fakeplastictrees

Jericho/Owens is what happens when two guys are booked into a grudge match and decide to not let hate & anger (or any other emotional element that should be at play during this match) get in the way of having MOTN. Ridiculous.

And this is an issue with the shade of black or him being black? Both perhaps?

I tuned in just in time to the the ATGMBR and it did not disappoint. I honestly don't care about the Braun push and I am glad this wasn't used as a place to elevate him as WWE had TONS of chances prior to WM to put him up there. As soon as the IC title match started, I figured it was a good time to catch Aries/Neville and that did not disappoint. Good for Aries being able to work Mania as I know he (and millions of others) thought that was never going to happen. Neither of the two guys in the IC title match interests me so I don't care to even go back to watch it. Styles opening Mania? I am sure select parts of the internet are melting down.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that little piece! For some reason (for the last 4 years at least), WWE decides to run a segment that is more than 100% self-indulgent and is designed to kill time before the main match(es). What makes it even more wonky is the fact that it doesn't need to be there or if it 'must' then it can be much much shorter. I have said this before and I will say it again--if "Goosebumps" Rock shows up-- I am checking out for the night. I don't mind regular Rock, but "Goosebumps" Rock is the pits. As for my predictions, they are pretty much the same as Winged Eagle. For those who do not want to scroll up: Andre the Giant Battle Royale - Braun Strowman Neville vs. Austin Aries Smackdown Womens Title Match - Naomi Gallows & Anderson vs. Enzo & Cass vs. Cesaro & Sheamus Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon Bailey vs. Charlotte vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks Seth Rollins vs. HHH Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker

The calm before the storm? Or did I miss the storm already?

WM is always exciting to me because I get to see exactly how out-of-touch Vince and company is and how tone-deaf and overly hammy the entire product is overall. Seeing the reactions to the booking decisions of: Styles losing his first Mania match. Sting losing his first Mania match and being ASSISTED by his long time enemies because of REASONS~! HHH going over Lesnar. Daniel Bryan losing in the opener of Mania in 18 seconds. etc. Its always fun!

I guess the show blew by to me because I 100% checked out during the Beth speech. I turned up the volume here-and-there just to see if it was over and happened to come across some good bits. The crowd liked it and by all accounts online, she appears to have done a good job--I just have never had any interest in her. Rick Rude's son having a short and effective speech while getting the crowd to pop was a good thing.Here's the thing though...this isn't WWE's first HOF. I can understand the mishaps if this was something new they were trying out, but WWE has been doing (in big arenas) since 2004, if not earlier. Why the hell is WWE showing Roman Reigns face during HOF? Why is John Cena inducting Kurt? Why are people talking for 30-40 minutes? Again, all of these problems can be simply solved: - Jerry Lawler is not the William Shatner of WWE and should not host these shows. WWE wants to pretend to be in the big leagues-- ACT LIKE IT. Getting someone like Dave Chapelle or even an actual WWE fan like Gabriel Iglesias to host would be ideal. - No intro should be more than 5 minutes - Speeches should be kept to 10 minutes for the openers and mid-card. While the semi gets 15, co gets 20, and main event gets 30. The Oscars play people out with music, hire Tiny back to ring the bell on some of these people. - No cutaways to heels or people who are tried like heels ( Cena/Reigns) as this takes away from the show (and the moment) at times. I know WWE won't do anything too grand to really make these nights feel and look special, but I think the above recommendation (aside from the removal of Lawler) will all cost the WWE zero dollars and make for an overall better viewing experience.

WrestleMania has become a show that a lot of internet fans are not looking forward to, but will watch anyway. WWE doesn't know how to be subtle, natural, let things breath, etc. and because of that--Mania brings out the worse aspects of WWE. -Mania moments use to be for the fans to discuss--now its part of WWE speak in its self-aware environment. -Epics were something people realized at the tail-end or dead end of a match, but now its something that WWE hammers home in the lead up to the match, during the match, and after the match (whether its deserved or not). -The most mundane aspects of a card being hyped up as some historical and monumental moment. -WrestleMania is good right? You know what will make it better? IF IT WERE LONGER and included EVERYONE on the roster regardless of whether that person is over or not. This can all seriously be fixed by WWE cutting down on being too cute, only having 8 matches total (this includes the pre-show match), and only including the people that can work and are over.

I don't know anyone with bi-polar, but reading it about it--it sounds like hell. This is what is so tricky about wrestling, we don't know what the hell is a work and what is a shoot and because of this people work themselves into a shoot and in even bizarre cases shoot themselves into a work. JBL can always fall back on the Hulk Hogan/Terry Bollea gimmick that was used during the trial. Is the JBL asshole we see/hear on TV the real deal or just a guy playing a character? When/if he is backstage talking shit is he just working or is it a shoot? Does he take the work and realize there is some money and fakes a shoot and somehow (through his own will indirectly) it becomes a full blown shoot? It would be really fucked up if Mauro was worked into another attack as that means he is one of the biggest marks in the company and JBL is the biggest carny without a cause since Hogan. What is the end game here? How should mental disorders be treated in pro wrestling?

The Drifter would easily become one of my top favorite WWE acts if that were to happen. The meltdown in the arena along with the fans shitting entirely on the following segment ( in a perfect world Drifter would get 10 minutes promo time) is worth watching an entire 3 hour Raw without complaining. I agree that the bloom has been off the rose for a while with NXT. To me, its the little things that did me in. NXT has adopted too many main roster quirks and tropes that I just 100% do not like. The shaky camera, the over-hammy and corporate directive entrances, and being too inside baseball in the continued build of the overall brand are just some of the turn-offs. Having Strong, Roode, Nakamura, Ohno, and DIY on the roster is a good thing---but FUCK! The first, second, and third generation churn was fine, but NXT has been shaky ever since with only a handful of people being able to step up while the remainder of the roster looks/remains questionable. NXT use to be must-watch TV, but not anymore.

Listened to it today. The 'We wear masks!' thing, I believe was meant to illustrate that those two did so much dirt just to stay alive growing up, that they need to wear masks as some of this dirt may be connected to charges still pending and/or old grudges not dying (so much to the point that there is a hit out on them).

How much is ROH bringing in per year? I can see ROH losing out to TNA, WWE, and NJPW as all three have enough money to 'buy people out'. But Evolve? Surely Gabe isn't running a million dollar industry with Evolve or am I completely out-of-the-loop? I would assume the different between an Evolve contract and an ROH contract is 100 dollars. Also, let's pretend WWE purchases ROH tomorrow. Library and all. Does that mean that people with exclusive (few date) contracts like The Hardys will all of a sudden be in a position to finish out their contract under the WWE umbrella (for ROH pay) REGARDLESS of the brand association? Is there a first offer clause like in UFC contracts or something shady like the Bjorn-era Bellator contracts where a copy/paste is done in order to 'match' in offer. The most interesting aspect of all of this is the handling of the contracts.

Ha! I was HOPING this was a Monty Brown podcast. I'm disappointed now. But I will take a listen today at work!

Aside from Beth's inclusion, this is a pretty solid and well deserving class.

Booker T Has chimed in

And now Summer's pictures are leaked. Summer being in work mod less than 48 hours ago makes me wonder the best approach to these types of things. 1. CM Punk style radio silence? 2. Full confessional before the leaks? 3. Be a CARNY~! and keep doubling down on your 'innocence'? 4. A Paige like statement after-the-fact and letting the 'hype' die down naturally? With all the conspiracies and ridiculousness happening online right now, the one that really stands out to me if someone saying that this is all part of how WWE is going to reintroduce them both on TV--a modern day PMS who is sick and tired of 'The Man'. Workers are going to work right?

How? Two different scenarios. Kim purposely made a sex tape and her and Ray J sold it with the Kris being behind the 'Woe is me' story to curb the slut-shaming and pivot Kim and her family into the "But you have to see the other side" gimmick which got her the E show. From the money and connections made from the well orchestrated ruse--The Kardashians have made millions. Sometimes people just need a jump start. For Paige, this wasn't done to make money or get fan. This was made when she was already famous,ranking in the money, and on TV/film/video games/etc. This wasn't made to be release, there was no marketing campaign behind it, Paige didn't already have a canned response and interviews lined up. Kim tried to get her name out there before the tape was release while Paige has been trying to be a low-key as possible and just live a normal life. To me its just two different situations.

This stuff doesn't surprise me anymore, its the reactions that are still perplexing. I was told last night by a friend that Paige is 'trying' to get released. Not in a Donald Trump conspiracy type of way ( Paige providing the leaks herself), but more in the line of "Well, she has nudes out there now! Time to make sure she doesn't work another day in her life!". The Scarlett Letter is a thing of the past as far as the physical branding is concerned, but the social stigma is still there due to the slut-shaming, victim blaming, sexist culture we live in where sex (just like in horror films) is a bad thing and anyone having sex, being sexy, posing for nudes, etc. needs to be 'killed'. Obviously we are not talking about real murder, in America at least, but people use this type of stuff as ammunition and if not for themselves they supply the ammunition to others by starting conversations like 'Well what should be done with her now?'. The answer is simply...nothing. Why is this still a conversation and 'controversy' in any sense in 2017? I agree with Stro that the minor details about all of this makes it somewhat comical. Despite the unintentional comedy this situations has delivered, its obvious to me that ee need to have a conversation as a society to learn how to DEAL AND RESPOND to these happenings. Its interesting to me that Braddox Maddox is living the Joey Ryan Sleaze gimmick in real life! I hope it stops there and its nothing more nefarious like living a carny-pro wrestling- sleaze Julian Assange gimmick.

Mania should really scale back on a lot of things. Alexa Bliss walking to the ring should not be considered a WM moment and WWE itself should leave the 'moment' talk to the fans as it just comes off as eye-rolling. Also, not everyone should be at WM as it just comes off as a longer Raw in a lot of cases. I am not looking forward to the buzzword overload that will occur during the Sasha/Bayley/Charlotte match. Scaling back is really need.

Taker was drafted to Smackdown and it would have made Smackdown's side look equally (if not more) compelling than Raw's side. It wouldn't even have been hard to fine something for Reigns to do and with Cena/Taker on the card- 3 matches could have easily been taken off to avoid that WM burnout WWE loves its fans to reach come main event time every year.

I remember seeing this promo on The Network some time ago and thinking to myself...who the fuck gave this the green light? The fans were hot for his return and then it turns into a 10 minute pity party which game off as completely sad in a 'go away you are depressing me' type of why and not the 'Man! This guy has been eating shit for some time, I want to see him rise up!'. I honestly believe that if he received the cries, cheers, chants, etc. Vince and company thought he would--we would have been in line for another Beefcake push which would have been beyond terrible. I think the crowd shitting on this completely saved everyone from what would have been if WWE had its way.

ADR was so cold at the end of his first WWE run that a run in the indies and Mexico were VERY MUCH NEEDED. After a few months the wheels fell off and a AAA show with Mistico, Mysterio, and ADR didn't even sell out the arena. Despite proven not to be a considerable draw, the con continued, and ADR got himself back in WWE where it took less than 30 seconds (the ending of his ring entrance to the start of the bell) before he just seemed like he never left WWE in the first place. And now the most cold and over-hyped wrestler with a more spotty level of consistency this side of Ken Anderson, is back in the company not called TNA.

Looks like Alexa is defending her belt against every women on the Smackdown roster at Mania. *sigh*

I didn't like Braun backing up and getting out of the ring. He should have stood his ground, stare off with Taker, and THEN Roman's music hits and Roman gets between the two and cuts his promo against Taker. Braun steps back and allows the two to destroy each other. This will allow Braun to save face and come off as a guy who will allow his enemies to destroy each other instead of a guy who is possibly afraid of Taker. Assuming this is the main card: Brock vs Goldberg Taker vs Roman Seth vs HHH KO vs Jericho Sasha vs Bayley vs Charlotte Bray vs Orton AJ vs Shane Cena/Nikki vs Miz/Maryse Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale I think these five matches should be spread out overMania weekend: Cesaro/Sheamus vs Bullet Club Alexa vs ??? (probably Naomi back in time to regain the title in her home town in a fairly short match) Usos vs American Alpha Ambrose vs Corbin Cruiserweight Open II or Aries/Neville I am sure no tears will be shed if some (if not all) of these matches happened at Fan Fest this year or WWE's decides to gimmick the NXT Takeover show and have an American Alpha homecoming with the Usos match being a feature of the program.

Can a HOF case be made for any woman post 2002 outside of those who are already in? I can see WWE doing something silly like putting in Eve Torress, but who else will WWE try to sell as a 'legend' within the next 3-5 years.