"100,001" Replies (Wrestling Forum)

[Jordan]

If Roman loses then his career is basically over as top guy. Or the potential to be a top guy is lost.

[GD]

I don't get it. Where are the filler matches?

[Black Widow]

4 matches confirmed for the PRE-SHOW

WWE App/YouTube:

U.S. Title
Kalisto (c) v. Ryback

Usos v. Dudley Boys



USA Network:

Andre The Giant Battle Royal

Team Lana v. Team Bella



WRESTLEMANIA 32:

Grudge Match
AJ Styles v. Chris Jericho

Divas Title
Charlotte (c) w/ Ric Flair v. Sasha Banks v. Becky Lynch

Tag Team Titles
New Day (c) v. League of Nations

IC Title - Ladder Match
Kevin Owens (c) v. Sami Zayn v. Stardust v. Dolph Ziggler v. The Miz v. Sin Cara v. Zack Ryder

Street Fight
Dean Ambrose v. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman

WWE Title
HHH (c) v. Roman Reigns

Hell In a Cell - Control of RAW v. Retirement
Shane McMahon v. The Undertaker

+ appearance by The Rock and The Hall of Fame class 2016So they can get something right?

[The CyNick]

I am very much for a HHH Roman double turn

I don't mind this either, but who goes on the road as the top baby? I haven't heard of house shows tanking with Reigns on top. Is Hunter going to go on the road till Cena is back?

[Innovator]

I don't mind this either, but who goes on the road as the top baby? I haven't heard of house shows tanking with Reigns on top. Is Hunter going to go on the road till Cena is back?

You can go with Dean vs. Roman until Cena and Rollins return. I think Rollins is due back before the summer, so they can build to Seth v. Roman.

[Droford]

Shane wins and takes over Raw and turns out to be worse than The Authority.

[The CyNick]

You can go with Dean vs. Roman until Cena and Rollins return. I think Rollins is due back before the summer, so they can build to Seth v. Roman.

Yeah maybe. But you would think HHH would want revenge. Unless they write him off with an injury.

[Emperor Smeat]

http://i.imgur.com/t7I0Lk9.gif

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I don't get it. Where are the filler matches?

80% of the card?

[slik]

Set looks like the WrestleMania32 logo will be part of it

also giant star at top of AT&T Stadium


https://ton.twitter.com/i/ton/data/dm/715242119758159877/715242119800102912/k7_lAjlH.jpg

[slik]

Just kidding, the logo is at the top of the stadium too


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce0QeJrUYAAN35F.jpg:large

[Jordan]

http://i.imgur.com/t7I0Lk9.gif

Who is that?

[Innovator]

Yeah maybe. But you would think HHH would want revenge. Unless they write him off with an injury.

You could get another match with HHH out of it, being a pure face against Roman. Orton and Cesaro are coming back soon also. Not saying throw Cesaro immediately into the main event, but there are a lot of face options they can go with if they turn Roman.

[Poit]

http://www.stillrealtous.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Capture1.jpg

The Zig Man went all the way.

[The CyNick]

You could get another match with HHH out of it, being a pure face against Roman. Orton and Cesaro are coming back soon also. Not saying throw Cesaro immediately into the main event, but there are a lot of face options they can go with if they turn Roman.

Yeah that could work.

Still think Roman deserves a real run with the belt as a babyface. Have Hunter give him the rub, then if you want to turn him, do it on Ambrose.

[Emperor Smeat]

Who is that?

No clue. Saw it on another website and thought it was worth sharing because of the setup looking a bit ridiculous.

[Jordan]

What are you talking about that is totally something that would happen in a fight.

[Bad News Gertner]

Heard this yesterday. Randy Savage was in talks to come back to the WWF in 1997 but he wanted too much money guarenteed for 5 years.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

been listening to the new generation project podcast... they brought up how savage was rumoured to return at some point.

[Bad News Gertner]

You should check out this podcast called.Between the Sheets. They go over Meltzer/Keller's sheets in one week periods. So this past one was Mar.22-28 and they chose 1988. Next time it'll be March 29-April 5th and they'll pick a year. It's fascinating. They go over each company, talk about events, rumors (some right, some wrong). They are pretty long but they are amazing.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Will probably super enjoy. Love how there is maybe 1 per cent of the world who would find this shit interesting.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Was listening to one of Nash's 6,000 shoot interviews. He talked about how Shawn totally sandbagged him on the powerbomb at WM11 and was trying to make him look bad in the match, but not in a complainy way, just in a "this is how it was in the shark tank way" and like you have to be willing to do it to your best boy if you're going to be fucking everyone else over on the roster... and also how he accomplished the job because he was the man in the company shortly after.

Interesting stuff.

[Lock Jaw]

https://scontent.fyhz1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/12472580_1163277097025223_4924485294399905581_n.png?oh=d90d29c895e807bbacc3ae0c313c523d&oe=5796A6D3

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Evil Bliss:
https://49.media.tumblr.com/f5b45811cad0adb3170bb7d0322ce753/tumblr_o4kliuJ2XN1sbzhteo1_400.gif

First set of reports are related to potential Mania spoilers:

The Wyatt Family is expected to be involved in the finish, as Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt is planned for down the line. Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman was originally a SummerSlam main event, but that is at least being reconsidered.

There have been second thoughts regarding Strowman, particularly given the reaction to his match with Ambrose in Philadelphia. At this point he is no longer a lock to win the Battle Royal, which he had been. They were open to other ideas this week. He still may win. But the plan for him to win the Battle Royal and face Lesnar at SummerSlam is no longer a sure thing
Would explain why the focus for the Andre Battle Royale match the past few weeks have been on just Big Show and Kane

HHH vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE title. Reigns is expected to win, and that’s not really the issue. The question is will Reigns turn heel either on the show or at Raw the next day as champion. To go heel would undo years of planning, but would make the live audience happy, which otherwise will boo him out of the building every night. As noted, Reigns has more potential opponents as a heel, but the company’s previous plans for him after WrestleMania were as a face.
Been recent rumors of a possible double turn happening at Mania or WWE tossing all face plans out the window partially due to the heel side lacking names for post-Mania feuds.


It looks like the WWE Divas division is getting a facelift starting next week.

The news surfaced on Wednesday that WWE plans on rebranding their Divas division as the Women's division, complete with a new WWE Women's Championship belt to replace the current butterfly-designed WWE Divas Championship.

According to reports, the new belt will have a similar look to the current WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but will be a smaller version that is mounted on a white leather strap.
Been part of a strong push in recent months by Charlotte, other female wrestlers, and part of WWE's management to finally get rid of the Divas brand.

WWE has officially updated the plans for Sunday's WrestleMania regarding where the different matches will air on the show.

As of right now, and this could change during the week, the Kalisto vs. Ryback U.S. title match will take place at about 4:30 p.m. Central time, 5:30 p.m. Eastern, and will be a WWE Network exclusive.

The USA Network and WWE Network one hour simulcast from 5-6 p.m. local time and 6-7 p.m. Eastern time, which will also air at WWE.com, the WWE app, and YouTube, will have the women's ten person tag team match and the Usos vs. Dudleys match.

The 20 man Andre the Giant Battle Royal will now be on the WrestleMania PPV card.

The WWE will be updating the Hall of Fame this year with a "Legacy Award" based on a banner at the WWE Store right now.

There are seven names that are listed on the poster: Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Lou Thesz, Mildred Burke, Pat O'Connor and one other person ...

Although WWE has inducted Gorgeous George, Buddy Rogers and Argentina Rocca, who were contemporaries of Thesz and O'Connor, they had not honored anyone who was a major star before the advent of television. The poster doesn't list them for the Hall of Fame, but for the WWE Legacy Award.

There have been recent reports that Lucha Underground may be signing a deal with Netflix. However, I have been told by sources that Lucha Underground is close to finalizing a deal with Hulu. The deal would be for two seasons with an option for a third season if the current deal stays intact. Both season one and two are also currently available on iTunes as well.
http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0330/609135/lucha-underground-close-to-signing-deal-with-top-streaming/

Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Nikki Bella’s career as a full-time wrestler is over as she got bad news from her doctor this past week. She was scheduled to appear on Raw this week but her doctor ordered her to stay away from the ring. Even though she wasn’t booked to do anything physical, but was to be at ringside for an angle, that any kind of accident could severely set her recovery back. Her next important appointment will be in July where she will find out how well the bone in her neck fused after surgery. She was told that even the best news, she shouldn’t return to wrestle full-time, but may be able to wrestle on a lighter schedule in a few months

The situation with King Cuerno is up in the air right now. What we know is that he was offered a spot in the WWE’s Global cruiserweight tournament and wanted to go, but neither AAA nor LU would allow it. That explains his cryptic tweets from a week or two back. He has the seven season deal. He hasn’t worked for AAA since 3/4 and wasn’t at the tapings for season three

There are very serious talks regarding a new investor coming in. Right now a key point in the negotiations is the new company wants to purchase 55% of the company while Dixie Carter is trying to keep negotiate it to 49%, so she would still have controlling power. The problem is TNA is in a money crunch and very much living hand-to-mouth and the investor may already be involved in a limited fashion. One of the reasons the last set of tapings weren’t announced until the last minute and flights weren’t booked until late was that aspect as they apparently can’t announce dates officially at Universal until Universal gets a deposit. That may be why the tapings that the talent has been told will start on 4/19, only a few weeks away, still haven’t been announced.

We’ve heard a lot more regarding late pay and while nobody wants to put that out publicly, there are those still there as well as those who recently left who were way behind either at times or even still currently. A key part of this is the revenue sharing on ad revenue as part of the Pop TV deal has been bleak, given the numbers that the show is pulling and that it has been very difficult to sell the TNA-specific ads that were part of the revenue sharing deal given it’s wrestling and that the show isn’t doing anywhere near the kind of numbers station President Brad Schwartz was talking about (he was throwing around numbers like 1.3 million viewers) when the deal was made
Updates to recent TNA investor and on-going financial problems news.

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have deals in place with the company described as similar to the original deal they had signed Samoa Joe for. Basically they work NXT but don’t train at the performance center, and can work indies on their own on their off days. I don’t know if there are limitations as to where they can work. With Samoa Joe, the issue on why they changed the deal on him is he was going to work ROH television and they didn’t want that

I saw the results of a marketability study regarding the top WWE characters and it’s probably one of the reasons they are strong on Reigns. And this was a current fan-based study and not a general public study, which saw Reigns as the fourth highest ranking wrestler on the roster, trailing Cena (who scored much higher than anyone else), Undertaker and Lesnar. Others faring strongly among the active wrestlers were Orton, HHH and Styles, the latter of which probably surprised people. Ambrose also did well, but was far behind the guys mentioned and Owens didn’t fare well at all. That may be why they are reluctant to listen to crowd reactions and think they should push someone else
Basically the study confirmed what the WWE wanted to hear because of its focus group type nature. Another stat had Reigns in the top 5 for t-shirt sales but also flawed since its a well known fact the WWE overstocks merch for their hand picked stars and under-stocks for everyone else for shows (Big reason why Cena is almost always the top seller).


Some other sheet news includes:

Charlotte recently teased on Twitter she will be wearing a Ric Flair style robe for her Mania entrance. https://twitter.com/mscharlottewwe/status/715302521699340288
2K Games recently released a tribute video in honor of Sting's upcoming WWE Hall of Fame induction. https://www.facebook.com/realsting/videos/1062178080469114/
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Undertaker's first ever pinfall loss in the WWF was to Tito Santana in 1991 during a European tour. https://www.instagram.com/p/BDlST3oSQ9A/
Yahoo Sports had a recent Q&A interview with Sasha Banks for those interested: https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/sasha-banks-q-a---my-dream-is-to-be-the-best-in-the-wwe-195059738.html
Live Audio Wrestling had a recent interview with Dean Ambrose involving his appreciation for Terry Funk and what he feels makes him special in the WWE. http://fightnetwork.com/news/6552075:the-laws-full-interview-with-dean-ambrose/
Fox Sports also had a interview recently with Dean Ambrose for those interested: http://www.foxsports.com/wwe/story/wwe-dean-ambrose-brock-lesnar-interview-wrestlemania-32-legit-russian-roulette-032916
The next WWE-Scooby Doo crossover film was announced to be called "Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon" and arrives this summer according to a recent WWE press statement. http://www.wwe.com/article/scooby-doo-curse-speed-demon-cover-debut
According to the Observer, Lucha Underground is likely at 50-50 for getting a 4th season. They could get a 4th season locked but financial issues and the big break between tapings leaves them open for a talent raid occurring. They could also collapse before a 4th season if no big investors join by that point.

[#1-norm-fan]

Battle royal being on the main card makes me happy.

[Vastardikai]

I like the idea of no more "Divas" division and the Butterfly belt needs to die. I think the Attitude Era's Women's Title was perfect.

[#1-norm-fan]

However "Total Women" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

[Sepholio]

"Total(ly) Cancelled" does though.

[Simple Fan]

So Ryback/Kalisto is the pre-pre show?

[Fignuts]

Excellent news about the Women's Title.

[Jari]

So Ryback/Kalisto is the pre-pre show?

Is it harsh to hope that it gets Sandow'ed?

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Like the news on the women's title.

K so Reigns doing well in focus groups etc. guess the writers need to figure out how to book him so he doesn't get shit on all the time since his is apparently amazing.

[Big Vic]

Hey guys remember when Sandow got really over?

[Evil Vito]

RIP Kris Travis :( fuck cancer

[Rammsteinmad]

RIP Kris Travis :( fuck cancer

Yeah. :(

My Facebook feed is full of pictures and tributes to him. I met him a couple of times over the years but never really got speaking to him. He seemed close to a lot of mutual friends though. Sad times.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

However "Total Women" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

With Brie retiring and Nikki pretty much done what's the point of Keeping Up With the Bellas?

[Innovator]

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="lQywai0"><a href="//imgur.com/lQywai0">View post on imgur.com</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Innovator]

With Brie retiring and Nikki pretty much done what's the point of Keeping Up With the Bellas?

Because it's the only way to get Daniel Bryan on TV?

[Jordan]

With Brie retiring and Nikki pretty much done what's the point of Keeping Up With the Bellas?

I think because The Bella's are basically a brand within WWE that they can make money from if they wrestle or not.

[Innovator]

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="6" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr +JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhL w7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nY FnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; ██████████relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BDn8Nuai_at/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Oh hay there! #wrestlemania</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Rebecca Quin (@beckylynchwwe) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-03-31T16:26:58+00:00">Mar 31, 2016 at 9:26am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2d/2c/2c/2d2c2c639d9fa2b4865b1f89dea3e5f8.gif

[Black Widow]

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="6" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr +JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhL w7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nY FnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; ██████████relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BDn8Nuai_at/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Oh hay there! #wrestlemania</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Rebecca Quin (@beckylynchwwe) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-03-31T16:26:58+00:00">Mar 31, 2016 at 9:26am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>Best pic of her since showing in WWE.

[Volare]

Oh hell yes!

[Evil Vito]

First names confirmed for the Global Cruiserweight Tournament:

-Rich Swann
-Tomasso Ciampa
-Johnny Gargano
-Zack Sabre Jr.
-Noam Dar
-Akira Tozawa
-Ho Ho Lun

[Rammsteinmad]

Fucking knew Sabre Jr. would be in this. Bastard! :fu:

[Volare]

It's that time of year to remember the streak.





<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9pq92QMYM_0?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Emperor Smeat]

http://i.imgur.com/7Cf8cFF.gif

[thekrow]

Some kick ass screenshot from the last match






https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/1916542_1161702630531316_275422747206212921_n.jpg?oh=39f5b56f74f52ae668ed361c55d2e192&oe=5771EC0F


https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10403680_1161702643864648_2585989875069219938_n.jpg?oh=57cb6e70cc4ee3e5d9b6b7b5194a4c3c&oe=57BE8FE4
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/12321370_1161702733864639_7673263676869205521_n.jpg?oh=e5f61f993fcc7c6fef1ba14df9e67eaa&oe=57720E71
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10347233_1161702860531293_2848423671667396796_n.jpg?oh=cc17adf4f567449c4bfc3408f463bba3&oe=5784631A
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10347233_1161702860531293_2848423671667396796_n.jpg?oh=cc17adf4f567449c4bfc3408f463bba3&oe=5784631A
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/12376359_1161703010531278_7029877580431975063_n.jpg?oh=bc60f0594897407f96ed12263a0a8587&oe=57801F09
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/944321_1161703053864607_8307414634953107703_n.jpg?oh=b2de9f78c93aeeaa9ee72a068ef67afb&oe=577B1111

[thekrow]

uh oh


https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12417573_1159035144131398_8296693915572435570_n.jpg?oh=1e4d4ed8d51be85135e338372ce02c91&oe=577C8F6B

[thecc]

Fuck yeah, Tozawa

[GD]

Emotionally overwhelmed while watching Daniel Bryan's WWE 24 special.

[GD]

I feel ashamed when professional wrestling evokes such strong emotions from me.

[Tom Guycott]

Roman Reigns post Wrestlemania tron and music leaked.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U4jHoCq6aOM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Congratulations!

[Volare]

Just move it to :55


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rceIRCUO-QQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Lock Jaw]

Big Post

http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/2016/03/04_Texas_03212016rf_0365--3745e4e2d33e21d6e3d287f7505650cd.jpg
http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/2016/03/11_Texas_03212016rf_0387--a6be72d4030561bc28a53bdaf9beaa71.jpg
http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/2016/03/17_Texas_03212016rf_0515--fbaf5dc3b39809192b9acd563c344e19.jpg
http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/2016/03/22_Texas_03212016rf_0406--bf3f6954c15d7ef26a22ea29d968148e.jpg
http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/2016/03/29_Texas_03212016rf_0448--c30a5ecc6fd0bec6e2b60b2271fb6dd0.jpg

[Volare]

Thy goddess.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Becky Lynch Appreciation Thursday:
https://45.media.tumblr.com/a052c368f35b2e635fe647bad26a8bc2/tumblr_o4x7gfaylN1u9tdblo1_400.gif

First two news stories are related to possible Mania spoilers.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows - The Bullet Club - are scheduled to be at this week's WWE TV Tapings, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources. It''s expected they will be at Wrestlemania, at least backstage at the event, as well.

As we had reported previously, the pair were expected to debut on the main WWE roster, bypassing NXT, in late March/early April. It appears their debut is imminent.

The belief is that the team will be using The Balor Club name.
Rumor at the moment is they might get involved in the Shane-Taker match as the way for Shane to win.

WWE officials had talks about putting Cesaro in the 20-man Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 on Sunday.

We've noted how Cesaro is scheduled to return to the ring in April and apparently they talked about having him as a surprise entrant in the match on Sunday.

As noted, 4 spots remain in the match as the following Superstars are confirmed: Heath Slater, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, Big Show, Kane, Tyler Breeze, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, Fandango, Damien Sandow, Darren Young, Konnor, Viktor, Goldust and R-Truth.


The word making the rounds within WWE is that John Cena is just about ready to return to the ring and is expected to be cleared anytime, if he hasn't been cleared already. He's absolutely expected to appear in some form at Wrestlemania this weekend.

Cena has been out of action since tearing a rotator cuff in December and undergoing surgery. He's been intensely rehabbing the injury since.
There was a pretty hilarious scenario being floated around as an ICW created idea for his possible Mania return that I don't want to spoil.

On the WWE Global Cruiserweight Series, Triple H says the tourney has a lot of buzz. Rich Swann, Tommaso, Gargano & several other UK, Chinese and Japanese stars will all be involved in the series.

NXT will be doing another UK tour in June starting with the Download Festival and then they will head to Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool & more cities ...

On the WWE Global Cruiserweight relationship with indy promotions Triple H says they are still figuring a lot of it out and what they can cross promote to make it a win/win for all.

HHH adds he loves how NXT is growing but doesn’t want to oversaturate the brand by making weekly shows longer. He says he’s thrilled with how it’s all going ...

On the difference between WWE and other promotions, HHH says when you walk into #WWE from anywhere else, there is a difference between the production they do and anyone else. Triple H added that can be a learning curve for new talents coming into the company.

For example, Triple H says for Shinsuke Nakamura there is a learning curve in how he presents his fantastic abilities in the #WWE and #NXT production environment.

On the NXT touring process, Triple H loves they can do NXT shows simultaneously, one on the road and one back in Florida to get as many talents as they can in front of an audience ...

On rumors that Vince McMahon doesn’t much like WWE NXT, Triple H said Vince is “sure is spending a lot of money on something he doesn’t like.”

Triple H says Vince is a promoter and talent is talent but it’s “not accurate” to say Vince doesn’t like NXT.
Highlights from today's NXT conference call with Triple H.

There will be a brand new Stone Cold Podcast on the WWE Network tonight immediately following Smackdown with special guest Mick Foley joining Steve Austin.

C.M. Punk, who is recovering from back surgery, said on the MMA Hour it was at best a 10 percent chance he’d be able to fight Mickey Gall by UFC 200 and doesn’t want to give a date yet on when the fight would happen.

He had surgery six weeks ago for a herniated disc in his lower back, and hasn’t started back training, but hopes to be cleared soon.

He made a point to use this to illustrate a difference between Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and Vince McMahon.

He said when he was diagnosed and was with Fertitta and White, he said that maybe he could take a cortisone shot and train through the injury and fight and they told him not to, that there were PPVs every month and they wanted to him to get the surgery and get fixed up, noting that there are PPV shows every month. “It was just a relief to finally have a boss who was like, `No, no, just get it fixed, we want you 100 percent, we want you to be healthy,’ and not interested in throwing a band-aid on a bullet wound just to parade me out in front of people.
Observer on the differences between WWE's medical and UFC's medical treatments.


John Cena - $9.5 million
Brock Lesnar - $6 million
Triple H - $2.8 million
Randy Orton - $2.7 million
Seth Rollins - $2.4 million
Roman Reigns - $2.1 million
Undertaker - $2 million
Big Show - $1.5 million
Kane - $1.3 million
Dean Ambrose - $1.1 million

Recent Forbes article on the highest paid wrestlers in the WWE at the moment.

During Thursday’s wrestling media conference call, WWE COO Triple H announced the first 7 competitors for this summer’s Global Cruiserweight Series:

Zack Sabre Jr.
Johnny Gargano
Rich Swann
Tommaso Ciampa
Noam Dar
Hoho Lund
Akira Tozawa


The 32-man tournament will air over 10 weeks this summer on the WWE Network. It’s already been announced that EVOLVE, PROGRESS Wrestling and Revolution Pro will host qualifying matches starting next month.

Earlier this month here at WrestlingDVDNetwork.com we reported that WWE is planning to fill up the third installment of the Attitude Era DVD series with lots of unreleased content.

Not only will that content be never-before-seen on Home Video, we have learned that the “Unreleased” theme also extends to never-before-seen whatsoever, in any medium, as this DVD set will unearth matches only witnessed by fans in attendance at the arena that night!

That means you can expect to see nearly 7 hours of previously unseen Attitude Era footage (8 hours on Blu-ray) all made up of non-televised matches from before and after PPV events, house show matches held stateside and internationally, “dark” matches from RAW, and more gems.

“Attitude Era Vol. 3 – Unreleased” is currently scheduled for release worldwide in August 2016. The new WWE DVD and Blu-ray is one of the next due to go live for pre-order!

After the 4/1 show, the next NXT Takeover show is set for 6/8 in Orlando.

TOTAL DIVAS AUDIENCE DROPS SIGNIFICANTLY

The 3/29 episode of Total Divas did 563,000 viewers, down from last week's 663,000 viewers.
For some reference the show started at 1.11 million for the premiere and has been suffering big drops for all except two weeks so far. Last season was also low compared to previous seasons as well.

WWE Network continues to add to its robust slate of original programming with the newly green-lit show, Holy Foley, which will offer viewers a comedic, behind-the-scenes look into the life of WWE Hall of Famer, husband and father Mick Foley and his unique relationship with his daughter Noelle. Produced by Trooper Entertainment in association with Lionsgate, this 10-episode, 30-minute family reality series is slated to premiere in August 2016.

Andrea Ocampo, a reporter for the NHL’s Florida Panthers, was hired as a ring announcer and will use the name Andria DeMarco
Recent signing by the WWE.


Some other sheet news includes:

TNA's Jeremy Borash paid tribute to recently passed UK wrestler Kris Travis. http://impactwrestling.com/rip-kris-travis-always-a-shooting-star/
Progress Wrestling is also holding a tribute for Kris Travis with their Chapter 10 ippv replay currently available to watch for free. https://demandprogress.pivotshare.com/media/chapter-10%3A-glory-follow-virtue-as-if-it-were-its-shadow/22022/feature
CBS Sports recently had a couple of WWE related articles with one based on NXT and the other on Triple H. http://www.cbssports.com/general/eye-on-sports/25537238/triple-h-discusses-the-future-fast-success-of-nxt-wwes-minor-league , http://www.cbssports.com/general/eye-on-sports/25534928/triple-h-talks-building-a-legacy-entering-his-20th-wwe-wrestlemania
Canadian website Recorder had a recent article dealing with the Hart Family and Natalya carrying on the family's legacy in the WWE. http://www.recorder.ca/2016/03/31/wrestlings-hart-dynasty-lives-on-through-natalya
Shinsuke Nakamura got the "One Name Only" treatment for his upcoming WWE debut and from now on will be known as just Nakamura based on the official Mania program book. https://twitter.com/Joel2Sleep/status/715576451873902593?s=09
The WWE title match is rumored to be a No DQ match based on an official Mania poster at WWE Axxess. https://twitter.com/NewAgeInsiders/status/715641923185172480
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Lesnar's ppv record since his return to the WWE is 9 wins and 7 losses while his Mania record is just 1-2 heading into this year's match against Ambrose.

[Asmo]

Hype Videos for Wrestlemania are out. Just watched the HHH / Reigns one so far, and once again, the production team has amended weeks of largely tiring story development with an edit that does it's job. Make the match worthy of your time by building the right story for it. It's simpler than some of the zany edits we think are the best, but it's still great!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7HAhbLV4Lcs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Asmo]

Here are the others:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Exa0idXHEag" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kzo14FP-mog" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ZbrhKIfqNM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Surprised there isn't one for Sasha / Charlotte / Becky!

[Nicky Fives]

I feel ashamed when professional wrestling evokes such strong emotions from me.

Same here, the saddest movies do nothing to me, yet that Benoit/Eddie hug at WM20 gets me every time.... as well as Eddie winning the title from Brock the month before, Raw is Owen and any of the retirement speeches....

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Same here, the saddest movies do nothing to me, yet that Benoit/Eddie hug at WM20 gets me every time.... as well as Eddie winning the title from Brock the month before, Raw is Owen and any of the retirement speeches....

Blurred reality. We know its all scripted but we don't really see them as actors.

[Lock Jaw]

Spoiler:

http://i.imgur.com/Hn2nQqG.jpg

[Disturbed316]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ce7wgQzXEAA1oDB.jpg

Has been updated since.....

[Fignuts]

lol he even botches his tweets

[slik]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TEJaEj7rrdA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Jari]

Some kick ass screenshot from the last match






https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/1916542_1161702630531316_275422747206212921_n.jpg?oh=39f5b56f74f52ae668ed361c55d2e192&oe=5771EC0F


https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10403680_1161702643864648_2585989875069219938_n.jpg?oh=57cb6e70cc4ee3e5d9b6b7b5194a4c3c&oe=57BE8FE4
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/12321370_1161702733864639_7673263676869205521_n.jpg?oh=e5f61f993fcc7c6fef1ba14df9e67eaa&oe=57720E71
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10347233_1161702860531293_2848423671667396796_n.jpg?oh=cc17adf4f567449c4bfc3408f463bba3&oe=5784631A
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10347233_1161702860531293_2848423671667396796_n.jpg?oh=cc17adf4f567449c4bfc3408f463bba3&oe=5784631A
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/12376359_1161703010531278_7029877580431975063_n.jpg?oh=bc60f0594897407f96ed12263a0a8587&oe=57801F09
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xal1/v/t1.0-9/944321_1161703053864607_8307414634953107703_n.jpg?oh=b2de9f78c93aeeaa9ee72a068ef67afb&oe=577B1111
WTF is this shit?

[Sixx]

That last pic looks like ladder massage and the guy receiving it is rather excited.

[Poit]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For what it's worth, the Poster at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Axxess?src=hash">#Axxess</a> claims Triple H vs Reigns is No Disqualification<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash">#WrestleMania</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NAIMania?src=hash">#NAIMania</a> <a href="https://t.co/c7iDK0oIQ9">pic.twitter.com/c7iDK0oIQ9</a></p>&mdash; The New Age Insiders (@NewAgeInsiders) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewAgeInsiders/status/715641923185172480">March 31, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[VSG]

The brochures are also saying that.

Also, those promo videos are excellent once again.

[Sixx]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For what it's worth, the Poster at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Axxess?src=hash">#Axxess</a> claims Triple H vs Reigns is No Disqualification<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash">#WrestleMania</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NAIMania?src=hash">#NAIMania</a> <a href="https://t.co/c7iDK0oIQ9">pic.twitter.com/c7iDK0oIQ9</a></p>&mdash; The New Age Insiders (@NewAgeInsiders) <a href="https://twitter.com/NewAgeInsiders/status/715641923185172480">March 31, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sledge Hammer finish guaranteed.

[XL]

Cena heel turn to give HHH the win.

[Sepholio]

Oh man Cena heel turn would be epic. I'd fill the cup.

[Lock Jaw]

Crowd would go nuts if he were to attack Roman, though. Wouldn't be much of a heel turn.

[Emperor Smeat]

http://i.imgur.com/VTSC8r4.jpg

[Hanso Amore]

lol he even botches his tweets

That wasnt from his account to be fair

[Emperor Smeat]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oANc0EsFTUc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Volare]

Crowd would go nuts if he were to attack Roman, though. Wouldn't be much of a heel turn.

Exactly, he would have to attack Trips. He could play the douche very easily. "Oh what you don't like Roman? I think Roman is the best thing since me!" Let Cena endorse him and explain how he is the company man that everyone needs to be like.


Spin it however you want that's how I saw it.

[The CyNick]

Cena and Reigns really should do a Mega Powers type deal. The smarks would be begging one to turn on the other.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Cena and Reigns really should do a Mega Powers type deal. The smarks would be begging one to turn on the other.

I would actually like that because up until now they haven't really had much to do with one another. Plus the Mega Powers were the greatest ever. What's old is new.

[thekrow]

WTF is this shit?

Those are highlights from last weeks CHW match!


If you want to see more action like this, tune into CHW carnage tomorrow where you will see a match and the debut of CHWs newest on air host...none other than reknown stand up comic CARLIN!


https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlt1/v/t1.0-0/q83/s552x414/12803094_1162713067096939_9205135157997190162_n.jpg?oh=4f53c834bc47f3d257fbec84522ad311&oe=57732FC1


Don't miss Carnage tomorrow!

[Droford]

No tipsters so close to WM?

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Kane-Show Remolding Inc:
https://49.media.tumblr.com/85d15d78d32bef9e538d3917c6bed233/tumblr_o4tvqhyprO1sbzhteo1_400.gif

Several sources are stating that something big is being planned for NXT tonight. The same sources have seen Iron Sheik spending a lot of time with Chad Gable and Jason Jordan. We've also heard that members of production have been asked to put together a video package comparing Sheik's amateur career to Gable's and Jordan's. What this means for tonight's NXT show is anyone's guess as this is purely speculation as nothing has been confirmed.
Before anyone gets really excited remember what today is.

There was a major stunt being worked on and practiced yesterday afternoon. Given that Shane McMahon has stated in interviews that he will use his body as a weapon, that we all know what he is capable of doing, and that they had aired a bunch of video packages of him falling off high things, most likely it will be for the Hell in a Cell match. As of yesterday, plans subject to change, the Cell match was going on last.

NXT moved their start time up 30 minutes almost certainly to mess with ROH since the main show is still listed on the WWE Network as starting at 8 PM local time. They'll be doing some dark matches. Doors now open at 6 PM. While it does interfere with those who want to go to both ROH and NXT, the reality is that ROH sold out and they're doing fine one way or another.
For those with tickets, WWE sent emails regarding the new changes earlier today.

Steve Austin indicated on his podcast with Mick Foley that he didn't think it was a good idea to offer WrestleMania for free to new WWE Network subscribers.

John Cena said he was already medically cleared in an interview done at the beginning of the week with Complex Sports.

In the interview, Cena said he felt he could have come back two weeks ago. He said he can do anything they ask of him to do and when they call, he'll be there.

"If you ask me today, I should've been back two weeks ago. I've logged almost 400 hours of physical therapy. I got 111 visits in 12 weeks time. I go every single second I can. People say I have a Wolverine-like style of recovery. I was given a nine month quota to come back and after three months I can tell you that I am ready to do asked of me possible. It's a matter of when they call me."

What is notable about that is if Cena's return was looked at to be a major surprise, he would have never answered the question that way since he's basically saying he'll be back imminently.

Mauro Ranallo will be announcing the first three matches of WrestleMania, and hosting the WWE Network first hour as well as the USA Network simulcast second hour.

About the only actual news that came out of the event [WaleMania] was MVP saying that he’s starting with Lucha Underground.

New Japan is doing a free show on New Japan World tonight/tomorrow from Korakuen Hall. It’s a free sample to try and get people to buy the service for Invasion Attack on 4/10. In theory, they should then be shooting some angles to build that show. The top matches are an elimination match with Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma & Michael Elgin & Juice Robinson vs. The Bullet Club of Bad Luck Fale & Kenny Omega & Tama Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi & Cody Hall, plus Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito & Evil & Bushi.

"I don’t really know who he is. Like I said, John Cena is easy: goody-two shoes Superman. A four-year old kid can tell you that. I don’t necessarily know the heartbeat of Roman Reigns."
From a recent interview Cena had with website Complex regarding Reigns' identity problems with crowds. http://uk.complex.com/sports/2016/04/john-cena-interviewwith

Squaredcirclesirens.com is reporting that Naomi, Renee Young and Lana will be joining the cast of Total Divas. Total Diva camera crews have been following Lana and Renee Young around Dallas. Naomi was previously on the show, and has been filming as well in Dallas. She also told fans that her Axxess signing was being filmed for the show.

Total Divas has seen a decline in ratings this season, so the new names are likely part of a mix up to see if they can change the vibe of the show.

<div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><div class="fb-video" data-allowfullscreen="1" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/wwe/videos/10153661554746443/"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/wwe/videos/10153661554746443/"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/wwe/videos/10153661554746443/"></a><p>Live from #Wrestlemania #Axxess, Paul &quot;Triple H&quot; Levesque unveils a special tribute to a certain #WWE Hall of Famer #WWEHOF</p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wwe/">WWE</a> on Thursday, March 31, 2016</blockquote></div></div>


Some other sheet news includes:

Current rumors regarding the new WWE Women's title has it being debuted during Mania itself.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today is the 20th Anniversary of Mankind's WWF debut.
Sting revealed in a recent interview with Fox 4 News that he doesn't plan on officially retiring until he gets a chance to wrestle against Taker since it will be his last gift for the fans. http://www.fox4news.com/good-day/115023933-video
Baring a sudden change, Shane-Taker is currently set as the main event for Mania according to F4W.

[Poit]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PJjZM5zFGuA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Fignuts]

Real original title.

Can't wait for La Sombra to debut with his new theme "Locos Tacos"

[Fignuts]

Also, Subconscious still a million times better.

Should have tried harder to get it.

[Vastardikai]

I saw a Young Bucks match from New Japan last night (no Network.) I must say, their promo was just like their match: Mostly disjointed with a flash of brilliance.

The match felt like a chore to watch (Bucks vs Romero and Baretta vs. reDRagon). Some cool stuff, but too much wondering "the fuck was THAT?"

I don't drink the kool-aid.

[Bad News Gertner]

This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. This video is from Memphis in the 80's, with Mark Gullen of the House of Gullen introducing Teijo Khan. Fucking hilarious.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fICZRloNIQ8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[#1-norm-fan]

If you had told me/anyone on this forum 2 months ago that Shane McMahon would be main eventing WrestleMania (as in being in the last match)...

[The Destroyer]

This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. This video is from Memphis in the 80's, with Mark Gullen of the House of Gullen introducing Teijo Khan. Fucking hilarious.
Absolutely ridiculous. And great.

[#1-norm-fan]

Did he call my mama a jungle savage at the end?

[Bad News Gertner]

YOMOMBA THE JUNGLE SAVAGE!!!!!!

[Hanso Amore]

Holy shit is that the guy from the movie Body Slam?

[Emperor Smeat]

http://49.media.tumblr.com/38134aeda7bd49aa321b9498a187a85c/tumblr_o4zjpdhwdM1saykaxo1_400.gif

[Jordan]

Random thought.

I have never seen anyone work a headlock anywhere nearly as thrilling as Chris Girard aka Biff Busick.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer, the next set of names expected and/or rumored to be in the upcoming Cruiserweight tournament includes Kota Ibushi (expected to sign a WWE/NXT deal), Bobby Roode, and Prince Puma/Ricochet (if he drops the IWGP Jr Tag Title soon).

Also according to the Observer, Shane's OMG spot for the Taker match has already been planned and rehearsed. Might be his craziest ever if the rumor of its height ends up being true.

[Jordan]

How can Bobby Roode be considered a cruiserweight?

[Simple Fan]

I guess he's under the 205 weight limit. His Wikipedia page says his billed weight is 240. Really sounds like a bunch of light heavyweights. Ibushi and Ricochet are more believable to be in the tournament than Roode.

[#1-norm-fan]

Also according to the Observer, Shane's OMG spot for the Taker match has already been planned and rehearsed. Might be his craziest ever if the rumor of its height ends up being true.

This makes me nervous. If he does something that crazy though, it should definitely close the show. Send the crowd home buzzing instead of following the "holy shit" moment with them booing the new face champion.

[Simple Fan]

Little less nervous since its been rehearsed but still has to be pretty big to be his biggest ever. Might he leap off Jerryvison?

[Emperor Smeat]

Jerrytron is way too high up for that to be an option. Just to reach the bottom of it is around two titantrons in size and around 3.5 titantrons to reach the top.

[Black Widow]

I don't think it could get much more crazy than his others.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Remember the Smackdown game that had the helicopter backstage? Shane might have played it recently and got inspired.

[Disturbed316]

Don't see the point in having this crazy stunt when they won't even let the regular guys do so many other things.

[Disturbed316]

How the fuck is Zack Ryder on the main card for Mania? Seriously, he's done nothing all year and somehow pops up on the biggest show. Hopefully this will be his swansong and get fired/released after Raw.

[Mercenary]

A Mick Foley reality show.....I'm sold

[VSG]

http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/gallery_img_l/public/2016/04/092_Diary0402--46651ee4c122903322c401eedc3704c2.jpg

Izzy doesn't care about that loser Bayley. Fickle fan is fickle.

[GD]

Bayley couldn't give a fudge

<a class="embedly-card" href="https://gfycat.com/DistinctHollowFoxhound">c0ed475133efeeb4a3c3939d03eab993</a>
<script async src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

https://giant.gfycat.com/ThirstyEmotionalFunnelweaverspider.gif

[Mercenary]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfEtNd4UEAErUOO.jpg:large

[#1-norm-fan]

Well that pic is the highlight of the weekend.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfFHR1EUEAEsHzc.jpg:large

#ShagMoneySaturday

[Sixx]

Why is Dean Ambrose fighting Brock Lesnar?

Was there some kinda storyline I missed?

[Jordan]

Why is Dean Ambrose fighting Brock Lesnar?

Was there some kinda storyline I missed?

Dean assaulted Brock with a chair and cost him the championship opportunity during the triple threat at Fastlane.

[Mercenary]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfFHR1EUEAEsHzc.jpg:large

#ShagMoneySaturday


Is he doing a lonely Virgil act or is Owens that much of a douche?

[Gerard]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfFHR1EUEAEsHzc.jpg:large

#ShagMoneySaturday

Looks like a lonely overweight human-hamster hybrid. :-\

[Sepholio]

That makes me sad.

[Droford]

Find it a little weird Ray Gordy/Jesse works in the Cobb County GA sheriff's dept

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Kane knight look alike wearing Roman reigns shirt at Tim's. Wanna call him a wank pheasant

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Fyi for non Canadians Tim hortons is a donut shop chain. Synonymous with all that is Canadiana

[Emperor Smeat]

http://i.imgur.com/E0ErFAc.gif

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I feel like Taker from 5 years ago vs Shinsuke Nakamura in a "proper" match would be one of the coolest things ever. Nakamura's got some swag about him.

[road doggy dogg]

I agree, minus the Undertaker part

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Shawn Michaels?

[Shadrick]

Shawn Michaels?

that would have been so amazing

[Evil Vito]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfFHR1EUEAEsHzc.jpg:large

#ShagMoneySaturday

I'll give it about an hour before somebody photoshops this to look like Virgil's merch table.

[Dark One]

https://giant.gfycat.com/GiftedExaltedKronosaurus.gif

[Shadrick]

https://giant.gfycat.com/GiftedExaltedKronosaurus.gif

crop the ear, my fapping is ruined

[Shadrick]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfEtNd4UEAErUOO.jpg:large

lol this picture didn't click for me until now

[Jari]

http://www.tpww.net/2016/04/backstage-updates-kota-ibushi-ricochet-to-wwe-more/

I'm not going to pretend to know a whole lot about Kota Ibushi but this exchange makes me excited for the idea of him joining the WWE

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5iDlh1dac-Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Jari]

If the idea of Ibushi and co are for the smarks then I've got to be fair and leave some star power on this page for the CyNick to get his kicks from:

https://49.media.tumblr.com/d45a566972caf0facf1c069398f3afe7/tumblr_n9jj8cx0gC1t0ik4co1_400.gif

[Fignuts]

Holy shit, that hand spring dodge looked sick as fuck.

I haven't actually watched a whole lot of Ibushi, but I think I will seek out some matches immediately.

[GD]

Feel like Hideo Itami's theme could use some "cowbell".

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O1fflkAqsHw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bPruRVyDei8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Joe Kerr]

How the fuck is Zack Ryder on the main card for Mania? Seriously, he's done nothing all year and somehow pops up on the biggest show. Hopefully this will be his swansong and get fired/released after Raw.
woo woo woo

[Savio]

How long does zack ryder hold the title?

[Frank Drebin]

How long is a piece of string?

[Sepholio]

His piece of string is about 25 hours long.

[Savio]

Yeah im not good with string theory

[Emperor Smeat]

http://49.media.tumblr.com/deebf9717a3dde85907dc5f0f99d7073/tumblr_o532juuVhG1saykaxo2_400.gif

[Emperor Smeat]

http://45.media.tumblr.com/3d24b1bd38ec6558418cc7cba1c62ca0/tumblr_o533c3HpVh1saykaxo1_400.gif

http://49.media.tumblr.com/0e14dd8782718433d313d27e982d55cc/tumblr_o533c3HpVh1saykaxo2_400.gif

[Swiss Ultimate]

My favorite Wrestlemania moment.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MMKFIHRpe7I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Sepholio]

Yeah im not good with string theory

It's not a theory; it's a spoiler.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Becky got fucked up

https://scontent-ord1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/12519439_1597503963896832_25935848_n.jpg

[owenbrown]

What the hell happen during the match that caused that?

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

not really that hard to imagine she got potatoed in such an intense match

[Black Widow]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfKLXBqUYAAmVsW.jpg
https://giant.gfycat.com/BadMealyGlobefish.gif

[Volare]

Lana did look great last night as well. :D

[Emperor Smeat]

According to a reliable dirtsheet source Sandow's time in the WWE is very close to being over. Creative has zero plans for him and likely going to be the next person to put in a release notice or be among the next wave of guys released.

Also Wade Barrett already has a Legends deal in place once his current contract with the WWE is over.

In terms of injury status, Rollins now set to return by May while Luke Harper is out till September.

Same source also stated the main reason Bray and the Wyatts job a lot is because Vince completly believes he created the next Taker with Bray so Bray can afford being made to make others look strong while instantly be made a threat whenever the occasion asks.

[Volare]

According to a reliable dirtsheet source Sandow's time in the WWE is very close to being over. Creative has zero plans for him and likely going to be the next person to put in a release notice or be among the next wave of guys released.

Also Wade Barrett already has a Legends deal in place once his current contract with the WWE is over.

In terms of injury status, Rollins now set to return by May while Luke Harper is out till September.

I got a feeling when Rollins returns, if in the right arena, will be Triple H-esqe in sound.

[Swiss Ultimate]

Wade Barrett is Legendary. I confirm this. I hear Ted Cruz is behind Sandow release. Sad if true.

[owenbrown]

Sandow :'(

[Volare]

Honestly hope Sandow does something awesome, will always be a supporter of his.

[Volare]

Saw this on wrestling memes and it made me laugh.


https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-0/s526x395/12963589_1176778262333225_4446238531286268872_n.jpg?oh=b227d57aaa7d34c64b33d5b074a790e1&oe=57BB90F3

[Fignuts]

Steve Corino on when he teamed with Kawada in 06'.


Since I last wrote I was getting prepared to team with Toshiaki Kawada at Hustle. This for me was a thrill. For him it must have been an annoyance! As his music came on I told him "I am very honored to team with you. I am very happy." Kawada, being Kawada, just stared at me. Then I had to ask (because I had a feeling I knew the answer) "Are you excited?" and he just looks and says "NO". That's my buddy!

[Swiss Ultimate]

I'm not a fan of Jap wrestlers. I like the Japs well enough, but I think we have perfectly fine American wrestlers who can do the same job. I think I'll talk to Vince about this. Things have to change, folks. We're getting killed out there. Very bad.

[Innovator]

Better than the wrestlers from China.

[Evil Vito]

On behalf of /r/SquaredCircle, I would like to thank the community for allowing us some time to address this situation in an official capacity. I understand that this has been confusing for fans of /u/FalconArrow and that people want answers. That being said, I am going to be as transparent as possible when it comes to what may or may not have happened yesterday evening. Please keep in mind that everything I said in my stickied comment about the alt account remains true.

Over the course of the past 10 months, /u/FalconArrow and I have communicated directly and quite regularly, independent of the other moderators and Reddit. Over time, these conversations became more and more frequent – the bulk of which would be him teasing something and me asking what it was, to which he was always willing to answer.

Falcon told me on Friday that he would like to do an AMAA in the midst of us talking about the Frank The Clown debacle. I asked him if I could announce it, but in the course of the craziness of WrestleMania, I was unable to do so. Falcon announced it himself and I posted a distinguished comment about what the AMAA would and would not be.

My original understanding was that Falcon wanted to talk wrestling, not spoilers. I surely did not expect him to be as open as he was yesterday based off our previous conversation. Around 5:30 ET yesterday, Falcon reached out to me and told me that he was being threatened on social media – somehow his identity had been compromised.

Falcon chose to engage with this accuser, and this would lead to the accuser sending a screenshot of Falcon’s verification modmail to him – Falcon suggested that our modmail had been compromised, and I recommended that he stop the AMAA and sink into the shadows for a bit.

He was adamant that there had been a breach on our end and chose to delete his account; I walked him through the steps. In the interest of full disclosure, as the conversation went on, I told Falcon that I found this all to be very unlikely, and I suggested that he was messing with me.

It should be noted that Falcon was understandably pissed off about this, but this was AFTER he made the decision to delete his account. He accused me of attacking him for a leak that was our fault, which unfortunately we have NO WAY of proving.

So, here we stand, in a post /u/FalconArrow era – one in which it is tough to say with certainty what transpired. All I can say for sure is that someone found out who Falcon was, and that is why he deleted his account. Was our mod mail compromised? Falcon assures us that there was no way his account was compromised, as he regularly changes his password (once a week). Again, we have no way of being certain at this point, and we will continue to investigate what happened.

Once again, we appreciate your patience as we look into this matter and I will keep everyone posted on new developments if they are necessary. But chances are, we will likely never know what happened for sure other than the fact that Falcon was threatened and as a result his account was deleted.

This thread will be marked with edits if/when any new information is available.

-/u/inmynothing

Shame. It was funny seeing people question whether or not he was an insider constantly when he would routinely drop hints on what was going to happen on Raw/PPV and be right 99% of the time. Including last night.

Probably gonna be fired now that somebody's figured out who he was.

[Rammsteinmad]

Honestly hope Sandow does something awesome, will always be a supporter of his.

Does going to TNA count as something awesome?

[Lock Jaw]

More importantly, there was a "Frank the Clown debacle"? What does that even mean....

[Poit]

More importantly, there was a "Frank the Clown debacle"? What does that even mean....

Apparently, it was an April Fool's joke. The mods announced a big AMA, and it was just Frank the Clown.

[Innovator]

Jokes are supposed to be funny

Clowns too

[Blue Demon]

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12924366_10153675543158687_7373881516579097523_n.jpg?oh=bdde948ae02f37b7558c409f77ec354d&oe=577E37A1

Going to meet Kurt Angle on Saturday!

[Emperor Smeat]

http://i.imgur.com/Oxr51Ag.png

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leaked audio of Vince McMahon &quot;I like that!!&quot; From gorilla. <a href="https://twitter.com/Ciaran_1986">@Ciaran_1986</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheKentonLane">@TheKentonLane</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Humanipathic">@Humanipathic</a> <a href="https://t.co/RGN9nyAKDP">pic.twitter.com/RGN9nyAKDP</a></p>&mdash; jono (@DrJonoSuave) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrJonoSuave/status/717451931594137600">April 5, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Swiss Ultimate]

I remember when CM Punk outpopped DX a long time ago. It got a lot of coverage at the time. I was thinking to myself, this guy is the future of MMA. I was right too.

[road doggy dogg]

Shame. It was funny seeing people question whether or not he was an insider constantly when he would routinely drop hints on what was going to happen on Raw/PPV and be right 99% of the time. Including last night.

Probably gonna be fired now that somebody's figured out who he was.

don't care all that much about any of the drama, but did it ever come out who he is/was?

[Evil Vito]

Nope. Nobody's posted it on Reddit but then again the mods are apparently going to great lengths to make sure nobody posts it.

[Lock Jaw]

It was me, it was me all etc....

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by The New Day riding a unicorn:
http://i.imgur.com/5bjbIL0.gif

The Raw after WrestleMania, usually the highest rated episode of the year, did 4.08 million viewers, down from 5.35 million for the same show in 2015.

The number was the largest for the show since the day after the Royal Rumble (when Dwayne Johnson made an appearance) and was only the second show to hit four million viewers on average since June.

However, the number is well below what would have been expected for the show. For a comparison, the audience grew 1.2 million viewers from the go-home Mania show to the day after Mania show last year, while this year, the increase was just 318,000 viewers.

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 4.29 million viewers
9 p.m. 4.18 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.82 million viewers

For some reference, the last time post-Mania RAW show was under 5 million was in 2013 but had 4.61 million as the average. Post-Rumble RAW managed to be higher than the Post-Mania RAW show this year. In terms of the past few years, only 2015 didn't have an NCAA title game occurring on the same day (2013, 2014, & 2016 did).

According to pwinsider.com, Sami Zayn’s injuries last night were simply a storyline device to put Cesaro into the main event of Raw as a surprise. It was also done to intensify the feud between he and Kevin Owens.
Lots of speculation his dive to the outside caused an injury but Sami is really good at fooling people with injury spots.

The number of people in the building legitimately was 97,769, or more than the 93,000 plus that was believed to have been the total last night. I'm not sure how many events have claimed 100,000 in the stadium but legitimately there have only been a few as this was one of the largest legitimate crowds in the history of AT&T Stadium (wrestling is far from the only people who exaggerate numbers). WWE announced 101,763 as the attendance and a $17.3 million gate. The gate is either accurate or very close to it.
An earlier figure had the crowd at just under 94k for size. https://twitter.com/bryanalvarez/status/716892368188780548 In terms of real records, Mania 32 is actually the 3rd largest ever for a wrestling event with WCW/NJPW holding the joint record for the other two.

There was a lot of back and forth over the last week as to whether Charlotte or Sasha Banks would be crowned the first Women's champion. The final decision to go with Charlotte was made a few days before Wrestlemania we are told. The initial plan was to have the belt introduced on tonight's Raw but WWE changed strategy with the rollout over the course of Wrestlemania week. They are already selling replicas on their website.

What is interesting, however, is that there was a lot of speculation last night backstage that last night may have indeed been the Undertaker's last Wrestlemania. We were told there were a lot of family and friends in Dallas for the match and quite a few people backstage wondered if Undertaker taking off his gloves after had some symbolic meaning. There was a lot of speculation, but as of now, time will tell.
To be fair a bit, every Mania match for the past few years have had the usual stories and rumors of it being Taker's last match.

During Wrestlemania, WWE production utilized some interesting techniques to get the crowd to respond to the matches during the PPV last night. They played animated videos pushing the crowd to chant "New Day Rocks" and to sing, "Hey, We Want Some New Day" during their match. They also kept a count of every suplex Dean Ambrose took and put up an animated "WOO" every time Charlotte utilized the figure eight.
Footage from Mania about one of those crowd cues being shown: https://zippy.gfycat.com/AnchoredUnsteadyCaribou.webm

The WWE announced that as of today they have 1,824,000 worldwide subscribers to the WWE Network with 1,454,000 of them being paid subscribers and 371,000 subscribing on the free trial period. It breaks down to 1,390,000 domestic subscribers (paid + free) with 1,109,000 paid domestic subscribers and 434,000 international subscribers with 345,000 being paid and 89,000 free international subscribers.

Last year after WrestleMania, they reported 1,315,000 total subscribers
Assuming the 1.4 million monthly needed is still the same, WWE is right at the breaking even point for the WWE Network. Even with the 1.8 million mix, they are still way below what their expectations were for the Network at this point.

2K Sports scanned Legends and Superstars for the WWE 2K17 video game in Dallas this past week, according to WWE Hall of Famer Alundra Blayze (Madusa) on Twitter.

Prior to the match being setup on WWE Raw last night, Lilian Garcia accidentally started to introduce Zack Ryder’s first title defense match, but she quickly stopped. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, while Lilian was making the announcement, a WWE production worker began banging on the ring apron for her to stop, which lead to Lilian and the worker having a pretty heated exchange in the ring.


Some other sheet news includes:

According to the sheets, John Cena is currently planned to return by May. In terms of recovery, he's around 3 months ahead of schedule.
For those interested, NPR (National Public Radio) had a recent article dealing with WWE finally embracing the rising popularity of women sports in the US. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/04/472989931/from-divas-to-superstars-wwe-embraces-womens-sports-revolution
Also another possible interesting read, Fightland had a recent article dealing with how both women's wrestling and women's MMA managed to help each other in the long run with the rise of popularity for both. http://fightland.vice.com/blog/how-pro-wrestling-helped-establish-womens-mma-and-how-wmma-returned-the-favor
WWE recently updated their website both getting rid of the Divas section and moving all female wrestlers to the Superstars section.
Sports Illustrated had a recent interview with Finn Balor involving NXT and teasing the debut of the Balor Club. www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/04/05/finn-balor-club-debut-nxt-wwe
According to reports, TNA's Crimson was recently arrested for domestic violence charges. http://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/2016/04/05/wrestler-charged-headbutting-wife/82657756/
WWE announced the next WWE produced film will be called Temple and has Seth Rollins as the lead actor. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0405/609479/wwe-studios-announces-movie-with-seth-rollins/
Update to WWE holding a Greatest Faction tournament on their website with the finals being DX vs the original nWo. DX ended up being the winners from the fan vote. http://www.wwe.com/article/wwe-universe-decides-greatest-faction-wwe-history?sf23790957=1

[slik]

what happened with Frank The Clown/Falconarrow?

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I think it's fair to say that out of every five WWE fans in 2013-14, one of them has stopped watching <a href="https://t.co/EjcDTzBWdo">pic.twitter.com/EjcDTzBWdo</a></p>&mdash; Justin Henry (@JRHWriting) <a href="https://twitter.com/JRHWriting/status/717538134561529856">April 6, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Volare]

what happened with Frank The Clown/Falconarrow?

Noel is dating him right?


if this is true it could turn into a was dating.....








Oh shit she might be back on the market boys!

[GD]

This video GIF of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman cracked me up.


<a class="embedly-card" href="http://i.imgur.com/0Sn9nTx.gifv">Imgur GIF</a>
<script async src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js" charset="UTF-8"></script>

[GD]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-y9OV8aGetY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Black Widow]

https://45.media.tumblr.com/10f19adfd830b0d513e6eb33850246b9/tumblr_o53oafQUI61uar1e5o4_250.gif
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36407855/fortheloveofmankind.gif


Such a Fu**tard!

[Heisenberg]

The ROH show was funner in terms of fan participation. Todd Sinclair was berated on every match he reffed. Colt Cabana returned and challenged Jay Lethal to a future title match.


Dalton Castle is the future

[#1-norm-fan]

Goddammit, I love Dalton Castle.

[drave]

https://45.media.tumblr.com/10f19adfd830b0d513e6eb33850246b9/tumblr_o53oafQUI61uar1e5o4_250.gif
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36407855/fortheloveofmankind.gif


Such a Fu**tard!

Wow.... what a tnaleague move.

[slik]

^

I donut get it. What did Cole do wrong?

[Ultra Mantis]

Reading his script on camera

[Ultra Mantis]

As gloriously demonstrated here by TNA

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

[Jari]

http://media.fyre.co/X3YZ0D9TRK2k9sDXQ21E_ntA0dnz.0.gif

[slik]

lol @ TNA clip, what losers

Cole didn't bother me doing it because he looks like a 'professional' unlike AWFUL tnjoke commentators

[slik]

WWE PAYBACK

predictions so far



WWE Title
Roman Reigns (c) v. AJ Styles

Dean Ambrose v. Chris Jericho

Kevin Owens v. Sami Zayn

Women's Title
Charlotte (c) v. Natalya

IC Title
Miz (c) w/ Maryse v. Zack Ryder w/ Dad Ryder

The Wyatt Family v. The League of Nations

Enzo/Cass v. The Dudley Boys

New Day does something

[road doggy dogg]

yeah even Al Michaels has a 'script' that he looks at and stuff, make sure he hits specific 'talking points' etc. obvs not as "blatantly bad" as the TNA guys but I don't think Cole looks particularly dumB at all

[road doggy dogg]

notes from Bret Hart's review of WM32: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/4dm4yd/some_notes_from_bret_harts_podcast_reviewing/

link contains a separate link for the full podcast


I'm normally all ":roll: hey look Bret Hart being bitter about the WWE, SHOCKER" but I find myself agreeing with a lot of his points

[GD]

^

I donut get it. What did Cole do wrong?

Reading his script on camera

I am pretty sure that I've seen him glancing through his notes while on camera on numerous occasions.

[Emperor Smeat]

https://instagram.fomr1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/t51.2885-15/s480x480/e35/12940297_1755467194697333_353065152_n.jpg

https://40.media.tumblr.com/67beae96fc2749ae3136e5d17749e364/tumblr_o52gho4Gf81u8402so1_500.jpg

[XL]

I am pretty sure that I've seen him glancing through his notes while on camera on numerous occasions.
Having notes is fine. Should his reaction to somebody jumping off the top of Hell In A Cell be in his notes though?

[Ultra Mantis]

Yeah, if he's doing a bit to camera and glances at his notes that's a completely plausible thing for an announcer to do. He clearly didn't think he was in shot there and somebody had written specific dialogue for him to say for that spot.

[Heisenberg]

https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4110018/ahT3Z0Z.0.gif

Dalton Motherfucking Castle babayyyyyy

[weather vane]

Lol @ that refs reaction

[Simple Fan]

Castle and Silas Young have a Fight without Honor this coming week on ROH tv. First Fight without Honor ever to be taped for tv.

[Heisenberg]

that's friggin' Todd, always trying to steal the show with his cheeseburger eatin' mahf face

[Heisenberg]

Castle and Silas Young have a Fight without Honor this coming week on ROH tv. First Fight without Honor ever to be taped for tv.

I just saw him in Dallas(ROH Supercard of Honor) in a 6 man and it was the funniest shit I've seen live. Kaz, Cheeseburger and some other guys were in it. Definitely a future NXT call up.

[Jari]

http://www.wrestleview.com/tna-news/60174-former-tna-wrestling-star-crimson-anthony-gregory-mayweather-arrested-charged-headbutting-wife/

Mayweather by name, Mayweather by domestic abuse charge.

[Simple Fan]

I just saw him in Dallas(ROH Supercard of Honor) in a 6 man and it was the funniest shit I've seen live. Kaz, Cheeseburger and some other guys were in it. Definitely a future NXT call up.

That's cool, I think he's great. Never been much on that type of gimmicks but he pulls it off. Can really go in the ring to. Really hope WWE picks him up eventually.

[Simple Fan]

Bobby Roode officially signed to WWE

Bobby Roode reportedly signed with WWE a week prior to his appearance in the crowd at the NXT Takeover: Dallas event. Roode will start in NXT.

Roode was backstage at WrestleMania 32, introducing himself to talent and staff, and also rode with talent back to the hotel after the show.

[Simple Fan]

From JR's one man show after Raw Monday. Cornette was the guest and some his stuff is pretty funny so I figured I'd post it.

Jim Ross held a one man show Monday night after RAW at the House of Blues in Dallas, TX. Here is a report from the show:

* The show started over twenty minutes late, and while the crowd waited they sang “Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith. The venue is a legit sellout with an overflow of fans trying to get in.

* On WrestleMania 9, Jim Ross said that Bobby Heenan told him not to wear underwear under his toga. Heenan added it would impress Vince McMahon and show him to be a “Man’s Man”.

* On WrestleMania 19, JR said Steve Austin drank too much coffee and energy drinks the night before the event and spent the night in the hospital, which is why Kurt Angle and Brock Lensar closed the show.

* On NXT Takeover Dallas, Ross says Triple H got him his tickets to NXT. He called it a helluva show, and that he particularly went for the Shinsuke-Zayn and Joe-Balor matches. He added he was pleasantly surprised by the women’s title match and that “they laid their shit in”. He was asked if he knew the match order and the finishes and he said he didn’t know either.

* Ross’ special guest for the night is Jim Cornette.

* Ross thinks AJ Styles was positioned well tonight after RAW, and that being in the main event of RAW gave all four guys street cred.

* Cornette said that the only reason he’s unhappy to see Cesaro in a singles run is because he thought Claudio and Chris Hero were the best tag team of the modern era.

* JR admits Jim Cornette knows the Wrestling business better than he does.

* Cornette made a joke saying Kevin Owens is Kevin Steen’s slave name.

* Cornette said he wanted Owens to take twelve shows off, lose some weight, shave his beard and wash his clothes in ROH so they could put the title on him. When Owens refused he questioned why he wouldn’t do what the people paying him would tell him to do, and that in the WWE, “Homie Don’t Play That”. Cornette said he worried that if Owens didn’t lose the weight he would break his neck working the way he does.

* JR said he’s worked for three billionaires: Vince, Turner and now Mark Cuban. He called Cuban a good friend he’s never met.

* JR said he doesn’t have NJPW World because he doesn’t speak Japanese and their sign up sheet is in Japanese. He added he wants to go to Japan and do every night of the G1 for NJPW live for AXS TV. He has plans but there’s a lot of moving parts.

* JR revealed he didn’t stop broadcasting in WWE because he couldn’t do it, he stopped broadcasting because they didn’t want him to do it.

* JR said Shinsuke Nakamura, in his opinion, will be in NXT until Summerslam and could be in the main event of WrestleMania next year. Cornette said NXT has more talent than the main roster, and that WWE needs to send some main roster talent to NXT and NXT talent to the main roster.

* JR said Samoa Joe’s NXT injury at Takeover wasn’t so bad that the match should have been stopped. JR said at the end of the Joe-Balor match he wanted to see Joe vs Lesnar.

* JR said Mick Foley got hired because he matched up well with Undertaker.

* Cornette said the only TNA PPV to draw money was the one main evented between Joe & Angle, and Joe & Lesnar should main event Mania next year.

* JR said Rick Rude & British Bulldog belong in the WWE Hall of Fame.

* JR thinks the best card all weekend was NXT Takeover.

* JR said he asked Michael Cole after WrestleMania if his kidneys hurt because he went five hours without peeing, and that depends were a trick of the trade.

* Cornette said he is sick and tired of the comedy writers and other writers telling wrestlers how to be wrestlers and get over. That was his biggest complaint about the product. He added he wants the product to approach something that appears to be legitimate but that everyone is too caught up in being an entertainer and not being a fighter.

* Cornette HATES Donald Trump, in general.

* Cornette continues about how Trump bad for the country and the world thinks we are all bafoons.

* Cornette said Shane is his favorite McMahon. But by Shane taking a huge bump like he did at ‘Mania makes people care less about a backdrop. He added they had to pull Cactus Jack back from doing the big bumps he wanted to do.

* Cornette compares current wrestling to current porn in that it’s gotten so over the top and unbelievable.

* JR says Zack Ryder is an interim champion that got some buzz around the title and that if he’s really good it will come back around to him. He added that Miz and Maryse are a good pair and at least we are talking about the IC Title. He says the US Title is about as valuable as a plate full of piss.

* JR said all three shows this weekend were sell outs and that he has some really neat ideas for his WM33 shows. JR said he’s had a 40 year career but wouldn’t change a thing. He still loves business, and he says don’t let anyone else you come into contact with define your life. If a chubby kid with paralysis can achieve his dreams you can too.

* That’s the end of the show.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems like the main reason Dr Phil is the guest host for next week's RAW is to give a plug for his kid's band who is also going to sing a song or two on the show.

A few wrestlers have been suddenly tweeting about the band which gave away why its happening.

[Hanso Amore]

that's friggin' Todd, always trying to steal the show with his cheeseburger eatin' mahf face

Mahf fucking cheeseburger walrus up in this piece.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Inappropriate Renee Appreciation Day:
https://49.media.tumblr.com/2a5f05bdfa082afae8fd77d16476ad95/tumblr_o52utiPG3b1u1ljrzo1_500.gif

WWE stock continued its slide today, down about 34 cents on a day where the market did really well. That's a bad sign. It seems like a lot of investors have lost faith based on the new network number. The NASDAQ was up about 60 points and the S&P 500 was up about 17 points.

WWE's Bray Wyatt appeared on Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast over WrestleMania weekend to talk about a number of things including WWE not knowing how to use The Wyatt Family, how he came up with the Bray Wyatt character, losing Luke Harper to injury, and facing Brock Lesnar down the road.

According to Wyatt, WWE has never known what it has with The Wyatt Family, nor does it know how to use the faction.

"I don't think, when we set out and finally got the call up, I don't know if [WWE] really understood what they had. Like, we knew the NXT crowd had responded so well to us and they kind of like attached themselves to us and when we came up here [to WWE's main roster], we, never in a million years, thought it was going to explode the way it did. And it did. It exploded. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was just that kind of thing, the right place at the right time. And we were so different, man. We were so different that I don't think the company knew even how to use us. 'What are these things?' Like, we were so different and in the promos [and] so different in the way we looked and how we moved. We were big and we would fly and do all this crazy stuff. Like, I don't think anyone expected us to be so complete. And they still don't know how to use what we are."
http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0406/609494/bray-wyatt-on-wwe-not-knowing-how-to-use-the-wyatts/

A big name just joined the list of wrestlers pledging to donate their brains to concussion research after their eventual deaths. TMZ recently posted a video with John Cena where he says he would be willing to donate his brain to concussion research.

Fellow former WWE champions Mick Foley, Jeff Hardy, RVD and Kevin Nash have made the same pledge to the CTE Center at Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCiNfd3-me0

Brie Bella has confirmed her retirement from pro wrestling. Reports surfaced a few months ago that she would be retiring this summer to start a family with Daniel Bryan. Last month, Pro Wrestling Sheet broke the news that that Brie would be retiring early, in part due to Bryan’s retirement and his reported health issues ...

During a Twitter Q&A session on Tuesday, she commented further.

That I retired on the wrong day lol ..I couldn't be happier. Finally this day came #TotalDivas #WomensWrestling #WWE https://t.co/buZr4U0O2G

— Nikki & Brie (@BellaTwins) April 6, 2016

... The Bella Twins will continue to star on Total Divas and Brie’s retirement will be a storyline on the upcoming season.

WWE posted a clip from ESPN covering Shaquille O’Neal appearing at WrestleMania 32 in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

During the ESPN clip, Shaq talks about his appearance and said he came to Dallas to knock Big Show out. He then gave a shoutout to Vince McMahon and his family, and added the next time he faces Big Show he’s gonna bodyslam him over a table, and it’s “going down next year in Orlando”.
http://www.wwe.com/videos/shaquille-o-neal-wants-a-piece-of-big-show-at-wrestlemania-33

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


Some other sheet news includes:

For those that listen to The Masked Man podcast, he announced during a recent Bill Simmons pdcast episode his show will be moving to The Ringer website. https://soundcloud.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/ep-87-chuck-klosterman-and-david-shoemaker
Big E recently teased on Twitter if there is enough demand, he will try to push to get a cereal version of Booty-Os to be made. https://twitter.com/WWEBigE/status/717774997897494529
Mick Foley revealed in a recent Instagram post he's managed to lose around 50 lbs as part of his weight loss goal this year. https://www.instagram.com/p/BD34EsETDny/
According to a report from TMZ, WWE's Sunny recently checked back into rehab to deal with her alcoholism problems and also possibly help avoid jail time for her recent string of DUI charges.\
WWE confirmed Dr Phil's guest host spot for next week is mainly to plug his son's band newest album. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0405/609491/wwe-confirms-band-for-monday-raw-in-los-angeles/
According to Showbizz Daily, yesterday's episode of TNA Impact managed to have around 272k for viewership. Down by 40k compared to last week
According to the Observer, WWE and EVOLVE reached a new agreement with Evolve to become the new developmental fed for the WWE. Will be under NXT in terms of hierarchy, will still be allowed to hire non-WWE wrestlers for their roster, and priority from now on will be to get WWE signed guys ready for NXT/WWE. http://i.imgur.com/t1k4Hi7.jpg

[Simple Fan]

So the PC is A ball, EVOLVE is AA, NXT is AAA, and WWE is the big leagues. I like it, shows how much NXT has grown.

[Simple Fan]

Looks like Josh from Tough Enough got a hold of Social Outcast Wikipedia page. Social Jobbers.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Outcasts

[Emperor Smeat]

https://31.media.tumblr.com/e3a9b0da1b7492a32ffb64b8282e9c0d/tumblr_inline_o55eh8EIVq1t2x8r6_500.gif

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I love New Day, but I hope they are able to keep fresh, as I fear their run will run out sooner rather than later. But those guys are talented and lovely and I'm sure they will always find a way to remain featured on television.

[Lock Jaw]

I think now that they are face, their "days are numbered" and it is only "a matter of time" before Xavier and Kofi turn on Big E, positioning Big E for another singles push.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I'm somewhat okay with that as I heart Mr. Langston. Crazy motherfucker.

[Lock Jaw]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfXzEO1UMAAbWf4.jpg

[Lock Jaw]

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o85g6kRBGWwveaVqw/giphy.gif

[Lock Jaw]

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/p640x640/12502034_849916421801753_1531323903_n.jpg

[Lock Jaw]

https://49.media.tumblr.com/b69dda5b989a7ed74859565a5b88b686/tumblr_o54nuhc95G1qbejumo1_400.gif

[Heisenberg]

* JR says Zack Ryder is an interim champion that got some buzz around the title and that if he’s really good it will come back around to him. He added that Miz and Maryse are a good pair and at least we are talking about the IC Title. He says the US Title is about as valuable as a plate full of piss. True that

[GD]

https://31.media.tumblr.com/e3a9b0da1b7492a32ffb64b8282e9c0d/tumblr_inline_o55eh8EIVq1t2x8r6_500.gif

Reminds me of a YouTube channel that posted videos of wrestling matches in reverse.

[GD]

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oGRFzKZXj2XCv83du/giphy.gif

[Poit]

https://media.giphy.com/media/3o85g6kRBGWwveaVqw/giphy.gif

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oGRFzKZXj2XCv83du/giphy.gif

Destined to do this forever, even on this page.

[GD]

I guess I skipped Lock Jaw's post with all the Beck Lynch photographs.

[Black Widow]

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/p640x640/12502034_849916421801753_1531323903_n.jpgMust be how her eye got blacked.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Must be how her eye got blacked.

https://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/2013-09/enhanced/webdr02/25/14/anigif_enhanced-buzz-11254-1380134938-22.gif

[Mercenary]

Must be how her eye got blacked.

http://rs109.pbsrc.com/albums/n56/armybratgurl500/Funny%20WWE%20Pics/AtfirstIloldthenIserioused.gif~c200

http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g400/shayskir/scsa_zps0505e17e.gif

[Evil Vito]

Apparently the following NXT guys were all under the skeleton masks for Triple H's entrance at WrestleMania:

-Hideo Itami
-Dash Wilder
-Scott Dawson
-Chad Gable
-Simon Gotch
-Chris Girard (aka Biff Busick)
-Blake
-Murphy
-Enzo Amore
-Elias Samson
-Finn Balor
-Referee Drake Wuertz
-Referee Shawn Bennett
-Referee Danilo Anfibio

[Evil Vito]

Some notes from the Observer on Reigns as champion:

"It appears his role on top will be different from John Cena. Cena would laugh and smile at people who booed him. Reigns is going to be more reactive it seems, including yelling back and swearing at the vocal ringsiders, so long as a camera isn’t there to capture it. His role is now the world champion and he’s not turning heel, but he’s the old-school champion like Dory Funk Jr., Jack Brisco or Lou Thesz in the sense they become heels because they defend against faces with the psychology fans want to see a title change. But they never behaved themselves like heels, and just did a few subtle things in the matches to play that role.

Reigns was mouthing stuff with his back to the camera at some ringside fans when they heckled him saying “I run this bitch.” He did something similar off camera at Mania, as ringsiders were booing him heavily as he was leaving the ring after the show, and he said, “This is my motherfucking house, bitches.”

Proper language when Reigns himself has said time and time again that children are the main audience :y:

[road doggy dogg]

lol please don't complain about language when every single day people bitch about WWE being too PG

[Evil Vito]

I was merely pointing out that Reigns has made himself look like a hypocrite because in his recent interviews he's accused the grown men in the crowd booing him of trying to ruin the show for the kids and that making sure the kids are happy is the only thing he cares about. He seems to only dig himself into a hole when he really should just no-sell questions about booing or embrace it like Cena does.

[Simple Fan]

Kind of funny, he has to hide his insults and profanity like a child. Rock was the Peoples Champion and Roman will be the Childerns Champion.

[Maluco]

I really think he could be an amazing heel, just let him do this all the time. It is money and people will pay to see him get what's coming to him.

This year he could beat Ambrose, Orton, Rollins and even Cena at SS. Brock vs heel Reigns in his own state at Mania would be a phenomenal atmosphere.

[Seth82]

another legendary name has left us.

http://www.wwe.com/article/blackjack-mulligan-passes-away

http://www.wwe.com/f/styles/talent_champion_xl/public/2016/04/MISC_28--c61ac4314ad117ad99d8b169af5ef438.jpg

WWE is saddened by the news that Robert Windham, aka WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan, has passed away at age 73..

Considered to be one of the toughest competitors of his day — only his rival Andre the Giant could overshadow the 6-foot-9, 345-pound stud from Eagle Pass, Texas — Mulligan served as a U.S. Marine in Guam and played for the New York Jets before gaining fame in the ring. With his signature all-black gear — from his cowboy hat to his leather glove — and his thick western mustache, Mulligan cut the figure of a dangerous outlaw in the ring and proved every bit as treacherous with his feared iron claw hold.

Starting off his career in the AWA as “Big” Bob Windham, Mulligan soon joined up with Blackjack Lanza to form The Blackjacks in WWE. The duo won tandem titles across the country, including a reign as WWE’s World Tag Team Champions in 1975, and made their mark as one of the most iconic duos of the 1970s. In 2006, the pair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by their manager, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan.

Mulligan’s career winded down in the late ’80s, but his legacy continued on as his sons, Kendall Windham and WWE Hall of Famer Barry Windham, entered the ring. Today, his hard-hitting style can be seen in his grandsons, Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt, the boys of Mulligan’s son-in-law, Mike Rotunda.

WWE extends its sincerest condolences to Windham’s family, friends and colleagues.

[Bad News Gertner]

Had him in my Death Pool. Mulligan was awesome.

[Evil Vito]

RIP Blackjack :(

[Jordan]

I like the idea of Reigns as written above, sounds great to me. I don't see him as a cowardly heel or a "prick", but if people are gonna boo him "so the fuck what, I'm the champ go fuck yourself".... that's a good attitude to have, and will keep him strong and not seen as a "heel sellout".

[XL]

I really think he could be an amazing heel, just let him do this all the time. It is money and people will pay to see him get what's coming to him.

This year he could beat Ambrose, Orton, Rollins and even Cena at SS. Brock vs heel Reigns in his own state at Mania would be a phenomenal atmosphere.

I've see this twice now. WM33 is in Orlando.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

totally down with Reigns being non Cena esque. Hopefully they run with that and if he works good matches (not like the one at mania where it was a similar feel to Orton vs Cena and that is an insult lol) he'll fit nicely into that role.

[Black Widow]

RIP.

One of my Dad's favorite wrestlers and his favorite singer in 24hrs.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

his resemblance to barry is ridiculous, particularly barry in the blackjacks

[Emperor Smeat]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfZfPk7UMAEne0e.jpg

[Damian Rey 2.0]

I'd be down for the Reigns stuff if they actually allowed him to acknowledge the booing on camera. It's great and all for live interaction but it's useless for his character development if nobody outside of the arena is going to see it.

It's actually a brilliant idea to have him be this tweener that the company actually acknowledges and uses against faces and heels, instead of the force fed stuff that Cena dealt with beautifully.

[Simple Fan]

Agree, he doesn't need to be face or heel. Tweener is perfect for him. Stick some sunglasses on him and just have him be a cocky guy. And stop all the smiling.

WWE really need to get away from the authority figure so there heels can branch out and develop more character. Every heel has done something for HHH that's why they all seem like sell outs. The heels are more united than the faces are.

[GD]

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/PdNPJ"><a href="//imgur.com/a/PdNPJ">The many hilarious impersonations by Damien Sandow</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Mercenary]

Didn't Billy Jack Haynes brain was that blackjack?

[Volare]

Read the whole thing and loved it!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfKJ0RaWEAU6RYZ.jpg

[el bobbo]

They're showing Marc Mero vs. Isaac Yankem on the WWE Network right now. This guy looks a lot like Kane.

[Tom Guycott]

https://31.media.tumblr.com/e3a9b0da1b7492a32ffb64b8282e9c0d/tumblr_inline_o55eh8EIVq1t2x8r6_500.gif

Reminds me of a YouTube channel that posted videos of wrestling matches in reverse.

Needs his Dean Malenko theme back.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Rusev's dastardly attack on helpless cereal:
http://49.media.tumblr.com/0dc033b4adb180c6dab21a6da8c02bdd/tumblr_o54b6tcmVU1sbzhteo1_400.gif

Other than commercials mentioning The Rock, there was little push for him. He actually sort of did a match, in the sense he took no punishment but beat Erick Rowan in seven seconds. Them using the Wyatt Family in his segment took them out of being in the Brock Lesnar segment and out of the Battle Royal. It led to a flat story in the Lesnar match that with hindsight makes no sense with Lesnar destroying Ambrose at every turn and then beating him clean at Mania. The funny part is that the stated goal of pulling Ambrose from the plan with Chris Jericho to Lesnar, and pulling Wyatt from Lesnar, was to get Ambrose over. Instead, every aspect of the Mania build up past making him a quirky midcard face who was endorsed by Terry Funk and Mick Foley, basically told the story that he’s a more charismatic Ryan Bader, a guy who beats most guys, but has no chance to beat any true top guy.

But evaluating it after the act, it’s weird. The guy on the show that fans thought was the least like a star, Baron Corbin, was the one being brought up with a push to the main roster ... Apollo Crews, who can perform at a top level, was also less over than most.

It’s pretty clear that Balor, Joe, Nakamura, Zayn, Asuka, Bayley, Austin Aries, Jordan & Gable should all not only be on the main roster, but most should be top tier stars. Balor should be one of the top guys, and as a high flier who is 34 with a lot of miles on him, he shouldn’t be wasting his remaining bump card for a salary with one less zero at the end. In a company weak on top heels today, the idea of bringing up Corbin instead of Joe, who at 37, also shouldn’t be wasting his remaining best earning years both for himself and for the company when he’s probably the best opponent on the entire roster right now for Brock Lesnar ... Roman Reigns ... The Rock, as well as every other top babyface ...

WWE just called up two women from developmental, Emma and Eva Marie, while leaving Bayley and Asuka here. Asuka is easily the best woman wrestler in the company, and is as good as any of the men as far as the wrestling aspect goes ... When the entire idea is to rebuild the women’s division to be taken as serious athletics and Eva Marie and even Emma are brought up ahead of her, well, that’s just mind boggling talent judgment, and I’m glad Emma was brought up ...

Nakamura has experience in big buildings, but I didn’t know about his style translating without needing some time to figure out the differences between Japan and the U.S. But he’s already figured out how to get over in the ring in the U.S. more than guys who have worked 20 years in the U.S. ...

Bayley is a different situation. She and Balor are the faces of the promotion. There’s also a really good chance the talent evaluators who see Eva Marie as a top star even though she’s got nothing but a killer body and very limited talent will totally miss the boat on Bayley ...

Jordan & Gable are a fantastic team. They are the best team in the company. Enzo & Cass, who were just brought up, have a great act, and can be excellent show openers. Jordan & Gable can be a tag team that main events and carries a show ... The Vaudevillains were just brought up, but we’ve already seen in NXT that they have a limited shelf life.

Shown and identified were Kota Ibushi and Bobby Roode. They wouldn’t have shown them if they didn’t believe they were going to be debuting them soon ... Ibushi should be main roster bound quickly ... But for quota reasons, since so many decisions are based on quotas in WWE, they may be reluctant to push more than one super working Japanese male on the main roster at the same time.

For Nakamura, at least so far, he’s keeping his first name. It can change on the main roster, but given part of his value is to help penetrate the Japanese market and beat New Japan for the top spot there, changing a name that famous doesn’t make marketing sense in the big picture.

He’s not keeping his music, but we knew that going in. He’s also keeping his bom a ye finish, although for whatever reason, not the name bom a ye. I have no idea why, although the new name is the Kinshasa.

Part of a longer Observer report on the recent odd NXT call-up decisions by the WWE. Also Nakamura's finisher is now named after the location of the Ali-Foreman fight instead of the chant the crowd gave to Ali and how it carried over to Inoki's wrestling matches. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/4dq0t3/meltzer_gives_his_thoughts_on_nakamura_joe_balor/

Dave Bautista was never offered the job of guest referee in the main event of WrestleMania 32 … Vince McMahon wanted him in the segment which featured 3 of the most popular wrestlers ever.

We broke the story back in January, Bautista met with Vince McMahon at the Royal Rumble this year and the boss laid out a pitch for the former champ to participate at Mania in a non-wrestling role.

Well-placed sources tell us Vince was wanted Dave to appear in the legends segment Sunday night — the one that eventually featured Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels getting physical with The League of Nations and Xavier Woods — but as we previously reported, Dave had to pass.

The actor/former wrestler has instead been busy filming “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and was just announced as one of the cast members in the upcoming “Blade Runner” sequel.

Despite reports though, a ref spot was never in the cards at WrestleMania.

It appears his role on top will be different from John Cena. Cena would laugh and smile at people who booed him. Reigns is going to be more reactive it seems, including yelling back and swearing at the vocal ringsiders, so long as a camera isn’t there to capture it. His role is now the world champion and he’s not turning heel, but he’s the old-school champion like Dory Funk Jr., Jack Brisco or Lou Thesz in the sense they become heels because they defend against faces with the psychology fans want to see a title change. But they never behaved themselves like heels, and just did a few subtle things in the matches to play that role.

Reigns was mouthing stuff with his back to the camera at some ringside fans when they heckled him saying “I run this bitch.” He did something similar off camera at Mania, as ringsiders were booing him heavily as he was leaving the ring after the show, and he said, “This is my motherf***ing house, bitches.”
Observer on the difference between Reigns and Cena when it comes to dealing with negative crowds.

According to Pro-Wrestling Stats & Analytics guru Chris Harrington, former WWE performer Rene Dupree has filed a class action lawsuit against the WWE. The suit is over unpaid royalties, from both the WWE Network and Netflix.

After little to no movement for the better part of a year, WWE got the class action stockholder lawsuit dismissed this past week. We covered this in detail back in issue #1044 (June 26, 2015) after discovering the back and forth that was going on involving the statements of Brian Maddox, who was formerly WWE's Vice President, Global Sales. The firm handling the case for the plaintiffs had filed an amended complaint a year ago with a lot of new, specific allegations from Confidential Witness 1 (or "CW1"), who turned out to be Maddox. This included everything from things we knew (WWE's social media numbers count a number of fans multiple times when they follow multiple WWE accounts, the issues with ad rates stemming from the number of low income viewers, etc.) to new information (not allowing anyone to sponsor the ring canvas has hurt ad rates and sponsor variety, WWE would drop sponsors for no apparent reason) to somewhat specious claims about WWE's total audience.

This year’s WWE Fastlane was the least purchased WWE PPV in history. While WWE is focused primarily on signing up WWE Network subscribers they do still make the shows available via PPV. Fastlane did 18,000 PPV buys in North America and 25,000 PPV buys outside of North America for a total of 43,000 PPV buys. Last year’s WWE Fastlane did a total of 56,000 PPV buys.
Managed to topple ECW December to Dismember for the record which was 55k buys total.

This week’s Lucha Underground episode drew the most viewers in the show’s history, continuing to build on momentum from the Aztec Warfare episode two weeks ago.

Lucha Underground drew a combined audience of 234,000 viewers, up five percent from last week.

Lucha topped the Aztec Warfare episode from two weeks ago, which drew 232,000 combined viewers.

Tuesday’s first-run airing drew 156,000 viewers, which was down slightly from the past two weeks.

The replay then drew 78,000 viewers, the second-most of the season. The bump in replay viewership helped draw the most total viewers in the show’s history.
It does have a bad downside since the very valuable 18-49 age market was down by a lot compared to two weeks ago.

[Shane's] three sons were at ringside at the NXT show with Linda McMahon. One of them was chanting with the fans unkind things about WWE officials when they kept stopping the Samoa Joe bout.

Johnny Gargano, 28, and Tommaso Ciampa (Tommaso Whitney, 30) were both recently signed to what were described to me as NXT touring contracts. The deal is probably similar to that of what Samoa Joe originally signed (until they renegotiated his deal). They are not developmental contracts and they get paid more then the developmental talent (or least the non-main eventers) per show. They don’t have to relocate to Florida and they can continue to take indie bookings but WWE gets first priority on their dates.

WWE announced the WrestleMania 32 live gate at $17.3 million while other sources with access to actual numbers said it was almost $17 million. The number destroyed the record of $12.6 million set last year in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium. What’s amazing is that as late as 2011, they set the U.S. gate record with $6,268,391 at Phillips Stadium in Atlanta, which tells how much they’ve been able to raise tickets prices in just the last five years. The fact they could sell so many seats at the prices they charged this year makes it likely prices will rise again for next year.
Rising ticket prices was a huge reason why Mania 29 topped Mania 28 for highest revenue made at the time even though its buy sales were around 200k lower.

One source noted to F4Wonline.com that there were a lot of typical WrestleMania production steps like rehearsals and shooting that was not done this year because WWE officials figured everything would change the morning of the big event anyway.
Would explain some of the odd feeling Mania had this year.

Because he’s so over in the U.S. due to Lucha Underground, Pentagon Jr. is going to be working almost every weekend he can get booked in the U.S. He’s way more over in Mexico where he won a fan balloting for most popular wrestler but with the peso to dollar exchange rate he can’t make the money there. He’s staying with AAA because they’ve been more flexible in allowing him dates off for him to make more money in the U.S. When he works U.S. indie shows, he makes a killing with merchandise, particularly his masks.



Some other sheet news includes:

Nakamura's NXT theme is currently the #1 selling song on the iTunes store soundtrack chart based on a recent press statement by the WWE.
According to reports, Eric Rowan recently granted a Make A Wish request to a terminally ill child in Texas during WWE's Mania tour. http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/terminally-ill-teen-surprise-visit-wrestlemania-star-erick/story?id=38163692
Cody Rhodes recently tweeted he plans on retiring from wrestling when he is 40 years old. https://twitter.com/princecgr/status/718106999594979328
Current rumors regarding Prince Puma/Ricochet is him likely signing a WWE deal by mid-Summer due to him telling indie promotions to not offer dates after June.
In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, today marks the end of Titus O'Neil's current WWE suspension.
In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, Bret Hart's first ever wrestling match involved Bret punching Dennis Stamp in the nuts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijk72dahlIM
According to reports, Scottish indie wrestler Nikki Storm recently signed a deal with the WWE.
Recent episode of Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast had Enzo and Big Cass as his guests. http://podcastone.com/pg/jsp/program/episode.jsp?programID=436&pid=1641985
Update to the Gawker-Hogan lawsuit as Gawker is pleading for Hogan's award to be dropped to $1.875 million due to the circus-like nature of the trial and the company itself is only valued at $83 million.

[Volare]

Good video, wish this would lead to Ryder continuing the feud with a run in and MASSIVE beat down on Miz (chair shots, stairs, whatever).........

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6BOCuAEij2c?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


But we all know that isn't gonna happen and Ryder will be back to doing whatever.

[Volare]

Cody Rhodes recently tweeted he plans on retiring from wrestling when he is 40 years old. https://twitter.com/princecgr/status/718106999594979328

10 more years!!

[Razzamajazz]

watching older WWE shows, am I the only one who feels guilty looking at Michelle McCool? It feels like the undertaker is gonna beat my ass when i take a look. :-\

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Apparently the following NXT guys were all under the skeleton masks for Triple H's entrance at WrestleMania:

-Hideo Itami
-Dash Wilder
-Scott Dawson
-Chad Gable
-Simon Gotch
-Chris Girard (aka Biff Busick)
-Blake
-Murphy
-Enzo Amore
-Elias Samson
-Finn Balor
-Referee Drake Wuertz
-Referee Shawn Bennett
-Referee Danilo Anfibio

Triple H's NXT Army!

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

watching older WWE shows, am I the only one who feels guilty looking at Michelle McCool? It feels like the undertaker is gonna beat my ass when i take a look. :-\

Fun Fact: She was 10 when Taker debuted.

[Razzamajazz]

that IS a fun fact. LOL

[drave]

Good video, wish this would lead to Ryder continuing the feud with a run in and MASSIVE beat down on Miz (chair shots, stairs, whatever).........

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6BOCuAEij2c?feature=player_detailpage" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>


But we all know that isn't gonna happen and Ryder will be back to doing whatever.

The still from the video kinda makes Ryder look like Matt Morgan in the face.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/4a/98/a2/4a98a29da10954ece22de0dbf6bcbdf9.jpg

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

the freeze frame looks like randy savage