Wrestling

[The Unknown Poster]

JTG (remember him - tag team with Shad in Cryme Tyme) has his second E-book coming out this week.  The first one was pretty entertaining and he has some eye rolling stories.  here are a few:

- His first experience with heat was witnessing Miz get yelled at for wearing sunglasses in doors.

- He was to work with an unnamed wrestler (CM Punk). He wanted to get together to talk about the match but the other wrestler kept blowing him off. they finally talked and the other wrestler said it would be a squash. jtg objected to being squashed. the other wrestler told him its what vince wanted. jtg talked to vince and vince said no, he could get offense in. the other wrestler was not happy jtg went to vince. the match was awkward. jtg didn't sell his opponent's finisher well so his opponent used his other finish, a submission move. jtg kept from tapping so long his opponent was yelling at him to tap and they had to edit the length of the move for tv

- Before their debut, Cryme Tyme worked a non-televised event and JTG is told by Shawn Michaels (he doesn't outright name him, but it's incredibly clear) that his hand gesture is too close to D-X's suck it. After their debut match, HBK confronts him again and tells him. Finally after a house show, Shawn gets in his face and says "Not only did I warn you once, I warned you twice! And the third time, you did it on national TV! You have NO RESPECT for me or this business!!!"

- After the plane ride, JTG is approached by someone who had been in WWE for twenty years at that time and asks JTG to carry an 1/8th of weed for him. JTG doesn't want to, and then two other wrestlers start to pressure him into doing so as well. William Regal shows up and tells the guys to back off. Regal tells JTG, '"I know you were in a tough position. Those guys were not looking out for your best interest. I hate to see young talent such as
yourself being taken advantage of. I couldn't just stand there and say nothing. You'll be out of a job and under the jail, and they'll continue wrestling, acting like nothing ever happened."

- One Monday night, Shad and JTG decide to get their hair braided up again to make it good for television...Shad does it in the hallway where everyone walks through. JTG explains it is a no-no in wrestling for talent (especially new) to not be watching all the other matches as the show is going on. JTG is told by an agent that when it comes to heat, "he and his partner were joined at the hip" They are squashed by Khali in a handicap match that same week on Smackdown as punishment. JTG claims the whole show was re-arranged just so they could punish them.

- One Monday night, Shad and JTG decide to get their hair braided up again to make it good for television...Shad does it in the hallway where everyone walks through. JTG explains it is a no-no in wrestling for talent (especially new) to not be watching all the other matches as the show is going on. JTG is told by an agent that when it comes to heat, "he and his partner were joined at the hip" They are squashed by Khali in a handicap match that same week on Smackdown as punishment. JTG claims the whole show was re-arranged just so they could punish them.

- One night on the road, JTG is at the bar and a girl is making eyes for him. John Cena highly encourages him to go for it, and after JTG goes to bed (said he was too drunk and tired to bother) Cena calls him up and tells him he is sending the girl up toward him and not to disappoint him. Sure enough, it is the girl and they do have sex....and then JTG finds out it was a wrestlers 'personal groupie' (which he says is an oxymoron)

He doesn't drop clues as to who this wrestler was, but it greatly hurt their friendship and WRESTLERS COURT was to be had. JBL was the prosecutor and Undertaker was judge..JTG is instructed to buy beer for everyone or at least something special for JBL and Undertaker. He also has to come up with a defense attorney, and settles on an ECW legend. He says it didn't matter if the wrestler really had any good defense, as long as he was a wrestler in good standing. JTG explains if he loses the case, the punishments are dreadful for a wrestler. He will have to possibly carry the other wrestlers bags for months, or lose locker room privilege for up to a year.  Benoit kills family. Everyone forgets about case. He makes up with wrestler and says he ended up being a good friend.

- The reason Cryme Tyme got fired the first time stems from a prank committed by the Trevor/Cade. Before their match one night on Raw, neither Trevor nor Lance would accept any planned spots. They would shoot them down again, and again. Calling one 'stupid' or said ' that doesn't make sense'. They decide they'll call it in the ring. A spot where JTG makes it to the ring before 10 was planned, and as he was reaching 8, the ref quickly counted to ten and counted out JTG. Now JTG makes it clear this was not the finish, the ref and Trevor/Cade were ******* with him. As they laugh and flee from the ring, Shad decides to hit the ref with his finisher...whatever it was. And then auction the refs belt off to the crowd.

As soon as they pass the curtain, Shad is taken away into an office and chewed out for hitting the ref with the finisher. JTG says that in his meeting, Shad stood up for himself and said that if the other guys had problems with them, they should've handled it in the back and not in front of the audience. One week later on their way to Raw, JTG gets a call from Johnny Ace who asks, 'why didn't you stop and control Shad?' JTG notes to us that Shad is about 6'7"  They meet the next day and are both fired.  When rehired, JTG says their first opponents back were Murdoch/Cane and that it was a special night because not only did they beat them, the crowd chanted 'Welcome Back'

- So JTG talks about being a huge fan of Bret Hart, and says WWE started making him shades called 'Yo-Yo-Yo' shades. They debuted it at a Cyber Sunday and JTG says they were a huge hit, but there still wasn't plans for full production. Nonetheless, months pass and after a meeting with WWE's lead coordinator of merchandise, the shades are a go. So with all that going well for him, JTG does an interview with WWE magazine and is asked how to describe his relationship with Shad. JTG, without thinking, says, 'friendship, bond, loyalty, respect' and quickly corrects himself and tells the writer not to include those last two words. The writer says, "Okay, I understand. I get it. I know how some of you guys can be sensitive about your gimmicks and catchphrases." Of course when the interview is released, both words are still there.  Cena meets him in the bathroom as he's taking a piss,

Quote:

'"Hey, JTG? Is that you in there? I was reading the latest WWE magazine. Interesting article with you and your tag team partner. Nice choice of words." I already knew where he was going with this. I immediately started to plead my case. I told him that a lot of the article was embellished, and that I told the writer not to use those two words, especially not in the same sentence. I finally came out of the stall. He looked me dead in my eyes and said, "You might be telling the truth. The magazine guys are known for putting words in peoples' mouths to make an exciting article. They've done that a few times to me also. But there still has to be consequences and repercussions. This can't go unpunished. You know those cool shades that you have coming out? We're gonna have to put those on hold. That will make us 'Even Steven.'"

 

- Shad indeed greets Stephanie by calling her baby. Steph says, ""What did you just call me? Don't call me baby, Shad. If you talk to the Divas
like that, that's fine. But I'm not one of the Divas, and you can refer to me by my name." Cena walks in right as it happens, shakes his head, and walks away.

 

- WWE hires masseuses for backstage but everyone except top guys are afraid to use them. Johnny Ace finally says they are going to cut the service if people stop using them. One night backstage JTG is approached by one who practically begs him to let her massage him. Sure enough,Triple H comes by and says, "Hey Shawn! You've got to come see this! One of the OVW guys who hasn't even been on the road for a week is getting a massage." JTG leaps off the table, and the masseuse starts laughing, he believes she was in on it to **** with him.

 

- Beats by Dre had been given out free headphones. JTG manages to get one and is caught offguard by a wrestler who says he should've let 'someone who is over' have them. This person then went and told someone that JTG took three. JTG says the guy is rich and he didn't want to confront him because it would make matters worse. It's Orton. And then he said the other top guy who had a headphone draped around his neck was also upset at not getting anymore free stuff. It's Cena.

 

What a wonderful business!

[The Unknown Poster]

Word is there is a re-branding of the "Divas" division coming including a new belt that is a smaller version of the WWE World Championship (with a few other changes) and possibly a change in terminology from Divas to Women.  Which is loooooong over due.

New belt supposed to debut on Monday.  Hopefully they make a big deal of it.  I'd assume Sasha wins, throws the crappy butterfly belt in the trash and declares herself the first WWE World Women's Champion.

[Jpan85]

Really excited for this weekend. NXT Takeover will steal show so many great matches on that card. Hall of Fame on Saturday night should be good. No matter the build up Wrestlemania is always a giant spectacle.

[The Unknown Poster]

50 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

Really excited for this weekend. NXT Takeover will steal show so many great matches on that card. Hall of Fame on Saturday night should be good. No matter the build up Wrestlemania is always a giant spectacle.

We should do predictions sometime this week!

[Taynted_Fayth]

these would be my predictions of the matches worth watching;

Shane vs Taker: Shanes wins dirty or taker lays down,  prompting Steph to have issue with how he gained control of raw (I expect a surprise/shock interference in this match, *fingers crossed it's Angle*

HHH vs Reigns: Reigns wins so HHH can feud with shane on behalf of steph

Ambrose vs Lesnar: Ambrose wins and turns his eyes on reigns, and as TUP mentioned, maybe leading up to the return of seth eventually down the road to have shield against one another.

Andre the giant battle royale: does it matter?

Divas: dont even know whos fighting tbh

New Day vs LoN: I think LoN wins to give them a little more credibility, New Day are pretty over as it is, they dont need the belts any longer

IC ladder match:  Owens wins,  but I hope they turn Ziggler heel in this match

US Title: Ryback wins,  there's no believable way Kalisto beats ryback and Lucha Dragons are better together then apart.  it also gives Ryback a little bit of purpose,  especially if he takes up the Cena way of making it an open challenge every week

 

Edited March 31, 2016 by Taynted_Fayth

[iso_55]

If Calisto beating Ryback is unbelievable then how is Ambrose beating Lesnar? That's even more of a stretch.

[Taynted_Fayth]

12 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

If Calisto beating Ryback is unbelievable then how is Ambrose beating Lesnar? That's even more of a stretch.

well its a street fight (no DQ) they've pretty much alluded it's going to be a hardcore match with the use of weapons, so I'd say that's somewhat of an equalizer.  in a regular bout,  it should be no contest, but lesnar getting hit with a chair or whatever should have a believable impact

Edited March 31, 2016 by Taynted_Fayth

[Taynted_Fayth]

It wouldnt surprise me if Ryback was set up with the US title and they (creative) decide to goldberg him with a streak while he open challenges nightly

[iso_55]

If they book Lesnar to lose to Ambrose at WM then he should just get out while he's still ahead in his career before he loses all the heat & he's a laughing stock. Lesnar will be the new Bray Wyatt when it comes to PPV's.

Edited March 31, 2016 by iso_55

[The Unknown Poster]

8 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

If they book Lesnar to lose to Ambrose at WM then he should just get out while he's still ahead in his career before he loses all the heat & he's a laughing stock. Lesnar will be the new Bray Wyatt when it comes to PPV's.

Ambrose is arguably the top face right now and just lost a disputed match against Hunter for the world title. He's positioned as the underdog for sure but his winning shouldn't be a major Surprise

[iso_55]

26 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Ambrose is arguably the top face right now and just lost a disputed match against Hunter for the world title. He's positioned as the underdog for sure but his winning shouldn't be a major Surprise

I don't know why Ambrose is the top face but you're right. That is why losing to Lesnar won't hurt him & Lesnar gets to keep his Beast Incarnate image intact.

[The Unknown Poster]

5 hours ago, iso_55 said:

I don't know why Ambrose is the top face but you're right. That is why losing to Lesnar won't hurt him & Lesnar gets to keep his Beast Incarnate image intact.

It definitely would depend on what they plan to do.  If Roman wins the title and continues to be pushed as their top babyface then Brock winning makes the most sense as he will likely take time off and then come back for a big match with Roman.  If Roman turns heel, it would make sense to put Ambrose over because the Roman/Ambrose feud would be hot and fresh.

Id I was betting money, I'd put it on Brock.  There's merit to keeping him "special" even though they've booked him in such a way he doesnt mean much anymore (as far as ratings go).

[The Unknown Poster]

Here's the official line up as right now (subject to change):  Ill come back later with my predictions and thoughts.

 

WWE Network Pre-show (4PM Central):

WWE United States Championship  - Kalisto(c) vs Ryback

 

USA/WWE.com/Youtube Exclusive (5PM Central):

Ten Women's Tag - Team Bad & Blond (Tamina, Naomi, Summer, Emma, Lana) vs Team Total Divas (Nattie, Paige, Brie, Alicia, Eva)

Dudley's vs Uso's

 

Main Show (6PM Central)

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale

Divas Championship - Charlotte(c) vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

New Day vs League of Nations (3 vs 4 Non-Title)

IC Championship Ladder Match - Kevin Owens(c) vs Sammy Zayn vs Sin Cara vs Stardust vs Dolph Ziggler vs Zach Ryder vs The Miz

Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose - No Holds Barred Street Fight

World Heavyweight Championship - Triple H(c) vs Roman Reigns

Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker - Hell In A Cell - Control of RAW vs WrestleMania Retirement

Plus: Steve Austin, Mick Foley & Shawn Michaels are scheduled to appear in some way.  The Rock has a "secret" role.  Expect other cameos.

For those watching on PPV or setting PVR's, WWE has alerted cable companies they intend to go into OverTime, so extend your recording.

 

[iso_55]

6 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

It definitely would depend on what they plan to do.  If Roman wins the title and continues to be pushed as their top babyface then Brock winning makes the most sense as he will likely take time off and then come back for a big match with Roman.  If Roman turns heel, it would make sense to put Ambrose over because the Roman/Ambrose feud would be hot and fresh.

Id I was betting money, I'd put it on Brock.  There's merit to keeping him "special" even though they've booked him in such a way he doesnt mean much anymore (as far as ratings go).

Some questions here. Anyone feel free. Does the WWE & Brock himself know how he looks to the fans as not The Beast but becoming The Weak? Would Brock even agree to let Ambrose beat him because both men are over? Wouldn't Lesnar have creative control over his matches? What's in it for Lesnar to let Ambrose beat him?

Edited March 31, 2016 by iso_55

[Taynted_Fayth]

I think over time every gimmick gets kinda worn out, some can still ride it, but it's never as "electric" as it was at first.  Lesnar's credentials and size give him enough legitimacy without really needing much of a gimmick.  I still think him not working the mic for himself costs him half his appeal. to have him  go face to face with someone with Heyman jumping around going "brrrrrrrock lesnaaaaaaar"  kills a bit of the heat imo. Heyman is great when its just them in the ring and he's explaining who his client is , but at some point he needs to speak for himself. hell even kane started working the stick at some point lol

I'm sure Heyman is fully aware of how Lesnar is seen, probably more so then anyone up top wants to see. Maybe HHH might think more like Heyman, but I have to assume Steph and vince are from the same school of thought that they and they alone know whats best for business,  fans opinions be damned

 

 

[iso_55]

13 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I think over time every gimmick gets kinda worn out, some can still ride it, but it's never as "electric" as it was at first.  Lesnar's credentials and size give him enough legitimacy without really needing much of a gimmick.  I still think him not working the mic for himself costs him half his appeal. to have him  go face to face with someone with Heyman jumping around going "brrrrrrrock lesnaaaaaaar"  kills a bit of the heat imo. Heyman is great when its just them in the ring and he's explaining who his client is , but at some point he needs to speak for himself. hell even kane started working the stick at some point lol

I'm sure Heyman is fully aware of how Lesnar is seen, probably more so then anyone up top wants to see. Maybe HHH might think more like Heyman, but I have to assume Steph and vince are from the same school of thought that they and they alone know whats best for business,  fans opinions be damned

 

 

Yeah, that explains why we've had 3 years of the Authority shoved in our faces. 

[The Unknown Poster]

Reports circulating of a "major surprise" at WrestleMania and the name is someone I'd never expect, especially as a surprise and not as someone pre-promoted.  Spoilers so I wont say in this post.

By the way, Scott Hall is in Dallas and is in tremendous physical shape.  Whatever these 40-somethings are on (Hunter, Hall, Shane) I need some.  I guess its just DDP Yoga.  ;-)

[Atomic]

Hey don't knock DDP yoga.  I absolutely love it.

[Atomic]

Predictions

Ryback over Kalisto

Team BAD and Blonde over the Total Divas

AJ Styles over Jericho

Sasha wins the title

League of Nations over New Day

Dudleys over Usos

Mark Henry wins the battle royal

Stardust wins the IC title (please God please)

Deaner over Lesnar.  Deaner covered in blood by the end.  Interference by Bray Wyatt and IRS

Reigns over HHH

Shane beats Taker with help from ???

[bigg jay]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Reports circulating of a "major surprise" at WrestleMania and the name is someone I'd never expect, especially as a surprise and not as someone pre-promoted.  Spoilers so I wont say in this post.

Kenny Omega vs Hugh Morris? 

[The Unknown Poster]

4 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Kenny Omega vs Hugh Morris? 

That wouldnt last very long.  But Omega & The Bucks inserted into the New Day vs League of Nations match would be dynamite.

[The Unknown Poster]

@Atomic That's a good guess on the Andre Battle Royale I hadnt considered.  Mark Henry is supposedly retiring after WrestleMania.  Could definitely see that.

[bigg jay]

3 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

That wouldnt last very long.  But Omega & The Bucks inserted into the New Day vs League of Nations match would be dynamite.

I read an interview Kenny did recently pushing for a match with the New day (building on his online stuff with Woods).  Can't see the WWE agreeing to that but I'd love to see it!  

I also found it a bit surprising that he was considering going to NXT until he was given the chance to be a top guy with NJPW.  I know wrestling is a never say never business, but I was sure I'd never see him with the WWE again.

[The Unknown Poster]

1 minute ago, bigg jay said:

I read an interview Kenny did recently pushing for a match with the New day (building on his online stuff with Woods).  Can't see the WWE agreeing to that but I'd love to see it!  

I also found it a bit surprising that he was considering going to NXT until he was given the chance to be a top guy with NJPW.  I know wrestling is a never say never business, but I was sure I'd never see him with the WWE again.

Kenny & The Bucks and the New Day are having fun with their "program" they are working online.  New Day has even managed to get some stuff on WWE television (sweeping etc).

I would say if you had to bet on it, to bet on Kenny in WWE eventually.  Its where everyone wants to eventually go because 1) money 2) its the top promotion.  Kenny values New Japan immensely so being a top guy there is like being a top guy in WWE to most American wrestlers.  But eventually.....

I remember talking to him about NXT and the Samoa Joe deal sort of gave some guys hope.  WWE developmental was a place a lot of guys avoided expecially if they had worked around the world and were "above" developmental.  But Joe being there and being used well, respected, keeping his name etc showed guys there was a different mind set.

William Regal is the international scout and I can tell you he's talked to Kenny many times...Omega is well known to WWE.  He's probably the best star in the world not in WWE as far as someone who could walk into WWE tomorrow and be a pushed star in the main roster.

WWE is very surprised by how over AJ Styles is.  They always considered his fans to be a small vocal minority but they realise now that big international stars are still big stars.  So it raises the value for everyone.

[Jpan85]

NXT is there best product right now. Super pumped for tonight Takeover is going to be really good. Excited to see Nakamura tonight.