fakeplastictrees

Depression is never fun. Trust me I know. I hope it gets better for you man. Stay focused and count your blessings, that usually helps me. Your side has been very entertaining thus far.

What I don't understand about DA and POP is this: what are they expecting from TNA. Sure we are all geeks and 'know' what is going on behind-the-scenes, but surely exes at DA, POP, and any of these other 3rd rate cable companies have some sort of clue other than 'its cheap to produce'.For some acquisition like this, I imagine even the most out-of-touch TV exec runs this by his/her child(ren). "Hey Johnny! Guess who mommy is working with now? Bram! Oh don't know him? What about Aiden O'Shea? No? Jade? The Decay? Well SURELY you know Al Snow and Gregory Helms?" TNA doesn't pass the children test and there is no way someone just doing a little bit of research could expect anything else from TNA other than what they are currently getting. Any company putting money into TNA is a true investment of time over anything else as TNA for the last two years has actually been moving in the right direction as far as on-screen project is concerned, but its all too little too late. They pissed everyone off and no one has faith in the brand anymore. Dixie wouldn't let JJ buy her out, Heyman never worked for TNA because of her, she didn't fire Russo ( but everyone else got the boot), started working with Russo again under the nose of Spike TV, wouldn't let Court Bauer come in and have a meaningful role, etc. At the end of the day its all bullshit. TNA can move into the warehouse, move to another network, throw money at Chris Hero, Carlito, Matt Sydal, etc. to come in and it will all mean absolutely dick because there is ONE person who needs to go and she is NOT moving.All jokes aside, who has been worse for wrestling overall in the last ten years, Dixie Carter or Stephanie McMahon? I think that may be a thread unto itself.

Imagine Balls Mahoney as a Wyatt? Would be pretty cool in some alternate universe. I always thought he was a fun promo, but was never into his matches. He was so young. Sad to hear. Storm mentions that he (Storm) is the last one alive from the WrestlePalooza match. The match in question, if anyone wants to watch it: Lance Storm & Chris Candido vs. Balls Mahoney & Axl Rotten: WrestlePalooza 1998 - ECW World Tag Team Championship Match

While Maryse in theory works well, her delivery of the scripted lines is just terrible. The concept is good and the elements involved is money, but the delivery is falling a too flat for my liking. I was never a Maryse fan in the first place, but this second run is becoming more and more 'meh'. Hopefully its just 'rust' and she finds her way, because again...its money...but something isn't clicking at the moment. Doc And Gallows are officially in WWE, Cesaro is still looking like a complete beast in the ring, and The Wyatts have continue their face (?) turn by siding with babyface (?) Roman Reigns? I'm confused, but that's SHADES OF GREY REALITY ERA stuff for ya! It's Vince Russo's ideology all grown up and slightly matured. Overall a very good Raw to start the week.

Re: Molly's ass The Divas championship being re-named is one step in the right direction, but everything else is still off in WWE. Apparently someone in WWE told Naomi that she is not 'marketable' which of course is code for not being white, blonde, and being a stick. I'm not saying Naomi, at this time in her career, deserves to be a 7 time WWE champion, but surely if Brie Bella and tons of others who were less talented and less over (Michelle McCool) got to walk around with the strap, then Namoi should get a run. I wonder if WWE is ever going to get over its body image definition of 'beauty' and 'mainstream' (again a code word used to talk about the average white males preference) bullshit.

I remember liking Lince Dorado 5-7 years ago. I watched a few clips of him wrestling within the last 2 years and I don't see anything sticking out like a sore thumb. What is so bad about him right now?

I would classify the online reaction to that angle as 'fake outrage'. At the time, people said that the Divas programs had no heat and where meatless. So finally one of the women do something that gets a reaction (and that people can relate to) and all of a sudden some believe the company 'went too far' and all this other bullshit. The Piggie James angle probably received the most heat and attention post Lita/Trish era. I think it worked so well because it was the first (or one of the first) meta-burial-pushes that WWE did for the women. Men have made fun of the weight of Big Show, Vader, Rikishi, and tons more through the years. I am not sure why some believe the women are off limits for certain things and angles while at the same time these same people scream for angles with more punch and bite. Something more than Vince's semi-shoot 'bitches be crazy amirite!?' stuff happening on the main roster.

It was Naomi she was pissed (hehe) at, not Alicia.

Women's wrestling, as far as WWE is concerned, is taken seriously on screen, but the backstage stuff is still sugar-coated to such a large degree. The whole 2007 drug scandal was interesting as it was reported that there were some WWE Divas on the list, but their names had been removed or blacked out from the leaked (?) document(s). If these reports are true then it would have been no surprise to someone like Victoria on the list. Victoria's 'Show Me Your Sources!' Myspace rant just added final confirmation (in my mind) that she was in fact a 'patient' and apart of the whole deal. Pro wrestling has no issue talking about or making women out to be sluts whether true or not, but anything else like being a pimp, drug user, accomplice to murder, etc. is all swept under the rug. TNA has shown through the years that despite a woman legit running things in that company, the women were/are treated worse than their male counterparts. With the early stuff with Awesome Kong, Sending Sunny Chris' last check in a fashion were she was unable to cash it, the whole drama with Daffney, the refusal to up the KOs wages despite the KOs proving to be legit draws for the company, Tara's Square Circle fiasco, and the other bullshit. Add all of that on top of the fact that multiple wrestlers have said that Dixie has hooked up with more than one of the boys and that shit doesn't settle well. People wonder why Jackie's HOF speech was short and I really believe its because she had some truths that the world wasn't ready for/didn't want to hear, so she kept it simple,clean, and PG. I have flat out said that I believe Jackie should be in the WWE HOF for the bullshit she had to put up with in the business and for actually making it as far as she did in-spite of it. Not only was she a woman, but she was a black woman, and I am sure she had to deal with shit girls like Sunny, Sable, Elizabeth. Re: Leilani Kai She has a lot of Moolah stories. The one that sticks out right now is the one she told where Moolah and Arnold Skaaland were discussing business relating to the payment for the use of Moolah's girls. Velvet, Kai, and two others were suppose to get $150 (almost $400 in today's money) each as a payout. Come payday, Moolah skims a ton off the top and gives each of the girls $50.

Yep, and this is my problem with "Goosebumps" Rock. The talking segments shouldn't happen, but if they do they should be kept to 10 minutes or less. Rock does his entrance, announces the attendance record, Wyatt's music hits, Wyatt/Rock promo while Wyatt walks down the ramp. By the time they hit the ring Rock and Rowan and do their thing and the rest of the segment finishes out as it should. Again, this could have and should have been 10 minutes and it would have been somewhat fun. Xavier and LON job to Austin, Foley, and HBK and then latter in the show The Wyatts job out to Rock. I am glad that WWE set the young talent to continue doing stadium shows for years to come by making them look on par or better than the guys from eras long gone.

HHH's entrances get cornier and cornier every year. Stephanie's monologue was cliche,boring, and too long. Slutty Stephanie is always the hottest version of Stephanie, but with that said, she needs to go.

Actual athletes were in AT&T Stadium tonight. Must be weird for the city of Dallas to see. Also, WWE tossed everyone with a pulse on this show and WWE didn't even break the stadium attendance record. WWE missed it by like 6-7K.

Shane McMahon taken of on a stretcher. Tony Romeo be like "That's my gimmick!"

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I am tired of Rock's appearances at Mania. They are never meaningful and are usually designed to eat up time. "Goosebumps" era Rock is the worse. If he is actually doing something at Mania like wrestling or being a referee, then I would have no problem with him showing up. But him being apart of 15-20 minute promos 3 years in a row is very unwelcoming. The show is already 4 hours long, how the fuck does WWE not use it better?

Michael Hayes is a racist piece of shit, but after last night I understand why they have kept him around (aside from racists loving to be surround themselves with other racists), that guys is charismatic as hell. Inviting Michael Hayes to your party, wedding, small social gathering, etc. would create some good stories and I am sure he will have tons to tell.

I believe this was only mentioned once or twice in this thread, but its definitely worth repeating as I have been watching this show in pieces since it first aired, and that is the commentary on the show. From start-to-finish Todd Phillips and Corey Graves ADDED to the show. I think Corey Graves is the best commentator in WWE. The guy has passion, knowledge, knows when to get smarky but not take it overboard like Mike Striker (who I also love). Never liked Graves the wrestler, but as a TV personality and talker- he is great. I hope he continues doing what he is currently doing, because its working. I can only imagine the cringe-worthiness of Lawler, Cole, JBL, and Saxton messing up a good show like this by being complete idiots in the booth. So yes! Big kudos to Graves and Phillips.

C.S., I think there is something wrong with you. If a black women woke up and saw a Confederate flag in her front yard, she wouldn't think 'Oh! Looks like some rebel left it here over night!'. Not in 2016 and damn sure not in the 70's or 80's. when blacks have to deal with institutionalized racism on a day-to-day basis. Your point is silly and completely delusional. This is that pro wrestling bubble stuff.Murdering people for learning to read and write? It has become clear that some people on this board think those murderers were just good workers and understood heel psychology better than someone like Gary Hart.

I work for a company that specializes in data and text analytics and at the end of the day the raw data, both structured (for example: yes or no questions) and unstructured (open-ended questions that allow for people to respond using full sentences), matches with the overall sentiment the company experiences from its customer's on a day-to-day. If there isn't a match, then the company begins working towards addressing THE SPECIFICS of the company's customer complaints/concerns. I highly doubt that WWE doesn't have a platform like this (they are not a client of ours), so the fact that the Bryan stuff even occurred and that the Reigns stuff is still on-going just completely boggles my mind. WWE is in a very unique situation because as a fan I could love Goldust, but hate how he is booked and so because of that my reaction at a live show might not be as big which would lead WWE to believe Goldust isn't over with me, despite me recently purchasing one of his shirts. The long shows and the staleness of the overall product can make someone (while sitting at home and having a chance to think about it) really come to the conclusion of liking tons of aspects about Reigns and fantasy booking some awesome matches and moments in their head. However, sitting in an arena though the Death March that is Raw, I am sure will cause that same person to boo Reigns to be apart of the show, not look stupid in his/her section, or just lash out at the overall predictable manner or everything. There are tons of factors here, but WWE is cooking those surveys to reflect internal thoughts. 1. Who is your favorite wrestler that does not have a first name that begins with A-Q or S-Z? 2. Who are you more likely to by a t-shirt of: Bryon Saxton, Chad Dawson, Murphy, Elias Samson, or Roman Reigns? 3. Would you consider yourself liking or disliking someone who stood toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar in the ring and because of this had one of the best matches of the night? Its all bullshit!

Eva Marie for the longest has been booked in a non-subtle 'wink-wink-nudge-nudge' sort of way to get heat. Look at her second NXT. Her appearance on Raw was no different. The faces are getting their asses kicked and who comes out to save them and tries to look like a big deal and a game changer in the process? Eva Marie. Instant meta-heat as the crowd goes from completely not caring about anything going on in the ring (as the majority of those women are not over at all) to all of a sudden complaining about 'WWE not getting it', "How much Eva sucks", etc. WWE is just looking for a reaction. Any reaction at this point from its superstars and if the company can get it with real heat (Owens), meta heat (Eva), or a mixture between the two (Reigns), then WWE will take that over the crowd sitting on its hands like it does during Ascension matches. The crowd will be luke-warm for Paige, pop for Brie's Bryan stuff, pop for Natalie's sharpshooter, not give a shit about anyone else, and then of course boo Eva Marie to 'send a message to the company'. As for a go-home show, this did not work for me at all. It was so contrived and nothing felt nature at all. I know WWE likes to do the 'everyone-spill-into-the-ring' spot for battle royals and The Royal Rumble, but it really needs to go. The 'roster holding two guys back' trope also needs to be eliminated. I know WWE has to sell Mania, but I am of the belief that not everyone needs to be on the go-home show and not everyone needs to touch all the time. The go-home show would have been just fine with none of the pre show matches getting any real shine and saving the novelty.

So racist wallpaper is okay? There were blacks trying to go to school and get civil rights in the 60's and all of a sudden 1974 rolls around and the confederate flag was okay? a flag used by the KKK during demonstrations against blacks, gays, jews, etc. was all peachy keen at 8PM when The Dukes Of Hazzard came on? Sorry man, but the flag was always a flag of hate and no amount of pro wrestling carny revisionist bullshit is going to change that. Citing the fact that some states still have the flag of treason, segregation, racism, slavery, and hate flying above its state capitol, doesn't make it right or your point valid.

Is there a comprehensive list of shows going on for WM Weekend? I know I will be watching the NXT Dallas show as well as the HOF. I will definitely check out anything else I can catch for free.

I know I am late to the party and the podcast was done, but I want to add my two cents in anyways. ECW 2006 would have never seen ECW if I had my way. I am not a fan of reboots/bringing things back from the dead. ECW, in my book, was a nice period piece and worked well within its time and hasn't aged well outside of that time. Another mark against bringing back ECW is the fact that it was yet another positioning of the 'It was better back then" narrative that WWE to-this-day still pushes. WWE brings up The Ascension (who completely suck) to the main roster and the first thing WWE feels is the best route is to have these guys say they are better than LOD, NAO, Dudleys, etc. (which is good), but then WWE has NAO, Outsiders, etc. come out and be the shit out of The Ascension and proving that The Ascension completely sucks and that the past is better than the present. ECW was that thinking put into a promotion. A lot of the guys in ECW just couldn't go and had no legs outside of ECW as people just didn't want to see them. I can understand WWE wanting to keep Sabu, Dreamer, Rhyno, RVD, and Sandman around, but everyone else was just a question mark. Also, having Sandman around would only be beneficial to the company if he kept his gimmick of caning people, drinking beer, and standing tall at the end of the show. ECW felt like a demotion and was openly stated as such on WWE TV. a decaded removed and I don't see how ECW benefited the WWE landscape today. It gave a platform for Punk? Matt Striker got a longstanding crack at commentary. What else? Lashley was already over prior to going there. Christian had some of his best post-TNA WWE matches there. I am just not sure how it benefited WWE in the long term, which makes me again think they should have just never done it. DX Me personally, I would never like to see DX again, but this was bound to happen. So I would want to make it less cringe-worthy. This would have been the perfect time for DX to turn into DX: The College Years, and bring in some new faces with new catchphrases, etc. HHH/Michaels would have to be in it, but I would also add Paul London and Brian Kendrick to the mix. This would get Kendrick and London more over with the fans, give them a nice rub for the future, and setup the fact that the younger generation can hang with the older generation and that the respect goes both ways. The 'comedy' (and I use that word as loosely as possible) of DX would be handled by London and Kendrick mainly with zany backstage skits, etc. with HHH and/or HBK making the occasional cameo in this. I would have also kept these guys away from everything involving McMahon and everyone named McMahon. Brand Split I would have kept the brand split, but I would have structured it a bit better and eliminated the lame brand rivalries. Raw wrestlers would not give a shit about Smackdown wrestlers and vice versa. This would prevent stupid situations like having two guys feuding on a brand, decide to put aside their differences in order to uphold the integrity of that brand. You know, the same brand that would trade them to the other in a heartbeat if that means that brand gets another top star. The I.C. title and Tag Team title would be on Raw and the U.S Title and CW title would be on Smackdown. The Divas title holder and the WHC will at outside the brands. Essentially fighting the top ten of each brand. I explained this in another thread, but in short think of how the UFC does things. WWE would do the same with the top single titles of both the male and female which would also allow for fresh matches and no weird justification for the next WHC match to happen as its based on rankings. The U.S. Title and I.C. Title would gain some prestige as they would be defended as the top championship of the brand and the WHC won't be around every week and would essentially work a post-UFC Lesnar schedule (ditto for The Divas champion). No trades, no 'fired' angles, no free agency. Once 2006 rolls around and the draft is complete-the wrestlers assigned to a brand, stay on that brand for one full year. The only interaction with the other brand comes at The Royal Rumble and maybe one or two cute Survivor Series matches, but nothing more.

I am actually surprised WWE hasn't named it the Shawn Michaels Legend Ladder Match or some bullshit like that. Jeff Hardy doesn't exist in WWE world right now, so HBK is still known as the "King of the Ladder Match". I hope it doesn't come to pass, but this isn't the first time the WWE IC title has been defended at Mania in a clusterfuck match.

I think there are guys and gals in NXT who always wanted to be in WWE and truly love being in NXT and want to stay there. I can think of several reasons for why this would be true: 1. He/She is already in WWE. No matter how we try and slice it, NXT is WWE 2. Lighter schedule 3. A bit more freedom to experiment/have fun 4. Crowds aren't as pissy as on the main roster. 5. The booking and everyone in the back are NOT out to see anyone fail in NXT. If I was in NXT and getting paid close to or over six figures, I probably wouldn't want to move up to the main roster either.

It's had for me to buy this. 4/14/15 was the last time he wrestled. He took almost a month off before coming back in May to give up the IC title. I don't believe he made any appearances after Elimination chamber and if he did they were so few-and-far-between. Bryan has essentially had 1 year of time off. I can't see him asking for more time off unless there is something really going on. Him not being emotionally able to come back and trying to get rid of that 'itch' and transition into normal life is a real possibly and if that's the case then I wish nothing but the best for him.