World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

[HappyGilmore]

The New Day is fantastic and probably the most popular gimmick WWE has next to Ambrose.

[JaseSF]

I can't stand New Day... they are one of the reasons I stopped watching. They've turned into complete goofs.

[HappyGilmore]

True, they are goofs. But they make Vince money and are talented. I can see how some may not like them.

[JaseSF]

To me, they've actually regressed as wrestlers too. Kofi was better years back, Big E was better in NXT and when he first debuted and Woods was better in TNA.  I preferred the mean bodybuilder Big E myself. Now he's a joke. No one will ever take him seriously anymore.

Bret nails it. He actually said it even better on an online Wrestlezone radio show.

http://youtu.be/94HfTlZCsio

[HappyGilmore]

NXT is HHH's baby.  And that's vastly better than Raw.  Vince changes EVERYTHING last minute.  HHH wants a better product.  Cesaro is one of HHH's boys.  But Vince doesn't want to push him.  It's Vince.

I don't know how much you watch the product, Jase, but the fans DO take Big E seriously.  Have you gone to live shows? It's all in the live interactive experience.  The fact that New Days' TROMBONE is more over than half the roster doesn't speak badly of New Day, it speaks badly of Vince and his lack of creative ideas to get people over. 

I agree but disagree at the same time. 

[JaseSF]

I stopped watching WWE altogether.

I am an old school wrestling fan who watched for 30+ years but to me, WWE is no longer wrestling. It's weak, pussified PC B.S. There's little to no selling, a lot of the talent cannot even wrestle worth a damn, the storylines and feuds are either stupid or pointless, today's script-writers have no idea with regards to how wrestling booking should work, how interviews should feel real and spontaneous, that wrestling should still be presented in somewhat kayfabe sports terms to make things more believable and credible and realistic. Vince seems to have lost his touch for all this, he just seems to be reusing the same old tired formula - superhero vs. evil authority over and over endlessly. Aside from that, it's just dumb crap that Vince, who definitely strikes me as very eccentric, probably finds funny.

Pro wrestling used to be edgy, gritty, grimy, bloody, manly, athletic - now WWE feels more like a sideshow aimed at people I cannot relate to at all. The wrestlers (oh Vince can't even call them wrestlers - he calls them sports entertainers) today seem like such PUSSIES compared to the wrestlers I grew up watching. With a few exceptions in WWE (not many - probably Brock, Cesaro, maybe Owens), these guys wouldn't have made it back in that day. Randy Savage would have to be saying "Be a Man" a lot with all the wussies they have in the E right now. They're too soft and WWE wrestling for me is too soft. Lucha Underground is closer to what I'm looking for but even there it's not as good as in the past. Still way ahead of current E though. The wrestling and storytelling in TNA is better. The heels are more realistic but TNA is struggling likely because not many take wrestling seriously at all anymore. Not many even give TNA, which has been better than WWE for years and years now, a chance. Hell even small independent promotions like Paragon Pro Wrestling give you a more old-school wrestling approach.

The wrestling, especially in the E, isn't even like wrestling anymore, the art of selling is lost, the art of storytelling is lacking. Why should I care about Cena and Reigns if they're Supermen who can't be taken down? How can one sympathize with that? Doesn't help that they're both bad wrestlers, Cena being the far worse of the two. Hulk Hogan sold his butt off back in the day to make you think he was getting killed during matches or in attacks before feuds. That helped tremendously to root for him until it became too predictable but the man is actually underrated in-ring. Compared to today's wrestlers, he's miles and miles ahead in terms of selling and storytelling, psychology, and knowing how to work a crowd. I want to enjoy the art of pro wrestling itself, hold and counterhold, collar and elbow tie-up, heel vs. hardworking but not superhuman hero. Really I wish it was still like it was in the 80s with the AWA, the NWA, and the WWF of that era. The 90s were still great too because wrestling was still a huge part of it. It faltered with lower level talent getting top billing..names like Triple H, John Cena, and currently Reigns - none of them should have lasted any longer on top than Diesel (and honestly I'd rank Nash above all of 'em). It faltered with caving in to PC pressure. It faltered with getting away from traditional wrestling booking in favor of overly scripted and overly boring talking. To me, it`s WWE Raw is Snore starring Yawn Cena, Triple Zzzs, Boreman Reigns and a bunch of other nobodies (actually their best talent) they`re never ever going to use well or who will never go anywhere.

http://youtu.be/h6X1Jd9LdRQ

http://youtu.be/7FO2y56GXEA

http://youtu.be/ogaJocc6ZQw

[JaseSF]

http://youtu.be/KwdDhSF2Y1g

Big Time Wrestling

http://youtu.be/Kuoj5Dv0o8w

Mid-Atlantic/Georgia

http://youtu.be/XDUKYYyxxCw

Georgia Wrestling returns to TBS after Turner gives Vince's WWF the boot.

http://youtu.be/mVQuHY-udlY

Texas

http://youtu.be/HPGHsbi9TN4

The Mid-West

[HappyGilmore]

You need to follow Kevin Owens, Dean Amrose, Cesaro, Sami Zayn.

[JaseSF]

Why? To see them job to Reigns, Cena and/or Triple H? None of them will ever be the top guy. And all their best matches are pre-WWE.

Now they've got Nakamura, and AJ Styles too. I'd rather the both of them were still in New Japan to be honest.

[JaseSF]

Part of why I loved the WWF:

http://youtu.be/GHEgCqjbonc

http://youtu.be/H3CRkW16a4g

http://youtu.be/7nHBtd7qeh0

http://youtu.be/nbzUUdC5dew

http://youtu.be/NNX_VScfZC0


What happened to great matches in the E? Matches that actually meant something...featuring talents that could work big matches (Bret, Austin, Michaels, Taker, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Lesnar, Bulldog, Hennig, Rude, Rock, Savage, Steamboat, Owen, Piper, Hogan,  etc.)...now we get boring guys on top who aren't capable of having a great match unless carried by a much superior talent. We should be getting meaningful big matches from guys like Styles, Cesaro, Owens, Samoa Joe, Nakamura, Aries, Balor but sadly the best matches all these guys had and likely ever will have will be outside the E (or NXT). Daniel Bryan's best match was as Bryan Danielson. Punk's best match was in ROH. Why do we know the outcomes of big matches nowadays before they happen (we weren't so sure of that back in the day)?

[JaseSF]

http://youtu.be/Id5_h0oz16Y

http://youtu.be/ILt63WxWx0I

http://youtu.be/onBAA5vmpfg

Interesting how almost everyone in these videos is more entertaining than the vast majority of today's roster. Not that I blame them. It's not their fault...it's the poor scripts, the lack of traditional pro wrestling booking, not letting guys get over. It's putting entertainment over wrestling.

http://youtu.be/-tAnS2PiCNs

http://youtu.be/jP9UFbEUaiY

My favorite wrestler of all-time.

[HappyGilmore]

Owens/Balor/Ambrose and the others we've talked about have had THE best matches in the WWE over the past two years.  Ambrose has gotten wins over Rollins, the WWE champ, numerous times.  Cena may have won his matches with Owens, but it elevated Owens in most fans eyes and Owens gave Cena some of his best matches in recent memory.  The storyline product may suck, but I've years invested in these guys since the indies and I refuse to stop watching simply cause they work for Vince now.  The matches are good.  The storylines blow. 

[HappyGilmore]

Daniel Bryan announces his retirement from in ring competition.  Such a shame.   
http://youtu.be/6KzD06Wpofw

[JaseSF]

Not to diminish all the great things he achieved elsewhere but to me, he was better as Bryan Danielson in a promotion that truly let him showcase where he was at his best - in the ring.

http://youtu.be/Bnb2mvM4540

[JaseSF]

An angle I recall really enjoying back in the late 80s Mid-South/UWF...

http://youtu.be/YV9R6_pa0lI

http://youtu.be/h8S5402oy_c

http://youtu.be/sa-sigZuEAs

http://youtu.be/eIemh8ecBeY

Terry Taylor turning on Chris Adams. Later Sting would also turn fan favourite and leave Gilbert's stable leading to a feud between Adams/Sting and Taylor/Gilbert which also involved a very young Shane Douglas. This stuff was sooo entertaining back in the day.