Fantastic

How is MITB going to go down? Are they going to pull the trigger on a Reigns heel/tweener turn (given that he's set to win the briefcase) and cash in on Rollins or Ambrose? Two Scenarios: 1) Ambrose wins the title, Reigns cashes in there and then and wins, turning heel. Triple threat for Summerslam. 2) Rollins retains through nefarious means, Reigns comes out intending to cash in, Ambrose prevents this from being successful, alludes to the fact that he was cheated out of the title. Reigns doesn't turn (yet) cashes in for a title shot against Rollins at Summerslam, Ambrose is inserted into the match also - triple threat. I can't see any of this ending without a triple threat at the #2 PPV of the year.

He'd have to change his in-ring style to be sure. I don't agree with going down the Orton route (5 min headlocks, rest holds, methodical pacing, etc) though. Maybe he'd even adopt a new heelish finishing manoeuvre? Or failing that, go for wins with the STF. It seems far easier to get a submission finisher over in the heel role.

What if they run the sellout thing? Similar to "Hollywood Rock" in 2003?

Fuck it! It may happen, it may not. But if it does, how will they characterise Cena so the majority of the audience that are booing how now don't start cheering him? How would you change the character that Cena plays to reflect his new "evil" alignment?

Owens should be WWE World Heavyweight Champion by this time next year, and possibly the number one heel worker in the company. WWE is really going all out on him... Hopefully they don't screw this up, because he's such a superb worker.

Great wrestler, my first exposure to him was ECW of the late 1990's when he was teaming with Jerry Lynn and putting on solid opening PPV matches.

My Predictions: Neville vs. Bo Dallas Triple Threat: Nikki Bella© vs. Paige vs. Naomi - new champion John Cena vs. Kevin Owens Elimination Chamber: The New Day© vs. Lucha Dragons vs.Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs.Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension vs. Los Matadores Elimination Chamber: Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus vs. Ryback vs. R Truth vs. King Barrett vs. Rusev - new champion Seth Rollins© vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE World Heavyweight Championship) Other stuff: - Kane probably turns face. - Owens wins, but it's far from a clean victory. Tommorow on Raw, Triple H or Stephanie decree that as a result of his victory, Owens has been signed to a full WWE contract, but will continue to defend the NXT Championship for as long as he remains champion, or something to that effect. Better yet, they might even make it a match for the US title at the last minute...

The Card Neville vs. Bo Dallas Triple Threat: Nikki Bella© vs. Paige vs. Naomi (Divas Championship) John Cena vs. Kevin Owens Elimination Chamber: The New Day© vs. Lucha Dragons vs.Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs.Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension vs. Los Matadores (Tag Team Championship) Elimination Chamber: Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus vs. Ryback vs. R Truth vs. King Barrett vs. Rusev (Intercontinental Championship) Seth Rollins© vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)

Vince will never retire as an on screen character, he's tried that stuff before and failed because he can't resist the stage. But, he's certainly phased out his prominence over the years. Just, he'll never truly be done, not while he is still alive. I fully expect that Vince will never go in the HOF whilst he's alive either.

I like the "everybody talks too much" mini segment which usually involves footage of Cena audibly calling spots.

Favourite style of wrestling? Strong Style. Favourite way wrestling is presented? WWE's current big card extravaganza. Favourite type of match? Triangle/Triple Threat. Favourite gimmick match? Royal Rumble Favourite wrestler? Don't have a decisive answer to this one! Favourite match? Don't have a decisive answer to this one either! Favourite feud? Austin/McMahon Favourite angle? Kurt? But seriously, I'm torn between the original nWo formation, Steve Austin and Mike Tyson's shoving match, and the beginning of the Invasion storyline (man, remember how much potential that had?!) Favourite promotion/period of wrestling? 1996 AJPW 1997 WCW 2000 WWF 2012 NJPW Little things that happen in wrestling that you always love? When a wrestlers works a bodypart throughout a match, in preparation for a perilous late stage submission attempt, or the actual victory itself

Eugene was pretty atrocious, until people realised that Nick Dinsmore could A) actually wrestle, and was pretty committed to getting the gimmick work. Sure, it was well past it's expiry date in 2006, but the whole classic underdog stuff (always a winner) and the nostalgia throwbacks with Eugene imitating pro wrestling moves of the past greats was awesome.

From Puroresu Spirit: It seems some good has come in the wake of Misawa's tragic death - specifically, to stop competing when the injuries start amounting up. Poor Morishima though, such a great worker that really never got a chance to shine at the peak of NOAH's popularity. I have no doubt that had he not stayed with NOAH out of loyalty when he was killing in in 06/07, that NJPW would have snapped him up in a heartbeat and gave him a top of the line push.

I've got one. Does anybody know what the steepest sentencing ever imposed by a "wrestlers court" has been? Typically you hear about those taken to court having to buy beer for the boys or getting ribbed, but has anybody actually got fired, or blacklisted in wrestling as a result of the mock justice system?

From WWE via PWInsider Not looking good. More surgery on the horizon? Even if he buys some time in his wrestling career via surgery, it seems like WWE may not be keen on running with him in any prominent position from here on out, given their usual perceptions in these scenarios that a performer is "fragile". I have to say that Bryan Danielson's luck after working his ass off to get to the top has been awful. Thoughts?

^This is definitely the first one I thought of. Another is Triple H going over at WM2000. I know it was the middle of the Attitude Era and they were going to for the shocking "heel goes over at the main event of Mania for the first time", but that should've been Rock's win. And, not to add on to the Triple H train here, but I really don't think he should've gone over Orton at Unforgiven '04. Orton's whole face turn was handled poorly, but losing the title a month after he got it certainly didn't do him any favors. Call me crazy, but I think Flair should have gone over Orton (at Unforgiven) via Batista interference to win the title as a final footnote in his career. This would basically enhance the growing dissention in Evolution. Trips would be pissed at Flair for winning the title and especially pissed at Batista for enabling that victory. Then you could have Michaels or somebody go over Flair for the title in his first defence on Raw, at Taboo Tuesday, Trips beats Michaels for the title with reluctant help from Batista, Orton gets his win back against Flair, in which Flair turns full on face. Then everything else goes ahead as it did with Batista turning. ETA: I should clarify that a lot of that stems from a booking wishlist in which Trips and Orton wouldn't actually ever have a singles match against each other. Basically, the SS team match would be their only true encounter, and then Orton would be drafted to Smackdown, do the heel turn and face Taker. Then, about a year later, Orton eventually turns face again, Triple H is still in full-on heel mode and they collide at Wrestlemania 22 in their first singles match against each other. A long slow build.

Yup, that was a momentum killer. When that angle first begun, you had the impression that each guy in the Nexus was going to be a huge star. And then... Wade Barrett: Drifted aimlessly in the mid card, a few throwaway IC title runs. A feud with Orton that never really got off the ground. Perpetual stop/star pushes and character tweaks. Probably won't ever hold the WWE title. David Otunga: Green as hell in the ring, but afforded some favorable booking above his peers. Held the tag titles briefly with John Cena, had a prominent on screen role alongside John Laurinaitis. Acts as something of a WWE ambassador now and rarely wrestles. Heath Slater: Perennial jobber with a throwaway gimmick, some personal troubles. 3MB didn't take off either. Justin Gabriel: Throwaway tag teams, NXT mainstray. Never received much in the way of booking. Looked like he was pretty much going to have to settle for the Evan Bourne role. Parted ways with WWE when he realised this. Darren Young: Teamed with Titus O'Neil, got slightly over as the PTP's, never afforded a tag run though. Tepid booking, lots of B-show appearances and even though it shouldn't have, his coming out has probably affected his prospects. Michael Tarver: Thrown out of Nexus, maybe for being the weakest member of the group. Did nothing of note, released following an injury. Skip Sheffield: Repackaged as Ryback, received a big main event push in late 2012, but push was quickly curbtailed and he faded into mid card obscurity. Bit of life was breathed into him with the Rybaxel team, his face turn last year and upper mid card push worked for a couple of weeks, but it seems he's back in booking purgatory. Daniel Bryan: The only real success story of the group, but he wasn't a part of Team Nexus during the Summerslam 2010 match, so it doesn't really count

Pretty sure the Observer mentioned around the time that serious talks between WWE and Rock were going since as early as Summer 2010, at least those pertaining to him hosting Wrestlemania XXVII. Presumably The Rock during these negotiations expressed interest in wanting to actually wrestle a match or two, so Mania would be written prior to his return with planting the seeds for a future match with Cena in mind. Of course, if Rock pulled out, you'd still have John Cena headlining and most likely winning the title from the "evil" Miz to send the crowd home happy.

Also from '03, Triple H going over Booker T and retaining the WHC at WM XIX was completely the wrong move.

Well, she did convince 43% of voters in the 2010 Connecticut Senate election that she would make a great politician.

- I get bored and really can't get into most wrestling from the territories. The most interesting aspects of that era to me are generally promos, gimmicks and crowd heat. - I think Ric Flair is incredibly overrated in many respects, most of this opinion comes from watching JCP/NWA matches. - I still mark out for Undertaker. Even though he looks rough, doesn't wrestle to a third of what he once did and probably should have retired following the end of the streak (Taker/Wyatt was pretty crap), I still want to see him wrestle again. - Even though he's exceptionally talented, has a bright future and puts on great matches, I rate a lot more people in NJPW (many of which work the lower and midcards) above Okada.

In terms of on screen performance, Vince takes it easily by a long shot. Steph doesn't even come close on a good day to the sheer heat Vince drew in his "Mr McMahon" stint during it's height of popularity between 1997 and 2001. In terms of actual in ring performance, whilst Vince has had more good matches (and that's by and a large a product of working with Michaels, Triple H, etc), Shane is right up there. Had Shane actually committed to wanting to wrestle full time and gone through some additional training, he'd probably have had a good run. Definitely gifted athletically, despite the lack of physical prowess on the surface.

Bizarre, funny, tidbits from this week: - John Cena claiming he's never used PEDs and that he's been 250 since the beginning on Jericho's podcast. - Jericho claiming that he believes Cena because Lance Storm said so on the same podcast. - Dave reporting that Afa and Sika wanted Roman Reigns to leave WWE because he didn't win the title at Wrestlemania.

Yeah, Kawada had it rough in Stampede. Some of it might have to do with the fact he was given a Korean gimmick (a lot of animosity exists between many South Korean and Japanese people, even to this day, but particularly in the 1980's). Zenk claims to have got on well with Kawada, mentoring him somewhat and introducing him to Western bodybuilding concepts. I'm pretty sure that Kawada claimed he liked Stan Hansen too (might have been his autobiography?) somewhere. But then, Hansen seems to be friendly with many of the AJPW stalwarts, him and Kobashi even filmed a sit down reunion prior to Kobashi's retirement where both spoke favorably about each other and many other wrestlers, including Misawa and Kawada.

Might as well stick Kane in there, make it a handicap and be done with it.