Topic: Wrestling Fans Unite!

I was pretty underwhelmed by Survivor Series. Could be my own fault as I had pretty decent expectations. It was my favorite of the big four shows last year, and it seemed poised to have some big moments this year; but it felt a little flat. I think my favorite match was the women’s traditional survivor match.

However, I thought Takeover War Games was superb top to bottom. Aleister Black is an absolute superstar, and Velveteen Dream could be as well. My least favorite match was the War Games match, but it was still pretty good. Tough match to pull off really. I’ve never been a big fan of the concept or execution in the past.

I’m real late to the game here, just thought to search for this thread, but I’d like to say that I think Heenan was one of the most important figures in the history of pro wrestling and the greatest at whatever he did.

One of my favorite wrestlers of all time passed today King Kong Bundy. I don't know why but I always preferred his and Hogan's WM2 match over Hogan and Andre's match at WM3. One of my favorite heels growing up.

My thoughts go out to his family. May he rest in peace.

So it appears that WWE had hired Eric Bischoff again. His new role with the company will be excutive director of Smackdown, while Paul Haymen will be the excutive director for Raw. These will be behind the scenes jobs basic they will be in charge with the storylines and such. I would say this is a good thing but with them having to report to Vinny Mac I feel like itnjust will be the same old stuff. I can't help but feel like this was a move by Vince to keep either of them talking with AEW.

I also find it funny that the got two of the biggest players in the Monday Night Wars running his shows now 😄

@Tasuki - I completely agree on that reasoning. They’ll probably give Bischoff a title and pay him to stay home. Maybe video conference him into the occasional creative meeting. The man should be on camera. So hatable. WWE needs a Dangerous Alliance or NWO so bad right now. I’m completely burned out on their product. I would drop the network if AEW figures out a way to stream their shows this fall, as much as I would miss NXT. I’m glad you resurrected this thread.

Edit - And RIP Bundy. Great match with Hogan at WM2. Great monster heel. He almost killed Haiti Kid.

It wont make a difference, they hired Pritchard back a few months ago and nothing changed. Both Heyman and Bischoff are products of 90s wrestling who ran their companies into the ground in the 00s. They need the modern day equivalents of promoters who have their finger on the pulse, basically they should have hired The Elite instead.

@jump - The problem is that they’re trying to have a finger on the pulse. Good wrestling and storylines now are the same as 20-30 years ago. The hippest promotions going right now are NXT and AEW, and both are old school pro rasslin. Wrestling is at its best when it’s at its simplest, it’s always been that way, and it always will be.

@bimmy-lee I believe AEWs shows will be streamed on the BR LIve app ( Bleacher Report). This Saturday they are going to be streaming Fyter Fest for free all you have to do is download the app.

@jump Agree. Funny thing is WWE had meetings with The Young Bucks a few months ago to get them to sign with WWE but as they said they wouldn't have the creative controll that other places like RoH, New Japan and such give them which is why they created AEW. Basically the Jacksonville Jaguars owner asked them if I give you the money do you really think you can run it.

@Tasuki - Thanks, yeah, I knew about the event this Saturday, but I didn’t know they had something worked out to stream the shows when they’re on Turner this fall. Seems weird to stream a cable show on the BR Live app, but I hope it happens.

I disagree, go back 20 years and you're watching Russo's insanity of train wreck TV at work. Swerves for the sake of it, Bra and Panties matches*, comedy bits like Mae Young giving birth to a hand or Rocks This Is Your Life etc which was the hottest thing in wrestling and very not old skool.

Although I have got to give it to Russo with two keys things he focussed on, everyone on the card should feel important whilst having a direction and face/heel are a thing of the past so just have big personalities conflicting.

*after posting I just had a thought of the outrage that would have happened if the 'mania main event of Becky, Ronda & Charlotte was announced with the stipulation of a bra and panties lol

@jump - Ha, yes, Russo would have had a much different kind of three way in mind for those fine women. I love the Rock and Sock segment, but generally feel Russo was awful. I also feel the main reason anyone even saw the segments you mentioned is because they were buoyed by the very simple, very massive storyline of Stone Cold vs the authority. That’s as simple as it gets, and it drove pro wrestling to some of its greatest heights.

Rock and Sock was very brief. If you think about the biggest, longest lasting storylines in wrestling that are still talked about today, they’re very traditional stories. The Horsemen broke Dusty’s leg and put him on hard times. Dusty wants revenge! The two most popular wrestlers of the time shook hands. The Mega Powers unite! Hogan had wandering eyes. The Mega Powers explode! A guy hates his boss. Attitude Era! Daniel Bryan is a B+ player. OMG, the little guy defied the odds and won the title at mania!

I want clear cut faces and heels who have a personal problem with one another, or one wants the title the other one holds. Solid mic work, great in ring performances, and blood. These are the things that have always brought wrestling to its highest highs and made it culturally relevant.

@bimmy-lee Well BR is owned by Turner Broadcasting so it's not that odd.

@Tasuki - Didn’t know, thanks.

@bimmy-lee No worries, I too thought it was odd till I found out that bit of info.

As a die-hard fan and supporter of Bischoff for well over 20 years, i am happy about this.

But as someone who knows at the end of the day, Vince is still gonna Vince no matter who is working for him, i have very little faith anything will change in WWE. It's damn near insufferable these days, and considering the talent they have under contract, it's astounding how bad their overall product has become.

@Tasuki - I only visit BR occasionally during NFL season. I don’t read about rasslin online. Just listen to some pods. I’m glad to know this though. That information was enough for me to cancel auto renewal on the WWE network. Looks like I’ll give that money to BR/Turner starting this fall.

@bimmy-lee I haven't paid for WWE Network since WrestleMania. I just can't bring myself to watch the boring storylines and the same matches for weekends on end. It's a shame too cause they have alot of talented people AJ Styles, Nakamura, Asks but they really don't know how to use them.

I'm a BIG fan of Nakamura in New Japan but he's been lazy in the ring since joining WWE. I'm not sure if it's because he's closer to the end of his career and treating living in Florida as a holiday or if he's just not feeling it. I think AJ is doing well, he was the face of Smackdown and when he went got on Raw he went straight into a dream match with Rollins. He's injured at the mo but teasing a Bullet Club reunion is keeping me hopeful.

Asuka is shocking tho, they mucked her up bad (less so with losing the streak imo but more so of her champ run) but placing her in a tag team and then not using the tag team when the women's tag division is wafer thin is silly.

To me the biggest waste is the tag division. The Revival, Rusev Day, Breezango etc got over but weren't pushed and then there's The Viking Experience and The Bullet Club being a joke. The Lucha House Party (if you got rid of the stupid name) could be great, they are fantastic performers. They don't need a huge push, just keep them on the mid-card wowing audiences with their high flying but you would need to stop squashing them in stupid matches.

Did you guys bought it?

I’ve looked at Boxy Pro no less than 25 times in the eShop, but I haven’t pulled the trigger. I don’t love the Minecraft wrestling aesthetic, but I can look past it if the game is fun. Are you going to review it @Shiryu ? At the very least, I appreciate that video. It looks like you’re playing for a KO instead of a pin fall.

@Tasuki - My sub expired the Friday before Mania. I waffled, then just re upped for six more months. That’s the last time. As you said, the storylines are so incredibly lame, it’s like they’re ripped straight from an early 00s reality show. As Sphydar mentioned, this is made even more infuriating by the overwhelming amount of talent on their roster. There are some great matches on any given card, but without a decent storyline, they’re all for naught. No reason to care.

I remember watching Eric Embry battle Skandor Akbar and Devastation Inc for a year. I don’t think a single match in that rivalry was any good, but I was completely invested because of the twists and turns of the storyline. Embry was completely outgunned, but the man continued to fight and stand up to them. Lots of blood, lots of good, emotional promos. Nobody involved in that feud would even make WWE’s roster today, and yet it was more memorable than anything they’ve done in years. Frustration. They pander to the clowns who bring beach balls to shows, and real fans suffer for it.

I am unsure if we are reviewing it, I just bought it out of my own pocket money as per usual (I'm a rascal like that). For now I am reviewing something else for the site. I can however assure that it's not bad at all, cubist aesthetics and all.