Coffey

How does he need shoulder surgery now too? That's confusing to me. It wasn't bad enough before but it is now? Surely he didn't mess up his shoulder while out with injury for his neck, no? What sort of physical stuff would he be doing to get a messed-up shoulder? How was it overlooked the first time? At this point, it feels like an Edge situation with a retirement announcement is just around the corner. Which would be a shame from a fan perspective, but it's not worth risking his long-term health. Then again, a year from now, who knows? The more reports we hear about Daniel Bryan the more is sounds like we're not getting nearly enough information or there's a lot of incompetent doctors. I know nothing about neck surgery but everything we keep hearing & reading is that he keeps getting worse every week instead of better, post-surgery.

I read that WWE Network is free for a week & accepting sign-ups without needing a credit card to try it out too. So if there's anyone here that hasn't tried it already, now would be the time. I haven't checked myself, since I'm already a member, so I'm not sure the validity of it but thought I would pass the information along.

Although I was apathetic towards him for quite some time, I'm feeling this Swagger Vs. Rusev feud. I think the crowds are digging it too. Lana & Zeb will obviously have a big part in it as well. Maybe WWE lucked into something. I feel like the crowds have been wanting to cheer Zeb/Swagger because of the "We the People" stuff for awhile now. I'm sure it will just lead to another Rusev win at Battleground in two weeks but maybe WWE will prove me wrong. Not saying Rusev shouldn't win but it would be nice to keep them away from each other, physically, and just build the match up for Summerslam instead to make it a bigger deal. Since Zeb has been doing the "Deportation List" thing for awhile now, having him & Swagger not like Rusev & Lana makes sense, I just didn't think it would happen since Swagger & Rusev were both working heel. Glad to see I was wrong there. I think Swagger will work better as a babyface too.

I don't know if he's ready but the fans have been clamoring for "anyone but Cena" for a long time now. Reigns is gonna be OK, I think, but if they think he's the second coming of The Rock, I don't see it yet. He has a good look, he's been protected by booking & he's certainly over so far. I guess we'll see. I'm with you though, I don't think he's been tested in a long, WWE style main event singles match yet. Every time they have put him on TV in a single's match, like his RAW match post-Chamber with Bray Wyatt, the crowds have sort of soured on it. He has three big spots: Superman Punch, Apron Dropkick & Spear. But what does he do in-between? Does WWE want Roman Reigns as a babyface that takes a beating a whole match & makes comebacks? Maybe they'll just book him in squashes & multi-man matches to protect him even longer. He's slowly getting more mic time each week too. I think Cena still has a lot in the tank but what else can he do at this point? Break Ric Flair's 16-title record & then what? I think if they were ever going to turn him heel it would have happened already. So what does this mean for Brock Lesnar then? Beats Cena for the title at Summerslam, holds it until Wrestlemania & then loses it to Roman Reigns whom wins the Rumble? Would people buy Wrestlemania/WWE Network Subscriptions for WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, the man whom ended the Undertaker's undefeated Wrestlemania streak against Roman Reigns? That's a pretty big rocket... At this point, I think people get Wrestlemania for the name alone anyway, so maybe. Plus it's not like Cena won't be on the card too. I will admit, right now, Ambrose seems to be on fire. So we'll see how things pan out.

Finally watched NJPW Dominion last night with a buddy of mine. That's the first NJPW show in probably two years where I thought the first half of the show prior to the intermission was better than the second half of the show. Bad Luck Fale is just the driz. Actually, the Bullet Club as a whole seems to be a black cloud on the promotion now, especially with Devitt leaving. I do like Styles though. The show felt like a lot of the best talent was wasted in tag matches with other mediocre guys. I still have really high expectations for the G1 Climax.

you seriously have the worst opinions about everything Well seeing as how I don't even know who you are or remember a single one of your posts, thanks, I guess?

Emma just isn't very good, straight-up. However I don't think that really matters so much to this issue. WWE seem like hypocrites here.

I had never seen her work before & just assumed she sucked. The first time I ever saw her actually wrestle was on NXT against Bayley in a match that I just assumed would be a Bayley showcase match. I was wrong. It was in the first round of the NXT Women's Title Tournament. I won't say she's great because that would be hyperbole. I will say, she impressed me & was a lot better than I thought she was going to be. I think she has potential.

I love RybAxel. They're like a throw-back tag team to the 80's for me. Ryback is like the bully in every teen movie from the 80's. It's priceless. I, too, wish they played up the dumb jock thing more. They're a pretty good team, honestly. There's just not a lot of them flying around in WWE right now. Usos Vs. RybAxel has happened so many times already for no reason that it would be hard to make a crowd care about it now. I wouldn't be mad at them getting a run with the belts though. Maybe after The Ascension gets called-up & topples the Usos, WWE will look at RybAxel again & try to do something with them.

1. Probably Luke Harper. 2. Rusev Vs. Big E, Hoss on Hoss crime at WWE Money in the Bank 2014. Good, stiff sprint with a SICK bump off the Spear. 3. Tomohiro Ishii, Katsuyori Shibata & early André the Giant. 4. A ROH show in Dayton, Ohio back when Homicide & Samoa Joe were still around I think. I went to a WWE house show back when D-Lo Brown was still employed there, so it's been awhile for sure. Not a lot of live shows around me & it's not fun to travel to shows solo. A lot of my friends don't watch wrestling like they used to. 5. Does John Cena Vs. Brock Lesnar 2 at Summerslam count? That should be good. I need to catch up on my New Japan as well. I still need to watch Dominion. 6. There's a lot of fun stuff on the post-show(s) for RAW/PPV on the WWE Network. Anything where Renee Young gets ribbed is great. A Terry Funk promo from an Insane Clown Posse show (of all things) had me in stitches though. He straight called Piper's mother a whore & I just fell the fuck out. 7. Stuff about the time frame for the return of Daniel Bryan. It just keeps getting worse & worse. 8. I'm not sure. I can leave most of them. Steve Austin has a few good ones. I used to listen to The LAW a lot but I find myself disagree with them so much & I can't stand Meltzer talking, so I stopped. I like the pre-interview parts of the Ross Report when he just talks about wrestling. 9. The Elimination Chamber: The Wyatt Family Vs. The Shield. A hot crowd & a great match with a clean finish.

Paige is not great, all around. Maybe terrible is too strong of a word but she needs work. You can tell that she's really young & pretty green. She can't talk, at all but not a lot of people can anymore. Scripted promos kill a lot of talent. Her ring work isn't great but like Natalya, if you slap on a submission people ooh & awe & think you're some how "technical" all of a sudden. Even the little things, like Paige's ring entrance, really, really sucks. I don't think she was ready to get called up at all. She wasn't impressive in NXT but a lot of people fawned over her around the internet because she was pretty. They'll deny that's what it was, but that's exactly it. Overrating her because she was attractive. Same shit that happened with Trish Stratus. Obviously some people might disagree with that assessment & could probably make a great argument to the contrary but that is what I have seen & what I feel. If Paige looked like Jazz, no one would care about her at all, in my opinion. Paige is a decent bumper already though. That match at Money in the Bank with Naomi wasn't terrible but that was mostly, surprisingly, because Naomi was doing big, athletic spots. Paige took a couple sick bumps to her credit though. Or maybe to her detriment as the back bump to the outside was dumb. Paige also suffers from horrible booking. Her debut was the pits with her being the in-awe newcomer stumbling over her words to just be in the same ring with the real "star." Then all of her matches were her taking a beating (even by people the live audience has been trained over the years to not take seriously) until she could hit a move to get an out-of-nowhere win that made them all look like flukes. Then, last night, AJ Lee just beat her right after her return, pretty much reenforcing that belief that she was a paper champion & a fluke. She might have reached her ceiling in NXT as I'm not sure what more the people down there actually learn once they're put on TV. She certainly doesn't seem like she's ready for RAW. Then again, WWE put people that aren't ready for RAW on RAW all the time, like Cameron or Eva Marie or girls like Kelly Kelly in the past & Paige is certainly better than them. She's still really young & barring injury, she'll get a lot better. She needs a lot of work though, all around. On her character, her ring work, her promos, everything. Even the shit that a lot of us never talk about & act like it doesn't matter (ring attire, makeup, etc.) -- I know it's a faux pas to mention that stuff...but it matters on the big stage of high def. WWE RAW. I'm all for the women in WWE getting more shine, getting treated better & putting on good matches. The crowd seemed really into the AJ Lee return last night on RAW & the confrontation between AJ Lee & Paige, so I think it's possible, it just takes WWE to get behind them & treat them as equal to the men...which is a long, uphill battle. I have seen great women's wrestling. Mostly in Japan. As long as the fans are acting like Trish Stratus Vs. Lita is the top rung of the ladder, women's wrestling in WWE will always suck. Same goes for the commentary team burying the women, that doesn't help anyone. I know it might not sound like it from this post but I do really like Paige. She's only 21-years-old, for heaven's sake, so she obviously has a lot of upside. Putting her in the ring with Cameron, Aksana, Alicia Fox & Brie Bella is not going to make anyone care about her. Just being better than the rest of the division when the rest of the division is the drizzling shits doesn't mean you're good though, the bar has to be higher.

Pray it happens sooner cause this Stardust shit is embarrassingly horrific.

Speaking of Chris Hero & the ROH Pure Title reminded me of one of my favorite moments in ROH: during an ROH Pure Title Match, the power went out for a short time. Chris Hero informed the ring announcer to tell the referee that during the blackout, his opponent had used all of his rope breaks. It was just a funny moment making the best of a bad situation.

It's a shame that no matter what, some fans will never give the women a chance.

This. Although the match was still good with some insane bumps. That Rollins bump on the horizontal ladder was nuts.

Match was legit. Jeez. This show is on fire.

So I guess we can't have too many good things in a row, gotta throw in that WWE "comedy."

Goddamn, the women put on their workin' boots tonight.

That curtain jerk tag was awesome. I can't wait for the Luke Harper solo push. Dude is MONEY!

This would be insane! Would immediately shake things up & would be totally unpredictable. What do you build to, what's the blow off? Ambrose as Champ that can't be controlled by The Authority 'cause he's nuts, a feud with Seth Rollins to continue & tease dissension/jealously from Reigns? Then an Orton babyface turn cause Triple H has given Rollins Orton's spot? That could work. You can still do Cena/Lesnar as it doesn't need the belt. You can do Triple H/Reigns. And then Ambrose/Rollins for the title program...but they would take a third seat behind the other two feuds and then what does Orton do for Summerslam? As a babyface against Kane for punishment?

I think it would be cool if Rowan & Harper won the tag team titles & Wyatt won the Money in the Bank match so RAW can open tomorrow with the Wyatt Family coming out with all the gold. That being said, I think the Usos will retain & Cena will win the title. The Usos can lose to Ascension when called up & Cena gets to his feud with a returning Lesnar. I guess neither of those circumstances is terrible. A disaster to me would be Orton winning the belt, or Del Rio. I actually like Ryback & Axel, it's a shame they're such jobbers. Maybe "Stardust" will turn on Goldust now or something? Who knows.

At this point, I'll take ANYTHING new. Even fucking Santino: World Champion. I don't care, just not Cena or Orton again.

It's true that Josh Matthews getting replaced by Renee Young on the panel is nothing but a 100% positive all around.

I would have Vader third, actually, behind both André the Giant & The Undertaker.

Speaking of The Exotic Express, I wonder a lot about how many of the current crop of guys ever watch or know of old footage & whatnot. I'm sure they have access to the WWE vault, no? You think Adam Rose has watched any Adrian Street...or Adrian Adonis for that matter? Or even Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant or Jimmy Garvin?