Main event of Smackdown is must see, as it was the week before.
Thought Orton & Owens segment was brilliant. Everyone involved sold the piledriver as the most dangerous move in the world.
Using Orton's (real) injury issues and blurring that line between kayfabe and reality is a good touch, obviously quite hard to pull off successfully in the modern era but when it works it can add to the storyline well.
Pleased to see Chelsea Green get the win. I know she’s not the best in the ring, but I think there’s a ‘guilty pleasure’ element about her. Very charismatic in that comedy heel role, though I think she’ll naturally turn face with the support of the live crowd over time. A women’s US title is just right for her level to keep her on TV.
Pleased to see Chelsea Green get the win. I know she’s not the best in the ring, but I think there’s a ‘guilty pleasure’ element about her. Very charismatic in that comedy heel role, though I think she’ll naturally turn face with the support of the live crowd over time. A women’s US title is just right for her level to keep her on TV.
Chelsea has stayed at our guesthouse in Phuket, though I didn't get to meet her, but I have known her mother for many years, so I've been following Chelsea's career from the day she first took up the wrestling busniness. Pleased for her and I know her mum is delighted.
I think she might be staying somewhere more upmarket next time she's in Thailand!
PPVs all on Netflix now! Treated myself to Wrestlemania 1 last night, will work my way through them all! My main watching was between 1994-1998 so that'll pass quickly enough.
For any old ECW fans, I recommend the Sandman podcast. He has lived such an eventful life and he doesn't hold back. The most outlandish story has been him and New Jack buying coke in a ghetto, finding out it was fake, so New Jack went and beat up the dealer - whilst shouting out to other dealers that someone is selling fake gear on their corner.
Also, Dark Side of the Ring seasons 1-3 are free on ITVX now. Some stories are old and don't appeal to me but they all have big, reliable names giving details (eg Chris Benoit's other son, Stone Cold in the Brian Pillman episodes).
Some of it is heartbreaking. I didn't know about the stunt the WWE and Undertaker pulled with Chris Kanyon before he came out as gay - him emerging from a box singing Boy George and getting an actual beat down.
The weak, cheap clip that was used to lower Owen Hart as well
Ive been a subscriber to WWE Network for a good few years, and after using it to watch some of the early WWF PPVs I decided to go for it and watch all of the WCW and WWF TV shows and PPVs until I got bored or gave up. It's quite a task, especially when you get to end of the 90s and both WCW and WWF have 2 multiple hour long TV shows and a PPV every month, you end up fast forwarding through the pointless stuff on each TV show to get to the good bits. I got as far as late 1999 recently only for WWE Network to shut down, with everything supposedly moving to Netflix. Well it turns out that there is no WCW archive on Netflix at all, and there's also nothing pre-2001 for WWE apart from the PPVs.
Very disappointing, I'll have to see if I can get my retro wrestling fix elsewhere as it will probably be a while before all of it is on Netflix, if ever!
Ive been a subscriber to WWE Network for a good few years, and after using it to watch some of the early WWF PPVs I decided to go for it and watch all of the WCW and WWF TV shows and PPVs until I got bored or gave up. It's quite a task, especially when you get to end of the 90s and both WCW and WWF have 2 multiple hour long TV shows and a PPV every month, you end up fast forwarding through the pointless stuff on each TV show to get to the good bits. I got as far as late 1999 recently only for WWE Network to shut down, with everything supposedly moving to Netflix. Well it turns out that there is no WCW archive on Netflix at all, and there's also nothing pre-2001 for WWE apart from the PPVs.
Very disappointing, I'll have to see if I can get my retro wrestling fix elsewhere as it will probably be a while before all of it is on Netflix, if ever!
Yep, the WCW thing annoyed me too, I loved watching WCW ppvs, and I'm a bit annoyed they haven't made it on to Netflix.
Still great a lot of it is on there though and hopefully they expand the catalogue. This is a huge deal so you'd imagine they will at some stage.
Ive been a subscriber to WWE Network for a good few years, and after using it to watch some of the early WWF PPVs I decided to go for it and watch all of the WCW and WWF TV shows and PPVs until I got bored or gave up. It's quite a task, especially when you get to end of the 90s and both WCW and WWF have 2 multiple hour long TV shows and a PPV every month, you end up fast forwarding through the pointless stuff on each TV show to get to the good bits. I got as far as late 1999 recently only for WWE Network to shut down, with everything supposedly moving to Netflix. Well it turns out that there is no WCW archive on Netflix at all, and there's also nothing pre-2001 for WWE apart from the PPVs.
Very disappointing, I'll have to see if I can get my retro wrestling fix elsewhere as it will probably be a while before all of it is on Netflix, if ever!
I did something similar during the pandemic. In terms of the 2 promotions:
First half of 96 - WWF was better. Second half of 96 - WCW was better. 97 - WCW by a distance. 98 - WWF 99 - WWF by a distance.
I found 96 WWF to be far better than 97. Quite an underrated year for WWF imo. Austin was the only thing WWF had going for it in '97 IMO. The Attitude era stuff is very dated where as midcard Nitro matches are still great.
Netflix means i can now catch up with last year's NXT having cancelled the network after the pandemic.😃
Not putting any spoilers in here but actually thought it was a pretty average show...
Agreed. Felt like they didn’t get the balance right between attracting new fans who never watched WWE, and us who watch religiously every week. Had a PPV feel to it, with the non stop action compared to the weekly Raw/Smackdown tapings.
Always felt like the first episode was going to be a bit of a circus occasion. Now it’s over, we can enjoy the road to Wrestlemania.
I liked the change in the presentation, the ref cam, the drone shots in the arena were all well done, I hope they run with the smaller Tron wherever they can too (the intuit dome is a brand new arena though, built for this kind of stuff with the wraparound screen etc.)
Comments
Pleased to see Chelsea Green get the win. I know she’s not the best in the ring, but I think there’s a ‘guilty pleasure’ element about her. Very charismatic in that comedy heel role, though I think she’ll naturally turn face with the support of the live crowd over time. A women’s US title is just right for her level to keep her on TV.
Jesse was the highlight of the show, which was another superb one.
I think she might be staying somewhere more upmarket next time she's in Thailand!
https://www.youtube.com/live/9u4gKFTpTDU?si=AhWmEXyh_iM4lywo
All roads to Roman v The Rock.
The weak, cheap clip that was used to lower Owen Hart as well
Very disappointing, I'll have to see if I can get my retro wrestling fix elsewhere as it will probably be a while before all of it is on Netflix, if ever!
Could be one of the biggest nights ever in Wrestling and push WWE to a wider audience. I hope it all runs smoothly.
Still great a lot of it is on there though and hopefully they expand the catalogue. This is a huge deal so you'd imagine they will at some stage.
Haha at Michael Cole Yeeting with Pat, Travis Scott and Jey Uso. Wrestling is wild
First half of 96 - WWF was better.
Second half of 96 - WCW was better.
97 - WCW by a distance.
98 - WWF
99 - WWF by a distance.
I found 96 WWF to be far better than 97. Quite an underrated year for WWF imo. Austin was the only thing WWF had going for it in '97 IMO. The Attitude era stuff is very dated where as midcard Nitro matches are still great.
Netflix means i can now catch up with last year's NXT having cancelled the network after the pandemic.😃
Such a stupid thing to do, nobody wants to see him limp out there and promote a beer ffs
Cena was good
I liked the change in the presentation, the ref cam, the drone shots in the arena were all well done, I hope they run with the smaller Tron wherever they can too (the intuit dome is a brand new arena though, built for this kind of stuff with the wraparound screen etc.)