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| Allysin Kay, part of SHINE's nWo? Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
It's Twitter Request Line time, everyone! I take to Twitter to get questions about issues in wrestling, past and present, and answer them on here because 140 characters can't restrain me, fool! If you don't know already, follow me @tholzerman, especially around Friday night after Smackdown, and wait for the call. Or don't wait for it actually. I'll try to get everything for this feature no matter when in the week you shoot me the Tweet. Anyway, here we go.
First up, @Shane184 asks my thoughts about Valkyrie and their impact on SHINE Wrestling.
I don't know much about their goal in SHINE, mainly because I've followed the promotion only through recaps and tweets. I still have to watch a show of theirs, and I'm gonna try to get in SHINE 1 with Sara del Rey vs. Jazz before I start doing the whole matches of the year countdown that I do in mid-March/early-April (100 matches!).
However, I have to major thoughts about this. One is that the lineup (Rain Maxson, April Hunter, Allysin Kay, Ivelisse Velez, Taylor Made) is impressive. Two, and more importantly, is that I'm pretty burnt out on takeover angles. Now, I'm not sure if this is an invasion or just a stable in the traditional sense, because again, I didn't see SHINE 6. However, with Mercedes Martinez in the Sting is-she/isn't-she role, it feels very nWo-ish. We'll see what their basic mission statement is, but for now, I'm cautiously optimistic.
@LanceGarrison is up next, wanting to know improbable it was that The Big Show became such a savvy wrestler given how he was thrust into the business.
Well, the improbable part to me wasn't that he became such a savvy wrestler, but that he lasted as long as he did. You thrust a guy who's green as shit into the ego-driven shitstorm that was WCW, and it was a miracle he didn't get tired of the bullshit and quit within three years. Then, when he jumped to WWE and was sent down to developmental because he was too fat, it was surprising he didn't quit to do movies or even try basketball. But he stuck with it, which showed to me that his heart definitely was into wrestling. When your heart is into a career, I think that the natural urge is to try and become as good at it as you can. I'd argue Big Show, at least from an in-ring standpoint, is the best giant of all-time (which of course isn't really that hard a mantel to claim).
Dirty Dirty Sheets site photographer Gregory Davis asks why I think Pro Wrestling Syndicate is so thin-skinned.
There are two ways to operate business. One is to be customer-friendly, listen to your consumers, take into account their criticisms, decide which ones are valid or not, and work with them to provide a product they can enjoy as much as you are proud of putting it out. The other way is to act like your shit doesn't stink and treat all criticisms like the person being critical just slandered your mother. PWS acts like the latter, but why? Well, I can't pretend to say that I know what the guys behind their social media are like mentally, but they do draw well. So man, if they make a lot of money, then they must be good, right? So you don't think they're good, then you have to be out of touch, right?
Again, I don't know whether that's what they think. I'm not a psychic. However, what I do know is that it's the wrong way to conduct business. Even if the customer isn't always right, you should always act courteous to them. Because when the current crowd of people have something better to do than watch Justin Credible wrestle Alex Reynolds, then the ones who might replace them aren't going to come around because you were an asshole to them, to their friends, or to the guy who writes the highly-influential wrestling analysis site.
The magnificent LOBSTER MOBSTER, @LegKickTKO, wants to know my favorite submissions by body part - head, arms, leg, and core.
HEAD - Crossface Chicken Wing. There is no debate here. It's probably my favorite submission hold ever.
ARMS - Cattle Mutilation. I know it doesn't look all that painful, but there's such a degree of skill to apply it that I appreciate the heck out of it.
LEGS - Texas Cloverleaf. Especially a high and tight one like Davey Richards applies it. That's like one of maybe two or three things I like about Richards, but yeah, he does it well enough.
CORE - THE STOMACH CLAW! DON'T DENY IT. YOU LOVE IT TOO. WHY AM I TYPING IN ALL CAPS?
@sallen_87 goes all hockey all over our asses and asks how realistically the Flyers can do in a shortened season.
On paper, this team's ceiling is 3rd in the Atlantic Division and probably 5th in the Eastern Conference, especially over an 82 game season. In 48 though? There's always some smaller sample size wiggle room. The problem is, will the Flyers benefit from it, or will they be surpassed by the Devils or Islanders? My guess is the former, mainly because the team is heavy on offense and light on defense. In a shorter season, there's less of a grind on the blue line, and red hot scorers can have more of an impact.
That being said, I think third place in the Atlantic, the consensus sixth in the East and a possible shot to steal a first round playoff series if they draw, say, Carolina or Washington, is about right.
Next up, @FriskeyVsWorld is looking for Twitter tips and who the best under the radar person to follow is.
First off, I'd say my colleagues here at The Wrestling Blog, Danielle Matheson and Butch Rosser, need your follows, because they're awesome writers and Twitter personalities. FOLLOW THEM. NOW. NOW. Yeah, Butch isn't exactly under the radar, but judging by her follower count, Danielle is. She should have all the followers, and you people, YES YOU PEOPLE, aren't? DO IT NOW.
Anyway, the other answer to this question is @ChopBasket, which is an account that tweets hypothetical ingredient baskets for the show Chopped on Food Network. It's really funny and only has like 500 followers. Follow it and be prepared to laugh heartily.
@DaveMuscarella wants to know with whom I'd want to be stranded in an elevator for eight hours.
Probably Rachel Summerlyn, if only because we've already conversed and it wouldn't get awkward for eight hours. Is that cheating? I feel like that's cheating. Well, it's my blog, I can do what I want.
@OkoriWadsworth asks who my favorite heavyweight and light heavyweight wrestlers of all-time are.
Heavyweight is Steve Austin, and light heavyweight is Daniel Bryan Danielson. Easy enough.
@GayWrestlingFan asks my thoughts on National Pro Wrestling Day, citing that @Wrestling_Truth isn't so hot on it.
Well, to be fair, even though I respect the MYSTERIOUS FORCES behind Wrestling Truth, I don't agree with them about this. I am very much looking forward to National Pro Wrestling Day, because I feel like it's a long time coming, especially on the non-corporate level. Music has Bonaroo and Coachella, movies have Sundance and Tribeca. Why not have a day where wrestling is celebrated, especially on the more artistic level?
It's not like we're just getting matches on the star caliber of Josh Alexander vs. Ethan Page (Star caliber being the key phrase here, because whoever said card position equaled quality?). Mike Quackenbush vs. Colt Cabana could headline any card in America. Briscoes vs. SCUM? That Chikara atomico? 2 Cold Scorpio and ACH in Rey de Voladores? We're getting a good variety of action from several different companies. It'll be a great event. I'm stoked, and I'm glad that it's in my hometown.
@BrandunKyla wants to know how solid a chance Adam Cole, the Briscoes, and Sami Callihan have, and who else I think is on WWE's radar.
Well, after a helpful hint from someone in the know, I've found out that this camp isn't an invitation tryout camp, but one where the people participating pay money to try out. So yeah, that puts the situation in a whole new light, doesn't it? I'm not sure they all have such a great chance to make it, but then again, you never know.
As for who else is on WWE's radar, or at least should be, I think even though he's still not back from his knee injury, Uhaa Nation is definitely. He's a HOSS who can do flips, and you know WWE is always in the market for athletic big men. I also have to think that Ricochet is being watched for prospective employment too. Who knows if Evan Bourne will ever be back, and Tyson Kidd is on the shelf, so they could use a high flyer or two. Ricochet has the tools to be exciting and an effective bad guy for them for years to come.
Finally, @robot_hammer ponders the loss of WWE's women and asks about which wrestlers from NXT or the indies I'd like to see replace them.
Well, in a perfect world, no one would replace Eve Torres or Kelly Kelly or Beth Phoenix, because in a perfect world, all of them, and everyone else they hired, would leave the company out of protest for the shitty way they treat their women on camera (and maybe off camera as well). Actually no, in a perfect world, the women would be treated as well as the men, right? Yeah, that.
I personally don't wanna see women get swallowed up and spat out by WWE, but let's assume that there's a slight sea change in how the fairer sex is treated in WWE. Paige and Sara del Rey are two no-brainers. I've heard Emma is good too, but I've never seen her in action. As for the indies, I kinda hope that Awesome/Amazing Kong/Kharma is just working herself back into ring shape to be re-signed by WWE, because she could have been something special there. Other than that, I'd say activate Nattie Neidhart from valet to, y'know, actual real live wrestler, let Naomi and Cameron do more than escort the Funkasaurus, let Layla wrestle, and then bam, with all those women in action, you have a fleshed out division.
First up, @Shane184 asks my thoughts about Valkyrie and their impact on SHINE Wrestling.
I don't know much about their goal in SHINE, mainly because I've followed the promotion only through recaps and tweets. I still have to watch a show of theirs, and I'm gonna try to get in SHINE 1 with Sara del Rey vs. Jazz before I start doing the whole matches of the year countdown that I do in mid-March/early-April (100 matches!).
However, I have to major thoughts about this. One is that the lineup (Rain Maxson, April Hunter, Allysin Kay, Ivelisse Velez, Taylor Made) is impressive. Two, and more importantly, is that I'm pretty burnt out on takeover angles. Now, I'm not sure if this is an invasion or just a stable in the traditional sense, because again, I didn't see SHINE 6. However, with Mercedes Martinez in the Sting is-she/isn't-she role, it feels very nWo-ish. We'll see what their basic mission statement is, but for now, I'm cautiously optimistic.
@LanceGarrison is up next, wanting to know improbable it was that The Big Show became such a savvy wrestler given how he was thrust into the business.
Well, the improbable part to me wasn't that he became such a savvy wrestler, but that he lasted as long as he did. You thrust a guy who's green as shit into the ego-driven shitstorm that was WCW, and it was a miracle he didn't get tired of the bullshit and quit within three years. Then, when he jumped to WWE and was sent down to developmental because he was too fat, it was surprising he didn't quit to do movies or even try basketball. But he stuck with it, which showed to me that his heart definitely was into wrestling. When your heart is into a career, I think that the natural urge is to try and become as good at it as you can. I'd argue Big Show, at least from an in-ring standpoint, is the best giant of all-time (which of course isn't really that hard a mantel to claim).
Dirty Dirty Sheets site photographer Gregory Davis asks why I think Pro Wrestling Syndicate is so thin-skinned.
There are two ways to operate business. One is to be customer-friendly, listen to your consumers, take into account their criticisms, decide which ones are valid or not, and work with them to provide a product they can enjoy as much as you are proud of putting it out. The other way is to act like your shit doesn't stink and treat all criticisms like the person being critical just slandered your mother. PWS acts like the latter, but why? Well, I can't pretend to say that I know what the guys behind their social media are like mentally, but they do draw well. So man, if they make a lot of money, then they must be good, right? So you don't think they're good, then you have to be out of touch, right?
Again, I don't know whether that's what they think. I'm not a psychic. However, what I do know is that it's the wrong way to conduct business. Even if the customer isn't always right, you should always act courteous to them. Because when the current crowd of people have something better to do than watch Justin Credible wrestle Alex Reynolds, then the ones who might replace them aren't going to come around because you were an asshole to them, to their friends, or to the guy who writes the highly-influential wrestling analysis site.
The magnificent LOBSTER MOBSTER, @LegKickTKO, wants to know my favorite submissions by body part - head, arms, leg, and core.
HEAD - Crossface Chicken Wing. There is no debate here. It's probably my favorite submission hold ever.
ARMS - Cattle Mutilation. I know it doesn't look all that painful, but there's such a degree of skill to apply it that I appreciate the heck out of it.
LEGS - Texas Cloverleaf. Especially a high and tight one like Davey Richards applies it. That's like one of maybe two or three things I like about Richards, but yeah, he does it well enough.
CORE - THE STOMACH CLAW! DON'T DENY IT. YOU LOVE IT TOO. WHY AM I TYPING IN ALL CAPS?
@sallen_87 goes all hockey all over our asses and asks how realistically the Flyers can do in a shortened season.
On paper, this team's ceiling is 3rd in the Atlantic Division and probably 5th in the Eastern Conference, especially over an 82 game season. In 48 though? There's always some smaller sample size wiggle room. The problem is, will the Flyers benefit from it, or will they be surpassed by the Devils or Islanders? My guess is the former, mainly because the team is heavy on offense and light on defense. In a shorter season, there's less of a grind on the blue line, and red hot scorers can have more of an impact.
That being said, I think third place in the Atlantic, the consensus sixth in the East and a possible shot to steal a first round playoff series if they draw, say, Carolina or Washington, is about right.
Next up, @FriskeyVsWorld is looking for Twitter tips and who the best under the radar person to follow is.
First off, I'd say my colleagues here at The Wrestling Blog, Danielle Matheson and Butch Rosser, need your follows, because they're awesome writers and Twitter personalities. FOLLOW THEM. NOW. NOW. Yeah, Butch isn't exactly under the radar, but judging by her follower count, Danielle is. She should have all the followers, and you people, YES YOU PEOPLE, aren't? DO IT NOW.
Anyway, the other answer to this question is @ChopBasket, which is an account that tweets hypothetical ingredient baskets for the show Chopped on Food Network. It's really funny and only has like 500 followers. Follow it and be prepared to laugh heartily.
@DaveMuscarella wants to know with whom I'd want to be stranded in an elevator for eight hours.
Probably Rachel Summerlyn, if only because we've already conversed and it wouldn't get awkward for eight hours. Is that cheating? I feel like that's cheating. Well, it's my blog, I can do what I want.
@OkoriWadsworth asks who my favorite heavyweight and light heavyweight wrestlers of all-time are.
Heavyweight is Steve Austin, and light heavyweight is Daniel Bryan Danielson. Easy enough.
@GayWrestlingFan asks my thoughts on National Pro Wrestling Day, citing that @Wrestling_Truth isn't so hot on it.
Well, to be fair, even though I respect the MYSTERIOUS FORCES behind Wrestling Truth, I don't agree with them about this. I am very much looking forward to National Pro Wrestling Day, because I feel like it's a long time coming, especially on the non-corporate level. Music has Bonaroo and Coachella, movies have Sundance and Tribeca. Why not have a day where wrestling is celebrated, especially on the more artistic level?
It's not like we're just getting matches on the star caliber of Josh Alexander vs. Ethan Page (Star caliber being the key phrase here, because whoever said card position equaled quality?). Mike Quackenbush vs. Colt Cabana could headline any card in America. Briscoes vs. SCUM? That Chikara atomico? 2 Cold Scorpio and ACH in Rey de Voladores? We're getting a good variety of action from several different companies. It'll be a great event. I'm stoked, and I'm glad that it's in my hometown.
@BrandunKyla wants to know how solid a chance Adam Cole, the Briscoes, and Sami Callihan have, and who else I think is on WWE's radar.
Well, after a helpful hint from someone in the know, I've found out that this camp isn't an invitation tryout camp, but one where the people participating pay money to try out. So yeah, that puts the situation in a whole new light, doesn't it? I'm not sure they all have such a great chance to make it, but then again, you never know.
As for who else is on WWE's radar, or at least should be, I think even though he's still not back from his knee injury, Uhaa Nation is definitely. He's a HOSS who can do flips, and you know WWE is always in the market for athletic big men. I also have to think that Ricochet is being watched for prospective employment too. Who knows if Evan Bourne will ever be back, and Tyson Kidd is on the shelf, so they could use a high flyer or two. Ricochet has the tools to be exciting and an effective bad guy for them for years to come.
Finally, @robot_hammer ponders the loss of WWE's women and asks about which wrestlers from NXT or the indies I'd like to see replace them.
Well, in a perfect world, no one would replace Eve Torres or Kelly Kelly or Beth Phoenix, because in a perfect world, all of them, and everyone else they hired, would leave the company out of protest for the shitty way they treat their women on camera (and maybe off camera as well). Actually no, in a perfect world, the women would be treated as well as the men, right? Yeah, that.
I personally don't wanna see women get swallowed up and spat out by WWE, but let's assume that there's a slight sea change in how the fairer sex is treated in WWE. Paige and Sara del Rey are two no-brainers. I've heard Emma is good too, but I've never seen her in action. As for the indies, I kinda hope that Awesome/Amazing Kong/Kharma is just working herself back into ring shape to be re-signed by WWE, because she could have been something special there. Other than that, I'd say activate Nattie Neidhart from valet to, y'know, actual real live wrestler, let Naomi and Cameron do more than escort the Funkasaurus, let Layla wrestle, and then bam, with all those women in action, you have a fleshed out division.
