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On average, how many hours of wrestling do you guys watch each day?
I honestly have no idea. I don’t keep track. I watch as much as I can.
I don't understand why WWE likes to shorten names to just one word. In some cases it works, but in other cases the problem is it either sounds dumb (ie. Neville), or in the case of tag teams, it removes some of the individuality and makes it harder for the fans to tell who is who. We saw this with the live crowd chanting "which one's Dash, which one's Dawson" at their last Takeover match. Same goes for Blake and Murphy, who have incredibly generic names and individually don't stand out at all. What is the benefit of shortening some wrestlers' names, and how do they choose which names to shorten?
I can’t explain it because I don’t understand it either. Occasionally, it’s fine. Sting, for example, works. But it’s not like his real name is Sting Borden. When you are talking about people, they should have a first and last name in my opinion.
Since coming to WWE, AJ Styles hasn't been using many of the high flying moves and dives that have been his trademark moves in the past. He hasn't done a shooting star press or even attempted the Spiral Tap as of yet. Have older guys like Styles and Samoa Joe lost a step from their glory days of ROH and TNA, or have they simply changed their style to accommodate the WWE style?
If you watched AJ in ROH or New Japan before he came to WWE, you would know it’s not that he has slowed down at all. WWE does what they can to have the talent work as safely as possible. Honestly, if moves are booked correctly and sold properly, less can be more.
Started reading your stuff back in the Attitude-era, Dave. We not only loved wrestling, but were big Springsteen marks, as well. Not as big a fan of wrestling as I was then - not even close - but always stop here to get the straight story on things. Thanks for all your hard work all these years. Anyway ... seems to me all these ideas about ways of getting the crowd to react to Roman Reigns as a face are moot. It's just not going to happen. I was only paying partial attention to the WWE when they made the questionable decision to bring Daniel Bryan back in the same Royal Rumble in which Reigns was booked to win. But even from afar, it wasn't hard to understand the lasting impact that was going to have on Reigns. Not to mention the insipid way he was booked upon the break-up of The Shield. I think a lot of people felt they were being fed John Cena 2.0. I mean ... "thufferin thuckotash?" Who thought that was a great idea? If it was in my hands, I would continue to book Reigns as a face throughout the summer, but have him pander less and less to the fans - as he has done in recent weeks. By that time, Rollins should be back by injury. Perhaps by Summerslam, the time would come to do a double-switch with Reigns and Rollins. If the WWE is going to insist on maintaining some sort of 'evil boss' landscape, Reigns would be ideal as its silent and violent enforcer. Rollins, on the other hand, is better suited, imo, as a face. Not as a hand-clapping, baby-kissing Dolph Ziggler type ... but as the no-nonsense, ass-kicking face he'd been during The Shield's face-turn.
There wasn’t a question in there but you did a great job of repeating many things I have said on audio, and it points out exactly why WWE has the issues that they do with Reigns. Also, I agree that Reigns should go heel and Rollins should be a face. Who knows, maybe they will do both tonight. Thanks for the kind words.
I have just realized that WrestleMania 32 was in an alternate universe. Aside from Roman Reigns winning and Charlotte retaining the next 24 hours erased everything else. Zack Ryder was no longer IC champion after winning it. AJ Styles went from losing to becoming #1 contender. Shane McMahon is now running RAW as if he won at Mania. Do you think this is what the future looks like? Mania is going to be non canon special nostalgic event and the next night is a reboot?
It wouldn’t surprise me to be honest, for a few reasons. For one thing, WWE gets that there are fans that only follow the company in the first quarter of the year. They want to appeal to them with things that they think they would like. Also, with Mania now a part of the Network, they don’t have to worry about selling a show for 70 dollars and having fans be irate when things change the next day. There is nothing wrong with starting new stories but yes, when you ignore those that built to the show the day before, it’s not a positive in my opinion.
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