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Thoughts

Grumpy Cat hosting RAW….. I'm done.

HOWEVER, I am now switching to NXT.

Anyways, I've been watching a bunch of old Varsity Club footage. First thing, I am struck by how similar Mike Rotunda's heel turn to join the Varisty Club is EXACTLY the same as Barry Windham turning on Luger to join the Horsemen. I had also totally forgotten that Danny Spivey was ever in the Varsity Club - I just remember them from when they brought in the Steiners.

But anyway, I was thinking…. would an increae in stables like the Varsity Club work in NXT (since RAW seems to be a lost cause)? I'm thinking for guys like Swagger, Henry, Ziggler (after the decide to deep six this current push, as they always seem to do), who have college athletics backgrounds, but seem to be treading water. They already have Ron Simmons, a legit collegiate athletics god, under contract. Use him as their "coach", bring them down to NXT for a few weeks to fine-tune the gimmick…. hell, have Simmon and the VC down there on "scouting trips". Maybe it would help provide some focus for these guys who don't seem to have any focus. Hell, it worked for the World's Greatest Tag Team…….

And if THAT works, I have some ideas for what they can do with Cesaro, Steen, Devitt and Kenta next…..

Sent from Windows Mail

​Well I mean, the Swagger/Real Americans deal was kind of in that vein, but then they broke up the team and forgot about him​ again after the Rusev deal.  But yeah, the Varsity Club worked well for the time as dickhead jock heels and it seems like an easy gimmick that could work again.  People ALWAYS hate the arrogant jock, which is why it's such an effective archetype in college movies and TV shows.  And right now you've got no shortage of guys like Swagger and Ziggler who had legit backgrounds to draw from and are kind of assholes anyway.

Or they could just spend money to have the fucking cat host the show, whatever.  

Comments

  1. CruelConnectionNumber2November 10, 2014 at 12:14 PM

    Our generation had a Varsity Club already. Ziggler was in it. They had pom-poms.

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  2. Man NXT is fucking boring when the unpolished, non-Sami Zayn type guys aren't wrestling. I don't see what everybody else does.

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  3. https://imgflip.com/i/e09tl

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  4. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonNovember 10, 2014 at 12:19 PM

    I wonder how much the cat is making to host the show?

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  5. Yep, and they were treated like a complete joke.

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  6. Wait what? The cat from those grumpy cat memes is going to host RAW?

    Was The Overly Attached Girlfriend busy?

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  7. I don't watch it regularly, but I still enjoy it in spite of that. Maybe even because, a little bit. It's a fun atmosphere and at 48-50 minutes it breezes by. I just look at it like an indy show that has WWE production: just roll with the absurd, bad stuff and have fun with it, and every now and then you'll get someone who can work their ass off.

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  8. Just realized Rotunda and Spivy were both in the Varsity Club. They totally blew a chance to reunite the US Express mach II.

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  9. The production is very good and it looking different than Raw is a huge, huge plus. Also the hour is better for pacing. Still...it's just kinda hard to watch too many 4 minute matches from guys who aren't polished enough for a show that called up Adam Rose. Every now and then there's a gem but mostly I watch it thinking people like Charlotte and Sami Zayn are way overdue for the main roster and everybody else is never going to make it.

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  10. I think it's mostly the short time that helps. Once you get past the Sami Zayn, Breeze, Neville types and the women's division that's the best in US wrestling currently, it drops off a lot for me. Especially the tag, I don't get it with Ascension at all.

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  11. Should they have not been?

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  12. The Vaudevillains. Also, the women's stuff is good, the Vaudevillains, fun gimmicks and simple feuds, the Vaudevillains, better announcing and the Vaudevillains.

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  13. Better announcing is huge, but a lot of the praise of NXT seems to be more of a reflection on how bad the main card show is and how stale the people on it are more than legit praise for what is being done in NXT. I don't see a single wrestler on the NXT roster I'd ever like to see main event Wrestlemania. That's a legitimate criticism that's hard to debunk.

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  14. Clearly, yes. She was busy being overly attached to her boyfriend. She has no time for such silliness.

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  15. The Vaudevillains are a good comedy gimmick but I think they get Dancing Homer'd on a larger stage. I think it'd be an incredibly popular act in TNA/ROH or a smaller org but it will fall flat on the main roster. And the one guy looks so much like Cesaro it's almost a pity not to make them a tag team.

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  16. Totally agree. LOVE The Vaudevillains on NXT, but they would get crickets in fucking Lafayette, Louisiana.

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  17. I don't see them getting hugely over outside of a smark territory like the northeast that is going to give them the Fandango treatment. Good fun for the crowd while they try to make it through the three hour Raw but it will die on TV.

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  18. 10 bucks, right now, says it's Sandow in some form.

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  19. I wouldn't want them to go to Raw as the Vaudevillains, but an idea like teaming up Aiden English with Sandow as Arts and Entertainment would be pretty fun. English can sing his way down to the ring and they'll just dick it up the entire time.

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  20. If Grumpy made meta comments like that during the show, it'd be worth it.

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  21. Sandow has made a popular gimmick out of being a stunt double for a wrestler everybody hates. That guy can make anything work.

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  22. It's hard to say which of these guys would be good WM main eventers as this stage of their careers. WWE is just turning a profit on their training operations. Somebody could break out; besides there are very few guys who should main event a WM before age 30.

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  23. I always disliked the Varsity Club because of Kevin Sullivan. Not that I hate Sullivan, just that it wasn't the character I was familiar with. Always bugged me when the WWF would bring in an NWA guy and give him a goofy gimmick. Here it was the NWA repackaging one of their own guys, plus a guy (Rotunda) that I knew from the WWF. They were fine in the ring, just didn't care for the gimmick.

    Related note, how terrible was Mike Rotunda's string of gimmicks? From babyface in the WWF to college jock, boat captain, wealthy stockbroker, finally IRS.

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  24. It didn't help matters that he was as boring as dirt in the ring.


    ABDOMINAL STRETCH!!!!!!

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  25. I mean, their roster is an average age of 30. You can tell who has the charisma and wrestling chops to be in the bigtime by then and I see a lot of future 50/50 booking IC titleholders in NXT. I think there's just an exceedingly poor crop of talent in wrestling right now. I think NXT is the right execution and right idea but there just isn't anybody there to back it up. Some of the problems are that we are watching people develop when maybe that's not something meant to be watched. It's part of this decade's media strategy of wringing content out of EVERYTHING. Especially for the web and services like the Network.

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  26. Stables in general are always good business. The Shield is a great recent example of that.

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  27. That was such a bad ripoff I feel like Sullivan, Rotunda, Williams, Spivey and Steiner deserve so much better. Swagger, Titus, Ziggler and his Perfect '10' Charlotte managed by Coach Colter could have promise.

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  28. Whoever owns that cat won the fucking lottery.

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  29. Good to see the reign of "sent from iPhone" end. 50-50 booking for texting devices!!!

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  30. College jock was awesome. God he was good at that.

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  31. He was smooth as glass when he cared; he had some serious Barry Windhamitis.

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  32. Damn right.

    Sent from my government-issued Dell laptop.

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  33. Considering the sad state of affairs in WWE now, the Why My Cat is Sad cat makes better sense.

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  34. I don't see the point of bringing a group of talented young guys up to the main roster just to make them look like idiots and put over two guys over 40. Seems like a strange way to go about making money.

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  35. Yeah, he could be smooth, but his moveset was boring.


    Windham, on the other hand, when motivated, was entertaining as fuck.

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  36. The last time WWE tried an athletic jock stable... we go the Spirit Squad instead.

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  37. He's supposed to be a heel.

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  38. So we went from THIS in Wrestling:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KCuwQrsmw

    To a grumpy cat hosting a wrestling show?

    WHAT.......................THE.................................FUCK?

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  39. The good news is with Grumpy Cat hosting Raw this will be the most pussy on the show since the Attitude Era.

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  40. well and also we had the Varsity Club in 99 WCW, but it was the same Varsity Club as the mid 80's

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  41. Loves Wrestling......Lives in UK


    would be a GREAT Bad Luck Brian

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  42. I think we need more stables, period. It's an easy way to get multiple people over at once and gives lower level guys the rub by being regularly associated with main-eventers.

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  43. Obviously you prefer watching Miz matches than watching Grumpy cat being cute.

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  44. "My cat is sad because no one has told him how much better he is than Grumpy Cat with tears in their eyes"

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  45. Stranger in the AlpsNovember 10, 2014 at 1:48 PM

    If I were Sting, I would not trust this cat to be my partner.

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  46. That seemed slightly illegal.

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  47. Raw is the same show that had Terry Funk vs. Mick Foley.

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  48. Is Daniel already Bad Luck Bryan?

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  49. I enjoyed WWE's recent run with 3-man stables (Shield, Wyatt Family, Evolution reunion, etc.). It looked like that was going to continue with the Speed Force or whatever it was called, but I guess not! I agree that stables can be good--but as TNA has shown, they can also be overused. I'm okay having a short break from stables before the next big one comes in.

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  50. If you were Sting you'd trust everyone all the time.

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  51. TJ - so, I don't know if this has been brought up but I'm watching an ECW Hardcore TV and there's blood with no change to the picture.

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  52. Meh to the Varsity Club idea. Swagger and Ziggler would obviously be the leading candidates for the group if you used current wrestlers, and I don't see how that gimmick would be any better for them than anything else they've done in the last 3 years.


    Meanwhile, if you did it with NXT guys it would probably work well at Full Sail U. and then fall flat on the bigger stage (like many NXT gimmicks before it).

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  53. Speaking of RAW, when was the last time the show opened with an actual match rather than a 15-20 promo segment with Cena or the Authority?

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  54. Stranger in the AlpsNovember 10, 2014 at 2:03 PM

    So in closing, if I were Sting this cat would turn on me after trusting it.

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  55. CruelConnectionNumber2November 10, 2014 at 2:03 PM

    The Grumpy Cat skits are going to involve The Miz. Enjoy watching Raw, any nitwit who chooses to.

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  56. CruelConnectionNumber2November 10, 2014 at 2:04 PM

    Swagger and Titus are horrible heels so no.

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  57. CruelConnectionNumber2November 10, 2014 at 2:06 PM

    They don't edit archived TV.

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  58. Doubt Grumpy Cat will be on all 3 hours, won't be hard to get through on DVR.

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  59. You never know, Grumpy Cat can get spooked and claw Miz' face.

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  60. https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/wlstinggrumpy.jpg?w=744

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  61. What if Grumpy Cat had a stunt double cat?

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  62. Stranger in the AlpsNovember 10, 2014 at 2:23 PM

    Sting may have found a partner he can finally trust!
    .
    No. Wait. He hasn't. Sorry.

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  63. I've never looked forward to a live thread more.

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  64. I'll probably avoid that live thread.

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  65. #GRUMPYCATWINSLOL

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  66. How bout neither

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  67. Chances of main event being a handicap match of Cena/Cat vs. Authority with Grumpy Cat getting the pin on Rollins due to a Cena AA? So the cat standing on his chest and getting a 3 count...because FUCK YOU THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT

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  68. Or we can witness the first ever cat gets distracted by a red dot and gets pinned finish.

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  69. Right there with you.

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  70. Red dot needs it's own entrance music. Right to Censor would fit.

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  71. I'd like them to do a new Varsity Club gimmick only because Alex Riley would inevitably be left out on the only gimmick he's ever had and he would finally get the hint that it's time to do something else with his life.

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  72. What's this new "watchlist" thing on the WWE Network? It's on my Apple tv.

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  73. Nothing has deserved the MST3K treatment more than an internet meme hosting a wrestling show.


    When Vince finally announces that he has Parkinson's I hope he does it over a funny picture of Confession Bear.

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  74. Fucking Cat would do better ratings than Grumpy Cat.

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  75. I hope they rib Grumpy Cat. Maybe Orton will take a shit in her litter box. JBL can rub baby oil on her or put laxatives in her milk.

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  76. Oh. Seriously? I thought I saw a bunch of people on here angry about editing of matches. Guess I misunderstood.

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  77. Hate to stand in the way of hyperbole, but we're gonna get three minutes of Adam Rose meets a cat and than business as usual.

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  78. Oh for fuck's sake...yeah having the cat "host" is dumb, but you know what? It's gonna be like with Betty White, it'll appear in like 2 backstage skits and 1 segment, and won't even affect the other 80% of the damn show which has no problem sucking ass all on its own. Stupid, yeah, but not worth all the hysterics.

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  79. For once I agree with Theberserker

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  80. That's OK, you don't have to.

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  81. To me, it's more comically bad than anything else. If they want to have an internet meme host their show, more power to them, doesn't mean I have to watch.

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  82. There were some goofs who couldn't grasp that new content (like a documentary) was censored when they showed old footage, and that the archives weren't.

    But you should ignore people whom find being outraged more important then facts of what is going on

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  83. I wonder if this came about from the Vines. Like, they said they were big online, Vince went on Google for 3 seconds and Grumpy Cat was the first thing he saw. Everything not wrestling is all the same to him.

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  84. Nah, my guess was he might have been Christmas shopping, and went by a mall calendar/gift store and saw the Grumpy Cat calendar and said "Dammit, I've got to have him on Raw"

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  85. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2014-11-10/raw-sneak-preview-photos


    For Fuck's Sake. Hornswoggle Ruins everything.

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  86. Well, if they give some catnip to Grumpy, it won't pass the wellness test.....

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  87. They were a great stable. They got everything they ever wanted and they'll never give that back.

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  88. There was no doubt the writers would immediately ruin a good comedy shtick with Mizdow. Damn it.

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  89. I've had the same thoughts about him. He always struck me as a capable worker, but the only moves I remember him doing are the Abdominal Stretch (w/rope grab) and the Samoan Drop (which you can't credibly finish with if you're not Samoan).

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  90. The cat will probably fill one segment shilling the 25 December movie and make some insignificant heel look like a jackass, and that's all. It's whatever, but will still be an embarrassing moment.

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  91. Just read the Raw spoilers for tonight. I like Ryback too but this episode sounds like complete shit. The best part (from what I read) was a rowdy English crowd that is certainly being edited out of the show as I type this.

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  92. What the hell with that guy huh? Perfectly good, competent, good promo, semi over guy who's not super stale like the rest of the show, and they seem to purposely keep him off TV.

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  93. Someone should look this up, I'd be interested to know.

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  94. Extant1979 - Mr. Cable AccessNovember 10, 2014 at 4:51 PM

    ^THIS^


    Because Grumpy Cat is so much worse than Betty White, Scooby Doo, or any of the other guests who were shilling stuff.

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  95. This 5 on 5 Survivor Series match sounds like the drizzling shits.

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  96. - stock price/market value is in the tank
    - realize a year too late that no one besides the die hards are going to order The Network
    - cut the budgets to everything besides the McMahon's salaries
    - being investigated for giving false projections to the market
    - uploading NOTHING to the Network dictated to the Network department as "budget cuts"


    ... spend money saved to hire A CAT to host the show months after being pop-culturally relevant


    whoever doubted the no-business background/education of Vince, Stephanie and Triple H?


    Shane saw what was coming, sold his stocks at the high point and ran for his life... smartest guy ever

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  97. one segment or entire show, WWE paid the same for the appearance of A CAT while budgets are cut everywhere else... "Grumpy Cat" is going to be a signpost of the McMahon's eventually being forced out after it happens and Scott writes a book about it...


    Grumpy Cat = Nitro Kiss Concert

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  98. The 3 Stooges were the worst. Everyone else is competing for 2nd place.

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  99. only flaw: at this point I am very sure that certain parts of the audience would no boo Ziggler, no matter what they would try doing.

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  100. Problem is, John Cena would make sense as the dickhead jock team leader and he's their top face

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  101. Those two guys over 40 were making that angle make all the money it ever would with the shitload of merchandise they sold. It wasn't the main event storyline so it wasn't really drawing or not drawing as an angle. Some chump has to job. And it's easier to recover from that, when no one knows or cares who you are, than for someone who's a rising star already. None of those guys were intended to stay on the main roster, and if not for backstage shenanigans two of them would have returned to become big stars. That's not a bad percentage; by contrast, look at the badasses the Nexus was portrayed to be on their debut. Did a higher percentage of them make it as stars? Did that angle really draw money?

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  102. Shane will go down in history as the smartest McMahon. He got the fuck out when the getting was good.

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  103. It's a comedy routine. OF COURSE Hornswaggle had to be a part of it and therefore ruin it.

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  104. Cue Scott Liedle's "But there's black and white footage on Rivalries" response.

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  105. Dell is far superior to Apple.

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  106. There's no way Aiden English will ever get called up to the main roster. He's way too thin and he doesn't have a marketable look (They already gave up on Jody Kristofferson and even he has a better look than Aiden).

    And if Simon Gotch was called up, he would at best be a comedy jobber trading wins with Santino Marella and Adam Rose every night.

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  107. The e-mailer should have also asked Scott why he quit reviewing NXT out of the blue.

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