The Thread Killer Posted January 25 Report Share Posted January 25 12 minutes ago, JRH said: What happened to Carmello Hayes? He was a breakout star in NXT, but he seems to be basically a JTTS over on the main roster. I’m thinking part of his problem is probably his size, although there are plenty of smaller guys on the main roster now. But you are right, he seems to be losing a lot more than winning since he got called up. I thought they had big plans for him when they made him Smackdown’s #1 draft pick, but aside from that series of matches he had with Andrade and the shots he got at the US title with LA Knight, they haven’t done a whole lot with him. He seemed pretty popular initially, I’m not sure the heel turn was a great idea either. I can’t imagine it’s going to get much better for him either, because sooner or later guys like Trick Williams and especially Oba Femi are going to get called up from NXT and Hayes is likely going to suffer in comparison with bigger guys like that. Of course, there is the other theory that WWE doesn’t much care for African-American superstars. That was floated when they let Lashley go without offering him a new deal. I would certainly hope that’s not the reason behind Hayes getting de-pushed on the main roster, but I guess you have to consider it as a possibility. There seems to be a lot of upside with Hayes. That dude can move. They seem to be putting a lot of the smaller guys like Gargano, Ciampa, Dunne and Bates in Tag Teams. Maybe they ought to find Hayes a tag team partner and see if that helps get him over. Then again, I haven’t been thrilled with how they have been booking the tag team division. That is one of the few areas I haven’t enjoyed as much since Triple H took over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Apparently Hogan will not be appearing at SNME tonight. Anybody else have audio issues with dual English/Spanish commentary at the start of the show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Was my drink at dinner that strong or was Ripley/Jax really freaking terrific? A great, power sprint that felt like the blueprint for a BJW women's division. Did they watch Sekimoto/Cobb yesterday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 14 minutes ago, WingedEagle said: Was my drink at dinner that strong or was Ripley/Jax really freaking terrific? A great, power sprint that felt like the blueprint for a BJW women's division. Did they watch Sekimoto/Cobb yesterday? I think it was your drink. I thought the match was a boring slog. Of course, it doesn't help that Nia isn't compelling to me and the outcome was never in doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 3 minutes ago, WingedEagle said: Was my drink at dinner that strong or was Ripley/Jax really freaking terrific? A great, power sprint that felt like the blueprint for a BJW women's division. Did they watch Sekimoto/Cobb yesterday? I thought that match was pretty good, especially considering that it had Nia Jax in it. Like @sek69 said, looks like Ripley is one of the few people that can drag a watchable match out of Jax. That Sheamus/Breakker match was pretty damn good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHawk Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Nia vs. Rhea was a great Nia Jax match but a bad Rhea Ripley match, if that makes sense. Sheamus vs. Bron was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 I know it’s part of his culture, but having the floral lei around his neck, kind of takes away from Jacob Fatu’s “monster” aura. Just doesn’t seem to fit in with his look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 If that attack was meant to get Fatu over as a heel, it definitely failed…big time. The crowd was plenty engaged, but I don’t think they were supposed to be chanting: “One more time” and “FATU!” while he was attacking Stroman. I think WWE overestimated Stroman’s popularity, and severely underestimated how great Jacob Fatu comes across. I never thought I would see blood on Saturday Night’s Main Event in Prime Time either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Strowman never recovered from being cucked out to Roman/Brock, his toxic social media presence cooled him off further, and his eventual World Title reign was too little too late and laid an egg. He's the drizzling shits. Jacob Fatu is just plain awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 3 minutes ago, C.S. said: Jacob Fatu is just plain awesome. I know, right? Those moonsaults were crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Jey Uso gonna die now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 I have a bad feeling the Yeet Geek is winning here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Just now, C.S. said: I have a bad feeling the Yeet Geek is winning here. I’m guessing Cody/Cena for the WWE title at Wrestlemania and Punk/Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 28 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said: I’m guessing Cody/Cena for the WWE title at Wrestlemania and Punk/Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Cena/Gunther would make more sense to me, but I'm guessing Cena doesn't win the Rumble, doesn't win Elimination Chamber, faces someone else at WrestleMania, and wins one of the World Titles later in the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 26 Author Report Share Posted January 26 4 hours ago, The Thread Killer said: I thought that match was pretty good, especially considering that it had Nia Jax in it. Like @sek69 said, looks like Ripley is one of the few people that can drag a watchable match out of Jax. That Sheamus/Breakker match was pretty damn good too. Rhea is able to do cool power stuff with Nia that looks visually impressive, and Nia generally was fine by Nia standards. Also when I said that piece a while back on how I think sometimes in Hunter Era WWE go a little too long, Sheamus's never ending quest to win the IC title honestly peaked around the time he was in that 3 way with Drew and Gunther. Him still trying to get it is almost like torture porn at this point. Someone put that poor bastard out of his misery already. I expected Jacob to go over, but I wasn't expecting to witness Braun get murdered in prime time on NBC. As stated already. Jacob is That Guy so them to go this hard with the push is great to see. It was kinda weird hearing Michael Cole openly talk about his criminal history when that was very much the legit reason WWE wouldn't touch him for so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 The Jacob Fatu case is a perfect illustration of how nepotism works. For years, they haven't touched that guy because of his bagage, whatever his talent is. Then, the Bloodline gets hot and then have to bring every family member in to milk it to death. The guy never did anything in pro-wrestling apart from indies. MLW is the biggest place he ever worked for (not even TNA). And he got put straight into main event matches with Roman Reigns. The same guy, with the exact same amount of talent (in-ring, charisma, promo, what have you), not being a part of the family, probably never ever get signed because of his past, and if he does, I swear he spend 2 years in NXT to "learn the style" before getting moved up on the main roster and probably stays on the midcard forever before eventually his talent gets him higher. Classic stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 When I used to watch MLW every week, there were two guys that stood head & shoulders above everyone else: Jacob Fatu & Alex Hammerstone. Both moved on from MLW. I'm surprised that Dario Cueto & Salina de la Renta never went to a bigger promotion in the U.S. but talent wise, MLW leaves a lot to be desired. Like Mads Krugger isn't selling tickets. Sometimes a big fish in a small pond is still a big fish when you put him in a big ass lake. Sometimes they get too big (physically) & just don't seem to be super interesting anymore. We've kind of seen both sides of that with Fatu & Hammerstone. Jeff Cobb is 42-years-old now & wrestles in New Japan. Not doing too much, really. That Lucha Underground run was back in 2014-15ish. I'm sad that I won't get to see him tag with or wrestle against Chad Gable as I feel like that would be a certified banger. Seems like they would mesh really well with their styles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 46 minutes ago, Coffey said: When I used to watch MLW every week, there were two guys that stood head & shoulders above everyone else: Jacob Fatu & Alex Hammerstone. Both moved on from MLW. I used to watch MLW too back then, and I thought both were overrated. The only great match Jacob Fatu ever had there was that LA Park brawl (at the PPV which pretty much ended the stint of MLW being a fun watch). Then again, I have learned over the years that MLW is the worst place to gauge talent, as pretty much no one has great matches there. That being said, Hammerstone did nothing to disprove my feeling in TNA. He had by far the lesser Josh Alexander matches this side of Joe Hendry. Then gets injured all the time. He really has nothing that special going for him, especially when paired with Jake Something, who looks just as big but can work like a mother. The guy looks like Lex Luger ate Shane Douglas, and his work is right in the middle too. In 2025, that doesn't cut it. 46 minutes ago, Coffey said: I'm surprised that Dario Cueto & Salina de la Renta never went to a bigger promotion in the U.S. but talent wise, MLW leaves a lot to be desired. If you haven't watched in a long time, you don't want to know. It's just be a sad, cheap-ass telenovela stuff that is really a pathetic attempt at getting some LU nostalgia. MLW's only selling point these days is CMLL talents. (unless Matt Riddle is considered a selling point, which is kinda gross) I always thought Salina would end up in a bigger company, even TNA. 46 minutes ago, Coffey said: Jeff Cobb is 42-years-old now & wrestles in New Japan. Not doing too much, really. He's awesome in G1's, he won titles. He probably will never get the big one at this point, but he's been awesome all these years. His style is picture perfect for Japan. I for one am glad he choose this path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 29 Author Report Share Posted January 29 I watched Jacob Fatu in GCW when he was a regular there and it always came across as the only reason he wasn't signed to a major promotion was his past. Dude just came off as a star. Did his family ties get him a fast pass others wouldn't get? Of course it did, but he's held up his end of the deal and been awesome every time he's appeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 29 Author Report Share Posted January 29 So there was a teaser at the end of NXT that was just color bars and "WWE TRANSMISSION" being erased and replaced with "VENGEANCE DAY" which is their next PLE. I guess it's time to do the math and figure out who's contract is up at the end of the month since the show is on February 15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted January 30 Report Share Posted January 30 That's the date that Josh Alexander becomes a free agent from TNA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 30 Author Report Share Posted January 30 Speaking of, you think TNA realized WWE has turned them into the AA team in their farm system yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted Thursday at 05:45 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 05:45 PM 9 hours ago, sek69 said: Speaking of, you think TNA realized WWE has turned them into the AA team in their farm system yet? Their audience is chanting "NXT!"... The ultimate irony for a promotion that was born out of the idea that a monopoly was bad for pro-wrestling. WWE is killing them softly, leading them to the slaughterhouse to eventually get gutted (this part is gonna be even more evident if Josh also joins WWE at the same time Jordynne does). And they follow the leader with a smile on their face. Right now they're in that phase of getting a massage with a happy ending, so everything is great and shiny. They really are being weaponized against AEW (let's be real here, it's another way to dry up the talent pool and multiply the ways of access to WWE) and to prevent another case of MLW anti-trust based lawsuit. They are enjoying their best business in years despite their product being also the dullest and most TNA-lite in years. The interesting part is the post-Joe Hendry era. Once either people get tired of his gimmick (both main-events back to back against Nemeth and Cardona and it's SOOO dreadfully samey and limited), or his contract runs up and he ends up in WWE (I mean, he's gonna show up at the Rumble and get a giant reaction, everyone knows it) before the end of the year, and once the novelty of NXTNA runs dry. THEN, things gets interesting. Does WWE just gets bored and forgets about the relationship ? Do they buy TNA (which would really sucks) ? Does TNA's new "glory days" quickly dies after Henry is gone and the WWE relationship goes away/fades in the background, or do they actually get to keep some sort of momentum ? TNA really never ceases to be a fascinating story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted Thursday at 07:47 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 07:47 PM One of the things about this whole story which is hard to determine, is the financial aspect of it. It’s no secret that at one point last year, TNA was perilously close to closing their doors due to financial problems (of course, what else is new?) Remember there was that point where they actually had no new shows scheduled? Plus, there have been all those stories from talent of their pay getting cut, and I can’t imagine that a TNA wrestler makes a whole lot of money to begin with. I am wondering how much of this WWE deal is a financial bailout, similar in some ways to the way that WWE was secretly subsidizing ECW for a while back in the 90s, helping keep them afloat? I wonder if one of the main reasons Anthem agreed to this deal is because they pretty much had to for financial reasons? It’s no secret that TNA has been a money loser for pretty much every entity that has owned it. Anthem was only using it as a means of providing cheap content for their TV channels. I wish somebody would do a story and dig into the financial aspect of this formalized WWE/TNA deal. That’s the kind of thing you used to be able to count on Meltzer for, before he decided it was more important to be a Twitter troll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted Thursday at 08:23 PM Report Share Posted Thursday at 08:23 PM I mean, Scott D'Amore's plan with going back to the TNA name was "invest more, think bigger". Anthem wasn't going for this. Meanwhile, under the NXTNA deal umbrella, they are booking arenas they would totally sink in before (and maybe still do in 6 months from now, who knows), while rumors of guys being asked to take pay cuts. So yeah, there's this impending, floating idea that WWE is kinda using them like puppet masters, helping to fill the cards with more NXT people (we'll see how that goes or doesn't go over the next few months) as Anthem is slowly disengaging themselves from the process, while WWE also tries to push deals with their former TV partners worldwide to get them to block off eventual AEW deals (which would sound crazy if we were not talking about WWE and really, TKO, with their background of predatory tactics in the MMA world). Anywoo, I honestly would not be surprised if this ended like every other WWE "relationship" ends. Which, again, would be a sad end and a bad thing for the landscape. Meanwhile, "Papa Trip" is going into the WWE Hall of Fame. This is HILARIOUS how everything revolves around this guy jerking off at the screen. Yeah, he really doesn't want any spotlight, ya know... 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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