If that's the worst of it... gtfo I think she wasn't re-signed because she had the worst match in NXT history, it was so bad that they just ended the match without an ending. I believe this followed a match where she had to fake an injury to end the match because it was so bad... Her OF just went live... so go make that cash girl.
Any wrestler complaining about body shaming fundamentally doesn’t understand the business they got into.
Sorry to her for the pregnancy issues and body shaming, but legit hope Tony doesn't bring her in. She was around for a couple Dark matches then got picked up by WWE/NXT, but always seemed to have negative stuff to say. Seems to also be burning her bridges at WWE on the way out too while actively saying she wants to earn her way back. More reason for AEW to pass. TNA or MLW is perfectly fine for her ability.
Saw this screenshot posted, can't believe people paying to see pics of her in what looks like it could pass for wrestling gear, and not even the most provocative gear we've seen this year Good for her, imagine what Trish could have pulled back in the day on a site like that
the Sickos already hate her because when Darby took shots at her for using a skateboard in her entrance, she clapped back bringing up the sexual assault allegations he had (that the wrestling media conveniently buried) so I don’t think she’s gonna be welcome there. Same thing with Jericho and Shotzy. She’d be good at MLW like you said where she could push the envelope more with her character
Only 2 realistic winners in the Men's MITB after last night's odd decision. I think we see some shenanigans Saturday to get somebody like Punk in and win the briefcase. Chad Gable is the guy to pull double duty, but that Vikingo match will be crazy. Having a mid card comedy act in the MITB instead of Punk is weird. If they hold firm it can only be Seth or LA Knight. I'm assuming the odds favor LA Knight bc it's a lot of fun when a babyface goes to cash in. I try to stay away from odds/spoilers though. I would throw a little on the field though. If you put it on Seth and he cashes in on Jey that could cost Jey some steam. People love the cash in, so you'd have a lot of Rollins fan that night and I'm not sure Jey recovers. On the flip side I love what they did in the women's match with 3 NXT callups. Only woman without a chance is Naomi.
She doesn't make any sense to me. She's perfect in her role right now as crazy stalker. And a lot of meat on the bone still with Jade/Bianca. Make her more sinister, break into Bianca's house or something with her family. Let's dial the crazy stalker shit up to 100. It did a lot for Hangman/Swerve (the best feud anywhere right now). On a completely different note, feels like they're hinting towards a Swerve/Hangman/Ospreay match to main event Forbidden Door. I wouldn't mind a short reign for Hangman, let him get the Texas/cowboy pop. Then lose it to Ospreay so they can end the night with him getting the pop at the O2.
Rhea isn’t winning she’s above the case but is in the match for star power. Rox could win it but she’s heavy in a storyline that adding the case doesn’t make much sense Alexa seems in a weird spot, are they going to address the Wyatt Sicks thing or not? What’s up with the Charlotte of it all? Steph and Gulia both seem like possibilities more so Gulia than Steph. Neither are involved in a storyline so carrying the case could be the spotlight on them till a cash. Naomi is involved with Bianca and Jade, normally I would say it’s not a place I put the case but it does seem like this jealous / lunatic character could use the case as a reason not to cash in for a title but to offer to Bianca for friendship. Feels like a Smackdown talent is winning this thing since so much has been teased with Tiffy. Getting the title off her in the same way she one it protects her. 60% on Gulia 40% on Naomi
Agree with most of this but Naomi giving the briefcase away is in the zip code of the finger poke of doom. Why does Bianca accept it? Is she a heel now? She maybe needs a refresh but still too big of a babyface pop for me to turn her heel. And totally diminishes the briefcase. Put the briefcase on Naomi and El Grande Americano and you have Otis all over again.
Everything screams Rollins is winning and cashing in on Jey Monday night. Jey got the beat down from Rollins and the Tsunamis. He’s got a match with Gunther that he probably wins in an underdog way and is left as scraps for Rollins to cash in and win for top heat. If we think Gunther wins on Monday but a baby face cashes in? How about Penta… The Smackdown trio don’t make sense, the title isn’t on the brand weekly and will be wrapped up till the end of the year. 75% Rollins 25% Penta One of those two are champion on Monday
they’re only at just 16K tickets out a little over a month out for a 40K+ venue. No way they piss off the people who actually bought tickets to that show by ending their biggest show with Mox choking out Hangman. Swerve is gonna help his bitter rival for the “good of the company” and All In ends with Hangman on everybody’s shoulders
Penta being World Champ this early isn't a trigger I'd pull. And if it goes down like that for Jey he'll never reach this level again. I say this as somebody who just bought 3 Yeet shirts and 2 sunglasses this weekend. I think he's a ton of smoke and mirrors. Entrance props him up big time, and people like saying Yeet. I just came back from 4 shows, the people enjoy the crowd interaction moreso than Jey himself. It's fun to say Yeet and be a part of his whole entrance. But once the bell rings does anybody care? Does anybody care about his story? Is he a top 10 guy in a draft? No. But I'm happy for him he gets this run.
Im not saying she’s going to give it away. Simply use it as a “trade chip” of sorts to make Bianca be her friend and hate Jade. When that doesn’t work she could use it in the same way but flip roles and offer it to Jade for friendship over Biance. Naomi is nuts so lean into it. When both say no… she cracks. Have Naomi cash in and then taunt Jade and Bianca setting up a triple threat for the title at Rumble to finally end the story between the three. Idk it’s fantasy booking at this point but I can see a world where Naomi wins and this becomes really fun as a storyline prop and not just weekly teasing of a cash in when the Champ is beat down or after a tough battle
What's the desired result? MITB is a tried and true method. Tiffany Stratton and Dolph Ziggler landed Stone Cold pops solely bc of cashing in. If one of those accept the briefcase from Naomi, what's the feedback gonna be? I'll guarantee you we'll find more than a few people talking about Hogan/Nash. I like the creativity but not in this spot. Also, does it matter what brand they're on? The draft is approaching. I think they've kept Knight lukewarm the past few months like they always do with the winner. He's over huge, has the chops on the mic and is fine in the ring. Imagine the pop he'll get when he cashes in. One last thing, I hate when they spend the cash in so soon. We're coming up on the dredges of Summer where creativity hits cruise control. Ending a couple of shows with LAK attempting to cash in helps spice that up.
Jey sacrificing his title to be there for his friends (Cody, Sami, Punk) is storyline. Is what attaches a fan base to a baby face. Your not alone in your opinion of Jey, I just think your wrong as anyone else who thinks he’s an entrance song and catch phrase. Jey has built equity with the fans because they have seen him wrestle with his brother from day one. Doing dances on stage, face paint, being on a Wrestlemania pre-show as champions. The Bloodline was as much about him as it was Rollins. Right hand man Jey eventually stood up to the bully and challenged Roman. He stood up to Roman again when he picked Jimmy over Roman. He always did what was good for the family even when doing what’s best was leave and go to RAW. That’s built in storyline and attachment. Jey had a bad match with his brother and people have running with a stupid narrative that he can’t wrestle. Ignoring the great matches he put on as a tag team, in war games, as a single against Gunther, Roman. Would I take Jey in the top 10 of the draft? Yes, after Punk, Rollins, Roman, Gunther, Cody, Rhea. He’s right there as a star
All of the above plus: Jacob Fatu Bronn Breaker Sami KO AJ Styles Orton Tank Brock Liv Drew LA Knight Logan Paul Oba Femi Cena Vaquer Becky Charlotte maybe even Stratton
Generally speaking MITB was also that next big star getting the case and then hopefully projected onto the main stage and taking off. Having Naomi win it gives her a storyline prop as a lunatic who feels like she can buy friendship and love but is constantly rejected that then has her turned up on the next level of crazy. It would allow her to stay relevant when they seem to be transitioning the attention of the story to more of Jade and Bianca. The babyfaces never accept the case its just a crazy person being crazy. I do find it funny you bring up Knight, people said the same shit about him years ago, he can't wrestle, he's only hot because of "yeah" and all these years later he's still over and maybe in a spot where a world title chance is on the horizon. People said his loss to Roman killed him... I think both LA and Jey are very similar where fans have fully bought in. The WWE is crazy talented. But if you are doing a top 10 talent and basing it off how over they are now and who will puts ass in seats and eyeballs on the product who is moving merch.... I would round out my list with probably Drew, Liv, Becky. I don't see how Cena can be included or Brock given one is done in a few months and the other may never return. Orton is probably the last cut for me... the rest are down a tier, prospects with high upside or talent who can be heated up but not in the top tier.
Good discussion. My buddy and I loved Eli Drake, so I may be biased. But he got over organically, Jey got over with the WWE production crew and the rocket. I think if you took a poll of Jacob Fatu v Jey it would be somewhere around 90/10. Knight probably 60/40.
Anything from Coach should be taken with a good amount of skepticism but this sounds like a more plausible scenario than them just telling him to kick rocks entirely
They're making money hand over fist, so "they asked him to work for less money" isn't the face saving take they might think it is.
We don't know the contract offer and a lot can go into it. In a hypothetical, say Truth's old deal was 200 dates and 300k. And now with WWE not doing house shows his new deal is 60 dates at 100k he would be making less but also working less. TKO changed its business model with house shows. I would imagine the talent who where heavy fillers of those shows are going to see a large amount of value diminish because of it. So sure WWE could be recording record revenue but some talent could be less valuable in the process.
I honestly don't get the way you have framed the entire Jey conversation. Credit to LA Knight in getting over, he was handed shit sandwich after shit sandwich and went from Max Dupri to hella over in WWE. But you couldn't be more wrong on Jey. I would say that you probably polled a bunch of cageside seat voters and not the hundred of thousands of people who pay money to watch the WWE product in person. Because those people have filled arenas and stadiums and explode for Jey.
Does talent still pay for their own travel? I think if they were truly independent contractors, then it would make sense to be okay with the lower salary for less dates. But if you can’t work Indy shows then it’s a big lifestyle change.
they pay for hotels/rental cars, the company pays for flights. Unless it's an overseas tour, then the company pays for everything.
Of current AEW female talent, I'd have to think WWE goes hard after Harley Cameron whenever her contract is up. I wonder if they make a run at Toni Storm? Although I could see Toni choosing to stay put after how she was treated during her last WWE run.
I forgot Chad Gable had a qualifying match. 100% between now and MITB he is unmasked and disqualified from the match. It makes sense to add Punk and possibly Styles and now we have a real MITB with many options as the winner. If they put it on Solo I might quit.
What does Chad Gable have to do with El Grande Americano? I think we see Punk on Saturday but it will be to cost Rollins a MITB victory and not actually in the match
Sasha... in NXT that was trips favorite. He was also very high on Toni, but I can't see her having the creative freedom in WWE do the her act. With that said I think both those ladies have so much freedom and in the case of Sasha he never has to put anyone over and just wins so why go to WWE were you actually have to take pins and get talent over.
Mariah May is literally her IRL name (minus her last - Mariah May Mead). I think they could use it if they wanted. Guess we will see.
It is El Grande, Chad isnt in the match Saw a prediction today that wwe really launches into their AAA partnership and El Grande actually wins MITB and uses it on El Hijo de Vikingo for the AAA title. Interestingly enough, Gable currently is scheduled to fight Vikingo at world's collide for the title. Could lead to a title v mask match at some point leading to us finally finding out El Grande actual identity
I'm honestly not ruling out a stunt double that mirrors Gable. If WWE is doing that, this is excellent work by them. Chad Gable running out to help El Grande would be fantastic.
I think the potential for fun comedy with him as briefcase holder and the goofy scenarios with the double identity that they could tap into would make him one of the bigger possibilities of winning. You could have one of the champions down and Gable sprints out with the briefcase before he can even put his mask on and the ref won't accept it because it's technically not EGA and now Chad has to decide whether or not to give up "his secret." Shit like that.
Is it combined with Collision? That's what I was assuming. Card looks weird for a TV PPV. Hopefully they have something up their sleeve. Otherwise why even do a 4 hour show?
People complain about 3 hour shows but I love them. Having wrestling on in the background is calming. And a great way to spend an evening with your family if they're into wrestling as well. Give me 3 hour Smackdowns and Dynamites.