sporadic

I think Sting goes over simply for the fact the buzz he generated after appearing at Survivor Series as well as the fact I think they're still going to try and target Undertaker vs Sting for WM32. I don't think either match will be enjoyable but for pulling in and generating buzz I think it makes sense Trips puts him over.

Probably because the dumb fuck who booked this shit likely had no idea that the Rumble reaction was coming. It always comes down to Vince having the final call. FTFY. Them not knowing that Philly was going to go nuclear on them is a cop out. Anyone with half a brain knows that Philly is one of the absolute toughest crowds to do shitty booking in. These are the same fans that tipped over a Flyers bus upon returning splitting an away series in the Playoffs because they Flyers didn't sweep on the road. I still think they run Reigns vs. Lesnar but I'm starting to feel that Reigns goes in as a heel and Lesnar is the babyface. This is of course depending upon whether Lesnar resigns - which I think he will as the money for the work volume in WWE is better than the UFC. It's the only way I can see salvaging this debacle. As much as I think Bryan vs. Lesnar would be the better match-up all around I think this is an instance where bad booking decisions need to blow up in Vince's face so it serves as an example of here is something you DON'T DO to others on staff...

After the Invasion botch I tuned in and out up until 2005. Guerrero's death kept me out for a year. Benoit's death followed by Misawa's death kept me out until around 2012. Bryan and Lesnar keep me around. Honestly I'm much more invested in NXT, ROH, NJPW and older footage stuff than I am with the current WWE. I keep hoping that one day I'll wake up and find Trips running the show completely maybe is a reason why I hang around...

I've mellowed some. On the one hand, I think he has a better mind for what the fans want from the WWE more so than Vince does. On the other, I still think he's very much the politician with a big guy fix like Vince.

The disconnect between the crowd and the bookers/producers is the same disconnect I see when I go on travel orders to anywhere that is not NoVA/DC/SoMD. All that area wrapped in the 495 exists in a media world that reinforces their biases to the extreme and makes it hard for new information to get circulated around. From Trip's talk it seems like he has a clue about the disconnect. It seems like he's recognizes the crux of the situation being that Vince's mindset (and Dunn being in Vince's ear) prevents a lot of the mending that needs to happen from occurring.

I think a lot of her improvement has been due to the quality of people around her (Natalia, Paige, etc) that has helped her grow. I still don't think she's the best they have but compared to two years ago its a vast improvement.

Don't get me wrong, I thought the match was phenomenal but they booked themselves into a huge hole in doing so. However you've pointed out the biggest problem with putting the strap on Lesnar in the first place. No one in their right mind is going to believe Reigns can beat him when he destroyed Cena and broke the Undertaker's streak. The best thing they could've done was have Cena pin Rollins, Brock goes batshit crazy and proceeds to beat Cena down to a pulp, Rollins cash the case and get the strap. Problem solved. Now they're in the spot where they're going to push someone who isn't ready and no one is going to believe he could do it all on his own.

Given the Cena beatdown at Summerslam and the way he finished in the Triple Threat it's going to be damn near impossible to make Brock heel. The crowds have started to take to him even with Heyman running his mouth. I've got a feeling that Vince and Brock will eventually come to an agreement on staying with WWE with more money and some more dates. Why would you want to get the title off Brock? If anything his having the belt coupled with his limited exposure has made his matches feel special and rubbed off on the belt too IMHO.

If they truly go with this I can see the fan base doing batshit crazy on them...

That, in the middle of a total meta/babyface promo, was amazing. Fear the epic trolling on Raw. It's sad that at this point, trolling audiences has became the new way of getting "heel heat". This is what happens when all you can do is jerk around your audience in the worst possible way because you can't lay out meaningful feuds and angles since no one is allowed to get over...

Perhaps it would be better to break the roster up back into a Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, and possibly a Middleweight grouping. Each groupings have tag team champions too. This way they could keep guys of relative size together to work with each other. If you really want to get cute make an Openweight Championship ala New Japan for the badasses to compete in and book some interesting match-ups that way. Anything along these routes would be better than sticking Bryan and Ziggler together for a meaningless tag run.

WCW really didn't have to have Hogan defending the title because the main focus for a while was what side was Sting on which then shifted to WHEN Sting was going to avenge WCW. Back then it seemed like the booking - while hotshotting - did have some long term focus in mind. I don't think anyone gets that feeling from Vince these days at all. Whatever way the wind blows each week is how things are going to play out. Granted, Punk leaving and Bryan's injury killed a lot of things that could've been done. That said the fact remains that long term planning for challengers to Lesnar just hasn't existed based on how they've booked everyone on the roster as a whole.

Why is it the first thought in my mind the angle playing out with Vince doing a double cross on Sting at WM and burying WCW once and for all by having him put Trips over?

If you haven't checked out the Sam Watson podcast definitely check this week's episode out. His interview with Reigns is nothing but Reigns unintentionally chumming the waters...

No particular order: Nakamura vs. Ibushi Aztec Warfare Lesnar vs. Cena vs Rollins Okada vs Tanahashi I personally enjoyed Makabe vs Ishii a lot but not really a MOTYC...

Here is the thing, though. When you condition the fan base as a whole that it's almost all the time LOLCENAWINS - especially after what they did to Bray - and up until then Bryan was being treated as sideshow material with Kane why should you expect buys on a PPV to meet your high expectations? EDIT: Got timeline mixed up

20 years ago, yeah I guess you could qualify us as being a vocal minority wherever you frequented (RSPW, AOL Squared Circle, Prodigy). The thing is though the vocal minority really helped the business change 20 years ago during the Monday Night War era as fans got smarter and kayfabe wasn't working anymore. The rise of ECW back in the days should've been a tip-off that something was up. The fans help make guys like Austin, Rock, Foley, etc more so than Vince did Austin - to me at least - gets it, The Rock gets it, Foley gets it, and others but Vince just doesn't seem to understand the social dynamics of how information is shared now vice 20 years ago. Hence why when his ideas get nuked by the crowds he resorts to trying to troll his audience to teach them a lesson so to speak. The issue though is when they troll all it does it continue to build in the mindset of fans the idea that they're not valued as a consumer. Vince has to be one of the few guys I can think of off-hand that will intentionally piss his consumer base off time and time again just because he thinks he can without repercussions but it shows up in his stock valuation.

This right here is the reason why I will sing the songs of praise the day Vince McMahon is gone with all his shitty comedy and hopefully "sports entertainment" branding. I'm far from being a Trips fan but I have to give the devil his due in the fact he does seem to be want to get back to basics in the wrestling department (ala NXT). Of course, how that plays out AFTER Vince is gone on the main roster remains to be seen. I could give zero fucks about Sheamus vs Bryan. It's a waste of Bryan's abilities if he's truly healthy. If you're going to put Bryan in a upper midcard level you've got Devitt or KENTA or even Neville down in NXT that would be way more entertaining than Sheamus vs. Bryan. And three times together? I thought Vince "couldn't got back to the well"...

What a horrible idea if that's the case. I don't see why it would be hard to have both the Fast Lane and WM match end with Rusev victories. You could have the Fast Lane match end in some sort of shenanigan way that sets up the WM rematch only to have Cena put Rusev over cleanly via submission passing out ala Austin/Hart from WM13.

Some notes from Austin's Tuesday Podcast with Keller: Austin believes no matter where they held the show they were going to tank with the Rumble ending. Keller thinks WWE has conditioned the fans to believe they control the show based on their campaigns to use social media as feedback Not pushing guys organically given the social media feedback WWE wants has highlighted the disconnect between the fans and Vince Keller thinks if they had booked Reigns as a workhorse in the match they may have blunted the blowback Both thought Rock's reaction was a shoot and he was legit hot over the reaction as it could affect his film career WWE has conditioned the fans to hate the part-timers - even a guy like The Rock - so the rub he was trying to give would've backfired anyways Austin thinks neither Lesnar nor Reigns can lead a match so they're in a bind Keller thinks it's possible anywhere upwards to 80k could've canceled Network subs after the #CancelWWENetwork campaign Both loved the Triple Threat with the only complaint being the overuse of finisher near falls. Both are high on Rollins Austin is highly critical on Reigns's work rate and move set. Reigns resting over in the corner got Austin steaming. Both believe Bryan grabbed the brass ring last year. Both think the booking was completely unfair to Reigns and have tainted him for a long time. Both think Bryan should have won. Keller believes Bryan going over would've been the best profitable option at this time. Keller thinks Vince is so stubborn to change his formula of success - maybe due to his inner circle - that it's going to hurt him over the long term with revenue and profits. Keller says he has heard next to nothing with regards to Undertaker returning With Cena turning 38, both Austin and Keller think Cena needs to be protected because of wear and tear. Austin thinks WWE would be in big trouble without Cena until WWE builds the talent rosters up/force feeding storylines - hence the reason the need to protect him is paramount. Keller thinks Vince needs to apologize to Reigns for putting him on in a no-win situation Keller thinks - based on the experience from last year's events - that Vince should've known better to put Reigns out there to dry

Wow. Reigns cuts Cena 2.0 Ambrose cuts a great natural feeling promo. Bryan comes off very believable even though the fans know he got jobbed. The fan base is going to revolt harder now...

This is not going to work to their advantage. Its going to show how dominant Lesnar is, how over Bryan is, how his elimination was garbage, how poorly Reigns showed, and how even The Rock couldn't win the crowd for them. How the fuck ANYONE believes this is a good idea is beyond me...

Deja vu anyone? https://i.imgur.com/AWFMyHG.png

I gotta believe it's the suit unless he went on a severe binge recently... Yeah, for a while he looked pretty good in TNA. But, we've seen Chris Hero very quickly going from in shape to out of shape. Yep, it doesn't take much to blow up in a bad way if you're sucking in massive amounts carbs/sugar right and left even with a hardcore weightlifting regiment behind it...

I gotta believe it's the suit unless he went on a severe binge recently...