2017 Pro Wrestling Thread

And the crowd goes mild for Jason Jordan.

 

How long til he turns heel? Seems like the smug on his face will make him a better heel than face.

 

I could watch Strowman throwing that chair over and over again.

 

A couple of random thoughts while mostly listening to Smackdown:

1) The MITB contract is "anywhere, anytime" just like the old Hardcore championship, right? I know they save it for a huge moment to pop the crowd, but what if they had a cash-in somewhere completely unexpected like a mall food court or an airplane? Set it up where Jinder Mahal is getting on a private plane to go somewhere, and Baron Corbin beats up the Singh Brothers, leaves them on the tarmac, and sneaks on board with a referee to cash in.
There might be 500 FAA regulations prohibiting this, but it would be different.

2) One hour is the gold standard for epic matches, but what is the longest possible match two guys could pull off and still be entertaining? And how incredible would it be if they did it on a random episode of Smackdown (just because it feels like it would work better there than on Raw)?
If you got two elite guys with good chemistry together -- say Styles and Nakamura, or even make it a triple threat with Owens so they can all get the occasional breather -- could they conceivably pull off an entire two-hour episode with just them? Both from an entertainment and physical endurance standpoint?
My hypothetical is that the match opens the show, no hype or fanfare beforehand. Maybe it's a title match, maybe not. They roll through the first commercial break ... and the second ... and then past the 30-minute mark ... and then the match just keeps going and going, with near falls and drama building the whole time as these guys obviously become more and more spent. It finally wraps up in the next-to-last segment, around the 1:45-1:55 mark to suspend disbelief as much as possible.
I think fans have been conditioned to expect big matches to end between the 20- and 30-minute mark, and at other time cues around the show. If you had a match that just kept rolling on past those marks, with the right guys, you might be able to pull off the match of the century, right?

 

I've been playing GM mode on Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 a good bit lately, and every now and then in my fantasy booking random guys start demanding title shots so I give them one. Then they win, even though I really don't want them to, and they just will not give up the belt for months. It annoys the hell out of me.
That's kind of what it feels like to see Jinder Mahal as the WWE champion.

 

1. No it's not. The Hardcore title had the 24/7 rule, which the MITB does not. One of those little unexplained quirks about pro wrestling, such as why sometimes, the champ has to get to their feet first before the match starts, and other times, the champ can still be lying down.

2. They did a one-hour Ironman match with Lesnar and Angle in 2003. They did it with little hype, other than announcing in the beginning of the show that they were going to have it, as I recall. Excellent match, as I recall. They could do it with Styles and Nakamura, and maybe Owens. I like your idea on how the drama keeps building. However, your scenario makes it sound like a 1:45-1:55 match, instead of a 60-minute match. I think after a while, it'd get a little too ridiculous. Fans would burn out. I've heard of some matches back in the 70s with guys like Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr. , Harley Race and Flair that actually would go 90 minutes, which sounds nuts. I also heard of a Steamboat/Mascaras match from Japan where they went something like 77-78 minutes, then just shook hands.

 

A two-hour match would be absolutely bonkers. I don't care who you have in that match or if it's a triple threat or fatal four way, there are going to be periods where the match drags. Fans will lose interest, and that's never good.

I would love to see an ironman match between Styles and Nak, two guys who really know each other and should have tons of chemistry to keep the match intriguing.

 

A two-hour match is what I was laying out. I've seen a couple of one-hour matches (either the Angle-Lesnar one, or a Cena-Michaels one on Raw the night after Wrestlemania 23(?) might be the most recent ones), and they used to be common back in the day. Flair seemed to mention working them in every chapter in his book. Just haven't seen or heard of any much longer than that.

And, yeah, it probably would drag in spots. It might be a terrible idea. Guys might not physically be able to go for more than an hour or 1:15 at the pace needed to keep fans' interest. It's not something I'd want to see even once per year. I just think as a one-off, super unexpected type deal, it could be iconic if they had the right guys and could physically do it. Jinder Mahal and Rusev aren't pulling off a two-hour match. Hell, Randy Orton isn't.
I think my dream pairing for that match from the current Smackdown roster would be a fatal four-way between Styles, Owens, Nakamura and Cena. They all seem to have decent to great chemistry; they all have enough of a diverse move set to keep from repeating too many beats (Cena has more in his arsenal than people give him credit for), and I think they're all in good enough shape and enough of veterans to know how to work the pace of the match.
Maybe a fatal four-way ironman match would do the trick. It, of course, would end up in a four-way tie at the one-hour mark and go to sudden death overtime for the last 45-50 minutes.

 

My issue though, with a two-hour match, is how many moves can a guy have done to them before fans stop believing that he's not going to kick out. Especially finishers. After about the fourth AA, and third STF, how believable is it for Cena's opponent to still be alive, much less be able to win. Plus, with a two-hour match, you'll need a lot of rest holds. Fans would start falling asleep.

 

With four guys involved, the rest gets spread out. You have them all start and go at each other for the first 20-30 minutes, then the next hour or so they take turns with one or two always resting and the other two or three fighting. Limits the number of rest holds you'd need to keep things going.

Sounds more like something you'd see with RoH or New Japan, though. Could be amazing on NXT, though, with the right guys. Maybe Roode, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly. Or throw in McIntyre for a Fatal Fiveway. Have it take up an entire hour, then they show the conclusion the next week instead of a new show.

Raw could do it with the right group, too. Could be interesting with Cesaro, Ambrose, Rollins, Wyatt and Balor. Or any four of them plus Samoa Joe. For Smackdown, I'd go with the four Batman mentioned (Styles, Owens, Nakamura and Cena) and add Gable, Jericho or Zayn. Or take Cena out and add two of the other three.

For just two or even three guys to pull it off would be near impossible.

 

If you ever watch an hourlong match, you can usually tell in the first 10 minutes that they're going that direction because of the pace. It's a lot slower, more rest holds, not a lot of big spots until the 20-30 minute mark.

Again, it might be the dumbest idea ever. People can barely hold their attention span for a 30-minute match, let alone two hours.

 

People will watch a 30-minute match if they're fighting for real stakes and it's wrestlers they care about. Bayley and Sasha were quite compelling at 30 minutes. So was Cena vs. Cesaro in Chicago.