Cobra Commander

so they won't book things like this, right? EC: Orton v. Cena v. Sheamus v. Bryan v. Reigns v. Bray - Bray over Cena, Bray eliminated, Bryan over Orton, Bryan over Reigns, Sheamus over Bryan controversially (heck, have the ref stop the match immediately after the Brogue Kick because he's been ordered to "protect" Bryan from a "possible concussion") followed by booking Bryan v. Sheamus / Bryan v. Bautista on the same night in New Orleans

or Manu can return to join The New Shield

upon further reflection, I realized they could put Bray and someone from the Shield in the EC and put Wyatts/Shield as a tag match. Maybe fire up that endless dissension by having someone other than Reigns in the Chamber match, or having Reigns factor into the tag match finish and then just kick him out the next night Also, the Chamber, in theory, could set up a few WM matches. In theory

say hello to Shield/Wyatts at EC?

uh yeah, the "Inoki helped cause Ali's Parkinsons" thing is an amazing statement. Not sure that 30 rounds total with Ken Norton and Earnie Shavers in a year would be good for your health no matter the condition of your legs. Not to mention Manila in 1975. Also, Ali's reflexes included a lot more leaning back from punches than most heavyweights as opposed to outright running, IIRC. So I don't think his legs were the x-factor when he was 35 and fighting Earnie Shavers. Anyways.. Jake is in, the video package was pretty solid. Two 1996 Lawler feuds are in the class of 2014 Why do I have a suspicion that Brutus Beefcake is getting inducted this year purely to draw Hogan in?

Sure, a GoodguySuperFriends win probably means the EC is Orton v. Cena v. Sheamus v. Bryan v. Lesnar v. Bray Wyatt? so I guess they could set up their WM stuff through that match too. But this eternal Shield tension could be extended either way. Plus they're due another week or two of blatantly fucking over Bryan before he goes to the match. But I can see how booking him v. 4 heels and Sheamus might be a bit excessive. Also, nice that the Network will feature new content, like clips from Rise and Fall of WCW and OutOfCharacter Undertaker

it's fairly obvious that Sheamus somehow costs his team the match (intentionally or not), and gets a EC spot as a reward.. isn't it? Orton v. Ambrose v. Rollins v. Reigns v. Sheamus v. Bryan (somehow) it opens up a few WM matches as a result as well Just can't imagine that we get Cena and Orton in the same ring 3 PPVs in a row

Actually, they kinda should do that. Just start it off that way to crank up the temperature before going in for the kill and making the turn. It'd be kinda stupid if he just came out and was all like "well, I guess i'm bad now, so watch me do bad things". Buy balloons, unveil a big fucking Batista poster, have a celebration, and then... "I have to thank the people who got me here, the real fans! Not the fans you heard last night. Not the fans yelling tonight. The real fans are thrilled that I am back to save the WWE. The rest of you can stick it because I'm here and it doesn't matter what you think" It really would be the stupidest motherfucking thing possible to have face Batista/heel Orton at Wrestlemania, when they could just turn Batista, hopefully get some sort of non-XPac heat out of him, and have him against someone who isn't Orton for the title. And we live in a universe with some pretty stupid Wrestlemania builds.

I guess Bix and I think alike. so we'll get lots of really ugly crowd chants? It's not like someone is going to launch Occupy WWE (note to self: trademark "occupy WWE", sue anybody trying to use that phrase) or like some idiot is going to pee on a knife and try to stab Randy Orton during a show. Bix is pretty awesome overall, but it seems incredibly hyperbole-a-riffic to think that angry crowds are going to escalate into something really ugly. They'll either stay angry, get over it, or stay home. I know there's a lot of violence in public places on the news this year, but that quote is overdramatic at best. Also, nice quote in Bix's BR piece about "everybody involved in making the Royal Rumble should hang themselves".. that's totally not a jackass statement from Mike at all. Holy shit Mike, step off the ledge and think about what you're saying.

when was the golden era of people working a crowd back into a match? Just curious there. Seems like that's a point you'd want to avoid and if you get there, you're not getting out alive anyways. I seem to recall that Lex Luger and Barry Windham had some problems when things went off the rails. And I'd guess when things go off the rails, they're not getting back on the rails all that easily.

I'm guessing the WWE and (insert major political party) have similar impressions about their hardcore fans/base. They can be annoyed at the hardcores, but they know the hardcores will spend their last 20 dollars on their side even if they hold their nose. The same can be true of any field where popularity is an element of the job.

how much of the composition of the ringside crowds the product of pricing out some segments of their fan base in favor of having dudes from other states traveling for PPVs? The crowd has to be hilariously split between the people with enough disposable income to get ringside at PPVs and the random kids/parents crowd, doesn't it?

One of the non-DB faces getting shit on for not being DB should just beg for the opening to just go out there and go off on the DB fans for being entitled whiners. It'd be nice and cathartic for the people writing that rant. Throw in some lines about "ruining my moment", "you are supposed to cheer for me, not some bearded gnome", and then 'wonder' why you just created an actual heel and made something out of the latest encounter with East Coast/Euro/Indy Douchebag Show-ruiner types. In short... turn Batista tomorrow night and figure out some way to take the belt off Orton in the meantime.

"they still got your money smaaaaaartmarks, and you'll order Wrestlemania too and the network. suckers"

or Bryan/Cena/some guy doing the UW induction v. the Wyatts, contracts permitting. If you're gonna use two of the top guys in a tag match on your biggest show, then use two of the big guys with a guy debuting in the fed after a 25yr long career

nice honesty on the WO liveupdates Okay guys, don't strain yourselves or nothing

upon further further reflection, there may be a difference between worst match and laziest match. And stuff like "don't show up our guys Chono/Muta" matches might be closer to laziest than worst YouTube yanked the videos of the guy who just uploaded ESPN AWA awhile ago, although I don't know if the Rocky Mountain Thunder videos were yanked on copyright, or objectionable content. Pretty sure Rocky Mountain Thunder is currently applying to job postings for over the road truckers right now

how does it rank compared to Sting/Booker T v. Road Warriors in a 30min long street fight? Also, if we're ranking worst as compared to expectations, then there's gonna be a bunch of Muta matches on the list

I gotta wonder who had more pro wrestling training between Raja Lion and all four of these Midlothian guys combined Zeus/Abby is great for the forearms in the corner.

IIRC, Edge/Christian were two of the guys using rubber bullets instead of live ammo in their part of that DVD So, is this the year they induct the Freebirds (which would fit the area, for obvious reasons) or Jake.. some variables there

So after Punk goes over HHH, he turns heel again on someone like Bryan and they have those two going at it for awhile? (I think their first go-around was Heel Bryan/Face Punk, right? sorry, there's like entire months of RAW over the last few years which would be fresh content to me).. but that's just an idea that might not make sense But yeah... no idea which WM match ideas are the ones which will happen. Can't imagine they'd go with Orton until WM. There's a few big planets (Brock/Batista/Undertaker) that will pick something up in their orbit.. the Shield will have turmoil after the Rumble.. no idea what Bryan does but i've read rumors. Until that's figured out, Bryan gets to send fans home happy on the road (in cities not getting Cena/Orton) by beating up Bray in the cage. The beating tonight was an indirect example of a "5 minutes in the ring with the villain" moment where the face looks like a million-billion bucks. Bray really ate the offense like a champ tonight and took the assbeating that he's been deserving for awhile. So in a way, this should wrap up Bryan/Wyatts on TV, which means Bryan would need to do something directly out of the Rumble. I don't know if Bryan/Undertaker makes sense. But they really don't have a marquee Undertaker match for 30 without doing Brock/Undertaker again, or finally doing Cena/Undertaker. Anyways.. Bray Wyatt really shined, in a way, tonight. So I can't tell you if they hit the escape hatch on the angle, but even if they did, Bray really made the moment even better for Daniel Bryan. Sometimes there's a way to shine in getting what you deserved

looking forward to the Disciple making his return to induct the Warrior

The segment was so awesome, it makes you completely overlook the fact Bryan basically stripped down to his underwear to beat up IRS' secret swamp son. hey, at least they're gonna have cage matches at house shows and not tuxedo matches

lack of planning on the Wyatts part, should have made Daniel Bryan wear different ring gear under his janitors outfit edit: so, who's down for a giant Cena/Punk/Bryan/Kofi/Rhodes v. Orton/Outlaws/Wyatts clusterfuck next week?

well, in the end, having a cage match with a locked door made perfect sense (and the house show cage match Daniel Bryan/Bray Wyatt main events have been saved! yes, they advertised a Bryan/Bray cage match last week for an upcoming KC house show)