I put on that Flair vs. Sting Clash of the Champions match last night thinking it'd be a quick watch, but between all the holds and the elbow drops I kept pausing to look up old promos... 45 minutes of actual bell time felt like 90. Anyone else find it tough to get through those long classic matches without fast forwarding?
I always thought garbage matches with trash cans and kendo sticks were just lazy booking, but I watched a 1997 ECW show from the ECW Arena last weekend and it clicked. The crowd was 1,200 people going insane for a spike piledriver through a table, and I realized the storytelling through violence actually makes sense when it's not overdone.
I dropped $85 on a Kazuchika Okada shirt at a live show last year and the print started peeling after two washes. Meanwhile my buddy got a knockoff from a stall outside the venue for $15 and it's still holding up after a year. Are we just paying for the privilege of being ripped off at these events or what?
Drove two hours to a show in Toledo last month and got stuck behind a steel pole. Could see maybe 30 percent of the ring. The sound was also terrible, muffled and echoing off the concrete. I complained at the desk and they said sorry but no refunds. Match quality was fine from what I could glimpse, but not worth the gas money. Anyone else get burned by bad arena seating at a live event?
I skipped it live because I hate gimmick matches, but a buddy made me sit through it last week and the storytelling with PCO's no-sell during the table spot totally changed why I think garbage wrestling can work when everyone commits to the bit.
The spine said Wrestlemania X-Seven but it was actually some indie show from Ohio with a guy in a cardboard robot costume. Anyone else get burned by those eBay lots from sellers with zero feedback?
I was at this indie show in Columbus Ohio like 2 years ago, working a dark match, and this veteran named Crazy Joe looked at my figure four and said 'bro you look like you're tying your sneakers out there.' I was super defensive at first because I thought I had it down. But he pointed out my legs were too bent, the lock was loose, and I wasn't putting any weight on the guy's chest. He showed me how to angle my hips and really sit down on it, and I swear after 3 matches that move started getting actual reactions from the crowd instead of crickets. I had been doing it wrong for like 5 years because nobody ever told me the little details. Has anyone else had a veteran just rip apart one of your moves and totally remake it?
I popped in the old VHS tape I found at my parents' house last weekend, and man, that match is way clunkier than I remembered. The crowd heat was insane, but those lockups and arm drags just drag on forever. Has anyone else gone back and watched a childhood favorite only to realize the work was actually pretty rough?
I was working a match in a tiny indy fed near Dayton, Ohio and Kevin Nash was chilling in the back. He watched my spot then pulled me aside and said 'kid, you're selling too much, the crowd wants to see you fight back not lay there.' I took his advice and changed my whole style. Next match I kicked out of a finisher at 2.9 and the place went nuts. But then I started getting heat from the booker for making the other guy look weak. Has anyone else gotten advice from a veteran that worked great in one way but backfired in another?
Washer started making this grinding noise last Tuesday. I watched a YouTube video and thought I could replace the drum bearings myself. Ordered a $35 kit online. Got it apart in like 3 hours but then stripped the bolt holding the inner drum. Couldn't get it back together. Ended up paying a guy $180 to come out and fix what I broke. Has anyone else made a simple repair way worse trying to save a few bucks?
Tbh, I rewatched his 2013 segment where he called Cena a 'wiener' and the crowd in Chicago went nuts. The delivery was way more natural and less scripted cartoonish than his Attitude Era rants. Anybody else think his later mic work was underrated?
I keep hearing people say Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak was the greatest thing ever but it actually hurt the product for years. Take the 2009 match with Shawn Michaels - everyone knew Shawn had zero shot of winning so the drama was fake, you know? Then in 2014 when Brock Lesnar finally broke it, it only worked because they spent 20 years making the finish predictable. The streak turned every Mania main event into a guessing game about who was losing next instead of building real tension. Has anyone else noticed how fans ignore that the streak made most of those matches less exciting, not more?
I remember watching him win the US title at Wrestlemania 31 and thinking finally, some edge. But by Summerslam that year against Seth Rollins, he went right back to the same super-Cena formula. The crowd in Brooklyn was booing him out of the building and he just kept hitting the same five moves. If they let him stay a tweener for a full year instead of three months, we could have gotten the best character work of his career. Anyone else think Vince pulled the plug way too early?
I drove three hours to see a small promotion in Cleveland last Saturday night. The wrestling was solid for the most part, nothing fancy but good work. But the main event had a tag team match where the faces were off their game from the start, missing spots and blowing a big dive to the outside. The crowd got restless and started a "boring" chant about five minutes in, which just made the wrestlers look even more nervous. A guy two rows behind me kept screaming for them to "get a real job" and it honestly ruined the whole atmosphere. I paid $25 for that seat and left feeling like I wasted my money on the audience's attitude more than the actual wrestling. Has anyone else had a show ruined by a crowd that just won't give the workers a chance?