You didn’t miss much. 
Forgot one more classic from recent years;
- The Shield vs. Evolution (Payback 2014)
Evolution was still a thing after 10 years? I assume no longer the original lineup(Batista, HHH, Flair, and um, I forget?)
There’s a lot of stuff I have to catch up on. I hear CM Punk’s run was incredible too. Yet strangely, despite all those highlights, most people seem to think that the product only went downhill after the Monday Night Wars ended.
Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista had a brief reunion as Evolution in 2014. The Payback match was the apex of it and the best match of the Shield’s run.
I would say WWE started getting better after they dropped ECW and morphed FCW into NXT. When NXT grads like the Shield and the Wyatts started to filter up, it began the decline of Wince’s formula. The indies like RoH were producing top notch talent like Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, CM Punk, and recently Roderick Strong, so WWE signed them up. NJPW had top stars like AJ Styles, Gallows & Anderson, Finn Balor, and Nakamura, so WWE signed them up. When TNA lost top talent like Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, and Eric Young, WWE said Come On Down!
Now they’re making use of Cruiserweights to much better effect than the anemic “Light Heavyweight” era. Not to worry though, we still find plenty of things to bitch about. 
It’s all quite oblique at the moment, but according to the rumors I’ve been reading, Fight Network (which airs TNA in Canada) funded BFG and the latest batch of tapings, and Dixie gave them the tape library as collateral, which queered the deal WWE and Corgan had been trying to broker.
She definitely seems to be determined to go down with the ship and take everyone involved with her. God only knows how this’ll turn out.
Amended to that…I heard Fight Network wants to buy out all the lawsuits, kick Billy to the curb, and give the entire thing back to Dixie (again.)
Really hope that isn’t the case…
Damn, that bitch done sold her soul split up about 15 ways. Billy might have to put out a hit on her.
I think she only sold the streaming rights for Canada to the Fight network, but we may have to wait for things to be unsealed before we get a full picture.
As I understand it, part of Billy’s deal with his investment was that he would be able to take over if TNA didn’t get their finances in order. He now believes TNA is currently insolvent and so that should be triggered, Dixie is claiming that no, they’re not insolvent at all.
So that’s all going through the courts for now, I believe a lot of the lawsuits being filed now for collection of debt is mainly companies jockeying for position among creditors if bankruptcy does end up happening.
I think whatever deal Dixie made with the Fight network only really covered TV tapings through the end of the year. So if she sold the entire tape library in total, she did so for something less than a million, which is a terrible deal, even for her. If she did just sell Canadian streaming rights, that’s a little better for that portion, but I wonder if that would cause more damage to the overall value–how much less is WWE going to be willing to pay if they can’t use it everywhere?
You can tell they’re only in it for the money when WWE promotes Brock vs Goldberg with video game footage. They’re all just one step from using avatars instead of live wrestlers.
Regarding the Cruiserweights, I really didn’t like the idea of giving them storylines. I wanted them to just do amazing shit and collect their paychecks. That being said, the TJ Perkins/Brian Kendrick storyline is actually kind of intriguing. When Kendrick lost to Swann, TJ said nothing. He didn’t gloat or comment. The camera just showed him staring intently at Kendrick, like he suspected something was up. Later, when Kendrick begged him to throw their match at HIAC, it made me wonder if The Brian (kayfabe) purposely lost to Swann so TJ would (kayfabe) underestimate him. In other words, is The Brian fake faking?
I don’t remember reading anywhere that the sold the tape library - just put it up as collateral for a loan. Of course, considering the condition TNA reportedly is in, that could be the same thing.
Question: who owns PPV or other broadcast rights to WWE PPVs in Canada? If The Fight Network does end up with the TNA library, could it be just so it could use it as a carrot to dangle in front of Vince when the rights come up for renewal?
Some of the details from Corgan’s lawsuit were unsealed today.
Corgan alleges that Carter reneged on an agreement to give him the remainder of her stock in exchange for a loan, and is seeking an injunction that would allow him to take over the company.
I think Alexa Bliss just replaced Becky Lynch as my future ex wife.
Now that Randy Orton joined the Wyatts, he needs a hillbilly beard.
Smackdown continually becomes a very pleasant show to watch.
The length is perfect, the stories are simple and good, and the roster is just the perfect size to be over.
Missing RAM on Monday has done nothing to damper my week, yet I feel I would be disappointed if I missed Smackdown…
Vince’s senility flares up because he couldn’t understand why Minneapolis prefers their home boy Brock over Goldberg. He hasn’t learned anything from the Reigns push debacle. Seriously, he thinks Goldberg can shrug off 12 years of ring rust vs an opponent who probably won’t sell for shit?
Is Moldberg even going to have any prelim matches before the big event? I’m sure Big Show could make him look passably good, since he’s huge and strong himself, and Goldberg was able to prop him up for the Jackhammer way back when. Oh wait, I guess Big Shoo isn’t available, since he’s training Shaq for their upcoming WM match. Another one-shot for short-term money.
A fan asked John Cena what his favorite food was: John Cena Favorite Food is Nikki Bella Crazy Embarrassing Answer to Little Kid with Sex Joke - YouTube
Reason number 2,359 that they won’t turn Cena heel in the ring: He’s already one IRL
Orton isn’t joining the Wyatts. He’s just continuing the burial of Bray Wyatt with the “I can play this game better than you can” stuff we’ve already seen.
Well, the live tweeting someone did of Billy vs TNA in court today were interesting.
Billy’s side we pretty much knew.
TNA’s side appears to be that Billy is a bad person to actually want to profit on a business loan. The terms he insisted on are terrible (nevermind that TNA still signed), and the provisions in the contract that would trigger the takeover are possibly in violation of TN law (though again, TNA signed the contract). TNA has offered (through other investors) to pay Billy back for the loan (and interest? Unknown)
The video has been taken down due to a copyright claim. What was it?