garynysmon

To get around that they could do what they did when Bret first returned in January 2010.

 

Vince brought him back and gave him the red carpet treatment, the crowd went wild, and then he kicked him in the bollocks revealing his true feelings that Bret wasn't really welcome in his ring anymore.

 

One of the people in power (Vince, HHH, and/or Stephanie) could bring Hogan back for the Rumble and then arrange for him to be screwed out of winning it.

To be honest, I was trying to think of scenarios that would avoid having to take a top rope bump.

Would this work to get Hulk Hogan involved in a Wrestlemania match?

Have Hulk Hogan come out number 28 or 29 in the Rumble to the shock of everyone, wanting 'one more shot' at the title only to be attacked while making his way to the ring by someone acting on behalf of Triple H/McMahon laying him out and costing him his big chance. Triple H comes out the next night on Raw and says Hogan's time has been and that 'It's not right for business' or whatever.

Somehoe of another this would pave the way for a big Hogan/Big Show v Triple H and Vince McMahon match, meaning Hulk's physical involvement would be minimial and letting him set out into the sunset at the biggest stage.

I'd like wwe to do another 40 Man or 45 even Royal Rumble, next year would be a good time to bust it out with Mania being 30 they could say guys are coming out the woodwork for once last shot at glory,

the legend/old guy appearance is always fun and popular so have more of them like Godfather, Scotty 2 Hotty, Xpac, Outlaws, Koko b Ware, DDP etc

I love that idea. Would guys like the Warrior be able to take part even?

-- I know he dislikes the Hollywood aspect, but I think it's an absolute necessity. They don't always get it right in creative, but it's something you should absolutely strive for if you want to try and rub shoulders with the Hollywood types. It's what makes WWE the WWE and not some bog-standard promotion running out of a tiny building. It's about glitz, glamour and doing stuff with a flourish and a polish which lets you know "this is proper wrestling" and this is where the big boys play (no pun intended).

But let's look back at the late 80's, for argument's sake. The product back then gave the impression of being "proper wrestling" and 'where the big boys play' but still didn't come across as anywhere near as stage managed as it does today. There's a way of doing it without being quite so polished and having everyone tow the party line of both heels and faces wearing cancer pink ribbons (a noble a cause as that is).

No matter how hard the WWE tries, it won't be Hollywood.

I don't really believe the ratings or PPVs would have been much different if Bryan was replaced with Kofi or Kane.

In many ways, the WWE would be quite happy with that though. Somehow, they've managed to project the WWE as the star attraction, with the actual wrestlers on the show being a side to it. Look at the adverts during RAW etc for the UK Tours. It's all 'WWE Live' where you can see such stars as..... Back in the day the house shows were being sold on the headliners of the day being advertised months before the match would eventually appear on PPV (if at all).

The show is too polished for my liking these days. My favourite year to this day is 1997, it was the polar opposite of now really.

As a non regular WWE viewer these days, I tend to dip in now and again when I read about something interesting, and watched the RAW replay accordingly to see the Shawn Michaels segment more than anything.

I've read a lot that WWE have fucked up Daniel Bryan's push recently, but all I could think about while watching the segment was how such a weird looking bloke had made it so far up the card in the first place?

I can't imagine Vince McMahon allowing a small-ish bloke that looks like a hobo anywhere near the title picture back in the day. He needs a shave, that beard is ridiculous now.

It's a testament to his popularity though that the crowd were booing HBK, and you can't even say that the audience were kids as most of the WWE's audience are around my age and should remember his whole career really.

I've lost a lot of patience with TNA over the past year, and as Ian said, a sale and a real makeover is what's needed. That said, I quite like the Impact365 segments, although everyone knows they'll give up after two months or so.

Bringing Anderson back is the dumbest thing they have done this year

This. And that's saying something....

I've never heard of anyone thinking ECW was real before.

 

Take it for what it's worth, but Paul Heyman said, maybe on The Rise + Fall of ECW documentary, that they had trouble getting on networks because people thought "oh those guys are real".

I was a bit old to be fooled by it by the time it appeared on SKY, but I did manage to convince my sister it was 'real wrestling'.

The 95 crew in 2013.

It's great to see them looking so happy. Love that photo.

I'll never tire of listening to Nash tbh.

I know they're not strictly shoots, but the recent Steve Austin Show interviews with Bruce Pritchard and X-Pac have been outstanding.

In regards to someone buying the company, Easy E's line in the Monday Night Wars dvd springs to mind - you're buying the TV slot, everything else is pretty much worthless without it.

And I wouldn't fancy my chances buying the rest of the package and trying to tout it to a TV or online platform.

The only selling point is that you have a company that can average a 1.0 cable rating over a substantial time period, which some cable TV networks will view favourably. That's better than going in there with a brand new company I suppose.

I'm not convinced that in 2013, Eric Bischoff is the guy to run a national wrestling company. He's got a set formula of getting Hulk on board and signing a few established stars, and that's certainly worked in the past. He's also done a fair job as a TV producer.

But in all honestly, who's out there not tied into a WWE contract or even legends deal?

I doubt he'd find a business partner with the resources of a Ted Turner, as that's what it would take to pry away some of the WWE's biggest stars when their contracts expire. But would they even move? I doubt some of them would consider moving even if their salary was doubled as a lot of the guys like CM Punk don't seem like money marks to me, compared to the 80's old-school attitude.

Strangely, I enjoyed Impact this week more than I have in quite some time. It seemed pretty 'big time' for a change, which is quite ironic as they're regressing back to the Impact Zone in a matter of weeks.

I know Bret vs Shawn was on the cards at one point for WM13. Was Taker vs Sid always the plan? What would Austin have done had Bret vs Shawn gone ahead? Even the Owen/Bulldog vs Vader/Mankind match seemed cobbled together just to get those four on the card. If you look at the way things were going on TV in late 96-early 97, it looked like Owen vs Bulldog was likely for Mania. And didn't Foley say him and Terry Funk were going to do a big hardcore match on the show as well? Or was that the year after? Could have been a completely different card but in hindsight it worked out for the best with how Bret vs Austin played out.

That was for 14 but was apparently changed because the WWF were a bit scared how the increased media presence (because of Tyson) would react. So they changed it to the Dumpster Match against the NAO.

Sting's a super hard worker. He's 55. He has way more fire and gets the crowd buzzing far more than Magnus or Gunner does. And people appreciate him and love watching him because he's Sting. If you want good wrestling you go and watch Revolution Pro. TNA is asking you to pay big money for a ticket. And you pay that money to see legends and big stars. And the fact is more people would rather watch Sting than they would Bobby Roode.

Agreed. The lack of star power is poor but if Jeff Hardy is the alternative, then sod it. Can't stand him.

I was under the impression that Manchester would be an Impact taping and having bought my ticket straight after the last tour, I'm a little underwhelmed. I'd rather see the whole roster come out once than the same 8 wrestlers come out out for match after match. (Insert your own joke here about the lack of roster depth).

Mind you, there's being negative and negative for the sake of it isn't there? I can't agree with what Pitcos said earlier. To have a wrestling company manage to survive for over 10 years in the current climate is an achievement in itself, no matter how many things they do annoy us. Starting out with weekly PPV's, which was never going to work, to steady ratings on a US cable channel isn't too bad on the face of it. That's a 'rise' isn't it?

To say TNA is an embarassing footnote is going too far, no-one's ever been forced to work there. Kurt Angle signed with TNA when the door was open to a WWE return, while Sting has been sent feelers on numerous occasions. There's a difference between preferring the WWE and just shitting on everything else for the sake of it.

Would I be speculating too much in saying that the path is clear for Jeff Jarrett to bump up his role? It does seem a bit back to the future though, and TNA is regressing back to 2007 or thereabouts. Get Petey Williams and Black Machismo back on board while they're at it.

TNA's pretty much a TV show rather than a wrestling promotion at this point.

I think you've hit the nail on the head right there.

Yeah, he bailed out after shooting off on a blog post.

Christ, look at how many stars they had just 2 years ago compared to now....

I'll try and remember but I might be playing San Andreas or losing money on William Hill and get angry and forget.

Had enough of that this weekend, dreadful weekend of results

Will pop in for Bound for Glory if anyone's around?

Bit disappointed that they're seemingly moving back to the Impact Zone. Anywhere but there!!

Wouldn't be that fussed to see John Morrison in TNA but I imagine a few people like his work. Would be better than offering Ken Anderson a new deal anyway.

What were the plans for Shawn Michaels if he hadn't fucked his back at Rumble '98? For some reason I could 've seen him turning face after Mania 14 and feuding with a still heel DX

I don't think that would have been necessary as DX with HBK on board had plenty of mileage in it. The reason Wrestlemania 14 finished as it did was because they knew HBK was fucked and wouldn't be coming back.

Sid Justice, cool as fuck.

I think TNA will move heaven and earth to re-sign Hogan but I do think Hogan would do better signing with WWE especially with WM30 round the corner.

Surely he'll be offered a mega WWE legends contract or something giving him his $1m per annum salary he wants (does he want more?) and he can pop up at major ppvs, Raws, do some promo work for WWE, video games, dvds etc keeping him in the spotlight he so desperatley craves.

With Hogan I agree. I loved being able to meet him at the fan interaction last year and was nice having him on my telly every week, but TNA simply can't afford him in his current role. Any benefits he managed to bring the company have surely worn off by now, and it doesn't seem he'll even sign for the same terms let alone reduced ones.

If he managed to wrestle a few times a year and sell a few PPV's maybe so but he really is better off in WWE given the potential for DVD's and the vast video library they have.