Burgundy LaRue

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 Roman looking out for himself. Making sure he's treated as the superstar he is, getting paid accordingly, etc. It comes across as methodical and smart to how WWE actually works. And they can shift his tendencies depending on who he faces. Reigns is one of the few characters to whom they can add layers of gray to and it not feel forced. And he's still the main focus of SD. So it's a no-lose situation at the moment.

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 know how many found the courage to come forward during Speaking Out, and we're back to the same mindset a few weeks later. I'm not surprised. But disappointed for sure.

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 in talks with Chikara, and Shane has always wanted do something like this. So they went for it. Will it work long-term? Will it work at all? Probably not. Just because someone isn't ripping it to shreds doesn't mean we think it's all rosy. If you don't like it or think it's doomed to fail, that's fine. I don't think it's going to last beyond a few weeks. But there's no need to berate anyone whose opinion doesn't line up with what you're thinking. I've been told that's the point of the board.

Good points made here. There are things that need to be improved upon, like the overdose of camera cuts. But the concept of another world within RAW that's loosely connected to the regular show while doing live-action backstage segments has potential. The million-dollar question is whether Vince will stick with it long enough to give it an actual chance. If they embrace the absurdity of it, it can work. Big if, though.

She tweeted because folks are ragging on her for it. Which is par for the course with women in the wrestling business, and especially Black women like Naomi, who is constantly told she belongs on a stripper pole instead. Why shouldn't she defend herself?

Jason Jordan was fantastic and coming into his own as the passive-aggressive, spoiled brat pseudo face. His neck injury was a blow.

The length of Naomi's hair isn't why it's tone deaf.

Because Lacey wouldn't flip over and actually take the bump for it. I hate garbage like that. Either take the bump or flat out say you don't want to try the move. And they still have Lacey messing with Naomi's hair, which is tone deaf on every level. Taking Alexa to presumably appease Braun to stay under Fiend's control has potential.

I mentioned Sasha because while her match with Asuka started during Hour 2, it went into Hour 3. The decreased ratings are probably two-fold: some being turned off by yet another weird finish AND Drew-Ziggler being for nothing, which I noted. I wasn't putting down Sasha and Bayley. I respect most of their act and think it could sustain itself for a while longer under better circumstances. But it's getting overdone. That's not on them. Just pointing out what most of us see.

That third hour is concerning. The first two are par for the course, but big YIKES to Hour 3. Not surprising, though. Between running another WTF finish with Asuka/Sasha and doing a second Extreme Rules match with McIntyre/Ziggler where they didn't even bother putting the title on the line, there was bound to be a drop. They've leaned in too far with Bayley/Sasha and have pretty much sacrificed both women's divisions. McIntyre/Orton will be at least good, but predictable. Then again, who else is there to face Drew right now? The eye for an eye saga has jumped the shark to where Jaws has skid marks on his dorsal fin. Andrade/Garza will fight for the tag belts, despite losing to Street Profits recently. They shouldn't have had Ali face Lashley so soon, let him get a couple of more wins while his return is still fresh. Nothing is terrible to a point of no return, but nearly everything is overbooked or redundant. Which is worse.

Vince should hand Brock and Roman blank checks. They're the only two who have a chance of pulling up the numbers. At this rate, I'd probably put the belt on Orton. Didn't imagine saying that in 2020. McIntyre's giving it his all, but I can't bring myself to care that much. Nia-Shayna are lucky. By being in their own story, they won't be consumed by Bayley-Sasha, who have drained the women's division as much as Charlotte has been accused of doing. I don't mean that as a knock against their hard work. They're doing a good job. But it's getting repetitive and it's clear they're trying to hold off with Bayley vs Sasha until they have a real audience back. If this leads to Asuka destroying them like a revenge movie anti-heroine though, that will be fun. They've got to stop with the eyeball stuff. Kudos to Dominik on his kendo stick swinging. I thought the episode was OK, but it's like watching a hamster run on its wheel.

If ratings continue to slip, Vince will be calling to Pensacola every day. Every standard match was well-wrestled tonight. The wrestlers should be commended. Do we know if Kofi is alive? Wow, did he take a hellacious bump to end the tag match. If a show is headlined by a Swamp Fight and an Eye for an Eye contest, we know silliness will follow. I'm not surprised at the goofiness of the fake eyeball. What I wasn't expecting was Rollins vomiting everywhere. Though credit to him for presumably hurling chunks on command. The Swamp Fight meandered in spots, but it was the B-level horror movie I expected. Using Alexa as Braun's version of Sister Abigail was a nice touch, if creepy in its connotation. We don't know if Abigail even existed, so it stands to reason that someone's version of her is whatever they project toward that idea. The Asuka/Sasha finish was a total mess. I get what they're going for, but it was too complicated for its own good. The camera angles were bad. We saw Rey not that close to the stairs as his 'eye' was being popped out, Kairi handing Asuka a mist packet, and McIntyre slapping his leg on the Claymore in slow-motion replay. Come on, WWE. Do better. If anything, they needed to go further with the wackiness. There's no point in trying to be serious. Not saying every match has to be OTT, but embrace all the goofiness and see where it goes. I need to watch this again, because I'm not sure how I feel. I don't hate it. But I can't say I like it, either. Save for the Asuka/Sasha finish, nothing irritated me. It just feels weird. Which, considering the show's theme, isn't a surprise.

One of the few shakeup cards they have is to send Undisputed Era to RAW and have Cole pick up where he left off with McIntyre when the latter was still in NXT. But even that comes with the caveat of Cole being small and physically unimpressive. Vince may take a better look at him and not want to bother. And that speaks to one of the larger problems: HHH does fine with promoting most of his NXT talent. But that talent eventually makes their way to RAW or SD with Vince. And a lot of those men/women aren't to Vince's liking. Which HHH should know, having been around Vince for over 25 years. So much of entertainment is compartmentalized now. Outside of certain movies, most everything we watch fits into its own category. Wrestling is niche on a good day. Factor in the no-crowd pandemic era with their biggest stars not on TV for the foreseeable future, and this is what we get from WWE. They need to revamp their overall creative process, to be sure. But I don't think even that would help much in the moment.

Here's the thing: when he signed up for Cameo a couple of months ago, Roman initially charged $250. Pricey, but in keeping with what WWE sets for his Premium VIP meet and greets during Wrestlemania weekend. Apparently, he was bombarded with requests. He had to adjust his rate a couple of times to get his supply vs demand formula right. And I'm pretty sure Roman is up to $600 per request now, if the screencap I saw a few days ago was accurate. I can't imagine paying a month's car note for a "How ya doing, thanks for the support, hello to your grandma, stay healthy" video. But Roman seems to be doing Cameos regularly even at his higher price. I imagine Alexa will have similar success. That's the case with those who want to be close to celebrities for any number of reasons. Soap opera stars used to make a mint doing luncheons and weekend cruises for diehard followers. It feels personal, even though it's 100% a business transaction. My only surprise is WWE hasn't found a way to get a cut of wrestlers' profits yet.

Which is silly in hindsight, because the conversations in that forum were some of the best on the board. Nearly everyone was respectful. There used to be a guy who posted a superhero comic in the Miscellaneous subforum. The lead character was named Carl, I think. I believe it was a L.A. Park who posted them? They were great, I miss them.

They, along with Mia Yim and Jessamyn Duke, share a house. Shayna has also popped up on their streams here and there, from what I've seen on social media. Not saying they aren't together. As you mentioned, there is circumstantial evidence that makes it plausible.

And on top of WWE not testing, a lot of talent aren't social distancing at all. Several wrestlers went to Vegas to celebrate Billie Kay's birthday recently. No masks, around others not part of their entourage, the whole nine. So yeah, Vince is messing up. But the wrestlers are no better.

I just saw someone random talking about it, but I'd wager they got it from SRS. So that's a bad sign.

Don't know if it's been confirmed by a reputable reporter yet, but some are saying WWE now has over two dozen positive tests across wrestlers and staff. Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn are geniuses. The new Two-Man Power Trip.

Gionna Daddio is pretty good, too.