What Kinda Wrestling Thread You Runnin' Here?

[runawayboulder]

I think the best way to do it is to have the Rumble come down to Bryan and Reigns. Bryan eliminates Reigns and then heel turn beat down to follow.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I think the best way to do it is to have the Rumble come down to Bryan and Reigns. Bryan eliminates Reigns and then heel turn beat down to follow.

That's not a bad idea. Then Reigns performs a reverse Bryan--somehow insinuating himself into Bryan's main event at WM by sucking up to the Authority. Major nuclear heel heat for him there. And if he wins that main event, wow, the fans will **** over that, but in a good way because he's a villain.

 

[Docker2.0]

Sheamus should return as a monster heel.

Can you imagine if Sheamus and Paige had a child? OMG! The kid would be transparent!

 

[bullets]

I don't mind Hogan, mainly because I am pretty sure the Poffo family would not have signed off on anything they did not approve of. I know Hogan and Savage hated each other for a long time, but maybe they came to terms in their later years, who knows.

According to Hogan and Savage's new wife a reconciliation did happen between the two. Hogan went in depth about it on Jericho's podcast. Basically they were both at the hospital and Randy came in the room smiling and being friendly. They talked about having a cookout sometime over the phone, but Savage passed before it happened.

 

[Uptown Finest]

Last night, I was thinking that turning Reigns is the way to go, as well. With Lesnar probably leaving soon, Paul Heyman is going to need a new guy.

I figured Rollins would be his guy.

 

[sweetre15]

Has this situation between Bryan/Reigns become the modern equivalent of Hart/Luger circa WM10?

Just like Bryan and Reigns, Hart and Luger were both the young stars of that year with Bret still being the preferred champ by Fans and Lex being the preferred top guy by management.

Another parallel is that one can argue Bret was already a "made man" due to beating Flair for the belt and his IC title reign but while Luger was "made" in NWA/WCW, he wasn't made in WWF/E.

Of course Luger wasn't really ready in the ring, on the mic, or in terms or overness but Bret was by comparison atleast.

Only time will tell if history completes it's chance of repeating itself with end result but the signs are there.

Thoughts?

 

[Bat Brain]

For any UK/Ireland folks on here: the WWE Network is available right now. Looks like they gave it the green light a few days early.

 

[The Apocalypse]

That's not a bad idea. Then Reigns performs a reverse Bryan--somehow insinuating himself into Bryan's main event at WM by sucking up to the Authority. Major nuclear heel heat for him there. And if he wins that main event, wow, the fans will **** over that, but in a good way because he's a villain.

This is such a great idea that WWE won't do it!

 

[Donnie Darko]

During Reigns' promo, I just kept thinking of how much better it would've been as a Val Venis promo in the Attitude Era...

"Just like Jack, the Big Valbowski has two magic beans, right next to a great big stalk..."

 

[Wheels]

Can you imagine if Sheamus and Paige had a child? OMG! The kid would be transparent!

Jerry Lawler?

 

[Bat Brain]

 

[PyroChamber]

A pretty good "Angry Paige" promo on Backstage Fallout:

[YT]3us6zr5IdAs[/YT]

On a side note, Eden's fine as hell.

 

[JabarR]

*SPOILERS* WWE SmackDown Tapings for 1/15/15

Spoiler

- Thanks to FoleyIsGod for the following WWE SmackDown spoilers from tonight's tapings in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...

* Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton and Michael Cole are on commentary. Lawler got a big pop.

* Byron Saxton interviewed Daniel Bryan in the ring.

* Daniel Bryan defeated Kane by DQ when Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble hit the ring. Big Show and Seth Rollins went to attack Bryan but he retreated. Roman Reigns came out and stood next to Bryan for a face off with the heels. Triple H came out and announced a six-man main event for later - Bryan, Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Kane, Rollins and Big Show.

* Damien Sandow, The Miz and Alicia Fox defeated Naomi and The Usos. Sandow got a pop almost as big as Bryan.

* Paul Heyman comes out. Heyman talks about what happened on RAW but Seth Rollins comes out to confront him. Rollins is heated and wants to cash in on Brock Lesnar tonight but he's not here. Heyman cut an awesome promo and the two teased working together after the Royal Rumble.

* Natalya defeated Nikki Bella in a non-title match.

* Bad News Barrett retained over Sin Cara in what was said to be a very fun match.

* Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns defeated Kane, Big Show and Seth Rollins in a really good main event. The babyfaces all got big pops and everyone worked hard. SmackDown ended with the faces celebrating.

Read more at http://www.lordsofpain.net/reports/...WE_SMACKDOWN_1_15_15.html#jzeLtMmmHBiyDyrI.99

 

[runawayboulder]

I figured Rollins would be his guy.

I was thinking that too for a while because, let's be honest, it would be as cool as f**k. But Rollins can hold his own and doesn't really need Heyman as bad as Reigns does.

I'd like to see Rollins keep J&J as his personal stooges and get one of the Divas as his valet. He's the type of an old school cool heel that should have a pretty girl on his arm at all times kinda like how Flair did back in the 90's. They can utilize one of the Divas on the roster that does not get a lot of in ring exposure, like Summer Rae or even a new acquisition (Scarlett Bordeaux hint hint).

 

[Bat Brain]

I was thinking that too for a while because, let's be honest, it would be as cool as f**k. But Rollins can hold his own and doesn't really need Heyman as bad as Reigns does.

I'd like to see Rollins keep J&J as his personal stooges and get one of the Divas as his valet. He's the type of an old school cool heel that should have a pretty girl on his arm at all times kinda like how Flair did back in the 90's. They can utilize one of the Divas on the roster that does not get a lot of in ring exposure, like Summer Rae or even a new acquisition (Scarlett Bordeaux hint hint).

I've been hoping to see Paige join the Authority for a while. Your way could be cool (There's always some weird fanfiction photoshops to help make a point )

 

[sweetre15]

I suggested and laid out why I think Paige should join The Authority months ago and I still would love to see it.

Granted I had an argument with some guy who tried to turn it into a Nikki Bella worship shrine on wrestlingforum but some embraced it otherwise.

 

[sweetre15]

First off a music related question, what was it like meeting James Hetfield a few months ago? Are you a big Metallica fan, do you have any favorite albums?

Okay, so I’m not necessarily the biggest Metallica fan, it was actually really neat to meet him because I got to talk to him. I forget what year it was, but MTV ran this contest or lottery where you could enter, and Metallica would come do a concert at your house. Somebody from Aberdeen, Washington, which is where I grew up, actually won the contest. (Laughs) So Metallica did a show in Aberdeen, Washington in this guy’s backyard, and so when I met him and said that to him, he was like, ‘Oh my god that was this and this and this.’ He kind of told me the story of [how they got there], it was a neat and interesting conversation. So I don’t know any Metallica albums, but I know when I was in the high school weight room, they would play non stop all the time.



Your first match back will be on Smackdown on Thursday, which surprised many fans who thought you wouldn’t be back until the Royal Rumble. Did you have any input on when your first match back would be?

Absolutely, I requested my first match back to be when Smackdown moved to Thursday nights. I think it’s a good time to change the branding of Smackdown, it’s a very important show for us, to get new viewers on a new night, and I wanted to be the guy to bring the new viewers to the new night. So once I got cleared, I actually asked for the spot. My vision of Smackdown is going to be [it changing] in 2015. I would like it to be the show that would actually be more fun to watch than Raw, and this is all part of the process, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Will you alter your in ring style after your injury?

I will, but not necessarily because of my injury. It’s something where your style has to constantly evolve. I like to look at wrestling as the most artsy of all the martial arts. It’s a very creative process, what we’re doing is artistic creative combat. So as such, it needs to evolve. Being able to sit at home for the last 8 months and watch the product, and I see things where there’s too much of this, or there’s not enough this, and here’s what I can bring to the table that’s different, and more exciting for the fans. So yes, my style will be changing. Will it be any easier on my neck? I have no idea (laughs). Yeah, my style will be changing, but it’s not necessarily going to be physically easier.

How long do you see yourself being able to continue to wrestle, and who would you like to wrestle before you retire?

Those are very difficult questions. I would like to wrestle as long as my body is physically capable of it. I love what I do, I used to do this for very little money (laughs). It’s one of those things where, I do this because it’s fun, being with WWE is the first time I ever made any real money doing it. It’s just a blast, it’s my passion. It’s like asking a musician how long do they want to play music for. It’s very difficult to grapple with the idea of not being able to wrestle any more, but you also have to come to the realization that this is a very physical business, and your body will only last you so long. So I would like to say that at some point I would have the mental intelligence, or maybe the mental support from my wife or somebody, to know, ‘Okay, it’s time for you to stop, because if you don’t, you’re going to have to replace your hips, your knees, all that kind of stuff.’ So I don’t know when that time will be, but I’d like to wrestle as long as I can, but at the end of it still be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle afterwards.



What was your take on Vince McMahon’s interview a couple of months back on the WWE Network where he encouraged talent to reach for the brass ring?

(Laughs) You know it’s funny, because one of the things that he had mentioned was, he said something about the Millennials not having any ambition, right. It’s funny, because the WWE does this personality test with some of their more successful superstars, where they rank you on all of these scores, like your desire for power, and your personality, and all that kind of stuff. One of the things they ranked was ambition, and it’s funny, because in this personality assessment, I got the lowest score for ambition that the lady had ever seen. So they do it on a percentile basis, so from 0 to 100, I was in the bottom 1 percentile of ambition.

(Laughs) It’s funny because the lady was like, ‘How on earth are you so successful given that you seem to have no ambition?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s where there’s a flaw on the test. I have no ambition for what society says is important as far as things like money, and all that kind of stuff.’ What I am ambitious about is I want to be the best wrestler that I can possibly be, and I think there’s some sort of mistake in generations, as far as what he thinks as far as our generation lacking ambition. Our generation just wants different things than what his generation wants, and I think that’s a societal thing as well. There’s an older generation of people who say, ‘No, you guys should want this, you guys should want this, you guys should want this.’ Whereas our generation, a lot of us say, ‘No, we don’t want that, we want something different, and a lot of the things that you guys wanted, are the reason that the world is messed up. We need to change our value system.’ So that’s it, that’s a very different take on what’s going on.

But people do need to stand up and say, ‘No, this isn’t what I want, I want to do this. This is me, this is how I want to present myself on television. This is how I want to be within WWE, this is how I view professional wrestling, this is what I would like it to be.’ People have to have the courage to come up and say that. But the hard thing is, he was talking about the Attitude Era and how things were different, well things wouldn’t have been that much different if there wasn’t a WCW. Like guys could say, ‘Hey, I don’t want to do this. If you want to fire me fine, because I’m going to go to WCW and make just as much money.’ That doesn’t exist right now. It’s people who are okay with like, ‘Hey, my life without WWE, is as good as my life with the WWE.’ They have to be able to say, ‘Okay, if I’m going to say this is what I want to do, or else I’m taking my ball and going home.’ They have to have some sort of plan for when they take their ball and go home, they have something else to do, which is hard, especially when you have a family, and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, I have very interesting thoughts on that whole podcast. It’s a very interesting look into the mind of Vince McMahon, so it was fascinating.



CM Punk recently mentioned that he thinks you could have a successful MMA career. Is that something you’d ever be interested in trying, and have you done any MMA training?

Yeah, I’ve actually done a lot of jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. The Yes Lock that I do, it was actually taught to me by Neal Melanson, the head grappling coach at Xtreme Couture. It’s a move I use regularly when I do jiu-jitsu, it’s a [type of] kind of face lock to keep the guy from rolling. So I love doing jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, I will probably never do and MMA fight, and here’s why: I am not competitive. So I love jiu-jitsu, I love going in, I love going on the mat, I love rolling the people, but I love doing it with my friends.

It’s like the way dogs play, dogs play like they’re fighting, but they’re not trying to hurt each other unless they’re actually really fighting. That’s what I’m like with my friends, like, ‘Hey, let’s spar a little bit with kickboxing, but I’m not going to punch you in the face as hard as I can. I’m just going to see if I can touch you, and by me touching you, we both acknowledge that I’ve done something good.’ Or likewise with grappling, when I can turn an armbar, and in no way shape or form am I trying to break your arm, and if you don’t tap out because you don’t think you’re in that much trouble, I’m not going to crank it just to prove to you that I do have this armbar, right (laughs). So I love martial arts, I love that sort of thing, but I’m also not competitive enough to go in and be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to break this guy’s leg.’ That’s just not my personality type.



Triple H’s role in WWE management has been expanding in the last couple of years, especially with him spearheading NXT. What do you think about Triple H’s work with the NXT talent he’s selected, and have you talked to him about what his vision is for the future of wrestling?

I have never actually talked to him about his vision for the future of wrestling, and that is actually something I should talk to him about, because we think a lot alike in a lot of ways. I like what he’s done with NXT, I think NXT is an awesome show. That last special that they did was an awesome product. I think Hunter is very intelligent wrestling wise, like he knows wrestling, he knows what works wrestling wise. I’m not exactly sure what are his ideas, and what aren’t his ideas within the WWE, but I want to say two of the most successful current acts that happened in the last year, like The Shield and the Wyatts, I think those are Triple H ideas, but I’m not exactly sure, as far as their execution and that sort of thing. The only way I can really gauge him is by what happens on NXT, and NXT is a wonderful product, it might be the best wrestling product out there. I love watching that show, and I think they’ve chosen some pretty awesome guys to be the stars of that show: Sami Zayn is incredible, Adrian Neville is incredible, Finn Balor is incredible, Hideo Itami, who used to be KENTA, and I wrestled on the independents and Japan, he’s incredible. So they’ve got some incredible talent down there, and they’re doing some really good stories.

Many thought you would face Brock Lesnar last year at Summerslam before your injury, and you recently stated you’d like to face Brock at WrestleMania. Could you envision incorporating any Japanese or strong style elements in a match with him?

Oh absolutely. I truly believe that if I wrestled Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 31, for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, it might be the most physical, realistic, style of pro wrestling match that has ever been seen in the United States. Whether it would be the most physical, realistic pro wrestling match that has ever happened, I don’t know, because there’s been a lot of awesome stuff like that in Japan. But it would just be something very, very different from what people are used to seeing now in WWE, and I think we need something like that, something that feels like a spectacle. I think it would be incredible.

How was it working with Batista during his comeback run last year? Were you both surprised by the crowd reactions going into the WrestleMania match with Randy Orton?

(Laughs) So I was never supposed to be in that match, and the crowd reactions are what forced me to even be given that opportunity. I was surprised that the crowd was so vocal, because it was clear when Batista came back that he was supposed to be the returning hero. He was going on to main event WrestleMania against Randy Orton, and that was the big plan, but the fans changed that plan. That’s one of the amazing things about WWE that doesn’t happen in any other sport, or any other area of entertainment, is how much power the fans have. The fans literally changed the course of the biggest wrestling event of the year just through their actions, just through making their voices heard.

I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the top of the card. I think I was scheduled to wrestle Sheamus, and probably be 5th or 6th match from the top, and maybe get a 10 minute match if we were lucky, but because of fan support, all of the sudden now I’m doing 2 matches and I’m in the main event of WrestleMania. I kind of had thought that the fans might react the way that they did as far as booing him and cheering for me, but in no way shape or form did I expect it to be as vocal as it was. It turned into a transformative amount of cheering, you don’t get anything like that in any other form of entertainment or sports, so it was pretty incredible.

On Monday we found out Randy Savage was getting into the WWE Hall of Fame. Can you discuss how much influence he had on you as a sports entertainer?

I’m thrilled he’s being inducted, he’s clearly one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. As a kid I had a Macho King wrestling buddy. I had bunk beds in my room, and I would jump off the top bunk bed and do an elbow drop onto the Macho King wrestling buddy. When you watched him, he was one of the best at mixing being an entertaining character, and flashy, and also being great in the ring. Like that match he and Ricky Steamboat had was awesome, the matches he had with Ric Flair were awesome, the matches he had with The Ultimate Warrior were awesome. He was a guy who was so good at blending entertainment and wrestling, and that’s something that a lot of wrestlers could learn from when you watch him.

How was it meeting Sting last year, and would you like to wrestle him in WWE?

Yeah, I’d love to wrestle Sting. Whether he would love to wrestle me, I have no idea (laughs). The first night I met him was at Comic Con last July in San Diego, and meeting him, he just seemed like such a nice man. He hasn’t changed into an egotistical person because of his success in wrestling. Obviously I didn’t know him before he was a big star in wrestling, but he just seemed like a very nice man, somebody who you’d love to hang out with, because he’s so cool.

http://www.alternativenation.net/daniel-bryan-interview/

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Wheels]

"Waits for McMahon to job Bryan out for saying NXT might be the best wrestling product out there".

 

[Darkness Falls]

definitely doing what's best for business hunter t:

 

[Lobo]

Brie needs to start working out with Nikki

 

[sweetre15]

I hope you guys do enjoy Bryan's transparency because he seems to politely and respectfully give rather Frank answers about whatever he's asked.

This is the same guy that flat out admitted to Jericho that the only reason they gave him the Main Event at Mania was because Punk left and even disparaged the "infidelity" angle added into the Brie/Stephanie angle right after it happened . So it's rather amusing that he gave a rather honest take on Vince's "ambition" comments.

Bryan knows that at this point they can't do him anything so he can say what he wants and I appreciate him for it.

I also like his take on how good him and Lesnar would be as well as him wanting to evolve in the ring.

 

[Bat Brain]

Anyone catch the 6 man tag on Main Event last night? The New Day vs. Cesaro/Kidd/Rose. I highly recommend seeking it out, really great match. Loved this spot: http://gfycat.com/WindyGlamorousAdamsstaghornedbeetle

 

[sweetre15]

Source: PWInsider Elite

- Expect TNA to make Impact Wrestling announcers Taz and Josh Mathews a more integrated part of the show. This doesn't necessarily mean getting involved in storylines but the idea is for their personalities to come out more and we'll probably see more of them on camera at the booth.

- One of TNA's main goals right now, including among top officials, is to be an alternative to WWE now more than ever. Despite some of the booking decisions at last week's tapings, officials also want the company to be an alternative to what they used to be.

 

[nite-owl]