WWE General Discussion - December 2007

[Twisted Intestine 0]

I still don't get how it was in terrible taste. It was a TV show angle, and they wanted to get it over as being real. How do you do that? You emulate a real death as close as possible.

 

I think 90% of the wrestlers would call you guys marks for thinking it was disrespectful to anybody. If a wrestler died, and they ignored his death to run the mcmahon angle, yes that would be wrong. But seeing how they stopped the angle when a wrestler died, they didn't cross any lines at all.

[The Truthiness 0]

I think Taz was protected by Heyman so well, that it was inevitable for him to be exposed when he left that comfort zone. Taz's neck breaking suplex based offense wasn't going to do him any good in the WWE. Vince would never take a chance on one of his guys getting injured, to get Taz over. When you take away the suplexes, Taz is dead. I do honestly think Taz, could've gotten over without the suplexes after a while, but he'd never would've reached guys like Genoa, Guerrerro, or Rey's level. He would've been a pretty good mid carder, but after all the hype and his debut. A pretty good midcarder wouldn't have done him any justice.

[BorneAgain 0]

Feel sad? She's sold over half a million downloads of an album where the entire selling point is that she's an absolutely worthless singer and the music is really, reall bad. That's a fairly impressive accomplishment.

 

Sad for Lilian, not Jillian.

 

edit: beat me to it Cena's Writer.

[The Buzz 0]

I agree with some of what you said Truthiness, but the gimmick could have worked without the suplexes. I think beyond the MMA style shooter, it was the fact that he was a little muscled up guy that looked like he could scrap, and who had some legit training in judo and amatuer wrestling. He could have gotten over still using the punch, kick offense with tamer suplexes if given more of a shot. It was the fact that he was a little guy that could beat the shit out of the big guys and keep coming at you. People liked badasses. But at the end of the day it didn't happen, and he's going to end up more famous for being a commentator then for what he did in the ring except to the fans that remember his ECW run.

[The Truthiness 0]

Yeah, I see where you're coming from Buzz, that might've worked.

[Jingus 0]

I think 90% of the wrestlers would call you guys marks for thinking it was disrespectful to anybody. If a wrestler died, and they ignored his death to run the mcmahon angle, yes that would be wrong. But seeing how they stopped the angle when a wrestler died, they didn't cross any lines at all.

A wrestler DID die before that. Sherri Martel, remember? And the angle just kept chugging along. They didn't stop it until they were absolutely forced to by the Benoit situation.

 

I've participated in 10-bell salutes to real dead people. As in, been the one actually ringing the bell for locals who were now in the ground. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who would do a fake 10-bell for "entertainment" purposes should go fuck themselves for being utter disgraces to humanity.

 

 

 

As for Taz(z), everyone talks about how he couldn't do his suplexes anymore. Part of that is of course due to Vince taking one look at his 5'8" ass and going "aw HELL no that midget ain't gonna throw my giants around". But more often, smarks seem to take the position that he would've hurt someone with them. My rebuttal: exactly who in ECW did Taz legitimately injure by suplexing them?

[Enigma 0]

Hulk Hogan is latest person to feud with eleven-time Emmy Award-winning American actress comedian, Rosie O'Donnell. At an American Gladiators press conference on Thursday, a journalist asked Hogan which celebrity he'd like to see the American Gladiators take on? "Without a doubt Rosie O’Donnell," Hogan said. "Somebody needs to shut that big mouth up." Rosie actually posted a response to Hogan on her blog at Rosie.com yesterday afternoon. Rosie wrote, "Hulk Hogan, the wrestler guy, wants to pummel me. Isn’t that sweet, and wildly odd." Rosie then related Hogan to her arch nemesis, Donald Trump. "It’s like a gang of gross guys, a club almost, old, dumb, white and on TV," she wrote.

[Matt Young 0]

old, dumb, white and on TV," she wrote.

 

Just like Rosie!

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Hogan's not white, he's orange.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

Here is Evans, for those who haven't seen him before.

 

 

Lashley II!

 

 

Good lord man, his cock is pretty much hanging out.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. Also notice as it seems to pull a bit towards the right....its even causing some strain on his tights.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

If that guy and Sapp both end up in WWE, they better never book the two of them in a match along with Lashley on RAW, because JR's head will likely explode trying to tell who is who.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

If that guy and Sapp both end up in WWE, they better never book the two of them in a match along with Lashley on RAW, because JR's head will likely explode trying to tell who is who.

 

Gotta love that about JR. He'll bitch about other announcers not "telling a story" during the match, meanwhile he gets wrestlers mixed up and constantly fucks up the names of moves. Seriously, how many times has JR called the Wisper in the Wind the Twist of Fate?

[luke-o 0]

If that guy and Sapp both end up in WWE, they better never book the two of them in a match along with Lashley on RAW, because JR's head will likely explode trying to tell who is who.

 

Gotta love that about JR. He'll bitch about other announcers not "telling a story" during the match, meanwhile he gets wrestlers mixed up and constantly fucks up the names of moves. Seriously, how many times has JR called the Wisper in the Wind the Twist of Fate?

 

Please, he had trouble telling which one was Matt and which one was Jeff. The moves are the least of his troubles.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

If that guy and Sapp both end up in WWE, they better never book the two of them in a match along with Lashley on RAW, because JR's head will likely explode trying to tell who is who.

 

Gotta love that about JR. He'll bitch about other announcers not "telling a story" during the match, meanwhile he gets wrestlers mixed up and constantly fucks up the names of moves. Seriously, how many times has JR called the Wisper in the Wind the Twist of Fate?

 

Please, he had trouble telling which one was Matt and which one was Jeff. The moves are the least of his troubles.

 

Which makes it more puzzling why the WWE are so high on him as being the lead announcer.

[Diamonddust 0]

If that guy and Sapp both end up in WWE, they better never book the two of them in a match along with Lashley on RAW, because JR's head will likely explode trying to tell who is who.

 

Gotta love that about JR. He'll bitch about other announcers not "telling a story" during the match, meanwhile he gets wrestlers mixed up and constantly fucks up the names of moves. Seriously, how many times has JR called the Wisper in the Wind the Twist of Fate?

 

Please, he had trouble telling which one was Matt and which one was Jeff. The moves are the least of his troubles.

 

Which makes it more puzzling why the WWE are so high on him as being the lead announcer.

 

Because he still has gobs of fans who get pissed off every time they try to take him off camera and replace him with someone more "TV Ready". If Kevin Dunn had his way, J.R. would have been gone a long time ago. The talent, though, goes to bat for Ross to keep him on Raw.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

They've tried replacing him before.

 

The problem is that someone like Jonathan Coachman (who I wish was off TV completely) or Joey Styles will never be accepted as a replacement for Jim Ross. The frustrating thing is how much Ross struggles to keep up with what is going on. You rarely hear any serious play-by-play calling from him anymore, other than a few key moves. WWE's policies may be to blame for that, though.

 

I think they should transition to a three man announce team, just to take the load off from Jim Ross a bit, and let Lawler be himself a bit more. Of course, that will never happen.

[The Truthiness 0]

People calling for Jim Ross to be fired once a year, is a IWC tradition that never gets old. He's still the best play by play man in wrestling, which really isn't saying much, but he is the best.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Wasn't Joey Styles told to stop calling the moves during matches? Unless it's a signature move with a character-tied in name it rarely gets called.

 

Josh Matthews was pretty decent, though he was Joey Styles-lite I guess, and why go for the rip-off when you have the real thing. That and he was basically blackballed for I believe asking for a in-ring contract when he was doing a wrestling angle. Something like that.

 

The deal with Ross is that he needs to retire rather than getting fired. If it is truely of his own decision and he gets to cut a promo in Oklahoma to say goodbye, I think the next PBP guy will be more accepted.

[Jericholic82 0]

Wasn't Joey Styles told to stop calling the moves during matches? Unless it's a signature move with a character-tied in name it rarely gets called.

 

Josh Matthews was pretty decent, though he was Joey Styles-lite I guess, and why go for the rip-off when you have the real thing. That and he was basically blackballed for I believe asking for a in-ring contract when he was doing a wrestling angle. Something like that.

 

The deal with Ross is that he needs to retire rather than getting fired. If it is truely of his own decision and he gets to cut a promo in Oklahoma to say goodbye, I think the next PBP guy will be more accepted.

so was mathews fired then? I saw him awhile back introducing one of the pick your big ones

 

I miss him and Bill Demott On Velocity, Im sorry- BILL-Ocity

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

They've tried replacing him before.

 

The problem is that someone like Jonathan Coachman (who I wish was off TV completely) or Joey Styles will never be accepted as a replacement for Jim Ross. The frustrating thing is how much Ross struggles to keep up with what is going on. You rarely hear any serious play-by-play calling from him anymore, other than a few key moves. WWE's policies may be to blame for that, though.

 

I think they should transition to a three man announce team, just to take the load off from Jim Ross a bit, and let Lawler be himself a bit more. Of course, that will never happen.

 

 

I can't remember where I heard it, but they tell him not to focus on the moves, but to put over the match as a whole.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Jim Ross' voice is as much a part of Raw as anything else really, the years he wasn't around seemed very strange. I guess though, that people will forget about him if he was replaced. Still, I don't mind his odd goof here and there.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Ross is still EASILY the best lead announcer in wrestling, even as a shell of his former self. Styles sucks and I never saw what IWC people saw in him, other than a propensity to worry more about blandly calling every single move by its proper name with his pipsqueak voice instead of getting people into the match.

[DangerousDamon 0]

I think JR messing up the names of moves or confusing people seems to be part of his "gimmick," so to speak. When I watch old WCW/NWA tapes (God knows I'm not old enough to actually remember back then), JR doesn't seem to mess up the moves too bad.

[Diamonddust 0]

I think JR messing up the names of moves or confusing people seems to be part of his "gimmick," so to speak. When I watch old WCW/NWA tapes (God knows I'm not old enough to actually remember back then), JR doesn't seem to mess up the moves too bad.

 

Agreed. The broadcasting styles of JR and Jim Ross are different. Jim Ross used to come across as an announcer you'd just as well see on any sports broadcast. The WWE style, though, doesn't want that on their broadcasts.

[Enigma 0]

Styles' run was totally sabotaged because they insisted on sticking lame ass Coachman in there every single time.

 

Styles & Lawler by themselves did a fantastic job at Taboo Tuesday '05. Styles' work in particular made that HHH/Flair cage match a lot better than it was.

[luke-o 0]

As much as JR does mess up things, I can't imagine anyone else selling the big storylines over the past 10 years other than JR.

[Mike wanna be 0]

They've tried replacing him before.

 

The problem is that someone like Jonathan Coachman (who I wish was off TV completely) or Joey Styles will never be accepted as a replacement for Jim Ross. The frustrating thing is how much Ross struggles to keep up with what is going on. You rarely hear any serious play-by-play calling from him anymore, other than a few key moves. WWE's policies may be to blame for that, though.

 

I think they should transition to a three man announce team, just to take the load off from Jim Ross a bit, and let Lawler be himself a bit more. Of course, that will never happen.

 

 

I can't remember where I heard it, but they tell him not to focus on the moves, but to put over the match as a whole.

Is that just regular company policy, or is that the Jim Ross protection measure because he messes up moves more often than he messes up telling the story?

[Hawk 34 0]

More of a policy since they made a big fuss about Styles' inability to tell a story rather just calling the match.

[Jingus 0]

Styles is a perfectly good announcer who is ruined when he's shoehorned into calling it "WWE Style". Go back and listen to his great commentary on the first One Night Stand, and compare it to any of the lackluster work he does on Tuesday night.

 

Yes, JR is getting old, and certainly has his share of flaws. But who the hell could possibly replace him in that spot? Not Styles, he tried and failed (partly due to Coach, but still, WWE Joey is inferior to Ross). Not Michael Cole, he's fucking terrible, an insincere phony-sounding goatteed little bitchboy who completely leans on his much more talented color commentators to sound even halfway competent. Not Todd Grisham, the very thought makes me want to go on a machete-swinging rampage. Not anybody I've heard on the indies, they just don't call it that way. For all the JR haterz, who is better?

[Perfection 0]

Styles is a perfectly good announcer who is ruined when he's shoehorned into calling it "WWE Style". Go back and listen to his great commentary on the first One Night Stand, and compare it to any of the lackluster work he does on Tuesday night.

 

Yes, JR is getting old, and certainly has his share of flaws. But who the hell could possibly replace him in that spot? Not Styles, he tried and failed (partly due to Coach, but still, WWE Joey is inferior to Ross). Not Michael Cole, he's fucking terrible, an insincere phony-sounding goatteed little bitchboy who completely leans on his much more talented color commentators to sound even halfway competent. Not Todd Grisham, the very thought makes me want to go on a machete-swinging rampage. Not anybody I've heard on the indies, they just don't call it that way. For all the JR haterz, who is better?

 

I have never liked Styles. The old styles and the new one are equally as bad. Never have understood all the love he gets from certain circles.

 

I like ross and don't understand all the hate he gets sometimes. He obviously is not as good as he used to be but I know that if he wasn't told how to call a match by the "mr doesn't know it all" mcmahon, he would be as good as he used to be. When he does finally go for good, it will be a sad day imho and unless they find someone really really good, it won't be the same watching raw. When coach took over, the quality and enjoyment of raw decreased about a thousand times so I'm not looking forward to seeing ross retiring or being replaced.