lol oh WCW

this coloring book page looks nothing like Ric Flair. He never was that ripped ever.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BrgVJVRCUAA62py.jpg:large

No wonder they went out of business!

first glance thought he was waving a nazi flag

Hulk Hogan's body and Ric Flairs Head.

Woooooo?

Hey look on the opposite page it's....Chris B- STEVEN RICHARDS!

Do you ever have the urge to smell Paige's armpits?

I was thinking that with the ladder match for the IC title coming up, they should've done a former NXT champions match/tournament where the winner would get a spot in the ladder match.

Zayn or Neville would've been the ideal ones, why not debut someone who has "it", has the skills, been on the road with them already, and has done a ladder match on live TV already?


Just a thought.

You make booking sound so simple.

Most likely he signed a deal with Lucha Underground considering they were interested in him for a while and had a meeting recently.

I was about to say russo even screws up doing a podcast

Maybe TNARick can take it over.

He posted a photo a while back of his spine being crooked. Probably ended any chance of his getting back to WWE. Am sure he didn't consider it, but WWE certainly would have taken notice

<font color=goldenrod>I do wonder how many matches will be on the WrestleMania card. Last year had just 7 matches on the main card, and one of the matches was about 2 minutes long. But in fairness there was a really long opening segment involving the 3 biggest stars in the history of the company and it made total sense given that it was a milestone Mania.

Before last year 8 matches seems to have become the norm for Mania even though it's a 4 hour show. And WWE still can't budget enough time for it, leading to some matches getting completely rushed.

With that being said I'm not sure there will be more than 8 matches again, so the card would appear to be shaping up as such:

<b>World Heavyweight Title Match</b>
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (C)

Triple H vs. Sting

Bray Wyatt vs. The Undertaker

<b>United States Title Match</b>
John Cena vs. Rusev (C)

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton

<b>Intercontinental Title Ladder Match</b>
Bad News Barrett (C) vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose vs. R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper

I don't see there being more than 6 participants. The first 5 seem like safe bets. Guessing at the last spot, I'm giving Luke Harper the nod to add another heel, he's a recent champion, and because he was great in the last ladder match he was in. But really the last spot could be Sheamus, Adrian Neville, or someone else.

<b>Divas Title Match</b>
Paige vs. Nikki Bella (C)

The clusterfuck divas match last year was a trainwreck, so going to a more conventional match makes sense. I can see it being a "Lumberjill" Match though just to get all of the girls onto the show.

<b>31 Man Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal</b>
Adam Rose, Big E, Big Show, Bo Dallas, Cesaro, Curtis Axel, Damien Mizdow, Darren Young, Diego, Erick Rowan, Fandango, Fernando, Goldust, Heath Slater, Jack Swagger, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Kalisto, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Konnor, The Miz, Ryback, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Stardust, Titus O'Neil, Tyson Kidd, Xavier Woods, Viktor, and Zack Ryder

Again, this is merely a way to get everybody onto the show. I kinda loved last year's battle royal though, it was a lot of fun.

<b>Pre Show match: Tag Team Titles</b>
The Usos vs. The Brass Ring Club (C)

---

I think the reason there are so few matches on Mania anymore is because all of the "attraction" matches seem to get 20+ minutes. As a fan, I'm actually happy Sting and Taker will be there. But frankly I don't think guys in their 50s should be going for over 20 minutes at this point. Even Reigns/Lesnar for 20 minutes is questionable but the main event of the biggest show on the year pretty much has to be that long.

If I had my doldrums I'd some shave time off of the Sting and Taker matches to avoid either man getting blown up and to maximize the novelty of their matches. I'd like to get the Tag Title match onto the main card to get every title defended on the biggest show of the year. Their battle royal spots can go to some NXT guys like Neville, Zayn, etc. who can do some cool things. It's not like losing a battle royal is going to be a black mark on them when they get called up permanently.

Would not be averse to finding a way to give Goldust and Stardust a match either. Fast Lane wasn't that good but they've been asking to wrestle at Mania for years now and if this is the end for Goldust I think he should get a reward for busting his ass for years.</font>

Mania has become too "Top Heavy", the element of spectacle has taken over the concept of putting on a wrestling show. Should there be a 10 minute "mini-concert" on the show when it means guys who've worked all year round get shunted off the show, or thrown into a multi-man match?

Is the spectacle of a returning Undertaker, a semi-retired HHH, a debut for a past-his-prime Sting, and a part-time World Champion undermining the marketability of the current, full-time wrestlers? Are WWE branding these guys with a "Not good enough for Mania" stamp? Should a Daniel Bryan, or even a Dolph Ziggler, be thrown into a clusterfuck match for a midcard title with little to no value? Those are the guys you'll have to book the company around when Sting, Taker, HHH, and maybe Brock go AWOL after Mania.

I am genuinely not interested in Wrestlemania this year, there is absolutely nothing on the card that makes me want to watch it. Reigns beating Lesnar is a lame duck. Wyatt / Taker strikes me as something that sounds better on paper than it does in reality. I've seen enough of Sting in TNA to not be excited for him wrestling HHH. Shoving most of the guys the audience actually cares about into a ladder match for the IC title is also a shitty move. Fandango doesn't even have a chance of winning the battle royale. Pass.

I've said it before but the issue is that the full-time wrestlers haven't been built up well at all through the other 11 months of the year. WrestleMania SHOULD be a spectacle. The most uninteresting match on the card should be a big deal on any other PPV. The problem isn't that the full-time guys aren't being featured over the part-timers. The problem is that the full-time guys have been built so awfully since last years WrestleMania (and for years before) that featuring them at WrestleMania over guys who are true stars would be ridiculous.

Basically, WrestleMania isn't the time to try to convince the world that guys like Dolph Ziggler are a hot commodity by suddenly treating them like something special. It's the time to reap the benefits of building them up to the point where a major spot on the WrestleMania card makes sense and draws people's attention.

Cesaro won it last year. I'm gonna hold out hope that WWE's scattershot booking will lead to a "Let's try Fandango" so he can at least get a WrestleMania moment before ultimately being forgotten about a month later.

I'll probably find a way to watch the ladder match after the fact somehow, but that's the only thing that sounds remotely interesting to me.

<font color=goldenrod>I'm going to watch it just because I have the Network for NXT anyway, but my expectations are quite low. The ladder match should be great, I've always been a sucker for battle royals, and I'd think Orton/Rollins should be a good match even if the build winds up being shit.

Also as a huge WCW fan I can't not watch Sting's first (and possibly only) WWE match. I feel like two legends like he and Triple H can find a way to put together something special, but my concern is that it'll be too long of a match.</font>

Pretty sure his WM moment was beating Jericho, as long as he stays Fandango.

Its sounds to me that the only WM match that a lot of you are interested in is the IC ladder match. I have come to the conclusion that if you feel that way you are too invested in one character ( Daniel Bryan) to enjoy anything else. I am pretty excited for Sting / HHH, I mean its Sting in a WWE match. Also looking forward to Bray and Taker as I would like to see Bray win but don't know if he will. The title match isn't a dream match but should be good. Rollins and Orton will probably steal the show. If you are not interested in WM then you are simply not a fan.

That's what I've been saying for about a year now. I'm just not a fan anymore.

Not really. Completely dumb match.

Those 2 are perfect for the IC title scene. Bryan being in the IC title scene almost makes creative have to do something with the IC title. I wouldn't mind if Bryan won and held the title for a long time to build the tiles value up.

This is why WrestleMania should be in April and not March. The weather improves and peoples moods improve from all of the snow being gone. This has been a pretty harsh two months of snow.

<font color=goldenrod>I'm rapidly getting there. Raw is on my TV most weeks out of sheer habit as there's nothing else to watch on a Monday usually. But I barely pay attention to it, usually am on the computer doing something else.</font>

This is how I see the card actually going too. I can see a seventh guy being added to the Ladder Match though. They book the Money in the Bank Ladder Matches to be seven these days, although they sometime have an eighth in there still. I'd go with seven and give the match a "Seven Samurai" marketing vibe.

<font color=goldenrod>And I should clarify this - I'll always be a fan of wrestling. As an entertainment medium, there's nothing like it out there and I don't see myself ever "outgrowing" it to the point where I never watch anything again.

But the current WWE product does pretty much nothing for me. And that's a damn shame, because the quality of wrestling itself is very high. Normally there are 1 or 2 really good matches on Raw a week, and there are loads of talented guys on the roster. But the matches more often than not mean absolutely nothing in the context of the story. Wins and losses don't matter, most of the titles don't matter, etc.

I love NXT because not only is the wrestling good, but the stories actually make sense. I have very high hopes that the WWE product will be great once Triple H has free reign over creative. But that won't happen for a long time. So for now I'm basically just loving NXT and using the Network to watch old stuff I haven't seen for a really long time.</font>

I'd try and keep the backstage antics and shit to a minimum at this year's Mania. I know it is a pipe-dream, but ditch all those frills. You might be able to give time to Goldust vs. Stardust and the Tag Team Titles then.

<font color=goldenrod>I'm hoping for the same thing. Last year was forgivable because there was always going to be a fair amount of nostalgia for a landmark Mania. But there's no reason we need to see a billion backstage skits for WrestleMania 31. Maybe a pre-match interview or two but that's about it. It's not like they need to throw a ton of guys into a comedy skit when the entire roster is going to be on the show anyway.</font>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>BROCK has arrived at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC184?src=hash">#UFC184</a> <a href="http://t.co/ykbpJPSlll">pic.twitter.com/ykbpJPSlll</a></p>&mdash; Dave Sholler (@Sholler_UFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sholler_UFC/status/571871387020754944">March 1, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And I know it's not going to happen, but I do hope they put Emma into the Divas Title match. Why not? It won't sink Mania, and it gets another girl on the show. One who could be over if the company fixes it's main roster/NXT disconnect. Even if her push only lasts a month, it'd be a nice moment for her and a spirit booster to the other girls.

I think Bayley would have made a better choice to be Santino's girl.

Looks ready to do business.

Brock looks so weird in a suit.

Giant Jimmy Johns logo on the back of that suit, you just can't see it.

Not sure if sarcasm or compliment.

But I meant as opposed to Ascension getting that win over New Age Outlaws and then kind of being forgotten about and simply being fodder for a Prime Time Players reunion, only to have them disappear from TV as well. Much like the Divas, the main roster WWE seems to have a problem focusing on more than one or two tag teams at a time for a length of time.

Its getting a bit better, with the number of actual teams now, and an addition of the Dudleyz would only help in terms of drawing interest in the division as a whole and drawing money because of name value. An Ascension win over them (and subsequent reinforcement of that win by the announcers- just as important here) would be a boon to what they seem to want to accomplish with this duo.

Also, being in the ring with vets like Bubba Ray and D'Von might serve to help Konnor and Viktor tighten up their ringwork as well.

That might work to elevate one person on the cusp of breaking out, provided WWE doesn't lose interest in the backswing. Like with Fandango. His win over Jericho should have been the start of a roster dominating tear through midcard titles (not a hotshot to the main event picture. Big difference.) Instead, it was a huge moment that wasn't expounded upon, so now the moment doesn't seem as big and actually quite a waste as the company pissed all over their own potential parade.

Fandango looked all set to become the Intercontinental Champion before he suffered a concussion. What could have been...

But it was a concussion. It wasn't like he broke something like Barrett has or out for multiple surgical procedures like Danielson. Fandangoo could have done promos or been featured in some sort of way without having to do ringwork until he got the all clear. Seems kind of like a big fuck you to completely write him off.