Open WWE/NXT/Pro Wrestling thread

[teeray]

Time for a continuous pro wrestling thread here.  Hopefully this will be a catch all thread for anything anyone wants to talk about pro wrestling.  Current events, past wrestlers, etc.  It is all open to whatever you guys want to talk about.

 

I have been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember.  My uncle introduced me to it at a very young age and I was hooked.  I grew up on Mid-Atlantic wrestling , which eventually turned into NWA, which eventually turned into WCW.  Me and my dad used to go and watch them whenever they came to Dorton Arena here in Raleigh, when I was a youngster.  I was also a Hulkamaniac, and loved WWF as well during the Rock 'n Wrestling days.  Would also occasionally catch WCCW and AWA on TV.

 

After college I even briefly trained to be a pro wrestler with a guy (I can't even remember his name now) in Charlotte.

 

There are times however, when I pretty much quit watching wrestling for long periods of time.  I quit watching in 1990 after WrestleMania VI (perhaps I took the Hogan loss too hard), but would occasionally catch a WrestleMania here and there, but no longer watched wrestling religiously until 1994 when Hogan jumped ship to WCW and wrestled Ric Flair at Bash at the Beach (my fantasy match as a child).  Once the NWO took over in 1996 I was totally hooked once again.

 

After WrestleMania 13 in 1997 I started watching both Nitro and Raw, but was a WCW guy that would flip to Raw only during commercials.  The WCW started booking poorly, and I became increasingly drawn to the Stone Cold Steve Austin character.  Once Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble in 1998 I flipped allegiances and watched Raw every Monday and would flip to WCW only during the commercials.

 

Then in 2003 Austin quit wrestling, and The Rock left to do movies, I once again quit watching outside of the occasional WrestleMania.  I never gave a flip about Edge or Christian, and thought John Cena's rap character was stupid, and eventually quit watching altogether.

 

That brings me up to current times, in July of 2014 I finally ordered the WWE Network, mainly for their vault of old wrestling matches and Attitude Era PPVs.  Then SummerSlam 2014 came around and I figured I should watch it because hell I was already paying for the network, might as well.  I had no clue who most of the guys were and knew nothing of the storylines heading into it, so I was pretty lost.  I was however, immediately drawn to Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as they had a pretty great match.  I figured at that point if I am going to watch these PPVs I might as well watch Raw and Smackdown to catch up on the storylines.

 

So now I am back watching Raw and Smackdown every week, and have fallen in love with NXT.  I have really started to love the young guys on the roster.  Especially Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Paige, and Bray Wyatt.  I feel like them plus guys at NXT like Zayn, Balor, and Tyler Breeze are going to be great on main roster eventually.

 

Anyway, enough about me, tell me your story, and how you started watching wrestling.  Who are your all time favorites?  Who is watching Payback this Sunday?  Or, whatever you want to talk about 

[teeray]

Who wins the Fatal 4 Way match this Sunday?

[Mol3m4n]

Seth Rollins wins the match. It's too early for him to lose the belt.

I very much like Rollins. He reminds me of a more athletic version of Edge, who was always my favorite heel.

John Cena will lose this Sunday. 90% of people are saying there is no way Cena loses, but I think I see what's going on.

Also the US open challenge is the best thing they've had in years (but it will soon end).

Finn Balor is the next big thing. He is my favorite wrestler in NXT.

Bray Wyatt is a horrible "face of fear".

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Teeray and Fellow rasslin' fans-

 

As a fan of the NWA when I was a kid I have some serious questions form myself as the 8-12 year old from the 80's..if you do not follow the I cry for you. 

 

-Why do they not use video replay when Tommy Young referees a best of three match when Magnum T.A. fights Nikita Koloff for the vacated U.S. title?  

 

-A Russian chain from Uncle Ivan to the back of the head of an official is still assault right?!

 

-Does Tony Shavonie not have any say when the replay is in front of him?

 

-When the 4 Horesmen jumped Dusty Rhodes and tied his hand to the truck, breaking his hand with an aluminum baseball bat as it was videotaped.....why were the police not notified?  

 

-When will Rocky King ever develop his skills to win a match? He seems to on that middle tier with Sam Houston and Todd Champion. I am banking that of those guys becomes a star.  

 

-When will the Raging Bull Manny Fernandez turn back on Paul Jones after betraying Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant after publicly accepting the briefcase of money...they planned this right?  

 

-Last Question, Lasertron is clearly Hector Gurrerro....I will expose this in a detailed letter to Pro Wrestling magazine..you do agree right..before I move forward with this information?  

 

Sadly, I have said these things.....ITS REAL TO MEEEEE!

 

[Mol3m4n]

Teeray and Fellow rasslin' fans-

As a fan of the NWA when I was a kid I have some serious questions form myself as the 8-12 year old from the 80's..if you do not follow the I cry for you.

-Why do they not use video replay when Tommy Young referees a best of three match when Magnum T.A. fights Nikita Koloff for the vacated U.S. title?

-A Russian chain from Uncle Ivan to the back of the head of an official is still assault right?!

-Does Tony Shavonie not have any say when the replay is in front of him?

-When the 4 Horesmen jumped Dusty Rhodes and tied his hand to the truck, breaking his hand with an aluminum baseball bat as it was videotaped.....why were the police not notified?

-When will Rocky King ever develop his skills to win a match? He seems to on that middle tier with Sam Houston and Todd Champion. I am banking that of those guys becomes a star.

-When will the Raging Bull Manny Fernandez turn back on Paul Jones after betraying Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant after publicly accepting the briefcase of money...they planned this right?

-Last Question, Lasertron is clearly Hector Gurrerro....I will expose this in a detailed letter to Pro Wrestling magazine..you do agree right..before I move forward with this information?

Sadly, I have said these things.....ITS REAL TO MEEEEE!

I'm twenty years old, and for some reason a part of me will always say "look, that was real".

I may not be old enough to remember your references, but I could definitely come up with a series similar to that in relation to the late 2000's.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Grew up on NWA on TBS. Hated WWF. Watched AWA, WCCW, Global, etc on ESPN. Loved the RAW smut era on WWF/E and the nWo era in WCW. Nothing beat ECW (on at like 4 AM) of course,

 

Then WWE bought WCW and wrestling broke.

 

NXT is a very refreshing change but other than that, wrestling is garbage. Sans New Japan on AXS. Love that!

 

Agreed!

 

I mostly hated WWF until a friend in college was arguing that the the best match or one of the best was the Brett Hart and Steve Austin match where Austin gets a bleeding gash on his forehead...it was a NWA style classic fight without the BS.

 

He had it recorded and I reluctantly watched it...It was one of the more entertaining and impressive fake fights and I agreed he was right.  

[Hugor Hill]

Grew up on NWA on TBS. Hated WWF. Watched AWA, WCCW, Global, etc on ESPN. Loved the RAW smut era on WWF/E and the nWo era in WCW. Nothing beat ECW (on at like 4 AM) of course,

 

Then WWE bought WCW and wrestling broke.

 

NXT is a very refreshing change but other than that, wrestling is garbage. Sans New Japan on AXS. Love that!

 

Global Wrestling....maaaaaaaaan, now that takes me back. Handsome Stranger, Lightning Kid, the friggin PATRIOT!!!!! Harlem Heat started there as well.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Anyone else remember the weird ICW league..it was like bizarro wrestling who had Tony Atlas and a guy named Jumping Joe Salvoldi as its stars. 

 

I mean that it was Bizarro bc normally bad guys would be good guys..like Abdullah the Butcher was a good guy as were the Fabulous Freebirds. 

 

I just went into some deep nerd-level wrasslin. 

[teeray]

Teeray and Fellow rasslin' fans-

As a fan of the NWA when I was a kid I have some serious questions form myself as the 8-12 year old from the 80's..if you do not follow the I cry for you.

-Why do they not use video replay when Tommy Young referees a best of three match when Magnum T.A. fights Nikita Koloff for the vacated U.S. title?

-A Russian chain from Uncle Ivan to the back of the head of an official is still assault right?!

-Does Tony Shavonie not have any say when the replay is in front of him?

-When the 4 Horesmen jumped Dusty Rhodes and tied his hand to the truck, breaking his hand with an aluminum baseball bat as it was videotaped.....why were the police not notified?

-When will Rocky King ever develop his skills to win a match? He seems to on that middle tier with Sam Houston and Todd Champion. I am banking that of those guys becomes a star.

-When will the Raging Bull Manny Fernandez turn back on Paul Jones after betraying Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant after publicly accepting the briefcase of money...they planned this right?

-Last Question, Lasertron is clearly Hector Gurrerro....I will expose this in a detailed letter to Pro Wrestling magazine..you do agree right..before I move forward with this information?

Sadly, I have said these things.....ITS REAL TO MEEEEE!

Are you talking about the Nikita Koloff Magnum TA best of 7 series of fights? I can't remember exactly how it ended but I remember Nikita won the US belt after Magnum TA came back from down 3-0.

Nikita Koloff was one or my all time favorites, even when he was a bad guy. I used to try and Russian sickle my sisters. They would not be paying attention and I would start patting my arm, then when they turned around and BAM!

I actually met him much later at a Jimmy V foundation lunch before the celebrity golf tournament here in Raleigh. His was the only autograph out of everyone there that I asked for. He was a cool dude, and even though I was older was shocked he wasn't actually Russian lol.

Magnum TA vs Tully Blanchard I quit match at Starrcade was one of the stiffest most physical matches I have ever seen. Love that match.

Magnum TA would have been a huge star. What a shame.

I still remember the bit of the 4 horseman jumping Dusty Rhodes. I don't remember every detail but just remember him being handcuffed or tied to the truck and them hitting him with a bat, and I was young just sitting there shocked.

I don't remember Rocky King, but do remember Sam Houston. Saw him twice at Dorton Arena. Even as a kid I thought he looked silly with his tights and cowboy boots.

I don't remember that angle but do remember the Boogie Woogie man

[teeray]

Agreed!

I mostly hated WWF until a friend in college was arguing that the the best match or one of the best was the Brett Hart and Steve Austin match where Austin gets a bleeding gash on his forehead...it was a NWA style classic fight without the BS.

He had it recorded and I reluctantly watched it...It was one of the more entertaining and impressive fake fights and I agreed he was right.

Austin v Hart is probably my favorite all-time match. Just great storytelling. Other matches may have been better technically or had more "holy poo!" stunts, but pure storytelling and psychology (and importance) it is just the best for me

[Mol3m4n]

Austin v Hart is probably my favorite all-time match. Just great storytelling. Other matches may have been better technically or had more "holy poo!" stunts, but pure storytelling and psychology (and importance) it is just the best for me

Taker vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania for me.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Everything I do...I do it for you...

 

Magnum T.A. vs Nikita Koloff!!

 

https://youtu.be/D4Rm190R3V4

 

 

Rocky King(scrub) vs LAZERTRON

https://youtu.be/gzF5QT_yRu8

[teeray]

Taker vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania for me.

Yeah, I missed all that. I have since gone back and watched both their matches (I am assuming you meant their first Wrestlemania match) and they were indeed great, but were probably even better in the moment. I wish I would have watched the build up to that match.

I also missed all of CM Punk's time, but have gone back and watched a lot of his promos and matches and wish I hadn't skipped it.

I have tried to go back and watch a lot of the stuff I missed on WWE Network.

I still give the nod to Austin v Hart. One because I am an obvious Austin mark. Two because it was the cornerstone match to usher in the Attitude Era. Three because it was not overbooked with a bunch of false finishes. And fourth because it was the best executed double turn in wrestling history and on the biggest stage no less.

[Mol3m4n]

Yeah, I missed all that. I have since gone back and watched both their matches (I am assuming you meant their first Wrestlemania match) and they were indeed great, but were probably even better in the moment. I wish I would have watched the build up to that match.

I also missed all of CM Punk's time, but have gone back and watched a lot of his promos and matches and wish I hadn't skipped it.

I have tried to go back and watch a lot of the stuff I missed on WWE Network.

I still give the nod to Austin v Hart. One because I am an obvious Austin mark. Two because it was the cornerstone match to usher in the Attitude Era. Three because it was not overbooked with a bunch of false finishes. And fourth because it was the best executed double turn in wrestling history and on the biggest stage no less.

Punk was good during his time in ECW, but when he moved to Raw I thought he was overhyped. He was a great heel, but his matches are overrated due to the fact that he left wwe on his own terms.