sek69

Yeah the Ronda angle is pretty much Dave's worlds colliding in the best possible way for him both professionally and as a fan of both genres. I'd be marking out like a fool if I was him.

It's on the Observer site. Where did you find this, btw? Not doubting you, I just don't see it anywhere.

1/1/96 was the Raw Bowl show, and as I recall it's missing due to music issues.

Alexa Bliss in NXT is a great example, she's naturally fair skinned and has bleach blonde hair with light blue streaks. Yet somehow they felt the need to douse her in spray tanner until she looked more orange than Taz and Hogan combined. With her complexion, it makes her look about 30 years older when seen in HD.

Seems more like Vince's deep seeded desire to be seen as more than a "rasslin' promoter", so now we have to deal with the WWE Network getting flooded with shows no one would possibly care about/watch more than once.

Watching WM at a friend's house who's also a long time fan, and we both hoped during the Sting/HHH match that Flair would come out and turn on Sting one more time for old time's sake.

I'm getting the feeling they are putting Roman in these no-win positions on purpose to set up a heel turn. He comes off as a guy who would fare MUCH better as a heel so perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part.

Well at Mania the camera angle inadvertently showed they weren't connecting, but yes the point remains. It's mind boggling they make a point to reference their past medical issues as well. I wonder if this is some "WWE branded Sports Entertainers are tougher than pussy football and hockey players" stuff from Vince.

Building up the surprise partner in the main event after there were already two NXT debuts only to have it be Roman has to be either a middle finger to the "Smart" post Mania crowd or the biggest "Vince is out of touch" moment to date. Of course they also decided to give Michael Cole kayfabe cervical spine injuries a little more than a week after Perrito's death so who knows.

That Keller quote must make Dave's blood boil with rage since he did a rant on a recent WO show on how the "Verne didn't see anything in Hogan" narrative is total bullshit. He built the company around him and the only reason he didn't get the belt was because Hogan's main territory at the time was New Japan and he was spending half his time overseas.

One year he should come out on a chaise lounge being carried Hedonism Bot style by NXT trainees.

FWIW, still getting calls from people asking how they can add WWE Network to their cable package to watch Mania. Made me realize for all the "ITS NAHN NAHNTY NAHN, MAGGLE" they do, they never really explain what it is and how you get it. I guess that would cut in their time they set aside for mocking people who pay for PPV.

Maybe it has been mentioned and I missed it, but why does Parv have such nuclear hate toward Strongbow?

No way, that was f'n awesome Maybe it's because I'm a huge Mortal Kombat mark, but that makes me think of this every time: I mean, he even uses a hammer for a weapon.

Dave had mentioned they wanted to do a big angle to end the show, so perhaps with Brock signing they can actually do whatever that was now.

If the time goes to the entrances it should be good, otherwise....yikes.

Any word on who the masked guys are/will be yet?

Dalton's entrace was amazing, followed closely by Jay Lethal's WTF face in reaction to it.

Clearly he didn't grab the brass ring hard enough, lazy millennial that he is.

Is it really a bubble or more a result of a man nearing 70 trying to write "hip and cool" promos for a man/demo he's hopelessly out of touch with?

Roman has tons of charisma when he isn't being hamstrung by the lustful eyes of Vince McMahon and his gaggle of writers.

Fascinating show. I do wonder how was WWE able to file these preemptive lawsuits under seal, for years apparently. The way it was described made it sound like some Patriot Act level nonsense. Was Uncle Jerry able to convince a judge Al Qaeda might be selling merch at WrestleCon?

They are clearly in a working relationship with ESPN at the moment, with Simmons being on Raw, ESPN doing a behind the scenes special, and Reigns and Lesnar being on Sportscenter and SportsNation yesterday. Heyman was on, also. So, I think what Dave thinks is total bullshit. I wouldn't be surprised if they make more appearances this week. I listen to the SVP and Russillo show on the way in to work, and Scott Van Pelt did his "One Big Thing" segement on how he doesn't understand why so many people around him are excited about WrestleMania. He didn't go as far as bashing it, but clearly he was bemused at how all these people at the mighty ESPN were fans of this silly thing for children.

Keeping Brock to limited dates harkens back to when Hogan would rarely defend the title on TV and when he did it would be an event. Plus it's refreshing to see someone booked like a world beater instead of another even-steven chump.

Reuniting the Shield would really be the only scenario I can think of that doesn't result in the lasting image of WM31 being a massive fan rejection. I possibly may be giving them more credit than they deserve, but surely they know that this crowd will be the hardest of the hardcores and just won't accept Roman as the new king.