sek69

It never fails to amaze me how often the best stuff out of WWE is so often things like this where it's a Network only show, YouTube, social media, basically anywhere than their stifling and restrictive TV format.

It did lead to bald Vince in a fedora while champion of WWE ECW, which was baller.

New Japan is owned by Bushiroad, which is worth somewhere between $9-10 billon dollars. They *could* match WWE in a bidding war if they wanted to but would most likely never do so because that's not really how Japanese business works, Not to mention breaking the bank for one person would set the expectations higher for the entire roster, which can quickly lead to a "Nash and Hall signing with WCW" situation where suddenly you have an arms race where everyone wants to be the highest paid person.

I love how "get someone lower on the totem pole to get the heat for you" is baked in to the very being of WWE management. It's extremely fucked up to have refs pay their own way, and then turn around and make it part of their responsibilities to stooge on the same people who could help them out with those same expenses. I'm sure that $500-1000 they collect in fines could allow them to afford a hotel room or two.

The biggest issue with Vince largely keeping himself off TV is we don't see him gradually aging anymore so when we do see him it's shocking. I'd wager if he was still appearing (not that I'm saying I wish he was still all over TV every week) it wouldn't be as much of a surprise to see how he looks now.

It's not uncommon for there to be some negative feelings toward someone coming in from outside the industry getting a position of power over those who did. I've seen it at my workplace and you hear about it all the time in sports that X person doesn't have what it takes to be a coach/GM/whatever because he didn't come up the ranks. LIke @C.S. said it probably doesn't help him that he comes off like a douchebag every time I've seen him in a WWE show or documentary. Like Johnny Ace without the charisma.

Herb Abrams had the kind of death I'd have expected from Vince, to be honest.

We joke, but his mom is still going strong at 100 so it's not out of the question he has at least another 20 years left in him.

The real question is will Steph walk around carrying an urn with Vince's ashes like Maresala does in AAA.

NXT was really good. Xia Li gives me Kevin Von Erich vibes in that half the time I can't tell if she's just working snug or knocking the shit out of people. Also I know it comes from a good place since he played such a role building NXT, but it's starting to come off weird that they still do all the Dusty stuff when their goal in existing now is to do damage to the company Dusty's actual kids are both involved in.

I second the Sean Waltman mention, he seems like a guy who really gets the parts of the business most folks don't I can't imagine why he's never been given a shot at being a producer anywhere, he must not want to do the daily grind anymore.

Brian Cage doing Big Guy Stuff to Darby is great

Tay has improved tremendously since getting away from the PC, but yes Serena has been the MVP of the women so far.

It's cool to see Danny Limelight on national TV, he's killing it in Championship Wrestling from Hollywood as half of their UWN tag team champions.

I'm digging Fenix's new gimmick of being a jean jacket enthusiast.

The cult leader magic will be gone though. It'll be hard to keep the gates closed when there's no longer a charismatic leader around to keep people entranced, I recently watched a documentary about the Kim family from North Korea, and it was interesting to see how it was Kim Jong-Il who was the propaganda master who created the cult of personality around his father that made him a God to the people and basically created the Kim dynasty as we know it. The scenes of people bursting into tears at the announcement of Kim Il-Sung's death It made me think it's probably what we'll see when the time comes for Vince. I'd half expect WWE to build a giant statue of Vince and decree anyone working for WWE have a portrait of Vince in their homes at all times. The difference here is no one in WWE seems to be at the level of Kim Jong-Il in terms of propaganda though, I fully expect whoever's left in charge to do a series of embarrassing tributes that reset the cringe meter.

His dad is a TV producer, so that more than likely opened doors for him. Still, you'd think a guy who's resume includes working on racist-ass Sherriff Joe's show and working for TMZ when they released the Dusty Rhodes 911 call would have hit his ceiling sooner than later. WWE saw a guy who would pass along anything given to him as BREAKING NEWZ without question so suppose they felt he was a useful enough idiot.

From what I can tell Haku seems to be a legit nice guy who just happens to be the baddest motherfucker anyone's ever known. Like he didn't need to talk a lot of stuff or bully anyone since he knew he could beat anyone else's ass if need be.

Also lest you think this is a new(er) problem, it took Andre the Giant and two Hebners for someone to finally beat Hogan after 4+ years.

It's the Superman paradox. You try to make an unbeatable superhero, but you end up having to create so many macguffins to make beating him seem plausible it makes everyone look silly in the process.

Daniel Bryan? Getting squashed in 18 seconds by Sheamus was the spark that got fans rallying behind him to the point they nearly rioted that he didn't win a Rumble he wasn't even in.

Fitting that the guy who used the Garvin Stomp ends up getting done like Ronnie was.

Shayna out here saving lives by not letting Nia hit a move off the top.

H with the big "Dad going out to whoop your older brother who's kind of an asshole" energy.

Gulak vs Styles is one of those matches I would love to see in the last place I'd want to see it.