I remember reading that Braun had some heat backstage because he’s frequently late. Plus, they already have a champion who has less than 5 years actual wrestling experience, and Braun’s more of an Andre the Giant type of attraction. At least Cena put Finn over, for now.
By the same logic, Rey Mysterio should never have beaten Big Show.
Why would Brock not work WrestleMania? Also, do you know if he has a creative control clause in his contract?
Brock is always using his UFC ties as leverage in negotiating his contracts with WWE. WWE usually decides they’d rather, to paraphrase LBJ, “have him in the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.” I’m sure Brock isn’t going to refuse a WM payday. He’s just holding out until they add an extra 0 or two.
I remember after Dean Ambrose worked a match with Les, he offhandedly said he had to contend with the laziness. I gather if Brock doesn’t want to do something, WWE doesn’t really have any valid threats or incentives to change his mind. Having Paul Heyman at his side to draw more heat is a big plus as well. As long as Brock brings in the money, they’re going to keep him as champ until they think somebody else will be a better draw. Supposedly, that’s what they have in mind with Seth Rollins.
I hate to say it, but I hope WWE asked Brock who he’d like to face and the answer was Finn and that’s why this is happening. I hate to say it because I hate the thought that someone would have that much power of negotiation, but to Knowed Out’s point, a lazy Brock is a bad Brock. On the other hand, an invested Brock can put on some truly great matches.
Supposedly, it was always the plan to sub-out Braun Strohman. The reason I’ve heard for the swerve is that Vinnie Mac felt Braun would sell more tickets. Now, if I was in charge of booking giving this planning, I would have done a better job of putting over Balor since this was decided, but that’s not how WWE works these days. Better to go with 50/50 booking until 1-2 weeks before the announcement…amIright?
The Revival have reportedly asked for their release, and I can’t say I blame them. They’ve been stuck in midcard hell ever since Vince fed them to DX and killed their momentum. I expect they’ll sign with AEW and tear it up with the Young Bucks.
Best thing The Revival could do. Hope The Good Brothers and even Ascension follow.
The Ascension have been in the same boat ever since Vince fed them to the nWo, The New Age Outlaws, and the APA. I’m sensing a pattern here.
Why, it’s almost as if burying your up-and-comers by jobbing them to retired nostalgia acts in their 50s is bad for their heat!
The Kanellises are also reportedly asking for their release, but their case is different - they never had enough heat to get buried in the first place, and it always felt like WWE only signed them to make sure New Japan or Impact couldn’t get them. I can see them winding up in AEW too.
sAnI+y may as well as for release as well. They’ve only been on SD for a few minutes since they were called up.
My unpopular opinion on this is: Good. Get them off my television because they’re boring and overrated. I’ve never liked them. I can see the point in their gimmick, but they’ve never impressed me as wrestlers or characters and they seem extremely indie to me. Go to AEW where you belong.
Given how good of a businessman he is, it surprises me that Vince is only halfway there on a good business decision. Well, actually, it doesn’t surprise me. It makes a lot of sense to gather as many assets (wrestlers) as you can and shelve them until you can think of something to do with them later. The problem is, Vince never actually thought of what to do with them later.
I’m still of the mind that AEW isn’t going to be that particularly strong and is going to be Impact 2.0 when all is said and done, but if it allows wrestlers who aren’t being used by one company to be featured in another…then good for them.
I hope Darby Allin from Evolve gets a call from NXT some day. He’s like an undead Eminem, a cross-breed of Kevin Sullivan with Tony Hawk. Johnny Gargano, the Street Prophets, and Fabian Aichner all worked the most recent Evolve show, and other NXT stars like Matt Riddle, Kassius Ohno and WALTER worked for them in the past, so maybe they told HHH about him.
Darby Allin is a regular in DEFY as well, and I got to meet him at a show in 2017. Love his work.
Went to RAW last night. That was fun, had never seen heavy machinery before, and figured they look like local jobbers, only they got the TV entrance over Ascension and were a ton of fun.
I read that ratings dropped around 15% from Hogan’s Mean Gene tribute to The Revival match on that RAW. I know a person IRL who turned it off once she saw them. I agree with The Revival’s decision. With Trips mentioning recently how NXT is actually a territory and not a minor league, The Revival should have stayed there. But they bring up great points.
Vince has never liked tag teams nor could he figure out how to create a good tag division or keep teams together. It’s just a bias/weakness he has. Apparently, Trips still doesn’t have enough power or knowledge to create a good tag division either.
I don’t even think Vince even knew The Revival was on the main roster. 
It’s not like he appreciated the technical skill of The Brain Busters in the 1990s anyway, so why would he like their modern imitators?
So, what’s the plan to get Becky Lynch to win the women’s Rumble and set up the title shot against Rousey at WM?
Here’s my crazy PPV prediction for the Rumble: for some strange shenanigans reason, Carmella and Asuka get into some sort of fight that leaves them both injured, so now (a) there’s nobody in the #30 spot in the women’s Rumble, and (b) How About That, now Becky doesn’t have an opponent for that show.
Of course, they still have to find a way in the six months after WM to get Rousey over to Smackdown in time for the Fox debut.
Call me Mustafa Mark. That was a masterful promo he cut on SD. He made Samoa Joe look like a kaiju.
I knew he was better than 205 Live. I just knew it.
The latest news in the sheets is that WWE isn’t granting any early releases right now because they don’t want talent jumping ship to AEW, and the Revival’s contracts aren’t up until mid-2020, so they’re either gonna be stuck in midcard hell for awhile or just get sent home and not used, like Evan Bourne and JTG and Ted Dibiase Jr. were for ages before they finally got cut.
Looks like Revival is going to work with Kurt Hawkins and Zack Ryder before they depart. Which is a worse fate, sitting around waiting for your contract to end, or putting over WWE’s dregs? Ascension must be making decent enough jobber money, or they don’t want to take their chances in the Indies.