2015 Pro Wrestling Thread

Observer from April 6:

- The belt switch from Lesnar to Rollins was not a last minute decision, although it was conveyed late to Rollins. It’s believed they told Lesnar of the plan before he signed his title, because they didn’t want to be negotiating in bad faith with him, given his temperament.

However, either Reigns or the office didn’t inform his family members that he wasn’t going over at Mania, which almost led to a scene because his family had been flown in for the match, expecting him to win. Rollins wasn’t told he was winning until night of, by Michael Hayes during a production meeting while Triple H was doing the Rousey angle.

Lesnar is getting a few months off. He’s expected to be off TV until SummerSlam, and will challenge for the title then. Reigns is likely slotted for Kane, Show or Wyatt. Lesnar’s new contract expands his PPV dates from 3 to 4 per year.

- Rousey and The Rock are good friends, and have the same agent. They worked out the Mania appearance on Sunday morning. Rousey received approval from Dana White to do some WWE dates months ago, and the two companies are currently somewhat on good terms.

- Mania got 93.4 percent thumbs up from readers. Best match was the triple threat for the title (420 votes), with other matches all getting less than 30 votes each. Mania attendance was about 67,000, in contrast to the announced number of 76,000.

- WWE is investing about $30M in new programming this year to beef up the Network. In addition to the shows they ran promos for at Mania, there is:

Live with Chris Jericho, which will replace the Stone Cold interviews after Raw. It’s scheduled to be one a month. McMahon was upset with Austin after the Triple H interview, allegedly because he didn’t soft pedal it and asked the Chyna question.

Unfiltered with Renee Young, which debuts in May. Scheduled guests are Reigns, Rollins, Wiz Khalifa and Skylar Grey. Weekly show.

Culture Shock with Corey Graves, debuting in June. Basically, it’ll be Graves and WWE talent doing visits to places like tattoo shops, Marvel Comics HQ and other places while on tour.

WWE The List, a new countdown show, debuting in June. The existing Countdown shows were renewed, and they’re also producing a “one off” special about the 2008 Maywether vs. Big Show angle, to capitalize on the fight later this year. Also, Hulk Hogan’s Rock N Wrestling will be on the Network.

- Aguayo Jr’s autopsy revealed that he went into cardiac arrest after fracturing three vertebrae in his neck. It’s believed two impacts caused the three cracks, but it’s not clear what the impacts were.

- NXT on March 27 in San Jose drew a sellout of 4,700 and did a $200,000 gate, about four times the previous record, even with no matches announced. It was the first NXT show McMahon watched live, and he loved the crowd reaction in general, but did not like the “better than Raw” and “better than Mania” chants during. However, he still gave them an extra hour, letting the show go from 11:55 p.m. to 1:03 a.m.

- Impact did 444k viewers on March 27, with an extra 164k on the replay. The audience was 82 percent male, an unheard of percentage. Raw swelled to a 3.69 rating and 5.35M viewers after Mania. Smackdown on Thursdays is doing less ratings this year than last year on Fridays, so the move has been a disappointment.

- Global Force Wrestling (Jarrett) will run the Orleans Arena in Vegas on July 24, Aug. 21 and Oct. 23. Wrestlers haven’t been announced, and it is unknown who he’d even bring in, since top indie talent hasn’t been contacted. It’s believed that the English broadcast of Wrestle Kingdom produced by GFW did about 14,000 to 15,000 buys, which is considered a success with projections initially in the 10,000 range.

- Lucha Underground has been estimated to lose $20M in its first year. As a result, some of the talent renewal contracts are on hold.

- Garett Bischoff’s TNA contract either ran out, or wasn’t extended. He was removed from their talent page.

- The front runner for Mania 33 is Minnesota, which has a 63,000 seat arena opening up.

- WWE is interested in signing ROH’s Adam Cole and ACH when their deals expire, since they need more experienced talent for NXT. They also want Ricochet, but he’s believed to be untouchable because of a seven-year Lucha Underground contract. Jimmy Jacobs left ROH for a writer’s contract for WWE.

- There was a falling out years ago between Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty and Brian Christopher, and they weren’t invited to his Hall of Fame ceremony as a result.

- CJ Parker (Joe Robinson, 25) finished up with WWE just after Mania.

- Santa’s Little Helper, produced by WWE Films and starring Paige and The Miz, comes out this Christmas. WWE Films also has a three-picture deal to do horror movies with Gene Simmons.

 

RE: AJ's retirement, it's disappointing because she had a unique look and ring style, and she would have been awesome with the talent they have coming up.

 

Can't forget the failed A.J./Bryan wedding.

 

It's funny, reading about Vince's reactions to Austin and the NXT chants. More evidence he is out of touch.

 

Amazes me that the CEO of the company had never seen NXT live before.

 

Not me, especially knowing who the CEO is.

 

I saw one interview with, I think it was Neville or Zayn, whichever one was champion at that time, where they said the were at Raw and saw Vince. The guy went up to him to shake his hand and told McMahon he was one of his NXT wrestlers. He said Vince was polite, but seemed like he didn't have a clue who the wrestler was. Which was strange, considering that it was his developmental arm's champion at the time who was meeting the owner.

 

I thought it would be pretty fun if we gave out some predictions on possible 2016 Wrestling of Fame entries.

The Undertaker: With rumors that next Wrestlemania will be the last match for the deadman and with the event being in his own state I feel it would be a great idea to induct him in a similar way to Ric Flair, make it his weekend getting the HOF induction then retiring in front of 100,000 in Texas.

The Fabulous Freebirds: With the Von Erich family already being in then it only makes sense to put their biggest rivals in the city where these guys had one of the all time greatest feuds.

Some other predictions that I could see happening that may not be the most obvious:

It may seem like a bit of an odd prediction, but I think 'Gentleman' Chris Adams could have a really good chance of getting inducted next year. Not only does he have the strong past with WCCW/USWA, but because he trained and played such a major role in Steve Austin's early career, having Austin induct Adam would be an easy way to find Austin something to do for WM 32 weekend.

Paul Boesch likely has a really good chance since it's in Texas. Big time promoter, having had partnerships with every major territory back in the day including the WWE. I'm fairly sure Boesch helped the WWE get a foot into Texas when McMahon began his expansion.

The celeb induction is hard to predict as it can be virtually anyone. Bob Barker could have a good chance. It seems like he has a good relationship with the WWE. By time WM 32 rolls around, Barker will be 92 years old. If they don't induct him next year, I don't know how many more chances they'll have.

 

BO-LIEVE!!!

 

I can see the Freebirds get in, with Hayes accepting it for them all. Boesch would be a possibility, since he was very much respected, although him not being alive may take away part of his appeal.

Adams, I'd doubt for a number of reasons. For one, his death wasn't exactly a nice one. For another, Austin really didn't care for him, although the E could kinda twist his arm into introducing him. However, there are reports that Vince is upset with him for asking Trips some hard questions during the podcast, including the Chyna ones.

 

I'm going to say JBL gets in. Seems like he's done wrestling (certainly full-time at least), he's a Texan, and he's worthy. He'd be a great pick as one of the upper midcarders for the induction ceremony behind Undertaker.