2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

I can't blame the guy. I almost walked out of a job after being frustrated for being passed over for a job that should have went to me. I probably would have been better of had I done it instead of sticking it out. Sometimes, it's okay to walk away and quit. Sometimes, you really can't win.

 

I'm actually not sure if they're doing a giveaway, or if the Observer is just always free for a limited time online, but the Feb. 3 issue is available to read now: http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/35202-feb-3-wrestling-observer-newsletter-cm-punk-walks-out-of-wwe-potential-wrestlemania-changes-who-has-shown-interest-in-him-royal-rumble-2014-tons-more - Like last time, if you just want my summary, spoilers in white, after the Punk part:

- Punk allegedly told Vince 30 minutes before the start of Raw that he would be flying home, and then he did. He also wasn't at the Smackdown tapings, and at that point, they removed his name from all of the future stuff. The reason for the late notice to Vince? Vince and others were trying to rewrite Monday's show to prevent it from being hijacked by fan response again. The Kofi Kingston vs. Del Rio match went long because Punk was originally supposed to give a promo in that part of the show.

The issues with Punk have been building, mostly over unhappiness with his pay and creative. He is also one of the few people Vince doesn't have leverage over; Punk saves his money and has outside interests beyond wrestling. He probably wouldn't be able to wrestle elsewhere until July, when his WWE contract expires.

- Batista's contract is for two years. Lillian Garcia signed a contract extension. Prince Devitt, currently working in New Japan, has an offer from the WWE. It's for a main roster spot, not a tryout or developmental contract. He's Irish. His Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Devitt - Also, Kenta Kobayashi is in Florida for a tryout, even though he's probably the star of the NOAH promotion in Japan. He's a guy that Punk and Bryan modeled a lot of their stuff after. It's believed that he impressed the WWE and will be offered a contract.

- Matt Hardy and his wife, Rebecca Hardy, were arrested for assaulting each other in a hotel room on Jan. 1. They've since made up, but Hardy apparently didn't tell ROH that the incident happened, and they were blindsided by the news.

- TNA's contract with Spike expires in October. Jeff Jarrett and Toby Keith are looking to get into the wrasslin' business together, and might try to vie for that before exploring other network options. Spike is expected to dump TNA, unless TNA gets new (and better) management.

WWE's contract is also up soon with NBC Universal, but they're believed to be staying with them unless the offer comes in well short of ~$280 million. NASCAR gets about $440 million, and WWE delivers similar ratings and demographics. As part of NBC's offer, there has been talks of establishing a physical Hall of Fame at one of the Florida theme parks. NBC has an exclusive negotiating window with the WWE until Feb. 1, at which point WWE could talk to other networks; Spike and Turner Broadcasting would probably be interested.

- Jim Ross will be starting a weekly podcast soon with Podcast One, and he'll be writing for FoxSports.com about pro wrestling, football and maybe MMA.

- During the "live look-in" for Raw in NCIS, a sign made it to air that said "WWE Creative Sucks." It was confiscated.

- It's unknown who the other members of this year's Hall of Fame class will be, beyond Warrior and Jake Roberts. Paul Bearer is a possibility, although it's believed that he had wanted to go in whenever The Undertaker did. Jim Ross and Gerry Briscoe are pushing for Danny Hodge, an old school wrestler who's career ended in 1975.

- TNA will be live on March 13. Then, because they really are trying to emulate the WCW business model, over the next few days after that they will record shows for March 20, March 27 and April 3. They'll be live again on April 10, and repeat the process for the rest of April. MVP is scheduled to debut on the Jan. 30 show, and will most likely be revealed as the "mystery investor." And unless AJ Styles is just going to cancel a ton of indie dates he's now advertised for, he really does seem to be gone from TNA.

- According to Angle in an interview, his left hand is so fucked up it's now completely numb. In the past, Dana White said Angle was supposed to be on the Ultimate Fighter in 2010, but he couldn't pass the physical; Angle denied it. Angle also said he wants to wrestle Bryan and Punk at some point, but if the thing about his hand is true, it's believed that there is no way that the WWE would allow him in the ring for an actual match. Both Mick Foley and Edge have been flagged for health reasons, and neither are so numb in their hands they can't feel them. And by the way, on last week's TV (not even PPV) show, he did a moonsault off the top of a cage.

- Hogan will be the host for Mania this year. And like Edge and Foley, his physical was so bad he's not going to be allowed to do anything physical, short of a heel running into his fist.

- Sting and the WWE are believed to be very close on a deal, with the WWE already looking into t-shirt concepts, since they own a WCW copyright on "A Man Called Sting." It's unknown how and when they'd be able to push him. He's 56, so anything they do, they probably have to do it quick.

 

That last spoiler/white part was very interesting. A bunch of us were talking about that at the bar last night.

 

So I was thinking.

If Punk is gone and Daniel Bryan is going to face Haitch at Mania there could be a title program for him if they want it.

Bryan wins EC and Haitch, who's had it with Orton's losing and the fact they brought Batista back and he failed as well decides to take matters into his own hands.

Then we have the slow burn leading up to mania with Bryan having to face Orton and Batista in handicap matches etc. Bryan getting beat down all the while still holding the title because Haitch wants to win it and prove that Bryan is no face of the company.


I think it'd be pretty cool but you know how creative is ...

 

Interesting but I think it's never going to happen.
I was talking to a buddy of mine last night about this. We all know Batista won the Rumble but, given the Rumble crowd reaction, is there any way in hell that Orton vs. Batista (if it happens) really closes out Mania?
If it does, despite whatever else is on the card, I think they literally get booed out of the building from start to finish and I can't imagine Vince lets that happen.
The only way I see those two going at it is if there's some other match billed as the main MAIN EVENT of the evening (Lesnar v. Taker?; Bryan v. HHH?) Otherwise it's going to be VERY ugly.

 

"Double Main Event!"

Not like there isn't precedence. WM 8 had a "Double Main Event!" when they did Flair/Savage and Hogan/Sid.

 

The last few years they've often had three or four main events, one at the top of each hour -- the two title matches, the annual Undertaker match, and maybe one other high-profile grudge match like Flair-HBK at WM 24.

 

Did Taker/HBK II go on last? There's some precedence of the title match not going on last right? Totally agree that's what they almost have to do if the strap is between Orton/Batista

 

It was. And a big part of it was because HBK-Taker I was so great that it deflated the crowd for the rest of the show. IIRC, there were two matches after HBK-Taker I -- an Edge/Cena/Show triple threat and HHH-Orton. Both sort of underwhelmed on their own, and the crowd wasn't into either one.

 

I can't wait for RAW in Chicago on March 3rd. Crowd should be epic.

 

I'm trying to think, what's worse timing-wise: that this is happening in the lead-up to WrestleMania, the WWE's biggest wrestling event of the year; that this is happening in the lead-up to WrestleMania 30, a milestone in the history of the event; or that this is happening in the lead-up to the launch of the WWE Network, perhaps the biggest risk the company has taken?
Either way, HHH, Steph and Vince must be popping tons of meds to alleviate the stress of all of this.

 

Wiki says the end of an era match was 24 minutes. I seen to remember it being longer than that.