Wrestling 2005

[nekkid]

Yes, I couldn't agree more phynix. I do understand that they can't have every match be a hardcore match. That I understand because it does become stale and the injuries become to great, but that isn't what bothered me. What bothered me was how it started out a bit like the old ecw with the One night stand ppv's and even the first ecw on sci-fi's. Even the most hardcore ecw fan has to agree that one night stand was awesome.

Ecw did things different like having 2 wrestlers string a bunch of moves together, and bunch of cool looking reversals ect and then stand up and have the crowd cheer. It wasn't always violence for the sake of violence. The crowds were INSANE. The gimmicks and storylines were fresh and compelling.

Ecw started out on wwe tv with little flashes of the old ecw. That wetted my appetitite. Then it slowly turned into wwecw. Which now is a glorified Sunday night Heat.

having said that I truly believe that Vince only signed Heyman to a contract so that he wouldn't be lured into starting another company like a tna because Vince knows that Paul would have succeeded witha financial backing. I really can't see ecw beinga better show than RAW, Vince just wouldn't allow it. It just sucks.

I wonder what would happen if Heyman was approached by someone like a ted turner and they said "Here Paul, run my tv program, use your creativity and I'll take care of the business aspect." That would be very interesting.

 

[Stingray]

There were 4 contributing factors to the irreperable damage that's been done to the ECW brand. In order they were:

1.) RVD's self destruction. They were going to leave the title on RVD for a while, build a feud with someone and have him drop it the old fashioned way. His drug charge rushed the company way ahead of itself, and threw all the plans out of whack.

2.) Over-built Big Show. Big Show suffered from the Goldberg-syndrome. They built the "Extreme Giant" too well, and to a point where nobody on the roster could take him down. Then they had to bring someone in to do it, and shoehorned Lashley into the World Title to take over for the injured Show. Officially, that's where the ratings dip began. (Seriously...I looked it up the other night.)

3.) Heyman/Vince blow up. McMahon dipped his hands a little too deeply, and forced Paul out, and a LOT of the ECW faithful went with him.

4.) Too many crossover stars. They should've left the new faces and the originals alone. Keep the Sandman and the Majors etc on the show, leave Lashley, Boogeyman, Miz, etc on their shows. They drew a few folks in with the crossing over, sure, but they lost just as many when they dropped originals into other programming.


Side note: Calling it Heat really is a disservice to some of the guys on ECW that actually have talent. Granted, that's not the longest of lists, but lets give 'em credit for doing what they can do with what's before them.


Now, fixing ECW, likewise, really is a simpler thing than the WWE will give itself credit for, and is quite unlikely because Vince seems hellbent on making his problems worse before better.

1.) Get Heyman back. Bring Paul back and you get more originals back in the process. Shell out a few bucks and bring guys like Tanaka & Shinzaki over from Japan to resume their ECW careers, and I guarantee you build the fanbase. But it all comes down to Heyman. Not general manager Heyman, behind the scenes, leather-coat wearing Paul E. That's the guy that should've been running things from the start.

2.) Get the originals back on the right show. Sure, Sandman's gone, but what About Super-Crazy? Yeah, RVD's on sabbatical from wrestling (which likely changes when Heyman comes back), but why not give Rey something to do? Old school ECW guys bring old school ECW fans.

3. Hardcore. Once a week, extreme rules. All title matches - Extreme Rules. Give the show it's own identity, and give the brand its identity back, while still progressing to a blended WWE/ECW product.

4. Breakaway from WWE. Present it as it's own product, with a match or two on the big four PPV's only. Let ECW be ECW, as self-sufficient as you can make it. That's the only way the brand is going to work on the long-haul. Raw's identity is based in entertainment, Smackdown's always had more of an in-ring focus. Let ECW cover the shoots, both in-ring & on the mic, and you'll have a winner. Punk is a good example of an old ECW champion, so they're sort of headed in the right direction, they just seem too frightened to take that last leap.

Do that stuff in that order and you've got a successful product that covers all the aims it needs to.

Of course, it's simple, so WWE will never actually do it.

 

[nekkid]

Good points.

What I meant by a glorified Sunday night Heat was how the show was being treated recently, I didn't mean anything against the talent. With Angle, RVD, Punk, and many others on the show it obviously was not SNH it was just treated like a 'C" show. (only 1 hour, one belt, on sci-fi, 1ppv a year ect)

Yes, Paul Heyman needs to run the show, but Paul tried that and he wasn't allowed to do the things he wanted, because, like you said, the WWE won't let him.

If WWE wanted to start a new show the should have just given it a new name like they did with Smackdown. Even Heyman said that you can'y re-invent ecw, it was a revolution.

I compare it to Axl Rose firing all his band members, bringing in new ones and calling it Guns N' Roses. That is NOT GNR that is Axl singing GNR Karioke IMO. Maybe not the greatest example but I think you get what I mean.

Although, like I said before we did get SOME good out of it. I think the 2 One night stands were awesome. Especially the first one. That was as authentic as it gets. It was at Hammerstein, unedited language, INSANE crowd, Joey Styles announcing, most of the original roster, and match quality was very high and almost exactly the same flow and structure as an original ecw ppv. Plus, how great was the sign "If Cena wins we riot" and seeing Cena lose to a much over due RVD (even though he completely dropped the ball like you said).

Well they tried to keep ecw alive as long as possible but hopefully it gets a respectful burial in the end.

R.I.P

EC f'n W

 

[phynix]

ECW saved - Sci-Fi renew contact for 2008 - Why?

Looks like were gonna have more and more share between Smack Down and ECW this isnt good for anyone! All it does is make the shows all the more confusing and add more fire to the "Please don't make ECW any worse than it already is" argument.

Ric Flair still with WWE waiting for creatibe to have a decrnt story for him to use - OK what do we think of flair should he bow out quietly or retire with the fan fair the parade and 10 big matches over 6 months leading to a wrestlemania moment and a lot of tears? What I'm sure that we fans can think of hundred better ideas that the stupid creative team at WWE.

Candice up to the top now and..OWNED by the mat! Nasty fall cracked Clavical out for 8 weeks!

Expect to see a few roster changes coming up soon as well.

 

[KABOOM]

Candice up to the top now and..OWNED by the mat! Nasty fall cracked Clavical out for 8 weeks!

And here's the vid!



http://rapidshare.com/files/64842240/CandiceMichellealmostdies.mov.html

or streaming http://celebri-net.com/main/2007/10/24/candice-michelle-almost-dies-live-on-raw/

Why did the ref just let the other behemoth drag her like a fucking ragdoll?

 

[phynix]

Safest thing to do was drag her, ref wasn't to know how bad she was hurt. At least that way her body was kept straight and futher injury was kept at a minimum.

Nasty fall but she's a tough cookie she'll be pack in playboy before we know it!

 

[nekkid]

Candice didn't neew 2 out of 3 falls, she just needed one. Ouch, sorry.

ECW is going head to head with tna on thursday (for tna's second hour), should be interesteing since those shows are close in the ratings!

 

[phynix]

****************************!!! SPOILERS!!!********************







Booker could be showing up as Stings mystery partner at Genisis!

 

[nekkid]

Well it looks like it is Scott Hall and not Booker. Not that that is any better. TNA relies too muchon ex-WWE talent as stated here before. Scott Hall looked terrible the last time he was on tv. I hope he looks better at the ppv but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[phynix]

Scott Hall was at the TNA tapings, Booker will be at the PPV!

 

[EvolutionSelene]

The Fabulous Moolah Passes away

WWE is saddened by the passing of Lillian Ellison, who was known to sports-entertainment fans as Hall of Famer Fabulous Moolah. She passed away last night in Columbia, S.C.

In the world of women’s wrestling, there will always be one irrefutable legend that stands head and shoulders above the rest: The Fabulous Moolah. She was the longest reigning champion in the history of her chosen sport, or any sport for that matter. And with more than 50 years in the business to her credit, she established a legacy that will never be forgotten, making her name synonymous with female wrestling.

I got it from http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/fabulousmoolahpasses

 

[delboy]

STAMFORD, Conn., November 2, 2007 – In accordance with its Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy, WWE today suspended the following performers for violations: Chris Mordetzky (Chris Masters) for 60 days (second violation) and Harry Smith (DH Smith) for 30 days (first violation).

 

[-KA-]

Masters suspended? Ha..not a big loss.

 

[nekkid]

How many violations has has masters had? How does he still have a job?

Anyway, I don't know if you guys know about this but when you get the time, go on youtube and type in "botchamania". There are 29 videos at this point. They are hilarious, its wrestlers botching interviews, moves, walking to the ring ect. Check it out.

 

[Stingray]

Scott Hall was at the TNA tapings, Booker will be at the PPV!

word on the local indy circuit is that it'll be Flair, not Booker. Not that that's any better, really.

 

[phynix]

LMAO its not flair he's doing promotional stuff for WWE and is still under contract and even if he did walk away he has a 90 day on compete clause so he wouldn't be able to work until the new year at the earliest!

 

[phynix]

Best Raw of the year! Maria getting soajed with beer, Stone Cold as good as ever, DX remind us why we love them so much, Kali vs Hornswoggle at SS? More Y2J questions - The Code is the Answer, The Answer is the Code - Lets hope it continues on this form for as long as possible!

 

[nekkid]

Was it the best of the year? I can't even remember any other good ones recently. Was it good because their writers are on strike? Anyway, how hilarious was hbk's selling for hornswaggle? hahaha I watched it like 10 times.

 

[Dragulf]

Booker in TNA.

Now I know I'll never watch TNA again. Kidding! I mean seriously, doesn't TNA already have enough Talent? Why don't they use what they have? I mean the first time I watched TNA they had several tag matches with 3 teams at a time and I didn't know a single face a couple months ago. Now they have 2 hours of non stop ads for their PVPs. Really annoying.

Why add Booker? The man is a terrible wrestler + actor. I can't stand him.

 

[phynix]

Ok I assume your talking about the booker that we have seen in the past year or so because your right he has been terrible and an insilt to the Booker T of WCW who was obe of the top talents in WCW and was indeed 5 time WCW Champion. I do so hope that a new company a new talents helps to bring out a little old school from booker.

As for your opinion of TNA Dragulf I completely agree I started watching because of young fresh talent - Pete Williams, AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Jay Lethal etc etc. ~ The Candaian Destroyer was the highlight of my week to see it pulled of while Team Canada rulled the ring in everyway (I miss Team Canda lol remeber T.N.Eh!) ~ Now TNA has become the retirment home for wrestlers we watch copies of matches, stars and factions made famous in WWE or where ever. It is such shame I really thought that TNA would be the breeding ground I guess I was wrong.