The Figure Four - ALL Things ECW-WWF-NJPW-TNA-ROH-AEW

[CrypticVillain]

So I haven't watched very much WWE in the last year... I'm watching some crap Scarecrow movie on syfy, and then a WWE commercial comes on, with Rob Van Dam being featured. So how long has he been back?

I think 3 months. But now he is gone again lol

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

The current product can't keep my attention for more than two minutes but I've been on youtube non-stop watching Attitude era Raw, Smackdown, ECW, Nitro, Thunder, and PPVs.

 

I think the last thing I watched related to the current product was wrestlemania. If Rock isn't on, I just don't care. Even with guys like Punk, Bryan, Tyler Black (Seth Rollins), and Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) that I've been watching since ROH, I literally don't care.

 

Are they really trying the McMahon/Helmsley deal AGAIN?

[Mr. Sinister]

You should've checked out MegaVideo berfore it got shut down, Brave. They had everything, and I mean everything. WCW/NWA/WWF/ECW/TNA/ROH. I don't know how they did it with the WWE stuff. You'd think they'd have had a lot of that stuff buried underground like the Ark Of The Covenant. They had every Raw, every Shotgun Saturday Night/Livewire/Superstars/Heat, every Smackdown, every PPV. Everything

 

You could probably read back like 15-20 pages and see posts by me from 3 years ago on it. Some surreal things I took from the era that preceded the Attitude Era were that some of those characters were just godawful. As bad as things were at one point with modern WWE, they were in rough shape during the pre-Main Event HBK era. Jim Ross was a heel commentator, which was weird as hell. The Rock was a gump (seriously, dude was a super gump), but even though he was given the most generic of generic roles, you could tell that he still had natural mic skills.

 

"Ringmaster" Steve Austin was actually a very good technical wrestler, before his Stone Cold persona made him a brawler. Before the weak ass "Invasion" storyline that ultimately ruined many careers, it actually happened before. It was the ECW Invasion where on one episode of Raw, RVD shows up and has a match with bright Sting tights wearing Jeff Hardy. There was another eipisode where they actually hold Raw at that ****hole paradise in Philly, and all of the ECW wrestlers got some run.

 

Oh, and with all of the memorable Mick Foley matches in his WWE career (too many to list), Mind Games ('96) where he faced HBK for the heavyweight title, is the greatest match I ever saw him in. And he saved the Undertakers career, engaging in a few awesome matches (Boiler Room Brawl, I Quit, Buried Alive, and ultimately, Hell In A Cell) that breathed life back into his career and led him down the Ministry Of Darkness path, along with the arrival of Kane. One last thing also: most people have vivid memory of Sable baring all with the hand paint at Fully Loaded '98, but somehow, Jacqueline showing her gigantic breasts (no gimmick paint/pasties, 100% skin) on live tv (albeit PPV, but you had to know that kids were watching) somehow got lost in the shuffle.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Mr. Sinister

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

I feel you on some of these insane storylines.

 

 

I have no idea how they weren't picketed by Christians every week during the Undertaker "Satan cult leader, sacrificing ppl to the devil" angle. A lot of those segments were uncomfortable 

[Big Weirdo]

You should've checked out MegaVideo berfore it got shut down, Brave. They had everything, and I mean everything. WCW/NWA/WWF/ECW/TNA/ROH. I don't know how they did it with the WWE stuff. You'd think they'd have had a lot of that stuff buried underground like the Ark Of The Covenant. They had every Raw, every Shotgun Saturday Night/Livewire/Superstars/Heat, every Smackdown, every PPV. Everything

 

You could probably read back like 15-20 pages and see posts by me from 3 years ago on it. Some surreal things I took from the era that preceded the Attitude Era were that some of those characters were just godawful. As bad as things were at one point with modern WWE, they were in rough shape during the pre-Main Event HBK era. Jim Ross was a heel commentator, which was weird as hell. The Rock was a gump (seriously, dude was a super gump), but even though he was given the most generic of generic roles, you could tell that he still had natural mic skills.

 

"Ringmaster" Steve Austin was actually a very good technical wrestler, before his Stone Cold persona made him a brawler. Before the weak ass "Invasion" storyline that ultimately ruined many careers, it actually happened before. It was the ECW Invasion where on one episode of Raw, RVD shows up and has a match with bright Sting tights wearing Jeff Hardy. There was another eipisode where they actually hold Raw at that ****hole paradise in Philly, and all of the ECW wrestlers got some run.

 

Oh, and with all of the memorable Mick Foley matches in his WWE career (too many to list), Mind Games ('96) where he faced HBK for the heavyweight title, is the greatest match I ever saw him in. And he saved the Undertakers career, engaging in a few awesome matches (Boiler Room Brawl, I Quit, Buried Alive, and ultimately, Hell In A Cell) that breathed life back into his career and led him down the Ministry Of Darkness path, along with the arrival of Kane. One last thing also: most people have vivid memory of Sable baring all with the hand paint at Fully Loaded '98, but somehow, Jacqueline showing her gigantic breasts (no gimmick paint/pasties, 100% skin) on live tv (albeit PPV, but you had to know that kids were watching) somehow got lost in the shuffle.

 

Stone Cold was a great technical wrestler even well into the Stone Cold persona.  His match at Wrestlemania 13 with Bret Hart is probably his best match ever.  Great story, too.  He really had to use the brawler style more after Owen Hart broke his neck in '97.

 

And I have said for years Mick Foley is my favorite wrestler.  No one, and I mean no one, has put more people over in their career than Mick Foley.  He has made so many great wrestlers look even better with the bumps he was willing to take.  He is the only reason Triple H ever became a main event star.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Who Del

[Big Weirdo]

Also, WWE Battleground sucked.  Easily the worst PPV of the year.  Match of the Night was Rhodes vs The Shield.  It was an awesome match.  Goldust is better than he was 15 years ago.  And I loved the character back then.  He used to get so much crazy heat.  He looks to be in better shape than he was, too.

 

The writing has gone downhill since summertime.  Presumably because the writer who started the Daniel Bryan/Orton/Helmsley thing has since left and now someone else has to pick up the ball and write something worthwhile.  I have no faith in that happening.

[DM72]

Also, WWE Battleground sucked.  Easily the worst PPV of the year.  Match of the Night was Rhodes vs The Shield.  It was an awesome match.  Goldust is better than he was 15 years ago.  And I loved the character back then.  He used to get so much crazy heat.  He looks to be in better shape than he was, too. The writing has gone downhill since summertime.  Presumably because the writer who started the Daniel Bryan/Orton/Helmsley thing has since left and now someone else has to pick up the ball and write something worthwhile.  I have no faith in that happening.

I'm glad I saved a trip to go see it live. Was it worst than this years WM?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

How strange is it that in 2013 the best wrestler on the WWE roster is possibly Dustin Rhodes? It makes me happy.

 

I don't hate HHH the way most of the internet does. I've always liked him in the ring, and I think I agree with his vision for "this business" about 85 percent of the time. The problem is he just refuses to show ass as a heel. I think the online fans have greatly exaggerated Daniel's potential as the top gun in any promotion, but this angle simply can't go anywhere because in the PG-world, Stephanie can't get a come-uppance and HHH never gets one in any world.

 

The Mr. McMahon character worked because Vince turned him into a cartoon. He was the coyote chasing the roadrunner in Austin. No matter what happens, HHH comes out week after week with his perfect hair and his wife and his money and his legacy and if the wrong people win the tag belts, oh well, that's a disappointment, I suppose. I no longer have any idea what the stakes are here or even what "winning" the feud looks like for the faces.

[Gallen5862]

John Cena won thw Heavyweight championship last night in hell in a cell. Damien sandow cashed in on Raw but John cena became the first champion to win the match and detain his title. Cena last year won his money in the bank match but it was by interference fromthe big show.

HBK last night hit sweet chin music on Bryan Daniels that allowed Randy Orton to become the WWE champion.Cody Rhodes and Goldust are still the WWE Tag team champions.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Gallen5862

[ksun247]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1832854-wwe-pro-wrestling-superstar-mark-henry-dresses-as-rick-ross-for-halloween

 

With his braids gone, Mark Henry can definitely pass for rapper Rick Ross. I'm sure this was his easiest Halloween costume ever.

 

 

 

[@DCGoldPants]

The storylines are so weak right now that they went back to the Cena well. Maybe setting up to unify those titles? Either way, they realized Sandow was a dead end. Only smart move recently. Time for him to get a new character.

Still.... There is nothing interesting going on.

[Gallen5862]

John Cena and the Rock both have WWE Title rematch clauses. They could have the Rock come back to reclaim the face of the company from Randy orton. The Rock becomes the new WWe champion. Cena and the Rock agree to one more Wrestlemania match to break the tie and the winner becomes the WWE/World Heavy weight Champion.

[Big Weirdo]

Good god no. That sounds awful. No more Rock/Cena, please.

Sandow had no chance to succeed. After he won the briefcase they buried him repeatedly. Did he even win a match after Money in the Bank?

A lot of these guys don't get a chance to cultivate their characters because they wrestle 4 minute squash matches and barely get any promo time. Not that I really thought Sandow was great but he's a dead end because they made him a dead end.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Who Del

[CrypticVillain]

I don't think Sandow is dead yet. But you're right, they sure haven't done him any favors.

 

Same goes with Dolph Ziggler, and Kofi Kingston. You would have thought they would have gave Kofi at least a World Title run by now, but they rather keep giving the to Del Rio, and now Cena lol. But I am truly disappointed in the way they handle Ziggler. Now we're going to have to watch a Big Show/Orton feud. Nothing says boring more than Big Show vs Orton. lol

[Big Weirdo]

The rumor about Ziggler is Vince doesn't think he is main event quality. They don't think he can draw. But again they didn't give him a chance to do anything. He got the concussion then he dropped the belt to Del Rio and that was that.

The problem is they don't focus enough on the midcard and so there is never any new blood to challenge someone like Cena and Orton.

Bryan is a fantastic wrestler and got lucky with the YES chant but since then they've had him lose or get stripped of the title over the past 4 PPVs. Once again burying a guy who is more over than anyone since Austin.

They need to watch it with that otherwise that B+ level stuff will become a self fulfilling prophecy. If it already hasn't.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Who Del

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

John Cena and the Rock both have WWE Title rematch clauses. They could have the Rock come back to reclaim the face of the company from Randy orton. The Rock becomes the new WWe champion. Cena and the Rock agree to one more Wrestlemania match to break the tie and the winner becomes the WWE/World Heavy weight Champion.

 

I don't think The Rock is ever wrestling again. He got injured in his last match and has far too much to lose.

 

Also...Christ, No. How many years can Cena-Rock be the story at WrestleMania? Andre and Hogan only met twice. And that was back when storylines took forever.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Lombardi's_kid_brother

[CrypticVillain]

If WWE wants a HUGE main event for Mainia. They gotta find a way to get Cena, Bryan, and Punk involved in a triple threat match. I don't care of it's too unify the titles, they just need to get them three invoked.

If that is to happen, Randy Orton has to lose the title in January, then the rematch at the Royal Rumble.

[CrypticVillain]

The rumor about Ziggler is Vince doesn't think he is main event quality. They don't think he can draw. But again they didn't give him a chance to do anything. He got the concussion then he dropped the belt to Del Rio and that was that.

The problem is they don't focus enough on the midcard and so there is never any new blood to challenge someone like Cena and Orton.

Bryan is a fantastic wrestler and got lucky with the YES chant but since then they've had him lose or get stripped of the title over the past 4 PPVs. Once again burying a guy who is more over than anyone since Austin.

They need to watch it with that otherwise that B+ level stuff will become a self fulfilling prophecy. If it already hasn't.

Yeah,heard that rumor about Ziggler. That's dumb.They also said they don't like the way he represents the company on interviews and whatnot. And that is done bull because he has the best interviews and he sells the product...

[@DCGoldPants]

Good god no. That sounds awful. No more Rock/Cena, please.

Sandow had no chance to succeed. After he won the briefcase they buried him repeatedly. Did he even win a match after Money in the Bank?

A lot of these guys don't get a chance to cultivate their characters because they wrestle 4 minute squash matches and barely get any promo time. Not that I really thought Sandow was great but he's a dead end because they made him a dead end.

 

 

Problem with Sandow was that the crowd would boo. But it wasn't legit heat. It was "We're sick of this guy" booing. He's good on the mic. He's fine in the ring. But we've seen that character before...a few times. It wasn't original and he didn't do anything special with it. His look with the dark hair and the beard was for anything but the scholar. That was just awful writing there I guess. Feel bad for the guy because he could be a few years into a legit character by now. That's his real name, right? I'd change it also.

[Big Weirdo]

Problem with Sandow was that the crowd would boo. But it wasn't legit heat. It was "We're sick of this guy" booing. He's good on the mic. He's fine in the ring. But we've seen that character before...a few times. It wasn't original and he didn't do anything special with it. His look with the dark hair and the beard was for anything but the scholar. That was just awful writing there I guess. Feel bad for the guy because he could be a few years into a legit character by now. That's his real name, right? I'd change it also.

 

Wrestling recycles characters all the time.  The issue for Sandow is that he isn't the best at it.  Others have done it better so they need to find something else for him.  They've done the southern preacher/cult leader before but Bray Wyatt is just the best who's ever done it.  Thats why it works for him.

 

That said they still did him no favors.  You don't give the guy the Money in the Bank briefcase and bury him.  The character loses credibility that way.  His whole shtick is that he's better than everyone except who believes it since he can't even beat half of the midcarders on the roster.

 

On a side note the most over heel in WWE is probably Vickie Guerrero.  :|

Edited November 1, 2013 by Who Del

[Big Weirdo]

Yeah,heard that rumor about Ziggler. That's dumb.They also said they don't like the way he represents the company on interviews and whatnot. And that is done bull because he has the best interviews and he sells the product...

 

I've heard that, too, but never been able to find anything on it.  I heard he said something during a Summerslam press event.  They even played it up in his storyline with the Shield with Ambrose taunting him and telling him he's going to teach him to respect the business.  But I've never actually seen what was said.

[Big Weirdo]

Daniel Bryan is out of the title picture for now they're saying.  He's starting a program with the Wyatts and CM Punk.  That should be awesome.

 

Big Show vs Orton, I'm thrilled.  Glad it's still 2006 in the WWE Universe.

 

Also one more thing:  the big rumor going around is that Billy Corgan (yes, of Smashing Pumpkins) is purchasing TNA.  He ran his own independent wrestling promotion in Chicago for some time now and there is a ridiculous youtube commercial with him in it.  I'll see if I can't dig it up.  The guy is a huge wrestling fanatic.

 

EDIT:  Just read that Hogan has a verbal agreement with the WWE to come back.  So take that for what it's worth.  

Edited November 4, 2013 by Who Del

[Mr. Sinister]

Damn. What's this, like the 100th time Hogan has left and come back?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

 

 

EDIT:  Just read that Hogan has a verbal agreement with the WWE to come back.  So take that for what it's worth.  

 

He's going to fix the ratings, brother. Maybe give the rub to Daniel Bryan, dude. The Hulkster is an A+ talent, brother, and he knows what is best for the business, dude.

[@DCGoldPants]

ugh....Hogan.

 

Read that Billy Corgan is interested in buying TNA. Not sure what he could do besides...duh....better writers and get their decent performers some acting/speaking lessons. Though Velvet Sky.....me likey.

 

Give me 9 months with the WWE storyline and I'd make it better. Anybody here on ES would. I really believe that.