Pro Wrestling Thread

[Jaffa]

The jackhammer attempt was pretty scary as well. 

[jingle.boy]

Shit ... that tombstone looks like Owen Hart on Stone Cold!!

[jjrock88]

Undertaker had the perfect ending to his career when he lost to Roman at WM and left his hat and gloves in the ring.  The opponent possibly could have been better than Roman but you couldn't have written a better way to go out for him.  Any retirement ending at this point will be basically pointless after that.  It's a shame that he has come back numerous times since then and it's getting tougher and tougher to watch each match.  Even the hardcore fans of Taker have to agree with that.

[Cool Chris]

The perfect retirement should have been at the top of the ramp, hugging HHH and Michaels, after WM28 (though that would mean we wouldn't have had WM29 against Punk...). That Reigns match wasn't bad and yes the imagery at the end was iconic (hey, it's still my avatar picture!).

[Anguyen92]

Undertaker had the perfect ending to his career when he lost to Roman at WM and left his hat and gloves in the ring.  The opponent possibly could have been better than Roman but you couldn't have written a better way to go out for him.  Any retirement ending at this point will be basically pointless after that.  It's a shame that he has come back numerous times since then and it's getting tougher and tougher to watch each match.  Even the hardcore fans of Taker have to agree with that.

Honestly, to me, the Undertaker hasn't been the same since his match with HBK at WM 26.  Afterwards, he had another sucky feud with Kane.  He had two matches with HHH which really went heavy with the finishers kick-out.  Also, what's with the title "End of an era" in their match at WM 28?  What meaning does that have if both guys are still wrestling?

He had a solid match with Punk though at WM 29.  I guess his feud with Brock Lesnar in 2015 was all right.  I heard decent things about their match in Summerslam (which apparently had a crappy end) and Brock beaten Taker in a Hell in a Cell match again.  Onwards, he really should have called it a career, but I guess his loyalty with Vince and Vince going hard on nostalgia and making everything else look like crap rather than moving forward is bound to rear its ugly head.

[jjrock88]

The perfect retirement should have been at the top of the ramp, hugging HHH and Michaels, after WM28 (though that would mean we wouldn't have had WM29 against Punk...). That Reigns match wasn't bad and yes the imagery at the end was iconic (hey, it's still my avatar picture!).

That Hell in the Cell match would have been a great ending for both Taker and Triple H.  It was a fantastic match and would have been a great way for both to end their in ring career.  But yeah as far as imagery goes, the Roman match was a perfect ending.

[kaos2900]

AEW just announced today that Fyterfest on June 29th will be free to stream on B/R Live.

[KevShmev]

R.I.P. Harley Race.

A true legend from back in the day, when wrestlers were legit tough guys and could spit out great matches like it was nothing.

[jingle.boy]

Damn right.  Harley was well past his prime when I got into wrestling, but I sure recognize his 'legendary' status.

[Jaffa]

Yowie wowie. 

[Phoenix87x]

Thoughts on this year's the very different Wrestlemania?

[jjrock88]

Thoughts on this year's the very different Wrestlemania?

The Fiend/Cena match was a little surreal to watch but still pretty cool. The Taker/AJ match was over the top and very enjoyable. Orton/Edge was a bit too long, but intense and very good. Basically the three matches that involved being away from the ring and had distracting aspects, were the best and most enjoyable ones. The no fans/empty seat shows clearly just aren’t the same and isn’t really working. I know it’s the best they can do and it’s better than nothing.

I believe WWE filmed matches for a few more weeks of tv, but maybe after that they can film matches that are outside of the empty arena and in different locations with different ideas/twists. I can get the feeling that the wrestlers are out of their element with no fans too.

The rest of WM was decent stuff but there was no match within the empty seat arena that I would classify as must see.

[Indiscipline]

The outside ring stuff was very enjoyable, and I wouldn't mind it to become a once per WM thing in the future.

The male title matches were the worst, while Edge vs Randy Orton would have been great with 10 minutes trimmed. Insane bump by Kevin Owens, and Angel Garza is a very good wrestler.

The best match - to my tastes - was Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair.

[cramx3]

I dont actively follow but my friend did a screen share of his stream last night so I caught some out of curiosity with the pre-filmed empty venue.  It definitely was odd for no crowd reactions and it isn't quite the same.  The Edge match was fairly entertaining.  The one with all the effects was too much for me and I stopped watching at that point.  I had no interest in whatever the hell that was.  I'll give them props for doing what they can in these times though.  Must suck soooo much for WWE and the wrestlers to have to do this vs the big event WM usually is.

[TAC]

Can I ask a question? Does anyone in this thread think that Rob Gronkowski is even remotely cool or funny? How do you feel about him coming to wrestling?

[Cool Chris]

From what little I've read, they did a great job with this Wrestlemania considering all the constraints. At the beginning Stephanie said they wanted to present their fans with a fun escape, and it seems by and large they did just that.

I have no opinion about Gronkowski, as a football player or an individual. Considering the WWE's questionable track record with getting celebrities involved, I guess I'd give the choice of him a B.

[cramx3]

Can I ask a question? Does anyone in this thread think that Rob Gronkowski is even remotely cool or funny? How do you feel about him coming to wrestling?

He seems perfect for WWE, but I don't personally have any interest in him. 

[Indiscipline]

Can I ask a question? Does anyone in this thread think that Rob Gronkowski is even remotely cool or funny? How do you feel about him coming to wrestling?

Honestly, I've found him the worst thing about this edition of WM.

[Ben_Jamin]

Can I ask a question? Does anyone in this thread think that Rob Gronkowski is even remotely cool or funny? How do you feel about him coming to wrestling?

He's trying to find a place outside of Football. That's why he's everywhere. Plus, he's stoned out of his mind. But overall, he's having fun and you can see it.

Watching wrestling without fans is just too weird. It's actually funny to me, seeing them still act as if the fans are there.

Kurt Angle should come back so he won't have to hear fans chanting "You Suck". Unless Michael Cole does it from the booth.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Can I ask a question? Does anyone in this thread think that Rob Gronkowski is even remotely cool or funny? How do you feel about him coming to wrestling?

He's trying to find a place outside of Football. That's why he's everywhere. Plus, he's stoned out of his mind. But overall, he's having fun and you can see it.

Watching wrestling without fans is just too weird. It's actually funny to me, seeing them still act as if the fans are there.

Kurt Angle should come back so he won't have to hear fans chanting "You Suck". Unless Michael Cole does it from the booth.

I would pay good money to see that.

[TAC]

Can I ask a question? Does anyone in this thread think that Rob Gronkowski is even remotely cool or funny? How do you feel about him coming to wrestling?

 Plus, he's stoned out of his mind.

He is??

[Cool Chris]

Just saw Howard Finkel died. Looking back at me following WWF in the 80s, he was as much a part of that experience as anyone. Once they stopped having him perform the task of ring announcer, they should have just retired that position forever.

[jingle.boy]

   Such a fantastic voice.  He provided the opening sprawl to get fans jacked.  Lilian was pretty good, but no one was as good as The Fink.  As good as either of the Buffer's.

[Cool Chris]

I recall reading at one point he was the longest tenured WWF/E employee. Could be wrong on that. And if anyone ever said a bad thing about him, I haven't heard it.

On WWE's site: By 1979, Finkel was the full-time ring announcer for WWWF, and when WWE was established in 1980, The Fink became the first — and eventually longest-serving — employee.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Just a brutal two days for WWE. The passing of the Fink alongside the release of twenty-three (twenty-three!!!) on screen personnel is awful.

[Anguyen92]

Does the WWE still say "We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors," when they decided to release someone?

[cramx3]

Just a brutal two days for WWE. The passing of the Fink alongside the release of twenty-three (twenty-three!!!) on screen personnel is awful.

Just read about this, they released all those wrestlers right after being granted the ability to continue to make the live show and be considered "essential" which makes WWE look really really bad.  But it's not the first time the company has looked so poorly.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Just a brutal two days for WWE. The passing of the Fink alongside the release of twenty-three (twenty-three!!!) on screen personnel is awful.

Just read about this, they released all those wrestlers right after being granted the ability to continue to make the live show and be considered "essential" which makes WWE look really really bad.  But it's not the first time the company has looked so poorly.

They look really bad in this case. For wrestlers like Sarah Logan and No Way Jose, they had to fly out to Florida on Monday to lose to Shayna Bazsler and Bobby Lashley respectively, then got fired two days later. It also came out that some money from WWE was used to fund the now bankrupt XFL when Vince originally said that WWE had nothing to do with the XFL this time. And he also had said that WWE had enough money in the bank to survive this year without much revenue and would still turn in a profit, so these releases really came out of left field. Among those released was Rusev, who a few weeks ago had pledged 20,000 dollars of his own money to the production crew that was stuck at home not getting paid. There are a lot of moving parts to this story, but WWE and Vince McMahon look pretty bad in this case, and I've already seen a lot of backlash from fans and wrestlers alike, with cancelled network subscriptions and calls for unionization coming left and right. This could end up being ugly for the company, and tbh, they would probably deserve it. Between these releases, forcing their guys and girls to work what is basically a contact sport during a pandemic, the Saudi Arabia blood money deal, and years of obvious mistreatment of employees, it looks like a lot of people have finally had enough. The illusion of WWE being a wrestler's paradise is gone, and with companies like NJPW and AEW being able to offer a decent living for better treatment, I would not be surprised if up and coming wrestlers opt to not go to WWE and established superstars start walking away from the company. This pandemic is gonna be the impetus for a lot of change in the world, and WWE may be one of the biggest victims of a shifting perception of the way the world works.

[jingle.boy]

And the draw that the WWE is 'The Show' with the biggest audience draws has literally vanished, and if it's going to be a year+ until large gatherings are permissible / acceptable, that's going to take away perhaps the biggest advantage they have over the competition.

[KevShmev]

Wrestling as we knew it back in the day is dead and gone and never coming back, but it would certainly be nice if this whole thing caused the WWE to decline in a big, big way.  Vince treating the talent like ass has been going on for decades and yet he always seems to get away with it and mostly avoid accountability, but maybe this is the time the dominoes finally all tip over and land on his head.  I will believe when I see it.

[Indiscipline]

Maybe WrestleMania showed a glimpse of what MacMahon wants/needs WWE to become in the immediate future? Basically, a production company providing episodic mini action movies to be distributed by the streaming service big kahunas, under PG13 format.

[Cool Chris]

McMahon and especially Dunn have wanted to be film producers more than they've ever wanted to run a wrestling business for decades.

[KevShmev]

Vince hates the word wrestling, which is why the announcers are ordered to call the wrestlers superstars (men) and divas (women).  I am sure he goes to bed every night cursing the fact that his biggest annual event is called WRESTLEmania.

Factor in that his nitwit daughter was behind hiring soap opera writers to be a part of the creative team and write the promos the wrestlers are ordered to give, and it's no wonder that the product has been so bad now for so many years.

I am no fan of HHH, but I can't help but think that if Vince were gone and Stephanie was removed from the company that he would find a way to steer it back to the way it used to be at least on some level.

[jingle.boy]

I am no fan of HHH, but I can't help but think that if Vince were gone and Stephanie was removed from the company that he would find a way to steer it back to the way it used to be at least on some level.

I watched the 2 hour documentary on HHH from 2013 (it's up on DailyMotion), and found it very fascinating.  I agree with this statement Kev, at least Paul Levesque cares about the *wrestling* aspect of the business - unless the McMahon's drove that out of him over the past 7 years.

[Cool Chris]

I try not to think of Stephanie as a nitwit. She is very smart, understands branding and all that. She just should never have been given any position related to creative.

I think HHH (when do we start calling him Paul?) has the best grasp of how to balance 1) wrestling (booking and all that), and 2) the business of "sports entertainment." Remember at heart, he loves wrestling, has since he was 5, and despite all the politicking, knows that the wresting side of WWE has to succeed or else the entity of WWE will fail.