2015 Pro Wrestling Thread

I don't know. He's a big guy but he suffers the most when they play him like some giant teddy bear to get the face reaction.
To me, he's stuck in Rocky Maivia hell. He's trying to hard to be the humble fan favorite and when he does try to be intimidating, it comes across as ridiculous because we all think back to the stupid promos he's cut.
Reigns should have emerged from the Shield as the absolute badass. He's got an incredible look and, at times, he's got a charm about him. But the walking back and forth between tough guy and sweet sensitive guy discredits both of them and leaves him in a pit.
In his match with Lesnar, I actually found myself partially rooting for him (Though, to be fair, I really wanted Rollins to do what he did) because he found a nice balance between the two. He was getting his ass whooped. Bad. And yet, he took everything Lesnar had to give him and found a believable way not only to hang in there against the biggest monster in the company (Maybe in company history) but seemed poised to actually win in a way that make sense from a plot perspective.
I think that's what he's got to do over the next year to get back into that role. He should almost never talk and be the guy who lets his actions speak for themselves. Get rid of the dated entrance through the crowd, give him some new music, some new gear and let him just demolish people.
He's not the Rock. He'll never be the Rock. No one is the Rock. Stop pretending he has the mic skills to be the second coming of the Rock and just let him be what he is... a big guy who is solid in the ring and has an incredibly marketable look.

 

Fairly interesting interview.

WWE, WCW's Wolfpac is tighter than ever - Extra Mustard - SI.com

 

Reigns should have been treated like Batista when he left Evolution. The slow build into something that would explode.

 

That shit jumps around too much to follow.

 

Kind of a lackluster show, the Neville match on the preshow was pretty good.

Those were two pretty awesome spots in the Reigns/Show match. Starting to make Roman the right way, it seems. Cool to see.

 

Ehhh. They're making him into Cena 2.0. That's better than Ryback 2.0, I suppose, but still. I don't think it helps him to get chokeslammed from the apron to the floor, through a table, and then he gets up. It also doesn't help that Big Show is pretty much worthless as an opponent. I'd like to see Reigns in a feud with pretty much anyone else at this point - Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, anyone.

I didn't see the pre-show, but the main PPV portion was kind of meh to me. The best part to me was the main event, with Orton using the pedigree and Rollins using the RKO - I always love when guys steal finishers. Ziggler vs. Sheamus was good work from both of them. Outside of that, the outcomes to several matches were confusing to me. Why have PTP beat Cesaro and Kidd, when its helped to revitalize their lackluster singles pushes? Why have a heel vs. heel Divas champion match? (And where the heck was Paige? She's the only Diva who actually seems tailor made for this PPV.) Why burn Miz vs. Mizdow on Raw if you're worried about Daniel Bryan's health, and going to have a Bo Dallas / Ryback segment?

 

I liked the chain match.

(Ducking for cover ...)

 

No, you shouldn't. The purpose behind a chain match, or a bull rope match, or any other match like that is to make sure the opponents cannot run away and will take a violent beating.

Instead, they couldn't use the chain, and the purpose of the match became a game of tag the turnbuckle.

 

I agree with this, I think I had such low expectations for the match that I found myself marking out a little for the chokeslam and then the spear through the table. The finish was weak though, like Cena pinning Wyatt for their last man last year. It's OK if Big Show doesn't get up, its not a career killer. Maybe it's too early in his rebuilt but Sheamus and Reigns might put on a cool physical match.

Good point about the Divas, I thought it was odd that the Bellas, playing face to new heel Naomi, won by cheating. There was a newsbit on one of the boards last week that an ex-writer said creative doesn't believe that there are heels or faces with the women, only varying degrees of cattiness. Seems to be on display but is so insanely stupid.

 

Thought the show was pretty solid throughout to be honest.

-Neville and Bad News was a good match to have on kickoff. Got the crowd really amped for the night and Neville looked like a million bucks. He could be huge if booked correctly. We all know what usually happens though...

-Opener between Ambrose and Harper was fun as I thought it would be. The false ending to the match with it to be carried on later in the night was a bit lame though. That didn't really need to happen but I guess it makes sense for the two of them as they are 'crazy'.

Sheamus and Ziggler was good. Didn't see the point in Dolph winning though especially when Sheamus got his revenge after the match. I guess this way they could have a rematch at Payback.

-Tag Titles changing was fine with me and the match was the second best of the night in my opinion. Cesaro is mental just catching everyone including Big E in midair. The finish made perfect sense with The New Say turning heel. Looking forward to a rematch between them at Payback before The Lucha Dragons then get involved in the title picture.

-Rusev and Cena in the chain match was what I thought it would be. Solid but not the right match to end the feud on. Lana and Rusev seemingly splitting sucks though. Digging an I Quit Match at Payback to finally end it although if Cena wins again it would be three straight losses on pay per view for Rusev which is a long way back from his undefeated streak. I am hoping he wins the title back to be honest.

-DIVA's match was nothing special.

-Show and Reigns was the MOTN. I never thought I would ever say that but I liked everything that happened to be honest. From Reigns trying to use tables and other weapons but Show having none of it in the early going to the incredible finish with Show taking bump after bump after bump. Made Roman look insane and I guess that was the whole point. Would bet my house on Reigns becoming King of the Ring in the tournament.

-Main event was what I expected. A good match until the clusterfuck ending. I marked out for Orton hitting the Pedigree and for Rollins hitting the RKO. The 'controversy' at the end suggests to me it will be a Triple Threat Match at Payback between Rollins, Orton and Reigns. Should be a good match if they go that way.

So, anyway a good show with more highs than lows and a shocking match of the night. One of the better Extreme Rules in recent memory and much better than last year's show.

 

New broke tonight that wrestling legend and longtime AWA promoter Verne Gagne died.

Pro Wrestling Legend Verne Gagne Dead at 89

When I started following pro wrestling in the mid-80s, ESPN had just started running the AWA show daily after I got back home from school, and got to see guys like Shawn Michaels, Curt Hennig and Scott Hall cut their teeth. Pretty crude production by today's standards, but still fun to watch in reruns on ESPN Classic.

 

I used to watch the AWA in the mid to late 80s as well as a kid, and I agree, the production values were way down, especially compared to the WWF. I remember thinking how WWF had Hogan as the champion, who seemed like this larger than life super hero, and the AWA had this guy named Nick. Still, it was a fun thing to come home to as a kid, although I still remember how they devoted a whole show to whether or not Larry Z gave the future Mr. Perfect a roll of dimes or not.

He was very much over as a wrestler during the 60s and 70s as much as the owner of the company can be. And yet, like a lot of promoters, he never quite able to adjust to the times. And, as many wrestlers said, he could be very overbearing.

RIP