Coffey

I feel like Bray Wyatt would make a stronger case if he would just say that he's going to end The Undertaker's career at Wrestlemania. Trying to talk in riddles & metaphors & whatnot... he's just too damn long-winded & people lose interest in what he's saying.

That's at least the fifth time tonight that JBL has said "why would you pay $65 for a PPV when you can get the WWE Network for $10!?" -- Isn't the WWE Network still limited in the areas where it is available? Why tell people they're dumb if they want to buy the PPV? Wouldn't WWE, from a business perspective, want people to pay more?

What terrible, random news to wake up to. R.I.P. & condolences to his friends, family & fans.

If TTK's goal was to make this thread feel like DVDVR, he succeeded.

Oh, boo. Not the Smash promotion I thought it was. The Smash wrestling, ran by Tajiri in Japan was one of my guilty pleasure shows for a long time. I watched almost all of their shows. There was a really good Fit Finlay Vs. Tajiri match. I also really liked Hajime Ohara's look & thought Starbuck was pretty good. Was also the first exposure I ever had to Kana. Was not a fan of Veneno at all though. Too bad they closed, or went out of business, or whatever the hell happened. So I Googled this promotion & after reading what Dylan said, I'm going to have to check them out too. Thanks for the heads-up, Shoe.

Bunch of dudes dressed up as old school wrestlers in the front row. WWE made them take off their costumes. That's pretty shitty.

I'm a wrestling fan. Wrestlemania is the biggest show of the year, from the biggest promotion on the planet and I've followed their product for years, so yeah, I'll be watching. Plus, I already have the WWE Network anyway, so why would I not watch it? Am I happy with how everything has turned out? No, not really...but am I ever? There will always be something to complain about and I usually do. I don't really care who wins/loses each match, I'm just hoping for some memorable moments, some good matches & a hot crowd. I think I'll get all of that. I look forward to watching this with my girlfriend, my best friend & his wife, while eating nachos & pizza and shooting the shit. We're making a day out of it. It should be a lot of fun. If the show is subpar, we'll have fun by making fun of it. If the show is great, hey, bonus. One of the highlights for Wrestlemania each year to me, is seeing who gets new gear or big, elaborate entrances. That's a lot of fun to me. I am also really excited for the post-Wrestlemania RAW as that crowd is notoriously hot & that's usually when WWE does something big to kickoff the next "season" of WWE television. Sting Vs. HHH and The Undertaker Vs. Bray Wyatt will both be spectacles. I don't think either will be a good wrestling match but I expect to see a lot of bells & whistles to cover up for that. The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will, most likely, be a jobber show... but Battle Royales are always fun. The Intercontinental multiman clusterfuck, I'm sure, is going to have some sick ass spots that make me shake my head but I'll be entertained none the less. Let's hope I don't have to cringe too many times at bad bumps off of ladders. Rusev Vs. John Cena is the match that I'm most anticipating and I don't care if Cena wins or Rusev wins. If Cena wins, cool, try to add some prestige to the U.S. title & fade him out of the main event scene. If Rusev wins, cool, he'll be a top dawg heel with a lot of momentum. Randy Orton Vs. Seth Rollins is probably the match that I anticipate the least, outside of random Divas match or Tag Team match. I'm just not real high on the Orton train, but I do like Rollins. If Rollins loses, he could cash-in later too, which is something. Brock Lesnar Vs. Roman Reigns, I'm more interested in the crowd reaction than anything else. Maybe WWE will have Roman turn heel, or Heyman turn on Brock or both or whatever. Maybe Roman just wins clean and gets booed. It'll be interesting no matter what, just because I have no idea which direction they're actually going to go. At the end of the day, one of my hobbies is posting on various internet wrestling message forums. If I don't watch Wrestlemania, I'll be like the only guy not knowing what is going on & then I would be trying to avoid spoilers, or not being able to partake in conversation post show and, eh, I wanna watch it. A lot of the fun of pro-wrestling to me is the surprises & living in the moment that comes about from watching live shows. If I read about it afterward, there's no shock or surprise. I already know what's going to happen.

How does the pay even work for the wrestlers now based on the WWE Network? I remember that was one of the things Punk mentioned for taking off. Did they ever figure that out, or we having a second Wrestlemania where no one knows what they're getting paid?

It certainly feels like WWE is not trying read hard for Wrestlemania this year. I'm not sure if it's a case of them just assuming people will buy it based on name alone, because it's on the WWE Network, or both.

The new Jim Ross blog really made my skin crawl and blood boil. Every cliché you would expect to see is in there unironically.

I would say late 1994 for me. Last guy I cared about being or becoming Intercontinental champion was Razor Ramon. I didn't care about the feud with Jeff Jarrett, or when Jarrett won the title. Certainly didn't care about Dean Douglas, Ahmed Johnson or Goldust. Everything after Summerslam 1994 probably. Austin & Rock feuded over the IC belt too in 1997 but it was way dead for me by then. I mostly watched WCW over WWF at that time period. EDIT: Replied before reading the thread entirely, like a jobber. Had no idea it was an old thread.

Triple H throws out one-liners insulting the internet because he wants to be booed at Wrestlemania by smart fans. Smart fans that don't give a fuck to watch Triple H or Sting wrestle in the first place. That can surely not backfire. Triple H is, at least partially, responsible for a lot of the success of NXT, which the majority of smart fans seem to really enjoy & give him credit for. I don't think it's that black-and-white. It never is. I'm just an idiot guy getting worked though. Me and Lance Storm.

I'm in the camp that Rollins should be a babyface (and Reigns heel) anyway, so I wouldn't complain about that.

Some of the stuff Jeff Jarrett did in TNA actually wasn't bad. Dare I say even entertaining. Double J Double M A Challenge. "Tap that mat!"

I said it here before Lance Storm ever said it. Grumble, grumble.

Ever? I'm not sure. I would have to think about it more. Currently? Easily Michael Cole. Admittedly, Alice is terrible. So terrible, in fact, that I stopped listening to the Jim Cornette podcasts completely. That being said, although she is terrible, Jim talking about politics & religion was equally bad. On a grand scheme though, she's just a co-host on a podcast that I no longer listen to. That doesn't affect my pro-wrestling fix at all, really.

Well, I know Bayley didn't start in NXT. She was Davina Rose & wrestled in Shimmer that I know of.

This is an interesting take & thought. I can't really disagree with it either.

Don't overthink it. Just put him on ignore & move on.

Triple H Vs. Sting The Undertaker Vs. Bray Wyatt Brock Lesnar Vs. Roman Reigns These are three of the biggest matches going into Wrestlemania. The next night on RAW, of the six guys, four of them won't be wrestling again anytime soon. So are we going to get a Roman Vs. Bray feud post Wrestlemania? WWE has a bad habit of doing this lately. The biggest show of the year & the guys that work all year are never seemingly the focal point of it.

I don't understand Triple H constantly taking shots at "internet fans." I mean, the entirety of RAW has a hashtag in the top left hand corner. WWE shills WWE.com & the WWE app the entirety of the show. Every wrestler that comes out has a Twitter handle. You need the internet to watch the WWE Network. It's just so stupid. Like, does he think "the internet" is still something that only a handful of people have? Their entire viewing audience is on the internet. Everyone with a cell phone has the internet.

Casual Fans are not what I think of when I think of Wrestlemania. Those tickets are not cheap. You have hardcore fans from all over the world flying over to go to it. Same with RAW the night after. It's been this way for the past few years. Crowd is gonna be loud & super smarky.

I can't think of anyone on the planet wanting to see a WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns Vs. The Big Show feud. Jesus Christ.

I'm more interested in the crowd reactions than I am the matches at this point. WWE could just turn Brock babyface & have him retain if they could get him to re-sign...but that seems up in the air & doesn't help their new star problem.

Kane & Big Show have been protected more than anyone lately, including Cena & Roman. It's flabberghasting.