The Wrestling Thread Mustache You a Question

[Zanham]

I don't think it's acting, I think it's loosely scripted.

 

[UnionJack]

So people already writing big Dave off, his character isn't known as a talker anyway.
More fool the guy who wanted too much money for the role who can't act himself.

 

[Van Petrol]

Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought hw said something about that. Either way I know he's not enthusiastic about the new title.

I'm pretty sure Punk helping with a title design was a rumor because I can't find a quote from him. Don't know why I thought he did lol.

Punk's less than enthusiastic comments about the new title for those who haven't heard them. [YT]85e80BAuMFQ[/YT]

Lol, yeah. That's about the only thing I can find regarding Punk addressing the new belt. So the other stuff you and Sage were discussing seemed new to me.

WWE.com had an article that discussed the making of the belt, which included mentions of unused designs.

http://www.wwe.com/inside/the-making-of-the-new-wwe-title-26092146/page-3

Ah, yeah, saw that. I thought that something had been posted (image-wise). I wonder if they are ever going to deliver on revealing the rejected designs, like they said they would.

Or like Hardy's "Immortal" belt was specific to him in TNA. Some people hated it but I knew it fit him AND worked to generate heat. It was good that some hated it because he was the top heel at the time. It was obvious no one else was going to carry that belt but him and they didn't. Once Sting became champ he debuted the new belt.

Like you said Cena's title should have been specific to him. WWE got greedy though.

Exactly. Though didn't Mr. Kennedy/Anderson carry the 'Immortal' belt for a little while when he became champion?

I figure if the eras they were used in and the top guys that carried them had lasted longer the belts may have too. Maybe.

I agree. Though, imo, the 'Undisputed' should have stuck around for longer and been the traditional/universal design/belt for the other guys who were champion when Cena wasn't.

It annoys me that all the history that has happened in recent years, Edge's first WWE title win, Sheamus' first title win (one of, if not, the first non-North American champions), CM Punk's first WWE title win and then history making title reign, etc, all happened with the 'John Cena' belt. It just ruined those moments for me.

It gave the impression that the E were trolling us in saying that John Cena is the man and it is 'his' title. Everyone else is just keeping it warm for him until he's ready to take it back/we're ready to give it back to him. Which is basically a more dramtic version of the truth, lol.

The beauty and brilliance of the big gold belt is that while it fit Flair to a tee (I still think of it as "his" belt and originally it was a perfect representation of everything Flair's character was) and he carried that son of a b*tch magnificently it also worked with anyone else visually. It "fit" all different kinds of guys and looked as good on Goldberg as it did on Flair.

That should have been the goal with the Spinner as well as this new WWE title belt. Something that is specific to the no. 1 star but could aslo work for anyone else and not look out of place at all.

The winged eagle also fit Hogan's superhero persona perfectly during his era (how many Superman and Captain America pics have we seen where they are posed with eagles...its for a reason) but it also had enough class and respectability to look right on a serious in ring mechanic and old style traditionalist like Bret Hart.

Thats timeless universal appeal. I can picture Lou Thesz or Harley Race with the Big Gold Belt or the Winged Eagle belt and they don't look out of place. But with the new Rock belt? Not so much.

I agree. Don't get me wrong, I like the Big Gold, but just never really loved it as I have say the 'Big Eagle' and the 'Winged Eagle'. My favourite iteration of the Big Gold was the original 'Crumrine' dual-plated belt on the brown strap that Flair debuted back in the 80's. Now that belt was beautiful.

However, while I love the Winged Eagle, I do think it is a tad bit overrated, in the sense that I don't think it is the 'be all' and 'end all' of championship belt designs. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Dr. Evil]

- We noted before that former WWE Diva Eve Torres was at NXT earlier this week meeting with some of the developmental talents. Eve commented via Twitter:

"Had a chance to meet some new WWE Diva "prospects" yesterday. Great group of beautiful, athletic, talented women. Future's looking bright!"

It turns out Eve was there to meet with 10 Diva prospects who were wrapping up a month long training program. These are the women WWE found through the reported "Diva search" in Los Angeles and other major cities last month. It appears most of them were recruited through modeling agencies. Besides meeting with Eve Torres, we know the prospects worked with NXT trainers Sara Del Rey, Bill DeMott and either Ricky Steamboat or Dusty Rhodes.

One model, Olivia Karpinski, interacted with Eve on Twitter and told a fan that she was cut but that 5 other women made it through the camp.

We know few details about some of the prospects:

* Olivia Karpinski - print & commercial model, fitness coach, did not make it through the camp

* Natalie Eva Marie - actress, model, 2012 Powertec Fashion Model winner

* Aimee Fogelman - model

* Joseann Offerman - singer & model

* Maysa Quy - IFBB Pro Bombshell Athlete

* Jenn Sterger - model, actress, TV host

* CJ Perry - Red Bull spokesmodel

* Courtney Camero - "Jaguar" from VH1′s For the Love of Ray-J 2

Jen Sterger should be a familiar name to all of those who follow the NFL. She's the woman who gained fame all over the sports world as the woman who received a photo via text of former NFL QB Brett Favre's "Lil Brett." Good thing for her that Batista is no longer in the WWE, because he probably would have done the same thing.

 

[Metallo]

Originally Posted by AntMan
WWE wants to get Rick Martel 2.0 over so they're putting him with Jericho. I think Curtis is a guy WWE sees potential in but I don't like him right now. I'm willing to change my stance, but every time he was on NXT I was bored

I guess you're comparing him to Martel's "Model" gimmick. Beyond that I think Rick was waaay better. He wasn't even as annoying. At least he got to build a decent reputation before and after he got it. Curtis is a joke right off the bat as Fandango. Plus Martel blinding Jake Roberts with that aresol sprayer was awesome.

Its a waste of time to use Jericho to put Fandango over now. He hasn't even built any momentum yet.

Originally Posted by NDX
That just made it MORE obvious to me. Worse off, if felt like the WWE couldn't care less about how we felt about the MAIN EVENT of their BIGGEST PPV of the year by not having either guy at the show. Felt like I was spat in the face.

Yeah I felt the same way. So close to Wrestlmania its obvious they are coasting on the build to Rock/Cena II and just expect the match to sell it self without as much work put into it. It doesn't feel nearly as important as it should.

Originally Posted by Van Petrol
Came across this. The 'Big Eagle' doesn't look too bad on Shawn at all, does it?...

Ah...the then new Sheriff in town and a future Sheriff. t:

Just makes me realize how we were robbed of some great potential matchups and storylines after Michaels hurt his back. The positive is it eventually put him on the road to straightening out his life but the Attitude Era would have been even better with him even if he did politic. He was tailor made for that era.

Originally Posted by E-Man
It's funny how Triple H has to get his win back vs. Brock while Punk getting his win back against Triple H isn't even in the cards.

Yeah...funny that. He's taking his sweet time to face Punk again. It would be nice if it happens after he beats Lesnar and Punks had time to heal. Summerslam maybe. But it doesn't seem to even be on the radar right now. It reminds of me of how he's flip flopped on wether or not the WWE title match should go last whenever it suited his argument.

Originally Posted by Van Petrol
Heh, I've seen pictures of the Undisputed Championship Belt just after it had been completed, and the name tag it was bearing was 'Chris Jericho'. I wonder if Helmsley had anything to do with holding off the introduction and presentation of the new belt until he'd become the undisputed champion.

Its obvious Triple H wanted to be the guy to debut it. He probably got in Vince's ear as usual. As the first Undisputed Champion it should have been Jericho's honor but it was also eventually obvious that he was just a transitional champion to put Triple H over. It was never about Jericho like it should have been. It was always about Triple H.

Hell Lesnar could have been the guy to bring out a new unified belt because he represented a new era. That makes even more sense since they were pushing him so strong.

Originally Posted by bullets
I think Triple H knows how to continue from where WWE stands, but he's not a visionary like Vince McMahon. I don't see Triple H turning the business on it's head or doing anything extraordinary. He should be able to keep the WWE on the right path though.

I don't think he has Vince's grand promotional vision and talents but I think he understands the wrestling and character side of the business far more than Vince ever did. And even when it comes to promotion and visuals he's no slouch. Some of his Wrestlemania intros and his music have been influenced by his decisions too.

If Triple H can deliver a better more modern product then I think that will help offset where he lacks as a marketing and promotional mind. Vince lost that touch years ago anyway so its not like we'll be losing much of that once he goes.

Originally Posted by Blackheart
Vince's problem is he's been hanging onto the same formula for almost the past 30 years with the "family friendly big guy sells more" mentality. I think Hunter will try something different.

I agree.

Originally Posted by UnionJack
Maybe more guys like Punk and DBryan, the more everyman who has skills, not just guys with a huge frame.

Maybe. I think that Triple H has some of Vince's same biases and preferences for big muscular men on top oldrazz but Triple H also grew up a fan of Ric Flair and Harley Race. They were guys who were not massive roided out giants. I think Triple H would give a smaller guy a shot but it depends on his attitude and his swagger. If someone had the mic skills, the in ring ability, and the personality Triple H would be impressed. If the next Terry Funk walked through the door tomorrow I bet Haitch would give him a shot. I mean...Shawn Michaels is his best friend and a guy he thinks may be the greatest of all time. If someone showed up and was just as good I think Triple H at least has the eye for talent to notice it.

Originally Posted by Kaleb
WWE NXT wrestler Jake Carter, who has features similar to The Miz, also shares the same name as Miz's character in The Marine 3. No word yet if this will still happen but there was a plan last year to create a Jake Carter character in developmental that would eventually move up to the WWE main roster and feud with The Miz once the movie came out. Carter is the son of WWE Legend Vader.

Jessie White looks more like Miz than Miz does.

Wow...thats weird. I do see a resemblance. Cenas got his bizarro double so I guess now Miz has his Earth 2 double. Even weirder that this guy is VADER'S son. I mean...look at him then look at Vader.

Originally Posted by Pink Ranger
Lol, like a male Mickie James.

So Jake Carter is gonna f*** Cena, obsess over Cena, then get fired? I dread watching his clip on Jenny Jones too.

Originally Posted by The Sage
As noted yesterday, Rob Van Dam mentioned on Twitter yesterday that he would not be at tonight's Impact Wrestling tapings in Chicago.

PWInsider is reporting that RVD's contract with the company had expired last week. The two sides are talking, but as of this writing RVD is a free agent.

If he's gone for good its no big loss. RVD's past it these days. TNA would be better off using that money to make the live on the road tv shows better or pay the talent that is still with them what they deserve.

- One WWE source described Vince McMahon as "very argumentative and contrary" right now. Vince has reportedly been constantly second-guessing other people's ideas and his own. The Royal Rumble buyrate may be contributing to Vince's bad attitude but the source described Vince as "a massive pain in the ass to work with right now."

It was also noted that WWE writers are working a very demanding schedule at the office and not only is Vince demanding constant changes, but it's said that Stephanie McMahon is "fanning the flames" by requesting that writers come up with more options for Vince to go over.

- Before Monday's RAW hit the air, the original script they had for Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel was a "really bad" one so they changed it completely and spent hours re-doing the segment. There was also a problem with the Jeritron that was in the ring. During the playing of The Marine 3 trailer, the WWE ring crew had to remove the Jeritron from the ring. This caused more problems for the segment and Jericho was forced to improvise.

The segment really took a turn for the worse when Brad Maddox came out. The Jeritron was supposed to be involved in Maddox's presentation but it wasn't in the ring anymore, he lost track and flubbed his promo on live TV.

Even before Maddox came out, Vince McMahon had instructed Michael Cole to bury the segment on commentary. There was some heat on Cole with the feeling that the segment was bad but most people wouldn't have noticed or said anything if it weren't for his comments drawing attention.

Backstage, Vince was calling the segment one of the worse ever and Maddox was the one blamed.

I wonder what the deal with the RR buyrate is? Is it lower than they hoped? Not surprising if it is.

Like Hunter Rider said before Vince is looking to pass the buck in this instance. He always does when he signs off on something that fails.

The issues with the segment were bad but him telling Cole and Lawler to bury it made the whole thing worse by making it all even more obvious.

Why is Maddox supposed to take the lions share of the blame when they were burying it BEFORE he even came out? He couldn't have caused the main problems.

Originally Posted by AntMan
I feel like that whatever happens there's always wrestlers to get invested in. I don't put myself in a bubble and I'm excited to see new talent.

I totally agree. Even though the product isn't as good these days theres always SOMETHING out there to enjoy even if its not WWE.

I've never had a problem accepting a new era or a new set of stars and have always been willing to give new guys a chance. Every great wrestler had to be given that same chance by the audience at some point. For the new greats to rise they have to be given a chance to be seen. There is no set formula or rule that says everything or everyone has to be the exact same way or follow the exact same guidelines to be entertaining.

I don't have to expect every era to live up to or be like a previous era to find something to enjoy. Variety is the spice of life and for the business to survive it has to evolve and try new people and ideas.

Originally Posted by Kaleb
Knowing how much Punk is protective about his character I cant seem him getting destroyed by Taker at Wrestlemania, I could see an injury angle (involving Brock possibly)taking place which will put him out till Summerslam (Punk has always main evented those as far as I can remember)

I hope he isn't. Hell he even deserves to put up a better fight than Triple H did at WM17. If its something like that I'll still be dissapointed. I can't imagine this being a total squash or anything like that but I think this whole match has now been redesigned for Punk to pay for what he did. I can't see him winning and if he does they really went for a cheap way to get him heat.

Originally Posted by TheFuture
Just had an argument with a guy who doesn't understand the long term damage to the product that could be done by Brock jobbing to HHH.

He said "Sure I had to google who won the match at Summerslam."

I'm worried that this is the kind of fair weather fool that doesn't really have any real interest in the product that the WWE are catering to with their current plans.

These guys won't be watching the day after WM, never mind at the next PPV.

Yeh they know there's a segment that won't give a damn if this is done. But that same segment of people will lose interest eventually and not even watch. So what was the point? Thats whats happened over the last ten years. I don't see how anyone can deny that.

Brock is one of the most valuable assets WWE has in the sense that he has a kind of legitimacy that NO ONE else in that company has. Vince and Triple H shouldn't be flushing that away just to amuse themselves and put one over on Lesnar and Heyman by making them look weak.

If Brock loses that aura or even if its diminished thats a real loss of something that could have been used better down the line.

Originally Posted by Nell2ThaIzzay
Everybody claiming for CM Punk to be a face, have you guys forgotten why Punk wanted to turn heel in the first place?

His character, and his natural persona, are much better suited as a heel than a face. Not that Punk can't pull off being a face, he can, but he's much better and much more natural in the role of a heel, and it's where he wants to be right now.

Only to you...not to everyone. The times have changed and theres a LARGE number of people out there who buy someone like Punk as someone they would cheer like a babyface.

There won't be any "long term damage".

I really feel the IWC obsesses too much over who goes over and how, instead of investing in the characters and the storylines

Yeah...the same way there was no long term damage to Kane, or Goldberg, or Big Van Vader after they got dealt some ****ty booking. There were other factors too but those guys never really recovered once their images were damaged.

Vader was monster over as a monster heel. The closest thing to the Lesnar of his day. As his cred slowly eroded he became a joke. Partly because he was hurt and in bad shape but also because the WWF didn't bother to protect his image like they should. They did it with Andre for YEARS while he was on the decline and he was less effective physically during the Wrestlemania III match than Vader was during his first WWF run.
That shows they could have done it for Vader too.

Originally Posted by The Sage
- WWE, who as you will recall has been trying to bring back several former Divas, has filed a new trademark application for Kharma. They let the trademark expire in January; make of that what you will.

Lol..it tells me they didn't initially have plans to bring her back. I hope they do and I hope she squashes the Bellas after what they said before she left. Does WWE expect everyone to forget that? Kharma even promised vengeance.

Originally Posted by Kaleb
great another HHH gimmicky match.

Sadly a lot of people called it. HHH wants to make getting his win back look as good as possible.

Originally Posted by Van Petrol
Exactly. Though didn't Mr. Kennedy/Anderson carry the 'Immortal' belt for a little while when he became champion?

I'm not sure but I think you're right. But I figure they didn't change it because the belt would be changing hands again soon enough anyway. I don't remember Andersons run lasting long so I can see why they didn't waste the debut of a new more tranditional belt on him when Sting was a better option to do it.

Its just like I wouldn't mind a transitional champion carrying Cenas spinner until they got a chance to bring out an older or brand new belt design. But for someone else to walk around with it for a decent period of time is ridiculous. Triple H wouldn't wear the spinner for 7 months. Neither would Jeff Hardy. That belt looked awful on both of them.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Jen Sterger should be a familiar name to all of those who follow the NFL. She's the woman who gained fame all over the sports world as the woman who received a photo via text of former NFL QB Brett Favre's "Lil Brett." Good thing for her that Batista is no longer in the WWE, because he probably would have done the same thing.

Yeah, I can totally see Dave Batista taking a photo of Brett Favre's penis and sending it to a woman.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Maybe its just me, but whenever I see Fandango, I keep having a sudden urge to buy movie tickets.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Yeah, I can totally see Dave Batista taking a photo of Brett Favre's penis and sending it to a woman.

Maybe Dave will do the same and unretire then retire 97 times.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Edit: Already been mentioned, lol. But I really hope HHH/Lesnar is Hell in a Cell, but make it bloody as we've already seen Lesnar get bloody.

 

[Metallo]

Maybe its just me, but whenever I see Fandango, I keep having a sudden urge to buy movie tickets.

I think Fandango may have also been the name of a Kevin Costner movie.

 

[Van Petrol]

Ah...the then new Sheriff in town and a future Sheriff. t:

Just makes me realize how we were robbed of some great potential matchups and storylines after Michaels hurt his back. The positive is it eventually put him on the road to straightening out his life but the Attitude Era would have been even better with him even if he did politic. He was tailor made for that era.

True. That's the only problem I have with Michaels. I know coutless others have done the same, and I don't condone them for that, but as many have probably realised I had a problem with Michaels, well that is it.

Its obvious Triple H wanted to be the guy to debut it. He probably got in Vince's ear as usual. As the first Undisputed Champion it should have been Jericho's honor but it was also eventually obvious that he was just a transitional champion to put Triple H over. It was never about Jericho like it should have been. It was always about Triple H.

Hell Lesnar could have been the guy to bring out a new unified belt because he represented a new era. That makes even more sense since they were pushing him so strong.

Agreed. I hated the whole Helmsley-Steph dominated lead-up and main event to WMX8. It was so tedious and lame, and was obviously just the two of them stroking their egos and dominating the limelight and glory. A precursor you could say of things to come. They even tried to rope Austin in on it to be the guy who would drop the belts to Helmsley at WM, but when he declined, Jericho was the back up plan.

I'm not sure but I think you're right. But I figure they didn't change it because the belt would be changing hands again soon enough anyway. I don't remember Andersons run lasting long so I can see why they didn't waste the debut of a new more tranditional belt on him when Sting was a better option to do it.

Its just like I wouldn't mind a transitional champion carrying Cenas spinner until they got a chance to bring out an older or brand new belt design. But for someone else to walk around with it for a decent period of time is ridiculous. Triple H wouldn't wear the spinner for 7 months. Neither would Jeff Hardy. That belt looked awful on both of them.

That's what I thought they were doing with Edge during his first run, as he feuded with Cena. But when the other guys starting carrying it around for months on end into feuds that Cena had nothing to do with, the writing was on the wall.

 

[Trainwreck2100]

Maybe its just me, but whenever I see Fandango, I keep having a sudden urge to buy movie tickets.

It's amazing that he is feuding with Tensai, and Tensai was the last "failure out of the box" gimmick that we knew was going to fail horribly but wwe went with anyway

 

[I'm Batman.]

It's amazing that he is feuding with Tensai, and Tensai was the last "failure out of the box" gimmick that we knew was going to fail horribly but wwe went with anyway

He came back last year, looked really strong with wins over Punk and Cena, and I was enjoying his work. Once Johnny Ace was demoted to nothing more than a pencil-pusher, LORD Tensai was done.

 

[Wheels]

The problem with the Tensi gimmick was they had him speaking japanese It's one thing to have this guy who was never accepted by American fans who went to Japan, but it was too gimmicky. WWE was trying to create another Vader or Bam Bam but they weren't that gimmicky and Matt Bloom just isn't as athletic as those guys. He can't do backfilps and stuff.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Albert would be more over if he went back to being Albert.

And that's sad, because Albert wasn't over.

 

[I'm Batman.]

Shame it took WWE 2 months to realize that he's not a ninja. Plus the crowd didn't care one bit, which hurt it, but maybe they shouldn't have taken a wrestler from the Attitude Era to 2004 and repackaged him as a wrestler from Japan as if nothing happened.

 

[Wheels]

That guy has had so many names that I just call him Matt Bloom.

 

[chamber-music]

Albert would be more over if he went back to being Albert.

And that's sad, because Albert wasn't over.

Agreed.

I always thought Albert/A-Train was an entertaining comedy face. What they are doing with him now is what they should of done with him for the start. That Tensai gimmick was never going to get him over.

 

[bullets]

Its a waste of time to use Jericho to put Fandango over now. He hasn't even built any momentum yet.

It seems like a throwaway match and won't have the impact they are looking for.

Just makes me realize how we were robbed of some great potential matchups and storylines after Michaels hurt his back. The positive is it eventually put him on the road to straightening out his life but the Attitude Era would have been even better with him even if he did politic. He was tailor made for that era.

I sort of miss Shawn when he was heeling it up in DX. I wanted to see that side of him again, but we got a good trade off. It would of been nice to see him feud with Rock. It's kind of a shame that match never happened.

I don't think he has Vince's grand promotional vision and talents but I think he understands the wrestling and character side of the business far more than Vince ever did. And even when it comes to promotion and visuals he's no slouch. Some of his Wrestlemania intros and his music have been influenced by his decisions too.

If Triple H can deliver a better more modern product then I think that will help offset where he lacks as a marketing and promotional mind. Vince lost that touch years ago anyway so its not like we'll be losing much of that once he goes.

That's true. It's gotten so bad the only place to go is up. Triple H does have some awesome entrances. If he had a lot of input into those I can see he'd be good at coming up with grandiose theatrics for stuff like Mania. Also he's friends with Criss Angel. I think time will tell , but I'm not worried about it.

Albert would be more over if he went back to being Albert.

And that's sad, because Albert wasn't over.

I thought he was doing ok as Brodus Clay's tag team partner. They just need to repackage him as a dancing pimp.

 

[Wheels]

I think Triple H has a deeper love of wrestling than Vince does. He was just a fan at one point. Vince has always been on the inside of the business. For example, If Triple H didn't reach out to Bruno we wouldn't see him in the HOF

 

[LOBO3315a]

I dunno if the sound is pumped in or not, but the crowd seems to like Shaemus and Orton as a tag team.

 

[JabarR]

Alberto and Ricardo are hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sweetre15]

LMAO at Jericho calling Zeb a cross between Rush Limbaugh and Yosemite Sam.

 

[Metallo]

Boy that Faildango/Khali segment was arguably worse than Mondays Highlight Reel. Poor Nattie. Its like they are TRYING to delay Fandangos in ring debut because they know how much this gimmick sucks. Unless someone pushes hard for it to go on I see this guy going the way of Vickies "new" boyfriend from a few years ago. I can't even rememeber the dudes name.

I guess we know what the Bellas might be up to. Hopefully Naomi and other a** next to Naomi go over.

Dolph finally won one tonight. Thats one good thing about Punk losing to Kane. Gave Kane some cred to do the job to Dolph. Now hopefully WWE doesn't waste Dolphs win tonight and instead uses it to further his goals.

Big T*t Langston still makes me laugh though. Him trying to be monster tough was hilarious.

Even though Layla is teasing a heel turn she and Kaitlyn are like chocolate and peanut butter: two great tastes that taste great together. Theres some dream food for thought tonight.

 

[I'm Batman.]

Agreed.

I always thought Albert/A-Train was an entertaining comedy face. What they are doing with him now is what they should of done with him for the start. That Tensai gimmick was never going to get him over.

It seemed to me the character was being what it should've been. He had momentum when he arrived, but then WWE dropped the ball. They have work to do if they plan to salvage him, but it can be done with direction - see Kane 1997.