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Topic:
The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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USTommie
Registered:
Sep '02
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Date Posted:
4/8 7:02pm
Subject:
The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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I was watching the Stone Cold Steve Austin DVD set last night and flipped to WWE's RAW (or whatever it's called now) and the dichotomy was amazing. I have no idea if anyone else even cares about pro wrestling, but I used to love it when I was in high school and college (during the "Monday Night Wars" through 2002). It's amazing to me how far the WWE has fallen since the days of The Rock and Stone Cold. I remember tuning in each week to see what they'd do next, and usually laughing out loud at the humor. A few things stick out in my head:
Mick Foley's [i]This Is Your Life[i] segment with The Rock
Austin spraying beer on The Rock
Kurt Angle spraying milk on Stone Cold
Any Rock v. Austin feud bit/promo
Austin beating Booker T in the grocery store
Austin v. Mr. McMahon (any)
Mr. Socko!
The Rock N' Sock Connection
Team ECK (Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle)
The Five Second Pose by Edge & Christian (For the benefit of those with flash photography)
I'm no longer the WWE's target audience, but I do tune in briefly every so often to see what they're doing (and because I still like HBK). Aside from the great tribute to Ric Flair, I haven't seen anything on WWE programming in the last few years that makes me believe they can ever duplicate the success they had ten years ago. It must've been the competition with WCW (and to a lesser extent ECW) that forced the WWE to come up with great programming. With no real competition (TNA doesn't count), clearly it's become a shadow of its former self.
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"Cover me (in ketchup) Porkins!"
Dorja and Villar are two of the best SW characters ever
Followed closely by Porkins and the "Copy, Gold Leader" guy in ROTJ
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Evil_X_13
Registered:
Apr '08
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Date Posted:
4/8 9:27pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
- Date Edited:
4/8 9:27pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Evil_X_13
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My thoughts: Wrestling was much better back in the day now its all crap.
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Juliet316
Registered:
Apr '05
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Date Posted:
4/8 11:50pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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Agreed.
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MarcusP2
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Jul '04
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Date Posted:
4/9 4:40am
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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It's pretty much common thought amongst the wrestling community. 
I doubt I could name one segment of the last 5 years, or the results of any matches. Last one I recall being excited about was Jericho winning the first ever undisputed championship, though I did enjoy Eddie getting the title.
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Darth Revan Fan Club: Technical Specialist Uncle Eddie was my favourite wrestler  Gentle Giant owns my bank account.
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Juliet316
Registered:
Apr '05
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Date Posted:
4/9 8:13am
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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I the heart of everything really went out of it when Benoit and his family died.
Though I did cry watching Flair's match at WM XXIV.
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USTommie
Registered:
Sep '02
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Date Posted:
4/9 11:13am
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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The last two posts bring up a good question - when did the bottom fall out of the WWE (or wrestling in general)?
I would say the first domino that started it all was the horrible mismanagement in WCW that lead to Vince buying it outright. Had WCW continued, I'm guessing the quality would be closer to what we all used to enjoy. I think once the bookers in WCW buried enough rising stars (who in turn fled to the WWE), they ended up not having anyone to carry the company into the early 00's.
Once Vince bought WCW, it was only a matter of time before the quality went downhill. It didn't help that his two top draws (Austin and The Rock) left right around the same time, but plenty more mistakes were made to help send it spiraling downhill.
-----signature-----
"Cover me (in ketchup) Porkins!"
Dorja and Villar are two of the best SW characters ever
Followed closely by Porkins and the "Copy, Gold Leader" guy in ROTJ
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s65horsey
Title: EUC Manager
SWC Lil' Sis
Registered:
Jun '06
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Date Posted:
4/9 11:21am
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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I still try to pay attention to HBK and keep up to date on his stuff. He's been my favorite for 12 years now and I still have a crush on him. 
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Sinre's Sey 
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USTommie
Registered:
Sep '02
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Date Posted:
4/9 11:28am
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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I think HBK is great too - I have his entrance music as my cell phone ring. The only thing that sucks about him is that he was injured during the majority of The Rock/Austin timeframe. His matches with Austin were awesome though. I can only imagine how awesome it would've been to see Austin and The Rock take on HBK and HHH at a PPV...
-----signature-----
"Cover me (in ketchup) Porkins!"
Dorja and Villar are two of the best SW characters ever
Followed closely by Porkins and the "Copy, Gold Leader" guy in ROTJ
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s65horsey
Title: EUC Manager
SWC Lil' Sis
Registered:
Jun '06
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Date Posted:
4/9 11:30am
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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See and I enjoyed the HBK vs Razor Ramon Ladder matches, HBK and Diesel tag matches, etc.
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Robimus
Registered:
Jul '07
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Date Posted:
4/9 8:40pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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Yes, the WWE has done a lot of good but a lot of bad for the industry as a whole making a lot of old school fans jump ship(including myself). I watch TNA for my wrestling fix though sometimes they move toward a more WWE style product as well. I love the added importance TNA places on both the Tag and X-Divisions and also the way the top guys in TNA aren't scared to put over the younger talent. A couple examples from the past year or so would be Jay Lethal over Angle, Abyss over Sting, Joe over Angle(even though he lost the feud), Roode over Jarrett....the list goes on and on. And Awesome Kong makes womens wrestling by herself!!!!! She's a female version of Kamala and her matches with Gail Kim  have all been really good.
Yeah, Dig It!!!!-Black Machismo
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I am forever seeking the damutek of Hooley Krekk
Oh, woe! Oh, misery! Oh, unhappiness. Hooley Krekk where are you?
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Evil_X_13
Registered:
Apr '08
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Date Posted:
4/9 9:10pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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Juliet316 posted:
I the heart of everything really went out of it when Benoit and his family died.
Though I did cry watching Flair's match at WM XXIV.
I sort of did, lol. I was a big fan of him.
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MarcusP2
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Jul '04
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Date Posted:
4/10 7:56am
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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USTommie posted:
The last two posts bring up a good question - when did the bottom fall out of the WWE (or wrestling in general)?
I would say the first domino that started it all was the horrible mismanagement in WCW that lead to Vince buying it outright. Had WCW continued, I'm guessing the quality would be closer to what we all used to enjoy. I think once the bookers in WCW buried enough rising stars (who in turn fled to the WWE), they ended up not having anyone to carry the company into the early 00's.
Once Vince bought WCW, it was only a matter of time before the quality went downhill. It didn't help that his two top draws (Austin and The Rock) left right around the same time, but plenty more mistakes were made to help send it spiraling downhill.
As I mentioned in a thread in JCC, the total botch of the Invasion I think started the downward spiral. I've never been as excited about a wrestling event since.
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Darth Revan Fan Club: Technical Specialist Uncle Eddie was my favourite wrestler Gentle Giant owns my bank account.
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Jaina_and_Jag
Registered:
Apr '03
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Date Posted:
4/10 4:01pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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I became a fan of wrestling after "the good years." I started watching in 2003 and still watch today. I honestly don't have a real problem with the product, but that's probably because I wasn't watching during "the glory days."
I've watched at little TNA, but I mostly just stick to the WWE.
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USTommie
Registered:
Sep '02
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Date Posted:
4/10 6:35pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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Jaina, have you ever seen any of the promos, matches, or highlights from back then? What do you think of them?
When I was in the gym today I saw a guy wearing a "JUST BRING IT" t-shirt and I laughed my butt off. The Rock will always be my favorite wrestler. Know your role, shut your mouth!
-----signature-----
"Cover me (in ketchup) Porkins!"
Dorja and Villar are two of the best SW characters ever
Followed closely by Porkins and the "Copy, Gold Leader" guy in ROTJ
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SLR
Registered:
Oct '02
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Date Posted:
4/10 7:39pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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Good point. A tag match in the late 90s with Rock and Austin vs. a HHH and HBK DX would have been great. The pranks and promos leading into the match would have been top notch and memorable as well.
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***"Sir Tampon" of the Knights of The 3SA Sarcasm Table*** Philadelphia Phillies 2007 and 2008 NL East Champions  Fight on USC  Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory Rest in Peace Snowball
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Juliet316
Registered:
Apr '05
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Date Posted:
4/10 10:44pm
Subject:
RE: The Squared Circle (Pro Wrestling)
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A high point for me was the 10 man tag team match on RAW in January/Febuary of 2000. The crowd was hot for from bell to bell. I don't think I've ever heard a crowd be that excited for a match and it's participants before or since.
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