Eat My Fuc posted:

MassRafTer posted:

Pinche Rudo posted:

https://twitter.com/mkurtz91/status/1406097280650956801?s=19

Eat the chips

Helicity posted:

I took a break from the internet - can someone provide the lore of Mike Hurts?

Rarity posted:

You fools, this is exactly what Big Goon wants!

Helicity posted:

I took a break from the internet - can someone provide the lore of Mike Hurts?

quote:

The magicians Penn & Teller have a TV show called “Fool Us”, which is fascinating in many ways, especially in regards to what was once a proud artform called professional wrestling.

Anyone going to a magic show goes with the notion that they are going to be fooled. When they are fooled, they are much more entertained by the artform. Even if getting fooled means falling for sleight-of-hand tricks, misdirection, cleverly created angles, insanely devised devices or a gamut of new tricks, variations of tricks, historically known tricks or just the basics done for (or in) a new medium.

(Let’s set aside the editing tricks that make odd-looking scenarios all the more creepy, which are alluded to by the British emcee when talking about this show).

What fascinates me about “Fool Us” is that Penn & Teller show so much respect to the participants: the newcomers simply re-doing classic staples, the veterans who mix character and appearance and visuals with the various levels of magic in the act and/or the masters (like a recent one with David Roth, a master of the coin trick).

What I love is that Penn & Teller aren’t diminishing the acts, nor spoiling them, nor spelling out the ways they are done. If they are fooled, they admit it. If not, they speak in allusions and code-words and what seem to be references to names and acts of yesteryear.

It seems odd that newcomers think that they can fool professional magicians who are obviously students of the game, long time practitioners and historians of their industry.

But it seems amazing that Penn & Teller are all about the craft, all about giving a spotlight to other magicians and all about building up their business, and not tearing it down.

Magicians, it would seem, are not plagued by a self-destructive fanbase, nor the monopolizing of the industry by indifferent promoters, nor by actions that deny the historical importance of previous practitioners of the craft.

When David Roth appears in front of Penn & Teller, doing a lot of tricks that they’ve seen, read about and probably fully realize what is going on, these professionals don’t scoff, they simply tell him that “you fooled us”.

It’s all about respect, but it’s also fully about the artcraft.

When audiences at a magician act are not fooled, the magician has not done his or her job. But who buys tickets to a stage act, knowing what they are going to see, and spends the whole time dismissing the tricks and the pageantry and the other audience members that want to enjoy it?

Well, you can say that if a stage act stopped trying to fool the audience, and bumbled through bad performances, and failed to entertain, then eventually the audience would turn on the industry. Maybe that’s the biggest difference between these entertainment art forms….

But where did the professional wrestling industry go awry?

Most of us “buy into” the illusion and willingly “suspend disbelieve” and observe and interact with the concept that we want to enjoy this form of sports entertainment. Anyone who buys a ticket for a WWE event, buys a PPV or subscribes to that Network thingie, and wants to spew four-letter words that begin with F are themselves a bigger distraction these days.

Let’s also set aside that the promotions who produce professional wrestling don’t call it wrestling anymore, but professional wrestling by any name is an interactive performance.

Sure, interactivity can be a bad thing, a dangerous thing. The history of professional wrestling is replete with fan attacks, throwing dangerous objects, and run-of-the-mill fans (seriously) who wanted to kill a wrestler, because of what he did in the ring.

Some of us remember January 22, 1980. Some of us who attended events where Bruno Sammartino battled Larry Zbyszko would have gotten together as a mob and if Larry hadn’t hidden away he would have met a severe beating by otherwise respectable fans.

(Meanwhile Larry was negotiating for more $ from Vincent J. McMahon for putting his life on the line, and drawing fans to the arenas in droves … But I digress … or do I?)

Maybe it was because there was a lot of reality in professional wrestling back there, but more so because there was an emotional tie to it all. Professional wrestling fans came to the arenas on a monthly basis. They invested (in time and money and travel and emotion) into their heroes and watched as matchups took place.

Despite the rumors and the speculation and the guffaws of a lot of non-professional wrestling fans, the majority of those who attended the shows and watched on TV and read the magazines and talked with their friends and gathered with family and were intrigued by it all … well, those people were into professional wrestling like it was religion, like it was fantasy football in 2015, like it was Star Trek or Star Wars, like it was new comics day in the 1990’s.

(By the way, except for Star Trek or Star Wars, I know all about those other pastimes).

I know that was many, many generations ago in terms of the history and development (or lack thereof) of this sport.

And yes, I call it a sport.

Because at the essence of it all, professional wrestling is a sport … it is an illusion of a sport, but somewhere since around February of 1989, when Vincent K. McMahon declared a statement for tax reasons, professional wrestling stopped being the illusion of sport, and became filler for an ongoing, episodic Television show, and because the impetus for mass marketing and licensing, and became far less an artform and far more a from the top-down, controlled entertainment environment.

(Note that I’m not about to use the word creative, since that would launch me into a rant of epic proportions).

Illusion isn’t a bad thing, and magic tricks aren’t something to guffaw about. In 2015, using the comedy analogy is fraught with peril, since the best example (someone who said comedy is all about storytelling, and how he started every show just talking to the audience, before he got to his set) is not a very good example of anything anymore.

But what happened to the illusion in professional wrestling?

What happened to the time when Jake Roberts debuted the DDT, and for years we all knew that to be the finisher of all finishers? In 2009, the Mad Scientist Tommy Treznik couldn’t do much with the Bus Driver variant to shake the cobwebs of disuse from ho-hum, transitional hold implications of the DDT.

A once devastating maneuver turned into boredom because in the 1990’s everyone used it, and by the 2000’s it never knocked anyone out.

When was the last big move? Was it the Canadian Destroyer, which TNA brilliance countered within months?

Anything half-interesting becomes forgettable when every match is replete with a hundred moves, none of which mean anything.

Professional wrestling was once a sport, once believed in, once portrayed in the ring as something that was meaningful, dangerous and emotional.

Putting on a performance these days is like watching a play. No offense to actors (and actresses, I forget what is pc anymore) who perform with passion and perform so the audience believes in their characters, their conflicts, their efforts and their overcoming of obstacles.

Over the next few blogs, I’ll take a few more swipes at what professional wrestling is missing, because there’s more than just illusion, but if anyone’s asking me why professional wrestling just isn’t the same, it starts with the implications that we’re watching something with the understanding that it looks real, but really isn’t, but want it to be and will it to be and really want to be engaged in the belief that we can be entertained by it all.

Which is what people who enjoy magic tricks are doing …. And fortunately for them, there aren’t a lot of promoters and performers guffawing and destroying their enjoyment by screaming out things at every step of the way to make them feel like utter fools for wanting to be part of it.

Some of us want to be fooled, and not to be made foolish for wanting to pay for it.
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MassRafTer posted:

Did your eyes gloss over before the first mention of pro wrestling?

quote:

Heard-hitting articles ask the tough questions few other sites dare cover

This week was a banner week for the Camel Clutch Blog.

The Camel Clutch Blog is owned and operated by Eric Gargiulo, pro wrestling announcer, commentator, and radio show host best known for his years announcing Combat Zone Wrestling and hosting Pro Wrestling Radio on WBCB 1490 AM out of Philadelphia until 2009.

But, while Eric brings his years of experience to the site, it is in the colorful columnists he has assembled to provide content for Camel Clutch that set it apart.

After snapping up notable wrestling columnist Joe Babinsack, last seen writing long form commentary at F4Wonline.com, the site seems poised for greatness, with a talented stable of talent boasting not only “The Sack” (as his fans refer to him), but also thought-provocing essayists like David M. Levin, and Tom Elliot.
“Yes, Hell, Fire and Brimstone must reign supreme in the WWE again.” -David M. Levin

Just this week alone, Levin submitted an enlightening article arguing for the return of the Kane most of us refer to as the “Big Red Machine,” calling for an end to this Corporate Kane gimmick.

“Nothing would make me happier right now than to see the WWE finally put Kane back where he rightfully belongs,” Levin writes… “…in a red suit and the mask that made him one of the greatest and feared characters that professional wrestling has ever known.”

A hopeful Levin further writes that he believes the fallout from Extreme Rules will see Kane’s return to glory, “fans will have a chance to see the Big Red Monster I finish out his career how it started when he appeared in the WWE starting in 1997. “

Impressively, barely a third of the way into his thesis, Levin shirks convention to let his reader know just how good an idea he is on to here…

“It’s masterful and brilliant, and if it happens to work come Sunday in Chicago when Kane has been asked to protect the cage for The Authority, it will be the triumphant return of one of the company’s greatest characters.”

And, for those scoffing at the idea that the company would put energy in promoting one of their oldest, and longer tenured superstars when it desperately needs younger, fresher faces to start carrying the company… Levin as thought of that as well:

“Yes, the wrestling fans need a transition to Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Neville and Rusev. But in doing so, it should also let one of the most tenured members of the WWE roster and one of the most respected men in the ring of all time help the new establishment.”

You can read more of Levin’s article on Kane, and the myriad reasons why this brilliant idea must come to pass over at the Camel Clutch Blog here.
“The brand split in 2002 was a great idea of Vince McMahon’s in many ways.” -Tom Elliot

Elsewhere on this sight, Tom Elliot looks at whether the brand split could ever happen again… and all the reasons why, in his opinion, it should.

“From a business and financial standpoint, it created more merchandise sales and would have caused more people to watch both programs to see what happened. The brand split also allowed more superstars to be put in the spotlight, Brock Lesnar being an example before he moved to SmackDown.”

It’s a controversial subject to be sure, and one that has the potential to polarize wrestling fans around the world. Elliot recognizes the weight of his subject matter, however, and brings the appropriate amount to gravitas to the topic:

“I have thought about this subject a lot, about whether RAW and SmackDown should once again be separate entities rather than sharing rosters.”

He then painstakingly breaks downs the arguments in a logical Points For, Arguments Against, and In Conclusion format that is at once easy to read and largely impossible to understand.

In the end (spoiler alert), Elliot’s point however, is entirely clear:

“I think that the brand split would be a great idea because of the competition and entertainment.”

Read Elliot’s entire article here.

I look forward to monitoring the output over at the Camel Clutch Blog in the weeks to come.

Vagabundo posted:

Penn & Teller using their platform to showcase their peers and build them up was a far more interesting and important message for wrestling, but of course that is decidedly not where The Sack goes, is it?

karmicknight posted:

The Babinsack game is to search for Bruno Sammartino's name, right?

Benne posted:

I like how people still whine about DDTs never winning matches anymore when one of the most protected finishers today (Moxley's Paradigm Shift) is literally just an elevated DDT

quote:

This is just my opinion and I wanna hear your thoughts! Sorry for the wall of text.

I don't like Kenny Omega's heelwork right now. I think he needs to be the face of the company. The dude is the second best promo in the company besides Cody and easily the best wrestler. Kenny is top 5 in the world right now in terms of most well rounded wrestler. I just think I hate him for all the wrong reasons and maybe that's because I've been watching him for years but I digress. He should be the underdog babyface who can outwrestle anyone and overcome adversity and have a witty promo with any heel. Instead he uses the Jackson's and Callis to do all of this for him. I don't mind chicken poo poo heels at all, but MJF is far better in that roll and MJF is just getting overshadowed by Kenny because Kenny is doing a really similar gimmick. And I think that'll mean that MJF won't get his shot because after Kenny they will try to shy away from that style of heel champion for a bit. But IMO it's just corny with Kenny because all the current viewers know he's one of the most well rounded guys out there, so to see him using Don as his mouthpiece and Bucks as his muscles it's just like why? Give them to someone else and let Kenny get over as the underdog facing adversity who always has a chance because he's one of the best.

But then I started thinking about it and I realized that the heel pool from AEW is really shallow in terms of main event readiness. MJF and Jericho are the top heels, besides Kenny, in the company. But they have been locked in a feud for so long and it's hurting both guys. You could put in on Jericho again but why? They have plenty of faces ready for the spot so you don't need an older generation talent training new faces. And MJF has 0 singles matches this year for no reason. And I already discussed why he won't get the title soon.

Then you have Miro Hager and Wardlow who are getting pushes right now but I'd be hard pressed to find anyone admitting any of these three are main event ready. Hager is a good and safe wrestler with a cool, albeit exaggerated (it's wrestling it should be,) gimmick. But his promos are bad and I think his conservative views will turn off a lot of casual fans. Wardlow has an amazing look but he is not main event ready. I've watched most of his Dynamite and Dark matches because I really want him to improve and watch him blossom. But he botches a lot of moves with the smaller guys he throws around. I don't know if it's him or the jobbers they have him pound but I don't want him working with the main event guys and hurting a money maker in case it is him. And Miro....IS THE GUY THEY SHOULD HAVE PAIRED WITH DON!!! I know he had to finish his feud but if there was anyone main event ready in terms of look, skill, safety, and promo it was Miro. The dude just needed a mouth piece for arguments and for him to take the mic and tell someone he will kill them and he will do it. I hope after his TNT title reign they hot shot him up as the next big heel.

And then you have the low card heels like Sky, Kip and Uno. Sky needs a push before it's too late he could be a big heel for them. But Kip and Uno have been made into jokes and they need years to rebuild them.

Cody SHOULD be the next big heel but I think it's becoming painfully obvious that he will never allow himself to be seen as such. Moxley and Kingston also should be a HUGE heel duo but for whatever reason they keep them as tweeners.

I don't know. What is everyone's thoughts? Sorry for the wall of text but it's just getting painful watching this corny character Kenny is playing when it is so obvious that he should be the face. They are hindering these could be stars by prolonging the inevitable Hangman dethroning. Thoughts?

cauliflower jones posted:

https://twitter.com/Chris_De_Santis/status/1406406171905323010

i would also want to listen to this conversation

davidbix posted:

GRACE YOUR PRESENTS

Davros1 posted:

Nope; once again, it's the tired whining of "This used to be a finisher, but now it's not!"

The other week Meltzer pointed out that Flair-Steamboat had more false finishes than Okada-Omega, and of course, people whined that Steamboat-Flair used "roll-ups" and "small-packages" to kick out of, and not "finishers".

Except, of course, at one point, roll-ups (such as the Oklahoma Roll) and small packages were finishers.