C.S.

My bad, hahaha. But I can hear Vince going, "Tooooo many Sans, DAMN IT!" That's the name she uses on the indys. Similar deal to Gargano and Ciampa, where they are probably just taking a look at her. Makes sense. Same situation with Billie Kay, or is she already signed? I think she has potential.

NXT this week was solid, but two things stood out to me that seem "out of character" for WWE: 1. Nia Jax was announced as being from San Diego, California. Maybe she is? But that's also Bayley's hometown. Unless they're planning to do a feud incorporating that, I found it strange because WWE usually goes to great lengths to differentiate everyone. 2. The happy-go-lucky jobber named Evie, when there's already an Eva Marie. Again, WWE is usually proactive about making sure there are wide differences when it comes to character names (e.g. Lance Cade becoming Garrison Cade because Lance Storm was already on the roster). Granted, Evie will probably be repackaged and given a name change if/when the time comes for a push. Those aren't criticisms, BTW, of what was a very fun show - just observations. I also LOVED the yellow and pink ropes. Gave it a really colorful Ultimate Warrior vibe. I kinda hope NXT keeps that aesthetic, even if it's under the false pretense of honoring Susan G. Komen all year long instead of for one specific month.

Scott Hall used to do YouTube videos along these lines. I think Larry Z. was even in one of them with him, and they were watching an old tag match with Hall and Hennig. I don't know if they're still up, but if they are, they're definitely worth watching.

I love the way he "wanks off" to Eva's matches. She is going to be an amazing heel. I am salivating for the inevitable Bayley/Eva feud - I'm not even joking either. Full Sail will erupt with thunderous boos. How often do wrestlers get real heat anymore, especially in self-aware NXT? Eva has it. Maybe it's for the wrong reasons, but who cares?

I had a similar impression: that she was nervous about the big match, like a girl in a high school play, and it showed all over her face. Seemed intentional to me, or at least her allowing her real nerves to show through for the sake of the character, match, and moment.

Really fun show. I both agree and disagree about the main event. It didn't feel "as good" as other recent NXT Women's Matches while I was watching it, but after reflecting on it for a little bit, I realize it was a damn fun match with LOTS of great moments. The little girl - Bailey's sister? - broke my heart, and Sasha's heeling of the entire family was shameless in an awesome way. Disappointed by the two teams in the finals - I wanted Jason Jordan and Chad Gable myself - but I kinda understand why they did it. (When this first started, I was convinced Enzo and Cass vs. Jordan and Gable would be the final match - and part of me still thinks it should have been.) Mind-blowing post-match celebrations for both of those matches. Dawson and Wilder have no characters right now - unless they're supposed to be cosplaying NWA jobbers - but give them a few months and their personas will blossom like we saw with Becky Lynch, Blake and Murphy, etc. before them.

In this case, I think people are critical because they question whether CM Punk gives a flying fuck about the "cause" Susan G. Komen represents - cancer "research." People probably feel he doesn't and only brought it up to troll the WWE and its fans. That seems like a fair assumption to me.

No, it gives the other person the point. A short-term sacrifice but a long-term strategy to injure your opponent.

Mark Madden posted his WON HOF picks on wrestlezone.com: "Bryan is on my WON HoF ballot. I also voted for Brock Lesnar, Ivan Koloff, Perro Aguayo Jr., Gene and Ole Anderson, and the Assassins." - Daniel Bryan = Odd Choice for The Observer Hall of Fame - No! No! No! Who Isn’t On My Hall of Fame Ballot

I don't know Dragon King Karl from Dragon Ricky Steamboat, but instead of talking shit about him and his voting decisions, why not invite him here to state his case? I'm certainly curious to hear his reasons. He may decline, but at least a good faith invitation would be better than what's happening currently. Openly bragging about being blocked on Twitter for trolling is not a good look for this forum. Just my opinion.

Yeah, Creative generally sucks during this Fall period. It has for years, and it's a known thing that it has. I find that inexcusable. Back in the Attitude Era, there was no "cooling off period" like there is now - there was no mentality that "it gets hotter when WrestleMania season approaches." For better or worse, Russo tried to keep things moving and hot every week. You can criticize a lot of what he did, but he was never complacent. We can't say the same for the WWE today. Yes and no. I am not really excited about the match, but I kind of want to see it because at least it's the rare example of a long-term story with a payoff of some sort. Why they're putting Kane in that spot instead of a younger talent who could benefit is another story entirely. Then again, they probably look at Seth as that younger talent benefiting from Kane's presence.

All of this bullshit about football is just an excuse WWE uses, and I'm surprised any of you would buy into it. When WWE's ratings were at record highs during the Attitude Era, did football make a difference? Not really. The product was red hot then (even if many aspects of it can be criticized in retrospect or didn't age well), and it's stale now. Period. Also, I think I'm the only one who likes the Kane-Rollins feud. It's the rare storyline they've actually bothered to build up - and for months on end too - and it's not even the main event anyway, so who cares?

Not sure how either Benoit or Del Rio were surprises. They were the blatantly obvious choices to me. The Rumble has almost always been super predictable, and '04 and '11 were no exception to that. To answer the questions in this thread: Who should win the Rumble this year? Dean Ambrose (or Bryan if he's ready) Who will win? Probably someone predictable like Brock or Reigns...yawn.

No truly classic matches, but the entire show was FUN! - Owens and Ryback didn't mesh well, but I loved the cheap heel finish, and I think Owens will be a great I-C Champ. - NEW DAY ROCKS! - Speaking of which, everyone is mentioning Sting's injury, but what about Bubba Ray? He was visibly clutching his forehead for several minutes after that table spot. Fun match. - Charlotte's selling, other than a couple of spots, was spectacular. I thought she was legit injured at first. Match of the night? - Jericho as the mystery partner was an illogical "WTF" moment, but I like the story they told in the end. I'm up for some Jericho vs. Ambrose. - Both Rollins matches were good. I hope Sting's injury isn't as serious as we're hearing. - Count me as one of the few who is happy to see the return of the "Demon" Kane. They spent months building his issues with Rollins, so I'm actually looking forward to the payoff. I wish they'd give Kane his old mask though. The current version of his mask is ugly and boring. - I'm also glad we're getting the payoff to Brock/Taker at Hell in a Cell next month instead of at WrestleMania.

A writing staff is the one area where Wade has always kicked Dave's ass. I'm not saying all of Wade's writers are fantastic, but at least he's made a consistent effort from day one to feature other writers. Dave hasn't really done that - at least not in the same way or nearly as strongly.

How is this "mainstream" though? "Outside of wrestling" and "mainstream" aren't always necessarily the same thing. I've never even heard of this site.

For all the nitpicking about TNA, this is a really cool gesture - especially if Earl Hebner is indeed "the first referee to ever be inducted into a professional wrestling Hall of Fame." Is that actually true? We know there are no referees in the WWE Hall of Fame, obviously. What about the Observer Hall of Fame? There is at least one other wrestling HOF too. Maybe more than one. Is a ref in any of those? Here is the official press release from TNA, for those interested: http://prowrestling.net/article.php?TNA-announces-Earl-Hebner-s-inductor-Hebner-comments-on-the-honor-more-details-on-the-Hall-of-Fame-ceremony-44017

I thought it was a decent enough show - started out slow, got better as it went on, but still probably the weakest of Austin's Network podcasts so far. I actually think Jericho might have been a better fit to do this one. The one thing I wish Austin has asked about was Christian's seemingly forced retirement.

This video proves she can do the whole "Total Divas" bikini thing too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QHnzx8Z2TA

WCW debuting Nitro in 1995 gives it the instant victory IMO. It was a compelling, must see, can't change the channel show. The WWF was a trainwreck the entire year.

*His appearance on Arsenio Hall and resulting scandals This surely didn't help, but business was in the toilet anyway. IMO, the effect this had was negligible at best. The WWF simply wasn't a hot product anymore, period. *His run in World Championship Wrestling and role in bringing the company down I know we aren't supposed to talk about the good, but he did more good than bad. Was he even around in very end anyway? Without the Hogan heel turn, WCW doesn't get all of those curious casual fans tuning in to find out what the hell just happened, and the nWo would've been just another group squashed by Starrcade. I think it's silly to blame him for the demise of WCW when that company had a million and one other problems that brought it down. *His stint in TNA and role in possibly hamstringing another potential alternative Hulk didn't help much, but TNA management was inept before him and after him. Can't see how Hulk reasonably takes the blame for incompetence that both predates and postdates his involvement.

To be honest, they are - kinda. There's a good match here and there, but truth be told, the Specials are where NXT really shines.

If Shawn didn't come back to face Bryan at his hottest, I don't see him ever coming back for anything else.

With how the brutal WWF schedule was in the '80s, I'm not surprised they didn't have time to watch the NWA. They probably didn't even watch their own shows most of the time.

I know nothing about how to get a channel on the Roku, but I have to ask... How is it that so many small indy feds have Roku channels? Some examples: https://channelstore.roku.com/search/wrestling (some non-wrestling results are mixed in) Warriors of Wrestling, Ace Pro, AAW, and a few others... I'll admit I've never heard of any of them. Did all of them really fork over 20k? Like I said, I know nothing about this process, so I am genuinely curious about what it entails.