sek69

Funny how all the stories coming out how the AEW locker room got a morale boost from Cabana being on Dynamite are getting no-sold like early 90s Taker in this thread.

That reminds me, I wonder who gets the gate money for the Saudi shows. It's been stated that WWE only gets the flat fee the government pays them (and merch sales I guess), and even a giant wrestling gate would be equivalent to loose change found in the couch for MBS, so where does it go?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkjDTMeJHYh/ Otis discussing his battles with severe dyslexia and how with the help of a tutor he was finally able to read an entire book for the first time ever.

Im saying the angle could be the Bloodline expecting him to do it, not that he actually does. Then they do him like the Horsemen did Lex Luger when he wouldn't let JJ win the Bunkhouse battle royal.

For WWE it's money, for MBS it's a way to sportswash all their actions and make Saudi seem like it's not really that bad of a place. Also I'm not sure if it's so much "normalized" or fans just realizing WWE is going to do this no matter what anyone says. It sucks, but if you're going to demand ethics in your entertainment sources you're going to be very very bored.

KO/Sami winning the belts from the Usos was the original plan, but word is it's being pushed back because Sami-mania started running wild BROTHER. Since the Bloodline is so much like the Horsemen, I wonder if Sami wins the Rumble and gets turned on when he doesn't give up his shot and/or lay down for Roman.

I'm sure he did feel responsible since after it happened he never went back to the Northeast and let Waldo keep using the Von Erich name in the WWWF. I'm really interested in how they present Fritz pushing his kids into an industry that at least two had no business in. Mike never wanted to be a wrestler, he wanted to be a camera man but after David died he had to be the replacement Von Erich so the Freebirds feud could keep going. Chris wanted to be a wrestler, but physically couldn't but no one would tell him no.

Ricky Starks is such a star its crazy.

(watching Rampage now) JR seems especially pissy tonight. Maybe he's salty Iron Mike was better than him on commentary?

I know Tyson is a huge wrestling fan, but I'm always surprised when he starts marking out.

They're doing an old school battle of the giants build which is one of those things that always seems to get over.

I know this isn't breaking news, but Rey is great.

LE GA DO

Good lord, Natalya is a wardrobe malfunction wafting to happen.

Dude was insanely over in NXT, if they manage to pull that off on Smackdown it's going to be something.

I know it's nowhere near the top of the list but Sami not being able to go is another reason the Saudi shows suck.

Of course, but MBS loosened up enough restrictions for the vast majority of Saudi youth to see him as a breath of fresh air after being ruled by strict old men since the Grand Mosque Seizure in 1979. He may be a monster, but the man knows how to PLAY THE GAME-UH and was able to read the room that the public was looking for changes in government.

On the positive side, there apparently were large WE WANT SAMI chants from the crowd which is amazing when you think about it.

From a purely cynical standpoint, MBS is super popular among young folks in Saudi so it's good business to do something like that. From every other standpoint, yeesh.

Also it's pretty funny how the narrative became "journalists are spinning for the Elite" when Dave has been very clear that while he's asked them multiple times the only thing he's got from them was that they couldn't comment. If anything his initial reporting came from the Punk side, what with claims the Bucks kicked the door down or whatnot. I think @Big Pete's take is probably right that poor Larry probably got hit with the door as dogs are wont to do, and I could see known animal lover Omega being concerned about that.

Said owner was in the middle of a press conference so they got the person who's widely seen as Tony's right hand person. I can see the line of thinking that they wanted to bring the person highest up the food chain who wasn't busy at the moment.

The Elite bringing Megha with them would indicate they weren't itching for a fight, since she's the exact last person you'd want to witness shit going down. Just using Occam's Razor would suggest they went with the head of HR to find out why he took a giant shit on the company and them personally right after a PPV where he won the world title in his hometown. As Dave reminded me the other day, Punk was actually in a fairly good mood during the whole press conference despite what he was saying, and actually said if anyone had a problem to come talk to him. Maybe Punk was taken off guard by someone actually taking him up on the offer, who knows.

Yep. It's been kind of forgotten due to how popular she got that in the immediate aftermath they were still trying to keep her as the heel she was prior to getting her face smashed and not going with what was catching fire.

It's not an apples to apples comparison. Yes, there's been guys who've been held back, but again it's assuming the women are on equal footing. For the most part, women's level of push came down to their willingness to get fake boobs and (allegedly) fool around with Vince. Getting to the level of having your career derailed because Vince didn't understand the appeal would have been a step up. Let's not forget even after that they still tried to turn her heel only for the crowd to reject that shit like Mutumbo.

More and more it's looking pretty clear who was in the right and it's really *really* upsetting to the folks that have weird hate boners for the Elite.