"100,001" Replies (Wrestling Forum)

[Bad News Gertner]

Here's a video of Lanny Poffo in Memphis Wrestling 1984 comparing Poffomania to AIDS and then telling an offensive joke. Enjoy.

[Emperor Smeat]

Dirtsheets sponsored by Random WCW Gif Friday:

Originally Posted by PWI WWE has announced the following cards for their July events in Tokyo, Japan: Friday 7/1: *WWE World Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens. *John Cena vs. Chris Jericho. *WWE Tag Team champions The New Day vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. The Usos vs. The Vaudevillians. *Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bray Wyatt. *WWE Women's championship Charlotte with Ric Flair vs. Natalya. *Titus O'Neil vs. Baron Corbin. *WWE NXT Women's champion Asuka vs. Becky Lynch. Saturday 7/2: *WWE World Heavyweight champion Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho. *John Cena vs. Kevin Owens. *WWE Tag Team champions The New Day vs. The Vaudevillians. *Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bray Wyatt. *The Usos vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. *WWE Women's champion Charlotte with Ric Flair vs. Becky Lynch. *Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler. *WWE NXT Women's champion Asuka vs. Natalya.

Unlike last year's Beast In The East event with Finn Balor having ties to Japanese wrestling, neither Nakamura nor Asuka are the main attractions for the shows. WWE used Nakamura's name to help sell out the shows but decided to not give him top billing status for the actual event.

Originally Posted by Observer Pop TV has, effective immediately, dropped the Saturday replay of Impact, so Impact now only airs at 9 p.m. on Thursday night. This is the same pattern that Destination America did with the cutting of shows.

Took Pop TV around the same amount of time to sour on carrying Impact as Destination America did. PWTorch had a report on what a typical episode of Impact makes on average for ad revenue and it turned out to be in the $18k range. http://www.pwtorch.com/site/2016/04/...-night-replay/

On training with Ultimo Dragon: “I am new school, but Ultimo Dragon taught me that wrestling is a fight. He taught me the importance of the fighting spirit in the ring. I started wrestling in Mexico, and then I came to New Japan. I tried to be different. I learned the Mexican style, the Japanese style and the American style. My dropkick is from Mexico, but my fighting spirit is from Japan. The TV and the entertainment is from the U.S., so everything combined. I was a young age, 16 years old, in Mexico. I traveled to these different countries, and I have the new style from Mexico and TNA. I wrestled two years in Florida, then back in Japan, and everything combined for a new style. It’s different. I was looking for old school wrestling that looked new. Dropkicks are old moves, but I wanted to make a new version of an old move.” On TNA’s mishandling of him: “I learned in TNA that I needed more than just a good match–I needed a character. That’s how I became the “Rainmaker.” It was good for me. TNA didn’t use me, but I got hungrier to wrestle. The struggle made me better. I was always a good wrestler. I feel like I can wrestle anybody. Of course, I wanted to main event wrestling matches in TNA, but in their eyes, no, that would not happen. So I went back to New Japan. I took the timing and technique I learned in the U.S. back with me to Japan. When I was in TNA, somebody told me about the ‘Rainmaker.’ I thought it was a nice character. In Japan, there is no character–it’s fight, fight, fight. So I needed a character. When I was just a strong wrestler, TNA didn’t use me. I didn’t have a character, so I knew I needed one. That’s what the agents in TNA kept telling me, so I made this character and I took it to New Japan.” On Shinsuke Nakamura signing with WWE: “I was very surprised he left for WWE. I was so surprised, but it’s no problem. That’s what he wanted–he wanted to go. There is more emotion in a match in New Japan. The matches here in the U.S. are so fast that sometime they lack emotion. It is move, move, move. When I lost last year’s Tokyo Dome [at Wrestle Kingdom 9], I almost cried. There is that much emotion, and that is a big difference in style.”

From a recent interview NJPW's Okada had with Sports Illustrated. http://411mania.com/wrestling/kazuch...a-went-to-wwe/

Originally Posted by Observer New Japan made an announcement today regarding the Super J Cup, which is not the same as the Super Juniors tournament. The Super Juniors starts 5/21 and is a round-robin tournament. The Super J Cup will be a 16-man multi-promotional single elimination tournament. The first round matches will be 7/18 at Korakuen Hall, which will be eight bouts. The final eight move into a one-night tournament, similar to the old K-1 Grand Prix, on 8/21 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. They announced there would be four wrestlers from New Japan, (three regulars and one from Chaos, likely Will Ospreay), five from NOAH (three from NOAH and two from the Suzuki-gun side), plus one wrestler each from All Japan, Okinawa Pro, CMLL, ROH, K-Dojo, Dragon Gate and one more participant.

Originally Posted by PWI Rolling Stone has an interview with Damien Sandow talking about his time in the WWE and his release and future plans. He mentioned that is taking select wrestling dates as a "Thank you Tour" to the fans and he is going to start studying Shakespearean acting as most of the offers he has received are for film.

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/f...-tour-20160513

Originally Posted by PWI The 5/12 episode of Smackdown did 2,262,000 viewers, down from last week's 2,346,000 viewers.

Originally Posted by PWTorch PWTorch has learned from multiple sources that TNA is behind paying some production workers going back to January and March TV tapings. After struggling to make payments on-time throughout 2015, TNA handed over the system to the Harris Twins through their production company Aroluxe, payable by TNA. Since then, payments have continued to be late. The situation has especially been exacerbated by TNA leaving their long-time office in Nashville and relocating to the merchandise warehouse. Also, production workers have been met with resistance when inquiring about payments. PWTorch has also learned that some production workers have been told they will or might be replaced at the next tapings in June, likely in favor of independent production workers who do not have a history of late payments.

http://www.pwtorch.com/site/2016/05/...slammiversary/

Originally Posted by Observer Konnan has a new Spanish language YouTube show and he’s been ripping on AAA since the split. He said that AAA keeps its talent through lying, intimidation and fear. Konnan is looking at doing something, but it’s going to be very difficult. Most of the guys in Lucha Underground, such as Jack Evans, Fenix, Pentagon Jr., Drago, Angelico and others were people Konnan brought to the promotion and under normal circumstances, may have gone with him to a new project, similar to how the people closest with Antonio Pena in 1992 quit CMLL to go with Pena. But the difference here is that it was made clear to everyone in Lucha Underground, that if they work in Mexico for anyone other than AAA, they would lose their LU jobs.

Originally Posted by Observer Bret Hart, when asked to do Payback, said he didn’t want to be there if Natalya was going to lose so was told not to worry that “the ending would be positive.” The plan was to do the Montreal finish and then Flair and Charlotte would try and run off, Bret would block the aisle and they’d end up back in the ring where Natalya would bounce them around. Bret came up with the double sharpshooter idea which Vince McMahon was surprised he’d physically do that much coming off the cancer surgery and the bad wrist.

In regards to not wanting to be there just to see Natty lose, Bret in previous interviews did hint if it wasn't for Natty being the one making the request for his appearance, he'd rather just stay at home resting from his recent medical issues.


Some other sheet related news includes:

• Suplex Apparel website had a recent interview with Zack Sabre Jr regarding being involved with the upcoming WWE Cruiserweight tournament. http://www.suplexapparel.com/blog/za...eight-classic/
• During an interview with PWI, ROH's COO teased rumors of Sinclair considering purchasing TNA are likely true. http://www.pwinsider.com/article/101...tling.html?p=1
• According to reports, the recently uploaded Eddie Guerrero RAW tribute show on the Network is not the original tv episode but instead an earlier taped episode. Main reason is due to music license reasons.
• Recent Observer newsletter revealed a big source for RAW's ratings decline for the past two years is due to their main tv audience, 18-34 males, dropping to New Gen levels of bad. The gains with female viewers because of Total Divas is nowhere close to making up the difference and even that has dropped by a lot. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...this_week_won/
• In a "WWE Did You Know" type fact, El Torito of Los Matadores was actually the 2nd El Torito in WWE history. The name was previously used by a mini-wrestler in 1997 known as Espectrito outside of the WWE.
• In another "WWE Did You Know" type fact, a rest hold spot in the WWE once actually resulted in someone taking a nap during a match. Happened in 1983 at a house show involving a match between Andre the Giant and Big John Studd. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...u_didnt_know_1
• For those interested in possibly looking at the Rainmaker's wiener, reports from Japan state NJPW's Okada is going to be releasing a nude book soon. https://twitter.com/enuhito_eng/stat...90093325832192

[Jordan]

Al Snow just hit Shahira with a piece of rolled up paper, or a spork. Josh Matthews is SO BAD OMG

[Fignuts]

Really pumped for the return of the super jcup. Used to be one of the coolest tournaments in wrestling until the 2004 version ruined it by having a bunch of jobbers (and marufuji) despite having some of the best junior heavyweights in the world in unrelated tag matches on the card.

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball

God, I wish this were a thing for some reason. Exactly this, coming to the ring. DJ Percy P on the pink quad leading Angle to the ring and Kurt wearing Zubaz as ring attire.

[Evil Vito]

– According to North American Wrestling Rankings, WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler reached his 400th televised match in WWE as a singles wrestler after his loss to Baron Corbin on the May 9 edition of Raw. This makes Ziggler the first man to have 400 televised single matches since the site first began tracking wrestler stats in 2006. Ziggler’s current record stands at 176 wins, 176 losses and 48 no-contests. He’s followed by Randy Orton with 362 matches, Sheamus with 331 matches, Jack Swagger with 327, Kofi Kingston with 321, John Cena with 307, and Kane with 302.

176 wins, 176 losses. Literally 50/50 booking.

[Maluco]

Originally Posted by Vito Cruz 176 wins, 176 losses. Literally 50/50 booking.

And his position on the card literally has not moved either, in 400 matches. You would think someone would pick up on that.

[#1-norm-fan]

I love Dolph Ziggler and kinda hate Baron Corbin and I couldn't even be happy at Ziggler beating him because I just thought "This will do nothing for Ziggler and absolutely fucks up Corbin's chances of being relevant from the get-go." Lo and behold Corbin gets his win back and everyone looks like they're on the same shitty level. Cool.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I didn't mind the Ziggler win, honestly. Corbin (and Big Cass) have been presented as big guys that are still finding themselves in the ring. It takes the need for them to be batting 100 off a little.

I've got no clue where they go with Ziggler now though. He might be good in a tag team with someone.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I think TNA should move pass Abyss at this point. I'm not saying that as a criticism of Abyss, but I just feel that he's too much "old TNA" at this point.

[Simple Fan]

Kind of agree, that's why I like him in Decay. It's not the regular monster Abyss and feels fresh.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I hope Sinclair buys TNA and War Machine come in and beat them for the belts yesterday.

[Simple Fan]

Originally Posted by Fragile X Al Snow just hit Shahira with a piece of rolled up paper, or a spork. Josh Matthews is SO BAD OMG

Also agree. They have Mike Tenay but for some reason don't use him. Had him replace Pope while he was attacked by Lashly but was gone when Pope returned.

[Mr. Nerfect]

How is Kevin Kelly as a commentator? I don't remember much of his work, but he seems to have a good reputation as a "wrestling guy."

[Vastardikai]

Hermie the Hermaphrodite?

[Simple Fan]

Originally Posted by Noid How is Kevin Kelly as a commentator? I don't remember much of his work, but he seems to have a good reputation as a "wrestling guy."

He's alright. Calls the match and sets the story well. I like him better than Corino.

[Emperor Smeat]

[Mr. Nerfect]

If AJ Styles wins the WWE World Title from Roman Reigns, when Seth Rollins returns it makes perfect sense for him to want a shot at the belt he never lost. This puts Reigns & Rollins both in the challenging position. It'd be very easy to move Dean Ambrose (who should win this year's Money in the Bank, in my opinion) into a partnership with Reigns & Rollins against AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows.

I know people have talked about The Shield vs. The Bullet Club on here before, but I think that's the most natural way to transition into it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I've got this weird feeling they are going to put the tag belts on The Shining Stars. I don't know why, I just see them being given them to try and make them seem a bit more serious and hopefully get them over and eventually transition them to Enzo & Cass. A role they could do with The Vaudevillains, but I'm not sure how much long-term faith the WWE has in them.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I kind of know how I want the upcoming returns to go:

Seth Rollins returns and obviously wants what he never lost -- the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Roman Reigns has defeated AJ Styles again, but there are still some that feel that AJ could beat Reigns. Shane and Stephanie and doing the job-sharing thing, so they think that Rollins should re-earn his place in the title picture. AJ Styles wants the title, he wants the title -- they can fight at Money in the Bank and the winner will receive the next shot at the WWE Title.

John Cena is back and he wants a match with Roman Reigns. He's won the belt 15 times in the past, he couldn't compete at WrestleMania for the first time in forever, so he now wants to prove he still belongs at the top. Reigns vs. Cena is confirmed for MITB. In addition to that match and Rollins vs. Styles, you also obviously have the Ladder Match.

Rollins beats Styles fair and square, proving that he does belong back in the title picture, while Reigns beats Cena in the "torch-passing" moment. I know people would want the WWE to pocket that match for a while, but the crowd could be very unpredictable for it. Money in the Bank is obviously in the WWE's "big four" PPVs now, so it's not like it's a throwaway show, but you won't be counting on any specific crowd reaction for it.

Rollins moves into the title picture against Reigns and Finn Balor debuts and steals Anderson & Gallows away from Styles, because they believe that Styles has "lost his edge" or whatever. Triple H re-inserts himself around this time, and he implies that he has Seth's back against Reigns. Rollins tells Triple H that he is going to do what Triple H couldn't do at WrestleMania -- beat Roman Reigns -- because he's "that damn good." Cold war tensions are a-brewing. Triple H gets involved and screws Rollins, which sets up Triple H vs. Rollins quite nicely for SummerSlam. Brock comes back for the SummerSlam title match against Roman. Styles and Balor have their blow-off.

The one guy I'm not sure of is Randy Orton. I'd honestly be kind of intrigued to see him work with someone like Cesaro or Kevin Owens. I guess that'd put him in the IC Title picture?

[Poit]

[Lock Jaw]

Pretty terrifying..... would like to see them feud with the Wyatt Family.....

[Emperor Smeat]

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Booker is a thief!

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by Smelly Meatball

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon Booker is a thief!

Nah, he's just showing off for all the Parkamaniacs! You don't need the 411 when you got the 1-4-1-4... one for me, and one for all my homies!

[#1-norm-fan]

Originally Posted by Noid I didn't mind the Ziggler win, honestly. Corbin (and Big Cass) have been presented as big guys that are still finding themselves in the ring. It takes the need for them to be batting 100 off a little.

You're giving WWE's writing thought process way too much credit.

[Emperor Smeat]

A former WWE writer recently revealed what one of the plans for the Anonymous RAW GM was and Hornswoggle being the actual payoff was just meant as a joke. Also the joke being a lot more detailed than what was done on tv.

The anonymous GM was running Raw in the spring of 2011 when I was talking with WWE about a job on the creative team. As part of the process, I was asked to submit a story line in which the identity of the anonymous Raw GM would be revealed. My choice for the anonymous one was Kevin Nash. My idea was that Mr. McMahon put Nash in charge of Raw because he wanted someone that would stir things up with both babyfaces and heels. The story was that Nash, who was in TNA when the anonymous Raw GM began appearing on Raw, had to keep his identity a secret because he was under contract with another wrestling company. I figured Nash was a logical choice for the role and a big enough name that it wouldn't be a disappointment. For the reveal, my idea was that one of the wrestlers had learned that the anonymous Raw GM was sending emails from a production truck outside the arena. Inside the truck, the anonymous GM was hidden behind a curtain. As the wrestler approached the curtain, the GM sent an email that said, "Ignore that man behind the curtain." When the curtain was pulled back, Nash was there in a wizard's hat, a clever nod to his infamous run as Oz in WCW.

Fast-forward to 2012. In the lead up to the 1,000th episode of Raw, former Raw GM's were being brought back each week to run the show for a night. On the July 9 episode, it was the anonymous Raw GM's turn. Recalling how bad it was when the payoff to the story line of Mr. McMahon's illegitimate son was Hornswoggle, one of the head writers jokingly said during a brain-storming session with the creative team that Hornswoggle should be the anonymous Raw GM. We all started laughing and throwing out suggestions for how it would play out and what the back story would be. It was all so ridiculous that the head writer actually thought it could be a so-bad-it's-good scenario that Vince just might go for. The idea was that after Hornswoggle was outed as the GM, he'd reveal who he truly was. Saying that his name was Lou Manfredini (the last name of one of the writers), he would speak with a W.C. Fields-like accent, chomp on cigars and refer to women as "dames." He would say that he hated being the lovable Hornswoggle character, but playing the role was what he had to do to get a job with WWE. Being the anonymous Raw GM gave him the opportunity to mess with all the Superstars that (in his mind) laughed at him because of his size and treated him more like a mascot than a person. We had planned on making Hornswoggle a heel manager going forward. The idea was pitched to Vince, and sure enough, he OK'd it. There was only one problem: Hornswoggle couldn't pull it off. I was the writer assigned to work with Hornswoggle the night on the reveal on Raw. He did take after take as the Lou Manfredini character backstage, but he still sounded like Hornswoggle. It just wasn't working, and one of the producers went to Vince and told him so. In Hornswoggle's defense, it's not like we gave him weeks to prepare for the role. Vince decided that we would still do the segment, but after Hornswoggle was revealed as the anonymous Raw GM, that would be the end of it. Sadly, Lou Manfredini would never see the light of day. Understandably, Hornswoggle was pretty bummed about it. So instead of a train wreck segment that could've been entertaining, it ended up just being a train wreck. In fact, it was so bad that Vince apologized to Jerry Lawler for involving him in it.

http://kevineckwrestling.sportsblog....l-manager.html

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol at Vince apologizing to Jerry Lawler.

[Evil Vito]

Somewhat disturbing to me that a room of writers were all laughing at the thought of yet another Hornswoggle punchline.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, that they thought that any of it was good is terrifying.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Kevin Nash as RAW GM would have been something, but the reveal is dumb. Writing something for a guy that is under contract someone else is dumb too.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lynch hour!

[Mr. Nerfect]

And for fun, here's an Andre the Giant Pedigree:

[Emperor Smeat]

Same former WWE writer also revealed Sheamus was meant to be Cena's successor for years before the WWE finally gave up and went with Reigns instead. Also confirmed Triple H was the big source of CM Punk's problems with WWE Creative.

Former WWE writer Kevin Eck was a recent guest of Wade Keller on the PW Torch Livecast, where he shed some very interesting light on a WWE creative meeting with Vince McMahon from several years back. “John Cena is on 24-7, whether it’s the Make-A-Wish stuff or just the way he represents the business when he goes on a talk show or makes a personal appearance. I remember distinctly, we had a meeting at one point. As much as Vince loves Cena and sees his value, he’s always looking ahead at who’s going to be the next guy, and who should we start grooming, and who can fill that position. And we had a meeting about that one time. Who’s cool… who’s our next guy.. we need the cool factor. And I spoke up and I said ‘the coolest guy we have on our roster is CM Punk, and maybe he could be that.’ And I remember, Hunter was in that meeting, and he weighed-in immediately and said ‘Punk can’t be that guy that goes out and, it’s just not in him.” It should be noted that Eck was on the WWE writing staff between 2011 and 2014, and Punk walked out of WWE in January 2014. Eck never specified when this “John Cena Successor” meeting took place, but it’s safe to narrow down sometime in 2012 or 2013. Punk was a main-eventer during that time, with WrestleMania matches against Chris Jericho (for the WWE Championship) and the Undertaker, but he never seen as the guy. Eck went on to say in the Livecast that he persisted on Punk, asking Triple H and Vince what if they got behind Punk more and pushed him to be the next John Cena, but Hunter said you can’t change who you are. Even though Punk wanted to be the man inside the ring, he wasn’t willing to go the extra mile out of it. Interestingly enough, they did come to a conclusion as to who would take John Cena’s place as the face of the company: Sheamus. Sheamus had many of the qualities that John Cena had that required a certain superstar to be at the forefront all the time. But Eck argued that Sheamus lacked the cool factor that CM Punk possessed, and it was partly to blame for the Celtic Warrior never quite capturing what WWE was hoping for. So in the three to four years since that meeting, WWE has continued to look for the next John Cena while Cena is still an active member of the roster. The fans forced Daniel Bryan on the WWE, and the WWE forced Roman Reigns on the fans.

http://www.inquisitr.com/3085432/wwe...nas-successor/

[Mr. Nerfect]

Interesting. You could tell they always wanted big things for him. They gave him too many World Titles too soon.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio, I don't think I've ever seen two former multi-time World Champions that are so cold with crowds.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Del Rio will probably get more shine on Total Divas than he does on RAW or SmackDown.

[XL]

HHH is/was right about Punk tbf. I'm a massive Punk fan but he really would not have faired well in Cena's position, at least not in the MAW/charity/publicity stuff.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Probably not, but does a top wrestling star need to do that? I don't remember that being the case made against Triple H when he was constantly hitting Mick Foley over the head with steel chairs. That a top star needs to do the talk show circuit and all that is one of those modern expectations that you can't help but wonder might be a little forced.

[Mr. Nerfect]

You sure are taking great pleasure in my misfortune you stupid @wwe idiots. Well now you're BLOCKED! https://t.co/aRLLrZOytq

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) May 15, 2016