Wrestling

Impact Wrestling – February 15, 2019

Impact Wrestling
Date: February 15, 2019
Location: Fronton Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re still in Mexico City and the big story coming out of last week saw the Lucha Bros become the new Tag Team Champions with about 184 piledrivers. The big question now is where things go from here, though tonight being the Uncaged special should help a lot. That means a stacked card, including the World Cup match (meaning a company vs. company tag) and a four way for the World Title. Let’s get to it.

Read moreImpact Wrestling – February 15, 2019

Indies and Insanity: February 21, 2019

Daily Thread interaction summary: I need to mute threads more on Twitter.  (You’re all nodding.  I know.  I lack much common sense.)

The NBA is back from their All-Star break with a TNT doubleheader: Celtics/Bucks, then Rockets/Lakers.  As for college basketball, ESPN has the heavy hitters with Michigan/Minnesota and Oregon/USC.  ESPN2 has an AAC double-header with UCF/Cincinnati and Connecticut/SMU.  ESPNU’s Deep Cuts are Vermont/UMBC (UMBC is a name college hoopheads remember form last year), High Point/Campbell (Campbell has a 30PPG scorer, so this isn’t as random as it looks), and Hawai’i/UC Santa Barbara.

But this is a wrestling chat thread, so let’s talk wrestling after the jump!

Read moreIndies and Insanity: February 21, 2019

AEW vs. Independent Wrestling

Hello Scott,

since Day One, AEW is seen as direct aggressor towards WWE. But what about ROH, Impact, MLW and such?

Sure, no TV deal is made so far and only All In 2 is confirmed…isn't AEW a bigger threat to them?

They seem to be buying everyone that is looking for a quick dollar and a certain name.

It seems they are more dangerous to ROH and NJPW. No matter what WWE Superstar will sign, WWE seems rather being annoyed, while all other promotions keep a low profile.

I think AEW is much more willing to work with those other promotions, which is why they're not seen as a threat as such.  However, they were absolutely in a bidding war with ROH for top guys on the scene, but at least they can at least make a deal to work together at the end of the day.  That's not happening with Vince. 

Which NXT guy would you push as the special one?

So it was just a one (two?) time showcase? Or Vince decided to call them all up on a whim so maybe it wasn't? Either way, I agree 100% that you can't debut a bunch of "special" new guys at the same time because they immediately become less special by stealing each other's thunder.

So of Black, Ricochet, Ciampa, and Gargano, who would you push as a star? I think it really has to be Black or Ricochet. The superhero stuff like Spider-Man has never been bigger with the kids, and they've got a guy who can literally do stuff straight out of a superhero movie in Ricochet. At some point within the next couple of years the WWE is going to want to do that Ricochet/Ospreay match, and it'd be a massive misstep to have Ricochet toiling on 205 Live until then. 

I'm really not sure with DIY. Ideally, I think you absolutely have to let them finish up their story on NXT, send them home for a nice long vacation, then finally bring them up to Smackdown to tell the exact same story of underdog tag champs to bitter enemies one more time. They're great wrestlers, but it's really their story that's fantastic. I just don't think the fans buy Ciampa as this abominable heel without seeing him stab Gargano in the back and torture him over the course of a year. 

You can do both Black and Ricochet now, because they can each go to a different show and serve different purposes.  I think Black is a more important piece of the puzzle NOW because he can make an impact in the dead heavyweight division on RAW and freshen it up.  Ricochet can go to Smackdown and have matches with AJ and Nakamura and Bryan.  DIY does not need to be called up right now.

However, I still maintain that the money is in Velveteen Dream.  

HBK/Shawn at WM XI

According to the Observer recap, Diesel was falling out of favor by early 95. Was there ever a thought of having Bret go over at the Rumble and running Bret/Shawn a year early? The Rumble match was a clusterfuck with Backlund and Owen interfering. Diesel could do a match with them at Mania. Maybe a 6-man with Bulldog/Luger against Owen/Bob/Yoko. 

If you have HBK cost Diesel the title, you could run Shawn/Diesel all year. God 1995 was so fixable it’s a shame it was such a fuck up! 


There was never any serious thought of changing the title.  Vince was gonna ride the Diesel train until it went off the cliff because it worked with Hulk Hogan ten years before, PAL!

Shaka, Brah! Aloha, Brudda! Max the Extreme, and So On!

Hey Scott—

I know you’re a few months of Superstars away from this, but I’m in Hawaii, so I had to ask you about it. 

When Crush debuted, it was all about “I’m Crush. I crush things. Har har! GET IT?!?” But in the fall of ‘92, Vince looks at the lame finisher and… unspeakably horrid tights and apparently thought “You know what this gimmick needs, pal? An ETHNIC angle!” 

So now Crush comes out and he is motherfuckin’ HAWAIIAN. It’s “Aloha!” this and “Brudda!” that, all with a vaguely Polynesian inflection he semmed to pick up one weekend in September.

What was the thought process here? I know Bryan Adams lived in Hawaii, but did he have Hawaiian ancestry? Was there any concept beyond “Crush is Hawaiian, ???, profit!”?

Well, he was from Portland and I'm pretty sure he had zero Hawaiian background, so I don't think there was any particular ethnic link there.  The "I'm crushing stuff" gimmick was pretty lame and maybe they thought Kona Crush would get him over, but I don't know why.  

Bod Daily Update: February 21, 2019

Kevin Owens as Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania Opponent?

https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/report-kevin-owens-face-daniel-bryan-wwe-wrestlemania-35

 

Ricochet Off Of March EVOLVE Shows

He will be replaced by Velveteen Dream

http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/ricochet-evolve-wwe-update/#.XG6x5KBOmUk

 

WWE Announces Return of Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1098392367911108608

The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro–08.18.97

The SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro – 08.18.97

OK, back to this for a bit. Oddly enough, they dumped a huge run of WWF Confidential onto the Network. I’m interested to check it out again because I only remember the episode with the Lex Luger 911 call and the debut with Steve Austin. Probably not something I can really rant on, though.

Read moreThe SmarK Rant for WCW Monday Nitro–08.18.97

Monday Night Raw – September 20, 2004

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 20, 2004
Location: Tuscon Convention Center, Tuscon, Arizona
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the season premiere of Raw and that means….I’m not sure really as wrestling doesn’t have seasons. One thing tonight is the end of the Diva Search, meaning the segments that have managed to make great looking women in swimsuits a chore to sit through are over. Other than that, we’re coming up on Taboo Tuesday, which we don’t know much about. Let’s get to it.

Read moreMonday Night Raw – September 20, 2004

DX Tank


Scott,

It seems to be a bit of a controversy here about the DX Tank or “tank.”

As HHHistory class has taught us, it was the key moment in when the WWF prevailed over WCW.

Since there’s no riveting Reigns/Luger questions as of late and this is a pressing issue, I present to you this.

Do you consider it a tank or “tank?”

It might just look like a jeep but it has the turret.

There WAS a tank, but it was a week later. A Jeep is not a tank. 

NXT – February 20, 2019

NXT
Date: February 20, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson

I’m not sure what to think about this show as it could go in two very different directions. The major announced match is Johnny Gargano defending the North American Title against Velveteen Dream with two endings having been taped. On the other side though, WWE has promised a major announcement, which doesn’t bode well since the four biggest names from the show have appeared on this week’s Raw and Smackdown. Let’s get to it.

Read moreNXT – February 20, 2019

NXT UK – February 20, 2019

NXT UK
Date: February 20, 2019
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph

It’s the second week in Phoenix and last week got things off to a good start. The different venue and crowd offer a nice change of pace and that can help freshen things up a little bit. We’re still on the way towards Walter vs. Pete Dunne for the UK Title and with the right build, it could be a classic. Let’s get to it.

Read moreNXT UK – February 20, 2019

Mike Reviews: ECW Hardcore TV #304 – 20/02/1999

We’ve got a bit of a break between now and Six of the Best for WCW Uncensored, so I thought I’d watch some ECW TV from 1999. This era of ECW was when I first started properly getting into it, and I loved it so much that I went on to hoover up all the classic stuff I could from 1994-1997.

We’ll cover these up to Living Dangerously 99, and if people are digging them and I’m still enjoying writing them, I might keep them going after that. Living Dangerously 99 was actually the first ECW pay per view event I saw in full, and it did an excellent job of hooking me, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all came together on TV and whether the show itself still holds up.

So without further ado, let’s kick on with ECW Hardcore TV #304!

Read moreMike Reviews: ECW Hardcore TV #304 – 20/02/1999

WCW 1994 question


Why didnt they have Brutus Beefcake cost Hogan the title at Halloween Havoc?? 


Then you can run Beefcake/Hogan as a grudge match and Flair/Savage for the title at Starrcade. That's a double main event that doesn't suck. 
Because then Hogan would have to lose to Ric Flair. 

Wrestlers That Were Elevated After A Loss?

After the recent Drew Gulak vs Matt Riddle match on NXT, I got to thinking;  What wrestlers were actually elevated via a loss in a match?  My prime 2 examples were Steve Austin after his submission match defeat to Bret Hart at W.M. 13 in 1997, and The 1-2-3 Kid after his WWF Title match loss to Bret Hart on Raw in 1994.  (So obviously Bret Hart was the key to most of these things.)  

Rock was elevated by losing to HHH at Summerslam 98 in the ladder match and pretty much stole Hunter's thunder, in fact.  Even though no one ever put HHH over to get him to the top.  

(S)Hitman?

Hey Scott,

Scott Hall went on a (drunken?) mini-Twitter rant labelling Bret a chump and an egomaniac based on Bischoff’s hot take over Hart’s 13 year-biography.

We all know wrestlers have egos and Bret was at the top of that heap, but did he draw or not? I remember him being very popular in an unpopular time for WWE.

Not to mention it’s pretty rich considering the bust Diesel and Shawn both were, and Razor being a non-factor until the nWo came around with evil Hollywood really getting it going.

I’ve always wondered why “cool guys” like Hall & Nash made no bones about jumping ship whenever the pay check suited them, and basically admitting doing it for the money; but slagged Bret who has never hidden the fact he does it for the fame & glory in business he was raised in. Is that so bad? I didn’t see “selfish” Bret abandon WWE until he was all but forced to.

But that’s my opinion and and I could be wrong.

Yeah, it's pretty ironic hearing SCOTT HALL call someone an egomaniac considering the lengths and he and his big buddy would go to in WCW to avoid doing jobs. 

Best Main Roster Debuts


After reading the email regarding the most recent NXT callups, it got me thinking about the best ones.

Kevin Owens has to be the best. Undisputed Era are the only ones who have a remote chance at at topping that one. Then there's Samoa Joe which was very good.

Any other ones come close to those two?


If we're counting original NXT, then the Nexus was pretty effective.