Slick
Creepy Little Bastard 
Posts 59
Registered 1-16-2013 Member Is OnlineMood: jobberish
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 02:36 PM |
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Hadn't watched TNA in I don't know how many years.
Yet those promos from a few weeks back when Brother Nero came to Broken Matt's house, complete with the baby being thrown pulled me into this
angle.
I made it a point to set the DVR and watch the Final Deletion last night, and boy was it a spectacle. I plan on watching the director's cut
later!
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Quentil
Showstopper
Posts 567
Registered 5-13-2003 Location Saratoga Springs, NY Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 04:30 PM |
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Holy fuck, the Final Deletion was amazing.
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CCharger
The Rowdy One 
Posts 2839
Registered 7-21-2010 Member Is Offline Mood: Obtuse
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 05:05 PM |
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For all it's bizarre "so bad it's good" weirdness, that melodramatic monstrosity might actually be what puts TNA back on the map.
Holy. Shit.
When it Reigns, it bores.
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GodEatGod
Showstopper 
Posts 974
Registered 1-14-2004 Location Monroe, LA Member Is Offline Mood: Weird
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 06:55 PM |
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I have to admit, for as much as I've ragged on Matt Hardy, he seems to have found something here. I'm not sure if it's exactly GOOD,
but it's certainly entertaining. It's just so over the top and theatrical and outright silly, but shamelessly so in a way that makes it
fun.
And, whatever the result, kudos to TNA for giving their talent the ball and letting them run with it. For as much as we complain about WWE handcuffing
people and scripting their every action, they pretty clearly just gave Matt and Jeff cameras and a budget and said "Go make something" and they
certainly did. And it's paying off with the most attention TNA's probably gotten in years.
Given the financial state of the company, it's probably too little, too late, but man...what a way to go.
"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like
Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist." - Tina Fey
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salmonjunkie
Best There Is Was or Ever Will Be 
Posts 11456
Registered 6-25-2002 Location Sunny Seattle, WA Member Is Offline Mood: Authoritized
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 08:01 PM |
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Wow. That was like nothing else I've seen in wrestling. It was ridiculous and cheesy and silly as all hell but you're all correct - it
was highly entertaining. The Hardy Boys are some crazy dumbshit dudes, but they are pretty damn creative. Kevin Sullivan wish he thought of that.
Hey, is that the first time Matt Hardy has pinned Jeff on TV?
I can't wait for three months from now when they reconcile and become a tag team again!
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Il Palazzo
Fella
Posts 258
Registered 2-25-2006 Location Cheddar Bay, NC Member Is Offline Mood: Stepladder
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 08:26 PM |
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If TNA was like this 100% of the time, I'd probably be watching every week.
Also, groundskeeper guy with a taser was hilarious. And then the "Senior Benjamin... NOOOOOOOOO" moment. And Matt's accent every so often
wandering between Fake Jamaican territory and third-rate Blanche DuBois. And vanguard being misspelled as "vangaurd." And everything else, really.
You did it, Nibbles. Now chew through my ball sack.
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Paddlefoot
Rocco Rock of Jabroni
Posts 6033
Registered 1-19-2008 Location huhhhhhh Member Is Offline Mood: Finally Deleted
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 08:48 PM |
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Willow rising out of the dark water going "teeheeheeheehee" was actually kind of creepy. So was Reby with her over-inflated lips that make her look
like some kind of water lamprey.
And the citronella candles. Don't forget the citronella candles. 
You know, everyone says it's not supposed to make sense, like that's the whole point, dude. And I'm just saying, you know,
that's like an excuse for lazy storytelling. Just don't sell me shite and tell me it's gold, all right? I might be stoned, but
I'm not high. You know what I mean?
- Cassidy from Preacher, commenting on The Big Lebowski and/or professional wrestling
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Count Zero
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1341
Registered 1-29-2013 Location Canada East Member Is Offline Mood: Canadian Iddi-it
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 09:12 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
For all it's bizarre "so bad it's good" weirdness, that melodramatic monstrosity might actually be what puts TNA back on the map.
Holy. Shit.
Matt's hispanic "man-servant" or whatever the... That whole thing was like Mystery Science Theatre 3K levels of insane
and glorious and.... 
POAH THE GASOLINE ON THE BATTLEFIELD!!!!
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CCharger
The Rowdy One
Posts 2839
Registered 7-21-2010 Member Is Offline Mood: Obtuse
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 09:23 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by GodEatGod
For as much as we complain about WWE handcuffing people and scripting their every action, they pretty clearly just gave Matt and Jeff cameras and a
budget and said "Go make something" and they certainly did. And it's paying off with the most attention TNA's probably gotten in
years.
This is a really great point.
WWE has been criticized by the likes of Batista, Stone Cold, and CM Punk for the stifling of creativity and the micromanagement of performances, along
with the fans.
TNA appears to have gone the completely opposite route. They have zero fucks left to give apparently.
This juxtaposition of company philosophies is interesting, and I am intrigued if it pays off for TNA.
It's as if a Spanish telenovela fucked the climactic fight scene in Road House and had a baby.
[Edited on 7-6-2016 by CCharger]
When it Reigns, it bores.
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Count Zero
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1341
Registered 1-29-2013 Location Canada East Member Is Offline Mood: Canadian Iddi-it
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 09:32 PM |
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Y'know, the whole Zero Fucks theory is a good one. The "Maria-cle" Mike Bennett, for example. I don't know who told Maria that
she's Sensational Sherri, but she really isn't.  While I wasn't entirely a huge fan of the WWE's Vapid Goofball Maria,
I don't think Powermad Superdiva is a great route either. But if they came up with it themselves, and are determined to try to put it over..
Well, that might be why we're still seeing a Dixie vs Maria angle that nobody really needs or wants?
Originally posted by williamssl
"That hasn't stopped us from doing this shit before!"
"Checkmate, sir. Checkmate"
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gobbledygooker
Sister Act 2
Posts 9098
Registered 12-17-2002 Location Charlotte, NC Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 09:37 PM |
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I haven't watched the Final Deletion yet but the fact that it's getting so much praise here of all places has me wet with
excitement.
Now if only we could do something about Lashley and his stupid headband not only still being in the promotion but also holding the world title
we'd really be onto something.
[Edited on 7-6-2016 by gobbledygooker]
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janerd75
The Rowdy One 
Posts 2758
Registered 1-28-2013 Location Mr. Terwilliger's Heavenly Geech Kennel Member Is OnlineMood: Brother Nerdo
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 09:39 PM |
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The science is settled: Fuck Everybody
Then Jean-Paul climbs into the ring and bleeds right through the tampon. - merc
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CCharger
The Rowdy One
Posts 2839
Registered 7-21-2010 Member Is Offline Mood: Obtuse
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 10:06 PM |
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That second gif has me giggling at my desk, fully aware of the concerned stares of my co-workers.
When it Reigns, it bores.
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Count Zero
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1341
Registered 1-29-2013 Location Canada East Member Is Offline Mood: Canadian Iddi-it
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 10:21 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
Is he operating a lawn tractor whilst stoned? (I think Broken Matt Hardy would approve of my use of
"whilst".)
Originally posted by williamssl
"That hasn't stopped us from doing this shit before!"
"Checkmate, sir. Checkmate"
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nOOb
The Man 
Posts 6725
Registered 5-24-2004 Member Is Offline Mood: Hot Dog!
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 10:43 PM |
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Was that the first time someone ever purposely won a match via death? Whatever that was, it was great. It also made me decide to never go out of my
way (or accidentally even) watch an episode of TNA ever again. I figure that the budget for that probably bankrupted the company for good.
"The Seahawks are cool. Me and Tubby here hung out with them once at a Bruno Mars concert."-Jay and Silent Bob representing the Broncos on FOX NFL
Sunday.
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Paddlefoot
Rocco Rock of Jabroni
Posts 6033
Registered 1-19-2008 Location huhhhhhh Member Is Offline Mood: Finally Deleted
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 10:55 PM |
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The only way it could have been better, in a throwback to the backyard toy volcano, would have been if they accidentally set the house on fire while
they were shooting fireworks at each other.
You know, everyone says it's not supposed to make sense, like that's the whole point, dude. And I'm just saying, you know,
that's like an excuse for lazy storytelling. Just don't sell me shite and tell me it's gold, all right? I might be stoned, but
I'm not high. You know what I mean?
- Cassidy from Preacher, commenting on The Big Lebowski and/or professional wrestling
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Columbo
Showstopper 
Posts 945
Registered 11-2-2004 Location @columbo527 Member Is Offline Mood: GodDamnWOOO
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 11:03 PM |
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Thank God that match didn't have commentary, between the seizure inducing camera work and all the other weird shit going on I don't think
I could have handled my ears being raped by Josh Mattews and The pope any longer.
"The North Cafeteria, named after Admiral William North, is located in the western portion of East Hall, gateway to the western half of North Hall,
which is named, not after William North, but for its position above the South Wall. It is the most contested and confusing battlefield on Greendale�s
campus, next to the English Memorial Spanish Center, named after English Memorial, a Portuguese sailor that discovered Greendale while looking for a
fountain that cured syphilis."
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salmonjunkie
Best There Is Was or Ever Will Be
Posts 11456
Registered 6-25-2002 Location Sunny Seattle, WA Member Is Offline Mood: Authoritized
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 11:09 PM |
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also, best use of drones in a wrestling match EVAR
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CM Crunk
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1381
Registered 7-20-2011 Location The Magical Land of Magglerock Member Is Offline Mood: Deemon-Kayng
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| posted on 7-6-2016 at 11:19 PM |
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Still trying to process this whole... thing. I'm trying to judge it on it's own campy merit, but I almost feel like all the smarks
tripping over themselves lauding this as some sort of watershed moment in pro-wrestling is putting me in a bad mood. Call me old fashioned, but I
think Austin and Booker T did it better woth their grocery store brawl.
Take away all the idiots on Reddit and Vince Russo circlejerking over this and it's a fun little distraction that has actually garnered some
interest in TNA. Will they be able to capitalize? History has shown that they probably won't. I hope to be proven wrong, but I honestly
don't care when Lucha Underground puts out a superior alternative. Consistently, too.
Twitter and Instagram
Check out my Wrasslin Doodlez Thread
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GodEatGod
Showstopper
Posts 974
Registered 1-14-2004 Location Monroe, LA Member Is Offline Mood: Weird
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| posted on 7-7-2016 at 01:12 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by CM Crunk
Still trying to process this whole... thing. I'm trying to judge it on it's own campy merit, but I almost feel like all the smarks
tripping over themselves lauding this as some sort of watershed moment in pro-wrestling is putting me in a bad mood. Call me old fashioned, but I
think Austin and Booker T did it better woth their grocery store brawl.
Take away all the idiots on Reddit and Vince Russo circlejerking over this and it's a fun little distraction that has actually garnered some
interest in TNA. Will they be able to capitalize? History has shown that they probably won't. I hope to be proven wrong, but I honestly
don't care when Lucha Underground puts out a superior alternative. Consistently, too.
Oh yeah, I don't think anything comes of it long term. But, frankly, it's been so long since TNA did much of anything worth talking about
that it's a feat in and of itself. LU absolutely does similar things much better - but the low production values were actually part of the
pleasure of this. If it was too slick, too good, it would've cost it some if its loony charm.
I mean, for the hologram alone, my god...
Frankly, I haven't had any interest in seeing these two wrestle each other forever - but they've found a way to feud without exactly
wrestling. I mean, there were wrestling moves in that, but was it a good match? Fuck no. But I've also watched it multiple times and, other than
Dean cashing in his briefcase and Shane going off the Cell and Nakamura arriving in NXT, there's not much this year that's done that.
Certainly nothing from TNA.
[Edited on 7-7-2016 by GodEatGod]
"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like
Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist." - Tina Fey
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CamstunPWG187
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1469
Registered 5-2-2010 Location Harbin, China Member Is Offline Mood: Barbeque
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| posted on 7-7-2016 at 01:25 AM |
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I watched the last 20 minutes of impact.
The final Deletion was so interesting that I was just flat-out entertained by the whole ordeal. I enjoyed it! Matt and Jeff certainly are interesting
when given the helms of creativity. Everything was so over-the-top ridiculous that I couldn't stop smiling. Was it good? To quote Oscar from
The Office: "A part of me wants to examine it...but I know it has no content". It's just wildly entertaining fluff from a company that has
gone beyond in terms of trying to stay relevant.
TNA's real problem on impact this week? Bobby Lashley on a microphone cutting long promos and repeatedly using horrid grammar while he speaks.
Edwards and him were having a manageable promo that Eddie wasn't afraid of and Lashley shot the promo in the food twice by using the singular
"career" every time it should have been plural. Really awkward.
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Paddlefoot
Rocco Rock of Jabroni
Posts 6033
Registered 1-19-2008 Location huhhhhhh Member Is Offline Mood: Finally Deleted
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| posted on 7-7-2016 at 05:53 AM |
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It was such stupid fun that I'm going to pretend that the Hardy's did it all on their own and that TNA had nothing to do with it. Good
moments like this are so few and far between these days that over-critiquing them takes all the fun away. When was the last time that WWE did
something this ridiculous and silly outside the ring or not backstage? Back when Edge was feuding with Flair and did a skit of Ric road-raging and
beating up other drivers on the highway?
You know, everyone says it's not supposed to make sense, like that's the whole point, dude. And I'm just saying, you know,
that's like an excuse for lazy storytelling. Just don't sell me shite and tell me it's gold, all right? I might be stoned, but
I'm not high. You know what I mean?
- Cassidy from Preacher, commenting on The Big Lebowski and/or professional wrestling
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anglefan85
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1104
Registered 12-6-2005 Location Long Island, New York Member Is Offline Mood: Relaxed
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| posted on 7-7-2016 at 09:23 PM |
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Starting on July 21, TNA is moving to Thursdays at 8 PM. Glad to see that they actually learned from the last time that they went head-to-head with
the WWE and aren't gonna risk it.
The WWE: Where no one wins, unless you like Cena, in which case you are a sad little fanboy who will never get laid, but we are happy to take your
money away-Moosehead Jack
"She is an estrogen molotov cocktail. It'd be in your best interest not to piss her off."- My thoughts on Firewoman
"Kurt Angle is like a living vortex of the surreal. On the off chance he's not doing, saying or thinking crazy things, people connected to him
act crazy by association, caught in the gravitational pull of his insanity."- Ringout from FAN Forums
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OORick
Intellectual Savior of the Masses 
Posts 3467
Registered 12-27-2001 Location - The Birthplace of Aviation Member Is Offline Mood: Flyered Up
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| posted on 7-10-2016 at 01:50 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by gobbledygooker
I haven't watched the Final Deletion yet but the fact that it's getting so much praise here of all places has me wet with
excitement.
If it's any consolation, *I* won't praise it here. I grant that it was, ummmmmmmmm, unique, but I can't make that same leap to
"Ergo, I was riveted and/or entertained." I guess I did giggle quite a bit, with one genuine guffaw, but as a rule of thumb, when you laugh out loud
at something meant to be taken seriously, it's probably not a sign of quality work. I'm all for some comedy in my wrestling, but this is
not how you do it.
I'm not even sure how "creative" or "original" it was. At its core, this was an Empty Arena Match, variations of which are a long standing
and accepted (if not exactly beloved) part of pro wrestling, and include Boiler Room Brawls and The One Where Dustin and Repo Man Fought in a Semi
Truck. Hell, this coming Monday, WWE appears set to do its own fresh take on the concept, when the New Day visit the Wyatt Compound for a battle of an
unspecified nature. It's basically just a way to tell a story or do set pieces that can't be feasibly executed in front of a live
audience.
But the times this sort of thing works, it's because there's still a vibe that it's "plausibly live" and it's still a real
fight, not a movie set where someone yells action, they do a spot, then stop and set up for the next one.
And that's where the Final Deletion absolutely fails to engage me as a viewer. Because it wasn't a valid variation of the Empty Arena
Match. It was 12 minutes worth of highlights from what was apparently a full 9-10 hour night of filming, because the match started promptly at dusk,
we were told, but the first light of dawn was clearly visible during the final bump. I guess TNA didn't have it in the budget to pay a camera
crew for a 2nd night, to make sure it was -- you know? -- still dark for the final spot. Or the common sense to shoot out of order and get the final
shot whilst dark, and then just record as much of the middle stuff as you can before daylight.
Unless we are to believe that the Hardys transported us to some alternate reality where the very fabric of space and time are warped beyond all
recognition. But if you're willing to take that leap of illogic, you are also required to declare that you think the Dungeon of Doom and the
White Castle of Fear are the greatest pieces of pro wrestling you have ever seen, and you are just waiting for enough hindsight to decide where the
Final Deletion fits into the Top Three.
Which I don't think you are.
That said, I just wrote a 5 paragraph essay about it, so you should probably still go ahead and give it a watch, just to say you did. But I
can't honestly see where it bears repeat viewing, much less something TNA should venture to replicate in the hopes that they've stumbled
onto something with legs. Trust me, if this is what wrestling fans were all craving, Lucha Underground (which has actually good matches, but slathered
in almost as much cheese sauce as the Final Deletion, so as to make the entire show hard to take seriously) would probably have more than 150,000
viewers per week.
Rick
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GodEatGod
Showstopper
Posts 974
Registered 1-14-2004 Location Monroe, LA Member Is Offline Mood: Weird
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| posted on 7-10-2016 at 02:17 AM |
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I think that's a fair assessment - as one of the people who definitely buys what Lucha Underground sells, it's very much like that, albeit
with a more low-rent and almost b-movie feel. Matt Hardy's completely over the top character also made it fun for me. I don't think you
could attribute Lucha Underground's style for its lower number of viewers - I think it simply a) isn't as well known to more casual fans
and b) is on a channel most people barely know exists, even more so than Pop. I think they do pretty well for a federation with no pre-existing
fanbase.
It's the usual sports vs. entertainment split, I guess? It's definitely more on the entertainment side and makes no pretense of being
realistic or sportslike. I'm personally okay with that, but mileage obviously varies.
"It is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don't like something, it is empirically not good. I don't like
Chinese food, but I don't write articles trying to prove it doesn't exist." - Tina Fey
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