sek69

So the WWE 24 on Bryan's retirement left the impression he really didn't want to retire and Brie basically begged him to/talked him into it but it. Plus Dave was talking about how it appears he wasn't at the Bellas' mom's wedding, I hope the issue isn't marital issues between them.

It would make perfect sense in that they've made several kind-of-inside comments that what happens on NXT doesn't matter (unless of course it does like with the women), so them making all the NXT guys Shane's crew would be the most WWE thing they could do.

Of course you're not wrong, she's a hot chick who's already on another TV property they push the snot out of. Who would tell you you're wrong for saying that? Plus she was on WWE TV before going down there so she's not a "homegrown" NXT talent in the eyes of someone like Vince.

I'm just happy they didn't stick Kane or some other out of place big guy in the ladder match this year.

Eva Marie probably gets a decent payday from Total Divas, they wouldn't need to pay her six figures in NXT.

Vince was at the NXT show before Mania last year and was pissed that the crowd was chanting "better than Mania" during the show. I wouldn't be shocked that he might not hold anyone from NXT in high regards because of that. It would just fit in with everything we know about Vince to have a "I'll show them who's better" mentality.

Ivan would routinely mention the Kremlin was in charge of booking matches involving him and other Russians in the NWA.

Why would a gimmick in NXT work and fail on the main roster? Maybe they need better bookers on the main roster? Because Vince doesn't see guys in NXT as stars, so when they get the callup they get positioned the way Vince sees them. Dave pretty much said that's why Sami got called up with zero fanfare and stuck into a multiman IC title match.

From what I can tell it's the guy from the Performance Center who looks like a giant Carlito doing a club gimmick. Seems like a gimmick that will probably work in NXT but die a death on the main roster.

You would think that when WWE came to him with all these plans he would have told them he wasn't really feeling going back on the road, and not after everything was booked, advertised, and promoted based on his being there.

Makes you wonder why they would book an Appreciation Night, a UK Tour, and Axxess appearances for a guy who wasn't 100% ready to get back on the horse so to speak.

He wouldn't drop all appearances over that though. Plus she was wrestling as of two weeks ago and was posting pics on Instagram with dudes she was training with at some MMA dojo.

Thought this was a good time to bring this back to life since it's been re-christened The Award-Winning WWE Network and the full name must be used at all times including during promos and video descriptions on YouTube.

It's clear that the New Day is getting the Smilin' Babyface Diesel treatment, and that's sad.

So apparently Veda Scott got fed up with ROH not doing anything with the women and is trying to sign with TNA. If the land of late paychecks and low morale is the better option, that says something.

So are we at a point where anything we don't like is the Most Awful Thing Ever and everyone involved in it needs jettisoned into the sun? Because it kind of seems like that's where we're at. I mean, if someone or something isn't your cup of tea that's fine, but reading about people going into TV breaking fits of rage over corny gimmicks seems a bit excessive.

Considering NXT guys are rumored to be starting on the main roster after WM, may be Taker wins and Shane comes out with his NXT army to a mega pop from the day after Mania crowd? Sadly I wouldn't put it past them to have one of the most anticipated Raws of the year turn into a three hour McMahon wank fest about how they always win in the end.

One way I can see this sort of making sense is that if Taker loses, he states he's a man of his word and says that it was his last Mania match even if Shane overturns the stip. That way Taker can be the Honorable Veteran and not make Shane look like a doofus for honoring the authority he was fighting to overthrow.

I'm not saying it's the moral high point of journalism or anything, but to say a celebrity sex tape isn't news in 2016 is disingenuous.

Dunno. Too bad the fans probably don't trust the WWE to honor any stipulations involving the Authority but I think Taker not wrestling again at Mania is a pill the fans would be ready to swallow. He has nothing going for himself now. The streak is over. He is 50 and not gonna put on the instant classics he was with Shawn or Hunter or etc anymore. Ending the Authority at Taker's expense I think is an outcome the fans would accept as a necessary loss. One of the biggest complaints people have is since the Authority steamrolls everyone, there's never a happy ending. So they go and add stips that ensure there won't be a happy ending no matter what the result.

I did love how when they ran off a list of names Sheamus's parents could have used, they mentioned Stephen which I'm pretty sure is his real first name. But yes, it's hard to kick off a babyface run when your first opponents are the worst heel faction in WWE.

Basically Hogan's team wanted the story and the video pulled, which was bullshit because the story was legit news, Gawker got too cocky and kept both the story and video (which had they pulled the video, would have made the following lawsuit moot). Gawker has grounds for appeal since there are recordings of Hulk talking about the tape with Bubba and he's clearly only worried that the racist stuff was on there.

The opening segment just reeked of typical WWE almost-self awareness though. They knew HHH would get cheered in Philly so their master plan to get Roman cheered this week was to have him be the one babyface who doesn't allow Steph to emasculate them. WM is still a mess. There's no need for two multi person matches, Steen-Zayn would have been a stellar match using their NXT history as a build, but goddamn we have to have a multi person ladder match every year now. Props to Zack for getting a spot on the card, but he's the most obvious replacement guy on a WWE PPV since Bobby Heenan filled in at Survivor Series after Tully got fired. Also very interesting to see Taker-Shane get hyped as the main event during the show, but the local cable company commercial for the PPV was all about the title match. Wonder if that means Vince is losing faith finally in Roman, or just wants his program to get the top billing.

Wasn't the amount of cocaine found in Gino's system several times higher than even the biggest addict would consume at one time? That combined with him possibly pissing off people capable of putting a hit on someone seemed to be the rationale behind the foul play story. Plus there's probably folks connected to WCCW at the time who still believe David died of ruptured intestines from being kicked in a match that was scheduled a day or two after his death so anyone from that era should be taken with a grain of salt.

That's not the message I took from that. The message I took was that they didn't expect anyone to know about AJ at all because he spent so much time in TNA, and that was incorrect on their part.