The Wrestling Thread

[DomDom]

To lighten the thread, I've decided to let you see the greatest ring entrance of all time. The first time I seen it was on an ROH DVD from last year. The man ? BxB Hulk. The one I'm about to post doesn't quite match the amazing extended ROH one that he did, but it's still a hell of a taster for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW14INc6wGA...feature=related

[Guest MadTax]

To lighten the thread, I've decided to let you see the greatest ring entrance of all time. The first time I seen it was on an ROH DVD from last year. The man ? BxB Hulk. The one I'm about to post doesn't quite match the amazing extended ROH one that he did, but it's still a hell of a taster for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW14INc6wGA...feature=related

shite B)

[EdinburghLivi]

I'm utterly shocked. Test was one of my favourite wrestlers when he was in the WWE. A lot of people gave him stick for his physique but he just had that bad-ass heel look.

Condolences to his family and friends. RIP Test.

[DomDom]

WWE In Your House : St Valentine's Day Massacre

The road to Wrestlemania is well and truly on, although the main event of this show would have been well served on Wrestlemania, along with the title match that was booked for this show, but they screwed with that at the Rumble, so no luck there then.

Bluedust vs. Goldust

In another genius idea of booking, Vince Russo decided to make The Blue Meanie dress in blue and fued with Goldust. You can't make this shit up. This match had no business on PPV. It was basically a bad RAW match, as the action was meaningless and just an excuse to get Shattered Dreams on PPV. The move was popular with the crowd though. Crappy match.

Bob Holly vs. Al Snow - WWE Hardcore Championship

Remember when they had guys in the division who knew exactly how to make it work ? This was a battle of the JOB Squad at the time, and the title was vacant as Road Dogg was hospitalized. This was amazing for it's time, and entertaining as hell. There's too much in the way of dead spots and needless stuff, and too much no-selling of what was pretty brutal shots, but the brutality makes this worth watching.

The Big Bossman vs. Mideon

Cole : "This will be a good one.". That is flat out lies. This is heel vs. heel and the fans couldn't care less about it. This is just a heap of crap, much like the opener, but at least it has a purpose as far as Wrestlemania goes.

Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett © vs. D'Lo Brown and Mark Henry - WWE World Tag Team Championships

Solid tag team wrestling before the usual bullshit Russo ending. Mark Henry was actually showing a wee bit of fire when he got in there. Everyone else is pretty talented and spent most of the time in the ring. There was particularly good stuff coming between Owen and D'Lo so I wonder if there was ever a match between those two guys that got a lot of time.

Ken Shamrock © vs. Val Venis - WWE Intercontinental Championship

This is really god awful stuff. Not helped by the referee stuff. The special referee stuff wasn't very good, but it had a nice wee twist at the end and it made sense, so kudos for the booking at that point. To be honest, this match needed some right good booking because the wrestlers clearly weren't in the mood to do the job on their own.

Kane and Chyna w/ Shane McMahon vs. Triple H and X-Pac

Ya know, for all of the crappy booking going on around this time, there was the brilliant handling of X-Pac. I have no idea why he was protected and pushed so much in 1999 but he was involved in some fantastic angles and the fans bought into all of them. Chyna is uberover with the crowd. They HATE her. The match itself is perfectly booked with everything revolving around Chyna's involvement in the match. The action was superb and the crowd was hot. No complaints from me and big step up from what's come before. ***1/2

Mankind © vs. The Rock, Last Man Standing Match - WWE World Heavyweight Championship

"It looks like a big monkey came out here, did a crap, and out came Mankind."

This was the end of their fued. Well, they might have done some stuff on RAW, but for PPV, this was pretty much the end of it. This was absolutely brutal stuff at times. I don't think I've seen another match involving The Rock which has basically been a one man show. Mankind did the work of about 50 wrestlers in this match making The Rock look like absolute gold in the process. This is actually better than the infamous Rumble match. ****

Vince McMahon vs. Steve Austin - Steel Cage Match

I personally think that this match should have happened at Wrestlemania, but with Austin winning completely clean with no interference whatsoever. This was the biggest fued in WWE at the time and the biggest fued of the entire Attitude Era. An incredibly satisfying match where the fans got exactly what they wanted to see from it. Vince McMahon taking one of the biggest beatings you've ever seen. The ending is naff, especially since it never actually led to anything, but other than that, great fun. ***

OVERALL

********

The last three matches really saved this show. I've said it over and over again. The last three matches should have found their way to Wrestlemania. Nobody really cared about Austin/Rock at this time, and Mankind/Show was another damp squid. Add that to the perfect booking of X-Pac around the time and it would have been the biggest PPV of the year, but it didn't turn out that way. This PPV was a good 'un in the second half, but beware of sitting through a whole lot of crap to get to that point.

[DomDom]

WWE Smackdown 13/03/2009

Tonight we get Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Undertaker.

Edge vs. Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston, take a bow son ! You just had your breakout match ! WWE took a chance here, and that was because of Edge being out of sorts thanks to what happened on RAW, and this allowed Kingston to look great against a top star. Great match. ***1/2

The Miz and John Morrison © vs. Primo and Carlito - World Tag Team Championships

Nowhere near as good as their match on the previous week, mainly because it never got the same amount of time, but this was still a good match with some great tag team stuff from both men. Primo and Carlito came out with a weird Double Springboard Clothesline that I liked the look of.

Chavo Guerrero and Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP and R-Truth

Good ending doesn't make this rather crappy match seem any better. Just goes to show that when you put so much bland talent into the one match, you're going to get a bland match. MVP and Shelton Benjamin CAN have good matches, but they need to be carried. Nobody in the match was good enough to do that.

Matt Hardy cuts a promo, which the fans really couldn't care about ... untill be brings out a dog collar, which naturally gets MAJOR heat. Well, if they're gonna insist on doing promos, they need to do SOMETHING with it, since Matt or Jeff can't cut a promo for shit. Jeff Hardy talks and it's actually laughable. Any heat that the promo had before that point totally disappears. Then Jeff attacks and the crowd goes absolutely batshit. The fued can be good, but they really need to keep microphones away from the two men.

Michelle McCool and Maryse vs. Maria and Melina

The referee, in a moment of idiocy, counts four instead of three. Michelle McCool's aggressive side was good to see as usual, but the match when anyone else was in there was just a load of crap basically. Shame as I think we've seen a slight improvement from the divas recently.

THE Brian Kendrick vs. Finlay - Money in the Bank Qualifier

An energetic little match from these two guys, but two problems. The ladder match already has names which aren't suited to the match. Brian Kendrick would have made a nice addition as a result. The other problem is the lack of time given to the match. Considering the importance of the match, it should have felt more important but it didn't.

Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Undertaker

You know, facing people like The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels every week isn't going to do this big guy any harm. This match is better than a lot of Kozlov's matches have been to date, mainly because it was nowhere near as messy as his other matches. It does get a big ugly but thankfully that doesn't last long. There was good points to him that weren't there before, like simply being more aggressive, like he should be as a monster heel. Notice the snap behind things like Clotheslines and takedowns. Anyways, not great, but better than I thought it was going to be.

OVERALL

********

This wasn't a bad week of Smackdown, but the opening match is a definate must see.

Edited March 15, 2009 by DomDom

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Good to see his run in ECW being brought up. Once again showed how solid he was, as he never had a shit match whilst being put up against some real tripe. The worst wrestler he was ever up against was the only half fit Steiner, who was in no condition to compete when he was fueding with Test.

For my money he should have been given the ECW title at the ECW Elimination Chamber at the ECW PPV.

At 33 years old we can sadly assume that his untimely death is steroid related. As much as I was a fan of his, he was most definetly unnaturally large. So sad to loose another one so young and with each death the age seems to drop lower and lower,

[DomDom]

Lets not forget that in 2007, he was suspended on the wellness program and retired soon after. You only have to look at his body in his first run and then his last run to see the differences. It's almost like a different man.

[Shuggie_Murray7]

I remember being shocked at the difference in his physique when he resurfaced on WWE TV, still sad none the less and does nothing for the reputation of pro wrestling. At 33 it makes you shit yourself at how young they are dropping these days.

[DomDom]

The reputation of pro-wrestling can't be repaired anymore anyways, so this isn't going to make things any worse.

Of course it's sad. The man has died at the age of 33 and mainly down to his own idiocy, and many more will be following him in the future.

[Shuggie_Murray7]

It has actually gotten that bad that I know people who are betting on who the next one to die will be. I actually know people, who I wont mention their name, who have told me that they would gladly take steroids to get ahead in theor sport, kinda says it all I guess for todays attitude towards sport in general.

Edited March 15, 2009 by Shuggie_Murray7

[Toma_BullyWee]

I'm finding the whole Test thing a bit strange.

Only last week I thought to myself "I wonder what he's doing now" and googled him. I was surprised to see that he'd "retired" as I thought that when he appeared around 99' that he could have been a decent enough main eventer if handled the right way.

I loved him when he was this cocky b*****d, and as many have said, his big boot looked great.

I went through a few years of not watching Wrestling or reading up on it, so I didn't know he was brought in to ECW, and I had no idea that he'd morphed into a big steroid. So I was genuinely surprised to hear that he'd died.

Knowing what I know now, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I'd like to see a small video tribute to him on RAW because he was always decent enough when called upon, and his release while recovering from surgery wasn't very classy.

I do think we'll see something on Raw though, he didn't appear to have many enemies. But at the end of the day this is just going to bring up more shite for Vince, but I'm sure he can deal with it. At least he can bring out the "I paid for Test to go to rehab" line to try and deflect blame.

Anyway, I was watching old Test videos on youtube yesterday and ( I can't find the video now ) I thought that him faking a knee injury only to hit Steiner with the big boot as he was helped out of the ring was brilliant.

Oh well, who do we think is going to drop next?

I'm going to guess there will be a big(ish) name dying before July.

[MTJ]

I'm finding the whole Test thing a bit strange.

Only last week I thought to myself "I wonder what he's doing now" and googled him. I was surprised to see that he'd "retired" as I thought that when he appeared around 99' that he could have been a decent enough main eventer if handled the right way.

I loved him when he was this cocky b*****d, and as many have said, his big boot looked great.

I went through a few years of not watching Wrestling or reading up on it, so I didn't know he was brought in to ECW, and I had no idea that he'd morphed into a big steroid. So I was genuinely surprised to hear that he'd died.

Knowing what I know now, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I'd like to see a small video tribute to him on RAW because he was always decent enough when called upon, and his release while recovering from surgery wasn't very classy.

I do think we'll see something on Raw though, he didn't appear to have many enemies. But at the end of the day this is just going to bring up more shite for Vince, but I'm sure he can deal with it. At least he can bring out the "I paid for Test to go to rehab" line to try and deflect blame.

Anyway, I was watching old Test videos on youtube yesterday and ( I can't find the video now ) I thought that him faking a knee injury only to hit Steiner with the big boot as he was helped out of the ring was brilliant.

Oh well, who do we think is going to drop next?

I'm going to guess there will be a big(ish) name dying before July.

I've read his Myspace blog a few times, where he was very critical of WWE and in particular Vince McMahon saying unless you are one of the main eventers he couldn't give a f**k about people's wellbeing. He was openly encouraging youngsters not to become wrestlers basically saying you are bumping and bruising yourself 5 days a week for no more than a 9-5 job pays, and due to the fact most guys end up needing to take all that pain just to pay the bills wrestling is loaded with guys addicted to pain killers and various other drugs.

Edited March 15, 2009 by MTJ

[RussellV1]

WWE In Your House : St Valentine's Day Massacre

Ken Shamrock © vs. Val Venis - WWE Intercontinental Championship

This is really god awful stuff. Not helped by the referee stuff. The special referee stuff wasn't very good, but it had a nice wee twist at the end and it made sense, so kudos for the booking at that point. To be honest, this match needed some right good booking because the wrestlers clearly weren't in the mood to do the job on their own.

was this the match where Shamrock blatantly tells his sister to "slap me" with no attempt to hide it?

[DomDom]

was this the match where Shamrock blatantly tells his sister to "slap me" with no attempt to hide it?

Yup. A thing of beauty that was, but I wasn't in the mood to say anything positive about that piece of shit match.

Knowing what I know now, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I'd like to see a small video tribute to him on RAW because he was always decent enough when called upon.

Yup. Pretty much everything he did was at least a decent standard.

[Mo Wonderboy]

Oh well, who do we think is going to drop next?

I'm going to guess there will be a big(ish) name dying before July.

Well I have Kurt Angle and Scott Hall in the Dead Pool on here.

[YER SISTERS YER MAW]

Yup. A thing of beauty that was, but I wasn't in the mood to say anything positive about that piece of shit match.

Yup. Pretty much everything he did was at least a decent standard.

Aye, I enjoyed the storyline involving his romance with Trish Stratus. Am I right in saying he got heat for being a bit of a heavy hitter? It seems to ring a bell.

Edited March 15, 2009 by YER SISTERS YER MAW

[MTJ]

Well I have Kurt Angle and Scott Hall in the Dead Pool on here.

How about we have pro wrestling Dead Pool?

If there isn't already....

[Mo Wonderboy]

Ha. Could be a laugh.

[Toma_BullyWee]

Well I have Kurt Angle and Scott Hall in the Dead Pool on here.

Angle is a funny one, I've been expecting him to go for a couple of years now.

[DA Baracus]

The best Test moment is when Shane McMahonh slaps Vince in the ring circa 98/99 I think. Test's reaction is hilarious.