Professional Wrestling Thread

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: AZDuffman

Coronavirus pushes WWE to furlough employees, release wrestlers

Nothing new, WWF/E has retrenched many times over the years. Still things must be starting to hurt.

As a casual watcher now, I've felt that recently WWE has had too many 'superstars'. To follow a soap opera, which essentially is what WWE is, should not be complex. Focus on fewer wrestlers, and it will be a better product.

By the way, there have been a ton more 'squash' matches against no names recently.
Angel Garza versus "John Doe".
Sheamus versus "Ralph Smith".
Rowan versus "Mike Jones"

I try to watch sometimes and I just find the WWE product boring. They have too many people who are crappy at the mic work and others who couldn't wrestle their way out of a paper bag. There is just not much energy in their production at this point...it is just weak. I'm sure they still have legions of fans, but their shows interest me for less than a minute most of the time.

They need superstars and a supporting cast; not a whole bunch of people called "superstars" who are average at best.

Quote: SOOPOO

Quote: AZDuffman

Coronavirus pushes WWE to furlough employees, release wrestlers

Nothing new, WWF/E has retrenched many times over the years. Still things must be starting to hurt.

As a casual watcher now, I've felt that recently WWE has had too many 'superstars'. To follow a soap opera, which essentially is what WWE is, should not be complex. Focus on fewer wrestlers, and it will be a better product.

By the way, there have been a ton more 'squash' matches against no names recently.
Angel Garza versus "John Doe".
Sheamus versus "Ralph Smith".
Rowan versus "Mike Jones"

Might be cyclical. In the mod 80s the ranks swelled as Vince signed AWA stars one after another to kill that promotion. But then you cannot get them all on TV o the storylines get boring. They could have been given more time off the road, but we are talking Vince McMahon here. Eventually they thinned the herd. Same thing I believe happened after the WCW buyout.

No longer a fan but I do come from Baltimore
Wrestling is HUGE in Baltimore
If you put on a show in Baltimore, it better be a good show
Baltimore is known for their rabbid wrestling fans.
Last thig a promoter wants to hear and Baltimore fans are loud about it is "Boring Boring Boring" Over and over , the whole crowd

Howard Finkel dead. Oops wrong thread. Sorry.

Quote: SOOPOO

YEARS ago saw a pretty boy wrestler, maybe even his WWF debut? If not, early on in career and starting to get his 'push'. Long blond hair, steroid muscles.... Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Soon became triple H. Had front row seats; actually got sweat on us. Though fun, front row seats reveal the silliness of the moves more than TV does.

I loved that gimmick when I was a kid! He had his fancy clothes, usually came out with a valet (female accompaniment who is not actually a manager) and sprayed his little perfume bottle everywhere. He'd get angry when his hand would get someone else's sweat on it and wipe it off. I just thought the whole gimmick was really funny. Vince McMahon created that gimmick because it was meant to be a sarcastic version of how he saw his neighbors in Greenwich.

Quote: AZDuffman

Not all wrestlers have a personality good on the mic. But they are good in the ring or have the muscles and build to put out there. So they give those guys a manager. The manager handles the mic and leads the wrestler.

Of course sometimes both are good on the mic so it is even better. But for the most part that is why the managers were there.

Exactly, but also to help generate heat with heel wrestlers. The primary occupation of a heel manager during the match is to find ways to cheat on behalf of the heel to upset the crowd. They can also (quietly) tell the wrestlers what spots to do, if it's the go home, or for how much more time they're supposed to be out there until the match ends...so that kind of helps the referee with one of the jobs most people don't realize he has.

Quote: RonC

I try to watch sometimes and I just find the WWE product boring. They have too many people who are crappy at the mic work and others who couldn't wrestle their way out of a paper bag. There is just not much energy in their production at this point...it is just weak. I'm sure they still have legions of fans, but their shows interest me for less than a minute most of the time.

They need superstars and a supporting cast; not a whole bunch of people called "superstars" who are average at best.

I agree. One opinion I've heard on this is because the promos are basically completely scripted nearly 100% of the time and the talent can't deviate. In other times, more of the talent would just be given a general topic, one or two lines that they were supposed to get in verbatim, a few general words not to say and a time limit, then could otherwise do whatever they like with it. The famous, "Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your @$$," for example, wasn't scripted. He was just firing his mouth off and that's what came out, he didn't think it would become such a phenomenon.

Quote: AZDuffman

Might be cyclical. In the mod 80s the ranks swelled as Vince signed AWA stars one after another to kill that promotion. But then you cannot get them all on TV o the storylines get boring. They could have been given more time off the road, but we are talking Vince McMahon here. Eventually they thinned the herd. Same thing I believe happened after the WCW buyout.

Sort of yes, sort of no. WWE had the option to either pay some of the contracts (or not) of the bigger name talent. In some cases, WWE chose not to pay the contracts and the talent chose not to sign a contract for a reduced amount. I think also that some of the contracts had a minimum guaranteed pay if the guy wasn't going to be used, or a buyout clause, which can be a way to save some money if you've already got a ton of big name talent.

Quote: Mission146

Sort of yes, sort of no. WWE had the option to either pay some of the contracts (or not) of the bigger name talent. In some cases, WWE chose not to pay the contracts and the talent chose not to sign a contract for a reduced amount. I think also that some of the contracts had a minimum guaranteed pay if the guy wasn't going to be used, or a buyout clause, which can be a way to save some money if you've already got a ton of big name talent.

I look at the WCW thing this way. All mergers result in layoffs. Pro Wrestling was no different. Vince really wanted 2 things. End the last real competition and get the film library. Vince saw the value of the library well before this. Pittsburgh had "Studio Wrestling" complete with curtains in the stands with people and faces painted on them to make it look more crowded. All the tapes were re-used for the news. Very little survives. A sad thing for wrestling history. This was strictly WIIC-TV AFIK, though Bruno Sammartino worked it along with the then-WWWF which still had a NWA Territory Franchise.

I have to say I really liked the early days better. Note the Kayfaybe with the announcer giving notice of regulation of the sport almost like boxing. Some names, like Danny Davis, would show up years later. I also liked how it was not as over-the-top in these days. And of course, this is the best ring announcer in history bar none! It is said he came up before they had microphones and he had to project his voice to be heard that is how he got so good.