Eat. Sleep. Wrestling Thread. Repeat. - Part 140

[H.U.S.T.L.E.]

- The word was recently put out to brainstorm about ways to feature more guys, whether it be having angles out on live events or even go back to more of a brand extension type setting, WWE has reversed their problem of depth to kickoff the new year.

- The bottom-line from Triple H’s prospective is that they are at too important of a time in the WWE’s history, with the launch of the WWE Network and their biggest show of the year, to be in a situation where they end up short on top guys due to injuries or leaving the company for one reason or another.

I was actually just thinking about this recently, in that they probably do have more than enough capable (and deserving) talent to execute the brand split once again. Guys like Woods, Langston & Fandango have all had their TV time up & down and it's mostly because there's just too many guys to focus on. Plus, the annual draft was always a nice way to shake things up & reset some guys who may be directionless or just need a different set of opponents. The only problem is that now with Raw being 3 hours (and will stay that way for the foreseeable future), it really would feel like Smackdown is delegated as the B-show. I guess you could make Main Event a Smackdown exclusive show as well & that would even things out in terms of television time, but leaving Smackdown as a taped show really is the thing that gives it that stigma.

Possible solution? Make Friday a live show as well... they already run house shows on Fridays, so maybe they switch Tuesdays to a house show night? Regardless, I would be up for the brand split once again.

 

[Kaleb]

Rob Feinstein of RFVideo.com has posted the following on his Facebook page:

I was just informed Sting has signed a deal with WWE in the last 24 hours. I still think personally he will show up after Mania since it seems like Undertaker vs Brock is what they are aiming for. Reminds me when everyone thought Brock would debut in Miami but they waited for Raw.

This news comes about 24 hours after Anthony DiMoro of Sportsrant.com reported WWE and Sting reached some type of an agreement.

lets see what happens

 

[X Knight]

holy crap if it's true!! Sting in the WWE??!!

 

[Pink Ranger]

I vote no, no, no on a brand split. It's a chicken and egg situation: one could argue the first brand split led to a degradation of talent that made the split a joke after a while. I'd rather see the roster have an embarassment of riches than see one good show and one bad one nobody wants to be on.

There was a time when the WWE had Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Savage, Piper, the LOD, Undertaker and Jake the Snake on the same roster, plus a couple of young up and comers named Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The WWE didn't need a brand split back then, and doesn't need one now.

 

[TX85]

IF Sting debuts at WM then I agree with Raven X,After Taker's match while he's doing his one knee taunt have Sting appear on stage or up in the rafters as he looks down on Taker with the camera zooming in and commentators speechless or being amazed

 

[TX85]

I vote no, no, no on a brand split. It's a chicken and egg situation: one could argue the first brand split led to a degradation of talent that made the split a joke after a while. I'd rather see the roster have an embarassment of riches than see one good show and one bad one nobody wants to be on.

There was a time when the WWE had Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Savage, Piper, the LOD, Undertaker and Jake the Snake on the same roster, plus a couple of young up and comers named Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The WWE didn't need a brand split back then, and doesn't need one now.

Agreed Pinky!

 

[X Knight]

IF Sting debuts at WM then I agree with Raven X,After Taker's match while he's doing his one knee taunt have Sting appear on stage or up in the rafters as he looks down on Taker with the camera zooming in and commentators speechless or being amazed

and then Bobby Lashley can make a special appearance on the ramp and point!! t:

 

[X Knight]

I vote no, no, no on a brand split. It's a chicken and egg situation: one could argue the first brand split led to a degradation of talent that made the split a joke after a while. I'd rather see the roster have an embarassment of riches than see one good show and one bad one nobody wants to be on.

There was a time when the WWE had Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Savage, Piper, the LOD, Undertaker and Jake the Snake on the same roster, plus a couple of young up and comers named Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The WWE didn't need a brand split back then, and doesn't need one now.

we just got over the brand split and unified the belts (finally)........why would they want to split it again?

 

[H.U.S.T.L.E.]

I vote no, no, no on a brand split. It's a chicken and egg situation: one could argue the first brand split led to a degradation of talent that made the split a joke after a while. I'd rather see the roster have an embarassment of riches than see one good show and one bad one nobody wants to be on.

There was a time when the WWE had Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Savage, Piper, the LOD, Undertaker and Jake the Snake on the same roster, plus a couple of young up and comers named Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The WWE didn't need a brand split back then, and doesn't need one now.

I think that's an unfair assessment. Honestly, I think the bigger problem was that the developmental system couldn't produce enough TV-ready guys based on the fact that it was smaller (and run less competently towards from 2008-2011)... Now, with the performance center & NXT in full swing, there's a bunch of guys that are ready to make the jump but there's just not enough space to feature them effectively.

Seriously, you've got Bo Dallas, Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Tyler Breeze, Corey Graves & Leo Kruger (in whatever incarnation) on the guys side with Paige, Sasha Banks, Emma & Bayley who could contribute on the womens side - all of those people could be on WWE TV right now and they'd be 1000x better than some of the people who we saw promoted during 2008-2011.

 

[Kaleb]

Death of Jimmy Snuka's girlfriend 30 years ago could get "fresh look" from authorities

I recall the rumors about how Vince helped Snuka cover this up.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

I vote no, no, no on a brand split. It's a chicken and egg situation: one could argue the first brand split led to a degradation of talent that made the split a joke after a while. I'd rather see the roster have an embarassment of riches than see one good show and one bad one nobody wants to be on.

There was a time when the WWE had Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Savage, Piper, the LOD, Undertaker and Jake the Snake on the same roster, plus a couple of young up and comers named Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The WWE didn't need a brand split back then, and doesn't need one now.

I agree, but may I ask what caused you to bring this up? They aren't planning on bringing it back are they?

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Honestly, Smackdown is like Superstars at this point so hell no to a brand split.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Honestly, Smackdown is like Superstars at this point so hell no to a brand split.

Hard to believe there was a time where Smackdown was the show to look forward to.

 

[DX]

I remember the summer of 2009 when SD was the BALLS...

 

[The Apocalypse]

Honestly, Smackdown is like Superstars at this point so hell no to a brand split.

I haven't tuned into SD in years. Last time I watched a match from it was Ambrose vs Taker (I think) and my friend sent me a youtube link. They treat it like a C list show and that's exactly what it is.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Just 15 years too late on Sting, but better then nothing I guess.

 

[sweetre15]

Source: Pwinsider.com

There's talk in WWE right now of having Daniel Bryan win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. This is NOT confirmed and has only been talked about as of this writing.

The idea is that having him win the title at that show will pop the RAW rating the following night, as that is the night that the WWE Network will launch, so they want as many eyeballs on that show as possible. There has already been talk of having a lot of big names from the past on RAW the night after the Elimination Chamber for the same reason.

If they decide to pull the trigger on that plan, then the WrestleMania XXX main event will likely become a triple-threat match featuring Bryan, Batista and Randy Orton.

Speaking of Daniel Bryan, there was never any talk of having him appear in the 30-man Royal Rumble match as we reported earlier.

 

[The Sage]

Daniel Bryan is the new Shawn Michaels. He doesn't have to be in the title match to get his 'Mania moment, and I really wish people would realize that sooner rather than later because I swear that if childish fans hijack 'Mania, I'm done with being a fan for a while.

For Shawn Michaels to call himself the Headliner, he had to headline.

For Shawn Michaels to call himself the Main-Event, he had to main-event.

Shawn was given the opportunities to do these things and it was done without belittling, and it was done also because the fans wanted him to make it. Bryan has not.

you seem to forget that before he reached that point of not needing to be in title matches, he headlined Wrestlemania, won the title, held the title for a period time and was consistently kept in the main-event. Those things had to take place first. Do you think after the ladder match at Wrestlemania X that Shawn was a main-eventer?

And if the fans hijack Wrestlemania because the main-event isn't what the crowd wants, that's the company's fault for not listening to them for nearly half a year now.

 

[Slushy]

I recall the rumors about how Vince helped Snuka cover this up.

I do believe he killed her, there was a history of domestic abuse. Damn shame if he did, Superfly was one of the nicest legends I ever met.

Daniel Bryan is the new Shawn Michaels. He doesn't have to be in the title match to get his 'Mania moment, and I really wish people would realize that sooner rather than later because I swear that if childish fans hijack 'Mania, I'm done with being a fan for a while.

Michaels had to struggle for years to showcase his talent. His match against Savage in 1992 showed that HBK belonged in the main event and finally got his time to shine when Vince had to put aside the status quo (hosses) when the steroid scandal broke out.

In a way, I shouldn't blame Shawn for being political since it did take him 8 years to become the WWF Champion. That last year was an extra wait because his best friend was bigger than he was. But now, we're seeing history repeat itself with a small guy who is the best wrestler of this modern era getting held down by the glass ceiling. Its only a mind blowing coincidence that Bryan was trained by Michaels. I can only imagine how HBK must feel knowing that Vince's size policy is coming into play again. Maybe its karma?

 

[Kaleb]

is it just me or is Punk coming off a little differently compared to past interviews

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Source: Pwinsider.com

There's talk in WWE right now of having Daniel Bryan win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. This is NOT confirmed and has only been talked about as of this writing.

The idea is that having him win the title at that show will pop the RAW rating the following night, as that is the night that the WWE Network will launch, so they want as many eyeballs on that show as possible. There has already been talk of having a lot of big names from the past on RAW the night after the Elimination Chamber for the same reason.

If they decide to pull the trigger on that plan, then the WrestleMania XXX main event will likely become a triple-threat match featuring Bryan, Batista and Randy Orton.

Speaking of Daniel Bryan, there was never any talk of having him appear in the 30-man Royal Rumble match as we reported earlier.

Even though this is a rumor, I just don't see Bryan's chase ending at a throwaway PPV like Elimination Chamber.

 

[The Sage]

- The latest from the former Sin Cara is that WWE won’t return his phone calls and he has no idea if he’s still employed.

- Word from within WWE is that the final line-up for the Elimination Chamber match next month may end up being WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Batista. This could indicate that Batista is putting his title shot on the line in the Chamber.

Partial source: F4Wonline.com

http://dailywrestlingnews.com/possible-elimination-chamber-participants-revealed-latest-sin-cara/

I'd prefer this with Orton winning in controversial fashion, and Bryan earning the Wrestlemania title shot the next night on RAW. They would catch major heat if he didn't win at Elimination Chamber, plus the talk with the WWE Network launching.

 

[Kaleb]

- The latest from the former Sin Cara is that WWE won’t return his phone calls and he has no idea if he’s still employed.

- Word from within WWE is that the final line-up for the Elimination Chamber match next month may end up being WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Batista. This could indicate that Batista is putting his title shot on the line in the Chamber.

Partial source: F4Wonline.com

http://dailywrestlingnews.com/possible-elimination-chamber-participants-revealed-latest-sin-cara/

I'd prefer this with Orton winning in controversial fashion, and Bryan earning the Wrestlemania title shot the next night on RAW. They would catch major heat if he didn't win at Elimination Chamber, plus the talk with the WWE Network launching.

 

[The Sage]

- AJ Styles recently spoke with the Wrestling Mania about his upcoming speaking tour and more. Check out the highlights:

On pushing back his speaking tour due to lawsuit threats from TNA: "We had something in the works, but then I got threatened by a TNA lawyer about some stuff that was going on - it was meaningless. We were going to do that in March, but now we're looking at maybe coming over in June. The book should be done by then. So, it actually works out pretty good."

On TNA's attempts to take Impact Wrestling on the road: "It wasn't a bad idea getting on the road doing shows. The problem is they weren't advertising that we were on the road. We did these buildings and they weren't even half-way sold out because people didn't know we were there. I remember staying at a hotel right across the street from the venue and they didn't even know that wrestling was in there that night. It goes to show that if you don't have someone getting out there, getting the word out there that you're in town, you're not going to do well."

On TNA signing big name stars to try and pop the Impact Wrestling rating: "With the homegrown guys, we were slowly building the ratings. My opinion is if it's not broke, don't fix it, but I think they wanted to see the ratings climb a little faster."

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/n...His-Speaking-Tour-Due-to-TNA-Legal-Threat.htm

 

[Slushy]

There's talk in WWE right now of having Daniel Bryan win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. This is NOT confirmed and has only been talked about as of this writing.

The fan in me wants Orton to finally win The Elimination Chamber, but business wise, Bryan should win and defend against Batista at WrestleMania 30. I prefer it one on one and save Orton the embarrassment of being in another disappointing WrestleMania main event since Batista's return has failed.

is it just me or is Punk coming off a little differently compared to past interviews

He's burnt out. I wouldn't blame him for taking another break after WrestleMania.