Wrestling

[The Unknown Poster]

23 minutes ago, Brandon said:

It would give WWE a fresh start and something that they could attract new viewers over.   It would be amazing if a new entity (without bad habits) could get kick started and take off and bring a brand new era of wrestling.

If they were to go to WWE,  then I don't think it's nearly the same kind of impact as Hall and Nash going to WCW...  I don't see ratings sky rocketing with the new blood.    Until they target adults like they did in the Attitude Era then I don't see it being nearly as mainstream popular as it was before.  

 

Yeah, I dont think it ushers in a new era like the nWo did.  But I cant think of any talent moves since that would be as big or impact business as much.  

The timing might work out perfectly as SD on FOX will attract more eyeballs so ratings *should* go up no matter what they do.  If they can present a fresher, more interesting product with new talent that has cross-over appeal, its the best chance of someone catching fire.  Even really big stars like Hunter and Cena were just "really big wrestling" stars, not mainstream like Austin & Rock.   

I think Kenny could be somewhere in the middle.  The business would have to be way hotter to allow anyone to be the next Rock or Austin, no matter how big of a star they were.  

The reports that WWE has an angle already planned tells me they would be committed to it.  The Elite guys being savvy enough to break away from the Bullet Club (a gimmick owned by WWE which WWE previously tried to get and brazenly rips off) into their own brand is tailor made for WWE as well.  Especially with House Show and merch sales declining.  A hot merch brand would quickly turn that around and the Elite touring would juice House Show numbers all around the world, at least on the first run in every market.

Omega at Wrestlemania would be big.

[bigg jay]

9 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Anyone want to make predictions on what happens?

My guess is they make the jump.  I think the timing in their career is right and as long as they keep some creative control, it makes sense.

[bigg jay]

Double post 

Edited November 2, 2018 by bigg jay

[The Unknown Poster]

So....anyone watching Crown Jewel?

[The Unknown Poster]

Hunter tore a pec and needs surgery.  That main event looked really old. 

[SpeedFlex27]

35 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Hunter tore a pec and needs surgery.  That main event looked really old. 

Hunter always made it about himself.  That's what you get when you main event & get into the ring once or twice a year at his age & tries to recapture his youth.  Shawn Micheals better think twice about a comeback.  Same with the Undertaker & Kane.

[SpeedFlex27]

4 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

So....anyone watching Crown Jewel?

It's called work. I don't have the money those Sheiks, Princes & wrestlers have.

[Goldkobra]

On 2018-11-01 at 11:13 AM, The Unknown Poster said:

And some interesting news coming out of the Jericho Cruise.  Really, the biggest news in wrestling is where will Kenny Omega go, and that really becomes a "where does the Bullet Club go".

Cody Rhodes' contract is now expired so he's a free agent.  The Bucks expire at the end of the year and Kenny's expires end of January.  WWE wants them all.  ROH wants them all.  New Japan wants them all.

On the Cruise, Cody said he "swore to God he wasnt going to WWE" but later said his wife and the other guys gave him **** for saying that.  They also announced that they were all no longer part of the Bullet Club and that they were "The Elite".  They had previously announced their Bullet Club merch was ending at the end of the year and only their individual merch and Elite merch would be sold moving forward.

The Elite group (Kenny, Cody, Bucks, Hangman Page) have said they are very serious about wanting to stay together as a group and make a group decision on where they go next.  Hangman Page declined both WWE and ROH recently to remain a free agent while waiting for everyone's contracts to expire.

There are rumors of a "billionaire" wanting to invest with Jericho and Jim Ross involved.

Supposedly ROH's parent company Sinclair (which is a huge media company, owns the largest TV station group in the US and is far richer than WWE) was looking to invest more heavily in ROH but it seems that has changed as ROH's offers to guys have not been enough to secure them.

Conflicting reports on guys being upset with New Japan management.

And its being reported WWE has made offers to everyone including developed an initial angle for them to debut.  WWE is cognizant of tampering (as they got in trouble when offering ROH guys deals before they were free agents).  But with key guys being free already, those talks can happen (and I know one key guy who has an agent when he never did before so he can receive offers).

It really cant be over-stated how critical all this is.  If the Elite guys do stay together, they will have an impact on the wrestling landscape in a way Im not sure we've seen since Hall & Nash jumped to WCW.  

If they all go to WWE, you always risk WWE screwing it up but I strongly suspect that they'd have certain contractual assurances and freedoms.  Plus, its Hunter driving this bus, not Vince.  Vince calls the final shots though but I really think this would be a Hunter thing in a way it hasnt been before. 

It would give WWE an injection of fresh blood, especially with Kenny who is the best chance to be a major game changer since Cena (and I think if done right, he can be the next cross-over mega star in the vein of Austin or Rock....not saying he'd be THAT big, just that vein of mega star).   It would drastically help House Shows which lost money for the first time in forever and especially with Roman out, Kenny as the new face is something pretty obvious (and Cody could be an upper card star and I like Page a lot too).

If they all stay with some combination of ROH/New Japan, especially New Japan, it allows them to continue investing in a US/Global expansion that becomes a lot harder without those guys.  It likely allows them to do an All In 2 that Cody really wants to do.  It allows them to keep doing the Being The Elite steaming show (which does very well).  Word is WWE is fine with them continuing the show (and I could see it becoming a Network show actually).

Anyone want to make predictions on what happens?  I had an interesting conversation with Kenny two weeks ago...I have never asked him point blank what his plans are because I dont want him to either have to lie to me or divulge info to me that he feels uncomfortable divulging.  But when we've discussed his future in the past, he's always been pretty frank (when the first "will he or wont" debate raged a few years ago, he emailed me to say he was staying in New Japan before anyone knew, for example).

He told me he legitimately doesnt know what they're going to do.  I said, well let me give you my hypothesis...and he said sure.  I told him what I thought and he had a big smile and said I was "very hot" (when asked if I was cold or warm).

I was on the Jericho cruise. I have to say, the matches were phenomenal. 

[The Unknown Poster]

10 hours ago, Goldkobra said:

I was on the Jericho cruise. I have to say, the matches were phenomenal. 

Fill us in!  I think the news coming out of the cruise is that it was a lot more fun then many people expected.  Seems like it was an awesone time. 

[The Unknown Poster]

Perhaps best remembered as HBK’s trainer who managed him when he beat Bret for the world title. 

 

[Goldkobra]

On 2018-11-06 at 7:34 AM, The Unknown Poster said:

Fill us in!  I think the news coming out of the cruise is that it was a lot more fun then many people expected.  Seems like it was an awesone time. 

It was an awesome time. Best vacay the wife and i have ever been on. Met some very cool people. Tons of activities on board other than wrestling.  Like podcasts and standup comedians. So i didn't see every match and i was hammered for some that i did. The bullet club vs alpha club match was off the chain!! Kenny went over on one of the bucks. The high point for me was kenny hitting a double Frankensteiner on both bucks at the same time!! Lost my mind a bit on that one.

The cruise tournament winner was flip gordon. Wasn't too familiar with him beforehand but wow! He's an awesome talent.  Both Briscoe's were in the tourney so we were treated to a brother vs brother match. That was pretty cool. 

The  finale was the elite vs tna. Cody rhodes, the bucks, hangman page, and marty scurll. The elite came out dressed as super Mario characters. The bucks as Mario and Luigi. Cody as bowser. Hangman as yoshi and marty as wario. Also brandi rhodes as princess peach. Tna had SCU, brian cage and sami Callahan. Wrestling with guys dressed as Mario characters was something I didn't know i needed to see until I saw it.

Funny part of the match was the teams taking turns carrying off brandi rhodes to their corner. Another high spot was a triangle choke that turned into an 9 man triangle choke chain that went up the ropes and almost out of the ring. With one of the buck trying to turn the chain over into a 9 man Boston crab. He didn't have the power to do it so kenny omega came out dressed like toad with an xbox controller and gave him power ups via the controller.  Marty/wario turned villain in the match and left his team hanging and bolted to the  back. 

The finish was sami Callahan grabbing a mic and cutting a promo on how roh, tna, his teammates, Chris Jericho, the cruise and everyone on sucked and the only reason it sold out was because sami Callahan was on it. Resulting in a 8 man simultaneous super kick and dog pile pin. The winner of the match was everyone except sami. 

[The Unknown Poster]

 

[JCon]

I would answer, "Shoot". Maybe a little of both but mostly Shoot. 

The animosity that it created, along with Owen's death, seemed legit. 

[Atomic]

100% a work, maybe the greatest work of all time

[The Unknown Poster]

26 minutes ago, Atomic said:

100% a work, maybe the greatest work of all time

I love conspiracy theories.   In 2002, my ex-partner (business) and I had an in-depth discussion about it and while we agreed it was a shoot, the idea of it being a work was so intriguing we considered writing a book about it - The Montreal Hoax.  

[SpeedFlex27]

I always thought it was a bit of both.  Certainly the relationship between Brett Hart, Triple H & Shawn Michaels was poison so who knows?

[The Unknown Poster]

This was a rough one for me too 

 

[ediger]

On 2018-11-13 at 11:00 AM, The Unknown Poster said:

This was a rough one for me too 

 

 

That one and Piper were the two that hit hard for me. Two guys I really wanted to have a chance to talk to for a couple of minutes.

 

On a happier note, anyone checking out Sherb Your Enthusiasm? Sounds like it will be a fun show. PCO is a hell of a story, looking forward to seeing him in a few weeks.

[The Unknown Poster]

1 hour ago, ediger said:

 

That one and Piper were the two that hit hard for me. Two guys I really wanted to have a chance to talk to for a couple of minutes.

 

On a happier note, anyone checking out Sherb Your Enthusiasm? Sounds like it will be a fun show. PCO is a hell of a story, looking forward to seeing him in a few weeks.

Ask me after the show... 😉

[The Unknown Poster]

On 2018-11-09 at 5:20 PM, SpeedFlex27 said:

I always thought it was a bit of both.  Certainly the relationship between Brett Hart, Triple H & Shawn Michaels was poison so who knows?

100% shoot (in the traditional sense).  Bret had no idea, although Davey warned him to watch out for it but the idea of happening was so crazy at that time, he immediately dismissed the warning.  

Vince, HBK, Hunter, Brisco...and I believe Patterson and Jim Ross knew it was happening.  Patterson is the one who suggested the reverse sharpshooter spot and Jim Ross made some remarks before the show about it being Bret's last match.

I would have believed in the work but it would have come out once Owen died.  Plus, Bret's documentary crew filmed it and Vince tried hard to block release of the film.  

[SpeedFlex27]

Nia Jax getting heat with her punch to the face of Becky Lynch last night breaking her nose & giving her a concussion. She can't wrestle Rhonda Rousey this Sunday. There goes the buildup that was getting a lot of interest because of what she did. First reports said it was an accidental elbow. Now reports are saying it was a deliberate punch. Some want her sent down to developmental for more training.

[The Unknown Poster]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Nia Jax getting heat with her punch to the face of Becky Lynch last night breaking her nose & giving her a concussion. She can't wrestle Rhonda Rousey this Sunday. There goes the buildup that was getting a lot of interest because of what she did. First reports said it was an accidental elbow. Now reports are saying it was a deliberate punch. Some want her sent down to developmental for more training.

Accidents happen but Nia has several incidents of this. And she was facing Becky. If it was an accident she is reckless and crappy. If she did it on purpose she should be fired. 

In a way it might help wwe cause I assume they’d have Ronda win but Becky is their hottest star right now.  Save it for wm 

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Accidents happen but Nia has several incidents of this. And she was facing Becky. If it was an accident she is reckless and crappy. If she did it on purpose she should be fired. 

In a way it might help wwe cause I assume they’d have Ronda win but Becky is their hottest star right now.  Save it for wm 

Too bad. Would have been a good match. 

[SpeedFlex27]

 

[The Unknown Poster]

9 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

 

Incredibly careless or malicious.  Either way, she should be sent to Florida or the unemployment line.