Originally posted by texasranger9Why did Ricardo Rodriguez get suspended 30 this year? Was it weed? If so, then I guess he and RVD meet through a dealer.
I'm torn on if this partnership is legit or if we're going to get the "shocking swerve" of Ricardo and ADR in on it together to just eff with RVD when he dared challenge del Rio upon his return.
Originally posted by CRZWhile watching AJ's promo, in my mind's eye I was already seeing reality show confessional cutaway reactions and shuddering. (So apparently I can't enjoy ANYTHING on these friggin' shows any more!)
I didn't go *that* far with it, but I imagined the Bella Twins screeching "Say that to our face!" when AJ was, uh, saying it to their faces, was all for Total Divas effect. (Also, thanks for the commercials for making me take Total Divas OFF IJ's "approved watch list."
What was weird to me was watching AJ's promo (which I'd cheated and watched Monday night after all the Twitter buzz) with IJ and having her say "I don't like AJ anymore." But then I dutifully pointed out the AJ *is* the Divas champ and she's not even on the show and she said "yeah, you're right...plus her line about lacing up her Chuck Taylors was pretty good." Phew.
The CM Punk beatdown was uncomfortably long, which I guess was the point. But man did it draaaaaag on a loooooong time.
And I would've thought this was leading to a Big Show + Ziggler + Bryan vs. the Shield 6-man tag, but that makes Mark Henry's presence kind of weird. I'd like to see them give US Champ Dean Ambrose something else to do on the side like defend the title.
Also, I wanted to mention this last week but forgot...if Roman Reigns can even wrestle a tiny bit I don't see how that guy isn't a future WWE champ.
EDIT: Ricardo speaking better English than Alberto kind of blows my mind.
(edited by JayJayDean on 27.8.13 2002) Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Originally posted by texasranger9Why did Ricardo Rodriguez get suspended 30 this year? Was it weed? If so, then I guess he and RVD meet through a dealer.
Ricardo said it was was from a weight cutting drug.
You can't get suspended for actual weed in WWE, but you can get fined. The amount of people who've made a variation of this joke, including those people who would know, surely includes something - where there's smoke, there's...
Re: AJ's promo. Yes, it was the best I've seen in ages. My only beef with it was it was that Natalya certainly should not be roped in with the Bellas. Yes, she's a Hart, but she has been ignored and mishandled for ages, her pedigree did nothing for her. I know that Cameron and Naomi aren't veterans, but I also don't think most of AJ's burial applied to them. And yet, it wasn't heelish enough to be clear that it was solely to set up the next challenger, so it was tonally off to me despite its stellar delivery.
When it comes to Total Divas, I don't know what one would expect of these gals...To somehow not take the opportunity? It's a chance to establish yourself, why would you say "No thanks, I'd rather flounder for another five years". It's also overstating things to present AJ as some kind of boundary-redefining trendsetter. Elizabeth was in main event angles twenty five years ago with the biggest stars of the era, and Trish to me is the woman wrestler who pushed the women's division from strictly T&A into whatever legitimacy pro wrestling is capable of. AJ is the best of the modern era, no doubt, but that glass ceiling was already broken.
Re: the Bryan push, it is being executed well but seeing Orton as HHH's patsy and the roster begging off from him is all so heavily borrowed from bygone eras. Have we really got nothing else in 2013 than what was done in 2000?
(edited by Hogan's My Dad on 27.8.13 2335) Quiet, Or Papa Spank!
It is really hard to listen to Michael Cole give his reasons for Danial Bryan being the face of the company without hearing him scream "HE'S A NERD" over and over in the back of my head.
This would be an easy way to turn Cole face for good. Have HHH or Steph have an "announcer job evaluation" where they question each man's commentary for "bias." JBL of course sucks up to them, Lawler stands his ground but can't be fired for health reasons and Cole says that Bryan has won him over and what HHH/Steph are doing to the guy is wrong.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
That line about HHH saying that the title was his and Orton can hold it. I believe that was not him saying he wants to physically hold it, but that was the story-line evil COO speaking. He decides who is the face of the company, who holds the title. Nobody is bigger than the COO/company.
AJ's promo was surely just that. A promo. Of course she has to lump in Natalya with the other Total Diva women for her argument to make sense. And to be honest, after seeing the crazy Nattie stuff from last episode, she does deserve to be called a 'Total Diva'
Another show with good solid matches in the middle.
Bryan vs Rollins always made me wring my hands in anticipation. Those two kicked it into high gear from the get go. And with this not being a tag match, Seth was actually allowed to fight back and do some good moves himself. That inverted suplex into a side slam (there's probably a better name for it?) was beautiful. Also beautiful was the toprope suplex and him flipping over midair.
Heyman pouring his heart out while caning Punk was a thing of beauty. And I loved how he took on a crucifix (Dreamer) pose for just a moment before hitting him. These guys are in their own bubble as people mentioned and it's so good.
A good Raw. A great continuation of the DB story. Oh and the one thing that I didn't care for.. It seems they're trying to add the Miz as 3rd guy on the DB resque team when they asked him for his thoughts...
I'm gonna bash Natalya now. (I should probably put this in the Total Divas thread, but whatever.)
I don't think Nattie is very good. I'm not talking about workrate. Yes yes, she's a good wrestler. You could say she's the best wrestler on the current Divas roster but 1) that isn't saying much and 2) I'd stack AJ favorably against her for ability to work. I'm talking about the complete package. Nattie lacks 'it'.
I'm gonna get McMaHHHon here: Nattie is a prime example of a B. There's something that's just not there, and quite frankly, I think Total Divas is showing it. She's not very likeable as a personality. And I think her charisma deficiencies come out clearly on television. And they have for a long time before Total Divas, actually, which may be why Creative hardly does anything with her besides stick her with a farting gimmick or as Khali's girlfriend. (Prior to that her best run was as second to Beth Phoenix.) You can blame Creative for that, but you can also blame what Creative has to work with. At some point, the latter has to be considered as well.
Total Divas is really showing what's 'wrong' with Nattie. Nattie's not interesting, charismatic, or funny. She kind of sucks as a personality. If she wasn't a Hart, coming from that heralded wrestling background, she'd be even less interesting than she is now. Being a Hart is all she has, really, and it's not even that interesting. Except for Owen, Harts aren't exactly the Charisma Family to begin with. She's actually a lot like her dad. Jim Neidhart wasn't a main event guy either. He was a solid tag wrestler and partner to Bret Hart but he never succeeded on his own. Nattie's dad at least had a funny laugh that was distinctive. Nattie doesn't even have that. (When she tries to do her dad's laugh, it comes off as weird.)
Maybe being on Total Divas will get her more audience sympathy: quickly judging from the AJ chants on RAW, it seems the opposite is true. Besides, the crossover of the WWE audience with the Total Divas audience doesn't seem to be that vast. Maybe it's unfair to compare her to AJ, considering all that AJ was given in the last year to get over (one thing the Bellas were right about), but AJ took that ball and ran with it and did the work to get over. That's because AJ does have 'it'.
Again, if you wanna talk about a B player, Nattie's your B.
Maybe Sarah Del Rey should be on TV and Nattie should be the one down in Florida training the NXT girls?
Originally posted by Bryan Alvarez sezThere were people in WWE -- a lot of them, actually, including the announcers -- obviously raving about AJ's promo last night. Obviously, it was all being shot as part of the next season (well, the continuation of season 1 with six additional episodes) of Total Divas. There were cameras filming an angle backstage, the promo and the girls' reactions, and it'll lead to an AJ vs. Total Divas cast member at Night of Champions, also to be filmed for the E! show.
Hmm, that explains the Bellas screaming over AJ's promo. They were acting up for their television show during their other television show.
I guess it'll either be Brie or Nattie vs. AJ at NOC.
The thing is, very very very few of their women have the "it" that you're describing. Trish, Lita, Maryse, AJ? So when you have a roster of charisma-deficient Divas with only a few standouts, maybe pushing the charisma void who can work is a better option than pushing the charisma void who can't.
Originally posted by Amos CochranThe thing is, very very very few of their women have the "it" that you're describing. Trish, Lita, Maryse, AJ? So when you have a roster of charisma-deficient Divas with only a few standouts, maybe pushing the charisma void who can work is a better option than pushing the charisma void who can't.
I don't actually disagree with you. You have to have hands that can work in the ring. Nattie certainly has a place in the company, but she'll probably never be an A player. (Man, it's so easy to fall into McMaHHHon verbiage.)
Also, I would say Eve in her last year as a heel in the company showed she had 'it'. And then she quit. And right now, I'd say the jury's out on Kaitlyn. She's on the cusp.
(edited by John Orquiola on 28.8.13 0529) "Cody, I mustache you a question." - The Miz
The thing is there is a ton of women wrestlers out there that have IT. Sara Del Rey, Cheerleader Melissa, Veda Scott and so on. WWE chooses to hire models. If they wanted wrestlers they could get some. Amazing Kong probably set the women's division back ten years. The WWE seem set to have women actually wrestling as a big feature then Kong sadly gets pregnant then she is cut after lying about losing the baby. Personally, I think she was going to get fired after they found out she was preggers, but whatever, its done. So, they went back to the only well they know ie plastic girls.
Miss Elizabeth is the first diva, but she was never a wrestler. That title goes to Wendi Richter. You can't compare the two. Sherrie is where it started to blur the line. There is a big difference its just WWE has blurred the line so much, its impossible to tell which is which. I think AJ was spot on about everything. Even if it was done to hype the show, she did sprinkle enough truth in there to sorta bury it like the Punk promo. Yes, it was all a work shoot, but what makes those promos work than say when WCW did them is you blur the line enough with genuine energy that the performer believes it to some degree and you believe it as well. I also love AJ's pause between Suck and Up. If this was Attitude Era, it would be a a different word.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
Originally posted by JayJayDeanEDIT: Ricardo speaking better English than Alberto kind of blows my mind.
Wait, what? Ricardo is the one from America and Alberto is the one from Mexico. Why is this a surprise? (Am I wrong about that?)
Wait...you mean not ALL "Mexican" wrestlers/characters are *actually* Mexican? You just blew my mind again!
(Honestly, I may have looked it up at one point, but I had no idea Ricardo was not from Mexico. I liked to think Mexican Aristocrat Alberto Del Rio wouldn't find his personal ring announcer in Van Nuys. It's still real to me, dammit!)
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
Originally posted by John OrquiolaI'm gonna bash Natalya now. (I should probably put this in the Total Divas thread, but whatever.)
I don't think Nattie is very good. I'm not talking about workrate. Yes yes, she's a good wrestler. You could say she's the best wrestler on the current Divas roster but 1) that isn't saying much and 2) I'd stack AJ favorably against her for ability to work. I'm talking about the complete package. Nattie lacks 'it'.
I'm gonna get McMaHHHon here: Nattie is a prime example of a B. There's something that's just not there, and quite frankly, I think Total Divas is showing it. She's not very likeable as a personality. And I think her charisma deficiencies come out clearly on television. And they have for a long time before Total Divas, actually, which may be why Creative hardly does anything with her besides stick her with a farting gimmick or as Khali's girlfriend. (Prior to that her best run was as second to Beth Phoenix.) You can blame Creative for that, but you can also blame what Creative has to work with. At some point, the latter has to be considered as well.
Total Divas is really showing what's 'wrong' with Nattie. Nattie's not interesting, charismatic, or funny. She kind of sucks as a personality. If she wasn't a Hart, coming from that heralded wrestling background, she'd be even less interesting than she is now. Being a Hart is all she has, really, and it's not even that interesting. Except for Owen, Harts aren't exactly the Charisma Family to begin with. She's actually a lot like her dad. Jim Neidhart wasn't a main event guy either. He was a solid tag wrestler and partner to Bret Hart but he never succeeded on his own. Nattie's dad at least had a funny laugh that was distinctive. Nattie doesn't even have that. (When she tries to do her dad's laugh, it comes off as weird.)
Maybe being on Total Divas will get her more audience sympathy: quickly judging from the AJ chants on RAW, it seems the opposite is true. Besides, the crossover of the WWE audience with the Total Divas audience doesn't seem to be that vast. Maybe it's unfair to compare her to AJ, considering all that AJ was given in the last year to get over (one thing the Bellas were right about), but AJ took that ball and ran with it and did the work to get over. That's because AJ does have 'it'.
Again, if you wanna talk about a B player, Nattie's your B.
Maybe Sarah Del Rey should be on TV and Nattie should be the one down in Florida training the NXT girls?
Originally posted by Bryan Alvarez sezThere were people in WWE -- a lot of them, actually, including the announcers -- obviously raving about AJ's promo last night. Obviously, it was all being shot as part of the next season (well, the continuation of season 1 with six additional episodes) of Total Divas. There were cameras filming an angle backstage, the promo and the girls' reactions, and it'll lead to an AJ vs. Total Divas cast member at Night of Champions, also to be filmed for the E! show.
Hmm, that explains the Bellas screaming over AJ's promo. They were acting up for their television show during their other television show.
I guess it'll either be Brie or Nattie vs. AJ at NOC.
I agree with all of this. I even take it one step beyond; I don't think Nattie is that great in the ring. The recent match with AJ showed me more of what I've seen from her in the past: she misses spots, badly, and goes back to them immediately in an obvious way. Watching some of her matches is like watching someone play Uncharted who continuously fails; the game goes grey and auto-loads from the last checkpoint, creating an constant action experience, but it also creates and obvious feeling of "you fucked up". I don't think I specifically look for her mistakes more than anyone else on the roster, hers just seem more frequent and obvious.
Originally posted by dMpIt seems they're trying to add the Miz as 3rd guy on the DB resque team when they asked him for his thoughts...
Yeah, no spoilers but that sort of continues on Smackdown. I wonder if Mark is out with his bi-monthly injury. They continued Miz/Fandango on the same Raw though.
Originally posted by Hogan's My DadI know that Cameron and Naomi aren't veterans, but I also don't think most of AJ's burial applied to them.
Well, it probably applied to Cameron most of all.
It's also overstating things to present AJ as some kind of boundary-redefining trendsetter. Elizabeth was in main event angles twenty five years ago with the biggest stars of the era, and Trish to me is the woman wrestler who pushed the women's division from strictly T&A into whatever legitimacy pro wrestling is capable of. AJ is the best of the modern era, no doubt, but that glass ceiling was already broken.
I think the fact that Trish left in 2006 and we've run through so many half-hearted pretenders since then is what makes AJ's accomplishments noteworthy. Put it this way, if Ric Flair commissioned another Kid Rock history of the WWE video, for one, Benoit wouldn't be in anymore, and for two, the women montage would probably cut from Chyna to Lita to Trish directly to AJ.
All that plus AJ is a self-centered liar so she's going to be extra-impressed with herself.
Originally posted by Bryan AlvarezThere were people in WWE -- a lot of them, actually, including the announcers -- obviously raving about AJ's promo last night. Obviously, it was all being shot as part of the next season (well, the continuation of season 1 with six additional episodes) of Total Divas. There were cameras filming an angle backstage, the promo and the girls' reactions, and it'll lead to an AJ vs. Total Divas cast member at Night of Champions, also to be filmed for the E! show.
Heck yes. So excited.
Originally posted by JohnAnd right now, I'd say the jury's out on Kaitlyn. She's on the cusp.
Kaitlyn had a good personality on NXT:Redemption but I don't think she's shown much of it on Raw. But almost 100% of the girls we're talking about were boring babyfaces who found themselves as heels*, because it's fun to play a heel and boring to play a generic nice lady.
* yet Trish was a boring heel who found herself as a scrappy underdog babyface but then found herself even more as a heel again.
Originally posted by El NastioIf Natalya wasn't a Hart, would people still consider her a good worker?
It's not really that Natalya is good, it's that everyone else isn't. She's always been a middle schooler in a division of mostly kindergarteners.
Originally posted by lotjxSo, they went back to the only well they know ie plastic girls.
I think a big problem for Natalia is that shoving her into their pre-defined Diva roles super exposes her shortcomings. She's not a waif, she's not a bitch, she's not a glamor model, she's not a ... actually, I think that's about all the gimmicks they have in the women's division right now. She could be a bruiser, if they were willing to give someone that role and actually do anything with it. She could be an enforcer, but the lack of roster depth means she has no one to actual enforce for (although, having her turn on her Total Divas cast mates to side with AJ would be pretty great, and then maybe we could get Naomi representing for the "faces"). If she wasn't a Hart, she most definitely would not be employed in WWE, because she does not fit into their roster or their division structure.
I don't think Edge & Christian ever unmasked as the Conquistadors. Here's the way I remember it: 1. Edge & Christian were given a shot at the tag titles, but Commissioner Mick Foley said it was their last shot at Matt & Jeff Hardy. They lost. 2.