Pro Wrestling, Recycling the Stars of the 90s and 00s....(2017)

[Lintyfresh85]

Everyone is sick in WWE. Angle coming out of retirement to fight and Styles versus Balor.

[imref]

Everyone is sick in WWE. Angle coming out of retirement to fight and Styles versus Balor.

Rumors are a mumps outbreak.

[imref]

Jeff Jarrett appears to be spinning out of control, he showed up last night for an indy gig in Canada in 'no condition to perform' according to reports.  Today, Impact cut off all business dealings with him.

I only watched Balor vs AJ last night and enjoyed it.

[Minty Fresh]

Wrestletalk has really gotten good.  I can't wait for the return of the former WhatCulture guys next week but I have really enjoyed Wrestletalk in their absence.

[imref]

Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega at WrestleKingdom 12 in Tokyo in January.  I might finally get NJPW World except that the match will air at something like 4:30 am.

[Vega]

Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega at WrestleKingdom 12 in Tokyo in January.  I might finally get NJPW World except that the match will air at something like 4:30 am.

I love those guys, but you should probably temper your expectations a bit given Y2J's age and how long WK matches tend to be.

[imref]

The recent "Something to Wrestle with Bruce Pritchard" podcast covering Bret Hart in WWE in 1996/97, up through the Montreal Screwjob, is really good, even at 4 hours of audio.  They go deep into the weeds on the issues between Hart and Michaels through the years and the development of the decision to double-cross Hart at Summerslam.  It's been 20 years this year.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

The recent "Something to Wrestle with Bruce Pritchard" podcast covering Bret Hart in WWE in 1996/97, up through the Montreal Screwjob, is really good, even at 4 hours of audio.  They go deep into the weeds on the issues between Hart and Michaels through the years and the development of the decision to double-cross Hart at Summerslam.  It's been 20 years this year.

Wow, does nagard actually claim that the screwjob was incepted at SummerSlam?  I knew he didn't know crap from a shingle on this subject, but that's a new one.  Yeah, Prichard is full of it on this one.  If you actually wasted your time on that, you got duped.

Prichard gives a lot of good inside dirt on a number of subjects, but the Screwjob is not one of them.

[imref]

Wow, does nagard actually claim that the screwjob was incepted at SummerSlam?  I knew he didn't know crap from a shingle on this subject, but that's a new one.  Yeah, Prichard is full of it on this one.  If you actually wasted your time on that, you got duped.

Prichard gives a lot of good inside dirt on a number of subjects, but the Screwjob is not one of them.

Maybe I wasn't clear.  He talked about how it developed over several weeks.  He mentioned that Hart refused to lose to Shawn in Montreal, but instead provided several other options to the office, including even losing it to the Brooklyn Brawler in MSG prior to summer slam.  Pritchard said that Hart kept rejecting every scenario they offered, and instead offered his own alternatives.  He said that it got to the point where the office was convinced that if they offered Hart one of Hart's own idea, Hart would reject it.

He said he wasn't involved in the final discussions on the day of the show, but that Vince was convinced even up until that day, that he could talk sense into Hart and that all would be fine (he also went into a lot of detail on the contract issues that led to Hart leaving, and the development of personal issues between Bret and Shawn that even led to a backstage fight after Shawn implied that Hart was having an affair with Sunny during one of his promos.)

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Maybe I wasn't clear.  He talked about how it developed over several weeks.  He mentioned that Hart refused to lose to Shawn in Montreal, but instead provided several other options to the office, including even losing it to the Brooklyn Brawler in MSG prior to summer slam.  Pritchard said that Hart kept rejecting every scenario they offered, and instead offered his own alternatives.  He said that it got to the point where the office was convinced that if they offered Hart one of Hart's own idea, Hart would reject it.

He said he wasn't involved in the final discussions on the day of the show, but that Vince was convinced even up until that day, that he could talk sense into Hart and that all would be fine (he also went into a lot of detail on the contract issues that led to Hart leaving, and the development of personal issues between Bret and Shawn that even led to a backstage fight after Shawn implied that Hart was having an affair with Sunny during one of his promos.)

Yeah, that's still bullcrap.  If anything, Prichard's account of everything just lends more credence to the theory that the Screwjob was a work all along.

[imref]

Yeah, that's still bullcrap.  If anything, Prichard's account of everything just lends more credence to the theory that the Screwjob was a work all along.

How so?  His account is that it wasn't a work at all, and that Hart was essentially being an ass, but also pointed out that HHH and Michaels were also asses.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

First of all, Bret didn't even have the belt prior to SummerSlam, so there was no way he could have lost the belt to the Brooklyn Brawler at that time.  And honestly, if anyone thinks Bret Hart was delusional enough to think dropping the belt to the Brooklyn Brawler was plausible, then I have some beachfront property in Denver to sell them.  There's no way Bret proposed that.  That's one of nagard's bullcrap lies.

He's right about there being a back-and-forth between Bret and the office, but the fact that it supposedly took place over months and months (starting at SummerSlam) doesn't match up with other accounts.  Also, Vince McMahon being the one advocate for Bret until the last minute also sounds like bullcrap and doesn't match up with other accounts.

[Lintyfresh85]

Dream vs. Black was a lot of fun. Think I'm done with the Network till Royal Rumble time.

[imref]

Dream vs. Black was a lot of fun. Think I'm done with the Network till Royal Rumble time.

I only watched the War Games match, which was brutally awesome.  Adam Cole is going to be a massive superstar next year if they can find him an adequate foil.  AJ maybe?  Undisputed Era vs Shield would easily main event a PPV.

Last night I watched Styles vs Lesnar which was ok.  I get that they were trying to recreate Rocky I, but it still seems odd to have the Smackdown champion do a job, with no chance to get their heat back.  I expected Mahal to get involved in some way.  They could have ended with Mahal and the Singh brothers coming out to attack AJ after the match, then Lesnar joining with AJ to fight them off, and then shaking hands at the end, versus Brock walking off with AJ still in a heap inside the ring.

It still seems WWE is leaving money on the table by not reuniting the Wyatts and putting them against Balor/Anderson/Gallows.

[Vega]

It still seems WWE is leaving money on the table by not reuniting the Wyatts and putting them against Balor/Anderson/Gallows.

Bray Wyatt is a garbage character and the biggest case of damaged goods on the roster. Everything related to his character and gimmick needs to die.

[Lintyfresh85]

I only watched the War Games match, which was brutally awesome.  Adam Cole is going to be a massive superstar next year if they can find him an adequate foil.  AJ maybe?  Undisputed Era vs Shield would easily main event a PPV.

I like Cole but he seems a bit lacking in stature. He's small for NXT. I can't imagine he'd look much better compared to the main roster.

Guys like Bryan and Punk were either taller or better built, Cole is so thin. Having said that, he can really go, so I'm sure he'll get a shot.

Definitely give the Black vs. Dream match a watch. It's insane to think Dream is only 22 years old and was on Tough Enough just a couple years ago.

[Vega]

I like Cole but he seems a bit lacking in stature. He's small for NXT. I can't imagine he'd look much better compared to the main roster.

He's got all the time he needs to just hang out in the PC lifting weights and getting jacked like Gargano did.

[imref]

He's no smaller than CM Punk.  IIRC, he did lose a ton of weight last year after an illness and has been gaining it back since.

[imref]

Bray Wyatt is a garbage character and the biggest case of damaged goods on the roster. Everything related to his character and gimmick needs to die.

he and Balor are both in character purgatory now, as are Anderson & Gallows and Harper/Rowan.  Creating a Wyatt vs BC program would at least provide for some renewed interest.

[Vega]

he and Balor are both in character purgatory now, as are Anderson & Gallows and Harper/Rowan.  Creating a Wyatt vs BC program would at least provide for some renewed interest.

Wyatt and Balor both show that supernatural stuff really doesn't work in modern wrestling. Hell, it really had no business working for Taker and Kane back in the Nineties either. Those guys, ESPECIALLY Taker since he came before Kane, just made it work WAY better than it had any right to.

[Vega]

NXT callups for tonight:

Ruby Riot, Liv Morgan, and one other unknown person.

[imref]

Some old school booking in the Jericho-Omega program in NJPW.

[imref]

RIP the Z-Man, Tom Zenk, dead at 59.  Tony Schiavonne’s favorite wrestler.

[imref]

final WK12 card.  Okada/Naito, Jericho/Omega, the Junior 4-way, and the NEVER 6-many tag match all have potential to be 4-5 stars.  I'd sign up for NJPW World to watch if it didn't start at 3 AM.  They will air most of the card on AXS on January 6.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defending against Tetsuya Naito
IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega defending against Chris Jericho in a no DQ match
IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defending against Jay White
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Marty Scurll defending against Will Ospreay, KUSHIDA, and Hiromu Takahashi in a four-way match
NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki defending against Hirooki Goto in a hair vs. hair match
IWGP Tag Team Champions Killer Elite Squad defending against SANADA & EVIL
Kota Ibushi vs. Cody (w/ Brandi Rhodes)
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bad Luck Fale & Guerrillas of Destiny defending against Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Beretta, Togi Makabe, Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi, Michael Elgin & War Machine, and Zack Sabre Jr., Takashi Iizuka & Taichi in a gauntlet match
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Sho & Yoh defending against The Young Bucks
The New Japan Rumble (pre-show)

[Minty Fresh]

Anyone have any favorite YouTube or podcast followings?  I kinda liked WhatCulture before the defection and those that defected created Cultaholic but they don't seem to be as good as they were on WhatCulture.

I'm totally liking Luke Owen and Oli Davis of Wrestletalk.