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

[ObeseJesus]

Wrestler of the Year
Event of the Year
Tag Team of the Year
Match of the Year
Feud of the Year

Seth Rollins
NXT R Evolution
reDragons/Young Bucks
Tyson Kidd vs. Cesaro vs. Dolph Ziggler Three-Way Intercontinental Championship Match
Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority

Yeah this is pretty dead on. I'd edge tag team of the year to the Young Bucks only because I haven't seen much of the reDragons. Honorable mention for the Vaudvillains.

Also, I'd switch match of the year to Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn at NXT Arrival.

We might want to add Gimmick of the year, which would have to be Mizdow.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Wrestler of the Year
Event of the Year
Tag Team of the Year
Match of the Year
Feud of the Year

Seth Rollins
NXT R Evolution
reDragons/Young Bucks
Tyson Kidd vs. Cesaro vs. Dolph Ziggler Three-Way Intercontinental Championship Match
Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority

Yeah this is pretty dead on. I'd edge tag team of the year to the Young Bucks only because I haven't seen much of the reDragons.

You need this in your life right now - http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/enter- ... ilable-now" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think I'd edge tag team of the year and perhaps gimmick of the year to reDRagon. Heel hipsters who are incredible in the ring and stellar promos. Subtle nuanced characters whose gimmick I can show to non-wrestling fans that will agree is pretty cool.

Coincidently, I think Young Bucks vs reDRagon at War of the Worlds is my second favorite match of the year, behind Kevin Steen vs Sinsuke Nakamura from that same show.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Well, Raw was certainly super weird.

[BigCat8]

Ryback's segment was weird as fuck. Like, The Secret? Seriously?

The Autobiography of The Ryback didn't really help me understand his motivations for going after Rusev. Maybe it was meant to garner sympathy/support, but it was just... weird.

[blastmaster]

Yea it was like they decided they needed to build characters all of the sudden and threw Ryback and Cesaro out there and whipped up a Luke Harper vignette. A step in the right direction, but poorly executed.

[mike eagle]

yeah it was clunky but it was an effort. i dont know why they would send cesaro out to say face shit then turn heel in the middle of it but at least they gave him some time to establish who he is.

[mike eagle]

i kinda liked the show overall. it seemed like the writers decided to care about everybody this week. praying they dont abandon this approach completely next week.

[Kalel]

The guys on Cheap Heat made an interesting point on their latest podcast where they said that in the old days the good guys used to use human emotion to garner the respect and admiration of the crowd in order to get over. You cared for their story and you wanted to see them pull through in the end because you were emotionally invested. Nowadays the crowd, in general, doesn't care for the emotional journey of their heroes, they just want to see the good guy act like a cool badass and beat someone up. When you factor in the smart fans that like to cheer bad guys and the casual fans that will just cheer the good looking people or the people with cool moves its virtuously impossible for a good guy to get over with the crowd by JUST being a good guy.

It's no wonder the lines between good guys and bad guys are constantly being blurred and bended.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

The guys on Cheap Heat made an interesting point on their latest podcast where they said that in the old days the good guys used to use human emotion to garner the respect and admiration of the crowd in order to get over. You cared for their story and you wanted to see them pull through in the end because you were emotionally invested. Nowadays the crowd, in general, doesn't care for the emotional journey of their heroes, they just want to see the good guy act like a cool badass and beat someone up. When you factor in the smart fans that like to cheer bad guys and the casual fans that will just cheer the good looking people or the people with cool moves its virtuously impossible for a good guy to get over with the crowd by JUST being a good guy.

It's no wonder the lines between good guys and bad guys are constantly being blurred and bended.

Well, I don't know about all that. Dean Ambrose's exact star-making moment the week after Rollins betrayed the Shield was the line "everyone in this building knows someone like you, Seth." You could hear it in the crowd that he was the anointed one. That emotive performance touched something I don't think a lot of fans felt from an in-ring performer in a long time.

'The Secret' namedrop aside, Ryback's promo did explain more of who his character was, and the crowd ate it up. I think it also made his desire to beat-up Rusev that much clearer.

Cesaro legit had the crowd until turning on them. I think we can all relate to being disappointed at the end of a year, held down, disappointed. But when he mocks the crowd, the whole thing felt super unnatural. And then Bad News Barrett comes back as a full fledged face. Heh?

I think the crowd cares for the emotional journey of their heroes today as much as everyone who sees live theater does. It's just theme moments of real emotional journeys are so rare, it takes a second for the crowd to realize what they're watching.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Also, how do we feel about The Ascension debut?

[907]

They seem really out of place. They're a team made for the territory days, which I don't think will work too well in 2014. The fact that neither of them are any good on the mic won't help either.

[blastmaster]

They looked sloppy in the ring, which I can forgive since they have to have butterflies, and they need the smoke back in the entrance but I love the over the top 80s look. Someone new for the Usos to beat up. I hope they wreck shop in the rumble.

[Brougham33]

Who else is watching Wrestle Kingdom 9? Pretty cysed, think I'm gonna stay up and watch the live feed on the flipps app. Global Force YouTube page has some nice video builds with Matt Striker, also real good preview here:

http://www.avclub.com/article/introduct ... stl-213017" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[battlecatmeowstab212]

I'm going to a WK9 party. Can't wait for the tag match and Nakamura's entrance.

[Kalel]

The guys on Cheap Heat made an interesting point on their latest podcast where they said that in the old days the good guys used to use human emotion to garner the respect and admiration of the crowd in order to get over. You cared for their story and you wanted to see them pull through in the end because you were emotionally invested. Nowadays the crowd, in general, doesn't care for the emotional journey of their heroes, they just want to see the good guy act like a cool badass and beat someone up. When you factor in the smart fans that like to cheer bad guys and the casual fans that will just cheer the good looking people or the people with cool moves its virtuously impossible for a good guy to get over with the crowd by JUST being a good guy.

It's no wonder the lines between good guys and bad guys are constantly being blurred and bended.

Well, I don't know about all that. Dean Ambrose's exact star-making moment the week after Rollins betrayed the Shield was the line "everyone in this building knows someone like you, Seth." You could hear it in the crowd that he was the anointed one. That emotive performance touched something I don't think a lot of fans felt from an in-ring performer in a long time.

'The Secret' namedrop aside, Ryback's promo did explain more of who his character was, and the crowd ate it up. I think it also made his desire to beat-up Rusev that much clearer.

Cesaro legit had the crowd until turning on them. I think we can all relate to being disappointed at the end of a year, held down, disappointed. But when he mocks the crowd, the whole thing felt super unnatural. And then Bad News Barrett comes back as a full fledged face. Heh?

I think the crowd cares for the emotional journey of their heroes today as much as everyone who sees live theater does. It's just theme moments of real emotional journeys are so rare, it takes a second for the crowd to realize what they're watching.

Each of those guys, whether heels or babyfaces, have toed the line in their respective roles. Ambrose literally ripped the balls off a Seth Rollins effigy. I don't disagree with you, but I do think that traditional heel and babyface characteristics are mutated.

Other than that I think the Ascension are awesome and I can't wait for them to really get moving.

[Brougham33]

Ibushi vs Nakamura was fucking wild.

[Pizon]

Ascension look like a poor man's LOD.

The last two times I was emotionally invested in a babyface's story were Daniel Bryan and CM Punk winning the WWE Title in 2014 and 2011, respectively, and both were rooted in reality.

[zappy]

i think feud of the year is breakup of the shield. ambrose and rollins have really been great outside the ring, much better than they were in the shield.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

Ascension looked horrible to me. They def do look like a poor man's LOD, and their look just doesn't seem to fit into the current landscape of the WWE at all.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Just finished Wrestle Kingdom 9.

I love wrestling so much.

[ThaJim2]

Ascension looked horrible to me. They def do look like a poor man's LOD, and their look just doesn't seem to fit into the current landscape of the WWE at all.

My cool story bro. Last time I went to NXT the bigger dude from Ascension got his nose broken. To have a chance they need a manager plus their gimmick is all kinds of odd. Space Vampires of Egypt.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Ascension looked horrible to me. They def do look like a poor man's LOD, and their look just doesn't seem to fit into the current landscape of the WWE at all.

My cool story bro. Last time I went to NXT the bigger dude from Ascension got his nose broken. To have a chance they need a manager plus their gimmick is all kinds of odd. Space Vampires of Egypt.

Makes me miss the original Highlander incarnation of the Ascension



Which then weirdly became this



and, weirder still, pre-NXT when it was in FCW, this is what the Ascension looked like in 2011:



and somehow, three-and-a-half-years later it became this

[Brougham33]

Just finished Wrestle Kingdom 9.

I love wrestling so much.

Yup. Shinsuke Nakamura, Ibushi, and Rainmaker Okada are STARS. Crossover stars. Throw Styles into that mix and you got the future of the company on lock. I personally don't understand the appeal of Tanahashi, I know he is the man that resurrected NJPW, and he certainly can wrestle an amazing match, but his shtick seems too dated/lame to crossover imo.

Not sure how long this will be up, but a must watch:



Love Ibushi going for and connecting with a brutal looking Boma Ye and Nakamura kicking out at one.

[Ramen]

Shinskay <3

Love Ibushi going for and connecting with a brutal looking Boma Ye and Nakamura kicking out at one.

call back to there first match.

[zappy]

that german suplex off of the top rope tho

[Kalel]

This is a good time to post this for anyone that hasn't seen it.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Looks like Ibushi-Nakamura might already have a contender on the horizon for match of the year:

[battlecatmeowstab212]

So, I just watched Raw.

Ascension are now heels? Bad News Barrett is now a heel? Paige is face? Alicia Fox is heel? Kind of a weird reboot from last week.

Also, I think they've finally got the Corporate Kane character right. He's now Bill Lumberg with the powers of Hell. His facial expressions and vocal inflections were on point.

Really wish they were pushing Rowan again though. He's the first giant in a while that the fans super connected with, and he's excellent in the ring.

[blastmaster]

Raw was a confused mess. Apparently Vince re-wrote the entire show at 3 pm. So much talent without any direction at all.

[Brougham33]

Young Bucks>>>

I thought Raw was weird too, the main authority storyline was fine I guess, open and close of the show was fine, but I just don't see how they can mess up the little things. They turn potentially PPV quality matches into garbage Raw filler, in hopes of making PPVs seem like better versions of Raw? I don't know, but I shouldn't be able to see Reigns vs Rollins on a Raw unless it means something. We've already seen Reigns vs Big Show multiples times in 2 weeks, stuff like Bray vs Rowan on Smackdown, or Harper vs Rowan should be a bigger deal. The Ascension thing pissed me off the most, and I never liked any versions of that group. But why JBL, the heel announcer, would bury the heel team that is struggling to get over is just beyond me.