Second, awesome Raw to be at live. The matches were good for the most part and the crowd was pumped. A few observations:
- Cena is relatively local, so the "Let's Go Cena" chants were a little louder than those of the "Cena Sucks!" contingent, especially once Pappy Cena got beaten up by Randy Orton.
- Lots of heat on Orton for that, too... like my wife said, if you want to really cement your heel status, whine that you lost, beat up on your rival's dad, and then emo skulk away. :D (My wife enjoys her some Randy, BTW. It's getting a little creepy. "Bill, look at him... the man's like a panther!")
- Kofi and Randy felt a bit long and there were a couple of "Boring!" chants, but the crowd popped in a big way for that finish. I like Kofi, it's nice to see him get a big win like that.
- Speaking of working the crowd, the Old Age Outlaws still have it in that area (and don't look so bad in the ring, either). It was all sing along with the catchphrases in the beginning, and then loud, long boos when they turned on Punk.
- Best reaction of the night (and certainly the best live wrestling crowd reaction I've ever heard) was for Daniel Bryan's face (re)turn at the end of the show. Everyone was cheering pretty much anything he did, anyway, and then seeing him turn on Wyatt, drop the gas station jumpsuit, and celebrate on top of the cage just sent everybody over the top into bananapants territory. Craziness.
- On a related note, we were talking on the way home about whether or not this was planned all along or the WWE wisely (for once) realizing this story was going nowhere and that no one really cared, especially since the crowd was determined to cheer for Bryan no matter what. We both tended to think closer to the latter, but we are also both bored to tears by the Wyatts, anyway.
- After the show ended and the cage was cleared, Randy's music hit again and he came out saying that he and Cena were supposed to have a match but that since Cena left, he (Randy) was the winner by forfeit and he made Lilian Garcia announce it to the crowd (which she did, hilariously half-heartedly). Then Cena runs out, chases him out of the ring, talks some smack in build up to their match ("And my old man says you hit like a girl!"), talks about New England toughness and shouts out to the group of Patriots players in the crowd and pumps everyone up for their playoff game next Sunday.
- Lots of heat on Orton for that, too... like my wife said, if you want to really cement your heel status, whine that you lost, beat up on your rival's dad, and then emo skulk away. :D (My wife enjoys her some Randy, BTW. It's getting a little creepy. "Bill, look at him... the man's like a panther!")
Thankyou guys. She's too sweet right now for me to turn her into a Flair fan ;)
Back in my later college days Orton was in Evolution and there was a group of friends that watched every week. All the young ladies loved Orton, and 2 of them came up with what could have been masterful advertising. "Tide (detergent) should sponsor Randy Orton and place thier logo on the back of his man-panties".
The wife and I watched most of the Royal Rumble PPV last night through the magic of YouTube and I can't decide if WWE's refusal to give the audience what they want is smart booking - keep 'em hungry as long as you can before you give them the outcome they clamor for so they'll appreciate it more (and hopefully cement Daniel Bryan's top level status for good) - or if they're really THAT out of touch with said audience.
I hope for the former but fear it's the latter (there's ample precedent).
The wife and I watched most of the Royal Rumble PPV last night through the magic of YouTube and I can't decide if WWE's refusal to give the audience what they want is smart booking - keep 'em hungry as long as you can before you give them the outcome they clamor for so they'll appreciate it more (and hopefully cement Daniel Bryan's top level status for good) - or if they're really THAT out of touch with said audience.
I hope for the former but fear it's the latter (there's ample precedent).
Now that Vince doesn't have competition, he's back to his "I know what you want better than you do!" mindset. He keeps pushing Randy Orton, even though crowds couldn't care less about him, is pushing Batista to the moon, even though by the end of RAW last week, it was clear no one cared, keeps going back to the Evil General Manager story that fails to get over every time...
There is a limited time to strike when someone gets hot. They screwed up with Punk in 2011, and they are doing the same thing with Bryan. It's almost as if when the crowd starts asking for something, he gets mad and refuses to give it to them. They have been burying Bryan since SummerSlam, and the crowd STILL chants for him...that won't last forever.
Well I guess we know where Punk stands on how the Rumble went. I think Batista winning the Rumble was the final straw. It was strange that he monthswasn't on the ppv. He can sit out for six months.
There is a limited time to strike when someone gets hot. They screwed up with Punk in 2011, and they are doing the same thing with Bryan. It's almost as if when the crowd starts asking for something, he gets mad and refuses to give it to them. They have been burying Bryan since SummerSlam, and the crowd STILL chants for him...that won't last forever.
CM Punk held the WWE belt for over a year after his "truth bomb". He had the push and is the second most popular wrestler in the WWE. That isn't screwing up with him.
Speaking of Punk it sounds like he up and quit on the WWE on Monday. I'm not sure if it is real or not, but it is a giant story.
There is a limited time to strike when someone gets hot. They screwed up with Punk in 2011, and they are doing the same thing with Bryan. It's almost as if when the crowd starts asking for something, he gets mad and refuses to give it to them. They have been burying Bryan since SummerSlam, and the crowd STILL chants for him...that won't last forever.
CM Punk held the WWE belt for over a year after his "truth bomb". He had the push and is the second most popular wrestler in the WWE. That isn't screwing up with him.
Speaking of Punk it sounds like he up and quit on the WWE on Monday. I'm not sure if it is real or not, but it is a giant story.
They gave him the title, but after he came back from the Pipe Bomb, he gets his ass handed to him by HHH and Kevin Nash, NEVER gets his heat back, goes from this outlaw tweener to a generic babyface who loves the fans and makes Cena-esque snark comments instead of his pure acid dripping attacks...and then AS the champion he does not ONCE main event a pay per view.
Not Once.
That spot was reserved for Superman Cena.
You can BE the champ and still not be pushed correctly. When he became a hell, he had more personality, but again, Cena Was The Main Event. Then, the Rock comes back and in his first match, lays him out and takes the title.
Punk went home for a number of reasons, according to what I have read. Nagging injuries, exhaustion (he's been on the road for a LONG time, and they made him come back early from knee surgery) and a feeling that no matter how good he performs, the main event will always go to some part-timer who is coming back and doesn't have to log time on the road.
And it's NOT on WWE.com. To me, the fact that they aren't saying anything and quietly dropped him as an "Official" WWE twitter account shows me he may just have said he'll sit out the last 5 months of his contract for now pay rather than deal with the Crazy Old Man and his son-in-law.
He keeps pushing Randy Orton, even though crowds couldn't care less about him...
Well, my wife is excited, but by her own admission she's hardly rational on the topic of Randy Orton. If the man were to ever disappear, I would honestly suggest starting the search in my basement.
After a long break from watching wrestling, I finished watching the 1989 & 1990 Royal Rumbles (discs 17 & 18 of 529)
RR 89 was kind of blah. The Haku vs Harley Race match was the highlight. The rumble itself had some good moments but just did not grab my interest overall.
RR 90 was GREAT from top to bottom (if you can overlook a couple of wacky finishes). The crowd was hot for everything (they made the bushwhackers and Brutus Beefcake seem like megastars) and the rumble itself was pretty good.
I have a love/hate relationship with wrestling. However, I cannot deny the impact it had on me growing up. I loved it. Anyway, I just watched this documentary on Netflix and thought it was really great. Brought back a lot of memories from my younger days. What fun!
Hogan will "Host" WM 30, and hopefully they just let him get a nostalgia pop and don't put him in the ring. His time in TNA showed he simply can't do anything physical any more.
And the network seems to be making waves both good and bad. Wall Street and tech writers are VERY happy with the idea, and think it'll be a game changer. Dish Network has dropped all upcoming PPVs, DirectTV is thinking of doing the same, and the negotiations with NBC/Universal are still on-going and rumors are the the network is one of the sticking points.
Okay, so now that I have the network, I'm curious to go back and check out all that WCW and ECW stuff I never saw growing up. What matches/shows/PPVs should I watch?
The network is a godsend. With my dad laid up in a rehab center, I can grab the laptop sit down with him and watch with him. He hasn't been able to watch any wrestling since October, I can't wait to see his face when I tell him that he's going to be able to watch Wrestlemania.
So are people still having trouble accessing the WWE Network? I can watch the streaming stuff alright (mostly, unless I try to go back and watch an in-progress show from the beginning), but I keep getting booted out of the VOD library. This morning it was doing so after 3-5 minutes of show as opposed to almost immediately (which it has done since Monday), so there's some improvement there, but still.
So are people still having trouble accessing the WWE Network? I can watch the streaming stuff alright (mostly, unless I try to go back and watch an in-progress show from the beginning), but I keep getting booted out of the VOD library. This morning it was doing so after 3-5 minutes of show as opposed to almost immediately (which it has done since Monday), so there's some improvement there, but still.
So far I've only got booted once while watching VOD, had no other problems after restaring the app.
So are people still having trouble accessing the WWE Network? I can watch the streaming stuff alright (mostly, unless I try to go back and watch an in-progress show from the beginning), but I keep getting booted out of the VOD library. This morning it was doing so after 3-5 minutes of show as opposed to almost immediately (which it has done since Monday), so there's some improvement there, but still.
So far I've only got booted once while watching VOD, had no other problems after restaring the app.
I have yet to NOT get booted while watching VOD (on a Roku2, I should add). Maybe I'll try uninstalling and then re-adding the channel tonight.
But a quick look at Twitter shows I'm far from the only Roku user having this problem. Solidarity! :D
Headed to Florida for a few days with the fam tomorrow, and we have tickets to an NXT live show tomorrow night! A house show rather than a taping at Full Sail, but we're all pretty excited for it just the same. It's even at an armory... it's like the perfect midpoint between an indie show and the WWE. :D
Okay, any feelings I had about the NXT show in Lakeland being inferior in some way to a taping at Full Sail were completely dispelled. Probably the best wrestling show I've ever been to... the energy, the closeness of the setting (a National Guard Armory, 3 rows of seating around the ring, maybe 200 people tops), and especially the interaction, both during the matches themselves and at the meet & greet beforehand. We got to meet all the champions - Adrian Neville, Paige, Konnor & Victor - and Sin Cara beforehand, and they were all super-nice, and the got a kick out of the shirts my wife made for us (hers said "#HUGLIFE" for Bailey, my son's said "Spotlight PLEASE!" for Aiden English, and mine said "The Man Gravity REMEMBERED", which both Adrian Neville and Paige thought was hilarious).
The crowd was super into it, and they back and forth between fans and wrestlers during the matches was fantastic. Biggest reaction of the night had to be for Adam Rose (the former Leo Krueger... and as we missed his debut, that realization was a HUGE shock to us); people loved his song, and kept asking for it to be replayed, so they did like 3 times, and he'd run out of the ring and dance around to the anger of his opponent and the ref.
Also, Alexander Rusev came out at the end of one tag match and put both members of the losing team in his Camel Clutch finisher, the Accolade. AT THE SAME TIME... just dragged one guy on top of the other and slapped it on the both of 'em. Just a little impressive.
Roster wise, between the meet & greet and the card we saw pretty much everyone you'd want to see except Sami Zayn and Bo Dallas. Even if they didn't wrestle, they still got a chance to come out - Rusev did his thing, Tyler Breeze cut a promo, Emma was a referee for a Diva tag match, etc. Fantastic stuff. Also, Cody Rhodes's wife was one of the ring announcers and she is even prettier in person if that's somehow possible. :x Saw a couple of people we didn't know but thought were great, too... a diva named Kendall Skye who was super-athletic, and a dude whose gimmick was an old-timey circus strongman thing. Can't remember his name but the guy was funny as hell.
Amazing night full of entertaining happenings and often surprisingly gracious performers (after he won the main event, Neville's celebrations included individually thanking all of the fans who stuck around for coming out to the show), and for my son's first live wrestling event, a hell of an introduction for him. Never thought I'd get such an upclose and personal experience with any WWE-related anything.
CM Punk is going to be on Talking Dead but as Phil Brooks! I don't watch Walking Dead or Talking Dead (of course but it would be funny if I did) but I am curious if he talks about his situation.
Daniel Bryan gets his Wrestlemania moment. The streak is over! Even though there was a possiblility but still shocking. Hogan saying Silverdome TWICE! Being from Michigan that was awesome. Rock, Hogan, and Stone Cold in the ring was cool. That was a decent show. Low point was the Shield match. Cesaro had a nice moment too.
I was extremely happy with Daniel Bryan winning. Loved how Stone Cold and Rock laid into Hogan with his Silverdome/Superdome snafu. I always root for the little guy in battle royals even though it rarely happens, but good to see that Cesaro is going to get a nice push with his win. Ready for AJ Lee to go away. I was never a big fan of the Undertaker or the streak.
The streak had to end sometime but Taker losing to a part time wrestler who is already as over as he is going to be is a waste. The company should have used the end of the streak to elevate someone from the mid to upper mid card level to super star status.
Between tax returns I've been thinking about the Undertaker loss. Here's what I came up with:
Taker going into Wrestlemania: Vince I'm retiring after this match Vince: It's been a hell of career. We made huge dollars with each other; you sure you don't want to stick around? Since I can't convince you I guess the streak ends at 22 TakerWell boss I'm the most professional of all professionals. I'm the guy everyone respects. If I go out it's going to be my call; so I'm doing the professional thing. I'll be looking at the lights VinceYou sure? I mean it's your call...
Let's be real, Undertaker could have keep it going for as long as he wanted and when it ended it was going to be his call. Either he would decide to lose and retire or retire undefeated.
No question in my mind it was his call, and the kind of guy 'Taker is, if this was possibly (probably?) his last match, he's going to respect tradition and go out on his back. I just wish it had been to someone who could use or - yes - deserved the rub. Never been a Brock fan, and have disliked him all the more ever since he became a full-time part-timer. He's a big, tough, imposing dude, I'm sure he's a capable fighter, and his amateur accomplishments are many and varied, but I've never been impressed with him as a professional wrestler. It's a different skill set and he has always looked sloppy to me. Always afraid his opponents will legitimately get hurt, and badly at that.
Also, the man can't talk. The only monster heel who was bad on the mike that I've ever cared about was Andre, and that was because he had charisma. That goes a long way in professional wrestling, obviously.
Comments
Second, awesome Raw to be at live. The matches were good for the most part and the crowd was pumped. A few observations:
- Cena is relatively local, so the "Let's Go Cena" chants were a little louder than those of the "Cena Sucks!" contingent, especially once Pappy Cena got beaten up by Randy Orton.
- Lots of heat on Orton for that, too... like my wife said, if you want to really cement your heel status, whine that you lost, beat up on your rival's dad, and then emo skulk away. :D (My wife enjoys her some Randy, BTW. It's getting a little creepy. "Bill, look at him... the man's like a panther!")
- Kofi and Randy felt a bit long and there were a couple of "Boring!" chants, but the crowd popped in a big way for that finish. I like Kofi, it's nice to see him get a big win like that.
- Speaking of working the crowd, the Old Age Outlaws still have it in that area (and don't look so bad in the ring, either). It was all sing along with the catchphrases in the beginning, and then loud, long boos when they turned on Punk.
- Best reaction of the night (and certainly the best live wrestling crowd reaction I've ever heard) was for Daniel Bryan's face (re)turn at the end of the show. Everyone was cheering pretty much anything he did, anyway, and then seeing him turn on Wyatt, drop the gas station jumpsuit, and celebrate on top of the cage just sent everybody over the top into bananapants territory. Craziness.
- On a related note, we were talking on the way home about whether or not this was planned all along or the WWE wisely (for once) realizing this story was going nowhere and that no one really cared, especially since the crowd was determined to cheer for Bryan no matter what. We both tended to think closer to the latter, but we are also both bored to tears by the Wyatts, anyway.
- After the show ended and the cage was cleared, Randy's music hit again and he came out saying that he and Cena were supposed to have a match but that since Cena left, he (Randy) was the winner by forfeit and he made Lilian Garcia announce it to the crowd (which she did, hilariously half-heartedly). Then Cena runs out, chases him out of the ring, talks some smack in build up to their match ("And my old man says you hit like a girl!"), talks about New England toughness and shouts out to the group of Patriots players in the crowd and pumps everyone up for their playoff game next Sunday.
Back in my later college days Orton was in Evolution and there was a group of friends that watched every week. All the young ladies loved Orton, and 2 of them came up with what could have been masterful advertising. "Tide (detergent) should sponsor Randy Orton and place thier logo on the back of his man-panties".
I hope for the former but fear it's the latter (there's ample precedent).
There is a limited time to strike when someone gets hot. They screwed up with Punk in 2011, and they are doing the same thing with Bryan. It's almost as if when the crowd starts asking for something, he gets mad and refuses to give it to them. They have been burying Bryan since SummerSlam, and the crowd STILL chants for him...that won't last forever.
Speaking of Punk it sounds like he up and quit on the WWE on Monday. I'm not sure if it is real or not, but it is a giant story.
Not Once.
That spot was reserved for Superman Cena.
You can BE the champ and still not be pushed correctly. When he became a hell, he had more personality, but again, Cena Was The Main Event. Then, the Rock comes back and in his first match, lays him out and takes the title.
Punk went home for a number of reasons, according to what I have read. Nagging injuries, exhaustion (he's been on the road for a LONG time, and they made him come back early from knee surgery) and a feeling that no matter how good he performs, the main event will always go to some part-timer who is coming back and doesn't have to log time on the road.
And it's NOT on WWE.com. To me, the fact that they aren't saying anything and quietly dropped him as an "Official" WWE twitter account shows me he may just have said he'll sit out the last 5 months of his contract for now pay rather than deal with the Crazy Old Man and his son-in-law.
RR 89 was kind of blah. The Haku vs Harley Race match was the highlight. The rumble itself had some good moments but just did not grab my interest overall.
RR 90 was GREAT from top to bottom (if you can overlook a couple of wacky finishes). The crowd was hot for everything (they made the bushwhackers and Brutus Beefcake seem like megastars) and the rumble itself was pretty good.
Pants 89 and buy for 90.
And the network seems to be making waves both good and bad. Wall Street and tech writers are VERY happy with the idea, and think it'll be a game changer. Dish Network has dropped all upcoming PPVs, DirectTV is thinking of doing the same, and the negotiations with NBC/Universal are still on-going and rumors are the the network is one of the sticking points.
Interesting times indeed.
But a quick look at Twitter shows I'm far from the only Roku user having this problem. Solidarity!
:D
The crowd was super into it, and they back and forth between fans and wrestlers during the matches was fantastic. Biggest reaction of the night had to be for Adam Rose (the former Leo Krueger... and as we missed his debut, that realization was a HUGE shock to us); people loved his song, and kept asking for it to be replayed, so they did like 3 times, and he'd run out of the ring and dance around to the anger of his opponent and the ref.
Also, Alexander Rusev came out at the end of one tag match and put both members of the losing team in his Camel Clutch finisher, the Accolade. AT THE SAME TIME... just dragged one guy on top of the other and slapped it on the both of 'em. Just a little impressive.
Roster wise, between the meet & greet and the card we saw pretty much everyone you'd want to see except Sami Zayn and Bo Dallas. Even if they didn't wrestle, they still got a chance to come out - Rusev did his thing, Tyler Breeze cut a promo, Emma was a referee for a Diva tag match, etc. Fantastic stuff. Also, Cody Rhodes's wife was one of the ring announcers and she is even prettier in person if that's somehow possible. :x Saw a couple of people we didn't know but thought were great, too... a diva named Kendall Skye who was super-athletic, and a dude whose gimmick was an old-timey circus strongman thing. Can't remember his name but the guy was funny as hell.
Amazing night full of entertaining happenings and often surprisingly gracious performers (after he won the main event, Neville's celebrations included individually thanking all of the fans who stuck around for coming out to the show), and for my son's first live wrestling event, a hell of an introduction for him. Never thought I'd get such an upclose and personal experience with any WWE-related anything.
YESYESYES! The WWE is always great this time of year.
http://blogs.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/2014/03/talking-dead-airs-this-sunday-with-guests-melissa-mcbride-phil-brooks-and-yvette-nicole-brown/
This show is going to make tons of money but i have doubts that it will be any good overall.
If Bryan Danielson somehow gets past Triple H and then wins the main event, the show is a win for me.
A Triple H, Orton, Batista main event (The battle of 2005) is no buys regardless of the winner.
Taker going into Wrestlemania: Vince I'm retiring after this match
Vince: It's been a hell of career. We made huge dollars with each other; you sure you don't want to stick around? Since I can't convince you I guess the streak ends at 22
TakerWell boss I'm the most professional of all professionals. I'm the guy everyone respects. If I go out it's going to be my call; so I'm doing the professional thing. I'll be looking at the lights
VinceYou sure? I mean it's your call...
Let's be real, Undertaker could have keep it going for as long as he wanted and when it ended it was going to be his call. Either he would decide to lose and retire or retire undefeated.
Also, the man can't talk. The only monster heel who was bad on the mike that I've ever cared about was Andre, and that was because he had charisma. That goes a long way in professional wrestling, obviously.