CM Punk & Wrestling's Best Storyline in Years...

[907]

Amazing. Rybaxel forever.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

BREAKING NEWS: reDRagon won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight tag team titles tonight.

Seriously, everything you could want from a tag team in 2014, they absolutely deliver.

[Kalel]

Kenta is going to be a tough sell here in America for anyone not familiar who he is, for sure. It doesn't help that his signature moves have already been established by two of the most popular WWE wrestlers in the past decade. He can't cut a scathing promo in English yet so he's either going to be paired with a mouthpiece or he's gonna have to get by solely on his wrestling abilities. Still I don't think they would have signed him if they didn't have a plan for him. I just hope it doesn't dissolve into another Asian stereotype character.

Well, two things to keep in mind are their his two signature moves look pretty distinctly different (And, frankly, better) when Kenta does them. He's also, straight up, one of the five best wrestlers on the planet who can engage a crowd just by watching him do what he does*. It's rare that anybody can connect solely off in-ring work, but if anyone can, it's Kenta.

As for the promo thing, by all accounts, Kenta's taking an absurdly intensive English tutoring, so he has aspirations to be completely fluent and cutting promos. I wouldn't rule his abilities to cut a promo entirely out, especially if they're keeping him in NXT for a while.


*Not to derail the discussion, but the only person in the North American wrestling scene who even comes close to this is ACH, who if he keeps his head on straight could be *THE* indie guy by 2016 and the hottest thing in the WWE by 2019. I've never seen anybody immediately win over rooms full of complete strangers solely off of ability like he can.

Agree with everything you said about Kenta.

You guys ever seen the video of ACH transforming into Stone Cold after putting on a leather vest? It's fantastic.

[Brougham33]

Love that they're using the SS match to build the midcarders up. I'm happy for Ryback, stoked for Harper/Ziggler, and sad that Cesaro is in the dog house.

[blastmaster]

Lol they must haaaaaate Cesaro. Shit is comical at this point.

[Brougham33]

As much as I enjoyed seeing Kofi finally doing something new, am I giving the WWE too much credit in thinking this new day gimmick is them trolling us and that they're gonna reverse Brodus Clay this thing?

[Pizon]

Brodus was built as a monster then presented as a goof.

Kofi is being built as a goof. He's going to be presented as a monster?

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Brodus was built as a monster then presented as a goof.

Kofi is being built as a goof. He's going to be presented as a monster?

I'm guessing some militant faux-religious zealots. The house show circuit right now is Kofi and Big E tagging, being managed by Xavier Woods, and they're alternating each show with them as faces and heels to figure out what works better. The heel outings have had Xavier kicking "by any means necessary" Malcolm X-style promos. Could be promising, just happy to see all three with some direction.

Plus, Flatbush Zombies and Wale have recorded a theme for them, so I'm doubtful it's going to be a straight forward Baptist James Brown gimmick.

But speaking of swerves...

Anyone else finding themselves intrigued by the dark path they're slowly taking with Adam Rose? A bunch of subtle ticks over the past few weeks. The whole beating up the bunny, then returning to the party, then making the beaten bunny come party with them has such a sinister cult-like vibe to it.

But speaking of cults...

(Trust me, you'll want to read this. Yes, it's TNA related, but this is actually something interesting that isn't about the state of the company)

James Storm has turned his cowboy character into a separatist militia-leading revolutionary cultist character. While, yes, there are shades of Wyatt in it (although he's still doing a good job because he's James Storm), one really interesting element is one of his victims/followers Manik. While Manik used to be the silent X-Division wrestler Suicide, since joining Storm he's become the subversive friendly style cult recruiter.

This is one of the most promising backstage segments I've seen on a wrestling show in quite a while:

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Also, that ACH Stone Cold video is outstanding.

[Brougham33]

Well not that literal, I just mean the idea that they kayfabe flip the gimmicks and troll the WWE for sticking the black guys with another stereotypical gimmick.

[Req]

http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe-smackd ... bored-fans" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This comes on the heels of Raw last night that featured a ton of WWE Network related chants that had to be edited out before airing the show on USA.

what's this all aboot? I was watching the Sky Sports rip and didnt notice anything...

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Wow, if I hadn't seen the video of Vince berating the audience, I wouldn't have believed it -

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

Wow, if I hadn't seen the video of Vince berating the audience, I wouldn't have believed it -

re-up?

[hustler]

i watched it last night before they took it down, it was really weird. not a good look for McMahon at all. its a super clunky and forced promo, looks like it was emergency rush written for him 5 minutes before he came out. apparently the audience was bored and just not making much noise at all, positive or negative, so vince comes out and tries to rile them up. the problem is that he insults the crowd with some really weak lines "what kinda name is liverpool? that sounds more like a disease for an old man" just very basic generic stuff, "all the other UK cities were better crowds than you guys" etc etc then he ends it with something to the effect of: "lets make some noise out here, cmon lets have some fun" on some cheerleader rah rah rah tip. when, in the history of wrasslin, has something like that ever worked? when you try to tell people how to think and feel and behave, it will ALWAYS backfire, especially when it comes to wrasslin fans. same shit happened when they tried to shove cena down our throats and force everyone to love him, all it did was alienate a lot of fans, make half the crowd hate cena, and WWE was forced to adapt after months of pretending that everyone loved him "listen to that pop!" "they LOVE cena here in beautiful buffalo! just like they love him everywhere he goes!" meanwhile audible boos can be heard in the background so strongly that it drowns out the cheers. so then they eventually began calling him "polarizing." i really dont get it. the fans make the product, the fans decide who they love and who they hate, they are the ones who make and break careers...to an extent. obviously vince and the creative team invest money in stars and give people pushes, but if the crowd isn't feeling someone, that dude either has to turn heel, get reworked, or get future endeavored. there is a right way and a wrong way to get a crowd to wake up, sending vince out there as a defacto hype man, is totally wrong. if you're gona send vince out there, then make the crowd feel special, have vince pump them up with some epic main event, give the people something to get excited about like a random TLC match or something. not just "attention everyone, you suck as a crowd, please do better. that is all."

[battlecatmeowstab212]

I like to imagine Vince did it without telling anyone, told the truck to cue up his entrance music and freestyled that whole promo off the McDome.

To be fair, the live reports indicate that the crowd was really burnt out. I believe they ran the same venue as Raw two nights in a row, so the allure of the rarity of WWE appearances in the city wasn't quite the rare once-a-year treat it usually was. That's not to say "THAT CROWD DESERVED IT," but as an emergency experiment/hail Mary pass to resuscitate the crowd, I can respect it.

[hustler]

I like to imagine Vince did it without telling anyone, told the truck to cue up his entrance music and freestyled that whole promo off the McDome.

when you think about it like this, its much more hilarious and awesome.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

I like to imagine Vince did it without telling anyone, told the truck to cue up his entrance music and freestyled that whole promo off the McDome.

To be fair, the live reports indicate that the crowd was really burnt out. I believe they ran the same venue as Raw two nights in a row, so the allure of the rarity of WWE appearances in the city wasn't quite the rare once-a-year treat it usually was. That's not to say "THAT CROWD DESERVED IT," but as an emergency experiment/hail Mary pass to resuscitate the crowd, I can respect it.

Yea, but I think you and hustler are ignoring that Vince seems a bit off in general these days. He came off pretty strange to me during his last raw appearance where he made the stipulation that if team authority loses than the authority is stripped of his power. I dunno if it's Vince getting old, or him playing a tweener role rather than his mega heel Mr McMahon gimmick, but I dunno he just seems weird now. Until they can think of something fresh for him to do on screen, I think they should keep Vince off camera all together.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

I like to imagine Vince did it without telling anyone, told the truck to cue up his entrance music and freestyled that whole promo off the McDome.

To be fair, the live reports indicate that the crowd was really burnt out. I believe they ran the same venue as Raw two nights in a row, so the allure of the rarity of WWE appearances in the city wasn't quite the rare once-a-year treat it usually was. That's not to say "THAT CROWD DESERVED IT," but as an emergency experiment/hail Mary pass to resuscitate the crowd, I can respect it.

Yea, but I think you and hustler are ignoring that Vince seems a bit off in general these days. He came off pretty strange to me during his last raw appearance where he made the stipulation that if team authority loses than the authority is stripped of his power. I dunno if it's Vince getting old, or him playing a tweener role rather than his mega heel Mr McMahon gimmick, but I dunno he just seems weird now. Until they can think of something fresh for him to do on screen, I think they should keep Vince off camera all together.

Vince has been a tweener since Triple H said the Board stripped him of power. Remember the naming AJ Lee general manager, the improvment suggestions for Vickie Guerrero, dancing with the Funkadactyls. He's past the point of face/heel and is just in septuagenarian wacky billionaire mode.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

I like to imagine Vince did it without telling anyone, told the truck to cue up his entrance music and freestyled that whole promo off the McDome.

To be fair, the live reports indicate that the crowd was really burnt out. I believe they ran the same venue as Raw two nights in a row, so the allure of the rarity of WWE appearances in the city wasn't quite the rare once-a-year treat it usually was. That's not to say "THAT CROWD DESERVED IT," but as an emergency experiment/hail Mary pass to resuscitate the crowd, I can respect it.

Yea, but I think you and hustler are ignoring that Vince seems a bit off in general these days. He came off pretty strange to me during his last raw appearance where he made the stipulation that if team authority loses than the authority is stripped of his power. I dunno if it's Vince getting old, or him playing a tweener role rather than his mega heel Mr McMahon gimmick, but I dunno he just seems weird now. Until they can think of something fresh for him to do on screen, I think they should keep Vince off camera all together.

Vince has been a tweener since Triple H said the Board stripped him of power. Remember the naming AJ Lee general manager, the improvment suggestions for Vickie Guerrero, dancing with the Funkadactyls. He's past the point of face/heel and is just in septuagenarian wacky billionaire mode.

Oh I know, you are absolutely right. What I'm saying though is that I just don't think it works. His tweener status coupled with him getting older comes off rather strange to the viewer at home, and I don't think live crowds have any idea how to react to him either. They need to go in a different direction, or take him off camera altogether.

[Brougham33]

Yeah, it's weird to see him getting that respectful pop/zero reaction afterwards reaction that guys like Hogan, Bret, HBK, Flair get. That UK crowd was annoying as fuck anyway.

Finn Balor in ring debut on NXT tonight as well as Zayn vs Neville.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

I just want full fledged face billionaire Vince. I still think his acting style is effective, but it's kind of hard to boo the man at this point.

[907]

Anyone else watch the Cesaro/Ziggler/Kidd triple threat from Smackdown yet? One of the best matches I've seen all year, you should all go out of your way to watch if you missed it.

[tehgiftofgab]

Anyone else watch the Cesaro/Ziggler/Kidd triple threat from Smackdown yet? One of the best matches I've seen all year, you should all go out of your way to watch if you missed it.

So fucking epic, perfect example of why i love pro wrestling

[battlecatmeowstab212]

For those who may not have caught it, Tyson Kidd's new gimmick is based on disgraced Hart family member Teddy Hart. Teddy was a super talented competitor (probably had his biggest exposure in MTV's Wrestling Society X) whose ego problem (even by wrestling standards) hindered his success. He's gone even further off the deep end, wanted to start a wrestling promotion for cats. He's been showing up as a paying member of the audience at wrestling shows he isn't even booked at just to sit in the audience in his gear holding a live cat.

Strangest thing, but Tyson's playing him to perfection.

[907]

Tyson's plenty kitty obsessed on his own, if Total Divas is at all real. Dude likes his cats more than he does his wife.

I mean, those are his actual cats on his gear, that's not much of a stretch.

Also, his FACT shit on NXT > any gimmick Teddy has ever had.

[Kalel]

For those who may not have caught it, Tyson Kidd's new gimmick is based on disgraced Hart family member Teddy Hart. Teddy was a super talented competitor (probably had his biggest exposure in MTV's Wrestling Society X) whose ego problem (even by wrestling standards) hindered his success. He's gone even further off the deep end, wanted to start a wrestling promotion for cats. He's been showing up as a paying member of the audience at wrestling shows he isn't even booked at just to sit in the audience in his gear holding a live cat.

Strangest thing, but Tyson's playing him to perfection.

If this is true and Tyson starts doing moonsaults off the top of a cage I will lose my shit.

[Brougham33]

Goddamn, Ziggler, Cesaro, Kidd was off the charts. New rumor I read is that the match went over so well that they are gonna have it on Survivor Series as well. Makes sense, Authority could punish Ziggler by making him do double duty at the PPV. Either way, happy to see Tyson back on the main roster, he's been killing it on NXT for too long.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Also, his FACT shit on NXT > any gimmick Teddy has ever had.

Get this - apparently that's how Teddy talks in real life.

[BigCat8]

Also, his FACT shit on NXT > any gimmick Teddy has ever had.

Get this - apparently that's how Teddy talks in real life.

Love me some Teddy. He believes his own hype... but all that hype is coming from his own mouth. He BELIEVES that cats are the future of wrestling. I haven't seen much Tyson Kidd since the Takeover 4-way, but I hope he's doing justice to the spectacle that is Teddy Hart.

I sincerely wish I could find (or at least remember the gist of) his MLW promo where halfway through he starts rhyming words regardless of how much sense they make in the context of the promo.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

Teddy Hart has/had a ton of potential. I suggest anyone that is no familiar with him to youtube him. Had no idea about the cat thing tho, sounds strange as fuck. When did the cat stuff start?