Re: The Official WWE Thread - Part 16

[Firenze]

Well played, Vince. Probably had her on all fours willing to do anything for her job. GOAT businessman.

[Freeza]

Well played, Vince. Probably had her on all fours willing to do anything for her job. GOAT businessman.

Full control of a huge global business, my man

[RealGunner]

Watching RAW. Lmfao Cena is a bookie now, he is giving Bryan a chance to win back the championship when he is back

Must say the cover for 2k15 looks fantastic.

HHH with DR thuganomics

[RealGunner]

Zeb vs Lana ffs

Swagger getting cheered for the first time in his life

lmfao Bo. I think a Bryan vs Bo feud is in the cards(mid cards)

Kofi just beat Cesaro lmfao

SANDOW HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

SANDOW

I am DEAD

[Casciavit]

Yeah last RAW was very good. Was funny and lots happened. Best RAW in 2014.

[RealGunner]

Khali is still alive

[RealGunner]

The Miz is back lmfao. I was actually missing him Getting bood straight away

JBL "Turn on the sprinklers"

FFS Y2J

Wow Paige is terrible on the mic. AJ

[RealGunner]

Yea easily the best RAW in months.

Unsurprisingly it happened as soon as Cena became the champion

[RealGunner]

- There continues to be talk that Brock Lesnar will take the WWE World Heavyweight Title from John Cena this summer and build to a Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for WrestleMania 31. This would be Reigns' big WrestleMania moment and coronation as the new top babyface.

There is no confirmation that Lesnar is booked to defeat Cena at SummerSlam but word is that the pay-per-view is going to be big and September's Night of Champions pay-per-view will be just as big to help with WWE Network renewals. As noted before, Lesnar will be working Night of Champions.

[Onyx]

Meltzer:

While this is really just obvious, but it’s notable they are already talking about it, there are tentative ideas to do a Shield reunion in late 2015 or 2016, where they would be kept apart but be brought together for a short period of time, and maybe do it every few years, with the guide behind the last few DX reunions.

WWE seems to have the most long-term booking outside of WrestleMania plans in a number of years, as the storylines have been slowed down and the top matches for SummerSlam are planned.

At this point, the big four SummerSlam matches are new WWE champion John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton, Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella (presumably with Brie Bella having to win to get her job back) and Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt. The lineup was first reported on by the SEScoops web site, and we were able to independently confirm those as the top four scheduled matches for 8/17 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane, possibly in a Buried Alive match, was on the original schedule, but that’s looking unlikely.

During the Money in the Bank pre-game show, Bryan came out and noted that the strength in one of his arms has not returned. He looked a lot smaller, like he hasn’t been able to push weights yet. He said he didn’t know when he would be returning, and that he may need a second operation. It was known that he was not recovering, and may have even been getting worse, after the surgery, which was a bad sign. It would be the ultimate cruel irony that the guy who defied odds and whose real-life story of success is one of the most amazing pro wrestling stories in years, finds his future stalled just as he took the brass ring. Bryan vs. Lesnar was the original SummerSlam main event for the title. The beginning of the major Reigns singles push came when Bryan went down although he was always the hand-picked replacement for Cena. But all plans with Bryan for now are on hold.

Cena won his 15th world title at Money in the Bank on 6/29 in Boston. The company has never really pushed his numbers that hard, but when won and the number was pushed in commentary, Michael Cole went off the air with the line that Cena may be the greatest champion in history. In the mythical pro wrestling records, Cena is now one short of Ric Flair’s 16. It was always thought that HHH would break that record, as in his last title win, the number was pushed hard. But he’s moved out of that position of being the guy who would be record-setting world champion to Head of Talent Relations, so he’s not going to be the guy who does it.

Cena, on the other hand, if the Reigns push goes as expected, will be in the old Bruno Sammartino role as champion emeritus likely by this time next year, the generation’s all-time legend who is still around as the 1-A babyface, but at 37, with the way they switch belts (although they are slowing down and taking a more traditional and prestigious approach to the title), he’s probably going to get two more reigns. Where Bryan fits in when he returns probably depends entirely on the crowd reaction when he returns. If it’s not there at peak levels, it will be easy for them to figure based on his look and size, that he, like Dean Ambrose, will always be a strong face because true talent will stay at that level, but it won’t be top guy level. If the people react big to his comeback, the company will listen to the audience, usually, at least to a degree.

The Cena win had been planned ever since they knew that Bryan was not going to be able to return for Money in the Bank and they didn’t want to go any longer without a champion. While Reigns became the “hot” babyface in Bryan’s absence, it made no sense to rush the title on him. With Lesnar plans for the title match, it really would have come down to Cena or doing a Bray Wyatt babyface turn. You could have argued for either one, which is a tribute to how much potential Wyatt appears to have as a face. But Wyatt wasn’t considered.

What was interesting was the last few days before the show. The SummerSlam video box, with Cena and Lesnar the only two focused on, got out a few days before Money in the Bank. At first WWE tried to recall it, but in this day and age, that’s impossible. Then, before the show, WWE sent out an e-mail blast for Money in the Bank which also pushed SummerSlam with the same Cena and Lesnar photo. I thought them going out and releasing that as the match on their own two days before the PPV had to be a swerve, but it wasn’t.

There was a risk is Cena winning when the crowd wanted Reigns to win. But the “Batista backlash,” which he was certainly booed at times in the match itself, didn’t happen. The storyline, which stemmed from Seth Rollins winning the first MITB match due to help from Kane, was that Kane was also helping Orton win. As people saw it unfold and believed to be happening, when Cena foiled The Authority’s plan and won the title, the crowd cheered Cena just fine. Some were upset with Cena winning, but he was the best of the available alternatives for that night. Plus, the belief internally is that the people who boo Cena the loudest are the ones who are so invested they are watching and buying at greater numbers than any other group.

Reigns and HHH had a staredown to end Raw the next day, and it had been thought Reigns vs. HHH would be at SummerSlam. The match should happen as part of Reigns’ elevation to WrestleMania, and you can argue September or October would be a better time table.

Going from there, most talk seems to be that Lesnar will take the title from Cena and build to a Lesnar vs. Reigns match at WrestleMania, which would be the coronation of Reigns as the new top babyface in the company. A lot can happen and we don’t have any confirmation Lesnar is taking the title, only that SummerSlam is big, but that Night of Champions on 9/21 in Nashville has to be built up as equally big. The people who ordered the network in its first three weeks subscriptions run out before the 9/21 show. It is the PPVs that are the main driver of subscriptions. As noted before, going forward the most logical schedule is to have the big three events be Royal Rumble in January because it’s tradition, WrestleMania in early April, and a big event in mid-October when the people who sign up specifically for Mania will be running out. But this year, 74 percent of the first batch of subscribers will expire during the month of September.

Past the fact Lesnar will be at Night of Champions, nothing is known about Lesnar’s schedule past that it’s logical he would work Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. The question regards would they put the title on a guy who won’t be working house shows for a period from August through April? There’s also the question of what to do regarding Rollins and the cash-in. They do have the storyline in place where Dean Ambrose can cost him it, but since he already did that once on TV before the match started, a scenario likely to play out several times, that doesn’t feel like the end game. Reigns winning from Lesnar would at this point feel like a bigger moment than winning from Rollins, but a lot can happen between now and the end of the year, when the Mania battle plan will be fully decided.

They did set a precedent with Rock in 2013, but that was late January through early April. Lesnar has been working under a deal of three PPVs a year and about a dozen TV shows, but all deals are open to renegotiation. Even Rock worked Elimination Chamber during the period he was champion and it’s clear they don’t want to have PPVs without the champion on them.

With Bryan out indefinitely, that may have played a role in bringing back Jericho, to work a program with Wyatt. Jericho and WWE had remained on good terms from his last departure. They were in talks about returning for Mania season, but it didn’t happen because Jericho didn’t want to come back unless he felt the creative was in place. The last time he was in, he came back to build to a program where he’d turn heel and elevate Ryback at Mania, a deal made when Ryback, who had been super hot, was slightly cooling off after losing the Hell in a Cell match with C.M. Punk. While people will point to his limitations, Ryback was as hot or hotter than Reigns is today at that time, and one of the very few wrestlers in the last few years who made a big difference in a PPV number in his first title challenge (of course that was predicated on his winning, because when he got screwed, he never swelled numbers like that again). But the decision was made to turn Ryback heel before Mania, and program Jericho with Fandango. The Mania finish, with Fandango going over, was the only thing that made sense at that moment with Fandango on the rise and Jericho leaving. But today, using hindsight, it seems rather stupid, especially since the Fandango push was given up on so quickly after.

Talks for Jericho to return had been going on, on-and-off, since that time. They apparently heated up about a month ago, which probably coincides with the bad news on Bryan’s recovery and the company feeling they had a top slot open. The deal wasn’t fully agreed to and completed until 6/27, the point at which Vince McMahon green lit the Wyatt program. Like usual, Jericho has committed for a certain length of time. “Fozzy,” Jericho’s other main project, had only three dates on the calendar for the next several months and has no announced listed future touring. It’s also notable signing Jericho, who has always been paid at the top tier level when it comes to downside guarantee, at a time when the company is doing extensive budget cutting. Jericho will be working house shows on a similar schedule as in his past returns. He’s been added next week to the Japan tour.

Also returning on Raw was A.J. Lee, two weeks after her wedding to C.M. Punk. With the wedding planned, she took more time off than originally scheduled, as she was originally to be back about five weeks ago. She won the Divas title from Paige on Raw in a double-turn segment.

Bad News Barrett, who suffered a separated shoulder at the 6/24 Smackdown tapings in Pittsburgh, underwent shoulder surgery on 7/2 under Dr. Jeff Dugas in Birmingham. The major surgery involved a ligament reconstruction as well as a distal clavicle resection, where the end of the collar bone is shaved off, according to Dr. Chris Amann of the WWE’s medical staff. He’ll be out of action for several months.

The decision was made to put the IC title that Barrett held up in a Battle Royal on the 7/20 Battleground PPV from Tampa. Wrestlers in the Battle Royal thus far are Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Big E, Rob Van Dam, Alberto Del Rio, Bo Dallas, Great Khali, Kofi Kingston and a character played by Damien Sandow. At this point Cesaro appears to be the favorite since he’s the one regularly losing, getting pinned by Kingston on Raw, by Ziggler in a six-man on Main Event, and also got the worst of it in a brawl with Big E on Smackdown. Cesaro is still, along with Wyatt and Reigns, one of the three people the company is earmarking for top spots by WrestleMania, so the losses here aren’t supposed to move him down. But one of the reasons the IC title went to Barrett and not Cesaro, is because the booking of IC and U.S. champions has been so bad that almost everyone, including Cesaro and even Sheamus, ended up less over after a long run with a secondary belt than before they had the run. Barrett looked to be the exception to the rule.

[RealGunner]

Great article by Metzelder. Most of is spot on.

Bad News Barrett, who suffered a separated shoulder at the 6/24 Smackdown tapings in Pittsburgh, underwent shoulder surgery on 7/2 under Dr. Jeff Dugas in Birmingham. The major surgery involved a ligament reconstruction as well as a distal clavicle resection, where the end of the collar bone is shaved off, according to Dr. Chris Amann of the WWE’s medical staff. He’ll be out of action for several months.

[silver]

God if Cena is the one who beats Ric Flair's record...  

[Firenze]

saw this on another forum *dead*



Orlando Jordan struggling something serious. Mole liked that bum.

Me and my friends back in primary school cut more realistic promos.

[RealGunner]

saw this on another forum *dead*



Orlando Jordan struggling something serious. Mole liked that bum.

Me and my friends back in primary school cut more realistic promos.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

this is straight out of syfy movies

[RealGunner]

God if Cena is the one who beats Ric Flair's record...  

Lol he will have at least 3 more title reigns along with maybe IC and US titles too when he is older.

[Tomwin Lannister]

OMG i'd love to watch 2 hours of that every week

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? OI, WHO DID THIS"

Bahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahah

[M99]

So if Jericho vs Bray Wyatt will happen on Summerslam then where that leave them on Battleground? Jericho vs The Miz or Jericho and The Usos vs The Wyatt Family

[M99]

https://m.ak.fbcdn.net/sphotos-e.ak/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/10473180_749893215072756_911655152491975061_n.jpg

[RealGunner]

Sources: LordsofPain, WrestlingObserver, PWTorch

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-AJ Lee returned to win back the Divas title this past Monday. AJ remains in great standing with Vince McMahon. Vince is high up on AJ and is said to be still friendly with Punk. Vince is still in hopes that the two sides will find common ground soon. Word is that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are also fine with AJ but want to move on from Punk as they don't expect he will remain with the company.


-TNA star Bully Ray , formerly known as Bubba Ray Dudley appeared on Opie & Anthony last week to promote TNA's tapings in New York City and said he would return to WWE in a heartbeat if Vince McMahon called him.

-Regarding the WWE 2K15 cover, apparently Bryan was in consideration for the cover at one point but the decision to put Cena on the cover was made long before Bryan was hurt and long before they decided to have him win the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania XXX.

-WWE was said to be pleasantly surprised by the crowd reaction and support for Jack Swagger during the Jack Swagger and Rusev segment.


-According to a source in WWE, the reason Emma was reinstated was because the company does not want to set a precedent where a violation like shoplifting results in a termination. There have been far worse offenses from WWE Superstars and Divas over the years that did not result in releases. Multiple WWE talents have been arrested for DUI's and kept their jobs, with many fans pointing to WWE Diva Cameron as an example.

Back in 2012, Cameron was arrested for DUI and allegedly tried bribing the arresting police officer with $10,000 to let her of the hook. Making the story even more absurd, Cameron didn't tell WWE about the arrest and the company found out about it by reading the news online.

-It is expected that Brock Lesnar will go over and capture the WWE title against John Cena.

- Ric Flair is expected to be back on television shortly.

-According to The Wrestling Observer, old episodes of Raw and WCW Nitro from the Monday Night Wars era are expected to be added to the Network around the time subscription renewals come up in the early fall.

As we noted yesterday, the Monday Night Wars series is also expected to air around the same time, and could lead into NXT on Thursday nights.

-Despite him being a leading candidate to win the title, in many people's eyes, Bray Wyatt was never considered to win the Money in the Bank ladder match.

- According to The Wrestling Observer, Hulk Hogan has a substantial guarantee in his deal with WWE, as well as high-dollar figure per dates. Hogan is also free take bookings outside of WWE, but WWE has the right to book him first on any given date.

- Vince McMahon apparently was the one who proposed the idea of repackaging Big E's character. McMahon believes Big E comes off now as more entertaining.

- Batista is expected to eventually return to WWE TV. His character is likely to be more of a tweener than a solid heel.

- We are told that there will be more cuts coming soon which will involve some talent that we are told is hardly being used.

- Believe it or not, the WWE initially thought of having Rollins stay face and Ambrose be the turncoat and one to go heel. However, they thought it would be too obvious for Seth to remain face, so had decided to go another route.


- As we reported yesterday, police and a bomb squad unit were called to WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT, after a suspicious white powder was found in the building. Following an investigation, the building was deemed safe and was cleared for employees to return to work.

[Onyx]

Still don't understand why WWE keep pushing Reigns.

He sucks on the mic, sucks in the ring, has no character/personality, he's bland and the only thing he has is a 'good look'. But even his look isn't even that impressive. He's no Lesnar/prime Batista/Goldberg.

He literally has 3 moves and he's competed in what, 3-4 single matches in his entire WWE career.

Also it's mainly women who scream for him when he comes out, which makes it seem like he's over.

Now there's rumours of him main eventing WM and being the number 1 guy.

They should be pushing interesting characters like Bray, Sandow and Ambrose.

[RealGunner]

I think Reigns is far more like Orton but not as good in the ring.

However he seems to be over. It's not just the women but he does genuinely get a good reaction.

Vince would never make him the face if he isn't good enough. They can try and give him a good push but if he fails then he will just be pushed aside.

[Tomwin Lannister]

Agreed with most of it but Reigns can improve he's pretty raw. Also, Sandow is ok on the mic lol but Reigns is definitely more of a main eventer than him

[RealGunner]

Sandow is good as where he is tbh. He is a solid midcarder who is working his current Gimmick brilliantly.

I don't think he is a main eventer and at best he might get to upper mid. I like his recent 'master of gimmicks' gimmick though lol

Vince

[Onyx]

Sandow's certainly better than a lot of people who are main eventing right now/rumoured to be future main eventers. He's better than Reigns, Cesaro and Rollins.

Sandow just needs his old intellectual gimmick back and needs to be more serious.

Gimmicks/characters/entertainers/people with mic skills > wrestling ability.

[RealGunner]

TBH I agree with your last statement. WWE is much better with promos and entertainment. However many people still watch for Wrestling and they have to keep a balance between the two. Me and you might prefer that but others prefer the other.

[Onyx]

The entertainment aspect of WWE is more important than wrestling. The most successful period in WWE history, the Attitude Era was based on entertainment, promos and storylines, not pure wrestling. Majority of people would watch Austin/Rock over some technical wrestling match like Bret Hart/Benoit.

[Sponsored content]