Official WWE/TNA Wrestling Thread

Didn't get to see any of Raw last night but read that the Bryan-Rollins match was fantastic. Also read that Ziggler was cleared for full contact so it is good to see and hear about him returning.

As for the ratings, that is probably exactly why you see HHH and Vince back on, but if I am not mistaken there is usually a dip about now due to school's being done and kids being free for the summer. For them to panic is odd. I think it also puts Punk in an envious position that if/when he comes back and ratings jump, he will be considered a bigger draw.

 

Seriously, just YouTube the Bryan/Rollins match and go on living your life.

I think they're panicing because the WM buy was lower than expected and the RAW ratings have been in a decline for awhile now. And that's exactly why you're seeing the McMahons around. Whenever they panic they bring themselves back in because they think that's what fans want to see. It made sense and they were right when they did it in 1998 to 2000ish but not anymore.

I truly hope that the WWE continues to push Bryan, Ziggler, The Shield, Axel, Punk, etc. instead of simply falling back into the same routine or thinking "hey let's turn Orton heel and have him feud with Cena this summer". Those guys are the future, it's time to showcase them and slowly start to phase out the older guard. I just hope the younger guys aren't the ones that get punished due to the low ratings when it basically falls at the feet of the writing staff and the McMahons. They only have themselves to blame for booking so poorly since even before WM.

I will say I do like how the WWE is finally protecting their wrestlers when they get concussions and make sure they get cleared by a doctor before throwing them back out there. Fandango recently so that's why you won't see him for a bit.

 

Also look for Axel to win the IC title on Sunday so the WWE can really push the fact that him and his father are the only father/son team to win that belt.

 

Good picture article of concept costume designs for wrestlers. A couple of interesting things for me. Adam Bomb's concept art suggests that he was supposed to be the Ring Master before Steve Austin. Also, the concept for Goldust was waaaay different than how he ended up.

I also found it funny how much effort and time they put into Max Moon, only for him to wash out rather quickly.

http://www.wwe.com/classics/superstar-sketches-photos

 

Really interesting stuff. I wish the WWE would release more of these kind of things.

 

Their website is actually starting to become a pretty good source for wrestling related news and info. They don't do the dirt sheets stuff, but they excel at pulling back the curtain and showing you how the brain trust works. Whether its the concept belts/costumes, where are they now features on old wrestlers, and countless other things.

I am not one that frequents their site regularly but every now and then I get on there to look something up or reference something and find myself staying longer than intended. Especially when stuff like this is on there.

 

Yeah I agree, I have a friend that works for the WWE that does a lot of the web based stuff whether for the site or with YouTube so I usually get a heads up when something good goes up. I only go to the site to read stuff like that or the slide show of "guys you never knew wrestled in the WWE" or "top guys never to win a world title" etc stuff like that. I haven't watched a lot of the WWE's new YouTube shows except the videos for the "Top 10". It's too bad they stopped the "Are You Serious" show which was entertaining.

The WWE has so much footage and so much they can put out there, I'm glad they're finally starting to show this stuff.

 

RVD is back in WWE.

 

Interesting that the WWE went with the double turn with Ziggler and Del Rio apparently, that was pretty much the only non shocking thing that happened last night.

 

So they killed Ryback's character.

Right now, Ryback, Kofi Kingston, John Morrison, and R-Truth must be having a support group meeting.

 

Yup, I told everyone that was going to happen with Ryback. Very strange booking with him since he first lost his undefeated streak. He hasn't won a single PPV match since, just doesn't make much sense to me. I've never been a Ryback fan but like I said just weird booking, I wonder where his character goes from here. Maybe in a feud wit Orton or Sheamus?

As far as killing character you forgot about Zack Ryder and Wade Barrett too. And I'm still a little nervous about Dolph Ziggler's future.

Good thing we still get to see bland and boring characters like Orton, Miz, Del Rio, Kane, Big Show, Swagger and Sheamus though!

 

Meh. Not everyone can be at the top. If sacrificing Ryback means we get more Daniel Byan...then it's totally fine. If taking airtime away from Zach Ryder and Wade Barrett to give The Shield more time...then it's totally fine. Not to mention that CM Punk is back and most likely starting a nice long program where he eventually feuds with Heyman. If that is the top of your card, then you are doing more right than wrong, in my opinion.

Ziggler is set up to be a face after last night's loss. From what I read, a double switch seems to be occurring which is probably good for both parties involved since Del Rio is a painful face but a good heel. And Ziggler is getting cheered regardless these days, so why not cash in? It will be interesting to see how that dynamic works with him and AJ/Big E

 

Oh I agree not everyone can be on top. And of course I'm glad we're getting Bryan and The Shield spotlighted along with Punk. So yeah I'm not complaining by any means.

I just find it the booking behind Ryback to be strange that's all. Heck, if we never see Ryback again I won't care at all as I have been very anti-Ryback all along. Just wish we'd get rid of Sheamus and The Miz next because they're two characters that are beyond boring and stale.

I do think its a smart move to turn both Ziggler and Del Rio. Del Rio has been awful as a face like you said. And the fans want to cheer Ziggler. But yeah should be interesting to see where they go with Big E and AJ. I wouldn't be opposed to turning Big E face and giving him a "Godfather" type gimmick where he's a ladies man since it seems like Big E is a funny guy in real life. AJ, I think you got to keep her heel, though.

With Ryback out of the way and Ziggler turned, the heel side of things is small. For top guys you have The Shield, Punk and Del Rio. I bet they turn Orton sooner than later to even things out a bit.

 

Ugh...

Im sorry Ray, but I would be pissed if theE y turn Big E into a pimp.

 

Haha, to each his own but I just think he needs some kind of gimmick to seperate himself from everyone else. Right now he's simply a bland character. He's shown he has personality and is funny on Twitter and last week on RAW was the first tim he was interesting and did a pretty decent acting job as the secret admirer. Maybe not turn him into the Godfather 2.0 but maybe a mix him that and Mark Henry's old chocolate gimmick could work. Otherwise what exactly is he?

 

Mark Henry may be retiring tonight. Not sure if its a work or not, but rumors have been around for a little while about him wanting to hang it up. If so, I will be sad as he is the epitome of how great, and how bad WWE can be with character development. The dude came in with all of the legitimacy you can have (with regards to being a strongman) and was a lifelong fan who dreamed of being in the bigs. He realized his dream, only to be saddled with terrible gimmicks and storylines, as well as being uber green and rushed.

But he, and to their credit, the WWE kept with him and turned him into a bonafide wrestler, entertainer and a net gain, in terms of a performer. In my opinion, he is a Hall of Famer given his longevity, his role as a leader in the locker room, his role in the community as a role model and of course, for what he was able to eventually accomplish in the ring. Never the face of the company, but a solid pro who went out and did his job as best he could.

Ironically enough, that very same description could be applied to Kane as well.

 

Official TNA/WWE Wrestling Thread

Wonder if his son, the hand will be in attendance.

In seriousness he's a hofmer IMO.


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Henry was fantastic in his role the past 2 to 3 years. Such a shame they didn't give him that role when he first came into the WWF. Instead they tried to turn him into the next Hulk Hogan/Lex Luger.

Henry was lucky/fortunate that he signed that huge 10 year deal with the WWE and Vince is stubborn and refused to give up on him because it would look like a mistake on his part with that contract. If Henry was just another guy he'd probably be teaming with D'Lo Brown in the Indies today.

I guess Henry is a HOFer. I mean he has over 15 years with the company and is a minority, which helps. If guys like Koko B. Ware are HOFers than Henry should be. And yes Kane is a lock as a HOFer.

 

Official TNA/WWE Wrestling Thread

Kane had a nice career filled with big moments and wrestled them all. Not a main eventer at WM but he is a great worker.


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I don't mind giving him a fun personality, but I just get tired of seeing wrestlers get straddled with stupid gimmicks, and especially when it comes to turning black wrestlers into pimps (and, as I type this, I can practically hear the can o' worms opening)

 

And as for Mark Henry.... yes. Absolutely yes!

 

Great, and I mean GREAT swerve by Henry. The rman continues to just get better and better as he gets older. His timing and expressions were on point, as was the emotion. I think this is his last real run with the company and I am okay with that. He deserves a main event tribute run if you ask me.

For the first time in...well, ever, I wasn't terribly impressed with The Shield. They officially have no where to go as of right now. I assume they get them back on track next week.

In fact, Jericho is in the same boat. I wonder if they try to pair the two entities up? I could see Jericho beating someone next week, only to have The Shield come down and beat Jericho down. Jericho counters with a lil help from his friends in Christian and a returning....Misterio. Could pop the crowd hard and give them a nice Summerslam program that helps protect Rey from too much wear and tear on his legs.

It appears that we are getting Punk vs. Brock over the summer. I am okay with that. Brock still has a legit vibe to him which is earned, obviously. I hope the match is stiff as hell. The crowd cheering him attacking Punk is obviously due to them realizing what road we just ventured down.

Cesaro pairing up with Zeb was odd and seems to be a bit of desperation. Smacks of failure, unfortunately. They just don't seem to know what to do with Cesaro. I honestly think he would benefit a ton from Heyman (obviously).

I think Bryan actually knocked himself loopy. Odd ending to that match. Appears to be okay though, which is good considering he appears to be in line for a huge push. Here is hoping he winds up against Ziggler soon.

 

Official TNA/WWE Wrestling Thread

Loved the Brock Surprise but I'd would have had it where It wa not so obvious that Punk and Heyman are splitting up. I would have liked to seen him out there


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No can of worms, wrestling is full of stereotypes. Just like how almost every Samoan wrestler is a savage that wrestles without boots and can't speak english. Or how foreign wrestlers are usually evil.

Yes The Godfather gimmick might have been silly but the gimmick was great for popping the crowd and waking them up. If the WWE wasn't dumb enough to turn him heel he could have curtain jerked with that gimmick for years. Something like that is very important.

 

I think because Heyman wasn't out there he'll play it off like he didn't send Brock out there. They need to keep this program fresh and interesting until Summer Slam, as I assume that's when the match will take place.

 

RAW was actually pretty good last night. The Henry thing was damn good. I knew he wasn't going to retire when he told Cena to stay but the guy was actually crying and there was real emotion in that promo. Just great acting all around by Mark.

I agree with The Shield having nothing to really do now. I'd like to see Ambrose in a feud with Jericho, that would be pretty good. The problem is the tag team division is so dry Reigns/Rollins have no real challengers out there.

I actually like the Zeb/Cesaro pairing as Cesaro is 100 times better than Swagger and now he'll at least get pushed a little bit. Plus it shows that Zeb is a hypocrite which adds more heat to him and thus Cesaro.

The Kane/Bryan segment was pretty funny too.

The worst stuff tonight was the segments with the McMahons, just brutual and pointless.

I was shocked Brock came out last night, again I assume this is leading to a match at SS instead of MiTB and if so that's a lot of time the WWE has to kill until the match and they're going to need to keep things interesting. But if anyone can do it its Punk I guess.

 

I just Love Wolverine (Punk) as a Heel more than a Face but they have to Keep Lesnar heel, I can't wait to see punk do the GTS on Lesnar should be a nice visual. Also will look forward to next weeks pipe bomb from Punk.

 

Official TNA/WWE Wrestling Thread

They can easily do a punk/Heyman interactions for the mean time to help build up Punk/Lesnar feud


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I agree with everyone, last night was the first RAW in awhile I was looking forward to and it sure delivered. I knew when Henry asked Cena to stay also that he was getting the World's Strongest Slam and wanted a title shot. Henry's acting was solid during that segment though, it is a shame he is close to retirement but the man is gold right now. I'm really excited to see the Heyman/Lesnar/Punk situation unfold. Also, I don't know about anyone else but I find myself not enjoying the McMahons being back. Every segment they were in were cringe-worthy and I have no desire to see another McMahon family feud/drama. That story was great when they did it originally but it just seems so forced and a waste of time. I feel they should really be taking a hands-off role right now and continue to only show up for important situations. Just a few thoughts, but I'm really excited for the summer storylines.

 

Apparently the Bryan/Orton match was originally scheduled to have Bryan win by pin but they legit stopped the match because Bryan got hurt. He got into a big argument with Triple H backstage about how they shouldn't have stopped the match. Now they're turning it into a storyline. Which is too bad just let him beat Orton and get it over with.

And yes the stuff with the McMahons is awful, no one but them want to see it.

 

The plans right now for Summer Slam are:
Brock vs. CM Punk
John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE title
The Shield (all 3 guys) vs. Kane and The Undertaker

It look like now that The Rock won't be a part of SS, the WWE wants to add another big name to the event and hence Taker's involvement.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/iron-sheik--the-man-behind-the-mask-224707360.html

Interesting article on The Iron Shiek. Nothing too earth shattering, but some cool photos and a little bit of insight in to what he deals with on a pain level in his early 70's.

 

[video=youtube;tWSOuePlhZ8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tWSOuePlhZ8[/video]
Was never a big RVD fan, liked him but when I saw he was coming back I didn't care either way, this video, especially the end, really makes me hard to like him. Seems full of himself imo.

The one guy who I wish contract was up was Angle. With the Rock and Brock breaking the barrier with part time wrestling, Angle would be their in a heart beat. I know he says he loves TNA but if he was a free agent, no doubt in my mind he would work a limited schedule in the WWE.

 

Two good matches on RAW last night (Jericho/Del Rio & Bryan/Orton).

I did think it's kind of funny that The Rock is on the cover of the new WWE game. The only thing better would have been the McMahons.

 

The Rock will sell more copies I suppose, but if I was in that locker room, it would be eye roll inducing to see The Rock on the cover.

Raw was...okay. The main event was great and I actually laughed a AJ doing her impression that feud has been built well, especially for a Divas division matchup.

I would have bet money that the Wyatt's were coming out during the six man tag and The Shield need a direction...fast.

 

Right now the plan is for them to face Undertaker & Kane at Summer Slam but you're right once they all won those titles the WWE had nothing for them. Ambrose should in the very least be running through guys like Jericho and Sheamus to continue to build him up.

 

Rumor that WWE Hall of fame will go where (now) NBA City is at universal studios city walk in Florida.

Wonder if it will be like canton with superstars clothes, chairs, ladders, mankinds mask etc, or a restuarant/gift shop/memorablia type place...

 

A really good article with Nancy Benoit's sister on the 6th year anniversary of the Benoit Tragedy:

http://the2count.com/?p=765

 

Newest SummerSlam rumor is Christian vs. Dean Ambrose for the US Title. I also think Ambrose is probably a lock to win the WHC MiTB case too.

 

I'd actually be surprised if they ever put up a physical HOF and if they did it would end up working out for them. I just don't think there would be a big enough demand for it like the other major sports. The WWE might just be better off having it at WM Access each year that way they don't have to buy a building or pay rent etc.

However IF they ever had a real HOF, then I'd say it would probably be set up like the other HOFs where there is memorablia all around, placques for the guys already in the HOF and you'd be able to buy t-shirts, toys, hats, DVDs, belts at a huge gift shop. They already had a restaurant in Times Square called WWF New York that lasted maybe a year or two before it went out of business, so I doubt they try that again.