sek69

I still say WWE stays put unless Fox Sports decides they want another tent-pole attraction for FS1 to go with UFC and backs a dump truck full of money into Vince's driveway. I'm pretty sure all they want from NBCU is enough of an increase of the rights fees to save face and perhaps a better network/slot for Smackdown. As much as the ratings would justify what they are asking for any other kind of programming, I just don't see them getting the level of increase they told Wall Street to expect. It's probably going to end up like the Network subs, not a bad number but disappointing based on hype levels.

When you put your world champion - who your fans literally hijacked months of shows to get in that position - into a Z level horror movie storyline, that's a pretty good reason to bash the current product. Intentional or not, it comes off as a giant "fuck you" to the paying customers for forcing them to change their booking when they clearly didn't want to.

Considering Sheamus's gimmick is Mr. AHH LOVES TA FAIGHT~! I could see Vince souring on him as a top level guy after getting beat up by a jobber level guy.

Unless I misheard, didn't Stephanie provide Bryan and Brie the car on Raw so they could escape Kane? Made sense given that it was tampered with to not start later on.

People saying that probably watched his NXT debut where the Full Sail crowd went completely apeshit for the entrance, complete with a "that was awesome" chant. Not to mention in NXT the announcers completely laid out and let whatever happen play out naturally instead of on Raw where Michael Cole sounded like a dad trying too hard to be hip saying how cool the dancing was.

Not to mention wouldn't a show in the PG Era run on a delay of some kind in case of any errant f-bombs or nip slips?

Meltzer was saying in the latest update that the recommend a friend offer and the programming guy leaving was not a matter of coincidence. He also stated the next WON with all the business news would be eye opening for current talent. I guess WWE is about to make it official that guys are going to take it in the ass payoff wise in the Network Era.

The way they were talking about Brie not being there on the wrap up show seemed to telegraph a husband and wife mixed tag at some point.

HOF and Network/DVD Talkiing Head gigs are pretty much a certainty, I wouldn't be opposed to him being an authority figure at some point. As much as I think the role is done to death, it's clear WWE will never get rid of it as a booking crutch so might as well have someone who can do it well. I'm curious to see how he gets placed in the official WWE version of history. He was pretty much the only guy Vince could never get, so I'd wager his dislike of offering superlatives to guys he didn't create might be tempered by finally getting the one that always eluded him.

So how does Ross balance bashing the "dirt sheets" on his show with never having problem with doing a show with Bryan or Dave when he has something to shill? The more you hear him outside the context of calling a wrestling show, the more you realize he's the guy who changes course based on who he's talking to.

I didn't get a chance to see it, but apparently there's something running on the network now (Warrior doc?) where in the background of one scene there's a PPV poster with a post-it note over CM Punk's face. If true, that's an awesome moment in WWE petty behavior history.

My two cents on the issue as someone who tries to watch CMLL weekly is that it seems Mexico is in the same phase US indies were in the 2000s where everyone was trying to do MOAR FLIPZ, and AAA is like what ECW would be if it never went out of business and somehow relocated south of the border.

Not that I think a heel turn is coming, but I marked out a little for Cena's "ya'll just fucked me" reaction when they revealed the results of the crowd polling. Probably because it was him actually reacting like a human and not a corporate robot for once.

Watching Smackdown on the DVR, and I'm wondering when the last time there was a midget match in WWF/E? I would think Doink and friends vs Lawler and friends is the last one I remember.

The tabloid photo posted earlier reminded me of my mom trying to hide a National Inquirer from the early 90s because it had a cover story claiming to expose the Ultimate Warrior's former career as a gay escort. She thought I'd get mad about it since I was such a huge wrestling fan I must have been a Warrior fan too. I actually thought it was hilarious (I was picturing his pillow talk voice being the same as his insane promos), and when all his political stuff came out later on the first thing I thought of was "I wonder if he doth protest too much".

Dave mentioned that AJ requested time off after Mania.

It's not the cupcake guy who needs to know, it's the audio techs who need to know what theme to play or the graphic people to put up the 22-0 or 21-2 graphic based on who wins. I got the impression JBL either knew or figured it out based on how hard he was being told to push the "Taker's going out on his shield" aspect, but it seemed Cole and Lawler were legit shocked at the finish. Cole especially had a tone that was part "WTF" and part incredulous.

I would venture that audiences are entertained less by physiques than ever these days. I think it's because most people these days realize jacked up dudes are unnatural and have negative effects on the person's life, and also there seems to be more appreciation for wrestling ability than there was in the 80s. It takes more than looking like Mr. Olympia to impress the casual fan these days.

I don't begrudge the guy for having opinions that differ than mine (or most people's), it's just that the brief time he was seemingly trying to carve out a role as a right-wing talking head that rubs people the wrong way the most I'd wager. It's one thing to make YouTube videos for people to lol at, it's another to go on speaking tours that usually boil down to namecalling anyone who disagrees with you. Still. I don't think this is the time and place to debate his world view when the guy just left behind a 11 and 13 year old.

From his promo on Raw last night: "One day every man's heart beats its final beat, his lungs breath their final breath, and if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others, it makes them believe deeper in something larger than life, then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized by the storytellers, by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honor him and make what the man did live forever"

I would think they have to do more than an in memoriam since the guy was just the HOF main eventer a few days ago. Sucks his kids are so young to lose a parent as well. He didn't look in great shape on Raw, but it seemed like just the usual "beat up former wrestler" wear and tear rather than someone about to die the next day.

Even worse was that she misspoke something while intro'ing him and he felt the proper way to address the issue would be to mimic humping her face on live TV.

It was interesting to see how the overall theme of the show seemed to be one era ending and another beginning. This was the first time it really felt like something different was taking place (even before the streak ended), and it had more "Wrestlemania moments" in one show than there's been in the last few Manias. Looking back, it kind of seems like they did the Hulk/Austin/Rock open to establish they respect the legends before they ran a show full of almost every long time star putting a new guy over. I agree there's no way Cena was winning his match if Taker was losing his.

I loved that for all the times he promised the streak would end, Heyman looked like the most shocked guy in the building when it happened.

I'm watching it now, I think he was trying to link his family at WM to his daughter in NXT. As soon as Flair mentioned Reid you could kind of see the other three get a "oh fuck..." look on their faces.