Pro Wrestling Discussion Thread **Spoilers Possible**

[murrayyyyy]

Supposedly in September there will be 2 PPV's a month on the network.

So I assume they are raiding the entire NXT roster minus the TNA guys to make this happen?

[molson]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

Supposedly in September there will be 2 PPV's a month on the network.

So I assume they are raiding the entire NXT roster minus the TNA guys to make this happen?

Yes, and they'll also be raiding the current indy scene to re-fill NXT.

[RainMaker]

Interesting. So it'll be one for Smackdown and one for Raw each month? I feel like they'd be better off doing one every 6 weeks which allows for better build.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by molson

Yes, and they'll also be raiding the current indy scene to re-fill NXT.

Are they going to raid Evolve? I saw people excited Cody was going there but thought the WWE owned them for some strange reason. Evolve has a lot of flipity guys looking at their roster.

[molson]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

Are they going to raid Evolve? I saw people excited Cody was going there but thought the WWE owned them for some strange reason. Evolve has a lot of flipity guys looking at their roster.

The WWE does have a working agreement with Evolve now, but they're still independent. Nobody's sure exactly what it entails, but Evolve is hosting some WWE Cruiserweight Open Qualifying matches, and the WWE website is promoting those shows. So it make sense that a lot of the Evolve guys are going to end up in NXT. I think Evolve is becoming kind of a "WWE preferred indy", its a way for them to snatch up indy talent more quickly without having to deal with contracts or licensing agreements that workers might have with ROH or TNA. So now when you work for evolve, part of the deal is you have a fast-track path to WWE if they want you.

[Suicane75]

They should just start running 8 crews and putting live shows on the Network 24 hours a day.

[Flasch186]

As if they couldn't build storyline already. Blech.

[Racer]

Spoiler

Dean Ambrose WWE World Champion. Good for him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Perfectly booked, in terms of logic.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And we now have a former (2x) CZW Heavyweight Champion sitting at the top of the wrestling universe.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting Twitter question: did they purposefully overrun tonight in order to have the title changes happen after the NBA finals were over?

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Interesting Twitter question: did they purposefully overrun tonight in order to have the title changes happen after the NBA finals were over?

We were talking about that. I think it's possible, but if you recall, WM went way long, and last months show went long too. So who the heck knows.

[murrayyyyy]

Sat opposite the stage last night. You could tell they were working around the game last night by the amount of time(or lack of) between the matches(well that and the few people who had the game on their phones). All and all a really good show as you knew going in that the tag match and MIB match were going to be a good spotfest. I had Styles-Cena too hyped in my mind but Styles kept slipping every time he got on the ropes.

The title match was good and I'm not sure a lot of people live saw them sneak Dean under the ring. They let Roman lose clean for the first time. We are now set up for the Summer of Shield which has to be a good thing.

I wonder how much they will make of the botched count on Anderson in the tag match tonight (from my view, the ref started the count early but people were going nuts).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Nice pic, really gives a good view of what things look like without the narrowing of the camera lens.

I dunno how much was made of the botched count overall but I fairly well hammered it here at home. To me it it looked like a case where the worker arrived late rather than the ref getting ahead of himself though.

Honestly, "The Club" came off looking very vulnerable to me. I know Cass is a big fella but both Anderson & Gallows looked exceptionally small in the ring with him, almost to the point of credibility damaging small. They're going to have to book them carefully I (now) think or else they're going to become difficult to keep over IMO.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Nice pic, really gives a good view of what things look like without the narrowing of the camera lens.

I dunno how much was made of the botched count overall but I fairly well hammered it here at home. To me it it looked like a case where the worker arrived late rather than the ref getting ahead of himself though.

Honestly, "The Club" came off looking very vulnerable to me. I know Cass is a big fella but both Anderson & Gallows looked exceptionally small in the ring with him, almost to the point of credibility damaging small. They're going to have to book them carefully I (now) think or else they're going to become difficult to keep over IMO.

Yeah, it's probably my favorite spot to watch it because you can still see the hard camera views most the time on the Titantron. Problem is the Titantron is only on for about 50% of the match. The rest of the time it was the MIB logo.

I think the entire tag team division took a knock last night. As long as merch sales control the tag division, nothing is going to happen. Luchadros are now at the Dudley's level, Vaudvillians are boring, The Club are nothing more than accessories right now and Enzo-Cass are pretty much there just to talk. Remember when the Usos were on PPVs? New Day should be good enough to not need the belts right now. And even in a heavy tag division I wonder why they haven't paired up Ziggler and Ryder. Does anyone want to see Dolph in another solo feud?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

I think the entire tag team division took a knock last night. As long as merch sales control the tag division, nothing is going to happen. Luchadros are now at the Dudley's level, Vaudvillians are boring, The Club are nothing more than accessories right now and Enzo-Cass are pretty much there just to talk. Remember when the Usos were on PPVs? New Day should be good enough to not need the belts right now. And even in a heavy tag division I wonder why they haven't paired up Ziggler and Ryder. Does anyone want to see Dolph in another solo feud?

This mirrors some of the conversation points here in the batcave last night.

I basically mock Los Whatevers.

Vaudevillians have a legit ceiling of "future gatekeepers" (which they might be tolerable, if boring to watch, at)

I do not, however, mourn the absence of Uso 1 & Uso 2 in the slightest.

Despite our love for ND (due entirely to enjoying Woods aka Austin Creed), my kid is convinced (and I agree, tho less vociferiously) that the loss of the belts will see them depushed & quickly jobbing their way back to anonymity.

As for Dolph, there are people who want him in another singles feud ... namely whomever he has to put over. Those are the ONLY people who want it but apparently that's a powerful faction these days. I liked JR's tweet last night, something to the effect that Corbin owes Ziggler a steak.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

This mirrors some of the conversation points here in the batcave last night.

I basically mock Los Whatevers.

Vaudevillians have a legit ceiling of "future gatekeepers" (which they might be tolerable, if boring to watch, at)

I do not, however, mourn the absence of Uso 1 & Uso 2 in the slightest.

Despite our love for ND (due entirely to enjoying Woods aka Austin Creed), my kid is convinced (and I agree, tho less vociferiously) that the loss of the belts will see them depushed & quickly jobbing their way back to anonymity.

As for Dolph, there are people who want him in another singles feud ... namely whomever he has to put over. Those are the ONLY people who want it but apparently that's a powerful faction these days. I liked JR's tweet last night, something to the effect that Corbin owes Ziggler a steak.

Knew I missed a line on my Usos stab, should have been followed by "Does anyone care".

With Dolph, I just think he is the walking definition of a hot tag. I think he'd fit perfect with American Alpha in that same Freebird style trio. Their call up is probably coming soon (July 4th is a Monday) but with the brand split I think they might have a manager that sucks (is there a better perfect storm?).

ND can survive without the straps because they have the gift of gab and the ability to put any concept over. I just think Vince wants to keep the the title there so they can break the modern tag team reign held by Kendrick and London (well that and crazy merch sales that get split 3 ways instead of that fat check he writes Cena).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

I just think Vince wants to keep the the title there so they can break the modern tag team reign held by Kendrick and London (well that and crazy merch sales that get split 3 ways instead of that fat check he writes Cena).

IF I did the math right last night (5 weeks to next PPV, so 35 days?) they just have to retain until then in order to break the record, with less than a week to spare.

edit to add: I'd forgotten about the whole "decommissoned" original World Tag Team Titles. That record was/is 478 days, for Demolition.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

IF I did the math right last night (5 weeks to next PPV, so 35 days?) they just have to retain until then in order to break the record, with less than a week to spare.

edit to add: I'd forgotten about the whole "decommissoned" original World Tag Team Titles. That record was/is 478 days, for Demolition.

Yeah, I don't think the WWF will count the Demolition history just like they did with the Divas title.

[molson]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

edit to add: I'd forgotten about the whole "decommissoned" original World Tag Team Titles. That record was/is 478 days, for Demolition.

And after they pass London/Kendrick they'll only be the 4th longest reigning WWE tag team champions of any kind, there's two reigns from the 70s that are a little longer (The Valiant Brothers and Fuji/Tanaka)

Still, top 4 is pretty incredible considering the WWE has had tag belts for 45 years.

[Maple Leafs]

The New Day tag team title reign thing is really weird to me.

WWE: The New Day are about to break a tag team record! It's a huge deal!
Me: Cool. Who held the old record?
WWE: Literally nobody you have ever heard of.

[DavidCorperial]

Brian Kendrick/Spanky and Paul London were actually a pretty big deal in wrestling, the fact you don't know them doesn't mean they weren't anything special.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wellness violation, 30 days.

Roman Reigns suspended

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Wellness violation, 30 days.

Roman Reigns suspended

thats a joke right? i have a hard time believing it

and by "it" i mean WWE busting their future john cena

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

thats a joke right? i have a hard time believing it

and by "it" i mean WWE busting their future john cena

I'm thinking it had to either be something VERY serious OR the bloom has fallen off the rose for some reason we haven't heard yet.

Or maybe we're just all getting worked about it, something that (to my recollection) they've never been willing to do on this topic in the past.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Wellness violation, 30 days.

Roman Reigns suspended

drugs = 30 days

touch Vince's arm = 60 days and squash to Rusev on father's day

I will say this makes the draft really fascinating now...

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

thats a joke right? i have a hard time believing it

and by "it" i mean WWE busting their future john cena

Eddie's son went on a rant about Roman being on the juice a year ago I think and it was swept under the rug.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And, after a moment to actually process this, I realize that either it has to be a work OR it's something pretty bad.

I mean, if it's just the standard typical wellness violation then why did they go out of their way to put him in a three-way main event for the next PPV just last night?

Or am I to believe that their compliance department is so autonomous that they hand down suspensions once the paperwork is all done with H.R. and they don't give creative even a few days to fix things?

[murrayyyyy]

Wasn't Konnor/Rose over in the past few days? Maybe they just do random tests every 30 days? I don't think it's a work personally as they've put too much behind him to play with this subject knowing their past.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

I don't think it's a work personally as they've put too much behind him to play with this subject knowing their past.

I tend to agree ... which is what has me leaning toward something like "snorting coke off Steph's stomach in the middle of their flight home" as the next guess.

[murrayyyyy]

take it for what it's worth but this was posted on reddit yesterday:

So I'm hearing that the reason Reigns lost last night is because he's facing a suspension from WWE for taking steroids. It's supposed to be announced tonight. Not sure how true this is, but the source predicted that he would drop the title to Rollins at MITB because of this and it happened.

So again, not saying this is true, but I'm hearing it as a possibility. Guess we'll find out tonight

[JonInMiddleGA]

But if they knew, why in the blue hell did they book Raw main event like that?

I mean, that's non-sensical booking even for them

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

But if they knew, why in the blue hell did they book Raw main event like that?

I mean, that's non-sensical booking even for them

PPV is in 33 days. Suspension is 30.

I really can't remember what they did around Orton's suspensions. Didn't they make him fall down stairs once to hide a title off TV? My best guess (and it's just a guess) is they gave him another test being a top guy with him saying the failed test can't be true. Got results today and Vince got pissed being lied to and suspended him as quickly as possible.

Does WWE suspend off first offense?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

PPV is in 33 days. Suspension is 30.

#smdh, I forgot this was a five week cycle instead of four. My bad, seriously.

[molson]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

PPV is in 33 days. Suspension is 30.

I really can't remember what they did around Orton's suspensions. Didn't they make him fall down stairs once to hide a title off TV? My best guess (and it's just a guess) is they gave him another test being a top guy with him saying the failed test can't be true. Got results today and Vince got pissed being lied to and suspended him as quickly as possible.

Does WWE suspend off first offense?

They've always finished up angles and moved titles before taking suspended guys off TV. Even Evan Bourne lost his tag team title on TV after he failed a wellness test.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Roman Reigns ‏@WWERomanReigns 2h2 hours ago
I apologize to my family, friends and fans for my mistake in violating WWE’s wellness policy. No excuses. I own it.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

#smdh, I forgot this was a five week cycle instead of four. My bad, seriously.

Just wait until they have the one ever 2 or 3 weeks. It will be like remembering when a UFC event is happening. I think a lot will be known with regard to the PPV with the tapings tonight. They've got about 3 hours to figure out how they plan to play this.

1) The old fake injury thing.

2) Use it as a teaching kids lesson and storyline the suspension.

3) Act like he was just missing from tv and comes back mystically for the PPV.

4) Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh Amadou! Do Do Do Do

[JonInMiddleGA]

The latest breaking conspiracy theory is that this is payback for RR allegedly tweeting the pics of Paige getting "not arrested" outside the arena following MITB.

Meanwhile the dirt sheets are saying that whatever the dust up between Paige & her boyfriend Alberto Del Rio actually was, it was not anything being filmed for one of their reality shows.

edit: I don't buy that theory at all, just sharing that it exists.

[molson]

When it comes to Reigns there will always be conspiracy theories. If he got suspended before MITB and just vacated the title, the conspiracy theory would just be that they wanted to protect him from dropping the title in the ring.

I think he just failed a test, and will just be out the next 30 days, and he'll still be a pushed star when he comes back. He might be booked as more of a heel though. Even though I think he's kind of been a subtle heel for a while, and worked a heel style for some of the MITB match.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

When it comes to Reigns there will always be conspiracy theories.

Could probably go with "when it comes to insert any top guy here ... " and be okay.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm thinking it had to either be something VERY serious OR the bloom has fallen off the rose for some reason we haven't heard yet.

Or maybe we're just all getting worked about it, something that (to my recollection) they've never been willing to do on this topic in the past.

I'm wondering if they got word about some article being written that implicates Reigns (and other athletes) and this is their way of getting out in front of the story.

I have to imagine this puts him out of the next PPV. Are they really going to build to a PPV without him on TV for a month?

[RainMaker]

Also the bloom may be off the rose too. I could have sworn I read that the Ambrose house shows were doing just as well as the Reigns ones which is bad because the champ should be outdrawing. Maybe they just realized that Reigns isn't getting over.

Still think it was a huge mistake not to make him a "corporate champ". The crowd already felt like he was that so why not go along with it.

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The latest breaking conspiracy theory is that this is payback for RR allegedly tweeting the pics of Paige getting "not arrested" outside the arena following MITB.

Meanwhile the dirt sheets are saying that whatever the dust up between Paige & her boyfriend Alberto Del Rio actually was, it was not anything being filmed for one of their reality shows.

edit: I don't buy that theory at all, just sharing that it exists.

99% sure it was one those fan accounts that use wrestlers name in the title on twitter as there was no blue checkmark and the original source was Roman Reigns (@Roman_Empire_76) | Twitter The tweet was deleted evidentally now https://twitter.com/Roman_Empire_76/...88025013288960

Rumor was that night she ended up running out in the street on the strip (big no-no, especially dumb during EDC weekend). It was a weird weekend as all the news that happened here this weekend seems to have taken days to go national (kid going after cops gun to shoot Trump)

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Also the bloom may be off the rose too. I could have sworn I read that the Ambrose house shows were doing just as well as the Reigns ones which is bad because the champ should be outdrawing. Maybe they just realized that Reigns isn't getting over.

Still think it was a huge mistake not to make him a "corporate champ". The crowd already felt like he was that so why not go along with it.

Both house shows A&B I think they said were down 20-30%. TV ratings were up Monday for the first time in a long time.

[murrayyyyy]

Alleged PPV schedule for the rest of the year.

[cthomer5000]

Feels like overkill. I was thinking the benefit of the brand split would be to give them more breathing room. Instead they've got to keep the same rate of buildup for both brands, while having super short turnarounds for the big 4 events.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Gotta be honest, the stars of NXT shine like crazy ... but when they're in old territory stars squash jobbers mode for regular shows it can be pretty ugly.

Some of these guys are not ready to even watch matches on "tv", much less be ON "tv".

[miami_fan]

Was that Titus-Rusev as bad on TV as it was in the arena?

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Was that Titus-Rusev as bad on TV as it was in the arena?

West coast feed but I can tell you at Money in the Bank I couldn't tell if it was that bad because the entire crowd was watching Cavs-Warriors on their phones or because it was a no build up title match that late in the card. I'll assume Titus/Rusev were suppose to throw punches the entire match and no one bought into it because they pull too soon?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Not really sure I'm up for the Xavier-joins-Wyatts angle long term but damn Bray did some fine work last night.