The Wrestling Thread

[Parscelona]

What a tadger Evan Bourne is. Getting the biggest push he has ever and probably will ever get and he does this. AirBoom to drop the titles tonight at the Smackdown tapings no doubt. Put it on the Usos

It's a shame for Kofi, the guy has so much potential and is going to pay the price for his partner being a fud.

[bkay]

Wonder if the The Rock will pass a wellness test

[TheGreenMonster]

Wonder if the The Rock will pass a wellness test

Probably do a Scott Steiner and refuse to take one unless HHH takes one.

[banterman86]

Just finished reading the first Jericho book I mentioned yesterday. Brilliant stuff.

Any recommendations on wrestling autobiographies? Is Goldust's worth it? Jericho's 2nd as good as the 1st? Shawn Michaels?

Reason I ask is I really enjoyed Jericho's and Mick Foley's (Have A Nice Day) but I've read some absolute crap like The Rock's. The guys my all time favourite but that was so disappointing. I'd rather avoid rubbish like that!

I loved Jericho's first book, and Foley's first one as well.

Try and track dwn "Pure Dynamite" by Tom Bilington - The Dynamite Kid. Cmes across as a bit bitter re Bret Hart, but still a good book

Non-wrassling, Titenam Brown is a coming of age novel written by Mick Foly, and is really a rather decent stab at a fiction novel

[DomDom]

Finally got my PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2011 DVD in yesterday, and it's good...

Willie Mack vs. Chris Hero - BOLA Qtr Final

A weird match. Mack stood toe to toe with Hero a lot of the way. That was a good thing. Mack has been the underdog for long enough. He should be breaking out. So why did they then have him fluke the pin? Going over strong in the first round over someone like Hero would have helped him no end. The match was pretty good though and it was also quite brutal. Especially a big Lariat spot. ***1/2

Kevin Steen vs. Finlay - Qtr Final

Finlay is awesome here. He's like a more violent version of Ric Flair, taking cheap shots all over the map. Kevin Steen is more than happy to take that though, and take it he does with some fine cheating of his own. It's not like this is just some cheatfest though. There's a good technical match to be had here as well as some stiffness, especially from Finlay, but Steen does hold his own. ***

Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico - Qtr Final

Jesus. This is brilliant. It's a first round match so they hold off just a wee touch. When they go into the final stretch the place is electric thanks to some insane counters. The Pop Up European into the Crucifix Bomb from Generico is just unreal to watch. If they had a more oppertune time on this night they could have had a genuine MOTYC. As it stands, they have to settle for a corker. ****

Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong - Qtr Final

Okay, now I'm confused. Why give these two guys 20 minutes and not the previous match? These two guys were sent out to steal the show. To be fair to PWG though, these two guys had had a couple of cracking matches by this point and there was no reason why they couldn't do it again, but they didn't. The pace of the match was all wrong. Strong didn't seem to know whether to be goofy or mental. ***1/2

The RockNES Monsters vs. The Dynasty

What's with the fluke pins. It's even more bizarre here when you consider the circumstances. Nobody gave the Monsters a chance here when they heard it was a #1 contender match. The fans were therefore completely uninterested. Having The Dynasty go over clean and proper was the only call here and they didn't take it. The match seemed to just be treading water untill the hot ending. **

El Generico vs. Willie Mack

This match wasn't the most serious of matches. Lots of comedy mixed in with nice little bits of action, but it was only a few minutes and wasn't worth much other than gettng Generico into the final. **

Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen

The result of the last match sort of made this one obvious, but these guys were able to suck the fans in. While Generico had a less tiring match, Steen was in a real tough one here. Edwards brought the hard stuff like he always does and Steen did his best to stand toe to toe, but who can do that with Edwards? ***1/2

The Kings of Wrestling vs. The Young Bucks

The special feeling of the Bucks has definately lost a touch. Their matches aren't the epics that they used to be, and they ARE coming up against good opposition, as you can well see here. Claudio was the star of the match when he was ragdolling the Bucks around, and as always the final stretch in a Bucks match is way fun, but it wasn't up there with their better efforts. ***3/4

El Generico vs. Kevin Steen

The final of the BOLA and it was a hot hate filled brawl. Which made Kevin Steen's antics during the match incredibly stupid. He plays to the crowd far too much for such a heated brawl. They brought the good stuff here though and there are many "WHAT THE f**k?!" moments in there. The final spot in particular being utterly mental. ***3/4

Not one of the best PWG shows, but good enough.

[DomDom]

Fans of Beyond the Mat, listen to The One Wrestling Show this week. He was booked and had a cracking interview...

DENNIS STAMP!!!

A long and very candid interview from him as well. Interesting stuff to hear it all from him and there's also the usual fun revolving around the current stuff.

http://www.facebook.com/onewrestling?ref=ts

[Bowers]

That was about the time I stopped watching wrestling or even following it all for a period of about four years. The Boogeyman was horrendous and at about 14-15 years old I felt embarrassed watching it even by myself. King Booker was dreadful too. JBL winning the title just before that really put me off too, impossible for me to suspend my disbelief when a midcard tag team wrestler gets a haircut and becomes world champion (although he turned out to be awesome).

that saved you getting a red dot

[DomDom]

Right, we've almost got a full card for ICW: Square Go on January 22nd.

Main Event

The 1st Annual Square Go

ICW Championship

"Darkside" James Scott © vs. BT Gunn

Intergender Six Person Tag

The Bucky Boys and Lambrini vs. STI and Sara

Lionheart vs. Red Lightning

Jack Jester vs. Mikey Whiplash

I can see one more match at the most being added to the card. The square go itself should be incredible. Nobody does chaotic matches quite like ICW. The title match should be incredible as well. Venue is the classic grand of course. Info found here...

http://ukff.com/index.php?showtopic=128183

[Paulo Sergio]

Wonder if the The Rock will pass a wellness test

Don't think The Rock has ever done any of that shite in the past and don't see why he would have to do anything other than weights to stay in good shape etc given that he's barely been in the wrestling business for the past seven years.

[Marshmallo]

Hollywood and the roles he plays are arguably even more based on his appearance than the wrestling world.

[DomDom]

The Rock is actually bigger just now. Did you see him in that promo? He's fucking huge!

Would be hilarious if they asked him to do a wellness test and he got suspended.

[TheGreenMonster]

Don't think The Rock has ever done any of that shite in the past and don't see why he would have to do anything other than weights to stay in good shape etc given that he's barely been in the wrestling business for the past seven years.

He got absolutely HUGE for the Fast Five film, far far bigger than he ever was while wrestling

[DA Baracus]

Hulk Hogan is a piece of shit and an absolute cancer to the wrestling business. He is trying to keep the belt off Roode, saying that Roode 'isn't ready', and it was he who seemingly engineered it so that Roode would lose at BFG. And of course the selfish p***k took the headlines with his ridiculous face turn. What a total w****r. Oh, and who does Hogan think the champion should be? Jeff Hardy. Great.

[RussellV1]

Hulk Hogan is a piece of shit and an absolute cancer to the wrestling business. He is trying to keep the belt off Roode, saying that Roode 'isn't ready', and it was he who seemingly engineered it so that Roode would lose at BFG. And of course the selfish p***k took the headlines with his ridiculous face turn. What a total w****r. Oh, and who does Hogan think the champion should be? Jeff Hardy. Great.

[Marshmallo]

Hulk Hogan is a piece of shit and an absolute cancer to the wrestling business. He is trying to keep the belt off Roode, saying that Roode 'isn't ready', and it was he who seemingly engineered it so that Roode would lose at BFG. And of course the selfish p***k took the headlines with his ridiculous face turn. What a total w****r. Oh, and who does Hogan think the champion should be? Jeff Hardy. Great.

Hulk Hogan IS wrestling.

[forehead7]

Hulk Hogan IS wrestling.

Was. Maybe it's because he wasn't big when I started watching wrestling but I don't really like him. Obviously, he made the business massive and he's to be commended for that(I actually argued for him on another board when someone was trying to say he was in the "right place at the right time") but right now, he's killing TNA. Employing all his old cronies like Bischoff, Steiner, Russo etc. He's also going the way Flair has, ruining what brilliant work he did in his prime by sticking around waay past when he should have retired and stayed retired.

His match with Sting at BFG was still great mind.

[Marshmallo]

Was. Maybe it's because he wasn't big when I started watching wrestling but I don't really like him. Obviously, he made the business massive and he's to be commended for that(I actually argued for him on another board when someone was trying to say he was in the "right place at the right time") but right now, he's killing TNA. Employing all his old cronies like Bischoff, Steiner, Russo etc. He's also going the way Flair has, ruining what brilliant work he did in his prime by sticking around waay past when he should have retired and stayed retired.

His match with Sting at BFG was still great mind.

Hulk Hogan is still the biggest name in wrestling today (with the possible exception of the Rock). More people will be able to tell you who Hulk Hogan is than who John Cena is.

As for "employing" all his "old cronies", he isn't "employing" anyone. Bischoff's role is on-screen and in production and I think he's done brilliantly in both. He's one of the best heels in the history of the business and is drawing heat to this day. He's the second best on screen authority figure there's ever been after Vinny Mac. Steiner and Hogan don't have a relationship that I know of? As for Russo, you do know Russo was employed by TNA for almost four years before they signed Hogan? I suggest you read up on what happened at Bash at the Beach 2000 as well if you think Russo and Hogan are "cronies".

Hulk and Flair shouldn't be retired IMO. Both have the ability to work a crowd better than arguably anyone in the business. Hogan in particular is the best there ever has been in terms of timing, selling and evoking emotion. A good worker pops a crowd and draws money. Hulk Hogan is still one of the best.

[#Gary]

I've never been a massive Hogan fan either, probably because the Attitude Era was when I first started watching wrestling really. Obviously he returned to WWE in 2002/3 but he was an old man then and I never really took to him.

For the exact same reasons, I've never really been a fan of Flair either.

Which is probably why I don't actually care that they're in TNA making a mockery - based on stuff I've read obviously; I don't watch that guff - of their past careers tbh.

[Marshmallo]

Which is probably why I don't actually care that they're in TNA making a mockery - based on stuff I've read obviously; I don't watch that guff - of their past careers tbh.

They aren't really. Most of the people who say that (I don't include you in this Forehead as you seem like a decent chap) are idiots who think Christopher Daniels is one of the best wrestlers in the world or that Samoa Joe should be world champion.

[DomDom]

Hulk Hogan is still the biggest name in wrestling today (with the possible exception of the Rock). More people will be able to tell you who Hulk Hogan is than who John Cena is.

While that's all well and good, is it equating to PPV buys and TV viewers? TV audiences are actually not bad by TNA standards right now, but PPV buys for that promotion are at an all time low.

Hogan isn't worth half as much in TNA as people think he is. The only reason people think he IS worth something is because he's Hulk Hogan but the reality is that people don't care anymore.

As for "employing" all his "old cronies", he isn't "employing" anyone. Bischoff's role is on-screen and in production and I think he's done brilliantly in both. He's one of the best heels in the history of the business and is drawing heat to this day. He's the second best on screen authority figure there's ever been after Vinny Mac. Steiner and Hogan don't have a relationship that I know of? As for Russo, you do know Russo was employed by TNA for almost four years before they signed Hogan? I suggest you read up on what happened at Bash at the Beach 2000 as well if you think Russo and Hogan are "cronies".

I'm agreeing on Bischoff. Such a brilliant on-screen character.

What Hogan initially did was try and get a bunch of recognizable names in TNA. Guys that people might want to watch. There was absolutely no problem with any of that, and when many of them failed, they were told to f**k off. All that's said above is spot on. You don't even have to go back as far as 2000 to see the Russo/Hogan problems. You just have to listen to every word that Hogan has said about him since then. He thinks he's a c**t.

So basically Hogan tried to kickstart a promotion which has a core fanbase and f**k all else. I don't see what's wrong with that. Did it work? No. Is anything else going to work? Probably not. It's TNA. Almost everyone has given up on them. They're shit.

Hulk and Flair shouldn't be retired IMO. Both have the ability to work a crowd better than arguably anyone in the business. Hogan in particular is the best there ever has been in terms of timing, selling and evoking emotion. A good worker pops a crowd and draws money. Hulk Hogan is still one of the best.

Hogan probably should be for his own good. His body just isn't cut out for it, even when he's hardly bumping. It's a shame, especially given how much fun his match with Sting was, but it's probably best for him.

Ric Flair can still go now and again. There's much worse than Ric Flair in the ring in TNA. I couldn't give a f**k whether Flair is older than them or not. If you're shit you're shit and if you're not, then you're not. If Flair feels he can still go then why not? He doesn't appear to be broken down or anything. Just old.