Comradebot

<p>Another excellent effort, Derek_b.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I'm also totally making sure all the 97 workers find their way into 77... If for no other reason than if I play as WBW long enough I can bring in Vasjan Sirotic.</p>

Good to know. Especially because I just added a full list of everyone I'm missing renders for to the bottom of the first post here. I could swear some of these guys have had renders made, but have simply be lost to me for one reason or another.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Celt" data-cite="The Celt" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41928" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>For Kaiser Grund, you can probably get away with using the same render as Spike. <p> </p><p> I'm referring to this one: <span>http://i.imgur.com/LuIo753.jpg</span></p><p> </p><p> For his partner, it'd be awesome if someone did a render based on something like this: <span>http://41.media.tumblr.com/ea9b3fe23cdeae8aefa17ae82cc57a06/tumblr_my3v8awr5l1t7siopo1_500.jpg</span></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Except you'd break the cardinal rule of "only one Mohawk per group". If he were to get a new render, I wouldn't mind it still resembling the original but with maybe some vibes of Johnny Rotten or Billy Idol.</p>

<p>Alright, I've gone through and assigned a silly amount of pictures to some who didn't have any assigned, primarily guys with typos or names that have changed over time.</p><p> </p><p> Still sitting at just a wee north of 100 folks in the database without renders. A few of these guys it's just a matter of me downloading pics from older versions (Ultra Atlantis, for example, is now Uhtred The Viking and the Ultra Atlantis render isn't in the 2016 picture pack).</p><p> </p><p> I'll weed out the "Ultra Atlantises" and compile a list of the others to put here and see if we can't find them a new look. I'd like to avoid delving too deeply into the "free pictures", as I can't help but feel this database will ultimately work best with random workers being generated to help fill the worker gaps of the 1980s. A few, sure, but ideally the bulk of those will remain free for the generator.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> And I also know there's at least a few workers currently with no picture assigned who used to use the old "Random Male" images from way back when. For guys like Day Glo Joe this may not be an issue and I can grab the old image, but still wouldn't complain if someone thinks they can give them a facelift.</p><p> </p><p> Especially Prince Jafar: always a character that seemed interesting to bring in, always turned off by the dated generic render he was saddled with, with its goofy grin.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Celt" data-cite="The Celt" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41928" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>By the way, what are your thoughts on FAG? <p> </p><p> I think it could work as a comedy promotion (especially now that TEW2016 has the comedy match aim), but I think it should have a few wrestlers on the roster who are now just from the movie Semi-Pro, so that's it's not so reliant on the movie as it's basis.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="jtlant" data-cite="jtlant" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41928" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Awesome to see this getting updated. I did some of the work on Japan for the last release, so if you need any help with anything, shoot me a PM. If I can find the time, I'll see if I can get a few new renders together.<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I always thought it was a little out of place in the mod, personally. It's a fun idea and I think it can work in the universe, but I'd like to see the direct movie references dropped. Grand Rapids Athletic Brawling? Jackie Starr? I guess that might not work, what with Mickey Starr being in his prime, but something like that. Nothing major, just so it feels like it wasn't cut and pasted from the movie.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I'm of a similar mindset. While a company that exists as a huge reference to the film is amusing, it feels a little too on the nose. Wouldn't mind changing the name of the company and some of its characters, but by and large it should remain as it is: a zany, theatrical cash grab by an out of shape, semi-pro basketball player and his friends.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Celt" data-cite="The Celt" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41928" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>If you need any help, just ask. I've made mods of the C-Verse before (CV2001, which I might put out for TEW2016) and I'm fairly knowledgeable about the 70s CV mods. Personally I preferred CV75 to CV77, as in CV75 the territories are still strong, but in CV77 you can start to see SWF beginning their death by a 1000 cuts campaign start to take effect. <p> </p><p> Anyway, I've got all the renders from original release of that 70's mod (or at least I think I do), so if you're missing any ask me if I've got them and I'll see what I can come up with.</p><p> </p><p> Today I might look at the renders for CV70s characters and see if I can make any edits that might make them look better or be nice as alts. But that said, CV70s had/has some AWESOME renders; whoever did the Japanese Joshis in particular did an awesome job.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I think I have at least almost every render, too. When I get a chance I plan to dig through the old 2010 thread and see if there's any that got posted there I still need. I also need to weed out the workers that have renders, they're just not properly assigned because of typos or name changes throughout iterations of TEW (like the Biggz Boys, who I already fixed). </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Oh, and I KNOW there's two workers that definitely don't have renders 100%, because they seemingly ceased to exist after the very first 75 mod. They were probably edited to be different characters, like how Knockout Jones was clearly repackaged as Jacoby Jones, but unlike Jacoby whoever they are now is so distinct that they're different people.</p>

Foreword: So, with the permission of one of its original creators (Mr T Jobs to Me), I've been working in secret to bring back my personal favorite mod in the history of TEW: The 70's C-Verse. I started last year, but the eventuality (and eventual reality) of a TEW 2016 lead me to putting it on the shelf. When TEW 2016 released, however, I spent a couple weeks playing around in the new game... and then I started modding in earnest. And mod I have, as nearly every day for the last few weeks I've been finding time to dick around in "That 70's" period. It's been slow, tedious work, but the end goal is too rewarding to let that stand in my way. As a result, I've recently completed a goal I set as my first "major" milestone, meaning I feel I've come far enough along to announce my work on this project. So here I am, typing on a computer with a (mostly) working version of the 70s CornellVerse for TEW 2016 on my laptop. Now let me be clear, this is NOT a continuation of 70s C-Verse. Instead, what I have is a straight conversion of the most recent version of the mod, made way back in 2010, and my goal is simply to polish up the mod into the most complete, detailed version that I can possibly do. Mostly, this means modding in all those features (employment history, variable body sizes, body types, workers based in specific regions, ect), along with identifying all the workers that were brought into existence in TEWs 13 and 16 that didn't exist when this mod was last released. I made the decision to not progress from January 1977 for a few reasons: 1. I've never taken on a task of this scale in terms of modding before, and trying to figure out the state of everything in 1978+ is just an even bigger load. Seeing as how at the moment I'm going solo, it seemed reasonable to not overload myself. 2. Honestly, to me the start of 1977 is about as late as the date can be pushed for this to still be the same time period. Later in 1977, canonically, APWF shutters its doors, with many of the other promotions of the era following soon after. The changes just around the corner are too dramatic and would be a new project to itself, separate from "That 70's Mod". 3. By keeping it simple, it'll be easier to create a base from which to work in other directions in the future, should I or someone else decide to do something like create C-Verse 1980s OR even rollback the clock to 1975, the oldest start date to ever exist in the C-Verse. But enough of all those background details, let's dig into the mod itself and take an overall look at the state of the world itself at the start of 1977, on the eve of the death of the territories... USA http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m490/pyroman74/TEW2016/Graphics/location_us.jpg The United States is, truly, the centerpiece of the CornellVerse in the 1970s. Numerous powerful, yet regional, companies still dot the land with a handful of smaller promotions trying to find their way. These larger territories: TWL, APWF, AAFW, CPW, and CWB, are the original powers on the American scene, having dominated the American landscape since the 1960s. But there's doom on the horizon in the form of the all-consuming SWF under the guidance of the ruthless, business savvy youngster Richard Eisen, the definitive most powerful wrestling promotion in the nation (if not the world). The territories have all seen many of their best and brightest signed away by SWF, leaving many of them struggling critically, and financially, as they fight to stave off SWF's tyranny. As a whole, however, the nation is still rich in wrestling talent and many workers remain either loyal to the territories or have flown under the giant's radar. While SWF vies for global domination, one can still see wild brawls down south in All American Florida Wrestling or the Texas Wrestling League, choose an alternative to entertainment in APWF, enjoy definitive old school traditions of CWB, catch high paced action in CPW, or even risk getting shot by attending a show for HWA. The possibilities for the future of American wrestling in 1977 are, truly, endless. Cult Supreme Wrestling Federation (SWF) Location: New England Owner: Richard Eisen Style: New School Entertainment Regional All American Florida Wrestling (AAFW) Location: South East Owner: Dick the Devastator Style: Schizophrenic Traditional American Pro Wrestling Federation (APWF) Location: Tri-State Owner: Terry Lambert Style: Semi-Mainstream Traditional California Pro Wrestling (CPW) Location: South West Owner: Preston Holt Style: Diverse Pure Championship Wrestling from Boston (CWB) Location: New England Owner: Gene Plumelli Style: Brawler-Friendly Traditional Texas Wrestling League (TWL) Location: Mid South Owner: The Lone Star Stampeder Style: Texas Traditional Small American Independent Circuit Wrestling (AICW) Location: Great Lakes Owner: Dale Christian Style: Traditional, Leaning Pure Welcome to the Islands Wrestling (WIW) Location: Hawaii Owner: Kai Kuhaulua Style: US/Japan PuroTradition Local Chicago Championship Wrestling (CCW) Location: Great Lakes Owner: The Minnesota Mauler Style: Rookie/Veteran Teams Flint Athletic Grappling (FAG) Location: Great Lakes Owner: Jackie Moon Style: Theatrical Entertainment Harlem Wrestling Alliance (HWA) Location: Tri-State Owner: Mr. G Style: Gangland Hardcore Canada http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m490/pyroman74/TEW2016/Graphics/location_canada.jpg Canada has, for much of wrestling history, been rather quiet. While the homeland to many of the greatest wrestlers of the era, such as Dan Stone, Jackson Andrews, and George DeColt, Canada itself never had a major promotion to call its very own until the middle of the 1970s. Early 1975, however, finally saw that change with the emergence of the Canadian Wrestling Federation. Founded by the legendary Ed "The Strangler" Henson, CWF has quickly drawn many of Canada's finest sons and daughters of pro-wrestling back home. Outside of CWF's early successes, the Canadian scene remain relatively quiet, mostly the home of independent workers and a few lucky enough to tour with AICW's offshoot company, CICW, hoping to catch the attention of a larger company. Cult Canadian Wrestling Federation (CWF) Location: Alberta Owner: Ed Henson Style: Full Traditional Small Canadian Independent Circuit Wrestling (CICW) Location: Quebec Owner: Bill Dennison Style: Fan Friendly Independent Mexico http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m490/pyroman74/TEW2016/Graphics/location_mex.jpg Mexico is at war! With itself! Home currently to only two promotions, Mexico is currently locked in a bitter rivalry between the oldest active promotion in the world, OLLIE, and their upstart rivals MPWF (founded by a group of OLLIE's biggest stars who were disenchanted with OLLIE). OLLIE have spent two decades now dominating Mexican wrestling, often with less than legal practices, but a young MPWF is now giving them their first ever serious competition. Home now to some of the greatest luchadores the world will ever see, including the living legend El Patron, the Mexican scene is a place filled with over the top characters, high flying action, and some of the craziest gimmicks the wrestling world will ever see. Down here, good guys are good, and rudos are the most cartoonishly despicable creatures on the face of the planet. National Original Lucha Libre in Exito (OLLIE) Owner: Sergio Barbosa Location: West Central Mexico Style: Lucha Libre Regional Mexico Premier Wrestling Federation (MPWF) Owner: El Barbaro Location: Northern Mexico Style: Lucha Libre The British Isles http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m490/pyroman74/TEW2016/Graphics/location_uk.jpg Like much of the world, wrestling is still very young in the UK. Home starting in 1970 to UKWA, a company that aimed to bring together the best of British wrestling under one roof, the British wrestling world was dealt a significant setbacks when UKWA's owner pulled out his investment, leaving his creation to die. The result was many of the British Isles' best finding working in America, Japan, or Europe, though a few have remained and joined the recently founded RWA, currently the only promotion in all of England (which was founded purely to take advantage of the downfall of UKWA). Local Royal Wrestling Association (RWA) Location: South England Owner: Wendell Williams Style: UK Pure Japan http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m490/pyroman74/TEW2016/Graphics/location_jap.jpg According to many, Japan is the true birthplace of professional wrestling in the CornellVerse. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, Japan was home to the massive and successful Giant Pro Wrestling, the first major wrestling promotion in the entire world. GPW was originally a massive success, enjoying over a decade and a half of prosperity... until it didn't. What happened now is only spoken of in hushed whispers and shadowy rumors, much of the facts now mixed in with foreboding legend. Whether the truth is, something terrible happened in GPW, a conspiracy that permeated the promotion from the top to the bottom. Dishonored and shame, GPW closed its doors in 1933, leaving a black stain on the Japanese wrestling industry in the process. What followed was the "Japanese Dark Age" of wrestling where no major companies rose to take the place of GPW and fewer and fewer sought the join the profession. And so it remained until the 1950s, when a new generation of wrestlers began to appear across the nation who were free of GPW's taint. This renewed interest in Japanese wrestling culminated in the May of 1960 with the opening of GCG, the first major company in the nation in over two decades. GCG had a brief moment of unrivaled dominance in Japan, but soon found themselves challenged in 1966 by the creation of BHOTWG in 1966 which created a huge exodus of GCG's stars to the newly founded rival. The two companies have been locked in a bitter conflict ever since. While The Big Two are still the powers in Japan, the rebirth of the wrestling scene has also seen the rise of various other, smaller promotions and even the formation of major female promotions, the first of their kind in the world. National Golden Canvas Grappling (GCG) Location: Kinki Owner: Junichi Monou Style: Golden Age Puroresu Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods (BHOTWG) Location: Kanto Owner: Idetada Watanabe Style: Elemental Era Puroresu Cult Japanese Women's Wrestling (JWW) Location: Shikoku Owner: Nakamura Miharu Style: Golden Age Joshi Regional QUEST: Heritage Wrestling (QUEST) Location: Kinki Owner: Uroko Saki Style: GPW Throwback Small Tokyo City Championship Combat (TC3) Location: Kanto Owner: Kien Shih Style: Physical Pure Wrestling Yokohama Pro-Women's Wrestling (YPWW) Location: Kanto Owner: Morita Kozuma Style: Sponsor Friendly Joshi Europe http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m490/pyroman74/TEW2016/Graphics/location_europe.jpg There isn't much happening in Europe at the start of 1977, with only a single promotion (the tiny, recently founded West Berlin Wrestling) active in the entire continent. With the Cold War in full swing this probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but it hasn't stopped a few talented workers from springing up around Europe. While Europe may not be a hotbed of activity at the moment, it's still the jumping off point for numerous wrestlers looking to become the next big thing in Japan or America, with those who elect to stay home giving a glimmer of hope that the current state of European wrestling is only the start of things to come. And what it does have is a truly eclectic mix of various styles and backgrounds coming together to create a truly unique environment in the 70s CornellVerse. Most ominously, however, is the recent reports that bull sharks have begun to mass off the coast of Norway as the ghostly sounds of old Viking horns can be heard resounding through the fjords, seemingly ushering the sharks in... Small West Berlin Wrestling (WBW) Location: Central Europe Owner: Jan Stuessen Style: Berlin City Traditional Australia http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m490/pyroman74/TEW2016/Graphics/location_australia.jpg Australia is currently a wrestling wasteland, home to only a handful of independent workers with no major promotions in sight. Walleye Conklin, a man who legend has it has wrestled on all seven continents (including an amazing match against an emperor penguin named "Nero" on Antarctica) has recently hung up his boots and returned home, aiming to train the first ever true generation of Australian wrestling stars. Whether or not he succeeds and it takes several more decades for their to be a real Australian wrestling scene remains to be seen... And that's where we are, folks. I've got a lot done but there's a lot more to do before this is truly ready to release. If you were to load up the game right now, however, it would look nearly complete... but that's because (almost) all my time has been spent working on active promotions and workers so far! The next big step, which I've already started, is to clean up workers set to debut after January 1977, along with identifying and importing those that aren't in the database yet. How Can You Help? The one thing I absolutely CANNOT do myself? Renders. There's still plenty of workers, even those active in 77, that lack a proper render OR just have really, really outdated renders that still need a proper replacement. So if there's any render makers out there that want to help out, I'd gladly take it. Otherwise it's all data, and that I can handle. If it becomes too much for me I'll see if there's any jobs I can pass off to folks who also want to see this 100% finished. Workers Needing Render Love Acacia Wallace Bernard Watson Bernardo Cruz Bloody Takai Bobby Dee Bobby Trebek Brad McKenna Cap Comiskey Carl Strickland Charles Barclay (think used to use Charles Avatar's image?) Cherry Tanizaka Cho Hayashi Cornelius Banks Cristobal Sanchez Croup OR Cueball Clayton (they have the same render) Dane Barrow Danny Vargas Daren Miller David Crane Day-Glo Joe (used to use RandomMale) Dee Ray Morton (another RandomMale) Diane Mien Drake Moxley E.J. Lozano Ed Monix El Coche Felix Moya Fiendish Fred Finn Jansen Francois Descartes Fudo Arai Glen Davies Gustavo Sanchez Hank Jacobs Hideo Hara Hiroko Iwate Ikkei Saibara Ira Hixenbaugh Jake Sloan Jay Jay Wilson Jerrod Whitlock Jerry Sanchez Jiro Yamagata Joe Dorado Joey Moore Katsuyo Nagashima Kazuko Hiroyuki Kazutoshi Hakugi Kelvin Avery Kensao Tokunaga Kenshin Matsueda Kento Kamida Kim Jong Li (only existed in 2005 data) Kurt Longfellow Lawrence Knight Leo King Luis Alarcon Luis Nani Lyall Sinclair Mack Gregor Mariko Hamada Marquis McKinley Marvin Ainscough Mass Hysteria Mick Carver Miracle Fujita Miyuki Miharu Norm Smith Nyoko Toshitala Paolo Salvatore Pat Emersly Peach Suzuki Pete Jones Peter Smythe Pops Santoro Prince Jafar (had a RandomMale... that I loathe) Rico Santino (not to be confused with Rico Santana, apparently) Riku Ketola Rob Dingle Sabine Molyneux Scootsie Double Day Serenity Weaver Shade Sakimoto Shay Jacoby Sherman Quarles (only existed in earlier data, may have been morphed into "Sherman the Butler" but seems like a distinct person) Shun Watari Sir Dance-A-Lot Spike Ulbrecht (only existed in 2005 data) Steve Levinson Takanori Fujii Takayuki TURBO (apparently used Takayuki Avatar image) Takeichi Satoh Takemi Kondou Tatsuki Miyata Tetsuya Najahara The Blackpool Bandit The Madman From Yellowknife The Valedictorian Theo Epscott Theodore Ward Thunderbird Tigress Okada Tsurushi Kamon Tuck Wrobel Twiggy Munson Vaughn Reynolds Vigo Vandal Volcano Walt Cobb Wayne Anderson Wayne Mooney Will Briggs William Hennigan Yasunobu Kishita Yatil Hunsacker Release Date: When it's done... though I'm aiming for around the end of the month. No promises, though, beyond that this is being released and I'm putting some incredible time into making sure that happens.

Almost done, just two promotions worth of workers to polish up to TEW 2016 standards, and I'll meet my criteria to throw together a nice, fun hype thread for my little project.

<p>Mexico DONE. Down to USA and Canada (which barely counts here), which I saved for last as a reward since it's such a character rich environment.</p><p> </p><p> Once that's done, I think a proper hype thread is in order.</p>

<p>Employment history in Japan is (almost) ironed out, beyond a few folks that don't work there anymore that I'll get to when I roll around to their area.</p><p> </p><p> Phew, this is hard work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> But so rewarding.</p>

<p>I haven't been playing too much (have a nice NYCW run going, but the constant talent raids have me needing to take a step back and rethink a lot in that game...)</p><p> </p><p> But I still found some time to change my avatar. I wonder what it could mean?</p>

Do user characters ever retire naturally, or would the only way to "retire" them to be use the editor?

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I got a kick out of Billy missing the stinger splash just like Ziggler a few weeks back<p> </p><p> Now that he's back from his concussion I don't think they can deny the fans that dream match <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I demand a double clothesline that sends both men flying out of the ring from the most amazing dual overselling the world has ever seen.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Truly" data-cite="Truly" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>God, has anyone seen that promo Ziggler delivered that was featured on the WWE App?<p> </p><p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOxFGrnZ4Dc" rel="external nofollow">Dolph Ziggler's Best WWE Promo. (2014)</a></p><p> </p><p> Had no idea Ziggler could cut a promo like this. He broke kayfabe a bit but the passion and emotion he exuded still blew me away! Why don't they allow everyone to perform interview segments this way; mostly everyone typically come off as robotic and abit too tamed at times nowadays.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I love Ziggler.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I'm still holding out hope that one day the WWE does a storyline with him and Billy Gunn where Billy Gunn is playing Dolph Ziggler...</p><p> </p><p> ... <em>from the future.</em></p>

<p>I haven't kept up too much in the last few months, but WWE at one of its worst?</p><p> </p><p> Okay, so all I saw was last week's RAW recently. My only complaint was "the only thing it was missing was CM Punk" (and then the sadness as I learned the why to that).</p><p> </p><p> Also, I marked the **** out for the New Age Outlaws. I absolutely loved the "meh" initial reaction from the rather smarky crowd last week, followed by the same crowd absolutely unable to resist getting caught up in Road Dogg's intro-spiel. Sure, the man is in his mid-40s and isn't going to put on a technical clinic anytime soon (and I'm pretty confident he's never been able to, even in the 90s).</p><p> </p><p> But damn it he's super charismatic. I can't think of too many other men in the business that are capable of coming out to a crowd that's giving you a pretty dead reaction and then manage to whip them up into a frenzy just a minute later.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> In other news, Billy Gunn is still pretty devoid of all charisma. But hey, Eat em' up Kats.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Rone Rivendale" data-cite="Rone Rivendale" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Speaking of boring chants, can the Cena haters give John some credit for taking the 'boring' chants during his promo and improv-ing so fluidly that it looked like it was meant to be that way.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Cena is one of the best, if not THE best, in the company at knowing how to play to the crowd. Only CM Punk is in the same boat in terms of that talent. The way Cena handled the crowd in the last RAW after Wrestlemania was absolutely brilliant.</p><p> </p><p> But hey, the smarks would rather hate on the man either because they get a kick out of being contrarian with what the WWE is trying to make you think about Cena, or they're incapable of telling the difference between John Cena "The character as booked by WWE" and John Cena "The actual worker".</p><p> </p><p> Like, a few months back, someone on the TEW forums said Cena would never succeed in ECW or Attitude Era WWF... and both of those are absolute bullshit. Anyone who has followed Cena's career has seen that he can not only work gimmicks other than "Super Cena", but <em>excel</em> in doing so. He's white and was a more convincing rapper than R-Truth. But there's absolutely zero reason to think that, fifteen years ago, he couldn't succeed: because he could. He was no less talented in-ring than many of the stars from WWF and ECW back then (especially ECW... c'mon, one of their constant championship contenders was a middle-aged pudgy white guy who drank beer and waved his dick at the crowd and had even few moves in his arsenal than Cena), and on his own has the microphone skills. He would've been given a better gimmick that fit the times and the audience would've adored him.</p><p> </p><p> Sorry folks, I just get a tad sick of the smarkiness towards Cena. It's reached a point that, if Cena were to debut next week with the greatest gimmick the world has ever seen, a lot of people would still be chanting "Cena sucks" because it's become so ingrained that it's what the "cool kids" do.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Rone Rivendale" data-cite="Rone Rivendale" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I am a big Christian fan and I didn't even think he would win the 3 way. Orton is head and shoulders the 'man' on Smackdown and #3 overall behind Punk and Cena (in that order)</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I didn't think he'd win either... didn't stop me from marking the **** out for him during the match. And I was absolutely ecstatic when he actually pulled out the win.</p><p> </p><p> The only time I was more surprised AND happy with the outcome of a match I was in attendance for, was when Wade Barrett pulled the clean victory over Randy Orton (I lost my friggin' mind, and the taste of the tears of the kids sitting around me who didn't seem to appreciate my booing of Orton and cheering of Barrett were soooooo sweet). Huh, both those moments came from Randy Orton losing to someone I find infinitely more interesting.</p>

<p>Alrighty, so I attended Smackdown! in Houston last night. It was, all things considered, a very entertaining show.</p><p> </p><p> My thoughts (and some results) on it, as it's my first exposure to the WWE since May (I've been out of town for most of the summer): <strong><span style="font-size:18px;">(SPOILERS IN WHITE TEXT BELOW THIS!)</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:18px;"> SERIOUSLY, SPOILS</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FFFFFF;">1. Main Event taping match of R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett was amazing, as I have come to expect from Barrett. Sadly, I see R-Truth has reverted to his "WHATS UP?!" rapper gimmick, and it's just as awful as I remember. He can't rap, it's annoying, and it made me feel all the better when Barrett finally caught him with the Bullhammer.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 2. RVD!!! RVD!!! RVD!!! I have to say, I didn't expect to come back home and discover, of all people, Rob Van Dam had resurfaced in the WWE... and I'm glad he did. He looked just as fluid and athletic as ever in the ring.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 3. So, Christian... he's totally going to retire within the year, isn't he? This whole "one more match" thing, it definetly smells of him trying to go out with one, last high note. Which he absolutely deserves, he's one of the best the business has ever seen and he's never really been given quite the recognition he deserves... which leads me to number four. </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 4. Tonight's Smackdown! main event (well, the one you folks who didn't attend live will see as the main event) was a triple threat to determine Alberto Del Rio's opponent at Summerslam, after Alberto tried to originally nominate first Ricardo, and then the Brooklyn Brawler, as his opponents. The competitors? RVD, Randy Orton, and... Christian. To say the match did not dissappoint is an understatement: RVD was, as mentioned earlier, absolutely brilliant in the ring, just as he was when I last saw him some years ago. Christian managed to continually keep the crowd involved and showed the rock solid psychology he's always had throughout, and Randy... well, Randy still sucks, but I think he most certainly has what TEW would call "great chemistry" with Rob Van Dam. Won't spoil it, but there's a couple of moments in-ring between them that even I, Randy Orton's biggest hater, admit were absolutely beautiful in-ring work. But...</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 5. At the end of they, we WILL have "One more match," as Christian delighted my heart by pinning Orton! That's right folks, Summerslam will feature Christian challenging Del Rio for the title! Have to say, I was shocked. Don't get me wrong, I was pulling for him being the hardcore Christian mark I am, but I was surprised to see him walk out the contender. All I can figure, Orton has a free shot already, and RVD just showed back up, so they went with the guy who looks like he may be having his one, last hurrah in the business.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 6. Following the match, Del Rio attacked Christian, acted like a general tool, and Ziggler came out and we had a nice match between them just for us ticket paying types.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 7. The Usos kinda suck. They beat the marginally better Prime Time Players (only because I think Titus might have a very bright future), but they just seem so "bleh" in every regard.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 8. WTF Del Rio, your new music </span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><em>sucks.</em></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> It's like they turned him heel, and promptly remixed his theme to make it sound more face-like. Not to mention, his old theme is the one he had when he debuted </span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><em>as a heel.</em></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> I miss it, and it might've been Del Rio's biggest selling point.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 9. Antonio Cesaro? A Real American? Well, no reason to hold back on the crazy with that gimmick, is there?</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> 10. At ten, but actually part of the very first segment of the night, the dark match (which I hope makes it onto TV despite clearly being intented as a dark match). I haven't seen any WWE since May, so these guys were wholly new to me...</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> The Wyatt Family.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> Easily the most haunting entrance in recent memory, bringing back memories of the likes of the Undertaker and the Brood. Remember when the WWE took some hapless jobber named Skip Sheffield who had, basically, no character, and repackaged him as the ravenous monster "Ryback", in turn turning him into a star?</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> I think, one day, we very well could remember that once upon a time there was a jobber named Husky Harris, who was an awful, gimmickless nobody, and was repackaged as the successful Bray Wyatt.</span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p><p><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></p>

Aye, couldn't give two shits that they cut Jeyne Westerling and replaced her with someone else. Jeyne literally does nothing of interest in the books. NONE. She's just the girl who marries Robb, nothing more, nothing less. Her backstory and all that is completely irrelevant to the story, and Robb instead marrying some random chick from Volantis serves the same purpose. And I liked the Podrick n' whores scene. We needed a little raunchy humor in an episode that had a graphic hand-removal and TWO near rapes. And, in the show's defense, it's the book that has Dany giving very graphic details in her POV about Khal Drogo "thrusting into her" and the "warmth of his seed running down her thigh"... and at some point the flavor of said seed.

Because knowledge is power!

1. Vikings is awesome. 2. I LOVED Walking Dead season three... except for the finale. The finale was completely underwhelming and poorly executed. And it's a shame, because until then it was rivaling the first season as the best so far of the series. But hey, Game of Thrones is back.

mmmmmmmmmm, smores....

And that people everywhere continue to not give a crap about Brad Maddox?

I don't think you need face vs. heel for the streak at this point. Face vs. face with the streak on the line is enough.

I'm saying it now, before it's too late, the next WM needs to have... The Rock vs. Undertaker Taker is this close to complete retirement, and it's a matter of time until The Rock is happier staying in Hollywood full time again. While they're both still involved with the WWE, they need to start getting them ready for it next year. It may not be the most technically brilliant match, but my gods, imagine the heat. Can "The Great One" also become "The First One"? The fact they didn't do it this year worries me it may never happen, but obviously Cena/Rock was the longterm plan, and I'm sure Punk enjoyed the honor of being the next of Taker's victims.