Strummer

Mick Foley is scheduled for Raw tomorrow. Have to believe he'll be involved in the cell match. Anything else would a letdown of sorts

I remember reading a few months ago that Reigns's merchandise was not selling as well as it used to. Cena's numbers were down as well but he's been off TV for the most part the last 5 months

Ambrose is still the most over full time face in WWE. That's really not saying much in current wwe but he gets the best consistent reactions. Dolph and him were probably equals a year or so back but Dolph has fallen behind him to a pretty substantial degree. He's still more over than Reigns as well. We'll see with AJ

to be honest, and I had reservations about him returning as much as anyone, I've really enjoyed the AJ/Jericho program a great deal. Say what you want about Jericho as an in ring performer now but he still knows how to get stuff over

Steph, Vince and Hunter now being advertised for the majority of Raws in April and May. Shane not advertised for anything post mania. Hope it's a swerve. Otherwise? Lame.

well, well...

also Shane's promo on Monday was changed right before air time and he was apparently told to mention firing Steph and Hunter if he wins at Mania if they refuse to quit. Well it changed or he forgot I guess. It could have just been confusion and he forgot but... The political tension between Vince and HHH is at an all time high right now because Vince has Shane as leverage. from the sounds of it the opening of RAW was going to be between Shane and Steph but it was changed to Shane and Vince. Thye just pretended Steph's promo on the 2/29 Raw never happened. Bryan said Monday that they had a big segment between Shane and Steph planned for Raw (on 3/7)> Didn't happen. Yeah stuff is going down backstage

There was that brief period last spring where Steph and Hunter were gone for a bit and they had Kane running the show and the ratings didn't waver

I'd like to know why Vince seems terrified of taking Steph and Hunter off TV. I mean it's not like they are drawing big numbers anymore. I think he wants Steph to be the face of the company and make sure she is booked the strongest to trick investors into thinking that everything will be alright when he's gone. Plus deep down he doesn't trust anyone else in the spot. And I do think Bonnie Hammer and USA have his ear on this. It's been three years which is an enternity in wrestling I know there are obvious political answers to this but remember Steph was used sparingly on TV from 04-12 and Hunter was entering into the "pathetic semi retired wrestler who couldn't run the company without the roster turning on him" phase before he became all powerful again with the Authority.

yeah this was my fear when the angle first started a few weeks ago. Going back to the status quo after mania after teasing change would be the ultimate cock punch. I just have this feeling that's what we are getting

word is there is a big angle set for the first hour of Raw that will build a major mania match Meltz:

Wrestling inc reporting that Mick Foley will return on the (most likely) 3/14 Raw to shoot an angle that will lead to a match at Wrestlemania. Mick would not be wrestling in said match

Btw, I don't think it has ever been outright reported but I'm positive that Reigns would have been in Dolph's spot at Survivor Series 2014 to get the rub from Sting. They clearly didn't want Dolph in that spot but I guess they thought they had no other choice with those conditions

if you'll recall the company's excuse at the time was that they were left scrambling because all their mania plans had to change. So they had no plans for Bryan post mania and basically said "yeah let's just go to Kane". They wanted to do Bryan v Batista at the May PPV but Batista was having serious problems with the company. WWE would later leak that he wouldn't job to Bryan which Batista later refuted. Meltz said on the Lapsed Fan that the plan was for Kane at the Spring PPVs (May-Kane, June-Kane, July-most likely a 4 way with Kane and 2 others, probably Orton and Reigns) and then getting squashed by Brock at Summerslam. With of course no rematch like Cena would get. Vince had to be "proven right" that Bryan shouldn't have won the belt just like he was "proven right" when he didn't want Rey to get the title

Can't believe Terry Gordy has been dead almost 15 years. Shit and he barely made 40. He was less than 10 years older than Jericho to put in perspective

If it couldn't be more obvious the fans want Ambrose in Reigns's spot...

Steph and Vince were quite good tonight but the crowd is clearly sick of them

They built up HHH v Ambrose for the network special from Toronto. Certainly adds more fuel to the hit theory. Double pin in Shasha/Becky most likely setting up 3 way at mania Undertaker returns tonight

Without a doubt but a brand split seems same old same old. The Authority angle desperately needs to end at Mania

I'm genuinely surprised how many people are clamoring for another brand split. I know the idea was that it allowed the mid card workrate guys to be on one show and get time but the WWE roster is much different than it was 10-15 years ago. The roster is full of "workrate" guys that are hovering in the 50/50, upper mid card world. Plus Vince is a lot more grouchy than he was a decade ago so I doubt he lets the brands differentiate themselves from one another and leave SD alone like he at least did on occasion a decade and a half ago

yeah that last point can't be reiterated enough. The fans are so sick of Stephanie and the Authority that they are dying for something different. Meltz mentioned that this time people will believe the stip because a McMahon is involved unlike Survivor Series 2014 where no one really bought it. if they just remain status quo after mania after teasing change it's going to be a major downer

Going by twitter I had no idea Shane was this popular with female fans. Holy crap

apparently the word going around as of now is Shane is just sticking around till mania. A short term deal. Man them teasing removing Hunter and Stephanie and then remaining status quo would bite. And I'm not even a big Shane fan or anything

Bryan also seems to think we are getting another brand split post mania. Well that would be lame

Dave said that almost everyone backstage thought Steph had a greater knowledge of the business than Shane. That was why she was named head of creative back in 2000. But he also said that most people on a personal level preferred Shane because he was more easy going. Remember the prevailing thought at the beginning of last decade was that Vince/Steph and Linda/Shane were from the same mold