World Wrestling Entertainment

[slik]

I think this Peacock move is going to bring a rise in WWE pirate sites of different kinds.

Fitting with the theme of WM this year

[XL]

And last year.

[screech]

It really does annoy me how much footage they are sitting on that'll never see the light of day

WWE owns a lot of the older stuff from the territories at this point, right? I'm guessing not a lot of that is being made available.

[Bad News Gertner]

They don't even put out their own Championship Wrestling episodes from 84-86, let alone other Territories stuff.

[Jordan]

lol "untouchable right"

Peacock has no obligation to sell or rent us any rasslin at all. They own the rights to stream the shows and can do what they want with them.

Is it disappointing? Sure. But we're not owed any of it.

Fight for the rights of every man

[Emperor Smeat]

I think this Peacock move is going to bring a rise in WWE pirate sites of different kinds.

Considering this year's Mania is pirate themed, would be a bit ironic if that did happen.


It really does annoy me how much footage they are sitting on that'll never see the light of day

Yeah that is one of the major downsides of having just 1 company holding almost all of the valuable and/or notable tape libraries for US wrestling.

Doesn't help that from a historian aspect, they are also somewhat unreliable as a trusted source due to the amount of revision they do to their own history and wrestling history under their control.

[Bad News Gertner]

I get that a lot of 80's weekly t.v has a ton of music they'd have to remove, but it's been how many damn years and we still don't have the 1985 WWF Prime Time Wrestling's uploaded.


I STILL have a ton of WWWF/WWF footage that hasn't been put on the Network and the Network has been a thing since 2014.

[erickman]

it pissed me off when i clicked smoky mt wrestling and only had about 7 eps.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Andrade, the reason why Charlotte was suddenly pulled from RAW and Mania promotional stuff wasn't due to anything related to Andrade's issues in WWE nor her testing positive for COVID.

Instead it was due to a WWE doc misdiagnosed her as being pregnant during a recent medical checkup.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Charlotte got pulled from WrestleMania because a WWE doctor told her she was pregnant.<br><br>They went and got tests themselves. She was not pregnant. <a href="https://t.co/TvbFoqi0Ko">https://t.co/TvbFoqi0Ko</a></p>&mdash; luchablog (@luchablog) <a href="https://twitter.com/luchablog/status/1376685043507208193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Jordan]

Charlotte to AEW confirmed

[Emperor Smeat]

Andrade really hated his last year in the company since he revealed he walked away from a $3 million deal with WWE.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Andrade unleashing a bombshell that his contract was worth 3 million a year that he walked away from</p>&mdash; MICRO THE MAIN MAN (@MicromanFever) <a href="https://twitter.com/MicromanFever/status/1376683378657869825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Even if that was misspoken and it was $3 million total for the entire contract, that's still a lot of cash he left on the table by leaving.

Also Adam Cole is a dead man walking the moment he gets called up to the main roster since Andrade also revealed even Triple H & co. thought he was too small to be seen as the NXT champ while Drew was there.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Andrade says it was never in the plans for him to become NXT champion. Says they thought Adam Cole was too small to wrestle Drew Mcintyre for the NXT title so they went with him to transfer the belt. lmfao</p>&mdash; MICRO THE MAIN MAN (@MicromanFever) <a href="https://twitter.com/MicromanFever/status/1376687998406955012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[xrodmuc316]

Andrade really hated his last year in the company since he revealed he walked away from a $3 million deal with WWE.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Andrade unleashing a bombshell that his contract was worth 3 million a year that he walked away from</p>&mdash; MICRO THE MAIN MAN (@MicromanFever) <a href="https://twitter.com/MicromanFever/status/1376683378657869825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Even if that was misspoken and it was $3 million total for the entire contract, that's still a lot of cash he left on the table by leaving.

Also Adam Cole is a dead man walking the moment he gets called up to the main roster since Andrade also revealed even Triple H & co. thought he was too small to be seen as the NXT champ while Drew was there.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Andrade says it was never in the plans for him to become NXT champion. Says they thought Adam Cole was too small to wrestle Drew Mcintyre for the NXT title so they went with him to transfer the belt. lmfao</p>&mdash; MICRO THE MAIN MAN (@MicromanFever) <a href="https://twitter.com/MicromanFever/status/1376687998406955012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's not what happened though, he is forgetting a full year and 3 other champions lol.

If he was just supposed to transfer the title from Drew to Adam Cole, what were Aleister Black, Tomasso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano, middle men?

He also said he knows how to speak better English than foreign wrestlers like Asuka and... BROCK LESNAR!

Andrade is clearly confused :)

[Emperor Smeat]

David Bixenspan brought up a similar issue with Andrade's timeline of Cole becoming NXT champ that got cleared up by replies he received afterwards.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yeah, it sounds like plans just changed after Andrade won the title, especially since they introduced the North American title which Cole got to establish.</p>&mdash; Stimmy Screwball: Half-Vaccinated Edition (@ScrewballSq) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrewballSq/status/1376691182944710660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What Andrade mentioned was the original plan for the Undisputed Era vs. Drew feud that got changed after Andrade got the belt that then got changed again because of NXT's plans for Cole with the new North American belt at the time.

Andrade took what should have been Cole's spot since both were heels but since NXT flip-flops title reigns between faces and heel, Cole needed to be a face to take it off of Andrade which NXT didn't want to do at the time leading to him becoming NA champ instead while the NXT title moved into the very long Ciampa vs. Gargano feud after Black's reign.

[XL]

I thought Andrade only won the belt because Drew got injured in the match, I thought they “called an audible”?

[Emperor Smeat]

Just like how NXT is doing a multi-man match on Night 1 of Takeover to determine the official challenger for the North American title on Night 2, WWE is doing something similar in idea for Mania 37.

PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources the current plan is to hold a multi-woman tag team bout the first night of Wrestlemania 37, Saturday 4/10. We have heard it may be a four team bout but that could change. Material was taped at today's Raw taping to set that match up.

The plan is that the winners will advance to Night Two of Wrestlemania to challenge WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler on Sunday 4/11.

[Emperor Smeat]

I thought Andrade only won the belt because Drew got injured in the match, I thought they “called an audible”?

Think Andrade was always meant to win but what changed was the plans for Drew afterwards in NXT since instead of him returning to NXT once he healed up, he got called up to the main roster instead.

That match against Andrade ended up being his last on the brand.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Jon Alba, the reason why ticket sales for Mania 37 were delayed was due issues with WWE being late signing the contract with Raymond James Stadium officials to hold Mania at their venue.

Jon Alba of Spectrum Sports 360 reports the contract between WWE and the Tampa Sports Authority wasn't signed by WWE until March 16 at 8:26 p.m. Raymond James Stadium management signed the contract hours later. As Alba explains, the contract not being signed until late on March 16 gives context to WWE delaying the on-sale ticket date.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New: The contract between <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWE</a> and the Tampa Sports Authority wasn't signed by WWE until 3/16 at 8:26 p.m., and was signed by Raymond James Stadium management later. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> tickets were supposed to go on-sale earlier that day, but got delayed. <a href="https://twitter.com/BN9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BN9</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MyNews13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MyNews13</a> <a href="https://t.co/q7YBWSXJZi">pic.twitter.com/q7YBWSXJZi</a></p>&mdash; Jon Alba (@JonAlba) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonAlba/status/1376955467373678592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When the on-sale date for tickets was originally announced, I had put a public records request with the Tampa Sports Authority. I was told on 3/15 that they couldn't find anything. <br><br>Turns out the reason why is a contract hadn't been signed yet, despite the ticket plan. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWE</a></p>&mdash; Jon Alba (@JonAlba) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonAlba/status/1376955471681232899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[XL]

Signed on 3/16. Austin gonna come out and challenge the winner of Reigns/Edge/Bryan there and then, Hogan @ WM9 style.

[owenbunny]

Bad Bunny not get edited off the Network

[#1-norm-fan]

I just heard about and watched Braun Strowman’s train sound effects.

How many sharks can one company jump?

[slik]

Have you seen Matt Riddle's CGI birds or him making motorcycle noises while riding his scooter because they have been finding sharks right and left to jump over lately

[Lock Jaw]

..... Are the above two posts real?

[GD]

Strowman does have train sound effects.

[XL]

And Riddle does have birds.

[Lock Jaw]

Think y'all be pulling my chain

[Bad News Gertner]

Holy shit I just watched the Braun train sounds.

Lmao amazing. I don't hate it.

[drave]

No Lock Jaw, its all true. FACT



Also the sounds/graphics alone are getting more over than Christian's entire career.

[Evil Vito]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING NEWS:<br>Per <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrapDaddyAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScrapDaddyAP</a>, next week we'll see a special <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> edition of SmackDown on FOX with the 'Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal', a Fatal 4-Way for the SmackDown Tag Titles, and we'll hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/WWERomanReigns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWERomanReigns</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EdgeRatedR</a>, &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWEDanielBryan</a>! <a href="https://t.co/yYWM556N5E">pic.twitter.com/yYWM556N5E</a></p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1377713139165376518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"Yeah I know we're doing two nights of Mania but fuck you guys, you don't get to wrestle in front of fans for the first time in a year, not even on the kickoff show."

[xrodmuc316]

Are train noises any more ridiculous than an Alien Wrestle?

Not even trying to be a jerk, but there is zero difference to me.

[XL]

I don’t think they’re doing matches on the Kick Off tbf.

[GD]

The only train noises I care about :o

<iframe width="934" height="525" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M8DU0Z9SNMw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[XL]

Are train noises any more ridiculous than an Alien Wrestle?

Not even trying to be a jerk, but there is zero difference to me.

Genuine question; is she an alien, like the commentators accept that she’s an alien, or does she think she’s an alien?

[Evil Vito]

I don’t think they’re doing matches on the Kick Off tbf.

Either way, this sucks.

I definitely think that next year, making Mania reasonable length again and not stretching to get everyone on the card would be a good thing. Not everybody needs a Mania payday.

But whilst I don't care about these two matches, given the circumstances of the past year I think it'd be nice to let everyone get a chance to be in front of fans again.

[XL]

I actually like the 2-day thing, makes Mania stand out from every other PPV. I’d take 3.5-4 hours each night over 7-8 hours for one show.

[xrodmuc316]

Genuine question; is she an alien, like the commentators accept that she’s an alien, or does she think she’s an alien?

They accept it, she is an alien, the same way they accept that the dinosaur is actually a dinosaur.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING NEWS:<br>Per <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrapDaddyAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScrapDaddyAP</a>, next week we'll see a special <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> edition of SmackDown on FOX with the 'Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal', a Fatal 4-Way for the SmackDown Tag Titles, and we'll hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/WWERomanReigns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWERomanReigns</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EdgeRatedR</a>, &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWEDanielBryan</a>! <a href="https://t.co/yYWM556N5E">pic.twitter.com/yYWM556N5E</a></p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1377713139165376518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal participants will be: <a href="https://t.co/tbWaT000CB">pic.twitter.com/tbWaT000CB</a></p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1377713145918132229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

guessing the sd tag title match will be rey/dominick vs otis/gable vs street profits vs roode/ziggler

[Lock Jaw]

Lol forgot what day it was today

[Lock Jaw]

I got got

[Bad News Gertner]

Love me a Battle Royal

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING NEWS:<br>Per <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrapDaddyAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScrapDaddyAP</a>, next week we'll see a special <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> edition of SmackDown on FOX with the 'Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal', a Fatal 4-Way for the SmackDown Tag Titles, and we'll hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/WWERomanReigns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWERomanReigns</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EdgeRatedR</a>, &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWEDanielBryan</a>! <a href="https://t.co/yYWM556N5E">pic.twitter.com/yYWM556N5E</a></p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1377713139165376518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"Yeah I know we're doing two nights of Mania but fuck you guys, you don't get to wrestle in front of fans for the first time in a year, not even on the kickoff show."

Current rumor going around is that WWE wants the first cheers with fans back to be very special which is why they are leaning towards no matches on the Kickoff show for Night 1.

Not even NXT is getting that special treatment since TakeOver is being done at the Performance Center.

Knowing WWE, Hogan's probably getting that special crowd treatment since him and Titus are the hosts this year but he's probably getting the big elaborate entrance first.

[Emperor Smeat]

DX's parody of the Nation involving them wearing blackface and Kurt Angle comparing Booker T's wife to animal and wanting bestiality sex with her got the axe treatment by NBC for the WWE Network on Peacock.

The video package for Triple H/Rock at Summerslam 1998 is gone. That showed DX dressed up as the nation.

Apparently, the video package for Angle/Booker T at Judgment Day 2005 is gone as well. This isn't on Peacock yet as far as I can tell, but it's allegedly gone from the WWE Network version. I can't check anymore but the video is four minutes shorter.

Questionable or not, I really hate them cutting out the buildup of matches.

Edit: Apparently the DX/Nation parody segment is gone from Raw too

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/mhnyex/more_edits_on_peacockwwe_network/

[xrodmuc316]

What's stupid about the DX thing is they weren't all in blackface, so what was the reason XPac and Road Dogg did it?

[fundiddle]

What's stupid about the DX thing is they weren't all in blackface, so what was the reason XPac and Road Dogg did it?
owen hart is white, chyna wasn't in on the bit, everyone else was including billy and hhh

[#1-norm-fan]

Have you seen Matt Riddle's CGI birds or him making motorcycle noises while riding his scooter because they have been finding sharks right and left to jump over lately

lol what in the flying fuck...

[Lock Jaw]

April Fool's

Got me too with the train sounds and birds lol

[GD]

Ummm...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">braun train sounds! choo choo! this is the funniest non-fiend thing in forever. <a href="https://t.co/DfRhA7Q6Vo">pic.twitter.com/DfRhA7Q6Vo</a></p>&mdash; BossMoz (@BossMoz) <a href="https://twitter.com/BossMoz/status/1374196025854812165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As <a href="https://twitter.com/SuperKingofBros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SuperKingofBros</a> talked <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/TitusONeilWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TitusONeilWWE</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/WWESheamus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWESheamus</a> ambushed the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/USChampion?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USChampion</a>!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/fnN7urlM8F">pic.twitter.com/fnN7urlM8F</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1377169146845138945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Greatest entrance graphics ever? <br><br>Greatest entrance graphics ever. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/CBxShaVyzE">pic.twitter.com/CBxShaVyzE</a></p>&mdash; Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/1376692622211702788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All aboard! �� ���� <a href="https://twitter.com/BraunStrowman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BraunStrowman</a> <a href="https://t.co/yHnVuXd6ft">pic.twitter.com/yHnVuXd6ft</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1377743653502918666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It was all fun and games for <a href="https://twitter.com/shanemcmahon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@shanemcmahon</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> before <a href="https://twitter.com/BraunStrowman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BraunStrowman</a> arrived on the scene! <a href="https://t.co/uNW03xGJt3">pic.twitter.com/uNW03xGJt3</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1377501593273298945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The world premiere of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HeyHeyHopHop?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HeyHeyHopHop</a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/mikethemiz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mikethemiz</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealMorrison?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheRealMorrison</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> was a sight to behold!<br><br>�������������� <a href="https://t.co/B68RVjkIDS">pic.twitter.com/B68RVjkIDS</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1377471429386633217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Game Night on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> did not go QUITE as <a href="https://twitter.com/AJStylesOrg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AJStylesOrg</a> had hoped! <a href="https://t.co/wMsLajRjNW">pic.twitter.com/wMsLajRjNW</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1377199455292821504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

RAW has taken a very different tone the last month, I've been speculating that WWE is beginning to transition RAW to a kid's program.

I mean it makes sense, they have to try and get younger/newer fans at some point. It wouldn't shock me if RAW got a kid-friendly logo soon and Peacock promoted stuff from it more to kids. They'll lose a lot of older viewers doing this (it was notable the 50+ demo dropped throughout RAW more than usual this week) but they'll lose viewers each year regardless.

[Emperor Smeat]

That's an interesting idea and would help explain some of RAW's direction in recent months like Riddle's character in general and New Day leaning even more heavy in the goofball direction post-Big E split.

Only problem is WWE already saw what happened when they shifted into a strong kids direction during the Cena era. Ended up with kids and younger viewers not sticking around after a while and failing to form a strong new core for their fanbase. Probably will also hurt NXT more than help on Tuesdays since when people decide to drop RAW, they usually don't move over to NXT or SD and instead become lost for good.

[Lock Jaw]

What

I can't watch the audio yet but....

What

That really wasn't an April Fool's gag?

[#1-norm-fan]

Lol I wish it was

[#1-norm-fan]

Kevin Dunn’s finally gonna get that Emmy with these new ideas.

[#1-norm-fan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All aboard! �� ���� <a href="https://twitter.com/BraunStrowman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BraunStrowman</a> <a href="https://t.co/yHnVuXd6ft">pic.twitter.com/yHnVuXd6ft</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1377743653502918666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jesus. Forget the sound effects. That call by the announcer was the cringiest thing in that clip. What the hell was that?

[Lock Jaw]

I assume the call had something to do with that Shane promo in another tweet above... I only made it 2 minutes before I couldn't watch anymore....

lol at the train sounds. I literally could not believe it and thought it was an April Fool's joke.

[Lock Jaw]

Also watched the Riddle clip... I see the US Title was redesigned and looking pretty naff..... also what the hell with Riddle's character.... I mean, I never liked his character and thought he should obviously have been a heel, but.... yeah....

[GD]

Did you catch the backstage promo where he forgot his lines and left Asuka to die on live tv?

[Volare]

Jesus. Forget the sound effects. That call by the announcer was the cringiest thing in that clip. What the hell was that?

Real life tries to imitate Video Games....lord have mercy.

[screech]

You just know the writer who came up with that put their feet up on the desk like "yup - nailed it!"

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Triple H, Night 1 of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver won't feature commercial breaks on the Peacock stream unlike the USA Network version of the show.

He said Wednesday's TakeOver simulcast on WWE Network/Peacock will not feature ad breaks on the Peacock side of things. They are still working with USA and Peacock to figure out how it's going to work logistically.

Probably going to be like how AEW airs Dynamite on TNT and FITE with FITE just continuing airing matches during full breaks. Non-match breaks likely being mostly just backstage shots of wrestlers doing final pre-match stretches and walking to the entrance way.

[Emperor Smeat]

Unless WWE suddenly adds more matches at the last minute, this year's Mania card is on pace to just miss tying last year's Mania card in terms of number of matches.

Last year's Mania card had 18-19 matches depending on how you counted the Big Show vs. Drew match for the WWE title.

This year's card currently has 12 matches announced for both main card shows, 14 overall if you count the two Mania tier matches for next week's SD, and 16 overall if you also count the two rumored Women's Tag title related matches that have yet to be announced.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A Nigerian Drum Fight?!? What does <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEApollo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWEApollo</a> have in store for <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEBigE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWEBigE</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a>?? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmackDown</a> <a href="https://t.co/yD3l2zCmH0">pic.twitter.com/yD3l2zCmH0</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1378159830293176322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[erickman]

Unless WWE suddenly adds more matches at the last minute, this year's Mania card is on pace to just miss tying last year's Mania card in terms of number of matches.

Last year's Mania card had 18-19 matches depending on how you counted the Big Show vs. Drew match for the WWE title.

This year's card currently has 12 matches announced for both main card shows, 14 overall if you count the two Mania tier matches for next week's SD, and 16 overall if you also count the two rumored Women's Tag title related matches that have yet to be announced.

6 or 7 matches per night is all that is needed, that is a 3 to 3 and half hour shows. now peacock has the show for so cheap mainia can be shorter.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING NEWS:<br>Per <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrapDaddyAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScrapDaddyAP</a>, next week we'll see a special <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> edition of SmackDown on FOX with the 'Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal', a Fatal 4-Way for the SmackDown Tag Titles, and we'll hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/WWERomanReigns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWERomanReigns</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/EdgeRatedR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EdgeRatedR</a>, &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEDanielBryan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWEDanielBryan</a>! <a href="https://t.co/yYWM556N5E">pic.twitter.com/yYWM556N5E</a></p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1377713139165376518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"Yeah I know we're doing two nights of Mania but fuck you guys, you don't get to wrestle in front of fans for the first time in a year, not even on the kickoff show."

Oh no! You're having important matches on NATIONAL BROADCAST TELEVISION!

[drave]

Nope, just TV.

[drave]

A Nigerian Drum Fight?!? What does @WWEApollo (https://twitter.com/WWEApollo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) have in store for @WWEBigE (https://twitter.com/WWEBigE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) at #WrestleMania (https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)?? #SmackDown (https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) pic.twitter.com/yD3l2zCmH0 (https://t.co/yD3l2zCmH0)
— WWE (@WWE) April 3, 2021 (https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1378159830293176322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>




What in the actual fuck?


This is Kofi 1.0 all over again

[erickman]

Oh no! You're having important matches on NATIONAL BROADCAST TELEVISION!

now we know who will be spring cleaned this year

[erickman]

What in the actual fuck?


This is Kofi 1.0 all over again

i fear vince saw a tarzan movie and saw someone beating a drum, and said that looks like big e.

[drave]

Except it's not Big E Doing the dumbass fake accent.

[slik]

Looks like they are building a pirate ship for the set


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Drone footage of Wrestlemania Stage construction. <br><br>Are you getting excited for Wrestlemania?�� <a href="https://t.co/cMmeSV8rtv">pic.twitter.com/cMmeSV8rtv</a></p>&mdash; Wrestle Joy (@WrestleJoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestleJoy/status/1378443857348583427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[rockman725]

In regards to the Network/Peacock,

I can only hope that they don't edit out any more past what they have already done. It seems as though it's mostly the blatant racism stuff, but one can argue that most storyline fiction has some sort of racial element to it, especially in wrestling. Essentially, the entire year of 1993 WWF would be eliminated completely if that was the case with all of US vs. The World stuff.

Seems like the sexual stuff is still alive, from the few PPVs I've checked, the bikini contests & such are still there. Actually, it would be hypocritical of them to edit out the sexual content when they are literally airing the American Pie movies on their network right now! lol

I can confirm that the $9.99 version of Peacock does not have Ads during the PPVs. Personally, I think that the stream plays better & smoother through my Roku with Peacock than the Network app, but the Network App is organized much better.

My biggest fear is still the migration of content and what will/won't be added by Summerslam. None of the PPVs have their Kickoff/Preshows with them yet, plus, what about all of the hidden gems matches, DVD documentaries, interviews, special events, coliseum video, and more. I'd hate to lose access to all of that.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Bellas and X-Pac, WWE cut back on the amount of time allowed for speeches for this year's Hall of Fame ceremony and also dropped having inductors giving speeches.

The Bellas mentioned that they had a 15 minute speech prepared before the ceremony and were told to cut it down to just 3-5 minutes instead.

[erickman]

According to the Bellas and X-Pac, WWE cut back on the amount of time allowed for speeches for this year's Hall of Fame ceremony and also dropped having inductors giving speeches.

The Bellas mentioned that they had a 15 minute speech prepared before the ceremony and were told to cut it down to just 3-5 minutes instead.

since it is taped on peacock they should let them speak as long as they want and cut parts for main show, or deap cuts that show the whole speach.

[Damian Rey 2.0]

Who honestly wanted to hear the Bellas talk for 15 minutes?

[erickman]

i guess the same people who watch there show, i just don't want to see the others cut off like bischoff the nwo, rvd will take 3 mins to get out his name.

[Jordan]

Who honestly wanted to hear the Bellas talk for 15 minutes?

Seriously. That's like watching 3 Bella's matches. :rofl:

[Evil Vito]

3 minutes of talking, 12 minutes of Nikki shaking her ass in her underwear would be acceptable

[Emperor Smeat]

Bea Priestley is currently rumored to be going to WWE.

She had her last match earlier today in Stardom and is leaving Japan for the United States.

The biggest news from the show is that after losing, Priestley said that this was her last match in Stardom. When she didn't sign a new contract with New Japan, she also didn't sign a new deal here and she made this decision some time back. She is leaving Japan. The only thing I can say is that she's not going to AEW and the rest would be the same conclusion everyone else would come up with, which is the place she's not allowed to say if she's going there and thus she's said nothing. This was kept quiet because if it had been said ahead of time it would have given away the result of the match. People are raving about this as the best women's match this year and that the top three matches are all great. Syuri challenged Hayashishita for the title.

[erickman]

wwe should start a glow type brand they have enough women to do it. that's the only way to take care of the women they have.

[Jordan]

Would you really want to watch a show with only WWE women's matches?

[erickman]

Would you really want to watch a show with only WWE women's matches?

i watched wow and a few other women only places

[Lock Jaw]

I'd watch wrestling again for an all-women's show

For a month or two at least

[Emperor Smeat]

An all-women's WWE weekly show or brand would be way more interesting than whatever WWE is doing with 205 Live these days.

WWE's combined main roster and NXT women's divisions is large enough as is to be its own promotion. Like somewhere close to being in the 60s after their recent big batch of signings.

[Lock Jaw]

205 Live still a thing?

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah and apparently one of the big storylines these past few months over there was someone being on a Goldberg-like undefeated or win streak.

[erickman]

An all-women's WWE weekly show or brand would be way more interesting than whatever WWE is doing with 205 Live these days.

WWE's combined main roster and NXT women's divisions is large enough as is to be its own promotion. Like somewhere close to being in the 60s after their recent big batch of signings.

i thought something was up when nxt added womens tag straps instead of taking them from the nia beast. peacock wants streaming content, if wwe has almost 60 women wrestlers, they ether need there own show or be spring cleaned.

[XL]

The only way I’d go in for a women’s only brand would be if they had a totally different creative and production team. More Kevin Dunn production, more shite like they’ve presented with every women’s angle in the lead up to Mania? No thanks.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> storyline builder 5000.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a> <a href="https://t.co/ghp9PmWY1Y">pic.twitter.com/ghp9PmWY1Y</a></p>&mdash; Wrestling Jebus (@WrestlingJebus) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingJebus/status/1379246116458356743?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/tBebKE4ayP">https://t.co/tBebKE4ayP</a> <a href="https://t.co/ruKORQQ5Fx">pic.twitter.com/ruKORQQ5Fx</a></p>&mdash; Dick Van Klondike (@DickVanKlondike) <a href="https://twitter.com/DickVanKlondike/status/1379289234968875010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer, both nights of WrestleMania 37 are currently scheduled to be 3 hours long not counting the pre-show.

In regards to both nights of NXT TakeOver Stand & Deliver, Night 1 is currently scheduled for 2 hours plus any overrun while Night 2 is scheduled for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Tuesday's Hall of Fame ceremony is scheduled to be 90 minutes long.

The TV schedule for the WWE events this week list the Hall of Fame as 90 minutes starting at 8 p.m. tomorrow. NXT Takeover is listed on Wednesday at two hours but probably will go over by a bit. The second night is listed as 8-10:15 p.m. Both nights of WrestleMania are listed at pregame shows at 7 p.m., main card at 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., so they are not looking at long shows as in the past.

Speaking of NXT, should be interesting if they keeps their split-screen ad breaks and the overrun once they move to Tuesdays since the only reason they got both was due to direct competition with AEW. USA Network dropped doing split-screen ad breaks once their new contract for RAW kicked in and FOX was never interested in doing that for SD.

Edit: Nevermind, the Hall of Fame ceremony is 3 hours long but split into 2 back-to-back 90 minute shows according to John Pollock.

[erickman]

that is good that the hof is 3 hours and not 90 minutes. that would suck to do 2 classes in that time.

[drave]

Not looking forward to this. Good thing is, I have shit to do outside while the people who wanna watch it can do so.

[LibSuperstar]

If you or somebody you know is attending WrestleMania pls vote or spread the word: http://www.justbringingtheraw.com/polls/wm37tkts.html.

[Jordan]

Sorry I don't know anyone who is going to Mania.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Tiple H, WWE recently had talks with Rob Gronkowski in regards to him making a potential guest appearance at WrestleMania 37.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE makes so much more sense when you just accept that literally everything they do is simply to fulfil contractually mandated content hours and has no other purpose.</p>&mdash; Garrett Kidney (@garrettkidney) <a href="https://twitter.com/garrettkidney/status/1379271820960993288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

According to PWI, this year's Money in the Bank event will be on May 16th while this year's Backlash event will be on June 20th.

Both will be the first PPVs at WWE's new ThunderDome home at the Yuengling Center.

PWInsider reported this afternoon that this year’s Money in the Bank event will take place on May 16, with Backlash following on June 20. Both shows will be held at the WWE ThunderDome, which is moving to the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida starting next week, April 12.

[slik]

Sounds like a 50% chance of rain in Tampa over the weekend. Rain in the background with a giant Pirate Ship as the set would be a really cool visual IMO.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LOOK AT THAT BIG ASS PIRATE SHIP DUDE <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> <a href="https://t.co/t8nZHzYw4h">pic.twitter.com/t8nZHzYw4h</a></p>&mdash; Jessi Davin (@jessithebuckeye) <a href="https://twitter.com/jessithebuckeye/status/1379948078359265283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Reacher]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE makes so much more sense when you just accept that literally everything they do is simply to fulfil contractually mandated content hours and has no other purpose.</p>&mdash; Garrett Kidney (@garrettkidney) <a href="https://twitter.com/garrettkidney/status/1379271820960993288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I can’t remember who said it but a recently departed female WWE talent made an observation that the WWE no longer invests time into character development for their wrestlers because stakeholders want immediate results and so this often presents a conflict of interest. I’m wondering if a lot of the WWE’s woes, from a quality standpoint, stems from their decision from having gone public?

I also wonder as to what’s really going on down at the WWE Performance Center. Are the wrestlers actually being taught about in-ring psychology, the art of selling, and telling a story to the fans? They likely are but I’m just not seeing this translate onto the main shows. Watching wrestling these days almost feels like I’m watching figure skating. It’s a shame because the actual wrestlers are far more athletic than their predecessors.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently NXT had the dumbass idea to drop their protective pods and dividers for the crowd for tonight's TakeOver show.

Normally wouldn't be that big of an issue if it was anyone else but NXT has been getting hit with outbreaks way too often and now have less protection in place to prevent crowds from getting exposed, especially now that they increased the crowd limit for shows.

Tonight starts two nights of NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver, and we've heard of some changes to the audience. There are no more pods at the Capitol Wrestling Center, but those in attendance did require a negative COVID test at no cost to themselves. There are no more dividers in the floor area, either. Also, there's an elevated area for a row of fans across from the hard camera, and a seated area opposite the entrance ramp. Masks are still required at the shows. This greatly expanded the available attendance.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A lot of new WWE / Peacock signs around Universal Studios <a href="https://t.co/iBRri2HgPa">pic.twitter.com/iBRri2HgPa</a></p>&mdash; DavKind �� (@DavKind76) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavKind76/status/1379880727324549120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Seeing some WWE ads on vacation... <a href="https://t.co/Z3ZZCcsA0A">pic.twitter.com/Z3ZZCcsA0A</a></p>&mdash; DavKind �� (@DavKind76) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavKind76/status/1378538408797216768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sneak peek of the WrestleMania stage from Mandy Rose’s insta story <a href="https://t.co/JO8FZrEyc6">pic.twitter.com/JO8FZrEyc6</a></p>&mdash; Kenny Majid - A Kenny For Your Thoughts Podcast (@akfytwrestling) <a href="https://twitter.com/akfytwrestling/status/1380256586485133313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Lock Jaw]

Where is the THUNDERDOME

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From the archives: <a href="https://twitter.com/FinnBalor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FinnBalor</a> visits Dr. <a href="https://twitter.com/rachelbonnetta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rachelbonnetta</a> &amp; Mr. Fluff! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NXTTakeOver?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NXTTakeOver</a> <a href="https://t.co/8ubCqi3grd">pic.twitter.com/8ubCqi3grd</a></p>&mdash; WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1380203793481093120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer, NBC's scrub job for the WWE Network recently removed segments involving Goldust wearing black face paint from late 90s WWF shows.

Peacock and WWE Network are evidently editing out segments from the late 90s with Goldust wearing black paint on his face

Don't remember him ever doing it as an insult or joke but that shows how hard NBC is cracking down on blackface content on the WWE Network.

[Emperor Smeat]

Also related is WWE has released all of their international broadcast teams with the exception of their Spanish team as part of the WWE Network's move to Peacock.

Raymond Rougeau and Jean Brassard, who have been the French language announcing team for PPVs, were both informed that they were being let go with the move to Peacock. They were told it was a Peacock decision to cancel all international language commentary except for Spanish.

[Bad News Gertner]

So no more Funaki then.

Just looking at his wiki, and aside from the time he was released in 2010 till he started doing sporadic appearance for the company in 2011, he was pretty much involved with the company in some capacity since 1998

[screech]

No more Sean Deng - the most excited commentator at any table.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/IdoBOFC00g">pic.twitter.com/IdoBOFC00g</a></p>&mdash; Evan Axelbank Fox13 (@EvanAxelbank) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanAxelbank/status/1380699058151522304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: a porn website once sent Vince a fruit basket as thanks for the time WWE accidentally gave free exposure to their company by naming the group of Becky Lynch, Charlotte, and Paige as the "Submission Sorority" during the early days of the Women's Revolution storyline.

Gorilla Position released a clip from their stage show with Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins ...

Lynch went on to speak about the original name for herself, Charlotte Flair and Paige as they were initially known as the “Submission Sorority”. That was the name of a porn site and the site sent Vince McMahon a fruit basket for the traffic he sent over.

"Well, when I first came up to the main roster in the women’s evolution, they wanted to call myself, Paige and Charlotte [Flair] the Submission Sorority. Turns out that was a porn site. Said porn site sent Vince McMahon a fruit basket, for all the traffic that Vince sent them. So there’s that."

[Volare]

Totally forgot about that, but when you pair all 3 of em together like that...

[xrodmuc316]

According to the Observer, NBC's scrub job for the WWE Network recently removed segments involving Goldust wearing black face paint from late 90s WWF shows.



Don't remember him ever doing it as an insult or joke but that shows how hard NBC is cracking down on blackface content on the WWE Network.

How does that work? We know from Piper he was 50% blackface and got edited out. Is there a certain percentage? Is Legion of Doom going to get edited? Hawk was probably 20% blackface. Ronda had more than normal black eye shadow at Summerslam 2018, that was like 3% at least.

Boogeyman had black face paint, although I think he is African American.

Umaga was probably 30% black face paint, and portrayed a savage. Is that alright though since he is a minority?

Sting after 1996 no longer exists, and maybe that is why we haven't seen Demon Balor in 2 years?

Lastly, what about that whole time Undertaker had that little black tear on his face. It wasn't a real tattoo, does that half of a percent result in removal?

[Volare]

How does that work? We know from Piper he was 50% blackface and got edited out. Is there a certain percentage? Is Legion of Doom going to get edited? Hawk was probably 20% blackface. Ronda had more than normal black eye shadow at Summerslam 2018, that was like 3% at least.

Boogeyman had black face paint, although I think he is African American.

Umaga was probably 30% black face paint, and portrayed a savage. Is that alright though since he is a minority?

Sting after 1996 no longer exists, and maybe that is why we haven't seen Demon Balor in 2 years?

Lastly, what about that whole time Undertaker had that little black tear on his face. It wasn't a real tattoo, does that half of a percent result in removal?

I remember he did it I think in 98 with the "F-U" painted in gold on top of his black face paint.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj134/jklmn_2008/Goldust_zpsa2782f36.jpg

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Adnan Virk will be replacing Tom Phillips on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWE</a> RAW, Wrestling Inc. has learned. Details at: <a href="https://t.co/YRDIFFO3Kj">https://t.co/YRDIFFO3Kj</a></p>&mdash; WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1380949626400899074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Bad News Gertner]

I remember Adnan from theScore. Same place as Renee Paquette.

[screech]

lol didn't he get fired from ESPN for leaking information?

[slik]

Yeah

Corey Graves headed back to RAW. Team will be Adnan-Graves-Saxton starting on Monday. Tom Phillips not expected to call WM either due to Covid interaction.

[Emperor Smeat]

Rather have Samoa Joe stay on commentary than Graves be his replacement, especially if this leads to him eventually going back to his old routine of being very annoying and obnoxious on commentary.

At least on Smackdown, he was kept in check by Cole and didn't have a third person around to be the target of his insults and nagging.

[Jordan]

This is going to be amazing. All my questions answered.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Superfan: The Story of Vladimir tells the life story of Vladimir Abouzeide, one of the most devoted fans in <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWE</a> history ... and it arrives on <a href="https://twitter.com/peacockTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeacockTV</a> in the U.S. and <a href="https://twitter.com/WWENetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWENetwork</a> everywhere else this summer. <a href="https://t.co/FiJb0ut8Kx">pic.twitter.com/FiJb0ut8Kx</a></p>&mdash; WWE Network (@WWENetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWENetwork/status/1381031574188228612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

Nice!

Vladimir was great to see in the crowd

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Adnan is awesome. Really infectious energy. Hope he sticks and is able to be himself.

[Evil Vito]

The international commentary being cut sucks. Feels like a big fuck you to the global audience.

[Jordan]

I wish they had a live audience tonight. I'm on a Mania high, I'd like to watch but I don't think I could make it through 3 hours of WWE Battleground. Is that what they call it? I can't do it. If they have people live for NXT why won't the put some fans in for Raw and Smackdown or PPV's?

[slik]

Why do backstage 'my guest at this time' interviewers just stare at wrestlers walking away at the end of interviews...why don't they just say 'back to you'

Has to be some weird Vince thing

[slik]

I am guessing Bray's new thing is his previous gimmick (Fiend) was the Hurt so his new gimmick (Televangelist) will be the Heal

[Volare]

1:33:00....AJ impersonating Stone Cold is what you need today!!

<iframe width="891" height="501" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iuKEeXi4mPU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Jordan]

Anyone know if Peacock will update the way WWE events and programs are listed in the future? It's unbearable.

[Evil Vito]

Supposedly not until at least August by which point they should have all of the Network stuff loaded and will then re-organize a bunch of it.

[Evil Vito]

In compliance with SEC regulations, WWE filed a proxy statement Tuesday prior to their impending annual shareholder meeting -- the contents of which revealed last year's compensation for their directors and their board including president and chief revenue officer Nick Khan, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque.

Nick Khan


Last year, Khan earned $13 million, made up of a prorated base $498,462 salary; $6.8 million in stock; $471,823 in incentives; and $5.19 million in other compensation (signing bonus). His base pay for 2021 will be $1.2 million in addition to $1.9 million in performance incentives.

The bonus is subject to repayment requirements if he leaves "without good reason" or is fired. If that was to happen within the first year, he has to repay all of it; between 12-24 months: $3.1 million; and between 24-36 months: $1.2 million.

He also received a signing bonus of performance-based stock units valued at $15 million. 40% of those PSUs will vest in September 2022 with the other 60% vesting in 2025. Also worked into his contract is that if he is fired without cause in those first five years, he gets the remainder of his yearly base for however many years are left on the deal. He also would be subject to repaying relocation expenses if he leaves on his own or is fired without cause in his first 12 months.

Vince McMahon


The chairman earned $3.9+ million in 2020 made up of $1.4 in base salary, $1.63 million in stock awards, $854,000 in incentives, and $20,000 in other compensations. That total is down from 2018's $5.6+ million and 2019's $3.5+ million.

As CEO, McMahon's total compensation was a 38-to-1 ratio of the total compensation for the median WWE employee ($102,577). That ratio disclosure is required by the SEC.

McMahon and his immediate family also gets use of the company jet for personal travel when it's not being used for business. However, any costs in doing so are paid for by him so WWE doesn’t have to cover it.

He also owns 92.3% of the company's Class B shares.

Paul Levesque


Levesque earned $2.38+ million last year with a $730,000 base, $464,778 in stock awards, $222,650 in incentives and just under $1 million in other compensation which was his performance and merchandise contract. The number is down from 2018's $5 million and from 2019's $3.3 million.


Stephanie McMahon


McMahon earned $2.8+ million on a $730,000 base, $464,778 in stock, $222,650 in incentives, $775,723 in other compensation for her performer/merchandise contract. The number is slightly up from 2019’s $2.07 million.


Other Notes:


Shane McMahon has a performer's deal that paid him a minimum of $820,369.
Both Connor Schell (former ESPN EVP, co-creator of 30 for 30) and Steve Koonin (CEO of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the State Farm Arena) were announced as members of their Board.
Of Board members, the highest compensation of cash and stock was Jeff Speed at $236,384 followed by Stuart Goldfarb at $224,516 and Laureen Ong at $208,884.
WWE paid CAA $5.8 million last year "for commissions on certain licenses and management recruitment fees." CAA was Khan's old agency where he negotiated the various TV contracts.
Investment firm Lindsell Train Limited owns 23% of Class A shares, followed by Vanguard Group and BlackRock that both have significant holdings in WWE.
Officers and directors own a combined 41% of both Class A and B shares.
Their management incentive plan (MIP) payouts (between 50-100% of salary) are based on a point system on the following personal and company-wide performance metrics: 40% strategic objectives (viewership with a benchmark of certain key TV ratings); 40% for the next iteration of WWE Network (acquiring a domestic network license); 10% for sponsorship business opportunities; and 10% for brand strength measurements (increasing WWE ratings among sports fans). Based on that, funding for those payouts was down to a 5.0 for an overall score, down from 6.7 in 2019 and 8.7 in 2018. That meant there was less money given out to executives for performance bonuses.

[Emperor Smeat]

Odds of Mania week being a super spreader event for the coronavirus just rose since one person already confirmed they tested positive for it and had attended several WWE and indie shows.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I've reached out to this person and they informed me they received their positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday night.<br><br>As a notice for those that could be affected, he attended the following shows:<br>- Jimmy Lloyd's Degeneration F <br>- Bloodsport<br>- Spring Break<br>- Both WrestleMania nights <a href="https://t.co/SbXTbmmlZC">https://t.co/SbXTbmmlZC</a></p>&mdash; John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) <a href="https://twitter.com/iamjohnpollock/status/1382425394419220485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

If I had to guess, this person likely caught it at one of GCW's shows since it seems GCW was irresponsible again with their handling of COVID precautions during their Collective shows based on stuff going around online from people who were there.

[GD]

I know what you mean.

Was also odd to see a high profile name like Jon Moxley show up at the end to do a spot with Nick Cage. Seemed unnecessary.

[slik]

Reddit is generally positive about everything, so many upvotes and comments I agree with

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/mqdj19/raw_has_been_boderline_unwatchable_awful/?ref_source=embed&amp;ref=share&amp;embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" height="304" width="640" scrolling="no"></iframe>

[GD]

RAW comes across as a weekly obligation rather than coherent storytelling.

[screech]

I haven't watched this week's episode yet, but I agree with that redditor. RAW has been shit lately.

[GD]

It's sad that they couldn't incorporate their new champions on the show.

[The Jayman]

I agree that Smackdown has been the better show lately

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah Smackdown has been a much better show than RAW at least since last year's SummerSlam.

Been speculated for a while that the reason why there is such a big gap in quality between the two shows is due to Vince fearing upsetting FOX way more than USA Network. Without FOX, WWE might not have been able to get the multi-billion deal they have from their current tv contracts and prior to them selling off their FOX Studios, FOX was notorious for being very trigger happy when it came to cancelling shows that didn't meet their expectations. That was also the reason why Vince freaked out over the idea of WWE not being able to produce new weekly shows early into the pandemic since he thought that would give FOX an excuse to rip up the contract.

[xrodmuc316]

Anyone know if Peacock will update the way WWE events and programs are listed in the future? It's unbearable.

Yeah it's dumb they have PPV's listed as seasons.

If I wamted to watch the 2001 Survivor Series, I have to figure out which "Season" 2001 was, when they could just list it as, I dunno, 2001...

[xrodmuc316]

Reddit is generally positive about everything, so many upvotes and comments I agree with

<iframe id="reddit-embed" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/mqdj19/raw_has_been_boderline_unwatchable_awful/?ref_source=embed&amp;ref=share&amp;embed=true" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" height="304" width="640" scrolling="no"></iframe>

So 3 out of the 4 wrestling shows he watches keeps him interested in wrestling? What a solid take, thanks for sharing Slik. How else could we have possibly known some guy from Reddit likes NXT, AEW, and Smackdown enough to keep watching wrestling even though he doesn't like Raw :yes:

[The Jayman]

Yeah Smackdown has been a much better show than RAW at least since last year's SummerSlam.

Been speculated for a while that the reason why there is such a big gap in quality between the two shows is due to Vince fearing upsetting FOX way more than USA Network. Without FOX, WWE might not have been able to get the multi-billion deal they have from their current tv contracts and prior to them selling off their FOX Studios, FOX was notorious for being very trigger happy when it came to cancelling shows that didn't meet their expectations. That was also the reason why Vince freaked out over the idea of WWE not being able to produce new weekly shows early into the pandemic since he thought that would give FOX an excuse to rip up the contract.

Oh I agree 100%. Pre-Disney Fox was notorious for sending shows to the chopping block before they really had a chance to get going. I think WWE would have been ok either way because it was already a well established brand. I was always under the impression they had different writers for shows. I could be wrong on that.

[Emperor Smeat]

Think they still do but instead of separate creative teams, they merged them back together with Bruce Prichard in charge.

Around the time Paul Heyman got removed as RAW Executive Director is when they merged back together.

[xrodmuc316]

Oh I agree 100%. Pre-Disney Fox was notorious for sending shows to the chopping block before they really had a chance to get going. I think WWE would have been ok either way because it was already a well established brand. I was always under the impression they had different writers for shows. I could be wrong on that.

Fox Cancelled Brooklyn Nine Nine, which immediately got picked up by NBC.

That tells you everything you need to know about the decision makers at Fox.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">They've built an entire angle around this and now they're going to edit it out? <a href="https://t.co/rmUs0m1Rqz">https://t.co/rmUs0m1Rqz</a></p>&mdash; ‘Point God’ Jeremy Lambert (@jeremylambert88) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremylambert88/status/1384198458832146436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I get it as it makes the show a much slicker watch in retrospect, but it's such a shame as some of those promos were really enjoyable.<br><br>I'm just glad I got a screenshot of the ponchos.</p>&mdash; Gary Cassidy (@WrestlingGary) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingGary/status/1384116324062822406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

According to fightful dot com Vince was late to RAW and has torn up the script for tonight's show.

[Emperor Smeat]

So business as usual for the RAW brand then.

[slik]

Charlotte's big two week return has wrapped up so she can go film Walking Tall


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING per <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrapDaddyAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScrapDaddyAP</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RawTalk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RawTalk</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MsCharlotteWWE</a> is being suspended indefinitely and fined $100K following her actions at the conclusion of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a>. <a href="https://t.co/tnaQReflDR">pic.twitter.com/tnaQReflDR</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1384345815485923334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[erickman]

why bring her back just to work 2 shows that was dumb, i guess they wanted more heel heat for her.

[Emperor Smeat]

No more Charlotte stinking up the joint on RAW for the foreseeable future?

This calls for a celebratory gif.

https://i.imgur.com/CrKt1gu.gif

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Tampa Sports Authority, the real amount of tickets WWE sold for WrestleMania 37 was around 11k lower than what they announced and the actual attendance for both nights was around 14k less.

According to Tampa Sports Authority records (via Brandon Thurston at Wrestlenomics), night one of WrestleMania 37 was attended by 18,328 people while night two drew an attendance of 18,924 for a total of 37,252 fans across both nights.

Paid ticket sales were higher as night one drew 20,172 ticket sales and the second night sold 20,634 tickets. Before the event, WWE announced 25,000 tickets would be on-sale for both nights.

WWE announced an attendance of 25,675 people each night for a total of 51,350 fans.

Attendance revenues total $6.2 million, with Saturday selling $3.058 million in admission and Sunday hitting $3.187 million.

The average price of sold tickets for both days was $190.

[xrodmuc316]

Charlotte's big two week return has wrapped up so she can go film Walking Tall


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING per <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrapDaddyAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScrapDaddyAP</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RawTalk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RawTalk</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MsCharlotteWWE</a> is being suspended indefinitely and fined $100K following her actions at the conclusion of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a>. <a href="https://t.co/tnaQReflDR">pic.twitter.com/tnaQReflDR</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1384345815485923334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Good, there is literally nothing interesting about her character. Even with Cena there was the possibility that he might turn heel of at least be Thuganomics Cena. Charlotte has already gone face/heel/face/heel/face/heel. Hopefully she leaves for good.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer, WWE got hit with another COVID outbreak and this week's RAW also got affected with missing talent due to those reasons.

Unlike previous outbreaks, its currently not known how many people tested positive or who were affected because of WWE's stronger efforts against leaks.

WWE getting hit with another COVID outbreak right after doing a Mania in front of a live crowd isn't a good sign at all.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ronda Rousey has announced via YouTube that she’s four months pregnant, and expecting her first child with Travis Browne in September!</p>&mdash; Gary Cassidy (@WrestlingGary) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingGary/status/1384884816945061889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Emperor Smeat]

Charlotte's big two week return has wrapped up so she can go film Walking Tall


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING per <a href="https://twitter.com/ScrapDaddyAP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScrapDaddyAP</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RawTalk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RawTalk</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MsCharlotteWWE</a> is being suspended indefinitely and fined $100K following her actions at the conclusion of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWERaw</a>. <a href="https://t.co/tnaQReflDR">pic.twitter.com/tnaQReflDR</a></p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1384345815485923334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

According to TalkSport's Alex McCarthy, dental work and not filming commitments is the reason for her storyline suspension. McCarthy also reported that her time away won't be that long.

According to Alex McCarthy of TalkSport (via the Wrestling Daily show), the suspension storyline was written so that Flair could get some "dental work" completed. She is not expected to be off television for long.

[Evil Vito]

Dental plan!
Charlotte needs braces!
Dental plan!
Charlotte needs braces!
Dental plan!
Charlotte needs braces!

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Triple H, WWE's war with AEW via their NXT brand was like Chris Jericho's 1st WWF title win.

It was all imaginary and never actually happened.

In a recent interview, Triple H talked about NXT’s move to Tuesdays and their competition with AEW.

On Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg, Triple H explained that they weren’t just in competition with AEW, they were in competition with everyone and everything.

“The promotional opportunity for us is much better on a Tuesday," he explained. "And also then not having to have a narrative where it’s just constantly about an imaginary war, or this imaginary battle. And, you know, people can say what they want, but the truth of the matter is you compete against everything. If you are creating a television product or content-- that is the world we live in is content not television, not internet. It’s everything. So you’re constantly competing for eyeballs and time against everything under the sun, including sleep and time to do other things, and video games, and Tik Tok and everything else that’s out there.”

He's also been gradually been developing a similar view towards wrestling like Vince in the sense of not viewing WWE as an actual wrestling company. Only difference is instead of being a "sports entertainment" company whenever Vince would discuss wrestling, its now being a "content producing" company whenever Triple H and others in WWE would discuss wrestling in recent times.

[drave]

Pretty buzzwords for his new besties at NBC.

[drave]

I wonder..... you think WWE 10 years from now will still be "wrestling" on Monday and Friday?


I know it has often drawn comparison to "soap operas", but like..... can you see it going MORE that direction and even less and less what happens "between the bells".

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah I could see WWE move into a harder "soap opera" direction since I doubt WWE is going to stop with their focus on hiring soap opera and film writers for Creative unless they were put into another Attitude Era-like situation where a strong rival forces them to drastically change direction.

Seeing as how a lot of matches on WWE's weekly shows barely matter these days, I could see that become even less of a focus in the future in favor of non-ring stuff. Like that episode of South Park that parodied WWE and wrestling on how it could be in the future.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently the Women's Tag Team Turmoil being a mess at Mania 37 is sort of Natalya's fault.

WWE didn't originally plan for that match to happen at Mania but she pushed for more women to be on the show which resulted in that mess of a match being booked.

According to Fightful Select, Natalya pushed hard for the tag team turmoil match to be added to the WrestleMania card, which allowed more women to be on the show.

Prior to WrestleMania, WWE made the go-home show of SmackDown ‘WrestleMania edition’, which featured the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and a SmackDown Tag Team Championships match. Per Fightful, a Women’s Tag Team Titles number one contender’s match was originally planned for this show, with the winners going on to face the champions at WrestleMania.

[Volare]

Rut ro.

[erickman]

well good for her she got more wrestlers on mania rather then smackdown

[Fignuts]

Honestly, given the people involved, it was going to be shit either way.

So props to her for getting her coworkers a nice payday.

[erickman]

Honestly, given the people involved, it was going to be shit either way.

So props to her for getting her coworkers a nice payday.

i wonder do they still get paid extra for working mania. if so that is why nat is so loved by the other women wrestlers she looks out for them.

[Lock Jaw]

I had no beef with the tornado match, and even enjoyed the women's tag title match more than a lot of other matches on the card (Owens/Zayn, Rollins/Cesaro)

[Emperor Smeat]

Honestly, given the people involved, it was going to be shit either way.

So props to her for getting her coworkers a nice payday.

Yeah quality-wise, it was still going to be an issue but doing it in a ThunderDome setting instead of live PPV setting could have potentially improved the match's serious problems with the lack of flow and time given to it.

The mini-matches barely getting any real time to work with hurt whatever chance that match could have had to not be a big dud at Mania.

On the bright side, it wasn't the worst match at Mania since Orton vs. Fiend took that prize.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You have my phone number. It would take you 30 seconds to ask as opposed to giving straight crap to your listeners. Grow up.<br><br>For you, of all people, to comment on a woman’s looks...<br><br>Do you have any shame, decency or professionalism left at all?<br><br>Find a mirror. Look hard Dave.</p>&mdash; Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) <a href="https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1385331181231562752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[erickman]

yeah that fiend orton match should have been on smackdown, an put the smackdown tag match on mania

[drave]

You have my phone number. It would take you 30 seconds to ask as opposed to giving straight crap to your listeners. Grow up.

For you, of all people, to comment on a woman’s looks...

Do you have any shame, decency or professionalism left at all?

Find a mirror. Look hard Dave.
— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) April 22, 2021 (https://twitter.com/MsCharlotteWWE/status/1385331181231562752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


I dunno what he said, but she comes back looking very different every time. Someone should post a collage or some shit.

[drave]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AL-CHARLOTTE-FLAIR-COMP.jpg?strip=all&quality=100&w=1200&h=800&crop=1

[Evil Vito]

Watching some of WWE's "Most Wanted Treasures". Light hearted fun, with Foley and Triple H being pretty affable.

With the collectors they have to visit though, it's astonishing when you see people who are fanatic and obsessive enough about wrestling to fill rooms in their house with ring-worn gear, old VHS types, action figures, and every bit of memorabilia imaginable, yet never expanded their boundaries beyond the WWE of the past 30-40 years. It really highlights that there's a large part of the American fanbase to whom the WWE is wrestling and there was never anything else.

[drave]

I think its that WWE has been THE only notable, recognizable fed for so long. Practically nothing else exists. This is especially true for anyone who is a fan AFTER WcW was bought out.

[#1-norm-fan]

I was just thinking about that the other day. You’d think newer fans who became a fan post-WCW would be MORE likely to seek out other wrestling because the idea is so foreign to them that there’d be a fascination. Whereas the older fans have seen other wrestling companies become big and the novelty would be gone.

[Bad News Gertner]

Watching some of WWE's "Most Wanted Treasures". Light hearted fun, with Foley and Triple H being pretty affable.

With the collectors they have to visit though, it's astonishing when you see people who are fanatic and obsessive enough about wrestling to fill rooms in their house with ring-worn gear, old VHS types, action figures, and every bit of memorabilia imaginable, yet never expanded their boundaries beyond the WWE of the past 30-40 years. It really highlights that there's a large part of the American fanbase to whom the WWE is wrestling and there was never anything else.

It's been like that for 30 years. The WWF was known for having fans that only care about WWF and some like myself who weren't even aware that WCW existed until I had been watching wrestling for 7-8 years. I started watching in 87 and had no idea who Ric Flair was when he came in and I'm far from the only one. It really depends where you grew up. I only watch old stuff from various territories but my large collection of footage is 100% WWF. It's what I grew up in.

[Emperor Smeat]

Based on WWE's investor's meeting from yesterday, WWE currently doesn't think NHL will be sticking with NBC once their current tv contract expires but they also think NXT will be staying on Tuesdays on USA Network regardless since they claim NXT's move had nothing to do with the NHL situation.

ESPN signed the first of two deals the NHL is offering but NBC is currently up against FOX for that second deal.

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol oh shit. Eugene also brought up serial harassment allegations in a reply

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This woman, who seems to have had some type of past relationship with Mark Carrano, is *unloading* on him today. Good lord. <a href="https://t.co/HoJbvEiW3o">pic.twitter.com/HoJbvEiW3o</a></p>&mdash; Danny (@dajosc11) <a href="https://twitter.com/dajosc11/status/1385639548491812864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hey Pinky, where does he store his sexual assault allegations?</p>&mdash; Eugene Nick Dinsmore (@UGeneDinsmore) <a href="https://twitter.com/UGeneDinsmore/status/1386057802158911489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[drave]

she replied for him to check his FB DM's to see where everything is stored.




Be she sends n00dz

[Volare]

This is all amazing shit.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fun Fact: The length of Shida vs Conti this week (12:17) is more than the amount of women's wrestling for the entire month of April on Smackdown (10:30)</p>&mdash; �� (@Reekkkk23) <a href="https://twitter.com/Reekkkk23/status/1386123692883730435?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

All except one match on Smackdown this month has involved some combo between Natty, Tamina, Shayna Baszler, & Nia Jax.

[Evil Vito]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If you were at the WWE PC this evening and wondered why Drake Wuertz looked like he had been crying, that's because he Zoomed into a Seminole County Board of County Commissioners meeting about mask mandates to spread the &quot;child sex traffickers love COVID masks&quot; conspiracy theory. <a href="https://t.co/gaIXFXa9QQ">pic.twitter.com/gaIXFXa9QQ</a></p>&mdash; David Bixenspanhausen (@davidbix) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1387259525040943104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Are they going to finally fucking fire this guy? Jesus.

[slik]

I know he got demoted earlier this year from his position as head ref of NXT but I didn't know he also got suspended


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/3lCt4R0y4Q">https://t.co/3lCt4R0y4Q</a></p>&mdash; Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1387420618543484929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pleased to announce the winner of our Cultaholic face mask giveaway is <a href="https://twitter.com/DrakeWuertz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrakeWuertz</a>! Please DM me to claim your prize! ������ <a href="https://t.co/GkTEDArfRo">pic.twitter.com/GkTEDArfRo</a></p>&mdash; Adam Pacitti (@adampacitti) <a href="https://twitter.com/adampacitti/status/1387445015878713349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Evil Vito]

Odd that Drake is so good at identifying pedophile sex traffickers but hasn't been able to weed out Velveteen Dream yet.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to PWI, Jason Jordan recently received a promotion in WWE as their new lead backstage producer going forward.

As PWInsider.com reported last week, WWE has made sweeping changes to a number of departments as part of WWE President Nick Khan's re-tooling of the company on the corporate end.

With the departure of Mark Carrano, we reported last week that John Cone's exit from Talent Relations had been rescinded. PWInsider.com has since confirmed that Cone is now second in command to John Laurinaitis in that department, a bump up in responsibility from his previous role as Manager of Talent Relations. We are also told that at least 1-2 others have been added to that department.

With John Laurinaitis moving into overseeing Talent Relations, there were also changes within the ranks of WWE Producers. Jason Jordan has been given a new role and larger responsibilities within the company, taking over Laurinaitis' former role as Lead Producer, overseeing all the others at TV tapings.

PWInsider.com is also told that Adam Pearce has moved up within the company over the last several weeks and we are working to confirm his new role.

[Emperor Smeat]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mickie James said A LOT. <br><br>-Vince calling her after Heftygate<br>-Pitching All Women's Brand<br>-Pitching shows for the Network<br>-Coaching stint at NXT<br>-Ageism<br>-Person who made her feel like shit is still there<br>-A LOT!<a href="https://t.co/ThW3LnD9JD">https://t.co/ThW3LnD9JD</a></p>&mdash; ‘Point God’ Jeremy Lambert (@jeremylambert88) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremylambert88/status/1387528535703703562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mickie tried to pitch an all female show but.. <a href="https://t.co/mLIYs5zipv">pic.twitter.com/mLIYs5zipv</a></p>&mdash; �� (@k2mella) <a href="https://twitter.com/k2mella/status/1387515548481818631?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[erickman]

who would figure mickie would be the most bitter one of the releases.

[Bad News Gertner]

Whoever said that isn't wrong. Nobody would watch am all women's show. Nobody. This isn't Joshi. Totally different animal.

I've used this analogy before. Men's wrestling is Coke. Women's is Diet Coke.

Both are sodas. But if I'm gonna have a soda, I'm gonna have a Coke because it's better. Now there are some people who prefer Diet Coke, but they are in the extreme minority. If I'm gonna have or watch something, I want to watch the best.

This applies to all Women's sports

[Emperor Smeat]

If I remember correctly, a big factor for Evolution being a dud in terms of being a money maker was due to WWE picking a weak venue for it and the piss poor job WWE did hyping up the show until very late.

They legit thought Trish vs. Alexa Bliss as the headliner would be enough alone to sell the PPV and it wasn't until they changed it to Ronda headlining that ticket sales and interest started to really spike. By then it was too late to generate enough momentum to make the show a big money maker.

Plus they were still dealing with the backlash from their Saudi deal and women not allowed on those shows so Evolution also felt a bit more like just a PR move than them being actually genuine with an all-women's show.

Had they been serious with Evolution's hype and build, it could have potentially acted as the spark for an all-women's brand afterwards like what ECW One Night Stand did for WWE's ECW brand.

[Lock Jaw]

Whoever said that isn't wrong. Nobody would watch am all women's show. Nobody.

I'd watch an all women's show.

[Bad News Gertner]

And there's a few people who preferDiet Coke over regular Coke

You say that now, but wait after Lacey Evans vs Tamina happens 3 weeks in a row

[Bad News Gertner]

If I remember correctly, a big factor for Evolution being a dud in terms of being a money maker was due to WWE picking a weak venue for it and the piss poor job WWE did hyping up the show until very late.

They legit thought Trish vs. Alexa Bliss as the headliner would be enough alone to sell the PPV and it wasn't until they changed it to Ronda headlining that ticket sales and interest started to really spike. By then it was too late to generate enough momentum to make the show a big money maker.

Plus they were still dealing with the backlash from their Saudi deal and women not allowed on those shows so Evolution also felt a bit more like just a PR move than them being actually genuine with an all-women's show.

Had they been serious with Evolution's hype and build, it could have potentially acted as the spark for an all-women's brand afterwards like what ECW One Night Stand did for WWE's ECW brand.

It never would have worked. There's a good segment of wrestling fans that hate the whole "Women's Revolution "


Plus there isn't enough great female workers to carry a weekly show. The vast majority of Women's matches are terrible.

[Lock Jaw]

And there's a few people who preferDiet Coke over regular Coke

You say that now, but wait after Lacey Evans vs Tamina happens 3 weeks in a row

Yeah, don't get me wrong.... I'd watch the show.... for a few months before my general feeling of "over wrestling" hits me and I stop caring. Kind of like how I watched AEW for a bit but then just stopped because "meh, wrestling".

[Bad News Gertner]

I get that

[Emperor Smeat]

It never would have worked. There's a good segment of wrestling fans that hate the whole "Women's Revolution "


Plus there isn't enough great female workers to carry a weekly show. The vast majority of Women's matches are terrible.

It could work since the interest in women's wrestling in WWE has been growing over the years. It just can't be a major brand right off the start or else you risk too much meddling by Vince since that is what hurt WWE ECW and 205 Live early in their existences.

Talent-wise, WWE has way more than enough to make an all-women's weekly show work since one of NXT's main purposes is to train crops of women to be more serviceable in the ring than what WWE was offering before.

If WWE can't make a brand work with around 40-60 women on hand, then that's a failure of their shitty booking habits and not the talent themselves.

[Fignuts]

Whoever said that isn't wrong. Nobody would watch am all women's show. Nobody. This isn't Joshi. Totally different animal.

I've used this analogy before. Men's wrestling is Coke. Women's is Diet Coke.

Both are sodas. But if I'm gonna have a soda, I'm gonna have a Coke because it's better. Now there are some people who prefer Diet Coke, but they are in the extreme minority. If I'm gonna have or watch something, I want to watch the best.

This applies to all Women's sports

I dunno dude, I'd definitely watch women's volleyball over mens.

[Fignuts]

It could work since the interest in women's wrestling in WWE has been growing over the years. It just can't be a major brand right off the start or else you risk too much meddling by Vince since that is what hurt WWE ECW and 205 Live early in their existences.

Talent-wise, WWE has way more than enough to make an all-women's weekly show work since one of NXT's main purposes is to train crops of women to be more serviceable in the ring than what WWE was offering before.

If WWE can't make a brand work with around 40-60 women on hand, then that's a failure of their shitty booking habits and not the talent themselves.

Interest has been growing because of the handful of women they have that can actually work. But it's just that. A handful. There's not enough quality in ring talent to make an all women's show watchable.

[Emperor Smeat]

For a 1 hour weekly show, you only really need like 3-4 matches top and a few segments to build up feuds and other talent.

If WWE legit can't make that work with their "greatest women's division" and an overall roster of women that's larger than most indies and all-women's promotions, then that's a mega failure on their part.

A lot of WWE's current struggles with their women's division is due to their shitty overall booking and their women's division being way too stretched out.

WWE's shown that the way they do it with 2 main roster divisions, a developmental brand that just hogs quality female talent, a smaller developmental talent that just stashes extra talent away, and a set of 2 main titles and 2 tag titles doesn't work.

Condense that into 1 main brand with 1 main title and 1 tag title with women still getting some time on the main brands so it doesn't turn into another forgotten 205 Live and it would work. Its just WWE is way too stupid to realize this to make it work.

[Bad News Gertner]

How many times can you do Bayley vs Sasha.

[Emperor Smeat]

As a singles match, only a handful of times per year at most.

You take a page out of WWE Network era NXT and/or Attitude Era on the mentality towards booking those matches so your not burning through those singles matches and feud interest way too quickly unlike what WWE main roster brands do these days for feuds.

[Bad News Gertner]

They've got maybe 6-7 who can go. It'll get old fast.
. It'd definitely do worse than NXT.

[Emperor Smeat]

They got more than that just in NXT alone (NXT & NXT UK) and enough on the main roster to fill out a healthy upper card and top division. Add in some serviceable to good talent and they have a fine lower and mid-card to work with for a women's only show.

On the main roster, it only looks very dire because they are stretched out over 2 brand and WWE barely gives a shit unless your name is Charlotte or are forced into a situation like what happened with Sasha's top star rise this past year once Charlotte, Becky, and Ronda were out.

Probably would do worse than NXT though for ratings at least early since it takes time to build up a stable core audience and use it as the basis for growth. Plus wash away any associated WWE main roster brands stink.

[Volare]

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/COOQllWBRnx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" 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:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COOQllWBRnx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; 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[erickman]

They got more than that just in NXT alone (NXT & NXT UK) and enough on the main roster to fill out a healthy upper card and top division. Add in some serviceable to good talent and they have a fine lower and mid-card to work with for a women's only show.

On the main roster, it only looks very dire because they are stretched out over 2 brand and WWE barely gives a shit unless your name is Charlotte or are forced into a situation like what happened with Sasha's top star rise this past year once Charlotte, Becky, and Ronda were out.

Probably would do worse than NXT though for ratings at least early since it takes time to build up a stable core audience and use it as the basis for growth. Plus wash away any associated WWE main roster brands stink.

thats why a month ago i was thinking they would do a womans show for peacock. they have far too many women for the shows they have.

[Emperor Smeat]

Add Xia Brookside to the growing pile of anti-COVID and conspiracy theory wackos currently in NXT and WWE's developmental system.

This time it wasn't entirely Drake Wuertz fault since her boyfriend instead seems to be the source of her recent hard turn.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WHAT THE HELL DO YOU EVEN THINK THAT MEANS?!?<br><br>Usually, I have some idea what they THINK they're saying, but nope, not this time.<br><br>We're getting to the point where if WWE doesn't take active steps to deradicalize the people who work for them, they're officially making it worse. <a href="https://t.co/mJyLA2GE3F">pic.twitter.com/mJyLA2GE3F</a></p>&mdash; David Bixenspanhausen (@davidbix) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1387806274436403207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Bad News Gertner]

Bix is having a field day with this

Side note: Bix and Kris Zellner are doing the episode I picked for next weeks "Between The Sheets" podcast. Paid my $25 through their Patreon for this

[Fignuts]

Someone tell cornette too. He'll have a fucking meltdown on his podcast.

[XL]

Add Xia Li to the growing pile of anti-COVID and conspiracy theory wackos currently in NXT and WWE's developmental system.

This time it wasn't entirely Drake Wuertz fault since her boyfriend instead seems to be the source of her recent hard turn.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WHAT THE HELL DO YOU EVEN THINK THAT MEANS?!?<br><br>Usually, I have some idea what they THINK they're saying, but nope, not this time.<br><br>We're getting to the point where if WWE doesn't take active steps to deradicalize the people who work for them, they're officially making it worse. <a href="https://t.co/mJyLA2GE3F">pic.twitter.com/mJyLA2GE3F</a></p>&mdash; David Bixenspanhausen (@davidbix) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1387806274436403207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Smeat with the FAKE NEWZ.

That’s NXT UK’s Xia Brookside, daughter of Robbie Brookside, not Xia Li.

[Emperor Smeat]

My bad, somehow managed to screw up the two Xia's.

That's what I get for not actually reading the name and having a bunch of other sheets news and NFL Draft stuff tabs opened at the same time.

[Bad News Gertner]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Say some Hardy Boy leaves the New Brood and is dissin' your fly girl. Ya just give 'em one of these ������ <a href="https://t.co/uPrJCLlhPp">pic.twitter.com/uPrJCLlhPp</a></p>&mdash; Wrestling Referees are Wizards (@refsaswizards) <a href="https://twitter.com/refsaswizards/status/1387926089507430403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[drave]

god damnit - now i gotta listen to the whole theme

[Lock Jaw]

One of the best themes ever

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Observer Newsletter, WWE is currently in talks with MLW regarding the potential of a working partnership between the two.

Part of the reason is due to WWE being upset over their bad rep and perception of them not liking to work with other companies and the other is due to them needing a place for their lesser experienced developmental talent to work since EVOLE is gone and NXT is way too stuffed with talent with not enough tv time to split around.

We’ll see if this goes somewhere, but WWE doesn’t like the rep that it doesn’t work with anyone in the modern wrestling world. They are in talks with MLW and it’s along the lines of the old Evolve deal or to a degree the 90s ECW deal. The idea is to get some of the developmental guys who aren’t working on NXT television some work. There is also the idea of creating their own Evolve-like group as a weekly streaming show, but this would allow the guys to work on actual television and get more exposure than on Peacock and also seem like they are changing and modernizing. The idea is also to alleviate the frustration of so many guys on the roster who sign and then basically are never used, especially now with no NXT house shows (although that will likely be changing soon). The idea is people see AEW having partnerships with New Japan, Impact and AAA and they want to make it look like WWE is not set in its old ways and uncooperative in he real world. Whether this comes to fruition is a different story but the mentality right now is there to work with other people. Then again, that was also the mentality in the U.K. and Germany and that didn’t turn out well. But this is a totally new WWE under Nick Khan

[xrodmuc316]

According to the Observer Newsletter, WWE is currently in talks with MLW regarding the potential of a working partnership between the two.

Part of the reason is due to WWE being upset over their bad rep and perception of them not liking to work with other companies and the other is due to them needing a place for their lesser experienced developmental talent to work since EVOLE is gone and NXT is way too stuffed with talent with not enough tv time to split around.

Lol come on.

"The idea is people see AEW having partnerships with New Japan, Impact and AAA and they want to make it look like WWE is not set in its old ways and uncooperative in he real world. Whether this comes to fruition is a different story but the mentality right now is there to work with other people."

Translation - "WWE might work with other companies, but then again, they might not, that will be $11.99."

Seriously, how is this bullshit news???

[Emperor Smeat]

Did you not read the first part where it says WWE is in talks with MLW over the potential of a working partnership.

The talks must be in the very early stage since MLW's Court Bauer hasn't done any cryptic tweets of this happening beforehand like he does with almost everything.

Also this seems to be a potential legit partnership and not the poison pill type like with EVOLVE and PROGRESS or WWE's idea of a partnership in Japan being them just buying out companies.

[xrodmuc316]

Did you not read the first part where it says WWE is in talks with MLW over the potential of a working partnership.

The talks must be in the very early stage since MLW's Court Bauer hasn't done any cryptic tweets of this happening beforehand like he does with almost everything.

Also this seems to be a potential legit partnership and not the poison pill type like with EVOLVE and PROGRESS or WWE's idea of a partnership in Japan being them just buying out companies.

I did, just hate Observers way of reporting. They take a piece of news like working with MLW, spin it in a way that promotes how great AEW is and WWE isnt, speculate something in a way that is a coin flip, and hedge their bets as "well it could happen, or it could not happen".

Let me try, I heard on next week's Raw that Vince McMahon is going to take a shit right in the middle of the ring on live TV. I am also hearing that he might not really do that. Guess we will find out Monday!

[Emperor Smeat]

Seeing as WWE has been notorious for a long time about changing their minds constantly, don't see how that's an issue of Meltzer pointing out this potential partnership might not even happen.

Same for him bringing up their main rival having a big advantage over them when it comes to AEW being a lot more open to partnerships and the buzz it keeps generating for the company compared to WWE and their long perception of being very closed minded when it comes to working with others.

[screech]

How wacky would it be if every promotion shared talent? I don't know how it could realistically work, but it would be crazy to turn on any show and potentially see any rassler.

[xrodmuc316]

Seeing as WWE has been notorious for a long time about changing their minds constantly, don't see how that's an issue of Meltzer pointing out this potential partnership might not even happening.

Same for him bringing up their main rival having a big advantage over them when it comes to AEW being a lot more open to partnerships and the buzz it keeps generating for the company compared to WWE and their long perception of being very closed minded when it comes to working with others.

Right, but if he doesn't know then he doesn't know. Why report a hypothetical scenario that may or may not happen in that manner?

If they were taking a guess, don't hedge. Either wait until his guess is right, or admit he guessed wrong. His "plans change" bullshit is just that, it's bullshit. He has created a system where he can guess whatever he wants, then instead of saying he guessed wrong, he plays it off like he was right but whoever changed their minds.

Vince McMahon really was going to take a shit in the middle of the ring Monday live on Raw, but then he changed his mind at the last minute, but it WAS going to happen, so I am actually right.

It is abhorrent reporting.

[Emperor Smeat]

Going to assume you don't follow any other notable sheets places since they all do the same thing as him when it comes to speculating on certain news.

PWI's Mike Johnson is just as respected as Meltzer is as a notable sheets reporter and he speculates a lot as well for certain news topics.

Also that "plans change" bullshit narrative you claim he always peddles would have more weight if it wasn't for Fightful constantly reporting on the abrupt changes WWE makes to their plans all the time.

[Sepholio]

So, uh, like....whatever happened to Edge and stuff? Have they even mentioned him at all since WM other than recaps of the match?

[Emperor Smeat]

Either he got hurt at Mania and WWE was keeping hush about it like with Styles or Omos or WWE didn't have any actual plans for him post-Mania.

They've mentioned him a few times in promos but that's basically been it for his presence on the Blue Brand since Mania.

Felt it was a mistake having him win the Rumble and even more now that WWE might not have had any real plans for him post-Mania.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to PWI, MLW isn't currently in talks with WWE over a potential partnership deal.

Assuming PWI's report is true, would be another case of MLW owner Court Bauer being an actual BS artist when it comes to him leaking MLW stuff these days. Usually its PWI who gets baited the most for his antics that later end up being way different or not true but this time he managed to bait the Observer.

[DaveWadding]

I was hoping they'd loan Morrison, Ricochet, Swerve Scott, Santos Escobar and Taya to MLW for a hot minute....

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeah them showing up in MLW's Lucha Underground-like spin-off would be a nice nod to their past in LU. Especially if they brought back some of their old LU personas.

Someone on /wooo made a really good point of how a WWE-MLW partnership would be very beneficial for WWE since it would give them added exposure in the Hispanic market since MLW does well with them and as a potential better gateway into Mexico for NXT than just going straight in like they tried for NXT Japan.

[erickman]

that would mean konnan working with wwe again. i would have figured wwe would make a deal with sinclare to work with roh before mlw.

[Emperor Smeat]

PWI gave a small update regarding the rumored recent talks between WWE and MLW over a potential partnership that were debunked by them.

Q - Anything to the MLW-WWE rumor?

A - We are told by sources at WWE there is nothing to that and there are no current talks. That doesn't mean there weren't conversations in the past, but currently, the WWE side denies it.
Came from a recent Q&A article on their site.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to a former writer, Braun Strowman was originally planned to defeat Lesnar for the vacant Universal title at Crown Jewel 2018.

WWE's creative team even had the script for the following episode of RAW finished ahead of time with Braun as champ but both the plans and script got tossed after some last minute changes were made for Lesnar to win instead.

Isaiah “Swerve” Scott was the latest guest on the ‘Say Less With Kaz, Lowkey and Rosy’ podcast. A conversation came up about finishes in matches changing on a dime. Former WWE writer Kazeem Famuyide shared that back in 2018, Braun Strowman was supposed to defeat Brock Lesnar for the vacant Universal Title at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia. The creative team had an entire Raw planned with Strowman as champion but Lesnar ended up winning the match and the following Raw had to be rewritten.

"There was one time where we all thought a match was going — this was — man, f*ck it, I’m not working there anymore. It was in Saudi [Crown Jewel 2018] and Braun [Strowman] was supposed to beat Brock [Lesnar]. This is right after Roman [Reigns] announced he had cancer, right? So, Brock and Braun was supposed to fight for the world title and we had a whole Monday Night Raw written with Braun Strowman as champion and then sike, Brock Lesnar wins and then as soon as Brock wins, we all had to go back into the office, rewrite the whole show and I just thought it was some sh*t where it’s just like oh, they’re just kind of keeping us on the D.L. [down low], whatever but I didn’t know they could change like [that]."

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Fightful Select, the Observer's report about WWE and MLW being in talks are actually true.

Also revealed that these talks are at the very early stage which is why Meltzer cautioned about it not being definitive that a partnership deal was going to be made.

There have been conflicting reports regarding the emerging details of MLW and WWE having discussions regarding talent sharing. Many in NXT were left in the dark about the situation and didn't even know until the rumor had emerged, but we can confirm Dave Meltzer's report that the preliminary conversations have happened, and the talks go "high up" in WWE. We're told the conversations go high up in both companies, but don't have any further details beyond that.

[Volare]

I wonder if Mandy double checks her posts....


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[Emperor Smeat]

According to Fightful, Daniel Bryan's contract with WWE expired after this past Friday's episode of Smackdown.

[Evil Vito]

Daniel Bryan is the master of renegotiation tactics, which is why he's started mentioning dream opponents outside of WWE recently. Done it before, will do it again. Hope he enjoys his increase in salary.

[drave]

would still be very cool to see him and Ray Fenix. Tag team or opponents, either would be great.

[Evil Vito]

Do I think Bryan will actually leave WWE? No.

Will that stop me from daydreaming about The Final Countdown hitting at the end of Double or Nothing? Also no.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to the Wrestling Observer Radio and Fightful Select, these are the locations currently being considered for this year's SummerSlam event:


Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
Las Vegas, Nevada
Phoenix, Arizona
A location yet to be determined in Texas

[Jordan]

I hope they don't pick MSG so I don't feel pressured to go.

[RaginRonic]

Do I think Bryan will actually leave WWE? No.

Will that stop me from daydreaming about The Final Countdown hitting at the end of Double or Nothing? Also no.

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You mean this? Though this one is a puzzle to be put together....XB

[Emperor Smeat]

According to Fightful, Zelina Vega is currently in the process of potentially returning to WWE.

Less than a year after being released, Zelina Vega and WWE are working toward her return.

Fightful first reported that Vega (Thea Trinidad-Budgen) was at the Performance Center Thursday doing filming for something and that "the working plan is for her to return to the company." Dave Meltzer confirmed the report.

The 30-year-old was released by WWE last November following issues regarding their policies about individual deals with third parties like Twitch where she has a popular, revenue generating channel. That release sparked interest from SAG-AFTRA after she tweeted about unionization, but nothing ever came of that interest.

In March, Meltzer reported that Trinidad had signed an undisclosed short-term deal that wouldn't allow her to work for another wrestling company.

[ClockShot]

Well, she either cut a deal with Vince to keep making extra cash on the side. Or she's getting more money altogether.

[Bad News Gertner]

Lol of course.

[erickman]

Well, she either cut a deal with Vince to keep making extra cash on the side. Or she's getting more money altogether.

yeah i think they cut a deal an if she is going to work with the rocks kid, all must be forgiving.

[Emperor Smeat]

Current rumor going around the net regarding Bray's recent absence from RAW hints at him currently suffering a bad bout of depression.

Supposedly the loss of his close friend Brodie Lee is still hitting him very hard all these months later.

[Fignuts]

I'm sure the direction they took his character the past year or so isn't helping either.

[Emperor Smeat]

WWE currently planning to resume touring in mid-July according to the Mat Men podcast and Wrestling Observer.

In this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed the news that was first reported by Mat Men's Andrew Zarian on Thursday that WWE is exploring a return to touring in a few months.

Zarian first said that Friday, July 16th's SmackDown would be the first such show with fans. He later specified the message he recieved was "fans back July 16-19" and wasn't sure if that meant a one-off stretch or not.

What is unknown is whether the first shows will be at the ThunderDome at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida, or in another city completely. It's also unknown if house shows are still in the plan for the future and if so, how that schedule will change from past years.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to WrestlingInc, Sonya Deville's stalker was recently ruled incompetent to stand trial for the stalking and kidnapping charges against him related to last year's kidnapping attempt incident at Sonya's home.

As previously reported, Phillip A. Thomas had a competency hearing this week. Thomas is facing life in prison on multiple charges after attempting to kidnap Daria Berenato, a.k.a. Sonya Deville, at her home on August 16, 2020.

Wrestling Inc. has learned that Thomas has been found incompetent to stand trial. He is awaiting transfer to Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, Florida.

As noted, Deville had her temporary protection injunction against Thomas extended last week. The next protection hearing is October 7th at 9 a.m.

Thomas was charged with Aggravated Stalking, Armed Burglary of a Dwelling, Attempted Armed Kidnapping, and Criminal Mischief. Depositions for the case started in February.

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems Zelina Vega being open to a potential return to WWE might be due to the company recently weakening the ban put in place for their talents social media accounts and outside third party deals.

Despite big plans to represent their own talent to monetize third party bookings including sponsorships, film and TV roles, World Wrestling Entertainment has already shut down their Talent Management Group.

WWE launched plans for the division in November 2020, announcing, "WWE Talent Management Group will deliver best-in-class 360-degree support of Talent across all internal lines of business and key external partners, amplifying Talent brand value and maximizing monetization opportunities for Talent and WWE."

The company began staffing the division at that point.

PWInsider.com is told the decision to shutter the division was made just few weeks back and in all, the division only existed for four to five weeks.

[erickman]

guess vince did not make as much money as he thought he would

[Emperor Smeat]

Yeup and both him and WWE President Nick Khan completely overestimated WWE's talents level of interest to want to continue shilling products as if nothing had happened since they no longer were getting paid extra for it or were losing out on huge sums of money.

Like Asuka started to blur out products she uses or buys on her Youtube channel just to get around WWE's ban so it wouldn't affect her pay in any way.

[xrodmuc316]

I think we can all agree that was such a bad decision.

WWE might, and BIG might, but they might have gotten away with 10% of whatever extra income the wrestlers make being applied to their downside guarantees. If a wrestler has has a million downside guarantee, they can use their side ventures to make as much as possible, but WWE can count up to 100k off their downside.

It's still a real shitty practice, but a talent would rather lose 10% of their downside and still get to earn an extra day 500k on the side. 1.4 million is better than 1 million.

[erickman]

I think we can all agree that was such a bad decision.

WWE might, and BIG might, but they might have gotten away with 10% of whatever extra income the wrestlers make being applied to their downside guarantees. If a wrestler has has a million downside guarantee, they can use their side ventures to make as much as possible, but WWE can count up to 100k off their downside.

It's still a real shitty practice, but a talent would rather lose 10% of their downside and still get to earn an extra day 500k on the side. 1.4 million is better than 1 million.

that's what i was about to say as promoter they can get 10% that's how they did indy bookings and signings in the past. vince got greedy

[Evil Vito]

WWE going back to crowds earlier than planned is said to be a Fox request/mandate.

Not really surprised though given that the other sports in Fox's portfolio are back to having fans so it'll just "look better" if they have a live audience too.