2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

AJ was getting pinned by Cena at Battleground no matter what. Him getting pinned by Ziggler won't matter, either, because he's one of those wrestlers who doesn't always need to be in the spotlight to get over. He's still over huge, and that'll continue as long as he can keep it going.

As far as ADR goes, the man is boring. His return was great, but he hasn't done jack shit since then. Glad they're keeping him off TV for now.

How many tag teams do we have on SD? I saw two: Vaudevillians and Jordan/Gable during the opening segment. Give it time; it's a two-hour show, not three, and there are going to be people who don't get on every show. Rhyno is someone they're going to use to put the younger talent over, a reverse-jobber, if you will. I don't mind him getting one more run on the main roster.

 

I'm not even a big ADR fan but given how thin the Smackdown roster is its really foolish for them to throw this guy out with the bathwater. He's done as much/more than Sheamus has overall and Raw still found an effective way to use Sheamus to enhance the other guys in his fatal 4way.

Breeze/Fandango, Usos , Ascension and theoretically Hype Bros are also Smackdown tag teams. I just last night was the peak for new eyes on the brand and to not use what could've been their hottest new talent is a big missed opportunity.

 

Read earlier that ZZ has been released from his contract.

And that's a shame. He was on the Breaking Ground follow-up and it seemed as if he'd gotten everything on the right track.

 

Not to be a total horndog, but The E has a beach bikini photo spread online with Becky and Charlotte. It's worth your time.

 

Saw this list on Cageside......big time issues with the order of the top 10.

Ranking the top 101 wrestlers of all time

 

You not linking though is like screwing up the posting of a Poin thread! - Check out these never-before-seen bikini photos from the WWE vault!

 

Yes, I really dropped the ball on this. Let everyone visiting this thread know sgreenwell picked it up and carried it to the end zone. Touchdown.

 

Quick thoughts:

Battleground was solid.

RAW was fantastic.

SD was meh, I'm shocked they put Zigs over.

ZZ getting released is great because he sucked so bad in so many ways. Not that "Yeti" is that much better. He's got NO CHARISMA.

 

I

Oh geez, where do I start?

Sammartino not in the Top 10?

For Frank Gotch: "Someone had to invent the idea of fixed fights, okay?" Um, when Gotch wrestled, it was, you know, real.

The Miz?

Wild Bill Longson: "He came up in the Vaudeville days, back when wrestling was trying to be as realistic as possible, and invented the Piledriver, which might be the least realistic looking wrestling move ever." Um, if you do the piledriver the wrong way, you can kill someone. Ask Steve Austin about that.

JBL?

Christian?

Ron Simmons? OK, he was the first black world champion in a major promotion (unless you count Bearcat Wright in the WWA in the early 60s), and he has a great catchphrase, but he sure as heck isn't among the top 101.

Davey Boy? Try Dynamite Kid.

Kevin Von Erich? Who was the third best of the family, behind David and Kerry?

Michael Hayes? If you're going to pick a Freebird, Terry Gordy was the guy to pick. Not just for his FF career, but also for his work in Japan.

The Miz?

Goldust? At 49? They forgot a number in front of it.

Gorgeous George at 48? Oh, and this "George got his start in the ‘50s, when pro wrestling was trying to look as close to the real thing as possible, and he was one of the first guys to push the industry towards the “sports entertainment” end of the spectrum." Um, no. He actually started as a wrestler in the 30s, and became one of the first TV stars in the 40s. Sheesh, do some research.

Lou Thesz at 41? Top 20.

Bruno at 30? Top 10

Foley at 15? (He's awesome, but I wouldn't place him that high)

Harley Race at 14? Behind Jericho?

The Miz? really?

Andre at 10? Maybe 6 or 7.

Now, like the NCAA tournament, let's talk about some of the snubs. If they are on the list already and I missed them, my apologies.

Superstar Billy Graham. You know, the guy who Hulk Hogan imitated.

Jerry Lawler. Easy for a whole generation of fans to dismiss him as a commentator, but he was a mainstay in the business for 30 years.

Ray Stevens. One of the first incredible bumpers.

Pat Patterson, a great psychologist

Bobo Brazil, who was really the Jackie Robinson of the business.

Mildred Burke. The original women's wrestling star.

Ernie Ladd, who was one of the first African-Americans to be allowed to be a heel.

Killer Kowalski, Freddie Blassie, Dick the Bruiser, all of them great draws.

George Hackenschmidt, hey, if Frank Gotch is on there.

Tiger Mask, the guy who was one of the first cruiserweights.

Sabu, better than RVD, IMHO

If you have the Steiners for their tag team stuff, how about the Road Warriors?

 

Ranking the all-time greatest wrestlers is like ranking the all-time greatest NFL quarterbacks. The top 10 or 15 are pretty much interchangeable, as long as you have certain names on there, and the 15 through 100 are just filling out a list.
Outside the top guys, Big Show was way too low at 96 and Kane was too at 81. Both outstanding big men who could put on matches with damn near anyone (especially Kane)
I didn't have a problem with Christian, a great tag team wrestler and capable singles wrestler, being on there.
Some of the icons that were probably way too low are Mil Mascaras (at 51, should be closer to top 30); Gorgeous George (at 48, should also be top 30); Bruno Sammartino (at 30, should be top 15, but at least the writer gave an explanation of why he put him at 30); Triple H (at 22, should be a few spots higher and at least ahead of Daniel Bryan, who was at 21); and Bret Hart (at 16, should easily be top 15).

As far as the top 15, the only ones I'd quibble with are Foley (15), Piper (12) and Dusty Rhodes (6). I think Rhodes is getting a nostalgia bump since his death. He was iconic, but I'm not sure he belongs at 6 ahead of even bigger icons like Hogan, Andre and Macho Man. The rest all fall into that "interchangeable" realm where you're splitting hairs and getting into subjective arguments.

 

1 and 2 starts and ends with Austin and Hogan, in any order although I've got Hogan 1.

Flair, for all the nice things he did in the South, was home when Hogan carried WCW to national prominence. HBK, for all the awesome things he did after he found Christ, was home in a stupor when Austin saved WWF. Call it bad timing but both guys were on top during huge lulls in business.

Hard for me to get by the top to even consider the problems with Miz and friends at 20-101.

Good call by Baron on Lawler. If they're giving Flair credit for the territories at 1, well Lawler was one of the king of the territory days.

 

I think you can make credible arguments for guys like Austin, Hogan, Flair, Bruno, Andre, The Rock, HBK, Triple H, Cena, Lawler and Dusty, plus a few others, anywhere from #1 to #10. It all matters how much you weigh things like peak earning ability, longevity, and in-ring work. Like, as long as you make your own personal criteria clear, I'm willing to buy arguments on those guys.

Ultimately, Austin would probably be my #1, followed closely by Hogan. Flair might be #3, since thanks to YouTube, I can watch all of his incredible old school promos, half of which are about bangin' chicks at the Marriot.