The Official Pro Wrestling Thread

[ThePhanastasio]

Word on the street is that Henry hyperextended his knee...when he was throwing that punch and fell down. Show apparently has something hurting in his back. With Henry, I'd have to imagine it wasn't a horrible hyperextension, because there's no way they'd clear him if there'd been significant ligament damage.

The Regal in the Rumble thing...well, I would really like to see him go far in the match if he's a participant...which, for some reason, I have a strong feeling he will be. Road Dog Jesse James is rumored to be in the match also, by the way, so it will be cool to see him, too. My thing is just an immense love for Steven Regal / William Regal, and a strong desire for him to be the first English-born heavy weight champion, along with grand slam champion. He wouldn't even have to hold the title for more than a week to appease me. The man deserves it, though. The two top-tier champions in the whole organization, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, were both trained by William Regal, and he's not at all shabby in the ring himself. If he proves to be in decent shape, I'd have no opposition to him getting some more TV time as a wrestler and not a legend.

Kofi / Dibiase as a tag team would work. It would be nice to remove Dibiase from that silly tailgate storyline feud. Justin Gabriel also has a style I find to be very complimentary to Kofi's, and could be worth consideration. It would almost make sense in that case, too: Both are currently billed from countries in Africa, although Gabriel is legitimately from South Africa.

I'd much rather Swagger retain than drop the strap to Riley or Ryan. Much agreement there. It looks like they've just pulled Riley back up from FCW...but I can't really see if he's improved all that much because they jobbed him out to Brodus Clay.

As far as Yoshi: I'm just a fan of Japanese-style wrestling. I think he does it well (better than most) and would be excited to see him progress.

My friends and I were compiling lists of our top five favorite wrestlers ever, and found that they didn't vary all that much, weirdly. Pretty much there was maybe one difference in wrestlers on the list, and the order was a little different. Mine is:

1.) Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
2.) Bret "The Hitman" Hart
3.) "Macho Man" Randy Savage
4.) "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (Best cutter of promos. Period.)
5.) Killer Kowalski

Main runners up include: Bruno Sammartino; Stunning/Stone Cold Steve Austin; Chris Jericho; Chris Benoit; William Regal; Kenta Kobashi

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Road Dogg would be a good shout, since they had him appear at the Slammy's night.
I also think logically there is a good chance of X-Pac and Rikishi turning up.

If you think about the HHH/Nash feud there were constant references to the 'clique' and X-Pac was name dropped many times.
Same for Rikishi, it has been made no secret that he is the father of Jey & Jimmy Uso, and it has been mentioned numerous times.

I also expect to see Goldust in there to enhance his ongoing rivalry with his brother Cody.

Regal will be in there, but I feel giving him the title would be a bad idea. To help increase the prestige of the championship, it needs to switch hands much less than it is doing currently, this could extend to almost every championship in the WWE.
He's sadly no longer relevant, and giving him the title wouldn't be good for business, I can't see many people tuning in to see Regal as champion, especially when you consider the WWE's demographic.

Not every guy is in the business to be a main eventer, and Regal has had a largely successful career as an undercarder, but I don't feel he is deserving of a World Heavyweight Championship reign. A GM position, or even an induction into the Hall of Fame: Yes. A Championship run: No.

I had never thought about a team of Kingston & Gabriel. It sounds like a rather good idea though. Neither man is really doing too much at the moment, and I don't feel Gabriel has enough character to establish himself as a solo competitor, so an 'African Untie' team would make sense.
It would also give the tag team division an international theme with the Puereto Rican tag champions, the Samoan Uso's, possibly Hunico and his bodyguard for a Mexican team and two guys such as Reks & Hawkins for an American tag team.

Honestly, Alex Riley is one of the people on the current roster I could not care less about, I fully expect him to get his release soon.
I don't see their motivation in ushering a guy like John Morrison out of the door and keeping generic FCW clones like Riley.

Ah, a Top 5. I'd wager that you were older than me, from your list. I was born in 1993, so mine will be a little more recent.

1. Mick Foley
2. Chris Jericho
3. Kurt Angle
4. Stone Cold Steve Austin
5. Eddie Guerrero.

[ThePhanastasio]

Originally Posted by mankycaaant

Road Dogg would be a good shout, since they had him appear at the Slammy's night.
I also think logically there is a good chance of X-Pac and Rikishi turning up.

If you think about the HHH/Nash feud there were constant references to the 'clique' and X-Pac was name dropped many times.
Same for Rikishi, it has been made no secret that he is the father of Jey & Jimmy Uso, and it has been mentioned numerous times.

I also expect to see Goldust in there to enhance his ongoing rivalry with his brother Cody.

Regal will be in there, but I feel giving him the title would be a bad idea. To help increase the prestige of the championship, it needs to switch hands much less than it is doing currently, this could extend to almost every championship in the WWE.
He's sadly no longer relevant, and giving him the title wouldn't be good for business, I can't see many people tuning in to see Regal as champion, especially when you consider the WWE's demographic.

Not every guy is in the business to be a main eventer, and Regal has had a largely successful career as an undercarder, but I don't feel he is deserving of a World Heavyweight Championship reign. A GM position, or even an induction into the Hall of Fame: Yes. A Championship run: No.

I had never thought about a team of Kingston & Gabriel. It sounds like a rather good idea though. Neither man is really doing too much at the moment, and I don't feel Gabriel has enough character to establish himself as a solo competitor, so an 'African Untie' team would make sense.
It would also give the tag team division an international theme with the Puereto Rican tag champions, the Samoan Uso's, possibly Hunico and his bodyguard for a Mexican team and two guys such as Reks & Hawkins for an American tag team.

Honestly, Alex Riley is one of the people on the current roster I could not care less about, I fully expect him to get his release soon.
I don't see their motivation in ushering a guy like John Morrison out of the door and keeping generic FCW clones like Riley.

Ah, a Top 5. I'd wager that you were older than me, from your list. I was born in 1993, so mine will be a little more recent.

1. Mick Foley
2. Chris Jericho
3. Kurt Angle
4. Stone Cold Steve Austin
5. Eddie Guerrero.

Good points, and a top notch list of top 5. I don't know why I totally spaced it and forgot to mention Foley, d'oh! He's not on my actual top 5, but he's one of the guys rounding out my top 10 for sure!

And I was born in 1987, haha. A lot of the guys I love weren't really active when I started watching wrestling, I've just watched a LOT of DVDs and bootlegs.

If you like Jericho a lot, definitely check out Steamboat's matches if you've not already. He and Macho Man Randy Savage put on my top match of all time at Wrestlemania...3, I believe? I've seriously watched that thing dozens of times!

As far as wrestling news today...

I'M GOING TO GO SEE TNA!

Not as good as WWE for sure, although their women's division is 10,000x greater than WWE's, excepting Kharma, Beth, Natalya, and Tamina.

The card seems pretty sweet, too:

- World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode vs "The Charismatic Enigma" Jeff Hardy
- "Cowboy" James Storm vs Bully Ray
- Knockouts Champion Gail Kim vs Tara
- Garett Bischoff vs Gunner (with "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair)
- World Tag Team Champions Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. "The Blueprint" Matt Morgan & Crimson
- X Division Champion Austin Aries vs Kid Kash
- Eric Young & ODB vs Hernandez & Sarita

I will probably crap my pants when I see Ric Flair and Samoa Joe. Not gonna lie. Also, Tara, but that goes without saying. She's my lady wrestling idol. Last time I saw a TNA live event, I was ringside, and Tara dislocated my wrist by falling against it.

EDIT: And in honor of TNA being today, a photo from last time they were in town. Kurt Angle and me. It's a really bad picture of me, but it was roughly 3,000 degrees, and I had been drinking Four Loko.

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The Wrestlemania 3 match for sure was incredible. I'll probably need to check out some more of Steamboat's material. I really enjoyed his match with Jericho at Backlash a few years back and was impressed by the great shape he was evidently still in.

Awesome, I haven't followed TNA in a while, but I still recognize the vast majority of names on that list.
Interesting to see that there is no place on the card for Mr Anderson, Sting and RVD, or have they been written off/ parted ways with the company?

I wouldn't have thought Ric Flair would have still been in TNA, I heard he was going to play a part in Wrestlemania, or it may not mean him leaving TNA, if the two can thrash out a deal for his appearance.

Ouch, I guess the wrist was at least a memento of the event
Nothing wrong with the picture I'm supposed to be going to see the Wrestlemania Revenge Tour when it returns to the UK this April.

On another note, what were you thoughts on the Rumble?

[ThePhanastasio]

Originally Posted by mankycaaant

The Wrestlemania 3 match for sure was incredible. I'll probably need to check out some more of Steamboat's material. I really enjoyed his match with Jericho at Backlash a few years back and was impressed by the great shape he was evidently still in.

Oh, yeah, for sure! Steamboat can still wrestle! Speaking of which, his kid, Richie Steamboat is FCW champion right now (WWE's developmental territory) and I'm kind of hoping they bump him up soon. I've seen a few of his matches, and he looks ready to me. He's very good.

Awesome, I haven't followed TNA in a while, but I still recognize the vast majority of names on that list.
Interesting to see that there is no place on the card for Mr Anderson, Sting and RVD, or have they been written off/ parted ways with the company?

They don't all come to the house shows. Right now, Roode and Hardy are going to pretty much all of them to add legitimacy to their feud, I guess, and because they're big names...but guys like AJ Styles and D'Angelo Dinero were also sadly absent from the card.

I wish they'd had a match between those two instead of the Garrett Bischoff debacle I had to witness.

I wouldn't have thought Ric Flair would have still been in TNA, I heard he was going to play a part in Wrestlemania, or it may not mean him leaving TNA, if the two can thrash out a deal for his appearance.

Vince isn't worried about TNA anymore; they're dying, and when he can get them for the best bargain possible, he's going to buy them out. Quick way to absorb all of their talent that he wants. Ric Flair is being inducted (again) into the HoF, with The Four Horsemen, and Vince doesn't seem to care about the other brands anymore. ROH he's still weird about, because he knows they're on the rise and haven't reached their potential yet. He knows that TNA is pretty much on a downward spiral, regardless of how much talent they have. Or, at least that's a theory.

I mean, at least they fired Vince Russo now. They've improved since.

Ouch, I guess the wrist was at least a memento of the event
Nothing wrong with the picture I'm supposed to be going to see the Wrestlemania Revenge Tour when it returns to the UK this April.

Haha, yes, the wrist was definitely a memento. I felt awful, though, because her hitting my wrist with enough force to dislocate it with her lower back definitely hurt her too.

And man, that would be epic!! Chris Jericho, who's firmly embedded in my top 5, is one guy I absolutely have to see wrestle live at least once, and he should still be with the company and not doing Fozzy crap at that point. Well...I mean, I figure if he wins the chamber, he's leaving shortly after 'Mania, losing the title back to Punk...lame...or, if he loses the chamber...he'll win the strap at 'Mania, and defend it through Summer Slam. Or, at least that's the scenario I'm hoping plays out.

On another note, what were you thoughts on the Rumble?

I really liked the Rumble. I feel bad about the internet's existence because of it, though. Creative originally had Jericho booked to win...that would be his first and only Rumble win...but they changed it because so many fans predicted it. I like Sheamus a helluva lot, though. I'd like to see him and Bryan have a nice feud - their styles are very complimentary.

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I had heard that his kid was in FCW, although I don't tend to follow it too closely. The WWE could do with a few new guys in my opinion, there isn't a very established mid-card at the moment, and most of the jobbers they have are too generic for regular TV time.

Garrett Bischoff? Why have I got the feeling that was probably another ill-fated Russo angle? Also, surprised to see Hardy doing house shows, would have thought if he turns up only in body to PPV's, that skipping house shows in favour of drug-fuelled binges would be a done deal.

Yeah, Styles and the Pope would be good. I've always had the thought that AJ could have been massive if he had switched to WWE earlier in his career, imagine AJ Styles Vs. Jericho or Styles Vs. Kingston?

I can't see any reason WWE would take much notice in any other wrestling promotion, there will never be another the size of the WWE and I doubt WWE fears ROH, TNA or NJPW taking any of its audience.
TNA lost all momentum it had when it was at its peak, around 2005-2006 and ROH is still little more than a cult phenomena.

I'd have rather seen Y2J 10 years ago, but I reckon he won't have lost too much of his way, as he has always taken breaks from wrestling so won't have worn as much as others who have competed for the same amount of time.

Jericho didn't really need to win the Rumble in all honesty, his name carries enough marquee value that just putting him into the title picture makes sense.
I'm not too sure whether Jericho will win, because it makes Punks whole 'Best In The World' claim redundant and he loses credibility.
However, I feel if Punk does win he cements his title. And anybody that beats him thereafter will surely look as if they are 'The Best In The World' if you take into account the whole 'to be the best, you have to beat the best shtick' and I wouldn't be comfortable with The Miz or someone similar holding that title.

On a side note, I really dislike Punk. He just doesn't do it for me, but I find myself not exactly getting behind Jericho since his return. He's one of my all time favourites, but his character doesn't seem to have the same spark he once did.
I was rooting for Sheamus to eliminate him when it came to the final of the Rumble and have become strangely overwhelmed with a sense of backing Kofi in tonight's Chamber match. (I know he won't win, but hey; we can all hope)

I found the Rumble greatly entertaining, it showed that wrestling doesn't always have to take itself too seriously as there were a lot of slapstick moments, but also mixed with a great combination of suspense and storytelling.
The Sheamus/Jericho finish was brilliant as were the inclusions of Ricardo and Road Dogg.
I genuinely found myself enjoying every moment of it, and greatly anticipated the next entrant every time the timer began.
I'll also add the inclusion of Booker, King and Cole was a stroke of genius, even if it were just for Cole's hilariously over-the-top reactions.
Some may argue that those spots should have been reserved for younger guys, but I'd take Booker T over Tyson Kidd any day.

My only disappointment with the Rumble was Big Shows inclusion, I felt as if all excitement was just crushed when he entered at number 30.

I felt Sheamus deserved the victory in the end, he's had a great past year and is completely over. Now is the right time to insert him into the title picture especially with Henry out. We can't see Bryan Vs. Show forever, especially as Big Show is painful to watch.

With Santinos inclusion and Ortons withdrawl from the Chamber I'd have to say it's more or less a certainty that Bryan will retain. And I think it's the right decision, he's really come into his own in the last few months and his work has been great. An Orton Vs. Sheamus Vs. Bryan match would be great.

[Sljslj]

Originally Posted by ThePhanastasio

EDIT: And in honor of TNA being today, a photo from last time they were in town. Kurt Angle and me. It's a really bad picture of me, but it was roughly 3,000 degrees, and I had been drinking Four Loko.

Jealousy. You got to have two experiences I wish I could have.

1. Seeing TNA. They only ever came here once in recent memory and I had to work. I wanna see it live SOOOO BAD!

2. Meeting Kurt Angle. The man is one of my idols. Meeting him, even for just a few seconds, is definitely a bucket list item for me.

[14232949]

I heard Austin Aries is the TNA champion?
As Booker T would so eloquently put it 'Du hell?!'

[Sljslj]

Yeah... I was ****ing pissed when I saw him win that. There's so many others that deserve that title more than Aries does. Not to say that he's not good at what he does, but he's just not World Champion material yet. I was looking forward to seeing Bobby Roode walk into Bound For Glory, and beyond, as champion, but now my dreams have been crushed. *tear*

Atleast there are some decent possibilities or fueds with Aries as champion. Personally, I like the idea of an Aries/Bully Ray fued, but with the BFG series where it's at, he'll probably end up going at it with one of the current top 4 (1. James Storm; 2. Samoa Joe; 3. Kurt Angle; 4. Jeff Hardy). I can't see him battling Storm unless one of them has a heel turn (very unlikely). Joe could work as the two of them have good chemistry. Angle/Aries would be amazing from a wrestling stand-point, but not so much from a storyline perspective. Same for Hardy... though there may not be a posibility of a good storyline between the two, when was the last time we saw an over-the-top high-flying match for the top title in a company?

I'm interested to see where this goes, even though I have my doubts about the entire WHC picture at this point. We'll see...

[ThePhanastasio]

I had my professional wrestling debut on Saturday. I'm being billed in the company as a babyface, and since their roster doesn't consist of any other female talent aside from valets, they booked me against one of their top heels who is also one of my trainers and 1/2 of their tag team champions.

It was ridiculously awesome. As it was my debut and about an hour and fifteen minutes from my house, I didn't know anyone there aside from the wrestlers and the promoters. I went straight there from work, and didn't have time to go pick up my friends in Ashland; that would have added an extra hour onto my trip.

Went through some spots before the show, but my opponent didn't tell me the finish. He was like, "Don't worry; it's going to be something you know and we've already gone over today, and I'm just going to go over dirty and get heat."

As it was my first match, I knew I was going to lose. Not knowing the finish was fine; I figured it was going to be him taunting me and doing a bodyslam, or a Superkick. I knew also that with the match, we had a few spots and sequences we wanted to do, but most of the match was just going to be working and off the cuff. He doesn't like matches to be too scripted because then, if the audience isn't feeling it, you're pretty much ****ed. Makes sense.

Anyway, came out while he was cutting a promo, and that was my debut. Not knowing any of the crowd, I expected awkward silence or lukewarm applause just based on them figuring that I'm supposed to be a babyface, but the place freaking erupted. I cut a little bit of a promo, and that got a huge pop too, even though I was too nervous to even remember what I said.

The match was about eight minutes, and I went hard. Opponent planned only to bump me once or twice, since we had a three hour workout before the show and were both already sore, and I was healing from busting my own lip (punched myself in the face during a very, very bad Shining Wizard) so I figured, you know, lots of chain wrestling and psychology, a few spots.

It ended up being a VERY fast-paced match. There was a lot of chain wrestling and reversals going on, but I was in the zone and kept getting set up for some spots.

I did a sort of flying/springboard/triangle headlock takeover, just to fancy up that move, and that surprisingly got a big pop even though it's just a flashy and basic move. Did a crazy monkey flip in the corner and a back roll out of it, which apparently makes it look pretty awesome and also like I've killed myself.

A monkey flip is:


But I do a back roll after I've extended my legs to sell that I really kicked hard. I actually did it on accident when I was learning the move, found out it looked cool and don't really see people doing it that way, and decided to run with it and make it more of a signature.

Also did a Stratusfaction:


But when I do it, I'm looser on the hook for the bulldog so that the move is quicker. That butt bump also hurts like hell when it's that fast. Also, just mute that awful music.

And my finisher for this show, my first show, was a Tornado DDT:


Not as flail-y with my legs, though. I keep them tight and kind of straight-ish for quick rotation.

After that DDT, I went for the cover and figured he was going to kick out, and was already racking my brain for what to do next. The crowd was yelling the count, "1!...2!..." and figured he'd kick out of it at around 2 3/4, but no. The crowd yelled, "3!" as the ref brought his hand down a third time, the bell rang, and I was just like, "Da fuuuuuck?"

I still climbed up on the turnbuckles and celebrated and ****, and when the ref was raising my hand in the air as the winner, he said to me out of the side of his mouth to keep celebrating and that my opponent was going to attack me and get heat, then the locker room was going to clear out.

I obliged, got "beat up" after my match as he got booed like crazy, all of that chaos with the locker room went down, one of their heels turned babyface by attacking my opponent, and it was pretty awesome.

Oh, and I've been booked in a feud that's going to span the next several months. Through April or May, I believe. Pretty goddamn excited.