sek69

Another bonus of the brand split is John Cena finally is on a show with a good writing team. I've always maintained that easily 75% (if nor more) of the reasons people disliked Cena was due to the horrible way he was written most of the time.

IIRC she was out because she had knee surgery, not because of this.

So is that why they are bringing Mickie James back, to play Batista? Pretty sure she's going to eventually be the reveal for the La Luchadora angle on Smackdown.

I just signed back up with NJPW World again after my last go round ended because my former bank kept freaking out that a company from Japan was trying to access my debit card. I see they have an app for IOS/Android now, but the description is in Japanese only. Is it an app like the WWE network app or like the CMLL app that just embeds links for their live feeds?

Even if Jimmy was in perfect health, 30+ years is a long time to bring back a murder case. Evidence gets lost, witnesses/experts die, and unless you have the suspect on tape confessing there's too much reasonable doubt to overcome.

Sucks for the family, but it was the only likely outcome.

They really want people to believe that the plan was to get Bryan over all along despite the fact it was a clear repudiation of what the company was pushing at the time.

Cracks me up that people would get mad at that, it's just Business 101 that the best way to get a company's attention is to stop giving them money.

Was there anything to the rumors that Steve Corino's Performance Center visit was at least in part a move to try to gain more power in ROH? I remember hearing he was making a power play and the PC trip was a way to send a message that he has options if they turn him down.

Maybe Ronda can have a come-to-Jesus moment and embrace the fact that her personality makes her the most naturally born heel ever. Have her side with the heels at first and have her join up with the babyfaces to have their WWE Approved Smiles On Faces Wrestlemania Moment they can put in every video package.

Per Dave, Cena vs Taker is a 90% lock and Brock vs Goldberg 3 as well since someone finally convinced Vince that Goldberg is a bigger star than Shane.

Give Ronda some time, she just did the "two bad losses" part of the Tyson plan, ear biting should be just around the corner.

...and the angle around it was utterly pointless.

If they brought in Ronda and basically redid the Austin/Tyson angle with her and Charlotte I could see it being huge. Unfortunately I'd see them most likely wasting her appearance on another Steph S&M cosplay Mania moment so she could flex her alpha female nuts.

Rush vs La Parka's super libre match was my lucha MOTY.

The Botter thing is puzzling, Guy's been with them seemingly forever and was doing all the PR work for them only to get ousted seemingly out of nowhere and replaced by someone doing some kind of weird Twitter gimmick. Unless he shit on someone's desk it makes zero sense.

That would be awesome, but doesn't the Japanese TV network that aired All Japan (NTV?) own the rights to most/all of the library? Yes, I think that's why some cross promotional matches are missing from NJPW World too.

Poor KO, the Abobo of WWE.

KO isn't setting the world on fire,but the booking isn't helping things when he's portrayed as someone Seth is just wasting his time on until the real end boss shows up.

If someone wanted to argue that Flair not hanging it up in the nWo era hurt his legacy, I'd be open to that. Between times and tastes changing and Bischoff's seemingly unending hardon against him, had he seen the writing on the wall and called it a career in 1996 I doubt there'd be a discussion like this today,

Well WWE didn't want him when he was a TNA guy, it was only after he was a top star in NJPW that they had interest. He's just lucky they didn't feel he needed to spend two years in NXT learning where the hard camera is like other guys from that "indy" (Balor, Nak).

It sounds like "get off my lawn" old man complaining, but it's hard to look at the varied opponents he had as NWA champ in the early-mid 80s and think he's overrated. He made complete lumps look like a million bucks more than anyone I can think of. Now he did have his flaws, of course, but the whole idea that he's overrated is just lunacy. It just comes off as the pro wrestling version of a HAWT SPORTZ TAEK you'd hear on talk radio or an ESPN shouty head show.

It's hardly boogeyman shit when you see people get called up to the main roster and everything that made them over in NXT was forgotten about.

I assume that he actually does understand the difference, and if he doesn't he probably isn't fit to run the company from a fiscal perspective after Vince is gone. You can read this in two ways IMO: either he knows Vince would have no clue what to do with Nakamura and have him doing some "choppy choppy your pee pee" 2.0 gimmick on the main roster, or he's trying to keep some of the top name talent for his brand. I half jokingly suggested that when Vince is gone you might see H/Steph and Shane/Dunn running separate companies, and the conspiracy theorist part of my brain keeps thinking that the constant branding of NXT as not developmental is setting up the foundation for that.

Went back and watched the Big Event show from 1986, which was the largest show pre WM 3 they've done. The main event vs Orndorff might be the best WWF Hogan match I've ever seen. It deviates from the usual "Hulk vs monster" format and has a fired up Hulkster looking to get revenge for being wronged. Having Johnny V on commentary was a bit distracting at times, but it was a pretty good show if you're looking for something to check out.