Lurker > scarletspeed7

Anagram posted...

It's not just the 80s that's getting rebooted, now we're getting the 90s. Soon enough we'll get reboots of 2000s stuff, and then reboots of things from last year.

Yeah, I remember back in the 60s they were rebooting things from the 30s like the Ten Commandments. And in the 90s we were rebooting things from the 60s like That Darn Cat. I'm glad you realize that there's a cycle.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Zigzagoon posted...

I have absolutely no doubt that Rocket's character will be completely ruined now that James isn't writing for him anymore.

Can't wait to have BLAM MURDERED YOU every 10 seconds woooooooooo!

Rocket was pretty awful in GotG2 though.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

61%

Suck it
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I've always wondered who runs this alt.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Actually the really shit part of this is the possibility that Guardians 3 gets cancelled or sucks.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

What's Gaurdians
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Except he took ownership of these comments in 2012.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Stop spamming topics please.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

He owns it as a mistake but the outrage of Twitter does not and that's more of an issue.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

What I really don't get is how we can't be a little more reserved in judgment. Have you ever met someone who did something kind of wrong ten years ago? Would you refuse to have a conversation with someone because they flipped their car while drunk at age 20 even though they're now age 30? There is a certain amount of grace you have to afford people in the world. No one is perfect; Gunn's comments are lame, and they're definitely on the wrong side of weird, but they are far from some of the truly heinous comments we've seen. Given the sheer amount of time between these Tweets and now (not to mention the apology involved), wouldn't it be appropriate for people to offer him a "second chance" in this instance?

If you expect perfection, you're going to be handed a pile of deception in its place most of the time.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

"No, and I am a furry" is the best answer I think I've ever seen in the context of the preceding question.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Murphiroth posted...

Just get Taika Waititi to take over, it'll be fine.

My worry would be that he doesn't have the ideas for it.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

If you think about it, Lex Luger being on screen for five minutes and being enjoyable is exactly why I dislike Triple H. He would be on screen for 30 minutes, and 2 of them would be interesting.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Wow that really sucks. I was looking forward to the Adam Warlock debut.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Metal plate gimmick is amazing, but I wanted to concentrate on WCW because as a character he was just a very compelling watch.

Lopen posted...

Maybe a little overrated at #13 to me because all praise considered I can't name a single Luger match I liked much... but... maybe not!

This is one of those times that I will actually say that you don't need to have the greatest matches in the world if you can remain a compelling character. You only need to get over for the amount of time you're on the screen.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

#13 - Lex Luger Nominated by: Tom Bombadil




It's time. It's time to discuss the wrestler with the greatest sound effects in the history of the industry. It's time to discuss the man that, despite being considered by many to be a mediocre talent with failing mic skills, has a sizable fanbase on this board. It's time to discuss the Express that is... Lex.

Lex Luger, simply put, is the most integral part of the greatest relationship in the history of wrestling. And that relationship is founded upon Sting's Becky Lynchian overtrust issues and Lex Luger's lack of friendships anywhere else. From almost the very get-go, Lex would jettison himself from his best friend Sting time and again only to return to him when he burned bridges elsewhere. I think the best example of how Luger used Sting as an unknowing accomplice to Luger's own selfish ends springs out of Luger's return to WCW in 1995. As the Dungeon of Doom is gearing up its assault on the notion of Hulkamania, Luger stuns the audiences of WCW by returning outside of a Gap Clothing Outlet in Minnesota. Hogan and Savage don't trust Luger but Sting wholeheartedly embraces his old friend (who once tried to murder him as a member of the Four Horsemen less than a decade before), rebuffing the accusations made by Savage. Luger clearly is only interested in allying with Savage and Hogan so that he can worm his way into the title picture. Sting gives this impassioned plea, and then after the Dungeon lose to Hulkamania, he begins tag teaming with Luger.

I think there aren't angles that are much better at explaining relationships than this one:


Luger, in an effort to cover up his clear attempt to prevent his so-called friend from succeeding at a level above him, throws a match. But Luger, and I've always liked how he has this sort-of meat-headed jock personality, attempts to cleverly manipulate the good guy into thinking that he would never do this. "I was hurt Sting." "Look, let me prove it to you!" "We should be a tag team." Luger plays a risky game, bluffing that he has footage; Sting believes him and never calls for footage that would clearly incriminate Luger. Instead, Luger and Sting begin tag teaming. Sting believes that he's helping Luger repair his reputation and turn over a new leaf in this tag team.

In reality, Luger is using Sting to earn more gold. I will never forget one of my all-time favorite little angles. After Luger and Sting win the tag titles, they come out for an exhibition match against the Harlem Heat. Sting is high-fiving all the kids and waving, and Luger is right behind him doing the same thing. But every time Sting turns his back on Luger, Luger starts ignoring the kids and pushing them away while rolling his eyes. If Sting turns back around, however, Luger is suddenly high-fiving and glad-handing the crowd again.

This is just a little snippet of the relationship that I think was the best part of WCW for a long time. Sting and Luger would separate and rejoin from time to time. It was Luger's distrust of Sting that led to Sting becoming the Crow, and it was the reparation of their relationship that brought Sting into the nWo Wolfpac.

Luger also was the hottest WCW in 1997 for a while. For a brief period he held the World Title, stealing it out from under Hogan. But Luger isn't a hero. He's a coward, and he always wants the easy way out. That's why he dropped the title back to Hogan a few days later. Sure, he COULD be the top guy, but Luger isn't the hero WCW needs. He's only in it for Luger. And that's why he's so great. Because, inevitably, Luger's demons will always shout down his better angels.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Tom Bombadil posted...

do ittt

I probably will post it in some different form than a normal diary. Maybe do write-ups on character histories.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

TheRock1525 posted...

scarletspeed7 posted...

To be fair, Earth is very political and it has female characters and minorities.

After Earth, not so much.

Tribbles are asexual, for example.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Lopen posted...

And related I would totally buy Asuka beating John Cena. Most women wrestlers I couldn't say that for but Asuka does have a certain air of credibility-- not just in her streak but in her wrestling style, that's hard to duplicate (at least in the US-- plenty of joshi could credibly kick Cena's ass too)

Someday I should post my TEW diary in its distended, ridiculous glory on here. I think you'd get a kick out of it although it's obscenely long. I literally have 6 brands running with 12 TV shows and one special event every week by the current end of the diary. By 2005, I've purchased virtually every promotion that exists aside from TNA.

And there's some really silly booking decisions. The saga of Undertaker is actually a pretty amusing legacy.

Mickie/Asuka as top two is a really good top two btw.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

What if I already died? This would be untrue.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I don't think I ever heard that story. That sounds pretty awful.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Man, I guess I will never understand why people like Civil War.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I will always have a super-huge soft spot for Lita. When I was a kid, I just thought she was the coolest person in the world. She's one of the rare workers where peoples' criticisms of her actually make me like her more.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

ZeroSignal620 posted...

Bret vs. Benoit at the arena Owen died in was probably WCW's last great match ever between main eventers; Bret even wanted to put Benoit over, but the staff insisted that Bret won.

I love this match, and I love that Bret is actually a really generous worker. It's something that people tend to overlook when they talk about how he's a mark for himself. His problems really began and ended with Hogan and with Michaels.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Lopen posted...

Yeah I suppose the fans in the temple (who are the only ones he's not actively out to dick over) like VIOLENCE too, generally, and he does give that across the board, so you could argue he's a face or just neither too. Either way he's very good at what he does! So good I've now spent as many posts talking about him as I have Bischoff, but what can you do.

Dario saying "LADDER MATCH" would get those Money in the Bank matches over so much better than WWE did this year.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

#14 - Asuka Nominated by: Snake




I love Asuka. I love Asuka matches. I love Asuka promos that only last five words but seem to carry more weight than any other women's division promo. I love that little sideways glance she throws on top of a turnbuckle. I love her loud shrieks in Japanese in the ring. I love her outfit that looks like it was cobbled together from Crazy Quilt's old costume. I love her Twitter game. I love her appearances in anything outside of the canon WWE since she seems to have the utterly sweetest personality in the world.

Asuka is just my kind of champion. I don't even have that much to say about why she's currently my #2 female worker of all time and my #1 on this list. She's just awesome. It's not even a sexiness thing; the most attractive aspect of Asuka is her personality. Everything about Asuka just clicks for me. Maybe that's why, in my 30 year TEW file, Asuka has racked up a 5 year winning streak, only vacating the women's title so she could challenge for the Intercontinental Title. Now she has a two-year streak with that, where she continues to win in bigger and bigger feuds that should realistically end her run. Hell, I had her beat John Cena in a loser leaves town match, where the loser was sent to my Japanese brand.

Anyways, Asuka is the best. Asuka #1.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Please end the Bludgeon Brothers title reign :(

Also, go AJ. This is the little title reign that could. I'm pulling for him to pass as many guys as possible at this point since they're all top tier talents left on the list (except Pedro Morales).
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Dario is actually a face character, yet makes so many heel decisions that the crowd will boo in the moment and immediately forget his bad behaviors because he is honestly the most compelling actor in wrestling. It's just unfair to rate a professional actor against non-professionals xD
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I saw the announcement that the Republican National Convention for 2020 was in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I misread it as being hosted in Charlottesville.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Mega Mana posted...

Didn't expect it, but loving the Maxwell Lord reference.

I really think it's easy to conflate Bischoff's betrayal of WCW and turn on Piper with Max Lord's betrayal of the Justice and turn on Ted Kord. It's eerily similar in a lot of ways.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I actually agree with you on needing more Jack Tunney type characters. I don't really like having Shane McMahons for no reason. Shane was actually a great choice at the start of the brand split, but over time he just became woefully unnecessary since his character didn't make face decisions. You might as well have a Kurt-styled hobbled-by-heel-superiors GM at that point for all the logic you'll get out of them.

Tunney is that perfect balance of non-character and impartiality that allows a storyline decision to just flow without a character overshadowing the in-ring workers.

My list is easily Bischoff on top, but I would put Dario Cueto in the #2 spot. He's easily the greatest authority figure of the modern wrestling world.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

To be fair, Earth is very political and it has female characters and minorities.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

The Blacklist is terrible, but Red Reddington is amazing.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Lopen posted...

I'm curious, and this may be difficult-- but if Bischoff was just a wrestling character who was like, just a crooked authority figure/mouthpiece type on screen, how would you rank him? Significantly lower I assume, but I'm just curious how much you actually liked the on screen character-- I mean I know there is some fondness there from the write-up but you didn't talk about it much at all (in fairness there's a lot to cover with him) so it's unsure.

I just didn't have a LOT of space, and I think that the character of Bischoff on-screen is virtually identical to Bischoff off-screen. Again, he's Max Lord. Grinning, oozing a fake charm that is almost completely unsettling. Before he let his hair go gray, he was very much what I consider a Ken-doll style announcer, but he had this underlying dishonesty to him that worked really well. And he cut the singularly best heel authority figure promos in the business. I remember him getting pelted with stuff in the ring and just growing in his smile every time. THAT'S a great actor.

He would have ranked right behind Heenan I would guess if he was just Bischoff without the backstage presence.

Lopen posted...

Also where do you expect Vince McMahon would rank were he actually nominated?

I think the Vince character is nowhere near as good as the Bischoff heel character, and the real world actions of Vince are actually more of a turn-off to me than a positive. He would have ranked below Triple H on my list.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Just dropping in to point out that LMS has made about 6 different topics on TLJ without ever seeing it.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

#15 - Eric Bischoff Nominated by: Lopen



Eric Bischoff, liar, snake oil salesman, cheat, slick tactician, businessman. If you know anything about me, you know that I'm an avid comics fan. And one of my all time favorite characters in comics is Maxwell Lord, the clever businessman who foists himself into the position of corporate executive of an entire era of internationally flavored Justice Leagues. Bischoff, both on-screen and off, is the very definition of Maxwell Lord. Completely disingenuous, a politician, a man who hides vile behind a smile. The fact that Bischoff is simultaneously an underdog hero of sorts and a complete villain makes him such a compelling figure in wrestling history.

The narrative of Bischoff vs. Vince McMahon is such a unique and unprecedented one in wrestling history. It will likely never be duplicated. Bischoff's sudden fortuitious rise to the top of the WCW hierarchy led to the single biggest boom period in the history of wrestling. It wasn't just the NWO (which was virtually his own idea, including all of the pitfalls that accompanied it), it was the entire structure of WCW from top to bottom. Eric loved fast moving segments, rapid-fire promos, and a certain attention to the flow of a show. It's why that the bad on Nitro wasn't that bad under his tenure; if it sucked, it was short. You weren't just interminably bored. It was entertainingly bad. And when it was good, it didn't linger too long. You were ready for more the following week. In look at 1996-1997 WCW as a perfect example of how to book a wrestling TV show. Bischoff had an excellent format developed, and yet he wasn't afraid to change up once and a while just to keep things unpredictable. He never threw out what didn't work in this era; instead he tried to prevent anything from overstaying its welcome, and I think he did so to great success.

Of course, Bischoff had to juggle Turner execs on top of wrestling egos, and this eventually led to the collapse of his position in 1999. I don't particularly blame Bischoff for this. His system had flaws to be sure; a top-heavy card, WCW suffered when it couldn't push blooming talents into meaningful positions. The backstage politics of WCW was something to behold, since Bischoff believed in being a friend to the boys in a world where he had nearly 200 guys on partial or full-time contracts. When the money began pouring in, Bischoff reinvested it in future talent but was never able to capitalize on the massive pool of waiting future stars that needed stronger pushes.

Bischoff has always been a man who wants to write his own history, and when you look at him in his waning years on podcasts now, he very much is hoping to capitalize on what I consider the fake news epidemic. Bischoff will flat out contradict historians and reporters, impugning their character and insulting them extremely personally in an effort to discredit them and make his agenda appear more genuine. It's a very carny attitude to have, and one that makes perfect sense with Bischoff. It's also caused him to drop in my personal rankings as of late. This is a shame, since Bischoff was at one point an innovator, a risk-taker, and a man who was uncomfortably close to unseating Vince McMahon as the greatest wrestling mind of an era. Sadly, it looks like that keen manipulator has verged into a style of self-promotion and propaganda that I find distasteful. But when I look back at the good years of Eric, I have to admit that he was an extremely interesting character in the history of wrestling.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Tag
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

#16 - William Regal Nominated by: IHateThisCPU




Regal was so good at playing a jerk that it overshadowed his talent in the ring. But watch him carefully during his matches, and youll realize one thing: This man lived and breathed professional wrestling and did it better than almost anyone else. He knew a thousand different holds, submission maneuvers, and slams, and he was incredibly talented at storytelling in the ring. Take a look at almost any clip of him, and youll see what I mean. Despite his hammy but forceful acting that really nailed the era of wrestling from which it originated, Regal was actually one of the best in the ring. And it's not like he has a ton of extremely well-regarded matches under his belt. It's that Regal could be stuck on Velocity with some opener who had no experience whatsoever and still come away with a decent match, regardless of whether the other guy had any real skill or ability. And thats why Regal is so criminally underrated. His best moments are these low-key, subtle actions that are best appreciated in hindsight.

I've always wondered what the 2008 Regal World Title run could have looked like. Between main event caliber matches and excellent backstage promos, I feel like Regal could have led an entire show to a very entertaining pinnacle of sports entertainment-style television. The unique ability Regal always had to command the TV screen was unparalleled. He was a rare talent that could pull off comedy segments without de-legitimizing his character, and between that and his chameleon-like ability to work with anyone in the ring, I'd have to say that he's probably the most overlooked gem in the modern history of the business.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

#17 - Bret Hart Nominated by: ZeroSignal




A wrestler whose longevity and durability seems to fly under the radar in the scope of the rest of his career achievements, Bret Hart is almost universally recognized as being one of the finest technical wrestlers and one of the steadiest main event talents in wrestling history. A second generation wrestler who seemed destined for greatness from the moment he stepped into the ring, Hart became the most consistent wrestler in North America during the 1990s.

The match is recognized as one of the best in Hart's career and in the histories of both SummerSlam and the Intercontinental Championship. At the time the Intercontinental Championship was considered the "workers" belt; while limited in-ring performers such as Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior carried the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship was recognized as being the championship that the superior wrestlers, like Henning, Savage and Steamboat carried. Holding the Intercontinental Championship made you arguably the second most important champion in wrestling and often went on second-to-last on major shows; a far cry from the curtain-jerking status it has today.

What a lot of people forget about Hart was that he wasn't necessarily a young wrestler when he first captured the world title; he was 35 years and had already been wrestling for around 15 years. Most fans only really remember Hart's career from his reigns as Intercontinental Champion on, but he had accomplished so much before that, including being a tremendous tag team wrestler and anchoring one of the more prominent wrestling territories in the industry. Hart may have only had a five or six year run as a top guy in wrestling, but his resume is much thicker than that.

I think the singularly greatest feud of the 1990s is Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin. As a heel, Bret Hart found a voice that rang similarly to Superman in the same era. Superman, disillusioned at the brand of justice Americans clamored for, grew distance and judgmental. Bret Hart, too, didn't believe that heroes should cross certain lines. If you read Kingdom Come, Bret and Austin come across like Superman and Magog. Austin considers Bret archaic just like Magog thinks Superman's time has passed. This feud just proved to be remarkably well-established, with themes that really lit up the crowds wherever Bret went. Austin really became a superstar as a result of his interactions with Bret, and that's a testament to just how great Bret was on the stick and in the ring.

Of course, I'm probably expected to talk about the Montreal Screwjob and the the soulless Bret Hart that sort of floated like a ghost through WCW afterwards, but I prefer not to think about that era. I certainly don't blame Bret for losing his love for wrestling at the time, especially coupled with the death of his brother. I'd rather remember that, in 1997, Bret Hart was truly the best there was.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I think that proves that Vince is right and if he just keeps trying, Roman will get over in 4 years.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Boyd Crowder eventually became the vice principal of a medium-sized high school, so it all worked out in the end.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

PrestonStarry2 posted...

Edge is going to win. :)

Edge is already out.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Got a new set of furniture for my family room, so I'm a little consumed with that today.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I would vote for Rashida Jones over Andy Samberg as a Democratic candidate, so I must be part of the problem.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I mean, on the day of the finals of the second-to-last contest, there were five topics about Julianne Marguilies on the top of the topic list. "Flood" seems like a bit of an overreaction since none of those topics were related to the contest that was in its most important round.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

I don't know how you have a failed movie universe that was entirely because of how dark and edgy you made your crappy movies and then you choose to make your teen television show dark and edgy.

Hmm.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

I never understand why people on the contests board hate contests so much. It's like they're scared that their dying board might see actual traffic.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

It's not about the banter. It's about the character. Han Solo is definitely an extremely popular character and has a large enough fanbase for Disney/Lucasfilm to consider giving him a platform for a film of his own.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

That's cool. Definitely will follow this one.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer

Ocean's Eight more than doubled its budget with included advertisement spending estimates, but don't let facts get in the way of your bubble.
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"Reading would be your friend." ~Dave Meltzer