WWE Network has uploaded all the episodes of NWA TV from 1987, and continues to upload episodes from 1988 and 1989.
Former NXT name Martin Stone/Danny Burch discussed working with legends. I wouldn't be surprised to see him used in NXT more as an enhancement talent.
WWE.com announced Ryback's contract expiring. No real surprise there. It'll be interesting to see if he ever returns. If he builds a name for himself elsewhere and expands his skills, he could have a final run at some point. I'm thinking along the lines of Tensai and Luke Gallows.
Joey Styles is now gone from WWE, leading to speculation a recent Facebook Q&A "shoot interview" landed him in hot water. The video has since been removed.
- Styles' work with WWE.com and in their social media presences really took them to a new place. There were many times when subjects were addressed openly on WWE.com that pulled back the curtain, acknowledged competing promotions, and even criticized the company. Styles also took advantage of publicity for WWE alumni (namely TNA employees Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle) to promote WWE content of theirs. It was brilliant and bold, and likely contributed to the success of digital ventures that has continues with the WWE Network. Joey had his fingers on the pulse of what "smarks" were talking about or would be interested in, and got buzz for articles and content that way. He'll be missed in that regard, but hopefully WWE continues to use his innovations to be successful. WWE.com running with the Bullet Club rumors earlier this year was a particular stroke of risky genius.
Heath Slater was backstage at Raw. I'm surprised Stephanie and Foley didn't try to sign him before Smackdown. Talk about a blockbuster free agent!
Taz did the Taz thing on TMZ TV addressing Conor McGregor's recent comments. At least he got attention for his show by responding. Good for Conor for getting all sorts of hype for his fight from people (like me) who normally wouldn't care about UFC.
- Stone Cold podcast Reax:
- Great for Ambrose to be able to save his mom from having to work. After so many years on the indie scene, it's finally payinf off.
- It's tough to sympathize with Dean dropping out. For every story like Dean's, there are quite a few of people who dropped out and it didn't work out so well for them.
- I can see why Austin's frustrated at Dean. I guess it's something of a generational thing.
- Wow. Ambrose is a natural annoying heel, but obviously those same qualities appeal to the people who support him.
- REALLY weird seeing people who weren't even alive in time for WM1 headlining WWE shows.
- Ambrose's style isn't exactly graceful, but it's effective. He works his style better than trying to do someone else's style.
- Austin seems genuinely upset at Ambrose's attitude. I can't blame him in the least, but I don't think Dean is trying to tick him off. It's just kind of how wrestlers today are.
- Ambrose is lucky he's made it so far with his attitude. It can turn people away.
- Dean's coming across as annoying here. But his confidence in his own abilities is what got him to WWE in the first place.
- The Seth heel turn was perfectly timed, since Batista and HHH weren't going to keep wrestling. A new heel for Dean and Roman was needed and Seth ran with the role.
- OH MAN. Ambrose going off on Brock here.
- While the matches with Bray and Owens were great, they were often thrown out there just because WWE knew they could do good things with the time given.
- MAN. Austin being honest with Ambrose. I definitely prefer barely-contained psychopath Ambrose to Wackyman.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. If there are teams that win most of the time, there are going to be teams that lose all the time. If it wasn't the Vaudevillains, it'd be some other team. Enzo and Cass are able to get over instantly because they're so colorful. The Vaudevillains are the opposite of that, which is kind of the point of the gimmick. They had a hard time getting over without that act being explained to the audience first. Instead of it just being "hey here's this team from NXT who comes out in black-and-white," we should have gotten vignettes of who they are and why they have that gimmick. I wouldn't be surprised if WWE just thought they needed to fill out the tag team ranks and called Simon and Aiden up without any bigger plan for them. I could easily see The Revival falling into a similar role of primarily being good hands to get other teams over.
2. It's only a burial if Management was punishing him with his place on the card/jobbing. But I agree he's been far from the main event for long enough there's no real reason to believe this time he'll actually win.
The public schooling system really needs work if people think 3,4, and 5 are grammatically correct statements, but:
3 and 4. Wins and losses are only part of the story. See Jericho's win over Styles at WM32. Y2J went down the card, while AJ went up it. Good bookers and workers can turn things around and regain momentum in a loss, while poor bookers and workers can lose momentum for acts even with victories. That said, I definitely think it'd be good for AJ and The Club in the short term to win big matches at Summerslam.
5. Meeeeehhhhhh. I don't like the idea of Balor turning heel so soon. Don't cut off his momentum as a face. Now, The Club helping Rollins beat Balor would be fresh and interesting. It would get The Club over as heels and Balor over as a face.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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