The Wrestling Thread

[ABBAs Helicopter]

Don't read the rest of this post if you don't want an eye-full of spoilers.


























I guess on Smackdown, Daniel Bryant Danielson announced that he would officially be cashing in his MITB briefcase at Wrestlemania. If this pans out, could we be in for a Punk/DB match at Wrestlemania? It would be a wrestling classic.

Another avenue is Undertaker comes back to win the WHC one more time in the Elimination Chamber, and suddenly it turns into wondering if Bryan has the nerve to go after him like that. If they spin it as Bryan not backing down from his promise especially because Undertaker retired the guy that first trained him (Shawn Michaels), they could build a great story out of it, no matter what the match result.

[hardweek]

It's been a looooooong time since I've noticed this many people old fans all stoked on the current product; it's actually kinda fun.

[Greggulator]

It's been a looooooong time since I've noticed this many people old fans all stoked on the current product; it's actually kinda fun.

My brother hasn't watched pro wrestling (just MMA stuff) in a decade. He DVR'd Raw on Monday night because of how much there is right now. I have a few other friends who just peeked back into wrestling after the past few weeks. My Facebook conversations the past three weeks have largely revolved around CM Punk.

There's such a buzz right now. You never know when something's going to catch like wildfire. When it happens, it's great.

I really want to see Corporate Maven HHH at an analyst's day presentation in front of Wharton-bred analysts, talking about p/e ratios and the like.

[hardweek]

That's funny, totally the same thing here, a super long facebook message thread of cm punk youtube commentary "best of" clips and such for the past few weeks. I haven't been watching wrestling much the past few years (I've just been youtubing Santino clips), but I might actually start watching regularly again.

Also worth watching is The Rock's shoot on Cena last week. Classic.

[Greggulator]

CM Punk Invades Comic-Con!

Seriously -- this is setting a new bar. They're actually using Twitter to add fuel to the fire. It's kind of oddly like the Studio 60 tweets.

CM Punk invaded comic con

[Eric Fishlegs]

CM Punk Invades Comic-Con!

Seriously -- this is setting a new bar. They're actually using Twitter to add fuel to the fire. It's kind of oddly like the Studio 60 tweets.

CM Punk invaded comic con

I just came here to post this. It kind of reminds me of a new age version of the NWO angle. I'm a little curious about how they'll get this storyline over to the more casual RAW viewers who maybe don't follow wrestling on social media, but for those of us who do it's been fantastic.

[hardweek]

Raw was pretty great last night. I'm a huge fan of pandering to a given region like Triple H's Timmy's comment and CM Punk's Jack Tunney reference was the greatest thing ever. R-Truth and Miz were hilarious, Evan Bourne getting a push, these are good things...even with Kevin Nash.

[Greggulator]

Raw was pretty great last night. I'm a huge fan of pandering to a given region like Triple H's Timmy's comment and CM Punk's Jack Tunney reference was the greatest thing ever. R-Truth and Miz were hilarious, Evan Bourne getting a push, these are good things...even with Kevin Nash.

Raw couldn't be more compelling. They're really extending the web of intrigue from what CM Punk launched with his first pipe bomb. I love how it's now brought Cena/ADR/Steph/Laurentis/Nash and now R-Truth and the Miz into it.

I'm guessing that the conspiracy people start to side with R-Truth and the Miz (since they're all heels) and that leads to those two versus the Ghan-Am Express (as someone on Twitter called them) for the belts. A tag division with established characters in it is great -- a great tag feud is so much better than a singles feud, since there's so many more people involved.

[hardweek]

word.

You know, as much as I groaned at Big Sexy's return, I like the persona he's using: a little unsure of his footing, a little self-aware of his age, and some bridled rage. I'll give him that.

The Ghan-Am Express is funny.

Is it just me, or does Jon Laurentis sound exactly like Super Dave Osborne?

[ABBAs Helicopter]

I'm guessing that the conspiracy people start to side with R-Truth and the Miz (since they're all heels) and that leads to those two versus the Ghan-Am Express (as someone on Twitter called them) for the belts. A tag division with established characters in it is great -- a great tag feud is so much better than a singles feud, since there's so many more people involved.

Apparently they were holding back the title switch for a few weeks, while the signing of The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero) was being finalized and they had commitments to wrap up, so things should start moving along in a hurry real soon as far as the tag division goes.

Oh yeah, here's a few minutes of Claudio and Hero fighting Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas last year.

Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs. Kings of Wrestling - ROH Glory By Honor IX - HDNet Exclusive

[Eric Fishlegs]

word.

You know, as much as I groaned at Big Sexy's return, I like the persona he's using: a little unsure of his footing, a little self-aware of his age, and some bridled rage. I'll give him that.

The Ghan-Am Express is funny.

Is it just me, or does Jon Laurentis sound exactly like Super Dave Osborne?

He also looks a little bit like him. The guy does make for a great corporate stooge type. As Tom said about the Fox news anchor men, John Laurenitis looks like a vice principal.


I reserve the right to change my mind about Kevin Nash, but assuming he's not going to be getting a huge push as a wrestler I kind of like the guy and his current role as the monkey wrench being thrown into the works.

Kofi & Evan winning ther tag titles was about as blatant a "We're sorry we ignored tag teams for so long" message as you're gonna get. They more or less admitted during the match that Otunga and McGillicuty are shitty champions.

Unrelated to WWE, but I just found out that Chikara is going to be doing a  show in my hometown on 9/17 and I'm pretty psyched to be seeing them live.

[hardweek]

I forgot about my other favorite bit from Monday: Cena throwing his shirt into the crowd and having it thrown right back at him. Punk doesn't miss a beat, going to the exact same ringside spot and tosses his shirt which is abosrbed by the crowd. Cut to Alberto killing himself laughing.

[Greggulator]

Chikara RULES live. I really want to go to more live shows but Mrs. Ulator despises wrestling. I tell her that Chikara's different but she refuses to believe me. A really good friend of mine if one of their lead referees. If you end up going to this I will give you plenty of material to heckle him with.

Chikara secret: Some of the Pissed Jeans guys were involved in Chikara in their early days, as were a few members of Weston.

I kind of actually liked Otunga and McGillicuddy. They had some good heel faces and seemed to at least try to step it up a notch. They got the belts under Punk's leadership in The New Nexus but with the whole Summer of Punk angle they got forgotten.

The shirt spot was great, as was ADR's reaction. ADR seriously rules. My favorite heels tend to be conniving rich jerks and he's got that role down pat. His ring announcer's a great suck-up, too.

I couldn't figure out who Laurentis sounded like. It is, indeed, Super Dave.

[Greggulator]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891795/the-wrestler-real-life

Insane, ridiculously detailed read about the monetary situation of Richard Fleihr, aka "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who has rung up a ridiculous amount of debt and court cases.

One of the most fascinating things about wrestling to me is how it blends fiction with reality. But what's crazier is when wrestlers get mixed up in that too and become their characters full-time. Flair fell victim to that, spending $5,000 a month on restaurant costs alone!

Nevertheless, Naitch (also the name of his dog which one of his ex-wives stole and renamed) will always be my primary boyhood hero.

I also love the brief mention of Ric Flair Finance in the article. Ric Flair Finance was one of my favorite "What the hell is wrong with wrestling?" things ever. Back in 2008 or so, Ric Flair lent his name to some shady mortgage brokers. The website advertised their "Figure Four Financing Plan". This brought years of joy to me and my friends. We were certain it was all a ruse to lure Sting into giving Flair his money only to be turned on once again.

[Eric Fishlegs]

Chikara RULES live. I really want to go to more live shows but Mrs. Ulator despises wrestling. I tell her that Chikara's different but she refuses to believe me. A really good friend of mine if one of their lead referees. If you end up going to this I will give you plenty of material to heckle him with.

I'm definitely going. Got my ticket in the mail yesterday. This is the card in question-http://www.chikarapro.com/sep-17-2011.php

I'm hoping we get one or two crazy tag team matches added to the show (I'd like to see the Colony or the Ice Creams) but I know it'll be good whatever matches we get. The fact that they take the time to name each show kind of makes it a little more exciting because while you might see half ass a little spot show at a Boys and Girls Clun in MA you feel like  the a show called The Odyssey of the Twelfth Talisman has to be special. I'm already concerned about spending too much at the merch table. I've been wanting to get King of Trios 2011 so hopefully I'll be able topick those up, get a t-shirt and be able to stop there, but I've been known to get carried away.