"100,001" Replies (Wrestling Forum)

[Lock Jaw]

It should be Dolph and Rusev, Bros before....Divas

I'm in. Just like when Summer Rae and Layla decided to stop feuding over Fandango and join forces against him. Except with men.

[Damian Rey]

or they could just acknowledge that she hurt herself training in the ring to kick Summer's ass.....

Feel like admitting you got hurt trying to train to fight wouldn't exactly create a exciting comeback story.

[Emperor Smeat]

https://33.media.tumblr.com/7372b4cb3664afbaafecaa887f65152c/tumblr_nsa89vneI41uymb4eo3_400.gif

[Droford]

I can't post the picture but this is great (https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=995976453798423&id=186294584766618&set=a.432519933477414.104513.186294584766618&refid=13&notif_t=comment_mention)

Blessed in the World shirt for pastor William Eaver of Progress Wrestling

Bill Eaver

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the dirtsheets, WWE considering dropping the BOinspirational gimmick in favor of something new for Bo Dallas.

According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t All Wrestling News), WWE has plans to repackage Bo Dallas. They will be giving him a new gimmick going forward.

[Droford]

Say it ain't Bo

[Mr. Nerfect]

WWE has another Monday Night War themed dvd arriving soon. One of the biggest features to this one is new Eric Bischoff related stuff instead of WWE just reusing the same old interviews from the early to mid 2000s.

New stuff is mostly him reacting to the things said about him on the first Monday Night War dvd and Network series.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QN1HvndgiZc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Man, Eric Bischoff finally aged.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I've been listening to Kevin Sullivan's podcast about booking Nitro with MSL on MLW Radio. Bischoff saying that Hogan never used his creative control is either a lie or simply referencing him actually officially overriding something through proper channels, because Sullivan makes it sound like so much in WCW was Hogan's idea.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Including "The Booty Man."

[Mr. Nerfect]

Tessa Blanchard is pretty hot.

[Mr. Nerfect]

http://i.imgur.com/29Y8IfF.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnXbc1dIAAACDuh.jpg

http://pwpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Tessa-Blanchard-2.jpg

http://www.wrestlingwithpopculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/photo-2.jpg

[Tom Guycott]

Enter Sandman is so cool when Sandman comes to the ring to it... Virginia Tech walking onto a football field, not so much. But then again, I've been spoiled by Le Regiment.

[Vastardikai]

http://i.imgur.com/29Y8IfF.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnXbc1dIAAACDuh.jpg

http://pwpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Tessa-Blanchard-2.jpg

http://www.wrestlingwithpopculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/photo-2.jpg



I'd give her the Slingshot Suplex. By which, I mean hot sex. :naughty:

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I've been listening to Kevin Sullivan's podcast about booking Nitro with MSL on MLW Radio. Bischoff saying that Hogan never used his creative control is either a lie or simply referencing him actually officially overriding something through proper channels, because Sullivan makes it sound like so much in WCW was Hogan's idea.

I've not listened to that one, but I did watch the WCW Timeline with Sullivan. The way he makes it sound there is that he didn't often have to specifically have to pull the creative control card, but they went along with Hogans ideas anyway to keep them happy.

[DAMN iNATOR]

According to the dirtsheets, WWE considering dropping the BOinspirational gimmick in favor of something new for Bo Dallas.

Well...that will certainly prove to be devastating news to Bill Eaver's brother, Bowl.

[Emperor Smeat]

https://38.media.tumblr.com/a4597cf0f64e63fdb23cf674ce1b6e76/tumblr_nuc8t5R63s1srbyoyo1_400.gif

[Nicky Fives]

Feel like admitting you got hurt trying to train to fight wouldn't exactly create a exciting comeback story.

"sports entertainment is dangerous. I know the dangers I am getting into. I train hard in order to get results. Accidents happens and I got hurt training, but the next time someone gets hurt in the ring it will not be me, it will be Summer at "Insert PPV Title here"

[Sixx]

Just learned Sting's gonna fight Rollins for the title.

Might as well get Ric Flair to fight for it.

[DAMN iNATOR]

<font color=goldenrod>god...please don't have Vince fuck around with NXT's booking</font>

And the rumors WOULD have to start flying within a few weeks of Bayley's title win, too. :'(:nono::n:

[Tom Guycott]

https://38.media.tumblr.com/a4597cf0f64e63fdb23cf674ce1b6e76/tumblr_nuc8t5R63s1srbyoyo1_400.gif

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sUWcNZHtMDo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I forgot how to make it start from a particular point, so starting at .38 is what I hear in my head seeing this, and Sting going "SEE, BATSY, I THINK OF EVERYTHING! HAHAHAHAHAH!"

[The CyNick]

I'll try to explain it mathematically for you. Let's attribute values to these wrestlers. Triple H has 1300 points. That's 100 points for every World Title he's won in the WWE. Seth Rollins is therefore on 100 points. Sting has won World Titles, but not in the WWE, so let's include the International World Title and call him a 9-time champ and give him 75% of those 900 points, bringing him to 675. Let's say that a win is worth 10% of what your opponent is worth. If Sting beats Triple H at WrestleMania, his score jumps to 805 points. It's arguable that you could even increase this because of WrestleMania season, but let's call it all even. Triple H beating Sting increases his worth to 1368 points. Now, let's say that Seth Rollins beats Sting AND Triple H in the scenario that we actually have in real-life. He beats Sting for 68 points and he beats Triple H for 137. That's a total of 205 points. But if he beats Sting AND Triple H after Sting beats Triple H? That's 81 points from Sting and 130 from Triple H. That's 211 points -- a whole six points difference. But there you go -- Sting beating Triple H is far more important to increasing Sting's stock than increasing Triple H's.

Was this meant to be comedy?

You brought up the whole thing about "some people dont like money". As I said, the people who say that are the guys who write newsletters and the people who read them. Obviously WWE is a tad more invested in profits than you or I are. Since Vince built his company to be worth well over a billion dollars, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on all booking calls. Doesnt mean he's right 100% of the time, just means he's better than anyone else, so I'll trust him.

For me it comes to down to this - which feud do I think can draw more money in the long term for WWE A) Rollins vs HHH or B) Rollins vs Sting. The answer to me, and really should be to anyone who has watched wrestling is the HHH vs Rollins is the bigger money match. If thats the case, then you dont have your two money players lose to B level guys. You can use the B level guys for B level PPVs and to help enhance the A level guys. But you dont sacrifice any of the A level players to make the B level guys look good. Unless you think you can elevate said B player to A, but in this case, Sting is what he is. He's not moving up or down the card.

The only way your argument holds water is if you think Sting should go over Seth, and then go on a run with the title. To do what you talked about - maximize Sting DVD sales, tshirts, those dumb masks, bring back the now 68 year old dudes who used to watch WCW back in the early 90s. But I think we both know it would be absurd to bastardize the title by putting it on Sting at this point. So were back to sacrificing the bigger money program to sell more wolf tickets with Sting as a credible title challenger.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Was this meant to be comedy?

Yeah, it was a little bit. It was a ridiculously worded way to highlight how simple this is.

You brought up the whole thing about "some people dont like money". As I said, the people who say that are the guys who write newsletters and the people who read them.

And a whole bunch of other people? I've actually never read that phrase in a newsletter. Don't get your point here.

Obviously WWE is a tad more invested in profits than you or I are. Since Vince built his company to be worth well over a billion dollars, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on all booking calls. Doesnt mean he's right 100% of the time, just means he's better than anyone else, so I'll trust him.

This is an argument from authority. It's cute, but it's not a logical way to think. After all, you can point to many silly business ventures the WWE has been involved in over the years. Now, Vince McMahon is objectively a success story. The idea of my posts wasn't to flame him. But there has been a lot of money left on the table when it comes to certain things in the WWE's history -- and certain talent has been chased off and passed on for the sake of company ego. Can you really debate this?

And all you need to do is look at the growth NXT is experiencing, and the general stir about that product to see that the creative demand might not always be for the WWE's main product.

For me it comes to down to this - which feud do I think can draw more money in the long term for WWE A) Rollins vs HHH or B) Rollins vs Sting. The answer to me, and really should be to anyone who has watched wrestling is the HHH vs Rollins is the bigger money match. If thats the case, then you dont have your two money players lose to B level guys. You can use the B level guys for B level PPVs and to help enhance the A level guys. But you dont sacrifice any of the A level players to make the B level guys look good. Unless you think you can elevate said B player to A, but in this case, Sting is what he is. He's not moving up or down the card.

Actually, I disagree. Triple H vs. Rollins doesn't have a dynamic I particularly enjoy. I'd rather see Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose. The personalities between Triple H and Rollins have been presented as too similar, and there isn't a common goal for them to fight for with Triple H being basically retired. Sting at least represents an ideological rebuttal to the choices Rollins has made to be on top.

There are many ways to get to your desired destination, and I actually see what you are trying to get around to. The only thing is that they are promoting Rollins vs. Sting. With Sting's record being 0-1, this is not only heatless, but it doesn't make sense.

And we come back to this "Sting is a B-level guy" bullshit. If he's a B-level guy, don't bring him in. The reason you brought him in was because he's worth some return. You said it yourself -- he's there to get people to tune into the Network. Great job making it absolutely pointless by making one of the biggest A-players in history a "B-level guy." Against Seth Rollins. Who has also been presented as B-level guy. And is presented as a B-level guy at the moment. Don't believe me? We've heard him called a "joke" and told he's not on Triple H's level. By faces. By heels. This isn't an underdog story.

Also, Triple H vs. Seth Rollins is not going to be based on rankings. Triple H is not an active full-time wrestler. It's going to be based on heat if it's going to work. The idea of Triple H winning the Royal Rumble and challenging Seth Rollins for the title at WrestleMania doesn't seem like an appealing one -- but that's just this amateur's opinion, right?

If Sting beat Triple H, then it gives Triple H a reason to have a personal gripe with Rollins and turn on him. It also means that you can get more interest out of Sting matches in the future. If Sting loses to Rollins cleanly (as he should at this point), what can you mine out of this. You have shut down a well in order to build a mound of dirt. Congratulations.

Some people don't like money.

The only way your argument holds water is if you think Sting should go over Seth, and then go on a run with the title. To do what you talked about - maximize Sting DVD sales, tshirts, those dumb masks, bring back the now 68 year old dudes who used to watch WCW back in the early 90s. But I think we both know it would be absurd to bastardize the title by putting it on Sting at this point. So were back to sacrificing the bigger money program to sell more wolf tickets with Sting as a credible title challenger.

What? No. This just... no.

Building challengers for titles is apparently a shitty idea? You just shot yourself in the foot to prove you have a gun. I'm also going to again assert that Rollins vs. Triple H -- Battle of the Carpenters -- might not actually be the huge money draw your argument depends on it being.

[Mr. Nerfect]

AND, if it were a draw, it still doesn't mean that having your incoming babyface fucking job in a nonsensical match at WrestleMania to your semi-retired heel is a great fucking idea.

If you didn't want your semi-retired heel to job? Don't book the fucking match! Can't believe how fucking dumb this shit is getting. I'm done with this. Noider out.

[The CyNick]

Booking is a nuanced craft. Not everyone gets it.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by the Taz-approved suplex machine Becky:
http://33.media.tumblr.com/5ba0c02dc4ee40d2bf37114c4c6f139e/tumblr_nuc7yyuKnz1saykaxo1_400.gif

Bryan Alvarez noted of F4Wonline.com noted this week that Bo Dallas is in line for a new gimmick. No other details are available yet but Bo could be receiving a character change soon. No word yet if this is referring to the slight changes we saw to Bo's character on last Thursday's WWE SmackDown. After debuting a new finisher and attacking R-Truth following their match, Bo cut a promo and said he's tried to help inspire people for so long but they've turned him into a joke. He thought what he did to Truth was "really funny" and said he Bo-lieves he will be a lot more "humorous" in the future.

F4Wonline.com notes that there was a negative internal WWE reaction to a wrestler that asked Twitter followers for a link to an illegal stream of Saturday's UFC pay-per-view. This was looked down upon not because it's UFC, but because WWE is in the same business and they feel talents should be smart enough not to publicly ask for an illegal stream, which also hurts WWE's business. For what it's worth, it was noted that a personal message asking someone for an illegal stream wouldn't hurt anyone but asking for everyone to see on social media is very different. In an update, apparently the wrestlers seen doing this were from the indies and one works for Lucha Underground but they were not named. It was noted to Bryan Alvarez by a WWE source that the wrestlers likely "lost any chance" to ever be noticed by WWE.

Sting appeared on Jim Ross’ podcast The Ross Report recently to talk about his career winding down.

During the conversation Jim Ross said that there was a very short list of names that he’d want to come back to call their last match. He told Sting that his name was on the list. Sting let him know that he felt the same way.

“The feeling is mutual,” Sting said. “If I could have anyone on the face of this Earth to call my last match, it would be Jim Ross. If I get my way, if I get what I want, that’s what’s going to happen.”

Ross then joked that he was available and works cheap.

“You can’t say ‘the young kid from Venice Beach’ anymore, though. You’ll have to be more creative,” Sting joked.

STAMFORD, Conn., September 8, 2015 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) announced today the signing of international superstar Kanako Urai, aka Kana, to the NXT® division. Kana will officially report to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida in late September.

Over the course of her 11-year career, Kana has become one of the most exciting women ever to compete in Japan. She has appeared in many organizations throughout the country and has held multiple championships. Last month, Kana made a surprise appearance at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, sitting in the audience ringside next to WWE Hall of Famer “Nature Boy” Ric Flair®.

“We are very excited to have Kana join the NXT roster,” said Paul Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Creative and Live Events. “Her exciting in-ring style will make an immediate impact on the already impressive NXT women’s division.”

TMZ.com reports that WWE Divas Paige and Alicia Fox were ejected from Baltimore’s Supano’s Prime Steakhouse on Sunday evening after a brawl broke out between the Divas and a regular patron.

A waiter at Supano’s told TMZ that the Divas were grabbing a drink late Sunday night when a regular customer came in and began harassing them by taking pictures and videos. Paige and Alicia reportedly confronted her before “all hell broke lose” and drinks were thrown by both sides.

Employees jumped in and stopped the fight and they were all forced to leave the venue

Most of the questions at the Q&A were standard, like Why did you start wrestling? Who did you look up to as a kid? etc, but here's some different ones. They didn';t let you take videos.

She wants to get put through a table before she retires. ... She sounded really enthusiastic about this, so I hope it happens.
She prefers playing a heel over a face, because "being the bad guy is so much more fun."
If there's a divas tag division, she wants to tag with Bayley, Emma, Sasha, or AJ as partners.
She put over Sasha as the person she thinks will stand out the most in the Divas Revolution.
Working with AJ was really fun. They're still good friends and text.
She really loved working with Summer Rae in NXT; "she's a perfect bitchy heel." Her feud with Summer there is one of her favorites.
She told a story recalling the night she wrestled in a rosebud costume on RAW. "It was live. I had to run down the hallway in that towel, totally naked underneath, then change into the costume, and Vince was yelling at the producers and cameramen like, 'If that towel falls down, you're all fired!'"
She owns her own action figure. She still thinks it's surreal that she has merch.
She thinks Emma is super underrated, says she's much better than "that stupid dancing gimmick," and wants people to trend #GiveEmmaAChance.
Tough Enough was fun, she looks forward to seeing Sara Lee in a year or so. She doesn't know what the current plans are for the show going forward ... She's glad Josh won.
Advice for becoming a wrestler: save your money, work hard, be patient, humble, and hungry.
The host for her Q&A let us know that the VIP tickets for Paige sold the most for the celebrities at the event, so we cheered. Paige outdraws Reigns? lol

Edit: I remembered a couple other questions.A fan said they should do an all-diva Pay-per-view, and she said that was a great idea, and the girls would love to do it. Also, she thinks Charlotte will beat Nikki at Night of Champs ...

Just got back from Wizard World and I also attended the Q&A on a whim. Mostly just wanted to sit down for a while, but I like Paige so it was a plus. Funniest/worst part to me was how she mentioned all the creeper fans she gets commenting on her social media and how they act around her in public. VERY next question this poor bastard goes up and says "Hi, Paige. Did you like the rose I gave you?" ...cringe-worthy.
From r/SquaredCircle about a recent Q&A session Paige had at Wizard World San Jose expo. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/3jtodm/hey_i_met_paige_today_at_wizard_world_san_jose/

Yesterday we posted Lana's statement on her training injury and comments about how she wanted to make the WWE fans proud. She said, "Every since I have debuted in @wwe I have continued to go to @wwenxt & come hours early before live events to train & learn how to fight." Bryan Alvarez noted yesterday that a WWE source contacted him and said Lana hasn't been seen at the WWE Performance Center in "forever." If she and Rusev are still together offscreen, they live in Nashville. It's also worth noting that we rarely, if ever, hear about Lana being at a NXT live event these days. It is possible that Lana was just working a "training storyline" but we don't know for sure.

Former WWE (WWF back in his day) broadcaster Todd Pettengill sat down for an interview with James Delow for Delow’s YouTube channel, and it’s an excellent listen if you were a mid-’90s WWF fan or just want to hear some great wrestling stories.

“First, I met with Linda McMahon, and she was doing the business day-to-day. I had a nice meeting with Linda, and she said, well, Vince would like to see you in one of the studios. So, I went into the studio and here’s Vince, you know, not quite as big as he is now, but still a big intimidating figure, and he threw me a bottle of water and he said: ‘Sell it to me.’

So, I did. I mean, I can talk about anything. I said, ‘This is the most unbelievable water. It’s fresh, it will soothe you, you can pour it on your feet if you’re in the desert. Now, if you’re in the desert, you might want to read it.’ So, I went through this whole thing and it’s crazy, and he goes, ‘That’s unbelievable! Let’s try this,’ and that’s how it started.”

“During the interview process, I thought Vince had left the building, so I went to use the bathroom… I turned my mic off, I went into the bathroom and I was going to the bathroom, and there was a fellow in one of the stalls, who had clearly been doing some work, and it was not a pleasant odor. So I, being me, said, ‘Hey, how about a courtesy flush!’ and I hear this laugh… and it was Vince.

So I said, ‘Well, I didn’t get this job,’ and he said, ‘That’s hysterical! Now I’ve got to hire you!'”
Wacky Vince story from back in the day.


Some other sheet news includes:

GFW had to drop the Texas set of shows later this month due to schedule issues which led to a lot of backlash due to how poorly they handled refunds.
Tough Enough's Amanda revealed she signed a developmental deal with the WWE while also teasing wanting to be on Total Divas in the future. https://instagram.com/p/7YiCIAmzfK/
Kurt Angle announced he will be taking a break from wrestling once his current deal with TNA is done by the end of January 2016. Won't bother contacting the WWE once his break is over.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today marks the 7 year anniversary of Bryan Kendrick winning the WWE title. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/3k37tu/yesterday_7_years_ago_the_greatest_thing_to/
During a recent Stone Cold podcast episode, Austin praised both Sasha Banks and her "Boss" gimmick as one of the best things in the WWE at the moment. Was part of the NXT Takeover Brooklyn review he had with guest Wade Keller.
WWE is currently rumored to want to sign Jeff Hardy once his current deal with TNA expires.

[Damian Rey]

They want to sign Jeff Hardy but don't wanna sign Kurt fucking Angle?

[Droford]

I wonder if they want matt hardy

[owenbrown]

http://i.imgur.com/au6hV.gif

[Mr. Nerfect]

Booking is a nuanced craft. Not everyone gets it.

Tell me about it, brutha.

Tell Ric Flair and Stone Cold Steve Austin that you are more nuanced than them.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0901/600182/steve-austin-and-ric-flair-think-sting-should-have-won-at/

[Savio]

I wonder if they want matt hardy
No

[Mr. Nerfect]

The WWE should bring back The Hardys, but then have them lose to The New Age Outlaws. But then they should get a title shot against The New Day, which they should also lose. But the money is in The New Age Outlaws vs. The New Day anyway, because The New Day won't act like faces until The New Age Outlaws punk them out.

What do we do with The Hardys after that? Oh, fuck!

[Mr. Nerfect]

http://i.imgur.com/au6hV.gif

Great moment in WWE history. Makes me feel old to think it happened 7 years ago. :'(

[Mr. Nerfect]

It won't be nearly as high-ranking an achievement as training Eva Marie to be a good wrestler, if he manages that.

[Lock Jaw]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CGYe_8wUIAE-vtz.jpg

[Frank Drebin]

It won't be nearly as high-ranking an achievement as training Eva Marie to be a good wrestler, if he manages that.

She is already a great wrestler

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls8ssxKhGY1qis6pso9_1280.jpg

[Mr. Nerfect]

When Ambrose stole the WWE Title belt from Seth Rollins, do you think he kayfabe took it with him like he would if he were actually the champion? Sort of a symbolic title run?

[Damian Rey]

Not even Matt Hardy wants Matt Hardy.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I used to love Matt Hardy. I hope he isn't actually insane. With the dude being 40 now, maybe he should think about tweaking his look. A serious Hardy could still be an asset to a company somewhere.

[Damian Rey]

Not at 40. His time is up. He could still be a viable asset but changing his character won't do much for him now, I think.

[Emperor Smeat]

Partial match listing for the upcoming Owen Hart dvd. According to WrestlingDVDNetwork, there is going to be around 15+ matches altogether.

* Blue Blazer vs. Mr. Perfect - Meadowlands • May 8, 1989
* Owen Hart vs. Mark Kyle - World Championship Wrestling • March 16, 1991
* WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels Wrestling Spotlight • August 28, 1993
* Exhibition Match: Owen Hart vs. Nick Barberri - WrestleMania XI Public Workout; Times Square, NYC • March 28, 1995
* North American Heavyweight Championship Match: Owen Hart vs. Makhin Singh - Stampede Wrestling • May 1988
* Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart - WrestleMania X • March 20, 1994
* King of the Ring Finals: Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon - King of the Ring • June 19, 1994
* Lumberjack Match for the WWE Championship: Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart - Portland, ME • August 17, 1994
* WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. The Allied Powers - In Your House • July 23, 1995
* # 1 Contender for the WWE Championship: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels - In Your House • February 18, 1996

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Need to have the match where he beat Bret for the world title and then had him screwed over by crooked ref. It could be that Portland, Maine match actually.

[Lock Jaw]

I'm just glad they have his classic match vs Mark Kyle on there.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Could have had his classic with Rip Rodgers. What a disgrace :(

[Bobholly138]

Ok between Friday and Saturday.

Hit 2 shows. One in Arlington TX,VIP Wrestling. Then we drove all night to Lula MS for what was pretty much a Memphis legends plus whoever the fuck is young and working Memphis now show. Had to either or help out on commentary for every match.

Main event of Memphis show was Lawler/Superstar Bill Dundeee vs Brody and COdy Hawk,Rage krew maybe fuck if I know. After Lawler and Dundee win,dude in dress and bad wig hits ring. Nails Dundee with a bottle. Then retreats to the stage with Rage KRew. Whips off wig it is Tracy SMothers in drag.

Heels leave stage. Dundee,JImmy Valiant who was ringside enforcer for the match head to the back
Lawler is still in the ring. He goes to get out and gets mobbed. Cause even though this shit was at a huge casino and had 500+ fans there they had 2 security guys at best.

This wall of text was just put here to give context to the below pic.

http://i.imgur.com/jOo5Wf2l.jpg

To me it looks like Lawler is telling the guy what the word on his shirt means he should be doing.

[The MAC]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zyUt3LhT_s8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[CSL]

Ok between Friday and Saturday.

Hit 2 shows. One in Arlington TX,VIP Wrestling. Then we drove all night to Lula MS for what was pretty much a Memphis legends plus whoever the fuck is young and working Memphis now show. Had to either or help out on commentary for every match.

Main event of Memphis show was Lawler/Superstar Bill Dundeee vs Brody and COdy Hawk,Rage krew maybe fuck if I know. After Lawler and Dundee win,dude in dress and bad wig hits ring. Nails Dundee with a bottle. Then retreats to the stage with Rage KRew. Whips off wig it is Tracy SMothers in drag.

Heels leave stage. Dundee,JImmy Valiant who was ringside enforcer for the match head to the back
Lawler is still in the ring. He goes to get out and gets mobbed. Cause even though this shit was at a huge casino and had 500+ fans there they had 2 security guys at best.

This wall of text was just put here to give context to the below pic.

http://i.imgur.com/jOo5Wf2l.jpg

To me it looks like Lawler is telling the guy what the word on his shirt means he should be doing.

:heart: Tracy

[Emperor Smeat]

http://i.imgur.com/wiKw2QA.gif

[Black Widow]

It happened again..

Developmental talent Jasmin Areebi (Nhooph Al-Areebi), who has worked NXT live events, has supposedly posted messages on Twitter which include the n-word and other potentially racist comments. If these screengrabs are authentic, then she's most likely going to be released. It appears she has suddenly completely deleted her Twitter account. The supposed posts were made in 2012 and 2013. The person who found the postings and uploaded screenshots of them has since made his Twitter account private.
http://i.imgur.com/AiSbYyE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/AsYffTK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/brPT0Dn.jpgWho even has the time to find this stuff?

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr firrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

What's more racist her ring name being Jasmin or her tweets?

[GD]

Always felt the need to see Renee in a bikini

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/aQkOE"><a href="//imgur.com/a/aQkOE">View post on imgur.com</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Anybody Thrilla]

Jason Jordan and Chad Gable might be my current favorite tag team. Or maybe Dash and Wilder.

[screech]

Jordan and Gable are fantastic.

[screech]

Still can't stand Solomon Crowe, however. Do not like anything about him.

[Black Widow]

Always felt the need to see Renee in a bikini

<iframe id="imgur-embed-iframe-pub-a/aQkOE" src="http://imgur.com/a/aQkOE/embed?pub=true&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tpwwforums.com%2Fnewreply.php%3Fdo%3Dnewreply%26p%3D4701155&w=524" scrolling="no" class="imgur-embed-iframe-pub imgur-embed-iframe-pub-a-aQkOE-true-524" style="height: 500px; width: 524px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><script async="" src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>I Like.

[The CyNick]

Tell me about it, brutha.

Tell Ric Flair and Stone Cold Steve Austin that you are more nuanced than them.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0901/600182/steve-austin-and-ric-flair-think-sting-should-have-won-at/

Its me and Vince though.

I dont recall Austin booking too many territories that are now worth well over a billion dollars.

If you wanted advice on how to work a match, I would go to them though. But unfortunately for you, thats not the debate.

[The CyNick]

PS - Noid, love ya buddy!

[GD]

http://i.imgur.com/6BXYq4W.gif

[Lock Jaw]

Viewed that gif for an excessive amount of time....

[Mr. Nerfect]

Its me and Vince though.

I dont recall Austin booking too many territories that are now worth well over a billion dollars.

If you wanted advice on how to work a match, I would go to them though. But unfortunately for you, thats not the debate.

Vince has made plenty of mistakes in his lifetime, and has had plenty of people around him to steer things in directions that have helped make that money.

And I do love you too. Missed you round these parts.

[Mr. Nerfect]

http://i.imgur.com/6BXYq4W.gif

I would be okay with being booked badly if I got to go home to this every night...

Seriously though, Renee Young is such an asset to the company. Instead of doing huge opening promo segments, they should try having Renee Young do a run-through at the open of the show.

[Mr. Nerfect]

when I read the report of Jasmin being racist, I thought to myself "This could have been taken out of context." Reading her posts though, it's pretty clear she is a cunt.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Could have had his classic with Rip Rodgers. What a disgrace :(

Not sure if you're joking, but I watched a couple of Smoky Mountain Wrestling shows the other day. Rip Rogers was on one, and he was actually pretty fantastic. Made everything look crisp yet organic, and he wrestled with a fair bit of charisma.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Some other Noid Points:

* Love Jason Jordan & Chad Gable. Both have got star potential. Can't see them keeping their heat for too long -- they gonna get cheered hard. That being said, I can't see them as a pure-face tag team. I think they need a pure face team and a dirty, rotten heel team to play off in the future. Eg. A three-way feud with Enzo/Cass and Blake/Murphy, etc.

* I LOVE Dash & Dawson. I hate their names, honestly, but I love their tag style. They just need a Jim Cornette-esque manager to accompany them to ringside and a pure face team to play their antithesis. Would actually like to see them against The Lucha Dragons.

* I like something about Solomon Crowe, but I also understand the complaints. I feel like he's out of focus though. Put him in a feud with Rhyno and see if he can make people care.

[Damian Rey]

Jason Jordan looks like a million bucks.

[Nicky Fives]

Not a huge fan of Crowe, too small to make me care about him.....If you are well under 6-foot, you have to either be a technical wizard (see: Daniel Bryan) or a high-flying luchador (see: Neville) and unless he goes with a "insane little bastard, Napoleon Complex" heel gimmick, he's not going anywhere.....

[Mr. Nerfect]

Jason Jordan looks like a million bucks.

Gosh, doesn't he? It surprises me that they had him doing enhancement work for so long. That being said, he might have already "paid his dues" in the company's eyes by now.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Not a huge fan of Crowe, too small to make me care about him.....If you are well under 6-foot, you have to either be a technical wizard (see: Daniel Bryan) or a high-flying luchador (see: Neville) and unless he goes with a "insane little bastard, Napoleon Complex" heel gimmick, he's not going anywhere.....

He should probably be given a lot of Kevin Sullivan tapes to watch.

[Damian Rey]

I think being a no name enhancement talent goes a long way imo. Gets him tons of ring time while learning and developing without having to worry about getting over or cutting promos. Good step one.

I was stunned to read Enzo has literally no experience outside of NXT. Just a natural promo I guess.

[Lock Jaw]

I whistle Jack Swagger's theme all the time.... whistling it right now.... too good for it to never be heard on TV.....

[#1-norm-fan]

Its me and Vince though.

I dont recall Austin booking too many territories that are now worth well over a billion dollars.

If you wanted advice on how to work a match, I would go to them though. But unfortunately for you, thats not the debate.

Sometimes people are really good at something and then "lose it".

Vince is still a marketing genius and he's good at keeping the hype machine going. But booking-wise... I mean... come on. No one over the age of 10 who hasn't already been drawn in to just love pro wrestling regardless is tuning in for the compelling television that's being written.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I whistle Jack Swagger's theme all the time.... whistling it right now.... too good for it to never be heard on TV.....

Have no clue why they can't find anything for Swagger to do.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Grand Theft Wrestling, now available at the TPWW Store:
http://i.imgur.com/BozBDDu.gif

As for why Natalya has not been including in the Divas Revolution storyline, she said it really is the elephant in the room and that she has no idea why she has not been involved in the storyline.

"To be honest, I don't know why I'm not included in this. I don't have an answer. I really don't. And your guess is as good as mine."
Implied Creative has nothing for her to do even though it was revealed she's been touring with the roster during the whole time of the Divas Rev storyline.http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0909/600454/natalya-talks-not-being-part-of-the-divas-revolution/

Per the latest Ross Report. JR states his WWE sources are claiming Undertaker does not want to retire this year or anytime soon. However, Sting is considering the next WM to be his last match.

8PM: 3.570 million
9PM: 3.564 million
10PM: 3.021 million

Average: 3,385,000
Worst 3rd hour drop of the year for RAW so far. Ratings and viewers-wise, 2nd worst since the move to 3 hours. If past stuff is any indication, WWE probably going to blame New Day the most since they main evented both Raw and last week's Smackdown which had huge drops.

Thanks to the Internet, nerd culture, and transcendent performers like Brock Lesnar and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, WWE and professional wrestling as a whole are enjoying a high point of mainstream acceptance and popularity...

“There’s no doubt that we’re in a moment where wrestling is getting increased attention from mainstream outlets,” said Sports Illustrated media columnist Richard Deitsch when I emailed him this week. “I see it more as mainstream acceptance than a surge of popularity. The real reason behind ESPN covering the WWE is that it’s good for ESPN’s business. The WWE has a huge fan base of 12-50 year-olds and particularly … men who have discretionary income. ESPN wants those eyeballs the same way they want Fantasy football-playing eyeballs. The network already has gone down the rubicon when it comes to having actors and singers on its shows. Bringing in WWE people is no different" ...

In the (real) sports world, great games are celebrated with lines like, “It couldn’t have been better if it had been scripted.” Well, pro wrestling specializes in endings that are too good to be true, and the mythmaking style from WWE promo packages has influenced the way the NFL, UFC, and almost every other professional sport promotes its talent. Which is all to say that big-time competitive sports have caught up with “sports entertainment.” Fifty years ago, Muhammad Ali modeled his public persona on Gorgeous George and became one of the most iconic athletes in history. Now executives across various sports and industries want to be Vince McMahon ...

Just as Lesnar’s foray into the UFC octagon helped the perception of the physical side of wrestling, so did Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s career in Hollywood help to buoy the acting side of WWE. It’s easy to watch pro wrestling and see only hammy machismo and overcooked emoting, but that underestimates the performers. What wrestlers do isn’t normal TV acting but rather a throwback to classical theater, when performers wore giant wooden masks to convey emotion to the back row — with booming WHOOOs and swooping roundhouse punches in place of the masks ...

If the perception of wrestling is changing, it’s largely thanks to people like them. “I think that’s due to the increasing number of bloggers, podcasters and people in the sports media business who are so public about their fandom,” said Deitsch. “Whatever stereotypes about who is a pro wrestling fan I think have been blown up. There is no archetype.”

There’s no more ignoring the talents of the wrestlers. There’s no more stigma about nerdiness in general or wrestling in particular. There’s no question about whether or not pro wrestling is fake. Just like Jack Pfefer said, it’s a fake diamond. And as long as you know the deal, there’s no shame in selling — or buying — a fake diamond.
Part of a longer article from Grantland on WWE and wrestling in general getting a resurgence in popularity with the mainstream public. http://grantland.com/features/why-wrestling-matters-wwe-vince-mcmahon-mainstream-attention-brock-lesnar-the-rock-jon-stewart/

Hulk Hogan is headed to the UK in November for one personal appearance in Sheffield and he's bringing Lanny Poffo, Jimmy Hart, Outback Jack, Bushwacker Luke and Fred Ottman (Tugboat) with him ...

UK are you ready to rumble? Hulk Hogan atomic drops through Sheffield Arena's doors on 14th November 2015! For one night only Simply Prestige & Rocco Buonvino brings you the opportunity to get up close and personal (if you dare) with the legend of wrestling, Hulk Hogan in the intimate surroundings of the Arena's Steel Hall in his only UK appearance ...

Hulk Hogan will be talking about his life with a chance for the audience to speak to him in a live Question & Answer session ...

If you’re listening, Bubba, come here to Vegas and I’ll tell it to your frickin face. You are a spoiled brat. If you don’t get your way, you hurt people, and you do it on purpose.

He ripped my hamstring three times in Chicago. I told him I tore, and he kept going. He suplexed me, and tore it again. And when he pinned me, he threw my legs over my head, and put his legs on the second turnbuckle, and tore it again.

Yes, Devon is OK. Bubba, is a brat. You’re a spoiled, little baby. And I knew that when we went to Italy. Charlie and I had the tag team belts, and Bubba is there, Devon, we’re gonna wrestle in Italy. And out of respect, when they put the match up, I said, ‘OK. What would you like to do, Bubba?’ You know, cuz he’s been in the business longer than I have, so has Devon, and Charlie and I were giving them respect, ‘What would you like to do?’

Bubba popped off, ‘I’m tired of making the matches! You guys are the champions! Why don’t you make up the match!’ He was throwing a fit, in Italy! I said, what the hell? Like we win these titles; they give them to us! You want to win a title, go win Gladiators, you fat pig. That’s what I’m thinking. He [cried] and moaned. I looked at Dean Malenko and said, ‘Hey. Here.’ Threw him the belt and said, ‘Bubba wants the belt, give it to him. I’m not going out.’ ‘What’ [said Malenko]? I said, ‘I’m not going out. That’s it. Forget it. I don’t want the titles!’ And I left.

25-30 minutes later, Dean came up, that fat, little spoiled brat apologized, and we went out and had a match. Yep, Bubba’s famous for that. I’ll tell it to his face, and I live is Las Vegas, Bubba. Come over here, and I will tell ya.
Rico confirming the bad stuff about Bubba Ray Dudley from a recent interview Renee Dupree had about his time in the WWE.

Did The Dudley Boyz take liberties with him?:

"Does a bear sh*t in the woods? Oh my God. I've had so many concussions from Bubba Ray Dudley it's not even funny. You know Chris Nowinski had to retire because of Bubba Ray giving him concussions right? Devon, it's universal everyone likes Devon because he's a pro, but Bubba can be difficult to work with."

The reason The Dudleyz left WWE in 2005:

"One time in the ring, Sly screwed up a spot and then Bubba punched him in the face and bloodied his nose and Sly asked him why backstage and Bubba went off and punched him in the face again. Sylvan was very good friends with Pat Patterson and they weren't around shortly thereafter.
Portion of the interview with Renee Dupree. Also revealed him and Sylvan Grenier rarely got along together to the point both still despise each other and have no desire to ever mend things.


Some other sheet news includes:

Recent episode of Xavier Woods UpUpDownDown show had Sasha Banks as one of his guest players. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UqZWfji5FQ
Supposedly the main reason the person who leaked the racist stuff posted by NXT wrestler Jasmin Areebi had to shut down his own account was due to it also being full of racist stuff he didn't want the WWE and/or media to find out about it. Also appears this season's Tough Enough winner Josh could likely be next with the bad PR and/or release for past social media stuff. http://boards.420chan.org/wooo/src/1441835382819.jpg
UltraMantis Black announced he will be retiring from wrestling due to a serious leg injury. https://twitter.com/UltraMantis/status/641713436565573633
Naomi confirmed rumors of her and Cameroon being dropped from Total Divas again with Amanda from Tough Enough and Rosa rumored to be their replacements. https://twitter.com/NaomiWWE/status/641733266358304769
Newest episode of TPWW's TLP podcast was released today. http://tablesladderspodcast.podbean.com/e/tables-ladders-podcast-120-090915/

[Vastardikai]

Not sure if you're joking, but I watched a couple of Smoky Mountain Wrestling shows the other day. Rip Rogers was on one, and he was actually pretty fantastic. Made everything look crisp yet organic, and he wrestled with a fair bit of charisma.

The match he had early on in SMW's run against Tim Horner had my favorite Sunset Flip finish, ever.

Incredibly and oddly specific, I know. But it was all Rip. Horner did the Sunset Flip, Rogers grabs the second rope. He loses his balance, and the camera is in perfect position to show the rope slip out of his grasp before going down in defeat.

[Lock Jaw]

Is that "wasted" meme some sort of "Grand Theft Auto" reference? I will finally "get it" if it is.

[Emperor Smeat]

Yes it is.

Its the more popular of the two big messages in the GTA series with the other being "Busted"

[Mr. Nerfect]

The match he had early on in SMW's run against Tim Horner had my favorite Sunset Flip finish, ever.

Incredibly and oddly specific, I know. But it was all Rip. Horner did the Sunset Flip, Rogers grabs the second rope. He loses his balance, and the camera is in perfect position to show the rope slip out of his grasp before going down in defeat.

I don't think I've seen that. I can't wait. :y:

[Mercenary]

LOL hey WWE just stop with the Tough Enough crap it never works

[Innovator]

Sometimes people are really good at something and then "lose it".

Vince is still a marketing genius and he's good at keeping the hype machine going. But booking-wise... I mean... come on. No one over the age of 10 who hasn't already been drawn in to just love pro wrestling regardless is tuning in for the compelling television that's being written.

Lawler said they used to switch the book every 6 months in Memphis to keep things fresh/recharge their batteries.

[Emperor Smeat]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COgqG7LUcAAzynx.jpg

[Jura]

http://oi57.tinypic.com/23w8rap.jpghttp://oi60.tinypic.com/2a0msl.jpg

[Black Widow]

^ Someone needs to gif Nikki only in this

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Brie*

[Black Widow]

http://i.imgur.com/GB3nqs3.gif

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Evil Bliss:
http://i.imgur.com/nZ3BhAl.gif

Back in December, Vince McMahon famously named Cesaro as one of the guys who can’t connect with the WWE audience, and he pointed to the fact that Cesaro is Swiss as the reason for his inability to connect. But, over the last couple of months, after consistently having the best match on every show he’s been on, Cesaro began to gain a good bit of momentum, and connect with the audience.

But now, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE management is trying to squash that momentum because they still believe that he doesn’t have the potential to be a top guy.

“Every week, [Cesaro] is less and less over. So, it’s like they’re planning it this way. And that’s the thing that boggles my mind, it’s like, ‘this guy is starting to get over,’ and they’re like ‘well, we don’t want him over, so we’ll fix that.’ It’s like they’re back there going, ‘we got this one under control.’ It’s not really conducive to a good environment when you’re trying to make sure that guys don’t get over. The goal should be that guys get over, as opposed to not getting guys over because they’re not in WWE’s plans.”

There has been some speculation on which Seth Rollins' match at Night of Champions will actually main event the show. While most would figure that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Sting would end the show, that doesn't appear the be the case according to the Wrestling Observer.

They speculate that Rollins' match against John Cena will most likely close the show.

In what would be a potential WWE Night of Champions spoiler, WWE has a large inventory of the John Cena United States Title t-shirts ready to be put back on sale. Cena will face US Champion Seth Rollins later this month at the pay-per-view.

WWE issued the following statement today regarding controversial social media posts from the account of WWE developmental talent Nhooph Al-Areebi:

"WWE conducted a thorough investigation and has determined that Nhooph Al-Areebi’s (aka Jasmin) Twitter account was used without her knowledge when she was 16 and 17 years old. Jasmin remains apologetic for any offensive remarks that were made."

Well, so much for Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania this year. Rousey took a movie gig that will have her filming in Indonesia in March and April, so she said it’s not happening. She has said it before but was pretty direct about it this week

Eric Bischoff, who recently conducted interviews with WWE for new WWE Network history pieces on the Monday Night Wars, is under consideration for a future Stone Cold podcast. Bischoff over the year has been very outspoken that the WWE’s version of the Monday Night Wars is largely a fantasy, and for the most part, he’s correct.

What’s notable in recent days is that WWE has started talking about Jeff Hardy, which was previously not encouraged. The Hardys were mentioned in specific on Raw during a segment where Edge & Christian and The Dudleys were backstage. While that could have been just storytelling, given that the three teams are linked from their TLC and ladder matches. You could argue a discussion between the two teams there not including a mention of the Hardys would feel awkward, but it’s not like that has stopped WWE in the past. Another sign is WWE asking fans to tweet if they are interested in seeing Jeff Hardy back and one person within the company noted to us there are a lot of mentions of him going around right now.
For a quick reference, Jeff's TNA contract expires by the end of January 2016.

WWE officials are worried about the insinuations of racism against Mexicans following Alberto Del Rio's departure, as well as no longer having Rey Mysterio, so they're loading up next month's tour of Mexico. Besides The Undertaker appearing, Ric Flair will be appearing as the guest General Manager and Chris Jericho is advertised.

Regarding The Undertaker's WWE future, the general talk within WWE now is that Taker is not talking about retiring imminently. Jim Ross, who is friends with Taker, noted on his blog last week that he doesn't believe Taker's last match will be at WrestleMania 32. It's been expected for a few years now that Taker would try and work until WrestleMania was held at Cowboys Stadium, then retire after that show.
Taker likely won't make an official decision until near the date of the show.

Former TNA star Gunner was involved in a fan incident at a PWX indie event on September 6th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that a Carolina indie fan named Adrian Rohr, who attends many events, had apparently written negative things on social media about Gunner and Gunner wasn't happy about them. Fans were also chanting "Dixie's reject" at Gunner, reportedly leading to him kicking Rohr in the chest, in front of his young son. PWX has no barriers at ringside.

Most of the wrestlers reportedly took Gunner's side, which they will often do even if the other wrestler is wrong, but others who were working the event noted to The Observer that the assault was unprovoked. Rohr is said to be a very respectful fan, "who is not a nut in any way."

Gunner reportedly wrote the following online after the match but apparently it's been deleted:

"And for the record, don't be an idiot fan and step up to my ring. You will get kicked."

According to several people I've heard from in the last 24 hours, WWE's Canyon Ceman and several of the Coaches informed the talents that as it currently stands, they will only be paid based on their developmental contracts and won't be receiving bonuses based on larger houses the brand has/will draw for events like Takeover: Brooklyn and the December UK tour.

According to several we spoke with, NXT talents were told that the company could not currently provide bonuses based on live gates because NXT is run at a loss in order to improve the company's long-term future with talent and Coach salaries as well as the cost of running and operating the Performance Center having to be taken into account.

It should be noted that unlike main roster talents, WWE covers the hotel and rental car costs for NXT talents on the road, unlike Raw and Smackdown where only flights are covered by the company. Un unlike previous developmental generations, NXT talents are being marketed with action figures, t-shirts and videogame appearances and do make money from those revenue streams as well.

Still, there's been some grumbling among talents about that decision since they are looking at a big December tour in major venues in the UK with a nice advance, a recent sellout of 15,000+ seats in Brooklyn, NY and NXT has been a cornerstone in promoting the WWE Network.


Triple H has never hidden that he’s been one of your biggest fans since you arrived in the organization. What has your relationship with him been like since you signed with the WWE?

KO: He hired me. When I got my chance to be called up to the pros, the story I heard was that four or five people had a say in the decision. The vote was tied at two, and Triple H cast the deciding ballot. He gave me my chance. I appreciated that he was willing to risk signing me even though I’m not the typical WWE wrestler. Since I started working with him, we’ve become a lot closer. He helps me as much as he can for shows – like he does with everyone – but we both have young kids at home and we talk about a lot of other things that have nothing to do with wrestling. The fact that he’s in my corner is what counts. I watched him fight when I was younger. I went to the Bell Centre to see him live. He’s the one who motivated me.
From a recent interview Kevin Owens had with Canadiens Magazine. http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/m_news.htm?id=778360


Some other sheet news includes:

WWE revealed the next NXT special will occur at Full Sail University on October 7th.
Likely just a placeholder but Destination America currently has a TNA Impact episode scheduled to air on October 7th. Network likely letting TNA have one last shot to negotiate or sway them to keep the current tv deal before getting kicked off at the end of the month.
Radio Dubai had a recent interview with Daniel Bryan as with highlights including him wishing Cena had turned heel by now saying it could help the industry like Hogan's turn did, loves the New Day, and hopes Kurt Angle could make one last wrestling appearance in the WWE. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0910/600500/daniel-bryan-talks-wanting-john-cena-to-turn-heel/
Observer recently debunked rumors of the Young Bucks signing a deal with the WWE and wrestling at next month's NXT special against the Usos. Source of the rumor claims he was told of that by several people in the WWE even though officials from NXT told him it was fake.

[Frank Drebin]

Love that Alexa Bliss gif

[Droford]

I just realized john cena has never held the IC Title

[Damian Rey]

Killing a guy's momentum just to say you were right. Brilliant idea yet again.

[Droford]

If he was really over people would like him even if he was losing all the time

See: Daniel Bryan

[Black Widow]

Brie*That's what i meant.


Back in December, Vince McMahon famously named Cesaro as one of the guys who can’t connect with the WWE audience, and he pointed to the fact that Cesaro is Swiss as the reason for his inability to connect. But, over the last couple of months, after consistently having the best match on every show he’s been on, Cesaro began to gain a good bit of momentum, and connect with the audience.

But now, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE management is trying to squash that momentum because they still believe that he doesn’t have the potential to be a top guy.

“Every week, [Cesaro] is less and less over. So, it’s like they’re planning it this way. And that’s the thing that boggles my mind, it’s like, ‘this guy is starting to get over,’ and they’re like ‘well, we don’t want him over, so we’ll fix that.’ It’s like they’re back there going, ‘we got this one under control.’ It’s not really conducive to a good environment when you’re trying to make sure that guys don’t get over. The goal should be that guys get over, as opposed to not getting guys over because they’re not in WWE’s plans.”Vince is a stupid fuck.


There has been some speculation on which Seth Rollins' match at Night of Champions will actually main event the show. While most would figure that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Sting would end the show, that doesn't appear the be the case according to the Wrestling Observer.

They speculate that Rollins' match against John Cena will most likely close the show. Can't have your main title that a legend is going for the 1st time going on after a stupid mid card belt and a stale fucker!

[Poit]

I just realized john cena has never held the IC Title

Neither has Undertaker.

[Emperor Smeat]

Killing a guy's momentum just to say you were right. Brilliant idea yet again.

WWE has a really bad habit of that. The article itself even bashes the WWE saying this is a big reason why they lack big stars outside of Cena.

His "push" basically stalled once Cena came right back from his nose injury. Knowing the WWE, they probably were never serious with giving him an actual push nor didn't think he'd be that over with the crowd.

Went from someone who looked like he was breaking into top star status to someone being used just to rebuild Owens' damaged star status within a matter of weeks.

[Lock Jaw]

http://i.imgur.com/FlnYmIk.jpg

[Lock Jaw]

http://i.imgur.com/fBAQtcz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ow26aka.jpg

30-Minute Iron Woman match announced for October 7

[Frank Drebin]

:eek:

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

:eek:

:y:

[Black Widow]

Paige is hot but why is her tounge out in every fucking pic?

http://i.imgur.com/fBAQtcz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ow26aka.jpg

30-Minute Iron Woman match announced for October 7http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/vhg.gif

[DaveWadding]

Gonna be fucking insane.

[#1-norm-fan]

Paige is hot but why is her tounge out in every fucking pic?

Because she's punk. BLAAAAH!

[Lock Jaw]

Would rather they just have fought for 30 minutes.... don't like how in Iron Man/Woman matches they get "so many pinfalls".... things/situations that lead to pinfalls would not have lead to pinfalls if in a 1 fall match.... makes it more "anti-climactic"....

[Droford]

It'll probably tie 1-1 trips comes out and pulls a WM 12 to restart in sudden desth, furl sail goes "this is awesome" crazy and then bailey wins like 2 minutes in.

[Droford]

Paige sorta looks like the girl I work with, has the same sticking her tongue out in pics deal.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/avatars/erinauville_1403571295_140.jpg

[Droford]

If she sounded British it would be too much

[Mr. Nerfect]

I hope Bayley vs. Sasha goes to the limit without either of them scoring a fall. It then goes to sudden death and they go longer, with Bayley eventually retaining the title.

[Mr. Nerfect]

If he was really over people would like him even if he was losing all the time

See: Daniel Bryan

That's true to an extent, but the thing is that they haven't really given the fans any reason to kayfabe hook onto Cesaro. Well, he did beat Rusev on SmackDown, but no one saw that.

Bryan was the World Heavyweight Champion when he got beat in 18 seconds and the fans really got behind him.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Daniel Bryan should be used as a "coach" for Ryback and Cesaro.

[Sixx]

Paige sorta looks like the girl I work with, has the same sticking her tongue out in pics deal.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/avatars/erinauville_1403571295_140.jpg

She looks like a Paige muppet if anything.

[Droford]

http://www.kayfabenews.com/lana-heartbroken-walking-ziggler-rusev-making-love/

[Big Vic]

Remember during the MNW if someone was getting over they wouldn't bury them because

A) They would like to showcase them for the fans
B) They were worried about them jumping ship.

[Innovator]

http://www.kayfabenews.com/lana-heartbroken-walking-ziggler-rusev-making-love/

The only way this angle ends is with Rusev as a babyface

[Anybody Thrilla]

Did anyone watch the Paige/Banks match on Smackdown? It was the dumbest fucking ending I think I've ever seen.

[Heisenberg]

Triple H in NXT looks alot like Dana White, their suits and pic formats

[Big Vic]

Did anyone watch the Paige/Banks match on Smackdown? It was the dumbest fucking ending I think I've ever seen.
What happened?

[Lock Jaw]

They started "brawling"/"cat fighting" and the ref tried to break it up but couldn't..... Team BAD and the rest of PCB and a bunch of other refs came to break it up as well...

But Paige and Sasha kept breaking free to take shots at each other... Thought that part was "cool", but the initial "brawl" looked too much like the "stereotypical" "cat fight"....

[Rammsteinmad]

Hey guys, remember when John Cena was "stabbed"?

[Innovator]

By Jesus

[Big Vic]

lol yes

[Rammsteinmad]

If I'm ever stabbed in a nightclub, I'll be sure to get my attackers contact details so I can challenge him to a wrestling match once I'm out of hospital or filming a movie or whatever I will be doing.

[Big Vic]

What if someone hits you in the back of the head with a hammer hijacks your ambulance then hits it with a semi truck?

[Sixx]

What if someone drags your father's casket around the cemetery?

[Rammsteinmad]

I'll address this issue in public with a live microphone.

[Innovator]

Make sure your music hits first before you walk into the venue

[Sixx]

And wear speedos.

[EzekielKane]

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11917476_595460987259560_4517715616929041817_n.jpg?oh=0c99583b1baba05ea4575f3bc1eb063f&oe=565F8B8F


Someone enters suplex city.

[Sixx]

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11917476_595460987259560_4517715616929041817_n.jpg?oh=0c99583b1baba05ea4575f3bc1eb063f&oe=565F8B8F

scared the kids away

[Rammsteinmad]

If we could see a video of that "suplex", I bet the guy taking the move is just doing a shitty-looking forward roll into it. Fucking backyarders.

[Emperor Smeat]

http://abload.de/img/bige1l7uig.gif

[Lock Jaw]

Where that from.....

[Tom Guycott]

http://abload.de/img/bige1l7uig.gif

For some reason, my head cannon starts the Marcus Cor Von theme when the girls dance by.

[Emperor Smeat]

Where that from.....

Think Sasha Banks' Vine or Instagram account. Her and Big E are having a goofy "feud" on social media with Team BAD and New Day joining the fun.

Previous incident involved who wore the better sneakers, Naomi's blinky sneakers or Kofi's winged boots.

[GD]

Hey guys, remember when John Cena was "stabbed"?

By Jesus

lol yes

I still remember the "ass whooping" that Jesus received at the hands of Cena at Armageddon.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Yeah that was the first time they used the black and white for blood when they recapped the match where Cena killed Jesus.

[Lock Jaw]

<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The New Day will never stop dancing for Pediatric Cancer Awareness! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustKeepDancing?src=hash">#JustKeepDancing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mikethemiz">@mikethemiz</a>....CHAAAALLONGGEEE!
<a href="https://t.co/E6xLhdNIb7">https://t.co/E6xLhdNIb7</a></p>&mdash; Kofi Kingston (@TrueKofi) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrueKofi/status/641651491913236481">September 9, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mercenary]

<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The New Day will never stop dancing for Pediatric Cancer Awareness! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustKeepDancing?src=hash">#JustKeepDancing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mikethemiz">@mikethemiz</a>....CHAAAALLONGGEEE!
<a href="https://t.co/E6xLhdNIb7">https://t.co/E6xLhdNIb7</a></p>&mdash; Kofi Kingston (@TrueKofi) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrueKofi/status/641651491913236481">September 9, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


That's it the WWE superstars and Divas need an off season. They are all going nuts.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Big E actually looks a bit like a superhero. I'd be afraid to say that around Vince McMahon though, because you just know what he'd try to do with it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Remember during the MNW if someone was getting over they wouldn't bury them because

A) They would like to showcase them for the fans
B) They were worried about them jumping ship.

I often think about what would be different is there was a legitimate rival to the WWE right now. I guarantee that Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, Fandango, Natalya, Emma, Los Matadores -- fuck, about half the roster -- would either be there or used much more effectively on WWE TV. It's a damn shame.

[Damian Rey]

Unfortunately, unless GFW or ROH catch a ton of steam to the point that they're getting weekly television and adding viewers, it's unlikely the current crop of unused talent will ever be given a chance to shine under a brighter light. Really wish they'd start a brand split again.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Night of Champions is one of the most awkwardly placed PPVs of the year, in my opinion. It comes just after SummerSlam, where you often have a big angle go down or a heel walk out the big winner. You follow this up with a PPV that is basically presented as a maintenance show, with the gimmick that all five titles are defended. Well, weren't they all defended at SummerSlam too?

I'm not against the idea of a Night of Champions -- especially if it is presented with a bit of chic and class -- but it might be best used as one of those irregular Network specials. You can bust it out when every champion has an obvious and exploitable storyline and make the show shorter than the three-hour run time of a traditional PPV, and perhaps just not show the preliminary matches you use to give the live fans a full experience.

I'm sitting here thinking that as opposed to Seth Rollins vs. Sting and Seth Rollins vs. John Cena being promoted for the September PPV; imagine if Seth Rollins teamed with Triple H to take on the dream team of John Cena & Sting at either Unforgiven or even the first-ever WWE presented version of Fall Brawl. The dynamics they want to explore between Rollins & Triple H are more obviously on display, and Cena gets a main event without cutting off all of Rollins' momentum, and Sting gets some of the pressure removed from his spot. Plus it saves the eventual "Sting challenges for the WWE Title" moment.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm not sure what the plan is for the Divas Championship, but instead of slapping together whatever they are planning, you could have sat on a Triple Threat between the PCB members, and possibly added Sasha Banks as a fourth participant.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Unfortunately, unless GFW or ROH catch a ton of steam to the point that they're getting weekly television and adding viewers, it's unlikely the current crop of unused talent will ever be given a chance to shine under a brighter light. Really wish they'd start a brand split again.

I do think a brand split would be an effective idea at this point.

[Damian Rey]

United States title in Raw, IC title in Smackdown. Hold off on defending the belts on free tv save every once so often. Produce a monthly special with each alternating. Have the world title defended at the big shows only.

Reintroduce King of the Ring with the winner getting a title opportunity at Summer Slam instead of it just being a stupid, worthless gimmick win.

Keep the split completely separate of each other and avoid inter promotional matches for a while.

It could still work damn it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

All you need to look at is how many girls they are trying to push through the door at once to realize that there could be benefit in having The Bellas running around on one show, and the new female "rasslers" getting to tear it up on the other.

I'm salivating at the idea of what Paul Heyman could achieve with Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Rusev, Summer Rae, Lana, Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch on SmackDown.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Fuck, Jack Swagger's not doing anything at the moment. Wouldn't he make a logical choice to ship to a new show and give him a chance to get some legs back with fresh minds handling him? In fact, give SmackDown all the guys that aren't currently used -- Fandango, Damien Sandow, Curtis Axel, Heath Slater and Zack Ryder -- and see what comes of them on a new brand.

Having Cody Rhodes & Johnny Curtis come out -- denouncing their RAW gimmicks -- and basically claiming they are going to be kicking down the door on SmackDown, only to be interrupted by the more fun-loving Damien Sandow & Curtis Axel. There's actually a lot to exploit in that dynamic alone. Rhodes and Sandow have a long history; Axel and Rhodes both have family histories in the business; and Curtis...well, Curtis, were a tag team back when Curtis was still Curtis and Curtis was still Michael McGillicutty.

[Damian Rey]

I'd keep the divas champ, much like the world champ, able to tour both brands. Tag champs could tour both as well, with each show having their own set of teams and divas. And like the world title, hold of on the divas title being defended unless it's a big show.

Part of the reason I believe winning an nxt title is so meaningful comes from my belief that them only defended so many times elevates their meaning. A title means less if you're getting to see it fought for constantly.

That's why I like the idea of rotating big shows. Gives youeight weeks to build up and execute a feud for the belt. Imagine Cena having too chomp at the big for 6 to 8 weeks of trying to get back the US title. By the time you get the match on tv the anticipation has had time to boil over and actually create real hype to see the title defended.

[Damian Rey]

If given serious feuds I think Stardust could get legit over. Rhodes has this enviable ability to take what he's given from a creative standpoint and make it entertaining and different from his previous persona. Dashing Cody Rhodes, mustache Cody Rhodes, and now Stardust. If they actually give him focus and put him in something legitimate he could easily be a featured player.

[Lock Jaw]

I hope at this year's Royal Rumble Stardust enters and then later Dashing Cody Rhodes.

[Damian Rey]

Lol that would be great.

[Ultra Mantis]

I'd mark out if this music played.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jZLwVPakzwM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Then later he comes back out with the newer theme and a moustache glued to his lip.

Then after getting eliminated three times he comes back out as Undashing #30 and somehow wins the whole thing, last eliminating Hardcore Holly.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Money.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'd keep the divas champ, much like the world champ, able to tour both brands. Tag champs could tour both as well, with each show having their own set of teams and divas. And like the world title, hold of on the divas title being defended unless it's a big show.

Part of the reason I believe winning an nxt title is so meaningful comes from my belief that them only defended so many times elevates their meaning. A title means less if you're getting to see it fought for constantly.

That's why I like the idea of rotating big shows. Gives youeight weeks to build up and execute a feud for the belt. Imagine Cena having too chomp at the big for 6 to 8 weeks of trying to get back the US title. By the time you get the match on tv the anticipation has had time to boil over and actually create real hype to see the title defended.

I get the mentality behind that, and it seems to be the popular route to go; but I kind of feel as if each show needs to have its own champion for its sense of identity. It helps really define the shows as separate. Let's say that Seth Rollins is the WWE World Champion on RAW: If he's feuding with John Cena on RAW and Randy Orton on SmackDown, eventually something has to give there. You can just have him on RAW until they do that PPV, but then you can't really plan Cena vs. Rollins further than that, you know? If Rollins wins, then Cena is left without an opponenet if Rollins goes to SmackDown, and if Cena wins, then SmackDown has a new top face they may not have factored in.

I'd keep the booking teams completely separate. This will mean that they're going to have their own titles, and that could mean some titles that don't even have a counter-point on the other show. An example might be that RAW wants a TV Title to fill some time on RAW, since it's going to be a three-hour show still, and they've got to be exhausting to write, so you want to throw some guys out there for a set period of time and just let them fight. SmackDown would have no need for such a thing.

Even on the tag team front. If you have The Lucha Dragons, Rhodes/Curtis, Sandow/Axel and some newly formed teams on SmackDown; you can still have your current core crop of tag teams on RAW. You don't really need too many teams to have meaningful programs over a set of tag belts.

[Damian Rey]

My argument for dual titles is look how watered down being the WHC eventually became, and as a result, how inconsequential the IC and US titles became. If they want to build an on going feud with one guy from either show than fine. The other show still has its own champ, IC or US, too create other feuds that matter.

[GD]

The World Heavyweight Championship was watered down as a direct result of the "RAW supershow" concept. With it not being defended exclusively on Smackdown, it became second fiddle to the WWE Championship. I truly believe that they could've done a better job at maintaining it at the same level as the WWE title. Like when Angle and Lesnar feuded for the WWE Championship on Smackdown and Hunter destroying the entire roster to hold on to the World Heavyweight Championship on RAW.

[Simple Fan]

I like the idea of Smackdown being separate from Raw if they can build it up right. Smack down wouldn't need any of WWEs active titles. They could create a TV title for Smackdown and bring some old ones back. It could be like a AAA team in baseball and NXT would be AA and the PC A. Treat it like a WWE farm system.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The World Heavyweight Championship was watered down as a direct result of the "RAW supershow" concept. With it not being defended exclusively on Smackdown, it became second fiddle to the WWE Championship. I truly believe that they could've done a better job at maintaining it at the same level as the WWE title. Like when Angle and Lesnar feuded for the WWE Championship on Smackdown and Hunter destroying the entire roster to hold on to the World Heavyweight Championship on RAW.

I agree with this. There were periods of time where the WWE Championship was the hottest property in the company -- during stints on both RAW and SmackDown; and the same can be said for the World Heavyweight Championship. The Supershow stuff did take what was special about SmackDown away from it, but the company had pulled real support for the product before that -- the World Heavyweight Title wasn't in a main event since like 2010.

When John Cena won the World Title, it felt like he could have breathed some new life into it. I mean, look at what he did for the US Title. There is no doubt in my mind that a US Title match could close a show with John Cena at the helm. It's the champion that makes the championship. What didn't work was having two World Champions under one brand.

That being said, we've only had a "WWE World Heavyweight Champion" for two years now. Is it too soon to split it back into the "WWE Champion" and "World Heavyweight Champion"? Maybe creating a new championship is the best way to go about things. A unique name could help the brand stand out, as well.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Another random title idea: If they did split the roster, when SmackDown arrives on the USA Network, you could declare the US Championship the inter-promotional one. RAW can keep the IC Title, and it can be the fixed "you're the future/a guy that is successfully re-inventing himself against the young guys" title; the WWE World Title can be their main event belt; the Divas Title can be for the girls; the Tag Team Titles can be the Tag Team Titles. SmackDown can have its World Title; some sort of secondary title; its own set of Tag Team Titles; and can revive the Women's Championship with a new design, billed as the oldest championship on the brand. Meanwhile the US Champion can hover.

[Simple Fan]

I just dont like Smackdown having their own World title. It takes away from the WWE title in my opinion.

[GD]

I just dont like Smackdown having their own World title. It takes away from the WWE title in my opinion.

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship's prestige hasn't increased since the World Heavyweight Championship's retirement.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Stone Cold Music Hour:
http://i.giphy.com/xTiTnIcCLXfAIYntLy.gif

It appears that the angle where The Wyatt Family attacked Randy Orton on Monday was not to set him up as the partner of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, but to write him off television.

PWInsider has confirmed with a source within WWE Creative that Orton is not currently figured into storyline plans for the next several weeks, including the Night of Champions PPV.

Hulk Hogan has landed a gig as the new spokesman for major gambling website, Fanpicks.com.

The website is aware of Hogan's recent scandal, but believes he deserves a second chance. "We all make mistakes and he deserves second chances," said one of the spokesmen for the company.

Hulk adds, "I am looking forward to connecting with all my Hulkamaniacs during some of the biggest games of the year and at upcoming Fan Pick live events in the near future."

The company is offering a bonus to new members who sign up and use the code "Hulk25".

PWInsider.com has confirmed with WWE sources that former CZW champion Biff Busick and SHIMMER talent Athena Reese have been officially signed by WWE and will report to the Performance Center later this month.

The pair join Rich Swann as confirmed talents who have been signed to WWE developmental deals.

PWInsider.com has confirmed that Sarah Stock, longtime star for CMLL in Mexico who also had a run in TNA as Sarita, has signed on to become a regular coach at the WWE Performance Center.

Stock had several Guest Coaching stints earlier this year and made a cameo as a model for Tyler Breeze's entrance at a NXT Takeover special. She's always been a hell of a hand and should really do well in her new role of working with female talents.

We noted before that Jeff Jarrett was recently in the UK to negotiate a Global Force Wrestling TV deal and will be returning this fall for more talks. The Wrestling Observer notes that Jarrett is closer to finalizing a deal in the UK than anywhere else.

Regarding the GFW Texas live events being postponed that we noted earlier this week, while Jarrett will be in the UK, the real reason for the shows being delayed is a combination of weak ticket advances plus the fact that WWE and NXT are running in the same markets the weekend before.

As of this writing, GFW only has the October 23rd Las Vegas TV tapings and the two UK live events on the schedule. The Observer noted that after those events, GFW is in a similar situation as TNA and Lucha Underground as moving forward depends on the ability to secure a paying TV deal.

Wednesday's episode of Ring of Honor on Destination America drew 138,000 viewers. This is down from last week's 144,000 viewers.

This week's TNA Impact Wrestling on Destination America at 9pm EST drew 353,000 viewers. This is up from last week's 335,000 viewers. The midnight replay drew 96,000 viewers, up from last week's 85,000. TNA drew a total of 449,000 viewers this week, up from last week's total of 420,000.

Destination America's internal schedule has been set through Thursday 10/8 and as of now, Impact Wrestling is airing every week through Wednesday 10/7.

If and when we hear of additional updates on the series, we will update, but the series will continue on the cable network through at least 10/3.
Small update to TNA's status with Destination America in terms of tv time left. International tv deals TNA had are already starting to drop.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well if <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEShop">@WWEShop</a> would make some you can get them there... But they don't have time for me I guess. <a href="https://t.co/eGpEPeuLAQ">https://t.co/eGpEPeuLAQ</a></p>&mdash; Heath Slater (@HeathSlaterOMRB) <a href="https://twitter.com/HeathSlaterOMRB/status/642343021086932992">September 11, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

New episode of Botchamania was recently released. https://vimeo.com/138784235
Smackdown's rating and viewership for this week managed to slightly improve from last week's all-time low. Around 60,000 more people watched this week.
Young Bucks debunked rumors of them recently signing a deal with the WWE. Original source claimed they were going to wrestling at next month's NXT special and signed a long term deal with the WWE.
WWE had a recent article on their official website on a behind-the-scenes look on the making of Seth Rollins' statue. http://www.wwe.com/inside/seth-rollins-statue-creation-photos

[Mr. Nerfect]

Has anyone watched much of the Back to the Territories series? I've heard good things, but haven't seen one yet.

[Simple Fan]

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship's prestige hasn't increased since the World Heavyweight Championship's retirement.

To me it has. Its the top title in the promotion and if another world title were to be introduced that would clutter things up and 2 people would be claiming to be the top guy.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I feel the US Title is more prestigious right now.

[Simple Fan]

And thats the problem if another world title is introduced. There's always going to be people that feel one is better than the other. The US title has been booked great this year but its always going to be a secondary title.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That's the same with any title in the world though.

[Simple Fan]

I was just talking about in the "WWE Universe", how much sense does it make to have 2 World champions in WWE ?

[Mr. Nerfect]

It does if there's two separate promotions under the WWE umbrella. But it doesn't if there's one brand.

[The CyNick]

The WWE World Heavyweight Championship's prestige hasn't increased since the World Heavyweight Championship's retirement.

I disagree

[The CyNick]

It does if there's two separate promotions under the WWE umbrella. But it doesn't if there's one brand.

2 brands just comes off as being fake.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It depends how you execute it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The WWE have achieved it just fine with the main roster and NXT.

[Simple Fan]

It does if there's two separate promotions under the WWE umbrella. But it doesn't if there's one brand.

Two seperate promotions is cool but Raw will always be the top show. So Smackdown should just become the place for guys not yet ready for the main roster but to seasond for NXT.

[Mr. Nerfect]

That's one way to do it. Another way is to give it to someone with a great past of heating things up -- whether that be a Paul Heyman or a Ryan Ward -- and they handle it and try and take it to a reputable level of its own.

[Lock Jaw]

Had a dream that Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were called up as Team Swagger, and they all had sweet matching track-suits....

[Innovator]

So your dreaming of them to fail?

[Lock Jaw]

In the dream Swagger was suddenly a main event player again....

[Anybody Thrilla]

They started "brawling"/"cat fighting" and the ref tried to break it up but couldn't..... Team BAD and the rest of PCB and a bunch of other refs came to break it up as well...

But Paige and Sasha kept breaking free to take shots at each other... Thought that part was "cool", but the initial "brawl" looked too much like the "stereotypical" "cat fight"....

Right, but it was in the middle of a fucking match. Why was the ref trying to break it up? There hadn't even been a decision yet.

[Lock Jaw]

He just wanted to get in the middle of that sandwich

[Lock Jaw]

http://i.imgur.com/JyZu8Ze.png

[Anybody Thrilla]

Eva Marie is so hot, but she is so not good at wrestling.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Eva Marie looks like she was designed by video game programmers. I mean that in a good way.

[Mr. Nerfect]

You know, if Eva Marie surrounded herself by a gang of women who could help her believably win matches, she could be female wrestling's Ric Flair. No, not in terms of talent, but in presentation and character.

[Mr. Nerfect]

When Kurt Angle's contract expires, I'd like to see him as the coach to Jordan & Gable.

[Droford]

You know, if Eva Marie surrounded herself by a gang of women who could help her believably win matches, she could be female wrestling's Ric Flair. No, not in terms of talent, but in presentation and character.

The un-nature girl

[Mr. Nerfect]

There is way to use "Unnatural" to enhance her someway.

[Tom Guycott]

Eva Marie is so hot, but she is so not good at wrestling.

I agree with half of this. Specifically the second half.

She doesn't do it for me. Looks too "fake". And I don't mean her funbags in particular, just... period. She looks like if you build a CAW with exaggerated features and colors and put them in a match with a fully scanned and rendered selection from the roster... and somehow made this possible in real life. I find Maryse way better looking, and many can attest to, I was never one on *that* bandwagon of drooling over her either.

But that is subjective. What's objective is that she is an utter shitshow between the ropes, and needs to be far away from a widely viewed wrestling ring for a good long time unless they just transition her into a simple arm charm.

[Tom Guycott]

2 brands just comes off as being fake.

The WWE have achieved it just fine with the main roster and NXT.

Two seperate promotions is cool but Raw will always be the top show. So Smackdown should just become the place for guys not yet ready for the main roster but to seasond for NXT.

That's one way to do it. Another way is to give it to someone with a great past of heating things up -- whether that be a Paul Heyman or a Ryan Ward -- and they handle it and try and take it to a reputable level of its own.

Yeah, there was a time when Smackdown became the "can't miss" show, and RAW was same shit different week, and the championship that was on SD (remember, at one point they swapped the WWE and "big gold belt" as THE championship of the show).

The belts are only as prestigious as they are presented to be. Doesn't matter if there are 3 or 12, if they lack ANY focus, or are handled like shit, they fall off. Look how long it took for the Tag Team titles to go from worthless props back to *some* prominence in the last decade. In spite of how toy-like it looks making people sneer at it, the Divas Championship often becomes a joke because most of the women who hold it can't wrestle well, and the women who CAN wrestle well aren't put anywhere near it.

[Tom Guycott]

You know, if Eva Marie surrounded herself by a gang of women who could help her believably win matches, she could be female wrestling's Ric Flair. No, not in terms of talent, but in presentation and character.

Fuck that. Just scrap this whole "Team (blank)" nonsense, and put the 4 Horsewomen together on the main roster. Yes, even with Bayley holding the NXT Women's Championship.

[Frank Drebin]

Eva Marie is fucking magic. Look at the sweet moves during her entrance just before the bell rings.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bdyiYpxcSj8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

She was just about to do YMCA for the crowd, but like a great heel - just teased it. Can't wait for the TPWW servers to break when she beats Bayley clean for the title.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Well, that is IF she ever improves enough to the point of deserving to be anywhere NEAR the NXT Women's Championship contenders scene.

Also, I agree with Guycott on Eva's looks; she's not ugly really, she just doesn't do anything for me. The implants and the stupid bright red hair don't help matters, either.

[Disturbed316]

I can see why some people like her look, doesn't do anything for me personally.

[GD]

Eva Marie makes Kelly Kelly look like a ring general.

[ron the dial]

Eva Marie is not attractive to me AT ALL. She is worthless imo

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

All Plastic Everything.

[Droford]

Eva Marie is fucking magic. Look at the sweet moves during her entrance just before the bell rings.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bdyiYpxcSj8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

She was just about to do YMCA for the crowd, but like a great heel - just teased it. Can't wait for the TPWW servers to break when she beats Bayley clean for the title.

I'm relatively sure she won't win the title from Bayley

[Black Widow]

I must be the only one that thinks she can pass as Caitlyn Jenner's twin.

[Jura]

Eva Marie makes Kelly Kelly look like a ring general.

I was just thinking about her. What they are trying to do with Eva is what maybe I think they did with Kelly Kelly and I think she actually improved a lot in her title run against Beth Phoenix. I think they also did it with Layla after Michelle retired and you could see Layla improved right before winning the title. The only difference is that they were successes and Eva so far is not. I feel like she's really not comfortable in the ring and in front of the crowd. She needs to pull out a Rock-esque heel post "die Rocky die" chants.

[Damian Rey]

They need to keep her off tv. Why they don't see value in letting her work matches with the same girls but in an environment where there's no pressure to entertain is beyond me. They're forcing her into the ring way too early.

What's sad is she's actually improved quite a bit but because she was so atrocious to start with even her improved self isn't very good. Also doesn't help that she doesn't seem any bit athletic at all.

They should just get her off tv asap and let her work matches off camera for a long time.

[Frank Drebin]

Just wait until she busts out a series of suplexes and submissions capped off by a springboard shooting star press. All while on her period.

All Red Everything.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I'm relatively sure she won't win the title from Bayley

Yeah, that's DEFINITELY not happening. Only thing she needs to win is a one-way ticket permanently out of WWE.

[Emperor Smeat]

http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5ygc35RDz1qiwd8jo3_250.gif

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More summer, please! The <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEDivas">@WWEDivas</a> soak up the sun in this week's TOP <a href="https://twitter.com/instagram">@instagram</a> photos! <a href="http://t.co/CfyHBWSVPS">http://t.co/CfyHBWSVPS</a> <a href="http://t.co/plMPY5OXQh">pic.twitter.com/plMPY5OXQh</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/643080661717397504">September 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Frank Drebin]

Going to assume Summer and Becky don't have bloated bowels and that they are "healthy"

Becky looks creepy there. Not at all what she looks like on tv. Arms look like a dead tree.

Those selfies showing off your muscles in the mirror are maybe the douchiest pics one can take.

[Frank Drebin]

You'd think I lost my fantasy football game. WELL I DIDN'T

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't normally like the muscly look, but Becky fucking Lynch. How you doin'?

[Droford]

Rock for Divas champion lol

[screech]

Eva Marie is not attractive to me AT ALL. She is worthless imo

My thoughts exactly.

[Volare]

22:30.....you're welcome.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6kCVtmAnQRI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[The CyNick]

The WWE have achieved it just fine with the main roster and NXT.

SD would never be booked like NXT is.

Once you're talking about a main brand, the existing writers and producers will want to get involved. Pretty soon it will look no different than Raw.

It's an odd time to suggest brand split when the main event talent pool is so thin

[Wishbone]

SD would never be booked like NXT is.

Once you're talking about a main brand, the existing writers and producers will want to get involved. Pretty soon it will look no different than Raw.

It's an odd time to suggest brand split when the main event talent pool is so thin

Except that the talent pool isn't thin. There are literally dozens of extremely talented wrestlers on the roster that aren't even getting to be on tv despite the fact that they have over 5 hours of tv a week. A proper brand split where SD wasn't just the RAW recap show would allow those guys some time to actually do something instead of just filling seats on the bench backstage.

And if you mean that there isn't enough "big" stars in WWE that's been the case for over a decade, and has nothing to do with lack of talent. WWE doesn't have any big stars outside Cena because they're inept at booking, period. There are plenty of guys that could be major players if WWE hadn't shit the bed every time they tried to push someone.

[Emperor Smeat]

http://i.imgur.com/0Vll4xW.gif

[owenbrown]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qhx02kYGObk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>






Jim Cornette appears at the 3:00 mark.

[Tom Guycott]

Jeez, he *sounds* like him. I lost my shit at the "I sweah to Gawd..."

[DAMN iNATOR]

Watched a lot of that W³ (WrestlingWithWregret) guy's vids lately...not as "smarkish" as a lot of others who do video series.

[Emperor Smeat]

https://33.media.tumblr.com/0f9d77eeb14fbc97245c9312c0e26b01/tumblr_nuozcspqzP1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

[Droford]

rxM-nT7NrRg

[Lock Jaw]

This is the required "I would like a taste of Tenille" post in response to the above video.

[Droford]

No "where's the captain?" Joke

[Lock Jaw]

https://38.media.tumblr.com/da6453e9205c352e5945d635637ce893/tumblr_n1iy2wvVHB1sdqajoo1_400.gif

Kickout at t- Wait a second...

[The CyNick]

Except that the talent pool isn't thin. There are literally dozens of extremely talented wrestlers on the roster that aren't even getting to be on tv despite the fact that they have over 5 hours of tv a week. A proper brand split where SD wasn't just the RAW recap show would allow those guys some time to actually do something instead of just filling seats on the bench backstage.

And if you mean that there isn't enough "big" stars in WWE that's been the case for over a decade, and has nothing to do with lack of talent. WWE doesn't have any big stars outside Cena because they're inept at booking, period. There are plenty of guys that could be major players if WWE hadn't shit the bed every time they tried to push someone.

You're way off base about Cena. Those kind of comments show a lack of understanding of the business. WWE wishes they had 3 more John Cenas lined up to take his spot. Its in their best interest to create one and let him run with the ball. The problem is nobody on the roster is close to Cena's level. I know thats unpopular with the IWC and places like this, but its true. He hustles more than anyone else on the roster, he's loyal to WWE almost to a fault, and he respects the business. You never hear "oh John refused to put over X". If anything he's similar to The Rock in that he probably does too many jobs for the latest flavour of the month.

The issue with the brand split is just math. If you split the brands, you have half the talent on each side. I think its BS to think there are a boat load of guys who could be headliners (who draw) but cant because their stuck in some bottleneck. The only guy who could lead his own tour was Daniel Bryan, but he's on the shelf. The next closest are probably Reigns and Orton, and neither of those guys will light the world on fire. I just dont see the benefit of splitting talent to create some fake form of competition.

At the height of WWE their was no such thing as a brand extension, and plenty of dudes got over big time.

[loopydate]

Except the last time they split the brands, having two "diluted" rosters allowed guys like John Cena to prove themselves as headliners to begin with. If he was on the same show as Triple H when he came up in 2002-03, Cena would never have had the same opportunity.

[GD]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PFAltzxNd6o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Damian Rey]

Undertaker hitting the nail on the head.

[Frank Drebin]

Very true. Difference now is no one watches smackdown so it almost "doesn't count"

[Lock Jaw]

http://i.imgur.com/tyxOG.jpg

Sweet clothes....

[Mr. Nerfect]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PFAltzxNd6o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Don't let CyNick see this. He has more of an understanding about the business than The Undertaker, after all.

[Lock Jaw]

http://i.imgur.com/Q3GWHKX.gif

[Mr. Nerfect]

Except the last time they split the brands, having two "diluted" rosters allowed guys like John Cena to prove themselves as headliners to begin with. If he was on the same show as Triple H when he came up in 2002-03, Cena would never have had the same opportunity.

Stop making sense, loopy.

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>I've said this ad nauseum for a while now but I just can't see myself ever going out of my way to watch SmackDown again unless they brought back the split. Nothing important happens on SmackDown at all. At least if they have a dedicated roster for there, I may actually watch it to see people I can't see on Raw.</font>

[Mr. Nerfect]

You're way off base about Cena. Those kind of comments show a lack of understanding of the business. WWE wishes they had 3 more John Cenas lined up to take his spot. Its in their best interest to create one and let him run with the ball. The problem is nobody on the roster is close to Cena's level. I know thats unpopular with the IWC and places like this, but its true. He hustles more than anyone else on the roster, he's loyal to WWE almost to a fault, and he respects the business. You never hear "oh John refused to put over X". If anything he's similar to The Rock in that he probably does too many jobs for the latest flavour of the month.

The issue with the brand split is just math. If you split the brands, you have half the talent on each side. I think its BS to think there are a boat load of guys who could be headliners (who draw) but cant because their stuck in some bottleneck. The only guy who could lead his own tour was Daniel Bryan, but he's on the shelf. The next closest are probably Reigns and Orton, and neither of those guys will light the world on fire. I just dont see the benefit of splitting talent to create some fake form of competition.

At the height of WWE their was no such thing as a brand extension, and plenty of dudes got over big time.

The benefits have already been summed up by The Undertaker, but you do make a good point about John Cena being someone special. That being said, you cannot deny that the booking for some guys has done its absolute best to fuck up the momentum of a lot of guys, possibly so they don't get too hot because the WWE wants everyone to be luke-warm so no one has the confidence to do a Bobby Lashley or whatever.

The WWE actually does have a lot of guys who could potentially serve as hooks and get people more invested in the product. Dean Ambrose was getting really hot last year, and was almost as equally important to the show as John Cena was. Then they had Ambrose lose any sense of direction and start losing on basically every PPV until Extreme Rules. Bray Wyatt could have been a new era's top heel, but instead he's spent the last two WrestleMania events losing, proving that he's all talk. Cesaro was presented as a world-beater at WrestleMania XXX, then had the world beat him.

Not one of those guys is John Cena, but not one of those guys needs to be -- after all, they still have John Cena. There's no reason you cannot present them in a way that allows fans who like them to feel that their emotional investment is going to lead to memories being made -- memories that invariably fuel their fandom of the product.

Earlier this year -- despite me thinking it was possibly the stupidest direction to take a once great personality -- Damien Sandow got really fucking over building up tension between himself and The Miz. Where is Sandow now? He's nowhere. Don't tell me that guy wouldn't benefit by being on a different show right now.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't even think they need an official brand split, but the benefits of one are ridiculously obvious. Even if they just blocked things out differently, so without official lines drawn, you had the Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev feud happening almost exclusively on SmackDown, for example.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Scaredy Pants Rollins:
http://38.media.tumblr.com/a8962cb11421ef0123518ffefc402766/tumblr_nup6yhk8ig1saykaxo1_400.gif

This may be a long fourth quarter for WWE, as last night's Raw did 3.39 million viewers, almost identical to the record non-major holiday low of the past 18 years, of 3.37 million the prior week.

The rating should have been up because last week's rating was caused by a show that caused massive audience tuning out late, and was hurt by Labor Day.

This week went against two highly rated NFL games in the regular season debut of ESPN's Monday Night Football. The Falcons vs. Eagles game that ended at 10:17 p.m. did 13.56 million viewers. The late game, starting at 10:17 p.m. with the 49ers vs. Vkings did 14.33 million viewers.

For Raw the three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.29 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.54 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.36 million viewers
Ratings ended up being around a 2.42 and a new historic low.

Monday Night Raw and Thursday Night SmackDown are supposed to be the cornerstones of WWE programming, but things aren’t exactly going as planned. Despite having one of its most talented rosters ever, one that features everyone from former independent wrestling studs to household names like John Cena, the WWE simply isn’t attracting the amount of viewers that it once did. In fact, ratings for both Raw and SmackDown are in a downward spiral and have been for so long that anyone in WWE who isn’t concerned must be kidding themselves ...

Even those at the USA Network, the home for Raw from 1993-2000 and 2005-present, are realizing that pro wrestling’s popularity isn’t what it used to be, thanks to the nearly unwatchable reboot of Tough Enough from earlier this year. According to The Wrestling Observer, sources at the USA Network indicate that officials there believe pro wrestling’s popularity is cycling downward, which is indicated by the decline in ratings. Wrestling tends to be a cyclical business, going round and round from lows to highs, but the disturbing plunge in ratings of the WWE’s two biggest shows highlights just how much the average fan’s interest in pro wrestling—and specifically, the WWE—has waned in recent years.

Perhaps more importantly, though, it puts even more pressure on the WWE Network. Now, the Network has to succeed. Absolutely has to. That’s because Raw and SmackDown don’t have the stable futures that WWE wants them to have. Anyone who follows all of the major pro wrestling companies has seen that pro wrestling as a whole is struggling to keep pace with other forms of sports and entertainment, as indicated by the failures of TNA. TNA Wrestling, the closest thing to “competition” that WWE has had since WCW, has had a disastrous stretch over the last couple of years. After losing its spot on Spike TV, TNA moved to Destination America earlier this year, and there are already all sorts of indications that Destination America will drop TNA soon, too. Could the WWE suffer a similar fate? If officials at the USA Network truly believe that pro wrestling’s popularity is “cycling downward,” then the answer is a resounding “yes" ...

The WWE Network announced that it had more than 1.1 million subscribers (averaging more than 1.2 million) at its second quarter earnings report earlier this year, an impressive number that is higher than its Tough Enough viewership and likely would be even higher if multiple Network users didn’t share one account like many are (probably) doing. As the WWE Network continues to deliver more entertaining original programming—like The Stone Cold Podcast, the NXT specials and pay-per-views— as well as historical footage, the viewers will continue to tune in and give the WWE a fallback option in the event that Raw and/or SmackDown gets the ax if and when the USA Network has had enough. However unlikely that may be, though, the pressure is mounting on the WWE to build up the WWE Network at a time when its flagship shows are falling down.
Part of a longer article by Forbes on the future possibility of WWE getting dropped from tv and the Network's importance for WWE's future stability. http://www.forbes.com/sites/blakeoestriecher/2015/09/08/wwe-raw-and-smackdown-ratings-slumps-put-more-pressure-on-the-wwe-network

Rollins won on March 29th. If he holds until Sunday that will be 175 days. The length in days of each Cena World title run are: 380, 280, 133, 133, 84, 84, 77, 49, 49, 49, 21, 21, 20, 14, <1 (via Wikipedia... no fancy links). The bottom 7 account for roughly 174/175 days (considering how you wish to count his few hour title reign).

While his number of title wins is quite impressive, Cena rarely holds the belt for longer than three months
Thought it was interesting in a "WWE Did You Know" type way.

WWE has reportedly signed Tough Enough finalist Zamariah "ZZ" Loupe. He was at the WWE Performance Center working out in the ring on Monday, according to PWInsider. Apparently ZZ has reported to the Performance Center to begin working.

WWE now has all four Tough Enough finalists signed as winners Josh Bredl and Sara Lee reported to work this month and Amanda Saccomanno has been filming Total Divas.

As most are aware, if Nikki Bella defeats Charlotte on tonight's episode of RAW to retain her Divas Championship against Charlotte, she will break AJ Lee's record as longest-reigning Divas Champion.

According to Dave Meltzer, WWE has been going back and forth on who is going to win the match between the two. Meltzer says anything can happen tonight but if Charlotte doesn't win, it's probably because of the influence of Nikki's boyfriend John Cena.

That is what he was told.
Some insight by the Observer prior to last night's Divas title match.

"It is interesting because I see it two ways. I see maybe people who don't watch it anymore, who were big fans in the Attitude Era, which was the most popular time in wrestling. It would appeal to people who may not be watching the current product, but would be interested in the video game.

One of the things I think it shows is that we have not really created enough new stars, to where we put new stars on the front of the video game, so that should be the overall bigger concern. We need to not just rely on people from the past.

There is almost this mentality these stars are bigger than the current stars, and they keep going with the mentality when the guys now are every bit as good as the guys from before, it is just they need to be given the platform."
Part of a recent interview Daniel Bryan had with The National. http://www.cagesideseats.com/2015/9/12/9315637/daniel-bryan-says-wwe-has-not-created-enough-new-stars

WWE Hulk Hogan was recently interviewed for Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard blog and says he believes pressure from the USA Network is the reason WWE distanced themselves from him so forcefully in the wake of his racism controversy.

Hogan told Justin Barasso that he spoke to Triple H shortly after the scandal broke but had a conversation with Vince McMahon about the situation.

“Triple H was telling me the USA Network was reacting very badly, and they had to make a quick decision, and that was to put me out to pasture.” Hogan said. “They were under heavy fire and they were scrambling.”

“The only person I talked to was Triple H. I called him and told him there was some old news coming out from when TMZ first reported the tape and there were some racial slurs on it. Triple H said, ‘Okay, thanks for calling. Let me talk to Vince,'” Hogan recalled.

“He called me back a half-hour later and he goes, ‘I’ve got some news and it isn’t good. Vince said that you need to resign.’ I never heard from Vince or talked to Vince. In the middle of the night, they just fired me.”

Hogan said he and his attorney, David Houston, requested a meeting with WWE to work things out, but WWE declined the request. Hogan feels like WWE treated him unfairly by immediately cutting ties with him and scrubbing him from the WWE website ...

Hogan was hopeful that he’d get a chance to address the WWE Universe, ask them for forgiveness, but it never panned out.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/WWE">@WWE</a>. E is for entertainment.
<a href="http://t.co/48SOQyqI29">pic.twitter.com/48SOQyqI29</a></p>&mdash; Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) <a href="https://twitter.com/VinceMcMahon/status/643919759415898113">September 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Some other sheet news includes:

WWE signed a new deal with Jakks Pacific to cover everything non-toy based for the company. Jakks won't have a chance to try to regain the action figure deal until 2019 assuming Mattel or WWE declines extending it.
GFW signed a deal with Boulder Creek International (BCI) to act as their tv distributor for their Amped ppv series.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, last night on RAW was the first time in Cena's career he ever beat Sheamus by pinfall or submission on tv. Never pinned or submitted him whenever he was involved in tag matches.
Recent updates for the CM Punk vs. Dr Chris Amann lawsuit saw a judge toss out Punk's request to dismiss the lawsuit, the WWE denying they are involved in the lawsuit while actually getting a lot more involved behind the scenes, and the lawsuit itself likely getting settled due to how shaky it is for the WWE/Amann. Judge doesn't think the case is strong enough to need a trial by jury for a decision which Punk wants.
Triple H announced the upcoming NXT special will be called "NXT Takeover: Respect." https://twitter.com/TripleH/status/643884657352790016

[Wishbone]

You're way off base about Cena. Those kind of comments show a lack of understanding of the business. WWE wishes they had 3 more John Cenas lined up to take his spot. Its in their best interest to create one and let him run with the ball. The problem is nobody on the roster is close to Cena's level. I know thats unpopular with the IWC and places like this, but its true. He hustles more than anyone else on the roster, he's loyal to WWE almost to a fault, and he respects the business. You never hear "oh John refused to put over X". If anything he's similar to The Rock in that he probably does too many jobs for the latest flavour of the month.

The issue with the brand split is just math. If you split the brands, you have half the talent on each side. I think its BS to think there are a boat load of guys who could be headliners (who draw) but cant because their stuck in some bottleneck. The only guy who could lead his own tour was Daniel Bryan, but he's on the shelf. The next closest are probably Reigns and Orton, and neither of those guys will light the world on fire. I just dont see the benefit of splitting talent to create some fake form of competition.

At the height of WWE their was no such thing as a brand extension, and plenty of dudes got over big time.

Of course they wish they had 3 more Cenas just waiting in the wings. They'd be stupid not to. The problem is guys like Cena don't just get there magically. Cena would never have reached the heights he did without the circumstances that lead him there.

1) Cena got lucky. Had Lesnar never left Cena would be a nobody right now, period.

2) Cena was floundering badly until he changed to the Doctor of Thuganomics gimmick and they began to book him as more than just a generic turd. Without that change and the booking behind it he would never have connected with the fans the way he did.

3) Cena had the brand split to allow him to shine. Had Cena not been on Smackdown when he was he would have been crushed under the shadow of Triple H and the other big names running about RAW.

Whether you want to believe it or not facts are facts. Superstars are made, not born. Sure, there's a measure of talent that some people are just born with, but that talent is worthless without the proper outlet and chances to foster its growth. The brand split would allow that environment to exist.

I also love how you keep acting like WWE's current business model is working. The ratings have been stagnant for over a decade now. Wrestling is a dying industry at the moment and it's all because of people who think the way you do. You can't hold onto the past like a starving baby on its mother's tit just for a couple extra PPV buys in the present. Without risk there is no permanent reward. What happens when Cena, Lesnar, and Triple H can't go anymore? No one will be anywhere near ready to take over and it's all because they didn't take the chance and try to groom them. WWE would rather stew in mediocrity with the few big stars they have for a guaranteed buck, but that guaranteed buck isn't going to last forever.

[#1-norm-fan]

Literally my only problem with the brand split was 2 world titles. It does water down the "moment" of winning the title when instead of it signifying you're THE guy, it just signifies you're "one of the guys". There should always be one top champion. You can raise the IC and US titles to signify dominance on a specific brand and then let the World Champion go back and forth defending it between brands. Having a "WWE" and a "World" championship was always just silly.

[Frank Drebin]

How about having 2 different tag championships when there were, like, 3 tag teams? Didn't the Womens and Divas titles exist at the same time as well?

Not arguing for or against the brand split. Just loling.

[Frank Drebin]

Still smh about the Divas Revolution. If you told me 3-5 years ago that at this time the #1 thing in WWE that upsets me would be the Womens Division I would have quit watching wrestling.

[Wishbone]

Literally my only problem with the brand split was 2 world titles. It does water down the "moment" of winning the title when instead of it signifying you're THE guy, it just signifies you're "one of the guys". There should always be one top champion. You can raise the IC and US titles to signify dominance on a specific brand and then let the World Champion go back and forth defending it between brands. Having a "WWE" and a "World" championship was always just silly.

I actually agree completely on that. Having one world title with the secondary titles being the top titles for their brands would work perfectly. The tag-team division isn't big enough to warrant two sets, and neither is the divas belt. I'd say split up the titles so that each brand feels "unique". RAW can have the IC and divas titles while SD gets the US and tag-team belts. People will have a reason to watch Smackdown then because it'll be the only place to see tag-teams competing for the gold, and RAW will be the only place to see the girls go at it. Or do it the other way around, whatever. If you could give Smackdown it's own unique feel the way they have NXT then there's no reason a brand split couldn't work. The problem with Smackdown toward the end of the brand split and now is that it's basically just RAW light with 70% recaps.

[Innovator]

<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just remember that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Booty?src=hash">#Booty</a> makes everything better <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BadDay?src=hash">#BadDay</a> <a href="http://t.co/0PV3q2omoP">pic.twitter.com/0PV3q2omoP</a></p>&mdash; Xavier Woods (@XavierWoodsPhD) <a href="https://twitter.com/XavierWoodsPhD/status/644141910861328384">September 16, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Bad News Gertner]

Ric Flair has Eric Bischoff on his podcast today and Jim Ross has Demolition on his this week. Pretty awesome shows.

[Tammy]

My mom named me after Tammy Sytch

[unclebrown]

My mom named me after Tammy Sytch



2 bd yr ghey

[Damian Rey]

They should keep the tag titles and divas title exclusively to one brand. Having only one show top showcase those divisions elevates their importance and gives whatever show their something unique from the other.

[Simple Fan]

I agree. We were on this subject earlier but if they took Smackdown and made it a different promotion like NXT. I know it cliché but they could rebrand Smadown as WCW and have it be the middle ground between WWE and NXT. Wouldn't have to take titles from Raw unless they wanted to use the US title as the top title in the promotion. Reinstate the WVW tag titles and maybe the cruiserweight title.

[Emperor Smeat]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO_r7gmUYAEJ508.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO_x1eDVEAAqzxF.jpg

[Damian Rey]

If they are gonna split the roster, they need to present each brand as equally important. Creative teams with each having their own head of such would only help create brand identity.

[The CyNick]

Except the last time they split the brands, having two "diluted" rosters allowed guys like John Cena to prove themselves as headliners to begin with. If he was on the same show as Triple H when he came up in 2002-03, Cena would never have had the same opportunity.

Actually Cena is a great example of why the brand extension was a joke and a failure. Once it was clear he was getting really popular, he was moved over to RAW (the A brand), and they moved Batista over to SD (the B brand). Cena then worked with Triple H and went over.

But hey, why let facts get in the way of a nice little story.

[The CyNick]

Don't let CyNick see this. He has more of an understanding about the business than The Undertaker, after all.

What territory did Undertaker book?

The concept of the brand extension is fine. in theory But the reality is it doesnt work. Monday Night is the flagship, always will be. If they did a real brand extension; say Cena heads up the Monday tour and Reigns headlines the Tuesday tour. If Cena goes down with an injury that puts him on the shelf for 12 months, they will take the biggest star from Tuesday and put him on Monday to fill the gap. The tours will always be booked with the A town and B town mentality. You cant have a bunch of A towns booked, then your top guy goes down, and say "oh well, there's a brand extension, we cant bring talent over from the B tour to fill in". But then the minute you do that, you make the brand extension meaningless.

On top of that, any stars that get over on Smackdown to any major degree will be bumped up to RAW. And this will be at the talent's request, because those pay days from the shows in Chicago are much better than the paydays in Peoria. you cant blame the WWE for doing this, because Monday is the A show, Monday brings you in the big TV revenue, so you have to cater to that show. Again, it would just make SD look like NXT.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Why is all of the brand split talk happening? Was there a report it was coming back? I liked the original idea of it. They were supposed to make the secondary titles more important but soon after Bischoff came in and took the IC championship away.

WWE Champion should be both-brands. It should be be the same way again but with two secondary titles.

[The CyNick]

The benefits have already been summed up by The Undertaker, but you do make a good point about John Cena being someone special. That being said, you cannot deny that the booking for some guys has done its absolute best to fuck up the momentum of a lot of guys, possibly so they don't get too hot because the WWE wants everyone to be luke-warm so no one has the confidence to do a Bobby Lashley or whatever.

The WWE actually does have a lot of guys who could potentially serve as hooks and get people more invested in the product. Dean Ambrose was getting really hot last year, and was almost as equally important to the show as John Cena was. Then they had Ambrose lose any sense of direction and start losing on basically every PPV until Extreme Rules. Bray Wyatt could have been a new era's top heel, but instead he's spent the last two WrestleMania events losing, proving that he's all talk. Cesaro was presented as a world-beater at WrestleMania XXX, then had the world beat him.

Not one of those guys is John Cena, but not one of those guys needs to be -- after all, they still have John Cena. There's no reason you cannot present them in a way that allows fans who like them to feel that their emotional investment is going to lead to memories being made -- memories that invariably fuel their fandom of the product.

Earlier this year -- despite me thinking it was possibly the stupidest direction to take a once great personality -- Damien Sandow got really fucking over building up tension between himself and The Miz. Where is Sandow now? He's nowhere. Don't tell me that guy wouldn't benefit by being on a different show right now.

See again, and I hate harping on this, but you sound like you are parroting the dirt sheet writers. Like as though the WWE decision makers have some fascination with pissing money away. The sports entertainment business is very subjective. There is no metric like their time in a 40 yard dash to tell you "yes, this guy will get over". But why would WWE prevent someone who could be a Steve Austin or a John Cena from reaching those heights? Its in their best interest to have that happen. The problem is fans and critics get too wrapped up in a few talents, and it clouds their judgment.

I remember when I made my highly anticipated return here, and read a post about how great Ryback was. I was shocked. I couldnt believe ANYONE saw Ryback as a potential headliner. But someone did. To me, he's just another guy, he's no better or worse than The Miz or a Dolph Ziggler. Nice hands, but they'll never take you to the promise land. Now, are they caught up in some glass ceiling BS or do they just lack all the tools you need to be elite in this game? In my view, I can see the massive holes in the respective games. But other people will say "oh Triple H this or Stephanie that or Vince is old, blah blah blah". I guess its open to interpretation.

The issue I think people have with the booking is there is a segment of the audience that wants to see the next guy breakthrough, and they want it to happen NOW. The problem is if you look at history, even the all time greats took YEARS to get established. The Rock is probably the greatest pure talent in the history of the game, but it took him 2 years of middling programs before they put the big belt on them, and probably another 4 months before he was booked as a strong main eventer and not a chicken shit heel. Same with HHH, actually longer with him, and Austin as well. You cant push Cesaro, Owens, Reigns, Rollins, Ambrose, Wyatt, and Ryback as main eventers all at the same time. There's not enough main event spots for that. Its Rollins time, its Reigns' time. In time, some of these other guys will get a shot.

Sandow is just a comedy act. Its like saying why didnt Paul Heyman take it to the next level with the Blue Meanie. He's just a joke guy. Thats all he will ever be. Have you ever seen him work an actual match? He cant hold the crowd for more than 2 minutes. You want him headlining PPVs?

[Wishbone]

Actually Cena is a great example of why the brand extension was a joke and a failure. Once it was clear he was getting really popular, he was moved over to RAW (the A brand), and they moved Batista over to SD (the B brand). Cena then worked with Triple H and went over.

But hey, why let facts get in the way of a nice little story.

No, all that proves is that WWE was stupid back then as it is now. They moved him because to THEM RAW was the "A" show and Smackdown the "B" show. And because they presented it that way the fans began to believe it too. The brand split failed because WWE failed to actually commit to it.

What territory did Undertaker book?

What Territory did YOU book? At least he has actual experience in the business instead of just being some armchair booker like yourself who thinks he knows more about the wrestling business just because he's watched it from the outside.

[Wishbone]

Why is all of the brand split talk happening? Was there a report it was coming back? I liked the original idea of it. They were supposed to make the secondary titles more important but soon after Bischoff came in and took the IC championship away.

WWE Champion should be both-brands. It should be be the same way again but with two secondary titles.

Nah, just an argument involving booking and somehow the brand split got brought up.

[Wishbone]

The issue I think people have with the booking is there is a segment of the audience that wants to see the next guy breakthrough, and they want it to happen NOW. The problem is if you look at history, even the all time greats took YEARS to get established. The Rock is probably the greatest pure talent in the history of the game, but it took him 2 years of middling programs before they put the big belt on them, and probably another 4 months before he was booked as a strong main eventer and not a chicken shit heel. Same with HHH, actually longer with him, and Austin as well. You cant push Cesaro, Owens, Reigns, Rollins, Ambrose, Wyatt, and Ryback as main eventers all at the same time. There's not enough main event spots for that. Its Rollins time, its Reigns' time. In time, some of these other guys will get a shot.

That's EXACTLY what we're all saying! It takes time, effort, good stories, etc to build a superstar. They're not just magically there. No one, not you, not me, not Vince McMahon saw Dwayne Johnson as being the "next big thing" when he premiered. To everyone he was thought of just the way you described Ryback, Ziggler, etc. He was just another guy. It took time and effort put into him to build him into "The Rock". No one is saying that Cesaro, Owens, or even Reigns should be pushed to the moon right this second. What we're saying is that they should be given the chance to actually develop the way the Rock did. Actually put them in matches and feuds that matter and let them actually build steam. Don't put them in shit feuds and stories only to get buried over and over again until they're doing love triangle stories that belong on Jerry Springer.