I am curious to see what Sting winds up doing. I'd love to see him face Undertaker but that's with assumption that Undertaker will actually be able to wrestle by then. He got messed up pretty badly at Wrestlemania 30 and he might not be ready by then.
Rumors are flying today that TNA has signed a multi-year deal with Discovery and will be on Destination America (their "middle America channel which is currently re-runs of other Discovery shows) The deal supposedly states that they will "build the channel" around them and after Impact runs for a few months, more shows will start.
My thoughts?
1) I'm glad they aren't going away. A second (or third if you count ROH) national company gives guys more places to work and make money.
2) It's a shame that they are losing Spike after turning things around this year. They got rid of Hogan and Russo, and the show has been MUCH better since June.
3) Dixie and crew have REALLY mishandled this. Most of the wrestlers haven't heard from the office since September, and that's a poor way to treat your people.
4) And finally: I am hoping that they have learned their lessons and are moving forward in a good way. When they moved to Fox Sports Net, I became a HUGE fan. They had a nice mix of older guys who hadn’t been seen in a while (it was a few years after WCW folded) and new guys, and the new guys were on top. You had a LOT of hot new talent that worked themselves crazy in the ring…and then when Hogan and Bischoff showed up, they all got relegated to the back of the line for Val Venus, the Nasty Boys and so on. Now, they have a great mix of new guys and ECW veterans who can still go, and it’s been fun to watch. When they show up on the new channel, they have to be ruthless about getting rid of the crappy storylines and give people what they can’t get elsewhere: Solid action.
Warning lots of rambling ahead from an old man that loves wrestling.
Some of my earliest memories are watching wrestling with my Grannie. When I was 5 months old my parents got my grandparents to babysit me one weekend. Well it was the late 70s and that meant Saturday nights GCCW was coming to the Gulfport Armory. Since then I have been a wrestling fan. Sure there is times I stop watching for long stretches. Like how after the stuff with Benoit happened I didn't watch any modern wrestling for almost 2 years. Growing up on the Gulf Coast area I was huge in Mid South,Memphis,Florida,Continental,and WCCW. All us kids thought of WWF and Hulk Hogan as "That fake stuff." I watched any wrestling that came on TV.
While currently in the States the so called Big 3 feds aren't appealing to me that much.
WWE-Is stuck in a major rut. How many times will we see Orton vs Cena?And I am really tired of the evil authority figure gimmick they have been using since the night after Survivor Series 97.
TNA-The last 4 months have been a major improvement. But I kind of doubt they are around much longer. It seems one of their big issues is promotion. For years they would run the big arena in Biloxi the weekend after Coastcon. But they never promoted the shows. No posters up around town. Almost no ads on TV or radio. So they didn't draw. Then all the damage Hogan did to the company has driven away all but the most diehard fans.
ROH-I don't get their weekly syndicated show.Last time I checked they don't air on any channel in MS. Plus honestly I have never been a huge fan of ROH.I totally see why they have fans. But I like a good mixture of sports and entertainment in my wrestling.
Now on to what does appeal to me.
LUcha Underground-Best hour of wrestling on TV.I have always enjoyed Lucha Libre. And this show is a nice mixture of Lucha and the modern indy style.
New England Championship Wrestling-They have 30 minute show that airs in the New England area. But they put each weeks episode up on Thursday night on Youtube.
NXT-The best wrestling from WWE each week. Plus with this being on basic Hulu I can watch it when I want too. And you got great up and coming talent like Sami Zayn,Tyler Breeze.
I also go lots of local indy shows.I got heavy into indy wresting back in 2010. I love how the guys and ladies that do indy wrestling are usually doing it because they love wrestling not for the paycheck. No idea if this is true all over the States,but down here most indy workers are lucky if they get more than 30 bucks for a match. Was told by one guy,who works every weekend usually doing 2 shows each weekend,that normally he gets paid enough to cover his gas and maybe grab a cheap meal on his way home. Then you factor in how the talent and the fans get to interact. Every indy show I have been too in the past 4 years before the show,during intermission and after the show,the faces and some of the heels will come out and talk to the fans. I go to enough shows now that most of the wrestlers know me. After lots of the shows they end up inviting me to go eat with them at Waffle house after the show. And so far all the former WWE or TNA stars they have brought in have been nice.
When I got to meet Matt Hardy last year,I had brought my OMEGA dvd to get him to sign it. A friend I know through RSPW used to work for OMEGA and hasn't seen Matt since 1999. So it was a bit before the show starts. I had budgeted 25 bucks to get an autograph and maybe a picture with Matt Hardy. I see him head over to his table. I walk over ask how much for an autograph. "It is $5 for the autograph and $5 for a picture." I pull out the OMEGA dvd and Matt was surprised. Said that he has only been asked to sign it 2 times before. Then I mentioned my friend that use to work with him. Ended up talking to Matt for 10 minutes and we would have talked longer but the line started building up. A few months before that the same fed brought in Chris Masters. Who I was surprised isn't as tall as he looks on TV. I went over to talk to him for a few minutes. Not planning on buying anything. Mr Masters was super nice and we chatted for 15 minutes. After the show he found me,seems that Luke Hawx had told him about my podcast and my blog. So he asked for the urls for both. Well back in the spring I got an email from Chris Masters. Thanking me for reviewing the wrestling show. And asking if it was ok if he used some of the pictures I took.
There is 3 indy wrestling groups that run my general area.Most of the time the shows are all local guys with maybe one former WWE or TNA star. Like how last year I went to Wildkat Wrestling show outside NOLA. The main event was Luke Hawx,co owner of Wildkat and head trainer at their wrestling school,vs Matt Hardy. They had been having a feud in various indies for over a year. So this was the final match in the feud. It started off as a normal match. The Luke got counted out. So the general manager,former Mid South legend Al Lyons,restarted the match as a best 2 outta 3 falls no rules match. And I got to see Hawx vs Hardy in a great hour long match.
In my town NWA Bayou Independent Wrestling runs 3 or 4 shows a year. BIW's champ is Vordell Walker. Who has been working the indy scene for 20 years now.
That is the main event from the Nov 8th show.
Vordell is the NWA BIW champ and defending his title against Gregory James. Who is doing a occult/cult leader gimmick. The guy in overhauls that comes out with James is the former Jeremy Awesome. For 5 years he has worked as the kind of a southern version of the late great Mike Awesome. He is good in the ring. But wasn't good on a mic. Which caused him to never connect well with the crowd. Earlier this year he became The Nightmare Known as Jerimiah. And it is going great. The last BIW show in town,Jerimiah was coming for his match. And doing his normal scream and yell at people. He screamed at this 10 year old kid in front of me. The kid almost started crying and was legit scared.
Ok I have rambled a bit too much. But if you are a wrestling fan that is bored with WWE check out your local area. Hell my town has barely 5000 people and we have 5 groups running within driving distance. Plus with indy shows the tickets are cheap. Most shows I pay 10 bucks for a 3 hour show. And you never know when that guy you have been watching fight in front of the local crowds for 2 years will get signed to WWE. That just happened to me earlier this year. There is a Vietnamese crusierweight,Bu Ku Dao AKA Ling Pham. He oozes charisma and is a great wrestler. But he is barely 5 foot tall. So I figured if he got lucky he might get a shot in ROH or TNA. Well months back he messaged me all excited. He had been offered a contract with WWE.
Here is Bu Ku Dao vs Allistar from a charity show last year around Halloween.
BTW if the matches I posted catch your interest,search Youtube for "Wildkat Sports","Powerslam Productions" or"Funaki Jon Paul". The first 2 are two of the best feds running in the southern MS/LA scene. With Wildkat putting out episodes of their web show every few months. The last one is my youtube channel. Where I post all the matches I record. Warning thanks to one of my meds I get hand tremors sometimes. Plus to have room to record more matches I film in SD instead of HD. But hey it is free southern wrestling with hot crowds.
Dubbat, that was the best post of the year. Thank you for sharing that!
There are a couple of local indys I go to when my schedule permits...I'll write up some fun stories about them when I get some free time this week, but yeah, local indys are amazingly fun. First time I saw CM Punk was at a local indy and he was beating the shit out of a Pepsi machine that took his money.
I sort of liked RAW. I'm intrigued by Luke Harper not just joining the Authority but winning the IC title. Even more intriguing is that Eric Rowan responds by Team Cena for the Survivor Series. I think I'm going to like this traditional Survivor Series match. AJ vs Nikki Bella is not that interesting to me. I don't know or do I care that much. I'll be intrigued to see what would happen if The Authority loses.
Dubbat, that was the best post of the year. Thank you for sharing that!
There are a couple of local indys I go to when my schedule permits...I'll write up some fun stories about them when I get some free time this week, but yeah, local indys are amazingly fun. First time I saw CM Punk was at a local indy and he was beating the shit out of a Pepsi machine that took his money.
Thanks man. Somehow the videos I posted disappeared from the post.
Maybe I didnt post them right so I am gonna try again.
That is Vordell Walker vs The Nightmare known as Jerimiah. From NWA Bayou Independent Wrestling's Respect is Earned show. This is BIW's 4th show in my town in a bit over a year. First show they drew 80 fans. But made enough off t shirt and dvd sales to come back. I had warned the promoter that 2 years ago 2 feds had run Brookhaven and the shows were so bad they killed the town. Well the next time they came to town I missed the show. But they sold 125 tickets. Then the day after my birthday this year they held another show. Drew right at 200 people. So for the show on Nov 8th he set up 200 chairs. 30 minutes before the bell rang all those chairs were full so 50 more were set up. The show ended up drawing right at 240 fans. And they are coming back in March.The owner of BIW does radio ads,has some of us local fans going around putting up flyers. Then pays for huge ads the two weeks before the show in the local buyers guide. But as he saw word of mouth is the best advertising. This show a friend of mine came with me. She works at Waffle House,which is one of the few places to eat in town. For the month before the show she was telling everyone about it. A week before the show she asked me to drive her to the place in town that sells tickets ahead of time. If you buy them in advance an adult ticket is 12 bucks instead of 15. I figured we would get tickets for her,I,her sister,her mom and her mom's boyfriend. Well through her work she had gotten orders for over 20 tickets. Turns out thanks to her and I spreading the word we sold over 60 tickets. Which the promoter was very thankful for. So thankful he hooked me up with an Ultimo Guerrero mask and told me once the dvd of the show is ready I get a copy for free.
Powerslam Productions and Wrestling Outreach present Don't call it a comeback.
We got Bu Ku Dao,who is now signed to WWE and should be showing up in NXT soon,with his tag team partner Socorro,they were known as Juan Direction vs Lukas Frost and Kool Jay Steele with their manager Hardbody Harper.
What I loved was Dao had the fans believing that he didn't speak english well. And then as you see in the match he got the crowd to chant his name. Now since this show was part of the wrestling outreach it was held in a church. And Bu Ku Dao is Vietnamese slang for "Suck my #*##" After the show Dao pulled me to the side."Hey Newt I know I am going to hell but it was damn funny watching 200 kids chant BU KU DAO in a church."
What I love about indy shows is you know most of the time the wrestlers are there because they love wrestling. Unlike WWE where some of them are there just for the pay check.
Over the past 4 years I have gotten heavy into the local indy scene. Started off by creating a FB group for the fans and wrestlers in MS. Before that one major issue was most of the feds wouldn't advertise their shows much. Then wonder why they never drew more than 50 or 60 fans. Talking to the feds that now use the FB group I have been told their attendance keeps on rising. And now some of the promoters and even the wrestlers will run ideas by me to see what I think about them. Had one promoter earlier this month call me "The Dave Meltzer of deep south indy wrestling".
My only complaint is usually after I show a wrestling fan footage from a show I was at their first question is "Where do I go to buy DVDs?" I don't know why but currently none of the local groups sell their DVDs online. You have to goto the show to buy them.
Again sorry for the rambling.But after comics ,pro wrestling is the other thing I have been into since I was very young. My original plan when I joined the Army fresh out of high school was to do 4 years in the Army. Then when I got out finding a wrestling school and becoming a wrestler. Then I blew out my left knee and injured my left shoulder. And last year one of the local groups offered to train me to become a manager. I thanked them and told them I love the offer but would rather just stay a fan out in the crowd.
I thought RAW was really good. Random thoughts. Daniel Bryan is getting really good on the mic. I'm impressed and when he hopefully returns, I'm hoping to see some great promos from him. I'm curious to see what they do with Luke Harper as IC champ. Who is he going to feud with for the title? I'm digging Eric Harper's new attitude and I am very much interested in seeing him fight Big Show. I'm also very curious as to what they are going to do with Dolph Ziggler. He's so over at the moment and I hope they capitalize on that. I also hope that whatever they do with the world title and by that I am hoping that they take the title off someone who is hardly ever present and give it to someone who is actually a part of the company. I'm also curious about the brand new RAW General Manager. On in all, not a bad RAW. Oh. Then you have the Bellas. I'm not sure why Brie and Nikki made up because I thought we'd see them feud over the title but instead, they are now teaming up together? I just don't get it. They are so uninteresting.
Totally neglected to post this earlier, but last month at the New York Comic-Con, Thursday morning before the doors opened, Jerry Lawler came up to my table. He bought a bunch of back issues of Draw! magazine, along with a couple of other books. He said the shop he normally gets his stuff stopped carrying it. That was disappointing to hear, but it meant I got to talk to Jerry for about 10 minutes, so I'm okay with that.
Forget the WWE network, New Japan just launched their streaming service, NJPW World. 1000+ matches from 1973 to the present day and access to the major live shows going forward, all for the WWE-baiting price of 999yen ($8.38).
As we don't even have the WWE Network in the UK yet, this was a no brainer. You can find instructions how to sign up here. The quality of the site is excellent and the wrestling even more so.
Forget the WWE network, New Japan just launched their streaming service, NJPW World. 1000+ matches from 1973 to the present day and access to the major live shows going forward, all for the WWE-baiting price of 999yen ($8.38).
As we don't even have the WWE Network in the UK yet, this was a no brainer. You can find instructions how to sign up here. The quality of the site is excellent and the wrestling even more so.
My only issue with it is that it is by match and not by show...so if I want to see an entire card, I have to put it together myself. Still, I hope more companies with tape libraries do this!
Forget the WWE network, New Japan just launched their streaming service, NJPW World. 1000+ matches from 1973 to the present day and access to the major live shows going forward, all for the WWE-baiting price of 999yen ($8.38).
As we don't even have the WWE Network in the UK yet, this was a no brainer. You can find instructions how to sign up here. The quality of the site is excellent and the wrestling even more so.
My only issue with it is that it is by match and not by show...so if I want to see an entire card, I have to put it together myself. Still, I hope more companies with tape libraries do this!
http://njpwworld.com/series lists them by show, though they are still by split by match so you can avoid having to watch too many Tencozy vs. KES matches.
There are so many things I'm wondering. I'm not saying CM Punk is lying but if he's not, and other wrestlers have similar issues, I just don't get why not more people are saying something. I guess they are just really afraid to lose their jobs which is just a shame. I am curious about something though. Do you think that the WWE will use Brock or another wrestler break CM Punk's record with the world title because we all know that WWE is quite petty when it comes to things like that.
Wow. Has anyone heard Colt Cabana's interview with CM Punk? Just. Wow.
Listened to it and the follow up this week. The first one didn't change my opinion of Punk at all. Always found him to think way to highly of himself. His comments about how he was "a failure because I didn't main event Wrestlemania". Just back up my opinion on him.
The follow up this week,Punk came off less as the whiny spoiled kid who threw a fit cause he didn't get his way. But still,the way he left rubs me the wrong way.
Watched 2 episodes of Lucha Underground tonight,so I am only a week behind. This is the perfect weekly wrestling show for me. 1 hour, 3 or 4 matches,not that much backstage stuff. Morrison/Mundo is great,Sexy Star is impressive and Drago has an amazing set of ring gear.
My thoughts on the CM Punk interviews, announcements, etc…
First off, I have to say I am a big Punk fan. I paid money to watch him at First Ave in Minneapolis and the St Paul Armory before he was in ROH, I bought ROH DVDs when he was there, and was happy when WWE picked him up. I am a big fan of his work, and find his attitude refreshing in a time of everyone in WWE seeming to be bland cookie cutter characters. He is the last of the Attitude Era-type performers.
In listening to the podcasts (including Vince McMahon on Austin’s podcast), it’s clear that he was burned out, frustrated and done with wrestling. He hit the peak of his profession and STILL had to deal with the fact that the business is run by someone who is set in his ways. We have heard for YEARS that there is no long-term plan, and very little attention spend on anyone but John Cena, and Thanksgiving week showed that in spades. Vince said that no one has grabbed the brass ring and these kids today don’t have any drive…
Well, why would you? Zack Ryder did what they told everyone – he went out and he generated buzz. He got fans interested, and they killed him. They had heels beat him up so he could be saved by JOHN CENA, took over his You Tube show, scripting it and then killing it, and now he doesn’t even do squash matches on TV. “You gotta put yourself over!” except it has to fit into what WE want. Alex Riley, same thing, the crowd was behind him when he turned on The Miz, but it wasn’t time yet, and JOHN CENA didn’t like that he said something about his haircut…now he is announcing on the pre-show. Punk’s merchandise is outselling Cena’s, so we butter turn him heel so he can drop the belt to the Rock and we can get it back on JOHN CENA.
Meanwhile, when Cena gets injured, he goes away and is allowed to heal. Punk is on TV the same week he has knee surgery. The same week he has elbow surgery. The day after a concussion.
WWE is bland right now because it’s all about JOHN CENA. Bray Wyatt is starting to get over HUGE…so he loses to JOHN CENA three times in a row, even with two people helping him. Hell, last night they killed off Seth Rollins. How? He and two other guys are against Cena and Cena takes them all out to stand tall. They killed The Nexus (which was an exciting idea) by having Cena beat THE WHOLE DAMN GROUP in a single night. “Gee, why don’t fans take the Nexus/Wyatt/etc…seriously?” Because JOHN CENA beats them easily, Jack!
The formula is, heels beat down babyface, leave him lying in the ring, and babyface does the slow crawl back to finally overcome the odds to get revenge. Cena never HAS to get revenge! If he gets beat down, he pops up and beats them up on the SAME SHOW! I think it’s why so many fans loved Summer Slam. For once, Cena got beat down and had to come back…but he had to get a win back the next night. No time off selling that Lesner had beat the crap out of him, no slow climb back, just line someone up the next night to show the kids JOHN CENA is Superman.
And Punk, who was always the good soldier, always did what was ask of him and more, sold merch, sold tickets, put butts in seats (much to the chagrin of those who called him a skinny fat-ass) had to play second fiddle. Even as Champ, Cena was the main attraction, and Punk was rarely the main event during that time. That is what is wrong with WWE. Vince with his “I’ll tell YOU what you like” rather than listening to the fans.
Yes, he gave us the Daniel Bryan moment, but immediately booked Bryan to be a coward, running away from Kane week after week. Again, Bryan did what they say to do, he got himself over, and they shit all over him.
Add to that all of the injuries, and the terrible medical help Punk got, and I’m amazed he stayed as long as he did.
His timing was perfect. He dropped the Pipe Bomb during a week when nothing was happening and then announced he was with UFC a week later, just as the buzz was starting to die down. Good for him.
“No one has grabbed the brass ring.” Vince said….Vince, it’s a worked sport. It’s scripted. They can’t grab the brass ring if you keep doing stupid shit! “He’ws starting to get over, take away his popular finisher and book him to lose for the next few months…then ask why the crowd isn’t into him!” like Cesaro. “He’s a popular hell, have Cena kick his ass for three pay per views in a row and take away his tag team…why don’t crowds care any more” like Wyatt. “He’s a champion, have Randy Orton beat him and not give a shit about the belt he’s carrying.” Like every IC and US Champ.
I did like the McMahon interview. I wish he would do more and maybe one day write a tell all shoot type book (though I doubt that would ever happen). It is interesting to here his side even with the grain of salt and bs alert monitor you have to take it with.
A hightlight of the interview to me was when Austin said they are wrapping me up with 20 seconds left. McMahon said "I own the network. We are going another 15 min."
Having listened to both episodes of the Art of Wrestling podcast with Punk,well my thoughts on him haven't changed.
Punk came off as a spoiled kid that didn't get exactly what he wanted so he took his ball and went home. I have said for years now that Punk is a live action version of Eric Cartman and to me the to interviews just proved this.
I agree with him on the stuff about the staph infection. But his constant harping on "I didn't get to main event WM so I am a failure" was grating.
As far as his in ring work. Loved him in IWA MS. Never saw much of his ROH stuff,mostly cause after the RF-gate scandal I haven't watched much ROH. And for his WWE stuff I liked his series of matches in ECW. And loved his short program with Hardcore Holly in WWECW.
Can't wait until he gets knocked out in his first fight in UFC.
Just read that Kevin Nash and his son were arrested for battery. I liked Nash and when he started showing up in bit parts in movies and tv series I thought it was something that he could make a new career out of and be good at it.
Just read that Kevin Nash and his son were arrested for battery. I liked Nash and when he started showing up in bit parts in movies and tv series I thought it was something that he could make a new career out of and be good at it.
Yeah, that was a downer to read. From all reports, his son had a lot of issues... As for another career, with the amount of money he mad in WCW, he never has to work again. He didn't spend it on stupid crap like Hogan or drug it away like Hall...
And the WWE network is pretty damn great. I am going through NXT and loving it.
And the WWE network is pretty damn great. I am going through NXT and loving it.
NXT has been my wrestling show of choice for a year or two now. So much talent on display, no one holding back... it's kind of hard to believe it's a WWE show sometimes. I've really appreciated that although it's still the developmental territory, they're treating it like its own brand and not just a holding pen for people waiting for the call up to the big leagues.
And speaking of WWE Network, they recently added Saturday Night's Main Event, Tuesday Night Titans, and Prime Time Wrestling... I've re-watched a few SNMEs (including the first wrestling show I ever watched on TV, the one where Uncle Elmer got married), but I'm looking forward to getting the chance to sit down with TNT and especially Prime Time... Gorilla and the Brain made that appointment TV for me when I was a kid. As unwell as he looked when I met him a few years back, I was very happy I got to tell that to Bobby Heenan. His eyes lit right up. ^:)^
So, i purchased WWE 2k15. Unfortunately, I must inform you that the CGS tag-team of Murd and Chris Eberle are no closer to winning the WWE Tag-Team Titles after back to back defeats at the hands of Mizdow along with the team of Jack Swagger & Curtis Axel :((
New Japan Pro Wrestling is coming to AXS.tv on cable. AXS.tv is a network that focuses on music and mma on Fridays. Not familiar with NJPW but I will give it a shot. Looks exciting for promos and I will probably get more action in one hour than three hours of RAW.
Going Back to the well for help from Geeks. My youngest son (8) finally got the WWE bug and is enjoying it. I am a casual fan and like my comic collecting, I stopped in the early to mid 90's but unlike comics never got back in on any serious level. I find myself enjoying the current matches and the story lines are to be expected and not so objectionable. With Royal Rumble up next is WWE Network worth a few months? I'm figuring 3 months gets me the Rumble and Wrestlemania so I cant believe 30 bucks will be ill spent. But does the WWE network function well? I would get it on XBox360. I love Piper, can I search matches separately? Are the PPVs really all there. Does it live stream well during the event itself? Any and all advice would be appreciated, discretionary money is very tight lately and it all makes a difference.
I LOVE the network. You get the PPVs live streaming, as well as every WWE, WCW and ECW PPV available. There is also NXT, which is their "developmental" territory. It's people in training and the show is just an old school wrestling show. Watch one of the supershows (R Evolution is the most recent) and see if you like it.
You can search for matches separately, they have some great programming like Legends Roundtables, and it works well on my Xbox. For $10 a month, you'll get a lot of entertainment.
Is this right, Randy Savage is just now geting into the WWE HoF? That seems wrong.
The Macho Man and WWE had a rather public and ugly falling out when Savage left. Also the Poffo family (Randy's mother and brother) owned the rights to a lot of his pre-WWF matches so that had to get squared away. There was a lot of bad feelings between the 2 parties. Plus there has been the rumor that Macho Man and Stephanie Mac had a fling. Take that for what it is worth, but it has been out there for a while.
Comments
My thoughts?
1) I'm glad they aren't going away. A second (or third if you count ROH) national company gives guys more places to work and make money.
2) It's a shame that they are losing Spike after turning things around this year. They got rid of Hogan and Russo, and the show has been MUCH better since June.
3) Dixie and crew have REALLY mishandled this. Most of the wrestlers haven't heard from the office since September, and that's a poor way to treat your people.
4) And finally: I am hoping that they have learned their lessons and are moving forward in a good way. When they moved to Fox Sports Net, I became a HUGE fan. They had a nice mix of older guys who hadn’t been seen in a while (it was a few years after WCW folded) and new guys, and the new guys were on top. You had a LOT of hot new talent that worked themselves crazy in the ring…and then when Hogan and Bischoff showed up, they all got relegated to the back of the line for Val Venus, the Nasty Boys and so on. Now, they have a great mix of new guys and ECW veterans who can still go, and it’s been fun to watch. When they show up on the new channel, they have to be ruthless about getting rid of the crappy storylines and give people what they can’t get elsewhere: Solid action.
I am guardedly optimistic.
Some of my earliest memories are watching wrestling with my Grannie. When I was 5 months old my parents got my grandparents to babysit me one weekend. Well it was the late 70s and that meant Saturday nights GCCW was coming to the Gulfport Armory. Since then I have been a wrestling fan. Sure there is times I stop watching for long stretches. Like how after the stuff with Benoit happened I didn't watch any modern wrestling for almost 2 years. Growing up on the Gulf Coast area I was huge in Mid South,Memphis,Florida,Continental,and WCCW. All us kids thought of WWF and Hulk Hogan as "That fake stuff." I watched any wrestling that came on TV.
While currently in the States the so called Big 3 feds aren't appealing to me that much.
WWE-Is stuck in a major rut. How many times will we see Orton vs Cena?And I am really tired of the evil authority figure gimmick they have been using since the night after Survivor Series 97.
TNA-The last 4 months have been a major improvement. But I kind of doubt they are around much longer. It seems one of their big issues is promotion. For years they would run the big arena in Biloxi the weekend after Coastcon. But they never promoted the shows. No posters up around town. Almost no ads on TV or radio. So they didn't draw. Then all the damage Hogan did to the company has driven away all but the most diehard fans.
ROH-I don't get their weekly syndicated show.Last time I checked they don't air on any channel in MS. Plus honestly I have never been a huge fan of ROH.I totally see why they have fans. But I like a good mixture of sports and entertainment in my wrestling.
Now on to what does appeal to me.
LUcha Underground-Best hour of wrestling on TV.I have always enjoyed Lucha Libre. And this show is a nice mixture of Lucha and the modern indy style.
New England Championship Wrestling-They have 30 minute show that airs in the New England area. But they put each weeks episode up on Thursday night on Youtube.
NXT-The best wrestling from WWE each week. Plus with this being on basic Hulu I can watch it when I want too. And you got great up and coming talent like Sami Zayn,Tyler Breeze.
I also go lots of local indy shows.I got heavy into indy wresting back in 2010. I love how the guys and ladies that do indy wrestling are usually doing it because they love wrestling not for the paycheck. No idea if this is true all over the States,but down here most indy workers are lucky if they get more than 30 bucks for a match. Was told by one guy,who works every weekend usually doing 2 shows each weekend,that normally he gets paid enough to cover his gas and maybe grab a cheap meal on his way home. Then you factor in how the talent and the fans get to interact. Every indy show I have been too in the past 4 years before the show,during intermission and after the show,the faces and some of the heels will come out and talk to the fans. I go to enough shows now that most of the wrestlers know me. After lots of the shows they end up inviting me to go eat with them at Waffle house after the show. And so far all the former WWE or TNA stars they have brought in have been nice.
When I got to meet Matt Hardy last year,I had brought my OMEGA dvd to get him to sign it. A friend I know through RSPW used to work for OMEGA and hasn't seen Matt since 1999. So it was a bit before the show starts. I had budgeted 25 bucks to get an autograph and maybe a picture with Matt Hardy. I see him head over to his table. I walk over ask how much for an autograph. "It is $5 for the autograph and $5 for a picture." I pull out the OMEGA dvd and Matt was surprised. Said that he has only been asked to sign it 2 times before. Then I mentioned my friend that use to work with him. Ended up talking to Matt for 10 minutes and we would have talked longer but the line started building up. A few months before that the same fed brought in Chris Masters. Who I was surprised isn't as tall as he looks on TV. I went over to talk to him for a few minutes. Not planning on buying anything. Mr Masters was super nice and we chatted for 15 minutes. After the show he found me,seems that Luke Hawx had told him about my podcast and my blog. So he asked for the urls for both. Well back in the spring I got an email from Chris Masters. Thanking me for reviewing the wrestling show. And asking if it was ok if he used some of the pictures I took.
There is 3 indy wrestling groups that run my general area.Most of the time the shows are all local guys with maybe one former WWE or TNA star. Like how last year I went to Wildkat Wrestling show outside NOLA. The main event was Luke Hawx,co owner of Wildkat and head trainer at their wrestling school,vs Matt Hardy. They had been having a feud in various indies for over a year. So this was the final match in the feud. It started off as a normal match. The Luke got counted out. So the general manager,former Mid South legend Al Lyons,restarted the match as a best 2 outta 3 falls no rules match. And I got to see Hawx vs Hardy in a great hour long match.
In my town NWA Bayou Independent Wrestling runs 3 or 4 shows a year. BIW's champ is Vordell Walker. Who has been working the indy scene for 20 years now.
That is the main event from the Nov 8th show.
Vordell is the NWA BIW champ and defending his title against Gregory James. Who is doing a occult/cult leader gimmick. The guy in overhauls that comes out with James is the former Jeremy Awesome. For 5 years he has worked as the kind of a southern version of the late great Mike Awesome. He is good in the ring. But wasn't good on a mic. Which caused him to never connect well with the crowd. Earlier this year he became The Nightmare Known as Jerimiah. And it is going great. The last BIW show in town,Jerimiah was coming for his match. And doing his normal scream and yell at people. He screamed at this 10 year old kid in front of me. The kid almost started crying and was legit scared.
Ok I have rambled a bit too much. But if you are a wrestling fan that is bored with WWE check out your local area. Hell my town has barely 5000 people and we have 5 groups running within driving distance. Plus with indy shows the tickets are cheap. Most shows I pay 10 bucks for a 3 hour show. And you never know when that guy you have been watching fight in front of the local crowds for 2 years will get signed to WWE. That just happened to me earlier this year. There is a Vietnamese crusierweight,Bu Ku Dao AKA Ling Pham. He oozes charisma and is a great wrestler. But he is barely 5 foot tall. So I figured if he got lucky he might get a shot in ROH or TNA. Well months back he messaged me all excited. He had been offered a contract with WWE.
Here is Bu Ku Dao vs Allistar from a charity show last year around Halloween.
BTW if the matches I posted catch your interest,search Youtube for "Wildkat Sports","Powerslam Productions" or"Funaki Jon Paul". The first 2 are two of the best feds running in the southern MS/LA scene. With Wildkat putting out episodes of their web show every few months. The last one is my youtube channel. Where I post all the matches I record. Warning thanks to one of my meds I get hand tremors sometimes. Plus to have room to record more matches I film in SD instead of HD. But hey it is free southern wrestling with hot crowds.
There are a couple of local indys I go to when my schedule permits...I'll write up some fun stories about them when I get some free time this week, but yeah, local indys are amazingly fun. First time I saw CM Punk was at a local indy and he was beating the shit out of a Pepsi machine that took his money.
Maybe I didnt post them right so I am gonna try again.
That is Vordell Walker vs The Nightmare known as Jerimiah.
From NWA Bayou Independent Wrestling's Respect is Earned show. This is BIW's 4th show in my town in a bit over a year. First show they drew 80 fans. But made enough off t shirt and dvd sales to come back. I had warned the promoter that 2 years ago 2 feds had run Brookhaven and the shows were so bad they killed the town. Well the next time they came to town I missed the show. But they sold 125 tickets. Then the day after my birthday this year they held another show. Drew right at 200 people. So for the show on Nov 8th he set up 200 chairs. 30 minutes before the bell rang all those chairs were full so 50 more were set up. The show ended up drawing right at 240 fans. And they are coming back in March.The owner of BIW does radio ads,has some of us local fans going around putting up flyers. Then pays for huge ads the two weeks before the show in the local buyers guide. But as he saw word of mouth is the best advertising. This show a friend of mine came with me. She works at Waffle House,which is one of the few places to eat in town. For the month before the show she was telling everyone about it. A week before the show she asked me to drive her to the place in town that sells tickets ahead of time. If you buy them in advance an adult ticket is 12 bucks instead of 15. I figured we would get tickets for her,I,her sister,her mom and her mom's boyfriend. Well through her work she had gotten orders for over 20 tickets. Turns out thanks to her and I spreading the word we sold over 60 tickets. Which the promoter was very thankful for. So thankful he hooked me up with an Ultimo Guerrero mask and told me once the dvd of the show is ready I get a copy for free.
Powerslam Productions and Wrestling Outreach present Don't call it a comeback.
We got Bu Ku Dao,who is now signed to WWE and should be showing up in NXT soon,with his tag team partner Socorro,they were known as Juan Direction vs Lukas Frost and Kool Jay Steele with their manager Hardbody Harper.
What I loved was Dao had the fans believing that he didn't speak english well. And then as you see in the match he got the crowd to chant his name. Now since this show was part of the wrestling outreach it was held in a church. And Bu Ku Dao is Vietnamese slang for "Suck my #*##" After the show Dao pulled me to the side."Hey Newt I know I am going to hell but it was damn funny watching 200 kids chant BU KU DAO in a church."
What I love about indy shows is you know most of the time the wrestlers are there because they love wrestling. Unlike WWE where some of them are there just for the pay check.
Over the past 4 years I have gotten heavy into the local indy scene. Started off by creating a FB group for the fans and wrestlers in MS. Before that one major issue was most of the feds wouldn't advertise their shows much. Then wonder why they never drew more than 50 or 60 fans. Talking to the feds that now use the FB group I have been told their attendance keeps on rising. And now some of the promoters and even the wrestlers will run ideas by me to see what I think about them. Had one promoter earlier this month call me "The Dave Meltzer of deep south indy wrestling".
My only complaint is usually after I show a wrestling fan footage from a show I was at their first question is "Where do I go to buy DVDs?" I don't know why but currently none of the local groups sell their DVDs online. You have to goto the show to buy them.
Again sorry for the rambling.But after comics ,pro wrestling is the other thing I have been into since I was very young. My original plan when I joined the Army fresh out of high school was to do 4 years in the Army. Then when I got out finding a wrestling school and becoming a wrestler. Then I blew out my left knee and injured my left shoulder. And last year one of the local groups offered to train me to become a manager. I thanked them and told them I love the offer but would rather just stay a fan out in the crowd.
As we don't even have the WWE Network in the UK yet, this was a no brainer. You can find instructions how to sign up here. The quality of the site is excellent and the wrestling even more so.
The follow up this week,Punk came off less as the whiny spoiled kid who threw a fit cause he didn't get his way. But still,the way he left rubs me the wrong way.
First off, I have to say I am a big Punk fan. I paid money to watch him at First Ave in Minneapolis and the St Paul Armory before he was in ROH, I bought ROH DVDs when he was there, and was happy when WWE picked him up. I am a big fan of his work, and find his attitude refreshing in a time of everyone in WWE seeming to be bland cookie cutter characters. He is the last of the Attitude Era-type performers.
In listening to the podcasts (including Vince McMahon on Austin’s podcast), it’s clear that he was burned out, frustrated and done with wrestling. He hit the peak of his profession and STILL had to deal with the fact that the business is run by someone who is set in his ways. We have heard for YEARS that there is no long-term plan, and very little attention spend on anyone but John Cena, and Thanksgiving week showed that in spades. Vince said that no one has grabbed the brass ring and these kids today don’t have any drive…
Well, why would you? Zack Ryder did what they told everyone – he went out and he generated buzz. He got fans interested, and they killed him. They had heels beat him up so he could be saved by JOHN CENA, took over his You Tube show, scripting it and then killing it, and now he doesn’t even do squash matches on TV. “You gotta put yourself over!” except it has to fit into what WE want. Alex Riley, same thing, the crowd was behind him when he turned on The Miz, but it wasn’t time yet, and JOHN CENA didn’t like that he said something about his haircut…now he is announcing on the pre-show. Punk’s merchandise is outselling Cena’s, so we butter turn him heel so he can drop the belt to the Rock and we can get it back on JOHN CENA.
Meanwhile, when Cena gets injured, he goes away and is allowed to heal. Punk is on TV the same week he has knee surgery. The same week he has elbow surgery. The day after a concussion.
WWE is bland right now because it’s all about JOHN CENA. Bray Wyatt is starting to get over HUGE…so he loses to JOHN CENA three times in a row, even with two people helping him. Hell, last night they killed off Seth Rollins. How? He and two other guys are against Cena and Cena takes them all out to stand tall. They killed The Nexus (which was an exciting idea) by having Cena beat THE WHOLE DAMN GROUP in a single night. “Gee, why don’t fans take the Nexus/Wyatt/etc…seriously?” Because JOHN CENA beats them easily, Jack!
The formula is, heels beat down babyface, leave him lying in the ring, and babyface does the slow crawl back to finally overcome the odds to get revenge. Cena never HAS to get revenge! If he gets beat down, he pops up and beats them up on the SAME SHOW! I think it’s why so many fans loved Summer Slam. For once, Cena got beat down and had to come back…but he had to get a win back the next night. No time off selling that Lesner had beat the crap out of him, no slow climb back, just line someone up the next night to show the kids JOHN CENA is Superman.
And Punk, who was always the good soldier, always did what was ask of him and more, sold merch, sold tickets, put butts in seats (much to the chagrin of those who called him a skinny fat-ass) had to play second fiddle. Even as Champ, Cena was the main attraction, and Punk was rarely the main event during that time. That is what is wrong with WWE. Vince with his “I’ll tell YOU what you like” rather than listening to the fans.
Yes, he gave us the Daniel Bryan moment, but immediately booked Bryan to be a coward, running away from Kane week after week. Again, Bryan did what they say to do, he got himself over, and they shit all over him.
Add to that all of the injuries, and the terrible medical help Punk got, and I’m amazed he stayed as long as he did.
His timing was perfect. He dropped the Pipe Bomb during a week when nothing was happening and then announced he was with UFC a week later, just as the buzz was starting to die down. Good for him.
“No one has grabbed the brass ring.” Vince said….Vince, it’s a worked sport. It’s scripted. They can’t grab the brass ring if you keep doing stupid shit! “He’ws starting to get over, take away his popular finisher and book him to lose for the next few months…then ask why the crowd isn’t into him!” like Cesaro. “He’s a popular hell, have Cena kick his ass for three pay per views in a row and take away his tag team…why don’t crowds care any more” like Wyatt. “He’s a champion, have Randy Orton beat him and not give a shit about the belt he’s carrying.” Like every IC and US Champ.
That’s how I see it, anyway.
A hightlight of the interview to me was when Austin said they are wrapping me up with 20 seconds left. McMahon said "I own the network. We are going another 15 min."
Punk came off as a spoiled kid that didn't get exactly what he wanted so he took his ball and went home. I have said for years now that Punk is a live action version of Eric Cartman and to me the to interviews just proved this.
I agree with him on the stuff about the staph infection. But his constant harping on "I didn't get to main event WM so I am a failure" was grating.
As far as his in ring work. Loved him in IWA MS. Never saw much of his ROH stuff,mostly cause after the RF-gate scandal I haven't watched much ROH. And for his WWE stuff I liked his series of matches in ECW. And loved his short program with Hardcore Holly in WWECW.
Can't wait until he gets knocked out in his first fight in UFC.
And the WWE network is pretty damn great. I am going through NXT and loving it.
:((
New Japan Pro Wrestling is coming to AXS.tv on cable. AXS.tv is a network that focuses on music and mma on Fridays. Not familiar with NJPW but I will give it a shot. Looks exciting for promos and I will probably get more action in one hour than three hours of RAW.
You can search for matches separately, they have some great programming like Legends Roundtables, and it works well on my Xbox. For $10 a month, you'll get a lot of entertainment.
Plus there has been the rumor that Macho Man and Stephanie Mac had a fling. Take that for what it is worth, but it has been out there for a while.