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I follow the sheets as much as you Loss, but I don't get the sense Rock is working at SummerSlam. His film schedule is jam packed and they already have Brock vs. Triple H booked for the show. There's been no talk about potential opponents for him before WrestleMania. I think it's more likely that they transition the title on to Brock for Rock to face him at WM 29, than putting the title on Rock first.

Actually by the definitions of pornography from dictionary.com it's pretty clear that on some levels WWE programming was soft pornography in the past: You're telling me Sable's stripping routines wasn't meant to stimulate sexual excitement in male teenagers during the Attitude era?

Yeah, I didn't realise that, but it's not like WWE performers haven't taken almost as provocative pictures while working for the company.

Yeah, my initial story on the matter at Cageside Seats got picked up by Tom Dudchik's ctcapitolreport.com, largely for the swimsuit photo of Trish Stratus I presume. This was just awfully bad timing on WWE's part, she seemed to have the Republican nomination sewn up, but I guess some people may be second guessing their decision to support her now.

I've run down Randy Orton's history quickly at Cageside Seats. Basically we have: 1. Lots of minor incidents before WrestleMania 22 that went unpunished. 2. Caught smoking pot backstage, suspended for 60 days, not considered a Wellness policy violation. 3. Worked for 30 days without pay after failing a drug test for steroids, first Wellness strike in August 2006. 4. Sent home from a European tour for trashing a hotel room, but was back at work within 10 days. 5. Named in the Signature Pharmacy scandal but wasn't punished. 6. His drug overdose / suicide attempt. 7. Strange motorcycle accident where he re-injured his shoulder. 8. Now his latest 60 day suspension for a second Wellness policy violation. Guess Vince must be pissed at Orton for something.

They were all flash in the pan acts. For example, the NAO were formed in October 1997 and by January 1999 were being used as singles acts because WWE thought Billy Gunn could become a headliner. They were reunited in October 1999, but stopped teaming after Gunn was injured in February 2000. That's less than two years as a hot act and really only one as in the second DX run, the NAO were treated as Hunter's feckless minions.

Sting's WCW run as babyface ace was really from Great American Bash '90 till Hulk Hogan turned up in '94. Though even before Hogan showed up they tried to replace him with Ron Simmons and Davey Boy Smith, and Ric Flair was around too towards the end of that period.

That's a pretty radical shift in Dana's opinion. He was always opposed to anyone doing UFC and wrestling at the same time because he didn't want people to look at his product as the equal of wrestling. Opinions change when a company is declining in popularity and interest. You can't attribute that all to Brock leaving, but another fight from him will give UFC a shot in the arm on one PPV.

Vince seems like the kind of guy who wants to look like he's down with the kids so to speak, even though he's really not.

This is really odd. Has Dave's rather harmless style of reporting gotten that far under the skin of Dana that he went back for a second bite at the apple? At this point, I don't think it's about what Dave wrote. He's attempting to get the MMA media to pick sides, rather than remain neutral in the upcoming promotional battle between UFC and Bellator. Dave is a good guy to pick on because he won't rise to the bait.

SummerSlam buys in North America: 2011 - Cena vs. Punk, Triple H as referee 177,000 buys 2010 - Team Raw vs. Nexus 203,000 buys 2009 - Punk vs. Jeff Hardy ladder match, Cena vs. Orton 229,000 buys 2008 - Undertaker vs. Edge Hell In A Cell 301,000 buys The numbers really back up Dylan's analysis. Given that SummerSlam hasn't done a good buy rate the last three years, I think if they had held back they'd likely only seen a similar 39,000 buy boost, maybe marginally higher due to the name value of the PPV. It's better to get two bites at the cherry in this case. As this year's SummerSlam is likely going to be up somewhat too and Extreme Rules may have been down compared to last year without Brock on the show, you would have to really buck the PPV trend and get close to 2008 level numbers to have made it worth your while holding off for so long. It's worth noting that the Nexus angle started off hotter than Brock's return was, but by the time they got to SummerSlam the angle had cooled off and they drew a worse buy rate than the year before. That wouldn't have happened here, but today's WWE isn't very good at stretching out an angle for many months, so there wouldn't be much benefit waiting unless you wait all the way till WrestleMania. I really think Dave is a bit behind the curve, fans don't see SummerSlam as a particularly major show anymore.

Dana must think Dave is in bed with Spike TV due to TNA. Only way I can logically explain such delusional nonsense.

Regarding the Rumble, Vince changes his mind on big match finishes unless it's obvious like The Undertaker going over at WrestleMania on a regular basis, and the Rumble would be most conducive to indecision.

As I mentioned in my Cageside Seats post, won't this be a difficult case to win given Flair's appearance sanctioned by TNA at this year's WWE Hall Of Fame? Unless TNA has proof that WWE told Flair to stop showing up for work, I'm not sure they can stick anything against WWE. They did fire Wittenstein immediately.

Not sure I buy the Sheamus was always planned as the Rumble talking point, given that they made a big deal about Henry not being given another title shot against him. Most of it matches up with what writers have been saying for years, so it could be true, though easily could be made up too.

As I've been thinking about it another issue is that it's probably a waste of time for WWE to try and entice back the PPV buying audience that they've lost over the last decade. Just like WCW fans largely stopped watching wrestling after the company closed shop, they've found something new to do with their lives. You may be able to get them back for the Rumble and WrestleMania, but they're not going to watch past that. They may have fun watching for that night, but they'll also have reminders about why they stopped watching regularly in the first place. Also, the ratings going back to pre Mania levels suggested that Brock's return wasn't going to spike PPV buys past the upper level for a B show they're at right now.

Yeah, there's no curiosity in seeing a pro wrestler wrestle.

Shane Douglas is booking Matt Hardy for his next Extreme Reunion shows. Glad to see he's learnt his lesson.

It's the level they're at for a big B show PPV today.

WWE may be spooked by the NFL concussion lawsuits and the recent death of Junior Seau. The fact that Dustin Runnels was fired as a producer for booking a dangerous double team finisher shows that they take this issue very seriously.

John Cena: Fascist without a cause WTF?

Maybe Liz Cena is giving them some inspiration too.

I know people around here quickly soured on his return, but I haven't seen any criticism from more casual fans or reporters. His matches with Punk were genuinely well received.

I agree that's the most likely scenario, John, that Chael ramped up his juicing to insane levels to become a title contender. Just that, it's not completely implausible that he was clean before 2008, but the fact he has hypogonadism suggests otherwise.