WWE TV 05/03 - 05/09 Big Roman made little Bryan humble.

[Marksman]

9 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

For those of you wondering how the writers would pop the audience of one this week, Angel Garza shoved a rose up Drew Gulak's butt on Raw.

When you put it like THAT, it sounds really dumb.

 

But if you actually watch the clip, it's... 

 

Yeah, still really dumb. 

[Strummer]

Eva Marie also seemed to have terrible timing. I think it was around 2014 where she was going to get a push but one of her implants burst and she got an infection or something. Then in summer 2016 when getting her big push on SD she failed a drug test and was suspended. Then let a go a few months later IIRC

[rovert]

5 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

wait she did that? fucking yikes

 

The video was a bimbo and her himbo husband talking about it in a very boring and incoherent rambling manner. It was posted a good while after the initial media flurry. Seemed like a reactive move when they saw other accounts were getting huge views about it. 

[sek69]

15 minutes ago, rovert said:

The video was a bimbo and her himbo husband talking about it in a very boring and incoherent rambling manner. It was posted a good while after the initial media flurry. Seemed like a reactive move when they saw other accounts were getting huge views about it. 

Doing a racism to get views is such a sad yet accurate state of affairs for how the world is nowadays.

[KawadaSmile]

sadly that *is* how most grifters make their money nowadays

[MoS]

I believe deliberately acting racist for personal gain is as morally reprehensible as being actually racist

[joeg]

I believe what they've done with Matt Riddle is morally reprehensible..... 6 years ago I saw the guy on an Evolve show against Chris Hero and posted here that he was fucking money. I said he was the next Kurt Angle. He a former pro athlete and legit shooter with a great look, big personality, quick wit, and a natural charisma, why wouldn't he be? He gave a stoner/frat bro vibe but in a cool way which I kinda dug. WWE could have molded him into anything they chose to. And they chose for his role to be minor character on a family friendly sitcom who exists solely to get cheap laughs. Shameful. 

[NintendoLogic]

The key is that Eva Marie brings absolutely nothing to the table as a performer regardless of her political views. If she had any real talent or charisma, she wouldn't have come crawling back to WWE in the first place.

[C.S.]

36 minutes ago, joeg said:

And they chose for his role to be minor character on a family friendly sitcom who exists solely to get cheap laughs. Shameful. 

Considering that he was implicated very badly in the #speakingout scandal, he should thank his lucky stars he's being used at all. So far, they've used him far better than I expected - certainly 1000x better than Keith Lee at least - but I can understand why they're not going all the way with him yet. If things don't go his way legally or more allegations come out, WWE could cut bait with him tomorrow and people would barely notice.

But this is the same company still holding onto a major liability like Dream, so who knows what the fuck they're thinking.

3 hours ago, rovert said:

The video was a bimbo and her himbo husband talking about it in a very boring and incoherent rambling manner. It was posted a good while after the initial media flurry. Seemed like a reactive move when they saw other accounts were getting huge views about it. 

27 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

If she had any real talent or charisma, she wouldn't have come crawling back to WWE in the first place.

Didn't she have an association with Rock and his Seven Bucks Production at one point? Stupidity like this probably jeopardized that. What an idiot.

[Rah]

This might be wildly inappropriate and grasping at imaginary straws, but what is the timeline looking like between Keith Lee breaking his story and losing his momentum in WWE? I've not kept up with the company in the slightest but C.S. post made me wonder, especially considering Vince's obvious disdain for "weaker" men (Drew being one all that time back).

[joeg]

@C.S. I actively avoid following Speaking Out because all of the breaking "news" happens on twitter and twitter is the worst. But my understanding is that Riddle had an ongoing, lengthy affair with a female indy wrestler while on the road. His wife found out so he broke it off. The woman he broke it with has since has make claims on social media of sexual harassment and vandalized some property at the performance center which earned her a restraining order. Correct me where I'm wrong but the whole thing seems more like an episode of Jerry Springer than a serious accusation of sexual misconduct. Wrestling isn't exactly covered by the WaPo or the Wall Street Journal. Most wrestling news I get comes from this message board or a guy who tells me he read it on twitter or a guy who tells me he knows somebody in the business. With that said feel free to correct me where I'm misinformed. 

[C.S.]

13 minutes ago, Rah said:

This might be wildly inappropriate and grasping at imaginary straws, but what is the timeline looking like between Keith Lee breaking his story and losing his momentum in WWE? I've not kept up with the company in the slightest but C.S. post made me wonder, especially considering Vince's obvious disdain for "weaker" men (Drew being one all that time back).

Breaking his what? I am not trying to be obtuse, but I genuinely cannot figure out what you mean.

11 minutes ago, joeg said:

@C.S. I actively avoid following Speaking Out because all of the breaking "news" happens on twitter and twitter is the worst. But my understanding is that Riddle had an ongoing, lengthy affair with a female indy wrestler while on the road. His wife found out so he broke it off. The woman he broke it with has since has make claims on social media of sexual harassment and vandalized some property at the performance center which earned her a restraining order. Correct me where I'm wrong but the whole thing seems more like an episode of Jerry Springer than a serious accusation of sexual misconduct. Wrestling isn't exactly covered by the WaPo or the Wall Street Journal. Most wrestling news I get comes from this message board or a guy who tells me he read it on twitter or a guy who tells me he knows somebody in the business. With that said feel free to correct me where I'm misinformed. 

In addition to the sexual assault allegations, Riddle was accused of physically abusing - choking - Candy Cartwright. Getting choked is obviously never good, but it's a million times worse when it's done by a trained professional fighter who knows exactly what to do to injure and incapacitate someone. 

She also sued WWE, EVOLVE, and Gabe Sapolosky, but those suits were dismissed. However, the suit against Riddle was allowed to go forward. I think that's where we are now. 

[Marksman]

Not seeing anything about her having a restraining order? Riddle filed for one but then dropped it pretty quickly, according to this. https://babyfacevheel.substack.com/p/matt-riddle-cancelled-restraining

[joeg]

Ok. So sequence of events of the Riddle situation as I now understand them-

He cheated on his wife. Wife found out. He broke it off. The former mistress may or may not have stalked him. Then she drove down from NY to Florida to see him and was thrown off the property at the PC. Then she accused him of rape and choking her on twitter, yet she didn't file any charges. He filed a restraining order. He then dropped restraining order. She sued him and every company he ever worked for. All lawsuits against his employers were thrown out, the lawsuit against him is still moving forward.... do I have this right?

I'm not defending the guy. He sounds like a shitty husband and father. But this woman sounds absolutely insane. 

[sek69]

44 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Breaking his what? I am not trying to be obtuse, but I genuinely cannot figure out what you mean.

Keith Lee told a story of being roofied by a woman who's advances he had turned down and woke up naked in a hotel room. He shared it as a way of saying that being assaulted could happen to anyone. 

He told his story in June, so it shouldn't be hard to do the math to see when he disappeared from WWE TV. 

[sek69]

So it looks like Bryan's WWE contact expired on Friday and Smackdown was legit his last match with them pending a new deal. Guess now we'll see how much he really wants to do that world tour. 

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, sek69 said:

Keith Lee told a story of being roofied by a woman who's advances he had turned down and woke up naked in a hotel room. He shared it as a way of saying that being assaulted could happen to anyone. 

He told his story in June, so it shouldn't be hard to do the math to see when he disappeared from WWE TV. 

Holy crap! Had no idea about any of this.

I’d hope WWE culture wouldn’t be that backward, but…ya know.

BUT… Wasn’t he still in NXT last June? Even if he had already been called up by then, he was on TV until much later in the year, so I’m not quite understanding how you’re connecting the two.

Still, the actor Terry Crews got ridiculed by other celebs (I think certain shitty rappers or hip hop musicians) after coming out about his own assault, so that kind of toxic masculinity is still all over the place.

[Rah]

18 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Holy crap! Had no idea about any of this.

I’d hope WWE culture wouldn’t be that backward, but…ya know.

BUT… Wasn’t he still in NXT last June? Even if he had already been called up by then, he was on TV until much later in the year, so I’m not quite understanding how you’re connecting the two.

Still, the actor Terry Crews got ridiculed by other celebs (I think certain shitty rappers or hip hop musicians) after coming out about his own assault, so that kind of toxic masculinity is still all over the place.

Like I said, I don't know when he nose-dived in WWE because I don't follow the product but I found it strange that at his age (and his talent) he's disappeared from view. Terry Crews was an example I had in mind.

I was hoping they weren't connected, and I'm glad if they aren't, but the thought doesn't seem too far removed from what WWE would do.

[Burgundy LaRue]

Keith became double champ in NXT at Great American Bash (July 2020). He moved to RAW in August. He was featured often until he went off TV in February, for what most thought was injury-related. He's posted a couple of vague messages on Twitter, but has been quiet otherwise.

I wouldn't think his Speaking Out story would have anything to do with his absence. The timing seems off. I certainly hope that's not the case here.

[FMKK]

Meltzer I think was saying that WWE wanted him to cut weight and learn to work 'like a big man' and suggested that he wasn't confident and was second guessing himself in the ring.

[NintendoLogic]

Yeah, I don't think Keith Lee's Speaking Out story has anything to do with how he's been booked. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and Lee seems like an obvious case of Vince not getting someone and needing to remake him.

As for Bryan, the ending of last week's Smackdown makes a lot more sense now. That was the kind of sendoff you give someone who's leaving the territory rather than just switching brands.

[Strummer]

Meltzer is saying that WWE is pushing hard to re-sign Bryan.

if he re-signs with a huge contract it probably means he'll get pushed in the main event scene even stronger to justify the big money. Well you would think that anyway 

[FMKK]

Bryan doing literally anything else would be more interesting than whatever WWE will give him but I have zero expectation of him doing anything but re-sign.

[Mad Dog]

9 hours ago, joeg said:

Ok. So sequence of events of the Riddle situation as I now understand them-

He cheated on his wife. Wife found out. He broke it off. The former mistress may or may not have stalked him. Then she drove down from NY to Florida to see him and was thrown off the property at the PC. Then she accused him of rape and choking her on twitter, yet she didn't file any charges. He filed a restraining order. He then dropped restraining order. She sued him and every company he ever worked for. All lawsuits against his employers were thrown out, the lawsuit against him is still moving forward.... do I have this right?

I'm not defending the guy. He sounds like a shitty husband and father. But this woman sounds absolutely insane. 

It's a super messy situation and I think it's impossible to say who's telling the truth or lying there. But that's the jist of it as far as I remember it. 

[strobogo]

1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said:

Yeah, I don't think Keith Lee's Speaking Out story has anything to do with how he's been booked. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and Lee seems like an obvious case of Vince not getting someone and needing to remake him.

As for Bryan, the ending of last week's Smackdown makes a lot more sense now. That was the kind of sendoff you give someone who's leaving the territory rather than just switching brands.

It doesn't even make sense, because Vince seemed to love what he brought in 2019, which was about as pure Keith Lee as he gets, and then pushed him like that for about a month upon call up and then was like you know what never mind why isn't this guy working like King Kong Bundy.