sek69

I'm not sure I was expecting "potential eco terrorist" to be the angle they'd go with Bryan's heel character but I dig it.

I don't know if it's intentional, but I love how Paige has ended up the only authority figure in wrestling history to prevent a contract signing from getting turned into a brawl/attack.

Raw seems like a sports team that had one franchise player and no backup plan if that player gets hurt and is out for an extended time. Only difference is a sports team that loses a star player can tank for a season and get a shot at a top draft pick the next year to potentially replace that person. WWE could do that too but they seem more determined to kneecap their "draft picks" from NXT.

Didn't look like Nattie got much of that table on the way down, a rare case of a replay making a bump look more brutal.

It's not quite a full on LOLTNA level moment, but EVOLVE just released a statement saying they won't be booking anyone contracted to Impact after the kerfluffle with LAX. Apparently they let LAX book themselves outside of the company, and didn't realize they would be working a show with WWE contracted talent until after it was announced. Seems like a thing a company should pay attention to if they are going to allow their tag champs to take outside bookings, but what do I know.

Was him being a bodyguard for the Shah part of his gimmick or legit? Either way he was an assistant coach for the US Olympic wrestling team in 1972 (I think) so he's easily one of the more legit guys WWF/E had.

He said he would be out the rest of the year, so January would be in the realm of possibility. Depends on how bad the injury is.

Smackdown was up this week, proving Becky = Ratings.

Another reason this Ambrose/Rollins feud sucks is every time Dean does something wacky now, the other announcers turn on Renee all "GURL GET YO MANS" . Besides the sexist connotations (why should she have to explain for his actions?) as far as I know they never acknowledged they were married on TV before now. For someone who doesn't follow the behind the scenes news, it comes off like they are just being weirdly aggressive toward her.

This might be the maddest I've ever seen a Canadian get about anything, ever. (ps: I know TTK knows there's no ill will, right? I wasn't trying to be all WELL ACTUALLY to him in particular)

Problem is Impact is at the end of their deal, and based on the fact they got punted to 10 PM it looks like Pop is not interested in renewing them. The Observer pretty much stated they are in the same spot they were at the end of the Destination America deal where Pop will let them stay until they land a new deal as to not kneecap them, but it's pretty much the end of the road with them. Not to mention even if it was still a prime slot, they aren't making any money off the deal so it would be a sunk cost right off the bat. What I don't understand is seeing as how it seems like everyone wants to throw money at any and all B level MMA or boxing group they can find, why can't any non WWE wrestling groups get a sniff from anyone? Surely a promotion that has had some history of being able to run a show like Impact/ROH/MLW/whoever would be a better potential return on investment than some of these bumfights-ass MMA groups people are pouring money into.

I get the impression Anthem would sell to anyone making any halfway decent offer.

Entertainment has always been about politics and people's opinions thereon. The original Star Trek series barely tried to hide the fact that several of their most well known episodes were commentary on then-current events, hell the "City on the Edge of Forever" episode would be timely today. Stan Lee's passing was an oppportunity to remember comics were also very tuned in to politics. Captain America was literally created both in storyline and in real life to punch Nazis. The X-Men's fight for mutant rights was a parallel to the Civil Rights battles of the 1960s down to Professor X and Magneto in the roles of MLK and Malcom X, fighting for the same goal through different means. Wrestling does it too, the evil Nazi-like German heels and the salt tossing sneaky Japanese heels were long time staples. Every promotion in the 80s had an evil Russian, playing off the politics of the era. Not sure where anyone ever got the notion that any form of entertainment they enjoy was ever devoid of politics.

Yay Becky is back, but I probably shouldn't have read an in depth story/interview with TJ Wilson before finding out her return will be in a TLC match.

WWE is truly the Monkey Paw Wrestling Federation.

Bray is taking Braun's place on the house shows, so they at least remembered that he exists. I don't think anyone's clamoring for Bray/Baron though. So not only is WWE (and Raw particularly) a universe where evil triumphs on a regular basis and the good guys are all dorks who have no friends, the top heel is a guy who seemingly only do nothing but chinlocks for 15-20 minutes.

I couldn't even muster hate for this show, it's like the whole creative team is still in a turkey coma from Thanksgiving and they just said "fuck it".

Baron Corbin in an extended match for the main event....it's like WWE completely punted on this week.

So did Karen Jarrett.

So I guess the women have truly arrived now that they have their own GM.

That would seem to be a good way to debut him, but it would open up the possibility they'd just beat him on his first night and kill any momentum.

Mick doing a victory lap around the ring after finally getting a "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS" on the Rock was planned I'm sure, but Rock cracking up watching him do it was always a favorite moment for me.

Roman Reigns made an appearance at a Georgia Tech football game (his alma mater), leading idiots to claim his illness is a work. Because apparently if you don't look like Tom Hanks at the end of Philadelphia when you have a serious disease, you're faking it.

It's not a bad thing to expect people to be better, especially once they get into positions of public exposure where they could possibly affect/inspire others. Just because wrestling has historically been full of trash people with trash opinions doesn't mean the new generation of trash people can just be handwaved away like "Oh, wrestling! You racist scamp!"

I think it's more a case of making sure bigots realize there are consequences for being bigoted in public, which is something that isn't a sure thing anymore.