WWE NXT (Also... WRESTLING THREAD)

[Bells]

http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwenxt/

So, ECW is gone and now there is a Pseudo Faux Reality Show where Superstars coach newcomers into the WWE...

Sometimes when i happen to be in my room and the thing is on it becomes my background noise, so i got to see a couple of pieces... i dunno, it doesn't really feel anything new so far except it seems to be a new kind of "long term story" for the whole show.

So, anybody else watches this or any Wrestling shows at all today?

[POS Industries]

I basically couldn't continue watching Raw due to the atrocious focus on its guest host gimmick, which essentially boiled the show down to one half Santino Marella doing his damnedest to make the guest segments at least mildly entertaining and then the other half being the company's best talent jobbing out to Triple H. At some point they moved most of the wrestlers I actually liked to Smackdown, which is now on a network I'm not even sure I get, and I just quit watching both shows altogether.

ECW had some really great talent and arguably the best pure wrestling of the three shows, but its booking was shit because there was no way to properly build a feud up to a real climax due to the rarity of even an ECW Championship match--which was officially considered a world title, if I recall correctly--making it to a pay-per-view. Plus, the second any of their wrestlers began to gain an ounce of momentum, they were moved to Raw or Smackdown, thus making it next to impossible for the show to draw viewers.

And, you know, there are a LOT of people I like in TNA but I just can't stand to watch it due to it just being so fucking bad. It is, in nearly every way right down to the people running it, just WCW all over again, except without Ted Turner's money polishing up the turd.

[Viridis]

I know nothing about wrestling. However, I did find these long rants about TNA Impact funny:

Vlog 2-27-10 – TNA Impact (http://spoonyexperiment.com/2010/02/28/vlog-2-27-10-tna-impact/)
Vlog 3-5-10: Even Moar Impact (http://spoonyexperiment.com/2010/03/05/vlog-3-5-10-even-moar-impact/)

[Meister]

I only follow WWE news inasmuch as I can't avoid them but this NXT thing sounds silly. Then again I already don't have the highest opinion of either reality shows or wrestling that puts too much focus on storylines. What I do know is that Bryan Danielson was a pretty big deal in the indie feds so I wouldn't be surprised if he came out on top there.

Also through Bells' link I learned there's going to be a match at WrestleMania between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon. Whaaaaaatthefuck.

Speaking of indie feds: last time we had a wrestling thread I mentioned CHIKARA. I've caught a few shows now and I absolutely recommend them to anyone who likes the sport aspect of pro wrestling more than the storyline aspect. They do have storylines and extremely convoluted and silly ones at that, but at the end of the day there are going to be two (often four or six) guys in the ring putting on a good show. There's a pay-per-stream site called www.hybrident.tv where you can watch some shows.

[Jagos]

Oh god, the Ants...

I swear, the Ants and Player One are some of the funnier wrestlers to watch.

Bret Hart vs Mcmahon

I could swear Bret wasn't able to wrestle because of his jaw. But maybe the last few years are nothing more than kayfabe for this one moment for him to get retribution.

[Meister]

I could have sworn Bret has said for several years that he was physically unable to ever wrestle again from suffering a debilitating stroke but WHAT DO I KNOW. (Actually really not much and I could well have been mixing things up all along. Calling right now that McMahon will make Bret tap out to the sharpshooter though, one way or another.)

And yeah the ants are completely great. I'm partial to Delirious myself, guy's got the best comedy spots.

[Bells]

Well, i couldn't find a thing about this on Bret's wikipedia page (which by the Way... Wikipedia entries for professional wrestling are some of the more detailed i've ever seen)

[POS Industries]

Well, the rule of thumb is that if a legendary wrestler comes back for an angle but isn't really in good enough shape to perform at the level of the actual wrestling talent, then they usually just end up fighting Vince because lord knows he's not going to be pulling any dangerous spots.

If Bret were still in good health, the logical WM match (and bigger draw) for him would have been against Michaels, and you know Shawn would have loved every minutes of it.

[Julford Hajime]

Actually I question whether Hart would've agreed to a Michaels match at all. Apparently he was still REALLY sour about Michaels back in '06, though now that he's back and actually addressing the screwjob maybe things have cooled down between the two of them.

Anywho, I still catch Raw on occasion. I was really into it around this time last year, and my interest has slowly tapered off into a "Eh, it's on, I guess I'll watch it" mindset. That said, I'll be watching the PPV next week specifically for the Bret Hart match, because growing up he was THE wrestler in my house. I feel obligated to see this match >.>

[BloodyMage]

Well, the rule of thumb is that if a legendary wrestler comes back for an angle but isn't really in good enough shape to perform at the level of the actual wrestling talent, then they usually just end up fighting Vince because lord knows he's not going to be pulling any dangerous spots.

No, see that's why he's fighting Vince, because Vince will be doing all the dangerous spot, but it'll be Vince taking the damage. I know it's not so much of a spot, but back when Orton punted Vince the backstage news was that Vince told him to really go for it so that it would look realistic. So no matter what you can say about the guys ideas, if he's willing to get kicked in the head to make a spot look realistic, chances are he'll be willing to take the bumps in some pretty severe spots if it makes the match look better.

That said, the match to watch at Wrestlemania is still Michaels/Undertaker, and maybe Jericho/Edge. As far as WWE NXT goes, I guess it's a decent idea in that it will at least help the development talent prepare for the main channels, but I can't help but feel that it's just an excuse to shove CM Punk and Christian out of the limelight because they have nothing better to do with them.

[Jagos]

Which is sad because Christian is pretty damn good when he has the spotlight. CM Punk is a better face than he is a heel though.

[walkertexasdruid]

Maybe, Christian wins the money in the bank match, and then screws over Edge to win his first World Heavyweight title. That would shake things up on Smackdown. (WWE is one of my guilty pleasures :sweatdrop)

[POS Industries]

CM Punk is a better face than he is a heel though.
I would tend to disagree, though his particular gimmick puts the current TV-PG WWE in a bit of a tight spot insofar as using him as a heel is concerned. They can't market the straight edge guy as a heel to the kids in the audience because that risks sending the message that staying drug- and alcohol-free is a bad thing. They were able to make it work in his feud against Jeff Hardy because it was less about Punk being a pompous dick about his lifestyle choices and more about Punk being a dick about Jeff's past mistakes and asserting that Jeff was incapable of overcoming his problems and bettering himself.

It worked great until Jeff proved in his personal life that he really couldn't overcome his problems and better himself.

They really missed a golden opportunity last night, as Stone Cold was hosting Raw, and having Punk come down and interrupt Austin's beer-swilling opening promo with his "straight edge and better than you" shtick would have been fantastic.

[Jagos]

Yes, but now Jeff is in TNA. I always wanted to see him in the X-Division

[walkertexasdruid]

HBK vs. The Undertaker, part two will be awsome! THe streak may just end this time.

[Jagos]

Pfft. I'm expecting at LEAST two more years on the streak. What is it? 18-0?

[POS Industries]

Plus whoever ends the streak will be someone who would be receiving a push from it, which HBK neither needs nor wants. It's the same reason Kane's apparently refused to do it on the multiple occasions that the opportunity has been offered to him.

Which is actually kind of a bummer because Kane ending the streak would honestly make the most sense.