Is the empire crumbling before our eyes?

[Blehschmidt]

If the lawsuit gets settled, I can 100% see a scenario where next year at Wrestlemania they have one of the GM's in the ring with some low level talent who they are supposedly having issues with, "No Chance" hits, the place goes absolutely batshit because the fans are pre-programmed drones at this point, and Vince struts out and does his You're Fired at whoever the guy in the ring is. 

[Boss Rock]

Turns out Sami might have been the one to accept the 50% pay cut. Which, if true and his title win was a sort of consolation prize, is the dumbest decision by a wrestler in recent memory.

[DMJ]

I don't know if I buy that story.

For starters, it's based on a passing comment on the Kevin Nash podcast and we really don't know the accuracy of that information. I know Kev and HHH go way back but I've also gotten the feeling over the years that when they do chat, they're not booking the territory like they were when they were making towns in 95'. 

My second thought would be - Sami Zayn, similar to Bayley, KO, and Balor - has arguably more leverage than anyone else on the roster. He's not just an ex-ROH guy, he's not just a buddy of the Young Bucks, he was a supporting player in the biggest WWE storyline of the past decade. That's something that Sheamus (whose also near 50) and the New Day (a pricey package deal) can't claim. 

My third thought is, when the story first went around, the rumor was that it was The Miz, which made some sense to me. It also seemed like an easier "sell" to him as a talent if I were TKO/WWE. If you're TKO/WWE and you have a guy who is clearly winding down his in-ring career but a solid spokesperson for the company and also has a significant history with reality TV (The Real World franchises, Miz and Mrs.) and game shows (Dancing with the Stars, American Gladiators), there is an easy quid pro quo to be made. Basically, WWE gets you for half-price when you're available in exchange for having the most powerful talent agency - WME (CEO Ari Emanuel) - in your corner as you venture out. Between Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount, and whatever other streaming service wants to churn out quick, cheap reality programming, The Miz is likely to land another TV gig because that's just how TV works. If you're The Miz, it's a gamble, sure, but what are your options? AEW is out of the question. Every TV/movie role you've ever got was based on your WWE affiliation. Going fully independent would be career suicide.

Besides, all he needs is one semi-hit hosting gig - which is way less dangerous and taxing than being a pro-wrestler - and he could be working for the next 20 years doing bullshit hosting gigs for any number of networks. I mean, Seacrest, Joel McHale, and Andy Cohen can't do everything. For The Miz, taking a pay cut from the WWE for the chance to make potentially more money - with WME's backing - as "budget Seacret" is not that crazy. He'd essentially be agreeing to lose half of his WWE earnings in exchange for the opportunity (which I'm sure they sold to him as very likely) to make up that half and more as a WME-backed "TV personality."

[The Thread Killer]

There have been so many “experts” on Twitter claiming they knew for sure who it was that TKO strong armed into taking the 50% pay cut.

First it was LA Knight (which I am sure Kevin Nash would have been thrilled to report on his podcast, since he seems to hate the guy for some reason) but then it was Damien Priest. Then it was Sami Zayn. Like @DMJ says, I have also heard The Miz’s name thrown around.

There are so many people who claim to know who it was, but of course they can’t offer any proof, so I take it all with a grain of salt.

[sek69]

So there's about 22,000 tickets sold for each day of Summerslam and WWE has concerns. Seems TKO has yet to connect the dots between them astronomically jacking up ticket prices and said tickets not selling. 

[The Thread Killer]

15 minutes ago, sek69 said:

So there's about 22,000 tickets sold for each day of Summerslam and WWE has concerns. Seems TKO has yet to connect the dots between them astronomically jacking up ticket prices and said tickets not selling. 

The shitty booking isn’t helping either, I assume. Was there really anybody on earth clamouring for Reigns vs Rollins: Part 137?

[sek69]

It also must sting that AEW has sold more tickets for All In so far (almost 30k) than they've sold for each day. 

14 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said:

The shitty booking isn’t helping either, I assume. Was there really anybody on earth clamouring for Reigns vs Rollins: Part 137?

There's a way they could have done it to be compelling, but Seth wanting the match because they're getting old and this may be their last opportunity wasn't it. 

They haven't done a whole lot for the rest of the card either. Liv vs Iyo will probably be good, but it's not a ticket mover. Oba is super mega over, but he's the only compelling thing on the card right now. 

[The Thread Killer]

If they do Punk vs Cody, I am there for that, and I’m curious about Brock vs Oba in the Cell, but they need what…14 matches? They need to get going and I have no confidence in their current booking to come up with anything decent.

[sek69]

Never fear guys, Baron Corbin is back 

[Coffey]

Why is SummerSlam a 2-day event when it's not even a big event? I don't get it. SummerSlam doesn't feel special. If any PPV is the #2 behind WrestleMania, it's The Royal Rumble, not SummerSlam. Plus WrestleMania is in April, & SummerSlam being in August, that's only 4 after, so it's not even a calendar thing. 

WWE is spread thing & are overexposed. Even if you some how look beyond all the awful atrocities, it's just not a compelling product with a lot of talent worth paying to watch. What's the draw? Roman/Seth again? Punk as champ again? Bringing back Baron Corbin? LMAO. Oh, I know, maybe we can do more Bloodline shit or push the other Uso as a solo! Yeah, that'll get 'em in the seats!

Obi is great & his future is bright but even that you can tell they don't know what the hell they're doing with his direction. Had him beat Brock at WrestleMania & it looked like Brock was retiring only, SWERVE, not really retiring & he's back & he gets his win back... to set-up a 3rd match that no one wants because fuck Brock, but this time it's in a cage, daddy! Fuck off. They should have gotten rid of Brock as soon as his name kept popping up in all the Vince McMahon scandal news. But WWE gonna WWE.

[Scarletlikesounds]

I don't think the Oba/Brock thing is quite as bad in the grand scheme of things. I mean morally speaking its more Lesnar which, ew, and it's pretty stupid to have him relinquish his title shot when he could just, beat Lesnar "because we all knew he was gonna cost me anyways" and THEN use his shot but I guess its an unwritten rule you can only keep your shot for like 2 weeks max. But overall its at least not as bad of a direction as Bron's getting in the vision. Anyways I'm not watching because it's almost comical how little of worth there is to watch there at this point even setting aside MAGA, Lesnar & The Saudis.