|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 7, 2007 20:34:41 GMT -5
I don't understand Cody hate. The guy actually throws left handed jabs before his right, something lost on 90% of workers with his experience. Boxers don't sit their and exchange right handed swings for 12 rounds.
And he bumps with sympathy, you know, where it really looks like what the other guy just did to him actually hurt. A really novel concept, I know, but lost to so many. His facial expressions are good, too. People talk about the "little things" that Orton does, but Cody does "little things" in the ring that Orton seemingly doesn't have a freaking clue about.
The biggest thing holding him back is his size, as it seems like Tully Blanchard must have had an affair with Dusty's wife. And I still think it's funny that he's Dusty's kid, but he wears ring gear exactly like Flair's.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 4, 2007 23:17:32 GMT -5
As shocked (in a good way) as I am to read some of Hogan's comments about a new wrestling venture that would push non-roid freaks, I'm intrigued as to what his vision of this type of company could be and who he'd actually hire.
When Bischoff signed Benoit, Malenko, and Eddie in 1995 with plans to launch the cruiserweights, Hogan got in his ear, and essentially said "This could be great. We should sign Koko B. Ware for this". Ugh.
A Hogan promotion could have potential if he hired the right guys, and not fell into the time-trusted trap of trying to earn paychecks for Greg Valentine, Beefcake, Duggan, Koko, Buff Bagwell, and Brian Knobbs.
I agree with whoever said that Hogan's old school, and he did grow up as a fan of CWF (which was awesome in the 1970s, with GREAT wrestlers in Race, the Briscos, the Funks, etc.)...but I assume that his promotion would be a bunch of old fat guys replicating 1980s WWF.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 5, 2007 8:11:56 GMT -5
Back to the subject... Putting the IC Title on Umaga. WTF? There's no need for that character holding that title, because you can only beat him on special occasions. I like Umaga, but it's like giving the IC Title to Big Show...pointless. Use the belt to elevate someone. I think they're trying to elevate the belt and when someone does finally beat Umaga for it it's bam zoom straight to the moon. Good point. But since I was a little kid, guess I've always enjoyed the Bret Hart/Mr. Perfect/Shawn Michaels kind of IC Champs than I have the Ultimate Warrior/Umaga/Roddy Piper champs. BTW, the veteran/half-retired Roddy Piper as IC Champ was totally WTF except that they did it to give Bret the major rub by beating him. After that, bam zoom for the Hitman.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 5, 2007 7:58:10 GMT -5
Back to the subject...
Putting the IC Title on Umaga. WTF? There's no need for that character holding that title, because you can only beat him on special occasions. I like Umaga, but it's like giving the IC Title to Big Show...pointless. Use the belt to elevate someone.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 5, 2007 7:47:50 GMT -5
Nevermind.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 5, 2007 7:37:24 GMT -5
Perhaps, but some people may contend that Ric Flair is an overrated relic as well. Only someone from NYC would say this. Yuck. You can't compare Lawler to Flair. Case closed. People around the world "Whooo" whenever a chop is thrown...what do people remember Lawler for? Working in Memphis, booking himself over every soon-to-be WWF guy in the 1980s? Screaming "puppies"? Laughing at his own unfunny jokes? The scope of the wrestling world that Flair dominated at one time reached from territory to territory, coast to coast, and overseas. Lawler was the most over guy in-between Memphis and Louisville. Not even close. Flair's the best.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 5, 2007 7:23:36 GMT -5
The fact that Ric Flair is a jobber, and Jerry Lawler is a special attraction wrestling legend.
Flair is a world-wide wrestling icon. Lawler is an overrated relic of the territorial days. To give you an idea how ridiculous this overall notion is...
Just picture 15 years from now, watching a 55-plus year old Shawn Michaels jobbed out every week on WWE TV...when RAW color commentator Jeff Jarrett comes out once a year to win a feud against an established wrestler, then sit back down at the announce table and go, "I told ya J.R., I'm the King of the Mountain".
(Sadly...one day, we may see this).
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 5, 2007 7:08:51 GMT -5
Sid sucks. That said, he's one of only ten or so unemployed guys in wrestling that could still pop a crowd in any major arena on TV just by showing up announced on WWE. Strangely, he's in that Bret Hart, Goldberg, Lesnar, Scott Hall, Warrior group that could get a huge pop.
As much as I've always hated to watch him wrestle, he's money, because he's got charisma and knows how to work a crowd...no matter how unintentionally funny he's capable of being at any moment.
If, once a week, WWE booked Sid in a comedy, Ron Simmons "DAMN!" role on RAW...but it involved Sid walking out once a week and powerbombing anything that sucks...he'd be one of the top three most over guys on RAW within a month.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 5, 2007 9:16:19 GMT -5
Owen didn't not leave because he was scared. Did he want to leave? You bet your ass. But he didn't, not because he was scared he was gonna get sued, but because he was in a contract and knew the company needed him. He wasn't scared, he was LOYAL! And I respect the hell out of him for staying. Bret has said in his shoots that Owen wanted out, asked for Bret's help in getting out, and was miserable because Vince wouldn't let him out under any circumstances. Owen stayed in WWF not out of LOYALTY, it's because he legally had no choice. Ask Bret where you think Owen's "loyalty" stood in late-1997, between his family or WWF? Yes, Owen was in the early stages of a long-term contract with Vince, and Vince wouldn't let him out of it (against his choice), again, to spite Bret. A contract's a contract, but back in 1996, Owen probably wouldn't have signed a five-year deal with Vince if he knew the Bret screwjob would happen a year and a half later. After Montreal... Davey Boy Smith wanted out. Done. Jim Neidhart wanted out. Done. Rick Rude wanted out. Left without notice. And, had Bischoff on speed dial right after Survivor Series...letting him know that Bret/Vince weren't working him. Vince could've let Owen out, too. I don't fault Vince for not letting him out. An investment is an investment, but he didn't get as much out of Owen as he should've after Bret left. Guy had a ready-made, money world title angle with Michaels...and months later he was dressed like a "wet floor" pylon, feuding with an impressionist. And I don't see how Owen was to become "The Game" since they kept him in such a mid-card, halfway comedy role for the rest of his career. Seeing as how he was the Blue Blazer in his last appearance, I don't see how that role was leading to 11 World Championship reigns... ...or ANY world title reigns before that long-term contract expired.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 3, 2007 10:50:30 GMT -5
That Ric Flair impression is a thing of beauty. He's really talented.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 3, 2007 11:15:56 GMT -5
WWE could play just about any old song for somebody's entrance on RAW or Smackdown, assuming that USA and the CW Network each pay the blanket yearly fee to The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP...which they probably do, since most broadcast and cable networks do). The networks would cover WWE's ass there, so if Burke wanted to come out to Hendrix like he did in OVW...they'd be in the clear.
The problem is, WWE would be responsible for paying separate ASCAP fees for PPVs. Vince is too cheap for this. So there's no point in creating a TV entrance around a song that can't be used on PPV.
But then again, Hogan used to come out to that Jimi Hendrix song when he was in the NWO, both on TV and PPV...did he actually buy that song? I always figured that Time Warner owned it, but that wouldn't really matter as far as ASCAP goes, and it seems like something Hogan would (and could) do.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Jul 30, 2007 7:21:09 GMT -5
Tully Blanchard?
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 2, 2007 2:41:31 GMT -5
A) Wellness Policy. B) Tapeworm.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 2, 2007 2:30:40 GMT -5
Backlund's a #5 seed when he held the belt for five straight years, but Andre and Foley are #3 seeds, and Lesnar's a #4 seed? I call shenanigans.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Aug 2, 2007 0:42:23 GMT -5
I've seen this mentioned a few times on this thread, and I wanted to kill this myth about TiVo hurting ratings.
TiVo can NOT hurt ratings for a TV show. For a TiVo to record the show, the TiVo box has automatically change the television set to the channel (USA) that's showing the show you want TiVo'd (WWE Monday Night RAW), which tunes the Nielsen box to that channel as well.
To a Nielsen box, it can NOT tell the difference between a show being TiVo'd for later viewing and a show being watched live. All the Nielsen box knows is that the TV's channel changed to USA from 9:00-11:00pm on a Monday night.
So don't blame TiVo. And the Nielsen voters comprise roughly 50,000 out of 300 million Americans. On a normal week, WWE gets what, maybe 2,000 out of those 50,000? It doesn't sound like a large test sample, but it's enough to make a difference and gauge trends.
Hypothetically, even if 2,000 people in the sample Nielsen audience watch RAW each week, if you lose 25% of that audience, there's a major problem.
And it isn't TiVo's fault...
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Jul 30, 2007 7:27:54 GMT -5
Great point.
Larry Sweeney in ROH is great at this, and would be just as great in that role in WWE. I know the guy's a wrestler everywhere other than ROH, but to me he's money like a young Heenan in the managing role.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Jul 27, 2007 6:31:37 GMT -5
Shelton Benjamin has been wasted away more than any talent in WWE, TNA, or ROH in the past three years. He has the talent, look, and charisma (off-mic) to be a main-eventer right this second anywhere in the world.
Haas is a "good hand", but Benjamin is so money that it's ridiculous.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Jul 27, 2007 6:39:35 GMT -5
People aren't voting for The Rock because we all know he's not coming back. But it's insane that The Rock isn't the top-vote getter.
The Rock should easily win any poll he's included in on this subject. He's the one guy left that could come back and relaunch the entire business, raising the profiles of all companies.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Jul 27, 2007 0:49:34 GMT -5
He has no in ring talent, he's disgusting to look at, he had one good promo from like 3 years ago, and he has no redeeming qualities what so ever. Thanks. NEWSFLASH: You're supposed to feel this way about Snitsky. He's a bad guy.
|
|
|
Post by "Nature Boy" Ric Moranis on Jul 27, 2007 0:47:38 GMT -5
Hate to say it, but Johnny B. Badd in 1995 could work circles around our good friend, the Silver-tongued Pugilist. As a bonus, he even popped crowds.
Johnny B. Badd stunk it up hardcore for the first couple years (and last couple) of his career, but he was a pretty exciting worker for a couple years in the middle. Most of these guys who are ripping Mero look pretty sad, because they're doing it to kiss WWE management's ass.
I hope if Elijah Burke ever feels the need to speak out publically against the wrestling business, guys 20 years younger try to make him look like an idiot and say that his offense looks weak, and he only used about five moves.
|
|