2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

I've heard it's fantastic but I have no idea how to see it as it doesn't air in my area.

As for the screwjob, I've always been a huge Bret Hart fan but I VIVIDLY remember the wrestling culture at that time. Vince couldn't have taken the chance that Hart would have pulled an Alundra Blaze. If Bret had done that, we'd be talking about how last week's Nitro was right now.

 

Can't you just take the belt away from the guy as soon as he leaves the fan's sight? Would seem like a practical solution in general.

 

Brace yourself, everyone: WWE has released AW.

Protip for prospective WWE talent: Don't get on a live mic and compare one of your guys to Kobe Bryant in a hotel room in Colorado. It probably won't work out well.

 

Eh, while I thought it was in poor taste, if that statement is what qualifies as a fire-able offense in the WWE nowadays, I feel ashamed for the direction of the company.

Shit, by former WWE standards, this was a G-rated statement.

 

But it's an election year. Can't be giving the Linda-bashers any ammo, so out the door went AW.

 

Flair's situation was a bit different. He had offered to drop the belt to Barry Windham on his way out and get his deposit back that he had placed when he first won the belt (according to Flair, it was $38K). Jim Herd essentially told him not to bother (with a few choice words added), so Flair contacted Vince. WCW had withdrawn their recognition of Flair as champion, but for a short while, the NWA still recognized him as the champion.

The Madusa thing did happen before the Screwjob. Madusa's contract had ended even though she was still the champion, and Vince basically assumed she would re-up. Instead, Bischoff signed her, and she's said in some interviews that she didn't know she would be throwing the belt in the trash until she got to Nitro that night. Then she was told either to trash the belt, or she'd be fired.

And I agree on the doing the job part. The Canada thing was ridiculous. I half-wonder if that's why Vince is now so into having his wrestlers lose in their hometowns to the point where JR gets embarrassed every time he's in Oklahoma.

The only problem though was that HBK was such a prick at that point that Bret didn't feel he could even work with him. Wrestlers have to trust in each other. It's basically the number one rule. While it would have messed up some plans, having Bret drop the belt to someone else and then have Michaels take it would have been the best idea. Hart even suggested losing the belt to the Brooklyn Brawler in the Garden on a fluke.

Bret would still have been seen in the fans' eyes as the never-beaten champion. If he had gone to WCW with the belt, or at least be seen as the champion, WCW could have de-valued the WWF title by having Bret lose to El Dandy and Disco Inferno.

Vince, to his credit, knew that a strong Flair would be big box office in 1991, although McMahon did end up flubbing the Hogan/Flair payoff by not having it at WM. He could have easily had Flair just lose to the likes of Jim Powers.

 

I loved Disco Inferno. I always wanted to see him get more of a push.

 

Can't say I'm surprised by this. You don't say what he said, especially with Linda running for office and in the politically-correct days we live in, and get away with it.

 

I thought what AW said was funny, and his Twitter rant has been nothing short of fantastic.

 

I feel like the "we can't have our champion leave and make us look bad!" is an outdated leftover from the kayfabe days. It's a TV show. When the actor leaves, write him off and move on.

 

Don't forget, the Screwjob happened in 1997. There was still a semblance of kayfabe that the Screwjob ended up shattering. WWF had announced the matches were predetermined in 1990, but a lot of the kayfabe secrets hadn't been broken out to the casual fan by '97. ECW broke kayfabe regularly, but they were mostly geared for the (no pun intended) hardcore fan.

Not to mention, pro wrestling lives on the illusion that it seems like a real sport. Fans want to see who can "beat" the other guy. Look at Cena/Rock. If fans didn't somewhat care who won, nobody would attend the matches.

 

So not only does AW get fired, but Booker cancelled the world title match at Summer Slam between Sheamus and ADR. They don't know if Sheamus will be "100 percent" by the show, but if he is they're trying to decide who he'll face between six or seven different people.