2015 Pro Wrestling Thread

So, Beast in the East happened today. Anybody happen to watch it live? Don't want to spoil it if somebody's planning to watch it but hasn't yet. I didn't but read a recap and it sounded like it was worth seeing....

 

I didn't watch it live (5:30 am East coast) but I watched it in the mid morning before BBQ. Pretty good show, worth the 90 or so minutes if you FF through the video packages. I didn't bother watching the "main event" tag match of Cena/Ziggler vs. Kane/Barrett but everything before that was boss.

 

Few quick things catching up:

I made a Barry Horowitz mention in the newsroom last night. Odd that he was also brought up on here and I haven't checked in for days.

Beast in the East was pretty damn good. I wouldn't be surprised if they did some tapings from there of Kane boarding a plane to Hawaii and Lesnar being on the same plane, since they even mentioned Hawaii is a major stop/layover for trips to Japan from the U.S. And then after Kane's out of the way, the car gets destroyed by Lesnar.

I'll be going to my second NXT show in Lakeland on July 31. Front row this time and I hope to have better pictures. I didn't want to post the crap ones I had here.

 

Thoughts while watching this Beast in the East special:

- The show is so much better when it’s more “minimalist” like on this show. They still did some pimping of Twitter, but otherwise, there was way less bells and noises, and it made for a better experience for me. Even the promos they did between matches felt way simpler and thus more effective to me.

- Really good match between Neville and Jericho to start things off. Jericho went over, even though he’s a part-timer, but I think it made sense, since he was kind of getting a face response in Japan.

- It’s weird that Nikki’s theme song says, “You can look but you can’t touch,” and she’s a heel again now, but she’s slapping hands as she comes down the entryway. And once again, this was another women’s match where you could hear them calling spots. (In the corner, as they were preparing for the Tamina powerbomb.)

Cole mentioned that Nikki now has a “Quest for 300” or something like that, to established herself as having the longest reign for a Divas’ champion. I’d be shocked if she didn’t get it, since the current holder is AJ Lee, and she’s married punk, she was outspoken about how little they used divas, and she didn’t leave on great terms.

However, man… I think the Bellas are probably the problem in that division, although not of their own doing. Nikki is like a female Cena, just on TV way too much. I think that’s why the crowd popped so much last week for a Paige vs. Alicia Fox match, when the latter hasn’t been in a significant match in ages.

- Humorous to see the crowd legit clapping, and a face chant, for Kofi Kingston. People were questioning why he of all people got the “return to action” match for Lesnar, but I thought it was smart. Kingston is so good in the ring, he looked like a rag doll on the suplexes, and when Lesnar just shook off his offense.

- Awesome how Kevin Owens played to the crowd. Good stuff. “I hate this country and everybody in it.” It also made Balor’s win more believable while maintaining Owens’ mystique; it was more like Owens was upset because of his own smugness, vs. being bested by a better wrestler. The in-arena pomp and circumstance helped to give it all a “big match” feel.

- Kind of weird that Cena and Dolph vs. Kane and Barrett (?!?) closed out the show, but from the reaction Cena got, it was more understandable.

Overall, a really good show. I hope they do more stuff like this in the future, just taping and airing some of the weekend house shows they’re going to do regardless.

 

A few thoughts of my own:

• If you've ever watched some of the "Old School" house shows on the Network, this special had that kind of flow to it. In the old days, the matches you'd think of as main events were often in the middle of the card and the shows ended with so-so matches. When Balor and Owens came out for this one, I had to check the lineup to see what was left. Thought they might give them an hour when I looked at the clock.
I, too, liked the minimalist nature of the event. While watching it, the thought occurred that they should do this occasionally with stateside house shows. Don't dress them up, just air them and let people see what they look like. Use the rough edges to your advantage in the billing. It'd be a good place to spring a random IC or tag team title change, too.

• That was a phenomenal match between Jericho and Neville. I loved seeing Jericho go old school with some of his moves (the cocky pin made a comeback!) and wrestle in a place he knows and appreciates. Easily the best match of the night.

• I love the way Lesnar no-sold in his match. He didn't just shrug off Kofi's offense. If you watch him, he smartly turns to absorb the kicks with his back and the ropes -- the way you would if you were actually in a fight. Stuff like that doesn't happen enough in pro wrestling, nor do they explain away near-falls well enough by talking about how a fatigued wrestler might not have gotten the full impact of a finishing move. Again, going back to the old days, that's something Jesse Ventura used to do really well on commentary. Nowadays, every finisher is treated like somebody suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
Brock is also, to borrow the catchphrase, a beast. He was picking up Kofi like you'd pick up your little brother.

• That's the first time I've seen Finn Balor wrestle. I know he's an internet darling, but what's his appeal supposed to be?
I saw a guy with limited offense (almost every move seemed like a variation on a two-footed stomp/kick, although I like it as a finisher), an overblown "demon" persona, a ring entrance and look that reminded me of the Boogeyman, and someone who reminded me of Kofi Kingston in terms of athleticism and body type.
Comparing him to the other recent NXT newcomers, when I look at Owens or Neville -- hell, even the Ascension -- I easily see what makes them a big deal and why they're intriguing. I just didn't see that with Balor, and this was his showcase moment. Am I missing something?

 

I echo similar thoughts. He's got the look, charisma, and character to be a star (I like the demon alter ego that only comes out on special occasions), so that's probably why E is so high on him. But aside from his Pele kick, I don't see much that makes him stand out in-ring.

And his finisher is god-awful ... both in name and actual execution of it. Now if he were pushing 300lbs and coming off the top rope onto someone's chest, it might be a little more believable.

But he's 200lbs. That's supposed to finish someone like Owens off? That's like having Kofi's finisher be a bonsai drop.

 

I decided Finn was one of my favorite guys after his match with Neville at the February NXT special....good match with Breeze at the Takeover after that. If you have 20 minutes or so and are bored sometime they are worth watching.

Even being a Balor mark, having seen Cena/Owens recently I have to agree that the offense didn't feel as impactful as it does when the two bigger guys are involved. And man is Owens one of the best pure heels they've had since I started watching again in the summer of Punk. I cannot recall the last time the main roster had two heels with as much real heat as Owens and Rollins.

 

I like Balor (even if some of his offense doesn't look convincing) but I'm with y'all on how good of a heel Owens and Rollins are right now. Honestly, I'm just glad WWE has gone in a different direction when it comes to the wrestlers they feature. Yeah, I know there's a lot of the same old faces up there (Cena, Orton, Kane, etc.), but there's a lot of newer folks who really can go when given the opportunity.

On a side note, it sounded like the New Japan card this morning in Osaka was pretty darn good, too, if you happen to be a fan of it.

 

I'll give Cena credit. A lot of credit. Even though he's keeping the character the same, he's freshened up his moveset a lot lately. I'm sure some it is working with a guy like Owens, but since Wrestlemania he's introduced the springboard stunner and that weird flip-powerbomb thing into his repertoire. Even busted out a hurricanrana or two. At this stage of his career, it's great to see him willing to do that.

Getting back to Balor, I like his finisher. Whether you're 200 pounds or 300 or 100, stomping someone from that height is going to hurt like hell. Focusing the energy through your feet like a shaped charge would make it even moreso. It's a believable move to me.
It was the rest of his moveset that left me unimpressed. As I said, every move seemed like a variation on his finisher. We've also seen the double-footed dropkicks before from Daniel Bryan and a few others, so it wasn't quite original. Seeing Balor in there with a guy like Owens, who's flying around like a luchadore, doing power moves, hitting three dozen spots and never the same one twice, only made it more glaring.
Was some of that the way that particular match unfolded? Owens was dominating and Balor was playing the desperation card, so maybe that was what he used to stay in it. Or is that pretty much it?

 

I'm kind of so-so on Balor right now. I can see that he's athletic, but I find the whole "demon" thing kind of cheesy. Every time he changes into that persona, I can't help but feel like it's channeling the Boogeyman. I think it would be more interesting if he had a "mental break" at some point and went fully heel into that mode for a couple months, or even a year or two, before someone finally snaps him into his normal persona again.

 

Update from the world of wrestling podcasts, with one fairly big change.

Jericho's podcast is consistently the best. If you can fast-forward through some of his intro schtick and if he plays one of the five Fozzy songs he keeps playing, the interviews are usually very good. And his show is getting much more varied in guests. It's not all rasslin' all the time. He's had plenty of rock musicians, plus actors and directors. He did an episode with Scott Baio as a guest, and it was pretty good. Nothing new, as he's had Eli Roth and Rob Zombie on, but I'd like for him to expand further away from being a rasslin' podcast. He's probably the best guy to do it since he has connections in music and film/TV.

Austin's is a good rasslin' podcast as long as he's not in the middle of bumfuck filming one of his reality shows. Then it can be a challenge to get through. Lots of Q&As with listeners (usually email), and it's the same old shit -- questions about this match or that segment from 1998. Even Austin is asking people to quit asking the same questions over and over.

But sometimes there are gems to be discovered in those meandering episodes. The guy is a natural storyteller, and he had me cracking up at this insane story about fighting a dragonfly in his camper out in the Cali. desert (filming one of his shows). Maybe it's because it was 3 a.m. and I was moving a car load of stuff to my new house, or maybe it was just that damn funny.

He did have a guest recently, and it was a suprisingly candid talk with The Patriot aka Del Wilkes. Wilkes went into his career, but mostly the talk was how the guy was able to do 120 painkillers a day, Somas, other prescription meds, and not die, because it used to be really easy to game all the doctors and pharmacies in town in the 80s and 90s.

Grantland's Cheap Heat is still a fun listen, but there are rarely guest interviews. It's just David Shoemaker and Peter Rosenburg reviewing the week's shows and news. It's easy to tune out at times. Unlike Jericho's pod, if Cheat Heat veers the talk away from rasslin' it's a chore to listen. Mostly because it's Rosenburg name dropping and bragging about which hip hop event he was at most recently. There's now a "Stat Guy," who sits through the show to look up details Shoemaker and Rosenburg are fuzzy on and reports back at the end. But it's become irritating to have him on because if he interjects during a conversaion, Rosenburg will play soundboard clips over him. You can't hear what the guy is saying. It's a little too juvenile at times for a professional product.

I haven't listened to Jim Ross in weeks. He's best in small doses these days. I only listen if I really want to hear a guest. Even then, it's mostly Ross bitching about too many finisher kick outs, no time limits, blah blah blah. Give it up, JR, it ain't gonna change.

I started listening to Sam Roberts, but he lost me after defending the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters. Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy aren't funny to me, and I hope the movie bombs fucking hard.

Roddy Piper is gone from Podcast One. His podcast is no longer on the Podcast One website, and the last episode was in early June. If you had ever listened, you can imagine why Podcast One isn't carrying Piper anymore. But I haven't found anyting online to detail who pulled the plug or why. I had noticed that within the last month, there were no more commercials. Piper would cut to a break, and the show would come back on. Piper definitely had ads before, as he was schilling the same stuff Jericho and Austin schilled, likely as part of a general package of ads Podcast One had.

Piper was hard to listen to at times. His mind wanders is an understatement. Interviews were all over the place, and it usually resulted in Piper telling the Mexican National Athem story at least once a month. Sometime in late April or early May, Piper had a guy on who I can only recall as "Inappropriate Earl," some C-level stand-up comedian. He had a vast knowledge of wrestling history, and some of his jokes were pretty funny in the first appearance. But then he kept showing up, and after a few episodes, he was called a co-host.

I understand Piper probably needed some help to keep the show on track to a point that it's something a professional company can release, but Earl got old really fast. It was the same five jokes about Hogan's sex tape, what a piece of shit the Honky-Tonk Man is, among other tired shit. It actually made a bad show worse.

So, episodes stopped in early June with no notice, and Piper went a little quiet on Twitter regarding the show. Now he's tweeting that the show will be back with a different podcast company. Earl is still there, who the fuck knows why.

It's too bad, because Piper was the only one really giving time to some of the B-level, old school guys like Greg Valentine, the Bushwhackers, etc. The shows in which Piper and those guys tell old stories of road hijinx were a strong point. But it was too much of a mess at other times.

That's the report from my end.