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Post by celtics543 on Jan 26, 2024 7:41:01 GMT -5
Going back a bit, I do think we need to acknowledge something about a lot of the current and former WWE wrestlers who've commented on Vince over the last x number of months: for a long time, the basic gist of how people view one another in the industry has been, it seems, "did this person do business right by me." There's no end to the litany of scumbags and monsters in the history of wrestling, but they've been friends with plenty of wrestlers who are otherwise normal people because "hey, that guy put me over when he didn't have to", or "that guy shared so much knowledge about the business with me", "we got to talk a lot while on the road", or "we shared a ring together and had each other's safety in our hands", which is its own kind of bond. None of that means that the person giving those compliments was fully aware of what said scumbag/monster was doing at the time, or completely aware of how far someone's awful beliefs about certain topics might go, but in a business so heavily built around protecting yourself and looking out for #1 (because the promotions sure as hell aren't going to have your back if push ultimately comes to shove) I think a lot of wrestlers become pretty myopic on this front, and there's this sort of compartmentalization of "ok, this guy did something awful, but, y'know, he was good to me/helped me/made me rich/etc., if I focus on that then maybe I don't have to dwell on the awful stuff." Not justifying that, by the way, but I imagine it's very tough to be in such a close-knit industry, one where people routinely put their very lives in the hands of others while spending tons and tons of their "free time" (such as it is) around one another, and have to confront the reality that the person you were calling "brother" or who provided a bunch of opportunities for you is, in fact, anything from a bigoted asshole to a literal rapist. Not asking all these guys to come out publicly and disavow Vince, a lot of that is their own business, but a lot of them need to realize that narcissistic and abusive monsters often have an ability to charm people around them, maybe that's clouding their perception, and maybe they should at least just keep quiet, discretion being the better part of valor and all. Not only that but American wrestling only had one place where you could make great money between WCW going out of business in 2001 and AEW opening in 2018. If you spoke out against Vince you were basically saying "I'm done with the wrestling business as a main source of income" and most guys aren't there. It's why a guy like Weinstein lasted so long. If you speak out and whatever you've said doesn't result in their removal then you just blackballed yourself from the industry you made a living in. Let's say a guy like Randy Orton knew, not saying he did but he fits the time frame. If he says something and it goes nowhere then what exactly is he supposed to do? He could be okay on the indies I guess but no guarantees. Now put yourself in the shoes of a midcard guy who has even more to lose. Or a lower card guy who is either wrestling at Wrestlemania or wrestling in a high school gym. People should speak out but in a business where self preservation is so vital, I can see why guys and girls who worked there would try to look past it. Not that it's right but it's understandable.
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Post by celtics543 on Jan 25, 2024 13:00:45 GMT -5
As truly awful as this is, my mind immediately went to the fact that Vince has probably been doing stuff like this for 40 or so years. I have a hard time believing this is the first time he's done something like this.
This is the kind of controversy that could shake the entire company down to the core. People in management, current talent, former talent, literally everyone.
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Post by celtics543 on Jan 25, 2024 12:12:12 GMT -5
As for surprise entrants for this year, I could see X-Pac or Albert (a random choice, but he is employed by WWE and can still go, have him eliminate one of the street profits or a pretty deadly member for a nostalgia pop). I mean if you're going with X-Pac and Albert can we get Justin Credible as well? Albert and Credible are in the ring by themselves, buzzer goes off and "Yo, you dealing with the x factor.."
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Post by celtics543 on Jan 23, 2024 15:48:23 GMT -5
Honestly, I'd mark if he got a moment at WM 40. I'd try to have every living person who competed or worked at Wrestlemania 1 make an appearance in some way at this one. Hogan, Mr. T, Cowboy Bob, Valentine, Tito, Steamboat, Beefcake, Rotundo, Barry Windham, Richter, Lelani Kai, and anyone else who appeared that is still alive, including Vince.
If you wanted to go really far I'd have Hogan win the Andre the Giant battle royal and then cut to a tribute to all the Wrestlemania guys who have passed away.
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Post by celtics543 on Jan 22, 2024 10:21:19 GMT -5
I think this might be a flawed way of looking at the quality of the show though. A lot of those screwy finishes were to further the story until they got to the ppv. I definitely know they all weren't but I would argue that the story was way more important than the actual matches. And honestly, for me, wrestling is at its best when they are more concerned with the quality of the story and do things based on story than quality of match.
I don't want a technical masterpiece if the story calls for a brawl that spills all over the arena. I believe this point is valid when you look at the top grossing stars in the history of the business. Some were good to great workers but all were excellent story tellers.
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Post by celtics543 on Jan 5, 2024 13:12:59 GMT -5
Why rush all of it. Cody wins the Rumble, finishes the story at Wrestlemania and then Rock/Roman happens at Summerslam in some kind of Tribal Chief, Head of the Table, match.
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Post by celtics543 on Jan 4, 2024 8:49:49 GMT -5
Just do Rock vs Roman at Elimination Chamber, have Brock cost Rock the match and then roll into Wrestlemania with Cody vs Roman to finish the story and Brock vs Rock in a huge attraction match. Brock/Rock can be short without making the main event feel like a ripoff.
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Post by celtics543 on Dec 13, 2023 7:20:07 GMT -5
Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho teamed a little bit. I remember in Jericho's book they called themselves something like Eh and Weh or North and South of the border or something.
The Blade Runners, Sting and Warrior.
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Post by celtics543 on Oct 3, 2023 7:58:13 GMT -5
Bret still beats Flair in 1992. I think Wrestlemania 9 could have been Mr. Perfect vs Bret Hart. The person who may see their push changed is HBK. He still gets over and gets to the top but maybe not tied to Bret as closely because Curt would have been one of Bret's main rivals. Maybe Owen loses that spot instead.
Basically I think Bret's career still works out the same but HBK and Owen Hart maybe have to wait longer for a main event run. Or maybe it's Curt instead of Bob Backlund who takes the title off Bret in 1994.
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Post by celtics543 on Sept 18, 2023 6:24:56 GMT -5
Only if he's wearing a sombrero and forcing people to eliminate themselves by threatening them with a screwdriver. Forget the screwdriver, just have Christian's Malaysian slaves eliminate everyone.
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Post by celtics543 on Sept 6, 2023 9:29:56 GMT -5
Wrestlemania 40 Triple retirement match Orton vs Cena vs Batista.
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Post by celtics543 on Aug 25, 2023 6:36:18 GMT -5
Man, being a wrestling fan can be tough. I've been watching since I was 3 years old back in 1991 so I've been through a few of these deaths. This one sits right up there with Owen though as one where the person really didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't because of past or current drug use, they weren't abusing steroids, it wasn't about unprotected chair shots hurting the brain, or anything else that you can at least reason out. It was just awful luck and a real tragedy.
For me personally this one may be the hardest to take because of his age. I'm 35 right now with two young sons. He was 36 with young kids. It hits really close to home.
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Post by celtics543 on Aug 10, 2023 16:29:40 GMT -5
While it would've been nice when I was in school, I grew up to be a teacher so it's still convenient for me. Eliminates the rough Monday mornings. And now that I have kids it's nice because they can watch a little bit of them with me because it's easier to extend bed time on Saturday than Sunday.
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Post by celtics543 on May 25, 2023 8:25:55 GMT -5
Something tells me that security would have taken him out before anything serious would have happened, at least once they saw him pull out the gun . Security are pretty quick to react the second anyone jumps the guard rail... besides that managing ho get the gun into the arena would have been a massive failure on security's part too. Remember though this was a pre-9/11 world. Security was much looser than it would be only a few months later.
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Post by celtics543 on Apr 26, 2023 10:33:02 GMT -5
Honestly, I didn't think Hogan could be the best heel of all time after his babyface run.
And I'd throw in babyface announcer Vince McMahon becoming the biggest heel of the Attitude era.
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Post by celtics543 on Apr 20, 2023 7:12:44 GMT -5
If talent gets cut I'd have to imagine that Orton is close to the chopping block. He's been hurt for a while and some are saying he may not be back at all.
My surprise cuts are Orton and New Day.
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Post by celtics543 on Apr 12, 2023 6:11:39 GMT -5
Strictly kayfabe speaking it's kind of like comparing Bill Russell (Bruno), Michael Jordan (Hogan), and Lebron James (Reigns).
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Post by celtics543 on Apr 10, 2023 13:29:09 GMT -5
Similar to 20 year old Kenny?
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Post by celtics543 on Apr 5, 2023 11:52:36 GMT -5
I assume it's a religion thing. Eddie got really into religion when he got clean and Superstar became a religious man as well. I can't see another connection. Maybe Superstar was close with the older Guerrero's?
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Post by celtics543 on Apr 5, 2023 9:24:53 GMT -5
I'm actually curious about some of the injured guys and girls right now. Someone like Orton or Big E who are on big contracts but not wrestling, and may never wrestle again. Will they be cut? How much sway does Vince have and how much is Endeavor looking at contracts and deciding who's out. They don't really have any kind of loyalty to a guy like Orton, where Vince may want him to stay.
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