DMJ

At WrestleMania, the RAW Tag Team Champions defended the titles against a team that had never wrestled as a unit before that included one guy who had only had 1 main roster match under his belt and another guy who 90% of the audience couldn't pick out of a line-up. So, yeah, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I signed us up and it looks like me and you are now the number one contenders for the RAW Tag Team Titles. That's just the way it works now. Also - someone catch me up. They're doing a tournament to find an Interim Cruiserweight Champion? Why? Its like one of those "If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to see it, does it still make a sound?" thing. It goes, "If the Cruiserweight Champion got injued tomorrow and they decided to hold a tournament, can you even name who that Cruiserweight Champion was?"

Hey everyone, I just released my new album, Strong Style, via Bandcamp for free. Please give it a listen and tell your friends! The last new album raised (very little) money for the Cauliflower Alley Club in 2017 and is still available via Peanut Butter Records' bandcamp. I'm no longer sending proceeds to Cauliflower Alley Club, but PB Records could use all the support they can get right now during this crisis to keep releasing and supporting Cleveland artists. This time around, I'm sharing my new album for free and hoping people can just spend 32 minutes with it as a diversion from all this awfulness. Please, give it a listen, tell your friends, tell your enemies, let me know what you think of it. Also, if you're extra curious, you can download the re-release of my 2009 album Sheer Hart Attack and, this fall, download the re-release of my 2010 album lexlugersexmagik. The re-releases are chock full of unreleased songs from way back. Anyway, did I mention it was free? Stay safe, enjoy! https://doublemoonsault.bandcamp.com/album/strong-style

If the rumors of what he was going to offer The Young Bucks is true then, yes, Vince McMahon is willing to spend lots and lots of money on folks he most likely doesn't see any appeal in.

I'm not sure you meant your comment to come off the way it did, Slasher. Roman and Goldberg were building their match in late February when we (meaning the US) was still not focused on Covid-19 at all. I live in Ohio and we are considered one of the leading states in how quickly we shut schools, restaurants, etc. down and we didn't do that until March 16th. It wasn't a matter of Roman Reigns "changing his mind" and pulling out of the match. New information came out and Roman Reigns (correctly) decided that taping a wrestling match wasn't as important as risking the lives of himself and his family. "The way he did it" was as professional and reasonable as possible. He wasn't holding up Vince for more money or spotted going on vacation during all this. As far as I know, he's been sheltering in place and practicing social distancing which is what everyone except essential workers should be doing. That being said, I do think you're right and Vince McMahon now sees Roman as having at least 2 strikes against him - (1) getting leukemia and (2) not "manning up" and competing at WrestleMania. He either has a 3rd strike for trying to start his film career or will get one soon enough if he continues to get roles in Hollywood (which I think he will because there is plenty of room in Hollywood for a guy that looks like a mix between Jason Momoa and The Rock but costs way, way less). It will be very interesting to see what happens this fall with Roman, but my prediction is that he will not be pushed back to that top tier and will instead hover just beneath it, kinda like where Dean Ambrose was.

Wyatt/Cena and Taker/Styles from this same show were matches where the wrestlers and producers had to make choices in terms of tone, pace, and, for lack of better word, "content." What is a Firefly Funhouse Match? What is a Boneyard Match? In my opinion, the choices they made were *brilliant.* Every single one. Styles/Taker mixed 80s B-level grindhouse with Tim & Eric with subtle costuming choices that cleverly winked at the inherent BDSM/homo-eroticism of pro-wrestling. (As someone said in the WrestleMania XXXVI thread, just look up "handkerchief code") Wyatt/Cena was even more bonkers, an abstract, non-linear acid trip through the story of John Cena. They made brave, risky choices when producing these matches and they all worked. Sadly, the choices that Edge, Orton, and the producers made in their Last Man Standing were all wrong. Every single one. This wasn't just boring, it was remarkably bad. And not "so bad-it's good" like Taker/Styles. It was noticeably non-creative and boring (a criticism that could never be levied against Cena/Wyatt now matter how much one might've found it to be too meta and weird). Okay. I should revise this. Not every choice was wrong. They did choose an interesting way to start things with Orton dressed as a cameraman, sneak attacking Edge, and taking him out with an RKO. Unfortunately, that initial 40-45 seconds was the only good stretch of the entire 37 minute match. For the sake of not going through every excruciating detail, I'm going to just touch on some of the terrible things that this match featured. All, again, choices that they made. - The Relative Silence. This WrestleMania will forever be remembered as the "trash talk" edition. With no audience, wrestlers were trash-talking left and right to help fill the dead air. The aforementioned Styles/Taker mini-movie had the best dialogue of any match (it may have had the best dialogue of anything ever filmed), but Flair/Rhipley and Bryan/Zayn also benefited from the wrestlers essentially providing their own running commentary. On the flip side, the SmackDown Women's Championship elimination match proved that Bayley and Sasha Banks may be the two worst actors on the entire roster, which is a shame because I want to like them so, so much. Weirdly, though, the most personal grudge match on this entire 7-hour show was relatively silent. The only match on the card begging for hammy over-dramatics eschewed them almost entirely. It wasn't that Edge and Orton didn't go big with their reactions - their facial expressions were taking huge bites of the scenery they wrestled through - but for a match built so much on intense verbal sparring, Edge and Orton not really having much to say to each other was such a huge disappointment. It was the wrong choice. - The "Spots." Few were expecting thumbtacks, flaming tables, or barbwire, but last year, Triple H ripped Batista's nose-ring out of his nostril. A few months before that, Randy Orton used a screwdriver on Jeff Hardy's earlobe during their Hell in a Cell match. On this same show, Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins showed just how effective the sound of violence could be with their use of the ringbell and chairs. Gimmicked or not (and, to be sure, some of these were more gimmicked than others), wrestlers have successfully found ways to make things look and feel legitimately dangerous over the past few years. The WWE's production department has also been no strangers to grandiose, cartoonish violence (as we saw in the Taker/Styles match, but also in unforgettable moments like when Big Show chokeslammed John Cena into a massive spotlight or when Orton tried to blow Cena up with pyrotechnics during their Ironman Match). So whether they opted to dip their toes into pseudo-torture porn or go with a huge set piece ala Looney Tunes, this match demanded violence. Orton and Edge chose not to provide any. Or at least not an amount close to what they should've. As they made their way through the Performance Center, there were countless times when someone could've raised the stakes and potentially maimed their opponent. After brawling in the empty stands, Orton and Edge spent the first quarter of the match in the workout area where there are presumably barbells, loose weights, ropes, kettlebells, and all sorts of other stuff that can crush your toes, fingers, ribs, or skull if used properly. No one bothered to even try. When Edge eventually did get some offense in, his big plan was to use an exercise machine like monkey bars to propel himself spread eagle onto a seated Randy Orton. As someone else pointed out, it looked like he was launching himself into position to give his bitter enemy a lapdance. This wasn't even the only time Edge got "hardcore" by swinging from a relatively low height and dropping himself onto Orton. At one point, in the PC's boardroom, Edge laid Orton on a "solid steel table" (whether or not it is "solid steel" is something I can't answer, but that is what the commentators referred to it as) and proceeded to climb above him and use the inexplicable mesh ceiling to drop an elbow on the Viper from roughly 2 feet above. This meant he was dropping an elbow from a shorter distance than he would if they were in a wrestling ring or on the ground. When they eventually got to the "storage area," they were surrounded by plunder, including multiple ladders. For some reason, Edge, whose signature match was the TLC Match, couldn't think of a single thing to do with any of them. The Con-Chair-To finish was the most violent part of the match and happened after 36 minutes of tedious brawling. This match needed multiple Con-Chair-Tos. It needed multiple punts. It needed fresh, creative moments of violence. It offered none. - The Other Audio Issues. I'm not sure if what we heard from the commentators was their first attempt, a second try, or an amalgamation of both. It is likely that Vince McMahon and the wrestlers wanted this match to have a deadly serious tone and having the commentators speak in such a somber way was their attempt to set that mood. Unfortunately, between their hushed voices and Orton and Edge opting not to provide much additional dialogue, the match sounded like a bunch of grunting and panting separated by the booming counting of the WWE's loudest - both in voice and appearance - referee. At one point, Orton even turned to the referee and told him not to count until he told him to. By that point, it sounded less like Orton wanted to dish out more punishment and more like he was just as annoyed by the ref's voice as the audience was. From the emotionless commentary to the distracting referee counts, this match was not just hard to watch, it was awful to listen to. - All The Small Things. There are a lot of things to mention and I've already written more than enough so I'll just rattle some off: * Edge's Spears have always been hit-and-miss. On this night, they were probably the worst he's ever done. * Here's a rule the WWE should probably stick to: If its a crazy stipulation match between two guys who are supposed to be trying to kill each other and people climb to a dangerous height, someone should definitely fall or be thrown from it. Especially if you have the ability to tape the stunt and make sure it is super safe. There was no excuse for neither Orton or Edge taking a bump from the top of that truck. * People putting other people in crossfaces still makes me feel weird over a decade after the Benoit tragedy but I sorta "get" the idea that wrestlers want to "reclaim" that move. Wrestlers using gym equipment to strangle each other is not something that needs to be "reclaimed." * 90% of the action could be described as "weak-looking punches" or "ramming someone into a wall." Even if you're not going to give us ultra-violence, maybe throw in more weapon shots. Like, there were boxes of office supplies in that conference room. Get creative, hit someone with a stapler or ream of paper for chrissakes! Make a mess of it! * Edge's facial expression at the end. What was that supposed to mean? This dude almost paralyzed you and then RKO'd your wife. You should have no qualms beating the ever loving shit out of him - which you barely did because this match was soft as yogurt anyway. And I must say, I actually feel kinda bad for Edge. This was his comeback match. He clearly gives a shit (Orton probably less so). They obviously went in and worked hard. I don't think all that panting was fake. They probably finished that match genuinely thinking it was good because, hey, it was a 37-minute fight. Unfortunately, it was also incredibly boring, had no creative spots, and didn't even effectively tell the emotional part of their story well. I'm almost wondering if they were "calling it in the ring" and didn't plan any of the spots because, well, there were so few spots in it and they're two "veterans" who "don't need a script, brother." At times, it seemed like Orton and Edge were legitimately looking around to see what they could use or what they could do but were simply unable to think of anything, like they just froze and Edge's instant reaction was "Well, I guess I can use that like monkey bars!" and Orton's response was "Um, where's the nearest wall I can throw you into?" If this was rehearsed, they should be embarrassed. If this was called on the fly, it should've been re-shot. As others have said, it is definitely in the realm of being the worst match of any WrestleMania ever and that covers lots and lots of ground.

I'm not sure. Boredom and curiosity have not helped RAW's ratings, which have been in the all-time low area and, unless you're already a Network subscriber or don't know how to subscribe and get your free month, you'd be paying a considerable sum of money to see this at a time when many Americans are wondering how they're going to pay their bills. Also, like the Rumble, many people watch WrestleMania as a group and turn it into a bit of a party. With people not doing that (hopefully), I just don't see this show getting too many eyeballs.

Is this the Dexter like Dexter from the Showtime series wrestler? And they named him "Dexter"? Its like having a wrestler who solves mysteries and calling him Sherlock. Or a boxer-turned-wrestle gimmick with the name Sly Balboa. Actually, no, Sly Balboa is an objectively great name and considerably better than Dexter Lumis.

I'm the first to shit on the WWE, but I don't think this particular angle is all that cringe-worthy. Maybe the bar has just been lowered so far down that this D- angle is looking like a solid C now. I also don't blame AJ Styles or The Undertaker for trying to make this matter and realizing early on that they were going to have to make things "personal" in order for this to have any flavor at all. Whether or not one thinks Style has "lost a step" in recent years, I'd argue he's still one of the more consistently great workers on the roster. Unfortunately, they haven't protected him at all and 2019 was certainly his lowest year in WWE in terms of where he was on the card. Now we're gearing up for Styles/Taker, but it doesn't feel like anything like a Dream Match nor does anyone believe this isn't just going to be a Taker squash with some pinballing thrown in. Even Styles/HBK would seem considerably lesser now in 2020 than it would've in 2016/2017 when Styles felt like a much bigger deal. I think they realize that and so they're pulling out all the "shoot" stuff because there's simply nothing else to draw on. The Undertaker is an old man. Styles is no longer in the conversation of being the best wrestler in the world in kayfabe. They had to go this route because they had few other viable options without building a time machine.

Its not that bad of a commercial...but Charlotte Flair being upside is just weird looking.

Yeah, I mean, if you're USA, you're seeing your numbers dwindle with everyone's eyes on cable news anyway. There is nothing, short of first-run blockbuster movies, that the network can air that will draw a number. But imagine curating the best 3-hour highlight show ever. Warrior beating Honky Tonk. Michaels vs. Taker. Austin/Bret at WM13. One of the Shield six-mans. Punk vs. Cena at MITB. Savage/Flair at WM8. Hogan/Warrior at WM6. That one DX/McMahons & Big Show cage match that was fun. The list goes on and on... I don't think this would pop a huge number, but again, what would? And it is 100% free to produce and risks no one's health. And, in a weird way, you might even have people stumbling upon it and watching it because, truth be told, the WWE's Greatest Hits are better than anything they could produce now. And I don't think USA would even be able to criticize it. FOX, on the other hand, probably does have the ability to say, "We want first-run shit" because they do probably have the power to air a first-run, family movie on Friday nights (for sake of argument, lets just say Jumanji II), but even they probably wouldn't protest too much in this climate.

I actually didn't hate this Rumble as much as others. Some things I liked that I haven't seen mentioned - - Obviously, there was a real lack of starpower and Savage is wasted. Wisely, they sped things up by having someone enter every 90 seconds. In 95', they'd cut it to 60 seconds - which felt too fast, but that Rumble also has even less starpower than this one. 90 seconds keeps things moving without completely ruining the gimmick or the idea that, if you were in an early entrant, you'd still have to put in 30+ minutes of work. It still feels like an actual main event. - The Rumble starts slow, but things picks up when Diesel shows up and there's no real lull from then on thanks to the efforts of Savage, Shawn Michaels, Marty Jannetty, Lex Luger, and Bret Hart. As someone else mentioned, Jannetty/Michaels have a great exchange, but there's also a handful of mini-moments between Bret and Shawn that showcase their natural chemistry. - The finish is obviously super memorable, but its the penultimate elimination sequence that is overlooked and underrated. Basically, Bret is working with Shawn and Fatu is working with Luger in the closing moments, with the heels dominating for a little while until the faces are back in control, each beating down their respective foe in opposite corners. It is almost like a tag match at this point. Then, with amazing timing, Bret and Lex simultaneously irish whip Shawn and Fatu out of their corners - essentially sending each other the guy they had just worked over. In a wonderfully timed spot, Luger and Bret hit mirror hiptosses to eliminate the heels to a huge pop. It is just such a clever way to go from 4-to-2 and it is executed perfectly, the kind of spot that wouldn't be out of place in a Midnight Express/Rock n' Roll Express match or something. Unlike so many other Rumble eliminations, which can be very contrived, I love how organic this sequence is.

As a Clevelander, I'm a homer for The Miz so I'm eager to hear the full story behind him possibly showing up to the PC with flu-like symptoms. I read somewhere that they were taking people's temperatures as they came in like many businesses are doing. Its possible that he showed up and felt relatively okay, maybe even thinking, "Oh, I'm just the usual level of tired of every other person who has had their daily work/exercise/sleep routine completely wrecked," only to learn that, actually, he was running a mild fever. For some that's hard to believe, but my wife once went into the hospital with pain in her kidneys and ended up being hospitalized for 3-4 days from an untreated UTI. She has a high pain tolerance and didn't think it was anything major, just a bug, going days just self-medicating with Ibuprofen until she vomited in her car on the way home one day. The doctors couldn't believe she was able to drive herself to the hospital. Granted, that event didn't occur during a global pandemic when everyone and their mother is talking about Covid-19, but the point is, some people treat flu-like symptoms as nothing serious (even in this climate). As part of my job, to prove a (very stupid) point, I once gave swimming lessons with the flu and got myself even sicker in the process.

Maybe cuz of those tweets about Cena? I really have no evidence behind this, um, theory, but I could see Triple H being the type of guy who believes that calling out a guy of Cena's stature when you're still just an "indie guy" means you need to be humbled a little. Or maybe its just the usual "We'll get the fans behind him by making him lose all the time!" idea that they seem to believe is the way to get someone over when, aside from Daniel Bryan (kinda) and Bayley, it has worked for absolutely no one. I don't know. One question I do have, and I"m not sure we'll get an answer until we have some hindsight, is whether this WrestleMania build and the general lack of excitement around the event is more because of the Covid-19 crisis or because of the card/build? Obviously, the Covid-19 factor is massive and I'd say is probably 80% the cause of disinterest...or is it 90%? Or is it really just 70%? I mean, lets say everything was "normal," we weren't in quarantine, and the WWE was able to produce the intended build-up and go-home shows that they had mapped out originally. How excited might you be? Pessimistically, I believe that, in some ways, we've actually seen what the WWE intended and it wasn't all that great. The build for Edge/Orton has been fantastic, Reigns/Goldberg good, but McIntyre/Lesnar has been paint-by-numbers. Lynch/Baszler has had a decent build and Flair/Rhipley too, but I think its apparent that these two matches were Option B when they realized Rousey wasn't going to be back for the show. Taker/AJ has been an absolute mess to me, a match that I think just about anyone could've fantasy-booked better than the WWE has. Cena/Wyatt is meh, but I wasn't expecting gold considering how much Wyatt's been exposed to be the same ol' Wyatt he was a year ago. I don't think I'll ever be interested in a Kevin Owens* or Seth Rollins program ever again so pairing them up is like pairing a shit sandwich with a diarrhea milkshake. The rest of the card is filler despite presumably featuring a bunch of acts that deserve better, including the company's most consistently great worker (Daniel Bryan) and two acts that have really hit their stride after some lulls, Asuka and Sami Zayn. (I'd also throw The Miz in there as a guy who should be taken in consideration for a top spot every Mania season at this point because he's still one of the top 5 guys at selling a match on the mic and making it seem like a big deal.) So, yeah, that was a really long-winded question, but how do y'all feel about it? In a world without the Covid-19 crisis, how does this card/build make you feel? Excited? Underwhelmed? Somewhere in the middle? * I don't even dislike Owens really, its just, he's been involved in so many cringe-worthy storylines and feuds over the past 2-3 years that I just don't think he has any "edge" or "cool" factor left. Even his adoption of the Stunner gets an eye roll from me.

On the 1st page, I mentioned how whittling this show down to just 5 matches would be ideal. Then it became a 2-night deal and I thought, well, maybe 7 matches would be okay. But I hear they're still doing a SmackDown Women's Championship match? There's still gonna be a RAW Tag Team Title match and maybe a SmackDown one? Why? Why on Earth would the WWE waste their time doing this? Is it just the public service of having people check to make sure the fast forward function works on their remotes? I thought that was what Owens/Rollins was for. I can kinda understand when you've got 40,000 people coming out that you want to provide lots of "bang for your buck" and you need 10 matches to fill a 6-hour show. But this is not that anymore. This is a 2-night TV show that, based on AJ's promo about his match against Taker being a "Boneyard Match" and what I'm expecting out of Wyatt/Cena and Edge/Orton, isn't really going to be very heavy on traditional wrestling wrestling. I'm expecting AJ/Taker to be almost like the Broken Matt Hardy match at his compound, Wyatt/Cena to be very similiar to the Boiler Room Brawl match, and Edge/Orton be a Empty Arena brawl that starts in the ring but finishes somewhere else entirely. On the typical show, having 3 of these type of matches on the same card would be ridiculous and too much...but on this particular show, its the opposite, its the "normal" matches that are going to feel weird and kinda like a dress rehearsal. And, even when SNL films their dress rehearsal, they do it in front of a live audience. I've seen a few empty arena matches over the past few weeks, on that one episode of SmackDown and on Dynamite, and once the novelty and uniqueness of it wear off, its just hard to see it as something one would want to watch for any real length of time - especially when the stakes are as meaningless and lame as the current WWE Tag Team Title scene or Smackdown Women's Championship.

As someone who has only watched a couple minutes here or there of the crowdless, Performance Center shows, I still think this is all just a bad idea. That being said, I do think the WWE can mitigate things a bit and this is a step in the right direction. There is an undeniable novelty to the shows from the PC. If there wasn't, websites like Vulture wouldn't have covered it. It is different and bizarre and like pizza with hotdogs baked into the crust, there's a group of people out there who are going to want to try one slice. If I were the WWE, I'd trim this show down to 2 hours on 2 nights - maybe 5 matches total, if that. I know, I know, 2 hours is alot of time for 3 matches - but that's where you get creative and fill some of the time with video packages, interviews, and other randomness. Maybe pre-tape some sort of really convoluted, over-the-top 24/7 title thing where we see the title change hands three dozen times, almost like a live-action MC Escher painting with all sorts of production tricks. Its going to be hard enough to make Goldberg/Reigns or Lesnar/McIntyre feel like a big deal in the PC, why make things harder by making it the 4th or 5th match on a 3-hour show on Night 2? The WWE should be trying to keep the novelty of these matches as special and unique as possible and the first step to do that is to limit the number of matches.

Yeah, I don't get it. I get postponing. I get cancelling. I don't get holding fake sports for no audience. With other sports, I can understand holding the competition because a competition doesn't require spectators (I worked the ticket booth at enough middle school basketball games to know that attendance doesn't matter) - but a fake wrestling match? I just don't see the point. Another thing I don't get - the questions regarding how they will extend storylines or "write around" WrestleMania. Umm...we saw them extend Baron Corbin/Roman Reigns for at least 12 weeks past its expiration date. The WWE has been operating with "hamster wheel booking" for years now. Kevin Owens had two separate feuds with Shane McMahon in a 2-year span that were unrelated. Can you name a main roster guy that is more over in 2020 than he was in 2017? In fact, some guys are less over now than they were when they were in NXT. So, yeah, I don't understand the concern about them having to recycle stories or "slow things down" or come up with "side feuds"...their main feuds feels like side feuds and they haven't had anyone with any sort of real momentum since Daniel Bryan in 2014. The hamster wheel was going to keep spinning with or without Mania. Drew McIntyre's meteoric rise won't be affected because, surprise, there was no meteoric rise to begin with. He was just a guy positioned to beat Lesnar the same way Rollins was and, as much as I hate to say it, was/is less over than Rollins was a year ago.

If I could place money on it, I'd bet it will simply be postponed. Looking at the Raymond James Stadium schedule for the spring of 2020 and there is not a single event going on that brings in even 5% of what WrestleMania does. Some of them are charity events that could easily be rescheduled or relocated or, in the case of the Best Buddies Friendship Walk for individuals with disabilities, turned into part of the Mania weekend and get the WWE even more positive PR.* Some of them are also events that the performer might be actively seeking to drop from their own calendar (*cough* Justin Beiber *cough*) due to low ticket sales even before the coronavirus scare. * I'm not sure if Vince has/had a family member with moderate-to-intensive disability like JFK did, but I will say, the WWE has consistently made itself available to many charities related to people (especially kids) with medical issues, disabilities, etc dating back to the Hulkamania years and maybe before. (My father, a clinical psychiatrist for the past 40+ years, believes this is because wrestling itself "speaks to" individuals with cognitive disabilities/mental retardation the same way Disney/Pixar movies do, but I think there may be something more to it)

At this point, I'm predicting that they will move the show into May or June. By doing so, they can do what other major festivals are doing and deny refunds as your ticket will be good for the future date. I assume (could be wrong) hat this is what the airlines are doing as well, which will allow international and fans from out of state to make it to the show. Flat-out cancelling doesn't seem like likely and, if they move it to the PC, I'm guessing they'd have to refund all the tickets. Obviously, people are still going to have to reschedule their lives to make it and I don't know about the availability of the stadium, but I would again assume that Tampa sees Mania as a top priority considering it brought in an estimated $165 million to New Jersey last year.

That's definitely an odd take. I understand that the audience isn't forced to attend the death march that Mania has become, but if you need to "pace yourself" to get through a pro-wrestling show, maybe the show itself is too long. And I say this as a massive Guided By Voices fan who gladly attends their 3-hour, 60-70 song shows with a huge grin on my face and a beer in my hand at all times.

Wasn't sure if this should be its own thread, but I'm really wondering how the coronavirus panic is going to impact WrestleMania. Here in northeast Ohio, there are 3 confirmed cases and there are colleges who are extending spring break, shutting down classes, the Bernie Sanders rally was cancelled, MAC conference games are getting played in empty arenas - - - and most are expecting the virus to spread even more over the next few weeks. Knowing that Mania is also a big tourist destination, one has to be wondering exactly how many pounds of shit is Vince emptying into his pants right now. I can see him wanting to hold the event no matter what (as we know "the show must go on" with him), but at a certain point, it might not be up to him. The panic around this virus is huge, there's also a not-so-healthy sense of xenophobia attached to it, and events like these are getting cancelled left and right (SXSW, for example).

Just coming in to say that Cena vs. The Fiend is beneath Cena at this point. He's a bona fide star and The Fiend, as much as his fans hate to say it, is still Bray Wyatt from 2018, 2017, 2016, etc. He had some buzz a few months ago, but giving him the title was a misstep and the Goldberg squash was the nail in the coffin. This is like if they brought The Rock back in 20whatever and decided to have him feud with Ziggler or Sheamus. Sure, Ziggler and Sheamus were somewhat over at that time as upper midcard heels, but they weren't Wrestlemania main event guys. Or, to bring it to 2020, if they brought The Rock back to feud with Seth Rollins. Rollins has a ton of accolades and titles and has main evented a ton of big PPVs...but does anyone consider him at the same level of The Rock? Or Cena? Or Lesnar (who he beat twice)?

I don't think the relative success of bigger UFC and boxing shows is really a relevant comparison to where the WWE is today. With UFC and boxing, while there were down periods, the model has always been that a bigger show is going to cost at least $50 in the US and, if I'm not mistaken, for the very biggest matches, closer to $100. The WWE, meanwhile, is not only putting out a terrible, repetitive product featuring less and less actual stars, but spent 5 years training the audience to think that their biggest shows of the year were worth $9.99 and that because the Network is available 24/7 and the best bits are typically put on YouTube, you don't actually have to watch any of - RAW, SD, NXT, PPVs - live. I just don't see the WWE having much success trying to put the genie back in the bottle. Sure, ESPN+ giving them a huge rights fee will offset any financial loss but I wouldn't expect the actual number of PPV purchases to reach the same level (1 million or more for Mania) as they were in the pre-Network era. I just don't see a million people agreeing to pay 6-7 times what they were spending a year earlier on the kind of shows the WWE puts on these days.

I don’t watch the weekly shows but is the EC card finalized for this Sunday? If I had a ticket, I’d be pretty pissed. No Reigns, no Bryan, no Bray, no Lesnar, no Goldberg, no Rollins or Owens?. I’m not even a fan of all these acts, in fact I loathe some, but in terms of star power, this show is really lacking. Are Becky and Charlotte even on it?

I think its pretty clear that Rollins is going to be back in that spot. They just can't quit the guy.

This (and the post below it) are even better reads on it than I attempted. I absolutely agree that there is a difference between bringing Piper and Warrior back in 96' and Goldberg back in 2020, but I still think the criticism of the WWE utilizing part-timers is a very weird projection from some fans and that its one that ignores the historic use of special attractions to build big shows, especially WrestleManias. Like I posted a couple pages back, it often seems like these fans are upset because the part-timers don't show the same obsessive loyalty to "the industry" (read in Triple H voice) that they do. Also, on a separate note, I did watch The Fiend/Goldberg match and, based on what I saw, both guys looked like absolute shit. I hate to be that guy because I'm a chubby piece of shit myself, but when Bray initially came back, there was talk about his new physique being part of his transformation. He did not look "new and improved" at Super Showdown. Goldberg's spears looked half-speed and sloppy and the Jackhammer was terrible. So, yeah, just piling on at this point but, even if you're glad Goldberg won, he looked just as bad here as he did against Taker. Cena and Reigns are going to have to perform some miracles with these two.