December 25, 2012

Confusion

I still can't decide if I loved this...or this was the worst break of Kayfabe I've ever seen. Maybe a little of both. It made the whole episode feel weird....like Twin Peaks weird...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXiLkCQkILY&feature=player_embedded


What did you guys think?

Year End Musings

The Year End. Supposedly The End of The World Review.

Let’s see…In the real world Rusty is having a massive feud with his basement. Or in French….Les Sous Sol. (I don’t know any other languages…) That’s a pretty big feud. We all know who will prevail.

The Marshall is supposedly feuding with boxes in his big move. Is moving a mid-card heel or a jobber….can’t quite decide.

The Poncho Man has been completely off tv. He did go see Colt Cabana in Keizer, Oregon…and got paid to do it. Mr. Cabana was a gentleman, and it was incredible to see someone up close easily show how much better he is than everyone else, and I like DOA’s wrestlers.  Poncho has also stayed completely up to date on WWE, Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, and is currently in the middle of watching ROH’s Final Battle. I’m not sure where everyone else is at….I have a hard time talking about wrestling without spoilers so please, PLEASE feel free to skip paragraphs. I will also not talk about specific events….I didn’t take notes so I have no idea when and where I watched all of these things. Anyway…enjoy.

The Shield. Jim Ross said on his website something about “Way to maximize your minutes.” The PPV match was incredible. All three of these guys just look incredible. It’s almost like Nexus was a trial run to figure out how to get it right this time. “The bump” was CRAZY! Flashed to an article on Grantland.com by The Masked Man talking about how Seth Rollins could be an amazing mix of CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Basically what WWE wants Justin Gabriel to be…but he has one move and doesn’t seem legitimately tough at all. Every time I hear Ambrose I look up at the Brian Pillman action figure on my wall.  Great Stuff guys!

The Death Of Sapphire. The best storyline I’ve seen in wrestling this year was undoubtedly Chikara’s story of The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger. I kind of got parts of this spoiled for me because I watch lots of Chuck Taylor videos (The Swamp Monster was very very sad). Mr. Touchdown is the most awful person. I can’t wait to hear what The Marshall has to say about Under The Hood (Chikara‘s Season Finale). I felt a little let down except for The Stranger. It seemed like the storylines weren’t coming to a conclusion like I thought they would.

The Antonio Cesaro Push. HELL YES!!! This has been one of my favorite things on WWE programming. He gave Ryback his two best matches he has ever had. Even with one of them being a count out. Cesaro really is a step above almost everyone else. He really does make whoever he’s facing look more legit and gets himself over at the same time.

Ziggles and Company. I do like the fact that we’re getting a weird motley crew of a stable. I do like the fact that they fixed the RyBLACK problem with making Big E a Batista style enforcer. I like AJ being a heel. I don’t like that this seemed so random. NXT is my second favorite WWE (well maybe tied with Main Event) and I’m confused that both Rollins and RyBLACK are faces on NXT. I know NXT is taped two months out, but this is like the main problem I have with editorial in Comic Books. We all work at the same company, probably in the same building, but we don’t discuss anything so it will make sense to readers. Does this mean Kassius Ohno will be a face when he gets called up. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper will probably end up being watered down Festus.

Cody Rhoades is now more dashing than ever. Nuff’ Said.

Cibernetico Rises. I actually watched this a few weeks ago. I really liked this. It got me sooooo pumped for Under The Hood. Gotta love Tim Donst. Then I realized I’m still not a Eddie Kingston mark. Cabana for Grand Champion! Loved that it was ROH vs. Chikara. Nice way to give the rub to 3.0 (slowly becoming one of my favorite teams because they seem so random) with them eliminating the Briscoes. Oh and Kevin Steen and the Young Bucks’ promo about this event was hilarious.

The Return Of Ric Flair. How about it? I hope I didn’t ruin anyone’s day by kinda spoiling this weeks ago here on the blog. I had no idea when this was happening, but Flair had recently said “I can’t wait to get back to work.” PLEASE make him a manager. Pretty please! This man needs wrestling and he needs to be used. I don’t even care who you put him with. Put him with Kofi and I’ll probably suddenly become a huge Kofi mark. Kofi can probably jump as high as Space Mountain.

Currently watching Bo Dallas attempt Sliced Bread #2 on The Big Show. HA!

Generico vs. Steen: Ladder War IV. Crazy brutal ladder match. Totally on par with the rest of their feud. Generico really is one of the best in the world. Ole!

Okay….I think I’m done. It’s now a few days later and Christmas Eve. I haven’t watched wrestling since Thursday. I’m currently waiting for the new Raw….even though it was filmed last week…so I’m sure nothing cool happened. Let’s figure out when we’re doing the marathon. Give Rusty a back rub so he isn’t so stressed out. Poncho Out.

December 22, 2012

WWE TLC 2012

Well, life has been pretty shitty around here lately. With the collapse of the foundation and the usual stress from the holidays things have been rough. And for some reason when things get rough for me the last thing i want to do is watch wrestling. Wrestling, to me, is a way to relax and escape. When I'm too nervous or upset i cant get in the mood to watch wrestling. I dunno why. I just only want to watch it when I can let myself really get into it. So I missed TLC and the Slammys due to LIFE. But It;s sunny out today, I took the day off (even tho we are looking forward to at least 15 grand in repairs) and I plan on catching up on wrestling. Even if it means I gotta skim some matches. So without further ado. WWE TLC 2012 I always get creeped out with bell salutes. This one was so sad. I am glad they did it tho. I think it shows respect that they acknowledge real life RRHODES SCHOLARS VS MYSTERIO SIN CARA I skipped this one. I'm sure it was great but I gotta get to the important story stuff. US CHAMP MATCH shipped DOLPH ZIGGLER PROMO Man. another great promo from Dolph. I feel like he just needs a few tweaks to his personality and he could be huge. The show off thing is not working. I feel like he could be a cocky face and get over more. MIZ TV I was going to skip this because I think Miz TV totally sucks bad. But when he brought out the 3mb i was hooked. What a horrible group! I love them. And Im glad I watched the whole segment because I got to see Del Rio turn face, which I think is great and weird. WADE VS KOFI Skipped THE SHIELD VS RYBACK< KANE< DBD AWESOME! What a mess! I think everyone looked great and this had lots of brutal spots. And thank god the shield won. I was worried about that. DIVA MATCH skipped BIG SHOW VS SHAEMUS SKIPPPPPEEEEEDDDDDDD 3MB VS MIZ ADR BRAWLER This was fun even tho it was stupid and a waste of the ADR face turn. Plus miz still sucks bad and hard. I had a feeling we would see the Brawler on this show so that was cool. For reasons unknown i really liked him when i was a kid and had no idea he was a jobber. CENA VS DOLPH This is a weird throw away ppv. It has had some cool moments but jeez. Strange main event. I really wish they only did 4 to 6 a year. That would make them so much more exciting. Holy cow! Great match! I loved it. Cena, for being stupid and dumb, can work if he is wrestling people who can wrestle. Man, great match. And the end was what I wanted out of the final minutes of a PPV. Good twist! And I think Zigglers stock jumped a notch tonight. He may finally be on his way. I hope so anyway. IN FINAL> I likes some of the ppv. But it's hard to care a whole lot when the rumble is a month away TILL NEST TIME!!!!

December 20, 2012


December 18, 2012

The 12 Markouts of WWE

On the first markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
A year of CM Punk being champion.

On the second
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Two Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the third
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Three Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the fourth
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Four Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the fifth
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Five surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the sixth
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Six Shield entrances,
Five
surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the seventh
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Seven Antonio Cesaro US title retentions,
Six
Shield entrances,
Five
surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the eighth
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Eight
Boogeymen,
Seven
Antonio Cesaro US title retentions,
Six
Shield entrances,
Five
surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the ninth
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Nine Dolph Ziggler Money in the Bank cash-in teases,
Eight Boogeymen,
Seven
Antonio Cesaro US title retentions,
Six
Shield entrances,
Five
surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.
 
On the tenth
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Ten crowds that love Dolph Ziggler
and then he wins,
Nine
Dolph Ziggler Money in the Bank cash-in teases,
Eight
Boogeymen,
Seven
Antonio Cesaro US title retentions,
Six
Shield entrances,
Five
surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.
 
On the eleventh
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Eleven incredible 6-man TLC matches,
Ten
crowds that love Dolph Ziggler and then he wins,
Nine
Dolph Ziggler Money in the Bank cash-in teases,
Eight
Boogeymen,
Seven
Antonio Cesaro US title retentions,
Six
Shield entrances,
Five
surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion.

On the twelfth
markout of WWE,
my true love sent to me
Twelve Big E Langston debuts,
Eleven incredible
6-man TLC matches,
Ten
crowds that love Dolph Ziggler and then he wins,
Nine
Dolph Ziggler Money in the Bank cash-in teases,
Eight
Boogeymen,
Seven
Antonio Cesaro US title retentions,
Six
Shield entrances,
Five
surprise Legends appearances,
Four
Kofi Kingston IC title retentions,
Three
Alberto Del Rio face turns,
Two
Rhodes Scholars as #1 tag team title contenders,
And a
year of CM Punk being champion!

December 10, 2012

[No Subject]

December 06, 2012

Who wants to take a ride on Space Mountain??

November 27, 2012

SCN: Terminus, or "Term-e-noose"

Hey guys,
Nice internet show.  Wokka watched the whole thing, he loved it.  This post will probably be my last for a while.  Looking forward to an SCW slumber party sometime!  Chikara's season finale iPPV "Under the Hood" takes place on Dec. 2nd, the day I move.  That would be fun to watch together at some point, eh?
 
Smackdown
Was better this week, but still pales in comparison to it's halcyon days of the reign of Mark Henry and rise of the babyface Daniel Bryan.  It opened just like Raw this week, with the Impact-style narration, and covered all the Raw storylines as well as the Smackdown ones.  There was a heavy Raw presence in general, but it didn't do much to help the show; the opening segment was Miz TV with John Cena and it SUUUUUUUCKed!  The best match of the night was Hell No taking on BS in a handicap match (guess who won).  Ziggler pinning Orton in the main event was also nice, but the victory was short lived, as Ziggler got trounced by Cena up on the ramp to close the show.  Booo!

Thanksgiving Day Impact
Was an Open Fight Night for Gut Check winners.  I don't have anything to say about Impact this week, but I didn't want to only post about the WWE.

NXT
Brody Lee made his NXT in-ring debut as Luke Harper while Bray Wyatt watched from the ramp in a rocking chair, how awesome was that?  I also liked the renewed rivalry/match between Ohno and Steamboat.  Paige and Big E Langston also impressive.

Slam
More El Local... R-Truth commentary... Pie Eating Contest... 3MB.  Bizarre.  Kind of funny.

Main Event
Was great.  The best all-around show of the week, no doubt.  Heated promos between Dolph Ziggler and the Miz warmed the crowd up for a really good, long, ppv-quality match.  Ziggler got back on the mic afterward and cut an absolutely killer promo on Cena, Miz, and the whole roster.  It ruled.  Then Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel had a shorter, decent match.  The show closed with Damien Sandow coming out to cut a promo on Cena, hyping their Main Event match next week.  It was a great, solid hour of pro wrestling goodness.

Raw
In respectful homage (not to be confused with blatant gimmick infringement) to the Rusty Report, I want to do a good/bad/ugly thing this week.  I want to end on a good note though, so I added one more.

THE GOOD
-After the narrative opening (which we'll talk about later) the show started with a wrestling match.  Action!  I liked it because usually the show starts with lots of talking.  It set a different tone, and right away I was wondering if the 3 guys were going to come out and jump Ryback.
-A short backstage segment sets up an impromptu feud/match with ADR and Khali.  Obviously, this wasn't the wrestling highlight of the evening, but that minimal storyline was successful in giving the audience a reason to care about the outcome of the match, which made it more fun to watch.  I wish there was a LOT more of that throughout the undercard.
-Cole interviews the 3 guys, or The Shield.  Good talking from all 3 guys, their motivations were interesting, and we got a sense of their individual characters.  I can't believe they kept Roman Reigns' name.  He's totally stuck with it now.  Maybe he can just be "The Roman" someday, like how Rock was Rocky Maivia at first.
-Alicia Fox was great in her losing effort against Tamina, who was much less impressive.
-Mixed feelings on this one.  Kingston taking out Tensai was another big win, and it was a good little match.  Wade Barrett was absolutely fantastic on commentary during the match.  Still, I'm not into their feud.  I really like them both, maybe I just don't want either one to lose.  I want them both to be winners.  And the Intercontinental belt somehow seems like a step backward for Barrett, who's got main event written all over him.
-WWE Universe voting.  Now, I don't for a second think that Kane got more votes than Bryan, but I don't really care.  It's just a way of adding relevant context to an otherwise throw-away match.  I like that WWE does the twitter voting thing, and I like that they juke the numbers.  That's pro wrestling!

THE BAD
-When Raw extended to 3 hours, one cool thing they stuck with for a while was having vignettes throughout that would have their own story and add kind of a theme to the show.  The pre-Hell No skits were instant classics, Sheamus stealing ADR's car or meeting with Otunga in a lawyer's office were not classic, but at least they were original content that added to the watchability of the program.  It seems like the vignettes have been replaced by long replays of previous Raws, or even replays from an hour before.  We all knew it would happen, and it's the pits.  They make me feel like I'm wasting time.

THE UGLY
-Worst narration opening ever.
-Cena/Vicki/AJ/Dolph blah blah blah WTF
-Ziggler losing to Cena.  After all the time spent building this feud, it ends with a whisper in the middle of a tv show?  This should have been a PPV match (and Dolph Ziggler should have won).  This was by far the most frustrating thing that happened this week.

THE WONDERFUL
-Sheamus versus Antonio Cesaro.  A really good, athletic wrestling match with plenty of time.  The announcers put both guys over, and some of the spots in this match proved to be among the most memorable from the entire show.  A classy affair all around.

I did an EVOLVE post today in the forums.  I have been keeping my EVOLVE posts spoiler-free, in case that matters to anyone.

That's the final word from SCW's Canadian branch.  We're boarding up now, soon to join the rest of the SCW Universe down in beautiful Oregon, USA.  Hooooooooooo!

November 21, 2012

Outdated RR TV

Finally! Here it is. For some reason my wireless will randomly cut out every once in a while. And because this video takes awhile to upload, 30 minutes, I could never get it fully uploaded before my internet would die. So it took me about 7 tries to get it to work. But now it's up. And now you can watch, in vivid color, Frax, The Poncho Man (sans poncho) and the ECW champ Rusty Nickles talk wrestling in my living room.

November 20, 2012

SCN: 3MB Eclipsed

Greetings my little Lunas and Bam Bams,

No high-production affair this week, just gonna share some of my notes, then go back to stressing about moving and stuff.  I didn't finish last week's material, so I'll start with...

Last week's Raw
I totally marked out when Punk's music interrupted Lawler's return speech.  Punk's acidic promo on Lawler, and Heyman feigning cardiac arrest was gold, I loved every second of it.  My favorite was when Punk said something like "if you don't sit down I'll beat you to death... again!"  Awesome.
I was expecting a swerve with the Brad Maddox match, but it ended pretty flat, just the one-way beatdown that was expected.  I don't know why they keep showing Maddox packages, I guess he might not be gone for good, but his Chapter One is certainly done.
Daniel Bryan's jealousy of Miz teaming with Kane was really funny.  Their match versus the Scholars was entertaining, mostly due to Bryan's antics outside.
The main event was Cena versus Punk, a quality main event, and they had a good match.  I thought the show ended with each guy looking good going into the 3-way at Survivor Series.  Cena had his win over Punk, Ryback has lots of steam, and Punk always seems to have an ace up his sleeve.
One confusing thing about the show was that some of the feuds seemed mixed up.  Ziggler was feuding with Cena, and Punk was feuding with Foley.  However, Ziggler and Foley were the ones having the match at S.Series and there wasn't any kind of feud or even one promo to hype a possible rivalry, or build any heat for the match.  Just thought that seemed off.

Smackdown
blah blah.  Smackdown did NOT get me excited about Survivor Series.

Impact
There was more Jeff Hardy voice-over narration.  So goddamn corny and bad.  Kind of comically bad, except that it makes him seem so much more important than everyone else, which just ain't right.
Robert Roode stole James Storm's #1 contenders spot in a match he challenged him to.  Confusing, pointless bait-and-switch booking from TNA?  What?



NXT
No Regal on commentary, that was hard to get used to.
Ironically, the worst match was with two signed Divas, Layla and Aksana, which was so bad it was funny.
Prerecorded promo of Bray Wyatt preaching.  So cool.  Yesterday he tweeted "2 months" which has us internet bitch-marks all excited for him to debut on TV around Elimination Chamber time.  I'm not too optimistic, most of the WWE's attention after the Rumble is strictly building Wrestlemania events, so it would be an awkward time to debut, but we'll see.

Main Event
Hell No versus The Scholars was a really good match EXCEPT that Cody Rhodes got fucked up.  It was scary, he looked terrible.  He was on the apron for the last 5 minutes looking like he was about to pass out or puke.  He's since tweeted that his injuries aren't that bad, so he won't be sidelined for too long, which is great news because the Scholars are a phenomenal team.

ROH
The ROH tv show was uncommonly good this week.  It started with Jay Briscoe cutting a great promo about how great ROH is, and he announces that in Jim Cornette's absence, the new "matchmaker" is Nigel McGuinness.  Nigel comes out, puts the promotion over some more, and makes some matches for Final Battle:  Steen vs. Generico in a ladder war for the world title, a 3-way for the tag titles, and Jerry Lynn's last match with ROH.
The main event of the show was another really good match between Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly, after which the victor is awarded a brand new, snazzy looking TV title belt.  All around, this was my favorite wrestling show of the week.  Which includes...


Survivor Series
Pretty "blah" overall.  The 5 x 5 matches were cool, and the main event was okey.  The AJ-Vicki segment was atrocious and a major waste of PPV time.  In the Diva's match, Eve was acting exactly like Madison Rayne, doing the queen wave and acting flattered when she got the win.  There was another TNA reference during the 3-way, when Punk used the Last Chancery (Austin Aries' submission) on John Cena, which I thought was pretty cool.  Eve's gimmick infringement was not cool.  Alice popped big time when Ziggler pinned Randy Orton after nailing him with a superkick, which would have been the highlight of the evening if not for the debuts of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns.  That was my big pop of the night for sure!  I first mentioned Ambrose on the MMS last year in July, and I've been a big fan since.  Seth Rollins is awesome in the ring, and it's exciting to have him brought up.  Reigns I'm not as excited about, he's likely the one that WWE will push the most, even though he's much less experienced, but he doesn't suck, and I think I'll be a fan of his as well eventually.

Raw
Boy, would I be pissed if I had bought Survivor Series.  Not so much for it's own merit, but because Raw was exactly the same stuff all over again.  Can you imagine paying $60 for something, then getting it again the next day for free?  Holy shit.  AJ and Cena making out was GROSS.  I was grossed out.  And AJ's already kissed Primo, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Kane, and Hornswoggle, so what's the big deal this time around?  I did like Dolph's locker room promo, that was his best within memory, and I'm into his rivalry with Cena, even if the story around it is bogus.
I also liked Heyman's promo for Punk, and the 365 video package.  Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns attacking Ryback again wasn't that exciting because I'd just seen them do that already.  The whole show I was just waiting for them to come out and make a statement,  but I guess I'll have to wait some more.
It's interesting that William Regal was taken out right before Ambrose's debut.  They had a hell of a rivalry in FCW, and Regal stated many times on that show that he would like for Ambrose to be the guy to retire him.  A Regal-Ambrose program on tv and ppv might be the 'smark' wet dream at this point.  Here are their matches, if you'd like to see them, plus my favorite promo from the period:



 


In my extracurricular pro wrestling watching, I finished up the recent Dragongate USA events with Freedom Fight, the third show from the first weekend of the month.  The production was much improved, and I think the storm must have been to blame for the shoddiness of the first one.  They were still noticeably understaffed however, as Arda Ocal was the ring announcer, time keeper/bell ringer, and was solo on commentary.  He was on top of it all though, and deserves a lot of credit for keeping the show fun to listen to.  The matches were all solid, I'm sure if you just glanced at the card you wouldn't have much doubt that it was a really good wrestling show.  Match of the night was the main event, a 4-way for the Open the Freedom Gate championship (their primary singles title) with Richochet, AR Fox, Akira Tozawa and defending champion Johnny Gargano.
I've also been catching up on EVOLVE shows, and should have another post up in Forum Smash soon.

Oh and Rusty, you've got a video Report?  WITH the Poncho Man who I can't wait to meet in person?  Do you know how many times I've looked at this webpage since Friday, hoping that there would be a new post?  You tease!

November 14, 2012

Brass Thumbtacks




There's a part two, but I probably won't finish it til tomorrow.  Part two will be all Raw.  This one's everything else, including Chikara and DG USA.  I'm trying to cram as much wrestling as possible into my last 3 weeks here, before I move.

Donst Stop Believin'!

I'm planning on sitting on the couch for another video episode later today, but right now I just wanted to direct you guys to some cool things I've seen and read on the net recently.

Here's the third in a set of three interviews with Tim Donst, the best promo guy in Chikara (and a very solid wrestler).  Watching this video this morning wasn't the first time he's made me feel like a total mark.  I love it.



Here's a really cool open interview Donst did on an online forum (an "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit).  There are a lot of dumb questions, but a lot of good ones too, and (more importantly) good answers. 

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/11it68/iama_professional_wrestler/

If you think that's cool, Johnny Gargano is doing the same kind of thing later today.

Here's another interview I liked.  It's with Chucky T and involves much less reading.

http://www.wrestleenigma.com/wrestle-enigma-exclusive-interview-with-dgusa-pwg-and-chikaras-chuck-taylor

Okey, that's it.  Back later.


October 25, 2012

Dear Mr. Ravage,

Dear Mr. Ravage,
Thank you for the thoughtful correspondance and for your support throughout the years.  It's for fans like you that everyone here at WWE strives to create the highest quality Sports Entertainment each and every week with programs like Raw, Smackdown, NXT, Superstars, Main Event and Slam.  Did you know that WWE has more Facebook followers than McDonalds?  It's true.  And McDonalds has a fucking whole lot of restaurants.  I too am a film buff.  Perhaps you have read my reviews on Yahoo! Movies under the avatar "h8rKilla69".  Personally, I'm not familiar with Malleck or Kuebrik, though.  My favorite directors of all time are Alan Metter and Michael Gottlieb who, unlike the directors you named, have never filmed a dull moment in their careers.  I founded WWE Studios with the intention of producing motion pictures of that same caliber, which is a very very high caliber indeed.

With regards,
Vincent K. McMahon
the Chairman of the Board

The I hope this isn't too long and pointless post.

 So here it is…a bunch of random musings about the state of pro-wrestling and the Poncho Man’s current extracurricular wrestling watching. After a few weeks ago and my 39 hours and 50 minutes of wrestling that I watched in exactly one week I had to cut back a little. I think I’ve probably been closer to 20 the last few weeks as I decided I needed to catch up on Breaking Bad, Sons Of Anarchy, Homeland, and Boardwalk Empire. I like TV a lot. Sit right back and enjoy….

The state of WWE: Honestly lately I have few complaints. Yes, Ryback has trouble picking up Tensai and Heyman (at house shows) and yes he won’t win the title, and as soon as he can’t lift up Mark Henry or somebody his push will end just as quickly as it started. Am I worried about the match at Hell In A Cell being a bust? Not really. I guess I just don’t care….not in a “I’m mad and hate Ryback” kind of way…just a “Whatever…I’m sure it will be fine” kind of way.

I know that the two of you aren’t into discussing what you think will happen, but I’m a little lost. I think about this time last year we knew at least 3 or 4 (or had an inkling) of the Wrestlemania card. It honestly made me really excited. That type of build up is what I die for. Months to sit back and imagine what you think will happen.

By the way, I was mildly surprised that both of you really like The Miz vs. Kofi. It wasn’t that I was bored with it (it was a pretty decent math); it just left me cold. I don’t even know if I would have been into Kofi as a little kid. I find “Boom Boom Boom” and the “Boom Drop” asinine. Worse than the Rock Bottom and the People’s Elbow. Worse than the Spinarooni and the Book End. Even worse than You Can’t See Me and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He claps, and then sits down. Is that exciting? The Miz tries soooo hard (even if he’s a reality star pretending to be a professional wrestler), but he can hardly get heat on a guy who is quite possibly worse at promos than Shelton Benjamin. The Main Event format is good…I doubt it will last long.  The format will probably last as long as the format of Shotgun Saturday Night where they’d be in a crappy bar with a mechanical bull and Sunny would be really “sultry.” Throw in some Terry Funk and “Shotgun Saturday Night” seems like a good name! I really enjoy Saturday Morning Slam, but the last episode of that they seemed to have changed the format and gotten rid of the funny “learning” moments. This makes me want to write a letter to Vince….

Dear Vince,
I have watched WWE nearly all my life. It is one of my favorite things in the entire world. Just wanted to let you know that I also love the films of Terrance Malick and Stanley Kubrick. If you didn’t know…they create really long incredibly boring and awesome movies. It’s good stuff.

Just thought you should know,
Poncho Man

The state of ROH: I watched Glory By Honor XI. I loved this show. Basically a perfect ROH show for me. Yes the last one was plagued with technical difficulties, but they made up for it…with literally over 3 hours of wrestling. I though Jay Lethal vs. Davey Richards was incredible (my favorite Davey Richards match I’ve ever seen).  Spirit Squad Mikey is a lovable nut. Wrestlings’ Greatest Tag Team is always a blast to watch. The main event of Kevin Steen vs. Michael Elgin was tied in my brain as the best “big dudes” match I’ve seen in awhile (oddly…I really like Kane vs. Big Show the other night on Raw). Then the El Generico tease was incredible (minus the crowd seeming to already know) . I was watching clips of Jim Cornette talking about how he would have booked the WCW Invasion angle….he was just going on and on about making things “real.” Everything ROH has done with Kevin Steen has been about making things seem real. While Davey Richards might have really made that belt mean something….he could have never been the mouth piece for an angle involving lawsuits, and spitting on parents etc. I really think that this is incredible stuff going on.

I said earlier that I was starting Pro Wrestling Guerilla from the very beginning. Over a hundred shows so really I just plan on skimming, and stopping on shit I like. PWG is the foul mouthed version of Chikara. The commentary is usually done after they tape the shows by Excalibur, Disco Machine, and a silent Super Dragon. It’s all a bunch of jokes that don’t quite make sense, and really just a couple of guys obviously trying to entertain themselves. It’s where Frankie Kazarian really became “known.” “ScrapIron” Adam Pearce is probably the top heel. I know that The Marshall loves a tournament, so you might enjoy Bad Ass Mother 3000 Nights One and Two as they crown the first champion. I didn’t really think the company got really moving until “Inch Longer Than Average” which featured a short CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe match, and I’m pretty sure an awesome Kazarian, Chris Daniels, AJ Styles meeting. Don’t quote me on that….I watched a lot of PWG in the last week. The crappy part is that I don’t really like any of the PWG home grown talent. Minus Disco Machine they all kind of look like out of shape skinny guys in bad costumes. One thing Chikara gets right….COSTUMES LOOK AWESOME! But really, when I basically watch the show for guys I already know (CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Chris Daniels, AJ Styles, Colt Cabana, Adam Pearce, Bryan Danielson…all ROH guys) and I get completely bored with “Hook Bomberry” and BBoy (who seems like a Homicide rip off in a boring way)…maybe it says something. Knowing me though….I’m sure I’ll probably watch it all and get completely caught up in a year and love it to death.

Finally as an update….Evolve 2 is at 81.7% on my computer. 3 and 4 are complete. 5 is 18.1%. 6 is at 0%. 7 is complete. I’m still into it….it’s just taking forever. I’ll have responses to The Marshall’s posts when I can. We should have some new Chikara shows soon. DragonGate USA is doing 3 shows I think at the beginning of next month.

I said this to Rusty the other day….wrestling is pretty good right now. I haven’t been really really mad at WWE in quite awhile. We’re getting good matchups and Randy Orton is high mid-card. Just pray Batista or Bobby Lashley doesn’t come back. In the end though….wrestling fans can always find something to bitch about.

October 19, 2012

SCN: Hiatus Wrap-Up

Greetings all,

So, I haven't posted in a while, and my notes are piling up.  Here's the last 3 weeks worth:

SMACKDOWN
Week 1: Punk>Ziggler was a good match.  BS and Sheamus feud=zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Week 2: Bryan<ADR was a good match.  Rest of show=zzzzzzzzzz(literally fell asleep)zzzzzzzzz  JBL joining Josh Matthews was fun, though.
Week 3: Better.  Miz opens with another great promo on Kofi.  Two good tag matches.  Cesaro.  Cool Wade Barrett promo, another decent match with Sheamus.  3MB cut a promo so bad I half expected Ryback to appear and job them out.

Conclusion:
Most of Smackdown blows, but it's worth watching if you've got your finger on the fast-forward button.


TNA IMPACT
Week 1: Samoa Joe>RVD retaining TV title=good match.  Also liked a short X-Div. match, Zema Ion>Doug Williams.  Bully Ray cuts a couple great babyface-ish/tweener promos (same basic character, he's still awesome), winds up being chosen as Sting's tag partner vs. Aces & Eights for BFG match.
Week 2: Pretty dull until end segment.
Austin Aries theory:
There are many comparisons to be made between A-Double and CM Punk.  Both fan favorites with Indie/ROH roots, both basically used as paper champions for long stretches for their respective promotions.  Week 2 of Impact ended with a work-shoot by Aries which was reminiscent of Punk for obvious reasons.  He came out with a script, announced he wouldn't be reading it, but it's live TV so he's gonna do what he wants, went on to cut a promo on Jeff Hardy, his BFG opponent, which gave an interesting spin to the end of the show.  My theory is that the work-shoot was staged to take any previous comparisons with Punk even further, in some kind of attempt by TNA to be purposefully unoriginal.
Week 3: Decent follow-up to the PPV.  Nothing stood out in particular.
TNA BOUND FOR GLORY
Very cool to see TNA outside of Impact Zone, very hot crowd with their own opinions.
Zema Ion<RVD New X-Div champ.  RVD the bigger star, but was plainly outperformed in this match.
I wasn't looking forward to Storm>Roode, despiteit being the culmination of a year-long feud.  TNA dropped the ball with this IMO, it could have been built a lot better.  They had a cool match nonetheless, it got me into it, Roode having an especially good performance.  The most impressive part was when he got a superkick, and landed into a puddle of thumbtacks.  The impressive thing was that the camera was zoomed in on his face, and he didn't flinch when he landed, as though he was truly KOed.  Usually not a fan of bloody, gimmicky matches, but this one used it all well.
C Daniels,Kaz<Hernandez,Chavo>AJ,Angle was a good match for the tag titiles, but horribly booked.  Hernandez and Chavo are the new team on the block, they had no feud and no momentum.  It was just a babyface win, meant to pump up a crowd that didn't need that pandering shit the way the Impact Zone does.  CD&Kaz should have retained with a pin over AJ or Angle, sending them into a singles feud, and setting up Hernandez&Chavo to chase the titles proper.  You guys know I hardly ever do armchair booking, but this one just seemed obvious.
Tara>Tessmacher another title change.
Sting & Bully Ray<Two Members of Aces & Eights.  Last minute change to being a no-dq match.  Dumb, the stip makes it obvious A&8's will win.  With win, A&8's gain full access to the Impact Zone, whatever that means.  Sting and Bully were an awesome team, at one point pulling off a perfect Doomsday Device.  Bully came out in old school Sting-ish facepaint, and is somehow a radical babyface.  Devon is unmasked as A&8's leader, which is a great reveal only because Bully is the best character in TNA, and it gives him something really worthwhile to do.
The crowd is split for Aries<Hardy, which was a good match.  Hardy's used to being unanimously cheered, but there are a lot of anti-creatures in the crowd.  Both sides of crowd were very hot.  Hardy winning the TNA title is a horrible joke, and a shit smear in the face of contemporary pro wrestling.  Wonder if having Aries feud with Hardy is another way TNA would like him to mimic Punk.
TNA Conclusion:
Bully Ray rules.

SUPERSTARS
Week 1:  Barrett>Kidd good, both were cool.  McGillicutty<Otunga former tag champs were actually pretty decent versus each other.  Tensai>Tatsu was an okay match, Tatsu was really good.
Week 2: Barrett>Kidd, Gabriel<Cesaro were each okey.
Week 3: I have not watched this TV show yet.
Conclusion:
I dunno.  I watch wrestling.

NXT
Week 1: Kidd&Gabriel(really cool)<Ascension(so corny, audience was laughing at them) was a good tag match.
Week 2: Punk promo, joining Regal and JR on commentary was a treat.  I loved Johnny Curtis' character, entrance, and in-ring work, but he lost to worst spear ever by Bo Dallas, looked like he fell on him.  Good divas match.  Rollins>McGillicutty=great match.
Week 3: Damien Sandow promo and match, always a "welcome" addition to the show.
Conclusion:
Always has something going for it.

MAIN EVENT
Week 1: First ep.  Punk>Sheamus surprisingly weak.  Worst Punk match in a long time.  Notable because Sheamus was pinned for the first time in over a year.
Week 2: Kofi cuts solid promo on Miz.  Really liking Kofi on mic lately.  Skipped BS v. Orton.
Week 3: JBL and Cole great on commentary.  Nice Kofi package, great Miz "is annoying" package.  Kofi>Miz great 15 min. match for IC belt.  Great post-match promos by both.  All in all, excellent 25 minutes of pro wrestling TV.  I got a little emotional.
Conclusion:
Cool for having it's own production (unlike Superstars), and for giving a match a good amount of time (for WWE), but dependent on quality of match for show to work.

ROH GLORY BY HONOR XI
Bravados<Alexander&Coleman was a really good opener.
Lethal>Richards good
Rhino<Tadarius Thomas was cool.  TT's new, and was really impressive.  Very cool looking offense.  Future player for sure.
Eddie Edwards<Adam Cole good
Briscoes<SCUM good
Steen>Elgin great main event.  Steen was whatever, but Elgin was awesome.  After match, a box is delivered to ring, Steen opens it, pauses with look of fear and disbelief, pulls out El Generico's mask!
Conclusion:
Was almost ready to give up on ROH, but Generico, Lethal, and Elgin will keep me coming back.

RAW
Week 1: What a maneuver!  Best main event in ages.
Week 2: JR is fantastic on commentary, Cole very good also.  BS>Bryan, Cesaro>Gabriel, SheamusxBarrett, Scholars>E&P all good matches.  Ziggler chokes on the mic.  Striker is killed.  Miz finds perfect foil in Kofi, they have great promo segment and a good match.  Eve>Layla match of the night.  Eve kicked ass.  
Week 3: Hope Rusty will cover this, and I can just comment on his post.
Conclusion:
Hits and misses.  Pro wrestling marches on.  Right now I'm more excited about Kofi and Miz than anything.  Weird, huh?

October 13, 2012

Poncho Man Mat Classic

 Been off the map for a few days...I just started watching Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. From the very beginning. As in I'm working on every show they've ever done (about a 100 or so). I'm actually fast forwarding through a lot of it because it's not the greatest...but a good AJ Styles vs Frankie Kazarian match headlined the first show. So I'll have a review of the first year in a week or so probably.

In the mean time....I randomly found this on the internets. Now the CM Punk dvd tells us these guys have wrestled hundreds of times...and this probably isn't one of their best matches...but I really enjoyed it. I think mostly for the very straight commentary that puts them over very very well. And it's introduced by a big breasted blonde British babe. Bonjour Boys!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4UtOsujdMQ&feature=related

October 11, 2012

Rusty Report

Hey fellas. Rusty here. I have been layin in bed for the past 30 something ours sick as a dog. I dunno what hit me but it hit me hard. I was too sick to type. So here I am today, not throwing up. Able to eat. Ready to type a billion words. 

Yeah, type. I think my recorder is dead. It sounds all swirly and weird. I am going to look into getting a new one sometime soon. Till then we will be typing like in the old email days of SCW. 

And remember how i talked about having a new format to my show? Well I take notes with a few categories so i can keep things clean and in order. Well, i dunno how it will translate in text but ill type it up that way anyway. 

Ok here we go

RUSTY NICKLES PRESENTS: 
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

THE GOOD
The commentary is great with JR, Cole and the other guy. I like how serious it is. You could say that it has been better since Lawler has been gone but I think it's more that Cole is not a fucking idiot anymore. And commentary can ruin a great show. So it has been great lately that they have taken things seriously.

This episode had some great matches. I thought Shaemus and Barrett was great. I completely freaked out for Punk and Vince. I thought it was awesome. Sure, Vince is 67 and not a wrestler but who cares. I was having a great time watching that match.

I am 100 percent sold on Rhodes Scholars. That is a great tag team.I really hope they make it to the finals. My guess is that Mysterio and Sin Cara will win and whocares whatever. Rhodes Scholars have a reason that they are a team. Sin Cara and Mysterio both wear masks, not good enough. Whatever, Rhodes Scholars are awesome.

"The Encore"! I think that;s what they call themselves. It's Drew Macentire, Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater. I LOVE this. It's three guys who don't fit at all who come out and beat up people and then air guitar. It cant get better than that. Drew Macentire even headbangs which is the stupidest thing i have ever seen in my life. I really hope they get more tv time.

And finally. Paul Haymen is awesome.

THE BAD

The segment with little jimmy and the dance party was stupid. I hate that crap. I know that kids watch it but kids are not stupid. I hope they ditch little jimmy and make the funkasaurus a heal soon.

The Primetime Players lose AGAIN. I think they are a good tag team. Lame.

The whole thing with Larry King made me want to jump off a bridge. It was horrible. I hate watching celebs "act" when they are on a wwe show. It sucked. And then Kofi came out and I had some hope. I wouldn't mind a Miz Kofi feud. But it didn't make any sence why Kofi would attack Miz. It was all stupid.

Arnold as social media ambassador? Stupid.. He said at one point something like "I DEFINITELY will be back for that." Which is the dumbest thing ever said in history.

THE UGLY

This Ryback push. Can it work? The guy just got shot to the main event and hasn't said more than 3 words at a time.  I really liked Ryback until he ruined the Vince and Punk match. And instantly i turned on the guy. But that's just me. I wonder if he can hang in the main event picture after Cena comes back. Or will he be dropped like Tensi and Swagger and a million others.

I have probably said this before but Sin Cara's Titontron is the worst thing ever. it looks like public access 1990. It cracks me up every time i see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdAMw0HJjQ4

Not all things in the ugly section are bad. Antonio Cisaro's uppercut is super ugly. An actual finisher that comes quick and looks like it hurts. I love it.

WINNERS
PUNK and Vince won big time on this show. The match was great. The highlight was when Punk put on the headset and yelled "WHAT A MANEUVER!" mocking 80's vince. 

LOSERS
I guess the only loser this week is Wade Barrett for having a unimpressive return to the WWE. He was higher on the card before he left than when he came back. Its sad. I found him a credible bad guy with the Nexus.

And one last thing

5 REASONS I WATCH WRESTLING
TYSON KIDD
PUNK
DBD/KANE
RHODES SCHOLARS
PAUL HAYMEN

Thats all for me suckas. RUSTY OUT!


October 02, 2012

SC Newsletter: 3:16 and Counting

Greetings all wrestling fans,

I don't have a hell of a whole lot to say about this week's fresh offering of pro wrestling programming, and I've been slacking on the production of the Marshall Matters Show lately anyway, so I'm just gonna take these notes and opinions and punch 'em into the website word-style.

Smackdown was a pretty decent wrestling show this week, though the quality content was bookended by dumb shit.  The show opened with BS and Orton cutting promos in the ring, and ended with BS and Orton having a #1 contender's match.  I can't tell you how bad these segments sucked, because I skipped through them.  But there was plenty else in the show to make it worthwhile.
Antonio Cesaro had ANOTHER (the 8th by my count) match against Santino, AGAIN for the title (4th title match, I think), and with the same result AGAIN (Cesaro's won every time).  Not that any of that really matters though, since they generally have good wrestling matches, this week's example being no exception.
Beth Phoenix and Natalya had a noteworthy match.  They had a decent amount of time, and showcased their ability to have a quality match without any dancing or other dumb shit.  With the talented Eve as champ, these two having no-nonsense bouts, and Kelly Kelly being future endeavored, it has been a good week for the Diva's division.  Oh yeah, and Kaitlyn looking hot on Raw, that was good too.
Ryback and Tensai's match on Raw was kind of disappointing, with Ryback not being able to get the huge Tensai over his shoulders.  On Smackdown, the move came off without a hitch and it looked amazing!  Seeing these two guys in the ring together made me feel like a giddy little boy.  Also, it was funny that the smarks didn't know whether to chant "Albert" or "Goldberg", so they just stopped.


Everybody who knows Quarter Marshall knows that Quarter Marshall loves a tournament.  The tag team tourney for the #1 contender's position began on Smackdown, and that also made me a little giddy.  I would've liked to have seen the Usos get a little further than the first round, but at least they had a match on TV, and were putting over a cool team and not The Ascension.

Many months ago, over in the world of TNA, Hogan announced that the TV Title would be defended on every episode of Impact.  D-Von won the belt and defended it weekly for a while, then disappeared.  Turns out his contract had run out, and TNA clumsily allowed this to happen while he was still a champion.  Samoa Joe and Mr. Anderson had a match to crown the new TV champ this week.


Here's to hoping for the re-installment of weekly defenses, and a long and prosperous reign for Joe.
Something unintentionally funny happened on Impact this week.  Hulk Hogan, who supposedly runs the show, and Sting (his BFF) were violently abducted by Aces & 8s in the middle of the show.  What do the rest of staff and roster do?  How do they react?  Well, apparently they're all oblivious to it, the show just goes on without a hitch.  The only explanation I can think of is that even the people who work for TNA don't watch the show.

I haven't mentioned ROH for a few weeks because the TV show has mostly just been replays of Boiling Point matches.

I liked the match between Kassius Ohno and Richie Steamboat on NXT this week.  Too bad Wade Barrett's new gimmick is so similar to Ohno's.  I don't see Ohno getting called up anytime soon.  I do like his hipster glasses thing, though.  It's about time someone used a hipster gimmick!  He should take it all the way, making obscure references to golden age wrestlers and extravagantly worded maneuvers in promos, like "when Maxwell Corneschmidt pioneered the Danish fisherman's buster, it was so ahead of it's time that even he had no idea what he was really doing."  His catchphrase could be "I doubt it."

Saturday Morning Slam has continued its streak as being the most consistently entertaining WWE show going.  Santino and Heath Slater had a fun, goofy match, and the rest of the show was fun as well.  I also watched the new TMNT show this week, which I thought was really cool, so that makes 2 Saturday morning kids' TV shows I'm into.

I didn't like Raw.  Between the over-long in-ring segments with Punk, debate between BS and Sheamus, a general lack of good matches, and Michael Cole dictating the tweets of Larry King, it was a looong three hours.  There were some cool parts, though.
1. Antonio Cesaro picking up and dropping Brodus Clay.  Incredible!
2. The faction of Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, and Drew McIntyre.  It cracks me up how horrible they are.
3. Wade Barrett telling AJ off backstage.  This was only about a minute long, but it was fantastic.
4. Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow.  A really good match.  Easily the highlight of the program.  Sandow was amazingly crisp and slick, his style and technique are really impressive.  Kudos to Sheamus as well for helping make Sandow look so flawless.
5. I did like the first half of the promo segment between Punk and JR.  It was pretty intense, and I thought JR was the man.  But it went on for too long, and then Ryback staring Punk down and scaring him away might have been the lowest point of the week for me, from any program.  I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the show, so I'm not even sure if the main event was any good.



My extracurricular of the week was watching the rest of the Ric Flair interview which I'd started a few weeks ago.  We're talking 7 hours of stories, and I really enjoyed it.  I kept it on while doing a bunch of chores, I wasn't just sitting there looking at his talking head that whole time.  I'd recommend it as being a quality production, packed full of information, but I'm not sure if you guys would like it or not.  You might just want to check out the promotional highlights on youtube. (search: Ric Flair interview preview Highspots)

That's my spiel and I'm sticking to it.  QM OUT

October 01, 2012

CHECKIN IN WITH RUSTY

So i was all ready to post. I was excited. I had a giant page of notes, new batteries, and all the time in the world to talk about wrestling to myself. I recorded a whole podcast. And once it came time to put it on the computer i realised that my recorder is messed up and it sounded horrible. Like I'm in  a echo chamber or something. Worse than my computer. I was really bummed too because i streamlined my show a bit and was excited for you to hear it. Oh well, Ill try to figure something out for a show next week. If i cant find a way to record ill write a big post.

In other news. I bought my first Blu Ray today. I got the best of wwe ppv 2009 - 2010. I hate watching movies on blu ray, I feel like it makes movies look too real and not cinematic enough. But when it comes to wrestling i love them. Wrestling is supposed to be real. So weeing the pours in peoples faces and every hair on their head is a good thing. So today i geeked out on this video. Some matches were ok (Edge vs Jeff Hardy) some horrible (RKO vs Cena, i quit match, piece of shit garbage) and one was amazing (Punk vs Jeff Hardy , TLC, one of my faves ever)). I am worried tho. Now i want to start collecting wrestling blu ray. Gotta hold myself back. But it will be hard, the CM Punk bly ray comes out in a week and I WANT IT.

SO! Lets talk. What do you guys think of a SCW sleepover? I'm thinking we could do a marathon. One day or two. I don't care. And I don't care where it happens. It's just an idea. Thoughts?

OK off to watch the Funk Mat Classic. Just a reminder, New Are You Serious is up. Road Dogg rules.