The Thread Killer

Saw Strummer post this, nosed around a couple of MMA news sites and apparently the scuttlebutt is that Lesnar has officially re-entered the USDA drug testing pool. It's unlikely he would do that unless he was pretty serious about going back to MMA. Lesnar's one year suspension for failing the drug test after his fight with Mark Hunt ended this past Saturday. TalkMMA is reporting that Lenar and Heyman recently met with the UFC and as a result of those discussions there is even a chance he could fight as soon as the November 4th show at Madison Square Garden. The speculation among some MMA reporters is that this means it's likely that Lesnar will drop the WWE title at SummerSlam, which may mean that WWE will have to move up their time frame on the Lesnar/Reigns match they were saving for Wrestlemania. Of course, it's all speculation. But the facts are that his suspension is up and he has resubmitted to USDA drug testing, so it's lilkely there is some fire to go along with the smoke.

So what was worse on Smackdown: a ) Mike Bennett's match b ) Mike Bennett's haircut c ) Mike Bennett's entire gimmick d ) The fact that all three of the above were used to bury Sami Zayn This whole Bennett and Maria deal is annoying as hell, and not in the good heel way that Miz and Maryse way were as a couple. More in the "I can't watch this crap I need to change the channel" way.

I hadn't even considered that. Think of the storyline possibilities!

Looking back, that entire segment would have been perfect if they had made just one change. They could have done the entire thing the exact same, except when he introduces his son, Eugene comes out. I would have marked for that.

What the hell are these writers doing with Kurt Angle? He used to have natural charisma and was incredibly funny. Now he's like a B movie actor in a horrible daytime soap.

You'll have to forgive him, that's just his gimmick. And by gimmick, I mean he's a colossal asshole.

I remember it coming across when Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were bashing the Rock in the shoot interview clip I saw, that it was just achingly obvious how incredibly jealous they were of him. Like, they could barely disguise their envy at all.

I concur. I was off NXT for a while, I found it had gone into a decline and was getting rather bland and uninteresting, but I agree that since Mania or thereabouts, there has been a noticeable increase in quality. The weekly show has made it back onto my "must watch" list, and I've not been disappointed. The past month alone has featured a couple of outstanding matches, Aleistar Black vs. Chris Hero (or whatever his WWE name is, I forget how to spell the first name. Kassius? Kassus?) and most recently Bobby Roode vs. Roderick Strong.

I would have agreed with you about NXT up until recently. They have had a string of really good shows over the past 6 weeks or so, with some standout matches, in my opinion.

As far as Talking Smack, Sports Illustrated is reporting that Vince pulled the plug because he doesn't like the unscripted promos. Which makes a lot more sense, over the idea of the decision being made due to ratings.

I thought about watching it, but I am so over that angle it's not even funny. It's like the Miz/Ambrose of the Cruiserweight Division. The feud that wouldn't die. I am surprised Mad Dog is loving Noam Dar. Normally I find myself agreeing with many of his opinions, however when it comes to Dar, if I never saw him again, it would be too soon.

I didn't know about this. When did Rock call out Dogg? This is also interesting because I thought there was also heat between NAO and Hunter for the longest time. There was, after they got released...big time. They gave shoot interviews to pretty much anybody who would listen where they buried Hunter relentlessly. (Along with a lot of other people.) Since Brian James cleaned up his act and got hired back, he has become a WWE apologist of Prichardian proportions. Check out his episode of Legends with JBL if you don't believe me.

Good lord, with that many Mania Main Events under his belt he'd better be a legit superstar by that point.

YMMV on how seriously you want to take him but that's pretty much what rovert said it was on twitter. Yeah, I heard/saw that. I dunno about that guy, it seems like half his deal on Twitter is either taking shots at Jim Ross or trying to contradict or debunk Meltzer. It sounds like the Enzo being kicked off the bus thing has been verified by others, but the Cass being a big Trump supporter supposedly isn't. One of rovert's arguments was that if Cass was a big Trump supporter, he and Owens wouldn't be friends. Because it's impossible to be friends with somebody who has political views opposed to yours. There's another unconfirmed rumor going around that Enzo and Cass have legit heat, and Cass's whole "I have to back you up because of your big mouth" line was a semi-shoot. I don't doubt that one of Meltzer's sources in WWE told him that stuff about Enzo and Cass. How true it is, that's anybody's guess.

sek mentions this in the Meltzer thread but for those who don't read that thread, the news has come out today (via the Observer) that the possible reason for the earlier than expected split of Enzo and Cass is because Enzo did something unspecified that has earned him so much heat, he was kicked off the WWE bus and is no longer allowed to dress in the dressing room with the other wrestlers. So it looks like that might be the reason behind the split, and subsequent squash and probable career burial. Call me morbidly curious, but I'd like to know what actions would call for such a drastic shunning backstage, but at the same time doesn't warrant his being released. One theory would be that WWE knows how popular his character is, so if they released him they'd leave him open to going somewhere else and possibly getting over, or doing shoot interviews airing dirty laundry. However, you'd have to ask yourself, if he is going to be buried, why the hell did they give him such a good opportunity to shine on the microphone as part of this angle. Understandably, Enzo is reportedly very upset about the team being split. (If for no other reason I imagine his bank account will take a big hit from the loss of revenue generated by Enzo and Cass merchandise.) Rumor also has it (as per Mr. Meltzer) that although Big Cass is currently getting a push, he is also very unpopular backstage due to his being a vocal supporter of Donald Trump(?!) If true, I guess you can chalk that up to reason #537 you should never discuss religion or politics in the workplace. I'm guessing being a Trump supporter wouldn't get him any heat with Vince, but if this report is to believed, it has got him heat with the boys in the back. This whole situation is weird. As I said, I feel strangely voyeuristic, but I'd love to know more details and I hope they come out. And that makes me feel a bit guilty, like I got caught reading a supermarket tabloid.

My main issue is the fact he keeps trying to say that Dixie Carter did something for wrestling. Well, she did...it just wasn't anything good. I can see him liking her, hell I've had a few incompetent bosses at various jobs over the years who I thought were perfectly nice people - they just happened to be not very good at their jobs. Saying she's a nice person is fine, claiming that wrestling was lucky to have her and she did a lot for the industry is just delusional, and insulting to the intelligence.

If this report is true, I feel it sets an interesting precedent for WWE Superstars. "Want to be considered for the #1 Contender's spot? What you need to do is lose a big championship match when you do get your chance - or try to straight up murder your opponent on PPV. Either one will get you in the running." Also, Rollins vs. Wyatt II, the match nobody asked for, and nobody wanted. Yay.

If you ever needed proof of the negative long term effects of chairshots to the head... Mick Foley posted this on his Facebook page today: I wonder what Jim Cornette, Billy Corgan, the executives at Spike TV and Destination America, and the countless creditors that Dixie Carter lied to and ripped off would have to say nice about Dixie. This woman was responsible for employing Vince Russo - twice - and lying about it. She deserves nothing nice to be said about her contributions to the wrestling business. WTF is wrong with Foley?

Looks like my initial theory about the divisive opinions of this show was correct. First three votes cast were one for each option.

I hope this investigation doesn't mean that Alberto won't be able to keep his appointment to beat up Triple H, New Day and The Usos. Actually, if he really could beat up New Day, that would be okay with me.

Whoa, you didn't think the Tag Titles match resembled a MOTYC?

Online opinion on last night's big show seems really divided. Some people are saying it was the best show of the year so far, while others are saying it totally failed to deliver on the hype and excellent build up to Joe vs. Lesnar. Some people think the Main Event delivered, others think Joe got buried or the match was too short. Some people say the Ambulance Match was great, others disagree. What did you think of the show, overall?

There were rumors that Owens is injured, but then he worked the show the day following the MSG show, and by all reports he seemed to be fine. Now they've pulled the match from Battleground (for the time being at least) so we'll have to see what happens. I suppose it's too much to hope for that they'll put Styles in a rivalry with somebody else.

Having watched all of both nights, I think it should be mentioned that one of the main issues with the commentary is that both JR and Barnett seem to be doing play-by-play. It's annoying as hell, because Barnett calls the action as it happens, move for move, but then tries to shoehorn his comments in as well. You'd think he and JR would have worked that shit out by now, considering how long they've been working together. I always thought it was pretty much commentary 101, that one guy calls the action and the other guy throws in comments with insight and analysis. If it's supposed to be JR calling the action then he needs to give Barnett a slap upside the head, because he was annoying the shit out of me on those shows.

That was really weird. Sasha came across as very petty. Is there an issue between those two? I read somewhere that it's more an issue between Alexa Bliss and the entire female locker room. Apparently, she's not well liked.