2015 Pro Wrestling Thread

One thing about Bayley is that her Huganomics character is really kinda everything that the Divas aren't, and I don't know how well she would fit in as an angry invader.

A better debut for her is to be trying to get on Raw each week, trying to hug people, only to have Stephanie throw her out. Finally, Steph agrees to let her have one match, which she loses. Steph tries to throw her out again the next week, but Bayley begs her to give her one more chance. Steph agrees, on the stipulation that one member of the WWE has to give her a hug in order for her to be hired. Bayley leaves in search of a hug, and Trips looks at Steph questioningly. Steph announces that anyone who gives her a hug is fired.

So Bayley tries to hug people, who blow her off for fear of being fired. Raw goes on, and just before it goes off the air, Steph finds a crying Bayley, pokes fun at her, and then points outward and says, "Get Out!" Bayley gets up, begins to leave, then begins to smile. Coming off screen, can be, well, any major star. Trish, perhaps, Sammartino as a generational endorsement, hell Punk would be awesome. Bayley gets her hug, Steph looks astonished then, right before it ends, Bayley hugs a POEd Steph, with a "I'm on Raw!"

 

I feel like this would've happened back in the day. And that's not a bad thing...

 

Re: Becky Lynch, she is 28, debuted in the indies at 15 and probably had the match of her career on the last NXT PPV. If you're going to promote her to the main roster, well, now is probably the time.

Bayley is 26, and didn't start wrestling until 19. You probably have a bit more time to properly work her into an angle - as Baron suggests - then lumping her into this thing. Which, the more time I have to chew on it, man, it was underwhelming after that initial pop for the new divas. Some weird 3 on 3 on 3 thing just seems bound to be a clusterfuck. I suggested a Divas tag division a couple pages back, and I think that would work even better now, since it would guarantee two women's matches per raw, and also allow the Bellas to function as a proper tag team vs. Tamina and Alicia, and others.

 

Also, everything's coming up divas! Rolling Stone (dot com, but still) has an interview with Blue Pants: Who's NXT? Can Blue Pants, Wrestling's Cosplay Queen, Break Out? | Rolling Stone

 

Yeah, it's not an anti-Becky thing per se, just more that rushing her and Sasha (to a degree) seems to have way over crowded things. For months since Charlotte dropped the NXT belt she's been "ready" and there hasn't been "room" and now there's room for 3? Hard to see it that way, and hard to imagine the girls left at NXT are ready to keep that showing going strong.....Brooke? Carmella? Good god Eva?

That match Charlotte had with Nattie that got people talking was what, last July? That was the first time I watched NXT. I don't see the kids still there at the level she was at then, much less now.

 

Pretty huge spoiler-y rumors out there right now too........didn't want to read them but some retweeted something and I unfortunately saw it. I won't post it but for those that may have read it.....holy shit

 

From the looks of it, I should probably carve out some time for the "PPV" this weekend, huh?

 

I think this is even worse news for gals like Summer Rae, Eva Marie, Cameron, Rosa Mendes, and Layla, who are technically still on the main roster. Natalya is out right now because of Tyson's neck injury, but it also seems like ages since she's wrestled, and her and AJ Lee are probably the ones that get the short end of the timing stick on this one. Layla is 38 and had an unspecified surgery in January, according to Wiki, so she's probably close to retiring. But the rest of them, probably not a great sign for their in-ring careers. (Summer Rae and Eva Marie in particular seem like "valet only" prospects to me.)

 

I had forgotten about Nattie and A.J.
On the one hand, it's definitely a crowded Divas roster. There's a dozen women vying for what has been, at most, six TV appearances a week on Raw.
On the other hand, this is far and away the deepest the division has ever been. Probably the first time since the early 2000s there have been more than two or three capable wrestlers at any one time. There are 8-10 Divas who can actually work and put on good matches, and the pop they got last week shows the crowd is ready to see them do it. So maybe WWE gives them an extra segment a week to show their stuff, or adds a tag division. Summer Rae never really seemed like more than valet material to me anyway, and the lesser Divas can fill jobber roles.

 

Observer from July 20:

- Meltzer points to three things that changed WWE perception on Divas: the reaction to the NXT matches for Takeover (Charlotte vs. Natalya) and the San Jose match before Mania (Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks), and how over Ronda Rousey was at Mania. He notes that how the NXT divas were brought in matches the standard WWE booking; Shane brought in the WCW guys, Stephanie brought in ECW, McMahon had the NWO, etc. Except for Nexus, most “outsider” angles are watered down with in-house talent, and that one was too with Daniel Bryan’s removal.

Re: the angle itself, Meltzer echoed most of the thoughts brought up here, and adds that Stephanie kind of dressed down their top heel (kind of) in the process. Charlotte and Lynch were always planned, with Sasha Banks added, and Bayley was in the planning at times.

- TNA and ROH continue to do so-so numbers on Destination America. TNA had 353,000 at 9 p.m. and 100,000 viewers at midnight, for a combined 453,000, still lower than 570,000 from its previous Friday time slot. ROH is doing 128,000 at 8 p.m. and 134,000 at 11 p.m. TNA’s contract is through September, and ROH – which doesn’t receive any money from Destination America, just air time – is through December.

- Global Force Wrestling is having tournaments for its four titles starting on July 24. Bobby Roode, recently released from TNA, is the favorite, along with Nick Aldis, for the heavyweight belt. The other three belts will be women’s (Mickie James is the biggest name), tag team (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows), and NEX GEN.

- GFW is still only drawing around 250 to 400 fans to its shows at minor league baseball stadiums, and word is starting to get around in those circles. As a result, it’s unlikely to be tried again next year.

- The UFC show with McGregor did really well, especially as compared to most PPVs with his weight class as the lead, but probably a bit short of the hyperbolic 1M buys and what not that White was suggesting. However, it was still a great result for UFC, considering the late sub in the card.

- Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, 42, got a DUI in Pennsylvania on May 30. Her blood alcohol level was .253, three times the legal limit.

- Alberto Del Rio no-showed because of a family member being hospitalized, according to his camp. It’s expected that he will return his deposit for the show and make a contribution to the charity that it was for.

- Punk gave the end of this year or early next year for his first fight. He’s around 190 and said to be in great shape, and got a superstar response at UFC events.

- Cyborg beat the snot out of someone in 45 seconds, but she’s walking around at the 170 to 175 pound range, and had trouble making featherweight (135 to 145), never mind bantamweight for Rousey (125 to 135).

- Tickets are going fast for the NXT show Aug. 22 at the Barclays Center, which has a main event of Owens vs. Finn Balor. It’s believed that WWE put 5,000 tickets up for sale, but more could be added if the event truly looks close to selling out. Ticket sales are slow for Battleground, in contrast. Only about 10,500 of 14,600 total have moved.

- Lennox Lewis confirmed this week that his side had tried to do a wrestling match in 2003, but he pulled out when he was told he had to wear boxing gloves. According to Meltzer, Vince was willing to book a two-match show – Lesnar vs. Lewis, and Angle vs. Moorer – in legit MMA matches, in Vegas. However, Lewis pulled out when he found out Lesnar actually had a serious wrestling background.

- Smackdown is playing out the string on SyFy, and not much attention has been given to it. It moves to USA in January, at which point it’s expected to get more of a push and angle tie-in.

- Undertaker vs. Owens is unlikely, but a rematch with Lesnar is possible, if they want to turn Lesnar again.

- Ziggler is out to film a movie, 6:42, from WWE Films. He’s a police officer saving a kid who bad guys strap a bomb to. Kane is also out for an unspecified time, but just so he can come back as a face.

- Tyson Kidd’s neck injury is fatal in 95 percent of its occurrences, so it is shocking he’s alive, never mind that he’s not in a wheelchair and expected to recover. It is similar to the one that Christopher Reeve got.

- Re: Piper vs. Austin, Piper asked out of his Podcast One deal three weeks before he was fired because he claimed he was too busy. Austin was also upset that he was advertised for a show he wasn’t on – it was Will Sasso doing an impression – but never asked for Piper to be fired. Piper is also still under a WWE Legends holding contract.

 

That Tyson Kidd item is frightening.

 

.253?

Jesus Christ.