Omg can we PLEASE have this happen?
Not because I’m all boo-ing on Cena (I actually like the guy and his character) but because I cannot stand this boring ass version of Reigns that they are trying to make work. He has such a heel look about him (wears black, long hair, tattoos,) that he would be an awesome angry heel and really do something for his character.
That being said, a Reigns/Cena rivalry would suck. “Who can land their 5-moves-of-doom first!”
Oh, just admit it. We ALL hate Cena, even though we recognize he’s a great worker and works the crowd better than any other WWE star.
There. I said it.
Not me.
I’m a proud not Cena hater. I understand that he is the number one hero in the comic book world in which he lives, and the hero always prevails in the end and defeats the monster.
He’s perfect act it too. What I hate are the Cena haters because a legitimate good thing can happen and they immediately hate it because he’s in it
It’s more annoying to me to listen to people bitch and moan about Cena than it is for supercena to defeat the entire Authority or whatever
Cena’s greatest gift is his ability to ad-lib, coupled with the fact that Vince & co. trust him enough to let him do so. I was in the audience for the Raw in Seattle last December where the final segment was an in-ring promo between Cena and Orton as a buildup to their title unification match, with pretty much every former WWE/world champion they could get in attendance (Bryan, Mark Henry, Swagger, Mick Foley, HBK, Bret Hart, etc.) It turned sour quickly when everyone started chanting for Daniel Bryan (this was essentially a hometown show for him, since Aberdeen is only an hour and a half or so away) and booing the shit out of both Orton and Cena. Cena realized this, and decided to break from the script and start interviewing Bryan about who he was and how he worked for what he’s got instead of having it handed to him by the guys in the boardroom.
He had the crowd eating out of his hands and he turned the entire promo around from “epic trainwreck” to “awesome”. He may not be a technical wizard like Bryan, a master psychologist like Ambrose, or a big seller like Rusev, but he understands how to work a crowd.
Lucha Underground is truly becoming a separate world from reality, in a good way. It’s an organic action movie, much like the costume kung fu movies El Rey broadcasts. They introduced 5 more masked luchas, all master aerialists. They created more back story for Mil Muertes, recreating his childhood experience of being the only survivor of an earthquake, holding on to a piece of the remains of his home to bind him to intimacy with death, and delving more into the creepy obsessions his valet Catrina has with tasting those who are about to die.
Another technique they use that I like: instead of hammering the viewers with promos weeks before a wrestler’s debut, they use the ominous portent. For example, Konnan greets Chavo backstage and praises him for his aggressive initiative. He then warns Chavo that Mascarito (the midget lucha Chavo attacked) has friends who will come to avenge him. He doesn’t say who they are, he just adds to the mystery by hinting they’ll be coming from lands beyond the reach of law and civility.
It’s like expanding the mystery of monster wrestlers from “Parts Unknown.” The masks and ring attire makes these performers look like otherworldly warriors from other dimensions besides ours. Whereas WWE might rely more on topical interests to establish a wrestler’s personna, LU focuses more on the mysterious and exotic.
But wait a few years. When you began this thread back in June, you said you had just started getting into WWE again. This same Cena act has been going on for over a decade. Many of us who have been watching WWE for a long time are bored as hell with the man. Sure the good guy is supposed to win in the end. But it has been done with Cena for so long that it is stale as last winter’s bread.
Thing is, you can create new stars that can be huge faces, or you can stick with the same ones over and over. New viewers and kids may not notice, but the long-time viewer will. The WWE has been scared to pass the gauntlet, but it is more than past the time.
The crowd wants to boo Cena. If you do not give them a legitimate reason, they will boo him anyway and we get one more uncomfortable segment where fans “ruin” the bit by booing when they are supposed to be cheering. I hear people argue that today’s fans harm the product by cheering for the villains.But I think it is mostly about Cena. Turn him and smarks won’t suddenly cheer him just for the heck of it. And at some point he WILL turn. He has to.
I’m definitely liking Lucha Underground more and more with every episode. It’s almost less a wrestling promotion than it is a scripted TV series about a wrestling promotion, and there’s definitely been a lot of effort put into plotting out storylines in advance rather than doing everything on the fly. Between Johnny Mundo fighting his way into Dario Cueto’s office, Dario handing out bundles of cash to Big Ryck so he’ll put Johnny in the hospital, and Konnan implying that he had to either bribe the border guards or procure forged visas to get the luchadors into America, they’re definitely using the promos to establish a motif and a unique feel for the universe in which the Temple resides.
I definitely liked the Mil Muertes promo as well - there are very few wrestlers with established backstories like that (Kane comes to mind), and it really buildt on his character and his ring psychology in the squash match we saw him in. (Ricky Mandell, the guy who jobbed to him, is a fairly big name on the LA indy scene and has held titles in Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, one of the only indy leagues to actually have a weekly TV show these days.)
The triple threat match definitely stole the show, and it was during this match that I noticed two things that definitely set LU apart from WWE and ROH - firstly, that in every episode so far all the matches have been presented from bell to bell with no commercial interruptions, and secondly that there’s no instant replay. You get the full experience without having to wonder what happened during the break or being shown the same move over and over again (though I did have to rewind and watch Fenix’s springboard off the rope into a flying RKO a few times to process what the hell just happened). I’ve never seen any of these guys before, but from what I’ve read they’re all pretty big names in Mexico; Fenix was formerly AAA’s secondary world champion (a la the WWE championship/world championship split until recently), Drago has held several tag team championships, and Pentagon Jr., though he’s fairly new, apparently had a high-profile feud with the luchador now working for WWE as Kallisto.
I also enjoyed the hell out of Mascarita Sagrada’s match - he’s worked pretty much everywhere in wrestling from the '80s to today, including WWE, WCW, TNA, NWA, WWC, and both the major Mexican promotions, and for his age (he’ll be turning 50 in January) he shows no signs of slowing down. I’d say El Torito could learn a thing or two from him, except that he already has - El Torito actually wore his costume and wrestled as him during a period when he was on the outs with AAA.
From what I’ve read, their next TV taping isn’t until January and the current batch of tapings is being used for the episodes up until a few weeks after that one. Alberto Del Rio is expected to make his debut at the January tapings, so we probably won’t see him until February or March, but I’m looking forward to where a guy like him would fit into the grimy, gritty world of LU.
I caught the first three episodes yesterday, and this is just what I was thinking. It definitely has that feel of a Robert Rodriguez flick, or maybe one of those old kung fu movies they show on El Rey when they’re not showing wrestling. (Lucha-ing? Luch… I used to know how to make gerunds in spanish, probably. Oh well.) It’s interesting–for all that it’s obviously a very highly produced product–as we see with the various “backstage” vignettes, it still has this wonderfully gritty feel to it. I was wondering if some of that had to do with the fact that (on DirecTV at least) it’s in standard def. I was a little grumpy about that when I turned it on–I’m such a high def snob. But it works for this. I’m not going to complain when it goes HD, but SD works for it.
Aside from your comments, which I’m pretty much 100% on board with, I’ve gotta say it’s nice to have some announcers who actually help tell the story. They (Striker especially) seemed to devolve a bit as I watched my way through the three shows, but for the most part they did their job helping to sell the moves and fill in the story. I try not to give Cole and JBL too much stick (Lawler can go eat a bag of dicks), as I know much of what we hate is coming through their headsets from Vince and the bucky beaver motherfucker. But it’s really nice to hear competent, straightforward wrestling announcing. I’m not asking for JR here; he’s probably a once in a lifetime talent. Just the basics, and LU does it well.
Anyway, yeah, LU is pretty much my favorite wrestling promotion not called NXT now. Sorry ROH; you’ve got some great talent and I’ll always come to your live shows when you’re in town, but you’ve gotta work on putting together the total package if you want to be one of the big boys.
Get out! He’s HOW old??? That fucker was amazing! He definitely looked like a more veteran version of El Torito, and I could see a tiny bit of stiffness in his moves, but he still pulled off those hurricanranas like a champ. I liked the way his opponent pantomimed laughing at him, then looked stupefied at Mascarito’s moves for the rest of the match. I’m actually kind of glad I haven’t followed lucha up to this point. Every new (to me) star they book for a show is a WOW! moment. I’m thinking LU is going to have a core roster of guys like Mundo, Puma, Chavo, Big Ryck, Sexy Star, Mil Muertes etc. and call in the other luchas for an episode or two. It keeps everything fresh and exciting.
NXT 11/13: An OK show. Finn and Hideo weren’t exactly dazzling, but they probably need a little more time to gel with the other talent. It looked like Justin Gabriel was rolling into position for their signature moves a little too soon. It also looks like Tyson’s douchebaggery is tottering the heat balance in his favor over Natalya. He’s getting wins in WWE while putting over NXT talent.
Egad, Callisto and Sin Cara’s bright green-yellow ring attire just about burned my retinas to a smoking husk. I liked their opponents. Maybe after their next match I’ll remember their names, hee hee.
Neville’s taking an interesting direction. Did he (kayfabe) fake his injury and is he (kayfabe) faking his goodwill for Zayn? He took the time to console Zayn for the loss then went back to selling the knee injury. He also gets cred for selling the Red Arrow miss, especially in slo-mo when it looked like he bounced ten feet high.
I only half watched NXT cuz I was into the Dolphins game, but from what I saw I enjoyed pretty well.
I love love love the fact that Tyson has pictures of his cats on his boots. That’s so hilarious and, let’s face it, so heel. Only a heel would decorate his boots with cats. This match with Justin Gabriel (taking a break from being the bunny) taking on Finn and Hideo wasn’t too bad. I never watched Prince Devitt, so I have no idea who he his, but this guy is cut! Although I miss the facepaint he used to have now that I’ve Googled him.
The divas match was only so/so. Sasha is a good heel! Alexa is hot but needs some work.
Lu-cha! Lu-cha! Lu-cha! I always give benefits of the doubt, but I’m gonna have to agree with the smarks in saying that Kallisto is so excited to wrestle, and Sin Cara is just kinda…there lol. It’ll be interesting to see if Lucha Underground will have a more lucha-focused influence on WWE if it continues to grow.
WHERE’S MY BAYLEY!
I didn’t like that they pointed out that “Mil Muertes” means “A Thousand Deaths” and then they kept calling him “Mil”.
Ok, “Thousand”. :smack:
I thought Sami Zayn was the bunny. Or is it a rotating cast thing?
There’s speculation that it could also be Darren Young returning from injury. I’m assuming it goes to whoever draws the short straw.
btw, I’m sure everybody’s traumatized with the news that Great Khali has finally been released. Who’s next to get the ax? My money’s on David Otunga.
I dunno. I wouldn’t put it past them to reveal it is Darren Young, but it has been increasingly obvious that it is Justin Gabriel. When he’s wrestling in the suit, he tends to show a lot of flesh. They couldn’t reveal DY and then show a lot of that back footage.
About the Bunny: No way it’s Darren Young for two reasons. The bunny has always been white (when they’ve shown flesh), and DY is black, therefore he’s going to be in the new Blacktion “The New Day” or whatever the superfriends are calling themselves.
About Khali: O00o0o0o0 No0o0o0o0 no00o0o0ot Khaliiiiiii!!! This actually kinda surprises me because wasn’t he a draw in India where the WWE is supposedly big? I mean, I know he can’t wrestle anymore (he can barely walk) but from a PR point of view I was surprised he’s gone now
T-Cups: It was more like they let Khali’s contract expire. I’m pretty sure WWE will be able to keep their audience in India. It’s not like American audiences would stop watching WWE if Big Show were let go.
Speaking of big lugs, NXT has Adam Scherr in development, who won the Arnold Strongman World Championship a couple years ago. He’s 6’ 8", 385 lbs, and makes Brock Lesnar look like a kindergardener.
Well, if we were to make lists of who should go, mine would be…
Zach Ryder. Ok, he’s injured and that probably saves his job for six months, but they aren’t using him and aren’t likely to, so bye bye Zach.
Mark Henry Signed through 2016, apparently. Injury prone and unable to sustain a long feud, I don’t see how they can use him in a productive manner at this point.
Glenn Jacobs/Kane Sorry Glenn, I like you, but it’s time to hang up the boots.
David Otunga Pretty much “Who?” at this point since he hasn’t been on TV in a year or so and was never a significant player.
Chris Jericho Was my #1 favorite a few years back, but at this point they’ve stopped having him come in just to put people over. He did Bray Wyatt no favors earlier this year. Oh, I know that’s not entirely his fault, but coming back for a couple of months once a year is only a paycheck at this point.
Hornswaggle Time’s up.
And oh hell, I’m sure there are 2-4 guys we haven’t seen on TV in a while whose names escape me.
Vince McMahon Who am I kidding, right? Vince will only leave by dying in the production truck.
Vince’s Cronies Kevin Dunn, a few others. They’ve lost touch with their audience and are doing the product no favors. Clean house!
/lana: Drazir, drazir. Next week, you Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. In Russia, we have Tanksgiving. Tanks giving fiery holocaustal death to all who oppose us! Ha, ha. I tell joke. We do have real Thanksgiving. We give thanks for the leadership of VLAD uh MEER POO tin and his MAN BOOBIES!
WTWTWTWTW!? Luke Harper is IC Champ! Things are getting interesting. Monster/weirdo archetypes don’t usually win titles, but I suppose this is to give SS some kind of gravitas, especially with Sheamus all the sudden hospitalized. It doesn’t matter anyway. It’ll be Super Cena taking on Team Authori-tie at the end.
The Wyatt/Ambrose feud has become meatier, with Dean doing his own magic trick to mock Bray. I like the way Wyatt goes all deep and psychological in his promos, then Ambrose just says “whatever” and punks him out. I’d like to see this feud play out a little longer, then Ambrose go back to making Seth Rollin’s life hell for WM 31.
Cesaro vs. Ryback was surprisingly good, but most of the credit goes to Cesaro. Still, Ryback showed he can do more than one-minute squash matches, and like JBL said, those two didn’t do much countering. They just took each others’ best shots.
While the first half of RAW was pretty intense, the second half was a huge letdown. The Big Show/Sheamus match sucked the life out of the show. I fell asleep before the 8-man match. Has Sheamus’s worth dropped so much they replaced him with fellow ginger Erick Rowan? It seems odd that the silent brooders who stood in the background for Bray’s monologues are all the sudden in the main event picture, but sometimes weird booking can’t be helped. Maybe going against formula every once in a while will work itself out.
Yeah, I don’t get the revolving Team Cena. I suppose it was to sell the damage The Authority was doing, but seriously, when Ziggler takes 15 curb stomps and is still in the match…
The thing that surprises me the most is that Rowan has no real REASON to be on team Cena. This is probably their roundabout way of having a wyatt feud , but the motivation for him just isn’t there for me. At least with Harper he could be doing it for the craziness aspect. Also my jaw definitely dropped when Harper held the belt. I knew Zigs was gonna lose, but I didn’t know it was a legit title match. I also don’t hate that he has it, I feel he’s pretty deserving.
I’ll do a Survivor Series picks post, but I am pretty excited for this match, the rest…not so much. Other than Bray/Ambrose and Nikki/AJ I can’t even remember who else is on the card. Yawn.
More shirtless Putin pictures!!!
