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The SmarK Rant for NXT Takeover: Fatal 4 Way

The SmarK Rant for NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way

In a cool touch, the NXT guys have been remixed into the “Now / Forever” opening, and KENTA is part of the opening now!

Live from Orlando, FL

Your hosts are Renee Young, Bryon Saxton & Tom Phillips

NXT Tag team titles: The Ascension v. Kalisto & Sin Cara

This is probably it for the champs because clearly they’re going to demolish the Usos on the big stage before the year is out. Viktor pounds on Sin Cara to start, but he fires back with a springboard moonsault for two before getting tossed into the railing. Konnor pounds on the back and gets two and they work Cara over in the corner. Viktor tries a slingshot powerbomb, but Sin Cara escapes that with a rana and the Ascension gets rid of Kalisto to cut off a tag. He fights off Konnor and makes the hot tag, however, and Kalisto runs wild with a sunset powerbomb on Viktor for two. Konnor bails and Sin Cara hits him with a dive, then he regroups and hits both guys with another dive. Back in, Viktor hits Kalisto with a lariat to cut him off and they set up for the Fall of Man, but Konnor gets tripped up and Kalisto finishes Viktor with his neckbreaker deal at 7:45 to win the tag titles. Mostly a nothing match, but the finishing sequence was super hot. *** Really, they were long overdue to get those belts off the Ascension. My wife was actually very impressed with Kalisto’s acrobatics, although she was very confused because I’ve been binging on horrible 95 RAWs for the past month and she was like “How come I haven’t heard of any of these guys before?”

Adrian Neville clarifies the difference between confidence and cockiness.

CJ Parker v. Baron Corbin

Corbin seems to have begun his Sons of Anarchy-inspired repackage, as they call this his “NXT debut” despite months of doing jobs. And in fact he destroys Parker and finishes quickly with a downward spiral at 0:30. He’s apparently getting one of the newbie Divas as his biker babe as part of the gimmick, and if so they could have something with this guy.

Tyson Kidd does a funny promo, carrying on with his spectacular douchebag act. Basically he puts over the other guys in the match, then reveals that he was talking about himself the whole time.

Haircut match: Enzo Amore v. Sylvester Lefort

A pre-match vignette gets over that most faithful of wacky wrestling concepts: DEADLY HAIR CREAM. Frankly I’m shocked it’s taken this long for it to make a comeback after the heyday in the 80s. Enzo’s options for Lefort are limited to ZERO OPTIONS and someone’s head is going in that bucket of cream tonight. Enzo’s manic energy has been sorely lacking from Cassady’s act these past months and I’m so happy to have him back. Frankly it should have been them to end the Ascension’s reign. They head off a headlock while Renee discusses the subject of hair loss and how it has personally affected her in the past. Enzo with a dropkick to send Lefort running, but he catches Enzo with a necksnap to take over. We hit the chinlock and Lefort knees him in the corner and slugs him down while the hair debate rages at the commentary table. Renee does not care for the abuse that Enzo puts his scalp through! Lefort with a clothesline for two, but Cass takes out Marcus Louis and Enzo rolls up Lefort for the pin at 5:45. It’s for the better, he looked too much like 1999 Randy Savage anyway. * But then, since life is unfair, Louis attacks and allows Lefort to run away, sacrificing his own hair as a result. Well, he got a big bucket of hair cream dumped on him, but no one actually got shaved, so they kind of pussied out on the only stipulation…TWICE! So kind of a major fail all around.

Tyler Breeze faces #UGGO, #Hobbit and #NattiesHusband tonight. Luckily, gold goes with any outfit.

William Regal joins us to formally introduce KENTA and the crowd is immediately going nuts for him. He changes his name to Hideo Itami, because apparently the NXT Random Name Generator works in Japanese as well, but Ascension hits the ring and tosses him because they’re in a bad mood. This proves to be a bad idea as Itami kicks their asses single-handedly and sends them running. So that was pretty bad-ass, but what the hell was wrong with “KENTA” as a name?!

Bull Dempsey v. Mojo Rawley

Bull steamrolls in and runs Mojo over in dominating fashion, then goes up with a diving headbutt to finish at 1:11. I don’t see anything in Bull, especially with Kevin Steen coming in and doing the same gig right away, but Mojo hit the wall a long time ago and this might be the end of the line for him. DUD The problem with Bull is that he looks like a long lost Godwinn brother at best, and a 1995 RAW job guy at worst.

Meanwhile, Enzo and Cass go searching for the Legionnaires, because they wanna see someone bald. So they kidnap Louis and reveal his baldness, complete with shaved eyebrows. “He looks like a Chia pet!” declares Renee. Well, they’re trying.

Speaking of trying, their next social media project that they probably won’t shut up about is buying articles on Buzzfeed, sandwiched between quizzes about which One Direction member your cat is most like and animated gifs of ostriches who are SO OVER the new Taylor Swift song. Although really those ostriches are crazy, that song is catchy as hell.

NXT Women’s title: Charlotte v. Bayley

Bayley attacks to start, but Charlotte fights her off with chops, so Bayley gets a low dropkick for two. Backslide is blocked with a neckbreaker and drops knees for two. Figure-four headlock and Charlotte beats on her in the corner with more chops. Back to the figure-four and she rides Bayley around the ring with her freakish leg strength, but Bayley reverses into an inside cradle for two. Rollup gets two, but Charlotte cuts her off again with a clothesline for two. Bayley finally snaps and fires away with forearms, but Charlotte takes her down in the corner for two. Bayley fights back again with a top rope rana, but only gets two. Charlotte rolls her up for two and then rams her head into the turnbuckles in a ugly spot, and the moonsault gets two. Charlotte way overshot on that one, too. Neckbreaker finishes at 10:50. Really, really disappointing, although it had super heat until the finish completely deflated the crowd. Way too long for what it was, though, as Charlotte really got exposed without someone like Nattie to carry the pace. It really needed more hope spots for Bayley, who never seemed to be seriously threatening. ** Sasha Banks comes out for the beatdown on Bayley afterwards, prompting an argument from the crowd about whether she’s ratchet or not (half feels that she is, the other half feels the opposite) but Charlotte kinda makes the save.

NXT Title: Adrian Neville v. Sami Zayn v. Tyson Kidd v. Tyler Breeze

Big brawl to start and the heels get dumped, and Zayn USES TYLER’S PHONE. That’s just wrong. Tyson goes after Zayn and gets caught in a Koji Klutch as a result, but Breeze breaks it up and they all go brawing up the ramp again. Neville takes a double suplex from the heels out there, and back into the ring as they beat on Zayn as well. The crowd notes “Nattie’s Better”, but I’d have to take issue with that. Kidd’s a hell of a worker. FACT. Finally the alliance breaks down and Kidd turns on Breeze and dumps him, hitting a neckbreaker on Zayn for two. Poor Neville gets tossed AGAIN, a total non-factor in the match thus far. Kidd chokes out Zayn while the other two disappear into the ether, and a corner dropkick gets two. To the chinlock as Breeze must be legally dead or something, and Neville finally gets in and goes after Kidd. Sami puts everyone on the floor and Neville steals his dive mojo, and now finally we get the Zayn v. Neville showdown everyone has wanted all along. Zayn blocks a handspring with a backdrop for two, but Kidd dumps Zayn and goes after Neville again. Poor Adrian hits the floor for the zillionth time and Kidd suplexes Zayn for two. Sharpshooter is escaped by Zayn and he makes the comeback, but walks into the Beauty Shot. Breeze hits finishers on EVERYONE and gets a series of near-falls, but no luck. Well there was his one sequence of hope spots. Everyone piles up on the top rope, giving us the Tower of Doom spot and Zayn gets two. The ref should have counted three, actually, and the crowd totally calls him on it. Zayn unloads on Kidd in the corner, but walks into Neville’s boot, and the shooting star press allows Breeze to steal a two count on Zayn. This crowd is insanely ready for Breeze to win on a fluke but I don’t see it happening. So Breeze takes another shot at Zayn, but Kidd catches him with the Sharpshooter instead, and Neville saves just as Breeze is going to tap. So Neville slugs it out with Zayn and Neville hits the floor yet again, allowing Zayn to hit him with a dive into the front row. Tornado DDT for Breeze on the floor, and Huluva Kick for Kidd…gets two. Neville pulls out the ref and instantly turns heel. THEY HAD ME. Neville lays out Zayn, and the Red Arrow finishes Kidd at 24:11 to retain. **** The first 10 minutes or so was kind of aimless, but once they hit the crazy spots it took off big time. Man, they really ripped out the heart of the crowd with that finish, though. Zayn finally winning would have been the epic moment they were shooting for with him, and I don’t know if they can get back there again.

The Pulse

Certainly not on the level of the first two specials, but the main event was certainly worth going out of your way to see and the rest was inoffensive and fun. Thumbs up.

Comments

  1. Wow that sounds like a really bad ass way to debut Kenta. Running off the long reigning tag champs. I'll give the name a chance because all names sound weird at first until you gain familiarity with them.

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  2. Would have been awesome if Zayn won the title and during the celebration Steen comes out and absolutely fucking massacres him.

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  3. I think think they're setting up Zayn to get the big win against the now heel Neville....which would be an awesome match and fun payoff....if they're not not then yeah Zayn might be out of near title "win" matches that fans will buy.....but I thought that months ago, so maybe im wrong

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  4. I hope they hold off on Zayn/Neville until the Mania special but I don't know if they'll be able to stretch it out that long and keep it interesting.

    And Neville as a heel is a weird choice considering all his shit is crowd pleasing aerial stuff.

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  5. FUCK FARVA THANK CHRIST HE'S DEAD

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  6. AH, AERIAL, WHO GIVES A SHIT YOU FLABBY FAG

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  7. AND YOU? I'LL KILL YOUR ASS FAG!

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  8. YEAH DOES IT SOUND BAD ASS? WHAT'S BAD IS YOUR ASS AFTER BEING RAPED, NIGGER!!

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  9. Annnnnnnnd you probably don't need 3 guesses on who that is. Flattered by the troll account though.

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  10. YOU'RE NOT FUNNY OR SMART. SHUTUP AND GET FARVA'D YOU REDNECK NIGGER.

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  11. GIVE ME A WITTY RETORT, O DESTROYER OF WORLDS. OH, REAL FUNNY NOW HUH?

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  12. COME ON ADMIN OF A FORUM THAT HAS 12 MEMBERS, SAY SOMETHING THAT'S TOP 5-ISH. BE FUNNY RIGHT NOW.

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  13. NO BALLS FAGGOT? JUST WHAT I THOUGHT. GO BACK TO IOWA, RETARD.

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  14. It's actually 106 members. And I only do requests for people signed in to their real accounts.

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  15. Summerslam 1993, Curt Hennig (Mr. Perfect) vs. Bret Hart (Bret Heart)... I think it's a ***3/4 at best, I saw Dynamite Kid (Sam Billingstone) wrestle a better match against Tiger Jung (Fred Wong) with a bad limp in Saskatchewan back in '88, and boy ain't that tough to beat.

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  16. FEAR 2 STOP YOUR GIRLFRIEND LOOKS LIKE THE INSIDE OF MY BABY'S DIAPER.

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  17. Ric Flair let me use his gym equipment once... he said "hey you break it you buy it... it'll be $4.99, I need thems moneys, WOO!" get it? Because he's broke. It was also just a black man with a blond wig so it probably wasn't actually Ric Flair. Goddamn I funny.

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  18. That's more a threat than a rumour. But I'll allow it.

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  19. WHATEVER YOU WILLIAM REGAL LOOKING BITCH

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  20. Tiger Mask II vs. Tiger Mask III... I saw it live. ***1/4, too many restholds and my testicle skin got caught in my zipper so I was distracted. I'll let you imagine how good I came that afternoon.

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  21. Surprised you even know can even see the inside of the diaper with your dad's dick in the way,




    Seriously, though, creating troll accounts is something a thirteen year old would do. It's past your bedtime...you don't want to oversleep and miss that short little yellow bus, otherwise you won't be allowed to make arts and crafts today

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  22. It's been reported by Meltzer and by Rogers Cable that they got the expected number of subscribers within two days of the launch. Obviously they have gotten considerably more since then and that's in spite of only being available in Ontario so yeah that qualifies as huge success.

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  23. I ate a Subway "sandwich" today. It was Italian herbs & cheese, TOASTED, with my favorite: meatballs, mozzarella, onions, jalapenos, Chipotle sauce and salt WITHOUT pepper. **3/4 Perfectly Acceptable Hoagie

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  24. THAT BITCH'S NOSE LOOKS LIKE IT GOT FLATTENED WITH A FRYING PAN... AND THE CHEF WAS THAT GUY WHO WAS ALWAYS LIKE "BAM!" OR SOMETHING.

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  25. Woah, no need for the racial slurs there, cultstatus. You must be tired, you usually don't resort to racial slurs for comedic purposes.

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  26. I can't believe you losers are talking about sandwiches now... sigh. It's just like that time Ricky Morton got Pearl Harbor'd by the crew working down Santa Monica Bay with a fork that was made by Ricky Ricardo. Anybody got a blue felt-tipped pen I can jam up my ass? I've got a date with Density.

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  27. Sorry, I just rewatched Booker T vs. HHH at WM19 and I can't believe that that useless POS lost like that. I said it out lowd.

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  28. Such a shame... I just saw Antonio Cesaro (Tony Mamaluke) wrestle a ****1/4 match against Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker (Steve Williams) in a No Texas Barred Sandwich, only for them to throw away the finish by having Col. Sanders do the J-O-B. Now when I'm watching fried chicken, I EXPECT a violet hue to flash in front of my eyes, NOT to see Michael Cole fellate Cesar Milan (Ghost Whisperer).

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  29. Ugh... I just put on a hat? Way too tight. *3/4

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  30. Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat... Blue chipper, Asian throat...

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  31. I honestly believe they over-estimated how many current fans were invested and excited enough to pay $10 a month to watch wrestling. The key, as we've discussed on here, is to grow the current fan base, and get them engaged enough in the product to commit that money.

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  32. Craw, it stuck in my craw... the finish to the purple of Bryan versus Ramblin' Ricky Reigns... a distracted roll-up with Monty Python singin' like this in the background? You've got to be kids... mustard on a roll-up finish if you asked anybody else in Scotland....

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  33. Watch The Miz, guys... he's "Can't Miz" stuff...

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  34. Attention Scott Keith: Elvy is spamming this thread pretending to be cultstatus.

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  35. My name is Parallax... get it?

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  36. I'm not elvious. Envious. Shit. Okay, throw a snapmare and it'll distract everybody.

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  37. Tell me... if the end is near, then why does Masa Chono suplex Bill Dundee's leg right out of his leg? Hmph. **1/2 Disappointing Finnish man.

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  38. I just got into this band... AC/DC? What's wrong with Scott Steiner's voice?

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  39. Sand in my pants, arms, kneecaps and pedestrians... fail ale, good drunk, wear a hat and buy me luncheon.

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  40. Ugh, porn stars must be getting better at blocking trolls from Twitter.

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  41. I prefer to sphere trolls. Patrick Swayze is rolling over in a cloud in Heaven.

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  42. Seriously though... why do you enjoy posting here? Is it because of the free capsicum?

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  43. Neither friend nor foe... but not an acquaintance or even an enemy, neither.

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  44. Wrestlemania III would have been better if it were Lance Storm versus Andre... and if Andre was 5'9" and 210 lbs. Just sayin'.

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  45. Better wrestler: Perry Saturn or Franklin Jupiter?

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  46. More like Yawn Michaels.

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  47. They aren't selling anything.

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  48. Exactly. There's a difference between distributing and outright selling a library. This article strikes me as sensationalistic misinformation that's no different from that article a few months ago when WWE was talking to Comcast about renewing their TV deal with NBC-Universal and the media that doesn't follow wrestling were immediately like "Comcast must be buying WWE soon".

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  49. The one reason this won't happen (other than it would eventually drive the company out of business) is with WB being owned by Time Warner, in his crazy mind Vince will somehow think Ted Turner is trying to buy them and run them out of business again. Then we'll get a 14-part retrospective on the Network about DX and that fucking tank that wasn't a tank.


    Also, makes me wonder if the company is trying to inflate the stock price again by leaking bullshit

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  50. So your only account is a fake cultstatus account? Well thanks for admitting that, it only makes it easier for Scott to ban you (again).

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  51. It's quite pathetic to see what Elvy has resorted to.
    Have porn stars gotten better at blocking annoying perverted trolls from Twitter lately?

    What else could explain him crawling back here despite getting banned more times than that an-sm/ant-sma loser?

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  52. It's not elvy. It's a regular too afraid to talk shit on his primary account.

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  53. Who is it if you don't mind me asking? Because he's definitely got nearly all of the Elvy traits, the only things missing are blatant misspelling and illogical TNA praise.

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  54. I think I know who it is but I'm not 100% sure. It's way too specific to be elvy randomly trolling the blog.

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  55. So it's somebody that hates you and is taking shots at you via trolling.
    Ok then. Whoever it is, put this fucker in his place.

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  56. Dock.Muraco.Puro.Tape.Library.September 12, 2014 at 2:59 AM

    Vince jordan, is that you ?

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  57. Scott, I feel your pain when it comes to binging on horrible 1995 RAWs. I've been binging on good to great 1995 Nitros lately, however Steve McMichael's commentary is so horrendous that it almost makes those Nitros as bad as the '95 RAWs.


    Just caught the NXT special and overall, I thought it was good but not great.
    They really should put Dusty Rhodes back in charge of writing the show.
    And what's with jobbing out Mojo Rawley to a guy that we all know will never, ever make it to the main roster? They turned down Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong and even those two have better looks and more charisma than Bull Dempsey.

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  58. Meh. He seems to have run out of gas and there is only so much you can do with guy whose troll playbook is straight out of 2002.

    If you want to flame me fine, I can give as good as I get, but at least put your name behind it.

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  59. Yeah, his material is so awful I'm surprised he hasn't resorted to "Your momma" jokes by now.

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  60. I actually am gay, so it would be pretty terrible.

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  61. Yeah, I was just spit-balling.


    As is, I don't even get what's going on. Is WB just buying the rights to sell this stuff? Or are they going to own it or what?


    P.S. You apparently have a homophobic doppelganger.

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  62. No, but 40 year olds are much less likely to buy an action figure for themself than they are for their kids. Okay, maybe not.


    I dunno, I think WWE has plenty of problems, but marketing towards kids is not one of them.

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  63. They wouldn't own it, just take a cut of the profits. And yeah, I noticed that dude. I've been attracting a lot of crazies lately because of the forum.

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  64. And judging by fake cult's response, he doesn't mind being late for school and getting punished for the sake of trying to start a flame war even though he's too stupid to realize this isn't 411 and that kind of stuff is forbidden here.

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  65. I'm...kinda digging it.

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  66. Disappointed the name wasn't more suitably ridiculous, like Sasuke Uzumaki.

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  67. It isn't a problem. It's the exclusion of the 18-34 year old demo that's the problem. There is a reason that's the most sought after demo.

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  68. I figured they would have given him an American name like Lance Stevens which would have been just as hilarious.

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  69. Yeah, and then there's the fact that that weak shit only works on teenagers and the terminally stupid. Grown people don't get bothered by that shit, just annoyed.

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  70. Team him up with Great Khali, have Khali change his name to Bob Robertson, and call the tag team 'Tech Support'.

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  71. Give him time. Unless the meds kick in, that is.

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  72. Before you accuse me let me preemptively announce that it's not.

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  73. VIVA LA LUCHA DRAGONS~! That's an awesome name. I am glad to see Kalisto get a good spot his athleticism is so impressive and I think he can be the luchador the WWE has been looking for. I am also glad for Hunico/Sin Cara. Hunico has been a talented guy and he got put in something of an awkward spot with the Mistico/Sin Cara switch but he's made the most of it.

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  74. Truck aids was a good line.

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  75. I'm pretty baffled by the name change for Kenta, if only because a huge part of signing him was supposedly to boost Network sales in the Asian market. Why sign Japan's John Cena and change his name?

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  76. I doubt this will happen. That library of theirs is one of their greatest assets these days.

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  77. So that was pretty bad-ass, but what the hell was wrong with “KENTA” as a name?!

    They didn't own it, that's what was wrong with it.

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  78. 5'9"? He's HUGE!!!

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  79. Wasn't a fan of the main event. Rest holds in a Fatal Fourway? Tyler Breeze rushing in to get a nearfall, then crying in a corner for 30 seconds?

    Some impressive moves, but tooooooo much stalllllllng. It was like a parody of WWE Main Event Style.

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  80. Dock.Muraco.Puro.Tape.Library.September 12, 2014 at 4:45 AM

    You are not really good at trolling

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  81. You talking about Japanese Baseball season?

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  82. Japan's John Cena? Really?

    Nobody is close to Cena level in Japan. The only wrestler in the public eye is Kensuke Sasake, and that only because he appears on variety shows with his family.

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  83. I actually think some of the names we were joking about are better than Hideo Itami.. Doesn't sound like the kind of name that will get over with the casual fan, not super chantable either. Who knows though eh?

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  84. According to Meltzer, Bull is next in line for the NXT title picture.

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  85. Again, WWE will never use someone's real name again because they can't trademark it.

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  86. Wait...Wut?


    i take the night off and this bombshell hits, i don't have words for how absolutely short sighted this would be, honestly if Vince is behind this, then it's clear it's time for him to retire for good because he's lost his mind.

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  87. It's obvious what's going on here. KENTA's real dream is to be Captain New Japan, and he had to go all the way to Florida to do it.

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  88. Should probably have read the article first. Damn you Bayless for this click bait!!!


    Distribution rights then, okay but what does that mean exactly?

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  89. Being someone who hasn't particularly followed KENTA's career, I got to say my first impressions aren't good. First of all NEVER let him speak again, some guys work without a mic in his their hand and if 'Hideo' is going to work.. then he needs to stay away from it. Also another factor is his size, yes we see smaller guys dominate big guys in recent times but he just looked incredibly small in a non believable way, I found his offence on big lugs like the Ascension came off as really hokey. Also that name... that was the best they could come up with? From something distinctive like KENTA spelt in capitals to a generic Japanese name which isn't in the slightest bit chant-able. You can't spell Hideous without Hideo!

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  90. I was happy I watched the show. As long as Zayn wins the belt at their next big show the finish was fine.

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  91. Is there a chance they're building to a Neville-Zayn match to FINALLY give Sami the big victory?

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  92. Vince can get annoying but this isn't the type of thing that he would do.

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  93. Also, pretty certain who the fake cult is and I'm nearly 100% certain it's the same as Fake Farva.

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  94. The fake cult came from a slightly different IP address than the fake Farva, but it seems likely they're the same guy. Both using the same fake e-mail address, too.

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  95. I thought it was Clash VI since we were all watching WrestleMania V at that time.

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  96. His real name isn't "KENTA" in all caps.

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  97. Means that their DVDs will have "Warner" on the label instead of whatever company distributes them in the US currently.

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  98. Haha. They've BARELY exploited a lot of what they own. I find this humorous.

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  99. Is cultstatus vs cultstatus like Undertaker vs Undertaker, or like Kane vs Kane?

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  100. Agreed there is nothing wrong with KENTA as a name, but I kind of like how they just had him say "yeah, my name is Kenta but in NXT I want to be called ..."

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  101. He didn't know any English like a month ago, so that's why he's so bad on the mic.

    He's a 5 * workhorse in the ring. His size...he's about the same size as Bryan and Punk.

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  102. IT'S HIDEO ITAMI!


    https://ja-jp.facebook.com/hideo.itami.3

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  103. you think any one of those guys on the main roster wants to follow Neville-Zayn on a ppv? No way.

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  104. Hiroshi Tanahashi is the Cena of Japan, except everyone loves Tanahashi.

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  105. SAY SOMETHING FUNNY, DAMMIT!

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  106. Known to perhaps 1% of the population.

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  107. NJPW is bigger than you think. Not WWE big, but it's not some glorified indie, either.

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  108. Yeah not a fan of the name, and it seemed even the usually supportive NXT crowd wanted him to wrap it up on the mic. Not worried about him in the ring though - might've looked weird last night because he was wearing a suit that probably wouldn't fit most the other wrestlers

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  109. Outside of the Suidobashi area and the occasional oyaji reading a newspaper, I never see anything about NJPW in the mainstream.

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  110. You can't succeed in WWE without speaking. Look at Sin Cara.

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  111. Fuck, of course it's not you. You're too damned proud of yourself not to take credit for something you're doing.

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  112. If you're gonna do it, that's the way you do it.


    I kind of wish he had elaborated on who he was paying tribute to...but then again, it's not like that did anything for Curtis Axel.

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  113. Too bad it's just distribution, as I would laugh at WWE paying rights fees for their own footage.

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  114. Another misleading headline and post. WWE has no interest in *selling* its tape library, it's considering changing distributors.

    The Network is here to stay because WWE can't go back to the dying PPV model. DEAL WITH IT.

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  115. More or less. I'd definitely do it with my own account at the least.

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  116. Sin Cara vs Sin Cara.

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  117. Guys like Jeff Hardy and Brock got over by not speaking. It is very possible, adding a mouth piece like Heyman can do wonders for you without uttering a word.

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  118. Precisely.



    Milhouse: "Maybe he's gonna pee in the river!!"
    Bart: "Naah... Not his style..."

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  119. He should've changed his name to Tensai Kwang to pay tribute to the great Japanese WWE legends of the past.

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  120. I would guess that most guys are given a choice when they sign with WWE. Either they can use the name they've been using and sign it over to WWE, or they can come up with a new one that WWE will own. A guy like KENTA probably wants to keep his options open in case the WWE thing doesn't work out.

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  121. I would so mark out if he came out to the generic Orient Express music.

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  122. I don't know, they totally choked at Starrcade 1995, blowing a big lead!!

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  123. I'm pretty sure they're forced to change it. They only recognized KENTA publically b/c you'd have to be an idiot not to know that's his real name with all the news flying around online about him.

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  124. Yeah, but I'm sure he didn't want them owning THAT too.

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  125. It's actually a win-win, isn't it? WWE owns the Hideo trademark, and if it doesn't work out, he can go back to being Kenta, right? (unlike the Dudleys having to change to Team 3D for example)

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  126. I would have gone with something like Ichiro Tanaka. Somewhat exotic and Japanese sounding, yet people already know how to chant it.


    But of course, Vince McMahon's knowledge of baseball players only extends back to the 90's.

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  127. Lol. Kenta Kobayashi is what it is for those curious, and its obvious why he didnt go as that in Japan

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  128. I would pay money to see Ichiro Tanaka against Kenny Dykstra!

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  129. Dykstra would steal that money, then lose it all in a matter of days.

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  130. Oh I'm sure he's fine with it, for precisely that reason. So was Low Ki. Just, yknow...it's stupid.

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  131. There has been a fake Cult AND fake Farva recently!? Wow. Iv barely been on due to school, I gotta catch up.

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  132. First there was Haku. Then, Hakushi. Now, get ready for...HAKUSHISAI!

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  133. Somebody even faked me in a half-assed way.

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  134. I kinda hope that crowds chant "KENTA" anyway just to be dicks about it.

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  135. Fake Caliber > Fake Cult and Fake Farva.

    For the record.

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  136. Kaval being treated like a 5 year old by LayCool was awesome.

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  137. I wonder if Koba Kenta was an option?

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  138. That might hurt his push. You want his push to get hurt just so some smart-ass fans can make the show about themselves? Sort of like the stupid Husky Harris chants during Wyatt's debut.

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  139. Ha of course.

    Shouldn't be too hard to determine Fake Farva. It would probably be whoever didnt like him or was shittalking about him while everyone else was kinda bummed out

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  140. With the Husky Harris chants, as there was no logical explanation as to why he became Bray Wyatt, so I agree with that as a ridicule of creative.


    But they were kind enough to give us a reason this time, so such chants would be pointless and stupid for KENTA Hideo Itami.

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  141. By that logic, it would be me. Which it was not.

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  142. Fuck those 4-5 fans that would chant that at him during RAW when he debuted

    I hate wrestling fans who are just there to get themselves over

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  143. That would be every fan that brings a sign.

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  144. Lol, touche. I dont know then

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  145. Id include them. If you A) are just there to get on tv or B) Being a fag smark to throw the show off, then fuck off

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  146. Him smiling down to the ring harder than Big Show and Sheamus could ever imagine, not so awesome

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  147. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideo
    Hideo apparently means "excellent man", so that part makes sense at least. All I can find on Itami is it's a city in Japan, as well as the last name of a famous director of comedic satires...maybe he's a film buff I dunno.
    Regardless, even if it was entirely his idea, someone should have shot it down. Although, they'll probably shorten it to just HIDEO in time.

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  148. Do you live in Japan?

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  149. I was upset at first about Zayn not winning the title, but after I let it sink in, I'm perfectly ok with it. I hope they're doing the whole "Sting chase for the titlte" deal from the early 90s (minus the part where Sting was out with an injury for a long time). Zayn has that Sting babyface feel to him right now anyway.

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  150. That's one of them. There are over 10 different ways to write Hideo. We've not seen a kanji for his name yet.


    Itami can be written as "pain". ç—›

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  151. Honestly, if he feuds with Neville now and loses, it'll probably be the sign that he's moving up to the main roster. Maybe makes no sense to do so from losing, but it's not like the RAW announcers will even acknowledge him coming from NXT anyway.

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  152. Fuck. I agree but goddamn does shit like that make me mad. A good show helps the whole company. If the bar is too high you should step it up, not tell them to lower it.

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  153. I assume WWE media distribution is separate from their ShopZone. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense getting WB to distribute it if ShopZone has to fill the orders for clothing and accessories anyways.

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  154. I can't fathom someone having less charisma thsn Strong and Elgin and still having a pulse.

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  155. John Laurinitis and Ben Stein. (But they do it on purpose, and make it funny)

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  156. The punctuation error in the headline should've been a red flag to ignore this.

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  157. Yeah, should've known better.

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  158. Oh, duh, finally clued in to who you are.

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  159. Then how did they make money during the Attitude era? Or how has UFC made so much money during the last decade? 20ish white guys will pay, you just have to figure out what they want enough to do so (something WWE hasn't done for some time).

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  160. absolutely incorrect. ECW shows far beyond the current stoppage point were on 24/7. Primetime was on. Mid-Atlantic was on. Lots of UNEDITED house shows were on 24/7. And more. Yeah they were put once a week and occasionally my cable company seemed to forget to update but in some ways it was better for someone like me who doesn't care much about any of the current stuff (even ppvs I can take it or leave it). The selling point of the network over 24/7 obviously is the library where you can binge watch instead of waiting from week to week and the old ppvs. Also less editing on the network.

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  161. 10%? Try over 50%. Again unedited house shows were a HUGE part of classic on demands. Other big parts were WCCW (not sure how much matches up from 24/7 to the network), Mid-Atlantic (not on network), ECW (maybe half is on network), Primetime (not on network), TNT (not on network), Nitro and Raw (some on network some not, some on 24/7 some not).

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  162. I don't like to use the r word, but this is fucking retarded. If Vince had a stroke today, went down to a local brothel, racked up a forty million dollar tab, then killed a mother and a newborn infant on his way out, and God himself came to the man and said all would be forgiven if Vince sold his tape library, he'd refuse.

    I would. Presume this is for home media / international media / and various syndication thingies. There is no way the company who's entire business model is based on their incredible legacy, is going sell off editing control of that very legacy.

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  163. CruelConnectionNumber2September 12, 2014 at 12:21 PM

    Now they can change Tazz's name back to Taz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Gangbustas, Michael! I don't remember no Zombie in the original ECW! Here comes da Pain!

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  164. CruelConnectionNumber2September 12, 2014 at 12:24 PM

    Missing 4 years of WCW Sat Night, 3 years of Hardcore TV, several years of Primetime, a year of Worldwide, years of Mid Atlantic, shall I continue

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  165. Are they being excluded? I bet more than a couple of the people here fall into that demographic, and at the few live shows I've been to, I see a lot of 18-34 year olds...and their kids.


    Hell, the only wrestling shirts (and I'm talking current wrestling shirts, not Austin 3:16) I've ever seen people wear have been by 18-34 year olds. Of course, I don't interact much with kids, but I think that wrestling fans are going to be wrestling fans until the day we die.

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  166. Because kids watched the SHIT out of the Attitude Era, because the Attitude Era appeals to kids, I would actually say the demographic that's being appealed to now is parents who want a "safe" product for their kids.


    Look, "mature" adults or whomever you're talking about? They would not find a bald crazy man beating his boss with a bedpan in a hospital the most sophisticated thing in the world. The raunchiness of the Attitude Era, the sex, the violence, the swearing, that's not something that appeals to adults, that appeals to kids.

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  167. And what would WWE get, WB advertising their shit on their channels with their stars?

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  168. It's ABSURD how much shit hasn't hit the Network yet. Not that it should have all been dumped at once but I'm salivating over Prime Time, NWA on TBS, AWA, Mid-South etc. to pick up where I left off with the 24/7 service.

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  169. This is exactly why I recorded almost everything from the 24/7 service. There's no guarantee that this shit will stay up anywhere.

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  170. Not sure how Prime Time and NWA on TBS were "weird, random shows." They were the absolute bedrock of any late 80's wrestling fan's viewing habits. Not having these shows on the Network is borderline insane considering the boom period they came from.

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  171. I'd say it's a little of all 5 of those. But the biggest one has to be advertising. They only promote during WWE programming where most of the subscribers are already watching.

    They should be airing commercials on ESPN or during other sporting events. Airing commercials for it where ever they can. I've talked to a bunch of former fans that didn't even know the network existed.

    Plus if a million people are buying Wrestlemania why shouldn't they assume that many people would pay the same amount of money for 6 ppvs?

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