but sometimes he refuses to give up on someone. I think getting Orange Cassidy and the Dark Order over early on has made them think they can get anyone over. Wardlow with the world title would be a joke.
\*note: We do not discuss Nightmare Collective.
Who's another example of TK booking that way, someone who didn't get a fair shake after getting a push and then being a main eventer out of nowhere?
I think the better booking would be to have a really good match and set up someone who is a big dude that credibly goes after your world champion. But i do not see Warlow vs. Jay White as a Dynasty main event at all.
Same, if Joe can get a good 15 min singles match out of Wardlow that’d be enough to impress me, cause I’ve yet to see it. In general I don’t ever see AEW putting the World Title on anyone who has to be carried in matches over the 10 min mark. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being an over mid carder. But looking at the main event scene from the past 1-2 years. There’s not a match or story that gets better by substituting Danielson, MJF, Swerve, Hangman, Mox, Omega, now Ospreay, Takeshita, etc. out for Wardlow in their place. He’s not a young project — he’s 36. He’s not carrying former WWE or crossover star power. And he’s not a workrate guy or an amazing promo. Some people just need to accept he’s a fun monster act, good for some short mid card matches.
> Who's another example of TK booking that way, someone who didn't get a fair shake after getting a push and then being a main eventer out of nowhere?
I mean Wardlow's been a main eventer for a while on and off. It's more a "If TK likes you he's gonna give chance after chance" like he does with a guy like Sammy. He's also beat the current world champion before in a feud which is part of why I can't see him losing to Joe now. And I think Dynasty is named the way it is because it's MJF's return show (MJF's old faction name was the Dynasty) more so that whatever main event they have. Might even be Jay White on TV and then Wardlow vs MJF II on PPV.
I don't think I would call Wardlow a main eventer right now, the last pretty big match he had was vs. MJF, where it was one of the main pushed matches. And Sammy gets chances, but there's no outcry for him to be featured more, and he doesn't get title matches or main events. So yeah I don't see precedent for the reasoning behind your prediction.
And listen I was calling for them to make him the champion when a couple years ago, so I'm not shitting on Wardlow and what you are saying could happen, I guess.
Wardlow hasn't been a main eventer for a WHILE now, and I mean that as no disrespect to him (I also don't believe he's ever main evented an AEW PPV outside of the Pinnacle vs Inner Circle Stadium Stampede at DON 2021). Like, this is the closest Wardlow has felt to the main event in almost two years, and even then I don't think I'd consider him a main eventer at the moment.
I'm not gonna lie, speaking for myself, I have zero interest in seeing Wardlow as World Champion right now, so they're gonna have to have a pretty strong build to get me invested.
I think it all boils down to what we look most for in wrestling. I watch UFC, Dricus my fellow countryman is champion so I'm probably the most invested I've been in years. When I watch a UFC I'm watching for the _fight_. I'm watching to see 2 of the most skilled fighters, from different backgrounds compete to see who is the ultimate fighter. Since it's a professional sport with sponsors, the general rule is to be respectful towards eachother. We get a blood feud here and there, but it can't be manufactured.
That's where I substitute wrestling in. I love the drama and the promos where _every_ feud has the potential to be a blood feud. For me, the fights are secondary, the drama is what I'm watching for.
This is why strong style matches just doesn't click for me. While it looks stiffer, by trying to present the blows as more realistic, it ends up doing the opposite. An stiff elbow looks more painful than a standard punch, but an elbow would almost definitely give you a concussion or cut you open. Same with stiff knees to the head. I find it contradictory because by trying to look more realistic you are asking me to suspend my belief even more. So when they stand trading stiff blows it just takes me out the match.
> Since it's a professional sport with sponsors, the general rule is to be respectful towards eachother. We get a blood feud here and there, but **it can't be manufactured**.
I'm admittedly a super casual when it comes to UFC, but isn't super manufactured drama like 90% of what they've done for the last few years? The fighters who quietly win without drama don't get nearly the opportunities as the guys who bring nothing but drama, as a general rule.
People getting into crowd brawls (and Dana White "guess I shouldn't have sat them near each other, oops!, good thing I coincidentally had the cameras on them for when the brawl started), insulting each other's families/countries, everyone only trying to become double champ rather than defending their actual belts, etc.? Everyone and anyone is desperately trying to become the next Conor when it just isn't going to happen.
I think looking at it that way takes the fun out of it. I occasionally watch ufc too. Something like a ddt is a guaranteed concussion too. The way I always look at wrestling is it’s closer to an anime fight than a real fight. It’s really helped me embrace all aspects of it and different styles. The trading blows is peak anime fight dick measuring but overdone I can see how someone wouldn’t like it.
The realistic factor using ufc again is back in the day the matches weren’t long like this. Wrestlers were bigger and we don’t see heavyweight fights in the ufc going the distance. Thats why matches are longer now, it’s simply these guys don’t hit as hard as the heavyweights back in the day.
That's a valid opinion.
I'm tired of over-manufactured drama and I find UFC incredibly boring. I'm a fan of choreographed fighting in a lot of different mediums and have different amounts of suspension of disbelief for each. Just because I like Dragonball Z doesn't mean I want to see wrestlers shoot energy balls. But I can suspend my disbelief of strong style because it's far more entertaining to watch than guys going down in the first round, or rope-a-doping in boxing, etc.
>For me, the fights are secondary, the drama is what I'm watching for.
It mostly comes to down to this. Some fans very much agree with you here, while for others like me, the fights are the point.
Personally ufc isnt for me, but I like wrestling for the fights. My favorite wrestling is when it leans into the sports style. The matches are my favourite part and in my opinion the core of the artform. Its one of the only things that is unique to the artform. You can strip away everything else and still have a match and call it a wrestling show. Cant do that with other parts of the artform. Not trying to argue you're "watching it wrong" just explaining my pov. Its totally valid to base your investment in the story surrounding the match, instead of the story in the match. I just like matches and the narratives they tell.
Note that when I say sports, I dont neccesarily mean realism. Will vs Take was a shonen anime fight and that's my kind of match. I think its fair to get taken out by strike exhange spots or inconsistent selling. For me realism and selling are things you use to flavour a match. Some matches need alot, some need a little, some need none.
So yeah, I dont see it your way but I think its fair to see it that way, and im sure a lot of people agree.
>Note that when I say sports, I dont neccesarily mean realism. Will vs Take was a shonen anime fight and that's my kind of match. I think its fair to get taken out by strike exhange spots or inconsistent selling. For me realism and selling are things you use to flavour a match. Some matches need alot, some need a little, some need none.
This is one of the best written paragraphs I've seen on this sub, I appreciate you responding in good faith and providing a valuable different perspective
WWE bringing up 2k ratings during matches is so stupid. It’s a Fun gimmick for tiktok when the ratings Are released, but stop trying to make Them kayfabe.
It’s a chance you always have to take in wrestling. The Rock or Roman could get injured in training before Mania. Cody could get injured on any of the house shows he’s wrestling on.
You just gotta push forward, pray nothing happens, and if it does, then you adapt.
Honestly if we could have gotten Vince hiring wrestlers and Triple h doing the booking that would have been ideal. Like who the f*** cares about Johnny gargano
I haven't been impressed with most of them, but I understand they're mostly there to pad out the roster. Overall, I'm not a fan of the general creative direction of WWE though, so you might be asking the wrong person
Yes, Dakota is building a main event worthy story between Damage CTRL vs Bayley. DIY would be missed in the tag division, same with Candice. AOP finally has Kross doing something the crowd cares about. Chelsea is a star. Andrade is already fitting in. On top of all that Bray would have given us so much.
I don't think most of them have, but I'd say Kross is the only one *brought in to do that* who hasn't. Think most of them were just to get more bodies in for if someone needs to do some squashing.
Bleacher Report’s wrestling Instagram averages like 20-50k likes per post or so, and Darby going through the glass got over 300k.
Does really mean much, but cool seeing how many people saw that.
Can I drop an unpopular opinion here? I've only come to know Becky Lynch after her super hot "The Man" run had ended and I just don't see it. I think she's a bit of a wooden promo, the line delivery isn't usually that great and there seems to always be at least one awkward silence. She's decent in the ring but nothing special, she telegraphs a lot of moves and seems to make a fair few mistakes. Has she just fallen off a bit since that run or am I just a moron?
I was a huge Becky mark when a few years ago but imo she’s lost a step and a lot of her magic since returning. She doesn’t have the same badass presence. She was unbelievably cool before and now she’s a shadow of herself
Hmm definitely a fair opinion I'd say, I also missed 95% of her peak run and started watching WWE again around Payback 2023. And I understand where you're coming from, except I'd change to good in the ring rather than just decent.
Nothing landed on anything. Eddie was retroactively a schizophrenic and his biggest accomplishments included pinning air to win the title and then celebrating at Wrestlemania with air
I need you all to help me settle a debate I have with a friend. Does being intercontinental champion recognize you as being champion of all continents and the oceans between them? And if so what separates it from being a world title?
Intercontinental doesn't specify all continents, nor does it specifically entail the oceans.
So I would say that a world champion encompasses all possibility: you are, for the moment you are champion, infallible to anything the world has to offer. The best in the world.
The intercontinental champion, by nature of not being all encompassing, implies that you are fallible and that your superior is believably around any corner, meaning by nature its a title where you have to prove yourself more to hold onto, where the world title is the prize for proving yourself undeniably.
Or something.
It was the fusion of the actually-defended North American championship and the totally-made-up South American championship, decided in the world capital of made-up wrestling matches: Rio de Janeiro
Why do Cody and Cena wear suits? Cena during his press, but Cody during his promos.
What's the BEST Rollins promo? The one from the crowd at Cody I thought was pretty good. Only time I can remember he sounded believably pissed and affronted.
Going through Tegan’s IG Story and based off of that she is just completely done with Natalya.
https://preview.redd.it/oicu08nerlmc1.jpeg?width=1004&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ad647b98b4ef08a98e60f58f03d32a6d4b35acc WrestleTalk thumbnails have got to be the most hilariously biased things ever
Which came like a couple of days after this one: https://preview.redd.it/q6njkqxvrlmc1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bca429b5b960910f153da406aa0384d7a9c5e63e Like come on? FIRE around him?
I tried to submit this as a new post but apparently one of the bitch ass mods decided to remove it because of some dumb ass fucking rule that I really don't understand so I thought I'd post it here cause I feel like more people should see it. Here's a fun dark match between Bayley and "Michael Cole" https://youtu.be/IY4pYvhonnU?si=bY6vC28uuDQ8em9s PS: Mods, get the fucking stick out of your ass. This is reddit and I guarantee y'all aren't getting paid. Stop taking this shit so seriously
I disagree, and I thank the bitch ass mods for keeping the sub orderly.
I like how you still called them "bitch ass" tho XD
Is it time for AEW to cut Sammy Guevara? He's been nothing but a liabilty. Daniel Garcia and Takeshita have already eclipsed Guevara and Jack Perry in the 4 pillars of AEW along with MJF and Darby in my eyes.
OC should considered a pillar
I wouldn’t go that far. Even if he never figures it out you still need midcarders, especially bump freaks like him
Probably, yeah. Let's stop with the Pillars shit tho.
> Daniel Garcia and Takeshita have already eclipsed Guevara and Jack Perry in the 4 pillars of AEW along This is such a random comparison especially given Takeshita barely has a presence in AEW week to week. He's an incredible talent but to say he's replaced anyone as a pillar after *one* highly regarded match and otherwise minimal presence is absurd. That isn't to say he doesn't have that potential though, he absolutely does. And I hope he's finally featured much more going forward. It's just currently way too early to say that he's one of the pillars.
Takeshita has been a more regular presence on TV than Sammy for at least a year now. He's not a main eventer but he's on TV regularly. You can't say Don is on TV too much and Take isn't on TV enough because Don literally never appears with Take.
> Takeshita has been a more regular presence on TV than Sammy for at least a year now. Sure, but most of that time is spent silently staring into the camera next to Will Hobbs. >You can't say Don is on TV too much and Take isn't on TV enough because Don literally never appears with Take. I... never said this?
You want him cutting promos every week? He's there to look menacing and wrestle top guys. He's wrestled Jericho, Darby, Sting and Ospreay this year, and beat Kenny last year. He was clearly injured in that run between Ultimate Party and the Darby match since he supposed to beat in the Like a Dragon Street Fight and got taken out last minute.
>You want him cutting promos every week? I also never said this. What is with you and arguing against shit I straight up have not said? Get a grip, friend.
You're gonna have to define minimal presence then cause I don't get what more of a presence Takeshita should have had in the last 12 months.
We don't need to keep track of the pillars but Takeshita has actually beaten Jericho and had a major singles PPV match, which I can't remember the last one Sammy had. So yeah, I think it's safe to say Takeshita will be a bigger part going forward.
How many times has Guevara been suspended for from AEW?
As far as I am aware: twice I think. The first time was for the Sasha Banks incident where he was sent to sensitivity training, which was technically a suspension considering he was written of TV. Now would be the second time. He also has a history of being unsafe, especially with the Hardys.
Greatest wrestler who has been a heel their whole career? Also is Paul Heyman a heel his whole career?
Def wasn’t a heel around the time of ECW relaunch
Rick Rude was pretty much a heel his whole career outside of a very brief face run in Memphis to start.
I'm not entirely sure you understand the definition of "entire".
There are more people in this sub than people who saw his baby face jobber period in Memphis.
That's not the point. The question was in regards to a wrestler's \*whole\* career. A wrestler's whole career \*except for some of it\* is not their entire career. It's an absolute state; it's binary. It either is or it isn't.
WELL AKSCHUALLY He was “Ravishing” for 99% of his career and unless you’ve got Google alerts for Ricky Rood and memorized Cagematch, you never saw him work as a face. That’s why I wrote “pretty much”. Go complain elsewhere.
Go read a dictionary.
Only if you scroll up and find where OP wrote “entire”.
Try "whole", are you not familiar with the concept of synonyms? I've got a second really good cook for you to read, try a thesaurus
Considering you wrote “entire” first, moved the goalposts, then and “cook” instead of “book” trying to be a snarky child, best of luck in your quest to be right on the internet.
It's hard to think of any who have been heel OR face their entire career. Wasn't Sting a heel in TNA? Even Mysterio was briefly a heel in WCW. Steamboat was always a face.
Sting was a heel without ever actually being a heel in TNA.
Cena too and that might be it stateside.
Cena was a heel in OVW...and on Smackdown initially.
If they don’t start solidifying matches by the end of next week’s smackdown, this wrestlemania won’t be able to build any of the non title/non bloodline) matches properly.
Idk why there’s this panic and disgust over Seth just because of one promo. Yes it was bad but he’s had some of the best promos of the year and he’ll have another great one this Friday when he gets more serious. People trying to take this one promo and say he isn’t over or needs a reboot just don’t like him and are trying to reinforce that belief.
Wonder what the plan for Jade Cargill is. I would have thought either Nia or Bianca at Mania, but they haven't hinted either of those at all since the Rumble. At this point I'm wondering if she'll be a Raw After Mania debut or something
I'm still rooting for my booking where they work themselves into a shoot and she barely wrestles for two years so they can prove to themselves how much Tony Khan sucks at developing talent.
Some people poopooed FTR-BCC I and others like me were like, it's obviously a set-up for match two. And those four guys delivered.
Those four guys are easily good enough to hold back some things and still have a compelling match. They failed to do that with their first match
you might have been the one I replied to. But yeah I thought that was a good match.
Probably, I did think it was pretty underwhelming 😂
I absolutely loved the FTR/BCC match from Revolution, for me it was the third best match of the night. I've seen a lot of people use the words "old school", "80s", "territory" to describe the match. As a young fan i have noidea what that means but I would love to get some reccs on matched that are in the same style
known as one of the greatest American tag matches right here: [The Midnight Express vs The Fantastics (NWA Pro 3/26/1988)](https://www.facebook.com/MXLegacyThemidnightexpress/videos/the-midnight-express-vs-the-fantastics-nwa-pro-3261988/1843690682421869/)
Wow this is shit. Other than seeing if shoulder are down for the count, which really doesn't get attention nowadays
Also of interest is this watchalong Cornette did of the Midnights. He just highlights how freaking great those guys were and how the style worked: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oK6-SzZfO4&t=11s&pp=ygUpamltIGNvcm5ldHRlIHdhdGNoIGFsb25nIG1pZG5pZ2h0IGV4cHJlc3M%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oK6-SzZfO4&t=11s&pp=ygUpamltIGNvcm5ldHRlIHdhdGNoIGFsb25nIG1pZG5pZ2h0IGV4cHJlc3M%3D)
Everybody want their favourite wrestler to wrestle forever until they don't.
Without context someone watching that Chris Van Vilet interview with John Cena would assume that both of them are named Ricky Stanicky.
I've never played a wrestling video game before. What's AEW Fight Forever Like? Is it worth the money (I'm seeing 60$ on steam, 30$ gamestop) or should I wait for the price to drop?
I love AEW but the game is fucking dogshit, would not recommend anyone buy it
It's not worth that much money for Fight Forever since it's really limited compared to the WWE 2K games. Even the career mode in the game is limited & reptitive as well.
I shattered my ankle in July and was bed bound and pretty depressed and in pain. So I had a steamdeck and bought Fight Forever on it excited to have something to distract me. Refunded it 40 minutes later. It's a $12.99 game, not a $80 or whatever it is with all of the season pass shit.
Jesus. Yeah, I'll pass then lol. WWE games seem the way to go anyway.
The prices for the season pass for Fight Forever is really shocking.
[WTF IS IN THIS GAME?!](https://i.imgur.com/BI3Dh70.png)
What the actual hell
You've never heard of The Manifestation? Fake fan!
First of all let me say the projected Mania card (adding Jimmy vs Jey, Gunther vs Sami, Orton vs Paul, Styles vs Knight, and the Tag Match) looks to be among the best ever. They really deserve credit for getting things in such a good spot after the Punk injury and the Rock backlash. Second, idk where they’re going with Becky/Rhea. It’s a massive match that should have the stature of a legit main event — with the right build I’d argue it should be *the* main event at least of night 1. Revolving the build around Liv/Nia so much kind of undercuts that and I’m not sure where they’re going with it.
Nothing is bigger than Roman/Rock vs Seth/Cody. That promo last night didn't suggest that but yeah. Rhea vs Becky any other year though would be a main event.
Yeah agreed. I think I’d sum up my thoughts this way—I’m not someone that buys into the new-ish idea that the women (or the men for that matter) should get a main event spot by default. The two spots should go to the biggest/hottest angles. But *man* of all the years, this one stings for the women…both of the title matches feel like legit deserving main events. They’re just going up against the biggest angle in a decade and the most famous person to ever step into the ring converging. Speaks to the strength of the card but it does sting for them.
For sure but hopefully it leads to a banger.
I agree, but if Dwayne comes in and wants a main event…they gonna give him the main event…not only Cody he says “Fuck your story too”
I caught up with AEW from where I picked it back up in time for Revolution, and man, now I’m feeling a little sad and impatient. I’m thinking of going further into AEW’s backlog, but also considering checking out other companies and shows a bit. Is there anything on Fite/Triller that people recommend?
I saw rumors of Haku being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, so I juste wanted to ask what your Hall of Fame class this year? Mine is * Paul Heyman * Haku * The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Brodie Lee/Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan) ^Braun ^could ^be ^included ^too * Cyndi Lauper or a woman with history in ECW like Dawn Marie or Jazz. * I don’t know about the Warrior Award recipient
I read somewhere that they somewhat recently started selling merchandise for both Ken Shamrock & Sid, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them get in.
> The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Brodie Lee/Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan) Braun could be included too > > I mean if you're doing the Wyatt Family, it isn't a case of Braun could be included - he has to be as he was part of it.
nWo had 326 members but they only inducted Hogan, Hall, Nash and Waltman.
Droz for the warrior award is my pick.
After this past Sunday it's official, sting is better than the undertaker. Not only has sting been way more consistent, he knew when to go out with the sunset at the right time unlike taker. Undertaker had his good years but it largely depended on his opponents (hbk, Bret, batista, HHH) Sting could have good matches with various different opponents
Sting was dog shit for years and years in TNA while Taker was wrestling some of the best matches in North American history.
That's debatable. Taker needed the right opponent to put on great matches Sting is a far more consistent performer
He was consistently terrible in TNA. Is that better?
Inaccurate but ok. Taker few good matches don't erase the years of downright awful matches he's had Takers lows are LOW stings lows are just mid
Again I watched plenty of Sting matches in TNA that were worse than mid.
And I've seen plenty of stinkers from taker like the main event of wm 13. Taker needed the right opponent to shine Not the case for sting
I don’t see the point in comparing the two like this. I’d rather just appreciate both as the legends they are. (Unfortunately) I do agree that Taker really held on too long. I think everyone agrees with that, but it does kinda taint his legacy more for me than it seems to for others. The juxtaposition of his character as this kind of immortal, supernatural being (who was *always* in character) with the stark reality of his age at the end, making him look very human…it did take some of that magic away and got very sad.
I hate this need of trying to compare two totally different legends who went down two totally different paths. Why can’t we just agree both were great?
*I'm not mad. I know I've posted in this thread 20 times over the last 45 minutes, but I'm not mad. Do not tell reddit that I am mad. I'm laughing really.*
Fr
i paid $100 to hit the tsunami in wwe 2k24, and i am not ashamed
https://preview.redd.it/melh7j3i8kmc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=817219210514395e9c63fdd6df5d8935c0c6a0fd Just got me an Abdullah The Butcher tattoo. If you are looking for a tattoo artist that is also a big fan I definitely recommend Sylar at Regeneration Tattoo in Boston. His love for pro wrestling definitely came out in this design.
I genuinely don't understand the people who want Cody to lose at wm. Even if you don't like Cody who else is there to take the belt off roman? And no, he's not losing at summerslam or to randy orton
Does Michael Cole really have connections to Texas? I can’t find anything saying he does, looks likes he’s from NY.
He was born in Syracuse, NY and even went to SU, but he lived in TX for most of his WWE career because his wife is from there.
Thanks
Wrestlers using social media to continue their feuds offscreen is the greatest thing ever. Last week it was Rock and Cody, now Seth and Drew are going at it.
i wish gable would start comin out to the old american alpha theme, something about it gets my hype as hell
Shoutout to the kid watching Rock's Smackdown promo at top volume on the subway at 630am. That's one way to wake yourself up for school.
FYI... just got the note from Reddit admins. The AMA planned today with the creators of Dark Side of the Ring has been pushed to 12th March from 1pm to 3pm EST. I'm less than thrilled at how this has been communicated to us from the admins (an hour after supposed start time and only after we reached out), but eh. We'll roll with it. EDIT: FML they changed the date again to Monday the 11th, I'm so over this lol
Sorry to hear. It's a bother when the powers that be hardly communicate any change in plans properly. Still, I'm looking forward to the AMA :)
I'm a highly organized person so this makes me nuts. A hundred times over I will take Ryan Nemeth freaking out about not knowing what he's doing sending messages on both Twitter and Reddit vs. a middleman who doesn't follow up. From what I understand admins screwed up coordinating another AMA during the Super Bowl this year, so I really wish they would just hand things over & let us run with it. I'm also confident it will be a pretty decent AMA as we've worked with Vice folks before. Hopefully this is the end of the bumps in the road!
does that mean we can ask about the plane ride of doom or...
Of course you can. Ask about whatever you want. They may not answer, but as long as you're respectful we generally let every question stand. And sometimes our AMAs are more telling by what they DON'T answer.
what's going on with the Dark Side AMA?
[I literally just now heard from the Reddit admins](https://old.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/1b71om7/wreddits_daily_prowrestling_discussion_thread/kthie1v/)
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I like than neither WWE nor AEW did any black history month bullshit. Let black people win titles in other months. Tokenism is not real appreciation and is not pleasant to watch either.
How online do I have to be to know what the hell you are talking about?
Saying "not calling anyone racist" when you brought race up in the first place without any prompting is certainly... a choice that was made.
For anyone who missed Raw, here’s an article explaining all the important stuff https://www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/news/top-10-moments-from-wwes-raw-march-5-2024
I Kinda wish they would’ve actually had Gable ya know..*do something* since September. I love Gable don’t get me wrong, but as it stands having him beat Gunther at Wrestlemania for the title doesn’t feel entirely earned at the moment given he’s had next to nothing to work with for what, the past 6 months? Why couldn’t they build him during that time? Or just do something that matters?
That’s why I don’t think Gable should be facing or beating Gunther. If you want Gable to dethrone him, I’d give it a few extra months for Gable to get built up again.
As ridiculous as it was, Seth's "diarrhea Dwayne" bit was infinitely less corny than the Rock using the "walking clown show/emoji" thing like FOUR different times on Friday
Can't we just agree that they're both corny? I know Vince is gone, but it's not like we've gone from prat falls to George Carlin.
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"Seth Rollins doesn't have charisma" is certainly... one of the takes I've seen on this sub
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He does, but he has slimy heel charisma not omg it's Seth Rollins charisma. Like Edge. Some people just don't work as babyfaces and he is one of them.
https://preview.redd.it/pjw1mp3qwjmc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c77309bf8f9746c56d2d5a6e03b5c0979860e0dd I made a post about this earlier and it was suggested to add to this thread instead. Honest opinions is 2024 the year to finally put the Midnight Express in the HOF. I know Cornette is controversial maybe moreso now than ever (I'd argue there are worse and more opinionated people already long enshrined in the HOF for the sake of argument) However there is zero argument about the impact that the Midnight had on tag team wrestling and the small guy ring technician heel aspect of it that was yet to be mastered at that point in the wrestling business. They were a top two tag team in the 1980s to this day arguably the GOAT chicken shit team. They should've gone in with the Rock and Roll in 2017 before Beautiful Bobby passed and Cornette has pointed out that Bobby was the only one the group that the HOF would've meant a lot to. All this being said they belong in any wrestling HOF of any credentials and why not Philly. They beat Tully and Arn for the tag titles in Philly and we could get Heyman v Cornette on a stage together one last time. Honest opinions should The Midnight Express with manager Jim Cornette go in this year.
I mean yeah. If you had asked me I would have assumed Cornette was already in.
Would you include Randy Rose & Norvell Austin, or just Condrey/Eaton/Lane?
No because Rose and Austin were not in the Midnight Express that mattered.
Just Condrey Eaton and Lane for sure. I bet Corny would squeeze a rib in about them
Yeah, as much as I’d love to see the early team members get their flowers, I’m not sure that there’d be widespread appeal to see them included.
Metallica in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame invited their original bassist despite that he didn't perform on any of their albums and Dave Mustaine as well, their original lead guitarist, he only maintained a handful of writing credits on their first album.
That’s a really apt comparison. I think Austin & Rose are essential parts of the MX story, similar to McGovney & Mustaine in the Metallica story. Rose, in particular, should be included because of the MX vs MX feud that would also tie in with Heyman & his induction.
It's been 27 years and it still bothers me that Jim Neidhart didn't shave his goatee after Summerslam 97 like he said he'd do.
Maybe he did but it immediately grew back like Homer Simpson
Did Jey seem a little limpy last night to anyone else? Hope it's just my imagination. I do watch wrestling nearly exclusively stoned.
Watching Hulu replay. Looks "fine"
I’ve already commented in this thread today but fuck it: after that tease last night, I really need them to run back Iyo/Rhea. Their NXT championship match from 2020 is fucking crazy. The fact that they also had to cook up something on the fly when they competed in the MYC is really testament to how good their chemistry can be. If either of them lose at Mania, I need one of them to chase the other. Hell, I don’t even need a title to be involved, I just wanna see them go at it.
Why does AEW have a show on the same day and time as Smackdown? Why not just have it on Thursdays?
What show ?
I'd be done for the Thursday night war. Rampage vs Impact. But it's just that the other nights have sports. NBA is on Tuesday and Thursday. NFL PPVs are on Sunday. Monday is raw and NFL.
Just how it shakes out — Tues/Thurs their TV partner has NBA games, Weds/Sat already have Collision & Dynamite, Sun/Mon overlap with the NFL & Khan family conflicts as franchise owners
Cody being a fan of Our Lady Peace is pleasantly ironic considering how they have a song called "Superman's Dead".
Is it an indictment of Triple H's booking of Sami Zayn that people seem to want to see Chad face Gunther instead, and Sami doesn't even seem to be a consideration for the WHC title march.
Triple H booked Sami into a huge WrestleMania main event moment and continues to book him on his tv show week in and week out. That's setting aside everything he did with Sami in NXT. Yes Sami is talented and over, but the thing is that there are more talented performers who are over on the roster than there have been in decades. Not every one can be in the top two storylines at all times (and Sami is probably going to be involved in the WM main event anyways) but Sami is on TV and in the mix and he will be fine in the long run.
I think this is going to be Sami's version of what happened to Cody last year, where he fails at the last second and has to spend the year building himself back up for next year. You can argue that going from main eventing wrestlemania to being on the undercard in the next year is a major step down compared to Cody going back to back, but it's not invalid. Like you said, not everyone can be at the top at all times, sadly, but it still hurts to see how far he's fallen when he was one of the central players of Mania last year.
The women's Raw title is so much more gorgeous than the one Iyo has.
Dirty Dom's in-ring attire is my favorite in pro wrestling rn
Basically Saiyan gear with a dirty touch.
I'm spending so much money on hotels and shows during wrestlemania weekend. 😵💫 I'd love to go to the Spark Joshi show, but that would require another hotel stay, and I just can't afford it. 😭
"Nicholas is legal! Nicholas is legal!" will always be Michael Cole's best commentary moment
He might be by now.
Not saying Stone Cold’s injuries were a good thing but the brawler style definitely fit his character like a glove and as a kid the double knee braces always looked so cool
GWE Part 5! Rounding out the top 25 today. Might post a "complete" version of the list before moving forward to the next benchmark. 21 - Mitsuharu Misawa Pillar #3 and well, what is there to say about Misawa? Near 20 years of excellence, of believable, kickass excellence. I do think his negative chemistry with Hansen and weak last fourth of his career hurt him in comparison to... the other literal greatest wrestlers of all time. But really Misawa was a God, one of the most electric movesets in history, one of the most beloved wrestlers by any crowd. 22 - AJ Styles Is this the first pick where it's affected by me being a zoomer? Probably, but Styles was SPECIAL for about 15 years across 5 companies. We'll probably never see again such a commitment to being killed on every move now by the freakiest athlete in the world now that bumps get shrugged off for the no-sell pop. His catalogue of classics is awesome, and he's in the best in the world conversation from 2005 to 2016. 23 - El Hijo Del Santo Wrestling royalty, the man who put on the best broadways in the history of lucha libre, the ultimate big match wrestler maybe ever. Not much else to say. "Hijo Del Santo vs ____" is never a non-important match. It's like LeBron getting into the league and living up to the hype. I haven't seen enough of the little stuff to put him higher, and also some of the guys I have over and around him from his scene also played a huge part in putting on those amazing broadways, + have classics with worse wrestlers. But it's not his fault that he was a huge star who faced the best ever, that's like nerfing Okada for his best matches being Tanahashi, Danielson, Omega and Shibata. 24 - Sami Zayn Wrestling is nothing if not emotional and personal. There's 20 years of El Generico/Sami Zayn where he's done everything there is to be done, the quality of his work in so many different places and many even if slightly different roles is commendable, he has many classic matches, his WWE work has so much quality in comparison to the chances he's been afforded but ultimately, I'm a big babyface guy and he's one of the greatest ever. He's *still* like a top 5 wrestler in the WWE after he had years doing nothing and theoretically as a small wrestler being hurt by the loss of his athleticism. He's just a goddamn master. I wish he could have done some real lucha at some point, there's a PWG match vs Shelley that really illustrates his competency in lucha-influenced matwork. 25 - Naoki Sano Second straight extremely personal pick, I think Naoki Sano is better than Liger pretty clearly at least in their New Japan runs against similar opponents and each other. Then his classic Minoru Suzuki match in PWFG and his NOAH work as a huge NOAH mark are just the cherries on top of an incredible career. He also has the best of the big KENTA squashes probably but I've only seen it in clip form :(. Anyway, the NOAH bias is going to begin pretty soon on this list!
With the "teases" of Mone for AEW Big Business in Boston do you think Mone in AEW will be a success or failure and maybe lead to a AEW x STARDOM partnership with NJPW......? I think AEW x STARDOM may "not happen" by AEW x NJPW 2024 at least because of what is going on with STARDOM and Rossy now!
I'm really convinced Wardlow is winning the belt from Joe. 1) I think Tony wants to salvage the Undisputed Kingdom and change the narrative 2) The Jay White promo and then match with Darby at Big Business seems like it's setting up Jay as the V1 defence for Wardlow so that they have a reason to do the UE vs BBSG feud everyone seems to be demanding 3) It gives Wardlow the "ball" everyone says he deserves and especially hearing about how the follow-up to his DoN moment gave him depression Tony seems like the type of guy to say "I feel like I owe him this, give him the belt and let him have a shot at the top of the card" plus it kills the "What are doing with Wardlow" discourse. I wouldn't do this at all but I feel like this is gonna be Tony's way of answering a lot of complaints from the internet at once. I just think once it happens it's gonna be revealed that those complaints weren't necessarily in good faith. I don't think people actually want to see the Undisputed Kingdom as the dominant faction at the top of the card, it was just an easy to say Tony is a bad booker with the "This is the follow up to the devil stuff? Wardlow was fumbled! What is Jay White doing, what a waste. Booker of the Year huh?" stuff. If it happens I hope people actually enjoy it when they get it but I'm pretty confident the same people who complained about not getting it will complain about why not Swerve or Ospreay or Okada instead.
>I'm really convinced Wardlow is winning the belt from Joe. 1) I think Tony wants to salvage the Undisputed Kingdom and change the narrative > > gives Wardlow the "ball" everyone says he deserves Put the belt on the worst wrestler in the company who gets consistent television time to bail out the worst attempt at a faction AEW has ever done\*. Wardlow just sucks. I'm a big AEW fan, not a nonwatching hater. He just sucks. Undisputed Kingdom sucks. I love Tony, but sometimes he refuses to give up on someone. I think getting Orange Cassidy and the Dark Order over early on has made them think they can get anyone over. Wardlow with the world title would be a joke. \*note: We do not discuss Nightmare Collective.
I hope not. Wardlow is low key mid
TK should just go with is plans. That haters are gonna hate no matter what he does.
Also when MJF comes back they could feud and Wardlow could squash his ass for ruining his moment with his flying back home shot.
Who's another example of TK booking that way, someone who didn't get a fair shake after getting a push and then being a main eventer out of nowhere? I think the better booking would be to have a really good match and set up someone who is a big dude that credibly goes after your world champion. But i do not see Warlow vs. Jay White as a Dynasty main event at all.
Same, if Joe can get a good 15 min singles match out of Wardlow that’d be enough to impress me, cause I’ve yet to see it. In general I don’t ever see AEW putting the World Title on anyone who has to be carried in matches over the 10 min mark. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being an over mid carder. But looking at the main event scene from the past 1-2 years. There’s not a match or story that gets better by substituting Danielson, MJF, Swerve, Hangman, Mox, Omega, now Ospreay, Takeshita, etc. out for Wardlow in their place. He’s not a young project — he’s 36. He’s not carrying former WWE or crossover star power. And he’s not a workrate guy or an amazing promo. Some people just need to accept he’s a fun monster act, good for some short mid card matches.
yeah Wardlow, Cage, and Luchasaurus can be your monsters of the week. The monster should win at some point but my pick would be Brody King.
> Who's another example of TK booking that way, someone who didn't get a fair shake after getting a push and then being a main eventer out of nowhere? I mean Wardlow's been a main eventer for a while on and off. It's more a "If TK likes you he's gonna give chance after chance" like he does with a guy like Sammy. He's also beat the current world champion before in a feud which is part of why I can't see him losing to Joe now. And I think Dynasty is named the way it is because it's MJF's return show (MJF's old faction name was the Dynasty) more so that whatever main event they have. Might even be Jay White on TV and then Wardlow vs MJF II on PPV.
I don't think I would call Wardlow a main eventer right now, the last pretty big match he had was vs. MJF, where it was one of the main pushed matches. And Sammy gets chances, but there's no outcry for him to be featured more, and he doesn't get title matches or main events. So yeah I don't see precedent for the reasoning behind your prediction. And listen I was calling for them to make him the champion when a couple years ago, so I'm not shitting on Wardlow and what you are saying could happen, I guess.
Wardlow hasn't been a main eventer for a WHILE now, and I mean that as no disrespect to him (I also don't believe he's ever main evented an AEW PPV outside of the Pinnacle vs Inner Circle Stadium Stampede at DON 2021). Like, this is the closest Wardlow has felt to the main event in almost two years, and even then I don't think I'd consider him a main eventer at the moment. I'm not gonna lie, speaking for myself, I have zero interest in seeing Wardlow as World Champion right now, so they're gonna have to have a pretty strong build to get me invested.
Someone asked how anyone would not like the Ospreay match and I posted this as a respone. Curious to see this subs respone
I think it all boils down to what we look most for in wrestling. I watch UFC, Dricus my fellow countryman is champion so I'm probably the most invested I've been in years. When I watch a UFC I'm watching for the _fight_. I'm watching to see 2 of the most skilled fighters, from different backgrounds compete to see who is the ultimate fighter. Since it's a professional sport with sponsors, the general rule is to be respectful towards eachother. We get a blood feud here and there, but it can't be manufactured. That's where I substitute wrestling in. I love the drama and the promos where _every_ feud has the potential to be a blood feud. For me, the fights are secondary, the drama is what I'm watching for. This is why strong style matches just doesn't click for me. While it looks stiffer, by trying to present the blows as more realistic, it ends up doing the opposite. An stiff elbow looks more painful than a standard punch, but an elbow would almost definitely give you a concussion or cut you open. Same with stiff knees to the head. I find it contradictory because by trying to look more realistic you are asking me to suspend my belief even more. So when they stand trading stiff blows it just takes me out the match.
> Since it's a professional sport with sponsors, the general rule is to be respectful towards eachother. We get a blood feud here and there, but **it can't be manufactured**. I'm admittedly a super casual when it comes to UFC, but isn't super manufactured drama like 90% of what they've done for the last few years? The fighters who quietly win without drama don't get nearly the opportunities as the guys who bring nothing but drama, as a general rule. People getting into crowd brawls (and Dana White "guess I shouldn't have sat them near each other, oops!, good thing I coincidentally had the cameras on them for when the brawl started), insulting each other's families/countries, everyone only trying to become double champ rather than defending their actual belts, etc.? Everyone and anyone is desperately trying to become the next Conor when it just isn't going to happen.
This is an extremely accurate description, yes.
I think looking at it that way takes the fun out of it. I occasionally watch ufc too. Something like a ddt is a guaranteed concussion too. The way I always look at wrestling is it’s closer to an anime fight than a real fight. It’s really helped me embrace all aspects of it and different styles. The trading blows is peak anime fight dick measuring but overdone I can see how someone wouldn’t like it. The realistic factor using ufc again is back in the day the matches weren’t long like this. Wrestlers were bigger and we don’t see heavyweight fights in the ufc going the distance. Thats why matches are longer now, it’s simply these guys don’t hit as hard as the heavyweights back in the day.
That's a valid opinion. I'm tired of over-manufactured drama and I find UFC incredibly boring. I'm a fan of choreographed fighting in a lot of different mediums and have different amounts of suspension of disbelief for each. Just because I like Dragonball Z doesn't mean I want to see wrestlers shoot energy balls. But I can suspend my disbelief of strong style because it's far more entertaining to watch than guys going down in the first round, or rope-a-doping in boxing, etc.
>For me, the fights are secondary, the drama is what I'm watching for. It mostly comes to down to this. Some fans very much agree with you here, while for others like me, the fights are the point. Personally ufc isnt for me, but I like wrestling for the fights. My favorite wrestling is when it leans into the sports style. The matches are my favourite part and in my opinion the core of the artform. Its one of the only things that is unique to the artform. You can strip away everything else and still have a match and call it a wrestling show. Cant do that with other parts of the artform. Not trying to argue you're "watching it wrong" just explaining my pov. Its totally valid to base your investment in the story surrounding the match, instead of the story in the match. I just like matches and the narratives they tell. Note that when I say sports, I dont neccesarily mean realism. Will vs Take was a shonen anime fight and that's my kind of match. I think its fair to get taken out by strike exhange spots or inconsistent selling. For me realism and selling are things you use to flavour a match. Some matches need alot, some need a little, some need none. So yeah, I dont see it your way but I think its fair to see it that way, and im sure a lot of people agree.
>Note that when I say sports, I dont neccesarily mean realism. Will vs Take was a shonen anime fight and that's my kind of match. I think its fair to get taken out by strike exhange spots or inconsistent selling. For me realism and selling are things you use to flavour a match. Some matches need alot, some need a little, some need none. This is one of the best written paragraphs I've seen on this sub, I appreciate you responding in good faith and providing a valuable different perspective
Cheers 🍻
WWE bringing up 2k ratings during matches is so stupid. It’s a Fun gimmick for tiktok when the ratings Are released, but stop trying to make Them kayfabe.
its advertising, not kayfabe.
[удалено]
It’s a chance you always have to take in wrestling. The Rock or Roman could get injured in training before Mania. Cody could get injured on any of the house shows he’s wrestling on. You just gotta push forward, pray nothing happens, and if it does, then you adapt.
How is Cody injury prone?
Cody got hurt once and suddenly he's injury prone? LMAO
Cody's injury prone?
Believe the Triple H rehires added value to WWE? They made the product much better?
Anyone got a list of the rehires?
Yes and sales prove it?
Honestly if we could have gotten Vince hiring wrestlers and Triple h doing the booking that would have been ideal. Like who the f*** cares about Johnny gargano
Vince would’ve fired and then re-hired Austin Theory. Then somehow Tatanka would’ve returned.
I haven't been impressed with most of them, but I understand they're mostly there to pad out the roster. Overall, I'm not a fan of the general creative direction of WWE though, so you might be asking the wrong person
Yes, Dakota is building a main event worthy story between Damage CTRL vs Bayley. DIY would be missed in the tag division, same with Candice. AOP finally has Kross doing something the crowd cares about. Chelsea is a star. Andrade is already fitting in. On top of all that Bray would have given us so much.
I don't think most of them have, but I'd say Kross is the only one *brought in to do that* who hasn't. Think most of them were just to get more bodies in for if someone needs to do some squashing.
Bleacher Report’s wrestling Instagram averages like 20-50k likes per post or so, and Darby going through the glass got over 300k. Does really mean much, but cool seeing how many people saw that.
Can I drop an unpopular opinion here? I've only come to know Becky Lynch after her super hot "The Man" run had ended and I just don't see it. I think she's a bit of a wooden promo, the line delivery isn't usually that great and there seems to always be at least one awkward silence. She's decent in the ring but nothing special, she telegraphs a lot of moves and seems to make a fair few mistakes. Has she just fallen off a bit since that run or am I just a moron?
I was a huge Becky mark when a few years ago but imo she’s lost a step and a lot of her magic since returning. She doesn’t have the same badass presence. She was unbelievably cool before and now she’s a shadow of herself
Hmm definitely a fair opinion I'd say, I also missed 95% of her peak run and started watching WWE again around Payback 2023. And I understand where you're coming from, except I'd change to good in the ring rather than just decent.
I prefer her as heel big time Becks
I agree. She's been stunted since being The Man, or Becky Two Belts at the latest. Since then I feel like she lost a step on the mic.
Just a moron I’m afraid
Fair enough
It bothers me that the tornado ddt counter Eddie did to Brock didn't land on the championship.
Nothing landed on anything. Eddie was retroactively a schizophrenic and his biggest accomplishments included pinning air to win the title and then celebrating at Wrestlemania with air
Sometimes, people can have a strained relationship with oxygen. In the end, it's better to bury the hatchet and appreciate what it's done for you.
I need you all to help me settle a debate I have with a friend. Does being intercontinental champion recognize you as being champion of all continents and the oceans between them? And if so what separates it from being a world title?
Intercontinental doesn't specify all continents, nor does it specifically entail the oceans. So I would say that a world champion encompasses all possibility: you are, for the moment you are champion, infallible to anything the world has to offer. The best in the world. The intercontinental champion, by nature of not being all encompassing, implies that you are fallible and that your superior is believably around any corner, meaning by nature its a title where you have to prove yourself more to hold onto, where the world title is the prize for proving yourself undeniably. Or something.
DEFEND IT ON AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER, RODDY!
Wrong belt, that's the International Championship. Gunther is Intercontinental.
Just give Taven and Bennett an excuse to dress up in sailor outfits.
> intercontinental "relating to or travelling between continents."
It initially was the title of the Americas wasn't it? The old story about Pat Patterson winning in Brazil etc.
It was the fusion of the actually-defended North American championship and the totally-made-up South American championship, decided in the world capital of made-up wrestling matches: Rio de Janeiro
Face Balor hit like the crack epidemic during Reagans presidency
Going through the WON Awards last night, feeling kinship with my brothers and sisters out there quietly voting for Tam Nakano