2012 Pro Wrestling Thread

My favorites who didn't get a push:

Iron Mike Sharpe: His screaming always cracked me up.

Pete Doherty: Always such a goofy guy.

The Killer Bees: It used to always upset me that they'd beat the champs in a non-title match, usually with the masks, then lose in the title matches because they didn't use the masks. Plus, I always wanted to see a Bees/British Bulldogs match and I don't think it ever happened.

Sabu: I'm not talking about ECW Sabu. I'm talking about WCW and WWE Sabu. I always thought the guy could have been pushed as a main eventer in both companies. I did mark out for the one Sabu/Cena match, and wished it would have happened in Philly in, around 1995.

Paul Roma: For some reason, I always identified with him (not in the looks department). I just liked how he was always this underdog who tried hard, but didn't get the wins. Then later he had that push with Hercules, which I was glad for. His WCW run sucked, although he did get a couple of tag title runs with Arn and Orndorff. But he sure as shit shouldn't have been a Horseman.

Velvet McIntyre: See Killer Bees. Always won the non-title matches, always lost the title matches (although she did a quick switch with Moolah on an Asian tour in '86 that was never mentioned back then). A heckuva worker.

 

If I'm also remembering a shoot correctly, he came in right as things between Hart, HBK and McMahon were getting really bad. As a result, everyone was trying to protect their own place on the card - the satellite guys like Davey Boy Smith, HHH, etc. - and no one would really help him get over.

 

Best angle/feud: I guess Punk-Bryan-Kane. Good matches, even when everyone assumed Kane would fuck everything up, it gave us Hell No and was generally enjoyable TV. Plus it gave us the visual of AJ playing ring around the rosey around Kane before kissing him, back when both weren't overplayed. Still, it seems like there were no truly awesome feuds or angles this year. Nothing in TNA qualified, nothing else involving the big players in WWE. Maybe Kevin Steen vs. Jim Cornette/ROH management?

Worst angle/feud: It's tempting to go with the GM drama, and I could always put on my moral outrage beanie and shake my fist at how they used Jerry Lawler's near-death experience to advance storylines, but my vote goes to the Aces and Eights (or Aces and 0.8s, as Meltzer calls 'em). They've been in TNA since Hogan slammed the 1,300-pound Andre the Giant before 500,000 fans at Wrestlemania III, but there's been NO advancement at all. It's one thing to avoid blowing your load early, it's another thing to do an invasion angle filled with masked guys and intrigue about who's running the show, only to go forward six months later and find the same shit, with D-Von and Festus as the only reveals. Plus they lose half the time anyway. Fucking do something already. They can't even pull the trigger on Wes Brisco and Garrett Bishoff unmasking, even though damn near everyone knows they work some of their matches and it's not like anyone would give a shit.

Best match: The Shield vs. Hell No/Ryback. There might have been more technically sound matches (Taker-HHH, one of the Punk-Bryan matches, Kevin Steen-El Generico from the most recent ROH PPV), but this one had a really wild and weird vibe that wrestling hasn't had since early nWo. And the kids more than held up their end, making them immediate players and not just Nexus 3.0, where the buzz dies off and there's nothing but midcard fodder. Great chemistry, hellacious bumps, everyone hit their notes, enough tweaks to the formula to make you pay attention and a finish that makes perfect sense and completes the elevation of the new guys while not hurting anyone on the losing team at all.

Worst match: HHH-Lesnar. Absolute letdown from what we were hoping. It was good of them to try to fuck around with the formula here too, but this time it just did not work. If you're going to do an MMA/wrestling hybrid, do it with Undertaker.

Nicest surprise: Bully Ray getting into the best shape of his career and developing into TNA's best heel. Particularly impressive, considering a) he and D-Von were way beyond their sell-by date as a tag team and b) the history of the two as singles competitors is dodgy, to be polite. Instead, he's an entertaining as hell interview who puts on good matches and has a great hold on his character. I'm a little wary about recent developments, though -- it's logical and smart to use the A&8 angle to push Bully over into being an iconoclast badass face, but this stuff with Brooke and Hulk is ... not really the next logical step. Regardless, he'd be a credible upper-card heel in WWE if he jumped ship.

Biggest disappointment: I'm torn between the neutering of Sheamus's character and the absolute fuckup of what should have been a white-hot James Storm-Bobby Roode feud. On the one hand, Sheamus used to be one of my favorite wrestlers and now he's basically a ginger Cena. On the other hand, while the heel turn that started the Storm-Roode angle was in November 2011, they nevertheless laid the foundation for a brutal hatefest of a feud for most of 2012. Instead, Storm loses and just kinda disappears, then they forget about each other for a while, then they have that big bloody blowoff match, except the build had been completely botched and it turned out not to be the end anyway. Total mess. Guess that's my vote then.

WTF moment of the year: Funkasaurus. A good WTF moment, because they couldn't have right turned any harder and left everyone shocked and confused, but it wasn't swerve-for-the-sake-of-swerve and people eventually liked it. Then WWE fumbled it away. They basically killed him when he stood up to a rampaging Big Show, looked like he was going to get his elevation into a bigger role a la Rikishi, only to get the shit kicked out of him and turned hopelessly irrelevant. It's a shame.

Wrestler of the year: Daniel Bryan. Took what WWE threw at him and hit it out of the park every time. And to think, a lack of personality was the thing allegedly holding him back.

 

What are your thoughts on Brad Maddox?

I'm talking as a whole, not his in-ring performance.

 

I don't like the way they've booked him, but only because it's been done over and over again.

 

From wiki

After leaving the WWF, Wilkes retired due to a broken collarbone. Since leaving the business, Wilkes admitted that he had used steroids and cocaine during his career, starting with his college football days. He spent nine months in prison in 2002 for forging a prescription due to his addiction to painkillers. As of July 2007, Wilkes has since quit drugs and is a car salesman in Columbia, South Carolina.[13]

In a July 25, 2007 interview with WACH reporter Justin Kier, Wilkes discussed his career, steroid use, the Chris Benoit tragedy, and various other topics. Kier's last two questions involved saying goodbye to the fans and giving advice to youngsters in the wrestling business. Wilkes urged young wrestlers to "learn from our mistakes." He said that 50 people who he once worked with in the wrestling business are now dead.

Also, there seems to be some controversy over The Patriot gimmick and who owns the copyright to it.

 

Give yourself a pat on the back for remembering that.

 

I also vote for Screamin' Norman Smiley.

 

SPOILER FROM THE RAW TAPING ON SATURDAY.

I came across it on my FB Feed. Not surprised in the least.



And we have a new Intercontinental champ. Wade Barrett.

 

Excellent news.

 

Not a spoiler anymore. It's the top story on the WWE home page.

 

Some of the matches in this CM Punk "Best in the World" DVD are incredible, especially the TLC matches.