The Unknown Poster

New Japan put tickets for their March 25th Long Beach, California show on sale. The site immediately crashed creating a delay. No matches were announced. Its two weeks before WM. They sold out 5000 seats in 20 minutes. Not bad!

One issue with Winnipeg and MMA was the lousy Boxing Commission. I rented my ring to a local group to run a Boxing show and the commission was down there measuring every aspect of the ring to see if it was "regulation". Not a safety thing, a "annoying by the books to screw with you and show you who's boss" thing. Remember they also came down on Hal Jordan when he did Foxy Boxing and desperately wanted to regulate wrestling again. The commission used to be a totally corrupt group.

I admit to not being a big UFC fan but wernt there a couple of groups here that did really well for a time? Canadian Fighting Championship...I think? And one other? Winnipeg was always listed among the best markets for UFC PPV views. Like weirdly highly. A local promotion brought Dan Severn in when he was NWA World Champion (2001) and did a 2/3 falls match with the company owner (who was not a wrestler) and the owner "tapped" him out in the 2nd fall. Stupid as hell. But there was little to no cross over among MMA and wrestling crowds locally that I observed. On the big stage, Brock did bring a lot of wrestling fans to UFC. I remember going to the bar to watch a couple of his fights and the traditional fight fans boo'ed the hell out of Brock while the wrestling fans cheered him like crazy. The reason I've speculated that maybe Shane might be involved in the XFL is he's always tried to broaden WWE in other areas (and he himself sat on the board of a sports management company). One of the reasons Shane might not be back in WWE as an executive is that he has a non-compete with a PPV company in China that he chairs. Might not be the same issue with the XFL. But thats mere speculation on my part. Sorry to be off topic. Really, the success of the XFL will come down to hiring real football people and getting a sweet TV deal. Part of the Ronda Rousey thing is upping WWE's profile as they go into TV rights negotiations and showing TV execs that they can bring big stars and mainstream headlines. And while Alpha isnt WWE, its still Vince walking into a room and swinging his grapefruits around.

I think research is not advanced enough yet. Now studies indicate CTE might be due to repeated blows, not necessarily repeated concussions (if I understand correctly). Thats really scary. They key is, like Rich said, whether parents stop enrolling their kids. If you cut off the talent, then its over. But as long as there is talent, there will be leagues willing to play. There are far too many players that dont show degenerative signs. I once read about a study linking steroid use to CTE (ie. steroids aggravated the natural effects of head trauma). And that was one way to explain why a lot of older players would have the issue (when juice was maybe more common). But its hard to say older players are more likely to get CTE than younger players until those young players get old too. The real scary thing is the test to show CTE when you're still alive. Because who's to say we dont all have signs of CTE? Maybe normal life causes brain trauma over the course of 50-70+ years. And ask a 19 year old who feels like he could take on the world if he wants to play ball for ten years and make millions but maybe have some issues when he's 40-50 and most of them will gladly take the deal. Ask them again when they're 50 and they might say its not worth it.

It was $35-$50 million each depending on sources. Which really isnt *that* much when you consider the amount of rights fees being paid. But for NBC, they promised bigger ratings and had to give out a lot of make-goods to advertisers. It would essentially be like Vince getting a TV contract for the XFL that pays $35-$50 million for one season. Which seems like a lot...I dont know. A funny aside about The Ultimate Fighter. UFC was on the verge of being shut down or sold and TUF was their last ditch plan to gain viewers. It was originally conceived as a reality series following Dana White day to day. Once they got the concept nailed down, they approached Vince to see if he minded them airing TUF since it was similar enough to be considered competition and Vince, thinking no one cared about MMA, said he didnt care at all. They aired TUF immediately following RAW and it kept a large amount of its lead-in in the key demos and the rest is history. Shane also wanted to buy UFC and...I think Ballator (might have been Pride) at various times and Vince always balked because he just didnt get MMA and thought it was barbaric. Reminds me of a personal story. When we started a wrestling promotion in late 2001, we did a big show at the UofM in March 2002...and coming off that, were approached by reps for Joe Doerksen. They wanted to run some MMA shows and wanted to partner with people who could help cross-promote. The idea was a one off fight at our next big event (at Shaw Park) but I presented a plan to my partner to open a sister-promotion, bring Joe on full time (we knew another guy in the business as well) and present quarterly MMA shows, use Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock as key "cross over" guys. My partner angrily vetoed it and demanded I focus on wrestling and not even present the idea to our investor (who was a big MMA fan). I always wished I had pushed the issue. Its not my area of expertise but there was nothing in Winnipeg until later and those acts seems to do well for a time. Oh well. /personal story. lol

Yes, NBC. Vince was close with **** Ebersol from the Saturday Night Main Event days. **** is credited with taking WWE from smoke filled bingo halls to slickly produced arena shows (not entirely accurate but he showed Vince how much better it could look). Vince announced XFL without a partner and **** called him and asked him not to sign with anyone else until they had a chance to talk. NBC then bought 50% of the XFL and I believe some percentage of WWE also. After the first season, NBC backed out and Vince was willing to go it alone for another season but his other broadcast partner (I believe it was Paramount) cancelled them.

Definitely. And thats the bitter pill Vince learned last time. If you look at the XFL last time, it actually got better as the season progressed and the over-the-top stuff got toned down. Interestingly, even though they wanted to downplay the wrestling announcers, as I recall, Jim Ross was the best commentator and ended up with the main job before too long. While he is most known for wrestling, he's called a variety of sports as well. He was very good. In the presser Vince said he intended to be a behind the scenes guy and would hire experts to run the league. So if he actually does that, there shouldn't be too much worry about the antics. One thing WWE is very very good at is slick production. The knock against WWE production is that its been the same for so long, but its very very good. I would strongly suspect that XFL games will feel major league when you watch them.

Dudley Boys announced for WWE Hall of Fame 2018.

Ive never complained about canon or anything with this show yet. But they have a lot to wrap up and make fit.

I think the speculation is that the ISS Discovery took one look at what was happening and hightailed it to a safe place. Maybe they can hop back into the Spore Drive and time jump to before the war broke out.

They have one month til the trade deadline so they can take a little time to see what happens. If anything, a fresh Trouba for the playoffs will be a good thing.

I couldn't find ratings for USFL in terms of viewers, just share and rating number. Sounds like they did very well. Their TV deals were lucrative. Thats the key. If the XFL gets a TV deal in the tens of millions, it makes success a lot more likely.

The Vince story is old. And its not a case of someone coming forward with a new allegation. Anyone who is insensitive enough to attack victims coming forward years later needs to get off the internet and reconsider their life. Or use the Internet for good and do some research. Makes you wonder... In Vince's case, it was investigated and no charges were laid. So its not likely a story that will gain any traction. He was also accused of rape by a former WWE referee. And ofcourse he was put on trial for steroid distribution. Then there was the underage sex scandal and all his admitted affairs. All if it is out there. Unless something new comes along, he's fine.

I have to think Chevy wont stand pat. Even if its just a 6/7 veteran. Too many injuries on D to be comfortable right now.

Well, that was something. Killed off a major character and time jumped.

Some notes: - Coach re-signed and will be on RAW tonight (probably taking Booker's spot on commentary) - WWE's plan was Rock & Ronda vs Steph & Hunter and they wanted it a couple of years ago but after Rock got hurt working Cena, studios wont insure him. Maybe they have rectified that, who knows. Not sure what the back up would be. I'd say Angle because its marketable and he's a good interview. But on paper, Stroman fits. Ronda was in Columbia but flew back on a chartered Jet on Saturday and made sure no one knew. - The leather jacket Ronda wore was Roddy Piper's and was given to her by his son - Braun accidentally stiffed Brock in the head with a knee shot (more of his thigh) and Brock replied by punching Braun in the side of the head hard and yelled "settle the **** down" (this was momentarily blanked out audio). There's a gif of the shots going around and they are both stiff, especially Brock's. - Unconfirmed Rumor that WWE offered Daniel Bryan a lucrative knew contract (his deal expires in September) that included an allowance to wrestle one match, at this year's WM where he'd team with Shane to work Owens and Sami. The gist of it is, Bryan would mostly stand on the apron and simply hit the finish. Bryan declined. Sounds like a fishy story to me. - Rey was a one and done deal. He has a lot of work on his schedule but contractually, probably could sign with WWE. So you never know. He was HUGE for moving Latino ratings and they could certainly use all the help they can get. - Speaking of TV, the real benefit to Ronda being there and the reason everyone involved calls it a "Full time contract" and "My first priority for the next few years" is all about the TV rights fees coming due. Having Ronda makes WWE a hotter commodity. - Both Rumble matches won by Japanese wrestlers? In WWE. Crazy.

Coach has re-signed with WWE.

Well Poolman, you’re up next. and we need good Buff.

Holy **** that’s bad. Chevy will be looking for a d man

Of the old names you mean? Cause she was far from the best of all the women. But for the past names I could see her sticking around. Trish, Beth and Molly all looked good too. Kelly Kelly “looked” amazing but worked about as well as she did before which wasn’t that great. But she looks like she hasn’t aged a day. They should introduce a women’s tag title.

Steph & Hunter vs Ronda and....Angle? At WM? if she was challenging for a title she shoukd have just won the rumble hard fo imagine Steph won’t be involved. Word is they want it to be rock and Ronda. But rocky has insurance issues.

Yeah I was underwhelmed. Definitely not a great PPV. Mens rumble was entertaining though. Didn’t even think about Rey since he was negotiation with TNA but that’s probably why we should have thought of him. There was talk of an undertaker angle so maybe tomorrow And Ziggler returns like that? Weird. Did they expect a heroes welcome? Lol AJ vs Owens & Sami was good. Brock match was a place holder and came across that way. Womens rumble ended up good because of all the bands from the past. It’s hard for them to do various eliminations because of height. I enjoyed the women’s rumble more due to the names from the past. Crowd was buzzing thinking Ronda was coming in. Only Trish could have got cheered in that spot. I get why they did the Ronda angle but it was lame to watch. Her pop wasn’t as big as it should have been had she been #30. The pointing at the sign is really stupid. But that was all about the photo op. For WWE business it’s good. For fans watching it was lame as hell. Steph acting tough towards her was silly. Ronda couldn’t hide her joy at being there. The announcement is she’s signed a full time contract. Maybe a Brock type deal. Not sure if any women will be signed. But McCool talked about one last run. Beth looked awesome too (but I believe she has two kids at home but maybe edge can stay home with them for awhile). 4+ hours is too long.

One thing to note if you’re watching the rumble. Roode’s surprise opponent was said to be a big surprise. It wasn’t but the word is the big surprise was moved to the rumble. I’m not sure who they would be as I’m not sure of any potential big surprise options. Maybe Lashley?

Alicia Fox suffered a broken tail bone and is out for awhile.

Yes that’s basically my view. As I said more Star power in the New Japan match and a better story. Plus Kenny is the best in the world right now. But i agree. Gargano is incredibly talented. And Almas is good too. It was a very good match. One doesn’t have to suck for the other to be great.