Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[Al Ka Pwn]

Shaemus is pretty good on the mic.

[Andrew]

That he is, he's got a unique look and he's not a bad worker; he should have a bright future. I just think it's too soon for him to hold a major belt, even for shock value.

[Al Ka Pwn]

What makes you qualified to judge when the right time would be?

[Lean]

Here we go again.

What makes you qualified to say that an opinion is wrong?

[J@3]

What makes you qualified to judge when the right time would be?

Considering the entire purpose of the product is to make money via appeasing the fans I'd say as a fan he's perfectly qualified.

[Al Ka Pwn]

What makes you qualified to judge when the right time would be?

Considering the entire purpose of the product is to make money via appeasing the fans I'd say as a fan he's perfectly qualified.

Yeah, but how can you tell if it's the right or the wrong time? Considering the break of a star like rocky johnson even was luck based.

[Andrew]

Considering eventual main eventers are usually built up over a few months with significant wins over/matches with established talent and given meaningful angles, I'd say Sheamus' push was rushed through a lot quicker than usual without the normal build. As such, I personally find it to be a bit too out of left field but that's merely an opinion. Perhaps I'm yet to be won over.

[Al Ka Pwn]

I'm biased because I've seen and liked what he used to do in fcw. Plus he's so white I just have to like him.

[kenwong]

the only things i like about him is that he put mark cuban and john cena through tables haha.. they should just turn cena heel and make him feud w/ taker... the only problem is that vince won't like that because he'll lose the women and children fans of cena

[buzzy]

Sheamus hasn't paid his dues in the wrestling business yet, at all, to be holding a major title that soon in his career. And of course it is unfair to other people like Shelton, Christian, Matt Hardy, ... and the fact that he's a buddy of HHH and bla bla all those things..
But at the end of the day, and this is where I have to agree with Jae, the purpose is to put butts in seats.
The people love to hate a foreign guy who beats up their hero week after week, yet nobody even for a second expected him to actually beat Cena in that tables match. Those are the things that make people come back, and tune in again.
If the title just switches between Cena, Orton and HHH all the time, slowely but surely they'll lose some fans. The Sheamus situation was just a perfect opportunity to shock the world and freshen up the main event scene.

I'm personally not too fond of Sheamus myself.
I think he needs to drop the Irish gimmick and shave his head. There's a picture of him sporting a buzz which makes him actually look pretty badass.

[JaoSming]

and i'm biased cause his finisher is a powerbomb

IMO, they just went around him being champion wrong, he should have squashed MVP, Henry, Miz, other mid-carders first before beating Cena. Just to give him some more credibility. But if raw was any indication, he's going to start doing that now with these challenges.

[Lean]

Him squashing Evan Bourne is so wrong I guess.

[buzzy]

He showed some Cena like superpowers after kicking out the SSP.

But yeah I agree, Bourne should at least be a US Title contender.
I'm sick of Miz anyways. His stupid catchphrase makes people actually believe that he's awesome. Give the title to someone who actually has some talent.

[Lean]

Agreed there. Give Bourne a little push to the midcards like what they did with MVP.

[kibaxx7]

A channel here in Argentina started broadcasting WWE yesterday. I stayed until 4am watching the fights, the last one, Rey Misterio winning over Batista...

[koberulz]

In all fairness, in the world of pro wrestling completely original isn't always better. Sheamus becoming WWE Champion out of nowhere with virtually no build is a great example of how new ideas, poorly developed, are just as bad if not worse as the same old thing every week. At least there was a lot significance with some very combustible - and genuine - issues with Bret Hart and WWE/HBK. As soon as Hogan signed on with TNA, it wouldn't have surprised me if I'd been told there'd be some sort of de facto nWo reunion taking place. As far as what happened on RAW, I never thought we'd see something like that but I'm glad that Bret Hart is going to have a chance to finish his WWE career on a more positive note.

On the other hand, the nWo didn't work in 1997 either, and that was back when the people involved were actually capable of working. Furthermore, Tyson's guest hosting RAW next week...nobody's trying too hard to act like it's not 1997.

What TNA were doing was working, they don't need an overdone idea. They don't need the nWo against Jeff Jarrett, they don't need Team 3D against the Nasty Boys. They don't need to get two and a half hours into their show before so much as mentioning AJ Styles, and showcase most of their younger talent lying around backstage having been attacked. They don't need to have DQ finishes in cage matches, two-minute Knockouts title matches, random meaningless appearances by Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff flip-flopping between face and heel so often and so quickly they get dizzy, or Bobby Lashley and Krystal coming out smiling and waving, telling the fans that they suck, and that Lashley wants his release (great promotion for your company, really).

That episode of iMPACT! was basically everything that lead to the demise of WCW all crammed into one episode. They'll be back around 1.0 again by next week.

[Andrew]

The nWo wasn't working in 1997? Eventually they ran the concept into the ground but it was a pretty hot angle for over a year and garnered huge ratings, even if the WWF were still prevailing in terms of PPV buyrates. In general I agree though, they should avoid rehashing WCW's angles as much as possible, especially as the Main Event Mafia has already been their nWo-like group/angle.

[koberulz]

The nWo from '97 dragged on long enough that it stopped working, certainly.

http://whosslammingwho.podomatic.com/pl ... 3_21-08_00

[Andrew]

Absolutely, but it was still a hot angle during 1997. Listening to the podcast now.

[koberulz]

My point was more that everything on Monday was something that'd been done in '97, and the nWo gimmick's been well and truly run into the ground. I'm not really sure of exact dates as I wasn't following wrestling back then.

[Andrew]

It was justified with the Hart/HBK and Hart/Vince segments in my opinion though because that was a pretty big event, given the history. Bret Hart returning to WWE and (hopefully) being able to finish his tenure there on a more positive note is a big story and worthwhile doing.

Cornette as always had some great points in that podcast but the guy also has an axe to grind with WWE and more recently TNA and he is an ultra-old school, glass-is-half-empty kind of person from what I can gather and I felt there was a lot of bitterness in his analysis as much as he hit the nail on the head.

Off-air tribute to Bret Hart:

phpBB [video]

[Lean]

I'm thinking he could get a better sendoff after WrestleMania -- well after Cena makes him tap to the STF.

[Andrew]

So long as McMahon doesn't get it into his head (say, via HHH) that another screwjob would get everyone talking again. Simply giving Bret Hart the opportunity to have a final run in the WWE that ends on a positive note is a big enough story without Vince pulling another real life "Mr McMahon" moment.

[Al Ka Pwn]

Cm punk selling a bad hair cut as an intervention. That's funny.

[Andrew]

Yeah, that was kind of weird. It's not as though his signature look screams clean-cut though maybe that's part of the hypocrisy of the character. Whatever draws the heat I guess.