JonnyLaw

I could see ticket sales for live events/TV following a similar pattern to NXT, on a larger scale, where the tickets are hot for their first time or two around, but interest drops slightly as the novelty wears off.

Same here, plus the lighter tone helps the Vulture reveal land as a fun and games are over/shit just got real moment.

I saw Dillinger/a just called up Corbin vs Nakmura/Balor at a NXT house show right after Nakamura faced Sami and as the Ten gimmick was still new (he was still a heel), and I thought he was the highlight of the match. I think he’s clearly better than what he showed on the main roster, but a) that’s a low bar and b) still not saying he’s going to be great.

Interesting.

Solomon Crowe may have been the single worst debut in NXT (not debuts as jobbers).

I need to catch up on NXT, because my reaction reaction reading the spoilers was

It’s going to be very hard for anyone to match the surprise of Luger (or Rude) showing up, because I don’t think WWE is going to let anyone get to the point where they’re still on TV with an expiring deal. Instead, they’re trying to get people to renew well in advance, and if they don’t, I think you’ll see them announce that people haven’t resigned, a la Ambrose, except it will be people like Harper who they keep off TV instead of giving them a farewell tour. I think you’re much more likely to get a big surprise from someone going from AEW to WWE instead, but even that’s a long way off.

It wouldn’t surprise me if it was either the specter of AEW, guys not wanting to sign their name over, or a combination of the two.

If he’s a heel, I can see a “BAAAAAAAAAR-NEY” chant, a la the Irwin chants IRS used to get.

It’s funny that three times now Zack Ryder has had a big title win, including twice at Mania, and yet they consistently do nothing much with him afterward.

I’m hindsight, one of my favorite small things about Dustin (and I’m just going off memory) is when he’d be on WCWSN in like ‘92 and Ventura would talk about how Dustin had an advantage when locking up in a collar and elbow due to his height. As a kid who still wanted to believe, that added a lot of realism to me.

I’m bummed they’re going back to Concord instead of the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the latter’s complete failure to label the floor seats last time they were here had something to do with it.

Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

It’s definitely a N.C. thing. The general assembly slashed funding and rebates for the film industry a few years back.

I’m here for Mercy the Buzzard’s impending title reign. Tell me you can’t picture Mercy running off with the title, with R-Truth shouting “Follow that buzzard!” then Bray yelling “Yowie Wowie!”