Quazimoto
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Post by Quazimoto on Sept 17, 2017 21:23:57 GMT -5
The answer to this is simple... The future of WWE is whomever WWE chooses to throw their real support behind. There's a lot of incredibly talented guys and gals in the company right now. IMO, top to bottom, the roster is the most talented it's ever been. Both from an in ring aspect AND a character aspect. The problem is that WWE has chosen a plug and play cookie cutter style approach to their storylines and television presentation. Because of that, no one really stands out unless they decided to put a little extra effort into allowing them to stand out. Even then it's often not good enough to be memorable. Kevin Owen's Universal Championship reign is a perfect example of that. Him and Jericho were pretty well killing it in their promos the whole time, yet WWE plugged Owens into the same generic cowardly heel gimmick they use anytime a bad guy is champion. Imagine if Owens was allowed to be the badass "Fight Owens Fight" guy he was in NXT and when first coming to the main roster. Then imagine he wasn't fed to Goldberg and the Jericho storyline had a rightful end with a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania. It could have been a truly epic title reign. Instead, it became just another heel championship reign. Rusev is another example of WWE not really giving a crap beyond a few select guys. Rusev is incredibly talented and has just about everything you want in a WWE superstar (just needs a little work on his promos or to keep Lana as a primary mouthpiece). Yet, for some reason, he's sitting on the bench more often than he's appear in TV.
So, really, the bottom line is that the "Future Of WWE" is whomever they decided they want it to be. It'll be that way until either WWE is done or someone with a mind of modern audiences is in charge.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 30, 2017 14:11:04 GMT -5
Any free avatars and themes will still be accessible once a PlayStation Plus subscriptions expires or is cancelled.
Any games you paid for in any manner, even if through a PlayStation Plus sale price, are yours an thus still accessible just like any other download game you bought.
Any games you got for free with PlayStation Plus will NOT be accessible if your subscription expires or you cancel it. So, basically, you're actually renting those 'free' games you get with PlayStation Plus because once you're no longer a subscriber, you'll no longer have those particular games. You'll still keep any trophies obtained from them, but won't actually be able to play the game any more unless you re-subscribe or purchase them from the PlayStation Store.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 28, 2017 18:25:59 GMT -5
WWE probably wouldn't be around today if they had ignored the organic reaction for Austin they way they do for a lot of guys nowadays. WWE is damned lucky they don't have any real competition right now because if there was another company now on the level WCW was then, WWE would be getting their ass kicked week in and week out. If Stone Cold in 1998 was booked like Daniel Bryan in 2013-2014 or Roman Reigns in 2015, we would all be watching Ted Turner's product right now. I don't know about that. WCW surely would have 'Won' the Monday Night Wars, but they let the inmates run the asylum way too much to actually become the true number one company. Let's not forget that it wasn't until AFTER Hogan and his buddies left that anyone new really entered the main event scene. Still, they were strong enough until Austin (and The Rock to a lesser extent) really took off in WWE that WCW would either have crippled WWE immensely or put them out of business for good had they pulled the crap they pull now. They only get away with it now because there's no real consequences. NJPW is just starting to take hold in America. ROH is always going to be looked at an indy fed (a good one, but and indy fed nonetheless). Global Force Wrestling (ie TNA) has had plenty of chances to rise up the ranks and become viable competition, but sabotaged themselves far too many times to ever reach those levels again. Lucha Underground is flippin' amazing IMO, but they're not really in the same category as WWE being that they're not a year-round promotion.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 28, 2017 18:14:06 GMT -5
Call ebay. Its a glitch and they can fix it for you. This exactly. Call eBay and talk to an actual person. Be persistent and don't give up until they fix it.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 28, 2017 18:11:43 GMT -5
At No Mercy? It thought this would be teased at least until Survivor Series with Cena's team vs Reigns Team. Perhaps Cena does, indeed, have one food way out the door already and WWE's packing in the dream matches as much as they can while he's still around.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 28, 2017 18:08:08 GMT -5
Bryan did play a huge part in it though. 2014 Batista gets booed out of the building and then in 2015 the same happens with Roman and it was all because fans wanted Bryan. I admit I could never stand Batista and was glad that the fans give it to him but I have to wonder if things would've been different without Bryan. Also the Three Birds are the biggest thing going! Which is ultimately all WWE's fault for their moronic booking of the Rumble matches. And moronic booking in general. In 2014, despite being the biggest star in the company, they don't even put Bryan in the match. In 2015, they have him enter early, and have him eliminated after 10 minutes. Then proceed to have Kane leisurely toss out the rest of the fan favorites to blatantly set Roman up to win. They could've gone about things a thousand better ways, instead of just going, "Well, Roman is The Guy now. Like it or off." Is it Bryan's fault he's naturally over and the fans love him? What if they did this with Austin in '97/'98?WWE probably wouldn't be around today if they had ignored the organic reaction for Austin they way they do for a lot of guys nowadays. WWE is damned lucky they don't have any real competition right now because if there was another company now on the level WCW was then, WWE would be getting their ass kicked week in and week out.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 15, 2017 20:44:15 GMT -5
Aleister Black is the most interesting hire in quite a long time. I still really enjoy NXT, but I find myself often times distracted when I watch it. Never the case when Black is on the screen. He commands my attention in a way very few guys do these days. There is no other wrestler in NXT that I am more certain will be a huge star than him. The way he carries himself and looks is on a whole new level. His presence is unbelievable. I was at an NXT event recently and saw him and a few other recent big signings and none held a candle to how "big" he felt. He also managed to keep me entertained in the ring unlike many of the other guys. I was invested in him as soon as he walked out the curtain. I've felt a lot of the big signings recently were hyped way too much and initially included him in the bunch but I was proven wrong and I am so glad I was. He just screams "star". I can't wait to see what his future holds. Could not agree more. Just seeing Aleister Black reminds me how everyone seemed to be all gaga about Baron Corbin and how he had 'presence' when he first appeared. I never saw it in Corbin (still don't, though he has improved a lot since coming to the main roster), but Aleister Black just oozes presence and screams 'it factor'.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 2, 2017 6:46:09 GMT -5
Gable impressed the hell out of me. He's going to be a wayyyy bigger star than Jordan. If WWE rankings/placement were based on talent and natural charisma, I'd absolutely agree with you. However, it's pretty much based on whether Vince McMahon and his yes men see a star in you and they apparently don't factor actual wrestling talent in too highly. Not saying Jason Jordan's any sort of slouch in the ring, just that he's got the McMahon approved look way more than Chad Gable and thus he'll be the one to be given the big chances long before Gable will. To me, Gable's be far and away the more impressive of the two since they formed American Alpha back in NXT though.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Aug 1, 2017 23:21:11 GMT -5
I have to echo a lot of the sentiments in this thread already. It's no surprise WWE profits are hugely down. They don't listen to the fans. They don't build with the future in mind at all. They use a plug and play type of writing strategy that doesn't allow for actual different personalities.
Now, I'm no expert in all the ins and outs, but if it were me making some decision, here's a few things I'd do right away...
- First and foremost, embrace the fact that you are a Professional Wrestling company. There's no reason why you can't still have the occasional guest star one your show or one of your wrestlers appear in a movie of TV episode, but I feel like the best thing WWE could do is stop trying so damned hard to be a mainstream entertainment empire and focus on being a great professional wrestling company. Mainstream attention will come if you put on really good show week in and week out. More importantly, most of the people working for WWE on screen are men and women who grew up loving WRESTLING. Just watch how much more motivated they are when they can stop being "superstars" and start being "wrestlers" again. Watch how much harder they try when they actually feel like there's something to work for and truly believe that if they work hard week in and week out, they can actually reach the top of the company instead of smashing into a glass ceiling only to watch other, far less talented people get chance after chance because the boss likes the way they look.
- On the same note, get rid of those damned Hollywood style writers. It doesn't work. Hire some people who know wrestling and limit the number to only a handful at best. Too many cooks in the kitchen only results in a giant mess.
- RAW is just too damned long at three hours each week. There's not enough quality in the product to do that over and over again without repeating yourself too often. Unfortunately, USA isn't about to cut an hour from one of their best rated shows, so... Stop doing 205 Live on Tuesday nights. Do the same show, but move it to the first hour of RAW and call it 205 Live Presented By Monday Night Raw. You still have a great showcase for the cruiserweights (I actually like 205 Live, even though it's become cool to hate on it recently), but you cut the main RAW show back to two hours, which means it's easier for the writers to put on a compelling show and still have something for fans to come back to the next week. Plus, I'd imagine it would save a bit of money not filming another hour of live TV every week and not having the cruiserweights travel to SmackDown on Tuesdays.
- Make Championships meaningful again. Championships are the thing guys and gals are supposed to be striving for. It's hard to believe it's a real prize when the champion loses every non-title match or doesn't appear on the show regularly (note - that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be there wrestling every week). Make strong looking champions and you make strong looking Championships. Of course, that really goes back to having better writers who actually know wrestling. Just look at Ring Of Honor or New Japan Pro Wrestling and how they handle their titles. They may be lesser prestige Championships in the grand scheme of the wrestling world, but it actually feel like a big deal when one of those titles changes hands.
Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot to love about WWE. They have, far and away, the most athletically talented roster ever from top to bottom and there's some very excellent wrestling matches being put on from time to time. They just need to stop trying to be something they're not. IMO, if they stop trying to be decent mainstream entertainment and start trying to be great professional wrestling, new fans will appear and old fans will come back in droves soon enough.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 29, 2017 20:38:32 GMT -5
Literally anyone in WWE COULD become a top draw and remain that way for years IF WWE were willing to listen to the fans, get behind the ones that are getting the best reactions, and book them in an intelligent manner. The problem is that WWE seemingly has zero interest in creating new stars for the long-term future. Instead, they've chosen to rely on older, already established stars and one or two hand picked chosen ones despite clear voiced displeasure from at least half the crowd.
You can see the pattern over and over again throughout the past ten or so years, but it really came to the forefront after SummerSlam in 2011. No-one and I do mean NO-ONE was a bigger star in the wrestling industry at that time than CM Punk. WWE literally had the dawning of a new boom period in the palm of their hands and instead of running with it, they chose to give the title to Cena and Del Rio for a month and have Punk lose to Triple H after being screwed out of the championship by Kevin Nash. Sure, Punk got the title at Survivor Series and went on a lengthy run with it, but who was main eventing PPVs while Punk was champion? Sure wasn't him most of the time.
There's been several other examples one could site since then. Yeah, it's easy to sit here in front of a computer and play 'Best Booker Ever' but it's become pretty clear that, for whatever reason, WWE doesn't want to push the envelope. Doesn't really care about establishing new stars for the long term future. And is overwhelmingly content to simply go along with the status quo most of the time. It's the same type of crap that helped kill WCW and WWE is darned luckily they don't have any real competition right now.
Don't get me wrong. I still find a lot to love about WWE. Just that with a little extra effort on their part, they could be a heck of a lot better.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 26, 2017 17:00:23 GMT -5
I had just finished reading "The Death of WCW," which I highly recommend to everyone to read, and this seems like yet one more similarity that WWE is doing that WCW had done that lead to their demise. Good to know I can check off "giving a high profile match away for free instead of using it to sell PPVs." Glad to see WWE putting the horse before the cart again. At least we still get multi-man matches like how next week we have 3/4 of the Fatal Four Way match for Summer Slam going in a Triple Threat match. Sure am stoked I'll be burnt out on the Summer Slam card having already seen it before I see it, and then see it the following night on Raw in a rematch! Been saying the same thing for a while now. WWE is damned lucky they don't have any real competition nowadays.
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Quazimoto
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 24, 2017 2:53:39 GMT -5
Just finished BattleGround. Some thoughts...
- New Day vs The Usos was very good. These two teams just have great chemistry together. Easily match of the night.
- Nakamura vs Corbin was okay. I wouldn't call it good, but it wasn't really bad either. Just sort of there. Nakamura seems to be one of those guys that really brings it for the big matches, but sort of phones it in and goes through the motions when it doesn't mean much.
- The women's match was pretty good as well. I would have liked to see the eliminations paced out a little more because it seems like every time they do and elimination style woman's match the falls come in quick succession. But, despite that, I thought all five ladies worked well and overall really enjoyed the contest.
- I liked Styles vs Owens for the most part, but do have to question the ending a bit. I just find it hard to believe that a wrestler with the experience and talent such as AJ Styles doesn't hear the count happening and realize his shoulders are down. I'm all for somewhat cheap wins for heals. I'm all for matches sometimes ending abruptly and without the involvement of multiple finishing moves. And I totally believe that you don't have to go all out balls to the wall style to have a great match. I'm just baffled that we're supposed to believe AJ Styles wouldn't have rolled out or broken the hold when he's clearly able to hear the referee's hand slapping the mat.
- Rusev vs Cena was awful. Just dull, boring, and painfully predicable. It's a shame because Rusev and Cena have great chemistry with each other and both are capable of far more than what they showed here. What's more, and maybe this is just me, did it seem to anyone else like Cena just didn't give two craps during the match? Seemed sort of like he was hamming it up a bit extra whenever he could, like he knew the whole concept of the match was just ridiculous so he didn't feel like trying too hard.
- Zayn vs Kanellis was there. It happened and that's about all you can say about it.
- The Punjabi Prison is a terrible gimmick and in three attempts has yet to produce a match that wasn't dull, overly long, and totally nonsensical at times. I actually like Jinder as champions. Dude's been busting his ass lately. No, he's not the best on the roster, but he's putting in a lot more effort than most of them lately. Fully expected him to win and hope he can move on to someone new soon. Smart money is on that being John Cena and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Jinder Mahal defeats John Cena at SummerSlam.
Overall, it wasn't a terrible show. One great match and two that were pretty good. The rest was either just okay or far too silly, dull, and uneventful.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 23, 2017 19:05:07 GMT -5
Nope. Funko typically makes a big batch of announcements and teases at the toy fair early in the year (along with publishing a catalog with a good bit of concept photo previews), then just trickles out news as it comes throughout the rest of the year. However, Funko does have far and away the most exclusive figures and such during SDCC. They announced a few at Fundays. 007 is a big one Yep... You're right. There were a few announcement/concepts shown at Fundays.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 22, 2017 9:35:53 GMT -5
Did it ever go on Netflix? I seem to remember it was? Yep, Season One and Season Two are up on Netflix now.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 22, 2017 0:02:27 GMT -5
Doesn't funko show protos or release any news about new stuff for the year at comic con? Nope. Funko typically makes a big batch of announcements and teases at the toy fair early in the year (along with publishing a catalog with a good bit of concept photo previews), then just trickles out news as it comes throughout the rest of the year. However, Funko does have far and away the most exclusive figures and such during SDCC.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 19, 2017 23:08:52 GMT -5
They look pretty legit to me. I read that the real ones have the SDCC exclusive sticker and the fake ones don't, but I don't know if that's actually true or not. Stickers are super easy to fake, so I would never use that as a judgement. That said, I don't see any red flags on this set, so I'd say you got a good deal and it's legit. Awesome set actually. Kinda wish I had room for one myself.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 19, 2017 23:03:57 GMT -5
Kermit The Frog... Some may argue that The Muppet Show didn't really have a main character, but I say it all sort of revolved around Kermit, thus he's the main character.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 13, 2017 10:18:33 GMT -5
Lucha Underground continues to remind me why I fell in love with Pro Wrestling. It's just plain fun.
On a side note... Can we please get the LU seasons released on DVD? That would be an absolute instant buy for me.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 12, 2017 14:46:24 GMT -5
Aside from Calgary Stampede, which had an absolutely unmatched atmosphere and four excellent matches, my favorite In Your House event has to be Season's Beatings in December '95. Yeah, it's a complete one match show basically, but that British Bulldog vs Bret Hart match is brilliant. Still one of my all-time favorite individual matches.
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Quazimoto
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Joined on: Feb 4, 2014 12:37:37 GMT -5
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Post by Quazimoto on Jul 12, 2017 0:27:40 GMT -5
I think they can be separated, yes. To use the Christ Benoit example. Christ Benoit the man was obviously deeply troubled and committed a heinous and unforgiveable act. Yet, the person we all saw on in the ring every week was a character on a television show. I can no longer watch the Hard Knocks documentary that was made about his life and career, but I have no problem watching, and thoroughly enjoying, Christ Benoit wrestling matches.
I have a similar attitude towards many actors and musicians. I find a great number of them to be... Well, let's just say they aren't the type of people I would ever want to hang out with. Despite that, I can still enjoy their on screen or on stage personas. I judge art based on the quality of the work, not the quality of the artist as a person.
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