Hulk Hogan Update
Today is the last day of Hogan's contract with TNA. According to sources, TNA does want Hogan to return but is only able to offer a certain amount of money.
Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
When is Brock Lesnar Returning?
According to sources, Lesnar will be returning to the WWE towards the end of the year, perhaps for a match at the Royal Rumble
Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
WWE Producing a Randy Savage Documentary?
There is talk within the company that they will be producing a documentary about Savage that will be released in 2014.
Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
Wade Barrett Update
There has been talk within the company that Barrett will return with a new character and a push in the next few weeks.
Credit F4Wonline.com
Today is the last day of Hogan's contract with TNA. According to sources, TNA does want Hogan to return but is only able to offer a certain amount of money.
Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
When is Brock Lesnar Returning?
According to sources, Lesnar will be returning to the WWE towards the end of the year, perhaps for a match at the Royal Rumble
Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
WWE Producing a Randy Savage Documentary?
There is talk within the company that they will be producing a documentary about Savage that will be released in 2014.
Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com
Wade Barrett Update
There has been talk within the company that Barrett will return with a new character and a push in the next few weeks.
Credit F4Wonline.com
Its really strange to me that Hulks contact status isn't bigger news. Guess thats what happens when you work for a company with tens of fans for a fan base.
ReplyDeleteMan, I really feel bad for Barrett. This guy has the look, etc., but after the Nexus he's just been floating from repackaging to repackaging, with alleged pushes.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he should cut ties for a bit, freshen up back in the UK scene. Might be good for him at this point.
Hogan family drama is a far bigger deal now than Hogan wrestling news.
ReplyDelete(That is, unless he is in WWE.)
It was never winning the title in the first place that killed Barrett dead. As leader of this hot new group they gave him the big push but always came up short with regards actually winning the title.
ReplyDeleteWell that and the fact he banished john cena for one whole week.
He's just never been able to shake the loser tag off since and is one of the biggest casualties of the wwe's ridiculous stop/start pushes.
I liked Barretts legit tough guy gimmick.
ReplyDeleteWade "the Barber" Beefcake!!!!
ReplyDeleteMe too. A Barrett-Cesaro-Regal alliance would have been pretty cool in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteAnd the main problem is the WWE's failure to make mid-card talent interesting and strong. With TV replacing house shows there's no more idea of working "A" towns "B" towns and "C" towns so no one other than the top top top guys need to be booked strong.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day if the WWF is working two house shows a day with two different groups the secondary champions had to be strong and have really intriguing programs because they were needed to sell tickets.
Doc on Mach, eh? This may smack of Charlie Brown making a run at the football, but I think this sets up nicely for Savage headlining the HOF class leading into Mania 30.
ReplyDeleteI imagine they'd want a big name for that and there's no one bigger who represents the lineage of wrestlemania (not already inducted)
Yea, if they would have just booked him strong and given him a direction, that gimmick would have gotten over
ReplyDeleteI'll say it again: get Wade a Ricky Gervais for his own Chris Finch.
ReplyDeleteThe Doc should be pretty good but the interesting question will be the matches, seeing as how most of his really good ones are on the first DVD.
ReplyDeleteWhat UK scene?
ReplyDeletePraying for Bad News Barrett (with cat)
ReplyDeleteJust to play Devil's advocate, could it be argued that the WHC is basically the IC champion and is booked about as strong? I mean, I'd say Del Rio is booked about as strongly as IC-level Rude, Perfect, HBK, etc were.
ReplyDeleteIf you really look at it, WWE now probably books about as many guys "strongly" as they did back in the Hulkamania days. Punk/Bryan/Cena/Orton/Shield/ADR (and the part-timers) would be the equivalent of Hogan/Savage/Warrior/Rude/Dibiase/Snake in say '89. And then everyone else is trading wins. The differences are:
- Today there's no squash matches, so a midcarder NEVER gets a super convincing win. Just an occasional "oh that guy missed a move, I hit my finisher" win against another midcarder whom he'll probably trade the win back to in a few weeks.
- There's only ONE federation/brand/whatever so there's only one main event scene and one midcard. This is huge. As ridiculous as the fake brand split was in WWE, I think losing it has done a ton of damage to midcarders because now there is only ONE main event scene instead of two, which in the end means "less spots for guys to regularly win matches on TV."
So what am I saying? I'm saying the conditions of WWE programming (no squash matches, no brand split) makes it really tough to do anything with the non-main-eventers. Not saying they CAN'T still do a much better job, but those conditions (self-imposed though, sure) make it tough.
Would he be a scrappy underdog?
ReplyDeleteHogan: It's TNA, of course there's contract drama/stupidity involved
ReplyDeleteLesnar: So Ryback's push has no more than three months left. Cool.
Savage: If true, about fucking time.
Barrett: Over/Under on failure: 30 days. I'm taking the Under.
To to get to Bakerish, but couldnt a solid play be blowing off Punk/Brock at say Rumble by Heyman costing Brock the match either inadvertently or on purpose. Then go with a face Brock vs the newest Heyman guy, Ryback at WM. I know its a rehase of the Punk/Brock storyline but it gets Ryback in a high profile feud that actually makes sense.
ReplyDeleteBarrett's story has been such a pity. The guy can talk, has a good look, and can work a match well enough. If they'd just get behind him soldily for more than 5 minutes then he'd be successful. Probably one of the best examples of a guy that would benefit from a legit second option to go to.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if they are booked as strongly. I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteBack then you needed the I-C guy to draw money. He was likely headlining all the 'B' shows and he needed to be a legitimate draw with a legitimate program. At times I can argue that the Savage-HTM program of 1987-88 was booked higher than whatever Hogan was doing until the Megapowers thing started to gain traction.
Now you can say that Del Rio is booked as strong as the I-C title guy was but they don't need him to draw a dime. He's on the same card with the Cenas, Punks, etc. so he's just a guy filling out a card.
Otherwise I agree about the squashes and brand splits.
I'm sure Ernest Miller would love the pay day.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how "this guy is tough and likes to fight and beat people up" is a gimmick now.
ReplyDeleteI think it would have been funny if "The Real Americans" became a faction of non-Americans:
ReplyDeleteCaesaro
Barrett
Leo Kruger
Regal
It helps that hes a legit bareknuckle fighting badass. Loved those vignettes they were showing when they were reintroducing him.
ReplyDeleteUltimate Warrior
ReplyDeleteThey're not going to waste one of Brock's appearances on Ryback.
ReplyDeleteMeltzer reported they were thinking about putting Ryback vs Taker. Thats more prestigious then a Brock match. Ill agree its not a probable scenario but its far from impossible
ReplyDeleteThey can always throw Christian in there for a mouthpiece.
ReplyDeleteTHE BARRETT BOMBARDMENT
ReplyDeleteFace Brock is not good.
ReplyDeletealso, I mean, dude just doesn't want to talk, so Heyman serves a more integral role for him than he did for Punk.
Introducing... Corr Blimey Wade Barrett the Cheeky Cockney and his merry crew of homeless orphan thieves!
ReplyDeleteIf they do it, Meltzer is right. If they don't, they changed their minds, so Meltzer is still right.
ReplyDeleteWin-win
ReplyDeleteI had legit forgotten about Poor Wade. Would've made a good Heyman guy. That arm injury really dicked him over.
ReplyDeletePunk and Heyman are proving right now that you don't need the brand split, to effectively have your own, well told story. It's an interesting model for what you could do.
ReplyDeleteImagine if the people going for the IC belt had zero interactions with anyone else. Or even the U.S. title, WHC is sort of doing it, but they're doing it poorly. No idea why they can't just throw the belt on RVD. (Contract "issues" aside.)
Very true
ReplyDeleteI thought Savage's brother wouldn't allow it unless they were both inducted? (Which has never made sense to me. Baseball players don't get to choose to be in the hall of fame, do they? Like. They always say that Owen will never go into the hall of fame because his wife hates the WWE. But, really. What could she do about it?)
ReplyDeleteBarrett had a video teaser for his new character during Raw last night, finally going with the bare knuckled boxer gimmick he should of had from day 1.
ReplyDeleteAnother new gimmick for Wade? His career peaked with Nexus, it's time to move on
ReplyDeleteIt's time for Hulk to come home.
ReplyDeleteMeltzer's not there to magically tell you what is GOING TO HAPPEN. He can report what possible plans are, what people are discussing backstage. He isn't there to use sorcery and see the future.
ReplyDeleteIn Owen's wife's case, Sue them.
ReplyDeleteIn Randy's, they just don't want the bad pub of the family trashing them
But what could she sue them for exactly?
ReplyDeleteShe sued them for using footage of Owen in the "Hart and Soul" DVD. something about the settlement where she had to approve using his likeness IIRC
ReplyDeleteI'll second that
ReplyDeleteLanny does not deserve to go into the HOF. It would be like Joe DiMaggio refusing to going the baseball Hall of Fame unless Domenic DiMaggio got to go as well.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly did they wrong the Macho Man? Vince wanted him to be a commentator. Randy wanted to wrestle. Randy asked for his release. Vince gave it to him.
ReplyDeleteI fully admit its a brilliant scam. He can say anything and never be wrong.
ReplyDeleteSo Meltzer's reporting is only worth whether he's able to correctly predict match results ahead of time?
ReplyDeleteYou have to admit, its a pretty good racket.
ReplyDeleteGet outta here! I WOULD have Warrior second on that list, buts its a distant second. Machos legacy, especially in Mania, is just on another stratosphere.
ReplyDeleteOK, so rather than conversing you're just gonna troll. Cool.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying it isn't? I get that you keep trying to change the subject. I just choose not to go along with it.
ReplyDeleteHome meaning the retirement home?
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm saying, and what you're willfully ignoring, is that his wrestling reporting isn't just about "this is what's gonna happen next week on the TV show." There's a lot more to what an Observer reader has gotten out of his coverage over the years than that. So when you boil Meltzer's coverage to match/storyline predictions, you're just changing things to fit your argument.
ReplyDeleteThe fact they even WANT to keep Hogan gives me zero hope for their future.
ReplyDeleteThere is something far more than that involved but nobody knows for sure what it is.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm boiling it down to is:
ReplyDeleteDave: I really hate wrestling, but my sources tell me that such and such and such and such is all going to happen.
*three months go by*
Public: Hey Dave! What happened to all that stuff you said was going to happen?
Dave: They changed their mind.
I'm just saying that's a pretty amazing way to make a living. Built in excuses when you're wrong.
Yeah I suppose. The Stephanie urban legend, nonwithstanding.
ReplyDeleteAnd again what I'm saying is that the Observer, and Meltzer's coverage of pro wrestling, isn't about the part where he says "this is what WWE is going to book." That's you want to pretend what his content has been about all this time, then fine. We're talking circles now. Peace.
ReplyDeleteYou do realize that the story being discussed is a prediction story?
ReplyDeleteI always felt the Savage/Vince/WWE heat was overstated. Even former employees say that it was an unspoken word never to mention Savage's name, but there's so much evidence, although circumstantial, to the contrary. Even before his death, he appeared quite frequently in video packages on WWE television. He was mentioned a great deal in WWE Magazine, even being interviewed in an early edition of Smackdown magazine. And he appeared on WWE.com (even before it turned into the fun page it is today) no less than anybody else from that era. It just seems like Vince wouldn't allow that if the hatred was THAT significant.
ReplyDeleteThere are dozens of us!! DOZENS!!
ReplyDeleteJust like you with your obsessive "Miz was scheduled to have all these big matches, but they were given to Punk instead"?
ReplyDeleteI love that you still don't understand that.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing to understand, you're just "pulling a Meltzer" as I'm sure you would probably call it.
ReplyDeleteAnd you still don't get it.
ReplyDeleteIm not so sure they want someone DEAD headlining/leading a HOF class.
ReplyDeleteNo it'd be like Domenic DiMaggio refusing to let Joe in the HOF unless he got in as well.
ReplyDeleteTheres a difference.
You're just trolling. Nothing to get.
ReplyDeleteStop using my line Douglas.
ReplyDeleteTrying to enlighten you is what I imagine teaching conversational french to sponges is like.
ReplyDeleteLanny says that Savage didn't WANT to go in without the family, and particularly his Dad.
ReplyDeleteIt might be true, and if it is then Lanny is doing the right thing in honouring his wishes.
We have no idea.
It wouldn't exactly make for a joyous celebration to induct a deceased man against the wishes of his heirs.
ReplyDeletethat im not discounting.
ReplyDeleteIm just saying that the analogy he is using is on the right track, but needs to be tailored a bit
TGGI
ReplyDeleteAnd as for Martha, even of she has no legal grounds, it would be pretty dickish to induct Owen - not only deceased, but someone who they kinda sorta killed - into their silly hall of fame against the wishes of his widow.
ReplyDeleteAlright Ricky, I'll give you that.
ReplyDeleteIf that's even your real name.
Don't forget Punk making him look like a total schmuck. Leading to the Corre. Which proved Punk was right to make him look like a schmuck.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so enlighten me. Explain these stupid Miz stories that had absolutely no merit to them?
ReplyDeleteYet another wrestler in Barrett who would get over just by messing up some enhancement wrestlers. Let George South come to Florida and train a generation of businesspeople.
ReplyDeleteBack to the WWE and get that Legend pop at Wrestlemania 30 and be a talking head in their documentaries. Their upcoming Randy Savage one won't be complete without hearing from the Hulkster.
ReplyDeleteHe did? I didn't even notice.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree that he would have been a fantastic "Heyman Guy". A billion times better than Curtis Axel.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, a stable of Ryback, Barrett, and Langston would be pretty good. Similar big, bad-ass type guys. Maybe even have one of them oust Axel, and give Axel a shot as a face (under his given name, preferably).
And wouldn't the three of them make quite the opposing "back-up members" of a Brock-lead Survivor Series team?
This may sound ridiculous, but I really think that - on a subconscious level - one of the things that kept the "Bare-Knuckle Brawler" gimmick from getting over was that he didn't really look like a bare-knuckle brawler. He looked like a wrestler and was booked like a wrestler. He wore wrestling tights and did wrestling moves.
ReplyDeleteI really think that if he just entered the ring wearing jeans, and just knocked people out left and right with, well, lefts and rights, I think he would have "looked the part" and seemed more credible in the role.
Of course, that's relatively minor compared to not actually being booked well (repeatedly losing to Orton on free TV), but I do think that the new character never really "clicked" entirely for the above reason.
Ahh. See, that I had no idea about.
ReplyDeleteDitto.
ReplyDeleteThrowing more money at him when he's PROVEN to not benefit the company in any way is just asinine.
Any you can never say anything and be correct. So, Meltzer is the anti-Osiris.
ReplyDeleteIT ALL MAKES SENSE.
According to Lanny, it was Randy's wish the family be inducted as a group, and he's just trying to honor his brother's wish. But he's also said he doesn't care if they induct Randy without the rest of the family.... Just don't expect him to be a part of it.
ReplyDeleteImposing?
ReplyDeleteWarrior seems a lock to be inducted this year, deservedly or not.
ReplyDeleteBut... but... he did more things for them than ever before! I mean, he got them overseas stuff or something like that!
ReplyDeleteBarrett and Christian would make a hell of a tag team, I think.
ReplyDeleteDamn, thanks for catching that.
ReplyDeleteShear Brilliance
ReplyDeleteBad News Brown and Fit Finlay made careers out of it.
ReplyDeleteMore like that's what happens when you constantly outstay your welcome.
ReplyDeleteBryan/Lesnar at the Rumble for the title. Book it!
ReplyDelete"Creative" kinda dicked him over, too.
ReplyDeleteThey just need to release Wade Barrett already. It's time to admit he's never ever going to recover from getting buried by 100 folding chairs by John Cena and then getting mired in the midcard for three years.
ReplyDeleteWasn't that Jeff Jarrett's doing far more than Hogan?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if its happened before, but I'd mark out to see Hulk, Austin and Cena all standing in the same ring at Mania.
ReplyDeleteHe should go to Japan for a few years and come back to a $400,000 contract.
ReplyDelete80% of old school wrestlers made a career out of it. That was my point. Wrestlers used to be big, mean, burly, tough guys. Now being a guy that is actually tough is rare enough that it can be a gimmick for one guy.
ReplyDeleteAlso Dom DiMaggio is much more deserving of any HOF consideration than Leaping Lanny.
ReplyDelete7 time all star
Career .298 BA, .383 OBP as a very good centerfielder.
I really thought that they were onto something with the mini Bryan/Barrett feud a few months ago - if Barrett hadn't been booked to look like a loser (again), I think the feud could have had legs, at least for the C-level shows like "Battleground".
ReplyDeleteIf they're gonna do it, may as well go all out - Bryan/Lesnar at "WM".
ReplyDelete