2016 Pro Wrestling Thread

If Rollins got the title again, he would be perfect for that. It would fit his megalomaniac "I'm the best wrestler ever" persona perfect.

 

I think bringing back the big gold belt, having two ladies champs or two tag champs would be a huge mistake.

Lets say youre a GM.....whos your no 1 draft pick? (Including NXT, Meltzer said Nakamura or Cena).

I think I'd go with Rollins.

 

Good ask. I'd probably go...

1) Cena. Proven draw, hard worker.
2) Rollins.
3) Kevin Owens.
4) Reigns. (He's reviled, but I'd just turn him heel.)
5) Nakamura. (Other guys are more established, but he's still got a superstar peak to me, plus he's big in Japan, Spinal Tap style.)
6) Balor. (I think he's more of a high upper card guy, but he's at least got a chance of being a superstar who can carry the belt.)
7) Lesnar, even if he's only part-time, you know he can headline a PPV.
8) The New Day, if I can take them as a group.

From there, there are probably a dozen guys or so that are equally valuable to me. Ambrose and Sami Zayn are interesting, but I think they're probably transitional champions at best, so it's tough for me to spend a high draft pick on them; I wanna draft for peak value. There are a bunch of vets, like Jericho and Orton, who are still good draws but you need to book them correctly. Styles, I don't know. I like him, but I worry about his health going forward, and he'd probably be my #9 or #10 on this list. I'm sure I'm forgetting some people...

 

However they split the roster, I would hope this in this go around they take advantage of more sports-like story lines, with trades and competing for hot free agents. It would be fun to see a Raw GM in the front row of Smackdown, "scouting" for a potential upcoming deal. And if a GM wants to get rid of a bothersome character, "you're traded" is a much better storyline than "you're fired."

 

They did that before, with trades, and, if I remember right, they did a big promo thing where the GMs made their pitch for Austin, who was a "free agent."

The trades thing, though, became kinda stupid at the end. You'd get Triple H traded for Chris Masters, Funaki and Hurricane Helms, with the Brooklyn Brawler thrown in as a salary cap dump.

One problem they had before was that they allowed the champion to appear on both shows, but not everyone else. It created some problems in trying to continue storylines, when the top challenger wasn't allowed to follow the champ from show to show. They'll need to make a stipulation where the champion and the No 1 contender are allowed to be on both shows.

It is fun, though, to have a mock draft. I'd go with:

1. Cena, still the top star
2. Reigns, they hate him, just make him a monster heel
3. Rollins, another top heel, who'll eventually be a huge face
4. Owens, another effective heel
5. Styles, can be the No. 2 babyface behind Cena
6. Ambrose, he's long overdue to be a No. 1 face
7. Wyatt, he's overdue for a top run
8. Charlotte, the top woman
9. New Day, with the top woman picked, the other GM goes for the top tag team. Plus some day, Big E can get a push
10. Enzo and Cass, other GM fills his need for a top tag team, plus Cass has huge upside and you can't teach that.
11. Zayn. Pegged as a top 5 talent, but he manages to fall to the GM at 11
12. Cesaro, taking the best available player
13. Sasha, fills the other show's need for a top woman star
14. Nakamura. The crowd is stunned as this GM takes the top talent of NXT. The other GM protests that NXT talents are not eligible, until Vince shows a contract saying that Nakamura had been moved to the main roster
15. Angry about the Nakamura pick, the other GM chooses Bayley. More arguing and threats of lawsuits before Vince agrees, then bans all other NXT talents from the draft. We get a rekindling of Sasha vs, Bayley.
16. Rusev, GM stunned he falls this far.
17. Brock Lesnar, GM rationalizes that he's great value for the part time spot
18. Becky Lynch. Gives Charlotte her top contender
19. Anderson and Gallows, a second top,tag team, plus they can work with Styles
20. The Usos, same as No. 19, only with Reigns
21. Randy Orton, monster value pick, despite being injury prone
22. Jericho, Old Reliable
23. The Miz, fills the midcard need
24. Baron Corbin, a young prospect that the GM hopes will blossom
25. Kane, a reliable veteran
26. Ziggler , fills the midcard
27. The Undertaker, the GM rationalizes that they only need him once a year, so why the heck not
28. Apollo Crews, another young prospect
29. Big Show, reliable veteran
And Mr. Irrelevant at No, 30 is ... The Rock!

 

I'm going to go against the grain and say that the draft isn't a great idea. We've already seen it, and outside of the very first one, the concept doesn't really work for a two-brand universe (or three-brand when WWECW was a thing). Plus by doing a draft, you run the risk of having two of the same kind of shows, and they say they want to create a distinction between them. Having Red Show and Blue Show doesn't really do that.

My suggestion: Have Shane take/be given Smackdown after the simmering Shane-Steph tensions finally erupt again. Shane takes all the indy/NXT/Japan favorites and pledges to create a completely different product that we've never seen at this level. Raw becomes the family-friendly, entertainment-driven division and Smackdown becomes the TV-14 playground for smark fans. Make it a juxtaposition of white chocolate and dark chocolate Reese's Cups, not Left Twix and Right Twix.

 

Observer from May 30:

- The brand split starts July 19. The thinking is that live content is more DVR proof, although Smackdown is actually watched live more often currently than Raw.

Stephanie and Shane will each likely lead a brand, with Ed Koskey writing Raw and Ryan Ward writing Smackdown. Triple H and Vince will still be in charge of the company’s overall creative, but Koskey and Ward should each have more power, as Vince is setting up a sort of internal competition.

Cena is likely to be the top guy on Raw, with Reigns on Smackdown. Lesnar’s dates are already scheduled, so he’s on Raw too most likely. A draft show is scheduled for July 11, and none of the talent has been told which show they’re going to be on.

- Extreme Rules got 78.1 percent thumbs up (239), 15.7 percent thumbs middle (48) and 6.2 percent thumbs down (19). Best matches were the four-way (148) and the main title match (138).

- There are no plans to turn Reigns heel anytime soon, regardless of the fan reaction. Right now, Kevin Owens is their only strong heel, with Rusev and Chris Jericho to lesser extents, which is why Rollins was pushed over to that side as well. Bray Wyatt will almost certainly be heel when he comes back, regardless of the angles they shot before he left.

- Cena doesn’t have an earmarked opponent yet. He could be in the Money in the Bank ladder match, feud with Rusev, or the Miz. Lesnar will be on the SummerSlam card, but he also doesn’t have an opponent lined up yet. Down the road, Rollins vs. Triple H is still planned for a major PPV, hence why Rollins will continue to use the Pedigree.

- Flair might be back in the future for a TV program, with Charlotte or someone else, but there aren’t any concrete plans to use him.

- Cody quit on May 21, and Eden Stiles (his wife, Brandi) quit three days later. re: Cody blaming the writers, it was noted that things begin and end with Vince still, and ultimately, Vince never saw him as a top guy.

Cody has less options than initially thought, because he quit vs. being released by the WWE. It’s also believed that they own the name Cody Rhodes, because he’s never wrestled anywhere else but WWE. New Japan is full up on foreigners right now, the Mexican peso is weak, TNA is chaotic, and ROH would pay him far less than he’s used to.

- Cena’s American Grit show on FOX was the lowest-rated in its time slot, and on its night of TV. It had half the audience of Bones.

- UFC will be in a second round of bidding soon for its sale. The price is expected to be $3.5B to $4B, with all 100 percent of the company changing hands.

- Ronda Rousey isn’t so into UFC right now. She has two fights left on her deal, but she’s expected to be done after that.

- Kane, 49, might run for mayor of Knoxville, TN in 2018. If so, it puts a timetable on his wrestling career, since he couldn’t do both.

- Sasha Banks suffered a concussion on the May 15 house show. She’s been kept off TV anyway for a bit, but she’s also now out for that as well.

 

Whyyyyyyyy with the deepest most talented group they've ever had does one of their best hands need to face triple freaking h

 

Because Trips has to do something to justify his million-plus talent contract.

 

Kane running for mayor. His campaign slogan is an easy one:

"Vote for me, or I'll chokeslam you to hell!"

 

They're in Tennessee. They're already there.

 

Twenty years ago today. Wow.

And amazed that it took place in a town like Macon, Georgia. And amazed that Tony Schiavone has gone from the top play-by-play guy for one of the nation's top two wrestling companies, to doing radio for the Gwinnett Braves and Georgia Bulldogs.