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I heard the theory being advanced that they're jobbing Ambrose out to keep another Daniel Bryan situation from happening when they give Reigns the Rumble win.

So Bryan mentioned on the Sunday B&V show that Kevin Dunn hates accents and that was the main reason Adam Rose got buried in WWE. That doesn't bode well for Adrian Neville, Finn Balor, and Becky Lynch. I wonder if that's why they did the whole NJPW entrance/Carnage facepaint with Balor in NXT to make it hard to justify another Dunn burial.

It's great that Destination America is going to run all these "Best of..." TNA specials, but I shudder at the thought of how that will just give ammo to the TNA Asylum types who still insist the only reason Impact didn't take over WWE is because Spike didn't promote them enough.

Serious question, would it cause the same concern if it came out he was getting a cut from the "MELTZER DRIVER EVERYONE" shirt the Young Bucks came out with?

I mean, Dave's so over the moon with NJPW these days it's not like he'd only gush over the show if he was calling it. If anything, I could see Dave tempering his enthusiasm for the show if he had done it just to avoid coming off as a shill. When Ryder was working for WCW, everyone knew what the deal was and it's not like he was a bastion of credibility even with that taken out of the equation. He was the epitome of a guy who made it big because he was one of the first, not from being good at what he did. There's a reason why once the internet grew, people left his site in droves and the people who stayed ended up drowning in popups. It's just so odd to me that it's like there's an expectation that Dave should be held to a higher standard than folks who cover real sports. ESPN is famous for not even bothering to cover sports that they don't get money from, yet we're supposed to have concern that getting one paycheck from Jarrett's vanity promotion will stain his legacy.

It seems like he never pursued the job, it was more like whoever Jarrett was consulting (probably JR I would assume) mentioned Dave as someone who they thought would do well in the role as someone who would be able to talk about NJPW without sounding like he was completely out to lunch. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned he was in the running, but I could just see if it came out later the same people would be freaking out like "OMG WHAT ELSE HAS DAVE BEEN KEEPING SECRET". Besides, he's not doing the job so I really don't get why there's a need to create some kind of Dave-gate over this.

Watching 1996s Raws, and man are the Billionare Ted skits like watching Vince's id being broadcast on national TV. Once you get past the initial mean spiritedness, you see it's very much Vince acting out like a jilted lover. The "Larry Fling" character is such an obvious Mary Sue, asking the Huckster and Nacho Man questions like "the WWF made you stars, why did you leave them". It's like a teenage boy who got dumped having access to top level TV production.

Between not having access to internet reliable enough for streaming video and a gap in knowledge of devices to stream with, there's plenty of valid reasons for someone to order on PPV rather than the network. It's not even just people out in the boonies either in terms of reliable internet. Here in the Pittsburgh area if you don't have Fios or Comcast you're stuck with speeds that are barely fast enough for YouTube videos let alone watching a nearly 3 hour show.

I don't see how it would have been wrong for him to be willing to announce for them. Maybe if it was a full time gig, but Dave would never have made that sort of commitment. As a one time deal it would have been fine I think. It would have been far more weird to me listening him talk about wrestling in a kayfabe manner than wondering if it would have compromised his coverage in the newsletter.

All the Nitros are still up, so I think that might be a false rumor.

A news bit in the daily WON update mentioned starting Sunday there's going to be more Raws, Smackdowns, and Sunday Night Heats (!) added to the VOD section.

Possibly, but he's also said he's changed his diet in recent years that started off the weight loss as well.

Well 1996 kicked off the biggest boom period in wrestling ever with the nWo stuff, and I think 1998 was their most profitable year before the bottom fell out. I do agree 1992 was the better year in ring wise.

I find it funny that Dave is always bringing up the dated references used by the WWE announce team, but never passes up a chance to make a 70s Roller Derby reference in the newsletter. This week it was comparing Charlotte to some tall blonde who Dave claims was one of the most popular female athletes in the country at the time, which makes me wonder if he realizes Roller Derby wasn't nearly as popular everywhere else as it was on the West Coast.

Wasn't Sasha working indies prior to going to NXT? She seems to be really solid in the ring and as stated her promos are getting better but still have room to grow. I think what gets Dave and others to go so nuts over Charlotte is that she's gotten to be really good in a very short period of time. It kind of reminds me how The Giant didn't look out of place main eventing PPVs against Hulk Hogan in his second or third match ever. The sense of "if she's this good now, in a few years she could be the best EVER!" seem to take over people's minds.

There's nothing more WWE than having the reaction to record low Raw ratings be to Bring Back The Olds. Nothing helps the current guys grab that brass ring like bringing in guys from the past so everyone can fawn over the real stars.

Not saying they're going to end up the same way, but going to three hours of bad creative every week (plus a largely useless 2 hour B show) was what started souring people on WCW. When they are getting lapped by their own developmental group, someone has to find a way to pierce the bubble Vince is in.

Well Raw just hit a record low rating this week, so I don't know how much more of a hint he needs.

I'd assume there's probably something in the contract stipulating RAW is three hours, but I can't imagine there isn't any way Vince can't go to them and say this is killing our business. Of course as I type that i realize that would hinge on Vince admitting it, which kind of goes against 30+ years of documented Vince-sanity.

Three hours is just killing WWE at this point. How can you possibly expect anyone but the hardcores to sit through that much programming? You're certainly not going to get any curious potential new fans to make that level of investment. They have to be at the point where whatever extra TV money coming from an extra hour of Raw is being outweighed by audience fatigue.

I thought that was him, but I couldn't figure out why he'd want to be part of that. Then I realized they were in Detroit and it was probably free money for a show he probably would have went to anyway.

This show was weird to me in the sense there was nothing wrong with the matches themselves, they were all OK to very good. The issue is I couldn't be bothered to give a shit about anything going on at all. They might as well have aired 3 hours of guys having practice matches at the Performance Center.

Hasn't it been stated by several former WWE writers already that Vince doesn't even pay much attention to things outside the main event level in WWE? The idea that he keeps tabs on NXT seemed silly to me. It's also the likely reason KD can sway him against NXT guys so easy if Vince has never seen them down there he only has Dunn's word that they don't have it.

Seems like Hunter, when parsing his corporate-speak, more or less echoed what Austin said in his interview with Vince that there's way too many people on the writing/creative team these days.

When Zayn won and the crowd was all on their feet it really reminded me of old school ECW crowds* where they would be really invested in seeing an angle pay off and showed respect to the guys involved. NXT crowds sometimes get shit for being to smart for their own good (not always undeserved), but last night was a real refreshing scene. *In which I mean "applaud for Eddie vs Malenko" and not the "vampires cheering for MOAR VIOLENCE* crowds.