2010 Pro Wrestling Thread

Vince has always loved the big guys, but the early 90s steroid scandal and WCW finally dragged him kicking and screaming into not being so hard headed about smaller wrestlers, like Benoit, Guerrero, Jericho. He's still more apt to push a larger wrestler than a smaller one, but if they're talented enough and they kiss the right amount of ass, he'll push them.

I still like Mysterio, but injuries and the WWE's insistence on a certain style have neutralized him to a certain point.

Plus, as the saying goes, he got civilized once the big bucks come into play. Look at most wrestlers. When they're first starting out, they're doing all sorts of crazy things to get noticed. Once they're established, then they rely on the few things they do to get a reaction. Foley often said he got a bigger reaction out of pulling a sweatsock out of his pants than he did dropping elbows on concrete for 10 years.

 

I hate Mysterio for different reasons, I know he's not the only one to do it but I hate it when wrestlers don't put people over.

Let's go back in time, about eleven years, give or take a couple months. Rey was performing in WCW, still not selling worth a damn, and while putting o exciting matches, was beginning to have knee issues. He also began to complain about the work atmosphere in WCW. And granted, he had plenty of validity to him, because everybody in the mid card was doing the exact same thing, and complaining in particular about one man; Kevin Nash. Every wrestler and their mother (right Judy Bagwell?) Absolutely hated the way that Kevin Nash was booking the company, and to some extent, they had every right to. Mysterio was forced to lose his mask to Nash, and was completely humiliated on television. Of course, Kevin Nash also gave Mysterio his "Giant Killer" gimmick that he's still pandering around to this day, but we won't get into that. That shines far too positive a light on Kevin Nash. Anyway ,Mysterio felt as though Nash was holding him back. He promised he would never do business like Nash, and swore that people like Kevin Nash would be the death of the business.

Oh. The. Irony. Words can't describe how sweet the schadenfreude feels in pointing out the hypocrisy here. Rey Mysterio, for all his bluster ten years ago, has pretty much become the Kevin Nash of the WWE. We're aware of at least two instances in which Rey Mysterio has refused to put people over. One of course would be CM Punk, and the other Dolph Ziggler. Though Ziggler needed the win more than Mysterio, Rey balked on passing the belt onto Ziggler, and allowing for Dolph to try and get over legitimately. Now, Dolph hangs from Vickie Guerrero's neck, like a clubbed ferret. CM Punk, too, needed the win over Mysterio more than Rey needed the win. Still, Rey decides to put himself over, and though Punk has seemingly recovered, it was a very dicey return to the top. I'd argue anyone not near the talent of CM Punk would have been buried.

Not only that, but Rey's proven to be quite grouchy with WWE management over the past couple months. How dare Vince not allow me to work for another company!, he bellowed angrily, in his squeaky voice. How dare he treat the widow of the man I've been whoring the legacy of for three years so horribly! He declared. And yet, still, through all of this.... Rey Mysterio was rewarded with a championship run. That's right... One of the guys who has been the most unprofessional workers in the past year, is being awarded with one of the top honors in his profession. Dios Mio! Que Mierdo Paso?

Look, I get that Rey has built up plenty of good karma in his life, but this is clearly a case of the unprofessional wrestler getting rewarded. Thus, with that in mind;

 

Also you could throw in that ol' O.G. was tied to Benoit's doctor.

 

The sad thing is that it was clearly just a cosmetic, marketing sort of change - Benoit and Guerrero were even worse juicers than the Hogans of the world. I just got done reading "Ring of Hell", and while the book is crap for the most part, the portions about Benoit and Guerrero's steroid usage are interesting.

 

I have grown to dislike Mysterio, simply because I don't think he's HEAVYWEIGHT championship material. Never has been. I hope WWE lets him go when his contracts runs up, but that'll mean a (HUGE) hit in merchandise revenue, so I doubt he walks.

 

Nice fucking job, Vince. I hope you're happy, you asshole.

From wrestlingobserver.com:

Richard Blood aka Ricky Steamboat, 57, suffered a brain aneurysm last night in Tampa and is currently being hospitalized. We don't know any more details other than it has been confirmed by those in WWE and it is not working an angle from Monday. Steamboat was banged up from Monday's angle.

He is currently listed as being in intensive care under 24-hour observation, and it has been reported that an angiogram has revealed bleeding in the brain.

They're saying it's not part of the angle, but did say he was banged up Monday night.

I hope Vince rots in hell.

 

I don't know much about aneuryisms, but could Steamboat possibly have quietly had that problem before Monday night, but without any symptoms, then the symptoms occurred due to the 'beat down'?

I'd hate to say that maybe Monday's angle might have been a blessing in disguise, especially when there isn't that much info coming out, and like I said, I'm no doctor. For everyone's sake, let's just hope Steamboat's OK.

Something simliiar happened to Piper during his tag title run with Flair. He had a sore back, thought it was from a bad bump, then they found out he had a tumor.

 

Baron might be onto something here. Every time I've seen Steamboat, he's been in great shape/health. Hell, he could still wrestle last year, as he showed at/around WM25. There wouldn't have been any reason for Vince/Ricky/WWE to believe anything was wrong with him before this.

 

With that being said, I hope Steamboat recovers, and quickly. He always was entertaining to watch, and he comes off as a truly classy individual.

 

Can they use this as an excuse to stop trotting out old guys and having them participate like that in any way?

Whether it's a health risk or not, it's hideous to watch.

 

Vince gets his jollies by humiliating every superstar of the past, whether they worked for him or not.

He send a man in his mid-50s out to the ring and let a bunch of rookies stomp the hell out of him for no other reason than his sheer pleasure.

 

More from Meltzer:

--As noted earlier, Ricky Steamboat is in stable condition after a brain aneurysm suffered last night. He was in intensive care earlier today. Steamboat had suffered a neck injury and severe head pain legitimately stemming from the angle on Monday, although the WWE's announcement of cracked ribs was storyline. The aneurysm is not believed to be related to the angle on Monday. But for reasons of taste, WWE has pulled the NXT angle from its Youtube channel due to Steamboat's condition and if he's still in a bad way in a few days, I'm guessing they will downplay the footage on Raw on Monday. He is expected to be hospitalized for some time.