It's a new year, plus, we already came close to maxing out the last thread, so let's begin anew....
I don't got much, other than to pass along a bit of idle speculation that has been gaining traction, the more the Rock promises something big for
WrestleMania:
It's doubtful he'll compete, as we already know about the problems he had getting insurance to do so (unless he changed his movie shooting
schedule to make a nice big window, this will always be a problem, after he delayed the production of Hercules when he suffered an injury against
Cena).... but there's a belief out there that he will be in Roman Reigns' corner, and will get physical, when Reigns faces Triple H and a
cornerman TBA. Predictably, Michaels/Hall/Nash would be on the short list for cornermen who'd make things most sizzly; I thought about it, and if
he's halfway healthy, how about Seth Rollins? But I guess I'd be OK with pretty much anything but Vince....
Rick
Michaels makes the most sense in that scenario. He's as big a wrestling legend as The Rock, he's HHH's best friend, and he's from
Texas.
Also, I'd loved see Michaels vs. Rock in a promo battle leading up to Mania.
Nevertheless, Cageside Seats is reporting that WWE doesn't want to wait till Mania to do Reigns/HHH, and they will set that match up for the
Rumble beginning this Monday.
If that's the case, who challenges Sheamus at Rumble? Brock? Cena?
[Edited on 1-4-2016 by CCharger]
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
If that's the case, who challenges Sheamus at Rumble? Brock? Cena?
Jesus Christ. I must have had a stroke. I was thinking Sheamus was sill champ....
Stop living in denial. Roman Reigns is YOUR champion now.
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
Stop living in denial. Roman Reigns is YOUR champion now.
Let's face it, Roman Reigns has been the Schr�dinger's Cat of World Champs for well over a year now.
Devil's Advocating: If they are planning Reigns vs. HHH at the Rumble, would it be a title match with HHH as challenger? Or might it be set up by HHH costing Reigns the title tonight against Sheamus? Perhaps Sheamus would be champ again or maybe the next champ is "Vacant" or "Abeyant". The Rumble could again be used to crown a new champ. and the Reigns vs. HHH match at the Rumble could have the stakes of if Reigns wins he's in the Rumble, but if HHH wins Reigns isn't in the Rumble.
pic.twitter.com/p8WuWdfApQ
— Big
Van Vader (@itsvadertime) January 4, 2016quote:
Originally posted by bigfatgoalie
pic.twitter.com/p8WuWdfApQ
— Big Van Vader (@itsvadertime) January 4, 2016
Vader time in the HOF?
quote:
Originally posted by thestoryofmikeb
quote:
Originally posted by bigfatgoalie
Vader time in the HOF?
It's about time. In my opinion, he's the best big man I've seen. Monster heel, vicious, intimidating as hell, before his horrible wwf run
Merc, correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying that Vader should not be recognized for his stellar pre-WWE career by WWE with an induction into its Hall of Fame. I'm wondering then whether you also hold the opinion that the Four Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, Stu Hart and Antonio Inoki, to name a few, should not be in the Hall of Fame because they either never or barely spent any time in WWE, won no championships, had a regretable run, etc.
If they can find a spot for Verne Gagne then they can find one for Van Vader.
Um...breaking...minds...
Via Cageside Seats via Dave Meltzer:
quote:
Hot on the heels of New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 10, MLW Radio reported on Monday (subscription required to listen) that AJ Styles, along with "two to three" members of top heel faction Bullet Club, have given their notice to the company.
Meanwhile, on Monday's episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE may be planning a small-scale raid of New Japan. According to Meltzer, WWE is going after Styles, current IWGP Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and former three-time IWGP tag team champions Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson.
Meltzer says where the four men are going to go, or when, is still "up in the air" at this time. He said that TNA was interested in Anderson, but WWE may have swooped in and grabbed him instead. Meltzer believes that if Nakamura signs with WWE, he will stay long enough to drop the Intercontinental Championship, so it won't be another situation like Alberto Del Rio signing with the company and not being allowed to drop his AAA Mega Championship.
Nakamura is beaten up and was barely handling NJPW's schedule. They have to be thinking of using him as a special attraction for NXT(sort of
Liger except for every show). No way he'll handle the WWE schedule unless he really tones it down.
If the popular theory is correct(WWE just grabbing Japanese stars to give extra incentive to Japanese subscribers once the Network unveils over there
next month) I wonder why they haven't gone after Muta.
He still wrestles from time to time and is the rare figure that is a big deal in Japan and big enough for the regular fans to quickly latch on to.
Older fans remembering his heyday and easy to introduce to newer fans as a great rival of Sting and Ric Flair.
quote:
Originally posted by Slade
Merc, correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying that Vader should not be recognized for his stellar pre-WWE career by WWE with an induction into its Hall of Fame. I'm wondering then whether you also hold the opinion that the Four Horsemen, Dusty Rhodes, Stu Hart and Antonio Inoki, to name a few, should not be in the Hall of Fame because they either never or barely spent any time in WWE, won no championships, had a regretable run, etc.
quote:
Courtesy of 411Mania
The Wrestling Observer now reports that AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson have all in fact signed with WWE. The site reports that the four stars gave their notice to NJPW booker Gedo this morning at Wrestle Kingdom 10. It isn�t known when they will be starting with WWE but as noted, Nakamaura won�t be leaving right away as he will drop the IWGP Intercontinental Title before he does.
The site notes that Anderson was close to signing with TNA but when the WWE deal came around, he changed direction. New Japan has a one-year contract system which meant that their deals expired as of January.
Nakamura, Anderson and Gallows will honor their committed Ring of Honor dates next month in Las Vegas. AJ Styles is said to be done with ROH moving forward.
Wow. Business sure picked up fast.
This is the last big free agent pickup there may ever be in wrestling. I'm hoping WWE throws AJ on the main roster immediately instead of wasting
a major debut on NXT. Even if they might want to use this to build the NXT brand, it may be a once in a rest of the lifetime surprise to have a major
star appear like used to be possible in the Attitude Era again.
Either way...major get for WWE. Already excited for the eventual Styles-Rollins match in 6-12 months.
quote:
Originally posted by bigfatgoalie
pic.twitter.com/p8WuWdfApQ
— Big Van Vader (@itsvadertime) January 4, 2016
Vader time in the HOF?
quote:
Originally posted by S Kid J E T S 48
This is the last big free agent pickup there may ever be in wrestling. I'm hoping WWE throws AJ on the main roster immediately instead of wasting a major debut on NXT. Even if they might want to use this to build the NXT brand, it may be a once in a rest of the lifetime surprise to have a major star appear like used to be possible in the Attitude Era again.
I can't say I am too excited. The Bullet Club is one of the best gimmicks/stables in all of wrestling right now and putting it into the hands of
WWE Creative makes me cringe.
However, Daniel Bryan vs. Nakamura would give me an erection lasting more than four hours.
ETA: I too am a Vader mark, and I think he is very deserving of the HOF.
[Edited on 1-5-2016 by CCharger]
Would be pretty awesome if they actually did debut Styles in the Rumble. Though I wonder if he'd still have to spend some time in NXT. Maybe they
could use a few spots in the Rumble to debut AJ/Anderson/Gallows and Finn as the Balor Club, but then they'd be on NXT after that.
And hey, almost did stumble into a correct prediction. The WWE title will be decided in the Rumble match itself this year.
Eh, The whole appeal of the Bullet Club was taking the slimmier aspect of Western stables and breathing new life into it by using it over in NJPW
where's it's a lot more rare. The crotch chops, the 4 lyfe signs, that one guy who was constantly throwing catchphrases from the Attitude
Era, the ridiculously large stable. It all worked over there because it was with a whole new context.If they attempted to redo Bullet Club in WWE,
it'd just look nWo-lite. Still excited to see what they do with these guys.
Wonder if their nutty obession for not wanting wrestlers with the same name will strike here and they'll tell AJ to change his name.
I absolutely agree that having the Bullet Club come to WWE without making some alterations to the way it presents itself runs the risk of people
crapping on it for looking like an nWo retread. When I was first exposed to the Bullet Club, I wasn't enthusiastic about it because it reminded
me of the nWo.
I don't think AJ Styles has to worry about changing his name on account of the no-two-wrestlers-may-have-the-same-name rule. AJ Lee is retired,
so there isn't someone actively using his name on WWE television.
AJ Lee being there or not, I would still bet money that his name is changed to just Styles.
Vince or Dunn or whoever made Cesaro drop Antonio because "it doesn't sound like a tough name." Same with Adrian Neville. In their warped
brains, they probably think AJ is now only a girl's name.
[Edited on 1-6-2016 by punkerhardcore]
quote:
Originally posted by Slade
I don't think AJ Styles has to worry about changing his name on account of the no-two-wrestlers-may-have-the-same-name rule. AJ Lee is retired, so there isn't someone actively using his name on WWE television.
"Styles" is a girl's name, too. As in "Eden," the SD ring announcer and Cody's wife. Joey is a distant memory...
The torso tattoo, in addition to being objectively dumb looking, probably doesn't guarantee he gets to keep his name, either. Isn't there a
double meaning, like, one of his kids is named an "A" name, and the other a "J" name? With their birthdates under the giant ugly AJ? Or am I
misremembering that? If I'm close, then it's easy to explain it away.
That said, Styles is just about the only guy in the world right now who I'd argue has more value to WWE with his own name than a
tweaked/re-invented one... far too many people over-estimate the popularity/awareness of the indies and Japan (and even of TNA), but AJ's an
exception because of how long he was a mainstay for TNA back before it tanked, and it had weekly viewership not too far off of what SD averaged in
2015.
Speaking of over-estimating indie/international appeal, I hope no one really thinks that The Bullet Club showing up on RAW would draw a whole lot more
than a tepid pop, because honestly, nobody knows and nobody cares. The narrative here should be more like "WWE may have just signed AJ Styles, who
might come in alone, or might be joined by Luke Gallows and a couple other solid workers who made their name in Japan, where, oh by the way, the WWE
Network just launched yesterday. Ahem."
Rick
Rick, it's 2016. It's time to stop with the idea that no one follows wrestling outside WWE. Anyone who is at all into wrestling and pays
money to go to a show knows who AJ Styles is. And if they have an internet connection and follow wrestling/have friends who might be more into
wrestling then they are, they know about the 3 big names in NJPW with Nakamura, Tanahashi, & Okada. And Bullet Club t-shirts are actually semi-popular
outside wrestling because they've done some cool looking shirts.
Will it get a massive "HOLY SHIT, It's THOSE GUYS" like Hall & Nash got, no...but if they were to do a Bullet Club invasion/NJPW type angle,
I'd say it would get a pretty good reaction and some of that might depend on where they have that episode of Raw. You would't wanna do it in
middle America, but do it in an east coast smark town or Chicago or possibly even LA because of the PWG crowd and it might get a really good
reaction.
My point is people know who AJ Styles is and at worst, they've heard of NJPW and The Bullet Club.
WWE bias here, but I've been watching wrestling since '85. I know Styles only because I've had exposure to him here but that's
it. Never seen a match, and probably couldn't pick him out of a police lineup (unless this newfound knowledge of AJ tattoo factored into it).
Never heard of the stable mentioned. Know Japan exists and good stuff happens and people come from there, but couldn't name anyone If any
of them debuted, I wouldn't know the difference.
Maybe I'm a small minority, but I rather doubt it. Instead, I think there's a large-ish overestimation of what folks are going to get,
initial reaction-wise. Doesn't say that won't change over time with added exposure once there, but out the gate?
[Edited on 1-6-2016 by williamssl]
More big WWE signing news:
* WWE has reportedly signed the Motor City Machine Guns to an NXT deal. They reportedly will be debuting on NXT sooner rather than later.
I just think that there are two segments of fans who won't know while the majority of fans between the ages of I'd say 15 and 40 are going to have at worst a passing knowledge of the bigger wrestling world. I think the youngest generation doesn't have the attention or motivation to look beyond what they can go out and see when it comes to town and then there's the oldest generation of fans that thinks anything beyond what they're used to seeing isn't worth seeking out. I'm not saying this is the case 100% of the time, but it seems like the case more often than not. If people don't know what New Japan is and don't have at least a passing idea what the Bullet Club is, its because to me, they have no interest in looking beyond what they see on Monday night and I don't think that's the case for the largest population of wrestling fans.
AJ Styles... winner will be us.
Dana Brooke nude selfies... winner was not us. Why are all the girls getting dumbass tattoos?
quote:
Posted by punkerhardcore
Vince or Dunn or whoever made Cesaro drop Antonio because "it doesn't sound like a tough name." Same with Adrian Neville. In their warped brains, they probably think AJ is now only a girl's name.
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
I just think that there are two segments of fans who won't know while the majority of fans between the ages of I'd say 15 and 40 are going to have at worst a passing knowledge of the bigger wrestling world. I think the youngest generation doesn't have the attention or motivation to look beyond what they can go out and see when it comes to town and then there's the oldest generation of fans that thinks anything beyond what they're used to seeing isn't worth seeking out. I'm not saying this is the case 100% of the time, but it seems like the case more often than not. If people don't know what New Japan is and don't have at least a passing idea what the Bullet Club is, its because to me, they have no interest in looking beyond what they see on Monday night and I don't think that's the case for the largest population of wrestling fans.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
More big WWE signing news:
* WWE has reportedly signed the Motor City Machine Guns to an NXT deal. They reportedly will be debuting on NXT sooner rather than later.
So you're telling me in the next couple months NXT may have a reformed Bullet Club, the Machine Guns, a returning Hideo Itami & maybe brief
appearances from AJ Styles and Nakamura to go along with the crew they already have.... while Raw counters with stories centered on Roman Reigns & the
McMahons? Vince, creative & all the guys & gals on the main roster better have things tight & ready to go for Wrestlemania Sunday because that NXT
Takeover the Friday night before is shaping up to be an all-timer.
[Edited on 1-6-2016 by The Grindfather]
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
More big WWE signing news:
* WWE has reportedly signed the Motor City Machine Guns to an NXT deal. They reportedly will be debuting on NXT sooner rather than later.
quote:
Originally posted by CM Crunk
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
More big WWE signing news:
* WWE has reportedly signed the Motor City Machine Guns to an NXT deal. They reportedly will be debuting on NXT sooner rather than later.
I really (REALLY) want this to be true, but a cursory glance at a few newz sites isn't showing anything. Care to elaborate further?
My girlfriend is about as average a wrestling fan as you get in 2016. She'll watch network stuff on her own, comes to indie shows if I go,
understands that other promotions exist and can name TNA and New Japan etc but doesn't go out of her way to watch them.
With that in mind: I present the "Hitchers Anonymous Wrestler Test" (or HAWT)
AJ Styles: "The TNA guy? Cool."
Bullet Club: After showing her a picture she obviously identified Gallows
Nakamura: She guessed he was "probably from Japan' but that was about it.
Using the HAWT scale we can assume AJ in the rumble will be fine for pop value. The others will need varying degrees of introducing which NXT should
provide.
quote:
Originally posted by OOMike
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
I just think that there are two segments of fans who won't know while the majority of fans between the ages of I'd say 15 and 40 are going to have at worst a passing knowledge of the bigger wrestling world. I think the youngest generation doesn't have the attention or motivation to look beyond what they can go out and see when it comes to town and then there's the oldest generation of fans that thinks anything beyond what they're used to seeing isn't worth seeking out. I'm not saying this is the case 100% of the time, but it seems like the case more often than not. If people don't know what New Japan is and don't have at least a passing idea what the Bullet Club is, its because to me, they have no interest in looking beyond what they see on Monday night and I don't think that's the case for the largest population of wrestling fans.
Tex, I think he just called us old.... what a jackass
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
If people don't know what New Japan is and don't have at least a passing idea what the Bullet Club is, its because to me, they have no interest in looking beyond what they see on Monday night and I don't think that's the case for the largest population of wrestling fans.
Wait, what the fuck? I thought the Guns were a part of Shelley's past and he was solely a part of the Time Splitters. I'd both excited to see them again and a bit suprised they're still a thing.
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
WWE bias here, but I've been watching wrestling since '85. I know Styles only because I've had exposure to him here but that's it. Never seen a match, and probably couldn't pick him out of a police lineup (unless this newfound knowledge of AJ tattoo factored into it). Never heard of the stable mentioned. Know Japan exists and good stuff happens and people come from there, but couldn't name anyone If any of them debuted, I wouldn't know the difference.
Maybe I'm a small minority, but I rather doubt it. Instead, I think there's a large-ish overestimation of what folks are going to get, initial reaction-wise. Doesn't say that won't change over time with added exposure once there, but out the gate?
[Edited on 1-6-2016 by williamssl]
If you've watched ROH with any consistency over the past few years, you should know NJPW since they've done between 5-10 shows with their wrestlers. Karl Anderson did about 10 shows himself I think. AJ & The Bucks reference the Bullet Club all the time. And I think Nakamura has wrestled in ROH. It might have just been Tanahashi & Okada, but ROH/NJPW have had a working relationship for years and they get mentioned a ton when these big crossover shows happen. The ROH title was just defended at NJPW's WrestleKingdom.
John CenaVerified account
@JohnCena
Rather upside down start to 2016 as tomorrow I will head to Birmingham for shoulder surgery. Life's full of set backs but #nevergiveup
wrestlemania plans turned upside down
Yep. Undergoing surgery for a torn rotator cuff tomorrow, expected to miss Mania (where rumor had it he'd face Taker).
So WWE is now down Cena, Orton, and Rollins for the biggest show of the year. Good thing they've put so much effort and work into making legit
top guys these last several years.
Jack, the end of your post is as real as it gets.
*imagines how sweet it would be to live in a world where 4-5 new, different wrestlers could all lay claim to "well, at the end of the day, I have more
wins over Cena than he has over me, and I didn't need dirty tactics to get it done"*
[Edited on 1-7-2016 by CamstunPWG187]
Well, medical consequences be damned we probably are getting Bryan one last time.
quote:
Originally posted by First 9
Well, medical consequences be damned we probably are getting Bryan one last time.
Two years ago they were overwhelmed and caved in, last year they turned it around midway and got a solid B PPV Main Event. This year, they'd
probably be ready to nip it in the bud.
Bring him back after Fast Lane to immediately set up a WM program with Owens or Wyatt and they'd probably be go to go without the shitstorm of
last year.
Agreed. The main spot where they fucked up last year was bringing Bryan back in January, having him promise to win the Rumble and all that and then
get tossed early and unceremoniously, as if he was no more important than Fandango.
You can bring him back without fucking over Roman if you don't tease that you're going to give them main event Bryan only to yank it away.
Just wait until after the Rumble (after Fastlane might be better, but DEFINITELY not before the Rumble), and have him show up during, say, a Kevin
Owens promo, talk about how he never lost the title, he was on a mission to restore the belt to its former glory etc etc, and you can set up something
like a Bryan/Owens match that will kick all kinds of ass, have the crowd behind it and probably satisfied.
Of course, if WWE didn't have its head up its ass for most of the last decade when it cakes to keeping guys strong, you could have (barring
injuries) Ziggler, Owens, Bray, Cesaro, Rusev, Sheamus, Barrett and more, hell maybe even a Luke Harper or a Ryback (I know he's not popular
around these parts, but another example of a guy who was super over, only to have his legs cut out when he ran into Cena) ready to seamlessly slide
into those upper-midcard/main event spots. They could still put those guys in those spots, but there's a good chance it will come across as
forced and unnatural, which will hurt the crowd's acceptance/response.
Hoping to see Samoa Joe and AJ Styles (who apparently has signed up) on the main roster soon.
With Cena gone due to injury, those two can put on two great Wrestlemania matches with the right opponents
Is 31 as unlucky as 13... now everyone that was a title holder at the end of WM31 is out injured. Maybe Nikki can rehab and maybe Bryan can get
cleared.
With Cena out they really could use Bryan or Rock in a match. Maybe just use Bryan in a one-off retirement match against HHH if they still cautious
about his health. They could hype it but then wrestle a 'safe' match. Of course, it'd be all the better if they could get HBK to do
it.
Who could UT face now? Brock and HHH feuds have been run into the ground. I don't think Reigns or Bryan would be what they'd want to do.
Rock?(but if he's wrestling HHH might want him as an oppoennt? Strowman? Alberto? Jericho? Owens? Sheamus? ....or Balor, Joe, Styles or Nakamura?
Those last few might be dream matches but they'd have to be pushed really hard immediately from the Rumble forward.... all quickly leading to
them likely jobbing at WM. Might be a waste.
Here's a bit of Rumble related newz:
* Reportedly, Kurt Angle's contract with TNA runs out the Friday before the Royal Rumble, and there have been informal communications about Angle
being a surprise entrant in the match. Angle has said he is "winding down" his wrestling career, but that he "wouldn't rule out" a return to the
WWE.
Another injury rumor. Sasha Banks is out with an undisclosed injury.
Now Bryan is just adding a bit more to the fire with this tweet.''Can @WWE clear me already?!!!''
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
Rick, it's 2016. It's time to stop with the idea that no one follows wrestling outside WWE.
* the injury wave continues with the gals now, with Paige and Dana Brooke rumoured (along with the already mentioned Sasha Banks) to be hurting as well as Nattie being confirmed to have been rehabbing and injury from back in November
Storm interview on heading back to TNA...
http://wrestlingnews.co/james-storm-explains-why-he-returned-to-tna-and-did-not-sign-a-full-time-deal-with-wwe/
Re the New Japan thing: The Shield got no reaction on their debut. Things worked out pretty well for them.
Not sure what part of the overall discussion this is in response to, so apologies if where I think you were going with this is off from what you
intended.
I don't think anyone here doesn't see some sort of upside from all this. No one (to my knowledge) has said "this will fall flat and go
nowhere at all ever". There is potential for WWE to totally fuck it up (that Balor club thing is a nice example of what that could look like), but
that's in WWE's hands.
The debate has been around what degree of insta-pop these guys will get on their debut, ranging from "OMG YOU COULD PUT STYLES IN THE RUMBLE AS
SURPRISE ENTRANT AND THE ROOF WILL BLOW OFF WHEN HE COMES OUT AND THEN HE WINS AND GOES ON TO MAIN EVENT WM AND IT'S THE BIGGEST WM EVER NOW" (or
something)....to "maybe 10-20% of people recognize him/them out the gate..."
EDIT: Dom - your "free from Orton" vacation may end sooner than we were all thinking
quote:
THE VIPER, THE APEX PREDATOR....OMG RKO OUT OF NOWHERE
"I see many of you think I need neck surgery. I heard weeks ago that Meltzer stated it as a fact. I don't keep up with gossip, so I didn't think anything of it. As far as my shoulder, I was cut on 12/8. Things are ahead of schedule and I'm pumped to get back to work. As far as my neck, and I'm only debunking this 'fact' for the sincerely concerned fans, I DONT need neck surgery. Remember, unless you hear about it on WWE.com, you really should take everything you read online concerning pro wrestling with a grain of salt."
I'm 100% positive AJ will get a good reaction if he debuts at the Rumble (maybe not "roof blowing off" good but good by WWE standards). Same for Samoa Joe. It's just how big of a deal WWE makes it that plays into it. The benefit to debuting either guy at the Rumble (and, really, this would be a prime time to throw in the phrase "as opposed to the debut of the Shield where the live audience had no idea what was going on") is that the Titantron is going to display the name of the entrant. That way, the fans at the Rumble who don't immediately recognize them by appearance will recognize them by name (whereas with the Shield debut, you had three guys wearing gear none of them wore in NXT, so the only people this was made a big deal to was the viewing audience). And, with the job WWE.com has done of hyping both guys, I would say what little portion of the audience that attends a Big Four PPV and isn't at least somewhat informed is going to be aware of who these guys are and will fall in line. At that point in time, it's up to Cole and JBL to make a big deal out of them being on WWE TV, which informs the portion of the Network viewing audience that is uniformed (which, at the very least, they are good at that), and then you've got foundations laid for a good start to the run (which WWE will inevitably blow because that's kind of their thing).
Conversely:
Cole: The ring's being invaded? Who are these guys beating down Roman Reigns? Who's that guy with the big "AJ" tattoo on his torso?
JBL: Oh mah gawd Maggle, that's BJ Fashionz, the hottest free agent on the market!!!!!
Don't mock. It could happen exactly this way. 
First Brock match of 2016
quote:
Originally posted by OORick
So anytime I see this groupthink where it's perfectly reasonable for AJ Styles to win the Royal Rumble or otherwise participate in a WM Main Event, I get understandly perturbed.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
The last two Rumbles have been total fucking thuds. And if the plan this year is for the most obvious outcome-- which is for Roman to overcome the odds-- that'll get ugly again fast. If it gets to a final six or seven, and Reigns is one of them, people are gonna see the writing on the wall and boo the hell out of him yet again.
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
The debate has been around what degree of insta-pop these guys will get on their debut, ranging from "OMG YOU COULD PUT STYLES IN THE RUMBLE AS SURPRISE ENTRANT AND THE ROOF WILL BLOW OFF WHEN HE COMES OUT AND THEN HE WINS AND GOES ON TO MAIN EVENT WM AND IT'S THE BIGGEST WM EVER NOW" (or something)....to "maybe 10-20% of people recognize him/them out the gate..."
As someone who has not seen AJ wrestle at all, can someone explain how AJ coming in, debuting at the Rumble and walking out the champion is not worse
than rushing the title on Reigns, who was on NXT and with Shield for months, yet was blasted as being rushed?
Not to mention piss off the rest of the roster that has been busting ass on the lower/mid card trying to move up.
A.) I would be a truly shocking moment that would bring back the "anything can happen" stuff they've been pushing forever, but hasn't
happened in just as long.
B.) Saying AJ Styles is a better wrestler than Roman Reigns is like saying Jupiter is bigger than a pea. Plus, this isn't some guy who has only
been wrestling for two or three years. Unlike some people.
C.) It wouldn't be forever. Hell, he could lose it the next night on Raw even. Not like he would be pushed as the supposed face of the company,
nor would anyone expect him to be. BUT it would be a neat moment to draw viewers in.
Like I said, I don't think in a million years it would happen, but this company has been losing viewership, and has had two shitty prior Rumble
outcomes. They need to have the stones to try something once in a while.
Doesn't even need to be AJ... although what a way to induce him to the WWE crowd. But they've gotta do SOMETHING interesting this year with
the Rumble.
Personally, I've always wished someone completely unexpected would win it. Doesn't have to be a complete jobber or anything, but someone you
don't see coming at all. It's always so damn telegraphed to death... there's never any doubt which guy (or maybe a toss up between
two) will win it.
quote:
Originally posted by OOMike
As someone who has not seen AJ wrestle at all, can someone explain how AJ coming in, debuting at the Rumble and walking out the champion is not worse than rushing the title on Reigns, who was on NXT and with Shield for months, yet was blasted as being rushed?
Yeah, for the pop that AJ *might* get at the Rumble, putting the title on him day 1 would be a bad, bad idea. But he will be recognized by a sizable
portion of the audience, and there will probably be many more who have heard the name "AJ Styles" but haven't seen him, and if you send him out
there and give him a chance to show what he can do, eliminate a few guys and look really strong before getting tossed out, you could create an
upper-tier superstar overnight.
And yes, there are a lot of midcarders who are capable and have been working their ass off for that kind of spot, but sadly WWE has made it clear for
many of them that they simply don't see them at that level. And booking them in kind has left several of them as kinda scorched earth, where even
if WWE suddenly decided they loved them and pushed them to the moon, a lot of the audience wouldn't buy it and would just be waiting for John
Cena to come back and put them in their place.
I think WWE is just concered about owning the name more than anything, so if they felt AJ Styles was good enough, they'd probably just change it
to AJ Stiles or something.
I feel Reigns is losing for the same reason he got cashed in by Sheamus. They'd be nothing left for him to do afterwards. Wins Rumble, beats HHH
at Fastlane, beats Lesnar at Mania, then what? It's like when Cena would drop the Title to guys like Sheamus and Del Rio. He had cleared out all
the worthwhile opposition so they'd have hin drop it while protecting him to let him feud with part-timers and special attractions. In the mean
time they set up a whole new group of heels for him to decimate later on.
The only option left is turning Ambrose and I mean come on, the Main Event face side is already thin.
The problem for WWE with bringing Bryan back now is that they have been holding off so long, that if he comes back now and *does* get badly injured,
they will be accused of having him wrestle when it wasn't safe.
On the Bullet Club thing - sure, a hell of a lot of wrestling fans now know about NJPW and The Bullet Club, but until the last few days, would any
casual fan have been able to name a member other than possibly Styles?
AJ to main roster, the rest to NXT to form the Balor Club, and you have a nice setup for the future when they come up to either beatdown or join
Styles.
There may be a lack of depth on the main roster but plenty of NXT folks to fill that gap while the new guys adjust and get over in NXT.
Santana Garrett, who has worked a few recent NXT tapings, tweeted this....
"Through the many years of what I thought was 'searching', was really the process of 'awakening' #WakeUp "
Well that would be cool. Speaking of things that have been spinning their fucking wheels the past three years, that would at least be SOMETHING interesting for the Wyatt family.
I assume that means we'll never see or hear from her again for trying to push herself.
quote:
Originally posted by G-Spot
Santana Garrett, who has worked a few recent NXT tapings, tweeted this....
"Through the many years of what I thought was 'searching', was really the process of 'awakening' #WakeUp "
Cool idea, but if WWE sanctioned this, I doubt it would have MODERNMYTH PHOTOGRAPHY at the bottom. Google doesn't tie this company to WWE, but it looks like she has used them before for various other shoots in the past.
It actually looks like a photoshop deal. Looks like she took a previous photo of her and superimposed the goat mask over it.
* Sunny plead out to her DUI offenses that she racked up last year and is probably looking at some time incarcerated.
* Dixie Carter and other TNA people were interviewed for an AP article that ran over the weekend. Nothing new of any significance was said other than
Dixie yammering something nonsensical about "the competition taking the stars TNA made" in relation to AJ Styles being signed by WWE
* some kind of dumbass griping occurred backstage on the WWE main roster about why HHH appeared at NXT London when he was allegedly too beat up by
Roman Reigns to appear on the main shows; apparently this is the first time WWE talent noticed that some of the stories don't appear to make any
sense
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot[/
* some kind of dumbass griping occurred backstage on the WWE main roster about why HHH appeared at NXT London when he was allegedly too beat up by Roman Reigns to appear on the main shows; apparently this is the first time WWE talent noticed that some of the stories don't appear to make any sense
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* some kind of dumbass griping occurred backstage on the WWE main roster about why HHH appeared at NXT London when he was allegedly too beat up by Roman Reigns to appear on the main shows; apparently this is the first time WWE talent noticed that some of the stories don't appear to make any sense
WWE Universe 616!
I was more pissed at Mania when he hobbled out of the ring after his match with Sting, then showed up about 90 minutes later look fresh and relaxed
for his promo with Rock!
quote:
Originally posted by lz4005
I'm just going to put this out there: WWE What If Universe show.
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
All-New All-Different WWE! Randy Orton will be played by a Diva, and John Cena will lead a team of plucky upstart mutants in a quest for universal respect, if not quite 'admiration'.
I think the general assumption is that fans who watch NXT are all smart fans and know perfectly well what they're watching. He's always been somewhat out of character on the NXT shows.
quote:
Originally posted by lz4005
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
All-New All-Different WWE! Randy Orton will be played by a Diva, and John Cena will lead a team of plucky upstart mutants in a quest for universal respect, if not quite 'admiration'.
So...Orton status quo and reruns of the US title open challenge?
* Sasha Banks' injury has been confirmed as a damaged MCL in one of her knees and she isn't expected back in the ring until February
* Paige confirmed that she suffered a concussion recently and that's why WWE's been keeping her inactive for the last few weeks
* Daniel Bryan tweeted out that he is training for a return to the ring but did not specify where. Meanwhile Scott Keith of RSPW fame reported that
the WWE will be granting Bryan his request to be released from his WWE contact next week.
* Rumors are that Finn Balor will be making his main roster debut soon - along with his Bullet Club compatriots. The WWE wants to debut them as a
stable rather than individually.
* Mick Foley is rumored to be returning to WWE as Becky Lynch's manager in her feud with Charlotte.
I'd be incredibly bummed if Bryan were released by WWE. If he's not been cleared by them there has to be a legit reason, God knows they
could use him to fill a few seats in Cowboys Stadium. Here's hoping family & friends make sure his long-term health is paramount in this
situation.
Regarding Balor & co. being brought up; I'd be stoked if him, Gallows & Anderson are brought up together. Don't really want to see AJ apart
of the group because he'd seem 2nd fiddle & I think he's earned a shot at trying to get over on his own merits. Can Finn be a face with
Gallows & Anderson backing him up? Or are there enough heel factions now (League of Nations, Wyatt's, Social Outcasts) that they could be a face
group right from the jump?
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Daniel Bryan tweeted out that he is training for a return to the ring but did not specify where. Meanwhile Scott Keith of RSPW fame reported that the WWE will be granting Bryan his request to be released from his WWE contact next week.
I can't see WWE keeping him out of action for this long unless they know for a fact that there's something seriously wrong with his neck that DB is refusing to acknowledge. Not when they could have used him as a major player in several different feuds/storylines over the last year. Not when they could have raked in as much money off of merch sales as possible off of him and had him to boost ticket sales at their flagging TV shows and PPV's. And especially not when they've had such an epidemic of injuries lately where they desperately could have used him to take over from Cena/Orton/Rollins/whoever. I think it's a Dave Dravecky situation where DB's convinced himself that he's ready to go again and he won't change his mind until he literally cripples himself inside the ring.
* Sunny's putting her WWE HOF ring up for sale with a starting price of $3000. She claims it's not because she needs the money due to her
ongoing legal problems but because she want's to cut ties with the past permanently
* SPOILER: WWE.com botched big time this week because they inadvertantly leaked that ADR took back the US title from Kallisto at the tapings for SD
* WWE is denying that they're releasing Daniel Bryan next week
I think it would be kind of funny if they release Daniel Bryan and then turned around and resigned Kurt Angle.
It's not Bryan's neck. It is concussion protocol. He was cleared by a well known private neurologist, but WWE doctors are refusing to clear
him. Meanwhile, Bryan says he feels fine and has felt fine for months.
As I have said before, WWE is sitting on Bryan for two reasons. One, they are terrified of him going out there and suffering permanent injury
especially with the concussion lawsuit currently on going. Not a good look. Two, any appearance by Bryan would steal Reigns's heat. They
don't want Bryan fucking up Roman's push anymore than he (and the fans) already has.
quote:
Originally posted by salmonjunkie
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Daniel Bryan tweeted out that he is training for a return to the ring but did not specify where. Meanwhile Scott Keith of RSPW fame reported that the WWE will be granting Bryan his request to be released from his WWE contact next week.
Is it wrong that I think that this is a total misdirect by Bryan or WWE or both to Keith and the public so as to keep DB as a surprise for Royal Rumble?
That may very well be true about Keith, but in his defense, he was credited with breaking the story about Cena missing action due to filming that fitness show.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
That may very well be true about Keith, but in his defense, he was credited with breaking the story about Cena missing action due to filming that fitness show.
quote:
Originally posted by bopol
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
That may very well be true about Keith, but in his defense, he was credited with breaking the story about Cena missing action due to filming that fitness show.
Yeah, I guess it could be true, but I don't think Scott was taking this one too seriously by his comments in the post and since.
quote:
Originally posted by CM Crunk
quote:
Originally posted by bopol
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
That may very well be true about Keith, but in his defense, he was credited with breaking the story about Cena missing action due to filming that fitness show.
Yeah, I guess it could be true, but I don't think Scott was taking this one too seriously by his comments in the post and since.
I'm not saying they'd never grant him his release but they'd be downright suicidal if they were to give it to him even a second before the Raw after Wrestlemania (R.A.W.?) is over.
quote:
Originally posted by coxito
If they are worried about the WM attendence this should be bryan suprise entrant and winning the rumble and main event WM. print that money
quote:
Originally posted by salmonjunkie
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Daniel Bryan tweeted out that he is training for a return to the ring but did not specify where. Meanwhile Scott Keith of RSPW fame reported that the WWE will be granting Bryan his request to be released from his WWE contact next week.
Is it wrong that I think that this is a total misdirect by Bryan or WWE or both to Keith and the public so as to keep DB as a surprise for Royal Rumble?
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
That may very well be true about Keith, but in his defense, he was credited with breaking the story about Cena missing action due to filming that fitness show.
quote:
Scott,
Can�t believe I�m doing this � I�m writing from a throwaway account but please keep my details private anyway. Although feel free to paste the whole e-mail or delete it. Sorry just a bit frazzled.
Okay so I�ve been debating all weekend whether to send this e-mail or not. I�ll be honest � one major reason I�m doing this is because when it all comes out I want to silently smile and say "Yep, I called it". Not out loud or anything but just privately to myself.
This is going to be hard to believe and you probably get a lot of nutjobs writing every day � but I work in WWE HR. I�m not high up the totem pole by any means though.
So on Friday one of my co-workers had to process a release � and that release was for Daniel Bryan.
Monday, January 18th is the date that is listed for when the deal is processed. Not sure exactly why � my coworker was very quiet about the whole thing other than letting a few people know.
And to be honest she didn�t let me know � I�m not in her inner circle. I just overheard her telling someone else and she was in shock.
Not sure why it�s a week away or anything like that as our usual releases are dated that very day. She seemed shocked by it all. Anyway that�s all I know. Going to click send before I chicken out now.
Well, the anonymous tipsters were right about the Cena hiatus, but off on the Daniel Bryan supermarket meeting, so I�d say we�re batting 0.500 right now. I personally think WWE is totally correct in preventing Bryan from wrestling, especially if he insists on doing diving headbutts and stupid stuff like that. Maybe he�ll get his release and go to New Japan in exchange for the Bullet Club? I could actually see that one.
quote:
There is absolutely nothing to to the rumor. Bryan is not in the process of being released and is still in great standing with the company. While he is not (yet) cleared to return to the ring, he will be seen regularly in the new season of Total Divas and is very much part of the company.
So, wherever the story started, it is not legitimate in any way, shape or form.
Trolling by The Scotsman, or somebody claiming to be him? Surely this cannot be!
quote:
Scott,
Can�t believe I�m doing this � I�m writing from a throwaway account but please keep my details private anyway. Although feel free to paste the whole e-mail or delete it. Sorry just a bit frazzled.
Okay so I�ve been debating all weekend whether to send this e-mail or not. I�ll be honest � one major reason I�m doing this is because when it all comes out I want to silently smile and say "Yep, I called it". Not out loud or anything but just privately to myself.
This is going to be hard to believe and you probably get a lot of nutjobs writing every day � but I work in WWE HR. I�m not high up the totem pole by any means though.
So on Friday one of my co-workers had to process a release � and that release was for Daniel Bryan.
Monday, January 18th is the date that is listed for when the deal is processed. Not sure exactly why � my coworker was very quiet about the whole thing other than letting a few people know.
And to be honest she didn�t let me know � I�m not in her inner circle. I just overheard her telling someone else and she was in shock.
Not sure why it�s a week away or anything like that as our usual releases are dated that very day. She seemed shocked by it all. Anyway that�s all I know. Going to click send before I chicken out now.
The Scotsman? Jesus. That takes me back to the old Xwrestling.com days of 1999 and 2000.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
The Scotsman? Jesus. That takes me back to the old Xwrestling.com days of 1999 and 2000.
Meanwhile at WWE HQ, the poor bastard assigned to monitor internet fan activity is shaking his head and saying "what is wrong with these people? I haven't seen anything this stupid since I worked at an NFL chat room".
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
The Scotsman? Jesus. That takes me back to the old Xwrestling.com days of 1999 and 2000.
CM Punk return imminent!
http://news.yahoo.com/ufc-makes-official-cm-punks-050003400.html
Not really a rumor but fits here: Adam Rose seems to have officially dropped the English accent from his character. He was in a Cole interview on
WWE's YouTube as part of the Social Outcasts thing talking all normal and such.
Bo was his usual smiley self at the beginning and end but seemed out of character-ish in the middle. In a good way.
Heath and Curtis were more or less the same. A bit more serious than usual. They teased/implied that the group is going to be sort of a bumbling
NWO...or maybe a much more serious BWO. And that they'll all be in the Rumble. I'm into it.
[Edited on 1-14-2016 by lz4005]
Going off of zero context as far as what the group is actually on TV, I imagine the Social Outcasts will be 3MB with one more guy. It seems like they were supposed to be a moderate sized deal on debut, but once the Rumble rolled around, they were just more bodies to get tossed to try to make it look like Ryback might win rather than Cena (which of course it didn't and only made it one of the worst Rumbles I've ever seen). I would expect this year's Rumble will be no different: they'll come in in no particular order, last for maybe a guy or two, then get tossed out, and then after the Rumble they'll be a low-level, internet exclusive comedy act that has three of them get fired and Heath Slater kind of existing as this generation's Hardcore Holly, except less of a dick.
quote:
Originally posted by CM Crunk
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
The Scotsman? Jesus. That takes me back to the old Xwrestling.com days of 1999 and 2000.
Right? At this point we just need Chris Hyatte to run in and make an Unpredictable Johnny Rodz reference and call someone a homo and we'll be good.
I never discovered Wrestleline back then, unfortunately. In the 1999-2001 span, I was busy with college and still on dial up. So my early foray into
the IWC consisted of getting news from TWNP and reading columns on Xwrestling.com and a couple similar to it. I think one was called Lethal
Wrestling.
Don't remember at all Chris Hyatte... who was he?
According to Drew McIntyre, 3MB was supposed to be more aggresivelye booked but Drew got injured right when they started and it ruined what plans they
had for the group and it left them as direction less lowe midcarders. By the time he was healed they already looked like schmucks so they decided to
keep using 3MB as joobers.
I think The Social Outcasts will fare better simply because they already a better moment than 3MB ever did by standing up to the Wyatt family and
merely looking outmatched rather than plain losers. Not even close to how bad 3MB had it when they interacted with The Shield.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
I never discovered Wrestleline back then, unfortunately. In the 1999-2001 span, I was busy with college and still on dial up. So my early foray into the IWC consisted of getting news from TWNP and reading columns on Xwrestling.com and a couple similar to it. I think one was called Lethal Wrestling.
Don't remember at all Chris Hyatte... who was he?
quote:
Last week�s season finale of Breaking Ground featured Tyler Breeze being called up to the main WWE roster, but by the time it aired Breeze had already been moved down the card. According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Triple H legitimately wanted him protected and saw him as a heel on the level of Dolph Ziggler, which is why he feuded with him at the start. Vince McMahon was not convinced of this, and ended his push. He stripped down the character, putting less emphasis on his entrance and then not showing it on TV. Then they split him from Summer Rae with no build or programs leading out of the break up.
I actually liked the Lucha Dragons and thought it was a good, safe way for Kalisto to get his feet wet. Maybe they should have gone with a straight
out of the gates push like Rey Mysterio got but after the disaster that was the original Sin Cara, pairing him with Hunico Cara to be sure he gets the
hang out of it while still featuring him was pretty good.
I don't think there's an NXT bias by Vince. Almost everybody gets misused with a only handful really getting treated as stars. Look at Cody
Rhodes, Sandow, Barrett, Miz, etc. These guys got over on the main brand but get constantly discarded and reshuffled.
quote:
Originally posted by First 9
I actually liked the Lucha Dragons and thought it was a good, safe way for Kalisto to get his feet wet. Maybe they should have gone with a straight out of the gates push like Rey Mysterio got but after the disaster that was the original Sin Cara, pairing him with Hunico Cara to be sure he gets the hang out of it while still featuring him was pretty good.
I don't think there's an NXT bias by Vince. Almost everybody gets misused with a only handful really getting treated as stars. Look at Cody Rhodes, Sandow, Barrett, Miz, etc. These guys got over on the main brand but get constantly discarded and reshuffled.
I know Drew McIntyre has said otherwise in interviews, but I still have a tough time believing 3MB was destined to be any more than a jobber stable. I
mean, maybe that's what he was told, but a three-man stable of jobbers formed mere weeks before the debut of the Shield just screams "perennial
warm-up match for babyfaces opposing the Shield" to me.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
I never discovered Wrestleline back then, unfortunately. In the 1999-2001 span, I was busy with college and still on dial up. So my early foray into the IWC consisted of getting news from TWNP and reading columns on Xwrestling.com and a couple similar to it. I think one was called Lethal Wrestling.
Don't remember at all Chris Hyatte... who was he?
Kevin Owens had this to say in regards to the WWE title
picture:
quote:
"I think I�m already in consideration for that. I�m being put in the ring with guys like Roman Reigns, I�m main-eventing a lot of the live events, and I�ve only been here for seven months. I don�t think me becoming WWE world champion is at all out of the realm of possibility. It could happen at any time. I think it might be something that�s very shocking to a lot of people, but I�ve been doing this for 15 years. I feel like I�m exactly where I�m supposed to be, and I honestly think whether it�s sooner or later, I will be WWE champion."
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
Where's the nWWWo?
[Edited on 1-14-2016 by Count Zero]
Heh!!! That's just...... too... sweeeeet.
[Edited on 1-15-2016 by Count Zero]
quote:
Originally posted by ThePunisher
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
The Scotsman? Jesus. That takes me back to the old Xwrestling.com days of 1999 and 2000.
Why yes, I had feeling like a dried up old piece of shit on the agenda for this evening.
quote:
Originally posted by merc
quote:
Originally posted by ThePunisher
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
The Scotsman? Jesus. That takes me back to the old Xwrestling.com days of 1999 and 2000.
I ain't believing any of this shet til I read it on MiCasa
Paige was on a show called "Ridiculousness" on MTV last night. First of all, man is she hot. Not a fan of fake hair color but the blue just makes me want to have a Blue, blue, blue, blue, Christmas. She was actually a little funny as well and I loved her reactions to the botched wrestling moves they showed her.
Those were the days - I mainly read CRZ and the Rick, though.
---
Regarding Breeze and his depush, something seems weird. I would think that Vince would have final say on who gets brought up to the main roster from
NXT. Why would he do that and then say Breeze doesn't have the goods? It's probably more of WWE booking and creative in general, like
mentioned before. Cody and Miz were both good examples, but Sandow really is the shining example of getting over and popular, and then being
absolutely ignored by the brass for doing so.
Breeze is just the most recent example of why it's wise to be hesitant about what they might do with the Bullet Club. They can just as easily
fuck up a guaranteed, and already proven, star like AJ in the same manner they just did with Breeze. WWE is also the same company that has never done
anything right in the history of forever with any Japanese star they ever hired so Nakamura fans should be worried. Don't know much about Karl
Anderson but Luke Gallows could also get re-Festus*-ized and end up regarding his time in TNA with Aces & Eights as the best time of his career. Trips
and Steph I trust. Vince & Bucky though? Fuck that noise.
* Hey, I liked Festus, especially when he went into super-tard-strength when the ring bell went off. The guy's moved beyond that though, and has
shown he can do a lot more in the ring than a big dummy gimmick like that or be a lackey to a bigger star like he was with Punk. Not that these things
or the efforts the talent make to prove themselves worthy ever make any difference to the Two Senile Dummies in charge. So I sez to Billionaire Ted
when he tells me he bought Dubya-Cee-Dubya, "Billionaire Ted", I sez, "you might be in the wrasslin' business but I'm in the EN-TER-TAINMENT
business!", I sez.
New WWE/Subway crossover currently setting Twitter on fire. Just click Play for
laffs! 
when you eat 3 meatball subs in one sitting pic.twitter.com/dYEchOeUEj
— Subway WWExperience (@WWESubway) December 31, 2015how I walk into Subway pic.twitter.com/hICH8y2DYL
— Subway WWExperience (@WWESubway) December 31, 2015when the Subway sandwich artist tells you they're out of Italian herb and
cheese bread pic.twitter.com/nY9Tva8kE4
— Subway WWExperience (@WWESubway) December 28, 2015I smell an OO CaptiOOn COOntest! Me first!
So, yeah man, absolutely send me those links you mentioned and I'll take a look.
And certainly the WWE would be happy to use this for promotion once I'm the champ.
Bro, chill, yes you can come with me. No, dude, these are sick kids,
I don't think they'll want any footlongs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
ETA: Also, just gonna leave this here for CCharger. 
http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2016/1/15/10775254/scott-hall-story-wwe-wrestlemania-31-vince-mcmahon-booking-sting-triple-h
http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/01/13/scott-hall-brock-lesnar-sting-wwe-new-japan
According to Scott Hall regarding HHH vs. Sting:
I was there and obviously involved in his match at WrestleMania last year. We're rehearsing the match in Cali last year at Levi Stadium, and
it's the Kliq and the New Age Outlaws out there, and we all know each other. And then there's Sting, who doesn't know anybody.
He's an outsider. I just think he never felt comfortable there. Being hurt was answered prayer for him-just let it end.
You need to remember that Vince is never going to go with something he didn't create. But we didn't get anything done at the rehearsal the
night before, so WrestleMania day, there were tents in the parking lot set up with rings for rehearsal. So we're all in there again, and I'm
next to Hulk [Hogan] on the ring apron and Triple H is going over the match and then he goes, "OK, he'll break the sledgehammer, then I'll
hit him with the sledgehammer, and cover him, 1-2-3."
I looked at Hulk, and Hulk looked at me, and I was thinking, "Sting, what kind of lawyer do you have, bro? You're coming in the door doing a job?
You weren't even guaranteed to go over?" That's Vince just reminding you who won, even if he's going to make money the other way.
[Edited on 1-15-2016 by janerd75]
The one good thing about HHH going over was that it gives him a bit of oomph for any matches he has going forward. After losing to Bryan and getting
massacred by The Shield, it started to look like HHH losing in his matches was going to be the obvious direction now that he was a part-time
heel.After beating Sting in Sting's first goddamn match, whoever HHH faces that isn't Roman Reigns won't be the obvious winner because
you just never fucking know with HHH.
Still would have preferred Sting won of course.
I would have at least liked some kind of draw or Flair interference which could easily dovetailed into, "Hey, check out the history of Flair's duplicity and Sting being a trusting moron on this WCW compilation we fucking own on the Network!". However, I dunno what Sting was contractually up for at that point or if Flair was even coherent enough then like he vaguely is now with Charlotte. Again, it just seems like a missed opportunity to tell some shared universe stories between WCW, WWE, nWo, Kliq, etc. Y'know, historical stuff they could massage into future angles that they instead inexplicably let fall by the wayside in favor greatest hits cosplay because Vince is still fighting a battle long since over.
To me, that more shows the kind of attitude for which Hogan and the Outsiders were notorious, which was the noxious idea that they had to 'go
over' as much as possible. It made them a lot of money, of course, so I can't blame them too much. But maybe Sting just doesn't have
the same mindset as them - given that he, too, is quite rich, I'm sure he feels pretty okay with the choices he made.
Oh, and it would also be in line with Hogan's revisionist history, given that when he came back with the WWENWO way back in the day, he came back
to lay down for the Rock. Yeah, he got the title a month later, but that was an audible called because of the reaction he was getting. Nothing
planned (and he ended up jobbing it again a month later when it was clear the nostalgia pop had evaporated with him actually being pushed).
* speaking of Hogan there's some speculation that he'll be out of the WWE doghouse after WW32. His lawsuit against Gawker over them posting his sex tape, where he gave the ol' corn silo to the wife of Bubba The Cum Sponge, will be concluded by then and most of the industry seems to have forgiven him for his "nigga" comments anyway.
* Sunny's trainwreck of a life continues to be interesting. Vivid porn films offered her $100K for her WWE HOF ring in exchange for her doing a
vid for them.
http://www.tmz.com/2016/01/18/wwe-tammy-sytch-hall-of-fame-ring-porn-sex-tape-offer/
R.I.P. Iron Mike Sharpe...and Glenn Frey, too, I guess. Not a good time to be in your mid to late 60's these days. 
http://www.wwe.com/inside/iron-mike-sharpe-passes-away?sf19133425=1
Not a rumor 👆👆 main page worthy
Can not wait for the Heyman/Wyatt promo off.
It's kind of hard to guess where they're going with Jericho. On one hand he seems to consider himself a nostalgia act, asking for a house
show schedule and not be attached to storylines but on the other, Jericho has always been a guy who takes risks. Abandoning everything that made him
Y2J to cement his heel turn, facing return CM Punk and integrating ring rust into the match's story more than any other WWE match has probably
ever done, and giving the audience the silent treatment in 2012(not saying all his risks payed off).
It wouldn't be that supring that even past the twilight of his career Jericho would still try to reinvent himself.
The Columbus crowd at Raw may have really fucked us if the rumors are true about Vince thinking no one will know who AJ Styles is if he debuts at the
Rumble. During Steph & Vince's segment, when discussing possible winners, Steph said something along the lines of, "maybe someone we've
never seen before could win it." She tee'd up a perfect moment for an AJ chant & it wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't them subtly
testing the waters, only for Columbus to slam the perfect alley-oop straight off the back of the rim.
[Edited on 1-19-2016 by The Grindfather]
WWE doesn't do subtlety. For them, saying "someone we've never seen before" could mean Baron Corbin or another Steve Lombardi Florida-themed character made for the Rumble as it would anyone from another promotion. So they should be fine. The buzz will die down when AJ debuts and is tossed out with the non-Braun Strowman Wyatts, a returning Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler by Big Show in order to make Roman Reigns kinda eliminating him with a single Superman Punch seem more impressive and the matter is never resolved onscreen.
Kurt Angle has just been announced for the International Sports Hall of Fame, the induction ceremony for which takes place at the Arnold Sports
Festival in March. The festival has a pretty tight relationship with WWE -- there have been three WWE-affiliated inductees since the HOF started in
2012 (Mark Henry, Bruno Sammartino and Triple H), and there's been a "WWE Experience" attraction at the festival since last year -- so let this
fuel speculation that there may be some relationship between Angle and WWE once his TNA contract expires.
You'd have to figure, at least, that the HOF committee wouldn't want to induct someone who might croak and generate bad publicity shortly
thereafter.
quote:
Originally posted by nOOb
The buzz will die down when AJ debuts and is tossed out with the non-Braun Strowman Wyatts, a returning Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler by Big Show in order to make Roman Reigns kinda eliminating him with a single Superman Punch seem more impressive and the matter is never resolved onscreen.
Owens' response seems pretty much inline with his other social media responses. He blocks everybody. He seems more annoyed than losing his shit here. Stardust seems more mad than annoyed, definitely seems more mad than Owens. For what reason? Probably because some guy who won a roster spot from a reality show went online and talked shit about guys who have been there longer and who got their spots without a reality show and the guys who have worked beside them (Owens, Stardust) think he should respect them and learn from them and not trash them online. Basically, he should know his role and shut his mouth.
quote:
Originally posted by Matte
Probably because some guy who won a roster spot from a reality show went online and talked shit about guys who have been there longer and who got their spots without a reality show.....
And The Miz.
Miz isn't one of the #SocialOutcasts, though.
quote:
Originally posted by ThePunisher
You could argue that Slater and Axel got their spots from a reality show, though.
quote:
Originally posted by ThePunisher
You could argue that Slater and Axel got their spots from a reality show, though.
Are they this desperate? The story seems blended witha few other recent stories. This would be a twist
http://wrestlingnewspost.com/big-update-on-daniel-bryan-and-why-he-is-headed-to-pittsburgh-this-week/
Hey, if he's healthy, then they'd be fools to not bring back the most over face in recent memory *. If not, then it's off to Japan for
Daniel Bryan.
* They are fools, so anything is possible.
Yes, they would have to be really desperate if they would run the risk of derailing Roman's push for the second year in a row.
quote:
Originally posted by PB-13
Yes, they would have to be really desperate if they would run the risk of derailing Roman's push for the second year in a row.
What if they want to make Reigns the most over face ever ever ever by having Bryan come out, turn on him and join the authority?
Easy to cut promos about how the authority have looked after him and paid him all this time, had his health in mind while all the fans just want him
to wrestle, even if it kills him.
Working a heel style would help reduce the stupid amount of bumps and crazy shit he does.
Everyone seems to forget that before he was a super over face, he was a pretty over heel. It'd be hard, but it *could* work...
Man, to turn DB heel would be very very hard. You'd have to shave his beard, change his entry theme (have him enter to the Authority's
music, even), tame his Yes! or No! chants.... All at the same time making sure he still has heat.0
I think he could pull it off, but it'd take a lot of effort, and not just on DB's part.
WWE wants people leaving the Royal Rumble happy with the company and have a must-see WM main event that is guaranteed to generate a huge buzz, and
increase viewership, subscriptions, and merch sales? Have Daniel Bryan win the title at RR and face either Reigns, Lesnar, or both at WM.
[Edited on 1-20-2016 by salmonjunkie]
WM is most likely Reigns/HHH, with the ? on which is champ and which is challenger (my prediction: HHH wins rumble as "surprise" #30 entrant, with
rematch at WM).
If DB is cleared to come back, there's no way it can be at the Rumble. Bring him back the Raw after and have someone get in his face about
"shouldn't have come back" and "finish him up for good" etc etc, paving way for WM matchup.
They're stupid, but they're not THAT stupid to put him in the Rumble.
quote:
Originally posted by williamssl
If DB is cleared to come back, there's no way it can be at the Rumble. Bring him back the Raw after and have someone get in his face about "shouldn't have come back" and "finish him up for good" etc etc, paving way for WM matchup.
They're stupid, but they're not THAT stupid to put him in the Rumble.
Heel turn would be easy. Shave. Haircut. Put him in the RR with him being tossed out third or fourth last but have him come back to the ring and do
something that results in Sheamus getting the title back. Then have him get in the ring with the League as their new American member and they both
stomp the piss out of both Roman and Lesnar. Then have him douche it up even more as the League proceeds to attack Ambrose, Ziggler, whoever else,
over the next few weeks with yapping at the crowd and No! No! No! resurrected. Expand that circle of maulings of the faces as much as possible and it
wipes out the cheering that would result from attacking Reigns.
Wow, with a cool dry wit like this I could easily be a WWE script writer. Beats being homeless.
[Edited on 1/20/2016 by Paddlefoot]
You just turned the League of Nations face.
"LEAGUE of NAY SHUNS!" clap clap clapclapclap
* AJ Styles is allegedly going to be backstage at the RR but won't be in the main event
* Josh Bredl and the other Tough Enough/NXT'ers will also be backstage at the RR, which should make things interesting should
Owens/Stardust/Social Outcasts want to "talk" to him about his Twitter insults. Apparently WWE officials were getting ready to jump into the spat to
calm things down if Bredl didn't delete the offensive tweets that got everyone riled up
* Austin Aries is allegedly going through a pre-signing medical/screening this week before officially joining WWE
There are conflicting reports about whether Daniel Bryan is really going to be getting a physical done later this week that could pave his way to
returning to action.
From CageSideSeats.com:
quote:
"Dave Meltzer remarked on The LAW recently that Daniel Bryan's contract has been frozen because he's injured, much like what happened with Rey Mysterio. He's also apparently turned down multiple offers for jobs within the company that aren't wrestling in the ring."
"Speaking of Bryan, Meltzer also claimed on Twitter that the story from PW Insider on Bryan taking a physical in Pittsburgh this weekend is false."
It's more likely that we'll hear Ride Of The Valkyries hit, then Hornswoggle comes out in a Yes T-shirt as JBL acts like it's really
Bryan(since all short bearded guys look alike). Then Reigns shrugs off a few kicks and easily tosses him as Cole dismissively comments "Well, that
gets THAT out of the way for the year."
[Edited on 1-21-2016 by PB-13]
Wouldn't need to tame down the Yes/No chants for Bryan as a heel, let them chant, but have Bryan be annoyed/angered/distracted by it, like Heenan
getting "weasel" chants and Orndorf getting "Paula" chants.
If Roman's losing the title, I think he won't be in the title match at WM. If they're taking the title off of him, no reason to have it
on HHH. Roman/HHH can be a WM grudge match without the title, HHH doesn't have to hold the title, and some other match at WM can be for the
title... presumably Brock vs. whoever: Bray, Braun, Owens, Sheamus, or maybe Orton.
Wow, and they thought people rejected Batista being in the main event?
WM32 Main Event, Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman for the World Heavyweight Championship; if there is a just god he must make this happen.
Hey, I think Braun's a bad idea, but that's just a rumored possible opponent for Brock. Plus whatever the title match is, could *possibly*
not go on last.
I just have a hard time seeing Reigns/HHH at Mania for the title. Either no ones going to believe HHH would beat Reigns for the title at Mania -or-
HHH will be holding the title from the Rumble to Mania? And then again it'd be a foregone conclusion match.
Braun is probably main eventing within the next two years only because he's everything Vince wants in a man...I mean superstar: big, lack of wrestling background, loads of power lifting background, and not likely to accidentally kill someone (unless he hugs them too hard). The fact he's actually done the muscle role alright and has a voice appropriate for his size is icing on the cake.
Not Braun, but what about Bray winning the title now and losing to Lesnar at mania, with HHH / Roman just not being for the title? If Lesnar is doing more dates under his new contract, no reason why he couldn't fight at extreme rules if they want the title back on Reigns over the summer.
Hahaha... holy shit, not only would Brock vs. Braun be a colossal waste of Lesnar at fucking Wrestlemania, it would be a match like Taker vs.
Giant Gonzalez from Mania IX.
Out of all the Wyatt Family members I'd want to see face Lesnar, I'd rank Strowman's green-as-hell ass at #5. Yes, I ranked the
fictional Sister Abigail above him.
I don't see any way Strowman would actually be considered, except as part of a multi-man match. Especially not in a title match, no way. For
all Vince has justifiably been shit on for his big man fetish over the years, it's been a pretty long while since we've had a WWE main
eventer who was just a big stiff and needed entirely to be carried. Reigns or Bray Wyatt may not be Daniel Bryan, but they can put on a good show.
Strowman's super green and is all just look and a few throws at this point - he's perfect in the role he has right now.
I'm all in on Bray/Lesnar however - I think I first argued for it back in November when I wanted Bray to be in/win the title tournament. Because
I just think the Family gives Bray an edge that Lesnar's other opponents didn't have - I know Seth had Kane/Big Show but c'mon...Even
after the Undertaker thing, the Wyatts are good at being an intimidating, destructive force and watching Lesnar be forced to mow down the lot of them
would be great.
Lesnar vs Wyatt would work out fine. Bray really has no credibility to make it an epic showdown,but they can do an entertaining match and Heyman and Bray could sell it on the mic even if we know how's it going to end.
quote:
Originally posted by Slade
There are conflicting reports about whether Daniel Bryan is really going to be getting a physical done later this week that could pave his way to returning to action.
From CageSideSeats.com:
quote:
"Dave Meltzer remarked on The LAW recently that Daniel Bryan's contract has been frozen because he's injured, much like what happened with Rey Mysterio. He's also apparently turned down multiple offers for jobs within the company that aren't wrestling in the ring."
"Speaking of Bryan, Meltzer also claimed on Twitter that the story from PW Insider on Bryan taking a physical in Pittsburgh this weekend is false."
If Meltzer is to be believed, then Bryan won't be taking a physical, shouldn't be expected back in the ring anytime soon, and will remain under contract to WWE in perpetuity. I think it is just as likely that he has a physical with WWE doctors as it is that he doesn't have one. It is easy to believe that he has turned down multiple non-wrestling roles within WWE. That his contact is frozen is hard to believe.
I can't believe that anyone would sign such a document, but you never know. If it is like what happened to Mysterio, then I think frozen is the wrong idea. It was said that Mysterio's contract had a clause that added an extra year to his contract if he was injured during the final year of the contract (or at the time it was set to expire, or something like that). Maybe he has a similar clause. However, to say that it is frozen suggests that he is stuck in a contract that will never end until he can fulfill his obligations under for the remaining duration of the contract from the time he went on the shelf until the time it was set to expire. I'm inclined to take this with a grain of salt because I find it hard to believe that Meltzer would have a way to confirm that there are such clauses include in Bryan's contract.
-- According to WhatCulture, a high ranking WWE official leaked the following other candidates are reportedly set to join Sting in WWE's 2016
Hall of Fame class. They are:
The Fabulous Freebirds - long rumored for the 2016 class
Jacqueline Moore - the yearly "diva" entrant
John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL)
Charles Wright (Papa Shango, Kama, Godfather, etc.)
Regis Philbin - celebrity inductee
I doubt that the WWE would hold the Bryan's contract forever because he is injured. After all, by several doctors, he is no longer injured
(unless the WWE has it written in the contract that their doctors determine who is injured, but they also would have to be checking Bryan).
My guess is that either
a) WWE doesn't want him back because of injury history and Bryan will eventually sue to get out, but he is avoiding that at all costs for some
reason (maybe for whichever Bella sister he is hooked up with or maybe because of a sense of loyalty). If this is the case, it'll go on like
this for at least another year.
or
b) everyone's playing the marks. I would guess that the WWE doesn't want Bryan upstaging their Wrestlemania plans if they are confident
they can still get the sell-out they desperately want, so Bryan is cleared to wrestle and they are holding him back for a post-Wrestlemania angle.
Now, b) might seem unlikely given the rash of injuries and the drop in ratings, but it's the WWE and they have an extreme overconfidence in their
ability to draw even in the face of crappy ratings.
Daniel Bryan stole Reigns's heat last year this time, and ruined his push. I don't think the WWE is dumb enough to do that again. They'll sit on Bryan until Reigns is firmly on top after Wrestlemania.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Daniel Bryan stole Reigns's heat last year this time, and ruined his push. I don't think the WWE is dumb enough to do that again. They'll sit on Bryan until Reigns is firmly on top after Wrestlemania.
Dont know how to embed tweets, but Triple H is hyping a "huge surprise" for tonights NXT tapings. Could it be Austin Aries? Or Maybe Styles and co.?
I'd say Aries, just because I think it'd be silly of them to debut any Bullets before the Rumble, even if they dont plan on debuting them
there, just because it'd deflate a lot of the anticipation heading into The Rumble. Nakamura still has NJPW obligations to fulfill before the end
of the month, right?
edit: Thanks Pad,
BAYLEY vs. CARMELLA
SAMI vs. JOE
BALOR vs. NEVILLE
PLUS a huge
surprise...
TONIGHT @CFEArena 6:30pm
https://t.co/pcQU3cSnfR #WeAreNXT
— Triple H
(@TripleH) January 22, 2016Re: embedding tweets
when the sandwich artist tells you they won't make you a sandwich
https://t.co/Sdm80oDPnW pic.twitter.com/vREBrNjBks
— Subway
WWExperience (@WWESubway) January 22, 2016FWIW, that NXT show tonight isn't actually a TV taping. It's the big arena show they are doing in conjunction with the Performance Center
Open House (Sat) and Royal Rumble (Sun), all in Orlando.
TV through mid-February was already taped at Full Sail a few weeks ago.
It's weird, though, because they are hyping a Zayn/Joe/Corbin #1 Contender Match for next Wednesday's NXT, which *I* thought -- logically
speaking -- would have to air this PAST Wednesday to make sense.
SPOILER PARAGRAPH BEGINS *************************
The Zayn/Joe/Corbin match ends without a clear winner, but with Corbin as the clear loser (I won't spoil the exact details). WWE announced that
the Orlando Arena Show would feature Zayn vs. Joe in a #1 Contender Match/Rematch, clearly the result of the non-finish in the weekly TV match.....
but problem is, that match hasn't aired on TV yet, so unless WWE is playing fast and loose with temporal causation (or just giving fans the
credit to know NXT TV is pretaped well in advance, so they'll just slot footage of tonight's Arena Show into the 2/3 show, and trust us to
know it all really did happen in a logical order), I'm not sure if that #1 Contender stip is still in place for tonight's Zayn/Joe match.
SPOILER PARAGRAPH ENDS ***************************
I think Styles showing up tonight would be a damned smart move, and a "surprise" worthy of the HHHype (Aries doesn't really rate a special
shout-out from HHH)... you're gonna get a decent pop when he shows up on the main roster, no matter what. But I don't think it's a
given that the pop will be bigger if it's a total left-field surprise than if you build it up a bit.
Not to repeat myself, but we all need to take a step back, and consider this from the viewpoint of a typical WWE fan, for whom AJ Styles is a familiar
name, but not necessarily a huge reason to get super fired up... so unless you pick the perfect spot and perfect audience (granted, the Rumble will be
that perfect audience), you actually gain a LOT by getting some buzz behind Styles before he debuts on the main roster. Those of us in the wanker
intelligencia start talking about how OMG AJ IS HERE, and it bounces around and trickles down, and all of a sudden, people who wouldn't have been
too excited care way more than they would have without the buzz.
So get AJ out there tonight, to reveal "Hey, this is real, he's one of us now, and he can show up whenever we want." All of a sudden, the
anticipation ramps up, and the speculation runs wild on when that debut happens. And maybe entering the Rumble just to get tossed out 20 minutes later
ISN'T the most impactful way to debut. So the buzz lingers and gets drawn out until the time is right, and then BAM, a star is born.
But if it's not AJ, it could also be somebody from the main roster stopping by for a visit. WWE is running a house show on Saturday night, but
nothing tonight, and a decent number of the crew are already in FL by this afternoon and evening. WWE made a big deal out of Kevin Owens crashing
NXT's Milwaukee event, so it could be something like that.
Rick
quote:
Posted by CCharger
Daniel Bryan stole Reigns's heat last year this time, and ruined his push. I don't think the WWE is dumb enough to do that again. They'll sit on Bryan until Reigns is firmly on top after Wrestlemania.
quote:
Originally posted by Slade
Everyone would be happy with that booking.
[Edited on 1-22-2016 by Slade]
quote:
Originally posted by OORick
(Aries doesn't really rate a special shout-out from HHH)
I agree with that. After AJ Aries is one of the few big names remaining in the indies that can rate a quality pop from the NXT wankers when he
arrives. He's "unknown" only in the bizzaro-verse kayfabe fuckface wonderland where WWE doesn't want to admit ROH/TNA/Japan even exist. Just
cause the casuals at some no-fun-allowed taping of SD or at a dead-city RAW broadcast wouldn't react doesn't mean someone like Aries
wouldn't deserve some sort of positive reaction. Yeah, it's not on the same level as Jericho arriving to interrupt The Rock's promo,
but still. Give the lad some credit for being worthy.
TNA is making some noises that they were in negotiations to re-sign AJ and bring him "back home". They claim they even had a handshake deal with him
until he cut off all contact with them just before the rumours of him signing with WWE began to swirl. Even if true, well, too fucking bad for them.
He was gone for a couple of years and they had all that time to bring him back then. Suddenly he's the bad guy for going to WWE instead? Quit
giving them rubbery bouncy pay checks, Dixie, and maybe some of them would actually want to come back to Orlando.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Daniel Bryan stole Reigns's heat last year this time, and ruined his push. I don't think the WWE is dumb enough to do that again. They'll sit on Bryan until Reigns is firmly on top after Wrestlemania.
quote:
Originally posted by Matte
quote:
Originally posted by OORick
(Aries doesn't really rate a special shout-out from HHH)
I'm not sure if I agree with this or not. I mean, I don't disagree, I'm just not sure what qualifications someone would need in order to deserve that special shout-out. Aries is one of the bigger non-WWE names with undeniable across-the-board capabilities and potential. I think a decent portion of wrestling fans know who he is (comparable to Samoa Joe's fanbase) so it wouldn't be a letdown. I'm interested in what you think he lacks, or if he doesn't lack anything, why you think he doesn't rate this shout-out.
Sensible argument. From what I'm seeing on Twitter, it looks like the huge surprise was indeed Austin Aries, which makes me happy that at least to HHH, Aries deserved the hype.
ImpactWrestling.com, the official website of TNA, posted the following claiming Styles, Gallows and Anderson had signed with the promotion, only to
back out of the deal at the last minute:
AJ Styles has always been synonymous with TNA and TNA synonymous with AJ Styles. AJ helped build the foundation of IMPACT WRESTLING, and his
phenomenal body of work lives in our rich history - something we are very proud of.
In the last few weeks, rumors have swirled about AJ Styles, his future and TNA Wrestling. Fans have asked for the status and wrestling media have
made numerous inquiries.
For the past several months, AJ and TNA were involved in serious discussions to bring him back home to TNA. Creative discussions escalated and two
additional wrestlers, Drew Hankinson and Chad Allegra, were enthusiastically added.
These discussions culminated on December 14th in Nashville, Tenn., where all attended a meeting at Dixie Carter's home. A handshake and
written deal between AJ, Drew, Chad and TNA was agreed upon and signed by all. Start dates were determined, creative decided, merchandise designed and
plane tickets purchased.
Over the Christmas holiday, and after the lawyers finalized the long form agreement, all communication with TNA stopped.
AJ's lawyer contacted TNA and stated the wrestlers had changed their mind and would not be honoring their commitment to TNA.
----
NOTE: LiveAudioWrestling.com is reporting that they have spoken with Styles' management, who claims he never officially signed anything with
TNA.
---
http://rajah.com/node/50599
[Edited on 1-23-2016 by gambit3]
Did they purposely leak out a story that basically says people don't want to work with them?
quote:
Originally posted by gambit3
ImpactWrestling.com, the official website of TNA, posted the following claiming Styles, Gallows and Anderson had signed with the promotion, only to back out of the deal at the last minute:
AJ Styles has always been synonymous with TNA and TNA synonymous with AJ Styles. AJ helped build the foundation of IMPACT WRESTLING, and his phenomenal body of work lives in our rich history - something we are very proud of.
In the last few weeks, rumors have swirled about AJ Styles, his future and TNA Wrestling. Fans have asked for the status and wrestling media have made numerous inquiries.
For the past several months, AJ and TNA were involved in serious discussions to bring him back home to TNA. Creative discussions escalated and two additional wrestlers, Drew Hankinson and Chad Allegra, were enthusiastically added.
These discussions culminated on December 14th in Nashville, Tenn., where all attended a meeting at Dixie Carter's home. A handshake and written deal between AJ, Drew, Chad and TNA was agreed upon and signed by all. Start dates were determined, creative decided, merchandise designed and plane tickets purchased.
It may very well be true that they had a meeting, shook on it and a written deal was reached, but there is no point in TNA going public to bitch about
it because Styles, Gallows and Anderson did nothing wrong. They're just complaining that they had come to an agreement in principle. They even
admit that a long-form agreement had yet to be drawn up, which basically admits that the "written deal" was an agreement in principle as opposed to
contracts for each individual, and those are not legally binding. An agreement in principle is merely a precursor to a contract. All parties agreed
upon the terms of the contract, but some parties - Styles, Gallows and Anderson - clearly decided not to sign onto the contracts, which was well
within their rights. As such, it is a total non-story. TNA is stupid for trying to smear the reputation of the performers it was trying to sign
because it may make other performers hesitant to want to do business with the company in the future if that is the way it chooses to handle its
business.
[Edited on 1-23-2016 by Slade]
Also worth noting, from what I've read: Bill Behrens, AJ's manager/agent pointed out to TNA that no contracts/deals can be finalized without
his involvement, therefore making any written deal between them (if indeed one was signed) null and void. They were apparently working on a longer
form contract with Behrens but nothing was ever finalized/signed at that point.
Honestly doesn't sound like TNA has much of a leg to stand on legally (if they did you'd think they have immediately sued WWE/pursued an
injunction against WWE debuting him until the matter can be settled, rather than just issue a statement, like when Mike Awesome went to WCW while
still signed to ECW). Most likely this was just to get themselves a bit of publicity in all the buzz about AJ/WWE, and maybe try to fuck with Vince a
bit.
I still think the solution is pretty simple: buy them, strip it for parts (aka their library and EC3, Storm, and Bobby Roode), and be done with the greatest chapter of "What If?" in professional wrestling history.
quote:
Originally posted by Cherokee Jack
Also worth noting, from what I've read: Bill Behrens, AJ's manager/agent pointed out to TNA that no contracts/deals can be finalized without his involvement, therefore making any written deal between them (if indeed one was signed) null and void. They were apparently working on a longer form contract with Behrens but nothing was ever finalized/signed at that point.
Honestly doesn't sound like TNA has much of a leg to stand on legally (if they did you'd think they have immediately sued WWE/pursued an injunction against WWE debuting him until the matter can be settled, rather than just issue a statement, like when Mike Awesome went to WCW while still signed to ECW). Most likely this was just to get themselves a bit of publicity in all the buzz about AJ/WWE, and maybe try to fuck with Vince a bit.
Regarding Austin Aries: I find it interesting that the WWE let him, Samoa Joe, James Storm, and (apparently) AJ Styles all keep their names. Did Triple H and company finally realize that it was stupid to change the ring name of every wrestler who comes to NXT or did they figure that those particular guys had enough name recognition that it would be a bad idea to re-brand them?
I'm hoping that it's a sign that as part of making NXT a touring brand, they want some guys to be mainstays. By letting Joe and others keep their name, you save yourself the trouble of rebranding them and let whatever audience they cna bring come to the small but monumental touring shows.
I think that NXT is a dollar bet between HHH and Vince McMahon (a la Trading Places) where one is showing that TNA could have made money as a touring
company with the talent they had (which, of course, has always been a mystery to me how TNA has a national TV program and can't outdraw the local
indies in many markets).
We're at the point where Vince is demanding HHH doesn't change the names so they know they are getting TNA 'stars'.
It isn't just former TNA stars that have been allowed to perform under names that aren't trademarked by WWE. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano have wrestled a few times on NXT under their own names. Likewise, Rich Swann debuted as Rich Swann, although I would expect that change sometime down the road because he signed with WWE, whereas Ciampa and Gargano have been working on a per-appearance basis. I've read that sometimes they put guys on TV to do a stint as a jobber, then take them off TV and repackage them with a name change and their own gimmick to give them a push. The article in which I read that cited Elias Samson as an example. Apparently, he made a few appearances to job for other people, then came off of TV and returned as the drifter character. I'm sure there have been others who have done the same.
quote:
Originally posted by bopol
I think that NXT is a dollar bet between HHH and Vince McMahon (a la Trading Places) where one is showing that TNA could have made money as a touring company with the talent they had (which, of course, has always been a mystery to me how TNA has a national TV program and can't outdraw the local indies in many markets).
We're at the point where Vince is demanding HHH doesn't change the names so they know they are getting TNA 'stars'.
It seems everyone who has left TNA all say how shitty it was that TNA never promoted when they went on tour. I've been to a couple of TNA house shows. One was at an arena Cornette use to run, the other was at some place I had never heard of with a capacity smaller than the Davis Arena that OVW takes place. I think ROH drew bigger crowds than the second TNA show. They just never got it together with the touring, which is insane when you consider how great the England shows come off.
Not really thread worthy, and really just an observation; but I've been watching all the old attitude era Raw's and I'm just really
stricken by the similarities between Roman Reigns and..... wait for it.... Bull Buchanan.
It's hardly a definitive list, and more just a few quirky spots but:
*When Bull d�buted he was matched up with Big Boss Man.... their clothing of choice? Fatigues and black tactical vests.
*Can't remember who he was wrestling. In a cage match... Hardy's maybe.... but Bull did kind of a run into the cage wall using it to spring
board back into one of his opponents and land a Superman punch.
*They both drop kick the same... That kind of forward both feet skyward launch yourself at the other guy kind of drop kick.
*I swear I've seen Bull hit a spear, and a side apron leg drop. Now to be fair, Bull was a silent lower mid card guy; so between certain guys
more earmarked for the upper card getting certain moves and him still developing it was probably a case of throw everything at the wall and see what
sticks.
Slap a wig, goatee, some bronzer, and tribal tattoo on Bull and you've got Reigns.... Well probably not, but what you probably do have is a list
of moves/traits that are indicative that maybe the WWE really does have a really boxed in idea about what a big guy should be like... one that appears
to be 15 years old at this point.
quote:
Originally posted by cardscott5
It seems everyone who has left TNA all say how shitty it was that TNA never promoted when they went on tour. I've been to a couple of TNA house shows. One was at an arena Cornette use to run, the other was at some place I had never heard of with a capacity smaller than the Davis Arena that OVW takes place. I think ROH drew bigger crowds than the second TNA show. They just never got it together with the touring, which is insane when you consider how great the England shows come off.
quote:But that isn't what they are getting. They are being widely ridiculed while adding extra buzz for the Royal Rumble.
Originally posted by Cherokee Jack
Also worth noting, from what I've read: Bill Behrens, AJ's manager/agent pointed out to TNA that no contracts/deals can be finalized without his involvement, therefore making any written deal between them (if indeed one was signed) null and void. They were apparently working on a longer form contract with Behrens but nothing was ever finalized/signed at that point.
Honestly doesn't sound like TNA has much of a leg to stand on legally (if they did you'd think they have immediately sued WWE/pursued an injunction against WWE debuting him until the matter can be settled, rather than just issue a statement, like when Mike Awesome went to WCW while still signed to ECW). Most likely this was just to get themselves a bit of publicity in all the buzz about AJ/WWE, and maybe try to fuck with Vince a bit.
Hey, no one ever said they were great planners.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
My favourite dirtsheet lists attendance figures once a week or so. NXT draws regularly about 500/750/1000 people depending on venue. No surprise because they obviously on the bingo hall circuit. WWE house shows, shockingly, don't do very well at all, like in the range of 2000 to 4000 people. Even SD's and RAW's have been under-drawing in arenas, like between 8000 to 10000 per show. Don't know what it's like for their run-of-the-mill monthly PPV's but I'm assuming by figures like this they're really only drawing big anymore for the the Big Four PPV's like WM, RR, etc..
[Edited on 1/24/2016 by Paddlefoot]
WWE would have to do more India tours 
Not joking, but I guess the kids love WWE out here in India.
Demographics ensure a good enough market.
India is already the 6th largest movie industry in the world by box office collections. If the WWE plays it right, they can look at India as the 2nd
largest market after the USA in a decade or so.
quote:
Originally posted by bopol
Chikara toured England last year for four shows and is heading back over there this year for another four. I've got to believe they must have done well last year to do it again this year. My take is that England is so starved for pro wrestling, anyone can do well there.
Gobshite,
Interesting. So I should take it that the UK wrestling fans have great taste when they support Chikara. I'm cool with that.
Rasslins kinda in the British DNA.
Listening to people like Regal and Brookside talk about the old circuits and such very much reminds me of my grandparents/parents talking about the
world of sport days. Subsequently we've had/have a wide array of both WWE and Indy level shows to attend pretty much constantly over the past
however many years.
Most WWE shows I've been to are on par with the average bizzaro world Canada or Philly crowds except generally more well behaved with regards
face/heel dynamics (outliers like Cena and Reigns aside.)
When I talk to randoms about wrestling that identify as liking wrestling they're generally fairly switched on to at least RoH levels so,
I'd say on the whole from my experience we're pretty sound.
* Tonight's RAW from Miami is expected to be a LOADED show with rumored appearances by Steve Austin, The Rock, and Shawn Michaels in addition to the Royal Rumble fallout.
How is the Modern Family episode prior to Raw, Cole?
I think it's the one where Jay goes to the eye doctor and ends up boning Manny thinking it was Gloria.
Modern Family, always bringing it.
According to some stupid rumor site, there was supposed to be a ~ZOMG SURPRIZZE last night that wasn't used and instead will be used tonight.
Insert stuff about a returning Orton or Bryan or ____________ here.
With regards to the whole TNA-AJ/Bullet Club fiasco, a poster on another board that I frequent basically nailed it better than I could ever possibly
do.
quote:
Holy sweet Jebus.
This has got to be the last straw. I don't want TNA to die; I've never wanted them to die, because I hate the idea of there being less places with money for wrestlers to work (and the idea that "somebody will rise up to take their place" doesn't float, not in the 2016 North American pro wrestling scene).
But if there is anybody out there who has been defending Dixie Carter on any level, in any way, this has got to be the nail in the coffin for even the most ardent defenders.
By the sound of things, some of the members of Bullet Club were looking to move back to working full time in the west; Anderson has dropped hints to that effect in the past, and AJ's made it known that his time left is limited. Ok, all well and good. TNA makes overtures, sees about bringing them in, maybe even works out a rough sketch for what the contract terms will be. Fine, great, no problem, though there's potential tampering there concerning Anderson's NJPW status. Still, nothing written down or recorded, so no harm, no foul.
Then the larger company, WWE, gets wind of this, figure it wants these guys if they're willing to sign for TNA level money, swoops in and gives them a better offer. Oh well; them's the breaks. Sucks when you're the little guy and the bigger kid on the block takes your toys, but that's the nature of the industry right now.
So Dixie makes her "they want our talent" comment, and you can sense she's frustrated by something...though they never actually signed Bullet Club, so saying "our" talent doesn't really work. Still, Dixie being Dixie, whatever.
But this...holy shit THIS.
What does TNA possibly gain from this? Is it that they want people to think "Hey! TNA was going to have those guys before WWE got them!" as if that would do ANYTHING for them? Is there a legal angle here? Clearly not, or this would all be handled by lawyers, not a freaking Twitter statement. They just revealed private talks they had with talent, something that undoubtedly would make anybody who may ever sign with them in the future very wary, AND they've opened themselves up to a tampering lawsuit from NJPW.
Are they just angry and pouting about losing out on talent like Bullet Club? If so...why the hell are you making it public?!? THIS DOES NOTHING FOR YOUR SHOW! Nobody new is going to watch, nobody is going to get pissed at WWE for daring to have more money to offer, and nobody is going to resent Bullet Club for taking said better offer.
Just...good God, this woman may be the worst promoter of mainstream (or used to be mainstream) wrestling promotion that this industry has ever seen. I'm speechless at this.
I've said it a few times, but when we look back in history, Dixie Carter is going to far surpass Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, AOL Time Warner, and
hosts of others who are blamed for hurting wrestling the most. Taking unlimited opportunities, including a spot on a major network that professional
wrestling may never get again for a #2 company, and turning them to crap over and over again is unprecedented. She's the worst, with no core
clues about how to be successful in this business. This is the latest thing where she basically went to the lengths to possible out TNA itself on a
possible tampering charge for....who the hell knows why. She has ruined a ton of jobs in this business and doesn't know how to go away for
everyone's good. TNA is going to die eventually for a bunch of reasons, but the majority of them will all lead back to her leadership, which has
been non-existent as a business person.
[Edited on 1-25-2016 by S Kid J E T S 48]
The only explanation is Dixie kept the carte blanche with her dad's money for far longer than ever made sense, even by the standard rules of
nepotism. Bob Carter should have taken away the keys to the T-Bird from her a long time ago. Steph thinks up plenty of idiotic things too, mostly
because it's a genetic trait, but at least Vince and Linda are still wise enough to make sure that the fuck-ups don't end up threatening the
very existence of the company.
I'm more of the opinion now that Bischoff overall had the right idea for WCW. There's no way in hell that a businessman with any sense
wouldn't make the likes of Hogan the overall face of the company and that the Flairs and Stings would have to take the bit of downgrading to A-
status because Hogan was the A+. Not sure why Bischoff let things get so out of control in the locker room though, with the glass-ceiling nonsense
that anyone associated with the NWO started to get away with. Yeah, Hogan was always going to get his way but, buddies or not, that was no reason for
Kevin Nash to do the same. Nor was it ever an excuse to then let the likes of Goldberg start pushing people around. Or ever justify the way they
completely fucked up the post-Screwjob bonanza of signing Bret Hart. Bischoff had to have known by the time that Jericho left, then the Radicalz, that
someone had to rein in the bullshit at WCW before it was too late. I put it down that Bischoff just had too many stars in his eyes. He became a
centerpiece of the problem because he was core-NWO as well. The celebrity-rub from being around Hogan probably got to him and he just couldn't
stop himself from indulging. Or that he just didn't have that hard-man inside him the way Vince McMahon does that would have made him finally say
"I'm the goddamn boss, I make the rules, and that applies to ALL of you". If that meant Nash or Goldberg threw a tantrum and left then so be it
because in similar instances, including with Stone Cold and Hogan, Vince was more than willing to simply say "see ya", re-write the stories around
their departures, and move on.
'Tis a funny thing, the background bullshit behind wrestling. The weird thing is though that they aren't the red-headed stepchild. All
businesses everywhere in every industry are pretty much run in the same fucked up way. Some of them are just lucky enough to make the proper amount of
money to cover up the flaws. If WCW had kept making money, or TNA too, no one would care at all about the pathologies of the idiots running the place.
[Edited on 1/25/2016 by Paddlefoot]
WWE are now tweeting that a major star is returning tonight...
Cena tweeted earlier today that he was already back in the gym...
Please God, just say it isn't so!
[Edited on 1-25-2016 by Gobshite]
I'll go with it being DB. With multiple doctors now saying that he's good to go there's no justification remaining for them not bringing him back to work. I could care less if he ever held the main belt again either because the potential greatness that could come from having him in the mix with Owens, Ambrose, Zayn, and now AJ for the mid-range belts would be beyond fantastic.
I'll say it's the Undertaker. All the news says he wants a longer, more involved Road to Wrestlemania program. He could kickstart that tonight.
Randy Poopy Orton so we can all be disappointed.
I'm just curious what there is for Taker to even do this year. He already beat the Wyatts...twice. Him being in a program for a title other
than the WWE Title makes zero sense. And I would really prefer not to see him take on any NXT guys simply because his record isn't worth padding
anymore. Taker/Cena? I mean, gay spooky vs. overly intense will be an annoying buildup, but at least we can throw it in a corner we don't have
to pay attention to for the next three months.
And my vote is for all four. Maybe not Bryan but if all four showed up, that seems like the mindset they're in right now.
Clearly it's Hulk Hogan.
Defranco, the guy who trains Stephhh posted a vid of taker dead lifting about 410lbs last week. I can't see it being just Taker.
Rock vs HHH vs Orton vs Regins at wrestlemania......
Nikki Bella confirmed with E! and on twitter that she requires surgery to fuse her neck. On the one hand, I'd say it's best to stop taking bumps and avoid the Edge/Angle path. On the other, she did work hard to get better and deserves to be a part of the division with Becky, Charlotte, Paige, and Sasha.
I agree.
Nikki and Cena both out for a prolonged period of time gives most of the IWC what they've been asking for for years... so naturally, the ratings will fall over the course of this year...
quote:You were a pretty close guess, considering that Rock went off-script and chatted with the Costumed Crew at ringside.
Originally posted by S Kid J E T S 48
Clearly it's Hulk Hogan.
Given that the WWE Diva's division is a boring slab of ill-booked mediocrity, yes, Nikki deserves to take part. She can wrestle underwhelming
matches and have no discernible motivation beyond "bitchez be fighting" along with the rest of the girls.
Seriously, as much as I eyeroll at "trying and getting better" = "actually being much good", I feel for Nikki. She really did want to become a serious
wrestler, and given another year or so, she could've been one of the greats. Neck fusion is srs bzns, though, and she'd be wise to take it
real easy from now on. Doesn't mean she can't participate in the product in a non-Total Divas capacity. Still, I hope she comes back for one
last sendoff run. She deserves that much.
Regarding Undertaker, I'd actually love it if some NXT guy made his bones upsetting a retiring (or just upsetting) the Deadman. I loves me some
Apollo Crews, but I don't think he's quite ready. In this scenario, I'd actually prefer a babyface, or Kevin Owens would be perfect.
Honestly, much as I'm not sold on his Next Big Thinginess, Finn Balor would fit quite well. They could have the Battle of the Theatrical
Entrances.
Otherwise, just Taker vs. Owens would do me fine, though it'd feel slightly like a retread of Taker-Brock.
I'm more than likely in the minority on this, but I would like to see Undertaker have his match at WrestleMania end in a WIN for The Deadman and have him announce his retirement that night or the next night on Raw.
quote:
Originally posted by The Greek
I'm more than likely in the minority on this, but I would like to see Undertaker have his match at WrestleMania end in a WIN for The Deadman and have him announce his retirement that night or the next night on Raw.
* Sheamus is injured again. They put a cast on his left arm not because it's broke but because he's got bad tendonitus; the cast is to keep
the arm stable and protect it from further injury; no word on when he'll be back in the ring
* Naomi will be returning to action; she's been inactive for a few weeks due to an undisclosed injury
Just have Sheamus keep competing. He can Bob Orton* fellas in the ring.
*That's also when you bleed Hep C all over your opponent.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
Just have Sheamus keep competing. He can Bob Orton* fellas in the ring.
*That's also when you bleed Hep C all over your opponent.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
Special Health Note: Don't fellate anyone with Hep C.
http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/report-wwe-changed-plans-for-royal-rumble-match-mid-way-through-original-plans-revealed/48645/
Apperently, and I kind of figured this, Ambrose being the last one in the Rumble with HHH was a last second change. I find it pretty funny part of the
reason Reigns was taken out of the match was to rework the finish.
Also, Ambrose just had this little interview with Cole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWX6EkFvx1g
And I just sit here bewildered saying to myself "That's your guy. That's your main eventer. Stop pushing Reigns for a while." Is there any
hope for Ambrose? Or is just Reigns going over to thunderous boos just inevitable?
quote:
Originally posted by TonyTH
And I just sit here bewildered saying to myself "That's your guy. That's your main eventer. Stop pushing Reigns for a while." Is there any hope for Ambrose? Or is just Reigns going over to thunderous boos just inevitable?
quote:
Originally posted by TonyTH
http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/report-wwe-changed-plans-for-royal-rumble-match-mid-way-through-original-plans-revealed/48645/
Apperently, and I kind of figured this, Ambrose being the last one in the Rumble with HHH was a last second change. I find it pretty funny part of the reason Reigns was taken out of the match was to rework the finish.
Also, Ambrose just had this little interview with Cole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWX6EkFvx1g
And I just sit here bewildered saying to myself "That's your guy. That's your main eventer. Stop pushing Reigns for a while." Is there any hope for Ambrose? Or is just Reigns going over to thunderous boos just inevitable?
The Ambrose interview reminds me so much of Eddie Kingston, who is wonderful on the mic and a good brawler, but probably has too many other issues to go further than indy darling. I almost wonder if Ambrose has some serious issues to come up with this stuff.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
ETA: This Daniel Bryan rumor here. Great. Just fucking great. So I guess no MITB at WM with a Bryan surprise entry that he wins and then goes on to beat Reigns later in the night after he wins the title from HHH which causes Roman to freak out and turn heel like I've been holding out for in mah head moovies that I thought of just now?
http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2016/1/28/10859390/decision-on-daniel-bryan-reportedly-in-vince-mcmahons-hands
[Edited on 1-29-2016 by janerd75]
Bryan has been deemed injury-prone and I doubt he'll ever get a top spot again. Sadly, WWE has no incentive to bring him back any more for the fan-related reasons you gave.
I absolutely think Bryan is being kept off in part because he will steal Reigns's heat and ruin his push. I also think a guy like HHH can point to Bryan and say "That's why we shouldn't' have pushed him in the first place. He's too small and injury prone. I was right all along." That attitude, in turn, will result in more situation's like Roman's where Vince and StepHHH push guys the fans aren't interested in and ignore calls for guys that fans are interested in.
quote:
Originally posted by TonyTH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWX6EkFvx1g
And I just sit here bewildered saying to myself "That's your guy. That's your main eventer. Stop pushing Reigns for a while." Is there any hope for Ambrose? Or is just Reigns going over to thunderous boos just inevitable?
quote:
Originally posted by The Greek
I'm more than likely in the minority on this, but I would like to see Undertaker have his match at WrestleMania end in a WIN for The Deadman and have him announce his retirement that night or the next night on Raw.
quote:
Originally posted by The Hitcher
quote:
Originally posted by TonyTH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWX6EkFvx1g
And I just sit here bewildered saying to myself "That's your guy. That's your main eventer. Stop pushing Reigns for a while." Is there any hope for Ambrose? Or is just Reigns going over to thunderous boos just inevitable?
I like how he sells the idea of "Superman Dean" about 1000x better than Cena ever sold his particular brand of "Never Give Up" in one promo. That and, like, everything else about that interview.
On Bryan: They created a monster by not giving people what they wanted now it's tearing apart their main event fan reactions and they deserve it for being idiots. If they'd pushed Bryan he'd either be even more monstrously over (good thing) or Cena V2 (arguably also a good thing.)
They could've rode the wave of him being the undisputed top face until the crowd got bored and push whoever they wanted to usurp him, but no, because Vince no likey the weird troll guy push the man meat now waa waa waa.
I'm not even overtly pro-Bryan (though I do like the guy a lot) I'm just bored of his ghost ruining main events because of boneheaded decisions.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
If he does come back the wankers won't be satisfied unless he either gets the belt or is perpetually challenging for it and they probably won't be satisfied with an IC or U.S. Title run either.
I don't even think it's purely "wankers" with that guy anymore: It's the universe (ugh) in general.
The wankers perpetuate the "Dan-yell Bry-an" chants during Brie Bella matches sure, but when he's around and active: He's over with
everyone. As wankerish as the crowds for the event are, check out the last two Wrestlemania's noones got that big a crowd reaction since, dare I
say, The Rock.
I think they'd be sated by any amount of success to be honest, IC belt, Tag, whatever, but the general ill feeling towards his perceived
mistreatment is as ground in as the "what" chants.
quote:
Originally posted by Matte
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
If he does come back the wankers won't be satisfied unless he either gets the belt or is perpetually challenging for it and they probably won't be satisfied with an IC or U.S. Title run either.
This, I'm not sure on. At this point, I think a lot of us would be satisfied if he just came back, period. As long as they don't have him losing to the Social Outcasts every week. The issue would be if he started getting crazy reactions again and they refused to do anything about it. Then, the wankers wouldn't be satisfied.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
I absolutely think Bryan is being kept off in part because he will steal Reigns's heat and ruin his push. I also think a guy like HHH can point to Bryan and say "That's why we shouldn't' have pushed him in the first place. He's too small and injury prone. I was right all along." That attitude, in turn, will result in more situation's like Roman's where Vince and StepHHH push guys the fans aren't interested in and ignore calls for guys that fans are interested in.
With the wave of injuries, and now include ADR to that list which is probably the reason they gave the US title to Kallisto, it's nothing short
of idiotic to keep DB out if he's convincingly proven by multiple docs to be healthy. If this is the way Vince McMahon really thinks then he
became a billionaire by accident, by lucking into things with the likes of Hogan and Austin at the right moments in the cultural zeitgeist, certainly
not on purpose or according to any kind of business plan. This kind of thinking about DB is dumb, on a Dixie Carter level of dumb, to keep him
grounded. "Yeah, but he's short and doesn't look right", coming from a machine that's pushing AJ Styles who appears tiny next to the
WWE behemoths and looks like he's even small next to Daniel Bryan? Fuck the reaction to/with Reigns or anyone else. If DB can put asses in the
seats and boost the TV ratings while all these other guys are out then just do it. Don't even have him go near Reigns or the main title scene for
at least six months. Just have him tear it up with Owens, AJ, Ambrose, Rusev, Ziggler, Joe, Zayn and whoever else. Hell, if this were a different era
from not too long ago you could have built a massively successful wrestling promotion off of those seven or eight guys alone. It would serve the
purpose of letting Reigns/HHH/Lesnar run it's course while the mid-card does what it does best in putting on matches and feuds that are generally
superior to what happens around the big belt.
Here's another thing about the crowds too. If 80 or 90% of the audience is cheering for DB in the mid-card then why in the fuck would any
rational businessman care if 10 or 20% or the crowd, that are the kind of shithead wankers that wreck NXT shows, are unhappy? FUCK. THEM. Jeebus H.
Cripes, telling a company that most of the fans being happy is a good thing isn't working on a boss that somehow expects to make 100% of them
happy all the time? That guy shouldn't be in charge of a company anymore if that's what his thought processes have devolved down to.
[Edited on 1/30/2016 by Paddlefoot]
Indeedily-do to what Pad and Crunk wrote. It's hard as hell and just damn peculiar telling what the deal with DB ultimately is. Especially when
they've pushed a guy like Rey Mysterio in the past and are currently pushing Owens and Styles now, two guys who are about as far from being
traditional WWE Guys as you can get. *Cornette voice* Motherfuck, Kevin Owens probably shits the size of Rey Mysterio twice a day, hell, three times
if that fat fuck's been to Shoney's.
I'm beginning to see this upcoming Wrestlemania as the final act in a three act tragedy that started with RR two years ago. They vaguely righted
the ship by calling the DB audible at 30, fumbled the next Rumble by dumping Byran unceremoniously but somewhat saving 31 by putting the title on
Seth, and now we're at the endGame at 32 with, essentially, if not the two principals in this DB Tragedy (that would be Vince and Dunn) but their
fan acknowledged avatars of all the animosity the fans are going to pour their hate into in the persons of HHH and Reigns.
Maybe Vince was just so hypnotized by the once-in-a-lifetime gifts of having Cena around for so long. Not as surly as Austin, not out the door to
Hollywood as Rock, Vince has been spoiled by Cena's loyalty, size, and relatively injury-free career. I just hope that, much like his cousin did
with Rocky Maivia upon his debut, they find a "cousin" storyline where the initial face push for Reigns thingie just doesn't work and he goes
heel. And so long as he goes over every once in a while, I can't think of anyone better, other than a face or anti-hero Dean, to put that idea
over than Bryan. I wrote it before, but holy shit can you imagine the pop WM 32 would get if there were a MITB match with DB as a surprise entrant
that won and then immediately took the title either from HHH or Reigns at the end of their match? Hell, I'd start the heel turn process at
Fastlane and have some kind of nascent split between Reigns and Ambrose that ultimately leads Roman on his path to the Dark Side. I dunno, I just want
to see Bryan agayn.
I think Roman's gimmick for a few years (2-3 years) should be that of the quiet loner who is not to be messed with.
Not a vigilante like Sting but just a guy who keeps to himself. Have him around the upper mid-card bringing the pain to one obnoxious heel at a
time.
Fans will gradually buy in.
During this time the WWE will have to go with Brock vs Dean Ambrose, Brock vs Kevin Owens, Brock vs AJ Styles and any permutations as mega feuds.
Rollins and Cena will come into the mix soon enough.
* not sure yet if there'll be any heat on him for working too stiff (again) but ADR's lower back injury is apparently a result of
Lesnar's vertical suplex on him in the RR
* Awesome Kong got sent home from TNA's tour of the UK as a result of a backstage altercation with Reby Sky, with the extreme version of the
story being that Kong tried to throttle her for mouthing off in the locker room
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* not sure yet if there'll be any heat on him for working too stiff (again) but ADR's lower back injury is apparently a result of Lesnar's vertical suplex on him in the RR
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* Awesome Kong got sent home from TNA's tour of the UK as a result of a backstage altercation with Reby Sky, with the extreme version of the story being that Kong tried to throttle her for mouthing off in the locker room
Yeah, lots of talk on Twitter among UK folk that Kongs been sent home for attacking Reby whilst her and Matt's baby was present. Guess we'll have to wait and see if she's at tonight's tapings or not...
Word is the baby was too busy being breastfed by Matt to have noticed anything traumatic.
But seriously, I've met Kong numerous times and she's the epitome of the word sweetheart. Reby Sky on the other hand? I've read really
nothing but bad things about her. Sometimes a bitch gotta slap a bitch.
Kong may appear to be a sweetheart, but aren't we also talking about the same person who lied about having a baby? I'm all for sympathy for that particular situation, and have had friends miscarry- I wouldn't wish the experience on anyone... But that's a bad indicator of mental stability.
You know, I hadn't ever actually heard that she may have faked the pregnancy so color me ignorant on that front. If that is true it's pretty heinous, and a sure sign of some mental issues. But even still, those types of issues have nothing on somebody who willingly chooses to be around a Hardy, and not even the omg~cute one.
She didn't fake the pregnancy. She had a miscarriage but was telling others that she gave birth to a healthy child.
[Edited on 1-31-2016 by Matte]
Maybe TNA should take the hint from the last time Kong went after someone: fire them now. Because you're only days away from it coming out that they're racist and letting their spouse sleep with someone in charge.
From Beerfest re: Hogan - "his nickname isn't 'Silo' because he keeps that thing full of corn".
Bit of timeline on this gal "feud". (link is safe if you have a good ad-blocker)
http://www.dailywrestlingnews.com/big-backstage-incident-with-two-tna-stars-why-theres-beef-between-the-two-more/
quote:
The beef between Kong and Reby goes back to 2013 when Reby spoke out on Twitter about WWE Legend Sid Vicious no-showing an independent event. This led to Kong taking a shot at Reby during her �YouShoot� interview in the �Ho Bag� segment. Reby was later asked about Kong taking the shot on her �Ask.fm� page. Reby, who also called Kong a drug addict, wrote the following when asked about the shoot interview diss:
�Not aware of this, if it is true. Doesn�t make much sense, as I don�t know her on a really personal level & we have been nothing but nice to each other in passing at shows. We�ve actually texted back & forth a few times, so if she now has a problem with me, I can only attribute it to one thing/person. Fake as fuck to be nice to my face & talk shit to a camera if its true, but no shocker there. That�s 99% of the women in this business anyway. Next.�
WWE are pimping the few WCW matches AJ styles had right now-I'd totally forgot they ever had a cruiser weight tag team championship...
quote:
Originally posted by shashwat mishra
I think Roman's gimmick for a few years (2-3 years) should be that of the quiet loner who is not to be messed with.
Not a vigilante like Sting but just a guy who keeps to himself. Have him around the upper mid-card bringing the pain to one obnoxious heel at a time.
Fans will gradually buy in.
During this time the WWE will have to go with Brock vs Dean Ambrose, Brock vs Kevin Owens, Brock vs AJ Styles and any permutations as mega feuds. Rollins and Cena will come into the mix soon enough.
A lower level version of Stone Cold might help him a bit, kind of like when the NWO showed up in WWE and Austin basically told them in his first
backstage encounter with them "don't fuck with me". Roman wouldn't, nor would anyone else either, ever be capable of what made SCSA one of
the most chilling characters in wrestling history. But a subdued and perpetual angry tweener that wants to be left alone by everyone and has to do it
on his own? It could be accomplished. It would open up feuds for him with faces as well as heels. Not as blatant as turning on Ambrose but more like
if someone like Ziggler came down to rescue him from a bully beating from the LON or Wyatts then Roman could nuke everyone in the ring. And on purpose
too because he's in a permanent bad mood, none of this "he was dazed and didn't know X was trying to help him" crap they resort to too
often.
Probably all grasping at straws now because the botch of his character by Creative is too far gone to be repaired. Might have to just leave it as is
and let it happen on it's own down the line where the booing stops, kind of like it mostly has for Cena, simply because it's no longer cool
for the obnoxious smarks to do it anymore. Just retire already Vince, you crazy old man! And take Bukkky with you to empty your chamber pot!
[Edited on 1/30/2016 by Paddlefoot]
I'm all for Pad's scenario so long as they throw in a little sad Hulk music after his matches as he stoically walks back up into the
crowd
edited to add: I don't know what this says about me but my brain immediately autocorrected "bukkky" to "bukkake" when reading your post.
[Edited on 1/30/2016 by CM Crunk]
That just provided Janerd the excuse for his next gif bombardment.
I've quickly learned that there are several people to NOT EVER bring up in conversation online, Cena, Reigns, Bryan, and the Bellas being the main ones. The only thing you'll get is an argument, no matter how you feel. I've just gotten to the point where I keep to myself and let things happen as they will.
quote:
Originally posted by PB-13
I've quickly learned that there are several people to NOT EVER bring up in conversation online, Cena, Reigns, Bryan, and the Bellas being the main ones. The only thing you'll get is an argument, no matter how you feel. I've just gotten to the point where I keep to myself and let things happen as they will.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
That just provided Janerd the excuse for his next gif bombardment.
I tried in vain searching for a c-c-combo breaker gif of a "Bukkake Beaver" in reference to our favorite avatar of everything wrong in the WWE that is
Kevin Dunn and all I did was sprain what's left of my soul. Jesus, there are horrible places on the internet. Particularly the places that look
like a chick slipped on some dicks and fell into a vat of Elmer's glue.
In rumor nooz, it's looking like WM will not be Taker's last ride. Which, all jokes about his health aside, kinda makes sense as he's
only 51. Considering the shit Flair did late into his career, I'm much more comfortable seeing Taker go for another year or so. I'm still of
a mind that if we haven't heard anything aboot it or don't very soon then he'll still be around for a bit at least as a special
attraction. If they hadn't fucked up and had him and Kane decimate the Wyatts and they were actually booked as unstoppable monsters, I
wouldn't mind seeing WWE do something completely different and have Taker and Brock do a begrudging team up to take them out.
Dunno if it never was his play to swan song it at WM32 to begin with, or with the injuries being what they be and wrecking plans A, B, and C-Z that
they might have come up with for it, that there just wasn't a swan-songable match to be held this year (in WWE and/or UT's mind at
least).
More than one are going to go off on some rant about Kevin Owens or AJ or any/everyone currently or formerly on the NXT roster, and that's fine.
This scenario isn't saying that those wouldn't or couldn't be the match this year.
But if Plan A was Cena vs. UT, which no one can objectively say that that's not a "last match and retire" type of match, then it's really
difficult for me at least to come up with something that isn't at least a few order of magnitudes below that from the people that are or likely
ready for WM competition, outside of Brock which they already did.
I'm still not quite sure who Taker faces at WrestleMania this year. Assuming he's going to wrestle a heel, the legitimate options would be
Kevin Owens, Sheamus...and that's it (I don't think anyone would really buy Rusev at this point and Del Rio's not really an option
since he's jobbed twice to Kalisto in the past month). Taker/Jericho could be kinda, sorta interesting, but I really don't see the WWE going
in that direction.
And like I mentioned in the RAW thread, I'd love to see them go with Taker/AJ Styles, but this is the WWE, where something that awesome rarely
happens.
Why the hell would you want to waste AJ Styles on Taker?
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
Why the hell would you want to waste AJ Styles on Taker?
It is stupid because it's an absolute waste of someone with talent. Undertaker has had one passable match in a decade and it was the Punk match.
Could AJ carry him to something watchable; I guess but then he'd lose and what's the point? Just put Strowman in the ring with Taker, have
the match be a waste of 25 minutes and let AJ actually WRESTLE someone good like Ambrose, Owens, Ziggler, or ya know, even Jericho if that's
something they want to do. I don't want AJ to have to sell for a 51 year old decrepit man and spend 3/4 of the match waiting around for him to
stagger around and hit the next big spot.
Everything else you said could and should happen anyway. AJ should be on the Mania card. It should be a high profile match. It will be in front of
100,000 people. And what do you want him to do on that card; lose to someone who wrestles once a year and has been shown that losing to doesn't
help get people over.
I don't see AJ really getting a high profile one on one match at WM, unless they shift the US title over to a more recognizable heel, and
whatever they put him to work doing at Fast lane goes over like gangbusters.... all this barring them having worked out something in his contract in
advance.
I think it's more likely that they go with some kind of multi-man ladder match for the US title like they did with the IC last year... it's
big enough to rank as something important-ish, and it's a showcase for guys like Styles, Kalisto, and whoever is left over and needs work that
night. Yeah they made a big deal out of Styles at the Rumble, and have been doing right by him thus far, but I just don't under any circumstance
see him facing, or being put into a spotlight caliber match like Undertakers.
*Speaking of Undertaker; the rumour de jour is that if not Owens, he'll be facing Braun Stroman at WM. Stroman is apparently set to face Big Show
at Fast Lane, which he'll no doubt win, and he was pretty well showcased in the Rumble.
I can't see it... Stroman is the guy who makes it believable that the Wyatt family goes over Brock, should they go that route. I just can't
see Stroman, he of so few singles matches, not riding shotgun to Bray or being put in such a high profile match where he more than likely loses, what
with this maybe being Takers last ride.
Honestly, if they don't go the Owens route I'd be cool with Taker facing Jericho.... yeah the Y2J versus Ambrose for the IC is a bit more
tantalizing, but Jericho and the dead man are fresh, and could probably put on a good show that won't result in IWC wankerdom crying about how
Taker should put over a young guy. Kane also wouldn't entirely upset me either.... the two last locked horns about a decade or more back (?),
they are both at the end(ing) of their careers, and them settling up one last time would provide a bit of symmetry to one of the biggest rivalries in
the history of the WWE.
I guess we'll get a clearer picture once Fast Lane is in the books; but I could see it going like this:
Roman w/ Rock vs HHH w/ HBK (WWE title)
Undertaker vs Kane
Jericho vs Ambrose (IC title)
6 man US title ladder match (Kalisto, ADR, Styles, Neville.... ???)
Brock vs Wyatt family.... gauntlet match?
Tag match.... maybe New day vs League of Nations?
Owens vs Zayn (these two could also be thrown into the US title match)
.... Maybe more of a Summer Slam thing; but if you wanted to bust out a possible celeb match, how about a Stardust pairing with Stephen Amell (aka
Casey Jones) vs Sheamus (aka Bebop) and someone else? Maybe bump it up to a 6 man to get a few more bodies in there? TMNT 2 comes out early June;
Amell was well received last year, and him and Sheamus both having roles in it just feels a bit too tantalizing to pass up.
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
It is stupid because it's an absolute waste of someone with talent. Undertaker has had one passable match in a decade and it was the Punk match. Could AJ carry him to something watchable; I guess but then he'd lose and what's the point? Just put Strowman in the ring with Taker, have the match be a waste of 25 minutes and let AJ actually WRESTLE someone good like Ambrose, Owens, Ziggler, or ya know, even Jericho if that's something they want to do. I don't want AJ to have to sell for a 51 year old decrepit man and spend 3/4 of the match waiting around for him to stagger around and hit the next big spot.
Everything else you said could and should happen anyway. AJ should be on the Mania card. It should be a high profile match. It will be in front of 100,000 people. And what do you want him to do on that card; lose to someone who wrestles once a year and has been shown that losing to doesn't help get people over.
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
Speaking of Undertaker; the rumour de jour is that if not Owens, he'll be facing Braun Stroman at WM.
Styles also gives up a foot and 100 lb to Taker as well; I know it's wrestling (and that I also advocated Jericho taking on Taker) and story
trumps the reality of a fight match up, but I just can't under any circumstance see Vince putting AJ in there against Taker.
Yeah Goon; as far as Stroman versus Taker goes; I really hope it's not the case either.
It's funny; just even in putting together my hypothetical card I had some problems, and you really realize how much the mounting injuries have
handcuffed the WWE. Not only that, it dawns on you just how much pressure there is to balance getting guys a spot on the card in as meaningful way as
possible, balance match ups (WWE Universe matches versus workrate matches), and that's all without also mapping out 8 weeks of TV (so about 45
hours), and a 3 hour PPV to get there.
Don't get me wrong, the WWE's writing and booking should sometimes be questioned, but at the same time in trying to appeal to different
types of audiences, taking into account long range marketing strategies, and dealing with the ebb and flow of the rosters (injuries, contracts... ect)
it's harder to book a show than I think many of us think. Owens versus Zayn versus Styles might be a great match, but at this point in time
it's just not a Wrestlemania main event. I think the WWE has more often than not done a disservice to Roman in trying to build him since it
became project Reigns, with plenty of missteps along the way, but I can also understand why on paper Reigns versus Lesnar, or Reigns versus HHH for
the WWE title is what they want.
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
Styles also gives up a foot and 100 lb to Taker as well; I know it's wrestling (and that I also advocated Jericho taking on Taker) and story trumps the reality of a fight match up, but I just can't under any circumstance see Vince putting AJ in there against Taker.
If you're just flat out fantasy booking mania, surely HHH / Taker, Title vs Career is the way to go, as most casual fans will believe it's his last match. He can then give the title up the next night, or lose it at extreme rules.
quote:
Originally posted by Gobshite
If you're just flat out fantasy booking mania, surely HHH / Taker, Title vs Career is the way to go, as most casual fans will believe it's his last match. He can then give the title up the next night, or lose it at extreme rules.
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
It is stupid because it's an absolute waste of someone with talent. Undertaker has had one passable match in a decade and it was the Punk match. Could AJ carry him to something watchable; I guess but then he'd lose and what's the point? Just put Strowman in the ring with Taker, have the match be a waste of 25 minutes and let AJ actually WRESTLE someone good like Ambrose, Owens, Ziggler, or ya know, even Jericho if that's something they want to do. I don't want AJ to have to sell for a 51 year old decrepit man and spend 3/4 of the match waiting around for him to stagger around and hit the next big spot.
Everything else you said could and should happen anyway. AJ should be on the Mania card. It should be a high profile match. It will be in front of 100,000 people. And what do you want him to do on that card; lose to someone who wrestles once a year and has been shown that losing to doesn't help get people over.
AJ facing Undertaker and beating Undertaker would not be stupid, I don't care who you are. That's a career-maker for someone not
named Brock Lesnar to beat Taker at Wrestlemania. But then you look at WWE and you don't have to think hard as to why that wouldn't
happen:
1) WWE doesn't do face vs. face, because they can't make "mutual respect" sports-entertaining. Since there's no way they're
making Taker a heel, they'd have to make AJ a heel. And, since WWE heels can only win big matches through nefarious means if they're not
being booked as a monster or Triple H, there's no way AJ wins, because Wrestlemania Undertaker can easily defeat entire armies of superstars and
shrug off cheap tactics because Undertaker.
2) Beating Undertaker at Wrestlemania would be a career-maker for AJ Styles, which would mean another person overshadows the Roman Reigns project.
3) AJ Styles is 5'10", a good worker, but has very limited mic skills (which actually could get better if working with a script, but since the
script isn't going to be good, AJ's delivery will just get highlighted even more). That's not a guy Vince pushes. Not since that one
guy we can't talk about.
4) AJ Styles is older than most of the roster. And he's in that age group portion of the roster that's currently getting hurt more. So
putting eggs in that basket isn't the greatest idea.
So, agreeing with Dev, AJ vs. Taker is kinda stupid, because it puts a guy with a very good skillset against a guy who, at this point in time, can
only mesh well with guys of a certain skillset (read: Triple H). Him facing Taker and losing doesn't help AJ any (and it really hasn't
helped anyone else they've fed to Taker), and hurts the overall card, seeing as how there's plenty of matches that fit both AJ's
skillset AND AJ's ceiling (an IC or US title match is the perfect spot for him). Just have Kane come out, take out a few guys with Taker during
a Raw and then turn on him, and there's an easy "Last Hurrah" match that doesn't need to have retirement stipulations, but rather is just
expected to be his last match (and he can do a curtain call the next night in front of a crowd that would give him the proper, alive reaction he
deserves...unless the WM crowd winds up to be d-bags a level above last year).
Or, just go the safe route: assume John Cena will be back after Fast Lane and do that.
quote:
Originally posted by nOOb
So, agreeing with Dev, AJ vs. Taker is kinda stupid, because it puts a guy with a very good skillset against a guy who, at this point in time, can only mesh well with guys of a certain skillset (read: Triple H). Him facing Taker and losing doesn't help AJ any (and it really hasn't helped anyone else they've fed to Taker), and hurts the overall card, seeing as how there's plenty of matches that fit both AJ's skillset AND AJ's ceiling (an IC or US title match is the perfect spot for him).
quote:
Originally posted by shashwat mishra
However, HHH should not really be in the main event at all. He had no business pushing himself to the status of World Champion for the 75th time (I do know he can do whatever he pleases).
quote:
Originally posted by merc
Dev,
I'm curious. If AJ won would it still be stupid?
I disagree about AJ not being a guy who can mesh with Taker. Personally, I felt Punk vs Taker was a whole nother league above the Taker/HHH(still
don't get why people rave so much about HHH doing the tombstone, we've seen a million times with Kane).
But yeah, I don't see how you make that match without it coming off as a fodder. AJ just doesn't have the mic chops to do the
''You're awesome but I'm more awesome'' basic face vs face build up they've done with previous faces who've
challenged Taker at Mania, and what story can you attach to it?
Anyway, any rumors on what the fuck Ambrose is doing for Mania? One of the last two guys at the Rumble, gonna Main Event Fast Lane, a major WM match
has to be coming his way right?
It seems pretty well established that at this point in Taker's career he's only interested in putting on great matches, & that goes double
for Wrestlemania. Starting with Edge at 24, it seems like all his opponents have been based primarily off that criteria. That's why I find the
idea/rumor of him facing Strowman absurd. No one has more pull with Vince than Taker & can't imagine any scenario where Taker would green light a
match with that oaf...especially at Wrestlemania...double especially at THIS Wrestlemania.
So if the criteria for a Taker Wrestlemania match is who can he have a great match with & who he'd feel comfortable working, the two most
realistic options appear to be Owens and Styles. Regarding the difference in size between AJ & Taker I don't think it's a deal breaker
(granted, Vince almost assuredly would disagree with me). Seems like Taker likes working with smaller guys, especially at this juncture in his career,
because they can create a lot of the movement necessary for the match to work and they can bump like crazy for Taker's stuff. Plus AJ is good
enough that his offense would work well enough too. There's just no way Taker v. Strowman would come close to being good & I just can't
fathom Taker would use one of his few remaining Mania matches on that guy, especially when he's likely going to be counted on to deliver the
goods a little more than usual this year with no Cena, Rollins, RKO, etc...
quote:
Originally posted by First 9
But yeah, I don't see how you make that match without it coming off as a fodder. AJ just doesn't have the mic chops to do the ''You're awesome but I'm more awesome'' basic face vs face build up they've done with previous faces who've challenged Taker at Mania, and what story can you attach to it?
quote:I've got one way of doing it: "When Bork Lazor was the Next Big Thing, I, Paul Heyman, took hold of his career and made him the biggest name in the WWE and a pop-culture ICON. Now imagine yourself in the hands of a competent sports agent, Roman Next Big Reigns, and see what dreams may come true."
Originally posted by Thom
You basically want Brock, but without the mouthpiece. Hell, in that case, have Heyman recruit Reigns. I'm not sure how it would work, with Reigns seeming to not want to be associated with any sort of group (outside of the Shield), but I'm sure Heyman could figure out something that would make some semblance of sense.
quote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
quote:
Originally posted by merc
Dev,
I'm curious. If AJ won would it still be stupid?
Not as much but still a bit. Look, I get the spectacle of an Undertaker match is a big deal to some at WrestleMania but I don't care about that aspect. I care about watching stuff that entertains me and there is nothing about an AJ/Taker match that would entertain me. At this point, I doubt an Undertaker match at all could entertain me since the matches all follow the same basic formula of hitting big moves and resting for 5 minutes to show the "battle" the wrestlers have been through. It started with the 2 HBK matches which for the life of me I can't believe people thought were great, but quality is subjective.
And even if AJ beat Taker, I think the surprise would overshadow the actual moment and then I have no faith on WWE following that up with their history of massive pushes followed by massive pullbacks followed by a roller coaster of booking.
I'd rather AJ just have a match I'd enjoy; whether that's one-on-one with the quality midcard or some multi-person balls to the wall match like the Ladder Match or something like that. I'd rather see AJ the wrestler than AJ the fodder for Taker.
quote:
Originally posted by the goon
But there's zero chance of Taker/Styles happening anyway, so you'll probably get your wish and AJ will be wrestling Kalisto for the US title during the WrestleMania pre-show.
Honestly, even Orton has fallen off and become another of the guys. The second he stopped being HHH's main in-ring proxy he became a bit player
getting big matches only when they needed a temporary rival( twiced used as a punching bag for Cena before facing Brock and challenging Rollins before
Seth went against Ambrose and Reigns). The guy was stuck in a directionless, bland feud with Sheamus for months because they couldn't be bothered
to give him something to work with.
As much as I complain about his W-L record, Bray Wyatt is a guy I feel is more consistently booked. He's going into his third WM being a part of
the top 3 matches(last year vs Taker, year before against Cena) and he goes throught out the year being involved in the 3rd or 2nd biggest angle
happening. He's never interchangeable, manages to get considerable promo time, and always feels like the next biggest heel besides the heel whose
the Champion or challenging.
* new word on ADR is that it's a neck injury from the RR when Brekk suplexed him, not a back injury, with no word on the severity or when
he'll be back in the ring
Found this, courtesy of the Subway parody account, from a couple years back in the aftermath of Roman losing the 2014 RR to Batista. Yes kids, there
was a time where fans were cheering for him naturally as opposed to what happens now with the forced push. Good shot, and Miz was a real trooper to
take one that stiff.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* new word on ADR is that it's a neck injury from the RR when Brekk suplexed him, not a back injury, with no word on the severity or when he'll be back in the ring
Found this, courtesy of the Subway parody account, from a couple years back in the aftermath of Roman losing the 2014 RR to Batista. Yes kids, there was a time where fans were cheering for him naturally as opposed to what happens now with the forced push. Good shot, and Miz was a real trooper to take one that stiff.
quote:
Originally posted by G. Jonah Jameson
This gif is from well after the advent of the "forced push." The Miz is Intercontinental Champion and he didn't win the belt -- or adopt his "heel Johnny Cage" gimmick -- until Battleground 2014, which Roman Reigns main-evented in a fatal four-way for the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
Confirming a
theory from this past week's Raw thread:
quote:
As seen on Monday's WWE RAW during The Rock's return segment, fans dressed as WWE Legends Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, Randy Savage and Rock were shown at ringside.
Before Rock's segment, the fan dressed as Savage was doing various Macho Man mannerisms and this is why fans were chanting "Randy Savage" during the show. WWE officials backstage did not like the chants and after the Kane vs. Bray Wyatt match, security was sent to tell the fans to calm it down. According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the fans were taken out at one point but let back in and told to calm down, which they did.
Then while The Rock was cutting a promo, he saw the fans at ringside and went to speak to them on camera. According to The Observer, people backstage were "freaking" because they were already mad at those fans for distracting the crowd, and now they were getting TV time. The feeling was that if anyone else besides John Cena would have done the same thing, they would have been fired, but Rock can pretty much do what he wants and go off-script.
*Bret Hart has announced that he has prostate cancer.
* As of yesterday, Kurt Angle has wrestled his last TNA match, and has no further bookings.
* There is reportedly a bit of a bidding war going on between TNA and WWE for the services of one Bill Goldberg. TNA offered Goldberg a top dollar
contract which was countered by the WWE. Where TNA wants to sign him to a long term deal with less money up front, the WWE wants him for a 1 year deal
worth more money. Goldberg meanwhile is only interested in a match at Wrestlemania and not a year long committment.
This is one battle that I hope TNA wins.
Sweet, Lesnar vs. Goldberg II. Twelve years in the making.
quote:
Originally posted by niles81
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur He would've been booked poorly from jump, because WWE can only book poorly.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
*Bret Hart has announced that he has prostate cancer.
* As of yesterday, Kurt Angle has wrestled his last TNA match, and has no further bookings.
* There is reportedly a bit of a bidding war going on between TNA and WWE for the services of one Bill Goldberg. TNA offered Goldberg a top dollar contract which was countered by the WWE. Where TNA wants to sign him to a long term deal with less money up front, the WWE wants him for a 1 year deal worth more money. Goldberg meanwhile is only interested in a match at Wrestlemania and not a year long committment.
Word going around is Bo Dallas, Bray Wyatt, and their father, road agent Mike Rotunda, have left RAW tonight to be at the hospital with ailing Robert
�Blackjack Mulligan� Windham. Seems he has been having serious health issues, and they feel it was enough to leave and be with their family.
[Edited on 2-2-2016 by G-Spot]
quote:
Originally posted by niles81
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur He would've been booked poorly from jump, because WWE can only book poorly.
That statement is... I don't want to say flat-out wrong... but it certainly isn't right. Not because you made the suggestion that he would've been booked poorly. It's because you added the "...because WWE can only book poorly" part. That part is straight up wrong.
quote:
Originally posted by niles81
NXT falls under the WWE banner and it's booked very well.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Hi, I'm Foxy. Have we met? I'm kinda the hyperbole guy. I find it gets me into trouble sometimes, as in this case, when people assume I'm ignorant of nuances.
quote:
Originally posted by niles81
As a result, I can sometimes blend all the bitching I read into one category rather than properly dividing it up as different individuals with different individuals with different gripes.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Long answer short: WWE is capable of good individual and short-term booking, but its long-term storytelling is terrible to nonexistent, and its character development is a shambles. As these are more important than making the right choice now and again, WWE is effectively never booked in a way that creates long-term success.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
NXT is booked decently. It's structured more like an indy promotion, and its booking has way more to do with setting up short-term matches and feuds than with any sort of deeper narrative. This is very basic, but basic and competent is worlds better than the convoluted, self-defeating nonsense that is the (ugh) "main" "product." Basically, watching NXT feels like reading a decent Superman comic. It ain't "All-Star Superman" It's fun, and people hit each other. That's just fine, and good for what it is.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Note also that the NXT booking team is different than RAW's creative team.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Immediately thereafter, of course, they crapped the bed by feuding Daniel Bryan with The Doofus Kane (about whom no-one cares) and roping in Brie Bella to foul things up with her horrible acting.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Meanwhile, dudes stuck with horrible gimmicks get over on their own steam (New Day), guys who reek of awesomeness languish in the midcard (Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Ziggler) and the women's division... don't even get me started.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
They're largely incapable of telling interesting, nuanced, character-driven stories so much as they occasionally pull out interesting twists. They have seemingly no backup plans for injuries. Over a long enough timeline, they squander every bit of goodwill they earn.
Apology for the double post but I do want to make one concession:
One thing that I feel contributes very strongly to my ability to enjoy RAW is my ability to not watch RAW for long stretches of time when I find it to
not be enjoyable. These days, I view the WWE Network to be the main product they are pushing as opposed to RAW and as a subscriber to the Network, I
am very happy with the product WWE is delivering on a whole. RAW is the only area where I have gripes and even then, I'm somewhat forgiving of
them (for a guy who watched something like 2-3 RAWs for all of 2015).
**EDIT** I just realized that this was actually a triple post. All apologies for being such a post hog. I'm not generally like this.
[Edited on 2-2-2016 by niles81]
quote:
Originally posted by niles81
Apology for the double post but I do want to make one concession:
**EDIT** I just realized that this was actually a triple post. All apologies for being such a post hog. I'm not generally like this.
[Edited on 2-2-2016 by niles81]
More to your point, I see RAW as a 3 hour commercial for the Network. The Network is their primary revenue generator at this point, I'm guessing.
It's like a movie trailer. Kind of cool, but mostly missing the good parts.
Actually, it's rather meta. The new RAWs are less entertaining versions meant to entice you to watch the old ones on the Network.
quote:
Originally posted by niles81
I will reply sometime in the not-to-distant future so that I can do so while not being actively drunk.
So the porn company that Sunny is releasing her further public fall from grace** with put out a teaser clip this week, and you instantly realize why
there is no chance of Chyna getting into the HOF any time soon short of curing AIDS, cancer, and stopping a bullet intended for Vince.... The Sunny
clip immediately starts out with using just about every one of her WWE accolades; 2 time slammy winner, 2011 HOF'er, the original Diva.
I only watched the first bit of the clip and it looks like a LOT of soft lighting and shirts/sheets being used to cover her midsection... She looks
better than those mug shots pic's that circulated after her arrest, but she's 43 and has lived the last few years pretty hard, so
there's only so much soft lighting can cover up while she gets ploughed in the ass.
**I don't care about her doing porn, it's her choice, but it wasn't so long ago that she put down those rumours in a fairly definitive
fashion to say nothing of her defense of her cam shows not being her sleeping with people for money, as well as saying she regretted that vids she did
with Hyatt years ago; so her about face seems like it's less an empowered decision and more about a person who's life is riddled with
problems chasing the last bit of cash and infamy available to her.
Hey, speaking of Sunny, she actually managed to get more disgusting as she challenges Chyna to a sex-off. Maybe we can have the puke content in full
effect by adding X-Pac and Gangrel to the vid.
http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/02/tammy-sytych-chyna-sex-wwe/
I'm tired of a world with this in it. And not because Sunny's destroying my dreams because I never thought she was that hot anyway when she
was young. It's just that people this grotesque always seem to have more money than I do. As Roy Batty said, time to die.....
[Edited on 2/2/2016 by Paddlefoot]
quote:
Originally posted by merc
quote:
Originally posted by niles81
I will reply sometime in the not-to-distant future so that I can do so while not being actively drunk.
Isn't inactively drunk the same as passed out? And if so, how would one reply?
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
More to your point, I see RAW as a 3 hour commercial for the Network. The Network is their primary revenue generator at this point, I'm guessing. It's like a movie trailer. Kind of cool, but mostly missing the good parts.
Actually, it's rather meta. The new RAWs are less entertaining versions meant to entice you to watch the old ones on the Network.
I've honestly never understood how shit like this makes money.... I mean there must be enough guys out there who think to themselves "I gotta own
this" as they keeping spitting out these celeb sex tapes (that's not all they're spitting!).... but you'd think by and far most guys
who need to satisfy that morbid curiosity of needing to see so and so with a dick in their mouth would just Google the thing and be done with it....
so maybe their getting money in the back end (zing!) via clicks or something?
I dunno; doing some hard time in jail might be the best thing for Sunny; dry her out a bit and let her take stock of her life.
I wonder if the WWE ever tries to head off stuff like this... like she was selling her HOF ring for a bit there (since taken down with the porn
announcement); like better to buy the ring back on the sly, or toss her a few bucks to try and keep their name away from the carnival that is her life
the last few years.... although with all the DUI's the damage was probably too far done to make it worth while trying to put it back in the box.
I'm not just talking Sunny either.... the offer to pay for rehab for ex employee's is a great PR gesture (and good deed), but you gotta
wonder if they do anything else to help in order to keep their name out of the paper from being associated with the sadness that is some of their
ex-talent.
First my sister's cat threw up all over the basement. Then I saw the article on TMZ. The combination of the two moments reminded my that I have a solemn obligation to bring important and hard hitting stories to you, like this one with Sunny challenging Chyna to see if between the two of them they can break the Houston 500 record in a tandem choccy starfish gangbang.
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
...wondering how much Vince (or the unholy alliance that he represents) weighs "Ratings" vs "Network Subscribers" -- especially now that The Network is global, and ads are regional. Why worry about quarter-hours when you can own entire months? I know ad revenue is still important, so ratings matter somewhat.. But will they forever?
quote:Well, no offense, but if you have no idea what you're talking about, don't spend twelve paragraphs talking about it. I appreciate your attempt to answer my "question", but I don't think there =IS= an answer yet. I was mostly putting the half-formed thought out there as a potential factor in the way the television/ppv products are going to transition into "something different" as a result of the network.
Originally posted by Flash
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
...wondering how much Vince (or the unholy alliance that he represents) weighs "Ratings" vs "Network Subscribers" -- especially now that The Network is global, and ads are regional. Why worry about quarter-hours when you can own entire months? I know ad revenue is still important, so ratings matter somewhat.. But will they forever?
It's probably a bit more confusing than that; but I'll pre-face this by saying I have no idea what I'm talking about,
The latest rumored WrestleMania matches making the rounds on the gossip sites is:
Triple H vs Roman Reigns
Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt
Undertaker vs Braun Strowman
Charlotte vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch
Outside of the Divas triple threat, that's looking like a pretty weak-ass card so far and I really hope they're not actually considering
Taker/Strowman. On the flipside, if those matches turn out to be correct, there's a whole lotta "Goldberg/Lesnar-level crowd reaction" potential
for both Triple H/Reigns and Taker/Strowman, which would make the show a lot of fun for reasons other than what the WWE would want.
Maybe the rest of the card (Strauman vs Taker) is intentionally setting out to be so bad, and boo inducing that it will tire out the crowd so that by
the time Reigns vs HHH comes along they'll be out of gas.
In the WWE think silence > boos.
Cole: "the crowd is so in awe of Reigns beating HHH for the WWE title that they are literally speechless!"
JBL: "Greatest Wrestlemania main event ever!"
King: "I still get money to do this!"
There is a lot of potential at Fastlane with this three-way if they can manage to rub a couple of brain cells together. One, have Lesnar win and we
get the Brekk/HHH feud we never really got to see during Lesnar's first go-round with the company; maybe it's my faulty memory but I seem to
remember that, due to HHH's second thigh injury and Lesnar being on SD most of the time, they never really worked a major programme together.
Two, do either an Ambrose or Reigns heel turn coming out of Fastlane where one gets in a snit and blames the other for Lesnar winning. This would work
out both ways because it would do for Reigns what's been needed all along if they turned him, and if they turned Ambrose he's shown more
than enough over the past couple of years that he definitely could run and run well with that particular ball.
Both scenarios make perfect sense. Therefore it won't happen. The broadcast truck crew is probably practicing twice daily on monkeying with the
sound to drown out the booing when the inevitable happens at the end of the show in Dallas.
quote:
Posted by Flash
It's from 2011, but it probably still gives you an idea.... let's say in the near five years since that article was written the average cost of an ad on a cable channel is now $25k.... let's go on the long side of things and say there are 3 commercial blocks per hour consisting of 4 commercials each. That's 3 hours for 9 commercial blocks x 4 commercials per block @ $25k/ad x 36 ads per raw = $900k per Raw.
$900k x 52 Raw's per year = $46.8 million per year.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
There is a lot of potential at Fastlane with this three-way if they can manage to rub a couple of brain cells together. One, have Lesnar win and we get the Brekk/HHH feud we never really got to see during Lesnar's first go-round with the company; maybe it's my faulty memory but I seem to remember that, due to HHH's second thigh injury and Lesnar being on SD most of the time, they never really worked a major programme together. Two, do either an Ambrose or Reigns heel turn coming out of Fastlane where one gets in a snit and blames the other for Lesnar winning. This would work out both ways because it would do for Reigns what's been needed all along if they turned him, and if they turned Ambrose he's shown more than enough over the past couple of years that he definitely could run and run well with that particular ball.
Both scenarios make perfect sense. Therefore it won't happen. The broadcast truck crew is probably practicing twice daily on monkeying with the sound to drown out the booing when the inevitable happens at the end of the show in Dallas.
Nah. Just a bad memory. Can't remember it at all. Just because it sucked the first time doesn't mean they won't do it again.
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
It's probably a bit more confusing than that; but I'll pre-face this by saying I have no idea what I'm talking about, :words:
Well, no offense, but if you have no idea what you're talking about, don't spend twelve paragraphs talking about it. I appreciate your attempt to answer my "question", but I don't think there =IS= an answer yet.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Nah. Just a bad memory. Can't remember it at all. Just because it sucked the first time doesn't mean they won't do it again.
Thanks Slade and OORick- you both articulated far better what I was stumbling around in my own amateurish way.
quote:
Originally posted by OORick
The TV shows are not "trailers" or "ads" for the Network.... the TV shows need to be destination viewing in their own right, as they represent over one-third of all WWE's revenues
Rick
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
Maybe the rest of the card (Strauman vs Taker) is intentionally setting out to be so bad, and boo inducing that it will tire out the crowd so that by the time Reigns vs HHH comes along they'll be out of gas.
In the WWE think silence > boos.
Cole: "the crowd is so in awe of Reigns beating HHH for the WWE title that they are literally speechless!"
JBL: "Greatest Wrestlemania main event ever!"
King: "I still get money to do this!"
I think the rumoured Wrestlemania match between The Undertaker and Braun Stroman is just someone trolling the IWC. I wouldn't be surprised if WWE employs someone to leak things to the dirt sheets, allowing that "source" to leak a mix of true and false information. I would presume that this is one of those pieces of false information.
quote:
Originally posted by the goon
The latest rumored WrestleMania matches making the rounds on the gossip sites is:
Triple H vs Roman Reigns
Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt
Undertaker vs Braun Strowman
Charlotte vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch
Outside of the Divas triple threat, that's looking like a pretty weak-ass card so far and I really hope they're not actually considering Taker/Strowman. On the flipside, if those matches turn out to be correct, there's a whole lotta "Goldberg/Lesnar-level crowd reaction" potential for both Triple H/Reigns and Taker/Strowman, which would make the show a lot of fun for reasons other than what the WWE would want.
Taker/Braun is horrible. I'd rather see Taker & One-Armed Cena. Taker vs. Lesnar vs. Wyatt in a triple threat might be interesting.
Nothing against Strowman but there's not much to indicate that he'll do anything more in WWE than Mason Ryan or Ezekiel Jackson did. I doubt that he'll be able to accomplish much outside of the Wyatt dynamic. Ryback's already filling the role of big-strong-guy-who's-not-getting-anywhere. I think Owens could do a lot of good in a run with Taker because his attitude and demeanor would make it entertaining despite his lack of size relative to the Deadman. Realistically though it will be Cena, Hunter (again), Kane (again), Lesnar (again), Sheamus, Orton, and others in that group that are the ones most likely to fill out the dance card for Taker whenever the time comes for his last Mania appearance. It is what it is.
Strowman has a voice that matches his body, so he's got that going. And, really, Strowman/Taker is so easy to make. Let me also put my Fantasy
Booking cap on...ahem:
So two Raws before Fastlane Taker comes out to announce his retirement. Long, heart felt speech, "Thank You Taker" chants, the whole works. He goes
backstage and gets the chain of goodbyes. Everyone is out of character to shake his hand, and finally he reaches the end of the line where the Wyatts
are. But they're out of character, and they give handshakes and hugs. All is right until the last guy, Strowman, gives Taker a handshake and
hug. Except Taker starts turning purple. Suddenly everyone realizes Taker is hurting. Everyone runs to break up the hug but Strowman is really
emotional. He's into this hug because Taker was his favorite wrestler. When he realizes Taker isn't hugging him back anymore, he lets go
and Taker falls to the ground. The EMTs take him away because he's old and the show somberly goes on.
Next week, Kane comes out and challenges Strowman out of revenge. Since the Wyatts are back in character, they accept for Fastlane. Strowman wins
that match via too much hugging, and suddenly "Bong!" Lights go off and back on and here's Taker, fully recovered. Everyone scatters and the
next night, Taker makes the challenge, Strowman accepts and there you go: best built Taker WM match ever
Fantasy booking isn't hard, guys.
[Edited on 2-3-2016 by nOOb]
quote:
Originally posted by nOOb
Strowman has a voice that matches his body, so he's got that going. And, really, Strowman/Taker is so easy to make. Let me also put my Fantasy Booking cap on...ahem:
So two Raws before Fastlane Taker comes out to announce his retirement. Long, heart felt speech, "Thank You Taker" chants, the whole works. He goes backstage and gets the chain of goodbyes. Everyone is out of character to shake his hand, and finally he reaches the end of the line where the Wyatts are. But they're out of character, and they give handshakes and hugs. All is right until the last guy, Strowman, gives Taker a handshake and hug. Except Taker starts turning purple. Suddenly everyone realizes Taker is hurting. Everyone runs to break up the hug but Strowman is really emotional. He's into this hug because Taker was his favorite wrestler. When he realizes Taker isn't hugging him back anymore, he lets go and Taker falls to the ground. The EMTs take him away because he's old and the show somberly goes on.
Next week, Kane comes out and challenges Strowman out of revenge. Since the Wyatts are back in character, they accept for Fastlane. Strowman wins that match via too much hugging, and suddenly "Bong!" Lights go off and back on and here's Taker, fully recovered. Everyone scatters and the next night, Taker makes the challenge, Strowman accepts and there you go: best built Taker WM match ever
Fantasy booking isn't hard, guys.
[Edited on 2-3-2016 by nOOb]
If that bunny is an elderly rabbit with zombie vigor and Harry Potter magical powers, then yes.
It's easy to book but it doesn't mean it'll be compelling...
quote:
Originally posted by Slade
I think the rumoured Wrestlemania match between The Undertaker and Braun Stroman is just someone trolling the IWC. I wouldn't be surprised if WWE employs someone to leak things to the dirt sheets, allowing that "source" to leak a mix of true and false information. I would presume that this is one of those pieces of false information.
quote:
Originally posted by The Grindfather
I've really got nothing else to contribute to the Reigns v. HHH discussion other than I do fully expect this one to get the Goldberg/Lesnar treatment... maybe worse somehow. Wouldn't it be something that if the last 3+ years or so of Vince's defiant booking finally explodes in his face at the biggest Wrestlemania ever? I know tickets are ulta-expensive, but my dream is that during ring-intros for this match people just get up and start leaving.
Taker versus Strauman is probably catching some traction because of the rumoured matchup that Strauman has against Big Show at Fast Lane.
Big Show and Kane are generally the WWE's "gate keepers" to getting pushed as a monster (either as the last feud before they get bumped up, or
the first feud). While I can't see Taker agreeing to the Mania matchup, if the WWE is trolling everyone it looks like they are at least putting
in some work at it by also rumouring the type of match that they would typically book as a stepping stone.
Lesnar barely had issues handling him in the Rumble. No way Strowman iss getting theTaker match.
Yeah, Cena vs Wyatt was leaked early but you could see how the pieces would come together for that. Wyatt hadn't lost a match yet and was beating
Bryan left and right.
Holy crap have you guys been busy on this thread the last couple of days. I'm trying to cover as much ground as I can while on a break, so
forgive me if any of this has already been said or gone over...
-This whole "Taker vs. Strowman" rumor absolutely REEKS of bullshit in the same way that "Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan" did for the past 2-3 years. Even
if Vince thought it was a good idea, I simply cannot imagine Taker agreeing and signing off on the idea. Count me in with the group that would love to
see Owens take him on.
-Is it inevitable that we're going to get Reigns vs. Triple H main eventing WrestleMania? Probably. Do I think it'll reach Goldberg vs.
Lesnar levels of "fuck you" heat? In the immortal words of Balki Bartokomous:
"Of course not, don't be ridiculous..."
--And to punctuate the above written with the wisdom of Red Foreman:
"...Dumbass."
Do I think the fans will revolt in some way, shape or form? I do. But I think a lot of us spouting off on the internet aren't taking one big
thing into consideration, and that's NXT. Why do I mention NXT? Well, as mentioned above, NXT Dallas looks like it stands a good chance at
blowing Wrestlemania out of the water at this point in time, and a good portion of that crowd will in all likelihood be in attendance on Sunday and
they'll have their volume knobs broken off past 11 along with everybody else. But why won't they stage a straight up revolt? Like I said:
NXT. They love it, and by proxy Triple H is a babyface because of it. Simply put there are a lot of people out there who have forgiven him for his
reign of terror in the early Aughts because of what he has done with NXT, and I think that those people and many more will be firmly in his corner
that Sunday. ESPECIALLY if the NXT show blows everyone away.
Lesnar and Goldberg got shat upon because the crowd in attendance knew what was going on, knew that there was nothing at stake, and at least in
Brock's case, knew that they felt betrayed. If it comes down to Reigns vs. Triple H, I can easily see Hunter soaking in the loving adulation and
approval of 90,000 people whether he likes it or not. Roman, however, is going to be walking out there with heat on him like he just broke Dusty
Rhodes leg in the steel cage.
Part of me is going to enjoy that because I can be a schadenfreude-loving, jock-hating, grown-up, sarcastic 80's John Cusack character of an
artfag...but another part of me really sort of feels for Roman. He does seem like a genuinely nice dude, but I think he'd be a lot better off if
he followed the advice of Steve Austin, who said months and months back on his podcast (and I'm paraphrasing) that "Roman would be a lot better
off if he learned how to pick his battles. You don't get to the top, and stay on top by constantly saying yes. It might be hard to say no when
the whole company is putting everything it can behind you to make you look like a million bucks, but you don't get to where I did, or where
Hogan, Bret, Shawn, Rock or Hunter did without telling Vince to go fuck himself from time to time."
Makes sense, right? But I just don't think that he really has it in him to do that, and I honestly think he'd be more than happy to still be
playing football if that makes any sense. He just doesn't seem like he has the fire in his belly that others who've come before had, and if
this whole experiment in making him THE GUY doesn't work out, I could see him going the way of say, Bobby Lashley but with less MMA fighting and
wrestling in TNA and more "brooding guest star on Hawaii Five-O" or "taking the roles that Jason Momoa turns down for a midseason replacement
procedural drama on TNT."
[Edited on 2/4/2016 by CM Crunk]
quote:
Originally posted by OORick
In the bigger picture, it doesn't help that TV, as we know it, is a medium in decline, and so EVERYbody's ratings are going down. And whenever the major sea change happens, power will shift back to the actual producers of content (which is what WWE is), and away from all the middle men, like TV networks and cable companies, so maybe things aren't so gloomy, afterall.... it just might be a tough decade or so as all that stuff sorts itself out.
Rick
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
quote:
Originally posted by OORick
The TV shows are not "trailers" or "ads" for the Network.... the TV shows need to be destination viewing in their own right, as they represent over one-third of all WWE's revenues
Rick
These two sentences don't mean the same thing. While the TV shows shouldn't be ads for the Network, for reasons you elaborated on, they clearly ARE, and I think the reason they are is because Vince believes that TV is dying and the Network is the future. Thus, the need to put on a great, highly rated weekly show is reduced because all they really want to do is lock you into a membership to watch a FUCKTON more content than is produced on Monday and Tuesday.
JR blasts WWE management on the way Reigns was used in the Rumble.
http://www.dailywrestlingnews.com/cesaro-update-wwe-legend-talks-roman-reigns-royal-rumble-booking-the-rock/
quote:
�Roman Reigns took more heat than he ever deserved for how he was booked at the Royal Rumble. He was a nose tackle in the ACC at Georgia Tech at 300-plus pounds, and then decided to go into the family business of pro wrestling. The thing we told him was, �You�ve got to work on your body,� and I�m sure The Rock probably had some influence on that, too, but Reigns worked extremely hard and is very dedicated. The way he was booked in the Royal Rumble was decided by management. It was executed poorly. There should have been medical staff trying to help him and he could have pushed them away, refusing a ride to the trainer�s room. But the damn story was not told. And I�m not lashing out at anyone, because I don�t know if that was by design or not.
In hindsight, instead of sprinting and running to do anything, Reigns should have walked very deliberately and used his facial expressions to tell a great story. But we have the luxury of re-booking something we�ve already seen. I understand the intent of the storyline, but we never got a medical update on Reigns. It might have been a philosophical thing from upper management to have fans forget about Roman for a while, so it wasn�t the announcers� fault and it damn sure wasn�t Roman Reigns� fault.�
Some news....
*Flair, on his podcast, has stated that HBK was offered a big money offer to do something at the Rumble; since we didn't see him there it looks
like he turned down whatever they were offering.
I could see HBK being in HHH's corner to counter the Rock potentially being in Reigns, but I'm guessing that with it now being 7 years since
he last laced 'em up the HBK one more match ship has sailed, and he fully intends to be good to his word of staying retired.
*Pat Patterson has an autobiography coming out shortly; It will be called "Accepted: How the first gay superstar changed the WWE".
I might actually give this one a read; human interest stuff that they are pushing as the selling point aside, this is a guy who was Vince's right
hand man for a long time; and outside of maybe Bischoff's book, it's a rare glimpse of someone on the other side of the talent divide, and
maybe about as close to a look inside of Vince's inner circle that we might get short of Vince himself putting out a biography (which I'm
convinced is secretly written with instructions to be released X number of years after his death....). His in ring career and that early 70's era
could be interesting, ditto for his thoughts on the whole phantom IC tournament that crowned him the first champ.
Or it could suck....
*Cena posted a video of himself in the gym after his recent surgery.... it's just a bare bar he's lifting right now, but with about 6 weeks
to Wrestlemania can anyone ever truly count Cena out? There are some additional rumours that the WWE is contemplating a major character change him
upon his return, whenever that may be.
Let's say Super-Cena is good to go, and the WWE get's that Taker vs Cena match they'd (as rumoured) had pencilled in for a bit....
Cena's bound to be booed, even more so in Texas.... so start the annual Cena Heel Turn debate version 2016?
*Bret Hart recently commented on Owen going into the WWE HOF; and he's saying that it will be yet another Owen free year again when it comes time
to make the induction announcements. He pretty much blames Martha.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Odd how things got dumber and dumber in wrestling as guys like JR and Cornette were moved further and further away from being involved with important booking decisions.
quote:
Originally posted by nOOb
best built Taker WM match ever
quote:
Originally posted by Gobshite
quote:
Originally posted by nOOb
best built Taker WM match ever
Bitch please, what you 'booked' wouldn't even crack the top ten.
It's BARELY better than Taker vs Giant Gonzalez.
In (non)
news, CM Punk is a douche.
quote:
CM Punk recently spoke with Kevin Wong of Complex Magazine. The full interview can be read at this link. Below are some highlights, including the awkward end to the interview:
Not wanting to answer WWE questions:
�I don�t feel like fielding questions about it [WWE]. I�ve been there, I�ve done that, and I�ve accomplished everything I was going to."
What specific areas he's working on improving with MMA:
�I work on everything... It�s a boring answer, because it�s kind of a boring question. This is mixed martial arts. I�m not in there one day, working on one specific thing, I�m in there everyday, working on everything. My defense, my wrestling defense, my striking defense. And not only do you have to defend, but you�re being judged by three people who don�t always see what other people are seeing.�
After Punk was asked if he's anxious or intimidated to go from pro wrestling to MMA, they had this awkward exchange that led to the interviewer being informed Punk never wanted to speak to him again:
�I get this question a lot, and it�s like you guys think I�m an idiot. Like I didn�t know MMA wasn�t pre-determined or something like that. Have you ever tweeted at me, �Hey, do you know what you�re getting into?��
�I never have.�
�Okay. It sounds like you might have.�
�I don�t mean to put you on the defensive��
�I�m not on the defensive. Your question is insulting. You�re asking me if I know the difference between the WWE and the UFC?�
�That�s not what I�m asking.�
�That�s exactly what you�re asking... You say my fans say that? You�re mistaken. My fans do not say that. I wouldn�t say anything to them [my critics]. I don�t justify stupidity with an answer. I don�t give a shit what anybody thinks of me, whether I�m going to fight or not. I know what I�m going to do. If I did anything in my life based on someone�s negative opinion on me, I would never fucking leave my house. My fans are people who don�t tweet negative shit at me.�
Probably grouchy from worrying too much about how badly the kid who ends up winning Dana White's next contest show is going to beat his wheels off in his UFC debut.
Posted in it's own thread...
[Edited on 2-5-2016 by G-Spot]
According to the sheets, Bull Dempsey has been released from WWE.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
In (non) news, CM Punk is a douche.
Awesome King has been released following last weeks incident with Reby Hardy on the UK Tour...
NXT also released 5 people today- the only one of note was Bull Dempsey...
Man, they went all in with that motivated loser story. First Bull Dempsey thought himself a big shot until getting destroyed by semi-decent
competition in Baron Corbin. He inmediately falls into depression after one bump in the road like a oblivious kid who just finished college.
He decides to try and get better with his new Bull Fit philosophy and everything only for it to get tough and to further get depressed and eventually
get fired. Most people just don't make it and it's a fact of life. A+ for realism.
quote:
Originally posted by denverpunk
According to the sheets, Bull Dempsey has been released from WWE.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
In (non) news, CM Punk is a douche.
I can't say I disagree. The attitude might a motivating mechanism to help him train and fight harder, but goddamn does he come across as the most unlikable asshole Chicago ever spit out. As much as I loved him in WWE, I'm kind of hoping he gets his face kicked in.
[Edited on 2-5-2016 by denverpunk]
Won't lie, whoever said Punk seems to go out of his way to take just about any question as a personal attack or an insult to his intelligence is on the money.
I normally don't watch the MMA stuff, unless it happens to be on & there's nothing else I'm more interested in. With -that- said, I
kinda hope Punk's Debut is on one of those UFC on TV specials. Before now, I'd been pretty apathetic towards his post-WWE career --
anything he wants to do is fine with me, as long as I can choose to avoid it (that comic book escapade of his, tv appearances, etc).
Now I'mma watch, if possible, and actively hope he gets his Resting Bitch Face kicked in. Punk =totally= has RBF.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/03/health/resting-bitch-face-research-irpt/index.html
I kinda feel for him... I mean not really.... but it's probably the UFC that keeps lining up these interviews for him where he's pretty much
hung out there with absolutely nothing to really talk about.... I mean we're over the one year mark since they announced a 36 year old ex-pro
wrestler with little MMA training, and who's not exactly a visually intimidating specimen was going to fight in the UFC..... and oh yeah, he just
had a very public walkout earlier in the year from the WWE and after months of silence, pops his head out and levels a tonne of inflammatory
accusations that have now resulted in his ass being sued..... One year and all we hear is that he probably isn't ready and he might fight one of
two guys as an unspecified date.
I mean maybe interviewers like Michael Landsberg (another interviewer he went off on) are taking the piss out of him a bit.... but really, what are
they going to talk about? Maybe the UFC should have given him some time in the gym and with trainers first to see where he was at, and at least have
an idea of who his opponent might be before they sent him out to do the hundred or so interviews he's done.... all with nothing really to talk
about and a half dozen very real questions hanging over his head (which he probably realizes).
I genuinely think that for Punk this UFC thing is one of those bucket list things.... can he hang in the octagon; win or lose he got to live one of
his dreams... Problem is he's getting paid likely a good amount of cash, and is expected to be the trained media monkey to help build up the hype
that is going to help support the dream he's trying to accomplish. Much like an actor doing a press junket it's gotta suck answering the
same questions over and over....Still, it's the difference between being gracious and an insufferable douche, something CM Punk and the UFC
clearly hasn't learned to manage (although for the UFC it's still good for them as there's likely enough people now who will tune in
hoping to see Punk get pummelled for being such a douche).
Honestly, I sometimes wonder if he's working a bit, too. God knows a big chunk of MMA fans hate the WWE association and want nothing more than
to see Punk get his ass kicked in. I wouldn't be surprised if Punk heeled it up a bit just for the fuck of it, both to give him some heat and
because he really likes to troll people. I'm not saying he's not a dickbag - he's DEFINITELY a dickbag and he's probably in my
top ten all time wrestlers. It just feels a little like he's self-aware enough that he might go out of his way to cultivate his reputation
deliberately.
[Edited on 2-6-2016 by GodEatGod]
In some ways I kinda wonder if the UFC might want him to lose.... I mean CM Punk beating someone is okay for business... milk it for a fight or two,
but he's likely not going to be the face of the company like others have been. He beats one of the rookies he's pencilled in to face and it
will be he got lucky, or he fought a guy just above a soup can (to be fair to the two guys I know nothing about them other than they are new)....
he'd never win against a ranked guy. At 37'ish he's got an expiry date on him, and it ain't far off.
CM Punk loses on the other hand... you probably still get a fight or two out of him, but overall it separates the UFC further from pro wrestling, and
says in a lot of ways this is where the big boys, real men, whatever label you want to throw out there play.
Win or lose Punk is likely worth the same amount to them... a couple of fights, and then he slides into being B show Joe Rogan; maybe a few shirts or
other endorsements... etc.
Yeah Brock did it before... but Brock isn't human.
I think at this point they don't feel the need to prove anything about MMA's superiority to pro wrestling. They just saw a hot signing that you can milk for a few fights and get a few more years as a recogzinable personality for tv shows and the like.
It's all just more money in Dana White's pocket at this point. For all his bitching about Vince and Hunter, Punk seems somewhat delusional
if he really thinks that White cares about him at all. From what we know of UFC it's pretty much inarguable that they give less of a shit about
what happens over time to their performers than any other sports organization out there except maybe for big-time boxing or the National Football
League. If it's $200 million from watching Punk win or from watching Punk get his head taken off in the octagon Dana doesn't give a shit
about him either way, anymore than he cared about Chuck Liddell's brain being turned into jelly or about GSP's eyeball popping out of
it's socket. I'm not being respected by WWE, says an indignant CM Punk, so I'm going to step into this big swimming pool full of blood
with a shark swimming around in it that has a UFC sticker on it's side.....
* Finn Balor was apparently injured last night at an NXT event in Nashville; he was seen leaving the arena on crutches with his leg wrapped and was said to have difficulty moving on his own
Miz's moneymaker took a pretty good beating from AJ Styles on SmackDown. He had to spend his day off at the dentist.
Personally, I think CM is just trolling to draw heat for the event.
But, the alternative might be that training isn't going well and he is realizing that he can't do this and that's why he's acting
like a jerk. Maybe the interviewer should ask him about his comic books and see if he answers those questions.
The conspiracy theory that Dana caught wind of Punk's mma aspirations and simply signed him to keep him away from competitors is gaining more traction the more they delay his debut. We'll probably see the Punk in the UFC game in action before the real thing.
Speaking of UFC, Mickey Gall won his fight in under a minute via submission tonight. This is only important because, if he won, he became #1 contender to the "Taking on CM Punk First" title (the other guy, who was an MMA photographer, part-time MMA fighter, and semi-full time kickboxer, did not have that same prize if he had won).
Video of the meeting between Punk and Gall here. Gramps looks confused. Sucka in a three-piece!
http://www.dailywrestlingnews.com/video-cm-punk-meets-his-first-ufc-opponent/
[Edited on 2/7/2016 by Paddlefoot]
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Video of the meeting between Punk and Gall here. Gramps looks confused. Sucka in a three-piece!
http://www.dailywrestlingnews.com/video-cm-punk-meets-his-first-ufc-opponent/
[Edited on 2/7/2016 by Paddlefoot]
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
during the Miz/AJ match there were a few times when Miz was grabbing his front tooth (teeth?) & checking for stability. I guess it wasn't just a case of selling for the new guy.
I've noticed AJ has been a lot more stiff than I remember from the TNA days. The match with Jericho also featured some vicious shots. Guess he's still in NJPW mode.
I think AJ might also still be adjusting to a WWE ring. I've read/seen a few interviews with wrestlers talking about the adjustment that comes as part of coming to WWE. Most people get to do that adjusting at the Perfomance Center or on NXT now, but part of AJ going straight to the main roster is him working out those kinks on live television. I figure that was part of the reason why the Jericho/AJ match, while good, seemed to have a bit of awkwardness here and there.
If they are ultimately going to plug AJ into a 6-man for the US title or something like that, than a pissed of Miz losing his money maker might not be
a bad Fast Lane feud that could dovetail into plugging both into said 6-man.
I've always liked Miz, and I think his current character works well for him; I just think he needs some muscle behind him... Barrett would be my
choice.
Daniel Bryan has trimmed his beard.... Let the rampant unfounded internet speculation commence!
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
Daniel Bryan has trimmed his beard.... Let the rampant unfounded internet speculation commence!
Just to add to the rampant speculation and conspiracy theories that are brewing, this photo was taken while in line waiting for a flight from Phoenix,
AZ to Seattle, WA. Big deal, Bryan's from Seattle right? No, he's from Aberdeen dummy. But yeah, he's from Washington, he's
probably heading home. Guess again. He lives in Arizona now. Maybe he's visiting family? Perhaps. However, Raw is taking place in Seattle
tomorrow night...
I still doubt that they would bring Bryan back at this point since it'd pretty much be the final nail in the coffin for Roman's Wrestlemania
push, but the timing of all of this is curious after all the rumors of him possibly meeting with a WWE sanctioned doctor recently. Smart money would
be on him making his comeback after Wrestlemania if he comes back at all, but I can't help but wonder if Vince is feeling the heat with all of
the injuries going around and if maybe Bryan is the ace up his sleeve? Honestly, it wouldn't be that hard to turn Roman at this
point--y'know what I'm just going to leave it at that. My soul can't handle any more fantasy booking right now.
edited to fix image size and unbreak thread
[Edited on 2/8/2016 by CM Crunk]
quote:
Originally posted by CM Crunk
Just to add to the rampant speculation and conspiracy theories that are brewing...but I can't help but wonder if Vince is feeling the heat with all of the injuries going around and if maybe Bryan is the ace up his sleeve? Honestly, it wouldn't be that hard to turn Roman at this point--y'know what I'm just going to leave it at that. My soul can't handle any more fantasy booking right now.
Well, the D-Bry news just gets better and better.
http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2016/2/7/10933982/wwe-recently-blocked-daniel-bryan-from-giving-notice
What's Bryan Danielson doing in the Octagon, Joe?
PWInsider is confirming reports that Daniel Bryan is booked to appear on RAW tonight.
As "dude in Seattle going to tonight's Raw", I approve of this.
Be sure to hold up that "who booked this crap?" sign really high so we can see where you're sitting.
Shifted all the retirement stuff into its own thread at the suggestion of Count Zero. Thought it made sense, seeing as how it's no longer just a rumor.
Durp
[Edited on 2-8-2016 by Flash]
quote:
Originally posted by Matte
Shifted all the retirement stuff into its own thread at the suggestion of Count Zero. Thought it made sense, seeing as how it's no longer just a rumor.
From CageSideSeats.com's daily Rumor Roundup column:
- PW Insider reports Braun Strowman is 100-percent a Vince McMahon guy, and Vince is mircomanaging his character and everything he does on television.
The belief, apparently, is he's improving and hasn't shown anything close to what he's capable of, which we'll see at WrestleMania
32. (Feb 8)
- What's more, if he has a good showing there, he may feud with Brock Lesnar and be featured in a match against the Beast at SummerSlam. (Feb
8)
- The Braun Strowman saga continues, with PWInsider suggesting Vince McMahon backed down from Undertaker plans due to fan backlash when their match
was floated online. There are plans in place for the Dead Man, but they're only known to a few and involve someone "totally unexpected." (Feb
9)
In one day, we go from Braun Strowman set to face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania and then Brock Lesnar at Summerslam to none of those things are
happening.
I never once worried that Strowman was going to be The Undertaker's opponent because it was an idea too stupid to even entertain. However, I find
it funny that the rumour mill suggests that online fan backlash is what has squashed those supposed plans. That doesn't make sense because Vince
& Co. are supposed to not give a shit what we think. And if wrestling fans all over the internet can complain hard enough to prevent a match between
The Undertaker and Braun Strowman, why is Roman Reigns still getting his super push?
I'm sticking by my long held belief that The Undertaker vs. Strowman was something thrown out there just to troll the internet.
Maybe Vince figured it's bad business to have your audience audibly crapping on two thirds of your main event...
Honestly it would not entirely surprise me to see Cena back to face Taker... he's in the gym already... yeah it was just a bare bar he was
lifting last week, but with about 6 weeks until then and super-Cena being who he is, I don't know that I'd entirely write him out of doing
the one match (they could still semi-bench him post Wrestlemania until he's 100%). Either that, if he's not capable of doing a match with
Taker, I'm guessing they find some other spot for Cena.... guest ref or something like that.
As for Stroman the best spot for him is in the Brock match... Bray going straight up against Brock is anti-climatic... sticking him in some kind of
gauntlet match to get at Bray is a bit better. Stroman got to look unmovable in the Rumble as Brock laid one jumping knee strike after another to
little effect; having him come close to taking out Brock as the guy before Bray would help move the needle in the right direction for the guy... small
steps. Honestly though; if you are going to do Brock versus the whole Wyatt family in some fashion, if wouldn't exactly damage Brock to lose to 4
pretty big dudes provided he takes out most of them.
Just saw on "The Big Lead" that Titus O'Neill was suspended for up to 90 days for messing around with Vince at the end of Raw. WTF?
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
Maybe Vince figured it's bad business to have your audience audibly crapping on two thirds of your main event...
Honestly it would not entirely surprise me to see Cena back to face Taker... he's in the gym already... yeah it was just a bare bar he was lifting last week, but with about 6 weeks until then and super-Cena being who he is, I don't know that I'd entirely write him out of doing the one match (they could still semi-bench him post Wrestlemania until he's 100%). Either that, if he's not capable of doing a match with Taker, I'm guessing they find some other spot for Cena.... guest ref or something like that.
As for Stroman the best spot for him is in the Brock match... Bray going straight up against Brock is anti-climatic... sticking him in some kind of gauntlet match to get at Bray is a bit better. Stroman got to look unmovable in the Rumble as Brock laid one jumping knee strike after another to little effect; having him come close to taking out Brock as the guy before Bray would help move the needle in the right direction for the guy... small steps. Honestly though; if you are going to do Brock versus the whole Wyatt family in some fashion, if wouldn't exactly damage Brock to lose to 4 pretty big dudes provided he takes out most of them.
quote:
Originally posted by Slick
Just saw on "The Big Lead" that Titus O'Neill was suspended for up to 90 days for messing around with Vince at the end of Raw. WTF?
I am guessing there is more to it. Why the hell would he have done that? Thats what struck me when watching it.
I'm gonna suggest he was in the shit for something else and was trying to get hold of Vince to talk to him about it, not realising they were
still on air.
Still, that's something that you do backstage.
Yeah, it's one thing to fuck up on Twitter, but doing so live on camera remains the ultimate no-no. I hope this doesn't totally derail Titus' career (and with anybody who is sane, it wouldn't), but given that he just jobbed to Adam Rose, he may be closer to future endeavordom than we think. It sucks, because I really like the guy.
Bad week for Internet favorites -- CM Punk's reportedly having back surgery, UFC debut delayed once more...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2615582-cm-punk-injury-updates-on-ufc-stars-recovery-from-back-surgery?utm_source=twitter.com&utm;_medium=referral&u;
tm_campaign=programming-national
Spoiler alert: I'm borderline developmentally disabled at imbedding and/or anything technologically related on this site -- the ol' cut &
paste will have to do.
[Edited on 2-10-2016 by Dyn-O-Mite]
quote:I hadn't thought much of him losing to Rose. If anything, the nature of the loss (lots of distraction/interference with a quick fluky roll up) made me immediately figure that we'd see Titus destroy the Outcasts one by one over the next few shows.
Originally posted by denverpunk
Yeah, it's one thing to fuck up on Twitter, but doing so live on camera remains the ultimate no-no. I hope this doesn't totally derail Titus' career (and with anybody who is sane, it wouldn't), but given that he just jobbed to Adam Rose, he may be closer to future endeavordom than we think. It sucks, because I really like the guy.
The Titus thing was just weird, and yeah I agree that 90 days is way overkill, especially for a guy who with his various charity work and that father
of the year award he got a year back has brought you nothing but good headlines.
Titus was probably always destined to be on the short list for future endeavouring (or since they don't do that as much anymore, he's
probably on short term contracts), but given the WWE's lack of main roster diversity and the good headlines he attracts he was probably safe-ish
for the next bit.
Here's hoping that despite the rumoured severity of his punishment that this is the end of it, and not a petty smear (over a small lack of
judgement) on his otherwise good name that leads to him being run out of town.
As for Punk.... You gotta wonder when the returns start diminishing on what was already looked upon as just a UFC headline grabber.... it's now
an over 1 year old twice delayed headline.... I'm sure it'll still pop their buy rates a bit and get them some headlines, but the whole
thing is starting to look tired before we eventually get there.
quote:
Originally posted by Dyn-O-Mite
Bad week for Internet favorites -- CM Punk's reportedly having back surgery, UFC debut delayed once more...
[Edited on 2-10-2016 by Dyn-O-Mite]
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Well, between his back and his shoulder, Punk now has two built-in excuses for when Gall forcibly sodomizes him in the octagon.
Yeah, Titus may have been a bit aggro with the tug and whatever game of slapass was going on between the two should have been handled backstage. But
hasn't Vince in the past set the standard that he likes it when guys get all macho and bro up in his face supposedly proving their worth that
they're tough enough to scrap with the boss by doing similar things? Weird situation and while I don't think his current position on the
roster helps, his charity work does, so hopefully cooler heads prevail. Vince, cooler heads. LOL.
WWE Suspended Titus O'neil over this segment for up to 90 days for crossing Vince Mcmahon pic.twitter.com/4Hpf4E7HWY
— #Ifollowback (@sharker102s) February 10, 2016
Oy. Sure, Vince. It's totally cool to get into bouts of grabass with the boys in your office, on airplanes; to goad guys like Kofi Kingston into
'rassling with you to prove they've got balls. That's all super cool and professional. We're all just bros here, bro-in' it
up!
But a dude briefly grabs your arm during the end of a segment, and he's out 90 days of work? Really? Randy Orton's routine wellness
violations earned him 60 days a pop, but touching Vince gets for a second gets you 90? What, is there a 30-day black-guy tax?
Who knows, maybe this'll be the straw that gets people to really pay attention to WWE's diversity issues. One thing about wrestling being a
"scripted" sport: it lets old white guys keep talented black athletes from dominating like they do in the unscripted ones.
Perhaps the punishment was a bit harsh, but try to imagine grabbing your boss at the end of an all hands meeting like that and think about what the repercussions might be for you.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Oy. Sure, Vince. It's totally cool to get into bouts of grabass with the boys in your office, on airplanes; to goad guys like Kofi Kingston into 'rassling with you to prove they've got balls. That's all super cool and professional. We're all just bros here, bro-in' it up!
But a dude briefly grabs your arm during the end of a segment, and he's out 90 days of work? Really? Randy Orton's routine wellness violations earned him 60 days a pop, but touching Vince gets for a second gets you 90? What, is there a 30-day black-guy tax?
Who knows, maybe this'll be the straw that gets people to really pay attention to WWE's diversity issues. One thing about wrestling being a "scripted" sport: it lets old white guys keep talented black athletes from dominating like they do in the unscripted ones.
Even from a cynical, business-first standpoint, it's just stupid. The optics are terrible. Three months for touching you on camera? To a
well-liked black performer who won daddy-of-the-year or somesuch? He's been nothing but good press for you, and you suspend him for a quarter of
a year for THIS? Here's hoping Gawker or somesuch other internet sensationalism factory gets a hold of this news.
Even if racism had nothing to do with it (hint: it did) this sort of thing is a muckraking goldmine. Seriously, the best that can come of this is WWE
gets a whole lot of negative attention on their racial politics.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Perhaps the punishment was a bit harsh, but try to imagine grabbing your boss at the end of an all hands meeting like that and think about what the repercussions might be for you.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Even if racism had nothing to do with it (hint: it did)
Titus should have known better than to do that in a serious moment but Vince over-reacted with the punishment. Conversely, Vince over-reacted with the
punishment but Titus should have known better than to do that in a serious moment. Turns out both are equally 50-50 true in this instance.
Titus should have known better than to do that in a serious moment. Your 
symmetry amuses me.
DWN said that Vince has been itching to slap some people into line for a while now, over things ranging from Paige and Alicia being kicked out of a restaurant to Lana's social media activities leading to TMZ wrecking the angle with Summer/Ziggler/Rusev by publicizing the engagement. It looks like Vince was inevitably going to nail someone hard anyway and Titus was the one unfortunate enough to do something that brought down the boss' wrath.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Perhaps the punishment was a bit harsh, but try to imagine grabbing your boss at the end of an all hands meeting like that and think about what the repercussions might be for you.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
DWN said that Vince has been itching to slap some people into line for a while now, over things ranging from Paige and Alicia being kicked out of a restaurant to Lana's social media activities leading to TMZ wrecking the angle with Summer/Ziggler/Rusev by publicizing the engagement. It looks like Vince was inevitably going to nail someone hard anyway and Titus was the one unfortunate enough to do something that brought down the boss' wrath.
quote:#TitusLivesMatter?
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Even from a cynical, business-first standpoint, it's just stupid. The optics are terrible. Three months for touching you on camera? To a well-liked black performer who won daddy-of-the-year or somesuch? He's been nothing but good press for you, and you suspend him for a quarter of a year for THIS? Here's hoping Gawker or somesuch other internet sensationalism factory gets a hold of this news.
Even if racism had nothing to do with it (hint: it did) this sort of thing is a muckraking goldmine. Seriously, the best that can come of this is WWE gets a whole lot of negative attention on their racial politics.
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
If this is accurate, and Vince has been waiting to bring down some hammers.... I wonder if this was "the other shoe dropping" on Titus. I'm not saying 90 days is a rational suspension for this act, I'm just wondering if Titus has been a little too "informal/familiar/whatever" in the past, and now this was the Final Straw.
1) I think we all know a boss that wants to be treated as 'one of the boys' until he is treated as 'one of the boys' and then he
feels the need to remind you that he's not 'one of the boys'. I have never met a person in power that really wants to be treated as
'one of the boys'.
2) I really don't understand what Titus was thinking. It's still a TV program. You don't break the moment.
Ive never understood why they don't push him to the moon. Titus, for all counts, is a face for the company outside of the company, and has a
great physique and look. Maybe there is something to no pushing black thing. Ive always not believed it....and thought there just wasn't that
many Black stars that ever got THAT over.
I think Booker T, Ron Simmons, JYD, Mark Henry..... and none of those were Long term build your company around champions like Austin, Rock,
Hogan.....etc. And I think its more than just booking.
After that black none come to mind that felt like they were ready to be a true main eventer, though I think with better booking Kofi could have
been.
You could argue the Rock but I thin of him as samoan not black, and Ive heard the darker you are the worse the prejudice. (not trying to get in a
prejudice debate here)
So maybe the bias is real...because this, from what im reading seems petty. But I think if the WWE had a can't miss star, they woudln't
truly care what color they were....or do you guys think the race bias is real?
Fox Sports is now saying Titus's suspension has been reduced to 60 days.
quote:
Originally posted by Nobledictator1278
Ive never understood why they don't push him to the moon.
quote:
Originally posted by Matte
quote:
Originally posted by Nobledictator1278
Ive never understood why they don't push him to the moon.
Maybe because he's not very good in the ring and a Roman-style push would have fans hating him.
Re: race bias, WWE's history is pretty murky and well documented. That being said, they also seemed prepared to make Bobby Lashley a champion before he bolted for TNA.
Could have also been some 'backlash' from the Rock going off script. Everyone was warned the next person that does it will pay the price.
quote:
Originally posted by Caesar guy
Could have also been some 'backlash' from the Rock going off script. Everyone was warned the next person that does it will pay the price.
I mean...I always assumed they didn't push Titus to the moon because he's not a very good wrestler. Is it just me? I mean, he has decent charisma and one or two decent moves, but...I mean, he's just not very good. He's sloppy and works best as a hot tag in a tag team situation. I mean, I'm not sure whether his suspension is just or unjust in particular. What I do know for sure is that I don't really give a rat's ass and won't miss him.
quote:
Originally posted by GodEatGod
I mean...I always assumed they didn't push Titus to the moon because he's not a very good wrestler.
90-60 both seem like overkill. Maybe time off for good behavior gets him to 30 and a wrestlemania payday.
On a related note, it's odd to me that Fox Sports is covering the news note. Between that and the ESPN placements of late maybe soon we'll
have a "doctors in attendance at ringside" and "state athletic commissioner" announcements again. Because like wrestling is a sport again!
[Edited on 2-11-2016 by merc]
quote:
Originally posted by Planet Starbucks
quote:
Originally posted by GodEatGod
I mean...I always assumed they didn't push Titus to the moon because he's not a very good wrestler.
Agreed, but with Reigns' super push and recent reports that Vince has a serious boner over Strowman, do you really think it's just as simple as that?
Guys, guys, I just got my hands on a memo issued to all WWE employees just yesterday:
quote:
In light of recent outrage at Titus O'Neil's suspension, we at the World Wrestling Entertainment will henceforth and retroactively be 1/3 less racist.
The following steps are being taken in accordance with this new policy:
Titus O'Neil's suspension will be reduced from 90 to 60 days. This is only fair, as touching roughhousing with Vince when Vince doesn't wanna is at least as bad as doing drugs while Randy Orton.
Booker T. will be awarded 1/3 of the world championship he should have won from Triple H at Wrestlemania 19.
R. Truth will be 1/3 younger so we will can take 1/3 more advantage of his wacky charisma and unconventional moveset and allow him 1/3 more success.
Ron Simmons will receive 1/3 of the increased pay he would've gotten if he'd been the Shawn Michaels of the APA, and Bradshaw the Jannetty, as God intended.
We will henceforth consider the Rock 1/3 more black.
Sasha Banks will henceforth be considered white, to prevent team B.A.D. from being "team people of color."
Consequently, Xavier Woods will be considered white as well, as he is dating Sasha banks and, y'know, we're fine with that, but like with like, right?
African American wrestlers now need only spend 2/3 of their career as funky dancing fools or urban criminals. The remaining third will be spent as jobbers.
These changes do not apply to Hispanic or Asian wrestlers, as we have chosen black as the 1/3 of "other" races receiving benefits. Middle Easterners do not count -- terrorist is not a race.
Please enjoy these changes, and remember: Sports entertainment is not a real sport, because if it were, black people would dominate it.
I never got an answer to why people think this is a racism issue. It seems to me like Vince is the big guy in charge and involving him in something
stupid in front of fans lead to a suspension. Do people really think he was suspended because he's black? Do you think if Heath Slater did this,
he would go unpunished because he's white? I'd think he would get the same treatment, but that's just me speculating. This comes off as
a black guy being punished because he did something stupid and then all these people saying he was only punished because he's black. Which
doesn't make Vince the one making decisions based on color.
Again, if there's anything that actually points to Titus being discriminated against, I'll accept it as a possibility. And him not being
super-pushed doesn't. He sucks in the ring, is only decent on the mic, he's almost 40 so there isn't enough time for him to make a
miraculous improvement, and he doesn't have overwhelming crowd support to warrant a super-push.
WWE said it wasn't racism so it isn't:
quote:
WWE issued the following statement to The New York Post this week: �The suspension of Titus O�Neil had nothing to do with race and everything to do with unprofessional conduct.�
Sidenote: that was take 3 on the official statement. The other two had Vince unnecessarily dropping the "N" bomb.
I personally don't think it is a racial issue - as people have said, there is no evidence at all for that. But I think we all know that the WWE is chock-full of double standards, which is why a guy like Titus is made an example of for this minor infraction and will never get a push, whilst guys like Orton, Cena and Reigns are verbally fellated at every opportunity in spite of any shortcomings they may have.
To be clear, I don't think WWE makes decisions motivated by race. I think they make decisions informed by race, which is how most
discrimination actually happens. Black guys don't get the pushes they deserve because Vince has to personally mark out for them, and to Vince,
they just don't have the right... look, y'know? They're just sorta not his thing.
Titus O'Neil was disproportionately punished for a minor infraction, and then had his punishment cut to be slightly less ridiculous following
outcry and scrutiny. Given that WWE loooooves to make examples of lower-card guys for the sins of the untouchable top-carders, it's highly
unlikely race was a primary, motivating factor in this debacle. But it's quite likely race was an exacerbating factor. Would Jack Swagger
have been punished just as severely? Maybe, maybe not. But it wasn't Jack Swagger, it was Titus O'Neil, and Titus O'Neil is African
American. And when an African American gets punished severely for doing very little wrong, it brings to mind the overall ugly pattern black people
face in the US. So even if race had nothing to do with it, reasonable people have to wonder, didn't it?
And if I'm on the board at WWE, I've got to be wondering: Why would the company make such an ugly PR blunder over almost nothing? That is,
when I'm not wondering why the company routinely kicks millions of dollars off the table because the crowd likes/dislikes someone Vince
doesn't.
FWIW: I'm not a Titus O'Neil fan. He's a poor worker and an okay talker and he's well past his prime. Those first two things
shouldn't necessarily have stopped him from being more successful in WWE, the land of Roman Reigns for God-Emperor. That he didn't get a
midcard championship run and spent most of his career as a jobber seems a waste. I understand why he didn't get pushed to the moon, though.
It just looks bad when the suspension for a drug infraction is 30 days, yet getting worked up in the moment and playfully grabbing the boss is triple that. Especially when it's never happened before so there's no precedent for it. Even though it's been reduced to 60 days, that seems fucking ridiculous and like they're picking on Titus for... whatever the reason may be.
Stuff and thangs here, Coral, from the quarterly WWE earning call session, with an interesting reveal on how Vince no longer looks at TV ratings as
being the end-all and be-all because the Network has apparently more than made up for any lost revenue from the overall decline in TV viewership:
http://www.dailywrestlingnews.com/live-wwe-earnings-call-coverage-with-vince-mcmahon-and-wwe-executives/
quote:
* When asked about TV ratings declining for several quarters now, Vince admitted they are down but not as much as the networks they are on overall. Vince talked about how it�s important to WWE that fans are able to consume their content when and how they want. He also said people don�t watch TV as much as they used to but TV is still extremely important to WWE, they just don�t live and die by ratings like they used to before new media. He said ratings just don�t matter as much anymore
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
To be clear, I don't think WWE makes decisions motivated by race. I think they make decisions informed by race, which is how most discrimination actually happens. Black guys don't get the pushes they deserve because Vince has to personally mark out for them, and to Vince, they just don't have the right... look, y'know? They're just sorta not his thing.
Titus O'Neil was disproportionately punished for a minor infraction, and then had his punishment cut to be slightly less ridiculous following outcry and scrutiny. Given that WWE loooooves to make examples of lower-card guys for the sins of the untouchable top-carders, it's highly unlikely race was a primary, motivating factor in this debacle. But it's quite likely race was an exacerbating factor. Would Jack Swagger have been punished just as severely? Maybe, maybe not. But it wasn't Jack Swagger, it was Titus O'Neil, and Titus O'Neil is African American. And when an African American gets punished severely for doing very little wrong, it brings to mind the overall ugly pattern black people face in the US. So even if race had nothing to do with it, reasonable people have to wonder, didn't it?
And if I'm on the board at WWE, I've got to be wondering: Why would the company make such an ugly PR blunder over almost nothing? That is, when I'm not wondering why the company routinely kicks millions of dollars off the table because the crowd likes/dislikes someone Vince doesn't.
My take on the Titus deal is that it had more to do with putting an unfortunate coda on a highly emotionally charged show essentially dedicated to
getting everyone on board with the fact that Daniel Bryan was done for good. All the literal years that lead up to that moment were being released at
the end of RAW and I think Titus just unfortunately made an error in judgment in grabbing Vince, no matter how playful its intent. As others have
mentioned, we can't really know what kind of a giggle fest has been going on backstage with certain wrestlers that motivated Vince to flip and
say, "Y'know what? You're my example now, Thaddeus".
As for the racism thing why doesn't anyone ask Ron Killings or the Best Friend of Resident Redneck Announcer that is Ron Simmons or the
pushed-to-the-moon New Day what their opinion is? Just remember Vince has flipped out on guys way, way higher than Titus' pay grade and
everything ultimately turned out fine for them. Even Vince's gat danged eventual-at-the-time son-in-law was made to eat shit after the MSG
incident back in the day. Not to mention the far more volatile falling outs he had with Shawn, Austin, and Punk, all Honky-American guys who made him
more money than the moderately talented Titus could if he wrestled for the next 100 years somehow. And I'm sure precisely none of you forget the
whole Hogan ordeal, either the steroid trial or the latest thing that had something to do with the Hulkster saying twisted shit about a particular
group of folks that wasn't very nice. Someone remind me what Vince did to the guy that essentially helped co-build his company with him?
While I don't think Titus was in the right in the context of the moment, again, we don't know what's been going on backstage in the
playful grabass department headed by a crazy person that's been known in the past to challenge his employees to fuck with him to prove their
manhood. Bopol brought up a great point about a boss wanting to be one of the boys...until he doesn't, and that is a fine line to straddle in any
organization, especially one that's a constant fever dream whirlwind of reality blending with fiction. However, in defense of not necessarily
Titus but the situation at hand, I think Vince could have handled it much more in house or simply put Titus on jobber duty for a bit like HHH long
before him and kept a relative lid on things as opposed to the whole 90 and now 60 days nonsense.
As it stands now, as fair or unfair as it may be, Vince not only opened himself up to unnecessary scrutiny but there's a chance this could
potentially overshadow the relative goodwill and movingonness that Bryan's retirement garnered. I'm hoping cooler heads prevail and, at the
very least, some type of "big misunderstanding" mea culpa coupled with a "it was an unfortunate incident but there must be discipline" in conjunction
with a "he'll be pulling curtain jerking duty at Fastlane and jobbing to the Social Outcasts" is forthcoming.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
As for the racism thing why doesn't anyone ask Ron Killings or the Best Friend of Resident Redneck Announcer that is Ron Simmons or the pushed-to-the-moon New Day what their opinion is?
Looking at New Day and watching them in those WWE shows and Up Up Down down...I like Big E, and think he is great, but I still think Kofi is the guy in that group to push..... if they hadn't jobbed him so hard in the past. With that said if they could main event JBL from where he was...then Kofi could be rehabbed. Either one of them as Woods as the mouth piece could be at the top, and have the most complete package Ive seen on TV from a African American.....in a long long time, probably more than Booker T (except King Booker) I never liked the spinarooni :-).
So this is being reported as a possible reason for Titus to grab Vince
http://wrestlingnewspost.com/possible-reason-titus-oneil-grabbed-vince-mcmahon/
All this racist stuff is non-sense. He stepped out of line and was made example of. It had nothing to do with his rcae but his spot on the card.
Again, maybe if he was white he would have been higher on the card but he really is a scrub. Vince pushes who can make him money for the most part so
maybe the crowds arent as interested in cheering a black champion. So really maybe the fans are really the racist ones and vince just puts out what
will sell.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
As for the racism thing why doesn't anyone ask Ron Killings or the Best Friend of Resident Redneck Announcer that is Ron Simmons or the pushed-to-the-moon New Day what their opinion is?
I'd be very interested in what the vastly more talented and charismatic Ron Simmons thinks of playing second-fiddle to Bradshaw. Or what Ron Killings thinks of wiling away his career and talent as a glorified jobber, despite apparently being Vince's good buddy. I'd also be thrilled to know what the New Day originally thought of their "insincere black preachers" gimmick and their getting it over as something original and sincere. And we'll talk about New Day's push to the moon when Big E. is a serious singles competitor.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Guys, guys, I just got my hands on a memo issued to all WWE employees just yesterday:
[semi-comedic attempt at whateverthatwas]
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Stuff and thangs here, Coral, from the quarterly WWE earning call session, with an interesting reveal on how Vince no longer looks at TV ratings as being the end-all and be-all because the Network has apparently more than made up for any lost revenue from the overall decline in TV viewership:
http://www.dailywrestlingnews.com/live-wwe-earnings-call-coverage-with-vince-mcmahon-and-wwe-executives/
quote:
* When asked about TV ratings declining for several quarters now, Vince admitted they are down but not as much as the networks they are on overall. Vince talked about how it�s important to WWE that fans are able to consume their content when and how they want. He also said people don�t watch TV as much as they used to but TV is still extremely important to WWE, they just don�t live and die by ratings like they used to before new media. He said ratings just don�t matter as much anymore
quote:
Originally posted by Myself
This is pretty much the same line I was thinking on. Why sell milk at the store if they can make us subscribe to delivery? There are =far= too many people trying to get our consumer-dollars via subscription, and I can't see Vince passing up that opportunity for ten years while TV figures out what to do with itself.
I'm not sure what the US equivalents are (Hulu?) are but I'd like to see how the new Crave and Shomi services the cable companies in Canada are providing are driving down viewership on the other channels. It'd be worth the $4.11 a month the be able to watch The Sopranos anytime I want without having to put up with some of that other shit on HBO (*barf* Girls *double-barf*), or all the Star Treks without having to click onto something as horrible as SyFy/Space have become ever again.
quote:
Originally posted by GodEatGod
I mean...I always assumed they didn't push Titus to the moon because he's not a very good wrestler. Is it just me? I mean, he has decent charisma and one or two decent moves, but...I mean, he's just not very good. He's sloppy and works best as a hot tag in a tag team situation. I mean, I'm not sure whether his suspension is just or unjust in particular. What I do know for sure is that I don't really give a rat's ass and won't miss him.
Even at 60 days, which will include Wrestlemania which is typically one of the bigger bonus times for talent, it feels pretty disproportionate for
what happened.
From a financial sense Titus is probably on the low end of the pay scale... maybe $200-$300k*.... it's remote, but conceivable that he could have
made it onto one of Fast lane or Wrestlemania... those probably would have netter him a nice little bonus... then there's the house show gates at
2-3 a week that he'll miss out on. On top of that, wasn't there some rule just added about merchandise bonuses for guys getting held up if
they are suspended... I doubt Titus has much if any merch', but again that's potentially more cash out the window for him. For a guy who has
a short time to make money, and isn't going to cash in large (relatively speaking), that's a pretty big ding to the bank account...
*While who knows if it's true or what, but from the various wrestler's play lists that have made the rounds it looks like most bottom rung
guys pull in around $250k
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Guys, guys, I just got my hands on a memo issued to all WWE employees just yesterday:
[semi-comedic attempt at whateverthatwas]
Dude, you're trolling. Hard. Regardless of whether or not your statements SHOULD be taken seriously, there's no possibility of that when you engage in conspiratotial flights of fancy like this IN ADDITION to your self-admitted penchant for over-dramatizing & over-everythinging.
I'm kinda just starting to read what you write --at all times-- as unserious rantings. Not exactly a habit you want to be known for? Or maybe you do? I'm not gonna presume to know what happens in your head.
etremove: large wall of shitpost.
[Edited on 2-11-2016 by Count Zero]
quote:
Originally posted by coxito
So this is being reported as a possible reason for Titus to grab Vince
http://wrestlingnewspost.com/possible-reason-titus-oneil-grabbed-vince-mcmahon/
All this racist stuff is non-sense. He stepped out of line and was made example of. It had nothing to do with his rcae but his spot on the card. Again, maybe if he was white he would have been higher on the card but he really is a scrub. Vince pushes who can make him money for the most part so maybe the crowds arent as interested in cheering a black champion. So really maybe the fans are really the racist ones and vince just puts out what will sell.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
C'mon, Foxy you're a better analyst than that, even if given to flights of hyperbole like myself.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
"Vastly more talented and charismatic" is a straight-up subjective opinion in a compare and contrast between two guys with relatively similar careers, even granting some of the bullshit Simmons went through in the long long ago.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
Truth has had his days in the sun and even now he's in a program with Goldust obviously headed somewhere and he's in a position not much different than many guys stuck in the lower mid-card.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
If anything, why do you not lament the career of Cody Rhodes, a man I think with talent and ability on par or better than Truth, and with a very important wrestling royalty pedigree to boot.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
As for dropping the context on New Day with their "insincere black preachers" gimmick, were they not allowed to develop from the ashes of that into the most important tag team in the E right now? Or were they scattered to the winds like the members of the last-ditch-effort-to-get-over Social Outcasts, two of whose members have the same wrestling royalty pedigree as Cody Rhodes, as well as one of their member's fathers being a current road agent.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
People in this wacky company eat ass for all kinds of reasons, the very, very least of which in this day and age has anything to do with overt racism. Not saying it doesn't exist as Michael Hayes is still employed. But to look for it as the answer on the hierarchy of fucked up things Vince does just picks at scars that while not entirely healed are by no stretch of the imagination gaping flesh wounds either. Please recall that the most popular wrestler the E has ever turned out is a half-black, half-Samoan wunderkind that has no problem returning again and again when asked. Also, and I can't stress this enough, is that all those adult guys you mentioned could freely and easily say two magic words to Vince either before or after they told him where to get off: "I quit."
Holy fuck. That is a giant wall of text right there...
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Holy fuck. That is a giant wall of text right there...
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Holy fuck. That is a giant wall of text right there...
I know. I'm a bad person. I thought of replying to you, too, Charger, but enough was enough and it was time for a change.
I kinda wonder if it's like marketing a movie;
If you do a movie like Star Wars, or Avengers black and white people are going to see it in droves; on the flip side one of those Madea movies that
Tyler Perry cranks out is largely just seen by black audiences. Despite this, Perry had a few years where off of a target market he still finished as
one of the higher earners in Hollywood. So obviously black actors can be successful; but if you go "too black" you almost alienate a sizeable amount
of your audience.
The WWE and Vince could be held to a higher standard to make things better, and break paradigms, but one is a gamble, whereas the other
guarantee's them a certain amount of money.... Black people are okay on the show, so long as they occupy a certain role for the most part, and
every now and then someone catches on enough that they pay their own way enough that Vince et al are more willing to push them.
I don't think Vince is out and out racist; I just don't think he'll take as much of a chance to ever put two black guys in the main
event feud because he's fearful it might alienate his likely mostly white audience.
I'm probably not explaining my thoughts on this as well as I want; but I think the problem is more systematic in our society than it is Vince not
wanting to give people of colour an opportunity.
Well then take your reply with my gratitude.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
My point is that being a bad to mediocre wrestler doesn't mean the WWE machine can't or won't get behind them. And being a bad to mediocre wrestler doesn't mean you can't be a main event superstar.
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
ALL THE THINGS
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
I kinda wonder if it's like marketing a movie;
If you do a movie like Star Wars, or Avengers black and white people are going to see it in droves; on the flip side one of those Madea movies that Tyler Perry cranks out is largely just seen by black audiences. Despite this, Perry had a few years where off of a target market he still finished as one of the higher earners in Hollywood. So obviously black actors can be successful; but if you go "too black" you almost alienate a sizeable amount of your audience.
The WWE and Vince could be held to a higher standard to make things better, and break paradigms, but one is a gamble, whereas the other guarantee's them a certain amount of money.... Black people are okay on the show, so long as they occupy a certain role for the most part, and every now and then someone catches on enough that they pay their own way enough that Vince et al are more willing to push them.
I don't think Vince is out and out racist; I just don't think he'll take as much of a chance to ever put two black guys in the main event feud because he's fearful it might alienate his likely mostly white audience.
I'm probably not explaining my thoughts on this as well as I want; but I think the problem is more systematic in our society than it is Vince not wanting to give people of colour an opportunity.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Even if the reason for Titus's suspension was completely devoid of ethnic bias, the message WWE sent to its fans and employees is "grabbing Vince while black will get you the same or double the punishment of a wellness infraction." If Titus was white, that wouldn't be at issue. But he's not, so it is.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Dude, I so do lament for Cody Rhodes. He's a big old ball of fun-times and has been since he first started wearing that mask and putting paper bags over heads. Another terribly misused wrestler, but he suffers from WWE's bias against smaller guys, whereas Truth suffers their bias against the duskier sort.
[Edited on 2-12-2016 by Foxcalibur]
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
C'mon, Foxy you're a better analyst than that, even if given to flights of hyperbole like myself.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Shut up, baby, I know it.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
It's saddling most black wrestlers with gimmicks where they either have to dance or pretend to be street thugs.
Cageside Seats is reporting that Vince continues to have a man crush on Braun Strowman, and he has been penciled in as the Andre Battle Royal winner at Mania which will kickstart his big push, leading to a match with Lesnar at SummerSlam.
Jesus... how shit of a state is the WWE in that the dirtsheets keep serving up daily updates on the Wrestlemania plans for fucking Braun Strowman.
Braun Strowman winning the Andre Battle Royal winner at Mania will kickstart his big push...much like the last two guys to win that. Right?
On the Titus thing...I think it comes down to a) his place on the card b) it happened on TV. Stuff that doesn't happen on TV (aka the goading of
Kofi) are ok because it's behind closed doors.
As for why Titus hasn't been pushed...he is not very good at his job. Is he better than Sandow, Rhodes, or Tyler Breeze? No. Neither on the mic
or in the ring. He is what he is, and was getting as good of a push as anybody could reasonably argue with some of the other talent available.
Foxy, I love you man but, no.
There's nothing remotely suggesting the Titus debacle is anything other than Vince being Vince (a crackpot.) Reaching for the race card with no
actual quantifiable evidence that the incident is based on Titus being, shall we say, "uppity" is going to do as much to harm racial harmonization as
Vince being discriminatory.
You might be able to, just about, make a case for inherent booking bias and stereotyping but this moment in a bubble? That dog won't hunt
dawg.
On Strowman: He can win all the Andre battle royals he wants in my book because, honestly, who cares?
I actually agree with Fox on the dumb-ass gimmicks black wrestlers get stuck with. It's the reason I don't like New Day very much. It's really just an extra-boisterous and extra-obnoxious variation on the hackneyed clowning and capering that would have been seen in an old timey Jim Crow blackface minstrel show. Ditto with Latino performers. The last Latino stable in WWE got stuck riding fucking lawnmowers fer fucks sake. What was the deal with that? Was wearing sombreros and selling oranges by the side of the road taken by TNA already? It sucks that there's more than enough guys out there (Rock, ADR, Eddie, Chavo, Simmons, Butch Reed, more luchadores than can be counted, etc, etc, etc) that shattered that mold ages ago but for some damn reason wrestling wants to go back to that old well over and over and over again.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Everyone is critic! I'm not sure we have same the conception of what "trolling" is. I was trying to be funny, not to antagonize people or get anyone mad. You can read what I write however you like, of course. I've made peace with the fact not everyone here loves my posts. I write for a living, and not everyone loves that, either. I hope people see the actual analysis behind my hyperbole and silliness, as I never just post to take the piss, with nothing of value to say. Indeed, my next post after the "wall of shitpost" (who's trolling, again?) was pretty reasonable. Ah well.
quote:
Originally posted by Matte
Doesn't this basically make everyone but Vince/WWE racist in this situation? What you described is Vince suspending a guy for doing something stupid, not considering race or any factors other than the guy did something stupid, then fans/employees deciding the only logical explanation for the punishment is skin color. That's not WWE sending a message that black people will be punished, it's everyone else calling racism when it's themselves who are deciding things based on skin color.
quote:
Originally posted by merc
Does one inch mean that much? I am curious why you chose to make the above distinction.
quote:
Originally posted by janerd75
quote:
Originally posted by The Hitcher
Foxy, I love you man but, no.
quote:
Originally posted by The Hitcher
There's nothing remotely suggesting the Titus debacle is anything other than Vince being Vince (a crackpot.) Reaching for the race card with no actual quantifiable evidence that the incident is based on Titus being, shall we say, "uppity" is going to do as much to harm racial harmonization as Vince being discriminatory.
You might be able to, just about, make a case for inherent booking bias and stereotyping but this moment in a bubble? That dog won't hunt dawg.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
Guys, guys, I just got my hands on a memo issued to all WWE employees just yesterday:
quote:
In light of recent outrage at Titus O'Neil's suspension, we at the World Wrestling Entertainment will henceforth and retroactively be 1/3 less racist.
The following steps are being taken in accordance with this new policy:
Titus O'Neil's suspension will be reduced from 90 to 60 days. This is only fair, as touching roughhousing with Vince when Vince doesn't wanna is at least as bad as doing drugs while Randy Orton.
Booker T. will be awarded 1/3 of the world championship he should have won from Triple H at Wrestlemania 19.
R. Truth will be 1/3 younger so we will can take 1/3 more advantage of his wacky charisma and unconventional moveset and allow him 1/3 more success.
Ron Simmons will receive 1/3 of the increased pay he would've gotten if he'd been the Shawn Michaels of the APA, and Bradshaw the Jannetty, as God intended.
We will henceforth consider the Rock 1/3 more black.
Sasha Banks will henceforth be considered white, to prevent team B.A.D. from being "team people of color."
Consequently, Xavier Woods will be considered white as well, as he is dating Sasha banks and, y'know, we're fine with that, but like with like, right?
African American wrestlers now need only spend 2/3 of their career as funky dancing fools or urban criminals. The remaining third will be spent as jobbers.
These changes do not apply to Hispanic or Asian wrestlers, as we have chosen black as the 1/3 of "other" races receiving benefits. Middle Easterners do not count -- terrorist is not a race.
Please enjoy these changes, and remember: Sports entertainment is not a real sport, because if it were, black people would dominate it.
quote:
Originally posted by Foxcalibur
This is a case of WWE levying a very harsh penalty on a person of color for doing something very minor. Precisely because the punished party is not white, people of conscience should ask themselves if race did play a part, and people of color might well feel such an action is in-line with other unfair treatment they've received.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
Jesus... how shit of a state is the WWE in that the dirtsheets keep serving up daily updates on the Wrestlemania plans for fucking Braun Strowman.
* WWE has reportedly retained a PR firm to promote Stephanie McMahon as the "nice, public face of the company". Perhaps, a babyface turn for Steph? Or
will WWE continue their schizophrenic way of having heels do babyface things off TV?
* Rey Mysterio is expected to return to the WWE once his deal with Lucha Underground expires
* There's still talk of having The Rock and/or Ronda Rousey involved somehow in the Mania main event of Reigns vs. HHH
* The WWE Network subscriptions dropped this past month and stock in WWE followed suit.
* Stone Cold's next podcast on the Network is expected have Daniel Bryan as the guest.
* Bret Hart's surgery for prostate cancer was announced as a "success". Shockingly, however, at the end of the procedure, the chief of surgery
ran into the operating room and injected Hart with hepatitis.
* Stone Cold's next podcast on the Network is expected have Daniel Bryan as the guest.
Yeah, I figured the Network thing was due to happen soon. I cancelled mine after the post-Rumble Raw simply because it looked like they were just going to keep going with the status-quo, and revisiting the past in wrestling just makes me sad things will never be that good again. Vince seems to be the only powerful TV person to realize ratings are irrelevant nowadays, so if you want to make them realize they're still not doing a good job, stop giving them money. At least fans are getting that now.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Bret Hart's surgery for prostate cancer was announced as a "success". Shockingly, however, at the end of the procedure, the chief of surgery ran into the operating room and injected Hart with hepatitis.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* There's still talk of having The Rock and/or Ronda Rousey involved somehow in the Mania main event of Reigns vs. HHH
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Umm, I have a question, Ben. Like, why Rousey, especially after Holly Holm made her look like a tackling dummy in their first fight and is probably going to do the same thing again? Doesn't make much sense to keep pushing a ship that already sailed and then sank after it left the harbour.
I would imagine Paddlefoot's issue here is not with Ronda Rousey's credibility, but with her star power. She's still far more
formidable than any woman on the WWE roster. Really, it's a much bigger gap between her and the next-toughest woman than between Brock Lesnar and
the next-toughest man.
Having said that, I think she still has plenty of star power. I would endeavor to say she still has much greater name recognition than Holly Holm
does. Possibly more than any other MMA fighter, male or female, does.
She could lose her next ten fights in a row and it wouldn't even matter. She's already got her spot in pop culture. Anna Kournikova was never a great tennis player, but was still featured in commercials, etc. a lot more than her contemporaries.
I dunno. I can't see how she didn't lose a ton of gravitas both inside and outside of MMA after Holm made her look like an absolute fucking mook in that fight. It wasn't like it went three rounds and ended on a judges decision. It was a complete and total ass-whipping. And it's probably going to happen again in the rematch because Holm is 100% serious about it and Rousey is still surrounded by the yes-men and other assorted ass-kissers, as well as the star-fuckers from outfits like TMZ, that let her think she was invulnerable when she clearly wasn't. I just mentioned this anyway because WWE usually wants to be associated with a recent winner or a major legend when they do this cross-over shit with figures from "legit" sports, like Muhammed Ali or Lawrence Taylor. Difficult to say that Rousey still falls into that category after a nuclear-level beatdown like the one Holm laid on her.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
I just mentioned this anyway because WWE usually wants to be associated with a recent winner or a major legend when they do this cross-over shit with figures from "legit" sports, like Muhammed Ali or Lawrence Taylor.
Yeah but that was during Attitude when the WWF had a more vested interest in being associated with a renegade and lunatic like Tyson. They
wouldn't do it today for the PG Era, hence the camera-friendly and uncontroversial Rousey. It even applies to Floyd Mayweather who, despite his
general shittiness as a human being, like with the domestic violence accusations, still hasn't fallen to the depths of infamy that Tyson did
which means today's sorta-family-friendly WWE can trot him out every once in a while and not get in any significant trouble over it.
Not trying to fight here. Just saying that if they want to insert an MMA bad-ass into WM32 then they should choose Holm instead of the person she beat
like a rented mule. That's all.
Even if Holly Holm is the better fighter, she doesn't have the mainstream prominence Ronda Rousey has. Nor the personality, which is hugely important in a WWE context. I suspect that's much more appealing to WWE than legitimate fighting skill. And that's even before you get into the Roddy Piper connection with the nickname, and you know WWE wants to play up Piper's history for Wrestlemania this year, what with his 2015 death and his close association with early Wrestlemanias (an especially crucial point now that the company's first choice for early Wrestlemania association is persona non grata).
True enough, and if all they're going to use Rousey for is to stand there next to Rock and then put Steph in a headlock then it's entirely
plausible. It's not like they're putting her in a straight match against Awesome Kong (just as a theoretical example) the way they once did
with LT against BamBam.
[Edited on 2/12/2016 by Paddlefoot]
quote:
Originally posted by G. Jonah Jameson
Even if Holly Holm is the better fighter, she doesn't have the mainstream prominence Ronda Rousey has. Nor the personality, which is hugely important in a WWE context. I suspect that's much more appealing to WWE than legitimate fighting skill. And that's even before you get into the Roddy Piper connection with the nickname, and you know WWE wants to play up Piper's history for Wrestlemania this year, what with his 2015 death and his close association with early Wrestlemanias (an especially crucial point now that the company's first choice for early Wrestlemania association is persona non grata).
Discussing race in wrestling is a good thing, even if nothing is resolved, it is something that should be talked about more.
Now, if only there was a wrestling promotion that didn't care if you were white, black, latino, part cat, a dragon, male, female, or a god damn
time traveling rocketship with legs and a mouth...they could film it in a Temple...I wonder what something like that would be called...
[Edited on 2-12-2016 by lz4005]
This isn't exactly a rumor, but it does involve OOur favorite nutter Kurt Angle, former MMA-themed WWF guys Shamrock and Severn, and Rey
Mysterio, the latter of which has been rumored to be showing back up in the E soon. It goes without saying one of those matches won't be like the
others so take this one with a huge grain of LOLwut?
http://www.cbssports.com/general/eye-on-sports/25482091/ufc-wwe-boxing-legends-to-all-compete-in-a-single-four-fight-ppv-event
"Seven aging fight legends (and one fan) will be competing in a pay-per-view event called "UR Fight" out in Phoenix, Arizona that will feature fights
in four different disciplines -- MMA, boxing, professional wrestling and grappling.
The fights are: Michael Bisping vs. Chael Sonnen (grappling), Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio (wrestling), Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Sevyrn (MMA) and Roy
Jones, Jr. vs. a fan (boxing, and yes it's real and spectacular and you can enter yourself to fight RJJ)."
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
I just mentioned this anyway because WWE usually wants to be associated with a recent winner or a major legend when they do this cross-over shit with figures from "legit" sports, like Muhammed Ali or Lawrence Taylor.
You mean like Iron Mike Tyson? Who was a major player in the Road to Wrestlemania 14, after he lost badly to Buster Douglas, got convicted of rape and sent to prison for three years, had his ass thorougly kicked by Evander Holyfield TWICE, and roundly mocked for biting off Holyfield's ear in the second one of those fights?
Like that?
https://youtu.be/ZUCLMrG-fwM
Too lazy to embed but anyway Stardust crashed a panel with the Green Arrow guy. Looks like Cody migth have his first featured WM match since the one
with Mysterio.
Was just about to post that as well...
Honestly; as cool as Cody was at that, I'm a little surprised that they don't expand this to include Sheamus given both his and Amell's
prominent roles in TMNT 2.... For as good as Amell's appearance was at Summer Slam he did get pretty gassed; so I think they'd be better to
expand this to something a bit bigger than 1 on 1.
Either way, here's hoping this is something they run with in any shape at WM... Amell is clearly a fan, and he went far above and beyond what
most celeb involvement tends to be.... plus, him and Stardust together turned this into a great money raising venture for charity last time out.
I'll throw it out there because WWE has no plans for Sheamus (or really anyone that isn't Triple H or Roman Reigns): Sheamus and either Del Rio or Rusev (I just assume Wade Barrett is next on the "forcible retirement" list if not just cut) vs. Amell and Cody at Mania. Stardust has run its course by WWE standards, Cody is more than capable of playing different variations of himself, and they really don't need to think too hard to book it.
Wouldn't make much sense since this thing has been Amell vs Stardust. It'd be a big bait and switch to not see this through the end with
those two. I'm thinking Stardust and The Ascension vs Amell, Neville and one more partner. They've been leaning pretty hard on the comic
book imagery with Neville and Cody these last few weeks, my guess there going to be in each other's radar for a few more weeks.
Kalisto would be in an ideal fit.
I could see turning Stardust to team with Stephen Amell. Stardust is much more of a jobber now than he was around Summerslam. He needs to do something different to warrant a match at Wrestlemania.
Rosa Mendes gives birth to baby girl
http://411mania.com/wrestling/rosa-mendes-gives-birth-to-baby-girl/
Somewhere, Pyro weeps that it isn't his.
quote:Goldust?
Originally posted by First 9
Wouldn't make much sense since this thing has been Amell vs Stardust. It'd be a big bait and switch to not see this through the end with those two. I'm thinking Stardust and The Ascension vs Amell, Neville and one more partner.
quote:
Originally posted by Cherokee Jack
quote:Goldust?
Originally posted by First 9
Wouldn't make much sense since this thing has been Amell vs Stardust. It'd be a big bait and switch to not see this through the end with those two. I'm thinking Stardust and The Ascension vs Amell, Neville and one more partner.
He's can still go, and it would finally (sort of) give him and Cody/Stardust the Wrestlemania match against raft other that has been rumored for years but never actually got around to happening.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
I dunno. I can't see how she didn't lose a ton of gravitas both inside and outside of MMA after Holm made her look like an absolute fucking mook in that fight. It wasn't like it went three rounds and ended on a judges decision. It was a complete and total ass-whipping. And it's probably going to happen again in the rematch because Holm is 100% serious about it and Rousey is still surrounded by the yes-men and other assorted ass-kissers, as well as the star-fuckers from outfits like TMZ, that let her think she was invulnerable when she clearly wasn't. I just mentioned this anyway because WWE usually wants to be associated with a recent winner or a major legend when they do this cross-over shit with figures from "legit" sports, like Muhammed Ali or Lawrence Taylor. Difficult to say that Rousey still falls into that category after a nuclear-level beatdown like the one Holm laid on her.
Meanwhile, in Clubber Lang's training dungeon, Holly Holm is taking things much more seriously and sharpening her teeth in front of a mirror.....
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Meanwhile, in Clubber Lang's training dungeon, Holly Holm is taking things much more seriously and sharpening her teeth in front of a mirror.....
Maybe but MMA is a harsh gig where you're only as good as your last performance. Another smackdown by Holm and, combined with becoming part of the LA nightlife and Rousey will be as remembered as much for being a fighter as Anna Kournikova is remembered for being a tennis player. If the money is great then whatever but if it was me I'd rather be true to my calling.
Remember this little exchange from two weeks ago?
quote:
Originally posted by OORick
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
quote:
Originally posted by Flash
It's probably a bit more confusing than that; but I'll pre-face this by saying I have no idea what I'm talking about, :words:
Well, no offense, but if you have no idea what you're talking about, don't spend twelve paragraphs talking about it. I appreciate your attempt to answer my "question", but I don't think there =IS= an answer yet.
If you're willing to wait two weeks, WWE announces their updated earnings data towards the end of next week, which will include the final fiscal quarter of 2015 and all 2015 annual data, and you'll be able to get a good handle on the areas that are driving WWE's revenues. I'll even go through it and pick out the right bits of info for you.
^
Good news: they're healthy, no matter how much some of the non-PPV attendance figures are declining or the RAW/SD ratings oscillate, and with the
Network they've successfully moved into a post-TV revenue stream that will provide them with a steady flow of profit no matter how much the
existing cable market continues to decline.
Bad news: no longer being so reliant on TV means they don't ever have to juice up what they do on RAW or SD. Those shows will never decline into
the jobber-fests like their ancient Saturday afternoon TV shows of yore but at the same time they're really not under massive pressure to do
anything spectacular on those shows other than the standard build-up of feuds for the PPV's. No falling into jobber fests but at the same time
there's no impetus at all for the crash-TV spectacle of Attitude or the brilliance of the Smackdown Six days. It guarantees us more of what
they're doing right now, for better and for too often worse.
* interesting stat released today: not a single RAW so far in 2016 has been a sell-out. even the Daniel Bryan retirement in Seattle pulled 10000 fans
but still had 1000 tickets left unsold
[Edited on 2/15/2016 by Paddlefoot]
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Bad news: no longer being so reliant on TV means they don't ever have to juice up what they do on RAW or SD. Those shows will never decline into the jobber-fests like their ancient Saturday afternoon TV shows of yore but at the same time they're really not under massive pressure to do anything spectacular on those shows other than the standard build-up of feuds for the PPV's. No falling into jobber fests but at the same time there's no impetus at all for the crash-TV spectacle of Attitude or the brilliance of the Smackdown Six days. It guarantees us more of what they're doing right now, for better and for too often worse.
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Maybe but MMA is a harsh gig where you're only as good as your last performance. Another smackdown by Holm and, combined with becoming part of the LA nightlife and Rousey will be as remembered as much for being a fighter as Anna Kournikova is remembered for being a tennis player. If the money is great then whatever but if it was me I'd rather be true to my calling.
But Rouseys appeal lies around her being a bad ass, and the idea that she could kick anyone's ass. That's been disproven, and most people
know it. So it's gone from a casual fan thinking "shed fucking kill Charlotte in a fight" to "she MIGHT beat Charlotte". It's very obvious
to most people that she's becoming more interested in the crossover mainstream stuff than actually fighting. Whilst that might make her a bigger
star in the long run, it makes any potential fight less appealing.
Whereas Holm is the girl who whipped "the best".
What were left with is not dissimilar to Lesnar beating Rock in 2002. Holm is quietly becoming the dangerous monster, and Rousey is going to
exclusively become a film star. Whilst it might grab E!'s attention, Rousey's presence is not necessarily going to convert to more network
buys. Whereas a UFC fan might part with $10 to see what Holm does.
So I'd support the theory that of the two, Holm would be the better get for WWE, at this exact point in time.
This seems like a stretch. She got knocked out, it happens to fighters. By comparison, it is March 1990, you are standing across a ring from Mike
Tyson and Buster Douglas, is there any question which guy is more terrifying? Ask Alexa Davis, Cat Zingano, and Bethe Correia what she might do to
Charlotte. Or even the two dudes she beat up in a movie theater. Holm might get even odds on the rematch, but casual fan isn't suddenly wondering
what Rousey can do in a ring.
LeBron James has hosted SNL, had a significant role in a movie (Trainwreck) and does not seem any less focused on winning championships. Also, being
on SI and hosting SNL does not translate to E! viewership, she's not cameo'ing on some Real Housewives show, it translates to being part of
the mainstream conscious.
Ronda was in the Expendables in 2014, that year she beat Alexa Davis in 16 seconds. Last year, she was in Furious 7, and yes, she lost to Holm, but
she also won two other bouts by a combined 48 seconds. Her focus is fine, what wasn't fine was her approach to a title fight against an
incredibly good fighter that she prepared for like she was Eva Marie.
WWE doesn't want $10 here and there from a casual MMA fan to see what Holly is up to, once. They want lifetime value from folks who see people
they are fans of everywhere else participating in multiple WWE events, and think, "People I am into are part of this? I should start watching..." On
that, it's not close between Holm and Rousey, as of yet. Or, given her low profile since the win, probably something Holm isn't even
interested in.
quote:
Originally posted by coxito
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Maybe but MMA is a harsh gig where you're only as good as your last performance. Another smackdown by Holm and, combined with becoming part of the LA nightlife and Rousey will be as remembered as much for being a fighter as Anna Kournikova is remembered for being a tennis player. If the money is great then whatever but if it was me I'd rather be true to my calling.
Im sorry. When did this turn into a MMA forum? The discussion was her worth to the WWE not whats going to happen when she gets back in the ring with Holm. Her gracing the cover of SI as a model makes her way more valuable as a mainstream celebrity than anything she will ever do going forward in the cage.
OK I admit I find humor that the WWE financial recap is posted under "rumors". POTY NOMINATION !
Nice recap btw!
Here is what is interesting about the model. They can triple dip on profit for televised events- margin is what matters, not revenue (margin = sales-
expense ). So for a RAW the cost of the event is covered by live ticket prices, but benefits TV & Network, cascading down Media is covered by TV
contracts, so network should be pretty friggin healthy on the margin side...
Unless some cockamamie accountant has created a formula to disperse cost "appropriately". My sense is they would not want to disperse, as lower
margins on house & TV help with external negotiations and higher margins on Network provide for more original programming.
As to original programming, that's likely a product of managing profit. If networks revenue is 2x what it was LY, then original budget increases
1.96x (based on lame ass net WWE profit). I'd think the escalator for original would track higher than revenue, as the archives are static, so
other than prepping for production there is no expense.
Short term I'd agree on TV, but...how the hell do ratings work nowadays....as network viewers view online/device/channel and tune out USA, there
will be diminishing returns.
Watch the subscribers v. Ratingsspread as it narrows danger lurks.
What is troubling to me, is that while the product has declined in quality, the revenue has increased. WTF is wrong with American wrestling fans?
News from the WWE disabled list:
1) In an interview with Esquire Middle East, Cesaro is said to have confirmed that his rehab will not be complete before April 2016 and has
ruled himself out for Wrestlemania 32.
2) John Cena sent out a Tweet today that read: Gamble: take risky action in hope of a desired result. Time to gamble I think. It's gonna be a
risky next two weeks #LaceUp #nevergiveup
I guess the gamble will either give us John Cena vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 32 or permanently fuck up his shoulder and force him into
retirement.
Or it could be something completely unrelated, like starting a podcast or giving stand-up comedy a try.
What wonders will these next two weeks have in store for John Cena!
With the way WrestleMania XXXII is shaping up, I'd say Taker/Cena would be a godsend at this point (though I do worry about whether or not Cena would be 100% for the match if he comes back).
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
What is troubling to me, is that while the product has declined in quality, the revenue has increased. WTF is wrong with American wrestling fans?
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
What is troubling to me, is that while the product has declined in quality, the revenue has increased. WTF is wrong with American wrestling entertainment fans?
I'm getting a bit appalled at the recklessness of some of them in trying to come back to quickly. There's pictures there of Cena doing deadlifts and Nikki walking around without her neck brace on just days after their surgeries. I don't know if it's WWE rushing them to do this or if they're having the usual braindead jocko "gotta get back in the game" mentality that athletes have kicking into high gear. Regardless of what it is if they're pushing themselves harder than standard rehab exercises they're just setting themselves up for pain and further injury down the road. There's enough available material for Mania that none of them should be behaving this way just to get in on it.
I don't know if it's recklessness; I mean for Cena it's probably a bit of a calculated risk where he can come in for one match and
probably pull in some pretty serious cash between the match, and whatever new t-shirt he'll d�but for the match, knowing that he can then coast
through a month of squashes until he's 100%. He's been working on building his way up, so he likely knows what he's capable of doing at
this juncture in his rehab.
I don't want to take anything away from Cena or Taker as both are capable of some pretty athletic stuff, but a fairly safe, yet brutal looking
brawl (one where you could have Taker target Cena's shoulder at the start of the match) wouldn't exactly be outside of their wheelhouse.
Footage of Cena's shoulder rehab in real-time:
John Cena's constant injury recoveries make me think one of two things:
1) They always tack on three months to estimated time of recovery for him so he can always come back "sooner than expected".
2) He may legitimately be Superman. Like, he's exposed to our sun and nowhere near Krytonite so his healing is accelerated to a speed no
regular human would ever be capable of. it would also explain the relationship between him and Nikki Bella, since the Bellas are probably not human
either, what with their lack of showing proper huMAN emot...I mean emoootion.
http://www.wwe.com/wwenetwork/new-2016-programming-global-cruiserweight-series-28703671?sf21027710=1
STAMFORD, Conn., February 16, 2016 � WWE Network continues to add to its already robust slate of original programming in 2016, with the newly
green-lit show, Global Cruiserweight Series, a tournament which brings together more than 30 of the greatest in-ring competitors at Full Sail
University in Orlando, to vie for the right to call themselves the best cruiserweight in the world. Global Cruiserweight Series is set to premiere
Wednesday, July 13 at 9pm ET on WWE Network.
[Edited on 2-16-2016 by Matte]
quote:
Originally posted by nOOb
John Cena's constant injury recoveries make me think one of two things:
1) They always tack on three months to estimated time of recovery for him so he can always come back "sooner than expected".
2) He may legitimately be Superman. Like, he's exposed to our sun and nowhere near Krytonite so his healing is accelerated to a speed no regular human would ever be capable of. it would also explain the relationship between him and Nikki Bella, since the Bellas are probably not human either, what with their lack of showing proper huMAN emot...I mean emoootion.
Rumour has it that Wade Barrett has given his notice. Don't blame him if it's true.
Is he injured? I'm surprised I never see him in any League of Nations matches.
quote:
Originally posted by TomS
Rumour has it that Wade Barrett has given his notice. Don't blame him if it's true.
quote:
Originally posted by salmonjunkie
Is he injured? I'm surprised I never see him in any League of Nations matches.
He has been nursing some sort of injury over the past few months which has prevented him from getting into anything more physical than a promo. I don't really see this as a surprise, either. I think he's pretty much over wrestling at this point. He's been going by his real name on Twitter for the better part of the last year or so, he's been snakebitten as far as injuries go, and any time he gets a push WWE gets cold feet (maybe because of the injuries) and pulls the rug out from under him.
I've already seen a lot of folks expecting him to show up in Lucha Underground or somewhere else butI don't think he's too interested in actually wrestling anymore, I'll bet he's caught the acting bug and wants to make a run at that while he still can. Acting seems to be the only thing he perks up about during interviews anyway.
Slade - 2-16-2016 at 11:34 PMThere were reports around Christmas time that Wade Barrett had a neck injury, which is why he wasn't wrestling and that when he was booked in tag team matches never was tagged into the match.
Perhaps this is a different kind of Daniel Bryan deal. Barrett's neck is messed up, so WWE won't clear him to compete, but he thinks he's fine and wants to wrestle until it snaps in half.
In any case, I don't think that leaving WWE is the best thing for Barrett. No matter how often he gets hurt, he always seems to get pushed when he makes a comeback. His last push, as King Barrett, wasn't that great, but not every attempt to regain lost momentum is going to be successful.
Plus, there's the fact that Wrestlemania is only about 6 weeks away. It seems dumb to want to leave right before that event. If he was going to get booked at all, it would have been as a competitor in the Andr� The Giant Battle Royal, but one has to believe that he would still earn some kind of a bonus of that. Not knowing anything more about the situation, and assuming that it is true, if I were him, I would have waited two more months and then sought my release.
Matte - 2-16-2016 at 11:42 PMquote:
Originally posted by Slade
Plus, there's the fact that Wrestlemania is only about 6 weeks away. It seems dumb to want to leave right before that event. If he was going to get booked at all, it would have been as a competitor in the Andr� The Giant Battle Royal, but one has to believe that he would still earn some kind of a bonus of that. Not knowing anything more about the situation, and assuming that it is true, if I were him, I would have waited two more months and then sought my release.
He's not leaving before Mania, and he's not asking for his release. He gave notice, meaning once his contract expires, he's not re-signing. Rumors are his contract is up in June.
Paddlefoot - 2-16-2016 at 11:52 PMHey, what's Duke Bennett doing in the Impact Zone, Josh?
punkerhardcore - 2-16-2016 at 11:58 PMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Hey, what's Duke Bennett doing in the Impact Zone, Josh?
"I'm afraid I've got an awful report for you!"
Paddlefoot - 2-17-2016 at 12:11 AMPossibly second only to mabey or A***d J*****n as the OO Universe's greatest meme.
First 9 - 2-17-2016 at 12:49 AMWait, 30 guys from Full Sail? So half of them are going to be wet behing the ears newbies? I'm still excited just to finally see WWE take Cruisersweights seriously after failing with the Light Hevyweights AND the 00s Cruiserweights but it's a shame it's not a WCW-type showcase with guys from all over. Might get a Jushin Liger appearance.
Matte - 2-17-2016 at 12:54 AMquote:
Originally posted by First 9
Wait, 30 guys from Full Sail? So half of them are going to be wet behing the ears newbies?
Another paragraph from WWE: "For the first time ever, WWE invites cruiserweights from all over the world to compete in the inaugural Global Cruiserweight Series. Thirty-two of the greatest in-ring competitors under 205 lbs. will descend upon Full Sail University in Orlando, Fla., and collide for 10 weeks to earn the right to call themselves the best cruiserweight in the world."
So they'll bring in a bunch of non-WWE guys for this in addition to some already working in NXT.
First 9 - 2-17-2016 at 12:57 AMFucking awesome!
CM Crunk - 2-17-2016 at 01:34 AMThis makes me happy. This is what I want more of out of my Network subscription. I wonder if they'll use this as a platform to get Nakamura over with the non-wankery US audience?
Count Zero - 2-17-2016 at 01:53 AMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
quote:
Originally posted by nOOb
John Cena's constant injury recoveries make me think one of two things:
...
Or he is taking copious amounts of HGH.
Occam's Razor.
Peyton Manning's Wife? (google it, if you wonder wtf this has to do with anything)
quote:I'm well-acquainted with Mabey, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what those snowflakes are standing in for..
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Possibly second only to mabey or A***d J*****n as the OO Universe's greatest meme.
[Edited on 2-17-2016 by Count Zero]
Paddlefoot - 2-17-2016 at 02:07 AMIt was from the old days of the Stalinist tyranny of OO's ModSquad, where they were banning people who typed "Ahmed Johnson" out in full "because he sucked". The Wankipedia described it fairly well although they didn't emphasize how hyper-reactive the mods were here back in the old days. You guys here who are relatively new to OO, like joined up in the last four years or so, are fairly lucky compared to noobies from back then. The mods were in a constant war against trolls and shit-posters (literally, there were guys posting pictures of pieces of shit in toilets) and all kinds of other whackos, and didn't differentiate too much when it came to other perfectly innocent conversations that had zero intention of being disruptive. Punker, BFG, The Rick, and Sal probably have a lot of stories from back them about how wildly hilarious and insane OO could be.
DevilSoprano - 2-17-2016 at 02:20 AMI think its hilarious that you think the mods were at war with the shit posters when one of the mods was one of the shit posters.
Paddlefoot - 2-17-2016 at 02:39 AMI don't know those minute details because I wasn't involved here when that kind of thing was going on. As good a source as it is at least 95%, if not more, of the Wankipedia events occurred long before I and any of these other guys post-2006/07/08 joined up.
CCharger - 2-17-2016 at 03:40 AM* Multiple reports that Brie Bella will be retiring some time this summer. Daniel Bryan and Brie were guests on a taped segment for Good Morning America and Brie stated that is seems like a good time to "hang up the boots".
Not too surprising as we've been hearing stories about both Bella's looking closely at life after WWE. In the short term, it would make sense for the WWE to put the Divas belt on her at Fastlane and give her one last run.
williamssl - 2-17-2016 at 05:35 AMquote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
I think its hilarious that you think the mods were at war with the shit posters when one of the mods was one of the shit posters.
What was the screen name of this shit poster?
I can't tell if this is serious or you just hated one of the mod's alter egos.
CamstunPWG187 - 2-17-2016 at 07:16 AMFuck the old mods. I got banned twice, once for even having the name "cumstain187" in retaliation for always being called that under my first account.
Paddlefoot - 2-17-2016 at 09:46 AMquote:
Originally posted by CamstunPWG187
Fuck the old mods. I got banned twice, once for even having the name "cumstain187" in retaliation for always being called that under my first account.
The fuckers still owe you an apology for that. This is the best you'll ever get though.
Dominator - 2-17-2016 at 11:48 AMquote:
Originally posted by janerd75
My guess is that at next Monday's RAW the Clown Prince of Mangled Lines from Dom's Rogues Gallery shows up to take on Taker.
Bite your tongue and the rest of your face, sir.
OOMike - 2-17-2016 at 12:43 PMquote:
Originally posted by CamstunPWG187
Fuck the old mods. I got banned twice, once for even having the name "cumstain187" in retaliation for always being called that under my first account.
I apologize for nothing... but I never banned you.
I did fight against the shit posters, constantly.
I would also be curious which mod was a shit poster....
CCharger - 2-17-2016 at 01:30 PMSpeaking of shit posters and old mods, etc. I was skimming through the Wankopedia and realized it hadn't been updated in 10 years. I have neither the ambition not the bOOard longevity to update it, but it seems like now would be a good time for one of the vets (or Rick) to step up and do it.
nOOb - 2-17-2016 at 03:43 PMHas anything actually happened in the past ten years? It really doesn't feel like it. We've had Showdowns but that was more just people complaining people were voting for the wrong person.
williamssl - 2-17-2016 at 03:53 PMI nominate goon. He wants a bOOardie so badly....he can earn it.
Paddlefoot - 2-17-2016 at 05:33 PMRecommended new entries for the Wankipedia include:
- the time Parvini was goaded into returning for a very special round of Jeb-brand abuse
- Lucky Lopez' disappearance into the bowels of Oswald State Penitentiary
- Teh Rick's brush with the grim reaper
- gm170hp, including the picture of him and his guido bros
- the goatse-ing of OO!
- recurring kidney stones
- the 2015 OO Lifetime Achievement Winner (inter-changable with recurring kidney stones)
- blatant GIF abuse
- "what's ____ doing in the Impact Zone, ____?"
- posters from Florida
The Hitcher - 2-17-2016 at 06:03 PM-The saga of Doms mancrush.
Also: I just realised I registered on Christmas Day. That's mildly depressing.
[Edited on 2-17-2016 by The Hitcher]
DevilSoprano - 2-17-2016 at 06:41 PMI may be confusing the shit posts with the goatse posts, but that was Jeb, was it not?
Wickedfrost - 2-17-2016 at 07:57 PMAnd everyone forgot my 10 year anniversary the other day.
Shit. I joined on Valentine's Day.
Dyn-O-Mite - 2-17-2016 at 10:10 PMquote:
Originally posted by The Hitcher
Also: I just realised I registered on Christmas Day. That's mildly depressing.
[Edited on 2-17-2016 by The Hitcher]
Registered: 12/24/2008 -- Does Christmas happen in reverse in Manchester?
11 years?!? And, still, with every post -- I promise most of you think: who the F is this guy?
[Edited on 2-17-2016 by Dyn-O-Mite]
coxito - 2-17-2016 at 10:13 PMquote:
Originally posted by Dyn-O-Mite
quote:
Originally posted by The Hitcher
Also: I just realised I registered on Christmas Day. That's mildly depressing.
[Edited on 2-17-2016 by The Hitcher]
Registered: 12/24/2008 -- Does Christmas happen in reverse in Manchester?
11 years?!? And, still, with every post -- I promise most of you think: who the F is this guy?
[Edited on 2-17-2016 by Dyn-O-Mite]
It all depends on the timezone you select for your account.
The Grindfather - 2-17-2016 at 10:26 PMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
- Lucky Lopez' disappearance into the bowels of Oswald State Penitentiary
Agreed. When I first discovered the bOOards & before I registered he was the first guy that stood out because 1) I always thought, "man what a dick," & 2) He absolutely hated Cesaro (then Claudio) & I never understood why because he was one of the first Indy guys I really liked. I vaguely remember him saying something like he was going away for awhile & popped back up once or twice after that & then was never seen again. Would love a little insight into the mystery wrapped in an enigma that was Lucky Lopez?
Paddlefoot - 2-17-2016 at 11:12 PMIt's a Bermuda Triangle thing with LL. We'll never know and if anyone who still posts here does then they're not saying a thing.
First 9 - 2-17-2016 at 11:30 PMCCharger's Total Divas recaps deserve to be considered for entry.
The Grindfather - 2-17-2016 at 11:42 PMSeems like we should cash in on the documentary craze & do a Making a Murderer style investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Lucky Lopez.
I'd also nominate Dom's unquenchable man-lust for Randy Orton to be included as well.
Re: Wade Barrett's impending departure, he's gotta be on the shortlist of wasted potential/guys WWE royally screwed up right? During the height of Nexus I woulda fist fought anyone who said he wasn't going to be a world champ one day. I know injuries have been an issue but not all have been his fault (see: Swagger, Jack). He's at least leader in the clubhouse for this decade, although Rusev is currently making a hard charge for that spot at the trajectory he's on right now.
Matte - 2-17-2016 at 11:54 PMquote:
Originally posted by nOOb
Has anything actually happened in the past ten years? It really doesn't feel like it.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Holy shit, guys. Come on. You're all being obtuse.
I'm sorry to ruin Wrestlemania for you, but unless Roman Reigns gets ebola or Lesnar suffocates to death between Sable's boobs prior to this Sunday REIGNS IS GOING TO WIN.quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Sure. Anything's possible. I can't disagree with that.
But Reigns is still winning.
EDIT: File this under O for Obtuse.
[Edited on 2-17-2016 by Matte]
williamssl - 2-18-2016 at 01:04 AMquote:
Originally posted by DevilSoprano
I may be confusing the shit posts with the goatse posts, but that was Jeb, was it not?
Jeb = goatse 'r us
Paddlefoot - 2-18-2016 at 01:22 AMToo bad all those gaping man-ass threads in PU got deleted in order to protect his serious career because they kind of deserved their own wing in the Jeb Lund Memorial section that OO needs.
Count Zero - 2-18-2016 at 01:52 AMquote:I am thoroughly ashamed of myself. I forgot Ahmed Johnson even existed, and I WAS A FAN (until he started almost-killing people in the ring; even younger-markier-me couldn't tolerate that in a 'cooperative athletic' type wrassling situation).
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
It was from the old days of the Stalinist tyranny of OO's ModSquad, where they were banning people who typed "Ahmed Johnson" out in full "because he sucked".
As the New Day would loudly say, "SHAAAAAME! SHAME! SHAMESHAMESHAME!"
quote:Seconded. Those things were fucking EPIC. I'm pretty sure they're responsible for boosting viewership enough for the WWE to decide it was worth making more seasons.
Originally posted by First 9
CCharger's Total Divas recaps deserve to be considered for entry.
And Dom's mancrush/best-frenemy-for-life? That deserves a statue, not just a wankipedizing.
Now to get underailed (no, not Underrail, but that looks good too if you're a fan of the old-fashioned Fallout RPGs), I won't be too upset if Wade Barrett goes. He's always been less-than-entertaining to me, even WITH all his 'bad news', but I wish him well in his future endeavors. He's had an interesting life, but couldn't seem to turn it into a wrestling character like others have done before. Just to throw a random thought out there (and because the Impact Meme was already invoked), maybe he'd be "unique"ish in Lucha Underground? I don't get a chance to watch LU, so I'm probably suggesting a bad idea.. but sometimes the craziest things turn out okay?
[Edited on 2-18-2016 by Count Zero]
merc - 2-18-2016 at 03:58 AMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
It was from the old days of the Stalinist tyranny of OO's ModSquad, where they were banning people who typed "Ahmed Johnson" out in full "because he sucked". The Wankipedia described it fairly well although they didn't emphasize how hyper-reactive the mods were here back in the old days. You guys here who are relatively new to OO, like joined up in the last four years or so, are fairly lucky compared to noobies from back then. The mods were in a constant war against trolls and shit-posters (literally, there were guys posting pictures of pieces of shit in toilets) and all kinds of other whackos, and didn't differentiate too much when it came to other perfectly innocent conversations that had zero intention of being disruptive. Punker, BFG, The Rick, and Sal probably have a lot of stories from back them about how wildly hilarious and insane OO could be.
OOMike,
I just want to point out he types A**** j****** in public. Ban the fucker!
merc - 2-18-2016 at 04:03 AMquote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
OriginallyI am thoroughly ashamed of myself. I forgot Ahmed Johnson even existed, and I WAS A FAN (until he started almost-killing people in the ring; even younger-markier-me couldn't tolerate that in a 'cooperative athletic' type wrassling situation).
As the New Day would loudly say, "SHAAAAAME! SHAME! SHAMESHAMESHAME!"
[Edited on 2-18-2016 by Count Zero]
ANARCHY has broken out! Another A**** ******n reference. get these forums under control for the love of the children!
Count Zero - 2-18-2016 at 07:25 AMIf I'm getting banned, can I get a Pearl River Plunge through a table on my way out? Younger-Me thought that was a pretty cool move, for the era.
CM Crunk - 2-18-2016 at 07:56 AMY'know, all this talks got me thinking... Ryback's getting a lot of flack for "ripping off" Goldberg's look, but nobody's talking about the fact that he stole A**** J*******'s asscrack's catchphrase: "Feed Me More."
But seriously, has anyone seen recent pictures of the guy? He looks like he's cosplaying as Abdullah The Butcher if Abdullah The Butcher shopped exclusively from the Steve Harvey section at JCPenney.
Channel Guide Magazine has an interview up with Triple H where he touches on the Global Cruiserweight Series:
quote:
On filling the tournament spots: �A lot of times, in the past, we�ve operated on �you either work for WWE or you didn�t work for WWE. I think with something like this, we�re opening it up a bit more. We are going to allow these guys to come in. I�m not just trying to find the cruiserweights that are the obvious ones. I think those guys will be there, the top guys in the world. But I�m trying to find the undiscovered diamonds someplace else that will blow people�s minds; someone who maybe hasn�t gotten the opportunity yet to be seen. When we say 32, we�re looking at every corner of the world. I have [William] Regal out there in every corner of the globe trying to find not only the ones who people are aware are the best, but others who nobody is aware of quite yet. We want to put them in this and let�s see what they can do.�
On possibly working with indie promotions: �Obviously, if someone is under contract with, say, New Japan Pro Wrestling, I don�t think they are going to have the opportunity to perform in this type of tournament. Though anybody that has the opportunity, freedom and availability to do something like this with us, we are looking at working with them. I�m open to working with other groups that are out there such as Progress, Evolve, Rev Pro and places like that. They have a lot of talent they work with, but those talents have that ability to do other things. It�s an opportunity to be on a platform to be seen by millions around the world and become much bigger stars in their own right. If we can use those promotions in a way that helps them as well, to me that�s great. I think helping that independent undercurrent is beneficial to everybody.�
On what WWE looks for in talents: �There are people who say, �Oh, this guy�s in-ring ability,� or, �Oh, this guy�s is physically this, and that�s what they look for.� We look for anything and everything. I will say to talent all the time that being a superstar is like a big puzzle. The more pieces you have, the more complete you are and the better performer you are. Some guys will become huge stars based on one or two pieces of that puzzle. It�s really what people get into and gravitate towards, whether positively or negatively. Reaction is reaction. That�s the one thing. People criticize John Cena for the longest time when half the place is booing him. He is the most over guy we have. He gets the biggest reaction every night, for a long period of time, and that�s what this is about. Sometimes people look at Daniel Bryan as just the little guy who is really good in the ring. However, he also has a ton of personality and an engaging character and a charisma. He had a lot of things. He wasn�t just a little guy who can go. People negate that. I think it�s not giving the talent the credit they deserve. To just say Rey Mysterio was just a little guy or Daniel was just a little guy who was really good in the ring is really taking away from them as this great performer all around they really were or are.�
Say what you will about Trips, but I can't wait for him to take over one day. If even just for Regal to get promoted to a loftier position within the corporate hierarchy.
[Edited on 2/18/2016 by CM Crunk]
jefft221 - 2-18-2016 at 03:49 PMNew rumor for Undertaker at Wrestlemania is it'll be someone who's not currently on the roster, and not Cena, Brock, Owens, or Strowman. Not sure if Sting is considered on the roster, but I'd have to assume he's out of the running based on his neck. So if the rumor's true, could be interesting...
Fifth Horseman - 2-18-2016 at 04:00 PMquote:
Originally posted by jefft221
New rumor for Undertaker at Wrestlemania is it'll be someone who's not currently on the roster, and not Cena, Brock, Owens, or Strowman. Not sure if Sting is considered on the roster, but I'd have to assume he's out of the running based on his neck. So if the rumor's true, could be interesting...
Floyd Mayweather.
Slick - 2-18-2016 at 04:11 PMquote:
Originally posted by jefft221
New rumor for Undertaker at Wrestlemania is it'll be someone who's not currently on the roster, and not Cena, Brock, Owens, or Strowman. Not sure if Sting is considered on the roster, but I'd have to assume he's out of the running based on his neck. So if the rumor's true, could be interesting...
CORPORATE Kane
(Demon Kane gets abducted on Sunday to parts unkown)
OOMike - 2-18-2016 at 05:22 PMquote:
Originally posted by merc
OOMike,
I just want to point out he types A**** j****** in public. Ban the fucker!
I was replaced as a Mod a LOOOOOOOOng time ago
salmonjunkie - 2-18-2016 at 05:29 PMquote:
Originally posted by jefft221
New rumor for Undertaker at Wrestlemania is it'll be someone who's not currently on the roster, and not Cena, Brock, Owens, or Strowman. Not sure if Sting is considered on the roster, but I'd have to assume he's out of the running based on his neck. So if the rumor's true, could be interesting...
OMG BOBBY LASHLEY
janerd75 - 2-18-2016 at 06:11 PMquote:
Originally posted by jefft221
New rumor for Undertaker at Wrestlemania is it'll be someone who's not currently on the roster, and not Cena, Brock, Owens, or Strowman. Not sure if Sting is considered on the roster, but I'd have to assume he's out of the running based on his neck. So if the rumor's true, could be interesting...
Oh, it's true. It's damn true.
Planet Starbucks - 2-18-2016 at 07:28 PMGoing back to new entries in the Wankipedia, surely, SURELY 'I woke my girlfriend up and we cried together' is a no brainer. Didn't see it when I skimmed through earlier.
williamssl - 2-18-2016 at 07:31 PMre: UT
Rumormonger-ing had Goldberg as a potential candidate.
If this happens, I will find that rumormongerer. I will hunt him.
punkerhardcore - 2-18-2016 at 07:45 PMYeah that would be pretty bad.
Angle makes sense. He's finished up with TNA and is a big name who will get a huge pop upon his return.
I don't even know who else would make sense. No offense to guys like Nakamura, but he ain't facing the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. It's gotta be someone pretty huge.
Michaels-- They keep trying to get him back, but he seems happy in retirement. Plus him facing Taker for the third time in Mania would be kinda silly. Although "your chance to beat him when you couldn't twice before" could be an angle used to bring him back, but I still don't see it.
Austin-- He's already said he won't have another match, but who knows.
Punk-- He's busy with his UFC "career".
Rock-- Likely wouldn't get cleared by the movie studios.
Sting-- Currently held together with gum and tape.
Batista-- Maybe. Although he's already said that they asked him to do something for Mania and he turned them down. Plus, now he's probably less likely to do the company a solid, since they suspended his good friend Titus for a stupid reason.
Mysterio-- Rumored for a comeback to the WWE, but no.
Orton-- This is my guess for most likely. His injury status could count him as "not on the roster" currently.
I'm gonna throw out a very, VERY unlikely scenario, but one that would be awesome-- Seth Rollins. Not sure how his rehab is going, but maybe Cena has let him drink some of his blood or something and gain his Wolverine-like regenerative powers. If he were to come back, and beat Taker? It would be such a great moment for him and fit his character perfectly.
Planet Starbucks - 2-18-2016 at 08:31 PMSeth making it back and going over Taker would be awesome, but sadly I can't see it. The only two names that make sense to me based on the current rumours are Kurt and Batista. Out of those, I'm sure the brass would much prefer big Dave, but that also seems doubtful. Supposedly HHH was uninterested in Angle when he reached out to the WWE following the end of his TNA run, but desperate times etc. So my guess would be Angle, which now I say it out loud also seems very unlikely.....
Columbo - 2-18-2016 at 08:43 PMSeth Freakin Rollins was the 1st name that popped in my head when I saw Takers opponent was going to be someone "unexpected" rumor a couple weeks ago. I really like this idea so I'm pretty sure it will be something terrible like Goldberg... At least Takeover Dallas should be worth April's 9.99.
GodEatGod - 2-18-2016 at 08:57 PMI would actually have no problem with Goldberg/Taker, if Goldberg's in any condition to wrestle. It'd be a big spectacle for the marks, it'd be contained within the big special match, there'd be some clubbering, it's fine. Even doubt about the outcome. Would it be a classic match? Probably not but a segment of the fanbase would be pleased and it would be more sideshow than main event. If you get tired of part-timers taking spots, isn't it better they take spots in matches with each other than force more active and relevant wrestlers to lay down for them?
denverpunk - 2-18-2016 at 09:06 PMIf it's Kennedy, I quit.
I would be happy with Angle if his own neck wasn't held together with tape, and he paved the road for Daniel Bryan to try to ignore medical advice and keep wrestling. He's too much of a wild card.
Goldberg would at the very least be a spectacle. He hasn't wrestled in a long time, and people would be excited to see him. The problem is also that he hasn't wrestled in a long time, and might not be up for the training and what-not it would take to wrestle a 30 minute match at WM.
Rollins would be awesome, and I hope it happens.
Orton would be boring as shit, and we all know it.
williamssl - 2-18-2016 at 09:15 PMquote:
Originally posted by GodEatGod
I would actually have no problem with Goldberg/Taker
Now I have a specific person to find, to hunt if this happens.
Planet Starbucks - 2-18-2016 at 09:17 PMTo be honest, at this point the annual Taker WM match has become more of a chore for me and a burden on the booking than anything else. I know a number of posters have been saying that for a while now, but up until the last couple of years I personally bought into the 'epicness' of the streak and the hype surrounding it.
Between WM 25 and WM 30 I always looked forward to his matches and generally really enjoyed them. When Brock won I didn't really mind but there can be no doubt that without the streak the build up the last couple of years has had a lot less impact, and now I feel the burden of having to book a 40 minute segment outweighs the benefits.
I respect the man and everything he has done, but I'm sorry to say that I'm looking forward to the time, hopefully sooner rather than later, when that 40 minutes is freed up each year for something else.
janerd75 - 2-18-2016 at 09:32 PMquote:
Originally posted by denverpunk
If it's Kennedy, I quit.
I would be happy with Angle if his own neck wasn't held together with tape, and he paved the road for Daniel Bryan to try to ignore medical advice and keep wrestling. He's too much of a wild card.
Goldberg would at the very least be a spectacle. He hasn't wrestled in a long time, and people would be excited to see him. The problem is also that he hasn't wrestled in a long time, and might not be up for the training and what-not it would take to wrestle a 30 minute match at WM.
Rollins would be awesome, and I hope it happens.
Orton would be boring as shit, and we all know it.
Agreed on the Angle angle as much as I would love for it to be true, damn tr...well, you know. For all the weeping and gnashing of teeth that went on over protecting Bryan, there hasn't been enough time to memory hole the fact that Kurt's probably one bad bump away from spontaneously combusting in the ring so there's literally no justification whatsoever from a "we protect our talent" perspective if WWE went ahead and did so.
Why no on Kennedy Kennedy? Just curious. I'm utterly neutral either way as I have little to no memory of anything he ever did other than yell his name a lot, though I kinda recall liking his midwestern accent themed promos.
Goldberg. Meh. If he shows up this Monday to get it started, hmm...yeah nah, meh. I wouldn't trust him to not legit fuck Taker up accidentally.
Rollins...gotta go meh on that one too. I'd hope for a bigger spot for him and possible face turn uponst his return. I guess he could be all dickbaggish and losing to Taker could potentially be a self-reflection loss that leads to a face turn. Dunno what the dynamics for that would be unless Taker wants to eat a loss in his home state, which I doubt.
Orton...I would be fine with. I am so, so, so very sorry.
GodEatGod - 2-18-2016 at 09:48 PMquote:
Originally posted by williamssl
quote:
Originally posted by GodEatGod
I would actually have no problem with Goldberg/Taker
Now I have a specific person to find, to hunt if this happens.
What can I say, I was a Goldberg mark once upon a time.
The guy off the roster I'd most want to see is Drew Galloway, but he was such a joke in WWE that even the awesome badass he's made of himself on the Indy scene probably won't carry over this soon. The WWE crowd would just wonder why the 3MB guy was getting so many shots in.
[Edited on 2-18-2016 by GodEatGod]
bopol - 2-18-2016 at 09:52 PM* Goldberg would create a huge pop if they could keep it a secret. The match would have to be short, but that's fine.
* Angle *might* be able to have a good match with UT. If it's a case of a goodbye to a guy that should have been a prevalent player in US wrestling for the last decade, it'd be pretty cool.
If you want a Texas pop, go with Kevin von Erich.
CCharger - 2-18-2016 at 10:01 PMUndertaker versus.....A**** J******
[Edited on 2-18-2016 by CCharger]
salmonjunkie - 2-18-2016 at 10:08 PMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Undertaker versus.....A**** J******
Styles******?
janerd75 - 2-18-2016 at 10:10 PMquote:
Originally posted by bopol
If you want a Texas pop, go with Kevin von Erich.
I'd say aim higher with the creativity. Considering it'd be a match with the Undertaker, I don't see why any of Kevin's other brothers would be out of the equation.
Ah, who are we all kidding anyway when it's obvious who it's going to be.
2/2 squat max 20kg 2/12 squat max 140kg + arm gaining range. One must push limits to find them #nevergiveup #LaceUp pic.twitter.com/uLgazAsAwc
— John Cena (@JohnCena) February 12, 2016
Count Zero - 2-18-2016 at 10:18 PMquote:Ronda Rousey?
Originally posted by janerd75
Ah, who are we all kidding anyway when it's obvious who it's going to be.
The Grindfather - 2-18-2016 at 10:23 PMquote:
Originally posted by jefft221
New rumor for Undertaker at Wrestlemania is it'll be someone who's not currently on the roster, and not Cena, Brock, Owens, or Strowman. Not sure if Sting is considered on the roster, but I'd have to assume he's out of the running based on his neck. So if the rumor's true, could be interesting...
Balor & the Balor Club? I have no idea how that would work with the Friday Takeover show but it'd certainly give them as big a debut as they could get.
I'd love to see Angle but there really can't be anyway he could legitimately get medical clearance.
merc - 2-18-2016 at 10:46 PMquote:
Originally posted by OOMike
quote:
Originally posted by merc
OOMike,
I just want to point out he types A**** j****** in public. Ban the fucker!
I was replaced as a Mod a LOOOOOOOOng time ago
No wonder the place has gone to Janerdville....
janerd75 - 2-18-2016 at 10:53 PMquote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
quote:Ronda Rousey?
Originally posted by janerd75
Ah, who are we all kidding anyway when it's obvious who it's going to be.
It'll be someone with the initials RR, but you've got the wrong one.
quote:
Originally posted by merc
quote:
Originally posted by OOMike
quote:
Originally posted by merc
OOMike,
I just want to point out he types A**** j****** in public. Ban the fucker!
I was replaced as a Mod a LOOOOOOOOng time ago
No wonder the place has gone to Janerdville....
Indeed. Had Mod not abandoned his children and set them on the path to self-destruction caused by His absence, The Rick would have sent his assassins for Janerd right around his first shitpost. Fortunately for Janerd, all of yOOu are figments of his imagination anyway and this entire site exists only in his mind. Oh the tales Janerd could tell of what he really did with the Lucky Lopez construct.
[Edited on 2-18-2016 by janerd75]
punkerhardcore - 2-18-2016 at 11:11 PMIt can't be Ronda Rousey. Because then when she's booked to lose the match, she'll go on another talk show and blubber about how she thought about killing herself.
Matte - 2-18-2016 at 11:15 PMquote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
It can't be Ronda Rousey. Because then when she's booked to lose the match, she'll go on another talk show and blubber about how she thought about killing herself.
lol suicide
Dominator - 2-18-2016 at 11:30 PMShame, shame, shame, shame on all of you.
You all are booty.
First 9 - 2-19-2016 at 02:51 AMGoldberg hasn't been in the mainstream eye in 12 years. Yeah, in his prime he was white hot, on a level of overness guys like Cena, Orton, and Batista never really reached, but it was just for a few years.
He was the Ultimate Warrior of the 90s, and bringing him back after so long for an instant major match probably won't lead to Warrior vs Hogan 2 but I don't think it'll lead to anything to good either. Also, I'm not sure how much WWE feels his worth. The guy at one point said he wanted to come back right at the moment when Michaels and Batista were gone and WWE still wouldn't bring him back.
The rumor is probably bullshit, if the WWE is purposely leaking stuff to get the internet talking, why put a big limit to it by saying it's not a contract guy which quiets down the conversation and if it's somebody else going behind their back, why would you stop at such a random description?
williamssl - 2-19-2016 at 03:31 AMCena is attempting to come back early. The only reason he would do that is for Wrestlemania. If he's coming back for Wrestlemania and it's not for the Undertaker, which would/could be one of if not THE biggest match on the card*, then who is he facing?
Occam's razor has seemingly become the new way of explaining things, justifying your position, or pointing out that another person's position is stupid.
Occam's razor.
Duh.
* Don't start a debate on this. You will. But don't.
EDIT: Is this where I call anyone who doesn't simply agree with this "obtuse"? That + Occam's Razor in same post gives me double word score or Yahtzee or something.
[Edited on 2-19-2016 by williamssl]
janerd75 - 2-19-2016 at 03:53 AMquote:
Originally posted by williamssl
Cena is attempting to come back early. The only reason he would do that is for Wrestlemania. If he's coming back for Wrestlemania and it's not for the Undertaker, which would/could be one of if not THE biggest match on the card, then who is he facing?
Occam's razor has seemingly become the new way of explaining things, justifying your position, or pointing out that another person's position is stupid.
Occam's razor.
Duh.
There's a clue in there somewhere, I know it. Hmm, WM's in Texas. Taker's from Texas. The hell else is in Texas besides steers and qu...Hispanics! Hmm, Taker, Texas, Hispanics...let's see now Occam's razor...Razor Ramon! But what does Occam have to do...heyyyy, wait a second. Do you mean William of Ockham, whose namesake principle of the simplest solution usually being the correct one and also by some strange "coincidence" happens to contain the word Razor?
Spolier Alert: OOur very OOwn Tex will be making his triumphant return to Texas and will be managing Razor Ramon against Taker at Wrestlemania.
salmonjunkie - 2-19-2016 at 03:55 AMTexas, Dead Man, and Hispanics?
Well shit, it's going to be Undertaker vs. the ghost of Eddie Guerrero!
punkerhardcore - 2-19-2016 at 04:50 AMWhich would still be better than Taker vs. Braun Strowman.
Count Zero - 2-19-2016 at 04:58 AMquote:Too soon?
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
It can't be Ronda Rousey. Because then when she's booked to lose the match, she'll go on another talk show and blubber about how she thought about killing herself.
quote:Not Soon Enough. (I miss Eddie
Originally posted by salmonjunkie
Texas, Dead Man, and Hispanics?
Well shit, it's going to be Undertaker vs. the ghost of Eddie Guerrero!)
janerd75 - 2-19-2016 at 08:33 AMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Recommended new entries for the Wankipedia include:
- the goatse-ing of OO!
- blatant GIF abuse
- posters from Florida
No, none of these things should actively be allowed on the bOOards, let alone remembered for posterity's sake...because I missed the GOOatse Era and that's just too damn depressing thinking aboot the missed opportunities, blatant GIF abuse is the function of a clearly disturbed yet universally beloved* and entertaining person desperately starving for attention, and posters from Florida only serve to illustrate what a charming state the place is.
Just kidding. Any posters from Florida, especially the ones that wreck the FF buttons on their remote because they're insufficiently nuanced to appreciate date rape and shitty tats personified in one particularly slithery wrestler *WINK* and another that had an insatiable desire for reviewing mindbendingly horrific reality tv and believing salvation lies within being militantly obtuse with our dear neighbors to the north, should be sent to the prison Lucky's getting involuntarily goatse'd in. And only those two as I cannot currently think of any other poster from Florida that needs his head kicked so far and fast up his own ass in order to travel back to a time when jumping into a wood chipper wasn't the most reasonable solution to his problems.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
Which would still be better than Taker vs. Braun Strowman.
Would you just jump off Brown Stainpants' dick for a sec? Hell's bells, I think we can all at least agree the guy's proficient at being huge, speaking in a low voice, standing upright, lumbering, bearhugging, gollywhomping, jollydicking, all things Vince loves in a Main Event-level WWE Superstar. What person in their right mind would want to fuck that spot up by giving it to Owens or A.J.? Why can't any of you rubes see that Taker vs. Strowman is Vince's gift to the WWE Universe?
*Or beloathed. Whatevs.
Quentil - 2-19-2016 at 02:42 PMI think we shouldn't mess with the posters from Florida, because I don't want one to shoot me while I'm wearing a hoodie.
CamstunPWG187 - 2-19-2016 at 02:51 PMI'm from Florida, and even I never wanna live there again.
denverpunk - 2-19-2016 at 02:56 PMquote:
Originally posted by CamstunPWG187
I'm from Florida, and even I never wanna live there again.
Quoted for damned truth.
Paddlefoot - 2-19-2016 at 03:49 PMIf you're keeping yourself clean please come back to Florida, honey.
janerd75 - 2-19-2016 at 09:28 PMquote:
Originally posted by denverpunk
quote:
Originally posted by CamstunPWG187
I'm from Florida, and even I never wanna live there again.
Quoted for damned truth.
Thirded.
Though it is almost that time a year agayn...
Back to reality, apparently it wasn't CTE or lesions or any of that doctor voodoo hocus pocus what kept Daniel Bryan from Wrestlemania, it was...Big Vito?!?!
http://news.yahoo.com/former-wwe-star-big-vito-171513722.html
Count Zero - 2-19-2016 at 11:48 PMquote:It sounds like he's enjoying the Floridian climate, though.
Originally posted by janerd75
Back to reality, apparently it wasn't CTE or lesions or any of that doctor voodoo hocus pocus what kept Daniel Bryan from Wrestlemania, it was...Big Vito?!?!
http://news.yahoo.com/former-wwe-star-big-vito-171513722.html
cromartie - 2-20-2016 at 05:22 AMquote:
Originally posted by denverpunk
quote:
Originally posted by CamstunPWG187
I'm from Florida, and even I never wanna live there again.
Quoted for damned truth.
Can I third this? Or are we venturing into too many quotes within quotes territory?
Paddlefoot - 2-21-2016 at 01:29 AM* odd bit of activity on Cena's Instagram account has some speculating that he's teasing a return of CM Punk; Cena posted a picture of Paul Newman from Slap Shot, which is the main image Punk uses on his own Twitter feed; this talk got generated because Cena's Instagram teased AJ Styles joining WWE at the RR because Cena posted a picture of AJ just before AJ's debut.
One of two options:
1) Cena's BS-ing everyone for laughs
2) It's legit because, as one of WWE's genuine untouchables (along with Trips & Taker) Cena could be privy to background information (such as AJ showing up at the RR) that others wouldn't have, like if a detente between Punk and WWE has been successfully reached. WWE would want to keep it a surprise of course but at the same time they aren't going to be against some social media frenzy, like Cena using Instagram to give the fan beehive a poke, over Punk possibly returning kicking up some publicity going into Mania
Most likely all nonsense but at least it's interesting going into WM. In a never say never business, especially with recent things over the last few years like Bret Hart and Ultimate Warrior (who were even more bitter against WWE than Punk is) returning to the WWE fold, anything is possible.
nOOb - 2-21-2016 at 02:16 AMHe could also have just watched Slapshot and it was something fresh on his mind. All the effort UFC has put into this CM Punk experiment, what with making a mini-show to find him an opponent, paying a guy to fight winner of said show to earn the fight, putting him in their video game, and hooking him up with Roufus Sport, there's no way they just let him go back to wrestling.
Unless this has all been an elaborate hoax, where CM Punk really did quit so that Daniel Bryan would move up to the Triple H spot for Mania, and Batista really was brought in under the assumption fans would turn on him in favor of Bryan. In which case, I don't think I can watch wrestling anymore for mind-exploding reasons.
cardscott5 - 2-21-2016 at 05:03 AMThere's definitely no coincidence that Cena used the picture that he used.
That being said, Brooks isn't so much a hypocrite to rip on reporters for thinking his UFC run is novelty just to never fight and go back to the WWE.
Even though he'll never fight in the UFC
Paddlefoot - 2-21-2016 at 07:05 AM* Ric Flair on his podcast said that Randy Orton's rehab from his shoulder surgery is going well but slow, and this means Orton won't be back in time for Mania. Cue the blasting triumphal trumpets of "Patriot" as a prodigal son returns to the E as Taker's surprise WM opponent?
Planet Starbucks - 2-21-2016 at 08:22 AMquote:
Originally posted by nOOb
Unless this has all been an elaborate hoax, where CM Punk really did quit so that Daniel Bryan would move up to the Triple H spot for Mania, and Batista really was brought in under the assumption fans would turn on him in favor of Bryan. In which case, I don't think I can watch wrestling anymore for mind-exploding reasons.
Smart! So smart!
G-Spot - 2-21-2016 at 08:02 PMI'll put this here since I don't feel it needs it's own thread....
John Cena is driving the pace car at today's Daytona 500 and pit reporter Jamie Little can't see him....
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/blogs/inside-groove/2016/2/21/daytona-500-fox-jamie-little-confused-john-cena-cant-see-me.html
I love the look on Cena's face as he is ignored then pony-tail slapped!
[Edited on 2-21-2016 by G-Spot]
S Kid J E T S 48 - 2-21-2016 at 10:01 PMAnd one more that doesn't need its own thread. This was perfectly done from beginning of the clip to the end.
CM Crunk - 2-21-2016 at 10:23 PMquote:
Originally posted by S Kid J E T S 48
And one more that doesn't need its own thread. This was perfectly done from beginning of the clip to the end.
I don't know what this says about me and my views on romance and maybe even gender equality but...your opponent drops on one knee like that right in front of you, you don't stand there with your hands over your mouth in shock, you shining wizard that sonuvabitch!
nOOb - 2-22-2016 at 12:01 AMI thought that was exceptional that he took advantage of the shock of her being newly engaged to go for the small package and get the win. And at least she knew he splurged enough on the ring to at least get the win out of all of it.
Paddlefoot - 2-22-2016 at 12:38 AMquote:
Originally posted by S Kid J E T S 48
And one more that doesn't need its own thread. This was perfectly done from beginning of the clip to the end.
Maclen approves of this post.
Flash - 2-22-2016 at 12:58 AMEither the WWE wants to make a big surprise of it (in which case maybe Cena should stay off twitter and instagram with the weightlifting vids) or his health really is still up in the air as Cena was just on Fox sports and played coy about his Wrestlemania status.
royberto - 2-22-2016 at 03:02 PMLooks like it will now be Amborse vs. Lesnar at Mania:
http://411mania.com/wrestling/is-brock-lesnar-getting-a-new-wrestlemania-opponent/
Columbo - 2-22-2016 at 03:27 PMquote:
Originally posted by royberto
Looks like it will now be Amborse vs. Lesnar at Mania:
http://411mania.com/wrestling/is-brock-lesnar-getting-a-new-wrestlemania-opponent/
They better make that no dq, because I'm pretty sure the only offense they let Dean get in on Bork was a nutshot.
Paddlefoot - 2-22-2016 at 08:04 PM* The Godfather/Kama Mustafa is the next official entrant into the WWE HOF and will be announced tonight on RAW; good choice and hopefully the HO TRAIN escorts him on stage at the ceremony
* while we're speaking of ho's, Sunny is back to pawning her WWE HOF ring and, in karmic confirmation that wretched attracts wretched, will soon be making an appearance on History Channel's Pawn Stars; too bad it isn't on Hardcore Pawn instead because it would be much funnier to see her go into full meltdown mode in the middle of the showroom if the repellent stronks on that show told her that just because some fancy ring belongs to a famous crackhead don't mean it's worth anything
Count Zero - 2-22-2016 at 10:16 PMquote:If they don't mention the Good Father, I'mma be .... well, okay, not terribly upset, but still. They won''t forget Vince's war vs the PTC, will they? So much time & energy was put into the Right To Censor.
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* The Godfather/Kama Mustafa is the next official entrant into the WWE HOF and will be announced tonight on RAW; good choice and hopefully the HO TRAIN escorts him on stage at the ceremony
punkerhardcore - 2-22-2016 at 11:14 PMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* while we're speaking of ho's, Sunny is back to pawning her WWE HOF ring and, in karmic confirmation that wretched attracts wretched, will soon be making an appearance on History Channel's Pawn Stars; too bad it isn't on Hardcore Pawn instead because it would be much funnier to see her go into full meltdown mode in the middle of the showroom if the repellent stronks on that show told her that just because some fancy ring belongs to a famous crackhead don't mean it's worth anything
Not surprising at all, considering what a complete (cum) dumpster fire her life is.
nOOb - 2-22-2016 at 11:23 PMquote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
If they don't mention the Good Father, I'mma be .... well, okay, not terribly upset, but still. They won''t forget Vince's war vs the PTC, will they? So much time & energy was put into the Right To Censor.
Well, it's in his HOF profile:
quote:
The Godfather captured the Intercontinental Championship as a singles competitor, as well as the World Tag Team Championship, though he underwent a personality change in the process. For a brief period of time in the early 2000s, The Godfather ditched his upbeat, controversial persona, to join the ultra-conservative Right to Censor, taking on the name of The Goodfather. This metamorphosis would not last for long, though, and The Godfather would soon return in spectacular fashion.
denverpunk - 2-23-2016 at 04:15 PMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* while we're speaking of ho's, Sunny is back to pawning her WWE HOF ring and, in karmic confirmation that wretched attracts wretched, will soon be making an appearance on History Channel's Pawn Stars; too bad it isn't on Hardcore Pawn instead because it would be much funnier to see her go into full meltdown mode in the middle of the showroom if the repellent stronks on that show told her that just because some fancy ring belongs to a famous crackhead don't mean it's worth anything
Sunny's now on social media threatening to sue Pawn Stars, saying the story is bogus. Either this is the worst attempt at kayfabe ever by a carbon life form, or she is legitimately crazy. Either way, I want her to go away and get help.
Paddlefoot - 2-23-2016 at 04:25 PMIf anyone should be backing out it should be Pawn Stars. It's a mainstream show that isn't doing itself any favours by associating with someone whose greatest claim to wrestling fame came from winning a blowjob race in an ECW locker room/men's shitter.
CCharger - 2-23-2016 at 06:07 PMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
someone whose greatest claim to wrestling fame came from winning a blowjob race in an ECW locker room/men's shitter.
Tell me more...
janerd75 - 2-23-2016 at 06:26 PMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
quote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
someone whose greatest claim to wrestling fame came from winning a blowjob race in an ECW locker room/men's shitter.
Tell me more...
Claim...fame...came...blowjob race...shitter...
^This man knows his wrestling.
Yes, please tell the class more of your stories and provide ample pictures from your newsletter to which we will all be subscribing. By the way, how much is a yearly subscription to Alberta Truckstop Tales Weekly and when can we expect the new issue featuring Ditch Pig centerfold extraordinaire Sunny?
Paddlefoot - 2-23-2016 at 06:48 PMEasy Rider magazine and Max Hardcore already have the scunge demographic well represented. Even Larry Flynt doesn't have to sink that low anymore.
CCharger - 2-23-2016 at 06:58 PMI'd like to know how a blow job race might done. Are you competing against other girls? Is it how quickly you can make a guy blow his load? Or are you racing against the clock? Perhaps it is like a hot dog eating contest to see how many cocks you can suck in a given time.
So many questions. The mind boggles...
Gobshite - 2-23-2016 at 07:23 PMhttp://m.liveleak.com/view?i=9f2_1404485524
Warning: NSFW
That's a blowjob race- this girl technically had 24 different dicks in her mouth in just under 2 minutes
This is commonplace in a lot of European holiday destinations like magaluf, Benidorm etc. Where cheap tacky people go on holiday basically...
She even won a $6 cocktail for her efforts
CCharger - 2-23-2016 at 07:29 PMSounds like a great church fundraiser. More fun than a carnival or a bake sale.
janerd75 - 2-23-2016 at 08:37 PMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Or are you racing against the clock? Perhaps it is like a hot dog eating contest to see how many cocks you can suck in a given time.
*racing against the cock if the video Gobshite posted is any indickation. I would guess it's a musical chairs type scenario except instead of the music stopping and people having to find a place to sit lest they be eliminated, Sunny would run the dong gauntlet backstage until the last guy to hold out gave her his finishing maneuver to her tonsils. And that, my friends, is how Main Eventers were chosen back in the day.
royberto - 2-23-2016 at 09:35 PMquote:She put 24 different dicks in her mouth in 2 minutes and all she got was a $6 cocktail? What, no penicillin?
Originally posted by Gobshite
http://m.liveleak.com/view?i=9f2_1404485524
Warning: NSFW
That's a blowjob race- this girl technically had 24 different dicks in her mouth in just under 2 minutes
This is commonplace in a lot of European holiday destinations like magaluf, Benidorm etc. Where cheap tacky people go on holiday basically...
She even won a $6 cocktail for her efforts
Dead Ben - 2-23-2016 at 09:41 PMMaybe a cock in her tail...
coxito - 2-23-2016 at 10:12 PMSo ive seen some headlines the Reigns had surgery today. Anyone have more details? Any possibility that the WMME becomes Ambrose v. Lesnar v. HHH?
CCharger - 2-23-2016 at 10:18 PMquote:
Originally posted by coxito
So ive seen some headlines the Reigns had surgery today. Anyone have more details? Any possibility that the WMME becomes Ambrose v. Lesnar v. HHH?
In the RAW thread, someone posted a fan video of what appears to be Byron Saxton handing Reigns a blood capsule with the implication being that the blood/injury was fake. If true, then this surgery for a broken nose is a kayfabe story.
However....even it is fake, broken noses are hard to fake without lots of make up. Moreover, a broken nose that requires SURGERY is even harder to fake without a full on Hollywood make up artist. Were talking blackened eyes, swelling, stitches, scars, etc. Remember how Cena looked after Rollins kneed him in the nose? Not pretty. If fake, how will WWE present Reigns on TV?
My guess this story is fake, but I'd say there's a small chance it's legit.
[Edited on 2-23-2016 by CCharger]
Matte - 2-23-2016 at 10:56 PMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
In the RAW thread, someone posted a fan video of what appears to be Byron Saxton handing Reigns a blood capsule with the implication being that the blood/injury was fake.
GIF version
EDIT: And something interesting. Or not, depending on what you make of it.
Spoilers? Typo? Something? Nothing?
[Edited on 2-23-2016 by Matte]
Count Zero - 2-23-2016 at 11:37 PMquote:So ... are we supposed to watch priests & choirboys, and make it rain dolladolla bills or ..
Originally posted by CCharger
Sounds like a great church fundraiser. More fun than a carnival or a bake sale.
Dominator - 2-23-2016 at 11:47 PMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
I'd like to know how a blow job race might done. Are you competing against other girls? Is it how quickly you can make a guy blow his load? Or are you racing against the clock? Perhaps it is like a hot dog eating contest to see how many cocks you can suck in a given time.
So many questions. The mind boggles...
Brings whole new meaning to the "Beat The Clock Challenge."
(Snarks remove the first "L")
[Edited on 2-23-2016 by Dominator]
ulsterphil - 2-24-2016 at 01:13 PMquote:
Originally posted by Gobshite
http://m.liveleak.com/view?i=9f2_1404485524
Warning: NSFW
That's a blowjob race- this girl technically had 24 different dicks in her mouth in just under 2 minutes
This is commonplace in a lot of European holiday destinations like magaluf, Benidorm etc. Where cheap tacky people go on holiday basically...
She even won a $6 cocktail for her efforts
That girl is from my town. Used to work in one of the mobile phone shops.
Paddlefoot - 2-24-2016 at 03:08 PMIt's always cool to know someone famous, in this case The Gobbler Queen of Shankill Road. So inquiring minds want to know. Did the video make her go underground, relocate, dye her hair, and change her name? Or, in the true spirit of the Ulster version of chav-girl culture, is she flying that banner proudly just like Tammy Sytch would? Also, did she get rich by selling an app for that down at the phone kiosk?
[Edited on 2/24/2016 by Paddlefoot]
ulsterphil - 2-24-2016 at 05:12 PMShe came from a supposedly "upstanding" (re: had a bit of money) family and went into hiding for a while.
Rumor was that she quit her job after fellas were going in holding their crotches and asking if she could give them better service.
CCharger - 2-24-2016 at 07:39 PMSome newz and rumorz:
* Meltzer and Cageside Seats are both reporting that the current "power struggle" angle between Shane and the Authority is rooted in reality and that "there is a lot going on behind the scenes". While this sounds like idle rumor-mongering, these are both pretty reliable sources (compared to others). Perhaps Shane has been brought in by dad to help right the ship and StepHHH are a little put off by it all.
* Styles/Jericho will be a tag team moving forward. The plan was for Jericho to turn on Styles immediately, but they got such a good reaction, the idea is to keep them together for the time being with Styles turning on Jericho in the end.
* One rumor-killer is that despite reports, the WWE was never in talks with Goldberg and there was never any serious desire to bring him back.
* Another rumor killer is the advertisement that showed "Monday Night Raw vs. WWE". This is being described as a typo and the ad now says "WWE Monday Night Raw"
* Tyson Kidd appears to have wrestled his last match. Akin to what Bryan is going through, WWE docs are reluctant to clear him and Vince is not expected to release him.
nOOb - 2-24-2016 at 09:06 PMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Tyson Kidd appears to have wrestled his last match. Akin to what Bryan is going through, WWE docs are reluctant to clear him and Vince is not expected to release him.
And so Roman Reigns Plan C begins...
Flash - 2-25-2016 at 12:28 AMquote:
Originally posted by ulsterphil
She came from a supposedly "upstanding" (re: had a bit of money) family and went into hiding for a while.
Rumor was that she quit her job after fellas were going in holding their crotches and asking if she could give them better service.
Kinda feel bad for her.... I quickly googled this story and there were scores of pages dedicated to her outing virtually every facet of her life; I'd always heard that the English tabloids could be bad, but wow... they followed this story for a while.
While not something you'd probably want someone in your family doing, I don't really get why it's a big story... it was all consensual. Man though, the proliferation of cameras in everyone's hands has done something to us as a culture.
Starting to feel that maybe I went to the wrong part of Majorca, lol.
As for the return of Shane, and there being some real life backstage discord in the McMahon family... Not sure how much I buy into it other than it's a fresh face to add to the previously reported division between Vince/Bucky and StepHHH. Yeah people talk, and I could see some perceived division in writers room meetings, but their all family and at the top of the WWE food chain, so Steph or Vince running and bitching to an underling who then goes to Meltzer... Not out of the realm of possibility, but I think this whole thing is probably a case of people making mountains out of molehills. I mean look at every Austin podcast, something that's not even as big of a deal as Raw; Vince is standing there just off camera... so we know how hands on he is about everything still.
First 9 - 2-25-2016 at 12:47 AMSo not even a week after being back, there' rumors of backstage power struggles. Seriously? Yeah, the McMahons are loony but this still is a huge company but that's a bit much.
Wickedfrost - 2-25-2016 at 02:53 AMNo real interest in Shane vs Taker. Sure it's a spectacle but nobody wins in this story. Shane having Taker on his side makes sense. This makes none.
janerd75 - 2-25-2016 at 10:34 AMToday in horsefeathers and poppycock rumors (or, for the English inefficient, rumours) Shane is only back for a while, Reigns is planned on being the babyface champ forever and ever, and WWE is headed back towards an edgier product. Hmm, one of those things may not be like the other.
Dunno on Shane as him staying is equally improbable as him returning. Well, the latter happened so who knows?
While it may have been a capsule, the E made a very definitive jog in the direction of showing the consequences of the ultraviolence by having Roman "bleed" without the cameras running to the fainting couch. Nay, nay I say, it was quite deliberate. Now, what tornado filled with arms and teeth went through Creative to make that happen, who can say? With guys like Taker and Lesnar relatively recently going into business for themselves (?) by showing color, or Vince looking at the Cena demographic actuarial tables and seeing that they're all getting old enough not to put up with this shit when UFC can easily sate a tweens nascent bloodlust, or we're just in a Wacky Vince cycle, agayn who can say? Regardless, Haitch's demolition of Roman with color added was deliberate. Was it a harbinger of things to come and a shift to more "adult" themes or was it simply a moment of desperate kitchen sinkening in a deranged and misguided attempt to get Roman over? Don't forget, fucking Vince himself, whether through doddery or deliberate action, swore at his own triumphantly returning son on a live mic, while censored on the live broadcast, was later twatter'd 'round the world. The plot, she thickens.
Can't for the life of me remember, but has anyone ever won a champeenchip at WM and then turn full heel immediately thereafter? Dunno how it would work with Haitch and the hated Authority, but heel/baby schizophrenia...uh, goddamnit, sorry...reigns supreme now that HHH massacred Roman and gave him a face pussy to overwhelmingly positive approval from the UniversE. Could it finally work somehow for H to be a temp face to help Reigns to a heel turn at WM to save him from being the next Orton or, gasp, Christopher F. Masters? Y'know, Roman decimates Haitch at WM to tepidity and/or boos and uponst winning he gives a hearty "fuck y'alls" to errbody and becomes the heel he needs to be before career shittery is engaged?
jefft221 - 2-25-2016 at 01:53 PMquote:
Originally posted by coxito
So ive seen some headlines the Reigns had surgery today. Anyone have more details? Any possibility that the WMME becomes Ambrose v. Lesnar v. HHH?
I think the story now is that he had surgery for a deviated septum. So I'm guessing him needing that was known and the Triple H attack/blood capsule/broken nose surgery was all a work since he'd be getting nasal surgery anyway. And I'd also guess 6 weeks is plenty of time to heal up from that so there's no "danger" of the WM title match changing.
Paddlefoot - 2-25-2016 at 11:53 PM* Khali got badly injured at an event in India and ended up in hospital. Three "foreign fighters" involved in the feud/gimmick jumped him, gave him a bad chair beating that was way too stiff, and injured the big quasi-ambulatory lug for real.
stedanko - 2-26-2016 at 12:54 AMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* Khali got badly injured at an event in India and ended up in hospital. Three "foreign fighters" involved in the feud/gimmick jumped him, gave him a bad chair beating that was way too stiff, and injured the big quasi-ambulatory lug for real.
Well that's according to Indian news. 411mania is reporting he's good to go on Sunday for the same promotion. There's video up on youtube but nothing showing any bad shots nor the whole deal. He is bloodied while being stretchered out.
Did the fans just jump in the ring at the end there to defend their guy? Nice!
Paddlefoot - 2-26-2016 at 06:25 PMMabey, but.....
* that Khali event turned into some kind of botchamania because "Former WWE Tough Enough competitor Chelsea Green broke her collar bone at the beginning of her match in India for The Great Khali�s wrestling event this week"
royberto - 2-27-2016 at 07:46 PMquote:How about you wait and let the story actually play out first? Taker is appearing on Monday so I think you will get a lot of sense from that.
Originally posted by Wickedfrost
No real interest in Shane vs Taker. Sure it's a spectacle but nobody wins in this story. Shane having Taker on his side makes sense. This makes none.
First 9 - 2-28-2016 at 01:30 AMSo according to Dirtsheet Dave, TNA is up for sale.
I know it's just coincidence but man the timing is beautiful with Shane O Mac's return.
"The name on the contract does say McMahon, However the contract reads Shane McMahon, that's right, I now own TNA"
'''...so''
Dominator - 2-28-2016 at 02:32 AMYes, because the only thing better than botching Roman's face push twice would be botching an invasion angle twice.
First 9 - 2-28-2016 at 03:47 AMHence the sarcastic response if Shane did the ''I own them'' speech with TNA. If it's true the only ones who'd consider buying are WWE and MAYBE Jeff Jarrett and his financial backers. It'll likely be WWE which just means WWE gets a lot of new content and can make some definitive Sting, Angle, Dudleyz and Foley dvds.
TonyTH - 2-28-2016 at 07:16 AMIs it even worth the money for WWE to buy it and throw stuff on the Network? I'm asking seriously, I never watched much TNA. It seems WWE has a weird stigma against it. I really feel like they won't, but they'd be buying a lot of guys careers as far as footage goes and probably on the cheap. All of AJ's stuff, Sting's stuff, the Hardy's, Angle.
[Edited on 2-28-2016 by TonyTH]
Count Zero - 2-28-2016 at 09:06 AMJust imagine the Rise And Fall of...er, wait... The Fall and More Fall of TNA dvd set!
ETA: Or even The Best of "What is X Doing in the Impact Zone, Tazz?"
[Edited on 2-28-2016 by Count Zero]
Paddlefoot - 2-28-2016 at 09:22 AMquote:
Originally posted by TonyTH
Is it even worth the money for WWE to buy it and throw stuff on the Network? I'm asking seriously, I never watched much TNA. It seems WWE has a weird stigma against it. I really feel like they won't, but they'd be buying a lot of guys careers as far as footage goes and probably on the cheap. All of AJ's stuff, Sting's stuff, the Hardy's, Angle.
Probably. There's lots of good stuff there, especially with the arrival of AJ and with Joe & Aries in NXT. The best of the X-division alone would be worth putting out a three-disc DVD release. If they want to do some kind of a riff on TNA they can put together a Network special where AJ, Bischoff, Flair, Dudleys, Christian, Mickie James, Victoria/Tara, whoever else can detail their own experiences where they describe both the good times as well as the bad ones if for no other reason than post-mortems of dead wrestling companies are fascinating. It'd be less of a huge thing the way a WCW special would be because the competition TNA offered to WWE was inconsequential. It'd be more though along the lines of how not to run a promotion and a detailed how-to manual on destroying from within a company that had a lot of potential with great stars and an international TV show. Not as much as a beat-up-on-Dixie thing, even though she sorta deserves it, but more of a repeat of the dissection of WCW on the best (worst?) ways to kill a golden goose that could have done nothing but crap out money if anyone had enough brains to run the place properly.
Flash - 2-28-2016 at 11:14 AMIt wouldn't surprise me to see the WWE scoop them up; be it network filler content, or the footage of guys old and new for their compilations, it's a good get. Vince has bought up just about every other wrestling companies footage as it became available, so I don't see this being much different.
While Jarrett might poke around it, the footage is probably for the few times you might want to break out an old clip an unneeded expense for a company that has no TV, barely a nameable roster (I know they signed a bunch of guys, and then they didn't, and then really they went back being this non-entity "invading" TNA?), and an uncertain future it's not worth the gamble to have to re-sell it within the next year or two to the WWE for much less than they paid for it. Also, Jarrett owned about 29% of TNA up until 2015 that he offloaded onto Panda Energy as part of his return... so why dump a decent size part of the company if he had eyes on putting something together.
I thought about someone maybe having interest in just the name... TNA, for as much of a broken down jalopy that it's been for the past few years, is an established brand... and a bit sharper sounding than GFW... but the TNA sale would likely have to be an all or nothing thing minus the contracts as no way the footage has value to the WWE without owning the name to ensure TNA is six feet under.... so from the POV of Panda, for as much as breaking up companies and selling the parts is a standard big business practice, in this case there's no value in the pieces.
Now WCW sold for about $3 million; while they had no TV supporting them, they were still a pretty big deal... so we probably know the absolute ceiling that TNA could be worth, and honestly that's probably much too high for TNA; so you could, provided POP TV is game to stay on board, see some other entity out there try and make a fresh start of it.... POP themselves might give some thought to it... Wrestling can be a cheap multi-hour filler at worst, and something with potential at best. When word got out about how cheap WCW went for Jericho had said that had he known, he would had bought the company; so while depending on the price, you could see some of those floating around the company, or who had ties to it maybe give it a sniff either solo, or as a small group.
It's a google search of their net worth, so take it for what it is, but here's who maybe has the cash and the passion to go in on TNA:
*Billy Corgan is worth about $50 million; that's a good amount of play money to go with his sitting in on TNA.... although you gotta think that "Smashing Pumpkins singer buys TNA" would be the preferable headline to come out first instead of "TNA up for sale".... Given that it's Dixie's parents that run Panda this was likely talked about for a while, so they probably brain stormed internally first... and that probably included asking your resident deep pocket fan turned booker if he had an interest.
*The Hardy's actually appear to have money to spend; Matt clocks in at $5m and Jeff at $12.5m.... Depending on how committed POP is some actual wrestlers getting on board in some co-partnership could be appealing, although Jeff, and to an extent Matt, probably could get jobs for the WWE that would probably pay more than that long shot odds of TNA suddenly turning them into Vince McMahon light.
*Mick Foley.... he's worth about $12m and seems to like rooting for the underdogs and is a firm believer in competition for the WWE being a good thing... but he's notoriously frugal, again could maybe make more doing appearances and network stuff for the WWE, and has a son and probably in the near future a daughter working for the WWE that he likely wouldn't wan to rock the boat for.
*Kurt Angle on the other hand is my leading candidate for someone to step in and save TNA. He's worth about $20m, other than for a HOF spot the WWE does not seem to have any interest in him, and he's bat shit crazy in terms of thinking he can do anything.
In terms of just wacky throwing guys names out there: Jericho is more interested in his music, currently works for the WWE, and seems perfectly happy with the WWE, so why rock that boat. CM Punk's name will inevitably come up... maybe with new buddy Dana White's name in the mix... A recognizable wrestler couple with maybe the next biggest promoter in the year besides Vince could be interesting, or how about Batista to give his buddy Titus O'Neil a job... nope; investing those fat Hollywood cheques in real estate and other stuff probably pays far more.... Could Ted Turner still be nursing a grudge all these years later?
Nope.... I know who it will be....
Donald Trump.
Wrestling has a history of depicting middle easterners and other foreigners as evil one dimensional heels and it being completely okay for a flag waving orange goblin with bad hair to beat the shit out of them. I'm still holding out hope that the good people of America will rise up and vote like they've never voted before against Trumps supporters in mass numbers to such an extent that future history books will refer to the US invasion of Grenada now being the second most one sided ass kicking in American history.... so Trump, who's no stranger to wrestling, will now need a new podium from which to spew his xenophobia from.
nOOb - 2-28-2016 at 12:56 PMBut Vince McMahon is his only actual friend and one of the names probably has on his shortlist for VP...and I'm only half-kidding on that. I mean tell me you couldn't see Donald Trump calling his buddy, who has used his TV slot on multiple occasions to rail on whatever democrat was front and center in the news at the time, to see if he wanted to make America a "better product". There may legitimately be reasons Dunn is buying extra shares of the company...
Paddlefoot - 2-28-2016 at 04:46 PMCan't see any of the former WWE'ers doing it because they wouldn't want to poison whatever future relationships they might still have with the E. And, celebrity net worth aside, even combined into an investment partnership, that kind of funding isn't the kind of money that a show like TNA with a TV contract would need to survive. I imagine POP TV isn't too impressed with TNA right now as they were most likely given a the-future's-so-bright-we-gotta-wear-shades song and dance from Dixie and company about the likelihood of TNA's long term survival. POP sort of made TNA into a flagship program for their debut as a channel so they're probably kind of upset that the TNA ship might go under on them PDQ.
I can see the inevitable happening fairly quickly now with WWE doing the buy-out for the archive and shutting down TNA altogether. With NXT shows drawing a hell of a lot better than TNA ones are there's no need for them to have two promotions running out of Florida, especially not when their own training league is already much better on all levels than the supposedly mature one at TNA is. Whatever one thinks about Billy Corgan as a musician or person I doubt he's an idiot that would want to sink multi-millions into something just to find out eventually that Dixie's long list of bad mistakes have doomed it regardless of who takes over. This is probably why we no longer hear Toby Keith's name being tossed around in conversations about TNA or Global Force anymore either. The man's not a fool and isn't going to hand out his money to those that have run their businesses little better than Ian Rotten or the Insane Clown Posse have. Celeb investors look at this as some kind of a hobby but at the same time they're not going to want to take a loss on it.
So it's WWE for the archive and then bust. A shame but not unexpected in the least to anyone who was paying attention. That leaves WWE as the sole world-wide huge promotion, no more mid-size ones such as TNA or the latter days of WCW, the smaller ones like ROH and Lucha carving out their own niche somewhere, and a bunch of tiny ones doing the backyard wrasslin'/high school gyms/community rec centers & internet shows. That hole in the mid-size category is glaring but if there's no one out there with the ability to operate something of that size correctly then that's just the way it is. Any investor just isn't going to want to get involved anymore in this line of entertainment, not if the returns are so small or if some mark of a promoter gets to thinking "You know what would be a great idea for business? Let's get Hulk Hogan to book our shows!". This has been going on for far too long, especially as we're now fifteen years away from the end of WCW and fifteen years worth of everyone knowing what killed that company. That it happened once with WCW was tragic, because there was still a great market potential for that old NWA/Southern style of wrestling, as proven by Jerry Lawler's ability to keep his own tiny promotion in Memphis operating for multiple years now. That the same disaster happened all over again at TNA, with that history of WCW still fresh in everyone's minds, is beyond moronic.
[Edited on 2/28/2016 by Paddlefoot]
First 9 - 2-28-2016 at 06:18 PMWhen you look back, it's amazing how many lucky breaks they had. Not one but two huge big names were available(Angle and Sting) for them to sweep up. Nowadays the only free agents on that level are guys like Punk and Batista who just don't want to wrestle anymore. There was a sizeable demand for an alternative as WCW and ECW had just closed and people weren't used to only having one choice. They were on a network that went above and beyond for them forking up money for big money contracts and at one point giving them 4 hours of tv time.
Who knows, maybe if they didn't have so many advantages they would have tried harder isntead of being lazy and not putting much thought in the future.
Paddlefoot - 2-28-2016 at 07:18 PMGood point. It was like in the midst of their rise to greatness, after they'd gone on a streak of doing so many things right like Angle/Christian/X-Division/AJ-Joe-Daniels feuds/Knockouts/etc., TNA actively decided with Hogan's hiring to "let's do everything from now on in as stupidly as we possibly can". WCW kind of had the excuse that these were the big names in the business that they had to cater to and appease constantly, that as good a booker as Bischoff could be he also had stars in his eyes that led him to let the NWO guys get away with way too much behind the scenes, and that someone from Turner really needed to be appointed as an overseer to put the brakes on things (especially the lucrative contracts to B-list performers) as they were getting out of control. Overall in WCW there was a build-up of badness and a breakdown of sensible business practices over several years or so that led to it's fall. TNA in contrast was actively doing everything right and was earning praise from practically all corners but then, almost overnight, went completely off track for no logical reason at all.
Maybe logic and reason, much less common business sense, shouldn't be applied to wrestling companies at all. Even when they hit their high points it's like some kind of downfall is already in the works because they have an innate urge to fuck everything up even when it's running smoothly on all cylinders.
[Edited on 2/28/2016 by Paddlefoot]
royberto - 2-28-2016 at 08:05 PMquote:I'd call it...LOLTNA, The Epic Fall.
Originally posted by Count Zero
Just imagine the Rise And Fall of...er, wait... The Fall and More Fall of TNA dvd set!
ETA: Or even The Best of "What is X Doing in the Impact Zone, Tazz?"
[Edited on 2-28-2016 by Count Zero]
First 9 - 2-28-2016 at 11:49 PMI'm suprised I haven't heard much discussion on the rumors of WWE already planning an AJ turn. With how crowded WM will be, I don't mind Y2AJ being an actual team for a while and considering how almost everybody with the exception of maybe four guys( Taker, Bret Hart, Hardy, and Mysterio) have to go through to a run in the midcard as a heel before making it to the top, I wouldn't mind getting heel AJ sooner rather than later.
CM Crunk - 2-29-2016 at 12:12 AMquote:
Originally posted by First 9
I'm suprised I haven't heard much discussion on the rumors of WWE already planning an AJ turn. With how crowded WM will be, I don't mind Y2AJ being an actual team for a while and considering how almost everybody with the exception of maybe four guys( Taker, Bret Hart, Hardy, and Mysterio) have to go through to a run in the midcard as a heel before making it to the top, I wouldn't mind getting heel AJ sooner rather than later.
I don't know, those rumors seem a little fishier than normal. Why would WWE take a hot commodity like AJ, who they've been protecting in regards to mic work, and turn him heel on Jericho? It seems like that would be an odd choice, especially considering the fact that Jericho is teetering on a heel turn, and the fans are getting behind AJ.
But then again, I'm not terribly familiar with any of AJ's work as a heel so maybe this is a good thing?
Flash - 2-29-2016 at 12:18 AMI don't get the idea behind turning Styles heel. His move set, coupled with him heading into all those arena's for the first time as a member of the WWE, lends itself more to face reactions. Also, he's not the best on the mic', and doesn't look menacing enough to just grunt at his opponents, so face in peril feels like a better role as opposed to being out foxed by a face that can talk.
Not saying that a cocky heel persona about how good he is, and setting him up with a mouthpiece, or putting him a heel stable of some kind where he wouldn't have to do all of the talking by himself wouldn't be successful, just that it would seem that the WWE would have to work harder to make him a heel than his continued face trajectory has him on.
Count Zero - 2-29-2016 at 01:57 AMOr maybe "Heel AJ" is a way to work the smarks. Jericho is wise to our internet ways, and might try to camouflage his own potentially-impending heel turn by floating a few false trial balloons.
First 9 - 2-29-2016 at 02:16 AMYeah, the only way it'd work if the tag team was in it for the long haul to distance themselves from Jericho being a jerk who thought he was above facing AJ again and overall being very patronzing.
My personal hope was this whole angle between the two lasted for six months and we got a layered, personal feud similar to Jericho vs Michaels. It could do more for AJ than being another midcard face like Neville and could give Jericho his swan song.
janerd75 - 2-29-2016 at 05:48 AMOh please oh please oh please...don't break your goddamn neck before you come visit us on the big stage one last time.
http://www.espn.co.uk/olympics/story/_/id/14852102/ex-wwe-star-kurt-angle-tna-impact-retirement-family-more-important-wrestling
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But having begun amateur wrestling at the age of seven in his native Pittsburgh, Angle is still going strong and refuses to submit at the hands of Father Time, though he may at least start winding down.
"Wrestling has treated me very well. I had a great time in WWE, I had a great time in TNA. I'm very proud of my accomplishments, but I'm at a point in my life where, right now, family is more important, and it's time for me to spend more time with them," says Angle.
"I'm gonna take a break from [professional] wrestling, I know that for sure, at least a year. So we'll see how it goes and I'll go from there.
"I'm not gonna say I'm gonna retire. I am pretty much done with TNA. Not sure, maybe down the road, maybe I might come back, but most likely I probably won't, because there's a chance that I might not wrestle again. I just wanna get a feeler this year and see what I wanna do and see where I wanna go."
Gobshite - 2-29-2016 at 01:42 PMquote:
Originally posted by First 9
I'm suprised I haven't heard much discussion on the rumors of WWE already planning an AJ turn. With how crowded WM will be, I don't mind Y2AJ being an actual team for a while and considering how almost everybody with the exception of maybe four guys( Taker, Bret Hart, Hardy, and Mysterio) have to go through to a run in the midcard as a heel before making it to the top, I wouldn't mind getting heel AJ sooner rather than later.
Bret was a midcard heel tag team guy before becoming a mid card face tag team guy, a midcard face singles guy, then the main event face.
The Hart foundation were heels at the start, in blue rather than pink, with Jimmy Hart as manager - that right, or am I going crazy?
Slick - 2-29-2016 at 03:14 PMBret Hart and Jim Neidhart held the Macho Man on SNME so the Honkytonk Man could bash his skull with the guitar and lead to the MegaPowers forming!
On a scale of 1-10 heel rating, that rates a solid 100 heel move!
Gobshite - 2-29-2016 at 07:30 PMFabulous Freebirds are announced as being inducted into this years WWE hall of fame.
lz4005 - 2-29-2016 at 07:40 PMquote:
Originally posted by Gobshite
Fabulous Freebirds are announced as being inducted into this years WWE hall of fame.
I hope they get 2 rings and have to share them.
Matte - 2-29-2016 at 07:52 PMMinor complaint, but this thread is supposed to be for rumors/dirtsheet jumble and official announcements aren't that.
williamssl - 2-29-2016 at 08:42 PMTHIS IS WHERE WE POST EVERYTHING EVER.
RUMORZ: YES!
NEWS: YES!
WM32 CARD AND FANTASY BOOKING: YES!
REPUBLICAN BASHING: NOT YET BUT WHY NOT!
PICTURES OF FALLOUT 4 BUILDS AND SHIT: SAME AS ABOVE!
NERDY SHIT ABOUT NERDY TV SHOWS AND MOVIES: NERD YES!
NSFW DIVA PICTURES: MOAR PLEASE NOW!
Collapse the forums into this one thread until it gets to ~100 pages and then start another. Repeat!
Katie Vick killer - 2-29-2016 at 10:05 PMquote:
Originally posted by Matte
Minor complaint, but this thread is supposed to be for rumors/dirtsheet jumble and official announcements aren't that.
Mabye the HoF and mania deserve their own threads.
I'm looking forward to seeing how Hayes dresses! I think he can out pimp the Goodfather!
williamssl - 2-29-2016 at 10:21 PMThey both have them already.
HoF
Mania
jefft221 - 3-1-2016 at 04:00 PMquote:
Originally posted by Gobshite
quote:
Originally posted by First 9
I'm suprised I haven't heard much discussion on the rumors of WWE already planning an AJ turn. With how crowded WM will be, I don't mind Y2AJ being an actual team for a while and considering how almost everybody with the exception of maybe four guys( Taker, Bret Hart, Hardy, and Mysterio) have to go through to a run in the midcard as a heel before making it to the top, I wouldn't mind getting heel AJ sooner rather than later.
Bret was a midcard heel tag team guy before becoming a mid card face tag team guy, a midcard face singles guy, then the main event face.
The Hart foundation were heels at the start, in blue rather than pink, with Jimmy Hart as manager - that right, or am I going crazy?
They were a heel tag team for awhile, their first tag title ran was as heels. And they did have some blue/black instead of pink/black tights, but they did settle on pink while a heel tag team.
But, it's also true that Bret never had a run as a singles heel before getting up to the main event level. Certainly worked some singles matches as a heel, but was still during the Hart Foundation team run.
Paddlefoot - 3-1-2016 at 08:37 PM* JR says that Bret Hart has been declared cancer-free after his prostrate surgery as initial testshave shown it didn't spread to any other parts of his body
* don't know how they can spin this one with "TV ratings don't matter anymore": Monday�s RAW ranked #4 among series & specials for the night in Nielsen�s Twitter TV ratings, behind The Bachelor, Combine Primetime and The Voice. RAW had a unique audience of 1.407 million, which represents the number of Twitter accounts that commented on the show. This is down from last week�s 2.802 million. RAW had total impressions of 10.207 million, which represents the number of times tweets about the show were seen. This is down from last week�s 20.689 million impressions.
* Network is running a Four Horsewomen of NXT special this month
Get a look at the NEW #FourHorsewomen of @WWENXT Collection available now on @WWENetwork! #WomensHistoryMonthhttps://t.co/c21qO2Ov7t
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) March 1, 2016
[Edited on 3/1/2016 by Paddlefoot]
CCharger - 3-1-2016 at 09:48 PM* Both Alistair Overeem and James Laurinaitis have been sent feelers by the WWE for an NXT tryout. Overeem is a UFC fighter and recently made the comment that he would fight Brock Lesnar again "in a WWE ring". Laurinaitis is the son of Road Warrior Animal and nephew of Johnny Ace. He most recently played linebacker for the St. Lous (LA) Rams before being cut about a month ago.
* There is still discussion about a brand split taking place which would separate RAW and Smackdown again. That decision will impact the finish to the Shane/UT match which is still not official.
nOOb - 3-1-2016 at 10:14 PMYeah, I can't even come close to believing the Overeem rumors, especially since Overeem just resigned with the UFC.
GodEatGod - 3-1-2016 at 11:32 PMquote:
Originally posted by nOOb
Yeah, I can't even come close to believing the Overeem rumors, especially since Overeem just resigned with the UFC.
Well, feelings don't have to be immediate - just a checking in of 'hey, when you're done with UFC, wanna come over here and make some money?"
williamssl - 3-2-2016 at 12:37 AMOr feelers could be copping a feel, although highly unadvised on a MMA figher.
Thom - 3-2-2016 at 02:34 PMUnless said fighter is Dakota Cochrane.
nOOb - 3-2-2016 at 03:26 PMI learned a while ago not to Google names I see on this website, so I Sherdog searched that name. Since it's a dude and not a hot chick, I take it there's a backstory there?
CCharger - 3-2-2016 at 03:29 PMI think Thom meant Decoder Cockring, which was a novelty item handed out at strip clubs in the 1970's.
Laruecifer - 3-2-2016 at 04:22 PMHe is an MMA fighter who did some gay porn in college. He "hated every minute of it" tho and is not gay. He says he needed the money.
merc - 3-2-2016 at 04:52 PMquote:
Originally posted by Laruecifer
He is an MMA fighter who did some gay porn in college. He "hated every minute of it" tho and is not gay. He says he needed the money.
I did google...
If 16 movies = "some". then I have to choose my words more carefully.
CCharger - 3-2-2016 at 06:15 PM* The Andre Battle Royal is expected to "showcase" the Wyatts and may be used as a device to break up the group.
* Sasha vs. Becky vs. Charlotte is penciled in for Mania with Becky expected to get the belt
* The Citrus Bowl in Orlando is expected to be announced as the side of WM 33
*The Miz vs. Ziggler squash on Monday is reportedly part of a plan to set up a multi-wrestler match at Mania for the IC belt similar to last year
* Steve Austin is lobbying to be involved in Wrestlemania as this year's event host, but those ideas have been rejected, and currently there are no plans for Austin.
Cherokee Jack - 3-2-2016 at 07:00 PMquote:Because why bother actually building stories around the once-prestigious IC title when you can just throw out an 8-man clusterfuck every year?
Originally posted by CCharger
*The Miz vs. Ziggler squash on Monday is reportedly part of a plan to set up a multi-wrestler match at Mania for the IC belt similar to last year.
punkerhardcore - 3-2-2016 at 07:07 PMHey now, I thought that the weeks of various people absconding with the belt last year was a lot of fun.
I'm torn on this. On one hand, I think Owens deserves a high profile one-on-one match at his first Mania, where he could go over huge. On the other hand, I like big ladder matches and think that they fit well at Mania... especially since MITB is now it's own show. It would probably make more sense with the US Championship this year, though.
janerd75 - 3-2-2016 at 07:19 PMquote:
Originally posted by nOOb
I learned a while ago not to Google names I see on this website, so I Sherdog searched that name. Since it's a dude and not a hot chick, I take it there's a backstory there?
It's not like he gave out the name Fallon Fox for you to look up.
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
I think Thom meant Decoder Cockring, which was a novelty item handed out at strip clubs in the 1970's.
How in the hell did that guy not choose that as his porn name?
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Steve Austin is lobbying to be involved in Wrestlemania as this year's event host, but those ideas have been rejected, and currently there are no plans for Austin.
Of all the unpossible rumors this seems the most unpossiblist. Austin. Texas. It's like they go together or something. I think this WM will be an all hands on deck situation, particularly the need for star power, so I'm quite optimistic to see Rock and Stone Cold and a bit of interaction betwixt them and Haitch along the way.
CM Crunk - 3-2-2016 at 07:29 PMquote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
Hey now, I thought that the weeks of various people absconding with the belt last year was a lot of fun.
I'm torn on this. On one hand, I think Owens deserves a high profile one-on-one match at his first Mania, where he could go over huge. On the other hand, I like big ladder matches and think that they fit well at Mania... especially since MITB is now it's own show. It would probably make more sense with the US Championship this year, though.
This. Especially considering Kalisto's lone defining characteristic is the fact that he does the flippy-flippy stuff, a multi-man ladder match for a title lends itself more towards his US championship. Plus, you can throw Sin Cara into the mix if you want to start planting the seeds for their inevitable breakup. Or, y'know, just have him turn on Kalisto for the fuck of it all willy-nilly after 'Mania. #CREATIVE
Over in the Smackdown thread there's talk of Owens taking on The Big Show, which is still a little underwhelming to me, but I was brought around to seeing how it could be fun. I still wish it would be Owens/Styles or Owens/Zayn (they DO remember that he was in The Rumble right?) but Owens getting the tables turned on him and being the one bullied around in the ring could provide for an entertaining affair.
Speaking of 'Mania matches, is it too late or early to just assume that they're throwing Bray into the ARMBaR? Or maybe he'll get in on this presumed ladder match? Hopefully it's the latter since the former means absolutely nothing.
merc - 3-2-2016 at 08:02 PM
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Steve Austin is lobbying to be involved in Wrestlemania as this year's event host, but those ideas have been rejected, and currently there are no plans for Austin.
quote:
Originally posted by royberto. Austin will have a role at the actual Wrestlemania. KVE will induct the Freebirds. Austiin will do something at Wrestlemania where they really want the eyeballs.
Hmmm...someone ain't right
Anyone want to wager?
CCharger - 3-2-2016 at 08:08 PMOh, I definitely think Austin will be involved. The rumor involved him being the "host". The WWE might have a bigger, better role for him planned.
royberto - 3-2-2016 at 11:23 PMquote:Austin has already said he was going to be involved at Wrestlemania, but he didn't know what he was going to be doing. KVE already indirectly alluded to inducting the Freebirds. Go with what has been actually said by the two people involved. I'm am confident I will be right.
Originally posted by merc
quote:
Originally posted by CCharger
* Steve Austin is lobbying to be involved in Wrestlemania as this year's event host, but those ideas have been rejected, and currently there are no plans for Austin.
quote:
Originally posted by royberto. Austin will have a role at the actual Wrestlemania. KVE will induct the Freebirds. Austiin will do something at Wrestlemania where they really want the eyeballs.
Hmmm...someone ain't right
Anyone want to wager?
[Edited on 3-2-2016 by royberto]
Count Zero - 3-3-2016 at 03:42 AMquote:Sure! They have no momentum whatsoever, so that must mean it's time to spin Brown Strongman out on his own. Does anybody at the 'E remember what happened the last time they split up the Wyatts? I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who -liked- Genius Erick Rowan, and even though Luke Harper is talented-as-a-mothefucker-who-keeps-banging-hottie-milfs, it didn't go very far. But now that winter is coming (or some other Game Of Thrones reference, cuz I wanna be timely & topical), we must give The Sausage King his time to shine... Despite the fact that he's wrassled, what, three singles matches? Four? Eight, tops?
Originally posted by CCharger
* The Andre Battle Royal is expected to "showcase" the Wyatts and may be used as a device to break up the group.
ETA:quote:Kitties + Titties = Best 4 Bizness.
Originally posted by janerd75
It's not like he gave out the name Fallon Fox for you to look up.
[Edited on 3-3-2016 by Count Zero]
Matte - 3-3-2016 at 03:45 AMquote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
Brown Strongman
What does Mark Henry have to do with the Wyatts?
Count Zero - 3-3-2016 at 03:49 AMquote:I gigglesnorted. Hang on a sec..
Originally posted by Matte
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
Brown Strongman
What does Mark Henry have to do with the Wyatts?
Okay, I'm back. I usually only give these out on Mondays, but you done earnt it right thurr.
Your day now rocks.
Fizz - 3-3-2016 at 03:51 AMquote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who -liked- Genius Erick Rowan
I adored practically everything about that gimmick, and was actually hoping for a tee-shirt somehow incorporating a sheep mask and a solved Rubik's Cube.
But alas.
Count Zero - 3-3-2016 at 03:55 AMYayy! I'm really glad I'm not the literally-only one.
Speaking of T-shirts, did Sasha Banks finally get her own merch? I caught her entrance during Smackdown In Canada From The Future (yes, we get it on Wednesday for those who didn't know), and she was sporting something over her ring gear that she tossed into the crowd. Maybe it's not "new" and I just missed it before? If it -is- new, yay for The Boss!
editing & talking to myself: Okay, maybe this isn't "new". But I also don't think it was the shirt I saw. I'll shut up now.
[Edited on 3-3-2016 by Count Zero]
CM Crunk - 3-3-2016 at 05:11 AMquote:
Originally posted by Fizz
quote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who -liked- Genius Erick Rowan
I adored practically everything about that gimmick, and was actually hoping for a tee-shirt somehow incorporating a sheep mask and a solved Rubik's Cube.
But alas.
I miss the shit out of Rowan's solo theme music. All it was really missing was a decent breakdown with the guitar timed for when he made it to the ring.
Thom - 3-3-2016 at 02:18 PMquote:
Originally posted by Count Zero
I gigglesnorted. Hang on a sec..
Okay, I'm back. I usually only give these out on Mondays, but you done earnt it right thurr.
Your clap-clap daynowrocks.
FTFY
[Edited on 3/3/16 by Thom]
CCharger - 3-4-2016 at 12:36 AMAccording to the Observer, the full card for Wrestlemania is now set. Here is what they say the slate with look like:
HHH (c) vs. Reigns
Ambrose vs. Lesnar
Shane vs. Undertaker (HIAC)
Charlotte (c) vs. Banks vs. Lynch
Owens (c) vs. Miz vs. Ziggler vs. Big Show vs. Neville vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Sheamus vs. Mark Henry (Ladder Match)
New Day vs. League of Nations (Six Man Tag)
Kalisto (c) vs. Sin Cara (Lucha Libre Rules)
Brie Bella vs. Lana
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Also, Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels are all expected to be involved to varying degrees on the show.
[Edited on 3-4-2016 by CCharger]
Flash - 3-4-2016 at 02:37 AMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
According to the Observer, the full card for Wrestlemania is now set. Here is what they say the slate with look like:
HHH (c) vs. Reigns
Ambrose vs. Lesnar
Shane vs. Undertaker (HIAC)
Charlotte (c) vs. Banks vs. Lynch
Owens (c) vs. Miz vs. Ziggler vs. Big Show vs. Neville vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Sheamus vs. Mark Henry (Ladder Match)
New Day vs. League of Nations (Six Man Tag)
Kalisto (c) vs. Sin Cara (Lucha Libre Rules)
Brie Bella vs. Lana
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
That's a pretty weak under-card.... It's not terrible; the ladder match could be good, but 8 bodies makes for a pretty crowded ring, which generally means you get less psychology, and more along the lines of each guy getting their spot while everyone else takes turns taking a powder.
The Andre thing is really just a let's get as many guys on the show as we can... also the track record of the WWE making winning it mean something being 0-2 at this point, and I really doubt Kalisto and Sin Cara make the cut for the main show... it's got kick-off written all over it.
New day could be a bit entertaining, but the WWE's track record for matches of this type have generally run in the too criminally short to care category.... (Shield vs Kane/NAO, Team Hell no vs Dolph and Big E... so many more). If this goes more than 10 minutes I'd be completely shocked.... although if I had to nominate a spot for either Rock, Austin, HBK or Cena (perhaps all four) to come down and take turns hitting their finishers on everyone, this would probably be it.
The ladies have been built up well enough; and while Shane/Taker, Ambrose/Lesnar are very promising, the winners in both feel like a foregone conclusion; and both while should rock, it feels a bit last minute and quickly thrown together, and ultimately lacking that feeling of a big time feud as both are more than likely one and done's.
Reigns and HHH has probably been the most built up match on the card; but it's an uphill climb and still faces a great deal of uncertainty as to how it will go over.... I mean is a match a good idea when your absolute best case scenario is to hope that at least most of your fans cheer the finish, and then have to continue working hard to make people forget that they want to boo your heir apparent the very next night.
I'm kinda surprised to see that the card, and to date the whole event itself, is devoid of any kind of special attraction celebrity spot... Stephen Amell and Stardust started something up again a few weeks ago; which would have been a good time to start ramping things up a bit more for WM... I might not go the one on one route, but doing some kind of six-man tag match with him in there to jazz it up wouldn't be a bad idea. With four-ish weeks to go there is still time to make some of these feud's a bit more red hot and meaningful... curious to see what they can do, and what surprises they have up their sleeve.
One thing about this Wrestlemania.... does it maybe hold the record for most near certain matches only to later fall apart?
1.Austin vs Brock
2. Rock vs Brock
3. Rock vs HHH
4. Taker vs. Cena
5. Bray vs Brock
6. Reigns vs Brock
7. HHH vs Rollins
8. Taker vs Stroman
9. Steph vs Rousey
10. Austin vs HHH
11. Shield triple threat for the title.
12. Mr. McMahon vs Colonel Sanders Zombie corpse
Matte - 3-4-2016 at 03:05 AMAustin/anybody was never a near-certain match for this Mania. I don't think Rock/Brock was ever even hinted at. Taker/Strowman was not a near-certain match for this Mania, it was "rumored" with next to nobody buying it. Steph/Rousey was not a near-certain match for this Mania, I'm pretty sure the big speculation was that she would just be in someone's corner and wind up throwing a punch of two. Was Rock/HHH hinted at?
Taker/Cena, I could buy as near-certain. Bray/Brock definitely seemed like a thing. Reigns/Brock, obviously. HHH/Rollins did seem like it was happening before the injury. I think the Shield triple threat was just a fantasy booking by fans, I don't think that was a near-certain Mania match.
Flash - 3-4-2016 at 03:11 AMDouble post.. oops.
[Edited on 3-4-2016 by Flash]
Flash - 3-4-2016 at 03:11 AMFor those of you who care about what some of the higher ups in the WWE make, here's a shocker.... Kevin Dunn makes more than Vince McMahon!
Vince McMahon � Chairman & Chief Executive Officer: $3.3 million
Michelle Wilson � Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer: $4.5 million
George Barrios � Chief Strategy & Financial Officer: $4.5 million
Paul Levesque � EVP, Talent, Live Events & Creative: $3.1 million
Kevin Dunn � Executive Producer & Chief Global Television Production: $4.7 million
Nothing noted for Stephanie, but Shane is pulling in North of $120k for his performers contract for Wrestlemania, but he apparently hasn't signed it yet.
I'm more in the group of "duh.... numbers make my brain hurt" but there is some pretty interesting stuff in the below filing. For example they pulled in more than $150 million for the network in 2015, which is double what the old PPV model paid. Last year was also a banner year; seeing the company rake in about $659 million dollars, up about 21%.
Dunn owns close to $7m dollars worth of WWE stock from the looks of it, and should Vince be turfed as chairman for any reason he gets about $5m in compensation... never mind that giant mountain of stock he owns.
Link: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1091907/000120677416004749/wwe_pre14a.htm
[Edited on 3-4-2016 by Flash]
Flash - 3-4-2016 at 03:22 AMquote:
Originally posted by Matte
Austin/anybody was never a near-certain match for this Mania. I don't think Rock/Brock was ever even hinted at. Taker/Strowman was not a near-certain match for this Mania, it was "rumored" with next to nobody buying it. Steph/Rousey was not a near-certain match for this Mania, I'm pretty sure the big speculation was that she would just be in someone's corner and wind up throwing a punch of two. Was Rock/HHH hinted at?
Taker/Cena, I could buy as near-certain. Bray/Brock definitely seemed like a thing. Reigns/Brock, obviously. HHH/Rollins did seem like it was happening before the injury. I think the Shield triple threat was just a fantasy booking by fans, I don't think that was a near-certain Mania match.
Ah, the list was a bit of a tongue in cheek post, hence the VKM vs KFC posting.
I'm old enough to know that until it hits TV nothing is certain in the land of wrestling... I find just about every rumour we get to be very suspicious given the closed ranks of the actual decision makers, versus the performers who like to talk and see their names in print.
The "near certain" was more of a fans/rumours pretty much declaring it so and getting worked up into a lather at various points since last year's Mania.
We are however apparently getting Wyatt vs Brock at the network exclusive Roadblock PPV (now announced)... so I guess that one is closing in on being a sure thing... Sucks to be Bray though to go from marquee matchup on the industry's biggest night, to a speed bump en route to Mania, and then getting lumped into a let's throw everyone a cheque for their efforts match.
punkerhardcore - 3-4-2016 at 05:27 AMThat match list is pretty suspect. No Jericho or Styles? Come on... no way are those two slumming it in that shitty ass battle royal.
williamssl - 3-4-2016 at 05:34 AMLana vs Brie Bella should be enough proof that that list is suspect.
Count Zero - 3-4-2016 at 05:52 AMquote:Well, they're planting the seeds between them for SOMEthing. That's what shocked me on Monday night: Lana's return outta nowhere, like the RKO, and suddenly picking on Brieeemooowwed.
Originally posted by williamssl
Lana vs Brie Bella should be enough proof that that list is suspect.
Maybe they want her to do something to justify her continued employment? I just hope it doesn't happen at WM, but at TorontoMania instead. Please Janeersus, in the name of the Father, the Son & the Holy Shityougottabekiddingme....
jefft221 - 3-4-2016 at 09:05 PMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
According to the Observer, the full card for Wrestlemania is now set. Here is what they say the slate with look like:
HHH (c) vs. Reigns
Ambrose vs. Lesnar
Shane vs. Undertaker (HIAC)
Charlotte (c) vs. Banks vs. Lynch
Owens (c) vs. Miz vs. Ziggler vs. Big Show vs. Neville vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Sheamus vs. Mark Henry (Ladder Match)
New Day vs. League of Nations (Six Man Tag)
Kalisto (c) vs. Sin Cara (Lucha Libre Rules)
Brie Bella vs. Lana
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Also, Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels are all expected to be involved to varying degrees on the show.
[Edited on 3-4-2016 by CCharger]
I think that's gotta be a little off, AJ & Jericho must either be in the IC title match or the US title match will be replaced with AJ vs. Jericho after a tag team split. And I wonder if Brie/Lana will be come a tag match like Brie/Alicia/Page vs. Lana/Naomi/Tamina to get them all on the card and limit Lana's ring time.
But with those 9 matches, and the battle royal likely being a "showcase" for Bray/Wyatt family... which match or matches get bumped to the pre-show? If Kalisto/Sin Cara really does happen I suppose that one otherwise New Day/League, though it'd be a shame for New Day to not be on the main show.
I kinda didn't want the IC title ladder match because it's a repeat/lazy booking, but also with Hell in a Cell, a Streetfight, and likely HHH/Reigns ending up being No DQ... seems like too many gimmick/"hard core" matches.
Paddlefoot - 3-5-2016 at 05:39 AM* Diva botchamania madness is runnin' wild! Emma got laid out for real by an Asuka kick gone wrong at an NXT event. Charlotte also got her nose broken at a main roster house show by a Becky Lynch knee to the face. Dreaded X symbol from the refs went up in both matches and no contests were also declared.
Count Zero - 3-5-2016 at 05:57 AMquote:I know I quoted this once, but there's an "update" courtesy of Main Event. Yes, I sometimes watch Main Event. Anywho, during a Natty/Brie/Paige vs Tamina/Naomi/Summer Rae match, Lana came out to "watch from ringside" (planting her ass on the desk in front of Lawler, causing him to pretty damn near PUPPIES!!!! all over the place) and did the sarcastic-clap when Brie won the match with the Yes-Lock. Gentlemen, start your engi..
Originally posted by williamssl
Lana vs Brie Bella should be enough proof that that list is suspect.
punkerhardcore - 3-5-2016 at 04:49 PMMore injuries last night. On the NXT side, Emma got her bell rung and had to be assisted to the back, and Tomasso Ciampa got some kind of nasty looking injury after taking Dash & Dawson's finisher.
On the WWE side, Charlotte looks like she may have gotten a broken nose in her match with Becky Lynch.
Count Zero - 3-5-2016 at 10:07 PMquote:
Originally posted by Paddlefoot
* Diva botchamania madness is runnin' wild! Emma got laid out for real by an Asuka kick gone wrong at an NXT event. Charlotte also got her nose broken at a main roster house show by a Becky Lynch knee to the face. Dreaded X symbol from the refs went up in both matches and no contests were also declared.
quote:
Originally posted by punkerhardcore
More injuries last night. On the NXT side, Emma got her bell rung and had to be assisted to the back, and Tomasso Ciampa got some kind of nasty looking injury after taking Dash & Dawson's finisher.
On the WWE side, Charlotte looks like she may have gotten a broken nose in her match with Becky Lynch.
Do you even lift ...er... read the boards, bro?
punkerhardcore - 3-6-2016 at 02:27 AMI blame the fact that I hadn't been awake very long. Let's go with that.
CCharger - 3-6-2016 at 03:10 AMWell, IWC. Ready to have a rage-stroke?
According to Cageside Seats, the first feud that baby face champion Roman Reigns will have post-Mania will be with heel Ryback.
janerd75 - 3-6-2016 at 04:09 AMquote:
Originally posted by CCharger
Well, IWC. Ready to have a rage-stroke?
According to Cageside Seats, the first feud that baby face champion Roman Reigns will have post-Mania will be with heel Ryback.
I usually reserve my rage strokes for more pleasurably sinful activities, but if true, then yeah no, no yeah I'll add this to the irrational haterbate pile too.
First 9 - 3-6-2016 at 05:01 AMOh come on, the Miz is right there! I was hoping that in trying to get Reigns over they'd avoid putting him against heels with a cool factor like Owens or Wyatt and feud him againts the simmiest, most unlikeable guy they had and that would be Miz's ticket back to the top. Even Cena haters refused to cheer for Miz when he feuded with Mr. polarizing.
