I would be very excited if the WWE were to accommodate Batista's request to work a program with Hunter. It is quite baffling that they haven't made any efforts to latch onto his Hollywood success.

Toss Cedric Alexander to the growing pile of celebs and athletes who didn't bother to scrub their social media accounts and now have their past postings come back to haunt them.

In Cedric's case, seems his backlash is over rape jokes on Twitter from several years ago. Could be more but those were what got publicly outed.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well, looks like Cedric Alexander just got caught up by the twitter police...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/205Live?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#205Live</a> <a href="https://t.co/jRdBIzXiS8">pic.twitter.com/jRdBIzXiS8</a></p>&mdash; Mark Out Mania | HK (@RealMarkOutHK) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealMarkOutHK/status/1024403303898046464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
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This is very disheartening and uncomfortable. Wow!

Tye Dillinger too

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tye Dillinger joins Cedric Alexander getting caught up by the twitter police... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SDLIVE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SDLIVE</a> <a href="https://t.co/Mw8ubdtB07">pic.twitter.com/Mw8ubdtB07</a></p>&mdash; Mark Out Mania | HK (@RealMarkOutHK) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealMarkOutHK/status/1024429230967291906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Oh God!

I met Dreamer at a signing years ago (Edge was the "headliner") and he seemed super disinterested. I know people who have had good experiences with him though, so I'm thinking I caught him on a rough day.

Also John Morrison was way bigger than I thought he'd be haha

But woooo indie feds!

Must have quite the tiny dick not to wake them up...:shifty:

I hope in the future the main roster of #WWE is booked more like NXT.

Brand new main-event scene every two years or so. Out with the old and in with the new. Mindset you need to have the same people main-eventing for a decade is outdated & toxic IMO.

It's just like a soap-opera. A lot of characters come and go. Some, even main-event/major ones, only have 2-3 years worth of story to tell. Some might have a decade plus.

Bray is a perfect example - 2-3 years worth of good story & could have released him after that. WWE instead just hires and stockpiles people. A smaller, constantly cycled out roster would keep things fresh all the time. And you can always bring some people back, if needed, for another run down the line.

Kind of like "Oz"

Yeah

Instead of (between RAW/SD/NXT/Performance Center) having like 200 people you pay $$$ to maybe you only have 75-100.

So you'd have a person in the main event for two years and then kill them off/fire them and replace them with new up-and-comers?

That's kinda why I've been really enjoying SmackDown. Some are showcased more than others but not everyone gets featured every week, not even AJ.

Basically, yeah

WWE fans have shown they are more loyal to the #brand than individual wrestlers...keep the show 'fresh' constantly.

Exactly.

Even with it's smaller roster, you don't see everyone all the time. The Bar is a great example too. RAW, minus Ronda/Brock, trots out every big name it has every week but seems like they have nothing for them to do most of the time.

You can keep people on houseshows w/o having them on TV each week unless you need them. Just like any good tv show, let the story/creative be the base for the show.

I would have a FEW mainstays.

Definitely a few, establishes good continuity for fans

slik would have fired AJ Styles by now

WWE these days seems 'petrified' to release people b/c they are randomly paranoid about some other organization gaining a microcosm of popularity compared to WWE -- And let's be realistic, even if ROH or NJPW or IMPACT or whomever suddenly got a national TV deal on cable that was better than what they have now, said organization wouldn't come close to WWE's grasp of the market/name value, they'd just be bigger than they were before.

Not AJ, AJ would be the definition of a cornerstone.

But someone like Shinsuke I'd book as a character in the main-event scene fora solid 3 years or so and then look honestly if he was needed after that.

It's sad that we're even talking about a 2 year shelf lives for guys. Hotshotting really ruined wrestling. I still feel like there's a way you can build up your midcard as more of a focus so you don't have to overexpose your top acts without sacrificing the product though.

Well for those who hate Matt Hardy, he's been tweeting old photos from his career for about a month and then posted this today:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">To all that supported me in the independents &amp; OMEGA..<br><br>To the fans of Team Xtreme..<br><br>To the Mattitude Followers..<br><br>To the OUTSPOKEN fans who brought me back in 2005..<br><br>To the people who backed me when I was REINCARNATED in pro wrestling..<br><br>To the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WOKEN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WOKEN</a> Warriors..<br><br>THANK YOU. <a href="https://t.co/YkEILcoZh8">pic.twitter.com/YkEILcoZh8</a></p>&mdash; #WOKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) <a href="https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1024654689986461697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Appears to be teasing retirement.

The Broken/Woken stuff just never took off in WWE for a variety of reasons...took ages to get started with it because of the legal issues, WWE not really understanding the character beyond "Matt Hardy laughs funny", etc. Plus his team with Bray doesn't seem to be particularly interesting. I'm not really sure they'd be able to salvage interest in the gimmick at this point.

But no matter how it was executed, he still got to do the gimmick in WWE which from all indications was one of his goals when he re-signed. He also got a nostalgia run with his brother which saw him get one of the biggest pops in recent memory and is the very definition of a "WrestleMania moment" the company always harps on about. He's about to turn 44 and has two young kids at home, hardly would be a surprise if he's decided to call it a career after SummerSlam.

He also, you know, can't walk.

4-5 years might be a better sweet spot considering that was Stone Cold's length as a quality character and the Attitude Era in general.

Biggest flaw with a 2-3 year model plan is a lot less room for error on constantly pumping out quality stars or characters due to the shorter time frame and smaller roster. Even with a few mainstays as anchors, you still are going to risk hitting a really bad downturn after a while. Not even NXT was immune to this.

As far as Slik's strategy, I don't think you'd need to release guys after 2-3 years. If they worked, got over and then started to get stale, you could just transition them into a part time role in the hopes of creating that Lesnar part timer aura. It too hard to find stars to just throw them out after a couple years.

Also, fake injury angles to give guys time off, keep them fresh character-wise and stretch out storylines are underused in wrestling.

Even with the great idea of a rotation type system to keep storylines and stars fresh, feels like it would just fall apart unless major changes were also done to Creative and WWE's mindset.

Right now everything pretty much revolves around Vince's mood and their desire to only have 1 big star and the brand be the main focus while everyone else is irrelevant.

I know a lot of large cast series, like telenovelas and soaps rotate characters out. Someone gets a big story/feud for 6 months and then disappears in the background for a few months afterwards.

Would Roman feel as 'forced' if he was in the main-event only half the time and maybe the other half the time a smaller storyline/feud and house show rasslin?

He wouldn't. I actually don't think Reigns himself is bad. But at the same time, to Smeat's point, there would still be issues even if he were phased out once in a while. Like those brutal scripted promos and bad booking. Without those being addressed, it's a moot point.

Just going to double post this here and the SD thread

#GiveBeckysAChance


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">�� <a href="https://t.co/vqMJPsYb5o">pic.twitter.com/vqMJPsYb5o</a></p>&mdash; ᴇᴍʀᴇ. (@adetabiremre) <a href="https://twitter.com/adetabiremre/status/1024476030197813249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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I'm sure he would get a different "feel" if that was the case but I don't think it would happen unless they were able to get Cena to "fill in" for that time. But then again maybe the heat would follow him right back upon his return. I think they've gotten themselves into a trap where if they don't have "the guy" they can't sell more than 4,000 tickets anywhere. You gotta have "they guy" to bring in the casual type fans. As much as we wanted to see more Hogan, it always forced people to pay to see him on PPV or on tour. I think it's smart to actually book your top babyface that way instead of the heel (Lesnar). When has it every been special to see Roman, he's there every week. It would be so easy for Cole to promote Roman as "training for his upcoming match" or working with Make a Wish, or filming a TV show or movie... whatever they want to say to make it look like he's a big star. In that case you have to push the IC title as the "workers title" so that it's defended on a somewhat regular basis on TV so that people get their title match fix. I miss those days of the strong IC draw. Guys like Razor and Bret in particular were such great babyface "almost" top guys. I miss that.

Maybe if WWE was a lot better at long term planning and writing. That's pretty much a key difference between WWE's Creative and soap operas or telenovelas. WWE shows very little respect to both long term stuff and continuity which is why you get Sasha vs Bayley becoming a mess of a feud.

Then you have stuff like Reigns where they already tried to push him to the side a bit or give him smaller stuff to do but never bother to fix the real issues with his character or his booking.

Great point @ Jordan X -- and IIRC a lot of times the HBKs, Razors, Bret Harts carried house shows back in that day too...If Seth82 ever lurks and sees this he could probably verify that.

I am also wondering where Dean will go when he comes back -- but he's a guy like Seth Rollins and Balor and Elias you can load the house shows with and they all come across as big enough stars to draw.

Strong IC draws are very few and far between. Nobody drew in the Bret/Shawn/Razor IC era. The IC title used to headline the B Shows for the most part.

on another note - thick battied indy wrestler Jordynne Grace is my dream woman.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just launched! Watch the official trailer for our new documentary about <a href="https://twitter.com/LuchaVaVOOM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LuchaVaVOOM</a> feat. <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeyRyanOnline</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/marawamazing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@marawamazing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/danagould?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danagould</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MissRitaD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MissRitaD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/VioletChachki?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VioletChachki</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Nachoserricchio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Nachoserricchio</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/blainecapatch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@blainecapatch</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CassandroLucha?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CassandroLucha</a> and many more! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/luchavavoom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#luchavavoom</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LuchaLibre?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LuchaLibre</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/burlesque?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#burlesque</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/comedy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#comedy</a> <a href="https://t.co/c4fKrCykUb">pic.twitter.com/c4fKrCykUb</a></p>&mdash; LuchaVaVoom: Inside America's Most Outrageous Show (@LuchaVaVoomFilm) <a href="https://twitter.com/LuchaVaVoomFilm/status/1024773163043807233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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July 2018 was the first month Jushin Thunder Liger didn't wrestle in since August 1995.

http://www.wrestlezone.com/assets/up...to-310x204.jpg

Just announced Kiera Hogan from Impact, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callahan

Cycling talent makes a lot of sense. Especially in an era where everything is so cold. But that used to be the way things worked. You'd keep talent when they worked really well, but if they got stale, you could refresh things by sending them on their way so they could come back fresh or go somewhere else and help that place out. It doesn't mean you have to cap acts that are over and doing a great job. But you could get rid of the people that have been around for ages and just don't mean anything anymore.

pics pls. ive already googled but this is for my tpww brethren.