Fall Brawl 1999 Date: September 12, 1998 Location: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Attendance: 7,491 Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan Reviewed by Tommy Hall Well we had to get here eventually, even though I don't think people wanted to. The main event here is Sting vs. Hogan for the title and Goldberg vs. Page because those are fresh matches. We also get to see the Revolution rising up the card in a big No DQ tag match and Benoit defending the US Title against one of the draws in Sid, who is nice enough to give Benoit a main event rub. This is also the first show without Bischoff at the helm so some of the details could be interesting. Let's get to it.

On tap for tonight: UFC 183 is tonight live on PPV at 10pm EST, highlighted by Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz. You can catch the undercard now on Fight Pass then on FS1 at 8pm EST. There are 11 games in the NBA tonight with the Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs at 9pm EST on ESPN The NHL also has 11 games on the schedule and at 7pm EST you can catch the Los Angeles Kings vs. Boston Bruins. College Basketball has multiple Nationally televised games tonight, highlighted by Memphis vs. #3 Gonzaga at 10pm ET on ESPN 2. Saturday Night Live is all new tonight at 11:29pm EST with host JK Simmons and musical guest D'Angelo. The Ernie Ladd shoot interview edged Brickhouse Brown by two votes to win the shoot interview poll and that recap will be posted Thursday at noon. And as usual, talk about anything else going on tonight here.

Since the weather appears to have cancelled Superstars, Part 2 of the Saturday Syndies will instead be dedicated to the Rumble. Namely, I'm giving myself a challenge: make the Rumble not suck. However, I'm imposing two restrictions. One, I can't swap anyone out or in the Rumble (which, by this definition, means Curtis Axel is in); and two, Roman Reigns still has to win. Could I do a Rumble that gets all the points across without causing Philadelphia to riot? We'll find out... but first, Main Event. From Hartford, CT, on a delay. Your hosts are Tom Phillips and Jerry Lawler, as JBL is probably snowed in with any luck.

Thunder Date: September 9, 1999 Location: Wendler Arena, Saginaw, Michigan Attendance: 4,653 Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're into a new era here in WCW as I'm convinced the company gave up at the last Nitro. Unfortunately that means we have a taped Thunder to sit through, even though the previous show felt like the taped episode. I know I keep saying that things can't get any worse and I've been wrong every single time. Let's get to it.

It's Superbowl time this Sunday, As a Brit I care as little about this fake sport as you good Canucks do. However it made me realise that you haven't reviewed Halftime Heat yet, as easily the biggest Wrestling show never to get a rant, this Sunday seems the best time to fire up the Network and finally put that one to bed. ​Really, I could be reviewing NXT and THIS is what people want out of me?  I fucking hated that match, although Rock's line about chunky salsa was pretty great.  There you go.  

How Do the Top WWE Officials View Daniel Bryan? According to a source, no matter how hard the fans rally behind Bryan and how much he gets over, the top WWE officials are not going to see him as a top guy that can be the face of the company. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0130/589041/backstage-talk-on-what-wwe-thinks-about-pushing-daniel-bryan/ Rey Mysterio Update Negotiations between Mysterio and the WWE for his release are said to be almost complete. There are still a few issues to work out and it is expected that Mysterio will wind up in Lucha Underground once he leaves the WWE. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0130/589040/backstage-update-on-rey-mysterio-wwe-negotiations-and-post-wwe/ Another Name Expected to be Announced for the WWE Hall of Fame It is expected that Ray "The Crippler" Stevens will be announced for the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2015. Credit PWInsider.com WWE Network Adding Mid-South Wrestling to the Network On 2/5, the W...

For the past twenty-five years Pro Wrestling Illustrated has accepted the challenge of ranking 500 of the best wrestlers during each of those years. Sometimes there have been questionable rankings and times when they actually forgot to include wrestlers.

Greetings from sunny Florida, where my wife and I am vacationing for the next week. Updates through our timeline may be sporadic, dependent on how much writing I can get done in the early mornings on the veranda – but I’ll be back at it full tilt before long. Last week on Shotgun Saturday Night , nobody had a match go above *. But it’s not about the wrestling, because Sunny “made love”, according to Todd Pettengill, to Fondle Me Elmo. Elmo, showing all the resistance of a young man in bed with ... well, 1997 Sunny, lasted about 4 seconds. This week, Goldust gives birth, and there’s a good chance I’ll say some bad words in response to it. ALL THAT AND MORE! Live from Shawn Michaels’ ass-crack in San Antonio, the site of the Royal Rumble, we have a pretty loaded show. Goldust takes on Steve Austin, while Triple H and Rocky Maivia meet (for the first time? A glimpse into our future?).  VINCE MCMAHON  compliments  JIM ROSS  on his lovely new cowboy hat; a gi...

Impact Wrestling Date: January 30, 2015 Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York Commentators: Josh Matthews, Taz Reviewed by Tommy Hall The World Title picture is starting to pick up again as Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle, Austin Aries and MVP all have their eyes on Lashley's title. It's hard to say what's coming up next week at Lockdown as nothing has been announced yet. You can guess what some of those matches will be but the main event hasn't been set in stone so far. Let's get to it.

Scott, With the recent podcast on Talk is Jericho & looking back at his stuff around Summerslam 2010, I got thinking about Wade Barrett's potential. Back then they weren't quite as bad off for main eventers; Taker was still about, Edge wasn't retired, Jericho was back and Cena & Orton weren't quite as stale as they are now. I suppose the need to look forward wasn't as important then. Even though he was just in the door, would it have been that bad a thing to get behind Barrett back then? He came in as important and had a huge impact on their first night... Obviously Cena neutered them at Summerslam but I felt it was a strong end to 2010 for Barrett with a title win the only thing missing. Thoughts? ​Keeping in mind that I was literally paying almost ZERO attention to the product around the time of the Nexus angle, I think they should have put him over Orton for the title and lead to the payoff of Cena escaping the Nexus at Wrestlemania by win...

Talk about everything going on tonight here

This is the first of back to back spot shows to start The New Beginnings Tour. New Japan is slowly adding shows here and there. Because this is essentially a House Show, there are no commentators and they’re only using 1 Hard Camera. It’s a very stark production contrast to the big PPV’s.

March 7, 1987 Your hosts are Jimmy Hart and Gorilla Monsoon Tonight's main event is an elimination match of Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper & Billy Jack Haynes against Hercules & Adrian Adonis & Paul Orndorff

by Logan Scisco After having covered an alternative to WWF Magazine last week, we continue that idea in this week’s column, reviewing the very first issue of RAW Magazine from May/June 1996 (I wonder if this is worth anything to collectors today).  RAW Magazine was the brainchild of Vince Russo, who wished to have a magazine that would cater to more mature and knowledgeable fans.  This followed Russo’s failed attempt to launch a newsletter under his magazine personality Vic Venom.  RAW Magazine was bi-monthly in its circulation until 1998 and when the WWF launched its brand split, RAW Magazine became exclusive to the RAW brand in 2004.  That was an incredibly stupid decision and was one of the reasons I finally cancelled WWF Magazine .  Why should you have to buy two magazines to keep up with one company?  RAW Magazine continued until the summer of 2006, when it and the newly christened Smackdown! Magazine merged into a new WWE Magazine that ceas...

Hi Scott,  Is it just me, or does WWE have the whole "stunt double" angle backwards? Shouldn't Miz want to use the stunt double to do the bulk of the wrestling for him, and just come in at the end to claim the glory of a win? It would make sense that he is protecting his Hollywood image by not putting himself in harm's way. It would also take away the issue you pointed out that these matches suffer because they require Miz to work basically the whole time by himself. You could structure the match in a way so that you still get the funny Mizdow antics (Miz starts out each match while Mizdow mugs outside, Miz tags out fairly quickly after taking any damage and thinking it's better to keep safe and let his stunt double take the brunt of the punishment, Mizdow works the match and then Miz tags in for the selfish pin). ​Kudos on the Radioactive Man reference in the title.  And yes, this is EXACTLY what they should be doing with it, and it's kind of how the angle ...

WWE.com Article on Dolph Ziggler's WrestleMania Challenge to Daniel Bryan http://www.wwe.com/inside/dolph-ziggler-daniel-bryan-wrestlemania-31-challenge-27054036 Vince McMahon Furious Over A Mistimed Spot in the Royal Rumble Match Titus O'Neill's elimination was supposed to either tie or break Santino Marella's elimination as the quickest in Royal Rumble history but the spot was mistimed as Titus was too far away from the ropes and Vince was reported to have been irate about this. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Debuts for TNA Drew Galloway, formerly Drew McIntyre in the WWE, made his debut in TNA during the Impact tapings in the UK. http://www.impactwrestling.com/news First NXT Show Outside of Florida Sold Out After One Day The 3/5 NXT show in Columbus, OH sold out all 2,200 seats after just one day. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter And don't forget to vote in Pl...

Much like Raw, delayed because of the snow storm, or something. Nothing major this week, so we'll deem this a Dragon Gate installment of 4MOTW. DG: Dr. Muscle vs. Eita - [1/12/15] The vacant "Open the Brave Gate" title is on the line here in the finals of a tournament to crown a new champ, as Flamita (kayfabe) walked away from the title in December. Here in the finals we have Eita, multi-time former tag champs with T-Hawk. He goes up against the mysterious Dr. Muscle, a man with ties to the Mad Blankey clan (more on that, next...) Dr. Muscle vs. Eita (Dragon Gate) by JAHMAL1111 DG: Millenials (T-Hawk, Eita, U-T & Yosuke Santa Maria) vs. Mad Blankey (YAMATO, CIMA, Gamma, Cyber Kong & K-ness) - [1/16/15] A sweet piece of business here, and one of the big building blocks of where the company goes from here. We have the Millenials, whose Mexican-based flavor and pride of being born 1990's has led them to multiple titles over the course of the last few ye...

(NOTE: This may be the last of this type of formatting you see on this report. We may try something new next week. Otherwise, we hope you enjoy this week's recap!) Last episode...

Smackdown Date: January 29, 2015 Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut Commentators: Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole Reviewed by Tommy Hall This is a rare live show due to the massive snow storm in the northeast that wiped out Tuesday's tapings. That might actually be the best thing they could have had happen to them after the negative reaction to the Royal Rumble. Tonight's main event is yet another Bryan vs. Kane showdown, this time in a casket match. Let's get to it.

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2015-01-29/wwe-the-wwe-network-vince-mcmahon-royal-rumble I love how they're like "See, we're at 75% of what we promised months ago and we've cut 20% of our workforce so now everything's fine!"

Hi Scott, What was the deal with the Bam Bam face turn in 1995? I know he didn't get along with the Kliq and they supposedly turfed him out of the fed that fall, but did Vince have bigger plans for him that he was talked out of? Seems weird he'd put him in the main event of WM (as a heel, but the match set up the face turn) and the main event of KOTR if he was just going to give up on him shortly thereafter. ​ http://www.amazon.com/Titan-Sinking-decline-WWF-1995-ebook/dp/B00N23THB0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422579585&sr=1-1&keywords=titan+sinking&pebp=1422579593186&peasin=B00N23THB0 Titan Sinking!  Read it and love it! Yes, Vince had bigger plans for Bam Bam, and made grand promises of being the #1 babyface and a big Summerslam payoff with a main event tag match featuring Bam Bam & LT against the Corporation.  And then Wrestlemania bombed and he quickly lost faith in Bam Bam (no thanks to the Clique bitching about him) and shit happened. ...

Hey Scott: I was looking through the last few weeks of blog when I came across the post about putting non-wrestlers in the Hall of Fame.  Your Response when Jack Tunney's name came up got me thinking that yeah, I never did understand the specifics of that whole thing.  I found the Observer from 1995 when he "resigned", but the item there presented it as a cost cutting move and offered no other details aside from the brief Tunney history that's pretty well known.  The Observers from 2004 when he died haven't been uploaded to F4W yet, so I can't check those for anything else. So...what happened?  If he was just let go due to money problems, why did nobody from WWE go to the funeral?  He strikes me as far too important a figure in the company's history to shaft like that without having what they feel is a very good reason. Thanks, Steve ​Well, Jack Tunney the character was a dignified President beyond reproach, but the real person embezzled ...

With February just a few days away it means that Black History Month is upon us. In honor of that I will review a shoot interview by an African-American wrestler. Here are your five choices: Ernie Ladd http://www.highspots.com/p/13205.html Stevie Ray http://www.highspots.com/p/15160.html Brickhouse Brown http://www.highspots.com/p/20886.html Kamala http://www.rfvideo.com/shootwithkamala.aspx Koko B. Ware http://www.rfvideo.com/shootwithkokobware.aspx Vote by clicking on the link below. Voting ends Saturday at noon. http://vote.pollcode.com/34689679

On tap for tonight: WWE Smackdown is live tonight at 8pm EST on Syfy, highlighted by Daniel Bryan vs. Kane in a Casket Match There are four games in the NBA tonight and two of them will be shown on TNT. At 8pm EST the Denver Nuggets take on the Memphis Grizzlies while at 10:30pm EST the Chicago Bulls face the Los Angeles Lakers. Also in the NBA a report came out stating Kevin Durant will have the New York Knicks at the top of his list when he hits free agency in 2016. The NHL has 11 games on the schedule. The Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers are currently underway on NBC Sports and at 10pm EST on the same channel you can see the Anaheim Ducks vs. San Jose Sharks. College Basketball has a few games on National TV tonight. #16 Maryland vs. Ohio St. is currently underway on ESPN. If you want to hear about classic wrestling, head on over to Place to be Nation for the latest edition of the "Vintage Vault" where Scott and Justin discuss the 1990 Royal Rum...

This was filmed in 2007 The interview was conducted by Rob Feinstein It runs for one hour and fifty-five minutes long.

Outside of turning him heel and aligning him with heyman, is there actually a way to salvage this main event? By viewing it as a bizarre social experiment, ala Brock-Goldberg?  Can 70,000 people wreck a match by chanting for Daniel Bryan?

New Plans for Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the plan for Bryan at WrestleMania is to face Dolph Ziggler and that the stuff on Twitter was done by design to helpset up the match. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter WWE Officials Very Pleased With Kevin Owens Word from the WWE is that the merchandise sales for Owens t-shirt is done extremely well and that they are also very happy that he has brought his fanbase over to NXT. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0128/588975/backstage-news-on-why-wwe-officials-are-very-happy-with-a-nxt/ WWE Enforces New Dating Policy WWE has made a rule that talent and office people and talent and production people are not allowed to date. They do not want staff and talent interaction past the professional level. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Possible Reasons for Justin Gabriel Quitting the WWE? Gabriel quit the WWE this weekend and s...

For some reason I’ve been really interested in watching World Championship Wrestling from the late summer to early fall of 1999. This would be right around the time that the company was obsessed with bringing in musical acts to play on Nitro and Kevin Nash had “retired” after a loss at Road Wild in August. It’s also the last several months that Eric Bischoff was in control of the company. The last major program that occurred on his watch was a WCW World Heavyweight Championship feud involving Hulk Hogan, who had just gotten back into the red and yellow, against his on again off again friend, Sting.

Scott, I was watching a RAW where Miz and Cena were fueding, and like most people I think I completely blocked out that he main evented WrestleMania as walked out as champ. What the heck was going on during that time-frame where the Miz was their pick to battle Cena? And walk out as champ?? Horrifying. ​They thought Miz was gonna be their guy, they took a shot with him, it failed spectacularly.  The lesson here:  Never try.  ​

NXT Date: January 28, 2015 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Alex Riley, Jason Albert, Tom Phillips Reviewed by Tommy Hall This is another big show as we're two weeks out from Takeover and the showdown between Owens and Zayn. The contract signing is tonight and Owens has promised to say what he has to say to Zayn to his face. Also tonight the tournament to crown a new #1 contender continues with more first round matches. Let's get to it.

Talk about everything going on tonight here

Monday Nitro #204 Date: September 6, 1999 Location: Miami Arena, Miami, Florida Attendance: 8,623 Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone Reviewed by Tommy Hall It's one of those rare weeks where WCW has given us the slightest glimmer of hope coming off this past week's Thunder. They actually let Saturn escape with his life against Sid and the Revolution got to stand tall to end the show. We're coming up on Fall Brawl this Sunday though, and that means it's time to crush the hopes and dreams of fans so the main event talent can carry the day again. Let's get to it.

From Place to be Nation this feature chronicles all of the happenings in the world of professional wrestling during the 1990's. Highlights from this week include: Halftime Heat Empty Arena Match between Rock and Mankind Coin Toss Between Bret Hart and Lex Luger, with the winner facing Yokozuna first at WrestleMania X First Vignette Hyping the Debut of Mankind Clash of the Champions XIV And many more matches and interviews. Click on the link below and give it a view. http://placetobenation.com/this-week-in-90s-wrestling-january-25th-31st-3/

Scott: Just wondering if you think Sunday's Rumble crowd is going to force the WWE to re-think where they book major events? I mean, we all know they sure as hell aren't gonna change how they book. But would a final four of Reigns, Show, THEDEMONKANE, and Rusev played better somewhere in fly-over country? Is the company going to try and avoid these kind of reactions by avoiding smark cities? Been a fan for a while--thanks for all the information and entertainment! Ryan Yeah, but how many excuses can they make for this stuff before they run out of cities?  We've now heard "It's not us, it's Philly" and "It's not us, it's Pittsburgh" and "It's not us, it's Toronto" and "It's not us, it's New York" and "It's not us, it's Chicago".  How many places can they burn through before they find the idealized smark-free city that will happily accept the Roman Empire as their conqueror? Plus, as n...

Undertaker Update At this moment, there is still no word on whether or not the Undertaker will be wrestling at this year's WrestleMania. Credit Dave Meltzer, F4WOnline.com RAW Ratings Update Despite the storm cancelling the live show, RAW still had incredible ratings Monday with 4.41 million viewers. Here are the hourly breakdowns: 8pm: 4.47 million 9pm: 4.68 million 10pm: 4.14 million http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/40962-raw-ratings-notes Randy Orton Update Orton, who was originally scheduled for Smackdown this Thursday, is no longer advertised for the show. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0128/588965/top-star-no-longer-scheduled-for-wwe-smackdown/ TNA Impact Rating Rises TNA had 517,000 viewers this past Friday, up from the 387,000 they had the previous week. http://rajah.com/node/45490

Scott,  How far are you into SOA now? Did you get to the finale of season 3, and did your mind explode over that plot twist? Are you into or through season 4, and were you mirin' the heel work of that character who I won't name in case you aren't that far yet? ​Yeah, I'm about halfway into season 5 now and we're still kind of reeling from the Very Bad Thing that happens at the beginning of the season.  Season 4 was super awesome and intense, but the finale was kind of a dud and pretty much deflated the season with a Russo-esque twist right off the bat.  Even my wife, who isn't someone that watches with an eye for story structure and stuff like that, commented that the twist was pretty nonsensical in a lot of ways.  Season 5 is just such a downer that we're actually slowing down the binge watching a lot.  Season 3 was like a WWF PPV from the Attitude era:  Shitty undercard, fantastic main event.  Season 4 was WCW:  Crazy good buildup and workrate, and then a ...

On tap for tonight: On the WWE Network at 8pm you can watch WWE 24. The NBA has 6 games on the schedule, with two of them on NBA TV. At 7:30pm, the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Detroit Pistons while at 10pm the Chicago Bulls take on the Golden State Warriors. Also, the NHL returns from their All-Star break with 11 games on the schedule. At 7:30pm the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Carolina Hurricanes on the NBC Sports Network. There are several college basketball games on National TV tonight. At 7pm on Fox Sports 1, Xavier takes on #21 Georgetown. And as usual, talk about anything else going on tonight here.

by Logan Scisco - A video package recaps how the Undertaker tried to embalm Steve Austin alive on last week’s show.  The Undertaker and Paul Bearer are shown talking backstage moments before the show went on the air. - Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Baltimore, Maryland.

According to PWInsider the word out of the Royal Rumble this week is that the plans for Bryan vs. Sheamus that were originally scheduled for last year's show are back on, with Sheamus turning heel before the match. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0127/588945/backstage-news-on-possible-wrestlemania-31-plans-for-daniel-bryan/

As pimped in the mailbag thread, here’s the awesome Aztec Warfare match from Lucha Underground, a ****+ crazy spectacular that blew the Rumble out of the water.  2015.01.07- Aztec Warfare- Lucha Underground by dixonkyle4

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2015-01-27/wwe-daniel-bryan-mailbag-roman-reigns-royal-rumble-2015-wrestlemania-the-shield-seth-rollins You know guys, I have a day job and stuff...

WWE.com Video of Roman Reigns Behind the Scenes at the Royal Rumble http://www.wwe.com/videos/follow-roman-reigns-as-he-makes-history-at-the-royal-rumble-wwecom-exclusive-jan-27045110 New Name For WWE Group? Cesaro, Tyson Kidd, Natalya, and Adam Rose are now being referred to some as the "Brass Ring Club." Click on the link below and view the logo. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0126/588923/photos-of-michael-cole-preparing-for-tonight-raw/ WWE Hires Former NWA Champion Adam Pearce was hired by the WWE as a trainer/agent for NXT http://wrestlingnewssource.com/news/37784/WWE-Hire-Former-NWA-Champion-Adam-Pearce/

It’s the term that every tag team will experience at some point in time. It’s in reference to when the popular tag team known as the Rockers, which consisted of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, broke up and went into the singles ranks. Both men were very talented, but Michaels was the one who achieved higher acclaim while his former partner and friend drifted into obscurity. Sure, it happened to Jannetty, but throughout history it has happened to seemingly every tag team that has ever been formed. The team will be successful, but when they breakup, only one man achieves anything in the singles ranks. In this column, which will likely be broken up into several pieces because of so many tag teams, I’ll look at five tag teams shed light on who succeeded, and who dropped down the card.

This is strictly for completion purposes... Let's start.

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2015-01-27/wwe-the-post-royal-rumble-mailbag-part-one-roman-reigns-daniel-bryan-vince-mcmahon I felt like the "Wrestlemania location announced" post last week was so lame that I owed people a mailbag to make up for it.   Also, because angry nerds = PAGEVIEWS.  Apparently this thing is hitting a nerve with people.  Who could have foreseen THAT?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

In an effort to better appreciate the era in which ECW existed, I actually spent a little time reflecting on the shows themselves, in their original form. While it’s often hard to remember through my mind’s eye just how much poorly produced TV there was in the 90’s, I decided to jog my memory by Youtubing the type of quality commercials that made up the era itself. I can remember this one playing, on what felt like a continuous loop, during every late night airing of ECW TV, and WCW Thunder (which I’d tape during a late Saturday night replay on one of the local channels). And upon seeing the awful, laughable quality, I’m just reminded that this is very much the world in which we once lived – and to appreciate ECW it to appreciate the lazily produced phone sex commercials that sandwiched around it. Thank you, Youtube, for never letting me down. Bring on the ECW!

Hey Scott, With no Raw tonight, indy promoter Drew Cordeiro is re-running a marathon he produced last week called RAWlternative, featuring 13 matches from different North American promotions in 2014. The marathon features Kevin Steen, Young Bucks, Brian Kendrick, Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards, and a ton of others, and it runs for free via YouTube https://www.facebook.com/events/845376668819111/866331656723612/ With no Raw, I figured some BODers would wanna check out something that delivers in the goodness department.

Howdy Blog O' Doom! #Snowmageddon2015 claims another one! Well not here in Florida where I'm currently shivering with these temperatures in the low 60s. Thank god for the sunshine. Rumble last night. First and foremost the title 3-way was tremendous stuff. All three guys brought their best games and really tried to tear the house down. Seeing a Phoenix Splash for the first time was pretty incredible too. I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of that match, especially the way Rollins and Cena resorted to doing anything possible to stop Brock. It was great action and a fun story of survival. The Rumble itself...all right I'm in the crowd that is fine with Reigns winning. The execution of the win was atrocious. Between the Rock save and the return of Rusev (it was cute when Santino did it but it shouldn't be something tried every couple of years) everything felt flat. A classic case of doing too much when they just should have stuck with him winning in the most logical way ...

This press release was sent to PWInsider.com: XL CENTER POSTPONES RAW UNTIL THURSDAY STAMFORD, Conn., January 26, 2015 – Due to the impending blizzard in the Northeast and statewide travel bans, WWE has postponed tonight’s live event in Hartford and cancelled tomorrow night’s live event in Boston; however, WWE will emanate live tonight at 8 p.m. ET from its studios in the Stamford world headquarters. Ticket Information Hartford, Conn., XL Center: Tickets for tonight’s show in Hartford will be honored for a SmackDown event this Thursday, January 29 that will air live on Syfy. Boston, MA, TD Garden: Fans with tickets to tomorrow’s event in Boston will have the option of either exchanging tickets for an upcoming WWE event on Saturday, June 27 or obtaining a refund at point of purchase.  

Apparently snowstorms have shut down the highways in Connecticut and RAW might be in jeopardy.  Way to go, Roman Reigns!

You're likely getting all kinds of e-mails about tonight's Royal Rumble, but I have a specific question regarding all this: Is there any other company that you can think of that actively and vigorously fight so hard against its own fanbase? Because I'm honestly blanking on an example. It's one thing to go against what the fans want. We're used to that. But tonight, between eliminating Bryan so quickly, and then the never ending treatment of every other strongly liked star like Sandow, Cesaro, Ziggler, etc. It's like they're actively and regularly saying, "You like these guys? Well fuck you!" What other company has worked this hard against its own fanbase? WCW did that a lot too at the end.  Just saying.  

Daniel Bryan Update For those wondering, Vince McMahon reportedly has no plans on adding Daniel Bryan to the WrestleMania main event title match citing that it will be a repeat of last year's show and that he does not want that to happen. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio Did the WWE Expect Any Backlash Due to Roman Reigns Winning the Rumble While the WWE were prepared for some sort of backlash for Reigns winning the Rumble, they did not expect it to be as much as it was. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio Rock Update Reportedly, the WWE panicked and changed a lot of things right before the show and that the Rock was said to be very unhappy about those changes. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio Brock Lesnar Update At this moment, Lesnar is not confirmed for the Fast Lane PPV. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0125/588882/will-brock-lesnar-be-at-wwe-fast-lane/ Bubba Ray Dudley Update As of this moment, Bubba was...

Hi Scott,  I know you're not one to plug other people's stuff but could you make an exception for my Rumble review? I did it live so apologies for any typos I didn't catch.  http://shitetalk.me/2015/01/26/royal-rumble-2015-liveblog/ ​The more the merrier.  ​

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2015-01-26/wwe-royal-rumble-2015-john-cena-roman-reigns-brock-lesnar-daniel-bryan Obviously they're just setting up Daniel Bryan for a second miracle comeback win at Wrestlemania, right?

Hey Scott. After tonight's Rumble match, it has to be clear to even McMahon or HHH's staunchest supporters that they are clearly out of touch with their viewers.  You could tell by the audience's reaction pretty much every potential winner fans would have been happy with.  Without a doubt Bryan, Ambrose and Ziggler would have gotten huge cheers as the guy to get the "Ending Undertaker's Streak Re-Rub", and I'm pretty sure they could have safely gone with Mizdow, Wyatt and maybe even Ryder.  And of course by the end, when reality had sunk in, the crowd made it known they'd even take fucking Rusev over Reigns.  But no, Vince and/or HHH knew better than we do what we actually want, and now Brock gets fed to Reigns. I usually feel like people over-react about how bad the product has gotten.  NXT is enough to balance out the bad parts of RAW for me, and even in the same show I'm now complaining about they had a pretty enjoyable title match.  But...

The SmarK Rant for WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Live from Philadelphia, PA, home of ECW and King of the Ring 95. Your hosts are Michael Cole, JBL & Jerry Lawler

It's unreal that we're already at the Rumble.

The kickoff show starts at 7pm EST. Matches include: The New Day vs. Cesaro & Tyson Kidd & Adam Rose in an Elimination Match The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Titles New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension Nikki & Brie Bella vs. Paige & Natalya Seth Rollins vs. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship 30 Man Royal Rumble Match Talk all about the show here and lets hope we get something good and some direction heading into WrestleMania. And if this thread gets far too big, I will start a second one. 

The rules for this contest are as follows: T hese are the numbers that were chosen at random. They  will match up with the actual WWE numbers and whatever number the entrant of the WWE Rumble winner has, that number will end up winning the contest. For instance, if the winner of the WWE Rumble was the #20 entrant, whoever has #20 in this contest will win and get to pick the shoot interview that I review for this Thursday.  Here are the results of the drawing: Handleman 20 Bulldog Bob Brown The Ricker Duthtys GoRilla theJawas robmck3898 Biff Kensington III Ghost of Faffner Hall wpoc3 Kyle Warne John Petuka Rodney Rankin Doctor_Ew Bob Patel Battle Kat Litter Jonathan Meisner Dean Andrews Vince Cultstatus Darren X Steveweiser Average Joe Everyman Biscuit! Adam Curry Fake Danimal Crossing Crikey Mate Down Under Logan Scisco Danimal Crossing (Real Bro) The Whispering Joker Grail Ron Swanson Good luck to everyone involved. 

Sting Update According to PWInsider.com, Sting is not scheduled to be in Philadelphia for the Royal Rumble. http://pwinsider.com/article/91089/royal-rumble-news-and-notes-including-possible-spoilers.html?p=1 Another Former WWE Wrestler Rumored to be a Surprise Entrant in the Royal Rumble There is a rumor among some of the wrestlers that the Boogeyman will be making an appearance in the Royal Rumble match. Credit Mike Johnson, PWInsider.com Layla Update Layla has recently underwent surgery. It is not known what the surgery was for but it was not due to an in-ring injury. There is no timetable for her return. http://pwinsider.com/article/91090/layla-update.html?p=1

Hey Scott, first time, long time (like 15 years) I'm a freelance political writer and wrestling mark for like 25 years. Not sure if your blog would be interested, but I just wrote a piece that talks about Dusty Rhodes' Hard Times promo explaining the current state of American politics. If you would share it on your blog that would be awesome, if not, it's no biggie. Keep up the great work and hope all is well! -Robert Sobel http://www.examiner.com/article/pro-wrestling-promo-perfectly-shows-the-difference-between-democrats-and-the-gop

Hey Scott - It's Mark from Chasing Amazing and "Gimmick or Good" (at CSBG) fame (or lack thereof). Anyway, I wrote a list for ComicBook.com that looks at famous comic book rumbles and then finds WWE Royal Rumble analogues. Probably need to read it to fully absorb the gimmick, but thought your readers would have some fun with this: http://comicbook.com/2015/01/24/10-memorable-superhero-rumbles-and-their-royal-wwe-counterparts-/ ​Certainly apropos for the day.  ​

The Rock Appearing at the Royal Rumble? Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com has confirmed that the Rock has been spotted at the hotel in Philadelphia that the WWE talent is staying for the Royal Rumble http://pwinsider.com/article/91082/royal-rumble-spoiler-notes.html?p=1 Sheamus Update Right now there is talk that Sheamus will not be in Philadelphia for the Royal Rumble after all. http://pwinsider.com/article/91082/royal-rumble-spoiler-notes.html?p=1 WWE Wrestler Quits the Company Just this weekend Justin Gabriel has quit the WWE. The are currently no specific details about the situation at the moment. http://wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0125/588838/former-wwe-tag-team-champion-quits-wwe/

Last week: Pete Lothario suffered a crippling injury at the hands of Sid Vicious, and fans were so outraged they called the WWF headquarters to demand to know why Jose Lothario was not taken out with him. THE HONKY TONK MAN draws announce duties for the second night in a row, paired with the ever excited VINCE MCMAHON for the go-home show before the Rumble.

Hey, Scott. Question for the blog... I was watching the Tuesday in Texas PPV. Survivor Series 1991 was the first PPV I ever ordered. I was maybe 13 at the time. I was a fairly new fan, and wasn't aware of their PPV rotation yet, but I knew that WWF only did PPV once every 3 or 4 months. I remember they had been teasing that Survivor Series would be Macho Man's reinstatement, so he could replace Sid Justice in the main event. But right from the opening, they say (in the form of Jack Tunney) that not only will Savage not be appearing in the match, but Jake will be out as well. This was basically the hottest feud on the card at the time, and now it's not happening? But they will indeed be having a match "this Tuesday night, in Texas." Ok, that was kind ​ ​ of weird. Then we get a screwjob finish in the title match with Hogan and Taker, only to be teased for their rematch, "this Tuesday night in Texas." And they don't even announce that the show will be ...

Scott, The Royal Rumble the most prestigious battle royal ever devised but what about the title matches that take place on the show, there have been some true classics. Angle vs Benoit from 2003 and Cena vs Umaga from 2007 instantly spring to mind as being the best but do you have any other favourite title matches which took place at the Rumble? Thanks. ​I'm pretty fond of the Randy Orton v. Jeff Harvey match where they got me to buy into the "Elevation of Jeffrey Nero" storyline and then were like "Psych! We're gonna keep pushing Orton instead for a while".  Even if the usual RKO Outta Nowhere finish was a letdown, it was still a good match.  I think there was also a hell of a World title match between Undertaker and Rey Mysterio on that show, featuring Taker ragdolling Rey all over the ring in what was actually a fresh matchup for once.   Also, HHH v. Scott Steiner.  Duh.  ​

So I'm going to post them both in one post to make it easier on everyone. Main Event airs first, so it'll go first. Superstars follows. This way, you can clock out after the important matches if you want. Also, Hulu Plus flows me from Main Event to Superstars, so it's easier on me. And that's what really matters.

UFC Fight Night tonight on FOX beginning 8/7c. The main event is Alexander Gustaffson vs. Anthony Johnson, with an undercard of Dan Henderson vs. Gegard Mousasi and Phil Davis vs. Ryan Bader. WWE Network will air Hulk Hogan's Unreleased Collector's Series at 8/7c. There are also five games on the NBA schedule, highlighted by Washington @ Portland at 10/9c on NBA TV. As usual, talk about whatever else is going on tonight.

So for anyone who doesn't know yet, if you already have a WWE Network account in Canada, you no longer need DNS changers or Hola or whatever to access it.  With the Rogers deal now finalized, they have unblocked it for Canada, assuming you already have credentials.  You still need either Canadian Rogers account or a fake US billing account to actually get access, but once you do it's available without Unblock-US or whatever. Which means I can now watch on my iPad or phone outside my house!  I'm still using Unblock-US for Netflix and Hulu, but it's nice to have more options for the Network now.  

Thunder Date: September 2, 1999 Location: Wendler Arena, Saginaw, Michigan Attendance: 4,653 Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay Reviewed by Tommy Hall We're getting closer to Fall Brawl and the card is starting to take some shape. The big story coming out of Monday is Luger accusing Hogan of driving the Hummer back in the summer, even though I don't think anyone was still wondering about that. Sting believes Luger, meaning he isn't sure if he can trust Hogan, who was totally his best friend who has never done anything bad to him ever. Let's get to it.

Had an idea this morning I watched the 1994 Royal Rumble last night on the Network, where Bret Hart and Lex Luger both went over the top at the same time and were co-winners. They both got a shot at Wrestlemania X. One guy got a match with the Champion first, while the other guy had to wrestle suitable competition (Crush for Luger or Owen for Bret) before he got his title shot Bret ended up facing Owen, while Luger got the shot at Yokozuna first They could do that with Bryan and Reigns this year and have them both get a shot at Wrestlemania, but bring back the "suitable competition" rule. It's been over 20 years now, so I guess it's been long enough to re-hash it. It might placate the Philly crowd somewhat and avoid their expected (Though I'm thinking the worries of this may be overblown) freak out at Reigns winning. Have Reigns get the first shot at the champ and Bryan can face Brock Lesnar as "suitable competition", ...

Impact Wrestling Date: January 23, 2015 Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York Commentators: Tazz, Josh Matthews Reviewed by Tommy Hall The big story tonight is Feast or Fired, TNA's big Money in the Bank style match with three potential title shots up for grabs, plus a lone pink slip. This is usually a huge mess but the fallout can change a lot of things going forward. The other situation is the Beat Down Clan walking off with Lashley's World Title. Let's get to it.

Big questions on deck this week. Will The Giant get a token of revenge against the nWo? Will the announcers finally catch up to the rest of us and realize Sting is pro-WCW? Will Jimmy Graffiti ever win again? Nitro isn’t but seconds old, and we aren’t even given the benefit of a complete opening sequence (now I’ll NEVER know what happened to those exploding traffic lights), because  THE GIANT  has come crashing through the door of the nWo locker room. He’s here to SHOCK the World because he’s the SHOCKMA… wait, wrong year. He manages to take out the entire crew of  NWO JOBBERS  before being taken out by security. The A-Team barely flinches, and goes about conducing the usual nWo business. What “business” consists of is of no “business” of mine; so for the sake of time we’ll assume it means Bischoff feeding Hogan grapes between hot oil massages. We are LIVE from New Orleans!  TONY SCHIAVONE  and  LARRY ZBYSZKO  are unfortunately still our ...

Here goes last week's debut episode of NJPW on AXS. This one covering the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 7. The second episode airs tonight. While I believe tonight's show covers Invasion Attack 2013, the Meltz had that one penciled in for week three at one point. Very surprised they'd be skipping the Tanahashi vs. Anderson match from February of 2013, as it would feature both an American-born wrestler and provide a MOTYC at the same time. Regardless, should be a strong hour of pro wrestling either way. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (1/4/13) by DrunksukeMuraco

Talk about everything going on tonight here

In our last episode: Paige was introduced to Nattie who decides Paige is her new BFF because reasons. Paige encourages Nattie to go to a party then plays a mean prank on her: she tells Nattie that the brownies she ate there contained Marijuana, causing Nattie to freak out and fabricate a car accident in order to delay a (MATT: conveniently-timed) drug test by WWE. Paige later confesses. Somehow, they're still BFF's. Nikki learned Brie, JJ and Kathy had spoken to John Cena, causing them to break up. Upon learning the truth, they got back together and Nikki stayed mad at Brie although she forgave her family. Yet, oh, so coincidentally, the twins get a story line where they are at war with each other in WWE. Brie even gets booked to fight Stephanie McMahon at Summer Slam.

March 7, 1987 From the Coliseum in New Haven, CT Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino, Jesse Ventura, and Vince McMahon. In action tonight will be the Junkyard Dog, Ricky Steamboat, and the Hart Foundation. Plus, an appearance by Andre the Giant and another "WrestleMania Report."

Good afternoon everyone...it's Royal Rumble weekend and over at PTBN, we had some Rumble related content as well as some other pieces we feel you would enjoy, so check 'em out! Aaron George reviewed and ranked all of the Royal Rumble matches:  The Definitive Ranking of Royal Rumble Matches Matt Davis delivers 101 Facts you may or may not have known about the Royal Rumble:  101 Facts You May Not Know About the Royal Rumble Scott, Justin & Graham Cawthon looked back at Royal Rumble 2004:  Place to Be Podcast Episode 358: Royal Rumble 2004 Our Royal Rumble rewind series checked out the 1991 and 1997 installments:  Royal Rumble Rewind Series Dan McGinn previews this Sunday's event:  2015 Royal Rumble Preview Also... Charles Williams is back with his weekly This Week in 90s Wrestling column:  This Week In 90’s Wrestling: January 18th – 24th Round Three of the Greatest Song of the 90s Tournament wraps this weekend, so get in and catch up on v...