2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

It's a hilarious bit the first time you see it on Youtube. It doesn't have much shelf life beyond that.

 

I'm waiting for them to do something to extend that life actually.

 

And I just googled the name, they might have to change it. There's an Atlanta-based Dixie band guitar duo already named and has the website "The Vaudevillains"

 

Even as a heel, Zeb Colter gets a hell of a lot of cooperative chanting in his "We The People."

 

I don't see many gimmicks in NXT translating to the big show. Only ones I think will do well are the Ascension and Zayn.

 

That's the issue I guess.

Bo is starting to get over, but they gave him a hell of a rub with Daniel Bryan.

They haven't been so kind to Adam Rose, and I think that character has a chance to shine if they let it.

I fear Sami Zayn would be buried as a "cruiserweight" but the matches he could have with Ziggler and of course, another round with Cesaro, would be sensational.

Not sure how Tyler Breeze would go over, but it could have a shot if done correctly.

I think the biggest thing I like about NXT is the crowds are really into it and they're vocal like an ECW House Show would be. It makes it fun to watch. Even more fun than some of the WWE's main roster stuff.

 

I still have hope for Adam Rose. I'm a rosebud, damn it!

 

I think of those guys, Bo Dallas should be a staple on the main roster for years. I'm not sure if he'll ever be a world champion, but he seems to be doing a better version of the schtick DDP was doing in his WWE run. I think he'll only falter if he gets lumped in with joke characters like Santino, and doesn't ever, ever, ever win clean / win against quality opponents.

Likewise, whenever they bring Sami Zayn up, I think he'll be on the main roster for as long as he wants to be an enhancement / midcard guy. And I don't think it's out of the realm that he gets the title in a Chris Benoit or Eddie Guerrero or Mankind or Rey Mysterio way, i.e. "thanks for your longtime service."

Adam Rose, his future looks murkier to me. At best, I think he might be the new Santino, which probably isn't the worst thing when it comes to your paycheck. Hard for me to see how he transitions from the singing and dancing guy to a serious wrestler though.

 

Bo's character is close enough to being a real guy that it could evolve and/or get serious if needed. Rose is kind of porked. He's 34, he's probably needing and loving the main roster payday, he probably does him no good to be a pain in the neck but I see no way that gimmick wasn't doomed from the start.

 

Listening to the Cheap Heat podcast this week, they mentioned an idea for Bo Dallas that's making the internet rounds and is absolutely genius.
WWE ought to give him a submission finisher where, the whole time, he's encouraging the guy not to give up.

 

The problem with Adam Rose, which will also be an issue with the Vaudevillians and could be an issue with Tyler Breeze is that some gimmicks work great in intimate environments with specific fanbases than they do on a nationwide arena tour. A lot of bands flourish in a 1,000-seat venue, but their sound is hopelessly lost in a 15,000-seat arena, for example.

Rose was great in NXT, but the fans there are regulars and veer smarkier than most of the Raw/Smackdown crowds. Plus his party entourage can make a lot of noise at Full Sail, but at Raw or Smackdown, it's rendered almost invisible just by how much larger a facility they're playing.

The Vaudevillians issue is that their act is great for NXT-style fans (they'd be gods in Chikara), but it's not one that translates easily to an easily bored crowd that doesn't have the time or inclination to invest long-term in new gimmicks. Plus Aiden English had built sweat equity from his previous gimmick of operatic singer.

I like Tyler Breeze an awful lot, but I wonder if he could pull off a new Nature Boy gimmick, because he seems perfect for it, and the Nature Boy gimmick has been passed down before. Him and Charlotte as a power couple? There's a lot of potential there.

 

It's not like I see main event potential in Adam Rose, it's just that after a lifetime of rebeling against having shitty comedy characters shoved down my throat (in the past decade alone, I count Eugene, Boogeyman, Santino, to an extent Fandango), that I have given up and embraced the latest.