Mad Dog

Toni Storm vs. Nicole Matthews was a really fun match.

It was all about the Count and that two headed monster.

So how is Shimmer staying in business when their DVD releases are 2 years behind?

I think Scurll's philosophy is why have one really over gimmick when you can have two dozen sort of over gimmicks. The eye patch is kind of new to RoH. Because he needed another fucking gimmick. I hate Scurll more than any other wrestler today. He could actually be a good wrestler if he would just stop being lazy. You bitch about all the gimmicks but he's even worse during matches. This is a Marty Scurll match: 2 punches Scurll: I'm gonna punch him some more! 1 more punch Scurll: Now I'm going to bodyslam him! Bodyslams opponent and then does the bird pose. He seriously can't go 2 moves without needing to pose or announce the next thing he's going to do. And then there's that fucking awful finger break spot.

His match with Nick Gage was a lot of fun this past weekend.

It felt real too. Like they weren't going off script. I think the best line of the entire WWE last year was Joe telling Lesnar to look at him when he's talking to him. That was one of those rare "oh shit" moments you don't get anymore.

Watched about half of Shimmer 100. Pretty good show but the lack of heat for the matches really detracts from it.

I think that's why Lesnar/Joe got so hot over the summer. It felt like there were stakes and they had tangible motivations behind why they hated each other so much.

I kind of understand what they were doing there. It's all a misdirection so the booker doesn't look like he made a vanity title for his girlfriend. He did but he's pretending like he didn't. But that's off topic.

I mean it could be worse. They could have spent 2 years having her go undefeated and then job her to a 46 year old woman who means basically nothing to modern fans and then barely mention it on commentary. That also happened over the weekend.

Undertaker is a bad example as he became a part timer. Really easy to be passable when you only work a handful of times a year.

I might have to sign up for their service and buy all 3.

Are the Evolve shows or the WWN Supershow worth watching? I haven't seen much Evolve but the cards are kind of interesting on paper.

Some stuff has made it's way to YouTube. I've seen traders with the TV before. I still have VHS of some of the WWE years.

I think the only way you salvage this is you work suspend Lesnar for the Vince thing. Then you just hand the belt to Reigns on Raw with no fanfare and then just have him cut sincere promos about how hard he worked for the belt and how he earned it. I think that would work.

If you can get it and want something to dive into, the WWE years are super interesting. Currently, just watch the TV show. It's not as good as say CWF Mid-Atlantic but it's always entertaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4CggHUypjY

OVW is usually solid TV every week.

Thing is, what if you only get 12 months out of Lashley and then he needs to be pushed back down the card? That's still a year. I think there's a really big hang up finding a long term John Cena when sometimes you should just take the hot hand while it lasts. You could try and fail for 5 years to find a solution or you can spend the next 5 years going through 4-6 guys that the fans attach to. I think both are equally as viable.

Hes still been a featured star for five years or something so if he was going to damage ratings it would already have happened. I know they arent the be all and end all but he tends to be in the top bracket of stars on their YouTube videos so theres obviously some interest in him, just not from the sorts that go to the shows - especially the big ones. Besides, Seth Rollins got a 9 month title run that only ended due to injury even though it was an all-time ratings killer. I dont think thats the primary concern. I don't think he would be a huge negative. Certainly not a disaster like Rollins was but I don't think he moves the needle in a positive way either. Being a net neutral isn't necessarily bad though when it comes to being on top. Maybe this is just a short sighted choice to wait for the rematch. Which is stupid. That was the kind of job that you don't come back from. If he was going to be at best a neutral to minor net negative then the sensible decision would still be just to let him have the belt for six months and get this thing over the hump once and for all while signalling to fans that the endless stop-start is over. I think that would ease a lot of the frustration tbh, just for fans to know that we've finally got to the next stage of the push. Then if they aren't satisfied, get the title onto Braun or Lashley at Summerslam and either turn the guy or give him a few months away from TV to regroup. Ronda can be the draw now anyway. Yeah, I don't get it. Especially since they were more than happy to ruin Smackdown for 6+ months with Jinder Mahal's push.

Hes still been a featured star for five years or something so if he was going to damage ratings it would already have happened. I know they arent the be all and end all but he tends to be in the top bracket of stars on their YouTube videos so theres obviously some interest in him, just not from the sorts that go to the shows - especially the big ones. Besides, Seth Rollins got a 9 month title run that only ended due to injury even though it was an all-time ratings killer. I dont think thats the primary concern. I don't think he would be a huge negative. Certainly not a disaster like Rollins was but I don't think he moves the needle in a positive way either. Being a net neutral isn't necessarily bad though when it comes to being on top. Maybe this is just a short sighted choice to wait for the rematch. Which is stupid. That was the kind of job that you don't come back from.

Which is weird because they are well equipped to handle whatever problems may come with pulling the trigger on him. They have a lot of options in every direction if it doesn't work out. Now that they have Rousey and she proved she can do pro wrestling, they have someone to help back up a Reigns run with a strong run of her own. But they treat Reigns almost like the NFL team who picks a QB way too early because they had to, then realizes they made the wrong pick but they are too embarrassed to admit it (kinda like NY Jets with Christian Hackenberg). So he's there as a specter over the rest of the roster. A reminder of the mistakes they made. And continue to make. It's the only real explanation that makes sense. It's like they get 90% of the way there with him and then stop. I know the first time he got a Wellness strike so that was an odd one. But think about things like Survivor Series 2015 where they did the cash in on him. He's kind of become Wile E Coyote or Elmer Fudd in regards to the belt.

I think it happens to everyone from time to time. I read every post on threads I read and sometimes I have nothing to add so I don't reply.

I think the question now is how fast this will sell out.

I wonder if they get cold feet every time it's time to pull the trigger. They really want him to be the guy and then at the last minute they realize it might hurt ratings.