Cobra Commander Posted March 5 Posted March 5 the Zoe Hines signing makes me think of a "too complex for Wrestling" storyline of a nepohire who actually wants to not be seen as a nepohire, but their relatives won't shut the fuck up about how they got him/her the job through connections then again, I liked the "David Flair is winning matches in 1999 through chicanery" WCW storyline that was unpopular since David Flair was a bad worker and internet people of 1999 wanted a Benoit title reign instead
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 5 Author Posted March 5 Road Dogg is apparently gone from WWE. He was co-lead writer for Smackdown over the last year. 1
Eivion Posted March 8 Posted March 8 Caught Vengeance Day a bit late since for whatever reason the rewind option was notworking for the live show like it used to. Jaida/Blake was a decent plunder match, but never quite hit that next gear it needed to. Not big on Blake winning with how much she continues to fail at delivering in the ring in these feuds. There are just too many other women in the division who are better performer in the ring and overall to be moving out of the way for Blake even with her history of success in AEW & Stardom. To be fair its not like she is bad. She just hasn't delivered much more than above average in her bigger matches. Tony/Dion was pretty damn awesome. Its was 1/3 parking lot brawl, 1/3 backstage brawl, & 1/3 actual match. I loved every bit of it with plenty of hate, action, and drama throughout alongside an excellent flow. This was easily Dion Lennox's best performance while Tony himself is every bit as good as he was when he took on Oba, maybe even better. Hopefully we see more good things to come from all involved this year. Tatum/Izzi was damn good and Izzi's best match so far. Loved the action and how much Izzi broke down with each major fall late in. The finish was both dumb but kind of neat with the crowd completely buying into it. The segment for the Jacy vs. Sol vs. Zaria setup was fine. Zaria and Sol aren't the strongest on the mic though Jacy did a decent job selling herself. The segment was better for the later brawling. Have to say I'm pleased we are getting this in Houston instead of Stand & Deliver. Hopefully that title match will be a proper singles. Lola/Kelani was exactly what it needed to be and pretty enjoyable. Dug the action, Kelani's focus on Lola's hand, and that recently found arrogance coming back to bite her in the ass at the end. Lola's family watching with Kelani being a dick to Lola's dad was fun to see. Hendry/Saints built into something good with them doing a nice tease of Page wanting the NXT again. Enjoyed the finish with Saints getting a taste of his own medicine. Thought the show was pretty nice as a whole. The opener with Blake/Jaida was the weakest match here, but the rest was good. Tony/Dion was MOTN for me though I didn't find Tatum/Izzi too far behind. It was good to see the crowd pretty excited for everything and add to the atmosphere.
stuntmanc Posted March 8 Posted March 8 I'm really curious what the long term plan is with D'Angelo. He's been in NXT since it went away from the Black and Gold era and outside of my own bias against the gimmick at the outset, he's been consistently good to great in-ring, has a good look, is bigger than you'd expect and his promos are on an upward slant. I just wonder if there is ever going to be a plan for him on the main roster, or if he is going to be the constant veteran on the brand. I'd hate to see him lost in the shuffle on the main roster, but i wouldn't mind seeing him get a shot at it either.
HumanChessgame Posted March 8 Posted March 8 28 minutes ago, stuntmanc said: I'm really curious what the long term plan is with D'Angelo. He's been in NXT since it went away from the Black and Gold era and outside of my own bias against the gimmick at the outset, he's been consistently good to great in-ring, has a good look, is bigger than you'd expect and his promos are on an upward slant. I just wonder if there is ever going to be a plan for him on the main roster, or if he is going to be the constant veteran on the brand. I'd hate to see him lost in the shuffle on the main roster, but i wouldn't mind seeing him get a shot at it either. I've been wondering the same. That dated mafia gimmick didn't do him any favors, but he showed he's one of those people who can run with whatever material he's been given. Of all the home grown NXT guys that have come along in the past few years, I think he's probably the best or at least close to it and is ready for a main roster run.
Eivion Posted March 8 Posted March 8 5 hours ago, stuntmanc said: I'm really curious what the long term plan is with D'Angelo. He's been in NXT since it went away from the Black and Gold era and outside of my own bias against the gimmick at the outset, he's been consistently good to great in-ring, has a good look, is bigger than you'd expect and his promos are on an upward slant. I just wonder if there is ever going to be a plan for him on the main roster, or if he is going to be the constant veteran on the brand. I'd hate to see him lost in the shuffle on the main roster, but i wouldn't mind seeing him get a shot at it either. Most of the 2.0 gimmicks were pretty blatant attempts to sabotage NXT so I'm not shocked he didn't move up with his. He has been ready for a good year or two to move up, but I think they wanted a reset first. I also think they probably didn't know what they wanted that reset to be. I assume his current run in NXT leads to him becoming champ for a stint before losing the belt to the next big heel and moving up either in the fall or next year. 4 hours ago, HumanChessgame said: I've been wondering the same. That dated mafia gimmick didn't do him any favors, but he showed he's one of those people who can run with whatever material he's been given. Of all the home grown NXT guys that have come along in the past few years, I think he's probably the best or at least close to it and is ready for a main roster run. Its between Oba, Tony, & Bron for the best homegrown guys. I don't think any of them would be a wrong pick.
username Posted March 9 Posted March 9 Yeah I think D'Angelo was simply a victim of his gimmick, calling him up with it would have been a death sentence and they likely decided that they'd like for him to have some reps with a new one rather than have to just debut on Raw/SD with one cold turkey.
hammerva Posted March 9 Posted March 9 So why are people on social media shitting on Thea Hail besides the usual answer of men being creepy assholes
Casey Posted March 9 Posted March 9 I'm gonna go with either a) Blake Monroe stans or b) workrate dweebs who think because she botches sometimes she's bad.
Eivion Posted March 9 Posted March 9 38 minutes ago, Casey said: I'm gonna go with either a) Blake Monroe stans or b) workrate dweebs who think because she botches sometimes she's bad. Its almost certainly A for the most part. I recall stans harping on Jaida Parker for suplex botch was mostly Blake's fault because she insisted on lifting Jaida instead of trying to get their timing down correctly.
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 9 Author Posted March 9 Oh, look at who thinks they're better than pro wrestling now... "The industry has passed me by." lol
DMJ Posted March 9 Posted March 9 Google says Pat McAfee makes over $17M from ESPN and FanDuel and whatever other ventures not including WWE, implying that $$$ was not his main motivator for going into wrestling. And while that is probably true, it doesn't mean it wasn't a motivator either. Being a regular commentator meant making towns and travel means time and time is money. I assume the WWE was paying him much, much more than a Corey Graves or a Booker T or even Michael Cole (though, maybe Cole makes more because he's also a producer/executive?). And I assume, like any "name" talent, when it came time for renegotiation, McAfee asked for a little more. And TKO isn't going to pay him. TKO has proven to be much more driven by the bottom line than Vince was. I think Vince saw bringing in the Tysons and McAfees and Ronda Rouseys of the world as ways to make headlines, get mainstream attention, legitimize the WWE, etc. and I don't think TKO sees that as necessary in 2026 when WWE is such an established brand. Call it an "old school" mentality or whatever, but at least part of Vince cared about the TV ratings and the domestic attendance figures even as he also recognized and drove the business' shift towards guaranteed rights fees and partnerships with Saudi Arabia. TKO probably couldn't care less about the amount of eyeballs they get as long as the eyeballs they get are spending $800 a year on tickets and merch. I think Vince still saw value in chasing a broader reach of fans, even if they were only good for the $9.99 Network subscription back in the day. McAfee is simply not a worthwhile investment. There is zero evidence outside of the pop he gets when he shows up that anybody is tuning in to see him or that he's such an amazing commentator that he deserves to make 3x-5x what Wade Barrett does. Maybe at one point McAfee might've sold some tee-shirts or gotten some buzz for appearing for the WWE, but that was when he was a novelty. Like Logan Paul, the novelty wears off after awhile and when you become just another commentator/wrestler, the question becomes how much more valuable are you than every other commentator/wrestler. 6
NoFistsJustFlips Posted March 10 Posted March 10 While that's all true, I'd venture to say Travis Scott made more money for his walk in at Wrestlemania than any of the boys did. The pay structure for "celebrities" can't really be compared to the active roster. And for better or worse McAfee is a known quantity with multiple ESPN shows and a huge You Tube following. So I understand him assuming his value is more than the value of Corey Graves or Wade Barret or whatever. Doesn't mean I agree with it. But the financials of wrestling are out of whack like that. Outsiders that can potentially bring new eyes in are so much more valuable than the every day grinders already in the bubble.
username Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Pat more or less said before that his schedule with making WWE shows was just too much and seriously burning him out, and given him and his wife are currently expecting their second child I assume it's just more than he's willing to handle right now and that's probably the why of everything. If he could get by doing only a few months a year maybe he would, if he was available all year WWE would probably be more interested back, I think it's just no longer the fit it once was so they're both just gonna go off on their own ways. I'm not the biggest fan of the guy but it seems pretty reasonable. 1
odessasteps Posted March 11 Posted March 11 I saw someone mention he often didn’t know all the angles, understands so, being there only part of the time.
Shartnado Posted March 11 Posted March 11 On 3/9/2026 at 1:24 PM, hammerva said: So why are people on social media shitting on Thea Hail besides the usual answer of men being creepy assholes Who in their right mind would ever shit on Thea F'n Hale? There's something wrong with them! 1
Cliff Hanger Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Stand And Deliver will be a YouTube exclusive in the US this year. God help their chat mods. 3
Casey Posted March 12 Posted March 12 (edited) They fired Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock because, according to her, she did a freestyle wrestling tournament (and won) on her weekend off without their approval. EDIT: okay she might’ve been describing a dream she had, which is weird because it’s something they’d 100% do lmao Edited March 12 by Casey
Dolfan in NYC Posted March 12 Author Posted March 12 Sarah Sherman's evil twin just got signed to NXT: 1 1
Bustronaut Posted March 13 Posted March 13 Bless her for doing the lucha diving headbutt (in the corner) It really needs to become more common in the US, far less chance of CTE
Pete Posted March 13 Posted March 13 WON: Dirty Dom wants an apuestas with Penta at Mania. Hair vs mask and title, which seems awfully one-sided.
Cliff Hanger Posted March 13 Posted March 13 3 hours ago, Pete said: WON: Dirty Dom wants an apuestas with Penta at Mania. Hair vs mask and title, which seems awfully one-sided. Somebody's tired of spending 30+ minutes washing their hair 3
Recommended Posts