The Big Dog shirt and those three new Shield shirts are actually wearable. Might be the first ones that I would actively seek out and buy (if not for our fucked up currency, I ain't paying nearly 200 reais for a shirt)

4 hours ago, Zoo Enthusiast said:

It’s one of the only metrics they have anymore that can demonstrably show someone getting over.  

That new red and black Big Dog shirt might be the first one that is actually wearable.  I say that as someone who has wanted to buy a Roman shirt for a long while and being pretty disappointed by how garish they all are.  Same goes for all the Shield merch ever.

WWE shirts are so routinely hideous that, although there obviously is a correlation between merch sales and popularity, some poor worker could end up with lower numbers just because the shirts they have out for them are just unwearable. 

Given that John Cena gets the worst looking t-shirts ever, I'm not sure the design itself is a factor. It could be, tho. Seems like a nice study subject.

Yeah I can remember that debate here in 2014 when Bryan's horrible goat themed merch wasn't selling well and it was affecting his push.  I think FMKK is right here.  There are other aesthetic factors that go into merch sales.  Loss has also made that point in the past

WWE just announced AJ v Joe for HIAC

probably think that ends up as one of the cell matches

If Roman  has surpassed Cena in merch sales, I'd be curious to know how much of that is a result of Roman selling more as opposed to Cena selling less.  

Braun just challenged Roman to a match Monday on twitter

This could either go here, the NXT thread, or the New Japan one, but Matt Riddle's wife confirmed that his NXT offer came pretty much the way everyone thought it did. He got an offer from New Japan, and let Gabe know because he was working for WWN. Gabe told Hunter about it, and all of a sudden Matt gets a phone call with an NXT offer. 

25 minutes ago, Strummer said:

Braun just challenged Roman to a match Monday on twitter

This pretty much sums up everything I hate about WWE booking nowadays.

More challenges are issued, more insults are exchanged, and more "feuds" are carried out on some shitty social media platform than on any of the 10 hours or whatever of TV they push out every week.

It's all so fucking lazy and uninspired.

At least, knowing how Braun and Roman gave us a batshit insane feud, this is bound to be more than just twitter based stuff.

I mean, we had Reigns driving an ambulance into a wall with Braun inside, Strowman throwing Reigns from a considerable height while he was on a stretcher and then toppling the ambulance he was on (which was the moment that launched him to superstardom), and they activelly tried to kill each other many times. It was great.

While it can come across as deflating, I'm positive they'll keep the tradition of hate and great matches alive.

I wonder if Braun will follow the Shield's lead and get his old band back together. After all, Bray and Harper both are without partners now. 

I'd rather have him team up with Mark Henry and Big Show.

5 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

Given that John Cena gets the worst looking t-shirts ever, I'm not sure the design itself is a factor.

I don't think Cena's shirts are bad, they're just aimed at kids. They love all that colourful stuff.

11 minutes ago, Kadaveri said:

I don't think Cena's shirts are bad, they're just aimed at kids. They love all that colourful stuff.

 

For a while it seemed like he had one design that came in every color imaginable.  And he's my six year old's favorite wrestler just because of all the colors he wears.

 

 

The same applies to the New Day, too. I wonder how high they are on the totem pole of merch sellers, because they seem to sell a metric ton to kids.

Also that demographic seems to be what kept Cena at the top until now - he still is a massive star, and stars in movies aimed at kids, does ads with kids, and is overall a very kid friendly character that lasts even when he's outside the ring. That, coupled with him being one of the biggest names in pro wrestling history with all demographics, makes his until-now lead position make sense.

It was crazy when Jeff Hardy surpassed him for #1, tho. Dude was at his apex and still got outsold, even if for just a little while.

Neville's contract ran out. Looking forward to see him in LU season 5 and Impact.

Kinda shocked they didn't just claim his contract was on ice for him not showing up to work. Especially with the UK scene growing like it is. I guess there's limits on WWE's pettiness after all. 

I guess when he flat out said "that don't work for me anymore, brother" after dropping the stap to Enzo and then Enzo getting released over being a dumbass, WWE acknowledged him as a true worker. "Shit, you're right. You worked us fair and square, you earned this brother".

 

Real knows real. Top dog mentality, baby.

Eh, I don't know about that. If anything, I think Vince was proven right on this one. Neville was killing it as heel cruiser champ. His character finally connected and found its stride. Guy had some swagger to him.

But Enzo had personality in spades, and Vince values that above all else. So 'Zo was moved over and made new king of the cruisers. He was being booked to crossover into the women's title program at Mania, AS WELL as his own program there. He was written in as a central piece of the story for Raw 25 before being canned. There was a buzz on 205 Live because of Enzo, whether you like the guy or not.

Since then, that show has gone back to being all about "good matches" again, and no fucks can be given. Nobody's paying attention. People are raving about the matches, but they're practically the only ones watching. Whereas Zo was being written into two programs at once, Cedric wasn't even seen on any shows other than 205 Live for like 5 months. It couldn't feel colder if it tried.

I see this as a case of them giving in & releasing Neville, because they just don't see any harm in it. If he were at a Rey Mysterio level in their eyes, then yeah. They'd pull some petty fuckery like freezing his contract until he shows up for work again.

You're right about the previous Braun/Roman program, by the way. But that feels ages ago, back when Braun was more heel and more monstrous. Since then, Braun's been strumming musical instruments, teaming with children, and shoulder blocking portable shithouses. So there's at least *some* cause for concern.

I do hope he brings the hate here. The challenge being issued via Twitter isn't exactly a stellar start though.

As much as I wish they were doing Braun/Roman for Mania, I think a Shield three-way is just too easy for them to pass up.  Plus it's kind of dumb for the unbeatable monster to hold an automatic title shot and not use it for 8 months.

The venue for HIAC is now advertising Braun/Roman. I felt the Shield three way was done to absolute death a few years ago to the point where I never got the big deal about it.

The main event with Balor and Roman was awesome. Balor and Roman showed great chemistry and got the best out of each other. One of the best WWE tv matches of the year