The Pro Wrestling Thread

[steve784]

Wow, gotta admit, it was hard to keep a dry eye during that one. Awesome Raw though........somehow they've managed to turn Orton full-fledged face without anyone caring.

[JS©]

What an awesome speech by Michaels and a perfect ending.

OK, I'm sold. He's more than likely not coming back.

[nocera]

Finally watched the big show. Overall, I was incredibly let down. The opening was solid but not given enough time to really go anywhere and the outcome was expected.

The biggest disappointment of the night goes to the MITB match. 10 guys was way too many and resulted in wrestlers lying on the floor for the majority of the match, forgotten about. Did anybody even see Jack Swagger in that match until he climbed the ladder at the end? Also, how bad was it that he couldn't get the briefcase down right away. Talk about killing the momentum of the ending. I hope WWE cuts back the number of participants next year.

Bret and Vince was exactly what I thought it was be, but to make it even worse, they decided to bring out the Hart family. The turn on Vince was laughably predictable. Also, you'd think WWE would have learned something from Survivor Series 1993. Nobody cares about the Hart family except for Bret and Owen. Please leave Bruce out of this. The Hart Dynasty had absolutely nothing to do and it's unfortunate that they couldn't have been involved in this feud from the start.

The two championship matches were good and the outcomes were surprising. I was expecting Batista to hold on to his title and Edge to win the Heavyweight Championship given the way both feuds were built. In that sense, I was happy with the title matches, even if it does mean another round of Champ Cena. And, like others have said, Cena celebrating with the haters was hilarious.

Not much more to be said about Taker/HBK than what's already been said in the thread. Just a spectacular match. Usually I don't like to see wrestlers consistently kicking out of finishing moves (this happened a TON at WM) but it made for some intense drama in this match.

On the crowd: they actually seemed pretty live all night, visually speaking, which makes me think maybe they weren't miked as well as they could have been. But yeah, no amount of microphones could have made the crowd seem into Bret/Vince. What a mistake, Bret.
-edit-
Just read live reports saying the crowd was as dead as it seemed on TV. Shame.

I'm glad I didn't pay 50 bucks for it, but still, there were three solid matches buried in there.

Now, on to RAW.

[SolidSnake]

Ugh, why do we have to deal with guys like Flair and Hogan who are well beyond their years but guys like HBK retire? Seriously.

exactly

[Why Not Us]

Has anyone here attended a WrestleMania?

[nocera]

Has anyone here attended a WrestleMania?

The only PPV I've attended was Summerslam 95 and it was pretty horrible. The one good match was HBK v. Razor Ramon in a Ladder rematch. The main event was Big Daddy Cool vs. King Mabel. Yeah, exactly. I still remember being incredibly upset at the Civic Arena crowd for chanting "Here we go, Steelers," while Bret was laid out in the ring thanks to Isaac Yankem.

[SolidSnake]

Has anyone here attended a WrestleMania?

The only PPV I've attended was Summerslam 95 and it was pretty horrible. The one good match was HBK v. Razor Ramon in a Ladder rematch. The main event was Big Daddy Cool vs. King Mabel. Yeah, exactly. I still remember being incredibly upset at the Civic Arena crowd for chanting "Here we go, Steelers," while Bret was laid out in the ring thanks to Isaac Yankem.

Isaac Yanken aka Kane
I've been to Summerslam 95' King of the ring 98' (was that when Taker throw Foley through the top of the cell?) whatever year that was and Raw in 07 the last appearance of the Spirit Squad

[steve784]

I've been to a lot of Raws and Smackdowns (next one on 6/28 at the dirty Wachovia). As far as PPVs, I've been to the same as you guys growing up in the Burgh (SummerSlam 95 and KOTR 98). Speaking of wrestling and growing up in Pittsburgh, did anyone ever go to those SCW shows at SideShow Pizza in Irwin? They were hilarious! I've also been to Night of Champions from this year in Philly. The absolute nerdiest wrestling thing I've ever been a part of happened when I was 12. My dad and my friend and his dad went on...........the WCW Bruise Cruise.

[nocera]

I've been to a lot of Raws and Smackdowns (next one on 6/28 at the dirty Wachovia). As far as PPVs, I've been to the same as you guys growing up in the Burgh (SummerSlam 95 and KOTR 98). Speaking of wrestling and growing up in Pittsburgh, did anyone ever go to those SCW shows at SideShow Pizza in Irwin? They were hilarious! I've also been to Night of Champions from this year in Philly. The absolute nerdiest wrestling thing I've ever been a part of happened when I was 12. My dad and my friend and his dad went on...........the WCW Bruise Cruise.

I've only been to one Smackdown. Never been to a RAW. I used to go to Wheeling for the WWF Superstars tapings. Those were great. 3-4 hour shows, back to back to back tapings of Superstars. I was actually growing out of wrestling when the Attitude era hit and got me back in. For whatever reason, I never made it to a show during that time.

Also, you have no idea how jealous I am of the WCW Bruise Cruise.

[steve784]

Also, you have no idea how jealous I am of the WCW Bruise Cruise.

It was hilarious. Thank God my dad is one of those annoying dads who always had to have his video camera out, because watching that tape back today we got some hilarious stuff.........including the night my dad ended up getting plastered with Buff Bagwell and being his blackjack gambling buddy all night. Another funny story: They had a Nitro Girl lingerie show the one night, but you had to be 18 to get in. Our dads kept rubbing it in that they got to go and we didn't. We then proceeded to sneak into the cheap showtunes-ish cruise show that was before the lingerie show, and then duck down and hide in our seats until the lingerie show started. It was the most awesome thing ever as a 12 year old. If I remember right, the following guys were on the cruise: Bagwell, Sting, DDP, Jericho (sans Ralphus), the Nitro Girls and my personal favorite, 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan. I'm sure there were a bunch more, but I can't remember the others.

[nocera]

Orton's face turn has been super impressive. Keep his mic time to a minimum, don't change the character at all, and he'll keep being over.


HBK's speech was incredibly classy, thanking everyone from HHH to some red headed nerd who edits videos.

[SolidSnake]

Orton's face turn has been super impressive. Keep his mic time to a minimum, don't change the character at all, and he'll keep being over.


HBK's speech was incredibly classy, thanking everyone from HHH to some red headed nerd who edits videos.

When Orton gets ready to do the RKO and how he pounds the ring that's downright bad ass

[Kicksave]

Meh, Orton is a hell of a wrestler but the whole complete turn to face is annoying to me.

I hope there is a feud between Ted DiBiase and his son. That would be interesting to watch.

I also love the thought of getting the Hart Dynasty sans Bret involved in the tag championships. I like the Rap & Rock connection of Morrison and RTruth. With ShoMiz and the Hart Dynasty, you have a few legit tag teams. Get one or two more together and I think you have something there.

[skullman80]

The Shawn farewell speech was emotional. No storyline/no angle just flat out from the heart. I think he will stick to his word, and that will be that. He went out the way he wanted to go out. He can hold his head high knowing he was one of the best ever in the business no matter what era you are talking about.

It's stuff like that ... that still makes me proud to be a wrestling fan. What a classy way for HBK to go out.

[nocera]

The Shawn farewell speech was emotional. No storyline/no angle just flat out from the heart. I think he will stick to his word, and that will be that. He went out the way he wanted to go out. He can hold his head high knowing he was one of the best ever in the business no matter what era you are talking about.

It's stuff like that ... that still makes me proud to be a wrestling fan. What a classy way for HBK to go out.

I'm almost certain that he'll stick to his word. I think it really hurt him when Flair returned to the ring after their emotional last match at Wrestlemania.

What are your thoughts on Ric Flair wrestling again? Are you disappointed? Did he talk to you about it?

He did call me. He called me once to let me know he was going to do the [Hulk] Hogan match in Australia. He wanted to know if it was OK and I of course told him that it was. Then he called me again when he was going to sign with TNA and asked the same thing. There’s nothing you can say. I certainly don’t have what it takes to look at somebody and say, “Don’t go make a living.” I told him that, for me, nothing can take away that special moment. It will still always be to me that I had Ric Flair’s last match. I tried to do the best job I could for him. I think it was a special moment. Anything after that [pauses]. I feel for him, but I’m certainly not angry or disappointed or anything. I would like to think that Ric probably would have liked that to have been his last match, too. The fact that it couldn’t be, I understand. Those are circumstances that I certainly can’t control.

One of the things you have to understand is that if you’re going to be a friend of Ric’s, you sort of know that there’s some baggage that comes along with that. Certainly the older I get the more I’m learning about conditional situations, and the difference between that and unconditional — unconditional friendship, unconditional love. All those types of things we can talk about but it’s a whole other thing to put them into action. I do my best to put them into action. I want what’s best for Ric, even if Ric might not always be aware of what that is, I still want that for him. Nothing will take away from that moment. It’s sill truly special. I still wear my watch every day, so it’s still something I’m really proud of. [Note: Michaels had matching diamond Rolex watches made for he and Flair to commemorate their match.]

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[SolidSnake]

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[steve784]

Is anyone watching NXT tonight? They're having an 8 man tag, and Jericho is doing guest commentary. Jericho mentioned how tagging out was smart, like doing a shift change in hockey when you're tired........then that butt-goblin Michael Cole goes "Hockey?! Who still watches hockey?!"

[nocera]

Is anyone watching NXT tonight? They're having an 8 man tag, and Jericho is doing guest commentary. Jericho mentioned how tagging out was smart, like doing a shift change in hockey when you're tired........then that butt-goblin Michael Cole goes "Hockey?! Who still watches hockey?!"

I watch all wrestling on DVR, so I haven't seen it yet, but Cole has been playing the heel role in the booth. Sadly, most people probably agree with him. I'm sure Jericho had a quick response, being a "good Canadian boy" and all.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Is anyone watching NXT tonight? They're having an 8 man tag, and Jericho is doing guest commentary. Jericho mentioned how tagging out was smart, like doing a shift change in hockey when you're tired........then that butt-goblin Michael Cole goes "Hockey?! Who still watches hockey?!"

Michael Cole needs cross checked into the boards face first.

[skullman80]

Jericho commentating tonight was pure f'n gold. The guy is awesome in pretty much every way possible, both in ring and out of ring. Great stuff.

[steve784]

Jericho commentating tonight was pure f'n gold. The guy is awesome in pretty much every way possible, both in ring and out of ring. Great stuff.

Yeah, I was literally laughing out loud during that match.

[steve784]

For some reason I decided to read the Smackdown spoilers on a wrestling site instead of watching it on DVR like I usually do. One interesting tidbit came out of it:

Spoiler:

Jack Swagger just cashed in MITB and beat Jericho for the WHC after Edge speared him during a promo. I'm stunned. I really thought Swagger was going to be the first MITB winner to lose when he cashed in. He's great in the ring and he has the 'look', but his mic skills are terrible. He's nowhere near ready. I have no idea where they're going with this.

[Why Not Us]

Spoiler:

He's great in the ring and he has the 'look', but his mic skills are terrible. He's nowhere near ready. I have no idea where they're going with this.

Wasn't the same vibe with Sheamus?

[SolidSnake]

The Taker/CM Punk match from the tapings was suspose to be awesome

[Kicksave]

I went to a Raw when I was younger and sat up in the E balcony. I'm thinking of going to Raw in May but will only go if I get front row bc I always thought it would be cool. However, don't want to shell out $450 bucks. lulz.