The Wrasslin' Pay Windah

[Moribunderast]

I just realised that if Cena doesn't beat Orton at the Rumble, this will be the first 'Mania since Wrestlemania 21 that Cena hasn't been in a Championship match. He's not always the Main Event but he's always either the champ or challenger come WM season. Has me wondering if they may pull the trigger on giving him the belt. They could do worse than having Punk win the Rumble and letting him and Cena put together a 5-star Main Event. Ideally, it'd be Bryan vs. Cena, with Bryan finally grabbing the title for real but I've given up any hope of that for now.

Meltzer reporting that Batista is scheduled to feud with Alberto Del Rio and that they'll have a match at Elimination Chamber. He hasn't debuted and I'm already bored. And I barely even watch these days!

(renamed)

[Unoriginal]

I just realised that if Cena doesn't beat Orton at the Rumble, this will be the first 'Mania since Wrestlemania 21 that Cena hasn't been in a Championship match. He's not always the Main Event but he's always either the champ or challenger come WM season. Has me wondering if they may pull the trigger on giving him the belt. They could do worse than having Punk win the Rumble and letting him and Cena put together a 5-star Main Event. Ideally, it'd be Bryan vs. Cena, with Bryan finally grabbing the title for real but I've given up any hope of that for now.

Meltzer reporting that Batista is scheduled to feud with Alberto Del Rio and that they'll have a match at Elimination Chamber. He hasn't debuted and I'm already bored. And I barely even watch these days!

The first match with The Rock wasn't for the title...

[Moribunderast]

Hah, really? I guess I just assumed. Well, then, nevermind. It does still seem that, unless they give Cena the title, there's nothing particularly interesting lined up for him at 'Mania, which doesn't jive with their "Cena is Good, Cena is Great" booking philosophy.

If backstage rumourz are to be believed, there's no plan for the Daniel Bryan angle. They came up with it on a whim and are booking as they go. Fantastic.

[vrailaine]

Meltzer's interpretation sounded about right, I think it was him anyway, that they've put him in this position basically to temporarily silence the crowd reaction to him so they can plough on with whatever they want without the fear of a bad crowd reaction.

[Moribunderast]

Vince McMahon in the 90s, ripping on WCW: "We listen to our fans!"

Vince McMahon now: "They're booing Cena and cheering Bryan? Patterson, Briscoe, go to wardrobe and fetch me Duke 'The Dumpster' Droese's old attire - we've got work to do!"

[Hank_Kingsley]

Never thought I'd be bored with Punk but I think the Roman Reigns match with Mark Henry was more exciting. Maybe down to poor chemistry, but I just don't think Punk gives a toss any more and it's a real shame. I wish they'd encourage more of the top guys to take sabbaticals, having Cena and Punk out and rested for 6-8 months would make everyone appreciate them a hell of a lot more when they came back.

So underwhelmed by the idea of Batista coming back, what I want to see in wrestling is more monster fatties. Brodus Clay just doesn't it cut it for me, where are the Tugboats of today? HMMMM?

I'll tell you what though, I'm really enjoying Bad News Barrett. PUSH HIM TO THE MOON.

[Spiteface]

I wasn't completely sold on Bad News Barrett. Until the rising podium appeared in the past 2 weeks. That makes it awesome.

[Unoriginal]

Hah, really? I guess I just assumed. Well, then, nevermind. It does still seem that, unless they give Cena the title, there's nothing particularly interesting lined up for him at 'Mania, which doesn't jive with their "Cena is Good, Cena is Great" booking philosophy.

If backstage rumourz are to be believed, there's no plan for the Daniel Bryan angle. They came up with it on a whim and are booking as they go. Fantastic.

I read that the angle is all Vince's idea which these days is a big worry. The last time I heard of an idea being 'all Vince' it was Fandango.

What has been done to Bryan is a disgrace and fans should be more vocal in their disgust. As a monopoly, the WWE no longer has to listen to the fans because they know there's nowhere for the casuals to go. TNA is appalling and while Japanese wrestling is superb and ROH is pretty good especially with the recent returns of Hero and Styles, only the small band of hardcore fans will go anywhere near it.

Ziggler suffered another concussion on Monday on the Superstar tapings from Ryback. Can they get rid of him now? He's unsafe in the ring and nobody gives a shit about his rubbish character. Either send him back to developmental to teach him how to wrestle safely or get rid.

[Spiteface]

Isn't there heat on Ryback over this one?

I never understood why people were so keen on him beating Punk. Just a generic big guy with a chatchphrase.

And yes, Vince's seal of approvalis usually the kiss of death. On-screen it is definitely (Drew McIntyre & Elijah Burke, anyone?), but this proves he really is clueless now.

[Sandow]

Re: Ryback; yeah not that interested in him as a wrestler, but I thought he was great on commentary on Raw this week.

"Someone put a bra on this guy. Jesus"

[Subtle Mocking]

I've honestly never liked the Ryback character. Doesn't fit in with the current product at all. Perhaps if he is such a liability,  put him on commentary on one of the B shows?

[Hank_Kingsley]

Re: Ryback; yeah not that interested in him as a wrestler, but I thought he was great on commentary on Raw this week.

"Someone put a bra on this guy. Jesus"

My wife and I found that most amusing, especially as Big E is known as Big Titty Langston in our house.

[Don_Preston]

When they used to air WCW Worldwide on Channel 5, commentator Scott Hudson announced at the start of a show that Larry Zbyszko had been shown the door and was replaced by a Spanish speaking announcer (La Parka or someone) who was then overdubbed. He lasted quite a while. This was during the time when they used to censor chair shots with 1960s Batman "Thwack" graphics.

Does anyone else remember this happening? It definitely did. Why provide a commentary team who can only communicate through post-production overdubbing?

[Famous Mortimer]

I don't remember that, Don, but I do remember when Channel 5 would broadcast late 90s / early 00s WCW, and their voiceover guys would constantly mock the people on "the internet announcing table", which was just the normal announce table - the joke (which I never got until years later) was that they were the people on the internet announcing table.

[Spiteface]

Kaitlyn gone from WWE

Contract expired.  I was actually quite fond of Kaitlyn...

[Subtle Mocking]

Kaitlyn gone from WWE

Contract expired.  I was actually quite fond of Kaitlyn...

Yeah, same. Another Diva gone that could actually wrestle then.

[Sandow]

Kaitlyn gone from WWE

Contract expired.  I was actually quite fond of Kaitlyn...

Really? Easily one of the better current female wrestlers. What a shame. They might want to think about calling up some NXT women very quickly.

[Subtle Mocking]

Can imagine Paige getting called up after Wrestlemania. Not sure about the other NXT Divas because I don't really keep up with it, despite it apparently being the most consistently good WWE show.

[Sandow]

Can imagine Paige getting called up after Wrestlemania. Not sure about the other NXT Divas because I don't really keep up with it, despite it apparently being the most consistently good WWE show.

Emma's very popular though it's unclear how her goofy dancing gimmick would translate to the main shows. They could fuck it up badly.

[vrailaine]

What was it Kaitlyn done a few months ago? I remember her doing something, vanishing from the air and Stephanie putting her down in an interview a little bit after. Haven't heard of her since, really.

[Onken]

I've never seen Michael Cole this happy interviewing Triple H before. I can't say I'm willing to pay for a WWE subscription on top of Spotify, Mubi, PS+ and Adobe CC.

The only cent they've got off me in the last decade was for some CM Punk socks with thumb holes.

[Subtle Mocking]

Tonight's 'major announcement' is that Vince is shutting down the company upon being heartbroken by Kaitlyn leaving.

[Sandow]

What was it Kaitlyn done a few months ago? I remember her doing something, vanishing from the air and Stephanie putting her down in an interview a little bit after. Haven't heard of her since, really.

I think there was an in-ring/on-ramp bit with Kaitlyn present where Stephanie put her in her place for something, but I can't remember the exact content of that bit. Beyond that, she seemed to disappear for a bit after losing the Divas title to AJ, and then resurfaced as part of the recent confusing and shite Total Divas vs non-Total Divas matches, where she was suddently by default a heel. Kind of a shitty way to go out.

[up_the_hampipe]

Tonight's 'major announcement' is that Vince is shutting down the company upon being heartbroken by Kaitlyn leaving.

Wouldn't blame him. I've been given some time off work to come to terms with this.

[Sandow]

Any thoughts on further stints from Jake Roberts? Despite the woeful crowd on Raw, his return was superbly done, real tingle-down-the-spine stuff. I wonder if his appearance happening separately to the other legends suggests more to come? It kind of felt more special, but maybe that's just because it's the Jake the fucking Snake. Not sure what he's realistically capable of these days, but wouldn't mind seeing him in a Rumble spot with The Shield, and maybe Ambrose can exact his revenge by eliminating him?

[Sandow]

And in other news, what the fuck is Damien Sandow doing jobbing out to Khali, of all people? It might have just been a fun little one-off spot for the purposes of Slaughter humiliating the current resident pain-in-the-ass character, but it's still pretty poor form. He's got such potential and they need to put him in a more meaningful, serious feud. IC title matches with Big E would be great, but it looks like Ryback might be top of the queue.

[Spiteface]

Any thoughts on further stints from Jake Roberts? Despite the woeful crowd on Raw, his return was superbly done, real tingle-down-the-spine stuff. I wonder if his appearance happening separately to the other legends suggests more to come? It kind of felt more special, but maybe that's just because it's the Jake the fucking Snake. Not sure what he's realistically capable of these days, but wouldn't mind seeing him in a Rumble spot with The Shield, and maybe Ambrose can exact his revenge by eliminating him?

He tweeted this after the show:

"My History is Not My Destiny"...and neither is yours...Thank you to the WWE and more importantly all the fans. This is not the end...

A short and sweet stint in the Rumble, would be great (I hear this is something he's interested in). Hopefully some mic time on Raw, as well. Plus, how long's it been since the "Pick Your Poison" DVD? Other guys have had multiple DVD sets out in that time, get Jake in a studio and do a new documentary!

[Deanjam]

What was it Kaitlyn done a few months ago? I remember her doing something, vanishing from the air and Stephanie putting her down in an interview a little bit after. Haven't heard of her since, really.

She was arrested once at an actual WWE event for parking violations. Can't imagine that helped her cause.

[Famous Mortimer]

Jake would be a perfect heel stable manager.

[Unoriginal]

I would throw him in a quick program with the Wyatts even though I keep getting this odd feeling that they will turn face soon; at least Bray will anyway.