sek69

I can only imagine Vince's thoughts the first time he saw Otis in person.

The clip WWE uploaded to YouTube (featuring Alexa covering herself up as a thumbnail) managed to get over 2.3 million views, just barely behind the clip of Braun flipping over the limo. So as tone deaf as it was, there's clearly an audience for it.

If I was a betting man, I'd wager Lashley was a guy signed by WWE just so no one else could have him (especially considering how he was getting over in Impact). I would be surprised if there were ever any plans for him before they decided to pair him up with Lio.

It's because he's 42 and Vince has a phobia of putting anyone he considers "old" in positions of importance.

Not surprising considering CMLL is (the somtimes forgotten) part of the ROH/NJPW alliance. It would appear that the play now is to lock anyone in those three groups to exclusive deals in each country. I wonder if this will put an end to AAA guys appearing in CMLL as well. Also MLW is pretty much boned here. Guys are either going to get scooped up by AEW or get signed to deals limiting what companies that can work for going forward.

So something more AEW related I noticed..... When word started to spread that there was a member of the wrestling media working for AEW, nearly everyone jumped on guys with obvious connections and/or possible conflicts of interest with great fury. Then it came out the person in question was Chris Harrington, who's the Bobby Eaton of wrestling media in terms of everyone liking him and no one having any negative opinions about him. Everyone was happy for him, and as far as I've seen no one has questioned it. Now, that's not to say anything untoward happened, I just finished listening to the last (for now) episode of Wrestlenomics where he stated once he was offered the gig he made sure to steer clear of discussing anything that would give the impression that there was any conflict of interest. Mookie's as clean as it comes and deserves all the love/success he gets. However it's clear a LOT of people were chomping at the bit hoping they had some justification for the hate boners they held for other people in the field.

Probably important to note that WWE announced they are switching streaming providers from Disney/MLBAM to the company UFC uses for FIght Pass. They did announce some aquisitions to make it sound like they are beefing up their infrastructure, but everyone who has Fight Pass seems to think this is a step down in quality. Interestingly, the WWE announcement mentioned how this partnership will allow them to add new features going forward. Kind of implying that the reason WWE Network has had shit interface/searching options all this time was limits on the server end. Seems odd considering all the other companies that use it, but maybe WWE opted for the discount package when they first built the network and are stuck with it. Either way, it seems like another sign that WWE Network 2.0 (whatever they end up calling it) is coming sooner than later.

Basically since his wife died JR's been more or less self medicating, it's understandable due to the circumstances and it's hard to point it out without sounding like an asshole. There's been times on his Twitter feed where it seems like he's a different person (he doesn't seem like the type of guy who would have a social media intern posting on his accounts either) well as his falls recently where he's injured himself. It's one of those deals where everyone kind of references it indirectly and is all "y'know it's been rough for JR lately" type stuff.

Solie was known for being in "no condition to perform" on more than one occasion, compairing him to JR is more than apt.

JR's recent performances have been more like 90s WCW Solie unfortunately.

Women's tag team titles are surpsingly not terrible looking, and I guess only one set for everyone?

GLASS GLASS GLASS GLASS. Also some wrestling stuff, but then GLASS!

They let the copyright expire when they shortened the name, some indy promoter in the Midwest scooped it up, and since they've maintained it ever since they have been going around and around ever since.

WWE hyping that Glass movie like JCP hyping the next Omni show, holy shit.

Finn getting that NXT UK Takeover bump.

That reminds me that WWE uploaded a video of a Lucha House Party interview that featured a run in by Juan Cena.

JR would be an asset in the office and a liability on camera. Anyone who would be drawn in on the appeal of hearing the guy who voiced their childhood would just get pushed away by seeing how bad he is today. It would be like when an expansion team signs a big name that's past their prime to get buzz, only for it to just expose them.

Guess Braun isn't ready to compete after all. Surely there could have been a better way to write him out than more McMahon browbeating.

The content dump for January is going to be WWF Superstars, about 30 or so episodes starting from April 1992. That time frame is being chosen because it's when the show name was shortened from "Superstars of Wrestling" since there's still (!) legal wrangling about that name.

There's a place for everything in wrestling I think. Comedy's fine as long as it's not the central focus, or grade school poop joke nonsense like Vince seems to prefer.

Or at least a guy who should stay in NXT, I don't see him as a guy who would ever get a fair chance on the main roster unless maybe on 205 Live (if that counts). Rhea dropping the belt like that maybe a sign she's going to get moved to US NXT perhaps?

Pete Dunne vs WALTER? Don't mind if I do.

So apparently Lawler/Gagne were a replacement in the match against Choshu/Saito, it was supposed to be the Rockers but they quit to go to the WWF. Did that match ever happen, because holy shit that sounds like it would be great.

Hero's role was always to be a player-coach and give the newbies someone to work with who knows what they're doing. I didn't think there was anyone expecting him to go to the main roster.

TBS was originally WTBS (or WTCG first I believe), a local Atlanta station that Ted took national. He also had ownership in the Braves and Hawks in the 80s/90s which is why they had their games on there. Wrestling was one of the bedrock shows that he used to take his station nationwide, which is why he never listened to the execs that tried to get him to dump it. He had a loyalty to it because it helped make TBS back in the day. The Peachtree network mentioned above is actually the original WTBS that was spun off to remain a local Atlanta affiliate when TBS was turned in to a more "serious" network.