The WWE Thread

[Brada]

My brother's wife and my wife surprised us with Father's Day gifts of a trip to Vegas for Money in the Bank tomorrow night....we head out of DFW tonight at 10....pumped for the show. KILL STEEN KILL

[DXvsNWO1994]

So Dave Meltzer reported on WOR today that, apparently, WWE is reaching out to a lot of former talents about coming back to fill spots on the roster once the brand split comes. He specifically mentioned Carlito, MVP, & Stevie Richards.

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Royal Rumble 2017 will be hosted at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on January 22, which is NFL Conference Championship Sunday.

I've already nudged for PWG to host DDT4 2017 (Young Bucks farewell?) and NXT to host Takeover: LA for piggybacking.

I will inquire tomorrow about group options with the venue. SIGN UP HERE

Per a PWinsider reader:

There will be a presale lasting from August 28th to September 3rd with the code LA2017.

The general public onsale date is November 19th.

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https://twitter.com/DCUCenter/status/743435906120556544

[Mike0284]

In one night all 3 members of the Shield were WWE champion.

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Look at the date:

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https://twitter.com/wwe/status/744889726868525056

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Meltzer confirms WWE no longer shutting Angle out and has had conversations with him

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Joe Anoa'i (Roman Reigns) suspended 30 days for a wellness policy violation.

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To be confirmed - https://m.imgur.com/qxxcnH7

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Joe Anoa'i (Roman Reigns) suspended 30 days for a wellness policy violation.

http://voicesofwrestling.com/forum/view ... =15#p28801

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Kurt Angle NOT returning

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http://voicesofwrestling.com/forum/view ... 510#p28851

I'm starting to smell a rat with Cody Rhodes.

DO NOT CLICK ON LINK BELOW UNLESS YOU'RE ON A PRIVATE COMPUTER AND HAVE POP-UP BLOCKERS. YOU WILL STILL SEE SMUT ADS SINCE DAVE SCHERER AND MIKE JOHNSON ARE SCUMBAG MOTHERFUCKERS.

http://www.pwinsider.com/article/102916 ... s.html?p=1

Interesting to note that we've heard there's been communication over the last few days between WWE and Cody Rhodes, who just departed the company. From what we can ascertain, there's been discussion about the company signing him to some sort of deal similar to their Legends deal, which would allow the company to release merchandise, etc. using his likeness. It may be that they had Stardust, etc. material coming out from a third-party (a Mattel action figure, for example) and offered him a deal so legally, they can move forward with that. There's been no talk of Rhodes returning as a full-time performer as he's seeking to work specific, big matches on the independent level and we've heard he's already being represented in Hollywood for potential acting world.

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https://www.facebook.com/godzillalucafr ... 87/?type=3

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Batista offered to return for SummerSlam 2014, but Paul & Stephanie Levesque snickered and questioned Guardians of the Galaxy's box office appeal.

This is per Part 1 of his appearance on MLW Radio this week, time stamp 21:47.

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Observer:

Lesnar is scheduled to return for the 7/19 Smackdown draft show in Worcester, MA. That’s a change because originally he wasn’t supposed to be back until a few weeks later

The update on Orton is that he’s about a month or so away from training for a return. The original time line was that he was going to be in Orlando in mid-June, train a few weeks and be ready right about now. His shoulder is still not 100% although it is improving. This was the third operation on the same shoulder and they did an extensive surgery with the hope it will fix the problem so it wasn’t as simple a recovery as in previous operations. There is still a neck issue but the doctors told him a few months ago he doesn’t need the neck surgery right now

Regarding the Kurt Angle talk, even though HHH called Angle and Angle spoke about it, WWE officials stated this week that Angle is not coming back. The company right now is extremely squeamish about anyone who may cause any bit of controversy after recent news stories regarding Reigns, Lawler and Adam Rose. Angle said after being asked about the statement, “In response to some of your questions today regarding the WWE, and all of the media fanfare about it the last few days. I want to, once again, say that our confidential conversation never discussed the brand split. A few wrestling sites seem to have put a spin on this by twisting some words around to fit their agenda, something that I have no control over. What I can control is my own life, and my life isn’t only wrestling. I do not expect to be in wrestling much longer. I am excited about my future. Thank you.” Angle did an interview with Sports Illustrated where he said, “I had a talk with WWE. It’s confidential. I will not be returning for the draft. Possibly in the future, most likely next year, but that is not a guarantee. It was a loose conversation but I will be in touch with HHH in the future.” In the story, Angle was very positive about Vince McMahon, saying McMahon encouraged him to beat his issues but at the time he didn’t. On TNA, he said: “I was at a company where everybody was drinking, and you were encouraged to drink with them. That’s where the alcohol came in. I didn’t go crazy with it, but when you mix it with pills, it can make you do some really crazy things. It can make you careless. When I traveled, I was drinking and driving, and I got nailed a bunch of times. I couldn’t believe TNA kept me after the second and third DUI. I continued to go with that behavior, and I was lucky to either get a reduced charge to have it thrown out. Dixie Carter played a big role in me going to rehab. She called me and said, `You need to go.’ I didn’t want to go, but when I got there, I realized I had a serious problem and I needed to fix this. Dixie made the right call, and I cleaned my ass up and I’ve been clean and sober for three years now.

If by some reason Angle does come back in July, then this would be a swerve by the office, but most likely, given other decisions that have been made about talent in recent weeks, the decision not to use Angle at this time is consistent with other decisions they’ve made

Regarding different names that have been reported that WWE has called to come back, the two names on lots of lists that we’ve gotten confirmation haven’t been called are Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio. WWE knows both are under contract elsewhere

WWE is aggressively scouting indies right now. The key thing they are looking for is people who they consider coachable. That’s the current key phrase. I guess that means athletic people who are good listeners. They are also going to be very strict when it comes to background checks. Prospective WWE talent should sure to clean out social media accounts of anything that could be embarrassing

They are also specifically targeting talent from Lucha Underground that can contractually leave

Since people have asked about WWE suspensions, when talent like Reigns is suspended, they don’t get paid any of their wrestling pay during the period of their suspension. So in his case, given what he earns, it likely cost him around $100,000 or more, since he was booked in the main event of every house show on his tour as the top guy. The one thing is his biggest payoffs would be for the PPVs and he’s not missing any PPV shows or else it would be significantly more. Wrestlers do get paid based on merchandise sold while they are suspended, and any royalties, but don’t get their wrestling checks, obviously aren’t paid on houses they aren’t working, and don’t get paid for 30 days (or 60 days) of their downside guarantees

WWE ordered Reigns to go into the locker room last week to apologize to everyone before he was flown home. There were mixed reactions to it. The person who first told me about it said that Mark Carrano ordered Reigns to do it, which means it came from Paul Levesque and not Vince McMahon’s side. They felt there was no need to humiliate him like that but others didn’t have the same reaction. I think it’s the group that likes him because he’s still one of the boys even though you can easily get a big head when they build everything around you vs. the people who have the natural issue of feeling he was lucky based on his look and that Vince and HHH loved him and pushed him early and kept doing it even when it wasn’t working

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Per Joe Lanza on today's Voices of Wrestling podcast

Cody Rhodes:
“Obvious” that his WWE release is a worked “soft release.” Initially told it’s an under-the-table deal orchestrated with Paul Levesque. Cody gets to leave for awhile, work with trendy indy stars, wash away the Stardust stink, and return with a workrate reputation from hardcore underground fans. Cody is apparently being paid by WWE instead of WWN Live to work Evolve! He’s also being paid by WWE during the rest of the “interim period.” Notice that Cody’s first indy date booked was with WWE-affiliated Evolve. Lanza has been “flat out told that Cody Rhodes has every intention of returning to WWE in the fall and doesn’t have any [indy] bookings beyond October [2016] right now.”

Until Cody works for NJPW, ROH, or TNA, Lanza doesn’t buy that he truly left WWE. Cody was supposedly told he can’t work for NJPW or ROH; TNA wasn’t mentioned on the no-no list but no way Cody goes there if’s still under WWE contract. Lanza believes the WWE legends contract story reported by PWInsider’s Mike Johnson was planted and is part of the work. Johnson is a co-opted member of the WWE media team who leaked the false story that Evolve would become a pure WWE farm system and that would thus force Chris Hero out. It is obvious that Paul Levesque leaks this to Johnson; listen to NXT’s conference calls to connect the dots. Also, it isn’t WWE’s MO to offer a Legends contract to a non-retired wrestler in his athletic prime. Cody’s anger over this is obviously false.

Cody is no stranger to being involved in works. A worked firing angle was used in the past to kick off the Stardust gimmick. He was booked to work PWS; owner Pat Buck told Voices of Wrestling that Cody’s match at the time was planned but then cancelled by WWE. Cody is currently charging very different rates with indy federations as well.

Cody is taking a brilliant but significant risk by doing this. There’s the very real chance he could fail to impress on the indies like Matt Hardy in 2005 and Curt Hawkins in 2014, causing his stock to drop even more than when this “soft release” started. But Cody is motivated and doesn’t wanna be defined by what had become an incredibly stale Stardust persona.

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http://www.dcucenter.com/event-calendar ... ckdown-tv/

WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION DEAN AMBROSE VS SETH ROLLINS!

JOHN CENA VS AJ STYLES!

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

The conference call for UFC 200 with Brock Lesnar was fucking golden.

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