Burgundy LaRue

Sasha and Becky have been going at it a bit on Twitter, using Bayley and Seth as respective buffers/targets in building their upcoming HIAC match. I get that Rollins was trying to banter. He's just not good at it and went personal when everyone else had kept it above board. And as mentioned, going after Sasha is a recipe for disaster. Her fanbase will swarm anyone they view as an enemy. Rollins will be lucky if only his address and bank account numbers are doxed.

1.179 million viewers is more than anyone predicted, so that number is seen as a major success. The question becomes how much of that viewership can they hold after the newness wears off, along with AEW coming on air. NXT isn't being presented as a side project, but rather a true third brand for WWE. They do have the cushion of returning to the WWE Network if the USA deal isn't renewed in a couple of years. AEW has no such luxury right now. If anything, it shows the divide between diehard wrestling fans and the more mainstream/casual crowd. It's close to a 50/50 split. So the quest becomes how to bring in more of the RAW/SDL crowd while keeping the NXT supporters happy and also competing with another wrestling show who shares that core fanbase. I think both NXT and AEW have hurdles to overcome. AEW will need to establish a female star ASAP. NXT clearly sees their women's division as a strength and will use it to their advantage. That they barely used Cole or Baszler and didn't even show Gargano for the first show means they're holding on to some of their heavy hitters for a bit. AEW has the edge when it comes to tag teams; pushing Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy, who are the most family friendly, seems the way to go. Is it possible for both to fail? Sure, that has to be on the table. But I think WWE has or will have safety valves in place to prevent NXT from hitting the skids. AEW probably will have fail safes, too. We just don't have enough information on them yet to gauge what those may be. It'll be interesting to see where it all goes over the next 6-12 months.

If his other business practices are indicators, I wouldn't count on Shadid Khan to be any better than Vince McMahon.

I thought Reigns and Rowan came across well in their segment, especially with the Roman chants at the end. Rowan has an interesting way of speaking that works for the cultivated maniac he's playing. I liked his new music, too. The crowd seemed into Kofi replicating the leg drop on Orton, as well as Gable tapping out Shane. The second hour of the show was good for the most part, save for the bizarre treatment of KO and the Mandy-Nikki match. Mandy just isn't there as a singles wrestler or a character.

Most wrestling fans--and people in general--are awful on every level, regardless of what interests them.

That'd be a heck of a twist. They'd have to be careful with that, though. You don't want to make the face look stupid in this case, considering he's been nearly killed in the story and has good reasons to question what's going on. I like how they're keeping things open-ended for now. That will cause some repetitiveness along the way, but the pacing is similar to a traditional American soap opera. I think it's working well because the story is properly driven by the people within it. Everyone's behavior has been true to their core character.

If I had to take a guess, this will lead to KO beating the life out of Shane. Which would be fine, except KO has already beat Shane in a match and saved his job. So doing it again is redundant.

I enjoyed the double Rowan reveal. Obviously, it's not the end of the story. But as someone who likes soap operas and melodrama, having it take a quirky turn is fine by me. Roman clearly wants to punch someone through a wall, but he doesn't know what to think/believe, and that makes sense. OTOH, the KO-Shane saga. . .(thumbs down). I get what they're going for in trying to have KO appeal to regular people with a real-life situation. No one wants to lose money that can be used to secure their family's future. But if he's supposed to be the 2019 Stone Cold, KO is going to have to start throwing Shane through windows and whatnot.

Both sides and their fans are chomping at the bit to prove the other wrong. That's just how things go in this social media-driven world. I can only imagine how WWE vs WCW would have played on Twitter 20 years ago. NXT had 841,000 viewers for the 13 December 2017 special shown on USA as part of that year's WWE Week. It was the 22nd-highest viewed cable show that night in the coveted 18-49 demographic. Based on that, NXT can bring in numbers. The key is to bring in the right numbers in the big categories. The same will be true for AEW.

College basketball is an issue. Also, Chrisley Knows Best is all but dead in the water with the tax evasion charges. Plus, the oldest daughter accusing her father and brother for extortion over a sex tape. WWE is the only thing keeping USA afloat as a network and didn't want to lose SDL. Getting NXT covers several problems. For all the talk of Vince wanting to take down AEW, you'd think Triple H was some innocent being duped by his FIL. If anything, Hunter is relishing this more than Vince.

I imagine it's like any new word or term: weird at first, but eventually becomes second nature. I'd wager it has to do with the SDL to FOX move. "Fighters" may perk up the ears of UFC/MMA fans and cause them to tune in.

Neither would I. I wouldn't have bothered responding, because stuff like that always gets blown out of proportion. But Gargano was simply a bit miffed, not angry or lashing out. That said, I agree with the sentiment that a lot of current wrestlers are really in the bag for themselves. That's why responding to anything is a bad move. Work the marks, don't be one.

It shows once again sports/wrestling fans are just as scummy as wrestlers and promoters. Not a big Sasha fan. Thought some of the blowback sent her way was unfair, but I can't say I missed her.

Tonight's match was a microcosm of why it's hard to get behind Rollins. Brock was a step away from pulling a Zack Gowen on Rollins a couple of weeks ago. Busted ribs, F-5s onto gurneys. Rollins comes hobbling in last week like a CrossFit Jiminy Cricket, using a chair as a crutch. He's so pathetic, Brock takes no joy in beating him again because he's basically dead meat. Tonight, Brock flings Rollins around like a rag doll. Swings him by his bandages, more throwing him into ring posts. Rollins should be crying while he breathes from all the abuse he's taken. But in fashion typical for him, he no-sells it! Running around, splashes into tables from 10 feet away, leaps and jumps galore. What was the point of Brock nearly crushing Rollins if he wasn't going to bother selling it properly? It's why he's such a bad babyface. He does nothing to maintain the sympathy he gets from situations like this. We're supposed to feel like the face overcame all odds to stand tall, but Rollins' lack of nuance robs us of that chance. He needs too much foundation to be laid for him in order to make him look remotely like a main event star. I think he's good enough to be a top-tier guy, but not THE guy. And with what feels like a lack of quality heels on RAW, I don't feel good about this reign, either. Rollins in this capacity does nothing for me.

To be fair, if your cousin is the biggest movie star in the world, you're not going to bother doing 12 Rounds Part 6: Half Dozen of the Other. As far as who can become a mainstream star for WWE, they've got Roman. Becky, perhaps? Charlotte has some cache, with being sent to do PR for the SmackDown move to FOX along with being a Flair. No one else feels remotely close.

Agreed and a fair take. I think there are several reasons for that, with WWE being in the Brand Era probably at the top of the list.

In my experience, this isn't true. He was part of a lot of the movie's media junkets. He's been covered in some way by several mainstream media outlets (Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly's website, LA Times, Popsugar). He also got non-wrestling coverage when he returned after getting his leukemia into remission. A number of movie reviewers knew who he was when watching the film's second trailers, so it stands to reason he's at least recognizable to a decent chunk of the audience. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't say what is happening there. From others I've spoken with, Roman's getting a good response. I can't personally confirm or deny that. But from what I can see, he's on the mainstream radar enough to where he can build toward a Hollywood career, which Reigns seems to be going for within the next 4-5 years.