Pro Wrestling

red terror

Mania real-time... (it's on the west coast in an outdoor stadium and looks odd seeing the early bouts play out in daylight)...
 
1 -- IC champion BAD NEWS BARRETT vs. DANIEL BRYAN vs. LUKE HARPER vs. R-TRUTH vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. DEAN AMBROSE vs. STARDUST -- seven-man Intercontinental Title ladder match
[spoiler]( I only caught last few mins of match. Missed the Kickoff with Tag Team championship 4-way and Andre the Giant Invitational Battle Royale, too.) Daniel Bryan wins Inter-Continental Championship. Right result. WWE putting a big push into the IC belt, trying to make it meaningful and providing Bryan a co-main event status (or at least close) for the foreseeable future. Looks like Vince wants the Heavyweight belt on a beast-or-monster and still keep the DB fans happy. [/spoiler]
 
2 -- RANDY ORTON vs. SETH ROLLINS (w/ Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury)
[spoiler]Possibly the sweetest RKO of all-time pins Rollins 1-2-3. [/spoiler]
 
3 -- STING vs. TRIPLE H -- The Monday Night War
[spoiler]Holy sh!t. Trying to process this last one. For a start, it was way more fun and way more awesome than it had any right to be. Huge pops for surprise appearances by Hogan and Michaels. Very weird seeing Nash & Hall (NWO) come down against DX. Great story-telling, near pinfalls, Sting used his bat to smash Hunter's sledgehammer, superkicked in the head by Michaels to break a Scorpion Death Lock, Hunter used head of broken sledgehammer to take down Sting and get a clean pinfall. Wrong winner, but WWE defending their honour come-what-may. After match Trips shook Sting's hand and spoke to him genuinely, likely thanking him for laying down and doing "the job." Will there be a bigger program with Sting? Surely he's owed something here beyond simply money. Terrific match.[/spoiler]
 
4 -- THE BELLAS (Divas champion NIKKI BELLA & BRIE BELLA) vs. A.J. LEE & PAIGE -- Divas tag match
[spoiler]AJ puts a Bella (Nikki?) in a Black Widow, Bella submits. Good match, not too long. [/spoiler]
 
The 2015 Hall of Fame Induction Class was just introduced to the crowd. It's fascinating in both last night's HoF ceremony and tonight's WM event, the Bushwhackers are the only HOFers who don't break kayfabe, even when they're "shooting" they stay firmly in character. Awesome!
 
5 -- U.S. champion RUSEV (w/ Lana) vs. JOHN CENA -- United States Title match
Good lord! Opening with an EPIC Soviet-style propaganda parade with Russian soldiers marching to the ring in front of a Kremlin backdrop. Lana makes her return. Rusev appears waving a Ruskie flag atop a Russian tank!!! Really cool monster heel entrance. Cena makes his entrance with a video montage with speeches by Reagan and Kennedy and Bush and Obama and dear-God it's Bush again!?! and really, it's not only NOWHERE NEAR as cool, it's actually pathetic, but half the crowd is buying it. The other half is booing Cena already and the match hasn't even started. This is gonna be a doozy!
[spoiler]Rusev's first loss in WWE. He's really going off on Lana, who interfered. There's a new U.S. Title holder. Clean pin. Defends the honor of America. Does this mean Super-Cena is out of the Heavyweight picture?[/spoiler]
 
Attendance announced: â€‹76,976, new stadium record. Stephanie McMahon basking in the middle of the ring bragging about WM being available in 177 nations, then going completely heel giving herself & Hunter ALL of the credit. Boos raining down. Triple H boasting about having just conquered Sting. ... But ... they're interrupted by ... [spoiler]The People's Champion. The Rock has arrived...he won't hit a woman, so he brings out Ronda Rousey, who puts a hurt on Steph, who had called her "the most dangerous un-armed woman on the planet" which could be true. Great segment, but crowd mixed on end-result, maybe some concern that Rousey might have actually hurt Steph's arm, who was selling hard, maybe for real.[/spoiler]
 
It's dark outside now...
 
6 -- UNDERTAKER vs. BRAY WYATT
You remember how much you miss that entrance theme song, probably the best ring entrance ever. Always epic.
[spoiler]Great match. It looked at first like Bray Wyatt was only there to survive a supernatural initiation, but he came back strong and had several believable chances at winning. Taker tombstoned him twice. Won by pin. They both looked strong. Undertaker looks like he can stay conditioned and prepare for an annual show for a few years and craft a strong program. I hope he gets paid a million dollars for that one show. Wyatt stepped up, looked like he belonged in this match. [/spoiler]
 
7 -- WWE World Hvt. champion BROCK LESNAR (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. ROMAN REIGNS
Up next...I smell Ambrose & Rollins somewhere... Reigns enters first, mixed-to-boos. Lesnar's music starts, crowd pops, he's clearly the crowds pick to start... Reigns announced to HUGE boos. Heyman announcing Lesnar, and the crowd is on side.
[spoiler] Brock is cut, but immediately delivers F5. "Suplex City, bitch." Three F5s, 10 suplexes and a pair of clotheslines out of the ring (ouch!) but Reigns is surviving. Crowd booing him every time he kicks out of a pin. He seems to be laughing, Super-Cena-like, a suspension of disbelief too far. Crowd not liking it. Now Lesnar's head is busted open on the ring-post! Lots of blood .. Yikes!! Excnge of super-punches and suplexes & F5s, both men are laid out in the ring, Seth Rollins rushes in with his Money in the Bank briefcase, cashes it in, it becomes a triple-threat match championship. Lesnar scoops up Rollins ready to F5 him, but is speared by Reigns, who gets curb-stomped & covered by Rollins. 1-2-3. Seth Rollins is the new Champ. Lesnar loses belt without ever being pinned or submitting. Obvious re-match. Crowd initially buzzed by the surprise, but quite a few vocally dissatisfied with outcome. Really good exciting match. [/spoiler]
 
Should be an interesting Raw tomorrow night. 
 
Overall: Very Good WM.

red terror

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="red terror" data-cid="482661" data-time="1427673145">
<div>
Should be an interesting Raw tomorrow night.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Brock Lesnar does not take losing his title lightly. 
[spoiler]Rollins backs out of a rematch. Lesnar goes bonkers. Heyman cannot restrain him. The entire announce-team gets wiped out. Michael Cole gets dragged into the middle of the ring and F5ed. Lesnar then takes a cameraman and F5s him twice. Steph McMahon issues immediate suspension. Really-really well done. The hot crowd lapped up Cole and the cameraman getting rag-dolled and destroyed. The show was stopped for a long time with no commentary and emergency workers getting the stretchers into the ring. Some good matches throughout. Strangely, the Main Event was anti-climactic. Reigns was a surprise 6th entrant in a Six-Man Tag, and the crowd booed him lustily. He gave a good effort at Mania last night, but the hardcore fans are burying him right now. [/spoiler]

Stockcar86

RIP Steve Rickard
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/67622212/new-zealand-wrestling-legend-steve-rickard-dies'>http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/67622212/new-zealand-wrestling-legend-steve-rickard-dies</a>

red terror

RIP indeed. My fandom for pro wrestling began w/ On The Mat -- Ric Martel, Zulu, King Curtis, Ernie Leonard, and of course Steve Rickard.

Stockcar86

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="red terror" data-cid="483882" data-time="1428339102">
<div>
RIP indeed. My fandom for pro wrestling began w/ On The Mat -- Ric Martel, Zulu, King Curtis, Ernie Leonard, and of course Steve Rickard. 
</div>
</blockquote>
agreed - just add in Samoan Joe and Ox Baker for my early heroes

Tim

Tim

I don't remember the Repo Man, but he looks pretty ace. <img src="http://i.imgur.com/ReHU9aN.jpg" alt="ReHU9aN.jpg">

red terror

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Tim" data-cid="488856" data-time="1430944862">
<div>
I don't remember the Repo Man, but he looks pretty ace.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
"Smash" from Demolition (tag-team champs).

Tim

Apparently he was also "Stewart Pain".
 
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/0WNYyqP.jpg" alt="0WNYyqP.jpg">

red terror

WWE Elimination Chamber PPV Report 
May 31, 2015
Corpus Christi, Tex.
 
U.S. champion JOHN CENA vs. NXT champion KEVIN OWENS -- non-title champion vs. champion match
 
WINNER: **** at 19:57. 
 
[spoiler]WINNER: Owens at 19:57. That was on the level of The Shield winning their PPV debut match in epic fashion, sending the message that Shield was going to be a for-real act and not just heels built up to be fed to babyfaces. Very good 20-minute PPV match. It was almost too good with the stream of finisher kick-outs taking the crowd out at times. But, they finished strong with a big-time finishing sequence. The other strong point was the crowd was really into Owens during his extended beat down on Cena. So many WWE heels lose the crowd during that period of the match, but Owens is so intriguing that the crowd hung with him during the most crucial part of the match building to the finish. Will that be the same months from now after the novelty wears off? I believe so, as Owens is that good as a heel. Overall, I expected more of a brawl that ended in a non-finish to protect both men, but WWE went The Shield Intro Route, and both men stand to benefit from how their stories play out after this match. (****) Post-match, Owens stood proudly in the ring after his music stopped. Owens took the mic and recapped what he's done since arriving in WWE. He said that now everyone knows who Kevin Owens is. "I'm the man who started a fight with John Cena. But, I'm also the man who just finished that fight," he said. "And now that I've beaten John Cena, John, I have some veteran advice. It's time for you to go because your time is way up, but my time is now. Because The Champ is here!"
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/wweppvs/article_85340.shtml#.VW0ha9L2AsY'>http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/wweppvs/article_85340.shtml#.VW0ha9L2AsY</a>[/spoiler]

red terror

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="red terror" data-cid="493595" data-time="1433122999">
<div>
WINNER: **** at 19:57.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
On Raw tonight, in the ring Cena called it the "most impressive debut in WWE history," which may actually be true, or close to it. Cena then went into an impassioned (preacher-style) speech defending the WWE marketing strategy and his own career, hot feud with Owens definitely the heel.
 
Btw that PPV last night was WWE Network-only exclusive in U.S. (regular ppv in foreign territories) -- first time WWE has cut the American cable behemoths out of a PPV. Some of those outlets may refuse to carry future WWE events. Time will tell. The main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose had too much happening to explain here. Worth catching if you get the opportunity.
 
Ryback won Elimination Chamber for vacant Intercontinental belt. Daniel Bryan sold Ryback after the bout, awarding him the belt, selling beautifully. Ryback accepted and seemed genuinely gracious, bowing before Bryan, and really grabbing the babyface role that's been so-far elusive. 
 
Tag-team champs New Day are drawing major heat, it's entertaining seeing Kofi Kingston in a heel role..

Godder

I watched it live, and the heat for the (Dusty) finish of the main event was nuclear. I enjoyed the show, personally.

red terror

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="red terror" data-cid="493768" data-time="1433207589">
<div>
On Raw tonight, in the ring Cena called it the "most impressive debut in WWE history," which may actually be true, or close to it.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
KO is officially on fire.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://deadspin.com/kevin-owens-has-arrived-in-wwe-and-hes-the-truth-1710334526'>Deadspin</a>, yesterday:
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">Kevin Owens Has Arrived In WWE, And He's The Truth
 
</blockquote>

&nbsp;

<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href=''>Grantland</a>, today:
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">Us vs. Them: The Story of Kevin Owensâ€s Stunning Rise to WWE Stardom
 
</blockquote>

Godder

RIP Dusty Rhodes :(.

canefan

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Godder" data-cid="495628" data-time="1434051993">RIP Dusty Rhodes :(.</blockquote>The American Dream is over

red terror

Uh-oh. The American Dream really is over.

(Greatest Rock Video Ever, btw.).
 
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has cut ties with the professional wrestler Hulk Hogan
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://gawker.com/report-hulk-hogan-refers-to-fucking-niggers-in-leake-1719933145'>Report: Hulk Hogan Refers to â€œFucking Niggersâ€ in Leaked Transcript</a>
 
 
...
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_86433.shtml#.VbJOXaT2AsY'>WWE BREAKING NEWS: Hulk Hogan removed from all-things WWE, including Tough Enough, plus Hogan posts cryptic tweet </a>

red terror

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">The Enquirer <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/hulk-hogan-racist-scandal-wrestling-caught-on-tape-saying-n-word-daughter-brooke-exclusive'>has published excerpts of transcripts submitted to a Florida court</a> overseeing Hulk Hoganâ€s $100 million lawsuit against Gawker Media. In the transcripts, reportedly transcribed from a sex tape depicting Hogan having sex with the wife of shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge ...</blockquote>

Stockcar86

RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://variety.com/2015/biz/obituaries-people-news/roddy-piper-dies-dead-wwe-wrestler-1201554513/'>http://variety.com/2015/biz/obituaries-people-news/roddy-piper-dies-dead-wwe-wrestler-1201554513/</a>

Godder

Gutted, another one of the icons goes.

canefan

Rowdy Roddie Piper gooonnnee

The Silver Fern

Pro Wrestling