The OAO RAW Thread 8/5/2006

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

It was also sad seeing Lawler digress back into "puppies" mode last night for the women's match. Looks like we're back to the same old, same old...

[cabbageboy 0]

The only decent angle I can think of with Nick Dinsmore is for him eventually defect to the new ECW. He can then do a "Borne Again" type gimmick where he renounces the Eugene character (moreso than Borne renounced Doink), maybe even cut a bitter shoot promo about how insulting it was to have to play retard. Then he can show us his actual skills.

 

I very much disagree about Gunner Scott vs. Spirit Squad. I'd much rather be Albright. He's got a crap name, but eventually he can maybe change that. Hell, I'd much rather be mentored by Benoit and taken seriously as a wrestler than be a male cheerleader with a gimmick shelf life of 6 months.

[Guest AndrewisyourHero]

But JR called it a moonsault!

 

By Chris Ben..er Jericho..I mean, Edg..er, Christian.

 

God, JR is terrible

[Silence 0]

It was also sad seeing Lawler digress back into "puppies" mode last night for the women's match. Looks like we're back to the same old, same old...

 

Yeah, and whenever Maria shows up, Lawler gets even more annoying.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

Something that alot of people gloss over in regards to the Spirit Squad, is that they are VERY VERY good tag team workers. Last night, they consistantly cut off the ring from Cena, doing little movements to keep him as far as away as possible. At one point, Micky(I think) had Cena in a neck crank. Cena was pointed towards Shawn, so Micky spun then around so Cena was pointed towards THEIR corner. That is the type of tag team work that no one does anymore, and reeked up old school 1980's shit, and I loved it.

 

Throw in the SS consistantly keeping the crowd in the match by pissing them off on the apron, and that crowd was going bonkers by the end. That's how you effectively be a heel in wrestling. They understand that.

 

Outside of the ring, Spirit Squad BOOOOMBS, but inside of the ring, they might be some of the best in the promotion at working the crowd to get a reaction. Most of them have obviously been trained veeerrry well on those aspects.

 

It's all in the little details people, the little details.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

It was also sad seeing Lawler digress back into "puppies" mode last night for the women's match. Looks like we're back to the same old, same old...

 

Yeah, and whenever Maria shows up, Lawler gets even more annoying.

 

 

That's because Maria is HOTTTTTTTTTT

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Something that alot of people gloss over in regards to the Spirit Squad, is that they are VERY VERY good tag team workers. Last night, they consistantly cut off the ring from Cena, doing little movements to keep him as far as away as possible. At one point, Micky(I think) had Cena in a neck crank. Cena was pointed towards Shawn, so Micky spun then around so Cena was pointed towards THEIR corner. That is the type of tag team work that no one does anymore, and reeked up old school 1980's shit, and I loved it.

 

Throw in the SS consistantly keeping the crowd in the match by pissing them off on the apron, and that crowd was going bonkers by the end. That's how you effectively be a heel in wrestling. They understand that.

 

Outside of the ring, Spirit Squad BOOOOMBS, but inside of the ring, they might be some of the best in the promotion at working the crowd to get a reaction. Most of them have obviously been trained veeerrry well on those aspects.

 

It's all in the little details people, the little details.

 

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm......

 

 

Very nice point. Never thought of it that way, but you're right. They are all pretty good heels. It's pretty funny that they went from cheering on Coach when they debuted to what they are now, and the got there VERY fast.

[hyperchord24 0]

Well, to add to the support for the SS, I like them b/c of who they are. I heard that they are some of the better indy talent, so I started watching their wrestling matches, and not changing the channel b/c they were male cheerleaders and it is a sad missuse of talent. Yeah, so they got stuck with a shit gimmick. If they can actually make it work, then they are worth their weight in gold for not only being top notch performers, but guys who can handle adversery, and can come out looking good. Guys like Orton and Masters cannot do this.

[benn 0]

The very fact that they get such strong negative reactions from marks AND smarks suggests to me that the gimmick is working well. They're supposed to come off as circle-jerking frat boys, and they're a hell of a lot more entertaining to watch than generic heels like Road Warrior or Khali. And Hawk52 is bang on, they're excellent tag-team workers which are few and far between in WWE at the moment and Ken Doane undoubtedly has future main event talent.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I very much disagree about Gunner Scott vs. Spirit Squad. I'd much rather be Albright. He's got a crap name, but eventually he can maybe change that. Hell, I'd much rather be mentored by Benoit and taken seriously as a wrestler than be a male cheerleader with a gimmick shelf life of 6 months.

 

Taken seriously?

 

He beat Booker with a fluke rollup which nobody in the crowd cared about, then dropped to Velocity. That's an on-screen shelf life of a couple of weeks.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

[

The Spirit Squad still come off like a bunch of faggots,

Dude, what the fuck are you talking about?

 

Just look at them. They look all preppy and jump around like idiots, while doing their ridiculous chants. They remind me of a local fraternity that would have a big circle jerk during a kegger party.

[The Niggardly King 0]

THAT'S THEIR GIMMICK

[k thx 0]

SS play their gimmick well. And while it's a cheap heat gimmick, they at least add things to get genuine crowd reactions. Yeah, when they come out doing their jumping stuff, it's cheap heat, but during the tag match it was just them being good heels without any of the goofy shit.

[razazteca 0]

You say that like its a good thing.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

The fact is, everyweek, the Spirit Squad come out, and get no reaction.

 

By the end of the match, the fans HATE THEM and will pay next time to see them massacred.

 

Why? Because they know how to work the fans. Every week, their gimmick bombs outside of the ring, but in their matches they consistantly use heel tactics, and fan work tactics to get the crowd to hate them. It's not "X-Pac heat", it's legit "These guys are cheating bastards! BOO!" heat. There is a BIG difference.

 

That's the reason these guys are being given so many shots lately. It's not really because Vince loves them, which he might, it's because they are the only people in the company right now, that can keep the fans on Cena's side. Angle, Hunter, JBL, Jericho, none of them could manage that, but put the SS against Cena, and while the crowd may token boo Cena at the beginning, by the end of the match, the fans WANT Cena to win, they WANT Cena to overcome these odds.

 

Combine the fact that the Spirit Squad are so insanely unlikable, with the fact that that even the ones not in the match run around ringside pissing off the fans, and you've got a mega heel heat axis.

 

In a way, they are this generations Honky Tonk Man so far. They will never get a "Oh, hey! YAY!" reaction when they come out, but by the end of their matches, the fans will be rabid to see someone, anyone, whoop the shit out of them. No funny jokes, no "cool" factor, just legitimate ability to control a crowd and get heat.

 

We need more of that. Plus, most of the SS guys are damn good workers to boot. Main event eternally I says.

[Markme123 0]

I was at the San Jose show last Friday and let me tell you: everything Hawk52 said was right. They rank right up there with the best heels in the country. People love to see, and would pay to see, them get their butts kicked. They are genuine heat magnets.

[razazteca 0]

Everytime I see a Cena + HBK + HHH vs Spirit Squad match I want to see a double DQ or Kane do a run in.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Everytime I see that, I wait for a DX reunion.

[hyperchord24 0]

The fact is, everyweek, the Spirit Squad come out, and get no reaction.

By the end of the match, the fans HATE THEM and will pay next time to see them massacred.

 

Why? Because they know how to work the fans. Every week, their gimmick bombs outside of the ring, but in their matches they consistantly use heel tactics, and fan work tactics to get the crowd to hate them. It's not "X-Pac heat", it's legit "These guys are cheating bastards! BOO!" heat. There is a BIG difference.

 

That's the reason these guys are being given so many shots lately. It's not really because Vince loves them, which he might, it's because they are the only people in the company right now, that can keep the fans on Cena's side. Angle, Hunter, JBL, Jericho, none of them could manage that, but put the SS against Cena, and while the crowd may token boo Cena at the beginning, by the end of the match, the fans WANT Cena to win, they WANT Cena to overcome these odds.

 

Combine the fact that the Spirit Squad are so insanely unlikable, with the fact that that even the ones not in the match run around ringside pissing off the fans, and you've got a mega heel heat axis.

 

In a way, they are this generations Honky Tonk Man so far. They will never get a "Oh, hey! YAY!" reaction when they come out, but by the end of their matches, the fans will be rabid to see someone, anyone, whoop the shit out of them. No funny jokes, no "cool" factor, just legitimate ability to control a crowd and get heat.

 

We need more of that. Plus, most of the SS guys are damn good workers to boot. Main event eternally I says.

I'd like to add that their cheers don't get a reaction b/c they are incredibly off cue and b/c of that, you can't hear a word they say, compounded with the fact that they are really, really, really bad cheers to begin with.

 

They got no crowd reaction when they debuted b/c of these reasons.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

I always assumed they kinda did that on purpose.

 

Then again, they always fuck up their in-ring entrances too, so it might not be.

 

Either way, the point stands.

[Maztinho 0]

SS are comic gold. Nicky screaming like a bitch every big move, Kenny dropping the Flying Squirrel Legdrop. It's not a gimmick that will hurt them in the long run of their careers.

 

You "out grow" aspects of your life all the time. It's a simple explination away to a new gimmick. Ken Doane, "I was a Spirited youth, but now I'm older, wiser, and need to show these fans what a real talent can do. No more cheers, no more trampolines, just Ken Doane and a victim." Right now, run like the wind with it.

[Guest Princess Leena]

It's different with a live crowd... of course they're going to hate a group of 5 virtual nobodies cheating their ass off against wrestlers they know and tolerate.

 

I really doubt the common fan, the ones that don't know that Ken Doane is a solid worker, is going to pay to see them.

 

It's not the male cheerleader gimmick that's the problem. It doesn't even matter that they do it horribly.

 

They're being pushed because there's 5 of them, and a lot less of the opponent. It's just crappy booking.

[Downhome 0]

I hated the SS at first, I was at the show where they made their debut, but I love the group now. They are great workers, really know the tag team style, and I think they are perfectly fine heels. I see big things in the future for a few of them.

 

It wouldn't surprise me that if SS feuds with DX, it ends up where one of the SS guys becomes one of the younger guys to be a member of the new DX group.

 

I'd be all for that, and I see the DX "attitude" in most of the guys.

[Gary Floyd 0]

I'll say this about the Spirit Squad: They're awesome. They've taken a lame gimmick, and made it entertaining. Plus, they're good workers, and great heels.

 

SS rules.

[iggymcfly 0]

God damn it. I hate it when the smarks attach themselves to the most boring workers on the roster and pretend like they're good. The Spirit Squad is boooooring. No one cares if they win their matches, because if they win it's "oh well, it was 5 on 2, it doesn't count any way" and if they lose, it's "oh well, they're jobbers facing main eventers".

 

And to add to that, they've been in the main event of Raw three weeks in a row. Just think about that. Three weeks in a row, we've had boring jobbers vs. all the main event faces be the highlight of the show. Does anyone really think this is a good formula. I don't care if the live crowd gets into it, the TV crowd is bored to tears. Of their three main events, the only one where I didn't start falling asleep in the middle was the one where HHH was the referee, and that's because he distracted from what was going on in the ring.

 

If you think the guys involved are good workers, fine. Branch them off into two real tag teams and give Doane a singles push. You could even have them be an actual "frat boy" stable (instead of this stupid cheerleader BS), and have them be cocky heels that wrestle 2 on 2 and develop their own characters. The way they're booked now though, is beyond X-Pac heat. It's "oh, the Spirit Squad's main eventing again? Maybe I'll just skip Raw altogether".

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I guess another one of my big problems with the Spirit Squad is that we've already seen the Spirit Squad vs 1 or 2 guys, and we will probably continue to see handicap matches ad nauseum involving them for the next year or so.

 

 

I really hate handicap matches. It's indicative of lazy booking.

[Downhome 0]

God damn it. I hate it when the smarks attach themselves to the most boring workers on the roster and pretend like they're good. The Spirit Squad is boooooring. No one cares if they win their matches, because if they win it's "oh well, it was 5 on 2, it doesn't count any way" and if they lose, it's "oh well, they're jobbers facing main eventers".

 

And to add to that, they've been in the main event of Raw three weeks in a row. Just think about that. Three weeks in a row, we've had boring jobbers vs. all the main event faces be the highlight of the show. Does anyone really think this is a good formula. I don't care if the live crowd gets into it, the TV crowd is bored to tears. Of their three main events, the only one where I didn't start falling asleep in the middle was the one where HHH was the referee, and that's because he distracted from what was going on in the ring.

 

If you think the guys involved are good workers, fine. Branch them off into two real tag teams and give Doane a singles push. You could even have them be an actual "frat boy" stable (instead of this stupid cheerleader BS), and have them be cocky heels that wrestle 2 on 2 and develop their own characters. The way they're booked now though, is beyond X-Pac heat. It's "oh, the Spirit Squad's main eventing again? Maybe I'll just skip Raw altogether".

 

And I hate when smarks like you can't seem to differentiate between the workers and the booking/storylines/characters. You seem to just have a problem with the storylines, not the actual workers.

 

You hate how they are booking them? Then that's fine, but I don't see how anyone can say that the SS aren't solid workers in the ring. To me they've been one hell of a breath of fresh air.