I think people sell all the time. I think absolute no selling is few and far between and has become a fashionable thing for people to say. I’ve seen Matt Jackson work a back injury for 2 months in every match and yet the bucks constantly get cited for no selling
Again there is a difference between a storyline back injury and taking super kicks and big moves as transition spots during matches and immediately doing your own move in response
Some maniac did an analysis of it and it was the most protected finisher by far. I think the Usos version of the 3-D was true other one.
I’m okay with kicking out of finishers in a PLE title match. I am not okay when it’s done on a random Smackdown.
Super kicks just aren’t big moves anymore and they haven’t been in over a decade. A body slam used to be a finisher at one time too.
Circling back to the original argument that the Bucks and people like them ruined it and made it a regular move because they couldn't get over without just watering down big moves. Now no moves matter and it's completely become spot fests.
If you want my old man yells at cloud take it’s that not every match needs to end with a finisher. There have been some crazy spots in AEW and wwe that should have ended matches but have resulted in kick outs
go watch matches from 1987 and watch matches now. Those old matches mostly stink. I’m fine with a suplex not finishing matches if I get to watch breath taking athleticism for 8-17 minutes multiple times a week
Which is why you are part of the 700-800 k who are super into AEW. Give me a match that looks real and tells a good story with a few good spots in it everyday. There is a reason the new style matches aren't attracting viewers. It just looks fake as shit. But everyone is allowed to like what they like
are you saying wwe matches look real? Wwe matches look nothing like matches from 80’s and early 90’s. This is the same thing wwf disciples were saying about ecw in 1997. 2 years later wwf had completely co-opted the ecw brand
I think with the rise of UFC getting popular in the mid 2000s, the days of a match “looking real” are a thing of the past, and the only matches that can come close to that are the boring fake shoot fighting grappling style matches that the audience really doesn’t fuck with in the first place. So instead of it looking “real”, the emphasis on storytelling goes up even more which means giving fans time to register what’s happening and also giving fans reasons to invest emotionally in one man or woman over the other. Doing 1000 high spots can pop a crowd in the moment but it also means the crowd can get desensitized to really crazy moves that could’ve been finishers and you risk them not mattering much anymore. Think about how crazy thumbtacks in a hardcore match used to be and now it’s just kinda standard. Or what the Canadian destroyer has turned into. Sami doing that top rope brain buster was a wow moment because nobody expected it and to the majority of the crowd they had never seen it before. If he starts doing it every PPV or every Raw it won’t be a wow moment for long. It also basically led right into the finish, which helps protect it for the future
Open air is fine if you're south of the Mason Dixon line. Supposedly next year is in Minneapolis, so it’s back in a dome.
Sorry, WWE storylines are much better than AEW’s right now but the in-ring action for AEW is far far far superior than WWE. Why is it that AEW haters can’t help keeping their names in their mouths? Not much different than hate watching 2010s WWE.
I thought Night One was underwhelming. Just felt there. Crowd being dead probably played a big part. Loved the Sami/Gunther match from start to finish. Sami’s entrance was maybe my favorite part of the night. Very well done. Tag match was fun and a nice replacement for people like me who miss MITB being part of Mania. Uso match was awful. The main was meh. Rey/Andrade tag match didn’t feel Mania worthy. And it was just thrown together half assed. Same for the Bianca/Jade/Naomi match. Jade’s moveset is exactly the same as it was in AEW, which makes Trip’s comments about having to retrain her strange. She has a presence but is so limited. As I’m typing and fleshing it out, I think I figured it out. A majority of the matches were just thrown together and didn’t feel Mania worthy. Couple that with a dead crowd and that’s why I left wanting much more than Night One gave us. Hope they turn it around tonight.
Yeah there's definitely better builds for night 2. HHH has a huge long term project on his hands if they want Jade to be a champ. She can't cut a babyface promo to save her life, and she is so mechanical in the ring. Not sure WWE's 5 moves of doom set up can even help her.
Even just below south of the Mason Dixon Line is rolling dice in early April. For example, here in the central VA area, it dropped into the low 50s and into the 40s once the sun went down. Go into the mountain areas and you had snow. They really need to go deep south or south west in the low elevation areas if you want to host WrestleMania in an open air stadium in early April. Anywhere else and you could end up with anywhere from mild summer weather to winter weather from day to day at this time of year. Which is great if you get the mild summer weather, but even mild winter weather is going to get cold quick when you’re just sitting and standing.
AEW's in-ring right now is probably as good as its been maybe ever with the new additions yet the ratings the last 2 weeks were as low as they've been in years and they're still performing in front of 1/4 full arenas. I think there's something to be said about how little the in-ring matters big picture wise in wrestling.
That and her go to when she doesn’t know what to do is flex. Enough flexing, try to be more human and natural.
Especially since there's more people than ever traveling to Mania. Does anyone think an Eagles game even 20 degrees colder than last night would've been that quiet?
The talk was about in-ring performance. Outside of Sami/Gunther, those were Backlash worthy matches last night. Jey/Jimmy wouldn't have even been a good dark match.
And for the people who consistently (and correctly) shit on Adam Cole's body, will you keep the same energy for the Usos? Jimmy's more likely to get like his 10th DUI than get in better shape.
I don't think the core audience cares that much about that when Jey comes out on Raw or Smackdown this week the fans aren't gonna boo him because he had a bad match. They'll be waving their hands as much as they've done the last 6 months
Samoans get a forever pass on physique because nobody would fuck with them whether they were skinny or obese, probably the scariest people to fight with on the planet
I think that brings up a good point. I’ve long been a Cody hater, and have been proven wrong with how long he’s stayed on top. But a lot of what WWE does to get people over is fabricated. People love the Cody woah, waving their hands with Jey, singing Seth’s song. Impossible to know how much is the character being over and how much is the people enjoy participating, but there’s overlap there for sure.
It's all part of the package. How much was DX's popularity the crotch chop and catch phrase? How much was Austin's popularity the middle fingers and beer drinking? A big part of Swerve's popularity right now is due to Nana's dancing, which is a good thing. But ultimately people still need to connect with the people to want to participate in the first place. I don't think DIY right now could be saved with a catch phrase or new entrance music
Agreed with all of that, but there’s something to be said for how hyped the crowd is for Jey’s entrance and then they sit on their hands for his entire Mania match.
Probably with a Mania audience is that it attracts the most casual audience they’ll have all year. Those casuals have been conditioned for over 20+ years by Vince that the wrestling is the least important and worst part of wrestling. And WWE PLEs are the most wrestling heavy presentation of their product. The big selling point of WWE’s weekly product are the stories told largely outside of the matches - promos, backstage segments, video packages, etc. - and the ring entrances. Whereas the PLEs are largely reliant on stories told within the matches, video packages, and over the top ring entrances. It’s not a complete 180 from the weekly product but it’s not far from that either. It would be like if AEW made the focus of their PPVs be promos and video packages while keeping the wrestling to a minimum.
Can we talk about how Rocky is so insecure he made himself a belt so he wouldn’t have to be photoed next to Roman holding a belt while he doesn’t have one
I put the blame for that match way more on Jimmy than Jey, we've seen Jey have good singles matches over the last however many months, I can't say the same for Jimmy. There's a reason they put him back in the group almost immediately. He's hilarious on the mic but can't hack it in the ring on his own. He's the one who still wrestled in a T shirt for a reason
That Jey vs. Jimmy match is what everyone who’s never seen a Young Bucks or PWG match likes to claim is what a Young Bucks or PWG match looks like.
They've tried to redo Owen v Bret multiple times but it'll never be as good. It's amazing the Usos and Hardys in particular have so little chemistry against each other
was thinking the same thing, this is a work to bring Jack Perry back in the fold with his current gimmick
Well you generally buy a ticket for a sporting event for the actual sporting event. Not the halftime show, the cheerleaders, the concessions, the timeout entertainment, etc. When you watch a sporting event on TV, you generally watch it for the actual sporting event. What you’re getting hyped for watching from home is the same reason why you’re buying a ticket for, but what you get for the in-stadium experience is the gravy on top of the core product, which is the game. With a WWE PLE, you don’t get the same thing as what you get on the weekly TV product, as explained in a previous post by me on this page.
Open air Wrestlemania 31 in San Fran was an amazing experience. The dusk falling right as Roman and Brock were getting introduced was like nothing I've seen or felt at a live event before. Weather was great too. Basically open air in warm climates is great, not so much in the New England (ish) area
wasn't that the same year Taker wrestled Bray? Them doing their entrances while it was still light out was fucking criminal