2010 Pro Wrestling Thread

The whole problem with Rocky Maivia was that they were promoting him as this great wrestler who would change the industry and who had this amazing pedigree but, at the time, he hadn't done shit to deserve it.

And in an era when superstars like The Patriot were vaulted to the top in a matter of weeks and then dropped off the program, a lot of fans were skeptical of supporting anyone who wasn't already established.

For me, I thought the Rocky Maivia character was shit and, looking back, Vince turning Rocky heel might be one of his best moves. Without the Rock, I don't think Austin gets over as big, I don't think the Austin vs. McMahon feud plays out so long and so well and I damn well don't think superstars like Orton, Miz and Punk become some great characters.

I was playing Legends of WrestleMania the other day and was on the Rock vs. Austin WM15 match. It's easy to forget but that rivalry was absolutely amazing. I was a Rock fan, my entire house supported Austin so we'd order every Mania and those matches were epic, back-and-forth fun where, even though we all knew it was fake and even though we all knew Austin would win, for those 30-40 minutes, we were glued to the screen.

I dare say we haven't seen a feud like that since then. Maybe Orton-Cena from this past summer but that's light years away from the intensity of Rock vs. Austin.

 

I was a fan of both growing up. Didn't matter who was the heel, I cheered them both.

All the spots they had -- from Austin throwing the IC belt into a river, to Rock being the mastermind when Austin was run down -- were great and have yet to be matched, in my mind, by anything the WWE has done since.

No rivalry going today or in the last couple of years has matched that electric atmosphere that surrounded those two whenever they were in the ring together. And I don't think one will ever reach that level. One coming up -- a returning Edge vs. Jericho -- could get close, but that's all I see.

 

And he had a crappy hairstyle as well.

 

Unless there's another rundown that I forgot about (entirely possible), Triple H was the guy who masterminded that attack (after they trotted out Rikishi as the suspect and quickly came to realize that nobody gives a shit about Rikishi unless he's dancing with a couple of dorky white guys)

 

Mr. Anderson:

 

Biggest news from the PPV thus far: RIP six-sided ring

 

Thank god.

 

Also A.J. Styles went heel when Flair pulled the ref out while Angle had the ankle lock in, then hit Angle with the TNA title belt. Styles has been heel before, but usually as an adjunct to something else. Now he has Flair in his corner, so that might work.

Doesn't sound like a good show, save for Wolfe-Pope, the main event and Mr. Anderson's intro.

 

I always thought that the six-sided ring kind of set TNA apart from everyone else (except down in Mexico). But at the same time, it killed the psychology of tag team and multiple partner matches.

 

Yeah - I thought it made tag team matches seem less dire and the partners closer, although it shouldn't have really mattered that much. I also don't think they ever got the hang of properly filming the action in the ring. The WWE still seems light years ahead of TNA when it comes to production values.

 

Mr. Anderson, eh? He got a massive pop.

 

He always gets a massive pop, and if he is able to stay healthy, it is a huge pickup for TNA. But history tells us that 'taint gonna happen.