Cap

Yeah... those were dark times. Maybe it is generational, but I have generally preferred entrance music that doesn't have vocals. There are a few exceptions to that rule, especially in the indys where it is a free for all, but not a ton.

I mentioned it in the HOF thread, but I won't be SHOCKED if he gets a match with Cena or Shane (maybe if they wanted to get cute Joe or Styles - someone with a name that would be relatively safe to work with), but I would expect something more along the lines of a guest ref or enforcer spot, particularly in the Brock/Goldber or to a lesser extent the HHH/Rollins match.

They Hadys are getting in next year..... watch.

Ok, so that answers the "headliner" question for sure. I will be a little surprised if he works Mania, but not shocked. Personally, it isn't high on my wish list or anything, but I can see them booking him against Shane or Cena. I can also see them making him a special Ref for Goldberg v Brock (ugh) or something like that.

Or Malone.... or David Arquette..... I suspect it will be Jake when it is said and done.

Dragon could also induct Regal. Their relationship is well documented.

I liked the show quite a bit. It was a nice little treat this weekend. Night one was - as everyone has said - slow, but it did some of the groundwork stuff that made night two a lot better. I wasn't a fan of Devlin, but he was the only guy that I sort of actively didn't care for. On the other hand I came away really liking Bate, Wolfgang, and Dunne. Bate's potential is so obvious, despite his size. Wolfgang was such an oddly endearing part of the tourney. He is big and athletic, but still comes across as more or less a wrestling fan that is kind of an underdog up against these more obviously athletic conventional guys. I really enjoyed him and glad he made it to the semis. Dunne had some really solid matches and was - to me - the most stand out from the gun. Everyone in the middle is someone I would be interested to see again. I was only really familiar with Burch and Andrews before. Seven didn't stand out as much as I thought he would, but I would like to see him again all the same. I am probably bias on the commentary team. Cole seemed fine to me night one and then I read people talking about how he was better and he did seem a little happier, like he was having more fun than normal, but I may have been biased. I thought Nigel was really good for the most part, but I love me some Nigel. He misidentified some things a few times I believe that bothered me a little, but I generally thought he was charismatic and a net positive for the show. Dunne's character work was sort of central to the weekend and isn't perfect, but it is on the right path. He reminds me a lot of a few arrogant shit-birds I went to school with that would just as soon punch you in the mouth than look at you. Him ducking and running from Regal didn't bother me at all. Regal is bigger, older, has a reputation, and always came at him fast. Dunne's gimmick is two fold. First and foremost he is a bully. Bully's (at least as a meaningful character in a story) are scared deep down and fold when confronted sometimes, especially if they are surprised. Second, he is tough, gritty, but young and dumb. He is unpredictable and dangerous, but not quite wise enough to maximize his skills. Sure, Dunne cowered away from Regal but he did well to level off and just smirk at him when Regal wasn't rushing him. He responds differently when he is controlling the situation and when others are controlling it and that is classic young bully stuff. He can go out threaten Regal, but he doesn't want any part of a fight one on one, because he is William Fucking Regal. Even if we know he can take Regal at this point and regal knows that, Dunne's a young bully who's entire personality is tied up in the tension between scared and fearless. His is a persona that has lots of room to logically grow. End coming out was a markout moment, but I do wish that match was more competitive. In all, and this was said a few posts back, it was just a nice little piece of old school wrestling. We were introduced to a lot of new guys and by the end of night two I was hooked in and the wins and loses mattered. They clearly have a lot of room to grow in terms of the characters being played and the story lines, but they left me wanting more.

The latest Observers are saying Taker is not challenging for the title, so if it's Taker/Reigns I guess Reigns wouldn't be champion. I bet there are three more waves of rumors about the situation before its becomes clear what is happening.

I would have cut the cord, but I need a home phone line and cable internet is the most reasonable in my area. The bundle is a good bit cheaper to the point where I wouldn't save anything if I just did phone and internet. It will be a bit before I am able to cut cable out all together and have it make sense, but I will. If I have Netflix, HBOGo, Hulu, WWE, and a rotation of other wrestling streaming services I will be just fine. Again, It is only a matter of time before almost everything is streaming and subscription based.

Add Show's six pack in 2017 to the list of reasons you never say never in wrestling I don't love the idea of Reigns vs Strowman, but I imagine that match keeps coming back to vince's brain and either he talks himself out of it or someone else does over and over. That is why I assume Braun wins the Rumble and faces Reigns (despite rumors) and we all subject to hearing Vince in the throes of ecstasy from the back throughout the entire match. If not that I wont be surprised if they do Braun vs Joe, especially if they really do go with Taker vs Reigns. Joe would make sure Braun looked great on the big stage and they could both come out better for it in a hass battle. Here is hoping I am wrong. What I "want" changes almost as much as what is rumored but right now I want Joe to win and face Styles or Cena or Both and Reigns vs Balor (I really want Reigns vs Zayn, but I am not getting that).

Tech always changes behaviors and patterns. VOD/Streaming is very much in the process of finding its footing and in the process of changing the way people watch wrestling. I think every type of fan will see this change (hardcore fans that want to watch everything to casual fans). It is tough to say how things will ultimately pan out. What the landscape will look like 6 months from now is tough to say, let alone a year or two or five. The fact of the matter is all TV is moving to Streaming services. It is just slower in some areas for a variety of reasons. If anything wrestling is kind of a head of the game and companies are sort of on their own, feeling around in the dark. Fans are in a similar position, trying to figure out the most economical way to expose themselves to the wrestling they want, pinning down the watching patterns that work for them. Consolidation is inevitable. I wont be at all surprised if WWE picks up some other companies formally and co-runs them for the network, even if that is only for say 1/2 of that company's shows (think Austin podcast but with actual wrestling). I am guessing their dream is to run a network that has 4-5 different "promotions" on it, all under the WWE banner with the logo predominately present on each, more or less co-opting other styles, genres, and so on. That is - of course - a LONG way off.

That is true. Again, who knows what happens down the road. Maybe Shane mends that fence? Maybe Heyman gets more influence and helps mend it? There is just too much money, too much potential in one more main event for Punk for it to not be on the table. I am legit surprised that more people don't know Motorhead outside the WWE context. I guess i never assumed they were "household" but I just assumed most people knew them. I still imagine they have enough of a presence in popular culture to induct if the WWE wants. Just playing some of those recognizable riffs and putting together a few video packages about their influence in the music industry and people will buy in.

I think Punk pretty clearly - at LEAST - cleared a path for a lot of the "indy guys" that came later. It was't his size or stature. It was the way he came up, the kind of wrestler he tried to be. WWE tried too early to basically put a factory system together and Punk - intentionally or not - demonstrated very clearly that they were missing something with that model, something that gave the program edge and made money at the same time. Punk slid in and wedged the door open for guys after him to get the benefit of the doubt a little more. I'll agree Bryan put the punctuation on the whole thing and without him being honestly more talented than Punk, the whole thing might have fizzled out. Bryan deserves more credit for taking everything to a level that (at least for that short mania run) I am not sure ANYONE has ever been and fully establishing that rout (more attention was paid to Bryan's indy time - I think). I just don't see Bryan getting so many chances if Punk weren't finding success. If NOTHING else, they probably wanted an indy hero to draw that fan populations should they lose Punk, since they likely didn't really trust Punk all that much and Bryan was pretty clearly their best bet. I think Punk's legacy in the ring will fade a little, but he will remembered as a guy who got more out of skill set than most in the modern era. Out of the ring, who knows about how his personality holds up. I don't know him so I don't care. His influence will hold up - I think. The WWE could continue to ignore him and it will likely be effective. But he has crossover potential. I can't imagine him not finding some common ground down the road and them articulating the narrative such that he matters again. In all, I will be SHOCKED if Punk doesn't come back for one more match and likely get a HOF nod eventually. This is a never say never industry, and it is definitely a never say never WWE. It is money and power first, control of the dominant narrative of wrestling is vital. Who knows when they may need a bump down the road and they are willing to throw something nuts at punk. Who knows where Punk's head will be in 5, 8, 10 years.

It'll probably be when he headlines with one last match v. Cena in 2020. I am going to go ahead and get out in front of this and give that match 8*.

Man... I just never say never anymore. I never thought I would see Brian Kendrick deliver a burning hammer to Kota Ibushi in a WWE ring, but that happened.

Headliners left: Taker, Rock, Vince, Jericho, Bryan (maybe next year), Kurt, Shane, Goldberg, Show (after some time away), Rey, Batista, Jeff Jarrett (just kidding), Cena Orton, Punk (with time maybe), Brock. Assuming... Taker, Rock, Bryan, Goldberg, Kurt and maybe Batista take up the next hand full that gives lots of time to let Shane, Jericho, Show, Rey and Brock finish out, then Cena and Orton. Obviously Vince goes in whenever they want/need a headliner or when he is finally done. By that time they (hopefully) have another batch of headliners nearing ready. I kept thinking this year may be the year to do The Rock since they are in Florida, but I am not really hearing anything close to that and would assume there would be at least murmurs.

So is DDP going to be the headliner? Christian?

Read a rumor over on CSS (so take it as you will) that Joe might be in for a monster push and get a big match at Mania. I for one am very much into that. I feel like outside of Brock vs Goldberg (Edit: and HHH vs Rollins and probably Shaq vs big show) I am really at a loss for what to expect out of Mania anymore.

Decided to catch up on some indy wrestling recently. I subscribed to floslam and beyond and have more or less been cherry picking. I just don't have a ton of time to sit down and watch full shows, but I have made it through a few. I was a little down on Sabre after the CWC. He can get a bit cute, but watching his Evolve and Beyond stuff reaffirmed my faith in him. His matches with Gresham were lights out. He brings out the best in Ospreay to me and had good matches with lots of people in Evolve. Of course the Hero and Strong matches are still real standouts. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to catch Mercury Rising yet (not on FloSlam). I had Styles as my wrestler of the year a few weeks ago, but Hero has to be my MVP now. Maybe I am a prisoner of what I have recently watched, but Hero seems to have a really high floor right now. He just can't have a bad match.

So Good! So So So good.

Ehhh.... I'll probably just buy a ticket. Worst case I donate $10 to an indy promotion.

It's a small building so take that as u will. I would say with the Hardy factor, this one will be close to selling out in advance. Are the Hardys on the 21st card? I know they are there on the 29th.

Do CWF shows sell out? It isn't the end of the world for me to get my ticket in advance, but I am probably going to wait till the day of to see if the weather is good enough to come off the mountain without much hassle. Would I be ok to get my ticket at the door or should I just get one in advance to be safe.

Sort of just had Raw on in the background today, but Rusev is so amazing. My wife (not a huge wrestling fan) and I were on the couch cracking up at Rusev demanding HBK put Lana in a movie that was already made. The dude got a little cheap heat by bashing Star Wars and telling HBK to use CGI to put a real person in a movie that is coming out in a week. Brilliant! I love that guy.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up.