So Ric Flair didn't know about the Reid Flair angle in the main event promo ahead of time.

11/19/2015 11:56:08 AM

http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/52705923-story

I wonder what the swerve will be?

11/22/2015 11:46:26 AM

Certainly puts a new spin on Survivor Series

11/22/2015 11:57:34 AM

IT'S ME AUSTIN! I WAS ISIS ALL ALONG, AUSTIN! EVEN MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY BOUGHT IT!

11/22/2015 12:10:09 PM

Haha

11/22/2015 1:05:48 PM

Quote :

"Cesaro impresses more and more...but of course its so obvious reigns was going to win that whole thing...(I mean maybe there's a 10% chance they push Ambrose some instead) maybe I 'm just more mature and understand the business more but wrestling seemed less predictable in the attitude era"

Most likely, but there is that Sheamus guy with his fancy briefcase lurking about too...at some point I would assume they are going to put it on him.

11/22/2015 10:29:17 PM

^ like 25 minutes after your post

Quote :

"I'm afraid they're turning Roman Reigns into the next Lex Luger."

11/23/2015 7:06:17 AM

^I mostly just posted it just in case so I could say "called it!"....but made a lot of sense...they love to let the face win and then rip it away from him five minutes later.

11/23/2015 11:22:25 AM

I really hate 3-minute title reigns.

11/23/2015 12:27:18 PM

Agreed. Time for the Money in the Bank stuff to go away.

11/23/2015 12:29:09 PM

Money in the Bank is a great concept when it's flexible. With the merging of the WWE Championship and WHC, the moments that make sense for cashing in are more obvious. You can fiddle with them a bit (Ziggler waiting until the Raw after Mania to cash on Del Rio, Rollins cashing in the middle of a match), but there's no longer a game to trying to sort out the stories.

11/23/2015 4:23:23 PM

Rating for Raw the day after Survivor Series 2014 (Sting debut the night before):

Quote :

"8-9: 4.73 million 9-10: 3.99 million 10-11: 4.01 million Average: 4.24 million"

Rating for Raw this week after Survivor Series 2015 (Sheamus is champ!!!)

Quote :

"8-9: 3.19 million 9-10: 2.99 million 10-11: 2.71 million Average: 2.95 million"

30% drop year-over-year. What odds would I get that nothing will change, 1/5?

[Edited on November 25, 2015 at 12:29 PM. Reason : /]

11/25/2015 12:28:43 PM

Obviously if they push Reigns even more they can turn it around

11/25/2015 12:37:59 PM

Orton was already going to be out with shoulder surgery and he had an outside shot at wrestling at Mania. But once he's healed from shoulder surgery, he then has to have neck surgery which may put him out until maybe 2017 at the earliest, if he comes back at all. They don't know how bad his neck is until they open him up.

12/1/2015 3:31:54 PM

Such a snoozefest last night. Only time I kinda perked up was the Dreamer appearance.

12/1/2015 3:44:30 PM

It's been over a year since Sting showed up at the Survivor Series. I didn't rejoice nor did I brand him as a sellout. Instead, the idea of Sting being in a WWE ring was the final stage of grief--the last WCW holdout finally working for the competition. The WrestleMania match was horrible so I won't recap it here. Pile on the fuckery that was his match at Night of Champions, and Sting has not won a match since the October 10, 2013 Impact--and that was a tag team match with Magnus.

12/1/2015 9:32:15 PM

^ I always wondered "why is the NWO helping Sting?"

12/2/2015 9:29:28 AM

That match should've been a real elimination match, should've gone on at 9:55, and should've taken up the entire third hour of the show. They put the main event of a three hour show on at 8:15. WTFFFFFF

12/9/2015 12:48:53 AM

I've been consistently waiting until 830-9pm to watch, catching up via DVR through the show. If it doesn't get interesting or draw me in for the main event by the time I'm caught up (usually by 10pm or so), then I tend to tune out.

12/9/2015 8:12:10 AM

I'm not saying that the opening segment shouldn't be something that grabs attention, but the last hour of the show being a long, crazy elimination match that ends with the champion and challenger facing off is what "main event" is all about. Instead, the main event of this show was Roman Reigns saying "tater tot" five times in twenty minutes.

12/9/2015 11:38:43 AM

good I'm not the only one doubting reigns...I mean it'd be nice to see him get a decent championship run but man if hes jammed down our throats like Cena was...seems like it will be unbearable

I thought that crazy first match actually came together pretty well despite all the chaos, also KO and ziggler put on a great match, don't remember that much otherwise

and man I enjoy watching Ambrose, but when are his opponents going to have permission to actually counter all his signature moves for once?

(ps. take back what I said about tyler breeze and adam rose, totally different characters but still would like to see rose get a push)

12/9/2015 7:10:11 PM

The 16-man match was fine, it's the placement I have an issue with. Throwing those guys in a crazy match to start, then having them all come out later and advance their stories is totally backwards. The potential was there for a ridiculous, awesome hour-plus match (remember two years ago when there were incredible 6-man tag matches on every show?) and Raw goes off the air with Reigns standing tall, and they blew it.

12/11/2015 1:18:26 PM

Roman Always Wins

12/11/2015 2:03:56 PM

12/13/2015 9:20:55 AM

Crowd chanting "we want Cena" during the main event right now

12/13/2015 10:24:07 PM

Ending of the show was big for Roman. Hopefully they can harness that momentum, but I fear they'll throw it all away with dumb booking.

12/14/2015 12:02:26 PM

Vince on Raw tonight

12/14/2015 10:42:11 PM

so sheamus was champion for like a month or less hmm, oh well good to see a title actually change hands on a non ppv; def refreshing to me

(btw what happened to wade barrett; i thought he would get an interesting push from this league of nations deal)

12/15/2015 12:58:11 PM

The end of the PPV and the final segment last night were really, really well done. They fixed Roman in two nights.

12/15/2015 1:44:17 PM

Barrett is supposedly hurt.

12/15/2015 2:45:42 PM

ah well they can pretty easily just throw Kevin Owens in there

12/17/2015 12:52:29 PM

Canadians are considered American for kayfabe purposes.

12/17/2015 2:01:46 PM

great ladies match...wrestling is good but I think it would be interesting to throw a high flyer type of gal and maybe a more brutish physical lady in to the mix

and it was funny something finally went against dean ambrose even though i like him...damn that powerbomb

12/29/2015 1:22:37 PM

Time to hand out my awards for the worst of the worst in wrestling for 2015 (full explanations can be found at https://ello.co/dagrappla):
Jabronies of the Year
Dixie Carter & Hulk Hogan

Most Deteriorated Wrestler
Daniel Bryan

Worst Wrestler
Tyrus

Worst Tag Team
The Ascension

Worst Female Wrestler
Eva Marie

Worst Match of the Year
Robbie E vs Brooke on the March 13 Impact

Worst Booker
Vince McMahon

Worst Wrestling Move
Twin Magic by the Bella Twins

Worst Decision
John Cena brings back the Authority

Worst Angle
The Lana-Rusev-Dolph Ziggler-Summer Rae love quadrangle

Worst Feud
Robbie E vs Jesse Godderz

Worst Gimmick
The New Day

Most Overrated Wrestler
Kenny King

Worst PPV
Triplemania XXIII

Biggest Disappointment
WWE's handling of Sting's return

Worst Authority Figure or TV Personality
Dixie Carter

Worst TV Show
The January 5 Raw

Worst Phrases
"I own Sting just like we own the Superstars and all of you. The Authority always wins"
Quote #1 from Triple H at WrestleMania 31

"If Lesnar thinks he can go back to MMA, as he announced on SportsCenter, he just signed a contract with WWE. That means I own that son of a bitch!"
Quote #2 from Stephanie McMahon on the March 30 Raw

Dishonorable Mention
Rusev
Crazzy Steve
Bo Dallas
Global Force Wrestling

12/29/2015 6:17:38 PM

Quote :

"Worst Gimmick The New Day"

Six months of being boring and six months of being THE TOTALLY INCREDIBLE BEST THING ON THE SHOW EVERY WEEK nets them a Worst Gimmick?

LOLOLOLOL.

12/30/2015 8:56:15 PM

An addition to Dishonorable Mention is whatever the fuck this was with Joey Ryan
http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/12/3/9841634/video-joey-ryan-danshoku-dino-strong-penis-wrestling-is-real

1/2/2016 1:04:31 AM

[Edited on January 3, 2016 at 5:31 PM. Reason : /]

1/3/2016 5:30:54 PM

WWE have signed Shinsuke Nakamura, A.J. Styles, Doc Gallows (formerly Festus and Luke Gallows in WWE, Doc in TNA), and Lance Archer (formerly Lance Hoyt in TNA and Vance Archer in WWE) away from New Japan.

1/4/2016 10:04:38 PM

It's Karl Anderson, not Hoyt.

1/5/2016 2:10:47 AM

man I missed this social outcast thing....we have yet another group now goodness...don't know what I think about this prob not good as 3MB suddenly comes to mind; does that mean these guys are on their way out too? (I still thought Rose had some potential if they just took his original character in a little bit of a fresh direction) oh well Slater survived the last go around (needs his long hair back though)

1/5/2016 6:05:21 PM

Vince must be pissed. WON:

Quote :

"Former WWE Champion John Cena will have shoulder surgery and will miss this year's Wrestlemania according to a members-only report by PWInsider's Mike Johnson. The injury is believed to be a rotator cuff injury, putting Cena out of action for 6-9 months. The 38-year-old Cena's injury is just the latest in a string of injuries to top WWE stars (Seth Rollins, Randy Orton) and mid-level talents like Cesaro in recent months, thinning out the roster and leaving WWE to focus on talents like WWE Champion Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Dean Ambrose, The New Day, and Kevin Owens to help carry things. Brock Lesnar returns this Monday on RAW and Chris Jericho just returned Monday to help add some part-time depth. Cena just returned from a short absence off TV as he was filming a reality series for FOX. He was expected to continue his feud with U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio."

1/6/2016 9:21:32 PM

Will this make them desperate enough to activate Daniel Bryan?

1/6/2016 10:02:51 PM

In addition to signing three Bullet Club guys, WWE has also bought the rights to the Bullet Club name/image/merchandise. Main roster Balor/Styles feud incoming?!

1/7/2016 4:46:50 PM

The thing that made the Bullet Club work in Japan was it was an American-style heel group that did mass interference in matches in a place where that is not the norm at all. That is in no way the case in WWE.

There was apparently a great angle New Japan did the day after the Tokyo Dome to write out A.J. Styles.

[Edited on January 8, 2016 at 6:05 AM. Reason : .]

1/8/2016 6:04:02 AM

The American Bullet Club should almost certainly be something different than the Japanese Bullet Club.

I'm choosing to have faith that they won't screw it up, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

So, who wins the Rumble? Roman, Brock, or HHH?

1/8/2016 11:53:42 AM

Bryan, lol

1/8/2016 2:24:39 PM

They already passed once on Styles, that's why he went to New Japan to start with after leaving TNA. Nakamura I just feel they'll make him a stereotypical Japanese character. It's hard to explain him to people that don't see him, there's no one in American wrestling comparable to him in my opinion. Tanahashi over there is the Cena, but to say Nakamura is the Orton would do an incredible disservice to Nakamura and doesn't even capture the loads of charisma the man has during a wrestling match.

I have to imagine a heel (who is there, Triple H?) is winning the Rumble so Reigns can lose the title without getting pinned, and then win the belt at Mania to give him the big moment they've been dying to give him.

[Edited on January 9, 2016 at 10:10 AM. Reason : /]

1/9/2016 10:09:01 AM

Bad merch decisions aside, they've managed to avoid those pitfalls with Itami and Asuka. Yes, NXT is much different than the main roster, but they didn't default to it. On top of that, Nakamura can speak English, so he's got a leg up on the recent imports.

1/9/2016 7:26:56 PM

They didn't screw up in saying they're minor leaguers?

1/9/2016 7:51:52 PM

What part of the audience says, "Oh, minor leaguers" based on their presence in NXT, rather than main roster presentation?

The casual audience doesn't watch NXT, so these guys just appear out of nowhere. Remember the Breeze/Kidd/Zayn/Neville NXT teaser match on Raw in 2014? Surely a few people in the crowd knew who they were, but the casual fan just watched them work, and FREAKED THE FUCK OUT ABOUT IT. When Neville did the Red Arrow on Raw for the first time, the crowd didn't even know what to do. They didn't think, "minor leaguers," they thought "HOLY SHIT!"

The hardcore fan watches NXT and knows that it's an excellent wrestling show with great performers, so they don't think of it as the "minor leagues," either; if anything, the hardcore wrestling fan wants the shiny new international stars to stay on NXT so they can have 30 minute matches with other shiny indie stars, not the other way around.

People will point to the shoddy main roster standing of NXT stars at the moment, but that's all in presentation. Owens was presented perfectly and then nerfed because CENA WINS LOL. Neville showed up (in a cape, sigh) as one of the most dynamic talents available, and immediately started losing. Breeze was inserted into one of the worst-ever Raw angles, which soon ended and left him directionless. The conference call idea that they won't call anyone up without six months of plan (which is ridiculous even for everyone but the Mania main event, let alone call-ups) is directly contradicted by Breeze, who has LITERALLY NOTHING less than three months after debuting.

I've not seen a shred of complaint about KENTA or Kana debuting in NXT as calling them "minor league," because WRESTLING IS SCRIPTED and everyone knows they need some seasoning in American style and presentation and also need to learn English. Casual fans don't know who they are or that they're working, and hardcore fans understand exactly what's going on. The only thing that matters is how they're presented when they're called up. Yes, that's a concern to me going forward, especially with the company's past handling of Asian talents, but not for a second am I concerned that an actual, breathing WWE fan is going to see them as "minor leaguers."

1/10/2016 1:38:18 PM