FMKK

So they're just gonna pretend as if they're not doing it but do it anyway. TV this week will be weird.

Tbf, that's just because western media tends to ignore what the Saudis have been doing in Yemen for the last couple of years, which is tantamount to genocide. So there's horrifying shit going on there constantly. It just depends whether this current thing means that it gets more traction over the coming months. We were talking about what the workers think about all this andI wonder how Cena feels about this, in the sense that he's basically on his way out of wrestling and it may be more important for him to maintain his public image for general audiences than to keep Vince happy. He seems popular enough outside of wrestling but having his name attached to stories like this can't do his growing outside career any favours.

They don't have to particularly want to sign for WWE to be working that angle to improve their contracts though I guess.

If ever there was a time for someone to pull that card, it's now when there's actually a bit of media attention on the company.

I wonder what, if anything, some of the talent make of all this. At the very least, you'd think some of the guys like Bryan, Rusev, Jimmy Uso and Ambrose would be pissed at having to travel all that way without their wives being allowed to come.

Landon Donovan is gonna run in for Cena in the final

How ridiculous is this World Cup thing when 50% of the workers in it are American? Especially when they have their most international roster ever. How hard is it to throw in Sheamus, Cesaro, Owens, Drew, Almas etc? Not that any of this shit will matter or be remembered by the time the Saudi show is over.

What exactly is Shawn's role on NXT/PC?

God, Charlotte's arm did not look in a pretty state there

When they first announced this Australia thing months ago, I assumed a Ronda singles match would be the main event but in the end her match was pretty throwaway.

No programmes for them. I think Jeff is taking some time off TV tbf but Balor has been doing nothing for a long time now.

Just you wait for Saudi Mania 2048 with Cena vs Orton in the main

I don't know whether that was so bad it was good or just sad.

State of that pedigree HHH

If the theory people have come up with about Bryan winning the Ruble etc is right, then I guess it makes sense to save the ultimate moment of catharsis for the Mania payoff. Kane looked so so so old laying down on that table

It still feels like Miz is the most likely person to take the belt from AJ

Burying the local sports team for heat goes back far beyond The Rock in 2003 I'm sure

He's the wrestling equivalent of Wayne Rooney. Huge excitement when he started before he settled into being the secondary guy to Ronaldo at Man United before padding his stats in the following years as the team gradually declined. A couple of really big seasons but otherwise, just good and relatively dependable for an extended period.

I feel kinda bad for Brie for the OTT shit she's catching on social media today. Dave has been quite charitable in defending her. She would be much better off not just doing Bryan's spots anyway. Obviously she fucked up badly on Monday but the bigger concern imo is how it was handled by the officials, who should've got Morgan to the back immediately. There was a spot later in the match where Brie punched Ruby on the apron and you could clearly tell that Ruby was PISSED!

Hopefully they can run shows in bizarro world Saudi Arabia

The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex by Mark Kermode

To me, the more apt term to sum this period of history up would be 'The Content Era.' That's what this is. They produce endless hours of programming across TV, Network, Youtube, Facebook. They're a content mill that's just concerned about filling up hour after endless hour with content to tick a pile of demographic boxes and satisfy stakeholder demands. This is corporate wrestling in 2018. What's really disappointing is that, in a scenario when they basically have fuck you money and it doesn't matter all that much what you put on TV, this could actually be creatively liberating in a way. If it doesn't matter how good or bad your booking is, why not take a risk and try out creative things? People love following on with prestige TV shows and getting obsessed with what's going to happen next, so why not build story arcs and characters that make sense so there's an actual sense of development in your television product? It must be a very stifling environment when you know that you can basically do whatever you want but you're still creatively shackled. Surely some of those writers, and even someone with pretensions like Stephanie McMahon, must look at the big Netflix shows and think that there's a way that they could present their wrestling show in a more creative way to create a similar type of buzz. It's similar to Hollywood in a way. They want the easy safe-bet money so we get endless re-runs, sequels, franchises, remakes and extended universes of previously existing products. Not that different to dragging back Shawn Michaels to fight Undertaker yet again for the Saudi dictatorship propaganda show. I once read a book arguing that there was a formula to making sure a blockbuster film was a guaranteed success. And in the book, he argued that there was no reason that the film industry couldn't be way more creative in what movies get sanctioned given the almost guaranteed success that could be attained through following a few simple steps. WWE is similar. The money is there, so why not take more risks in who you push and how you book them? The answer is that the corporate model is inherently conservative and homogenizing.

He's just been infected by the Lesnar bullshit. He needs to get away from Brock pronto and start working with the likes of Drew in title programmes. I generally think they book him to sell too much in his matches too.

In the new era where development is actually a super indie, it's hard for someone to stay outside the spotlight while still developing so that'll be interesting to see. I guess Braun was pretty unknown when he suddenly appeared and he's a top guy within a couple of years so it's still possible.

Surely it's Ronda, and as she gets more comfortable as a wrestler they'll put her in more angles etc.