Random Wrasslin' thoughts.....

Mr.Nice Guy

deadybai wrote: »

I think its meant to be in the lower abdomen thats why its legal.

Sometimes the opponent that gets hit sells it like that (like last night) but mostly it's just straight below the belt. Check out this one by Dolph and the Dudley Boyz to Rusev which is definitely not to the abdomen. Watch the ref looking at everything:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6ZHaZ9RTk8

Like I said it takes me out of the moment when I see something like this because it seems so blatant to me.

The refs need to start copying Earl Hebner and the way he would just randomly look away whenever something dodgy was about to happen.

Itssoeasy

Mick Murdock wrote: »

I totally forgot this. They also used to show Heat on Sunday afternoons and I couldn't figure out why it was called Sunday night Heat!

Did they have an issue with the ppv content?

Yep apparently they showed the 2000 rumble live and weren't that happy with the miss royal rumble thing and thought the street fight was too violent and the tag team tables match was too violent also so put it on a 50 minute tape delay and edited stuff out.

They went to a break during the big shows rumble entrance FFS. Madness.

Mick Murdock

Did Sky show the free PPV ad free?

jaykhunter

Mick Murdock wrote: »

Did Sky show the free PPV ad free?

Absolutely. (well you had to pay for Sky Sports!) Boo to Channel 4, boo! Always came in horrible reception for me.

LeeJM

Those were some dark days in WWF PPV watching. Between the ads and terrible picture Im glad that experiment didnt last long

Moneymaker

Ah lads.

Some of my fondest childhood wrestling memories come from staying up all night Sunday to watch Channel 4.

Also my dad battering me the next morning for keeping him awake all night on a school night :pac:

Ageyev

Mick Murdock wrote: »

Did Sky show the free PPV ad free?

Repeats on Sky Sports had ads and sometimes had matches cut out. The Wrestlemania 13 replay cut out the final third of the submission match after Austin starts bleeding and the street fight was all cut except the finish.

dirkmeister

Channel 4 feed went down during the 6 man Hell in a Cell just as Vince came out on the back of the truck to rip down the cell.

By the time it returned there was carnage in the arena!

I was not happy to miss what happened.

Hated channel 4 for the ppvs. Delayed coverage, ads and stuff cut out.

Paying for sky sports anyway for Raw and the other ppvs not on C4 so would have just prefered them all to stay on that, live and with no ads.

The repeats of ppvs on sky sports were weird though if you had to watch it when your video didnt record

Even though it was shown after 9, the match order was different. I remember the opener to Wrestlemania 15 was the hardcore triple threat match but on the repeat it was the semi main event :P

Ageyev

Yeah Wrestlemania 15 match order was edited, probably for ad breaks. I think they might cut out a match or two and the Hell in a Cell match was chopped up. I think the four way IC title match was aired first on replay

CastorTroy

Channel 4 showing the WWF was how I got back into it since never had Sky until later on.

briany

Now that Hogan's a pariah in the business, maybe he's within reach of RF Video for a proper shoot interview.

Andersonisgod

I suppose this might be the most appropriate thread for this.

I went to the Global Wars UK Revolution Pro Wrestling show co-promoted with NJPW in Reading last night. Just wanted to let everyone know how it went. I did take the trip to London from Ireland specifically for this show, I purchased tickets for the meet and greet along with the show later that evening.

The meet and greet was very well organized. They let everyone in at about 2:30, two wrestlers per table and a member of staff to take a picture. There was also a merchandise stand with shirts and DVDs which I did avail of much to the chagrin of my bank account. Every wrestler was super cool, I did kind of feel sorry for Naito who seemed to be ignored at first but eventually a few people came his way. I just want to single out a few guys in particular, AJ Styles couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating, a genuinely funny bright guy who gladly took pics, advised me to hide that Nakamura shirt and signed my AJ gloves. Hiroshi Tanahashi is a class act, as you'd expect, while everyone waited Tana was there doing his air guitar routine and just interacting with everyone. Jushin Liger was also great, at one stage announcing to the room with the help of a sign that the only ever Gedo shirt valued at 500 yen had sold out. Having left the building I was greeted with what would be the lasting image of my trip, 2 kids screaming and running from a gyrating Jushin "Thunder" Liger pressed up against the window, the wrestling icon scaring/entertaining a couple of kids was just the most surreal moment.

We got to the show about half an hour early. A few of the wrestlers had set up tables in the venue, I couldn't resist the chance of getting a picture with Okada who was super nice and that pic has taken pride of place as my profile picture.

The show opened with Naito (mainly staying out of the action as you'd expect) Martin Kirby and Kushida in a triple threat, good opener with crisp work via Kushida. Naito took the win.

I'm gonna rush through a few of these but team Tencozy were in good form, Kojima in particular interacted with the crowd a tonne. Gideon Grey is a hoot, he had a fun comedy match with Gedo. Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows were treated as superstars though their tag match was the most disappointing match of the night with a dq finish to boot.

The big matches all delivered though, Nakamura vs Scurll closed the first half of the show, working a more methodical, deliberate pace than what had gone before this was a treat with Scurll working the arm to build towards the chickenwing, a couple of Nakamura's reversals into his armbreaker were spectacular, speaking of which the reaction that Nakamura commands and his magnetism are truly remarkable. The finish to their match was excellent, with Nakamura striking with a boma ye, Scurll popping straight back up demanding more and Nakamura unleashing his standing boma ye.

We got an intermission, came back with the Bullet Club match and then things really picked up. I think everyone had high hopes for Okada vs Ospreay, it lived up to those expectations and more. Okada entered to a massive ovation, the reigning IWGP Heavyweight champion carries himself like the champ he is, he's a superstar, the man is money. Ospreay is a superstar in the making, he's very young but he's coming off a sterling BOLA showing and here against Okada he more than matched his more heralded opponent. He's got a lovely mix of British catch style wrestling with some incredible athleticism and flying thrown in.
The first third of the match flowed nicely with Okada unleashing a couple of cool submission holds. As the match went on and the pace picked up Ospreay pulled out some crazy aerial moves, you watch him and your guaranteed to see at least one thing in a match that you've never seen before. The final third of matches has always been Okada's strongest area and this wasn't an exception. A killer closing third ended via a rainmaker and Okada acknowledging the brilliance of Ospreay. It's cool in some circles to hate on Okada but you watch him in the ring, how smooth everything he does is, his on point expressions and the undeniable aura he has and there's no denying that this is one of the finest pro wrestlers on the planet, the next in a line of truly great Japanese wrestlers.

The man who Okada will be behind in that line is Hiroshi Tanahashi and he was up next against Big Damo. This was quite a massive difference to the ultra athletic, fast paced match beforehand and it took the crowd a little while to get into it but the genius of Tanahashi shone through. He was superb here, giving Damo a lot of offense, the high spots in his matches are so perfectly placed, his timing is the best of any wrestler I've ever seen. At one stage Big Damo executed an elevated reverse ddt with Tana landing hard on the back of his head, it drew an audible gasp and some murmurs of concern considering the G1 2015 winner has a history of back and neck issues. Credit to Damo too who more than played his part in a hard hitting, strong match that wouldn't have been out of place in Korakuen Hall. Tana won with his high fly flow and Damo showed respect to Tanahashi at the end.

Finally the main event. For the first time ever, AJ Styles vs Jushin Liger for, as we found out right before the match, the British Heavyweight title. Styles on the mic beforehand was very respectful towards Liger with neither man really occupying the heel role. Huge credit must go to both guys, they worked hard here and ended the show on a high note, the 50 year old Liger whose history of wrestling in England must have only encouraged him further to put on the best show possible must be commended, his style has had to change through the years but he still was able to produce some great moments like a spectacular top rope hurricanrana. Styles earned chants of "best in the world" and that's probably pretty accurate, this was really an assured, masterful performance from Styles and he picked up the win with his Styles Clash. Post match he thanked and embraced Liger and thanked the fans for coming out sans a microphone. It was a really good main event to end a fantastic show.

This was way longer than I thought it would be so apologies but I did just want to document a really enjoyable day. On a day like that you realize there's nothing better than being a wrestling fan and I'll always remember a quality Okada vs Ospreay match, seeing this remarkable generation of NJPW headliners, the great atmosphere at the show and, above all others, the sight of the legendary Jushin Liger amusing a couple kids through the window of a leisure centre in Reading.

Stereomaniac

Sounds like a great trip man. Have you planned to go to anything else? We are all so lucky to be able to get such enjoyment from this interest of ours I think. I am a firm believer that if this doesn't make you happy or all you can do is pick holes in it, you've no business watching! Thanks for a refreshing account of your trip.

Andersonisgod

Stereomaniac wrote: »

Sounds like a great trip man. Have you planned to go to anything else? We are all so lucky to be able to get such enjoyment from this interest of ours I think. I am a firm believer that if this doesn't make you happy or all you can do is pick holes in it, you've no business watching! Thanks for a refreshing account of your trip.

Thanks mate, to be honest I don't have any plans yet but I'd love to go to another Rev Pro show, I really enjoyed the whole experience. I suppose the dream would be to go to a NJPW show in Japan but that's quite a bit off right now. I agree, I'm firmly of the belief that if you don't like something or if something isn't for you then stop watching it, I've loved following NJPW and the chance to meet their top guys yesterday was really special.

Stereomaniac

That's what it's all about, really. If you like something get the most you can out of it. I can probably come across as a bit of a Vince McMahon apologist on here sometimes, but I go out of my way to see the good aspects of WWE. I can't understand complaining all the time.

Angron

Rev Pro are pretty great, I was at their Summer Sizzler that had Nakamura, Styles, Matt Sydal (aka Evan Bourne), Grado, Cabana, as well as their own lads. It was a really enjoyable show, I'd love to go back for another one. It was the show Styles won that title at, beating Scurll for it.

Stereomaniac

So is Styles their champion still?

Angron

According to their website, yes he is.

LeeJM

I was re-watching the Paul Heyman doc on the Network this morning and it got me thinking, why has Gabe Sapolsky never been hired for the WWE creative team? It seems all of the old ECW crew have held positions there at some stage except for Gabe. Also guys like Rollins, Bryan, Cesaro, Owens, Ambrose and plenty more have worked with him previously so Im just surprised hes never been given a job especially as he was Heymans left hand (not quite right hand, that was Dreamer) man.

Palo Alto

It's a conundrum really, he'd be excellent with NXT, but maybe they've made offers and he's happy with DGUSA?

jaykhunter

Watching Saturn and Regal wrestling (circa 2001) breaking out multiple suplexes. What happened to suplexes in wrestling? Ground-based offense seems to be a lost art; it seems all geared towards doing a plancha/suicide dive to the outside. Brock has his Germans...and that's about it. Who in current day uses suplexes regularly? Cesaro perhaps?

LeeJM

Chad Gable busted out a sweet Choas Theory ( Rolling German with a bridge ) at NXT Respect but yea I agree we dont see anyone guy with a variety of suplexes in WWE anymore. Even a simple yet always effective snap suplex seems to be a thing of the past. One of the main reasons I loved Taz in ECW was all the sick suplex variations.

Stereomaniac

Becky Lynch did a couple of really nice ones relatively early on in the divas revolution, but it seems her main role in the ring since then is to get the crap kicked out of her and eventually make the hot tag to Charlotte who then cleans house and wins the match for them.

Riddle101

I don't think wrestling is all about suplexes, but it does seem to me like the art of wrestling is lost on WWE now. These days matches seem to be mainly based on spots and wrestlers getting their signature moves in. There's no psychology anymore, no selling, no technical wrestling, no real effort made to tell a story. When I watched Kevin Owens tapping to Cena in their last PPV match, I was annoyed that they decided to end the match like that. Having him kick out of that AA from the top rope, only to tap out to the STF seconds later was a waste. I mean don't get me wrong, they've had some solid matches over the years, but I when you compare wrestling today, to what it was like when you had the likes of Benoit, Angle, Jericho, etc, then there is a big difference in the quality of wrestling.

Palo Alto

Taz was pretty unsafe anyways, just dumping people on their heads and necks.

LeeJM

Palo Alto wrote: »

Taz was pretty unsafe anyways, just dumping people on their heads and necks.

That is true but to a 13 year old me who didnt think of things like that he was amazing. Im sure if I went back and watched some of his ECW stuff I wouldnt be anywhere near as impressed.

Palo Alto

Yeah, that's what I've been doing recently with hardcore tv. Guy was legit dangerous. Watching something like PWG BOLA and seeing workers do as impressive stuff if not moreso, but safely is real progress.

LeeJM

Hardcore tv is one thing I havnt checked out on The Network, is there a full run of it or just bits n pieces? Is there any must see episodes?

Palo Alto

I've been watching from around August '97 with the one that starts with highlights of Funk/Sabu in barbed wire match, it's been good fun and probably prime ECW.