Burgundy LaRue

The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg likely played a part. Cable news shows likely went way up.

Jey Uso is going to die.

And The Yard is now Reigns Island. The big takeaway from the Reigns/Heyman promo for me was Heyman's body language. Whenever he cuts a promo for Brock, he and Heyman often stand side by side. With Roman, Heyman was standing behind and to the side. Almost hiding. He also referred to Roman as 'sir' when they were talking with Jey. Brock has been rough around the edges with Heyman, but there was a sense that they liked each other. Roman gives off no such vibes. And Heyman seems scared of him. This Roman is ice cold. Not sure he's a heel still, he hasn't done anything that bad. That can

Yep. Not being able to use their WWE monikers to promote their outside interests is the key. Which makes the situation much different.

Seems like Bix looked at the contract language. Contracts say wrestlers should ask for permission before doing anything and WWE gets a 10% fee. Folks probably stopped asking whether they could do it and WWE has caught wind of it. That's a bit more understandable, but being draconian about it isn't ever going to be a good look. There was a rumor going around a while ago about WWE wanting to do a PR/talent agency sort of setup to match wrestlers with promotional gigs. They do that already to a degree, but this was supposed to be a more formal arrangement. If they've got wrestlers making mon

If winning their tag matches or getting the big spots are the typical indicators, Raquel has moved ahead on the depth chart. They also having her in line for a future match with Rhea, which is nothing to sneeze at.

They've hinted at that a few times: Heyman doing his introduction bit for Roman, speaking in Samoan while saying he understands how Roman was raised as part of a dominant wrestling family. Heyman has referenced his connection to the Anoa'i family several times when interacting with Reigns. Unintentionally, they've built a 5-year story arc with Roman and Heyman.

This shift in Roman's character is happening because there's no live audience to overtake it in either direction. That, and Roman likely wanted to do something different on his return. May as well experiment and see where it goes. It's grabbing attention, if nothing else. I don't think it's a turn. It's more of The Guy tweener persona Roman has tapped into at times over the years. Him beating up Bray and Braun doesn't make for being evil, considering how they've treated Alexa. Roman's fans aren't going to boo him, anyway. Having Heyman adds ambiguity, but that can be explained as Rom

His mother turned 100 earlier this year. Drug use and never sleeping may play a role in whether he makes it that long. But there's a template for Vince surviving another quarter-century.

That's the thing. None of the promotions are clean. WWE/NXT have Riddle and Dream. ROH has Scrull. Some are trying to ignore Ospreay enabling his friend. AEW has Roberts and Havoc. Even Guevara being back feels scummy. Legally, WWE clearly thinks Dream isn't going to be arrested and charged. I can't imagine they'd bring him back if there was any chance of that happening. That doesn't mean he or the others are innocent. They should not be on TV at all until all the issues are completely resolved and the investigation being transparent for fans. It's the greatest disappointment to

The Retribution stuff is penny-ante when we've got Rollins/Murphy hazing Dominik and Orton calling Flair a sick old famewhore with worthless sons before concussing him.

Rollins is a guy who, even when you understand what he's trying to say, does such a bad job of presenting his case and almost always comes off bad as a result.

Death by Fozzy concert. That exists in 2020.

I'd guess USA has talked with WWE about doing something to bring up the ratings, especially Hour 3. Try to surprise the home audience, get them talking enough to bring in other viewers. Will it work? Probably not, but I can see the purpose behind it.

If one was OK with the Thatcher-Riddle fight pit match, then the 'shoot fighting' of Raw Underground shouldn't be that far out. Nothing they did last night was remotely close to Brawl for All. With how the wrestlers were used, there's not a separation to where they said 'this is fake, that is real.' WWE presented a grindhouse show with influence from Lucha Underground. I haven't watched Chikara, but I believe those who say they had something similar lined up. But their company fell apart--which has been discussed at length. WWE was looking for something new for Hour 3, they had been