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6 minutes ago, briantw said:

Major spoilers from tonight's NXT tapings:

  Reveal hidden contents

They went and did the damn thing!  Ciampa is NXT champion.

 

Spoiler

Wasn't that kind of obvious?  Johnny Wrestling takes it at Brooklyn 4 to define the trilogy?

 

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Just now, DMC said:
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Wasn't that kind of obvious?  Johnny Wrestling takes it at Brooklyn 4 to define the trilogy?

 

Spoiler

I mean, I think we all knew it was coming.  I kind of figured they'd do Ciampa/Black in Brooklyn and then wrap up the Gargano/Ciampa rivalry later, though.

 

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Just finished the 1st night of the G1. Blows away 95% of anything I've seen in WWE in a while. Don't put a ton of time into wrestling anymore, but I'm going to follow this G1 the whole way through. Fantastic stuff.

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18 hours ago, Joe Pesci said:

Just finished the 1st night of the G1. Blows away 95% of anything I've seen in WWE in a while. Don't put a ton of time into wrestling anymore, but I'm going to follow this G1 the whole way through. Fantastic stuff.

Yeah, it's been rock solid so far.  Hasn't been a classic match yet but the bulk of the tournament matches have hovered somewhere between good and great, which still makes it far better than your standard WWE PPV.

Thus far, hasn't been a night that has topped the last few Takeovers, though.  I'm only on night five, to be fair.  I think last night was seven.

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I watched Impact's Slammiversary show this week.  It was fantastic.  Pretty much good to great matches from top to bottom with only one mediocre bout.  About the highest compliment I can pay it is that it felt a lot like an NXT Takeover mixed with some Lucha Underground.

Callihan/Pentagon was awesome.  Just a violent train wreck of a match.  About what you'd expect from these two.

Aries/Moose was fantastic as well.  Much better than I expected. 

The tag title match street fight was really great too.  They worked a lightning pace from start to finish and it was highly entertaining.  

Basically every match is worth checking out outside of the women's title match, which was just meh.  Very skippable.  The women's match between Tessa Blanchard and Allie earlier in the card was way better, and definitely worth watching.

I'd give at least three matches from the show four stars or better, and the rest outside of the women's title match were in the three to four range.  Very good card from the opening bell to the final one.  Impact has really turned itself around.

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Just started watching World of Sport Wrestling (the relaunch of the legendary 80's show) they've got all the guys you won't see in the UK NXT scene. It's got Bad News Barrett Stu Bennet, Grado, Bulldog Jr., Ospreay (and his Bae: Bea,) Joe Hendry!

I really hope this does well.

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I thought this was interesting:

The End of Wrestling’s Monday-Night Wars Was the Best Series Finale of the Century

I wasn't nearly old as the author - 15 about to turn 16.  But he's right.  Wrestlemania 17 was pretty much it for me.  Never been the same since then.  Granted, I had zero interest in WCW's product for a couple years up to that point, but I still do remember that night when Vince (and Shane) McMahon were on "Ted Turner's" network.  It was the definition of Must See TV.  And immediately after that?  Didn't care.  Haven't really cared as much since.

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2 minutes ago, DMC said:

I thought this was interesting:

The End of Wrestling’s Monday-Night Wars Was the Best Series Finale of the Century

I wasn't nearly old as the author - 15 about to turn 16.  But he's right.  Wrestlemania 17 was pretty much it for me.  Never been the same since then.  Granted, I had zero interest in WCW's product for a couple years up to that point, but I still do remember that night when Vince (and Shane) McMahon were on "Ted Turner's" network.  It was the definition of Must See TV.  And immediately after that?  Didn't care.  Haven't really cared as much since.

Once there was no more competition, the product slowly went to hell.  It's pretty much the worst it's ever been right now despite the roster probably having the most talent of any wrestling promotion in history right now.

It's extra sad when you watch NXT and you see how truly great the main roster could be by just booking guys like stars, pushing guys who get over, and not antagonizing the crowd whenever possible.

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23 minutes ago, briantw said:

Once there was no more competition, the product slowly went to hell.  It's pretty much the worst it's ever been right now despite the roster probably having the most talent of any wrestling promotion in history right now.

It's extra sad when you watch NXT and you see how truly great the main roster could be by just booking guys like stars, pushing guys who get over, and not antagonizing the crowd whenever possible.

I appreciate NXT, but it basically is what NWA was before McMahon ate it - top notch wrestling with simple storylines.  It's understandable that that doesn't have broad appeal.  That Vince hasn't figured out something better is his own failure, sure, but I get where he's coming from.  He's looking for a box office that can combine good wrestling - or at least brawling - that he had during that time period.

BTW, that time period was pretty toxic in a bad way.  Went to a bunch of events during that time, and a lot of it devolved into "show us your tits" for any woman, in the ring or in the crowd.  Heyman is revered, but he encouraged both that and violence that led to New Jack committing felonies on screen.  I'm not sure what the answer is, or if there is one, but what I do know is we're never going to see anything like NWO, or Austin/McMahon, or DX, anytime again. 

First, because the in-ring talent can't come close to any of those guys on the mic.  Even if they have that in them, it will never be garnered.  Take Mick Foley.  A guy like that will never get that type of opportunity to develop.  Second, because there's no competition.  They can have AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe as something that's "new to WWE," but real wrestling fans know this is the upteenth match against a couple guys pushing 40 while the kids don't really care.

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I have given up on main roster, but I've been hearing good things about Smackdown. More cohesive storylines, good matches. And Orton has finally turned back to his more natural heel role.

Been too busy to watch NXT which is a shame, I'll probably binge some time in the next week. I know some big shit has occurred (and know about it all (I think)), but never know what the spoiler policy is in here.

I have picked up Progress, which is impressing me quite a lot. They're one of the British Indie promotions who are tight with WWE (entirely down to HHH.) The first show I watched had Dakota Kai have a title shot, and they made a really funny PG joke. And I can't believe how awesome Flash Morgan Webster is.

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13 hours ago, DMC said:

I appreciate NXT, but it basically is what NWA was before McMahon ate it - top notch wrestling with simple storylines.  It's understandable that that doesn't have broad appeal.  That Vince hasn't figured out something better is his own failure, sure, but I get where he's coming from.  He's looking for a box office that can combine good wrestling - or at least brawling - that he had during that time period.

BTW, that time period was pretty toxic in a bad way.  Went to a bunch of events during that time, and a lot of it devolved into "show us your tits" for any woman, in the ring or in the crowd.  Heyman is revered, but he encouraged both that and violence that led to New Jack committing felonies on screen.  I'm not sure what the answer is, or if there is one, but what I do know is we're never going to see anything like NWO, or Austin/McMahon, or DX, anytime again. 

First, because the in-ring talent can't come close to any of those guys on the mic.  Even if they have that in them, it will never be garnered.  Take Mick Foley.  A guy like that will never get that type of opportunity to develop.  Second, because there's no competition.  They can have AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe as something that's "new to WWE," but real wrestling fans know this is the upteenth match against a couple guys pushing 40 while the kids don't really care.

I think NXT does have pretty broad appeal, though.  They have no problem selling out big arenas for their big shows, and they have quite a few guys who they have made look like absolute stars like Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole, Ricochet, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, and Aleister Black.  By far the best feud in the entire WWE this year has been Ciampa and Gargano.  If you swapped NXT's product with Raw's, I think Raw would be significantly more popular, whereas NXT would probably just go under because no one would be watching because it was shit.  The only thing keeping NXT from blowing up is the fact that it's not televised.  If they aired it on USA and actually promoted it, I think it would be a huge success because it's exactly what most wrestling fans want to see from wrestling: good booking, guys who are allowed to be stars, hot feuds, and great matches.

The only reason people watch Raw at this point is because of name recognition.  I can relate, as it can be difficult to stop watching a show you've watched for years.  I continued watching The Walking Dead for three or four seasons after it became absolute dog shit, and that's not the only bad show I continued watching after multiple shitty seasons that I liked at one point.  I think the same thing is happening with Raw coupled with the fact that a lot of fans may not have cable packages that include any other promotions, as WWE is the only one that airs on a major cable channel.

I tend to disagree on the mic work, though.  I think they have quite a few guys capable of cutting great promos.  Miz, Owens, Ciampa, Cole, Joe...all of those guys have no problem working the mic, and they're by no means the only five in the company that can talk.  Now, the promos may not be able to touch on a lot of the same material that Attitude Era promos were allowed to, because this is the PG era, but at the same time, we can see Miz and Joe go out there every week and cut great promos.  Joe has been on fire since his return, torching Roman Reigns on the mic (not a big challenge, but he absolutely eviscerated him) and now doing great work with Styles, and Miz has always been one of the best promos in the company.  

I do agree that they're not properly developing guys, though.  NXT seems to do a fine job of it, but once guys go to the main roster they just get lost in the shuffle because there's never any plan for them and no one is allowed to be a star except Reigns and Cena.  I also hate how WWE keeps calling guys up without cutting other guys.  The main roster is far too bloated right now.  They should get rid of at least ten guys to make room for all the new call-ups.  

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Sadly, it looks like Aleister Black isn't going to be able to perform at Takeover after a groin injury he suffered during a house show match with Ciampa.  There are some rumors that they might insert Matt Riddle, NXT's latest signing, into the main event, which would be awesome.  Or they may just go with Gargano/Ciampa III.

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On 8/8/2018 at 11:34 PM, briantw said:

Sadly, it looks like Aleister Black isn't going to be able to perform at Takeover after a groin injury he suffered during a house show match with Ciampa.  There are some rumors that they might insert Matt Riddle, NXT's latest signing, into the main event, which would be awesome.  Or they may just go with Gargano/Ciampa III.

I hope they do the former. As much as I have loved Ciampa and Gargano it needs something fresh to avoid it going stale.

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R.I.P "The Anvl" Jim Neidhart:crying:

Quote

Jim Neidhart, best known over a 24-year pro wrestling carer as "The Anvil" and the father of current WWE superstar Natalya, died Monday. He was 63.

The news was first reported by Neidhart's former in-ring rival B. Brian Blair on Twitterand later confirmed by WWE. No cause of death has been announced at this  time.

Neidhart reached his highest level of success and celebrity as one half the two-time WWF tag team champion Hart Foundation in the late 1980s alongside his real-life brother-in-law Bret Hart.  The 6-foot-2, 280-pound native of Tampa, Florida, married Hart's sister Ellie in 1979. He is survived by their three daughters.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/wwe/news/wwe-legend-jim-the-anvil-neidhart-dies-at-63-and-the-wrestling-world-reacts/

 

 

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11 hours ago, lmanion said:

Dean Ambrose looks like he has been ignoring the wwe wellness policy while he has been injured.

Hopefully he also worked on his in-ring skills, because that was always the main thing I disliked about him.  He's got a boring offense, and that move where he bounces off the middle rope into a clothesline is probably my least favorite move in all of wrestling (outside of Cena's STF, which looks borderline comfortable).  It just looks so fucking slow and telegraphed that it's baffling anyone would be hit by it.

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