Tonight on SmackDown: the Tuesday Night Blue Crew will have one hell of a hard time topping last night's RAW... but it sounds like they are gonna give it the old college try...

Shane McMahon has promised that tonight's show will end with a new #1 Contender to Dean Ambrose's WWE Title... the way the roster sets up, it would appear to be a two man race between AJ Styles and Bray Wyatt, by far SD's top two heels at this point... for me, the nominal edge goes to Styles, with Wyatt taking some time to re-invent himself as a pure singles (unless, of course, they just intend to have him tread water for a couple months, then have Luke Harper return from injury to reunite the original Wyatts)... Ambrose vs. Styles isn't QUITE the same as Rollins vs. Balor, but damned if it isn't nearly as appetizing...

And in a separate development, John Cena has promised that something big is in store tonight... while not explicitly saying so, you sort of assume it might have to do with Cena's own next chapter, as he probably won't be in the mix for a major title so long as he's a TV-only character (outside of foreign tours, Cena will work very few house shows going forward), but still needs something significant to do when he IS on TV.... SD's the brand that is liable to dabble in free agency, which is the easiest area in which to pull off a major shocking surprise, but I have no educated guesses as to what Cena could be hinting at, or if he might just be hyperbolizing....

Randy Orton will be in the house, with a LOT of work to be done to get the ball rolling on his SummerSlam match with Lesnar (besides the simple fact that it is a Lesnar match, I mean); Sunday's PPV reminded us that Orton's ceiling on the mic is "dumb high school jock with exactly one zinger memorized," so unlike other recent injury returns, you might just stick him back into the ring for a match, rather than holding that off until te PPV...

The Miz is IC Champ, and needs a fresh challenger for SS... Ziggler appears to be the "obvious" choice, given SD's roster, but two slightly fresher options would be Kalisto or Apollo Crews... IMO, SD lacks the depth necessary to launch its own Womens or Tag titles, but if they have designs on going that route, my guess is it happens sooner than later, so keep your eyes peeled for the Intergalactic Tag Team Title and the Multidimensional Women's Title... or, if not, Becky vs. Nattie is still the primary issue driving the SD women's division, while Breezango's upset win over the Usos on Sunday shakes up the power rankings in the tag division.... and in both cases, NXT could impact things, as Alexa Bliss, Carmella, and American Alpha are all hyped as debuting tonight (Alpha are already one of the top 3-4 teams in all of WWE, and Alexa's going to surprise a lot of people, and not just in their pants)...

In addition to the NXT call-ups and the possibility for free agent signings, Daniel Bryan also said on Sunday's PPV that SD will be fearless in trying a bunch of new, innovative, outside-the-box ideas... while acknowledging that some of the ideas may flop, he said that won't stop them from keep throwing them out there, because he knows way more will hit than miss... so that could be interesting... also, much like RAW, SD has all new logos/graphics/broadcast crew; last night's running joke was that RAM is MAR, but I fully expect tonight's to be the SD logo's distressing resemblance to Impact's logo...

That is all. End communication....

The flOOr is yours, OO Nation. Don't wait till after 10pm to post, either. Pre-show previewing and prognosticating is certainly welcome. So discuss, debate, and rate!

I am sooooo tempted to point out that our own OO Rick Master & Lord of OO Universe has perpetuated the burial of Becky Lynch by placing her in the middle of the fifth paragraph of a six paragraph post and not even bothering to use her last name.

But I wouldn't do that.

Debuting tonight on SmackdoMn ...

- A 12 sided ring
- The debut of Aces and 18s
- AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, 4 Hardy's, Velvet Skye's ass, and Beer Money
- A big middle finger where the SmackdoMn fist used to be
- Post concussion syndrome
- Taz, Tenay, Dixie, and Jeff Jarrett on commentary
- A large banner that says "Fuck TNA"
- John Cena naming off every wrestling promotion on earth except TNA
- A 24 sided ring ... surrounded by a cage ... in every match!
- Abyss as an accountant who totally isn't Abyss
- Becky Lynch losing cleanly to Alexa Bliss
- RKO comes back, Dom carves wooden horses
- Royberto ring storming without pants

quote:

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Originally posted by merc
I am sooooo tempted to point out that our own OO Rick Master & Lord of OO Universe has perpetuated the burial of Becky Lynch by placing her in the middle of the fifth paragraph of a six paragraph post and not even bothering to use her last name.

But I wouldn't do that.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by DKBroiler
Debuting tonight on SmackdoMn ...

- A 12 sided ring
- The debut of Aces and 18s
- AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, 4 Hardy's, Velvet Skye's ass, and Beer Money
- A big middle finger where the SmackdoMn fist used to be
- Post concussion syndrome
- Taz, Tenay, Dixie, and Jeff Jarrett on commentary
- A large banner that says "Fuck TNA"
- John Cena naming off every wrestling promotion on earth except TNA
- A 24 sided ring ... surrounded by a cage ... in every match!
- Abyss as an accountant who totally isn't Abyss
- Becky Lynch losing cleanly to Alexa Bliss
- RKO comes back, Dom carves wooden horses
- Royberto ring storming without pants

---

quote:

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Originally posted by CM Crunk

quote:

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Originally posted by merc
I am sooooo tempted to point out that our own OO Rick Master & Lord of OO Universe has perpetuated the burial of Becky Lynch by placing her in the middle of the fifth paragraph of a six paragraph post and not even bothering to use her last name.

But I wouldn't do that.

---

Y'beat me to it you wily bastard.

---

Cena being satisfied by beating AJ in a six man feels out of character. I think those two aren't done till they do a second big time singles match. My prediction is that much like RAW, all the big boys are tied into matches to settle the Title picture and we won't get a glimpse at their own storylines till next week.

With Ambrose, Cena, and Orton as top faces I really hope they pull a Ziggler turn. Guys is in serious need of a reboot.

Can anyone tell me who that orange-headed goof betwixt Dean and Cena is? Like, is it a fan that got up on the apron or some garbage that should be disrespected or buried in the back somewhere?



All this meanness is killing janerd.

#dicksout

No, that's all there is to that hashtag. Just got my dick out to make me feel better.

quote:

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Originally posted by First 9
Cena being satisfied by beating AJ in a six man feels out of character. I think those two aren't done till they do a second big time singles match. My prediction is that much like RAW, all the big boys are tied into matches to settle the Title picture and we won't get a glimpse at their own storylines till next week.

With Ambrose, Cena, and Orton as top faces I really hope they pull a Ziggler turn. Guys is in serious need of a reboot.

---

Bruised Simon Gotch looks bruised. Don't mess with the Messicans, jabroni.

[Edited on 7/27/2016 by Paddlefoot]

This new camera angle they're using for the Battle Royale w/ Cheese is kind of... Odd? It's making me think people are taller than they really are, or some other sort of optical chicanery.

quote:

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Originally posted by CM Crunk
Edit: I don't want to get my hopes up but I feel like they might have plams for Breezango and that makes me a happy camper.

---

That whiffed dropkick Ryder delivered to Kalisto looked painful.

Edit: Ryder's a bit off tonight. And there is no reason for Kane to be in this match. Im sure he isn't winning but the big unstoppable monster role could've been filled by Corbin or Rowan or somebody who could benefit from a rub. Dont get me wrong, I love the guy and respect all that he's done and the many turds he's had to polish but come on.

[Edited on 7/27/2016 by CM Crunk]

Becky vs. Natalya is coming up next. Gentlemen...

Buried Alive Rematch!! NEXT!! ON IMPACTDOWN!

And yeah, Zack was a little too hyped up (hah) tonight. I figured that was ADR's battle to lose, and.. well, he lost it. Yay for Mr. Crews!

If they put Corbin Bernsen in the battle royale to take Spot #6, who do they give his spot to in the First Five?

My face right now:



[Edited on 7-27-2016 by Matte]

I got my shovel ready. Time for a Becky burial baybay!!

Bathroom break

Go Nattie Go!

"Is she having a fit?" - vintage JBL.

quote:

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Originally posted by janerd75

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quote:

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Originally posted by janerd75

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quote:

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Originally posted by Paddlefoot
"Is she having a fit?" - vintage JBL.

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What the hell?!!

Total burial of Nattie!! Makes me sick.

quote:

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Originally posted by Count Zero

quote:

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Originally posted by Paddlefoot
"Is she having a fit?" - vintage JBL.

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As bad as he is in general, sometimes he unleashes these idiot-savant moments of awesome, and that's why I don't mind JBL as much as others do. I'm sad that we'll only get "WOULD YOU BE QUIET, MAGGLE" when they cross the PPV streams.

---

Bullshit. I've never seen Nattie so disrespected.

Fuckin' pricks. Why'd they bury Nattie like that?

I don't mind JBL either. He varies in consistency of quality but he hasn't taken a dive into complete mediocrity the way Lawler has (especially recently). Gonna miss the Maggle moments too.

HOW YOU DOIN???ETTE?

So, like, they're building a whole division around Becky. Man, I dunno how her life will recover.


OH SHIT HERE COMES THE RED BELLA!!!!

Alright redemption!

Time for Becky to get squashed by Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Camrella and above all else, Eva Marie!! Nice.

Even Johnny Rodz won occasionally. See retro

Eve Marie's only move is clearly called the Hey, Look At THESE.

[Edited on 7/27/2016 by Paddlefoot]

quote:

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Originally posted by merc
Even Johnny Rodz won occasionally. See retro

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quote:

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Originally posted by merc
Even Johnny Rodz won occasionally. See retro

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Between Eva Marie and Maryse, I think Smackdown can lay claim to having hotter titty girls than RAM.

#dicksoutfor

ETA: Maybe roy and Dom can go ass-to-ass with one tv remote to save a bit of money on buying new ones all the time?

[Edited on 7-27-2016 by janerd75]

quote:

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Originally posted by janerd75
Between Eva Marie and Maryse, I think Smackdown can lay claim to having hotter titty girls than RAM.

#dicksoutfor

---

I can only count to two, ah ah ahhhhh.

ETA: Holy shit, did Randy take some English classes while he was gone?

ETA2: Goddamn, that was easily the best thing I've ever seen Orton do on the mic. Surprised at the "pitching and catching" line too. That was certified GOLLY!�

[Edited on 7-27-2016 by janerd75]

Holy crap! David Otunga's still alive!

Randy Talk Goodest Ever!

He didn't try to get TOO punny or clever or wordplayish or... He kept it relaxed, and seemingly natural, and.. Randy Talk Good!

SmackDown has been super lackluster compared to Raw. Their roster just isn't as great, and the matches they're putting on for their debut show are nothing compared to what Raw did. If you want to make it look like a competition, at least make the shows comparable; make it look like they're actually, you know, competing.

Two observations:

1st, I shit you not I just noticed Otunga was at the broadcast desk just now.

And B, this has to be the palest I've ever seen Master Randall. Something about shoulder rehab that prohibits lifting your arms for spray tans?

His sleeve tats look darker which makes the rest of him look paler.

All these years later, after Mysteries, or magnets, or fucking Mystery Magnets, and someone in the crowd will still hold up an ICP logo at a WWE show.

Dear Dom,
1. Jannerd misses you.
2. Rewind and give your man crush a second look.

All my best

Juggalos are eternal.

And did Otunga miss his Wardrobe appointment? I know they're going for a whole "new vibe", but dude. Vest & Tshirt? That is not a look you should be wearing as a "professional" anything.

Promotional Considerations:
David Otunga's clothes provided by the JerichoForDads Hipster collection.

And now we bring you... THE ONE MAN BRAAAAAAAYYYYYYYUUUNNNND!

ETA: Holy crap. Heath destroyed that. and then GORE!! GORE! GORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Edited on 7-27-2016 by Count Zero]

I'm all for Heath Slater getting destroyed weekly by guys that get signed instead of him, but this time that they use him for gimmicky stuff, I really hope they plan on actually using him for something that isn't a jobber stable.

Good to see you haven't put on your footie PJs NOOB!

quote:

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Originally posted by Paddlefoot
Eve Marie's only move is clearly called the Hey, Look At THESE.

---

The Dolph reboot is coming! I said that shit as a hopeful shot in the dark but they're going for it!

MR. ZIGGLESWORTH FTW!

Dolph is not Balor.

Bray, AJ, or Cena were much better options.

Yay Ziggler!

lol from the preshow to the main event.......this is what happens when we listen to the IWC.

[Edited on 7-27-2016 by Nobledictator1278]

Oh snap. With a rubber match fairly inevitable for John Cena and AJ Styles, I figured that match was Bray Wyatt's to lose. So the participants in the title matches at Summerslam are Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Finn Balor. Somebody go back in time and tell early-2014 "Batista wins the Royal Rumble" IWC to be patient.

I'm a bit behind on DVR.

Eva Marie ... Super Heel. For the love of God put her with ReBoooo.

I'm not upset that Ziggler won, though it doesn't really have a "Big 4" feel to it. But, more than anything, I really hope they get the endings right for Smackdown. That 7 minutes after the match kept making me think something was going to happen and...nothing. Hopefully in a few episodes after they realize they aren't taped anymore they'll get it right.

A guy resusciating his career in one night makes just as much sense as a new guy shocking the world and beating most of the top guys in one night.Not quite as exciting, but it's not breaking the suspension of disbelief either.

Also, Eddie Guerrero went from feuding with Chavo in an 8 minute ppv match to facing Brock fucking Lesnar for the WWE Championship. So whatever,

quote:

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Originally posted by DKBroiler
I'm a bit behind on DVR.

Eva Marie ... Super Heel. For the love of God put her with ReBoooo.

---

Well, that was... something. Kinda hard to top last nights Raw, but as was mentioned earlier by others, the strength of Smackdown's roster isn't quite at Raw's level. At least not yet. Aside from some new faces, teases for returning and debuting ones, and a genuinely surprising finish to the main event it kinda just felt "samey."

Was really waiting for the other shoe to drop with that awkward post-main event celebration. Mainly for Ziggler to superkick Dean, or something. Kinda felt weird having Bryan and Shane shoehorn themselves into the celebration as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Ziggler and hope this is the start of a reboot for him but I was still left wanting more.

I wonder if I'd feel differently if Raw RAM hadn't knocked it out of the park last night.

[Edited on 7/27/2016 by CM Crunk]

The issue was that SD was hyped as being something different to make up for the lack of star power. Instead it was the same feel with just different guys.

Studying Eva Marie's moveset in detail.

Plus the thread needed more boobies.

Edit: Janerd had the same idea, only better. Whatever. Can't really have too many boobies.



[Edited on 7-27-2016 by Quentil]

Color me confused OO wankers. Wasn't Dolph the guy declared future world champion right here on the interwebs? Then ya'll saw something new and shiney and forgots about him...

You F'n new penny whores.

I'm not a huge fan, but glad he gets a shot, he deserves it.

quote:

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Originally posted by CM Crunk
Kinda felt weird having Bryan and Shane shoehorn themselves into the celebration as well.

---

I'll agree to that sentiment and say by the end of the show, I was already wishing Bryan would stop leading a "Yes" chant every time he came out. It's much nicer when spontaneous, or at least used a bit more sparingly.

I'm not going to criticize the start of a show that already has Ambrose, Bray, AJ, Ziggles, Miz, Cena, and now Shelton on it. It's like a Richter-scale level of exponential spot-fests in the making just from adding Shelton, and Rhyno too, to it. Time to admit that despite some of the booking problems they will have, because they've always had booking problems and probably always will, that both weekly shows now have the potential to become very good, if not excellent if they stay on course. Fine tuning will occur as time goes by but the legendary Smackdown Six of yore didn't happen overnight either. SD will need a couple of weeks or months to shake off the doldrums of the old taped format but there's no reason to think that it won't find it's own feet in due order.

quote:

---

Originally posted by merc
Color me confused OO wankers. Wasn't Dolph the guy declared future world champion right here on the interwebs? Then ya'll saw something new and shiney and forgots about him...

You F'n new penny whores.

I'm not a huge fan, but glad he gets a shot, he deserves it.

---

I think the lukewarm reaction is to be expected. Ziggler just hadn't had a good year so far, this is a great jumping point to move past it but it'll take time to fully get the jobber to the stars stink off him.

I will agree about Dolph. I -want- him to really vault into the main event at last and stay there, but boy, he's been circling around it for a long, long time and it's hard to believe that this time it's for real. My heart was with Bray, so anyone other than him was going to be disappointing, but Dolph's not the worst option by any means.

Having only watched NXT sporadically, has Eva Marie always had that voiceover entrance? Because that shit is heel gold right there. Her coming out to that and just showing her body rather than cutting a promo was, in fact, a very effective intro to her character. Kudos.

Rhyno and his stubby T-rex arms were welcome back. I see a Shelton Benjamin superkick in Heath's future.

[Edited on 7-27-2016 by GodEatGod]

I'll give Smackdown a break in finding their footing, especially in comparison to last night's RAM, but otherwise my feelings aboot both shows and wrasslin' in general right now can be summed up by this moving picture here:



ETA: Also, this. For the children:



[Edited on 7-27-2016 by janerd75]

May I also say I fully co-sign on Eva Marie's low-rider-to-the-point-of-almost-showing-the-vag ring shorts.

Will be interested to see what Shelton brings. They were showing all of his amazing MitB spots but I'm wondering if he'll still be the same guy 10 or so years later. Although I guess guys like Hardy (and AJ for that matter) are still doing their flippy shit near 40 so who knows.

A cursory glance of the interwebz indicates that tonights Smackdown was the worst thing to happen in the history of ever. Geez. Csonka over on 411, who is normally pretty hyper-critical in even the best of moods, is stating that Smackdown "shit the bed." I don't know. This all seems a wee-bit reactionary.

quote:

---

Originally posted by GodEatGod
Having only watched NXT sporadically, has Eva Marie always had that voiceover entrance? Because that shit is heel gold right there. Her coming out to that and just showing her body rather than cutting a promo was, in fact, a very effective intro to her character. Kudos.
[Edited on 7-27-2016 by GodEatGod]

---

As one of the few inhabitants of the old Smackdown thread, it's still a little weird seeing the show generate this much discussion. Ziggler and Balor wrestling for the WWE titles at SummerSlam? Rhyno and Shelton Benjamin back in the WWE? People actually talking about Smackdown? These are strange times, strange times indeed.

And I agree with most of what's been said so far, that tonight's show wasn't as "knock it out of the park" good as RAW was, but there's still a lot of potential. I was pulling for Styles in the main event, but no complaints here about Ziggler. It was definitely from out of nowhere, but it's great to see him actually put in a high-profile spot and there's any number of ways they can go with him against Ambrose.

Also, say what you want about Eva Marie's wrestling/talking abilities, or lack thereof, but after that entrance tonight I'm, uh, okay with her being on my TV.

Almost everything about SD was ''wait and see''

The Women stand off, the rapid fire repush for Dolph, the weird drawn out segment to end the show. Mixed in with the same old boring presentation and the huge expectations leads to some negative results.

Full post-Natalya burial. Eva Marie entrance at 1:40

Smackdown discussion is three pages in almost five hours after the end of the show. It was a pretty dang good show too. I agree with whoever said the Smackdown Six didn't happen overnight. Give this split a second. I wish they had held off until after Summer Slam though. And am I wrong, or did they announce that the first Smackdown Network Exclusive Special Backlash! was on the same week as opening week of the NFL? I would say that looks short sided at the very least. If you're going against the biggest dog, go with your biggest dog, right?

And RAM is still the biggest dog kids....

I guess here's my biggest reason for not really caring about the Ziggler win: it took a brand split for him to get the shot. If this was happening, say, after a Big 4 PPV where he was on a team and, while being on that team (which may or may not have been fighting to change who controlled Raw...because Raw was still a thing before this hot new RAM show), he wound up overcoming 4-on-1 odds to become the sole survivor, then I would say that World Title shot would be very well written.

But, to the best of my knowledge, WWE has never had such a match and, if they did, they would probably just have had him feud with Luke Harper for the IC Title instead.

quote:

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Originally posted by Count Zero

quote:

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Originally posted by GodEatGod
Having only watched NXT sporadically, has Eva Marie always had that voiceover entrance? Because that shit is heel gold right there. Her coming out to that and just showing her body rather than cutting a promo was, in fact, a very effective intro to her character. Kudos.
[Edited on 7-27-2016 by GodEatGod]

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I will totally second this. That Mister Moviephone Voiceover Of Gold was so brilliantly over-the-top that I hope she finally has the boo....er moves to go with it.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by williamssl
Full post-Natalya burial. Eva Marie entrance at 1:40

---

That's what you get with a live show, Zack Ryder botching everywhere! Dude was seriously off tonight.

Suplex City vs. Viperville.....let's debate. The crowd marked out when Orton said it and so did I. Funny shit.

We know that if there was never a Smackdown, there probably wouldn't be a 15 time champ named John Cena. These splits have been very beneficial in the past. I like Ziggler, but I'm just not buying the fact that this is a reboot for his career and that we are looking at a half a dozen title reigns ahead of him. I would have preferred Bray or AJ instead. We shall see.

So many people posting about the differences between RAM and Smackdown, and then I saw this.....

Am I the only one that saw one of the Ascension completely punch air at least twice in a row when they had Kane in the corner during the Battle Royal? That was horrible! His punches were a good 18-24 inches away from Kane's face. It was the smaller Ascension member and I cannot remember (and I can't be bothered to look it up) if it was Konnor or Victor? I'm a fan of snug workmate and that was bad enough to warrant getting sent back to NXT or released all together!

It amuses me that the women all got their little time on the mic, but they got Mr Voice Over Man to do Eva's spot. Don't trust her to speak or something?

quote:

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Originally posted by gaubster
Am I the only one that saw one of the Ascension completely punch air at least twice in a row when they had Kane in the corner during the Battle Royal? That was horrible! His punches were a good 18-24 inches away from Kane's face. It was the smaller Ascension member and I cannot remember (and I can't be bothered to look it up) if it was Konnor or Victor? I'm a fan of snug workmate and that was bad enough to warrant getting sent back to NXT or released all together!

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quote:

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Originally posted by Peteman77
I've also wondered what sets off the mic'ed canvas at the tv tapings. You don't notice this on tv, but when there live for a taping, sometimes a body slam will set off the big bang of the canvas through the arena sound system, and other times when a move happens on the canvas, nothing comes over the sound system. The things that keep me up at night.

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quote:

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Originally posted by TomS
It amuses me that the women all got their little time on the mic, but they got Mr Voice Over Man to do Eva's spot. Don't trust her to speak or something?

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Is it me, or did Rhyno look REALLY small!