The Thread Killer

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.

I liked this show. From what I am seeing online, I don't think I liked it as much as other people did, but I thought it was solid. Neville vs. Tozawa Neville is single-handedly carrying this entire division on his back right now, and heaven help us if he gets injured. I think he's outstanding. I don't mind Tozawa but I wasn't expecting much out of this match, and that's what I got - not much. These two don't seem to have the chemistry that Neville had with Aries or Gallagher. By the way, LOL at the announcer (who the hell was that play-by-play guy anyhow?) listing all the contenders that Neville has beat and totally failing to mention Aries. There were some half decent exchanges and sequences in this match but it never really totally gelled, to me. I also don't get the whole deal with Titus Worldwide. Vince doesn't like managers, but all of the sudden we get a babyface manager, of all things? It's weird seeing a manager who is so big and muscular that he towers over his client, and the opponent. He didn't add anything to this match. I thought the ending was kind of weak, the whole crotching a guy on the top rope and then finishing him with a kick...not sure if that kick was supposed to be to the groin or the gut, but the finish was really anti-climactic to me. Maybe it was supposed to come across different? Unfortunately, based on the backstage segment they showed, Tozawa will be getting a rematch, which on one side makes sense, since Neville has cleaned out this division. Personally, I'd like to see Roderick Strong called up to be the next challenger. He weighs 200 pounds and now that his storyline with Roode has come to an end in NXT, it's probably the best he can expect from here on out. Rollins vs. Wyatt So this happened. I actually kind of like Bray Wyatt (in theory, if not always in execution) but this whole angle has been as boring as mud. I laughed when the announcers were trying to sell the stupid "I am a God/No you're not" reasons behind this rivalry during the commentary - and even they couldn't explain it. Graves: "Bray Wyatt has really taken exception to the comments made about him recently by Seth Rollins." Cole: "Why?" Graves: "I don't know. You'd have to ask him." Speaking of which, the commentary on this show was pretty damn awful. Cole was at his hyperbolic shouty worst, and Booker T was also doing his share of inane comments, shouting and talking over other people. So bad. Phillips and Graves are so much better than Cole and Graves or Phillips and JBL. At this point, I'd almost take Mauro Ranallo back. The match was what it was. Like everybody else seems to feel, I thought this was like an average TV match, which is about the best you could expect out of these guys. At least Rollins kept his usual nonsense to a minimum. I was surprised Wyatt went over, because he rarely does, but in the end, who really cares? We were never given a reason to. Big Cass vs. Enzo This went pretty much how everybody expected it would, which is a shame because once again, Enzo proved with his pre-match promo that he has a hell of a lot to offer on the microphone. Apparently, we can tell Cass is a heel now, because he has generic threatening sounding music, and he spends a great deal of time holding his taped fist high above his head. Even the announcers are wondering what this means for Enzo now, since I don't think this is going to be a feud. Cesaro/Sheamus vs. The Hardyz Hot damn, I had high hopes for this match and did it ever deliver. Not too much to say that hasn't been said already. On paper I wouldn't have thought that I'd have enjoyed this rivalry anywhere near as much as I have, but first their match at Payback was great, and now this was even better. Poor Matt got busted open like mad on that flying headbutt, huh? I get the feeling this one will be placing high on the MOTY lists. Miz vs. Ambrose Ugh, this rivalry is so played out. I was getting tired of them on Smackdown, and this stupid feud keeps going and going. I really hope it's finally over now. I am slowly coming around on The Miz. He certainly does a great job with promos, I still think his ring work is mediocre at best (some of those kicks of his tonight were ridiculously soft looking) but he has done a great job of making the I/C title seem important again. I don't much care for Axel and Dallas as flunkies, but Axel seems to be embracing the role wholeheartedly, at least. My main issue with this match and feud is Ambrose. His act is boring as shit to me. If the fans get on Roman Reigns then they should be booing this guy out of the building. At least Reigns looks like he's trying out there. Ambrose is just a one trick pony. He acts sort of PG era crazy, and he does a rebound clothesline. Whoopee. Please tell me Miz is moving on to a better rivalry now. Balor maybe? Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks As a character I think Bliss is excellent. As a wrestler, I think she's wholly unremarkable, and I don't think Sasha is the one to carry her to great matches - for that I'm guessing you'd need Mickie James or Charlotte, maybe. This wasn't the worst match I've ever seen, but it didn't really engage me until the stuff after the countout. I do worry Sasha Banks is going to cripple herself sooner rather than later with some of the stunts she pulls. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns So here is where I express the opinion that will likely be pretty unpopular. I didn't really like this match, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I hate matches where pinfalls are not the way to win the match. That was why I hated the Extreme Rules PPV. I hate when guys spend half the match trying to escape a cage or climb a pole or slap on a submission or in this case - throw a guy in an ambulance. To be fair, this match was more about the two of them beating the crap out of each other before the ambulance even came into play, so full marks for that. But I wish it had been done Texas Death Match style where you had to pin the guy, but then lock him in the ambulance for the win. But...that is just my own personal gripe and I don't expect anybody to agree with me. If you just wanted to see a couple of big guys beat the piss out of each other, this the match for you. The second issue I had was this match was Roman Reigns. I don't hate Roman Reigns. I'm not one of those fans who is mad at him because he stole Daniel Bryan's spot, or some stupid shit like that. Even if I cared about that (which I don't) it was years ago and long past time to get over it. And I don't think he's a bad wrestler, either. At one point, I was unconvinced that he was good, but his matches against AJ Styles sold me. (Then again, you have to suck pretty hard to have bad matches with AJ Styles, but still.) The issue is, I just don't care about him. I can look at this match from a dispassionate standpoint and say that it was well laid out as a brawl and had good spots etc., but I don't give a crap about Roman Reigns for the same reason I don't give a crap about John Cena. I hate the whole tweener angle, and I fucking hate his hollow, lifeless, scripted promos. He does nothing to engage me as a viewer. He's the epitome of what is wrong with WWE creative right now, as far as I'm concerned. Once again...maybe that's just me. I don't expect anybody to agree with me. The final thing I hated about this match was the angle at the end. I never liked stupid shit like this. I hated it when the nWo did it to the Rock, and all the other countless examples over the years where they bring vehicles and collisions and dumb shit like that into storylines. This is wrestling not fucking Monster Jam. But even still, if they had stopped it with just the collision backstage, and told us to tune in tomorrow on Raw to find out about Strowman's condition, I could have lived with that. They way they oversold it, especially with the announcers and their super serious voices really annoyed the fuck out of me. It's right before the Main Event, and they dragged this nonsense out for way too long. Finally, I will gladly eat my words if this leads to a double turn, but I'm not convinced it will. It SHOULD, but Vince has such a hard-on for Reigns being a babyface (or whatever he's supposed to be now) that I can see them trying to use this to sell Reigns as a badass, or something. Besides, they do such a shitty job at differentiating between babyfaces and heels now, I doubt they'll book it right anyways. If Roman Reigns comes out tomorrow on Raw and tells all the fans to kiss his sweet ass, I'll be the first to say they played the angle right, but I bet we're in for more of the insipid "I'm not a good guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm the guy" moronic nonsense, which is the reason I don't like Reigns to start with. I'm stunned that this company apparently has a crew of almost 20 writers and they still can't get a guy over as a babyface properly. I'd like to think this will make him a solid heel, but I'm betting it won't. And I'm not sure how Strowman would work as face anyhow, not to mention that even if there was a way, WWE would fuck it up. Brock vs. Joe They got the booking for this whole angle and match right, I'll say that for them. I would have dearly loved to see Joe go over, but I don't think we're ever going to see that day. Bottom line is, this actually felt like a real, legit, championship fight. It was presented that way, and that's how it came across. It was a tad short for my liking, but that's my only complaint. Joe looked good, and I don't think he lost a ton of face by losing the match. Lesnar did sell nicely for him, right up to the closing shots of him heading up the ramp rubbing his neck with a concerned look, while Joe gave him the death stare. I have no issue with this match, and I hope it serves to elevate Joe into the Main Event scene firmly.

Sasha certainly gave the impression she legit doesn't like Alexa Bliss, but on these types of shows you never know what's a work and what has shooty elements.

Serious Michael Cole is serious.

I just caught that Strong/Roode match, and yes...that was outstanding. NXT has such an old school feel, it's awesome. That angle and match never would have worked on the main roster for a variety of reasons, but it was great in NXT. Eduardo is right, the past few weeks of NXT have been gold for TV matches.

That's what I've been on about regarding Owens for ages now. Name the last decent match he was in that was attributable to his performance. I've not seen the match with Styles yet, but I'm willing to bet it involved an extended sequence where Owens had Styles in a headlock or rear chinlock, during which Owens needed to lie down on the mat to catch his breath. Sadly, I'm guessing the only reason they did this title switch is so they can put it back on Owens at the next Smackdown PPV. (I know they're supposed to fight on that show, I just can't remember the name and can't be bothered to look it up.)

He claims that during the period he managed The Truth Commission they wanted him to have an army style buzzcut, and during the very brief period that he managed the Acolytes, they asked him to get a Mohawk. Not sure what the third time was.