2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

I agree with most of this. I like Simmons more than most, so I wouldn't mind if he sits in, but it's also clear that his attention is spread across so many things now that he wouldn't be a good regular co-host. I'm assuming that Shoemaker will just rotate some people in and out though, and frankly, it's not like there is a lack of options when it comes to interview subjects and co-hosts for wrestling, since every ex-wrestler has a podcast now.

The Rosenberg and Greg Zombie Cheat Heat, blah. It's surprising to me that they're continuing with it. Greg seems like a nice enough dude, but he's even less of a natural than Shoemaker on the mic, so I'm fully expecting it'll be an hour of Rosenberg pumping himself up.

Also - If you haven't heard the Cheap Heat Q&As they did before Mania, there is some really good stuff in there. Sasha Banks talks about how she was told she was seen as only a good hand, Bray Wyatt talks about where he's at, good stuff with the New Day, etc.

 

Is Goldstein based out of LA or NY? I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up co-host on one of those two shows.

I used to love Cheap Heat. It's declined a lot in the last six months I think. Even this last episode, I found myself fast forwarding through a lot of it. I don't care about who they saw at what after party of what Rosenberg's agent said. To a large degree they've stopped BSing about wrestling and starting BSing about themselves.

I'll miss what the show used to be. I'm kind of glad I don't feel obligated to continue listening to what it eventually became.

 

I think the big part of why the post-Mania Raw isn't as special as it used to be is that three, four years ago, it was organic (I believe it started with the Miami crowd turning Raw into a two-hour YES-chanting lesson after Daniel Bryan lost to Sheamus in 18 seconds). Now it's expected, both by the fans who feel as though it's their obligation to continue the "tradition" of random smarkiness, and the upper management who brand it as a crazy night with a unique crowd. It's like watching the corporate makeover of Burning Man or Coachella, or perhaps In-n-Out putting their secret menu on the website. So to placate those fans, they stack the deck with indie favorites and debuts, and that sounds great and all, but you can't do long-term booking around the whims of a smark-loaded crowd. Which is what the post-Mania Raw used to do, move WWE along to the next season. Instead, they do this, and it look great the night of the show, but it falls apart once you get out in front of more traditional crowds. Remember when we were all Fandangoing and humming his ridiculous theme song?

A.J ending Smark Raw victorious was a surreal sight, but we all know Roman's going to truck him back to the IC/U.S. picture at the next PPV, because the big-picture booking, whatever passes for it these days, almost certainly won't account for more than a couple weeks of those two as the title feud. Enzo and Cass can't be sustainable in WWE as structured; the only way this has legs is if Enzo becomes Cass's hype man, more Xavier Woods than Kofi Kingston. I do think Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin have the potential to be special. The Vaudevillans, as much as I like their dorky-as-fuck schtick in the context of NXT, will absolutely die a death in WWE. They'll go flat as fast, if not faster, than the Ascension or Los Matadores (or their next incarnation, the Flower-Sniffing Communications Specialists of the Puerto Rico Tourism Council).

If they ever went to an offseason, Wrestlemania would be the perfect cutoff. The next Raw would be NXT's, and they'd run it for two months while everyone rested up. Then an NXT PPV, then the Raw after that goes back to the main roster, with NXT callups debuting there and in the days afterward, as they build to Summerslam. But the financials probably don't allow for that.

 

All of this is spot on.

 

Styles will be in the title picture at least through Money in the Bank, assuming they do a ladder match for the title. They'll need bodies to fill out that match. Hell, maybe this title shot is his trial by fire and he'll win the briefcase.

 

I agree with the premise of what Mystery Meat said but I think in these two specific cases it will work out. AJ is over. I think he's over to a degree that has surprised WWE management and I think he's over with fans that have never seen TNA to a point that's really taken them aback. I think they're going to run with him.

I also think Enzo and Cass are a special case because the crowd simply loves a good chant. Within two weeks, people who don't watch NXT will be singing along with 'You Can't Teach That.' Hell it's half the reason Ryback is still decently over. I think the bare minimum for Enzo and Cass is whatever the New Age Outlaws were at their peak.

And yeah, the Vauds are positively screwed, lol.

 

I'm half-surprised Vince hasn't creamed himself yet over Cass. He's got the look.

 

And that can't be taught.











Aw, I fucked it up!

 

Disagree completely as you're missing the point. I have no problem with crowds who are chanting RELEVANT material during a match/segment.
The crowd that wouldn't stop chanting "Daniel Bryan" during that WWE title presentation where he wasn't part of the presentation itself but WAS in the ring? Fine.
The crowd that chanted "We want Sasha" during women's matches? Fine. She's part of the revolution. Perfect.
The crowd that chants "Let's go Cena! Cena Sucks!" during his matches? Cool.
And, hell, I'll even take the crowds that chant crazy and creative things we've never heard before IF and only IF it's funny and original. (Fandangoing, the music to the Cena song, the chanting the lyrics to McMahon's entrance.) Those ENHANCE the show, they don't take away from it.
But to the crowds chanting "JBL!" during a match or doing the wave or chanting "We are awesome!," please f**k off. No one is paying to see your stupidity and you're actively ruining the experience.
It's no different than people with signs. Funny sign? OK. Cool. Holding up a "Yo, Tommy, I'm at RAW!" sign every 20 seconds? Eat a dick.

 

Also, I just have to add this though I fear the responses it will elicit: Both AJ Styles and Samoa Joe do nothing for me.

Nothing.

 

My suspicion would be that you like the showmanship part of wrestling a bit more than the wrestling part. Not that there's anything wrong with that; everyone has their own preferences, after all.

 

"Fuck you," says every wrestling fan on the internet, ever.