- I think Riley made a great fired up babyface during his feud with Owens, but he was a natural heel on the main roster. I'm just glad they're using him.
- Asuka, Emma, and Dana being on this loop is surprising given the bigger crowds they've worked in front of. I hope Asuka and Dana are successful on the main roster. Could we see either or both called up in 2016? I guess that depends on the depth of the division without them.
- Levis could be fun on the main roster as another Carlito/Santino/Fandango/Rose. The roster needs future main eventers, obviously, but it also needs a fun undercard to break things up.
- It's telling how low on the priority list Ryder, Cameron, and Riley are to be stuck in Florida while another NXT group AND the main roster is touring elsewhere.
- Mojo's growing on me in the ring, too. He's still got a way to go before I'd consider him for the main roster, though.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
WWE's looking for a senior vice president of human resources, who will report directly to Vince McMahon. Just imagine having that job...
Forbes put forth a card for Wrestlemania 32:
- I think one of the keys to any successful WM32 card will be including some people for the casual crowd (HHH, Lesnar, Rock), and some people for the outsiders (like Ronda Rousey, although I don't think she'll be able to work that show).
- I would watch the hell out of that tag team title match. Could it be TLC or something?
- Honestly, it makes sense to have a four-way tag title match. All those teams are great.
- Sasha vs. Charlotte. YES.
- I was thinking LoN vs. Wyatts at Fastlane. Hmmmm. Whom does Taker face in this scenario? That's a lot of heels in one match.
- Ambrose vs. Jericho? Ew. I'd rather see Ambrose vs. HHH. He better have something better in mind for Haitch, then. Ambrose deserves a higher spot than working the Y2J Nostalgia Tour. Jericho can face Neville or something.
- I was thinking Zayn vs. Owens, but Taker vs. Owens would KICK SO MUCH ASS. Owens could use such a big stage.
- HHH vs. Reigns makes sense. Does that leave Rock vs. Brock? That would be risky with Rock's movie schedule. They want him back on the movie set in one piece!
- Yeah, I'd like to see Bryan vs. Angle, too, but I don't know if WWE would risk either man's health like that. Angle seems pretty adamant that he wants a break from taking bumps, too.
- Rock vs. Brock would indeed be amazing, and Reigns wouldn't get booed like he would against Lesnar. It'd be tricky, but it would certainly reach mainstream fans.
- Overall, I think that's indeed a Mania-worthy card. I'd like to see Ambrose higher-up, but I wouldn't complain about the overall card (especially if we got Angle-Bryan). I don't know how well putting Rock and Brock in the main event builds for the future, but if their goal is just to put 100,000 asses in seats, that would probably do it. Keeping Show and Kane in the pre-show battle royal is fine by me, but I don't know if Vince would do it.
Tommy Dreamer is advertised for WWE live events the weekend of the Rumble. I wonder what the odds are of him being signed to a deal like Rhyno has in NXT. He could be a valuable semi-regular player. I'm sure he'd want to keep doing HoH, so they'd have to do something where he could keep working there in a big capacity.
Some notes from WWE's show in India:
- PTP worked as a team to challenge unsuccessfully for the tag team titles. What this means for their future as a unit remains to be seen.
- Summer Rae lost to Charlotte. I don't expect Summer to become a regular wrestler, but we'll see.
- India's Lovepreet Sangha has been renamed Kishan Raftar. He beat NXT's Jason Jordan.
- India's Satinder Sagar is now Jeet Rama. He beat NXT's Chad Gable. I wonder when we'll see the Indian signings work NXT live events or otherwise wrestle outside of their home country.
Here are results from the recent NXT live event in Milwaukee:
- Cool to see Owens again. Setting up Zayn vs. Owens during the Rumble match would be a good start to their feud on the main roster. But if they'd rather debut Styles then or they're doing Owens vs. taker at Mania, they can save Zayn for later in the year. The last thing they want is for Zayn to be lost in the shuffle. He's too talented to be stuck doing nothing important.
- I'm glad Ciampa got booked here.
- Where the heck was Samoa Joe? I'm not as upset about Rhyno not being there, but missing Joe is a travesty.
- Eva vs. Peyton should have been in Florida. Asuka, Emma, and Dana have earned a spot on this tour in their place. Eva's obviously a heat magnet, but she's not "A-tour" material.
WWE's HoF ceremony quickly sold out. No shock there.
Charlotte will respond to Becky Lynch's challenge for the Divas' Championship on Raw. It's expected they'll face off at the Rumble, as they should. I want to see Becky put Flair in the DisArmHer to show she means business.
Big Show was a backup dancer for Olivia Munn's performance of "Bad Blood" on Lip Sync Battle Thursday night. I think I prefer occasional comic relief Big Show to Heel Show.
Kurt Angle vs. Drew Galloway is set for the Jan. 29 TV taping in the UK. They really tore it up on Impact, so I'm more than OK with a rematch. Angle's only got so many more matches in him for TNA, so it will be interesting to see who else he faces in his farewell tour there.
WWE's international president apologized for Kurt Angle desecrating the Indian flag... 20 years ago. I'm pretty sure Angle did apologize. It was something his character did to take a shot at at and Indian character, not something he personally did to bury India. Kayfabe is apparently still pretty heavily alive in India.
WWE's Indian superstars working in their home country got press in India. I don't think Khali can contribute in the ring anymore. I do wonder why he wasn't at least brought in to say hi to the crowd. Is there heat between WWE and the former World Champion?
Dolph Ziggler and Charlotte played cricket in India. That's a big thing over there.
Jimmy Snuka's trial is being postponed from continuing pending an examination of his mental competency. The argument is Snuka is suffering from dementia. While we all want justice if the actions of Snuka in 1983 were indeed murder or manslaughter, I don't know what putting an ailing senior citizen behind bars (or worse) is really going to accomplish. The idea of "closure" has little-to-no basis in psychology.
Brock Lesnar has been added to the WWE Network special "March to WrestleMania," a live event on March 11. I think that's appropriate. The Network is a big priority. Using Brock to get more people to subscribe is a smart move.
Stardust is set to confront Stephen Amell at an upcoming fan festival, set for next week. Stardust vs. Arrow at WM32 would be a good move to get some outside fans to buy/attend the show. Or maybe the Cosmic Wasteland vs. Amell and a team not in the tag team title picture (Lucha Dragons? PTP?)? The idea of PTP working as superheroes could be a lot of fun given their comedic chops. I don't know if WWE would put a rebooted Los Matadores in that role, but I think that could work as well.
Smackdown's audience Thursday night was 2.33 million, down notably from the previous week's debut on USA. It's worth noting that show had something of a skeleton crew due to the India tour. I don't know how much that factored in, though.
WWE Network will have an episode of Legends with JBL after Raw featuring Road Dogg. If you weren't previously aware of this, you should telephone someone. Ron Simmons will be on a future episode.
Rich Swann will be making his NXT TV debut this week in a match with Baron Corbin. I have a feeling Corbin will go over on his road to the No. 1 Contendership, but maybe Swann will impress with what he does nonetheless. He's been working NXT live events here and there, so he's making progress toward being a more featured performer.
Jimmy Hart is opening a restaurant in Florida. Still no word on when Scott Steiner is opening a Shoney's. NORMALLY WHEN YOU GO TO A RESTAURANT, YOU GOTTA 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF GETTIN' SOMETHIN' GOOD TO EAT. BUT SCOTT STEINER IS A CULINARY *FREAK*, AND HE AIN'T NORMAL. SO I FIGURE, WHEN YOU GO TO HIS SHONEY'S, YOU GOTTA 75 PERCENT CHANCE, AT *LEAST*, OF BEIN' SATISFIED WITH YOUR ORDER. SEE, JIMMY HART *KNOWS* HE CAN'T COMPETE WITH THE BIG BAD BOOTY DADDY, AND HE AIN'T EVEN GONNA TRY. SO YOU ADD THE 66 AND TWO-THIRDS PERCENT CHANCE OF SCOTT STEINER DOIN' YOU AN EGG, AND YOU GOTTA 141 AND TWO-THIRDS CHANCE OF BEIN' SATISFIED. YA SEE, SCOTT STEINER COMES FROM A HIGHLY EDUCATED UNIVERSITY, AND HE'S WRESTLED A LOT OF COUNTRIES. SO ALL HIS FREAKS OUT THERE WANT TO KNOW WHERE TO GET THE BOOM SHAKA LAKA BURGER. WELL, YOU AIN'T GOTTA WAIT FOR THE EARTH TO ROTATE ON A 23-DEGREE AXIS TO SEE THE BIG DIPPER. JUST GET YOUR FAAAAAAT ASSSES DOWN TO SHONEY'S TO GET YOUR HOOK UP. HOLLER IF YA HEAR MEEEEEE.
Wildkat Sports names Matt Lancie, Bu Ku Dao, Curt Matthews, and J. Spade got tryouts recently for WWE. WWE does tryouts before shows rather frequently, so I wouldn't assume this means anything for any of them. But it's possible they get called in to show WWE more at the Performance Center. Interestingly, Dao has worked on WWE TV before as a jobber to The Ascension. He's also had dark matches for Extreme Rising, ROH, and EVOLVE. Matt Lancie has lost to Ryback in a handicap match on Smackdown, worked a dark match for Extreme Rising, and a dark match for EVOLVE.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Because it's not on TV yet. Da dum tssssssssh. Launching everything at once makes sense. I hope they do get a TV deal in the U.S. before too much longer; the waiting game has been a long one.
2. Considering none of them are signed to WWE, they're getting work elsewhere in the meantime. Even if they do get signed to WWE, they'll likely finish up what they've already been signed/advertised for. That said, it's possible they were announced for ROH's show on the assumption it would fall under their NJPW contracts. If/when those contracts are up, the two sides would/will have to work something out on a per-date basis.
3. She interprets reality differently from others. Like the "Obama's birth certificate is fake" people. Really, that's pretty much it.
4. Maybe right after Mania to kick off the new "year?" I would think they might want to do the Austin podcast with the pair beforehand. We'll see.
5. YOLO.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
WWE's looking for a senior vice president of human resources, who will report directly to Vince McMahon. Just imagine having that job...
Forbes put forth a card for Wrestlemania 32:
- I think one of the keys to any successful WM32 card will be including some people for the casual crowd (HHH, Lesnar, Rock), and some people for the outsiders (like Ronda Rousey, although I don't think she'll be able to work that show).
- I would watch the hell out of that tag team title match. Could it be TLC or something?
- Honestly, it makes sense to have a four-way tag title match. All those teams are great.
- Sasha vs. Charlotte. YES.
- I was thinking LoN vs. Wyatts at Fastlane. Hmmmm. Whom does Taker face in this scenario? That's a lot of heels in one match.
- Ambrose vs. Jericho? Ew. I'd rather see Ambrose vs. HHH. He better have something better in mind for Haitch, then. Ambrose deserves a higher spot than working the Y2J Nostalgia Tour. Jericho can face Neville or something.
- I was thinking Zayn vs. Owens, but Taker vs. Owens would KICK SO MUCH ASS. Owens could use such a big stage.
- HHH vs. Reigns makes sense. Does that leave Rock vs. Brock? That would be risky with Rock's movie schedule. They want him back on the movie set in one piece!
- Yeah, I'd like to see Bryan vs. Angle, too, but I don't know if WWE would risk either man's health like that. Angle seems pretty adamant that he wants a break from taking bumps, too.
- Rock vs. Brock would indeed be amazing, and Reigns wouldn't get booed like he would against Lesnar. It'd be tricky, but it would certainly reach mainstream fans.
- Overall, I think that's indeed a Mania-worthy card. I'd like to see Ambrose higher-up, but I wouldn't complain about the overall card (especially if we got Angle-Bryan). I don't know how well putting Rock and Brock in the main event builds for the future, but if their goal is just to put 100,000 asses in seats, that would probably do it. Keeping Show and Kane in the pre-show battle royal is fine by me, but I don't know if Vince would do it.
Tommy Dreamer is advertised for WWE live events the weekend of the Rumble. I wonder what the odds are of him being signed to a deal like Rhyno has in NXT. He could be a valuable semi-regular player. I'm sure he'd want to keep doing HoH, so they'd have to do something where he could keep working there in a big capacity.
Some notes from WWE's show in India:
- PTP worked as a team to challenge unsuccessfully for the tag team titles. What this means for their future as a unit remains to be seen.
- Summer Rae lost to Charlotte. I don't expect Summer to become a regular wrestler, but we'll see.
- India's Lovepreet Sangha has been renamed Kishan Raftar. He beat NXT's Jason Jordan.
- India's Satinder Sagar is now Jeet Rama. He beat NXT's Chad Gable. I wonder when we'll see the Indian signings work NXT live events or otherwise wrestle outside of their home country.
Here are results from the recent NXT live event in Milwaukee:
- Cool to see Owens again. Setting up Zayn vs. Owens during the Rumble match would be a good start to their feud on the main roster. But if they'd rather debut Styles then or they're doing Owens vs. taker at Mania, they can save Zayn for later in the year. The last thing they want is for Zayn to be lost in the shuffle. He's too talented to be stuck doing nothing important.
- I'm glad Ciampa got booked here.
- Where the heck was Samoa Joe? I'm not as upset about Rhyno not being there, but missing Joe is a travesty.
- Eva vs. Peyton should have been in Florida. Asuka, Emma, and Dana have earned a spot on this tour in their place. Eva's obviously a heat magnet, but she's not "A-tour" material.
WWE's HoF ceremony quickly sold out. No shock there.
Charlotte will respond to Becky Lynch's challenge for the Divas' Championship on Raw. It's expected they'll face off at the Rumble, as they should. I want to see Becky put Flair in the DisArmHer to show she means business.
Big Show was a backup dancer for Olivia Munn's performance of "Bad Blood" on Lip Sync Battle Thursday night. I think I prefer occasional comic relief Big Show to Heel Show.
Kurt Angle vs. Drew Galloway is set for the Jan. 29 TV taping in the UK. They really tore it up on Impact, so I'm more than OK with a rematch. Angle's only got so many more matches in him for TNA, so it will be interesting to see who else he faces in his farewell tour there.
WWE's international president apologized for Kurt Angle desecrating the Indian flag... 20 years ago. I'm pretty sure Angle did apologize. It was something his character did to take a shot at at and Indian character, not something he personally did to bury India. Kayfabe is apparently still pretty heavily alive in India.
WWE's Indian superstars working in their home country got press in India. I don't think Khali can contribute in the ring anymore. I do wonder why he wasn't at least brought in to say hi to the crowd. Is there heat between WWE and the former World Champion?
Dolph Ziggler and Charlotte played cricket in India. That's a big thing over there.
Jimmy Snuka's trial is being postponed from continuing pending an examination of his mental competency. The argument is Snuka is suffering from dementia. While we all want justice if the actions of Snuka in 1983 were indeed murder or manslaughter, I don't know what putting an ailing senior citizen behind bars (or worse) is really going to accomplish. The idea of "closure" has little-to-no basis in psychology.
Brock Lesnar has been added to the WWE Network special "March to WrestleMania," a live event on March 11. I think that's appropriate. The Network is a big priority. Using Brock to get more people to subscribe is a smart move.
Stardust is set to confront Stephen Amell at an upcoming fan festival, set for next week. Stardust vs. Arrow at WM32 would be a good move to get some outside fans to buy/attend the show. Or maybe the Cosmic Wasteland vs. Amell and a team not in the tag team title picture (Lucha Dragons? PTP?)? The idea of PTP working as superheroes could be a lot of fun given their comedic chops. I don't know if WWE would put a rebooted Los Matadores in that role, but I think that could work as well.
Smackdown's audience Thursday night was 2.33 million, down notably from the previous week's debut on USA. It's worth noting that show had something of a skeleton crew due to the India tour. I don't know how much that factored in, though.
WWE Network will have an episode of Legends with JBL after Raw featuring Road Dogg. If you weren't previously aware of this, you should telephone someone. Ron Simmons will be on a future episode.
Rich Swann will be making his NXT TV debut this week in a match with Baron Corbin. I have a feeling Corbin will go over on his road to the No. 1 Contendership, but maybe Swann will impress with what he does nonetheless. He's been working NXT live events here and there, so he's making progress toward being a more featured performer.
Jimmy Hart is opening a restaurant in Florida. Still no word on when Scott Steiner is opening a Shoney's. NORMALLY WHEN YOU GO TO A RESTAURANT, YOU GOTTA 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF GETTIN' SOMETHIN' GOOD TO EAT. BUT SCOTT STEINER IS A CULINARY *FREAK*, AND HE AIN'T NORMAL. SO I FIGURE, WHEN YOU GO TO HIS SHONEY'S, YOU GOTTA 75 PERCENT CHANCE, AT *LEAST*, OF BEIN' SATISFIED WITH YOUR ORDER. SEE, JIMMY HART *KNOWS* HE CAN'T COMPETE WITH THE BIG BAD BOOTY DADDY, AND HE AIN'T EVEN GONNA TRY. SO YOU ADD THE 66 AND TWO-THIRDS PERCENT CHANCE OF SCOTT STEINER DOIN' YOU AN EGG, AND YOU GOTTA 141 AND TWO-THIRDS CHANCE OF BEIN' SATISFIED. YA SEE, SCOTT STEINER COMES FROM A HIGHLY EDUCATED UNIVERSITY, AND HE'S WRESTLED A LOT OF COUNTRIES. SO ALL HIS FREAKS OUT THERE WANT TO KNOW WHERE TO GET THE BOOM SHAKA LAKA BURGER. WELL, YOU AIN'T GOTTA WAIT FOR THE EARTH TO ROTATE ON A 23-DEGREE AXIS TO SEE THE BIG DIPPER. JUST GET YOUR FAAAAAAT ASSSES DOWN TO SHONEY'S TO GET YOUR HOOK UP. HOLLER IF YA HEAR MEEEEEE.
Wildkat Sports names Matt Lancie, Bu Ku Dao, Curt Matthews, and J. Spade got tryouts recently for WWE. WWE does tryouts before shows rather frequently, so I wouldn't assume this means anything for any of them. But it's possible they get called in to show WWE more at the Performance Center. Interestingly, Dao has worked on WWE TV before as a jobber to The Ascension. He's also had dark matches for Extreme Rising, ROH, and EVOLVE. Matt Lancie has lost to Ryback in a handicap match on Smackdown, worked a dark match for Extreme Rising, and a dark match for EVOLVE.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Because it's not on TV yet. Da dum tssssssssh. Launching everything at once makes sense. I hope they do get a TV deal in the U.S. before too much longer; the waiting game has been a long one.
2. Considering none of them are signed to WWE, they're getting work elsewhere in the meantime. Even if they do get signed to WWE, they'll likely finish up what they've already been signed/advertised for. That said, it's possible they were announced for ROH's show on the assumption it would fall under their NJPW contracts. If/when those contracts are up, the two sides would/will have to work something out on a per-date basis.
3. She interprets reality differently from others. Like the "Obama's birth certificate is fake" people. Really, that's pretty much it.
4. Maybe right after Mania to kick off the new "year?" I would think they might want to do the Austin podcast with the pair beforehand. We'll see.
5. YOLO.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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