Re: #ThankYouDanielBryan - The Official WWE Thread - Part 23

by Onyx Sun Dec 20, 2015 7:35 pm

Russo was the head writer during the AE and that's something everybody knows. He wasn't some 50th man part of a booking team who played a 'small part' in the AE creative. He wrote the weekly shows, worked with Vince closely and that can't be topped. 'Crash TV' (edgy controversial storylines, short matches, swerves, heel turns, shoots, backstage segments, storylines for every wrestler, characters) is Russo's style. And that's what the AE was. Nowadays there's like 30 writers and everything's micromanaged. Back then it was just Vince, Russo and Ed Ferrera, his assistant.

And Arquette wasn't Russo's idea. It was announcer Tony Schiavone's. Either way it worked in a way because it was shocking and it gave WCW mainstream attention/publicity. Wrestling should do whatever it can to get mainstream attention and shouldn't just cater to hardcore fans, which is what it does nowadays imo.

How much better would RAW be if 'crash TV' was brought back? No more boring 20 min matches. Everyone gets a storyline, more characters, more backstage segments, everything is must watch etc. It's what the product needs.

by silver Mon Dec 21, 2015 12:10 am

Russo's crash TV is overrated. The best years was 2000-2001 long after Russo had left.

Yeah I do remember all those GOAT Russo characters like Val Venis, Gangrel, Gillberg, Head Cheese, DOA, Job Squad, that Mexican gang. All of those "characters" and storylines sucked, and they all got fazed out when the real wrestlers (Jericho, Radicalz, Angle etc) joined the company.

"Cater to hardcore fans"...umm...they are doing the exact opposite at the moment.

by Onyx Mon Dec 21, 2015 12:46 am

Them sucking is simply a matter of opinion. Facts show that Russo's writing beat WCW when it came to ratings. Guys like Val Venis had a specific role and they played it well. His character was vulgar and appealed to females back in that era. Either way that was the undercard and there's a lot of them in every company. Fandango, Heath Slater and Zack Ryder are today's undercard. With Russo every superstar on the show is in a story and the midcard is looked after, unlike nowadays. It was Russo who wanted to push the likes of Benoit, Kidman and Guerrero on WCW. It was Russo who gave Booker T his first World title. He was focusing on the youth at the time.

I don't know why people only remember the supposed 'bad side' of Russo and judge him based on that. Nobody's perfect. Heck, look at the shit stuff Vince has put out over the years. That doesn't make him any less of a genius or a great promoter. The good outweighs the bad.

And the WWE do cater to hardcore fans. They made an entire show for them... An entire show. They've sacrificed what's meant to be developmental, for a show geared towards a niche audience. Sure they may sell out 14k arenas to that niche group, but what about the 7m casuals they've lost in the past 15 years?

by Tomwin Lannister Mon Dec 21, 2015 8:55 am

I'd rather some *bleep* new blood comes in instead of going back and forth between lazy creative and mentally unstable Russo.

How hard is it to put together consistent mostly simple storylines when the groundwork I.E the fact it takes place in and around the wrestling ring is done for you.

by free_cat Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:57 am

23rd part of this? You've got to be kidding me.

by Onyx Mon Dec 21, 2015 7:15 pm

Best match in WWE history? Miss Punk.

by Onyx Tue Dec 22, 2015 12:32 am

Done dealio imo. Hardy returns and wins the rumble.

When asked whether there is a chance the Hardy Boyz will return to WWE in a similar capacity as the Dudley Boyz in their current run, Hardy said he would like to return to WWE, but there is no timetable for such a return. Hardy indicated that both he and his brother, Matt, would like to end their professional wrestling careers in WWE.

"I think there's a huge possibility down the road. I'm not sure when, but I think both Matt and myself would love to end our careers in the WWE and it'd be super, double great to be able to have a few more good ones with the Dudley Boyz, for sure." Hardy added, "as far as us returning [to WWE] and having some more matches with them, it all depends on how long they're going to be there and how long it takes us to get there. I mean, but, definitely, it's a possibility. I'm just not sure when right now."

On a related note, the two items left on Hardy's bucket list are things to accomplish in WWE. Namely, Hardy would like to have a Hell In A Cell match and headline WrestleMania before he retires from in-ring action.

"I've done most of everything I've wanted to do, but I guess there [are] two big things. I mean, and those two big things are I never got to do a Hell In [A] Cell in the WWE. That's a pretty big one. And I've never main evented WrestleMania, so, ultimately, if it could all work out one day, before it's all over, I'd like to do those two things."

by Onyx Tue Dec 22, 2015 12:38 am

WWE.com announced the first batch of Slammy award winners. They are as follows:

WWE Tag Team of the Year = The Usos
Best John Cena U.S. Open Challenge = John Cena vs. Cesaro (Raw, July 6)
Hashtag of the Year = #SuplexCity
Celebrity Moment of the Year = Stephen Amell dives onto Stardust at SummerSlam
“Tell Me You Didn’t Just Say That” Moment of the Year = Brock Lesnar coins “Suplex City” at WrestleMania

by El Gunner Tue Dec 22, 2015 1:18 am

I see the WWE are finally appreciating Roman Reigns

by Onyx Tue Dec 22, 2015 1:24 am

Sandow won double cross of the year award. :bow:

by Onyx Tue Dec 22, 2015 1:28 am

Kane's pyro botching for once. I always expect it to botch everytime he does it. Laughing

by Onyx Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:21 am

Rollins win superstar of the year.

by Onyx Tue Dec 22, 2015 5:05 pm

Wonder what happened to backstage segments. Rarely see them nowadays.

by Firenze Tue Dec 22, 2015 5:16 pm

I loved backstage segments back in the day. Now a backstage segment is just someone doing a boring interview that every once in a while someone interrupts and insults the other wrestler. They used to be unreal.

by Onyx Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:17 pm

Should just get rid of the whole thing imo, it's pointless. I mean I know kayfabe's already dead, but still. Imagine Undertaker coming out to collect a trophy...

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that voting for the WWE Slammy Awards was legit this year. There's always speculation that WWE rigs the voting but the fans really did pick the winners.

One of the big complaints with the Slammys this year was so many top stars winning awards but not appearing to accept them, including The Rock, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Sting and John Cena. There is the issue of not knowing who will win ahead of time, so they're not sure who to bring in, but a bigger issue is giving the impression that the awards aren't important enough for some of the top stars.

Two changes were proposed after the Slammys this year. One is to do the voting one week ahead of time, that way they know all the winners before the show airs and they can arrange to bring them in. If it's someone like The Rock and he's busy working on a movie, they would be able to send a film crew to him for comments. The second change proposed was to move the Slammys to WrestleMania Week when most of the stars are already in town. The downside to that is WrestleMania Week is already very busy and putting the awards on the post-WrestleMania RAW would change what is now one of the biggest shows of the year.

by zizzle Fri Dec 25, 2015 4:29 pm

Hey, im actually looking forward to see Reigns next Monday, shit

by Onyx Fri Dec 25, 2015 8:07 pm

Pretty cool gimmick debut on NXT, 'The Drifter'. Looks like Rick from TWD/Sandow. hmm

by Casciavit Sat Dec 26, 2015 4:35 pm

He looks like Watford's coach Laughing

by RealGunner Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:27 pm

Rock confirmed on instagram that he will be attending Wrestlemania 32

Who will be his opponent?

by Casciavit Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:41 pm

Either Lesnar or HHH

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:40 pm

by RealGunner Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:43 pm

Will Cena be able to lift the giant?

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:44 pm

I bet someone bets on Khali ffs.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sun Jan 03, 2016 12:42 am

A lot of people talk about the other "pipe bombs" the ones about HHH and Vince etc but this was GOAT imo.

by M99 Sun Jan 03, 2016 7:09 am

He was so bloody good ffs

by zizzle Sun Jan 03, 2016 7:18 pm

This is by far the least anticipated rumble i've seen since i started watching again in 2011, i have no idea who's gonna win and i dont really care. Cena? they wouldnt put him against Reigns, Orton? he already played his part in the authority storyline, Ambrose? forever sidekick so no, Owens? cant see Vince getting behind him. That leaves...Sheamus? please no..The only person id like to see in the rumble is Lesnar, he would be a surprise entrant, eliminate everybody, eliminate the cameramen, the ref, the announcers, the fans in the arena, and the audience at home and then go to WM and job to Reigns. Anything else would be meh

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