The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania 31 [NSFW]

[Zellery]

I assumed that MVP was wearing the Man Utd shirt last night as a nod to Ronaldo being sold for £80 million, his character is based around things like that so I think that was the reason. Even though 95% of the American audience won't have got it.

Also why did JR say at least three times that Jeff Hardy has been WWE Champ and is now trying to win the World Title for the first time? Have they decided that Hardy actually winning it at Extreme Rules didn't count or is JR just turning into Cole?

[sw26]

Royal Rumble 2001/2002 is up for pre-order at Silvervision:

http://www.silvervision.co.uk/products/ ... Discs.html

Do want.

I still have a bit of catching up to do though as I bought 3 TC's last week to complete my collection of the 1999 events, so I should probably leave it a month or two to start buying the 2000 shows.

[Adam Pollard]

9 times? Seriously? That devalues the title a bit.

I don't watch Wrestling a lot these days, but did you mean Randy Orton has won the title 9 times?!

Misheard, much? It's 5 innint?

Reign 1: One month World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2004.
Reign 2: Awarded the WWE Championship at the beginning of No Mercy 2007, losing it to Triple H minutes later.
Reign 3: Won the WWE Championship from Triple H in a Last Man Standing match in the main event of No Mercy 2007. This was the long reign which lasted until he lost it to Triple H at Backlash 2008 in a fatal four way.
Reign 4: Won WWE Title from Triple H at Backlash 2009.
Reign 5: Last night's win.

The Trump Takeover thing just seems stupid. TNAriffic booking as well: from what I could make of it, Orton v HHH is the title match at The Bash, with no stip. To build to this, they give us a gimmick match for free on TV. This is more stupid than the stupidity of the build for their Mania encounter, and that was strawberry floating stupid.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

9 times? Seriously? That devalues the title a bit.

I don't watch Wrestling a lot these days, but did you mean Randy Orton has won the title 9 times?!

Misheard, much? It's 5 innint?

Reign 1: One month World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2004.
Reign 2: Awarded the WWE Championship at the beginning of No Mercy 2007, losing it to Triple H minutes later.
Reign 3: Won the WWE Championship from Triple H in a Last Man Standing match in the main event of No Mercy 2007. This was the long reign which lasted until he lost it to Triple H at Backlash 2008 in a fatal four way.
Reign 4: Won WWE Title from Triple H at Backlash 2009.
Reign 5: Last night's win.

The Trump Takeover thing just seems stupid. TNAriffic booking as well: from what I could make of it, Orton v HHH is the title match at The Bash, with no stip. To build to this, they give us a gimmick match for free on TV. This is more stupid than the stupidity of the build for their Mania encounter, and that was strawberry floating stupid.

I agree. I can almost imagine HHH winning the title next week and the losng it to Orton at the bash. Also i'm trying to rack my brains as to how this Trump thing is actually going to work, i just don't get it.

[KK]

I'm still getting over the revelation that Raw is actually a "franchise", thus a separate entity that can be sold off &/or franchised out to a third party. What is this, Starbucks?

Typical wrestling storyline writing then. Think about it for longer than 2 minutes & it doesn't really make any logical sense.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

I'm still getting over the revelation that Raw is actually a "franchise", thus a separate entity that can be sold off &/or franchised out to a third party. What is this, Starbucks?

Typical wrestling storyline writing then. Think about it for longer than 2 minutes & it doesn't really make any logical sense.

It's too late. My head already hurts too much as i've been thinking about it all day. I hope they attempt to make it look slightly real. And have a proper relaunch, new set, new music, new credits. However i would be very shocked if this happen. If they were to do this then the announcement should have been the episode b4 the bash and the first trump raw could have been the episode after the bash.

[KK]

BTW, does this photo on the front page of WWE.com look like it's been photoshopped to anyone else?



There seems to be some confusion going around concerning Triple H Vs Randy Orton for next week's Raw, & whether it's for the WWE Title or not. If it is, it begs the question why you'd then purchase The Bash to see them wrestle in a normal match. And even if it isn't for the belt, the point still partially stands.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

BTW, does this photo on the front page of WWE.com look like it's been photoshopped to anyone else?



There seems to be some confusion going around concerning Triple H Vs Randy Orton for next week's Raw, & whether it's for the WWE Title or not. If it is, it begs the question why you'd then purchase The Bash to see them wrestle in a normal match. And even if it isn't for the belt, the point still partially stands.

That is actually a very bad shop, the copter is far too big. Also i've been reading up a bit on Donald Trump, he's actually not that great a businessman. Sure he is presently worth just over a billion based on his paper worth because of a few properties but he's also had some massive business failures and several of his companies have had to file for bankrupcty. Maybe he shouldn't be trusted with RAW.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

[Hank Scorpio]

Just went to watch Raw now and my Sky + hasn't even recorded it .

[KK]

I forgot to mention, major league balls up on iMPACT! this past week. Jeremy Borash was backstage interviewing Foley in his office (with his security) in a beige jacket, yet moments later when they all confronted Jeff Jarratt he was in a red shirt with a black jacket. 10 minutes after that he was backstage again interviewing Steiner & Booker T & he was wearing something else.

strawberry float all continuity.

[Zellery]

Also i've been reading up a bit on Donald Trump, he's actually not that great a businessman. Sure he is presently worth just over a billion based on his paper worth because of a few properties but he's also had some massive business failures and several of his companies have had to file for bankrupcty. Maybe he shouldn't be trusted with RAW.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

You do know that Trump hasn't really bought RAW and it's just a storyline right?

[Skippy]

Mark Drakeford sent in the following:

I have been a fan of wrestling for a long time. I've gone to ever wwe live event within a 100 mile radius of charlotte for the last 5 years. Before that I traveled to the nearest location wherever Raw or smackdown was being held. I can honestly say tonights RAW was the most fun I've had in a long time. I've been a fan since I was little. I'm now 30+ and I still turn into a kid when I go to live events. I saw something tonight in charlotte that made me more of a fan of Triple H than I ever was before.

It had nothing to do with wrestling or politics or simply getting over with the fans. It was pure class. After the matches HHH threw a T-shirt into the stands. As usual a crowd scambled to get the T-shirt. Of course, someone managed to get it. However, there was a small kid around 10-12 that got caught up in the melee. The kid was knocked down and started crying and laying on the floor. The entire time this was happening HHH didn't take his eyes off the situation. He immediately went straight threw the crowd to the little boy, picked him up and took him back into the ring.

He then gave the boy a pep talk and motioned him to pose with him around the ring. They went around the ring posing. The boy was so happy you would have thought it was Christmas. Any pain he may have felt or no matter how upset he may have been, this definitely made up for it. HHH then took the boy back, circled around the ring and then came back to the boy to make sure he was OK. This to me was a class act and made me a fan of the person along with being a fan of the wrestler. Props to HHH! Just my 2 cents.

[KK]

What's this?! A positive Triple H story? We can't be having that. Quick, put some negative spin on the situation...

[Chocolate Jim]

errr Triple H sucks ... booo hiss!

[teh bork]

errr Triple H sucks ... booo hiss!

I have nothing against him as a person, seems a top, top bloke towards the fans from all these accounts of him that get sent in, it's just his title reigns and character are so stale at the moment and the fact that he's been in a title match pretty much every PPV he's been in since Mania 24, bar the Rumble, is just annoying.

[Chocolate Jim]

The plan is for HHH and Randy Orton to have the last man standing match on Raw next week, and then to have a rematch at The Bash.

Ahh yes this makes perfect sense ... make fans pay for a rematch of the Backlash rematch ... which was a rematch at Wrestlemania ... I can see the $$$ now

[KK]

The WWE have been doing this quite a bit recently. Having the match on free TV (Edge Vs Jeff Hardy, CM Punk against Umaga for example) & then sticking it on PPV a few days later. Counter-productive surely? They're relying solely on the added stipulation. For Orton & Triple H however, they've gone in reverse.

During last night's broadcast of Raw in Canada, they ran commercials promoting the "Night of Champions PPV" in July, but nothing for "The Bash".

Errors on TV, lack of matches for their PPVs, advertising cock ups, daft booking...


OMG IT'S...



..CIRCA 1999.

[KK]

Raw did a 3.72 cable rating, peaking with a massive 4.1 (well, compared to current trends) for the 3rd hour.

Hour 1: 3.3
Hour 2: 3.75
Hour 3: 4.1

So viewership built throughout the course of the programme - word of mouth, perhaps. Clearly quite a few people forget/didn't know about the extra hour, too.

[KK]

Talking of pathetic...

WWE stock dropped as much as 6.7 percent on Tuesday and at least one stock exchange analyst is blaming the Donald Trump storyline. Maxwell Murphy of Dow Jones News Plus saw through the angle. "For starters, public companies don't announce mergers and acquisitions involving one of their most lucrative brands as part of staged, circus-like events," Murphy wrote. "And if, heaven forbid, they do, they certainly must file with alacrity an 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission to announce and explain the pact, which WWE hasn't done."

Murphy also noted that he contacted USA Network, which issued a press release to trumpet the storyline sale. "A USA spokesman referred questions to WWE about whether the release could mislead WWE investors who don't get the joke, or run afoul of Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules," continued Maxell. "An SEC spokesman wasn't familiar with the situation, but doubted the agency would have a comment one way or the other about the propriety of such a press release." To read the full story, visit DJNewsPlus.com.

Powell's POV: A WWE spokesperson noted that the Trump sale "will make for great television," but danced around directly admitting the sale was a storyline. As of this posting, WWE has yet to directly acknowledge the Trump story on their corporate website.

Christ the WWE must have stupid investors.

There was apathy from the crowd last night towards Trump (booing him initially), so it should be interesting to see how they react to him over the coming weeks. At the end of the day, it is quite hard to like a perceived billionaire with a comb over. It's one thing the press not buying into it, it's quite another if the fans don't.

I was hoping it was going to be Bischoff. They could have had him turn it into Nitro for a few weeks, Vince not standing for it & BOOM, something interesting (would have created more interest in The Rise & Fall of WCW DVD too). Even Stone Cold would have provided some much needed anarchy.

[IronMaiden]

Talking of pathetic...

WWE stock dropped as much as 6.7 percent on Tuesday and at least one stock exchange analyst is blaming the Donald Trump storyline. Maxwell Murphy of Dow Jones News Plus saw through the angle. "For starters, public companies don't announce mergers and acquisitions involving one of their most lucrative brands as part of staged, circus-like events," Murphy wrote. "And if, heaven forbid, they do, they certainly must file with alacrity an 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission to announce and explain the pact, which WWE hasn't done."

Murphy also noted that he contacted USA Network, which issued a press release to trumpet the storyline sale. "A USA spokesman referred questions to WWE about whether the release could mislead WWE investors who don't get the joke, or run afoul of Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules," continued Maxell. "An SEC spokesman wasn't familiar with the situation, but doubted the agency would have a comment one way or the other about the propriety of such a press release." To read the full story, visit DJNewsPlus.com.

Powell's POV: A WWE spokesperson noted that the Trump sale "will make for great television," but danced around directly admitting the sale was a storyline. As of this posting, WWE has yet to directly acknowledge the Trump story on their corporate website.

Christ the WWE must have stupid investors.

There was apathy from the crowd last night towards Trump (booing him initially), so it should be interesting to see how they react to him over the coming weeks. At the end of the day, it is quite hard to like a perceived billionaire with a comb over. It's one thing the press not buying into it, it's quite another if the fans don't.

I was hoping it was going to be Bischoff. They could have had him turn it into Nitro for a few weeks, Vince not standing for it & BOOM, something interesting (would have created more interest in The Rise & Fall of WCW DVD too). Even Stone Cold would have provided some much needed anarchy.

God no. It's not the 90s anymore. We need new stuff, not rehashed feuds from an era most of the target audience can't even remember.

The Trump stuff is pretty sh*tty, but at least it's something different. Orton - HHH on the other hand .