Originally posted by ekedolphinNash is entertaining but he's a horrible wrestler, and a politician, and blah-blah-blah-blah, read The Death of WCW.
"If you're in this business for anything other than money, you're a fool." -- Gorilla Monsoon
"A good worker means putting butts in the seats." -- Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Wrestling is about making money, of which Nash has earned and drawn a substantial amount (as a critical piece of the nWo). As such, he's a better wrestler than someone like Daniel Bryan has ever been in his entire career (thus far...)
He's 51, neither cares nor wants to work a full schedule anymore, and has no political power whatsoever in 2011 WWE--regardless of his relationship with HHH. Quit ragging on a guy who has given far more to professional wrestling than whatever he's accused of taking away...and certainly more than two no-name "wrestling journalists" who could drop off the face of the earth tomorrow and no one would notice or care.
No offense, man, but all that smark gets pretty old.
Originally posted by Big BadNot enough is being made of that ridiculous John Morrison spot. That was one of the great moments in Rumble history.
Agreed.
I think we all look fairly silly, in retrospect, with our concerns over how WWE would put 40 guys in this match. They managed to fit in 40 guys and STILL left out David Hart Smith, Darren Young, Curt Hawkins, Primo, and Trent Baretta. Not to mention, "Dashing" Cody Rhodes (worked injury), Undertaker (still "buried alive"), Triple H (back for the Chamber?), Christian (hopefully back for WM?), and Evan Bourne (who knows?).
Oh, and I'm absolutely SHOCKED that they left the Soaring Eagle out of this match. I was 100% sure we'd get a Hornswoggle/Eagle spot. Leaving the bird out took some serious restraint on their part.
(edited by It's False on 30.1.11 2316)
"You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man, you're a chicken, Boo!"
Originally posted by ekedolphinAlberto Del Rio winning the Rumble was a pleasant surprise. There's no better sign that WWE's getting behind a guy than by having him win the Royal Rumble. (Aside from winning a World Title, obviously).
I don't know. I think it's fair to say that they're more behind ADR now than they were behind Jack Swagger last April.
So did Ziggler have his shorts on inside-out all night long?
Morrison's Spiderman spot was insanely great. Maybe give him a blonde buzzcut and call him Parkour Holly.
BLACK REF sign was hilarious.
The Rumble match itself was awful. Horrible endless Hornswoggle "comedy," Santino wackiness right at the end, and the big Cena/Orton staredowns that absolutely nobody cared about. It was the longest Rumble ever and felt every second of it. At least the right guy won.
I'm concerned about what we're going to get as a result of all those "Let's go Diesel!" chants.
Booker should stick around to form a tag team with Kingston - they can be "Kofi & T."
It would be great if Booker T makes a full time return to WWE. I never really understood why they were not embracing WCW like they did with ECW. Booker is a great wrestler and prime example of WCW's best.
Originally posted by vinnyboilerLoved seeing Booker T's return.
It would be great if Booker T makes a full time return to WWE. I never really understood why they were not embracing WCW like they did with ECW. Booker is a great wrestler and prime example of WCW's best.
(edited by vinnyboiler on 31.1.11 0028)
My guess: Because WCW was a threat to the WWF, particularly in '97, and ECW, well-booked as it was, was still a glorified indy fed.
And yeah, after getting the Attitude Adjustment from John Cena Hornswoggle, I think it's fair to say Tyson Kidd's career is over and done with. Hornswoggle is the guy WWE keeps around when they really want to bury other guys. (See also: Chavo Guerrero; the entire cruiserweight division).
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Originally posted by ekedolphinOf course WCW had no business unmasking Rey in the first place (which was caused by Nash kayfabe) and the feud was ultimately won by Nash, but still.
With that in mind, did WWE have any real reason to unmask Dos Caras Jr. when they repackaged him to become ADR? It's called storyline progression.
For the record, I found Rey to become infinite times more entertaining unmasked in WCW as a member of the Filthy Animals than anything else he did during his tenure there. He had personality.
Originally posted by ekedolphinOf course WCW had no business unmasking Rey in the first place (which was caused by Nash kayfabe) and the feud was ultimately won by Nash, but still.
With that in mind, did WWE have any real reason to unmask Dos Caras Jr. when they repackaged him to become ADR? It's called storyline progression.
For the record, I found Rey to become infinite times more entertaining unmasked in WCW as a member of the Filthy Animals than anything else he did during his tenure there. He had personality.
I'm no lucha expert, but I'd think there's a key difference there: Dos Caras Jr didn't lose the mask, he was repackaged as a whole new character. As far as the WWE Universe is concerned, Dos Caras Jr doesn't exist. I would like to think that was in part to allow him to keep the Loser Must Unmask stip available to him for the Dos Caras Jr character, and the other part I think would be because someone realized his facial expressions are the best part of his work. Unmasking him and giving him a new character actually improved him.
Rey on the other hand was the same masked high flyer in both Mexico and WCW, and while spectacular in the ring never that good with his expressions or his talking, so at the time there was really no good reason to unmask him (I don't think WCW ever even tried to sell replica Rey masks, did they? That always blew my mind). Whether it gave him a personality is arguable; to me all that was really different about him post unmasking was that he started acting like a mini-Konnan.
edit: rephrased things so I was answering your question better, I kind of got off on a tangent that answered something you didn't even ask.
Originally posted by WpobNot enough is being made of that ridiculous John Morrison spot. That was one of the great moments in Rumble history.
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What was the spot? I work nights and can not order it at work.
Instead of hitting the floor and getting eliminated, Morrison grabbed onto the barricade and clung there like Spiderman. He then pulled himself up, walked the barricade over to the ring steps, and jumped to them, thus never touching the floor. It was 1000x cooler than my lame description.
It was the Rumble so it's always a lot of fun, but it wasn't as much of an action Rumble as it's been as of late. There were some really cool and memorable bits for sure, but not a very dramatic final few compared to some recent years.
Punk has really been the Rumble king for two years running but if I hear "We Are One" or "I'll Be Your End Of Days" one more time tonight I'm going to be like, "what, that is so many and too many times."
So who had the balls to pitch that Santino comedy spot as the very finish of the Royal Rumble? It was hilarious in and of itself but I dunno. I think it would've been better if the final 2 had been fighting on the ropes at the hard camera side and then Santino emerged and tried to dump them both but got hilariously double backdropped out, allowing Del Rio and Orton to do a real finish after that.
Is Hornswoggle going to die of some terminal illness in a couple days? That's about the only good reason for that to go on for as long as it did.
That one unforgettable spot notwithstanding, Morrison got kind of screwed for someone who'd had some quality momentum going. He and Kofi should've switched places.
I got both Booker T and Diesel in my in-house Rumble pool, that was deeply rewarding.
LOOOOOOL @ the stunning silence for the epic Cena/Orton dream showdown. I think that's literally the first time that spot hasn't gotten over in a Royal Rumble. Yikes. Any thoughts of ditching Miz and Punk as their WM opponents had to go out the window in the span of a few punches.
Ziggler and Edge was really good. I'm not sure how much having another really good match will help Dolph in the big picture. Why u mad Kelly? Has McIntyre taught her how to flip out?
Eve? no. moving on.
Originally posted by It's FalseSo are Nash and Booker in for a one-time only thing, or does this essentially destroy TNA's original plan of reuniting the Main Event Mafia?
Perhaps both.
Originally posted by JamesBooker should stick around to form a tag team with Kingston - they can be "Kofi & T."
...? ...? ...!
Originally posted by Oliver
Originally posted by ekedolphinOf course WCW had no business unmasking Rey in the first place (which was caused by Nash kayfabe) and the feud was ultimately won by Nash, but still.
With that in mind, did WWE have any real reason to unmask Dos Caras Jr. when they repackaged him to become ADR? It's called storyline progression.
The difference, as I understand it (Cubs?), is that Dos Caras Jr. was a bland and not very good luchador, but WWE signed him because he was Hispanic with size. Then Del Rio found himself and his personality with his facial expressions after he took the mask off. OTOH Rey Mysterio was a dynamic and successful performer who got over by being Rey Mysterio, so unmasking him made him into a far less marketable, stupid-looking baby Konnan.
Poor JoMo. As soon as he pulled that out the bag you knew his chances of winning were zero – they wouldn’t risk the winner crashing and burning in the first fifteen minutes, even for a spot as awesome as that.
The two world title matches were good-to-great. That Nexus finish to the Miz/Orton match felt tacked on with a bolt gun, though.
The women’s match was pretty bad, but I’m assuming Eve got the belt so Kong can crush someone worthless without blowing the Natalya/Beth matches straight out the gate?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Rumble match, even the Hornswaggle/Cena stuff. The Daniel Bryan Kicking Exibition, Spider-Shaman, the Khali false-hope spot, Nash and Booker’s surprises, Sheamus kicking Hornswaggle’s head off, and even the Santino tease. That was a GREAT way to give the smart fans palpitations – and that’s not a knock on smart fans. I count myself in that number.
Now, WWE, don’t fuck this up. PLEASE stick with Cena/Miz and Del Rio/Edge.
Originally posted by JustinShapiroLOOOOOOL @ the stunning silence for the epic Cena/Orton dream showdown. I think that's literally the first time that spot hasn't gotten over in a Royal Rumble. Yikes. Any thoughts of ditching Miz and Punk as their WM opponents had to go out the window in the span of a few punches.
The funniest part, the funniest part, is that they went back to it a SECOND time, like maybe they thought the crowd didn't notice what sort of stare it was the first time. "Do it again, I don't think they picked up on us staring at each other." So they go to it again and Cena even does that "look at the WWE Universe to try and milk a reaction," and it STILL doesn't work.
I'm just getting semi up to speed on WWE again, and I liked Edge-Ziggler and I enjoy Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk and Diesel, so I had a pretty good time. *I* can dig it, sucker.
Originally posted by SCThe funniest part, the funniest part, is that they went back to it a SECOND time, like maybe they thought the crowd didn't notice what sort of stare it was the first time. "Do it again, I don't think they picked up on us staring at each other." So they go to it again and Cena even does that "look at the WWE Universe to try and milk a reaction," and it STILL doesn't work.
This was fantastic. And it's not like the crowd were dead or apathetic all night. People just don't want to see yet another Cena/Orton match, no matter the face/heel dynamic.
Anyone starting to think HHH really DOES like his office better than the wrestling ring?
Did NOONE notice that Alex Riley FELL out of the rumble, and not only did noone notice it, the Miz continued reading from his script, indicating he thought Riley was still in the ring?
I think the Orton/Cena staredown had so little heat because the crowd had gone totally smarky after Booker T and Diesel.
Also, it seems Kelly Kelly is adopting Drew McIntyre's aggression. I think Dolph and Vickie will come after her, prompting Drew to make the save. Here's your McIntyre face turn.
I loved this Royal Rumble, but we were literally howling at how hilarious CM Punk was. He did the Flair begging in the corner, smiling catchphrase shouting/gloating from the turnbuckle, defeated looks, etc. This guy deserves a raise.
Originally posted by SCThe funniest part, the funniest part, is that they went back to it a SECOND time, like maybe they thought the crowd didn't notice what sort of stare it was the first time. "Do it again, I don't think they picked up on us staring at each other." So they go to it again and Cena even does that "look at the WWE Universe to try and milk a reaction," and it STILL doesn't work.
This was fantastic. And it's not like the crowd were dead or apathetic all night. People just don't want to see yet another Cena/Orton match, no matter the face/heel dynamic.
Anyone starting to think HHH really DOES like his office better than the wrestling ring?
It has to be a little disconcerting for the WWE there was no reaction for Cena/Orton which was the exact opposite a few months ago. Of course, this is a Big Four event and the crowd lean towards smarky. I am a little more shocked that in Boston, anything Cena did was meet with silence. ADR winning is interesting, but it falls under push too soon for me. You would think they would learn after Brock not to give a guy a RR win and WM title shot in one year of employment. Miz/Cena, Orton/Punk, Edge/ADR, Taker/Wade, for Mania equals a meh from me.
Edge/Ziggler was good for the first match. Crowd seemed hot for the spear. I though the Unprettier was a sign Christian was there. No Downward Spiral from Edge?
Orton/Miz was ok. Why would Punk hate Orton? Second generation jelousy?
The Diva's match teased Kong's return, but we got Eve? Boo.
The Rumble was fun. The New Nexus dominated and I liked it, Cena/Horny dominated and I didn't. Guess I'm a hypocrite. Rikishi wasn't there but Harris did do his tribute to him to Punk. A friend reminded me that Morrision is 1/32 African American, and Vince doesn't want them headlining. He always brings that stupid angle up. The Corre and New Nexus hate each other, but never got to fight against each other. Gabrial was the only one who got a shot at Punk and was gone in a min. Thrown over by Byran too.
Desiel and Booker T did what I thought. Like RVD 2 years ago. Show up, get pop, eliminate noone, leave in 5 mins. More like 1 for Booka.
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Interesting points thus far, personally I do hope they stick around, if not as competition to WWE, then at least as an alternative. Personally, I haven't been able to catch as many of their shows as I'd like, but what I've seen has been reasonable.