The Wrestling Thread

Psychoblue · February 17, 2021

10 hours ago, Hawkingbird said:

Admittedly Cornette is right a lot of the time he has no idea how the modern world works. His mindset is still stuck 70s and mid 80s. He would pass over a lot of talented people over some arbitrary bullshit. Like how he preferred if Lio Rush stayed a manager and not be wrestler.

The rules of storytelling don't change. I listen to him for that because his creative writing talents are worth picking through his own preferences on what a wrestler should look like, because if you're an aspiring promoter his ideas allow you to do more with less. Tons of people can get the green light for a great match, but what makes people tune in every week is compelling characters and cliffhangers to make you want to see what happens the week after. That's anything entertainment, both in real sports and in fictional settings.

scorp · February 17, 2021

1 hour ago, Psychoblue said:

The rules of storytelling don't change. I listen to him for that because his creative writing talents are worth picking through his own preferences on what a wrestler should look like, because if you're an aspiring promoter his ideas allow you to do more with less. Tons of people can get the green light for a great match, but what makes people tune in every week is compelling characters and cliffhangers to make you want to see what happens the week after. That's anything entertainment, both in real sports and in fictional settings.

Only question I have is... You dislike AEW and support Cornette's thoughts, but... You also support WWE? He would shit on it too if it brought him as much viewers as shitting on AEW does, considering he used to.

Psychoblue · February 17, 2021

3 minutes ago, scorp said:

Only question I have is... You dislike AEW and support Cornette's thoughts, but... You also support WWE? He would shit on it too if it brought him as much viewers as shitting on AEW does, considering he used to.

Smackdown is fine for now. RAW is bad. I confirmed this having sat through that disruptive telecast.

I just watch the PPVs anyway, way less of a headache to follow things month to month rather than 3-4 times a week.

I'm also objective enough to sift through which of his roasts are from objective points of view and which are because he just has some people rub him the wrong way.

On that note, I should have sent that review to Uncle Meltz. No one else bothered to try it out until now.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Psychoblue

scorp · February 17, 2021

Just now, Psychoblue said:

Smackdown is fine. RAW is bad. I confirmed this having sat through that disruptive telecast.

I bet you Jim would still find a way to shit on SD. 100%.

Psychoblue · February 17, 2021

Just now, scorp said:

I bet you Jim would still find a way to shit on SD. 100%.

There are things he hates but he agrees Roman has been money lately.

scorp · February 17, 2021

7 minutes ago, Psychoblue said:

There are things he hates but he agrees Roman has been money lately.

He likes one or two things about AEW wrestlers too.

I guess they should be equal in your eyes.

Jim is a good entertainment listen. But shouldn't be taken seriously, the business has passed him like a speeding train.

Nobody wants to sit through a 20 min storytelling match with atomic drops and back rakes.

Like someone earlier said, he's stuck in the "back in my day" mindset and will never be happy with wrestling moving forward.

Psychoblue · February 17, 2021

2 minutes ago, scorp said:

He likes one or two things about AEW wrestlers too.

I guess they should be equal in your eyes.

Jim is a good entertainment listen. But shouldn't be taken seriously, the business has passed him like a speeding train.

Nobody wants to sit through a 20 min storytelling match with atomic drops and back rakes.

Like someone earlier said, he's stuck in the "back in my day" mindset and will never be happy with wrestling moving forward.

All of my favorite matches are 20 minute story telling matches with punches and easy finishers. Hell my favorite puro match ever, Liger v Muta, was less about the workrate and more about the debut of Kishin Liger with Muta working him over until he tore the mask off and got a nasty surprise for it.

Listening to him also got me to look up some of the pre-Hulkamania era WWWF stuff with Dusty, Billy Graham Slaughter etc and I got a decent enjoyment out of those matches, it backed up the point that you can do more with less if everything else falls into place.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Psychoblue

scorp · February 17, 2021

Just now, Psychoblue said:

All of my favorite matches are 20 minute story telling matches with punches and easy finishers. Hell my favorite puro match ever, Liger v Muta, was less about the workrate and more about the debut of Kishin Liger with Muta working him over until he tore the mask off and got a nasty surprise for it.

Then maybe the business has passed you too lol

iStu X · February 17, 2021

Cornette is generally right about most things but he also adds so much unneeded negativity that the point gets buried and he comes off as “old man yells at cloud”.

when he’s actually focused and actually talks his points people realize he’s more often right than wrong.

His hatred of Joshi is still mad weird though lol

Edited February 17, 2021 by iStu X

Grimmjow316 · February 17, 2021

Honestly I can listen and pull apart the weird hate Corny has over certain things as compared to Uncle Dave’s need to move the goalpost on AEW. The fact that he vanity searches for them is disturbing, Brian Last taking him to task is quite something since he’s tried to avoid being in the middle of the feud those two have.

Edited February 17, 2021 by Grimmjow316

Maxx · February 18, 2021

Gawd damn

iStu X · February 18, 2021

16 minutes ago, Maxx said:

Gawd damn

Some good old fashion choreography

(not saying it isn’t impressive. Just tired of seeing over choreographed spots in general)

Edited February 18, 2021 by iStu X

Grimmjow316 · February 18, 2021

News coming out that Kyle O’Reilly suffered a seizure at the end of the show, hope he’s doing okay.

iStu X · February 18, 2021

11 minutes ago, Grimmjow316 said:

News coming out that Kyle O’Reilly suffered a seizure at the end of the show, hope he’s doing okay.

Damn. I hope he’s okay.

Maxx · February 18, 2021

3 hours ago, Grimmjow316 said:

News coming out that Kyle O’Reilly suffered a seizure at the end of the show, hope he’s doing okay.

Issa work

Grimmjow316 · February 18, 2021

1 hour ago, Maxx said:

Issa work

Well they worked me. The one time I can’t watch NXT live (had no power due to winter storm) and I trust the internet...

Psychoblue · February 18, 2021

18 hours ago, iStu X said:

Cornette is generally right about most things but he also adds so much unneeded negativity that the point gets buried and he comes off as “old man yells at cloud”.

when he’s actually focused and actually talks his points people realize he’s more often right than wrong.

His hatred of Joshi is still mad weird though lol

He has no issue with the old guard like Toyota, but the current gen he views them the same way we’d view the Divas: fetish bait that was hired for their looks more than their potential. I will admit upon seeing Yuka Sakazaki At Fyterest CEO I thought she was way too small to be taken seriously as a wrestler but she also never wrestles outside Japan and they’re not exactly known for their height either. Like she is SO small and thin, a lot of times wrestlers look better in person than they do on TV but she's the other way around. There are some ladies who worked the Artist Alley who could probably take her in a shoot.

For the sheer spectacle I will tune in for the FMV exploding deathmatch between Omega and Mox. I'm imagining one of them pulling the Onita Drama Queen act by throwing their body over the other to protect them from the final explosion.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Psychoblue

scorp · February 18, 2021

18 hours ago, Grimmjow316 said:

News coming out that Kyle O’Reilly suffered a seizure at the end of the show, hope he’s doing okay.

iStu X · February 19, 2021

2 hours ago, scorp said:

Yeah. Not the place for this kind of reaction. My dad almost died because of the seizures he had. So fuck right off with this shit. Especially when it was a legit concern to have due to Kyle being a type 1 diabetic. WWE also had nothing to do with what happened.

What happened is that Kyle was selling an injury and someone in the crowd though he was having a seizure as they were likely aware of Kyle being a type 1 diabetic. So they went on the Internet to tell everyone what they thought happened. Which is what you should do. Fortunately it wasn’t the case and Kyle is fine.

That doesn’t stop the fact that Seizures can happen if a type one diabetic like Kyle is low on sugar. Also T1 Diabetics are also 3 times more likely to develop epilepsy. So Kyle, who more than likely doesn’t have epilepsy could have been having an epileptic episode.

calling someone a mark for being concerned for someone who could have had a legit seizure due to his medical condition is pretty fucking scum bag. .

Edited February 19, 2021 by iStu X

Psychoblue · February 19, 2021

13 minutes ago, iStu X said:

Yeah. Not the place for this kind of reaction. My dad almost died because of the seizures he had. So fuck right off with this shit. Especially when it was a legit concern to have due to Kyle being a type 1 diabetic.

What happened is that Kyle was selling an injury and someone in the crowd though he was having a seizure as they were aware of Kyle being a type 1 diabetic. So they reacted with Kyles health in mind. Which is what you should do.

Seizures can happen if a type one diabetic like Kyle is low on sugar. Also T1 Diabetics are also 3 times more likely to develop epilepsy. So Kyle, who more than likely doesn’t have epilepsy could have been having an epileptic episode.

calling someone a mark for being concerned for someone who could have had a legit seizure due to his medical condition is pretty fucking scum bag. .

So what's the truth here? I heard he was selling a neck injury and then I heard seizure. Was he selling and then by coincidence have an episode?

iStu X · February 19, 2021

46 minutes ago, Psychoblue said:

So what's the truth here? I heard he was selling a neck injury and then I heard seizure. Was he selling and then by coincidence have an episode?

He isn’t hurt and there wasn’t a seizure. Kyle was selling and Some rando who was at the taping went online thinking he had a seizure which made the “report” spread like wild fire.

wwe never addressed it. Kyle didn’t address it but he said his neck “was in rough shape”.

still isn’t the point. Everyone had a right to be concerned because most fans of Kyles knows of his medical condition. It just happened to be something that didn’t happen.

I don’t blame the person who got the “news” running at all. With my experience with seizures I 100% would have done the same.

Edited February 19, 2021 by iStu X

scorp · February 19, 2021

5 hours ago, iStu X said:

Yeah. Not the place for this kind of reaction. My dad almost died because of the seizures he had. So fuck right off with this shit. Especially when it was a legit concern to have due to Kyle being a type 1 diabetic. WWE also had nothing to do with what happened.

What happened is that Kyle was selling an injury and someone in the crowd though he was having a seizure as they were likely aware of Kyle being a type 1 diabetic. So they went on the Internet to tell everyone what they thought happened. Which is what you should do. Fortunately it wasn’t the case and Kyle is fine.

That doesn’t stop the fact that Seizures can happen if a type one diabetic like Kyle is low on sugar. Also T1 Diabetics are also 3 times more likely to develop epilepsy. So Kyle, who more than likely doesn’t have epilepsy could have been having an epileptic episode.

calling someone a mark for being concerned for someone who could have had a legit seizure due to his medical condition is pretty fucking scum bag. .

iStu X · February 19, 2021

16 hours ago, scorp said:

No. This is not something I will take likely.

Edited February 19, 2021 by iStu X

DrLariat · February 19, 2021

On 2/17/2021 at 6:52 AM, scorp said:

Only question I have is... You dislike AEW and support Cornette's thoughts, but... You also support WWE? He would shit on it too if it brought him as much viewers as shitting on AEW does, considering he used to.

Smackdown is what i look for in american wrestling. I like aew guys but i like how moxley is used in njpw as a megastar

I kind of hope aew sends their glut of teams to fatten up njpw since they do nothing with ftr or jurassic express. Plus reynolds and silver and th2 would be good in the jr tag division.

But there i like njpw. I like that aew is using Talent from other promotions but this is tony khan playing gm mode irl more than anything and things he books like moxley and pmega. Or eddie kingston is more on the wrestler then him.

The tag team division is a mess. They are showing wrestlers who should not be primetime like janella and private party. AEW leans far into goofy vanity booking.

Look the bucks suck as bookers.

Darby is still a shit worker. The guy who should have taken the belt from cody is mjf who i hope they have as the guy who beats cody.

AEW is a sloppy shop letting jericho spread covid to who knows how many guys.

And when me too happened they just put darby on dark then put him back on tv when shit died down but their fanbase knows what an abusive shithead darby is.

AEW is WWE as in wrestling is a fucking scummie business.

They have a roster i like. But they have so many presentation problems. Their fanbase lets them get away with it. But they are veering into how roh was booking outside guys/name guys as the top.

Their fanbase is just as offputting as camp cornette.

Edited February 19, 2021 by DrLariat

Maxx · February 19, 2021

On 2/17/2021 at 1:40 PM, iStu X said:

Cornette is generally right about most things but he also adds so much unneeded negativity that the point gets buried and he comes off as “old man yells at cloud”.

when he’s actually focused and actually talks his points people realize he’s more often right than wrong.

His hatred of Joshi is still mad weird though lol

Its not even hate of joshi anymore its straight up racism against Asian women. Io doesn't even wrestle like a joshi anymore and he still shits in her.

Psychoblue · February 19, 2021

4 hours ago, Maxx said:

Its not even hate of joshi anymore its straight up racism against Asian women. Io doesn't even wrestle like a joshi anymore and he still shits in her.

"It's racist to assume every Japanese person is good at wrestling. It's like thinking all Asians are good at math." -Jim Cornette, 2021

Maxx · February 19, 2021

2 hours ago, Psychoblue said:

"It's racist to assume every Japanese person is good at wrestling. It's like thinking all Asians are good at math." -Jim Cornette, 2021

Doesn't negate my point one bit. I have yet to see him compliment a single joshi who is good at this game. We have watched this stuff for far too long, we have an idea of what is good and not good wrestling. Every single Asian woman he has ever seen he hates. Also them all being Japanese school girls to him just adds to that. It might be funny the first time, not as a general term for Japanese women every single time you refer to them.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Maxx

DrLariat · February 19, 2021

Cornette brought in aja, bull, and a the joshis in 95 because they sold our tokyo dome

Difference between chaspirita asai and riho looks and size wise not really different.

The issue is kenny omega brought them in and cornette has to bury every omega ism

Like jade Cargill is not a fetish hire come on bruh

Psychoblue · February 19, 2021

3 hours ago, Maxx said:

Doesn't negate my point one bit.

Sure does!

3 hours ago, Maxx said:

We have watched this stuff for far too long, we have an idea of what is good and not good wrestling.

Psychoblue · February 19, 2021

1 minute ago, DrLariat said:

Like jade Cargill is not a fetish hire come on bruh

Strangely enough he's warmed up to Jade the last few weeks, felt like the vignettes they've been doing for her on AEW should have been how it started for her rather than open with the promo on Cody talking about Shaq who came completely out of left field.

Maxx · February 19, 2021

45 minutes ago, Psychoblue said:

Sure does!

How has this proved the point. Who has he liked? Name me who he liked. Even in that clip he said he liked the Americans and just went over makis bio. Proving the point would be telling me what actual Japanese female wrestler he liked.I never said anything about every Japanese female is good. You jumped to that conclusion.

He has shitted on Kairi, io, every single joshi he comes across. He will always compliment the non Japanese talent. Ie anyone vs rhio is complimented

Edited February 19, 2021 by Maxx

Psychoblue · February 19, 2021

13 minutes ago, Maxx said:

How has this proved the point. Who has he liked? Name me who he liked. Even in that clip he said he liked the Americans and just went over makis bio. Proving the point would be telling me what actual Japanese female wrestler he liked.I never said anything about every Japanese female is good. You jumped to that conclusion.

He has shitted on Kairi, io, every single joshi he comes across. He will always compliment the non Japanese talent. Ie anyone vs rhio is complimented

I didn't say you thought that either, who's jumping to conclusions? I just put that quote there, what you did with it is your business as you can tell from how you've fired back and how you interpreted this other quote.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Psychoblue

Maxx · February 20, 2021

4 hours ago, Psychoblue said:

I didn't say you thought that either, who's jumping to conclusions? I just put that quote there, what you did with it is your business as you can tell from how you've fired back and how you interpreted this other quote.

Man just answer the question. Name one joshi he's liked

Psychoblue · February 20, 2021

34 minutes ago, Maxx said:

Man just answer the question. Name one joshi he's liked

Aja Kong, Manami Toyota, anyone from the 90s. Just listen to the damn show lol. i said this like a week ago when the Maki Itoh stuff was wrapping up.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Psychoblue

Maxx · February 20, 2021

19 minutes ago, Psychoblue said:

Aja Kong, Manami Toyota, anyone from the 90s. Just listen to the damn show lol. i said this like a week ago when the Maki Itoh stuff was wrapping up.

I literally have 30 podcasts I listen to. I'm not adding his old grumpy ass to the list. Show me the clip

Psychoblue · February 20, 2021

21 minutes ago, Maxx said:

I literally have 30 podcasts I listen to. I'm not adding his old grumpy ass to the list. Show me the clip

It's somewhere on his page, I got other shit I have to do too.

As others have said, there's a lot of objective gems in his cloud yelling promos. Konnan and Disco have confirmed that a lot of guys both in WWE and the Indies listen to him for feedback on how to improve, and it's why I listen to him as well. If he was just empty ranting I would have gotten bored already.

Maxx · February 20, 2021

13 hours ago, Psychoblue said:

It's somewhere on his page, I got other shit I have to do too.

As others have said, there's a lot of objective gems in his cloud yelling promos. Konnan and Disco have confirmed that a lot of guys both in WWE and the Indies listen to him for feedback on how to improve, and it's why I listen to him as well. If he was just empty ranting I would have gotten bored already.

I know he had some gems. I usually listen to the clips he puts up on you tube. That was never my problem with him. It's purely how he discusses Asian women. It comes off racist as fuck.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Maxx

Hawkingbird · February 20, 2021

17 hours ago, Psychoblue said:

Aja Kong, Manami Toyota, anyone from the 90s. Just listen to the damn show lol. i said this like a week ago when the Maki Itoh stuff was wrapping up.

That's seems to be his opinion about Japan in general. He probably believes the entire country went outlaw after Baba died.

Psychoblue · February 20, 2021

41 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

That's seems to be his opinion about Japan in general. He probably believes the entire country went outlaw after Baba died.

You've seen BJW stuff with syringes and light tubes or the lunacy of sex dolls vs ladders, or whatever wannabe WWE Tajiri comes up with next. Other than NJPW turning their fortunes around and NOAH finally getting back on their feet after a long period of struggling after Misawa's death, he's kinda right LOL.

https://www.cagesideseats.com/aew/2021/2/18/22290197/sting-powerbomb-bump-safety-neck-schiavone-aew-dynamite

Oooh this one's gonna be a fun rant.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Psychoblue

Hawkingbird · February 21, 2021

20 hours ago, Psychoblue said:

You've seen BJW stuff with syringes and light tubes or the lunacy of sex dolls vs ladders, or whatever wannabe WWE Tajiri comes up with next. Other than NJPW turning their fortunes around and NOAH finally getting back on their feet after a long period of struggling after Misawa's death, he's kinda right LOL.

https://www.cagesideseats.com/aew/2021/2/18/22290197/sting-powerbomb-bump-safety-neck-schiavone-aew-dynamite

Oooh this one's gonna be a fun rant.

He wouldn't be right. It's bad enough that he has no modern sensibilities but he's out of his league when it comes to culture outside the US. There's a reason why he shuts the fuck up when it comes to Mexico. He should apply that to Japan.

Psychoblue · February 21, 2021

2 hours ago, Hawkingbird said:

He wouldn't be right. It's bad enough that he has no modern sensibilities but he's out of his league when it comes to culture outside the US. There's a reason why he shuts the fuck up when it comes to Mexico. He should apply that to Japan.

Dude, just the other day I watched a recent Jun Kasai match where his opponent propped a light tube over his shoulder, which Jun then held in place like it was his while still selling the stun, and let the other guy break it over his ear with a kick. They could have just as easily had the opponent smack it over him like El Kabong for the same effect. As a fan I shouldn't be able to so easily tell how contrived it was lol. Cornette isn't talking about NJPW or NOAH when he goes on his rants. He's specifically talking about the meme wrestlers and he's right about it, because everyone else has already done stuff like that and it gets old after a while and not worth the danger people put themselves in for what results in little money.

Manami Toyota is not a meme wrestler. Maki Itoh smothering herself in chocolate getting recruited from the pop idol world is just Diva Search bullshit. What people don't seem to get is that wrestling fans in Japan point and laugh at the meme wrestlers because they're supposed to be pointed and laughed at, and in the same vein just as there are the mouth breathers in the US fandom there are those in the Japan fandom the exact same way. That isn't me parroting Cornette, that is me speaking from personal experience seeing the dichotomy either going to larger Indy live shows over the years or talking it up with other Japanese fans in some of the JP discords I periodically visit to go over FGC footage I want to set up with the overseas crew.

Other podcasts are armchair quarterbacks. Cornette has taken bumps and sustained injuries at the major league level so I'm going to give him a lot more credence, and subsequently other shows like Keepin' it 100 with Konnan or even Busted Open with Mark Henry, than I am with whatever Never-Was Alvarez and Dave "Rain Man" Meltzer comes up with.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Psychoblue

DrLariat · February 21, 2021

It is weird that jun kasai ia moving around pretty well while taking those bumps

And americans younger then him who copied his style off pain pills

Deathmatch stuff in japan is safer than king's road/noah head drops

I think the nxt training is dumb they got everybody hurt doing those florida loops like kenta

And guys get their bump cards filled doing drills like stacey ervin jr

Wrestling is fucking dangerous

Edited February 21, 2021 by DrLariat

Psychoblue · February 21, 2021

2 minutes ago, DrLariat said:

It is weird that jun kasai ia moving around pretty well while taking those bumps

And americans younger then him who copied his style off pain pills

Deathmatch stuff in japan is safer than king's road/noah head drops

Jun Kasai is a great wrestler but like Mox he'd rather bleed out more often than he goes full mat style.

Speaking of contrived...I feel like Ali either missed his cue, Jomo locked up too early as Ali got ready, or the agent is trying way too hard.

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1363634309144350722

Edited February 21, 2021 by Psychoblue

DrLariat · February 21, 2021

I love jun and freedoms though

American ultra violence is fucking shit. Joey Janella is a shitty wrestler

I been watch zona 23 it is lucha deathmatch pretty damn good

I like mma moxley in njpw and blood sport

The match he had with harry smith was fucking good.

I need harry smith to come to aew and killer elite squad to destroy jobbers like jurassic express and dark order

Edited February 21, 2021 by DrLariat

Psychoblue · February 22, 2021

Just now, DrLariat said:

I love jun and freedoms though

American ultra violence is fucking shit. Joey Janella is a shitty wrestler

That's probably why they fly out the BJW vets like Jun and Abby K out to the Tournaments of Death. As you said, the American garbage wrestlers are just that: garbage wrestlers whose biggest strength is they aren't afraid to kill themselves for a pop with no future of moving on from that barring rare exceptions like Moxley. The Japanese hardcore guys, while there are definitely some stinkers like any other country, are trained to use the violence to push a narrative which can apply to any kind of match and resonates with anyone watching.

That being said, the CZW crossover eps with BJW always made me cringe. The BJW guys still act like it's a sport of honor, the CZW guys bring their usual edgelord crap, and by the end of the show they all pose together? ECW is credited with making that style popular but most of their top guys could wrestle normal matches because they knew a strong character would get over more in the long-term. I don't see of that anymore, either in the Indies, WWE or AEW.

My sister actually got into pro wrestling briefly with WWECW of all things because it was only an hour long and the characters were easy to figure out and associate with. Her favorite wound up being Tommy Dreamer who was on the verge of retirement pursuing the ECW title from Swagger, because his character of a longtime vet at the end of his line making one last push was easy for a casual to get. As I stated earlier, the rules of storytelling don't change, and it's why the few stories that are told well get told about for months afterwards because it was a faint sparkle of what works regardless of who's involved. Fucking Otis of all people was the toast of the internet thanks to a Mandy storyline that, up until the show split mess, was a well-told story that reached a happy conclusion with Otis getting the dub over Dolph.

DrLariat · February 22, 2021

Wrestlers in tournament of death of shitty fundamentals

Jimmy Lloyd and sami callihan are garbage spot wrestlers. Sami cannot work a good match. He shit the bed in new japan and they said fuck you gtfo

I think really the guys who get their character in wrestling go far. Look at eddie guerrero. They gave him some notes and he took it far. Hell in wcw he was just as hated as hollywood hogan in 97

The difference between a gimmick "i am the man" in seth rollins and the persona of the tribal chief and the promo work.

When guys like stu got butt hurt over kyle and over emotional it ruined what could have been a pretty money deal.

They could have done the whole hbk vs owen concussion deal. But nope we got wwe apologizing for it. An overzealous guy on twitter said seizure and people jumped.

Imagine the shit that d-von dudley would get with his shivers

The reason the current roster is ass is also because of the soft ass insulated fanbase who wants to befriend them.

Undertaker was right wrestlers are soft look at the butthurt of nattie last week over the build your squad meme

Edited February 22, 2021 by DrLariat

Psychoblue · February 22, 2021

4 minutes ago, DrLariat said:

The reason the current roster is ass is also because of the soft ass insulated fanbase who wants to befriend them.

Undertaker was right wrestlers are soft look at the butthurt of nattie last week over the build your squad meme

I think Taker could have phrased that better being a lot of the guys he was referring to he worked with on a regular basis and clearly didn't see fit to say that to them as the experienced veteran, or say it to them in a way where it'd come across as him trying to be helpful.

But I do agree that the fanbse tries way too hard to pretend that they're one of the boys. I stopped following WSO Logan on twitter because his markdom is one of the most obnoxious aspects of social media and he always tries to shame people who don't follow his absolute garbage taste in what's good and bad. My concern when watching pro wrestling is the same concern I'd have if I'm watching a movie: what is the plot, who are the characters and can they see their conflict through to the end?

I'm a huge fan of the NBA but I'm not gonna suddenly hate on Devin Booker because he's a CoD player and thinks fighting games are dumb. As long as he can ball out I'm good with him. It's the same with Kenny Omega. He's legitimately strong at Street Fighter and rattles off SFV frame data better than even Tasty/Sajam but as a wrestling character he just strikes me as a nerdier Dolph Ziggler with some Pillman mixed in. He can do some nice moves but his matches never struck me as anything other than midcard stuff. Tanahashi though? Tanahashi even with the language barrier is a definitive character, John Cena done right as a righteous babyface trying to do what's best but not to the obnoxious levels that plagued Cena throughout his main event career.