sek69 Posted May 13 Author Report Share Posted May 13 The president of the CW was interviewed by Variety for the TV upfronts and was raving how well NXT has been for them. He said they beat FOX on Tuesday nights and has been a big part of the network being up 40% from last year, so it looks like this partnership has been a home run so far. 18 minutes ago, Stiva said: The promo hype for AAA Triplemania, which sees WWE and TNA involvement, mentions that the three promotions will compete for BRAGGING RIGHTS. WWE is in charge alright Funny thing is it turned out WWE only has 51% ownership of AAA*, which is controlling interest, but I expected their piece to be bigger than that. (* in theory, the deal apparently hasn't been officially signed yet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 Jeff Cobb is shorter than I remember him being. He’s shorter than LA Knight! And his belly sticks out more than I remember. And now his name is JC Mateo. And he wrestles in his street clothes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 I can’t believe that the basis for the burgeoning rivalry between Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa is that Solo is upset that when Jacob tells Solo that he loves him, he doesn’t sound like he means it. I once had the exact same basis for a feud with one of my ex-girlfriends! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 OMG Cobb looks like shit. He took his shirt off and his gut is hanging out something serious, and he’s sucking wind like he’s out of gas already. I’m sorry this guy does not look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 17 Author Report Share Posted May 17 Cobb's always been Polynesian Rhino, but it's more obvious in WWE than it is in New Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 17 Author Report Share Posted May 17 I don't know why they think these unbreakable announce tables are better, but it makes the bump less impressive and it looks like it sucks 10x more to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 I was about to say that only one month ago Cobb looked like his awesome self in NJPW and that apart from body-type he really is nothing like Rhyno (I mean, he's short and stocky and that's about it) and about a billion time the worker, so I have no idea what happened if he looked gassed and stuff (no training in the meantime maybe, or just the classic WWE effect of making pretty much everyone worse unless you're a walking gimmick)... ...but then I saw that he was called JC Mateo. So you have Jeff Cobb, who's a former olympian and a well established name in the business after years in NJPW, and you change his name to... JC Mateo. 😂 Never change WWE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 36 minutes ago, El-P said: I was about to say that only one month ago Cobb looked like his awesome self in NJPW and that apart from body-type he really is nothing like Rhyno (I mean, he's short and stocky and that's about it) and about a billion time the worker, so I have no idea what happened if he looked gassed and stuff (no training in the meantime maybe, or just the classic WWE effect of making pretty much everyone worse unless you're a walking gimmick)... ...but then I saw that he was called JC Mateo. So you have Jeff Cobb, who's a former olympian and a well established name in the business after years in NJPW, and you change his name to... JC Mateo. 😂 Never change WWE. I have seen very little of Jeff Cobb. I saw every appearance he made in AEW, and a few select matches in New Japan back when I subscribed to New Japan World. The Jeff Cobb I saw back then did not resemble the “JC Mateo” I saw last night, believe me. There is a 3 minute or so highlight clip of his win over LA Knight last night on YouTube so people who don’t agree with me can feel free to check it out for themselves. After the show last night, I checked out the reviews and show recaps at a couple of different sites, and there was more than one reviewer who agreed with my opinion. His debut was not impressive. Like I said, I know Cobb was stocky before, and that’s fine, it was part of his look. But I don’t remember his belly hanging out like that. Either his old gear was a compression singlet to hide his gut, or he has put on weight lately. The bigger problem is that he was sucking wind like a vacuum cleaner, huffing and puffing after executing even the simplest moves. Mind you, I saw the commercial free version of the show where they stuck with the action during the commercial breaks, but still, Cobb spent a large portion of the match trying to hold Knight in some sort of weird rear bearhug or bodylock. Not only was it boring, but it was obvious that he was doing it because he needed to catch his breath. He managed to execute an impressive looking standing moonsault, but in my opinion, for the most part, he looked like total crap in that match. The stupid new name and the crappy new ring gear are definitely on WWE. They are hardly setting him up for success with that stuff, but if he keeps wrestling like he did last night, I don’t see him going very far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRH Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 I was impressed by R-Truth's interview. After years of comedy, it's good to see that he can pull off serious promos too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 They CALLED HIM JEFF COBB WHEN HE DEBUTED. If this was the plan, either you have incompetent people who can’t file a fucking trademark in a timely fashion, or you have incompetent people who think fans won’t notice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 34 minutes ago, Timbo Slice said: They CALLED HIM JEFF COBB WHEN HE DEBUTED. If this was the plan, either you have incompetent people who can’t file a fucking trademark in a timely fashion, or you have incompetent people who think fans won’t notice. When they initially started calling him “JC” at the start of the show last night, I didn’t think it was a big deal. I figured they were going to just keep calling him Jeff Cobb, but use JC for short. But then when he had the match, that’s when they rolled out the “Mateo” part, and I had the same thought as you…he was Jeff Cobb last Saturday, so what changed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted May 17 Report Share Posted May 17 FWIW, the trademark for JC Mateo was filed on May 10th. https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=99179026&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted May 20 Report Share Posted May 20 It wouldn't surprise me in the least if this was all, somewhat, "by design." I don't mean to imply that Jeff Cobb purposefully is going out there to do bad work...but I don't think he came to the WWE with the naive belief that he was going to get some big push or be treated as anything more than a hired goon. If anything, I hope he has the good sense to try to get over the way Tozawa, Otis, Heath Slater, etc. did: comedy. I don't know if he's funny or not, but he has an intense look and, as far as I know, has always been presented as a legit asskicker so there is comedic potential to be mined there. "The Big Bad Dude who secretly likes _______" or "The Big Bad Dude who is actual super smart/super dumb" are tropes that have been used for ages. All you have to do is add a somewhat new wrinkle to it. And a catch phrase. The ship sailed years ago for him to come into the WWE as a legit serious player. He's 42. I'd hope he recognizes that and maybe finds a way to bring something new to the New Bloodline. The Tonga boys are black holes of charisma. Solo still has a ways to go before he's anything special. Jacob Fatu came in and within 3 weeks had outshined everyone in the stable. Cobb won't outshine Fatu in the ring or in terms of sheer charisma. He's not going to "out serious" Solo Sikoa, who is the established ice cold leader. But there is room for him to shine as some sort of comic foil to Sikoa's perpetually mean-mugging character if he can pull it off. JC Mateo as your standard silent heater is DOA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 21 Author Report Share Posted May 21 Man seeing Zoey Stark blow her knee out (I assume0 was heartbreaking. She came back from injury, got put in a group that should have been three asskickers wrecking shop that somehow got forgotten in like 2 weeks, had her stablemates get released, and then got hurt again. That's a lot of bad luck in a short time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted May 21 Author Report Share Posted May 21 Also considering New Japan seems to be having another cycle of low cash, the smart move for Cobb was to make the Nakamura move of getting WWE money and not having to do Strong Style matches every night. Sure he might have to deal with a silly name, but I'm sure he's not losing sleep over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted May 21 Report Share Posted May 21 2 hours ago, sek69 said: Also considering New Japan seems to be having another cycle of low cash, the smart move for Cobb was to make the Nakamura move of getting WWE money and not having to do Strong Style matches every night. I highly doubt Cobb got Nakamura circa 2015 money, considering they basically low-balled a high potential young Stephanie Vaquer. Cobb is typically someone you'd think AEW would offer more money too. I mean, whatever, it's not like I'm gonna miss on any more worthwhile Cobb matches. The name change and outfit still reeks of dumb-as-fuck booking (not to mention the laziness of thought process of "hey, another island guy, let's put him in the Bloodline", which not only screams NWO 2000 level creativity but also says a lot about stereotypical roles, still). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted May 21 Report Share Posted May 21 I actually think WWE originally planned to give Cobb a serious push under his real name but ended up with buyer's remorse after they got a chance to kick the tires. The fact that they just filed for the JC Mateo trademark seems to point in that direction. If nothing else, he and AJ are sure to have some interesting conversations about the shape of the Earth and other scientific matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted May 22 Report Share Posted May 22 14 hours ago, El-P said: Cobb is typically someone you'd think AEW would offer more money too. I'm not so sure about that. His win-loss record in AEW was abysmal. They clearly saw next to nothing in the guy except as a washed old jobber to put over their rising young talent. 7 hours ago, NintendoLogic said: If nothing else, he and AJ are sure to have some interesting conversations about the shape of the Earth and other scientific matters. Why? Is Cobb is a blithering imbecile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted Thursday at 10:56 AM Report Share Posted Thursday at 10:56 AM 10 hours ago, C.S. said: I'm not so sure about that. His win-loss record in AEW was abysmal. They clearly saw next to nothing in the guy except as a washed old jobber to put over their rising young talent. He wasn't the biggest NJPW star. Of course he wasn't gonna beat the AEW guys in the context of that relationship. Also, AEW actually wanted Cobb a few years back, but at the time he was happy with his career in Japan and choose not to go (well, maybe *that* would have played a part in AEW not being that hot on him anymore, but who's to say, Cobb going to WWE had been obvious for a while now, maybe after the Tongans went too and got plugged into the main event scene for a while thanks, to, oh well, ya know) As far as "washed up". Tell me you never watched NJPW in the last 4 years without telling me you never watched NJPW in the last 4 years. I don't care how he looked in his WWE debut. Cobb was his great self in NJPW having great singles matches with El-P (no, not me) and looking awesome in tags for the entire beginning of the year. If WWE has "buyers' remorse" about getting Jeff Cobb, it's on them for being incompetent idiots. 10 hours ago, C.S. said: Why? Is Cobb is a blithering imbecile? There was talks years ago that he was a flat-earther. Which, for an islander is even more hilarious. But honestly I never actually saw the source for that (same for Salina de la Renta for instance). Once the word is out there, it becomes a running gag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted Thursday at 06:42 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 06:42 PM https://x.com/davemeltzerWON/status/1925608485997486520 What are we thinking, fellas? Is it finally time for Saudimania? Or maybe Wembley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted Thursday at 07:08 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 07:08 PM Bloodmoney Mania is coming. Maybe not next year, but it's coming. London in April ? Welcome to Rain-a-Mania. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRH Posted Thursday at 07:34 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 07:34 PM Possibly Mexico? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted Thursday at 07:48 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 07:48 PM If they ever do Wrestlemania in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government is going to have to pay TKO an absolute fortune to do it. And that’s taking into consideration the fact that the Saudi shows usually actually generate more income for WWE than Wrestlemania does already. People come from all over the world to attend Wrestlemania, but there is always a huge contingent of fans who come from all over the United States and Canada. If they ran the show in Saudi Arabia, obviously that would no longer be possible, because even the most diehard of fans is not going to travel to the Middle East just to see a Wrestling show. So that will eliminate all the extra income they generate from the fanfests, and all the other promotional crap they do the week of the show, not to mention all the extra TV shows like Raw and Smackdown and the NXT shows and other stuff they shoot in the city at the same time. If you add all the production equipment and all that stuff to the equation, it would probably be a logistical nightmare to pull off. So the government would really have to make it worth their while. I’m not saying they won’t do it because they have definitely shown their willingness to spend ridiculously stupid amounts of money on entertainment, but it’s probably going to have to be a lot more than they normally shell out. I know the Royal Rumble is already going to be held there next year, but I always figured that was going to be about the biggest show they’re going to get. But then again, who knows. TKO certainly seem capable of doing just about anything if the price is right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted Thursday at 08:13 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 08:13 PM Rumble is the second most important event for WWE and it's already in Saudi. What's the big difference ? Of course Mania is going to happen in Saudi eventually. TKO is totally tied with the saudis. You're gonna have all the worst kind of shitty influencers who live in Dubaï and shit too. I honestly wouldn't be surprised in the least to have Logan Paul main event BloodmoneyMania. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted Thursday at 08:19 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 08:19 PM 9 hours ago, El-P said: Tell me you never watched NJPW in the last 4 years without telling me you never watched NJPW in the last 4 years. Okay, I'll tell you... I haven't. NJPW World is an atrocious service that had no Roku support for the first several years, no English support outside of a browser plugin, and a confusing subscription system where you could get it on the 30th and then get charged again for another month on the 1st (or something like that). They've since added Roku - not sure if they ever fixed the other issues - but I had moved on by then. 9 hours ago, El-P said: I don't care how he looked in his WWE debut. Like shit. Reeked of '95 The Goon or some random WCW or ECW guy coming in and being used as a geek. 9 hours ago, El-P said: Cobb was his great self in NJPW having great singles matches with El-P Congrats. Was it a carry-job on your part, or did he pull his weight? Seriously, I'm sure Cobb is great, but I have my doubts that "JC Mateo" will be. A name like that tells me WWE sees nothing in him and has already given up. Then again, he could have the greatest name in the world and still be DOA, because he was positioned right off the bat as Solo's bitch, when Solo has been positioned as everyone else's bitch. Seems like too little too late and the ship has sailed. If he's getting a massive payday (which is doubtful with TKO), God bless him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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