Official Pro-Wrestling Thread (WWE, TNA, ROH etc.)

[GIMH]

In kayfabe world, he topped the pro's poll without a win to his name.

In addition, he has 85% of the fans' legit votes on wwe.com

It's the old Rocky storyline and I don't really see the point in wasting it now

It's a great storyline and at the end of the day it's telling us what we all already know - wins and losses, meh! Bryan is getting over crazy purely because the odds are stacked against him. People will stop caring if he starts winning against other rookies whom, let's face it, he should be beating on the basis of ability anyway. So it would achieve nothing.

I think a win over The Miz will be much more powerful if it's his first, personally.

The winner of NXT gets a shot at any title - hopefully Bryan will go against kayfabe expectations and go for the US title (if he wins, which I'm assuming he will!)

 

[masterblaster]

Agree with everything GIMH has said regarding NXT. It really is one of the best wrestling shows on television. Thank you to those in this thread who have the intelligence and who understand the wrestling business enough to know that Daniel Bryan is not being buried just because he has a 0-5 win/loss record.

Daniel Bryan is the focus of the show. NXT is the Daniel Bryan hour featuring a little bit of Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett. NXT has done something that many thought was never going to happen and that is to get Daniel Bryan over with the fans. He's a star already!

NXT was really an awesome show this week again. Chris Jericho on commentary was amazing. He is one of those rare people who is excellent in pretty much every angle of the wrestling business. I loved his interactions with Josh Matthews and Michael Cole. I'm really enjoying Michael Cole as a heel commentator. It adds so much to the NXT shows and it just gets the fans behind Daniel Bryan even more.

The way they are building up Daniel Bryan is genius. How good will the moment be when Daniel Bryan gets his first victory? Especially if he beats The Miz for the United States Championship. Now that would get the audience on their feet and emotionally invested in Daniel Bryan and the storyline. I can't give enough credit to whoever thought up of this storyline in WWE creative. Give that person a raise Vince, even if it is yourself or Stephanie McMahon.

 

[GIMH]

You raise an interesting point mb, does anyone know who came up with the concept for NXT, and who is on its creative/booking team?

 

[masterblaster]

RAW this week was incredibly good imho. Not a single thing wrong with it. The heat Sheamus got during the HHH promo was insane. And yes, Randy Orton, what a badass.

Raw really was incredible this week. It's been a really strong couple of months for the WWE and I believe they have been producing some of their best television in recent times. I'm going to miss Shawn Michaels. What a performer, what a legend. His farewell promo came across as being so real and from the heart, it was the perfect send off.

Randy Orton continues to develop into this really popular babyface and Batista is doing some of his best work as the arrogant heel. John Cena's been great lately as well being the nice guy of the WWE. It was also great to see Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels thank each other and show their mutual respect for one another. I'm glad that both of them have moved on. I actually really liked when The Hart Dynasty came to Bret's aid and faced off against ShoMiz. It's good to see that The Hart Dynasty now have decent opponents.

Overall a really good Raw. I can't believe anybody would ever want to watch TNA Impact after Raw delivered such a good show.

 

[masterblaster]

You raise an interesting point mb, does anyone know who came up with the concept for NXT, and who is on its creative/booking team?

No idea. But whoever it is, they've been doing an awesome job. This is what was needed to get new young stars on the television and get them connected with the audience. I'd imagine it would be the same creative team as the Smackdown shows as they are produced together on the same day with Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon having the final say.

 

[Jono]

Bret Hart vs. Austin at Survivor Series 96 is one of the most underrated gems. What a ****ing match.

 

[GIMH]

That's out of the blue, but yes! Yes it is!

 

[Manee]

Watched it a while back on VHS, got a good ending. Hate to seem nostalgic, but you'll seldom find a stronger character feud than here and never will find one these days. You have Austin, the rebel and Bret Hart, the technician, built his career and life off respect and then the beautiful finish where Austin refuses to let go of the hold and pays for it, against the veteran. The key here is to have people who are not massive exaggerations of people who do not actually exist, but extensions (in Hart's case, probably not even that) of themselves.

 

[sledger]

Jericho: Nobody cares what you think Mediocre Cole.

 

[masterblaster]

Here's something for the Bret Hart fans here. A must see documentary on Bret Hart filmed just a week before Wrestlemania 26. It really is an unbelievable documentary that goes through is early years, his time in the WWE and his relationship with Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon all said by Bret himself.

Other people interviewed for this documentary include his brothers and Lance Storm. It's one of the best wrestling documentaries I've ever seen and it certainly reveals more about Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon than other documentaries have. There are four parts of the documentary but I'll just post the link to the first part. A must watch for all Bret Hart fans.

Bret Hart Survival of the Hitman Part 1/4

 

[duffer]

Saw that as well. +1 on the recommendation.

 

[GIMH]

On the whole, Smackdown was a bit meh. All segments that involved Jericho, Edge, Swagger were absolute quality though. Particularly enjoyed Jericho claiming still to be the champ.

Punk was gold as well.

Break-up of Cryme Tyme and Khali taking time off both kind of fall into the 'things I'm not really arsed about' category though, and the NXT V Kane match was a bit bleh as well

 

[masterblaster]

I quite enjoyed Smackdown this week. I'm not sold on Jack Swagger being World Heavyweight Champion but I liked the way the angle played out on Smackdown. Chris Jericho was great again and I kind of felt the crowd was getting behind him as he was unfairly attacked by Jack Swagger. The Cryme Tyme break up was largely boring as was the NXT Rookies vs Kane match. Overall though a pretty strong show, but not as strong as Raw was this week.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah - in recent months Raw has really recovered from the slump of 2009 and gradually been putting on stronger showings than Smackdown of late. That's the way you'd expect things to be in the Mania time period I guess. I'm not sure when the draft takes place but it will be interesting to see what happens. It was post-draft last year that Smackdown really hit its hot period.

 

[Manee]

Most of Smackdown was pretty solid. The one thing I wish is that Swagger has a prolonged reign with the title. A combination of the brand split and rapid title switches, sometimes to rookies like Swagger and Sheamus, mean that the World Championship (and WWE championship) is verging on worthless. If Swagger has a long reign, and perhaps MITB winners start actually losing in their title shot, then perhaps the title will regain some semblance of worth. Was just watching some Bret Hart stuff after that magnificant documentary on youtube, and the way in which Shawn Michaels had to wrestle a 60 minute match (+ overtime) against an all time legebnd to gain his first world title "the boyhood dream has come true", shows a value that is not there with Swagger winning it in a one minute match.

On another note, just found one of my earliest and best memories of wrestling.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Kanyon

 

[Jono]

Oh no, don't tell me!

Natural death?

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Apparently suicide via overdose. He's been suffering with bipolar and been through a really weird stage over the whole gay issue in the last few years, too.

 

[honestbharani]

From Bret's Wrestlemania 26 album on Facebook!!! I am gonna cry!!!

 

[pinchy81]

Just like to let you guys know of a really good Wrestling podcast thats done every week on saturday night in America if you want to listen to it just search "RBR Wrestling" I think some of you will like it but if not then meh