2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

There's like, 20 pages of that. I read the first couple. Funny stuff, except for the Owen Hart one.

 

I like how Nikki and Brie are shaving a few years off their actual age. It's no secret they're almost 31, so that promo about them taking the driver's test at 16 then getting a used 2000 Honda ... uh, they were 16 in 1999. I guess a model year 2000 Honda would have come out in 1999, but used? Did someone drive it for six months and get a visit from The Repo Man?



Makes no sense when the car shown on TV was obviously a few years old and had a little wear and tear on it.

Yeah, I know I'm nitpicking the shit out of this, but this feud is jaw-droppingly bad. It makes no sense. Think about it: if Brie really did all these things, she's the fucking heel and Nikki should be the sympathetic face who's finally standing up to an abusive sibling. If none of this is true, then Nikki's motivations are paper thin. Just stick with the "you abandoned me when you quit" line of logic. It rings true when the rest of the stuff is shit.

 

What also makes little sense is how Nikki had to wrestle in handicap matches as punishment for Brie quitting. Why isn't Nikki taking it out on Stef for making the matches?

 

Bret didn't screw Bret, Brie did is really funny

 

Bribery, just like with Seth Rollins. She's getting a Divas title shot for helping Steph beat Brie. If you can't beat them, pay them to have them beat the ones they're with.

 

I believe the psychology is this: Nikki was punished only as a placeholder for Brie, because Stephanie can't punish someone who isn't there. Had Nikki helped Brie defeat Stephanie, Nikki's life would become so much worse because she's now actively involved in the feud. Nikki's only way to secure her own future was to turn on her sister.

Unfortunately, that makes too much sense so we get Brie screwing Nikki's prom date and stealing her ID from 15 years ago. "And I've never told anyone."

 

Saw a dirtsheet story about Punk's lawyers sending something to The E headquarters (postage was $9.99) regarding royalties based on Punk being in the WWE 2K15 video game that's out this fall (on sale for considerably more than $9.99). Punk was still with the company when the game was under development, and he was included with the recent roster reveal. They're probably stiffing him on the royalty pay (more than $9.99, I'd bet) under the reason that he breached contract when he walked. Probably too late to have the game pulled or to have him pulled from the game. So this may be your last chance for a video game with Punk.

 

I know I'm in the minority, but some great fodder for the WWE Network would be a retrospective on the XFL. A 90-minute documentary at least. A lofty, crazy dream would be to post the games. Or at least the first telecast and the championship game. But at least a documentary. Surely there's a hell of a story there.

Not kidding.

 

There's also some stuff out there about the E considering using Punk for his alleged breach of contract. Like I said with the Del Rio situation, if Punk really wanted to kick Vince in the nuts, he should let Vince sue him, then bring up the defense that he's an independent contractor. And that since the E frequently ends their contracts with their contractors with zero notice, so why can't he do the same?

That, to me, would be the ultimate pipe bomb.

 

Devil's advocate: Probably because the E included notice or some other provision within the contract? How many wrestlers have agents that go over the contracts to protect themselves from the thing being worded heavily in the E's favor?

 

Oh, I would think so, too. But a judge may look at that and be like, "they work for you, they have to do anything you want them to, and you can fire them at any time, but they can't leave at any time? Hmmm."

A few people, like Jesse Ventura (for all his nuttiness),have pointed out that the independent contractor thing goes back to the territory days, when a wrestler would bounce around. Now that there is only one major company (sorry TNA), and how the E controls so much of what the wrestler does, between likenesses, how they perform, behavior outside the workplace, that independent contractor thing doesn't really fly.

Put it another way. If the wrestlers were truly independent contractors, they could refuse to lose in the ring, or decide their own finishes.

 

This week’s Observer stuff:

- Lucha Underground, the AAA-talent wrestling program from Mexico, will air on the El Rey Network starting Oct. 8. However, some of the talent contacted has apparently lost some interest once they saw the contracts and amounts they’d get. The base contract calls for a seven-season commitment, with a non-compete for that length. The pay would be $200 to $500 per show.

It’s believed to be more like the short-lived Wrestling Society X from MTV as opposed to a full-fledged operation. The Young Bucks and Kazarian turned down contract offers, and beyond existing AAA talent, they’ve reached out to some ex-WWE developmental wrestlers, and Ezekiel Jackson.

- Del Rio is claiming that he got his non-compete thrown out, and that he’s now signed with AAA. He might be on the Lucha Underground show as a result. TNA is still trying to contact him.

- There is no change in the TNA-Spike contract negotiations.

- TNA’s Bound for Glory will be Oct. 12 at Korakuen Hall in Toyko. It’ll be aired on a 13 hour tape delay in the states as a result. Impact on Wednesday did a 0.81, which isn’t bad when you consider it was only their second show on that night, but it is bad because it started high and pretty much every segment after the start lost viewers.

- It’s now believed to be better than 50 percent that Bully Ray ends up back in TNA soon, most likely in time for the Japan trip. It’s unknown if Jeff Hardy will be able to make it, given his felony conviction and trouble in acquiring a visa.

- Lesnar’s contract has been modified now that he’s champion, and he’s open to working Mondays and any PPV show they need him at. He’s paid on a per-show / per-appearance basis. He was in a Smackdown ad for Oct. 21, the go-home show for Hell in a Cell, but he’s not booked for any SDs and the ad is believed to be in error.

- RVD’s contract has expired. He’s on short-term deals like Jericho at this point.

- Both Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett were pulled from the European tour advertising. The tour is scheduled for November, and neither is expected to be healed by then.

- WWE’s Japan tour did far worse than what they announced on TV. To shareholders, they have to announce the real numbers, and they only did 14,400 paid across three shows, despite appearances by Hogan.

- Punk’s lawyers allegedly sent WWE a 22-page letter about royalties he believe he is owed.

- On Jericho’s podcast, Batista said that Bryan was told not to sell his injuries post-Mania on Raw, because WWE officials didn’t think the audience was smart enough to notice. This is also the behind-the-scenes story for why Heyman was forced to heavily sell Cena vs. Lesnar on Raw, even though Cena hadn’t even won the match for the rematch. (Speaking of that pod: It was shockingly good. Jericho also had Triple H on this week, and it’s also good, although focused on his past as opposed to the present.)

- Sting’s son is Sting Jr. Well, Steve Borden Jr. He’s 6’3”, 246 and the starting tight end for Kentucky. He’s a senior and has gotten fringe NFL interest, and while he hasn’t expressed interest in wrestling, if he did, he’d probably be given an immediate look, given his size and bloodlines.

- R-Truth has a hurt shoulder, which is why he hasn’t been on TV much lately. Well, beyond booking reasons.