nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 12, 2021 17:09:28 GMT -5
RIP.
Now, to come up with a more evocative current talent whose name we can give to the phenomenon of multiple alignment shifts with diminishing returns for each.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 12, 2021 13:21:15 GMT -5
I'm deeply concerned that WWE has poisoned the well and salted the earth with its booking at this point and that not even the threat of the networks pulling their broadcast deals will be enough to stop Vince from booking as he wants to do.
The fact that they are using every.single.possible.trick. except for the one that will recover the ratings and make their product must-see speaks _volumes_ of the inability to get Vince McMahon either to cede control or step aside on creative. I think it would literally require the networks to say, "Vince has to cede control or else we pull the plug," before they'd consider it and, even then, they'll do their damnedest to eat their cake and have it, too.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 8, 2021 17:19:53 GMT -5
The word on it is that it's actually option C, WWE is so damn incompetent that no one thought to change the length of his no compete when he got called up. That's...interesting, to say the least. I wonder how many other callups are still on 30-day non-competes.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 8, 2021 7:51:48 GMT -5
I honestly believe Vince is tired. On the one hand, he's likely still insisting on having the final say on creative; on the other hand, he's tired and absolutely _cannot_ be in charge for the next little while, if ever again. If Nick Khan were to run a couple of focus groups (arguably not his lane, but still), he'd push to get Vince off creative entirely and _try_ to bring in experienced wrestling creatives to run the writing room. Prichard alone ain't cutting it, in my view.
Right now, WWE still has probably the biggest collection of top-tier talent in the business, but that's on the verge of changing very, _very_ considerably within the next five years. The current creative direction only motivates the roster to do as its told to the minimum and to keep collecting the paychecks. For Tommy End to debut last night as Malachi Black on AEW, however, suggests that either the downside he was getting was less than he was offered by Tony Khan to jump right away, or that he feels far more fulfilled with what's being laid out for him than whatever WWE was coming up with.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 7, 2021 15:27:12 GMT -5
Once upon a time, kayfabe was kept so tightly that you did not know _anything_ about a wrestler's private life: you didn't know whether they were married, had kids, what they did when they weren't on the road. The secrets within the wrestling locker room generally stayed there. If you were a wrestler up until the late 1990s (at least), that part of your life was yours and yours alone. You rarely discussed your life outside of wrestling, and then only in passing.
As the lines became blurred between wrestling characters and the people who played them (I believe Dwayne described the Rock as himself dialed up to 11), there came much more interest in not just the wrestlers, but also the guys and women who had lives away from the ring. The subculture that grew out of the indies brought with them the expectation that who they saw in the ring was who they would get after the matches. The community that built up around the indie promotions was one where everyone knew just about everyone else, and knew everyone's business - not necessarily healthy for those who have ended up getting the most attention - for example, the kerfuffle among some female fans when it became clear that Dean Ambrose was dating Renee Young irl. And sometimes, that sense of "knowing" someone can have serious consequences - consider Sonya Deville's stalker woes.
It isn't necessarily healthy for the long-term growth of pro wrestling, either - when too much personal info gets out there about someone, it can impact their ability to draw and make money. And it does interfere with fans' ability to lose themselves in the narrative of the match or the feud. That suspension of disbelief, essential to wrestling's ability to entertain, is not something that can be demanded outright of viewers. There can be, as I've learned, too much light let in on the magic.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 7, 2021 13:52:26 GMT -5
If this is the direction they're going for a possible handover of the title before Kross moves up, it would make the outlook for NXT much, _much_ darker.
It looks as though they intend to sink everything WWE.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 6, 2021 22:58:08 GMT -5
I miss swag in general. Not just the stuff you could get on WWEShop.com or at the merch booth, but little ephemeral shizz like buttons and stickers that you could get in chip bags or postcards or stuff like that.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 6, 2021 18:28:36 GMT -5
Simply put, she was sick of trying to dumb down her style to the rest of the Divas at the time. The only women's wrestler on the roster who was technically better was Nattie and, even then, the overall style during the Divas era was about filling in a piss break.
Compare what Gail Kim got to do in WWE vs what she got to do in TNA. Gail Kim's legacy is fine - she's just one of a multitude of talents that WWE squandered because they either didn't know what to do with her or she wasn't meant to be central to the little diorama they were looking to set up.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 6, 2021 18:23:42 GMT -5
WWE won’t do anything that would piss off Rock who is one of the last vestiges of mainstream credibility they have left. If Jimmy Uso facing consequences would piss off Dwayne Johnson and Dwayne'd hold it against WWE? That'd be on a level of John Cena's kowtowing to the CCP _at minimum_.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 6, 2021 12:28:02 GMT -5
No one should be “forced” to handle a lack of personal responsibility. It doesn’t happen. It happens independently or it doesn’t happen at all. You said it yourself: “ in the past we thought "well he's an adult, he'll get this taken care of" and what happened? Nothing.”. Something different needs to occur. He should be released. I don’t understand the gist of much of your argument considering this is a pattern. It continues to happen over and over again. You literally don't see how releasing him, putting him into a depression, giving him less time at work away from coworkers and his wife can give him more time to drink and drive? You can't see how that would be more harmful than the company keeping him on a leash and forcing him to go to rehab and facing his alcoholism? Which is something he has never done the entire time? You don't see the difference between these two?
The difference here is that he needs to go to rehab but in my scenario he's being forced to go to it and in yours he isn't because "he's an adult" and he hasn't done it in any of his adult years. I'm not letting Jimmy Uso decide he needs to go rehab when he can kill anyone anytime he steps on the road, I'm forcing him to because human lives are more important than his own decision making. This goes beyond his own thinking accountability. Sometimes you gotta force people to do what needs to be done.
Forcing any alcoholic into rehab will _not_ help. They have to want sobriety for recovery to succeed. It can't be the responsibility of Jimmy's coworkers, employer, brother or wife to keep him healthy and sober. Putting that on them a) removes from him his autonomy and dignity as an adult, b) shelters him from the consequences of his own actions, something he needs to experience before he can gain insight, and c) potentially foments growing resentment in those people because he's a grown-ass man whose disease is in his grasp alone (that and his Higher Power, for those who speak 12-Step). Maybe being given the choice of rehab or release will be his rock bottom; the prospect of some losses can be enough to scare him more than drinking will. Yes, the speculation of where that bottom is can be frightening af, and seeing it in public spaces is frustrating as hell. But, we didn't cause it; we can't control it; we can't cure it.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 4, 2021 20:52:14 GMT -5
I think David was tbe better worker and, as a heel, would have been more favoured by the board as a long-term champion in due course. However, the business was beginning to shift from an aesthetic standpoint requiring more telegenic types to sell the product. Kevin might have been more over in a high-profile spot like that than David would have been (Kerry even more, but I think he was too young for that kind of position). David was going to be up there, but likely not for long and more likely would have been asked to put over one of his brothers.
While Magnum TA absolutely could work and had a look that would have made him a household name, I'm not sure how far he would have gone or what might have been but for the accident. I think there is a bit of a myth that's been created, in part by the Apter mags, but TA's potential. I think he could have held down the US title at least as long as Tully did. Whether he'd ever get to hold the big belt, I'm not so sure. Perhaps he could have become like Edge and racked up a bunch of singles and tag titles; maybe a cup of coffee with Flair's belt, but not much more. Plus, Magnum TA's gimmick was not going to last much longer than the TV series did (it did for a while), but translating that to a persona that was evocative of the private eye but not close enough to get C&D letters would have largely kept him out of WWF.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 4, 2021 20:19:40 GMT -5
I think it bodes stronger for a sale of the company to a larger media conglomerate who can cut costs on documentary production through its own TV division. It also makes Vince's visit to the PC this week feel more like a farewell tour than a first glimpse at the developmental side. At minimum, Vince coming down to the PC sounds more like seeing things for himself than merely trusting Triple H to its workings - again, not necessarily boding well for the PC if saving money is on the company's mind.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 1, 2021 15:40:22 GMT -5
The 24/7 title is good for some cheap comedy which can be a thrill for younger kids - think Benny Hill.
However, the overall treatment of the titles (all of them - ALL OF THEM) has been absolutely atrocious and speaks to how poorly the creative side is treating the product. It's possible disengagement between the writing team and Vince or whoever's in charge; but it's almost certainly a case of someone really making a dog's dinner of the entire enterprise and nobody is communicating.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jul 1, 2021 10:27:01 GMT -5
Nope. His legacy is ashes. You don't come back from something like this.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jun 30, 2021 21:00:25 GMT -5
No double turns, please.
At the very least, give Corbin a reason to turn face, ffs. These random turns of alignment are frustrating and just Orndorff everybody. Come up with something - anything - that motivates Corbin to see the light.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jun 28, 2021 21:26:38 GMT -5
HE EVEN SAID ARSE NO DON'T BRING BACK 2012 SHEAMUS If he says "Fella..." we're all doomed.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jun 28, 2021 14:33:27 GMT -5
Unless this show is some amazing piece of art, I'll be tuning out after an hour to watch the Suns stick a fork in the Clippers. Clippers be like... if that were to happen As God is my witness, I thought that someone had photoshopped a still photo of Zelina's face onto that gif. I need more f***ing sleep.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jun 28, 2021 10:40:16 GMT -5
Willingly resign from any executive position? No.
It does seem that he has already been largely pushed out of any major decision-making position, including any major oversight for NXT. There are a very few of his favourites that WWE will want to keep at all costs. That said, I'm more than willing to bet that, for some of them even, the bloom is off the rose as far as their confidence in how far their loyalty and gratitude to Trips has taken them.
"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." - Hunter S. Thompson
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jun 27, 2021 17:29:00 GMT -5
The plan some five years ago was to use NXT as a jumping-off point for regional expansion of WWE into areas like the UK, Japan, etc. in order to scoop up talent from the burgeoning scenes there. The endgame, of course, was that WWE would effectively form a monopoly for pro wrestling and squeeze out any possible competition for talent and market share.
To the extent that BritWres is now an absolute shadow of its former self, it worked...somewhat. However, spending that kind of money to gather talents who a) wouldn't have drawn a dime stateside and b) wouldn't be paid their proper worth in the WWE tent had a way of exposing the plan to other promoters and, indeed, had certain higher-profile wrestlers looking into getting financial backing elsewhere. AEW exists precisely, in my view, as a direct response to WWE's expansionist strategy; its continued existence is a testament that wrestling is still a marketable form of entertainment and that there is a share of the market not being captured adequately by WWE.
It's also raised the attention of established promoters in those regions, some of whom have ways and means of absolutely ensuring that WWE never gets enough of a foothold to pull talent as it had in the UK. So, expansion has now become much more expensive for WWE and much more risky, especially in places like Mexico or Japan which have never seen the criminal element completely removed from their major wrestling promotions.
It's absolutely clear that NXT expansion is no longer in WWE's long-term plans: if NXT:UK still exists by the end of the year, I will be very, _very_ surprised. There may still be international events and touring when the pandemic is over, but increasingly, between the withdrawal from expansion and now the new preferences given for male talent coming into WWE (younger and bigger - likely without much if any pre-WWE wrestling experience), it appears that not all roads in pro wrestling will lead to WWE.
|
|
nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,725
|
Post by nisidhe on Jun 27, 2021 9:20:49 GMT -5
Again, wwe and sports analogies do not work. For instance, how many hours of content does the wwe have per week? Close to ten right? And yet it's the same match ups over and over. Or it's the same people having multiple segments over the course of a three hour Raw. They need the kind of depth they just released. Maybe if things weren't so damn repetitive, someone like myself could sit through one of their shows again. I hate bringing up the other show in these threads, but AEW has done a great job of getting the most out of all the people they have. Whether it's creating factions, tag teams, etc. They prove you can use those hours to showcase and use an excess of talent. WWE refuses to do so because they think the same people will watch no matter what, no matter whom they use. This despite the fact that their numbers have been dwindling for years now. They don't have to let people ride the bench, they could easily honor the contracts they negotiate with the talent. They just refuse to because money. Plain and simple. Yes, but how many do you need? Having 10-20 extra performers to rotate into the show, to keep things fresh makes sense. Do you need 50? Eventually it's overkill and diminishing returns. It's possible to have stars on the roster and _not_ have them in the ring every week. WWE back in the day had "Updates" that recapped anything that _wasn't_ being played out that week. It's little things like that, actually, that helped sell the product each week and also sold the live events in ways that the modern WWE interview promo or in-ring promo simply doesn't do. WWE doesn't know how to sell its product, period. WWE only wants to sell itself, but it can't sell itself as a product without giving fans reasons to buy. Features and benefits seem to elude the company's thinking. The company's features are its stars; the benefits are how those stars make it easy for the customer to buy and a joy to use (watch) every time they appear. If you swap out one or two for another one, that replacement better be even better and more appealing to those who bought into WWE for those being replaced.
|
|