The Unknown Poster

Makes sense

Just another day in trump land

Reports ciruclating that WWE's first announced names for the Hall of Fame are The original Hart Foundation, Bret, Jim Neidhart & Jimmy Hart).

Imagine their anxiety when rams were kicking that last second field goal.

Ive been watching Y&R for almost 30 years. Tough one. He had struggled recently.

How about Schenn, who the jets have had interest in before?

Think he wants out?

I suspect the Roslo stuff is because other teams like him and the analysts feel the Jets have to give up something to get something. Petan is much more likely but obviously other teams will be wanting Roslo first. Hayes name was mentioned already in connection to the Jets. Bringing in Stone would mean having to trade someone...and I still cant see them trading Laine, and they better not trade Connor. Chevy wants a centre to do what he did last year, strengthen the team down the middle on all lines. I could see Roslo getting a look at 2C and not giving it up.

You mean stop being an ignorant racist **** up and try to serve for the good of the American people? But then you guys wouldnt support him anymore. Its really the big issue with the GOP now. They let Trump hijack the party and now they are in the position of either continuing to go along with it for the support of the racist white national base or risk having no support at all.

Weekly dose of news from Meltzer and others: - AEW's ticket party in Las Vegas is Feb. 7th. They're hoping for some surprises and this would be the right place to announce Kenny (and who wouldnt rather be in Vegas than Winnipeg right now?). - AEW Merch sales have far exceeded expectations in the short time they've been on sale. They signed an Action Figure deal with LJN which did the WWE figures in the 80's. - Matt Sydal's contract with Impact expired and he's a free agent (recovering from an injury). Everyone is interested in him. He was in WWE as Evan Bourne and would be solid for 205 Live but he'd be great in AEW as well. I wouldnt be surprised if he's in Vegas. - Credit to Impact. They had Sonjay Dutt under contract but he received a job offer from WWE to come in as a producer (agent) and Impact released him to take the gig. He was a jack of all trades for Impact, writing the shows with Jimmy Jacobs, doing talent payroll, talent relations etc. Impact brought in Tommy Dreamer & Konnan to the creative team to replace him (and Abyss, though Abyss wasnt on creative anymore, he was in the office). - WWE is doing a new Diva Search show, this time called Finding the Next Woman Superstar. Production company behind Total Divas, Total Bellas and the Kardashian's are doing the show. - AJ Styles contract is up in April. Talk about amazing timing. He will be sought after by absolutely everyone but is likely to stay in WWE (and surely with a big raise, though he makes big money already and the contracts are for downside guarantees which everyone surpasses). - Ambrose deal expires in April as well. So far, it seems like its legit and WWE releasing the news seems like it was just to get in front of the story (they had media asking them and their statement was simply a response to media and then when it went all over, WWE put it on their website). Some of the boys think its a work. There is also the issue of Ambrose missing time for injury and WWE could try to tack it on the end of his contract (like they did with Rey and Bryan). But since they publicly said April, they'd look bad if they tried that. He was offered a 5 year deal at over $1 million per year which is a really high downside, but Ambrose was making more than that anyway and has done very well. Ambrose is pals with Cody and Jericho and they will be strongly interested in him if he wants to go there. - The KENTA release...he has a 90 day no compete but its being speculated that he might have promised not to work for AEW (or ROH etc) to get the release. It would make sense if his goal was to just go home to Japan where his old promotion NOAH was recently bought and has more money behind it. - Jericho is talking with New japan about a return there. His AEW deal allows him to do both. His AEW contract is high and comparable to among the highest in WWE (below Cena & Brock ofcourse, but among the highest of the others). - Wrestle Mania is scheduled to be Brock vs Seth and Ronda vs Becky vs Charlotte in the main event spot. - WWE has hired Shane Helms, Dutt, Jeff Jarrett, Shawn Daivari, Abyss in backstage roles. Pretty interesting. Jeremy Borash was close to many of them from his time in TNA and was hired for WWE last year or two and is close with Hunter in NXT. People think Hunter continues to assemble "his team" for when he takes over from Vince. - The weird finish on SD where R-Truth beat Nak for the US title in what appeared to be a screw up was done by design. Nak then tweeted out "WCW". But it seems WWE is doing some weird stuff now. Some social media is legit and others are works (see Ronda/Becky). But Nak could also have been legitimately annoyed with losing the title to Truth. Who knows...lol - Brock is signed with WWE through Wrestlemania, probably through the next Saudi show. But he's also in the USADA testing pool so he can fight MMA if he so desires. His WWE deal allows him to take a UFC fight. Also no more Jimmy John's sponsorship for Brock. - Kushida to WWE. Which probably wont work out well.

And ECW was doing over a million people with no promotion from the network. And WWE helped them out because they were sick of ECW chants (which still happen). The idea is not to get non-fans to watch. Its to appeal to wrestling fans. You will always have your fans who are "just" WWE fans and dont know who Okada is or the Bucks. But there are a lot of fans that do. At a time when WWE is losing fans (ie. they are producing content that their regular fans are actively turning away from), to have a viable alternative on TV would be a potentially big deal. Of course, they need a good TV deal first. WWE probably needs 3 million consistently on FOX for it to not be a failure. AEW? Way less. But why a guy like Ambrose is so valuable (and same with the rumors of Goldberg) is that even fans that barely go near the internet will know them. But really, the internet game is pretty big. WWE drives its fans towards social media so much so its not hard for those fans to "hear" about other wrestlers too. If no one knew who the Bucks were or Kenny, they wouldnt have Hot Topic merch deals and outsell WWE merch at Pro Wrestling Tees. But if Jericho or Ambrose (maybe) or Jim Ross (maybe) or Kenny gets "wwe fans" to try the TV, if the content is good, then you get to know guys like Sky and Jungle Boy etc. AEW doesnt want a bunch of WWE guys...they want to sign talented indie guys. The goal is to have a TV show that is good and people want to see it. Exactly like you said about ECW.

Another markish post about a news item involving a pending free agent. Jim Ross:

The thing is, if you don't care thats cool. Its like someone posting in the hockey section about a team not re-signing a player that never played. Its still news. In the context of wrestling KENTA was a huge star. It just never worked out for him in WWE. The newsworthiness is not that he asked for his release but that WWE granted it. And in the context of several wrestlers asking for their release at the same time a new promotion with the richest owners in the business is offering big deals as well as established promotions like ROH offering better deals, its news. If you think Ambrose is a WWE reject and not a huge opportunity for AEW, you're really not thinking. You've said this before and its still hilariously wrong. Kenny barely works in Canada so you incorrectly assume that he's not a huge world-wide star. You need to get out more. The one thing we'd likely agree on is he's a massive star in Japan. Tons of endorsements, drew huge crowds on shows he main evented. In the US, he set records for ROH attendance on shows he was added to. The reason there is a Hot Topic deal in the first place is because of the huge amount of Bullet Club merch at WM a couple years ago. Im not even sure what sense you're trying to make when you pretend no one knows him and then you say casual fans see him like Seth & Styles who are two of the biggest stars in the biggest company in the world. I'd say if casual fans see him in that vein, that's a compliment. You just don't make sense when you try to flex your "too cool for wrestling" crap. The reason Bell jumped at the chance to finance a documentary on Omega is not because no one knows who he is...think about it. They didnt have to accept the pitch...they loved it. Why do you think that is? Why did WWE make him a huge offer? Because no one knows him? Come on... I dont know if AEW's average age is higher than WWE. The only over 40 guy they have is Jericho and WWE has several. AEW also has a few pretty young guys. But WWE has been doing this for decades. AEW has been doing it for a month. Reportedly they want a crew of around 30-ish so they're going pretty small to start. Obviously they would not sign everyone who leaves WWE. The thing is, the reason talent is asking for releases could be varied. AEW isnt going to sign them all. Would they sign Maria & Mike? Probably not (though Maria has name value). But everyone is offering more money right now (except maybe Impact). It used to be that you'd quietly be miserable in WWE but now you dont have to. And its not just big companies...the price for indie guys has gone up, I can attest to that personally. So...Mike & Maria: Maybe AEW would be interest but I'd suspect they'd look at ROH (and possibly New Japan). Revival: Super talented and obviously unhappy in WWE. Know the Bucks (they've worked an internet feud). AEW will have a better focus on tag teams just by virtue of the Bucks being in the office and they need other teams to work with. AEW would sign the Revival. KENTA: 38 and suffered several injuries. Would be able to make money as a free agent working indies and bouncing around. I'd suspect ROH, AEW, Impact and New Japan would all have some interest. He might just want to go home. Dean Ambrose: assuming it's not a work, its a HUGE deal he is leaving WWE (and odd that WWE would announce it, likely to be out in front of the story because its big). Good worker, great charisma and mic skills, in his prime...top guy in WWE, would be a big signing for AEW. Sasha Banks: routinely complains and is well known to be unhappy. AEW likely scoops her up the second she's free. Brock: This is right up Brock's alley as he masterfully plays Vince against UFC every single time...with the FOX deal kicking in this year, WWE needs mainstream stars and Brock will absolutely be thrilled there is a third option he can use to play against Vince for big money. The list goes on and on. And the only person in wrestling who cares about size over talent is Vince. You can try to walk it back but you have used the term as an insult multiple times. Which people posting here come across as PS4 playing fans who think they know it all? Maybe my perspective is different because I WANT to encourage people to be wrestling fans (and support indie wrestling). But how's it different from internet fans of hockey or football, some who think they know everything? How often do we discuss how stupid a coach is when we've never participated in the sport at that level? What's the difference? You're a knowledgeable fan. I get the impression it annoys you that I am also a knowledgeable fan and IN the business. Dont be insecure about it. I prefer when I see people post in the other threads who have more knowledge than me about a subject because I like to learn and engage in quality discussion. I like seeing you post here because you're clearly knowledgeable. But if you have an issue with me, air it...or PM me. You passive aggressive stuff is just lame. I can take it (cause Ill win every argument about wrestling), but dont insult other fans and chase them from the discussion. Thats not cool.

KENTA (Hideo Itami) asked for and was granted his release by WWE. crazy. If AEW has done anything it’s made wrestling super interesting again

I actually like her. But I like ruby Riott more. Logan just married Rowe of the War Raiders.

They should. I’f it’s legit. I’m guessing they released a statement to avoid it becoming a story. They might lob him out but it would make sense to send him home. I got the impression from raw that they might have been leaning towards dean vs hunter at WM

Odd statement from WWE:

Why do you use it like an insult when you're a big mark yourself? EDIT: the last few posts are yours, mine and speedflex. Nothing about speedflex's posts are deserving of scorn. Certainly not mine. So...who are you talking about? Why dont you just try engaging in mature discussion with people about topics that interest you rather then the usual petty insults and then disappear? if you're so advanced in the wrestling game, you should be able to have some really thoughtful discussions here.

I dont disagree. Im generally of the belief that almost anything is fair game because its all about getting over and generating heat. The plan would be for Roman to return and have a built in feud with Ambrose. Part of the issue here is Ambrose came back in great shape and was promised the top heel spot where he'd challenge Roman at WM. With Roman out, they switched to Rollins getting the top challenger spot at Wrestlemania. Plus, they screwed up Ambrose before, after the shield split. They had something with him and they just did their usual "funny" booking. Ambrose dislikes the hokey stuff and prefers serious angles. So he's just been unhappy. WWE has a few months to change his mind. He could also take the summer off and wait til the fall when WWE's FOX deal kicks in and they have even more money to play with, as well AEW will be closer to everything coming to fruition. He'd be a big score for AEW and I think would be a great signing for them. I wonder when his wife's contract expires. She'd be a solid get for AEW as well. She's had ESPN offers and has a legit broadcasting background.

Reportedly offered 5 years at over a million per. So not money but AEW is giving out big deals too for, probably, less work. Never a better time to be a free agent. WWE offering million dollar guarantees....crazy.

Multiple reports that Dean Ambrose gave his notice this weekend and will not sign a new deal. Contract up after wrestlemania. Would be a solid signing for AEW.