BurningHamster

I have to say that I really enjoyed NXT which surprised me. In theory it sounded horrible, but Bryan Danielson .... sorry, Daniel Bryan being the star of the show was cool and if they keep the focus on him the show will be worth watching. I didn't find the few iffy spots in his match too worrying because everything else he did looked awesome and was so refreshing after the half-speed lethargic WWE I've been barely watching for years. As much as i have never gotten into The Miz, he is the perfect foil for a show like this. Michael Cole's heeling against the IWC was kind of annoying to me because well .... it wasn't really any different to the typical WWE attitude they've been espousing for years. I'll be interested in checking this out again, I don't have particularly high hopes for too many of the rookies. The English guy seemed kind of entertaining but the rest don't seem that interesting but I think there will at least be some interesting moments with CM Punk mentoring the black guido John Cena goof.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Wallbanger" data-cite="Wallbanger" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25823" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Probably the next movie I'll see in theatre is Alice in Wonderland -- how is it that the whole 'Johnny Depp puts on a ton of makeup and does silly things' meme is still entertaining?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I don't know, but Depp and Tim Burton may be the most repetitive men in Hollywood.</p>

Robert Downey Jr, as much as I like him, seems about as un-Sherlock Holmes a guy as you can get. Would someone who is a Sherlock Holmes fan enjoy this or is it another case of Americans taking something important to the British and pooping all over it?

That is true. I was just watching it again the other day and man it's a fun movie.

Usually I find everything Self says to be the absolute opposite of my own opinion but I have to agree with a lot of this. I love Royal Rumble matches, it's the only match I am guarenteed to watch every year, but this year it was very underwhelming. CM Punk was good, not just the talking in between eliminating people thing but also he was bumping around like a madman. I've never been as high on CM Punk as most of your internet wrestling fans but I think he was easily the worker of the match. The HBK Freakout was about the only other memorable moment for me ... the rest of the match was just so blah. Outside of Beth Phoenix and Edge there weren't any surprises. Too many times they pulled the "new guy comes in and floors 3 guys in a row with the same move" crap, so many of the wrestlers just look like slight variations on the same thing and it fell flat for me. I would like to say that is the one WWE show for the year I will watch ... but well .... Shatner.

I would concur, Black to me just seems kinda meh. I think ROH has a lot more quality workers, I am even not that high on Austin Aries but at least I get why he is champion. That said, I have weird taste. I absolutely LOVE Jimmy Rave who doesn't seem to be that popular.

What's the appeal of Tyler Black? Dude seems to have come up very fast and I have no idea why.

Glad this thread is going, allow me to ramble like the film student who spends too much time watching movies that I am. Echoing the love for The Hangover. That was my favourite movie of 2009, I am scared to go back and watch it again though as I fear it might not hold up on second viewing. Avatar - Overrated and not really my thing but okay for what it is. Special effects were cool but I am pretty over CGI so meh. Story was alright but super heavy handed, all the comparisons to it being Dances with Wolves in space seem fair. 3D sucks and there are still some definite issues with focus. You can't really do things like pull focus in 3D without it looking like rubbish to me. JCVD - I caught this on DVD (think it's 2008ish) and it was pretty good and definately an interesting film. It's pretty much a movie about Jean Claude Van Damme (who literally plays himself) who is back home in Belgium and gets taken hostage in part of a botched robbery. There is far less action than most Van Damme movies but there is a lot more emotion and drama. Van Damme is actually not a bad dramatic actor and this film has in a way been compared to The Wrestler and the similarities between Randy the Ram and Mickey Rourke. It's subtitled though so I think that puts people who can't read off a bit. One thing I've been wondering lately is what happened to action movies in the last decade or so? There really isn't a Stallone or a Schwarzenegger of this generation. I mean, guys like The Rock or Vin Diesel were in a few action movies but I don't think any have really captured the same level of straight up action badassery as seen in previous decades. Also, fantasy films have been pretty huge the last decade. Someone was telling me the top grossing movies of the last ten years and almost all of them were fantasy related like the Harry Potter, LOTR, even Pirates of the Caribbean seems like a similar ilk to me. Avatar is similar, it's a big budget, CGI heavy sci fi fantasy film.

You know those chicks who are on facebook and have 2000 friends and all their photos include them holding up an alcoholic beverage while pressing their face against someone who looks like their equally fake-tanned twin? They are probably pouting too? That is pretty much what I always saw them as being. I too have to admit being confused as to how self-aware they are though.

Oh god, that is incredible. Cornette has seemed more just a vaguely grumpy old man in recent times but that is his good old fashioned justifiable rage in full effect. Also, be advised that the language in that isn't for the easily offended.

Hahaha oh dear. But yes, that is the most important rule of Russo booking. Keep the fans on their toes by occasionally bringing in big names as surprises but then spend the rest of the time hinting at things that are never going to happen.

Then it would turn out the ultimate surprise is just Elix Skipper in a funny hat.

The Steiner brothers obviously need to reunite to feud with the Nasty Boys, maybe they could have a match with Meng as the special guest referee or something. Seriously, reading about what's going on with TNA is kind of like that point in a TEW game where your attempts to just roll along and stick to a booking plan become unhinged by your own lack of patience and you start hiring everyone and putting together shows without having a clue what it's leading to. What's Warrior doing these days? Why isn't he in a stable with Hulk and Flair to feud with the Wolfpac? Seriously Russo, get a move on man!

I disagree with this. I miss Evan Karagias and would mark out to see a Three Count reunion. Hell, bring in Kid Romeo while they are at it. TNA is obviously going for a late era WCW vibe so why not do it properly.

I personally want to see Hardy and Scott Hall compete in what could be the most mind-altered match in recorded history.

I concur, which is odd because I dug the hell out of the six sided ring when Toryumon guys were using it in Mexico. TNA just had it to be different and it took a couple years for guys to learn how to use it. And by use it I mean ignore it and work around how crappy it is. I feel so out of the loop not seeing WWE or TNA as it sounds like a huge night of insanity and WTFness. I guess I'll have some downloading to do.

Say hello to the Bumfholes.

If by genericness you mean skankiness then I agree.

Eh, we shall have to agree to disagree on that ... unless of course you happen to have a show reel just waiting to be uploaded to Youtube that you could share with us Tajiri wasn't about big flashy The Rock or Shawn Michaels showmanship, he was more about doing little things that made the sum of his abilities, matches and his opponents all just look that bit better. A facial expression here, his posture, the look in his eyes, his timing with his "mime act". I personally think that Tajiri had excellent acting skills in the ring, he usually was doing the silent but deadly Japanese thing as you said but think about how few people have successfully done that this side of Great Muta in 1989. However I remember one match when he had to wrestle Kane and on the way out to the ring the guy was selling his fear and the fact he really didn't want to freakin' wrestle Kane so well. He looks like he was about to poop his pants but had to go through with it because it was his job. Without saying a word he was able to get over his apprehension, self-doubt which then made the underdog -vs- big red machine match come across as a lot more dramatic. In terms of seeing other Japanese workers do the same things Tajiri did but better well ... yes and no. He isn't really a Japanese style worker in the traditional sense, his background is martial arts, hardcore wrestling and lucha libre yet he used those skills to work the "American perception of how Japanese guys wrestle" style in a more entertainment-based environment as opposed to the real "How Japanese guys actually wrestle" style in a more straight up wrestling environment. And I would say he was probably the best at this style of his generation. Fact is at the end of the day though we all have our likes and dislikes and some guys just don't appeal to us. To bring this back to TNA (and I guess RoH as well) I personally cannot see the fuss with a guy like Homicide. I don't think he has ever impressed me yet he has been pushed quite a bit.

I know a lot of people speak quite highly of them but I was never too into them. I don't think they were bad, just not that interesting and not really my cup of tea.

Exactly, If you have not seen Tajiri -vs- Psicosis or Super Crazy in ECW then shut yo' mouth! Plus Tajiri's charisma has always been underrated as all hell. Even in WWE I thought he was well above average and had a great match as a last minute replacement for Chavo Guerrero teaming with Eddie against Haas and Benjamin. Anyone who can get a genuinely good match out of those two is indeed a fantastic worker.