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.
I really like Kofi on the mic, I think he's improved tons within the past 6-8 months. I think maybe Punk is giving him some good pointers, they have been traveling together for a while. If you aren't into his gimmick, I can understand that, but after hearing him on Cabana's podcast and the Punk DVD, I like him regardless of the gimmick. In the same way I like Kofi as a person, I dislike Miz as a person, insofar as he seems really annoying. To me that makes it a fun feud because I'm distinctly for one guy and against the other. Most mid-card feuds, and even some main event feuds (Orton-ADR, Sheamus-BS) seem like random match-ups that I sit and watch but never care about. Miz and Kofi's matches aren't too special, but I'm totally into it anyway.
ReplyDeleteIf you need something about Mania to look forward to, the advance posters are showing Cena, Lesnar, and Rock as the headliners. Rock has that WWE title match at Royal Rumble, so he'll probably be in the main event at Mania, either challenging or defending the WWE title.
Thanks for breaking down PWG. Looking forward to more of your thoughts on EVOLVE.
One more thing: In my book, there is no such thing as a wrestling post which is "too long" or "pointless"!