WWE

Multi fight deal. Will debut in 2015.

This could have gone in one of the preexisting notes but the Extreme Rules one has turned into Brock F5ing people off ladders and the other one is in the midst of an Ambrose/Reigns tag team title run. I think it's big enough that we should break it out. I think that WWE currently has two major fanbases. 1.) The smarky, ironic, insider crowd that lives and breathes this stuff, that travels to the big shows, that are situated in the Northeast and Chicago and a few other big cities (and the UK), that want to hijack events, that want what they consider to be high workrate matches, that love NXT, etc. and 2.) Middle america, the kids, the ones who buy mer…

I am both looking forward and not looking forward to tonight's show. It's the post Mania Raw which should be good for the crowd but the results from last night did not get me enthused for the direction of the company.

This is one hell of a read. He doesn't sound bitter, just sad that the memory of his friend is being used. https://medium.com/@JustinRoberts/believe-half-of-what-you-see-and-portions-of-what-you-hear-296f34743af4

Running a new Diva Search on the Network to bring in a new crop of talent-free models sure will propel the women's division to the next level.

I am completely conflicted on these right now. On one hand I loved the Survivor Series and Lethal Lottery at the time. On the other hand, I hate Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, TLC, Money in the Bank and Extreme Rules. I think the Rumble gets a free pass, because it is a once a year match to determine the main event of the biggest show of the year. While, the others are frustrating. TLC, Hell in a Cell & Extreme Rules are the laziest of bookings. These type of matches can be cool, when a feud calls for them. Knowing that it is October so it is time for the blow off to the biggest feud i the company, always feels forced. It is never the right time for …

So I was thinking about the last two cash-ins and had an odd thought. In addition to being a major booking crutch the last two years it also brought us the always beloved Authority. They realized that with the fan reactions Bryan was getting he needed to go somewhere. So they built him up to the Cena match at SS 2013 and had Orton cash in post-match, but with Triple H doing the dirty work in a double cross. Then Triple H and Stephanie come out and start messing with Bryan for two weeks straight, with Bryan the helpless victim of a beating and Big Show positioned as the big guy with a bigger heart. He's forced against his will to not help and/or hurt Bryan, begging…

I'm making this thread because there was a recent thread regarding the common match style a promotion puts on and how matches that differ greatly from that style are looked at. It seems to me that Reigns vs. Lesnar is a highly atypical WWE match. I would go a little further to say that current Brock PPV matches tend to fall into that category. I'm not going to argue that it wasn't a great wrestling match, because it had me hooked and completely forgetting the Rollins cash in. I will question whether or not it may be somewhat overrated because so many WWE matches don't reach the level of realistic violence that we got from this match. There's something to be said for …

So I saw WrestleMania and was intrigued enough to the point where I would consider watching WWE again to see if they can build on what they did there. Back when I followed the product, RAW and Smackdown were almost separate entities with their own World titles and different rosters. I know that is a thing of the past now. Here is my question... Is Smackdown back to being a "B" level show that you really don't need to see in order to follow WWE? Or does most of the angle advancement happen on RAW with more quality wrestling on Smackdown? Or is there no difference between the two shows? I get the impression RAW is still the flagship show and Smackd…

I posted this on a group on Facebook when someone mentioned another bad WWE ratings and reasons why, including what else was on TV. And always hearing Vince is gonna shake things up.. Wanted to know what you all thought about this, any other reasons or comments about it? They could have run unopposed last night and it wouldnt have mattered. We keep hearing "shakeups", what can they do? Honestly, what can they "shakeup" if they continue this same path. No amount of dedication or idea sessions, firings, is gonna change it. We have a PPV this weekend built and named after a match that at one time was basically called "Hell's Chamber" by JR. There will be mul…

OK, the Live WrestleMania thread will be huge so I want to separate the predictions from the live thoughts. All matches are in and I have no idea what is going to happen since my booking philosophy is the complete antithesis to what WWE bookers tend to do about 90% of the time. Cesaro & Kidd vs. Usos vs. Matadores vs. New Day - New Day & Matadores feel non-important and I don't think they will be there for anything except highspots. Prediction: Cesaro & Kidd Wishful Thinking: Cesaro & Kidd AJ Lee & Paige vs. The Bella Twins Prediction: Bella Twins Wishful Thinking: Bella Twins Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper vs. Wade Ba…

Lawler's girlfriend....way to go King. Ditto for Orton. Ha-cha-cha.

OK, the podcasts this week have inspired me to create some discussion threads. It will also help us kill time waiting and anticipating the big show) One of the topics we discussed was Mr. WrestleMania (http://placetobenation.com/good-will-wrestling-mister-wrestlemania) In your mind, who is Mr. wrestleMania? Is it HBK like the WWE would have you believe? Is it somebody like Cena who has broken records over recent years? Is it Hogan for paving the way? Is it Savage for having classic moments? Have fun!

This week we are doing the final part in our series of podcasts debating the rankings for all 30 WrestleManias in order, from worst to first in blocks of ten, and would like to get some feedback to read on the shows. I've written an article on what I feel are the Top 10 (if you're interested in the rationale behind the rankings you can read the article here: http://steelchair.co.uk/ranking-the-wrestlemanias-the-top-10), and want to hear what agreements or disagreements people have with it, what you would rank higher or lower, and most importantly, why. For those who don't want to read the whole article, the Top 10 as I have them are: #10 - WrestleMania 30 (2014) #9 …

I really have no idea how they're going to book him. Clearly the fans see him as the guy. Another thing that I think the WWE doesn't understand is the fan base feels cheated out of his big title run when he got hurt. The WWE might not have planned on a big run, but the fans didn't know that. The fans might have accepted Ziggler and to a lesser extent Ambrose winning the Rumble. They went with Reigns and we saw what happened. If Vince won't go with Bryan what's he going to do. Will he call Hulk Hogan in and ask how he was able to kill Sting and Flair when he 1st went to WCW. Look at Hogan in WCW from 94 -the before Hall showed up, trying to prop himself up he tried to kill…

The Fast Lane talk is now moving from the PPV to discussion on the Mania card. We talked about it briefly on the post-game show but this is what Mania is shaping up to be so far... Lesnar vs. Reigns Cena vs. Rusev Rollins vs. Orton HHH vs. Sting Undertaker vs. Wyatt Divas match Battle Royal? (If not, what wacky multi-man match do you do?) I am guessing they do some sor tof tag title match even if it is another multi-man on the pre-show That still leaves DB out in the cold... your hottest babyface in the company and best worker in some thrown together meaningless match. No singles match for Dolph Ziggler who is currently like your 2nd or 3rd most over guy…

Just announced on SportsCenter.

OK, Round 2 of your WrestleMania enthusiasm. I will admit, I am more excited for the card than I was two weeks ago. Still, not super enthused but I think Rusev-Cena will be great and I am intrigued with the Brock match. Paul Heyman talked me into it. The ladder match could be MITB fun if they give it 15-20 minutes. I don't think the crowd will be a factor at all as they have completely neutered Bryan and he is just another schmuck. Brock may be the overwhelming babyface though so there is that. Matches I will pay attention to... Intercontinental Ladder Match Andre Battle Royal Rollins vs. Orton Cena vs. Rusev Lesnar vs. Reigns Matches I don't give a shi…

It occurred to me today that unless something completely unanticipated happens, John Cena will be the first ace under Vince to never have a public falling out with the WWE. He'll be omnipresent after his retirement, and he will probably be the goodwill ambassador for the company for as long as he chooses. This is a stark contrast to pretty much every other wrestler that's ever held his position since the late 70s. The issues that developed with Bruno, Hogan, Warrior (short-term ace for the sake of argument), Bret, Austin, and Rock seem unlikely to occur with Cena. The specifics of those backstage problems are well-known, but big picture: What is it about Vince and the…

This week we are doing Part 2 in our series of podcasts debating the rankings for all 30 WrestleManias in order, from worst to first in blocks of ten, and would like to get some feedback to read on the shows. I've written an article on what I feel are the middle 10 (if you're interested you can read it here: http://steelchair.co.uk/ranking-the-wrestlemanias-the-middle-10), and want to hear what agreements or disagreements people have with it, what they would rank higher or lower, and why. For those who don't want to read the whole article, the middle 10 are: #20 - WrestleMania 18 (2002) #19 - WrestleMania 13 (1997) #18 - WrestleMania 12 (1996) #17 - WrestleMania 25 (20…

So, for the next three weeks, we're going to be doing a series of podcasts debating the rankings for all 30 WrestleManias in order, from worst to first in blocks of ten, and would like to get some feedback to read on the shows. I've written an article on what I feel are the bottom 10 (if you're interested you can read it here: http://steelchair.co.uk/ranking-the-wrestlemanias-the-bottom-10), and want to hear what agreements or disagreements people have with it, what they would rank higher or lower, and why. For those who don't want to read the whole article, the bottom 10 are: #30 - WrestleMania 9 (1993) #29 - WrestleMania 11 (1995) #28 - WrestleMania 4 (1988)…

So thinking about how history could repeat itself with Brock walking away from WWE in spite of being given a massive salary, numerous benefits not afforded to others, and a long term plan that has him firmly working on top, I've been wondering... Does anybody think that Vince and the upper echelons of WWE have ever regretted anything over the years? Specifically stuff like "we should have signed this guy" or "that was a big missed opportunity"? They always take the high road publicly, assuming the position of "it was best for business", but there's got to regrets floating around there. Getting back to my first point, surely they must be regretting ending the strea…

I am looking at guys who have come up through the system and made the main roster in the last couple of years. I started with the Shield making the main roster since they had a cup of coffee at FCW. I will happily edit any names I forgot. FEELS LIKE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL Big E Langston - This feels like a company miss more than a BIg E Sucks thing. Don't want to put him in the failure category yet but the NEw Day is making it harder to keep him out. Dean Ambrose - success in the Shield, failure as a single? Erik Rowan - success as a Wyatt but failure as Ryback partner? Paige - Can any Diva on the main roster be considered a success? SUPER WORKER FAILURE Cesar…

While the last few years he hasn't been able to work much due to injuries, he still had an almost 13 year run that was filled with all sorts of interesting stuff, outside of his ring work. Random interesting notes in his run. --Key WWE draw with Dave Bautista in Spain and Italy. Led to some sort of boom period there that Jose Fernandez could explain way better than any of us here. --Key WWE draw in Mexico, and also important house show draw for WWE in the Southwest. --One of the top merchandise sellers for years, usually behind just John Cena. --Program with Eddy Guerrero in 2005 drew some wild numbers. I forgot exactly how many people were tuning in just …

Pre-Show Interview: Paul Heyman on Miz TV Cesaro & Tyson Kidd vs. The Usos (Tag Team Titles) Goldust vs. Stardust Nikki Bella vs. Paige (DIvas Title) Dean Ambrose vs. Bad News Barrett (IC Title) Dolph Ziggler, Erik Rowan & Ryback vs. Seth Rollins, Big Show & Kane HHH-Sting Confrontation John Cena vs. Rusev (US TItle) Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan (Winner main events Wrestlemania) OK, I am starting this early since insomnia has the best of me and I can't sleep right now. Looking at the matchups, this looks like it could be the best card of the year. On the other hand, the booking could absolutely suck the life out of the crowd and me. The ta…