Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[buzzy]

Yeah I was talking about the example you gave. I agree that the Vickie segment lacked some logic. Especially if they advertise the show with a cage match locally, which I don't know if they do, but they might.

[JaoSming]

they did do dark main events in cage matches on Smackdown last year for a while.

[shadowgrin]

lol, don't expect logic and reason considering that the WWE's current target demographic doesn't concern themselves with those or willingly believe IT'S REAL DAMMIT.
So a cage hanging up the ring is as normal as the sky being blue.

[Andrew]

I still feel it can be explained away in kayfabe. Vickie felt she might need to have a cage on hand and made the necessary arrangements, then did in fact ultimately use it. It's a spoiler/plot hole/gap in logic, but as far as wrestling goes, it's not the worst example.

On the other hand, Big Show being afraid of getting fired when he supposedly has an iron clad contract, something that was at times used to explain his absence from TV during his time off ("I don't care, I can show up when I feel like it")? That's a pretty big plot hole.

[[Q]]

What buzzy said, same way underneath the ring is used as a storage for things like a sledgehammer, fire extinguisher, tables, ladders, and garbage cans.

why would anyone have a legitimate use for a kendo stick underneath the ring?

[koberulz]

Or tables, or garbage cans, or a ladder, or a sledgehammer...

Even chairs make little sense in the indies and no sense in WWE. ROH ladder matches (I'm sorry, ladder wars) have a tendency to end with all the shitty plastic under-the-ring ladders getting demolished and the real ladder actually used to set up the show being brought in from behind the crowd to do the actual finish, which just makes it all the more absurd.

[JaoSming]

You know what else is absurd, oily half-naked men 'throwing' each other so the other guy has to run, and bounce off ropes, then run again, and jump over you, then present chins and take a forearm.

In the grand scheme of wrestling, that kind of stuff is the least concerning in terms of immersion. It's supposed to be a "jungle" under the ring, where "you'll never know what you'll find under there".

[buzzy]

You know what else is absurd, oily half-naked men 'throwing' each other so the other guy has to run, and bounce off ropes, then run again, and jump over you, then present chins and take a forearm.

Wow, what kinda shit are you watching?

[koberulz]

In the grand scheme of wrestling, that kind of stuff is the least concerning in terms of immersion.

The ROH ladder thing actually isn't, because you know that until that ladder comes out, the match is going to continue, and after it's out nobody's going to be slammed into it. I haven't seen Ladder War III, but I, II and IV all followed the same formula.

The rest of it is pretty handwaveable: it was used as storage space back in the day, and once using items from under the ring became popular stuff was stashed there for use in any no DQ matches on the card.

[deihatein]

You know what else is absurd, oily half-naked men 'throwing' each other so the other guy has to run, and bounce off ropes, then run again, and jump over you, then present chins and take a forearm.

Wow, what kinda shit are you watching?

TNA

[JaoSming]

The ROH ladder thing actually isn't, because you know that until that ladder comes out, the match is going to continue, and after it's out nobody's going to be slammed into it. I haven't seen Ladder War III, but I, II and IV all followed the same formula.

E does/did the same thing with the last few years of ladder/TLC/MitB matches. Shit doesn't get real until the big ladder comes into the ring, and they hide the foam breakable ladders pretty terribly.

TNA

At least TNA doesn't gimmick their ladders

[shadowgrin]

You know what else is absurd, oily half-naked men 'throwing' each other so the other guy has to run, and bounce off ropes, then run again, and jump over you, then present chins and take a forearm.

Wow, what kinda shit are you watching?

[Andrew]

Fun moment from the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, for those who haven't seen it:

phpBB [video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqQDueIkfDc

[koberulz]

What was with the reaction to Triple H at the start of last week's SmackDown? His music got a massive pop, which over the next few seconds was slowly replaced by boos. Did they do a terrible job of dubbing over an incredibly positive reaction, or did the crowd not realise who was coming out for several seconds after the start of his music?

Still not a fan of the running knee Bryan's been using as a finisher. Might not be the worst finish in the business right now, but it'd be close.

[JaoSming]

I guess it is time for E to start spoiling their own storylines
(Bryan Corporation stuff)



Also, nip slip in Stephanie's segment last night on Raw

[JaoSming]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLblINM2Y2w

phpBB [video]

[koberulz]

Wait, so TNA retconned AJ's "No One" gimmick, then retconned the retconning with no explanation a week later?

And FYI, TNA: AJ is 36. The 'young up-and-comer tired of being replaced by aging stars' gimmick is a bit past him.

[[Q]]

Also, nip slip in Stephanie's segment last night on Raw

DAMMIT you got me

[koberulz]

That Raw is, what, the sixth straight WWE show that's closed with Bryan laid out? They're expecting people not to give up on him why?

And if that was the way they were going to handle Show's "ironclad" contract, I'd have preferred them not to bring it up at all. How much harder would it have been to say that the contract expired and he signed a new one, rather than blatantly contradicting themselves? Speaking of which, how many weeks ago did Sting lose a match with the stipulation that he'd never get another world title shot?

[Andrew]

So far the reaction seems to be what they want and the crowd isn't giving up on him. Of course, if they overdo it and he doesn't get to put one over the heels every now and again, that could easily change.

[koberulz]

NoC buys would be a better indicator than crowd reaction. Ratings are about to tank, too, which isn't going to help. Ratings being down will likely translate to NoC buys being down, even without the crowd getting sick of everything. If they blame Bryan for that...

[Andrew]

But if we're just talking about the crowd giving up on him, that hasn't happened yet based on the reactions he's drawing. It could still happen with botched booking of course, much like the original nWo angle all those years ago.

[koberulz]

I didn't say 'the crowd', I said 'people', which encompasses TV viewers and PPV buyers, which are far more important to the company than how loudly they happen to cheer for Bryan. That said, it has seemed quieter than it was pre-SummerSlam.

He's definitely not going to get as big a reaction next time he wins the belt, because he's already won it. They've killed that pop, for nothing. If they wanted to go this angle he shouldn't have won at all. Not to mention that as much as some people are saying it should or will drag out to 'Mania, there's no way it can go that long which means he's likely to win it in a period of time where WWE is being buried in the ratings and people simply don't care as much. He's likely to win it at a PPV where it's not clear in advance that this is the one he's going to win, so not as many people will be able to buy the event to see it. Hell, some people can probably only afford a couple PPVs a year and burned their budget on WM and SummerSlam.

I'm not even sure I'll be continuing to watch past October 11. I'm sick enough of this angle as-is, throw in the NBL season to decrease my free time and I may just give up trying to follow.

[koberulz]

Just watched last week's NXT...I don't know how 'smart' that crowd usually is, but Zayn is over as fuck over there, and had another terrific match, although let down by a TV finish. A lot of the support is in the form of 'Ole!' chants, but they do seem to be getting louder so it may just be marks picking up on it even if they don't understand it.

Second wacky conspiracy theory: Los Matadores are being brought in to make sure that WWE can bring Zayn up without worrying that 'Ole!' chants during other people's matches will force them to push him, as the 'Yes!' chants have with Bryan, and to ensure that if a smarter group tries to start one, the marks will think it's for Los Matadores and not get involved.

Regardless, Zayn really ought to be on the main roster.

[JaoSming]

Holy fuck, call the doctor back, AJ just doused King on fire, lit the match and burned the ever loving shit out of him.

Seriously, AJ Lee just destroyed King and JBL on commentary, trying to get the Divas over and they just laugh.