Any WWE fans in the audience? (Part 1)

[sms339]

Thank you, Smapti.

[Sir_T-Cups]

@sms339

Confused about certain alliances – for example, Jericho and Owens – and how they came about. And there are a lot of folks I’ve just plain never seen before, or at least have never watched at length.

Last time I looked in briefly, Rollins was the titleholder, but I do recall him getting terribly injured. Completely missed him splitting with The Authority/Triple H. Really like his work.

Recall liking Ambrose a lot as well. Don’t hate Reigns as much as most people do, but I understand how his mega-push rubs people the wrong way.

Classy gesture by Owens wearing the armband last night.

Knowed Out is right, KO and Jericho got together because they were pitching a buddy-cop movie that never happened, so the writers put them together. They’re arguably the best talkers in the business, so it was a natural fit.

Rollins was a title-holder and then did, indeed, get hurt. He came back as a heel but never regained his previous luster. He split from The Authority when he was in a match for the (then vacated by an injured Finn Balor) Universal Title. HHH came in and made it look like he would interfere on Rollins’ behalf and help him win, but he turned on Rollins and handed the belt to KO (literally and figuratively).

Ambrose is a lesser John Cena. He’s the “in case of emergency break glass” superstar. Because he can do it all, and because the fans love him, you can throw him in any feud and situation and it’s both believable, and immediately popular. His recent run with the WWE title and is run with the IC is largely based on that.

Smarks hate Reigns because of the “forced down our throat” blah blah stuff. But I’m with you, I don’t hate the guy. He’s a much better wrestler than people give him credit for and is just being given shit lines to read and bad booking. Frankly he needs to be a heel, but I doubt that’ll happen anytime soon.

[Knowed_Out]

Whoever thought Cena would put over the Wyatts? And that Luke Harper would make a good babyface? This destroys my imaginary world. I wanted the Wyatts to reconstruct Ruby Ridge, Waco, and Malheur Reserve all at once. Eventually, Bray and RKOrton will break up and there will be no more family. /frowny face

I did like how Miz kept condescending on Corbin when the two were guest announcing the Ambrose/Styles match. He just kept digging deeper and deeper, oblivious to poking the Corbin. Now, Corbin has a reason to *really *hate somebody, not just some random schmoe. I hope they follow up on this.

The tag team brawl was kind of pointless, but I guess they were grateful for any kind of air time.

[Reluctant_A]

@Smapti

And just for completeness’ sake, here’s quick run-down of non-WWE promotions that sms might want to know about or want to know what the hell we’re talking about;

Promotions:

ROH - Ring of Honor. The de facto #2 promotion in the US today and the only non-WWE promotion to run tours on a national scale. They’re a distant #2, granted - they’re running houses of 1,000 or so tops compared to 10,000+ in attendance at your average Raw. More emphasis on in-ring style than on promos or involved storylines. Has talent-sharing relationships with New Japan and CMLL. They have a weekly show that airs in syndication on Sinclair Broadcasting-owned stations and nationwide on Comet, and run PPVs a few times a year.

TNA/Impact Wrestling - Was the #2 promotion a few years ago, but nearly fell apart completely due to a string of bad business/booking decisions, legal struggles, Vince Russo, and the brief intervention of Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. It’s recently been acquired by the TV channel that airs it in Canada, and has done a few things that have caught people’s attention lately, most notably the “Final Deletion” storyline feud between Jeff and Matt Hardy. Uses a six-sided ring most of the time.

AAA - One of the two major Mexican promotions. Uses a six-sided ring most of the time but also uses four-sided rings for certain shows. Tends to be the “edgier” of the Mexican promotions with an emphasis on theatrics, gimmick matches, and hardcore/intergender wrestling. Doesn’t currently air in the US aside from Lucha Underground (more on that later).

CMLL: The other major Mexican promotion. Tends to be more conservative and stricter in regards to keeping kayfabe, and generally runs standard matches with clean finishes. It has a weekly show that airs on cable, but it’s in Spanish.

Lucha Underground: An LA-based promotion co-owned by AAA and by director/screenwriter Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Til Dawn, Sin City, Machete, etc.) Features a mix of AAA talent and wrestlers from the west coast indie scene. Unlike most promotions, it’s shot in an episodic, arc-based style, in a season-by-season format, much like a telenovela or a show like The Walking Dead, and intersperses the matches with professionally-shot vignettes and themes of magical realism; wrestlers are literally killed off on-screen, there are characters who are presented as being wizards or Aztec gods or dragons in human form.

NJPW: New Japan Pro Wrestling, the dominant promotion in Japan to the point that its once-rivals, AJPW and Pro Wrestling Noah, are now subsidiaries of it in all but name. Like ROH, storylines are generally kept simple and the focus is on in-ring action, with main-event matches often running an hour or more. Has its own streaming service similar to the WWE Network and has recently begun offering English commentary on all its major shows. It often co-promotes US shows alongside ROH, and will be hosting its first-ever NJPW-exclusive shows in the US later this year. (NOTE: In kayfabe, New Japan’s championships are sanctioned by a body called the International Wrestling Grand Prix, so if you ever see a reference to an IWGP championship, it’s referring to New Japan.)

PWG - Pro Wrestling Guerilla. Another LA-based promotion that operates throughout southern California. Its annual tournament, the Battle of Los Angeles, often features the top names of the international indy scene.

GFW - Global Force Wrestling. A promotion created by Jeff Jarrett after he parted ways with TNA in 2014. It largely exists only on paper - they held a few TV tapings which have never been aired and have co-sponsored a couple of houses here and there, but it currently has no dates announced, only one of its four championships is currently being actively defended on the indy circuit, it’s had to vacate its tag title due to the reigning champions signing with WWE, and the last time it got any significant press was when Double-J tried to use its name to sell a cash-for-gold pyramid scheme.

CZW - Combat Zone Wrestling. An east coast company that often works out of the old ECW Arena and focuses on hardcore wrestling much like the original ECW did.

Chikara - Another east coast promotion, which is primarily inspired by lucha libre but tends to go more for comedy than technical wrestling.

(I could probably list another dozen promotions, but those are the biggest ones, such as they are.)

An honorable mention;

Bullet Club. A heel stable that started in New Japan but also performs in ROH, CMLL, across the indies, and (to an extent) WWE. It’s essentially an updated version of the nWo - a bunch of gaijin (it has a few Japanese members now) who don’t care about the traditions of Japanese pro wrestling. (They even use the “two-sweet” gesture and talk about being Bullet Club 4 lyfe.) It started out as the trio of Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson, and dozens of people have come and gone since then. AJ Styles became the leader after Balor left for WWE, and when he followed suit, Kenny Omega took his place. Its members currently hold the ROH world championship, the ROH and PWG tag team championships, and the GFW NEX*GEN championship. In WWE, AJ Styles, Gallows, and Anderson are collectively known as “The Club” because New Japan refused to let them use the BC name; Finn has not been involved with the group but a feud is likely once he returns from injury.

Don’t forget SHIMMER, the all-women’s promotion which began as a “sister” promotion of Ring of Honor, that WWE has poached, like, 75 percent of their female superstars from since 2015. Some of the better-regarded women in WWE today either got their big break (Bayley, Natalya, Ember Moon) or made their US debut (Paige, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Nikki Cross) in SHIMMER. Also, many of the “homegrown” stars that WWE has produced (Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Carmella) give a great deal of credit for their development to the head women’s trainer at the WWE Performance Center Sara Amato, p/k/a Sara Del Rey, who is a SHIMMER alum as well, serving as their first champion.

[Cell_Guy]

Rollins reinjured his knee Monday night. He’s in Birmingham, AL this week for an evaluation. He may be out for Wrestlemania again.

[Sir_T-Cups]

@Cell_Guy

Rollins reinjured his knee Monday night. He’s in Birmingham, AL this week for an evaluation. He may be out for Wrestlemania again.

Here’s the story.

Here’s footage from RAW that kinda-sorta confirms it. I can make out “I hope not” but nothing else.

[Knowed_Out]

Hah, this is fun. Let’s run down where former WWE stars are today.

AAA/Lucha Underground: Rey Mysterio, Johnny Mundo (Morrison), Jeremiah Crane (Solomon Krowe in NXT), Paul London, PJ Black (Justin Gabriel), Chavo Guerrero, Matt Stryker

NJPW/RoH: Lance Hoyt (Vance Archer), Trent Barreta, Juice Robinson (CJ Parker in NXT), Bull James (Dempsey in NXT),

TNA: Broken Matt and Brother Nero (Matt and Jeff Hardy), Al Snow, Aron Rex (Damian Sandow), Drew Galloway (McEntyre), Ethan Carter III (Derrick Bateman), Lashley (Bobby Lashley), Tyrus (Brodus Clay), Gail Kim, Josh Matthews

All of the above: Cody Rhodes

Leaving behind a trail of burned bridges: Alberto Del Rio

[Sir_T-Cups]

You forgot…

Left Splattered on the cage of an MMA arena: Phil Brooks (CM Punk)

[ekedolphin]

Rollins’ injury: Shoot or work? And if it is legitimate, will Samoa Joe be punished for it? I hope not. For sure they’ve got a ready-made major feud when Rollins returns to action, whenever that may be. (SummerSlam? Survivor Series?!)

[Smapti]

Defy, the new indy promotion in Seattle that I reviewed a few pages ago, has just announced Davey Richards vs. Pentagon Jr. as the main event of their next show.

I can’t wait.

[Sir_T-Cups]

@ekedolphin

Rollins’ injury: Shoot or work? And if it is legitimate, will Samoa Joe be punished for it? I hope not. For sure they’ve got a ready-made major feud when Rollins returns to action, whenever that may be. (SummerSlam? Survivor Series?!)

I think it’s a legit shoot. There’s too much evidence that he reinjured it. How bad is it? Hopefully not terrible…

I don’t think Joe should be punished, although it’s a little disconcerning that he’s been a part of one career ending injury and one that could end up contributing to a career end.

[Chimera]

@Sir_T-Cups

I think it’s a legit shoot. There’s too much evidence that he reinjured it. How bad is it? Hopefully not terrible…

I don’t think Joe should be punished, although it’s a little disconcerning that he’s been a part of one career ending injury and one that could end up contributing to a career end.

Well, he injured the guy who injured several people last year, so yeah, let’s keep those two working with each other.

[Knowed_Out]

@Sir_T-Cups

You forgot…

Left Splattered on the cage of an MMA arena: Phil Brooks (CM Punk)

I decided not to count that.

[Reluctant_A]

@Sir_T-Cups

I think it’s a legit shoot. There’s too much evidence that he reinjured it. How bad is it? Hopefully not terrible…

I don’t think Joe should be punished, although it’s a little disconcerning that he’s been a part of one career ending injury and one that could end up contributing to a career end.

Is TJ legit retired? I thought he was still trying to make a comeback.

[Sir_T-Cups]

It’s apparently official that Lucha Underground’s first 2 seasons are going to be streamed on Netflix.

Ms. Cups and I haven’t had Netflix for a year or two now, but we just signed up yesterday for it.

[Barkis_is_Willin]

@Smapti

TNA/Impact Wrestling - Was the #2 promotion a few years ago, but nearly fell apart completely due to a string of bad business/booking decisions, legal struggles, Vince Russo, and the brief intervention of Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. It’s recently been acquired by the TV channel that airs it in Canada, and has done a few things that have caught people’s attention lately, most notably the “Final Deletion” storyline feud between Jeff and Matt Hardy. Uses a six-sided ring most of the time.

How in the hell does Vince Russo stay employed in the wrestling industry?

[Knowed_Out]

According to his wiki, Russo’s now working for IPW:UK. At least he’s not in this country any more.

There’s been talk of Kenny Omega and WWE, but he says he wants to stay in NJPW for another year. If he does join WWE, he doesn’t want to go through NXT, and wants to have total creative control of himself. This might be a little too prima donna for WWE, but stranger things have happened. I was thinking what if they brought him in and used that opportunity to have Roman Reigns to turn heel and frequently give him beatdowns? Omega would be yyyyugely over.

[Smapti]

@Barkis_is_Willin

How in the hell does Vince Russo stay employed in the wrestling industry?

Basically he takes advantage of promoters/sponsors who don’t know what they’re doing and sells himself on his brief successes in the Attitude Era. Jim Cornette’s has some very colorful rants about working with him available on YouTube.

[Cell_Guy]

Tonight the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express will be announced as the newest inductees to the WWE HOF. As an old JCP guy I think it’s long overdue.

Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see the Midnight Express get inducted some day if Jim Cornette could ever learn to shut his damn mouth. You know they don’t want him anywhere near a hot mic.

[Smapti]

Mr. Fitness, Nick Radford, and the Catch, who were all at the Indy show I went to last month, just got destroyed on live TV by Braun Strowman.

Good job, guys!