2008 Running Pro Wrestling Thread

Yes, I have seen that one. If they let Danielson work like that in the WWE, I'll be fine. I'm interested to see how toned done Matt Sydal is on ECW tonight. He makes his debut as Evan Bourne. It was Sydal who helped train Pretty Boy Floyd for Wrestlemania.

 

From Meltzer's wrestlingobserver.com update today:

--WWE sent out another press release today noting 1 million fans signed up last week and they set web site records, and people were signing up they say at a rate of 9,000 per minute on Monday night during the show. But an ominous sign was in the release: "It's just a matter of time before the Chairman closes his personal ATM machine to viewers." So, yes, they know it's a flop but figure they have to do one more week to save face.

--It was also a work. An article at www.meadvilletribune.com/local/local_story_162234633.html interviewing winner Will Frank noted he was called at 9 p.m., when Raw started to tell him to be by the phone. So everyone was pre-screened to know they were there and would be watching. That really makes Vince look bad because of how many times he screwed up dialing the phone.

 

That's upsetting. But on a good note, Matt Sydal Evan Bourne was really, really good last night on ECW.

If they do make that show a minor league, of sorts, I'll be tuning in every week.

 

I'm sure WWE didn't tell the winners the amounts they would receive, only to be by the phone. It must have really sucked for the one who got the $2.

 

I didn't see this posted yet, but for what it's worth, Monday's show did a 3.0 rating, which I think is even LOWER than the week before.

Oops.

 

--Vince McMahon was not too pleased with his own performance in the Million Dollar Mania giveaway segments on Raw on Monday, reports prowrestling.net. Some people in WWE weren't too please with how he came off either. One WWE source felt McMahon showed how out of touch he is. "In some ways it highlighted the problems of the company. I felt bad for him. It was depressing."

 

glad someone seems to finally be seeing the light.

 

Now, if Vince can only start improving his wrestling product.

I give WWE a lot of credit. They are writing three shows, for roughly 52 weeks a year (save for the occasional year-end highlight show). That's roughly 150 shows, and nearly 750 hours of programming each year. Compare that to a regular show, that might have 22 hours. I think they try the best they can.

Thing is, they need to mix things up somewhat. Like I've said other times, have a tag team division. Have a cruiserweight division, have managers to make the guys who can't talk more interesting. (Charlie Haas, with the right manager, could be used a lot better than just to kiss Mae Young). And emphasize these guys, build them up. Let them have their own main events on some weeks, rather than just focusing on the World (or WWE) title. The two times I remember the women's title being the main event (Lita winning it from Stephanie, and Trish battling Lita, I forgot who won), it was a real unique thing. WWE needs more of that.

Look at TNA. They do a lot of things wrong (like messing up the X Division). But right now, their Knockouts Division is one of the most fun parts of the show. Why? Besides the obvious (most of the women are hot), they have an interesting champion in Awesome Kong, and they are getting emphasized each week.

For all of WCW's clusterfucks, one of the things that made Nitro such a great show from '95 to around '98 was the midcard (Jericho, Guerrero, Mysterio, and yes, Benoit). Yet, the main event scene started to suck, and the company eventually collapsed. WWE could learn from that, but instead, they have their wrestlers do the same 6-7 moves per match.

The WWE in the 80s sometimes would run three house shows in one night, with Hogan, the IC champ, and the tag champs as the main eventers. Hogan, naturally drew most of the fans, but the other shows drew their share as well.

WWE needs to have more variety, so that in a few years, when 'Taker, Michaels, Batista all hang up their tights, and HHH and Edge slows down, that they will have a future.

Rant over.

EDIT: I meant 250 hours of programming a year. And I'm referring to the TV shows, not counting WWE 24/7.

 

Not surprised that the winners knew it was coming. They didn't exactly sound surprised when they answered the phone. If I'm watching Raw when that segment's on, and $50,000 or $200,000 is on the line, and the phone rings, I think I'd be a little more excited and jittery than what those folks showed. They sounded like Drew Carey handing out a new dresser.

 

I haven't seen him a whole lot, so forgive the ignorance, but what makes Samoa Joe so highly-revered amongst the wrestling community?

I'm watching Samoa Joe vs. Kaz right now on Impact and can't, for the life of me, see what the appeal is. He doesn't appear to be an acrobat. He doesn't look like he's a straight brawler. He just kind of ... wrestles.

Is that it? For someone that the Internet community loves, I figured he'd be in the same stratosphere as C.M. Punk or Brian Danielson or someone.

 

His style is kind of a tough-guy ring technician, kind of like Taz in ECW around 1998. You get the feeling that if you pissed him off wrong, he'd stretch you unti you screamed within about five seconds.

Have a friend who met Joe recently, and said he was a terrific guy to talk to.

 

For the hell of it, I put in my entry for this week's money giveaway on wwe.com, and read the official rules. Apparently, there will be another joke prize this week, for $16.