The last post lasted 3 months! That's gotta be a record length for us. Enthusiasm for the product is at its lowest in a long time and WWE has been seeing some pretty empty arenas. Really a shame considering they've never had more talent.

Just for the record, I have to pass this spreadsheet on after Mania (if anyone is willing to take it). It's just too time-consuming for a thing I'm losing interest in. Anyway, here are your TLC predictions!!


https://tinyurl.com/OKPTLC

Outside of Mania season these last few years have been a real struggle to stay interested. If it weren't for the backlog of Raws and PPVs from the 90's and early 2000's I wouldn't even still have my Network subscription. I honestly wish there were different tiers of subscriptions where a cheaper version came with just retro shit. I guess NXT and UK weekly shows get watched occasionally, but really the only thing I'm excited for coming out of WWE are NXT Takeovers (which they nail every single time).

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, WWE's biggest problem is there is too much god damn wrestling. On the main roster I can't think of any match up I'm dreaming of, I've quite literally already seen everything. Matches are wasted with no build then rinsed, washed and repeated over and over. There is so much in-ring talent, it's at an all-time high, but creative is at an all-time low, but at the same time I wish they wouldn't let these guys go 80%+ on Raw and SD. Save that for the PPV. Besides it being on a Sunday night, there is nothing special about PPVs anymore. We can see great matches on Raw and SD, the production/stage/etc is just as flashy on the weekly shows and if you're watching a PPV chances are there was a PPV or Network special 2-3 weeks ago. I tuned into SD the other night and saw all the ladders and tables set up, hell, they had a frigging TLC match on Raw! Why should I care about this PPV again?

But, Royal Rumble is just around the corner and we're all gonna get sucked right back in just like every other year. And Vince knows it. The product can be shit for months on end and all he needs to do is pop us at the Rumble, give us a good Mania card and give us some debuts on the Raw the next night and we'll act surprised a few months later when the product is shit again. Cause we're wrestling fans. And we're fickle.

NXT works because they write to build the characters. They work to build motivations for everything, and the Takeovers are guideposts that allow them to make big character decisions- though they don't have to wait for those. And if you build it that way, you can make the events seem bigger.

On the main roster, everything is written to build the event. Motivations can be picked up and dropped as the event schedule demands. They're getting better at it on Smackdown, but Raw is an incredibly low bar.

i was flicking thru wrassle twitter last night and i saw one of the writers whining about "waaaaaaaaah its so hard to write a good program with all the hours we have to fill" and seth rollins gets on an RTs it like "oh you fans just dont understand it's sooooo difficult"

Get
The
Fuck
Out
Of
Here

niggas got about 5 rosters worth of talent and 4 or 5 shows and a ZILLON writers*** and you can't even put together a show that has internal continuity and logic just within the episode, let alone week to week. i could write their whole TV slate by myself and it'd be better than what they come up with.

***that's half the problem right there. too many writers.

>
>niggas got about 5 rosters worth of talent and 4 or 5 shows
>and a ZILLON writers*** and you can't even put together a show
>that has internal continuity and logic just within the
>episode, let alone week to week. i could write their whole TV
>slate by myself and it'd be better than what they come up
>with.
>
>***that's half the problem right there. too many writers.

the writers come up with all sorts of great ideas and Vince rejects 99% of them.

I honestly wish there were
>different tiers of subscriptions where a cheaper version came
>with just retro shit.

I was thinking about this but would go the opposite route myself. Don't have time to catch up on old stuff (and I caught up on most of the stuff I wanted already), but I'd love a $5 live feed/current stuff subscription.

The product can be shit for months on end and
>all he needs to do is pop us at the Rumble, give us a good
>Mania card and give us some debuts on the Raw the next night
>and we'll act surprised a few months later when the product is
>shit again. Cause we're wrestling fans. And we're fickle.

You're probably right but I think they're really playing with fire this time though. They have more competition than they've had in the last 2 decades and EVERYONE is talking about how bad their product is. I don't think they really care about ratings that much (they always blame football), but attendance is dipping a bit and that should scare them. I've seen some recent pics opposite hard cam and it looks like a TNA show from a few years back.

Around this time in most years it is pretty obvious who the 2 or 3 rumble contenders are and who wrestlemania will be built around, but this year, does anyone seem to have any forward momentum to main event mania?

Braun- Has been cooled beyond belief, maybe he will do it still, but it definitely was not built well to get there

Seth- Seems a likely favorite for Rumble win, especially if he loses on Sunday, he can fill the spot easy and main event any card, but that is really just plugging him in, they certainly have not built him to Mania main event story level currently

Drew Mcintyre- This is really the only guy with any forward momentum, if they keep pushing him hard he could be a Rumble winner, but he also feels a little uninspiring to me as a main main event. Literally the only guy moving forward though.

AJ- Maybe, but he is so involved in this Bryan storyline that I can't see it maintaining until Mania, doubt they send him to Raw

Finn- LOL. Similar to Seth, he could get plugged in and not be an issue, but he sure is not on a pace that makes sense

Miz- Felt like he could main event a few months ago, but now he is in this stupid storyline with Shane, why is he getting cooled down?

Seriously, who is the mania main event this year? Who is winning the Rumble, and what justification is there so far for them to be in that spot?

The women are closing Mania for sure this year. Between Becky/Charlotte and Ronda, I hope we get a 3 way honestly

But main event mania now never really refers to just the last match, like who are the men fighting for the 2 titles and who is winning the rumble?

Not enough to call it just yet, but I don't think Vince can possibly be stubborn enough to ignore this.

but it's possible it's a one-on-one with her and ronda and charlotte just gets involved.

but you're right that the momentum is all off for every dude on the roster. It's still crazy to me that they've fucked up Braun's momentum completely.

One site was saying The Rock was penciled in to win and challenge Roman but the plan changed when Roman left. Other people disputed that, but it's believable enough and this is a weird year where they could pull some shit like that.

Yes, WWE main roster product is stale now. I've found other things to do with my Monday nights and I'll tune into Smackdown because it is a bit better than Raw. But there are other promotions out there who put on a really good show that actually make sense.

Wrestle Kingdom 13 is on Jan. 4th. Just sayin, you could always start there and watch New Years Dash the next day.

and a huge part of that is their app and their website sucks. I'm pretty smart and I find it to be impossible to navigate even when it's translated.

It's called NJPWext. Not only does it translate automatically it also organizes the matches a bit better. I watch on the Xbox using the edge browser but I don't find the site that bad to navigate, then again I've gotten used to it by now to the point I can find anything I need.

It's the best money I spend on wrestling and some of those cards I take off of work the next day just so I can stay up and watch when it airs live.

We the children of the Light, you know what I mean?
That's why I'm hating on the darkness like Paula Deen
Cause in my hood they masked up like it's Halloween
We going hard for the Rock, but we not some fiends
- Andy Mineo

The main show has always started at 7pm est since they went back to being Raw/Smackdown on same show.

Which was the cruiserweights around 6:30 EST

If Charlotte doesn't have a broken rib or 2 she isn't human

I thought she was great against Charlotte, and did well against Nia Jaxx
tonight too. I don’t watch Raw anymore so not sure if the promos have improved at all, but she’s bringing it in these PPVs and getting better. I’m glad she’s having real matches and not just no selling and doing the same couple moves in squash matches. She earned my respect taking that beating against Charlotte, and she made Nia look
good while still looking strong. I’m sold.

That was fucking dumb.

I'd prefer a clean ending to a classic match, but it's about long term storytelling and the story is this triple threat at Mania.

They didn’t show Becky. We’ll get Becky/Asuka on the pre-show. They learned absolutely nothing from WCW.

This is going to be a triple threat match. She could easily have just cost Charlotte the match, she cost them both the match.

She clearly screwed both of them.

Becky was the champ.

Becky will be the one the fans are behind.

Triple threat match.

Regardless, Charlotte is still the greatest. I know it’s cool how Becky caught fire and all. But Charlotte is....the best. Easily.

I get the Charlotte hate because people love Becky and hate anyone who is just constantly put in the spot, but Charlotte is the greatest. She's top 3 performer on the roster male or female and her character development during the match was amazing.

She is not Roman Reigns or Cena being shoved there too early when it isn't earned, she is their top star. Becky is hot right now and you ride the hot hand, but people talk about Charlotte like she doesn't deserve to be a focus of the show.

All that said, this is clearly a triple threat match set up for Mania.

I mean we knew it, but it's official now

For the “known.” FFS.

This is the same company that nerfed Asuka until oh, two weeks ago, put the title back on Lesnar after Reigns had to drop the title.

They are telling a 3 way rivalry. There is no way this isn't a triple threat at mania baring an injury or something

Shit, if not for the Curtain Call, I don't know that Austin happens for them.

It's a good story if they do the triple threat, but I don't think they'll pull the trigger on including Becky. From Vince's perspective, they don't need to. They were able to test-balloon Charlotte versus Ronda and everyone loved it when Charlotte broke out the Kendo. So what do they need Becky for? They've already got Rousey and the daughter of Ric Flair to put on Sportscenter between January and April.

Plus they can just have Becky chase her title back. They have an out, and I don't trust Vince McMahon with an out.

1 would be the schmoz finish to the Rubmle where Charlotte and Becky tie or some controversy happens and it just results in a triple threat match. Maybe they get told you can each challange champ, charlotte chooses Ronda and then Becky does the same thing to a huge roar.

2. Would be they toy with us, annouce charlotte vs Ronda really early, like in January but Becky wins the Rumble and instead of taking the easy 1 on 1 match she jumps into the already announced match.

I just can't see them blowing this one, it is their mania main event and the 3 biggest stars they have right now.

They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to include Daniel Bryan in that. The most over dude in YEARS, and they had to Rube Goldberg him into the main event.

i dont see how this women's thing doesnt end up as a triple threat.

Ronda, Charlotte, and Becky are probably their three most over and interesting stars right now. Isn't that what you want at the top of your show? It seems like a rare situation where EVERYONE wins - the fans, the company, the performers themselves. Vince gets his mainstream attention, the fans get a great match, the girls get legend status.

And honestly, Ronda marching down felt too much like Lesnar at Hell in a Cell to me. 🤷‍♂️

I just think they're doing this one right, it's been done perfectly so far and last night was the big move

Nothing about last night suggests anything but a triple threat. In fact, if it is a one-on-one I think it's more likely they go Lynch vs. Rousey and run back Charlotte-Asuka (after running Charlotte-Ronda again at the Rumble).

Four ways are rarely good, but on paper it would check all of the boxes

- legacy pro wrestler in Charlotte
- mainstream athlete in Ronda
- Asian representative
- European representative

suddenly, it's an international mega match

tho I hope they don't include Asuka. The promos are going to be too important and she can't really cut them. Sorry if that comes off xenophobic.

Ronda Rousey
Ric Flair’s daughter
Irish girl Stone Cold

In an all female main event for the first time ever? It’s an ATM machine

You can tour these three women around. And knowing that’s the set in stone main event going into the show only makes for even more anticipation. I think it’s realistic.

You gotta pull out all the stops.

Now Becky probably doesn’t win that match. But who knows.

>
>Ronda Rousey
>Ric Flair’s daughter
>Irish girl Stone Cold
>
>In an all female main event for the first time ever? It’s an
>ATM machine
>
>You can tour these three women around. And knowing that’s
>the set in stone main event going into the show only makes for
>even more anticipation. I think it’s realistic.
>
>You gotta pull out all the stops.
>
>Now Becky probably doesn’t win that match. But who knows.

She could Benoit/Eddie Mania XX that shit and come out with the win. As always, the aftermath booking is more key.

Also, heel Ronda gives us a shot at a really good time here. If they do heel Flair too, then Becky is set up amazingly.

https://youtu.be/FhoZ40puo2A?t=1282

my guy is WYLIN as a heel lmao.

To be the biggest babyface of a decade, and turn around into a heel that gets actually booed, not Xpac heat, not cheered because he is cool, but booed because the crowd actually respects his heel work.

Not only that but to basically unveil an adapted all new move set to work more as a heel.

He is an all timer

>To be the biggest babyface of a decade, and turn around into
>a heel that gets actually booed, not Xpac heat, not cheered
>because he is cool, but booed because the crowd actually
>respects his heel work.
>
>Not only that but to basically unveil an adapted all new move
>set to work more as a heel.
>
>He is an all timer

The babyface run is his genius on display. This heel run is like a return to his American Dragon shit...down to the small package! It damn sure is fun. And it was a good call. WWE actually has a few good calls rolling in the midst of their broken Raw format dragging them down. NXT is still a paradise of 80s love letter goodness with best Indy ever match quality. And the stories!? The ridiculously good characters? The more committed booking! Good times.

To me, the Dean turn was a great call that has since been amazingly botched. Horrible situation overall. I wonder when they knew Roman was possibly gone. And I wonder who thought that tlc match layout was what anyone wanted.

It sucks like hell that they didn’t want to pull the trigger on Get These Hands because of backstage shortcomings. Big boy might’ve screwed himself forever with that shit if true. He certainly screwed us out of a fun title run that would’ve booked itself. He could have been Brock with more appearances, fun title defenses where folks throw everything at him to try to win and occasional gags and jokes. He could’ve gotten a lot folks over by having good showings against him.

I know for sure that I will be amped when Brock goes away without the title for a while. I dgaf what other examples folks can show me, not having an existing big belt champ on Mondays is bullshit and it ruins the show BEFORE we get the horrid 20 minute setups and 1.5 hours of fluff to further ruin it. It’s unwatchable without ffwd. I’m basically retired from even forwarding through it most weeks until Mania season.

And the IC title ain’t a fair replacement. Cena did grand work making the belt gain some weight but still...it ain’t the same as having a main dude to go after and build stories around. It ruins the midcard and jobbers too. Why would I care about any of those fools? Their feuds ain’t shit. They aren’t getting title shots. Their random matches just fill the time. Getting over is an accident. It’s a bad format.

>

Punctuality allegedly. And maybe he didn’t do enough ring-kissing and/or grabbing when he was being pushed pretty heavily. Feathers got ruffled. He didn’t go out of his way to fluff said feathers. He got hurt. Folks made faces and had convos. And now we’re here. He’s pretty cold. He’s not Mr. Glorious Bobby Roode cold but still.

Side: I still don’t know who Roode pissed off to be cooled off so much so fast. Dude should’ve at least been best days wwf Jeff Jarrett. Dude isn’t amazing but he’s a solid hand who can have decent to good matches if you put the light on him and let him win a little when it counts. But oh well. These folks found out a way to make folks turn on a Dean/Seth match. And Cesaro still doesn’t matter forreal. It’s some high highs and a TPain-level and amount of lows for wwe now.

The network is supreme tho!

It's also a slow season as it is, even in light of just how bad it is, with an uptick usually coming during RR season, so they can further stroke the McEgo's when that happens.

Without a direct competitor kicking their asses week after week, they'll never make significant creative changes, because that means admitting that their creative is a longstanding dumpster fire.

They also likely have enough brainless, easily pleased sycophants that they can point to in order to justify the putrid septic tank tha that is the current product.

Even MORE McMofos, Tyler Breeze, and kuchadors-a-plenty

and there's another hour and a half to go...yippee.

But that's because dude is very, very good in the ring, and a glorious doofus outside of it.

not including stephanie either lmao

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6z0t9y

Get hype motherfuckers!

This match here was great, these guys are gonna tear the roof off the Tokyo Dome on Jan 4th.

they opened the show with the same old McMahons, promised something fresh, then did the same show they've done for two months

im willing to give them the BOTD but just off of that, nothing was different. and no one on earth has ever wanted an hour long 8 woman gauntlet match. soon as that hit i was done w/ raw.

of how WWE takes a good idea, then overproduces it to death.

Season One was a nice novelty, a decent distraction from the regular TV programming.

Then Season Two...they force-fed it into the TV shows trying to generate interest that isn't there, then they resorted to the MLB all star game winner gets home field option (because that was such a great idea) to give the winners the #30 spot in Royal Rumble - which essentially made the 30 spot irrelevant (no one thinks R Truth can win, and Carmella as a face sucks). Way too many injuries (when Strowman/Bliss ended up as Ember Moon/Hawkins...ugh) and of course the Dance breaks were funny once but every time and now on matches on SD for each of them...c'mon. WWE can kill anything with overexposure, and this is a microcosm of that.

I'm not saying this idea was a home run, but we ask them for fresh things and to mix it up a little bit and this is one of those things that is just different from same old formula.

The #30 spot would have been good if not for all the big names dropping out, so then they went the joke route. R Truth won't win but that's ok. Last year #30 was just as useless with Ziggler "returning" just to lose.

He'll do a little joke, Carmella will do a dance and probably get tossed, it'll be a light hearted moment and ultimately not matter.

That shit made no sense.

"But it had stipulations!"
As soon as you seen the finals you know that NONE of the people involved are going to have any chance of winning their respectful Rumble matches. I would have agreed if it was someone who we all thought had a chance but none of these individuals are going to have a main event at Mania so again what was the point?

https://tinyurl.com/ycxm7n2y

Oak won Survivor Series, Max ran away with TLC. Af in lead by 1 over Max.

One of the best wrestling interviewers EVER!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbcCO7OBafA

Send for the man
https://youtu.be/D11H_sWxJtk

January 4th (tonight) at 2am EST is going to be one of the biggest shows of the year.

You can watch on njpwworld.com. It's a little under $10 a month so a few cents cheaper than wwe network and you can access their back catalog. Live events are listed at the top of the site in a yellow banner. I watch using the Edge browser on Xbox one. They also have a firestick app.

FITE.TV is showing it for $34 which you'd have to be crazy to pick this option over their official site.

I'm being a real man and watching it live but o highly suggest you check this out any way you can and avoid spoilers also. Last years card was insane and this year has out sold it.

I did an entire write up to help people with what's going into this card but since this site is still the same as the early 2000s it timed me out since I was doing it at work and I refuse to do it again so just google the match ups if you don't know already.

I'm pulling for Kenny to get a win over Tana and I'm praying no one dies during the Ibush vs Osperay match.

Watching their kickoff press conference thing on YouTube right now.

How big do you think this thing could be? I'm interested to see what their relationship will be (if any) with Ring of Honor and NJPW.

why the name change (and why pac?)

does the guy just have the most boring names? lol

>How big do you think this thing could be? I'm interested to
>see what their relationship will be (if any) with Ring of
>Honor and NJPW.

Based on the bidding wars happening rn I'd venture to say AEW and ROH will not have a relationship, but New Japan might (although they still have a relationship with ROH, so maybe they don't want to jeopardize that?).

I think they may soon find that doing episodic TV and booking several PPVs a year instead of one is hard, but i don’t doubt those guys will bust their asses to try to make it happen.

Even still, I feel like they need Kenny Omega. Jericho is old and doughy, and props to his hustle but Cody isn’t Kenny Omega. Kenny Omega is an obvious mega star, a clear main eventer anywhere in the world. They’ll survive if Omega decides to go to the WWE, but they’ll have a legitimate shot if he joins the Elite guys.

They've been doing episodic content (yeah, it's not a regular wrestling show, but it's still story-based) for a couple of years now. They've been around and studied under some excellent hands in terms of producing shows on a consistent basis (The Bucks, much though I'm not a fan, started in PWG, which was wrestler run, they spent a few years in Chikara during their best storytelling era; and Cody was able to glean quite a bit from Big Dust in the last years of his life)

And I think this works great with Kenny and AEW if his conditions are they have a working relationship with them. NJPW is already pushing for a bigger expansion into the US and honestly with AEW being one of the hottest topics in wrestling they could use it to their advantage.

I think New Japan is ready to give this man what he wants, and I really feel like he'd like to stay in Japan. Dude loves it there and is a Japanese citizen at this point. A relationship between New Japan and AEW doesn't hurt anyone, it only helps both promotions.

A hard reset button hit on a lot of stories.

It sucks that Braun got ruined, but he did, and last week it was obvious that he is not a guy to carry the company. The switch to Balor at Rumble is very interesting.

Lashley getting IC belt doesn't mean a ton, but at least it ends this Dean/Seth thing that was going nowhere and sets Seth up for Rumble win.

Seth vs Balor at Mania is possible? Be still my mark heart.

The show itself just flowed and wasn't boring for 3 hours, I think they may actually be starting to get it and feel some fear from AEW just existing.

>It sucks that Braun got ruined, but he did, and last week it
>was obvious that he is not a guy to carry the company.

i didnt watch last week so what happened?

This has happened to Reigns before too. Maybe, ya know, don’t ask these meat heads to memorize scripts an hour before they go on live TV? But nonetheless, was a bad scene, and it didn’t help that Brock was laughing at him during the long pause.

so yeah he might be toast.

A lot of these guys don't even know how to go out there and cut a promo of their own because they're force feeding them all this unrealistic shit, and often changes things right before the show starts.

Can't just hand them a mic and say "go out there and talk your shit", even though for a few that would make a bit more sense. All they really need to do is tell them some key points to focus on during the promo and let them do their own thing. Makes me think that's why so many people that could cut a decent promo seem so awkward now, and those that never had to do it result in this happening.

If you forget lines you should be able to recover quickly. Lot of these guys rely too much on the script now, probably for fear if they go off it Vince will lose his fucking mind.

I think on last week's raw (and this week's) it felt like a lot of guys were being given the chance to do it on their own.

Finn, Drew, Corbin, Lashley/Lio. None of them felt scripted, it felt much more here are some talking points go figure it out.

I think Braun got the same shot and just could not do it. I don't think he was forgetting lines, I think he legit had no idea how to keep the segment going and that is what really hurt him.

Even still, I flipped over from the Maryland game for a second and saw Baron Corbin with a mic in his hand. Again.

Most of you praise her here, but I see nothing to warrant it. My friends here think she's great. I don't see great. I don't see good. I see mediocre in-ring talent. Can't use the "she's new" excuse anymore...been there a year. Her mic skills are just this side of George "the Animal" Steele". Every match is Meany face, maybe a judo throw, armbar. On top of all of that, though it shouldn't matter, she is the least attractive woman on either roster.

I realize that I bear some animosity against her because she came in off the street, used Piper's moniker, and grabbed the belt ahead of so many mire deserving women that built the division, but honestly, besides all that, if she were good, I'f hive her props. Show me where I'm wrong.

(Hopefully this thing with Sasha will make her drop the belt to set up her inevitable WM match)

I feel like she does have the presence, but I do feel she could have used a bit more training before a title shot. I think we were all excited that she did so well in the first match, that was because she came in off the street and normally most people from another profession turned wrestler doesn't do THAT well.

I think her chasing the title would have been a bit more exciting, and I do think now that a surprise loss would probably help her. I'm just tired of Sasha winning the title only to lose it shortly after. Right now I'm not even sure what to do with her from now until Wrestlemania. She may be facing Lynch, Flair, or both come April, so you can't really turn her heel before then. After that they need to really make her an asshole. And if you give her Paul Hayman after (I pray ta GOD!) Brock loses the title then I think they may have something really good to work with.

>After that they need to really
>make her an asshole. And if you give her Paul Hayman after (I
>pray ta GOD!) Brock loses the title then I think they may have
>something really good to work with.

To begin with, I really only think there's like 4 or 5 legitimate women performers. Women's wrestling, at least serious mainstream women's wrestling, is still in its infancy stages. As characters go and as in-ring offense is concerned, I believe Charlotte, Becky, Asuka, and I guess Nia Jax just because she's big. But most of these women are still just awful and their offense looks like 10 year old boys fighting on the playground - like Bayley, Natalya, Sasha Banks, Alicia Fox, Naomi...it just doesn't cut it. They're not physical or believable enough.

So just in the context of the women's division in general, Rousey stands out just based on what you already know about her. Top that off with believable and unorthodox offense, offense that's rooted in actual combat sports, and you get a credible character in an area of the roster that badly needs one.

At face value, sure, she doesn't really do anything especially well. And man is she a terrible promo (they trust her way too much in this area). But she's almost important by default to me, largely because most of her peers don't seem important at all.

The Duthty interview is great; the Cena interview is pretty exceptional (the best part is - "If I'm in the ring with you and getting that mixed reaction, shouldn't that piss *you* off?"); the Heyman one is fascinating for a few reasons - one, the story of Austin and Steamboat having some booking disagreements, and two, the missed potential of the Brock/Cena story (during which the interview took place).

I remember that Austin podcast from when it first aired and his perspective on things is genuinely fascinating.

and right at this moment watching WCW Saturday Night during the Paul E vs Madusa angle,and he had me dying a second ago

hes the fuckin man

my first full RAW in well over 10 years. probably closer to 15-18 years

it ws fucking terrible. the show and the product. the announcers were GOD AWFUL. I didnt even hear their names, and when Michael Cole is more entertaining than BOTH color ppl...not a great look.

Does anyone sell anymore? Selling is what gives it the appearance of competition, but everything last night looked like either a choreographed dance routine, or a table read featuring the worlds worst actors. Like why should i care about any of those people? Why should i not be disgusted that they gave Piper's gimmick to Rousey? Listening to Braun Stroman taunt Lesnar, I was honestly embarassed for him, because Lex fuckin Luger was better on the mic than that.

I read Justin Roberts' book last year and a running theme was the WWF killing stuff as it started to get hot. I came to the conclusion off of 2 hours of programming that the WWE is in the business of NOT making stars. Script the vitality out of everything so no one's personality ever comes out (except for Cena for 30 seconds in the beginning), choreograph the fuck out of every match so no one has a chance to tell their own story, then everyone has to do exactly what Jean Paul tells them to because no one has any leverage.

The whole show was soulless, seizure inducing, and plastic as fuck. Im keeping the Network for the tape libraries, but the current stuff is pretty bland.

After Charlotte-Asuka at WM last year ive been hovering around thinking i might have been missing out. I turned it off immediately after bc i didnt want to be let down by the rest. No im glad i did bc i realize that they are EASILY the two most charismatic personalities AND best WORKers in the whole company. So of course their program ended as soon as they both got over hard as fuck AND got the belt over. Speaking of...Lesnar's belt looks fucking stupid. Id take a fingerpoke just to get out of having to wear it in public.

This became way more of a rant than I set out to do, but fuck. It was terrible. But given that the discussion is centered entirely around the booking, and not great matches or hilarious promos, I guess I should have known.

That episode you are referencing they were very clearly letting a few people fly on their own to see how it goes.

We saw Braun fail miserably and the next week we saw the fall out.

We saw Finn do great and the next week we saw the reward.

There was a hard reset hit on the 2019 plans on this past RAw and I think it's a result of what happened when they stopped overscripting that raw you are talking about to see what would happen.

I’m asking because I really don’t know. Do these guys ever have the opportunity to fly on their own for promos? You can’t just go out and do it if you’ve never practiced it IMO.

I remember reading Jericho’s book and he said he got good at doing promos in WCW by hanging around when they would film promos that would be run locally in towns that they were coming to for live events. He’d fill in when a bigger name couldn’t make it, and got a ton of practice. When he started getting serious mic time, he was ready.

Has Braun ever cut a nonscripted promo?

Regardless, they blew it on him a long time ago. He was white hot for awhile and it never went anywhere.

But it's probably fair to say, oh shit it's Wrestlemania season and you've cooled down even if it's our fault. Now you did this terrible promo and we realize you are not the face we want main eventing the most important time of the year right now.

Edit:

We are clearly heading to the Becky/Charlotte/Ronda main event

But now it seems maybe we will get something like a Finn vs Seth Universal title rematch as the 2nd main event which given their lack of building anyone all year would be a great result.

>But it's probably fair to say, oh shit it's Wrestlemania
>season and you've cooled down even if it's our fault. Now you
>did this terrible promo and we realize you are not the face we
>want main eventing the most important time of the year right
>now.
>
>Edit:
>
>We are clearly heading to the Becky/Charlotte/Ronda main
>event
>
>But now it seems maybe we will get something like a Finn vs
>Seth Universal title rematch as the 2nd main event which given
>their lack of building anyone all year would be a great
>result.
>

Rollins was probably on for one of the Mania mains for the longest. He's carried some pretty lean material for quite a while. I assumed that he was slotted for a main as soon as they knew Roman was most likely out.

Brawn has probably been out of the loop on those plans for just as long. They're just not doing him any favors by leaving him in these monster upper mid-card blue balls spots. They keep getting to a point where they deeply need to pull the trigger on him and then they just don't. They basically killed him when he just got F5'd and slayed. It was a confirmed killing in my eyes when Roman kicked out of 4 of those joints at Mania after that.

OR

Strowman is basically Samoa Joe with backstage stunts. He can be fun and occasionally awesome, but there's no good reason to expect him to win any important matches. Shiiiid, they're both turning into Bray Wyatts with less blabbering. I'm sad about this.

I'm mildly horrified about what this Mania card could turn into outside of the women's matches. They basically can't mess up those matches. We'll see. Bootista is gonna get a spot too. And I wonder who Cena gets thrown to if the big dude from NXT's anxiety issues don't subside in time.

Can we do that at this point?

Is Brock gonna be there slanging suplexes?

Is Cena gonna forreal keep sporting that Lance Catamaran?

Allegedly Bautista is getting someone. He wanted Haitch but oops..they had to go make some money on a rando DX reunion/Brothers of Destruction match.

Taker?

HBK?

Dwayne Johnson?

Shiiiid, I don't think we make up a reasonable Mania card right now with all of these old folks potentially being on the scene to eat a big match. And if a now-beloved Finn, big Drew, Rollins, Bryan, and AJ are all going to get decent matches too, something's gotta give! Cien Almas deserves something sweet to do too damnit!

Ronda and The Man (and maybe Charlotte) are gonna main event this thing tho, right?

I hope like hell that AEW makes WWE at least pretend to try to put their best foot forward pretty soon. For now, I like that a bunch of limbo dudes on the WWE roster already appear to be grumbling about rolling out to AEW, Impact, Japan, or somewhere other than WWE. That almost has to lead to good things overall, right? Right?

>Is Brock gonna be there slanging suplexes?

Ugh...probably

>
>Is Cena gonna forreal keep sporting that Lance Catamaran?
>
>Allegedly Bautista is getting someone. He wanted Haitch but
>oops..they had to go make some money on a rando DX
>reunion/Brothers of Destruction match.

Ugh


>
>Taker?
Please no

>
>HBK?

PLEASE NO

>
>Dwayne Johnson?

Unless it's on the mic only...NO

>
>Shiiiid, I don't think we make up a reasonable Mania card
>right now with all of these old folks potentially being on the
>scene to eat a big match. And if a now-beloved Finn, big Drew,
>Rollins, Bryan, and AJ are all going to get decent matches
>too, something's gotta give! Cien Almas deserves something
>sweet to do too damnit!
>
>Ronda and The Man (and maybe Charlotte) are gonna main event
>this thing tho, right?
>
>I hope like hell that AEW makes WWE at least pretend to try to
>put their best foot forward pretty soon. For now, I like that
>a bunch of limbo dudes on the WWE roster already appear to be
>grumbling about rolling out to AEW, Impact, Japan, or
>somewhere other than WWE. That almost has to lead to good
>things overall, right? Right?


In theory, yes. It would let them trim rosters down of talent they never use anyway, and you'd think the competition would inspire better writing and in-ring work. But we're talking Vince, so no shot for significant improvement. Also, how much competition do you think Vince will see in All Elite? Impact and NJPW have been there for years and WWE barely acknowledged them, so a fledgling promotion in their eyes most likely wo'n't move the needle.

>
>>Is Brock gonna be there slanging suplexes?
>
>Ugh...probably
>
>>
>>Is Cena gonna forreal keep sporting that Lance Catamaran?
>>
>>Allegedly Bautista is getting someone. He wanted Haitch but
>>oops..they had to go make some money on a rando DX
>>reunion/Brothers of Destruction match.
>
>Ugh
>
>
>>
>>Taker?
>Please no
>
>>
>>HBK?
>
>PLEASE NO
>
>>
>>Dwayne Johnson?
>
>Unless it's on the mic only...NO
>
>>
>>Shiiiid, I don't think we make up a reasonable Mania card
>>right now with all of these old folks potentially being on
>the
>>scene to eat a big match. And if a now-beloved Finn, big
>Drew,
>>Rollins, Bryan, and AJ are all going to get decent matches
>>too, something's gotta give! Cien Almas deserves something
>>sweet to do too damnit!
>>
>>Ronda and The Man (and maybe Charlotte) are gonna main event
>>this thing tho, right?
>>
>>I hope like hell that AEW makes WWE at least pretend to try
>to
>>put their best foot forward pretty soon. For now, I like
>that
>>a bunch of limbo dudes on the WWE roster already appear to
>be
>>grumbling about rolling out to AEW, Impact, Japan, or
>>somewhere other than WWE. That almost has to lead to good
>>things overall, right? Right?
>
>
>In theory, yes. It would let them trim rosters down of talent
>they never use anyway, and you'd think the competition would
>inspire better writing and in-ring work. But we're talking
>Vince, so no shot for significant improvement. Also, how much
>competition do you think Vince will see in All Elite? Impact
>and NJPW have been there for years and WWE barely acknowledged
>them, so a fledgling promotion in their eyes most likely
>wo'n't move the needle.

I'm not sure here. AEW's biggest good thing is that it doesn't have any stank on it yet.

ECW was Paul's badly funded pet project. WCW was Ted's amazingly funded shit show.

Now...Impact is still viewed TNA. They are hard to find on cable, and you just assume they'll screw up as soon as you get invested.

ROH is viewed as a bunch of same-looking small dudes killing themselves and kicking out of a lot of video game moves for a constant stream of 'epic' matches.

New Japan has the language barrier and, you know, a slew of non-white guys as the main stars.

AEW could fill some kind of NXT-like area and become the biggest non-WWE mega indy. That could give folks an honest alternative to getting beat by distraction roll-up in 6 minute matches all over the country. We already have a world where folks are not dying to leave NXT for the main roster until the salary different becomes too much to turn down when Vince wants you.

Maybe I just have dreams of some Cesaro-like folks getting 'rescued' from WWE and landing in a better spot in an AEW. I just hope we don't get Stardust pulling a Jarrett and constantly being champ.

I think the Universal title is 1 of 2 mathces

Brock vs Cena- The safe, we messed up and didn't build anyone so let's give Cena the record at Mania match

or
Rolins vs Finn- The dream match for me, Rollins wins Rumble and Finn either wins at Rumble or Elimination Chamber- They gave him the Cena rub that has to mean something


Bryan vs Rey for WWE Title - Some face has to fight Bryan and it can't be AJ again

Becky vs Ronda vs Charlotte main event- I say we get triple threat

Rest of the card depnds on if all that shakes out the same, but that's how I see the 3 main matches going.

Miz for Shane seems to be happening which is dumb waste

I don't think we see The Rock in a match, Taker will probably get involved, maybe a real match vs Cena if Cena is not in main event.

In 2019 they can’t build a face up for a title match to the point where they might have to use Rey Mysterio?

Bryan is operating on another level right now, he should not be used to put someone else over currently, his heel work may be better than his face work from WM 30. He deserves a long run.

I think the fact that the SD title match will be at best the 3rd most important match on the card gives them the leeway to just give us a 5 star match that can steal the show.

Not to mention with the Fox deal coming a match like that gets a lot of eyes and makes Fox happy.

I see complaints about him here and there and I gotta scratch my head. I get why people grouse about all the old dudes taking up the mania card, but he's a different case imo. It's not like Rey is a part-timer, and he's possibly in the best shape of his career.

Dude can go like crazy!

His work in between his WWE stints was fantastic and I was really excited to see him back.

But with the lack of build for anyone else that I can think of, I guess I can see the point as him and AJ could put on a great match.

although I don't think they'll go that route.

Ricochet is like watching Rey 5.0 at times.

A sizable portion of Reys novelty is gone when a guy Cesaro's size comes out and wrestles like a goddamned King of Fighters character.

That isnt to say there aren't compelling stories to tell. In fact, the matches with Andrade have been superb, and the supposed plan to make them a tag team is actually interesting.

Personally I'd pay to see him in a face vs face Mania program with Mustafa Ali, with Ali wanting to see if he can go toe to toe with the legend himself.

Rey has value, but in the sterile WWE creative environment, he is that old guy taking a roster spot.

I dont like a Bryan program for Mania at all. But he absolutely has value, properly used.

Ronda vs Becky vs Charlotte is the main event
Long build, all hands on deck - Piper’s family, Flair, Conor McGregor for Becky. Take them on promo tour, make it a can’t miss event.

Brock vs Balor (demon) for Universal Title
Balor wears regular gear vs Brock at Royal Rumble. Balor loses valiantly to Brock at the Rumble, then wins the Rumble match on his last legs later in the night. Balor shows up in full demon gear at Mania and goes over Brock. A Star is born.

The Miz vs Daniel Bryan for WWE title
Challenge: could they do a heel Bryan vs face Miz? Would be fun to see them try.

Seth Rollins vs Batista
If they’re gonna bring Batista back, then give him the best worker in the world to carry him to something respectable

IC title ladder match
Owens/Zayn/Elias/Strowman/Lashley/Ambrose. Elias goes over.

AJ Styles and Rey Mysterio vs John Cena and Randy Orton
Because whatever, and it’s a marketable match (and it could actually be sort of fun?)

*That's if they're building up to this:

Reigns v Ambrose

Wyatt Family v Drew/Lashley/Corbin

Usos v Hardyz for the titles

Joe v Cena for US title

Rush v Balor for IC title (more than likely this will be a multi-man ladder match as usual)

Revival v DIY v American Beer Alpha Money for the titles

Asuka v Lacey (don't care about this one)

Miz v Shane (don't care about it, but could be sneaky good)

HHH v Batista (obligatory throwback Mania match)

Seth v Brock

Bayley/Banks v Tamina/Nia Jax (meh)

Kofi v DB for the title (If DB wins, we riot lol)

Ronda v Becky v Flair as the last match for the title

you guys know the drill so well I don't have to even say you know the drill

https://tinyurl.com/OKPRumble

The winner itself isn't always so hard and can often be obvious, but you know Mania plans are on the line, so each match has influence over other matches.

Maybe there are 2-3 rumble winner favorites, but who wins is depending on who wins the title match so now you gotta get that right too. Then there are so many ways to make people look good while not winning.

It's just a domino effect where you usually get it all right or all wrong. It's hard to get some of it outside of the random bonus guessing.

only 1 F5 and uesd the kimura on him.

Likely Brock vs Demon next time

Too long. They gotta tighten these things up.

... hope they don't fuck it up again like last year.

Though if they're going with Lynch vs. Rousey as the WM main event I'm not sure why they put the men's Rumble on last.

(For a second I thought they were gonna bring Reigns out to celebrate with Rollins, which would've been a surprise worthy of going off the air with, but just having Seth go over was a little bit flat, even if it was the right choice.)

...I think the men's rumble was easily worse. Last year it seemed like they kept the joke/useless participants to a minimum. I guess the Titus, Hawkins and (ugh) No Way Jose appearances were supposed to be comedy but that kind of stuff isn't for me. And...Nia Jax? Really? What storyline does that serve? Oh yeah, Mustafa Ali got fed. Oh, and Rey Mysterio hits the 619 on women now. Until intergender fighting comes to WWE (if ever), then that's just a heelish thing to do, as evidence by Randy Orton hitting the RKO on her afterwards. I was hoping for a lot more from the obvious R-Truth non-participation. I really wanted the Demon to come out and win for the rematch at Wrestlemania. Seth winning is fine but I'm starting to get a little Rollins fatigue. That Dean Ambrose program did him no favors.

And like I said, I think the women's was better than last year. Seemed a little too long but after last year's paying dues spots (which I think were deserved) I like that they used some of those veterans' spots for NXT participants instead. That being said, the whole Zelina Vega/Hornswoggle thing might have been the worst moment of the night.

Like ok there is a joke that he also was under the ring and scared her. LOL I get it.

But why did he chase her all over and then back up the ramp? Was he trying to rape her? What is he doing chasing her all over?

but why was she afraid of him exactly? There's a big difference between being scared of the Undertaker and being scared of Hornswoggle or James Ellsworth wearing your clothes (poor Asuka).

https://media1.tenor.com/images/3e2c62ef761605b319029a162a0f35d5/tenor.gif?itemid=9976811

There’s even fewer credible competitors in the women’s Rumble than there is the men’s, so it dragged for a while. Even still I gotta day, some of those NXT women are so good...like lightyears ahead of Natalya and Naomi. That UK champion girl is a can’t miss prospect.

Charlotte really may be the best pound for pound talent in the company. Her facial expressions, and her consistent intensity, and her obvious athleticism...most of these women just don’t seem credible when compared to Charlotte.

Their top stars are bigger than the men's top stars, Charlotte is perfect in that selling and facial expressions and everything, no doubt about it.

Dead on with the NXT women being better than the women on the main roster- which makes sense as they continue to find the best women and build them to WWE style, they are bringing in women who would have never been in WWE 10 or 20 years ago. Basically equivalent of them going otu and getting KO/Finn Balor, except there are a ton of them because women were never at that level before.

What the division needs now is more belts (rarely the right fix) but they need to be able to tell more stories that matter. Give future top stars like Ruby Riott something to be chasing since she isn't coming for Becky and Ronda anytime soon. The biggest weak spot in the women's division now is how much time WWE is giving them with very few stories that actually matter. A midcard title would help.

They deserve the main event, they are just better and more interesting than the men this year. This is not a by default main event at Mania for them.

The tag belts are a good start. I would throw in a secondary singles belt too. Like you said, more belts isn't always the right fix but if it's between that and things like the Mandy Rose-Naomi storyline or Alicia Fox being a captain then give me another belt.

Regarding NXT call-ups I really wish that, in general, they would be a little smarter about this. It's clear that they have no plan for 99% of the call-ups that they make so I have no idea how they're selecting people in the first place. That goes for the men too. But on the women's side, what was the point of calling up the Iiconics (we already have Carmella for part of what they do and she does it much better)?

It's fun to imagine a world where Ruby Riott and Ember Moon actually have something to do and the main roster has people like Shayna, Io, Kairi and Rhea Ripley instead of The Iiconics, Alicia Fox, Liv Morgan, Tamina and Nia Jax.

Charlotte
Asuka (reminds me of Muta so much)



Finn Balor





























every other wrestler



commentators

But yes, his in ring work and charisma is top notch. Can't speak a lick though.

>

They hope so. His in-ring hossery is high level. Guys like AJ are basically bridges between their older guys and Cien. The torch will have to get passes in the next couple years as AJ, Cena, Nak, and maybe even Smo Joe become less every week guys.

It is GREAT that WWE seems to be accepting that they are in transition of some kind.

It is not great that WWE is taking their time with parts of the transition. These Sunday shows are long af and basically impossible to watch in full without ffwd from home. That can’t be good for them...having live crowds die out midshow and leaving main events being glad that it’s over moreso than being glad about the show as a whole. I’m personally happy to not be going to Mania this year. Last one was a fun weekend but Mania was a slog to sit through...just like 32 in Dallas was. Rock showed up with a flamethrower and I was damn near asleep!

You officially suck

I don't thinks he's had a bad match yet, and she has not had to be carried in all of them either.

But you put the mic in front of her and she becomes awful, to the point that it's detracting from her matches. All she needed was a manager or to never speak and just beat people up.

They know damn well the fans turn on people who come in without a serious wrestling background and get the title fast based on their status doing something else. They could have let her cook for a bit longer and finally win the big one when the fans were behind her big time, instead they rushed it and this is the result. That and Becky is white hot right now.

She needs someone to speak for her and she needs that Brock treatment stat! They're saying she's not going to stick around after Wrestlemania. She's known in the UFC to not take her losses lightly. I'd have Becky go over, and Ronda lose her shit after the match and try to destroy Becky either at the end of WM or on Raw the next night. Then the next week Paul Haymen (if Brock loses at Mania) comes out and is her advocate. Boom. Now you have heel Rousey who can do a little bit more talking than just your standard "suplex city bitch" lines. She gets more promo skills over time, and you have Paul do all the heavy lifting when it comes to long promos. Close to survivor Series you introduce her friends and have the four horsewomen of mma vs the wwe four horsewomen.

I need him vs Ricochet on WM Weekend Takeover! Sad to see him go but glad that others are going to see just how good this dude is.

I've heard he felt he was spinning his wheels in New Japan and I totally get that. I kinda assume his plan is to go back there after a couple years here and I think that's a good idea for him. I just don't trust WWE will build a great character or storyline for him.

>I need him vs Ricochet on WM Weekend Takeover!

Probably more of a "Show up in the crowd during Mania weekend then build to a match at Summerslam" thing imo. These takeover cards are tough to get on to with just 4 or 5 matches.

Because Daisy's black belt looked great. But that said, whoever they got to make that wood and hemp version did an EXCELLENT job.

Wherein, you put an idea together - Daniel Bryan being an arrogant crunchy vegan heel - and then ask yourself “how can we add one percent more?”

They need to do more of this. It’s so good.

Wherein, you put an idea together - Daniel Bryan being an arrogant crunchy vegan heel - and then ask yourself “how can we add one percent more?”

They need to do more of this. It’s so good.

Bryan is straight wylin rn.

The New Daniel Bryan in general has been amazing, but this just puts it over the Adam Copeland.

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2019/01/29/dean-ambrose-leaving-wwe-shortly-after-wrestlemania-when-his-contract-expires-in-april/

Something isn't there for me on Ambrose

Easily one of the biggest examples of their poor use of great talent.

Shining example: They brought in KO white hot, he gave Cena the match of his life, but Vince went straight to his 50/50 nonsense and KO has been Just A Guy ever since.

They sucked all the menace out of Dean. He looked poised for big things in the Summer Slam immediately after the Shield breakup, but then it fizzled. Their first mistake, arguably, was breaking them up too soo. The second? Making Seth the heel and not Dean.

WWE missteps are plentiful, and some of the bigger ones came at Dean's expense.

When Ambrose came back, he looked crisper in the ring, Dirty Deeds was being delivered with some stank on it, and the break with Rollins was perfectly timed. And then… he became a germaphobe?

Like, he’s not hard to make work. Let him kick the mess out of vulnerable faces, give him a go pro and a dark room backstage, and let the kid roll.

Even whiffing on a chance to make Seth a face when he returned, because the reception when he came back has very few rivals.

Edge's return from injury, Austin when Foley won the strap, and any number of Rock showings perhaps... but that reaction hit that tier.

They needed to run with him there and then.

They've completely bungled so many creative layups over they years. it's absurd.

Af and Paps won the Rumble. Af running away with the whole thing now.

https://tinyurl.com/ycxm7n2y

keep trying to go against the grain.

b/c I was SURE Miz was going to turn to set up the Mania angle. I forgot that Mix is Bizarro Bryan, and vice versa.

and also changes his name on twitter back to KENTA.

interesting that they actually granted his release as they've been denying everyone else. do they think that low of KENTA? or the opposite...do they respect him that much that they let him go since he's doing nothing for them?

They respect his career and basically made it so he wouldn't go to AEW or anything that could be considered competition in the states.

Manhattan Center in New York for ROH

It was breathtaking. The kind of main event that JR would’ve said “could main event anywhere”

Glad that Bobby Lashley and Jinder Mahal are sticking around though

Dream with the perfect entrance/ring attire as always. The pace of that match was lightning fast.

"these guys are way better than the guys in WWE"- My wife watching the halftime show with me

this is a fucking shame

would be a shame if we just, shoehorned a Mcmahon into it

the McMahons were gonna be more involved.


One is holding a belt, another is directly involving herself in the best storyline going at the brand, and true to form, they are bringing back ancient wrestlers to fill significant TV time on shows where they have overflowing rosters of talent that isn't being utilized at all. (Angle is bad enough, but Road Dogg and Jarrett?? C'mon...)

Can Vince really think that he and his kids are the best draw that they have available?? When does Linda show up with a Trump-tinged angle? Of course Hunter will be be back for Mania against someone to round things out...SMH.

Sidenote:

I had to cut my costs down, so the cable bill was the first casualty. Lost my AXS TV so no more New Japan...lost my ROH access too. Impact gone as well. So my only wrestling programming is RAW and SmackDown for the time being, which only accentuates how terrible they've been. Does anyone have websites that have decent content so that I can keep up with things? Thanks in advance.

He comes in to have a fun segment or do a superstar shakeup and at least that somewhat feeds the talent. Shane and Steph's screentime tends to come at the expense of roster. I still can't get over how they screwed up the Women's revolution by having Steph introduce all of them and basically force them into factions. They burned away the first few months of Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky's careers with that nonsense. The 1st year of the Women's Revolution succeeded in spite of WWE, not because of WWE.

Impact is on twitch.tv and you can watch each new episode on Friday nights. They show new and old matches on their twitch channel throughout the day all day long. This is free

New Japan is under $10 a month on njpwworld.com. The Japanese Yen makes it a tad cheaper than WWE network. You get their entire catalog and can watch everything live. They have an official app for Amazon firestick and if you have an Xbox their site works perfectly on the Edge Browswe (how I watch). I believe you can check out RoH free on FITE.TV. There is also Global Wreatling Network and I believe most of it is free, they also have a paid service.

With the exception of WWE Network I feel like New Japan is totally worth the money if you're a huge wrestling fan. At this point I'd probably get rid of the network before this.

>the McMahons were gonna be more involved.
>
>
>One is holding a belt, another is directly involving herself
>in the best storyline going at the brand, and true to form,
>they are bringing back ancient wrestlers to fill significant
>TV time on shows where they have overflowing rosters of talent
>that isn't being utilized at all. (Angle is bad enough, but
>Road Dogg and Jarrett?? C'mon...)
>
>Can Vince really think that he and his kids are the best draw
>that they have available?? When does Linda show up with a
>Trump-tinged angle? Of course Hunter will be be back for
>Mania against someone to round things out...SMH.
>
>Sidenote:
>
>I had to cut my costs down, so the cable bill was the first
>casualty. Lost my AXS TV so no more New Japan...lost my ROH
>access too. Impact gone as well. So my only wrestling
>programming is RAW and SmackDown for the time being, which
>only accentuates how terrible they've been. Does anyone have
>websites that have decent content so that I can keep up with
>things? Thanks in advance.

It seems like the best way to enjoy WWE now is to watch NXT regularly, Smackdown occasionally, and Raw sparingly with recaps to fill in the blanks. Raw is a time-killing horror to behold. It's the guys and gals that they consider to be their most important starts being systematically booked horridly on a regular basis with clear and obvious time-wasting shenanigans mixed in.

The network is still pretty grand to me. I can't even imagine a world where we were paying $50 for ONE PPV. Yikes.

Apparently Fox has sent down an edict saying they want less entertainment/comedy and more competition.

So you look at their stable of guys - Bryan, AJ, Mustafa, Andrade, Joe, Rusev, Randy even - and I'm encouraged by what they could do

Dude Randy Orton had a match with Mustafa Ali last week or week before that was dumb good

Is also executive vice president.

If these dudes can land a great tv deal on a network most people have access to things should get really interesting. They have some big money behind them already.

He's the biggest and best wrestler in the world and I know he's jaded about WWE in many ways but I still think he should've tried it. He's making such a huge gamble and I hope it pays off.

How do these guys even go about booking themselves?

Look at the incredible career AJ has had with WWE. It was possible if they could have got on the same page at the outset plus there was an incredible pool of talent for him to work with if it did happen.

like I think those four guys could've put anything they wanted in writing and gotten it. I think it's seriously just a quality of life thing for them. They call their own shots, probably make comparable money to what they'd make in WWE, and they travel at their own will.

If you could do what you love, make good money, and only move around when it's your own decision...well I could see why you'd opt for that over WWE.

Though, gotta say, the idea of a Kenny Omega match at Wrestlemania is really exciting. We'll probably never see it.

Maybe the WWE only watchers may have wanted it but I feel like a guy with his talent needs to thrive in a place that will respect his ability and not have him being a clown on tv. WWE could go either way, and even then I feel like his match quality would go down because they wouldn't let him put on quality length matches that we are used to.

AEW is new, and its shaping up to be some good competition for WWE. The best way for this to happen is to acquire one of the best wrestlers in the world. WWE already has a stacked roster, they'll be fine. Maybe now they'll start letting their talent put together their own matches to compete.

I think it's a stretch to say Omega would end up being a "clown" though - I appreciate that no one could definiteively state Omega would be booked perfectly there but I as I said above, AJ is an example of someone with an awesome WWE career and who's had countless great matches. It's possible Omega would have had a great few years with WWE but appreciate the fact it's a gamble.

The absolute best thing for everyone, from the wrestlers to the fans, particularly ardent fans, and particularly WWE fans, is for AEW to hit the ground running and become a resounding success.

The only reason WWE went so hard to get these guys is because they pose a pretty significant threat to create genuine competition.

All WWE really wants to do is hoard talent, so that they can continue to go about their business without fear of significant talent jumping ship to feed a competitor.

That's it.

AEW snagging one of the hottest names to rise in the last decade while he's still in his prime is a great way to ensure that happens, and we've already seen some of those ramifications in WWE. If they're forced to actually compete, they may actually improve their current offering.

AEW may be the next WCW, or the next Impact, but everyone who takes enjoyment from this industry should be pulling not just for AEW to snag every free agent within their reach, but also for major WWE names to jump ship as soon as they can, because direct competition is the only real way to get the creative juices moving in WWE.

but to answer your question of why would *I* would have wanted him in WWE - it's because I watch WWE. I wish AEW the absolute best but I certainly don't have time to invest in another promotion.

Personally, I think Omega would have done very well in WWE but it's a fruitless argument to say whether that's true or not as none of us know. No shortage of talent for him to have gone up against though - AJ, Bryan, Seth, Joe, Finn...

My opinion though.

They would take him just as seriously as they have AJ, if only for the fact that he's simply too over and having him languish in the midcard would lead to a revolt.

>but to answer your question of why would *I* would have
>wanted him in WWE - it's because I watch WWE. I wish AEW the
>absolute best but I certainly don't have time to invest in
>another promotion.

You don't need to invest in them, but if you watch WWE, unless you think they're doing a great job presenting and promoting the talent they have, you should want to them to have a legit competitor.

>Personally, I think Omega would have done very well in WWE but
>it's a fruitless argument to say whether that's true or not as
>none of us know.

Not true at all. We've got plenty of templates to pull from. We know Vince's tendencies. It's not at all hard to predict with good accuracy how well he'd have done, and we can say with near certainty that he'd have worked under an artificial ceiling.

>No shortage of talent for him to have gone
>up against though - AJ, Bryan, Seth, Joe, Finn...

Talent doesn't mean much. Everyone on this roster has been squandered and positioned to stay lukewarm, and everyone except for Brock and Rousey gets the 50/40 treatment.

Any objective perspective on this concludes that the best scenario for everyone- WWE and WWE fans included-was for him to go to AEW.

I watch WWE so I would have liked to see him in WWE.

Because there are enough people who don't really care about the actual quality of the product, just that it's WWE, that they can skate with trash creative, mailed-in Attitude and Ruthless Aggression era geriatrics, along with the ever-present McMOAR.

Each his own, but you getting what you want means everyone gets a mediocre product.

Fingers crossed. There's still time to make this happen.

You're right, #OmegaShane!

Well, ok, maybe in five minutes or so.

It's going down at 3am EST and I'm so upset I have to work in the morning and don't get to watch this live.

I have a crazy feeling that Jay White is going to beat the Ace for his title here. That's what I love about their booking, you seriously don't know who is going to win and every title match has you thinking "This is it, there is going to be a title change". I don't think they'd give Jay the Heavyweight title this soon but since they lost Kenny Omega I feel like they need a very strong Gaijin champion if they want to expand their product more to the U.S. Tanahashi is Mr. New Japan though, and this fool always find his way air guitaring to the crowd after the match is over.

I just hope the match is good, Jay White has grown on me big time and he's doing some amazing heel work out there in Japan.

Can't believe they actually did it!

>Can't believe they actually did it!

I’m guessing this would’ve been Kenny if he had stayed. Good thing they had homie waiting in the wings like they did. I wonder how long they’ve known about AEW and who they could lose to it.

But come right the fuck on.

this story started in what August or September with the Becky heel turn, We’ve gone all this way and Charlotte is the heel and corporate wrestler and Becky is the super over baby face. It’s literally where it started.

They tried to do all this changing and fucked up the story so bad that they spent 8 months getting it back here.

I can't think of a more WWE thing than having a story that was working itself naturally, inserting themselves and ruining it, the story working itself back out because the talent involved is so good, and then WWE inserting themselves again to force the story that was being told before they even tried to intervene in the first place.

Because he doesn't care what you want, he wants it the way he wants it.

The story was developing itself and it was looking great, and here comes the McMahons to throw themselves in it.

Besides all the previous times they fucked him up, let's rewind just to Summerslam last year. The Shield got back together and were booed (in Brooklyn of all places!) because they were beating up Braun. I thought they were going back to classic heel Shield: beating up anyone and everyone just cause they felt like it... but nah, they needed Roman to be a face. Vince's solution? Turn Braun heel, even though he was the hottest face in the company. They eventually realized that was a mistake and have tried to right the ship, but man, he has cooled off almost to the point of no return. I'm not even fully convinced a Braun title run would work, but the fact they haven't even tried it is incredible.

I like Corbin more than most, but jesus no one needs to see this match again.

https://tinyurl.com/OKPWChambah

Not positive, I went to go change an answer today and saw mine were blank but he was right above me with same answer I had put in.

Not sure if there is a way to tell that?

It takes a special talent to get ALL the matches wrong....wow...lol

(I don't count Meanie face or Bryan in this...no way they were losing)

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1096099250151161856

But this promo was really good and I am very much into this "I'm the reason AEW is /will be a success" character. Perfect heel for the promotion right now.

putting the belt on kofi tonight was a decision that writes itself. dbry can always win it back at the next PPV but NOPE!

And that’s probably better?

Maybe...MAYBE if they let him go like last week's SmackDown match maybe I would be pleasantly surprised and might even care...but in true WWE fashion, they gave us the PPV a week early and the Chamber seemed like a rerun. Add to that the typical WWE slob job that they give everything that is close to good and I don't care one iota. Maybe if he won with some sort of heel turn or leaving Coon Day I might be intrigued, but as is? No.

was this the worst PPV in a long time?

Women's tag match? Bad

Balor winning? Meh.

Strowman losing again on PPV...what else need be said about that situation

Usos win the belts again...*yawn* (in fact for a brand that has that much tag talent, the scene has become very boring)

Pousey/Riott = bathroom break.

The Men's EC match was very good...Joe, Bryan and Kingston carried the match well IMO. One match out of an entire PPV isn't enough to make it happen for me.

>was this the worst PPV in a long time?
>
>Women's tag match? Bad
>
>Balor winning? Meh.
>
>Strowman losing again on PPV...what else need be said about
>that situation
>
>Usos win the belts again...*yawn* (in fact for a brand that
>has that much tag talent, the scene has become very boring)
>
>Pousey/Riott = bathroom break.
>
>The Men's EC match was very good...Joe, Bryan and Kingston
>carried the match well IMO. One match out of an entire PPV
>isn't enough to make it happen for me.
>
>

I am excited that Bryan is now just a good ass rassler again. And a self-righteous Bret Hart 97 heel at that!? Win win. And Bryan is a great champ because he can win or lose at any time realistically. No cattle prods or run-in festivals needed. So his clean wins seem earned more than they seem booked/decided. That’s a great thing to have. It’s what makes NXT work so damn well most of the time.

I am glad Kofi got some light too. The match was a good time. AJ is being cooled off like they’re mad at him but hey...he was champ forever with a bunch of good matches with horrid finishes. Randy is RKo then head to the house. It’s fine. Jeff is insane but we knew that already. I wonder what’ll happen with new day...maybe nothing. Maybe they’ll all get some singles stuff rolling.

The ladies tag match WAS sloppy as helll. They let folks throw out all sorts of stuff on the way, but it was a bit of a mess. I was horrified of injuries the whole time. But hey...these multitperson matches can get like that.

Rousey getting a Goldberg win was the low point of what I saw. They shortchanged the matches to make time for Stone Cold Beck Lynch to limp out and do her thing. She damn sure is over tho!

Finn getting a belt the way he did will require him to get some heat up wins after, but it wasn’t shocking once Lio was added. Lashley looks to be rescued from his wack ass vertical suplex return era.

I am done with Braun until the Wyatt and Harper show up to save him from triple teams.

I keep waiting for the next part of Miz and Shane. I didn’t mind seeing Maryse in the meantime!

I also wonder what’s Kevin Owens will get into. Maybe he’ll be a face and Sami will be the heel? I don’t know if they can outdo what is happening with DiY in NXT.

but last night
DAMN
fucking amazing
modern day Rocky saga right there folks
if Vince doesnt book Bryan vs Kofi at Wrestlemania, im never watching again

my man deserves his Wrestlemania moment

Havjng pinata matches or some shit

All admist reports that Vince "doesn't get him".

We got Ricochet in the ring with Lio Rush and DIY vs. The Revival and it seems like they we’re not interested at all. Probably the type of crowd that came to see Macho Man vs Ultimate Warrior or something. They didn’t deserve to have last nights Raw. Fuck Louisiana!

>We got Ricochet in the ring with Lio Rush and DIY vs. The
>Revival and it seems like they we’re not interested at all.
>Probably the type of crowd that came to see Macho Man vs
>Ultimate Warrior or something. They didn’t deserve to have
>last nights Raw. Fuck Louisiana!

They should’ve done that in a place where nxt had done a takeover show. New Orleans for instance. Then, it would’ve been on and poppin.

Putting NXT people out with no warning is NOT a good heat check for a company like WWE. And even if so, certainly not a q1 Raw when folks are showing up hoping to see Brock walk in. And yeah...horrible town to try it in.

Last night didn't seem like an official call-up for those 4 dudes, but either way that crowd was not the right one. The recent round with Heavy Machinery and Lars and all them was like "Here's 6 people all at once! Learn their names now!" and that shit ain't gonna get anyone over. I mean I already didn't care about most of them, but Nikki Cross is just... there, and there's no excuse for that.

theyre on the WWE Superstars section of the site now

it's like "oh they're sick of our guys? Ok put some NXT dudes on the show tomorrow, sure."

I kind of wondered about this when he was put in the match for Elimination Chamber instead of, say, Andrade, but now I'm convinced. Is Kofi's sudden push a McMahon-esque Black History Month thing, or am I reaching?

>I kind of wondered about this when he was put in the match
>for Elimination Chamber instead of, say, Andrade, but now I'm
>convinced. Is Kofi's sudden push a McMahon-esque Black
>History Month thing, or am I reaching?

Reaching. Kofi is hot AND liked backstage AND trusted overall so here he is...by accident.

They’re booking damn near week by week. They’re aware that Raw is an unwatchable mess most weeks. Meanwhile, some of the same fans fawn over nxt. And the nxt live crowds are notably interested in those matches and stories. The folks who may know why are not totally in charge.

I think they are in over their heads because Vince still has too much of a say and he’s still trying to do 20-40 year old shit.

Nxt is proof that someone somewhere in that building damn well knows how to book rasslers. The more that is allowed to infiltrate the rest of the shows the better.

So basically like usual, they stumble into gold by pure accident.

Name a wrestler or two that you loved...not necessarily your "favorite" but a guy/girl that you loved them. Could be for their gimmick, could be their in-ring, whatever.

I'll go first...

Sid Vicious - From the Sky Scrapers w/ Dan Spivey to Masters of the Power Bomb w/ Big Van Vader and even Sycho Sid (Sid justice lost me). He should have been what Diesel became. His promos were only a bit better than Ultimate Warrior, and he was stiff, but Big Sid was the man. It would only take one Power Bomb and I'd go nuts.

Honky Tonk Man - Between the terrible Elvis act to the quality guitar work to the cheesy finisher (Shake, Rattle and Roll was great IMO) Honky was the second greatest I-C champion ever to Savage. I still don't know why I liked him so much...except he's cool, he's cocky, he's bad.

Channel surfing, and “oh shit it’s Shawn Michaels! He’s still around?” After a few minutes....”who is this that he’s wrestling? He’s incredible.” That match was so exciting.

I started tuning in every week just to follow Shelton Benjamin after that. Unfortunately they soon put him on a months long losing streak to kill him off as a face, and he was never the same as far as being over with the fans IMO.

Probably was due to me being a dumb kid but I always enjoyed him there. WCW and WWF....no so much.

That was the best version of Shane Douglas for real!

The Triple Threat

Francine

Man, that dude could draw heat and he also felt like a real ass heel champion to me. I was a huge fan of his during his ECW days.

because half the roster would fit into this category for me.

Taz, Sabu, Mike Awesome, The Franchise, RVD, Eliminators, Roadkill....so many characters

In Junior High I was the small blonde kid in my group of friends so they called me Crash Holly, but even besides that sentimental reason he was one of the most entertaining guys on the roster. The 400-pound gimmick was hilarious and the institution of the 24/7 rule brought life to a title no one would've given a shit about otherwise. Sad end for that guy, but I still love him and own one of his action figures.

His matches with Austin were excellent. I was happy to hear Austin talk fondly about his Savio feud on his podcast.

I thought Glacier and Mortis/Wrath was a fun sideshow to more grounded NWO storylines and the athleticism of the cruiserweights.

Ernest Miller was cool and all but they fucked up by not giving him a corresponding gimmick, because it undercut the entire thing.

It was ridiculous and absurd, and they undermined Ernest and everyone else involved by not just owning that gimmick full tilt.

I wish Bishoff would have went all in with his intended cadre of Mortal Kombat-inspired characters.

.

That dude was the best. His feud with Jericho led to two of the best WCW moments this side of Duthty and Flair.

>That dude was the best. His feud with Jericho led to two of
>the best WCW moments this side of Duthty and Flair.

Yes. Jericho really was magical. His heel work during that time could’ve made almost anyone awesome. And as ‘boring’ as Dean was, Jericho had him looking dangerous and dope as hell.

WCW had such a double-edged sword in the nWo, because the initial angle was awesome, but eventually it took over the whole show, and crowded out all the good wrestling that was happening in the first hour or so.

Both of them. The badass midsouth rasslin version and OMG Million Dollar Man.

Tangent: I mostly loved what WWE did to those Midsouth dudes. I'll provide my most stern exceptions here:

- Hacksaw Jim Duggan (he was THE SHIT in midsouth. THE SHIT. Tough guy/hooooo Duggan was aight..at most..at least to me. I guess it worked out ultimately.)

- The Sheepherders (that Bushwackers shit was like Funkasaurus to me as a kid. Like..I went from being damn near scared of those dudes to ignoring them.)

- Kinda sorta Big Bubba Rodgers --> Big Boss Man. Dude would show up like he was somebody's bodyguard and kick your ass. But I can't front. I loved that he learned how to twirl a cop stick and kept on saying 'hard time'.



>Name a wrestler or two that you loved...not necessarily your
>"favorite" but a guy/girl that you loved them. Could be for
>their gimmick, could be their in-ring, whatever.
>
>I'll go first...
>
>Sid Vicious - From the Sky Scrapers w/ Dan Spivey to Masters
>of the Power Bomb w/ Big Van Vader and even Sycho Sid (Sid
>justice lost me). He should have been what Diesel became. His
>promos were only a bit better than Ultimate Warrior, and he
>was stiff, but Big Sid was the man. It would only take one
>Power Bomb and I'd go nuts.
>
>Honky Tonk Man - Between the terrible Elvis act to the quality
>guitar work to the cheesy finisher (Shake, Rattle and Roll was
>great IMO) Honky was the second greatest I-C champion ever to
>Savage. I still don't know why I liked him so much...except
>he's cool, he's cocky, he's bad.
>
>

Super athletic indy dude.

In the 90s, that was RVD. I know the ring was smaller and shit, but his ECW run was totally absurd and ridiculous. The frog splash. The cannonball into the crowd. Good times.

In the 2000s, that was AJ Styles. I vaguely remembered him from the dying days of WCW, but he was a big reason I kept trying to enjoy TNA. I'm still VERY happy that he eventually faded and left TNA, rid himself of the TNA stank in NJPW, and then made it big in WWE.

Now, duh...King Richochet. He got me through any lean times in Lucha Underground. I marked out last year in New Orleans at the NXT show. I lose my shit every time I see him land on his feet on the flip when he rolls up on Velveteen Dream. And FYI, I was down for his gymnastics exhibition with dude in NJPW. Every match couldn't be like that, but I'm glad they just styled on everybody physically with that shit.

>Name a wrestler or two that you loved...not necessarily your
>"favorite" but a guy/girl that you loved them. Could be for
>their gimmick, could be their in-ring, whatever.
>
>I'll go first...
>
>Sid Vicious - From the Sky Scrapers w/ Dan Spivey to Masters
>of the Power Bomb w/ Big Van Vader and even Sycho Sid (Sid
>justice lost me). He should have been what Diesel became. His
>promos were only a bit better than Ultimate Warrior, and he
>was stiff, but Big Sid was the man. It would only take one
>Power Bomb and I'd go nuts.
>
>Honky Tonk Man - Between the terrible Elvis act to the quality
>guitar work to the cheesy finisher (Shake, Rattle and Roll was
>great IMO) Honky was the second greatest I-C champion ever to
>Savage. I still don't know why I liked him so much...except
>he's cool, he's cocky, he's bad.
>
>

If this wasn't a message board or I could only list one reply to this, it would the 90s All Japan Main Event dudes.

I'm talking Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, and whoever you want to say is the 4th guy (Akira Taue or Jun Akiyama). To me, Jumbo is their Harley Race --> Flair, Dusty, Sting/Luger, and Steamboat.

They kept me on the internet looking for wrestling stuff. They got me into the whole VHS tape collecting. They made me appreciate WWE's OBVIOUS attempt to steal from their style. Kurt Angle doesn't exist as he did without the influence of those dudes.

They also costed me a lot of money in import wrestling video games! Virtua Pro Wrestling 2 for N64 FOREVER homie. The cart was 80. The converter was 25. I still have the box. They are the reason I still pour HOURS into a Fire Pro Wrestling whenever it drops. And yeah, they influence the way I build all of my CAWs. You should see how I jazzed up the dudes from NES Pro Wrestling on Fire Pro. Fighter Hayabusa is the shit!

Back to the AJPW dudes...

Every dude had a submission they could throw out. Every dude had some crazy strikes that could win a match OR be used for psychology. It was like the Ric Flair chop: enhanced for multiple dudes. Every dude had those straight up modified attempted murder ass suplexes. Tiger Driver, backdrops, BURNING HAMMER. Shiiiid. It turned me out and opened my mind to the absurdity that was possible in a rassling ring. And clearly it wasn't just me.

Of course, I don't love how it all turned out. That whole mass exodus to NOAH. Misawa dying in the ring as an aging man. Kobashi never made it to the US and had a gang of big injuries it seemed.

But I swear I loved those dudes. And their 90s shit was the template for Taker/HBK at Mania 25 and every big WWE match since then if you ask me.

It was also awesome to see Vader treated like a Brock Lesnar-like killing machine in All Japan.

>Name a wrestler or two that you loved...not necessarily your
>"favorite" but a guy/girl that you loved them. Could be for
>their gimmick, could be their in-ring, whatever.
>
>I'll go first...
>
>Sid Vicious - From the Sky Scrapers w/ Dan Spivey to Masters
>of the Power Bomb w/ Big Van Vader and even Sycho Sid (Sid
>justice lost me). He should have been what Diesel became. His
>promos were only a bit better than Ultimate Warrior, and he
>was stiff, but Big Sid was the man. It would only take one
>Power Bomb and I'd go nuts.
>
>Honky Tonk Man - Between the terrible Elvis act to the quality
>guitar work to the cheesy finisher (Shake, Rattle and Roll was
>great IMO) Honky was the second greatest I-C champion ever to
>Savage. I still don't know why I liked him so much...except
>he's cool, he's cocky, he's bad.
>
>

Brody and the Bad Man from the Badlands of Borger TX were...aw man...Oh my goodness...I loved their matches

X-Pac and D'Lo Brown were always my dudes. Loved when they were fighting over the European title and always wished either would have at got a shot to challenge for the WWF title at a B-level PPV at least once.

Also from my early days of watching (97/98), Taka Michinoku (the Michinoku Driver was my finisher when going broadway with my Sting doll town after town (read: bedroom, family room and back to bedroom)).

Lance Storm, specifically circa 2000 when he hopped to WCW and won all the titles (sans World Heavyweight) and the ECW main eventers before they closed the doors (Steve Corino, Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn, etc)

Speaking of ECW, TA-MOTHERFUCKING-JIRI. WHY THE FUCK ISN'T ANYBODY SPITTING MIST IN 2019!?!?!?

How good (or bad) could this be?


https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/chris-hemsworth-play-hulk-hogan-biopic-1186126

Time to eat your vitamins and say your prayers.
Hulkamania is going to run wild.

Chris Hemsworth is set to portray wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan in a biopic that reunites Todd Phillips with Scott Silver, the respective director and writer of the upcoming DC Comics movie The Joker. John Pollono (Stronger) will co-write the script with Silver.

Deals for the Hogan project are in the midst of closing with Netflix. Producing will be Michael Sugar, the Academy Award winner behind Spotlight, who will produce via his Netflix-based Sugar23, and Phillips and Bradley Cooper, who will produce via their banner Joint Effort. Also producing will be Hemsworth and Eric Bischoff.

One of the biggest names in wrestling of all time, Hogan was a fixture on TV sets in 1980s America as part of the World Wrestling Federation who subsequently parlayed his championships-winning leg drops and star power into forays into movies and television, endorsements and video games.

Born Terry Gene Bollea, Hogan began his career in the late 1970s in the Florida wrestling circuit, and when he started in the WWF, he frequently squared off against Andre the Giant as a villainous fighter. When Vince McMahon took over the company and began expanding it into a national presence, Hogan was its face and by then a hero persona. By the end of the '80s, he was one of the Me Decade’s key personalities, gracing magazine covers, appearing on nightly talk shows and even headlining a Saturday morning cartoon.

In the 21st century, however, Hogan’s fortunes were see-sawing as personal conflicts overtook those inside the ring. Most notably, he was embroiled in a sex tape scandal, with the wife of a friend and radio personality, including a years-long lawsuit that precipitated the end of Gawker and led to Hogan receiving tens of millions of dollars in a settlement.

The biopic will not delve into those years or attempt to encompass Hogan's entire life. Instead, sources say it will focus on his rise and is described as an origin story of the Hulkster and Hulkamania.

The deal, which took months to put together, will include life rights, with Bollea acting as a consultant on the movie as well as executive producer. Also exec producing will be Sugar23's Ashley Zalta.

Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman will co-produce the project, which is in its early stages.

Hemsworth, repped by CAA, Fourward and Greenberg Glusker, has two tentpole pics opening this summer: Avengers: Endgame, which is set to open April 26, and Men in Black: International, which is slated to bow June 14.

Phillips, repped by CAA and Sloane Offer, was a producer on the Oscar-nominated smash A Star Is Born and is the director of the Hangover movie series. The Joker is scheduled to debut Oct. 4.

Silver, repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham, counts the Eminem-starrer 8 Mile and The Finest Hours among his credits. Pollono is also repped by CAA as is Cooper. Pollono is additionally repped by Underground and Morris Yorn.

>The biopic will not delve into those years or attempt to
>encompass Hogan's entire life. Instead, sources say it will
>focus on his rise and is described as an origin story of the
>Hulkster and Hulkamania.
>

the only way it could be remotely interesting to me is if it addressed the Gawker stuff. As it stands, this is a movie I have no use for.

>the only way it could be remotely interesting to me is if it
>addressed the Gawker stuff. As it stands, this is a movie I
>have no use for.

That any attempt to seriously portray him is going to come off as parody. This could be really, really bad.

Cabin In The Woods notwithstanding.

For real though, the worse this movie is the better. The further into "so bad its good" territory it gets the more likely I am to see it. It's being produced by Hogan and Bischoff so it's going to be 95% lies anyway, may as well get a good laugh out of it.

That plus the infamous dead cancer kid at Summer Slam and I'm in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hemsworth#Filmography

because I don't get it either.

In NXT she spit decent promos about how she was civilized, and the rest of the women of the division were somehow not worthy to represent NXT to the world. All while dressing like a Varga pinup. In the ring, she's pretty much a lady hoss with a believable version of Show's knockout punch as a finisher (in that she'd hit it out of nowhere just as often as she'd set it up).

It's dumb as fuck they have her just walking down to the ring and walking away, she cuts a pretty decent promo and I'd honestly like to see her be a threat to the woman's division. Seen her live at an NXT house show and she can surprisingly go. Once Vince gets a hold of some of these people though...

>

She’s a big pretty white lady with a military background. But she’s early for a push. So they are ‘bringing her along slowly’. And lazily.

She’s basically a slightly more racist Liberty Bell from the recent GLOW. At least for now.

I'd never seen her in NXT so I thought she looked surprisingly good in the Rumble although she came across a little like Charlotte Flair-lite. But this entrance ramp thing is beyond stupid.

I don't understand how they call these NXT people up with absolutely no plans for them. This batch (the EC3 one, not the Ricochet one) has to be one of the worst, doesn't it?

Comment...I'm calling my shot tonight...SummerSlam will be Rollins vs Reigns after a Rollins title victory at Wrestlemania and a Reigns turn.

Question...why did WWE make the Revival get screwed out of matches for months, then finally let them win the belts, only to have them look super weak in clean losses to NXT guys?

They have a philosophy that be ik ng champ means you can eat losses without an impact.

It's also because they are more interested in building the WWE brand than building actual stars.

Also, because the guys they want to make are the guys they choose. Not who the fans choose.

Or, if they’re actually smart for once, they move Rollins to Smackdown and he becomes the face of Smackdown on Fox

I'd let Seth have his time to shine - which he's earned. I don't think people really want to see these guys fight each other anymore.

They also put on a five star tag team match in NXT. I'm fully ok with their biggest rivals who have now turned heel coming up to the main roster like "surprise bitch, remember us?!".

It shows that they could continue a Dark DIY vs. Revival and still have hot matches. Wasn't upset with this one bit.

who, while great, are not an established tag team.

lol

DIY vs. The Revival makes sense.

Black and Ricochet shouldn't even be facing The Revival even if its a non title match and beating them. They should have faced a non established team. This made The Revival look weak.

>Comment...I'm calling my shot tonight...SummerSlam will be
>Rollins vs Reigns after a Rollins title victory at
>Wrestlemania and a Reigns turn.
>
>Question...why did WWE make the Revival get screwed out of
>matches for months, then finally let them win the belts, only
>to have them look super weak in clean losses to NXT guys?

I keep telling folks..NXT is the thing most adults claim to want out of their rasslin. The baby faces are usually likeable folks. The heels can show up like a NWA 1986 heel and openly kick somebody’s ass. Title matches are unpredictable. Indy dudes show up and get treated like big deals. Young folks blow up sometimes and get pushed. The crowd is right. Not watching it is a mistake.

give them the straps only to have them lose 2 on 1 matches for the next month only to eventually lose the straps. Weakest looking tag team champs ever.

they should honestly get rid of it and have one men's division across shows.

I hate the fuck out of how they did this shit tonight. But it does seem like this wasn't the end of that story.


New Day remains over as fuck.

He got the crowd behind him in a big way and has put in some fantastic work in the last few weeks, and I think that's proof enough that he deserves a shot to carey the ball.

I need ND to carry a harder, less silly edge though.

And KO as the replacement makes a lot of sense given that he has priors for being the stooge to take a title off of the guy the company "doesn't want" to be champ.

There are so many potential opponents for Bryan that would be awesome, but it feels like the crowd will riot if it isn't Kofi. To think that this has happened in just 2 weeks is incredible.

I've probably said this before, but one of the biggest pops I've heard live is when, for a split second, Kofi was all alone on top of a ladder in the 2014 MITB match. Conventional wisdom had Seth or Dean winning it, which happened and was great, but the hope that they could finally do a legit singles run with Kofi for JUST a second made people go nuts.

Also... KO STUNNER!

A pissed New Day is a surprising and fun way to pump life into something we're all kind of done with

and, I'll say, the way Xavier and E flipped out while Kofi stood there blown was really striking. Like he was so crushed that he couldn't even emote, while his friends lost it...that worked for me

>
>A pissed New Day is a surprising and fun way to pump life into
>something we're all kind of done with
>
>and, I'll say, the way Xavier and E flipped out while Kofi
>stood there blown was really striking. Like he was so crushed
>that he couldn't even emote, while his friends lost it...that
>worked for me

is the reactions. Both are true to the characters and equally entertaining to me.

Honky Tonk Man goes into the HOF!!

If one more entrant that I really like goes in, I may have to make that trip to New York...

DX x(

Honky :)

I heard that they were rumoured to be included. Seems like an odd year to include them with DX as the headliner but perhaps timely with Anvil's passing.

Either way, I hate that Bret is the only one alive. The rest of them were all gone way too soon.

Anvil should’ve BEEN in, as part of the Hart Foundation. Give these guys their moment when they’re alive.

Yes, such a sad story regarding the stable. Definitely gone way too soon. I've been a Hitman stan since I first started watching wrestling so the fact that stable existed meant the world to me as a wrestling fan.

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1101191729267523584

damn man

Hopefully they do right by him

For what?

I get the impression she was always well liked, but what was she good at as far as wrestling goes?

I know that’s the way of the WWE HOF sometimes, but I’m just curious on how they’re going to hype her entrance up. What did she do that they can hype up when introducing her? I’ve got nothing.

Oh yeah, Stacy Keibler >>>>>>