Going to be a negative nancy here...
 

Alexander Russev is going to flop.

Granted, he can do cool things in the ring, and has an excellent look. But I can sum up the issue with him like so: He has no facial expressions.

There's a difference between looking emotionless and looking bored. I get that he's supposed to be this ruthless destroyer. His power moves kind of add to that point.

The big issue is the camel clutch. On one hand, its humorous that he looks bored while in the hold. On the other hand, not even looking like he's applying pressure makes the hold not look painful.

If nothing else, have Finlay sit down and explain it to him.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LFvmJt82eLM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Rusev is awesome. Big fan.

Was already beyond bored of Rusev before he made his main roster debut.

He should become a real American

His debut match in NXT against Dolph Ziggler was great. His best showing. Been downhill since then, but I still see potential in him.

of course he is going to flop, foreigner with no personality

I don't like to assume anyone is going to flop, but he does seem pretty meh. The emotionless thing really works against him. He should have gone with a bloodlust kinda thing like Umaga where he enjoyed destroying his opponents and constantly shouted in his native tongue during matches.

This time next year, he'll be going by the name of "Rusev", will be doing comedy, and will likely be jobbing to the guys who's offence he isn't even selling right now.

The Rusev Roll is the new Flintstone Flop.

This time next year he will prob be on his way out of the WWE tbh

It sucks because Lana is perfect in her role, and Rusev has skill, but he reminds me of an Eastern European Festus.

I'm not a fan at all, just can't get into him.

Scary/evil foreigner gimmicks are too shallow to work in 2014.

Speaking of his "bored Camel Clutch"... seriously, WWE? You guys can let the Steiner Recliner get yet ANOTHER name in "The Accolade", but can't come up with jack squat for naming The Shield's triple powerbomb with something catchy??

On topic: yet another "ooh, lookit the barrel-chested monster" wrestler that has been done to death. Even with the arm charm included in this version, he'll likely be flailing around and end up in a "random" tag team like Ryback did... *if* he's lucky. Unless he's got some powerful friends, he'll go the way of Big Zeke Jackson, or Luther Reigns.

RybAxel are the greatest tag team of the past 30 years. Maybe since the Kangaroos. I'm all for more wrestlers like Rusev and less of these 205 pounds gas station attendants populating the roster.

Wasn't so much dissing RybAxel as I was pointing out that WWE expected Ryback him to be massively over as a multiple time world champion and a huge merch mover by now because he was the prototypical bodybuilder type. I actually like both guys, but wasn't on board that Ryback bandwagon when they decided to strap a rocket to his ass. Henning* has both size and nepotism on his side, and he hasn't really gone anywhere.

And I'd rather see the gas station attendants with personality and "dat workrate" than yet another generic big man who is just supposed to get over by osmosis... face OR heel. Hell, I still say it was too soon for Big E to be called up. Even more so since they didn't let him continue with his "5 count" gimmick from NXT which is partly why he was so over there in the first place. They have that habit of overlooking talented people they can use sooner than later if they'd play to their strengths instead of to trying to parade around the next big man simply on the "he looks like a superstar if you see him walking down the street" idea of marketing.

That, to me, is like if Hollywood just started hiring supermodels (male and female) to fill out movie roles for huge buget, blockbuster calibur films simply because they look good and if they might can act a little bit, that's a bonus, passing up the Lliam Neesons or the Kathy Bateses because they're not "young and hot"... only to have those movies bomb, and the producers scratching their heads as to why.

One of the unmentioned side effects of the rise of MMA popularity is the dismissal of the notion that automatically equates size with power. Being taller and larger automatically making you the stronger athlete just doesn't hold the sway it used to in the 80's. Back then, Khali would be a spectacle worthy of fear, not of jaded jest.

Agreed 100% :y:

It's great if you can find a big guy with charisma like the Rock or John Cena, but those kind of guys are 1 in a million. Big meat heads with no redeeming qualities are a dime a dozen and they all are boring as watching paint dry.

RybAxel is a prime example of two guys that have the look, but aren't worth their salt. Both had chances to shine, and both failed miserably at it because they just don't have any personality. Watching Ryback is like watching a gorilla at the zoo. Sure it's entertaining for a few minutes, but once you've seen it you're ready for the next exhibit. As for Axel… Well, I still hate that beaver faced fucker with every fiber of my being. His only good quality is his theme music.

Ryback was massively over when they actually pushed him as a legit threat to the bad guys. Then they decided to start jobbing him out out of the blue. It's all in the booking. When it was good, the crowd was nuts for the guy. When it turned to shit, they weren't. It's really that simple.

Ryback should have gone over Big Show at WrestleMania XXIX in my opinion. But I also think the World Heavyweight Title match should have been Dolph Ziggler defending against Chris Jericho. Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger would still be on the card, but Del Rio would have been defending the US Title against him instead of the World Title. But whatever. I also think the time to turn Ryback, if they were going to do it, was back when he first emerged as a challenger for the WWE Title. Heyman should have gotten his mits into Ryback and convinced him to align with Punk instead of fighting against him.

When they turned Ryback heel, they really didn't help by giving him such a confused identity. He's finding his feet again in his niche role with Curtis Axel, who are starting to work in some weird sort of way. I think they need a bit more tuning, but something is there. I really wouldn't mind it if they volunteered themselves to try and stop The Shield once The Shield are done with Evolution, because Ryback still has issues from his old wars with them.

I decided to talk about Ryback more than I did Alexander Rusev, because I just can't bring myself to care about Rusev creatively at the moment. The foreign heel thing just doesn't work anymore. Rusev should be beating up anybody, face or heel. No, I'm not going to call him a "tweener," but the WWE Universe should be conditioned to wanting to see Rusev crush. A monstrous heel on the rise is actually a very hard character to position right -- because either the guy you are meant to hate beats all your heroes, or the guy you are meant to hate loses and nothing changes.

I liked it when Rusev teamed with Scott Dawson the most, because then you had the interest-factor of a wormy heel benefitting from Rusev's path of destruction. Does the WWE have a Russian under contract? Anyway, as it stands, the most interesting thing about Rusev right now is his relationship to Lana. That's why the most interesting feud to me at the moment for Rusev is actually against Jack Swagger. Beyond that, it would probably be someone like Alberto Del Rio paying Lana to appear with him as well, leading to Del Rio and Rusev to be linked on the air.

I guess they could just keep throwing Dolph Ziggler and have him constantly try to prove he can beat Rusev, only to always get caught and tap-out -- but once that establishes Rusev as much as it can, where to from there?

Actually, Rusev joining RybAxel in a hypothetical war against The Shield would actually make sense. Lana is a smart and savvy business woman, so she would love to strike a deal with The Authority. Of all the acts in the WWE currently, Rusev seems the most fitting to take the US Title from Dean Ambrose. Once The Shield are done with Evolution at Extreme Rules, and if they don't head to some sort of War Games clash, then having Lana offer up her man to crush The Shield would score her points, and allow Rusev future favor with The Authority.

I can see the WWE staging some stare-offs between Rusev and Roman Reigns.

Personally I think the bulk of Rybacks overness was really just a testament to the heel he was going up against.

Like, people weren't hot for A-Ry, as much as they hated Miz. Ryback had a catchphrase that people rocked with, but other than that, dude was pretty bland, imo.

Wouldn't be surprised if Rusev flops considering monster heels have a very limited use and right now Lana is the better one of the pair.

The emotionless stuff is a bit odd but also something that can be quickly fixed or once he starts to do stuff besides random squashes. Then again a lot about his character was stripped away into something really generic the closer he got to getting called up.

Until he's involved in a feud it's hard to say.

I was thinking more next gen Umaga.

Same could be said about Henning* actually. Remember when he was christened to be the next big deal by Paul Heyman? In a matter of mere WEEKS he was relegated to looking like a clueless baffoon instead of any kind of credible threat. He had no feuds to speak of, and was back down the card soon for little to no reason. "Better Than Perfect" makes little sense when you're jobbing most of the time. That much is on shitty booking. My point on Ryback is that though he was over, he wasn't "carry the company" over. They wanted him to do in months what it took DB years to accomplish simply because of how he looks. When that fizzled, it was somehow supposed to be because Ryback "didn't have it" instead of WWE realizing they tried to harvest that plant too early merely because it looked impressive in a misguided dash for the next cash cow, and caused it to wither.

They want badly to make the same mistakes with Rusev. No matter how many guys want Lana to ride thier baloney pony, it doesn't make Rusev less boring. Comimg out and simply refusing to speak in English doesn't draw the heat it used to back in the day... ask Tensai. For the successes of Brock Lesnar, how many Jackson Amdrews and Eli Cottonwoods and Bobby Lashleys have been in and out of Titan Towers? I believe Rusev is being set up to fail, then they'll discard him and move on to the next boring monster over and over until they eventually luck out and stumble on another hit, then go "see, we know what we're doing!"

McGillicurtis has never been over outside of Minnesota.

RybAxel are the greatest tag team since Frank and Karl Gotch.

Fixed :y:

Love Curtis Axel. But I love him in the same way I loved Chavo Guerrero. I can understand the complaints, but it's just a personal bias I have towards the guy. For a guy who doesn't seem to possess the ability to sell himself on the mic at all, he's managed to stay main roster relevant for about a year now. Good on him. He and Ryback seem like they are poised for the next Tag Team Title shot. Why not? Axel is going to help Ryback get better in the ring, and it means Axel has a job.

One day there might be an appropriate place for Axel to plug himself into and change perceptions of him being bland. You never know -- Axel might discover something next week that gets so incredibly over that we can't even conceive how we ever thought he was boring and had no future with the company. Plus he seems reliable as hell in the ring. Triple H likes him enough that he wanted to work with him a couple of times.

I think the feud with CM Punk killed Axel. It was hard to push Axel as a credible Intercontinental Champion whilst pushing Punk as a true main event talent and having them fight each other. I liked that Axel was a credible IC Champ while he had the title. He fought a little dirty and aggressively, but for the most part, he got the job done.

Hopefully Axel is taking promo classes every week so that he can one day sell himself enough to make sure he can stand out in whatever situation. Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro have both been working on making themselves better speakers. If Axel can do the same, the brightest may still be to come from him.

Ryback was MASSIVELY over for a 9 month stretch. You can't compare what Axel had going on, due to Heyman anyways, to Ryback's push and demise.

They beat Los Matadores and The Brotherhood in back to back shows. things are looking good for the greatest tag team since Jack and Gerald Brisco.

I disagree. I think his catchphrase was over. But his character itself just got pops based off of who he was getting ready to go beat up.

You’re wrong. The fans LOVED RyBack, and rightly so...it wasn’t just that they loved chanting “FEED ME MORE!” along with him.

If it was all about the heel he was going to beat up, wouldn't other guys be getting the same or better pops when they were pitted against the same guys? The guy was getting huge pops confronting CM Punk when Punk was getting face reactions against the rest of the roster. The character worked. The crowd was behind him.

It's such a retarded argument against who half of the best tag team since Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson

They need to push the BFFs gimmick more.

And they need to start wearing matching singlets. This one:

http://i.imgur.com/txnoqEp.jpg

I mean, I hear you guys. But if Ryback was going up against Del Rio (which he did at one point) people weren't giving as much of a shit in terms of their reaction to him coming out. That could be attributed to the situations not being as "major" feeling, but thats a different convo, altogether. Who else did Punk go up against during his peak as a heel, other than Cena, who was new and built up to be that kind of threat? I don't recall anyone. If I could, we could make that comparison.

Inator, I'm not disagreeing that the fans didn't enjoy Ryback. I'm saying his phrase was more over than he was ultimately. The reactions to him coming out were stronger because of the strong heel he was going against.

And fan, I'm not disagreeing that the crowd wasn't behind him to an extent. I just wouldn't refer to his CHARACTER as massively over as much as his catchphrase was. I think the crowd supported him as much as they did because he was new, and up until that point built to be a force. I don't recall "Feed Me More" being chanted at PPV's during other main event guys matches. That's "massively" over, and imo, ONLY that would be a testament to the catchphrase as much as the character.

I know, but that seems completely illogical to me. It seems to me that both him and his phrase were equally over, no lie. I guess it’s just something we’ll have to agree to disagree about since I don’t prefer a long, drawn-out argument/fight.

He was getting over feuding with friggen Jinder Mahal.

If Ryback were 205 pounds the way he got over wouldn't be questioned.

lol now 300 pound monsters are the victims of an industry that doesn't give big men a chance? The dude had a shot to get over, it worked for a short period of time and then he floundered. It's the same thing that happened to Zack Ryder, but I don't see you defending him by saying "he's only not over because of the booking". Everyone blames Ryder for his own fall, same should be true for Ryback.

I could get behind this idea actually. It'd be pretty hilarious to see those two buffoons jumping rope or playing jacks in backstage segments and just generally getting into mischief.

they dropped the ball with ryback because he was really over for a time, but he kind of sucks so i'm not bothered by it.

Jumping ropes and playing jacks...yep, that would be pretty neat...if this were the 1970s. :roll:

Oh wait, I know! Let's have a whole episode of RAW dedicated to the 2 of them solving a Rubik’s Cube! :roll:

The unstoppable monster gimmick is going to get over for a period of time, and Ryback took advantage of the Cena injury situation. The problem is that you can only be an unstoppable monster for so long until its stale. He has yet to show he can truly get over without just squashing everyone.

Would you rather they play PS4, chug mountain dew and shout YOLO and Hashtag all the time? We're talking about a business built on parodies. Them just acting like well adjusted, adult male best friends wouldn't be funny nor interesting. Having them act like moronic man children would be hilarious.

I'm referring to the 900 pound blobs behind a computer screen who masterbate to pictures of Davey Richards.

Those "900 pound blobs" as you put them don't decide who gets a push or who gets over. It's not their fault your beloved Ryback has become a joke. In fact you sound just like those "900 pound blobs" right now. You're complaining because your favorites aren't getting pushes despite the fact that they don't deserve them.

How does he not deserve a push? He was rushed into a feud and then put intoo no win positions? Thaanfully RybAxel will be tag champs in a month.

He doesn't deserve a push because he already got one. It didn't work because fans aren't the same easily impressed masses they were in the 80's and 90's. It takes more than huge muscles to get you over now. Ryback is mediocre on the mic and below average in the ring. In the Hogan era his physic alone would have made him a main eventer, but today that doesn't fly. Why do you think guys like Punk and Bryan are among the most popular? It's because the wrestling world has changed. Even the average fan is somewhat of a "smark" now.

Please cite one time where Ryback came out before his heel turn and after he was put in the main event scene when the crowd did not go nuts.

I think you missed my point entirely. I wasn't comparing how over Henning* was in relation to Ryback (and again, while Ryback may have been "massively" over, he wasn't "BE THE MAN IN WWE" over, which I already said). I was stating that both guys were set up to fail from both shitty booking and the WWE big man standard, and when it failed, they both were pointed to for "not being able to connect with fans/not having *it*", and that in comparison with the topic at hand (which is Rusev) being headed in the same direction.

He's going to need feuds and some sort of character depth. I've been out of touch with NXT for quite awhile, and I'm already more excited for Adam Rose sight unseen than I am behind Rusev from what I've seen in the ring. Everyone loves throwing around "vanilla midget" because it's fun to suck off Kevin Nash, but we need to understand that big guys can be pretty damn vanilla too, and a lot of them that have graced Vince's rings have been.

And Alexander Rusev is positioned to be one of those as well. And once again, when his gimmick fails, it will somehow be *his* fault because the fans don't care about his look as much as the company thinks the fans do.

Guys who look like a fucking machine aren't gonna get over on the sympathy of constantly losing and looking like a pussy. He was over because he was a threat to give any asshole heel their comeuppance and the crowd could get behind him to do so. Having him start to get monster pops and immediately taking advantage of that situation by jobbing him out for a year straight on PPV was retarded even by WWE booking standards.

You sure you don't wanna take that back? You realize all the guys you've just said don't deserve a push with that one sentence?

Ryback was booked horribly from about WrestleMania onwards. Fucking horribly.

They seemed pretty impressed when they were... ya know... GOING FUCKING CRAZY FOR HIM.

It didn't work because he got over and they immediately butchered the way he was being booked. Seriously, even a lot of the Ryback haters here have acknowledged that. It's unbelievable that people still try to reason that a guy who was getting huge reactions and then once he started getting those reactions didn't win a major match for a year failed for any reason other than booking. He got over on being a badass the crowd could get behind to take care of the heel and then they made him into a loser. Ridiculous.

I get what they were going for, but it was the wrong thing to do with him. Depth and nuance were not draws to the Ryback character at the time, and it just didn't come off right. Now that they're building him from the ground up again, he could actually become a really interesting character with a chip on his shoulder.

Ryback and Curtis Axel should go to the mall together and make little girls cry for fun.

the joy i experienced watching ryback get needlessly jobbed out was equivalent to the joy #1-wwf-fan would have experienced watching daniel bryan get completely buried at WM.

And then get ice-creams and laugh together.

Then Ryback should get Curtis Axel to hold his laptop while he Tweets something.

I still enjoyed him through the Cena feud, even if the actual heel turn was "a bit daft".

They need matching attire, too, because that's what The Best Buddies do.

I can't imagine it was that high.

As for Rusev, I've decided that the way I want to see them go is to have Rusev vs. Ziggler at Extreme Rules. Lana uses his business connections to get the match made and get Rusev an opportunity to beat the only man who has ever beat him in singles competition. But instead of going the predictable route and having Rusev beat Ziggler with The Accolade, have Ziggler sneak out a victory over Rusev.

Rusev is going to need to be able to survive without a winning streak, and losing to a former two-time World Heavyweight Champion that people absolutely love is no dishonor and actually gives him something to do, instead of just moving on and squashing the next guy until they find a guy to put him against that they don't want him to squash.

The loss pisses off Rusev and Lana, who make it their personal mission to destroy Ziggler. They attack him during a match on the RAW after Extreme Rules and Rusev gives the fans a reason to actually dislike him, other than him being serious business who doesn't speak English. The two then have an actual feud.

i know what i said.

A great big man will always get over more than a guy like Punk and Bryan. ALWAYS. Wrestlers are real life superheros, not your average ordinary guy. Nobody gives two fucks about workrate and that's what bothered the internet about Ryback: that a 300 pound muscle guy still gets crazy over with mediocre ring skills.

Ryback's ring skills aren't that bad, which is one of the reasons I like him. He was breaking out some innovative moves every week when he debuted and was having those 2-on-1 squash matches.

... which is why nobody EVER chants "boring", or worse, gives no reaction, because its all about how how the guy looks and nothing whatsoever to do with being entertaining in the ring.

I get your contention that Indy McKickpads becoming an internet sensation doing 80 flips and planchas per 60 minute Iron Man matches shouldn't be signed by Vince and become world champion a month later, which is how the early adopters of "the next hot new thing" tend to see him, but there are more "real life superheroes" than goddamn Superman... and Spider-Man should never be as popular as he is because he's just some skinny kid. You have to see how stupid it sounds that you're basically saying Daniel Bryan shouldn't be as over as he is unless he grows at least 4 to 6 inches, or that someone who matches what he is step for step is automatically a bigger draw if they're taller.

You hate Punk and Bryan because of what they supposedly represent. Noted. However, that same hatred sould be applied to Cesaro as well. He was an indy darling, he works hard, is entertaining, has a damn good workrate... oh, wait, he happened to have genetics that let him grow a few more inches, so he gets a pass. And he should be outdrawing and out merchandising the World Heavyweight Champion right now because he is an excellent big man, right?

Just being big and/or muscular isn't enough. Especially anymore. Punk and Bryan got to their heights in spite of it. Really, so did Shawn Michaels. And Ric Flair. And Chris Jericho. And Edge... and why we don't wax poetic about Nathan Jones, or Matt Morgan, or John Heidenreich. People around here bitch about Sheamus all the time, and he absolutely passes the "walk down the street/know he's a superstar" test. He can put on good matches and is pretty entertaining in and out of the ring. His height and build doesn't make him more over than Punk, who, if he walked out to the ring tomorrow on RAW would blow the roof off before he even sterted his promo.

But again, none of these people have anything to do with how utterly generic, bland, and nondescript Rusev is right now. In a wold full of big men, it takes something more than being yet another big man to stand out. As much as he's being labeled Kozlov 2.0, he is just as much Tensai, without the unacknowledged past. Neither of these comparisons are good.

Rusev is boring. You can't bore people in the world of the smartphone.

The people who chant "boring" aren't the core fanbase. A big man with mic skills will always be better than a skinny dweeb with the same and you can take a monster and make them into something regardless of mic or ring skills.

No wonder why ratings are shit. Vanilla midgets populating the roster, there's no mystique to it anymore. Nash was right. Send these guys back to the mid card.

This pretty much sums up the point I've been trying to make since this recent "average guy push" in the WWE. Hell, I tried to make it 10 years ago when people actually thought putting the title on Benoit at a milestone WrestleMania was a great idea. The homeless looking, barely 200 lb "regular guy" workrate heroes have a place in wrestling. They're useful. They should be nothing more than supporting characters though. Wrestling is at it's best when it features larger than life characters. Without that, it's basically a fake UFC. A bunch of regular looking guys fighting except it's scripted.

The last thing WWE should be trying to do is be more like ROH.

so ryback is massively over with the crowd and should get a legit push because he is huge, but daniel bryan is massively over with the crowd and shouldn't get a push because he isn't huge? what does it matter if they are massively over? while i concede that i don't like ryback at all, they should have continued to push him as a monster because it was working. the crowd was eating it up. shouldn't the same concept apply to any wrestler regardless of physical stature? there is a place for wrestlers big and small if the booking handles it properly. that is the major issue here.

and, on the thread's topic, the same applies to rusev. he could be over. he has the look and the wrestling ability and a competent valet. but they are booking him to be an absolutely boring generic monster. that's not going to work. he needs more than that to connect with a crowd for any extended period of time.

Ryback should get a push because the crowd was behind him. Bryan as well, but a big man who is over with the crowd should always take precedent over a small guy. the internet just hated Ryback because he got over so they make up any excuse, just like if a heel is over that they don't approve of is over because of "X Pac heat"

always take precedent is silly.

No it's correct because I said it is.

I'm at work right now and I'm horribly bored so I'm just saying things for the sake of it.

and i didn't hate ryback because he get over. that's silly, too. i just don't like him. like titus o'neil or heath slater. just plain don't like them.

You will like Heath Slater and like it!!!!!

i'm working on it

"The people who chant boring aren't the core fan base" Bullshit. You constantly say that every time the crowd proves you wrong. And the ratings aren't down because of "vanilla midgets" they're down because wrestling itself isn't popular anymore. Face it, pro-wrestling is even less mainstream than comics nowadays. Being a wrestling fan is damn near on par with being a Brony in today's atmosphere.

As for your other argument about wrestlers being real life super heroes I'm going to assume you don't read comics. Most of the most popular comic book characters today are not giant musclebound he-men. People like characters with depth and relatability. The days of Superman are over just like the days of the 80's stereotype wrestler are over.

Size has nothing to do with a wrestler getting over today. By the 80's and 90's standard John Cena is pretty small. Fans today want characters that they can get behind, not mythical heroes. Even kids today know wrestling is fake, it's just not the same product you grew up with whether you like it or not.

Wrestling will never reach the popularity it had in the Attitude era ever again. The fact that it's still getting ratings at all is amazing in and of itself. You also make it sound like WWE is getting TNA level ratings. Even with the "shit ratings" you say they have they're still outdoing almost every TV show on cable.

Who gives a shit if someone is 6'10? They're on TV. Peter Jackson was able to make Ian McKellen look three times the height of Ian Holm.

Let's have more people like Kevin Nash and Big Khali limping down to the ring in a winner gets some vitamin D to cure their rickets match.

4 things:

1. Rusev's issues, or at least the issues I have with Rusev, have nothing to do with booking. They have EVERYTHING to do with what Rusev isn't doing and hasn't done. He isn't working on his ruthless killer facial expression, so he looks bored instead of emotionless. He didn't suggest that he should use a finish that works with his style or his gimmick, so he's using a camel clutch in such a way that makes it look like he's popping his opponent's back, not hurting them. He didn't stand up for his look, so he looks less and less unique.

2. Ryback's current position is a combination of both bad booking and shooting himself in the foot. While he could have been the #4 face at the moment with better booking, Ryback could have easily filled the #2 or #3 heel role by now if he wasn't so piss poor at the business end of the business. He was allegedly awful at being an ambassador for the WWE in public appearances, and that killed him worse than the booking. Maybe the being an awful ambassador CAUSED the bad booking.

3. Gertner is right, to a point. If a big man can connect with the audience, he'll be a bigger draw than a smaller guy. But if a smaller guy connects with the audience, he'll be a bigger draw than a big man who cannot. Which is why Undertaker lasted as long as he did, and why people remember Shawn Michaels more fondly than they do the Warlord.

4. Potato.

Ryback has seemed to have found his footing. Axel's in ring work has rubbed off on Ryback. He's gonna get another huge push down the line, but I'm enjoying RybAxel. Ryback's youtube videos are pretty funny.

There's the Gertner I know and love

I think what the general public wants from its "heroes" is changing. Back during Hogan's era, they wanted the Hogan hero. They wanted an invincible good guy that celebrated virtuous living and having huge arms. During Stone Cold's era, it was all about cutting loose and not wearing the correct dress. But both those eras have passed us by. Timing is as important in creating a top star as much as skill, popularity, image and the right push are.

Batista recently returned to the WWE, and it's gotten crickets. That's not a slant on Batista, but I think we can all remember when the guy was the coolest thing in wrestling and was going to lead us into another boom period and finally give us that bankable big star we had been missing since Brock Lesnar left. Right? Remember that? But now he's come back, and virtually everything is the same about him (he's a little smaller), and it just hasn't been the revolution that a guy like Daniel Bryan is leading. Hell, right now Jon Moxley and Tyler Black from the independent wrestling scene are of, at worst, equal value to the WWE. Yes, there was an era where Dean Ambrose's place would have been as a scrapper in the Hardcore Division and Seth Rollins would be lucky to get a European Title reign outside of being a Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion, but what people are demanding is changing. Your average kid would probably rather by Seth Rollins merchandise than Kevin Nash merchandise today, and that's just the way it is. And those of us who always enjoyed ring skillz more than the old prototype model should be thankful for that.

And there are a lot of reasons I feel professional wrestling is changing on that front. It's a smarter world that is more connected than ever. Triple H dubbed this the "Reality Era," and a harder style comes with that. Ring skills are probably more important than they've ever been. In a post-concussion study drug testing world, being able to look after the guy you are working with and pissing clean are paramount. Looking like a freak of nature might get you in the door, but you need to be able to work with the guys carrying the workload today.

That being said, excellent ring ability isn't enough. Tyson Kidd would be up there with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan if that were the case. It's finding that winning presentation. That intangible that made guys like Hogan, Rock and Austin special is still required, but just what that intangible is has changed. Daniel Bryan has "it," whatever "it" is today. The WWE had him lose the World Heavyweight Title (which they put on him in the first place, mind you) in 18 seconds in the first match at WrestleMania XXVIII. They had him lose the first match at the Royal Rumble this year. I'm not complaining about the booking here so much as talking about how it doesn't matter what they do with Bryan -- he's a star. Deal with it, to quote Batista.

Ryback should have been used smarter, but he's just not...enough. Once upon a time he would have had a better shot than a CM Punk or a Daniel Bryan. If this were WCW in the Attitude era, Punk and Bryan would have been jobbing to Ryback on a weekly basis as they set up Ryback for that money match against Goldberg. That match would get shit on today. People just want a different thing.

Which is all the more reason why it should not try to be "realistic" with skinny, homeless looking, average guys who look like they play video games all day and can't even spell the word "gym" on top. You claim the "real life Superhero" model is outdated yet ignore that before that era began, Bob Backlund was on top for 6 years. Because people still thought of it as real and any run of the mill, normal looking regular joe could be on top. THAT era is over and outdated and should never come back. Wrestling has been outed as scripted entertainment. At this point to try to focus it on "real life guys" is to basically strive to be an openly fake UFC. Or worse... ROH.

Seriously... everyone who strives for the era of wrestlers who look like gas station attendants, as Gertner put it, has ROH. It's fucking PERFECT for you. Most of the guys you wanna see on top in WWE were already on top there! With this being the model of wrestling everyone supposedly wants to see why isn't it a bigger success as opposed to that awful fed where for the past 10 years "Cena wins UGH!"?

THE RYBACK beat the best rassler on earf Barry Stevens. He was so over and the IWC ruined it because they'd rather have skinny dweebs like "don't eat meat" Daniel Bryan or "I won't drink beer" CM Punk be the champ. If there was ever a 5'4" 125lb guy who composts and only eats gluten free organic food he would be the best ever according to the workrate nerds.

We're heading toward a point where the internet will be calling for Hornswoggle-size world champions.

Maybe even Hornswoggle himself if he can raise his workrate by about 2.7.

The workrate nerds would want Hornswoggle to go over Andre the Giant

lol #1-wwf-fan you are a gem

Oh, we're going condescending huh? Cute.

If you're not going condescending... then yes. You are correct.

Negative Nancy

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/dr/hln/www/...3_17_56666.jpg

Good Heel Gimmick

no i was definitely being cute