The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania 31 [NSFW]

[Slimgrady]

The Harlem(Heat) Shake...

[KK]

At one point, the championship was meant to feature a massive, three-dimensional eagle grasping onto the central WWE logo with its talons.

Sounds fantastic.

[Skippy]

The Harlem(Heat) Shake...

Mark Henry's hand child!

[KK]

Tony Chimel dressed as Fred Flintstone. Classic.

[Slimgrady]

A fan made one but the break down got me in this one lol

[Codename 47]

Apparently other potential designs for the new WWE title will be appearing on WWE.com in the coming weeks. Can't wait to see the rejected ones.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see what sort of designs got rejected - if any of them were kinda like the old school more simplistic belt designs for example.

But yeah, i love Barrett but his segment/promo or whatever that was just felt plain awful I can see why you think there could be a Ryback/Sheamus feud on the horizon though. If they keep getting beat by the Shield it won't be long before they start blaming each other.

[KK]

Resident nut job Alex Jones - no, not the one from the One Show - has got an article on his website about WWE and their latest Zeb Colter/Jack Swagger gimmick:

WWE Creates Racist Wrestler to Demonize Tea Party

World Wrestling Entertainment has jumped on the bandwagon of demonizing Tea Party Americans as racists by creating a xenophobic character who espouses anti-immigrant rhetoric, as WWE commentators quip that he receives “fan mail” from Alex Jones, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

Jack Swagger and his manager Zeb Colter appeared on Monday Night Raw last night and were booed by the audience as they talked about the constitution, the bill of rights and illegal immigration while standing in front of a ‘don’t tread on me’ flag.

The WWE is playing the race card for the purpose of a gimmick as Swagger prepares to fight Mexican wrestler Alberto Del Rio for the world heavyweight title at Wrestlemania.

During Swagger’s match, commentators Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler joked that Swagger and Colter had received “fan mail” from conservative radio talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Alex Jones.

Twitter users reacted with outrage, slamming the WWE for “crapping all over the Tea Party” by “promoting a Racist, immigrant hating Tea Party character vs a Mexican wrestler.”

“What the strawberry float are you doing with this Zeb Colter guy? A heel with a Tea Party stereotype angle? Do you still want my money?” asked Mark Scudder.

This is part of the divide and conquer tactic of cultural subversion to manufacture racial division and to characterize the Tea Party, conservatives, libertarians, opponents of uncontrolled illegal immigration and constitutionalists as racist, extremist radicals who should be pushed to the fringes of the political discourse.

Now the demonization runs so deep that it’s even being bolstered by WWE wrestling.

The fact that WWE is owned by Vince and Linda McMahon, who are part of the Republican establishment, also tells us a lot about how grass roots conservatives and libertarians are viewed by those near the top of the power structure.

Why are we getting so wound up about a wrestling gimmick? WWE programming reaches 14 million Americans every week – and millions more worldwide. To put it in context – that’s more than 10 times the amount of viewers who watch America’s top rated news show, The O’Reilly Factor.

This follows the relentless campaign on behalf of the federal government, via the MIAC report, via the Department of Homeland Security and others to portray Americans who oppose big government as domestic extremists and even terrorists.

http://www.infowars.com/wwe-creates-rac ... /#comments

Like how they've bought into the bogus statistic that WWE is watched by 14 million Americans every week. It isn't, obviously.

[captain red dog]

Even more incredible is that they consider The O'Reilly Factor a "news show"!

[Johnny Ryall]

There's a TNA one too. Although it goes down the obvious route.

[Dig Dug]

JB

[KK]

WWE SmackDown Tapings

Alberto Del Rio kicked off the show and said it's time for WrestleMania. He addressed Jack Swagger's State of the Union address and said this county was built by hard working immigrants. He said America is great and Swagger is nothing but a Real Jackass. Del Rio called Swagger out. Randy Orton's music hit and the place absolutely popped. Orton went to talk in the ring and a Randy chants start. Orton said Swagger robbed him of his shot and he wants to take out his anger on Swagger tonight. Orton asked Del Rio to step aside for tonight. Booker T came out and said his plan tonight is Champion vs Champion - Del Rio vs. Wade Barrett. Booker granted Orton's wish by booking him in a match against Swagger.

Sheamus was shown backstage.

Match 1: Sheamus beat Damien Sandow. Sheamus won with the Brogue Kick.

The announcement for WrestleMania 30 being held in New Orleans was shown.

Match 2: Kaitlyn and Layla beat Tamina and Aksana. Kaitly won with a hard spear on Tamina.

Match 3: Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) beat Randy Orton. Swagger has gotten rid of all the red white and blue in his entrance. In the end, Zeb distracted Orton, who was punched by Swagger. Swagger rolled up Orton for the win.

Match 4: The Miz defeated Cody Rhodes with the Figure Four.

Main Event: Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez) beat Wade Barrett by submission tap to the Cross Arm Breaker. Following the ring entrances, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter came out and stood on the ramp to watch. Del Rio stood in the ring jawing to Swagger with the WrestleMania logo in the back.

[Mafro]

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[JChalmers]

We The People!

Think Swagger and Zeb are my new favourite people to watch each week, would love a small 'army' to come join Swagger, the likes of Brodie Lee and that from FCW. Would fit in with the Southern roots and views style...

[Chocolate Jim]

I was digging Swagger before he was cool

[KK]

WWE have responded to criticisms of Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter:

WWE has a long history of creating fictional characters that serve as either protagonists or antagonists, no different than other television shows or feature films. To create compelling and relevant content for our audience, it is important to incorporate current events into our storylines. WWE is creating drama centered on a topical subject that has varying points of view to develop a rivalry between two characters. This storyline in no way represents WWE's political point of view. One should not confuse WWE's storytelling with what WWE stands for, similar to other entertainment companies such as Warner Bros., Universal Studios or Viacom.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/w ... tea-422461

[KK]

Where the WWE presumably got the idea from for the Zeb Colter/Jack Swagger gimmick. This aired at the end of January on ABC:



New WWE Hall of Fame logo:



Replacing:

[Cosmo]

If only that gimmick hadn't been done before. He can't complain about it.

Also LOL Alvarez having his book sat in a prominent position behind him.

[Johnny Ryall]

It's pro wrestling. Leave logic and reality at the front door.

[Dig Dug]

Say what you want about things like OMG and top 50 finishers but William Regal is always brilliant in them.

[Johnny Ryall]

Matt Striker too.