@CeeHawk It worked because before hall and nash even got there, Hogan turned heel and then they jumped on the bandwagon. Hogan was supposed to pin Luger but hall and nash came out straight from being in wwf the night before and helped Hogan beat the giant for the title.
WWE has a vested interest in ensuring they’re what people think of when they think of wrestling. WWE’s narrative is that big American wrestling didn’t start until the WWE. They bought the libraries to control history. Now the history belongs to shareholders who don’t care.
I've seen german superplexes before. They're usually release germans, so the person taking it can do a full rotation and take a safe "missed moonsault" bump. The fact Darby took the traditional german bump, and Takeshita never let go to give him total control, is insane.
Yeah, that honestly makes sense. TKO has proven they want to run WWE like UFC; top stars only. This really feels like a way to determine"Who will make us the most money going forward, and who can be cut?"
Lance Storm questions why wrestlers would want to work together to make each other look good in the WWE John Cena Classic since fan voting is deciding the champion:
"When getting the championship, getting the push, potentially facing a less experienced NXT worker, why would I wanna make them look good and potentially earn them votes, which could sabotage my own career?
"If I'm a $500,000 main roster guy and I'm in there with a $75,000 a year NXT guy, why would I use my skill and my experience to make him look good, because if he wins the popularity contest and wins and gets the push to the championship, I could lose my job.
"Because there's gonna be a TKO executive going, 'Well why are we paying this guy that lost the fan vote and is less over than this NXT guy that works for way less money?'
"If I know ahead of time, 'Hey, you're getting a push, we wanna protect this guy,' okay, I'll make him look good. But if I don't know who's winning or losing the actual fan vote, it's no longer in my interest to make the guy look good.
"You're completely contradicting the entire basis that this industry has been founded on - that's the predetermined nature, which allows us to go and present the story that's been predetermined.
"But with the vote happening afterwards to see who the fans want, it's no longer a predetermined sport and I'm no longer wanting to give my all to make someone else look good."
(WOL)
Eddie Kingston reflects on his feud with CM Punk in AEW.
“People ask me and this and they’re like, ‘Oh, what did you guys talk about, this is that?’ Listen, I didn’t say a word to him. We went in there and we fought. That’s it. Phil don’t like me, I don’t like Phil. That’s it and that’s the way it’s going to be. My thing is this, I’m not talking shit about him, it’s just the way it is. We don’t like each other. If we’re in the same company together, we’re going to probably run into each other, you’ve got to put cops in front of us. That’s it. I don’t wish him bad, I don’t wish him good, just be over there. That’s it. Whatever, I fought him, it wasn’t even a match. He did bleed, bro, I enjoyed the f*ck out of that when he started bleeding. I told him, I whispered in his ear and I said, ‘Let me taste if there’s p*ssy in your f*cking blood.’ That shows you how much I don’t like him."
(Squared Circle Expo VI via STF Media)
Amid reports some WWE talent were asked to take pay cuts by as much as 50%, how are some top TKO & WWE executives compensated YOY (determined by TKO Board comp committee)?
2025 vs. 2024:
Ari Emanuel: +272%, $18M➡️$67M
Mark Shapiro: +33%, $32M➡️$43M
Nick Khan: +304%, $6M➡️$24M
One of the bad things about Vince’s national takeover was that WWF could only physically be in a couple towns at once, whereas the territories made it possible for people to go see big main event stars any night of the week all over the country.
The craziest thing is mania originally went to 2 nights to fit more matches & give important matches enough time but they’re not doing any of those things anymore, the 2 nights is just for pushing ads while the longest match was 15 minutes. wtf are we doing? They lost the plot
Today in Las Vegas, I watched Gunnar make sure Cowboy Seth was taken care of—stayed with him, introduced him around, made sure he was part of everything. No attention on himself, just doing right by someone his father cared about.
Years ago, Sid would bring Seth on TV from time to time—but it wasn’t just for the cameras. They were neighbors, they were close, and Sid always looked out for him. It was real.
We’ve all seen Gunnar and thought he looks like Sid. Today, I saw something else—how kind he is, how he carries himself, and exactly where that comes from. Sid goes into the Hall of Fame tonight, but this is the part of his legacy that sticks.
Look, I am not the biggest Darby fan, but doing feel-good stuff like this once in a blue moon on free TV is what keeps fans coming back. It makes the TV show feel like more than filler between PPVs.
A hometown win for the end of a years-long title chase? Unheard of these days.