February Wrasslin |OT| But You Already Knew That

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-The preliminary estimates for the WWE TLC PPV are around 200,000 buys. It's down from last year's number (228,000).

-Former WWE writer Court Bauer wrote the following on his twitter about WWE's signing of Mistico:

"Mistico inking with WWE continues the trend of shaking things up - that's a good thing. But (and it's a big but) it's going to be a tough road for the silver masked sensation. In late 2006, I pushed for WWE to pursue bringing Mistico's talents to Stamford. Vince McMahon had mandated more Latin talent on the show (and rightfully so!) and at the time who fit the bill better than the KING of the Arena Mexico BO - Mistico! We brought him to our shows and there was a buzz amongst the boys. They knew this guy was legit as did many of us behind the scenes. Unfortunately, there were key people who found ways to ice a deal: "He doesn't speak English! How's he gonna draw?", "Dang (yes really) he's so SMALL!", "he's gotta work on those punches," "he can't sell because of that MASK?" and on and on. Here's thing about "change" and WWE - if you want to change things, it starts at the core of the operations, not the secondary, etc. for those very same people who 86'd Mistico in '06 are still there & are still big time players today & their vision remains the same. Will they back Mistico all the way? Will they champion him to WrestleMania 30? Time will tell but one thing is for sure: Given their underperformance, PPV buys, thin roster, etc WWE can't afford to NOT change."


http://www.pwinsider.com/article/54...mistico-signing-tlc-buyrate-and-more.html?p=1
 
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Anyone going to watch this?
 
All of the complaints they levied against Mistico can be levied against Rey as well. Seems like they're just trying to protect their sacred cow.
 
JdFoX187 said:
All of the complaints they levied against Mistico can be levied against Rey as well. Seems like they're just trying to protect their sacred cow.
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Rey had worked the US style for years, was known by a good amount of fans and could speak english. Three pretty big factors which Mistico doesn't have.
I really hope they don't fuck with him too much though, he has already shown he can be a major draw so they should give him a chance.

krae_man said:
Found a video of Alex Riley getting eliminated from the Rumble:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nIZSS4gZP8

He totally went splat by accident. I think Kofi went "I bet I'll get blamed for this".
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Ah so it was this part. I remember watching the Rumble and a guy got eliminated (couldn't see who it was at the time) and no one mentioned it on commentary which I thought was weird.
 
Booker was contacted by TNA and told the promotion he was expecting to return to WWE. Nash, on the other hand, those in TNA claim he had committed to coming in and then went to WWE, where he showed up with jet black hair, as Diesel. For years, Nash had talked about wanting one last run as the gray-haired version of Big Daddy Cool (not necessarily Diesel, since he had become far more famous under his real name than he was under the name he first gained stardom in the mid-90s as). Aside from being told he had to color his hair to not look so old, he got his wish in what at the time was viewed as being a one-time thing. Nash is expected to sign a Legends contract, which is not a big money deal, and may become someone like a Roddy Piper or Ron Simmons type who shows up on TV for some angles or special occasions. With HHH ascending to power, it is possible he could fill any one of a number of roles. Nash being a sometimes coach in developmental was discussed, or he could be a part-time TV performer.
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Regarding Sting, he didn’t sign with TNA. Despite it being reported otherwise, several WWE sources say he has not signed with WWE. WWE produced videos to build to the return of The Undertaker on 2/21, which aired on both Raw and Smackdown and garnered an incredible amount of talk, particularly because people convinced themselves the videos weren’t for Undertaker. It has been confirmed that was the person the videos were for, and the Save Mart Center in Fresno was told to promote the show locally as “The return of The Undertaker.”
I guess because it was on Raw, and built to a date for a live Raw in Fresno (which people thought was only a few hours from where Sting lives, but Sting actually moved from Santa Clarita, CA to Dallas last year) and people saw Nash and Booker, they came up with the idea the videos were to introduce Sting. It may make for an interesting deal because if the company now doesn’t sign Sting, are there enough people who have jumped to the conclusion that if Undertaker is the only big return on that show, that people in the building won’t react? My gut says no, and Fresno is not a hardcore wrestling town, but a Hispanic wrestling town, so it makes a bad reaction even more unlikely.
Sting is available and it does make sense to use him for a one or two month run. Several in TNA over the past few days were openly talking that they thought he was going to be in WWE as well. And introducing Undertaker as the surprise and delivering Sting as the second surprise could be that great memorable moment in the Mania build-up. But the video was for Undertaker’s return.
He’s never been in WWE. Undertaker vs. Sting is the one thing that could be the special attraction type of non-regular match that makes Mania special. There are problems, notably that Undertaker couldn’t do much on his last run due to injuries, and his shoulder is in bad shape. Sting wasn’t able to do much on his last TNA run either, due to his own shoulder problem. Sting had been telling people last year that, at 51 (he turns 52 next month), this was going to be his last year. But he had said that every year since 2006, and every year Dixie Carter offering him a big contract for limited dates for another year caused him to return. And if he is going to call it a day, there is something to be said about doing it in front of 60,000 people in Atlanta as opposed to whenever this past year ended up being his last match than in a weird convoluted handicap match in a storyline that never played out where he was a heel all year, even though it was supposed to end with us finding out he and Nash, who played heel beating up faces, were at the end, actually the faces.
Mania is in Atlanta, and Sting was, along with Ric Flair, one of the two enduring faces of WCW, based in Atlanta, from the purchase of the company in 1988 until its demise in 2001. Of course, Bill Goldberg also made sense, as he was a bigger star than Sting ever was, and that didn’t materialize even though some key people in the company were pushing for it, perhaps because HHH has never liked Goldberg and he’s moved into a position of power.
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As of right now, the WrestleMania card is scheduled as Undertaker vs. Wade Barrett for the streak as one of the main events. As of this past week, it is the match planned but we were told that if Undertaker isn’t ready to do a match, they would do Undertaker & Kane in 2-on-4 handicap match against Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson & Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel where they’d hide Undertaker and have him do very limited duty tagging in for a few key spots.
The other main matches are scheduled as The Miz vs. John Cena for the WWE title, which would mean Cena would win the Raw Elimination Chamber on 2/20 in Oakland, Edge (who would have to win the Smackdown chamber the same night) defending the World title against Alberto Del Rio, HHH vs. King Sheamus, Randy Orton vs. C.M. Punk, a trios match with The Corre’s Gabriel & Slater & Jackson vs. Nexus members Michael McGillicutty & David Otunga & Mason Ryan and Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes (Mysterio personally asked for this one as he likes Rhodes and wanted to try and help elevate him).
As is pretty obvious since they are teasing it so strongly, Jerry Lawler will be wrestling at his first Mania this year, barring an injury between now and then. You can see the slow build of Lawler and Michael Cole. We can’t confirm what form it’ll be other than Lawler will wrestle. It could be Lawler wrestling with Cole as a referee, but that doesn’t make sense as a blow-off. They could put Lawler against Alex Riley with the idea that if Lawler wins, he gets five minutes with Cole or they could take it a different way. The other match we’ve heard talked about was a Money in the Bank bout. The debate is if they are doing a Money in the Bank PPV in July with likely two MITB matches, doing it three months earlier is overkill. If they do it anyway, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston and John Morrison would be in the match.
The key matches have already had angles built to get to. But WWE hates people guessing the direction, particularly since these matches in theory would give away the 2/20 PPV results. I don’t know that they’d change the matches, but they may do sleight-of-hand as far as the PPV just because of not wanting to be predictable.
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Re: Mistico

His interest in going to WWE has wavered over the years, but it is the push of Albert Rodriguez (Alberto Del Rio) that was a key in his making his decision according to Super Luchas magazine. WWE sources indicated that Vince McMahon and others had been pushing John Laurinatis heavily to sign more Hispanic talent. While those in WWE weren’t super familiar with him, they did know his name, and he did get very good reviews when doing backstage tryout matches in the past.
[...]
But it’s going to be a major difference for him. Spectacular high flyers who are small are not the WWE vision of what a pro wrestler is, and even getting over with that kind of role doesn’t guarantee you a spot past prelims. Evan Bourne, who is very popular among the wrestlers and got over with the audience, and who is also good looking as a feather in his cap, is the classic example.
It’s going to be a big difference between working before 5,000 to 12,000 people every Friday night, and thousands many other nights during the week, and being a major celebrity with his own comic book, starring in a music video, in TV commercials, endorsing political candidates, to being treated as a rookie and working before 200 fans in Tampa with a different name. Plus, since he didn’t get a “rookie” contract to come in, there becomes more pressure to get him on the main roster faster, which will add pressure on the time frame for him to learn the language and adapt to the new style.
And it is possible they would want him to work without a mask, although since they are looking for someone to follow in Mysterio’s steps, that’s not a lock. Mysterio in WCW did not get over nearly as well when he lost his mask. But Del Rio, who had never worked without a mask, and spent months haggling over losing the mask, ended up where losing the mask made his career because his facial expressions are his best attribute. And this is the company that in the 90s wanted El Hijo del Santo to unmask.
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What in some ways may be the most important story of the week, but one where virtually nothing is known about it, WWE announced in one of its famed late Friday releases that Donna Goldsmith, the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Director, would be leaving the company effective 2/28.
Goldsmith, 51, who headed the Consumer Products division, considered the strongest division in the company, before being promoted, was generally considered the No. 2 person in the company overall since Linda McMahon left to run for office.
Goldsmith was behind the directive to soften the company’s image by doing a family friendly company, to court higher powered sponsors, and her big coup was the completion of the Mattel deal, which led to licensing revenues being the highest percentage of profit growth revenue stream the company has had over the past year. In 2009, she was listed in a Forbes magazine story as the second most powerful woman in sports.
[...]
One company source said to expect major restructuring to take place based on the disappointing financials that will be announced on 2/10 and the lower stock price, and that right now Vince McMahon is in a deal where he doesn’t like status quo.
The key question regards the PG programming, which has become very controversial in the sense a large segment of the fan base believes it has led to a less interesting product. In recent weeks, the PG direction has even been used in John Cena interviews with the idea to wink to the crowd that we’re all frustrated with the limitations.
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The pro wrestling debut of Kimbo Slice (Kevin Ferguson), that received a ton of U.S. mainstream publicity, was canceled just three days before his scheduled 2/5 match in Fukuoka against Shinichi Suzukawa (former sumo Wakakirin) on the Inoki Genome Federation show in Fukuoka.
The reason announced in Japan was that Slice was injured in training and would be replaced in the match by Bob Sapp. Sapp vs. Suzukawa was scheduled for 12/31, but fell apart because Sapp realized K-1 was not paying people left and right and demanded his money transferred into an escrow account before he would get in the ring with Suzukawa. On 12/31, it was a weird deal because it was billed as a shoot, but Suzukawa, who was never in a fighting shoot (although sumo is a shoot sport), had to win the fight somehow. This time, at least everyone knows going in it’s pro wrestling and what their role is.
There was a lot going on behind the scenes ever since the fight was announced. Let’s just say you should be very skeptical of the injury in training story. More likely, what happened in the Suzukawa vs. Mark Coleman match on 9/5 may be the key to this story, particularly when stories of what happened there were tied in numerous media stories with the Kimbo debut announcement. Coleman was told he was winning in 3:00 by submission, and Suzukawa double-crossed him in the ring and wouldn’t lose. This led to Coleman gassing out when the match turned far more real than he had anticipated, and Coleman, after taking a pounding, just quitting, This had to lead to trust issues. How could it not?
Slice was not a pro wrestling fan, nor did he nor any of his handlers have any clue of what the pro wrestling business was. The IGF had been working to get him in ever since he was cut by UFC in May.
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Don’t know details on this other than it came from someone who would know that there is something to the obvious speculation regarding the last week of the Hart Foundation. This included David Hart Smith being pulled from the Rumble a few days earlier (which may have just been opening up spots for either the decision to put Orton and Ziggler in or when the Nash deal was finalized–Booker in the Rumble was decided upon some time back); Natalya being called fat in an angle and then losing her title out of the blue and the Hornswoggle Attitude Adjustment being done on Tyson Kidd.
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WWE taped some Legends Roundtable shows this past week for WWE Classics on Demand. The crew was Bret Hart, Jim Ross, Michael Hayes and Pat Patterson, with Gene Okerlund directing traffic. The shows will air in March. One show was on greatest rivalries with them discussing Austin vs. Rock, Freebirds vs. Von Erichs, Andre vs. Hogan and Bret Hart vs. Michaels. The second show was taped for a June airing and talked about the history of Canadian territorial wrestling.
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After another disappointing PPV number, the Survivor Series is once again in jeopardy. In the WWE listings for the November PPV, while Survivor Series is still listed, internally there is something listed with it that says “New Name/Concept TBD” and that is also listed with the planned Survivor Series 2011 DVD.
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They had to do reshooting of some stuff in “Bending the Rules” this past week in Los Angeles. That’s why Edge was in Los Angeles and he ended up staying at the same hotel as the WrestleReunion. Edge was around the convention and he was socializing with a lot of the wrestlers from the current era like Helms, and watched the ROH show to see the Kings of Wrestling vs. Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin match.
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There have been a number of theories regarding this, but of late, as in the last several weeks, WWE’s live events and especially TV tapings have been doing exceptionally strong walk-up business. Now this also coincides with poor advances, as the overall business is at what I’d consider average for a normal time period, and slightly below average since this is the good season (WWE traditionally draws its best January through March). The theory seems to be that it’s economy related, that people who want to go may not have the money when tickets go on sale and get them right away as in the past, but find the money at show time. But the economy has been made for a long time and this has not been the case until the past few weeks.
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The Mark Henry cologne skit on Raw a few weeks ago with Derrick Bateman was an internal joke because Henry has the reputation of smelling worse while sweating than anyone in the company. Many talent bring it up when working with him for that reason.
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The Mark Henry cologne skit on Raw a few weeks ago with Derrick Bateman was an internal joke because Henry has the reputation of smelling worse while sweating than anyone in the company. Many talent bring it up when working with him for that reason.
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After another disappointing PPV number, the Survivor Series is once again in jeopardy. In the WWE listings for the November PPV, while Survivor Series is still listed, internally there is something listed with it that says “New Name/Concept TBD” and that is also listed with the planned Survivor Series 2011 DVD.
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So when will the other PPV's not named the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, and SummerSlam get removed? They're getting the same revenue if not worse than the Survivor Series show. I guess it'll just have to have them kill off primarily all gimmick matches for them to realize it doesn't necessarily mean good marketing or a good show.

Don’t know details on this other than it came from someone who would know that there is something to the obvious speculation regarding the last week of the Hart Foundation. This included David Hart Smith being pulled from the Rumble a few days earlier (which may have just been opening up spots for either the decision to put Orton and Ziggler in or when the Nash deal was finalized–Booker in the Rumble was decided upon some time back); Natalya being called fat in an angle and then losing her title out of the blue and the Hornswoggle Attitude Adjustment being done on Tyson Kidd.
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I still don't see why they broke apart DH Smith and Tyson Kidd. Neither will be stars by themselves at this point, and will be nothing but jobbers. Natayla can wrestle even if they're in a group or split. Fit this under the cap of "WWE's Shit Booking, Volume 36".
 
WWE taped some Legends Roundtable shows this past week for WWE Classics on Demand. The crew was Bret Hart, Jim Ross, Michael Hayes and Pat Patterson, with Gene Okerlund directing traffic. The shows will air in March. One show was on greatest rivalries with them discussing Austin vs. Rock, Freebirds vs. Von Erichs, Andre vs. Hogan and Bret Hart vs. Michaels. The second show was taped for a June airing and talked about the history of Canadian territorial wrestling.
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Love these shows. Having Bret Hart there will only make them better.
 
>Don’t know details on this other than it came from someone who would know that there is something to the obvious speculation regarding the last week of the Hart Foundation. This included David Hart Smith being pulled from the Rumble a few days earlier (which may have just been opening up spots for either the decision to put Orton and Ziggler in or when the Nash deal was finalized–Booker in the Rumble was decided upon some time back); Natalya being called fat in an angle and then losing her title out of the blue and the Hornswoggle Attitude Adjustment being done on Tyson Kidd.

So what's going on with the Hart Foundation?
 
noclevername620 said:
Love these shows. Having Bret Hart there will only make them better.
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I love em as well, though for all that is holy, I hope they re-record a Mania one, they've been using the same one for 3 years in a row already. :(
 
Striker said:
So when will the other PPV's not named the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, and SummerSlam get removed? They're getting the same revenue if not worse than the Survivor Series show. I guess it'll just have to have them kill off primarily all gimmick matches for them to realize it doesn't necessarily mean good marketing or a good show.


I still don't see why they broke apart DH Smith and Tyson Kidd. Neither will be stars by themselves at this point, and will be nothing but jobbers. Natayla can wrestle even if they're in a group or split. Fit this under the cap of "WWE's Shit Booking, Volume 36".
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Not only that, the tag division is such garbage that adding more quality teams can only help.
 
DKehoe said:
Rey had worked the US style for years, was known by a good amount of fans and could speak english. Three pretty big factors which Mistico doesn't have.
I really hope they don't fuck with him too much though, he has already shown he can be a major draw so they should give him a chance.
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I was mainly referring to the small stature, the lack of oomph behind his punches and that sort of thing. WWE has used "size" to hold wrestlers down for years like Evan Bourne and John Morrison. Vince doesn't believe Morrison looks believable kicking anyone's ass because he's smaller and his moveset is flashy. Who knows what's going on with Evan Bourne. Look no further than Kaval. Yet, Rey is pushed like mad. Obviously it's to tap into the Latino market. But that shouldn't be a factor now with Alberto Del Rio beyond merchandising sales. I would argue he's more over than Rey at the moment, and is bordering on Eddie Guerrero territory with reactions from the crowd.Everything that I've seen makes Mistico look a hell of a lot better than Rey did in his prime. Granted, that's without the WWE neutering his moveset. But I just hope they don't use his size and flashy moveset as a reason to hold him back.
 
JdFoX187 said:
I was mainly referring to the small stature, the lack of oomph behind his punches and that sort of thing. WWE has used "size" to hold wrestlers down for years like Evan Bourne and John Morrison. Vince doesn't believe Morrison looks believable kicking anyone's ass because he's smaller and his moveset is flashy. Who knows what's going on with Evan Bourne. Look no further than Kaval. Yet, Rey is pushed like mad. Obviously it's to tap into the Latino market. But that shouldn't be a factor now with Alberto Del Rio beyond merchandising sales. I would argue he's more over than Rey at the moment, and is bordering on Eddie Guerrero territory with reactions from the crowd.Everything that I've seen makes Mistico look a hell of a lot better than Rey did in his prime. Granted, that's without the WWE neutering his moveset. But I just hope they don't use his size and flashy moveset as a reason to hold him back.
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This big man fetish has got to end for Vince, Michael and Lauranitis. And that's bullshit for them thinking JoMo is too small, look no further than HBK. He is about 5=6 without his elevator boots on.
 
Grecco said:
Not only that, the tag division is such garbage that adding more quality teams can only help.
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There's what, four teams right now, and one is Santino and Kozlov. It's absurd. I can't remember if the Usos even have a win under their belt.
 
Striker said:
There's what, four teams right now, and one is Santino and Kozlov. It's absurd. I can't remember if the Usos even have a win under their belt.
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They do and it was against Santino/Kozlov. Non-title match though :lol
 
JdFoX187 said:
I was mainly referring to the small stature, the lack of oomph behind his punches and that sort of thing. WWE has used "size" to hold wrestlers down for years like Evan Bourne and John Morrison.
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Sure, I just meant Rey also did have a lot of advantages on his side which helped him a lot more than the average small guy.

JdFoX187 said:
Vince doesn't believe Morrison looks believable kicking anyone's ass because he's smaller and his moveset is flashy.
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A big part of it was Morrison doing nothing when Batista hooked up with Melina (who was with Morrison at the time). The same sort of thing happened after Booker T kicked Batistas ass. Vince never looked at Batista in the same way.

JdFoX187 said:
Who knows what's going on with Evan Bourne. Look no further than Kaval. Yet, Rey is pushed like mad. Obviously it's to tap into the Latino market. But that shouldn't be a factor now with Alberto Del Rio beyond merchandising sales. I would argue he's more over than Rey at the moment, and is bordering on Eddie Guerrero territory with reactions from the crowd.Everything that I've seen makes Mistico look a hell of a lot better than Rey did in his prime. Granted, that's without the WWE neutering his moveset. But I just hope they don't use his size and flashy moveset as a reason to hold him back.
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I'm not saying WWE are right by any means. Even when guys get over despite WWE not thinking they should (e.g Evan Bourne and Kaval) WWE still refuses to get behind them in any serious way.
 
Rafa=FedKilla said:
This big man fetish has got to end for Vince, Michael and Lauranitis. And that's bullshit for them thinking JoMo is too small, look no further than HBK. He is about 5=6 without his elevator boots on.
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Agreed. If anyone needs to be pushed it's JoMo. The guy is just amazing and has really been entertaining in the ring.

Also, it seems like the WWE stock has fallen to a 52 week low and continues to go south especially with revenue coming in. Maybe Wrestlemania doing poorly will be the wake up call they need to realize that they need more than just merchandising sales to be successful.

I don't necessarily blame it on the PG era, but it has become obvious with the way the WWE has treated their lower to midcard wrestlers that the product would suffer. Just a few years ago when they still had wrestlers like HBK, Eddie Guerrero, Benoit, Booker T, Angle, etc. that they could provide quality shows and PPVs. Right now, with all the jobbing that is done regularly, the intrigue is gone as the title is recycled among a select few. They really need to build up the lower cards to make things interesting. I'm saying this as a more casual viewer of wrestling as well, even though I do enjoy the discussions on Gaf regarding some of the inside workings of the business.
 
Here's a more detailed version of that earlier story on Mistico:

Court Bauer, who was a WWE writer at the time Mistico hit it big in Mexico, attempted to get him in, with the idea of creating a division built for him to be the showcase, similar to how New Japan got the original Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger over in the 80s and 90s, with the original label being the Junior Division. His feeling was they had already tainted the cruiserweight division and putting him in that division would be the kiss of death to him both in booking and with the fan base. The idea was to have a group of smaller wrestlers kept separate, and the idea was accepted, but then quickly turned into a comedy division, that died a quick death to the point few remember its short shelf life. Plus, without Mistico, there was no star to be the focal point.

“The concept was radically different but was obscenely sabotaged,” he said. “Vince wanted to kill the cruiserweight division and realizing the term and concept `cruiserweight’ would never get over at WWE, given the inherent philosophy, I pitched a `special attraction’ division of guys 5-5 or so. We wouldn’t promote it as a height division, but that was more for Vince’s digestion. I positioned it like the original WCW cruiserweight tournament, where we’d bring in the best from around the world and give it an authentic international flavor. Vince approved, and the two of us personally reviewed a list of people to hire.”

The key names on the original list included Milano Collection A.T., Mistico (who would be the Satoru Sayama/Tiger Mask character the division would be built to showcase), Brazo de Plata (for pure comedy and he was the only one hired), Taiji Ishimori, Dragon Kid, Sonjay Dutt, Jody Fleisch, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart and some of Hart’s students.

“After Vince approved, the list was then given to talent relations and whenever I’d check in over there to see how the process (international paperwork was a major bitch) was going, I was told everything will be fine, ultimately to discover they had taken my list, ignored it, and hired a bunch of midgets and Porky. Then they tried to bury me saying that’s what I asked for, a midget division and that’s what I got.

It was a waste of money, time and assets to just give someone such a grand political FU, but that’s what they did to me at Talent Relations over that initiative.”

“In late 2006, I pushed for WWE to aggressively pursue bringing Mistico’s talents to Stamford,” he said. “Vince McMahon had mandated more Latin talent on the show, and rightfully so, and at the time, who fit the bill better than the King of Arena Mexico box office, Mistico. We brought him to our shows and there was a buzz amongst the boys. They knew this guy was legit as did many of us behind the scenes. Unfortunately, there were key people who found ways to ice a deal.”

Bauer noted the immediate reaction to him not speaking English, being small, they didn’t like how he threw punches, and complaints that he wouldn’t be able to sell effectively since McMahon believes in facial selling, which the mask covers.

“For those very same people who 86'd Mistico in 2006 are still there and are still big-time players today, and their vision remains the same.”
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RBH said:
Court Bauer, who was a WWE writer at the time Mistico hit it big in Mexico, attempted to get him in, with the idea of creating a division built for him to be the showcase, similar to how New Japan got the original Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger over in the 80s and 90s, with the original label being the Junior Division. His feeling was they had already tainted the cruiserweight division and putting him in that division would be the kiss of death to him both in booking and with the fan base. The idea was to have a group of smaller wrestlers kept separate, and the idea was accepted, but then quickly turned into a comedy division, that died a quick death to the point few remember its short shelf life. Plus, without Mistico, there was no star to be the focal point.

“The concept was radically different but was obscenely sabotaged,” he said. “Vince wanted to kill the cruiserweight division and realizing the term and concept `cruiserweight’ would never get over at WWE, given the inherent philosophy, I pitched a `special attraction’ division of guys 5-5 or so. We wouldn’t promote it as a height division, but that was more for Vince’s digestion. I positioned it like the original WCW cruiserweight tournament, where we’d bring in the best from around the world and give it an authentic international flavor. Vince approved, and the two of us personally reviewed a list of people to hire.”

The key names on the original list included Milano Collection A.T., Mistico (who would be the Satoru Sayama/Tiger Mask character the division would be built to showcase), Brazo de Plata (for pure comedy and he was the only one hired), Taiji Ishimori, Dragon Kid, Sonjay Dutt, Jody Fleisch, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart and some of Hart’s students.

“After Vince approved, the list was then given to talent relations and whenever I’d check in over there to see how the process (international paperwork was a major bitch) was going, I was told everything will be fine, ultimately to discover they had taken my list, ignored it, and hired a bunch of midgets and Porky. Then they tried to bury me saying that’s what I asked for, a midget division and that’s what I got.
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Holy shit. A division intended to be built around guys like Mistico turned into the juniors division? Fuck this company.
 
Grecco said:
Morrisons skills are legit but his look/gimmick needs a reboot. Addidng a beard isnt doing anything.
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What's wrong with a Jim Morrison-type character who does parkour and has a beard and has jesus sunglasses and wears fur skirts on his shins and messes up his finisher once a month?
 
DKehoe said:
Holy shit. A division intended to be built around guys like Mistico turned into the juniors division? Fuck this company.
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I don't really like the idea of a separate division either. Was never a fan of the cruiserweight division in WCW, I mean, it was great to get those guys deserving exposure, but It always seemed like JV and some of the top guys deserve better. After Eddie, Shawn Michaels and Rey you'd think Vince would be more open to smaller guys getting over as main eventers.
 
Prior to the match pitting Mark Henry and The Great Khali against Jimmy and Jey Uso on Raw, The brand's General Manager switched the bout to a dance-off. The World's Strongest Man and The Punjabi Playboy notched the victory with their unorthodox dance moves.

Former WWE star Rikishi, father of the Uso brothers, took to Twitter to express his unhappiness for the angle.

"My thoughts on my sons' dance off? Didn't really need it," he wrote. "Creative Team WTF!! Its not that hard to figure in talent."

He added, "Tag Teams in the WWE are not really the focus as we can see. Soon Usos will be in singles."
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Rikishi gets it.
 
Grecco said:
Morrisons skills are legit but his look/gimmick needs a reboot. Addidng a beard isnt doing anything.
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He needs to turn heel and change his look a little, but he could be worse. Have you seen the promos and skits he's done online? They're horrible. Whatever ideas he has for his own character should be ignored... he's just a big geek.
The key names on the original list included Milano Collection A.T., Mistico (who would be the Satoru Sayama/Tiger Mask character the division would be built to showcase), Brazo de Plata (for pure comedy and he was the only one hired), Taiji Ishimori, Dragon Kid, Sonjay Dutt, Jody Fleisch, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart and some of Hart’s students.
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This sounds awesome and the general direction wreslting should be heading is storytelling ballet, and I mean that with no sarcasm.
 
Ninja Scooter said:
I don't really like the idea of a separate division either. Was never a fan of the cruiserweight division in WCW, I mean, it was great to get those guys deserving exposure, but It always seemed like JV and some of the top guys deserve better. After Eddie, Shawn Michaels and Rey you'd think Vince would be more open to smaller guys getting over as main eventers.
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I really, truly do not understand the big man fetish the WWE seems to have to this day. It always feels like any small wrestler that gets a push is out of necessity rather than them noticing that Wrestler A is talented. Like every big man that comes through the company gets a fast push straight into a main event feud, but the small guys flounder in the midcard until the main event is extremely desperate for new stars.

I couldn't even imagine myself in a managerial position and not paying attention to who's hot on the indy scene, or in Mexico, or overseas no matter what body type.
 
Net_Wrecker said:
I really, truly do not understand the big man fetish the WWE seems to have to this day. It always feels like any small wrestler that gets a push is out of necessity rather than them noticing that Wrestler A is talented. Like every big man that comes through the company gets a fast push straight into a main event feud, but the small guys flounder in the midcard until the main event is extremely desperate for new stars.

I couldn't even imagine myself in a managerial position and not paying attention to who's hot on the indy scene, or in Mexico, or overseas no matter what body type.
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I can understand it because of what Vince built his empire and his millions on, giant, sometimes roided up guys like Hulk, Andre, Warrior, Macho Man, ect...who were larger than life to kids like us. The problem is that in their own way those guys had charisma and character that went beyond their size and muscles. You're not going to get the same effect from personality-less muscleheads like Orton or Batista that look more at home at a shitty porno movie than in a ring.
 
mooooose said:
He needs to turn heel and change his look a little, but he could be worse. Have you seen the promos and skits he's done online? They're horrible. Whatever ideas he has for his own character should be ignored... he's just a big geek.
.
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Beats me as to what id do to reboot Morrison. Maybe lose the beard/hair/snowbunny boots/mink coat for starters His look is still Johny Nitro. Hes barely evolved.
 
Ninja Scooter said:
I can understand it because of what Vince built his empire and his millions on, giant, sometimes roided up guys like Hulk, Andre, Warrior, Macho Man, ect...who were larger than life to kids like us. The problem is that in their own way those guys had charisma and character that went beyond their size and muscles. You're not going to get the same effect from personality-less muscleheads like Orton or Batista that look more at home at a shitty porno movie than in a ring.
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Even then, most of the big guys that have failed miserably over the past 10 years have had NO personality, and NO charisma. It's quite the opposite because the most talented wrestlers over the last 10 years have been around 6'3" and under.

On top of that, this is a different era. They understood that in 96-2001, but they've completely lost touch with what gets PPV buys, and what gets people to watch your program weekly. The "magical" feeling of these larger than life wrestlers is gone. It's time to switch gears because it's obvious that this Cena-led superman style of wrestling isn't drawing anymore.
 
Oh man, I marked out when I saw the 'Sting promo'.

After all this I'll be mega disappointed if he doesn't show up eventually (even if those promos weren't meant to be him).... hopefully umm they're just uh trying to make us NOT think its meant to be for him so we're surprised even though we expected it to be him. *over-thinking*
 
- It was Vince McMahon's idea to have Hornswoggle featured with John Cena in the Royal Rumble on Sunday. Word is that Vince thought Hornswoggle being center stage in the Rumble would be a good way of re-introducing his character. Expect to see more of Hornswoggle over the next few weeks or months.
4r3qdt.gif
 
Grecco said:
Rikishi gets it.
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Sadly. Usos will be in singles and soon after endeavored. Sure they're talented guys. The team of Trent Barretta and Caylen Croft was also pretty good to see, but WWE shortfalls that by splitting up for no apparent reason.

- It was Vince McMahon's idea to have Hornswoggle featured with John Cena in the Royal Rumble on Sunday. Word is that Vince thought Hornswoggle being center stage in the Rumble would be a good way of re-introducing his character. Expect to see more of Hornswoggle over the next few weeks or months.
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Vince needs to hand over the keys. He's the Al Davis of professional wrestling.
 
Conrad Link said:
Oh man, I marked out when I saw the 'Sting promo'.

After all this I'll be mega disappointed if he doesn't show up eventually (even if those promos weren't meant to be him).... hopefully umm they're just uh trying to make us NOT think its meant to be for him so we're surprised even though we expected it to be him. *over-thinking*
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If I remember correctly, the WWE doesn't care about us internet fans, so yeah...
 
Matthew Gallant said:
What's wrong with a Jim Morrison-type character who does parkour and has a beard and has jesus sunglasses and wears fur skirts on his shins and messes up his finisher once a month?
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Morrison has been turning me into a fan as of late but I think it may have gone too far now, he's turning into a good gymnast more than a wrestler, the move at the RR was awesome then the ones on Raw were just gimmicky and silly and it kind of summed him up when after that he went and botched his finisher (again).

He has a good chance of winning MITB but if he doesn't this time he may be forever Sheltoned by Vince and just rolled out once a year at Mania.
 
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