FMKK

At this point I'm almost willing to just say fuck it, they should put the belt on Shane. He's the only person on the weekly TV who's actually seen as and booked like a star.

Bryan vs Rollins is on for Raw, which should be good if they get some time. Bound to have a Corbin run-in though... I also saw some rumour that they we're going to tinker with the Stomping Grounds card to pop some interest following poor ticket sales. The show is this Sunday. Depending on how big any changed would be, this would be by my count their third reset of the year so far.

This is the Dallas card. I guess when it's clear that they weren't going to run Moxley on top there to pop a number then they kinda had to go with Okada vs Tanahashi on top. Not a blowaway card imo but Ibushi vs KENTA will be fascinating just to see how either of them are able to work.

It seems bizarre and counterproductive for them to take the hump with Cena because at this point he's a lot more valuable to them than they are to him. If this ratings decline had been happening a few years earlier, I'd have expected Vince to hotshot the belt onto him. Even now, you'd think they'd want to try to get him in if just for a Summerslam programme. So if there's a genuine rift there it would be weird, especially given how few difference makers Vince has to call on.

The sell outs in some of those tougher markets depends on the success of the TV of course, but they could definitely sell out somewhere pretty big for the first TV at least because it's a historic show. And being able to show a 20k+ crowd on the television debut would go a long way to making them look big time enough for people in the lesser markets to perhaps give them a chance. I do agree that they should look to some smaller arenas and give us some different looks too. As long as they present something that's a less stale format than WWE television then I'll be relatively pleased.

Wild propaganda to claim that they sold out with impressive numbers when the facts show that they sold out with impressive numbers.

Dave was saying on WOR that they should have run a stadium. It'll be interesting, given the demand, where they run for their first TVs.

Tbf, I think it just makes WWE #2 promotion in Britain lol.

They've signed so many people that I'm almost worried that they've created a false economy of wrestlers. Like, are there actually too many guys now? Would they all still be able to make money if WWE cut back on the hoarding policy?

In the long run, surely it looks good for WWE and Vince in their desire to be mainstream to have Rock, Cena and Batista in all the big action franchises. Being known as the place where the action movie stars of the future are all coming from isn't the worst way to draw some casual viewers. I know it's mainly about Vince's authoritarian control freak nature here rather than logic but still. How hilarious would it be btw if Vince decided to book all his top stars like shit to stop them getting too over but Reigns gets into movies already through his contacts with Rock? It's already begun.

Nese was really just a warm body to put the belt on so they could move Buddy up to real TV, wasn't he? Not that Buddy has ever been seen since...

Yeah, I think the singlet was better for him too. Let him have the pulling the straps down comeback bit if you wanna show off his abs. Dave was saying that the finish was unplanned and that there was a miscommunication that the ref called as a shoot. But I'm fine with it really because it's something different and gives them a reason to build something from it.

L O fucking L

Gable would be at least a pushed midcard guy in any other era but now we're in the era of extreme roster bloat so talents like him and Gallagher don't really get the chance to stand out. I don't watch 205 either but I checked it out this week as something to watch in the background and I was impressed by that match and some of the other performances. The backstage promos were decent as well. It is basically a make-work programme to give their ten million guys something to do but at least it's an easy watch and something that Vince seems to be quite hands off with, which is a good thing in 2019.

Booking San Jose for this time a year seems like a stupid move because surely there's good odds that Golden State would be in the final.

And that's before we even mention them beating Bayley in her home city yet again because why have anyone the fans believe in?

Has there ever been a bigger pair of geeks in the world title programme than there is now with Seth and Baron?

Well this TV bubble and the Saudi deal really is a Dorian Gray type situation. On the surface things look fine financially because of those big contracts being locked in but in the background, there's something rotting away at the core. If that TV bubble bursts and they have to find another way to make up revenue, it isn't going to be helpful that their fanbase has been allowed to dwindle so badly.

That's still a higher than usual number of available seats less than two weeks out. It's not like they haven't done these quick turnarounds before. Maybe they'll need to call Undertaker's old ass up again.

Everything. Is. Fine.

It feels like a million years ago than Sami returned with a hot heel promo. I don't think he's won a match since.

Well that's one issue but if Elgin is saying that on TV it's even worse because he should be talking about going out to win not to have an impressive artistic performance. That's Dolph Ziggler-itus

I really hope they never get to do a fucking women's match on one of these shows because imagine how sickening it'll be to hear them crow on about it forever about how revolutionary they are.

That Ibushi vs Naito match was close to unwatchable. I really don't want to see people taking every bump right on their head.

WWE's booking = that boot onto the face of their facebase over and over