2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

The Owens turn was AWESOME.

The one thing NXT doesn't have right now is a monster heel. Hell, the crowd will still cheer for Owens, but they definitely needed to do that.

Tyler Breeze is too "cute" to be the mega heel.

That show last night was awesome from top to bottom.

I wonder if KO took it out on CJ Parker for that palm strike that busted him wide open. That looked really fng painful.

Owens-Zayn is going to be awesome. And of course we'll get Owens-Neville and I can't say enough about a possible Balor-Owens bought. Some serious talent coming up.

Also, that Balor entrance was just incredible. As was Banks vs. Charlotte.

Too bad about Corey Graves though. Least he made it on the WWE2k15 video game!

 

And apparently Owens suffered a broken nose on that palm strike (it looked obvious but wasn't sure)

AND Parker split his palm to the bone on the hit as well.

 

Looking back on my post about Owens' turn, I spoke too soon. I had forgotten about the rivalry him and Zayn had in the indies before being signed to WWE. Now, it all makes much more sense than it did last night. I can't wait to see what those two can do.

 

Observer from Dec. 15:

- Punk’s first fight is expected to be in about six months. The only “shoot fight” history on him is about a decade old, when Teddy Hart allegedly punched him out at a Waffle House. (Speaking of Teddy, a warrant is out for his arrest for two counts of sexual assault.) He has no athletic background that would compare with other guys who have successfully done both, like Lesnar or Shamrock or even Batista.

However, it’s pretty much a genius move so far for him and UFC, with Google searches on him (a rough guesstimate of popularity) at a level 15 percent higher than his previous “pipebomb” peak. It’s unknown who his first opponent will be.

- Ring of Honor’s latest show on Dec. 7 was a sellout and had great matches, but they had big problems with the Internet feed. Some people paid for the show and never got it, while for others, it cut out five minutes into the main event even though the show ended short of 3 hours, their limit. There were also lighting and audio issues with the production.

- Alberto Del Rio won the AAA heavyweight title. He’s being built for a feud with Perro Aguayo Jr. He has also been approached by Bellator and Lucha Underground to work with them.

- The voting for the Slammys was semi-legit, in that people do cast their votes for it, but the WWE manipulates the balloting the best they can (keeping people on or off it). So yes, Reigns did get the most votes for Superstar of the Year, whereas internally the company thought it would be Cena that won. It was the second-lowest rated Raw of the year, when usually, the Slammys is one of the highest-rated episodes. This was attributed to almost none of the award recipients being there.

- Since Gail Kim is being advertised for TNA’s show on Jan. 7, it’s believed that she has signed a new deal. Also advertised: Angle, Roode, Jeff Hardy and Lashley. Mike Tenay agreed to a one-year contract, but he will no longer be the lead broadcaster. Jim Ross tried to get him for the Toyko Dome show, but he was turned down by Dixie Carter.

- Speaking of Dixie, in interviews she’s been implying that TNA actually left Spike for more programming hours, and not that they were dumped. Also, she keeps defending Russo, which is especially bizarre since he also went on a Jim Ross podcast in the past few months despite the company asking him not to.

- One of the WWE’s road tour buses now has an Undertaker paint job on it, and it’s believed he’s in the plans for Mania, although it’s unknown if it’s as a wrestler or just a participant of some point. The current plan is Taker vs. Wyatt, not Lesnar or Sting, but they also want to use him on TV in some form if he’s not wrestling because he gets a seven-figure salary.

- Britney Fetkin, who worked as backstage NXT interviewer Devin Taylor, appears on the next season of The Bachelor.

- Charlotte was brought in to Raw and beat in 2:30, for… Nobody really knows why. It was Vince’s call, since Triple H wanted her to win, and even Nattie thought Charlotte should go over. It was seen as a stupid way to bring her in, since she was doing publicity for the NXT show and she is the women’s champion there, and they had her job in 2 minutes to Nattie.

- Ascension promos are now airing during Smackdown, so they’ll be debuting on the main roster soon.

- David Otunga is now doing stand-up comedy. He’s still under a WWE contract but he’s not been used on TV in ages.

 

NXT REvolution was a damn fine show. Makes Raw look so shitty. Speaking of which, I cannot fathom any explanation of why Charlotte was booked so awfully on Raw. My mind is fucking boggled by some of the shit that is approved for TV. Things on NXT make sense, but Raw rarely makes sense these days. We still don't have an answer as to why Brie is suddenly besties with Nikki again! THERE IS NO FUCKING LOGIC.

 

Their issues were because they held the PPV in the shittiest venue (Terminal 5 in NYC) I have ever seen any sports event, high school or otherwise.
The first floor had, maybe, 300 seats, and the upper two levels were directly vertically above the floor meaning, unless you were right on the barracade, you couldn't see anything. Anytime they mentioned "Terminal 5," at least three "F**k this venue!" chants broke out and I don't think I saw a single person who was happy about the place, regardless of their seats, the entire night.
The odd angles also led to the shitty lighting and audio issues and I'll be amazed (And not attend the show) if it takes place there ever again.

 

Main roster has just as many talented wrestlers as NXT if not more but they're being stifled with short times for their matches and nonsensical creative. It's kind of insane, at this point people like Neville and Charlotte might be better off on NXT. What are they going to do on RAW besides get buried?

Seems to be a lot of buzz about the main roster folks catching on to how hot NXT is and wondering why they can't get that kind of simple creative and match times. I wonder how big the fan base is that wants that.....primarily smart, interest and network fans. If the network's really not doing well, Vince must think he's playing to the larger crowd with whatever the nonsense that's been on RAW lately is.

 

I think what people love about NXT is that it just feels different. It's got a true wrestling-first vibe where even the characters who would normally be turned up to 100 and impossible to stand on the main roster (Example: Sasha Banks) can go out and kill it in the ring by, you know, wrestling.
There aren't convoluted storylines (AJ v. Nikki Bella), needless face-heel turns (Big Show, Kane, Mark Henry), strictly-for-the-kids characters (Adam Rose, El Torito, etc) or stale main eventers (Cena, Cena, Cena, Cena, Orton, Cena).
NXT just feels different and is more interesting because the reason to watch it is the action in ring. It's a throwback that old school fans older than 12 love and miss about the main roster's show.
That's not to hate on the main show. I think the WWE has been on point with its PPVs for a long time. Raw and SD suck balls though.

 

Yeah, The Observer has mentioned a couple times that Hammerstein Ballroom upped its rates, and ROH and TNA would both lose money if they ran there without radically upping their rates, even if they sold every ticket on sale.

 

I thought Cena and Rollins put on a really good match. Didn't like the finish. Big Show just isn't over. That match was dead.

Nikki and AJ put on a helluva match. I'm glad they got the time they deserved to do it.

It's interesting that Bray and Ambrose are going on last. They'll have some great spots, I'm sure, but their feud has not captured my imagination at all.

 

Can't believe there's only been one post about TLC after nearly 24 hours.

The ladder match between Ziggler and Harper was pretty damn brutal. Not sure if it was two guys being sloppy, or them just laying it on the line, or a mix of both, but both of them seemed to have a lot of obvious welts, cuts and scrapes. There were also a couple of spots (like Ziggler's DDT to Harper off the ladder, where he scraped the foot of the ladder on the way down) where the giver looked to be an inch or two out of position and damn near crippled themselves.

Wyatt-Ambrose was pretty good, too, even if the crowd didn't seem into it at all. Ambrose is indeed a freaking lunatic. I also appreciate the push he's getting — two main events in three PPVs isn't too shabby. Hope it continues. I didn't get all the buzz when he was in the Shield, but he's really grown on me the last six months or so.

 

TLC was, by and large, horrid. If that's the best the WWE can offer when their main roster talents are reportedly "fired up" over the reaction to NXT's success, well, that's just downright sad.