The Wrestling Thread

[Adrian Madaschi]

Was offered a ticket but saw the line-up and really didn't fancy it! Wyatt, Jericho, Ambrose, Ziggler and cesaro (maybe through in stardust) would really be the only ones Id want to see. I was working at the bars in the hydro last night however and seemed as if the weans enjoyed it.

[Ludo*1]

If anyone fancies attending a wrestling show for the first time and wants it to be a mainstream show rather than an indie one, I'd definitely recommend TNA over WWE. TNA put a lot of effort into their house shows, and treat it as if it's a proper TV show. WWE do it paint by numbers. Few singles matches, pit local hero against top WWE star, go home.

[RJM77]

I was at it last night, and really enjoyed it, was my first wrestling live event, thought the NXT triple threat with Zayn/Neville/Kidd stole the show. Ziggler/Cesaro and Jericho/Wyatt were great aswell, Ambrose/Kane didn't get enough time IMO but it was made up for with them both interfering in the main event.

[Quentin Taranbino]

The Great Khali and Brad Maddox released

Best ever Khali match anyone?

[JamieStevenson]

The Great Khali and Brad Maddox released

Best ever Khali match anyone?

[We Are Pars Fans!]

Khali could hardly walk, never mind wrestle. Was just a freak show act. Brad Maddox came from being a ref to GM over night, hasn't done anyone in ages so not a surprise

[Shuggie_Murray7]

I always enjoyed the Maddox character TBF.

[forehead7]

I always enjoyed the Maddox character TBF.

I thought he was good too, under utilized as an on-screen character, IMO.

But I guess they need to trim the budget and he's an obvious candidate for the chop.

[The Ginger Prince]

Tim Wiese, ex Werder Bremen & Germany keeper has a signed a developmental contract with WWE

[mizfit]

How the f**k did that come about?

Probably be cast as an apprentice to Rusev or something similar

[djchapsticks]

To be fair to him, he's a fucking bear.

[stumigoo]

[Klanky]

The Journal, Ireland

Getting sh*t-faced and watching over-18s wrestling is the new thing to do on a Saturday night

Over the Top Wrestlings second event took place in the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin last weekend.

WHEN I WAS younger, I had an unhealthy obsession with watching wrestling.

Between the ages of about 12 and 14, while some kids my age would be recovering from hangovers on a Saturday morning, Id be out and about traipsing up and down town in search of a shop that was selling a copy of the latest edition of Wrestlemania. It was just before the internet became huge, back when looking for something obscure was almost as fun as eventually consuming it.

Of course, I was aware the sport was fake and that many people including friends my age attached little or no credibility to wrestling. However, despite the occasional shame that accompanied a look of bemusement on someones face when they spotted the 50 odd wrestling videos sitting atop my shelves, I persisted for about two or three years in intensely watching the likes of Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker consistently thrill with their ostensibly inherent chutzpah, replete with incredible acts of athleticism and commendably straight-faced participation in increasingly ludicrous and literally unbelievable storylines.

Over the years though, my passion for wrestling quelled. As the internet became mainstream, I grew addicted to various blogs and found myself becoming more interested in the back-stage politics of proceedings, rather than what was actually going on in the ring. It was the equivalent of knowing how a magician does his tricks the sense of fun and spontaneity was therefore ruined, as storylines were correctly predicted by these message boards weeks in advance and every new angle or story idea consequently felt more tired and clichéd than ever.

Since then, Ive retained a vague interest in WWF (or WWE as the kids are calling it nowadays), without ever coming close to falling back in love no longer do I stay up on a Friday night and listen (yes, listen) to the weekly show Raw amid a blurry backdrop that people who refused to pay for Sky Sports used to be forced to put up with.

Last Saturday however, I took a step back into my childhood. An Irish company Over the Top Wrestling were staging their second big event in the Tivoli Theatre.

You might casually assume that the phrase Irish wrestling is a by-word for lack of quality, but those that have been paying close attention will know that the activity has become increasingly popular on these shores in recent times. Wrestling schools have been established and Irish athletes have enjoyed some success both here and internationally Sheamus and Fergal Devitt are two of the most well-known recent exports to the WWE.

Another Irishman who has spent time in Vince McMahons venerated company is Luther Ward. Nevertheless, Ward who TheScore.ie interviewed last month ultimately left the WWE after a year, owing to a mixture of injury problems and general disillusionment with life in America.

As well as regularly competing across Europe nowadays, Ward is the one of the main stars of Over the Top Wrestling. The athlete, whose real name is Joe Cabray, has had access to some of the best trainers in the world thanks to his endeavours across the Atlantic, and is thus, clearly accomplished at what he does.

Moreover, the general standard of Over the Top Wrestling is quite high. Considering that the company has nothing like the resources of their more high-profile counterparts, they do an excellent job of putting on a three-hour show thats believable, technically impressive from a wrestling standpoint, and most importantly of all, consistently entertaining.

When TheScore.ie spoke to Ward recently, he explained that the organisation were aiming for a more extreme offering to the current PG-rated WWE product. This theme is immediately reiterated during a promo on the big screen at the event a wrestler is shown waking up in his bed with a TV playing a WWE segment. Turn that sh*t off, he says gruffly, before doing just that.

The venue feels more like a nightclub or concert than a wrestling event at times. Drink is readily available and the sound of loud music by hard-rock bands such as AC/DC and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is ubiquitous both before and in between the action. The crowd also seems quite alternative tattoos and piercings are a common sight, while I feel uncomfortably conspicuous with my glasses, notepad and decidedly more formal journalistic attire.

Its at least an 80-20 ratio of men to women, and theres a slightly boorish tone to the evening at times. The good-looking female ring announcer opens proceedings with an utterance that sounds more like an exclamation than a question: Are you ready to get shit-faced?

The in-ring characters range from the contemporary and politically resonant to the more crudely drawn. For instance, one heel (wrestling speak for bad guy) claiming to represent Irish Water continually insults the crowd on the microphone before aiming the remnants of his opened bottle of water towards the unfortunate folks sitting in the front row.

The audience are equally animated upon the appearance of a flagrantly camp wrestler accompanied to the ring by a noticeably young-looking female manager, amid unsettling crowd chants of shes not legal.

Other popular performers include a tag team who can politely be described as working class in appearance. They enter the ring to the sounds of throbbing techno, dancing that stereotypical techno dance, and wearing tracksuit bottoms while generally looking quite unkempt and slightly out of it. The turning point of their match occurs when they improbably get their hands on a bag of a white substance that is obviously meant to look like cocaine. One of the duo breaks the bag open hurriedly and they take turns sniffing it from the surface of the ring, before their performance suddenly improves immeasurably and they win the match easily. The increasingly tipsy and vulgar crowd subsequently erupt, vociferously applauding this act of well-orchestrated madness.

Such shenanigans are far from politically correct and thus easy to criticise, but the same could be said for Goodfellas and a host of other Hollywood films. Wrestling, like those movies, is entertainment first and foremost, and performers consequently feel obliged to push boundaries, especially when they are representing an organisation that is consciously aiming to be as edgy and x-rated as the most typically adult HBO shows around.

The evening ultimately ends in spectacular fashion. The aforementioned hero Luther Ward and his dastardly opponent compete in what is a palpably intense no-holds-barred encounter, whereby both athletes seemingly put themselves through plenty of actual pain, while the climax sees these two impressive physical specimens falling from a great height onto a strategically placed table and breaking it in half.

Ward celebrates his eventual victory with a number of other wrestlers who suddenly appear in the ring afterwards, saving him from a post-match gang brawl in the process. They each mark the occasion by guzzling a few cans of Guinness while also throwing some of the alcohol into the crowd, much to the fans audible appreciation.

The audience are suitably energised and the atmosphere is genuinely electric amid this chaotic conclusion. The sporting event that it feels most akin to is not the similarly adrenaline-fuelled UFC but another form of entertainment with which drink has an irrevocable association darts. Like Phil Taylor and co, wrestling is not exactly sophisticated but undoubtedly effective in its attempts to invoke the spectators passion. And judging by the near-full venue and hyperactive onlookers, Over the Top Wrestling certainly has the staying power to match its impressive sense of spectacle.

[Klanky]

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2014/11/19/bret-hart-opens-about-infamous-montreal-screwjob

Interesting read, more so for the insight of WCW.

[Mark Connolly]

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2014/11/19/bret-hart-opens-about-infamous-montreal-screwjob

Interesting read, more so for the insight of WCW.

Not particularly surprised that Hogan appears to be an arsehole.

[Christophe]

Haven't had a lot of time on my hands to watch the whole of this year's NOAH Global League, but just sat down the finals...

BLOCK A - Naomichi Marufuji vs Shane Haste

Marufuji comes into the final day with 3 losses already, so not much chance he adds this year's Global League to his stellar 2014. Still an important match this though as he won't want to end the tournament winless. Quick and painful one this for Haste as referee stoppage gives Marafuji the win by KO after about 6 mins after a barrage of KO-OH knee's ***

BLOCK A - Akitoshi Saito vs Colt Cabana

I'm not going to pretend this was a brilliant spectacle but i thoroughly enjoyed the the comedy character of Cabana going up against an absolute gangster in Saito. Although neither of these guys can make the final we are treated to a competently entertaining 6 minutes of wrestling, with Cabana picking up the win with the Cabana Clutch **1/2

BLOCK A - Daisuke Sekimoto vs Katsuhiko Nakajima

I'm way over the point of pumped up for this match! Given that the winner here takes control of Block A then this should be an absolute pearl of a bout. It's easy to see that Sekimoto could ragdoll Nakajima at will more often than not, but he sells beautifully in return when Nakajima unleashes his brutal kicks. In the stretch we get a segment where Sekimoto is looking for the finishing lariat but keeps getting roundhouse kicked before he lands it, plenty near falls and big blow near misses before Sekimoto ends it with a german suplex. Brilliant showing to keep both strong though ***3/4

BLOCK A - Satoshi Kojima vs Takeshi Morishima

We have the weird situation you get in Japan often here whereby Morishima, leader of the baddest heel faction NOAH has ever seen is cheered as the face here due to fighting a NJPW opponent. Morishima comes in pretty fired up considering he can't progress from the block. He wins with the Backdrop Driver after Cho Kibou-gun interference to attack Kojima **3/4

BLOCK B - Chris Hero vs Quiet Storm

Hero wins a match that has no consequence on the block whatsoever **

BLOCK B - Masato Tanaka vs Mickey Nicholls

Tanaka will go to the final and face Sekimoto with a win here and a defeat for Nagata later on. Nicholls is out of the running but has picked up a fine victory against Nagata along the way and looking to end his tournament on a high. There is history here in 2014 as both men's teams (TMDK and Dangan Yankees) have done battle over the GHC Tag Titles, Tanaka's Yankees coming out on top on each occasion there. This is a fine match with Tanaka trying to hit the Sliding D and Nicholls managing to keep him at bay. Nicholls manages to end it with a Mickey Bomb after 11 minutes to add a bit of parity to the TMDK/Yankee's feud and end Tanaka's tournament ***1/4

BLOCK B - Mohammed Yone vs Yuji Nagata

Tanaka's loss plays right into Nagata's hands here as he just needs a victory over a guy he's dispatched during his previous title reign to make the 2014 Global League final. Nagata gets the invader heel heat as shown to Kojima earlier, it's infinitely more suited to hi though! Plenty stiff kicks here building to a crescendo where the crowd can see either man take the win. It's tight down the stretch before Yone avenges that earlier title match defeat by way of a Muscle Buster ***1/2

BLOCK B - Takashi Sugiura vs Maybach Taniguchi

So those last two defeats to the block front-runners throws up a surprising opportunity for one of these guys to make the final. Shouldn't really be a surprise though, one is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion (and current GHC Tag Champ) while the other has long been groomed for success and recently been moved into the world title scene. This was a compelling bout for the following reason, Sugiura stuck Taniguchi in a front neck lock which the referee called a stoppage on...2 minutes into the match! Taniguchi goes absolutely mental and Sugiura is in the final! We get Taniguchi hinting at shenanigans from his stable so looks like tension ahead there **

Hajime Ohara, Kenou, Mitsuhiro Kitamiya and Hitoshi Kumano vs Super Crazy, Pesadilla, Zack Sabre Jr and Yoshinari Ogawa

Fine non tournament match, that runs for about 9 mins and mostly serves to put the GHC Jr Tag Champs over (Kenou and Ohara) ahead of their Great Voyage match against Jushin Liger and Tiger Mask. Kenou winning with the dragon suplex over Pesadilla **3/4

BRAVE (Taiji Ishimori and Atusushi Kotoge) vs No Mercy (Daisuke Harada and Genba Hirayinagi)

Fluff match before the final, with Kotoge going over Hirayinagi with a Kill Switch, playing into Kotoge's future GHC Jr Heavyweight title bout against Harada **3/4

GLOBAL LEAGUE 2014 FINAL - Takashi Sugiura vs Daisuke Sekimoto

An completely unlikely final at the start of the tournament but a dream match on paper. They have a bit of history as Dangan Yankees crossed paths with Sekimoto and Hashimoto in Zero1, and both these guys typify the NOAH style so lots to look forward to here. The two give the final a well-matched feel as there is no obvious victor to pick out, Sekimoto is the 16-year veteran who has never held the big belt. Sugiura has held every NOAH title under the sun and holds the record for the second longest GHC title reign. It's a fitting final to both their history's and to the tournament itself. Sekimoto is out of the block slamming into forearms and lariats while Sugiura refuses to budge. As we get to about the 20 minute mark it gets a tiny bit repetitive moveset wise, which doesn't bother me but will probably pick-up nit-picking elsewhere. It's still on a knife-edge down the stretch with throws and forearm smashes traded with gusto. Eventually something has to give and it's Sekimoto who falls, taking an Olympic Slam to the back of the head from Sugiura for the three-count. Sugiura is the 2014 Global League Champion and the crowd go home happy ****1/4

[Ira Gaines]

It still amuses me that Quiet Storm was in this tournament. It's like they needed representation from 2002 ROH or something.

[Christophe]

Yeah, QS is so bad, really wish NOAH would bomb him off. Great final though, two of my faves just roaring in.

[Quitongo's Left Peg]

The Attitude era is a lot of dross for the most part. There's a couple of good years in there, but the same can be said for any era. 2008 for example in WWE was fucking fantastic. Not sure it tops 2001 for in ring value, but it came close and a couple of real good feuds in there.

As for the Network, I use Unblock-US which requires a small fee, and then you pay for it using Paypal rather than an actual card. Should be enough to sort you out.

Hola Unblocker is your friend.

Unblock-us allows you to watch on your PlayStation/X-Box streaming device though.

[Quitongo's Left Peg]

Was directed to this when looking at the Punk story. For any fans of Lana.

Disclaimer - definitely NSFW or Not Safe For When Your Missus Is Home.

http://www.wrestlingattitude.com/news/lana-nude-topless-see-through-over-70-stunning-pics-3.html