I just found out about Buddy Landel's unfortunate passing. He could have been one of the great ones if the pressure hadn't gotten to him. It is interesting that both he and David von Erich were supposed to win the NWA title from Ric Flair, but for different reasons, neither one did.
Pretty despicable how Kevin Owens, surely one of the best heels to enter the ring recently, is getting screwed over in a turf war between Kevin Dunn and HHH/Stephanie. Looks like he's been demoted to middle of the card status.
In spite of his dropping the NXT strap(necessary), he came out of his series with Cena looking strong. I couldn't help but remembering Chris Jericho doing the same job when Cena came in from OVW, leaving behind the Prototype gimmick. Lets see what they do with him next. That's the key.
According to what I've been reading, Owens is off the main event card. What happened (supposedly) is that Cena's merch sales were down due to all the challenges from Owens, so Owens had to lose. Plus Dunn hates anything that Steph/HHH like. I also think that Seth Rollins is going to go from heel to something else. By the way, Undertaker? Really?
And they have been portraying Lesnar as an unstoppable BEAST (which I like) and I just don't find it logical that Undertaker can over power him at his age. Brock truly is the monster they lead us to believe he is. I'm hoping a rematch doesn't do anything but put Lesnar over one more time.
Yeah, I find it ridiculous that anybody thinks Undertaker stands a chance against Lesnar, maybe if he went up against Heyman he'd win. Whoever Undertaker goes in the ring with, tag team or solo, someone is going to have to do a lot of covering for him, he's a very old 50. That free for all Monday was a waste of time.
It just got worse From the Torch Late Thursday night, WWE completely disassociated from legendary star Hulk Hogan. Hogan has been removed from the list of Tough Enough judges for the current season, his profile has been removed from nearly every aspect of WWE's website, and his merchandise has been pulled from WWE Shop. The only remaining direct reference to Hogan is on the roster for WWE's upcoming tour of Australia. Hogan was scheduled to be GM for the three-show tour in August. However, clicking on his biography page now reads: "You are not authorized to access this page." Hogan sent out a tweet late Thursday night/early Friday morning cryptically referring to a life/career change. "In the storm I release control,God and his Universe will sail me where he wants me to be,one love. HH," Hogan tweeted. WWE has yet to release a statement or officially comment on Hogan's status this late at night. It remains to be seen what prompted such a sudden dissociation from Hogan. MORE UPDATES ON FRIDAY... second entry Hulk Hogan is gone from WWE. WWE says they terminated Hogan's contract, while Hogan's attorney told TMZ that Hogan resigned late Thursday night. This follows information spreading late Thursday about Hogan using the n-word and other derogatory, racially-driven remarks on the tape containing sexual acts involving Hogan and Heather Clem, the ex-wife of radio host Bubba the Love Sponge, that was recorded in 2006. The racially-driven rant was reported in October 2012 after a collection of tapes were viewed by an insider with knowledge of the contents. It appears the rant came up again in a court hearing on July 2 when the FBI's investigation created awareness that there were more audio tapes. Now three weeks later, it appears audio of Hogan's rants was set to go public, prompting WWE to completely disassociate from Hogan. WWE told TMZ on Friday that they received a transcript of comments made on the tape and they believe the full text will come out during Hogan's court trial with Gawker later this year. After investigating the transcript, WWE decided to sever ties with Hogan. TMZ reports that the tape includes Hogan using the n-word to describe his daughter, Brooke Hogan, dating an African-American. There is another report that Hogan allegedly used racially-driven language to describe "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson. http://www.nationalenquirer.com/cel...-tape-saying-n-word-daughter-brooke-exclusive http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/hulk-hogan-been-booted-out-6128187 http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/hulk-hogan-removed-wwe-curtis-6130474
An exlcusive thread here: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...idence-of-hulk-hogans-existence.450436/page-4
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...currently-reading-chapter-four.314731/page-47 I just posted this a bit earlier in the off-topic section. Thought it might be of interest here.
As in-depth an interview with Roddy Piper as you will ever read. Worth going out of your way to do so. http://www.fightingspiritmagazine.c...76/rip-roddy-piper-interview-with-the-hot-rod
And now Jimmy Snuka has been arrested for murder: http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/...-superfly-snuka-charged-girlfriend-1983-death
In all honesty, Snuka was a guy who had no need for a title to get over. Some workers are like that, especially in WWF/WWE. And Andre' and Roddy Piper also were in that same category, although both were given a title win when they were past their prime, although both were just transitional. Also, Snuka is more than a little nuts. Irv Muchnick is probably whizzing himself he is so happy. I can't stand the sot.
Depends on what you like. There are things besides WWE available on TV or streaming. TNA. Lucha Underground. Ring of Honor. GFW (soon). Some love the Japanese Federations. None of them hold my attention, but each of them is different and they might work better for you
Right now the best thing WWE produces, IMO, is "NXT". Of course you have to subscribe to their network to see it. It has none of the bloat, endless product placement and social media mentions that the other WWE shows have. The crowds at the TV tapings are fantastic - loaded with smarks but ones who are into the show. Heels and babyfaces emerge much more organically than in the WWE's "major league", where the crowd turned on Roman Reigns nearly a year ago (and John Cena 5 years ago) and they remain babyfaces no matter what.
I love NXT... Alexa Bliss with Blake & Murphy are the second greatest faction in the WWE these days (right behind New Day). I marked out for the James Storm spot last night (even though I knew it was coming)... hope they let him raise a little hell... I think the NXT/WWE crowd would get behind a 3:16 2.0 gimmick. You have William Regal running the place as a 'general manager' should run a place. Looking forward to the 'Breaking Ground' series. Speaking of the NXT crowd... sometimes they get a little too smart for their own good... loved it when Kevin Owens came out a few weeks ago and put them in their place... lol!
I've been a WWF/WWE fan since Bruno had the belt (yes, I'm OLD) and it's difficult to understand how the success of NXT doesn't seem to make a dent in the way the "main roster" programs are produced. Yes, the talent comes up to the main roster, but the "feel" of NXT doesn't. It's now to a point where I never even bother with "Smackdown", and at best "Raw" gets a look during commercial breaks on "Monday Night Football". But I never miss "NXT". I think they should have saved James Storm for a live broadcast. His appearance was "spoiled" by everyone (WWE themselves included). Just my opinion, but it looks like it wouldn't hurt James to spend a few months on the "Bull Fit!" program (TM).
Well there will be an NXT presence on SD tonight. They feed the NXT stars to the WWE machine and more times than not, it just doesn't go well. The 'Divas Revolution' is a joke... they took real game changers and put them into the familiar WWE diva's storylines based on jealousy and the 'archaic' way that guys like Vince and Michael Hayes perceive women... no revolution, just new faces forced into the same old same old. I'm also an old fan (Graham was the champ when I started watching so you have me by a few years) and it's sad to say but things will not change until Vince passes and Triple H truly takes the reins (no pun inteneted). Once Triple H infuses the NXT mentality of professional wrestling into the main roster (not just the NXT superstars), things will be very interesting and exciting for the fans. Oh by the way... Asuka has the best entrance theme I've heard in years. And please replace Saxton & JBL with Corey Graves asap!
