General Pro Wrestling News and Discussion Thread Part Deux!

[Admiral_Young]

I don't think we're going to see a Triple H/Lesnar rematch as good as that fantasy booking is. I still think they're going to prepare him for the long anticipated feud against Undertaker, but I've been wrong lots of times before so who knows.

[Admiral_Young]

Bret Hart is going to be a special guest on Raw on Monday (it's in Montreal).

[Mr Silver]

I present a follow up to the "trunks of power" with:



THE HAIRCUT OF POWER!!!

Raising the badass quotient through the roof!

[tomalak301]

^I read earlier this week that we can add Triple H to the list of superstars who have gotten haircuts and significantly changed their image.

As for those pictures, The Undertaker really does look more menacing with the new look than he did with the long hair, and he was badass with the long hair.

[The Castellan]

For some good matches, watch woman wrestler Lu Fisto, called "Queen of Hardcore", seen her fight in barb wire fights, first bloods, cages....and she fights guys as well chicks, and I don't mean little whimpy guys that even Michael Jackson could beat up, I'm talking 250 pound + big guys. Plus a few years back, Quebec, if I remember right, banned fights of men fighting women, but she was able to get that over turned. She does a great job, the fans love her and no way in hell will McMann hire her since she's not an airhead with double D's flopping about, though it would be awesome to see Lu scrape the ring floor with some of those annoying Divas just once. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmPBjW8OcY Part 2 should not be difficult to locate there. Plus I think she's a cutie.

[Mr Silver]

I saw in a couple of places that there has been apparently talk of doing away with both Booker T and AJ as GM's and giving both roles to somebody like Mick Foley or Paul Heyman.

Talk about giving up on something before it's even started...

[Admiral_Young]

Why should that surprise us? Look at all the things the WWE has tried and abandoned in just the past year alone because of either suspensions , injuries, or they've felt they've just plain not worked. I actually like AJ as Raw General Manager. I do think it was a mistake not putting in a face General Manager after months of the stupid computer, and then uber-heel Big Johnny...AJ is arguably pseudo heel. It's been a long time since we've had a face General Manager on Raw. Booker T is fine as Smackdown General Manager.


No one else excited to see Bret on Monday? I wonder if they'll get Punk to attack to him or something. Sigh.

[Mr Silver]

I've also been thinking about WWE's stance on sponsorship, in that it is strictly forbidden for superstars to wear sponsor branded clothes or promoting non-internal products (WWE superstars are sponsored by companies such as Mattel by default). I think it's a foregone conclusion that companies reach out to WWE superstars and offer them freebies if they'll use their products in public - it's just that WWE won't allow this practise on TV, which sucks because a lot of lesser earning superstars could do with that kind of financial boost.

Brock Lesnar is obviously an exception, in that he is allowed to display his sponsors on TV, since it's part of his gimmick. I also think it goes deeper than that, in that it's quite possible that Brock still has contractual obligations with his sponsors and/or that he negotiated the right to wear his sponsor gear during contract negotiations earlier this year. It seems that Shawn Michaels is sponsored by Carbon Express, as evidence by his wearing of clearly branded Carbon Express clothing in most of his public appearances since retiring.

If WWE allowed it's superstars to receive external sponsorships, it could easily partner with those sponsors to supply merchandise of the superstars in exchange for a healthy cut of the profits.

[Ghost Bones]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...-sept-2-8-2012

No Surrender tonight then. Anyone excited for it?

[Admiral_Young]

I have been watching old John Cena matches (no particular reason) and came across a few of when he was a heel, and boy...he was a damned good heel. He was over as a heel back in the day. This would have been during Brock's first go around with the WWE. 'The Doctor of Thuganomics' heel Cena. I still think WWE ought to take a shot and turn him full heel again. SuperCena has gotten stagnant.

[Mr Silver]

Admiral_Young wrote:

---

I still think WWE ought to take a shot and turn him full heel again. SuperCena has gotten stagnant.

When his merchandise sales dry up, then they'll turn him. Trust me, it won't be THAT long a time to wait, considering we're in the midst of generational changes in pop culture right at the moment.

If by some small miracle, WWE manages to push Sin Cara to the main event, and at the same time manages to market his character to an International audience, then I could see the former Mistico overtaking Cena in terms of merchandise sales.

[Admiral_Young]

I understand the policy, but it still seems silly to not turn Cena heel based on his merch sales. Look at what they're doing with Punk right now and he's been one of their most over faces in a long while, and I can't believe that Punk's sales aren't high right now. *Shrugs*. Sometimes it's tough to figure them out lol.

[Mr Silver]

Admiral_Young wrote:

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*Shrugs*. Sometimes it's tough to figure them out lol.

Money dear boy! (it's weird saying that considering you're a decade older than me!)

But seriously, that's how it stands. I personally think that Vince McMahon feels that he has nothing else to prove in the artistic sense. He's created a global brand, has no true competitors left and the WWE retains a colossal fanbase, regardless of what's going on.

Now it's all about maximising profit and "doing what works" to maintain the level that Vince has taken his creation to. Many people are hopeful about Triple H's growing level of duty, since he's a smart, creative type that enjoys finding new challenges in professional wrestling. He is the undisputed king of box office feud enders, having had epic showdowns with Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Batista and The Undertaker. Despite what people may say about him, no on can deny that he's a master at creating matches in which fans pour in a hell of a lot of emotional investment and all round interest.

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah money has always been Vince's biggest motivator. I guess I just see a lot of potential in Cena as a heel (for sales as well depending on what they do). You're right though. As I've said before, I don't dislike John, I have respect for what he's accomplished in his career. I just feel like he's become too stagnant for any fan to really "care" about him any more which is why we've had the divisive attitude among the fandom. It's funny...they were booing him intensely in the matches I watched. One of them was Backlash 2003 against Brock Lesnar who was a face I guess at the time...the pop he got from the crowd when he came out was massive.

[Satyrquaze]

Admiral M wrote:

---

I present a follow up to the "trunks of power" with:



THE HAIRCUT OF POWER!!!

Raising the badass quotient through the roof!

Insert "WHY NO JERICHO??" no post here.