Stoychers

Another option for Finn to turn on would be Itami. I almost forgot he was still around. It seems like a lifetime since he was last mentioned.

McGregor's fan base are particularly loyal so factor in they'd have booked flights/hotels, etc, it'd have been disappointing for them had he pulled out and waited to fight Dos Anjos at a different time. I really like the Diaz fight and we'll be straight into the shit-talking here, but WW?!!?! In his recent photos he looks mighty SWOLL but hell, that's a heck of a jump up.

Also noticed they cut out a New Day promo pre-match since they had Shane/Vince/Steph run so long. The one act that's super entertaining with a microphone and they trim their schtick down.

This makes perfect sense. If Shane wins, he controls the company and Undertaker clearly doesn't want to lose and leave Vince up shit creek because he doesn't want the streak to be ove... oh, wait. No Kevin Owens this week either. Looks like he'll be saddled in another Ziggler match down the card in Dallas for the 212th time this year, presumably because Y2AJ will most probably carry on until Jericho turns on him and they do another match at Mania.

The idea that they sign a Zack Sabre Jr and put him over in this format appeals to me. The idea of Gotch/Gable in there grounding out some high flyers also sounds like alot of fun too.

Her Twitter musings are proof that not everybody should be allowed to use social media. Hey, I guess she does have something in common with the Hulkster after all.

So this Shibata/Ishii match in Osaka was fucking insane. Those chops to the throat: Argh~!!! Going to watch the Niigata show tomorrow.

I just watched Progress 25 yesterday & whilst watching figured I'd check if they're up north any time soon, only to realise that they were in Manchester yesterday afternoon. Ugh. Next time, I'm there.

Appears TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) are headed to WWE. https://twitter.com/enuhito_eng/status/697631116392398852

Corbin/Gargano was fantastic. A really solid TV match. Well laid out. Good psychology. Great selling. I really enjoyed this. Gable/Jordan/Enzo/Cass was a fun interaction. Gable saying he was layered, and then Enzo calling him tiramisu made me laugh. Sort of worked out how they'd play out the ending but didn't factor in Asuka. Great that Asuka wasn't buddy buddy with Bayley as well, so it leaves doors open for all kinds of possibilities there.

Ugh. Defied by the twin thing. I'd be the sort of ref to fall for the switcharoo.

Misawa elbow aside, she is awful in the ring. No wait, that's fucking Brie. Yeah, sorry, she's awful.

He looked in terrible health in the documentary below but by all accounts, his life seemed to be back on an upward trajectory. Shame.

Straight from Vinnie Mac's reasons to dislike talent, and I'm sure it's just me (no really) but Emma's kneepads make her look like she has disproportionate sized legs. I know, I know, I'm going to hell, but it's a little thing that stupidly irks me.

Just watched last night's NXT episode and Santana Garrett was in there with Asuka and looked great. Shame she didn't come out Ultimo Dragon style with all the belts! Sign her up already. Thought this was a better episode than recent weeks, which had sort of been dragging for me. Even Finn, who I'd begun to slowly grow tired of, pulled me back in with Apollo. They did a great babyface/babyface match, trying to one-up one another. Their chemistry seems very good too.

WrestleXpress! Ha! I completely forgot about that. A 19 year old who wanted to set up a UK based company as the number 2 promotion behind Vince McMahon and spent time on the phone with Sonny Onoo discussing booking ideas. What a time to be alive.

I watched this show on the bus on the way to work on my iPad. I let out a loud "fucking hell!" when Cuerno dumped Fenix on his head with that package tombstone and people looked at me strangely. This is that kind of show. It just pulls you in, and you'd be a fool to fight it. The telenovela segments are just so fucking well done too, I can't get enough of them and they look even better this season. Just the perfect combination of great wrestling and engaging, progressive segments to further the story. So glad this show is back.

Be nice for Raw to open up with a McMahon Celebration, with HHH hitting Vince with a pedigree and fleeing to his Florida based territory with the belt in tow. Just a thought. I know, I know, I should have learnt my lesson by now, but I can't help myself.

This. There are two camps here- the ones saying this was the most logical choice, which I believe. The other- how do you get to this spot that this is the most logical choice? which I also believe to be true. Most of WWE's wrestlers are really, really good and they put on a great show with little help from the storylines. This rumble sets up another year of booking that goes like this: Did we have any Daniel Bryan chants? No? Check. How were the reactions for Roman? Well, tepid, but not too many boos and he got a decent pop when he first came out. WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS! I agree. The thing with Reigns/HHH is the tug-o-war between Reigns and the Authority is title related & that the Authority want their chosen champion. This in itself is a problem because everytime a babyface holds the title = Authority must end this~! So all we get month to month is Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns style burying against perceived insurmountable odds. They need to pull away from that but they've been doing this heel authority schtick for so long in different forms. That's the major detraction imo.

I really enjoyed the show until the Rumble itself drew to a dull anti-climatic end. So many better ways to book that scenario. People can say, "it was logical" but the fact that the company is booking that story to begin with, in the way it has, speaks volumes for its lack of creativity and its desire to bring about change.

The in-laws got me the Backlund book for my birthday (they had no clue what they were buying) so I'm hoping to get round to it soon enough. Really falling behind because I've got the Daniel Bryan and Don Fargo books still to read too.

I thought THIS was Jax's finisher, not the legdrop?

Wow. So, totally blown away by Nate Diaz. His boxing was sharp, staying just enough out of range to take and evade Johnson's shots and walked through those leg kicks, to unload that beautiful jab. Shit-talking afterwards didn't disappoint either. Rafael Dos Anjos was terrific too. Really dominant performance. Hellacious striking broke Cerrone's soul.

Diaz v McGregor for the King Of Shit-Talking World Championship could be the greatest thing in MMA history.

In agreement with most in that I thoroughly enjoyed both Asuka/Emma and Dash/Dawson v Enzo/Cass. Fancied Corbin to go over, with the assumption that Finn would retain, as there isn't much else for Balor to feed off of heel wise. Would love a short Corbin title run before dropping back to Finn, with Balor/Itami eventually headlining down the pipe. Struggling to get behind Apollo at all. Everything about him just falls flat with me from the moment his music hits and that bright green display lights up. It all just feel so generic. He appears to be extemely affable and a gifted athlete to boot, so I hope he draws me in over time with some sort of character definition. I've not really been into Nia Jax since her debut either. I don't quite get the smiling bit with her. It's not like she's Asuka with that eery smile of a psychopathic killer. I don't whether they're perhaps trying to play off her modelling history or not, but it seems terribly out of place.